1888 The Great Controversy - EllenWhiteDefendTitle 1888 The Great Controversy Author Ellen G. White...

Great Controversy

The complete bookplus 58 Bible, historical,and promise sections,

and 4 indexes

8 8Harvestime Books

BETWEEN CHRIST AND SABETWEEN CHRIST AND SABETWEEN CHRIST AND SABETWEEN CHRIST AND SABETWEEN CHRIST AND SATTTTTANANANANAN

THETHETHETHETHE

Plus —

to ChristThe Basic Steps

– And the Impending Crisis

The Lives and Strugglesof Christians

through the Ages

byE.G. White

HB-103Great ControversyGreat ControversyGreat ControversyGreat ControversyGreat Controversy

byE.G. WhitePlus supplementary material

HarHarHarHarHarvestime Booksvestime Booksvestime Booksvestime Booksvestime BooksAltamont, TN 37301

Printed in the United States of America

Cover and text copyright © 1998

This book is a reissue of the 1888 edition ofthat remarkable classic, Great Controversy.

This book: This book: This book: This book: This book: This 1888 edition includes the complete originalbook of 42 chapters, and the author’s introduction. Nothing the au-thor wrote has been omitted or changed. In addition, you will find anintroduction to each chapter; fifty-eight Bible and historical charts;four indexes; as well as, within brackets, paging notations to thestandard edition of this book. Also included is the important “Snaresof Satan” instructions which were in the 1884 edition.

Explanation of bracketed numbers on page topsExplanation of bracketed numbers on page topsExplanation of bracketed numbers on page topsExplanation of bracketed numbers on page topsExplanation of bracketed numbers on page tops: Theserefer to comparable, standardized paging in the original 1888 and1911 editions.

Additional copies:Additional copies:Additional copies:Additional copies:Additional copies: For additional copies of this book at re-markably low prices in boxful quantities, write to Harvestime Books,Altamont, TN 37301. When you write, ask for a copy of our “Mis-sionary Book Order Sheet,” containing low-cost boxful prices of thisand other books, such as Desire of Ages, Ministry of Healing, Christ’sObject Lessons, Bible Readings, etc.

Author’s Introduction 231 Like a Blazing Volcano —

The Destruction of Jerusalem 31Charts: Jerusalem Taken by Titus 48 / Rebellion andCapture 49

2 Whiter than Snow —Persecution in the First Centuries 54

Chart: Revelation 12: Predicting the Persecution 64

3 All the Steps Down —The Apostasy 65

Charts: The Apostasy Predicted 77 / 48 Steps Down 78-79

4 Faithful unto Death —The Waldenses 80

Chart: Pagan Origins 97

THE BASIC STEPS TO CHRIST Part One —

How to Come to Christ 10 Part Two — How to Remain True to Christ 15

THE GREAT CONTROVERSY

ContentsContentsContentsContentsContents

4 4 4 4 4 The Great ControversyThe Great ControversyThe Great ControversyThe Great ControversyThe Great Controversy

5 A Voice in the Wilderness —John Wycliffe 99

Chart: Daniel Predicts the Apostasy 115

6 Nearing the Daybreak —Huss and Jerome 116

Chart: Why Do God’s People Suffer? 138

7 Out of Darkness —Luther’s Separation from Rome 139

Charts: God’s Love for Man 162 / Declared to be Divineand Infallible 163

8 Here I Stand —Luther before the Diet 164

Chart: Trusting in the Lord 188

9 Unshakable as the Mountains —The Swiss Reformer 189

Chart: The Only Authority 202

1 0 Luther Disappears —Progress of Reform in Germany 203

Chart: The Roman Channel of Grace 214-215

1 1 The Turning Point —The Protest of the Princes 216

Chart: An Official Decision 230

1 2 They Were Willing to Die —The French Reformation 231

Chart: Centuries of Persecution 256-257

1 3 Like Fire in the Stubble —Netherlands and Scandinavia 258

Chart: The Importance of Prayer 266

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1 4 A Great Cloud of Witnesses —Later English Reformers 267

Chart: Supplying Our Needs 286Chart: God’s Empowering Grace 287

1 5 A Deadly Harvest —Bible and the French Revolution 288

Charts: The 1260 Year Prophecy 292 / The Amazing1260 Year Prophecy 293 / God, Our Refuge 313

1 6 Brave New World —The Pilgrim Fathers 314

1 7 Nearing the Advent —Heralds of the Morning 324

Chart: Awaiting His Coming 340

1 8 Opening the Prophecies —An American Reformer 341

1 9 Night of Sorrow —Light through Darkness 365

Chart: Searching the Word of God 376

20 From Land to Land —A Great Religious Awakening 377

Chart: Obedience by Faith 395

2 1 Time of Tarrying —A Warning Rejected 396

Chart: The Plan of Redemption 411

22 The Midnight Cry —Prophecies Fulfilled 412

Chart: The New Covenant 428

TTTTTable of Contentsable of Contentsable of Contentsable of Contentsable of Contents


23 The Tabernacle of Prophecy —What Is the Sanctuary? 429

Charts: The 2300 Year Prophecy 432-433 / The EarthlyTabernacle 434-435 / Christ, Our Mediator 446-447

24 Into the Presence of God —Within the Holy of Holies 448

25 The Mark of the Beast —God’s Law Immutable 457

Charts: The Prophecy of Revelation 13 464 / The Law ofGod 472 / The Law of God as Changed by Man 473 /The Law of God in the New Testament 474 / The Seal andthe Mark 475 / The Three Angels’ Message 478

26 Restoring the Foundations —A Work of Reform 479

Charts: The Weekly Cycle 488-489 / Catholicism Speaks490-491 / Protestantism Speaks 492-493

2 7 When the Fire Goes Out —Modern Revivals 494

Chart: Healthful Living 511

28 Judgment before the End —The Investigative Judgment 512

Chart: The Day of Judgment 524

29 Fall from Paradise —The Origin of Evil 525

Chart: The Gospel and God’s Standard 537

30 The First Prophecy —Enmity between Man and Satan 538

Chart: False Christs 543

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3 1 Victory in Christ —Agency of Evil Spirits 544

Chart: Biography of Satan 550

32 The Devil’s Toolbox —Snares of Satan 551

Chart: Resisting the Snares 563

33 The First Lie —The First Great Deception 564

Chart: Eternal Life Only in Christ 582

34 Satan’s Masterpiece —Spiritualism 583

3 5 Collision Course —Aims of the Papacy 594

Charts: The Number and the Mark 611-613 / How theSabbath Was Changed to Sunday 614-618

36 Satan’s Master Plan —The Impending Conflict 619

Chart: Faith to Overcome 629

3 7 Build on the Rock —The Scriptures, a Safeguard 630

Chart: The Importance of the Bible 639

38 To All the World —The Final Warning 640

Charts: Bible Truth 649 / Keeping the Truth 649 / The Testof Loyalty 650

39 When Probation Closes —The Time of Trouble 651

Chart: Christ, Our Shelter 672

TTTTTable of Contentsable of Contentsable of Contentsable of Contentsable of Contents


40 The Coming of the King —God’s People Delivered 673

Chart: The Second Coming of Christ 689

4 1 Time to Think —Desolation of the Earth 690

Charts: The Millennium 696 / The Biblical Millennium697 / Delight and Joy in God 700

42 An Eternity with Christ —The Controversy Ended 701

Chart: Living Forever with Christ 717

Appendix and Indexes —

The Secret Instructions 718From the 1884 edition of this book

Chart: Historical Timeline 721

Source Index 722

Chart Index 726

Scripture Index 727

General Index 733

Additional Information 736

“And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingledwith fire: and them that had gotten the victoryover the beast, and over his image, and overhis mark, and over the number of his name,stand on the sea of glass, having the harps ofGod. And they sang the song of Moses theservant of God, and the song of the Lamb.”

—Revelation 15:2-3

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“And the dragon was wroth with the woman,and went to make war with the remnant ofher seed, which keep the commandments ofGod, and have the testimony of Jesus.”

—Revelation 12:17

“And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingledwith fire: and them that had gotten the victoryover the beast, and over his image, and overhis mark, and over the number of his name,stand on the sea of glass, having the harps ofGod. And they sang the song of Moses theservant of God, and the song of the Lamb.”

—Revelation 15:2-3

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THE BASIC STEPS TO CHRIST —THE BASIC STEPS TO CHRIST —THE BASIC STEPS TO CHRIST —THE BASIC STEPS TO CHRIST —THE BASIC STEPS TO CHRIST —The Basic Steps to Christ includes, in condensed format, every basic

portion of that multimillion-copy best seller, Steps to Christ. It is written bythe same author who wrote Great Controversy (the remainder of the bookyou now have in hand), and is a precious treasure to anyone seeking thepathway to heaven.

This abridged edition consists entirely, and only, of complete sentencesfrom Steps to Christ. These sentences cover the key aspects taught in thatbook. To help the reader locate the portions included, the opening sentencein each of the 13 chapters in the book is always included in the abridgededition, and always placed at the beginning of a paragraph.

Someone might say that the complete volume would be better. Of courseit would be more complete, but the complete book cannot be included with-out making this edition of Great Controversy too large. It is far better toexplain the key points in how to come to Christ, than not to do so at all.

We have been told that it is our first work to lead souls to Christ, and thispresent book does just that. Dear reader, this is a very special book, and allthe pages which follow are just as important as the part you have just read.

May our kind heavenly Father bless you—as you pray and search for abetter, happier way of life.

THE GREATHE GREATHE GREATHE GREATHE GREAT CONTROVERSY BETWEEN CHRIST AND SAT CONTROVERSY BETWEEN CHRIST AND SAT CONTROVERSY BETWEEN CHRIST AND SAT CONTROVERSY BETWEEN CHRIST AND SAT CONTROVERSY BETWEEN CHRIST AND SATTTTTAN —AN —AN —AN —AN —The remainder of this book consists of that decade-old best-seller, Great

Controversy, plus historical and Biblical notes.What happened when the Bible ended? What happened to the people of

God? And to the Bible? What were the forces at work that tried to destroyboth? In the book, Great Controversy, this story is told. Four thousand yearsof history are given us in the Bible. —But a powerful story began when theBible ended. A story that would affect the people of God to the end of time.Violent forces were gathering that would soon seek to sweep away Chris-tianity altogether. What happened then is of deepest importance to us to-day—as we face the future.

Here is the information you have waited for.


Nature and revelation alike testify of God’s love. It istransgression of God’s law - the law of love - that has broughtwoe and death. Yet even amid the suffering that results fromsin, God's love is revealed. “God is love” is written uponevery opening bud, upon every spire of springing grass.

Jesus came to live among men to reveal the infinite loveof God. Love, mercy, and compassion were revealed in ev-ery act of His life; His heart went out in tender sympathy tothe children of men. He took man's nature, that He mightreach man's wants. The poorest and humblest were not afraidto approach Him. Such is the character of Christ as revealedin His life. This is the character of God.

It was to redeem us that Jesus lived and suffered anddied. He became a “Man of Sorrows,” that we might be madepartakers of everlasting joy. But this great sacrifice was notmade in order to create in the Father’s heart a love for man,not make Him willing to save. No, no! “God so loved theworld, that He gave His only-begotten Son.” John 3:16. TheFather loves us, not because of the great propitiation, but Heprovided the propitiation because He loves us. None but theSon of God could accomplish our redemption.

The Basic StepsThe Basic StepsThe Basic StepsThe Basic StepsThe Basic Stepsto Christto Christto Christto Christto Christ

— by the Author— by the Author— by the Author— by the Author— by the Author

– Part One –How Can I Come to Christ?

—Summary of the book, Steps to Christ, in the author's ownwords. (For additional information on this abridgement, pleaseturn to page 9.)

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What a value this places upon man! Through transgres-sion the sons of man become subjects of Satan. Throughfaith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ the sons of Adam maybecome the sons of God. The matchless love of God for aworld that did not love Him! The thought has a subduingpower upon the soul and brings the mind into captivity tothe will of God.

Man was originally endowed with noble powers and awell-balanced mind. He was perfect in his being, and in har-mony with God. His thoughts were pure, his aims holy. Butthrough disobedience, his powers were perverted, and self-ishness took the place of love. His nature became so weak-ened through transgression that it was impossible for him,in his own strength, to resist the power of evil.

It is impossible for us, of ourselves, to escape from thepit of sin in which we are sunken. Our hearts are evil, and wecannot change them. There must be a power working fromwithin, a new life from above, before men can be changedfrom sin to holiness. That power is Christ. His grace alonecan quicken the lifeless faculties of the soul, and attract it toGod, to holiness. To all, there is but one answer, “Behold theLamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John1:29. Let us avail ourselves of the means provided for usthat we may be transformed into His likeness, and be re-stored to fellowship with the ministering angels, to harmonyand communion with the Father and the Son.

How shall a man be just with God? How shall the sinnerbe made righteous? It is only through Christ that we can bebrought into harmony with God, with holiness; but how arewe to come to Christ?

Repentance includes sorrow for sin and a turning awayfrom it. We shall not renounce sin unless we see its sinful-ness; until we turn away from it in heart, there will be no realchange in the life.

But when the heart yields to the influence of the Spiritof God, the conscience will be quickened, and the sinner willdiscern something of the depth and sacredness of God’s holylaw, the foundation of His government in heaven and on earth.

The Basic Steps to ChristThe Basic Steps to ChristThe Basic Steps to ChristThe Basic Steps to ChristThe Basic Steps to Christ


Conviction takes hold upon the mind and heart.The prayer of David, after his fall, illustrates the nature

of true sorrow for sin. His repentance was sincere and deep.There was no effort to palliate his guilt; no desire to escapethe judgment threatened inspired his prayer. David saw theenormity of his transgression; he saw the defilement of hissoul; he loathed his sin. It was not for pardon only that heprayed, but for purity of heart. He longed for the joy of holi-ness, to be restored to harmony and communion with God.A repentance such as this is beyond the reach of our ownpower to accomplish; it is obtained only from Christ.

Christ is ready to set us free from sin, but He does notforce the will. If we refuse, what more can He do? StudyGod's Word prayerfully. As you see the enormity of sin, asyou see yourself as you really are, do not give up in despair.It was sinners that Christ came to save. When Satan comesto tell you that you are a great sinner, look to your Redeemerand talk of His merits. Acknowledge your sin, but tell theenemy that “Christ came into the world to save sinners” andthat you may be saved (1 Timothy 1:15).

“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whosoconfesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” Proverbs28:13. The conditions of obtaining the mercy of God aresimple and just and reasonable. Confess your sins to God,who only can forgive them, and your faults to one another.Those who have not humbled their souls before God, in ac-knowledging their guilt, have not yet fulfilled the first stepof acceptance. We must be willing to humble our hearts andcomply with the conditions of the Word of truth. The con-fession that is the outpouring of the inmost soul finds itsway to the God of infinite pity. True confession is always ofa specific character, and acknowledges particular sins. Allconfession should be definite and to the point. It is written,“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive usour sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John1:9.

God’s promise is, “Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, whenye shall search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13.

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The whole heart must be yielded, or the change can never bewrought in us by which we are to be restored to His likeness.

The warfare against self is the greatest battle that wasever fought. The yielding of self, surrendering all to the willof God, requires a struggle; but the soul must submit to Godbefore it can be renewed in holiness.

In giving ourselves to God, we must necessarily give upall that would separate us from Him. There are those whoprofess to serve God while they rely upon their own effortsto obey His law, to form a right character and secure salva-tion. Their hearts are not moved by any deep sense of thelove of Christ, but they seek to perform the duties of theChristian life as that which God requires of them in order togain heaven. Such religion is worthless.

When Christ dwells in the heart, the soul will be so filledwith His love, with the joy of communion with Him, that itwill cleave to Him; and in the contemplation of Him, selfwill be forgotten. Love to Christ will be the spring of action.Such do not ask for the lowest standard, but aim at perfectconformity to the will of their Redeemer.

Do you feel that it is too great a sacrifice to yield all toChrist? Ask yourself the question, “What has Christ givenfor me?” The Son of God gave all - life and love and suffer-ing - for our redemption. And can it be that we, the unworthyobjects of so great love, will withhold our hearts from Him?What do we give up, when we give all? A sin-polluted heart,for Jesus to purify, to cleanse by His own blood, and to saveby His matchless love. And yet men think it hard to give upall! God does not require us to give up anything that it is forour best interest to retain. In all that He does, He has thewell-being of His children in view.

Many are inquiring, “How am I to make the surrender ofmyself to God?” You desire to give yourself to Him, but youare weak in moral power, in slavery to doubt, and controlledby the habits of your life of sin. Your promises and resolu-tions are like ropes of sand. You cannot control your thoughts,your impulses, your affections. The knowledge of your bro-ken promises and forfeited pledges weakens your confidence



in your own sincerity, and causes you to feel that God cannotaccept you; but you need not despair.

What you need to understand is the true force of thewill. This is the governing power in the nature of man, thepower of decision, or of choice. Everything depends on theright action of the will. The power of choice God has givento men; it is theirs to exercise. You cannot change your heart,you cannot of yourself give to God its affections; but youcan choose to serve Him. You can give Him your will; Hewill then work in you to will and to do according to His goodpleasure. Thus your whole nature will be brought under thecontrol of the Spirit of Christ; your affections will be cen-tered upon Him, your thoughts will be in harmony with Him.

Desires for goodness and holiness are right as far as theygo; but if you stop here, they will avail nothing. Many willbe lost while hoping and desiring to be Christians. They donot come to the point of yielding the will to God. They donot now choose to be Christians.

Through the right exercise of the will, an entire changemay be made in your life. You will have strength from aboveto hold you steadfast, and thus through constant surrenderto God you will be enabled to live the new life, even the lifeof faith.

As your conscience has been quickened by the HolySpirit, you have seen something of the evil of sin, of its power,its guilt, its woe; and you look upon it with abhorrence. It ispeace that you need. You have confessed your sins, and inheart put them away. You have resolved to give yourself toGod. Now go to Him, and ask that He will wash away yoursins and give you a new heart.

Then believe that He does this because He has prom-ised. The gift which God promises us, we must believe wedo receive, and it is ours. You are a sinner. You cannot atonefor your past sins; you cannot change your heart and makeyourself holy. But God promises to do all this for you throughChrist. You believe that promise. You confess your sins andgive yourself to God. You will to serve Him. Just as surelyas you do this, God will fulfill His word to you. If you be-

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lieve the promise, - God supplies the fact. Do not wait tofeel that you are made whole, but say, “I believe it; it is so,not because I feel it, but because God promised.”

– Part Two –How Can I Remain True to Christ?

Jesus says, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray,believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Mark11:24. There is a condition to this promise - that we prayaccording to the will of God. But it is the will of God tocleanse us from sin, to make us His children, and to enableus to live a holy life. So we may ask for these blessings, andbelieve that we receive them, and thank God that we havereceived them.

Henceforth you are not your own; you are bought with aprice. Through this simple act of believing God, the HolySpirit has begotten a new life in your heart. You are a childborn into the family of God, and He loves you as He lovesHis Son.

Now that you have given yourself to Jesus, do not drawback, do not take yourself away from Him, but day by daysay, “I am Christ’s; I have given myself to Him,” and askHim to give you His Spirit and keep you by His grace. As itis by giving yourself to God, and believing Him, that youbecome His child, so you are to live in Him.

Here is where thousands fail; they do not believe thatJesus pardons them personally, individually. They do not takeGod at His Word. It is the privilege of all who comply withthe conditions to know for themselves that pardon is freelyextended for every sin. Put away the suspicion that God'spromises are not meant for you. They are for every repentanttransgressor.

Look up, you that are doubting and trembling; for Jesuslives to make intercession for us. Thank God for the gift of

—Summary of Steps to Christ, pages 9 to 51, in the author'sown words.



His dear Son.“If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things

are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2Corinthians 5:17.

A person may not be able to tell the exact time or place,or trace all the chain of circumstances in this process of con-version; but this does not prove him to be unconverted. Achange will be seen in the character, the habits, the pursuits.The contrast will be clear and decided between what theyhave been and what they have become. Who has the heart?With whom are our thoughts? Of whom do we love to con-verse? Who has our warmest affections and our best ener-gies? If we are Christ's, our thoughts are with Him. There isno evidence of genuine repentance unless it works reforma-tion. The loveliness of the character of Christ will be seen inHis followers. It was His delight to do the will of God.

There are two errors against which the children of Godespecially need to guard: The first is that of looking to theirown works, trusting to anything they can do, to bring them-selves into harmony with God. All that man can do withoutChrist is polluted with selfishness and sin. It is the grace ofChrist alone, through faith, which can make us holy.

The opposite and no less dangerous error is that beliefin Christ releases men from keeping the law of God; thatsince by faith alone we become partakers of the grace ofChrist, our works have nothing to do with our redemption.

Obedience is the fruit of faith. Righteousness is definedby the standard of God's holy law, as expressed in the tencommandments (Exodus 20:3-20). That so-called faith inChrist which professes to release men from the obligation ofobedience to God, is not faith, but presumption. The condi-tion of eternal life is now just what it always has been - justwhat it was in paradise before the fall of our first parents -perfect obedience to the law of God, perfect righteousness.If eternal life were granted on any condition short of this,then the happiness of the whole universe would be imper-iled. The way would be open for sin, with all its train of woeand misery, to be immortalized.

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Christ changes the heart. He abides in your heart by faith.You are to maintain this connection with Christ by faith andthe continual surrender of your will to Him; and so long asyou do this, He will work in you to will and to do accordingto His good pleasure.

The closer you come to Jesus, the more faulty you willappear in your own eyes; for your vision will be clearer. Thisis evidence that Satan's delusions are losing their power. Nodeep-seated love for Jesus can dwell in the heart that doesnot realize its own sinfulness. The soul that is transformedby the grace of Christ will admire His character. A view ofour sinfulness drives us to Him who can pardon; and whenthe soul, realizing its helplessness, reaches out after Christ,He will reveal Himself in power. The more our sense of needdrives us to Him and to the Word of God, the more exaltedviews we shall have of His character, and the more fully weshall reflect His image.

The change of heart by which we become children ofGod is in the Bible spoken of as birth. Again it is comparedto the germination of the good seed sown by the husband-man. It is God who brings the bud to bloom and the flowerto fruit. It is by His power that the seed develops.

As the flower turns to the sun, that the bright beamsmay aid in perfecting its beauty and symmetry, so should weturn to the Sun of Righteousness, that heaven’s light mayshine upon us, that our character may be developed into thelikeness of Christ.

Do you ask, “How am I to abide in Christ?” In the sameway as you received Him at first. “As ye have therefore re-ceived Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” Colossians2:6. By faith you became Christ’s, and by faith you are togrow up in Him - by giving and taking. You are to give all, -your heart, your will, your service - give yourself to Him toobey all His requirements; and you must take all - Christ,the fullness of all blessing, to abide in your heart, to be yourstrength, your righteousness, your everlasting helper - to giveyou power to obey.

Consecrate yourself to God in the morning; make this



your very first work. Let your prayer be, “Take me, O Lord,as wholly Thine. I lay all my plans at Thy feet. Use me todayin Thy service. Abide with me, and let all my work be wroughtin Thee.” This is a daily matter. Each morning consecrateyourself to God for that day. Surrender all your plans to Him,to be carried out or given up as His providence shall indi-cate. Thus day by day you may be giving your life into thehands of God, and thus your life will be molded more andmore after the life of Christ.

A life in Christ is a life of restfulness. There may be noecstasy of feeling, but there should be an abiding, peacefultrust. When the mind dwells upon self, it is turned away fromChrist, the source of strength and life. Hence, it is Satan'sconstant effort to keep the attention diverted from the Sav-iour and thus prevent the union and communion of the soulwith Christ.

When Christ took human nature upon Him, He boundhumanity to Himself by a tie of love that can never be bro-ken by any power, save the choice of man himself. Satanwill constantly present allurements to induce us to break thistie - to choose to separate ourselves from Christ. But let uskeep our eyes fixed upon Christ, and He will preserve us.Looking unto Jesus, we are safe. Nothing can pluck us outof His hand. All that Christ was to the disciples, He desiresto be to His children today.

Jesus prayed for us, and He asked that we might be onewith Him, even as He is one with the Father. What a union isthis! Thus, loving Him and abiding in Him, we shall “growup into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.”Ephesians 4:15.

God is the source of life and light and joy to the uni-verse. Wherever the life of God is in the hearts of men, itwill flow out to others in love and blessing.

Our Saviour’s joy was in the uplifting and redemptionof fallen men. For this He counted not His life dear to Him-self, but endured the cross, despising the shame. When thelove of Christ is enshrined in the heart, like sweet fragranceit cannot be hidden. Love to Jesus will be manifested in a

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desire to work as He worked for the blessing and uplifting ofhumanity. It will lead to love, tenderness, and sympathy to-ward all the creatures of our heavenly Father's care. Thosewho are the partakers of the grace of Christ will be ready tomake any sacrifice, that others for whom He died may sharethe heavenly gift. They will do all they can to make the worldbetter for their stay in it. This spirit is the sure outgrowth ofa soul truly converted. No sooner does one come to Christthan there is born in his heart a desire to make known toothers what a precious friend he has found in Jesus. If wehave tasted and seen that the Lord is good, we shall havesomething to tell. We shall seek to present to others theattractions of Christ and the unseen realities of the world tocome. There will be an intensity of desire to follow in thepath that Jesus trod.

And the effort to bless others will react in blessings uponourselves. Those who thus become participants in labors oflove are brought nearest to their Creator. The spirit of un-selfish labor for others gives depth, stability, and Christlikeloveliness to the character, and brings peace and happinessto its possessor. Strength comes by exercise. We need not goto heathen lands, or even leave the narrow circle of the home,if it is there that our duty lies, in order to work for Christ.With a loving spirit we may perform life’s humblest duties“unto the Lord.” Colossians 3:23. If the love of God is in theheart, it will be manifested in the life. You are not to wait forgreat occasions or to expect extraordinary abilities beforeyou go to work for God. The humblest and poorest of thedisciples of Jesus can be a blessing to others.

Many are the ways in which God is seeking to makeHimself known to us and bring us into communion with Him.If we will but listen, Nature speaks to our senses withoutceasing. God's created works will teach us precious lessonsof obedience and trust.

No tears are shed that God does not notice. There is nosmile that He does not mark. If we would but fully believethis, all undue anxieties would be dismissed. Our lives wouldnot be so filled with disappointment as now; for everything,



whether great or small, would be left in the hands of God.God speaks to us through His providential works and

through the influence of His Spirit upon the heart. God speaksto us in His Word. Here we have in clearer lines the revela-tion of His character, of His dealings with men, and the greatwork of redemption. Fill the whole heart with the words ofGod. They are the living water, quenching your burning thirst.They are the living bread from heaven.

The theme of redemption is one that the angels desire tolook into; it will be the science and the song of the redeemedthroughout the ceaseless ages of eternity. Is it not worthy ofcareful thought and study now? As we meditate upon theSaviour, there will be a hungering and thirsting of soul tobecome like Him whom we adore.

The Bible was written for the common people. The greattruths necessary for salvation are made as clear as noonday.There is nothing more calculated to strengthen the intellectthan the study of the Scriptures. But there is little benefitderived from a hasty reading of the Bible. One passage stud-ied until its significance is clear to the mind and its relationto the plan of salvation is evident, is of more value than theperusal of many chapters with no definite purpose in viewand no positive instruction gained.

Keep your Bible with you. As you have opportunity, readit; fix the texts in your memory.

We cannot obtain wisdom without earnest attention andprayerful study. Never should the Bible be studied withoutprayer. Before opening its pages, we should ask for the en-lightenment of the Holy Spirit, and it will be given. Angelsfrom the world of light will be with those who in humility ofheart seek for divine guidance. How must God esteem thehuman race, since He gave His Son to die for them and ap-points His Holy Spirit to be man's teacher and continualguide!

Through nature and revelation, through His providence,and by the influence of His Spirit, God speaks to us. Butthese are not enough; we need also to pour out our hearts toHim. In order to commune with God, we must have some-

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thing to say to Him concerning our actual life.Prayer is the opening of the heart to God as to a friend.

Not that it is necessary in order to make known to God whatwe are, but in order to enable us to receive Him. Prayer doesnot bring God down to us, but brings us up to Him.

Our heavenly Father waits to bestow upon us the full-ness of His blessing. What a wonder it is that we pray solittle! God is ready and willing to hear the sincere prayer ofthe humblest of His children. What can the angels of heaventhink of poor helpless human beings, who are subject to temp-tation, when God's heart of infinite love yearns toward them,ready to give them more than they can ask or think, and yetthey pray so little and have so little faith?

The darkness of the evil one encloses those who neglectto pray. The whispered temptations of the enemy entice themto sin; and it is all because they do not make use of prayer.Yet prayer is the key in the hand of faith to unlock heaven'sstorehouse, where are treasured the boundless resources ofOmnipotence.

There are certain conditions upon which we may expectthat God will hear and answer our prayers:

One is that we feel our need of help from Him. If weregard iniquity in our hearts, if we cling to any known sin,the Lord will not hear us; but the prayer of the penitent, con-trite soul is always accepted. When all known wrongs arerighted, we may believe that God will answer our petitions.

Another element of prevailing prayer is faith. When ourprayers seem not to be answered, we are to cling to the prom-ise; for the time of answering will surely come, and we shallreceive the blessing we need most. But to claim that prayerwill always be answered in the very way and for the particu-lar thing that we desire is presumption.

When we come to God in prayer, we should have a spiritof love and forgiveness in our own hearts.

Perseverance in prayer has been made a condition of re-ceiving. We must pray always if we would grow in faith andexperience.

We should pray in the family circle, and above all we



must not neglect secret prayer, for this is the life of the soul.Family or public prayer alone is not sufficient. Secret prayeris to be heard only by the prayer-hearing God.

There is no time or place in which it is inappropriate tooffer up a petition to God. In the crowds of the street, in themidst of a business engagement, we may send up a petitionto God and plead for divine guidance.

Let the soul be drawn out and upward, that God maygrant us a breath of the heavenly atmosphere. We may keepso near to God that in every unexpected trial our thoughtswill turn to Him as naturally as the flower turns to the sun.Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, andyour fears before God. You cannot burden Him; you cannotweary Him. He is not indifferent to the wants of His chil-dren.

We sustain a loss when we neglect the privilege of asso-ciating together to strengthen and encourage one another inthe service of God. If Christians would associate together,speaking to each other of the love of God and the precioustruths of redemption, their own hearts would be refreshedand they would refresh one another.

We must gather about the cross. Christ and Him cruci-fied should be the theme of contemplation, of conversation,and of our most joyful emotion. We should keep in ourthoughts every blessing we receive from God, and when werealize His great love we should be willing to trust every-thing to the hand that was nailed to the cross for us.

The soul may ascend nearer heaven on the wings ofpraise. As we express our gratitude, we are approximatingto the worship of the heavenly hosts.

Many are at times troubled with the suggestions of skep-ticism. God never asks us to believe, without giving suffi-cient evidence upon which to base our faith. Disguise it asthey may, the real cause of doubt and skepticism, in mostcases, is the love of sin. We must have a sincere desire toknow the truth and a willingness of heart to obey it.

—Summary of Steps to Christ, pages 51 to 111, in theauthor's own words.

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Before the entrance of sin, Adam enjoyed open com-munion with his Maker; but since man separated himselffrom God by transgression, the human race has been cut offfrom this high privilege. By the plan of redemption, how-ever, a way has been opened whereby the inhabitants of theearth may still have connection with Heaven. God has com-municated with men by his Spirit, and divine light has beenimparted to the world by revelations to his chosen servants.“Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the HolyGhost.” 2 Peter 1:21.

During the first twenty-five hundred years of humanhistory, there was no written revelation. Those who had beentaught of God, communicated their knowledge to others, andit was handed down from father to son, through successivegenerations. The preparation of the written word began inthe time of Moses. Inspired revelations were then embodiedin an inspired book. This work continued during the longperiod of sixteen hundred years, from Moses, the historianof creation and the law, to John, the recorder of the mostsublime truths of the gospel.

The Bible points to God as its author; yet it was writ-ten by human hands; and in the varied style of its differentbooks it presents the characteristics of the several writers.The truths revealed are all “given by inspiration of God” (2Timothy 3:16); yet they are expressed in the words of men.The Infinite One by his Holy Spirit has shed light into theminds and hearts of his servants. He has given dreams andvisions, symbols and figures; and those to whom the truthwas thus revealed, have themselves embodied the thought inhuman language.

The ten commandments were spoken by God Himself,and were written by his own hand. They are of divine, and

IntroductionIntroductionIntroductionIntroductionIntroduction— by the Author— by the Author— by the Author— by the Author— by the Author

Author’s IntroductionAuthor’s IntroductionAuthor’s IntroductionAuthor’s IntroductionAuthor’s Introduction


not human, composition. But the Bible, with its God-giventruths expressed in the language of men, presents a union ofthe divine and the human. Such a union existed in the natureof Christ, who was the Son of God and the Son of man. Thusit is true of the Bible, as it was of Christ, that “the Word wasmade flesh, and dwelt among us.” John 1:14.

Written in different ages, by men who differed widelyin rank and occupation, and in mental and spiritual endow-ments, 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 writ-ers; often the same truth is more strikingly presented by onethan by another. And as several writers present a subject undervaried aspects and relations, there may appear, to the super-ficial, careless, or prejudiced reader, to be discrepancy orcontradiction, where the thoughtful, reverent student, withclearer insight, discerns the underlying harmony.

As presented through different individuals, the truth isbrought out in its varied aspects. One writer is more stronglyimpressed with one phase of a subject; he grasps those pointsthat harmonize with his experience or with his power of per-ception and appreciation; another seizes upon a differentphase; and each, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, pre-sents what is most forcibly impressed upon his own mind; adifferent aspect of the truth in each, but a perfect harmonythrough all. And the truths thus revealed unite to form a per-fect whole, adapted to meet the wants of men in all the cir-cumstances and experiences of life.

God has been pleased to communicate His truth to theworld by human agencies, and he himself, by his Holy Spirit,qualified men and enabled them to do this work. He guidedthe mind in the selection of what to speak and what to write.The treasure was intrusted to earthen vessels, yet it is, nonethe less, from Heaven. The testimony is conveyed throughthe imperfect expression of human language; yet it is thetestimony of God; and the obedient, believing child of Godbeholds in it the glory of a divine power, full of grace andtruth.

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In his Word, God has committed to men the knowl-edge necessary for salvation. The Holy Scriptures are to beaccepted 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 Godis also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction,for instruction which is in righteousness; that the man ofGod may be complete, furnished completely unto every goodwork.” 2 Timothy 3:16, 17, Revised Version.

Yet the fact that God has revealed his will to menthrough his Word, has not rendered needless the continuedpresence and guiding of the Holy Spirit. On the contrary, theSpirit was promised by our Saviour, to open the Word to hisservants, to illuminate and apply its teachings. And since itwas the Spirit of God that inspired the Bible, it is impossiblethat the teaching of the Spirit should ever be contrary to thatof the Word.

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

Great reproach has been cast upon the work of the HolySpirit, by the errors of a class that, claiming its enlighten-ment, profess to have no further need of guidance from theWord of God. They are governed by impressions which theyregard as the voice of God in the soul. But the spirit thatcontrols them is not the Spirit of God. This following ofimpressions, to the neglect of the Scriptures, can lead onlyto confusion, to deception and ruin. It serves only to furtherthe designs of the evil one. Since the ministry of the HolySpirit is of vital importance to the church of Christ, it is oneof the devices of Satan, through the errors of extremists andfanatics to cast contempt upon the work of the Spirit, and



cause the people of God to neglect this source of strengthwhich our Lord himself has provided.

In harmony with the Word of God, His Spirit was tocontinue its work throughout the entire period of the gospeldispensation. During the ages while the Scriptures of boththe Old and the New Testament were being given, the HolySpirit 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, menreceived warning, reproof, counsel, and instruction, in mat-ters in no way relating to the giving of the Scriptures. Andmention is made of prophets in different ages, of whose ut-terances nothing is recorded. In like manner, after the closeof the canon of Scripture, the Holy Spirit was still to con-tinue its work, to enlighten, warn, and comfort the childrenof God.

Jesus promised His disciples, “The Comforter, whichis the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name,he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to yourremembrance, 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 frombeing limited to apostolic days, extend the church of Christin all ages. The Saviour assures his followers, “I am withyou alway, even unto the end of the world.” Matthew 28:20.And Paul declares that the gifts and manifestations of theSpirit were set in the church “for the perfecting of the saints,for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body ofChrist; till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of theknowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto themeasure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians4:12, 13.

For the believers at Ephesus the apostle prayed, “Thatthe God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, maygive unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in theknowledge of him; the eyes of your understanding beingenlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his call-

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ing, and what . . . is the exceeding greatness of his power tous-ward who believe.” Ephesians 1:17-19. The ministry ofthe divine Spirit, in enlightening the understanding and open-ing to the mind the deep things of God’s holy Word, was theblessing which Paul thus besought for the Ephesian church.

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

In immediate connection with the scenes of the greatday of God, the Lord by the prophet Joel has promised aspecial manifestation of his Spirit. Joel 2: 28. This prophecyreceived a partial fulfillment in the outpouring of the Spiriton the day of Pentecost; but it will reach its full accomplish-ment in the manifestation of divine grace which will attendthe closing work of the gospel.

The great controversy between good and evil will in-crease in intensity to the very close of time. In all ages thewrath of Satan has been manifested against the church ofChrist; and God has bestowed his grace and Spirit upon hispeople to strengthen them to stand against the power of theevil one. When the apostles of Christ were to bear his gospelto the world and to record it for all future ages, they wereespecially endowed with the enlightenment of the Spirit. Butas the church approaches her final deliverance, Satan is towork with greater power. He comes down “having greatwrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”Revelation 12:12. He will work “with all power and signsand lying wonders.” 2 Thessalonians 2:9. For six thousandyears that master-mind that once was highest among the an-gels of God, has been wholly bent to the work of deceptionand ruin. And all the depths of Satanic skill and subtletyacquired, all the cruelty developed, during these struggles ofthe ages, will be brought to bear against God’s people in thefinal conflict. And in this time of peril the followers of Christ



are to bear to the world the warning of the Lord’s secondadvent; and a people are to be prepared to stand before himat His coming, “without spot, and blameless.” 2 Peter 3:14.At this time the special endowment of divine grace and poweris not less needful to the church than in apostolic days.

Through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the scenesof the long-continued conflict between good and evil havebeen opened to the writer of these pages. From time to timeI have been permitted to behold the working, in differentages, of the great controversy between Christ, the Prince oflife, 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 againstHis followers. The same hatred of the principles of God’slaw, the same policy of deception, by which error is made toappear as truth, by which human laws are substituted for thelaw of God, and men are led to worship the creature ratherthan the Creator, may be traced in all the history of the past.Satan’s efforts to misrepresent the character of God, to causemen to cherish a false conception of the Creator, and thus toregard him with fear and hate rather than with love, his en-deavors to set aside the divine law, leading the people tothink themselves free from its requirements, and his perse-cution of those who dare to resist his deceptions, have beensteadfastly pursued in all ages. They may be traced in thehistory of patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, of martyrs andreformers.

In the great final conflict, Satan will employ the samepolicy, manifest the same spirit, and work for the same end,as in all preceding ages. That which has been, will be, exceptthat the coming struggle will be marked with a terrible inten-sity such as the world has never witnessed. Satan’s decep-tions will be more subtle, his assaults more determined. If itwere possible, he would lead astray the elect. Mark 13:22,Revised Version.

As the Spirit of God has opened to my mind the greattruths of his Word, and the scenes of the past and the future,I have been bidden to make known to others what has thus

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been revealed,—to trace the history of the controversy inpast ages, and especially to so present it as to shed a light onthe fast-approaching struggle of the future. In pursuance ofthis purpose, I have endeavored to select and group togetherevents in the history of the church in such a manner as totrace the unfolding of the great testing truths that at differentperiods have been given to the world, that have excited thewrath 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 theconflict before us. Regarding them in the light of God’s Word,and by the illumination of His Spirit, we may see unveiledthe devices of the wicked one, and the dangers which theymust shun who would be found “without fault” before theLord at His coming.

The great events which have marked the progress ofreform in past ages, are matters of history, well known anduniversally acknowledged by the Protestant world; they arefacts which none can gainsay. This history I have presentedbriefly, in accordance with the scope of the book, and thebrevity which must necessarily be observed, the facts hav-ing been condensed into as little space as seemed consistentwith a proper understanding of their application. In somecases where a historian has so grouped together events as toafford, in brief, a comprehensive view of the subject, or hassummarized details in a convenient manner, his words havebeen quoted; but except in a few instances no specific credithas been given, since they are not quoted for the purpose ofciting that writer as authority, but because his statement af-fords a ready and forcible presentation of the subject. In nar-rating the experience and views of those carrying forwardthe work of reform in our own time, similar use has occa-sionally been made of their published works.

It is not so much the object of this book to present newtruths concerning the struggles of former times, as to bringout facts and principles which have a bearing upon comingevents. Yet viewed as a part of the controversy between the



—E.G.W., Healdsburg, California, May, 1888

forces of light and darkness, all these records of the past areseen to have a new significance; and through them a light iscast upon the future, illumining the pathway of those who,like the reformers of past ages, will be called, even at theperil 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 betweentruth and error; to reveal the wiles of Satan, and the meansby which he may be successfully resisted; to present a satis-factory solution of the great problem of evil, shedding sucha light upon the origin and the final disposition of sin as tofully make manifest the justice and benevolence of God inall his dealings with his creatures; and to show the holy, un-changing nature of His law, is the object of this book. Thatthrough its influence souls may be delivered from the powerof darkness and become “partakers of the inheritance of thesaints in light,” to the praise of Him who loved us, and gaveHimself for us, is the earnest prayer of the writer.

“For God so loved the world, thatHe gave His only begotten Son,that whosoever believeth in Himshould not perish, but have ever-lasting life.”

— John 3:16

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Chapter OneChapter OneChapter OneChapter OneChapter One

Like aLike aLike aLike aLike aBlazing VBlazing VBlazing VBlazing VBlazing Volcanoolcanoolcanoolcanoolcano

— The Destruction of Jerusalem— The Destruction of Jerusalem— The Destruction of Jerusalem— The Destruction of Jerusalem— The Destruction of Jerusalem———————————————————————

One of the most magnificent temples in the entire world, oneOne of the most magnificent temples in the entire world, oneOne of the most magnificent temples in the entire world, oneOne of the most magnificent temples in the entire world, oneOne of the most magnificent temples in the entire world, oneof the most beautiful cities: Here is the storof the most beautiful cities: Here is the storof the most beautiful cities: Here is the storof the most beautiful cities: Here is the storof the most beautiful cities: Here is the story of the destruction ofy of the destruction ofy of the destruction ofy of the destruction ofy of the destruction ofJerusalem in AJerusalem in AJerusalem in AJerusalem in AJerusalem in A.D. 70, by the R.D. 70, by the R.D. 70, by the R.D. 70, by the R.D. 70, by the Romans under Titus.omans under Titus.omans under Titus.omans under Titus.omans under Titus.

It was an appalling spectacle to the Roman; what was it to theJew? The whole summit of the hill overlooking the city, blazing likea volcano —

Jerusalem, the city that a RJerusalem, the city that a RJerusalem, the city that a RJerusalem, the city that a RJerusalem, the city that a Roman general tried to spare—oman general tried to spare—oman general tried to spare—oman general tried to spare—oman general tried to spare—but was burned to the ground anywaybut was burned to the ground anywaybut was burned to the ground anywaybut was burned to the ground anywaybut was burned to the ground anyway, in spite of anything men, in spite of anything men, in spite of anything men, in spite of anything men, in spite of anything mencould do to save it—because of a prophecy Jesus gave thircould do to save it—because of a prophecy Jesus gave thircould do to save it—because of a prophecy Jesus gave thircould do to save it—because of a prophecy Jesus gave thircould do to save it—because of a prophecy Jesus gave thirty-ty-ty-ty-ty-nine years earliernine years earliernine years earliernine years earliernine years earlier.....———————————————————————

“If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thyday, the things which belong unto thy peace! but nowthey are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come uponthee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, andcompass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shalllay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee;and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; be-

The Destruction of Jerusalem The Destruction of Jerusalem The Destruction of Jerusalem The Destruction of Jerusalem The Destruction of Jerusalem [17] [17] [17] [17] [17]

———————————HISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DAAAAATING OF THIS AMAZING CHAPTER—TING OF THIS AMAZING CHAPTER—TING OF THIS AMAZING CHAPTER—TING OF THIS AMAZING CHAPTER—TING OF THIS AMAZING CHAPTER—Nearly

40 years after Christ predicted these events, in A.D. 66, the Jewsrebelled against the Roman Empire. Cestus withdrew his troops inOctober A.D 67. On May 10, A.D. 70, Titus besieged the city, and itfell in August. See pages 48-49 for a map and description of thisremarkable battle.

Places named in chapters 1 through 5 are listed on the first twomaps on pages 724-725. Those mentioned in chapters 6 through 11will be found on the last two (pp. 726-727) of those four map pages.


cause thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.” Luke19:42-44.

From the crest of Olivet, Jesus looked upon Jerusa-lem. Fair and peaceful was the scene spread out beforeHim. It was the season of the Passover, and from all landsthe children of Jacob had gathered there to celebrate the greatnational festival. In the midst of gardens and vineyards, andgreen slopes studded with pilgrims’ tents, rose the terracedhills, the stately palaces, and massive bulwarks of Israel’scapital. The daughter of Zion seemed in her pride to say, “Isit a queen, and shall see no sorrow;” as lovely then, anddeeming herself as secure in Heaven’s favor, as when, agesbefore, the royal minstrel sang, “Beautiful for situation, thejoy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion,” “the city of the greatKing.” Psalm 48:2. In full view were the magnificent build-ings of the temple. The rays of the setting sun lighted up thesnowy whiteness of its marble walls, and gleamed fromgolden gate and tower and pinnacle. “The perfection ofbeauty” it stood, the pride of the Jewish nation. What childof Israel could gaze upon the scene without a thrill of joyand admiration! But far other thoughts occupied themind of Jesus. “When He was come near, He beheld thecity, and wept over it.” Luke 19:41. Amid the universalrejoicing of the triumphal entry, while palm branches waved,while glad hosannas awoke the echoes of the hills, and thou-sands of voices declared Him king, the world’s Redeemerwas overwhelmed with a sudden and mysterious sorrow. He,the Son of God, the Promised One of Israel, whose powerhad conquered death, and called its captives from the grave,was in tears, not of ordinary grief, but of intense, irrepress-ible agony.

His tears were not for Himself, though He well knewwhither His feet were tending. Before Him lay Gethse-mane, the scene of His approaching agony. The sheep gatealso was in sight, through which for centuries the victims forsacrifice had been led, and which was to open for Him whenHe should be “brought as a lamb to the slaughter.” Isaiah53:7. Not far distant was Calvary, the place of crucifixion.

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Upon the path which Christ was soon to tread must fall thehorror of great darkness as He should make His soul an of-fering for sin. Yet it was not the contemplation of these scenesthat cast the shadow upon Him in this hour of gladness. Noforeboding of His own superhuman anguish clouded that un-selfish spirit. He wept for the doomed thousands of Jerusa-lem—because of the blindness and impenitence of thosewhom He came to bless and to save.

The history of more than a thousand years of God’sspecial favor and guardian care, manifested to the cho-sen people, was open to the eye of Jesus. There was MountMoriah, where the son of promise, an unresisting victim, hadbeen bound to the altar,—emblem of the offering of the Sonof God. Genesis 22:9. There, the covenant of blessing, theglorious Messianic promise, had been confirmed to the fa-ther of the faithful. Genesis 22:16-18. There the flames ofthe sacrifice ascending to heaven from the threshing-floor ofOrnan had turned aside the sword of the destroying angel (1Chronicles 21)—a fitting symbol of the Saviour’s sacrificeand mediation for guilty men. Jerusalem had been honoredof God above all the earth. The Lord had “chosen Zion,” hehad “desired it for His habitation.” Psalm 132:13. There,for ages, holy prophets had uttered their messages of warn-ing. There, priests had waved their censers, and the cloud ofincense, with the prayers of the worshipers, had ascendedbefore God. There daily the blood of slain lambs had beenoffered, pointing forward to the Lamb of God. There, Jeho-vah had revealed his presence in the cloud of glory above themercy-seat. There rested the base of that mystic ladder con-necting earth with Heaven, (Genesis 28:12; John 1:51)—that ladder upon which angels of God descended and as-cended, and which opened to the world the way into the ho-liest of all. Had Israel as a nation preserved her allegiance toHeaven, Jerusalem would have stood forever, the elect ofGod. Jeremiah 17:21-25. But the history of that favoredpeople was a record of backsliding and rebellion. They hadresisted Heaven’s grace, abused their privileges, and slightedtheir opportunities.

The Destruction of Jerusalem The Destruction of Jerusalem The Destruction of Jerusalem The Destruction of Jerusalem The Destruction of Jerusalem [17-19] [17-19] [17-19] [17-19] [17-19]


Although Israel had “mocked the messengers of God,and despised his words, and misused His prophets,” (2Chronicles 36:15, 16) He had still manifested Himself tothem, as “the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffer-ing, and abundant in goodness and truth” (Exodus 34:6) not-withstanding repeated rejections, His mercy had continuedits pleadings. With more than a father’s pitying love for theson of His care, God had “sent to them by His messengers,rising up betimes, and sending; because He had compassionon His people, and on his dwelling-place.” 2 Chronicles36:15, 16. When remonstrance, entreaty, and rebuke hadfailed, He sent to them the best gift of Heaven; nay, Hepoured out all Heaven in that one gift.

The Son of God Himself was sent to plead with theimpenitent city. It was Christ that had brought Israel as agoodly vine out of Egypt. Psalm 80:8. His own hand hadcast out the heathen before it. He had planted it “in a veryfruitful hill.” Isaiah 5:1-4. His guardian care had hedged itabout. His servants had been sent to nurture it. “What couldhave been done more to My vineyard,” He exclaims, “that Ihave not done in it?” Isaiah 5:1-4. Though when He “lookedthat it should bring forth grapes, it brought forth wild grapes,”(Isaiah 5:1-4) yet with a still yearning hope of fruitfulnessHe came in person to His vineyard, if haply it might be savedfrom destruction. He digged about His vine; He pruned andcherished it. He was unwearied in His efforts to save thisvine of His own planting.

For three years the Lord of light and glory had gone inand out among His people. “He went about doing good,”“healing all that were oppressed of the devil,” (Acts 10:38;Luke 4:18; Matthew 11:5) binding up the broken-hearted,setting at liberty them that were bound, restoring sight to theblind, causing the lame to walk and deaf to hear, cleansingthe lepers, raising the dead, and preaching the gospel to thepoor. Acts 10:38; Luke 4:18; Matthew 11:5. To all classesalike was addressed the gracious call, “Come unto me, all yethat labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”Matthew 11:28.

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Though rewarded with evil for good, and hatred for hislove, (Psalm 109:5) He had steadfastly pursued His missionof mercy. Never were those repelled that sought His grace. Ahomeless wanderer, reproach and penury His daily lot, Helived to minister to the needs and lighten the woes of men, toplead with them to accept the gift of life. The waves of mercy,beaten back by those stubborn hearts, returned in a strongertide of pitying, inexpressible love. But Israel had turnedfrom her best friend and only helper. The pleadings ofHis love had been despised, His counsels spurned, Hiswarnings ridiculed.

The hour of hope and pardon was fast passing; thecup of God’s long-deferred wrath was almost full. Thecloud that had been gathering through ages of apostasy andrebellion, now black with woe, was about to burst upon aguilty people, and He who alone could save them from theirimpending fate had been slighted, abused, rejected, and wassoon to be crucified. When Christ should hang upon the crossof Calvary, Israel’s day as a nation favored and blessed ofGod would be ended. The loss of even one soul is a calam-ity, infinitely outweighing the gains and treasures of aworld; but as Christ looked upon Jerusalem, the doomof a whole city, a whole nation, was before Him; thatcity, that nation which had once been the chosen ofGod,—His peculiar treasure.

Prophets had wept over the apostasy of Israel, and theterrible desolations by which their sins were visited. Jeremiahwished that his eyes were a fountain of tears, that he mightweep day and night for the slain of the daughter of his people,for the Lord’s flock that was carried away captive. Jeremiah9:1; 13:17. What, then, was the grief of Him whose pro-phetic glance took in, not years, but ages! He beheld thedestroying angel with sword uplifted against the city whichhad so long been Jehovah’s dwelling-place. From the ridgeof Olivet, the very spot afterward occupied by Titus and hisarmy, He looked across the valley upon the sacred courtsand porticoes, and with tear-dimmed eyes he saw, in awfulperspective, the walls surrounded by alien hosts. He heard



the tread of armies marshaling for war. He heard the voice ofmothers and children crying for bread in the besieged city.He saw her holy and beautiful house, her palaces and tow-ers, given to the flames, and where once they stood, only aheap of smouldering ruins.

Looking down the ages, He saw the covenant peoplescattered in every land, “like wrecks on a desert shore.” Inthe temporal retribution about to fall upon her children, Hesaw but the first draught from that cup of wrath which at thefinal Judgment she must drain to its dregs. Divine pity, yearn-ing love, found utterance in the mournful words: “ ‘O Jerusa-lem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonestthem which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gath-ered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chick-ens under her wings, and ye would not!’ Matthew 23:37.Oh that thou, a nation favored above every other, hadst knownthe time of thy visitation, and the things that belong unto thypeace! I have stayed the angel of justice, I have called thee torepentance, but in vain. It is not merely servants, delegates,and prophets, whom thou hast refused and rejected, but theHoly One of Israel, thy Redeemer. If thou art destroyed, thoualone art responsible. ‘Ye will not come to me, that ye mighthave life.’ ” John 5:40.

Christ saw in Jerusalem a symbol of the world hard-ened in unbelief and rebellion, and hastening on to meetthe retributive judgments of God. The woes of a fallenrace, pressing upon His soul, forced from His lips that ex-ceeding bitter cry. He saw the record of sin traced in humanmisery, tears, and blood; His heart was moved with infinitepity for the afflicted and suffering ones of earth; He yearnedto relieve them all. But even His hand might not turn backthe tide of human woe; few would seek their only source ofhelp. He was willing to pour out His soul unto death, to bringsalvation within their reach; but few would come to Himthat they might have life.

The Majesty of Heaven in tears! The Son of the infi-nite God troubled in spirit, bowed down with anguish!The scene filled all Heaven with wonder. That scene re-

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veals to us the exceeding sinfulness of sin; it shows howhard a task it is, even for infinite power, to save the guiltyfrom the consequences of transgressing the law of God.Jesus, looking down to the last generation, saw the worldinvolved in a deception similar to that which caused thedestruction of Jerusalem. The great sin of the Jews wastheir rejection of Christ; the great sin of the Christianworld would be their rejection of the law of God, thefoundation of His government in Heaven and earth. Theprecepts of Jehovah would be despised and set at naught.Millions in bondage to sin, slaves of Satan, doomed to suf-fer the second death, would refuse to listen to the words oftruth in their day of visitation. Terrible blindness! Strangeinfatuation!

Two days before the Passover, when Christ had forthe last time departed from the temple, after denounc-ing the hypocrisy of the Jewish rulers, He again wentout with His disciples to the Mount of Olives, and seatedHimself with them upon a grassy slope overlooking thecity. Once more He gazed upon its walls, its towers, and itspalaces. Once more He beheld the temple in its dazzlingsplendor, a diadem of beauty crowning the sacred mount.

A thousand years before, the psalmist had magni-fied God’s favor to Israel in making her holy house Hisdwelling-place: “In Salem also is His tabernacle, and Hisdwelling-place in Zion.” Psalm 76:2. He “chose the tribe ofJudah, the Mount Zion which He loved. And He built Hissanctuary like high palaces.” Psalm 78:68, 69. The firsttemple had been erected during the most prosperous periodof Israel’s history. Vast stores of treasure for this purposehad been collected by King David, and the plans for its con-struction were made by divine inspiration. 1 Chronicles28:12, 19. Solomon, the wisest of Israel’s monarchs, hadcompleted the work. This temple was the most magnificentbuilding which the world ever saw. Yet the Lord had declaredby the prophet Haggai, concerning the second temple, “Theglory 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 ofhosts.” Haggai 2:9.7.

After the destruction of the temple by Nebuchad-nezzar, it was rebuilt about five hundred years beforethe birth of Christ, by a people who from a life-long cap-tivity had returned to a wasted and almost deserted country.There were then among them aged men who had seen theglory of Solomon’s temple, and who wept at the foundationof 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 compari-son of it as nothing?” Haggai 2:3. Then was given the prom-ise that the glory of this latter house should be greater thanthat of the former.

But the second temple had not equaled the first in mag-nificence; nor was it hallowed by those visible tokens of thedivine presence which pertained to the first temple. Therewas no manifestation of supernatural power to mark its dedi-cation. No cloud of glory was seen to fill the newly erectedsanctuary. No fire from Heaven descended to consume thesacrifice upon its altar. The Shekinah no longer abode be-tween the cherubim in the most holy place; the ark, the mercy-seat, and the tables of the testimony were not to be foundtherein. No voice sounded from Heaven to make known tothe inquiring priest the will of Jehovah.

For centuries the Jews had vainly endeavored to showwherein the promise of God, given by Haggai, had been ful-filled; yet pride and unbelief blinded their minds to the truemeaning of the prophet’s words. The second temple wasnot honored with the cloud of Jehovah’s glory, but withthe living presence of One in whom dwelt the fullness ofthe Godhead bodily,—who was God himself manifest inthe flesh. The “Desire of all nations” had indeed come toHis temple when the Man of Nazareth taught and healed inthe sacred courts. In the presence of Christ, and in this only,did the second temple exceed the first in glory. But Israelhad put from her the proffered gift of Heaven. With the

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humble Teacher who had that day passed out from its goldengate, the glory had forever departed from the temple. Al-ready were the Saviour’s words fulfilled, “Your house is leftunto you desolate.” Matthew 23:38.

The disciples had been filled with awe and wonderat Christ’s prediction of the overthrow of the temple, andthey desired to understand more fully the meaning ofHis words. Wealth, labor, and architectural skill had for morethan forty years been freely expended to enhance its splen-dors. Herod the Great had lavished upon it both Romanwealth and Jewish treasure, and even the emperor of the worldhad enriched it with his gifts. Massive blocks of white marble,of almost fabulous size, forwarded from Rome for this pur-pose, formed a part of its structure; and to these the dis-ciples had called the attention of their Master, saying, “Seewhat manner of stones and what buildings are here!” Mark13:1.

To these words, Jesus made the solemn and startlingreply, “Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left hereone stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”Matthew 24:2.

With the overthrow of Jerusalem the disciples associ-ated the events of Christ’s personal coming in temporal gloryto take the throne of universal empire, to punish the impeni-tent 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, theirminds reverted to that coming, and as they were gatheredabout the Saviour upon the Mount of Olives, they asked,“When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign ofthy coming, and of the end of the world?” Matthew 24:3.

The future was mercifully veiled from the disciples. Hadthey at that time fully comprehended the two awful facts,—the Redeemer’s sufferings and death and the destruction oftheir city and temple,—they would have been overwhelmedwith horror. Christ presented before them an outline ofthe prominent events to take place before the close oftime. His words were not then fully understood; but their



meaning was to be unfolded as His people should needthe instruction therein given. The prophecy which Heuttered was twofold in its meaning: while foreshadow-ing the destruction of Jerusalem, it prefigured also theterrors of the last great day.

Jesus declared to the listening disciples the judgmentsthat were to fall upon apostate Israel, and especially the re-tributive vengeance that would come upon them for theirrejection and crucifixion of the Messiah. Unmistakable signswould precede the awful climax. The dreaded hour wouldcome suddenly and swiftly. And the Saviour warned His fol-lowers: “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of deso-lation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holyplace (whoso readeth, let him understand), then let themwhich be in Judea flee into the mountains.” Matthew 24:15,16; Luke 21:20. When the idolatrous standards of theRomans should be set up in the holy ground, which ex-tended some furlongs outside the city walls, then the fol-lowers of Christ were to find safety in flight. When thewarning sign should be seen, those who would escape mustmake no delay. Throughout the land of Judea, as well as inJerusalem itself, the signal for flight must be immediatelyobeyed. He who chanced to be upon the housetop must notgo down into his house, even to save his most valued trea-sures. Those who were working in the fields or vineyardsmust not take time to return for the outer garment laid asidewhile they should be toiling in the heat of the day. They mustnot hesitate a moment, lest they be involved in the generaldestruction.

In the reign of Herod, Jerusalem had not only been greatlybeautified, but by the erection of towers, walls, and fortresses,adding to the natural strength of its situation, it had beenrendered apparently impregnable. He who would at this timehave foretold publicly its destruction, would, like Noah inhis day, have been called a crazed alarmist. But Christ hadsaid, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shallnot pass away.” Matthew 24:35. Because of her sins, wrathhad been denounced against Jerusalem, and her stubborn un-

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belief 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 thehouse 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 thereofteach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money;yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lordamong us? none evil can come upon us.” Micah 3:9-11.

These words faithfully described the corrupt and self-righteous inhabitants of Jerusalem. While claiming to rig-idly observe the precepts of God’s law, they were trans-gressing all its principles. They hated Christ because Hispurity and holiness revealed their iniquity; and they ac-cused Him of being the cause of all the troubles whichhad come upon them in consequence of their sins. Thoughthey knew Him to be sinless, they had declared that His deathwas necessary to their safety as a nation. “If we let Him thusalone,” said the Jewish leaders, “all men will believe on Him;and the Romans shall come and take away both our placeand nation.” John 11:48. If Christ were sacrificed, they mightonce more become a strong, united people. Thus they rea-soned, and they concurred in the decision of their high priest,that it would be better for one man to die than for the wholenation to perish.

Thus the Jewish leaders had “built up Zion with blood,and Jerusalem with iniquity.” And yet, while they slew theirSaviour because He reproved their sins, such was their self-righteousness that they regarded themselves as God’s favoredpeople, and expected the Lord to deliver them from theirenemies. “Therefore,” continued the prophet, “shall Zion foryour sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall becomeheaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places ofthe forest.” Micah 3:12.

For forty years after the doom of Jerusalem had beenpronounced by Christ Himself, the Lord delayed Hisjudgments upon the city and the nation. Wonderful wasthe long-suffering of God toward the rejecters of His gospel



and the murderers of His Son. The parable of the unfruitfultree represented God’s dealings with the Jewish nation. Thecommand had gone forth, “Cut it down; why cumberethit the ground?” (Luke 13:7) but divine mercy had sparedit yet a little longer. There were still many among the Jewswho were ignorant of the character and the work of Christ.And the children had not enjoyed the opportunities or re-ceived the light which their parents had spurned. Throughthe preaching of the apostles and their associates, God wouldcause light to shine upon them; they would be permitted tosee how prophecy had been fulfilled, not only in the birthand life of Christ, but in His death and resurrection. Thechildren were not condemned for the sins of the parents;but when, with a knowledge of all the light given to theirparents, the children rejected the additional light grantedto themselves, they became partakers of the parents’ sins,and filled up the measure of their iniquity.

The long-suffering of God toward Jerusalem onlyconfirmed the Jews in their stubborn impenitence. In theirhatred and cruelty toward the disciples of Jesus, they rejectedthe last offer of mercy. Then God withdrew His protectionfrom them, and removed His restraining power from Satanand His angels, and the nation was left to the control of theleader she had chosen. Her children had spurned the grace ofChrist, which would have enabled them to subdue their evilimpulses, and now these became the conquerors. Satanaroused the fiercest and most debased passions of the soul.Men did not reason; they were beyond reason,—controlledby impulse and blind rage. They became satanic in their cru-elty. In the family and in the nation, among the highest andthe lowest classes alike, there was suspicion, envy, hatred,strife, rebellion, murder. There was no safety anywhere.Friends and kindred betrayed one another. Parents slew theirchildren, and children their parents. The rulers of the peoplehad no power to rule themselves. Uncontrolled passions madethem tyrants. The Jews had accepted false testimony to con-demn the innocent Son of God. Now false accusations madetheir own lives uncertain. By their actions they had long

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been saying, “Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease frombefore us.” Isaiah 30:11. Now their desire was granted.The fear of God no longer disturbed them. Satan was atthe head of the nation, and the highest civil and religiousauthorities were under his sway.

The leaders of the opposing factions at times united toplunder and torture their wretched victims, and again theyfell upon each other’s forces, and slaughtered without mercy.Even the sanctity of the temple could not restrain their hor-rible ferocity. The worshipers were stricken down before thealtar, and the sanctuary was polluted with the bodies of theslain. Yet in their blind and blasphemous presumptionthe instigators of this hellish work publicly declared thatthey had no fear that Jerusalem would be destroyed, forit was God’s own city. To establish their power more firmly,they bribed false prophets to proclaim, even while Romanlegions were besieging the temple, that the people were towait for deliverance from God. To the last, multitudes heldfast to the belief that the Most High would interpose for thedefeat of their adversaries. But Israel had spurned the divineprotection, and now she had no defense. Unhappy Jerusa-lem! rent by internal dissensions, the blood of her childrenslain by one another’s hands crimsoning her streets, whilealien armies beat down her fortifications and slew her menof war!

All the predictions given by Christ concerning thedestruction of Jerusalem were fulfilled to the letter. TheJews experienced the truth of His words of warning, “Withwhat measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”Matthew 7:2.

Signs and wonders appeared, foreboding disasterand doom. In the midst of the night an unnatural light shoneover the temple and the altar. Upon the clouds at sunset werepictured chariots and men of war gathering for battle. Thepriests ministering by night in the sanctuary were terrifiedby mysterious sounds; the earth trembled, and a multitudeof voices were heard crying, “Let us depart hence.” The greateastern gate, which was so heavy that it could hardly be shut



by a score of men, and which was secured by immense barsof iron fastened deep in the pavement of solid stone, openedat midnight, without visible agency.

For seven years a man continued to go up and down thestreets of Jerusalem, declaring the woes that were to comeupon the city. By day and by night he chanted the wild dirge,“A voice from the east; a voice from the west; a voice fromthe four winds; a voice against Jerusalem and the temple; avoice against the bridegroom and the bride; and a voiceagainst all the people.” This strange being was imprisonedand scourged; but no complaint escaped his lips. To insultand abuse he answered only, “Woe to Jerusalem! woe, woeto the inhabitants thereof!” His warning cry ceased not untilhe was slain in the siege he had foretold.

Not one Christian perished in the destruction of Jeru-salem. Christ had given His disciples warning, and allwho believed His words watched for the promised sign.“When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies,” saidJesus, “then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Thenlet them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and letthem which are in the midst of it depart out.” Luke 21:20,21. After the Romans under Cestius had surrounded the city,they unexpectedly abandoned the siege when everythingseemed favorable for an immediate attack. The besieged, de-spairing of successful resistance, were on the point of sur-render, when the Roman general withdrew his forces, with-out the least apparent reason. But God’s merciful providencewas directing events for the good of His own people. Thepromised sign had been given to the waiting Christians, andnow an opportunity was afforded for all who would to obeythe Saviour’s warning. Events were so overruled that neitherJews nor Romans should hinder the flight of the Christians.Upon the retreat of Cestius, the Jews, sallying from Jerusa-lem, pursued after his retiring army, and while both forceswere thus fully engaged, the Christians had an opportunityto leave the city. At this time the country also had been clearedof enemies who might have endeavored to intercept them.At the time of the siege, the Jews were assembled at

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Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Tabernacles, and thus theChristians throughout the land were able to make theirescape unmolested. Without delay they fled to a place ofsafety,—the city of Pella, in the land of Perea, beyond Jor-dan.

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

Terrible were the calamities that fell upon Jerusa-lem when the siege was resumed by Titus. The city wasinvested at the time of the Passover, when millions of Jewswere assembled within its walls. Their stores of provision,which if carefully preserved would have supplied the inhab-itants for years, had previously been destroyed through thejealousy and revenge of the contending factions, and now allthe horrors of starvation were experienced. A measure ofwheat was sold for a talent. So fierce were the pangs of hun-ger that men would gnaw the leather of their belts and san-dals and the covering of their shields. Great numbers of thepeople would steal out at night to gather wild plants grow-ing outside the city walls, though many were seized and putto death with cruel torture, and often those who returned insafety 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 sup-plies which they might have concealed. And these crueltieswere not infrequently practiced by men who were themselveswell fed, and who were merely desirous of laying up a storeof provision for the future.

Thousands perished from famine and pestilence. Nat-ural affection seemed to have been destroyed. Husbandsrobbed their wives, and wives their husbands. Children would



be seen snatching the food from the mouths of their agedparents. The question of the prophet, “Can a woman forgether sucking child?” (Isaiah 49:15) received the answer withinthe walls of that doomed city, “The hands of the pitiful womenhave sodden their own children; they were their meat in thedestruction of the daughter of My people.” Lamentations4:10. Again was fulfilled the warning prophecy given four-teen centuries before: “The tender and delicate woman amongyou, which would not adventure to set the sole of her footupon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shallbe evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward herson, and toward her daughter; . . . and toward her childrenwhich she shall bear; for she shall eat them for want of allthings secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thineenemy shall distress thee in thy gates.” Deuteronomy 28:56,57.

The Roman leaders endeavored to strike terror tothe Jews, and thus cause them to surrender. Those pris-oners who resisted when taken, were scourged, tortured, andcrucified before the wall of the city. Hundreds were daily putto death in this manner, and the dreadful work continueduntil, along the valley of Jehoshaphat and at Calvary, crosseswere erected in so great numbers that there was scarcely roomto move among them. So terribly was visited that awful im-precation uttered before the judgment-seat of Pilate: “Hisblood be on us, and on our children.” Matthew 27:25.

Titus would willingly have put an end to the fearfulscene, and thus have spared Jerusalem the full measureof her doom. He was filled with horror as he saw the bodiesof the dead lying in heaps in the valleys. Like one entranced,he looked from the crest of Olivet upon the magnificenttemple, and gave command that not one stone of it be touched.Before attempting to gain possession of this stronghold, hemade an earnest appeal to the Jewish leaders not to forcehim to defile the sacred place with blood. If they would comeforth and fight in any other place, no Roman should violatethe sanctity of the temple. Josephus himself, in a most elo-quent appeal, entreated them to surrender, to save themselves,

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their city, and their place of worship. But his words wereanswered with bitter curses. Darts were hurled at him, theirlast human mediator, as he stood pleading with them. TheJews had rejected the entreaties of the Son of God, and nowexpostulation and entreaty only made them more determinedto resist to the last. In vain were the efforts of Titus tosave the temple; One greater than he had declared thatnot one stone was to be left upon another.

The blind obstinacy of the Jewish leaders, and the de-testable crimes perpetrated within the besieged city, excitedthe horror and indignation of the Romans, and Titus at lastdecided to take the temple by storm. He determined,however, that if possible it should be saved from destruc-tion. But his commands were disregarded. After he hadretired to his tent at night, the Jews, sallying from the temple,attacked the soldiers without. In the struggle, a firebrand wasflung by a soldier through an opening in the porch, and im-mediately the cedar-lined chambers about the holy house werein a blaze. Titus rushed to the place, followed by his gener-als and legionnaires, and commanded the soldiers to quenchthe flames. His words were unheeded. In their fury the sol-diers hurled blazing brands into the chambers adjoining thetemple, and then with their swords they slaughtered in greatnumbers those who had found shelter there. Blood floweddown the temple steps like water. Thousands upon thousandsof Jews perished. Above the sound of battle, voices wereheard shouting, “Ichabod!”—the glory is departed.

Titus found it impossible to check the rage of the sol-diery; he entered with his officers, and surveyed the in-terior of the sacred edifice. The splendor filled them withwonder; and as the flames had not yet penetrated to the holyplace, he made a last effort to save it, and springing forth,again exhorted the soldiers to stay the progress of the con-flagration. The centurion Liberalis endeavored to enforce obe-dience with his staff of office; but even respect for the em-peror gave way to the furious animosity against the Jews, tothe fierce excitement of battle, and to the insatiable hope ofplunder. The soldiers saw everything around them radiant


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CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: REBELLION AND CAPTURE: REBELLION AND CAPTURE: REBELLION AND CAPTURE: REBELLION AND CAPTURE: REBELLION AND CAPTURE

In A.D. 66, when Florus (the Roman procurator of Judea) made mistakes,the Jews appealed to Agrippa (who earlier had listened to Paul in Acts 26:28)—and were told to forget it. It was August, 66. They threw stones at him as he leftthe city; and, for the next four years, Jerusalem was to know no peace.

Some of the Jews immediately seized parts of Jerusalem, and fightingbroke out among them. The Roman garrison, in the Fortress Antonia (next to theTemple Mount), was slaughtered. Ananias the high priest and his brother, de-scendants of the Annas who condemned Christ, were slain by Jewish factions,who then turned on one another.

Retaliating, Florus slew 20,000 Jews in Caesarea. Jews then attacked cit-ies throughout Judea. Finally, the dilatory Cestius Gallus, legate of Syria, de-cided to do something. Heading south with 30,000 troops, he burnt Joppa andthen surrounded Jerusalem. Just as the Jewish moderates were about to handover the city, he unexpectedly withdrew. Encouraged, the Jews set off in pursuit,and Cestius lost much equipment, all his siege engines, and nearly 6,000 sol-diers. “Running and singing,” the Jews returned to Jerusalem and to a terriblefate. It was the end of October, A.D. 67.

February 68, Nero appointed his best general, Vespasian, to command theRoman armies. Heading south toward Jerusalem, he quickly took Jotapata, Joppaagain, and all of Galilee, and sold 30,000 Jews into slavery. At the Jordan, heslew 15,000 Jews,—but then on June 9, Vespasian learned that Nero had com-mitted suicide. Hurrying to Rome, he became enmeshed in battles for the emper-orship, which he won in October, A.D. 69.

By that time, all Judea, except Jerusalem, was under the control of Titus,his thirty-year-old son who was now general of the armies. On May 10, A.D. 70,with 65,000 men, Titus arrived at the gates of Jerusalem. Every type of horrorwas experienced within its walls before Titus gained control, 139 days later.

Yet 39 years before, Christ had foretold this suffering and destruction. Hehad warned His followers to keep the Sabbath faithfully (Matthew 24:20) andflee when the Roman armies had arrived (verse 16). This they did, when Cestiuswithdrew from the city in October, A.D. 67.

Jerusalem itself had been divided into three sectors, each under its ownrebel force, and each fighting the others. With the help of battering rams, banks,75-foot towers, and hurling machines, the Romans took the Fortress Antonia bythe end of July, and the Temple in August.

Three more weeks, and all Jeruslalem was burned to the ground. Not know-ing Christ’s prediction, Titus ordered that the city be leveled flat. Not one stonewas left upon another. Over 1,100,000 Jews died during the siege. Most of thoseremaining were sold into slavery. The Temple treasures were taken to Rome.

The Destruction of JerusalemThe Destruction of JerusalemThe Destruction of JerusalemThe Destruction of JerusalemThe Destruction of Jerusalem


with gold, which shone dazzlingly in the wild light of theflames; they supposed that incalculable treasures were laidup in the sanctuary. A soldier, unperceived, thrust a lightedtorch between the hinges of the door; the whole building wasin flames in an instant. The blinding smoke and fire forcedthe officers to retreat, and the noble edifice was left to itsfate.

“It was an appalling spectacle to the Roman; whatwas it to the Jew? The whole summit of the hill whichcommanded the city blazed like a volcano. One afteranother the buildings fell in, with a tremendous crash,and were swallowed up in the fiery abyss. The roofs ofcedar were like sheets of flame; the gilded pinnacles shonelike spikes of red light; the gate towers sent up tall columnsof flame and smoke. The neighboring hills were lighted up;and dark groups of people were seen watching in horribleanxiety the progress of the destruction; the walls and heightsof the upper city were crowded with faces, some pale withthe agony of despair, others scowling unavailing vengeance.The shouts of the Roman soldiery as they ran to and fro, andthe howlings of the insurgents who were perishing in theflames, mingled with the roaring of the conflagration andthe thundering sound of falling timbers. The echoes of themountains replied or brought back the shrieks of the peopleon the heights; all along the walls resounded screams andwailings; men who were expiring with famine rallied theirremaining strength to utter a cry of anguish and desolation.

“The slaughter within was even more dreadful thanthe spectacle from without. Men and women, old and young,insurgents and priests, those who fought and those who en-treated mercy, were hewn down in indiscriminate carnage.The number of the slain exceeded that of the slayers. Thelegionnaires had to clamber over heaps of dead to carry onthe work of extermination.”

After the destruction of the temple, the whole citysoon fell into the hands of the Romans. The leaders of theJews forsook their impregnable towers, and Titus found themsolitary. He gazed upon them with amazement, and declared

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that God had given them into his hands; for no engines, how-ever powerful, could have prevailed against those stupen-dous battlements. Both the city and the temple were razed totheir foundations, and the ground upon which the holy househad stood was “plowed like a field.” Jeremiah 26:18. In thesiege and the slaughter that followed, more than a mil-lion of the people perished; the survivors were carriedaway as captives, sold as slaves, dragged to Rome to gracethe conqueror’s triumph, thrown to wild beasts in the am-phitheaters, or scattered as homeless wanderers throughoutthe earth.

The Jews had forged their own fetters; they had filledfor themselves the cup of vengeance. In the utter destruc-tion that befell them as a nation, and in all the woes thatfollowed them in their dispersion, they were but reaping theharvest which their own hands had sown. Says the prophet,“O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself;” “for thou hast fallenby thine iniquity.” Hosea 13:9; 14:1. Their sufferings areoften represented as a punishment visited upon them by thedirect decree of God. It is thus that the great deceiver seeksto conceal his own work. By stubborn rejection of divinelove and mercy, the Jews had caused the protection ofGod to be withdrawn from them, and Satan was permit-ted to rule them according to his will. The horrible cru-elties enacted in the destruction of Jerusalem are a dem-onstration of Satan’s vindictive power over those whoyield to his control.

We cannot know how much we owe to Christ for thepeace and protection which we enjoy. It is the restrain-ing power of God that prevents mankind from passingfully under the control of Satan. The disobedient andunthankful have great reason for gratitude for God’s mercyand long-suffering in holding in check the cruel, malignantpower of the evil one. But when men pass the limits of di-vine forbearance, that restraint is removed. God does notstand toward the sinner as an executioner of the sentenceagainst transgression; but He leaves the rejecters of His mercyto themselves, to reap that which they have sown. Every ray



of light rejected, every warning despised or unheeded, everypassion indulged, every transgression of the law of God, is aseed sown, which yields its unfailing harvest. The Spirit ofGod, persistently resisted, is at last withdrawn from thesinner, and then there is left no power to control the evilpassions of the soul, and no protection from the maliceand enmity of Satan. The destruction of Jerusalem is afearful and solemn warning to all who are trifling withthe offers of divine grace, and resisting the pleadings ofdivine mercy. Never was there given a more decisive testi-mony to God’s hatred of sin, and to the certain punishmentthat will fall upon the guilty.

The Saviour’s prophecy concerning the visitation ofjudgments upon Jerusalem is to have another fulfillment,of which that terrible desolation was but a faint shadow.In the fate of the chosen city we may behold the doom ofa world that has rejected God’s mercy and trampledupon His law. Dark are the records of human misery thatearth has witnessed during its long centuries of crime. Theheart sickens and the mind grows faint in contemplation. Ter-rible have been the results of rejecting the authority ofHeaven. But a scene yet darker is presented in the revela-tions of the future. The records of the past,—the long pro-cession of tumults, conflicts, and revolutions, the “battle ofthe warrior, with confused noise, and garments rolled inblood,” (Isaiah 9:5)—what are these, in contrast with theterrors of that day when the restraining Spirit of God shallbe wholly withdrawn from the wicked, no longer to hold incheck the outburst of human passion and Satanic wrath! Theworld will then behold, as never before, the results of Satan’srule.

But in that day, as in the time of Jerusalem’s destruc-tion, God’s people will be delivered, “every one that shallbe found written among the living.” Christ has declared thatHe will come the second time, to gather His faithful ones toHimself: “Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, andthey shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heavenwith power and great glory. And He shall send His angels

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with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather to-gether His elect from the four winds, from one end of heavento the other.” Matthew 24:30, 31. Then shall they that obeynot the gospel be consumed with the spirit of His mouth,and be destroyed with the brightness of His coming. 2 Thessa-lonians 2:8. Like Israel of old, the wicked destroy them-selves; they fall by their iniquity. By a life of sin, theyhave placed themselves so out of harmony with God, theirnatures have become so debased with evil, that the manifes-tation of His glory is to them a consuming fire.

Let men beware lest they neglect the lesson conveyed tothem in the words of Christ. As He warned His disciples ofJerusalem’s destruction, giving them a sign of the ap-proaching ruin, that they might make their escape, soHe has warned the world of the day of final destruction,and has given them tokens of its approach, that all whowill may flee from the wrath to come. Jesus declares,“There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in thestars; and upon the earth distress of nations.” Luke 21:25;Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24-26; Revelation 6:12-17. Thosewho behold these harbingers of His coming are to “knowthat it is near, even at the doors.” Matthew 24:33. “Watchye therefore,” (Mark 13:35) are His words of admonition.They that heed the warning shall not be left in darkness, thatthat day should overtake them unawares. But to them thatwill not watch, “the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief inthe night.” 1 Thessalonians 5:2-5.

The world is no more ready to credit the messagefor this time than were the Jews to receive the Saviour’swarning concerning Jerusalem. Come when it may, theday of God will come unawares to the ungodly. When lifeis going on in its unvarying round; when men are absorbedin pleasure, in business, in traffic, in money-making; whenreligious leaders are magnifying the world’s progress andenlightenment, and the people are lulled in a false security,—then, as the midnight thief steals within the unguarded dwell-ing, so shall sudden destruction come upon the careless andungodly, “and they shall not escape.” 1 Thess 5:2-5.



Chapter TwoChapter TwoChapter TwoChapter TwoChapter Two

WhiterWhiterWhiterWhiterWhiterThan SnowThan SnowThan SnowThan SnowThan Snow

— Persecution in the First Centuries— Persecution in the First Centuries— Persecution in the First Centuries— Persecution in the First Centuries— Persecution in the First Centuries———————————————————————

Seated on the Mount of Olives, Jesus foretold, to His disciples,Seated on the Mount of Olives, Jesus foretold, to His disciples,Seated on the Mount of Olives, Jesus foretold, to His disciples,Seated on the Mount of Olives, Jesus foretold, to His disciples,Seated on the Mount of Olives, Jesus foretold, to His disciples,years to come. He beheld the storms about to fall upon the youngyears to come. He beheld the storms about to fall upon the youngyears to come. He beheld the storms about to fall upon the youngyears to come. He beheld the storms about to fall upon the youngyears to come. He beheld the storms about to fall upon the youngchurchchurchchurchchurchchurch; and, looking into the future, His eyes could see the fierce,wasting tempests that were to beat upon His followers in the ages ofdarkness that were ahead —

YYYYYou are going to read the storou are going to read the storou are going to read the storou are going to read the storou are going to read the story of the whirlwind that came;y of the whirlwind that came;y of the whirlwind that came;y of the whirlwind that came;y of the whirlwind that came;the storthe storthe storthe storthe story of why it came; the story of why it came; the story of why it came; the story of why it came; the story of why it came; the story of men and women who livedy of men and women who livedy of men and women who livedy of men and women who livedy of men and women who livedthrough it—and died in it —through it—and died in it —through it—and died in it —through it—and died in it —through it—and died in it ————————————————————————

When Jesus revealed to His disciples the fate ofJerusalem and the scenes of the second advent, He fore-told also the experience of His people from the time whenHe should be taken from them, to His return in powerand glory for their deliverance. From Olivet the Saviourbeheld the storms about to fall upon the apostolic church,and, penetrating deeper into the future, His eye discernedthe fierce, wasting tempests that were to beat upon His fol-lowers in the coming ages of darkness and persecution. In afew brief utterances, of awful significance, He foretold theportion which the rulers of this world would mete out to thechurch of God. Matthew 24:9, 21, 22. The followers of Christmust tread the same path of humiliation, reproach, and suf-fering which their Master trod. The enmity that burst forthagainst the world’s Redeemer, would be manifested againstall who should believe on His name.

The history of the early church testified to the fulfill-ment of the Saviour’s words. The powers of earth andhell arrayed themselves against Christ in the person of

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His followers. Paganism foresaw that should the gospel tri-umph, her temples and altars would be swept away; there-fore she summoned her forces to destroy Christianity. Thefires of persecution were kindled. Christians were strippedof their possessions, and driven from their homes. They “en-dured a great fight of afflictions.” Hebrews 10:32. They“had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreoverof bonds and imprisonment.” Hebrews 11:36, 37, 38. Greatnumbers sealed their testimony with their blood. Noble andslave, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, were alike slainwithout mercy.

These persecutions, beginning under Nero about thetime of the martyrdom of Paul, continued with greateror less fury for centuries. Christians were falsely accusedof the most dreadful crimes, and declared to be the cause ofgreat calamities—famine, pestilence, and earthquake. As theybecame the objects of popular hatred and suspicion, inform-ers stood ready, for the sake of gain, to betray the innocent.They were condemned as rebels against the empire, as foesof religion, and pests to society. Great numbers were thrownto wild beasts or burned alive in the amphitheaters. Somewere crucified; others were covered with the skins of wild

———————————HISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DAAAAATING OF THIS REMARKTING OF THIS REMARKTING OF THIS REMARKTING OF THIS REMARKTING OF THIS REMARKABLE CHAPTER—ABLE CHAPTER—ABLE CHAPTER—ABLE CHAPTER—ABLE CHAPTER—

The events in this chapter span a period of time from A.D. 64 throughthe mid-seventh century. But several of its most important events(during the time of Constantine) occurred between A.D. 311 to 337.

The persecutions against Christians began under the Romanemperor, Nero, about July of A.D. 64, and continued on intermit-tently for centuries. It was the Christian writer, Tertullian (197-227)who, about the year 206, wrote to the emperor, Septimius Severus,that “the blood of Christians is seed.”

In April 311, the Roman persecutions against the Christianssuddenly ceased, as Constantine I, with his associates, issued anEdict of Toleration. Now that the Church had become popular, un-scriptural errors from paganism immediately began crowding intoit. During Constantine’s reign (306-337), the Church became the offi-cial religion of the Roman Empire.

Persecution of Bible-believing Christians, by half-converted pa-gan church leaders, began—and continued on for centuries.

Persecution in the First Centuries Persecution in the First Centuries Persecution in the First Centuries Persecution in the First Centuries Persecution in the First Centuries [39-40] [39-40] [39-40] [39-40] [39-40]


animals, and thrust into the arena to be torn by dogs. Theirpunishment was often made the chief entertainment at pub-lic fetes. Vast multitudes assembled to enjoy the sight, andgreeted their dying agonies with laughter and applause.

Wherever they sought refuge, the followers of Christwere hunted like beasts of prey. They were forced to seekconcealment in desolate and solitary places. “Destitute,afflicted, tormented; of whom the world was not worthy; theywandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and cavesof the earth.” Hebrews 11:36, 37, 38. The catacombs af-forded shelter for thousands. Beneath the hills outside thecity of Rome, long galleries had been tunneled through earthand rock; the dark and intricate network of passages extendedfor miles beyond the city walls. In these underground re-treats, the followers of Christ buried their dead; and herealso, when suspected and proscribed, they found a home.When the Lifegiver shall awaken those who have fought thegood fight, many a martyr for Christ’s sake will come forthfrom those gloomy caverns.

Under the fiercest persecution, these witnesses forJesus kept their faith unsullied. Though deprived of everycomfort, shut away from the light of the sun, making theirhome in the dark but friendly bosom of the earth, they ut-tered no complaint. With words of faith, patience, and hope,they encouraged one another to endure privation and dis-tress. The loss of every earthly blessing could not forcethem to renounce their belief in Christ. Trials and perse-cution were but steps bringing them nearer their restand their reward.

Like God’s servants of old, many were “tortured, notaccepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resur-rection.” Hebrews 11:35. These called to mind the words oftheir Master, that when persecuted for Christ’s sake they wereto be exceeding glad; for great would be their reward inHeaven; for so the prophets had been persecuted before them.They rejoiced that they were accounted worthy to suffer forthe truth, and songs of triumph ascended from the midst ofcrackling flames. Looking upward by faith, they saw Christ

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and angels leaning over the battlements of Heaven, gazingupon them with the deepest interest, and regarding their stead-fastness with approval. A voice came down to them fromthe throne of God, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I willgive thee a crown of life.” Revelation 2:10.

In vain were Satan’s efforts to destroy the church ofChrist by violence. The great controversy in which thedisciples of Jesus yielded up their lives, did not cease whenthese faithful standard-bearers fell at their post. By de-feat they conquered. God’s workmen were slain, but Hiswork went steadily forward. The gospel continued to spread,and the number of its adherents to increase. It penetratedinto regions that were inaccessible, even to the eagles ofRome. Said a Christian, expostulating with the heathen rul-ers who were urging forward the persecution: “You may tor-ment, afflict, and vex us. Your wickedness puts our weak-ness to the test, but your cruelty is of no avail. It is but astronger invitation to bring others to our persuasion. Themore we are mowed down, the more we spring up again. Theblood of the Christians is seed.”

Thousands were imprisoned and slain; but otherssprung up to fill their places. And those who weremartyred for their faith were secured to Christ, and ac-counted of Him as conquerors. They had fought the goodfight, and they were to receive the crown of glory when Christshould come. The sufferings which they endured broughtChristians nearer to one another and to their Redeemer. Theirliving example and dying testimony were a constant witnessfor the truth; and, where least expected, the subjects of Sa-tan were leaving his service, and enlisting under the bannerof Christ.

Satan therefore laid his plans to war more success-fully against the government of God, by planting his ban-ner in the Christian church. If the followers of Christ couldbe deceived, and led to displease God, then their strength,fortitude, and firmness would fail, and they would fall aneasy prey.

The great adversary now endeavored to gain by ar-



tifice what he had failed to secure by force. Persecutionceased, and in its stead were substituted the dangerousallurements of temporal prosperity and worldly honor.Idolaters were led to receive a part of the Christian faith,while they rejected other essential truths. They professedto accept Jesus as the Son of God, and to believe in his deathand resurrection; but they had no conviction of sin, and feltno need of repentance or of a change of heart. With someconcessions on their part, they proposed that Christiansshould make concessions, that all might unite on the plat-form 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 couldmake no compromise. Others were in favor of yielding ormodifying some features of their faith, and uniting with thosewho had accepted a part of Christianity, urging that this mightbe the means of their full conversion. That was a time ofdeep anguish to the faithful followers of Christ. Under a cloakof pretended Christianity, Satan was insinuating himself intothe church, to corrupt their faith, and turn their minds fromthe Word of truth.

Most of the Christians at last consented to lower theirstandard, and a union was formed between Christianityand paganism. Although the worshipers of idols pro-fessed to be converted, and united with the church, theystill clung to their idolatry, only changing the objects oftheir worship to images of Jesus, and even of Mary andthe saints. The foul leaven of idolatry, thus brought into thechurch, continued its baleful work. Unsound doctrines, su-perstitious rites, and idolatrous ceremonies were incorpo-rated into her faith, and worship. As the followers of Christunited 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. Theystill maintained their fidelity to the Author of truth, andworshiped God alone.

There have ever been two classes among those who

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profess to be followers of Christ. While one class studythe Saviour’s life, and earnestly seek to correct their defectsand to conform to the Pattern, the other class shun the plain,practical truths which expose their errors. Even in her bestestate, and church was not composed wholly of the true, pure,and sincere. Our Saviour taught that those who willfully in-dulge in sin are not to be received into the church; yet Heconnected with Himself men who are faulty in character, andgranted them the benefits of His teachings and example, thatthey might have an opportunity to see their errors and cor-rect them. Among the twelve apostles was a traitor. Judaswas accepted not because of his defects of character, but not-withstanding them. He was connected with the disciples, that,through the instruction and example of Christ, he might learnwhat constitutes Christian character, and thus be led to seehis errors, to repent, and, by the aid of divine grace, to purifyhis soul “in obeying the truth.” But Judas did not walk in thelight so graciously permitted to shine upon him. By indul-gence in sin, he invited the temptations of Satan. His eviltraits of character became predominant. He yielded his mindto the control of the powers of darkness, he became angrywhen his faults were reproved, and thus he was led to com-mit the fearful crime of betraying his Master. So do all whocherish evil under a profession of godliness hate thosewho disturb their peace by condemning their course ofsin. When a favorable opportunity is presented, they will,like Judas, betray those who for their good have soughtto reprove them.

The apostles encountered those in the church who pro-fessed godliness while they were secretly cherishing iniq-uity. Ananias and Sapphira acted the part of deceivers, pre-tending to make an entire sacrifice for God, when they werecovetously withholding a portion for themselves. The Spiritof truth revealed to the apostles the real character of thesepretenders, and the judgments of God rid the church of thisfoul blot upon its purity. This signal evidence of the discern-ing Spirit of Christ in the church was a terror to hypocritesand evil-doers. They could not long remain in connection



with those who were, in habit and disposition, constant rep-resentatives of Christ; and as trials and persecution cameupon His followers, those only who were willing to forsakeall for the truth’s sake desired to become His disciples. Thus,as long as persecution continued, the church remainedcomparatively pure. But as it ceased, converts wereadded who were less sincere and devoted, and the waywas opened for Satan to obtain a foot-hold.

But there is no union between the Prince of light andthe prince of darkness, and there can be no union be-tween their followers. When Christians consented to unitewith those who were but half converted from paganism, theyentered upon a path which led farther and farther from thetruth. Satan exulted that he had succeeded in deceiving solarge a number of the followers of Christ. He then broughthis power to bear more fully upon these, and inspired themto persecute those who remained true to God. None under-stood so well how to oppose the true Christian faith as didthose who had once been its defenders; and these apostateChristians, uniting with their half-pagan companions, di-rected their warfare against the most essential featuresof the doctrines of Christ.

It required a desperate struggle for those who wouldbe faithful to stand firm against the deceptions and abomi-nations which were disguised in sacerdotal garments and in-troduced into the church. The Bible was not accepted asthe standard of faith. The doctrine of religious freedomwas termed heresy, and its upholders were hated and pro-scribed.

After a long and severe conflict, the faithful few de-cided to dissolve all union with the apostate church ifshe still refused to free herself from falsehood an idola-try. They saw that separation was an absolute necessityif they would obey the Word of God. They dared not toler-ate errors fatal to their own souls, and set an example whichwould imperil the faith of their children and children’s chil-dren. To secure peace and unity they were ready to make anyconcession consistent with fidelity to God; but they felt that

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even peace would be too dearly purchased at the sacri-fice of principle. If unity could be secured only by the com-promise of truth and righteousness, then let there be differ-ence, and even war.

Well would it be for the church and the world if theprinciples that actuated those steadfast souls were re-vived in the hearts of God’s professed people. There isan alarming indifference in regard to the doctrines whichare the pillars of the Christian faith. The opinion is gain-ing ground, that, after all, these are not of vital impor-tance. This degeneracy is strengthening the hands of theagents of Satan, so that false theories and fatal delusionswhich the faithful in ages past imperiled their lives to resistand expose, are now regarded with favor by thousands whoclaim to be followers of Christ.

The early Christians were indeed a peculiar people. Theirblameless deportment and unswerving faith were a continualreproof that disturbed the sinner’s peace. Though few innumbers, without wealth, position, or honorary titles,they were a terror to evil-doers wherever their charac-ter and doctrines were known. Therefore they were hatedby the wicked, even as Abel was hated by the ungodly Cain.For the same reason that Cain slew Abel did those who soughtto throw off the restraint of the Holy Spirit, put to deathGod’s people. It was for the same reason that the Jews re-jected and crucified the Saviour,—because the purity andholiness of His character was a constant rebuke to their self-ishness and corruption. From the days of Christ until now,His faithful disciples have excited the hatred and oppositionof those who love and follow the ways of sin.

How, then, can the gospel be called a message ofpeace? When Isaiah foretold the birth of the Messiah, heascribed to Him the title, “Prince of peace.” When angelsannounced to the shepherds that Christ was born, they sungabove the plains of Bethlehem, “Glory to God in the high-est, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Luke 2:14.There is a seeming contradiction between these propheticdeclarations and the words of Christ, “I came not to send



peace, but a sword.” Matthew 10:34. But rightly understood,the two are in perfect harmony. The gospel is a message ofpeace. Christianity is a system, which, received andobeyed, would spread peace, harmony, and happinessthroughout the earth. The religion of Christ will unite inclose brotherhood all who accept its teachings. It was themission of Jesus to reconcile men to God, and thus to oneanother. But the world at large are under the control ofSatan, Christ’s bitterest foe. The gospel presents to themprinciples of life which are wholly at variance with theirhabits 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 uponthem its just and holy claims. It is in this sense—because theexalted truths it brings, occasion hatred and strife—that thegospel is called a sword.

The mysterious providence which permits the righ-teous to suffer persecution at the hand of the wicked, hasbeen a cause of great perplexity to many who are weakin faith. Some are even ready to cast away their confidencein God, because He suffers the basest of men to prosper,while the best and purest are afflicted and tormented by theircruel power. How, it is asked, can One who is just and mer-ciful, and who is also infinite in power, tolerate such injus-tice and oppression? This is a question with which we havenothing to do. God has given us sufficient evidence of Hislove, and we are not to doubt His goodness because we can-not understand the workings of His providence. Said the Sav-iour to His disciples, foreseeing the doubts that would pressupon their souls in days of trial and darkness, “Rememberthe word that I said unto you, The servant is not greaterthan his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will alsopersecute you.” John 15:20. Jesus suffered for us morethan any of His followers can be made to suffer throughthe cruelty of wicked men. Those who are called to en-dure torture and martyrdom, are but following in thesteps of God’s dear Son.

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise.” 2 Peter

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3:9. He does not forget or neglect His children; but He per-mits the wicked to reveal their true character, that none whodesire to do His will may be deceived concerning them. Again,the righteous are placed in the furnace of affliction, that theythemselves may be purified; that their example may con-vince others of the reality of faith and godliness; and alsothat their consistent course may condemn the ungodly andunbelieving.

God permits the wicked to prosper, and to revealtheir enmity against Him, that when they shall have filledup the measure of their iniquity, all may see His justiceand mercy in their utter destruction. The day of His ven-geance hastens, when all who have transgressed His law andoppressed His people will meet the just recompense of theirdeeds; when every act of cruelty or injustice toward God’sfaithful ones will be punished as though done to Christ Him-self.

There is another and more important question thatshould engage the attention of the churches of to-day.The apostle Paul declares that “all that will live godly inChrist Jesus shall suffer persecution.” 2 Timothy 3:12. Whyis it, then, that persecution seems in a great degree toslumber?—The only reason is, that the church has con-formed to the world’s standard, and therefore awakensno opposition. The religion which is current in our day isnot of the pure and holy character that marked the Christianfaith in the days of Christ and His apostles. It is only be-cause of the spirit of compromise with sin, because thegreat truths of the Word of God are so indifferently re-garded, because there is so little vital godliness in thechurch, that Christianity is apparently so popular withthe world. Let there be a revival of the faith and powerof the early church, and the spirit of persecution will berevived, and the fires of persecution will be rekindled.


“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by theword of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”Revelation 12:11.


1. And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman [truechurch] clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, andupon her head a crown of twelve stars. 2. And she being with child[First Advent of Christ] cried, travailing in birth, and pained to bedelivered. 3. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; andbehold a great red dragon [Satan] . . 4. And the dragon stood beforethe woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her childas soon as it was born.

5. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nationswith a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to Histhrone [Ascension]. 6. And the woman [the true church] fled intothe wilderness [rural areas], where she hath a place prepared ofGod, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred andthreescore days [1260 years of persecution] . . 11. And they over-came him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testi-mony; and they loved not their lives unto the death . . 12. Woe to theinhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come downunto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth he hath but ashort time.

13. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth,he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. 14.And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that shemight fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourishedfor a time, and times, and half a time [1260 years], from the face ofthe serpent [Satan, working through an apostate church].

15. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood afterthe woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.16. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth,and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

17. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and [in the lastdays] went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keepthe commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

SUPPLEMENTSUPPLEMENTSUPPLEMENTSUPPLEMENTSUPPLEMENT: REVELA: REVELA: REVELA: REVELA: REVELATION 12 - PREDICTING THE PERSECUTIONTION 12 - PREDICTING THE PERSECUTIONTION 12 - PREDICTING THE PERSECUTIONTION 12 - PREDICTING THE PERSECUTIONTION 12 - PREDICTING THE PERSECUTION

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Chapter ThreeChapter ThreeChapter ThreeChapter ThreeChapter Three

All the StepsAll the StepsAll the StepsAll the StepsAll the StepsDownDownDownDownDown

—The Apostasy—The Apostasy—The Apostasy—The Apostasy—The Apostasy———————————————————————FFFFFor three hundred years fierce persecution lashed at theor three hundred years fierce persecution lashed at theor three hundred years fierce persecution lashed at theor three hundred years fierce persecution lashed at theor three hundred years fierce persecution lashed at theearly Christian Church; and, thenearly Christian Church; and, thenearly Christian Church; and, thenearly Christian Church; and, thenearly Christian Church; and, then in A.D. 311, peace cameand things changed. Constantine, the ruler of the RConstantine, the ruler of the RConstantine, the ruler of the RConstantine, the ruler of the RConstantine, the ruler of the RomanomanomanomanomanEmpire, decided for political reasons to become friendsEmpire, decided for political reasons to become friendsEmpire, decided for political reasons to become friendsEmpire, decided for political reasons to become friendsEmpire, decided for political reasons to become friendswith the Churcwith the Churcwith the Churcwith the Churcwith the Church—and what it brought changed all history forall time to come —

Compromise, conformityCompromise, conformityCompromise, conformityCompromise, conformityCompromise, conformity, and persecution of former breth-, and persecution of former breth-, and persecution of former breth-, and persecution of former breth-, and persecution of former breth-ren began. Gradually the Church took all the steps down. Readren began. Gradually the Church took all the steps down. Readren began. Gradually the Church took all the steps down. Readren began. Gradually the Church took all the steps down. Readren began. Gradually the Church took all the steps down. Readwhat they were —what they were —what they were —what they were —what they were ————————————————————————

The apostle Paul, in his second letter to the Thessa-lonians. foretold the great apostasy which would resultin the establishment of the papal power. He declared thatthe day of Christ should not come, “except there come afalling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, theson of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himselfabove all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so thathe as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himselfthat he is God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4, 7. And further-more, the apostle warns his brethren that “the mystery ofiniquity doth already work.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4, 7. Evenat that early date he saw, creeping into the church, errors thatwould prepare the way for the development of the papacy.

Little by little, at first in stealth and silence, and thenmore openly as it increased in strength and gained con-trol of the minds of men, the mystery of iniquity carriedforward its deceptive and blasphemous work. Almost im-perceptibly the customs of heathenism found their way

The Apostasy The Apostasy The Apostasy The Apostasy The Apostasy [49] [49] [49] [49] [49]


into the Christian church. The spirit of compromise andconformity was restrained for a time by the fierce persecu-tions which the church endured under paganism. But as per-secution ceased, and Christianity entered the courts andpalaces of kings, she laid aside the humble simplicity ofChrist and His apostles for the pomp and pride of paganpriests and rulers; and in place of the requirements ofGod, she substituted human theories and traditions. Thenominal conversion of Constantine, in the early part ofthe fourth century, caused great rejoicing; and the world,cloaked with a form of righteousness, walked into thechurch. Now the work of corruption rapidly progressed. Pa-ganism, while appearing to be vanquished, became the con-queror. Her spirit controlled the church. Her doctrines, cer-emonies, and superstitions were incorporated into the faithand worship of the professed followers of Christ.

This compromise between paganism and Christian-ity resulted in the development of the “man of sin” fore-

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primary dates in this chapter cover nine centuries—from A.D. 311(Constantine’s Edict of Toleration) to 1229 (when the Inquisition be-gan). The papacy was firmly established by the sixth century; and, inA.D. 538, the 1260 years of papal oppression (predicted in Daniel7:25 and Revelation 13:5-7) began.

The Second Council of Nicea (A.D. 787) finalized the establish-ment of image worship as a necessary part of Catholic worship. Butit was Constantine’s decree of march 7, 321, making Sunday a publicholy day, that laid the foundation for the their apostasy. The Councilof Laodicea (c. 337) officially endorsed that first National SundayLaw.

Shortly afterward, candles were burned before images andprayers were made to them. Gradually the apostasy deepened.

By the Sixth Century the papacy was firmly established in power;and, in A.D. 538, the terrible 1260 years of papal oppression, pre-dicted in Daniel 7:25 and Revelation 13:5-7, began.

As though purgatory, prayers for the dead, and paid indulgencesfor sin were not enough, the terrible Inquisition, on an “official” ba-sis, began in order to slay Christians—and also seize the property ofwealthy Catholics. Millions were to die under its stroke.

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told in prophecy as opposing and exalting himself aboveGod. That gigantic system of false religion is a master-piece of Satan’s power,—a monument of his efforts to seathimself upon the throne to rule the earth according to hiswill.

Satan once endeavored to form a compromise withChrist. He came to the Son of God in the wilderness of temp-tation, and, showing him all the kingdoms of the world andthe glory of them, offered to give all into his hands if hewould but acknowledge the supremacy of the prince of dark-ness. Christ rebuked the presumptuous tempter, and forcedhim to depart. But Satan meets with greater success in pre-senting the same temptations to man. To secure worldlygains and honors, the church was led to seek the favorand support of the great men of earth, and having thusrejected Christ, she was induced to yield allegiance to therepresentative of Satan,—the bishop of Rome.

It is one of the leading doctrines of Romanism thatthe pope is the visible head of the universal church ofChrist, invested with supreme authority over bishops andpastors in all parts of the world. More than this, the popehas arrogated the very titles of Deity. He styles himself“Lord God the Pope,” assumes infallibility, and demandsthat all men pay him homage. Thus the same claim urgedby Satan in the wilderness of temptation is still urged by himthrough the Church of Rome, and vast numbers are ready toyield him homage.

But those who fear and reverence God meet this Heaven-daring assumption as Christ met the solicitations of the wilyfoe: “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him onlyshalt thou serve.” Luke 4:8. God has never given a hint inHis Word that He has appointed any man to be the headof the church. The doctrine of papal supremacy is di-rectly opposed to the teachings of the Scriptures. Thepope can have no power over Christ’s church except by usur-pation.

Romanists have persisted in bringing against Protestantsthe charge of heresy, and willful separation from the true

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church. But these accusations apply rather to themselves.They are the ones who laid down the banner of Christ, anddeparted from “the faith which was once delivered unto thesaints.” Jude 3.

Satan well knew that the Holy Scriptures would en-able men to discern his deceptions and withstand hispower. It was by the Word that even the Saviour of the worldhad resisted his attacks. At every assault, Christ presentedthe shield of eternal truth, saying, “It is written.” To everysuggestion of the adversary, he opposed the wisdom andpower of the Word. In order for Satan to maintain his swayover men, and establish the authority of the papal usurper,he must keep them in ignorance of the Scriptures. The Biblewould 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 hun-dreds of years the circulation of the Bible was prohib-ited. The people were forbidden to read it or to have it intheir houses, and unprincipled priests and prelates inter-preted its teachings to sustain their pretensions. Thus thepope came to be almost universally acknowledged as thevicegerent of God on earth, endowed with authority overChurch and State.

The detector of error having been removed, Satanworked according to his will. Prophecy had declared thatthe papacy was to “think to change times and laws.”Daniel 7:25. This work it was not slow to attempt. To af-ford converts from heathenism a substitute for the wor-ship of idols, and thus to promote their nominal accep-tance of Christianity, the adoration of images and relicswas gradually introduced into the Christian worship. Thedecree of a general council [Second Council of Nice, A.D.787] finally established this system of idolatry. To completethe sacrilegious work, Rome presumed to expunge fromthe law of God the second commandment, forbiddingimage worship, and to divide the tenth commandment,in order to preserve the number.

The spirit of concession to paganism opened the way

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for a still further disregard of Heaven’s authority. Satan tam-pered with the fourth commandment also, and essayedto set aside the ancient Sabbath, the day which God hadblessed and sanctified, (Genesis 2:2, 3) and in its stead toexalt the festival observed by the heathen as “the vener-able day of the sun.” This change was not at first at-tempted openly. In the first centuries the true Sabbathhad been kept by all Christians. They were jealous for thehonor of God, and, believing that His law is immutable, theyzealously guarded the sacredness of its precepts. But withgreat subtlety, Satan worked through his agents to bring abouthis object. That the attention of the people might be calledto the Sunday, it was made a festival in honor of the res-urrection of Christ. Religious services were held upon it;yet it was regarded as a day of recreation, the Sabbath beingstill sacredly observed.

To prepare the way for the work which he designed toaccomplish, Satan had led the Jews, before the advent ofChrist, to load down the Sabbath with the most rigorousexactions, making its observance a burden. Now, takingadvantage of the false light in which he had thus causedit to be regarded, he cast contempt upon it as a Jewishinstitution. While Christians continued to observe the Sun-day as a joyous festival, he led them, in order to show theirhatred of Judaism, to make the Sabbath a fast, a day of sad-ness and gloom.

In the early part of the fourth century, the emperorConstantine issued a decree making Sunday a public fes-tival throughout the Roman Empire. The day of the sunwas reverenced by his pagan subjects, and was honoredby Christians; it was the emperor’s policy to unite theconflicting interests of heathenism and Christianity. Hewas urged to do this by the bishops of the church, who, in-spired by ambition, and thirst for power, perceived that ifthe same day was observed by both Christians and the hea-then, it would promote the nominal acceptance of Christian-ity by pagans, and thus advance the power and glory of thechurch. But while Christians were gradually led to regard



Sunday as possessing a degree of sacredness, they still heldthe true Sabbath as the holy of the Lord, and observed it inobedience to the fourth commandment.

The arch-deceiver had not completed his work. Hewas resolved to gather the Christian world under his banner,and to exercise his power through his vicegerent, the proudpontiff who claimed to be the representative of Christ.Through half-converted pagans, ambitious prelates, andworld-loving churchmen, he accomplished his purpose. Vastcouncils were held, from time to time, in which the digni-taries of the church were convened from all the world.In nearly every council the Sabbath which God had in-stituted was pressed down a little lower, while the Sun-day was correspondingly exalted. Thus the pagan festi-val came finally to be honored as a divine institution,while the Bible Sabbath was pronounced a relic of Juda-ism, 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.” 2Thessalonians 2:4. He had dared to change the only pre-cept of the divine law that unmistakably points all man-kind to the true and living God. In the fourth command-ment, God is revealed as the Creator of the heavens andthe earth, and is thereby distinguished from all false gods.It was as a memorial of the work of creation that theseventh day was sanctified as a rest-day for man. It wasdesigned to keep the living God ever before the minds ofmen as the source of being and the object of reverence andworship. Satan strives to turn men from their allegiance toGod, and from rendering obedience to His law; therefore hedirects his efforts especially against that commandment whichpoints to God as the Creator.

Protestants now urge that the resurrection of Christon Sunday made it the Christian Sabbath. But Scriptureevidence is lacking. No such honor was given to the dayby Christ or His apostles. The observance of Sunday as aChristian institution had its origin in that “mystery of law-lessness” (2 Thessalonians 2:7, R.V.) which, even in Paul’s

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day, had begun its work. Where and when did the Lord adoptthis child of the papacy? What valid reason can be given fora change which the Scriptures do not sanction?

In the sixth century the papacy had become firmlyestablished. Its seat of power was fixed in the imperial city,and the bishop of Rome was declared to be the head over theentire church. Paganism had given place to the papacy.The dragon had given to the beast “his power, and his seat,and great authority.” [Revelation 13:2] And now began the1260 years of papal oppression foretold in the prophe-cies of Daniel and the Revelation. Daniel 7:25; Revelation13:5-7. Christians were forced to choose, either to yield theirintegrity and accept the papal ceremonies and worship, or towear away their lives in dungeons or suffer death by the rack,the fagot, or the headsman’s ax. Now were fulfilled the wordsof Jesus, “Ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and breth-ren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall theycause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men formy name’s sake.” Luke 21:16, 17. Persecution openedupon the faithful with greater fury than ever before, andthe world became a vast battle-field. For hundreds ofyears the church of Christ found refuge in seclusion andobscurity. Thus says the prophet: “The woman fled into thewilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, thatthey should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three-score days.” Revelation 12:6.

The accession of the Roman Church to powermarked the beginning of the Dark Ages. As her powerincreased, the darkness deepened. Faith was transferredfrom Christ, the true foundation, to the pope of Rome. In-stead of trusting in the Son of God for forgiveness of sinsand for eternal salvation, the people looked to the pope, andto the priests and prelates to whom he delegated authority.They were taught that the pope was their earthly media-tor, and that none could approach God except throughhim, and, further, that he stood in the place of God tothem, and was therefore to be implicitly obeyed. A de-viation from his requirements was sufficient cause for the



severest punishment to be visited upon the bodies and soulsof the offenders. Thus the minds of the people were turnedaway from God to fallible, erring, and cruel men, nay more,to the prince of darkness himself, who exercised his powerthrough them. Sin was disguised in a garb of sanctity. Whenthe Scriptures are suppressed, and man comes to regardhimself as supreme, we need look only for fraud, decep-tion, and debasing iniquity. With the elevation of humanlaws and traditions, was manifest the corruption that everresults 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 thetruth was not left without witnesses, yet at times it seemedthat error and superstition would wholly prevail, and truereligion would be banished from the earth. The gospel waslost sight of, but the forms of religion were multiplied, andthe people were burdened with rigorous exactions.

They were taught not only to look to the pope as theirmediator, but to trust to works of their own to atone forsin. Long pilgrimages, acts of penance, the worship ofrelics, the erection of churches, shrines, and altars, the pay-ment of large sums to the church,—these and many similaracts were enjoined to appease the wrath of God or to secureHis 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 theleaders of the Romish Church, her influence seemedsteadily to increase. About the close of the eighth century,papists put forth the claim that in the first ages of the churchthe bishops of Rome had possessed the same spiritual powerwhich they now assumed. To establish this claim, some meansmust be employed to give it a show of authority; and thiswas readily suggested by the father of lies. Ancient writ-ings were forged by monks. Decrees of councils beforeunheard of were discovered, establishing the universalsupremacy of the pope from the earliest times. And achurch that had rejected the truth, greedily accepted thesedeceptions.

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The few faithful builders upon the true foundation (1Corinthians 3:10, 11) were perplexed and hindered, as therubbish of false doctrine obstructed the work. Like the build-ers upon the wall of Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s day, some wereready to say, “The strength of the bearers of burdens is de-cayed, and there is much rubbish, so that we are not able tobuild.” Nehemiah 4:10. Wearied with the constant struggleagainst persecution, fraud, iniquity, and every other obstaclethat Satan could devise to hinder their progress, some whohad been faithful builders became disheartened; and for thesake of peace and security for their property and their livesthey turned away from the true foundation. Others, undauntedby the opposition of their enemies, fearlessly declared, “Benot ye afraid of them; remember the Lord, which is great andterrible; (Nehemiah 4:14) and they proceeded with the work,every one with his sword girded by his side. Ephesians 6:17.

The same spirit of hatred and opposition to the truth hasinspired the enemies of God in every age, and the same vigi-lance and fidelity have been required in His servants. Thewords of Christ to the first disciples are applicable to Hisfollowers to the close of time: “What I say unto you I sayunto all, Watch.” Mark 13:37.

The darkness seemed to grow more dense. Imageworship became more general. Candles were burnedbefore images, and prayers were offered to them. Themost absurd and superstitious customs prevailed. Theminds of men were so completely controlled by superstitionthat reason itself seemed to have lost her sway. While priestsand bishops were themselves pleasure-loving, sensual, andcorrupt, it could only be expected that the people who lookedto 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 proclaimedthe perfection of the Romish Church. Among the propo-sitions which he put forth, was one declaring that thechurch had never erred, nor would it ever err, accordingto the Scriptures. But the Scripture proofs did not accom-pany the assertion. The proud pontiff next claimed the power



to depose emperors, and declared that no sentence which hepronounced could be reversed by any one, but that it was hisprerogative to reverse the decisions of all others.

A striking illustration of the tyrannical character ofthis advocate of infallibility was given in his treatmentof the German emperor, Henry IV. For presuming to dis-regard the pope’s authority, this monarch was declared to beexcommunicated and dethroned. Terrified by the desertionand threats of his own princes, who were encouraged in re-bellion against him by the papal mandate, Henry felt the ne-cessity of making his peace with Rome. In company with hiswife and a faithful servant, he crossed the Alps in midwin-ter, that he might humble himself before the pope. Uponreaching the castle whither Gregory had withdrawn, he wasconducted, without his guards, into an outer court, and there,in the severe cold of winter, with uncovered head and nakedfeet, and in a miserable dress, he awaited the pope’s permis-sion to come into his presence. Not until he had continuedthree days fasting and making confession, did the pontiffcondescend to grant him pardon. Even then it was only uponcondition that the emperor should await the sanction of thepope before resuming the insignia or exercising the powerof royalty. And Gregory, elated with his triumph, boastedthat it was his duty “to pull down the pride of kings.”

How striking the contrast between the overbearing prideof this haughty pontiff and the meekness and gentleness ofChrist, who represents Himself as pleading at the door ofthe heart for admittance, that He may come in to bring par-don and peace, and who taught His disciples, “Whosoeverwill be chief among you, let him be your servant.”

The advancing centuries witnessed a constant in-crease of error in the doctrines put forth from Rome.Even before the establishment of the papacy, the teach-ings of heathen philosophers had received attention andexerted an influence in the church. Many who professedconversion still clung to the tenets of their pagan philoso-phy, and not only continued its study themselves, but urgedit upon others as a means of extending their influence among

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the heathen. Serious errors were thus introduced into theChristian faith. Prominent among these was the belief inman’s natural immortality and his consciousness indeath. This doctrine laid the foundation upon whichRome established the invocation of saints and the ado-ration of the virgin Mary. From this sprung also the her-esy of eternal torment for the finally impenitent, whichwas early incorporated into the papal faith.

Then the way was prepared for the introduction of stillanother invention of paganism, which Rome named purga-tory, and employed to terrify the credulous and superstitiousmultitudes. By this heresy is affirmed the existence of a placeof torment, in which the souls of such as have not meritedeternal damnation are to suffer punishment for their sins,and from which, when freed from impurity, they are admit-ted to Heaven.

Still another fabrication was needed to enable Rome toprofit by the fears and the vices of her adherents. This wassupplied by the doctrine of indulgences. Full remission ofsins, past, present, and future, and release from all the painsand penalties incurred, were promised to all who would en-list in the pontiff’s wars to extend his temporal dominion, topunish his enemies, or to exterminate those who dared denyhis spiritual supremacy. The people were also taught that bythe payment of money to the church they might free them-selves from sin, and also release the souls of their deceasedfriends who were confined in the tormenting flames. By suchmeans did Rome fill her coffers, and sustain the magnifi-cence, luxury, and vice of the pretended representativesof Him who had not where to lay his head.

The scriptural ordinance of the Lord’s supper had beensupplanted by the idolatrous sacrifice of the mass. Papistpriests pretended, by their senseless mummery, to convertthe simple bread and wine into the actual body and blood ofChrist. With blasphemous presumption, they openly claimedthe power of “creating God, the Creator of all things.” AllChristians were required, on pain of death, to avow theirfaith in this horrible, Heaven-insulting heresy. Multitudes



who refused were given to the flames.In the thirteenth century was established that most ter-

rible of all the engines of the papacy,—the Inquisition. Theprince of darkness wrought with the leaders of the papal hi-erarchy. In their secret councils, Satan and his angels con-trolled the minds of evil men, while unseen in the midst stoodan angel of God, taking the fearful record of their iniquitousdecrees, and writing the history of deeds too horrible to ap-pear to human eyes. “Babylon the great” was “drunkenwith the blood of the saints.” The mangled forms of mil-lions of martyrs cried to God for vengeance upon thatapostate power.

Popery had become the world’s despot. Kings andemperors bowed to the decrees of the Roman pontiff. Thedestinies of men, both for time and for eternity, seemed un-der his control. For hundreds of years the doctrines of Romehad been extensively and implicitly received, its rites rever-ently performed, its festivals generally observed. Its clergywere honored and liberally sustained. Never since has theRoman Church attained to greater dignity, magnificence, orpower.

The noontide of the papacy was the world’s moralmidnight. The Holy Scriptures were almost unknown,not only to the people, but to the priests. Like the Phari-sees of old, the papist leaders hated the light which wouldreveal their sins. God’s law, the standard of righteous-ness, having been removed, they exercised power with-out limit, and practiced vice without restraint. Fraud,avarice, and profligacy prevailed. Men shrank from nocrime by which they could gain wealth or position. Thepalaces of popes and prelates were scenes of the vilest de-bauchery. Some of the reigning pontiffs were guilty of crimesso revolting that secular rulers endeavored to depose thesedignitaries 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 paralysishad fallen upon Christendom.

The condition of the world under the Romish power pre-

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CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: THE APOST: THE APOST: THE APOST: THE APOST: THE APOSTASY PREDICTEDASY PREDICTEDASY PREDICTEDASY PREDICTEDASY PREDICTED

“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, . . For I know this:that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparingthe flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, todraw away disciples after them. Therefore watch and remember.” Acts 20:28-31.

“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning ofthe world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. But pray ye that your flight be not inthe winter, neither on the Sabbath day.”—Matthew 24:21, 20.

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day [the Second Advent ofChrist] shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man ofsin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself aboveall that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in thetemple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when Iwas yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeththat he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth alreadywork.”—2 Thessalonians 2:3-7. [Rev 12:5; 14:8; 12:17; Matt 24:4-6, 9-12].

“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and ye shallbe hated of all nations for My name’s sake.” Matthew 24:9.

“That horn . . had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whoselook was more stout than his fellows. I beheld, and the same horn made warwith the saints, and prevailed against them.” Daniel 7:20-21.

“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with theremnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the tes-timony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17.

“For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in amongyou, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speakingperverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” Acts 20:29-30.

Also: Daniel 11:33; Matthew 24:9-12, 13, 20, 21, 22; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4; Revelation 12:5; 14:8.

sented a fearful and striking fulfillment of the words of theprophet Hosea: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowl-edge; because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also re-ject 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 breakout, and blood toucheth blood.” Hosea 4:6, 1, 2. Such werethe results of banishing the Word of God.



CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: FORTY: FORTY: FORTY: FORTY: FORTY-EIGHT STEPS DOWN-EIGHT STEPS DOWN-EIGHT STEPS DOWN-EIGHT STEPS DOWN-EIGHT STEPS DOWN

1. Prayers for the dead (about A.D. 300) / 2. Making the sign ofthe cross (A.D. 300) / 3. Wax candles (320) / 4. Veneration of an-gels and dead saints (375) / 5. Use of images (375) / 6. Mass as adaily celebration (394) / 7. Beginning of exaltation of Mary, called“Mother of God” (Council of Ephesus, 431) / 8. Priests begin todress differently than laymen (500) / 9. Extreme unction (526) / 10.Doctrine of purgatory (Gregory I, 593) / 11. Latin language used inworship and commanded (Gregory I, 600) / 12. Prayers to Mary,dead saints, and angels (600) / 13. Title of pope given to Boniface III(Emperor Phocas, 607) / 14. Kissing pope’s foot begins (709) / 15.Temporal power of popes conferred (Pepin king of Franks, 750) /16. Worship of the cross, images, and relics officially required (786)/ 17. Holy water begins to be used (850) / 18. Worship of St. Jo-seph (890) / 19. College of Cardinals established (927) / 20. Bap-tism of bells started (John XIII, 965) / 21. Canonization of deadsaints begins (John XV, 995) / 22. Fasting on Fridays and during“Lent” begins (998) / 23. Mass is a “sacrifice” (1050) / 24. Celi-bacy of priests required (Gregory II, 1079) / 25. Rosary prayinginvented (Peter the Hermit, 1090) / 26. Inquisition, in operation forcenturies, now made official (Council of Verona, 1184) / 27. Sale ofindulgences begins (1190) / 28. Error of Transubstantiation decreed,to bring God down into a cup and wafer (Innocent III, 1215) / 29.Auricular confession of sins to priest instead of to God required (In-nocent III, 1215) / 30. Adoration of the wafer (host) decreed(Honorius III, 1220) / 31. Laymen officially forbidden to have orread the Bible; it is placed on “Index of Forbidden Books” (Council ofValencia, 1229) / 32. Protection by a piece of cloth (scapular) in-vented (Simon Stock, a British monk, 1251) / 33. Laymen forbid-den to drink the cup at Communion (Council of Constance, 1414) /34. Purgatory proclaimed as dogma (Council of Florence, 1439) /35. Doctrine of seven sacraments affirmed on pain of mortal sin(1439) / 36. First part of the “Ava Maria” saying is made official(1508) / 37. Jesuit order founded (Ignatius Loyola, 1534) / 38. Tra-

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dition (sayings of popes and councils) declared equal to Bible (Coun-cil of Trent, 1545) / 39. Apocryphal books added to Bible (Councilof Trent, 1546) / 40. Creed of Pius IV ordered as official creed ofchurch (1560) / 41. Last part of “Ave Maria” (rosary saying) pre-pared and required (Sixtus V, 1593) / 42. Immaculate Conception ofthe Virgin Mary proclaimed (Pius IX, 1854) / 43. Syllabus of Errorsis proclaimed and ratified, condemning freedom of religion, speech,press, and all “unapproved” scientific discoveries (Pius X, VaticanCouncil I, 1864) / 44. Temporal authority of pope officially reaffirmed(1864) / 45. Absolute infallibility of pope proclaimed (Vatican I, 1870)/ 46. Public schools condemned (Pius XI, 1930) / 47. Assumptionof Virgin Mary (bodily ascension into heaven shortly after her death)proclaimed (Pius XII, 1950) / 48. Mary proclaimed be Mother ofGod (Paul VI, 1965). Two additional doctrines are now being dis-cussed, and may soon be adopted: (1) Mary as Mediatrix of man-kind. This means that God and Christ can be approached throughher. (2) The dogma of Mary as the Co-redemptrix of the world. Thethought here is that the redemption of mankind, from start to finish,is done through Mary, working together at each step with Christ.

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day [the Second Ad-vent of Christ] shall not come, except there come a falling away first, andthat man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exaltethhimself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he asGod sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” 2 Thes-salonians 2:3-4.

“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and yeshall be hated of all nations for My name’s sake.” Matthew 24:9.

“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, . . For I knowthis: that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, notsparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking per-verse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch and re-member.” Acts 20:28-31.

“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the begin-ning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. But pray ye that yourflight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.”—Matt 24:21, 20.

The ApostasyThe ApostasyThe ApostasyThe ApostasyThe Apostasy


Chapter FourChapter FourChapter FourChapter FourChapter Four

FFFFFaithfulaithfulaithfulaithfulaithfulUnto DeathUnto DeathUnto DeathUnto DeathUnto Death

—The Waldenses—The Waldenses—The Waldenses—The Waldenses—The Waldenses———————————————————————

Many years ago there was a group of people who lived in the Many years ago there was a group of people who lived in the Many years ago there was a group of people who lived in the Many years ago there was a group of people who lived in the Many years ago there was a group of people who lived in themountains of south-central Europe. They loved God and theirmountains of south-central Europe. They loved God and theirmountains of south-central Europe. They loved God and theirmountains of south-central Europe. They loved God and theirmountains of south-central Europe. They loved God and theirBibles, and as a result they were persecuted and hunted for theirBibles, and as a result they were persecuted and hunted for theirBibles, and as a result they were persecuted and hunted for theirBibles, and as a result they were persecuted and hunted for theirBibles, and as a result they were persecuted and hunted for theirfaith.faith.faith.faith.faith. What caused it all? How did they survive? DID they survive?

How much the world owes these men, posterity will neverHow much the world owes these men, posterity will neverHow much the world owes these men, posterity will neverHow much the world owes these men, posterity will neverHow much the world owes these men, posterity will neverknowknowknowknowknow. Y. Y. Y. Y. You are going to read the storou are going to read the storou are going to read the storou are going to read the storou are going to read the story of a people that history of a people that history of a people that history of a people that history of a people that historyyyyytried to blot out—the stortried to blot out—the stortried to blot out—the stortried to blot out—the stortried to blot out—the story of the Wy of the Wy of the Wy of the Wy of the Waldenses —aldenses —aldenses —aldenses —aldenses ————————————————————————

Amid the gloom that settled upon the earth duringthe long period of papal supremacy, the light of truthcould not be wholly extinguished. In every age there werewitnesses for God,—men who cherished faith in Christas the only mediator between God and man, who heldthe Bible as the only rule of life, and who hallowed thetrue Sabbath. How much the world owes to these men, pos-terity will never know. They were branded as heretics, theirmotives impugned, their characters maligned, their writingssuppressed, misrepresented, or mutilated. Yet they stood firm,and from age to age maintained their faith in its purity, as asacred heritage for the generations to come.

The history of God’s people during the ages of dark-ness that followed upon Rome’s supremacy, is written inHeaven. But they have little place in human records. Fewtraces of their existence can be found, except in the accusa-tions of their persecutors. It was the policy of Rome to oblit-erate every trace of dissent from her doctrines or decrees.Everything heretical, whether persons or writings, was de-stroyed. A single expression of doubt, a question as to the

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authority of papal dogmas, was enough to forfeit the life ofrich or poor, high or low. Rome endeavored also to destroyevery record of her cruelty toward dissenters. Papal councilsdecreed that books and writings containing such recordsshould be committed to the flames. Before the invention ofprinting, books were few in number, and in a form not favor-able for preservation; therefore there was little to preventthe Romanists from carrying out their purpose.

No church within the limits of Romish jurisdictionwas long left undisturbed in the enjoyment of freedom ofconscience. No sooner had the papacy obtained power thanshe stretched out her arms to crush all that refused to ac-knowledge her sway; and one after another, the churches sub-mitted to her dominion.

In Great Britain, primitive Christianity had veryearly taken root. The gospel received by the Britons inthe first centuries, was then uncorrupted by Romish apos-tasy. Persecution from pagan emperors, which extended evento these far-off shores, was the only gift that the first churchesof Britain received from Rome. Many of the Christians, flee-ing from persecution in England, found refuge in Scotland;

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The information about the early British Christians covers the yearsfrom before A.D. 300 through 800.

Very early, before A.D. 300, Christian missionaries came to Brit-ain with pure Bible truths. Upon being persecuted, they fled north-ward to Scotland, and thence to Ireland. Columba (521-597) fromIreland, went to Scotland and founded an island missionary stationon Iona in 563. From there, missionaries were sent to many Euro-pean countries, and finally in 614 to Italy.

Roman agents arrived in A.D. 596 and won the heathen Saxonsto their worldly religion. For more than a thousand years, Christianswere heavily persecuted; throughout this time believers in the BibleSabbath continued to share their faith in parts of Europe, Asia, andAfrica.

The history of the Waldenses (also called Vaudois) spans morethan a millennium of persecution and bloodshed, till the mid-19thcentury. It was Pope Innocent VIII who, in 1487, ordered them to be“crushed as venomous serpents.”

The WThe WThe WThe WThe Waldenses aldenses aldenses aldenses aldenses [61-62] [61-62] [61-62] [61-62] [61-62]


thence the truth was carried to Ireland, and in all these coun-tries it was received with gladness.

When the Saxons invaded Britain, heathenism gainedcontrol. The conquerors disdained to be instructed by theirslaves, and the Christians were forced to retreat to the moun-tains and the wild moors. Yet the light, hidden for a time,continued to burn. In Scotland, a century later, it shone outwith a brightness that extended to far-distant lands. FromIreland came the pious Columba and his colaborers, who,gathering about them the scattered believers on the lonelyisland of Iona, made this the center of their missionarylabors. Among these evangelists was an observer of theBible Sabbath, and thus this truth was introduced amongthe people. A school was established at Iona, from whichmissionaries went out, not only to Scotland and England,but to Germany, Switzerland, and even Italy.

But Rome had fixed her eyes on Britain, and resolvedto bring it under her supremacy. In the sixth century hermissionaries undertook the conversion of the heathenSaxons. They were received with favor by the proud barbar-ians, and they induced many thousands to profess the Romishfaith. As the work progressed, the papal leaders and theirconverts encountered the primitive Christians. A strikingcontrast was presented. The latter were simple, humble, andscriptural in character, doctrine, and manners, while theformer manifested the superstition, pomp, and arrogance ofpopery. The emissary of Rome demanded that theseChristian churches acknowledge the supremacy of thesovereign pontiff. The Britons meekly replied that they de-sired to love all men, but that the pope was not entitled tosupremacy in the church, and they could render to him onlythat submission which was due to every follower of Christ.Repeated attempts were made to secure their allegiance toRome; but these humble Christians, amazed at the pride dis-played by her emissaries, steadfastly replied that they knewno other master than Christ. Now the true spirit of the pa-pacy was revealed. Said the Romish leader, “If you will notreceive brethren who bring you peace, you shall receive en-

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emies who will bring you war. If you will not unite with us inshowing the Saxons the way of life, you shall receive fromthem the stroke of death.” These were no idle threats. War,intrigue, and deception were employed against these wit-nesses for a Bible faith, until the churches of Britain weredestroyed, or forced to submit to the authority of thepope.

In lands beyond the jurisdiction of Rome, there ex-isted for many centuries bodies of Christians who re-mained almost wholly free from papal corruption. Theywere surrounded by heathenism, and in the lapse of ages wereaffected by its errors; but they continued to regard the Bibleas the only rule of faith, and adhered to many of its truths.These Christians believed in the perpetuity of the law ofGod, and observed the Sabbath of the fourth command-ment. Churches that held to this faith and practice, ex-isted in Central Africa and among the Armenians of Asia.

But of those who resisted the encroachments of thepapal power, the Waldenses stood foremost. In the veryland where popery had fixed its seat, there its falsehood andcorruption were most steadfastly resisted. For centuries thechurches of Piedmont maintained their independence; butthe time came at last when Rome insisted upon their sub-mission. After ineffectual struggles against her tyranny, theleaders of these churches reluctantly acknowledged the su-premacy of the power to which the whole world seemed topay homage. There were some, however, who refused toyield to the authority of pope or prelate. They were de-termined to maintain their allegiance to God, and to pre-serve the purity and simplicity of their faith. A separa-tion took place. Those who adhered to the ancient faithnow withdrew; some, forsaking their native Alps, raisedthe banner of truth in foreign lands; others retreated tothe 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 taughtby the Waldensian Christians was in marked contrast to thefalse doctrines put forth from Rome. Their religious belief



was founded upon the written word of God, the true sys-tem of Christianity. But those humble peasants, in theirobscure retreats, shut away from the world, and bound todaily toil among their flocks and their vineyards, had notthemselves arrived at the truth in opposition to the dogmasand heresies of the apostate church. Theirs was not a faithnewly received. Their religious belief was their inheritancefrom their fathers. They contended for the faith of the apos-tolic church,—“the faith which was once delivered to thesaints.” “The church in the wilderness,” and not the proudhierarchy enthroned in the world’s great capital, was thetrue church of Christ, the guardian of the treasures oftruth which God has committed to His people to be givento the world.

Among the leading causes that had led to the sepa-ration of the true church from Rome, was the hatred ofthe latter toward the Bible Sabbath. As foretold by proph-ecy, the papal power cast down the truth to the ground. Thelaw of God was trampled in the dust, while the tradi-tions and customs of men were exalted. The churchesthat were under the rule of the papacy were early com-pelled to honor the Sunday as a holy day. Amid the pre-vailing error and superstition, many, even of the true peopleof God, became so bewildered that while they observed theSabbath they refrained from labor also on the Sunday. Butthis did not satisfy the papal leaders. They demanded notonly that Sunday be hallowed, but that the Sabbath beprofaned; and they denounced in the strongest languagethose who dared to show it honor. It was only by fleeingfrom the power of Rome that any could obey God’s lawin peace.

The Waldenses were the first of all the peoples ofEurope to obtain a translation of the Holy Scriptures.Hundreds of years before the Reformation, they possessedthe Bible in manuscript in their native tongue. They had thetruth unadulterated, and this rendered them the special ob-jects of hatred and persecution. They declared the Churchof Rome to be the apostate Babylon of the Apocalypse,

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and at the peril of their lives they stood up to resist hercorruptions. While, under the pressure of long-continuedpersecution, some compromised their faith, little by littleyielding its distinctive principles, others held fast the truth.Through ages of darkness and apostasy, there wereWaldenses who denied the supremacy of Rome, who re-jected image worship as idolatry, and who kept the trueSabbath. Under the fiercest tempests of opposition theymaintained their faith. Though gashed by the Savoyard spear,and scorched by the Romish fagot, they stood unflinchinglyfor God’s Word and His honor.

Behind the lofty bulwarks of the mountains,—in allages the refuge of the persecuted and oppressed,—theWaldenses found a hiding-place. Here the light of truthwas kept burning amid the darkness of the Middle Ages.Here, for a thousand years, witnesses for the truth main-tained the ancient faith.

God had provided for His people a sanctuary of awfulgrandeur, befitting the mighty truths committed to their trust.To those faithful exiles the mountains were an emblem ofthe immutable righteousness of Jehovah. They pointed theirchildren to the heights towering above them in unchangingmajesty, and spoke to them of Him with whom there is novariableness nor shadow of turning, whose word is as en-during as the everlasting hills. God had set fast the moun-tains, and girded them with strength; no arm but that of infi-nite power could move them out of their place. In like man-ner He had established His law, the foundation of Hisgovernment in Heaven and upon earth. The arm of manmight reach His fellow-men and destroy their lives; butthat arm could as readily uproot the mountains from theirfoundations, and hurl them into the sea, as it could changeone precept of the law of Jehovah, or blot out one of Hispromises to those who do His will. In their fidelity to Hislaw, God’s servants should be as firm as the unchanginghills.

The mountains that girded their lowly valleys were aconstant witness to God’s creative power, and a never-fail-



ing assurance of His protecting care. Those pilgrims learnedto love the silent symbols of Jehovah’s presence. They in-dulged no repining because of the hardships of their lot;they were never lonely amid the mountain solitudes. Theythanked God that He had provided for them an asylumfrom the wrath and cruelty of men. They rejoiced in theirfreedom to worship before Him. Often when pursued bytheir enemies, the strength of the hills proved a sure defense.From many a lofty cliff they chanted the praise of God, andthe armies of Rome could not silence their songs of thanks-giving.

Pure, simple, and fervent was the piety of these follow-ers of Christ. The principles of truth they valued above housesand lands, friends, kindred, even life itself. These principlesthey earnestly sought to impress upon the hearts of the young.From earliest childhood the youth were instructed in theScriptures, and taught to sacredly regard the claims ofthe law of God. Copies of the Bible were rare; thereforeits precious words were committed to memory. Many wereable to repeat large portions of both the Old and the NewTestament. Thoughts of God were associated alike with thesublime scenery of nature and with the humble blessings ofdaily life. Little children learned to look with gratitude toGod as the giver of every favor and every comfort.

Parents, tender and affectionate as they were, lovedtheir children too wisely to accustom them to self-indul-gence. Before them was a life of trial and hardship, perhapsa martyr’s death. They were educated from childhood to en-dure hardness, to submit to control, and yet to think and actfor themselves. Very early they were taught to bear re-sponsibilities, to be guarded in speech, and to understandthe wisdom of silence. One indiscreet word let fall in thehearing of their enemies, might imperil not only the life ofthe speaker, but the lives of hundreds of his brethren; for aswolves hunting their prey did the enemies of truth pursuethose who dared to claim freedom of religious faith.

The Waldenses had sacrificed their worldly prosperityfor the truth’s sake, and with persevering patience they toiled

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for their bread. Every spot of tillable land among the moun-tains was carefully improved; the valleys and the less fertilehillsides were made to yield their increase. Economy andsevere self-denial formed a part of the education whichthe children received as their only legacy. They weretaught that God designs life to be a discipline, and thattheir wants could be supplied only by personal labor, byforethought, care, and faith. The process was laboriousand wearisome, but it was wholesome, just what man needsin his fallen state, the school which God has provided forHis training and development.

While the youth were inured to toil and hardship, theculture of the intellect was not neglected. They were taughtthat all their powers belonged to God, and that all were to beimproved and developed for His service.

The Vaudois [Waldensian] churches, in their purityand simplicity, resembled the church of apostolic times.Rejecting the supremacy of pope and prelate, they heldthe Bible as the only supreme, infallible authority. Theirpastors, unlike the lordly priests of Rome, followed the ex-ample of their Master, who “came not to be ministered unto,but to minister.” They fed the flock of God, leading them tothe green pastures and living fountains of His holy Word.Far from the monuments of human pomp and pride, thepeople assembled, not in magnificent churches or grand ca-thedrals, but beneath the shadow of the mountains, in theAlpine valleys, or, in time of danger, in some rocky strong-hold, to listen to the words of truth from the servants of Christ.The pastors not only preached the gospel, but they visitedthe sick, catechized the children, admonished the erring, andlabored to settle disputes and promote harmony and broth-erly love. In times of peace they were sustained by the free-will offerings of the people; but, like Paul the tent-maker,each learned some trade or profession by which, if neces-sary, to provide for his own support.

From their pastors the youth received instruction.While attention was given to branches of general learn-ing, the Bible was made the chief study. The Gospels of



Matthew and John they committed to memory, with many ofthe Epistles. They were employed also in copying theScriptures. Some manuscripts contained the whole Bible,others only brief selections, to which some simple explana-tions of the text were added by those who were able to ex-pound the Scriptures. Thus were brought forth the treasuresof truth so long concealed by those who sought to exalt them-selves above God.

By patient, untiring labor, sometimes in the deep,dark caverns of the earth, by the light of torches, thesacred Scriptures were written out, verse by verse, chap-ter by chapter. Thus the work went on, the revealed will ofGod shining out like pure gold; how much brighter, clearer,and more powerful because of the trials undergone for itssake, 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 tobury the Word of truth beneath the rubbish of error,heresy, and superstition, but in a most wonderful man-ner it was preserved uncorrupted through all the ages ofdarkness. It bore not the stamp of man, but the impress ofGod. Men have been unwearied in their efforts to obscurethe plain, simple meaning of the Scriptures, and to makethem contradict their own testimony; but, like the ark uponthe billowy deep, the Word of God outrides the storms thatthreaten it with destruction. As the mine has rich veins ofgold and silver hidden beneath the surface, so that all mustdig who would discover its precious stores, so the Holy Scrip-tures have treasures of truth that are revealed only to theearnest, humble, prayerful seeker. God designed the Bible tobe a lesson-book to all mankind, in childhood, youth, andmanhood, and to be studied through all time. He gave HisWord to men as a revelation of Himself. Every new truthdiscerned is a fresh disclosure of the character of its Author.The study of the Scriptures is the means divinely ordained tobring men into closer connection with their Creator, and togive them a clearer knowledge of His will. It is the mediumof communication between God and man.

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While the Waldenses regarded the fear of the Lordas the beginning of wisdom, they were not blind to theimportance of a contact with the world, a knowledge ofmen and of active life, in expanding the mind and quicken-ing the perceptions. From their schools in the mountains someof the youth were sent to institutions of learning in the citiesof France or Italy, where was a more extended field for study,thought, and observation than in their native Alps. The youththus sent forth were exposed to temptation, they witnessedvice, they encountered Satan’s wily agents, who urged uponthem the most subtle heresies and the most dangerous de-ceptions. But their education from childhood had been of acharacter to prepare them for all this.

In the schools whither they went, they were not to makeconfidants of any. Their garments were so prepared as toconceal their greatest treasure,—the precious manuscriptsof the Scriptures. These, the fruit of months and years oftoil, they carried with them, and, whenever they could do sowithout exciting suspicion, they cautiously placed someportion in the way of those whose hearts seemed open toreceive the truth. From their mother’s knee the Walden-sian 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 oflearning, and frequently its principles were found to be per-meating the entire school; yet the papist leaders could not,by the closest inquiry, trace the so-called corrupting heresyto its source.

The spirit of Christ is a missionary spirit. The veryfirst impulse of the renewed heart is to bring others alsoto the Saviour. Such was the spirit of the Vaudois Chris-tians. They felt that God required more of them than merelyto preserve the truth in its purity in their own churches; thata solemn responsibility rested upon them to let their lightshine forth to those who were in darkness; by the mightypower of God’s Word they sought to break the bondage whichRome had imposed. The Vaudois ministers were trainedas missionaries, every one who expected to enter the



ministry were required first to gain an experience as anevangelist. Each was to serve three years in some mis-sion field before taking charge of a church at home. Thisservice, requiring at the outset self-denial and sacrifice, wasa fitting introduction to the pastor’s life in those times thattried men’s souls. The youth who received ordination to thesacred office saw before them, not the prospect of earthlywealth and glory, but a life of toil and danger, and possibly amartyr’s fate. The missionaries went out two and two, asJesus sent forth His disciples. With every young man wasusually associated a man of age and experience, the youthbeing under the guidance of his companion, who was heldresponsible for his training, and whose instruction he wasrequired to heed. These co-laborers were not always together,but often met for prayer and counsel, thus strengthening eachother in the faith.

To have made known the object of their mission wouldhave insured its defeat; therefore they carefully concealedtheir real character. Every minister possessed a knowledgeof some trade or profession, and the missionaries pros-ecuted their work under cover of a secular calling. Usu-ally they chose that of merchant or peddler. They dealt inchoice and costly articles, such as silks, laces, and jewels,which in those times could not be readily procured, and thusthey found entrance where they would otherwise have beenrepulsed. All the while their hearts were uplifted to Godfor wisdom to present a treasure more precious than goldor gems. They secretly carried about with them copiesof the Bible, in whole or in part, and whenever an op-portunity was presented, they called the attention of theircustomers to these manuscripts. Often an interest to readGod’s Word was thus awakened, and some portion was gladlyleft with those who desired to receive it.

The work of these missionaries began in the plains andvalleys at the foot of their own mountains, but it extendedfar beyond these limits. With naked feet and in garmentscoarse and travel-stained as were those of their Master, theypassed through great cities, and penetrated to distant lands.

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Everywhere they scattered the precious seed. Churchessprung up in their path, and the blood of martyrs wit-nessed for the truth. The day of God will reveal a rich har-vest of souls garnered by the labors of these faithful men.Veiled and silent, the Word of God was making its waythrough Christendom, and meeting a glad reception in thehomes and hearts of men.

To the Waldenses the Scriptures were not merely a recordof God’s dealings with men in the past, and a revelation ofthe responsibilities and duties of the present, but an unfold-ing of the perils and glories of the future. They believed thatthe end of all things was not far distant; and as they studiedthe Bible with prayer and tears, they were the more deeplyimpressed with its precious utterances, and with their dutyto make known to others its saving truths. They saw theplan of salvation clearly revealed in the sacred pages,and they found comfort, hope, and peace in believing inJesus. As the light illuminated their understanding and madeglad their hearts, they longed to shed its beams upon thosewho were in the darkness of papal error.

They saw that under the guidance of pope andpriests, multitudes were vainly endeavoring to obtainpardon by afflicting their bodies for the sin of their souls.Taught to trust to their good works to save them, they wereever looking to themselves, their minds dwelling upon theirsinful condition, seeing themselves exposed to the wrath ofGod, afflicting soul and body, yet finding no relief. Thusconscientious souls were bound by the doctrines of Rome.Thousands abandoned friends and kindred, and spent theirlives in convent cells. By oft-repeated fasts and cruelscourgings, by midnight vigils, by prostration for weary hoursupon the cold, damp stones of their dreary abode, by longpilgrimages, by humiliating penance and fearful torture, thou-sands vainly sought to obtain peace of conscience. Oppressedwith a sense of sin, and haunted with the fear of God’s aveng-ing wrath, many suffered on, until exhausted nature gaveway, and without one ray of light or hope, they sank into thetomb.



The Waldenses longed to break to these starving soulsthe bread of life, to open to them the messages of peace inthe promises of God, and to point them to Christ as theironly hope of salvation. The doctrine that good works canatone for the transgression of God’s law, they held to be basedupon falsehood. Reliance upon human merit intercepts theview of Christ’s infinite love. Jesus died as a sacrifice forman because the fallen race can do nothing to recom-mend themselves to God. The merits of a crucified andrisen Saviour are the foundation of the Christian’s faith.The dependence of the soul upon Christ is as real, and itsconnection with Him must be as close, as that of a limb tothe body, or of a branch to the vine.

The teachings of popes and priests had led men tolook upon the character of God, and even of Christ, asstern, gloomy, and forbidding. The Saviour was representedas so far devoid of all sympathy with man in his fallen statethat the mediation of priests and saints must be invoked.Those whose minds had been enlightened by the Word ofGod longed to point these souls to Jesus as their compas-sionate, loving Saviour, standing with outstretched arms in-viting all to come to Him with their burden of sin, their careand weariness. They longed to clear away the obstructionswhich Satan had piled up that men might not see the prom-ises, and come directly to God, confessing their sins, andobtaining pardon and peace.

Eagerly did the Vaudois missionary unfold to the in-quiring mind the precious truths of the gospel. Cautiouslyhe produced the carefully written portions of the HolyScriptures. It was his greatest joy to give hope to the con-scientious, sin-stricken soul, who could see only a God ofvengeance, waiting to execute justice. With quivering lip andtearful eye did he, often on bended knees, open to his breth-ren 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 Righteous-ness shone into the heart with healing in His beams. It wasoften the case that some portion of Scripture was read

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again and again, the hearer desiring it to be repeated, asif he would assure himself that he had heard aright. Es-pecially was the repetition of these words eagerly desired:“The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from allsin.” John 1:7. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wil-derness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that who-soever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternallife.” John 3:14, 15.

Many were undeceived in regard to the claims ofRome. They saw how vain is the mediation of men orangels in behalf of the sinner. As the true light dawnedupon their minds, they exclaimed with rejoicing, “Christis my priest; His blood is my sacrifice; His altar is myconfessional.” They cast themselves wholly upon the mer-its of Jesus, repeating the words, “Without faith it is impos-sible to please him.” Hebrews 11:6. “There is none othername under heaven given among men, whereby we must besaved.” Acts 4:12.

The assurance of a Saviour’s love seemed too much forsome of these poor tempest-tossed souls to realize. So greatwas the relief which it brought, such a flood of light wasshed upon them, that they seemed transported to Heaven.Their hand was laid confidingly in the hand of Christ; theirfeet were planted upon the Rock of Ages. All fear of deathwas banished. They could now covet the prison and the fagotif they might thereby honor the name of their Redeemer.

In secret places the Word of God was thus broughtforth and read, sometimes to a single soul, sometimes toa little company who were longing for light and truth.Often the entire night was spent in this manner. So greatwould be the wonder and admiration of the listeners that themessenger of mercy was not infrequently compelled to ceasehis reading until the understanding could grasp the tidingsof salvation. Often would words like these be uttered: “WillGod indeed accept my offering? Will He smile upon me?Will He pardon me?” The answer was read, “Come untoMe, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give yourest.” Matthew 11:28.



Faith grasped the promise, and the glad response washeard, “No more long pilgrimages to make; no more painfuljourneys 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 for-given!”

A tide of sacred joy would fill the heart, and the name ofJesus would be magnified by praise and thanksgiving. Thosehappy souls returned to their homes to diffuse light, to re-peat to others, as well as they could, their new experience;that they had found the true and living Way. There was astrange and solemn power in the words of Scripture thatspoke directly to the hearts of those who were longingfor the truth. It was the voice of God, and it carried con-viction to those who heard.

The messenger of truth went on his way; but his appear-ance of humility, his sincerity, his earnestness and deep fer-vor, were subjects of frequent remark. In many instances hishearers had not asked him whence he came, or whither hewent. They had been so overwhelmed, at first with surprise,and afterward with gratitude and joy, that they had not thoughtto question him. When they had urged him to accompanythem to their homes, he had replied that he must visit the lostsheep of the flock. Could he have been an angel from Heaven?they queried.

In many cases the messenger of truth was seen nomore. He had made his way to other lands, he was wearingout his life in some unknown dungeon, or perhaps his boneswere whitening on the spot where he had witnessed for thetruth. But the words he had left behind could not be destroyed.They were doing their work in the hearts of men; the blessedresults will be fully known only in the Judgment.

The Waldensian missionaries were invading the king-dom of Satan, and the powers of darkness aroused to greatervigilance. Every effort to advance the truth was watched bythe prince of evil, and he excited the fears of his agents. Thepapal leaders saw a portent of danger to their cause from thelabors of these humble itinerants. If the light of truth were

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allowed to shine unobstructed, it would sweep away theheavy clouds of error that enveloped the people; it woulddirect the minds of men to God alone, and would eventu-ally destroy the supremacy of Rome.

The very existence of this people, holding the faith ofthe ancient church, was a constant testimony to Rome’sapostasy, and therefore excited the most bitter hatredand persecution. Their refusal to surrender the Scriptureswas also an offense that Rome could not tolerate. She deter-mined to blot them from the earth. Now began the mostterrible crusades against God’s people in their moun-tain homes. Inquisitors were put upon their track, and thescene of innocent Abel falling before the murderous Cainwas often repeated.

Again and again were their fertile lands laid waste,their dwellings and chapels swept away, so that whereonce were flourishing fields and the homes of an inno-cent, industrious people, there remained only a desert.As the ravenous beast is rendered more furious by the tasteof blood, so the rage of the papists was kindled to greaterintensity by the sufferings of their victims. Many of thesewitnesses for a pure faith were pursued across the moun-tains, and hunted down in the valleys where they were hid-den, shut in by mighty forests, and pinnacles of rock.

No charge could be brought against the moral characterof this proscribed class. Even their enemies declared them tobe a peaceable, quiet, pious people. Their grand offensewas that they would not worship God according to thewill of the pope. For this crime, every humiliation, in-sult, and torture that men or devils could invent washeaped upon them.

When Rome at one time determined to exterminate thehated sect, a bull was issued by the pope [Innocent VIII, A.D. 1487] condemning them as heretics, and delivering themto slaughter. They were not accused as idlers, or dishonest,or disorderly; but it was declared that they had an appear-ance of piety and sanctity that seduced “the sheep of the truefold.” Therefore the pope ordered “that the malicious



and abominable sect of malignants,” if they refuse toabjure, “be crushed like venomous snakes.” Did thishaughty potentate expect to meet those words again? Did heknow that they were registered in the books of Heaven, toconfront him at the Judgment? “Inasmuch as ye have done itunto one of the least of these my brethren,” said Jesus, “yehave done it unto me.” Matthew 25:40.

This bull called upon all members of the church tojoin the crusade against the heretics. As an incentive toengage in this cruel work, it “absolved from all ecclesiasti-cal pains and penalties, general and particular; it released allwho joined the crusade from any oaths they might have taken;it legitimatized their title to any property which they mighthave illegally acquired, and promised remission of all theirsins to such as should kill any heretic. It annulled all con-tracts made in favor of the Vaudois, ordered their domesticsto abandon them, forbade all persons to give them any aidwhatever, and empowered all persons to take possession oftheir property.” This document clearly reveals the master-spirit behind the scenes. It is the roar of the dragon, and notthe voice of Christ, that is heard therein.

The papal leaders would not conform their charac-ters to the great standard of God’s law, but erected astandard to suit themselves, and determined to compelall to conform to this because Rome willed it. The mosthorrible tragedies were enacted. Corrupt and blasphemouspriests and popes were doing the work which Satan appointedthem. Mercy had no place in their natures. The same spiritthat crucified Christ, and that slew the apostles, the samethat moved the blood-thirsty Nero against the faithful in hisday, was at work to rid the earth of those who were belovedof God.

The persecutions visited for many centuries upon thisGod-fearing people were endured by them with a pa-tience and constancy that honored their Redeemer. Not-withstanding the crusades against them, and the inhumanbutchery to which they were subjected, they continued to sendout their missionaries to scatter the precious truth. They were

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CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: P: P: P: P: PAGAN ORIGINSAGAN ORIGINSAGAN ORIGINSAGAN ORIGINSAGAN ORIGINS

“Rites and ceremonies, of which neither Paul nor Peter ever heard, creptsilently into use, and then claimed the rank of divine institutions. Officersfor whom the primitive disciples could have found no place, and titles whichto them would have been altogether unintelligible, began to challenge at-tention, and to be named ‘apostolic.’ ” William D. Killen, The Ancient Church,p. xvi.

“The belief in miracle-working objects, talismans, amulets, and formu-las was dear to . . Christianity, and they were received from pagan antiquity. . the vestments of the clergy and the papal title of ‘pontifix maximus’ werelegacies from pagan Rome. The [Catholic] Church found that rural con-verts still revered certain springs, wells, trees, and stones; she thought itwiser to bless these to Christian use . . Pagan festivals, dear to the people,reappeared as Christian feasts, and pagan rites were transformed into Chris-tian liturgy . . The Christian calendar of saints replaced the Roman ‘fasti’[calendar of gods]; ancient divinities dear to the people were allowed torevive under the names of ‘Christian saints’ . . Gradually the tenderest fea-tures of Astarte, Cybele, Artemis, Diana, and Isis were gathered togetherin the worship of Mary.” Will Durant, The Age of Faith, 1950, pp. 745-746.

“The [Catholic] Church took the pagan philosophy and made it the bucklerof faith against the heathen. She took the pagan Roman Pantheon, templeof all gods, and made it sacred to all the martyrs; so it stands to this day.She took the pagan Sun day and made it the Christian Sunday. She took thepagan Easter [in honor of Ishtar] and made it the feast we celebrate duringthis season . . The sun was a foremost god with heathendom . . Hence theChurch would seem to say, ‘Keep that old pagan name [Sunday]. It shallremain consecrated, sanctified.’ And thus the pagan Sunday, dedicated to

hunted to the death; yet their blood watered the seed sown,and it failed not of yielding fruit.

Thus the Waldenses witnessed for God, centuriesbefore the birth of Luther. Scattered over many lands,they planted the seeds of the Reformation that began inthe time of Wycliffe, grew broad and deep in the days ofLuther, and is to be carried forward to the close of timeby those who also are willing to suffer all things for “theWord of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Rev-elation 1:9.



Balder, became the Christian Sunday, sacred to Jesus.” William L. Gildea,“Paschale Gaudium,” in The Catholic World, 58, March, 1894, p. 809.

“It is not necessary to to go into the subject which the diligence ofProtestant writers has made familiar to most of us: the use of templesdedicated to particular saints, . . holy water; asylums [monasteries];holydays and seasons, use of saints’ calendars, processions, . . are all ofpagan origin, and sanctified by their adoption into the church.” John HenryNewman, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, p. 373 (1906).

“The mighty Catholic Church was little more than the Roman Empirebaptized. Rome was transformed as well as converted . . It is not a matterof great surprise, therefore, to find that from the first to the fourth century,the Church had undergone many changes.” Alexander C. Flick, Rise of theMedieval Church, pp. 148-149.

“Pictures of Christ, Mary, and the saints, had been already worshippedfrom the fifth century with greetings, kisses, prostration, a renewal of an-cient pagan practices. In the naive and confident conviction that Christiansno longer ran any risk of idolatry, the Church not only tolerated, but pro-moted, the entrance of paganism . . A brisk trade was carried on in theseventh and beginning of the eighth centuries in images, especially bymonks; churches and chapels were crowded with pictures and relics; thepractice of heathen times was revived.” Adolph Harnack, History of Dogma,Vol. 4, pp. 318-319 (1898).

“From ancient Babylon came the cult of the virgin mother-godess, whowas worshiped as the highest of gods.” S.H. Langdon, Semitic Mythology,1931 ed.

Laing mentions several pagan practices by which the mother-goddesswas worshiped by heathens, that Rome adopted into Christianity: holy water,votive offerings, elevation of sacred objects [lifting of the host], the priest’sbells, the decking of images, processions, festivals, prayers for the dead,the worship of relics and the statutes of saints. See Gordon J. Laing, Sur-vivals of Roman Religion, 1831 edition, pp. 92-95, 123-131, 238-241.

“Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, ex-cept there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son ofperdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or thatis worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himselfthat he is God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3-7.

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Chapter FiveChapter FiveChapter FiveChapter FiveChapter Five

A VA VA VA VA Voiceoiceoiceoiceoicein the Wilderin the Wilderin the Wilderin the Wilderin the Wildernessnessnessnessness

—John Wycliffe—John Wycliffe—John Wycliffe—John Wycliffe—John Wycliffe———————————————————————

Once there was a time when the common people didn’t haveOnce there was a time when the common people didn’t haveOnce there was a time when the common people didn’t haveOnce there was a time when the common people didn’t haveOnce there was a time when the common people didn’t haveBibles. Bibles. Bibles. Bibles. Bibles. Think of it! Almost no Bibles anywhere. They weren’t al-lowed to have them. Then came a man who determined to giveThen came a man who determined to giveThen came a man who determined to giveThen came a man who determined to giveThen came a man who determined to givethe Bible to his people —the Bible to his people —the Bible to his people —the Bible to his people —the Bible to his people —

RRRRRead what happened when he did it.ead what happened when he did it.ead what happened when he did it.ead what happened when he did it.ead what happened when he did it. This is the story of a manof God—the story of John Wycliffe — — — — ————————————————————————

Before the Reformation there were at times but veryfew copies of the Bible in existence; but God had not suf-fered His Word to be wholly destroyed. Its truths werenot to be forever hidden. He could as easily unchain thewords of life as he could open prison doors and unbolt irongates to set His servants free. In the different countries ofEurope, men were moved by the Spirit of God to searchfor the truth as for hid treasures. Providentially guidedto the Holy Scriptures, they studied the sacred pages withintense interest. They were willing to accept the light, atany cost to themselves. Though they did not see all thingsclearly, they were enabled to perceive many long-buriedtruths. As Heaven-sent messengers they went forth, rendingasunder the chains of error and superstition, and calling uponthose who had been so long enslaved to arise and assert theirliberty.

Except among the Waldenses, the Word of God hadfor ages been locked up in languages known only to thelearned; but the time had come for the Scriptures to betranslated, and given to the people of different lands intheir native tongue. The world had passed its midnight. The

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hours of darkness were wearing away, and in many landsappeared tokens of the coming dawn.

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

Wycliffe received a liberal education, and with himthe fear of the Lord was the beginning of wisdom. Hewas noted at college for his fervent piety as well as for hisremarkable talents and sound scholarship. In his thirst forknowledge he sought to become acquainted with every branchof learning. He was educated in the scholastic philosophy, inthe canons of the church, and in the civil law, especially thatof his own country. In his after-labors the value of this earlytraining was apparent. A thorough acquaintance with thespeculative philosophy of his time enabled him to expose itserrors; and by his study of national and ecclesiastical law hewas prepared to engage in the great struggle for civil andreligious liberty. While he could wield the weapons drawnfrom the Word of God, he had acquired the intellectual dis-cipline of the schools, and he understood the tactics of theschoolmen. The power of his genius and the extent and thor-oughness of his knowledge commanded the respect of bothfriends and foes. His adherents saw with satisfaction thattheir champion stood foremost among the leading minds ofthe nation; and his enemies were prevented from casting con-tempt upon the cause of reform by exposing the ignoranceor weakness of its supporter.

While Wycliffe was still at college, he entered upon———————————HISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DAAAAATING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—All the events

about John Wycliffe (1328-1415) occurred between A.D. 1328 and1415. He became pastor of Lutterworth in 1374; and, in 1377, papalbulls were hurled against him. Two rival popes were elected in 1378—and the Great Schism began. Their fighting lasted until 1415. Be-tween 1382 and 1384, Wycliffe translated the Bible into English.

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the study of the Scriptures. In those early times, when theBible existed only in the ancient languages, scholars wereenabled to find their way to the fountain of truth, which wasclosed to the uneducated classes. Thus already the way hadbeen prepared for Wycliffe’s future work as a reformer. Menof learning had studied the Word of God, and had found thegreat truth of His free grace there revealed. In their teach-ings they had spread a knowledge of this truth, and had ledothers to turn to the Living Oracles.

When Wycliffe’s attention was directed to the Scrip-tures, he entered upon their investigation with the samethoroughness which had enabled him to master the learn-ing of the schools. Heretofore he had felt a great want, whichneither his scholastic studies nor the teaching of the churchcould satisfy. In the Word of God he found that which he hadbefore sought in vain. Here he saw the plan of salvation re-vealed, and Christ set forth as the only advocate for man. Hegave himself to the service of Christ, and determined to pro-claim the truths he had discovered.

Like after reformers, Wycliffe did not, at the open-ing of his work, foresee whither it would lead him. Hedid not set himself deliberately in opposition to Rome.But devotion to truth could not but bring him in conflictwith falsehood. The more clearly he discerned the errors ofthe papacy, the more earnestly he presented the teaching ofthe Bible. He saw that Rome had forsaken the Word of Godfor human tradition; he fearlessly accused the priesthood ofhaving banished the Scriptures, and demanded that the Biblebe restored to the people, and that its authority be again es-tablished in the church. He was an able and earnest teacher,and an eloquent preacher, and his daily life was a demon-stration of the truths he preached. His knowledge of the Scrip-tures, the force of his reasoning, the purity of his life, and hisunbending courage and integrity, won for him general es-teem and confidence. Many of the people had become dis-satisfied with their former faith, as they saw the iniquity thatprevailed in the Roman Church, and they hailed with uncon-cealed joy the truths brought to view by Wycliffe; but the

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papist leaders were filled with rage when they perceivedthat this reformer was gaining an influence greater thantheir own.

Wycliffe was a keen detector of error, and he struckfearlessly against many of the abuses sanctioned by theauthority of Rome. While acting as chaplain or the king, hetook a bold stand against the payment of tribute claimed bythe pope from the English monarch, and showed that thepapal assumption of authority over secular rulers was con-trary to both reason and revelation. The demands of the popehad excited great indignation, and Wycliffe’s teachings ex-erted an influence upon the leading minds of the nation. Theking and the nobles united in denying the pontiff’s claim totemporal authority, and in refusing the payment of the trib-ute. Thus an effectual blow was struck against the papal su-premacy in England.

Another evil against which the reformer waged longand resolute battle, was the institution of the orders ofmendicant friars. These friars swarmed in England, cast-ing 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 aheavy drain upon the resources of the people, but itbrought useful labor into contempt. The youth were de-moralized and corrupted. By the influence of the friars manywere induced to enter a cloister and devote themselves to amonastic life, and this not only without the consent of theirparents, but even without their knowledge, and contrary totheir commands. One of the early fathers of the RomishChurch, urging the claims of monasticism above the obliga-tions of filial love and duty, had declared: “Though thy fa-ther should lie before thy door, weeping and lamenting, andthy mother should show thee the body that bare thee and thebreasts that nursed thee, see that thou trample them underfoot, and go onward straightway to Christ.” “By this mon-strous inhumanity,” as Luther afterward styled it, “savoringmore of the wolf and the tyrant than of the Christian and theman,” were the hearts of children steeled against their par-

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ents. Thus did the papal leaders, like the Pharisees of old,make the commandment of God of none effect by their tra-dition. Thus homes were made desolate, and parents weredeprived of the society of their sons and daughters.

Even the students in the universities were deceivedby the false representations of the monks, and inducedto join their orders. Many afterward repented this step, see-ing that they had blighted their own lives, and had broughtsorrow upon their parents; but once fast in the snare, it wasimpossible for them to obtain their freedom. Many parents,fearing the influence of the monks, refused to send their sonsto the universities. There was a marked falling off in the num-ber of students in attendance at the great centers of learning.The schools languished, and ignorance prevailed.

The pope had bestowed on these monks the powerto hear confessions and to grant pardon. This became asource of great evil. Bent on enhancing their gains, the fri-ars were so ready to grant absolution that criminals of alldescriptions resorted to them, and as a result, the worst vicesrapidly increased. The sick and the poor were left to suffer,while the gifts that should have relieved their wants went tothe monks, who with threats demanded the alms of the people,denouncing the impiety of those who should withhold giftsfrom their orders. Notwithstanding their profession ofpoverty, the wealth of the friars was constantly increas-ing, and their magnificent edifices and luxurious tables mademore apparent the growing poverty of the nation. And whilespending their time in luxury and pleasure, they sent out intheir stead ignorant men, who could only recount marveloustales, legends, and jests to amuse the people, and make themstill more completely the dupes of the monks. Yet the friarscontinued to maintain their hold on the superstitious mul-titudes, and led them to believe that all religious dutywas comprised in acknowledging the supremacy of thepope, adoring the saints, and making gifts to the monks,and that this was sufficient to secure them a place inHeaven.

Men of learning and piety had labored in vain to



bring about a reform in these monastic orders; butWycliffe, with clearer insight, struck at the root of theevil, declaring that the system itself was false, and that itshould be abolished. Discussion and inquiry were awaken-ing. As the monks traversed the country, vending the pope’spardons, many were led to doubt the possibility of purchas-ing forgiveness with money, and they questioned whetherthey should not seek pardon from God rather than from thepontiff of Rome. Not a few were alarmed at the rapacity ofthe friars, whose greed seemed never to be satisfied. “Themonks and priests of Rome,” said they, “are eating us awaylike a cancer. God must deliver us, or the people will per-ish.” To cover their avarice, these begging monks claimedthat they were following the Saviour’s example, declaringthat Jesus and His disciples had been supported by the chari-ties 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, whichit was her object to conceal.

Wycliffe began to write and publish tracts againstthe friars, not, however, seeking so much to enter into dis-pute with them as to call the minds of the people to the teach-ings of the Bible and its Author. He declared that the powerof pardon or of excommunication is possessed by the popein no greater degree than by common priests, and that noman can be truly excommunicated unless he has first broughtupon himself the condemnation of God. In no more effectualway could he have undertaken the overthrow of that mam-moth fabric of spiritual and temporal dominion which thepope had erected, and in which the souls and bodies of mil-lions were held captive.

Again Wycliffe was called to defend the rights of theEnglish crown against the encroachments of Rome; and be-ing appointed a royal ambassador, he spent two years inthe Netherlands, in conference with the commissionersof the pope. Here he was brought into communicationwith ecclesiastics from France, Italy, and Spain, and he

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had an opportunity to look behind the scenes, and gain aknowledge of many things which would have remained hid-den from him in England. He learned much that was to givepoint to his after-labors. In these representatives from thepapal court he read the true character and aims of the hierar-chy. He returned to England to repeat his former teach-ings more openly and with greater zeal, declaring thatcovetousness, pride, and deception were the gods ofRome.

In one of his tracts he said, speaking of the pope and hiscollectors: “They draw out of our land poor men’s liveli-hood, and many thousand marks by the year, of the king’smoney, for sacraments and spiritual things, that is cursedheresy of simony, and maketh all Christendom assert andmaintain his heresy. And certes though our realm had a hugehill of gold, and never other man took thereof but only thisproud, worldly priest’s collector, by process of time this hillmust be spended; for he taketh ever money out of our land,and sendeth naught again but God’s curse for his simony.”

Soon after his return to England, Wycliffe receivedfrom the king the appointment to the rectory ofLutterworth. This was an assurance that the monarch atleast had not been displeased by his plain speaking. Wycliffe’sinfluence was felt in shaping the action of the court, as wellas in moulding the belief of the nation.

The papal thunders were soon hurled against him.Three bulls were dispatched to England,—to the univer-sity, to the king, and to the prelates,—all commanding im-mediate and decisive measures to silence the teacher of her-esy. Before the arrival of the bulls, however, the bishops, intheir zeal, had summoned Wycliffe before them for trial. Buttwo of the most powerful princes in the kingdom accompa-nied him to the tribunal; and the people, surrounding thebuilding and rushing in, so intimidated the judges that theproceedings were for the time suspended, and he was allowedto go his way in peace. A little later, Edward III, whom in hisold age the prelates were seeking to influence against thereformer, died, and Wycliffe’s former protector became re-



gent of the kingdom.But the arrival of the papal bulls laid upon all En-

gland a peremptory command for the arrest and impris-onment of the heretic. These measures pointed directly tothe stake. It appeared certain that Wycliffe must soon fall aprey to the vengeance of Rome. But He who declared to oneof old, “Fear not; I am thy shield,” (Genesis 15:1) againstretched out His hand to protect His servant. Death came,not to the reformer, but to the pontiff who had decreedHis destruction. Gregory XI died, and the ecclesiasticswho had assembled for Wycliffe’s trial, dispersed.

God’s providence still further overruled events togive opportunity for the growth of the Reformation. Thedeath of Gregory was followed by the election of tworival popes. Two conflicting powers, each professedly in-fallible, now claimed obedience. Each called upon the faith-ful to assist him in making war upon the other, enforcing hisdemands by terrible anathemas against his adversaries, andpromises of rewards in Heaven to his supporters. This oc-currence greatly weakened the power of the papacy. The ri-val factions had all they could do to attack each other, andWycliffe for a time had rest. Anathemas and recriminationswere flying from pope to pope, and torrents of blood werepoured out to support their conflicting claims. Crimes andscandals flooded the church. Meanwhile the reformer, in thequiet retirement of his parish of Lutterworth, was laboringdiligently to point men from the contending popes to Jesus,the Prince of peace.

The schism, with all the strife and corruption whichit caused, prepared the way for the Reformation, by en-abling the people to see what the papacy really was. In atract which he published, “On the Schism of the Popes,”Wycliffe called upon the people to consider whether thesetwo priests were not speaking the truth in condemning eachother as the antichrist. “The fiend,” said he, “no longer reignsin one but in two priests, that men may the more easily, inChrist’s name, overcome them both.”

Wycliffe, like his Master, preached the gospel to the poor.

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Not content with spreading the light in their humble homesin his own parish of Lutterworth, he determined that it shouldbe carried to every part of England. To accomplish this heorganized a body of preachers, simple, devout men, wholoved the truth and desired nothing so much as to extendit. These men went everywhere, teaching in the market-places, in the streets of the great cities, and in the countrylanes. They sought out the aged, the sick, and the poor, andopened to them the glad tidings of the grace of God.

As a professor of theology at Oxford, Wycliffepreached the Word of God in the halls of the university.So faithfully did he present the truth to the students underhis instruction, that he received the title of “The Gospel Doc-tor.” But the greatest work of his life was to be the trans-lation of the Scriptures into the English language. In awork on “The Truth and Meaning of Scripture,” he expressedhis intention to translate the Bible, so that every man in En-gland might read, in the language in which he was born, thewonderful works of God.

But suddenly his labors were stopped. Though notyet sixty years of age, unceasing toil, study, and the assaultsof his enemies, had told upon his strength, and made himprematurely old. He was attacked by a dangerous illness.The tidings brought great joy to the friars. Now they thoughthe would bitterly repent the evil he had done the church, andthey hurried to his chamber to listen to his confession. Rep-resentatives from the four religious orders, with four civilofficers, gathered about the supposed dying man. “You havedeath on your lips,” they said; “be touched by your faults,and retract in our presence all you have said to our injury.”The reformer listened in silence; then he bade his attendantraise him in his bed, and gazing steadily upon them as theystood waiting for his recantation, he said, in the firm, strongvoice which had so often caused them to tremble, “I shallnot die, but live, and declare the evil deeds of the friars.”Astonished and abashed, the monks hurried from the room.

Wycliffe’s words were fulfilled. He lived to place inthe hands of his countrymen the most powerful of all



weapons against Rome; to give them the Bible, theHeaven-appointed agent to liberate, enlighten, and evange-lize the people. There were many and great obstacles to sur-mount in the accomplishment of this work. Wycliffe wasweighed down with infirmities, he knew that only a few yearsfor labor remained for him, he saw the opposition which hemust meet; but, encouraged by the promises of God’s Word,he went forward nothing daunted. In the full vigor of hisintellectual powers, rich in experience, he had been preservedand prepared by God’s special providence for this, the greatestof his labors. While all Christendom was filled with tumult,the reformer, in his rectory at Lutterworth, unheeding thestorm that raged without, applied himself to his chosen task.

At last the work was completed,—the first Englishtranslation of the Bible ever made. The Word of Godwas opened to England. The reformer feared not now theprison or the stake. He had placed in the hands of the En-glish people a light which should never be extinguished. Ingiving the Bible to his countrymen, he had done more tobreak the fetters of ignorance and vice, more to liberate andelevate his country, than was ever achieved by the most bril-liant victories on fields of battle.

The art of printing being still unknown, it was onlyby slow and wearisome labor that copies of the Biblecould be multiplied. So great was the interest to obtain thebook, that many willingly engaged in the work of transcrib-ing it, but it was with difficulty that the copyists could sup-ply the demand. Some of the more wealthy purchasers de-sired the whole Bible. Others bought only a portion. In manycases, several families united to purchase a copy. ThusWycliffe’s Bible soon found its way to the homes of thepeople.

The appeal to men’s reason aroused them from their pas-sive submission to papal dogmas. Wycliffe now taught thedistinctive doctrines of Protestantism,—salvationthrough faith in Christ, and the sole infallibility of theScriptures. The preachers whom he had sent out circu-lated the Bible, together with the reformer’s writings,

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and with such success that the new faith was acceptedby nearly one-half of the people of England.

The appearance of the Scriptures brought dismay to theauthorities of the church. They had now to meet an agencymore powerful than Wycliffe,—an agency against which theirweapons would avail little. There was at this time no law inEngland prohibiting the Bible, for it had never before beenpublished in the language of the people. Such laws were af-terward enacted and rigorously enforced. Meanwhile, not-withstanding the efforts of the priest, there was for a seasonopportunity for the circulation of the Word of God.

Again the papist leaders plotted to silence thereformer’s voice. Before three tribunals he was succes-sively summoned for trial, but without avail. First a synodof bishops declared his writings heretical, and, winning theyoung king, Richard II, to their side, they obtained a royaldecree consigning to prison all who should hold the con-demned doctrines.

Wycliffe appealed from the synod to Parliament; hefearlessly arraigned the hierarchy before the nationalcouncil, and demanded a reform of the enormous abusessanctioned by the church. With convincing power he por-trayed the usurpations and corruptions of the papal see. Hisenemies were brought to confusion. The friends and sup-porters of Wycliffe had been forced to yield, and it had beenconfidently expected that the reformer himself, in his oldage, alone and friendless, would bow to the combined au-thority of the crown and the mitre. But instead of this thepapists saw themselves defeated. Parliament, roused bythe stirring appeals of Wycliffe, repealed the persecut-ing edict, and the reformer was again at liberty.

A third time he was brought to trial, and now beforethe highest ecclesiastical tribunal in the kingdom. Hereno favor would be shown to heresy. Here at last Rome wouldtriumph, and the reformer’s work would be stopped. Sothought the papists. If they could but accomplish their pur-pose, Wycliffe would be forced to abjure his doctrines, orwould leave the court only for the flames.



But Wycliffe did not retract; he would not dissemble.He fearlessly maintained his teachings, and repelled theaccusations of his persecutors. Losing sight of himself, ofhis position, of the occasion, he summoned his hearers be-fore the divine tribunal, and weighed their sophistries anddeceptions in the balances of eternal truth. The power of theHoly Spirit was felt in the council room. A spell from Godwas upon the hearers. They seemed to have no power to leavethe place. As arrows from the Lord’s quiver, the reformer’swords pierced their hearts. The charge of heresy, which theyhad brought against him, he with convincing power threwback upon themselves. Why, he demanded, did they dareto spread their errors?—For the sake of gain, to makemerchandise of the grace of God.

“With whom, think you,” he finally said, “are you con-tending? With an old man on the brink of the grave?—No!with truth,—truth which is stronger than you, and will over-come you.” 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 truthwhich he had so long borne was soon to fall from his hand;but once more he was to bear witness for the gospel. Thetruth was to be proclaimed from the very stronghold of thekingdom of error. Wycliffe was summoned for trial be-fore the papal tribunal at Rome, which had so often shedthe blood of the saints. He was not blind to the danger thatthreatened him, yet he would have obeyed the summons, hadnot a shock of palsy made it impossible for him to performthe 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 aletter, 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 ev-ery man the faith which I do hold, and specially unto thebishop of Rome; the which forasmuch as I do suppose to besound and true, he will most willingly confirm my said faith,or if it be erroneous, amend the same. First, I believe that the

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gospel of Christ is the whole body of God’s law. . . . I do giveand hold the bishop of Rome, forasmuch as he be the vicarof Christ here on earth, to be bound most of all men untothat law of the gospel. For the greatness among Christ’s dis-ciples did not consist in worldly dignity or honors, but in thenear and exact following of Christ in His life and manners. .. . Christ for the time of His pilgrimage here was a most poorman, abjecting and casting off all worldly rule and honor.

“No faithful man ought to follow either the pope him-self, or any of the holy men, but in such points as he hathfollowed the Lord Jesus Christ. For Peter and the sons ofZebedee, by desiring worldly honor, contrary to the follow-ing of Christ’s steps, did offend, and therefore in those er-rors they are not to be followed.

“The pope ought to leave unto the secular power all tem-poral dominion and rule, and thereunto effectually move andexhort his whole clergy; for so did Christ, and especially byhis apostles.

“If I have erred in any of these points, I will most hum-bly submit myself unto correction even by death, if neces-sity so require. If I could labor according to my will anddesire in mine own person, I would surely present myselfbefore the bishop of Rome. But the Lord hath otherwise vis-ited me to the contrary, and hath taught me to obey God ratherthan men.”

In closing he said: “Let us pray unto our God, that Hewill so stir up our pope, Urban the Sixth, as he began, thathe with his clergy may follow the Lord Jesus Christ in lifeand manners, and that they may teach the people effectually,and that they likewise may faithfully follow them in thesame.”

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

Wycliffe fully expected that his life would be the priceof his fidelity. The king, the pope, and the bishops were unitedto accomplish his ruin, and it seemed certain that a few



months at most would bring him to the stake. But his cour-age was unshaken. “Why do you talk of seeking the crownof martyrdom afar?” he said. “Preach the gospel of Christ tohaughty prelates, and martyrdom will not fail you. What! Ishould live and be silent? . . . Never! Let the blow fall. Iawait its coming.”

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

God had appointed to Wycliffe his work. He had putthe word of truth in his mouth, and he set a guard abouthim that this word might come to the people. His life wasprotected, and his labors prolonged, until a foundation waslaid 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 hecould shape his system of reform. Raised up like John theBaptist to accomplish a special mission, he was the her-ald of a new era. Yet in the system of truth which he pre-sented there was a unity and completeness which reformerswho followed him did not exceed, and which some did notreach, even a hundred years later. So broad and deep waslaid the foundation, so firm and true was the framework,that it needed not to be reconstructed by those who cameafter him.

The great movement which Wycliffe inaugurated, whichwas to liberate the conscience and the intellect, and set freethe nations so long bound to the triumphal car of Rome, hadits spring in the Bible. Here was the source of that stream ofblessing, which, like the water of life, has flowed down theages since the fourteenth century. Wycliffe accepted theHoly Scriptures with implicit faith as the inspired rev-

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elation of God’s will, a sufficient rule of faith and prac-tice. He had been educated to regard the Church of Rome asthe divine, infallible authority, and to accept with unques-tioning reverence the established teachings and customs of athousand years; but he turned away from all these to listen toGod’s holy Word. This was the authority which he urged thepeople to acknowledge. Instead of the church speakingthrough the pope, he declared the only true authority tobe the voice of God speaking through his Word. And hetaught not only that the Bible is a perfect revelation ofGod’s will, but that the Holy Spirit is its only interpreter,and that every man is, by the study of its teachings, tolearn his duty for himself. Thus he turned the minds ofmen from the pope and the Church of Rome to the Word ofGod.

Wycliffe was one of the greatest of the reformers. Inbreadth of intellect, in clearness of thought, in firmness tomaintain the truth, and boldness to defend it, he was equaledby few who came after him. Purity of life, unwearying dili-gence in study and in labor, incorruptible integrity, and Christ-like love and faithfulness in his ministry, characterized thefirst of the reformers. And this notwithstanding the intellec-tual darkness and moral corruption of the age from which heemerged.

The character of Wycliffe is a testimony to the edu-cating, transforming power of the Holy Scriptures. It wasthe Bible that made him what he was. The effort to graspthe great truths of revelation imparts freshness and vigor toall the faculties. It expands the mind, sharpens the percep-tions, and ripens the judgment. The study of the Bible willennoble every thought, feeling, and aspiration as no otherstudy can. It gives stability of purpose, patience, cour-age, and fortitude; it refines the character, and sancti-fies the soul. An earnest, reverent study of the Scriptures—bringing the mind of the student in direct contact with theinfinite mind—would give to the world men of stronger andmore active intellect, as well as of nobler principle, than hasever resulted from the ablest training that human philoso-



phy affords. “The entrance of Thy words,” says the psalm-ist, “giveth light; it giveth understanding.” Psalm 119:130.

The doctrines which had been taught by Wycliffe con-tinued for a time to spread; his followers, known asWycliffites and Lollards, not only traversed England, butscattered to other lands, carrying the knowledge of thegospel. Now that their leader was removed, the preacherslabored with even greater zeal than before, and multitudesflocked to listen to their teachings. Some of the nobility, andeven the wife of the king, were among the converts. In manyplaces there was a marked reform in the manners of thepeople, and the idolatrous symbols of Romanism were re-moved from the churches. But soon the pitiless storm ofpersecution burst upon those who had dared to acceptthe Bible as their guide. The English monarchs, eager tostrengthen their power by securing the support of Rome, didnot hesitate to sacrifice the reformers. For the first time inthe history of England, the stake was decreed againstthe disciples of the gospel. Martyrdom succeeded mar-tyrdom. 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, theycontinued to preach in secret places, finding shelter as bestthey could in the humble homes of the poor, and often hidingaway even in dens and caves.

Notwithstanding the rage of persecution, a calm, devout,earnest, patient protest against the prevailing corruption ofreligious faith continued for centuries to be uttered. TheChristians of that early time had only a partial knowl-edge of the truth, but they had learned to love and obeyGod’s Word, and they patiently suffered for its sake. Likethe disciples in apostolic days, many sacrificed their worldlypossessions for the cause of Christ. Those who were permit-ted to dwell in their homes, gladly sheltered their banishedbrethren, and when they too were driven forth, they cheer-fully accepted the lot of the outcast. Thousands, it is true,terrified by the fury of their persecutors, purchased their free-dom at the sacrifice of their faith, and went out of their pris-

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ons, clothed in penitents’ robes, to publish their recantation.But the number was not small—and among them were menof noble birth as well as the humble and lowly—who borefearless testimony to the truth in dungeon cells, in “Lollardtowers,” and in the midst of torture and flame, rejoicing thatthey were counted worthy to know “the fellowship of Hissufferings.”

The papists had failed to work their will with Wycliffeduring his life, and their hatred could not be satisfiedwhile his body rested quietly in the grave. By the decreeof the Council of Constance, more than forty years after hisdeath his bones were exhumed and publicly burned, and theashes were thrown into a neighboring brook. “The brook,”says an old writer, “did convey his ashes into Avon, Avoninto Severn, Severn into the narrow seas, and they into themain ocean; and thus the ashes of Wycliffe are the emblemof his doctrine, which now is dispersed all the world over.”Little did his enemies realize the significance of their mali-cious act.

It was through the writings of Wycliffe that JohnHuss, of Bohemia, was led to renounce many of the er-rors of Romanism, and to enter upon the work of re-form. Thus in these two countries, so widely separated,the seed of truth was sown. From Bohemia the work ex-tended to other lands. The minds of men were directed tothe long-forgotten Word of God. A divine hand was pre-paring the way for the Great Reformation.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: D: D: D: D: DANIEL PREDICTS THE APOSTANIEL PREDICTS THE APOSTANIEL PREDICTS THE APOSTANIEL PREDICTS THE APOSTANIEL PREDICTS THE APOSTASYASYASYASYASY

“I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them anotherlittle horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by theroots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouthspeaking great things. That horn . . had eyes, and a mouth that spake very greatthings, whose look was more stout than his fellows. I beheld, and the same hornmade war with the saints, and prevailed against them.” Daniel 7:8, 20-21.

“And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear outthe saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shallbe given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” Daniel7:25.



Chapter SixChapter SixChapter SixChapter SixChapter Six

NearingNearingNearingNearingNearingthe Daybreakthe Daybreakthe Daybreakthe Daybreakthe Daybreak

—Huss and Jerome—Huss and Jerome—Huss and Jerome—Huss and Jerome—Huss and Jerome———————————————————————

John Huss—the man who would not turn back, though em- John Huss—the man who would not turn back, though em- John Huss—the man who would not turn back, though em- John Huss—the man who would not turn back, though em- John Huss—the man who would not turn back, though em-pires toppled and nations warred.pires toppled and nations warred.pires toppled and nations warred.pires toppled and nations warred.pires toppled and nations warred. John Huss—the man who wouldnot give in, though prison doors beckoned and death awaited him—

John Huss—the man who shook kingdoms and brought theJohn Huss—the man who shook kingdoms and brought theJohn Huss—the man who shook kingdoms and brought theJohn Huss—the man who shook kingdoms and brought theJohn Huss—the man who shook kingdoms and brought thegospel to Europe one hundred years before Margospel to Europe one hundred years before Margospel to Europe one hundred years before Margospel to Europe one hundred years before Margospel to Europe one hundred years before Martin Ltin Ltin Ltin Ltin Luther—uther—uther—uther—uther—and laid the foundation for the Great Rand laid the foundation for the Great Rand laid the foundation for the Great Rand laid the foundation for the Great Rand laid the foundation for the Great Reformation —eformation —eformation —eformation —eformation ————————————————————————

The gospel had been planted in Bohemia as early asthe ninth century. The Bible was translated, and publicworship was conducted in the language of the people.But as the power of the pope increased, so the Word ofGod was obscured. Gregory VII, who had taken it uponhim “to pull down the pride of kings,” was no less intentupon enslaving the people, and accordingly a bull was is-sued forbidding public worship to be conducted in the Bo-hemian tongue. The pope declared that “God was pleasedthat his worship should be celebrated in an unknown tongue,and that a neglect of this rule had given rise to many evilsand heresies.” Thus Rome decreed that the light of God’sWord should be extinguished, and the people should beshut up in darkness. But Heaven had provided otheragencies for the preservation of the church. Many of theWaldenses and Albigenses, driven by persecution from theirhomes in France and Italy, came to Bohemia. Though theydared not teach openly, they labored zealously in secret. Thusthe true faith was preserved from century to century.

Before the days of Huss, there were men in Bohemiawho rose up to condemn openly the corruption in the

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church and the profligacy of the people. Their labors ex-cited widespread interest. The fears of the hierarchy wereroused, and persecution was opened against the disciples ofthe gospel. Driven to worship in the forests and the moun-tains, they were hunted by soldiers, and many were put todeath. After a time it was decreed that all who departedfrom the Romish worship should be burned. But whilethe Christians yielded up their lives, they looked forward tothe triumph of their cause. One of those who taught that “sal-vation was only to be found by faith in the crucified Sav-iour,” declared when dying, “The rage of the enemies of truthnow prevails against us, but it will not be forever; there shallarise one from among the common people, without sword orauthority, and against him they shall not be able to prevail.”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 leftan orphan by the death of his father. His pious mother,regarding education and the fear of God as the mostvaluable of possessions, sought to secure this heritagefor her son. Huss studied at the provincial school, and thenrepaired to the university at Prague, receiving admission asa charity scholar. He was accompanied on the journey toPrague by his mother; widowed and poor, she had no gift ofworldly wealth to bestow upon her son, but as they drewnear to the great city, she kneeled down beside the fatherlessyouth, and invoked for him the blessing of their Father in

———————————HISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DAAAAATING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—Between the

1360s and the 1390s, over a half-dozen men spoke out against theprevailing religious corruption in Bohemia. The events concerningJohn Huss and Jerome happened between 1396 and 1428. Husswas appointed rector of the university church and the Bethlehemchapel in 1402. His denunciations of corruption began in 1405, andPrague was placed under interdict in 1412. The Council of Constance(November 1414-April 1418), was called at the request of the em-peror Sigismund by Pope John XXIII, one of the three rival popes.The council had Huss burned in 1415, and Jerome in 1416. TheHussite Wars lasted until 1434.

Huss and Jerome Huss and Jerome Huss and Jerome Huss and Jerome Huss and Jerome [97-98] [97-98] [97-98] [97-98] [97-98]


Heaven. Little did that mother realize how her prayer was tobe answered.

At the university, Huss soon distinguished himselfby his untiring application and rapid progress, while hisblameless life and gentle, winning deportment gained himuniversal esteem. He was a sincere adherent of the RomishChurch, and an earnest seeker for the spiritual blessings whichit professes to bestow. On the occasion of a jubilee, he wentto confession, paid the last few coins in his scanty store, andjoined in the processions, that he might share in the absolu-tion promised. After completing his college course, he en-tered the priesthood, and, rapidly attaining to eminence, hesoon became attached to the court of the king. He was alsomade professor and afterward rector of the university wherehe had received his education. In a few years the humblecharity scholar had become the pride of his country, and hisname was renowned throughout Europe.

But it was in another field that Huss began the work ofreform. Several years after taking priest’s orders he wasappointed preacher of the chapel of Bethlehem. Thefounder of this chapel had advocated, as a matter of greatimportance, the preaching of the Scriptures in the languageof the people. Notwithstanding Rome’s opposition to thispractice, it had not been wholly discontinued in Bohemia.But there was great ignorance of the Bible, and the worstvices prevailed among the people of all ranks. These evilsHuss unsparingly denounced, appealing to the Word ofGod to enforce the principles of truth and purity whichhe inculcated.

A citizen of Prague, Jerome, who afterward becameso closely associated with Huss, had, on returning fromEngland, brought with him the writings of Wycliffe. Thequeen of England, who had been a convert to Wycliffe’s teach-ings, was a Bohemian princess, and through her influencealso the reformer’s works were widely circulated in her na-tive country. These works Huss read with interest; he be-lieved their author to be a sincere Christian, and was inclinedto regard with favor the reforms which he advocated. Al-

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ready, though he knew it not, Huss had entered upon a pathwhich was to lead him far away from Rome.

About this time there arrived in Prague two strang-ers from England, men of learning, who had receivedthe light, and had come to spread it in this distant land.Beginning with an open attack on the pope’s supremacy, theywere soon silenced by the authorities; but being unwilling torelinquish their purpose, they had recourse to other measures.Being artists as well as preachers, they proceeded to exer-cise their skill. In a place open to the public they drew twopictures. One represented the entrance of Christ into Jerusa-lem, “meek, and sitting upon an ass” (Matthew 21:5) andfollowed by His disciples in travel-worn garments and withnaked feet. The other picture portrayed a pontifical proces-sion,—the pope arrayed in his rich robes and triple crown,mounted upon a horse magnificently adorned, preceded bytrumpeters, and followed by cardinals and prelates in daz-zling array.

Here was a sermon which arrested the attention of allclasses. Crowds came to gaze upon the drawings. None couldfail to read the moral, and many were deeply impressed bythe contrast between the meekness and humility of Christthe Master, and the pride and arrogance of the pope, Hisprofessed servant. There was great commotion in Prague,and the strangers after a time found it necessary, for theirown safety, to depart. But the lesson they had taught wasnot forgotten. The pictures made a deep impression on themind of Huss, and led him to a closer study of the Bible andof Wycliffe’s writings. Though he was not prepared, evenyet, to accept all the reforms advocated by Wycliffe, he sawmore clearly the true character of the papacy, and with greaterzeal denounced the pride, the ambition, and the corruptionof the hierarchy.

From Bohemia the light extended to Germany; for dis-turbances in the University of Prague caused the withdrawalof hundreds of German students. Many of them had receivedfrom Huss their first knowledge of the Bible, and on theirreturn 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. Theking and queen of Bohemia, the university, members of thenobility, and officers of the government, united in an appealto the pontiff that Huss be permitted to remain at Prague,and to answer at Rome by deputy. Instead of granting thisrequest, the pope proceeded to the trial and condemna-tion of Huss, and then declared the city of Prague to beunder interdict.

In that age this sentence, whenever pronounced, cre-ated widespread alarm. The ceremonies by which it wasaccompanied were well adapted to strike terror to a peoplewho looked upon the pope as the representative of God him-self, holding the keys of Heaven and hell, and possessingpower to invoke temporal as well as spiritual judgments. Itwas believed that the gates of Heaven were closed againstthe region smitten with interdict; that until it should pleasethe pope to remove the ban, the dead were shut out from theabodes of bliss. In token of this terrible calamity, all the ser-vices of religion were suspended. The churches were closed.Marriages were solemnized in the church-yard. The dead,denied burial in consecrated ground, were interred, withoutthe rites of sepulture, in the ditches or the fields. Thus bymeasures which appealed to the imagination, Rome essayedto control the consciences of men.

The city of Prague was filled with tumult. A largeclass denounced Huss as the cause of all their calamities,and demanded that he be given up to the vengeance ofRome. To quiet the storm, the reformer withdrew for atime to his native village. Writing to the friends whom hehad left at Prague, he said: “If I have withdrawn from themidst of you, it is to follow the precept and example of JesusChrist, in order not to give room to the ill-minded to draw onthemselves eternal condemnation, and in order not to be tothe pious a cause of affliction and persecution. I have retiredalso through an apprehension that impious priests might con-tinue for a longer time to prohibit the preaching of the Word

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of God amongst you; but I have not quitted you to deny thedivine truth, for which, with God’s assistance, I am willingto die.” Huss did not cease his labors, but traveled throughthe surrounding country, preaching to eager crowds. Thusthe measures to which the pope resorted to suppress the gos-pel, were causing it to be the more widely extended. “We cando nothing against the truth, but for the truth.” 2 Corinthians13:8.

“The mind of Huss, at this stage of his career, wouldseem to have been the scene of a painful conflict. Althoughthe church was seeking to overwhelm him by her thun-der-bolts, he had not renounced her authority. The Ro-man Church was still to him the spouse of Christ, and thepope was the representative and vicar of God. What Husswas warring against was the abuse of authority, not the prin-ciple itself. This brought on a terrible conflict betweenthe convictions of his understanding and the claims ofhis conscience. If the authority was just and infallible, ashe believed it to be, how came it that he felt compelled todisobey it? To obey, he saw, was to sin; but why shouldobedience to an infallible church lead to such an issue? Thiswas the problem he could not solve; this was the doubt thattortured him from hour to hour. The nearest approximationto a solution, which he was able to make, was that it hadhappened 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. Thisled him to adopt for his own guidance, and to preach toothers for theirs, the maxim that the precepts of Scrip-ture, conveyed through the understanding, are to rulethe conscience; in other words, that God speaking in theBible, and not the church speaking through the priest-hood, is the one infallible guide.”

When after a time the excitement in Prague subsided,Huss returned to his chapel of Bethlehem, to continuewith greater zeal and courage the preaching of the Wordof God. His enemies were active and powerful, but thequeen and many of the nobles were his friends, and the



people in great numbers sided with him. Comparing hispure and elevating teachings and holy life with the degrad-ing dogmas which the Romanists preached, and the avariceand debauchery which they practiced, many regarded it anhonor to be on his side.

Hitherto Huss had stood alone in his labors; but nowJerome, who while in England had accepted the teach-ings of Wycliffe, joined in the work of reform. The twowere hereafter united in their lives, and in death they werenot to be divided.

Brilliancy of genius, eloquence and learning—gifts thatwin popular favor—were possessed in a pre-eminent degreeby Jerome; but in those qualities which constitute real strengthof character, Huss was the greater. His calm judgment servedas a restraint upon the impulsive spirit of Jerome, who, withtrue humility, perceived his worth, and yielded to his coun-sels. Under their united labors the reform was more rapidlyextended.

God permitted great light to shine upon the minds ofthese chosen men, revealing to them many of the errorsof Rome; but they did not receive all the light that was tobe given to the world. Through these, his servants, Godwas 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. Theywere not prepared to receive all the light at once. Like thefull glory of the noontide sun to those who have long dweltin darkness, it would, if presented, have caused them to turnaway. Therefore he revealed it to the leaders, little by little,as it could be received by the people. From century to cen-tury other faithful workers were to follow, to lead the peopleon still farther in the path of reform.

The schism in the church still continued. Three popeswere now contending for the supremacy, and their strifefilled Christendom with crime and tumult. Not contentwith hurling anathemas, they resorted to temporal weap-ons. Each cast about him to purchase arms and to obtainsoldiers. Of course money must be had; and to procure this,

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all the gifts, offices, and blessings of the church were of-fered for sale. The priests also, imitating their superiors, re-sorted to simony and war to humble their rivals, andstrengthen their own power. With daily increasing boldness,Huss thundered against the abominations which were toler-ated in the name of religion; and the people openly accusedthe Romish leaders as the cause of the miseries that over-whelmed Christendom.

Again the city of Prague seemed on the verge of a bloodyconflict. As in former ages, God’s servant was accused as“he that troubleth Israel.” 1 Kings 18:17. The city was againplaced under interdict, and Huss withdrew to his nativevillage. The testimony so faithfully borne from his lovedchapel of Bethlehem was ended. He was to speak from awider stage, to all Christendom, before laying down his lifeas a witness for the truth.

To cure the evils that were distracting Europe, a gen-eral council was summoned to meet at Constance. Thecouncil was called, at the desire of the emperor Sigis-mund, by one of the three rival popes, John XXIII. Thedemand for a council had been far from welcome to PopeJohn, whose character and policy could ill bear investiga-tion, even by prelates as lax in morals as were the church-men of those times. He dared not, however, oppose the willof Sigismund.

The chief objects to be accomplished by the councilwere to heal the schism in the church, and to root outheresy. Hence the two anti-popes were summoned toappear before it, as well as the leading propagator of thenew opinions, John Huss. The former, having regard to theirown safety, did not attend in person, but were represented bytheir delegates. Pope John, while ostensibly the convoker ofthe council, came to it with many misgivings, suspecting theemperor’s secret purpose to depose him, and fearing to bebrought to account for the vices which had disgraced thetiara, as well as for the crimes which had secured it. Yet hemade 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 thecity, with an immense crowd of citizens, went out to wel-come him. Above his head was a golden canopy, borne byfour of the chief magistrates. The host was carried beforehim, and the rich dresses of the cardinals and nobles madean 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 meetthem again, and went on his journey feeling that it wasleading him to the stake. Notwithstanding he had obtaineda safe-conduct from the king of Bohemia, and received onealso from the emperor Sigismund while on his journey, hemade all his arrangements in view of the probability of hisdeath.

In a letter addressed to his friends at Prague he said:“I am departing, my brethren, with a safe-conduct fromthe king, to meet my numerous and mortal enemies. . . . Iconfide altogether in the all-powerful God, in my Saviour; Itrust that He will listen to your ardent prayers, that He willinfuse His prudence and His wisdom into my mouth, in or-der that I may resist them; and that He will accord me HisHoly Spirit to fortify me in His truth, so that I may face withcourage, temptations, prison, and, if necessary, a cruel death.Jesus Christ suffered for His well-beloved; and thereforeought we to be astonished that He has left us His example,in order that we may ourselves endure with patience all thingsfor our own salvation? He is God, and we are His creatures;He is the Lord, and we are His servants; He is Master of theworld, and we are contemptible mortals;—yet He suffered!Why, then, should we not suffer, also, particularly when suf-fering is for us a purification? Therefore, beloved, if my deathought to contribute to His glory, pray that it may comequickly, and that He may enable me to support all my ca-lamities with constancy. But if it be better that I returnamongst you, let us pray to God that I may return withoutstain,—that is, that I may not suppress one title of the truthof the gospel, in order to leave my brethren an excellent ex-

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ample to follow. Probably, therefore, you will never morebehold my face at Prague; but should the will of the all-pow-erful God deign to restore me to you, let us then advancewith a firmer heart in the knowledge and the love of Hislaw.”

In another letter, to a priest who had become a discipleof the gospel, Huss spoke with deep humility of his ownerrors, accusing himself of having felt pleasure in wearingrich apparel, and of having wasted hours in trifling occupa-tions. He then added these touching admonitions: “May theglory of God and the salvation of souls occupy thy mind,and not the possession of benefices and estates. Beware ofadorning thy house more than thy soul; and above all, givethy care to the spiritual edifice. Be pious and humble withthe poor, and consume not thy substance in feasting. Shouldstthou not amend thy life and refrain from superfluities, I fearthat thou wilt be severely chastened, as I am myself. . . .Thou knowest my doctrine, for thou hast received my in-structions from thy childhood; it is therefore useless for meto write to thee any further. But I conjure thee, by the mercyof our Lord, not to imitate me in any of the vanities intowhich thou hast seen me fall.” On the cover of the letter headded: “I conjure thee, my friend, not to break this seal, untilthou shalt have acquired the certitude that I am dead,”

On his journey, Huss everywhere beheld indicationsof the spread of his doctrines, and the favor with which hiscause was regarded. The people thronged to meet him, andin some towns the magistrates attended him through theirstreets.

Upon arriving at Constance, Huss was granted full lib-erty. To the emperor’s safe-conduct was added a personalassurance of protection by the pope. But in violation of thesesolemn and repeated declarations, the reformer was in ashort time arrested, by order of the pope and cardinals,and thrust into a loathsome dungeon.

The pope, profiting little by his perfidy, was soonafter committed to the same prison. He had been provedbefore the council to be guilty of the basest crimes, besides



murder, simony, and adultery, “sins not fit to be named.” Sothe council itself declared; and he was finally deprived of thetiara, and thrown into prison. The anti-popes also were de-posed, and a new pontiff was chosen.

Though the pope himself had been guilty of greatercrimes than Huss had ever charged upon the priests, and forwhich he had demanded a reformation, yet the same councilwhich degraded the pontiff proceeded to crush the reformer.The imprisonment of Huss excited great indignation inBohemia. Powerful noblemen addressed to the council ear-nest protests against this outrage. The emperor, who wasloth to permit the violation of a safe-conduct, opposed theproceedings against him. But the enemies of the reformerwere malignant and determined. They appealed to theemperor’s prejudices, to his fears, to his zeal for the church.They brought forward arguments of great length to provethat he was “perfectly at liberty not to keep faith with aheretic,” and that the council, being above the emperor,“could free him from his word.” Thus they prevailed.

Enfeebled by illness and imprisonment—for thedamp, foul air of his dungeon had brought on a feverwhich nearly ended his life—Huss was at last broughtbefore the council. Loaded with chains he stood in the pres-ence of the emperor, whose honor and good faith had beenpledged to protect him. During his long trial he firmly main-tained the truth, and in the presence of the assembled digni-taries of Church and State, he uttered a solemn and faithfulprotest against the corruptions of the hierarchy. When re-quired to choose whether he would recant his doctrines orsuffer death, he accepted the martyr’s fate.

The grace of God sustained him. During the weeks ofsuffering that passed before his final sentence, Heaven’speace filled his soul. “I write this letter,” he said to a friend,“in prison, and with my fettered hand, expecting my sen-tence of death to-morrow. . . . When, with the assistance ofJesus Christ, we shall meet again in the delicious peace ofthe future life, you will learn how merciful God has shownHimself toward me—how effectually He has supported me

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in the midst of my temptations and trials.”In the gloom of his dungeon he foresaw the triumph

of the true faith. Returning in his dreams to the chapel atPrague where he had preached the gospel, he saw the popeand his bishops effacing the pictures of Christ which he hadpainted on its walls. He was deeply troubled at the sight; butthe next day his grief was changed to joy, as he beheld manyartists come to replace the figures in greater numbers andbrighter colors. Their work ended, the painters exclaimed tothe crowd gathered eagerly about them, “Now let the popesand bishops come! They shall never efface them more!” Saidthe reformer, as he related his dream, “I am certain that theimage of Christ will never be effaced. They have wished todestroy it, but it will be imprinted anew on the hearts of menby much better preachers than myself.”

For the last time, Huss was brought before the coun-cil. It was a vast and brilliant assembly,—the emperor,the princes of the empire, the royal deputies, the cardi-nals, bishops, and priests, and an immense crowd whohad come as spectators of the events of the day. From allparts of Christendom had been gathered the witnesses of thisfirst great sacrifice in the long struggle by which liberty ofconscience was to be secured.

Being called upon for his final decision, Huss declaredhis refusal to abjure, and fixing his penetrating glance uponthe monarch whose plighted word had been so shamelesslyviolated, he declared that of his own free will he had ap-peared before the council, “under the public faith and pro-tection of the emperor here present.” A deep flush crimsonedthe face of Sigismund as the eyes of all in the assembly turnedupon him.

Sentence having been pronounced, the ceremony ofdegradation began. The bishops clothed their prisoner inthe sacerdotal habit, and as he took the priestly robe, he said,“Our Lord Jesus Christ was covered with a white robe byway of insult, when Herod had him conducted before Pilate.”Being again exhorted to retract, he replied, turning towardthe people, “With what face, then, should I behold the heav-



ens? How should I look on those multitudes of men to whomI have preached the pure gospel? No; I esteem their salva-tion more than this poor body, now appointed unto death.”The vestments were removed one by one, each bishop pro-nouncing a curse as he performed his part of the ceremony.Finally a crown or mitre, on which were painted frightfulfigures of demons, and bearing the inscription, “The Arch-heretic,” was placed upon his head. “Most joyfully,” he said,“will I wear this crown of shame for thy sake, O Lord Jesus,who for me didst wear a crown of thorns.”

When he was thus arrayed, the prelates devoted his soulto Satan. Huss, looking heavenward, exclaimed, “I do com-mend my spirit into thy hands, O Lord Jesus, for thou hastredeemed me.”

He was now delivered up to the secular authorities,and led away to the place of execution. An immense pro-cession followed, hundreds of men at arms, priests and bish-ops in their costly robes, and the inhabitants of Constance.When he had been fastened to the stake, and all was readyfor the fire to be lighted, the martyr was once more exhortedto save himself by renouncing his errors. “What errors,” saidHuss, “shall I renounce? I know myself guilty of none. I callGod to witness that all that I have written or preached hasbeen with the view of rescuing souls from sin and perdition;and, therefore, most joyfully will I confirm with my bloodthat truth which I have written and preached.”

When the flames kindled about him, he began to sing,“Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me,” and so con-tinued till his voice was silenced forever.

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

When the body of Huss had been wholly consumed,

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his ashes, with the soil upon which they rested, were gath-ered up and cast into the Rhine, and thus borne onward tothe ocean. His persecutors vainly imagined that they hadrooted out the truths he preached. Little did they dream thatthe ashes that day borne away to the sea were to be as seedscattered in all the countries of the earth; that in lands yetunknown it would yield abundant fruit in witnesses for thetruth. The voice which had spoken in the council hall ofConstance had wakened echoes that would be heard throughall coming ages. Huss was no more, but the truths for whichhe died could never perish. His example of faith and con-stancy would encourage multitudes to stand firm for the truth,in the face of torture and death. His execution had exhibitedto the whole world the perfidious cruelty of Rome. The en-emies of truth, though they knew it not, had been furtheringthe cause which they vainly sought to destroy.

Yet another stake was to be set up at Constance. Theblood of another witness must testify for the truth. Jerome,upon bidding farewell to Huss on his departure for the coun-cil, had exhorted him to courage and firmness, declaring thatif he should fall into any peril, he himself would fly to hisassistance. Upon hearing of the reformer’s imprisonment,the faithful disciple immediately prepared to fulfill his prom-ise. Without a safe-conduct he set out, with a single com-panion, for Constance. On arriving there he was convincedthat he had only exposed himself to peril, without the possi-bility of doing anything for the deliverance of Huss. He fledfrom the city, but was arrested on the homeward jour-ney, and brought back loaded with fetters, and under thecustody of a band of soldiers. At his first appearance beforethe council, his attempts to reply to the accusations broughtagainst him were met with shouts, “To the flames with him!to the flames!” He was thrown into a dungeon, chained in aposition which caused him great suffering, and fed on breadand water.

After some months the cruelties of his imprisonmentbrought upon Jerome an illness that threatened his life, andhis enemies, fearing that he might escape them, treated him



with less severity, though he remained in prison for oneyear. The death of Huss had not resulted as the papists hadhoped. The violation of his safe-conduct had roused a stormof indignation, and as the safer course the council determined,instead of burning Jerome, to force him, if possible, to re-tract. He was brought before the assembly, and offeredthe alternative to recant or to die at the stake. Death atthe beginning of his imprisonment would have been a mercy,in comparison with the terrible sufferings which he had un-dergone; but now, weakened by illness, by the rigors of hisprison-house, and the torture of anxiety and suspense, sepa-rated from his friends, and disheartened by the death of Huss,Jerome’s fortitude gave way, and he consented to sub-mit to the council. He pledged himself to adhere to the Catho-lic faith, and accepted the action of the council in condemn-ing the doctrines of Wycliffe and Huss, excepting, however,the “holy truths” which they had taught.

By this expedient, Jerome endeavored to silence the voiceof conscience and escape his doom. But in the solitude of hisdungeon he saw more clearly what he had done. He thoughtof the courage and fidelity of Huss, and in contrast ponderedupon his own denial of the truth. He thought of the divineMaster whom he had pledged himself to serve, and who forhis sake endured the death of the cross. Before his retractionhe had found comfort, amid all his sufferings, in the assur-ance of God’s favor; but now remorse and doubt tortured hissoul. He knew that still other retractions must be made be-fore he could be at peace with Rome. The path upon whichhe was entering could end only in complete apostasy. Hisresolution was taken: to escape a brief period of suffer-ing he would not deny his Lord.

Soon he was again brought before the council. Hissubmission had not satisfied his judges. Their thirst forblood, whetted by the death of Huss, clamored for fresh vic-tims. Only by an unreserved surrender of the truth couldJerome preserve his life. But he had determined to avowhis faith, and follow his brother martyr to the flames.

He renounced his former recantation, and, as a dy-

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ing man, solemnly required an opportunity to make hisdefense. Fearing the effect of his words, the prelates insistedthat he should merely affirm or deny the truth of the chargesbrought against him. Jerome protested against such crueltyand injustice. “You have held me shut up three hundred andforty days in a frightful prison,” he said, “in the midst offilth, noisomeness, stench, and the utmost want of every-thing. You then bring me out before you, and lending an earto my mortal enemies, you refuse to hear me. If you be reallywise men, and the lights of the world, take care not to sinagainst justice. As for me, I am only a feeble mortal; my lifeis but of little importance; and when I exhort you not to de-liver an unjust sentence, I speak less for myself than for you.”

His request was finally granted. In the presence of hisjudges, Jerome kneeled down and prayed that the DivineSpirit might control his thoughts and words, that he mightspeak nothing contrary to the truth or unworthy of his Mas-ter. To him that day was fulfilled the promise of God to thefirst disciples: “Ye shall be brought before governors andkings for my sake; . . . but when they deliver you up, take nothought how or what ye shall speak; for it shall be given youin that same hour what ye shall speak; for it is not ye thatspeak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.”Matthew 10:18-20. The words of Jerome excited astonish-ment and admiration, even in his enemies. For a whole yearhe had been immured in a dungeon, unable to read or even tosee, in great physical suffering and mental anxiety. Yet hisarguments were presented with as much clearness and poweras if he had had undisturbed opportunity for study. He pointedhis hearers to the long line of holy men who had been con-demned by unjust judges. In almost every generation havebeen those who, while seeking to elevate the people of theirtime, have been reproached and cast out, but who in latertimes have been shown to be deserving of honor. Christ Him-self was condemned as a malefactor at an unrighteous tribu-nal.

At his retraction, Jerome has assented to the justice ofthe sentence condemning Huss; he now declared his re-



pentance, and bore witness to the innocence and holiness ofthe martyr. “I knew John Huss from his childhood,” he said.“He was a most excellent man, just and holy; he was con-demned, notwithstanding his innocence. . . . I also—I amready to die. I will not recoil before the torments that areprepared for me by my enemies and false witnesses, whowill one day have to render an account of their imposturesbefore the great God, whom nothing can deceive.”

In self-reproach for his own denial of the truth, Jeromecontinued: “Of all the sins that I have committed since myyouth, none weigh so heavily upon my mind, and cause mesuch poignant remorse, as that which I committed in thisfatal place, when I approved of the iniquitous sentence ren-dered against Wycliffe, and the holy martyr, John Huss, mymaster. Yes, I confess it from my heart; and declare withhorror that I disgracefully quailed, when, through a dread ofdeath, I condemned their doctrines. I therefore supplicate Al-mighty God to deign to pardon me my sins, and this one inparticular, the most heinous of all.” Pointing to his judges,he said firmly: “You condemned Wycliffe and Huss, notfor having shaken the doctrine of the church, but simplybecause they branded with reprobation the scandals ofthe clergy,—their pomp, their pride, and all the vices of theprelates and priests. The things that they have affirmed, andwhich are irrefutable, I also think and declare like them.”

His words were interrupted. The prelates, trembling withrage, cried out, “What need have we of further proof?” “Awaywith the most obstinate of heretics!”

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

Again the storm of rage burst out; and Jerome washurried away to prison. Yet there were some in the as-

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sembly upon whom his words had made a deep impres-sion, and who desired to save his life. He was visited bydignitaries of the church, and urged to submit himself to thecouncil. The most brilliant prospects were presented beforehim 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 tempt-ers, “is everything to be judged by them? Who can un-derstand them until the church has interpreted them?”

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

“Heretic,” was the response, “I repent having pleadedso long with you. I see that you are urged on by the devil.”

Erelong sentence of condemnation was passed uponhim. He was led out to the same spot upon which Huss hadyielded up his life. He went singing on his way, his coun-tenance lighted up with joy and peace. His gaze was fixedupon Christ, and to him death had lost its terrors. When theexecutioner, about to kindle the pile, stepped behind him,the martyr exclaimed, “Come forward boldly; apply thefire before my face. Had I been afraid, I should not behere.”

His last words, uttered as the flames rose about him,were a prayer. “Lord, Almighty Father,” he cried, “have pityon me, and pardon me my sins, for thou knowest that I havealways loved Thy truth.” His voice ceased, but his lips con-tinued 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 per-ished God’s faithful light-bearers. But the light of thetruths which they proclaimed,—the light of their heroicexample,—could not be extinguished. As well might men



attempt to turn back the sun in its course as to prevent thedawning of that day which was even then breaking upon theworld.

The execution of Huss had kindled a flame of indigna-tion and horror in Bohemia. It was felt by the whole nationthat he had fallen a prey to the malice of the priests and thetreachery of the emperor. He was declared to have been afaithful teacher of the truth, and the council that decreed hisdeath was charged with the guilt of murder. His doctrinesnow attracted greater attention that ever before. By the pa-pal edicts the writings of Wycliffe had been condemnedto the flames. But those that had escaped destruction werenow brought out from their hiding-places, and studiedin connection with the Bible, or such parts of it as thepeople could obtain, and many were thus led to acceptthe reformed faith.

The murderers of Huss did not stand quietly by and wit-ness the triumph of his cause. The pope and the emperorunited to crush out the movement, and the armies ofSigismund were hurled upon Bohemia.

But a deliverer was raised up. Ziska, who soon afterthe opening of the war became totally blind, yet who wasone of the ablest generals of his age, was the leader of theBohemians. Trusting in the help of God and the righteous-ness of their cause, that people withstood the mightiest armiesthat could be brought against them. Again and again the em-peror, raising fresh armies, invaded Bohemia, to be igno-miniously repulsed. The Hussites were raised above the fearof death, and nothing could stand against them. A few yearsafter the opening of the war, the brave Ziska died; buthis place was filled by Procopius, who was an equally braveand skillful general, and in some respects a more able leader.

The enemies of the Bohemians, knowing that the blindwarrior was dead, deemed the opportunity favorable for re-covering all that they had lost. The pope now proclaimed acrusade against the Hussites, and again an immense forcewas precipitated upon Bohemia, but only to suffer ter-rible defeat. Another crusade was proclaimed. In all the papal

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countries of Europe, men, money, and munitions of war wereraised. Multitudes flocked to the papal standard, assured thatat last an end would be made of the Hussite heretics. Confi-dent of victory, the vast force entered Bohemia. The peoplerallied to repel them. The two armies approached each other,until only a river lay between them. The allies were greatlysuperior in numbers, yet instead of advancing boldly to at-tack the Hussites, they stood as if spell-bound, silently gaz-ing upon them. Then suddenly a mysterious terror fell uponthe host. Without striking a blow that mighty force brokeand scattered, as if dispelled by an unseen power. Great num-bers were slaughtered by the Hussite army, which pursuedthe fugitives, and an immense booty fell into the hands ofthe victors, so that the war, instead of impoverishing, en-riched the Bohemians.

A few years later, under a new pope, still anothercrusade was set on foot. As before, men and means weredrawn from all the papist countries of Europe. Great werethe inducements held out to those who should engage in thisperilous enterprise. Full forgiveness of the most heinouscrimes was insured to every crusader. All who died in thewar were promised a rich reward in Heaven, and those whosurvived were to reap honor and riches on the field of battle.Again a vast army was collected, and crossing the frontierthey entered Bohemia. The Hussite forces fell back beforethem, thus drawing the invaders farther and farther into thecountry, and leading them to count the victory already won.At last the army of Procopius made a stand, and, turningupon the foe, advanced to give them battle. The crusaders,now discovering their mistake, lay in their encampment await-ing the onset. As the sound of the approaching force washeard, even before the Hussites were in sight, a panic againfell upon the crusaders. Princes, generals, and common sol-diers, casting away their armor, fled in all directions. In vainthe papal legate, who was the leader of the invasion, endeav-ored to rally his terrified and disorganized forces. Despitehis utmost endeavors, he himself was swept along in the tideof 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, beforethe defenders of a small and hitherto feeble nation. Here wasa manifestation of divine power. The invaders were smittenwith a supernatural terror. He who overthrew the hosts ofPharaoh in the Red Sea, who put to flight the armies of Midianbefore Gideon and his three hundred, who in one night laidlow the forces of the proud Assyrian, had again stretchedout His hand to wither the power of the oppressor. “Therewere they in great fear, where no fear was; for God hathscattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee; thouhast put them to shame, because God hath despised them.”Psalm 53:5.

The papal leaders, despairing of conquering by force,at last resorted to diplomacy. A compromise was enteredinto, that while professing to grant to the Bohemians free-dom of conscience, really betrayed them into the powerof Rome. The Bohemians had specified four points as thecondition of peace with Rome: The free preaching of theBible; the right of the whole church to both the bread and thewine in the communion, and the use of the mother-tongue indivine worship; the exclusion of the clergy from all secularoffices and authority; and in cases of crime, the jurisdictionof the civil courts over clergy and laity alike. The papal au-thorities at last agreed to accept the four articles, stipulat-ing, however, that the right of explaining them, of decid-ing upon their exact meaning, should belong to thechurch. On this basis a treaty was entered into, and Romegained by dissimulation and fraud what she had failed togain by conflict; for, placing her own interpretation upon theHussite articles, as upon the Bible, she could pervert theirmeaning to suit her own purposes.

A large class in Bohemia, seeing that it betrayed theirliberties, could not consent to the compact. Dissensions anddivisions arose, leading to strife and bloodshed among them-selves. In this strife the noble Procopius fell, and the liber-

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ties of Bohemia perished.Sigismund, the betrayer of Huss and Jerome, now

became king of Bohemia, and, regardless of his oath tosupport the rights of the Bohemians, he proceeded to es-tablish popery. But he had gained little by his subservienceto Rome. For twenty years his life had been filled with la-bors and perils. His armies had been wasted and his treasur-ies drained by a long and fruitless struggle; and now, afterreigning one year, he died, leaving his kingdom on the brinkof civil war, and bequeathing to posterity a name brandedwith infamy.

Tumults, strife, and bloodshed were protracted. Againforeign armies invaded Bohemia, and internal dissension con-tinued to distract the nation. Those who remained faithfulto the gospel were subjected to a bloody persecution. Astheir former brethren, entering into compact with Rome, im-bibed her errors, those who adhered to the ancient faith hadformed themselves into a distinct church, taking the name of“United Brethren.” This act drew upon them maledictionsfrom all classes. Yet their firmness was unshaken. Forcedto find refuge in the woods and caves, they still assembledto read God’s Word and unite in His worship.

Through messengers secretly sent out into different coun-tries, they learned that here and there were isolated confes-sors of the truth—a few in this city and a few in that, theobject, like themselves, of persecution; and that amid themountains of the Alps was an ancient church, resting on thefoundations of Scripture. This intelligence was received withgreat joy, and a correspondence was opened with the Wal-densian Christians.

Steadfast to the gospel, the Bohemians waited throughthe night of their persecution, in the darkest hour still turn-ing their eyes toward the horizon like men who watch for themorning. “Their lot was cast in evil days, but they remem-bered the words first uttered by Huss, and repeated by Jerome,that a century must revolve before the day should break.These were to the Hussites what the words of Joseph were tothe tribes in the house of bondage: ‘I die, and God will surely



visit you, and bring you out.’ ” About the year 1470 perse-cution ceased, and there followed a period of comparativeprosperity. When “the end of the century arrived, it foundtwo hundred churches of the ‘United Brethren’ in Bohemiaand Moravia. So goodly was the remnant which, escapingthe destructive fury of fire and sword, was permitted to seethe dawning of that day which Huss had foretold.”

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: WHY DO GOD’S PEOPLE SUFFER?: WHY DO GOD’S PEOPLE SUFFER?: WHY DO GOD’S PEOPLE SUFFER?: WHY DO GOD’S PEOPLE SUFFER?: WHY DO GOD’S PEOPLE SUFFER?

“For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe onHim, but also to suffer for His sake.” Philippians 1:29.

“Ye shall be hated of all men for My name’s sake: but he that endurethto the end shall be saved.” Matthew 10:22.

“He that findeth His life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for Mysake shall find it.” Matthew 10:39.

“And if children then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; ifso be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.”Romans 8:17.

“And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers ofthe sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.” 2 Corinthians 1:7.

“Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than toenjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” Hebrews 11:25.

“For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for My name’ssake.” Acts 9:16.

“And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing thatthey were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.” Acts 5:41(9:16).

“If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him.” 2 Timothy 2:12.“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by

Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect,stablish, strengthen, settle you.” 1 Peter 5:10.

“Bless are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, andshall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake.” Matthew5:11.

“Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name ofthe Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.” James5:10.

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Chapter SevenChapter SevenChapter SevenChapter SevenChapter Seven

Out ofOut ofOut ofOut ofOut ofDarknessDarknessDarknessDarknessDarkness

—Luther—Luther—Luther—Luther—Luther’s Separation fr’s Separation fr’s Separation fr’s Separation fr’s Separation from Romeom Romeom Romeom Romeom Rome———————————————————————

FFFFForemost among those who were called to lead the churchoremost among those who were called to lead the churchoremost among those who were called to lead the churchoremost among those who were called to lead the churchoremost among those who were called to lead the churchinto the great Rinto the great Rinto the great Rinto the great Rinto the great Reformationeformationeformationeformationeformation was the humble, but unshakable man,Martin Luther

—What kind of man was he? Where did he come from? Whydid he do what he did? MarMarMarMarMartin Ltin Ltin Ltin Ltin Lutherutherutherutheruther, the man who opened the, the man who opened the, the man who opened the, the man who opened the, the man who opened theBible to the world.Bible to the world.Bible to the world.Bible to the world.Bible to the world.———————————————————————

Foremost among those who were called to lead thechurch from the darkness of popery into the light of apurer faith, stood Martin Luther. Zealous, ardent, anddevoted, knowing no fear but the fear of God, and ac-knowledging no foundation for religious faith but theHoly Scriptures, Luther was the man for his time; throughhim, God accomplished a great work for the reformation ofthe church and the enlightenment of the world.

Like the first heralds of the gospel, Luther sprungfrom the ranks of poverty. His early years were spent inthe humble home of a German peasant. By daily toil as aminer, his father earned the means for his education. He in-tended him for a lawyer; but God purposed to make him abuilder in the great temple that was rising so slowly throughthe centuries. Hardship, privation, and severe discipline werethe school in which Infinite Wisdom prepared Luther for theimportant 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 con-

Luther’s Separation from Rome Luther’s Separation from Rome Luther’s Separation from Rome Luther’s Separation from Rome Luther’s Separation from Rome [119-120] [119-120] [119-120] [119-120] [119-120]


sequences be what they might. His sterling good sense ledhim to regard the monastic system with distrust. He washighly displeased when Luther, without his consent, entereda monastery; and it was two years before the father was rec-onciled to his son, and even then his opinions remained thesame.

Luther’s parents bestowed great care upon the edu-cation and training of their children. They endeavored toinstruct them in the knowledge of God and the practice ofChristian virtues. The father’s prayer often ascended in thehearing of his son, that the child might remember the nameof the Lord, and one day aid in the advancement of His truth.Every advantage for moral or intellectual culture which theirlife of toil permitted them to enjoy, was eagerly improved bythese parents. Their efforts were earnest and persevering toprepare their children for a life of piety and usefulness. Withtheir firmness and strength of character they sometimes ex-ercised too great severity; but the reformer himself, thoughconscious that in some respects they had erred, found in theirdiscipline more to approve than to condemn.

At school, where he was sent at an early age, Luther wastreated with harshness and even violence. So great was thepoverty of his parents, that upon going from home to schoolin another town he was for a time obliged to obtain his foodby singing from door to door, and he often suffered fromhunger. The gloomy, superstitious ideas of religion thenprevailing filled him with fear. He would lie down at nightwith a sorrowful heart, looking forward with trembling tothe dark future, and in constant terror at the thought of Godas a stern, unrelenting judge, a cruel tyrant, rather than a

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ers November 10, 1483, to January 2, 1521, or the first 37 years ofMartin Luther’s life. He entered the University of Erfurt in 1501, butin 1505, entered a monastery. Ordained a priest in 1507, he beganteaching at the University of Wittenberg the next year. On October 31,1517, he posted his famous Ninety-Five Theses, met Melanchthon in1518, and debated Johann Eck in Leipsig the next year. Pope Leo X’sbull condemned Luther as a heretic in 1521.

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kind heavenly Father. Yet under so many and so great dis-couragements, Luther pressed resolutely forward toward thehigh standard of moral and intellectual excellence which at-tracted his soul.

He thirsted for knowledge, and the earnest and practicalcharacter of his mind led him to desire the solid and usefulrather than the showy and superficial. When, at the age ofeighteen, he entered the University of Erfurt, his situa-tion was more favorable and his prospects brighter thanin his earlier years. His parents having by thrift and indus-try acquired a competence, they were able to render him allneeded assistance. And the influence of judicious friends hadsomewhat lessened the gloomy effects of his former train-ing. He applied himself to the study of the best authors, dili-gently treasuring their most weighty thoughts, and makingthe wisdom of the wise his own. Even under the harsh disci-pline of his former instructors, he had early given promiseof distinction; and with favorable influences his mindrapidly developed. A retentive memory, a lively imagina-tion, strong reasoning powers, and untiring application, soonplaced him in the foremost rank among his associates. Intel-lectual discipline ripened his understanding, and aroused anactivity of mind and a keenness of perception that were pre-paring 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 anabiding sense of his dependence upon divine aid, and he didnot fail to begin each day with prayer, while his heart wascontinually breathing a petition for guidance and support.“To pray well,” he often said, “is the better half of study.”

While one day examining the books in the library ofthe university, Luther discovered a Latin Bible. Such abook he had never before seen. He was ignorant even of itsexistence. He had heard portions of the Gospels and Epistles,which were read to the people at public worship, and he sup-posed 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 pulseand throbbing heart he read for himself the words of life,pausing now and then to exclaim, “Oh, if God would giveme such a book for my own!” Angels of Heaven were by hisside, and rays of light from the throne of God revealed thetreasures of truth to his understanding. He had ever feared tooffend God, but now the deep conviction of his condition asa sinner took hold upon him as never before.

An earnest desire to be free from sin and to find peacewith God, led him at last to enter a cloister, and devotehimself to a monastic life. Here he was required to performthe lowest drudgery, and to beg from house to house. He wasat an age when respect and appreciation are most eagerlycraved, and these menial offices were deeply mortifying tohis natural feelings; but he patiently endured this humilia-tion, believing that it was necessary because of his sins.

Every moment that could be spared from his dailyduties he employed in study, robbing himself of sleep, andgrudging even the time spent at his scanty meals. Aboveeverything else he delighted in the study of God’s Word.He had found a Bible chained to the convent wall, and to thishe often repaired. As his convictions of sin deepened, hesought by his own works to obtain pardon and peace. He leda most rigorous life, endeavoring, by fasting, vigils, andscourgings, to subdue the evils of his nature, from which themonastic life had brought no release. He shrank from no sac-rifice by which he might attain to that purity of heart whichwould enable him to stand approved before God. “I was in-deed a pious monk,” he afterward said, “and followed therules of my order more strictly than I can express. If ever amonk could attain Heaven by his monkish works, I shouldcertainly have been entitled to it. If I had continued muchlonger, I should have carried my mortifications even to death.”As the result of this painful discipline, he lost strength, andsuffered from fainting spasms, from the effects of which henever fully recovered. But with all his efforts, his burdenedsoul found no relief. He was at last driven to the verge ofdespair.

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When it appeared to Luther that all was lost, God raisedup a friend and helper for him. The pious Staupitz openedthe Word of God to Luther’s mind, and bade him lookaway from himself, cease the contemplation of infinite pun-ishment for the violation of God’s law, and look to Jesus, hissin-pardoning Saviour. “Instead of torturing yourself on ac-count of your sins, cast yourself into the arms of your Re-deemer. Trust in Him,—in the righteousness of His life,—inthe atonement of His death. Listen to the Son of God. Hebecame man to give you the assurance of divine favor.” “LoveHim who has first loved you.” Thus spoke this messenger ofmercy. His words made a deep impression upon Luther’smind. After many a struggle with long-cherished errors, hewas enabled to grasp the truth, and peace came to his troubledsoul.

Luther was ordained a priest, and was called fromthe cloister to a professorship in the University ofWittenberg. Here he applied himself to the study of theScriptures in the original tongues. He began to lecture uponthe Bible; and the book of Psalms, the Gospels, and theEpistles were opened to the understanding of crowds of de-lighted listeners. Staupitz, his friend and superior, urged himto ascend the pulpit, and preach the Word of God. Lutherhesitated, feeling himself unworthy to speak to the people inChrist’s stead. It was only after a long struggle that he yieldedto the solicitations of his friends. Already he was mighty inthe Scriptures, and the grace of God rested upon him. Hiseloquence captivated his hearers, the clearness and powerwith which he presented the truth convinced their understand-ing, and his fervor touched their hearts.

Luther was still a true son of the papal church, andhad no thought that he would ever be anything else. Inthe providence of God he was led to visit Rome. He pur-sued his journey on foot, lodging at the monasteries on theway. At a convent in Italy he was filled with wonder at thewealth, magnificence, and luxury that he witnessed. Endowedwith a princely revenue, the monks dwelt in splendid apart-ments, attired themselves in the richest and most costly robes,



and feasted at a sumptuous table. With painful misgivingsLuther contrasted this scene with the self-denial and hard-ship 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, ex-claiming, “Holy Rome, I salute thee!” He entered the city,visited the churches, listened to the marvelous tales repeatedby priests and monks, and performed all the ceremonies re-quired. Everywhere he looked upon scenes that filled himwith astonishment and horror. He saw that iniquity existedamong all classes of the clergy. He heard indecent jokes fromprelates, and was filled with horror at their awful profanity,even during mass. As he mingled with the monks and citi-zens, he met dissipation, debauchery. Turn where he would,in the place of sanctity he found profanation. “It is incred-ible,” he wrote, “what sins and atrocities are committedin Rome; they must be seen and heard to be believed. Sothat it is usual to say, ‘If there be a hell, Rome is builtabove it. It is an abyss whence all sins proceed.’ ”

By a recent decretal, an indulgence had been promisedby the pope to all who should ascend upon their knees“Pilate’s staircase,” said to have been descended by our Sav-iour on leaving the Roman judgment-hall, and to have beenmiraculously conveyed from Jerusalem to Rome. Luther wasone day devoutly climbing these steps, when suddenly a voicelike thunder seemed to say to him, “The just shall live byfaith.” Romans 1:17. He sprung upon his feet, and has-tened from the place, in shame and horror. That text neverlost its power upon his soul. From that time he saw moreclearly than ever before the fallacy of trusting to humanworks for salvation, and the necessity of constant faithin the merits of Christ. His eyes had been opened, andwere never again to be closed, to the delusions of thepapacy. When he turned his face from Rome, he hadturned away also in heart, and from that time the separa-tion grew wider, until he severed all connection with the pa-pal church.

After his return from Rome, Luther received at the

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University of Wittenberg the degree of doctor of divin-ity. Now he was at liberty to devote himself, as neverbefore, to the Scriptures that he loved. He had taken a sol-emn vow to study carefully and to preach with fidelity theWord of God, not the sayings and doctrines of the popes, allthe days of his life. He was no longer the mere monk orprofessor, but the authorized herald of the Bible. He hadbeen called as a shepherd to feed the flock of God, that werehungering and thirsting for the truth. He firmly declaredthat Christians should receive no other doctrines thanthose which rest on the authority of the Sacred Scrip-tures. These words struck at the very foundation of pa-pal supremacy. They contained the vital principle of theReformation.

Luther saw the danger of exalting human theories abovethe Word of God. He fearlessly attacked the speculative infi-delity of the schoolmen, and opposed the philosophy andtheology which had so long held a controlling influence uponthe people. He denounced such studies as not only worthlessbut pernicious, and sought to turn the minds of his hearersfrom the sophistries of philosophers and theologians to theeternal truths set forth by prophets and apostles.

Precious was the message which he bore to the eagercrowds that hung upon his words. Never before had suchteaching fallen upon their ears. The glad tidings of a Saviour’slove, the assurance of pardon and peace through His atoningblood, rejoiced their hearts, and inspired within them an im-mortal hope. At Wittenberg a light was kindled whoserays should extend to the uttermost parts of the earth,and which was to increase in brightness to the close oftime.

But light and darkness cannot harmonize. Between truthand error there is an irrepressible conflict. To uphold anddefend the one is to attack and overthrow the other. Our Sav-iour Himself declared, “I came not to send peace, but asword.” Matthew 10:34. Said Luther, a few years after theopening of the Reformation, “God does not conduct, butdrives me forward. I am not master of my own actions. I



would gladly live in repose, but I am thrown into the midstof tumults and revolutions.” He was now about to be urgedinto the contest.

The Roman Church had made merchandise of the graceof God. The tables of the money-changers (Matthew 21:12)were set up beside her altars, and the air resounded with theshouts of buyers and sellers. Under the plea of raising fundsfor the erection of St. Peter’s church at Rome, indulgencesfor sin were publicly offered for sale by the authority ofthe pope. By the price of crime a temple was to be built upfor God’s worship,—the corner-stone laid with the wages ofiniquity. But the very means adopted for Rome’s aggran-dizement provoked the deadliest blow to her power and great-ness. It was this that aroused the most determined and suc-cessful of the enemies of popery, and led to the battle whichshook the papal throne, and jostled the triple crown upon thepontiff’s head.

The official appointed to conduct the sale of indul-gences in Germany—Tetzel by name—had been convictedof the basest offenses against society and against the law ofGod; but having escaped the punishment due to his crimes,he was employed to further the mercenary and unscrupulousprojects of the pope. With great effrontery he repeated themost glaring falsehoods, and related marvelous tales to de-ceive an ignorant, credulous, and superstitious people. Hadthey possessed the Word of God, they would not havebeen thus deceived. It was to keep them under the con-trol of the papacy, in order to swell the power and wealthof her ambitious leaders, that the Bible had been with-held from them.

As Tetzel entered a town, a messenger went before him,announcing, “The grace of God and of the holy father is atyour gates.” And the people welcomed the blasphemous pre-tender as if he were God Himself come down from Heavento them. The infamous traffic was set up in the church,and Tetzel, ascending the pulpit, extolled indulgences asthe most precious gift of God. He declared that by virtueof his certificates of pardon, all the sins which the pur-

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chaser should afterward desire to commit would be for-given him, and that “even repentance was not indispensable.”More than this, he assured his hearers that the indulgenceshad power to save not only the living but the dead; that thevery moment the money should clink against the bottom ofhis chest, the soul in whose behalf it had been paid wouldescape from purgatory and make its way to Heaven.

When Simon Magus offered to purchase of the apostlesthe power to work miracles, Peter answered him, “Thy moneyperish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift ofGod may be purchased with money.” Acts 8:20. But Tetzel’soffer was grasped by eager thousands. Gold and silver flowedinto his treasury. A salvation that could be bought withmoney was more easily obtained than that which requiresrepentance, faith, and diligent effort to resist and over-come sin.

The doctrine of indulgences had been opposed by menof learning and piety in the Romish Church, and there weremany who had no faith in pretensions so contrary to bothreason and revelation. No prelate dared lift his voiceagainst this iniquitous traffic, but the minds of men werebecoming disturbed and uneasy, and many eagerly in-quired if God would not work through some instrumen-tality for the purification of his church.

Luther, though still a papist of the straitest sort, wasfilled with horror at the blasphemous assumptions of the in-dulgence-mongers. Many of his own congregation had pur-chased certificates of pardon, and they soon began to cometo their pastor, confessing their various sins, and expectingabsolution, not because they were penitent and wished toreform, but on the ground of the indulgence. Luther refusedthem absolution, and warned them that unless they shouldrepent and reform their lives, they must perish in their sins.In great perplexity they repaired to Tetzel with the complaintthat their confessor had refused his certificates; and someboldly demanded that their money be returned to them. Thefriar was filled with rage. He uttered the most terrible curses,caused fires to be lighted in the public squares, and declared



that he had orders from the pope “to burn the heretics whodared oppose his most holy indulgences.”

Luther now entered boldly upon his work as a cham-pion of the truth. His voice was heard from the pulpit inearnest, solemn warning. He set before the people the of-fensive character of sin, and taught them that it is impos-sible for man, by his own works, to lessen its guilt or evadeits punishment. Nothing but repentance toward God andfaith in Christ can save the sinner. The grace of Christcannot be purchased; it is a free gift. He counseled thepeople not to buy the indulgences, but to look in faith to acrucified Redeemer. He related his own painful experienceon vainly seeking by humiliation and penance to secure sal-vation, and assured his hearers that it was by looking awayfrom himself and believing in Christ that he found peace andjoy.

As Tetzel continued his traffic and his impious pre-tensions, Luther determined upon a more effectual pro-test against these crying abuses. An occasion soon offered.The castle church of Wittenberg possessed many relics, whichon certain holy days were exhibited to the people, and fullremission of sins was granted to all who then visited thechurch and made confession. According on these days thepeople in great numbers resorted thither. One of the mostimportant of these occasions, the festival of “All-Saints,”was approaching. On the preceding day, Luther, joiningthe crowds that were already making their way to thechurch, posted on its door a paper containing ninety-five propositions against the doctrine of indulgences. Hedeclared his willingness to defend these theses next day atthe university, against all who should see fit to attack them.

His propositions attracted universal attention. They wereread and re-read and repeated in every direction. Great ex-citement was created in the university and in the whole city.By these theses it was shown that the power to grant thepardon of sin, and to remit its penalty, had never beencommitted to the pope or to any other man. The wholescheme was a farce,—an artifice to extort money by playing

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upon the superstitions of the people,—a device of Satan todestroy the souls of all who should trust to its lying preten-sions. It was also clearly shown that the gospel of Christ isthe most valuable treasure of the church, and that the graceof God, therein revealed, is freely bestowed upon all whoseek it by repentance and faith.

Luther’s theses challenged discussion; but no onedared accept the challenge. The questions which he pro-posed had in a few days spread through all Germany,and in a few weeks they had sounded throughout Chris-tendom. Many devoted Romanists, who had seen and la-mented the terrible iniquity prevailing in the church, but hadnot known how to arrest its progress, read the propositionswith great joy, recognizing in them the voice of God. Theyfelt that the Lord had graciously set His hand to arrest therapidly swelling tide of corruption that was issuing from thesee of Rome. Princes and magistrates secretly rejoicedthat a check was to be put upon the arrogant power whichdenied the right of appeal from its decisions.

But the sin-loving and superstitious multitudes wereterrified as the sophistries that had soothed their fearswere swept away. Crafty ecclesiastics, interrupted in theirwork of sanctioning crime, and seeing their gains endangered,were enraged, and rallied to uphold their pretensions. Thereformer had bitter accusers to meet. Some charged himwith acting hastily and from impulse. Others accused himof presumption, declaring that he was not directed of God,but was acting from pride and forwardness. “Who does notknow,” he responded, “that one can seldom advance a newidea without having some appearance of pride, and withoutbeing accused of exciting quarrels? Why were Christ and allthe martyrs put to death?—Because they appeared proud de-spisers of the wisdom of the times in which they lived, andbecause they brought forward new truths without having firstconsulted the oracles of the old opinions.”

Again he declared: “What I am doing will not be ef-fected by the prudence of man, but by the counsel of God. Ifthe work be of God, who shall stop it? If it be not, who shall



forward it? Not my will, not theirs, not ours, but Thy will,holy Father who art in Heaven!”

Though Luther had been moved by the Spirit of Godto begin his work, he was not to carry it forward with-out severe conflicts. The reproaches of his enemies, theirmisrepresentation of his purposes, and their unjust and ma-licious reflections upon his character and motives, came inupon him like an overwhelming flood; and they were notwithout effect. He had felt confident that the leaders of thepeople, both in the church and in the schools, would gladlyunite with him in efforts for reform. Words of encourage-ment from those in high position had inspired him with joyand hope. Already in anticipation he had seen a brighter daydawning for the church. But encouragement had changed toreproach and condemnation. Many dignitaries, both ofChurch and State, were convicted of the truthfulness ofhis theses; but they soon saw that the acceptance of thesetruths would involve great changes. To enlighten and re-form the people would be virtually to undermine theauthority of Rome, to stop thousands of streams nowflowing into her treasury, and thus greatly to curtail theextravagance 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 thepontiff’s throne, and eventually destroy their own authority.For this reason they refused the knowledge tendered them ofGod, and arrayed themselves against Christ and the truth bytheir opposition to the man whom he had sent to enlightenthem.

Luther trembled as he looked upon himself,—oneman opposed to the mightiest powers of earth. He some-times doubted whether he had indeed been led of God to sethimself against the authority of the church. “Who was I,” hewrites, “to oppose the majesty of the pope, before whom thekings of the earth and the whole world trembled?” “No onecan know what I suffered in those first two years, and intowhat dejection and even despair I was often plunged.” Buthe was not left to become utterly disheartened. When hu-

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man support failed, he looked to God alone, and learnedthat he could lean in perfect safety upon that all-power-ful arm.

To a friend of the Reformation Luther wrote: “We can-not attain to the understanding of Scripture either by studyor by strength of intellect. Therefore your first duty must beto begin with prayer. Entreat the Lord to deign to grant you,in His rich mercy, rightly to understand His Word. There isno other interpreter of the Word but the Author of that WordHimself. Even as He has said, ‘They shall all be taught ofGod.’ Hope nothing from your study and the strength of yourintellect; but simply put your trust in God, and in the guid-ance of His Spirit. Believe one who has made trial of thismatter.” Here is a lesson of vital importance to those whofeel that God has called them to present to others the solemntruths for this time. These truths will stir the enmity of Sa-tan, and of men who love the fables that he has advised. Inthe conflict with the powers of evil, there is need of some-thing more than strength of intellect and human wisdom.

When enemies appealed to custom and tradition, orto the assertions and authority of the pope, Luther metthem with the Bible, and the Bible only. Here were argu-ments which they could not answer; therefore the slavesof formalism and superstition clamored for his blood, as theJews had clamored for the blood of Christ. “He is a heretic,”cried the Roman zealots; “It is a sin to allow him to live anhour longer! Away with him at once to the scaffold!” ButLuther did not fall a prey to their fury. God had a work forhim to do, and angels of Heaven were sent to protect him.Many, however, who had received from Luther the preciouslight, were made the objects of Satan’s wrath, and for thetruth’s sake fearlessly suffered torture and death.

Luther’s teachings attracted the attention of thought-ful minds throughout all Germany. From his sermons andwritings issued beams of light which awakened and illumi-nated thousands. A living faith was taking the place of thedead formalism in which the church had so long beenheld. The people were daily losing confidence in the su-



perstitions of Romanism. The barriers of prejudice weregiving way. The Word of God, by which Luther tested everydoctrine and every claim, was like a two-edged sword, cut-ting its way to the hearts of the people. Everywhere therewas awakening a desire for spiritual progress. Everywherewas such a hungering and thirsting after righteousness ashad not been known for ages. The eyes of the people, so longdirected to human rites and earthly mediators, were now turn-ing, in penitence and faith, to Christ and Him crucified.

This widespread interest aroused still further thefears of the papal authorities. Luther received a sum-mons to appear at Rome to answer to the charge of her-esy. The command filled his friends with terror. They knewfull well the danger that threatened him in that corrupt city,already drunk with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. Theyprotested against his going to Rome, and requested thathe receive his examination in Germany.

This arrangement was finally effected, and the pope’slegate was appointed to hear the case. In the instructionscommunicated by the pontiff to this official, it was statedthat Luther had already been declared a heretic. The legatewas therefore charged to “prosecute and reduce him to sub-mission without delay.” If he should remain steadfast, andthe legate should fail to gain possession of his person, hewas empowered to “proscribe him in all places in Germany,to put away, curse, and excommunicate all who were attachedto him.” And further, the pope directed his legate, in orderentirely to root out the pestilent heresy, to excommunicateall, of whatever dignity in Church or State, except the em-peror, 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 ofChristian principle, or even of common justice, is to be seenin the whole document. Luther was at a great distancefrom Rome; he had had no opportunity to explain ordefend his position; yet before his case had been investi-gated, he was summarily pronounced a heretic, and, inthe same day, exhorted, accused, judged, and condemned;

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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 sym-pathy and counsel of a true friend, God’s providence sentMelancthon to Wittenberg. Young in years, modest anddiffident in his manners, Melancthon’s sound judgment, ex-tensive knowledge, and winning eloquence, combined withthe purity and uprightness of his character, won universaladmiration and esteem. The brilliancy of his talents was notmore marked than his gentleness of disposition. He soonbecame an earnest disciple of the gospel, and Luther’s mosttrusted friend and valued supporter; his gentleness, caution,and exactness serving as a complement to Luther’s courageand energy. Their union in the work added strength to theReformation, and was a source of great encouragement toLuther.

Augsburg had been fixed upon as the place of trial,and the reformer set out on foot to perform the journeythither. Serious fears were entertained in his behalf. Threatshad been made openly that he would be seized and murderedon the way, and his friends begged him not to venture. Theyeven entreated him to leave Wittenberg for a time, and findsafety with those who would gladly protect him. But he wouldnot leave the position where God had placed him. He mustcontinue faithfully to maintain the truth, notwithstanding thestorms that were beating upon him. His language was: “I amlike Jeremiah, a man of strife and contention; but the morethey increase their threatenings, the more they multiply myjoy. . . . They have already torn to pieces my honor and mygood name. All I have left is my wretched body; let themhave it; they will then shorten my life by a few hours. But asto my soul, they shall not have that. He who resolves to bearthe word of Christ to the world, must expect death at everyhour.”

The tidings of Luther’s arrival at Augsburg gavegreat satisfaction to the papal legate. The troublesomeheretic who was exciting the attention of the whole worldseemed now in the power of Rome, and the legate deter-



mined that he should not escape. The reformer had failedto provide himself with a safe-conduct. His friends urgedhim not to appear before the legate without one, and theythemselves undertook to procure it from the emperor. Thelegate intended to force Luther, if possible, to retract, or, fail-ing in this, to cause him to be conveyed to Rome, to sharethe fate of Huss and Jerome. Therefore through his agentshe endeavored to induce Luther to appear without a safe-conduct, trusting himself to his mercy. This the reformerfirmly declined to do. Not until he had received the docu-ment pledging him the emperor’s protection, did he appearin the presence of the papal ambassador.

As a matter of policy, the Romanists had decided to at-tempt to win Luther by an appearance of gentleness. Thelegate, in his interviews with him, professed great friend-liness; but he demanded that Luther submit implicitly tothe authority of the church, and yield every point, with-out argument or question. He had not rightly estimated thecharacter of the man with whom he had to deal. Luther, inreply, expressed his regard for the church, his desire for thetruth, his readiness to answer all objections to what he hadtaught, and to submit his doctrines to the decision of certainleading universities. But at the same time he protestedagainst the cardinal’s course in requiring him to retractwithout having proved him in error.

The only response was, “Recant, recant.” The re-former showed that his position was sustained by the Scrip-tures, and firmly declared that he could not renounce the truth.The legate, unable to reply to Luther’s arguments, over-whelmed him with a storm of reproaches, gibes, and flat-tery, interspersed with quotations from tradition and thesayings of the Fathers, granting the reformer no oppor-tunity to speak. Seeing that the conference, thus continued,would be utterly futile, Luther finally obtained a reluc-tant permission to present his answer in writing.

“In so doing,” said he, writing to a friend, “the oppressedfind double gain; first, what is written may be submitted tothe judgment of others; and second, one has a better chance

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of working on the fears, if not on the conscience, of an arro-gant and babbling despot, who would otherwise overpowerby his imperious language.” At the next interview, Lutherpresented a clear, concise, and forcible exposition of hisviews, fully supported by many quotations from Scrip-ture. This paper, after reading aloud, he handed to thecardinal, who, however, cast it contemptuously aside, de-claring it to be a mass of idle words and irrelevant quo-tations. Luther, fully roused, now met the haughty prel-ate on his own ground,—the traditions and teachings ofthe church—and utterly overthrew his assumptions.

When the prelate saw that Luther’s reasoning was un-answerable, he lost all self-control, and in a rage cried out:“Retract, or I will send you to Rome, there to appear be-fore the judges commissioned to take cognizance of yourcase. I will excommunicate you and all your partisans, andall who shall at any time countenance you, and will cast themout of the church.” And he finally declared, in a haughty andangry tone, “Retract, or return no more.”

The reformer promptly withdrew with his friends,thus declaring plainly that no retraction was to be ex-pected from him. This was not what the cardinal had pur-posed. He had flattered himself that by violence he couldawe Luther to submission. Now, left alone with his support-ers, he looked from one to another, in utter chagrin at theunexpected failure of his schemes.

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

Notwithstanding Luther had secured a safe-conduct, theRomanists were plotting to seize and imprison him. His



friends urged that as it was useless for him to prolong hisstay, he should return to Wittenberg without delay, and thatthe utmost caution should be observed in order to concealhis intentions. He accordingly left Augsburg before day-break, on horseback, accompanied only by a guide furnishedhim by the magistrate. With many forebodings he secretlymade 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 weremoments of anxiety and earnest prayer. He reached a smallgate in the wall of the city. It was opened for him, and withhis guide he passed through without hindrance. Once safelyoutside, the fugitives hastened their flight, and before thelegate learned of Luther’s departure, he was beyond thereach of his persecutors. Satan and his emissaries weredefeated. The man whom they had thought in their powerwas gone, escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowler.

At the news of Luther’s escape, the legate was over-whelmed with surprise and anger. He had expected to re-ceive great honor for his wisdom and firmness in dealingwith this disturber of the church; but his hope was disap-pointed. He gave expression to his wrath in a letter toFrederick, the Elector of Saxony, bitterly denouncing Luther,and demanding that Frederick send the reformer to Rome orbanish him from Saxony.

In defense, Luther urged that the legate or the pope showhim his errors from the Scriptures, and pledged himself inthe most solemn manner to renounce his doctrines if theycould be shown to contradict the Word of God. And he ex-pressed his gratitude to God that he had been counted wor-thy to suffer in so holy a cause.

The elector had, as yet, little knowledge of the re-formed doctrines, but he was deeply impressed by thecandor, force, and clearness of Luther’s words; and, untilthe reformer should be proved to be in error, Frederickresolved to stand as his protector. In reply to the legate’sdemand he wrote: “Since Doctor Martin has appeared be-fore you at Augsburg, you should be satisfied. We did not

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expect that you would endeavor to make him retract withouthaving convinced him of his errors. None of the learned menin our principality have informed us that Martin’s doctrineis impious, antichristian, or heretical. We must refuse, there-fore, either to send Luther to Rome or to expel him from ourStates.”

The elector saw that there was a general breaking downof the moral restraints of society. A great work of reformwas needed. The complicated and expensive arrangementsto restrain and punish crime would be unnecessary ifmen but acknowledged and obeyed the requirements ofGod and the dictates of an enlightened conscience. Hesaw that Luther was laboring to secure this object, and hesecretly rejoiced that a better influence was making itselffelt in the church.

He saw also that as a professor in the university Lutherwas eminently successful. Only a year had passed sincethe reformer posted his theses on the castle church, yetthere was already a great falling off in the number ofpilgrims that visited the church at the festival of All-Saints. Rome had been deprived of worshipers and offer-ings, but their place was filled by another class, who nowcame to Wittenberg,—not pilgrims to adore her relics, butstudents to fill her halls of learning. The writings of Lutherhad kindled everywhere a new interest in the Holy Scrip-tures, and not only from all parts of Germany, but from otherlands, students flocked to the university. Young men, com-ing in sight of Wittenberg for the first time, would “raisetheir hands to heaven, and bless God for having caused thelight of truth to shine forth from Wittenberg, as in formerages from Mount Zion, that it might penetrate to the mostdistant lands.”

Luther was as yet but partially converted from theerrors of Romanism. But as he compared the Holy Ora-cles with the papal decrees and constitutions, he was filledwith wonder. “I am reading,” he wrote, “the decretals of thepopes, and . . . . I know not whether the pope is antichristhimself, or whether he is his apostle; so misrepresented and



even crucified does Christ appear in them.” Yet at this timeLuther was still a supporter of the Roman Church, and hadno thought that he would ever separate from her commun-ion.

The reformer’s writings and his doctrine were ex-tending to every nation in Christendom. The work spreadto Switzerland and Holland. Copies of his writings foundtheir way to France and Spain. In England his teachings werereceived as the word of life. To Belgium and Italy also thetruth had extended. Thousands were awakening from theirdeath-like stupor to the joy and hope of a life of faith.

Rome became more and more exasperated by theattacks of Luther, and it was declared by some of his fa-natical opponents, even by doctors in Catholic universities,that he who should kill the rebellious monk would be with-out sin. One day a stranger, with a pistol hidden under hiscloak, approached the reformer, and inquired why he wentthus alone. “I am in the hands of God,” answered Luther.“He is my help and my shield. What can man do unto me?”Upon hearing these words, the stranger turned pale, and fledaway, as from the presence of the angels of Heaven.

Rome was bent upon the destruction of Luther; butGod was his defense. His doctrines were heard every-where,—in convents, in cottages, in the castles of the nobles,in the universities, in the palaces of kings; and noble menwere rising on every hand to sustain his efforts

It was about this time that Luther, reading the worksof Huss, found that the great truth of justification by faith,which he himself was seeking to uphold and teach, hadbeen held by the Bohemian reformer. “We have all,” saidLuther, “Paul, Augustine, and myself, been Hussites with-out knowing it.” “God will surely visit it upon the world,”he continued, “that the truth was preached to it a centuryago, and burned.”

In an appeal to the emperor and nobility of Germany inbehalf of the Reformation of Christianity, Luther wrote con-cerning the pope: “It is monstrous to see him who is calledthe vicar of Christ, displaying a magnificence unrivaled

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by that of any emperor. Is this to represent the poor andlowly Jesus or the humble St. Peter? The pope, say they,is the lord of the world! But Christ, whose vicar he boasts ofbeing, said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world.’ Can the do-minions of a vicar extend beyond those of his superior?”

He wrote thus of the universities: “I fear much that theuniversities will be found to be great gates leading downto hell, unless they take diligent care to explain the HolyScriptures, and to engrave them in the hearts of ouryouth. I advise no one to place his child where the HolyScriptures are not regarded as the rule of life. Every in-stitution where the Word of God is not diligently stud-ied, must become corrupt.”

This appeal was rapidly circulated throughout Germany,and exerted a powerful influence upon the people. The wholenation was stirred, and multitudes were roused to rally aroundthe standard of reform. Luther’s opponents, burning with adesire for revenge, urged the pope to take decisive measuresagainst him. It was decreed that his doctrines should beimmediately condemned. Sixty days were granted thereformer and his adherents, after which, if they did notrecant, they were all to be excommunicated.

That was a terrible crisis for the Reformation. Forcenturies Rome’s sentence of excommunication had struckterror to powerful monarchs; it had filled mighty empireswith woe and desolation. Those upon whom its condemna-tion fell, were universally regarded with dread and horror;they were cut off from intercourse with their fellows, andtreated as outlaws, to be hunted to extermination. Luther wasnot blind to the tempest about to burst upon him; but hestood firm, trusting in Christ to be his support and shield.With a martyr’s faith and courage he wrote: “What is aboutto happen I know not, and I care not to know.” “Whereverthe blow may reach me. I fear not. Not so much as a leaffalls without the will of our Father; how much ratherwill He care for us! It is a light matter to die for the Word,since this Word, that was made flesh for us, hath Him-self died. If we die with Him, we shall live with Him; and,



passing through that which He has passed through beforeus, we shall be where He is, and dwell with Him forever.”

When the papal bull reached Luther, he said: “I de-spise it, and resist it, as impious and false. . . . It is ChristHimself who is condemned therein.” “I glory in the prospectof suffering for the best of causes. Already I feel greater lib-erty; for I know now that the pope is antichrist, and that histhrone is that of Satan himself.”

Yet the mandate of Rome was not without effect.Prison, torture, and sword were weapons potent to enforceobedience. The weak and superstitious trembled before thedecree of the pope, and while there was general sympathyfor Luther, many felt that life was too dear to be risked in thecause of reform. Everything seemed to indicate that thereformer’s work was about to close.

But Luther was fearless still. Rome had hurled heranathemas against him, and the world looked on, noth-ing doubting that he would perish or be forced to yield.But with terrible power he flung back upon herself thesentence of condemnation, and publicly declared his de-termination to abandon her forever. In the presence of acrowd of students, doctors, and citizens of all ranks, Lutherburned the pope’s bull, with the canon laws, the decretals,and certain writings sustaining the papal power. “My en-emies have been able by burning my books,” he said, “toinjure the cause of truth in the minds of some, and to destroysouls; for this reason I consume their books in return. A se-rious struggle has just commenced. Hitherto I have been play-ing with the pope; now I wage open war. I began this work inGod’s name; it will be ended without me, and by His might.”

To the reproaches of his enemies, who taunted him withthe weakness of his cause, Luther answered: “Who knows ifGod has not chosen and called me to perform this neededwork, and if these babblers ought not to fear that by despis-ing me, they despise God Himself? They say I am alone; no,for Jehovah is with me. In their sense, Moses was alone atthe departure from Egypt; Elijah was alone in the reign ofKing Ahab; Isaiah was alone in Jerusalem; Ezekiel was alone

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in Babylon. Hear this, O Rome: God never selected as aprophet either the high priest or any great personage; butrather, He chose low and despised men, once even the shep-herd Amos. In every age the saints have been compelled torebuke kings, princes, recreant priests, and wise men at theperil of their lives.” “I do not say that I also am a prophet;but I do say that they ought to fear precisely because I amalone, while on the side of the oppressor are numbers, caste,wealth, and mocking letters. Yes, I am alone; but I standserene, because side by side with me is the Word of God;and with all their boasted numbers, this, the greatest of pow-ers, is not with them.”

Yet it was not without a terrible struggle with him-self that Luther decided upon a final separation fromthe church. It was about this time that he wrote: “I feel moreand more every day how difficult it is to lay aside the scrupleswhich one has imbibed in childhood. Oh, how much pain itcost me, though I had the Scriptures on my side, to justify itto myself that I should dare to make a stand alone againstthe pope, and hold him forth as antichrist! What have thetribulations of my heart not been! How many times have Iasked myself with bitterness that question which was so fre-quent on the lips of the papist: “Art thou alone wise? Canevery one else be mistaken? How will it be, if, after all, it isthyself who art wrong, and who art involving in thy error somany souls, who will then be eternally damned?” “’Twas soI fought with myself and with Satan, till Christ, by His infal-lible Word, fortified my heart against these doubts.”

The pope had threatened Luther with excommuni-cation if he did not recant, and the threat was now ful-filled. A new bull appeared, declaring the reformer’s fi-nal separation from the Romish Church, denouncing himas accursed of Heaven, and including in the same con-demnation all who should receive his doctrines. The greatcontest had been fully entered upon.

Opposition is the lot of all whom God employs to presenttruths specially applicable to their time. There was a presenttruth in the days of Luther,—a truth at that time of spe-



cial importance; there is a present truth for the churchto-day. He who does all things according to the counselof His will, has been pleased to place men under variouscircumstances, and to enjoin upon them duties peculiarto the times in which they live, and the conditions underwhich they are placed. If they would prize the light giventhem, broader views of truth would be opened before them.But truth is no more desired by the majority today than itwas by the papists who opposed Luther. There is the samedisposition to accept the theories and traditions of meninstead of the Word of God as in former ages. Those whopresent the truth for this time should not expect to be re-ceived with greater favor than were earlier reformers. Thegreat controversy between truth and error, between Christand Satan, is to increase in intensity to the close of this world’shistory.

Said Jesus to His disciples: “If ye were of the world, theworld would love his own; but because ye are not of theworld, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore theworld hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you,The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have perse-cuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept Mysaying, they will keep yours also.” John 15:19, 20. And onthe other hand our Lord declared plainly: “Woe unto you,when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathersto the false prophets. Luke 6:26. The spirit of the world isno more in harmony with the Spirit of Christ today than inearlier times; and those who preach the Word of God inits purity will be received with no greater favor now thanthen. 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 mani-fested to the end of time.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: GOD’S L: GOD’S L: GOD’S L: GOD’S L: GOD’S LOOOOOVE FOR MANVE FOR MANVE FOR MANVE FOR MANVE FOR MAN

“How excellent is Thy lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of menput their trust under the shadow of Thy wings.” Psalm 36:7.

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that weshould be called the sons of God.” 1 John 3:1.

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CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: DECLARED TO BE DIVINE AND INF: DECLARED TO BE DIVINE AND INF: DECLARED TO BE DIVINE AND INF: DECLARED TO BE DIVINE AND INF: DECLARED TO BE DIVINE AND INFALLIBLEALLIBLEALLIBLEALLIBLEALLIBLE

“We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.” Pope Leo XIII,Encyclical Letter, June 20, 1894.

“The Pope is not only the representative of Jesus Christ, but he is JesusChrist Himself, hidden under veil of flesh.” The Catholic National, July, 1895.

“We define that the Holy Apostolic See [Vatican] and the Roman Pontiffhold the primacy over the whole world.” Council of Trent, Decree, quoted inPhilippe Labbe and Gabriel Cossart, The Most Holy Councils, Vol. 13, col.1167.

“Christ entrusted His office to the chief pontiff . . but all power in heavenand in earth has been given to Christ; . . therefore the chief pontiff, who isHis vicar, will have this power.” Corpus Juris Canonici, 1555 ed., Vol. 3,Extravagantes Communes, Book 1, chap. 1, col. 29.

“Hence the Pope is crowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven andof earth and of the lower regions [infernorum; the fiery place].” LuciusFerraris, Prompta Bibliotheca, “Papa” [the Pope], art. 2, 1772-1777 ed.,Vol. 6, p. 29.

“For thou art the shepherd, thou art the physician, thou art the director,thou art the husbandman; finally, thou art another God on Earth.” Christo-pher Marcellus, Oration in the fifth Lateran Council, session IV (1512), inJ.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum, Vol. 32, col. 761.

“The priests are the parents of God.” St. Bernard [fifth century arch-bishop].

“O wonderful dignity of the priests! In their hands as in the womb of theBlessed Virgin, the Son of God becomes incarnate!” Augustine.

“The pope himself is the keybearer and the doorkeeper, therefore noone can appeal from the pope to God.” Augustinus Triumphus, Summa dePotestate.

“All the names which in the Scriptures are applied to Christ, by virtue ofwhich it is established that He is over the church, all the same names areapplied to the Pope.” Robert Bellarmine, On the Authority of the Councils.

“Ques. How prove you that the Church hath power to command feastsand holy days?

“Ans. By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Prot-estants allow of [by observing it], and therefore they fondly contradict them-selves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts com-manded by the same church.” Priest Henry Tuberville, An Abridgment ofthe Christian Doctrine, p. 58.

Luther’s Separation from Rome Luther’s Separation from Rome Luther’s Separation from Rome Luther’s Separation from Rome Luther’s Separation from Rome [144] [144] [144] [144] [144]


Chapter EightChapter EightChapter EightChapter EightChapter Eight

HereHereHereHereHereI StandI StandI StandI StandI Stand

—Luther before the Diet—Luther before the Diet—Luther before the Diet—Luther before the Diet—Luther before the Diet———————————————————————

Charles the Fifth seemed to be the man for his time: the newlyCharles the Fifth seemed to be the man for his time: the newlyCharles the Fifth seemed to be the man for his time: the newlyCharles the Fifth seemed to be the man for his time: the newlyCharles the Fifth seemed to be the man for his time: the newlycrowned emperor of Europe. And then he met Marcrowned emperor of Europe. And then he met Marcrowned emperor of Europe. And then he met Marcrowned emperor of Europe. And then he met Marcrowned emperor of Europe. And then he met Martin Ltin Ltin Ltin Ltin Luther—uther—uther—uther—uther—and his troubles began.and his troubles began.and his troubles began.and his troubles began.and his troubles began. For it led to a battle that would last the restof his lifetime, a battle he would ultimately lose —

Hear MarHear MarHear MarHear MarHear Martin Ltin Ltin Ltin Ltin Luther defend the Wuther defend the Wuther defend the Wuther defend the Wuther defend the Word of God before the greatord of God before the greatord of God before the greatord of God before the greatord of God before the greatmen of earmen of earmen of earmen of earmen of earth—though he knew it meant his death.th—though he knew it meant his death.th—though he knew it meant his death.th—though he knew it meant his death.th—though he knew it meant his death. This is astory that you will want to read for yourself ————————————————————————

A new emperor, Charles V, had ascended the throneof Germany, and the emissaries of Rome hastened topresent their congratulations, and induce the monarchto employ his power against the Reformation. On the otherhand, the Elector of Saxony, to whom Charles was in greatdegree indebted for his crown, entreated him to take no stepagainst Luther until he should have granted him a hearing.The emperor was thus placed in a position of great perplex-ity and embarrassment. The papists would be satisfied withnothing short of an imperial edict sentencing Luther to death.The elector had declared firmly that “neither his imperialmajesty nor any one else had yet made it appear to him thatthe reformer’s writings had been refuted; “therefore he re-quested “that Doctor Luther be furnished with a safe-con-duct, so that he might answer for himself before a tribunal oflearned, pious, and impartial judges.”

The attention of all parties was now directed to theassembly of the German States which convened atWorms soon after the accession of Charles to the em-

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pire. There were important political questions and intereststo be considered by this national council; for the first timethe princes of Germany were to meet their youthful monarchin deliberative assembly. From all parts of the Fatherlandhad come the dignitaries of Church and State. Secular lords,high-born powerful, and jealous of their hereditary rights;princely ecclesiastics, flushed with their conscious superior-ity in rank and power; courtly knights and their armed re-tainers; and ambassadors from foreign and distant lands—all gathered at Worms. Yet in that vast assembly the sub-ject that excited the deepest interest, was the cause ofthe Saxon reformer.

Charles had previously directed the elector to bringLuther 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 ap-pear before the emperor. His health was at this time muchimpaired; yet he wrote to the elector: “If I cannot performthe journey to Worms in good health, I will be carried there,sick as I am. For, since the emperor has summoned me, Icannot doubt that it is the call of God Himself. If they intendto use violence against me, as they probably do, for assur-edly it is with no view of gaining information that they re-quire me to appear before them, I place the matter in theLord’s hands. He still lives and reigns who preserved thethree Israelites in the fiery furnace. If it be not His will tosave me, my life is of little consequence. Let us only takecare that the gospel be not exposed to the scorn of the un-godly, and let us shed our blood in its defense rather thanallow them to triumph. Who shall say whether my life or mydeath would contribute most to the salvation of my breth-ren?” “Expect anything from me but flight or recanta-

———————————HISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DAAAAATING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—Charles V (1500-

1558), the new emperor was only 21 when he convened the Diet [Coun-cil] of Worms. Meeting in November 1520, Luther appeared before iton April 17, 1521, and gave his defense the next day. After beingsecretly taken to the Wartburg Castle, he began translating the NewTestament in December. It was published in September 1522.

Luther before the Diet Luther before the Diet Luther before the Diet Luther before the Diet Luther before the Diet [145-146] [145-146] [145-146] [145-146] [145-146]


tion. Fly I cannot; still less can I recant.”As the news was circulated at Worms that Luther

was to appear before the Diet, a general excitement wascreated. Aleander, the papal legate to whom the case hadbeen specially intrusted, was alarmed and enraged. Hesaw that the result would be disastrous to the papal cause.To institute inquiry into a case in which the pope had alreadypronounced sentence of condemnation, would be to cast con-tempt upon the authority of the sovereign pontiff. Further-more, he was apprehensive that the eloquent and powerfularguments of this man might turn away many of the princesfrom the cause of the pope. He therefore, in the most ur-gent manner remonstrated with Charles against Luther’sappearance at Worms. About this time the bull declar-ing Luther’s excommunication was published; and this,coupled with the representations of the legate, inducedthe emperor to yield. He wrote to the elector that if Lutherwould not retract, he must remain at Wittenberg.

Not content with this victory, Aleander labored withall the power and cunning at his command to secureLuther’s condemnation. With a persistence worthy of abetter cause, he urged the matter upon the attention of princes,prelates, and other members of the assembly, accusing thereformer of sedition, rebellion, impiety, and blasphemy. Butthe vehemence and passion manifested by the legate revealedtoo plainly the spirit by which he was actuated. “Hatred andthirst for vengeance,” said a papist writer, “are his motives,rather than true zeal for religion.” The majority of the Dietwere more than ever inclined to regard Luther’s cause withfavor.

With redoubled zeal, Aleander urged upon the em-peror the duty of executing the papal edicts. But underthe laws of Germany this could not be done without the con-currence of the princes, and, overcome at last by the legate’simportunity, Charles bade him present his case to the Diet.“It was a proud day for the nuncio. The assembly was a greatone; the cause was even greater. Aleander was to plead forRome, the mother and mistress of all churches; he was to

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vindicate the princedom of Peter before the assembled prin-cipalities of Christendom. He had the gift of eloquence, andhe rose to the greatness of the occasion. Providence orderedit that Rome should appear and plead by the ablest ofher orators in the presence of the most august of tribu-nals, before she was condemned.” With some misgivingsthose who favored the reformer looked forward to the effectof Aleander’s speech. The Elector of Saxony was not present,but by his direction some of his councillors attended, to takenotes of the nuncio’s address.

With all the power of learning and eloquence, Alean-der set himself to overthrow the truth. Charge aftercharge he hurled against Luther as an enemy of theChurch and the State, the living and the dead, clergy andlaity, councils and private Christians. “There is enough inthe errors of Luther,” he declared, “to warrant the burning ofa hundred thousand heretics.

In conclusion, he endeavored to cast contempt uponthe adherents of the reformed faith: “What are all theseLutherans?—A motley rabble of insolent grammarians, cor-rupt priests, dissolute monks, ignorant lawyers, and degradednobles, with the common people whom they have misled andperverted. How greatly superior is the Catholic party in num-bers, intelligence, and power! A unanimous decree from thisillustrious assembly will open the eyes of the simple, showthe unwary their danger, determine the wavering, andstrengthen the weak-hearted.”

With such weapons the advocates of truth in every agehave been attacked. The same arguments are still urgedagainst all who dare to present, in opposition to establishederrors, the plain and direct teachings of God’s Word. “Whoare these preachers of new doctrines?” exclaim those whodesire a popular religion. “They are unlearned, few in num-bers, and of the poorer class. Yet they claim to have the truth,and to be the chosen people of God. They are ignorant anddeceived. How greatly superior in numbers and influenceis our church! How many great and learned men areamong us! How much more power is on our side!” These



are the arguments that have a telling influence upon theworld, but they are no more conclusive now than in the daysof the reformer.

The Reformation did not, as many suppose, end withLuther. It is to be continued to the close of this world’shistory. Luther had a great work to do in reflecting toothers the light which God had permitted to shine uponhim; yet he did not receive all the light which was to begiven to the world. From that time to this, new light hasbeen continually shining upon the Scriptures, and new truthshave been constantly unfolding.

The legate’s address made a deep impression upon theDiet. There was no Luther present, with the clear and con-vincing truths of God’s Word, to vanquish the papal cham-pion. No attempt was made to defend the reformer. Therewas manifest a general disposition not only to condemn himand the doctrines which he taught, but if possible to uprootthe heresy. Rome had enjoyed the most favorable opportu-nity to defend her cause. All that she could say in her ownvindication had been said. But the apparent victory wasthe signal of defeat. Henceforth the contrast betweentruth and error would be more clearly seen, as theyshould take the field in open warfare. Never from thatday would Rome stand as secure as she had stood.

While most of the members of the Diet would not havehesitated to yield up Luther to the vengeance of Rome, manyof them saw and deplored the existing depravity in the church,and desired a suppression of the abuses suffered by the Ger-man people in consequence of the corruption and greed ofthe hierarchy. The legate had presented the papal rule inthe most favorable light. Now the Lord moved upon amember of the Diet to give a true delineation of the ef-fects of papal tyranny. With noble firmness, Duke Georgeof Saxony stood up in that princely assembly, and speci-fied with terrible exactness the deceptions and abomi-nations of popery, and their dire results. In closing he said:

“These are but a few of the abuses which cry out againstRome for redress. All shame is laid aside, and one object

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alone incessantly pursued: money! evermore money! so thatthe very men whose duty it is to teach the truth, utter nothingbut falsehoods, and are not only tolerated but rewarded; be-cause the greater their lies, the greater are their gains. This isthe foul source from which so many corrupt streams flowout on every side. Profligacy and avarice go hand in hand.”“Alas! it is the scandal caused by the clergy that plunges somany poor souls into everlasting perdition. A thorough re-form must be effected.”

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

Had the eyes of the assembly been opened, they wouldhave beheld angels of God in the midst of them, sheddingbeams of light athwart the darkness of error, and openingminds and hearts to the reception of truth. It was the powerof the God of truth and wisdom that controlled even the ad-versaries of the Reformation, and thus prepared the way forthe great work about to be accomplished. Martin Luther wasnot present; but the voice of One greater than Luther hadbeen heard in that assembly.

A committee was at once appointed by the Diet toprepare an enumeration of the papal oppressions thatweighed so heavily on the German people. This list, con-taining a hundred and one specifications, was presentedto the emperor, with a request that he would take immedi-ate measures for the correction of these abuses. “What a lossof Christian souls,” said the petitioners, “what injustice, whatextortion, are the daily fruits of those scandalous practicesto which the spiritual head of Christendom affords his coun-tenance. The ruin and dishonor of our nation must be averted.We therefore very humbly, but very urgently, beseech you tosanction a general Reformation, to undertake the work, andto carry it through.”

The council now demanded the reformer’s appear-ance before them. Notwithstanding the entreaties, pro-tests, and threats of Aleander, the emperor at last con-



sented, and Luther was summoned to appear before theDiet. With the summons was issued a safe-conduct, insur-ing his return to a place of security. These were borne toWittenberg by a herald, who was commissioned to conducthim to Worms.

The friends of Luther were terrified and distressed.Knowing the prejudice and enmity against him, they fearedthat even his safe-conduct would not be respected, and theyentreated him not to imperil his life. He replied: “The pa-pists have little desire to see me at Worms, but they long formy condemnation and death. It matters not. Pray not for me,but for the Word of God. . . . Christ will give me His Spirit toovercome these ministers of Satan. I despise them while Ilive; I will triumph over them by my death. They are busyat Worms about compelling me to recant. My recanta-tion shall be this: I said formerly that the pope wasChrist’s vicar; now I say that he is the adversary of theLord, and the apostle of the devil.”

Luther was not to make his perilous journey alone.Besides the imperial messenger, three of his firmest friendsdetermined to accompany him. Melancthon earnestly desiredto join them. His heart was knit to Luther’s, and he yearnedto follow him, if need be, to prison or to death. But his en-treaties were denied. Should Luther perish, the hopes of theReformation must center upon his youthful co-laborer. Saidthe reformer as he parted from Melancthon, “If I do not re-turn, and my enemies put me to death, continue to teach;stand fast in the truth. Labor in my stead; . . . if thy life bespared, my death will matter little.” Students and citizenswho had gathered to witness Luther’s departure were deeplymoved. A multitude whose hearts had been touched bythe gospel, bade him farewell with weeping. Thus thereformer and his companions set out from Wittenberg.

On the journey they saw that the minds of the peoplewere oppressed by gloomy forebodings. At some towns nohonors were proffered them. As they stopped for the night, afriendly priest expressed his fears by holding up before Lutherthe portrait of an Italian reformer who had suffered martyr-

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dom. The next day they learned that Luther’s writingshad been condemned at Worms. Imperial messengerswere proclaiming the emperor’s decree, and calling uponthe people to bring the proscribed works to the magis-trates. 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, “I willgo on, though I should be put under interdict in every town.”

At Erfurt, Luther was received with honor. Sur-rounded by admiring crowds, he passed through the streetsthat he had often traversed with his beggar’s wallet. He vis-ited his convent cell, and thought upon the struggles throughwhich the light now flooding Germany had been shed uponhis soul. He was urged to preach. This he had been forbid-den to do, but the herald granted him permission, and thefriar who had once been made the drudge of the convent,now entered the pulpit.

To a crowded assembly he spoke from the words ofChrist, “Peace be unto you.” “Philosophers, doctors, andwriters,” he said, “have endeavored to teach men theway to obtain everlasting life, and they have not suc-ceeded. I will now tell it to you.” “God has raised oneMan from the dead, the Lord Jesus Christ, that He mightdestroy death, expiate sin, and shut the gates of hell. Thisis the work of salvation. Christ has vanquished! This isthe joyful news! And we are saved by His work, and not byour own. . . . Our Lord Jesus Christ said, ‘Peace be unto you!behold My hands’—that is to say, Behold, O man! it is I, Ialone, who have taken away thy sins, and ransomed thee;and now thou hast peace, saith the Lord.”

He continued, showing that true faith will be mani-fested by a holy life. “Since God has saved us, let us soorder our works that He may take pleasure in them. Art thourich?—let thy riches be the supply of other men’s poverty.Art thou poor?—let thy service minister to the rich. If thylabor is for thyself alone, the service thou offerest to God isa mere pretense.”

The people listened as if spell-bound. The bread of life



was broken to those starving souls. Christ was lifted up be-fore them as above popes, legates, emperors, and kings.Luther made no reference to his own perilous position. Hedid not seek to make himself the object of thought or sympa-thy. In the contemplation of Christ, he had lost sight of self.He hid behind the Man of Calvary, seeking only to presentJesus as the sinner’s Redeemer.

As the reformer proceeded on his journey, he waseverywhere regarded with great interest. An eager mul-titude thronged about him; and friendly voices warned himof the purpose of the Romanists. “You will be burned alive,”said they, “and your body reduced to ashes, as was that ofJohn Huss.” Luther answered, “Though they should kindle afire all the way from Worms to Wittenberg, whose flamesshould rise up to heaven, I would go through it in the nameof the Lord, and stand before them; I would enter the jaws ofthis behemoth, and break his teeth, confessing the Lord JesusChrist.”

The news of his approach to Worms created greatcommotion. His friends trembled for his safety; his en-emies feared for the success of their cause. Strenuous ef-forts were made to dissuade him from entering the city.At the instigation of the papists he was urged to repair to thecastle of a friendly knight, where, it was declared, all diffi-culties could be amicably adjusted. Friends endeavored toexcite his fears by describing the dangers that threatened him.All their efforts failed. Luther, still unshaken, declared,“Though there should be as many devils at Worms asthere are tiles on its roofs, I would enter.”

Upon his arrival at Worms, a vast crowd flocked tothe gates to welcome him. So great a concourse had notassembled to greet the emperor himself. The excitement wasintense, and from the midst of the throng a shrill and plain-tive voice chanted a funeral dirge, as a warning to Luther ofthe 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 re-ally venture to appear at Worms, and his arrival filled

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them with consternation. The emperor immediately sum-moned his councillors to consider what course should bepursued. One of the bishops, a rigid papist, declared: “Wehave long consulted on this matter. Let your majesty rid your-self of this man at once. Did not Sigismund bring John Hussto the stake? We are under no obligation either to give or toobserve the safe-conduct of a heretic.” “Not so,” said theemperor; “we must keep our promise.” It was therefore de-cided 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. Lutherhad scarcely recovered from his recent illness; he was wea-ried from the journey, which had occupied two full weeks;he must prepare to meet the momentous events of the mor-row, and he needed quiet and repose. But so great was thedesire to see him, that he had enjoyed only a few hours’ rest,when noblemen, knights, priests, and citizens gathered ea-gerly about him. Among these were many of the nobles whohad so boldly demanded of the emperor a reform of ecclesi-astical abuses, and who, says Luther, “had all been freed bymy gospel.” Enemies, as well as friends, came to look uponthe dauntless monk, but he received them with unshakencalmness, replying to all with dignity and wisdom. His bear-ing was firm and courageous. His pale, thin face, markedwith the traces of toil and illness, wore a kindly and evenjoyous expression. The solemnity and deep earnestness ofhis words gave him a power that even his enemies could notwholly withstand. Both friends and foes were filled withwonder. Some were convinced that a divine influence attendedhim; others declared, as had the Pharisees concerning Christ,“He hath a devil.”

On the following day, Luther was summoned to at-tend the Diet. An imperial officer was appointed to con-duct him to the hall of audience; yet it was with difficultythat he reached the place. Every avenue was crowded withspectators, eager to look upon the monk who had dared re-sist 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 hast a march and a struggleto go through, such as neither I nor many other captains haveever known in our most bloody battles. But if thy cause bejust, and thou art sure of it, go forward in God’s name, andfear nothing! He will not forsake thee.”

At length Luther stood before the council. The em-peror occupied the throne. He was surrounded by themost illustrious personages in the empire. Never had anyman appeared in the presence of a more imposing assemblythan that before which Martin Luther was to answer for hisfaith. “This appearance was of itself a signal victory overthe papacy. The pope had condemned the man, and hewas now standing before a tribunal which, by this veryact, set itself above the pope. The pope had laid him underan interdict, and cut him off from all human society, and yethe was summoned in respectful language, and received be-fore the most august assembly in the world. The pope hadcondemned him to perpetual silence, and he was now aboutto speak before thousands of attentive hearers drawn togetherfrom the furthest parts of Christendom. An immense revolu-tion had thus been effected by Luther’s instrumentality. Romewas already descending from her throne, and it was the voiceof a monk that caused this humiliation.”

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

Luther was conducted to a position directly in frontof the emperor’s throne. A deep silence fell upon thecrowded assembly. Then an imperial officer arose, and,pointing to a collection of Luther’s writings, demanded

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that the reformer answer two questions,—whether heacknowledged them as his, and whether he proposed toretract the opinions which he had therein advanced. Thetitles of the books having been read, Luther replied that as tothe first question, he acknowledged the books to be his. “Asto the second,” he said, “seeing it is a question which con-cerns faith, the salvation of souls, and the Word of God, whichis the greatest and most precious treasure either in Heavenor earth, it would be rash and perilous for me to reply with-out reflection. I might affirm less than the circumstances de-mand, or more than truth requires; in either case I should fallunder the sentence of Christ: ‘Whosoever shall deny Me be-fore men, him will I also deny before My Father which is inHeaven.’ Matthew 10:33. For this reason I entreat yourimperial majesty, with all humility, to allow me time, thatI may answer without offending against the Word ofGod.”

In making this request, Luther moved wisely. Hiscourse convinced the assembly that he did not act from pas-sion or impulse. Such calmness and self-command, unex-pected in one who had shown himself bold and uncompro-mising, added to his power, and enabled him afterward toanswer with a prudence, decision, wisdom, and dignity, thatsurprised and disappointed his adversaries, and rebuked theirinsolence and pride.

The next day he was to appear to render his finalanswer. For a time his heart sunk within him as he con-templated the forces that were combined against thetruth. His faith faltered; fearfulness and trembling came uponhim, and horror overwhelmed him. Dangers multiplied be-fore him, his enemies seemed about to triumph, and the pow-ers of darkness to prevail. Clouds gathered about him, andseemed to separate him from God. He longed for the assur-ance that the Lord of hosts would be with him. In anguishof spirit he threw himself with his face upon the earth,and poured out those broken, heart-rending cries, whichnone but God can fully understand.

“O God,” he pleaded, “Almighty God everlasting! How



dreadful is the world! Behold how it opens its mouth to swal-low me up, and how small is my faith in thee! . . . If I am todepend upon any strength of this world—all is over. . . . Theknell is struck. . . . Sentence is gone forth. . . . O thou myGod! help me against all the wisdom of this world. Do this,I beseech thee . . . by Thine own mighty power. . . . The workis not mine, but Thine. I have no business here. . . . I havenothing to contend for with the great men of the world. . . .But the cause is Thine, . . . and it is righteous and everlast-ing. . . . O faithful and unchangeable God! I lean not uponman. . . . Whatever is from man is tottering, whatever pro-ceeds from him must fall. . . . Thou hast chosen me for thiswork. . . . Therefore, O God, accomplish Thine own will;forsake me not, for the sake of Thy well-beloved Son, JesusChrist, my defense, my buckler, and my stronghold.”

An all-wise Providence had permitted Luther to re-alize his peril, that he might not trust to his own strength,and rush presumptuously into danger. Yet it was not thefear of personal suffering, a dread of torture or death, whichseemed immediately impending, that overwhelmed him withits terror. He had come to the crisis, and he felt his insuffi-ciency to meet it. Through his weakness the cause of truthmight suffer loss. Not for his own safety, but for the tri-umph of the gospel, did he wrestle with God. Like Israel’s,in that night struggle beside the lonely stream, was the an-guish and conflict of his soul. Like Israel, he prevailed withGod. In his utter helplessness his faith fastened upon Christ,the mighty deliverer. He was strengthened with the assur-ance that he would not appear alone before the council. Peacereturned to his soul, and he rejoiced that he was permit-ted to uplift the Word of God before the rulers of thenation.

With his mind stayed upon God, Luther preparedfor the struggle before him. He thought upon the plan ofhis answer, examined passages in his own writings, and drewfrom the Holy Scriptures suitable proofs to sustain his posi-tions. Then, laying his left hand on the sacred volume, whichwas open before him, he lifted his right hand to heaven, and

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vowed “to adhere constantly to the gospel, and to confesshis faith freely, even though he should be called to seal histestimony with his blood.”

When he was again ushered into the presence of theDiet, his countenance bore no trace of fear or embar-rassment. Calm and peaceful, yet grandly brave andnoble, he stood as God’s witness among the great onesof the earth. The imperial officer now demanded his de-cision 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 andrespectful; yet he manifested a confidence and joy that sur-prised the assembly.

“Most serene emperor, illustrious princes, most clementlords,” said Luther, “I this day appear before you in all hu-mility, according to your command; and I implore your maj-esty, and your august highnesses, by the mercies of God, tolisten with favor to the defense of a cause which I am wellassured is just and right. If in my reply I do not use the justceremonial of a court, pardon me, for I am not familiar withits usages. I am but a poor monk, a child of the cell, and Ihave labored only for the glory of God.”

Then, proceeding to the question, he stated that his pub-lished works were not all of the same character. In some hehad treated of faith and good works, and even his enemiesdeclared them not only harmless but profitable. To retractthese would be to condemn truths which all parties confessed.The second class consisted of writings exposing the corrup-tions and abuses of the papacy. To revoke these works wouldstrengthen the tyranny of Rome, and open a wider door tomany and great impieties. In the third class of his books hehad attacked individuals who had defended existing evils.Concerning these he freely confessed that he had been moreviolent than was becoming. He did not claim to be free fromfault; but even these books he could not revoke, for such acourse would embolden the enemies of truth, and they wouldthen take occasion to crush God’s people with still greatercruelty.



“But as I am a mere man, and not God,” he continued,“I will defend myself as did Christ, who said, If I have spo-ken evil, bear witness of the evil.’ By the mercy of God, Iimplore your imperial majesty, or any one else who can,whoever he may be, to prove to me from the writings ofthe prophets and apostles that I am in error. As soon asI shall be convinced, I will instantly retract all my er-rors, and will be the first to cast my books into the fire.What I have just said, will show that I have considered andweighed the dangers to which I am exposing myself; but farfrom being dismayed by them, I rejoice exceedingly to seethe gospel this day, as of old, a cause of trouble and dissen-sion. This is the character, the destiny, of God’s Word. SaidChrist, ‘I came not to send peace, but a sword.’ Matthew10:34. God is wonderful and terrible in His counsels. Let ushave a care lest in our endeavors to arrest discords we befound to fight against the holy Word of God, and bring downupon our heads a frightful deluge of inextricable dangers,present disaster, and everlasting desolation. . . . I might citeexamples drawn from the oracles of God. I might speak ofPharaohs, of kings of Babylon, or of Israel, who were nevermore contributing to their own ruin than when, by measuresin appearance most prudent, they thought to establish theirauthority. God ‘removeth the mountains, and they know not.’ ”Job 9:5.

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

Those who stubbornly closed their eyes to the light,and determined not to be convinced of the truth, wereenraged at the power of Luther’s words. As he ceasedspeaking, the spokesman of the Diet said angrily, “You

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have not answered the question. A clear and express re-ply is demanded. Will you or will you not retract?”

The reformer answered: “Since your most serene maj-esty and the princes require a simple, clear, and direct an-swer, I will give one, and it is this: I cannot submit myfaith either to the pope or to the councils, because it is asclear as noonday that they have often fallen into error,and even into glaring inconsistency with themselves. If, then,I am not convinced by proof from Holy Scripture, or bycogent reasons; if I am not satisfied by the very textsthat I have cited, and if my judgment is not in this waybrought into subjection to God’s Word, I neither can norwill retract anything; for it cannot be right for a Chris-tian to speak against his conscience. Here I take my stand;I cannot do otherwise. God be my help! Amen.”

Thus stood this righteous man, upon the sure foun-dation of the Word of God. The light of Heaven illumi-nated his countenance. His greatness and purity of charac-ter, his peace and joy of heart, were manifest to all as hetestified against the power of error, and witnessed to the su-periority of that faith that overcomes the world.

The whole assembly were for a time speechless withamazement. At his first answer, Luther had spoken in a lowtone, with a respectful, almost submissive bearing. TheRomanists had interpreted this as evidence that his couragewas beginning to fail. They regarded the request for delay asmerely the prelude to his recantation. Charles himself, not-ing, half contemptuously, the monk’s worn frame, his plainattire, and the simplicity of his address, had declared, “Thisman will never make a heretic of me.” The courage andfirmness which he now displayed, as well as the powerand clearness of his reasoning, filled all parties with sur-prise. The emperor, moved to admiration, exclaimed, “Themonk speaks with intrepid heart and unshaken courage.”Many of the German princes looked with pride and joy uponthis representative of their nation.

The partisans of Rome had been worsted; their causeappeared in a most unfavorable light. They sought to main-



tain their power, not by appealing to the Scriptures, but by aresort to threats, Rome’s unfailing argument. Said the spokes-man of the Diet, “If you do not retract, the emperor and theStates of the empire will proceed to consider how to dealwith an obstinate heretic.”

Luther’s friends, who had with great joy listened to hisnoble defense, trembled at these words; but the doctor him-self said calmly, “May God be my helper! for I can retractnothing.”

He was directed to withdraw from the Diet, whilethe princes consulted together. It was felt that a great cri-sis had come. Luther’s persistent refusal to submit, mightaffect the history of the church for ages. It was decided togive him one more opportunity to retract. For the last timehe was brought into the assembly. Again the question wasput, whether he would renounce his doctrines. “I haveno other answer to give,” he said, “than I have alreadygiven.” It was evident that he could not be induced, ei-ther by promises or threats, to yield to the mandate ofRome.

The papist leaders were chagrined that their power, whichhad caused kings and nobles to tremble, should be thus de-spised by a humble monk; they longed to make him feel theirwrath by torturing his life away. But Luther, understand-ing his danger, had spoken to all with Christian dignityand calmness. His words had been free from pride, passion,and misrepresentation. He had lost sight of himself, and ofthe great men surrounding him, and felt only that he was inthe presence of One infinitely superior to popes, prelates,kings, and emperors. Christ had spoken through Luther’stestimony with a power and grandeur that for the time in-spired both friends and foes with awe and wonder. The Spiritof God had been present in that council, impressing the heartsof the chiefs of the empire. Several of the princes boldlyacknowledged the justice of Luther’s cause. Many wereconvinced of the truth; but with some the impressions re-ceived were not lasting. There was another class who did notat the time express their convictions, but who, having

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searched the Scriptures for themselves, at a future time be-came fearless supporters of the Reformation.

The elector Frederick had looked forward anxiouslyto Luther’s appearance before the Diet, and with deepemotion he listened to his speech. With joy and pride hewitnessed the doctor’s courage, firmness, and self-posses-sion, and determined to stand more firmly in his defense. Hecontrasted the parties in contest, and saw that the wisdom ofpopes, kings, and prelates had been brought to naught by thepower of truth. The papacy had sustained a defeat whichwould be felt among all nations and in all ages.

As the legate perceived the effect produced byLuther’s speech, he feared, as never before, for the secu-rity of the Romish power, and resolved to employ everymeans at his command to effect the reformer’s overthrow.With all the eloquence and diplomatic skill for which he wasso eminently distinguished, he represented to the youthfulemperor the folly and danger of sacrificing, in the cause ofan insignificant monk, the friendship and support of the pow-erful see of Rome.

His words were not without effect. On the day fol-lowing Luther’s answer, Charles caused a message to bepresented to the Diet, announcing his determination tocarry out the policy of his predecessors to maintain andprotect the Catholic religion. Since Luther had refusedto renounce his errors, the most vigorous measuresshould be employed against him and the heresies hetaught. “A single monk, led astray by his own madness,erects himself against the faith of Christendom. I will sacri-fice my kingdoms, my power, my friends, my treasure, mybody and blood, my thoughts, and my life, to stay the furtherprogress of this impiety. I am about to dismiss the Augus-tine Luther, forbidding him to cause the least disturbanceamong the people. I will then take measures against himand his adherents, as open heretics, by excommunication,interdict, and every means necessary to their destruction. Icall on the members of the States to comport themselves likefaithful Christians.” Nevertheless the emperor declared that



Luther’s safe-conduct must be respected, and that before pro-ceedings against him could be instituted, he must be allowedto reach his home in safety.

Two conflicting opinions were now urged by themembers of the Diet. The emissaries and representativesof the pope again demanded that the reformer’s safe-conduct should be disregarded. “The Rhine,” they said,“should receive his ashes, as it received those of John Hussa century ago.” But princes of Germany, though themselvespapists and avowed enemies to Luther, protested against sucha breach of public faith, as a stain upon the honor of thenation. They pointed to the calamities which had followedthe death of Huss, and declared that they dared not call downupon Germany, and upon the head of their youthful emperor,a repetition of these terrible evils.

Charles himself, in answer to the base proposal, saidthat though faith should be banished from all the earth,it ought to find refuge with princes. He was still furtherurged by the most bitter of Luther’s popish enemies to dealwith the reformer as Sigismund had dealt with Huss—aban-don him to the mercies of the church; but, recalling the scenewhen Huss in public assembly had pointed to his chains andreminded the monarch of his plighted faith, Charles V. de-clared, “I would not like to blush like Sigismund.”

Yet Charles had deliberately rejected the truths pre-sented by Luther. “I am firmly resolved to tread in thefootsteps of my ancestors,” wrote the monarch. He haddecided that he would not step out of the path of custom,even to walk in the ways of truth and righteousness. Becausehis fathers did, he would uphold the papacy, with all its cru-elty and corruption. Thus he took his position, refusing toaccept 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 tothe customs and traditions of their fathers. When theLord sends them additional light, they refuse to acceptit, because, not having been granted to their fathers, it wasnot received by them. We are not placed where our fathers

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were; consequently our duties and responsibilities are notthe same as theirs. We shall not be approved of God inlooking to the example of our fathers to determine ourduty instead of searching the Word of truth for ourselves.Our responsibility is greater than was that of our ances-tors. 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 whichis now shining upon us from the Word of God.

Said Christ of the unbelieving Jews, “If I had not comeand spoken unto them, they had not had sin; but now theyhave no cloak for their sin.” John 15:22. The same divinepower had spoken through Luther to the emperor and princesof Germany. And as the light shone forth from God’s Word,his Spirit pleaded for the last time with many in that assem-bly. As Pilate, centuries before, permitted pride and popu-larity to close his heart against the world’s Redeemer; as thetrembling Felix bade the messenger of truth, “Go thy wayfor this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call forthee;” (Acts 24:25) as the proud Agrippa confessed, “Al-most thou persuadest me to be a Christian,” (Acts 26:28)yet turned away from the Heaven-sent message,—so hadCharles 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 cir-culated, causing great excitement throughout the city. Thereformer had made many friends, who, knowing thetreacherous cruelty of Rome toward all that dared ex-pose her corruptions, resolved that he should not be sac-rificed. Hundreds of nobles pledged themselves to protecthim. Not a few openly denounced the royal message as evinc-ing a weak submission to the controlling power of Rome.On the gates of houses and in public places, placards wereposted, some condemning and others sustaining Luther. Onone of these were written merely the significant words of thewise man, “Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child.”Ecclesiastes 10:16. The popular enthusiasm in Luther’sfavor throughout all Germany convinced both the em-



peror and the Diet that any injustice shown him wouldendanger the peace of the empire, and even the stabilityof 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 vigi-lance, watching all his movements and all those of his en-emies. But there were many who made no attempt to concealtheir sympathy with Luther. He was visited by princes, counts,barons, and other persons of distinction, both lay and eccle-siastical. “The doctor’s little room,” wrote Spalatin, “couldnot contain all who presented themselves.” The people gazedupon him as if he were more than human. Even those whohad no faith in his doctrines, could not but admire that loftyintegrity which led him to brave death rather than violate hisconscience.

Earnest efforts were made to obtain Luther’s con-sent to a compromise with Rome. Nobles and princes rep-resented to him that if he persisted in setting up his ownjudgment against that of the church and the councils, he wouldsoon be banished from the empire, and then would have nodefense. To this appeal Luther answered: “It is impossibleto preach the gospel of Christ without offense. Why, then,should the fear of danger separate me from the Lord and thatdivine Word which alone is truth? No; I would rather give upmy body, my blood, and my life.”

Again he was urged to submit to the judgment of theemperor, and then he would have nothing to fear. “I con-sent,” said he in reply, “with all my heart, that the emperor,the princes, and even the humblest Christian, should exam-ine and judge my writings; but on one condition, that theytake God’s Word for their guide. Men have nothing to do butto render obedience to that. My conscience is in dependenceupon that Word, and I am the bound subject of its authority.”

To another appeal he said, “I consent to forego mysafe-conduct, and resign my person and my life to theemperor’s disposal; but as to the Word of God—never!”He stated his willingness to submit to the decision of a gen-

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eral council, but only on condition that the council be re-quired to decide according to the Scriptures. “In what con-cerns the Word of God and the faith,” he added, “every Chris-tian is as good a judge as the pope, though supported by amillion councils, can be for him.” Both friends and foeswere at last convinced that further effort for reconcilia-tion would be useless.

Had the reformer yielded a single point, Satan andhis hosts would have gained the victory. But his unwaver-ing firmness was the means of emancipating the church, andbeginning a new and better era. The influence of this oneman, who dared to think and act for himself in religiousmatters, was to affect the church and the world, not onlyin his own time, but in all future generations. His firm-ness and fidelity would strengthen all, to the close of time,who should pass through a similar experience. The powerand majesty of God stood forth above the counsel of men,above the mighty power of Satan.

Luther was soon commanded by the authority of theemperor to return home, and he knew that this noticewould be speedily followed by his condemnation. Threat-ening clouds overhung his path; but as he departed fromWorms, his heart was filled with joy and praise. “Satan him-self,” said he, “kept the pope’s citadel; but Christ has madea wide breach in it, and the devil has been compelled to con-fess that Christ is mightier than he.”

After his departure, still desirous that his firmness shouldnot be mistaken for rebellion, Luther wrote to the emperor.“God is my witness, who knoweth the thoughts,” he said,“that I am ready with all my heart to obey your majestythrough good or evil report, in life or death, with no oneexception, save the Word of God, by which man liveth. In allthe affairs of this life my fidelity shall be unshaken; for, inthese, loss or gain has nothing to do with salvation. But it iscontrary to the will of God, that man should be subject toman in that which pertains to eternal life. Subjection in spiri-tuals is a real worship, and should be rendered only to theCreator.”



On the journey from Worms, Luther’s reception waseven more flattering than during his progress thither.Princely ecclesiastics welcomed the excommunicated monk,and civil rulers honored the man whom the emperor had de-nounced. He was urged to preach, and, notwithstanding theimperial prohibition, he again entered the pulpit. “I have neverpledged myself to chain up the Word of God,” he said, “norwill I.”

He had not been long absent from Worms, when thepapists prevailed upon the emperor to issue an edictagainst him. In this decree Luther was denounced as “Satanhimself under the semblance of a man in a monk’s hood.” Itwas commanded that as soon as his safe-conduct shouldexpire, measures be taken to stop his work. All personswere forbidden to harbor him, to give him food or drink,or by word or act, in public or private, to aid or abet him. Hewas to be seized wherever he might be, and delivered to theauthorities. His adherents also were to be imprisoned, andtheir property confiscated. His writings were to be destroyed,and finally, all who should dare to act contrary to this decreewere included in its condemnation. The Elector of Saxony,and the princes most friendly to Luther, had left Wormssoon after his departure, and the emperor’s decree re-ceived the sanction of the Diet. Now the Romanists werejubilant. They considered the fate of the Reformation sealed.

God had provided a way of escape for His servantin this hour of peril. A vigilant eye had followed Luther’smovements, and a true and noble heart had resolved uponhis rescue. It was plain that Rome would be satisfied withnothing short of his death; only by concealment could he bepreserved from the jaws of the lion. God gave wisdom toFrederick of Saxony to devise a plan for the reformer’spreservation. With the co-operation of true friends, theelector’s purpose was carried out, and Luther was effectu-ally hidden from friends and foes. Upon his homeward jour-ney, he was seized, separated from his attendants, andhurriedly conveyed through the forest to the castle ofWartburg, an isolated mountain fortress. Both his sei-

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zure and his concealment were so involved in mystery thateven Frederick himself for a long time knew not whither hehad 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 reformerwas safe, and with this knowledge he was content.

Spring, summer, and autumn passed, and wintercame, and Luther still remained a prisoner. Aleander andhis partisans exulted as the light of the gospel seemedabout to be extinguished. But instead of this, the reformerwas filling his lamp from the store-house of truth; and itslight was to shine forth with brighter radiance.

In the friendly security of the Wartburg, Luther for atime 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 couldill endure to remain inactive. In those solitary days, the con-dition of the church rose up before him, and he cried in de-spair, “Alas! there is no one, in this latter day of His anger,to stand like a wall before the Lord, and save Israel!” Again,his thoughts returned to himself, and he feared being chargedwith cowardice in withdrawing from the contest. Then hereproached himself for his indolence and self-indulgence.Yet at the same time he was daily accomplishing morethan it seemed possible for one man to do. His pen wasnever idle. While his enemies flattered themselves that hewas silenced, they were astonished and confused by tangibleproof that he was still active. A host of tracts, issuing fromhis pen, circulated throughout Germany. He also per-formed a most important service for his countrymen bytranslating the New Testament into the German tongue.From his rocky Patmos he continued for nearly a wholeyear to proclaim the gospel, and rebuke the sins and er-rors of the times.

But it was not merely to preserve Luther from the wrathof his enemies, nor even to afford him a season of quiet forthese important labors, that God had withdrawn His servantfrom the stage of public life. There were results more pre-



cious than these to be secured. In the solitude and obscurityof his mountain retreat, Luther was removed from earthlysupports, and shut out from human praise. He was thussaved from the pride and self-confidence that are so of-ten caused by success. By suffering and humiliation he wasprepared again to walk safely upon the dizzy heights to whichhe had been so suddenly exalted.

As men rejoice in the freedom which the truth bringsthem, they are inclined to extol those whom God has em-ployed to break the chains of error and superstition. Satanseeks to divert men’s thoughts and affections from God, andto fix them upon human agencies; he leads them to honorthe mere instrument, and to ignore the Hand that directs allthe events of providence. Too often, religious leaders whoare thus praised and reverenced lose sight of their de-pendence upon God, and are led to trust in themselves.As a result, they seek to control the minds and consciencesof the people, who are disposed to look to them for guid-ance instead of looking to the Word of God. The work ofreform is often retarded because of this spirit indulged by itssupporters. From this danger, God would guard the cause ofthe Reformation. He desired that work to receive, not theimpress of man, but that of God. The eyes of men had beenturned to Luther as the expounder of the truth; he was re-moved that all eyes might be directed to the eternal Authorof truth.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: TRUSTING IN THE L: TRUSTING IN THE L: TRUSTING IN THE L: TRUSTING IN THE L: TRUSTING IN THE LORDORDORDORDORD

“He knoweth them that trust in Him.” Nahum 1:7.“The Lord hath set apart him that is godly for Himself.” Psalm 4:3.“Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.” 1 Peter 5:7.“Whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.” Proverbs 29:25.“Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.” Psalm 2:12.“In God I will praise His Word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what

flesh can do unto me.” Psalm 56:4.“Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us.” Isaiah

25:9. “He shall not be afraid of evil tidings.” Psalm 112:7.

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Chapter NineChapter NineChapter NineChapter NineChapter Nine

UnshakableUnshakableUnshakableUnshakableUnshakableas the Mountainsas the Mountainsas the Mountainsas the Mountainsas the Mountains

—The Swiss Refor—The Swiss Refor—The Swiss Refor—The Swiss Refor—The Swiss Reformermermermermer———————————————————————

The great German Reformation began in the sixteenth centuryunder Martin Luther. The equally impor The equally impor The equally impor The equally impor The equally important Swiss Rtant Swiss Rtant Swiss Rtant Swiss Rtant Swiss Reformationeformationeformationeformationeformationbegan at the same time—under the leadership of Ulric Zwingle.—began at the same time—under the leadership of Ulric Zwingle.—began at the same time—under the leadership of Ulric Zwingle.—began at the same time—under the leadership of Ulric Zwingle.—began at the same time—under the leadership of Ulric Zwingle.—

Born a few weeks after LBorn a few weeks after LBorn a few weeks after LBorn a few weeks after LBorn a few weeks after Lutherutherutherutheruther, he grew up to stand as a rock, he grew up to stand as a rock, he grew up to stand as a rock, he grew up to stand as a rock, he grew up to stand as a rockfor the Bible, under a furfor the Bible, under a furfor the Bible, under a furfor the Bible, under a furfor the Bible, under a fury of opposition. Here is the story of opposition. Here is the story of opposition. Here is the story of opposition. Here is the story of opposition. Here is the story of ay of ay of ay of ay of aman who would not compromise—and what happened as a re-man who would not compromise—and what happened as a re-man who would not compromise—and what happened as a re-man who would not compromise—and what happened as a re-man who would not compromise—and what happened as a re-sult.—sult.—sult.—sult.—sult.————————————————————————

In the choice of instrumentalities for the reformingof the church, the same divine plan is seen as in that forthe planting of the church. The heavenly Teacher passedby the great men of earth, the titled and wealthy, whowere accustomed to receive praise and homage as lead-ers of the people. They were so proud and self-confident intheir boasted superiority that they could not be moulded tosympathize with their fellow-men, and to become co-labor-ers with the humble Man of Nazareth. To the unlearned, toil-ing fishermen of Galilee was the call addressed, “Follow me,and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19. Thesedisciples were humble and teachable. The less they hadbeen influenced by the false teaching of their time, themore successfully could Christ instruct and train themfor His service. So in the days of the Great Reformation.The leading reformers were men from humble life,—menwho were most free of any of their time from pride of rank,and from the influence of bigotry and priestcraft. It is God’splan to employ humble instruments to accomplish great re-

The Swiss Reformer The Swiss Reformer The Swiss Reformer The Swiss Reformer The Swiss Reformer [169-171] [169-171] [169-171] [169-171] [169-171]


sults. Then the glory will not be given to men, but to Himwho works through them to will and to do of His own goodpleasure.

A few weeks after the birth of Luther in a miner’scabin in Saxony, Ulric Zwingle was born in a herdsman’scottage among the Alps. Zwingle’s surroundings in child-hood, and his early training, were such as to prepare him forhis future mission. Reared amid scenes of natural grandeur,beauty, and awful sublimity, his mind was early impressedwith a sense of the greatness, the power, and the majesty ofGod. The history of the brave deeds achieved upon his na-tive mountains, kindled his youthful aspirations. And at theside of his pious grandmother he listened to the few preciousBible stories which she had gleaned from amid the legendsand traditions of the church. With eager interest he heard ofthe grand deeds of patriarchs and prophets, of the shepherdswho watched their flocks on the hills of Palestine where an-gels talked with them, of the Babe of Bethlehem and theMan of Calvary.

Like John Luther, Zwingle’s father desired an educationfor his son, and the boy was early sent from his native valley.His mind rapidly developed, and it soon became a questionwhere to find teachers competent to instruct him. At the ageof thirteen he went to Bern, which then possessed themost distinguished school in Switzerland. Here, however,a danger rose which threatened to blight the promise of hislife. Determined efforts were put forth by the friars to allurehim into a monastery. The Dominican and Franciscan monkswere in rivalry for popular favor. This they endeavored tosecure by the showy adornments of their churches, the pompof their ceremonials, and the attractions of famous relics and

———————————HISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DAAAAATING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—Events in this

chapter extend from 1484 to 1528. Ulrich Zwingle (1484-1531) foundChrist about the year 1504. Graduating in 1506, he entered the min-istry. In 1519, he became pastor of the Zurich Cathedral; and, thenext year, he began preaching against indulgences. He was accused ofheresy in 1522; and, in 1528, he helped Oecolampadius in the Berndebate.

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miracle-working images. The Dominicans of Bern saw thatif they could win this talented young scholar, they wouldsecure both gain and honor. His extreme youth, his naturalability as a speaker and a writer, and his genius for musicand poetry, would be more effective than all their pomp anddisplay, in attracting the people to their services and increas-ing the revenues of their order. By deceit and flattery theyendeavored to induce Zwingle to enter their convent. Lutherwhile a student at school had buried himself in a conventcell, and he would have been lost to the world had not God’sprovidence released him. Zwingle was not permitted to en-counter the same peril. Providentially his father received in-formation of the designs of the friars. He had no intention ofallowing his son to follow the idle and worthless life of themonks. He saw that his future usefulness was at stake, anddirected him to return home without delay.

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

Zwingle was soon called from Basel, to enter uponhis life-work. His first field of labor was in an Alpineparish, not far distant from his native valley. Having re-ceived ordination as a priest, “he devoted himself with hiswhole soul to the search after divine truth; for he was wellaware,” says a fellow-reformer, “how much he must knowto whom the flock of Christ is intrusted.” The more hesearched the Scriptures, the clearer appeared the con-trast between their truths and the heresies of Rome. He



submitted himself to the Bible as the word of God, theonly sufficient, infallible rule. He saw that it must be itsown interpreter. He dared not attempt to explain Scrip-ture to sustain a preconceived theory or doctrine, butheld it his duty to learn what is its direct and obviousteaching. He sought to avail himself of every help to obtaina full and correct understanding of its meaning, and he in-voked 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, notfrom man. Even that God who enlightens will give thee tounderstand that the speech comes from God. The Word ofGod . . . cannot fail. It is bright, it teaches itself, disclosesitself, it illumines the soul with all salvation and grace, com-forts it in God, humbles it, so that it loses and even forfeitsitself, and embraces God.” The truth of these words Zwinglehimself had proved. Speaking of his experience at this time,he afterward wrote: “When I began to give myself whollyup to the Holy Scriptures, philosophy and theology (scho-lastic) would always keep suggesting quarrels to me. Atlast I came to this, that I thought, ‘Thou must let all thatlie, and learn the meaning of God purely out of His ownsimple Word.’ Then I began to ask God for His light, andthe Scriptures began to be much easier to me.”

The doctrine preached by Zwingle was not receivedfrom Luther. It was the doctrine of Christ. “If Lutherpreaches Christ,” said the Swiss reformer, “he does what Ido. He has led to Christ many more souls than I;—be it so.Yet will I bear no other name than that of Christ, whose sol-dier I am, and who alone is my head. Never has a single linebeen addressed by me to Luther, or by Luther to me. Andwhy?—That it might be manifest to all how uniform is thetestimony of the Spirit of God, since we, who have had nocommunication with each other, agree so closely in the doc-trine of Jesus Christ.”

In 1516 Zwingle was invited to become a preacherin the convent at Einsiedeln. Here he was to have a closerview of the corruptions of Rome, and was to exert an

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influence as a reformer that would be felt far beyond hisnative Alps. Among the chief attractions of Einsiedeln wasan image of the virgin which was said to have the power ofworking miracles. Above the gateway of the convent wasthe inscription, “Here may be obtained complete remissionof sins.” Pilgrims at all seasons resorted to the shrine of thevirgin, but at the great yearly festival of its consecration,multitudes came from all parts of Switzerland, and evenfrom France and Germany. Zwingle, greatly afflicted atthe sight, seized the opportunity to proclaim libertythrough the gospel to these bond-slaves of superstition.

“Think not,” he said, “that God is in this temple morethan in any other part of creation. Wherever He has fixedyour dwelling He encompasses you, and hears you. . . . Whatpower can there be in unprofitable works, weary pilgrim-ages, offerings, prayers to the virgin and the saints, to secureyou the favor of God? What signify the multiplying of wordsin prayer? What efficacy in the cowl or shaven crown, orpriestly garments falling, and adorned with gold? God looksupon the heart—and our heart is far off from God.” “Christ,”he said, “who offered Himself on the cross once for all, isthe sacrifice and victim that satisfies for all eternity, for thesins of all believers.”

To many listeners these teachings were unwelcome.It was a bitter disappointment to them to be told thattheir toilsome journey had been made in vain. The par-don freely offered to them through Christ they could notcomprehend. They were satisfied with the old way toHeaven which Rome had marked out for them. Theyshrank from the perplexity of searching for anything better.It was easier to trust their salvation to the priests and thepope than to seek for purity of heart.

But another class received with gladness the tidingsof redemption through Christ. The observances enjoinedby Rome had failed to bring peace of soul, and in faiththey accepted the Saviour’s blood as their propitiation.These returned to their homes to reveal to others theprecious light which they had received. The truth was thus



carried from hamlet to hamlet, from town to town, and thenumber of pilgrims to the virgin’s shrine greatly lessened.There was a falling off in the offerings, and consequently inthe salary of Zwingle, which was drawn from them. But thiscaused him only joy as he saw that the power of fanaticismand superstition was being broken.

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

Zwingle’s labors at Einsiedeln had prepared him fora wider field, and this he was soon to enter. After threeyears here, he was called to the office of preacher in thecathedral at Zurich. This was then the most importanttown of the Swiss confederacy, and the influence exertedhere would be widely felt. The ecclesiastics by whose invita-tion he came to Zurich were, however, desirous of prevent-ing any innovations, and they accordingly proceeded toinstruct him as to his duties.

“You will use your utmost diligence,” they said, “in col-lecting the revenues of the chapter—not overlooking thesmallest item. You will exhort the faithful, both from thepulpit and in the confessional, to pay all dues and tithes, andto testify by their offerings the love which they bear to thechurch. You will be careful to increase the income that arisesfrom the sick, from masses, and in general from all ecclesi-astical ordinances.” “As to the administration of the sacra-ments, preaching, and personally watching over the flock,”added his instructors, “these also are among the duties of thepriest. But for the performance of these, you may employ avicar to act in your stead,—especially in preaching. You areto administer the sacraments only to persons of distinction,and when especially called upon; you are not allowed to ad-minister them indiscriminately to people of all ranks.”

Zwingle listened in silence to this charge, and in reply,after expressing his gratitude for the honor of a call to thisimportant station, he proceeded to explain the course

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which he proposed to adopt. “The history of Jesus,” hesaid, “has been too long kept out of the people’s view. It ismy purpose to lecture upon the whole of the Gospel accord-ing to St. Matthew, drawing from the fountains of Scripturealone, sounding all its depths, comparing text with text, andputting up earnest and unceasing prayers, that I may be per-mitted to discover what is the mind of the Holy Spirit. It is tothe glory of God, to the praise of His only Son, to the salva-tion of souls, and their instruction in the true faith, that Idesire to consecrate my ministry.” Though some of the eccle-siastics disapproved his plan, and endeavored to dissuadehim from it, Zwingle remained steadfast. He declared thathe was about to introduce no new method, but the old methodemployed by the church in earlier and purer times.

Already an interest had been awakened in the truthshe taught; and the people flocked in great numbers tolisten to his preaching. Many who had long since ceasedto attend service were among his hearers. He began hisministry by opening the Gospels, and reading and explain-ing to his hearers the inspired narrative of the life, teachings,and death of Christ. Here, as at Einsiedeln, he presentedthe Word of God as the only infallible authority, and thedeath of Christ as the only complete sacrifice. “It is toChrist,” he said, “that I wish to guide you,—to Christ, thetrue spring of salvation.” Around the preacher crowded thepeople of all classes, from statesmen and scholars to the ar-tisan and the peasant. With deep interest they listened to hiswords. He not only proclaimed the offer of a free salva-tion, but fearlessly rebuked the evils and corruptions ofthe times. Many returned from the cathedral praising God.“This man,” they said, “is a preacher of the truth. He will beour Moses, to lead us forth from this Egyptian darkness.”

But though at first his labors were received with greatenthusiasm, after a time opposition arose. The monks setthemselves to hinder his work and condemn his teachings.Many assailed him with gibes and sneers; others resorted toinsolence and threats. But Zwingle bore all with patience,saying, “If we would win souls to Christ, we must learn to



shut our eyes against many things that meet us in our way.”About this time a new agency came in to advance the

work of reform. One Lucian was sent to Zurich with someof Luther’s writings by a friend of the reformed faith atBasel, who suggested that the sale of these books mightbe a powerful means of scattering the light. “Ascertain,”he wrote to Zwingle, “whether this Lucian possesses a suffi-cient share of discretion and address; if it shall appear thathe does, let him go from city to city, from town to town,from village to village, nay, from house to house, all overSwitzerland, carrying with him the writings of Luther, andespecially the exposition of the Lord’s prayer written for thelaity. The more it is known, the more purchasers will it find.”Thus the light found entrance.

At the time when God is preparing to break the shacklesof ignorance and superstition, then it is that Satan workswith greatest power to enshroud men in darkness, and to bindtheir fetters still more firmly. As men were rising up in dif-ferent lands to present to the people forgiveness and justifi-cation through the blood of Christ, Rome proceeded withrenewed energy to open her market throughout Christendom,offering pardon for money.

Every sin had its price, and men were granted free li-cense for crime, if the treasury of the church was kept wellfilled. Thus the two movements advanced,—one offering for-giveness of sin for money, the other forgiveness throughChrist; Rome licensing sin, and making it her source of rev-enue; the reformers condemning sin, and pointing to Christas the propitiation and deliverer.

In Germany the sale of indulgences had been com-mitted to the Dominican friars, and was conducted bythe infamous Tetzel. In Switzerland the traffic was putinto the hands of the Franciscans, under the control ofSampson, an Italian monk. Sampson had already done goodservice to the church, having secured immense sums fromGermany and Switzerland to fill the papal treasury. Now hetraversed Switzerland, attracting great crowds, despoiling thepoor peasants of their scanty earnings, and exacting rich gifts

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from the wealthy classes. But the influence of the reformalready made itself felt in curtailing, though it could not stop,the traffic. Zwingle was still at Einsiedeln when Sampson,soon after entering Switzerland, arrived with his wares at aneighboring town. Being apprised of his mission, the reformerimmediately set out to oppose him. The two did not meet,but such was Zwingle’s success in exposing the friar’s pre-tensions that he was obliged to leave for other quarters.

At Zurich, Zwingle preached zealously against thepardon-mongers, and when Sampson approached theplace he was met by a messenger from the council, withan intimation that he was expected to pass on. He finallysecured an entrance by stratagem, but was sent away with-out the sale of a single pardon, and he soon after left Swit-zerland.

A strong impetus was given to the reform, by theappearance of the plague, or the “great death,” whichswept over Switzerland in the year 1519. As men werethus brought face to face with the destroyer, many wereled to feel how vain and worthless were the pardonswhich they had so lately purchased; and they longed for asurer foundation for their faith. Zwingle at Zurich was smit-ten down; he was brought so low that all hope of his recov-ery was relinquished, and the report was widely circulatedthat he was dead. In that trying hour his hope and couragewere unshaken. He looked in faith to the cross of Calvary,trusting in the all-sufficient propitiation for sin. When hecame back from the gates of death, it was to preach the gos-pel with greater fervor than ever before; and his words ex-erted an unwonted power. The people welcomed with joytheir beloved pastor, returned to them from the brink of thegrave. They themselves had come from attending upon thesick and the dying, and they felt, as never before, the valueof the gospel.

Zwingle had arrived at a clearer understanding of itstruths, and had more fully experienced in himself its renew-ing power. The fall of man and the plan of redemption werethe subjects upon which he dwelt. “In Adam,” he said, “we



are all dead, sunk in corruption and condemnation.” “ButChrist has purchased for us an everlasting deliverance.” “Hispassion is an eternal sacrifice, and has a perpetual efficacy;it satisfies the divine justice forever upon behalf of all whorely upon it with a firm, unshaken faith.” Yet he clearly taughtthat men are not, because of the grace of Christ, free to con-tinue in sin. “Wheresoever there is faith in God, there GodHimself abides; and wheresoever God is, there is awakeneda zeal which urges and constrains men to good works.”

Such was the interest in Zwingle’s preaching that thecathedral was filled to overflowing with the crowds thatcame to listen to him. Little by little, as they could bear it,he opened the truth to his hearers. He was careful not tointroduce, at first, points which would startle them and cre-ate prejudice. His first work was to win their hearts to theteachings of Christ, to soften them by His love, and keepbefore them His example; and as they should receive theprinciples of the gospel, their superstitious beliefs andpractices would inevitably be overthrown.

Step by step the Reformation advanced in Zurich.In alarm its enemies aroused to active opposition. Oneyear before, the monk of Wittenberg had uttered his “No”to the pope and the emperor at Worms, and now every-thing seemed to indicate a similar withstanding of thepapal claims at Zurich. Repeated attacks were made uponZwingle. In the popish cantons, from time to time, disciplesof the gospel were brought to the stake, but this was notenough; the teacher of heresy must be silenced. Accordinglythe Bishop of Constance dispatched three deputies to theCouncil of Zurich, accusing Zwingle of teaching the peopleto transgress the laws of the church, thus endangering thepeace and good order of society. If the authority of the churchwere to be set aside, he urged, universal anarchy would re-sult. Zwingle replied that he had been for four years teach-ing the gospel in Zurich, “which was more quiet and peace-ful than any other town in the confederacy.” “Is not then,” hesaid, “Christianity the best safeguard of the general secu-rity?”

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The deputies had admonished the councillors to continuein the church, out of which, they declared, there was no sal-vation. Zwingle responded: “Let not this accusation moveyou. The foundation of the church is the same Rock, the sameChrist, that gave Peter his name because he confessed himfaithfully. In every nation whoever believes with all his heartin the Lord Jesus is accepted of God. Here, truly, is thechurch, out of which no one can be saved.” As a result ofthe conference, one of the bishop’s deputies accepted the re-formed faith.

The council declined to take action against Zwingle,and Rome prepared for a fresh attack. The reformer, whenapprised of the plots of his enemies, exclaimed, “Let themcome on; I fear them as the beetling cliff fears the waves thatthunder at its feet.” The efforts of the ecclesiastics only fur-thered the cause which they sought to overthrow. The truthcontinued to spread. In Germany its adherents, cast down byLuther’s disappearance, took heart again, as they saw theprogress 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 herhabitation in our town,” wrote Zwingle; “no quarrel, no hy-pocrisy, no envy, no strife. Whence can such union come butfrom the Lord, and our doctrine, which fills us with the fruitsof peace and piety?”

The victories gained by the Reformation stirred theRomanists to still more determined efforts for its over-throw. Seeing how little had been accomplished by persecu-tion in suppressing Luther’s work in Germany, they decidedto meet the reform with its own weapons. They would holda disputation with Zwingle, and having the arrangementof matters, they would make sure of victory by choos-ing, themselves, not only the place of the combat, but thejudges that should decide between the disputants. And ifthey could once get Zwingle into their power, they wouldtake care that he did not escape them. The leader silenced,the movement could speedily be crushed. This purpose, how-



ever, was carefully concealed.The disputation was appointed to be held at Baden;

but Zwingle was not present. The Council of Zurich, sus-pecting the designs of the papists, and warned by the burn-ing piles kindled in the popish cantons for confessors of thegospel, forbade their pastor to expose himself to this peril.At Zurich he was ready to meet all the partisans that Romemight send; but to go to Baden, where the blood of martyrsfor the truth had just been shed, was to go to certain death.Oecolampadius and Haller were chosen to represent thereformers, while the famous Doctor Eck, supported by ahost of learned doctors and prelates, was the championof Rome.

Though Zwingle was not present at the conference,his influence was felt. The secretaries were all chosen bythe papists, and others were forbidden to take notes, on painof death. Notwithstanding this, Zwingle received daily a faith-ful account of what was said at Baden. A student in atten-dance at the disputation, made a record each evening of thearguments that day presented. These papers two other stu-dents undertook to deliver, with the daily letters of Oecolam-padius, to Zwingle at Zurich. The reformer answered, givingcounsel and suggestions. His letters were written by night,and the students returned with them to Baden in the morn-ing. To elude the vigilance of the guard stationed at the citygates, these messengers brought baskets of poultry on theirheads, and they were permitted to pass without hindrance.

Thus Zwingle maintained the battle with his wily an-tagonists. “He has labored more,” said Myconius, “in medi-tating upon and watching the contest, and transmitting hisadvice to Baden, than he could have done by disputing in themidst of his enemies.”

The Romanists, flushed with anticipated triumph,had come to Baden attired in their richest robes, and glit-tering with jewels. They fared luxuriously, their tables spreadwith the most costly delicacies and the choicest wines. Theburden of their ecclesiastical duties was lightened by gaietyand reveling. In marked contrast appeared the reformers, who

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were looked upon by the people as little better than a com-pany of beggars, and whose frugal fare kept them but shorttime at table. Oecolampadius’ landlord, taking occasion towatch him in his room, found him always engaged in studyor at prayer, and, greatly wondering, reported that “the her-etic was at least very pious.”

At the conference, “Eck haughtily ascended a pulpitsuperbly decorated, while the humble Oecolampadius,meanly clad, sat facing his adversary, upon a rudely con-structed platform.” Eck’s stentorian voice and unboundedassurance never failed him. His zeal was stimulated by thehope of gold as well as fame; for the defender of the faithwas to be rewarded by a handsome fee. When better argu-ments failed, he had resort to insults, and even to oaths.

Oecolampadius, modest and self-distrustful, hadshrunk from the combat, and he entered upon it with thesolemn avowal, “I recognize no other rule of judgmentthan the Word of God.” Though gentle and courteous indemeanor, he proved himself able and unflinching. Whilethe Romanists, according to their wont, appealed for au-thority to the customs of the church, the reformer ad-hered steadfastly to the Holy Scriptures. “In our Switzer-land,” he said, “custom is of no force unless it be accordingto the constitution; now in all matters of faith, the Bible isour constitution.”

The contrast between the two disputants was not with-out effect. The calm, clear reasoning of the reformer, sogently and modestly presented, appealed to minds thatturned in disgust from Eck’s boastful and boisterous as-sumptions.

The discussion continued eighteen days. At its close, thepapists with great confidence claimed the victory. Most ofthe deputies sided with Rome, and the Diet pronounced thereformers vanquished, and declared that they, together withZwingle, their leader, were cut off from the church. But thefruits of the conference revealed on which side the advan-tage lay. The contest resulted in a strong impetus to theProtestant cause, and it was not long afterward that the



important cities of Bern and Basel declared for the Ref-ormation.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: THE ONL: THE ONL: THE ONL: THE ONL: THE ONLY AY AY AY AY AUTHORITYUTHORITYUTHORITYUTHORITYUTHORITY

“The true [Roman Catholic] Church can tolerate no strange churches be-sides herself.” Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. XIV, p. 766.

“The Roman Catholic Church . . must demand the right of freedom for herselfalone.” Civilta Cattolica, April 1948 [official Jesuit newspaper, published at theVatican].

“The pope has the right to pronounce sentence of deposition against anysovereign.” Bronson’s Review, Vol. 1, p. 48.

“We declare, say, define, and pronounce that every being should be subjectto the Roman Pontiff.” Pope Boniface VIII, quoted in The Catholic Encyclopedia,Vol. XV, p. 126.

“No Catholic may positively and unconditionally approve of the separation ofchurch and state.” Monsignor O’Toole, Catholic University of America, 1939.“The pope is the supreme judge, even of civil laws, and is incapable of beingunder any true obligation to them.” Civilta Cattolica.

“Individual liberty in reality is only a deadly anarchy.” Pope Pius XII, April 6,1951.

“All Catholics, therefore, are bound to accept the Syllabus [of Errors, of PopePius IX].” The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 14.

“Protestantism of every form has not, and never can have, any rights whereCatholicity is triumphant.” Bronson’s Review.

“Heretics may be not only excommunicated, but also justly put to death.”Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. XIV, p. 768.

“Non-Catholic methods of worshipping God must be branded counterfeit-ers.” Flynn, Loretto, and Simon, Living Our Faith, p. 247 [a widely used highschool textbook.]

“In themselves, all forms of Protestantism are unjustified. They should notexist.” America, January 4, 1941 [R.C. journal].

“After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful andterrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth. It devoured andbrake in peices, and stamped the residue with the feet of it, and it was diversefrom all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. I considered thehorns,and, behold, there came up among them another little horn . . and in thishorn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things . . Ibeheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them. . And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out thesaints of the most High, and think to change times and laws, and they shall begiven into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” Daniel 7:7-8,21, 25.

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Chapter TChapter TChapter TChapter TChapter Tenenenenen

LutherLutherLutherLutherLutherDisappearsDisappearsDisappearsDisappearsDisappears

—Pr—Pr—Pr—Pr—Progrogrogrogrogress of Reforess of Reforess of Reforess of Reforess of Reform in Germ in Germ in Germ in Germ in Germanymanymanymanymany———————————————————————

Emperor Charles V of Europe had decreed that Mar Emperor Charles V of Europe had decreed that Mar Emperor Charles V of Europe had decreed that Mar Emperor Charles V of Europe had decreed that Mar Emperor Charles V of Europe had decreed that Martin Ltin Ltin Ltin Ltin Lutherutherutherutheruthermust die. And then Lmust die. And then Lmust die. And then Lmust die. And then Lmust die. And then Luther disappeared, as it were, from the faceuther disappeared, as it were, from the faceuther disappeared, as it were, from the faceuther disappeared, as it were, from the faceuther disappeared, as it were, from the faceof the earof the earof the earof the earof the earth.th.th.th.th. Who had taken him? his friends or his enemies? Hadthe great reformation, which he had begun, come to a sudden stop?

RRRRRead how God stepped in and not only saved Lead how God stepped in and not only saved Lead how God stepped in and not only saved Lead how God stepped in and not only saved Lead how God stepped in and not only saved Luther fromuther fromuther fromuther fromuther fromcercercercercertain death—but through him gave the Bible to the people —tain death—but through him gave the Bible to the people —tain death—but through him gave the Bible to the people —tain death—but through him gave the Bible to the people —tain death—but through him gave the Bible to the people ————————————————————————

Luther’s mysterious disappearance excited conster-nation throughout all Germany. Inquiries concerning himwere heard everywhere. The wildest rumors were circu-lated, 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 withthe Reformation. Many bound themselves by a solemn oathto avenge his death.

The Romish leaders saw with terror to what a pitchhad risen the feeling against them. Though at first exult-ant at the supposed death of Luther, they soon desired tohide from the wrath of the people. His enemies had notbeen so troubled by his most daring acts while among themas they were at his removal. Those who in their rage hadsought to destroy the bold reformer, were filled with fearnow that he had become a helpless captive. “The only wayof extricating ourselves,” said one, “is to light our torches,and go searching through the earth for Luther, till we canrestore him to the nation that will have him.” The edict ofthe emperor seemed to fall powerless. The papal legateswere filled with indignation as they saw that it com-

PrPrPrPrProgrogrogrogrogress of Reform in Germany ess of Reform in Germany ess of Reform in Germany ess of Reform in Germany ess of Reform in Germany [183-185] [183-185] [183-185] [183-185] [183-185]


manded far less attention than did the fate of Luther.The tidings that he was safe, though a prisoner,

calmed the fears of the people, while it still furtheraroused their enthusiasm in his favor. His writings wereread with greater eagerness than ever before. Increasingnumbers joined the cause of the heroic man who had, at suchfearful odds, defended the Word of God. The Reformationwas constantly gaining in strength. The seed which Lutherhad sown sprung up everywhere. His absence accomplisheda work which his presence would have failed to do. Otherlaborers felt a new responsibility, now that their greatleader was removed. With new faith and earnestness theypressed forward to do all in their power, that the work sonobly begun might not be hindered.

But Satan was not idle. He now attempted what hehas attempted in every other reformatory movement,—to deceive and destroy the people by palming off uponthem a counterfeit in place of the true work. As therewere 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 thereligious world, imagined themselves to have receivedspecial revelations from Heaven, and claimed to have beendivinely commissioned to carry forward to its completionthe Reformation which, they declared, had been but feeblybegun by Luther. In truth, they were undoing the very workwhich he had accomplished. They rejected the great prin-ciple which was the very foundation of the Reforma-tion,—that the Word of God is the all-sufficient rule offaith and practice; and for that unerring guide they sub-stituted the changeable, uncertain standard of their own

———————————HISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DAAAAATING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—Events in this chap-

ter span 18 months from April 1521 to September 1522. Following hisfamous “Here I stand” speech at Worms in April 18, 1521, Luther wastaken to the Wartburg Castle, but left in March 1522 because of the rise offanatics. The fanatics came to Wittenburg in December 1521. Fanaticismresulted in the Peasants’ Revolt (1524-1525). Luther’s German New Tes-tament was published in September 1522.

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feelings and impressions. By this act of setting aside thegreat detector of error and falsehood, the way was openedfor Satan to control minds as best pleased himself.

One of these prophets claimed to have been instructedby the angel Gabriel. A student who united with him for-sook his studies, declaring that he had been endowed by Godhimself with wisdom to expound his Word. Others who werenaturally inclined to fanaticism united with them. The pro-ceedings of these enthusiasts created no little excitement.The preaching of Luther had aroused the people everywhereto feel the necessity of reform, and now some really honestpersons were misled by the pretensions of the new prophets.

The leaders of the movement proceeded to Witten-berg, and urged their claims upon Melancthon and hisco-laborers. Said they: “We are sent by God to teach thepeople. We have received special revelations from God Him-self, and therefore know what is coming to pass. We areapostles and prophets, and appeal to Doctor Luther as to thetruth of what we say.”

The reformers were astonished and perplexed. Thiswas such an element as they had never before encountered,and they knew not what course to pursue. Said Melancthon:“There are indeed spirits of no ordinary kind in these men;but what spirits?” “On the one hand, let us beware of quench-ing the Spirit of God, and on the other, of being seduced bythe spirit of Satan.”

The fruit of the new teaching soon became appar-ent. The people were led to neglect the Bible or to whollycast it aside. The schools were thrown into confusion. Stu-dents, spurning all restraint, abandoned their studies, andwithdrew from the university. The men who thought them-selves competent to revive and control the work of the Ref-ormation, succeeded only in bringing it to the verge of ruin.The Romanists now regained their confidence, and ex-claimed exultingly, “One more effort, and all will beours.”

Luther at the Wartburg, hearing of what had oc-curred, said with deep concern, “I always expected that



Satan would send us this plague.” He perceived the truecharacter of those pretended prophets, and saw the dangerthat threatened the cause of truth. The opposition of the popeand the emperor had not caused him so great perplexity anddistress as he now experienced. From the professed friendsof the Reformation had risen its worst enemies. The verytruths which had brought him so great joy and consolationwere being employed to stir up strife and create confusion inthe church.

In the work of reform, Luther had been urged forwardby the Spirit of God, and had been carried beyond himself.He had not purposed to take such positions as he did, or tomake so radical changes. He had been but the instrument inthe hand of infinite power. Yet he often trembled for the re-sult of his work. He had once said, “If I knew that my doc-trine had injured one human being, however poor and un-known,—which it could not, for it is the very gospel,—Iwould rather face death ten times over than not retract it.”

And now Wittenberg itself, the very center of the Ref-ormation, was fast falling under the power of fanaticismand lawlessness. This terrible condition had not resultedfrom the teachings of Luther; but throughout Germanyhis enemies were charging it upon him. In bitterness ofsoul he sometimes asked, “Can such be the end of this greatwork of the Reformation?” Again, as he wrestled with Godin prayer, peace flowed into his heart. “The work is notmine, but thine own,” he said; “thou wilt not suffer it tobe corrupted by superstition or fanaticism.” But thethought of remaining longer from the conflict in such acrisis, became insupportable. He determined to returnto Wittenberg.

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

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In a letter to the elector, after stating his purpose to leavethe Wartburg, Luther said: “Be it known to your highnessthat I am repairing to Wittenberg under a protection morepowerful than that of an elector. I have no thought of solicit-ing the aid of your highness; and am so far from desiringyour protection that it is rather my purpose to protect yourhighness. If I knew that your highness could or would takeup my defense, I would not come to Wittenberg. No secularsword can advance this cause; God must do all, withoutthe aid or co-operation of man. He who has most faith isthe most availing defense.”

In a second letter, written on the way to Wittenberg,Luther added: “Behold me ready to bear your highness’ dis-approbation, and the anger of the whole world. Are not theWittenbergers my own sheep? Has not God committed themto my care? and ought I not, if need be, to lay down my lifefor them? Besides, I dread lest we should see, throughoutGermany, a revolt by which God shall punish our na-tion.”

With great caution and humility, yet with decisionand firmness, he entered upon his work. “By the Word,”said he, “we must refute and expel what has gained a placeand influence by violence. I would not resort to force againstthe superstitious and unbelieving.” “Let there be no com-pulsion. I have been laboring for liberty of conscience. Lib-erty is of the very essence of faith.”

It was soon noised through Wittenberg that Lutherhad returned, and that he was to preach. The peopleflocked from all directions, and the church was filled tooverflowing. Ascending the pulpit he with great wisdom andgentleness instructed, exhorted, and reproved. Touching thecourse of some who had resorted to violent measures in abol-ishing the mass, he said:—

“The mass is a bad thing. God is opposed to it. Itought to be abolished, and I would that everywhere thesupper of the gospel were established in its stead. But letnone be torn from it by force. We must leave results toGod. It is not we that must work, but his Word. ‘And why



so?’ you will ask. Because the hearts of men are not in myhand as clay in the hand of the potter. We have a right tospeak, but none whatever to compel. Let us preach; therest belongs to God. If I resort to force, what shall I gain?Grimace, fair appearances, cramped uniformity, and hypoc-risy. But there will be no hearty sincerity, no faith, no love.Where these are wanting, all is wanting, and I would notgive a straw for such a victory. God does more by the simplepower of his Word than you and I and the whole world couldeffect by all our efforts put together. God arrests the heart,and that once taken, all is won.”

“I am ready to preach, argue, write; but I will not con-strain any one, for faith is but a voluntary act. Call to mindwhat I have already done. I stood up against pope, indul-gences, and papists; but without violence or tumult. I broughtforward God’s Word; I preached and wrote, and then Istopped. And while I laid me down and slept, . . . the Word Ihad preached brought down the power of the pope to theground, so that never prince or emperor had dealt it such ablow. For my part I did next to nothing; the power of theWord did the whole business. Had I appealed to force,Germany might have been deluged with blood. But whatwould have been the consequence? Ruin and destruc-tion of soul and body. Accordingly I kept quiet, and letthe Word run through the length and breadth of theland.”

Day after day, for a whole week, Luther continued topreach to eager crowds. The Word of God broke the spell offanatical excitement. The power of the gospel brought backthe misguided people into the way of truth.

Luther had no desire to encounter the fanatics whosecourse had been productive of so great evil. He knew themto be men of unsound judgment and undisciplined passions,who, while claiming to be especially illuminated fromHeaven, would not endure the slightest contradiction, or eventhe kindest reproof or counsel. Arrogating to themselves su-preme authority, they required every one, without a ques-tion, to acknowledge their claims. But as they demanded

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an interview with him, he consented to meet them; andso successfully did he expose their pretensions, that theimpostors at once departed from Wittenberg.

The fanaticism was checked for a time; but severalyears later it broke out with greater violence and moreterrible results. Said Luther, concerning the leaders in thismovement: “To them the Holy Scriptures were but a deadletter, and they all began to cry, ‘The Spirit! the Spirit!’ Butmost assuredly I will not follow where their spirit leads them.May God in His mercy preserve me from a church in whichthere are none but such saints. I wish to be in fellowshipwith the humble, the feeble, the sick, who know and feeltheir sins, and who sigh and cry continually to God from thebottom of their hearts to obtain His consolation and sup-port.”

Thomas Munzer, the most active of the fanatics, wasa man of considerable ability, which, rightly directed,would have enabled him to do good; but he had notlearned the first principles of true religion. He imaginedhimself ordained of God to reform the world, forgetting, likemany other enthusiasts, that the reform should begin withhimself. He was ambitious to obtain position and influence,and was unwilling to be second, even to Luther. He declaredthat the reformers, in substituting the authority of Scrip-ture for that of the pope, were only establishing a differ-ent form of popery. He himself, he claimed, had been di-vinely commissioned to introduce the true reform. “Hewho hath the Spirit,” said Munzer, “hath true faith, althoughhe should never once in all his life see the Holy Scriptures.”

The fanatical teachers gave themselves up to be gov-erned by impressions, regarding every thought and impulseas the voice of God; consequently they went to great ex-tremes. Some even burned their Bibles, exclaiming, “Theletter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.” Munzer’s teachingappealed to men’s desire for the marvelous, while it grati-fied their pride by virtually placing human ideas andopinions above the Word of God. His doctrines were re-ceived by thousands. He soon denounced all order in public



worship, and declared that to obey princes was to attempt toserve both God and Belial.

The minds of the people, already beginning to throwoff the yoke of the papacy, were also becoming impa-tient under the restraints of civil authority. Munzer’srevolutionary teachings, claiming divine sanction, ledthem to break away from all control, and give the rein totheir prejudices and passions. The most terrible scenesof sedition and strife followed, and the fields of Germanywere drenched with blood.

The agony of soul which Luther had so long before ex-perienced at Erfurt, now pressed upon him with redoubledpower as he saw the results of fanaticism charged upon theReformation. The papist princes declared—and many wereready to credit the statement—that the rebellion was the le-gitimate fruit of Luther’s doctrines. Although this charge waswithout the slightest foundation, it could not but cause thereformer great distress. That the cause of truth should bethus disgraced by being ranked with the basest fanaticism,seemed more than he could endure. On the other hand, theleaders in the revolt hated Luther because he had not onlyopposed their doctrines and denied their claims to divine in-spiration, but had pronounced them rebels against the civilauthority. In retaliation they denounced him as a base pre-tender. He seemed to have brought upon himself the enmityof both princes and people.

The Romanists exulted, expecting to witness thespeedy downfall of the Reformation; and they blamedLuther, even for the errors which he had been most ear-nestly endeavoring to correct. The fanatical party, by falselyclaiming to have been treated with great injustice, succeededin gaining the sympathies of a large class of the people, and,as is often the case with those who take the wrong side, theycame to be regarded as martyrs. Thus the ones who wereexerting every energy in opposition to the Reformation werepitied and lauded as the victims of cruelty and oppression.This was the work of Satan, prompted by the same spirit ofrebellion which was first manifested in Heaven.

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Satan is constantly seeking to deceive men, and leadthem to call sin righteousness, and righteousness sin. Howsuccessful has been his work! How often censure and re-proach are cast upon God’s faithful servants because theywill stand fearlessly in defense of the truth! Men who arebut agents of Satan are praised and flattered, and evenlooked upon as martyrs, while those who should be re-spected and sustained for their fidelity to God, are leftto stand alone, under suspicion and distrust.

Counterfeit holiness, spurious sanctification, is stilldoing its work of deception. Under various forms it exhib-its the same spirit as in the days of Luther, diverting mindsfrom the Scriptures, and leading men to follow their ownfeelings and impressions rather than to yield obedience tothe law of God. This is one of Satan’s most successful de-vices to cast reproach upon purity and truth.

Fearlessly did Luther defend the gospel from the at-tacks which came from every quarter. The Word of Godproved itself a weapon mighty in every conflict. With thatWord he warred against the usurped authority of the pope,and the rationalistic philosophy of the schoolmen, while hestood firm as a rock against the fanaticism that sought toally itself with the Reformation.

Each of these opposing elements was in its own waysetting aside the Holy Scriptures, and exalting human wis-dom as the source of religious truth and knowledge. Ratio-nalism idolizes reason, and makes this the criterion for reli-gion. Romanism, claiming for her sovereign pontiff an in-spiration descended in unbroken line from the apostles, andunchangeable through all time, gives ample opportunity forevery species of extravagance and corruption to be concealedunder the sanctity of the apostolic commission. The inspi-ration claimed by Munzer and his associates proceededfrom no higher source than the vagaries of the imagina-tion, and its influence was subversive of all authority,human or divine. True Christianity receives the Word ofGod as the great treasure-house of inspired truth, andthe test of all inspiration.



Upon his return from the Wartburg, Luther com-pleted his translation of the New Testament, and the gos-pel was soon after given to the people of Germany in theirown language. This translation was received with great joyby all who loved the truth; but it was scornfully rejected bythose who chose human traditions and the commandmentsof men.

The priests were alarmed at the thought that the com-mon people would now be able to discuss with them theprecepts of God’s Word, and that their own ignorancewould thus be exposed. The weapons of their carnal rea-soning were powerless against the sword of the Spirit. Romesummoned all her authority to prevent the circulation of theScriptures; but decrees, anathemas, and tortures were alikein vain. The more she condemned and prohibited theBible, the greater was the anxiety of the people to knowwhat it really taught. All who could read were eager tostudy the Word of God for themselves. They carried it aboutwith them, and read and re-read, and could not be satisfieduntil they had committed large portions to memory. Seeingthe favor with which the New Testament was received,Luther immediately began the translation of the Old, andpublished it in parts as fast as completed.

Luther’s writings were welcomed alike in city and inhamlet. “Whatever Luther and his friends composed, othersdisseminated far and wide. Monks who had been led to seethe unlawfulness of the monastic obligations, desirous of ex-changing a life of indolence for one of activity, but too igno-rant to be able themselves to proclaim the Word of God,traversed the provinces, selling the writings of the reformerand his friends. Germany was erelong overrun with theseenterprising colporters.”

These writings were studied with deep interest byrich and poor, the learned and the ignorant. At night theteachers of the village schools read them aloud to little groupsgathered at the fireside. With every effort, some souls wouldbe convicted of the truth, and, receiving the word with glad-ness, would in their turn tell the good news to others.

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The words of inspiration were verified: “The entranceof thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto thesimple.” Psalm 119:130. The study of the Scriptures wasworking a mighty change in the minds and hearts of thepeople. The papal rule had placed upon its subjects aniron yoke which held them in ignorance and degrada-tion. A superstitious observance of forms had been scrupu-lously maintained; but in all their service the heart and intel-lect had had little part. The preaching of Luther, settingforth the plain truths of God’s Word, and then the Worditself, placed in the hands of the common people, hadaroused their dormant powers, not only purifying andennobling the spiritual nature, but imparting newstrength and vigor to the intellect.

Persons of all ranks were to be seen with the Bible intheir hands, defending the doctrines of the Reformation. Thepapists who had left the study of the Scriptures to the priestsand monks, now called upon them to come forward and re-fute the new teachings. But, ignorant alike of the Scripturesand of the power of God, priests and friars were totally de-feated by those whom they had denounced as unlearned andheretical. “Unhappily,” said a Catholic writer. “Lutherhad persuaded his followers that their faith ought onlyto be founded on the oracles of Holy Writ.” Crowds wouldgather to hear the truth advocated by men of little education,and even discussed by them with learned and eloquent theo-logians. The shameful ignorance of these great men was madeapparent as their arguments were met by the simple teach-ings of God’s Word. Laborers, soldiers, women, and evenchildren, were better acquainted with the Bible teachings thanwere the priests and learned doctors.

The contrast between the disciples of the gospel and theupholders of popish superstition was no less manifest in theranks of scholars than among the common people. “Opposedto the old defenders of the hierarchy, who had neglected theacquirement of the languages and the cultivation of litera-ture, were generous-minded youths, most of them devotedto study and the investigation of the Scriptures, and ac-



quainted with the literary treasures of antiquity. Gifted withquickness of apprehension, elevation of soul, and intrepid-ity of heart, these youths soon attained such proficiency thatnone could compete with them.” “So that on public occa-sions, on which these youthful defenders of the Reformationencountered the Romish doctors, their assaults were carriedon with an ease and confidence that embarrassed the dull-ness of their adversaries, and exposed them before all to de-served contempt.”

As the Romish clergy saw their congregations dimin-ishing, they invoked the aid of the magistrates, and byevery means in their power endeavored to bring backtheir hearers. But the people had found in the new teach-ings that which supplied the wants of their souls, andthey turned away from those who had so long fed themwith the worthless husks of superstitious rites and hu-man traditions.

When persecution was kindled against the teachers ofthe truth, they gave heed to the words of Christ, “When theypersecute you in this city, flee ye into another.” Matthew10:23. The light penetrated everywhere. The fugitives wouldfind somewhere a hospitable door opened to them, and thereabiding, they would preach Christ, sometimes in the church,or, if denied that privilege, in private houses or in the openair. Wherever they could obtain a hearing was a consecratedtemple. The truth, proclaimed with such energy and assur-ance, spread with irresistible power.

In vain both ecclesiastical and civil authorities were in-voked to crush the heresy. In vain they resorted to imprison-ment, torture, fire, and sword. Thousands of believers sealedtheir faith with their blood, and yet the work went on. Perse-cution served only to extend the truth; and the fanaticismwhich Satan endeavored to unite with it, resulted in makingmore clear the contrast between the work of Satan and thework of God.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: THE ROMAN CHANNEL OF GRACE: THE ROMAN CHANNEL OF GRACE: THE ROMAN CHANNEL OF GRACE: THE ROMAN CHANNEL OF GRACE: THE ROMAN CHANNEL OF GRACE

“[Mary is] the first steward in the dispensing of all graces.” Pius X, quoted in F.J.Sheed, Theology for Beginners, p. 132.

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“We have no greater help, no greater hope than you. O Most Pure Virgin; help us,then. For we hope in you, we glory in you. We are your servants, do not disappointus.” Novena Prayers in Honor of Our Mother of Perpetural Help (published by Sistersof St. Basil, with imprimatur).

“Christ has taken His seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high . . and Mary asQueen stands at His right hand.” Pius X, Mary Mediatrix, in Encyclical: Ad Diem Illum.

“Mary is Our Lady and Queen because she, the new Eve, has shared intimatelyin the redemptive work of Christ, the new Adam, by suffering with Him and offeringHim up to the Eternal Father.” Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, p. 211(1974).

Alphonsus de Liguori wrote two books in lavish praise of Mary (The Glories ofMary; 1750) and Catholic priests (The Duties and Dignities of the Priest). He wasrewarded with sainthood. Because he was canonized, his statements are infallible:

“With reason does an ancient writer call her ‘the only hope of sinners’; for by herhelp alone can we hope for the remission of sins.” De Liguori, The Glories of Mary(ed. Eugene Grimm: Redemptorist Fathers, 1931) p. 83.

“ ‘Many things,’ says Nicephorus, ‘are asked from God, and are not granted;they are asked from Mary, and are obtained.’ ” p. 137.

“If God is angry with a sinner, and Mary takes him under her protection, shewithholds the avenging arm of her Son, and saves him.” p. 124.

“[Prayer of St. Ephram:] ‘O Immaculate Virgin, we are under thy protection . . webeseech thee to prevent thy beloved Son, who is irritated by our sins, from abandon-ing us to the power of the devil.’” p. 273.

“ ‘At the commmand of Mary all obey—even God.’ St. Bernardine fears not toutter this sentence; meaning indeed, to say that God grants the prayers of Mary as ifthey were commands . . Since the Mother, then, should have the same power as theSon, rightly has Jesus, who is omnipotent, made Mary also omnipotent.” p. 82.

“Because men acknowledge and fear the divine Majesty, which is in him [Christ]as God, for this reason it was necessary to assign us another advocate, to whom wemight have recourse with less fear and more confidence, and this advocate is Mary,than whom we cannot find one more powerful with his divine majesty, or one moremerciful towards ourselves . . A mediator, then, was needed with the mediator Him-self.” pp. 180-182.

“Nothing whatever of that immense treasure of all graces, which the Lord broughtus . . is granted to us save through Mary, so that, just as no one can come to theFather on high except through the Son, so almost in the same manner, no one cancome to Christ except through His Mother.”Leo XIII, Magnae Dei Matris.

“She [Mary] remains forever associated to Him [Christ], with an almost unlim-ited power, in the distribution of the graces which flow from the Redemption. Jesusis King throughout all eternity by nature and by right of conquest; through Him, withHim and subordinate to Him, Mary is Queen by grace, by divine relationship, by rightof conquest and by singular election. And her kingdom is as vast as that of her Sonand God, since nothing is excluded from her dominion.” Pius XII, quoted in E.R.Carrol (ed.), Mariology, Vol. 1, p. 49 (1955).

PrPrPrPrProgrogrogrogrogress of Reform in Germany ess of Reform in Germany ess of Reform in Germany ess of Reform in Germany ess of Reform in Germany [196] [196] [196] [196] [196]


Chapter ElevenChapter ElevenChapter ElevenChapter ElevenChapter Eleven

The TThe TThe TThe TThe TurururururningningningningningPPPPPointointointointoint

—Protest of the Princes—Protest of the Princes—Protest of the Princes—Protest of the Princes—Protest of the Princes———————————————————————

One of the noblest testimonies ever uttered for the R One of the noblest testimonies ever uttered for the R One of the noblest testimonies ever uttered for the R One of the noblest testimonies ever uttered for the R One of the noblest testimonies ever uttered for the Reforma-eforma-eforma-eforma-eforma-tion was the Protest submitted by the Christian princes at thetion was the Protest submitted by the Christian princes at thetion was the Protest submitted by the Christian princes at thetion was the Protest submitted by the Christian princes at thetion was the Protest submitted by the Christian princes at theDiet [Council] of Spires in 1529.Diet [Council] of Spires in 1529.Diet [Council] of Spires in 1529.Diet [Council] of Spires in 1529.Diet [Council] of Spires in 1529.

The entire future course of the Reformation depended on the de-cisions they there made. The combined forces of Europe wereThe combined forces of Europe wereThe combined forces of Europe wereThe combined forces of Europe wereThe combined forces of Europe weregathered to crush out the newly begun Rgathered to crush out the newly begun Rgathered to crush out the newly begun Rgathered to crush out the newly begun Rgathered to crush out the newly begun Reformation. But Chris-eformation. But Chris-eformation. But Chris-eformation. But Chris-eformation. But Chris-tian men protested—and refused to deny their faith—or yours.tian men protested—and refused to deny their faith—or yours.tian men protested—and refused to deny their faith—or yours.tian men protested—and refused to deny their faith—or yours.tian men protested—and refused to deny their faith—or yours.

Their protest at the Diet [Council] of Spires that year has givenus the name “Protestant.” Here you will learn of your spiritual fore-fathers, the first Protestants—and of the fundamental principles ofProtestantism that they have bequethed to you ————————————————————————

One of the noblest testimonies ever uttered for theReformation, was the Protest offered by the Christianprinces of Germany at the Diet of Spires in 1529. Thecourage, faith, and firmness of those men of God, gainedfor succeeding ages liberty of thought and of conscience.Their Protest gave to the reformed church the name ofProtestant; its principles are the very essence of Protes-tantism.

A dark and threatening day had come for the Refor-mation. Notwithstanding the edict of Worms, declaringLuther to be an outlaw, and forbidding the teaching or beliefof his doctrines, religious toleration had thus far prevailedin the empire. God’s providence had held in check the forcesthat opposed the truth. Charles V was bent on crushing theReformation, but often as he raised his hand to strike, he had

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been forced to turn aside the blow. Again and again the im-mediate destruction of all who dared to oppose themselvesto Rome appeared inevitable; but at the critical moment thearmies of the Turk appeared on the eastern frontier, or theking of France, or even the pope himself, jealous of the in-creasing greatness of the emperor, made war upon him; andthus, amid the strife and tumult of nations, the Reforma-tion had been left to strengthen and extend.

At last, however, the papal sovereigns had stifledtheir feuds, that they might make common cause againstthe reformers. The Diet of Spires in 1526 had given eachState full liberty in matters of religion until the meetingof a general council; but no sooner had the dangerspassed which secured this concession, than the emperorsummoned a second Diet to convene at Spires in 1529for the purpose of crushing heresy. The princes were tobe induced, by peaceable means if possible, to side againstthe Reformation; but if these failed, Charles was pre-pared to resort to the sword.

The papists were exultant. They appeared at Spires ingreat numbers, and openly manifested their hostility towardthe reformers and all who favored them. Said Melancthon,“We are the execration and the sweepings of the earth; butChrist will look down on His poor people, and will preservethem.” The evangelical princes in attendance at the Diet wereforbidden even to have the gospel preached in their dwell-ings. But the people of Spires thirsted for the Word of God,

———————————HISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DAAAAATING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—These events span

17 months, from February 1529 to June 1530. Luther was about 47 yearsold by this time. On the death of Frederick in 1525, his brother John ofSaxony became Luther’s protector. The first Diet [Council] of Spires (to-day called Speyer) met in summer 1526, but dared not oppose the Prot-estants because of the Turkish menace in the East. The Second Diet ofSpires convened in February 1529. The majority of German princes wereCatholic, and issued an ultimatum to the Protestant princes. The famous“Protest” (Protestatio) of those princes was presented to the Second Dieton April 19, 1529. In summer 1530, the Diet of Augsburg met, and theProtestant “Confession” was presented to the Diet on June 25.

Protest of the Princes Protest of the Princes Protest of the Princes Protest of the Princes Protest of the Princes [197-198] [197-198] [197-198] [197-198] [197-198]


and, notwithstanding the prohibition, thousands flocked tothe services held in the chapel of the Elector of Saxony.

This hastened the crisis. An imperial message an-nounced to the Diet that as the resolution granting lib-erty of conscience had given rise to great disorders, theemperor required that it be annulled. This arbitrary actexcited the indignation and alarm of the evangelical Chris-tians. Said one, “Christ has again fallen into the hands ofCaiaphas and Pilate.” The Romanists became more violent.A bigoted papist declared, “The Turks are better than theLutherans; for the Turks observe fast-days, and the Lutheransviolate them. If we must choose between the Holy Scripturesof God and the old errors of the church, we should reject theformer.” Said Melancthon, “Every day, in full assembly, Fabercasts some new stone against the Gospellers.”

Religious toleration had been legally established, andthe evangelical States were resolved to oppose the in-fringement of their rights. Luther, being still under theban imposed by the edict of Worms, was not permittedto be present at Spires; but his place was supplied by hisco-laborers and the princes whom God had raised up todefend his cause in this emergency. The noble Frederickof Saxony, Luther’s former protector, had been removed bydeath; but Duke John, his brother and successor, had joy-fully welcomed the Reformation, and while a friend of peace,he displayed great energy and courage in all matters relatingto the interests of the faith.

The priests demanded that the States which had acceptedthe Reformation submit implicitly to Romish jurisdiction.The reformers, on the other hand, claimed the liberty whichhad previously been granted. They could not consent thatRome should again bring under her control those States thathad with so great joy received the Word of God.

As a compromise it was finally proposed that wherethe Reformation had not become established, the edictof Worms should be rigorously enforced; and that in theevangelical States, where there would be danger of re-volt, no new reform should be introduced, there should

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be no preaching upon disputed points, the celebration of themass should not be opposed, and no Roman Catholic shouldbe permitted to embrace Lutheranism. This measure passedthe Diet, to the great satisfaction of the popish priests andprelates.

If this edict were enforced, the Reformation couldneither be extended where as yet it had not reached, norbe established on a firm foundation where it already ex-isted. Liberty of speech would be prohibited. No conver-sions would be allowed. And to these restrictions and pro-hibitions the friends of the Reformation were required at onceto submit. The hopes of the world seemed about to be extin-guished. The re-establishment of the papal worship wouldinevitably cause a revival of the ancient abuses; and an oc-casion would readily be found for completing the destruc-tion of a work that had already been shaken by fanaticismand dissension.

As the evangelical party met for consultation, onelooked to another in blank dismay. From one to anotherpassed the inquiry, “What is to be done?” Mighty issuesfor the world were at stake. “Should the chiefs of the Refor-mation submit, and accept the edict? How easily might thereformers at this crisis, which was truly a tremendous one,have argued themselves into a wrong course! How many plau-sible pretexts and fair reasons might they have found forsubmission! The Lutheran princes were guaranteed thefree exercise of their religion. The same boon was ex-tended to all those of their subjects who, prior to thepassing of the measure, had embraced the reformedviews. Ought not this to content them? How many perilswould submission avoid! On what unknown hazards andconflicts would opposition launch them! Who knows whatopportunities the future may bring? Let us embrace peace;let us seize the olive-branch Rome holds out, and close thewounds of Germany. With arguments like these might thereformers have justified their adoption of a course whichwould have assuredly issued in no long time in the over-throw of their cause.



“Happily they looked at the principle on which thisarrangement was based, and they acted in faith. Whatwas that principle?—It was the right of Rome to coerceconscience and forbid free inquiry. But were not them-selves and their Protestant subjects to enjoy religious free-dom?—Yes, as a favor, specially stipulated for in the ar-rangement, but not as a right. As to all outside that arrange-ment, the great principle of authority was to rule; consciencewas out of court, Rome was infallible judge, and must beobeyed. The acceptance of the proposed arrangement wouldhave been a virtual admission that religious liberty ought tobe confined to reformed Saxony; and as to all the rest ofChristendom, free inquiry and the profession of the reformedfaith were crimes, and must be visited with the dungeon andthe stake. Could they consent to localize religious liberty? tohave it proclaimed that the Reformation had made its lastconvert, had subjugated its last acre? and that wherever Romebore sway at this hour, there her dominion was to be per-petuated? Could the reformers have pleaded that theywere innocent of the blood of those hundreds and thou-sands who, in pursuance of this arrangement, would haveto yield up their lives in popish lands? This would havebeen to betray at that supreme hour, the cause of thegospel, and the liberties of Christendom.” Rather wouldthey sacrifice their dominions, their titles, and their ownlives.

“Let us reject this decree,” said the princes. “Inmatters of conscience the majority has no power.” Thedeputies declared that Germany was indebted to the decreeof toleration for the peace which she enjoyed, and that itsabolition would fill the empire with troubles and divisions.“The Diet is incompetent,” said they, “to do more than pre-serve religious liberty until a council meets.” To protect lib-erty of conscience is the duty of the State, and this is thelimit of its authority in matters of religion. Every seculargovernment that attempts to regulate or enforce religiousobservances by civil authority is sacrificing the very prin-ciple for which the evangelical Christians so nobly

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struggled.The papists determined to put down what they termed

daring obstinacy. They began by endeavoring to cause divi-sions among the supporters of the Reformation, and to in-timidate all who had not openly declared in its favor. Therepresentatives of the free cities were at last summonedbefore the Diet, and required to declare whether theywould accede to the terms of the proposition. They pleadedfor delay, but in vain. When brought to the test, nearly one-half their number sided with the reformers. Those who thusrefused to sacrifice liberty of conscience and the right of in-dividual judgment well knew that their position marked themfor future criticism, condemnation, and persecution. Said oneof the delegates, “We must either deny the Word of Godor—be burned.”

King Ferdinand, the emperor’s representative at the Diet,saw that the decree would cause serious divisions unless theprinces could be induced to accept and sustain it. He there-fore tried the art of persuasion, well knowing that to employforce with such men would only render them the more deter-mined. He begged them to accept the decree, assuring themthat such an act would be highly gratifying to the emperor.But these faithful men acknowledged an authority abovethat of earthly rulers, and they answered calmly, “Wewill obey the emperor in everything that may contributeto maintain peace and the honor of God.”

In the presence of the Diet, the king at last announcedthat the decree was about to be published as an imperialedict, and that the only course remaining for the electorand his friends was to submit to the majority. Havingthus spoken, he withdrew from the assembly, giving the re-formers no opportunity for deliberation or reply. In vain theysent messengers entreating him to return. To their remon-strances he answered only, “It is a settled affair; submissionis all that remains.”

The imperial party were convinced that the Chris-tian princes would adhere to the Holy Scriptures as su-perior to human doctrines and requirements; and they



knew that wherever this principle was accepted, the pa-pacy would eventually be overthrown. But, like thousandssince their time, looking only “at the things which are seen,”they flattered themselves that the cause of the emperor andthe pope was strong, and that of the reformers weak. Hadthe reformers depended upon human aid alone, they wouldhave been as powerless as the papists supposed. But thoughweak in numbers, and at variance with Rome, they hadtheir strength. They appealed from the decision of theDiet to the Scriptures of truth, and from the emperor ofGermany to the King of Heaven and earth.

As Ferdinand had refused to regard their conscientiousconvictions, the princes decided not to heed his absence, butto bring their Protest before the national council without de-lay. A solemn declaration was therefore drawn up, and pre-sented to the Diet:

“We protest by these presents, before God, our onlyCreator, Preserver, Redeemer, and Saviour, and who will oneday be our Judge, as well as before all men and all creatures,that we, for us and our people, neither consent nor adhere inany manner whatever to the proposed decree in anything thatis contrary to God, to His Word, to our right conscience, orto the salvation of our souls. . . . We cannot assert that whenAlmighty God calls a man to His knowledge, he dare notembrace that divine knowledge. . . . There is no true doc-trine but that which conforms to the Word of God. TheLord forbids the teaching of any other faith. The HolyScriptures, with one text explained by other and plainer texts,are, in all things necessary for the Christian, easy to be un-derstood, and adapted to enlighten. We are therefore resolvedby divine grace to maintain the pure preaching of God’s onlyWord, as it is contained in the scriptures of the Old and NewTestaments, without anything added thereto. This word isthe only truth. It is the sure rule of all doctrine and life,and can never fail or deceive us. He who builds on thisfoundation shall stand against all the powers of hell, whilstall the vanities that are set up against it shall fall before theface of God.” “We therefore reject the yoke that is im-

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posed upon us.” “At the same time we are in expectationthat his imperial majesty will behave toward us like a Chris-tian prince who loves God above all things; and we declareourselves ready to pay unto him, as well as unto you, gra-cious lords, all the affection and obedience that are our justand legitimate duty.”

A deep impression was made upon the Diet. The major-ity were filled with amazement and alarm at the boldness ofthe protesters. The future appeared to them stormy and un-certain. Dissension, strife, and bloodshed seemed inevitable.But the reformers, assured of the justice of their cause, andrelying upon the arm of Omnipotence, were full of courageand firmness.

The Protest denied the right of civil rulers to legis-late in matters between the soul and God, and declaredwith prophets and apostles, “We ought to obey God ratherthan men.” It rejected also the arbitrary power of thechurch, and set forth the unerring principle that all hu-man teaching should be in subjection to the oracles ofGod. The protesters had thrown off the yoke of man’s su-premacy, and had exalted Christ as supreme in the church,and His Word in the pulpit. The power of conscience wasset above the State, and the authority of the Holy Scrip-tures above the visible church. The crown of Christ wasuplifted above the pope’s tiara and the emperor’s diadem.The protesters had moreover affirmed their right to freelyutter their convictions of truth. They would not only believeand obey, but teach what the Word of God presents, and theydenied the right of priest or magistrate to interfere. The Pro-test of Spires was a solemn witness against religious intoler-ance, and an assertion of the right of all men to worship Godaccording to the dictates of their own consciences.

The declaration had been made. It was written in thememory of thousands, and registered in the books of Heaven,where no effort of man could erase it. All evangelical Ger-many adopted the Protest as the expression of its faith.Everywhere men beheld in this declaration the promiseof a new and better era. Said one of the princes to the Prot-



estants of Spires, “May the Almighty, who has given yougrace to confess energetically, freely, and fearlessly; preserveyou in that Christian firmness until the day of eternity.”

Had the Reformation, after attaining a degree of suc-cess, consented to temporize to secure favor with theworld, it would have been untrue to God and to itself,and would thus have insured its own destruction. Theexperience of those noble reformers contains a lesson for allsucceeding ages. Satan’s manner of working against Godand His Word has not changed; he is still as much opposedto the Scriptures being made the guide of life as in the six-teenth century. In our time there is a wide departure fromtheir doctrines and precepts, and there is need of a returnto the great Protestant principle,—the Bible, and theBible only, as the rule of faith and duty. Satan is still work-ing through every means which he can control to destroyreligious liberty. The antichristian power which the pro-testers of Spires rejected, is now with renewed vigor seek-ing to re-establish its lost supremacy. The same unswerv-ing adherence to the Word of God manifested at thatcrisis of the Reformation, is the only hope of reform to-day.

There appeared tokens of danger to the Protestants. Therewere tokens, also, that the divine hand was stretched out toprotect the faithful. It was about this time that Melancthonhurried his friend Grynaeus through the streets of Spires tothe Rhine, and urged him to cross the river without delay.Grynaeus, in astonishment, desired to know the reason forthis sudden flight. Said Melancthon, “An old man of graveand solemn aspect, but who is unknown to me, appearedbefore me, and said, ‘In a minute the officers of justice willbe sent by Ferdinand to arrest Grynaeus.’ ” On the banks ofthe Rhine, Melancthon waited until the waters of that streaminterposed between his beloved friend and those who soughthis life. When he saw him on the other side at last, he said,“He is torn from the cruel jaws of those who thirst for inno-cent blood.”

Grynaeus had been on intimate terms with a leading pa-

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pist doctor; but, having been shocked at one of his sermons,he went to him, and entreated that he would no longer waragainst the truth. The papist concealed his anger, but imme-diately repaired to the king, and obtained from him authorityto arrest the protester. When Melancthon returned to hishouse, he was informed that after his departure officers inpursuit of Grynaeus had searched it from top to bottom. Heever believed that the Lord had saved his friend by sending aholy angel to give him warning.

The Reformation was to be brought into greaterprominence before the mighty ones of the earth. Theevangelical princes had been denied a hearing by KingFerdinand; but they were to be granted an opportunityto present their cause in the presence of the emperor andthe assembled dignitaries of Church and State. To quietthe dissensions which disturbed the empire, Charles V,in the year following the Protest of Spires, convoked aDiet at Augsburg, over which he announced his inten-tion to preside in person. Thither the Protestant leaderswere summoned.

Great dangers threatened the Reformation; but its advo-cates still trusted their cause with God, and pledged them-selves to be firm to the gospel. The Elector of Saxony wasurged by his councillors not to appear at the Diet. The em-peror, they said, required the attendance of the princes inorder to draw them into a snare. “Was it not risking every-thing to shut oneself up within the walls of a city with apowerful enemy?” But others nobly declared. “Let the princesonly comport themselves with courage, and God’s cause issaved.” “Our God is faithful; He will not abandon us,” saidLuther. The elector set out, with his retinue, for Augsburg.All were acquainted with the dangers that menaced him, andmany went forward with gloomy countenance and troubledheart. But Luther—who accompanied them as far asCoburg—revived their sinking faith by singing the hymn,written on that journey,—“A strong tower is our God.” Manyan anxious foreboding was banished, many a heavy heartlightened, at the sound of the inspiring strains.



The reformed princes had determined upon havinga statement of their views in systematic form, with theevidence from the Scriptures, to present before the Diet;and the task of its preparation was committed to Luther,Melancthon, and their associates. This Confession wasaccepted by the Protestants as an exposition of their faith,and they assembled to affix their names to the impor-tant document. It was a solemn and trying time. The re-formers were solicitous that their cause should not be con-founded with political questions; they felt that the Refor-mation should exercise no other influence than that whichproceeds from the Word of God. As the Christian princesadvanced to sign the Confession, Melancthon interposed,saying, “It is for the theologians and ministers to proposethese things, while the authority of the mighty ones of earthis to be reserved for other matters.” “God forbid,” repliedJohn of Saxony, “that you should exclude me. I am resolvedto do my duty, without being troubled about my crown. Idesire to confess the Lord. My electoral hat and robes arenot so precious to me as the cross of Jesus Christ.” Havingthus spoken he wrote down his name. Said another of theprinces as he took the pen, “If the honor of my Lord JesusChrist requires it, I am ready to leave my goods and life be-hind me.” “Rather would I renounce my subjects and myStates, rather would I quit the country of my fathers, staff inhand,” he continued, “than to receive any other doctrine thanis contained in this Confession.” Such was the faith and dar-ing of those men of God.

The appointed time came to appear before the em-peror. Charles V, seated upon his throne, surrounded bythe electors and the princes, gave audience to the Prot-estant reformers. The confession of their faith was read.In that august assembly the truths of the gospel wereclearly set forth, and the errors of the papal church werepointed out. Well has that day been pronounced “thegreatest day of the Reformation, and one of the most glo-rious in the history of Christianity and of the world.”

But a few years had passed since the monk of Wittenberg

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stood alone at Worms before the national council. Now inhis stead were the noblest and most powerful princes of theempire. Luther had been forbidden to appear at Augsburg,but he had been present by his words and prayers. “I thrillwith joy,” he wrote, “that I have lived until this hour, in whichChrist has been publicly exalted by such illustrious confes-sors, and in so glorious an assembly. Herein is fulfilled whatthe Scripture saith, ‘I will declare thy testimony in the pres-ence of kings.’ ”

In the days of Paul, the gospel for which he was impris-oned was thus brought before the princes and nobles of theimperial city. So on this occasion, “that which the emperorhad forbidden to be preached from the pulpit, was proclaimedin the palace; what many had regarded as unfit even for ser-vants to listen to, was heard with wonder by the masters andlords of the empire. Kings and great men were the auditory,crowned princes were the preachers, and the sermon was theroyal truth of God.” “Since the apostolic age,” says a writer,“there has never been a greater work, or a more magnificentconfession of Jesus Christ.”

“All that the Lutherans have said is true, and wecannot deny it,” declared a papist bishop. “Can you bysound reasons refute the Confession made by the electorand his allies?” asked another, of Doctor Eck. “Not withthe writings of the apostles and prophets,” was the re-ply; “but with the Fathers and councils I can.” “I under-stand, then,” responded the questioner, “that theLutherans are entrenched in the Scriptures, and we areonly outside.” Some of the princes of Germany were wonto the reformed faith. The emperor himself declared that theProtestant articles were but the truth. The Confession wastranslated into many languages, and circulated through allEurope, and it has been accepted by millions in succeedinggenerations as the expression of their faith.

God’s faithful servants were not toiling alone. While“principalities and powers and wicked spirits in highplaces” were leagued against them, the Lord did not for-sake His people. Could their eyes have been opened, they



would have seen as marked evidence of divine presenceand aid as was granted to a prophet of old. When Elisha’sservant pointed his master to the hostile army surroundingthem, and cutting off all opportunity for escape, the prophetprayed, “Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see.” 2Kings 6:17. And, lo, the mountain was filled with chariotsand horses of fire, the army of Heaven stationed to protectthe man of God. Thus did angels guard the workers in thecause of the Reformation.

One of the principles most firmly maintained by Lutherwas that there should be no resort to secular power in sup-port of the Reformation, and no appeal to arms for its de-fense. He rejoiced that the gospel was confessed by princesof the empire; but when they proposed to unite in a defen-sive league, he declared that “the doctrine of the gospel shouldbe defended by God alone. The less men meddle in the work,the more striking would be God’s intervention in its behalf.All the political precautions suggested were, in his view, at-tributable to unworthy fear and sinful mistrust.”

When powerful foes were uniting to overthrow thereformed faith, and thousands of swords seemed aboutto be unsheathed against it, Luther wrote: “Satan is rag-ing; ungodly priests take counsel together, and we arethreatened with war. Exhort the people to contend ear-nestly before the throne of the Lord, by faith and prayer,that our adversaries, being overcome by the Spirit ofGod, may be constrained to peace. The most urgent of ourwants—the very first thing we have to do, is to pray; let thepeople know that they are at this hour exposed to the edge ofthe sword and the rage of the devil; let them pray.”

Again, at a later date, referring to the league con-templated by the reformed princes, he declared that theonly weapon employed in this warfare should be “thesword of the Spirit.” He wrote to the Elector of Saxony:“We cannot in our conscience approve of the proposed alli-ance. Our Lord Christ is mighty enough, and can well findways and means to rescue us from danger, and bring thethoughts of the ungodly princes to nothing. . . . Christ is only

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trying us whether we are willing to obey His word or no, andwhether we hold it for certain truth or not. We would ratherdie ten times over than that the gospel should be a cause ofblood or hurt by any act of ours. Let us rather patiently suf-fer, and, as the psalmist says, be accounted as sheep for theslaughter; and instead of avenging or defending ourselves,leave room for God’s wrath.” “The cross of Christ must beborne. Let your highness be without fear. We shall do moreby our prayers than all our enemies by their boastings. Onlylet not your hands be stained with the blood of your breth-ren. If the emperor requires us to be given up to his tribu-nals, we are ready to appear. You cannot defend the faith;each one should believe at his own risk and peril.”

From the secret place of prayer came the power thatshook the world in the Great Reformation. There, withholy calmness, the servants of the Lord set their feet uponthe rock of His promises. During the struggle at Augsburg,Luther did not fail to devote three hours each day to prayer;and these were taken from that portion of the day most fa-vorable to study. In the privacy of his chamber he was heardto pour out his soul before God in words full of adoration,fear, and hope, as if speaking to a friend. “I know that thouart our Father and our God,” he said, “and that thou wiltscatter the persecutors of Thy children; for thou art Thyselfendangered with us. All this matter is thine, and it is only byThy constraint that we have put our hands to it. Defend us,then, O Father!” To Melancthon, who was crushed underthe burden of anxiety and fear, he wrote: “Grace andpeace in Christ! In Christ, I say, and not in the world,Amen! I hate with exceeding hatred those extreme careswhich consume you. If the cause is unjust, abandon it; ifthe cause is just, why should we believe the promises ofHim who commands us to sleep without fear?” “Christwill not be wanting to the work of justice and truth. He lives,He reigns; what fear, then, can we have?”

God did listen to the cries of His servants. He gave toprinces and ministers grace and courage to maintain the truthagainst the rulers of the darkness of this world. Saith the



CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: AN OFFICIAL POSITION: AN OFFICIAL POSITION: AN OFFICIAL POSITION: AN OFFICIAL POSITION: AN OFFICIAL POSITION

“We believe that the rulers of a Catholic country have the right to restrictthe activity of those who would lead their people away from their allegiance tothe Catholic Church . . They possess the right to prevent propaganda againstthe Church. This is merely a logical conclusion from the basic Catholic tenetthat the Son of God established one religion and commanded all men toaccept it under pain of eternal damnation.” American Ecclesiastical Review,January, 1946 [Roman Catholic].

“When you are in a majority we ask for religious liberty in the name ofyour principles. When we are in a majority we refuse you in the name ofours.” Louis Veuillot [French Catholic writer, speaking to a group of Protes-tants].

“With all my power, I will persecute and will make war upon all heretics,schismatics, and those who rebel against our lord [the pope] and all his suc-cessors . . So help me God and these the holy gospels of God.” PontificaleRomanum Summorum Pontificum.

“Though heretics must not be tolerated because they deserve it, we mustbear with them, till, by a second admonition, they may be brought back to thefaith of the church. But those who, after a second admonition, remain obsti-nate in their errors, must not only be excommunicated, but they must bedelivered to the secular power to be exterminated.” Thomas Aquinas, SumaTheologica, Vol. IV, p. 90. [This is the standard Roman Catholic book oftheology and church operation. Only Catholic councils and papal decreesare superior to it.]

————————————————————————“When a religion is good, I conceive that it will support itself; and, when it

cannot support itself, and God does not take care to support, so that its profes-sors are obliged to call for the help of the civil power, it is a sign, I apprehend, ofits being a bad one.”—Benjamin Franklin, Letter dated October 9, 1780.

“The doctrine which, from the very first origin of religious dissensions, hasbeen held by all bigots of all sects, when condensed into a few words, andstripped of rhetorical disguise, is simply this: ‘I am in the right, and you are in thewrong. When you are the stronger, you ought to tolerate me; for it is your duty totolerate truth. But when I am the stronger, I shall persecute you; for it is my dutyto persecute error.’ ” Thomas B. Macaulay.

Lord, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner-store, elect, pre-cious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.”1 Peter 2:6. The Protestant reformers had built on Christ,and the gates of hell could not prevail against them.

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Chapter TwelveChapter TwelveChapter TwelveChapter TwelveChapter Twelve

They WThey WThey WThey WThey WererererereeeeeWilling to DieWilling to DieWilling to DieWilling to DieWilling to Die

—The F—The F—The F—The F—The Frrrrrench Reforench Reforench Reforench Reforench Reformationmationmationmationmation———————————————————————

LLLLLouis de Berquin ranked among the highest nobility of Fouis de Berquin ranked among the highest nobility of Fouis de Berquin ranked among the highest nobility of Fouis de Berquin ranked among the highest nobility of Fouis de Berquin ranked among the highest nobility of France—rance—rance—rance—rance—and then he found Christ, and what he found was so precious thatand then he found Christ, and what he found was so precious thatand then he found Christ, and what he found was so precious thatand then he found Christ, and what he found was so precious thatand then he found Christ, and what he found was so precious thathe was willing to die for his faith—and he did —he was willing to die for his faith—and he did —he was willing to die for his faith—and he did —he was willing to die for his faith—and he did —he was willing to die for his faith—and he did —

Read the story of Berquin’s struggle to maintain the right, whenthe majority around him desired only that which might protect them-selves. RRRRRead the storead the storead the storead the storead the story of men and women who with him, re-y of men and women who with him, re-y of men and women who with him, re-y of men and women who with him, re-y of men and women who with him, re-fused to compromise their faith—the storfused to compromise their faith—the storfused to compromise their faith—the storfused to compromise their faith—the storfused to compromise their faith—the story of the Fy of the Fy of the Fy of the Fy of the French Rrench Rrench Rrench Rrench Ref-ef-ef-ef-ef-ormation —ormation —ormation —ormation —ormation ————————————————————————

The Protest of Spires and the Confession atAugsburg, which marked the triumph of the Reforma-tion in Germany, were followed by years of conflict anddarkness. Weakened by divisions among its supporters,and assailed by powerful foes, Protestantism seemed des-tined to be utterly destroyed. Thousands sealed their testi-mony with their blood. Civil war broke out; the Protestantcause was betrayed by one of its leading adherents; the no-blest of the reformed princes fell into the hands of the em-peror, and were dragged as captives from town to town. Butin the moment of his apparent triumph, the emperor wassmitten with defeat. He saw the prey wrested from hisgrasp, and he was forced at last to grant toleration tothe doctrines which it had been the ambition of his life todestroy. He had staked his kingdom, his treasures, and lifeitself, upon the crushing out of the heresy. Now he saw hisarmies wasted by battle, his treasuries drained, his many king-doms threatened by revolt, while everywhere the faith which

The FrThe FrThe FrThe FrThe French Reformation ench Reformation ench Reformation ench Reformation ench Reformation [210-211] [210-211] [210-211] [210-211] [210-211]


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 soughtto keep the darkness unbroken. His purposes had failed, andin premature old age, worn out with the long struggle, heabdicated the throne, and buried himself in a cloister.

In Switzerland, as in Germany, there came dark daysfor the Reformation. While many cantons accepted thereformed faith, others clung with blind persistence to thecreed of Rome. Their persecution of those who desiredto receive the truth, finally gave rise to civil war. Zwingleand many who had united with him in reform, fell on thebloody field of Cappel. Oecolampadius, overcome by theseterrible disasters, soon after died. Rome was triumphant,and in many places seemed about to recover all that shehad lost. But He whose counsels are from everlasting hadnot forsaken His cause or His people. His hand would bringdeliverance for them. In other lands He had raised up labor-ers to carry forward the reform.

In France, before the name of Luther had been heardas a reformer, the day had already begun to break. One

———————————HISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DAAAAATING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—There are many his-

torical incidents brought out in this chapter; here are a few high points:Charles V abdicated the throne in 1554 and died 5 years later. In October1531, Zwingli died in the Battle of Cappel. A few weeks later,Oecolampadius died. Within 4 years, Geneva became Protestant. By 1515,both Lefevre and Farel were active Protestants. The Bishop of Meaux(whose name was Briconnet) recanted in 1523. Berquin was burned atthe stake in 1529. Calvin became a Protestant in 1534. Feret, an enthusi-astic Protestant, instigated the posting of placards late in 1534, all overFrance. As a result, many Protestants were killed on January 21, 1535,and onward for 4 months. On January 21, 1793, 258 years later, the Frenchking, Louis XVI was beheaded. William Farel began evangelistic work in1528, entered Geneva in 1532, and it was won to Protestantism in 1536.Calvin arrived there that same year.

John Knox converted to Protestantism about 1542, and went toGeneva for several months in 1554. His powerful preaching in Scotlandbegan in 1559, and led to civil war between the Protestants and Catho-lics, which the Protestants won. He spoke boldly to Queen Mary Stuartfrom 1551 onward for several years.

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of the first to catch the light was the aged Lefevre, a manof extensive learning, a professor in the University ofParis, and a sincere and zealous papist. In his researchesinto ancient literature his attention was directed to the Bible,and he introduced its study among his students. Lefevre wasan enthusiastic adorer of the saints, and he had under-taken to prepare a history of the saints and martyrs, asgiven in the legends of the church. This was a work whichinvolved great labor, but he had already made considerableprogress in it, when, thinking that he might obtain usefulassistance from the Bible, he began its study with thisobject. Here indeed he found saints brought to view, butnot such as figured in the Romish calendar. A flood ofdivine light broke in upon his mind. In amazement anddisgust he turned away from his self-appointed task, and de-voted himself to the Word of God. The precious truths whichhe there discovered, he soon began to teach. In 1512, beforeeither Luther or Zwingle had begun the work of reform,Lefevre wrote: “It is God who gives us, by faith, thatrighteousness which by grace justifies unto eternal life.”Dwelling upon the mysteries of redemption, he exclaimed,“Oh, the unspeakable greatness of that exchange,—theSinless One is condemned, and he who is guilty goes free;the Blessing bears the curse, and the curse is brought intoblessing; the Life dies, and the dead live; the Glory is whelmedin darkness, and he who knew nothing but confusion of faceis clothed with glory.”

And while teaching that the glory of salvation belongssolely to God, he also declared that the duty of obediencebelongs to man. “If thou art a member of Christ’s church,”he said, “thou art a member of his body; if thou art of hisbody, then thou art full of the divine nature.” “Oh, if mencould but enter into the understanding of this privilege, howpurely, chastely, and holily, would they live, and how con-temptible, when compared with the glory within them,—thatglory which the eye of flesh cannot see,—would they deemall the glory of this world.”

There were some among Lefevre’s students who lis-



tened eagerly to his words, and who, long after theteacher’s voice should be silenced, were to continue todeclare the truth. Such was William Farel. The son ofpious parents, and educated to accept with implicit faith theteachings of the church, he might, with the apostle Paul, havedeclared concerning himself, “After the most straitest sectof our religion I lived a Pharisee.” Acts 26:5. A devotedRomanist, he burned with zeal to destroy all who should dareto oppose the church. “I would gnash my teeth like a furiouswolf,” he afterward said, referring to this period of his life,“when I heard any one speaking against the pope.” He hadbeen untiring in his adoration of the saints, in companywith Lefevre making the round of the churches of Paris,worshiping at the altars, and adorning with gifts the holyshrines. But these observances could not bring peace of soul.Conviction of sin fastened upon him, which all the acts ofpenance that he practiced, failed to banish. As a voice fromHeaven, he listened to the reformer’s words: “Salvation is ofgrace. The Innocent One is condemned, and the criminal isacquitted.” “It is the cross of Christ alone that openeth thegates of Heaven, and shutteth the gates of hell.”

Farel joyfully accepted the truth. By a conversionlike that of Paul, he turned from the bondage of tradi-tion to the liberty of the sons of God. “Instead of the mur-derous heart of a ravening wolf,” he came back, he says,“quietly, like a meek and harmless lamb, having his heartentirely withdrawn from the pope, and given to Jesus Christ.

While Lefevre continued to spread the light amonghis students, Farel, as zealous in the cause of Christ as hehad been in that of the pope, went forth to declare thetruth in public. A dignitary of the church, the bishop ofMeaux, soon after united with them. Other teachers whoranked high for their ability and learning, joined in proclaim-ing the gospel, and it won adherents among all classes, fromthe homes of artisans and peasants to the palace of the king.The sister of Francis I, then the reigning monarch, ac-cepted the reformed faith. The king himself, and the queenmother, appeared for a time to regard it with favor, and

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with high hopes the reformers looked forward to the timewhen France should be won to the gospel.

But their hopes were not to be realized. Trial and per-secution awaited the disciples of Christ. This, however, wasmercifully veiled from their eyes. A time of peace intervened,that they might gain strength to meet the tempest; and theReformation made rapid progress. The bishop of Meaux la-bored zealously in his own diocese to instruct both the clergyand the people. Ignorant and immoral priests were removed,and, so far as possible, replaced by men of learning and pi-ety. The bishop greatly desired that his people might haveaccess to the Word of God for themselves, and this wassoon accomplished. Lefevre undertook the translationof the New Testament, and at the very time when Luther’sGerman Bible was issuing from the press in Wittenberg,the French New Testament was published at Meaux. Thebishop spared no labor or expense to circulate it amonghis parishes, and soon the peasants of Meaux were in pos-session of the Holy Scriptures.

As travelers perishing from thirst welcome with joy aliving water-spring, so did these souls receive the messageof Heaven. The laborers in the field, the artisans in theworkshop, cheered their daily toil by talking of the pre-cious truths of the Bible. At evening, instead of resortingto the wine shops, they assembled in each other’s homesto read God’s Word and join in prayer and praise. Agreat change was soon manifest in these communities.Though belonging to the humblest class, an unlearned andhard-working peasantry, the reforming, uplifting power ofdivine grace was seen in their lives. Humble, loving, andholy, they stood as witnesses to what the gospel will accom-plish for those who receive it in sincerity.

The light kindled at Meaux shed its beams afar. Ev-ery day the number of converts was increasing. The rageof the hierarchy was for a time held in check by the king,who despised the narrow bigotry of the monks; but thepapist leaders finally prevailed. Now the stake was setup. The bishop of Meaux, forced to choose between the



fire and recantation, accepted the easier path; but not-withstanding the leader’s fall, his flock remained stead-fast. Many witnessed for the truth amid the flames. By theircourage and fidelity at the stake, these humble Christiansspoke to thousands who in days of peace had never heardtheir testimony.

It was not alone the humble and the poor, that amid suf-fering and scorn dared to bear witness for Christ. In the lordlyhalls of the castle and the palace, there were kingly souls bywhom truth was valued above wealth or rank or even life.Knightly armor concealed a loftier and more steadfast spiritthan did the bishop’s robe and mitre. Louis de Berquin wasof noble birth. A brave and courtly knight, he was de-voted to study, polished in manners, and of blamelessmorals. “He was,” says a writer, “a great follower of thepapistical constitutions, and a great hearer of masses andsermons.” “And he crowned all his other virtues by holdingLutheranism in special abhorrence.” But, like so many oth-ers, providentially guided to the Bible, he was amazed tofind there, not the teachings of popery, but the doctrinesof Luther. Henceforth he gave himself, with entire devo-tion, to the cause of the gospel.

“The most learned of the nobles of France,” his geniusand eloquence, his indomitable courage and heroic zeal, andhis influence at court—for he was a favorite with the king—caused him to be regarded by many as one destined to be thereformer of his country. Said Beza, “Berquin would havebeen a second Luther, had he found in Francis I a secondelector.” “He is worse than Luther,” cried the papists. Moredreaded he was indeed by the Romanists of France. Theythrust him in prison as a heretic, but he was set at lib-erty by the king. For years the struggle continued. Fran-cis, wavering between Rome and the Reformation, al-ternately tolerated and restrained the fierce zeal of themonks. Berquin was three times imprisoned by the papistauthorities, only to be released by the monarch, who, in ad-miration of his genius and his nobility of character, refusedto sacrifice him to the malice of the hierarchy.

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Berquin was repeatedly warned of the danger thatthreatened him in France, and urged to follow the stepsof those who had found safety in voluntary exile. The timidand time-serving Erasmus—who with all the splendor of hisscholarship failed of that moral greatness which holds lifeand honor subservient to truth—wrote to Berquin: “Ask tobe sent as ambassador to some foreign country; go and travelin Germany. You know Beda and such as he—he is a thou-sand-headed monster, darting venom on every side. Your en-emies are named legion. Were your cause better than that ofJesus Christ, they will not let you go till they have miserablydestroyed you. Do not trust too much to the king’s protec-tion. At all events, do not compromise me with the facultyof theology.”

But as dangers thickened, Berquin’s zeal only waxedthe stronger. So far from adopting the politic and self-serving counsel of Erasmus, he determined upon stillbolder measures. He would not only stand in defense ofthe truth, but he would attack error. The charge of heresywhich the Romanists were seeking to fasten upon him, hewould rivet upon them. The most active and bitter of hisopponents were the learned doctors and monks of the theo-logical department in the great university of Paris, one of thehighest ecclesiastical authorities both in the city and the na-tion. From the writings of these doctors, Berquin drewtwelve propositions which he publicly declared to be con-trary to the Bible, and therefore heretical; and he ap-pealed to the king to act as judge in the controversy.

The monarch, not loth to bring in contrast the powerand acuteness of the opposing champions, and glad of anopportunity of humbling the pride of these haughty monks,bade the Romanists defend their cause by the Bible. Thisweapon, they well knew, would avail them little; imprison-ment, torture, and the stake were arms which they better un-derstood to wield. Now the tables were turned, and they sawthemselves about to fall into the pit into which they had hopedto plunge Berquin. In amazement they looked about themfor some way of escape.



Just at this time an image of the virgin, standing atthe corner of one of the public streets, was found muti-lated. There was great excitement in the city. Crowds ofpeople flocked to the place, with expressions of mourningand indignation. The king also was deeply moved. Herewas an advantage which the monks could turn to goodaccount, and they were quick to improve it. “These arethe fruits of the doctrines of Berquin,” they cried. “All isabout to be overthrown,—religion, the laws, the throne it-self,—by this Lutheran conspiracy.”

Again Berquin was apprehended. The king withdrewfrom Paris, and the monks were thus left free to worktheir will. The reformer was tried, and condemned todie, and lest Francis should even yet interpose to savehim, the sentence was executed on the very day it waspronounced. At noon Berquin was conducted to the placeof death. An immense throng gathered to witness the event,and there were many who saw with astonishment and mis-giving that the victim had been chosen from the best andbravest of the noble families of France. Amazement, indig-nation, scorn, and bitter hatred darkened the faces ofthat surging crowd; but upon one face no shadow rested.The martyr’s thoughts were far from that scene of tu-mult; he was conscious only of the presence of his Lord.

The wretched tumbrel upon which he rode, the frowningfaces of his persecutors, the dreadful death to which he wasgoing,—these he heeded not; He who liveth and was dead,and is alive forevermore, and hath the keys of death and ofhell, was beside him. Berquin’s countenance was radiant withthe light and peace of Heaven. He had attired himself ingoodly raiment, wearing “a cloak of velvet, a doublet of satinand damask, and golden hose.” He was about to testify tohis faith in presence of the King of kings and the witnessinguniverse, and no token of mourning should belie his joy.

As the procession moved slowly through the crowdedstreets, the people marked with wonder the uncloudedpeace, the joyous triumph, of his look and bearing. “Heis,” they said, “like one who sits in a temple, and meditates

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on holy things.”At the stake, Berquin endeavored to address a few words

to the people, but the monks, fearing the result, began toshout, and the soldiers to clash their arms, and their clamordrowned the martyr’s voice. Thus in 1529, the highest liter-ary and ecclesiastical authority of cultured Paris “set thepopulace of 1793 the base example of stifling on the scaf-fold the sacred words of the dying.”

Berquin was strangled, and his body was consumed inthe flames. The tidings of his death caused sorrow to thefriends of the Reformation throughout France. But hisexample was not lost. “We too are ready,” said the witnessesfor the truth, “to meet death cheerfully, setting our eyes onthe life that is to come.”

During the persecution at Meaux, the teachers of the re-formed faith were deprived of their license to preach, andthey departed to other fields. Lefevre after a time made hisway to Germany. Farel returned to his native town ineastern France, to spread the light in the home of hischildhood. Already tidings had been received of what wasgoing on at Meaux, and the truth, which he taught with fear-less zeal, found listeners. Soon the authorities were rousedto silence him, and he was banished from the city. Thoughhe could no longer labor publicly, he traversed the plainsand villages, teaching in private dwellings and in secludedmeadows, and finding shelter in the forests and among therocky caverns which had been his haunts in boyhood. Godwas preparing him for greater trials. “Crosses, persecution,and the lying-in-wait of Satan, of which I had intimation,were not wanting,” he said; “they were even much more thanI could have borne in my own strength; but God is my Fa-ther; He has ministered, and will forever minister, to me allneedful strength.”

As in apostolic days, persecution had “fallen out ratherunto the furtherance of the gospel.” Philippians 1:12. Drivenfrom Paris and Meaux, “they that were scattered abroad wenteverywhere preaching the Word.” Acts 8:4. And thus thelight 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, quietyouth, already giving evidence of a powerful and pen-etrating mind, and no less marked for the blamelessnessof his life than for intellectual ardor and religious devo-tion. His genius and application soon made him the pride ofthe college, and it was confidently anticipated that JohnCalvin would become one of the ablest and most hon-ored defenders of the church. But a ray of divine light pen-etrated even within the walls of scholasticism and supersti-tion by which Calvin was inclosed. He heard of the new doc-trines with a shudder, nothing doubting that the heretics de-served the fire to which they were given. Yet all unwittinglyhe was brought face to face with the heresy, and forced totest the power of Romish theology to combat the Protestantteaching.

A cousin of Calvin’s, who had joined the reformers,was in Paris. The two kinsmen often met, and discussedtogether 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 whichmen have invented, in all of which man saves himself byceremonies and good works; the other is that one religionwhich is revealed in the Bible, and which teaches men tolook for salvation solely to the free grace of God. “I willhave none of your new doctrines,” exclaimed Calvin; “thinkyou that I have lived in error all my days?”

But thoughts had been awakened in his mind whichhe could not banish at will. Alone in his chamber he pon-dered upon his cousin’s words. Conviction of sin fastenedupon him; he saw himself, without an intercessor, in the pres-ence of a holy and just Judge. The mediation of saints, goodworks, the ceremonies of the church, all were powerless toatone for sin. He could see before him nothing but the black-ness of eternal despair. In vain the doctors of the church en-deavored to relieve his woe. Confession, penance, were re-sorted to in vain; they could not reconcile the soul with God.

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While still engaged in these fruitless struggles, Calvin,chancing one day to visit one of the public squares, wit-nessed there the burning of a heretic. He was filled withwonder at the expression of peace which rested upon themartyr’s countenance. Amid the tortures of that dreadfuldeath, and under the more terrible condemnation of thechurch, he manifested a faith and courage which the youngstudent painfully contrasted with his own despair and dark-ness, while living in strictest obedience to the church. Uponthe Bible, he knew, the heretics rested their faith. He de-termined to study it, and discover, if he could, the secretof their joy.

In the Bible he found Christ. “O Father,” he cried, “Hissacrifice has appeased Thy wrath; His blood has washed awaymy impurities; His cross has borne my curse; His death hasatoned for me. We had devised for ourselves many uselessfollies, but thou hast placed Thy Word before me like a torch,and thou hast touched my heart, in order that I may hold inabomination all other merits save those of Jesus.”

Calvin had been educated for the priesthood. Whenonly twelve years of age he had been appointed to the chap-laincy of a small church, and his head had been shorn by thebishop in accordance with the canon of the church. He didnot receive consecration, nor did he fulfill the duties of apriest, but he became a member of the clergy, holding thetitle of his office, and receiving an allowance in consider-ation thereof.

Now, feeling that he could never become a priest, heturned for a time to the study of law, but finally aban-doned this purpose, and determined to devote his life tothe gospel. But he hesitated to become a public teacher. Hewas naturally timid, and was burdened with a sense of theweighty responsibility of the position, and he desired to stilldevote 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 greatdignity.”

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 theprincess Margaret, who, loving the gospel, extended her pro-tection to its disciples. Calvin was still a youth, of gentle,unpretentious bearing. His work began with the people attheir homes. Surrounded by the members of the house-hold, he read the Bible, and opened the truths of salva-tion. Those who heard the message, carried the goodnews to others, and soon the teacher passed beyond the cityto the outlying towns and hamlets. To both the castle and thecabin he found entrance, and he went forward, laying thefoundation of churches that were to yield fearless witnessesfor the truth.

A few months and he was again in Paris. There wasunwonted agitation in the circle of learned men and schol-ars. The study of the ancient languages had led men to theBible, and many whose hearts were untouched by its truthswere eagerly discussing them, and even giving battle to thechampions of Romanism. Calvin, though an able combatantin the fields of theological controversy, had a higher missionto accomplish than that of these noisy schoolmen. The mindsof men were stirred, and now was the time to open to themthe truth. While the halls of the universities were filledwith the clamor of theological disputation, Calvin wasmaking his way from house to house, opening the Bibleto the people, and speaking to them of Christ and Himcrucified.

In God’s providence, Paris was to receive another invi-tation to accept the gospel. The call of Lefevre and Farel hadbeen rejected, but again the message was to be heard by allclasses in that great capital. The king, influenced by politi-cal considerations, had not yet fully sided with Romeagainst the Reformation. Margaret still clung to the hopethat Protestantism was to triumph in France. She re-solved that the reformed faith should be preached inParis. During the absence of the king, she ordered a Protes-tant minister to preach in the churches of the city. This beingforbidden by the papal dignitaries, the princess threw open

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the palace. An apartment was fitted up as a chapel, and itwas announced that every day, at a specified hour, a sermonwould be preached, and the people of every rank and stationwere invited to attend. Crowds flocked to the service. Notonly the chapel, but the ante-chambers and halls werethronged. Thousands every day assembled,—nobles, states-men, lawyers, merchants, and artisans. The king, instead offorbidding the assemblies, ordered that two of the churchesof Paris should be opened. Never before had the city beenso moved by the Word of God. The spirit of life fromHeaven seemed to be breathed upon the people. Temper-ance, purity, order, and industry were taking the place ofdrunkenness, licentiousness, strife, and idleness.

But the hierarchy were not idle. The king still re-fused to interfere to stop the preaching, and they turnedto the populace. No means were spared to excite the fears,the prejudices, and the fanaticism of the ignorant andsuperstitious multitudes. Yielding blindly to her false teach-ers, Paris, like Jerusalem of old, knew not the time of hervisitation, nor the things which belonged unto her peace. Fortwo years the Word of God was preached in the capital;but while there were many who accepted the gospel, themajority of the people rejected it. Francis had made ashow 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 setup.

Calvin was still in Paris, preparing himself by study,meditation, and prayer, for his future labors, and continuingto spread the light. At last, however, suspicion fastened uponhim. The authorities determined to bring him to the flames.Regarding himself as secure in his seclusion, he had nothought of danger, when friends came hurrying to his roomwith the news that officers were on their way to arrest him.At the instant a loud knocking was heard at the outer en-trance. There was not a moment to be lost. Some of his friendsdetained the officers at the door, while others assisted thereformer to let himself down from a window, and he rapidly



made his way to the outskirts of the city. Finding shelter inthe cottage of a laborer who was a friend to the reform, hedisguised himself in the garments of his host, and, shoulder-ing a hoe, started on his journey. Traveling southward heagain found refuge in the dominions of Margaret.

Here for a few months he remained, safe under theprotection of powerful friends, and engaged, as before, instudy. But his heart was set upon the evangelization of France,and he could not long remain inactive. As soon as the stormhad somewhat abated, he sought a new field of labor inPoitiers, where was a university, and where already the newopinions had found favor. Persons of all classes gladly lis-tened to the gospel. There was no public preaching, but inthe home of the chief magistrate, in his own lodgings, andsometimes in a public garden, Calvin opened the words ofeternal life to those who desired to listen. After a time, asthe number of hearers increased, it was thought safer toassemble outside the city. A cave in the side of a deep andnarrow gorge, where trees and overhanging rocks made theseclusion still more complete, was chosen as the place ofmeeting. Little companies, leaving the city by different routes,found their way hither. In this retired spot the Bible was readand explained. Here the Lord’s supper was celebrated forthe first time by the Protestants of France. From this littlechurch several faithful evangelists were sent out.

Once more Calvin returned to Paris. He could noteven yet relinquish the hope that France as a nation wouldaccept the Reformation. But he found almost every doorof labor closed. To teach the gospel was to take the directroad to the stake, and he at last determined to depart to Ger-many. Scarcely had he left France when a storm burstover the Protestants, that, had he remained, must surelyhave involved him in the general ruin.

The French reformers, eager to see their countrykeeping pace with Germany and Switzerland, determinedto strike a bold blow against the superstitions of Rome,that should arouse the whole nation. Accordingly placardsattacking the mass were in one night posted all over France.

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Instead of advancing the reform, this zealous but ill-judgedmovement brought ruin, not only upon its propagators, butupon the friends of the reformed faith throughout France. Itgave the Romanists what they had long desired,—a pretextfor demanding the utter destruction of the heretics as agita-tors dangerous to the stability of the throne and the peace ofthe nation.

By some secret hand—whether of indiscreet friend orwily foe was never known—one of the placards was at-tached to the door of the king’s private chamber. Themonarch was filled with horror. In this paper, supersti-tions that had received the veneration of ages were attackedwith an unsparing hand. And the unexampled boldness ofobtruding these plain and startling utterances into the royalpresence, aroused the wrath of the king. In his amazementhe stood for a little time trembling and speechless. Then hisrage found utterance in the terrible words: “Let all beseized; and let Lutheranism be totally exterminated.” Thedie was cast. The king had determined to throw himself fullyon the side of Rome.

Measures were at once taken for the arrest of everyLutheran in Paris. A poor artisan, an adherent of the re-formed faith, who had been accustomed to summon the be-lievers to their secret assemblies, was seized; and with thethreat of instant death at the stake, was commanded to con-duct the papist emissary to the home of every Protestant inthe city. He shrunk in horror from the base proposal, but atlast fear of the flames prevailed, and he consented to be-come the betrayer of his brethren. Preceded by the host, andsurrounded by a train of priests, incense-bearers, monks, andsoldiers, Morin, the royal detective, with the traitor, slowlyand silently passed through the streets of the city. The dem-onstration was ostensibly in honor of the “holy sacrament,”an act of expiation for the insult put upon the mass by theprotesters. But beneath this pageant a deadly purpose wasconcealed. On arriving opposite the house of a Lutheran, thebetrayer made a sign, but no word was uttered. The proces-sion halted, the house was entered, the family were dragged



forth and chained, and the terrible company went forward insearch of fresh victims. “No house was spared, great or small,not even the colleges of the University of Paris. Morin madethe whole city quake.” “The reign of terror had begun.”

The victims were put to death with cruel torture, itbeing specially ordered that the fire should be lowered,in order to prolong their agony. But they died as con-querors. Their constancy was unshaken, their peace un-clouded. Their persecutors, powerless to move their inflex-ible firmness, felt themselves defeated. “The scaffolds weredistributed over all the quarters of Paris, and the burningsfollowed on successive days, the design being to spread theterror of heresy by spreading the executions. The advantage,however, in the end, remained with the gospel. All Pariswas enabled to see what kind of men the new opinionscould produce. There is no pulpit like the martyr’s pile.The serene joy that lighted up the faces of these men as theypassed along to the place of execution, their heroism as theystood amid the bitter flames, their meek forgiveness of inju-ries, transformed, in instances not a few, anger into pity, andhate into love, and pleaded with resistless eloquence in be-half of the gospel.”

The priests, bent upon keeping the popular fury atits height, circulated the most terrible accusations againstthe Protestants. They were charged with plotting to massa-cre the Catholics, to overthrow the government, and to mur-der the king. Not a shadow of evidence could be produced insupport of the allegations. Yet these prophecies of evil wereto have a fulfillment; under far different circumstances, how-ever, and from causes of an opposite character. The cruel-ties that were inflicted upon the innocent Protestants bythe Catholics accumulated in a weight of retribution, andin after-centuries wrought the very doom they had pre-dicted to be impending, upon the king, his government,and subjects; but it was brought about by infidels, andby the papists themselves. It was not the establishment,but the suppression of Protestantism, that, three hun-dred years later, was to bring upon France these dire

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calamities.Suspicion, distrust, and terror now pervaded all classes

of society. Amid the general alarm it was seen how deep ahold the Lutheran teaching had gained upon the minds ofmen who stood highest for education, influence, and excel-lence of character. Positions of trust and honor were sud-denly found vacant. Artisans, printers, scholars, professorsin the universities, authors, and even courtiers, disappeared.Hundreds fled from Paris, self-constituted exiles fromtheir native land, in many cases thus giving the first inti-mation that they favored the reformed faith. The papistslooked about them in amazement at the thought of unsus-pected heretics that had been tolerated among them. Theirrage spent itself upon the multitudes of humbler victims whowere within their power. The prisons were crowded, andthe very air seemed darkened with the smoke of burningpiles, kindled for the confessors of the gospel.

Francis I had gloried in being a leader in the great move-ment for the revival of learning which marked the openingof the sixteenth century. He had delighted to gather at hiscourt men of letters from every country. To his love of learn-ing and his contempt for the ignorance and superstition ofthe monks was due, in part, at least, the degree of tolerationthat had been granted to the reform. But, inspired with zealto stamp out heresy, this patron of learning issued anedict declaring printing abolished all over France!Francis I presents one among the many examples onrecord showing that intellectual culture is not a safeguardagainst religious intolerance and persecution.

France by a solemn and public ceremony was to com-mit herself fully to the destruction of Protestantism. Thepriests demanded that the affront offered to high Heaven inthe condemnation of the mass, be expiated in blood, and thatthe king, in behalf of his people, publicly give his sanctionto the dreadful work.

The 21st of January, 1535, was fixed upon for theawful ceremonial. The superstitious fears and bigoted ha-tred of the whole nation had been roused. Paris was thronged



with the multitudes that from all the surrounding countrycrowded her streets. The day was to be ushered in by a vastand imposing procession. Along the line of march the houseswere draped in mourning. At intervals altars were erected,and before every door was a lighted torch in honor of the“holy sacrament.” Before daybreak the procession formed,at the palace of the king. After the crosses and banners ofthe parishes, came citizens, walking two and two, and bear-ing lighted torches. The four orders of friars followed, eachin its own peculiar dress. Then came a vast collection of fa-mous relics. Following these rode lordly ecclesiastics in theirpurple and scarlet robes and jeweled adornings, a gorgeousand glittering array.

The host was borne under a splendid canopy, sup-ported by four princes of highest rank. After them walkedthe monarch, divested of his crown and royal robe, withuncovered head and downcast eyes, and bearing in his handa lighted taper. Thus the king of France appeared publicly asa penitent. At every altar he bowed down in humiliation, notfor the vices that defiled his soul, not the innocent blood thatstained his hands, but for the deadly sin of his subjects whohad dared to condemn the mass. Following him came thequeen 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 him-self addressed the high officials of the kingdom in thegreat hall of the bishop’s palace. With a sorrowful counte-nance he appeared before them, and in words of moving elo-quence bewailed the “crime, the blasphemy, the day of sor-row and disgrace,” that had come upon the nation. And hecalled upon every loyal subject to aid in the extirpation ofthe pestilent heresy that threatened France with ruin. “Astrue, Messieurs, as I am your king,” he said, “if I knew oneof my own limbs was spotted or infected with this detestablerottenness, I would give it to you to cut off. . . . And, further,if I saw one of my children defiled by it, I would not sparehim. . . . I would deliver him up myself, and would sacrificehim to God.” Tears choked his utterance, and the whole as-

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sembly wept, with one accord exclaiming, “We will live anddie in the Catholic religion.”

Terrible had become the darkness of the nation thathad rejected the light of truth. “The grace that bringethsalvation” had appeared; but France, after beholding itspower and holiness, after thousands had been drawn by itsdivine beauty, after cities and hamlets had been illuminatedby its radiance, had turned away, choosing darkness ratherthan light. They had put from them the heavenly gift, whenit was offered them. They had called evil good, and goodevil, till they had fallen victims to their willful self-decep-tion. Now, though they might actually believe that they weredoing God service in persecuting His people, yet their sin-cerity did not render them guiltless. The light that would havesaved them from deception, from staining their souls withblood-guiltiness, they had willfully rejected.

A solemn oath to extirpate heresy was taken, in the greatcathedral where, nearly three centuries later, the “Goddessof Reason” was to be enthroned by a nation that had forgot-ten the living God. Again the procession formed, and therepresentatives of France set out to begin the work whichthey had sworn to do. At intervals along the homewardroute, scaffolds had been erected for the execution of her-etics, and it was arranged that at the approach of theking the pile should be lighted, that he might thus be wit-ness to the whole terrible spectacle. The details of the tor-tures endured by these witnesses for Christ are too harrow-ing for recital; but there was no wavering on the part of thevictims. On being urged to recant, one answered, “I onlybelieve in what the prophets and apostles formerly preached,and what all the company of the saints believed. My faithhas a confidence in God which will resist all the power ofhell.”

Again and again the procession halted at the placesof torture. Upon reaching their starting-point at the royalpalace, the crowd dispersed, and the king and the prel-ates 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 bethe results. On the 21st of January, 1793, two hundredand fifty-eight years from the very day that fully com-mitted France to the persecution of the reformers, an-other procession, with a far different purpose, passedthrough the streets of Paris. “Again the king was the chieffigure; again there were tumult and shouting; again therewas heard the cry for more victims; again there were blackscaffolds; and again the scenes of the day were closed byhorrid executions; Louis XVI, struggling hand to hand withhis jailers and executioners, was dragged forward to the block,and there held down by main force till the ax had fallen, andhis dissevered head fell on the scaffold.” Nor was the kingthe only victim; near the same spot two thousand and eighthundred human beings perished by the guillotine during thebloody days of the reign of terror.

The Reformation had presented to the world an openBible, unsealing the precepts of the law of God, and urg-ing its claims upon the consciences of the people. Infinitelove had unfolded to men the statutes and principles ofHeaven. God had said, “Keep therefore and do them; forthis is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight ofthe nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surelythis great nation is a wise and understanding people,”Deuteronomy 4:6. When France rejected the gift of Heav-en, she sowed the seeds of anarchy and ruin; and theinevitable outworking of cause and effect resulted in theRevolution and the reign of terror.

Long before the persecution excited by the placards,the bold and ardent Farel had been forced to flee fromthe land of his birth. He repaired to Switzerland, and byhis labors, seconding the work of Zwingle, he helped toturn the scale in favor of the Reformation. His later yearswere to be spent here, yet he continued to exert a decidedinfluence upon the reform in France. During the first yearsof his exile, his efforts were especially directed to spreading

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the gospel in his native country. He spent considerable timein preaching among his countrymen near the frontier, wherewith tireless vigilance he watched the conflict, and aided byhis words of encouragement and counsel. With the assis-tance of other exiles, the writings of the German reform-ers were translated into the French language, and, to-gether with the French Bible, were printed in large quan-tities. By colporters, these works were sold extensivelyin France. They were furnished to the colporters at a lowprice, and thus the profits of the work enabled them to con-tinue it.

Farel entered upon his work in Switzerland in thehumble guise of a school-master. Repairing to a secludedparish, he devoted himself to the instruction of children.Besides the usual branches of learning, he cautiously intro-duced the truths of the Bible, hoping through the children toreach their parents. There were some who believed, but thepriests came forward to stop the work, and the superstitiouscountry people were roused to oppose it. “That cannot bethe gospel of Christ,” urged the priests, “seeing the preach-ing of it does not bring peace but war.” Like the first dis-ciples, when persecuted in one city he fled to another.From village to village, from city to city, he went; travel-ing on foot, enduring hunger, cold, and weariness, andeverywhere in peril of his life. He preached in the mar-ket-places, in the churches, sometimes in the pulpits ofthe cathedrals. Sometimes he found the church empty ofhearers; at times his preaching was interrupted by shoutsand jeers, again he was pulled violently out of the pulpit.More than once he was set upon by the rabble, and beatenalmost to death. Yet he pressed forward. Though often re-pulsed, with unwearying persistence he returned to the at-tack; and, one after another, he saw towns and cities whichhad been strongholds of popery, opening their gates tothe gospel. The little parish where he had first labored, soonaccepted the reformed faith. The cities of Morat andNeuchatel also renounced the Romish rites, and removed theidolatrous images from their churches.



Farel had long desired to plant the Protestant stan-dard in Geneva. If this city could be won, it would be acenter for the Reformation in France, in Switzerland, andin Italy. With this object before him, he had continued hislabors until many of the surrounding towns and hamlets hadbeen gained. Then with a single companion he enteredGeneva. But only two sermons was he permitted topreach. The priests, having vainly endeavored to secure hiscondemnation by the civil authorities, summoned him be-fore an ecclesiastical council, to which they came with armsconcealed under their robes, determined to take his life. Out-side the hall, a furious mob, with clubs and swords, was gath-ered to make sure of his death if he should succeed in escap-ing the council. The presence of magistrates and an armedforce, however, saved him. Early next morning he was con-ducted, with his companion, across the lake to a place ofsafety. 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 coldlytreated even by the professed friends of reform. But whatcould such a one do where Farel had been rejected? Howcould one of little courage and experience withstand the tem-pest before which the strongest and bravest had been forcedto flee? “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saiththe Lord.” Zechariah 4:6. “God hath chosen the weak thingsof the world to confound the things which are mighty.” “Be-cause the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weak-ness of God is stronger than men.” 1 Corinthians 1:27, 25.

Froment began his work as a school-master. Thetruths which he taught the children at school, they repeatedat their homes. Soon the parents came to hear the Bible ex-plained, until the school-room was filled with attentive lis-teners. New Testaments and tracts were freely distrib-uted, and they reached many who dared not come openlyto listen to the new doctrines. After a time this laborer alsowas forced to flee; but the truths he taught had taken holdupon the minds of the people. The Reformation had beenplanted, and it continued to strengthen and extend. The

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preachers returned, and through their labors the Prot-estant 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 birth-place, he was on his way to Basel, when, finding the directroad occupied by the armies of Charles V, he was forced totake the circuitous route by Geneva.

In this visit, Farel recognized the hand of God. ThoughGeneva had accepted the reformed faith, yet a great workremained to be accomplished here. It is not as communitiesbut as individuals that men are converted to God; the workof regeneration must be wrought in the heart and conscienceby the power of the Holy Spirit, not by the decrees of coun-cils. While the people of Geneva had cast off the author-ity of Rome, they were not so ready to renounce the vicesthat had flourished under her rule. To establish here thepure principles of the gospel, and to prepare this people tofill worthily the position to which Providence seemed call-ing them, was no light task.

Farel was confident that he had found in Calvin onewhom he could unite with himself in this work. In thename of God he solemnly adjured the young evangelistto remain and labor here. Calvin drew back in alarm. Timidand peace-loving, he shrank from contact with the bold, in-dependent, and even violent spirit of the Genevese. Thefeebleness of his health, together with his studious habits,led him to seek retirement. Believing that by his pen he couldbest serve the cause of reform, he desired to find a quietretreat for study, and there, through the press, instruct andbuild up the churches. But Farel’s solemn admonition cameto him as a call from Heaven, and he dared not refuse. Itseemed to him, he said, “that the hand of God was stretcheddown from Heaven, that it laid hold of him, and fixed himirrevocably to the place he was so impatient to leave.”

At this time great perils surrounded the Protestantcause. The anathemas of the pope thundered againstGeneva, and mighty nations threatened it with destruc-



tion. How was this little city to resist the powerful hierarchythat had so often forced kings and emperors to submission?How could it stand against the armies of the world’s greatconquerors?

Throughout Christendom, Protestantism was men-aced by formidable foes. The first triumphs of the Ref-ormation past, Rome summoned new forces, hoping toaccomplish its destruction. At this time, the order of theJesuits was created, the most cruel, unscrupulous, andpowerful of all the champions of popery. Cut off fromevery earthly tie and human interest, dead to the claims ofnatural affection, reason and conscience wholly silenced, theyknew no rule, no tie, but that of their order, and not duty butto extend its power. The gospel of Christ had enabled itsadherents to meet danger and endure suffering, undismayedby cold, hunger, toil, and poverty, to uphold the banner oftruth in face of the rack, the dungeon, and the stake. To com-bat these forces, Jesuitism inspired its followers with afanaticism that enabled them to endure like dangers, andto oppose to the power of truth all the weapons of decep-tion. There was no crime too great for them to commit, nodeception too base for them to practice, no disguise too dif-ficult for them to assume. Vowed to perpetual poverty andhumility, it was their studied aim to secure wealth and power,to be devoted to the overthrow of Protestantism, and the re-establishment of the papal supremacy.

When appearing as members of their order, they wore agarb of sanctity, visiting prisons and hospitals, ministeringto the sick and the poor, professing to have renounced theworld, and bearing the sacred name of Jesus, who went aboutdoing good. But under this blameless exterior the most crimi-nal and deadly purposes were concealed. It was a funda-mental principle of the order that the end justifies themeans. By this code, lying, theft, perjury, assassination,were not only pardonable but commendable, when theyserved the interests of the church. Under various disguisesthe Jesuits worked their way into offices of State, climbingup to be the counselors of kings, and shaping the policy of

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nations. They became servants, to act as spies upon theirmasters. They established colleges for the sons of princesand nobles, and schools for the common people; and the chil-dren of Protestant parents were drawn into an observance ofpopish rites. All the outward pomp and display of the Romishworship was brought to bear to confuse the mind, and dazzleand captivate the imagination; and thus the liberty for whichthe fathers had toiled and bled was betrayed by the sons.The Jesuits rapidly spread themselves over Europe, andwherever they went, there followed a revival of popery.

To give them greater power, a bull was issued re-establishing the Inquisition. Notwithstanding the generalabhorrence with which it was regarded, even in Catholic coun-tries, this terrible tribunal was again set up by popish rulers,and atrocities too terrible to bear the light of day were re-peated in its secret dungeons. In many countries, thousandsupon thousands of the very flower of the nation, the purestand noblest, the most intellectual and highly educated, piousand devoted pastors, industrious and patriotic citizens, bril-liant scholars, talented artists, skillful artisans, were slain,or forced to flee to other lands.

Such were the means which Rome had invoked toquench the light of the Reformation, to withdraw frommen the Bible, and to restore the ignorance and super-stition of the Dark Ages. But under God’s blessing and thelabors of those noble men whom he had raised up to succeedLuther, Protestantism was not overthrown. Not to the favoror arms of princes was it to owe its strength. The smallestcountries, the humblest and least powerful nations, becameits strongholds. It was little Geneva in the midst of mightyfoes plotting her destruction; it was Holland on her sand-banks by the Northern Sea, wrestling against the tyr-anny of Spain, then the greatest and most opulent of king-doms; it was bleak, sterile Sweden, that gained victoriesfor the Reformation.

For nearly thirty years, Calvin labored at Geneva;first to establish there a church adhering to the morality ofthe Bible, and then for the advancement of the Reformation



throughout Europe. His course as a public leader was notfaultless, nor were his doctrines free from error. But he wasinstrumental in promulgating truths that were of special im-portance in his time, in maintaining the principles of Protes-tantism against the fast-returning tide of popery; and in pro-moting in the reformed churches simplicity and purity of life,in place of the pride and corruption fostered under the Romishteaching.

From Geneva, publications and teachers went outto spread the reformed doctrines. To this point the perse-cuted of all lands looked for instruction, counsel, and en-couragement. The city of Calvin became a refuge for thehunted reformers of all Western Europe. Fleeing from theawful tempests that continued for centuries, the fugitivescame to the gates of Geneva. Starving, wounded, bereft ofhome and kindred, they were warmly welcomed and tenderlycared for; and finding a home here, they blessed the city oftheir adoption by their skill, their learning, and their piety.Many who sought here a refuge returned to their owncountries to resist the tyranny of Rome. John Knox, thebrave Scotch reformer, not a few of the English Puri-tans, the Protestants of Holland, and the Huguenots ofFrance, carried from Geneva the torch of truth to lightenthe darkness of their native land.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: CENTURIES OF PERSECUTION: CENTURIES OF PERSECUTION: CENTURIES OF PERSECUTION: CENTURIES OF PERSECUTION: CENTURIES OF PERSECUTION

“That the church of Rome has shed more innocent blood than anyother institution that has ever existed among mankind, will be questionedby no Protestant who has a competent knowledge of history . . It isimpossible to form a complete conception of the multitude of her vic-tims, and it quite certain that no powers of imagination can adequatelyrealize their sufferings.” W.E.H. Lecky, History of the Rise and Influenceof the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe, Vol. 2, p. 32, 1910 ed. [An excel-lent, though lengthy, article describing in detail the right of the RomanCatholic Church to do this, will be found in The Catholic Encyclopedia,Vol. 12, p. 266.]

“For professing faith contrary to the teachings of the Church of Rome,history records the martyrdom of more than one hundred million people.

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A million Waldenses and Albigenses [Swiss and French Protestants]perished during a crusade proclaimed by Pope Innocent III in 1208.Beginning from the establishment of the Jesuits in 1540 to 1580, ninehundred thousand were destroyed. One hundred and fifty thousandperished by the Inquisition in thirty years. Within the space of thirty-eight years after the edict of Charles V against the Protestants, fiftythousand persons were hanged, beheaded, or burned alive for heresy.Eighteen thousand more perished during the administration of the Dukeof Alva in five and a half years.” Brief Bible Readings, p. 16.

“The Catholic has some reason on his side when he calls for thetemporal punishment of heretics, for he claims the true title of Chris-tian for himself exclusively, and professes to be taught by the never-failing presence of the Spirit of God . . It is not more ‘morally’ wrong toput a man to death for heresy than for murder . . [and] in many casespersecution for religious opinions is not only permissible, but highlyadvisable and necessary.” “The Lawfulness of Persecution,” in TheRambler, 4, June 1849, pp. 119, 126 [English R.C. journal publishedfrom 1848 to 1862].

“ ‘The church,’ said [Martin] Luther, . . ‘has never burned a heretic’. . I reply that this argument proves not the opinion, but the ignoranceor impudence of Luther. Since almost infinite numbers were eitherburned or otherwise killed, Luther either did not know it, and was there-fore ignorant, or if he was not ignorant, he is convicted of impudenceand falsehood; for that heretics were often burned by the church maybe proved if we adduce a few examples.” Robert Bellarmine,Disputationes de Controversis Christianae Fidei (“Disputations Con-cerning Controversies of the Christian Faith”), Tom. II, cap. XXII[Bellarmine, later canonized, was a leading Jesuit leader and writer.]

“The orthodox doctrine, as formulated by St. Thomas Aquinas andconfirmed and elaborated by later Dominicans and by Jesuits like theBlessed Robert Bellarmine Suarez, runs as follows:

“Heresy [as defined by Rome] is the willful holding by a baptizedperson of doctrines which contradict an article of faith defined by theCatholic Church, which contradict an article of faith defined by theCatholic Church.” P. Hinschius, “Heresy,” The New Schaff Herzog En-cyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Vol. 5, pp. 234-235 (1909).

The FrThe FrThe FrThe FrThe French Reformation ench Reformation ench Reformation ench Reformation ench Reformation [236] [236] [236] [236] [236]


Chapter ThirteenChapter ThirteenChapter ThirteenChapter ThirteenChapter Thirteen

LikLikLikLikLike Fe Fe Fe Fe Fiririririreeeeein the Stubblein the Stubblein the Stubblein the Stubblein the Stubble

—The Netherlands and Scandinavia—The Netherlands and Scandinavia—The Netherlands and Scandinavia—The Netherlands and Scandinavia—The Netherlands and Scandinavia———————————————————————

While MarWhile MarWhile MarWhile MarWhile Martin Ltin Ltin Ltin Ltin Luther was working in Germanyuther was working in Germanyuther was working in Germanyuther was working in Germanyuther was working in Germany, lights were, lights were, lights were, lights were, lights werespringing up elsewhere—all over Europe. The Great Rspringing up elsewhere—all over Europe. The Great Rspringing up elsewhere—all over Europe. The Great Rspringing up elsewhere—all over Europe. The Great Rspringing up elsewhere—all over Europe. The Great Reforma-eforma-eforma-eforma-eforma-tion had begun.tion had begun.tion had begun.tion had begun.tion had begun.

There was Menno Simons who found God when a man wasThere was Menno Simons who found God when a man wasThere was Menno Simons who found God when a man wasThere was Menno Simons who found God when a man wasThere was Menno Simons who found God when a man wasmarmarmarmarmartyred, and who himself was used by heaven to bring thou-tyred, and who himself was used by heaven to bring thou-tyred, and who himself was used by heaven to bring thou-tyred, and who himself was used by heaven to bring thou-tyred, and who himself was used by heaven to bring thou-sands in norsands in norsands in norsands in norsands in northern Europe to Christ.thern Europe to Christ.thern Europe to Christ.thern Europe to Christ.thern Europe to Christ. There was William of Orange,who finally won freedom to worship God in Holland. —

RRRRRead about Tead about Tead about Tead about Tead about Tausen, the “Rausen, the “Rausen, the “Rausen, the “Rausen, the “Reformer of Denmark,” who cameeformer of Denmark,” who cameeformer of Denmark,” who cameeformer of Denmark,” who cameeformer of Denmark,” who cameclose to death in his efforclose to death in his efforclose to death in his efforclose to death in his efforclose to death in his efforts to help his peoplets to help his peoplets to help his peoplets to help his peoplets to help his people; and Olaf andLaurentius Petri, who boldly preached the gospel to the king of Swe-den,—and won both him and then entire nation for God ————————————————————————

In the Netherlands the papal tyranny very earlycalled forth resolute protest. Seven hundred years beforeLuther’s time, the Roman pontiff was thus fearlessly im-peached by two bishops, who, having been sent on an em-bassy to Rome, had learned the true character of the “holysee:” “God has made his queen and spouse, the church, anoble and everlasting provision for her family, with a dowrythat is neither fading nor corruptible, and given her an eter-nal crown and scepter; all which benefits, you, like a thief,intercept. You set up yourself in the temple as God; insteadof a shepherd, you have become as a wolf to the sheep. Youwould have us believe you are a supreme bishop; butyou are rather a tyrant. . . Whereas you ought to be aservant of servants, as you call yourself, you intrigue tobecome lord of lords. . . . You bring the commands of

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God into contempt. . . . The Holy Ghost is the builder of allchurches as far as the earth extends. The city of our God, ofwhich we are citizens, reaches to all parts of the heavens;and it is greater than the city, by the holy prophets namedBabylon, which pretends to be divine, equals herself toHeaven, and boasts that her wisdom is immortal; and finally,though without reason, that she never did err, nor ever can.”

Others arose from century to century to echo thisprotest. And those early teachers, who, traversing dif-ferent lands, and known by various names, bore the char-acter of the Vaudois missionaries, and spread everywherethe knowledge of the gospel, penetrated to the Nether-lands. Their doctrines spread rapidly. The WaldensianBible they translated in verse into the Dutch language.“There is,” they said, “great advantage in it; no jests, nofables, no trifles, no deceits, naught but words of truth. Thereis, indeed, here and there a hard crust, but even in this themarrow and sweetness of what is good and holy may easilybe discovered.” Thus wrote the friends of the ancient faith,in the twelfth century.

Now began the Romish persecutions, but in the midstof fagots and torture the believers continued to multiply,steadfastly declaring that the Bible is the only infallible

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verted to Protestantism in 1531; and, by 1536, he had founded a numberof Mennonite churches.

Dutch Protestants had been persecuted since the 12th century. Un-der Charles V, the first martyrs died in 1523. William, Prince of Orange,led the Protestant forces for years, until his assassination in a Catholicplot in 1584.

Aided by the king’s favor, Hans Tausen brought the gospel to Den-mark. By 1530, Denmark was clearly Protestant.

Olaf and Laurentius Petri led in the Swedish Reformation. In 1527,King Gustavus openly declared for the Reformation. A century later, theThirty Years War, the most destructive war (prior to the 20th century) inEuropean history, began. It was very nearly won by the Catholics, whenKing Gustavus II (Adolphus) marched southward with a Swedish army invictory after victory. The Peace of Westphalia (October 1648) broughtreligious liberty to millions of Protestants in northern Europe.

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authority in religion, and that “no man should be co-erced to believe, but should be won by preaching.”

The teachings of Luther found a congenial soil in theNetherlands, and earnest and faithful men arose topreach the gospel. From one of the provinces of Hollandcame Menno Simons. Educated a Roman Catholic, and or-dained to the priesthood, he was wholly ignorant of the Bible,and he would not read it, for fear of being beguiled into her-esy. When a doubt concerning the doctrine of transubstan-tiation forced itself upon him, he regarded it as a temptationfrom Satan, and by prayer and confession sought to free him-self from it; but in vain. By mingling in scenes of dissipationhe endeavored to silence the accusing voice of conscience;but without avail. After a time he was led to the study ofthe New Testament, and this with Luther’s writingscaused him to accept the reformed faith. He soon afterwitnessed in a neighboring village the beheading of a manwho was put to death for having been rebaptized. This ledhim to study the Bible in regard to infant baptism. Hecould find no evidence for it in the Scriptures, but sawthat repentance and faith are everywhere required asthe condition of receiving baptism.

Menno withdrew from the Roman Church, and de-voted his life to teaching the truths which he had received.In both Germany and the Netherlands a class of fanatics hadrisen, advocating absurd and seditious doctrines, outragingorder and decency, and proceeding to violence and insurrec-tion. Menno saw the horrible results to which these move-ments would inevitably lead, and he strenuously opposedthe erroneous teachings and wild schemes of the fanatics.There were many, however, who had been misled by thesefanatics but who had renounced their pernicious doctrines;and there were still remaining many descendants of the an-cient Christians, the fruits of the Waldensian teaching. Amongthese classes Menno labored with great zeal and success.

For twenty-five years he traveled, with his wife andchildren, enduring great hardships and privations, andfrequently in peril of his life. He traversed the Nether-

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lands and Northern Germany, laboring chiefly among thehumbler classes, but exerting a widespread influence. Natu-rally eloquent, though possessing a limited education, he wasa man of unwavering integrity, of humble spirit and gentlemanners, and of sincere and earnest piety, exemplifying inhis own life the precepts which he taught, and he commandedthe confidence of the people. His followers were scatteredand oppressed. They suffered greatly from being confoundedwith the fanatical Munsterites. Yet great numbers were con-verted under his labors.

Nowhere were the reformed doctrines more gener-ally received than in the Netherlands. In few countriesdid their adherents endure more terrible persecution. InGermany Charles V had banned the Reformation, and hewould gladly have brought all its adherents to the stake; butthe princes stood up as a barrier against his tyranny. In theNetherlands his power was greater, and persecuting edictsfollowed each other in quick succession. To read the Bible,to hear or preach it or even to speak concerning it, was toincur the penalty of death by the stake. To pray to God insecret, to refrain from bowing to an image, or to sing a psalm,was also punishable with death. Even those who should ab-jure their errors, were condemned, if men, to die by the sword;if women, to be buried alive. Those who remained steadfast,sometimes suffered the same punishment. Thousands per-ished under the reign of Charles and of Philip II.

At one time a whole family was brought before the in-quisitors, charged with remaining away from mass, and wor-shiping at home. On his examination as to their practices insecret, the youngest son answered, “We fall on our knees,and pray that God will enlighten our minds and pardon oursins. We pray for our sovereign, that his reign may be pros-perous and his life happy. We pray for our magistrates, thatGod may preserve them.” Some of the judges were deeplymoved, yet the father and one of his sons were condemned tothe stake.

The rage of the persecutors was equaled by the faithof the martyrs. Not only men but delicate women and



young maidens displayed unflinching courage. “Wiveswould take their stand by their husband’s stake, and whilehe was enduring the fire they would whisper words of so-lace, or sing psalms to cheer him.” “Young maidens wouldlie down in their living grave as if they were entering intotheir chamber of nightly sleep; or go forth to the scaffoldand the fire dressed in their best apparel, as if they weregoing to their marriage.”

As in the days when paganism sought to destroy the gos-pel, “the blood of the Christians was seed.” Persecutionserved to increase the number of witnesses for the truth. Yearafter year the monarch, stung to madness by the uncon-querable determination of the people, urged on his cruelwork; but in vain. Under the noble William of Orange,the Revolution at last brought to Holland freedom to wor-ship God.

In the mountains of Piedmont, on the plains of Franceand the shores of Holland, the progress of the gospel wasmarked with the blood of its disciples. But in the coun-tries of the North it found a peaceful entrance. Studentsat Wittenberg, returning to their homes, carried the re-formed faith to Scandinavia. The publication of Luther’swritings also spread the light. The simple, hardy people ofthe North turned from the corruption, the pomp, and the su-perstitions of Rome, to welcome the purity, the simplicity,and the life-giving truths of the Bible.

Tausen, “the reformer of Denmark,” was a peasant’sson. The boy early gave evidence of vigorous intellect; hethirsted for an education; but this was denied him by thecircumstances of his parents, and he entered a cloister. Herethe purity of his life, together with his diligence and fidelity,won the favor of his superior. Examination showed him topossess talent that promised at some future day good serviceto the church. It was determined to give him an education atone of the universities of Germany or the Netherlands. Theyoung student was granted permission to choose a schoolfor himself, with the one proviso, that he must not go toWittenberg. The scholar of the church was not to be endan-

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gered 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 becamedisgusted with the mysticisms of the schoolmen. Aboutthe same time he obtained Luther’s writings. He read themwith wonder and delight, and greatly desired to enjoy thepersonal instruction of the reformer. But to do so he mustrisk giving offense to his monastic superior, and forfeitinghis support. His decision was soon made, and erelong hewas enrolled as a student at Wittenberg.

On returning to Denmark he again repaired to hiscloister. No one as yet suspected him of Lutheranism; hedid not reveal his secret, but endeavored, without excitingthe prejudices of his companions, to lead them to a purerfaith and a holier life. He opened the Bible, and explained itstrue meaning, and at last preached Christ to them as thesinner’s righteousness and his only hope of salvation. Greatwas the wrath of the prior, who had built high hopes uponhim as a valiant defender of Rome. He was at once removedfrom his own monastery to another, and confined to his cell,under strict supervision.

To the terror of his new guardians, several of the monkssoon declared themselves converts to Protestantism. Throughthe bars of his cell, Tausen had communicated to his com-panions a knowledge of the truth. Had those Danish fathersbeen skilled in the church’s plan of dealing with heresy,Tausen’s voice would never again have been heard; but in-stead of consigning him to a tomb in some underground dun-geon, they expelled him from the monastery. Now they werepowerless. A royal edict, just issued, offered protectionto the teachers of the new doctrine. Tausen began topreach. The churches were opened to him, and the peoplethronged to listen. Others also were preaching the Wordof God. The New Testament, translated into the Danishtongue, was widely circulated. The efforts made by pa-pists to overthrow the work resulted in extending it, anderelong Denmark declared its acceptance of the reformedfaith.



In Sweden, also, young men who had drunk fromthe well of Wittenberg carried the water of life to theircountrymen. Two of the leaders in the Swedish Refor-mation, Olaf and Laurentius Petri, the sons of a black-smith of Orebro, studied under Luther and Melancthon,and the truths which they thus learned they were diligent toteach. Like the great reformer, Olaf aroused the people byhis zeal and eloquence, while Laurentius, like Melancthon,was learned, thoughtful, and calm. Both were men of ardentpiety, of high theological attainments, and of unflinchingcourage in advancing the truth. Papist opposition was notlacking. The Catholic priests stirred up the ignorant and su-perstitious people. Olaf Petri was often assailed by the mob,and upon several occasions barely escaped with his life.These reformers were, however, favored and protectedby the king. Under the rule of the Romish Church, the peoplewere sunken in poverty, and ground down by oppression.They were destitute of the Scriptures, and having a religionof mere signs and ceremonies, which conveyed no light tothe mind, they were returning to the superstitious beliefs andpagan practices of their heathen ancestors. The nation wasdivided into contending factions whose perpetual strife in-creased the misery of all. The king determined upon a ref-ormation in the State and the church, and he welcomedthese able assistants in the battle against Rome.

In presence of the monarch and the leading men ofSweden, Olaf Petri with great ability defended the doc-trines of the reformed faith against the Romish champi-ons. He declared that the teachings of the Fathers are to bereceived only when in accordance with the Scriptures; thatthe essential doctrines of the faith are presented in the Biblein a clear and simple manner, so that all men may under-stand them. Christ said, “My doctrine is not mine, but Histhat sent me,” (John 7:16) and Paul declared that should hepreach any other gospel than that which he had received, hewould be accursed. Galatians 1:8. “How, then,” said thereformer, “shall others presume to enact dogmas at their plea-sure, and impose them as things necessary to salvation?” He

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showed that the decrees of the church are of no authoritywhen in opposition to the commands of God, and maintainedthe great Protestant principle, that “the Bible, and the Bibleonly,” is the rule of faith and practice.

This contest, though conducted upon a stage compara-tively obscure, serves to “show us the kind of men that formedthe rank and file of the army of the reformers. When we con-fine our attention to such brilliant centers as Wittenberg andZurich, and to such illustrious names as those of Luther andMelancthon, of Zwingle and Oecolampadius, we are apt tobe told that these were the leaders of the movement, but thesubordinates were not like them. Well, we turn to the ob-scure theater of Sweden, and the humble names of Olaf andLaurentius Petri—from the masters to the disciples—whatdo we find? Not illiterate, sectarian, noisy controversialists—far from it; we see men who had studied the Word of God,and who knew well how to wield the weapons with whichthe armory of the Bible supplied them; scholars and theolo-gians, who won an easy victory over the sophists of theschools, and the dignitaries of Rome.”

As the result of this disputation, the king of Swedenaccepted the Protestant faith, and not long afterward thenational assembly declared in its favor. The New Testa-ment had been translated by Olaf Petri into the Swedishlanguage, and at the desire of the king the two brothersundertook the translation of the whole Bible. Thus forthe first time the people of Sweden received the Word ofGod in their native tongue. It was ordered by the Diet thatthroughout the kingdom ministers should explain theScriptures, and that the children in the schools shouldbe taught to read the Bible.

Steadily and surely the darkness of ignorance and su-perstition was dispelled by the blessed light of the gospel.Freed from Romish oppression, the nation attained to strengthand greatness it had never reached before. Sweden becameone of the bulwarks of Protestantism. A century later, at atime of sorest peril, this small and hitherto feeble na-tion—the only one in Europe that dared lend a helping



hand—came to the deliverance of Germany in the ter-rible struggles of the thirty years’ war. All northern Eu-rope seemed about to be brought again under the tyranny ofRome. It was the armies of Sweden that enabled Ger-many to turn the tide of popish success, to win tolerationfor the Protestants—Calvinists as well as Lutherans—and to restore liberty of conscience to those countriesthat had accepted the Reformation.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: THE IMPORT: THE IMPORT: THE IMPORT: THE IMPORT: THE IMPORTANCE OF PRAANCE OF PRAANCE OF PRAANCE OF PRAANCE OF PRAYERYERYERYERYER

“My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory byChrist Jesus.” Philippians 4:19.

“O Thou that hearest prayer, unto Thee shall all flesh come.” Psalm 65:2.“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall

be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seekethfindeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8.

“A rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6.“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?” Romans 8:32.“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God . . and it shall be given him.”

James 1:5.“But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.” verse 6.“If I regard iniquity in mine heart, the Lord will not hear me.” Psalm 66:18.“He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be

abomination.” Proverbs 28:9.“Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate

you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” Mat-thew 5:44.

“And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: thatyour Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” Mark11:25.

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication withthanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Philippians 4:6.

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication.” Ephesians 6:18. “Praywithout ceasing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17. “Evening, and morning, and at noon,will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice.” Psalm 55:17.

“The end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch untoprayer.” 1 Peter 4:7.

“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.” Matthew 26:41.

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Chapter FourteenChapter FourteenChapter FourteenChapter FourteenChapter Fourteen

A Great CloudA Great CloudA Great CloudA Great CloudA Great Cloudof Witnessesof Witnessesof Witnessesof Witnessesof Witnesses

—L—L—L—L—Later English Reforater English Reforater English Reforater English Reforater English Reformersmersmersmersmers———————————————————————

One day William TOne day William TOne day William TOne day William TOne day William Tyndale said to a learned clergyman, “If Godyndale said to a learned clergyman, “If Godyndale said to a learned clergyman, “If Godyndale said to a learned clergyman, “If Godyndale said to a learned clergyman, “If Godspare my life, ere many years, I will cause a boy that driveth thespare my life, ere many years, I will cause a boy that driveth thespare my life, ere many years, I will cause a boy that driveth thespare my life, ere many years, I will cause a boy that driveth thespare my life, ere many years, I will cause a boy that driveth theplow to know more of Scripture than you do.”—And he did.plow to know more of Scripture than you do.”—And he did.plow to know more of Scripture than you do.”—And he did.plow to know more of Scripture than you do.”—And he did.plow to know more of Scripture than you do.”—And he did. Forhe gave the first printed English Bible to the world—and was be-trayed by a friend for doing it. Tyndale—the man who died that youmight have the Bible —

YYYYYou will also read about John Knox—the man who feared noou will also read about John Knox—the man who feared noou will also read about John Knox—the man who feared noou will also read about John Knox—the man who feared noou will also read about John Knox—the man who feared noone; who repeatedlyone; who repeatedlyone; who repeatedlyone; who repeatedlyone; who repeatedly, fearlessly faced the Queen of Scotland,, fearlessly faced the Queen of Scotland,, fearlessly faced the Queen of Scotland,, fearlessly faced the Queen of Scotland,, fearlessly faced the Queen of Scotland,the woman who had murdered countless Christians before him.the woman who had murdered countless Christians before him.the woman who had murdered countless Christians before him.the woman who had murdered countless Christians before him.the woman who had murdered countless Christians before him.He won Scotland for God. Also John and Charles WAlso John and Charles WAlso John and Charles WAlso John and Charles WAlso John and Charles Wesley broughtesley broughtesley broughtesley broughtesley broughtChrist to two continents, and the burning energy of GeorgeChrist to two continents, and the burning energy of GeorgeChrist to two continents, and the burning energy of GeorgeChrist to two continents, and the burning energy of GeorgeChrist to two continents, and the burning energy of GeorgeWhitefieldWhitefieldWhitefieldWhitefieldWhitefield who could speak to 100,000 people in a field as if theywere but two—and brought millions to repentance ————————————————————————

While Luther was opening a closed Bible to thepeople of Germany, Tyndale was impelled by the Spiritof God to do the same for England. Wycliffe’s Bible hadbeen translated from the Latin text, which contained manyerrors. It had never been printed, and the cost of manuscriptcopies was so great that few but wealthy men or nobles couldprocure it, and, furthermore, being strictly proscribed by thechurch, it had had a comparatively narrow circulation. In1516, a year before the appearance of Luther’s theses,Erasmus had published his Greek and Latin version ofthe New Testament. Now for the first time the Word ofGod was printed in the original tongue. In this work manyerrors of former versions were corrected, and the sense was

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more clearly rendered. It led many among the educated classesto a better knowledge of the truth, and gave a new impetusto the work of reform. But the common people were still, toa great extent, debarred from God’s Word. Tyndale was tocomplete the work of Wycliffe in giving the Bible to hiscountrymen.

A diligent student and an earnest seeker for truth, hehad received the gospel from the Greek Testament ofErasmus. He fearlessly preached his convictions, urging thatall doctrines be tested by the Scriptures. To the papist claimthat the church had given the Bible, and the church alonecould explain it, Tyndale responded, “Do you know whotaught the eagles to find their prey? That same God teachesHis hungry children to find their Father in His Word. Farfrom having given us the Scriptures, it is you who have hid-den them from us; it is you who burn those who teach them;and if you could, you would burn the Scriptures themselves.”

Tyndale’s preaching excited great interest; many ac-cepted the truth. But the priests were on the alert, andno sooner had he left the field than they by their threatsand misrepresentations endeavored to destroy his work.Too often they succeeded. “Alas!” he exclaimed, “what is tobe done? While I am sowing in one place, the enemy ravagesthe field I have just left. I cannot be everywhere. Oh! if Chris-tians possessed the Holy Scriptures in their own tongue,

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English translation of the New Testament began to be printed in 1526,and the complete Bible in about 1536, the year he was burned at thestake. The King James Bible (1611) was 90% unaltered Tyndale transla-tion. The martydoms, in England, of faithful Protestants continued throughthe 1530s to 1560s and beyond—even though Henry VIII repudiated pa-pal supremacy in January 1531. Persecution of Christians continued onthrough the 17th century.

Between 1660 and 1675, John Bunyan wrote his books in prison.John and Charles Wesley, and George Whitfield, brought a major revivalto England. George was converted in 1735, John and Charles in 1738. Allthree spent the rest of their lives preaching Christ. Charles wrote 6,000hymns and John traveled 250,000 miles on horseback from one speak-ing appointment to the next.

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they could of themselves withstand these sophists. With-out the Bible it is impossible to establish the laity in thetruth.”

A new purpose now took possession of his mind. “Itwas in the language of Israel,” said he, “that the psalms weresung in the temple of Jehovah; and shall not the gospel speakthe language of England among us? . . . Ought the church tohave less light at noonday than at the dawn? . . . Christiansmust read the New Testament in their mother-tongue.” Thedoctors and teachers of the church disagreed among them-selves. Only by the Bible could men arrive at the truth. “Oneholdeth this doctrine, another that. . . . Now each of theseauthors contradicts the other. How then can we distinguishhim who says right from him who says wrong? . . . How?. . . Verily, by God’s Word.”

It was not long after that a learned Catholic doctor,engaging in controversy with him, exclaimed, “It werebetter for us to be without God’s law than without thepope’s.” Tyndale replied, “I defy the pope and all hislaws; and if God spare my life, ere many years I willcause a boy who driveth the plow to know more of theScriptures than you do.”

The purpose which he had begun to cherish, of giving tothe people the New-Testament Scriptures in their own lan-guage, was now confirmed, and he immediately applied him-self to the work. Driven from his home by persecution, hewent to London, and there for a time pursued his labors un-disturbed. But again the violence of the papists forced himto flee. All England seemed closed against him, and heresolved to seek shelter in Germany. Here he began theprinting of the English New Testament. Twice the workwas stopped; but when forbidden to print in one city, he wentto another. At last he made his way to Worms, where, a fewyears 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 hin-drance. Three thousand copies of the New Testament weresoon finished, and another edition followed in the same year.



With great earnestness and perseverance he contin-ued his labors. Notwithstanding the English authoritieshad guarded their ports with the strictest vigilance, theWord of God was in various ways secretly conveyed toLondon, and thence circulated throughout the country.The papists attempted to suppress the truth, but in vain. Thebishop of Durham at one time bought of a bookseller whowas a friend of Tyndale, his whole stock of Bibles, for thepurpose of destroying them, supposing that this would greatlyhinder the work. But, on the contrary, the money thus fur-nished, purchased material for a new and better edition,which, but for this, could not have been published. WhenTyndale was afterward made a prisoner, his liberty was of-fered him on condition that he would reveal the names ofthose who had helped him meet the expense of printing hisBibles. He replied that the bishop of Durham had done morethan any other person; for by paying a large price for thebooks left on hand, he had enabled him to go on with goodcourage.

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 sol-diers to do battle through all the centuries even to our time.

Latimer maintained from the pulpit that the Bibleought to be read in the language of the people. “The Au-thor of Holy Scripture,” said he, “is God Himself, and thisScripture partakes of the might and eternity of its Author.There is neither king nor emperor that is not bound to obeyit. Let us beware of those by-paths of human tradition, fullof stones, brambles, and uprooted trees. Let us follow thestraight road of the Word. It does not concern us what theFathers have done, but rather what they ought to have done.”

Barnes and Frith, the faithful friends of Tyndale,arose to defend the truth. The Ridleys and Cranmer fol-lowed. These leaders in the English Reformation were menof learning, and most of them had been highly esteemed forzeal or piety in the Romish communion. Their opposition to

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the papacy was the result of their knowledge of the errors ofthe “holy see.” Their acquaintance with the mysteries ofBabylon, gave greater power to their testimonies against her.

“Do you know,” said Latimer, “who is the most dili-gent bishop in England? I see you listening and hear-kening that I should name him. I will tell you. It is thedevil He is never out of his diocese; you shall never findhim idle. Call for him when you will, he is ever at home, heis ever at the plow. You shall never find him remiss, I war-rant 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 ofwax tapers, yea, at noonday; down with Christ’s cross, upwith the purgatory pick-purse; away with clothing the na-ked, the poor, the impotent; up with the decking of imagesand the gay garnishing of stones and stocks; down with Godand His most holy Word; up with traditions, human coun-cils, and a blinded pope. Oh that our prelates would be asdiligent to sow the corn of good doctrine as Satan is to sowcockle and darnel!”

The grand principle maintained by these reform-ers—the same that had been held by the Waldenses, byWycliffe, by John Huss, by Luther, Zwingle, and thosewho united with them—was the infallible authority ofthe Holy Scriptures as a rule of faith and practice. Theydenied the right of popes, councils, Fathers, and kings,to control the conscience in matters of religion. The Biblewas their authority, and by its teaching they tested all doc-trines and all claims.

Faith in God and his Word sustained these holy men asthey yielded up their lives at the stake. “Be of good com-fort,” exclaimed Latimer to his fellow-martyr as the flameswere about to silence their voices, “we shall this day lightsuch a candle in England as, I trust, by God’s grace shallnever be put out.”

In Scotland the seeds of truth scattered by Columbaand his co-laborers had never been wholly destroyed.For hundreds of years after the churches of England submit-



ted to Rome, those of Scotland maintained their freedom. Inthe twelfth century, however, popery became established here,and in no country did it exercise a more absolute sway. No-where was the darkness deeper. Still there came rays of lightto pierce the gloom, and give promise of the coming day.The Lollards, coming from England with the Bible and theteachings of Wycliffe, did much to preserve the knowledgeof the gospel, and every century had its witnesses and mar-tyrs.

With the opening of the Great Reformation came thewritings of Luther, and then Tyndale’s English New Tes-tament. Unnoticed by the hierarchy, these messengers si-lently traversed the mountains and valleys, kindling into newlife the torch of truth so nearly extinguished in Scotland, andundoing the work which Rome for four centuries of oppres-sion had done.

Then the blood of martyrs gave fresh impetus to themovement. The papist leaders, suddenly awakening tothe danger that threatened their cause, brought to thestake some of the noblest and most honored of the sonsof Scotland. They did but erect a pulpit, from which thewords of these dying witnesses were heard throughout theland, thrilling the souls of the people with an undying pur-pose to cast off the shackles of Rome.

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

John Knox had turned away from the traditions andmysticisms of the church, to feed upon the truths of God’sWord, and the teaching of Wishart had confirmed his deter-mination to forsake the communion of Rome, and join him-self to the persecuted reformers.

Urged by his companions to take the office of preacher,he shrunk with trembling from its responsibility, and it wasonly after days of seclusion and painful conflict with him-

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self that he consented. But having once accepted the posi-tion, he pressed forward with inflexible determination andundaunted courage as long as life continued. This true-hearted reformer feared not the face of man. The fires ofmartyrdom, blazing around him, served only to quickenhis zeal to greater intensity. With the tyrant’s ax held men-acingly over his head, he stood his ground, striking sturdyblows on the right hand and on the left to demolish idolatry.

When brought face to face with the queen of Scot-land, in whose presence the zeal of many a leader of theProtestants had abated, John Knox bore unswervingwitness for the truth. He was not to be won by caresses; hequailed not before threats. The queen charged him with her-esy. He had taught the people to receive a religion prohibitedby the State, she declared, and had thus transgressed God’scommand enjoining subjects to obey their princes. Knox an-swered firmly:

“As right religion received neither its origin nor its au-thority from princes, but from the eternal God alone, so arenot subjects bound to frame their religion according to thetastes of their princes. For oft it is that princes, of all others,are the most ignorant of God’s true religion. If all the seed ofAbraham had been of the religion of Pharaoh, whose sub-jects they long were, I pray you, madam, what religion wouldthere have been in the world? And if all in the days of theapostles had been of the religion of the Roman emperors, Ipray you, madam, what religion would there have been nowupon the earth? . . . And so, madam, you may perceive thatsubjects are not bound to the religion of their princes, al-though they are commanded to give them reverence.”

Said Mary, “You interpret the Scripture in one way, andthey (the Romish teachers) interpret it in another; whom shallI believe, and who shall be judge?”

“You shall believe God, who plainly speaketh in HisWord,” answered the reformer; “and farther than the Wordteaches you, ye shall believe neither the one nor the other.The Word of God is plain in itself, and if in any one placethere be obscurity, the Holy Ghost, who never is contrary to



Himself, explains the same more clearly in other places, sothat there can remain no doubt but unto such as are obsti-nately ignorant.” Such were the truths that the fearlessreformer, at the peril of his life, spoke in the ear of roy-alty. With the same undaunted courage he kept to hispurpose, praying and fighting the battles of the Lord,until Scotland was free from popery.

In England the establishment of Protestantism as thenational religion diminished, but did not wholly stop per-secution. While many of the doctrines of Rome had beenrenounced, not a few of its forms were retained. The su-premacy of the pope was rejected, but in his place themonarch was enthroned as the head of the church. In theservice of the church there was still a wide departure fromthe purity and simplicity of the gospel. The great principleof religious toleration was not as yet understood. Thoughthe horrible cruelties which Rome employed against heresywere resorted to but rarely by Protestant rulers, yet the rightof every man to worship God according to the dictates of hisown conscience was not acknowledged. All were required toaccept the doctrines and observe the forms of worship pre-scribed by the established church. Dissenters suffered per-secution, to a greater or less extent, for hundreds of years.

In the seventeenth century thousands of pastors wereexpelled from their positions. The people were forbid-den, on pain of heavy fines, imprisonment, and banish-ment, to attend any religious meetings except such aswere sanctioned by the church. Those faithful souls whocould not refrain from gathering to worship God, were com-pelled to meet in dark alleys, in obscure garrets, and, at someseasons, in the woods at midnight. In the sheltering depthsof the forest, a temple of God’s own building, those scat-tered and persecuted children of the Lord assembled to pourout their souls in prayer and praise. But despite all their pre-cautions, many suffered for their faith. The jails werecrowded. Families were broken up. Many were banished toforeign lands. Yet God was with His people, and persecu-tion could not prevail to silence their testimony. Many

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were driven across the ocean to America, and here laidthe foundations of civil and religious liberty which havebeen the bulwark and glory of this country.

Again, as in apostolic days, persecution turned out tothe furtherance of the gospel. In a loathsome dungeoncrowded with profligates and felons, John Bunyanbreathed the very atmosphere of Heaven, and there hewrote his wonderful allegory of the pilgrim’s journeyfrom the land of destruction to the celestial city. For twohundred years that voice from Bedford jail has spoken withthrilling power to the hearts of men. Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’sProgress” 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, edu-cation, and deep Christian experience, stood up in val-iant defense of the faith which was once delivered to thesaints. The work accomplished by these men, prescribed andoutlawed by the rulers of this world, can never perish. Flavel’s“Fountain of Life” and “Method of Grace” have taughtthousands how to commit the keeping of their souls to Christ.Baxter’s “Reformed Pastor” has proved a blessing to manywho desire a revival of the work of God, and his “Saint’sEverlasting 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 spiritualdarkness, 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 religiousdeclension hardly to be distinguished from heathenism. Natu-ral religion was the favorite study of the clergy, and includedmost of their theology. The higher classes sneered at piety,and prided themselves on being above what they called itsfanaticism. The lower classes were grossly ignorant, andabandoned to vice, while the church had no courage or faithto any longer support the downfallen cause of truth.

The great doctrine of justification by faith, so clearlytaught by Luther, had been almost wholly lost sight of, andthe Romish principle of trusting to good works for salva-



tion, had taken its place. Whitefield and the Wesleys, whowere members of the established church, were sincere seek-ers for the favor of God, and this they had been taught wasto be secured by a virtuous life and an observance of theordinances of religion.

When Charles Wesley at one time fell ill, and antici-pated that death was approaching, he was asked upon whathe rested his hope of eternal life. His answer was, “I haveused my best endeavors to serve God.” As the friend whohad put the question seemed not to be fully satisfied with hisanswer, Wesley thought, “What! are not my endeavors a suf-ficient ground of hope? Would He rob me of my endeavors?I have nothing else to trust to.” Such was the dense darknessthat had settled down on the church, hiding the atonement,robbing Christ of His glory, and turning the minds of menfrom their only hope of salvation,—the blood of the cruci-fied Redeemer.

Wesley and his associates were led to see that truereligion is seated in the heart, and that God’s law ex-tends to the thoughts as well as to the words and actions.Convinced of the necessity of holiness of heart, as well ascorrectness of outward deportment, they set out in ear-nest upon a new life. By the most diligent and prayerfulefforts they endeavored to subdue the evils of the naturalheart. They lived a life of self-denial, charity, and humilia-tion, observing with great rigor and exactness every mea-sure which they thought could be helpful to them in obtain-ing what they most desired,—that holiness which could se-cure the favor of God. But they did not obtain the objectwhich they sought. In vain were their endeavors to free them-selves from the condemnation of sin or to break its power. Itwas the same struggle which Luther experienced in his cellat Erfurt. It was the same question which had tortured hissoul,—“How should man be just with God?” Job 9:2.

The fires of divine truth, well-nigh extinguished uponthe altars of Protestantism, were to be rekindled from theancient torch handed down the ages by the Bohemian Chris-tians. After the Reformation, Protestantism in Bohemia

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had been trampled out by the hordes of Rome. All whorefused to renounce the truth were forced to flee. Some ofthese, finding refuge in Saxony, there maintained the ancientfaith. It was from the descendants of these Christians thatlight came to Wesley and his associates.

John and Charles Wesley, after being ordained tothe ministry, were sent on a mission to America. On boardthe ship was a company of Moravians. Violent storms wereencountered on the passage, and John Wesley, brought faceto face with death, felt that he had not the assurance of peacewith God. But the Germans, on the contrary, manifested acalmness and trust to which he was a stranger.

“I had long before,” he says, “observed the great seri-ousness of their behavior. Of their humility they had givencontinual proof, by performing those servile offices for theother passengers which none of the English would under-take; for which they desired and would receive no pay, say-ing, it was good for their proud hearts, and their loving Sav-iour had done more for them. And every day had given themoccasion of showing a meekness which no injury could move.If they were pushed, struck, or thrown down, they rose againand went away; but no complaint was found in their mouth.There was now an opportunity of trying whether they weredelivered from the spirit of fear, as well as from that of pride,anger, and revenge. In the midst of the psalm wherewiththeir service began, the sea broke over, split the mainsailin pieces, covered the ship, and poured in between thedeck as if the great deep had already swallowed us up. Aterrible screaming began among the English. The Ger-mans 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 notafraid to die.’”

Upon arriving in Savannah, Wesley for a short timeabode with the Moravians, and was deeply impressedwith their Christian deportment. Of one of their religiousservices, in striking contrast to the lifeless formalism of the



Church of England, he wrote: “The great simplicity as wellas solemnity of the whole almost made me forget the seven-teen hundred years between, and imagine myself in one ofthose assemblies where form and state were not; but Paul,the tent-maker, or Peter, the fisherman, presided; yet withthe demonstration of the Spirit and of power.”

On his return to England, Wesley, under the instruc-tion of a Moravian preacher, arrived at a clearer under-standing of Bible faith. He was convinced that he must re-nounce all dependence upon his own works for salvation,and must trust wholly to the “Lamb of God that taketh awaythe sin of the world.” At a meeting of the Moravian societyin London, a statement was read from Luther, describing thechange which the Spirit of God works in the heart of thebeliever. As Wesley listened, faith was kindled in his soul. “Ifelt my heart strangely warmed,” he says. “I felt I did trust inChrist, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was givenme that He had taken away my sins, every mine, and savedme from the law of sin and death.”

Through long years of wearisome and comfortless striv-ing,—years of rigorous self-denial, of reproach and humili-ation,—Wesley had steadfastly adhered to his one purposeof seeking God. Now he had found Him; and he found thatthe grace which he had toiled to win by prayers and fasts, byalmsdeeds and self-abnegation, was a gift, “without money,and without price.”

Once established in the faith of Christ, his whole soulburned with the desire to spread everywhere a knowl-edge of the glorious gospel of God’s free grace. “I lookupon all the world as my parish,” he said, “in whatever partof it I am, I judge it meet, right, and my bounden duty, todeclare unto all that are willing to hear, the glad tidings ofsalvation.”

He continued his strict and self-denying life, not nowas the ground, but the result of faith; not the root, but thefruit of holiness. The grace of God in Christ is the foun-dation of the Christian’s hope, and that grace will bemanifested in obedience. Wesley’s life was devoted to the

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preaching of the great truths which he had received,—justi-fication through faith in the atoning blood of Christ, and therenewing power of the Holy Spirit upon the heart, bringingforth fruit in a life conformed to the example of Christ.

Whitefield and the Wesleys had been prepared for theirwork by long and sharp personal convictions of their ownlost condition; and that they might be able to endure hard-ness as good soldiers of Christ, they had been subjected tothe fiery ordeal of scorn, derision, and persecution, both inthe university and as they were entering the ministry. Theyand a few others who sympathized with them were con-temptuously called Methodists by their ungodly fellow-students,—a name which is at the present time regarded ashonorable by one of the largest denominations in Englandand America.

As members of the Church of England, they werestrongly attached to her forms of worship, but the Lordhad presented before them in His Word a higher stan-dard. The Holy Spirit urged them to preach Christ andHim crucified. The power of the Highest attended theirlabors. Thousands were convicted and truly converted. Itwas necessary that these sheep be protected from raveningwolves. Wesley had no thought of forming a new denomina-tion, but he organized them under what was called the Meth-odist Connection.

Mysterious and trying was the opposition which thesepreachers encountered from the established church; yet God,in His wisdom, had overruled events to cause the reform tobegin within the church itself. Had it come wholly from with-out, it would not have penetrated where it was so muchneeded. But as the revival preachers were churchmen, andlabored within the pale of the church wherever they couldfind opportunity, the truth had an entrance where the doorswould otherwise have remained closed. Some of the clergywere roused from their moral stupor, and became zealouspreachers in their own parishes. Churches that had been pet-rified 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. Theydid not harmonize upon every point of doctrine, but all weremoved by the Spirit of God, and united in the absorbing aimto win souls to Christ. The differences between Whitefieldand the Wesleys threatened at one time to create alienation;but as they learned meekness in the school of Christ, mutualforbearance and charity reconciled them. They had no timeto 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 influ-ence and learning employed their powers against them. Af-ter a time many of the clergy manifested determined hos-tility, and the doors of the churches were closed againsta pure faith, and those who proclaimed it. The course ofthe clergy in denouncing them from the pulpit, arousedthe elements of darkness, ignorance, and iniquity. Againand again did John Wesley escape death by a miracle ofGod’s mercy. When the rage of the mob was excited againsthim, and there seemed no way of escape, an angel in humanform came to his side, the mob fell back, and the servant ofChrist passed in safety from the place of danger.

Of his deliverance from the enraged mob upon oneof these occasions, Wesley said: “Many endeavored tothrow me down while we were going down hill on a slipperypath to the town; as well judging that if I were once on theground, I should hardly rise any more. But I made no stumbleat all, nor the least slip, till I was entirely out of their hands.Although many strove to lay hold on my collar or clothes, topull me down, they could not fasten at all; only one got fasthold of the flap of my waistcoat, which was soon left in hishand; the other flap, in the pocket of which was a bank-note,was torn but half off. A lusty man just behind, struck at meseveral times, with a large oaken stick; with which if he hadstruck me once on the back part of my head, it would havesaved him further trouble. But every time the blow was turnedaside, I know not how; for I could not move the right handnor the left. Another came rushing through the press, andraising his arm to strike, on a sudden let it drop, and only

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stroked my head, saying, ‘What soft hair he has.’ . . . Thevery first men whose hearts were turned were the heroes ofthe town, the captains of the rabble on all occasions, one ofthem having been a prize fighter at the bear garden.

“By how gentle degrees does God prepare us for Hiswill! Two years ago, a piece of brick grazed my shoulders. Itwas a year after that the stone struck me between the eyes.Last month I received one blow, and this evening two; onebefore we came into the town, and one after we were goneout; but both were as nothing; for though one man struck meon the breast with all his might, and the other on the mouthwith such force that the blood gushed out immediately, I feltno more pain from either of the blows than if they had touchedme with a straw.”

The Methodists of those early days—people as wellas preachers—endured ridicule and persecution, alikefrom church-members and from the openly irreligiouswho were inflamed by their misrepresentations. Theywere arraigned before courts of justice—such only in name,for justice was rare in the courts of that time. Often theysuffered violence from their persecutors. Mobs went fromhouse to house, destroying furniture and goods, plunderingwhatever they chose, and brutally abusing men, women, andchildren. In some instances, public notices were posted, call-ing upon those who desired to assist in breaking the win-dows and robbing the houses of the Methodists to assembleat a given time and place. These open violations of both hu-man and divine law were allowed to pass without a repri-mand. A systematic persecution was carried on against apeople whose only fault was that of seeking to turn thefeet of sinners from the path of destruction to the path ofholiness.

Said John Wesley, referring to the charges against him-self and his associates: “Some allege that the doctrines ofthese men are false, erroneous, and enthusiastic; that theyare new and unheard-of till of late; that they are Quakerism,fanaticism, popery. This whole pretense has been already cutup by the roots, it having been shown at large that every



branch of this doctrine is the plain doctrine of Scripture in-terpreted by our own church. Therefore it cannot be false orerroneous, provided the Scripture be true.” “Others allegethat their doctrines are too strict; that they make the way toHeaven too narrow; and this is in truth the original objec-tion, as it was almost the only one for some time, and issecretly at the bottom of a thousand more which appear invarious forms. But do they make the way to Heaven anynarrower than our Lord and His apostles made it? Is theirdoctrine stricter than that of the Bible? Consider only a fewplain texts: ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thyheart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, andwith all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.’ Luke 10:27.‘Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give ac-count thereof in the day of Judgment.’ Matthew 12:36.‘Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, doall to the glory of God.’ 1 Corinthians 10:31.

“If their doctrine is stricter than this, they are to blame;but you know in your conscience it is not. And who can beone jot less strict without corrupting the Word of God? Canany steward of the mysteries of God be found faithful if hechange any part of that sacred deposition?—No; he can abatenothing; he can soften nothing; he is constrained to declareto all men, I may not bring down the Scriptures to yourtaste. You must come up to it, or perish forever. The popu-lar cry is, The uncharitableness of these men! Uncharitable,are they? In what respect? Do they not feed the hungry andclothe the naked? No; that is not the thing; they are not want-ing in this, but they are so uncharitable in judging; they thinknone can be saved but those who are of their own way.”

The spiritual declension which had been manifest inEngland just before the time of Wesley, was in great de-gree the result of Antinomian teaching. Many affirmedthat Christ had abolished the moral law, and that Chris-tians are therefore under no obligation to observe it; thata believer is freed from the “bondage of good works.”Others, though admitting the perpetuity of the law, declaredthat it was unnecessary for ministers to exhort the people to

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obedience of its precepts, since those whom God had electedto salvation would, “by the irresistible impulse of divinegrace, be led to the practice of piety and virtue,” while thosewho were doomed to eternal reprobation “did not have it intheir power to obey the divine law.”

Others, also holding that “the elect cannot fall from graceor forfeit the divine favor,” arrived at the still more hideousconclusion that “the wicked actions they commit are not re-ally sinful, nor to be considered as instances of the violationof the divine law, and that consequently they have no occa-sion either to confess their sins or to break them off by re-pentance.” Therefore, they declared that even one of the vil-est of sins, “considered universally an enormous violationof the divine law, is not a sin in the sight of God,” if commit-ted by one of the elect, “because it is one of the essential anddistinctive characteristics of the elect, that they cannot doanything which is either displeasing to God or prohibited bythe law.”

This monstrous doctrine is essentially the same asthe Romish claim that “the pope can dispense above thelaw, and of wrong make right, by correcting and chang-ing laws;” that “he can pronounce sentences and judgmentsin contradiction . . . to the law of God and man.” Both re-veal the inspiration of the same master-spirit,—of himwho, even among the sinless inhabitants of Heaven, be-gan his work of seeking to break down the righteous re-straints of the law of God.

The doctrine of the divine decrees, unalterably fix-ing the character of men, had led many to a virtual re-jection of the law of God. Wesley steadfastly opposed theerrors of the Antinomian teachers, and showed that this doc-trine which led to Antinomianism was contrary to the Scrip-tures. “The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath ap-peared to all men.” “This is good and acceptable in the sightof God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved, andto come unto the knowledge of the truth. For their is oneGod, and one mediator between God and men, the man ChristJesus, who gave himself a ransom for all.” Titus 2:11; 1



Timothy 2:3-5. The Spirit of God is freely bestowed, toenable every man to lay hold upon the means of salvation.Thus Christ, “the true light,” “lighteth every man that comethinto the world.” John 1:9. Men fail of salvation only throughtheir own willful refusal of the gift of life.

In answer to the claim that at the death of Christ theprecepts of the decalogue had been abolished with theceremonial law, Wesley said: “The moral law, containedin the ten commandments, and enforced by the proph-ets, He did not take away. It was not the design of Hiscoming to revoke any part of this. This is a law whichnever can be broken, which ‘stands fast as the faithfulwitness in Heaven.’ . . . This was from the beginning of theworld, being ‘written not on tables of stone,’ but on the heartsof all the children of men, when they came out of the handsof the Creator. And, however the letters once written by thefinger of God are now in a great measure defaced by sin, yetcan they not wholly be blotted out, while we have any con-sciousness of good and evil. Every part of this law mustremain in force upon all mankind, and in all ages; as notdepending either on time or place, or any other circum-stances liable to change, but on the nature of God, andthe nature of man, and their unchangeable relation toeach other.

“ ‘I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.’ . . . Withoutquestion his meaning in this place is (consistently with allthat goes before and follows after),—I am come to establishit in its fullness, in spite of all the glosses of men; I am cometo place in a full and clear view whatsoever was dark andobscure therein; I am come to declare the true and full im-port of every part of it; to show the length and breadth, theentire extent, of every commandment contained therein, andthe height and depth, the inconceivable purity and spiritual-ity of it in all its branches.”

Wesley declared the perfect harmony of the law andthe gospel. “There is, therefore, the closest connection thatcan be conceived, between the law and the gospel. On theone hand, the law continually makes way for and points

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us to, the gospel; on the other, the gospel continually leadsus to a more exact fulfilling of the law. The law, for in-stance, requires us to love God, to love our neighbor, to bemeek, humble, or holy. We feel that we are not sufficient forthese things; yea, that ‘with man this is impossible;’ but wesee a promise of God to give us that love, and to make ushumble, meek, and holy; we lay hold of this gospel, of theseglad tidings; it is done to us according to our faith; and therighteousness of the law is fulfilled in us, ‘through faith whichis in Christ Jesus.”

“In the highest rank of the enemies of the gospel ofChrist,” said Wesley, “are they who openly and explic-itly ‘judge the law’ itself, and ‘speak evil of the law;’who teach men to break (to dissolve, to loose, to untiethe obligation of) not one only, whether of the least or ofthe greatest, but all the commandments at a stroke.” “Themost surprising of all the circumstances that attend this strongdelusion, is that they who are given up to it, really believethat they honor Christ by overthrowing His law, and thatthey are magnifying His office, while they are destroyingHis doctrine! Yea, they honor Him just as Judas did, whenhe said, ‘Hail, Master, and kissed Him.’ And He may as justlysay to every one of them, ‘Betrayest thou the Son of manwith a kiss?’ It is no other than betraying Him with a kiss, totalk of His blood, and take away His crown; to set light byany part of His law, under pretense of advancing His gospel.Nor indeed can anyone escape this charge, who preaches faithin any such a manner as either directly or indirectly tends toset aside any branch of obedience; who preaches Christ soas to disannul, or weaken in any wise, the least of the com-mandments of God.”

To those who urged that “the preaching of the gos-pel answers all the ends of the law,” Wesley replied: “Thiswe utterly deny. It does not answer the very first end ofthe law, namely, the convincing men of sin, the awaken-ing those who are still asleep on the brink of hell.” Theapostle Paul declares that “by the law is the knowledge ofsin;” “and not until man is convicted of sin, will he truly feel



his need of the atoning blood of Christ. . . . ‘They that bewhole,’ as our Lord Himself observes, ‘need not a physi-cian, but they that are sick.’ It is absurd, therefore, to offer aphysician to them that are whole, or that at least imaginethemselves so to be. You are first to convince them that theyare sick; otherwise they will not thank you for your labor. Itis equally absurd to offer Christ to them whose heart is whole,having never yet been broken.”

Thus while preaching the gospel of the grace of God,Wesley, like his Master, sought to “magnify the law, andmake it honorable.” Faithfully did he accomplish thework given him of God, and glorious were the resultswhich he was permitted to behold. At the close of his longlife of more than fourscore years—above half a century spentin itinerant ministry—his avowed adherents numbered morethan half a million souls. But the multitude that through hislabors had been lifted from the ruin and degradation of sinto a higher and purer life, and the number who by this teach-ing had attained to a deeper and richer experience, will neverbe known till the whole family of the redeemed shall be gath-ered into the kingdom of God. His life presents a lesson ofpriceless worth to every Christian. Would that the faithand humility, the untiring zeal, self-sacrifice and devo-tion of this servant of Christ, might be reflected in thechurches of today!

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: SUPPL: SUPPL: SUPPL: SUPPL: SUPPLYING OUR NEEDSYING OUR NEEDSYING OUR NEEDSYING OUR NEEDSYING OUR NEEDS

“My God shall supply all your need, according to His riches in glory, byChrist Jesus.” Philippians 4:19.

“Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land,and verilythou shalt be fed.” Psalm 37:3.

“Behold the fowls of the air, . . yet your heavenly Father feedeith them.Are ye not much better than they?” Matthew 6:26.

“Ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commandedyou, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye mayprolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.” Deuteronomy 5:33.

“He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in theLord.” Psalm 112:7.

2 8 72 8 72 8 72 8 72 8 7Later English Reformers Later English Reformers Later English Reformers Later English Reformers Later English Reformers [264] [264] [264] [264] [264]

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: GOD’S EMPOWERING GRACE: GOD’S EMPOWERING GRACE: GOD’S EMPOWERING GRACE: GOD’S EMPOWERING GRACE: GOD’S EMPOWERING GRACE

How does the Bible describe the THow does the Bible describe the THow does the Bible describe the THow does the Bible describe the THow does the Bible describe the Ten Commandment law?en Commandment law?en Commandment law?en Commandment law?en Commandment law?“The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.” Psalm 19:7.

“Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.”Romans 7:12. “All Thy commandments are righteousness.” Psalm 119:172.“Thy law is the truth.” Psalm 119:142. “Concerning Thy testimonies, Ihave known of old that Thou hast founded them forever.” Psalm 119:152(Matthew 5:17-19).

What is the relation of a sinner saved by grace to the law?What is the relation of a sinner saved by grace to the law?What is the relation of a sinner saved by grace to the law?What is the relation of a sinner saved by grace to the law?What is the relation of a sinner saved by grace to the law?1. The law becomes the standard of his life:1. The law becomes the standard of his life:1. The law becomes the standard of his life:1. The law becomes the standard of his life:1. The law becomes the standard of his life:“This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” 1 John 5:3.2. He permits Christ to fulfill in him the righteousness of the law2. He permits Christ to fulfill in him the righteousness of the law2. He permits Christ to fulfill in him the righteousness of the law2. He permits Christ to fulfill in him the righteousness of the law2. He permits Christ to fulfill in him the righteousness of the law.....“God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin,

condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might befulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans8:3-4.

3. Christ writes the law in his hear3. Christ writes the law in his hear3. Christ writes the law in his hear3. Christ writes the law in his hear3. Christ writes the law in his heart.t.t.t.t.“This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those

days, saith the Lord; I will put My laws into their mind, and write them intheir hearts.” Hebrews 10:16.

What is the relationship of Grace, faith, love and the law?What is the relationship of Grace, faith, love and the law?What is the relationship of Grace, faith, love and the law?What is the relationship of Grace, faith, love and the law?What is the relationship of Grace, faith, love and the law?1. Grace is unmerited favor1. Grace is unmerited favor1. Grace is unmerited favor1. Grace is unmerited favor1. Grace is unmerited favor. But grace does not sanction continued. But grace does not sanction continued. But grace does not sanction continued. But grace does not sanction continued. But grace does not sanction continued

transgression.transgression.transgression.transgression.transgression.“Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid. Yea, we es-

tablish the law.” Romans 3:31.2. F2. F2. F2. F2. Faith does not make void, but establishes the lawaith does not make void, but establishes the lawaith does not make void, but establishes the lawaith does not make void, but establishes the lawaith does not make void, but establishes the law.....“Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the vic-

tory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” 1 John 5:4.3. F3. F3. F3. F3. Faith brings overcoming poweraith brings overcoming poweraith brings overcoming poweraith brings overcoming poweraith brings overcoming power.....“Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the vic-

tory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” 1 John 5:4.4. L4. L4. L4. L4. Love is the fulfilling of the lawove is the fulfilling of the lawove is the fulfilling of the lawove is the fulfilling of the lawove is the fulfilling of the law.....“Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the

law.” Romans 13:10.5. T5. T5. T5. T5. True love keeps the commandments.rue love keeps the commandments.rue love keeps the commandments.rue love keeps the commandments.rue love keeps the commandments.“This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His

commandments are not grievous.” 1 John 5:3.


Chapter FifteenChapter FifteenChapter FifteenChapter FifteenChapter Fifteen

The DeadlyThe DeadlyThe DeadlyThe DeadlyThe DeadlyHarHarHarHarHarvestvestvestvestvest

—The Bible and the F—The Bible and the F—The Bible and the F—The Bible and the F—The Bible and the Frrrrrench Revolutionench Revolutionench Revolutionench Revolutionench Revolution———————————————————————

The terrible FThe terrible FThe terrible FThe terrible FThe terrible French Rrench Rrench Rrench Rrench Revolution of 1790 is long since gone, butevolution of 1790 is long since gone, butevolution of 1790 is long since gone, butevolution of 1790 is long since gone, butevolution of 1790 is long since gone, butit was the direct result of a two-hundred-year struggle over theit was the direct result of a two-hundred-year struggle over theit was the direct result of a two-hundred-year struggle over theit was the direct result of a two-hundred-year struggle over theit was the direct result of a two-hundred-year struggle over theBible.Bible.Bible.Bible.Bible. History has many lessons. If we will not learn them, we mayhave to repeat them.

It took place two centuries ago,—but it is full of meaning to ustoday. View the terrible experiment of a nation that began withView the terrible experiment of a nation that began withView the terrible experiment of a nation that began withView the terrible experiment of a nation that began withView the terrible experiment of a nation that began withreligious persecution—and ended in vilest atheism—and deathreligious persecution—and ended in vilest atheism—and deathreligious persecution—and ended in vilest atheism—and deathreligious persecution—and ended in vilest atheism—and deathreligious persecution—and ended in vilest atheism—and deathto many —to many —to many —to many —to many ————————————————————————

In the sixteenth century the Reformation, present-ing an open Bible to the people, had sought admission toall the countries of Europe. Some nations welcomed it withgladness, as a messenger of Heaven. In other lands, poperysucceeded, to a great extent, in preventing its entrance; andthe light of Bible knowledge, with its elevating influences,was almost wholly excluded. In one country, though thelight found entrance, it was not comprehended by thedarkness. For centuries, truth and error struggled forthe mastery. At last the evil triumphed, and the truth ofHeaven was thrust out. “This is the condemnation, thatlight is come into the world, and men loved darkness ratherthan light.” John 3:19. The nation was left to reap the re-sults of the course which she had chosen. The restraint ofGod’s Spirit was removed from a people that had de-spised the gift of His grace. Evil was permitted to cometo maturity. And all the world saw the fruit of willfulrejection of the light.

The war against the Bible, carried forward for so

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many centuries in France, culminated in the scenes ofthe Revolution. That terrible outbreaking was but thelegitimate result of Rome’s suppression of the Scriptures.It presented the most striking illustration which the worldhas ever witnessed, of the working out of the papal policy,—an illustration of the results to which for more than a thou-sand years the teaching of the Roman Church had been tend-ing.

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

Said the angel of the Lord: “The holy city (the truechurch) shall they tread under foot forty and two months.And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they

———————————HISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DAAAAATING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—France was unique

among the nations of Europe. After being initially tolerated, Protestantismwas later thoroughly crushed out. By 1559, there were 400,000 Hugue-nots (French Protestants) in France. In three savage “Huguenot Wars”(1562-1570), the Catholics tried unsuccessfully to exterminate the Protes-tants. From 1560 onward (as they were doing elsewhere in Europe), theJesuits led out in this work.

Catherine de’Medici of France was told by her Jesuit confessor thather sins would be forgiven if she killed all the Protestants. On St.Bartholomew’s Day, August 24, 1572, the horrible work began, and con-tinued for two months—resulting in the death of 70,000 Protestants. PopeGregory XIII was utterly delighted. The killing of Protestants continued to1580. Charles IX, only 23 years old in 1572, continually heard the cries ofthe dying in his ears, and he sickened and died 21 months later.

With the Protestants, the nation’s best workers, gone—the nationbecame more and more corrupt. In 1789, Louis XVI called the Estates-General to keep the country from bankruptcy. The French Revolution re-sulted.

In July 1789, riots began throughout the nation. The Reign of Terrorcontinued until 1794, as over 300,000 citizens were slain. War betweenFrance and other nations was almost continuous from 1793 to 1915.

The “Festival of Reason” occurred in November 1793. Voltaire saidhe had destroyed Christianity; but, decades later, his house was used tostore French Bibles.

Bible and the French Revolution Bible and the French Revolution Bible and the French Revolution Bible and the French Revolution Bible and the French Revolution [265-266] [265-266] [265-266] [265-266] [265-266]


shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescoredays, clothed in sackcloth. . . .And when they shall havefinished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of thebottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall over-come them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie inthe street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodomand Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. . . . And theythat dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and makemerry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these twoprophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. And afterthree days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered intothem, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell uponthem which saw them.” Revelation 11:2-11.

The periods here mentioned—“forty and twomonths,” and “a thousand two hundred and threescoredays”—are the same, alike representing the time in whichthe church of Christ was to suffer oppression from Rome.The 1260 years of papal supremacy began with the es-tablishment of the papacy in A. D. 538, and would there-fore terminate in 1798. At that time a French army enteredRome, and made the pope a prisoner, and he died in exile.Though a new pope was soon afterward elected, the papalhierarchy has never since been able to wield the power whichit before possessed.

The persecution of the church did not continuethroughout the entire period of the 1260 years. God inmercy to His people cut short the time of their fiery trial.In foretelling the “great tribulation” to befall the church, theSaviour said, “Except those days should be shortened, thereshould no flesh be saved; but for the elect’s sake those daysshall be shortened.” Matthew 24:22. Through the influenceof the Reformation, the persecution was brought to an endprior to 1798.

Concerning the two witnesses, the prophet declares fur-ther, “These are the two olive-trees, and the two candlesticksstanding before the God of the earth.” “Thy Word,” said thepsalmist, “is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”Revelation 11:4; Psalm 119:105. The two witnesses rep-

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resent the Scriptures of the Old and the New Testaments.Both are important testimonies to the origin and perpe-tuity of the law of God. Both are witnesses also to theplan of salvation. The types, sacrifices, and prophecies ofthe Old Testament point forward to a Saviour to come. TheGospels and Epistles of the New Testament tell of a Saviourwho has come in the exact manner foretold by type and proph-ecy.

“They shall prophesy a thousand two hundred andthreescore days, clothed in sackcloth.” During the greaterpart of this period, God’s witnesses remained in a stateof obscurity. The papal power sought to hide from thepeople the Word of truth, and set before them false wit-nesses to contradict its testimony. When the Bible was pro-scribed by religious and secular authority; when its testimonywas perverted, and every effort made that men and demonscould invent to turn the minds of the people from it; whenthose who dared proclaim its sacred truths were hunted, be-trayed, tortured, buried in dungeon cells, martyred for theirfaith, or compelled to flee to mountain fastnesses, and todens and caves of the earth,—then the faithful witnessesprophesied in sackcloth. Yet they continued their testimonythroughout the entire period of 1260 years. In the dark-est times there were faithful men who loved God’s Word,and were jealous for His honor. To these loyal servantswere given wisdom, power, and authority to declare His truthduring the whole of this time.

“And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out oftheir mouth, and devoureth their enemies; and if any manwill hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.” Revelation11:5. Men cannot with impunity trample upon the Wordof God. The meaning of this fearful denunciation is set forthin the closing chapter of the Revelation: “I testify unto everyman that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, Ifany man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto himthe plagues that are written in this book. And if any manshall 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



AAAAA.D. 538.D. 538.D. 538.D. 538.D. 538 AAAAA.D. 1798.D. 1798.D. 1798.D. 1798.D. 1798

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTSPECIAL SUPPLEMENTSPECIAL SUPPLEMENTSPECIAL SUPPLEMENTSPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: THE 1260 YEAR PROPHECY: THE 1260 YEAR PROPHECY: THE 1260 YEAR PROPHECY: THE 1260 YEAR PROPHECY: THE 1260 YEAR PROPHECY

THE PROPHECY OF DANIELTHE PROPHECY OF DANIELTHE PROPHECY OF DANIELTHE PROPHECY OF DANIELTHE PROPHECY OF DANIEL“Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four

winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came upfrom the sea, diverse one from another . .

“And behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly;and it had great iron teeth . . and it had ten horns.

“And I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them an-other little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up bythe roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouthspeaking great things . .

“I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of allthis. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things . . Then Iwould know the truth of the fourth beast . . And of the ten horns that there werein his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even ofthat horn that had eyes, and a mouth speaking great things, whose look wasmore stout than his fellows.

“I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed againstthem . .

“And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear outthe saints of the most High, and think to change time and laws: and they shall begiven into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” Daniel 7:2-3,7-8, 16, 19-21, 25.

THE PROPHECY OF REVELATHE PROPHECY OF REVELATHE PROPHECY OF REVELATHE PROPHECY OF REVELATHE PROPHECY OF REVELATIONTIONTIONTIONTION“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea

. . And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadlywound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast . . And there wasgiven unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power wasgiven unto him to continue forty and two mouths.” Revelation 13:1, 3, 5.

The Bible predicted that the terrible little horn power of Daniel 7 and 8was to rule the world for 1260 years. It has been well-known for centuriesthat this little horn of Daniel 7 and the first beast of Revelation 13 symbolizethe papacy. Also called the “man of sin” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4) and the“antichrist” (1 John 4:3), the papacy was definitely prophesied to have thispower for 1260 years. When did this predicted time span begin and whendid it end? The next page will give you this information.

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THE AMAZING 1260 YEAR PROPHECYTHE AMAZING 1260 YEAR PROPHECYTHE AMAZING 1260 YEAR PROPHECYTHE AMAZING 1260 YEAR PROPHECYTHE AMAZING 1260 YEAR PROPHECYHere is the amazing prophecy of the 1260 days, also called the “time and

times and the dividing of time,” and the “forty-two months.”A day stands for a year in Bible prophecy (Numbers 14:34, Ezekiel 4:6).

A “time” in prophecy is the same as a year (Daniel 11:13, margin and RevisedVersion). This time-span prophecy is first mentioned in Daniel 7:25, where weare told that it is the length of time that the terrible “little horn” power was tobear rule and destroy God’s people. During that time it would also try to changeGod’s law: “And he [the little horn] shall speak great words against the mostHigh, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change timesand laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and adiving of time.” Daniel 7:25.

This, in Hebrew, equals a time, 2 times and a half a time. Using theancient reckoning of 360 days to a year, 360 +180 + 720 = 1260. And sincea day is equivalent to a year in Bible prophecy, this little horn power would rulefor 1260 years. In Revelation 12:6-7 we are told that the persecution wouldcontinue for “a thousand two hundred and threescore days,” which is 1260prophetic days, or years (also note Revelation 11:3).

The God of heaven gave this important prophecy in yet a third way: Thelittle horn of Daniel 7 and 8 is the same as the first beast of Revelation 13: “Andthere was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; andpower was given unto him to continue forty and two months.” Revelation 13:5(compare Revelation 11:2). Forty-two months equals 1260 days. And Revela-tion also calls this time prophecy the “time, and times, and half a time” (Rev-elation 12:14),—just as Daniel does.

When did the little horn, symbolizing the papacy, have this rule? Thedecree of the emperor Justinian, in A.D. 533, recognized the pope as the “headof all the holy churches” (Code of Justinian, Book 1, title 1, section 4). Theoverwhelming defeat of the Ostrogoths in the siege of Rome, just five yearslater (A.D. 538) was a death blow to the third of the three horns that wereuprooted (see Daniel 7:8). With the year 538, then begins the 1260 years ofthis prophecy of papal domination, which would extend to 1798. In that yearas the Reign of Terror continued in the French Revolution and the Roman Catholicreligion was set aside in France, the French army, under Berthier, entered Romeand took the pope prisoner. The date: February 10, 1798. The imprisoned popedied in exile the following year in Valence, France. A great cry was heard,“Catholicism is dead.” The papacy had received the “deadly wound” of Rev-elation 13:3. But we are told that the wound is to be healed, and that time iscoming when all the world will “wonder after the beast” (Revelation 13:3).

Bible and the French RevolutionBible and the French RevolutionBible and the French RevolutionBible and the French RevolutionBible and the French Revolution


of the holy city, and from the things which are written in thisbook.” Revelation 22:18, 19.

Such are the warnings which God has given to guardmen against changing in any manner that which He has re-vealed or commanded. These solemn denunciations applyto all who by their influence lead men to lightly regardthe law of God. They should cause those to fear andtremble who flippantly declare it a matter of little conse-quence whether we obey God’s law or not. All who exalttheir own opinions above divine revelation, all who wouldchange the plain meaning of Scripture to suit their own con-venience, or for the sake of conforming to the world, aretaking upon themselves a fearful responsibility. The writ-ten Word, the law of God, will measure the character ofevery man, and condemn all whom this unerring test shalldeclare wanting.

“When they shall have finished (are finishing) their tes-timony.” The period when the two witnesses were toprophesy clothed in sackcloth ended in 1798. As they wereapproaching the termination of their work in obscurity, warwas to be made upon them by the power represented as “thebeast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit.” In many ofthe nations of Europe the powers that ruled in Church andState had for centuries been controlled by Satan, through themedium of the papacy. But here is brought to view a newmanifestation of Satanic power.

It had been Rome’s policy, under a profession of rev-erence for the Bible, to keep it locked up in an unknowntongue, and hidden away from the people. Under her rulethe witnesses prophesied, “clothed in sackcloth.” But an-other power—the beast from the bottomless pit—was to ariseto 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 allnations presented in Bible history, Egypt most boldly de-nied the existence of the living God, and resisted His com-mands. No monarch ever ventured upon more open and high-handed rebellion against the authority of Heaven than did

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the king of Egypt. When the message was brought him byMoses, in the name of the Lord, Pharaoh proudly answered,“Who is Jehovah, that I should obey His voice to let Israelgo? I know not Jehovah, neither will I let Israel go.” Exodus5:2. This is atheism; and the nation represented by Egyptwould give voice to a similar denial of the claims of theliving God, and would manifest a like spirit of unbeliefand defiance. The “great city” is also compared, “spiritu-ally,” to Sodom. The corruption of Sodom in breaking thelaw of God was especially manifested in licentiousness. Andthis sin was also to be a pre-eminent characteristic of thenation that should fulfill the specifications of this scripture.

According to the words of the prophet, then, a littlebefore the year 1798 some power of Satanic origin andcharacter would rise to make war upon the Bible. Andin the land where the testimony of God’s two witnessesshould thus be silenced, there would be manifest the athe-ism of the Pharaoh, and the licentiousness of Sodom.

This prophecy has received a most exact and strik-ing fulfillment in the history of France. During the Revo-lution of 1793, “the world for the first time heard an assem-bly of men, born and educated in civilization, and assumingthe right to govern one of the finest European nations, uplifttheir united voice to deny the most solemn truth which man’ssoul receives, and renounce unanimously the belief and wor-ship of the Deity.” “France is the only nation in the worldconcerning which the authentic record survives, that as anation she lifted her hand in open rebellion against theAuthor of the universe. Plenty of blasphemers, plenty ofinfidels, there have been, and still continue to be, in England,Germany, Spain, and elsewhere; but France stands apart inthe world’s history as the single State which, by the decreeof her legislative assembly, pronounced that there was noGod, and of which the entire population of the capital, and avast majority elsewhere, women as well as men, danced andsang with joy in accepting the announcement.”

France presented also the characteristic which es-pecially distinguished Sodom. During the Revolution there



was manifest a state of moral debasement and corruptionsimilar to that which brought destruction upon the cities ofthe plain. And the historian presents together the atheismand licentiousness of France, as it is given in the prophecy:“Intimately connected with these laws affecting religion wasthat which reduced the union of marriage—the most sacredengagement which human beings can form, and the perma-nence of which leads most strongly to the consolidation ofsociety—to a state of mere civil contract of a transitory char-acter, which any two persons might engage in and cast looseat pleasure. . . . If fiends had set themselves at work to dis-cover a mode of most effectually destroying whatever is ven-erable, graceful, or permanent in domestic life, and obtain-ing at the same time an assurance that the mischief which itwas their object to create should be perpetuated from onegeneration to another, they could not have invented a moreeffectual plan than the degradation of marriage. . . . SophieArnoult, an actress famous for the witty things she said, de-scribed the republican marriage as the ‘sacrament of adul-tery.’ ”

“Where also our Lord was crucified.” This specifica-tion of the prophecy was also fulfilled by France. In no landhad the spirit of enmity against Christ been more strik-ingly displayed. In no country had the truth encounteredmore bitter and cruel opposition. In the persecutionwhich France had visited upon the confessors of the gos-pel, she had crucified Christ in the person of His dis-ciples.

Century after century the blood of the saints had beenshed. While the Waldenses laid down their lives upon themountains of Piedmont “for the Word of God, and for thetestimony of Jesus Christ,” similar witness to the truth hadbeen borne by their brethren, the Albigenses of France.In the days of the Reformation, its disciples had been put todeath with horrible tortures. King and nobles, high-bornwomen and delicate maidens, the pride and chivalry of thenation, had feasted their eyes upon the agonies of the mar-tyrs of Jesus. The brave Huguenots, battling for those

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rights which the human heart holds most sacred, hadpoured out their blood on many a hard-fought field. TheProtestants were counted as outlaws, a price was set upontheir heads, and they were hunted down like wild beasts.

The “Church in the Desert,” the few descendants of theancient Christians that still lingered in France in the eigh-teenth century, hiding away in the mountains of the south,still cherished the faith of their fathers. As they ventured tomeet by night on mountain-side or lonely moor, they werechased by dragoons, and dragged away to life-long slaveryin the galleys. “The purest, the most refined, and the mostintelligent of the French, were chained, in horrible torture,amidst robbers and assassins.” Others, more mercifully dealtwith, were shot down in cold blood, as, unarmed and help-less, they fell upon their knees in prayer. Hundreds of agedmen, defenseless women, and innocent children were leftdead upon the earth at their place of meeting. In travers-ing the mountain-side or the forest, where they had been ac-customed to assemble, it was not unusual to find “at everyfour paces dead bodies dotting the sward, and corpses hang-ing suspended from the trees.” Their country, “laid wastewith the sword, the ax, the fagot, was converted into a vast,gloomy wilderness.” These atrocities were not committedduring the Dark Ages, but in that brilliant era “whenscience was cultivated, and letters flourished; when thedivines of the court and the capital were learned andeloquent men, who greatly affected the graces of meek-ness and charity.”

But blackest in the black catalogue of crime, mosthorrible among the fiendish deeds of all the dreadful cen-turies, was the St. Bartholomew Massacre. The world stillrecalls with shuddering horror the scenes of that most cow-ardly and cruel onslaught. The king of France, urged on byRomish priests and prelates, lent his sanction to the dreadfulwork. The great bell of the palace, tolling at dead of night,was a signal for the slaughter. Protestants by thousands,sleeping quietly in their homes, trusting to the plighted honorof their king, were dragged forth without a warning, and



murdered in cold blood.Satan, in the person of the Roman zealots, led the van.

As Christ was the invisible leader of His people from Egyp-tian bondage, so was Satan the unseen leader of his subjectsin this horrible work of multiplying martyrs. For seven daysthe massacre was continued in Paris, the first three withinconceivable fury. And it was not confined to the cityitself, but by special order of the king extended to allprovinces and towns where Protestants were found. Nei-ther age nor sex was respected. Neither the innocent babenor 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 twomonths. Seventy thousand of the very flower of the na-tion perished.

“The pope, Gregory XIII, received the news of thefate of the Huguenots with unbounded joy. The wish ofhis heart had been gratified, and Charles IX, was now hisfavorite son. Rome rang with rejoicings. The guns of thecastle of St. Angelo gave forth a joyous salute; the bellssounded from every tower; bonfires blazed throughout thenight; and Gregory, attended by his cardinals and priests,led the magnificent procession to the church of St. Louis,where the cardinal of Lorraine chanted a Te Deum. The cryof the dying host in France was gentle harmony to the courtof Rome. A medal was struck to commemorate the gloriousmassacre; a picture, which still exists in the Vatican, waspainted, representing the chief events of St. Bartholomew.The pope, eager to show his gratitude to Charles for his du-tiful conduct, sent him the Golden Rose; and from the pul-pits of Rome eloquent preachers celebrated Charles,Catherine, and the Guises as the new founders of the papalchurch.”

The same master-spirit that urged on the St.Bartholomew Massacre led also in the scenes of the Revo-lution. Jesus Christ was declared to be an impostor, and therallying cry of the French infidels was, “Crush the Wretch,”meaning Christ. Heaven-daring blasphemy and abominable

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wickedness went hand in hand, and the basest of men, themost abandoned monsters of cruelty and vice, were mosthighly exalted. In all this, supreme homage was paid to Sa-tan; while Christ, in His characteristics of truth, purity, andunselfish love, was crucified.

“The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shallmake war against them, and shall overcome them, and killthem.” The atheistical power that ruled in France dur-ing the Revolution and the reign of terror, did wage sucha war upon the Bible as the world had never witnessed.The Word of God was prohibited by the national assem-bly. Bibles were collected and publicly burned with everypossible manifestation of scorn. The law of God wastrampled under foot. The institutions of the Bible wereabolished. The weekly rest-day was set aside, and in itsstead every tenth day was devoted to reveling and blas-phemy. 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 begin-ning of wisdom that it was the beginning of folly. All reli-gious worship was prohibited, except that of liberty andthe country. “The constitutional bishop of Paris was broughtforward to play the principal part in the most impudent andscandalous farce ever enacted in the face of a national repre-sentation. . . . He was brought forward in full procession, todeclare to the convention that the religion which he had taughtso many years was, in every respect, a piece of priestcraft,which had no foundation either in history or in sacred truth.He disowned in solemn and explicit terms the existence ofthe Deity, to whose worship he had been consecrated, anddevoted himself in future to the homage of liberty, equality,virtue, and morality. He then laid on the table his episcopaldecorations, and received a fraternal embrace from the presi-dent of the convention. Several apostate priests followed theexample of this prelate.”

“And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice overthem, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another;



because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt onthe earth.” Infidel France had silenced the reproving voiceof God’s two witnesses. The Word of truth lay dead inher streets, and those who hated the restrictions and re-quirements of God’s law were jubilant. Men publicly de-fied the King of Heaven. Like the sinners of old, they cried,“How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the MostHigh?” Psalm 73:11.

With blasphemous boldness almost beyond belief, oneof the priests of the new order said: “God, if you exist, avengeyour injured name. I bid you defiance! You remain silent.You dare not launch your thunders! Who, after this, will be-lieve in your existence?” What an echo is this of the Pharaoh’sdemand: “Who is Jehovah, that I should obey His voice?” “Iknow not Jehovah!”

“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God?” Psalm14:1. And the Lord declares concerning the perverters ofthe truth, “Their folly shall be manifest unto all.” 2 Timothy3:9. After France had renounced the worship of the liv-ing God, “the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eter-nity,” it was only a little time till she descended to de-grading idolatry, by the worship of the Goddess of Rea-son, in the person of a profligate woman. And this in therepresentative assembly of the nation, and by its highest civiland legislative authorities! Says the historian: “One of theceremonies of this insane time stands unrivaled for absur-dity combined with impiety. The doors of the convention werethrown open to a band of musicians, preceded by whom themembers of the municipal body entered in solemn proces-sion, singing a hymn in praise of liberty, and escorting, asthe object of their future worship, a veiled female whom theytermed the Goddess of Reason. Being brought within thebar, she was unveiled with great form, and placed on theright hand of the president, when she was generally recog-nized as a dancing girl of the opera. . . . To this person, as thefittest representative of that reason whom they worshiped,the national convention of France rendered public homage.This impious and ridiculous mummery had a certain fash-

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ion; and the installation of the Goddess of Reason was re-newed and imitated throughout the nation in such placeswhere the inhabitants desired to show themselves equal toall the heights of the Revolution.”

Said the orator who introduced the worship of reason:“Legislative fanaticism has lost its hold; it has given placeto reason. We have left its temples; they are regenerated.To-day an immense multitude are assembled under its gothicroofs, which, for the first time, will re-echo the voice of truth.There the French will celebrate the true worship, that of Lib-erty and Reason. There we will form new vows for the pros-perity of the armies of the Republic; there we will abandonthe worship of inanimate idols for that of Reason—this ani-mated image, the masterpiece of creation.”

When the goddess was brought into the convention, theorator took her by the hand, and turning to the assemblysaid: “Mortals, cease to tremble before the powerless thun-ders of a God whom your fears have created. Henceforthacknowledge no divinity but Reason. I offer you its noblestand purest image; if you must have idols, sacrifice only tosuch as this. . . . Fall before the august senate of freedom,veil of Reason.”

“The goddess, after being embraced by the president,was mounted on a magnificent car, and conducted, amidstan immense crowd, to the cathedral of Notre Dame, to takethe place of the Deity. Then she was elevated on the highaltar, and received the adoration of all present.”

This was followed, not long afterward, by the publicburning of the Bible. And “the popular society of the mu-seum entered the hall of the municipality, exclaiming, Vivela Raison! and carrying on the top of a pole the half-burnedremains of several books, among others the breviaries of theOld and New Testaments, which ‘expiated in a great fire,’said the president, ‘all the fooleries which they have madethe human race commit.’”

It was popery that had begun the work which athe-ism was completing. The policy of Rome had wroughtout those conditions, social, political, and religious, that



were hurrying France on to ruin. A writer, speaking ofthe horrors of the Revolution, says: “Those excesses are intruth to be charged upon the throne and the church.” In strictjustice they are to be charged upon the church. Popery hadpoisoned the minds of kings against the Reformation, as anenemy to the crown, an element of discord that would befatal to the peace and harmony of the nation. It was the ge-nius of Rome that by this means inspired the direst crueltyand the most galling oppression which proceeded from thethrone.

The spirit of liberty went with the Bible. Whereverthe gospel was received, the minds of the people wereawakened. They began to cast off the shackles that hadheld them bondslaves of ignorance, vice, and supersti-tion. They began to think and act as men. Monarchs sawit, and trembled for their despotism.

Rome was not slow to inflame their jealous fears.Said the pope to the regent of France in 1523: “This mania(Protestantism) will not only destroy religion, but all princi-palities, nobilities, laws, orders, and ranks besides.” A fewyears later a papist dignitary warned the king, “If you wishto preserve your sovereign rights intact; if you wish to keepthe nations submitted to you in tranquillity, manfully defendthe Catholic faith, and subdue all its enemies by your arms.”And theologians appealed to the prejudices of the people bydeclaring that the Protestant doctrine “entices men away tonovelties and folly; it robs the king of the devoted affectionof his subjects, and devastates both Church and State.” ThusRome succeeded in arraying France against the Refor-mation. “It was to uphold the throne, preserve the nobles,and maintain the laws, that the sword of persecution wasfirst unsheathed in France.”

Little did the rulers of the land foresee the results ofthat fateful policy. The teaching of the Bible would haveimplanted in the minds and hearts of the people thoseprinciples of justice, temperance, truth, equity, and be-nevolence which are the very corner-stone of a nation’sprosperity. “Righteousness exalteth a nation.” Thereby “the

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throne is established.” Proverbs 14:34; 16:12. “The workof righteousness shall be peace;” and the effect, “quietnessand assurance forever.” Isaiah 32:17. He who obeys the di-vine law will most truly respect and obey the laws of hiscountry. He who fears God will honor the king in the ex-ercise of all just and legitimate authority. But unhappyFrance prohibited the Bible, and banned its disciples.Century after century, men of principle and integrity, men ofintellectual acuteness and moral strength, who had the cour-age to avow their convictions, and the faith to suffer for thetruth,—for centuries these men toiled as slaves in the gal-leys, perished at the stake, or rotted in dungeon cells. Thou-sands upon thousands found safety in flight; and this con-tinued for two hundred and fifty years after the openingof the Reformation.

“Scarcely was there a generation of Frenchmen duringthat long period that did not witness the disciples of the gos-pel fleeing before the insane fury of the persecutor, and car-rying with them the intelligence, the arts, the industry, theorder, in which, as a rule, they pre-eminently excelled, toenrich the land in which they found an asylum. And in pro-portion as they replenished other countries with thesegood gifts, did they empty their own of them. If all thatwas now driven away had been retained in France; if, duringthese three hundred years, the industrial skill of the exileshad been cultivating her soil; if, during these three hundredyears, their artistic bent had been improving her manufac-tures; if, during these three hundred years, their creative ge-nius and analytic power had been enriching her literature andcultivating her science; if their wisdom had been guiding hercouncils, their bravery fighting her battles, their equity fram-ing her laws, and the religion of the Bible strengthening theintellect and governing the conscience of her people, what aglory would at this day have encompassed France! What agreat, prosperous, and happy country—a pattern to the na-tions—would she have been!

“But a blind and inexorable bigotry chased from hersoil every teacher of virtue, every champion of order,



every honest defender of the throne; it said to the menwho would have made their country a ‘renown and glory’ inthe earth, Choose which you will have, a stake or exile. Atlast the ruin of the State was complete; there remainedno more conscience to be proscribed; no more religionto be dragged to the stake; no more patriotism to bechased into banishment.” And the Revolution, with allits horrors, was the dire result.

“With the flight of the Huguenots a general declinesettled upon France. Flourishing manufacturing cities fellinto decay; fertile districts returned to their native wildness;intellectual dullness and moral declension succeeded a pe-riod of unwonted progress. Paris became one vast almshouse,and it is estimated that, at the breaking out of the Revolu-tion, two hundred thousand paupers claimed charity fromthe hands of the king. The Jesuits alone flourished in thedecaying nation, and ruled with dreadful tyranny overchurches and schools, the prisons and the galleys.”

The gospel would have brought to France the solu-tion of those political and social problems that baffledthe skill of her clergy, her king, and her legislators, andfinally plunged the nation into anarchy and ruin. Butunder the domination of Rome, the people had lost theSaviour’s blessed lessons of self-sacrifice and unselfish love.They had been led away from the practice of self-denial forthe good of others. The rich had found no rebuke for theiroppression of the poor, the poor no help for their servitudeand degradation. The selfishness of the wealthy and power-ful grew more and more apparent and oppressive. For centu-ries the greed and profligacy of the noble resulted in grind-ing 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 themercy of their landlords, and were forced to submit to theirexorbitant demands. The burden of supporting both theChurch and the State fell upon the middle and lower classes,who were heavily taxed by the civil authorities and by the

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clergy. “The pleasure of the nobles was considered the su-preme law; the farmers and the peasants might starve, foraught their oppressors cared. . . . The people were compelledat every turn to consult the exclusive interest of the landlord.The lives of the agricultural laborers were lives of incessantwork and unrelieved misery; their complaints, if they everdared to complain, were treated with insolent contempt. Thecourts of justice would always listen to a noble as against apeasant; bribes were notoriously accepted by the judges; andthe merest caprice of the aristocracy had the force of law, byvirtue of this system of universal corruption. Of the taxeswrung from the commonalty, by the secular magnates on theone hand, and the clergy on the other, not half ever found itsway into the royal or episcopal treasury; the rest was squan-dered in profligate self-indulgence. And the men who thusimpoverished their fellow-subjects were themselves exemptfrom taxation, and entitled by law or custom to all the ap-pointments of the State. The privileged classes numbered ahundred and fifty thousand, and for their gratification mil-lions were condemned to hopeless and degrading lives.”

The court was given up to luxury and profligacy. Therewas little confidence existing between the people and therulers. Suspicion fastened upon all the measures of the gov-ernment, as designing and selfish. For more than half a cen-tury before the time of the Revolution, the throne was occu-pied by Louis XV, who even in those evil times was distin-guished as an indolent, frivolous, and sensual monarch. Witha depraved and cruel aristocracy and an impoverishedand ignorant lower class, the State financially embar-rassed, and the people exasperated, it needed no prophet’seye to foresee a terrible impending outbreak. To the warn-ings 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 thenecessity of reform was urged. He saw the evils, but hadneither the courage nor the power to meet them. The doomawaiting France was but too truly pictured in his indo-lent and selfish answer,—“After me the deluge!”



By working upon the jealousy of the kings and theruling classes, Rome had influenced them to keep thepeople in bondage, well knowing that the State wouldthus be weakened, and purposing by this means to fas-ten both rulers and people in her thrall. With far-sightedpolicy she perceived that in order to enslave men effectually,the shackles must be bound upon their souls; that the surestway to prevent them from escaping their bondage was torender them incapable of freedom. A thousand-fold moreterrible than the physical suffering which resulted from herpolicy, 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, andsunken in vice, so that they were wholly unfitted for self-government.

But the outworking of all this was widely differentfrom what Rome had purposed. Instead of holding themasses in a blind submission to her dogmas, her workresulted in making them infidels and revolutionists. Ro-manism they despised as priestcraft. They beheld the clergyas a party to their oppression. The only god they knew wasthe god of Rome; her teaching was their only religion. Theyregarded her greed and cruelty as the legitimate fruit of theBible and they would have none of it.

Rome had misrepresented the character of God, andperverted His requirements, and now men rejected boththe Bible and its Author. She had required a blind faith inher dogmas, under the pretended sanction of the Scriptures.In the reaction, Voltaire and his associates cast aside God’sWord altogether, and spread everywhere the poison of infi-delity. Rome had ground down the people under her ironheel; and now the masses, degraded and brutalized, intheir recoil from her tyranny cast off all restraint. En-raged at the glittering cheat to which they had so longpaid homage, they rejected truth and falsehood together;and mistaking license for liberty, the slaves of vice ex-ulted in their imagined freedom.

At the opening of the Revolution, by a concession of

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the king, the people were granted a representation ex-ceeding that of the nobles and the clergy combined. Thusthe balance of power was in their hands; but they werenot prepared to use it with wisdom and moderation. Ea-ger to redress the wrongs they had suffered, they determinedto undertake the reconstruction of society. An outraged popu-lace, whose minds were filled with bitter and long-treasuredmemories of wrong, resolved to revolutionize the state ofmisery that had grown unbearable, and to revenge themselvesupon those whom they regarded as the authors of their suf-ferings. The oppressed wrought out the lesson they hadlearned under tyranny, and became the oppressors ofthose who had oppressed them.

Unhappy France reaped in blood the harvest she hadsown. Terrible were the results of her submission to thecontrolling power of Rome. Where France, under the in-fluence of Romanism, had set up the first stake at the open-ing of the Reformation, there the Revolution set up its firstguillotine. On the very spot where the first martyrs to theProtestant faith were burned in the sixteenth century, the firstvictims were guillotined in the eighteenth. In repelling thegospel, which would have brought her healing, France hadopened the door to infidelity and ruin. When the restraints ofGod’s law were cast aside, it was found that the laws of manwere inadequate to hold in check the powerful tides of hu-man passion; and the nation swept on to revolt and anarchy.The war against the Bible inaugurated an era whichstands in the world’s history as “The Reign of Terror.”Peace and happiness were banished from the homes andhearts of men. No one was secure. He who triumphed to-day was suspected, condemned tomorrow. Violence and lustheld undisputed sway.

King, clergy, and nobles were compelled to submitto the atrocities of an excited and maddened people. Theirthirst for vengeance was only stimulated by the execu-tion of the king; and those who had decreed his death,soon followed him to the scaffold. A general slaughter ofall suspected of hostility to the Revolution was determined.



The prisons were crowded, at one time containing more thantwo hundred thousand captives. The cities of the kingdomwere filled with scenes of horror. One party of revolu-tionists was against another party, and France becamea vast field for contending masses, swayed by the fury oftheir passions. “In Paris one tumult succeeded another, andthe citizens were divided into a medley of factions, thatseemed intent on nothing but mutual extermination.” Andto add to the general misery, the nation became involvedin a prolonged and devastating war with the great pow-ers of Europe. “The country was nearly bankrupt, the armieswere clamoring for arrears of pay, the Parisians were starv-ing, the provinces were laid waste by brigands, and civiliza-tion was almost extinguished in anarchy and license.”

All too well the people had learned the lessons of cru-elty and torture which Rome had so diligently taught. Aday of retribution at last had come. It was not now the dis-ciples of Jesus that were thrust into dungeons and draggedto the stake. Long ago these had perished or been driven intoexile. Unsparing Rome now felt the deadly power of thosewhom she had trained to delight in deeds of blood. “Theexample of persecution which the clergy of France had ex-hibited for so many ages, was now retorted upon them withsignal vigor. The scaffolds ran red with the blood of thepriests. The galleys and the prisons, once crowded withHuguenots, were now filled with their persecutors. Chain-ed to the bench and toiling at the oar, the Roman Catholicclergy experienced all those woes which their church had sofreely inflicted on the gentle heretics.”

“Then came those days when the most barbarous of allcodes was administered by the most barbarous of all tribu-nals; when no man could greet his neighbors, or say hisprayers . . . without danger of committing a capital crime;when spies lurked in every corner; when the guillotine waslong and hard at work every morning; when the jails werefilled as close as the holds of a slave-ship; when the guttersran foaming with blood into the Seine. . . . While the dailywagon-loads of victims were carried to their doom through

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the streets of Paris, the proconsuls, whom the sovereign com-mittee had sent forth to the departments, reveled in an ex-travagance of cruelty unknown even in the capital. The knifeof the deadly machine rose and fell too slow for their workof slaughter. Long rows of captives were mowed down withgrape-shot. Holes were made in the bottom of crowdedbarges. Lyons was turned into a desert. At Arras even thecruel mercy of a speedy death was denied to the prisoners.All down the Loire, from Saumur to the sea, great flocks ofcrows and kites feasted on naked corpses, twined together inhideous embraces. No mercy was shown to sex or age. Thenumber of young lads and of girls of seventeen who weremurdered by that execrable government is to be reckoned byhundreds. Babies torn from the breast were tossed from piketo pike along the Jacobin ranks.” In the short space of tenyears, millions of human beings perished.

All this was as Satan would have it. This was whatfor ages he had been working to secure. His policy is de-ception from first to last, and his steadfast purpose is to bringwoe and wretchedness upon men, to deface and defile theworkmanship of God, to mar the divine purposes of benevo-lence and love, and thus cause grief in Heaven. Then by hisdeceptive arts he blinds the minds of men, and leads them tothrow back the blame of his work upon God, as if all thismisery were the result of the Creator’s plan. In like manner,when those who have been degraded and brutalizedthrough his cruel power achieve their freedom, he urgesthem on to excesses and atrocities. Then this picture ofunbridled license is pointed out by tyrants and oppres-sors as an illustration of the results of liberty.

When error in one garb has been detected, Satanonly masks it in a different disguise, and multitudes re-ceive it as eagerly as at the first. When the people foundRomanism to be a deception, and he could not throughthis agency lead them to transgression of God’s law, heurged them to regard all religion as a cheat, and the Biblea fable; and casting aside the divine statutes, they gave them-selves up to unbridled iniquity.



The fatal error which wrought such woe for the in-habitants of France was the ignoring of this one greattruth: that true freedom lies within the proscriptions ofthe law of God. “O that thou hadst hearkened to Mycommandments! then had thy peace been as a river, andthy righteousness as the waves of the sea.” “There is nopeace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.” “But whosohearkeneth unto Me shall dwell safely, and shall be quietfrom fear of evil.” Isaiah 48:18, 22; Proverbs 1:33.

Atheists, infidels, and apostates oppose and denounceGod’s law; but the results of their influence prove thatthe well-being of man is bound up with His obedience ofthe divine statutes. Those who will not read the lessonfrom the book of God, are bidden to read it in the his-tory of nations.

When Satan wrought through the Romish Church to leadmen away from obedience, his agency was concealed, andhis work was so disguised that the degradation and miserywhich resulted were not seen to be the fruit of transgression.And his power was so far counteracted by the working of theSpirit of God, that his purposes were prevented from reach-ing their full fruition. The people did not trace the effect toits cause, and discover the source of their miseries. But inthe Revolution, the law of God was openly set aside bythe national council. And in the reign of terror whichfollowed, the working of cause and effect could be seenby all.

When France publicly prohibited the Bible, wicked menand spirits of darkness exulted in their attainment of the ob-ject so long desired,—a kingdom free from the restraintsof the law of God. Because sentence against an evil workwas not speedily executed, therefore the heart of the sons ofmen was “fully set in them to do evil.” Ecclesiastes 8:11-13. But the transgression of a just and righteous lawmust inevitably result in misery and ruin. Though not vis-ited at once with judgments, the wickedness of men was nev-ertheless surely working out their doom. Centuries of apos-tasy and crime had been treasuring up wrath against the day

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of retribution; and when their iniquity was full, the despisersof God learned too late that it is a fearful thing to have wornout the divine patience. The restraining Spirit of God, whichimposes a check upon the cruel power of Satan, was in agreat measure removed, and he whose only delight is thewretchedness of men, was permitted to work his will. Thosewho had chosen the service of rebellion, were left to reap itsfruits, until the land was filled with crimes too horrible forpen to trace. From devastated provinces and ruined cities aterrible cry was heard,—a cry of bitterest anguish. Francewas shaken as if by an earthquake. Religion, law, social or-der, the family, the State, and the Church,—all were smittendown by the impious hand that had been lifted against thelaw of God. Truly spake the wise man: “The wicked shallfall by his own wickedness.” “Though a sinner do evil anhundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I knowthat it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear be-fore Him; but it shall not be well with the wicked.” Ecclesi-astes 8:13. “They hated knowledge, and did not choose thefear of the Lord:” “therefore shall they eat of the fruit oftheir own way, and be filled with their own devices.” Prov-erbs 1:29, 31.

God’s faithful witnesses, slain by the blasphemous powerthat “ascendeth out of the bottomless pit,” were not long toremain silent. “After three days and a half, the Spirit oflife from God entered into them, and they stood upon theirfeet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.” Rev-elation 11:11. It was in 1793 that the decree which pro-hibited the Bible passed the French Assembly. Threeyears and a half later a resolution rescinding the decree,and granting toleration to the Scriptures, was adoptedby the same body. The world stood aghast at the enormityof guilt which had resulted from a rejection of the SacredOracles, and men recognized the necessity of faith in Godand His Word as the foundation of virtue and morality. Saiththe Lord, “Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed?and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted upthine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.”



Isaiah 37:23. “Therefore, behold, I will this once cause themto know, I will cause them to know Mine hand and My Might;and they shall know that my name is the Lord.” Jeremiah16:21.

Concerning the two witnesses the prophet declares fur-ther: “And they heard a great voice from heaven saying untothem, come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in acloud; and their enemies beheld them.” Revelation 11:12.Since France made war upon God’s two witnesses, theyhave been honored as never before. In 1804 the Britishand Foreign Bible Society was organized. This was fol-lowed by similar organizations, with numerous branches,upon the continent of Europe. In 1816, the AmericanBible Society was founded. When the British Society wasformed, the Bible had been printed and circulated in fiftytongues. It has since been translated into more than twohundred languages and dialects. By the efforts of Biblesocieties, since 1804, more than 187,000,000 copies of theBible have been circulated.

For the fifty years preceding 1792, little attentionwas given to the work of foreign missions. No new soci-eties were formed, and there were but few churches thatmade any effort for the spread of Christianity in hea-then lands. But toward the close of the eighteenth cen-tury a great change took place. Men became dissatisfiedwith the results of rationalism, and realized the necessity ofdivine revelation and experimental religion. The devotedCarey, who in 1793 became the first English missionaryto India, kindled anew the flame of missionary effort inEngland. In America, twenty years later, the zeal of a societyof students, among whom was Adoniram Judson, resulted inthe formation of the American Board of Foreign Missions,under whose auspices Judson went as a missionary from theUnited States to Burmah. From this time the work of foreignmissions attained an unprecedented growth.

The improvements in printing have given an impe-tus to the work of circulating the Bible. The increased fa-cilities for communication between different countries, the

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breaking down of ancient barriers of prejudice and nationalexclusiveness, and the loss of secular power by the pontiffof Rome, have opened the way for the entrance of the Wordof God. For some years the Bible has been sold without re-straint in the streets of Rome, and it has now been carried toevery part of the habitable globe.

The infidel Voltaire once boastingly said, “I am wearyof hearing people repeat that twelve men established theChristian religion. I will prove that one man may suffice tooverthrow it.” A century has passed since his death. Mil-lions have joined in the war upon the Bible. But it is so farfrom being destroyed, that where there were a hundred inVoltaire’s time, there are now ten thousand, yes, a hundredthousand copies of the Book of God. In the words of an earlyreformer concerning the Christian church, “The Bible is ananvil that has worn out many hammers.” Saith the Lord,“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; andevery tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thoushalt condemn.” Isaiah 54:17.

“The Word of our God shall stand forever.” “All Hiscommandments are sure. They stand fast forever andever, and are done in truth and uprightness.” Isaiah 40:8;Psalm 111:7, 8. Whatever is built upon the authority ofman will be overthrown; but that which is founded uponthe rock of God’s immutable Word shall stand forever.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: GOD: GOD: GOD: GOD: GOD, OUR REFUGE, OUR REFUGE, OUR REFUGE, OUR REFUGE, OUR REFUGE

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoso-ever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”John 3:16.“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it, and issafe.” Proverbs 18:10.

“The Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory. Nogood thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:11.

“The Lord, He it is that doth go before thee. He will be with thee. He will notfail thee, neither forsake thee.” Deuteronomy 31:8.

“Surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear beforeHim.” Ecclesiastes 8:12.

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Psalm 23:1.



Chapter SixteenChapter SixteenChapter SixteenChapter SixteenChapter Sixteen

BraveBraveBraveBraveBraveNew WNew WNew WNew WNew Worldorldorldorldorld

—The Pilgrim Fathers—The Pilgrim Fathers—The Pilgrim Fathers—The Pilgrim Fathers—The Pilgrim Fathers———————————————————————

Many years ago there were men who found that they couldMany years ago there were men who found that they couldMany years ago there were men who found that they couldMany years ago there were men who found that they couldMany years ago there were men who found that they couldnot worship God as they wished—because the laws of the landnot worship God as they wished—because the laws of the landnot worship God as they wished—because the laws of the landnot worship God as they wished—because the laws of the landnot worship God as they wished—because the laws of the landforbade it.forbade it.forbade it.forbade it.forbade it. Because of this, they left their homes and journeyed tofind a shelter and freedom of worship in a new land —

What was the first modern government in historWhat was the first modern government in historWhat was the first modern government in historWhat was the first modern government in historWhat was the first modern government in history to recog-y to recog-y to recog-y to recog-y to recog-nize, in the fullest sense, the right of religious freedom? nize, in the fullest sense, the right of religious freedom? nize, in the fullest sense, the right of religious freedom? nize, in the fullest sense, the right of religious freedom? nize, in the fullest sense, the right of religious freedom? It waslittle Rhode Island, founded by Roger Williams—the first person inmodern to times to establish a civil government on the basis ofcomplete liberty of conscience ————————————————————————

The English reformers, while renouncing the doctrinesof Romanism, had retained many of its forms. Thusthough the authority and the creed of Rome were re-jected, not a few of her customs and ceremonies were in-corporated into the worship of the Church of England. Itwas claimed that these things were not matters of conscience;that though they were not commanded in Scripture, and hencewere non-essential, yet not being forbidden, they were not in-trinsically evil. Their observance tended to narrow the gulfwhich separated the reformed churches from Rome, andit was urged that they would promote the acceptance ofthe Protestant faith by Romanists.

To the conservative and compromising, these argu-ments seemed conclusive. But there was another classthat did not so judge. The fact that these customs tendedto bridge the chasm between Rome and the Reformation,was in their view a conclusive argument against retainingthem. They looked upon them as badges of the slavery from

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which they had been delivered, and to which they had no dis-position to return. They reasoned that God has in His Wordestablished the regulations governing His worship, and thatmen are not at liberty to add to these or to detract from them.The very beginning of the great apostasy was in seekingto 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 en-joined.

Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplic-ity which characterized the primitive church. They regardedmany of the established customs of the English church asmonuments of idolatry, and they could not in conscience unitein her worship. But the church, being supported by the civilauthority, would permit no dissent from her forms. Atten-dance upon her service was required by law, and unau-thorized assemblies for religious worship were prohib-ited, under penalty of imprisonment, exile, and death.

At the opening of the seventeenth century the monarch whohad just ascended the throne of England declared his determi-nation to make the Puritans “conform, or harry them out of theland, or else worse.” Hunted, persecuted, and imprisoned,

———————————HISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DHISTORICAL DAAAAATING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—TING OF THIS CHAPTER—Elizabeth I was Prot-

estant, but her successor, James I, was the son of a Catholic—and heheavily persecuted all Protestants not in the State (Anglican) Church. TheAuthorized (“King James”) Version was printed during his reign, in 1611.Many Christians fled to the Netherlands. James’ son, Charles I, also leanedtoward Catholicism (both his mother and wife were Catholic), and hecontinued the persecutions.

The Puritans tried to purify the nation, and the Separatists left it. In1608, John Robinson went to Amsterdam. In 1618, part of his group de-cided to sail westward to “New England.” They became known as the“Pilgrim Fathers.” Returning to England in September 1620, they set sailin the Mayflower, and arrived at Plymouth on November 21. Founding thePlymouth Colony, soon they were religiously intolerant themselves.

Educated at Cambridge, Roger Williams arrived in 1631 and pastoreda church in Salem, Mass. Because of his objections to governmental reli-gious persecution, he fled in January 1636 to avoid arrest—and foundedthe Rhode Island Colony. Williams died in 1683.

The Pilgrim Fathers The Pilgrim Fathers The Pilgrim Fathers The Pilgrim Fathers The Pilgrim Fathers [289-290] [289-290] [289-290] [289-290] [289-290]


they could discern in the future no promise of better days, andmany yielded to the conviction that for such as would serveGod according to the dictates of their conscience, “Englandhad ceased forever to be a habitable spot.” Some at last de-termined to seek refuge in Holland. Difficulties, losses,and imprisonment were encountered. Their purposeswere thwarted, and they were betrayed into the hands oftheir enemies. But steadfast perseverance finally con-quered, and they found shelter on the friendly shores ofthe Dutch Republic.

In their flight they had left their houses, their goods, andtheir means of livelihood. They were strangers in a strangeland, among a people of different language and customs. Theywere forced to resort to new and untried occupations to earntheir bread. Middle-aged men, who had spent their lives intilling the soil, had now to learn mechanical trades. But theycheerfully accepted the situation, and lost no time in idlenessor repining. Though often pinched with poverty, theythanked God for the blessings which were still grantedthem, and found their joy in unmolested spiritual com-munion. “They knew they were pilgrims, and looked notmuch on those things, but lifted up their eyes to Heaven, theirdearest country, and quieted their spirits.”

In the midst of exile and hardship, their love and faithwaxed strong. They trusted the Lord’s promises, and He didnot fail them in time of need. His angels were by their side, toencourage and support them. And when God’s hand seemedpointing them across the sea, to a land where they mightfound for themselves a State, and leave to their childrenthe precious heritage of religious liberty, they went for-ward, without shrinking, in the path of Providence.

God had permitted trials to come upon His people to pre-pare them for the accomplishment of His gracious purpose to-ward them. The church had been brought low, that she mightbe exalted. God was about to display His power in her behalf,to give to the world another evidence that He will not forsakethose who trust in Him. He had overruled events to cause thewrath of Satan and the plots of evil men to advance His glory,

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and to bring His people to a place of security. Persecution andexile were opening the way to freedom.

When first constrained to separate from the Englishchurch, the Puritans had joined themselves together by a sol-emn covenant, as the Lord’s free people, “to walk in all Hisways, made known or to be made known to them.” Here wasthe true spirit of reform, the vital principle of Protestantism.It was with this purpose that the Pilgrims departed fromHolland to find a home in the New World. John Robinson,their pastor, who was providentially prevented from ac-companying them, in his farewell address to the exilessaid:

“Brethren, we are now erelong to part asunder, and theLord knoweth whether I shall live ever to see your faces more;but whether the Lord hath appointed that or not, I charge youbefore God and His blessed angels to follow me no fartherthan I have followed Christ. If God should reveal anything toyou by any other instrument of His, be as ready to receive itas you ever were to receive any truth by my ministry; for I amvery confident that the Lord hath more truth and light yetto break forth out of His Holy Word. For my part, I can-not sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformedchurches, who are come to a period in religion, and willgo no farther than the instruments of their reformation.The Lutherans cannot be drawn to go any farther than whatLuther saw, and the Calvinists, you see, stick fast where theywere left by that great man of God, who yet saw not all things.This is a misery much to be lamented; for though they wereburning and shining lights in their time, yet they penetratednot into the whole counsel of God, but were they now living,would be as willing to embrace further light as that which theyfirst received.

“Remember your church covenant, in which you haveagreed to walk in all the ways of the Lord, made known or tobe made known unto you. Remember your promise andcovenant with God and with one another, to receive what-ever light and truth shall be made known to you from Hiswritten Word. But, withal, take heed, I beseech you, what



you receive as truth. Examine it, consider it, compare it withother scriptures of truth before you receive it; for it is notpossible that the Christian world should come so lately out ofsuch thick antichristian darkness, and that perfection ofknowledge should break forth at once.”

It was the desire for liberty of conscience that inspiredthe Pilgrims to brave the perils of the long journey acrossthe sea, to endure the hardships and dangers of the wilder-ness, and with God’s blessing to lay, on the shores of America,the foundation of a mighty nation. Yet honest and God-fear-ing as they were, the Pilgrims did not yet comprehend thegreat principle of religious toleration. The freedom whichthey sacrificed so much to secure for themselves, theywere not equally ready to grant to others. “Very few, evenof the foremost thinkers and moralists of the seventeenth cen-tury, had any just conception of that grand principle, the out-growth of the New Testament, which acknowledges God asthe sole judge of human faith.” The doctrine that God hascommitted to the church the right to control the conscience,and to define and punish heresy, is one of the most deeplyrooted of papal errors. While the reformers rejected the creedof Rome, they were not entirely free from her spirit of intol-erance. The dense darkness in which, through the long agesof her rule, popery had enveloped all Christendom, had noteven yet been wholly dissipated. Said one of the leadingministers in the colony of Massachusetts Bay: “It wastoleration that made the world antichristian; and thechurch never took harm by the punishment of heretics.”The regulation was adopted by the colonists, that only church-members should have a voice in the civil government. A kindof State church was formed, all the people being required tocontribute to the support of the clergy, and the magistratesbeing authorized to suppress heresy. Thus the secular powerwas in the hands of the church. It was not long beforethese 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 earlyPilgrims, he came to enjoy religious freedom; but unlike

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them, he saw—what so few in his time had yet seen—thatthis freedom was the inalienable right of all, whatevermight be their creed. He was an earnest seeker for truth, withRobinson holding it impossible that all the light from God’sWord had yet been received. Williams “was the first personin modern Christendom to assert, in its plenitude, the doctrineof the liberty of conscience, the equality of opinions before thelaw.” He declared it to be the duty of the magistrate to re-strain crime, but never to control the conscience. “Thepublic or the magistrates may decide,” he said, “what is duefrom men to men, but when they attempt to prescribe a man’sduty 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 de-cree one set of opinions or beliefs today and another tomor-row; as has been done in England by different kings andqueens, and by the different popes and councils in the RomanChurch; so that belief would become a heap of confusion.”

Attendance at the services of the established churchwas required under a penalty of fine or imprisonment.“Williams reprobated the law; the worst statute of the Englishcode was that which did but enforce attendance upon the par-ish church. To compel men to unite with those of a differentcreed, he regarded as an open violation of their natural rights;to drag to public worship the irreligious and the unwilling,seemed like requiring hypocrisy. ‘No one,’ he said, ‘shouldbe forced to worship, or to maintain a worship, against hisown consent.’ ‘What!’ exclaimed his antagonist, amazed athis tenets, ‘is not the laborer worthy of his hire?’ ‘Yes,’ repliedhe, ‘from those who hire him.’”

Roger Williams was respected and beloved as a faithfulminister, a man of rare gifts, of unbending integrity and truebenevolence; yet his steadfast denial of the right of civilmagistrates to authority over the church, and his demandfor religious liberty, could not be tolerated. The applica-tion of this new doctrine, it was urged, would “subvert the fun-damental state and government of the country.” He was sen-tenced to banishment from the colonies, and finally, toavoid 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.” “Butthe ravens fed me in the wilderness;” and a hollow tree oftenserved him for a shelter. Thus he continued his painful flightthrough the snow and the trackless forest, until he found ref-uge with an Indian tribe whose confidence and affection hehad won while endeavoring to teach them the truths of thegospel.

Making his way at last, after months of change andwandering, to the shores of Narragansett Bay, he therelaid the foundation of the first State of modern times thatin the fullest sense recognized the right of religious free-dom. The fundamental principle of Roger Williams’ colony,was “that every man should have the right to worship Godaccording to the light of his conscience.” His little State,Rhode Island, became the asylum of the oppressed, andit increased and prospered until its foundation prin-ciples—civil and religious liberty—became the corner-stones of the American Republic.

In that grand old document which our forefathers set forthas their bill of rights—the Declaration of Independence—theydeclared: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all menare created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator withcertain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty,and the pursuit of happiness.” And the Constitution guar-antees, in the most explicit terms, the inviolability of con-science: “No religious test shall ever be required as aqualification to any office of public trust under the UnitedStates.” “Congress shall make no law respecting an estab-lishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise there-of.”

“The framers of the Constitution recognized the eternalprinciple that man’s relation to his God is above human leg-islation, and his right of conscience inalienable. Reasoningwas not necessary to establish this truth; we are conscious ofit in our own bosom. It is this consciousness, which, in defi-ance of human laws, has sustained so many martyrs in tortures

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and flames. They felt that their duty to God was superior tohuman enactments, and that man could exercise no authorityover their consciences. It is an inborn principle which noth-ing can eradicate.”

As the tidings spread through the countries of Europe,of a land where every man might enjoy the fruit of his ownlabor, and obey the convictions of his conscience, thou-sands flocked to the shores of the New World. Coloniesrapidly multiplied. “Massachusetts, by special law, offeredfree welcome and aid, at the public cost, to Christians of anynationality who might fly beyond the Atlantic ‘to escape fromwars or famine, or the oppression of their persecutors.’ Thusthe fugitive and the down-trodden were, by statute, made theguests of the commonwealth.” In twenty years from the firstlanding at Plymouth, as many thousand pilgrims were settledin New England.

To secure the object which they sought, “they were contentto earn a bare subsistence by a life of frugality and toil. Theyasked nothing from the soil but the reasonable returns of theirown labor. No golden vision threw a deceitful halo aroundtheir path. . . . They were content with the slow but steadyprogress of their social polity. They patiently endured theprivations of the wilderness, watering the tree of liberty withtheir tears, and with the sweat of their brow, till it took deeproot in the land.”

The Bible was held as the foundation of faith, the sourceof wisdom, and the charter of liberty. Its principles werediligently taught in the home, in the school, and in thechurch, and its fruits were manifest in thrift, intelligence,purity, and temperance. One might be for years a dweller inthe Puritan settlements, and not “see a drunkard, nor hear anoath, nor meet a beggar.” It was demonstrated that theprinciples of the Bible are the surest safeguards of na-tional greatness. The feeble and isolated colonies grew to aconfederation of powerful States, and the world markedwith wonder the peace and prosperity of “a church with-out a pope, and a State without a king.”

But continually increasing numbers were attracted to the



shores of America, actuated by motives widely different fromthose of the first Pilgrims. Though the primitive faith and pu-rity exerted a widespread and moulding power, yet its influ-ence became less and less as the numbers increased of thosewho sought only worldly advantage.

The regulation adopted by the early colonists, of permit-ting only members of the church to vote or to hold office inthe civil government, led to most pernicious results. Thismeasure had been accepted as a means of preserving the pu-rity of the State, but it resulted in the corruption of the church.A profession of religion being the condition of suffrageand office-holding, many, actuated solely by motives ofworldly policy, united with the church, without a changeof heart. Thus the churches came to consist, to a consid-erable extent, of unconverted persons; and even in theministry were those who not only held errors of doctrine, butwho were ignorant of the renewing power of the Holy Spirit.Thus again was demonstrated the evil results, so often wit-nessed in the history of the church from the days ofConstantine to the present, of attempting to build up thechurch by the aid of the State, of appealing to the secularpower in support of the gospel of Him who declared, “Mykingdom is not of this world.” John 18:36. The union of thechurch with the State, be the degree never so slight, whileit 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 andRoger Williams, that truth is progressive, that Christiansshould stand ready to accept all the light which may shinefrom God’s Holy Word, was lost sight by their descendants.The Protestant churches of America—and those of Eu-rope as well—so highly favored in receiving the blessingsof the Reformation, failed to press forward in the path ofreform. Though a few faithful men arose, from time to time,to proclaim new truth, and expose long-cherished error, themajority, like the Jews in Christ’s day, or the papists in thetime of Luther, were content to believe as their fathers had be-lieved, and to live as they had lived. Therefore religion again

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degenerated into formalism; and errors and superstitionswhich would have been cast aside had the church contin-ued to walk in the light of God’s Word, were retained andcherished. Thus the spirit inspired by the Reformation gradu-ally died out, until there was almost as great need of reformin the Protestant churches as in the Roman Church in the timeof Luther. There was the same worldliness and spiritual stu-por, a similar reverence for the opinions of men, and substi-tution of human theories for the teachings of God’s Word.

The wide circulation of the Bible in the early part of thenineteenth century, and the great light thus shed upon theworld, was not followed by a corresponding advance inknowledge of revealed truth, or in experimental religion. Sa-tan could not, as in former ages, keep God’s Word from thepeople; it had been placed within the reach of all; but in or-der still to accomplish his object, he led many to value it butlightly. Men neglected to search the Scriptures, and thus theycontinued to accept false interpretations, and to cherish doc-trines which had no foundation in the Bible.

Seeing the failure of his efforts to crush out the truth bypersecution, Satan had again resorted to the plan of com-promise which led to the great apostasy and the forma-tion of the Church of Rome. He had induced Christians toally themselves, not now with pagans, but with those whoby their devotion to the things of this world had provedthemselves to be as truly idolaters as were the worship-ers of graven images. And the results of this union were noless pernicious now than in former ages; pride and extrava-gance were fostered under the guise of religion, and thechurches became corrupted. Satan continued to pervert thedoctrines of the Bible, and traditions that were to ruin millionswere taking deep root. The church was upholding and de-fending these traditions, instead of contending for “thefaith which was once delivered to the saints.” Thus weredegraded the principles for which the reformers had done andsuffered so much.



Chapter SeventeenChapter SeventeenChapter SeventeenChapter SeventeenChapter Seventeen

NearingNearingNearingNearingNearingthe Adventthe Adventthe Adventthe Adventthe Advent

Heralds of the MorningHeralds of the MorningHeralds of the MorningHeralds of the MorningHeralds of the Morning———————————————————————

What truth can be more obvious than one which is repeatedWhat truth can be more obvious than one which is repeatedWhat truth can be more obvious than one which is repeatedWhat truth can be more obvious than one which is repeatedWhat truth can be more obvious than one which is repeatedover and over in the Bible? Yover and over in the Bible? Yover and over in the Bible? Yover and over in the Bible? Yover and over in the Bible? Yet the truth that Jesus is soon toet the truth that Jesus is soon toet the truth that Jesus is soon toet the truth that Jesus is soon toet the truth that Jesus is soon toreturn to this earreturn to this earreturn to this earreturn to this earreturn to this earth is one of which many are unaware —th is one of which many are unaware —th is one of which many are unaware —th is one of which many are unaware —th is one of which many are unaware —

Come view what Scripture has to say about that gloriousCome view what Scripture has to say about that gloriousCome view what Scripture has to say about that gloriousCome view what Scripture has to say about that gloriousCome view what Scripture has to say about that gloriousday just before us—when Jesus Christ will return to this planetday just before us—when Jesus Christ will return to this planetday just before us—when Jesus Christ will return to this planetday just before us—when Jesus Christ will return to this planetday just before us—when Jesus Christ will return to this planetfor His own —for His own —for His own —for His own —for His own ————————————————————————

One of the most solemn and yet most glorious truths re-vealed in the Bible is that of Christ’s second coming, tocomplete the great work of redemption. To God’s pilgrimpeople, so long left to sojourn in the “region and shadow ofdeath,” a precious, joy-inspiring hope is given in the promiseof His appearing, who is “the resurrection and the life,” to“bring home again His banished.” The doctrine of the sec-ond advent is the very keynote of the sacred Scriptures.From the day when the first pair turned their sorrowingsteps from Eden, the children of faith have waited thecoming of the Promised One to break the destroyer’spower and bring them again to the lost Paradise. Holymen of old looked forward to the advent of the Messiah inglory, as the consummation of their hope. Enoch, only theseventh in descent from them that dwelt in Eden, he who forthree centuries on earth walked with his God, was permittedto behold from afar the coming of the Deliverer. “Behold,” hedeclared, “the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints,to execute judgment upon all.” Jude 14, 15. The patriarch,Job, in the night of his affliction exclaimed with unshakentrust: “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall

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stand at the latter day upon the earth; . . . in my flesh shall Isee God, whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shallbehold, and not another.” Job 19:25-27.

The coming of Christ to usher in the reign of righteous-ness, has inspired the most sublime and impassioned ut-terances of the sacred writers. The poets and prophets ofthe Bible have dwelt upon it in words glowing with celestialfire. The psalmist sung of the power and majesty of Israel’sKing: “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence. . . . He shallcall to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He mayjudge His people.” Psalm 50:2-4. “Let the heavens rejoice,and let the earth be glad” “before the Lord; for Hecometh, for He cometh to judge the earth: He shall judgethe world with righteousness, and the people with His truth.”Psalm 96:11, 13.

Said the prophet Isaiah: “Awake and sing, ye that dwell indust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall castout the dead.” “Thy dead men shall live, together with mydead body shall they arise.” “He will swallow up death invictory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off allfaces; and the rebuke of His people shall He take away fromoff all the earth; for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall besaid in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited forhim, and he will save us. This is the Lord; we have waitedfor him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. Isaiah26:19; 25:8, 9.

And Habakkuk, rapt in holy vision, beheld His appearing.“God came from Teman, and the Holy One from MountParan. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was fullof His praise. And His brightness was as the light.” “He stood,and measured the earth; He beheld, and drove asunder the na-tions; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the per-petual hills did bow; His ways are everlasting.” “Thou didstride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation.” “Themountains saw thee, and they trembled. . . The deep utteredhis voice, and lifted up his hands on high. The sun and moonstood still in their habitation; at the light of thine arrows they

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went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.” “Thouwentest forth for the salvation of Thy people, even for salva-tion with Thine anointed.” Habakkuk 3:3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13.

When the Saviour was about to be separated from His dis-ciples, He comforted them in their sorrow with the assurancethat He would come again: “Let not your heart betroubled.” “In my Father’s house are many mansions.” “Igo to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare aplace for you, I will come again, and receive you unto my-self.” John 14:1-3. “The Son of man shall come in His glory,and all the holy angels with Him. Then shall He sit upon thethrone of His glory, and before Him shall be gathered all na-tions.” Matthew 25:31, 32.

The angels who lingered upon Olivet after Christ’s ascen-sion, repeated to the disciples the promise of His return: “Thissame Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shallso come in like manner as ye have seen Him go intoheaven.” Acts 1:11. And the apostle Paul, speaking by theSpirit of inspiration, testified: “The Lord himself shall de-scend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archan-gel, and with the trump of God.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16. Saysthe prophet of Patmos: “Behold, He cometh with clouds; andevery eye shall see Him.” Revelation 1:7.

About His coming cluster the glories of that “restitution ofall things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holyprophets since the world began.” Acts 3:21. Then the long-continued rule of evil shall be broken; “the kingdoms of thisworld are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of HisChrist; and He shall reign forever and ever.” Revelation11:15. “The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all fleshshall see it together.” “The Lord God will cause righteousnessand praise to spring forth before all the nations.” He shall be“for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto theresidue of His people.” Isaiah 40:5; 61:11; 28:5.

It is then that the peaceful and long-desired kingdomof the Messiah shall be established under the wholeheaven. “The Lord shall comfort Zion; He will comfort all herwaste places, and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and

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her desert like the garden of the Lord.” “The glory of Leba-non shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel andSharon.” “Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neithershall thy land any more be termed Desolate; but thou shalt becalled Hephzibah [My Delight], and thy land Beulah.” “Asthe bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God re-joice over thee.” Isaiah 51:3; 35:2; 62:4, 5 (margin).

The coming of the Lord has been in all ages the hope ofHis true followers. The Saviour’s parting promise uponOlivet, that He would come again, lighted up the future for Hisdisciples, filling their hearts with joy and hope, that sorrowcould not quench, nor trials dim. Amid suffering and perse-cution, “the appearing of the great God and our Saviour JesusChrist” was the “blessed hope.” When the ThessalonianChristians were filled with grief as they buried their lovedones, who had hoped to live to witness the coming of the Lord,Paul, their teacher, pointed them to the resurrection, to takeplace at the Saviour’s advent. Then the dead in Christ shouldrise, and together with the living be caught up to meet theLord in the air. “And so,” he said, “shall we ever be withthe Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.

On rocky Patmos the beloved disciple hears the promise,“Surely, I come quickly,” and his longing response voices theprayer of the church in all her pilgrimage, “Even so, come,Lord Jesus.” Revelation 22:20.

From the dungeon, the stake, the scaffold, where saints andmartyrs witnessed for the truth, comes down the centuries theutterance of their faith and hope. “Being assured of Christ’spersonal resurrection, and consequently of their own at Hiscoming, for this cause,” says one of these Christians, “theydespised death, and were found to be above it.” They werewilling to go down to the grave, that they “might rise free.”They looked for the “Lord to come from Heaven in theclouds with the glory of His Father,” “bringing to the justthe times of the kingdom.” The Waldenses cherished the samefaith. Wycliffe looked forward to the Redeemer’s appearingas the hope of the church.



Luther declared: “I persuade myself verily, that theday of Judgment will not be absent full three hundredyears. God will not, cannot, suffer this wicked worldmuch longer.” “The great day is drawing near in which thekingdom of abominations shall be overthrown.”

“This aged world is not far from its end,” said Melanc-thon. Calvin bids Christians “not to hesitate, ardently desir-ing the day of Christ’s coming as of all events most auspi-cious;” and declares that “the whole family of the faithful willkeep in view that day.” “We must hunger after Christ, we mustseek, contemplate,” he says, “till the dawning of that greatday, when our Lord will fully manifest the glory of His king-dom.”

“Has not our Lord Jesus carried up our flesh into Heaven?”said Knox, the Scotch reformer, “and shall He not return? Weknow that He shall return, and that with expedition.” Ridleyand Latimer, who laid down their lives for the truth, looked infaith for the Lord’s coming. Ridley wrote: “The world with-out doubt—this I do believe, and therefore I say it—draws to an end. Let us with John, the servant of God, cryin our hearts unto our Saviour Christ, Come, Lord Jesus,come.”

“The thoughts of the coming of the Lord,” said Baxter,“are most sweet and joyful to me.” “It is the work of faithand the character of His saints to love His appearing and tolook for that blessed hope.” “If death be the last enemy to bedestroyed at the resurrection, we may learn how earnestly be-lievers should long and pray for the second coming of Christ,when this full and final conquest shall be made.” “This is theday that all believers should long, and hope, and wait for, asbeing the accomplishment of all the work of their redemption,and all the desires and endeavors of their souls.” “Hasten, OLord, this blessed day!” Such was the hope of the apostolicchurch, of the “church in the wilderness,” and of the reform-ers.

Prophecy not only foretells the manner and object ofChrist’s coming, but presents tokens by which men are toknow when it is near. Said Jesus: “There shall be signs in

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the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars.” Luke 21:25.“The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give herlight, and the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers thatare in heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Sonof man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.”Mark 13:24-26. The Revelator thus describes the first of thesigns to precede the second advent: “There was a greatearthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair,and the moon become as blood.” Revelation 6:12.

These signs were witnessed before the opening of thepresent century. In fulfillment of this prophecy there oc-curred, in the year 1755, the most terrible earthquakethat has ever been recorded. Though commonly known asthe earthquake of Lisbon, it extended to the greater part ofEurope, Africa, and America. It was felt in Greenland, in theWest Indies, in the island of Madeira, in Norway and Sweden,Great Britain and Ireland. It pervaded an extent of not lessthan four million square miles. In Africa the shock was almostas severe as in Europe. A great part of Algiers was destroyed;and a short distance from Morocco, a village containing eightor ten thousand inhabitants was swallowed up. A vast waveswept over the coast of Spain and Africa, engulfing cities, andcausing great destruction.

It was in Spain and Portugal that the shock manifested itsextreme violence. At Cadiz the inflowing wave was said to besixty feet high. Mountains—some of the largest in Portugal—“were impetuously shaken, as it were from the very founda-tion; and some of them opened at their summits, which weresplit and rent in a wonderful manner, huge masses of thembeing thrown down into the subjacent valleys. Flames arerelated to have issued from these mountains.”

At Lisbon “a sound of thunder was heard underground, andimmediately afterward a violent shock threw down the greaterpart of that city. In the course of about six minutes sixty thou-sand persons perished. The sea first retired, and laid the bardry, it then rolled in, rising fifty feet above its ordinary level.”“The most extraordinary circumstance which occurred atLisbon during the catastrophe, was the subsidence of the new



quay, built entirely of marble, at an immense expense. A greatconcourse of people had collected there for safety, as a spotwhere they might be beyond the reach of falling ruins; butsuddenly the quay sunk down with all the people on it, and notone of the dead bodies ever floated to the surface.”

The shock of the earthquake “was instantly followed by thefall of every church and convent, almost all the large and pub-lic buildings, and one-fourth of the houses. In about two hoursafterward, fires broke out in different quarters, and raged withsuch violence for the space of nearly three days that the citywas completely desolated. The earthquake happened on aholy day, when the churches and convents were full of people,very few of whom escaped.” “The terror of the people wasbeyond description. Nobody wept; it was beyond tears. Theyran hither and thither, delirious with horror and astonishment,beating their faces and breasts, crying, ‘Misericordia! theworld’s at an end!’ Mothers forgot their children, and ranloaded with crucifixed images. Unfortunately, many ran to thechurches for protection; but in vain was the sacrament ex-posed; in vain did the poor creatures embrace the altars; im-ages, priests, and people were buried in one common ruin.”“Ninety thousand persons are supposed to have been lost onthat fatal day.”

Twenty-five years later appeared the next sign men-tioned in the prophecy,—the darkening of the sun andmoon. What rendered this more striking was the fact that thetime of its fulfillment had been definitely pointed out. In theSaviour’s conversation with His disciples upon Olivet, afterdescribing the long period of trial for the church—the 1260years of papal persecution, concerning which He had prom-ised that the tribulation should be shortened—He thus men-tioned certain events to precede His coming, and fixed thetime when the first of these should be witnessed: “In thosedays, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, andthe moon shall not give her light.” Mark 13:24. The 1260days, or years, terminated in 1798. A quarter of a centuryearlier, persecution had almost wholly ceased. Betweenthese two dates, according to the words of Christ, the sun

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was to be darkened. On the 19th of May, 1780, this proph-ecy was fulfilled.

“Almost if not altogether alone as the most mysterious andas yet unexplained phenomenon of its kind, . . . stands thedark day of May 19, 1780,—a most unaccountable darken-ing of the whole visible heavens and atmosphere in New En-gland.” That the darkness was not due to an eclipse is evidentfrom the fact that the moon was then nearly full. It was notcaused by clouds, or the thickness of the atmosphere, for insome localities where the darkness extended, the sky was soclear that the stars could be seen. Concerning the inability ofscience to assign a satisfactory cause for this manifestation,Herschel the astronomer declares: “The dark day in NorthAmerica was one of those wonderful phenomena of naturewhich philosophy is at a loss to explain.”

“The extent of the darkness was also very remarkable. Itwas observed at the most easterly regions of New England;westward, to the farthest part of Connecticut, and at Albany,N.Y.; to the southward, it was observed all along the sea coast;and to the north, as far as the American settlements extended.It probably far exceeded those boundaries, but the exact limitswere never positively known. With regard to its duration, itcontinued in the neighborhood of Boston for at least fourteenor fifteen hours.”

“The morning was clear and pleasant, but about eighto’clock there was observed an uncommon appearance in thesun. There were no clouds, but the air was thick, having asmoky appearance, and the sun shone with a pale, yellowishhue, but kept growing darker and darker, until it was hid fromsight.” There was “midnight darkness at noonday.”

“The occurrence brought intense alarm and distress to mul-titudes of minds, as well as dismay to the whole brute creation,the fowls fleeing bewildered to their roosts, and the birds totheir nests, and the cattle returning to their stalls.” Frogs andnight hawks began their notes. The cocks crew as at daybreak.Farmers were forced to leave their work in the fields. Businesswas generally suspended, and candles were lighted in thedwellings. “The Legislature of Connecticut was in session at



Hartford, but being unable to transact business adjourned.Everything bore the appearance and gloom of night.”

The intense darkness of the day was succeeded, an hour ortwo before evening, by a partially clear sky, and the sun ap-peared, though it was still obscured by the black, heavy mist.But “this interval was followed by a return of the obscurationwith greater density, that rendered the first half of the nighthideously dark beyond all former experience of the probablemillion of people who saw it. From soon after sunset untilmidnight, no ray of light from moon or star penetrated thevault above. It was pronounced ‘the blackness of darkness!’ ”Said an eyewitness of the scene: “I could not help conceiving,at the time, that if every luminous body in the universe hadbeen shrouded in impenetrable darkness, or struck out of ex-istence, the darkness could not have been more complete.”Though the moon that night rose to the full, “it had not theleast effect to dispel the death-like shadows.” After midnightthe darkness disappeared, and the moon, when first visible,had the appearance of blood.

The poet Whittier thus speaks of this memorable day:“ ’Twas on a May-day of the far old year Seventeen hun-

dred eighty, that there fell over the bloom and sweet life of thespring, over the fresh earth, and the heaven of noon, a horrorof great darkness.” “Men prayed, and women wept; all earsgrew sharp to hear the doom-blast of the trumpet shatter theblack sky.”

May 19, 1780, stands in history as “The Dark Day.” Sincethe time of Moses, no period of darkness of equal density, ex-tent, and duration has ever been recorded. The description ofthis event, as given by the poet and the historian, is but an echoof the words of the Lord, recorded by the prophet Joel, twenty-five hundred years previous to their fulfillment: “The sun shallbe turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before thegreat and the terrible day of the Lord come.” Joel 2:31.

Christ had bidden His people watch for the signs of Hisadvent, and rejoice as they should behold the tokens oftheir coming King. “When these things begin to come topass,” He said, “then look up, and lift up your heads; for

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your redemption draweth nigh.” He pointed His followersto the budding trees of spring, and said: “When they nowshoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summeris now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these thingscome to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh athand.” Luke 21:30, 31.

But as the spirit of humility and devotion in the churchhad given place to pride and formalism, love for Christand faith in His coming had grown cold. Absorbed inworldliness and pleasure-seeking, the professed people ofGod were blinded to the Saviour’s instructions concerning thesigns of His appearing. The doctrine of the second advent hadbeen neglected; the scriptures relating to it were obscured bymisinterpretation, until it was, to a great extent, ignored andforgotten. Especially was this the case in the churches ofAmerica. The freedom and comfort enjoyed by all classes ofsociety, the ambitious desire for wealth and luxury, begettingan absorbing devotion to money-making, the eager rush forpopularity and power, which seemed to be within the reach ofall, led men to center their interests and hopes on the thingsof this life, and to put far in the future that solemn day whenthe present order of things should pass away.

When the Saviour pointed out to His followers thesigns of His return, He foretold the state of backslidingthat would exist just prior to His second advent. Therewould be, as in the days of Noah, the activity and stir ofworldly business and pleasure-seeking—buying, selling,planting, building, marrying, and giving in marriage—withforgetfulness of God and the future life. For those living atthis 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 comeupon you unawares.” “Watch ye therefore, and pray al-ways, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all thesethings that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Sonof man.” Luke 21:34, 36.

The condition of the church at this time is pointed out in theSaviour’s words in the Revelation: “Thou hast a name that



thou livest, and art dead.” Revelation 3:1. And to those whorefuse to arouse from their careless security, the solemn warn-ing is addressed: “If therefore thou shalt not watch, I willcome on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour Iwill come upon thee.” Revelation 3:3.

It was needful that men should be awakened to theirdanger; that they should be roused to prepare for the sol-emn events connected with the close of probation. Theprophet of God declares: “The day of the Lord is great andvery terrible; and who can abide it?” Joel 2:11. Who shallstand when He appeareth who is “of purer eyes than to beholdevil, and canst not look on iniquity?” Habakkuk 1:13. Tothem that cry, “My God, we know thee,” yet have transgressedHis covenant, and hastened after another god, (Hosea 8:2, 1;Psalm 16:4) hiding iniquity in their hearts, and loving thepaths of unrighteousness, to these, the day of the Lord is“darkness, and not light, even very dark, and no brightness init.” Amos 5:20. “It shall come to pass at that time,” saith theLord, “that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punishthe men that are settled on their lees; that say in their heart,The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil.” Zepha-niah 1:12. “I will punish the world for their evil, and thewicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancyof the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness ofthe terrible.” Isaiah 13:11. “Neither their silver nor theirgold shall be able to deliver them;” “their goods shall becomea booty, and their houses a desolation.” Zephaniah 1:18, 13.

The prophet Jeremiah, looking forward to this fearful time,exclaimed: “I am pained at my very heart.” “I cannot hold mypeace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of thetrumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction iscried.” Jeremiah 4:19, 20.

“That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress,a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness andgloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of thetrumpet and alarm.” Zephaniah 1:15, 16. “Behold, the dayof the Lord cometh, . . . to lay the land desolate, and heshall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.” Isaiah 13:9.

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In view of that great day the Word of God, in the most sol-emn and impressive language, calls upon His people to arousefrom their spiritual lethargy, and to seek His face with repen-tance and humiliation: “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, andsound an alarm in my holy mountain. Let all the inhabit-ants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord cometh,for it is a nigh at hand.” “Sanctify a fast, call a solemn as-sembly. Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, as-semble the elders, gather the children. . . . Let the bridegroomgo forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let thepriests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch andthe altar.” “Turn ye even to Me with all your heart, andwith fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning. Andrend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto theLord your God; for He is gracious and merciful, slow to an-ger, and of great kindness.” Joel 2:12, 13.

To prepare a people to stand in the day of God, a greatwork of reform was to be accomplished. God saw thatmany of His professed people were not building for eter-nity, and in His mercy He was about to send a message ofwarning to arouse them from their stupor, and lead themto make ready for the coming of their Lord.

This warning is brought to view in Revelation 14. Hereis a threefold message represented as proclaimed by heav-enly beings, and immediately followed by the coming of theSon of man “to reap the harvest of the earth.” The first ofthese 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 dwellon the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, andpeople, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give gloryto Him; for the hour of His Judgment is come; and wor-ship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, andthe fountains of waters.” Revelation 14:7.

This message is declared to be a part of the “everlastinggospel.” The work of preaching the gospel has not been com-mitted to angels, but has been intrusted to men. Holy angelshave been employed in directing this work, they have in



charge the great movements for the salvation of men; but theactual proclamation of the gospel is performed by the servantsof Christ upon the earth.

Faithful men, who were obedient to the promptings ofGod’s Spirit and the teachings of His Word, were to pro-claim this warning to the world. They were those who hadtaken heed to the “sure word of prophecy,” the “light thatshineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the daystararise.” 2 Peter 1:19. They had been seeking the knowledge ofGod more than all hid treasures, counting it “better than themerchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.”Proverbs 3:14. And the Lord revealed to them the great thingsof the kingdom. “The secret of the Lord is with them that fearHim; and He will show them His covenant.” Psalm 25:14.

It was not the leaders in the church who had an under-standing of this truth, and engaged in its proclamation.Had these been faithful watchmen, diligently and prayerfullysearching the Scriptures, they would have known the time ofnight; the prophecies would have opened to them the eventsabout to take place. But they did not occupy this position, andthe message was given by another class. Said Jesus, “Walkwhile ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you.” John12:35. Those who turn away from the light which God hasgiven, or who neglect to seek it when it is within their reach,are left in darkness. But the Saviour declares, “He thatfolloweth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have thelight of life.” John 8:12. Whoever is with singleness of pur-pose seeking to do God’s will, earnestly heeding the light al-ready given, will receive greater light; to that soul some starof heavenly radiance will be sent, to guide him into all truth.

At the time of Christ’s first advent, the priests andscribes of the holy city, to whom were intrusted theoracles of God, might have discerned the signs of thetimes, and proclaimed the coming of the Promised One.The prophecy of Micah designated His birthplace; (Micah5:2) Daniel specified the time of His advent. Daniel 9:25.God had committed these prophecies to the Jewish leaders;they were without excuse if they did not know and declare to

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the people that the Messiah’s coming was at hand. Their ig-norance was the result of sinful neglect. The Jews werebuilding monuments for the slain prophets of God, whileby their deference to the great men of earth they werepaying homage to the servants of Satan. Absorbed in theirambitious strife for place and power among men, they lostsight of the divine honors proffered them by the King ofHeaven.

With profound and reverent interest the elders of Israelshould have been studying the place, the time, the circum-stances, of the greatest event in the world’s history,—the com-ing of the Son of God to accomplish the redemption of man.All the people should have been watching and waitingthat they might be among the first to welcome the world’sRedeemer. But lo, at Bethlehem two weary travelers from thehills of Nazareth traverse the whole length of the narrow streetto the eastern extremity of the town, vainly seeking a place ofrest and shelter for the night. No doors are open to receivethem. In a wretched hovel prepared for cattle, they at last findrefuge, and there the Saviour of the world is born.

Heavenly angels had seen the glory which the Son of Godshared with the Father before the world was, and they hadlooked forward with intense interest to His appearing on earthas an event fraught with the greatest joy to all people. Angelswere appointed to carry the glad tidings to those whowere prepared to receive it, and who would joyfully makeit known to the inhabitants of the earth. Christ had stoopedto take upon Himself man’s nature; He was to bear an infiniteweight of woe as He should make His soul an offering for sin;yet angels desired that even in His humiliation, the Son of theHighest might appear before men with a dignity and glory be-fitting His character. Would the great men of earth assembleat Israel’s capital to greet His coming? Would legions of an-gels present Him to the expectant company?

An angel visits the earth to see who are prepared towelcome Jesus. But He can discern no tokens of expect-ancy. He hears no voice of praise and triumph that the periodof Messiah’s coming is at hand. The angel hovers for a time



over the chosen city and the temple where the divine presencewas manifested for ages; but even here is the same indiffer-ence. The priests, in their pomp and pride, are offering pol-luted sacrifices in the temple. The Pharisees are with loudvoices addressing the people, or making boastful prayers atthe corners of the streets. In the palaces of kings, in the assem-blies of philosophers, in the schools of the rabbis, all are alikeunmindful of the wondrous fact which has filled all Heavenwith joy and praise, that the Redeemer of men is about toappear upon the earth.

There is no evidence that Christ is expected, and no prepa-ration for the Prince of life. In amazement the celestial mes-senger is about to return to Heaven with the shameful tid-ings, when He discovers a group of shepherds who arewatching their flocks by night, and, as they gaze into thestarry heavens, are contemplating the prophecy of a Mes-siah to come to earth, and longing for the advent of theworld’s Redeemer. Here is a company that are prepared toreceive the heavenly message. And suddenly the angel of theLord appeared, declaring the good tidings of great joy. Celes-tial glory flooded all the plain, an innumerable company ofangels was revealed, and as if the joy was too great for onemessenger to bring from Heaven, a multitude of voices brokeforth in the anthem which all the nations of the saved shall oneday sing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,goodwill toward men.” Luke 2:14.

Oh, what a lesson is this wonderful story of Bethlehem!How it rebukes our unbelief, our pride, and a self-suffi-ciency. How it warns us to beware, lest by our criminalindifference 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 thelowly shepherds only, that angels found the watchers forMessiah’s coming. In the land of the heathen also were thosethat looked for Him; they were wise men, rich and noble, thephilosophers of the East. Students of nature, the magi hadseen God in His handiwork. From the Hebrew Scriptures theyhad learned of the Star to arise out of Jacob, and with eager

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desire they waited 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.” Luke 2:25, 32;Acts 13:47. They were seekers for light, and light from thethrone of God illumined the path for their feet. While thepriests and rabbis of Jerusalem, the appointed guardians andexpounders of the truth, were shrouded in darkness, theHeaven-sent star guided these Gentile strangers to the birth-place 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.” He-brews 9:28. Like the tidings of the Saviour’s birth, the mes-sage of the second advent was not committed to the religiousleaders of the people. They had failed to preserve their con-nection with God, and had refused light from Heaven; there-fore they were not of the number described by the apostlePaul: “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that dayshould 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 ofdarkness.” 1 Thessalonians 5:4, 5.

The watchmen upon the walls of Zion should have been thefirst to catch the tidings of the Saviour’s advent, the first tolift their voices to proclaim Him near, the first to warn thepeople to prepare for His coming. But they were at ease,dreaming of peace and safety, while the people were asleep intheir sins. Jesus saw His church, like the barren fig-tree, cov-ered 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—whichalone could render the service acceptable to God—was lack-ing. Instead of the graces of the Spirit, there were manifestedpride, formalism, vainglory, selfishness, oppression. A back-sliding church closed their eyes to the signs of the times.God did not forsake them, or suffer His faithfulness tofail; but they departed from Him, and separated them-selves from His love. As they refused to comply with theconditions, 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 churchwill follow on in His opening providence, accepting every rayof light, performing every duty which may be revealed, reli-gion will inevitably degenerate into the observance of forms,and the spirit of vital godliness will disappear. This truth hasbeen repeatedly illustrated in the history of the church. Godrequires of His people works of faith and obedience cor-responding to the blessings and privileges bestowed. Obe-dience requires a sacrifice and involves a cross; and thisis why so many of the professed followers of Christ re-fused to receive the light from Heaven, and, like the Jewsof old, knew not the time of their visitation. Luke 19:44.Because of their pride and unbelief, the Lord passed them byand revealed His truth to those who, like the shepherds ofBethlehem and the Eastern magi, had given heed to all thelight they had received.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: A: A: A: A: AWWWWWAITING HIS COMINGAITING HIS COMINGAITING HIS COMINGAITING HIS COMINGAITING HIS COMING

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In MyFather’s house are many mansions: if it were not so I would have told you. I goto prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will comeagain, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”John 14:1-3.

“And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold,two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee,why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up fromyou into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go intoheaven.” Acts 1:10-11.

“Our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour,the Lord Jesus Christ.” Philippians 3:20.

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great Godand our Saviour Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:13.

“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment; soChrist was once offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look forHim shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Hebrews9:27-28.

“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompenseof reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will ofGod, ye might receive the promise.” Hebrews 10:35-36.

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Chapter EighteenChapter EighteenChapter EighteenChapter EighteenChapter Eighteen

OpeningOpeningOpeningOpeningOpeningthe Propheciesthe Propheciesthe Propheciesthe Propheciesthe Prophecies

—An American Reformer—An American Reformer—An American Reformer—An American Reformer—An American Reformer———————————————————————

What happens when people dedicate their lives to God—andWhat happens when people dedicate their lives to God—andWhat happens when people dedicate their lives to God—andWhat happens when people dedicate their lives to God—andWhat happens when people dedicate their lives to God—andthen open the Bible and begin studying it carefully—for years?then open the Bible and begin studying it carefully—for years?then open the Bible and begin studying it carefully—for years?then open the Bible and begin studying it carefully—for years?then open the Bible and begin studying it carefully—for years?

There is strength in the Word of God. And there is a wealth ofknowledge in its prophecies. The open Bible is the basis of mostThe open Bible is the basis of mostThe open Bible is the basis of mostThe open Bible is the basis of mostThe open Bible is the basis of mostpowerpowerpowerpowerpowerful revivals—revivals that change men’s lives —ful revivals—revivals that change men’s lives —ful revivals—revivals that change men’s lives —ful revivals—revivals that change men’s lives —ful revivals—revivals that change men’s lives ————————————————————————

An upright, honest-hearted farmer, who had been ledto doubt the divine authority of the Scriptures, yet whosincerely desired to know the truth, was the man speciallychosen of God to lead out in the proclamation of Christ’ssecond coming. Like many other reformers, William Millerhad in early life battled with poverty, and had thus learned thegreat lessons of energy and self-denial. The members of thefamily from which he sprung were characterized by an inde-pendent, liberty-loving spirit, by capability of endurance, andardent patriotism; traits which were also prominent in hischaracter. His father was a captain in the army of the Revo-lution, and to the sacrifices which he made in the struggles andsufferings of that stormy period, may be traced the straitenedcircumstances of Miller’s early life.

He had a sound physical constitution, and even inchildhood gave evidence of more than ordinary intellec-tual strength. As he grew older, this became more marked.His mind was active and well-developed, and he had a keenthirst for knowledge. Though he did not enjoy the advantagesof a collegiate education, his love of study and a habit of care-ful thought and close criticism rendered him a man of soundjudgment and comprehensive views. He possessed an irre-

An American Reformer An American Reformer An American Reformer An American Reformer An American Reformer [316-317] [316-317] [316-317] [316-317] [316-317]


proachable moral character and an enviable reputation, beinggenerally esteemed for integrity, thrift, and benevolence. Bydint of energy and application he early acquired a competence,though his habits of study were still maintained. He filled vari-ous civil and military offices with credit, and the avenues towealth and honor seemed wide open to him.

His mother was a woman of sterling piety, and in childhoodhe had been subject to religious impressions. In early man-hood, however, he was thrown into the society of deists,whose influence was the stronger from the fact that they weremostly good citizens, and men of humane and benevolent dis-position. Living, as they did, in the midst of Christian insti-tutions, their characters had been to some extent moulded bytheir surroundings. For the excellencies which won them re-spect and confidence they were indebted to the Bible; and yetthese good gifts were so perverted as to exert an influenceagainst the Word of God. By association with these men,Miller was led to adopt their sentiments. The current in-terpretations of Scripture presented difficulties whichseemed to him insurmountable; yet his new belief, whilesetting aside the Bible, offered nothing better to take itsplace, and he remained far from satisfied. He continued tohold these views, however, for about twelve years. But at theage of thirty-four, the Holy Spirit impressed his heartwith a sense of his condition as a sinner. He found in hisformer belief no assurance of happiness beyond thegrave. The future was dark and gloomy. Referring afterwardto his feelings at this time, he said:

“Annihilation was a cold and chilling thought, and ac-countability was sure destruction to all. The heavens were asbrass over my head, and the earth as iron under my feet. Eter-nity—what was it? And death—why was it? The more I rea-soned, the further I was from demonstration. The more Ithought, the more scattered were my conclusions. I tried tostop thinking; but my thoughts would not be controlled. I wastruly wretched, but did not understand the cause. I murmuredand complained, but knew not of whom. I knew that there wasa wrong, but knew not where or how to find the right. I

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mourned, but without hope.”In this state he continued for some months. “Sud-

denly,” he says, “the character of a Saviour was vividlyimpressed upon my mind. It seemed that there might bea being so good and compassionate as to Himself atonefor our transgressions, and thereby save us from sufferingthe penalty of sin. I immediately felt how lovely such a beingmust be, and imagined that I could cast myself into the arms,and trust in the mercy, of such a One. But the question arose,How can it be proved that such a being does exist? Asidefrom the Bible, I found that I could get no evidence of theexistence of such a Saviour, or even of a future state.”

“I saw that the Bible did bring to view just such a Sav-iour as I needed; and I was perplexed to find how an un-inspired book should develop principles so perfectlyadapted to the wants of a fallen world. I was constrainedto admit that the Scriptures must be a revelation from God.They became my delight; and in Jesus I found a friend. TheSaviour became to me the chiefest among ten thousand; andthe Scriptures, which before were dark and contradictory, nowbecame a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. My mindbecame settled and satisfied. I found the Lord God to be aRock in the midst of the ocean of life. The Bible now be-came my chief study, and I can truly say, I searched it withgreat delight. I found the half was never told me. I wonderedwhy I had not seen its beauty and glory before, and marveledthat I could ever have rejected it. I found everything revealedthat my heart could desire, and a remedy for every disease ofthe soul. I lost all taste for other reading, and applied my heartto get wisdom from God.”

He now publicly professed his faith in the religionwhich he had despised. But his infidel associates were notslow to bring forward all those arguments which he him-self had often urged against the divine authority of theScriptures. He was not then prepared to answer them; but hereasoned, that if the Bible is a revelation from God, it must beconsistent with itself; and that as it was given for man’s in-struction, it must be adapted to his understanding. He deter-



mined to study the Scriptures for himself, and ascertain ifevery apparent contradiction could not be harmonized.

Endeavoring to lay aside all preconceived opinions,and dispensing with commentaries, he compared scrip-ture with scripture by the aid of the marginal referencesand the concordance. He pursued his study in a regular andmethodical manner; beginning with Genesis, and readingverse by verse, he proceeded no faster than the meaning of theseveral passages so unfolded as to leave him free from all em-barrassment. When he found anything obscure, it was hiscustom to compare it with every other text which seemedto have any reference to the matter under consideration.Every word was permitted to have its proper bearing upon thesubject of the text, and if his view of it harmonized with ev-ery collateral passage, it ceased to be a difficulty. Thus when-ever he met with a passage hard to be understood, he foundan explanation in some other portion of the Scriptures. As hestudied with earnest prayer for divine enlightenment, thatwhich had before appeared dark to his understanding wasmade clear. He experienced the truth of the psalmist’s words,“The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understand-ing unto the simple.” Psalm 119:130.

With intense interest he studied the book of Daniel andthe Revelation, employing the same principles of interpre-tation as in the other scriptures, and found, to his greatjoy, that the prophetic symbols could be understood. Hesaw that the prophecies, so far as they had been fulfilled, hadbeen fulfilled literally; that all the various figures, metaphors,parables, similitudes, etc., were either explained in their im-mediate connection, or the terms in which they were expressedwere defined in other scriptures; and when thus explainedwere to be literally understood. “Thus I was satisfied,” hesays, “that the Bible was a system of revealed truth so clearlyand simply given that the wayfaring man, though a fool, neednot err therein.” Link after link of the chain of truth rewardedhis efforts, as step by step he traced down the great lines ofprophecy. Angels of Heaven were guiding his mind andopening the Scriptures to his understanding.

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Taking the manner in which the prophecies had been ful-filled in the past, as a criterion by which to judge of the ful-fillment of those which were still future, he became satisfiedthat the popular view of the spiritual reign of Christ—atemporal millennium before the end of the world—wasnot sustained by the Word of God. This doctrine, pointingto a thousand years of righteousness and peace before the per-sonal coming of the Lord, put far off the terrors of the day ofGod. But, pleasing though it may be, it is contrary to theteachings of Christ and His apostles, who declared that thewheat and the tares are to grow together until the harvest, theend of the world; (Matthew 13:30, 38-41) that “evil men andseducers shall wax worse and worse;” (2 Timothy 3:13) that“in the last days perilous times shall come;” (2 Timothy 3:1,1) and that the kingdom of darkness shall continue until theadvent of the Lord, and shall be consumed with the spirit ofHis mouth, and be destroyed with the brightness of His com-ing. 2 Thessalonians 2:8. The doctrine of the world’s con-version and the spiritual reign of Christ was not held bythe apostolic church. It was not generally accepted byChristians until about the beginning of the eighteenth cen-tury. Like every other error, its results were evil. It taught mento look far in the future for the coming of the Lord, and pre-vented them from giving heed to the signs heralding His ap-proach. It induced a feeling of confidence and security thatwas not well founded, and led many to neglect the preparationnecessary in order to meet their Lord.

Miller found the literal, personal coming of Christ to beplainly taught in the Scriptures. Says Paul, “The Lord Him-self shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice ofthe archangel, and with the trump of God.” 1 Thessalonians4:16. And the Saviour declares: “They shall see the Son ofman coming in the clouds of heaven with power and greatglory.” “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, andshineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Sonof man be.” Matthew 24:27. He is to be accompanied by allthe hosts of Heaven. “The Son of man shall come in His glory,and all the holy angels with Him.” “And He shall send His an-



gels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gathertogether His elect.” Matthew 25:31; 24:31.

At His coming the righteous dead will be raised, andthe righteous living will be changed. “We shall not allsleep,” says Paul, “but we shall all be changed, in a moment,in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpetshall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put onincorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”1 Corinthians 15:51-53. And in his letter to theThessalonians, after describing the coming of the Lord, hesays: “The dead in Christ shall rise first; then we whichare alive and remain shall be caught up together withthem in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and soshall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17.

Not until the personal advent of Christ can His people re-ceive the kingdom. The Saviour said: “When the Son of manshall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, thenshall He sit upon the throne of His glory; and before Him shallbe gathered all nations; and He shall separate them one fromanother, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats; andHe shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on theleft. Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand,Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom preparedfor you from the foundation of the world.” Matthew 25:31-34. We have seen by the scriptures just given that whenthe Son of man comes, the dead are raised incorruptible,and the living are changed. By this great change they areprepared to receive the kingdom; for Paul says, “Flesh andblood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corrup-tion inherit incorruption.” 1 Corinthians 15:50. Man in hispresent state is mortal, corruptible; but the kingdom of Godwill be incorruptible, enduring forever. Therefore man in hispresent state cannot enter into the kingdom of God. But whenJesus comes, He confers immortality upon His people; andthen He calls them to inherit the kingdom, of which they havehitherto been only heirs.

These and other scriptures clearly proved to Miller’s mind,

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that the events which were generally expected to take placebefore the coming of Christ, such as the universal reign ofpeace, and the setting up of the kingdom of God upon theearth, were to be subsequent to the second advent. Further-more, all the signs of the times and the condition of theworld corresponded to the prophetic description of thelast days. He was forced to the conclusion, from the studyof Scripture alone, that the period allotted for the continu-ance of the earth in its present state was about to close.

“Another evidence that vitally affected my mind,” hesays, “was the chronology of the Scriptures. I found thatpredicted events, which had been fulfilled in the past, of-ten occurred within a given time. The one hundred andtwenty years to the flood, (Genesis 6:3); the seven days thatwere to precede it, with forty days of predicted rain, (Genesis7:4); the four hundred years of the sojourn of Abraham’s seed,(Genesis 15:13); the three days of the butler’s and baker’sdreams, (Genesis 40:12-20); the seven years of famine forPharaoh, (Genesis 41:28-54); the forty years in the wilder-ness, (Numbers 14:34); the three and a half years of famine,(1 Kings 17:1; see Luke 4:25) the seventy years’ captivity,(Jeremiah 25:11); Nebuchadnezzar’s seven times, (Daniel4:13-16); and the seven weeks, threescore and two weeks, andthe one week, making seventy weeks, determined upon theJews, (Daniel 9:24-27); the events limited by these times wereall once only a matter of prophecy, and were fulfilled in accor-dance with the predictions.”

When, therefore, he found in his study of the Bible, vari-ous chronological periods that, according to his understand-ing of them, extended to the second coming of Christ, he couldnot but regard them as the “times before appointed,” whichGod had revealed unto His servants. “The secret things,”says Moses, “belong unto the Lord our God; but thosethings which are revealed belong unto us and to our chil-dren forever,” (Deuteronomy 29:29) and the Lord declaresby the prophet Amos, that he “will do nothing, but herevealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets.” Amos3:7. The students of God’s Word may then confidently ex-



pect to find the most stupendous event to take place in hu-man history clearly pointed out in the Scriptures of truth.

“As I was fully convinced,” says Miller, “that all Scripturegiven by inspiration of God is profitable; (2 Timothy 3:16)that it came not at any time by the will of man, but was writ-ten as holy men were moved by the Holy Ghost, (2 Peter 1:21)and was written ‘for our learning, that we through patienceand comfort of the Scriptures might have hope, (Romans15:4) I could not but regard the chronological portions of theBible as being as much entitled to our serious considerationas any other portion of the Scriptures. I felt therefore that inendeavoring to comprehend what God in His mercy had seenfit to reveal to us, I had no right to pass over the prophetic pe-riods.”

The prophecy which seemed most clearly to reveal thetime of the second advent was that of Daniel 8:14: “Untotwo thousand and three hundred days; then shall thesanctuary be cleansed.” Following his rule of making Scrip-ture its own interpreter, Miller learned that a day in sym-bolic prophecy represents a year; (Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel4:6) he saw that the period of 2300 prophetic days, or literalyears, would extend far beyond the close of the Jewish dispen-sation, hence it could not refer to the sanctuary of that dispen-sation. Miller accepted the generally received view, that in theChristian age the earth is the sanctuary, and he therefore un-derstood that the cleansing of the sanctuary foretold inDaniel 8:14, represented the purification of the earth byfire at the second coming of Christ. If, then, the correctstarting point could be found for the 2300 days, he con-cluded that the time of the second advent could be readilyascertained. Thus would be revealed the time of that greatconsummation, “the time when the present state, with all itspride and power, its pomp and vanity, wickedness and oppres-sion, would come to an end; . . . when the curse would be re-moved from off the earth, when death would be destroyed,reward be given to the servants of God, to the prophets andsaints, and all them that fear His name, and those be destroyedwho destroy the earth.”

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With a new and deeper earnestness, Miller continued theexamination of the prophecies, whole nights as well as daysbeing devoted to the study of what now appeared of such stu-pendous importance and all-absorbing interest. In the eighthchapter of Daniel he could find no clue to the startingpoint of the 2300 days; the angel Gabriel, though com-manded to make Daniel understand the vision, gave him onlya partial explanation. As the terrible persecution to befall thechurch was unfolded to the prophet’s vision, physical strengthgave way. He could endure no more, and the angel left him forthe time. Daniel “fainted, and was sick certain days.”“And I was astonished at the vision,” he says, “but noneunderstood it.”

Yet God had bidden His messenger, “Make this man tounderstand the vision.” That commission must be fulfilled.In obedience to it, the angel, some time afterward, returned toDaniel, saying, “I am now come forth to give thee skill and un-derstanding;” “therefore understand the matter, and considerthe vision.” Daniel 9:22, 23. There was only one point inthe vision of chapter eight which had been left unex-plained, namely, that relating to time,—the period of the2300 days; therefore, the angel, in resuming his explana-tion, dwells exclusively upon the subject of time:

“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and uponthy holy city. . . . Know therefore and understand, that fromthe going forth of the commandment to restore and tobuild Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be sevenweeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be builtagain, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after three-score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not forHimself. . . . And He shall confirm the covenant with many forone week; and in the midst of the week He shall cause the sac-rifice and the oblation to cease.” Daniel 9:24-27.

The angel had been sent to Daniel for the express pur-pose of explaining to him the point which he had failed tounderstand in the vision of the eighth chapter, the state-ment relative to time,—“Unto two thousand and three hun-dred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” After bidding



Daniel “understand the matter, and consider the vision,” thevery first words of the angel are, “Seventy weeks are deter-mined upon thy people and upon thy holy city.” The wordhere translated “determined,” literally signifies “cut off.”Seventy weeks, representing 490 years, are declared bythe angel to be cut off, as specially pertaining to the Jews.But from what were they cut off? As the 2300 days was theonly period of time mentioned in chapter eight, it must be theperiod from which the seventy weeks were cut off; the sev-enty weeks must therefore be a part of the 2300 days, andthe two periods must begin together. The seventy weekswere declared by the angel to date from the going forth of thecommandment to restore and build Jerusalem. If the date ofthis commandment could be found, then the starting-point forthe great period of the 2300 days would be ascertained.

In the seventh chapter of Ezra the decree is found. Ezra7:12-26. In its completest form it was issued byArtaxerxes, king of Persia, B.C. 457. But in Ezra 6:14 thehouse of the Lord at Jerusalem is said to have been built “ac-cording to the commandment [margin, decree] of Cyrus, andDarius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.” These three kings, inoriginating, re-affirming, and completing the decree, broughtit to the perfection required by the prophecy to mark the be-ginning of the 2300 years. Taking B.C. 457, the time whenthe decree was completed, as the date of the command-ment, every specification of the prophecy concerning theseventy weeks was seen to have been fulfilled.

“From the going forth of the commandment to restore andto build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be sevenweeks, and threescore and two weeks,”—namely, sixty-nineweeks, or 483 years. The decree of Artaxerxes went into ef-fect in the autumn of B.C. 457. From this date, 483 yearsextend to the autumn of A.D. 27. At that time this prophecywas fulfilled. The word “Messiah” signifies “the AnointedOne.” In the autumn of A.D. 27, Christ was baptized by John,and received the anointing of the Spirit. The apostle Peter tes-tifies that “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the HolyGhost and with power.” Acts 10:38. And the Saviour Him-

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self declared, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because Hehath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.” Luke 4:18.After his baptism He came into Galilee, “preaching the gos-pel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled.”Mark 1:14, 15.

“And He shall confirm the covenant with many for oneweek.” The “week” here brought to view is the last one ofthe seventy; it is the last seven years of the period allotted es-pecially to the Jews. During this time, extending from A.D.27 to A.D. 34, Christ, at first in person, and afterward by Hisdisciples, extended the gospel invitation especially to theJews. As the apostles went forth with the good tidings of thekingdom, the Saviour’s direction was, “Go not into the wayof the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter yenot; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.Matthew 10:5, 6.

“And in the midst of the week He shall cause the sac-rifice and the oblation to cease.” In A.D. 31, three and ahalf years after His baptism, our Lord was crucified. Withthe great sacrifice offered upon Calvary, ended that system ofofferings which for four thousand years had pointed forwardto the Lamb of God. Type had met antitype, and all the sac-rifices and oblations of the ceremonial system were there tocease.

The seventy weeks, or 490 years, especially allotted tothe Jews, ended, as we have seen, in A.D. 34. At that time,through the action of the Jewish Sanhedrin, the nation sealedits rejection of the gospel, by the martyrdom of Stephen andthe persecution of the followers of Christ. Then the messageof salvation, no longer restricted to the chosen people, wasgiven to the world. The disciples, forced by persecution to fleefrom Jerusalem, “went everywhere preaching the Word.”“Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christunto them.” Acts 8:4, 5. Peter, divinely guided, opened thegospel to the centurion of Cesarea, the God-fearing Cornelius;and the ardent Paul, won to the faith of Christ, was commis-sioned to carry the glad tidings “far hence unto the Gentiles.”Acts 8:22:21.



Thus far every specification of the prophecy is strik-ingly fulfilled, and the beginning of the seventy weeks isfixed beyond question at B.C. 457, and their expiration inA.D. 34. From this data there is no difficulty in finding thetermination of the 2300 days. The seventy weeks—490days—having been cut off from the 2300, there were 1810days remaining. After the end of 490 days, the 1810 dayswere still to be fulfilled. From A.D. 34, 1810 years extendto 1844. Consequently the 2300 days of Daniel 8:14 termi-nate in 1844. At the expiration of this great prophetic period,upon the testimony of the angel of God, “the sanctuary shallbe cleansed.” Thus the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary—which was almost universally believed to take place at thesecond advent—was definitely pointed out.

Miller and his associates at first believed that the 2300days would terminate in the spring of 1844, whereas theprophecy points to the autumn of that year. The misappre-hension of this point brought disappointment and perplexityto those who had fixed upon the earlier date as the time of theLord’s coming. But this did not in the least affect the strengthof the argument showing that the 2300 days terminated in theyear 1844, and that the great event represented by the cleans-ing of the sanctuary must then take place.

Entering upon the study of the Scriptures as he haddone, in order to prove that they were a revelation fromGod, Miller had not, at the outset, the slightest expecta-tion of reaching the conclusion at which he had now ar-rived. He himself could hardly credit the results of his inves-tigation. But the Scripture evidence was too clear and forcibleto be set aside.

He had devoted two years to the study of the Bible;when, in 1818, he reached the solemn conviction that inabout twenty-five years Christ would appear for the re-demption of His people. “I need not speak,” says Miller, “ofthe joy that filled my heart in view of the delightful prospect,nor of the ardent longings of my soul for a participation in thejoys 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

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obscure, to me, in its teachings, had been dissipated from mymind before the clear light that now dawned from its sacredpages; and oh, how bright and glorious the truth appeared! Allthe contradictions and inconsistencies I had before found inthe Word were gone; and, although there were many portionsof which I was not satisfied that I had a full understanding, yetso much light had emanated from it to the illumination of mybefore darkened mind, that I felt a delight in studying theScriptures which I had not before supposed could be derivedfrom its teachings.”

“With the solemn conviction that such momentous eventswere predicted in the Scriptures to be fulfilled in so short aspace of time, the question came home to me with mightypower regarding my duty to the world in view of the evidencethat had affected my own mind.” He could not but feel that itwas his duty to impart to others the light which he had re-ceived. He expected to encounter opposition from the un-godly, but was confident that all Christians would rejoicein the hope of meeting the Saviour whom they professedto love. His only fear was, that in their great joy at theprospect of glorious deliverance, so soon to be consum-mated, many would receive the doctrine without suffi-ciently examining the Scriptures in demonstration of itstruth. He therefore hesitated to present it, lest he should bein error, and be the means of misleading others. He was thusled to review the evidences in support of the conclusionsat which he had arrived, and to consider carefully everydifficulty which presented itself to his mind. He found thatobjections vanished before the light of God’s Word, as mistbefore the rays of the sun. Five years spent thus, left himfully convinced of the correctness of his position.

And now the duty of making known to others what hebelieved to be so clearly taught in the Scriptures, urgeditself with new force upon him. “When I was about my busi-ness,” he said, “it was continually ringing in my ears, Go andtell the world of their danger. This text was constantly oc-curring 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 hisblood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warnthe wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn fromhis way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thysoul.’ Ezekiel 33:8, 9. I felt that if the wicked could be effec-tually warned, multitudes of them would repent; and that ifthey were not warned, their blood might be required at myhand.”

He began to present his views in private as he had op-portunity, praying that some minister might feel theirforce and devote himself to their promulgation. But hecould not banish the conviction that he had a personal duty toperform in giving the warning. The words were ever recurringto his mind, “Go and tell it to the world; their blood will I re-quire at thy hand.” For nine years he waited, the burdenstill pressing upon his soul, until in 1831 he for the firsttime 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 thepeople the mysteries of the kingdom of God. With tremblinghe entered upon his work, leading his hearers down, stepby step, through the prophetic periods to the second ap-pearing of Christ. With every effort he gained strengthand courage as he saw the widespread interest excited byhis words.

It was only at the solicitation of his brethren, in whosewords he heard the call of God, that Miller consented topresent his views in public. He was now fifty years of age,unaccustomed to public speaking, and burdened with asense of unfitness for the work before him. But from thefirst his labors were blessed in a remarkable manner tothe salvation of souls. His first lecture was followed by a re-ligious awakening, in which thirty entire families, with the ex-ception of two persons, were converted. He was immediatelyurged to speak in other places, and in nearly every place hislabor resulted in a revival of the work of God. Sinners wereconverted, Christians were roused to greater consecration, and

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deists and infidels were led to acknowledge the truth of theBible and the Christian religion. The testimony of thoseamong whom he labored was: “A class of minds are reachedby him that are not within the influence of other men.” “Hispreaching is calculated to arouse the public mind to the greatthings of religion, and to check the growing worldliness andsensuality of the age.”

In nearly every town there were scores, in some, hun-dreds, converted as the result of his preaching. In manyplaces Protestant churches of nearly all denominationswere thrown open to him; and the invitations to laborusually came from the ministers of the several congrega-tions. It was his invariable rule not to labor in any place towhich he had not been invited, yet he soon found himselfunable to comply with half the requests that poured in uponhim.

Many who did not accept his views as to the exact time ofthe second advent, were convinced of the certainty and near-ness of Christ’s coming and their need of preparation. Insome of the large cities his work produced a marked im-pression. Liquor-dealers abandoned the traffic, and turnedtheir shops into meeting-rooms; gambling dens were brokenup, infidels, deists, Universalists, and the most abandonedprofligates were reformed—some of whom had not entered ahouse of worship of years. Prayer-meetings were estab-lished by the various denominations, in different quar-ters, at almost every hour, business men assembling at mid-day for prayer and praise. There was no extravagant excite-ment, but an almost universal solemnity on the minds of thepeople. His work, like that of the early reformers, tendedrather to convince the understanding and arouse the con-science than merely to excite the emotions.

In 1833 Miller received a license to preach, from theBaptist Church, of which he was a member. A large num-ber of the ministers of his denomination also approved hiswork, and it was with their formal sanction that he continuedhis labors.

He traveled and preached unceasingly, though his per-



sonal labors were confined principally to the New En-gland and Middle States. For several years his expenseswere met wholly from his own private purse, and he neverafterward received enough to meet the expense of travel to theplaces where he was invited. Thus his public labors, so farfrom being a pecuniary benefit, were a heavy tax upon hisproperty, which gradually diminished during this period of hislife. He was the father of a large family, but as they were allfrugal and industrious, his farm sufficed for their maintenanceas well as his own.

In 1833, two years after Miller began to present inpublic the evidences of Christ’s soon coming, the last ofthe signs appeared which were promised by the Saviouras tokens of His second advent. Said Jesus, “The starsshall fall from heaven.” Matthew 24:29. And John in theRevelation declared, as he beheld in vision the scenes that her-ald the day of God: “The stars of heaven fell unto the earth,even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shakenof a mighty wind.” Revelation 6:13. This prophecy receiveda striking and impressive fulfillment in the great meteoricshower of November 13, 1833. That was the most exten-sive and wonderful display of falling stars which has everbeen recorded; “the whole firmament, over all the UnitedStates, being then, for hours, in fiery commotion. No celestialphenomenon has ever occurred in this country, since its firstsettlement, which was viewed with such intense admiration byone class in the community, or such dread and alarm by an-other.” “Its sublimity and awful beauty still linger in manyminds. . . . Never did rain fall much thicker than the meteorsfell toward the earth; east, west, north, and south, it was thesame. In a word, the whole heavens seemed in motion. . . . Thedisplay, as described in Professor Silliman’s journal, was seenall over North America. . . . From two o’clock until broaddaylight, the sky being perfectly serene and cloudless, an in-cessant play of dazzlingly brilliant luminosities was kept upin the whole heavens.”

“No language indeed can come up to the splendor of thatmagnificent display; no one who did not witness it can form

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an adequate conception of its glory. It seemed as if the wholestarry heavens had congregated at one point near the zenith,and were simultaneously shooting forth, with the velocity oflightning, to every part of the horizon; and yet they were notexhausted—thousands swiftly followed in the track of thou-sands, as if created for the occasion.” “A more correct pictureof a fig tree casting its figs when blown by a mighty wind, itis not possible to behold.”

On the day following its appearance, Henry Dana Wardwrote thus of the wonderful phenomenon: “No philosopher orscholar has told or recorded an event, I suppose, like that ofyesterday morning. A prophet eighteen hundred years agoforetold it exactly, if we will be at the trouble of understand-ing stars falling to mean falling stars, in the only sense inwhich it is possible to be literally true.”

Thus was displayed the last of those signs of His com-ing, concerning which Jesus bade His disciples, “When yeshall see all these things, know that it is near, even at thedoors.” Matthew 24:33. After these signs, John beheld, asthe great event next impending, the heavens departing asa scroll, while the earth quaked, mountains and islandsremoved out of their places, and the wicked in terrorsought to flee from the presence of the Son of man.

Many who witnessed the falling of the stars, looked uponit as a herald of the coming Judgment,—“an awful type, a sureforerunner, a merciful sign, of that great and dreadful day.”Thus the attention of the people was directed to the fulfillmentof prophecy, and many were led to give heed to the warningof the second advent.

In the year 1840, another remarkable fulfillment ofprophecy excited widespread interest. Two years before,Josiah Litch, one of the leading ministers preaching the sec-ond advent, published an exposition of Revelation 9, predict-ing the fall of the Ottoman empire, and specifying not only theyear but the very day on which this would take place. Accord-ing to this exposition, which was purely a matter of calcula-tion on the prophetic periods of Scripture, the Turkish govern-ment would surrender its independence on the eleventh day of



August, 1840. The prediction was widely published, andthousands watched the course of events with eager interest.

At the very time specified, Turkey, through her ambassa-dors, 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. When it becameknown, multitudes were convinced of the correctness of theprinciples of prophetic interpretation adopted by Miller andhis associates, and a wonderful impetus was given to theAdvent movement. Men of learning and position unitedwith Miller, both in preaching and publishing his views,and from 1840 to 1844 the work rapidly extended.

William Miller possessed strong mental powers, disci-plined by thought and study; and he added to these the wis-dom of Heaven, by connecting himself with the Source ofwisdom. He was a man of sterling worth, who could not butcommand respect and esteem wherever integrity of characterand moral excellence were valued. Uniting true kindness ofheart with Christian humility and the power of self-control, hewas attentive and affable to all, ready to listen to the opinionsof others, and to weigh their arguments. Without passion orexcitement, he tested all theories and doctrines by the Wordof God; and his sound reasoning, and thorough knowledge ofthe Scriptures, enabled him to refute error and expose false-hood.

Yet he did not prosecute his work without bitter oppo-sition. As with earlier reformers, the truths which he pre-sented were not received with favor by popular religiousteachers. As these could not maintain their position by theScriptures, they were driven to resort to the sayings and doc-trines of men, to the traditions of the Fathers. But the Wordof God was the only testimony accepted by the preachersof the Advent truth. “The Bible, and the Bible only,” wastheir watchword. The lack of Scripture argument on thepart of their opponents was supplied by ridicule andscoffing. Time, means, and talents were employed in malign-ing those whose only offense was that they looked with joy forthe return of their Lord, and were striving to live holy lives,

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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 menshould be ashamed, to study the prophecies which relate to thecoming of Christ and the end of the world. Thus the popularministry undermined faith in the Word of God. Their teach-ing made men infidels, and many took license to walk aftertheir own ungodly lusts. Then the authors of the evil chargedit all upon Adventists.

While drawing crowded houses of intelligent and at-tentive hearers, Miller’s name was seldom mentioned bythe religious press except by way of ridicule or denuncia-tion. The careless and ungodly, emboldened by the positionof religious teachers, resorted to opprobrious epithets, to baseand blasphemous witticisms, in their efforts to heap con-tumely upon him and his work. The gray-headed man whohad left a comfortable home to travel at his own expense fromcity to city, from town to town, toiling unceasingly to bear tothe world the solemn warning of the Judgment near, wassneeringly denounced as a fanatic, a liar, a speculating knave.

The ridicule, falsehood, and abuse heaped upon himcalled forth indignant remonstrance, even from the secu-lar press. To treat a subject of such overwhelming majestyand fearful consequences, with lightness and ribaldry, wasdeclared by worldly men to be not merely to sport with thefeelings of its advocates, but “to make a jest of the day ofJudgment, to scoff at God Himself, and to mock the terrors ofHis Judgment-bar.”

The instigator of all evil sought not only to counteractthe effect of the Advent message, but to destroy the mes-senger himself. Miller made a practical application of Scrip-ture truth to the hearts of his hearers, reproving their sins, anddisturbing their self-satisfaction, and his plain and cuttingwords aroused their enmity. The opposition manifested bychurch members toward his message, emboldened the baserclasses to go to greater lengths; and enemies plotted to takehis life as he should leave the place of meeting. But holy an-



gels 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 safetyfrom the angry mob. His work was not yet done, and Satanand his emissaries were disappointed in their purpose.

Despite all opposition, the interest in the Advent move-ment had continued to increase. From scores and hun-dreds, the congregations had grown to as many thou-sands. Large accessions had been made to the variouschurches, but after a time the spirit of opposition was mani-fested even against these converts, and the churches beganto take disciplinary steps with those who had embracedMiller’s views. This action called forth a response from hispen, in an address to Christians of all denominations, urgingthat if his doctrines were false he should be shown his errorfrom the Scriptures.

“What have we believed,” he said, “that we have not beencommanded to believe by the Word of God, which you your-selves allow is the rule, and the only rule, of our faith and prac-tice? What have we done that should call down such virulentdenunciations against us from pulpit and press, and give youjust cause to exclude us from your church and fellowship?” “Ifwe are wrong, pray show us wherein consists our wrong.Show us from the Word of God that we are in error; wehave had ridicule enough; that can never convince us that weare in the wrong; the Word of God alone can change ourviews. Our conclusions have been formed deliberately andprayerfully, as we have seen the evidence in the Scriptures.”

From age to age the warnings which God has sent tothe world by His servants have been received with like in-credulity and unbelief. When the iniquity of the antedi-luvians moved Him to bring a flood of waters upon the earth,He first made known to them His purpose, that they mighthave opportunity to turn from their evil ways. For a hundredand twenty years was sounded in their ears the warningto repent, lest the wrath of God be manifested in their de-struction. But the message seemed to them an idle tale,and they believed it not. Emboldened in their wickedness, theymocked the messenger of God, made light of his entreaties,

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and even accused him of presumption. How dare one manstand up against all the great men of the earth? If Noah’s mes-sage were true, why did not all the world see it and believeit? One man’s assertion against the wisdom of thousands!They would not credit the warning, nor would they seek shel-ter in the ark.

Scoffers pointed to the things of nature,—to the unvaryingsuccession of the seasons, to the blue skies that had neverpoured out rain, to the green fields refreshed by the soft dewsof night,—and they cried out, “Doth he not speak parables?”In contempt they declared the preacher of righteousness to bea wild enthusiast; and they went on, more eager in their pur-suit of pleasure, more intent upon their evil ways, than everbefore. But their unbelief did not hinder the predictedevent. God bore long with their wickedness, giving themample opportunity for repentance; but at the appointedtime His judgments were visited upon the rejecters of Hismercy.

Christ declares that there will exist similar unbeliefconcerning 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 Sonof man be.” Matthew 24:39. When the professed people ofGod are uniting with the world, living as they live, and join-ing with them in forbidden pleasure; when the luxury of theworld becomes the luxury of the church; when the marriagebells are chiming, and all are looking forward to many yearsof worldly prosperity,—then, suddenly as the lightningflashes from the heavens, will come the end of their bright vi-sions and delusive hopes.

As God sent His servant to warn the world of the com-ing flood, so He sent chosen messengers to make knownthe nearness of the final Judgment. And as Noah’s contem-poraries laughed to scorn the predictions of the preacher ofrighteousness, so in Miller’s day many, even of the professedpeople of God, scoffed at the words of warning.

And why were the doctrine and preaching of Christ’ssecond coming so unwelcome to the churches? While to



the wicked the advent of the Lord brings woe and deso-lation, to the righteous it is fraught with joy and hope.This great truth had been the consolation of God’s faithfulones through all the ages; why had it become, like its Author,“a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense” to His professedpeople? It was our Lord Himself who promised His disciples,“If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and re-ceive you unto myself.” John 14:3. It was the compassionateSaviour, who, anticipating the loneliness and sorrow of Hisfollowers, commissioned angels to comfort them with the as-surance that He would come again in person, even as He wentinto heaven. As the disciples stood gazing intently upward tocatch the last glimpse of Him whom they loved, their atten-tion was arrested by the words, “Ye men of Galilee, why standye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken upfrom you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye haveseen Him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11. Hope was kindledafresh by the angels’ message. The disciples “returned toJerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple,praising and blessing God.” Luke 24:52, 53. They were notrejoicing because Jesus had been separated from them andthey were left to struggle with the trials and temptations of theworld, but because of the angels’ assurance that He wouldcome again.

The proclamation of Christ’s coming should now be, aswhen made by the angels to the shepherds of Bethlehem, goodtidings of great joy. Those who really love the Saviour can-not but hail with gladness the announcement foundedupon the Word of God, that He in whom their hopes ofeternal life are centered, is coming again, not to be insulted,despised, and rejected, as at His first advent, but in power andglory, to redeem His people. It is those who do not love theSaviour, that desire Him to remain away; and there canbe no more conclusive evidence that the churches have de-parted from God than the irritation and animosity ex-cited by this Heaven-sent message.

Those who accepted the Advent doctrine were roused tothe necessity of repentance and humiliation before God. Many

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had long been halting between Christ and the world; “nowthey felt that it was time to take a stand. The things of eternityassumed to them an unwonted reality. Heaven was broughtnear, and they felt themselves guilty before God. Christianswere quickened to new spiritual life. They were made to feelthat time was short, that what they had to do for their fellow-men must be done quickly. Earth receded, eternity seemed toopen before them, and the soul, with all that pertains to itsimmortal weal or woe, was felt to eclipse every temporal ob-ject.” The Spirit of God rested upon them, and gave power totheir earnest appeals to their brethren, as well as to sinners, toprepare for the day of God. The silent testimony of their dailylife was a constant rebuke to formal and unconsecratedchurch-members. These did not wish to be disturbed in theirpursuit of pleasure, their devotion to money-making, and theirambition for worldly honor. Hence the enmity and oppositionexcited against the Advent faith and those who proclaimed it.

As the arguments from the prophetic periods werefound to be impregnable, opposers endeavored to dis-courage investigation of the subject, by teaching that theprophecies were sealed. Thus Protestants followed in thesteps of Romanists. While the papal church withholds theBible from the people, Protestant churches claimed that animportant part of the sacred Word—and that the partwhich brings to view truths specially applicable to ourtime—could not be understood.

Ministers and people declared that the prophecies ofDaniel and the Revelation were incomprehensible mysteries.But Christ directed His disciples to the words of the prophetDaniel concerning events to take place in their time, and said,“Whoso readeth, let him understand.” Matthew 24:15.And the assertion that the Revelation is a mystery, not to beunderstood, is contradicted by the very title of the book: “TheRevelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to showunto His servants things which must shortly come to pass. . .Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words ofthis prophecy, and keep those things which are writtentherein; for the time is at hand.” Revelation 1:1-3.



Says the prophet: “Blessed is he that readeth”—there arethose who will not read; the blessing is not for them. “Andthey that hear”—there are some, also, who refuse to hear any-thing concerning the prophecies; the blessing is not for thisclass. “And keep those things which are written therein” —many refuse to heed the warnings and instructions containedin the Revelation. None of these can claim the blessing prom-ised. All who ridicule the subjects of the prophecy, and mockat the symbols here solemnly given, all who refuse to reformtheir lives, and prepare for the coming of the Son of man, willbe unblest.

In view of the testimony of Inspiration, how dare menteach that the Revelation is a mystery, beyond the reachof human understanding? It is a mystery revealed, a bookopened. The study of the Revelation directs the mind to theprophecies of Daniel, and both present most important in-struction, given of God to men, concerning events to takeplace at the close of this world’s history.

To John were opened scenes of deep and thrilling interestin the experience of the church. He saw the position, dangers,conflicts, and final deliverance of the people of God. Herecords the closing messages which are to ripen the har-vest of the earth, either as sheaves for the heavenly gar-ner or as fagots for the fires of destruction. Subjects of vastimportance were revealed to him, especially for the lastchurch, that those who should turn from error to truth mightbe instructed concerning the perils and conflicts before them.None need be in darkness in regard to what is comingupon the earth.

Why, then, this widespread ignorance concerning animportant part of Holy Writ? Why this general reluctanceto investigate its teachings? It is the result of a studied effortof the prince of darkness to conceal from men that which re-veals his deceptions. For this reason, Christ the Revelator,foreseeing the warfare that would be waged against the studyof the Revelation, pronounced a blessing upon all who shouldread, hear, and observe the words of the prophecy.

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Chapter NineteenChapter NineteenChapter NineteenChapter NineteenChapter Nineteen

NightNightNightNightNightof Sorof Sorof Sorof Sorof Sorrrrrrowowowowow

—Light through Darkness—Light through Darkness—Light through Darkness—Light through Darkness—Light through Darkness———————————————————————

There is often weeping with the night, but we have the prom-There is often weeping with the night, but we have the prom-There is often weeping with the night, but we have the prom-There is often weeping with the night, but we have the prom-There is often weeping with the night, but we have the prom-ise that the morning cometh, when weeping shall be no more.ise that the morning cometh, when weeping shall be no more.ise that the morning cometh, when weeping shall be no more.ise that the morning cometh, when weeping shall be no more.ise that the morning cometh, when weeping shall be no more.

TTTTTo those who discover the great Advent truth, there will beo those who discover the great Advent truth, there will beo those who discover the great Advent truth, there will beo those who discover the great Advent truth, there will beo those who discover the great Advent truth, there will bemany a disappointment before that great day breaks upon usmany a disappointment before that great day breaks upon usmany a disappointment before that great day breaks upon usmany a disappointment before that great day breaks upon usmany a disappointment before that great day breaks upon usall —all —all —all —all ————————————————————————

The work of God in the earth presents, from age to age,a striking similarity in every great reformation or reli-gious movement. The principles of God’s dealing withmen are ever the same. The important movements of thepresent have their parallel in those of the past, and the expe-rience of the church in former ages has lessons of great valuefor our own time.

No truth is more clearly taught in the Bible than thatGod by His Holy Spirit especially directs His servants onearth in the great movements for the carrying forward ofthe work of salvation. Men are instruments in the hand ofGod, employed by Him to accomplish His purposes of graceand mercy. Each has his part to act; to each is granted a mea-sure of light, adapted to the necessities of his time, and suf-ficient to enable him to perform the work which God has givenhim to do. But no man, however honored of Heaven, has everattained to a full understanding of the great plan of redemp-tion, or even to a perfect appreciation of the divine purpose inthe work for his own time. Men do not fully understandwhat God would accomplish by the work which he givesthem to do; they do not comprehend, in all its bearings,the message which they utter in His name.

Light through Darkness Light through Darkness Light through Darkness Light through Darkness Light through Darkness [341-343] [341-343] [341-343] [341-343] [341-343]


“Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find outthe Almighty unto perfection?” “My thoughts are not yourthoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. Foras the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My wayshigher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”“I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end fromthe beginning, and from ancient times the things that are notyet done.” Job 11:7; Isaiah 55:8, 9; 46:9, 10.

Even the prophets who were favored with the specialillumination of the Spirit, did not fully comprehend theimport of the revelations committed to them. The meaningwas to be unfolded, from age to age, as the people of Godshould need the instruction therein contained.

Peter, writing of the salvation brought to light through thegospel, says: Of this salvation “the prophets have inquiredand searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace thatshould come unto you; searching what, or what manner oftime the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, whenit testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glorythat should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not untothemselves, but unto us they did minister.” 1 Peter 1:10-12.

Yet while it was not given to the prophets to under-stand fully the things revealed to them, they earnestlysought to obtain all the light which God had been pleasedto make manifest. They “inquired and searched diligently,”“searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christwhich was in them did signify.” What a lesson to the peopleof God in the Christian age, for whose benefit these prophe-cies were given to His servants! “Unto whom it was revealedthat not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister.” Wit-ness those holy men of God as they “inquired and searcheddiligently” concerning revelations given them for generationsthat were yet unborn. Contrast their holy zeal with the list-less unconcern with which the favored ones of later agestreat this gift of Heaven. What a rebuke to the ease-lov-ing, world-loving indifference which is content to declarethat the prophecies cannot be understood.

Though the finite minds of men are inadequate to enter into

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the counsels of the Infinite One, or to fully understand theworking out of His purposes, yet often it is because of someerror or neglect on their own part, that they so dimly compre-hend the messages of Heaven. Not infrequently the mindsof the people—and even of God’s servants—are blindedby human opinions, the traditions and false teaching ofmen, so that they are able only partially to grasp the greatthings which He has revealed in His Word. Thus it waswith the disciples of Christ, even when the Saviour was withthem in person. Their minds had become imbued with thepopular conception of the Messiah as a temporal prince, whowas to exalt Israel to the throne of universal empire, and theycould not understand the meaning of His words foretelling Hissufferings and death.

Christ Himself had sent them forth with the message, “Thetime is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repentye, and believe the gospel.” Mark 1:15. That messagewas based on the prophecy of Daniel 9. The sixty-nineweeks were declared by the angel to extend to “the Messiahthe Prince,” and with high hopes and joyful anticipations thedisciples looked forward to the establishment of Messiah’skingdom at Jerusalem, to rule over the whole earth.

They preached the message which Christ had commit-ted to them, though they themselves misapprehended itsmeaning. While their announcement was founded on Daniel9:25, they did not see, in the next verse of the same chap-ter, that Messiah was to be cut off. From their very birththeir hearts had been set upon the anticipated glory of anearthly empire, and this blinded their understanding alike tothe specifications of the prophecy and to the words of Christ.

They performed their duty in presenting to the Jewish na-tion the invitation of mercy, and then, at the very time whenthey 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. Whatdespair and anguish wrung the hearts of those disciples dur-ing 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 beenfulfilled in every detail of His ministry. He had preached themessage of salvation, and “His word was with power.” Thehearts of His hearers had witnessed that it was of Heaven.The Word and the Spirit of God attested the divine com-mission of His Son.

The disciples still clung with undying affection to their be-loved Master. And yet their minds were shrouded in uncer-tainty and doubt. In their anguish they did not then recallthe words of Christ pointing forward to His suffering anddeath. If Jesus of Nazareth had been the true Messiah, wouldthey have been thus plunged in grief and disappointment?This was the question that tortured their souls, while the Sav-iour lay in His sepulcher during the hopeless hours of thatSabbath which intervened between His death and His resur-rection.

Though the night of sorrow gathered dark about thesefollowers of Jesus, yet were they not forsaken. Saith theprophet: “When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light untome. . . . He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall beholdHis righteousness.” “Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee;but the night shineth as the day; the darkness and the light areboth alike to Thee.” God hath spoken: “Unto the upright thereariseth light in the darkness.” “I will bring the blind by a waythat they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have notknown. I will make darkness light before them, and crookedthings straight. These things will I do unto them, and not for-sake them.” Micah 7:8, 9; Psalm 139:12; 112:4; Isaiah 42:16.

The announcement which had been made by the dis-ciples in the name of the Lord was in every particularcorrect, and the events to which it pointed were even thentaking place. “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is athand,” had been their message. At the expiration of “thetime”—the sixty-nine weeks of Daniel 9, which were to ex-tend to the Messiah, “the Anointed One”—Christ had re-ceived the anointing of the Spirit, after His baptism by Johnin Jordan. And the “kingdom of God” which they had declaredto be at hand, was established by the death of Christ. This

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kingdom was not, as they had been taught to believe, anearthly empire. Nor was it that future, immortal kingdomwhich shall be set up when “the kingdom and dominion, andthe greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall begiven to the people of the saints of the Most High;” that ev-erlasting kingdom, in which “all dominions shall serve andobey Him.” Daniel 7:27. As used in the Bible, the expres-sion “kingdom of God” is employed to designate both thekingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory. The kingdomof grace is brought of view by Paul in the Epistle to the He-brews. After pointing to Christ, the compassionate interces-sor who is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities,” theapostle says, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throneof grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace.” Hebrews4:16. The throne of grace represents the kingdom of grace;for the existence of a throne implies the existence of a king-dom. In many of His parables, Christ uses the expression, “thekingdom of Heaven,” to designate the work of divine graceupon 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 theholy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne ofHis glory; and before Him shall be gathered all nations.”Matthew 25:31, 32. This kingdom is yet future. It is not to beset up until the second advent of Christ.

The kingdom of grace was instituted immediately af-ter the fall of man, when a plan was devised for the re-demption of the guilty race. It then existed in the purposeand by the promise of God; and through faith, men couldbecome its subjects. Yet it was not actually establisheduntil the death of Christ. Even after entering upon Hisearthly mission, the Saviour, wearied with the stubbornnessand ingratitude of men, might have drawn back from the sac-rifice of Calvary. In Gethsemane the cup of woe trembled inHis hand. He might even then have wiped the blood-sweatfrom his brow, and have left the guilty race to perish in theiriniquity. Had He done this, there could have been no redemp-



tion for fallen men. But when the Saviour yielded up His life,and with His expiring breath cried out, “It is finished,” thenthe fulfillment of the plan of redemption was assured. Thepromise of salvation made to the sinful pair in Eden was rati-fied. The kingdom of grace, which had before existed by thepromise of God, was then established.

Thus the death of Christ—the very event which the dis-ciples had looked upon as the final destruction of theirhope—was that which made it forever sure. While it hadbrought them a cruel disappointment, it was the climax ofproof that their belief had been correct. The event that hadfilled them with mourning and despair, was that which openedthe door of hope to every child of Adam, and in which cen-tered the future life and eternal happiness of all God’s faith-ful ones in all the ages.

Purposes of infinite mercy were reaching their fulfill-ment, even through the disappointment of the disciples.While their hearts had been won by the divine grace andpower of His teaching, who “spake as never man spake,” yetintermingled with the pure gold of their love for Jesus, was thebase alloy of worldly pride and selfish ambitions. Even in thepassover chamber, at that solemn hour when their Master wasalready entering the shadow of Gethsemane, there was “astrife among them, which of them should be accounted great-est.” Luke 22:24. Their vision was filled with the throne, thecrown, and the glory, while just before them lay the shame andagony of the garden, the judgment hall, the cross of Calvary.It was their pride of heart, their thirst for worldly glory, thathad led them to cling so tenaciously to the false teaching oftheir time, and to pass unheeded the Saviour’s words show-ing the true nature of His kingdom, and pointing forward toHis 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 mes-sage, and had failed to realize their expectations, yet they hadpreached the warning given them of God, and the Lord wouldreward their faith, and honor their obedience. To them was tobe intrusted the work of heralding to all nations the glorious

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gospel of their risen Lord. It was to prepare them for thiswork, that the experience which seemed to them so bitter hadbeen permitted.

After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples onthe way to Emmaus, and “beginning at Moses and all theprophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures thethings concerning Himself.” Luke 24:27. The hearts of thedisciples were stirred. Faith was kindled. They were “begot-ten again unto a lively hope,” even before Jesus revealed Him-self to them. It was His purpose to enlighten their understand-ing, and to fasten their faith upon the “sure word of prophecy.”He wished the truth to take firm root in their minds, not merelybecause it was supported by His personal testimony, but be-cause of the unquestionable evidence presented by the sym-bols and shadows of the typical law, and by the prophecies ofthe Old Testament. It was needful for the followers ofChrist to have an intelligent faith, not only in their ownbehalf, but that they might carry the knowledge of Christto the world. And as the very first step in imparting thisknowledge, Jesus directed the disciples to “Moses and theprophets.” Such was the testimony given by the risen Saviourto 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 theirMaster! Luke 24:27. In a more complete and perfect sensethan ever before, they had “found Him, of whom Moses in thelaw, and the prophets, did write.” The uncertainty, the an-guish, the despair, gave place to perfect assurance, to un-clouded 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 ignominiousdeath, looked to see in their faces the expression of sorrow,confusion, and defeat; but they saw there gladness and tri-umph. What a preparation these disciples had receivedfor the work before them! They had passed through thedeepest trial which it was possible for them to experience, andhad seen how, when to human vision all was lost, the word ofGod 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 hopewhich was as “an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.”Hebrews 6:18, 19. They had been witness to the wisdomand power of God, and they were “persuaded, that nei-ther death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, norpowers, nor things present, nor things to come, norheight, nor depth, nor any other creature” would be ableto separate them from “the love of God, which is in ChristJesus our Lord.” “In all these things,” they said, “we aremore than conquerors through Him that loved us.” Romans8:38, 39, 37. “The Word of the Lord endureth forever.” 1Peter 1:25. And “who is he that condemneth? It is Christ thatdied, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the righthand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Romans8:34.

Saith the Lord: “My people shall never be ashamed.” Joel2:26. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comethin the morning.” Psalm 30:5. When on His resurrection daythese disciples met the Saviour, and their hearts burned withinthem as they listened to His words; when they looked upon thehead 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 intoall the world, and preach the gospel,” adding, “Lo, I amwith you alway;” (Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:20) when on theday of Pentecost the promised Comforter descended, and thepower from on high was given, and the souls of the believersthrilled with the conscious presence of their ascended Lord,—then, even though, like His, their pathway led through sacri-fice and martyrdom, would they have exchanged the ministryof 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 whois “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask orthink,” had granted them, with the fellowship of His suffer-ings, the communion of His joy,—the joy of “bringing manysons unto glory,” joy unspeakable, “an eternal weight of

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glory,” to which, says Paul, “our light affliction, which is butfor a moment,” is “not worthy to be compared.”

The experience of the disciples who preached the “gos-pel of the kingdom” at the first advent of Christ, has itscounterpart in the experience of those who proclaimedthe message of His second advent. As the disciples went outpreaching, “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is athand,” so Miller and his associates proclaimed that thelongest and last prophetic period brought to view in theBible was about to expire, that the Judgment was at hand,and the everlasting kingdom was to be ushered in. Thepreaching of the disciples in regard to time was based onthe seventy weeks of Daniel 9. The message given byMiller and his associates announced the termination ofthe 2300 days of Daniel 8:14, of which the seventy weeksform a part. The preaching of each was based upon thefulfillment of a different portion of the same great pro-phetic period.

Like the first disciples, William Miller and his associatesdid not, themselves, fully comprehend the import of the mes-sage which they bore. Errors that had been long estab-lished in the church prevented them from arriving at acorrect interpretation of an important point in the proph-ecy. Therefore, though they proclaimed the messagewhich God had committed to them to be given to theworld, yet through a misapprehension of its meaning,they suffered disappointment.

In explaining Daniel 8:14, “Unto two thousand and threehundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed, “Miller,as has been stated, adopted the generally received viewthat the earth is the sanctuary, and he believed that thecleansing of the sanctuary represented the purification ofthe earth by fire at the coming of the Lord. When, there-fore, he found that the close of the 2300 days was definitelyforetold, he concluded that this revealed the time of the sec-ond advent. His error resulted from accepting the popularview as to what constitutes the sanctuary.

In the typical system,—which was a shadow of the sacri-



fice and priesthood of Christ,—the cleansing of the sanctu-ary was the last service performed by the high priest inthe yearly round of ministration. It was the closing workof the atonement,—a removal or putting away of sin from Is-rael. It prefigured the closing work in the ministration of ourHigh Priest in Heaven, in the removal or blotting out of thesins of His people, which are registered in the heavenlyrecords. This service involves a work of investigation, awork of judgment; and it immediately precedes the com-ing of Christ in the clouds of heaven with power and greatglory; for when He comes, every case has been decided.Says Jesus, “My reward is with Me, to give every man accord-ing as his work shall be.” Revelation 22:12. It is this workof judgment, immediately preceding the second advent,that is announced in the first angel’s message of Revela-tion 14:7: “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hourof His Judgment is come.”

Those who proclaimed this warning gave the right messageat the right time. But as the early disciples declared, “The timeis fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand,” based on theprophecy of Daniel 9, while they failed to perceive that thedeath of the Messiah was foretold in the same scripture, soMiller and his associates preached the message based onDaniel 8:14 and Revelation 14:7, and failed to see thatthere were still other messages brought to view in Revela-tion 14, which were also to be given before the advent ofthe Lord. As the disciples were mistaken in regard to thekingdom to be set up at the end of the seventy weeks, soAdventists were mistaken in regard to the event to takeplace at the expiration of the 2300 days. In both casesthere was an acceptance of, or rather an adherence to,popular errors that blinded the mind to the truth. Bothclasses fulfilled the will of God in delivering the messagewhich He desired to be given, and both, through their ownmisapprehension of their message, suffered disappointment.

Yet God accomplished His own beneficent purpose in per-mitting the warning of the Judgment to be given just as it was.The great day was at hand, and in His providence the

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people were brought to the test of a definite time, in orderto reveal to them what was in their hearts. The messagewas designed for the testing and purification of the church.They were to be led to see whether their affections wereset upon this world or upon Christ and Heaven. They pro-fessed to love the Saviour; now they were to prove their love.Were they ready to renounce their worldly hopes and ambi-tions, and welcome with joy the advent of their Lord? Themessage was designed to enable them to discern their truespiritual state; it was sent in mercy to arouse them to seek theLord with repentance and humiliation.

The disappointment also, though the result of theirown misapprehension of the message which they gave,was to be overruled for good. It would test the hearts ofthose who had professed to receive the warning. In the face oftheir disappointment, would they rashly give up their experi-ence, and cast away their confidence in God’s Word? or wouldthey, in prayer and humility, seek to discern where they hadfailed to comprehend the significance of the prophecy? Howmany had moved from fear, or from impulse and excitement?How many were half-hearted and unbelieving? Multitudesprofessed to love the appearing of the Lord. When calledto endure the scoffs and reproach of the world, and thetest of delay and disappointment, would they renouncethe faith? Because they did not immediately understand thedealings of God with them, would they cast aside truths sus-tained by the clearest testimony of His Word?

This test would reveal the strength of those who with realfaith had obeyed what they believed to be the teaching of theWord and the Spirit of God. It would teach them, as only suchan experience could, the danger of accepting the theories andinterpretations of men, instead of making the Bible its own in-terpreter. To the children of faith the perplexity and sorrow re-sulting 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 founda-tion of their faith, and to reject everything, however widely ac-cepted 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 under-standing, would afterward be made plain. When theyshould see the “end of the Lord,” they would know that not-withstanding the trial resulting from their errors, His purposesof love toward them had been steadily fulfilling. They wouldlearn by a blessed experience that He is “very pitiful, and oftender mercy;” that all His paths “are mercy and truth untosuch as keep His covenant and His testimonies.”

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: SEARCHING THE WORD OF GOD: SEARCHING THE WORD OF GOD: SEARCHING THE WORD OF GOD: SEARCHING THE WORD OF GOD: SEARCHING THE WORD OF GOD

“Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they arethey which testify of Me.” John 5:39.

“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received theWord with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whetherthose things were so.” Acts 17:11.

“Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy[the book of Revelation], and keep those things which are written therein: for thetime is at hand.” Revelation 1:3.

“Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.”Psalm 119:18.

“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give untoyou the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.” Ephesians1:17.

“Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understand-ing; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; thenshalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.”Proverbs 2:3-5.

“If any man will [‘willeth to,’ R.V.] do His will, he shall know of the doctrine,whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself.” John 7:17.

“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in Myname, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 14:26.

“Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scrip-tures.” Luke 24:45.

“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Wordof God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” 1 Peter 1:23.

“Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the scrip-tures.” Luke 24:45.

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Chapter TwentyChapter TwentyChapter TwentyChapter TwentyChapter Twenty

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—A Great Religious Awakening—A Great Religious Awakening—A Great Religious Awakening—A Great Religious Awakening—A Great Religious Awakening———————————————————————

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A great religious awakening under the proclamation ofChrist’s soon coming, is foretold in the prophecy of thefirst angel’s message of Revelation 14. An angel is seenflying “in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospelto preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every na-tion, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” “With a loudvoice” he proclaims the message, “Fear God, and give gloryto Him; for the hour of His Judgment is come: and wor-ship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, andthe fountains of waters.” Revelation 14:6, 7.

The fact that an angel is said to be the herald of this warn-ing, is significant. By the purity, the glory, and the power ofthe heavenly messenger, divine wisdom has been pleased torepresent the exalted character of the work to be accomplishedby the message, and the power and glory that were to attendit. And the angel’s flight “in the midst of heaven,” the “loudvoice” with which the warning is uttered, and its promulga-tion to all “that dwell on the earth,”—“to every nation, andkindred, and tongue, and people,”—give evidence of the ra-pidity and worldwide extent of the movement.

The message itself sheds light as to the time when thismovement is to take place. It is declared to be a part of the“everlasting gospel;” and it announces the opening of the

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Judgment. The message of salvation has been preached in allages; but this message is a part of the gospel which could beproclaimed only in the last days, for only then would it betrue that the hour of Judgment had come. The propheciespresent a succession of events leading down to the opening ofthe 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 theend.” Not till we reach this time could a message concern-ing the Judgment be proclaimed, based on a fulfillment ofthese prophecies. But at the time of the end, says the prophet,“many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be in-creased.” Daniel 12:4.

The apostle Paul warned the church not to look for thecoming of Christ in his day. “That day shall not come,” hesays, “except there come a falling away first, and that man ofsin be revealed.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3. Not till after the greatapostasy, and the long period of the reign of the “man ofsin,” can we look for the advent of our Lord. The “man ofsin,” which is also styled the “mystery of iniquity,” the “sonof perdition,” and “that wicked,” represents the papacy,which, as foretold in prophecy, was to maintain its su-premacy for 1260 years. This period ended in 1798. Thecoming of Christ could not take place before that time.Paul covers with his caution the whole of the Christian dispen-sation down to the year 1798. It is this side of that time thatthe 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 intothe then far-distant future for the coming of the Lord. The re-formers did not proclaim it. Martin Luther placed the Judg-ment about three hundred years in the future from his day. Butsince 1798 the book of Daniel has been unsealed, knowl-edge of the prophecies has increased, and many have pro-claimed the solemn message of the Judgment near.

Like the great Reformation of the sixteenth century,the Advent movement appeared in the different countriesof Christendom at the same time. In both Europe and

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America, men of faith and prayer were led to the study ofthe prophecies, and, tracing down the inspired record, theysaw 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 be-lief that the Saviour’s advent was near.

In 1821, three years after Miller had arrived at his ex-position of the prophecies pointing to the time of the judg-ment, Dr. Joseph Wolff, “the missionary to the world,”began to proclaim the Lord’s soon coming. Wolff was bornin Germany, of Hebrew parentage, his father being a JewishRabbi. While very young he was convinced of the truth of theChristian religion. Of an active, inquiring mind, he had beenan eager listener to the conversations that took place in hisfather’s house, as devout Hebrews daily assembled to recountthe hopes and anticipations of their people, the glory of thecoming Messiah, and the restoration of Israel. One day hear-ing Jesus of Nazareth mentioned, the boy inquired who hewas. “A man of the greatest talent,” was the answer; “but be-cause he pretended to be the Messiah, the Jewish tribunal sen-tenced him to death.” “Why, then,” rejoined the questioner,“why is Jerusalem destroyed? and why are we in captivity?”“Alas, alas!” answered his father, “because the Jews mur-dered the prophets.” The thought that was at once suggestedto the child, “Perhaps Jesus of Nazareth was also a prophet,and the Jews killed Him when He was innocent.” So strongwas this feeling, that though forbidden to enter a Christianchurch, he would often linger outside to listen to the preach-ing.

When only seven years old, he was boasting to an agedChristian neighbor of the future triumph of Israel at the adventof the Messiah, when the old man said kindly, “Dear boy, Iwill tell you who the real Messiah was: he was Jesus ofNazareth, whom your ancestors crucified, as they slew theprophets of old. Go home and read the fifty-third chapter ofIsaiah, and you will be convinced that Jesus Christ is the Sonof God.” Conviction at once fastened upon him. He wenthome and read the scripture, wondering to see how perfectly



it had been fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. Were the words ofthe Christian true? The boy asked of his father an explanationof the prophecy, but was met with a silence so stern that henever again dared to refer to the subject. This however onlyincreased his desire to know more of the Christian religion.

The knowledge he sought was studiously kept from him inhis Jewish home; but when only eleven years old, he left hisfather’s house, and went out into the world to gain for himselfan education, to choose his religion and his life-work. Hefound a home for a time with kinsmen, but was soon drivenfrom them as an apostate, and alone and penniless he had tomake his own way among strangers. He went from place toplace, studying diligently, and maintaining Himself by teach-ing Hebrew. Through the influence of a Catholic instruc-tor, he was led to accept the Romish faith, and formed thepurpose of becoming a missionary to his own people. Withthis object he went, a few years later, to pursue his studies inthe College of the Propaganda at Rome. Here his habit of in-dependent thought and candid speech brought upon him theimputation of heresy. He openly attacked the abuses of thechurch, and urged the necessity of reform. Though at firsttreated with special favor by the papal dignitaries, he wasafter a time removed from Rome. Under the surveillance ofthe church he went from place to place, until it became evidentthat he could never be brought to submit to the bondage ofRomanism. He was declared to be incorrigible, and was leftat liberty to go where he pleased. He now made his way toEngland, and, professing the Protestant faith, united withthe English Church. After two years’ study he set out, in1821, upon his mission.

While Wolff accepted the great truth of Christ’s first ad-vent as “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief,” he sawthat the prophecies bring to view with equal clearness Hissecond advent with power and glory. And while he soughtto lead his people to Jesus of Nazareth as the Promised One,and to point them to his first coming in humiliation as a sac-rifice for the sins of men, he taught them also of His secondcoming as a king and deliverer.

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“Jesus of Nazareth, the true Messiah,” he said, “whosehands and feet were pierced, who was brought like a lamb tothe slaughter, who was a man of sorrows and acquainted withgrief, who after the scepter was taken from Judah, and thelegislative power from between His feet, came the first time,shall come the second time in the clouds of heaven, and withthe trump of the archangel,” and “shall stand upon the Mountof Olives. And that dominion once consigned to Adam overthe creation and forfeited by him (Genesis 1:26; 3:17) shallbe given to Jesus. He shall be king over all the earth. Thegroanings and lamentations of the creation shall cease, butsongs of praise and thanksgiving shall be heard.” “WhenJesus comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels,”“the dead believers shall rise first. 1 Thessalonians 4:16; 1Corinthians 15:23. This is what we Christians call the firstresurrection. Then the animal kingdom shall change its nature(Isaiah 11:6-9), and shall be subdued unto Jesus. Psalm 8.Universal peace shall prevail.” “The Lord again shall lookdown upon the earth, and say, ‘Behold, it is very good.’”

Wolff believed the coming of the Lord to be at hand, hisinterpretation of the prophetic periods placing the greatconsummation within a very few years of the time pointedout by Miller. To those who urged from the scripture, “Ofthat day and hour knoweth no man,” that men are to knownothing concerning the nearness of the advent, Wolff replied:“Did our Lord say that the day and hour should never beknown? Did He not give us signs of the times, in order that wemay know at least the approach of His coming, as one knowsthe approach of summer by the fig tree putting forth itsleaves? Are we never to know that period, whilst He Himselfexhorteth not only to read Daniel the prophet but to under-stand Him? And in that very Daniel where it is said that thewords were shut up to the time of the end (which was the casein his time), and that ‘many shall run to and fro’ (a Hebrewexpression for observing and thinking upon the time), and’knowledge’ (regarding that time) ‘shall be increased.’ Be-sides this, our Lord does not intend to say by this, that theapproach of the time shall not be known, but that the ex-



act ‘day and hour knoweth no man.’ He does say thatenough shall be known by the signs of the times, to induceus to prepare for His coming, as Noah prepared the ark.”

Concerning the popular system of interpreting, or misin-terpreting, the Scriptures, Wolff wrote: “The greater part ofthe Christian church have swerved from the plain senseof Scripture, and have turned to the phantomizing systemof the Buddhists; they believe that the future happiness ofmankind will consist in moving about in the air, and supposethat when they are reading Jews, they must understand Gen-tiles; and when they read Jerusalem, they must understandthe church; and if it said earth, it means sky; and for the com-ing of the Lord they must understand the progress of the mis-sionary societies; and going up to the mountain of the Lord’shouse, signifies a grand class-meeting of Methodists.”

During the twenty-four years from 1821 to 1845, Wolfftraveled extensively: in Africa, visiting Egypt andAbyssinia; in Asia, traversing Palestine, Syria, Persia,Bokhara, and India. He also visited the United States, onthe journey thither preaching on the island of St. Helena. Hearrived in New York in August, 1837; and after speaking inthat city, he preached in Philadelphia and Baltimore, and fi-nally proceeded to Washington. Here, he says, “on a motionbrought forward by the ex-President, John Quincy Adams, inone of the houses of Congress, the House unanimouslygranted me the use of the Congress Hall for a lecture which Idelivered on a Saturday, honored with the presence of all themembers of Congress, and also of the bishop of Virginia, andthe clergy and citizens of Washington. The same honor wasgranted to me by the members of the Government of NewJersey and Pennsylvania, in whose presence I delivered lec-tures on my researches in Asia, and also on the personal reignof Jesus Christ.”

Dr. Wolff traveled in the most barbarous countries,without the protection of any European authority, endur-ing many hardships, and surrounded with countless per-ils. He was bastinadoed and starved, sold as a slave, and threetimes condemned to death. He was beset by robbers, and

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sometimes nearly perished from thirst. Once he was strippedof all that he possessed, and left to travel hundreds of mileson foot through the mountains, the snow beating in his face,and his naked feet benumbed by contact with the frozenground.

When warned against going unarmed amongst savage andhostile tribes, he declared himself provided with arms,—“prayer, zeal for Christ, and confidence in His help.” “I amalso,” he said, “provided with the love of God and my neigh-bor in my heart, and the Bible is in my hand.” The Bible inHebrew and English he carried with him wherever hewent. Of one of his later journeys he says, “I kept theBible open in my hand. I felt my power was in the book,and that its might would sustain me.”

Thus he persevered in his labors until the message of theJudgment had been carried to a large part of the habitableglobe. Among Jews, Turks, Parsees, Hindus, and many othernationalities and races, he distributed the Word of God inthese various tongues, and everywhere heralded the approach-ing reign of the Messiah.

In his travels in Bokhara he found the doctrine of theLord’s soon coming held by a remote and isolated people. TheArabs of Yemen, he says, “are in possession of a book called‘Seera,’ which gives notice of the coming of Christ and Hisreign in glory, and they expect great events to take place in theyear 1840.” “In Yemen I spent six days with the Rechabites.They drink no wine, plant no vineyards, sow no seed, live intents, and remember the words of Jonadab, the son of Rechab.With them were the children of Israel of the tribe of Dan, . . .who expect, in common with the children of Rechab, thespeedy arrival of the Messiah in the clouds of heaven.”

A similar belief was found by another missionary to existin Tartary. A Tartar priest put the question to the missionary,as to when Christ would come the second time. When the mis-sionary answered that he knew nothing about it, the priestseemed greatly surprised at such ignorance in one who pro-fessed to be a Bible teacher, and stated his own belief, foundedon prophecy, that Christ would come about 1844.



As early as 1826 the Advent message began to bepreached in England. The movement here did not take sodefinite a form as in America, the exact time of the advent wasnot so generally taught, but the great truth of Christ’s sooncoming in power and glory was extensively proclaimed. Andthis not among dissenters and non-conformist only. MourantBrock, an English writer, states that about seven hundredministers of the Church of England were engaged inpreaching this “gospel of the kingdom.” The messagepointing to 1844 as the time of the Lord’s coming was alsogiven in Great Britain. Advent publications from the UnitedStates were widely circulated. Books and journals were repub-lished in England. And in 1842, Robert Winter, an English-man by birth, who had received the Advent faith inAmerica, returned to his native country to herald thecoming of the Lord. Many united with him in the work,and the message of the Judgement was proclaimed in variousparts of England.

In South America, in the midst of barbarism andpriestcraft, Lacunza, a Spaniard and a Jesuit, found hisway to the Scriptures, and thus received the truth ofChrist’s speedy return. Impelled to give the warning, yetdesiring to escape the censures of Rome, he published hisviews under the assumed name of “Rabbi Ben-Israel,” repre-senting himself as a converted Jew. Lacunza lived in the eigh-teenth century, but it was about 1825 that his book, havingfound its way to London, was translated into the English lan-guage. Its publication served to deepen the interest alreadyawakening in England in the subject of the second advent.

In Germany the doctrine had been taught in the eigh-teenth century by Bengel, a minister in the LutheranChurch, and a celebrated Biblical scholar and critic.Upon completing his education, Bengel had devoted himselfto the study of theology, “to which the grave and religious toneof his mind, deepened and strengthened by his early trainingand discipline, naturally inclined him. Like other young menof thoughtful character, before and since, he had to strugglewith doubts and difficulties of a religious nature, and he al-

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ludes, with much feeling, to the ‘many arrows which piercedhis poor heart, and made his youth hard to bear.’ ” Becominga member of the consistory of Wurtemberg, he advocated thecause of religious liberty, urging “that all reasonable freedombe accorded those who felt themselves bound, on grounds ofconscience, to withdraw from the established church.” Thegood 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 comingbroke in upon Bengel’s mind. The prophecies of the Revela-tion unfolded to his understanding as never before. Over-whelmed with a sense of the stupendous importance and sur-passing glory of the scenes presented by the prophet, he wasforced to turn for a time from the contemplation of the sub-ject. In the pulpit it again presented itself to him with all itsvividness and power. From that time he devoted himself tothe study of the prophecies, especially those of the Apoca-lypse, and soon arrived at the belief that they pointed tothe coming of Christ as near. The date which he fixedupon as the time of the second advent was within a veryfew years of that afterward held by Miller.

Bengel’s writing have been spread throughout Christen-dom. His views of prophecy were quite generally received inhis own State of Wurtemberg, and to some extent in otherparts of Germany. The movement continued after hisdeath, and the Advent message was heard in Germany atthe same time that it was attracting attention in otherlands. At an early date some of the believers went to Rus-sia, and there formed colonies, and the faith of Christ’s sooncoming is still held by the German churches of that country.

The light shone also in France and Switzerland. AtGeneva, where Farel and Calvin has spread the truths ofthe Reformation, Gaussen preached the message of thesecond advent. While a student at school, Gaussen had en-countered that spirit of rationalism which pervaded all Europeduring the latter part of the eighteenth and the opening of thenineteenth century; and when he entered the ministry he wasnot 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 wascalled to the second chapter of Daniel, and he was struck withthe wonderful exactness with which the prophecy had beenfulfilled, as seen in the historian’s record. Here was a testi-mony to the inspiration of the Scriptures, which served as ananchor to him amid the perils of later years. He could not restsatisfied with the teachings of rationalism, and in studying theBible and searching for clearer light he was, after a time, ledto a positive faith.

As he pursued his investigation of the prophecies, hearrived at the belief that the coming of the Lord was athand. Impressed with the solemnity and importance of thisgreat truth, he desired to bring it before the people, but thepopular belief that the prophecies of Daniel are mysteries andcannot be understood, was a serious obstacle in his way. Hefinally determined—as Farel had done before him in evange-lizing Geneva—to begin with the children, through whom hehoped to interest the parents.

“I desire this to be understood,” he afterward said, speak-ing of his object in this undertaking, “it is not because of itssmall importance, but on the contrary because of its greatvalue, that I wished to present it in this familiar form, and thatI addressed it to the children. I desired to be heard, and I fearedthat I would not be if I addressed myself to the grown peoplefirst.” “I determined therefore to go to the youngest. I gatheran audience of children; if the group enlarges, if it is seen thatthey listen, are pleased, interested, that they understand andexplain the subject, I am sure to have a second circle soon, andin their turn, grown people will see that it is worth their whileto sit down and study. When this is done, the cause is gained.”

The effort was successful. As he addressed the children,older persons came to listen. The galleries of his church werefilled with attentive hearers. Among them were men of rankand learning, and strangers and foreigners visiting Geneva,and thus the message was carried to other parts.

Encouraged by this success, Gaussen published his les-sons, with the hope of promoting the study of the prophetic

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books in the churches of the French-speaking people. “Topublish instruction given to the children,” says Gaussen,“is to say to adults, who too often neglect such books un-der the false pretense that they are obscure, ‘How canthey be obscure, since your children understand them?’”“I had a great desire,” he adds, “to render a knowledge of theprophecies popular in our flocks, if possible.” “There is nostudy, indeed, which it seems to me answers the needs of thetime better.” “It is by this that we are to prepare for the tribu-lation near at hand, and watch and wait for Jesus Christ.”

Though one of the most distinguished and beloved ofpreachers in the French language, Gaussen was after atime suspended from the ministry, his principal offensebeing that instead of the church’s catechism, a tame andrationalistic manual, almost destitute of positive faith, hehad used the Bible in giving instruction to the youth. He af-terward became teacher in a theological school, while on Sun-day he continued his work as catechist, addressing the chil-dren, and instructing them in the Scriptures. His works onprophecy also excited much interest. From the professor’schair, through the press, and in his favorite occupation asteacher of children, he continued for many years to exert anextensive influence, and was instrumental in calling the atten-tion of many to the study of the prophecies which showed thatthe coming of the Lord was near.

In Scandinavia also the Advent message was pro-claimed, and a widespread interest was kindled. Manywere aroused from their careless security, to confess andforsake their sins, and seek pardon in the name of Christ. Butthe clergy of the State church opposed the movement, andthrough their influence some who preached the message werethrown into prison. In many places where the preachers of theLord’s soon coming were thus silenced, God was pleased tosend the message, in a miraculous manner, through littlechildren. As they were under age, the law of the Statecould not restrain them, and they were permitted to speakunmolested.

The movement was chiefly among the lower class, and it



was in the humble dwellings of the laborers that the people as-sembled to hear the warning. The child-preachers them-selves were mostly poor cottagers. Some of them were notmore than six or eight years of age, and while their lives tes-tified that they loved the Saviour, and were trying to live inobedience to God’s holy requirements, they ordinarily mani-fested only the intelligence and ability usually seen in childrenof that age. When standing before the people, however, it wasevident that they were moved by an influence beyond theirown natural gifts. Tone and manner changed, and with solemnpower they gave the warning of the Judgment, employing thevery words of Scripture, “Fear God, and give glory to Him;for the hour of His Judgment is come.” They reproved thesins of the people, not only condemning immorality andvice, but rebuking worldliness and backsliding, and warn-ing their hearers to make haste to flee from wrath tocome.

The people heard with trembling. The convicting Spiritof God spoke to their hearts. Many were led to search theScriptures with new and deeper interest, the intemperate andimmoral were reformed, others abandoned their dishonestpractices, and a work was done so marked that even ministersof the State church were forced to acknowledge that the handof God was in the movement.

It was God’s will that the tidings of the Saviour’s com-ing should be given in the Scandinavian countries; andwhen the voices of His servants were silenced, he put hisSpirit upon the children, that the work might be accom-plished. When Jesus drew near to Jerusalem attended by therejoicing multitudes that, with shouts of triumph and thewaving of palm branches, heralded Him as the Son of David,the jealous Pharisees called upon Him to silence them; butJesus answered that all this was in fulfillment of prophecy,and if these should hold their peace, the very stones would cryout. The people, intimated by the threats of the priests and rul-ers, ceased their joyful proclamation as they entered the gatesof Jerusalem; but the children in the temple courts afterwardtook up the refrain, and, waving their branches of palm, they

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cried, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” Matthew 21:8-16.When the Pharisees, sorely displeased, said unto Him,“Hearest thou what these say?” Jesus answered, “Yea; haveye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thouhast perfected praise?” As God wrought through children atthe time of Christ’s first advent, so He wrought through themin giving the message of His second advent. God’s Word mustbe fulfilled, that the proclamation of the Saviour’s comingshould be given to all peoples, tongues, and nations.

To William Miller and his co-laborers it was given topreach the warning in America. This country became thecenter of the great Advent movement. It was here that theprophecy of the first angel’s message had its most directfulfillment. The writings of Miller and his associates werecarried to distant lands. Wherever missionaries had pen-etrated in all the world, were sent the glad tidings of Christ’sspeedy return. Far and wide spread the message of the ev-erlasting gospel, “Fear God, and give glory to Him; forthe hour of His Judgment is come.”

The testimony of the prophecies which seemed to point tothe coming of Christ in the spring of 1844 took deep hold ofthe minds of the people. As the message went from State toState, there was everywhere awakened widespread interest.Many were convicted that the arguments from the pro-phetic periods were correct, and, sacrificing their prideof opinion, they joyfully received the truth. Some ministerslaid aside their sectarian views and feelings, left their salariesand their churches, and united in proclaiming the coming ofJesus. There were comparatively few ministers, however, whowould accept this message; therefore it was largely commit-ted to humble laymen. Farmers left their fields, mechanicstheir tools, traders their merchandise, professional men theirpositions; and yet the number of workers was small in com-parison with the work to be accomplished. The condition ofan ungodly church and a world lying in wickedness burdenedthe souls of the true watchmen, and they willingly enduredtoil, privation, and suffering, that they might call men to re-pentance unto salvation. Though opposed by Satan, the



work went steadily forward, and the Advent truth wasaccepted by many thousands.

Everywhere the searching testimony was heard, warn-ing sinners, both worldlings and church-members, to fleefrom the wrath to come. Like John the Baptist, the forerun-ner of Christ, the preachers laid the ax at the root of the tree,and urged all to bring forth fruit meet for repentance. Theirstirring appeals were in marked contrast to the assurances ofpeace and safety that were heard from popular pulpits; andwherever the message was given, it moved the people. Thesimple, direct testimony of the Scriptures, set home by thepower of the Holy Spirit, brought a weight of convictionwhich few were able wholly to resist. Professors of religionwere roused from their false security. They saw theirbackslidings, their worldliness and unbelief, their pride andselfishness. Many sought the Lord with repentance and hu-miliation. The affections that had so long clung to earthlythings they now fixed upon Heaven. The Spirit of God restedupon them, and with hearts softened and subdued they joinedto sound the cry, “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for thehour of His Judgment is come.”

Sinners inquired with weeping, “What must I do to besaved?” Those whose lives had been marked with dishonestywere anxious to make restitution. All who found peace inChrist longed to see others share the blessing. The hearts ofparents were turned to their children, and the hearts of chil-dren to their parents. The barriers of pride and reserve wereswept away. Heart-felt confessions were made, and the mem-bers of the household labored for the salvation of those whowere nearest and dearest. Often was heard the sound of ear-nest intercession. Everywhere were souls in deep anguish,pleading with God. Many wrestled all night in prayer forthe assurance that their sins were pardoned, or for theconversion of their relatives or neighbors.

All classes flocked to the Adventist meetings. Rich andpoor, high and low, were, from various causes, anxious to hearfor themselves the doctrine of the second advent. The Lordheld the spirit of opposition in check while His servants ex-

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plained the reasons of their faith. Sometimes the instrumentwas feeble: but the Spirit of God gave power to His truth. Thepresence of holy angels was felt in these assemblies, and manywere daily added to the believers. As the evidences of Christ’ssoon coming were repeated, vast crowds listened in breathlesssilence to the solemn words. Heaven and earth seemed toapproach each other. The power of God was felt upon old andyoung and middle-aged. Men sought their homes with praisesupon their lips, and the glad sound rang out upon the still nightair. None who attended those meetings can ever forgetthose scenes of deepest interest.

The proclamation of a definite time for Christ’s com-ing 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 ful-filled: “There shall come in the last days scoffers, walkingafter their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of Hiscoming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continueas they were from the beginning of the creation.” 2 Peter 3:3,4. Many who professed to love the Saviour, declared that theyhad no opposition to the doctrine of the second advent; theymerely objected to the definite time. But God’s all-seeing eyeread their hearts. They did not wish to hear of Christ’s com-ing to judge the world in righteousness. They had been un-faithful servants, their works would not bear the inspection ofthe heart-searching God, and they feared to meet their Lord.Like the Jews at the time of Christ’s first advent, they were notprepared to welcome Jesus. They not only refused to listen tothe plain arguments from the Bible, but ridiculed those whowere looking for the Lord. Satan and his angels exulted, andflung the taunt in the face of Christ and holy angels, that Hisprofessed people had so little love for Him that they did notdesire His appearing.

“No man knoweth the day nor the hour,” was the argumentmost 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.” Matthew24:36. A clear and harmonious explanation of this text



was given by those who were looking for the Lord, andthe wrong use made of it by their opponents was clearlyshown. The words were spoken by Christ in that memorableconversation with His disciples upon Olivet, after He had forthe last time departed from the temple. The disciples hadasked the question, “What shall be the sign of Thy coming,and of the end of the world?” Matthew 24:3. Jesus gave themsigns, and said, “When ye shall see all these things, know thatit is near, even at the doors.” Matthew 24:33. One saying ofthe Saviour must not be made to destroy another. Thoughno man knoweth the day nor the hour of His coming, weare instructed and required to know when it is near. Weare further taught that to disregard His warning, andrefuse or neglect to know when His advent is near, will beas fatal for us, as it was for those who lived in the days ofNoah not to know when the flood was coming. And the par-able in the same chapter contrasting the faithful and the un-faithful servant, and giving the doom of him who said in hisheart, “My Lord delayeth His coming,” shows in what lightChrist will regard and reward those whom He finds watching,and teaching His coming, and those denying it. “Watch there-fore,” He says; “blessed is that servant, whom his Lord whenHe cometh shall find so doing.” Matthew 24:42, 46. “If there-fore thou shalt not watch, I will come on these as a thief, andthou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” Rev-elation 3:3.

Paul speaks of a class to whom the Lord’s appearing willcome unawares. “The day of the Lord so cometh as a thief inthe night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sud-den destruction cometh upon them, . . . and they shall not es-cape.” But he adds, to those who have given heed to theSaviour’s warning, “Ye, brethren, are not in darkness, thatthat day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the childrenof light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night,nor of darkness.” 1 Thessalonians 5:2-5.

Thus it was shown that Scripture gives no warrant formen to remain in ignorance concerning the nearness ofChrist’s coming. But those who desired only an excuse to re-

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ject the truth closed their ears to this explanation; and thewords, “No man knoweth the day nor the hour,” continued tobe echoed by the bold scoffer, and even by the professed min-ister of Christ. As the people were roused, and began to in-quire the way of salvation, religious teachers stepped inbetween them and the truth, seeking to quiet their fearsby falsely interpreting the Word of God. Unfaithful watch-men united in the work of the great deceiver, crying, Peace,peace, when God had not spoken peace. Like the Pharisees inChrist’s day, many refused to enter the kingdom of Heaventhemselves, 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 wereusually the first to receive the message. Those who studiedthe Bible for themselves could not but see the unscripturalcharacter of the popular views of prophecy, and wherever thepeople 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 theScriptures to establish its divine authority.

Many were persecuted by their unbelieving brethren.In order to retain their position in the church, some con-sented to be silent in regard to their hope; but others feltthat loyalty to God forbade them thus to hide the truths whichHe had committed to their trust. Not a few were cut off fromthe fellowship of the church for no other reason than express-ing their belief in the coming of Christ. Very precious to thosewho bore this trial of their faith were the words of the prophet,“Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for Myname’s sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified. But He shall ap-pear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.” Isaiah 66:5.

Angels of God were watching with the deepest interest theresult of the warning. When there was a general rejection ofthe message by the churches, angels turned away in sadness.Yet there were many who had not yet been tested in re-gard to the Advent truth. Many were misled by husbands,wives, parents, or children, and were made to believe it a sineven to listen to such heresies as were taught by the Adven-



tists. Angels were bidden to keep faithful watch over thesesouls; for another light was yet to shine upon them from thethrone of God.

With unspeakable desire those who had received themessage watched for the coming of their Saviour. Thetime when they expected to meet Him was at hand. Theyapproached this hour with a calm solemnity. They rested insweet communion with God, an earnest of the peace that wasto be theirs in the bright hereafter. None who experiencedthis hope and trust can forget those precious hours ofwaiting. For some weeks preceding the time, worldlybusiness was for the most part laid aside. The sincere be-lievers carefully examined every thought and emotion of theirhearts as if upon their death-beds and in a few hours to closetheir eyes upon earthly scenes. There was no making of “as-cension robes;” but all felt the need of internal evidence thatthey were prepared to meet the Saviour; their white robes werepurity of soul,—characters cleansed from sin by the atoningblood of Christ. Would that there was still with the professedpeople of God the same spirit of heart-searching, the sameearnest, determined faith. Had they continued thus to humblethemselves before the Lord, and press their petitions at themercy-seat, they would be in possession of a far richer expe-rience than they now have. There is too little prayer, too littlereal conviction of sin, and the lack of living faith leaves manydestitute of the grace so richly provided by our Redeemer.

God designed to prove His people. His hand covered amistake in the reckoning of the prophetic periods. Ad-ventists did not discover the error, nor was it discoveredby the most learned of their opponents. The latter said:“Your reckoning of the prophetic periods is correct. Somegreat event is about to take place; but it is not what Mr. Millerpredicts; it is the conversion of the world, and not the secondadvent of Christ.”

The time of expectation passed, and Christ did not ap-pear for the deliverance of His people. Those who withsincere faith and love had looked for their Saviour, expe-rienced a bitter disappointment. Yet the purposes of God

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were being accomplished: He was testing the hearts of thosewho professed to be waiting for His appearing. There wereamong them many who had been actuated by no highermotive than fear. Their profession of faith had not af-fected their hearts or their lives. When the expected eventfailed to take place, these persons declared that they werenot disappointed; they had never believed that Christwould come. They were among the first to ridicule thesorrow of the true believers.

But Jesus and all the heavenly host looked with love andsympathy upon the tried and faithful yet disappointed ones.Could the veil separating the visible from the invisible worldhave been swept back, angels would have been seen drawingnear to these steadfast souls, and shielding them from theshafts of Satan.

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“Through whom [Christ] we received grace and apostleship, unto obedienceof faith among all nations, for His name’s sake.” Romans 1:5, R.V.

“And being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto allthem that obey Him.” Hebrews 5:9.

“By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed.” Hebrews 11:8, R.V.“In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast

obeyed My voice.” Genesis 22:18.“For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumci-

sion; but faith which worketh by love.” Galatians 5:6.“For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not

wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed.” Romans15:18.

“To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” 1Samuel 15:22.

“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself againstthe knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedienceof Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5.

“And He said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that yemay keep your own tradition.” Mark 7:9.

“Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit.” 1Peter 1:22.

“If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.” Isaiah 1:19.



Chapter Twenty-oneChapter Twenty-oneChapter Twenty-oneChapter Twenty-oneChapter Twenty-one

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—A Warning Rejected—A Warning Rejected—A Warning Rejected—A Warning Rejected—A Warning Rejected———————————————————————

It is a sad truth that not all desire to learn that Jesus is soon toIt is a sad truth that not all desire to learn that Jesus is soon toIt is a sad truth that not all desire to learn that Jesus is soon toIt is a sad truth that not all desire to learn that Jesus is soon toIt is a sad truth that not all desire to learn that Jesus is soon toreturn. They would rather avoid that truth.return. They would rather avoid that truth.return. They would rather avoid that truth.return. They would rather avoid that truth.return. They would rather avoid that truth.

The Message of the First Angel of Revelation 14:6-7 is fol-The Message of the First Angel of Revelation 14:6-7 is fol-The Message of the First Angel of Revelation 14:6-7 is fol-The Message of the First Angel of Revelation 14:6-7 is fol-The Message of the First Angel of Revelation 14:6-7 is fol-lowed by that of the Second Angel of Revelation 14:8. The im-lowed by that of the Second Angel of Revelation 14:8. The im-lowed by that of the Second Angel of Revelation 14:8. The im-lowed by that of the Second Angel of Revelation 14:8. The im-lowed by that of the Second Angel of Revelation 14:8. The im-plications of that message have a significance which is imporplications of that message have a significance which is imporplications of that message have a significance which is imporplications of that message have a significance which is imporplications of that message have a significance which is impor-----tant even down to our own day —tant even down to our own day —tant even down to our own day —tant even down to our own day —tant even down to our own day ————————————————————————

In preaching the doctrine of the second advent, Will-iam Miller and his associates had labored with the solepurpose of arousing men to a preparation for the Judg-ment. They had sought to awaken professors of religionto the true hope of the church, and to their need of adeeper Christian experience; and they labored also toawaken the unconverted to the duty of immediate repen-tance and conversion to God. “They made no attempt toconvert men to a sect or party in religion. Hence they laboredamong all parties and sects, without interfering with their or-ganization or discipline.”

“In all my labors,” said Miller, “I never had the desireor thought to establish any separate interest from that ofexisting denominations, or to benefit one at the expense ofanother. I thought to benefit all. Supposing that all Christianswould rejoice in the prospect of Christ’s coming, and thatthose who could not see as I did would not love any the lessthose who should embrace this doctrine, I did not conceivethere would ever be any necessity for separate meetings.My whole object was a desire to convert souls to God, tonotify the world of a coming Judgment, and to induce my

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fellow-men to make that preparation of heart which will en-able them to meet their God in peace. The great majority ofthose who were converted under my labors united with thevarious existing churches.”

As his work tended to build up the churches, it was fora time regarded with favor. But as ministers and religiousleaders decided against the Advent doctrine, and desiredto suppress all agitation of the subject, they not only op-posed it from the pulpit, but denied their members the privi-lege of attending preaching upon the second advent, or evenof speaking of their hope in the social meetings of the church.Thus the believers found themselves in a position of great trialand perplexity. They loved their churches, and were loth toseparate from them; but as they saw the testimony of God’sWord suppressed, and their right to investigate the prophe-cies denied, they felt that loyalty to God forbade them to sub-mit. Those who sought to shut out the testimony of God’sWord they could not regard as constituting the church ofChrist, “the pillar and ground of the truth.” Hence theyfelt themselves justified in separating from their formerconnection. In the summer of 1844 about fifty thousandwithdrew from the churches.

About this time a marked change was apparent in most ofthe churches throughout the United States. There had been formany years a gradual but steadily increasing conformity toworldly practices and customs, and a corresponding declinein real spiritual life; but in that year there were evidencesof a sudden and marked declension, in nearly all thechurches of the land. While none seemed able to suggest thecause, the fact itself was widely noted and commented upon,both by the press and the pulpit.

At a meeting of the presbytery of Philadelphia, Mr. Barnes,author of the commentary so widely used, and pastor of oneof the leading churches in that city, “stated that he had beenin the ministry for twenty years, and never till the last com-munion had he administered the ordinance without receivingmore or less into the church. But now there are no awaken-ings, no conversions, not much apparent growth in grace in

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professors, and none come to his study to converse about thesalvation of their souls. With the increase of business, and thebrightening prospects of commerce and manufactures, thereis an increase of worldly-mindedness. Thus it is with all de-nominations.”

In the month of February of the same year, ProfessorFinney, of Oberlin College, said: “We have had the facts be-fore our minds, that, in general, the Protestant churches of ourcountry, as such, were either apathetic or hostile to nearly allthe moral reforms of the age. There are partial exceptions, yetnot enough to render the fact otherwise than general. We havealso another corroborative fact,—the almost universal ab-sence of revival influence in the churches. The spiritual apa-thy is almost all-pervading, and is fearfully deep; so thereligious press of the whole land testifies. Very extensively,church-members are becoming devotees of fashion, joininghands with the ungodly in parties of pleasure, in dancing, infestivities, 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 de-generate. They have gone very far from the Lord, and He haswithdrawn himself from them.”

And a writer in the Religious Telescope testified: “Wehave never witnessed such a general declension as atpresent. Truly, the church should awake, and search into thecause of this affliction; for an affliction every one that lovesZion must view it. When we call to mind how few and farbetween cases of true conversion are, and the almost unpar-alleled impenitence and hardness of sinners, we almost invol-untarily exclaim, ‘Has God forgotten to be gracious? or is thedoor of mercy closed?’”

Such a condition never exists without cause in thechurch itself. The spiritual darkness which falls uponnations, upon churches and individuals, is due, not to anarbitrary withdrawal of the succors of divine grace on thepart of God, but to neglect or rejection of divine light onthe part of men. A striking illustration of this truth is pre-sented in the history of the Jewish people in the time of Christ.

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By their devotion to the world and forgetfulness of God andHis Word, their understanding had become darkened, theirhearts earthly and sensual. Thus they were in ignorance con-cerning Messiah’s advent, and in their pride and unbelief theyrejected the Redeemer. God did not even then cut off the Jew-ish nation from a knowledge of, or a participation in, the bless-ings of salvation. But those who rejected the truth lost alldesire for the gift of Heaven. They had “put darkness forlight, and light for darkness,” until the light which was in thembecame darkness; and how great was that darkness!

It suits the policy of Satan, that men should retain theforms of religion, if but the spirit of vital godliness is lack-ing. After their rejection of the gospel, the Jews continuedzealously to maintain their ancient rites, they rigorously pre-served their national exclusiveness, while they themselvescould not but admit that the presence of God was no longermanifest among them. The prophecy of Daniel pointed sounmistakably to the time of Messiah’s coming, and so directlyforetold His death, that they discouraged its study, and finallythe rabbis pronounced a curse on all who should attempt acomputation of the time. In blindness and impenitence, thepeople of Israel for eighteen hundred years have stood, indif-ferent to the gracious offers of salvation, unmindful of theblessings of the gospel, a solemn and fearful warning of thedanger of rejecting light from Heaven.

Wherever the cause exists, the same results will follow.He who deliberately stifles his convictions of duty becauseit interferes with his inclinations, will finally lose thepower to distinguish between truth and error. The under-standing becomes darkened, the conscience callous, the hearthardened, and the soul is separated from God. Where the mes-sage of divine truth is spurned or slighted, there the churchwill be enshrouded in darkness; faith and love grow cold, andestrangement and dissension enter. Church-members centertheir interests and energies in worldly pursuits, and sinners be-come hardened in their impenitence.

The first angel’s message of Revelation 14, announc-ing the hour of God’s Judgment, and calling upon men to



fear and worship Him, was designed to separate the pro-fessed people of God from the corrupting influences of theworld, and to arouse them to see their true condition of world-liness and backsliding. In this message, God had sent to thechurch a warning, which, had it been accepted, would havecorrected the evils that were shutting them away from Him.Had they received the message from Heaven, humbling theirhearts before the Lord, and seeking in sincerity a preparationto stand in His presence, the Spirit and power of God wouldhave been manifested among them. The church would againhave reached that blessed state of unity, faith, and love, whichexisted in apostolic days, when the believers were of “oneheart and of one soul,” and “spake the word of God with bold-ness,” when “the Lord added to the church daily such asshould be saved.” Acts 4:32, 31; 2:47.

If God’s professed people would receive the light as itshines upon them from His Word, they would reach thatunity for which Christ prayed, that which the apostle de-scribes, “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” “Thereis,” he says, “one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are calledin one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism.”Ephesians 4:3-5.

Such were the blessed results experienced by those whoaccepted the Advent message. They “came from differentdenominations, and their denominational barriers were hurledto the ground; conflicting creeds were shivered to atoms; theunscriptural hope of a temporal millennium was abandoned,false views of the second advent were corrected, pride andconformity to the world were swept away; wrongs were maderight; hearts were united in the sweetest fellowship, and loveand joy reigned supreme. If this doctrine did this for the fewwho did receive it, it would have done the same for all, if allhad 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’ com-ing, had failed to learn the truth, either from the testimony ofthe prophets or from the signs of the times. As worldly hopes

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and ambitions filled the heart, love for God and faith in HisWord had grown cold, and when the Advent doctrine was pre-sented, it only aroused their prejudice and unbelief. The factthat the message was, to a great extent, preached by lay-men, was urged as an argument against it. As of old, theplain testimony of God’s Word was met with the inquiry,“Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed?” Andfinding how difficult a task it was to refute the argumentsdrawn from the prophetic periods, many discouraged thestudy of the prophecies, teaching that the prophetic bookswere sealed, and were not to be understood. Multitudes, trust-ing implicitly to their pastors, refused to listen to the warn-ing; and others, though convinced of the truth, dared not con-fess it, lest they should be “put out of the synagogue.” Themessage which God had sent for the testing and purificationof the church, revealed all too surely how great was the num-ber who had set their affections on this world rather than uponChrist. The ties which bound them to earth were strongerthan the attractions heavenward. They chose to listen tothe voice of worldly wisdom, and turned away from the heart-searching message of truth.

In refusing the warning of the first angel, they rejectedthe means which Heaven had provided for their restora-tion. They spurned the gracious messenger that would havecorrected the evils which separated them from God, and withgreater eagerness they turned to seek the friendship of theworld. Here was the cause of that fearful condition of world-liness, backsliding, and spiritual death which existed in thechurches 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 thewrath of her fornication.” Revelation 14:8. The termBabylon is derived from Babel, and signifies confusion. It isemployed in Scripture to designate the various forms of falseor apostate religion. In Revelation 17, Babylon is representedas a woman, a figure which is used in the Bible as the sym-bol 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 rep-resented by the union of marriage. The Lord has joined Hispeople to Himself by a solemn covenant, He promising to betheir God, and they pledging themselves to be His, and Hisalone. 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.” Hosea 2:19. Andagain, “I am married unto you.” Jeremiah 3:14. And Paulemploys the same figure in the New Testament, when he says,“I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present youas a chaste virgin to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:2.

The unfaithfulness of the church to Christ in permit-ting 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 ofIsrael in departing from the Lord is presented under this fig-ure; and the wonderful love of God which they thus despisedis touchingly portrayed. “I sware unto thee, and entered intoa covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamestMine.” “And thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didstprosper into a kingdom. And thy renown went forth amongthe heathen for thy beauty; for it was perfect through Mycomeliness, which I had put upon thee. . . . But thou didst trustin thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy re-nown.” “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, whichtaketh strangers instead of her husband.” Ezekiel 16:8, 13-15, 32; Jeremiah 3:20.

In the New Testament, language very similar is ad-dressed to professed Christians who seek the friendshipof the world above the favor of God. Says the apostleJames: “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that thefriendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever there-fore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”

The woman, Babylon, of Revelation 17, is described as

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“arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold andprecious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her handfull of abominations and filthiness. . . . And upon her fore-head was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, themother of harlots.” Says the prophet, “I saw the womandrunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood ofthe martyrs of Jesus.” Revelation 17:4-6. Babylon is furtherdeclared to be “that great city, which reigneth over the kingsof the earth.” Revelation 17:18. The power that for so manycenturies maintained despotic sway over the monarchs ofChristendom, is Rome. The purple and scarlet color, the goldand precious stones and pearls, vividly picture the magnifi-cence and more than kingly pomp affected by the haughty seeof Rome. And no other power could be so truly declared“drunken with the blood of the saints” as that church whichhas so cruelly persecuted the followers of Christ. Babylon isalso charged with the sin of unlawful connection with “thekings of the earth.” It was by departure from the Lord, andalliance with the heathen, that the Jewish church became aharlot; and Rome, corrupting herself in like manner by seek-ing the support of worldly powers, receives a like condemna-tion.

Babylon is said to be “the mother of harlots.” By herdaughters must be symbolized churches that cling to herdoctrines and traditions, and follow her example of sac-rificing the truth and the approval of God, in order toform an unlawful alliance with the world. The message ofRevelation 14 announcing the fall of Babylon, must ap-ply to religious bodies that were once pure and have be-come corrupt. Since this message follows the warning of theJudgment, it must be given in the last days, therefore it can-not refer to the Romish Church, for that church has been in afallen condition for many centuries. Furthermore, in theeighteenth chapter of the Revelation, in a message whichis yet future, the people of God are called upon to comeout of Babylon. According to this scripture, many of God’speople must still be in Babylon. And in what religious bod-ies are the greater part of the followers of Christ now to be



found? Without doubt, in the various churches professing theProtestant faith. At the time of their rise, these churches tooka noble stand for God and the truth, and His blessing was withthem. Even the unbelieving world was constrained to ac-knowledge the beneficent results that followed an acceptanceof the principles of the gospel. In the words of the prophet toIsrael, “Thy renown went forth among the heathen for thybeauty; for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I hadput upon thee, saith the Lord God.” But they fell by the samedesire which was the curse and ruin of Israel,—the desireof imitating the practices and courting the friendship ofthe ungodly. “Thou didst trust in thine own beauty, andplayedst the harlot because of thy renown.”

Many of the Protestant churches are following Rome’sexample of iniquitous connection with “the kings of theearth;” the State churches, by their relation to secular govern-ments, and other denominations by seeking the favor of theworld. And the term Babylon—confusion—may be appropri-ately applied to these bodies, all professing to derive their doc-trines from the Bible, yet divided into almost innumerablesects, with widely conflicting creeds and theories.

Besides a sinful union with the world, the churches thatseparated from Rome present other of her characteris-tics.

A Romish work—the “Catholic Christian Instructed”—makes the charge: “If the Church of Rome was ever guilty ofidolatry in relation to the saints, her daughter, the Church ofEngland, stands guilty of the same, which has ten churchesdedicated to Mary for one dedicated to Christ.”

And Mr. Hopkins, in a treatise on the Millennium, declares:“There is no reason to consider the antichristian spirit andpractices confined to what is now called the Church of Rome.The Protestant churches have much of antichrist in them, andare far from being wholly reformed from corruption and wick-edness.”

Concerning the separation of the Presbyterian Church fromRome, Dr. Guthrie writes: “Three hundred years ago, ourchurch, with an open Bible on her banner, and this motto,

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‘Search the Scriptures,’ on her scroll, marched out from thegates of Rome.” Then he asks the significant question,“Did they come clean out of Babylon?”

“The Church of England,” says Spurgeon, “seems to beeaten through and through with sacramentarianism; but non-conformity appears to be almost as badly riddled with philo-sophical infidelity. Those of whom we thought better thingsare turning aside one by one from the fundamentals of thefaith. Through and through, I believe, the very heart of En-gland is honeycombed with a damnable infidelity which daresstill go into the pulpit and call itself Christian.”

What was the origin of the great apostasy? How didthe church first depart from the simplicity of the gos-pel?—By conforming to the practices of paganism, tofacilitate the acceptance of Christianity by the heathen.The apostle Paul declared, even in his day, “The mystery ofiniquity doth already work.” 2 Thessalonians 2:7. During thelives of the apostles the church remained comparatively pure.“But toward the latter end of the second century most of thechurches assumed a new form, the first simplicity disap-peared; and insensibly, as the old disciples retired to theirgraves, their children, along with new converts . . . came for-ward and new modeled the cause.” [Robinson, History ofBaptism.] To secure converts, the exalted standard of theChristian faith was lowered, and as the result “a pagan flood,flowing into the church, carried with it its customs, practices,and idols.” [Gavazzi’s Lectures, p. 290.] As the Christian re-ligion secured the favor and support of secular rulers, it wasnominally accepted by multitudes; but while in appearanceChristians, many “remained in substance pagans, especiallyworshiping in secret their idols.” [Ibid.]

Has not the same process been repeated in nearly ev-ery church calling itself Protestant? As its founders, thosewho possessed the true spirit of reform, pass away, theirdescendants come forward and “new model the cause.”While blindly clinging to the creed of their fathers and refus-ing to accept any truth in advance of what they saw, the chil-dren of the reformers depart widely from their example of hu-



mility, self-denial, and renunciation of the world. Thus “thefirst simplicity disappears.” A worldly flood, flowing into thechurch, “carries with it its customs, practices, and idols.”

Alas, to what a fearful extent is that friendship of theworld which is “enmity with God,” now cherished amongthe professed followers of Christ! How widely have thepopular churches throughout Christendom departed from theBible standard of humility, self-denial, simplicity, and godli-ness! Said John Wesley, in speaking of the right use of money:“Do not waste any part of so precious a talent, merely in grati-fying the desire of the eye, by superfluous and expensive ap-parel, or by needless ornaments. Waste no part of it in curi-ously adorning your houses; in superfluous or expensive fur-niture; in costly pictures, painting, gilding.” “Lay out noth-ing to gratify the pride of life, to gain the admiration or praiseof men.” “‘So long as thou doest well unto thyself, men willspeak good of thee.’ So long as thou art ‘clothed in purple andfine linen, and farest sumptuously every day,’ no doubt manywill applaud thine elegance of taste, thy generosity and hos-pitality. But do not buy their applause so dear. Rather be con-tent with the honor that cometh from God.” But in manychurches of our time, such teaching is disregarded.

A profession of religion has become popular with theworld. Rulers, politicians, lawyers, doctors, merchants,join the church as a means of securing the respect andconfidence of society, and advancing their own worldlyinterests. Thus they seek to cover all their unrighteous trans-actions under a profession of Christianity. The various reli-gious bodies, re-enforced by the wealth and influence of thesebaptized worldlings, make a still higher bid for popularity andpatronage. Splendid churches, embellished in the most ex-travagant manner, are erected on popular avenues. The wor-shipers array themselves in costly and fashionable attire. Ahigh salary is paid for a talented minister to entertain andattract the people. His sermons must not touch popularsins, but be made smooth and pleasing for fashionableears. Thus fashionable sinners are enrolled on the church-records, and fashionable sins are concealed under a pre-

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tense of godliness.Commenting on the present attitude of professed Chris-

tians toward the world, a leading secular journal says: “Insen-sibly the church has yielded to the spirit of the age, andadapted its forms of worship to modern wants.” “All things,indeed, that help to make religion attractive, the churchnow employs as its instruments.” And a writer in the NewYork Independent speaks thus concerning Methodism as itis: “The line of separation between the godly and the irreli-gious fades out into a kind of penumbra, and zealous men onboth sides are toiling to obliterate all difference between theirmodes of action and enjoyment.” “The popularity of religiontends vastly to increase the number of those who would se-cure its benefits without squarely meeting its duties.”

Says Howard Crosby: “The church of God is today court-ing the world. Its members are trying to bring it down to thelevel of the ungodly. The ball, the theater, nude and lewd art,social luxuries with all their loose moralities, are making in-roads into the sacred inclosure of the church; and as a satis-faction for all this worldliness, Christians are making a greatdeal of Lent and Easter and church ornamentation. It is the oldtrick of Satan. The Jewish church struck on that rock; theRomish church was wrecked on the same; and the Protestantis fast reaching the same doom.”

In this tide of worldliness and pleasure-seeking, self-denial and self-sacrifice for Christ’s sake are almostwholly lost. “Some of the men and women now in active lifein our churches were educated, when children, to make sac-rifices in order to be able to give or to do something forChrist.” But “if funds are wanted now, . . . nobody mustbe called on to give. Oh, no! have a fair, tableaux, a mocktrial, an antiquarian supper, or something to eat, anythingto amuse the people.”

Governor Washburn, of Wisconsin, in his annual messagedeclared “that church fairs, charitable raffles, concert lot-teries for charitable and other purposes, prize packages,‘grab-bags,’ Sabbath-school and other religious chancesby ticket, are nurseries of crime, inasmuch as they prom-



ise something for nothing, are games of chance, and arereally gambling. He says that the pernicious spirit of gam-bling is fostered, encouraged, and kept alive by these agen-cies to a degree little known by good citizens; and that, butfor them, the ordinary laws against gambling would be muchless violated and much more easily enforced. These practices,he declares, ought not to be permitted any longer to debauchthe morals of the young.”

The spirit of worldly conformity is invading thechurches throughout Christendom. Robert Atkins, in asermon preached in London, draws a dark picture of the spiri-tual declension that prevails in England: “The truly righteousare diminished from the earth, and no man layeth it to heart.The professors of religion of the present day, in everychurch, are lovers of the world, conformers to the world,lovers of creature-comfort, and aspirers after respectabil-ity. They are called to suffer with Christ, but they shrink fromeven reproach. Apostasy, apostasy, apostasy, is engraven onthe very front of every church; and did they know it, and didthey feel it, there might be hope; but, alas! they cry, ‘We arerich, and increased in goods, and have need of nothing.’”

The great sin charged against Babylon is, that she“made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of herfornication.” This cup of intoxication which she presentsto the world, represents the false doctrines that she hasaccepted as the result of her unlawful connection with thegreat ones of the earth. Friendship with the world corrupts herfaith, and in her turn she exerts a corrupting influence uponthe world by teaching doctrines which are opposed to theplainest statements of Holy Writ.

Rome withheld the Bible from the people, and requiredall men to accept her teachings in its place. It was thework of the Reformation to restore to men the Word ofGod; but is it not too true that in the churches of our timemen are taught to rest their faith upon their creed and theteachings 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

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sensitiveness with which those holy fathers would haveshrunk from a rude word against the rising veneration forsaints and martyrs which they were fostering. . . . The Prot-estant evangelical denominations have so tied up oneanother’s hands, and their own, that, between them all, a mancannot become a preacher at all, anywhere, without accept-ing some book besides the Bible. . . . There is nothing imagi-nary in the statement that the creed power is now begin-ning to prohibit the Bible as really as Rome did, thoughin a subtler way.”

When faithful teachers expound the Word of God, therearise men of learning, ministers professing to understand theScriptures, who denounce sound doctrine as heresy, and thusturn away inquirers after truth. Were it not that the world ishopelessly intoxicated with the wine of Babylon, multitudeswould be convicted and converted by the plain, cutting truthsof the Word of God. But religious faith appears so confusedand discordant, that the people know not what to believe astruth. The sin of the world’s impenitence lies at the doorof the church.

The second angel’s message of Revelation 14, was firstpreached in the summer of 1844, and it then had a more di-rect application to the churches of the United States, wherethe warning of the Judgment had been most widely pro-claimed and most generally rejected, and where the declensionin the churches had been most rapid. But the message of thesecond angel did not reach its complete fulfillment in1844. The churches then experienced a moral fall, in con-sequence of their refusal of the light of the Advent mes-sage; but that fall was not complete. As they have contin-ued to reject the special truths for this time, they have fallenlower and lower. Not yet, however, can it be said that“Babylon is fallen, . . . because she made all nations drinkof the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” She has notyet made all nations do this. The spirit of world-conform-ing and indifference to the testing truths for our time existsand has been gaining ground in churches of the Protestantfaith in all the countries of Christendom; and these churches



are included in the solemn and terrible denunciation of thesecond angel. But the work of apostasy has not yet reachedits culmination.

The Bible declares that before the coming of the Lord, Sa-tan 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 be-lieve a lie.” 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11. Not until this conditionshall be reached, and the union of the church with theworld shall be fully accomplished, throughout Christen-dom, will the fall of Babylon be complete. The change isa progressive one, and the perfect fulfillment of Revela-tion 14:8 is yet future.

Notwithstanding the spiritual darkness, and alienationfrom God, that exist in the churches which constitute Bab-ylon, the great body of Christ’s true followers are still tobe found in their communion. There are many of thesewho have never seen the special truths for this time. Nota few are dissatisfied with their present condition, and arelonging for clearer light. They look in vain for the image ofChrist in the churches with which they are connected. As thesebodies depart farther and farther from the truth, and ally them-selves more closely with the world, the difference between thetwo classes will widen, and it will finally result in separation.The time will come when those who love God supremelycan no longer remain in connection with such as are “lov-ers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a formof godliness, but denying the power thereof.”

Revelation 18 points to the time when, as the result ofrejecting the threefold warning of Revelation 14:6-12, thechurch will have fully reached the condition foretold bythe second angel, and the people of God, still in Babylon,will be called upon to separate from her communion. Thismessage is the last that will ever be given to the world;and it will accomplish its work. When those that “believednot the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness,” (2Thessalonians 2:12) shall be left to receive strong delusion,

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and to believe a lie, then the light of truth will shine upon allwhose hearts are open to receive it, and all the children of theLord, that remain in Babylon, will heed the call, “Come outof her, my people.” Revelation 18:4.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: THE PLAN OF REDEMPTION: THE PLAN OF REDEMPTION: THE PLAN OF REDEMPTION: THE PLAN OF REDEMPTION: THE PLAN OF REDEMPTION

“Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the trans-gression of the law.” 1 John 3:4.

“Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin.” James 1:15.“And sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” James 1:15. “The wages

of sin is death.” Romans 6:23.“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus; for He

shall save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21.“He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities:

the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.”Isaiah 53:5.

“He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin . . He thatcommitteth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For thispurpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of thedevil.” 1 John 3:5,8.

“This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in HisSon. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath notlife.” 1 John 5:11-12 (John 3:36).

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth inme: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God,who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20.

“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Wordof God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” 1 Peter 1:23.

“Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit.” 1Peter 1:22.

“If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.” Isaiah 1:19.“That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patienceinherit the promises.” Hebrews 6:12.

“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:26. “Ifchildren, then heirs.” Romans 8:17.

“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sentHis only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.” 1 John4:9.

“He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shallHe not with Him also freely give us all things?” Romans 8:32.

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that weshould be called the sons of God.” 1 John 3:1. [John 3:16]



Chapter Twenty-twoChapter Twenty-twoChapter Twenty-twoChapter Twenty-twoChapter Twenty-two

TheTheTheTheTheMidnight CrMidnight CrMidnight CrMidnight CrMidnight Cryyyyy

—Prophecies Fulfilled—Prophecies Fulfilled—Prophecies Fulfilled—Prophecies Fulfilled—Prophecies Fulfilled———————————————————————

The midnight crThe midnight crThe midnight crThe midnight crThe midnight cry was a powery was a powery was a powery was a powery was a powerful message when it went like aful message when it went like aful message when it went like aful message when it went like aful message when it went like atidal wave through the land.tidal wave through the land.tidal wave through the land.tidal wave through the land.tidal wave through the land. The very urgency of it resulted in deci-sions for and against it.

The result was a revealing of many hearThe result was a revealing of many hearThe result was a revealing of many hearThe result was a revealing of many hearThe result was a revealing of many hearts. Unforts. Unforts. Unforts. Unforts. Unfortunatelytunatelytunatelytunatelytunately,,,,,many preferred the world more than they wanted Christ —many preferred the world more than they wanted Christ —many preferred the world more than they wanted Christ —many preferred the world more than they wanted Christ —many preferred the world more than they wanted Christ ————————————————————————

When the time passed at which the Lord’s coming wasfirst expected,—in the spring of 1844,—those who hadlooked in faith for His appearing were for a season in-volved in doubt and uncertainty. While the world regardedthem as having been utterly defeated, and proved to have beencherishing a delusion, their source of consolation was still theWord of God. Many continued to search the Scriptures, ex-amining anew the evidences of their faith, and carefullystudying the prophecies to obtain further light. The Bibletestimony in support of their position seemed clear and con-clusive. Signs which could not be mistaken pointed to thecoming of Christ as near. The special blessing of the Lord,both in the conversion of sinners and the revival of spirituallife among Christians, had testified that the message was ofHeaven. And though the believers could not explain their dis-appointment, they felt assured that God had led them in theirpast experience.

Interwoven with prophecies which they had regardedas applying to the time of the second advent, was instruc-tion specially adapted to their state of uncertainty andsuspense, and encouraging them to wait patiently, in thefaith that what was now dark to their understanding would in

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due time be made plain.Among these prophecies was that of Habakkuk 2:1-4:

“I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, andwill watch to see what He will say unto me, and what I shallanswer when I am reproved. And the Lord answered me, andsaid, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that hemay run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointedtime, 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. Be-hold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him; but thejust 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 mayrun that readeth it,” had suggested to Charles Fitch the prepa-ration of a prophetic chart to illustrate the visions of Danieland the Revelation. The publication of this chart was regardedas a fulfillment of the command given by Habakkuk. No one,however, then noticed that an apparent delay in the accom-plishment of the vision—a tarrying time—is presented in thesame prophecy. After the disappointment, this scripture ap-peared very significant: “The vision is yet for an appointedtime, 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 ofstrength and comfort to believers: “And the word of theLord came unto me, saying, Son of man, what is that prov-erb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days areprolonged, and every vision faileth? Tell them therefore, Thussaith the Lord God: . . . The days are at hand, and the effectof every vision. . . . I will speak, and the word that I shall speakshall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged.” “They ofthe house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for manydays to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off.Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God: There shallnone of my words be prolonged any more, but the word whichI have spoken shall be done.” Ezekiel 12:21-25, 27, 28.

The waiting ones rejoiced, believing that He who

Prophecies Fulfilled Prophecies Fulfilled Prophecies Fulfilled Prophecies Fulfilled Prophecies Fulfilled [391-393] [391-393] [391-393] [391-393] [391-393]


knows the end from the beginning had looked downthrough the ages, and, foreseeing their disappointment,had given them words of courage and hope. Had it not beenfor such portions of Scripture, admonishing them to wait withpatience, 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 il-lustrates the experience of the Adventist people. In Mat-thew 24, in answer to the question of His disciples concern-ing the sign of His coming and of the end of the world, Christhad pointed out some of the most important events in the his-tory of the world and of the church from His first to his sec-ond advent; namely, the destruction of Jerusalem, the greattribulation of the church under the pagan and papal persecu-tions, the darkening of the sun and moon, and the falling ofthe stars. After this he spoke of His coming in His kingdom,and related the parable describing the two classes of servantswho look for His appearing. Chapter 25 opens with the words,“Then shall the kingdom of Heaven be likened unto ten vir-gins.” Here is brought to view the church living in the lastdays, the same that is pointed out in the close of chapter 24.In this parable their experience is illustrated by the incidentsof an Eastern marriage.

“Then shall the kingdom of Heaven be likened unto ten vir-gins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bride-groom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil withthem; but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered andslept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, thebridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him.”

The coming of Christ, as announced by the first angel’smessage, was understood to be represented by the com-ing of the bridegroom. The widespread reformation underthe proclamation of His soon coming, answered to the goingforth of the virgins. In this parable, as in that of Matthew24, two classes are represented. All had taken their lamps,the Bible, and by its light had gone forth to meet the Bride-

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groom. But while “they that were foolish took their lamps, andtook no oil with them,” “the wise took oil in their vessels withtheir lamps.” The latter class had received the grace of God,the regenerating, enlightening power of the Holy Spirit, whichrenders His Word a lamp to the feet and a light to the path. Inthe fear of God they had studied the Scriptures to learn thetruth, and had earnestly sought for purity of heart and life.These had a personal experience, a faith in God and in HisWord, which could not be overthrown by disappointment anddelay. Others “took their lamps, and took no oil with them.”They had moved from impulse. Their fears had been excitedby the solemn message, but they had depended upon the faithof their brethren, satisfied with the flickering light of goodemotions, without a thorough understanding of the truth, ora genuine work of grace in the heart. These had gone forth tomeet the Lord, full of hope in the prospect of immediate re-ward; but they were not prepared for delay and disappoint-ment. When trials came, their faith failed, and their lightsburned dim.

“While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered andslept.” By the tarrying of the bridegroom is representedthe passing of the time when the Lord was expected, thedisappointment, and the seeming delay. In this time of un-certainty, the interest of the superficial and half-hearted soonbegan to waver, and their efforts to relax; but those whosefaith was based on a personal knowledge of the Bible had arock beneath their feet, which the waves of disappointmentcould not wash away. “They all slumbered and slept;” oneclass in unconcern and abandonment of their faith, theother class patiently waiting till clearer light should begiven. Yet in the night of trial the latter seemed to lose, tosome extent, their zeal and devotion. The half-hearted and su-perficial 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 whohad professed to be zealous believers in the message, rejectedthe Word of God as the one infallible guide, and, claiming tobe led by the Spirit, gave themselves up to the control of their



own feelings, impressions, and imaginations. There weresome who manifested a blind and bigoted zeal, denouncingall who would not sanction their course. Their fanatical ideasand exercises met with no sympathy from the great bodyof Adventists; yet they served to bring reproach upon thecause of truth.

Satan was seeking by this means to oppose and destroythe work of God. The people had been greatly stirred by theAdvent movement, thousands of sinners had been converted,and faithful men were giving themselves to the work of pro-claiming the truth, even in the tarrying time. The prince of evilwas losing his subjects; and in order to bring reproach uponthe cause of God, he sought to deceive some who professedthe faith, and to drive them to extremes. Then his agents stoodready to seize upon every error, every failure, every unbecom-ing act, and hold it up before the people in the most exagger-ated light, to render Adventists and their faith odious. Thusthe greater the number whom he could crowd in to make a pro-fession of faith in the second advent while his power con-trolled their hearts, the greater advantage would he gain bycalling attention to them as representatives of the whole bodyof believers.

Satan is “the accuser of the brethren,” and it is his spiritthat inspires men to watch for the errors and defects of theLord’s people, and to hold them up to notice, while their gooddeeds are passed by without a mention. He is always activewhen God is at work for the salvation of souls. When the sonsof God come to present themselves before the Lord, Satancomes also among them. In every revival he is ready tobring in those who are unsanctified in heart and unbal-anced in mind. When these have accepted some points oftruth, and gained a place with believers, he works throughthem to introduce theories that will deceive the unwary.No man is proved to be a true Christian because he is foundin company with the children of God, even in the house ofworship and around the table of the Lord. Satan is frequentlythere upon the most solemn occasions, in the form of thosewho he can use as his agents.

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The prince of evil contests every inch of ground overwhich God’s people advance in their journey toward theheavenly city. In all the history of the church, no reforma-tion has been carried forward without encountering se-rious obstacles. Thus it was in Paul’s day. Wherever theapostle raised up a church, there were some who professed toreceive the faith, but who brought in heresies, that, if received,would eventually crowd out the love of the truth. Luther alsosuffered great perplexity and distress from the course of fa-natical persons who claimed that God had spoken directlythrough them, and who therefore set their own ideas and opin-ions above the testimony of the Scriptures. Many who werelacking in faith and experience, but who had considerableself-sufficiency, and who loved to hear and tell some newthing, were beguiled by the pretensions of the new teach-ers, and they joined the agents of Satan in their work of tear-ing down what God had moved Luther to build up. And theWesleys, and others who blessed the world by their influenceand their faith, encountered at every step the wiles of Satanin pushing overzealous, unbalanced, and unsanctified onesinto fanaticism of every grade.

William Miller had no sympathy with those influencesthat led to fanaticism. He declared, with Luther, that ev-ery spirit should be tested by the Word of God. “Thedevil,” said Miller, “has great power over the minds of someat the present day. And how shall we know what mannerof spirit they are of? The Bible answers: ‘By their fruitsye shall know them.’ ” “There are many spirits gone out intothe world; and we are commanded to try the spirits. The spiritthat does not cause us to live soberly, righteously, and godly,in this present world, is not the Spirit of Christ. I am more andmore convinced that Satan has much to do in these wild move-ments.” “Many among us, who pretend to be wholly sancti-fied, are following the traditions of men, and apparently areas ignorant of truth as others who make no such pretensions.”“The spirit of error will lead us from the truth; and the Spiritof God will lead us into truth. But, say you, a man may be inerror, and think he has the truth. What then? We answer, The



Spirit and Word agree. If a man judges himself by the Wordof God, and finds a perfect harmony through the whole Word,then he must believe he has the truth; but if he finds the spiritby which he is led does not harmonize with the whole tenorof God’s law or book, then let him walk carefully, lest he becaught in the snare of the devil.” “I have often obtained moreevidence of inward piety from a kindling eye, a wet cheek, anda choked utterance, than from all the noise in Christendom.”

In the days of the Reformation its enemies charged allthe evils of fanaticism upon the very ones who are labor-ing most earnestly against it. A similar course was pursuedby the opposers of the Advent movement. And not contentwith misrepresenting and exaggerating the errors of extrem-ists and fanatics, they circulated unfavorable reports that hadnot the slightest semblance of truth. These persons were ac-tuated by prejudice and hatred. Their peace was disturbedby the proclamation of Christ at the door. They feared itmight be true, yet hoped it was not, and this was the se-cret of their warfare against Adventists and their faith.

The fact that a few fanatics worked their way into theranks of Adventists is no more a reason to decide that themovement was not of God, than was the presence of fa-natics and deceivers in the church in Paul’s or Luther’sday a sufficient excuse for condemning their work. Let thepeople of God arouse out of sleep, and begin in earnest thework of repentance and reformation, let them search the Scrip-tures to learn the truth as it is in Jesus, let them make an en-tire consecration to God, and evidence will not be wanting thatSatan is still active and vigilant. With all possible deceptionhe will manifest his power, calling to his aid all the fallenangels of his realm.

It was not the proclamation of the second advent that cre-ated fanaticism and division. These appeared in the summerof 1844, when Adventists were in a state of doubt and per-plexity concerning their real position. The preaching of thefirst angel’s message and of the “midnight cry” tended di-rectly to repress fanaticism and dissension. Those who par-ticipated in these solemn movements were in harmony; their

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hearts were filled with love for one another, and for Jesus,whom they expected soon to see. The one faith, the oneblessed hope, lifted them above the control of any human in-fluence, and proved a shield against the assaults of Satan.

“While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered andslept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, thebridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him. Then all those vir-gins arouse, and trimmed their lamps.” Matthew 25:5-7. Inthe summer of 1844, midway between the time when ithad been first thought that the 2300 days would end, andthe autumn of the same year, to which it was afterwardfound that they extended, the message was proclaimed,in the very words of Scripture, “Behold, the Bridegroomcometh!”

That which led to this movement was the discoverythat the decree of Artaxerxes for the restoration ofJerusalem, which formed the starting point for the periodof the 2300 days, went into effect in the autumn of the yearB.C. 457, and not at the beginning of the year, as had beenformerly believed. Reckoning from the autumn of 457, the2300 years terminated in the autumn of 1844.

Arguments drawn from the Old-Testament types alsopointed to the autumn as the time when the event repre-sented by the “cleansing of the sanctuary” must takeplace. This was made very clear as attention was given to themanner in which the types relating to the first advent of Christhad been fulfilled.

The slaying of the passover lamb was a shadow of thedeath of Christ. Says Paul, “Christ our passover is sacrificedfor us.” 1 Corinthians 5:7. The sheaf of first-fruits, which atthe time of the Passover was waved before the Lord, was typi-cal of the resurrection of Christ. Paul says, in speaking of theresurrection of the Lord, and of all his people, “Christ thefirst-fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming.”1 Corinthians 15:23. Like the wave-sheaf, which was the firstripe grain gathered before the harvest, Christ is the first-fruitsof that immortal harvest of redeemed ones that at the futureresurrection shall be gathered into the garner of God.



These types were fulfilled, not only as to the event, butas to the time. On the fourteenth day of the first Jewishmonth, the very day and month on which, for fifteen longcenturies, the passover lamb had been slain, Christ, havingeaten the passover with His disciples, instituted that feastwhich was to commemorate His own death as “the Lamb ofGod, which taketh away the sin of the world.” That samenight He was taken by wicked hands, to be crucified and slain.And as the antitype of the wave-sheaf, our Lord was raisedfrom the dead on the third day, “the first-fruits of them thatslept,” (1 Corinthians 15:20) a sample of all the resurrectedjust, whose “vile body” shall be changed, and “fashioned likeunto His glorious body.” Philippians 3:21.

In like manner, the types which relate to the second ad-vent must be fulfilled at the time pointed out in the sym-bolic service. Under the Mosaic system, the cleansing ofthe sanctuary, or the great day of atonement, occurred onthe tenth day of the seventh Jewish month, (Leviticus16:29-34) when the high priest, having made an atonementfor all Israel, and thus removed their sins from the sanctuary,came forth and blessed the people. So it was believed thatChrist, our great High Priest, would appear to purify the earthby the destruction of sin and sinners, and to bless His wait-ing people with immortality. The tenth day of the seventhmonth, the great day of atonement, the time of the cleans-ing of the sanctuary, which in the year 1844 fell upon the22nd of October, was regarded as the time of the Lord’scoming. This was in harmony with the proofs already pre-sented that the 2300 days would terminate in the autumn, andthe conclusion seemed irresistible.

In the parable of Matthew 25 the time of waiting andslumber is followed by the coming of the bridegroom. Thiswas in accordance with the arguments just presented, bothfrom prophecy and from the types. They carried strong con-viction of their truthfulness; and the “midnight cry” washeralded 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

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country places it went, until the waiting people of God werefully aroused. Fanaticism disappeared before this procla-mation, like early frost before the rising sun. Believers sawtheir doubt and perplexity removed, and hope and courageanimated their hearts. The work was free from those extremeswhich are ever manifested when there is human excitementwithout the controlling influence of the Word and Spirit ofGod. It was similar in character to those seasons of humilia-tion and returning unto the Lord which among ancient Israelfollowed messages of reproof from His servants. It bore thecharacteristics that mark the work of God in every age. Therewas little ecstatic joy, but rather deep searching of heart,confession of sin, and forsaking of the world. A prepara-tion to meet the Lord was the burden of agonizing spirits.There was persevering prayer, and unreserved consecra-tion to God.

Said Miller, in describing that work: “There is no great ex-pression of joy; that is, as it were, suppressed for a future oc-casion, when all Heaven and earth will rejoice together withjoy unspeakable and full of glory. There is no shouting; that,too, is reserved for the shout from Heaven. The singers aresilent; they are waiting to join the angelic hosts, the choir fromHeaven.” “There is no clashing of sentiments; all are of oneheart and of one mind.” Another who participated in themovement testified: “It has produced everywhere the mostdeep searching of heart and humiliation of soul. . . . Itcaused a weaning of affections from the things of thisworld, a healing of controversies and animosities, a con-fession of wrongs, a breaking down before God, and peni-tent, broken-hearted supplications to Him for pardon andacceptance. It caused self-abasement and prostration of soul,such as we never before witnessed. As the Lord commandedby the prophet Joel, when the great day of God should be athand, it produced a rending of hearts and not of garments, anda turning unto the Lord with fasting, and weeping, and mourn-ing. As God said by Zechariah, a spirit of grace and of sup-plication was poured out upon His children; they looked toHim whom they had pierced, there was great mourning in the



land, . . . and those who were looking for the Lord afflictedtheir souls before Him.”

Of all the great religious movements since the days ofthe apostles, none have been more free from human im-perfection and the wiles of Satan than was that of theautumn of 1844. Even now, after the lapse of nearly half acentury, all who shared in that movement and who have stoodfirm upon the platform of truth, still feel the holy influenceof that blessed work, and bear witness that it was of God.

At the call, “The Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meetHim,” the waiting ones “arose and trimmed their lamps;”they studied the Word of God with an intensity of inter-est before unknown. Angels were sent from Heaven toarouse those who had become discouraged, and prepare themto receive the message. The work did not stand in the wis-dom and learning of men, but in the power of God. It wasnot the most talented, but the most humble and devoted,who were the first to hear and obey the call. Farmers lefttheir crops standing in the fields, mechanics laid down theirtools, and with tears and rejoicing went out to give the warn-ing. Those who had formerly led in the cause were amongthe last to join in this movement. The churches in generalclosed their doors against this message, and a large com-pany of those who received it withdrew from their con-nection. In the providence of God, this proclamationunited with the second angel’s message, and gave powerto that work.

The message, “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh!” was notso much a matter of argument, though the Scripture proof wasclear and conclusive. There went with it an impelling powerthat 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 tokeep the feast, flocked to the Mount of Olives, and as theyjoined the throng that were escorting Jesus, they caught theinspiration of the hour and helped to swell the shout, “Blessedis He that cometh in the name of the Lord!” Matthew 21:9.In like manner did unbelievers who flocked to the Adventist

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meetings—some from curiosity, some merely to ridicule—feel the convincing power attending the message, “Behold, theBridegroom cometh!”

At that time there was faith that brought answers toprayer,—faith that had respect to the recompense of reward.Like showers of rain upon the thirsty earth, the Spirit of gracedescended upon the earnest seekers. Those who expected soonto stand face to face with their Redeemer felt a solemn joy thatwas unutterable. The softening, subduing power of the HolySpirit melted the heart, as His blessing was bestowed in richmeasure upon the faithful, believing ones.

Carefully and solemnly those who received the mes-sage came up to the time when they hoped to meet theirLord. Every morning they felt that it was their first dutyto secure the evidence of their acceptance with God. Theirhearts were closely united, and they prayed much with and forone another. They often met together in secluded places tocommune with God, and the voice of intercession ascendedto Heaven from the fields and groves. The assurance of theSaviour’s approval was more necessary to them than theirdaily food, and if a cloud darkened their minds, they did notrest until it was swept away. As they felt the witness of par-doning grace, they longed to behold Him whom their soulsloved.

But again they were destined to disappointment. Thetime of expectation passed, and their Saviour did notappear. With unwavering confidence they had looked for-ward to His coming, and now they felt as did Mary, when,coming to the Saviour’s tomb and finding it empty, she ex-claimed with weeping, “They have taken away my Lord, andI know not where they have laid Him.” John 20:13.

A feeling of awe, a fear that the message might be true,had for a time served as a restraint upon the unbelievingworld. After the passing of the time, this did not at once dis-appear; at first they dared not triumph over the disappointedones; but as no tokens of God’s wrath were seen, they re-covered from their fears, and resumed their reproach andridicule. A large class who had professed to believe in the



Lord’s soon coming, renounced their faith. Some who hadbeen very confident were so deeply wounded in their pride thatthey felt like fleeing from the world. Like Jonah, they com-plained of God, and chose death rather than life. Those whohad based their faith upon the opinions of others, and not uponthe Word of God, were now as ready again to change theirviews. The scoffers won the weak and cowardly to their ranks,and all these united in declaring that there could be no morefears or expectations now. The time had passed, the Lord hadnot come, and the world might remain the same for thousandsof years.

The earnest, sincere believers had given up all for Christ,and had shared His presence as never before. They had, asthey believed, given their last warning to the world, and, ex-pecting soon to be received into the society of their divineMaster and the heavenly angels, they had, to a great extent,withdrawn from the society of those who did not receive themessage. With intense desire they had prayed, “Come, LordJesus, and come quickly.” But He had not come. And now totake up again the heavy burden of life’s cares and perplexi-ties, 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 thatexperienced by the disciples at the time of Christ’s firstadvent. When Jesus rode triumphantly into Jerusalem, Hisfollowers believed that He was about to ascend the throne ofDavid, and deliver Israel from her oppressors. With highhopes and joyful anticipations they vied with one another inshowing honor to their King. Many spread their outer gar-ments as a carpet in His path, or strewed before Him the leafybranches of the palm. In their enthusiastic joy they united inthe glad acclaim, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” When thePharisees, disturbed and angered by this outburst of rejoic-ing, wished Jesus to rebuke His disciples, He replied, “If theseshould hold their peace, the stones would immediately cryout.” Luke 19:40. Prophecy must be fulfilled. The discipleswere accomplishing the purpose of God; yet they weredoomed to a bitter disappointment. But a few days had passed

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ere they witnessed the Saviour’s agonizing death, and laidHim in the tomb. Their expectations had not been realized ina single particular, and their hopes died with Jesus. Not tilltheir Lord had come forth triumphant from the grave couldthey perceive that all had been foretold by prophecy, and “thatChrist must needs have suffered, and risen again from thedead.” Acts 17:3.

Five hundred years before, the Lord had declared by theprophet Zechariah, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion;shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, thy King comethunto thee. He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and ridingupon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” Zechariah 9:9.Had the disciples realized that Christ was going to judgmentand to death, they could not have fulfilled this prophecy.

In like manner, Miller and his associates fulfilled proph-ecy, and gave a message which inspiration had foretoldshould be given to the world, but which they could nothave given had they fully understood the propheciespointing out their disappointment, and presenting anothermessage to be preached to all nations before the Lord shouldcome. The first and second angels’ messages were givenat the right time, and accomplished the work which Goddesigned to accomplish by them.

The world had been looking on, expecting that if thetime passed and Christ did not appear, the whole systemof Adventism would be given up. But while many, understrong temptation, yielded their faith, there were some whostood firm. The fruits of the Advent movement, the spirit ofhumility and heart-searching, of renouncing of the world, andreformation of life, which had attended the work, testified thatit was of God. They dared not deny that the power of the HolySpirit had witnessed to the preaching of the second advent,and they could detect no error in their reckoning of the pro-phetic periods. The ablest of their opponents had not suc-ceeded in overthrowing their system of prophetic interpreta-tion. They could not consent, without Bible evidence, to re-nounce 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; po-sitions which had withstood the most searching criticisms andthe most bitter opposition of popular religious teachers andworldly-wise men, and which had stood firm against the com-bined forces of learning and eloquence, and the taunts andrevilings alike of the honorable and the base.

True, there had been a failure as to the expected event, buteven this could not shake their faith in the Word of God. WhenJonah proclaimed in the streets of Nineveh that within fortydays the city would be overthrown, the Lord accepted the hu-miliation of the Ninevites, and extended their period of pro-bation; yet the message of Jonah was sent of God, andNineveh was tested according to His will. Adventists believedthat in like manner God had led them to give the warning ofthe Judgment. “It has,” they declared, “tested the hearts of allwho heard it, and awakened a love for the Lord’s appearing;or it has called forth a hatred, more or less perceivable, butknown to God, of His coming. It has drawn a line, so thatthose who will examine their own hearts, may know on whichside of it they would have been found, had the Lord then come;whether they would have exclaimed, ‘Lo! this is our God, wehave waited for Him, and He will save us;’ or whether theywould have called for rocks and mountains to fall on them tohide them from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, andfrom the wrath of the Lamb. God thus, as we believe, hastested His people, has tried their faith, has proved them, andseen whether they would shrink, in the hour of trial, from theposition in which He might see fit to place them; and whetherthey would relinquish this world and rely with implicit con-fidence in the work of God.”

The feelings of those who still believed that God hadled them in their past experience, are expressed in thewords of William Miller: “Were I to live my life overagain, with the same evidence that I then had, to be hon-est with God and men I should have to do as I have done.”“I hope I have cleansed my garments from the blood of souls;I feel that, as far as possible, I have freed myself from all guiltin their condemnation.” “Although I have been twice disap-

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pointed,” wrote this man of God, “I am not yet cast down ordiscouraged.” “My hope in the coming of Christ is as strongas ever. I have done only what, after years of sober consider-ation, I felt it my solemn duty to do. If I have erred, it has beenon the side of charity, the love of my fellow-man, and myconviction of duty to God.” “One thing I do know, I havepreached nothing but what I believed; and God’s handhas been with me, His power has been manifested in thework, and much good has been effected.” “Many thou-sands, to all human appearance, have been made to study theScriptures by the preaching of the time; and by that means,through faith and the sprinkling of the blood of Christ, havebeen reconciled to God.” “I have never courted the smiles ofthe proud, nor quailed when the world frowned. I shall notnow purchase their favor, nor shall I go beyond duty to tempttheir hate. I shall never seek my life at their hands, nor shrink,I hope, from losing it, if God in His good providence so or-ders.”

God did not forsake His people; His Spirit still abodewith those who did not rashly deny the light which theyhad received, and denounce the Advent movement. In theEpistle to the Hebrews are words of encouragement and warn-ing for the tried, waiting ones at this crisis: “Cast not awaytherefore your confidence, which hath great recompenseof reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after yehave 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 ifany man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure inhim. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition;but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” Hebrews10:35-38.

That this admonition is addressed to the church in thelast days is evident from the words pointing to the near-ness of the Lord’s coming: “For yet a little while, and Hethat shall come will come, and will not tarry.” And it is plainlyimplied that there would be a seeming delay, and that the Lordwould appear to tarry. The instruction here given is especially



adapted to the experience of Adventists at this time. Thepeople here addressed were in danger of making shipwreckof faith. They had done the will of God in following the guid-ance of His Spirit and His Word; yet they could not understandHis purpose in their past experience, nor could they discernthe pathway before them, and they were tempted to doubtwhether God had indeed been leading them. At this time thewords were applicable, “Now the just shall live by faith.” Asthe bright light of the “midnight cry” had shone upon theirpathway, and they had seen the prophecies unsealed, and therapidly fulfilling signs telling that the coming of Christ wasnear, they had walked, as it were, by sight. But now, boweddown by disappointed hopes, they could stand only by faithin God and in His Word. The scoffing world were saying,“You have been deceived. Give up your faith, and say that theAdvent movement was of Satan.” But God’s Word declared,“If any man draw back, My soul shall have no pleasure inhim.” To renounce their faith now, and deny the power ofthe Holy Spirit which had attended the message, wouldbe drawing back toward perdition. They were encouragedto steadfastness by the words of Paul, “Cast not away there-fore your confidence;” “ye have need of patience;” “for yet alittle while, and He that shall come will come, and will nottarry.” Their only safe course was to cherish the lightwhich they had already received of God, hold fast to Hispromises, and continue to search the Scriptures, and pa-tiently wait and watch to receive further light.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: THE NEW CO: THE NEW CO: THE NEW CO: THE NEW CO: THE NEW COVENANTVENANTVENANTVENANTVENANT

“I delight to do Thy will, O my God, yea, Thy law is within my heart.” Psalm40:8.

“But now hath He obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also Heis the mediator of a better covenant . . For this is the covenant that I will make. . after those days, saith the Lord: I will put My laws into their mind, and writethem upon their hearts.” Hebrews 8:6, 10.

“Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establishthe law.” Romans 3:31. “Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save Hispeople from their sins.” Matthew 1:21. “Think not that I am come to destroy thelaw or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” Matthew 5:17.

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Chapter Twenty-threeChapter Twenty-threeChapter Twenty-threeChapter Twenty-threeChapter Twenty-three

The TThe TThe TThe TThe Taberaberaberaberabernaclenaclenaclenaclenacleof Prophecyof Prophecyof Prophecyof Prophecyof Prophecy

—What Is the Sanctuary?—What Is the Sanctuary?—What Is the Sanctuary?—What Is the Sanctuary?—What Is the Sanctuary?———————————————————————

The Bible tells us about a SanctuarThe Bible tells us about a SanctuarThe Bible tells us about a SanctuarThe Bible tells us about a SanctuarThe Bible tells us about a Sanctuary that was built at the com-y that was built at the com-y that was built at the com-y that was built at the com-y that was built at the com-mand of God. This was a marmand of God. This was a marmand of God. This was a marmand of God. This was a marmand of God. This was a marvelous structure. And evervelous structure. And evervelous structure. And evervelous structure. And evervelous structure. And every detaily detaily detaily detaily detailof it has special meaning for us todayof it has special meaning for us todayof it has special meaning for us todayof it has special meaning for us todayof it has special meaning for us today.....

But the way in which its services foretold future events in God’sgreat plan for mankind is especially striking. You will want to learnthe purpose of the great Heavenly Sanctuary and what it means inyour life right now.

Come view the SanctuarCome view the SanctuarCome view the SanctuarCome view the SanctuarCome view the Sanctuary of Prophecy—the most magnifi-y of Prophecy—the most magnifi-y of Prophecy—the most magnifi-y of Prophecy—the most magnifi-y of Prophecy—the most magnifi-cent structure in all the universe—and the ministrcent structure in all the universe—and the ministrcent structure in all the universe—and the ministrcent structure in all the universe—and the ministrcent structure in all the universe—and the ministry of Christy of Christy of Christy of Christy of Christon your behalf within it. A door has been opened for you. Iton your behalf within it. A door has been opened for you. Iton your behalf within it. A door has been opened for you. Iton your behalf within it. A door has been opened for you. Iton your behalf within it. A door has been opened for you. Itleads into the throne room of God.leads into the throne room of God.leads into the throne room of God.leads into the throne room of God.leads into the throne room of God.———————————————————————

The scripture which above all others had been both thefoundation and central pillar of the Advent faith was thedeclaration, “Unto two thousand and three hundreddays; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Daniel 8:14.These had been familiar words to all believers in the Lord’ssoon coming. By the lips of thousands was this prophecy re-peated as the watchword of their faith. All felt that upon theevents therein foretold depended their brightest expectationsand most cherished hopes. These prophetic days had beenshown to terminate in the autumn of 1844. In commonwith the rest of the Christian world, Adventists then heldthat the earth, or some portion of it, was the sanctuary.They understood that the cleansing of the sanctuary wasthe purification of the earth by the fires of the last greatday, and that this would take place at the second advent.

What Is the Sanctuary? What Is the Sanctuary? What Is the Sanctuary? What Is the Sanctuary? What Is the Sanctuary? [408-409] [408-409] [408-409] [408-409] [408-409]


Hence the conclusion that Christ would return to the earth in1844.

But the appointed time had passed, and the Lord had notappeared. The believers knew that God’s Word could notfail; their interpretation of the prophecy must be at fault;but where was the mistake? Many rashly cut the knot ofdifficulty by denying that the 2300 days ended in 1844. Noreason could be given for this, except that Christ had not comeat the time they expected Him. They argued that if the pro-phetic days had ended in 1844, Christ would then have re-turned to cleanse the sanctuary by the purification of the earthby fire; and that since He had not come, the days could nothave ended.

To accept this conclusion was to renounce the formerreckoning of the prophetic periods. The 2300 days hadbeen found to begin when the commandment of Artaxerxesfor the restoration and building of Jerusalem went intoeffect, in the autumn of B.C. 457. Taking this as the start-ing point, there was perfect harmony in the application of allthe events foretold in the explanation of that period in Dan9:25-27. Sixty-nine weeks, the first 483 of the 2300 years,were to reach to the Messiah, the Anointed One; andChrist’s baptism and anointing by the Holy Spirit, A.D.27, exactly fulfilled the specification. In the midst of the sev-entieth week, Messiah was to be cut off. Three and a halfyears after His baptism, Christ was crucified, in thespring of A.D. 31. The seventy weeks, or 490 years, were topertain especially to the Jews. At the expiration of this period,the nation sealed its rejection of Christ by the persecution ofHis disciples, and the apostles turned to the Gentiles, A.D. 34.The first 490 years of the 2300 having then ended, 1810years would remain. From A.D. 34, 1810 years extend to1844. “Then,” said the angel, “shall the sanctuary becleansed.” All the preceding specifications of the prophecyhad been unquestionably fulfilled at the time appointed. Withthis reckoning, all was clear and harmonious, except that itwas not seen that any event answering to the cleansing of thesanctuary had taken place in 1844. To deny that the days

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ended at that time was to involve the whole question in con-fusion, and to renounce positions which had been establishedby unmistakable fulfillments of prophecy.

But God had led His people in the great Advent move-ment; His power and glory had attended the work, andHe would not permit it to end in darkness and disappoint-ment, to be reproached as a false and fanatical excitement.He would not leave His word involved in doubt and uncer-tainty. Though many abandoned their former reckoningof the prophetic periods, and denied the correctness of themovement based thereon, others were unwilling to re-nounce points of faith and experience that were sustainedby the Scriptures and by the witness of the Spirit of God.They believed that they had adopted sound principles of in-terpretation in their study of the prophecies, and that it wastheir duty to hold fast the truths already gained, and to con-tinue the same course of Biblical research. With earnest prayerthey reviewed their position, and studied the Scriptures todiscover their mistake. As they could see no error in theirreckoning of the prophetic periods, they were led to examinemore closely the subject of the sanctuary.

In their investigation they learned that there is noScripture evidence sustaining the popular view that theearth is the sanctuary; but they found in the Bible a fullexplanation of the subject of the sanctuary, its nature, lo-cation, and services; the testimony of the sacred writersbeing so clear and ample as to place the matter beyond allquestion. The apostle Paul, in the Epistle to the Hebrews,says: “Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances ofdivine service, and a worldly sanctuary. For there was a tab-ernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and thetable, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. Andafter the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the holi-est of all, which had the golden censer, and the ark of the cov-enant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the goldenpot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and thetables of the covenant; and over it the cherubim of glory shad-owing the mercy-seat.” Hebrews 9:1-5.



CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: D: D: D: D: DANIEL’S AMAZING PROPHECIESANIEL’S AMAZING PROPHECIESANIEL’S AMAZING PROPHECIESANIEL’S AMAZING PROPHECIESANIEL’S AMAZING PROPHECIES

The master prophecy of the Bible is given in Daniel 8. This chapterclosely connects with Daniel 7 and 9, and should be studied with them.

DANIEL 7DANIEL 7DANIEL 7DANIEL 7DANIEL 7 (written in 553-552 B.C.) reveals world history from Daniel’stime down to the second advent of Christ. In vision, Daniel sees four worldempires symbolized as beasts, followed by a little horn power (Dan 7:1-8,15-21, 23-25). The Investigative Judgment then convenes in heaven (Dan7:9-10, 13, 22, 26). And, after that, history ends with the second advent ofChrist (Dan 7:14, 27-28).

The animals in Daniel 7 parallel the parts of the metal image of Daniel 2.The lion in chapter 7 is Babylon (605-538 B.C.). The bear is Medo-Persia(538-331 B.C.). The leopard beast is Grecia (331-301 B.C.), at which time itbecomes divided into four kingdoms which continue on until around 168B.C.). The terrible beast is Pagan Rome (168 B.C. to the 5th Century A.D.,when it becomes broken into ten kingdoms). The little horn is Papal Rome,which gained full power by A.D. 538, after uprooting three kingdoms (theHeruli, Vandals, and Ostrogoths).

DANIEL 8DANIEL 8DANIEL 8DANIEL 8DANIEL 8 is composed of two major parts. The first is an EVENT proph-ecy that closely parallels the prophecy of Daniel 7. This prophecy is abouttwo beasts and a little horn that follows them (Dan 8:1-12, 20-25). The firstbeast, a ram, is Medo-Persia (538-334 B.C.), and the he-goat which struck itdown was Grecia (334-168 B.C.). The “notable horn” was Alexander theGreat who, before his death in 323, carved out the largest empire in historyup to that time—in only ten years. When he was broken off in the prime oflife, the empire divided into four sections. The little horn is Pagan Rome which,historians tell us, was taken over by Papal Rome. Much of Daniel 7 and 8(7:8, 19-26, and 8:9-12, 23-25) is given to a concern over this power which

THE 2300 YEAR PROPHECYTHE 2300 YEAR PROPHECYTHE 2300 YEAR PROPHECYTHE 2300 YEAR PROPHECYTHE 2300 YEAR PROPHECY

1844 A1844 A1844 A1844 A1844 A.D.D.D.D.D.....JudgmentJudgmentJudgmentJudgmentJudgment

BeginsBeginsBeginsBeginsBegins

457 B.C.457 B.C.457 B.C.457 B.C.457 B.C.

“Unto 2300 days (years), then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”—Daniel 8:14.“Unto 2300 days (years), then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”—Daniel 8:14.“Unto 2300 days (years), then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”—Daniel 8:14.“Unto 2300 days (years), then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”—Daniel 8:14.“Unto 2300 days (years), then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”—Daniel 8:14.

70 WEEKS (OF YEARS)70 WEEKS (OF YEARS)70 WEEKS (OF YEARS)70 WEEKS (OF YEARS)70 WEEKS (OF YEARS)= 490 YEARS= 490 YEARS= 490 YEARS= 490 YEARS= 490 YEARS

27 A27 A27 A27 A27 A.D.D.D.D.D.....Jesus BaptizedJesus BaptizedJesus BaptizedJesus BaptizedJesus Baptized

1810 YEARS1810 YEARS1810 YEARS1810 YEARS1810 YEARS

34 A34 A34 A34 A34 A.D.D.D.D.D.....StephenStephenStephenStephenStephenStonedStonedStonedStonedStoned

31 A31 A31 A31 A31 A.D.D.D.D.D.....CrucifixionCrucifixionCrucifixionCrucifixionCrucifixion

33333½YRSYRSYRSYRSYRS

33333½YRSYRSYRSYRSYRS

69 WEEKS (OF YEARS)69 WEEKS (OF YEARS)69 WEEKS (OF YEARS)69 WEEKS (OF YEARS)69 WEEKS (OF YEARS)= 483 YEARS= 483 YEARS= 483 YEARS= 483 YEARS= 483 YEARS

4 3 34 3 34 3 34 3 34 3 3

would speak blasphemies (7:8, 20; 8:11), seek to kill God’s people (7:21, 25;8:10, 24-25), cast down the truth (8:12, 25), tear God’s Sanctuary downfrom heaven (8:11), and even try to change the law of God (7:25). Revelation13 (read verses 6-7, for example) deals with the same little horn power—thePapacy.

But there is a second part to Daniel 8: This is a TIME prophecy (Dan 8:13-14, 26). The prophecy itself is given in Daniel 8:14. “Unto two thousand andthree hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Careful readingof this chapter reveals that, while the angel Gabriel was told to explain thevision of Daniel 8 to the prophet (8:16), only the event prophecy was ex-plained (8:17-25) while the time prophecy was only referred to (8:26). Danielnearly fainted under the burden (8:27), and the prayer of Daniel 9 is the result.

DANIEL 9DANIEL 9DANIEL 9DANIEL 9DANIEL 9 begins with the prophet’s prayer for guidance and help for hispeople (Dan 9:1-19). Gabriel, the one whom he had seen in his earlier vision(9:21), is then sent in answer to his prayer (9:20), in order to complete theexplanation (9:22-23).

THE LTHE LTHE LTHE LTHE LONGEST PROPHECY BEGINSONGEST PROPHECY BEGINSONGEST PROPHECY BEGINSONGEST PROPHECY BEGINSONGEST PROPHECY BEGINS. The 70 week prophecy (Dan 9:24-27) is the first part of the 2300 day prophecy. Seventy weeks are “deter-mined” (“cut off” in Hebrew—cut off from the larger 2300 day [year] proph-ecy) for the Jews. Therefore, the first part of the 2300 day prophecy of Daniel8:14 is time allocated to the Jews, to conclude their probation as God’s spe-cially favored nation.

In Bible prophecy, a day equals a year (Num 14:34; Ezek 4:6). The decreeof Artaxerxes, given in his seventh year as king, in 457 B.C. (Dan 9:25; Ezra6:14; 7:6-8), restoring the Jewish government, begins this vast time proph-ecy of 2300 years. The first 70 weeks (Dan 9:24-27) of this prophecy, cut offor allotted to the Jews, equals 490 years. The walls of Jerusalem were rebuiltin 7 weeks, or 49 years (408 B.C.). Another 62 weeks brings us to the anointingof Christ for His mission in A.D. 27. Now 483 years are past; only 1 weekremains of the 70. In the midst of this week (Dan 9:26-27), A.D. 31, the Messiahis cut off, crucified. A second half-week of 3½ years brings us to A.D. 34, whenat the stoning of Stephen the gospel is taken to the Gentiles.

THE LTHE LTHE LTHE LTHE LONGEST PROPHECY ENDS.ONGEST PROPHECY ENDS.ONGEST PROPHECY ENDS.ONGEST PROPHECY ENDS.ONGEST PROPHECY ENDS. In A.D. 34 the 70 weeks, or 490 years, iscompleted. There remains 1810 years of this longest Bible prophecy, of Daniel8:14, to be fulfilled. At its termination, in A.D. 1844, began the “cleansing of thesanctuary” predicted in this important passage of Daniel 8:14.

Jesus is our High Priest in the heavenly Sanctuary (the pattern of theearthly). In 1844, He began His final work in it, prior to His second advent tothe earth for His people.

What Is the Sanctuary?What Is the Sanctuary?What Is the Sanctuary?What Is the Sanctuary?What Is the Sanctuary?

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CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: THE EARTHL: THE EARTHL: THE EARTHL: THE EARTHL: THE EARTHLY TY TY TY TY TABERNACLEABERNACLEABERNACLEABERNACLEABERNACLE

The sanctuary in the wilderness was constructed under the direction of Moses,in accordance with the pattern shown him in the mount (Ex 25:7-8, 40; Heb 8:5).

Enclosing this wilderness tabernacle was an OUTER COURTOUTER COURTOUTER COURTOUTER COURTOUTER COURT which was madeof white curtains attached to poles (Ex 27:9-18), and was about 75 feet wide by150 feet long (based on an 18-inch cubit). Within the Court was the ALALALALALTTTTTAR OFAR OFAR OFAR OFAR OFBURNT OFFERINGBURNT OFFERINGBURNT OFFERINGBURNT OFFERINGBURNT OFFERING, the Laver, and the Tabernacle. This altar was also called theBrazen Altar since there was a second altar (the Golden Altar) inside the Taber-nacle. This outside (Ex 27:1-9) altar was hollow inside, overlaid with brass, andwas 5 feet high and 7½ feet square. Upon this altar were placed the animals thatwere offered as burnt sacrifice. Just beyond, stood the brass LAVER LAVER LAVER LAVER LAVER (Ex 30:18-21), where the priests washed before entering the Tabernacle.

The TTTTTABERNACLE (the sanctuarABERNACLE (the sanctuarABERNACLE (the sanctuarABERNACLE (the sanctuarABERNACLE (the sanctuary)y)y)y)y) (Ex 26:1-37) was a tent with woodenwalls, four layers as a roof covering, with gold and beautiful curtains inside.About 15 by 45 feet in size, this Tabernacle was portable, so it could be takenapart and moved from place to place during the journeys of Israel through thewilderness. Divided by an inner veil into two rooms (apartments), it was theholiest place on earth.

The priest entered the FIRST APFIRST APFIRST APFIRST APFIRST APARTMENTARTMENTARTMENTARTMENTARTMENT everyday with the blood, andwent past the seven-branched Golden Candlestick, with its seven lamps of fire(Ex 25:31-40); past the Table of Shewbread, containing the dedicated bread,that stood before the Presence of the Lord (Ex 25:23-30); and on to the Altar ofIncense, or Golden Altar (Ex 30:1-10), from whence the smoke of a speciallyprepared incense wafted up, over the top of the dividing veil (which did not reachto the ceiling) and into the Holy of Holies beyond. Upon the Golden Altar anddividing veil, the priest sprinkled some of the sacrificial blood (Lev 4-5). A par-tial description of this may be found in Hebrews 9:1-7. All of the furniture withinthe First and Second Apartments was of solid gold, or covered with gold.

The SECOND APSECOND APSECOND APSECOND APSECOND APARTMENTARTMENTARTMENTARTMENTARTMENT, or Most Holy Place (Ex 26:33), contained theArk of the Covenant (Ex 26:17-22). Between two CHERUBIMCHERUBIMCHERUBIMCHERUBIMCHERUBIM was the glory ofthe SHIKINAHSHIKINAHSHIKINAHSHIKINAHSHIKINAH—the Presence of God (Ex 26:22; 40:34). Beneath it was theMERCY SEAMERCY SEAMERCY SEAMERCY SEAMERCY SEATTTTT, a solid gold slab that covered the top of the ARKARKARKARKARK, wherein lay thefoundation of God’s government: the MORAL LAW OF TEN COMMANDMENTSMORAL LAW OF TEN COMMANDMENTSMORAL LAW OF TEN COMMANDMENTSMORAL LAW OF TEN COMMANDMENTSMORAL LAW OF TEN COMMANDMENTS(Ex 20:3-17) which was written by the finger of God on stone (Ex 24:12) andthen placed in the Ark (Ex 40:20). All of mankind is to be governed by those holyprecepts, even down to the end of time (Rev 12:17; 14:12) and beyond (Rev22:14; Isa 66:22-23). The DAILDAILDAILDAILDAILY SERVICEY SERVICEY SERVICEY SERVICEY SERVICE continued all year; but, once a yearon the DADADADADAY OF AY OF AY OF AY OF AY OF ATONEMENTTONEMENTTONEMENTTONEMENTTONEMENT, the high priest entered the Second Apartment—tocleanse the sanctuary and the people of sin (Lev 16:30, 33-34 and all of thechapter; Dan 8:14).

What Is the Sanctuary?What Is the Sanctuary?What Is the Sanctuary?What Is the Sanctuary?What Is the Sanctuary?


The sanctuary to which Paul here refers was the tab-ernacle built by Moses at the command of God, as theearthly dwelling-place of the Most High. “Let them makeme a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them,” (Exodus 25:8)was the direction given to Moses while in the mount with God.The Israelites were journeying through the wilderness, and thetabernacle was so constructed that it could be removed fromplace to place; yet it was a structure of great magnificence. Itswalls consisted of upright boards heavily plated with gold,and set in sockets of silver, while the roof was formed of aseries of curtains, or coverings, the outer of skins, the inner-most of fine linen beautifully wrought with figures of cheru-bim. Besides the outer court, which contained the altar ofburnt-offering, the tabernacle itself consisted of two apart-ments called the holy and the most holy place, separated by arich and beautiful curtain, or veil; a similar veil closed the en-trance to the first apartment.

In the holy place was the candlestick, on the south, withits seven lamps giving light to the sanctuary both by day andby night; on the north stood the table of shewbread; and be-fore the veil separating the holy from the most holy was thegolden 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 preciouswood overlaid with gold, the depository of the two tables ofstone upon which God had inscribed the law of ten command-ments. Above the ark, and forming the cover to the sacredchest, was the mercy-seat, a magnificent piece of workman-ship, surmounted by two cherubim, one at each end, and allwrought of solid gold. In this apartment the divine presencewas manifested in the cloud of glory between the cherubim.

After the settlement of the Hebrews in Canaan, the tab-ernacle was replaced by the temple of Solomon, which,though a permanent structure and upon a larger scale, ob-served the same proportions, and was similarly furnished. Inthis form the sanctuary existed—except while it lay in ruinsin Daniel’s time—until its destruction by the Romans, A.D.70.

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This is the only sanctuary that ever existed on theearth, of which the Bible gives any information. This wasdeclared 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 truthfound that the existence of a second, or new-covenant sanc-tuary was implied in the words of Paul already quoted: “Thenverily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service,and a worldly sanctuary.” And the use of the word also inti-mates that Paul has before made mention of this sanctuary.Turning back to the beginning of the previous chapter theyread: “Now of the things which we have spoken this is thesum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right handof the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of thesanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched,and not man.” Hebrews 8:1, 2.

Here is revealed the sanctuary of the new covenant.The sanctuary of the first covenant was pitched by man, builtby Moses; this is pitched by the Lord, not by man. In thatsanctuary the earthly priests performed their service; in this,Christ, our great high priest, ministers at God’s righthand. One sanctuary was on earth, the other is in Heaven.

Further, the tabernacle built by Moses was made af-ter a pattern. The Lord directed him, “According to all thatI show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pat-tern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.”Exodus 25:9. And again the charge was given, “Look thatthou make them after their pattern, which was showed theein the mount.” Exodus 25:40. And Paul says, that the firsttabernacle “was a figure for the time then present, in whichwere offered both gifts and sacrifices;” that its holy placeswere “patterns of things in the heavens;” that the priests whooffered gifts according to the law, served, “unto the exampleand shadow of heavenly things,” and that “Christ is not en-tered into the holy places made with hands, which are the fig-ures of the true, but into Heaven itself, now to appear in thepresence of God for us.” Hebrews 9:9, 23; 8:5; 9:24.

The sanctuary in Heaven, in which Jesus ministers in



our behalf, is the great original, of which the sanctuarybuilt by Moses was a copy. God placed His Spirit upon thebuilders of the earthly sanctuary. The artistic skill displayedin its construction was a manifestation of divine wisdom. Thewalls had the appearance of massive gold, reflecting in everydirection the light of the seven lamps of the golden candle-stick. The table of shewbread and the altar of incense glitteredlike burnished gold. The gorgeous curtain which formed theceiling, inwrought with figures of angels in blue and purpleand scarlet, added to the beauty of the scene. And beyond thesecond veil was the holy shekinah, the visible manifestationof God’s glory, before which none but the high priest couldenter and live. The matchless splendor of the earthly tab-ernacle reflected to human vision the glories of that heav-enly temple where Christ our forerunner ministers for usbefore the throne of God. The abiding-place of the King ofkings, where thousand thousands minister unto Him, and tenthousand times ten thousand stand before Him; (Daniel 7:10)that temple, filled with the glory of the eternal throne, whereseraphim, its shining guardians, veil their faces in adoration,could find, in the most magnificent structure ever reared byhuman hands, but a faint reflection of its vastness and glory.Yet important truths concerning the heavenly sanctuaryand the great work there carried forward for man’s re-demption, were taught by the earthly sanctuary and itsservices.

The holy places of the sanctuary in Heaven are repre-sented by the two apartments in the sanctuary on earth.As in vision the apostle John was granted a view of the templeof God in Heaven, he beheld there “seven lamps of fire burn-ing before the throne.” Revelation 4:5. He saw an angel “hav-ing a golden censer; and there was given unto him much in-cense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints uponthe golden altar which was before the throne.” Revelation 8:3.Here the prophet was permitted to behold the first apartmentof the sanctuary in Heaven; and he saw there the “seven lampsof fire” and the “golden altar” represented by the goldencandlestick and the altar of incense in the sanctuary on earth.

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Again, “the temple of God was opened,” (Revelation 11:19)and he looked within the inner veil, upon the holy of holies.Here he beheld “the ark of His testament,” represented by thesacred chest constructed by Moses to contain the law of God.

Thus those who were studying the subject found indis-putable proof of the existence of a sanctuary in Heaven.Moses made the earthly sanctuary after a pattern whichwas shown him. Paul declares that that pattern was thetrue sanctuary which is in Heaven. And John testifies thathe saw it in Heaven.

In the temple in Heaven, the dwelling-place of God, Histhrone is established in righteousness and judgment. In themost holy place is His law, the great rule of right by whichall mankind are tested. The ark that enshrines the tablesof the law is covered with the mercy-seat, before whichChrist pleads His blood in the sinner’s behalf. Thus is rep-resented the union of justice and mercy in the plan ofhuman redemption. This union infinite wisdom alone coulddevise, and infinite power accomplish; it is a union that fillsall Heaven with wonder and adoration. The cherubim of theearthly sanctuary, looking reverently down upon the mercy-seat, represent the interest with which the heavenly host con-template the work of redemption. This is the mystery ofmercy into which angels desire to look,—that God can bejust while He justifies the repenting sinner, and renews hisintercourse with the fallen race; that Christ could stoop toraise unnumbered multitudes from the abyss of ruin, andclothe them with the spotless garments of His own righteous-ness, to unite with angels who have never fallen, and to dwellforever in the presence of God.

The work of Christ as man’s intercessor is presentedin that beautiful prophecy of Zechariah concerning him“whose name is The Branch.” Says the prophet: “He shallbuild the temple of the Lord; and He shall bear the glory, andshall sit and rule upon His (the Father’s) throne; and He shallbe a priest upon His throne; and the counsel of peace shallbe between them both.” Zechariah 6:13.

“He shall build the temple of the Lord.” By His sacri-



fice and mediation, Christ is both the foundation and thebuilder of the church of God. The apostle Paul points to Himas “the chief corner-stone; in whom all the building fitlyframed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord; inwhom ye also,” he says, “are builded together for a habita-tion of God through the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:20-22.

“And He shall bear the glory.” To Christ belongs theglory of redemption for the fallen race. Through the eternalages, the song of the ransomed ones will be, “Unto Him thatloved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, . . .to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.” Revelation1:5, 6.

He “shall sit and rule upon His throne; and He shall bea priest upon His throne.” Not now “upon the throne of Hisglory;” the kingdom of glory has not yet been ushered in. Notuntil His work as a mediator shall be ended, will God “giveunto Him the throne of His father David,” a kingdom of which“there shall be no end.” Luke 1:32, 33. As a priest, Christ isnow set down with the Father in His throne. Revelation 3:21.Upon the throne with the eternal, self-existent One, is He who“hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows,” who “wasin all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin,” that Hemight be “able to succor them that are tempted.” “If any mansin, we have an Advocate with the Father.” Isaiah 53:4; He-brews 4:15; 2:18; 1 John 2:1 His intercession is that of apierced and broken body, of a spotless life. The woundedhands, 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 foun-tain of salvation for the lost race. Said Jesus to His disciples,before He went away, “I say not unto you, that I will pray theFather for you; for the Father Himself loveth you.” John16:26, 27. God was “in Christ, reconciling the world untoHimself.” 2 Corinthians 5:19. And in the ministration in thesanctuary above, “the counsel of peace shall be between themboth.” “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begot-ten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,

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but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.The question, What is the sanctuary? is clearly an-

swered in the Scriptures. The term sanctuary, as used inthe Bible, refers, first, to the tabernacle built by Moses,as a pattern of heavenly things; and, secondly, to the “truetabernacle” in Heaven, to which the earthly sanctuarypointed. At the death of Christ the typical service ended.The “true tabernacle” in Heaven is the sanctuary of thenew covenant. And as the prophecy of Daniel 8:14 is ful-filled in this dispensation, the sanctuary to which it refersmust be the sanctuary of the new covenant. At the termi-nation of the 2300 days, in 1844, there had been no sanc-tuary on earth for many centuries. Thus the prophecy,“Unto two thousand three hundred days; then shall thesanctuary be cleansed,” unquestionably points to thesanctuary in Heaven.

But the most important question remains to be an-swered: What is the cleansing of the sanctuary? That therewas such a service in connection with the earthly sanctuary,is stated in the Old-Testament Scriptures. But can there beanything in Heaven to be cleansed? In Hebrews 9 thecleansing of both the earthly and the heavenly sanctuary isplainly taught. “Almost all things are by the law purged withblood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It wastherefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavensshould be purified with these (the blood of animals); but theheavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these,”(Hebrews 9:22, 23) even the precious blood of Christ.

The cleansing, both in the typical and in the real ser-vice, must be accomplished with blood; in the former, withthe blood of animals; in the latter, with the blood of Christ.Paul states, as the reason why this cleansing must be per-formed with blood, that without shedding of blood is no re-mission. Remission, or putting away of sin, is the workto be accomplished. But how could there be sin connectedwith the sanctuary, either in Heaven or upon the earth? Thismay be learned by reference to the symbolic service; for thepriests who officiated on earth, served “unto the example and



shadow of heavenly things.” Hebrews 8:5.The ministration of the earthly sanctuary consisted of

two divisions; the priests ministered daily in the holyplace, while once a year the high priest performed a spe-cial work of atonement in the most holy, for the cleansingof the sanctuary. Day by day the repentant sinner broughthis offering to the door of the tabernacle, and placing his handupon the victim’s head, confessed his sins, thus in figuretransferring them from himself to the innocent sacrifice. Theanimal was then slain. “Without shedding of blood,” says theapostle, there is no remission of sin. “The life of the flesh isin the blood.” Leviticus 17:11. The broken law of God de-manded the life of the transgressor. The blood, representingthe forfeited life of the sinner, whose guilt the victim bore, wascarried by the priest into the holy place and sprinkled beforethe veil, behind which was the ark containing the law that thesinner 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; butthe flesh was then to be eaten by the priest, as Moses directedthe sons of Aaron, saying, “God hath given it you to bear theiniquity of the congregation.” Leviticus 10:17. Both ceremo-nies alike symbolized the transfer of the sin from the peni-tent to the sanctuary.

Such was the work that went on, day by day, through-out the year. The sins of Israel were thus transferred tothe sanctuary, and a special work became necessary fortheir removal. God commanded that an atonement be madefor each of the sacred apartments. “He shall make an atone-ment for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the chil-dren of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all theirsins; and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation,that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.”Leviticus 16:16, 19. An atonement was also to be made forthe altar, to “cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness ofthe children of Israel.” Leviticus 16:16, 19.

Once a year, on the great day of atonement, the priestentered the most holy place for the cleansing of the sanc-

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tuary. The work there performed completed the yearly roundof ministration. On the day of atonement, two kids of thegoats were brought to the door of the tabernacle, and lots werecast upon them, “one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for thescape-goat.” Leviticus 16:8, 21, 22. The goat upon which fellthe lot for the Lord was to be slain as a sin-offering for thepeople. 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 ofincense, that was before the veil.

“And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head ofthe live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of thechildren of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins,putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send himaway by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness; and the goatshall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhab-ited.” Leviticus 16:8, 21, 22. The scape-goat came no moreinto the camp of Israel, and the man who led him away wasrequired to wash himself and his clothing with water beforereturning to the camp.

The whole ceremony was designed to impress the Is-raelites with the holiness of God and His abhorrence ofsin; and, further, to show them that they could not come incontact with sin without becoming polluted. Every man wasrequired to afflict his soul while this work of atonementwas going forward. All business was to be laid aside, and thewhole congregation of Israel were to spend the day in solemnhumiliation before God, with prayer, fasting, and deep search-ing of heart.

Important truths concerning the atonement are taught bythe typical service. A substitute was accepted in thesinner’s stead; but the sin was not canceled by the bloodof the victim. A means was thus provided by which it wastransferred to the sanctuary. By the offering of blood, thesinner acknowledged the authority of the law, confessed hisguilt in transgression, and expressed his desire for pardonthrough faith in a Redeemer to come; but he was not yet en-tirely released from the condemnation of the law. On the



day of atonement the high priest, having taken an offeringfrom the congregation, went into the most holy place withthe blood of this offering, and sprinkled it upon the mercy-seat, directly over the law, to make satisfaction for itsclaims. Then, in his character of mediator, he took the sinsupon himself, and bore them from the sanctuary. Placing hishands upon the head of the scape-goat, he confessed over himall these sins, thus in figure transferring them from himselfto the goat. The goat then bore them away, and they were re-garded as forever separated from the people.

Such was the service performed “unto the example andshadow of heavenly things.” And what was done in type inthe ministration of the earthly sanctuary, is done in real-ity in the ministration of the heavenly sanctuary. After hisascension, our Saviour began His work as our high priest.Says Paul, “Christ is not entered into the holy places madewith hands, which are the figures of the true; but into Heavenitself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” Hebrews9:24.

The ministration of the priest throughout the year inthe first apartment of the sanctuary, “within the veil” whichformed the door and separated the holy place from the outercourt, represents the work of ministration upon whichChrist entered at His ascension. It was the work of the priestin the daily ministration to present before God the blood ofthe sin-offering, also the incense which ascended with theprayers of Israel. So did Christ plead His blood before theFather in behalf of sinners, and present before Him also,with the precious fragrance of His own righteousness, theprayers of penitent believers. Such was the work of ministra-tion in the first apartment of the sanctuary in Heaven.

Thither the faith of Christ’s disciples followed Him asHe 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 withinthe veil; whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus,made an high priest forever.” “Neither by the blood of goatsand calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the

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holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” He-brews 6:19, 20; 9:12.

For eighteen centuries this work of ministration con-tinued in the first apartment of the sanctuary. The bloodof Christ, pleaded in behalf of penitent believers, secured theirpardon and acceptance with the Father, yet their sins still re-mained upon the books of record. As in the typical servicethere was a work of atonement at the close of the year, sobefore Christ’s work for the redemption of men is com-pleted, there is a work of atonement for the removal of sinfrom the sanctuary. This is the service which began whenthe 2300 days ended. At that time, as foretold by Daniel theprophet, our High Priest entered the most holy, to perform thelast division of his solemn work,—to cleanse the sanctuary.

As anciently the sins of the people were by faith placedupon the sin-offering, and through its blood transferred, infigure, to the earthly sanctuary, so in the new covenant thesins of the repentant are by faith placed upon Christ, andtransferred, in fact, to the heavenly sanctuary. And as thetypical cleansing of the earthly was accomplished by the re-moval of the sins by which it had been polluted, so the ac-tual cleansing of the heavenly is to be accomplished by theremoval, or blotting out, of the sins which are there re-corded. But, before this can be accomplished, there mustbe an examination of the books of record to determinewho, through repentance of sin, and faith in Christ, areentitled to the benefits of His atonement. The cleansing ofthe sanctuary therefore involves a work of investiga-tion,—a work of judgment. This work must be performedprior to the coming of Christ to redeem His people; forwhen He comes, His reward is with Him to give to every manaccording to his works. Revelation 22:12.

Thus those who followed in the light of the propheticword saw, that, instead of coming to the earth at the ter-mination of the 2300 days in 1844, Christ then entered themost holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, to perform theclosing 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 asa mediator, the scape-goat 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-offer-ing, removed the sins from the sanctuary, he placed them uponthe scape-goat. When Christ, by virtue of His own blood,removes the sins of His people from the heavenly sanctu-ary at the close of His ministration, He will place themupon Satan, who, in the execution of the judgment, mustbear the final penalty. The scape-goat was sent away into aland not inhabited, never to come again into the congregationof Israel. So will Satan be forever banished from the presenceof God and His people, and He will be blotted from existencein the final destruction of sin and sinners.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: CHRIST: CHRIST: CHRIST: CHRIST: CHRIST, OUR MEDIA, OUR MEDIA, OUR MEDIA, OUR MEDIA, OUR MEDIATOR—1TOR—1TOR—1TOR—1TOR—1

“And let them make Me a sanctuary; that I might dwell among them.”Exodus 25:8.

“And the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place [first apart-ment] and the most holy [second apartment].” Exodus 26:33.

“For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candle-stick, and the table, and the shewbread.” Hebrews 9:2. “And after the sec-ond veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; which had thegolden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold,wherein was . . the tables of the covenant [the Ten Commandments].”Hebrews 9:3-4 (Exodus 40:20-21).

“And thou shalt put the mercy seat above the ark; and in the ark thoushalt put the testimony that I give thee.” Exodus 25:21 (Deuteronomy 10:4-5).

“And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee fromabove the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are uponthe ark of the testimony.” Exodus 25:22.

“Now these things having been thus prepared, the priests go in con-tinually into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the services.” Hebrews 9:6,R.V.

“But into the second [apartment] went the high priest alone once everyyear, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors ofthe people.” Hebrews 9:7.

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“In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflictyour souls . . for on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, tocleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.”Leviticus 16:29-30.

“[The earthly tabernacle] was a figure for the time then present.” He-brews 9:9.

“[The earthly priests and services were] the example and shadow ofheavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he has about tomake the tabernacle: for, See, saith He, that thou make all things accord-ing to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.” Hebrews 8:5.

“Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up theghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top tothe bottom.” Matthew 27:50-51.

“[Jesus is now] a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle[in heaven], which the Lord pitched, and not man.” Hebrews 8:2.

“It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavensshould be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves withbetter sacrifices then these.” Hebrews 9:23.

“And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days;then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Daniel 8:14.

“I saw . . and, behold, one like the Son of man came . . to the Ancientof days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Himdominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and lan-guages, should serve Him.” Daniel 7:13-14.

“He said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the endshall be the vision.” Daniel 8:17.

“God . . hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world.”Acts 17:30-31.

“And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give everyman according as his work shall be.” Revelation 22:12.

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” 2Corinthians 5:10.

“I beheld till the thrones were cast down [‘placed,’ R.V.], and the An-cient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair ofHis head like the pure wool: His throne was like the fiery flame, and . . afiery stream issued and came forth from before Him: thousand thousandsministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood beforeHim: the judgment was set and the books were opened.” Daniel 7:9-10.

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Chapter Twenty FourChapter Twenty FourChapter Twenty FourChapter Twenty FourChapter Twenty Four

Into theInto theInto theInto theInto thePresence of GodPresence of GodPresence of GodPresence of GodPresence of God

—Within the Holy of Holies—Within the Holy of Holies—Within the Holy of Holies—Within the Holy of Holies—Within the Holy of Holies———————————————————————

The subject of the SanctuarThe subject of the SanctuarThe subject of the SanctuarThe subject of the SanctuarThe subject of the Sanctuary is the key which unlocks manyy is the key which unlocks manyy is the key which unlocks manyy is the key which unlocks manyy is the key which unlocks manytruths in the Bible which have been little understood —truths in the Bible which have been little understood —truths in the Bible which have been little understood —truths in the Bible which have been little understood —truths in the Bible which have been little understood —

The study of the Biblical SanctuarThe study of the Biblical SanctuarThe study of the Biblical SanctuarThe study of the Biblical SanctuarThe study of the Biblical Sanctuary opens to view a com-y opens to view a com-y opens to view a com-y opens to view a com-y opens to view a com-plete system of truth, connected and harmonious, as it revealsplete system of truth, connected and harmonious, as it revealsplete system of truth, connected and harmonious, as it revealsplete system of truth, connected and harmonious, as it revealsplete system of truth, connected and harmonious, as it revealsthe work that Christ is now carrthe work that Christ is now carrthe work that Christ is now carrthe work that Christ is now carrthe work that Christ is now carrying on for us in heaven —ying on for us in heaven —ying on for us in heaven —ying on for us in heaven —ying on for us in heaven ————————————————————————

The subject of the sanctuary was the key which un-locked the mystery of the disappointment of 1844. Itopened to view a complete system of truth, connected andharmonious, showing that God’s hand had directed thegreat Advent movement, and revealing present duty as itbrought to light the position and work of His people. Asthe disciples of Jesus, after the terrible night of their anguishand disappointment, were “glad when they saw the Lord,” sodid those now rejoice who had looked in faith for His secondcoming. They had expected Him to appear in glory to give re-ward to His servants. As their hopes were disappointed, theyhad lost sight of Jesus, and with Mary at the sepulcher theycried, “They have taken away my Lord, and I know not wherethey have laid Him.” Now in the holy of holies they again be-held him, their compassionate high priest, soon to appear astheir king and deliverer. Light from the sanctuary illumedthe past, the present, and the future. They knew that Godhad led them by His unerring providence. Though like thefirst disciples they themselves had failed to understandthe message which they bore, yet it had been in every re-spect correct. In proclaiming it they had fulfilled the purposeof God, and their labor had not been in vain in the Lord. “Be-

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gotten again unto a lively hope,” they rejoiced “with joy un-speakable and full of glory.”

Both the prophecy of Daniel 8:14, “Unto two thousandand three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed,”and the first angel’s message, “Fear God, and give glory toHim; for the hour of His Judgment is come,” pointed toChrist’s ministration in the most holy place, to the inves-tigative Judgment, and not to the coming of Christ for theredemption of His people and the destruction of the wicked.The mistake had not been in the reckoning of the pro-phetic periods, but in the event to take place at the end ofthe 2300 days. Through this error the believers had suffereddisappointment, yet all that was foretold by the prophecy, andall that they had any Scripture warrant to expect, had been ac-complished. At the very time when they were lamenting thefailure of their hopes, the event had taken place which wasforetold by the message, and which must be fulfilled beforethe 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 placeof the temple of God in Heaven. He is represented by theprophet Daniel as coming at this time to the Ancient of days:“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son ofman came with the clouds of heaven, and came”—not to theearth, but—“to the Ancient of days, and they brought Himnear before Him.” Daniel 7:13.

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: be-hold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.” Malachi 3:1.The coming of the Lord to His temple was sudden, unex-pected, to His people. They were not looking for Him there.They expected Him to come to earth, “in flaming fire takingvengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not thegospel.” 2 Thessalonians 1:8.

But the people were not yet ready to meet their Lord.There was still a work of preparation to be accomplishedfor them. Light was to be given, directing their minds to

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the temple of God in Heaven; and as they should by faithfollow their High Priest in His ministration there, new du-ties would be revealed. Another message of warning andinstruction 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 arefiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap; and He shall sit as a re-finer and purifier of silver; and He shall purify the sons ofLevi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offerunto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” Malachi 3:2, 3.Those who are living upon the earth when the interces-sion of Christ shall cease in the sanctuary above, are tostand in the sight of a holy God without a mediator. Theirrobes must be spotless, their characters must be purifiedfrom sin by the blood of sprinkling. Through the grace ofGod and their own diligent effort, they must be conquerorsin the battle with evil. While the investigative Judgment isgoing forward in Heaven, while the sins of penitent believ-ers are being removed from the sanctuary, there is to be a spe-cial work of purification, of putting away of sin, amongGod’s people upon earth. This work is more clearly presentedin the messages of Revelation 14.

When this work shall have been accomplished, the fol-lowers of Christ will be ready for His appearing. “Thenshall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto theLord, as in the days of old, and as in former years.” Malachi3:4. Then the church which our Lord at His coming is to re-ceive to Himself will be “a glorious church, not having spot,or wrinkle, or any such thing.” Ephesians 5:27. Then she willlook forth “as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun,and terrible as an army with banners.” Song of Solomon 6:10.

Besides the coming of the Lord to His temple, Malachialso foretells His second advent, His coming for the execu-tion of the judgment, in these words: “And I will come nearto you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against thesorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swear-ers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages,the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger

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from his right, and fear not Me, saith the Lord of hosts.”Malachi 3:5. 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 un-godly among them of all their ungodly deeds.” Jude 14, 15.This coming, and the coming of the Lord to His temple, aredistinct and separate events.

The coming of Christ as our high priest to the most holyplace, for the cleansing of the sanctuary, brought to viewin Daniel 8:14; the coming of the Son of man to the An-cient of days, as presented in Daniel 7:13; and the com-ing of the Lord to His temple, foretold by Malachi, are de-scriptions of the same event; and this is also representedby the coming of the bridegroom to the marriage, de-scribed by Christ in the parable of the ten virgins, ofMatthew 25.

In the summer and autumn of 1844, the proclamation,“Behold, the Bridegroom cometh,” was given. The twoclasses represented by the wise and foolish virgins werethen developed,—one class who looked with joy to theLord’s appearing, and who had been diligently preparing tomeet him; another class that, influenced by fear, and actingfrom impulse, had been satisfied with a theory of the truth,but were destitute of the grace of God. In the parable, whenthe Bridegroom came, “they that were ready went in with himto the marriage.” The coming of the Bridegroom, herebrought to view, takes place before the marriage. Themarriage represents the reception by Christ of His king-dom. The holy city, the New Jerusalem, which is the capitaland representative of the kingdom, is called “the bride, theLamb’s wife.” Said the angel to John, “Come hither, I willshow thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” “He carried me awayin the spirit,” says the prophet, “and showed me that great city,the holy Jerusalem, descending out of Heaven from God.”Revelation 21:9, 10. Clearly, then, the bride represents theholy city, and the virgins that go out to meet the Bride-groom are a symbol of the church. In the Revelation thepeople of God are said to be the guests at the marriage sup-



per. Revelation 19:9. If guests, they cannot be representedalso as the bride. Christ, as stated by the prophet Daniel, willreceive from the Ancient of days in Heaven, “dominion, andglory, and a kingdom,” He will receive the New Jerusalem, thecapital of His kingdom, “prepared as a bride adorned for herhusband.” Daniel 7:14; Revelation 21:2. Having received thekingdom, He will come in His glory, as King of kings, andLord of lords, for the redemption of His people, who are to“sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob,” at His tablein His kingdom, (Matthew 8:11; Luke 22:30) to partake ofthe marriage supper of the Lamb.

The proclamation, “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh,” inthe summer of 1844, led thousands to expect the immediateadvent of the Lord. At the appointed time the Bridegroomcame, not to the earth, as the people expected, but to theAncient of days in Heaven, to the marriage, the receptionof His kingdom. “They that were ready went in with Him tothe marriage, and the door was shut.” They were not to bepresent in person at the marriage; for it takes place in Heaven,while they are upon the earth. The followers of Christ areto “wait for their Lord, when He will return from the wed-ding.” Luke 12:36. But they are to understand His work,and to follow Him by faith as He goes in before God. It isin this sense that they are said to go in to the marriage.

In the parable it was those that had oil in their vessels withtheir lamps that went in to the marriage. Those who, with aknowledge of the truth from the Scriptures, had also theSpirit and grace of God, and who, in the night of theirbitter trial, had patiently waited, searching the Bible forclearer light,—these saw the truth concerning the sanc-tuary in Heaven and the Saviour’s change of ministration,and by faith they followed Him in His work in the sanc-tuary above. And all who through the testimony of the Scrip-tures accept the same truths, following Christ by faith as Heenters in before God to perform the last work of mediation,and at its close to receive His kingdom,—all these are repre-sented as going in to the marriage.

In the parable of Matthew 22 the same figure of the

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marriage is introduced, and the investigative Judgmentis clearly represented as taking place before the marriage.Previous to the wedding the king comes in to see the guests,(Matthew 22:11)—to see if all are attired in the wedding gar-ment, the spotless robe of character washed and made whitein the blood of the Lamb. Revelation 7:14. He who is foundwanting is cast out, but all who upon examination are seen tohave the wedding garment on, are accepted of God, and ac-counted worthy of a share in His kingdom and a seat upon Histhrone. This work of examination of character, of determin-ing who are prepared for the kingdom of God, is that of theinvestigative Judgment, the closing work in the sanctuaryabove.

When the work of investigation shall be ended, whenthe cases of those who in all ages have professed to be fol-lowers of Christ have been examined and decided, then,and not till then, probation will close, and the door ofmercy will be shut. Thus in the one short sentence, “Theythat were ready went in with Him to the marriage, and thedoor was shut,” we are carried down through the Sav-iour’s final ministration, to the time when the great workfor man’s salvation shall be completed.

In the service of the earthly sanctuary, which, as we haveseen, is a figure of the service in the heavenly, when the highpriest on the day of atonement entered the most holy place,the ministration in the first apartment ceased. God com-manded, “There shall be no man in the tabernacle of the con-gregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holyplace, until he come out.” Leviticus 16:17. So when Christentered the holy of holies to perform the closing work ofthe atonement, He ceased His ministration in the firstapartment. But when the ministration in the first apart-ment ended, the ministration in the second apartmentbegan. When in the typical service the high priest left the holyon the day of atonement, he went in before God to present theblood of the sin-offering in behalf of all Israel who truly re-pented of their sins. So Christ had only completed one partof His work as our intercessor, to enter upon another por-



tion of the work, and He still pleaded His blood before theFather 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 theyhad reached an important crisis, and that the work of Christas man’s intercessor before God, had ceased. It appeared tothem to be taught in the Bible, that man’s probationwould close a short time before the actual coming of theLord in the clouds of heaven. This seemed evident fromthose 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 whichthey had looked for the coming of Christ might not rathermark the beginning of this period which was to immediatelyprecede His coming. Having given the warning of the Judg-ment near, they felt that their work for the world wasdone, and they lost their burden of soul for the salvationof sinners, while the bold and blasphemous scoffing of theungodly seemed to them another evidence that the Spirit ofGod had been withdrawn from the rejecters of His mercy. Allthis 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 thesanctuary question. They now saw that they were correctin believing that the end of the 2300 days in 1844 markedan important crisis. But while it was true that that door ofhope and mercy by which men had for eighteen hundred yearsfound access to God was closed, another door was opened,and forgiveness of sins was offered to men through the inter-cession of Christ in the most holy. One part of His ministra-tion had closed, only to give place to another. There was stillan “open door” to the heavenly sanctuary where Christwas ministering in the sinner’s behalf.

Now was seen the application of those words of Christin the revelation, addressed to the church at this verytime: “These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, Hethat hath the key of David, He that openeth, and no man

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shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth: I know thyworks; behold, I have set before thee an open door, and noman can shut it.” Revelation 3:7, 8.

It is those who by faith follow Jesus in the great workof the atonement, who receive the benefits of His media-tion in their behalf; while those who reject the light whichbrings to view this work of ministration, are not benefitedthereby. The Jews who rejected the light given at Christ’s firstadvent, and refused to believe on Him as the Saviour of theworld, could not receive pardon through Him. When Jesus atHis ascension entered by His own blood into the heavenlysanctuary to shed upon His disciples the blessings of His me-diation, the Jews were left in total darkness, to continue theiruseless sacrifices and offerings. The ministration of types andshadows had ceased. That door by which men had formerlyfound access to God, was no longer open. The Jews had re-fused to seek Him in the only way whereby He could then befound, through the ministration in the sanctuary in Heaven.Therefore they found no communion with God. To them thedoor was shut. They had no knowledge of Christ as the truesacrifice and the only mediator before God; hence they couldnot receive the benefits of His mediation.

The condition of the unbelieving Jews illustrates thecondition of the careless and unbelieving among pro-fessed Christians, who are willingly ignorant of the workof our merciful High Priest. In the typical service, when thehigh priest entered the most holy place, all Israel were requiredto gather about the sanctuary, and in the most solemn man-ner humble their souls before God, that they might receive thepardon of their sins, and not be cut off from the congregation.How much more essential in this antitypical day of atone-ment that we understand the work of our High Priest, andknow what duties are required of us.

Men cannot with impunity reject the warnings whichGod in mercy sends them. A message was sent from Heavento the world in Noah’s day, and their salvation depended uponthe manner in which they treated that message. Because theyrejected 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 guiltyinhabitants of Sodom, and all but Lot with his wife and twodaughters were consumed by the fire sent down from heaven.So in the days of Christ. The Son of God declared to the un-believing Jews of that generation, “Your house is left unto youdesolate.” Matthew 23:38. Looking down to the last days, thesame infinite power declares, concerning those who “receivednot the love of the truth, that they might be saved,” “For thiscause God shall send them strong delusion, that they shouldbelieve a lie; that they all might be damned who believed notthe truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thessalo-nians 2:11. As they reject the teachings of His Word, Godwithdraws His Spirit, and leaves them to the deceptions whichthey love.

But Christ still intercedes in man’s behalf, and light willbe given to those who seek it. Though this was not at firstunderstood by Adventists, it was afterward made plain, as thescriptures which define their true position began to open be-fore them.

The passing of the time in 1844 was followed by a pe-riod of great trial to those who still held the Advent faith.Their only relief, so far as ascertaining their true position wasconcerned, was the light which directed their minds to thesanctuary above. Some renounced their faith in their formerreckoning of the prophetic periods, and ascribed to human orSatanic agencies the powerful influence of the Holy Spiritwhich had attended the Advent movement. Another classfirmly held that the Lord had led them in their past ex-perience; and as they waited and watched and prayed toknow the will of God, they saw that their great High priesthad entered upon another work of ministration, and, fol-lowing Him by faith, they were led to see also the closingwork of the church. They had a clearer understanding ofthe first and second angels’ messages, and were preparedto receive and give to the world the solemn warning of thethird angel of Revelation 14.

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Chapter Twenty-fiveChapter Twenty-fiveChapter Twenty-fiveChapter Twenty-fiveChapter Twenty-five

The MarkThe MarkThe MarkThe MarkThe Markof the Beastof the Beastof the Beastof the Beastof the Beast

—God’s Law Immutable—God’s Law Immutable—God’s Law Immutable—God’s Law Immutable—God’s Law Immutable———————————————————————

One of the most solemn warnings ever given in Scripture is toOne of the most solemn warnings ever given in Scripture is toOne of the most solemn warnings ever given in Scripture is toOne of the most solemn warnings ever given in Scripture is toOne of the most solemn warnings ever given in Scripture is tobe found in the thirbe found in the thirbe found in the thirbe found in the thirbe found in the thirteenth and fourteenth and fourteenth and fourteenth and fourteenth and fourteenth chapters of the book ofteenth chapters of the book ofteenth chapters of the book ofteenth chapters of the book ofteenth chapters of the book ofRRRRRevelation. What IS the Mark of the Beast?evelation. What IS the Mark of the Beast?evelation. What IS the Mark of the Beast?evelation. What IS the Mark of the Beast?evelation. What IS the Mark of the Beast? When will it be given?Who will receive it? And most important, what must you and I do inorder to avoid receiving it?

This is a subject of overThis is a subject of overThis is a subject of overThis is a subject of overThis is a subject of overwhelming imporwhelming imporwhelming imporwhelming imporwhelming importance. It containstance. It containstance. It containstance. It containstance. It containsfacts you should knowfacts you should knowfacts you should knowfacts you should knowfacts you should know. W. W. W. W. We are living vere are living vere are living vere are living vere are living very near the end of time,y near the end of time,y near the end of time,y near the end of time,y near the end of time,and thinking men recognize that an immense crisis is rapidlyand thinking men recognize that an immense crisis is rapidlyand thinking men recognize that an immense crisis is rapidlyand thinking men recognize that an immense crisis is rapidlyand thinking men recognize that an immense crisis is rapidlyapproaching —approaching —approaching —approaching —approaching ————————————————————————

“The temple of God was opened in Heaven, and therewas seen in His temple the ark of His testament.” Revela-tion 11:19. The ark of God’s testament is in the holy of ho-lies, the second apartment of the sanctuary. In the minis-tration of the earthly tabernacle, which served “unto the ex-ample and shadow of heavenly things,” this apartment wasopened only upon the great day of atonement, for thecleansing of the sanctuary. Therefore the announcementthat the temple of God was opened in Heaven, and the arkof His testament was seen, points to the opening of themost holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, in 1844, asChrist entered there to perform the closing work of the atone-ment. 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 thesubject of the sanctuary, they had come to understand the Sav-iour’s change of ministration, and they saw that He was nowofficiating before the ark of God, pleading His blood in be-

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half of sinners.The ark in the tabernacle on earth contained the two

tables of stone, upon which were inscribed the preceptsof the law of God. The ark was merely a receptacle for thetables of the law, and the presence of these divine preceptsgave to it its value and sacredness. When the temple of Godwas opened in Heaven, the ark of His testament was seen.Within the holy of holies, in the sanctuary in Heaven, thedivine law is sacredly enshrined,—the law that was spokenby God Himself amid the thunders of Sinai, and written withHis own finger on the tables of stone.

The law of God in the sanctuary in Heaven is the greatoriginal, of which the precepts inscribed upon the tables ofstone, and recorded by Moses in the Pentateuch, were anunerring transcript. Those who arrived at an understand-ing of this important point, were thus led to see the sacred,unchanging character of the divine law. They saw, as neverbefore, the force of the Saviour’s words, “Till heaven andearth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from thelaw.” Matthew 5:18. The law of God, being a revelationof His will, a transcript of His character, must forever en-dure, “as a faithful witness in Heaven.” Not one commandhas been annulled; not a jot or tittle has been changed. Saysthe psalmist: “Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in Heav-en.” “All His commandments are sure. They stand fast for-ever and ever.” Psalm 119:89; 111:7, 8.

In the very bosom of the decalogue is the fourth com-mandment, as it was first proclaimed: “Remember theSabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, anddo all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of theLord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thyson, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant,nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for insix days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all thatin them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lordblessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-11.

The Spirit of God impressed the hearts of those studentsof His Word. The conviction was urged upon them, that

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they had ignorantly transgressed this precept by disre-garding the Creator’s rest-day. They began to examinethe reasons for observing the first day of the week insteadof the day which God had sanctified. They could find noevidence in the Scriptures that the fourth commandment hadbeen abolished, or that the Sabbath had been changed; theblessing which first hallowed the seventh day had never beenremoved. They had been honestly seeking to know and to doGod’s will; now, as they saw themselves transgressors ofhis law, sorrow filled their hearts, and they manifestedtheir loyalty to God by keeping His Sabbath holy.

Many and earnest were the efforts made to overthrow theirfaith. None could fail to see that if the earthly sanctuarywas a figure or pattern of the heavenly, the law depositedin the ark on earth was an exact transcript of the law inthe ark in Heaven; and that an acceptance of the truthconcerning the heavenly sanctuary involved an acknowl-edgment of the claims of God’s law, and the obligation ofthe Sabbath of the fourth commandment. Here was thesecret of the bitter and determined opposition to the har-monious exposition of the Scriptures that revealed the min-istration of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary. Men sought toclose the door which God had opened, and to open the doorwhich He had closed. But “He that openeth, and no manshutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth,” had declared,“Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man canshut it.” Revelation 3: 7, 8. Christ had opened the door, orministration, of the most holy place, light was shiningfrom that open door of the sanctuary in Heaven, and thefourth commandment was shown to be included in the lawwhich is there enshrined; what God had established, no mancould overthrow.

Those who had accepted the light concerning the me-diation of Christ and the perpetuity of the law of God,found that these were the truths presented in Revelation14. The messages of this chapter constitute a threefoldwarning, which is to prepare the inhabitants of the earthfor the Lord’s second coming. The announcement, “The



hour of His Judgment is come,” points to the closing work ofChrist’s ministration for the salvation of men. It heralds atruth which must be proclaimed until the Saviour’s interces-sion shall cease, and He shall return to the earth to take Hispeople to Himself. The work of judgment which began in1844, must continue until the cases of all are decided, bothof the living and the dead; hence it will extend to the closeof human probation. That men may be prepared to stand inthe Judgment, the message commands them to “fear God, andgive glory to Him,” “and worship Him that made heaven, andearth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” The result ofan acceptance of these messages is given in the words, “Hereare they that keep the commandments of God, and the faithof Jesus.” In order to be prepared for the Judgment, it isnecessary that men should keep the law of God. That lawwill be the standard of character in the Judgment. Theapostle Paul declares, “As many as have sinned in the lawshall be judged by the law; . . . in the day when God shall judgethe secrets of men by Jesus Christ.” And he says that “the do-ers of the law shall be justified.” Romans 2:12, 16. Faith isessential in order to keep the law of God; for “without faithit is impossible to please him.” And “whatsoever is not offaith is sin.” Hebrews 11:6; Romans 14:23.

By the first angel, men are called upon to “fear God,and give glory to Him,” and to worship Him as the Cre-ator of the heavens and the earth. In order to do this, theymust obey His law. Says the wise man, “Fear God, and keepHis commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.”Ecclesiastes 12:13. Without obedience to his command-ments, no worship can be pleasing to God. “This is the loveof God, that we keep His commandments.” “He that turnethaway his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall beabomination.” 1 John 5:3; Proverbs 28:9.

The duty to worship God is based upon the fact thatHe is the Creator, and that to Him all other beings owe theirexistence. And wherever, in the Bible, His claim to reverenceand worship, above the gods of the heathen, is presented, thereis cited the evidence of His creative power. “All the gods of

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the nations are idols; but the Lord made the heavens.” Psalm96:5. “To whom then will ye liken Me, or shall I be equal?saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold whohath created these things.” “Thus saith the Lord that createdthe heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it;. . . I am the Lord; and there is none else.” Isaiah 40:25, 26;45:18. Says the psalmist, “Know ye that the Lord, 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 ourMaker.” Psalm 100:3; 95:6. And the holy beings who wor-ship God in Heaven state, as the reason why their homage isdue to Him, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory andhonor and power; for thou hast created all things.” Revela-tion 4:11.

In Revelation 14, men are called upon to worship theCreator, and the prophecy brings to view a class that, asthe result of the threefold message, are keeping the com-mandments of God. One of these commandments pointsdirectly to God as the Creator. The fourth precept declares:“The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. . . . Forin six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, andall that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore theLord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Exodus20:10, 11. Concerning the Sabbath, the Lord says, further,that it is “a sign, . . . that ye may know that I am the Lord yourGod.” Ezekiel 20:20. And the reason given is, “For in sixdays the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh dayhe rested, and was refreshed.” Exodus 31:17.

“The importance of the Sabbath as the memorial ofcreation is that it keeps ever present the true reason whyworship is due to God,” because He is the Creator, and weHis creatures. “The Sabbath therefore lies at the very foun-dation of divine worship; for it teaches this great truth in themost impressive manner, and no other institution does this.The true ground of divine worship, not of that on the seventhday merely, but of all worship, is found in the distinction be-tween the Creator and His creatures. This great fact can neverbecome obsolete, and must never be forgotten.” It was to keep



this truth ever before the minds of men, that God institutedthe Sabbath in Eden; and so long as the fact that He is our Cre-ator continues to be a reason why we should worship Him, solong the Sabbath will continue as its sign and memorial. Hadthe Sabbath been universally kept, man’s thoughts andaffections would have been led to the Creator as the ob-ject of reverence and worship, and there would neverhave been an idolater, an atheist, or an infidel. The keep-ing of the Sabbath is a sign of loyalty to the true God,“Him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the foun-tains of waters.” It follows that the message which commandsmen to worship God and keep His commandments, will es-pecially call upon them to keep the fourth commandment.

In contrast to those who keep the commandments ofGod and have the faith of Jesus, the third angel points toanother class, against whose errors a solemn and fearfulwarning is uttered: “If any man worship the beast and hisimage, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God.” Rev-elation 14:9, 10. A correct interpretation of the symbolsemployed is necessary to an understanding of this mes-sage. What is represented by the beast, the image, themark?

The line of prophecy in which these symbols are found,begins with Revelation 12, with the dragon that sought to de-stroy Christ at His birth. The dragon is said to be Satan;(Revelation 12:9) he it was that moved upon Herod to put theSaviour to death. But the chief agent of Satan in making warupon Christ and His people during the first centuries of theChristian era, was the Roman Empire, in which paganism wasthe prevailing religion. Thus while the dragon, primarily,represents Satan, it is, in a secondary sense, a symbol ofpagan Rome.

In chapter 13 (verses 1-10) is described another beast,“like unto a leopard,” to which the dragon gave “hispower, 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

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possessed by the ancient Roman Empire. Of the leopard-likebeast it is declared: “There was given unto him a mouthspeaking great things and blasphemies. . . . And he opened hismouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name,and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in Heaven. And it wasgiven unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcomethem; and power was given Him over all kindreds, andtongues, and nations.” This prophecy, which is nearly iden-tical with the description of the little horn of Daniel 7, unques-tionably points to the papacy.

“Power was given unto him to continue forty and twomonths.” And, says the prophet, “I saw one of his heads asit were wounded to death.” And again, “He that leadeth intocaptivity shall go into captivity; he that killeth with the swordmust be killed with the sword.” The forty and two monthsare the same as the “time and times and the dividing oftime,” three years and a half, or 1260 days, of Daniel 7,—the time during which the papal power was to oppressGod’s people. This period, as stated in preceding chap-ters, began with the establishment of the papacy, A.D.538, and terminated in 1798. At that time, when the papacywas abolished and the pope made captive by the French army,the papal power received its deadly wound, and the predic-tion was fulfilled, “He that leadeth into captivity shall go intocaptivity.”

At this point another symbol is introduced. Says theprophet, “I beheld another beast coming up out of theearth; and he had two horns like a lamb.” Revelation13:11. Both the appearance of this beast and the manner ofits rise indicate that the nation which it represents is unlikethose presented under the preceding symbols. The great king-doms that have ruled the world were presented to the prophetDaniel as beasts of prey, rising when the “four winds of theheaven strove upon the great sea.” Daniel 7:2. In Revelation17, an angel explained that waters represent “peoples, andmultitudes, and nations, and tongues.” Revelation 17:15.Winds are a symbol of strife. The four winds of heavenstriving upon the great sea, represent the terrible scenes



1. And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a BEAST rise up out ofthe sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, andupon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2. And the beast which I saw was likeunto a leapard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as themouth of a lion; and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and greatauthority.

3. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadlywound was healed, and all the world wondered after the beast.

4. And they worshipped the DRAGON which gave power unto the beast;and they worshipped the BEAST, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is ableto make war with him? 5. And there was given unto him a MOUTH speakingGREAT THINGS and BLASPHEMIES; and power was given unto him to continueforty and two months. 6. And he opened his mouth in BLASPHEMY AGAINSTGOD, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.7. And it was given unto him to make WAR WITH THE SAINTS, and to overcomethem: and POWER was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

8. And all that dwell upon the earth shall WORSHIP him, whose names arenot written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.9. If any man have an ear, let him hear. 10. He that leadeth into captivity shall gointo captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here isthe patience and the faith of the saints.

11. And I beheld ANOTHER BEAST coming up out of the earth; and he hadtwo horns like a LAMB, and he spake as a DRAGON. 12. And he exerciseth all thepower of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwelltherein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13. And hedoeth great WONDERS, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on theearth in the sight of men. 14. And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by themeans of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast;saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an IMAGE TO THEBEAST, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 15. And he had power togive life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should bothspeak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beastshould be killed.

16. And he causeth 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 manmight buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the NAME of the beast, or theNUMBER of his name. 17. Here is wisdom: Let him that hath understandingcount the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his NUMBER issix hundred threesorce and six.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: THE PROPHECY OF REVELA: THE PROPHECY OF REVELA: THE PROPHECY OF REVELA: THE PROPHECY OF REVELA: THE PROPHECY OF REVELATION 13TION 13TION 13TION 13TION 13

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of conquest and revolution by which kingdoms have at-tained to power.

But the beast with lamb-like horns was seen “comingup out of the earth.” Instead of overthrowing other powersto establish itself, the nation thus represented must arisein territory previously unoccupied, and grow up gradu-ally and peacefully. It could not, then, arise among thecrowded and struggling nationalities of the Old World,—thatturbulent sea of “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, andtongues.” It must be sought in the Western Continent.

What nation of the New World was in 1798 rising intopower, giving promise of strength and greatness, and at-tracting the attention of the world? The application of thesymbol admits of no question. One nation, and only one,meets the specifications of this prophecy; it points unmistak-ably to the United States of America. Again and again thethought, almost the exact words, of the sacred writer havebeen unconsciously employed by the orator and the historianin describing the rise and growth of this nation. The beast wasseen “coming up out of the earth;” and, according to the trans-lators, the word here rendered “coming up” literally signifiesto “grow or spring up as a plant.” And, as we have seen, thenation must arise in territory previously unoccupied. A promi-nent writer, describing the rise of the United States, speaksof “the mystery of her coming forth from vacancy,” and says,“Like a silent seed we grew into empire.” [Townsend, TheNew Word Compared with the Old, p. 462.] A European jour-nal in 1850 spoke of the United States as a wonderful empire,which was “emerging,” and “amid the silence of the earthdaily adding to its power and pride” [The Dublin Nation].Edward Everett, in an oration on the Pilgrim founders of thisnation, said: “Did they look for a retired spot, inoffensivefrom its obscurity, safe in its remoteness from the haunts ofdespots, where the little church of Leyden might enjoy free-dom of conscience? Behold the mighty regions over which,in peaceful conquest,. . . they have borne the banners of thecross.”

“And he had two horns like a lamb.” The lamb-like



horns indicate youth, innocence, and gentleness, fitly rep-resenting the character of the United States when pre-sented to the prophet as “coming up” in 1798. The Chris-tian exiles who first fled to America, sought an asylum fromroyal oppression and priestly intolerance, and they determinedto establish a government upon the broad foundation of civiland religious liberty. The Declaration of Independence setsforth the great truth that “all men are created equal,” andendowed with the inalienable right to “life, liberty, and thepursuit of happiness.” And the Constitution guarantees tothe people the right of self-government, providing that rep-resentatives elected by the popular vote shall enact and ad-minister the laws. Freedom of religious faith was alsogranted, every man being permitted to worship God accord-ing to the dictates of his conscience. Republicanism and Prot-estantism became the fundamental principles of the nation.These principles are the secret of its power and prosper-ity. The oppressed and down-trodden throughout Christen-dom have turned to this land with interest and hope. Millionshave sought its shores, and the United States has risen to aplace 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 beforehim, and causeth the earth and them which dwell thereinto worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed,. . . saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they shouldmake an image to the beast, which had the wound by asword, and did live.” Revelation 13:11-14.

The lamb-like horns and dragon voice of the symbol pointto a striking contradiction between the professions and thepractice of the nation thus represented. The “speaking” ofthe nation is the action of its legislative and judicial au-thorities. By such action it will give the lie to those liberal andpeaceful principles which it has put forth as the foundationof its policy. The prediction that it will speak “as a dragon,”and exercise “all the power of the first beast,” plainly fore-tells a development of the spirit of intolerance and persecu-tion that was manifested by the nations represented by the

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dragon and the leopard-like beast. And the statement that thebeast with two horns “causeth the earth and them which dwelltherein to worship the first beast,” indicates that the author-ity of this nation is to be exercised in enforcing some ob-servance which shall be an act of homage to the papacy.

Such action would be directly contrary to the prin-ciples of this government, to the genius of its free institu-tions, to the direct and solemn avowals of the Declaration ofIndependence, and to the Constitution. The founders of thenation wisely sought to guard against the employment of secu-lar 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 ofreligion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” and that “noreligious test shall ever be required as a qualification to anyoffice of public trust under the United States.” Only in fla-grant 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 rep-resented in the symbol. It is the beast with lamb-like horns—in profession pure, gentle, and harmless—that speaks as adragon.

“Saying to them that dwell on the earth, that theyshould make an image to the beast.” Here is clearly pre-sented a form of government in which the legislative powerrests with the people; a most striking evidence that the UnitedStates is the nation denoted in the prophecy.

But what is the “image to the beast”? and how is it tobe formed? The image is made by the two-horned beast,and is an image to the first beast. It is also called an im-age of the beast. Then to learn what the image is like, andhow it is to be formed, we must study the characteristics ofthe beast itself,—the papacy. When the early church becamecorrupted by departing from the simplicity of the gospel, andaccepting heathen rites and customs, she lost the Spirit andpower of God; and in order to control the consciences of thepeople she sought the support of the secular power. The re-sult was the papacy, a church that controlled the power of the



State, and employed it to further her own ends, especially forthe punishment of “heresy.” In order for the United Statesto form an image of the beast, the religious power mustso control the civil government that the authority of theState will also be employed by the church to accomplishher own ends.

Whenever the church has obtained secular power, shehas employed it to punish dissent from her doctrines.Protestant churches that have followed in the steps of Romeby forming alliance with worldly powers, have manifested asimilar desire to restrict liberty of conscience. An example ofthis is given in the long-continued persecution of dissentersby the Church of England. During the sixteenth and seven-teenth centuries, thousands of non-conformist ministers wereforced to leave their churches, and many, both of pastors andpeople, were subjected to fine, imprisonment, torture, andmartyrdom.

It was apostasy that led the early church to seek the aidof the civil government, and this prepared the way for thedevelopment of the papacy,—the beast. Said Paul, Thereshall “come a falling away, . . . and that man of sin be re-vealed.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3 So apostasy in the church willprepare the way for the image to the beast. And the Bibledeclares that before the coming of the Lord there will ex-ist a state of religious declension similar to that in the firstcenturies. “In the last days perilous times shall come. Formen shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters,proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, un-holy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers,incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors,heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers ofGod; having a form of godliness, but denying the powerthereof.” 2 Timothy 3:1-5 “Now the Spirit speaketh ex-pressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from thefaith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of dev-ils.” 1 Timothy 4:1. Satan will work “with all power and signsand lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unright-eousness.” And all that “received not the love of the truth, that

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they might be saved,” will be left to accept “strong delusion,that they should believe a lie.” 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11. Whenthis state of ungodliness shall be reached, the same results willfollow as in the first centuries.

The wide diversity of belief in the Protestant churches isregarded by many as decisive proof that no effort to secure aforced uniformity can ever be made. But there has been foryears, in churches of the Protestant faith, a strong andgrowing sentiment in favor of a union based upon com-mon points of doctrine. To secure such a union, the dis-cussion of subjects upon which all were not agreed—how-ever important they might be from a Bible standpoint—must necessarily be waived.

Charles Beecher, in a sermon in the year 1846, declaredthat the ministry of “the evangelical Protestant denomina-tions” is “not only formed all the way up under a tremendouspressure of merely human fear, but they live, and move, andbreathe in a state of things radically corrupt, and appealingevery hour to every baser element of their nature to hush upthe truth, and bow the knee to the power of apostasy. Was notthis the way things went with Rome? Are we not living herlife over again? And what do we see just ahead?—Anothergeneral council! A world’s convention! evangelical alli-ance, and universal creed!” When this shall be gained, then,in the effort to secure complete uniformity, it will be only astep to the resort to force.

When the leading churches of the United States, unit-ing upon such points of doctrine as are held by them incommon, shall influence the State to enforce their decreesand to sustain their institutions, then Protestant Americawill have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, andthe infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevi-tably result.

The beast with two horns “causeth (commands) all,both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, toreceive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads;and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had themark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”



Revelation 13:16, 17. The third angel’s warning is, “If anyman worship the beast and his image, and receive hismark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink ofthe wine of the wrath of God.” “The beast” mentioned inthis message, whose worship is enforced by the two-horned beast, is the first, or leopard-like beast of Revela-tion 13,—the papacy. The “image to the beast” representsthat form of apostate Protestantism which will be devel-oped when the Protestant churches shall seek the aid ofthe 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 hisimage, the prophecy declares, “Here are they that keep thecommandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Sincethose who keep God’s commandments are thus placed incontrast with those that worship the beast and his imageand receive his mark, it follows that the keeping of God’slaw, on the one hand, and its violation, on the other, willmake the distinction between the worshipers of God andthe worshipers of the beast.

The special characteristic of the beast, and thereforeof his image, is the breaking of God’s commandments.Says Daniel, of the little horn, the papacy, “He shall think tochange the times and the law.” Daniel 7:25, R.V. And Paulstyled the same power the “man of sin,” who was to exalthimself above God. One prophecy is a complement of theother. Only by changing God’s law could the papacy ex-alt itself above God; whoever should understandinglykeep the law as thus changed would be giving supremehonor to that power by which the change was made. Suchan act of obedience to papal laws would be a mark of alle-giance to the pope in the place of God.

The papacy has attempted to change the law of God.The second commandment, forbidding image worship, hasbeen dropped from the law, and the fourth commandmenthas been so changed as to authorize the observance of the firstinstead of the seventh day as the Sabbath. But papists urge,as a reason for omitting the second commandment, that it is

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unnecessary, being included in the first, and that they are giv-ing the law exactly as God designed it to be understood. Thiscannot be the change foretold by the prophet. An intentional,deliberate change is presented: “He shall think to changethe times and the law.” The change in the fourth com-mandment exactly fulfills the prophecy. For this the onlyauthority claimed is that of the church. Here the papalpower openly sets itself above God.

While the worshipers of God will be especially distin-guished by their regard for the fourth commandment,—since this is the sign of His creative power, and the witnessto His claim upon man’s reverence and homage,—theworshipers of the beast will be distinguished by their ef-forts to tear down the Creator’s memorial, to exalt the in-stitution of Rome. It was in behalf of the Sunday, that pop-ery first asserted its arrogant claims; and its first resort to thepower of the State was to compel the observance of Sundayas “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 Sonof man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” The fourth command-ment declares, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord.”And by the prophet Isaiah the Lord designates it, “My holyday.” Mark 2:28; Isaiah 58:13.

The claim so often put forth, that Christ changed theSabbath, is disproved by His own words. In his sermon onthe mount He said: “Think not that I am come to destroy thelaw, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jotor one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be ful-filled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least com-mandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the leastin the kingdom of Heaven; but whosoever shall do and teachthem, the same shall be called great in the kingdom ofHeaven.” Matthew 5:17-19.

It is a fact generally admitted by Protestants, that theScriptures give no authority for the change of the Sab-bath. This is plainly stated in publications issued by theAmerican Tract Society and the American Sunday-school



lThou shalt have no other gods before Me.

IIThou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likenessof anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath,

or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow downthyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a

jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the childrenunto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and

showing mercy unto the thousands of them that love Me,and keep My commandments.

IIIThou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the

Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.IV

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thoulabor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath ofthe Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy

son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant nor thycattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days theLord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and

rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessedthe Sabbath day, and hollowed it.

VHonor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long

upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.VI

Thou shalt not kill.VII

Thou shalt not commit adultery.VIII

Thou shalt not steal.IX

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.X

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house; thou shalt not covet thyneighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his

ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s. —Exodus 20:3-17

THE LATHE LATHE LATHE LATHE LAW OF GODW OF GODW OF GODW OF GODW OF GOD

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THE LATHE LATHE LATHE LATHE LAW OF GOD AS CHANGED BW OF GOD AS CHANGED BW OF GOD AS CHANGED BW OF GOD AS CHANGED BW OF GOD AS CHANGED BY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANI

I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have strange gods beforeMe.

[The Second Commandment has been left out.]II [actually III]

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.III [actually IV]

Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.[The Sabbath Commandment has been changed.]

IV [actually V]Honor thy father and thy mother.

V [actually VI]Thou shalt not kill.VI [actually VII]

Thou shalt not commit adultery.VII (actually VIII)

Thou shalt not steal.VIII [actually IX - First Part]

Thou shalt not covert thy neighbor’s wife.X [X - Second Part]

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods. —The General Catholic Catechism

“Prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound to“Prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound to“Prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound to“Prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound to“Prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound tokeep Sunday holykeep Sunday holykeep Sunday holykeep Sunday holykeep Sunday holy. There is no such law in the Bible. It is a. There is no such law in the Bible. It is a. There is no such law in the Bible. It is a. There is no such law in the Bible. It is a. There is no such law in the Bible. It is alaw of the holy Catholic Church alone. The Bible says ‘Re-law of the holy Catholic Church alone. The Bible says ‘Re-law of the holy Catholic Church alone. The Bible says ‘Re-law of the holy Catholic Church alone. The Bible says ‘Re-law of the holy Catholic Church alone. The Bible says ‘Re-member the Sabbath day to keep it holymember the Sabbath day to keep it holymember the Sabbath day to keep it holymember the Sabbath day to keep it holymember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.’ The Catholic Church.’ The Catholic Church.’ The Catholic Church.’ The Catholic Church.’ The Catholic Churchsays, No. By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day andsays, No. By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day andsays, No. By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day andsays, No. By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day andsays, No. By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day andcommand you to keep holy the first day of the week. And lo!command you to keep holy the first day of the week. And lo!command you to keep holy the first day of the week. And lo!command you to keep holy the first day of the week. And lo!command you to keep holy the first day of the week. And lo!The entire civilized world bows down in reverent obedienceThe entire civilized world bows down in reverent obedienceThe entire civilized world bows down in reverent obedienceThe entire civilized world bows down in reverent obedienceThe entire civilized world bows down in reverent obedienceto the command of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.”—to the command of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.”—to the command of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.”—to the command of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.”—to the command of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.”—Tho-Tho-Tho-Tho-Tho-mas Enright, Cmas Enright, Cmas Enright, Cmas Enright, Cmas Enright, CSSSSSSR, President, Redemptorist College, Kan-SR, President, Redemptorist College, Kan-SR, President, Redemptorist College, Kan-SR, President, Redemptorist College, Kan-SR, President, Redemptorist College, Kan-sas Citysas Citysas Citysas Citysas City, Missouri, F, Missouri, F, Missouri, F, Missouri, F, Missouri, February 18, 1884 [Roman Catholic].ebruary 18, 1884 [Roman Catholic].ebruary 18, 1884 [Roman Catholic].ebruary 18, 1884 [Roman Catholic].ebruary 18, 1884 [Roman Catholic].

“Q“Q“Q“Q“Q.—Have you any other way of proving that the [Catho-.—Have you any other way of proving that the [Catho-.—Have you any other way of proving that the [Catho-.—Have you any other way of proving that the [Catho-.—Have you any other way of proving that the [Catho-lic] Church has power to institute festivals of precept?lic] Church has power to institute festivals of precept?lic] Church has power to institute festivals of precept?lic] Church has power to institute festivals of precept?lic] Church has power to institute festivals of precept?

“““““AAAAA.....—Had she not such power . . she could not have sub-—Had she not such power . . she could not have sub-—Had she not such power . . she could not have sub-—Had she not such power . . she could not have sub-—Had she not such power . . she could not have sub-stituted the observance of Sundaystituted the observance of Sundaystituted the observance of Sundaystituted the observance of Sundaystituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, the first day of the week, the first day of the week, the first day of the week, the first day of the weekfor Saturdayfor Saturdayfor Saturdayfor Saturdayfor Saturday, the seventh day, the seventh day, the seventh day, the seventh day, the seventh day, a change for which there is no, a change for which there is no, a change for which there is no, a change for which there is no, a change for which there is noscriptural authorityscriptural authorityscriptural authorityscriptural authorityscriptural authority.”—.”—.”—.”—.”—Doctrinal Catechism, p. 174Doctrinal Catechism, p. 174Doctrinal Catechism, p. 174Doctrinal Catechism, p. 174Doctrinal Catechism, p. 174 [Roman [Roman [Roman [Roman [RomanCatholic].Catholic].Catholic].Catholic].Catholic].

God’s Law ImmutableGod’s Law ImmutableGod’s Law ImmutableGod’s Law ImmutableGod’s Law Immutable


THE LATHE LATHE LATHE LATHE LAW OF GOD IN THE NEW TESTW OF GOD IN THE NEW TESTW OF GOD IN THE NEW TESTW OF GOD IN THE NEW TESTW OF GOD IN THE NEW TESTAMENTAMENTAMENTAMENTAMENT

I“Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou

serve.”—Matthew 4:10.II

“Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” “Forasmuch then as weare the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is

like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s de-vices.”—1 John 5:21; Acts 17:29.

III“That the name of God and His doctrine be not blasphemed.”

—1 Timothy 6:1.IV

“Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbathday.” “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the

Sabbath: therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” “ForHe spake in the certain place of the seventh day on this wise, AndGod did rest the seventh day from all His works.” “There remaineththerefore a keeping of a Sabbath to the people of God. For he that isentered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, asGod did from His.” “For by Him were all things created that are inheaven, and that are in earth.”—Matthew 24:20; Mark 2:27-28;

Hebrews 4:4, 9, 10; Colossians 1:16.V

“Honor thy father and thy mother.”—Matthew 19:19.VI

“Thou shalt not kill.”—Romans 13:9.VII

“Thou shalt not commit adultery.”—Matthew 19:18.VIII

“Thou shalt not steal.”—Romans 13:9.IX

“Thou shalt not bear false witness.”—Romans 13:9.X

“Thou shalt not covet.”—Romans 7:7.


Union. One of these works acknowledges “the complete si-lence of the New Testament so far as any explicit commandfor the Sabbath (Sunday, the first day of the week) or definiterules for its observance are concerned.” [“The Abiding Sab-bath,” p. 184, A $500 prize essay.]

Another says: “Up to the time of Christ’s death, no changehad been made in the day;” and, “so far as the record shows,they (the apostles) did not give any explicit command enjoin-ing the abandonment of the seventh-day Sabbath, and itsobservance on the first day of the week.” [“The Lord’s Day,”pp. 185, 186, A $1,000 prize essay.]

Roman Catholics acknowledge that the change of theSabbath was made by their church, and declare that Prot-estants, by observing the Sunday, are recognizing herpower. In the “Catholic Catechism of Christian Religion,” inanswer to a question as to the day to be observed in obedi-ence to the fourth commandment, this statement is made:“During the old law, Saturday was the day sanctified; but thechurch, instructed by Jesus Christ, and directed by the Spiritof God, has substituted Sunday for Saturday; so now we sanc-tify 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, pa-pist writers cite, “the very act of changing the Sabbathinto Sunday, which Protestants allow of . . . because bykeeping Sunday strictly they acknowledge the church’s powerto ordain feasts, and to command them under sin.” [Abridge-ment of Christian Doctrine.] What then is the change of theSabbath, but the sign or mark of the authority of the RomishChurch—“the mark of the beast”?

The Roman Church has not relinquished her claim tosupremacy; and when the world and the Protestantchurches accept a sabbath of her creating, while theyreject the Bible Sabbath, they virtually admit this as-sumption. They may claim the authority of tradition and ofthe Fathers for the change; but in so doing they ignore the veryprinciple which separates them from Rome,—that “the Bible,and the Bible only, is the religion of Protestants.” The papist

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can see that they are deceiving themselves, willingly closingtheir eyes to the facts in the case. As the movement for Sun-day enforcement gains favor, he rejoices, feeling assuredthat it will eventually bring the whole Protestant worldunder the banner of Rome.

Romanists declare that “the observance of Sunday bythe Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of them-selves, to the authority of the (Catholic) Church.” [PlainTalk about Protestantism, p. 213.] The enforcement of Sun-day-keeping on the part of Protestant churches is an en-forcement of the worship of the papacy—of the beast.Those who, understanding the claims of the fourth command-ment, choose to observe the false instead of the true Sabbath;are thereby paying homage to that power by which alone it iscommanded. But in the very act of enforcing a religiousduty by secular power, the churches would themselvesform an image to the beast; hence the enforcement of Sun-day-keeping in the United States would be an enforcementof the worship of the beast and his image.

But Christians of past generations observed the Sun-day, supposing that in so doing they were keeping theBible Sabbath, and there are now true Christians in everychurch, not excepting the Roman Catholic communion, whohonestly believe that Sunday is the Sabbath of divine appoint-ment. God accepts their sincerity of purpose and their in-tegrity before Him. But when Sunday observance shall beenforced by law, and the world shall be enlightened con-cerning the obligation of the true Sabbath, then whoevershall transgress the command of God, to obey a preceptwhich has no higher authority than that of Rome, willthereby honor popery above God. He is paying homage toRome, and to the power which enforces the institution or-dained by Rome. He is worshipping the beast and his image.As men then reject the institution which God has declaredto be the sign of His authority, and honor in its stead thatwhich 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 choosebetween the commandments of God and the commandmentsof men, that those who continue in transgression will receive“the mark of the beast.”

The most fearful threatening ever addressed to mor-tal is contained in the third angel’s message. That must bea terrible sin which calls down the wrath of God unmingledwith mercy. Men are not to be left in darkness concerning thisimportant matter; the warning against this sin is to be givento the world before the visitation of God’s judgments, that allmay know why they are to be inflicted, and have opportunityto escape them. Prophecy declares that the first angel wouldmake his announcement to “every nation, and kindred, andtongue, and people.” The warning of the third angel, whichforms a part of the same threefold message, is to be no lesswidespread. It is represented in the prophecy as proclaimedwith 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 di-vided into two great classes,—those who keep the com-mandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and those whoworship the beast and his image and receive his mark. Al-though 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” (Revelation 13:16) yet the people ofGod will not receive it. The prophet of Patmos beholds “themthat had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image,and over his mark, and over the number of his name, standon the sea of glass, having the harps of God,” and singing thesong of Moses and the Lamb. Revelation 15:2, 3.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: THE THREE ANGELS’ MES: THE THREE ANGELS’ MES: THE THREE ANGELS’ MES: THE THREE ANGELS’ MES: THE THREE ANGELS’ MESSAGESAGESAGESAGESAGE

“Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His Judgment is come . . Babylon isfallen, is fallen . . because she made all peoples drink . . If any man worship the beast andhis image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,—the same shall drink ofthe wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of Hisindignation . . Here is the patience of the saints: Here are they that keep the command-ments of God and the faith of Jesus.”—Revelation 14:7-12.

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Chapter Twenty-sixChapter Twenty-sixChapter Twenty-sixChapter Twenty-sixChapter Twenty-six

RestoringRestoringRestoringRestoringRestoringthe Fthe Fthe Fthe Fthe Foundationsoundationsoundationsoundationsoundations

—A Work of Reform—A Work of Reform—A Work of Reform—A Work of Reform—A Work of Reform———————————————————————

The Bible is a treasure-house of precious truths. How thankfulwe can be that such information is before us, to read and study. In In In In Inthis chapterthis chapterthis chapterthis chapterthis chapter, you will learn par, you will learn par, you will learn par, you will learn par, you will learn part of God’s plan to restore to Hist of God’s plan to restore to Hist of God’s plan to restore to Hist of God’s plan to restore to Hist of God’s plan to restore to Hispeople truths long forgotten that they need todaypeople truths long forgotten that they need todaypeople truths long forgotten that they need todaypeople truths long forgotten that they need todaypeople truths long forgotten that they need today.....

Our God is a great God—and as we study His WOur God is a great God—and as we study His WOur God is a great God—and as we study His WOur God is a great God—and as we study His WOur God is a great God—and as we study His Word and trustord and trustord and trustord and trustord and trustHim to lead, He will open up to us pathways that will bring usHim to lead, He will open up to us pathways that will bring usHim to lead, He will open up to us pathways that will bring usHim to lead, He will open up to us pathways that will bring usHim to lead, He will open up to us pathways that will bring usall the way to the city of the great Kingall the way to the city of the great Kingall the way to the city of the great Kingall the way to the city of the great Kingall the way to the city of the great King—to that wonderful homeHe is preparing for us ————————————————————————

The work of Sabbath reform to be accomplished in thelast days is foretold in the prophecy of Isaiah: “Thus saiththe Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice; for My salvationis near to come, and My righteousness to be revealed. Blessedis the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth holdon it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepethhis hand from doing any evil.” “The sons of the stranger, thatjoin themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love thename of the Lord, to be His servants, every one that keepeththe Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of My cov-enant; even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and makethem joyful in my house of prayer.” Isaiah 56:1, 2, 6, 7.

These words apply in the Christian age, as is shown bythe context: “The Lord God which gathereth the outcasts ofIsrael saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those thatare gathered unto him.” Isaiah 56:8. Here is foreshadowedthe gathering in of the Gentiles by the gospel. And uponthose who then honor the Sabbath, a blessing is pro-nounced. Thus the obligation of the fourth commandment

A WA WA WA WA Work of Reform ork of Reform ork of Reform ork of Reform ork of Reform [449-451] [449-451] [449-451] [449-451] [449-451]


extends past the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascensionof Christ, to the time when His servants should preach to allnations the message of glad tidings.

The Lord commands by the same prophet, “Bind upthe testimony, seal the law among My disciples.” Isaiah8:16. The seal of God’s law is found in the fourth com-mandment. This only, of all ten, brings to view both thename and the title of the Lawgiver. It declares Him to bethe Creator of the heavens and the earth, and thus shows Hisclaim to reverence and worship above all others. Aside fromthis precept, there is nothing in the decalogue to show bywhose authority the law is given. When the Sabbath waschanged by the papal power, the seal was taken from thelaw. The disciples of Jesus are called upon to restore it, byexalting the Sabbath of the fourth commandment to its right-ful position as the Creator’s memorial and the sign of His au-thority.

“To the law and to the testimony.” While conflicting doc-trines and theories abound, the law of God is the one un-erring rule by which all opinions, doctrines, and theoriesare to be tested. Says the prophet, “If they speak not accord-ing to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isaiah8:20.

Again, the command is given, “Cry aloud, spare not, liftup thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their trans-gression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” It is not thewicked world, but those whom the Lord designates as“My people,” that are to be reproved for their transgres-sions. He declares further, “Yet they seek Me daily, and de-light to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, andforsook not the ordinance of their God.” Isaiah 58:1, 2. Hereis brought to view a class who think themselves righteous, andappear to manifest great interest in the service of God; but thestern and solemn rebuke of the Searcher of hearts proves themto be trampling upon the divine precepts.

The prophet thus points out the ordinance which hasbeen forsaken: “Thou shalt raise up the foundations of manygenerations; and thou shalt be called, Thy repairer of the

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breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn awaythy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on Myholy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of theLord, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine ownways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine ownwords; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord.” Isaiah58:12,13. This prophecy also applies in our time. The breachwas made in the law of God when the Sabbath was chang-ed by the Romish power. But the time has come for thatdivine institution to be restored. The breach is to be re-paired, and the foundation of many generations to be raisedup.

Hallowed by the Creator’s rest and blessing, the Sab-bath was kept by Adam in his innocence in holy Eden; byAdam, fallen yet repentant, when he was driven from hishappy estate. It was kept by all the patriarchs, from Abel torighteous Noah, to Abraham, to Jacob. When the chosenpeople were in bondage in Egypt, many, in the midst of pre-vailing idolatry, lost their knowledge of God’s law; but whenthe Lord delivered Israel, He proclaimed His law in awfulgrandeur to the assembled multitude, that they might knowHis will, and fear and obey Him forever.

From that day to the present, the knowledge of God’slaw has been preserved in the earth, and the Sabbath ofthe fourth commandment has been kept. Though the “manof sin” succeeded in trampling underfoot God’s holy day, yeteven in the period of his supremacy there were, hidden insecret places, faithful souls who paid it honor. Since the Ref-ormation, there have been some in every generation to main-tain its observance. Though often in the midst of reproach andpersecution, a constant testimony has been borne to the per-petuity of the law of God, and the sacred obligation of the cre-ation Sabbath.

These truths, as presented in Revelation 14, in connec-tion with the “everlasting gospel,” will distinguish thechurch of Christ at the time of His appearing. For as theresult of the threefold message it is announced, “Here arethey that keep the commandments of God, and the faith



of Jesus.” And this message is the last to be given beforethe coming of the Lord. Immediately following its procla-mation, the Son of man is seen by the prophet, coming in gloryto reap the harvest of the earth.

Those who received the light concerning the sanctuaryand the immutability of the law of God, were filled withjoy and wonder, as they saw the beauty and harmony of thesystem of truth that opened to their understanding. They de-sired that the light which appeared to them so preciousmight be imparted to all Christians; and they could not butbelieve that it would be joyfully accepted. But truths thatwould place them at variance with the world were notwelcome to many who claimed to be followers of Christ.Obedience to the fourth commandment required a sacri-fice from which the majority drew back.

As the claims of the Sabbath were presented, many rea-soned from the worldling’s standpoint. Said they: “We havealways kept Sunday, our fathers kept it, and many good andpious men have died happy while keeping it. If they were right,so are we. The keeping of this new Sabbath would throwus out of harmony with the world, and we would have noinfluence over them. What can a little company keeping theseventh day hope to accomplish against all the world who arekeeping Sunday?” It was by similar arguments that theJews endeavored to justify their rejection of Christ. Theirfathers had been accepted of God in presenting the sacrificialofferings, and why could not the children find salvation in pur-suing the same course? So, in the time of Luther, papists rea-soned that true Christians had died in the Catholic faith, andtherefore that religion was sufficient for salvation. Such rea-soning would prove an effectual barrier to all advancementin religious faith or practice.

Many urged that Sunday-keeping had been an establisheddoctrine and a widespread custom of the church for many cen-turies. Against this argument it was shown that the Sab-bath and its observance were more ancient and wide-spread, even as old as the world itself, and bearing thesanction both of angels and of God. When the foundations

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of the earth were laid, when the morning stars sang together,and all the sons of God shouted for joy, then was laid the foun-dation of the Sabbath. Job 38:6, 7; Genesis 2:1-3. Well maythis institution demand our reverence: it was ordained byno human authority, and rests upon no human traditions;it was established by the Ancient of days, and commandedby His eternal word.

As the attention of the people was called to the subject ofSabbath reform, popular ministers perverted the Word ofGod, placing such interpretations upon its testimony aswould best quiet inquiring minds. And those who did notsearch the Scriptures for themselves were content to ac-cept conclusions that were in accordance with their de-sires. By argument, sophistry, the traditions of the Fathers,and the authority of the church, many endeavored to over-throw the truth. Its advocates were driven to their Bibles todefend the validity of the fourth commandment. Humble men,armed with the Word of truth alone, withstood the attacks ofmen of learning, who, with surprise and anger, found theireloquent sophistry powerless against the simple, straightfor-ward reasoning of men who were versed in the Scripturesrather than in the subtleties of the schools.

In the absence of Bible testimony in their favor, many withunwearying persistence urged,—forgetting how the same rea-soning had been employed against Christ and His apostles,—“Why do not our great men understand this Sabbathquestion? But few believe as you do. It cannot be that youare right, and that all the men of learning in the world arewrong.”

To refute such arguments it was needful only to cite theteachings of the Scriptures and the history of the Lord’sdealings with His people in all ages. God works throughthose who hear and obey His voice, those who will, if needbe, speak unpalatable truths, those who do not fear toreprove popular sins. The reason why He does not oftenerchoose men of learning and high position to lead out in reformmovements is that they trust to their creeds, theories, and theo-logical systems, and feel no need to be taught of God. Only



those who have a personal connection with the Source ofwisdom are able to understand or explain the Scriptures. Menwho have little of the learning of the schools are sometimescalled to declare the truth, not because they are unlearned, butbecause they are not too self-sufficient to be taught of God.They learn in the school of Christ, and their humility and obe-dience make them great. In committing to them a knowledgeof His truth, God confers upon them an honor, in comparisonwith which earthly honor and human greatness sink into in-significance.

The majority of Adventists rejected the truths con-cerning the sanctuary and the law of God, and many alsorenounced their faith in the Advent movement, and adoptedunsound and conflicting views of the prophecies which ap-plied to that work. Some were led into the error of repeat-edly fixing upon a definite time for the coming of Christ.The light which was now shining on the subject of thesanctuary would have shown them that no prophetic pe-riod extends to the second advent; that the exact time ofthis event is not foretold. But, turning from the light, theycontinued to set time after time for the Lord to come, and asoften they were disappointed.

When the Thessalonian church received erroneous viewsconcerning the coming of Christ, the apostle Paul counseledthem to carefully test their hopes and anticipations by theWord of God. He cited them to prophecies revealing theevents to take place before Christ should come, and showedthat they had no ground to expect him in their day. “Let noman deceive you by any means,” (2 Thessalonians 2:3) arehis words of warning. Should they indulge expectations thatwere not sanctioned by the Scriptures, they would be led to amistaken course of action; disappointment would exposethem to the derision of unbelievers, and they would be in dan-ger of yielding to discouragement, and would be tempted todoubt the truths essential for their salvation. The apostle’s ad-monition to the Thessalonians contains an important lessonfor those who live in the last days. Many Adventists havefelt that unless they could fix their faith upon a definite

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time for the Lord’s coming, they could not be zealous anddiligent in the work of preparation. But as their hopes areagain and again excited, only to be destroyed, their faith re-ceives such a shock that it becomes well-nigh impossible forthem to be impressed by the great truths of prophecy. Thepreaching of a definite time for the Judgment, in the givingof the first message, was ordered of God. The computationof 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 findnew dates for the beginning and close of the prophetic pe-riods, and the unsound reasoning necessary to sustainthese positions, not only lead minds away from thepresent truth, but throw contempt upon all efforts to ex-plain the prophecies. The more frequently a definite time isset for the second advent, and the more widely it is taught, thebetter it suits the purposes of Satan. After the time has passed,he excites ridicule and contempt of its advocates, and thuscasts reproach upon the great Advent movement of 1843 and1844. Those who persist in this error will at last fix upona date too far in the future for the coming of Christ. Thusthey will be led to rest in a false security, and many willnot be undeceived until it is too late.

The history of ancient Israel is a striking illustrationof the past experience of the Adventist body. God led Hispeople in the Advent movement, even as He led the childrenof Israel from Egypt. In the great disappointment their faithwas tested as was that of the Hebrews at the Red Sea. Had theystill trusted to the guiding hand that had been with them intheir past experience, they would have seen of the salvationof God. If all who had labored unitedly in the work in 1844had received the third angel’s message, and proclaimedit in the power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord would havewrought mightily with their efforts. A flood of light wouldhave been shed upon the world. Years ago the inhabitants ofthe earth would have been warned, the closing work com-pleted, and Christ would have come for the redemption of Hispeople.



It was not the will of God that Israel should wanderforty years in the wilderness; He desired to lead them di-rectly to the land of Canaan, and establish them there, aholy, happy people. But “they could not enter in because ofunbelief.” Hebrews 3:19. Because of their backsliding andapostasy, they perished in the desert, and others were raisedup to enter the promised land. In like manner, it was not thewill of God that the coming of Christ should be so long de-layed, and His people should remain so many years in thisworld of sin and sorrow. But unbelief separated them fromGod. As they refused to do the work which He had appointedthem, others were raised up to proclaim the message. In mercyto the world, Jesus delays His coming, that sinners may havean opportunity to hear the warning, and find in Him a shelterbefore the wrath of God shall be poured out.

Now, as in former ages, the presentation of a truth thatreproves the sins and errors of the times, will excite op-position. “Every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neithercometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” John3:20. As men see that they cannot maintain their position bythe Scriptures, many determine to maintain it at all hazards,and with a malicious spirit they assail the character and mo-tives of those who stand in defense of unpopular truth. It isthe same policy which has been pursued in all ages. Elijah wasdeclared to be a troubler of Israel, Jeremiah a traitor, Paul apolluter of the temple. From that day to this, those whowould be loyal to truth have been denounced as seditious,heretical, or schismatic. Multitudes who are too unbeliev-ing to accept the sure word of prophecy, will receive with un-questioning credulity an accusation against those who dare toreprove fashionable sins. This spirit will increase more andmore. And the Bible plainly teaches that a time is ap-proaching when the laws of the State shall so conflict withthe law of God that whoever would obey all the divineprecepts must brave reproach and punishment as an evil-doer.

And in view of this, what is the duty of the messengerof truth? Shall he conclude that the truth ought not to be pre-

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sented, since often its only effect is to arouse men to evadeor resist its claims? No; he has no more reason for with-holding the testimony of God’s Word, because it excitesopposition, than had earlier reformers. The confession offaith made by saints and martyrs was recorded for the ben-efit of succeeding generations. Those living examples of ho-liness and steadfast integrity have come down to inspire cour-age in those who are now called to stand as witnesses for God.They received grace and truth, not for themselves alone, butthat, through them, the knowledge of God might enlighten theearth. Has God given light to His servants in this genera-tion? 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 willnot hearken unto Me.” Nevertheless He said, “Thou shaltspeak My words unto them, whether they will hear, or whetherthey will forbear.” Ezekiel 3:7; 2:7. To the servant of Godat this time is the command addressed, “Lift up thy voicelike 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 re-ceived the light of truth is under the same solemn and fearfulresponsibility as was the prophet of Israel, to whom the wordof the Lord came, saying: “Son of man, I have set thee awatchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hearthe word at My mouth, and warn them from Me. When I sayunto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thoudost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wickedman shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require atthine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his wayto turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die inhis iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.” Ezekiel 33:7-9.

The great obstacle both to the acceptance and to thepromulgation of truth, is the fact that it involves incon-venience and reproach. This is the only argument againstthe 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 convincedof their duty, they deliberately accept the cross, with theapostle Paul counting that “our light affliction, which is butfor a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eter-nal weight of glory;” (2 Corinthians 4:17) with one of old,“esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the trea-sures in Egypt.” Hebrews 11:26.

Whatever may be their profession, it is only those whoare world-servers at heart that act from policy ratherthan principle in religious things. We should choose theright because it is right, and leave consequences withGod. To men of principle, faith, and daring, the world is in-debted for its great reforms. By such men the work of reformfor this time must be carried forward.

Thus saith the Lord: “Hearken unto Me, ye that know right-eousness, the people in whose heart is My law; fear ye not thereproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. Forthe moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shalleat them like wool; but My righteousness shall be forever, andMy salvation from generation to generation.” Isaiah 51:7, 8.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: THE WEEKL: THE WEEKL: THE WEEKL: THE WEEKL: THE WEEKLY CYY CYY CYY CYY CYCLECLECLECLECLE

The writings of historians, the records of chronographers, the languages of earth,the calendars of time, and the existence of the Jewish race—all testify to the factthat the weekly cycle on our calendars today is the same as in earlier centuries—going back to the time of Christ, to Moses, and beyond.

In the beginning, God gave us the weekly seven-day cycle, with the Sabbath asthe last day. That pattern has never changed. The seventh day of the week today isthe true Bible Sabbath. Our seventh day is the Sabbath which Jesus kept; it was theSabbath in the time of Moses when the Ten Commandments were written down.Historians and scientists all agree that this is true.

If there had been any change in the weekly cycle, between the time of Creationand the time of Moses, a correction would have been made when the Ten Com-mandments were given to the Hebrews. From that time, on down to the present,there have always been Jews to testify as to the true Sabbath. It is the same seventhday of the week which is on our calendars. While all the other ancient races are nowintermingled, the Jews have been kept separate so they could testify to the fact thatour seventh day is the Bible Sabbath!

The yearly cycle has been changed. In 1582, the length of the year was changed

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to include the leap year. This changeover resulted in October 1582 having only 21days! But each week remained the same seven days in length. Thursday, October 4,was followed by Friday, October 15. God has divinely protected the weekly cycledown through the ages. If He had not done this, it would be impossible to keep theSabbath holy, as He has commanded. But, because He has, we have no excuse notto. The seventh day is a holy day; made holy by the command of God. All calendarsagree: The seventh day is the Sabbath. Sunday is the first day; the day called “Sat-urday” in the English langauge is the Sabbath.

However, in 108 of the 160 languages of mankind, the seventh day is called “theSabbath”! Did you know that? Dr. William Mead Jones of London prepared a chartproving this. (A copy of this chart can be obtained free of charge from the publisherof this book: Ask for “The Chart of the Week” [BS–28-29]. English is one of the fewmajor languages in which the seventh day is not called “the Sabbath.”

Here are ten examples: Hebrew: Shabbath / Greek: Sabbaton / Latin: Sabbatum/ Arabic: Assabit / Persian: Shambin / Russian: Subbota / Hindustani: Shamba /French: Samedi / Italian: Sabbato / Spanish: Sabado.

“By calculating the eclipses, it can be proven that no time has been lost and thecreation days were seven, divided into 24 hours each.”—Dr. Hinkley, The Watch-man, July 1926 [Hinkley was a well-known astronomer].

“The human race never lost the septenary [seven day] sequence of week daysand that the Sabbath of these latter times comes down to us from Adam, throughthe ages, without a single lapse.”—Dr. Totten, professor of astronomy at YaleUniversity.

“Seven has been the ancient and honored number among the nations of theearth. They have measured their time by weeks from the beginning. The origin ofthis was the Sabbath of God, as Moses has given the reasons for it in his writ-ings.”—Dr. Lyman Coleman.

“There has been no change in our calendar in past centuries that has affected inany way the cycle of the week.”—James Robertson, Director American Ephem-eris, Navy Department, U.S. Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C., March 12, 1932.

“It can be said with assurance that not a day has been lost since Creation, andall the calendar changes notwithstanding, there has been no break in the weeklycycle.”—Dr. Frank Jeffries, Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and ResearchDirector of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, England.

It is remarkable how complete is the Biblical and historical evidence corroborat-ing the fact that the Bible Sabbath was given to us by the God of heaven. Let us keepthe Sabbath that Jesus kept! He worshiped on the Bible Sabbath, and never told us tostop keeping it. No one else in the Bible said to either. The seventh day is the Sab-bath, for God never changed it.

For a copy of the 256-page book, Beyond Pitcairn, explaining in remarkabledetail about the Bible Sabbath, write to the publisher of this book. It is an extremelyreadable book.

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“Sunday is a Catholic institution, and its claim to observance can bedefended only on Catholic principles . . From beginning to end of Scripturethere is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly publicworship from the last day of the week to the first.”—Catholic Press, Sydney,Australia, August, 1900.

“Protestantism, in discarding the authority of the [Roman Catholic]Church, has no good reason for its Sunday theory, and ought logically tokeep Saturday as the Sabbath.”—John Gilmary Shea, in the AmericanCatholic Quarterly Review, January 1883.

“It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and allother Christians that the Bible does not support them anywhere in theirobservance of Sunday. Sunday is an institution of the Roman CatholicChurch, and those who observe the day observe a commandment of theCatholic Church.”—Priest Brady, in an address, reported in the Elizabeth,N.J. News of March 18, 1903.

“Ques.—Have you any other way of proving that the [Catholic] Churchhas power to institute festivals of precept [to command holy days]?

“Ans.—Had she not such power, she could not have done that in whichall modern religionists agree with her: She could not have substituted theobservance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance ofSaturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural author-ity.”—Stephen Keenan, Doctrinal Catechism, p. 176.

“Reason and common sense demand the acceptance of one or theother of these two alternatives: either Protestantism and the keeping holyof Saturday or Catholicity and the keeping holy of Sunday. Compromise isimpossible.”—The Catholic Mirror, December 23, 1893.

“God simply gave His [Catholic] Church the power to set aside what-ever day or days she would deem suitable as Holy Days. The Church choseSunday, the first day of the week, and in the course of time added otherdays, as holy days.”—Vincent J. Kelly, Forbidden Sunday and Feast-DayOccupations, p. 2.

“Protestants . . accept Sunday rather than Saturday as the day for pub-lic worship after the Catholic Church made the change . . But the Protestantmind does not seem to realize that in accepting the Bible, in observing theSunday, they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the church,the Pope.”—Our Sunday Visitor, February 5, 1950.

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“We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.”—Pope Leo XIII, inan Encyclical Letter, dated June 20, 1894.

“Not the Creator of Universe, in Genesis 2:1-3,—but the Catholic Church“can claim the honor of having granted man a pause to his work everyseven days.”—S.C. Mosna, Storia della Domenica, 1969, pp. 366-367.

“The Pope is not only the representative of Jesus Christ, but he is JesusChrist, hidden under veil of flesh.”—The Catholic National, July 1895.

“If Protestants would follow the Bible, they should worship God on theSabbath Day. In keeping the Sunday they are following a law of the CatholicChurch.”—Albert Smith, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, re-plying for the Cardinal, in a letter dated February 10, 1920.

“We define that the Holy Apostolic See (the Vatican) and the RomanPontiff hold the primacy over the whole world.”—A Decree of the Councilof Trent, quoted in Philippe Labbe and Gabriel Cossart, “The Most HolyCouncils,” col. 1167.

“It was the Catholic Church which, by the authority of Jesus Christ, hastransferred this rest [from the Bible Sabbath] to the Sunday . . Thus theobservance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite ofthemselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] Church.”—Monsignor LouisSegur, Plain Talk about the Protestantism of Today, p. 213.

“We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Churchtransferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.”—Peter Geiermann,CSSR, A Doctrinal Catechism, 1957 edition, p. 50.

“We Catholics, then, have precisely the same authority for keeping Sun-day holy instead of Saturday as we have for every other article of our creed,namely, the authority of the Church . . whereas you who are Protestantshave really no authority for it whatever; for there is no authority for it [Sun-day sacredness] in the Bible, and you will not allow that there can be au-thority for it anywhere else.”—The Brotherhood of St. Paul, “The Cliftontracts,” Volume 4, tract 4, p. 15.

“The Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by rightof the divine, infallible authority given to her by her founder, Jesus Christ.The Protestant, claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has nowarrant for observing Sunday. In this matter the Seventh-day Adventist isthe only consistent Protestant.”—The Catholic Universe Bulletin, August14, 1942, p. 4.

The Bible is your only safe guide. Jesus can help you obey it. TrustGod’s Word more than man’s traditions.

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BAPTISTBAPTISTBAPTISTBAPTISTBAPTIST::::: “There was and is a command to keep holy the Sabbath day,but that Sabbath day was not Sunday. It will however be readily said, andwith some show of triumph, that the Sabbath was transferred from theseventh to the first day of the week, with all its duties, privileges and sanc-tions. Earnestly desiring information on this subject, which I have studiedfor many years, I ask, where can the record of such a transaction be found?Not in the New Testament—absolutely not. There is no scriptural evidenceof the change of the Sabbath institution from the seventh to the first day ofthe week.”—Dr. E.T. Hiscox, author of the Baptist Manual.

CONGREGACONGREGACONGREGACONGREGACONGREGATIONALISTTIONALISTTIONALISTTIONALISTTIONALIST::::: “It is quite clear that however rigidly or devot-edly we may spend Sunday, we are not keeping the Sabbath . . The Sab-bath was founded on a specific divine command. We can plead no suchcommand for the observance of Sunday . . There is not a single line in theNew Testament to suggest that we incur any penalty by violating the sup-posed sanctity of Sunday.”—Dr. R.W. Dale, The Ten Commandments, pp.106-107.

PROTESTPROTESTPROTESTPROTESTPROTESTANT EPISCOPANT EPISCOPANT EPISCOPANT EPISCOPANT EPISCOPAL:AL:AL:AL:AL: “The day is now changed from the seventhto the first day . . but as we meet with no Scriptural direction for the change,we may conclude it was done by the authority of the church.”—“The Prot-estant Episcopal Explanation of the Catechism.

BAPTISTBAPTISTBAPTISTBAPTISTBAPTIST::::: “The Scriptures nowhere call the first day of the week theSabbath . . There is no Scriptural authority for so doing, nor of course, anyScriptural obligation.”—The Watchman.

PRESBPRESBPRESBPRESBPRESBYTERIAN:YTERIAN:YTERIAN:YTERIAN:YTERIAN: “There is no word, no hint in the New Testament aboutabstaining from work on Sunday. The observance of Ash Wednesday, orLent, stands exactly on the same footing as the observance of Sunday. Intothe rest of Sunday no Divine Law enters.”—Canon Eyton, Ten Command-ments.

ANGLICAN:ANGLICAN:ANGLICAN:ANGLICAN:ANGLICAN: “And where are we told in the Scriptures that we are tokeep the first day at all? We are commanded to keep the seventh; but weare nowhere commanded to keep the first day.”—Isaac Williams, PlainSermons on the Catechism, pp. 334, 336.

METHODISTMETHODISTMETHODISTMETHODISTMETHODIST::::: “It is true that there is no positive command for infantbaptism. Nor is there any for keeping holy the first day of the week. Manybelieve that Christ changed the Sabbath. But, from His own words, we seethat He came for no such purpose. Those who believe that Jesus changed

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the Sabbath base it only on a supposition.”—Amos Binney, TheologicalCompendium, pp. 180-181.

EPISCOPEPISCOPEPISCOPEPISCOPEPISCOPALIAN:ALIAN:ALIAN:ALIAN:ALIAN: “We have made the change from the seventh to thefirst day, from Saturday to Sunday, on the authority of the one holy, catho-lic, apostolic church of Christ.”—Bishop Seymour, Why We Keep Sunday.

SOUTHERN BAPTISTSOUTHERN BAPTISTSOUTHERN BAPTISTSOUTHERN BAPTISTSOUTHERN BAPTIST::::: “The sacred name of the seventh day is Sab-bath. This fact is too clear to require argument [Exodus 20:10, quoted] . .On this point the plain teaching of the Word has been admitted in all ages. . Not once did the disciples apply the Sabbath law to the first day of theweek,—that folly was left for a later age, nor did they pretend that the firstday supplanted the seventh.”—Joseph Judson Taylor, The Sabbatic Ques-tion, pp. 14-17, 41.

AMERICAN CONGREGAAMERICAN CONGREGAAMERICAN CONGREGAAMERICAN CONGREGAAMERICAN CONGREGATIONALISTTIONALISTTIONALISTTIONALISTTIONALIST::::: “The current notion, that Christ andHis apostles authoritatively substituted the first day for the seventh, is ab-solutely without any authority in the New Testament.”—Dr. Lyman Abbot,Christian Union, June 26, 1890.

CHRISTIAN CHURCH:CHRISTIAN CHURCH:CHRISTIAN CHURCH:CHRISTIAN CHURCH:CHRISTIAN CHURCH: “Now there is no testimony in all the oracles ofheaven that the Sabbath is changed, or that the Lord’s Day came in theroom of it.”—Alexander Campbell, Reporter, October 8, 1921.

DISCIPLES OF CHRISTDISCIPLES OF CHRISTDISCIPLES OF CHRISTDISCIPLES OF CHRISTDISCIPLES OF CHRIST::::: “There is no direct Scriptural authority for des-ignating the first day ‘the Lord’s Day.’ ”—Dr. D.H. Lucas, Christian Oracle,January 23, 1890.

BAPTISTBAPTISTBAPTISTBAPTISTBAPTIST::::: “To me it seems unaccountable that Jesus, during three years’discussion with His disciples, often conversing upon the Sabbath ques-tion, discussing it in some of its various aspects, freeing it from its false[Jewish traditional] glosses, never alluded to any transference of the day;also, no such thing was intimated. Nor, so far as we know, did the Spirit,which was given to bring to their remembrance all things whatsoever thatHe had said unto them, deal with this question. Nor yet did the inspiredapostles, in preaching the gospel, founding churches, counseling and in-structing those founded, discuss or approach the subject.

“Of course I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in earlyChristian history as a religious day, as we learn from the Christian Fathersand other sources. But what a pity that it comes branded with the mark ofpaganism, and christened with the name of the sun god, then adopted andsanctified by the Papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy toProtestantism.”—Dr. E.T. Hiscox, report of his sermon at the BaptistMinister’s Convention, New York Examiner, November 16, 1893.

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Chapter Twenty-sevenChapter Twenty-sevenChapter Twenty-sevenChapter Twenty-sevenChapter Twenty-seven

When theWhen theWhen theWhen theWhen theFFFFFiririririre Goes Oute Goes Oute Goes Oute Goes Oute Goes Out

—Modern Revivals—Modern Revivals—Modern Revivals—Modern Revivals—Modern Revivals———————————————————————

What has happened to our time? Ministries that don’t minis-What has happened to our time? Ministries that don’t minis-What has happened to our time? Ministries that don’t minis-What has happened to our time? Ministries that don’t minis-What has happened to our time? Ministries that don’t minis-terterterterter. R. R. R. R. Revivals that don’t revive. Revivals that don’t revive. Revivals that don’t revive. Revivals that don’t revive. Revivals that don’t revive. Revivals of yesterevivals of yesterevivals of yesterevivals of yesterevivals of yesteryear broughtyear broughtyear broughtyear broughtyear broughtdeep heardeep heardeep heardeep heardeep heart searchingt searchingt searchingt searchingt searching, humility, wrestling for souls; conversionsthat shrank not at self-denial and sacrifice —

But times have changed. The world is literally coming intoBut times have changed. The world is literally coming intoBut times have changed. The world is literally coming intoBut times have changed. The world is literally coming intoBut times have changed. The world is literally coming intothe Church. What has happened? and Why has it happened?the Church. What has happened? and Why has it happened?the Church. What has happened? and Why has it happened?the Church. What has happened? and Why has it happened?the Church. What has happened? and Why has it happened?———————————————————————

Wherever the Word of God has been faithfullypreached, results have followed that attested its divineorigin. The Spirit of God accompanied the message ofHis servants, and the word was with power. Sinners felttheir consciences quickened. The “light which lighteth ev-ery man that cometh into the world,” illumined the secretchambers of their souls, and the hidden things of darknesswere made manifest. Deep conviction took hold upon theirminds and hearts. They were convinced of sin, and ofrighteousness, and of judgment to come. They had a senseof the righteousness of Jehovah, and felt the terror of ap-pearing, in their guilt and uncleanness, before the Searcherof hearts. In anguish they cried out, “Who shall deliver mefrom the body of this death?” As the cross of Calvary, withits infinite sacrifice for the sins of men, was revealed, theysaw that nothing but the merits of Christ could suffice toatone for their transgressions; this alone could reconcile manto God. With faith and humility they accepted the Lambof God, that taketh away the sin of the world. Throughthe blood of Jesus they had “remission of sins that are past.”

These souls brought forth fruit meet for repentance.

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They believed and were baptized, and rose to walk innewness of life,—new creatures in Christ Jesus. Not tofashion themselves according to the former lusts, but by thefaith of the Son of God to follow in His steps, to reflect Hischaracter, and to purify themselves even as He is pure. Thethings they once hated, they now loved; and the things theyonce loved, they hated. The proud and self-assertive becamemeek and lowly of heart. The vain and supercilious becameserious and unobtrusive. The profane became reverent, thedrunken sober, and the profligate pure. The vain fashions ofthe world were laid aside. Christians sought not the “out-ward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, orof putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of theheart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament ofa meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of greatprice.” 1 Peter 3:3, 4.

Revivals brought deep heart-searching and humility.They were characterized by solemn, earnest appeals tothe sinner, by yearning compassion for the purchase of theblood of Christ. Men and women prayed and wrestled withGod for the salvation of souls. The fruits of such revivalswere seen in souls who shrank not at self-denial and sac-rifice, but rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suf-fer reproach and trial for the sake of Christ. Men behelda transformation in the lives of those who had professedthe name of Jesus. The community was benefited by theirinfluence. 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 berepented of; but the sorrow of the world worketh death. Forbehold this self-same thing, that ye sorrowed after a godlysort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearingof yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, whatvehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In allthings ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this mat-ter.” 2 Corinthians 7:10, 11.

This is the result of the work of the Spirit of God. There

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is no evidence of genuine repentance unless it works ref-ormation. If he restore the pledge, give again that he hadrobbed, 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 seasonsof religious awakening. Judged by their fruits, they wereknown to be blessed of God in the salvation of men and theuplifting of humanity.

But many of the revivals of modern times have pre-sented a marked contrast to those manifestations of di-vine grace which in earlier days followed the labors ofGod’s servants. It is true that a widespread interest iskindled, many profess conversion, and there are largeaccessions to the churches; nevertheless the results arenot such as to warrant the belief that there has been acorresponding increase of real spiritual life. The lightwhich flames up for a time soon dies out, leaving the dark-ness more dense than before.

Popular revivals are too often carried by appeals tothe imagination, by exciting the emotions, by gratifyingthe love for what is new and startling. Converts thus gainedhave little desire to listen to Bible truth, little interest in thetestimony of prophets and apostles. Unless a religious ser-vice has something of a sensational character, it has no at-tractions for them. A message which appeals to unimpas-sioned reason, awakens no response. The plain warnings ofGod’s Word, relating directly to their eternal interests, areunheeded.

With every truly converted soul the relation to God and toeternal things will be the great topic of life. But where, inthe popular churches of to-day, is the spirit of consecra-tion to God? The converts do not renounce their pride,and love of the world. They are no more willing to denyself, to take up the cross, and follow the meek and lowlyJesus, than before their conversion. Religion has become thesport of infidels and skeptics because so many who bear itsname are ignorant of its principles. The power of godlinesshas well-nigh departed from many of the churches. Picnics,

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church theatricals, church fairs, fine houses, personal dis-play, have banished thoughts of God. Lands and goodsand worldly occupations engross the mind, and things ofeternal interest receive hardly a passing notice.

Notwithstanding the widespread declension of faithand piety, there are true followers of Christ in thesechurches. Before the final visitation of God’s judgmentsupon the earth, there will be, among the people of theLord, such a revival of primitive godliness as has notbeen witnessed since apostolic times. The Spirit and powerof God will be poured out upon His children. At that timemany will separate themselves from those churches inwhich the love of this world has supplanted love for Godand His Word. Many, both of ministers and people, willgladly accept those great truths which God has caused to beproclaimed at this time, to prepare a people for the Lord’ssecond coming. The enemy of souls desires to hinder thiswork; and before the time for such a movement shallcome, he will endeavor to prevent it, by introducing acounterfeit. In those churches which he can bring underhis deceptive power, he will make it appear that God’sspecial blessing is poured out; there will be manifest whatis thought to be great religious interest. Multitudes will ex-ult that God is working marvelously for them, when the workis that of another spirit. Under a religious guise, Satan willseek to extend his influence over the Christian world.

In many of the revivals which have occurred duringthe last half century, the same influences have been atwork, to a greater or less degree, that will be manifest inthe more extensive movements of the future. There is anemotional 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 thenature of these movements. Wherever men neglect the tes-timony of the Bible, turning away from those plain, soul-testing truths which require self-denial and renunciationof the world, there we may be sure that God’s blessing isnot bestowed. And by the rule which Christ himself has



given, “Ye shall know them by their fruits,” (Matthew7:16) it is evident that these movements are not the work ofthe Spirit of God.

In the truths of His Word, God has given to men arevelation of Himself; and to all who accept them theyare a shield against the deceptions of Satan. It is a neglectof these truths that has opened the door to the evils whichare now becoming so widespread in the religious world. Thenature and the importance of the law of God have been,to a great extent, lost sight of. A wrong conception of thecharacter, the perpetuity, and obligation of the divinelaw has led to errors in relation to conversion and sanc-tification, and has resulted in lowering the standard ofpiety in the church. Here is to be found the secret of thelack of the Spirit and power of God in the revivals of ourtime.

There are, in the various denominations, men eminent fortheir piety, by whom this fact is acknowledged and deplored.Prof. Edward Park, in setting forth the current religious per-ils, ably says: “One source of danger is the neglect of thepulpit to enforce the divine law. In former days the pulpitwas an echo of the voice of conscience. . . Our most illustri-ous preachers gave a wonderful majesty to their discoursesby following the example of the Master, and giving promi-nence to the law, its precepts, and its threatenings. They re-peated the two great maxims, that the law is a transcript ofthe divine perfections, and that a man who does not lovethe law does not love the gospel; for the law, as well asthe gospel, is a mirror reflecting the true character ofGod. This peril leads to another, that of underrating theevil of sin, the extent of it, the demerit of it. In propor-tion to the rightfulness of the commandment is the wrong-fulness of disobeying it.”

“Affiliated to the dangers already named is the dangerof underestimating the justice of God. The tendency ofthe modern pulpit is to strain out the divine justice from thedivine benevolence, to sink benevolence into a sentimentrather than exalt it into a principle. The new theological prism

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puts asunder what God has joined together. Is the divinelaw a good or an evil? It is a good. Then justice is good;for it is a disposition to execute the law. From the habitof underrating the divine law and justice, the extent anddemerit of human disobedience, men easily slide into thehabit of underestimating the grace which has providedan atonement for sin.” Thus the gospel loses its value andimportance in the minds of men, and soon they are ready topractically cast aside the Bible itself.

Many religious teachers assert that Christ by Hisdeath abolished the law, and men are henceforth freefrom its requirements. There are some who represent it asa 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 holylaw of God. Said David, “I will walk at liberty; for I seekthy precepts.” Psalm 119.45. The apostle James, who wroteafter the death of Christ, refers to the decalogue as the “royallaw,” and the “perfect law of liberty.” James 2:8; 1:25. Andthe Revelator, half a century after the crucifixion, pronouncesa blessing upon them “that do His commandments, that theymay have right to the tree of life, and may enter in throughthe gates into the city.” Revelation 22:14.

The claim that Christ by His death abolished HisFather’s law, is without foundation. Had it been possiblefor the law to be changed or set aside, then Christ neednot have died to save man from the penalty of sin. Thedeath of Christ, so far from abolishing the law, provesthat it is immutable. The Son of God came to “magnify thelaw, and make it honorable;” Isaiah 42:21. He said, “Thinknot that I am come to destroy the law;” “till heaven and earthpass, one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law.”Matthew 5:17, 18. And concerning himself he declares, “Idelight to do Thy will, O my God; yea, Thy law is within myheart.” Psalm 40:8.

The law of God, from its very nature, is unchange-able. It is a revelation of the will and the character of itsAuthor. God is love, and His law is love. Its two great prin-



ciples are love to God and man. “Love is the fulfilling of thelaw.” Romans 13:10. The character of God is righteousnessand truth; such is the nature of His law. Says the psalmist,“Thy law is the truth;” “all Thy commandments are right-eousness.” Psalm 119:142, 172. And the apostle Paul de-clares, “The law is holy, and the commandment holy, andjust, and good.” Romans 7:12. Such a law, being an ex-pression of the mind and will of God, must be as endur-ing as its Author.

It is the work of conversion and sanctification to rec-oncile men to God, by bringing them into accord withthe principles of His law. In the beginning, man was cre-ated in the image of God. He was in perfect harmony withthe nature and the law of God; the principles of righteous-ness were written upon His heart. But sin alienated him fromhis Maker. He no longer reflected the divine image. His heartwas at war with the principles of God’s law. “The carnalmind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law ofGod, neither indeed can be.” Romans 8:7. But “God so lovedthe world, that He gave His only begotten Son,” that manmight be reconciled to God. Through the merits of Christ Hecan be restored to harmony with His Maker. His heart mustbe renewed by divine grace, he must have a new life fromabove. This change is the new birth, without which, saysJesus, “he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

The first step in reconciliation to God, is the convic-tion of sin. “Sin is the transgression of the law.” “By the lawis the knowledge of sin.” 1 John 3:4; Romans 3:20. In or-der to see his guilt, the sinner must test his character byGod’s great standard of righteousness. It is a mirror whichshows the perfection of a righteous character, and enableshim to discern the defects in his own.

The law reveals to man his sins, but it provides noremedy. While it promises life to the obedient, it declaresthat death is the portion of the transgressor. The gospel ofChrist alone can free him from the condemnation or thedefilement of sin. He must exercise repentance towardGod, whose law has been transgressed, and faith in

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Christ, His atoning sacrifice. Thus he obtains “remissionof sins that are past,” and becomes a partaker of the divinenature. He is a child of God, having received the spirit ofadoption, 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 for-bid; yea, we establish the law.” “How shall we, that aredead 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.” Romans 3:31;6:2; 1 John 5:3. In the new birth the heart is brought intoharmony with God, as it is brought into accord with Hislaw. When this mighty change has taken place in the sin-ner, he has passed from death unto life, from sin unto ho-liness, from transgression and rebellion to obedience andloyalty. The old life of alienation from God has ended; thenew life of reconciliation, of faith and love, has begun. Then“the righteousness of the law” will “be fulfilled in us, whowalk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:4.And the language of the soul will be, “O how love I Thy law!it is my meditation all the day.” Psalm 119:97.

“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.”Psalm 19:7. Without the law, men have no just concep-tion of the purity and holiness of God, or of their ownguilt and uncleanness. They have no true conviction ofsin, and feel no need of repentance. Not seeing their lostcondition as violators of God’s law, they do not realize theirneed of the atoning blood of Christ. The hope of salvation isaccepted without a radical change of heart or reformation oflife. Thus superficial conversions abound, and multitudesare joined to the church who have never been united to Christ.

Erroneous theories of sanctification, also, springingfrom neglect or rejection of the divine law, have a promi-nent place in the religious movements of the day. Thesetheories are both false in doctrine, and dangerous in practi-cal results; and the fact that they are so generally findingfavor renders it doubly essential that all have a clear under-standing 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 isthe will of God, even your sanctification.” And he prays,“The very God of peace sanctify you wholly.” 1 Thessaloni-ans 4:3; 5:23. The Bible clearly teaches what sanctifica-tion is, and how it is to be attained. The Saviour prayedfor His disciples, “Sanctify them through thy truth; thyWord is truth.” John 17:17. And Paul teaches that believ-ers are to be “sanctified by the Holy Ghost.” Romans 15:16.What is the work of the Holy Spirit? Jesus told His disciples,“When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide youinto all truth.” John 16:13. And the psalmist says, “Thylaw is the truth.” By the Word and the Spirit of God areopened to men the great principles of righteousness embod-ied in His law. And since the law of God is “holy, and just,and good,” a transcript of the divine perfection, it fol-lows that a character formed by obedience to that lawwill be holy. Christ is a perfect example of such a char-acter. He says, “I have kept My Father’s commandments.”“I do always those things that please Him.” John 15:10; 8:29.The followers of Christ are to become like Him,—by thegrace of God, to form characters in harmony with the prin-ciples of His holy law. This is Bible sanctification.

This work can be accomplished only through faith inChrist, by the power of the indwelling Spirit of God. Pauladmonishes believers, “Work out your own salvation withfear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you bothto will and to do of His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12,13. The Christian will feel the promptings of sin, but hewill maintain a constant warfare against it. Here is whereChrist’s help is needed. Human weakness becomes unitedto divine strength, and faith exclaims, “Thanks be to God,which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”1 Corinthians 15:57.

The Scriptures plainly show that the work of sanctifi-cation is progressive. When in conversion the sinner findspeace with God through the blood of the atonement, theChristian life has but just begun. Now he is to “go on unto

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perfection;” to grow up “unto the measure of the stature ofthe fullness of Christ.” Says the apostle Paul: “This one thingI do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reachingforth unto those things which are before, I press toward themark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”Philippians 3:13, 14. And Peter sets before us the stepsby which Bible sanctification is to be attained: “Givingall diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowl-edge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance pa-tience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherlykindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. . . . If ye do thesethings, ye shall never fall.” 2 Peter 1:5-10.

Those who experience the sanctification of the Biblewill manifest a spirit of humility. Like Moses, they havehad a view of the awful majesty of holiness, and they seetheir own unworthiness, in contrast with the purity and ex-alted perfection of the Infinite One.

The prophet Daniel was an example of true sanctifi-cation. His long life was filled up with noble service for hisMaster. He was a man “greatly beloved” (Daniel 10:11) ofHeaven. Yet instead of claiming to be pure and holy, thishonored prophet identified himself with the really sinful ofIsrael, as he pleaded before God in behalf of his people: “Wedo not present our supplications before thee for ourrighteousnesses, but for Thy great mercies.” “We have sinned,we have done wickedly.” He declares, “I was speaking, andpraying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people.”And when at a later time the Son of God appeared, to givehim instruction, he declares, “My comeliness was turned inme into corruption, and I retained no strength.” Daniel 9:18,15, 20; 10:8.

When Job heard the voice of the Lord out of the whirl-wind, he exclaimed, “I abhor myself, and repent in dust andashes.” Job 42:6. It was when Isaiah saw the glory of theLord, and heard the cherubim crying, “Holy, holy, holy, isthe Lord of hosts,” that he cried out, “Woe is me! for I amundone.” Isaiah 6:3, 5. Paul, after he was caught up into thethird heaven, and heard things which it was not possible for



a man to utter, speaks of himself as “less than the least of allsaints.” 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 (margin); Ephesians 3:8. Itwas the beloved John, that leaned on Jesus’ breast, and be-held His glory, who fell as one dead before the feet of theangel. Revelation 22:8.

There can be no self-exaltation, no boastful claim tofreedom from sin, on the part of those who walk in theshadow of Calvary’s cross. They feel that it was their sinwhich caused the agony that broke the heart of the Son ofGod, and this thought will lead them to self-abasement.Those who live nearest to Jesus discern most clearly thefrailty and sinfulness of humanity, and their only hope isin the merit of a crucified and risen Saviour.

The sanctification now gaining prominence in the re-ligious world, carries with it a spirit of self-exaltation,and a disregard for the law of God, that mark it as foreignto the religion of the Bible. Its advocates teach that sanc-tification is an instantaneous work, by which, through faithalone, they attain to perfect holiness. “Only believe,” saythey, “and the blessing is yours.” No further effort on thepart of the receiver is supposed to be required. At the sametime they deny the authority of the law of God, urgingthat they are released from obligation to keep the com-mandments. But is it possible for men to be holy, in ac-cord with the will and character of God, without cominginto harmony with the principles which are an expres-sion of His nature and will, and which show what is well-pleasing to Him?

The desire for an easy religion, that requires no striv-ing, no self-denial, no divorce from the follies of the world,has made the doctrine of faith, and faith only, a populardoctrine; but what saith the Word of God? Says the apostleJames: “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man sayhe 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 hehad offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou howfaith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made

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perfect? . . . Ye see then how that by works a man is justified,and not by faith only.” James 2:14-24.

The testimony of the Word of God is against this en-snaring doctrine of faith without works. It is not faith thatclaims the favor of Heaven without complying with the con-ditions upon which mercy is to be granted. It is presump-tion; for genuine faith has its foundation in the promisesand provisions of the Scriptures.

Let none deceive themselves with the belief that theycan become holy while willfully violating one of God’srequirements. The commission of a known sin silencesthe witnessing voice of the Spirit, and separates the soulfrom God. “Sin is the transgression of the law.” And “who-soever sinneth (transgresseth the law) hath not seen Him,neither known Him.” 1 John 3:6. Though John in his epistlesdwells so fully upon love, yet he does not hesitate to revealthe true character of that class who claim to be sanctifiedwhile 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, inHim verily is the love of God perfected.” 1 John 2:4, 5. Hereis the test of every man’s profession. We cannot accord holi-ness to any man without bringing him to the measurement ofGod’s only standard of holiness in Heaven and in earth. Ifmen feel no weight of the moral law, if they belittle andmake light of God’s precepts, if they break one of theleast of these commandments, and teach men so, theyshall be of no esteem in the sight of Heaven, and wemay know that their claims are without foundation.

And the claim to be without sin is, in itself, evi-dence that he who makes this claim is far from holy.It is because he has no true conception of the infinite pu-rity and holiness of God, or of what they must becomewho shall be in harmony with his character; because hehas no true conception of the purity and exalted loveliness ofJesus, and the malignity and evil of sin, that man can regardhimself as holy. The greater the distance between himselfand Christ, and the more inadequate his conceptions of the



divine character and requirements, the more righteous heappears in his own eyes.

The sanctification set forth in the Scriptures em-braces the entire being,—spirit, soul, and body. Paulprayed for the Thessalonians, that their “whole spirit andsoul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming ofour Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23. Again hewrites to believers, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, bythe mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a livingsacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.” Romans 12:1. Inthe time of ancient Israel, every offering brought as a sac-rifice to God was carefully examined. If any defect wasdiscovered in the animal presented, it was refused; for Godhad commanded that the offering be “without blemish.” SoChristians are bidden to present their bodies, “a living sac-rifice, holy, acceptable unto God.” In order to do this, alltheir powers must be preserved in the best possiblecondition. Every practice that weakens physical ormental strength unfits man for the service of his Cre-ator. And will God be pleased with anything less than thebest we can offer? Said Christ, “Thou shalt love the Lordthy God with all thy heart.” Those who do love God with allthe heart, will desire to give Him the best service of theirlife, and they will be constantly seeking to bring every powerof their being into harmony with the laws that will promotetheir ability to do His will. They will not, by the indul-gence of appetite or passion, enfeeble or defile theoffering which they present to their heavenly Father.

Says Peter, “Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war againstthe soul.” 1 Peter 2:11. Every sinful gratification tends tobenumb the faculties and deaden the mental and spiritualperceptions, and the Word or the Spirit of God can make buta feeble impression upon the heart. Paul writes to theCorinthians, “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness ofthe flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” 2Corinthians 7:1. And with the fruits of the Spirit,—“love,joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meek-ness,”—he classes temperance. Galatians 5:22, 23.

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Notwithstanding these inspired declarations, howmany professed Christians are enfeebling their pow-ers in the pursuit of gain or the worship of fashion;how many are debasing their godlike manhood by glut-tony, by wine-drinking, by forbidden pleasure. Andthe church, instead of rebuking, too often encourages theevil by appealing to appetite, to desire for gain, or love ofpleasure, to replenish her treasury, which love for Christ istoo feeble to supply. Were Jesus to enter the churches ofto-day, and behold the feasting and unholy traffic there con-ducted in the name of religion, would He not drive out thosedesecrators, as He banished the money-changers from thetemple?

The apostle James declares that the wisdom fromabove is “first pure.” Had he encountered those who takethe precious name of Jesus upon lips defiled by tobacco, thosewhose breath and person are contaminated by its foul odor,and who pollute the air of heaven, and force all about themto inhale the poison,—had the apostle come in contact witha practice so opposed to the purity of the gospel, would henot have denounced it as “earthly, sensual, devilish”? Slavesof tobacco, claiming the blessing of entire sanctification, talkof their hope of Heaven; but God’s Word plainly declaresthat “there shall in nowise enter into it anything that defileth.”Revelation 21:27.

“Know ye not that your body is the temple of the HolyGhost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye arenot your own? for ye are bought with a price; thereforeglorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which areGod’s.” 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20. He whose body is thetemple of the Holy Spirit will not be enslaved by a perni-cious habit. His powers belong to Christ, who has boughthim with the price of blood. His property is the Lord’s. Howcould he be guiltless in squandering this intrusted capital?Professed Christians yearly expend an immense sumupon useless and pernicious indulgences, while souls areperishing for the word of life. God is robbed in tithes andofferings, while they consume upon the altar of destroying



lust more than they give to relieve the poor or for the sup-port of the gospel. If all who profess to be followers ofChrist were truly sanctified, their means, instead of beingspent for needless and even hurtful indulgences, would beturned into the Lord’s treasury, and Christians would set anexample of temperance, self-denial, and self-sacrifice. Thenthey would be the light of the world.

The world is given up to self-indulgence. “The lustof the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life,” con-trol the masses of the people. But Christ’s followers havea holier calling. “Come out from among them, and be yeseparate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean.” In thelight of God’s Word we are justified in declaring that sanc-tification cannot be genuine which does not work this utterrenunciation of the sinful pursuits and gratifications of theworld.

To those who comply with the conditions, Come outfrom among them, and be ye separate, and touch not theunclean, God’s promise is, “I will receive you, and willbe a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daugh-ters, saith the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:17, 18. It isthe privilege and the duty of every Christian to have a richand abundant experience in the things of God. “I am thelight of the world,” said Jesus. “He that followeth Me shallnot walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John8:12. “The path of the just is as the shining light, that shinethmore and more unto the perfect day.” Proverbs 4:18. Everystep of faith and obedience brings the soul into closerconnection with the Light of the world, in whom “there isno darkness at all.” The bright beams of the Sun of Righ-teousness shine upon the servants of God, and they are toreflect His rays. As the stars tell us that there is a great lightin Heaven with whose glory they are made bright, so Chris-tians are to make it manifest that there is a God on the throneof the universe whose character is worthy of praise and imi-tation. The graces of His Spirit, the purity and holiness ofHis character, will be manifest in His witnesses.

Paul, in his letter to the Colossians, sets forth the rich

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blessings granted to the children of God. He says: We “donot cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might befilled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiri-tual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lordunto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and in-creasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with allmight, according to His glorious power, unto all patienceand long-suffering with joyfulness.” Colossians 1:9-11.

Again he writes of his desire that the brethren at Ephesusmight come to understand the height of the Christian’s privi-lege. He opens before them, in the most comprehensive lan-guage, the marvelous power and knowledge that they mightpossess as sons and daughters of the Most High. It was theirs“to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the innerman,” to be “rooted and grounded in love,” to “comprehendwith all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth,and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passethknowledge.” But the prayer of the apostle reaches the cli-max of privilege when he prays that “ye might be filled withall the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:16-19.

Here are revealed the heights of attainment that wemay reach through faith in the promises of our heavenlyFather, when we fulfill His requirements. Through themerits of Christ, we have access to the throne of infinitepower. “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Himup for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give usall things?” Romans 8:32. The Father gave His Spirit with-out measure to His Son, and we also may partake of its full-ness. Jesus says: “If ye then, being evil, know how to givegood gifts unto your children, how much more shall yourheavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?”Luke 11:13. “If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will doit.” “Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”John 14:14; 16:24.

While the Christian’s life will be characterized by humil-ity, it should not be marked with sadness and self-deprecia-tion. It is the privilege of every one to so live that Godwill approve and bless him. It is not the will of our heav-



enly Father that we should be ever under condemna-tion and darkness. There is no evidence of true humilityin going with the head bowed down and the heart filledwith thoughts of self. We may go to Jesus and becleansed, and stand before the law without shame andremorse. “There is therefore now no condemnation tothem which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after theflesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:1.

Through Jesus the fallen sons of Adam become “sonsof God.” “Both He that sanctifieth and they that are sanc-tified are all of one; for which cause He is not ashamed tocall them brethren.” Hebrews 2:11. The Christian’s lifeshould be one of faith, of victory, and joy in God. “Whatso-ever is born of God overcometh the world; and this is thevictory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” 1 John5:4. Truly spake God’s servant Nehemiah, “The joy of theLord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10. And says Paul:“Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say, Rejoice.”“Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everythinggive thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus con-cerning you.” Philippians 4:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.

Such are the fruits of Bible conversion and sanctifica-tion; and it is because the great principles of righteous-ness set forth in the law of God are so indifferently re-garded by the Christian world, that these fruits are sorarely witnessed. This is why there is manifest so little ofthat deep, abiding work of the Spirit of God which markedrevivals in former years.

It is by beholding that we become changed. And as thosesacred precepts in which God has opened to men the perfec-tion and holiness of His character are neglected, and the mindsof the people are attracted to human teachings and theories,what marvel that there has followed a decline of living pietyin the church. Saith the Lord, “They have forsaken Me thefountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, bro-ken cisterns, that can hold no water.” Jeremiah 2:13.

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel ofthe ungodly. . . . But his delight is in the law of the Lord;

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and in His law doth he meditate day and night. Andhe shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf alsoshall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall pros-per.” Psalm 1:1-3. It is only as the law of God is re-stored to its rightful position that there can be a re-vival of primitive faith and godliness among His pro-fessed 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.”Jeremiah 6:16.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: HEAL: HEAL: HEAL: HEAL: HEALTHFUL LIVINGTHFUL LIVINGTHFUL LIVINGTHFUL LIVINGTHFUL LIVING

“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health,even as thy soul prospereth.” 3 John 2.

“If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt dothat which is right in His sight, and wilt give ear to His commandments, andkeep all His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I havebrought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.” Exodus15:26.

“And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless thy bread, andthy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.” Exodus 23:25.

“Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases.” Psalm103:3.

“For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and inyour spirit, which are God’s.” I Corinthians 6:20.

“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost whichis in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” 1 Corinthians 6:19.

“If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the templeof God is holy, which temple ye are.” 1 Corinthians 3:17.

“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with theportion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank.” Daniel 1:8.

“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which isupon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a treeyielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” Genesis 1:29.

“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” Proverbs 17:22.“I beseech you . . that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, ac-

ceptable unto God.” Romans 12:1.“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory

of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31.“Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.” 1

Corinthians 9:25.



Chapter Twenty-eightChapter Twenty-eightChapter Twenty-eightChapter Twenty-eightChapter Twenty-eight

JudgmentJudgmentJudgmentJudgmentJudgmentbefore the Endbefore the Endbefore the Endbefore the Endbefore the End

—The Investigative Judgment—The Investigative Judgment—The Investigative Judgment—The Investigative Judgment—The Investigative Judgment———————————————————————

What subject is more imporWhat subject is more imporWhat subject is more imporWhat subject is more imporWhat subject is more important than that of the Judgment?tant than that of the Judgment?tant than that of the Judgment?tant than that of the Judgment?tant than that of the Judgment?How urgent it is that we learn all we can about this great day thatHow urgent it is that we learn all we can about this great day thatHow urgent it is that we learn all we can about this great day thatHow urgent it is that we learn all we can about this great day thatHow urgent it is that we learn all we can about this great day thatis so soon to come upon us all —is so soon to come upon us all —is so soon to come upon us all —is so soon to come upon us all —is so soon to come upon us all —

The Bible tells us so much about it: when it will convene, how itwill be conducted, who will take part, the books of record, the stat-ute book, and our Advocate.

The Investigative Judgment—one of the most solemn eventsThe Investigative Judgment—one of the most solemn eventsThe Investigative Judgment—one of the most solemn eventsThe Investigative Judgment—one of the most solemn eventsThe Investigative Judgment—one of the most solemn eventsin all historin all historin all historin all historin all history—a matter that affects every—a matter that affects every—a matter that affects every—a matter that affects every—a matter that affects everyone of us —yone of us —yone of us —yone of us —yone of us ————————————————————————

“I beheld,” says the prophet Daniel, “till thrones wereplaced, and One that was ancient of days did sit. His rai-ment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like purewool; His throne was fiery flames, and the wheels thereofburning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from be-fore Him; thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and tenthousand times ten thousand stood before Him; the Judg-ment was set, and the books were opened.” Daniel 7:9,10, Revised Version.

Thus was presented to the prophet’s vision the greatand solemn day when the characters and the lives of menshould pass in review before the Judge of all the earth,and to every man should be rendered “according to hisworks.” The Ancient of days is God the Father. Says thepsalmist, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or everthou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from ever-lasting to everlasting, thou art God.” Psalm 90:2. It is He,the source of all being, and the fountain of all law, that isto preside in the Judgment. And holy angels, as ministers

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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 theclouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, andthey brought Him near before Him. And there was givenhim dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people,nations, and languages, should serve Him; His dominion isan everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away.” Daniel7:13,14. The coming of Christ here described is not Hissecond coming to the earth. He comes to the Ancient ofdays in Heaven to receive dominion, and glory, and a king-dom, which will be given Him at the close of His work as amediator. It is this coming, and not His second advent tothe earth, that was foretold in prophecy to take place atthe termination of the 2300 days, in 1844. Attended byheavenly angels, our great High Priest enters the holy ofholies, and there appears in the presence of God, to en-gage in the last acts of His ministration in behalf ofman,—to perform the work of investigative Judgment,and to make an atonement for all who are shown to beentitled to its benefits.

In the typical service, only those who had come beforeGod with confession and repentance, and whose sins, throughthe blood of the sin-offering, were transferred to the sanctu-ary, had a part in the service of the day of atonement. So inthe great day of final atonement and investigative Judg-ment, the only cases considered are those of the professedpeople of God. The judgment of the wicked is a distinctand separate work, and takes place at a later period.“Judgment must begin at the house of God; and if it firstbegin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not thegospel?” 1 Peter 4:17.

The books of record in Heaven, in which the namesand the deeds of men are registered, are to determinethe decisions of the Judgment. Says the prophet Daniel,“The Judgment was set, and the books were opened.” TheRevelator, describing the same scene, adds, “Another bookwas opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were

The Investigative Judgment The Investigative Judgment The Investigative Judgment The Investigative Judgment The Investigative Judgment [479-480] [479-480] [479-480] [479-480] [479-480]


judged out of those things which were written in the books,according to their works.” Revelation 20:12.

The book of life contains the names of all who haveever entered the service of God. Jesus bade His disciples,“Rejoice, because your names are written in Heaven.” Luke10:20. Paul speaks of His faithful fellow-workers, “whosenames are in the book of life.” Philippians 4:3. Daniel, look-ing down to “a time of trouble, such as never was,” declaresthat God’s people shall be delivered, “every one that shallbe found written in the book.” Daniel 12:1. And the Revela-tor says that those only shall enter the city of God whosenames “are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Revelation21:27.

“A book of remembrance” is written before God, inwhich are recorded the good deeds of “them that fearedthe Lord, and that thought upon His name.” Malachi 3:16.Their words of faith, their acts of love, are registered inHeaven. Nehemiah refers to this when he says, “Rememberme, O my God, . . . and wipe not out my good deeds that Ihave done for the house of my God.” Nehemiah 13:14. Inthe book of God’s remembrance every deed of righteous-ness is immortalized. There every temptation resisted, everyevil overcome, every word of tender pity expressed, is faith-fully chronicled. And every act of sacrifice, every sufferingand sorrow endured for Christ’s sake, is recorded. Says thepsalmist. “Thou tellest my wanderings. Put thou my tearsinto Thy bottle; are they not in Thy book?” Psalm 56:8.

There is a record also of the sins of men. “For Godshall bring every work into Judgment, with every secret thing,whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:14.“Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give ac-count thereof in the day of Judgment.” Said the Saviour, “Bythy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shaltbe condemned.” Matthew 12:36, 37. The secret purposesand motives appears in the unerring register; for God “willbring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will makemanifest the counsels of the hearts.” 1 Corinthians 4:5. “Be-hold, it is written before Me, . . . your iniquities, and the

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iniquities of your fathers together, saith the Lord.” Isaiah65:6, 7.

Every man’s work passes in review before God, andis registered for faithfulness or unfaithfulness. Oppositeeach name in the books of Heaven is entered, with terribleexactness, every wrong word, every selfish act, every unful-filled duty, and every secret sin, with every artful dissem-bling. Heaven-sent warnings or reproofs neglected, wastedmoments, unimproved opportunities, the influence exertedfor good or for evil, with its far-reaching results, all arechronicled by the recording angel.

The law of God is the standard by which the charac-ters 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 everywork into Judgment.” Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14. The apostleJames admonishes his brethren, “So speak ye, and so do, asthey that shall be judged by the law of liberty.” James 2:12.

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 theangels; and are the children of God, being the children of theresurrection.” Luke 20:35, 36. And again he declares that“they that have done good” shall come forth “unto the resur-rection of life.” John 5:29. The righteous dead will not beraised until after the Judgment at which they are accountedworthy of “the resurrection of life.” Hence they will not bepresent in person at the tribunal when their records are ex-amined, and their cases decided.

Jesus will appear as their advocate, to plead in theirbehalf before God. “If any man sin, we have an advocatewith the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 John 2:1. “ForChrist is not entered into the holy places made with hands,which are the figures of the true; but into Heaven itself, nowto appear in the presence of God for us.” “Wherefore He isable also to save them to the uttermost that come unto Godby Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.”



Hebrews 9:24; 7:25.As the books of record are opened in the Judgment,

the lives of all who have believed on Jesus come in re-view before God. Beginning with those who first livedupon the earth, our Advocate presents the cases of eachsuccessive generation, and closes with the living. Everyname is mentioned, every case closely investigated. Namesare accepted, names rejected. When any have sins remain-ing upon the books of record, unrepented of and unfor-given, their names will be blotted out of the book of life,and the record of their good deeds will be erased fromthe book of God’s remembrance. The Lord declared toMoses, “Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blotout of my book.” Exodus 32:33. And says the prophetEzekiel, “When the righteous turneth away from his right-eousness, and committeth iniquity, . . . all his righteousnessthat he hath done shall not be mentioned.” Ezekiel 18:24.

All who have truly repented of sin, and by faith claimedthe blood of Christ as their atoning sacrifice, have hadpardon entered against their names in the books ofHeaven; as they have become partakers of the righteous-ness of Christ, and their characters are found to be inharmony with the law of God, their sins will be blottedout, and they themselves will be accounted worthy of eter-nal 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.” Isaiah 43:25. Said Jesus,“He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white rai-ment; 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 Hisangels.” “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 alsodeny before My Father which is in Heaven.” Revelation 3:5;Matthew 10:32, 33.

The deepest interest manifested among men in the deci-sions of earthly tribunals but faintly represents the interestevinced in the heavenly courts when the names entered in

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the book of life come up in review before the Judge of allthe earth. The divine Intercessor presents the pleathat all who have overcome through faith in His bloodbe forgiven their transgressions, that they be restoredto their Eden home, and crowned as joint-heirs with him-self to the “first dominion.” Micah 4:8. Satan, in his effortsto deceive and tempt our race, had thought to frustrate thedivine plan in man’s creation; but Christ now asks thatthis plan be carried into effect, as if man had neverfallen. He asks for His people not only pardon andjustification, full and complete, but a share in His gloryand a seat upon His throne.

While Jesus is pleading for the subjects of His grace,Satan accuses them before God as transgressors. Thegreat deceiver has sought to lead them into skepticism, tocause them to lose confidence in God, to separate themselvesfrom His love, and to break His law. Now he points to therecord of their lives, to the defects of character, the unlike-ness to Christ, which has dishonored their Redeemer, to allthe sins that he has tempted them to commit, and because ofthese he claims them as his subjects.

Jesus does not excuse their sins, but shows their peni-tence and faith, and, claiming for them forgiveness, Helifts His wounded hands before the Father and the holyangels, saying, “I know them by name. I have graven themon the palms of My hands. ‘The sacrifices of God are a bro-ken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wiltnot despise.” Psalm 51:17. And to the accuser of His peopleHe declares, “The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lordthat hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee. Is not this a brandplucked out of the fire?’ Zechariah 3:2. Christ will clotheHis faithful ones with His own righteousness, that He maypresent them to his Father “a glorious church, not havingspot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.” Ephesians 5:27. Theirnames stand enrolled in the book of life, and concerning themit is written, “They shall walk with Me in white; for they areworthy.” Revelation 3:4.

Thus will be realized the complete fulfillment 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 shallbe sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah,and they shall not be found.” Jeremiah 31:34; 50:20. “Inthat day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glori-ous, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comelyfor them that are escaped of Israel. And it shall come topass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth inJerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is writ-ten among the living in Jerusalem.” Isaiah 4:2,3.

The work of the investigative Judgment and the blot-ting out of sins is to be accomplished before the secondadvent of the Lord. Since the dead are to be judged outof the things written in the books, it is impossible thatthe sins of men should be blotted out until after the Judg-ment at which their cases are to be investigated. But theapostle Peter distinctly states that the sins of believers willbe blotted out, “when the times of refreshing shall come fromthe presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ.”Acts 3:19, 20. When the investigative Judgment closes, Christwill come, and His reward is with Him to give to every manas His work shall be.

In the typical service the high priest, having made theatonement for Israel, came forth and blessed the con-gregation. So Christ, at the close of His work as a me-diator, will appear, “without sin unto salvation,” (He-brews 9:28) to bless His waiting people with eternal life.As the priest, in removing the sins from the sanctuary, con-fessed them upon the head of the scapegoat, so Christ willplace all these sins upon Satan, the originator and instigatorof sin. The scape-goat, bearing the sins of Israel, was sentaway “unto a land not inhabited;” (Leviticus 16:22) so Sa-tan, bearing the guilt of all the sins which he has causedGod’s people to commit, will be for a thousand years con-fined to the earth, which will then be desolate, without in-habitant, and he will at last suffer the full penalty of sin, inthe fires that shall destroy all the wicked. Thus the great

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plan of redemption will reach its accomplishment inthe final eradication of sin, and the deliverance of allwho have been willing to renounce evil.

At the time appointed for the Judgment—the close ofthe 2300 days, in 1844—began the work of investigationand blotting out of sins. All who have ever taken uponthemselves the name of Christ must pass its searchingscrutiny. Both the living and the dead are to be judged “outof those things which were written in the books, accordingto their works,”

Sins that have not been repented of and forsaken willnot be pardoned, and blotted out of the books of record,but will stand to witness against the sinner in the day ofGod. He may have committed his evil deeds in the light ofday or in the darkness of night; but they were open and mani-fest before Him with whom we have to do. Angels of Godwitnessed 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 actorsmay cherish the least suspicion of the wrong; but it is laidbare before the intelligences of Heaven. The darkness of thedarkest night, the secrecy of all deceptive arts, is not suffi-cient to veil one thought from the knowledge of the Eternal.God has an exact record of every unjust account and everyunfair dealing. He is not deceived by appearances of piety.He makes no mistakes in His estimation of character. Menmay be deceived by those who are corrupt in heart, but Godpierces all disguises, and reads the inner life.

How solemn is the thought! Day after day, passinginto eternity, bears its burden of records for the booksof Heaven. Words once spoken, deeds once done, cannever be recalled. Angels have registered both the goodand the evil. The mightiest conqueror upon the earth cannotcall back the record of even a single day. Our acts, our words,even our most secret motives, all have their weight in decid-ing our destiny for weal or woe. Though they may be forgot-ten by us, they will bear their testimony to justify or to con-demn.



As the features of the countenance are reproduced withunerring accuracy on the polished plate of the artist, so thecharacter is faithfully delineated in the books above. Yet howlittle solicitude is felt concerning that record which is to meetthe gaze of heavenly beings. Could the veil which separatesthe visible from the invisible world be swept back, and thechildren of men behold an angel recording every word anddeed, which they must meet again in the Judgment, how manywords that are daily uttered would remain unspoken; howmany deeds would remain undone.

In the Judgment, the use made of every talent will bescrutinized. How have we employed the capital lent us ofHeaven? Will the Lord at His coming receive His own withusury? Have we improved the powers intrusted us, inhand and heart and brain, to the glory of God and theblessing of the world? How have we used our time, ourpen, our voice, our money, our influence? What have wedone for Christ, in the person of the poor, the afflicted,the orphan, or the widow? God has made us the deposi-tary of His holy Word; what have we done with the lightand truth given us to make men wise unto salvation? Novalue is attached to a mere profession of faith in Christ; onlythe love which is shown by works is counted genuine. Yet itis love alone which in the sight of Heaven makes any actof value. Whatever is done from love, however small itmay appear in the estimation of men, is accepted andrewarded of God.

The hidden selfishness of men stands revealed in thebooks of Heaven. There is the record of unfulfilled du-ties to their fellow-men, of forgetfulness of the Saviour’sclaims. There they will see how often were given to Satanthe time, thought, and strength that belonged to Christ. Sadis the record which angels bear to Heaven. Intelligent be-ings, professed followers of Christ, are absorbed in the ac-quirement of worldly possessions, or the enjoyment of earthlypleasures. Money, time, and strength are sacrificed fordisplay and self-indulgence; but few are the momentsdevoted to prayer, to the searching of the Scriptures, to

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humiliation of soul and confession of sin.Satan invents unnumbered schemes to occupy our

minds that they may not dwell upon the very work withwhich we ought to be best acquainted. The arch-deceiverhates the great truths that bring to view an atoning sacrificeand an all-powerful Mediator. He knows that with him ev-erything depends on his diverting minds from Jesus and Histruth.

Those who would share the benefits of the Saviour’s me-diation should permit nothing to interfere with their duty toperfect holiness in the fear of God. The precious hours, in-stead of being given to pleasure, to display, or to gain-seek-ing, should be devoted to an earnest, prayerful study of theWord of truth. The subject of the sanctuary and the In-vestigative Judgment should be clearly understood bythe people of God. All need a knowledge for themselvesof the position and work of their great High Priest. Oth-erwise, it will be impossible for them to exercise the faithwhich is essential at this time, or to occupy the position whichGod designs them to fill. Every individual has a soul tosave or to lose. Each has a case pending at the bar ofGod. Each must meet the great Judge face to face. How im-portant, then, that every mind contemplate often the solemnscene when the Judgment shall sit and the books shall beopened, when, with Daniel, every individual must stand inhis lot, at the end of the days.

All who have received the light upon these subjectsare to bear testimony of the great truths which God hascommitted to them. The sanctuary in Heaven is the verycenter of Christ’s work in behalf of men. It concerns ev-ery soul living upon the earth. It opens to view the plan ofredemption, bringing us down to the very close of time, andrevealing the triumphant issue of the contest between right-eousness and sin. It is of the utmost importance that all shouldthoroughly investigate these subjects, and be able to give ananswer to every one that asketh them a reason of the hopethat is in them.

The intercession of Christ in man’s behalf in the sanc-



tuary above is as essential to the plan of salvation aswas His death upon the cross. By His death He beganthat work which after His resurrection He ascended tocomplete in Heaven. We must by faith enter within theveil, “whither the forerunner is for us entered.” Hebrews6:20. There the light from the cross of Calvary is reflected.There we may gain a clearer insight into the mysteries ofredemption. The salvation of man is accomplished at aninfinite expense to Heaven; the sacrifice made is equal tothe broadest demands of the broken law of God. Jesus hasopened the way to the Father’s throne, and through Hismediation the sincere desire of all who come to Him infaith may be presented before God.

“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whosoconfesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” Proverbs28:13. If those who hide and excuse their faults could seehow Satan exults over them, how he taunts Christ andholy angels with their course, they would make haste toconfess their sins and to put them away. Through de-fects in the character, Satan works to gain control of thewhole mind, and he knows that if these defects are cher-ished, he will succeed. Therefore he is constantly seeking todeceive the followers of Christ with his fatal sophistry that itis impossible for them to overcome. But Jesus pleads in theirbehalf His wounded hands, His bruised body; and He de-clares to all who would follow Him, “My grace is sufficientfor thee.” 2 Corinthians 12:9. “Take My yoke upon you, andlearn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shallfind rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My bur-den is light.” Matthew 11:29, 30. Let none, then, regardtheir defects as incurable. God will give faith and graceto overcome them.

We are now living in the great day of atonement. Inthe typical service, while the high priest was making theatonement for Israel, all were required to afflict their soulsby repentance of sin and humiliation before the Lord, lestthey be cut off from among the people. In like manner, allwho would have their names retained in the book of life,

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should now, in the few remaining days of their probation,afflict their souls before God by sorrow for sin, and truerepentance. There must be deep, faithful searching ofheart. The light, frivolous spirit indulged by so many ofprofessed Christians must be put away. There is earnestwarfare before all who would subdue the evil tendenciesthat strive for the mastery. The work of preparation is anindividual work. We are not saved in groups. The purity anddevotion of one will not offset the want of these qualities inanother. Though all nations are to pass in judgment be-fore God, yet He will examine the case of each individualwith as close and searching scrutiny as if there were notanother 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 ofthe atonement. Momentous are the interests involved therein.The Judgment is now passing in the sanctuary above.For more than forty years this work has been in progress.Soon—none know how soon—it will pass to the cases ofthe living. In the awful presence of God our lives are to comeup in review. At this time above all others it behooves everysoul to heed the Saviour’s admonition, “Watch and pray; forye know not when the time is.” Mark 13:33. “If thereforethou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thoushalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” Revelation3:3.

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 ofthe Lord in the clouds of heaven. Christ in the Revelation,looking forward to that time, declares: “He that is unjust, lethim be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthystill; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; andhe that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I comequickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man ac-cording as his work shall be.” Revelation 22:11, 12.

The righteous and the wicked will still be living uponthe earth in their mortal state—men will be planting and



building, eating and drinking, all unconscious that thefinal, irrevocable decision has been pronounced inthe sanctuary above. Before the flood, after Noah en-tered the ark, God shut him in, and shut the ungodly out; butfor seven days the people, knowing not that their doomwas fixed, continued their careless, pleasure-loving life, andmocked the warnings of impending judgment. “So,” saysthe Saviour, “shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”Matthew 24:39. Silently, unnoticed as the midnightthief, will come the decisive hour which marks thefixing of every man’s destiny, the final withdrawal ofmercy’s offer to guilty men.

“Watch ye therefore; . . . lest coming suddenly He findyou sleeping.” Mark 13:35, 36. Perilous is the condition ofthose who, growing weary of their watch, turn to the at-tractions of the world. While the man of business is ab-sorbed in the pursuit of gain, while the pleasure-lover is seek-ing indulgence, while the daughter of fashion is arrangingher adornments,—it may be in that hour the Judge of all theearth will pronounce the sentence, “Thou art weighed in thebalances, and art found wanting.” Daniel 5:27.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: THE D: THE D: THE D: THE D: THE DAAAAAY OF JUDGMENTY OF JUDGMENTY OF JUDGMENTY OF JUDGMENTY OF JUDGMENT

“It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Hebrews9:27.

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one mayreceive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it begood or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:10.

“God . . hath appointed a day in which He will judge the world.” Acts 17:30-31.“God shall judge the righteous and the wicked.” Ecclesiastes 3:17.“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His com-

mandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work intojudgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”Ecclesiastes12:13.

“He that overcometh . . I will not blot out his name out of the book of life.”Revelation 3:5.

“For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whetherit be good, or whether it be evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:14.

“As he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felixtrembled.” Acts 24:25.

“And the books were opened, and another book wad opened, which is the bookof life: and the dead were judged out of those things were written in the books,according to their works.” Revelation 20:12.

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Chapter Twenty-nineChapter Twenty-nineChapter Twenty-nineChapter Twenty-nineChapter Twenty-nine

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—The Origin of Evil—The Origin of Evil—The Origin of Evil—The Origin of Evil—The Origin of Evil———————————————————————

How DID evil begin? Why IS there sin anyway? Here is one ofHow DID evil begin? Why IS there sin anyway? Here is one ofHow DID evil begin? Why IS there sin anyway? Here is one ofHow DID evil begin? Why IS there sin anyway? Here is one ofHow DID evil begin? Why IS there sin anyway? Here is one ofthe most sweeping chapters in this entire book of the ages.the most sweeping chapters in this entire book of the ages.the most sweeping chapters in this entire book of the ages.the most sweeping chapters in this entire book of the ages.the most sweeping chapters in this entire book of the ages. Readthat most amazing of stories—how sin began —

Although surrounded by continual selflessness, somethingAlthough surrounded by continual selflessness, somethingAlthough surrounded by continual selflessness, somethingAlthough surrounded by continual selflessness, somethingAlthough surrounded by continual selflessness, somethinghappened. What could turn an angel of light into a devil—andhappened. What could turn an angel of light into a devil—andhappened. What could turn an angel of light into a devil—andhappened. What could turn an angel of light into a devil—andhappened. What could turn an angel of light into a devil—anddo it right in the middle of heaven? This is something you willdo it right in the middle of heaven? This is something you willdo it right in the middle of heaven? This is something you willdo it right in the middle of heaven? This is something you willdo it right in the middle of heaven? This is something you willwant to read.want to read.want to read.want to read.want to read. It will tell you why God had to wait—and the wonder-ful future in store for His children—because He did ————————————————————————

To many minds, the origin of sin and the reason for itsexistence are a source of great perplexity. They see thework of evil, with its terrible results of woe and desola-tion, and they question how all this can exist under thesovereignty of One who is infinite in wisdom, in power,and in love. Here is a mystery, of which they find no ex-planation. And in their uncertainty and doubt, they areblinded to truths plainly revealed in God’s Word, and essen-tial to salvation. There are those who, in their inquiries con-cerning the existence of sin, endeavor to search into that whichGod has never revealed; hence they find no solution of theirdifficulties; and such as are actuated by a disposition to doubtand cavil, seize upon this as an excuse for rejecting the wordsof Holy Writ. Others, however, fail of a satisfactory under-standing of the great problem of evil, from the fact that tra-dition and misinterpretation have obscured the teaching ofthe Bible concerning the character of God, the nature of Hisgovernment, and the principles of His dealing with sin.

It is impossible to so explain the origin of sin as to

The Origin of Evil The Origin of Evil The Origin of Evil The Origin of Evil The Origin of Evil [491-492] [491-492] [491-492] [491-492] [491-492]


give a reason for its existence. Yet enough may beunderstood concerning both the origin and the finaldisposition of sin, to fully make manifest the justiceand benevolence of God in all His dealings with evil.Nothing is more plainly taught in Scripture than that Godwas in nowise responsible for the entrance of sin;that there was no arbitrary withdrawal of divine grace, nodeficiency in the divine government, that gave occasion forthe uprising of rebellion. Sin is an intruder, for whosepresence no reason can be given. It is mysterious,unaccountable; to excuse it, is to defend it. Could ex-cuse for it be found, or cause be shown for its existence, itwould cease to be sin. Our only definition of sin is thatgiven in the Word of God; it is “the transgression ofthe law;” it is the outworking of a principle at war with thegreat law of love which is the foundation of the divine gov-ernment.

Before the entrance of evil, there was peace and joythroughout the universe. All was in perfect harmony withthe Creator’s will. Love for God was supreme, love for oneanother impartial. Christ the Word, the only begotten of God,was one with the eternal Father,—one in nature, in charac-ter, and in purpose,—the only being in all the universe thatcould enter into all the counsels and purposes of God. ByChrist, the Father wrought in the creation of all heavenlybeings. “By him were all things created, that are in Heaven,. . . whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities,or powers;” (Colossians 1:16) and to Christ, equally withthe Father, all Heaven gave allegiance.

The law of love being the foundation of the governmentof God, the happiness of all created beings depended upontheir perfect accord with its great principles of righteous-ness. God desires from all His creatures the service oflove,—homage that springs from an intelligent appre-ciation of His character. He takes no pleasure in a forcedallegiance, and to all He grants freedom of will, that theymay render Him voluntary service.

But there was one that chose to pervert this freedom.

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Sin originated with him, who, next to Christ, had beenmost honored of God, and who stood highest in powerand glory among the inhabitants of Heaven. Before hisfall, Lucifer was first of the covering cherubs, holyand undefiled. “Thus saith the Lord God: Thou sealest upthe sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hastbeen in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone wasthy covering.” “Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth;and I have set thee so; thou wast upon the holy mountainof God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of thestones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the daythat thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.”Ezekiel 28:12-15.

Lucifer might have remained in favor with God, belovedand honored by all the angelic host, exercising his noble pow-ers to bless others and to glorify His Maker. But, says theprophet, “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty,thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.”Ezekiel 28:17. Little by little, Lucifer came to indulge adesire for self-exaltation. “Thou hast set thine heart as theheart of God.” “Thou hast said: . . . I will exalt my throneabove the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of thecongregation.” “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;I will be like the Most High.” Ezekiel 28:6; Isaiah 14:13, 14.Instead of seeking to make God supreme in the affec-tions and allegiance of his creatures, it was Lucifer’s en-deavor to win their service and homage to himself. And,coveting the honor which the infinite Father had bestowedupon His Son, this prince of angels aspired to power whichit was the prerogative of Christ alone to wield.

All Heaven had rejoiced to reflect the Creator’s gloryand to show forth His praise. And while God was thushonored, all had been peace and gladness. But a note ofdiscord now marred the celestial harmonies. The serviceand exaltation of self, contrary to the Creator’s plan, awak-ened forebodings of evil in minds to whom God’s glory wassupreme. The heavenly councils pleaded with Lucifer. TheSon of God presented before him the greatness, the good-



ness, and the justice of the Creator, and the sacred, un-changing nature of His law. God Himself had establishedthe order of Heaven; and in departing from it, Lucifer woulddishonor his Maker, and bring ruin upon himself. But thewarning, given in infinite love and mercy, only arouseda spirit of resistance. Lucifer allowed jealousy of Christto prevail, and he became the more determined.

Pride in his own glory nourished the desire for su-premacy. The high honors conferred upon Lucifer were notappreciated as the gift of God, and called forth no gratitudeto the Creator. He gloried in his brightness and exaltation,and aspired to be equal with God. He was beloved and rev-erenced by the heavenly host. Angels delighted to executehis commands, and he was clothed with wisdom and gloryabove them all. Yet the Son of God was the acknowledgedsovereign of Heaven, one in power and authority withthe Father. In all the counsels of God, Christ was a par-ticipant, while Lucifer was not permitted thus to enterinto the divine purposes. “Why,” questioned this mightyangel, “should Christ have the supremacy? Why is He thushonored above Lucifer?”

Leaving his place in the immediate presence of God,Lucifer went forth to diffuse the spirit of discontentamong the angels. Working with mysterious secrecy, andfor a time concealing his real purpose under an appearanceof reverence for God, he endeavored to excite dissatisfac-tion concerning the laws that governed heavenly beings,intimating that they imposed an unnecessary restraint.Since their natures were holy, he urged that the angels shouldobey the dictates of their own will. He sought to create sym-pathy for himself, by representing that God had dealt un-justly with him in bestowing supreme honor upon Christ.He claimed that in aspiring to greater power and honorhe was not aiming at self-exaltation, but was seeking tosecure liberty for all the inhabitants of Heaven, that bythis means they might attain to a higher state of exist-ence.

God, in His great mercy, bore long with Lucifer. He

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was not immediately degraded from his exalted station whenhe first indulged the spirit of discontent, nor even when hebegan to present his false claims before the loyal angels.Long was he retained in Heaven. Again and again he wasoffered pardon, on condition of repentance and submis-sion. Such efforts as only infinite love and wisdomcould devise, were made to convince him of his er-ror. The spirit of discontent had never before beenknown in Heaven. Lucifer himself did not at first seewhither he was drifting; he did not understand the realnature of his feelings. But as his dissatisfaction wasproved to be without cause, Lucifer was convincedthat he was in the wrong, that the divine claims werejust, and that he ought to acknowledge them as suchbefore all Heaven. Had he done this, he might havesaved himself and many angels. He had not at this timefully cast off his allegiance to God. Though he had for-saken his position as covering cherub, yet if he had beenwilling to return to God, acknowledging the Creator’s wis-dom, and satisfied to fill the place appointed him in God’sgreat plan, he would have been re-instated in his office. Butpride forbade him to submit. He persistently defendedhis own course, maintained that he had no need of re-pentance, and fully committed himself, in the great con-troversy, against his Maker.

All the powers of his master-mind were now bent tothe work of deception, to secure the sympathy of the an-gels that had been under his command. Even the fact thatChrist had warned and counseled him, was perverted to servehis traitorous designs. To those whose loving trust boundthem most closely to him, Satan had represented that he waswrongly judged, that his position was not respected, and thathis liberty was to be abridged. From misrepresentation ofthe words of Christ, he passed to prevarication and di-rect falsehood, accusing the Son of God of a design to hu-miliate him before the inhabitants of Heaven. He sought alsoto 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 heav-enly beings. The very work which he himself wasdoing, he charged upon those who remained true toGod. And to sustain his charge of God’s injustice towardhim, he resorted to misrepresentation of the words and actsof the Creator. It was his policy to perplex the angelswith subtle arguments concerning the purposes ofGod. Everything that was simple he shrouded in mys-tery, and by artful perversion cast doubt upon the plaineststatements of Jehovah. His high position, in such close con-nection with the divine administration, gave greater forceto his representations, and many were induced to unite withhim in rebellion against Heaven’s authority.

God in His wisdom permitted Satan to carry for-ward his work, until the spirit of disaffection ripenedinto active revolt. It was necessary for his plans tobe fully developed, that their true nature and ten-dency might be seen by all. Lucifer, as the anointedcherub, had been highly exalted; he was greatly loved bythe heavenly beings, and his influence over them was strong.God’s government included not only the inhabitants ofHeaven, but of all the worlds that he had created; and Sa-tan thought that if he could carry the angels of Heavenwith him in rebellion, he could carry also the otherworlds. He had artfully presented his side of the question,employing sophistry and fraud to secure his objects. Hispower to deceive was very great, and by disguising himselfin a cloak of falsehood he had gained an advantage. Eventhe 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 wereso clothed with mystery, that it was difficult to discloseto the angels the true nature of his work. Until fully de-veloped, sin would not appear the evil thing it was. Here-tofore it had had no place in the universe of God, and holybeings had no conception of its nature and malignity. Theycould not discern the terrible consequences that would resultfrom setting aside the divine law. Satan had, at first, con-

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cealed his work under a specious profession of loy-alty to God. He claimed to be seeking to promotethe honor of God, the stability of His government,and the good of all the inhabitants of Heaven. Whileinstilling discontent into the minds of the angels under him,he had artfully made it appear that he was seeking to re-move dissatisfaction. When he urged that changes be madein the order and laws of God’s government, it was underthe pretense that these were necessary in order to pre-serve harmony in Heaven.

In his dealing with sin, God could employ only right-eousness and truth. Satan could use what God couldnot—flattery and deceit. He had sought to falsify the wordof God, and had misrepresented His plan of government be-fore the angels, claiming that God was not just in laying lawsand rules upon the inhabitants of Heaven; that in requiringsubmission and obedience from His creatures, He was seek-ing merely the exaltation of himself. Therefore it must bedemonstrated before the inhabitants of Heaven as wellas of all the worlds, that God’s government was just, Hislaw perfect. Satan had made it appear that He Himself wasseeking to promote the good of the universe. The true char-acter of the usurper, and his real object, must be understoodby all. He must have time to manifest himself by his wickedworks.

The discord which his own course had caused inHeaven, Satan charged upon the law and government ofGod. All evil he declared to be the result of the divineadministration. He claimed that it was his own object toimprove upon the statutes of Jehovah. Therefore it was nec-essary that he should demonstrate the nature of His claims,and show the working out of his proposed changes in thedivine law. His own work must condemn him. Satan hadclaimed from the first that he was not in rebellion. Thewhole universe must see the deceiver unmasked.

Even when it was decided that he could no longer re-main 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 ofHis justice and benevolence. The inhabitants of Heavenand of other worlds, being unprepared to compre-hend the nature or consequences of sin, could notthen have seen the justice and mercy of God in thedestruction of Satan. Had he been immediately blottedfrom existence, they would have served God from fear,rather than from love. The influence of the deceiver wouldnot have been fully destroyed, nor would the spirit of rebel-lion have been utterly eradicated. Evil must be permit-ted to come to maturity. For the good of the entireuniverse through ceaseless ages, Satan must morefully develop his principles, that his charges against thedivine government might be seen in their true light by allcreated beings, that the justice and mercy of God and theimmutability of His law might forever be placed beyond allquestion.

Satan’s rebellion was to be a lesson to the universethrough all coming ages, a perpetual testimony to thenature and terrible results of sin. The working out ofSatan’s rule, its effects upon both men and angels, wouldshow what must be the fruit of setting aside the divineauthority. It would testify that with the existence of God’sgovernment and His law is bound up the well-being of allthe creatures He has made. Thus the history of this terribleexperiment of rebellion was to be a perpetual safeguard toall holy intelligences, to prevent them from being deceivedas to the nature of transgression, to save them from commit-ting sin, and suffering its punishment.

To the very close of the controversy in Heaven, thegreat usurper continued to justify himself. When it wasannounced that with all his sympathizers he must be ex-pelled from the abodes of bliss, then the rebel leaderboldly avowed his contempt for the Creator’s law. Hereiterated his claim that angels needed no control, but shouldbe left to follow their own will, which would ever guide themright. He denounced the divine statutes as a restrictionof their liberty, and declared that it was his purpose to

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secure the abolition of law; that, freed from this restraint,the hosts of Heaven might enter upon a more exalted, moreglorious state of existence.

With one accord, Satan and his host threw theblame of their rebellion wholly upon Christ, declar-ing that if they had not been reproved, they wouldnever have rebelled. Thus stubborn and defiant in theirdisloyalty, seeking vainly to overthrow the government ofGod, yet blasphemously claiming to be themselves the in-nocent victims of oppressive power, the arch-rebel andall his sympathizers were at last banished fromHeaven.

The same spirit that prompted rebellion in Heaven,still inspires rebellion on earth. Satan has continued withmen the same policy which he pursued with the angels.His spirit now reigns in the children of disobedience. Likehim they seek to break down the restraints of the law of God,and promise men liberty through transgression of its pre-cepts. Reproof of sin still arouses the spirit of hatred andresistance. When God’s messages of warning are broughthome to the conscience, Satan leads men to justify them-selves, and to seek the sympathy of others in their courseof sin. Instead of correcting their errors, they excite in-dignation against the reprover, as if he were the sole causeof difficulty. From the days of righteous Abel to our owntime, such is the spirit which has been displayed toward thosewho dare to condemn sin.

By the same misrepresentation of the character of God ashe had practiced in Heaven, causing him to be regarded assevere and tyrannical, Satan induced man to sin. And hav-ing succeeded thus far, he declared that God’s unjust re-strictions had led to man’s fall, as they had led to hisown rebellion.

But the Eternal One Himself proclaims His character: “TheLord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abun-dant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands,forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will byno means clear the guilty.” Exodus 34:6, 7.



In the banishment of Satan from Heaven, God de-clared His justice, and maintained the honor of Histhrone. But when man had sinned through yielding tothe deceptions of this apostate spirit, God gave anevidence of His love by yielding up His only begot-ten Son to die for the fallen race. In the atonement thecharacter of God is revealed. The mighty argument of thecross demonstrates to the whole universe that the courseof sin which Lucifer had chosen was in nowise chargeableupon the government of God.

In the contest between Christ and Satan, duringthe Saviour’s earthly ministry, the character of thegreat deceiver was unmasked. Nothing could so ef-fectually have uprooted Satan from the affections ofthe heavenly angels and the whole loyal universe asdid his cruel warfare upon the world’s Redeemer. Thedaring blasphemy of his demand that Christ should pay himhomage, his presumptuous boldness in bearing Him to themountain summit and the pinnacle of the temple, the mali-cious intent betrayed in urging Him to cast Himself downfrom the dizzy height, the unsleeping malice that huntedHim from place to place, inspiring the hearts of priests andpeople to reject His love, and at the last to cry, “CrucifyHim! crucify Him!”—all this excited the amazement andindignation of the universe.

It was Satan that prompted the world’s rejection ofChrist. The prince of evil exerted all his power and cun-ning to destroy Jesus; for he saw that the Saviour’s mercyand love, His compassion and pitying tenderness, wererepresenting to the world the character of God. Satancontested every claim put forth by the Son of God, and em-ployed men as His agents to fill the Saviour’s life with suf-fering and sorrow. The sophistry and falsehood by which hehad sought to hinder the work of Jesus, the hatred mani-fested through the children of disobedience, his cruel accu-sations against Him whose life was one of unexampled good-ness, all sprung from deep-seated revenge. The pent-up firesof envy and malice, hatred and revenge, burst forth on

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Calvary against the Son of God, while all Heavengazed upon the scene in silent horror.

When the great sacrifice had been consummated, Christascended on high, refusing the adoration of angels until Hehad presented the request, “I will that they also, whomthou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.” John 17:24.Then with inexpressible love and power came forth theanswer from the Father’s throne, “Let all the angels ofGod worship Him.” Hebrews 1:6. Not a stain rested uponJesus. His humiliation ended, His sacrifice completed, therewas given unto Him a name that is above every name.

Now the guilt of Satan stood forth without excuse. Hehad revealed his true character as a liar and a murderer.It was seen that the very same spirit with which he ruled thechildren of men, who were under his power, he would havemanifested had he been permitted to control the inhabitantsof Heaven. He had claimed that the transgression of God’slaw would bring liberty and exaltation; but it was seento result in bondage and degradation.

Satan’s lying charges against the divine character andgovernment appeared in their true light. He had accusedGod of seeking merely the exaltation of Himself in requiringsubmission and obedience from His creatures, and had de-clared that while the Creator exacted self-denial from all oth-ers, He Himself practiced no self-denial, made no sacrifice.Now it was seen that for the salvation of a fallen andsinful race, the Ruler of the universe had made the great-est sacrifice which love could make; for “God was in Christ,reconciling the world unto Himself.” 2 Corinthians 5:19. Itwas seen, also, that while Lucifer had opened the door forthe 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 principlesof rebellion. All Heaven saw His justice revealed, both inthe 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 hadclaimed that the sinful race were placed beyond redemp-tion, and were therefore his rightful prey. But the deathof Christ was an argument in man’s behalf that couldnot be overthrown. The penalty of the law fell upon himwho was equal with God, and man was free to accept therighteousness of Christ, and by a life of penitence and hu-miliation to triumph, as the Son of God had triumphed, overthe power of Satan. Thus God is just, and yet the justifierof all who believe in Jesus.

But it was not merely to accomplish the redemp-tion of man that Christ came to the earth to sufferand to die. He came to “magnify the law” and to“make it honorable.” Not alone that the inhabitants ofthis world might regard the law as it should be regarded;but it was to demonstrate to all the worlds of the universethat God’s law is unchangeable. Could its claims havebeen set aside, then the Son of God need not haveyielded up His life to atone for its transgression. Thedeath of Christ proves it immutable. And the sacrificeto which infinite love impelled the Father and the Son, thatsinners might be redeemed, demonstrates to all the uni-verse—what nothing less than this plan of atonement couldhave sufficed to do—that justice and mercy are the foun-dation of the law and government of God.

In the final execution of the Judgment it will be seenthat no cause for sin exists. When the Judge of all the earthshall demand of Satan, “Why hast thou rebelled against Me,and robbed me of the subjects of My kingdom?” the origina-tor 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 immu-table, proclaims to the universe that the wages of sin isdeath. In the Saviour’s expiring cry, “It is finished,” thedeath-knell of Satan was rung. The great controversywhich had been so long in progress was then decided,and the final eradication of evil was made certain. TheSon of God passed through the portals of the tomb, that

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“through death He might destroy him that had the power ofdeath, that is, the devil.” Hebrews 2:14. Lucifer’s desire forself-exaltation had led him to say, “I will exalt my throneabove 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.” Isaiah 14:13, 14;Ezekiel 28:18, 19. When “the day cometh that shall burnas an oven,” “all the proud, yea, and all that do wick-edly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shallburn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leavethem neither root nor branch.” Malachi 4:1.

The whole universe will have become witnessesto the nature and results of sin. And its utter exter-mination, which in the beginning would have broughtfear to angels and dishonor to God, will now vindi-cate His love and establish His honor before a uni-verse of beings who delight to do His will, and inwhose heart is His law. Never will evil again be mani-fest. Says the Word of God, “Affliction shall not rise up thesecond time.” Nahum 1:9. The law of God, which Satanhas reproached as the yoke of bondage, will be honored asthe law of liberty. A tested and proved creation willnever again be turned from allegiance to Him whosecharacter has been fully manifested before them asfathomless love and infinite wisdom.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: THE GOSPEL AND GOD’S ST: THE GOSPEL AND GOD’S ST: THE GOSPEL AND GOD’S ST: THE GOSPEL AND GOD’S ST: THE GOSPEL AND GOD’S STANDANDANDANDANDARDARDARDARDARD

“By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for bythe law is the knowledge of sin.” Romans 3:20.

“Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guiltyof all.” James 2:10.

“I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God untosalvation to every one that believeth.” Romans 1:16.

“Thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from theirsins.” Matthew 1:21. “We preach . . Christ . . the power of God, and the wisdomof God.” 1 Corinthians 1:23-24.

“It is written of Me, I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is withinMy heart.” Psalm 40:7-8. “The righteousness of God without the law is mani-fested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.” Romans 3:21.



Chapter ThirtyChapter ThirtyChapter ThirtyChapter ThirtyChapter Thirty

TheTheTheTheTheFFFFFirst Prirst Prirst Prirst Prirst Prophecyophecyophecyophecyophecy

—Enmity between Man and Satan—Enmity between Man and Satan—Enmity between Man and Satan—Enmity between Man and Satan—Enmity between Man and Satan———————————————————————

Satan does everSatan does everSatan does everSatan does everSatan does everything He can to cast His hellish shadow overything He can to cast His hellish shadow overything He can to cast His hellish shadow overything He can to cast His hellish shadow overything He can to cast His hellish shadow overus, so that we shall not see the glorious beauty of God’s love andus, so that we shall not see the glorious beauty of God’s love andus, so that we shall not see the glorious beauty of God’s love andus, so that we shall not see the glorious beauty of God’s love andus, so that we shall not see the glorious beauty of God’s love andmercymercymercymercymercy..... But Jesus, by His wondrous grace, will change the heartsand lives of all who cry to Him for strength and help —

TTTTTo the humble repentant, believing soul—nothing is with-o the humble repentant, believing soul—nothing is with-o the humble repentant, believing soul—nothing is with-o the humble repentant, believing soul—nothing is with-o the humble repentant, believing soul—nothing is with-held that he needs in order to keep close to his precious Jesus.held that he needs in order to keep close to his precious Jesus.held that he needs in order to keep close to his precious Jesus.held that he needs in order to keep close to his precious Jesus.held that he needs in order to keep close to his precious Jesus.Here is a chapter with a promise to claim right now ————————————————————————

I will put enmity between thee and the woman, andbetween thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head,and thou shalt bruise His heel.” Genesis 3:15. The di-vine sentence pronounced against Satan after the fall ofman, was also a prophecy, embracing all the ages to theclose of time, and foreshadowing the great conflict toengage all the races of men who should live upon theearth.

God declares, “I will put enmity.” This enmity is not natu-rally entertained. When man transgressed the divine law,his nature became evil, and he was in harmony, and not atvariance, with Satan. There exists naturally no enmity be-tween sinful man and the originator of sin. Both becameevil through apostasy. The apostate is never at rest, exceptas he obtains sympathy and support by inducing others tofollow his example. For this reason, fallen angels andwicked men unite in desperate companionship. Had notGod specially interposed, Satan and man would have en-tered into an alliance against Heaven; and instead of cher-ishing enmity against Satan, the whole human family would

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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 againstHeaven. There was no dissension between himself and thefallen angels as regards their hatred of Christ; while on allother points there was discord, they were firmly united inopposing the authority of the Ruler of the universe. But whenSatan heard the declaration that enmity should exist be-tween himself and the woman, and between his seed andher seed, he knew that his efforts to deprave human na-ture would be interrupted; that by some means man wasto 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 Hishandiwork; he would cause grief in Heaven, and fill the earthwith woe and desolation. And he points to all this evil as theresult of God’s work in creating man.

It is the grace that Christ implants in the soul whichcreates in man enmity against Satan. Without this con-verting grace and renewing power, man would continuethe captive of Satan, a servant ever ready to do his bidding.But the new principle in the soul creates conflict wherehitherto had been peace. The power which Christ im-parts, enables man to resist the tyrant and usurper. Who-ever is seen to abhor sin instead of loving it, whoever resistsand conquers those passions that have held sway within, dis-plays the operation of a principle wholly from above.

The antagonism that exists between the spirit of Christand the spirit of Satan was most strikingly displayed inthe world’s reception of Jesus. It was not so much becauseHe appeared without worldly wealth, pomp, or grandeur, thatthe Jews were led to reject Him. They saw that He possessedpower which would more than compensate for the lack ofthese outward advantages. But the purity and holiness ofChrist called forth against Him the hatred of the ungodly.His life of self-denial and sinless devotion was a perpetual

Enmity between Man and Satan Enmity between Man and Satan Enmity between Man and Satan Enmity between Man and Satan Enmity between Man and Satan [505-506] [505-506] [505-506] [505-506] [505-506]


reproof to a proud, sensual people. It was this that evokedenmity against the Son of God. Satan and evil angels joinedwith evil men. All the energies of apostasy conspired againstthe champion of truth.

The same enmity is manifested toward Christ’s fol-lowers as was manifested toward their Master. Whoeversees the repulsive character of sin, and, in strength fromabove, resists temptation, will assuredly arouse the wrath ofSatan and his subjects. Hatred of the pure principles of truth,and reproach and persecution of its advocates, will exist aslong as sin and sinners remain. The followers of Christ andthe servants of Satan cannot harmonize. The offense of thecross has not ceased. “All that will live godly in Christ Jesusshall suffer persecution.” 2 Timothy 3:12.

Satan’s agents are constantly working under his di-rection to establish his authority and build up his king-dom in opposition to the government of God. To this endthey seek to deceive Christ’s followers, and allure them fromtheir allegiance. Like their leader, they misconstrue and per-vert the Scriptures to accomplish their object. As Satan en-deavored to cast reproach upon God, so do his agents seekto malign God’s people. The spirit which put Christ to deathmoves the wicked to destroy His followers. All this is fore-shadowed in that first prophecy, “I will put enmity betweenthee 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 wholepower into the combat. Why is it that he meets with nogreater resistance? Why are the soldiers of Christ so sleepyand indifferent?—Because they have so little real connec-tion with Christ; because they are so destitute of His Spirit.Sin is not to them repulsive and abhorrent, as it was to theirMaster. They do not meet it, as did Christ, with decisive anddetermined resistance. They do not realize the exceeding eviland malignity of sin, and they are blinded both to the charac-ter and the power of the prince of darkness. There is littleenmity against Satan and his works, because there is so greatignorance concerning his power and malice, and the vast

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extent of his warfare against Christ and his church. Multi-tudes are deluded here. They do not know that their enemyis a mighty general, who controls the minds of evil angels,and that with well-matured plans and skillful movementshe is warring against Christ to prevent the salvation of souls.Among professed Christians, and even among ministers ofthe gospel, there is heard scarcely a reference to Satan, ex-cept perhaps an incidental mention in the pulpit. They over-look the evidences of His continual activity and success; theyneglect the many warnings of his subtlety; they seem to ig-nore his very existence.

While men are ignorant of his devices, this vigilantfoe is upon their track every moment. He is intruding hispresence in every department of the household, in every streetof our cities, in the churches, in the national councils, in thecourts of justice, perplexing, deceiving, seducing, everywhereruining the souls and bodies of men, women, and children,breaking up families, sowing hatred, emulation, strife, sedi-tion, murder. And the Christian world seem to regard thesethings as though God had appointed them, and they mustexist.

Satan is continually seeking to overcome the peopleof God by breaking down the barriers which separatethem from the world. Ancient Israel were enticed into sinwhen they ventured into forbidden association with the hea-then. In a similar manner are modern Israel led astray. “Thegod of this world hath blinded the minds of them which be-lieve not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, whois the image of God, should shine unto them.” 2 Corinthians4:4. All who are not decided followers of Christ are ser-vants of Satan. In the unregenerate heart there is love ofsin, and a disposition to cherish and excuse it. In the re-newed heart there is hatred of sin, and determined resistanceagainst it. When Christians choose the society of the un-godly and unbelieving, they expose themselves to tempta-tion. Satan conceals himself from view, and stealthily drawshis deceptive covering over their eyes. They cannot see thatsuch company is calculated to do them harm; and while all



the time assimilating to the world in character, words, andactions, they are becoming more and more blinded.

Conformity to worldly customs converts the churchto the world; it never converts the world to Christ. Fa-miliarity with sin will inevitably cause it to appear less re-pulsive. He who chooses to associate with the servants ofSatan, will soon cease to fear their master. When in the wayof duty we are brought into trial, as was Daniel in the king’scourt, we may be sure that God will protect us; but if weplace ourselves under temptation, we shall fall sooner or later.

The tempter often works most successfully throughthose who are least suspected of being under his control.The possessors of talent and education are admired andhonored, as if these qualities could atone for the absenceof the fear of God, or entitle men to His favor. Talent andculture, considered in themselves, are gifts of God; but whenthese are made to supply the place of piety, when, instead ofbringing the soul nearer to God, they lead away from Him,then they become a curse and a snare. The opinion prevailswith many that all which appears like courtesy or refinementmust, in some sense, pertain to Christ. Never was there agreater mistake. These qualities should grace the characterof every Christian, for they would exert a powerful influencein favor of true religion; but they must be consecrated toGod, or they also are a power for evil. Many a man of cul-tured intellect and pleasant manners who would not stoopto what is commonly regarded as an immoral act, is buta polished instrument in the hands of Satan. The insidi-ous, deceptive character of his influence and example ren-ders him a more dangerous enemy to the cause of Christthan are those who are ignorant and uncultured.

By earnest prayer and dependence upon God, Solomonobtained the wisdom which excited the wonder and admira-tion of the world. But when he turned from the Source of hisstrength, and went forward relying upon himself, he fell aprey to temptation. Then the marvelous powers bestowed onthis wisest of kings, only rendered him a more effective agentof the adversary of souls.

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While Satan is constantly seeking to blind theirminds to the fact, let Christians never forget that they“wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against prin-cipalities, against powers, against the rulers of thedarkness of this world, against wicked spirits in highplaces.” Ephesians 6:12 [margin]. The inspired warning issounding down the centuries to our time: “Be sober, bevigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion,walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter5:8. “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may able tostand against the wiles of the devil.” Ephesians 6:11.

From the days of Adam to our own time, our greatenemy has been exercising his power to oppress and de-stroy. He is now preparing for his last campaign againstthe church. All who seek to follow Jesus will be broughtinto conflict with this relentless foe. The more nearly theChristian imitates the divine Pattern, the more surely will hemake himself a mark for the attacks of Satan. All who areactively engaged in the cause of God, seeking to unveil thedeceptions of the evil one and to present Christ before thepeople, will be able to join in the testimony of Paul, in whichhe speaks of serving the Lord with all humility of mind, withmany tears and temptations.

Satan assailed Christ with his fiercest and most subtletemptations; but he was repulsed in every conflict. Thosebattles were fought in our behalf; those victories make itpossible for us to conquer. Christ will give strength to allwho seek it. No man without his own consent can be over-come by Satan. The tempter has no power to control thewill or to force the soul to sin. He may distress, but hecannot contaminate. He can cause agony, but not defilement.The fact that Christ has conquered should inspire Hisfollowers with courage to fight manfully the battle againstsin and Satan.

FALSE CHRISTS—“Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, orthere; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shallshew great signs and wonders.” Matthew 24:23-24. “Whose coming is after theworking of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders.” 2 Thessalonians 2:9.



Chapter Thirty-oneChapter Thirty-oneChapter Thirty-oneChapter Thirty-oneChapter Thirty-one

VictorVictorVictorVictorVictoryyyyyin Christin Christin Christin Christin Christ

—Agency of Evil Spirits—Agency of Evil Spirits—Agency of Evil Spirits—Agency of Evil Spirits—Agency of Evil Spirits———————————————————————

If Satan could, he would blot out everIf Satan could, he would blot out everIf Satan could, he would blot out everIf Satan could, he would blot out everIf Satan could, he would blot out every Christian from the facey Christian from the facey Christian from the facey Christian from the facey Christian from the faceof the earof the earof the earof the earof the earth. If he could, he would blot out everth. If he could, he would blot out everth. If he could, he would blot out everth. If he could, he would blot out everth. If he could, he would blot out everyone else too.yone else too.yone else too.yone else too.yone else too.With countless fallen angels to do his bidding, and with a mind far inadvance of our own, we are no match for his power and cunning.

But in Christ there is the power needed. Our danger is in notBut in Christ there is the power needed. Our danger is in notBut in Christ there is the power needed. Our danger is in notBut in Christ there is the power needed. Our danger is in notBut in Christ there is the power needed. Our danger is in notrecognizing the strength and number of Satan’s host—and thusrecognizing the strength and number of Satan’s host—and thusrecognizing the strength and number of Satan’s host—and thusrecognizing the strength and number of Satan’s host—and thusrecognizing the strength and number of Satan’s host—and thusthinking ourselves safe.thinking ourselves safe.thinking ourselves safe.thinking ourselves safe.thinking ourselves safe. We do not flee to Christ, moment by mo-ment, for the help we need.———————————————————————

The connection of the visible with the invisible world,the ministration of angels of God, and the agency of evilspirits, are plainly revealed in the Scriptures, and insepa-rably interwoven with human history. There is a grow-ing tendency to disbelief in the existence of evil spirits,while the holy angels that “minister for them who shall beheirs of salvation,” (Hebrews 1:14) are regarded by many asthe spirits of the dead. But the Scriptures not only teach theexistence of angels, both good and evil, but present unques-tionable proof that these are not the disembodied spirits ofdead men.

Before the creation of man, angels were in existence;for when the foundations of the earth were laid, “the morn-ing stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted forjoy.” Job 38:7. After the fall of man, angels were sent toguard the tree of life, and this before a human being haddied. Angels are in nature superior to men. For the psalm-ist says that man was made “a little lower than the angels.”Psalm 8:5.

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We are informed in Scripture as to the number,and the power and glory, of the heavenly beings, oftheir connection with the government of God, andalso of their relation to the work of redemption. “TheLord hath prepared His throne in the heavens; and Hiskingdom ruleth over all.” And, says the prophet, “I heardthe voice of many angels round about the throne.” In thepresence-chamber of the King of kings they wait—“an-gels that excel in strength,” “ministers of His, that do Hispleasure,” “hearkening unto the voice of His word.” Psalm103:19-21; Revelation 5:11. Ten thousand times ten thou-sand and thousands of thousands, were the heavenly mes-sengers beheld by the prophet Daniel. The apostle Pauldeclared them “an innumerable company.” Daniel 7:10; He-brews 12:22. As God’s messengers they go forth, like “theappearance of a flash of lightning,” (Ezekiel 1:14) so daz-zling their glory, and so swift their flight. The angel thatappeared at the Saviour’s tomb, his countenance “like light-ning, and his raiment white as snow,” caused the keepersfor fear of him to quake, and they “became as dead men.”Matthew 28:3, 4. When Sennacherib, the haughty Assyrian,reproached and blasphemed God, and threatened Israel withdestruction, “it came to pass that night, that the angel of theLord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians anhundred fourscore and five thousand.” There were “cutoff all the mighty men of valor, and the leaders and cap-tains,” from the army of Sennacherib. “So he returned withshame of face to his own land.” 2 Kings 19:35; 2 Chronicles32:21.

Angels are sent on missions of mercy to the childrenof God. To Abraham, with promises of blessing; to the gatesof Sodom, to rescue righteous Lot from its fiery doom; toElijah, as he was about to perish from weariness and hungerin the desert; to Elisha, with chariots and horses of fire sur-rounding the little town where he was shut in by his foes; toDaniel, while seeking divine wisdom in the court of a hea-then king, or abandoned to become the lions’ prey; to Peter,doomed to death in Herod’s dungeon; to the prisoners at

Agency of Evil Spirits Agency of Evil Spirits Agency of Evil Spirits Agency of Evil Spirits Agency of Evil Spirits [511-512] [511-512] [511-512] [511-512] [511-512]


Philippi; to Paul and his companions in the night of tempeston the sea; to open the mind of Cornelius to receive thegospel; to dispatch Peter, with the message of salvation tothe Gentile stranger,—thus holy angels have, in all ages,ministered to God’s people.

A guardian angel is appointed to every follower ofChrist. These heavenly watchers shield the righteousfrom the power of the wicked one. This Satan himself rec-ognized when he said, “Doth Job fear God for naught? Hastnot thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, andabout all that he hath on every side?” Job 1:9, 10. The agencyby which God protects His people is presented in the wordsof the psalmist, “The angel of the Lord encampeth roundabout them that fear Him, and delivereth them.” Psalm 34:7.Said the Saviour, speaking of those that believe in him, “Takeheed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I sayunto you, That in Heaven their angels do always behold theface of My Father.” Matthew 18:10. The angels appointedto minister to the children of God have at all times ac-cess to His presence.

Thus God’s people, exposed to the deceptive powerand unsleeping malice of the prince of darkness, and inconflict with all the forces of evil, are assured of the un-ceasing guardianship of heavenly angels. Nor is such as-surance given without need. If God has granted to His chil-dren promise of grace and protection, it is because thereare mighty agencies of evil to be met,—agencies numer-ous, determined, and untiring, of whose malignity andpower none can safely be ignorant or unheeding.

Evil spirits, in the beginning created sinless, were equalin nature, power, and glory with the holy beings that arenow God’s messengers. But fallen through sin, they areleagued together for the dishonor of God and the destructionof men. United with Satan in his rebellion, and with himcast out from Heaven, they have, through all succeedingages, co-operated with him in his warfare against thedivine authority. We are told in Scripture of their con-federacy and government, of their various orders, of their

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intelligence and subtlety, and of their malicious designsagainst the peace and happiness of men.

Old-Testament history presents occasional men-tions of their existence and agency; but it was duringthe time when Christ was upon the earth that evilspirits manifested their power in the most strikingmanner. Christ had come to enter upon the plan devisedfor man’s redemption, and Satan determined to assert hisright to control the world. He had succeeded in establish-ing idolatry in every part of the earth except the land ofPalestine. To the only land that had not fully yielded to thetempter’s sway, Christ came to shed upon the people thelight of Heaven. Here two rival powers claimed supremacy.Jesus was stretching out His arms of love, inviting all whowould to find pardon and peace in Him. The hosts of dark-ness saw that they did not possess unlimited control, andthey understood that if Christ’s mission should be success-ful, their rule was soon to end. Satan raged like a chainedlion, and defiantly exhibited his power over the bodies aswell as the souls of men.

The fact that men have been possessed with demons,is clearly stated in the New Testament. The persons thusafflicted were not merely suffering with disease from naturalcauses. Christ had perfect understanding of that withwhich He was dealing, and He recognized the direct pres-ence and agency of evil spirits.

A striking example of their number, power, and ma-lignity, and also of the power and mercy of Christ, is givenin the Scripture account of the healing of the demoniacsat 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 shouldapproach them. Their bleeding and disfigured bodies anddistracted minds presented a spectacle well-pleasing to theprince of darkness. One of the demons controlling the suf-ferers declared, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” Mark5:9. In the Roman army a legion consisted of from three tofive thousand men. Satan’s hosts also are marshaled in



companies, and the single company to which thesedemons belonged numbered no less than a legion.

At the command of Jesus, the evil spirits departed fromtheir victims, leaving them calmly sitting at the Saviour’sfeet, subdued, intelligent, and gentle. But the demons werepermitted to sweep a herd of swine into the sea; and to thedwellers of Gadara the loss of these outweighed the bless-ings which Christ had bestowed, and the divine Healer wasentreated to depart. This was the result which Satan designedto secure. By casting the blame of their loss upon Jesus, hearoused the selfish fears of the people, and prevented themfrom listening to his words. Satan is constantly accusingChristians 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 allowedthe evil spirits to destroy the herd of swine as a rebuke tothose Jews who were raising these unclean beasts for thesake of gain. Had not Christ restrained the demons, theywould have plunged into the sea, not only the swine, but alsotheir keepers and owners. The preservation of both the keep-ers and the owners was due alone to His power, mercifullyexercised for their deliverance. Furthermore, this event waspermitted to take place that the disciples might witness thecruel power of Satan upon both man and beast. The Sav-iour desired His followers to have a knowledge of the foewhom they were to meet, that they might not be deceivedand overcome by his devices. It was also His will that thepeople of that region should behold His power to break thebondage of Satan and release his captives. And though JesusHimself departed, the men so marvelously delivered remainedto declare the mercy of their Benefactor.

Other instances of a similar nature are recorded inthe Scriptures. The daughter of the Syro-Phenician womanwas grievously vexed with a devil, whom Jesus cast out byHis word. Mark 7:26-30. One “possessed with a devil, blind,and dumb,” (Matthew 12:22) a youth who had a dumb spirit,that ofttimes “cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to

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destroy him,” (Mark 9:17-27) the maniac, who, tormentedby “a spirit of an unclean devil,” (Luke 4:33) disturbed theSabbath quiet of the synagogue at Capernaum, were allhealed by the compassionate Saviour. In nearly every in-stance, Christ addressed the demon as an intelligententity, commanding him to come out of his victim andto torment him no more. The worshipers at Capernaum,beholding His mighty power, “were all amazed, and spakeamong themselves, saying, What a word is this! for withauthority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits,and they come out.” Luke 4:36.

Those possessed with devils are usually repre-sented as being in a condition of great suffering; yetthere were exceptions to this rule. For the sake ofobtaining supernatural power, some welcomed theSatanic influence. These of course had no conflict withthe demons. Of this class were those who possessed thespirit 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 evilspirits than are those who, notwithstanding the directand ample testimony of the Scriptures, deny the exist-ence and agency of the devil and his angels. So long as weare ignorant of their wiles, they have almost inconceivableadvantage; many give heed to their suggestions while theysuppose themselves to be following the dictates of their ownwisdom. This is why, as we approach the close of time,when Satan is to work with greatest power to deceiveand destroy, he spreads everywhere the belief that hedoes not exist. It is his policy to conceal himself and hismanner of working.

There is nothing that the great deceiver fears so muchas that we shall become acquainted with his devices. Thebetter to disguise his real character and purposes, he hascaused himself to be so represented as to excite no strongeremotion than ridicule or contempt. He is well pleased to bepainted as a ludicrous or loathsome object, misshapen, halfanimal and half human. He is pleased to hear his name used



in sport and mockery by those who think themselves intel-ligent and well-informed.

It is because he has masked himself with consum-mate skill that the question is so widely asked, “Doessuch a being really exist?” It is an evidence of his suc-cess that theories giving the lie to the plainest testimony ofthe Scriptures are so generally received in the religiousworld. And it is because Satan can most readily controlthe minds of those who are unconscious of his influ-ence that the Word of God gives us so many examples ofhis 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 mightjustly alarm us, were it not that we may find shelter anddeliverance in the superior power of our Redeemer. Wecarefully secure our houses with bolts and locks to protectour property and our lives from evil men; but we seldomthink of the evil angels who are constantly seeking access tous, and against whose attacks we have, in our own strength,no method of defense. If permitted, they can distract ourminds, disorder, torment our bodies, destroy our possessionsand our lives. Their only delight is in misery and destruc-tion. Fearful is the condition of those who resist the di-vine claims, and yield to Satan’s temptations, until Godgives them up to the control of evil spirits. But those whofollow Christ are ever safe under His watchcare. Angelsthat excel in strength are sent from Heaven to protect them.The wicked one cannot break through the guard which Godhas stationed about His people.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: BIOGRAPHY OF SA: BIOGRAPHY OF SA: BIOGRAPHY OF SA: BIOGRAPHY OF SA: BIOGRAPHY OF SATTTTTANANANANAN

“Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, tilliniquity was found in thee.” Ezekiel 28:15. “Thine heart was lifted up because ofthy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.” Ezekiel28:17. “Thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt mythrone above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation,in the sides of the north: . . I will be like the most High.” Isaiah 14:13-14. “Hethat committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning.” 1John 3:8. “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because thereis no truth in him.” John 8:44.

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Chapter Thirty-twoChapter Thirty-twoChapter Thirty-twoChapter Thirty-twoChapter Thirty-two

TheTheTheTheTheDevil’s TDevil’s TDevil’s TDevil’s TDevil’s Tool Boool Boool Boool Boool Boxxxxx

—The Snares of Satan—The Snares of Satan—The Snares of Satan—The Snares of Satan—The Snares of Satan———————————————————————

Satan is determined to entrap everSatan is determined to entrap everSatan is determined to entrap everSatan is determined to entrap everSatan is determined to entrap everyone who would seek toyone who would seek toyone who would seek toyone who would seek toyone who would seek tobecome a Christian. And he wants their children as well.become a Christian. And he wants their children as well.become a Christian. And he wants their children as well.become a Christian. And he wants their children as well.become a Christian. And he wants their children as well. Manyare caught everyday, not realizing how he operates —

This chapter tells about Satan’s tool box, for he has scores ofdevices to destroy souls—and yet most people are not even awarethat such tools exist. Here are Satan’s sixty-five snares —Here are Satan’s sixty-five snares —Here are Satan’s sixty-five snares —Here are Satan’s sixty-five snares —Here are Satan’s sixty-five snares ————————————————————————

The great controversy between Christ and Satan, thathas been carried forward for nearly six thousand years,is soon to close; and the wicked one redoubles his effortsto defeat the work of Christ in man’s behalf, and to fas-ten souls in his snares. To hold the people in darknessand impenitence till the Saviour’s mediation is ended,and there is no longer a sacrifice for sin, is the objectwhich he seeks to accomplish.

When there is no special effort made to resist his power,when indifference prevails in the church and the world, Sa-tan is not concerned; for he is in no danger of losing thosewhom he is leading captive at his will. But when the atten-tion is called to eternal things, and souls are inquir-ing, “What must I do to be saved?” he is on theground, seeking to match his power against the powerof Christ, and to counteract the influence of the HolySpirit.

The Scriptures declare that upon one occasion, when theangels of God came to present themselves before the Lord,Satan came also among them, (Job 1:6) not to bow beforethe Eternal King, but to further his own malicious designs

The Snares of Satan The Snares of Satan The Snares of Satan The Snares of Satan The Snares of Satan [516-518] [516-518] [516-518] [516-518] [516-518]


against the righteous. With the same object he is in atten-dance when men assemble for the worship of God.Though hidden from sight, he is working with all dili-gence to control the minds of the worshipers. Like a skill-ful general, he lays his plans beforehand. As he sees the mes-senger of God searching the Scriptures, he takes note of thesubject to be presented to the people. Then he employs allhis cunning and shrewdness to so control circumstances thatthe message may not reach those whom he is deceiving onthat very point. The one who most needs the warning will beurged into some business transaction which requires his pres-ence, or will by some other means be prevented from hear-ing the words that might prove to him a savor of life untolife.

Again, Satan sees the Lord’s servants burdened becauseof the spiritual darkness that enshrouds the people. He hearstheir earnest prayers for divine grace and power to break thespell of indifference, carelessness, and indolence. Then withrenewed zeal he plies his arts. He tempts men to the indul-gence of appetite or to some other form of self-gratification,and thus benumbs their sensibilities, so that they fail to hearthe very things which they most need to learn.

Satan well knows that all whom he can lead to neglectprayer and the searching of the Scriptures will be over-come by his attacks. Therefore he invents every possibledevice to engross the mind. There has ever been a classprofessing godliness, who, instead of following on to knowthe truth, make it their religion to seek some fault of charac-ter or error of faith in those with whom they do not agree.

THE SECRET INSTRUCTIONS—In the preceding edition of this book,THE SECRET INSTRUCTIONS—In the preceding edition of this book,THE SECRET INSTRUCTIONS—In the preceding edition of this book,THE SECRET INSTRUCTIONS—In the preceding edition of this book,THE SECRET INSTRUCTIONS—In the preceding edition of this book,a remarkable passage was included at the beginning of this chap-a remarkable passage was included at the beginning of this chap-a remarkable passage was included at the beginning of this chap-a remarkable passage was included at the beginning of this chap-a remarkable passage was included at the beginning of this chap-terterterterter. It is the secret instructions given by Satan to his angels, ex-. It is the secret instructions given by Satan to his angels, ex-. It is the secret instructions given by Satan to his angels, ex-. It is the secret instructions given by Satan to his angels, ex-. It is the secret instructions given by Satan to his angels, ex-plaining to them his plans to overcome the people of God in theseplaining to them his plans to overcome the people of God in theseplaining to them his plans to overcome the people of God in theseplaining to them his plans to overcome the people of God in theseplaining to them his plans to overcome the people of God in theselast days.last days.last days.last days.last days.

This valuable information has been reprinted at the back of theThis valuable information has been reprinted at the back of theThis valuable information has been reprinted at the back of theThis valuable information has been reprinted at the back of theThis valuable information has been reprinted at the back of thebook you now have in hand.book you now have in hand.book you now have in hand.book you now have in hand.book you now have in hand.

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Such are Satan’s right-hand helpers. Accusers of the breth-ren are not few; and they are always active when God is atwork, and His servants are rendering Him true homage.They will put a false coloring upon the words and acts ofthose who love and obey the truth. They will represent themost earnest, zealous, self-denying servants of Christ asdeceived or deceivers. It is their work to misrepresent themotives of every true and noble deed, to circulate insinua-tions, and arouse suspicion in the minds of the inexperi-enced. In every conceivable manner they will seek to causethat which is pure and righteous to be regarded as foul anddeceptive.

But none need be deceived concerning them. It may bereadily seen whose children they are, whose example theyfollow, and whose work they do. “Ye shall know them bytheir fruits.” Matthew 7:16. Their course resembles that ofSatan, the envenomed slanderer, “the accuser of our breth-ren.” Revelation 12:10.

The great deceiver has many agents ready to presentany and every kind of error to ensnare souls,—heresiesprepared to suit the varied tastes and capacities of those whomhe would ruin. It is his plan to bring into the church insin-cere, unregenerate elements that will encourage doubtand unbelief, and hinder all who desire to see the workof God advance, and to advance with it. Many who have noreal faith in God or in His Word, assent to some principlesof truth, and pass as Christians; and thus they are enabled tointroduce their errors as scriptural doctrines.

The position that it is of no consequence what menbelieve, is one of Satan’s most successful deceptions. Heknows that the truth, received in the love of it, sanctifies thesoul of the receiver; therefore he is constantly seeking tosubstitute false theories, fables, another gospel. From thebeginning, the servants of God have contended against falseteachers, not merely as vicious men, but as inculcators offalsehoods that were fatal to the soul. Elijah, Jeremiah, Paul,firmly and fearlessly opposed those who were turning menfrom the Word of God. That liberality which regards a cor-



rect religious faith as unimportant, found no favor with theseholy defenders of the truth.

The vague and fanciful interpretations of Scripture,and the many conflicting theories concerning religiousfaith, that are found in the Christian world, are the work ofour great adversary to so confuse minds that they shall notdiscern the truth. And the discord and division which existamong the churches of Christendom are in a great measuredue to the prevailing custom of wresting the Scriptures tosupport a favorite theory. Instead of carefully studying God’sWord with humility of heart to obtain a knowledge of hiswill, many seek only to discover something odd or original.

In order to sustain erroneous doctrines or unchris-tian practices, some will seize upon passages of Scrip-ture separated from the context, perhaps quoting half ofa single verse as proving their point, when the remainingportion would show the meaning to be quite the opposite.With the cunning of the serpent, they entrench themselvesbehind disconnected utterances construed to suit their carnaldesires. Thus do many willfully pervert the Word of God.Others, who have an active imagination, seize upon thefigures and symbols of Holy Writ, interpret to suit theirfancy, with little regard to the testimony of Scripture as itsown interpreter, and then they present their vagaries as theteachings of the Bible.

Whenever the study of the Scriptures is entered uponwithout a prayerful, humble, teachable spirit, the plain-est and simplest as well as the most difficult passageswill be wrested from their true meaning. The papal lead-ers select such portions of Scripture as best serve their pur-pose, interpret to suit themselves, and then present these tothe people, while they deny them the privilege of studyingthe Bible, and understanding its sacred truths for themselves.The whole Bible should be given to the people just as itreads. It would be better for them not to have Bible instruc-tion at all than to have the teaching of the Scriptures thusgrossly misrepresented.

The Bible was designed to be a guide to all who wish

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to become acquainted with the will of their Maker.God gave to men the sure word of prophecy; angels andeven Christ Himself came to make known to Daniel andJohn the things that must shortly come to pass. Those im-portant matters that concern our salvation were not leftinvolved in mystery. They were not revealed in such a wayas 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.”Habakkuk 2:2. The Word of God is plain to all whostudy it with a prayerful heart. Every truly honest soulwill come to the light of truth. “Light is sown for therighteous.” Psalm 97:11. And no church can advance inholiness unless its members are earnestly seeking for truthas for hid treasure.

By the cry, Liberality, men are blinded to the devicesof their adversary, while he is all the time working steadilyfor the accomplishment of his object. As he succeeds in sup-planting the Bible by human speculations, the law of Godis set aside, and the churches are under the bondage of sinwhile they claim to be free.

To many, scientific research has become a curse. Godhas permitted a flood of light to be poured upon the world indiscoveries in science and art; but even the greatest minds, ifnot guided by the Word of God in their research, becomebewildered in their attempts to investigate the relations ofscience and revelation.

Human knowledge of both material and spiritual thingsis partial and imperfect; therefore many are unable to har-monize their views of science with Scripture statements.Many accept mere theories and speculations as scien-tific facts, and they think that God’s Word is to be testedby the teachings of “science falsely so called.” The Cre-ator and His works are beyond their comprehension; and be-cause they cannot explain these by natural laws, Bible his-tory is regarded as unreliable. Those who doubt the reli-ability of the records of the Old and New Testaments toooften go a step farther, and doubt the existence of



God, and attribute infinite power to nature. Having letgo their anchor, they are left to beat about upon the rocksof infidelity.

Thus many err from the faith, and are seduced by thedevil. Men have endeavored to be wiser than theirCreator; human philosophy has attempted to searchout and explain mysteries which will never be re-vealed, through the eternal ages. If men would but searchand understand what God has made known of Himself andHis purposes, they would obtain such a view of the glory,majesty, and power of Jehovah, that they would realizetheir own littleness, and would be content with that whichhas been revealed for themselves and their children.

It is a masterpiece of Satan’s deceptions to keepthe minds of men searching and conjecturing in re-gard to that which God has not made known, and whichHe does not intend that we shall understand. It was thusthat Lucifer lost his place in Heaven. He became dissatis-fied because all the secrets of God’s purposes were notconfided to him, and he entirely disregarded that whichwas revealed concerning his own work in the lofty positionassigned him. By arousing the same discontent in the an-gels under his command, he caused their fall. Now he seeksto imbue the minds of men with the same spirit, and to leadthem also to disregard the direct commands of God.

Those who are unwilling to accept the plain, cuttingtruths of the Bible, are continually seeking for pleasingfables that will quiet the conscience. The less spiritual,self-denying, and humiliating the doctrines presented, thegreater the favor with which they are received. These per-sons degrade the intellectual powers to serve their carnaldesires. Too wise in their own conceit to search the Scrip-tures with contrition of soul and earnest prayer for di-vine guidance, they have no shield from delusion. Satanis ready to supply the heart’s desire, and he palms off hisdeceptions in the place of truth. It was thus that the papacygained its power over the minds of men; and by rejection ofthe truth because it involves a cross, Protestants are follow-

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ing the same path. All who neglect the Word of God tostudy convenience and policy, that they may not be atvariance with the world, will be left to receive damnableheresy for religious truth. Every conceivable form oferror will be accepted by those who willfully reject thetruth. He who looks with horror upon one deception willreadily receive another. The apostle Paul, speaking of aclass who “received not the love of the truth, that theymight be saved,” declares, “For this cause God shall sendthem strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, thatthey all might be damned who believed not the truth, buthad pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thessalonians 2:11, 12.With such a warning before us, it behooves us to be on ourguard as to what doctrines we receive.

Among the most successful agencies of the greatdeceiver are the delusive teachings and lying won-ders of Spiritualism. Disguised as an angel of light, hespreads his nets where least suspected. If men would butstudy the Book of God with earnest prayer that they mightunderstand it, they would not be left in darkness to receivefalse doctrines. But as they reject the truth, they fall a preyto deception.

Another dangerous error, is the doctrine that deniesthe divinity of Christ, claiming that He had no existencebefore His advent to this world. This theory is received withfavor by a large class who profess to believe the Bible; yet itdirectly contradicts the plainest statements of our Saviourconcerning His relationship with the Father, His divine char-acter, and His pre-existence. It cannot be entertained with-out the most unwarranted wresting of the Scriptures. It notonly lowers man’s conceptions of the work of redemp-tion, but undermines faith in the Bible as a revelationfrom God. While this renders it the more dangerous, it makesit also harder to meet. If men reject the testimony of the in-spired Scriptures concerning the divinity of Christ, it is invain to argue the point with them; for no argument, howeverconclusive, could convince them. “The natural man receivethnot the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness



unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiri-tually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:14. None who hold thiserror can have a true conception of the character or themission of Christ, or of the great plan of God for man’sredemption.

Still another subtle and mischievous error is thefast spreading belief that Satan has no existence as apersonal being; that the name is used in Scripture merelyto 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 eachindividual at death, is a device to divert the minds of menfrom His personal coming in the clouds of heaven. For yearsSatan has thus been saying, “Behold, He is in the secret cham-bers;” (Matthew 24:26) and many souls have been lost byaccepting this deception.

Again, worldly wisdom teaches that prayer is not es-sential. Men of science claim that there can be no real an-swer 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 nothingcontrary to these laws. Thus they represent God as bound byHis own laws; as if the operation of divine laws could ex-clude divine freedom. Such teaching is opposed to the testi-mony of the Scriptures. Were not miracles wrought by Christand His apostles? The same compassionate Saviour livestoday, and He is as willing to listen to the prayer of faith aswhen He walked visibly among men. The natural co-oper-ates with the supernatural. It is a part of God’s plan togrant us, in answer to the prayer of faith, that which Hewould not bestow did we not thus ask.

Innumerable are the erroneous doctrines and fanciful ideasthat are obtaining among the churches of Christendom. It isimpossible to estimate the evil results of removing one ofthe landmarks fixed by the Word of God. Few who ven-ture to do this stop with the rejection of a single truth.The majority continue to set aside one after another of theprinciples of truth, until they become actual infidels.

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The errors of popular theology have driven manya soul to skepticism, who might otherwise have been abeliever in the Scriptures. It is impossible for him toaccept doctrines which outrage his sense of justice,mercy, and benevolence; and since these are repre-sented as the teaching of the Bible, he refuses toreceive it as the Word of God.

And this is the object which Satan seeks to ac-complish. There is nothing that he desires more thanto destroy confidence in God and in His Word. Satanstands at the head of the great army of doubters, and heworks to the utmost of his power to beguile souls into hisranks. It is becoming fashionable to doubt. There is alarge class by whom the Word of God is looked upon withdistrust for the same reason as was its Author—because itreproves and condemns sin. Those who are unwilling toobey its requirements endeavor to overthrow its au-thority. They read the Bible, or listen to its teachings aspresented from the sacred desk, merely to find fault withthe Scriptures or with the sermon. Not a few become infi-dels in order to justify or excuse themselves in neglect ofduty. Others adopt skeptical principles from pride and in-dolence. Too ease-loving to distinguish themselves by ac-complishing anything worthy of honor, which requires ef-fort and self-denial, they aim to secure a reputation forsuperior wisdom by criticising the Bible. There is muchwhich the finite mind, unenlightened by divine wisdom, ispowerless to comprehend; and thus they find occasion tocriticise. There are many who seem to feel that it is avirtue to stand on the side of unbelief, skepticism,and infidelity. But underneath an appearance of candor, itwill be found that such persons are actuated by self-confi-dence and pride. Many delight in finding something in theScriptures to puzzle the minds of others. Some at firstcriticise and reason on the wrong side, from a mere love ofcontroversy. They do not realize that they are thus entan-gling themselves in the snare of the fowler. But havingopenly expressed unbelief, they feel that they must main-



tain their position. Thus they unite with the ungodly, andclose to themselves the gates of Paradise.

God has given in His Word sufficient evidence of itsdivine character. The great truths which concern our re-demption are clearly presented. By the aid of the HolySpirit, which is promised to all who seek it in sincerity, ev-ery man may understand these truths for himself. God hasgranted to men a strong foundation upon which to rest theirfaith.

Yet the finite minds of men are inadequate fully to com-prehend the plans and purposes of the Infinite One. Wecan never by searching find out God. We must not attemptto lift with presumptuous hand the curtain behind which Heveils His majesty. The apostle exclaims, “How unsearchableare His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” Romans11:33. We can so far comprehend His dealings with us, andthe motives by which He is actuated, that we may discernboundless love and mercy united to infinite power. Our Fa-ther in Heaven orders everything in wisdom and righ-teousness, and we are not to be dissatisfied and distrust-ful, but to bow in reverent submission. He will reveal tous as much of His purposes as it is for our good to know,and beyond that we must trust the Hand that is omnipo-tent, the Heart that is full of love.

While God has given ample evidence for faith, He willnever remove all excuse for unbelief. All who look forhooks to hang their doubts upon, will find them. And thosewho refuse to accept and obey God’s Word until every ob-jection has been removed, and there is no longer an opportu-nity for doubt, will never come to the light.

Distrust of God is the natural outgrowth of theunrenewed heart, which is at enmity with Him. But faithis inspired by the Holy Spirit, and it will flourish only asit is cherished. No man can become strong in faith withouta determined effort. Unbelief strengthens as it is encour-aged; and if men, instead of dwelling upon the evidenceswhich God has given to sustain their faith, will permit them-selves to question and cavil, they will find their doubts con-

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stantly becoming more confirmed.But those who doubt God’s promises, and distrust the

assurance of His grace, are dishonoring Him; and their in-fluence, instead of drawing others to Christ, tends to repelthem from Him. They are unproductive trees, that spreadtheir dark branches far and wide, shutting away the sun-light from other plants, and causing them to droop and dieunder the chilling shadow. The life-work of these personswill appear as a never-ceasing witness against them. Theyare sowing seeds of doubt and skepticism that will yield anunfailing harvest.

There is but one course for those to pursue whohonestly desire to be freed from doubts. Instead ofquestioning and caviling concerning that which they do notunderstand, let them give heed to the light which al-ready shines upon them, and they will receive greaterlight. Let them do every duty which has been madeplain to their understanding, and they will be enabledto understand and perform those of which they arenow in doubt.

Satan can present a counterfeit so closely resembling thetruth that it deceives those who are willing to be deceived,who desire to shun the self-denial and sacrifice demandedby the truth; but it is impossible for him to hold under hispower one soul who honestly desires, at whatever cost,to know the truth. Christ is the truth, and the “light whichlighteth every man that cometh into the world.” John 1:9.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, heshall know of the doctrine.” Matthew 7:7; John 7:17.

The followers of Christ know little of the plots which Satanand his hosts are forming against them. But He who sittethin the heavens will overrule all these devices for the accom-plishment of his deep designs. The Lord permits His peopleto be subjected to the fiery ordeal of temptation, not becauseHe takes pleasure in their distress and affliction, but becausethis process is essential to their final victory. He could not,



consistently with His own glory, shield them fromtemptation; for the very object of the trial is to pre-pare them to resist all the allurements of evil.

Neither wicked men nor devils can hinder the work ofGod or shut out His presence from His people, if theywill, with subdued, contrite hearts, confess and put awaytheir sins, and in faith claim His promises. Every temp-tation, 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.” Zechariah 4:6.

“The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and Hisears are open unto their prayers. . . . And who is he thatwill harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?” 1Peter 3:12, 13. When Balaam, allured by the promise ofrich rewards, practiced enchantments against Israel, andby sacrifices to the Lord, sought to invoke a curse uponHis people, the Spirit of God forbade the evil which Helonged to pronounce, and Balaam was forced to exclaim,“How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or howshall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied?” “Let me diethe death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!”When sacrifice had again been offered, the ungodly prophetdeclared: “Behold, I have received commandment to bless;and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it. He hath notbeheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath He seen perverse-ness in Israel; the Lord His God is with him, and the shoutof a King is among them.” “Surely there is no enchantmentagainst Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel.According to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Is-rael, What hath God wrought!” Numbers 23:8, 10, 20, 21,23. Yet a third altar was erected, and again Balaam es-sayed to secure a curse. But from the unwilling lips of theprophet, the Spirit of God declared the prosperity of Hischosen, and rebuked the folly and malice of their foes:“Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he thatcurseth thee.” Numbers 23:8, 10, 20, 21, 23; 24:9.

The people of Israel were at this time loyal to God; and solong as they continued in obedience to His law, no power in

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earth or hell could prevail against them. But the cursewhich Balaam had not been permitted to pronounceagainst God’s people, he finally succeeded in bring-ing upon them by seducing them into sin. When theytransgressed God’s commandments, then they separatedthemselves from Him, and they were left to feel the powerof the destroyer.

Satan is well aware that the weakest soul who abidesin Christ is more than a match for the hosts of dark-ness, and that, should he reveal himself openly, he wouldbe met and resisted. Therefore he seeks to draw awaythe soldiers of the cross from their strong fortifica-tion, while he lies in ambush with his forces, ready todestroy all who venture upon his ground. Only inhumble reliance upon God, and obedience to all Hiscommandments, can we be secure. No man is safefor a day or an hour without prayer. Especially shouldwe entreat the Lord for wisdom to understand HisWord. Here are revealed the wiles of the tempter, and themeans by which he may be successfully resisted. Satan isan expert in quoting Scripture, placing his own interpreta-tion upon passages by which he hopes to cause us tostumble. We should study the Bible with humility ofheart, never losing sight of our dependence upon God.While we must constantly guard against the devices of Sa-tan, we should pray in faith continually, “Lead us notinto temptation.”

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: RESISTING THE SNARES: RESISTING THE SNARES: RESISTING THE SNARES: RESISTING THE SNARES: RESISTING THE SNARES

“In the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducingspirits, and doctrines of devils.” 1 Timothy 4:1. “And no marvel; for Satan himself istransformed into an angel of light.” 2 Corinthians 11:14. “Regard not them that havefamiliar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord yourGod.” Leviticus 19:31 (1 Chronicles 10:13-14). “Beloved, believe not every spirit,but try the spirits whether they are of God.” 1 John 4:1. “For they are the spirits ofdevils, working miracles.” Revelation 16:14 (2 Thess 2:10; Matt 24:23-24).

“Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right tothe tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Revelation22:14.



Chapter Thirty-threeChapter Thirty-threeChapter Thirty-threeChapter Thirty-threeChapter Thirty-three

The FThe FThe FThe FThe First Lieirst Lieirst Lieirst Lieirst Lie —The First Great Deception —The First Great Deception —The First Great Deception —The First Great Deception —The First Great Deception

———————————————————————One of the most fantastic deceptions of all time was starOne of the most fantastic deceptions of all time was starOne of the most fantastic deceptions of all time was starOne of the most fantastic deceptions of all time was starOne of the most fantastic deceptions of all time was startedtedtedtedted

by the devil thousands of years ago.by the devil thousands of years ago.by the devil thousands of years ago.by the devil thousands of years ago.by the devil thousands of years ago. Surprisingly enough, few to-day recognize it for what it is. And yet with it, he catches souls andholds them fast —

YYYYYou are now going to learn the hearou are now going to learn the hearou are now going to learn the hearou are now going to learn the hearou are now going to learn the heart of the spider web—t of the spider web—t of the spider web—t of the spider web—t of the spider web—how Satan uses the dead—to catch the living —how Satan uses the dead—to catch the living —how Satan uses the dead—to catch the living —how Satan uses the dead—to catch the living —how Satan uses the dead—to catch the living ————————————————————————

With the earliest history of man, Satan began his ef-forts to deceive our race. He who had incited rebellion inHeaven desired to bring the inhabitants of the earth tounite with him in his warfare against the government ofGod. Adam and Even had been perfectly happy in obedienceto the law of God, and this fact was a constant testimonyagainst the claim which Satan had urged in Heaven, thatGod’s law was oppressive, and opposed to the good of Hiscreatures. And, furthermore, Satan’s envy was excited as helooked upon the beautiful home prepared for the sinless pair.He determined to cause their fall, that, having separatedthem from God, and brought them under his own power,he might gain possession of the earth, and here establishhis kingdom, in opposition to the Most High.

Had Satan revealed himself in his real character, hewould have been repulsed at once, for Adam and Eve hadbeen warned against this dangerous foe; but he worked inthe dark, concealing his purpose, that he might more effectu-ally accomplish his object. Employing as his medium the ser-pent, then a creature of fascinating appearance, he addressedhimself to Eve, “Hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every treeof the garden?” Genesis 3:1. Had Eve refrained from enter-ing into argument with the tempter, she would have been safe;

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but she ventured to parley with him, and fell a victim tohis wiles. It is thus that many are still overcome. Theydoubt and argue concerning the requirements of God,and instead of obeying the divine commands, they accepthuman theories, which but disguise the devices of Satan.

“The woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruitof the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which isin the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat ofit, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent saidunto the woman, Ye shall not surely die; for God doth knowthat in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened,and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4,5. He declared that they would become like God, possess-ing greater wisdom than before, and being capable of ahigher state of existence. Eve yielded to temptation; andthrough her influence, Adam was led into sin. They acceptedthe words of the serpent, that God did not mean what Hesaid; they distrusted their Creator, and imagined that Hewas restricting their liberty, and that they might obtaingreat wisdom and exaltation by transgressing His law.

But what did Adam, after his sin, find to be the meaningof the words, “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shaltsurely die.”? Did he find them to mean, as Satan had led himto believe, that he was to be ushered into a more exalted stateof existence? Then indeed there was great good to be gainedby transgression, and Satan was proved to be a benefactor ofthe race. But Adam did not find this to be the meaning of thedivine sentence. God declared that as a penalty for his sin,man should return to the ground whence he was taken: “Dustthou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Genesis 3:19. Thewords of Satan, “Your eyes shall be opened,” proved tobe true in this sense only: After Adam and Eve had dis-obeyed God, their eyes were opened to discern their folly;they did know evil, and they tasted the bitter fruit of trans-gression.

In the midst of Eden grew the tree of life, whose fruit hadthe power of perpetuating life. Had Adam remained obedi-ent to God, he would have continued to enjoy free access

The First Great Deception The First Great Deception The First Great Deception The First Great Deception The First Great Deception [531-532] [531-532] [531-532] [531-532] [531-532]


to this tree, and would have lived forever. But when hesinned, he was cut off from partaking of the tree of life, andhe became subject to death. The divine sentence, “Dust thouart, and unto dust shalt thou return,” points to the utter extinc-tion of life.

Immortality, promised to man on condition of obedi-ence, had been forfeited by transgression. Adam couldnot transmit to his posterity that which he did not possess;and there could have been no hope for the fallen race, hadnot God, by the sacrifice of His Son, brought immortal-ity within their reach. While “death passed upon all men, forthat all have sinned,” Christ “hath brought life and immortal-ity to light through the gospel.” Romans 5:12; 2 Timothy1:10. 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.” John 3:36.Every man may come in possession of this priceless bless-ing if he will comply with the conditions. All “who by pa-tient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honor andimmortality,” will receive eternal life. Romans 2:7.

The only one who promised Adam life in disobediencewas the great deceiver. And the declaration of the serpentto Eve in Eden,—“Ye shall not surely die,”—was the firstsermon ever preached upon the immortality of the soul.Yet this declaration, resting solely upon the authority of Sa-tan, is echoed from the pulpits of Christendom, and is receivedby the majority of mankind as readily as it was received by ourfirst parents. The divine sentence, “The soul that sinneth,it shall die,” (Ezekiel 18:20) is made to mean, The soulthat sinneth, it shall not die, but live eternally. We cannotbut wonder at the strange infatuation which renders men socredulous concerning the words of Satan, and so unbelievingin regard to the words of God.

Had man, after his fall, been allowed free access to the treeof life, he would have lived forever, and thus sin would havebeen immortalized. But cherubim and a flaming sword kept“the way of the tree of life,” (Genesis 3:24) and not one of thefamily of Adam has been permitted to pass that barrier and

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partake of the life-giving fruit. Therefore there is not an im-mortal sinner.

But after the fall, Satan bade his angels make a specialeffort to inculcate the belief in man’s natural immortal-ity; and having induced the people to receive this error,they were to lead them on to conclude that the sinnerwould live in eternal misery. Now the prince of darkness,working through his agents, represents God as a revengefultyrant, declaring that He plunges into hell all those who do notplease him, and causes them ever to feel His wrath; and thatwhile they suffer unutterable anguish, and writhe in the eter-nal flames, their Creator looks down upon them with satisfac-tion.

Thus the arch-fiend clothes with his own attributes theCreator 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 himselfis the enemy who tempts man to sin, and then destroys himif he can; and when he has made sure of his victim, then heexults in the ruin he has wrought. If permitted, he wouldsweep the entire race into his net. Were it not for the interpo-sition of divine power, not one son or daughter of Adamwould escape.

He is seeking to overcome men to-day, as he overcame ourfirst parents, by shaking their confidence in their Creator, andleading them to doubt the wisdom of His government and thejustice of His laws. Satan and his emissaries represent Godas even worse than themselves, in order to justify theirown malignity and rebellion. The great deceiver endeav-ors to shift his own horrible cruelty of character upon ourheavenly Father, that he may cause himself to appear as onegreatly wronged by his expulsion from Heaven because hewould not submit to so unjust a governor. He presents beforethe world the liberty which they may enjoy under his mildsway, in contrast with the bondage imposed by the stern de-crees of Jehovah. Thus he succeeds in luring souls away fromtheir allegiance to God.

How repugnant to every emotion of love and mercy,



and even to our sense of justice, is the doctrine that thewicked dead are tormented with fire and brimstone in aneternally burning hell; that for the sins of a brief, earthlylife they are to suffer torture as long as God shall live. Yetthis doctrine has been widely taught, and is still embodied inmany of the creeds of Christendom. Said a learned doctor ofdivinity: “The sight of hell-torments will exalt the happinessof the saints forever. When they see others who are of thesame nature and born under the same circumstances, plungedin such misery, and they so distinguished, it will make themsensible of how happy they are.” Another used these words:“While the decree of reprobation is eternally executing on thevessels of wrath, the smoke of their torment will be eternallyascending in view of the vessels of mercy, who, instead of tak-ing the part of these miserable objects, will say, Amen, Alle-luia! praise ye the Lord!”

Where, in the pages of God’s Word, is such teaching to befound? Will the redeemed in Heaven be lost to all emotionsof pity and compassion, and even to feelings of commonhumanity? Are these to be exchanged for the indifferenceof the stoic, or the cruelty of the savage?—No, no; suchis not the teaching of the Book of God. Those who presentthe views expressed in the quotations given above may belearned and even honest men; but they are deluded by thesophistry of Satan. He leads them to misconstrue strong ex-pressions of Scripture, giving to the language the coloring ofbitterness and malignity which pertains to himself, but not toour Creator. “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasurein the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from hisway and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for whywill ye die?” Ezekiel 33:11.

What would be gained to God should we admit that He de-lights in witnessing unceasing tortures; that He is regaled withthe groans and shrieks and imprecations of the suffering crea-tures whom He holds in the flames of hell? Can these horridsounds be music in the ear of Infinite Love? It is urged thatthe infliction of endless misery upon the wicked would showGod’s hatred of sin as an evil which is ruinous to the peace

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and order of the universe. Oh, dreadful blasphemy! As ifGod’s hatred of sin is the reason why He perpetuates sin.For, according to the teachings of these theologians, contin-ued torture without hope of mercy maddens its wretched vic-tims, and as they pour out their rage in curses and blasphemy,they are forever augmenting their load of guilt. God’s gloryis not enhanced by thus perpetuating continually increas-ing sin through ceaseless ages.

It is beyond the power of the human mind to estimatethe evil which has been wrought by the heresy of eternaltorment. The religion of the Bible, full of love and goodness,and abounding in compassion, is darkened by superstition andclothed with terror. When we consider in what false colorsSatan has painted the character of God, can we wonderthat our merciful Creator is feared, dreaded, and evenhated? The appalling views of God which have spread overthe world from the teachings of the pulpit have made thou-sands, yes, millions, of skeptics and infidels.

The theory of eternal torment is one of the false doc-trines that constitute the wine of the abominations ofBabylon, of which she makes all nations drink. Revelation14:8; 17:2. That ministers of Christ should have accepted thisheresy and proclaimed it from the sacred desk, is indeed amystery. They received it from Rome, as they received thefalse sabbath. True, it has been taught by great and good men;but the light on this subject had not come to them as it hascome to us. They were responsible only for the light whichshone in their time; we are accountable for that whichshines in our day. If we turn from the testimony of God’sWord, and accept false doctrines because our fathers taughtthem, we fall under the condemnation pronounced uponBabylon; we are drinking of the wine of her abominations.

A large class to whom the doctrine of eternal tormentis revolting, are driven to the opposite error. They see thatthe Scriptures represent God as a being of love and compas-sion, and they cannot believe that He will consign His crea-tures to the fires of an eternally burning hell. But, holding thatthe soul is naturally immortal, they see no alternative but



to conclude that all mankind will finally be saved. Manyregard the threatenings of the Bible as designed merely tofrighten men into obedience, and not to be literally fulfilled.Thus the sinner can live in selfish pleasure, disregarding therequirements of God, and yet expect to be finally received intoHis favor. Such a doctrine, presuming upon God’s mercy,but ignoring His justice, pleases the carnal heart, andemboldens the wicked in their iniquity.

To show how believers in universal salvation wrest theScriptures to sustain their soul-destroying dogmas, it isneedful only to cite their own utterances. At the funeralof an irreligious young man, who had been killed instantlyby an accident, a Universalist minister selected as his textthe Scripture statement concerning David, “He was comfortedconcerning Amnon, seeing he was dead.” 2 Samuel 13:39.

“I am frequently asked,” said the speaker, “what will be thefate of those who leave the world in sin, die, perhaps, in a stateof inebriation, die with the scarlet stains of crime unwashedfrom their robes, or die as this young man died, having nevermade a profession or enjoyed an experience of religion. Weare content with the Scriptures; their answer shall solve theawful problem. Amnon was exceedingly sinful; he was unre-pentant, he was made drunk, and while drunk was killed.David was a prophet of God; he must have known whether itwould be ill or well for Amnon in the world to come. Whatwere the expressions of his heart?—‘The soul of King Davidlonged to go forth unto Absalom; for he was comforted con-cerning Amnon, seeing he was dead.’

“And what is the inference to be deduced from this lan-guage? Is it not that endless suffering formed no part of hisreligious belief?—So we conceive; and here we discover atriumphant argument in support of the more pleasing, moreenlightened, more benevolent hypothesis of ultimate univer-sal purity and peace. He was comforted, seeing his son wasdead. And why so?—Because by the eye of prophecy he couldlook forward into the glorious future, and see that son far re-moved from all temptations, released from the bondage andpurified from the corruptions of sin, and after being made suf-

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ficiently holy and enlightened, admitted to the assembly of as-cended and rejoicing spirits. His only comfort was, that inbeing removed from the present state of sin and suffering, hisbeloved son had gone where the loftiest breathings of the HolySpirit would be shed upon his darkened soul; where his mindwould be unfolded to the wisdom of Heaven and the sweetraptures of immortal love, and thus prepared with a sanctifiednature to enjoy the rest and society of the heavenly inherit-ance.

“In these thoughts we would be understood to believe thatthe salvation of Heaven depends upon nothing which we cando in this life; neither upon a present change of heart, nor uponpresent belief, or a present profession of religion.”

Thus does the professed minister of Christ reiterate thefalsehood uttered by the serpent in Eden,—“Ye shall notsurely die.” “In the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shallbe opened, and ye shall be as gods.” He declares that the vil-est of sinners,—the murderer, the thief, and the adulterer,—will after death be prepared to enter into immortalbliss.

And from what does this perverter of the Scripturesdraw his conclusions?—From a single sentence express-ing David’s submission to the dispensation of Providence.His soul “longed to go forth unto Absalom; for he was com-forted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead.” The poi-gnancy of his grief having been softened by time, his thoughtsturned from the dead to the living son, self-banished throughfear of the just punishment of his crime. And this is the evi-dence that the incestuous, drunken Amnon was at death im-mediately transported to the abodes of bliss, there to be pu-rified 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, wicked-ness abounds?

The course pursued by this one false teacher illustratesthat of many others. A few words of Scripture are sepa-rated from the context, which would, in many cases, show



their meaning to be exactly opposite to the interpretationput upon them; and such disjointed passages are pervertedand used in proof of doctrines that have no foundation in theWord of God. The testimony cited as evidence that thedrunken Amnon is in Heaven, is a mere inference, directlycontradicted by the plain and positive statement of the Scrip-tures, that no drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of God. 1Corinthians 6:10. It is thus that doubters, unbelievers, andskeptics turn the truth into a lie. And multitudes have beendeceived by their sophistry, and rocked to sleep in the cradleof carnal security.

If it were true that the souls of all men passed directly toHeaven at the hour of dissolution, then we might well covetdeath rather than life. Many have been led by this belief to putan end to their existence. When overwhelmed with trouble,perplexity, and disappointment, it seems an easy thing tobreak the brittle thread of life, and soar away into the bliss ofthe eternal world.

God has given in His Word decisive evidence that Hewill punish the transgressors of His law. Those who flat-ter themselves that He is too merciful to execute justiceupon the sinner, have only to look to the cross of Calvary.The death of the spotless Son of God testifies that “the wagesof sin is death,” that every violation of God’s law must receiveits just retribution. Christ the sinless became sin for man. Hebore the guilt of transgression, and the hiding of his Father’sface, until His heart was broken and His life crushed out. Allthis sacrifice was made that sinners might be redeemed. In noother way could man be freed from the penalty of sin. And ev-ery soul that refuses to become a partaker of the atonementprovided at such a cost, must bear, in his own person, the guiltand punishment of transgression.

Let us consider what the Bible teaches further concern-ing the ungodly and unrepentant, whom the Universalistplaces in Heaven as holy, happy angels.

“I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of thewater of life freely.” Revelation 21:6. This promise is only tothose that thirst. None but those who feel their need of the

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water of life, and seek it at the loss of all things else, will besupplied. “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and Iwill be his God, and he shall be My son.” Revelation 21:7.Here, also, conditions are specified. In order to inherit allthings, we must resist and overcome sin.

The Lord declares by the prophet Isaiah, “Say ye to therighteous, that it shall be well with him.” “Woe unto thewicked! it shall be ill with him; for the reward of his handsshall be given him.” Isaiah 3:11. “Though a sinner do evil ahundred times,” says the wise man, “and his days be pro-longed, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them thatfear God, which fear before Him; but it shall not be well withthe wicked.” Ecclesiastes 8:12, 13. And Paul testifies that thesinner is treasuring up unto himself “wrath against the day ofwrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, whowill render to every man according to his deeds;” “tribulationand anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil.” Romans2:5, 6, 9.

“No fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man,which is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom ofChrist and God.” Ephesians 5:5, R.V. “Follow peace with allmen, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”Hebrews 12:14. “Blessed are they that do His command-ments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and mayenter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs,and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idola-ters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.” Revelation22:14, 15.

God has given to men a declaration of His character,and of His method of dealing with sin. “The Lord God, mer-ciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodnessand truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity andtransgression and sin, and that will by no means clear theguilty.” Exodus 34:6, 7. “All the wicked will He destroy.”“The transgressors shall be destroyed together; the end of thewicked shall be cut off.” Psalm 145:20; 37:38. The powerand authority of the divine government will be employedto put down rebellion; yet all the manifestations of re-



tributive justice will be perfectly consistent with the char-acter of God as a merciful, long-suffering, benevolentbeing.

God does not force the will or judgment of any. Hetakes no pleasure in a slavish obedience. He desires that thecreatures of His hands shall love Him because He is worthyof love. He would have them obey Him because they have anintelligent appreciation of His wisdom, justice, and benevo-lence. And all who have a just conception of these qualitieswill love Him because they are drawn toward Him in admi-ration of His attributes.

The principles of kindness, mercy, and love, taught and ex-emplified by our Saviour, are a transcript of the will and char-acter of God. Christ declared that He taught nothing exceptthat which He had received from His Father. The principlesof the divine government are in perfect harmony with theSaviour’s precept, “Love your enemies.” God executes jus-tice upon the wicked, for the good of the universe, andeven for the good of those upon whom His judgments arevisited. He would make them happy if He could do so in ac-cordance with the laws of His government and the justice ofHis character. He surrounds them with the tokens of Hislove, He grants them a knowledge of His law, and followsthem with the offers of His mercy; but they despise hislove, make void His law, and reject His mercy. While con-stantly receiving His gifts, they dishonor the Giver; they hateGod because they know that He abhors their sins. The Lordbears long with their perversity; but the decisive hour willcome at last, when their destiny is to be decided. Will Hethen chain these rebels to His side? Will He force them todo His will?

Those who have chosen Satan as their leader, and havebeen controlled by his power, are not prepared to enterthe presence of God. Pride, deception, licentiousness, cru-elty, have become fixed in their characters. Can they en-ter Heaven, to dwell forever with those whom they de-spised and hated on earth? Truth will never be agreeable toa liar; meekness will not satisfy self-esteem and pride; purity

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is not acceptable to the corrupt; disinterested love does not ap-pear attractive to the selfish. What source of enjoyment couldHeaven offer to those who are wholly absorbed in earthly andselfish interests?

Could those whose lives have been spent in rebellionagainst God be suddenly transported to Heaven, and witnessthe high, the holy state of perfection that ever exists there,—every soul filled with love; every countenance beaming withjoy; enrapturing music in melodious strains rising in honor ofGod and the Lamb; and ceaseless streams of light flowingupon the redeemed from the face of Him who sitteth upon thethrone,—could those whose hearts are filled with hatred ofGod, of truth and holiness, mingle with the heavenly throngand join their songs of praise? Could they endure the gloryof God and the Lamb?—No, no; years of probation weregranted them, that they might form characters forHeaven; but they have never trained the mind to love pu-rity; they have never learned the language of Heaven, andnow it is too late. A life of rebellion against God has unfit-ted them for Heaven. Its purity, holiness, and peace wouldbe torture to them; the glory of God would be a consumingfire. They would long to flee from that holy place. They wouldwelcome destruction, that they might be hidden from the faceof Him who died to redeem them. The destiny of the wickedis fixed by their own choice. Their exclusion from Heavenis voluntary with themselves, and just and merciful on thepart of God.

Like the waters of the flood, the fires of the great daydeclare God’s verdict that the wicked are incurable. Theyhave no disposition to submit to divine authority. Their willhas been exercised in revolt; and when life is ended, it is toolate to turn the current of their thoughts in the opposite direc-tion,—too late to turn from transgression to obedience, fromhatred to love.

In sparing the life of Cain the murderer, God gave theworld an example of what would be the result of permittingthe sinner to live, to continue a course of unbridled iniquity.Through the influence of Cain’s teaching and example, mul-



titudes of his descendants were led into sin, until “the wick-edness of man was great in the earth, and every imaginationof the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” “Theearth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filledwith violence.” Genesis 6:5, 11.

In mercy to the world, God blotted out its wicked in-habitants in Noah’s time. In mercy He destroyed the corruptdwellers in Sodom. Through the deceptive power of Satan, theworkers of iniquity obtain sympathy and admiration, and arethus constantly leading others to rebellion. It was so in Cain’sand in Noah’s day, and in the time of Abraham and Lot; it isso in our time. It is in mercy to the universe that God willfinally destroy the rejecters of His grace.

“The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eter-nal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23.While life is the inheritance of the righteous, death is the por-tion of the wicked. Moses declared to Israel, “I have set be-fore thee this day life and good, and death and evil.” Deuter-onomy 30:15. The death referred to in these scriptures is notthat pronounced upon Adam, for all mankind suffer the pen-alty of his transgression. It is the “second death” that is placedin contrast with everlasting life.

In consequence of Adam’s sin, death passed upon thewhole human race. All alike go down into the grave. Andthrough the provisions of the plan of salvation, all are tobe brought forth from their graves. “There shall be a res-urrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust;” Acts 24:15.“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be madealive.” 1 Corinthians 15:22. But a distinction is made betweenthe two classes that are brought forth. “All that are in thegraves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they thathave done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they thathave done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” John5:28, 29. They who have been “accounted worthy” of the res-urrection of life are “blessed and holy.” “On such the seconddeath hath no power.” Revelation 20:6. But those who havenot, through repentance and faith, secured pardon, mustreceive the penalty of transgression,—“the wages of sin.”

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They suffer punishment varying in duration and intensity,“according to their works,” but finally ending in the sec-ond death. Since it is impossible for God, consistently withHis justice and mercy, to save the sinner in his sins, He de-prives him of the existence which his transgressions have for-feited, and of which he has proved himself unworthy. Says aninspired writer, “Yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be;yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall notbe.” And another declares, “They shall be as though they hadnot been.” Psalm 37:10; Obadiah 16. Covered with infamy,they sink into hopeless, eternal oblivion.

Thus will be made an end of sin, with all the woe andruin which have resulted from it. Says the psalmist: “Thouhast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for-ever and ever. O thou enemy, destructions are come to a per-petual end.” Psalm 9:5, 6. John, in the Revelation, lookingforward to the eternal state, hears a universal anthem ofpraise, undisturbed by one note of discord. Every creaturein Heaven and earth was heard ascribing glory to God.Revelation 5:13. There will then be no lost souls to blas-pheme God, as they writhe in never-ending torment; nowretched beings in hell will mingle their shrieks with thesongs of the saved.

Upon the fundamental error of natural immortalityrests the doctrine of consciousness in death, a doctrine,like eternal torment, opposed to the teachings of theScriptures, to the dictates of reason, and to our feelings ofhumanity. According to the popular belief, the redeemed inHeaven are acquainted with all that takes place on the earth,and especially with the lives of the friends whom they haveleft behind. But how could it be a source of happiness to thedead to know the troubles of the living, to witness the sinscommitted by their own loved ones, and to see them endur-ing all the sorrows, disappointments, and anguish of life?How much of Heaven’s bliss would be enjoyed by thosewho were hovering over their friends on earth? And howutterly revolting is the belief that as soon as the breathleaves the body, the soul of the impenitent is consigned to



the flames of hell! To what depths of anguish must those beplunged who see their friends passing to the grave unpre-pared, to enter upon an eternity of woe and sin! Many havebeen driven to insanity by this harrowing thought.

What say the Scriptures concerning these things?David declares that man is not conscious in death. “Hisbreath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very dayhis thoughts perish.” Psalm 146:4. Solomon bears the sametestimony: “The living know that they shall die; but the deadknow not anything.” “Their love, and their hatred, and theirenvy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portionforever in anything that is done under the sun.” “There is nowork, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave,whither thou goest.” Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10.

When, in answer to his prayer, Hezekiah’s life was pro-longed fifteen years, the grateful king rendered to God a trib-ute of praise for His great mercy. In this song he tells the rea-son why he thus rejoices: “The grave cannot praise thee, deathcannot celebrate thee; they that go down into the pit cannothope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee,as I do this day.” Isaiah 38:19. Popular theology representsthe righteous dead as in Heaven, entered into bliss, and prais-ing God with an immortal tongue; but Hezekiah could see nosuch glorious prospect in death. With his words agrees the tes-timony of the psalmist: “In death there is no remembrance ofthee; in the grave who shall give thee thanks?” “The deadpraise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence.”Psalm 6:5; 115:17.

Peter, on the day of Pentecost, declared that the patriarchDavid “is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with usunto this day.” “For David is not ascended into the heavens.”Acts 2:29, 34. The fact that David remains in the graveuntil the resurrection, proves that the righteous do not goto Heaven at death. It is only through the resurrection,and by virtue of the fact that Christ has risen, that Davidcan at last sit at the right hand of God.

And said Paul: “If the dead rise not, then is not Christraised. And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are

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yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep inChrist are perished.” 1 Corinthians 15:16-18. If for four thou-sand years the righteous had gone directly to Heaven at death,how could Paul have said that if there is no resurrection, “theywhich are fallen asleep in Christ are perished”? No resurrec-tion would be necessary.

The martyr Tyndale, defending the doctrine that the deadsleep, declared to his papist opponent: “Ye, in putting them(departed souls) in Heaven, hell, and purgatory, destroy theargument wherewith Christ and Paul prove the resurrection.”“If the souls be in Heaven, tell me why they be not in as goodcase as the angels be? And then what cause is there of the res-urrection?

It is an undeniable fact that the hope of immortal bless-edness at death has led to widespread neglect of the Bibledoctrine of the resurrection. This tendency was remarkedby Dr. Adam Clarke, who, early in the present century, said:“The doctrine of the resurrection appears to have beenthought of much more consequence among the primitiveChristians than it is now! How is this? The apostles werecontinually insisting on it, and exciting the followers of Godto diligence, obedience, and cheerfulness through it. And theirsuccessors in the present day seldom mention it! So apostlespreached, and so primitive Christians believed; so we preach,and so our hearers believe. There is not a doctrine in the gos-pel on which more stress is laid; and there is not a doctrine inthe present system of preaching which is treated with more ne-glect!”

This has continued until the glorious truth of the resurrec-tion has been almost wholly obscured, and lost sight of by theChristian world. Thus a leading religious writer, commentingon the words of Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, says: “Forall practical purposes of comfort the doctrine of the blessedimmortality of the righteous takes the place for us of anydoubtful doctrine of the Lord’s second coming. At our deaththe Lord comes for us. That is what we are to wait and watchfor. The dead are already passed into glory. They do not waitfor the trump for their judgment and blessedness.”



But when about to leave His disciples, Jesus did not tellthem that they would soon come to Him. “I go to preparea place for you,” he said. “And if I go and prepare a place foryou, I will come again, and receive you unto myself.” John14:2, 3. And Paul tells us, further, that “the Lord Himself shalldescend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arch-angel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shallrise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caughtup together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in theair; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” And he adds,“Comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians4:16-18. How wide the contrast between these words ofcomfort and those of the Universalist minister previouslyquoted. The latter consoled the bereaved friends with the as-surance, that, however sinful the dead might have been, whenhe breathed out his life here he was to be received among theangels. Paul points his brethren to the future coming of theLord, 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, theircases must be investigated, and their characters and theirdeeds must pass in review before God. All are to be judgedaccording to the things written in the books, and to be re-warded as their works have been. This Judgment does not takeplace at death. Mark the words of Paul: “He hath appointeda day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousnessby that man whom He hath ordained: whereof He hath givenassurance unto all men, in that He hath raised him from thedead.” Acts 17:31. Here the apostle plainly stated that aspecified time, then future, had been fixed upon for theJudgment of the world.

Jude refers to the same period: “The angels which kept nottheir first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath re-served in everlasting chains under darkness unto the Judg-ment of the great day.” And again he quotes the words ofEnoch: “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of Hissaints, to execute judgment upon all.” Jude 6, 14, 15. Johndeclares that he “saw the dead, small and great, stand before

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God; and the books were opened;” “and the dead were judgedout of those things which were written in the books.” Revela-tion 20:12.

But if the dead are already enjoying the bliss of Heavenor writhing in the flames of hell, what need of a futureJudgment? The teachings of God’s Word on these importantpoints are neither obscure nor contradictory; they may be un-derstood by common minds. But what candid mind can seeeither wisdom or justice in the current theory? Will the righ-teous, after the investigation of their cases at the Judgment,receive the commendation, “Well done, good and faithful ser-vant,” “enter thou into the joy of thy Lord,” (Matthew 25:23)when they have been dwelling in His presence, perhaps forlong ages? Are the wicked summoned from the place of tor-ment to receive the sentence from the Judge of all the earth,“Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire”? Matthew25:41. Oh, solemn mockery! shameful impeachment of thewisdom and justice of God!

The theory of the immortality of the soul was one ofthose false doctrines that Rome, borrowing from pagan-ism, incorporated into the religion of Christendom. MartinLuther classed it with “the numberless prodigies of theRomish dunghill of decretals.” Commenting on the words ofSolomon in Ecclesiastes, that the dead know not anything, thereformer says: “Another proof that the dead are insensible.Solomon thinks therefore, that the dead are altogether asleep,and think of nothing. They lie, not reckoning days or years,but when awakened, will seem to themselves to have sleptscarcely a moment.”

Nowhere in the Sacred Scriptures is found the state-ment that the righteous go to their reward or the wickedto their punishment at death. The patriarchs and prophetshave left no such assurance. Christ and His apostles havegiven no hint of it. The Bible clearly teaches that the dead donot go immediately to Heaven. They are represented as sleep-ing until the resurrection. 1 Thessalonians 4:14; Job 14:10-12. In the very day when the silver cord is loosed and thegolden bowl broken, (Ecclesiastes 12:6) man’s thoughts per-



ish. They that go down to the grave are in silence. They knowno more of anything that is done under the sun. Job 14:21.Blessed rest for the weary righteous! Time, be it long orshort, is but a moment to them. They sleep, they areawakened by the trump of God to a glorious immortal-ity. “For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raisedincorruptible. . . . So when this corruptible shall have put onincorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality,then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Deathis swallowed up in victory.” 1 Corinthians 15:52-55. As theyare called forth from their deep slumber, they begin tothink just where they ceased. The last sensation was thepang of death, the last thought that they were falling be-neath the power of the grave. When they arise from thetomb, their first glad thought will be echoed in the trium-phal shout, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, whereis thy victory?” 1 Corinthians 15:52-55.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: ETERNAL LIFE ONL: ETERNAL LIFE ONL: ETERNAL LIFE ONL: ETERNAL LIFE ONL: ETERNAL LIFE ONLY IN CHRISTY IN CHRISTY IN CHRISTY IN CHRISTY IN CHRIST

“The wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23. “Neither is there salvation in anyother: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby wemust be saved.” Acts 4:12. “That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, buthave everlasting life.” John 3:16. “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, andthey follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish.” John10:27-28. “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hathnot life.” 1 John 5:12.

“His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughtsperish.” Psalm 146:4. “His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and theyare brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.” Job 14:21. “For the living knowthat they shall die: but the dead know not anything.” Ecclesiastes 9:5. “For in deaththere is no remembrance of Thee.” Psalm 6:5.

“Our friend Lazarus sleepeth . . Then said Jesus to them plainly, Lazarus isdead.” John 11:11, 14. “For David is not ascended into the heavens.” Acts 2:34.“The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence.” Psalm 115:17.

“All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.” Ecclesiastes3:20. “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which areasleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.” 1 Thessalonians4:13 (1 Corinthians 15:18, 20; John 11:11-14). “For the Lord Himself shall de-scend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpof God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

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Chapter Thirty-fourChapter Thirty-fourChapter Thirty-fourChapter Thirty-fourChapter Thirty-four

Satan’sSatan’sSatan’sSatan’sSatan’sMasterpieceMasterpieceMasterpieceMasterpieceMasterpiece

—Spiritualism—Spiritualism—Spiritualism—Spiritualism—Spiritualism———————————————————————

There is a channel that is regarded as sacred by many—aThere is a channel that is regarded as sacred by many—aThere is a channel that is regarded as sacred by many—aThere is a channel that is regarded as sacred by many—aThere is a channel that is regarded as sacred by many—achannel through which Satan binds souls. Vchannel through which Satan binds souls. Vchannel through which Satan binds souls. Vchannel through which Satan binds souls. Vchannel through which Satan binds souls. Voices speak, appearoices speak, appearoices speak, appearoices speak, appearoices speak, appear-----ances are made—and a bewitching power enters a human be-ances are made—and a bewitching power enters a human be-ances are made—and a bewitching power enters a human be-ances are made—and a bewitching power enters a human be-ances are made—and a bewitching power enters a human be-ing.ing.ing.ing.ing. Many consider it but fakery, but then they see a more than hu-man power revealed, and they are led on—to their death.

It can begin so simplyIt can begin so simplyIt can begin so simplyIt can begin so simplyIt can begin so simply, but later there seems no escape., but later there seems no escape., but later there seems no escape., but later there seems no escape., but later there seems no escape.LLLLLearn nowearn nowearn nowearn nowearn now, so that you can protect yourself and your loved, so that you can protect yourself and your loved, so that you can protect yourself and your loved, so that you can protect yourself and your loved, so that you can protect yourself and your lovedones—from the lure of the Spirit world —ones—from the lure of the Spirit world —ones—from the lure of the Spirit world —ones—from the lure of the Spirit world —ones—from the lure of the Spirit world ————————————————————————

The ministration of holy angels, as presented in the Scrip-tures, is a truth most comforting and precious to every fol-lower of Christ. But the Bible teaching upon this point hasbeen obscured and perverted by the errors of popular theol-ogy. The doctrine of natural immortality, first borrowedfrom the pagan philosophy, and in the darkness of thegreat apostasy incorporated into the Christian faith, hassupplanted the truth, so plainly taught in Scripture, that“the dead know not anything.” Multitudes have come tobelieve that it is the spirits of the dead who are the “min-istering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shallbe heirs of salvation.” And this notwithstanding the testi-mony of Scripture to the existence of heavenly angels, andtheir connection with the history of man, before the death ofa human being.

The doctrine of man’s consciousness in death, espe-cially the belief that the spirits of the dead return to min-ister to the living, has prepared the way for modern Spiri-tualism. If the dead are admitted to the presence of God and

Spiritualism Spiritualism Spiritualism Spiritualism Spiritualism [550-551] [550-551] [550-551] [550-551] [550-551]


holy angels, and privileged with knowledge far exceedingwhat they before possessed, why should they not return to theearth to enlighten and instruct the living? If, as taught bypopular theologians, the spirits of the dead are hovering abouttheir friends on earth, why should they not be permitted tocommunicate with them, to warn them against evil, or to com-fort them in sorrow? How can those who believe in man’s con-sciousness in death reject what comes to them as divine lightcommunicated by glorified spirits? Here is a channel re-garded as sacred, through which Satan works for the ac-complishment of his purposes. The fallen angels who dohis bidding appear as messengers from the spirit world.While professing to bring the living into communicationwith the dead, the prince of evil exercises his bewitchinginfluence upon their minds.

He has power to bring before men the appearance oftheir departed friends. The counterfeit is perfect; the famil-iar look, the words, the tone, are reproduced with marvelousdistinctness. Many are comforted with the assurance that theirloved ones are enjoying the bliss of Heaven; and without sus-picion of danger, they give ear to “seducing spirits, and doc-trines of devils.”

When they have been led to believe that the dead ac-tually return to communicate with them, Satan causesthose to appear who went into the grave unprepared.They claim to be happy in Heaven, and even to occupyexalted positions there; and thus the error is widelytaught, that no difference is made between the righteousand the wicked. The pretended visitants from the world ofspirits sometimes utter cautions and warnings which prove tobe correct. Then, as confidence is gained, they present doc-trines that directly undermine faith in the Scriptures. With anappearance of deep interest in the well-being of their friendson earth, they insinuate the most dangerous errors. The factthat they state some truths, and are able at times to fore-tell future events, gives to their statements an appearanceof reliability; and their false teachings are accepted by themultitudes as readily, and believed as implicitly, as if they

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were the most sacred truths of the Bible. The law of Godis set aside, the Spirit of grace despised, the blood of thecovenant counted an unholy thing. The spirits deny thedivinity of Christ, and place even the Creator on a levelwith themselves. Thus under a new disguise the great rebelstill carries forward his warfare against God, begun inHeaven, and for nearly six thousand years continued upon theearth.

Many endeavor to account for spiritual manifestations byattributing them wholly to fraud and sleight of hand on thepart of the medium. But while it is true that the results oftrickery have often been palmed off as genuine manifes-tations, there have been, also, marked exhibitions of su-pernatural power. The mysterious rapping with which mod-ern Spiritualism began was not the result of human trickeryor cunning, but was the direct work of evil angels, who thusintroduced one of the most successful of soul-destroying de-lusions. Many will be ensnared through the belief that Spiri-tualism is a merely human imposture; when brought face toface with manifestations which they cannot but regard assupernatural, they will be deceived, and will be led toaccept them as the great power of God.

These persons overlook the testimony of the Scripturesconcerning the wonders wrought by Satan and his agents.It was by Satanic aid that Pharaoh’s magicians were enabledto counterfeit the work of God. Paul testifies that before thesecond advent of Christ there will be similar manifestationsof Satanic power. The coming of the Lord is to be precededby “the working of Satan with all power and signs and lyingwonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness.” 2Thessalonians 2:9, 10. And the apostle John, describing themiracle-working power that will be manifested in the lastdays, declares: “He doeth great wonders, so that he makethfire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means ofthose miracles which he had power to do.” Revelation 13:13,14. No mere impostures are here foretold. Men are de-ceived 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, skillfully adaptshis temptations to men of all classes and conditions. To per-sons of culture and refinement he presents Spiritualism inits more refined and intellectual aspects, and thus suc-ceeds in drawing many into his snare. The wisdom whichSpiritualism imparts is that described by the apostle James,which “descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual,devilish.” James 3:15. This, however, the great deceiver con-ceals, when concealment will best suit his purpose. He whocould appear clothed with the brightness of the heavenly ser-aphs before Christ in the wilderness of temptation, comes tomen in the most attractive manner, as an angel of light. He ap-peals to the reason by the presentation of elevatingthemes, he delights the fancy with enrapturing scenes, andhe enlists the affections by his eloquent portrayals of love andcharity. He excites the imagination to lofty flights, leadingmen to take so great pride in their own wisdom that intheir hearts they despise the Eternal One. That mightybeing who could take the world’s Redeemer to an exceedinglyhigh mountain, and bring before Him all the kingdoms of theearth and the glory of them, will present His temptations tomen in a manner to pervert the senses of all who are notshielded by divine power.

Satan beguiles men now as he beguiled Eve in Eden, byflattery, by kindling a desire to obtain forbidden knowl-edge, by exciting ambition for self-exaltation. It was cher-ishing these evils that caused his fall, and through them heaims to compass the ruin of men. “Ye shall be as gods,” he de-clares, “knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:5. Spiritualismteaches “that man is the creature of progression; that it is hisdestiny from his birth to progress, even to eternity, toward theGodhead,” And again: “Each mind will judge itself and notanother.” “The judgment will be right, because it is the judg-ment of self. . . . The throne is within you.” Said a Spiritual-istic teacher, as the “spiritual consciousness” awoke withinhim, “My fellow-men, all were unfallen demigods.” And an-

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other 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 ofthe perfect righteousness of His law, the true standard ofhuman attainment, Satan has substituted the sinful, err-ing nature of man himself, as the only object of adoration,the only rule of judgment, or standard of character. Thisis 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 graduallyadapts itself to the subjects upon which it is allowed todwell. It becomes assimilated to that which it is accustomedto love and reverence. Man will never rise higher than hisstandard of purity or goodness or truth. If self is his lofti-est ideal, he will never attain to anything more exalted.Rather, he will constantly sink lower and lower. The graceof God alone has power to exalt man. Left to himself, hiscourse must inevitably be downward.

To the self-indulgent, the pleasure-loving, the sensual,Spiritualism presents itself under a less subtle disguisethan to the more refined and intellectual; in its grosserforms they find that which is in harmony with their incli-nations. Satan studies every indication of the frailty of humannature, he marks the sins which each individual is inclined tocommit, and then he takes care that opportunities shall not bewanting to gratify the tendency to evil. He tempts men toexcess in that which is in itself lawful, causing them, throughintemperance, to weaken physical, mental, and moral power.He has destroyed and is destroying thousands throughthe indulgence of the passions, thus brutalizing the entirenature of man. And to complete his work, he declares,through the spirits, that “true knowledge places manabove all law;” that “whatsoever is, is right;” that “God dothnot condemn;” and that “all sins which are committed are in-nocent.” When the people are thus led to believe that de-sire is the highest law, that liberty is license, and that manis accountable only to himself, who can wonder that cor-ruption and depravity teem on every hand? Multitudes ea-



gerly accept teachings that leave them at liberty to obey thepromptings of the carnal heart. The reins of self-control arelaid upon the neck of lust, the powers of mind and soul aremade subject to the animal propensities, and Satan exultinglysweeps into his net thousands who profess to be followers ofChrist.

But none need be deceived by the lying claims of Spiri-tualism. God has given the world sufficient light to enablethem to discover the snare. As already shown, the theorywhich forms the very foundation of Spiritualism is at war withthe plainest statements of Scripture. The Bible declares thatthe dead know not anything, that their thoughts have per-ished; they have no part in anything that is done under thesun; they know nothing of the joys or sorrows of thosewho were dearest to them on earth.

Furthermore, God has expressly forbidden all pre-tended communication with departed spirits. In the daysof the Hebrews there was a class of people who claimed, asdo the Spiritualists of to-day, to hold communication with thedead. But the “familiar spirits,” as these visitants from otherworlds were called, are declared by the Bible to be the “spir-its of devils” (compare Numbers 25:1-3; Psalm 106:28; 1 Co-rinthians 10:20; Revelation 16:14). The work of dealingwith familiar spirits was pronounced an abomination tothe Lord, and was solemnly forbidden under penalty ofdeath. (Leviticus 19:31; 20:27). The very name of witchcraftis now held in contempt. The claim that men can hold inter-course with evil spirits is regarded as a fable of the Dark Ages.But Spiritualism, which numbers its converts by hundreds ofthousands, yea, by millions, which has made its way into sci-entific circles, which has invaded churches, and has foundfavor in legislative bodies, and even in the courts of kings—this mammoth deception is but a revival, in a new dis-guise, of the witchcraft condemned and prohibited of old.

If there were no other evidence of the real character ofSpiritualism, it should be enough for the Christian thatthe spirits make no difference between righteousness andsin, between the noblest and purest of the apostles of Christ

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and the most corrupt of the servants of Satan. By represent-ing the basest of men as in Heaven, and highly exalted there,Satan says to the world: “No matter how wicked you are; nomatter whether you believe or disbelieve God and the Bible,live as you please; heaven is your home.” The Spiritualistteachers virtually declare, “Every one that doeth evil is goodin the sight of the Lord, and He delighteth in them; or, Whereis the God of judgment?” Malachi 2:17. Saith the Word ofGod, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; thatput darkness for light, and light for darkness.” Isaiah 5:20.

The apostles, as personated by these lying spirits, are madeto contradict what they wrote at the dictation of the Holy Spiritwhen on earth. They deny the divine origin of the Bible, andthus tear away the foundation of the Christian’s hope, and putout the light that reveals the way to Heaven. Satan is mak-ing the world believe that the Bible is a mere fiction, or atleast a book suited to the infancy of the race, but now tobe lightly regarded, or cast aside as obsolete. And to takethe place of the Word of God he holds out spiritual mani-festations. Here is a channel wholly under his control; bythis means he can make the world believe what he will.The Book that is to judge him and his followers he puts in theshade, just where he wants it; the Saviour of the world hemakes to be no more than a common man. And as the Romanguard that watched the tomb of Jesus spread the lying reportwhich the priests and elders put into their mouths to disproveHis resurrection, so do the believers in spiritual manifesta-tions try to make it appear that there is nothing miraculous inthe circumstances of our Saviour’s life. After thus seeking toput Jesus in the background, they call attention to their ownmiracles, 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 assuminga Christian guise. But its utterances from the platform and thepress have been before the public for nearly forty years, andin these its real character stands revealed. These teachingscannot be denied or hidden.

Even in its present form, so far from being more wor-



thy of toleration than formerly, it is really more danger-ous, because it is a more subtle deception. While it for-merly denounced Christ and the Bible, it now professesto accept both. But the Bible is interpreted in a manner thatis pleasing to the unrenewed heart, while its solemn and vi-tal truths are made of no effect. Love is dwelt upon as thechief attribute of God, but it is degraded to a weak senti-mentalism making little distinction between good andevil. God’s justice, His denunciations of sin, the require-ments of His holy law, are all kept out of sight. The peopleare taught to regard the decalogue as a dead letter. Pleasing,bewitching fables captivate the senses, and lead men to rejectthe Bible as the foundation of their faith. Christ is as verilydenied as before; but Satan has so blinded the eyes of thepeople that the deception is not discerned.

There are few who have any just conception of the de-ceptive power of Spiritualism and the danger of comingunder its influence. Many tamper with it, merely to gratifytheir curiosity. They have no real faith in it, and would be filledwith horror at the thought of yielding themselves to the spir-its’ control. But they venture upon the forbidden ground,and the mighty destroyer exercises his power upon themagainst their will. Let them once be induced to submit theirminds to his direction, and he holds them captive. It is impos-sible, in their own strength, to break away from the bewitch-ing, alluring spell. Nothing but the power of God, grantedin answer to the earnest prayer of faith, can deliver theseensnared souls.

All who indulge sinful traits of character, or willfullycherish a known sin, are inviting the temptations of Sa-tan. They separate themselves from God and from thewatchcare of His angels; as the evil one presents his decep-tions, they are without defense, and fall an easy prey. Thosewho thus place themselves in his power, little realize wheretheir course will end. Having achieved their overthrow, thetempter will employ them as his agents to lure others toruin.

Says the prophet Isaiah: “When they shall say unto you,

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Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizardsthat peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto theirGod? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testi-mony. If they speak not according to this word, it is be-cause there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:19, 20. If men hadbeen willing to receive the truth so plainly stated in the Scrip-tures, concerning the nature of man and the state of the dead,they would see in the claims and manifestations of Spiritual-ism the working of Satan with power and signs and lying won-ders. But rather than yield the liberty so agreeable to the car-nal heart, and renounce the sins which they love, multitudesclose their eyes to the light, and walk straight on, regardlessof warnings, while Satan weaves his snares about them, andthey become his prey. “Because they received not the love ofthe truth, that they might be saved,” therefore “God shall sendthem strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” 2 Thes-salonians 2:10, 11.

Those who oppose the teachings of Spiritualism are as-sailing, not men alone, but Satan and his angels. They haveentered upon a contest against principalities and powers andwicked spirits in high places. Satan will not yield one inch ofground except as he is driven back by the power of heavenlymessengers. The people of God should be able to meet him,as did our Saviour, with the words, “It is written.” Satancan quote Scripture now as in the days of Christ, and he willpervert its teachings to sustain his delusions. Those whowould stand in this time of peril must understand forthemselves the testimony of the Scriptures.

Many will be confronted by the spirits of devils person-ating beloved relatives or friends, and declaring the mostdangerous heresies. These visitants will appeal to ourtenderest sympathies, and will work miracles to sustain theirpretensions. We must be prepared to withstand them withthe Bible truth that the dead know not anything, and thatthey who thus appear are the spirits of devils.

Just before us is the “hour of temptation, which shall comeupon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.”Revelation 3:10. All whose faith is not firmly established



upon the Word of God will be deceived and overcome. Satan“works with all deceivableness of unrighteousness” togain control of the children of men; and his deceptions willcontinually increase. But he can gain his object only asmen voluntarily yield to his temptations. Those who areearnestly seeking a knowledge of the truth, and are striv-ing to purify their souls through obedience, thus doingwhat they can to prepare for the conflict, will find, in theGod of truth, a sure defense. “Because thou hast kept theword of My patience, I also will keep thee,” (Revelation 3:10)is the Saviour’s promise. He would sooner send every an-gel out of Heaven to protect His people, than leave one soulthat trusts in Him to be overcome by Satan.

The prophet Isaiah brings to view the fearful deceptionwhich will come upon the wicked, causing them to countthemselves secure from the judgments of God: “We havemade a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agree-ment; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, itshall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, andunder the falsehood have we hid ourselves.” Isaiah 28:15. Inthe class here described are included those who in their stub-born impenitence comfort themselves with the assurance thatthere is to be no punishment for the sinner; that all mankind,it matters not how corrupt, are to be exalted to Heaven, tobecome as the angels of God. But still more emphaticallyare those making a covenant with death and an agree-ment with hell, who renounce the truths which Heavenhas provided as a defense for the righteous in the day oftrouble, and accept the refuge of lies offered by Satan inits stead,—the delusive pretensions of Spiritualism.

Marvelous beyond expression is the blindness of thepeople of this generation. Thousands reject the Word ofGod as unworthy of belief, and with eager confidencereceive the deceptions of Satan. Skeptics and scoffers de-nounce the bigotry of those who contend for the faith ofprophets and apostles, and they divert themselves by holdingup to ridicule the solemn declarations of the Scriptures con-cerning Christ and the plan of salvation, and the retribution

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to be visited upon the rejecters of the truth. They affect greatpity for minds so narrow, weak, and superstitious as to ac-knowledge the claims of God, and obey the requirements ofHis law. They manifest as much assurance as if, indeed,they had made a covenant with death and an agreementwith hell,—as if they had erected an impassable, impen-etrable barrier between themselves and the vengeance of God.Nothing can arouse their fears. So fully have they yielded tothe tempter, so closely are they united with him, and sothoroughly imbued with his spirit, that they have nopower and no inclination to break away from his snare.

Satan has long been preparing for his final effort to de-ceive the world. The foundation of his work was laid bythe assurance given to Eve in Eden, “Ye shall not surelydie.” “In the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall beopened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”Genesis 3:4, 5. Little by little he has prepared the way for hismaster-piece 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 theprophet: “I saw three unclean spirits like frogs; . . . they arethe spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto thekings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them tothe battle of that great day of God Almighty.” Revelation16:13, 14. Except those who are kept by the power of God,through faith in His Word, the whole world will be swept intothe ranks of this delusion. The people are fast being lulled toa fatal security, to be awakened only by the outpouring of thewrath of God.

Saith the Lord God: “Judgment also will I lay to the line,and righteousness to the plummet; and the hail shall sweepaway the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hid-ing-place. And your covenant with death shall be disan-nulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand;when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then yeshall be trodden down by it.” Isaiah 28:17, 18.



Chapter Thirty-fiveChapter Thirty-fiveChapter Thirty-fiveChapter Thirty-fiveChapter Thirty-five

Collision CourseCollision CourseCollision CourseCollision CourseCollision Course—Aims of the Papacy—Aims of the Papacy—Aims of the Papacy—Aims of the Papacy—Aims of the Papacy

———————————————————————QuietlyQuietlyQuietlyQuietlyQuietly, forces are at work in our land, to undermine our Chris-, forces are at work in our land, to undermine our Chris-, forces are at work in our land, to undermine our Chris-, forces are at work in our land, to undermine our Chris-, forces are at work in our land, to undermine our Chris-

tian faith. And yet but few are aware of these developments.tian faith. And yet but few are aware of these developments.tian faith. And yet but few are aware of these developments.tian faith. And yet but few are aware of these developments.tian faith. And yet but few are aware of these developments.Liberties that so many take for granted were not won in a day. Theytook centuries to gain—and they can go very quickly —

A danger is impending. God’s WA danger is impending. God’s WA danger is impending. God’s WA danger is impending. God’s WA danger is impending. God’s Word reveals it—the deadlyord reveals it—the deadlyord reveals it—the deadlyord reveals it—the deadlyord reveals it—the deadlynature of which will soon come with devastating power —nature of which will soon come with devastating power —nature of which will soon come with devastating power —nature of which will soon come with devastating power —nature of which will soon come with devastating power ————————————————————————

Romanism is now regarded by Protestants with fargreater favor than in former years. In those countrieswhere Catholicism is not in the ascendency, and the papistsare taking a conciliatory course in order to gain influence,there is an increasing indifference concerning the doc-trines that separate the reformed churches from the pa-pal hierarchy; the opinion is gaining ground, that, after all,we do not differ so widely upon vital points as has been sup-posed, and that a little concession on our part will bring us intoa better understanding with Rome. The time was when Prot-estants placed a high value upon the liberty of consciencewhich has been so dearly purchased. They taught theirchildren to abhor popery, and held that to seek harmonywith Rome would be disloyalty to God. But how widely dif-ferent are the sentiments now expressed.

The defenders of popery declare that the church hasbeen maligned; and the Protestant world are inclined toaccept the statement. Many urge that it is unjust to judgethe church of to-day by the abominations and absurditiesthat marked her reign during the centuries of ignoranceand darkness. They excuse her horrible cruelty as the resultof the barbarism of the times, and plead that the influence of

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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 has been affirmedin the nineteenth century with greater positiveness than everbefore. As Rome asserts that she “never erred, and never canerr,” how can she renounce the principles which governed hercourse in past ages?

The papal church will never relinquish her claim to in-fallibility. All that she has done in her persecution of thosewho reject her dogmas, she holds to be right; and wouldshe not repeat the same acts, should the opportunity bepresented? Let the restraints now imposed by secular gov-ernments be removed, and Rome be re-instated in her formerpower, and there would speedily be a revival of her tyrannyand persecution.

A recent writer [Josiah Strong, D.D., in “Our Country,” pp.46-48] speaks thus of the attitude of the papal hierarchy asregards freedom of conscience, and of the perils which espe-cially threaten the United States from the success of herpolicy:

“There are many who are disposed to attribute any fear ofRoman Catholicism in the United States to bigotry or child-ishness. Such see nothing in the character and attitude ofRomanism that is hostile to our free institutions, or find noth-ing portentous in its growth. Let us, then, first compare someof the fundamental principles of our government with thoseof the Catholic Church.

“The Constitution of the United States guarantees libertyof conscience. Nothing is dearer or more fundamental. PopePius IX, in his Encyclical Letter of August 15, 1854, said:‘The absurd and erroneous doctrines or ravings in de-fense of liberty of conscience, are a most pestilential er-ror—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 andof religious worship,’ also ‘all such as maintain that thechurch may not employ force.’

Aims of the Papacy Aims of the Papacy Aims of the Papacy Aims of the Papacy Aims of the Papacy [563-564] [563-564] [563-564] [563-564] [563-564]


“The pacific tone of Rome in the United States does notimply a change of heart. She is tolerant where she is helpless.Says Bishop O’Connor: ‘Religious liberty is merely endureduntil the opposite can be carried into effect without peril to theCatholic world.’” “The archbishop of St. Louis once said:‘Heresy and unbelief are crimes; and in Christian coun-tries, as in Italy and Spain, for instance, where all thepeople are Catholics, and where the Catholic religion isan essential part of the law of the land, they are punishedas other crimes.’”

“Every cardinal, archbishop, and bishop in the CatholicChurch takes an oath of allegiance to the pope, in which oc-cur the following words: ‘Heretics, schismatics, and rebels toour said lord the pope, or his aforesaid successors, I will tomy utmost persecute and oppose.’”

It is true that there are real Christians in the RomanCatholic communion. Thousands in that church are serv-ing God according to the best light they have. They arenot allowed access to His Word, and therefore they do notdiscern the truth. They have never seen the contrast betweena living heart-service and a round of mere forms and ceremo-nies. God looks with pitying tenderness upon these souls, edu-cated as they are in a faith that is delusive and unsatisfying.He will cause rays of light to penetrate the dense darkness thatsurrounds them. He will reveal to them the truth, as it is inJesus, and many will yet take their position with His people.

But Romanism as a system is no more in harmony withthe gospel of Christ now than at any former period in herhistory. The Protestant churches are in great darkness, or theywould discern the signs of the times. The Roman Church isfar-reaching in her plans and modes of operation. She is em-ploying every device to extend her influence and increase herpower in preparation for a fierce and determined conflict toregain control of the world, to re-establish persecution, andto undo all that Protestantism has done. Catholicism is gain-ing ground upon every side. See the increasing number of herchurches and chapels in Protestant countries. Look at thepopularity of her colleges and seminaries in America, so

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widely patronized by Protestants Look at the growth of ritu-alism in England, and the frequent defections to the ranks ofthe Catholics. These things should awaken the anxiety of allwho prize the pure principles of the gospel.

Protestants have tampered with and patronized pop-ery; they have made compromises and concessions whichpapists themselves are surprised to see, and fail to under-stand. Men are closing their eyes to the real character ofRomanism, and the dangers to be apprehended from her su-premacy. The people need to be aroused to resist the advancesof this most dangerous foe to civil and religious liberty.

Many Protestants suppose that the Catholic religion isunattractive, and that its worship is a dull, meaninglessround of ceremony. Here they mistake. While Romanismis based upon deception, it is not a coarse and clumsy impos-ture. The religious service of the Romish Church is a most im-pressive ceremonial. Its gorgeous display and solemn ritesfascinate the senses of the people, and silence the voice of rea-son and of conscience. The eye is charmed. Magnificentchurches, imposing processions, golden altars, jeweledshrines, choice paintings, and exquisite sculpture appeal to thelove of beauty. The ear also is captivated. The music is unsur-passed. The rich notes of the deep-toned organ, blending withthe melody of many voices as it swells through the loftydomes and pillared aisles of her grand cathedrals, cannot failto impress the mind with awe and reverence.

This outward splendor, pomp, and ceremony, that onlymocks the longings of the sin-sick soul, is an evidence ofinward corruption. The religion of Christ needs not such at-tractions to recommend it. In the light shining from thecross, true Christianity appears so pure and lovely thatno external decorations can enhance its true worth. It isthe beauty of holiness, a meek and quiet spirit, which isof value with God.

Brilliancy of style is not necessarily an index of pure, el-evated thought. High conceptions of art, delicate refine-ment of taste, often exist in minds that are earthly andsensual. 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 tolive for this world alone.

A religion of externals is attractive to the unrenewedheart. The pomp and ceremony of the Catholic worship havea seductive, bewitching power, by which many are deceived;and they come to look upon the Roman Church as the verygate of Heaven. None but those who have planted their feetfirmly upon the foundation of truth, and whose hearts are re-newed by the Spirit of God, are proof against her influence.Thousands who have not an experimental knowledge ofChrist will be led to accept the forms of godliness with-out the power. Such a religion is just what the multitudesdesire.

The church’s claim to the right to pardon, causes theRomanist to feel at liberty to sin; and the ordinance of con-fession, without which her pardon is not granted, tends alsoto give license to evil. He who kneels before fallen man, andopens in confession the secret thoughts and imaginations ofhis heart, is debasing his manhood, and degrading every nobleinstinct of his soul. In unfolding the sins of his life to apriest,—an erring, sinful mortal, and too often corrupted withwine and licentiousness,—his standard of character is low-ered, and he is defiled in consequence. His thought of Godis degraded to the likeness of fallen humanity; for thepriest stands as a representative of God. This degradingconfession of man to man is the secret spring from whichhas flowed much of the evil that is defiling the world, andfitting it for the final destruction. Yet to him who loves self-indulgence, it is more pleasing to confess to a fellow-mortalthan to open the soul to God. It is more palatable to humannature to do penance than to renounce sin; it is easier to mor-tify the flesh by sackcloth and nettles and galling chains thanto crucify fleshly lusts. Heavy is the yoke which the carnalheart is willing to bear rather than bow to the yoke of Christ.

There is a striking similarity between the Church of Romeand the Jewish Church at the time of Christ’s first advent.While the Jews secretly trampled upon every principle of the

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law of God, they were outwardly rigorous in the observanceof its precepts, loading it down with exactions and traditionsthat made obedience painful and burdensome. As the Jewsprofessed to revere the law, so do Romanists claim to rever-ence 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 theiraltars, and upon their garments. Everywhere is seen theinsignia of the cross. Everywhere it is outwardly honoredand exalted. But the teachings of Christ are buried be-neath a mass of senseless traditions, false interpretations,and rigorous exactions. The Saviour’s words concerning thebigoted Jews, apply with still greater force to the Romish lead-ers: “They bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, andlay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will notmove them with one of their fingers;” Matthew 23:4. Consci-entious souls are kept in constant terror, fearing the wrath ofan offended God, while the dignitaries of the church are liv-ing in luxury and sensual pleasure.

The worship of images and relics, the invocation ofsaints, and the exaltation of the pope, are devices of Sa-tan to attract the minds of the people from God and fromHis Son. To accomplish their ruin, he endeavors to turn theirattention from Him through whom alone they can find salva-tion. He will direct them to any object that can be substitutedfor the One who has said, “Come unto Me, all ye that laborand are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28.

It is Satan’s constant effort to misrepresent the char-acter of God, the nature of sin, and the real issues at stakein the great controversy. His sophistry lessens the obliga-tion of the divine law, and gives men license to sin. At thesame time he causes them to cherish false conceptions ofGod, so that they regard him with fear and hate, rather thanwith love. The cruelty inherent in his own character is attrib-uted to the Creator; it is embodied in systems of religion, andexpressed in modes of worship. Thus the minds of men areblinded, and Satan secures them as his agents to war againstGod. By perverted conceptions of the divine attributes, hea-



then nations were led to believe human sacrifices necessaryto secure the favor of Deity; and horrible cruelties have beenperpetrated under the various forms of idolatry. The RomishChurch, uniting the forms of paganism and Christianity, and,like paganism, misrepresenting the character of God, has re-sorted to practices no less cruel and revolting. In the days ofRome’s supremacy, there were instruments of torture tocompel assent to her doctrines. There was the stake forthose who would not concede to her claims. There weremassacres on a scale that will never be known until re-vealed in the Judgment. Dignitaries of the church studied,under Satan their master, to invent means to cause the great-est possible torture, and not end the life of their victim. Theinfernal process was repeated to the utmost limit of human en-durance, until nature gave up the struggle, and the suffererhailed death as a sweet release.

Such was the fate of Rome’s opponents. For her adher-ents she had the discipline of the scourge, of famishinghunger, of bodily austerities in every conceivable,heartsickening form. To secure the favor of Heaven, penitentsviolated the laws of God by violating the laws of nature. Theywere taught to sunder every tie which He has formed to blessand gladden man’s earthly sojourn. The church yard containsmillions of victims, who spent their lives in vain endeavorsto subdue their natural affections, to repress, as offensive toGod, 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 neverheard of God, but in the very heart and throughout the extentof Christendom, we have only to look at the history ofRomanism. Through this mammoth system of deceptionthe prince of evil achieves his purpose of bringing dis-honor to God and wretchedness to man. And as we seehow he succeeds in disguising himself, and accomplishing hiswork through the leaders of the church, we may better under-stand why he has so great antipathy to the Bible. If that bookis read, the mercy and love of God will be revealed; it will be

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seen that He lays upon men none of these heavy burdens. Allthat He asks is a broken and contrite heart, a humble, obedi-ent spirit.

Christ gives no example in his life for men and womento shut themselves in monasteries in order to become fit-ted for Heaven. He has never taught that love and sympathymust be repressed. The Saviour’s heart overflowed with love.The nearer man approaches to moral perfection, the keener arehis sensibilities, the more acute is his perception of sin, andthe deeper his sympathy for the afflicted. The pope claims tobe the vicar of Christ; but how does his character bear com-parison with that of our Saviour? Was Christ ever known toconsign men to the prison or the rack because they did not payHim homage as the King of Heaven? Was His voice heardcondemning to death those who did not accept Him? WhenHe was slighted by the people of a Samaritan village, theapostle John was filled with indignation, and inquired, “Lord,will thou that we command fire to come down from heaven,and consume them, even as Elias did?” Jesus looked with pityupon His disciple, and rebuked his harsh spirit, saying, “TheSon of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to savethem.” Luke 9:56. How different from the spirit manifestedby Christ is that of His professed vicar.

The Romish Church now presents a fair front to theworld, covering with apologies her record of horriblecruelties. She has clothed herself in Christ-like garments;but she is unchanged. Every principle of popery that ex-isted in past ages exists to-day. The doctrines devised inthe darkest ages are still held. Let none deceive themselves.The popery that Protestants are now so ready to honor is thesame that ruled the world in the days of the Reformation,when men of God stood up, at the peril of their lives, to ex-pose her iniquity. She possesses the same pride and arro-gant assumption that lorded it over kings and princes,and claimed the prerogatives of God. Her spirit is no lesscruel and despotic now than when she crushed out human lib-erty, and slew the saints of the Most High.

Popery is just what prophecy declared that she would



be, the apostasy of the latter times. 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4.It is a part of her policy to assume the character which will bestaccomplish her purpose; but beneath the variable appearanceof the chameleon, she conceals the invariable venom of theserpent. “We are not bound to keep faith and promises to her-etics,” She declares. Shall this power, whose record for a thou-sand years is written in the blood of the saints, be now ac-knowledged as a part of the church of Christ?

It is not without reason that the claim has been putforth in Protestant countries, that Catholicism differs lesswidely from Protestantism than in former times. Therehas been a change; but the change is not in the papacy.Catholicism indeed resembles much of the Protestantism thatnow exists, because Protestantism has so greatly degeneratedsince the days of the reformers.

As the Protestant churches have been seeking the fa-vor of the world, false charity has blinded their eyes. Theydo not see but that it is right to believe good of all evil; andas the inevitable result, they will finally believe evil of allgood. Instead of standing in defense of the faith once deliv-ered to the saints, they are now, as it were, apologizing toRome for their uncharitable opinion of her, begging pardonfor their bigotry.

A large class, even of those who look upon Romanismwith no favor, apprehend little danger from her powerand influence. Many urge that the intellectual and moraldarkness prevailing during the Middle Ages favored thespread of her dogmas, superstitions, and oppression, and thatthe greater intelligence of modern times, the general diffusionof knowledge, and the increasing liberality in matters of reli-gion, forbid a revival of intolerance and tyranny. The verythought that such a state of things will exist in this enlight-ened age is ridiculed. It is true that great light, intellectual,moral, and religious, is shining upon this generation. In theopen pages of God’s holy Word, light from Heaven has beenshed upon the world. But it should be remembered that thegreater the light bestowed, the greater the darkness ofthose who pervert or reject it.

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A prayerful study of the Bible would show Protestantsthe real character of the papacy, and would cause themto abhor and to shun it; but many are so wise in their ownconceit that they feel no need of humbly seeking God that theymay be led into the truth. Although priding themselves ontheir enlightenment, they are ignorant both of the Scripturesand of the power of God. They must have some means ofquieting their consciences; and they seek that which is leastspiritual and humiliating. What they desire is a method offorgetting God which shall pass as a method of remem-bering Him. The papacy is well adapted to meet the wantsof all these. It is prepared for two classes of mankind, em-bracing nearly the whole world,—those who would besaved by their merits, and those who would be saved intheir sins. Here is the secret of its power.

A day of great intellectual darkness has been shown tobe favorable to the success of popery. It will yet be dem-onstrated that a day of great intellectual light is equallyfavorable for its success. In past ages, when men were with-out God’s Word, and without the knowledge of the truth, theireyes were blindfolded, and thousands were ensnared, not see-ing the net spread for their feet. In this generation there aremany whose eyes become dazzled by the glare of humanspeculations, “science falsely so-called;” they discern not thenet, and walk into it as readily as if blindfolded. God designedthat man’s intellectual powers should be held as a gift fromHis Maker, and should be employed in the service of truth andrighteousness; but when pride and ambition are cherished,and men exalt their own theories above the Word of God, thenintelligence can accomplish greater harm than ignorance.Thus the false science of the nineteenth century, which under-mines faith in the Bible, will prove as successful in prepar-ing the way for the acceptance of the papacy, with its pleas-ing forms, as did the withholding of knowledge in opening theway for its aggrandizement in the Dark Ages.

In the movements now in progress in the United Statesto secure for the institutions and usages of the church thesupport of the State, Protestants are following in the steps



of papists. Nay, more, they are opening the door for poperyto regain in Protestant America the supremacy which she haslost in the Old World. And that which gives greater signifi-cance to this movement is the fact that the principal ob-ject contemplated is the enforcement of Sunday obser-vance,—a custom which originated with Rome, andwhich she claims as the sign of her authority. It is the spiritof the papacy,—the spirit of conformity to worldly customs,the veneration for human traditions above the commandmentsof God,—that is permeating the Protestant churches, andleading them on to do the same work of Sunday exaltationwhich the papacy has done before them.

If the reader would understand the agencies to be employedin the soon-coming contest, he has but to trace the record ofthe means which Rome employed for the same object in agespast. If he would know how papists and Protestants unitedwill deal with those who reject their dogmas, let him seethe spirit which Rome manifested toward the Sabbathand its defenders.

Royal edicts, general councils, and church ordinances sus-tained by secular power, were the steps by which the paganfestival attained its position of honor in the Christian world.The first public measure enforcing Sunday observancewas the law enacted by Constantine (A.D. 321). This edictrequired towns-people to rest on “the venerable day ofthe sun,” but permitted countrymen to continue their agricul-tural pursuits. Though virtually a heathen statute, it was en-forced by the emperor after his nominal acceptance of Chris-tianity.

The royal mandate not proving a sufficient substitute fordivine authority, Eusebius, a bishop who sought the favor ofprinces, and who was the special friend and flatterer of Con-stantine, advanced the claim that Christ had transferred theSabbath to Sunday. Not a single testimony of the Scriptureswas produced in proof of the new doctrine. Eusebius himselfunwittingly acknowledges its falsity, and points to the real au-thors of the change. “All things,” he says, “whatsoever thatit was duty to do on the Sabbath, these we have transferred

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to the Lord’s day.” But the Sunday argument, groundless asit was, served to embolden men in trampling upon the Sab-bath of the Lord. All who desired to be honored by the worldaccepted the popular festival.

As the papacy became firmly established, the work ofSunday exaltation was continued. For a time the people en-gaged in agricultural labor when not attending church, and theseventh day was still regarded as the Sabbath. But steadily achange was effected. Those in holy office were forbidden topass judgment in any civil controversy on the Sunday. Soonafter, all persons, of whatever rank, were commanded to re-frain from common labor, on pain of a fine for freemen, andstripes in the case of servants. Later it was decreed, that richmen 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 otherwonders it was reported that as a husbandman who was aboutto plow his field on Sunday, cleaned his plow with an iron, theiron stuck fast in his hand, and for two years he carried it aboutwith him, “to his exceeding great pain and shame.”

Later, the pope gave directions that the parish priestshould admonish the violators of Sunday, and wish themto go to church and say their prayers, lest they bring somegreat calamity on themselves and neighbors. An ecclesiasti-cal council brought forward the argument, since so widely em-ployed, even by Protestants, that because persons had beenstruck by lightning while laboring on Sunday, it must be theSabbath. “It is apparent,” said the prelates, “how high the dis-pleasure of God was upon their neglect of this day.” An ap-peal was then made that priests and ministers, kings andprinces, and all faithful people, “use their utmost endeavorsand care that the day be restored to its honor, and, for the creditof Christianity, more devoutly observed for time to come.”

The decrees of councils proving insufficient, the secu-lar authorities were besought to issue an edict that wouldstrike terror to the hearts of the people, and force them torefrain from labor on the Sunday. At a synod held in Rome,



all previous decisions were reaffirmed with greater force andsolemnity. They were also incorporated into the ecclesiasti-cal law, and enforced by the civil authorities throughout nearlyall Christendom.

Still the absence of scriptural authority for Sunday-keeping occasioned no little embarrassment. The peoplequestioned the right of their teachers to set aside the positivedeclaration of Jehovah, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of theLord thy God,” in order to honor the day of the sun. To sup-ply the lack of Bible testimony, other expedients were neces-sary. A zealous advocate of Sunday, who about the close ofthe twelfth century visited the churches of England, was re-sisted by faithful witnesses for the truth; and so fruitless werehis efforts that he departed from the country for a season, andcast about him for some means to enforce his teachings. Whenhe returned, the lack was supplied, and in his after-labors hemet with greater success. He brought with him a roll purport-ing to be from God Himself, which contained the needed com-mand for Sunday observance, with awful threats to terrify thedisobedient. This precious document—as base a counterfeitas the institution it supported—was said to have fallen fromHeaven, and to have been found in Jerusalem, upon the altarof St. Simeon, in Golgotha. But in fact, the pontifical palaceat Rome was the source whence it proceeded. Frauds and forg-eries to advance the power and prosperity of the church havein 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 author-ity was declared to be confirmed by many miracles. It wasreported that persons laboring beyond the appointed hourwere stricken with paralysis. A miller who attempted to grindhis corn, saw, instead of flour, a torrent of blood come forth,and the mill-wheel stood still, notwithstanding the strong rushof the water. A woman who placed dough in the oven, foundit raw when taken out, though the oven was very hot. Anotherwho had dough prepared for baking at the ninth hour, but de-termined to set it aside till Monday, found, the next day, thatit had been made into loaves and baked by divine power. A

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man who baked bread after the ninth hour on Saturday, found,when he broke it the next morning, that blood started there-from. By such absurd and superstitious fabrications did theadvocates of Sunday endeavor to establish its sacredness.

In Scotland, as in England, a greater regard for Sun-day was secured by uniting with it a portion of the ancientSabbath. But the time required to be kept holy varied. Anedict from the king of Scotland declared that Saturday fromtwelve at noon ought to be accounted holy, and that no man,from that time till Monday morning, should engage in worldlybusiness.

But notwithstanding all the efforts to establish Sundaysacredness, papists themselves publicly confessed the di-vine authority of the Sabbath, and the human origin of theinstitution by which it had been supplanted. In the six-teenth century a papal council plainly declared: “Let all Chris-tians 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 weChristians have changed their Sabbath into the Lord’s day.”Those who were tampering with the divine law were notignorant of the character of their work. They were delib-erately setting themselves above God.

A striking illustration of Rome’s policy toward thosewho disagree with her was given in the long and bloodypersecution of the Waldenses, some of whom were ob-servers of the Sabbath. Others suffered in a similar man-ner for their fidelity to the fourth commandment. The his-tory of the churches of Ethiopia and Abyssinia is especiallysignificant. Amid the gloom of the Dark Ages, the Christiansof Central Africa were lost sight of and forgotten by the world,and for many centuries they enjoyed freedom in the exerciseof their faith. But at last Rome learned of their existence, andthe emperor of Abyssinia was soon beguiled into an acknowl-edgment of the pope as the vicar of Christ. Other concessionsfollowed. An edict was issued forbidding the observance ofthe Sabbath under the severest penalties. But papal tyrannysoon became a yoke so galling that the Abyssinians deter-



mined to break it from their necks. After a terrible struggle,the Romanists were banished from their dominions, andthe ancient faith was restored. The churches rejoiced in theirfreedom, and they never forgot the lesson they had learnedconcerning the deception, the fanaticism, and the despoticpower of Rome. Within their solitary realm they were contentto remain, unknown to the rest of Christendom.

The churches of Africa held the Sabbath as it was held bythe papal church before her complete apostasy. While theykept the seventh day in obedience to the commandment ofGod, they abstained from labor on the Sunday in conformityto the custom of the church. Upon obtaining supreme power,Rome had trampled upon the Sabbath of God to exalt herown; but the churches of Africa, hidden for nearly a thousandyears, did not share in this apostasy. When brought under thesway of Rome, they were forced to set aside the true and ex-alt the false Sabbath; but no sooner had they regained theirindependence than they returned to obedience to the fourthcommandment.

These records of the past clearly reveal the enmity ofRome toward the true Sabbath and its defenders, and themeans which she employs to honor the institution of hercreating. The Word of God teaches that these scenes areto be repeated as papists and Protestants shall unite forthe exaltation of the Sunday.

The prophecy of Revelation 13 declares that the powerrepresented by the beast with lamb-like horns shall cause“the earth and them which dwell therein” to worship thepapacy—there symbolized by the beast “like unto a leopard.”The beast with two horns is also to say “to them that dwell onthe earth, that they should make an image to the beast;” and,furthermore, it is to command all, “both small and great, richand poor, free and bond,” to received “the mark of the beast.”Revelation 13:16. It has been shown that the United Statesis the power represented by the beast with lamb-likehorns, and that this prophecy will be fulfilled when theUnited States shall enforce Sunday observance, whichRome claims as the special acknowledgment of her su-

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premacy. But in this homage to the papacy the United Stateswill not be alone. The influence of Rome in the countriesthat once acknowledged her dominion, is still far frombeing destroyed. And prophecy foretells a restoration ofher power. “I saw one of his heads as it were wounded todeath; and his deadly wound was healed; and all the worldwondered after the beast.” Revelation 13:3. The infliction ofthe deadly wound points to the abolition of the papacy in1798. After this, says the prophet, “His deadly wound washealed; and all the world wondered after the beast.” Paulstates plainly that the man of sin will continue until the sec-ond advent. (2 Thessalonians 2:8) To the very close of timehe will carry forward his work of deception. And the Revela-tor declares, also referring to the papacy, “All that dwell uponthe earth shall worship him, whose names are not written inthe book of life.” Revelation 13:8. In both the Old and theNew World, the papacy will receive homage in the honorpaid to the Sunday institution, that rests solely upon theauthority of the Romish Church.

For about forty years, students of prophecy in the UnitedStates have presented this testimony to the world. In theevents now taking place is seen a rapid advance toward thefulfillment of the prediction. With Protestant teachers thereis the same claim of divine authority for Sunday-keeping,and the same lack of scriptural evidence, as with the pa-pist leaders who fabricated miracles to supply the placeof a command from God. The assertion that God’s judg-ments 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 gain-ing ground.

Marvelous in her shrewdness and cunning is the Rom-ish Church. She can read what is to be. She bides her time,seeing that the Protestant churches are paying her hom-age in their acceptance of the false Sabbath, and that theyare preparing to enforce it by the very means which sheherself employed in by-gone days. Those who reject thelight of truth will yet seek the aid of this self-styled infallible



power to exalt an institution that originated with her. Howreadily she will come to the help of Protestants in this work,it is not difficult to conjecture. Who understands better thanthe papal leaders how to deal with those who are disobedientto the church?

The Roman Church, with all its ramifications through-out the world, forms one vast organization, under the con-trol, 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 thepope. Whatever their nationality or their government,they are to regard the authority of the church as above allother. Though they may take the oath pledging their loy-alty to the State, yet back of this lies the vow of obedienceto Rome, absolving them from every pledge inimical to herinterests.

Protestants little know what they are doing when theypropose to accept the aid of Rome in the work of Sundayexaltation. While they are bent upon the accomplishment oftheir purpose, Rome is aiming to re-establish her power, to re-cover her lost supremacy. Let history testify of her artful andpersistent efforts to insinuate herself into the affairs of na-tions; and having gained a foothold, to further her own aims,even at the ruin of princes and people. Romanism openlyputs forth the claim that the pope “can pronounce sen-tences and judgments in contradiction to the right of na-tions, to the law of God and man” [The “Decretalia”].

And let it be remembered, it is the boast of Rome thatshe never changes. The principles of Gregory VII and Inno-cent III are still the principles of the Romish Church. And hadshe but the power, she would put them in practice with asmuch vigor now as in past centuries. Let the principle oncebe established in the United States, that the church mayemploy or control the power of the State; that religiousobservances may be enforced by secular laws; in short,that the authority of church and State is to dominate theconscience, and the triumph of Rome in this country isassured.


leader of ‘Mystery, Babylon the Great.’ It is the number of the man of sin of 2Thessalonians 2, the little horn of Daniel 7, the beast of Revelation 13. It is thenumber of the one who led out through long centuries in killing the martyrs anduniting Christianity with paganism.” Jean Delacroix.

“The pope is of such lofty and supreme dignity that, properly speaking, hehas not been established in any rank of dignity, but rather has been placed uponthe very summit of all ranks of dignities . . He is likewise the divine monarch andsupreme emperor and king of kings.

“Hence the pope is CROWNED with a TRIPLE CROWN, as king of heavenand of earth and of the lower regions.” Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca,Vol. VI, pp. 438, 442 [R.C. sourcebook].

“Q. What are the letters supposed to be in the pope’s crown, and what dothey signify, if anything?

“A. The letters inscribed in the Pope’s miter are these: VICARIUS FILII DEI,which is the Latin for ‘VICAR OF THE SON OF GOD.’ Catholics hold that thechurch, which is a visible society, must have a visible head. Christ, before Hisascension into heaven, appointed St. Peter to act as His representative . . Henceto the Bishop of Rome, as head of the church, was given the title, Vicar of Christ.”Our Sunday Visitor, “Bureau of Information,” Huntington, Indiana, April 18, 1915[nationwide R.C. weekly journal].

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God’s Word has given warning of the impending danger;let this be unheeded, and the Protestant world will learn whatthe purposes of Rome really are, only when it is too late toescape the snare. She is silently growing into power. Herdoctrines are exerting their influence in legislative halls,in the churches, and in the hearts of men. She is piling upher lofty and massive structures, in the secret recesses ofwhich her former persecutions will be repeated. Stealthily andunsuspectedly she is strengthening her forces to further herown ends when the time shall come for her to strike. All thatshe desires is vantage-ground, and this is already beinggiven her. We shall soon see and shall feel what the pur-pose of the Roman element is. Whoever shall believe andobey the Word of God will thereby incur reproach and perse-cution.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: THE NUMBER AND THE MARK: THE NUMBER AND THE MARK: THE NUMBER AND THE MARK: THE NUMBER AND THE MARK: THE NUMBER AND THE MARK

“Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding COUNT THE NUMBER ofthe Beast: for it is the NUMBER OF A MAN; and HIS NUMBER is SIX HUNDREDTHREESCORE AND SIX.” Revelation 13:18.

“And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the NAMEof the beast, or the NUMBER of HIS NAME.” Revelation 13:17.

“The number [is] indicated by the letters of HIS NAME.” The Twentieth Cen-tury New Testament.

“Verse 18, Six Hundred Sixty Six. The numeral letters of HIS NAME shallmake up this number.” The Rheims Douay [Catholic] Bible, note on Revelation13:18.

“The method of reading, generally adopted, is that known as the GHEMATRIAof the Rabbins, which assigns each letter of a name its usual numerical value,and gives the sum of such numbers as the equivalent of the NAME.” Marvin R.Vincent, D.D., Word Studies in the New Testament, Comment on Revelation13:18.

“And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever; and theyhave no rest day nor night, who WORSHIP the BEAST and HIS IMAGE, andwhosoever receiveth the MARK OF HIS NAME.” Revelation 14:11.

“The beasts of Daniel and John are empires. The ten-horned beast [of Rev-elation 13] is the Roman power . . The head is the governing power in the body.”H. Grattan Guinness, Romanism and the Reformation, pp. 144-145.

“The NUMBER IN THE MARK in Revelation 13 will be found in the title of the


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She took the pagan Roman Pantheon [the Roman], temple to all the gods, andmade it sacred to all the martyrs; so it stands to this day. She took the paganSunday and made it the Christian Sunday . . The Sun was a foremost god withheathendom. Balder the beautiful: the White God, the old Scandinavians calledhim. The sun has worshipers at this very hour in Persia and other lands . . Hencethe Church would seem to have said, ‘Keep that old pagan name. It shall remainconsecrated, sanctified.’ And thus the pagan Sunday, dedicated to Balder, be-came the Christian Sunday, sacred to Jesus. The sun is a fitting emblem ofJesus. The Fathers often compared Jesus to the sun; as they compared Mary tothe moon.”—William L. Gildea, “Paschale Gaudium,” in The Catholic World, p.58, March 1894.

“The Church made a sacred day of Sunday . . largely because it was theweekly festival of the sun;—for it was a definite Christian policy to take over thepagan festivals endeared to the people by tradition, and give them a Christiansignificance.”—Authur Weigall, The Paganism in Our Christianity, 1928, p. 145.

“Remains of the struggle [between the religion of Christianity and the religionof Mithraism] are found in two institutions adopted from its rival by Christianityin the fourth century, the two Mithraic sacred days: December 25, ‘dies natalissolis’ [birthday of the sun], as the birthday of Jesus,—and Sunday, ‘the vener-able day of the Sun,’ as Constantine called it in his edict of 321.”—WalterWoodburn Hyde, Paganism to Christianity in the Roman Empire, p. 60.

“It is not strange that Sunday is almost universally observed when the Sa-cred Writings do not endorse it? Satan, the great counterfeiter, worked throughthe ‘mystery of iniquity’ to introduce a counterfeit Sabbath to take the place ofthe true Sabbath. Sunday stands side by side with Ash Wednesday, Palm Sun-day, Holy (or Maundy) Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Whitsunday, Cor-pus Christi, Assumption Day, All Soul’s Day, Christmas Day, and a host of otherecclesiastical feast days too numerous to mention. This array of Roman Catho-lic feasts and fast days are all man made. None of them bears the divine creden-tials of the Author of the Inspired Word.”—M.E. Walsh.

“Sun worship was the earliest idolatry.”—Fausset Bible Dictionary, p. 666.“Sun worship was “one of the oldest components of the Roman religion.”—

Gaston H. Halsberge, The Cult of Sol Invictus, 1972, p. 26.“ ‘Babylon, the mother of harlots,’ derived much of her teaching from pagan

Rome and thence from Babylon. Sun worship—that led her to Sundaykeeping,—was one of those choice bits of paganism that sprang originally from the hea-then lore of ancient Babylon: The solar theology of the ‘Chaldeans’ had a deci-sive effect upon the final development of Semitic paganism . . [It led to their]seeing the sun the directing power of the cosmic system. All the Baals werethence forward turned into suns; the sun itself being the mover of the otherstars—like it eternal and ‘unconquerable’ . . Such was the final form reached bythe religion of the pagan Semites, and following them, by that of the Romans . .

Aims of the PapacyAims of the PapacyAims of the PapacyAims of the PapacyAims of the Papacy

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“Now we challenge the world to find another name in these languages: GREEK,HEBREW, and LATIN (see John 19:20), which shall designate the same num-ber.” Joseph F. Berg, The Great Apostasy, pp. 156-158.

“Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change [of the Sabbath toSunday] was her act . . AND THE ACT IS A MARK of her ecclesiastical authorityin religious things.” From the office of Cardinal Gibbons, through ChancellorH.F. Thomas, November 11, 1895.

“The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an HOMAGE they pay inspite of themselves to the AUTHORITY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.” Monsi-gnor Louis Segur, Plain Talk about the Protestantism of Today, p. 213.

“Q. How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holydays?

“A. By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestantsallow of, and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sundaystrictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church.

“Q. How prove you that?“A. Because BY KEEPING SUNDAY they ACKNOWLEDGE THE CHURCH’S

POWER to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin.” The Douay Cat-echism, p. 59.

“PROVE TO ME from the BIBLE ALONE that I am bound to keep Sunday holy.THERE IS NO SUCH LAW IN THE BIBLE! It is a law of the holy Catholic Churchalone.

“The Bible says, ‘Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.’ THE CATHO-LIC CHURCH SAYS, NO. By my divine power, I ABOLISH THE SABBATH DAY andcommand you to keep holy the first day of the week. And lo! The entire civilizedworld bows down in reverent obedience to the command of the holy CatholicChurch!” Priest Thomas Enright, C.S.S.R, president Redemptorist College, Kan-sas City, Mo., in a lecture at Hartford, Kansas, February 18, 1884, and pub-lished in The American Sentinel [R.C. journal], June 1893, p. 173.

“All dogmatic decrees of the pope, made with or without his general council,are infallible . . Once made, no pope or council can reverse them . . This is theCatholic principle, that the church cannot err in faith.” The Catholic World, June1871, pp. 422-423.

“We have no right to ask reasons of the church, any more than of AlmightyGod, as a preliminary to our submission. We are to take with unquestioningdocility, whatever instruction the church gives us.” The Catholic World, August,1871, p. 589.

“Nowhere is dogmatic intolerance so necessary a rule of life as in the do-main of religious belief . . There can be but a single true religion, which, by thevery fact of its existence, protests against all other religions as false.” CatholicEncyclopedia, Vol. 14, p. 765.



CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: HOW THE SABBA: HOW THE SABBA: HOW THE SABBA: HOW THE SABBA: HOW THE SABBATH WTH WTH WTH WTH WAS CHANGED TO SUNDAS CHANGED TO SUNDAS CHANGED TO SUNDAS CHANGED TO SUNDAS CHANGED TO SUNDAAAAAYYYYY

“There is scarcely anything which strikes the mind of the careful student ofancient ecclesiastical history with greater surprise than the comparatively earlyperiod at which many of the corruptions of Christianity, which are embodied inthe Roman system, took their rise; yet it is not to be supposed that when the firstoriginators of many of these unscriptural notions and practices planted thosegerms of corruption, they anticipated or even imagined they would ever growinto such a vast and hideous system of superstition and error as is that ofpopery.”—John Dowling, History of Romanism, 13th Edition, p. 65.

“It would be an error to attribute [‘the sanctification of Sunday’] to a definitedecision of the Apostles. There is no such decision mentioned the Apostolicdocuments [that is, the New Testament].”—Antoine Villien, A History of the Com-mandments of the Church, 1915, p. 23.

“It must be confessed that there is no law in the New Testament concerningthe first day.”—McClintock and Strong, Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological andEcclesiastical Literature, Vol. 9, p. 196.

“Rites and ceremonies, of which neither Paul nor Peter ever heard, creptsilently into use, and then claimed the rank of divine institutions. [Church] offic-ers for whom the primitive disciples could have found no place, and titles whichto them would have been altogether unintelligible, began to challenge attention,and to be named apostolic.”—William D. Killen, The Ancient Church, p. xvi.

“Until well into the second century [a hundred years after Christ] we do notfind the slightest indication in our sources that Christians marked Sunday by anykind of abstention from work.”—W. Rordorf, Sunday, p. 157.

“The ancient Sabbath did remain and was observed . . by the Christians ofthe Eastern Church [in the area near Palestine] above three hundred years afterour Saviour’s death.”—A Learned Treatise of the Sabbath, p. 77.

“Modern Christians who talk of keeping Sunday as a ‘holy’ day, as in the stillextant ‘Blue Laws,’ of colonial America, should know that as a ‘holy’ day of restand cessation from labor and amusements Sunday was unknown to Jesus . . Itformed no tenant [teaching] of the primitive Church and became ‘sacred’ only inthe course of time. Outside the church its observance was legalized for the Ro-man Empire through a series of decrees starting with the famous one of Contantinein 321, an edict due to his political and social ideas.”—W.W. Hyde, Paganism toChristianity in the Roman Empire, 1946, p. 257.

“The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals was always only a humanordinance, and it was far from the intentions of the apostles to establish a Divinecommand in this respect, far from them, and from the early apostolic church, totransfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday.”—Augustus Neander, The History ofthe Christian Religion and Church, 1843, p. 186.

“The [Catholic] Church took the pagan buckler of faith against the heathen.


when they raised ‘Sol Invictus’ [the Invincible Sun] to the rank of supreme divin-ity in the empire.”—Franz F.V.M. Cummont, Astrology and Religion Among theGreeks and Romans, p. 55.

“When Christianity conquered Rome, the ecclesiastical structure of the pa-gan church, the title and the vestments of the ‘pontifex maximus,’ the worship tothe ‘Great Mother’ goddess and a multitude of comforting divinities, . . the joy orsolemnity of old festivals, and the pageantry of immemorial ceremony, passedlike material blood into the new religion,—and captive Rome conquered her con-queror. The reins and skills of government were handed down by a dying empireto a virile papacy.”—Will Durant, Caesar and Christ, p. 672.

“The power of the Ceasars lived again in the universal dominion of thepopes.”—H.G. Guiness, Romanism and the Reformation.

“Like two sacred rivers flowing from paradise, the Bible and divine Traditioncontain the Word of God, the precious gems of revealed truth. Though these twodivine streams are in themselves, on account of their divine origin, of equalsacredness, and are both full of revealed truths, still, of the two, Tradition [thesayings of popes and councils] is to us more clear and safe.”—Di Bruno, CatholicBelief, p. 33.

“Unquestionably the first law, either ecclesiastical or civil, by which the Sab-batical observance of that day is known to have been ordained, is the edict ofConstantine, A.D. 321.”—Chamber’s Encyclopedia, article, “Sabbath.”

Here is the first Sunday law in history, a legal enactment by Constantine I(reigned 306-337): “On the Venerable Day of the Sun [“Venerable die Solis”—the sacred day of the Sun] let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest,and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged inagriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often hap-pens that another day is not so suitable for grain-sowing or for vine-planting;lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heavenshould by lost—given the 7th day of March [A.D. 321], Crispus and Constanstinebeing consuls each of them for the second time.”—The First Sunday Law ofConstantine I, in “Codex Justianianus,” lib. 3, tit. 12,3; trans. in Phillip Schaff,History of the Christian Church, Vol. 3, p. 380.

“This [Constantine’s Sunday decree of March 321] is the ‘parent’ Sundaylaw making it a day of rest and release from labor. For from that time to thepresent there have been decrees about the observance of Sunday which haveprofoundly influenced European and American society. When the Church be-came a part of State under the Christian emperors, Sunday observance wasenforced by civil statutes, and later when the Empire was past, the Church in thehands of the papacy enforced it by ecclesiastical and also by civil enactments.”—Walter W. Hyde, Paganism to Christianity in the Roman Empire, 1946, p. 261.

“Constantine’s decree marked the beginning of a long, though intermittentseries of imperial decrees in support of Sunday rest.”—Vincent J. Kelly, Forbid-

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den Sunday and Feast-Day Occupations, 1943, p. 29.“Constantine labored at this time untiringly to unite the worshipers of the old

and the new into one religion. All his laws and contrivances are aimed at promot-ing this amalgamation of means melt together a purified heathenism and a mod-erated Christianity . . Of all his blending and melting together of Christianity andheathenism, none is more easy to see through than this making of his Sundaylaw: The Christians worshiped their Christ, the heathen their sun-god [so theyshould now be combined].”—H.G. Heggtveit, Illustreret Kirkehistorie, 1895, p.202.

“If every Sunday is to be observed by Christians on account of the resurrec-tion, then every Sabbath on account of the burial is to be regarded in execration[cursing] of the Jews.”—Pope Sylvester, quoted by S.R.E. Humbert, “AdversusGraecorum Calumnias,” in J.P. Migne, Patrologie, p. 143 [Sylvester (A.D. 314-337) was the pope at the time Constantine I was Emperor].

“All things whatsoever that were prescribed for the [Bible] Sabbath, we havetransferred them to the Lord’s day, as being more authoratative and more highlyregarded and first in rank, and more honorable than the Jewish Sabbath.”—Bishop Eusebius, quoted in J.P. Migne, “Patrologie,” p. 23, 1169-1172 [Eusebiusof Caesarea was a high-ranking Catholic leader during Constantine’s lifetime].

“As we have already noted, excepting for the Roman and Alexandrian Chris-tians, the majority of Christians were observing the seventh-day Sabbath at leastas late as the middle of the fifth century [A.D. 450]. The Roman and AlexandrianChristians were among those converted from heathenism. They began observ-ing Sunday as a merry religious festival in honor of the Lord’s resurrection,about the latter half of the second century A.D. However, they did not try to teachthat the Lord or His apostles commanded it. In fact, no ecclesiastical writerbefore Eusebius of Caesarea in the fourth century even suggested that eitherChrist or His apostles instituted the observance of the first day of the week.

“These Gentile Christians of Rome and Alexandria began calling the first dayof the week ‘the Lord’s day.’ This was not difficult for the pagans of the RomanEmpire who were steeped in sun worship to accept, because they [the pagans]referred to their sun-god as their ‘Lord.’ ”—E.M. Chalmers, How Sunday Cameinto the Christian Church, p. 3.

The following statement was made 100 years after Constantine’s SundayLaw was passed: “Although almost all churches throughout the world celebratethe sacred mysteries on the Sabbath every week, yet the Christians of Alexandriaand at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, have ceased to do this.”—Socraties Scholasticus, quoted in Ecclesiastical History, Book 5, chap. 22 [writ-ten shortly after A.D. 439].

“The people of Constantinople, and almost everywhere, assemble togetheron the Sabbath, as well as on the first day of the week, which custom is neverobserved at Rome or at Alexandria.”—Hermias Sozomen, quoted in Ecclesias-



tical History, vii, 19, in A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2ndSeries, Vol. 2, p. 390 [written soon after A.D. 415].

“Down even to the fifth century the observance of the Jewish Sabbath wascontinued in the Christian church, but with a rigor and solemnity gradually dimin-ishing until it was wholly discontinued.”—Lyman Coleman, Ancient ChristianityExemplified, chap. 26, sec. 2, p. 527.

“Contantine’s [five Sunday Law] decrees marked the beginning of a longthough intermittent series of imperial decrees in support of Sunday rest.”—AHistory of the Councils of the Church, Vol. 2, p. 316.

“What began, however, as a pagan ordinance, ended as a Christian regula-tion; and a long series of imperial decrees, during the fourth, fifth, and sixth,centuries, enjoined with increasing stringency abstinence from labor on Sun-day.”—Hutton Webster, Rest Days, pp. 122-123, 270.

Here is the first Sunday Law decree of a Christian council, given about 16years after Constantine’s first Sunday Law of A.D. 321: “Christians shall notJudaize and be idle on Saturday [in the original: ‘sabbato’—shall not be idle onthe Sabbath], but shall work on that day; but the Lord’s day they shall especiallyhonour, and as being Christians, shall, if possible, do no work on that day. If,however, they are found Judaizing, they shall by shut out [‘anathema,’ excom-municated] from Christ.”—Council of Laodicea, c. A.D. 337, Canon 29, quotedin C.J. Hefele, A History of the Councils of the Church, Vol. 2, p. 316.

“The keeping of the Sunday rest arose from the custom of the people and theconstitution of the [Catholic] Church . . Tertullian was probably the first to referto a cessation of affairs on the Sun day; the Council of Laodicea issued the firstcounciliar legislation for that day; Constantine I issued the first civil legislation.”—Priest Vincent J. Kelly, Forbidden Sunday and Feast-Day Occupations, p. 203 [athesis presented to the Catholic University of America].

“About 590, Pope Gregory, in a letter to the Roman people, denounced as theprophets of Antichrist those who maintained that work ought not to be done onthe seventh day.”—James T. Ringgold, The Law of Sunday, p. 267.

In the later centuries, persecution against believers in the Bible Sabbath in-tensified until very few were left alive. When the Reformation began, the trueSabbath was almost unknown.

“Now the [Catholic] Church . . instituted, by God’s authority, Sunday as theday of worship. The same Church, by the same divine authority, taught the doc-trine of Purgatory . . We have, therefore, the same authority for Purgatory as wehave for Sunday.”—Martin J. Scott, Things Catholics Are Asked about, 1927, p.236.

“Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change [of the Sabbath toSunday] was her act . . AND THE ACT IS A MARK of her ecclesiastical power.”—From the office of Cardinal Gibbons, through Chancellor H.F. Thomas, Novem-ber 11, 1895.

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Chapter Thirty-sixChapter Thirty-sixChapter Thirty-sixChapter Thirty-sixChapter Thirty-six

Satan’sSatan’sSatan’sSatan’sSatan’sMaster PlanMaster PlanMaster PlanMaster PlanMaster Plan

—The Impending Conflict—The Impending Conflict—The Impending Conflict—The Impending Conflict—The Impending Conflict———————————————————————

God never forces the will or the conscience; but, in both, Sa-God never forces the will or the conscience; but, in both, Sa-God never forces the will or the conscience; but, in both, Sa-God never forces the will or the conscience; but, in both, Sa-God never forces the will or the conscience; but, in both, Sa-tan delights. And, in the near future, a renewal of such coerciontan delights. And, in the near future, a renewal of such coerciontan delights. And, in the near future, a renewal of such coerciontan delights. And, in the near future, a renewal of such coerciontan delights. And, in the near future, a renewal of such coercionwill to be seen.will to be seen.will to be seen.will to be seen.will to be seen. Errors that strike insolently against the authority ofHeaven will soon be brought boldly to the front—and given legalbacking —

Will you and I be ready for the final conflict described inWill you and I be ready for the final conflict described inWill you and I be ready for the final conflict described inWill you and I be ready for the final conflict described inWill you and I be ready for the final conflict described inRRRRRevelation? Here you will learn for yourself the issues of Satan’sevelation? Here you will learn for yourself the issues of Satan’sevelation? Here you will learn for yourself the issues of Satan’sevelation? Here you will learn for yourself the issues of Satan’sevelation? Here you will learn for yourself the issues of Satan’sMaster Plan —Master Plan —Master Plan —Master Plan —Master Plan ————————————————————————

From the very beginning of the great controversy inHeaven, it has been Satan’s purpose to overthrow the lawof God. It was to accomplish this that he entered upon hisrebellion against the Creator; and though he was cast outof Heaven, he has continued the same warfare upon theearth. To deceive men, and thus lead them to transgress God’slaw, is the object which he has steadfastly pursued. Whetherthis be accomplished by casting aside the law altogether,or by rejecting one of its precepts, the result will be ulti-mately the same. He that offends “in one point,” manifestscontempt for the whole law; his influence and example are onthe side of transgression; he becomes “guilty of all.” James2:10.

In seeking to cast contempt upon the divine statutes, Sa-tan has perverted the doctrines of the Bible, and errors havethus become incorporated into the faith of thousands whoprofess to believe the Scriptures. The last great conflict be-tween truth and error is but the final struggle of the long-standing controversy concerning the law of God. Upon

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this battle we are now entering,—a battle between the lawsof men and the precepts of Jehovah, between the religion ofthe Bible and the religion of fable and tradition.

The agencies which will unite against truth and righteous-ness in this contest are now actively at work. God’s holyWord, which has been handed down to us at such a costof suffering and blood, is but little valued. The Bible iswithin the reach of all, but there are few who really accept itas the guide of life. Infidelity prevails to an alarming ex-tent, not in the world merely, but in the church. Manyhave come to deny doctrines which are the very pillars ofthe Christian faith. The great facts of creation as pre-sented by the inspired writers, the fall of man, the atone-ment, and the perpetuity of the law of God, are practicallyrejected, either wholly or in part, by a large share of the pro-fessedly Christian world. Thousands who pride themselvesupon their wisdom and independence regard it an evidence ofweakness to place implicit confidence in the Bible; they thinkit a proof of superior talent and learning to cavil at the Scrip-tures, and to spiritualize and explain away their most impor-tant truths. Many ministers are teaching their people, andmany professors and teachers are instructing their students,that the law of God has been changed or abrogated; and thosewho regard its requirements as still valid, to be literallyobeyed, are thought to be deserving only of ridicule or con-tempt.

In rejecting the truth, men reject its Author. In tram-pling upon the law of God, they deny the authority of theLawgiver. It is as easy to make an idol of false doctrines andtheories as to fashion an idol of wood or stone. By misrepre-senting the attributes of God, Satan leads men to conceive ofhim in a false character. With many, a philosophical idol is en-throned in the place of Jehovah; while the living God, as Heis revealed in His Word, in Christ, and in the works of cre-ation, is worshiped by but few. Thousands deify nature,while they deny the God of nature. Though in a differentform, idolatry exists in the Christian world to-day as ver-ily as it existed among ancient Israel in the days of Elijah. The

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god of many professedly wise men, of philosophers, poets,politicians, journalists,—the god of polished fashionablecircles, of many colleges and universities, even of some theo-logical institutions,—is little better than Baal, the sun-god ofPhenicia.

No error accepted by the Christian world strikes moreboldly against the authority of Heaven, none is more directlyopposed to the dictates of reason, none is more pernicious inits results, than the modern doctrine, so rapidly gainingground, that God’s law is no longer binding upon men. Ev-ery nation has its laws, which command respect and obe-dience; no government could exist without them; and canit be conceived that the Creator of the heavens and theearth has no law to govern the beings He has made? Sup-pose that prominent ministers were publicly to teach that thestatutes which govern their land and protect the rights of itscitizens were not obligatory,—that they restricted the liber-ties of the people, and therefore ought not to be obeyed; howlong would such men be tolerated in the pulpit? But is it agraver offense to disregard the laws of States and nations thanto trample upon those divine precepts which are the founda-tion of all government?

It would be far more consistent for nations to abolishtheir statutes, and permit the people to do as they please,than for the Ruler of the universe to annul His law, andleave the world without a standard to condemn the guiltyor justify the obedient. Would we know the result of mak-ing void the law of God? The experiment has been tried. Ter-rible were the scenes enacted in France when atheism becamethe controlling power. It was then demonstrated to the worldthat to throw off the restraints which God has imposed is toaccept the rule of the cruelest of tyrants. When the standardof righteousness is set aside, the way is open for the prince ofevil to establish his power in the earth.

Wherever the divine precepts are rejected, sin ceasesto appear sinful, or righteousness desirable. Those whorefuse to submit to the government of God are whollyunfitted to govern themselves. Through their pernicious

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teachings, the spirit of insubordination is implanted in thehearts of children and youth, who are naturally impatient ofcontrol; and a lawless, licentious state of society results.While scoffing at the credulity of those who obey the require-ments of God, the multitudes eagerly accept the delusions ofSatan. They give the rein to lust, and practice the sins whichhave called down judgments upon the heathen.

Those who teach the people to lightly regard the com-mandments of God, sow disobedience, to reap disobedi-ence. Let the restraint imposed by the divine law bewholly cast aside, and human laws would soon be disre-garded. Because God forbids dishonest practices, coveting,lying, and defrauding, men are ready to trample upon His stat-utes as a hindrance to their worldly prosperity; but the resultsof banishing these precepts would be such as they do not an-ticipate. If the law were not binding, why should any fear totransgress? Property would no longer be safe. Men wouldobtain their neighbor’s possessions by violence; and thestrongest would become richest. Life itself would not be re-spected. The marriage vow would no longer stand as a sacredbulwark to protect the family. He who had the power, would,if he desired, take his neighbor’s wife by violence. The fifthcommandment would be set aside with the fourth. Childrenwould not shrink from taking the life of their parents, if by sodoing they could obtain the desire of their corrupt hearts. Thecivilized world would become a horde of robbers and assas-sins; and peace, rest, and happiness would be banished fromthe earth.

Already the doctrine that men are released from obe-dience to God’s requirements has weakened the force ofmoral obligation, and opened the flood-gates of iniquityupon the world. Lawlessness, dissipation, and corruption aresweeping in upon us like an overwhelming tide. In the fam-ily, Satan is at work. His banner waves, even in professedlyChristian households. There is envy, evil surmising, hypoc-risy, estrangement, emulation, strife, betrayal of sacred trusts,indulgence of lust. The whole system of religious principlesand doctrines, which should form the foundation and frame-

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work of social life, seems to be a tottering mass, ready to fallto ruin. The vilest of criminals, when thrown into prison fortheir offenses, are often made the recipients of gifts and at-tentions, as if they had attained an enviable distinction. Greatpublicity is given to their character and crimes. The press pub-lishes the revolting details of vice, thus initiating others intothe practice of fraud, robbery, and murder; and Satan exultsin the success of his hellish schemes. The infatuation of vice,the wanton taking of life, the terrible increase of intemperanceand iniquity of every order and degree, should arouse all whofear God, to inquire what can be done to stay the tide of evil.

Courts of justice are corrupt. Rulers are actuated bydesire for gain, and love of sensual pleasure. Intemperancehas beclouded the faculties of many, so that Satan has almostcomplete control of them. Jurists are perverted, bribed, de-luded. Drunkenness and revelry, passion, envy, dishonesty ofevery sort, are represented among those who administer thelaws. “Justice standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street,and equity cannot enter.” Isaiah 59:14.

The iniquity and spiritual darkness that prevailed under thesupremacy of Rome were the inevitable result of her suppres-sion of the Scriptures; but where is to be found the cause ofthe widespread infidelity, the rejection of the law of God, andthe consequent corruption, under the full blaze of gospel lightin an age of religious freedom? Now that Satan can nolonger keep the world under his control by withholdingthe Scriptures, he resorts to other means to accomplishthe same object. To destroy faith in the Bible serves hispurpose as well as to destroy the Bible itself. By introduc-ing the belief that God’s law is not binding, he as effectu-ally leads men to transgress as if they were wholly igno-rant of its precepts. And now, as in former ages, he hasworked through the church to further his designs. The reli-gious organizations of the day have refused to listen to un-popular truths plainly brought to view in the Scriptures, andin combating them they have adopted interpretations andtaken positions which have sown broadcast the seeds of skep-ticism. Clinging to the papal error of natural immortal-



ity and man’s consciousness in death, they have rejectedthe only defense against the delusions of Spiritualism. Thedoctrine of eternal torment has led many to disbelieve theBible. And as the claims of the fourth commandment areurged upon the people, it is found that the observance of theseventh-day Sabbath is enjoined; and as the only way to freethemselves from a duty which they are unwilling to perform,popular teachers declare that the law of God is no longer bind-ing. Thus they cast away the law and the Sabbath together. Asthe work of Sabbath reform extends, this rejection of the di-vine law to avoid the claims of the fourth commandment willbecome well-nigh universal. The teachings of religious lead-ers have opened the door to infidelity, to Spiritualism, andto contempt for God’s holy law, and upon these leadersrests a fearful responsibility for the iniquity that exists inthe Christian world.

Yet this very class put forth the claim that the fast-spreading corruption is largely attributable to the des-ecration of the so-called “Christian Sabbath,” and thatthe enforcement of Sunday observance would greatly im-prove the morals of society. This claim is especially urgedin America, where the doctrine of the true Sabbath has beenmost widely preached. Here the temperance work, one ofthe most prominent and important of moral reforms, isoften combined with the Sunday movement, and the advo-cates of the latter represent themselves as laboring to promotethe highest interest of society; and those who refuse to unitewith them are denounced as the enemies of temperance andreform. But the fact that a movement to establish error is con-nected with a work which is in itself good, is not an argumentin favor of the error. We may disguise poison by mingling itwith wholesome food, but we do not change its nature. On thecontrary, it is rendered more dangerous, as it is more likely tobe taken unawares. It is one of Satan’s devices to combinewith falsehood just enough truth to give it plausibility. Theleaders of the Sunday movement may advocate reforms whichthe people need, principles which are in harmony with theBible, yet while there is with these a requirement which is

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contrary to God’s law, His servants cannot unite with them.Nothing can justify them in setting aside the commandmentsof God for the precepts of men.

Through the two great errors, the immortality of thesoul, and Sunday sacredness, Satan will bring the peopleunder his deceptions. While the former lays the founda-tion of Spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of sympa-thy with Rome. The Protestants of the United States willbe foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf tograsp the hand of Spiritualism; they will reach over theabyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and underthe influence of this threefold union, this country will fol-low in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of con-science.

As Spiritualism more closely imitates the nominal Chris-tianity 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 bewrought, the sick will be healed, and many undeniablewonders will be performed. And as the spirits will professfaith in the Bible, and manifest respect for the institutions ofthe church, their work will be accepted as a manifestation ofdivine power.

The line of distinction between professed Christians andthe ungodly is now hardly distinguishable. Church-memberslove what the world loves, and are ready to join withthem; and Satan determines to unite them in one body, andthus strengthen his cause by sweeping all into the ranks ofSpiritualism. Papists, who boast of miracles as a certain signof the true church, will be readily deceived by this wonder-working power; and Protestants, having cast away the shieldof truth, will also be deluded. Papists, Protestants, andworldlings will alike accept the form of godliness withoutthe power, and they will see in this union a grand move-ment for the conversion of the world, and the ushering inof the long-expected millennium.

Through Spiritualism, Satan appears as a benefactor



of the race, healing the diseases of the people, and profess-ing to present a new and more exalted system of religiousfaith; but at the same time he works as a destroyer. Histemptations are leading multitudes to ruin. Intemperance de-thrones reason; sensual indulgence, strife, and bloodshed fol-low. Satan delights in war; for it excites the worst passions ofthe soul, and then sweeps into eternity its victims steeped invice and blood. It is his object to incite the nations to waragainst one another; for he can thus divert the minds of thepeople from the work of preparation to stand in the day ofGod.

Satan works through the elements also to garner hisharvest of unprepared souls. He has studied the secretsof the laboratories of nature, and he uses all his power tocontrol the elements as far as God allows. When he was suf-fered to afflict Job, how quickly flocks and herds, servants,houses, children, were swept away, one trouble succeedinganother as in a moment. It is God that shields His creatures,and hedges them in from the power of the destroyer. Butthe Christian world have shown contempt for the law of Je-hovah; and the Lord will do just what He has declared that Hewould, He will withdraw His blessings from the earth, and re-move His protecting care from those who are rebelling againstHis law, and teaching and forcing others to do the same. Sa-tan has control of all whom God does not especially guard. Hewill favor and prosper some, in order to further his own de-signs, and he will bring trouble upon others, and lead men tobelieve that it is God who is afflicting them.

While appearing to the children of men as a great phy-sician who can heal all their maladies, he will bring dis-ease and disaster, until populous cities are reduced to ruinand desolation. Even now he is at work. In accidents andcalamities by sea and by land, in great conflagrations, in fiercetornadoes and terrific hail-storms, in tempests, floods, cy-clones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, in every place and in athousand forms, Satan is exercising his power. He sweepsaway the ripening harvest, and famine and distress follow. Heimparts to the air a deadly taint, and thousands perish by the

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pestilence. These visitations are to become more and morefrequent and disastrous. Destruction will be upon both manand beast. “The earth mourneth and fadeth away,” “thehaughty people . . . do languish. The earth also is defiled un-der the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed thelaws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting cov-enant.” Isaiah 24:4, 5.

And then the great deceiver will persuade men thatthose who serve God are causing these evils. The class thathave provoked the displeasure of Heaven will charge all theirtroubles upon those whose obedience to God’s command-ments is a perpetual reproof to transgressors. It will be de-clared that men are offending God by the violation of theSunday-sabbath, that this sin has brought calamitieswhich will not cease until Sunday observance shall bestrictly enforced, and that those who present the claims ofthe fourth commandment, thus destroying reverence for Sun-day, are troublers of the people, preventing their restorationto divine favor and temporal prosperity. Thus the accusationurged of old against the servant of God will be repeated, andupon grounds equally well established. “And it came to pass,when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou hethat troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Is-rael; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsakenthe commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followedBaalim.” 1 Kings 18:17, 18. As the wrath of the people shallbe excited by false charges, they will pursue a course towardGod’s ambassadors very similar to that which apostate Israelpursued toward Elijah.

The miracle-working power manifested through Spiri-tualism will exert its influence against those who chooseto obey God rather than men. Communications from thespirits will declare that God has sent them to convince therejecters of Sunday of their error, affirming that the laws ofthe land should be obeyed as the law of God. They will la-ment the great wickedness in the world, and second thetestimony of religious teachers, that the degraded state ofmorals is caused by the desecration of Sunday. Great will



be the indignation excited against all who refuse to accepttheir testimony.

Satan’s policy in this final conflict with God’s peopleis the same that he employed in the opening of the greatcontroversy in Heaven. He professed to be seeking topromote the stability of the divine government, while se-cretly bending every effort to secure its overthrow. Andthe very work which he was thus endeavoring to accom-plish, he charged upon the loyal angels. The same policyof deception has marked the history of the Romish Church.It has professed to act as the vicegerent of Heaven, while seek-ing to exalt itself above God, and to change his law. Under therule of Rome, those who suffered death for their fidelity to thegospel were denounced as evil-doers; they were declared tobe in league with Satan; and every possible means was em-ployed to cover them with reproach, to cause them to appear,in the eyes of the people, and even to themselves, as the vil-est of criminals. So it will be now. While Satan seeks to de-stroy those who honor God’s law he will cause them to beaccused as law-breakers, as men who are dishonoringGod, and bringing judgments upon the world.

God never forces the will or the conscience; but Satan’sconstant resort—to gain control of those whom he cannot oth-erwise seduce—is compulsion by cruelty. Through fear orforce he endeavors to rule the conscience, and to securehomage to himself. To accomplish this, he works throughboth religious and secular authorities, moving them to the en-forcement of human laws in defiance of the law of God.

Those who honor the Bible Sabbath will be denouncedas enemies of law and order, as breaking down the moralrestraints of society, causing anarchy and corruption, andcalling down the judgments of God upon the earth. Their con-scientious scruples will be pronounced obstinacy, stubborn-ness, and contempt of authority. They will be accused of dis-affection toward the government. Ministers who deny the ob-ligation of the divine law will present from the pulpit the dutyof yielding obedience to the civil authorities as ordained ofGod. In legislative halls and courts of justice, commandment-

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keepers will be misrepresented and condemned. A false col-oring will be given to their words; the worst construction willbe put upon their motives.

As the Protestant churches reject the clear, scripturalarguments in defense of God’s law, they will long to si-lence those whose faith they cannot overthrow by theBible. Though they blind their own eyes to the fact, they arenow adopting a course which will lead to the persecution ofthose who conscientiously refuse to do what the rest of theChristian world are doing, and acknowledge the claims of thepapal Sabbath.

The dignitaries of church and State will unite to bribe,persuade, or compel all classes to honor the Sunday. Thelack of divine authority will be supplied by oppressive en-actments. Political corruption is destroying love of justiceand regard for truth; and even in free America, rulers and leg-islators, in order to secure public favor, will yield to the popu-lar demand for a law enforcing Sunday observance. Libertyof conscience, which has cost so great a sacrifice, will nolonger be respected. In the soon-coming conflict we shall seeexemplified the prophet’s words: “The dragon was wrothwith the woman, and went to make war with the remnantof her seed, which keep the commandments of God, andhave the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: F: F: F: F: FAITH TO OAITH TO OAITH TO OAITH TO OAITH TO OVERCOMEVERCOMEVERCOMEVERCOMEVERCOME

“By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed . . not knowing whither he went.”Hebrews 11:8, R.V. (read James 2:21). “Abraham believed God, and it was imputedunto him for righteousness: and he was called the friend of God.” James 2:23.

“Without faith, it is impossible to please Him.” Hebrews 11:6. “For whatsoever isborn of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world,even our faith.” 1 John 5:4. “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”Romans 12:21. “Because I live, ye shall live also.” John 14:19.

“If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed; and ye shall knowthe truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31-32. “Seeing ye have purifiedyour souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit.” 1 Peter 1:22. “Open ye the gates,that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.” Isaiah 26:2.

“Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to thetree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Revelation 22:14.

Special Promises to overcomers: Revelation 2:7, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21, 21:7.



Chapter Thirty-sevenChapter Thirty-sevenChapter Thirty-sevenChapter Thirty-sevenChapter Thirty-seven

BuildBuildBuildBuildBuildon the Rockon the Rockon the Rockon the Rockon the Rock

—The Scriptures, a Safeguard—The Scriptures, a Safeguard—The Scriptures, a Safeguard—The Scriptures, a Safeguard—The Scriptures, a Safeguard———————————————————————

The last great delusion is soon to open before us. So closelyThe last great delusion is soon to open before us. So closelyThe last great delusion is soon to open before us. So closelyThe last great delusion is soon to open before us. So closelyThe last great delusion is soon to open before us. So closelywill the counterwill the counterwill the counterwill the counterwill the counterfeit resemble the true, that it will be impossible tofeit resemble the true, that it will be impossible tofeit resemble the true, that it will be impossible tofeit resemble the true, that it will be impossible tofeit resemble the true, that it will be impossible todistinguish between them except by the Bible —distinguish between them except by the Bible —distinguish between them except by the Bible —distinguish between them except by the Bible —distinguish between them except by the Bible —

And yet but few value the Bible with all their heart, and study itwith all their might, in preparation for the crisis that is soon to over-take the earth. Satan has a special plan to attract attention toSatan has a special plan to attract attention toSatan has a special plan to attract attention toSatan has a special plan to attract attention toSatan has a special plan to attract attention toman in place of God and His Wman in place of God and His Wman in place of God and His Wman in place of God and His Wman in place of God and His Word, but few are preparing toord, but few are preparing toord, but few are preparing toord, but few are preparing toord, but few are preparing toresist it —resist it —resist it —resist it —resist it ————————————————————————

To the law and to the testimony: If they speak not accord-ing to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isaiah8:20. The people of God are directed to the Scriptures astheir safeguard against the influence of false teachers andthe delusive power of spirits of darkness. Satan employsevery possible device to prevent men from obtaining aknowledge of the Bible; for its plain utterances reveal hisdeceptions. At every revival of God’s work, the prince of evilis aroused to more intense activity; he is now putting forth hisutmost efforts for a final struggle against Christ and His fol-lowers. 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 willbe impossible to distinguish between them except by theHoly Scriptures. By their testimony every statement andevery miracle must be tested.

Those who endeavor to obey all the commandments ofGod will be opposed and derided. They can stand only inGod. In order to endure the trial before them, they must un-

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derstand the will of God as revealed in His Word; they canhonor Him only as they have a right conception of His char-acter, government, and purposes, and act in accordance withthem. None but those who have fortified the mind with thetruths of the Bible will stand through the last great con-flict. To every soul will come the searching test, Shall I obeyGod 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 command-ments of God and the faith of Jesus?

Before His crucifixion, the Saviour explained to His dis-ciples that He was to be put to death, and to rise again fromthe tomb; and angels were present to impress His words onminds and hearts. But the disciples were looking for tempo-ral deliverance from the Roman yoke, and they could not tol-erate the thought that He in whom all their hopes centeredshould suffer an ignominious death. The words which theyneeded to remember were banished from their minds;and when the time of trial came, it found them unpre-pared. The death of Jesus as fully destroyed their hopes asif He had not forewarned them. So in the prophecies the fu-ture is opened before us as plainly as it was opened to thedisciples by the words of Christ. The events connected withthe close of probation and the work of preparation for the timeof trouble, are clearly presented. But multitudes have no moreunderstanding of these important truths than if they had neverbeen revealed. Satan watches to catch away every impressionthat would make them wise unto salvation, and the time oftrouble will find them unready.

When God sends to men warnings so important that theyare represented as proclaimed by holy angels flying in themidst of heaven, He requires every person endowed with rea-soning powers to heed the message. The fearful judgmentsdenounced against the worship of the beast and his image,(Revelation 14:9-11) should lead all to a diligent study ofthe prophecies to learn what the mark of the beast is, andhow they are to avoid receiving it. But the masses of thepeople turn away their ears from hearing the truth, and are

The Scriptures, a safeguard The Scriptures, a safeguard The Scriptures, a safeguard The Scriptures, a safeguard The Scriptures, a safeguard [593-594] [593-594] [593-594] [593-594] [593-594]


turned unto fables. The apostle Paul declared, looking downto the last days, “The time will come when they will not en-dure sound doctrine.” 2 Timothy 4:3. That time has fullycome. The multitudes do not want Bible truth, because itinterferes with the desires of the sinful, world-lovingheart; and Satan supplies the deceptions which they love.

But God will have a people upon the earth to maintainthe Bible, and the Bible only, as the standard of all doc-trines, and the basis of all reforms. The opinions of learnedmen, the deductions of science, the creeds or decisions ofecclesiastical councils, as numerous and discordant as are thechurches which they represent, the voice of the majority,—notone or all of these should be regarded as evidence for oragainst any point of religious faith. Before accepting anydoctrine or precept, we should demand a plain “Thussaith the Lord” in its support.

Satan is constantly endeavoring to attract attention toman in the place of God. He leads the people to look to bish-ops, to pastors, to professors of theology, as their guides, in-stead of searching the Scriptures to learn their duty for them-selves. Then, by controlling the minds of these leaders, he caninfluence the multitudes according to his will.

When Christ came to speak the words of life, the commonpeople heard Him gladly; and many, even of the priests andrulers, believed on Him. But the chief of the priesthood andthe leading men of the nation were determined to condemnand repudiate His teachings. Though they were baffled in alltheir efforts to find accusations against Him, though theycould not but feel the influence of the divine power and wis-dom attending His words, yet they encased themselves inprejudice; they rejected the clearest evidence of HisMessiahship, lest they should be forced to become His dis-ciples. These opponents of Jesus were men whom thepeople had been taught from infancy to reverence, towhose authority they had been accustomed implicitly tobow. “How is it,” they asked, “that our rulers and learnedscribes do not believe on Jesus? Would not these pious menreceive Him if He were the Christ?” It was the influence of

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such teachers that led the Jewish nation to reject their Re-deemer.

The spirit which actuated those priests and rulers is stillmanifested by many who make a high profession of piety.They refuse to examine the testimony of the Scriptures con-cerning the special truths for this time. They point to theirown numbers, wealth, and popularity, and look with con-tempt upon the advocates of truth as few, poor, and un-popular having a faith that separates them from theworld.

Christ foresaw that the undue assumption of authority in-dulged by the scribes and Pharisees would not cease with thedispersion of the Jews. He had a prophetic view of the workof exalting human authority to rule the conscience, whichhas been so terrible a curse to the church in all ages. AndHis fearful denunciations of the scribes and Pharisees, and hiswarnings to the people not to follow these blind leaders, wereplaced on record as an admonition to future generations.

The Romish Church reserves to the clergy the right to in-terpret the Scriptures. On the ground that ecclesiasticsalone are competent to explain God’s Word, it is withheldfrom the common people. Though the Reformation gave theScriptures to all, yet the self-same principle which was main-tained by Rome prevents multitudes in Protestant churchesfrom searching the Bible for themselves. They are taught toaccept its teachings as interpreted by the church; and thereare thousands who dare receive nothing, however plainly re-vealed in Scripture, that is contrary to their creed, or the es-tablished teaching of their church.

Notwithstanding the Bible is full of warnings againstfalse teachers, many are ready thus to commit the keep-ing of their souls to the clergy. There are to-day thousandsof professors of religion who can give no other reason forpoints of faith which they hold than that they were so in-structed by their religious leaders. They pass by the Saviour’steachings almost unnoticed, and place implicit confidence inthe 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? Alack of moral courage to step aside from the beaten track ofthe world, leads many to follow in the steps of learned men;and by their reluctance to investigate for themselves, they arebecoming hopelessly fastened in the chains of error. They seethat the truth for this time is plainly brought to view in theBible, and they feel the power of the Holy Spirit attending itsproclamation; yet they allow the opposition of the clergy toturn them from the light. Though reason and conscience areconvinced, these deluded souls dare not think differently fromthe minister; and their individual judgment, their eternal in-terests, are sacrificed to the unbelief, the pride and prejudice,of another.

Many are the ways by which Satan works through humaninfluence to bind his captives. He secures multitudes to him-self by attaching them by the silken cords of affection to thosewho are enemies of the cross of Christ. Whatever this at-tachment may be, parental, filial, conjugal, or social, theeffect is the same; the opposers of truth exert their powerto control the conscience, and the souls held under theirsway have not sufficient courage or independence to obeytheir own convictions of duty.

The truth and the glory of God are inseparable; it is impos-sible for us, with the Bible within our reach, to honor God byerroneous opinions. Many claim that it matters not whatone believes, if his life is only right. But the life is mouldedby the faith. If light and truth are within our reach, and weneglect to improve the privilege of hearing and seeing it, wevirtually reject it; we are choosing darkness rather than light.

“There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the endthereof are the ways of death.” Proverbs 16:25. Ignorance isno excuse for error or sin, when there is every opportu-nity to know the will of God. A man is traveling, and comesto a place where there are several roads, and a guide-board in-dicating where each one leads. If he disregards the guide-board, and takes whichever road seems to him to be right, hemay be ever so sincere, but will in all probability find himselfon the wrong road.

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God has given us His Word that we may become ac-quainted with its teachings, and know for ourselves what Herequires of us. When the lawyer came to Jesus with the in-quiry, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” the Saviour re-ferred him to the Scriptures, saying, “What is written in thelaw? how readest thou?” Ignorance will not excuse youngor old, or release them from the punishment due for the trans-gression of God’s law, because there is in their hands a faith-ful presentation of that law and of its principles and its claims.It is not enough to have good intentions; it is not enoughto do what a man thinks is right, or what the minister tellshim is right. His soul’s salvation is at stake, and he shouldsearch the Scriptures for himself. However strong may behis convictions, however confident he may be that the min-ister knows what is truth, this is not his foundation. He has achart pointing out every waymark on the heavenward journey,and he ought not to guess at anything.

It is the first and highest duty of every rational beingto learn from the Scriptures what is truth, and then towalk in the light, and encourage others to follow his ex-ample. We should day by day study the Bible diligently,weighing every thought, and comparing scripture with scrip-ture. With divine help, we are to form our opinions forourselves, as we are to answer for ourselves before God.

The truths most plainly revealed in the Bible have beeninvolved in doubt and darkness by learned men, who, with apretense of great wisdom, teach that the Scriptures have amystical, a secret, spiritual meaning not apparent in the lan-guage employed. These men are false teachers. It was to sucha class that Jesus declared, “Ye know not the Scriptures, nei-ther the power of God.” Mark 12:24. The language of theBible should be explained according to its obvious meaning,unless a symbol or figure is employed. Christ has given thepromise, “If any man will do His will, he shall know of thedoctrine.” John 7:17. If men would but take the Bible as itreads, if there were no false teachers to mislead and con-fuse their minds, a work would be accomplished thatwould make angels glad, and that would bring into the fold



of Christ thousands upon thousands who are now wanderingin error.

We should exert all the powers of the mind in the study ofthe Scriptures, and should task the understanding to compre-hend, as far as mortals can, the deep things of God; yet wemust not forget that the docility and submission of a childis the true spirit of the learner. Scriptural difficulties cannever be mastered by the same methods that are em-ployed in grappling with philosophical problems. Weshould 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 sinceredesire to learn His will. We must come with a humble andteachable spirit to obtain knowledge from the great I AM.Otherwise, evil angels will so blind our minds and harden ourhearts that we shall not be impressed by the truth.

Many a portion of Scripture which learned men pronouncea mystery, or pass over as unimportant, is full of comfort andinstruction to him who has been taught in the school of Christ.One reason why many theologians have no clearer under-standing of God’s Word is, they close their eyes to truthswhich they do not wish to practice. An understanding ofBible truth depends not so much on the power of intellectbrought to the search as on the singleness of purpose, theearnest longing after righteousness.

The Bible should never be studied without prayer. TheHoly Spirit alone can cause us to feel the importance of thosethings easy to be understood, or prevent us from wrestlingtruths difficult of comprehension. It is the office of heavenlyangels to prepare the heart to so comprehend God’s Word thatwe shall be charmed with its beauty, admonished by its warn-ings, or animated and strengthened by its promises. Weshould make the psalmist’s petition our own: “Open thoumine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.”Psalm 119:18. Temptations often appear irresistible be-cause, through neglect of prayer and the study of theBible, the tempted one cannot readily remember God’spromises and meet Satan with the Scripture weapons. But

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angels are round about those who are willing to be taught indivine things; and in the time of great necessity, they will bringto their remembrance the very truths which are needed. Thus“when the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of theLord shall lift up a standard against him.” Isaiah 59:19.

Jesus promised His disciples, “The Comforter, the HolyGhost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teachyou all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 14:26. But the teach-ings of Christ must previously have been stored in themind, in order for the Spirit of God to bring them to ourremembrance in the time of peril. “Thy Word have I hid inmine heart,” said David, “that I might not sin against thee.”Psalm 119:11.

All who value their eternal interests should be on theirguard against the inroads of skepticism. The very pillarsof truth will be assailed. It is impossible to keep beyond thereach of the sarcasms and sophisms, the insidious andpestilent teachings, of modern infidelity. Satan adapts histemptations to all classes. He assails the illiterate with a jestor sneer, while he meets the educated with scientific objec-tions and philosophical reasoning, alike calculated to excitedistrust or contempt of the Scriptures. Even youth of little ex-perience presume to insinuate doubts concerning the funda-mental principles of Christianity. And this youthful infidel-ity, shallow as it is, has its influence. Many are thus led to jestat the faith of their fathers, and to do despite to the Spirit ofgrace. Hebrews 10:29. Many a life that promised to be anhonor to God and a blessing to the world, has been blightedby the foul breath of infidelity. All who trust to the boastfuldecisions of human reason, and imagine that they can explaindivine mysteries, and arrive at truth unaided by the wisdomof God, are entangled in the snare of Satan.

We are living in the most solemn period of this world’shistory. The destiny of earth’s teeming multitudes is about tobe decided. Our own future well-being, and also the salvationof other souls, depends upon the course which we now pur-sue. We need to be guided by the Spirit of truth. Every fol-



lower of Christ should earnestly inquire, “Lord, what wiltthou have me to do?” We need to humble ourselves beforethe Lord, with fasting and prayer, and to meditate much uponHis Word, especially upon the scenes of the Judgment. Weshould now seek a deep and living experience in the thingsof God. We have not a moment to lose. Events of vital im-portance are taking place around us; we are on Satan’s en-chanted ground. Sleep not, sentinels of God; the foe is lurk-ing near, ready at any moment, should you become lax anddrowsy, to spring upon you and make you his prey.

Many are deceived as to their true condition beforeGod. They congratulate themselves upon the wrong actswhich they do not commit, and forget to enumerate the goodand noble deeds which God requires of them, but which theyhave neglected to perform. It is not enough that they are treesin the garden of God. They are to answer His expectation bybearing fruit. He holds them accountable for their failure toaccomplish all the good which they could have done, throughHis grace strengthening them. In the books of Heaven they areregistered as cumberers of the ground. Yet the case of eventhis class is not utterly hopeless. With those who have slightedGod’s mercy and abused His grace, the heart of long-suffer-ing love yet pleads. “Wherefore he saith, Awake, thou thatsleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give theelight. See then that ye walk circumspectly, . . . redeeming thetime, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:14-16.

When the testing time shall come, those who havemade God’s Word their rule of life will be revealed. Insummer there is no noticeable difference between evergreensand other trees; but when the blasts of winter come, the ev-ergreens remain unchanged, while other trees are stripped oftheir foliage. So the false-hearted professor may not now bedistinguished from the real Christian, but the time is just uponus when the difference will be apparent. Let opposition arise,let bigotry and intolerance again bear sway, let persecutionbe kindled, and the half-hearted and hypocritical willwaver and yield the faith; but the true Christian willstand firm as a rock, his faith stronger, his hope brighter,

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than in days of prosperity.Says the psalmist: “Thy testimonies are my meditation.”

“Through thy precepts I get understanding; therefore I hateevery false way.” Psalm 119:99, 104.

“Happy is the man that findeth wisdom.” “He shall be asa tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her rootsby the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leafshall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought,neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” Proverbs 3:13;Jeremiah 17:8

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: IMPORT: IMPORT: IMPORT: IMPORT: IMPORTANCE OF THE BIBLEANCE OF THE BIBLEANCE OF THE BIBLEANCE OF THE BIBLEANCE OF THE BIBLE

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doc-trine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that theman of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” 2Timothy 3:16-17.

“For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holymen of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Peter 1:21.

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time pastunto the fathers by the prophets.” Hebrews 1:1.

“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for ourlearning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures mighthave hope.” Romans 15:4.

“Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalm119:105.

“Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth.” John 17:17.“To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this

Word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:20.“The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the Word of our God shall

stand forever.” Isaiah 40:8.“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass

away.” Matthew 24:35.“Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and

they are they which testify of Me.” John 5:39.“And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He [Jesus] expounded

unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” Luke24:27.



Chapter Thirty-eightChapter Thirty-eightChapter Thirty-eightChapter Thirty-eightChapter Thirty-eight

TTTTTo All the Wo All the Wo All the Wo All the Wo All the Worldorldorldorldorld—————The Final WarningThe Final WarningThe Final WarningThe Final WarningThe Final Warning

———————————————————————Satan’s power to deceive can be very great—when men choose

to remain ignorant. In ever In ever In ever In ever In every age there has been a decided struggley age there has been a decided struggley age there has been a decided struggley age there has been a decided struggley age there has been a decided struggleof truth against errorof truth against errorof truth against errorof truth against errorof truth against error. But the greatest one is just ahead. One of. But the greatest one is just ahead. One of. But the greatest one is just ahead. One of. But the greatest one is just ahead. One of. But the greatest one is just ahead. One ofthe most massive crises of the ages is just before mankind.the most massive crises of the ages is just before mankind.the most massive crises of the ages is just before mankind.the most massive crises of the ages is just before mankind.the most massive crises of the ages is just before mankind. OfBabylon at this time, it is declared in Scripture, “Her sins have reachedunto Heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.”

Revelation 13 predicts that a time is just before us whenRevelation 13 predicts that a time is just before us whenRevelation 13 predicts that a time is just before us whenRevelation 13 predicts that a time is just before us whenRevelation 13 predicts that a time is just before us whenthose who honor fundamental Bible truths will be denouncedthose who honor fundamental Bible truths will be denouncedthose who honor fundamental Bible truths will be denouncedthose who honor fundamental Bible truths will be denouncedthose who honor fundamental Bible truths will be denouncedas enemies of law and orderas enemies of law and orderas enemies of law and orderas enemies of law and orderas enemies of law and order..... We must individually know the Wordof God for ourselves—that we may stand on the right side in thatday ————————————————————————

I saw another angel come down from Heaven, havinggreat power; and the earth was lightened with His glory.And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Baby-lon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habita-tion of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and acage of every unclean and hateful bird.” “And I heardanother voice from Heaven, saying, Come out of her, mypeople, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that yereceive not of her plagues.” Revelation 18:1, 2, 4.

This scripture points forward to a time when the an-nouncement of the fall of Babylon, as made by the sec-ond angel (Revelation 14:8) of Revelation 14, is to berepeated, with the additional mention of the corruptionswhich have been entering the various organizations thatconstitute Babylon, since that message was first given,in the summer of 1844. A terrible condition of the religiousworld is here described. With every rejection of truth, theminds of the people will become darker, their hearts more

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stubborn, until they are entrenched in an infidel hardihood.In defiance of the warnings which God has given, theywill continue to trample upon one of the precepts of thedecalogue, until they are led to persecute those who holdit sacred. Christ is set at naught in the contempt placed uponHis Word and His people. As the teachings of Spiritualismare accepted by the churches, the restraint imposed upon thecarnal heart is removed, and the profession of religion willbecome a cloak to conceal the basest iniquity. A belief inspiritual manifestations opens the door to seducing spir-its, and doctrines of devils, and thus the influence of evilangels will be felt in the churches.

Of Babylon, at the time brought to view in this proph-ecy, it is declared, “Her sins have reached unto heaven,and God hath remembered her iniquities.” Revelation18:5. She has filled up the measure of her guilt, and destruc-tion is about to fall upon her. But God still has a people inBabylon; and before the visitation of His judgments, thesefaithful ones must be called out, that they “partake not ofher sins, and receive not of her plagues.” Hence the move-ment symbolized by the angel coming down from Heaven,lightening the earth with His glory, and crying mightily witha strong voice, announcing the sins of Babylon. In connec-tion with His message the call is heard, “Come out of her,My people.” These announcements, uniting with the thirdangel’s message, constitute the final warning to be given tothe 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 command-ments of God, will decree that all, “both small and great,rich and poor, free and bond,” (Revelation 13:16) shall con-form to the customs of the church by the observance of thefalse sabbath. All who refuse compliance will be visitedwith civil penalties, and it will finally be declared thatthey are deserving of death. On the other hand, the lawof God enjoining the Creator’s rest-day demands obedi-ence, and threatens wrath against all who transgress itsprecepts.

The Final WThe Final WThe Final WThe Final WThe Final Warning arning arning arning arning [603-604] [603-604] [603-604] [603-604] [603-604]


With the issue thus clearly brought before him, who-ever shall trample upon God’s law to obey a human en-actment, receives the mark of the beast; he accepts thesign of allegiance to the power which he chooses to obeyinstead of God. The warning from Heaven is, “If any manworship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in hisforehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine ofthe wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture intothe cup of His indignation.” Revelation 14:9, 10.

But not one is made to suffer the wrath of God untilthe truth has been brought home to his mind and con-science, and has been rejected. There are many who havenever had an opportunity to hear the special truths for thistime. The obligation of the fourth commandment has neverbeen set before them in its true light. He who reads everyheart, and tries every motive, will leave none who desire aknowledge of the truth, to be deceived as to the issues of thecontroversy. The decree is not to be urged upon the peopleblindly. Every one is to have sufficient light to make his de-cision intelligently.

The Sabbath will be the great test of loyalty; for it isthe point of truth especially controverted. When the finaltest shall be brought to bear upon men, then the line of dis-tinction will be drawn between those who serve God andthose who serve Him not. While the observance of the falsesabbath in compliance with the law of the State, contrary tothe fourth commandment, will be an avowal of allegiance toa power that is in opposition to God, the keeping of the trueSabbath, in obedience to God’s law, is an evidence of loyaltyto the Creator. While one class, by accepting the sign ofsubmission to earthly powers, receive the mark of thebeast, the other, choosing the token of allegiance to di-vine authority, receive the seal of God.

Heretofore those who presented the truths of the thirdangel’s message have often been regarded as mere alarm-ists. Their predictions that religious intolerance would gaincontrol in the United States, that church and State wouldunite to persecute those who keep the commandments of God,

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have been pronounced groundless and absurd. It has beenconfidently declared that this land could never becomeother than what it has been, the defender of religiousfreedom. But as the question of enforcing Sunday obser-vance is widely agitated, the event so long doubted and dis-believed is seen to be approaching, and the third messagewill produce an effect which it could not have had before.

In every generation God has sent His servants to re-buke sin, both in the world and in the church. But thepeople desire smooth things spoken to them, and the pure,unvarnished truth is not acceptable. Many reformers, in en-tering upon their work, determined to exercise great prudencein attacking the sins of the church and the nation. They hoped,by the example of a pure Christian life, to lead the peopleback to the doctrines of the Bible. But the Spirit of God cameupon them as it came upon Elijah, moving him to rebuke thesins of a wicked king and an apostate people; they could notrefrain from preaching the plain utterances of the Bible,—doctrines which they had been reluctant to present. Theywere impelled to zealously declare the truth, and thedanger which threatened souls. The words which theLord 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, leadingthe minds of those who consecrate themselves to His ser-vice. The laborers will be qualified rather by the unctionof His Spirit than by the training of literary institutions.Men of faith and prayer will be constrained to go forth withholy zeal, declaring the words which God gives them. Thesins of Babylon will be laid open. The fearful results ofenforcing the observances of the church by civil authority,the inroads of Spiritualism, the stealthy but rapid progressof the papal power,—all will be unmasked. By these sol-emn warnings the people will be stirred. Thousands uponthousands 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 herrejection of the truth sent to her from Heaven. As the peoplego to their former teachers with the eager inquiry, Arethese things so? the ministers present fables, prophesysmooth things, to soothe their fears, and quiet the awakenedconscience. But since many refuse to be satisfied with themere authority of men, and demand a plain “Thus saith theLord,” the popular ministry, like the Pharisees of old, filledwith anger as their authority is questioned, will denouncethe message as of Satan, and stir up the sin-loving multi-tudes to revile and persecute those who proclaim it.

As the controversy extends into new fields, and theminds of the people are called to God’s down-troddenlaw, Satan is astir. The power attending the message willonly madden those who oppose it. The clergy will put forthalmost superhuman efforts to shut away the light, lest itshould shine upon their flocks. By every means at their com-mand they will endeavor to suppress the discussion of thesevital questions. The church appeals to the strong arm ofcivil power, and in this work, papists and Protestantsunite. As the movement for Sunday enforcement becomesmore bold and decided, the law will be invoked againstcommandment-keepers. They will be threatened with finesand imprisonment, and some will be offered positions of in-fluence, and other rewards and advantages, as inducementsto renounce their faith. But their steadfast answer is, “Showus from the Word of God our error,”—the same plea thatwas made by Luther under similar circumstances. Those whoare arraigned before the courts make a strong vindication ofthe truth, and some who hear them are led to take their standto keep all the commandments of God. Thus light will bebrought before thousands who otherwise would know noth-ing of these truths.

Conscientious obedience to the Word of God will betreated as rebellion. Blinded by Satan, the parent will exer-cise harshness and severity toward the believing child; themaster or mistress will oppress the commandment-keepingservant. Affection will be alienated; children will be disin-

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herited, and driven from home. The words of Paul will beliterally fulfilled, “All that will live godly in Christ Jesusshall suffer persecution.” 2 Timothy 3:12. As the defendersof truth refuse to honor the Sunday-sabbath, some of themwill be thrust into prison, some will be exiled, some will betreated as slaves. To human wisdom, all this now seems im-possible; but as the restraining Spirit of God shall be with-drawn from men, and they shall be under the control ofSatan, who hates the divine precepts, there will be strangedevelopments. The heart can be very cruel when God’s fearand love are removed.

As the storm approaches, a large class who have pro-fessed faith in the third angel’s message, but have notbeen sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandontheir position, and join the ranks of the opposition. Byuniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they havecome to view matters in nearly the same light; and when thetest is brought, they are prepared to choose the easy, popularside. Men of talent and pleasing address, who once rejoicedin the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls.They become the most bitter enemies of their former breth-ren. When Sabbath-keepers are brought before the courts toanswer for their faith, these apostates are the most efficientagents of Satan to misrepresent and accuse them, and byfalse reports and insinuations to stir up the rulers againstthem.

In this time of persecution the faith of the Lord’s ser-vants will be tried. They have faithfully given the warn-ing, 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 strongupon them, they entered upon the performance of their du-ties without coldly calculating the consequences of speakingto the people the word which the Lord had given them. Theyhave not consulted their temporal interests, or sought to pre-serve their reputation or their lives. Yet when the storm ofopposition and reproach bursts upon them, some, over-whelmed with consternation, will be ready to exclaim, “Had



we foreseen the consequences of our words, we would haveheld our peace.” They are hedged in with difficulties. Satanassails them with fierce temptations. The work which theyhave undertaken seems far beyond their ability to accom-plish. They are threatened with destruction. The enthusiasmwhich animated them is gone; yet they cannot turn back.Then, feeling their utter helplessness, they flee to theMighty One for strength. They remember that the wordswhich they have spoken were not theirs, but His whobade them give the warning. God put the truth into theirhearts, and they could not forbear to proclaim it.

The same trials have been experienced by men of Godin ages past. Wycliffe, Huss, Luther, Tyndale, Baxter,Wesley, urged that all doctrines be brought to the test of theBible, and declared that they would renounce everythingwhich it condemned. Against these men, persecution ragedwith relentless fury; yet they ceased not to declare the truth.Different periods in the history of the church have each beenmarked by the development of some special truth, adaptedto the necessities of God’s people at that time. Every newtruth has made its way against hatred and opposition; thosewho were blessed with its light were tempted and tried. TheLord gives a special truth for the people in an emergency.Who dare refuse to publish it? He commands His servantsto present the last invitation of mercy to the world. Theycannot remain silent, except at the peril of their souls. Christ’sambassadors have nothing to do with consequences. Theymust perform their duty, and leave results with God.

As the opposition rises to a fiercer height, the servantsof God are again perplexed; for it seems to them thatthey have brought the crisis. But conscience and the Wordof God assure them that their course is right; and althoughthe trials continue, they are strengthened to bear them. Thecontest grows closer and sharper, but their faith and couragerise with the emergency. Their testimony is, “We dare nottamper with God’s Word, dividing His holy law, calling oneportion essential and another non-essential, to gain the fa-vor of the world. The Lord whom we serve is able to deliver

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us. Christ has conquered the powers of earth; and shall webe afraid of a world already conquered?”

Persecution in its varied forms is the development ofa principle which will exist as long as Satan exists, andChristianity has vital power. No man can serve God with-out enlisting against himself the opposition of the hosts ofdarkness. Evil angels will assail him, alarmed that his influ-ence is taking the prey from their hands. Evil men, rebukedby his example, will unite with them in seeking to separatehim from God by alluring temptations. When these do notsucceed, then a compelling power is employed to force theconscience.

But so long as Jesus remains man’s intercessor in thesanctuary above, the restraining influence of the HolySpirit is felt by rulers and people. It still controls, to someextent, the laws of the land. Were it not for these laws, thecondition of the world would be much worse than it now is.While many of our rulers are active agents of Satan, Godalso has His agents among the leading men of the nation.The enemy moves upon his servants to propose measuresthat would greatly impede the work of God; but statesmenwho fear the Lord are influenced by holy angels to opposesuch propositions with unanswerable arguments. Thus a fewmen will hold in check a powerful current of evil. The oppo-sition of the enemies of truth will be restrained that thethird angel’s message may do its work. When the finalwarning shall be given, it will arrest the attention of theseleading men through whom the Lord is now working, andsome of them will accept it, and will stand with the people ofGod through the time of trouble.

The angel who unites in the proclamation of the thirdangel’s message is to lighten the whole earth with hisglory. A work of world-wide extent and unwonted poweris here foretold. The Advent movement of 1840-1844 wasa glorious manifestation of the power of God; the first angel’smessage was carried to every missionary station in the world,and in some countries there was the greatest religious inter-est which has been witnessed in any land since the Reforma-



tion of the sixteenth century; but these are to be far exceededby the mighty movement under the last warning of the thirdangel.

The work will be similar to that of the day of Pente-cost. As the “former rain” was given, in the outpouringof the Holy Spirit at the opening of the gospel, to causethe 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; Hisgoing forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall comeunto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto theearth.” Hosea 6:3. “Be glad then, ye children of Zion, andrejoice in the Lord your God; for He hath given you the formerrain moderately, and He will cause to come down for you therain, the former rain, and the latter rain.” Joel 2:23. “In thelast days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon allflesh.” “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall callon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Acts 2:17, 21. Thegreat work of the gospel is not to close with less manifesta-tion of the power of God than marked its opening. The proph-ecies which were fulfilled in the outpouring of the formerrain at the opening of the gospel, are again to be fulfilled inthe 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 maybe blotted out (in the investigative Judgment), when the timesof refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; andHe shall send Jesus.” Acts 3:19, 20.

Servants of God, with their faces lighted up and shin-ing with holy consecration, will hasten from place to placeto proclaim the message from Heaven. By thousands ofvoices, all over the earth, the warning will be given.Miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, andsigns and wonders will follow the believers. Satan alsoworks with lying wonders, even bringing down fire fromheaven in the sight of men. Revelation 13:13. Thus the in-habitants of the earth will be brought to take their stand.

The message will be carried not so much by argument

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as by the deep conviction of the Spirit of God. The argu-ments have been presented. The seed has been sown, andnow it will spring up and bear fruit. The publications dis-tributed by missionary workers have exerted their in-fluence, yet many whose minds were impressed have beenprevented from fully comprehending the truth or from yield-ing obedience. Now the rays of light penetrate everywhere,the truth is seen in its clearness, and the honest children ofGod sever the bands which have held them. Family connec-tions, church relations, are powerless to stay them now. Truthis more precious than all besides. Notwithstanding the agen-cies combined against the truth, a large number take theirstand upon the Lord’s side.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: BIBILE TRUTH: BIBILE TRUTH: BIBILE TRUTH: BIBILE TRUTH: BIBILE TRUTH

“Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of thetruth.” 1 Timothy 2:4.

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but aftertheir own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned untofables.” 2 Timothy 4:3-4.

“In vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments ofmen.” Matthew 15:9.

“To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word,it is because there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:20.

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21.“He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be

abomination.” Proverbs 28:9 (Isa 26:2; Jn 8:31-32).

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: KEEPING THE TRUTH: KEEPING THE TRUTH: KEEPING THE TRUTH: KEEPING THE TRUTH: KEEPING THE TRUTH

“If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed; and ye shallknow the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31-32.

“Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit.”1 Peter 1:22.

“Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth mayenter in.” Isaiah 26:2.

“Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right tothe tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Revelation22:14.



CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: THE TEST OF L: THE TEST OF L: THE TEST OF L: THE TEST OF L: THE TEST OF LOOOOOYYYYYALALALALALTYTYTYTYTY

The Bible Sabbath hit the headlines in New York City not too long ago. The fol-lowing article appeared in the New York Times on March 14, 1966. The title in boldtype said this: “An earnest Appeal to the Pope of Rome to Lead Christians Back tothe Bible.” Here is that news article:

“Dr. Earnest R. Palen, pastor of one of New York’s largest churches, the MarbleCollegiate for more than thirty years, created a stir that hit the headlines, when onMarch 13, 1966, he delivered a sermon in which he called for Protestants and Ro-man Catholics to join in returning to the Bible Sabbath that Jesus kept—on Saturday.

“This Reformed Church in America theologian and pastor startled hearers byquoting from Exodus 20:8, and then saying, ‘It should not be too great a break for us. . to observe the same Sabbath day that Jesus Himself observed.’

“In this sermon, he pled for all the churches to return to the keeping of theseventh-day Sabbath, and noting that mankind can only truly keep holy that daywhich the God of heaven has commanded to be kept holy, he said that this ‘one dayof the week really kept holy by Catholics, Protestants, and Jews would give an upliftto the moral tone of our day that nothing else could do.’

“Dr. Palen, recognizing the well-known leadership of the pope in Sunday sanc-tification, asked that Pope Paul VI take the initiative in this matter. Dr. Palen predictedthat if the pontiff would designate ‘the seventh day—the historical and Biblical Sab-bath—as the day to keep holy,’ that most of the major Protestant bodies of our timewould ‘go along.’ ” Article by George Dugan, New York Times, March 14, 1966.

“But in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments ofmen.” Matthew 15:9.

“He said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye maykeep your own tradition.” Mark 7:9 (Acts 4:19-20; Isaiah 8:20; Acts 5:27-29; Rev21:14).

“Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of thetruth.” 1 Timothy 2:4.

“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it isbecause there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:20.

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21.“He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be

abomination.” Proverbs 28:9 (Isa 26:2; John 8:31-32).“Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures.” Matthew 22:29. “For the time will come

when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap tothemselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears fromthe truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” 2 Timothy 4:3-4.

“Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105.“Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth.” John 17:17. Isaiah 8:20.

“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.” Mat-thew 24:35.

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Chapter Thirty-nineChapter Thirty-nineChapter Thirty-nineChapter Thirty-nineChapter Thirty-nine

WhenWhenWhenWhenWhenProbation ClosesProbation ClosesProbation ClosesProbation ClosesProbation Closes

—The Time of Trouble—The Time of Trouble—The Time of Trouble—The Time of Trouble—The Time of Trouble———————————————————————

The time is coming—and is just ahead—when mercy will noThe time is coming—and is just ahead—when mercy will noThe time is coming—and is just ahead—when mercy will noThe time is coming—and is just ahead—when mercy will noThe time is coming—and is just ahead—when mercy will nolonger plead for earlonger plead for earlonger plead for earlonger plead for earlonger plead for earth’s guilty inhabitants. Everth’s guilty inhabitants. Everth’s guilty inhabitants. Everth’s guilty inhabitants. Everth’s guilty inhabitants. Every case will havey case will havey case will havey case will havey case will havebeen decided—either for life or for death.been decided—either for life or for death.been decided—either for life or for death.been decided—either for life or for death.been decided—either for life or for death.

Some will be ready, others will not; but for all—probation willhave closed. But now, on the edge of it, we are again living in thedays of Noah and of Sodom. Crime and lawlessness are filling theearth —

But soon—verBut soon—verBut soon—verBut soon—verBut soon—very soon—probation is to close. Many in they soon—probation is to close. Many in they soon—probation is to close. Many in they soon—probation is to close. Many in they soon—probation is to close. Many in theworld are beginning to fear that perhaps soon it may indeedworld are beginning to fear that perhaps soon it may indeedworld are beginning to fear that perhaps soon it may indeedworld are beginning to fear that perhaps soon it may indeedworld are beginning to fear that perhaps soon it may indeedend. What will happen when it does end?end. What will happen when it does end?end. What will happen when it does end?end. What will happen when it does end?end. What will happen when it does end?———————————————————————

At that time shall Michael stand up, the great princewhich standeth for the children of Thy people; and thereshall be a time of trouble, such as never was since therewas a nation even to that same time; and at that timeThy people shall be delivered, every one that shall befound written in the book.” Daniel 12:1.

When the third angel’s message closes, mercy nolonger pleads for the guilty inhabitants of the earth. Thepeople of God have accomplished their work. They havereceived “the latter rain,” “the refreshing from the presenceof the Lord,” and they are prepared for the trying hour be-fore them. Angels are hastening to and fro in Heaven. Anangel returning from the earth announces that his workis done; the final test has been brought upon the world,and all who have proved themselves loyal to the divineprecepts have received “the seal of the living God.” ThenJesus ceases His intercession in the sanctuary above. He

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lifts His hands, and with a loud voice says, “It is done;”and all the angelic host lay off their crowns as He makes thesolemn announcement: “He that is unjust, let him be unjuststill; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he thatis righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, lethim be holy still.” Revelation 22:11. Every case has beendecided for life or death. Christ has made the atonementfor His people, and blotted out their sins. The number ofhis subjects is made up; “the kingdom and dominion, andthe greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven,” isabout to be given to the heirs of salvation, and Jesus is toreign as King of kings, and Lord of lords.

When He leaves the sanctuary, darkness covers theinhabitants of the earth. In that fearful time the righ-teous must live in the sight of a holy God without an in-tercessor. The restraint which has been upon the wickedis removed, and Satan has entire control of the finallyimpenitent. God’s long-suffering has ended. The world hasrejected His mercy, despised His love, and trampled uponHis law. The wicked have passed the boundary of theirprobation; the Spirit of God, persistently resisted, has beenat last withdrawn. Unsheltered by divine grace, they have noprotection from the wicked one. Satan will then plunge theinhabitants of the earth into one great, final trouble. Asthe angels of God cease to hold in check the fierce winds ofhuman passion, all the elements of strife will be let loose.The whole world will be involved in ruin more terriblethan that which came upon Jerusalem of old.

A single angel destroyed all the first-born of the Egyp-tians, and filled the land with mourning. When David of-fended against God by numbering the people, one angelcaused that terrible destruction by which his sin was pun-ished. The same destructive power exercised by holy an-gels when God commands, will be exercised by evil an-gels when He permits. There are forces now ready, and onlywaiting the divine permission, to spread desolation every-where.

Those who honor the law of God have been accused

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of bringing judgments upon the world, and they will beregarded as the cause of the fearful convulsions of na-ture and the strife and bloodshed among men that are fill-ing the earth with woe. The power attending the last warninghas enraged the wicked; their anger is kindled against allwho have received the message, and Satan will excite to stillgreater intensity the spirit of hatred and persecution.

When God’s presence was finally withdrawn from the Jew-ish nation, priests and people knew it not. Though under thecontrol of Satan, and swayed by the most horrible and ma-lignant passions, they still regarded themselves as the cho-sen of God. The ministration in the temple continued; sacri-fices were offered upon its polluted altars, and daily the di-vine blessing was invoked upon a people guilty of the bloodof God’s dear Son, and seeking to slay His ministers andapostles. So when the irrevocable decision of the sanctu-ary has been pronounced, and the destiny of the worldhas been forever fixed, the inhabitants of the earth willknow it not. The forms of religion will be continued by apeople from whom the Spirit of God has been finally with-drawn; and the Satanic zeal with which the prince of evilwill inspire them for the accomplishment of his malignantdesigns, will bear the semblance of zeal for God.

As the Sabbath has become the special point of con-troversy throughout Christendom, and religious andsecular authorities have combined to enforce the obser-vance of the Sunday, the persistent refusal of a small mi-nority to yield to the popular demand, will make themobjects of universal execration. It will be urged that thefew who stand in opposition to an institution of the churchand a law of the State, ought not to be tolerated; that it isbetter for them to suffer than for whole nations to be throwninto confusion and lawlessness. The same argument eigh-teen hundred years ago was brought against Christ by the“rulers of the people.” “It is expedient for us,” said the wilyCaiaphas, “that one man should die for the people, and thatthe whole nation perish not.” John 11:50. This argument willappear conclusive; and a decree will finally be issued

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against those who hallow the Sabbath of the fourth com-mandment, denouncing them as deserving of the sever-est punishment, and giving the people liberty, after a cer-tain time, to put them to death. Romanism in the Old World,and apostate Protestantism in the New, will pursue a similarcourse toward those who honor all the divine precepts.

The people of God will then be plunged into thosescenes of affliction and distress described by the prophetas the time of Jacob’s trouble. “Thus saith the Lord: Wehave 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.” Jeremiah 30:5-7.

Jacob’s night of anguish, when he wrestled in prayerfor deliverance from the hand of Esau (Genesis 32:24-30) represents the experience of God’s people in the timeof trouble. Because of the deception practiced to secure hisfather’s blessing, intended for Esau, Jacob had fled for hislife, alarmed by his brother’s deadly threats. After remain-ing for many years an exile, he had set out, at God’s com-mand, to return with his wives and children, his flocks andherds, to his native country. On reaching the borders of theland, he was filled with terror by the tidings of Esau’s ap-proach at the head of a band of warriors, doubtless bent uponrevenge. Jacob’s company, unarmed and defenseless, seemedabout to fall helpless victims of violence and slaughter. Andto the burden of anxiety and fear was added the crushingweight of self-reproach; for it was his own sin that hadbrought this danger. His only hope was in the mercy of God;his only defense must be prayer. Yet he leaves nothing un-done on his own part to atone for the wrong to his brother,and to avert the threatened danger. So should the followersof Christ, as they approach the time of trouble, make everyexertion to place themselves in a proper light before thepeople, to disarm prejudice, and to avert the danger whichthreatens liberty of conscience.

Having sent his family away, that they may not witnesshis distress, Jacob remains alone to intercede with God. He

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confesses his sin, and gratefully acknowledges the mercy ofGod toward him, while with deep humiliation he pleads thecovenant made with his fathers, and the promises to himselfin the night vision at Bethel and in the land of his exile. Thecrisis in his life has come; everything is at stake. In the dark-ness and solitude he continues praying and humbling him-self before God. Suddenly a hand is laid upon his shoulder.He thinks that an enemy is seeking his life, and with all theenergy of despair he wrestles with his assailant. As the daybegins to break, the stranger puts forth his superhumanpower; at his touch the strong man seems paralyzed, and hefalls, a helpless, weeping suppliant, upon the neck of hismysterious antagonist. Jacob knows now that it is the Angelof the covenant with whom he has been in conflict. Thoughdisabled, and suffering the keenest pain, he does not relin-quish his purpose. Long has he endured perplexity, remorse,and trouble for his sin; now he must have the assurance thatit is pardoned. The divine visitant seems about to depart;but Jacob clings to him, pleading for a blessing. The Angelurges, “Let me go; for the day breaketh;” but the patriarchexclaims, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.” Whatconfidence, what firmness and perseverance, are here dis-played! Had this been a boastful, presumptuous claim, Jacobwould have been instantly destroyed; but his was the assur-ance of one who confesses his weakness and unworthi-ness, yet trusts the mercy of a covenant-keeping God.

“He had power over the Angel, and prevailed.” Hosea12:4. Through humiliation, repentance, and self-surrender,this sinful, erring mortal prevailed with the Majesty ofHeaven. He had fastened his trembling grasp upon thepromises of God, and the heart of Infinite Love couldnot turn away the sinner’s plea. As an evidence of his tri-umph, and an encouragement to others to imitate his example,his name was changed from one which was a reminder of hissin, to one that commemorated his victory. And the fact thatJacob had prevailed with God was an assurance that He wouldprevail with men. He no longer feared to encounter hisbrother’s anger; for the Lord was his defense.



Satan had accused Jacob before the angels of God, claim-ing the right to destroy him because of his sin; he had movedupon Esau to march against him; and during the patriarch’slong night of wrestling, Satan endeavored to force upon hima sense of his guilt, in order to discourage him, and break hishold upon God. Jacob was driven almost to despair; but heknew that without help from Heaven he must perish. He hadsincerely repented of his great sin, and he appealed to themercy of God. He would not be turned from his purpose,but held fast the Angel, and urged his petition with ear-nest, agonizing cries, until he prevailed.

As Satan influenced Esau to march against Jacob, sohe will stir up the wicked to destroy God’s people in thetime of trouble. And as he accused Jacob, he will urge hisaccusations against the people of God. He numbers the worldas his subjects; but the little company who keep the com-mandments of God are resisting his supremacy. If he couldblot them from the earth, his triumph would be complete. Hesees that holy angels are guarding them, and he infers thattheir sins have been pardoned; but he does not know thattheir cases have been decided in the sanctuary above. He hasan accurate knowledge of the sins which he has tempted themto commit, and he presents these before God in the mostexaggerated light, representing this people to be just as de-serving as himself of exclusion from the favor of God. Hedeclares that the Lord cannot in justice forgive their sins,and yet destroy him and his angels. He claims them as hisprey, and demands that they be given into his hands to de-stroy.

As Satan accuses the people of God on account of theirsins, the Lord permits him to try them to the uttermost.Their confidence in God, their faith and firmness, willbe severely tested. As they review the past, their hopes sink;for in their whole lives they can see little good. They arefully conscious of their weakness and unworthiness. Satanendeavors to terrify them with the thought that their casesare hopeless, that the stain of their defilement will never bewashed away. He hopes to so destroy their faith that they

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will yield to his temptations, and turn from their allegianceto God.

Though God’s people will be surrounded by enemieswho are bent upon their destruction, yet the anguishwhich they suffer is not a dread of persecution for thetruth’s sake; they fear that every sin has not been re-pented of, and that through some fault in themselves theyshall fail to realize the fulfillment of the Saviour’s prom-ise, “I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation whichshall come upon all the world.” Revelation 3:10. If they couldhave the assurance of pardon, they would not shrink fromtorture or death; but should they prove unworthy, and losetheir lives because of their own defects of character, thenGod’s holy name would be reproached.

On every hand they hear the plottings of treason, and seethe active working of rebellion; and there is aroused withinthem an intense desire, an earnest yearning of soul, that thisgreat apostasy may be terminated, and the wickedness of thewicked may come to an end. But while they plead with Godto stay the work of rebellion, it is with a keen sense of self-reproach that they themselves have no more power to resistand urge back the mighty tide of evil. They feel that had theyalways employed all their ability in the service of Christ,going forward from strength to strength, Satan’s forces wouldhave less power to prevail against them.

They afflict their souls before God, pointing to theirpast repentance of their many sins, and pleading theSaviour’s promise, “Let him take hold of My strength, thathe may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace withMe.” Isaiah 27:5. Their faith does not fail because theirprayers are not immediately answered. Though sufferingthe keenest anxiety, terror, and distress, they do not ceasetheir intercessions. They lay hold of the strength of God asJacob laid hold of the Angel; and the language of their soulsis, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.”

Had not Jacob previously repented of his sin in obtainingthe birthright by fraud, God would not have heard his prayerand mercifully preserved his life. So, in the time of trouble,



if the people of God had unconfessed sins to appear be-fore them while tortured with fear and anguish, theywould be overwhelmed; despair would cut off their faith,and they could not have confidence to plead with Godfor deliverance. But while they have a deep sense of theirunworthiness, they have no concealed wrongs to reveal.Their sins have gone beforehand to Judgment, and havebeen blotted out; and they cannot bring them to remem-brance.

Satan leads many to believe that God will overlook theirunfaithfulness in the minor affairs of life; but the Lord showsin His dealings with Jacob that He will in nowise sanction ortolerate evil. All who endeavor to excuse or conceal theirsins, and permit them to remain upon the books ofHeaven, unconfessed and unforgiven, will be overcomeby Satan. The more exalted their profession, and the morehonorable the position which they hold, the more grievous istheir course in the sight of God, and the more sure the tri-umph of their great adversary. Those who delay a prepa-ration for the day of God cannot obtain it in the time oftrouble, or at any subsequent time. The case of all such ishopeless.

Those professed Christians who come up to that last fear-ful conflict unprepared, will, in their despair, confess theirsins in words of burning, anguish, while the wicked exultover their distress. These confessions are of the same char-acter as was that of Esau or of Judas. Those who make themlament the result of transgression, but not its guilt. They feelno true contrition, no abhorrence of evil. They acknowledgetheir sin, through fear of punishment; but, like Pharaoh ofold, they would return to their defiance of Heaven, shouldthe judgments be removed.

Jacob’s history is also an assurance that God will notcast off those who have been deceived, and tempted, andbetrayed into sin, but who have returned unto Him withtrue repentance. While Satan seeks to destroy this class,God will send His angels to comfort and protect them in thetime of peril. The assaults of Satan are fierce and determined,

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his delusions are terrible; but the Lord’s eye is upon Hispeople, and His ear listens to their cries. Their affliction isgreat, 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 sever-est trial is as strong and tender as in the days of their sunni-est prosperity; but it is needful for them to be placed in thefurnace fire; their earthliness must be consumed that theimage of Christ may be perfectly reflected.

The season of distress and anguish before us will re-quire a faith that can endure weariness, delay, and hun-ger,—a faith that will not faint, though severely tried.The period of probation is granted to all to prepare forthat time. Jacob prevailed because he was persevering anddetermined. His victory is an evidence of the power of im-portunate prayer. All who will lay hold of God’s promises,as he did, and be as earnest and persevering as he was, willsucceed as he succeeded. Those who are unwilling to denyself, to agonize before God, to pray long and earnestlyfor His blessing, will not obtain it. Wrestling with God—how few know what it is! How few have ever had theirsouls drawn out after God with intensity of desire untilevery power is on the stretch. When waves of despair whichno language can express sweep over the suppliant, how fewcling with unyielding faith to the promises of God.

Those who exercise but little faith now, are in the great-est danger of falling under the power of Satanic delu-sions and the decree to compel the conscience. And evenif they endure the test, they will be plunged into deeper dis-tress and anguish in the time of trouble, because they havenever made it a habit to trust in God. The lessons of faithwhich they have neglected, they will be forced to learn undera terrible pressure of discouragement.

We should now acquaint ourselves with God by prov-ing His promises. Angels record every prayer that is ear-nest and sincere. We should rather dispense with selfish grati-fications than neglect communion with God. The deepestpoverty, the greatest self-denial, with His approval, is better



than riches, honors, ease, and friendship without it. We musttake time to pray. If we allow our minds to be absorbedby worldly interests, the Lord may give us time by re-moving from us our idols of gold, of houses, or of fertilelands.

The young would not be seduced into sin if they wouldrefuse to enter any path, save that upon which they couldask God’s blessing. If the messengers who bear the last sol-emn warning to the world would pray for the blessing ofGod, not in a cold, listless, lazy manner, but fervently and infaith, as did Jacob, they would find many places where theycould say, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is pre-served.” Genesis 32:30. They would be accounted of Heavenas princes, having power to prevail with God and with men.

The “time of trouble such as never was,” is soon toopen upon us; and we shall need an experience which wedo not now possess, and which many are too indolent toobtain. It is often the case that trouble is greater in anticipa-tion than in reality; but this is not true of the crisis before us.The most vivid presentation cannot reach the magnitude ofthe ordeal. In that time of trial, every soul must stand forhimself before God. Though Noah, Daniel, and Job were init [the land], “as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliverneither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their ownsouls by their righteousness.” Ezekiel 14:20.

Now, while our great High Priest is making the atone-ment for us, we should seek to become perfect in Christ.Not even by a thought could our Saviour be brought toyield to the power of temptation. Satan finds in humanhearts some point where he can gain a foothold; some sinfuldesire is cherished, by means of which his temptations as-sert their power. But Christ declared of Himself, “The princeof this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me.” John 14:30.Satan could find nothing in the Son of God that would en-able him to gain the victory. He had kept His Father’s com-mandments, and there was no sin in Him that Satan coulduse to His advantage. This is the condition in which thosemust be found who shall stand in the time of trouble.

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It is in this life that we are to separate sin from us,through faith in the atoning blood of Christ. Our preciousSaviour invites us to join ourselves to Him, to unite our weak-ness to His strength, our ignorance to His wisdom, our un-worthiness to His merits. God’s providence is the school inwhich we are to learn the meekness and lowliness of Jesus.The Lord is ever setting before us, not the way we wouldchoose, which seems easier and pleasanter to us, but thetrue aims of life. It rests with us to co-operate with the agen-cies which Heaven employs, in the work of conforming ourcharacters to the divine model. None can neglect or deferthis work but at the most fearful peril to their souls.

The apostle John in vision heard a loud voice in Heavenexclaiming, “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of thesea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath,because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” Revela-tion 12:12. Fearful are the scenes which call forth this excla-mation from the heavenly voice. The wrath of Satan increasesas his time grows short, and his work of deceit and destruc-tion will reach its culmination in the time of trouble.

Fearful sights of a supernatural character will soonbe revealed in the heavens, in token of the power ofmiracle-working demons. The spirits of devils will go forthto the kings of the earth and to the whole world, to fastenthem in deception, and urge them on to unite with Satan inhis last struggle against the government of Heaven. By theseagencies, rulers and subjects will be alike deceived. Personswill arise pretending to be Christ Himself, and claimingthe title and worship which belong to the world’s Re-deemer. They will perform wonderful miracles of heal-ing, and will profess to have revelations from Heaven con-tradicting the testimony of the Scriptures.

As the crowning act in the great drama of deception,Satan himself will personate Christ. The church has longprofessed to look to the Saviour’s advent as the consumma-tion of her hopes. Now the great deceiver will make it ap-pear 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 Sonof God given by John in the Revelation. Revelation 1:13-15.The glory that surrounds him is unsurpassed by any-thing that mortal eyes have yet beheld. The shout of tri-umph rings out upon the air., “Christ has come! Christhas come!” The people prostrate themselves in adora-tion before him, while he lifts up his hands, and pronouncesa blessing upon them, as Christ blessed His disciples whenhe was upon the earth. His voice is soft and subdued, yet fullof melody. In gentle, compassionate tones He presents someof the same gracious, heavenly truths which the Saviour ut-tered; He heals the diseases of the people, and then, in Hisassumed character of Christ, he claims to have changedthe Sabbath to Sunday, and commands all to hallow theday which he has blessed. He declares that those whopersist in keeping holy the seventh day are blaspheminghis name by refusing to listen to his angels sent to themwith light and truth. This is the strong, almost overmas-tering delusion. Like the Samaritans who were deceived bySimon Magus, the multitudes, from the least to the greatest,give heed to these sorceries, saying, This is “the great powerof God.” Acts 8:10.

But the people of God will not be misled. The teach-ings of this false christ are not in accordance with theScriptures. His blessing is pronounced upon the worship-ers of the beast and his image,—the very class upon whomthe Bible declares that God’s unmingled wrath shall be pouredout.

And, furthermore, Satan is not permitted to counter-feit the manner of Christ’s advent. The Saviour haswarned His people against deception upon this point, andhas clearly foretold the manner of His second coming.“There shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shallshow great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were pos-sible, they shall deceive the very elect. . . . Wherefore if theyshall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert; go not forth:behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For asthe lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto

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the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”Matthew 24:24-27 (also see Matthew 24:31; Revelation 1:7;1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17. This coming, there is no possi-bility of counterfeiting. It will be universally known—witnessed by the whole world.

Only those who have been diligent students of theScriptures, and who have received the love of the truth,will be shielded from the powerful delusion that takes theworld captive. By the Bible testimony these will detect thedeceiver in his disguise. To all, the testing time will come.By the sifting of temptation, the genuine Christian will berevealed. Are the people of God now so firmly establishedupon His Word that they would not yield to the evidenceof their senses? Would they, in such a crisis, cling to theBible, and the Bible only? Satan will, if possible, preventthem from obtaining a preparation to stand in that day. Hewill so arrange affairs as to hedge up their way, entanglethem with earthly treasures, cause them to carry a heavy,wearisome burden, that their hearts may be overcharged withthe cares of this life, and the day of trial may come uponthem as a thief.

As the decree issued by the various rulers of Chris-tendom against commandment-keepers shall withdrawthe protection of government, and abandon them to thosewho desire their destruction, the people of God will fleefrom the cities and villages, and associate together in com-panies, dwelling in the most desolate and solitary places.Many will find refuge in the strongholds of the moun-tains. Like the Christians of the Piedmont valleys, they willmake the high places of the earth their sanctuaries, and willthank God for the “munitions of rocks.” Isaiah 33.16. Butmany of all nations, and all classes, high and low, rich andpoor, black and white, will be cast into the most unjust andcruel bondage. The beloved of God pass weary days, boundin chains, shut in by prison bars, sentenced to be slain, someapparently left to die of starvation in dark and loathsomedungeons. No human ear is open to hear their moans; nohuman 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 vis-ited upon the antediluvian world? Did He forget Lot whenthe fire came down from Heaven to consume the cities of theplain? Did He forget Joseph surrounded by idolaters inEgypt? Did He forget Elijah when the oath of Jezebel threat-ened him with the fate of the prophets of Baal? Did He for-get Jeremiah in the dark and dismal pit of his prison-house?Did He forget the three worthies in the fiery furnace? or Danielin the den of lions?

“Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hathforgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, thatshe should not have compassion on the son of her womb?yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, Ihave graven thee upon the palms of My hands.” Isaiah49:14-16. The Lord of hosts has said, “He that toucheth you,toucheth the apple of His eye.” Zechariah 2:8.

Though enemies may thrust them into prison, yet dun-geon walls cannot cut off the communication betweentheir souls and Christ. One who sees their every weakness,who is acquainted with every trial, is above all earthly pow-ers; and angels will come to them in lonely cells, bringinglight and peace from Heaven. The prison will be as a palace;for the rich in faith dwell there, and the gloomy walls will belighted up with heavenly light, as when Paul and Silas prayedand sung praises at midnight in the Philippian dungeon.

God’s judgments will be visited upon those who areseeking to oppress and destroy His people. His long for-bearance with the wicked emboldens men in transgres-sion, but their punishment is none the less certain andterrible because it is long delayed. “The Lord shall rise upas in Mount Perazim, He shall be wroth as in the valley ofGibeon, that He may do His work, His strange work; andbring to pass his act, his strange act.” Isaiah 28:21. To ourmerciful God the act of punishment is a strange act. “As Ilive, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death ofthe wicked,” Ezekiel 33:11. The Lord is “merciful and gra-cious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,”

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“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.”Exodus 34:6, 7; Nahum 1:3. By terrible things in righteous-ness he will vindicate the authority of His downtrodden law.The severity of the retribution awaiting the transgres-sor may be judged by the Lord’s reluctance to executejustice. The nation with which He bears long, and which Hewill not smite until it has filled up the measure of its iniquityin God’s account, will finally drink the cup of wrath unmixedwith mercy.

When Christ ceases His intercession in the sanctuary,the unmingled wrath threatened against those who wor-ship the beast and his image and receive his mark, (Rev-elation 14:9, 10) will be poured out. The plagues upon Egyptwhen God was about to deliver Israel, were similar in char-acter to those more terrible and extensive judgments whichare to fall upon the world just before the final deliverance ofGod’s people. Says the Revelator, in describing these ter-rific scourges, “There fell a noisome and grievous sore uponthe men which had the mark of the beast, and upon themwhich worshiped his image.” The sea “became as the bloodof a dead man, and every living soul died in the sea.” And“the rivers and fountains of waters became blood.” Revela-tion 16:2-4. Terrible as these inflictions are, God’s justicestands fully vindicated. The angel of God declares, “Thouart righteous, O Lord, . . . because Thou hast judged thus.For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, andThou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.Revelation 16:5, 6. By condemning the people of God todeath they have as truly incurred the guilt of their blood,as if it had been shed by their hands. In like manner Christdeclared the Jews of His time guilty of all the blood of holymen which had been shed since the days of Abel; for theypossessed the same spirit, and were seeking to do the samework, with these murderers of the prophets.

In the plague that follows, power is given to the sun “toscorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great



heat.” Revelation 16:8, 9. The prophets thus describe thecondition of the earth at this fearful time: “The landmourneth;. . . because the harvest of the field is wasted.”“All the trees of the field are withered; because joy is with-ered away from the sons of men.” “The seed is rotten undertheir clods, the garners are laid desolate.” “How do the beastsgroan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they haveno pasture. . . . The rivers of waters are dried up, and the firehath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.” “The songsof the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the LordGod; there shall be many dead bodies in every place; theyshall cast them forth with silence.” Joel 1:10-12, 17-20; Amos8:3.

These plagues are not universal, or the inhabitants ofthe earth would be wholly cut off. Yet they will be themost awful scourges that have ever been known to mor-tals. All the judgments upon men, prior to the close of pro-bation, have been mingled with mercy. The pleading bloodof Christ has shielded the sinner from receiving the full mea-sure of his guilt; but in the final Judgment, wrath is pouredout unmixed with mercy.

In that day, multitudes will desire the shelter of God’smercy which they have so long despised. “Behold, the dayscome, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in theland, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but ofhearing the words of the Lord. And they shall wander fromsea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall runto and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.”Amos 8:11, 12.

The people of God will not be free from suffering; butwhile persecuted and distressed, while they endure pri-vation, and suffer for want of food, they will not be leftto perish. That God who cared for Elijah will not pass byone of His self-sacrificing children. He who numbers the hairsof their head will care for them, and in time of famine theyshall be satisfied. While the wicked are dying from hungerand pestilence, angels will shield the righteous, and supplytheir wants. To him that “walketh righteously” is the prom-

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ise, “Bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.”“When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, andtheir tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I theGod of Israel will not forsake them.” Isaiah 33:16; 41:17.

“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruitbe in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fieldsshall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold,and there shall be no herd in the stalls:” yet shall they thatfear Him “rejoice in the Lord,” and joy in the God of theirsalvation. Habakkuk 3:17, 18.

“The Lord is thy keeper; the Lord is thy shade upon thyright hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moonby night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil; he shallpreserve thy soul.” “He shall deliver thee from the snare ofthe fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall coverthee with his feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust;His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not beafraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth byday; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor forthe destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shallfall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but itshall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thoubehold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hastmade the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thyhabitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall anyplague come nigh thy dwelling.” Psalm 121:5-7; 91:3-10.

Yet to human sight it will appear that the people ofGod must soon seal their testimony with their blood, asdid the martyrs before them. They themselves begin tofear that the Lord has left them to fall by the hand of theirenemies. It is a time of fearful agony. Day and night they cryunto God for deliverance. The wicked exult, and the jeer-ing cry is heard. “Where now is your faith? Why doesnot God deliver you out of our hands if you are indeedHis people?” But the waiting ones remember Jesus dyingupon Calvary’s cross, and the chief priests and rulers shout-ing 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.” Matthew 27:42. Like Jacob,all are wrestling with God. Their countenances expresstheir internal struggle. Paleness sits upon every face. Yetthey cease not their earnest intercession.

Could men see with heavenly vision, they would be-hold companies of angels that excel in strength stationedabout those who have kept the word of Christ’s patience.With sympathizing tenderness, angels have witnessed theirdistress, and have heard their prayers. They are waiting theword of their Commander to snatch them from their peril.But they must wait yet a little longer. The people of Godmust drink of the cup, and be baptized with the baptism.The very delay, so painful to them, is the best answer totheir petitions. As they endeavor to wait trustingly forthe Lord to work, they are led to exercise faith, hope,and patience, which have been too little exercised dur-ing their religious experience. Yet for the elect’s sake,the time of trouble will be shortened. “Shall not Godavenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him?. . . I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.” Luke 18:7,8. The end will come more quickly than men expect. Thewheat will be gathered and bound in sheaves for the garnerof God; the tares will be bound as fagots for the fires ofdestruction.

The heavenly sentinels, faithful to their trust, continuetheir watch. Though a general decree has fixed the timewhen commandment-keepers may be put to death, theirenemies 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 aboutevery faithful soul. Some are assailed in their flight fromthe cities and villages; but the swords raised against thembreak and fall as powerless as a straw. Others are defendedby angels in the form of men of war.

In all ages, God has wrought through holy angels forthe succor and deliverance of His people. Celestial be-ings have taken an active part in the affairs of men. Theyhave appeared clothed in garments that shone as the light-

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ning; they have come as men, in the garb of wayfarers. An-gels have appeared in human form to men of God. They haverested, as if weary, under the oaks at noon. They have ac-cepted the hospitalities of human homes. They have acted asguides to benighted travelers. They have, with their ownhands, kindled the fires of the altar. They have opened prisondoors, and set free the servants of the Lord. Clothed with thepanoply of Heaven, they came to roll away the stone fromthe Saviour’s tomb.

In the form of men, angels are often in the assembliesof the righteous, and they visit the assemblies of the wicked,as they went to Sodom, to make a record of their deeds, todetermine whether they have passed the boundary of God’sforbearance. The Lord delights in mercy; and for the sakeof a few who really serve Him, He restrains calamities,and prolongs the tranquillity of multitudes. Little do sin-ners against God realize that they are indebted for theirown lives to the faithful few whom they delight to ridi-cule and oppress.

Though the rulers of this world know it not, yet oftenin their councils angels have been spokesmen. Human eyeshave looked upon them; human ears have listened to theirappeals; human lips have opposed their suggestions and ridi-culed their counsels; human hands have met them with in-sult and abuse. In the council hall and the court of justice,these heavenly messengers have shown an intimate acquain-tance with human history; they have proved themselves bet-ter able to plead the cause of the oppressed than were theirablest and most eloquent defenders. They have defeated pur-poses and arrested evils that would have greatly retarded thework of God, and would have caused great suffering to Hispeople. In the hour of peril and distress, “the angel of theLord encampeth round about them that fear Him, anddelivereth them.” Psalm 34:7.

With earnest longing, God’s people await the tokensof their coming King. As the watchmen are accosted, “Whatof the night?” the answer is given unfalteringly, “ ‘The morn-ing cometh, and also the night.’ (Isaiah 21:12) Light is gleam-



ing upon the clouds above the mountain tops. Soon therewill be a revealing of His glory. The Sun of Righteousness isabout to shine forth. The morning and the night are both athand,—the opening of endless day to the righteous, the set-tling down of eternal night to the wicked.

As the wrestling ones urge their petitions before God, theveil separating them from the unseen seems almost with-drawn. The heavens glow with the dawning of eternal day,and, like the melody of angel songs, the words fall upon theear, “Stand fast to your allegiance. Help is coming.” Christ,the almighty victor, holds out to His weary soldiers a crownof immortal glory; and His voice comes from the gates ajar:“Lo, I am with you. Be not afraid. I am acquainted with allyour sorrows; I have borne your griefs. You are not warringagainst untried enemies. I have fought the battle in your be-half, and in My name you are more than conquerors.”

The precious Saviour will send help just when we needit. The way to Heaven is consecrated by His footprints.Every thorn that wounds our feet has wounded His. Ev-ery cross that we are called to bear, He has borne beforeus. 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, andby faith he may see the bow of promise encircling him.

“The redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come withsinging unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon theirhead; they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow andmourning shall flee away. I, even I, am He that comfortethyou; who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a man thatshall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass;and forgettest the Lord thy Maker; . . . and hast feared con-tinually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as ifhe were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the op-pressor? The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed,and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread shouldfail. But I am the Lord thy God, that divided the sea, whosewaves roared. The Lord of hosts is His name. And I have putmy words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow

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of Mine hand.”“Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but

not with wine: Thus saith Thy Lord, and thy God that pleadeththe cause of His people, Behold, I have taken out of thinehand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of Myfury; thou shalt no more drink it again. But I will put it intothe hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thysoul, Bow down, that we may go over; and thou hast laid thybody as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.”Isaiah 51:11-16, 21-23.

The eye of God, looking down the ages, was fixed uponthe crisis which His people are to meet, when earthlypowers shall be arrayed against them. Like the captiveexile, they will be in fear of death by starvation or by vio-lence. But the Holy One who divided the Red Sea beforeIsrael, will manifest His mighty power and turn theircaptivity. “They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, inthat day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, asa man spareth his own son that serveth him.” Malachi 3:17.If the blood of Christ’s faithful witnesses were shed atthis time, it would not, like the blood of the martyrs, beas seed sown to yield a harvest for God. Their fidelitywould not be a testimony to convince others of the truth; forthe obdurate heart has beaten back the waves of mercy untilthey return no more. If the righteous were now left to fall aprey to their enemies it would be a triumph for the prince ofdarkness. Says the psalmist, “In the time of trouble He shallhide me in His pavilion; in the secret of His tabernacle shallHe hide me.” Psalm 27:5. Christ has spoken: “Come, Mypeople, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors aboutthee; hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until theindignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out ofHis place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniq-uity.” Isaiah 26:20, 21. Glorious will be the deliverance ofthose who have patiently waited for His coming, andwhose names are written in the book of life.

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadowof the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1.



CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: CHRIST OUR, SHEL: CHRIST OUR, SHEL: CHRIST OUR, SHEL: CHRIST OUR, SHEL: CHRIST OUR, SHELTERTERTERTERTER

“The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” Exodus14:14.

“With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us,and to fight our battles.” 2 Chronicles 32:8.

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace.In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcomethe world.” John 16:33.

“These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcomethem: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Himare called, and chosen, and faithful.” Revelation 17:14.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, ordistress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” Ro-mans 8:35.

“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world; and this thevictory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” 1 John 5:4.

“The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, anddelivereth them.” Psalm 34:7 [2 Chron 16:9; Ps 125:2; Zech 2:5].

“In God I will praise His Word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fearwhat flesh can do unto me.” Psalm 56:4.

“Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: thisis the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in Hissalvation.” Isaiah 25:9.

“It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Lk 12:32.“Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalm

119:105.“Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth.” John 17:17.“Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him, and He shall bring it

to pass.” Psalm 37:5.“I will cry unto God most high; unto God, that performeth all things for

me.” Psalm 57:2.“Thou art my hiding place; Thou shalt preserve me from trouble; Thou

shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.” Psalm 32:7.“The Lord preserveth the faithful.” Psalm 31:23.“There shall no evil befall thee; neither shall any plague come nigh thy

dwelling.” Psalm 91:10.“In His favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in

the morning.” Psalm 30:5 (Psalm 34:19).

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Chapter FortyChapter FortyChapter FortyChapter FortyChapter Forty

The ComingThe ComingThe ComingThe ComingThe Comingof the Kingof the Kingof the Kingof the Kingof the King

—God’s People Delivered—God’s People Delivered—God’s People Delivered—God’s People Delivered—God’s People Delivered———————————————————————

The eyes of Heaven are fixed on the crisis just ahead; and, atThe eyes of Heaven are fixed on the crisis just ahead; and, atThe eyes of Heaven are fixed on the crisis just ahead; and, atThe eyes of Heaven are fixed on the crisis just ahead; and, atThe eyes of Heaven are fixed on the crisis just ahead; and, atits height, God will step in.its height, God will step in.its height, God will step in.its height, God will step in.its height, God will step in. Revelation has ominous propheciesthat apply to our time and beyond. LLLLLearn of that time when theearn of that time when theearn of that time when theearn of that time when theearn of that time when theprotection of human laws shall be withdrawn from those whoprotection of human laws shall be withdrawn from those whoprotection of human laws shall be withdrawn from those whoprotection of human laws shall be withdrawn from those whoprotection of human laws shall be withdrawn from those whohonor the Whonor the Whonor the Whonor the Whonor the Word of Godord of Godord of Godord of Godord of God, and there is a simultaneous movement fortheir destruction —

And learn of that time, just beyond, when the firmamentAnd learn of that time, just beyond, when the firmamentAnd learn of that time, just beyond, when the firmamentAnd learn of that time, just beyond, when the firmamentAnd learn of that time, just beyond, when the firmamentseems filled with radiant forms as Jesus returns for His own,seems filled with radiant forms as Jesus returns for His own,seems filled with radiant forms as Jesus returns for His own,seems filled with radiant forms as Jesus returns for His own,seems filled with radiant forms as Jesus returns for His own,His countenance outshining the dazzling brightness of the noon-His countenance outshining the dazzling brightness of the noon-His countenance outshining the dazzling brightness of the noon-His countenance outshining the dazzling brightness of the noon-His countenance outshining the dazzling brightness of the noon-day sun,—as the King of kings descends upon a cloud, wrappedday sun,—as the King of kings descends upon a cloud, wrappedday sun,—as the King of kings descends upon a cloud, wrappedday sun,—as the King of kings descends upon a cloud, wrappedday sun,—as the King of kings descends upon a cloud, wrappedin flaming fire —in flaming fire —in flaming fire —in flaming fire —in flaming fire ————————————————————————

When the protection of human laws shall be with-drawn from those who honor the law of God, there willbe, in different lands, a simultaneous movement for theirdestruction. As the time appointed in the decree drawsnear, the people will conspire to root out the hated sect.It will be determined to strike in one night a decisiveblow, which shall utterly silence the voice of dissent andreproof.

The people of God—some in prison cells, some hid-den in solitary retreats in the forests and the mountains—still plead for divine protection, while in every quarter com-panies of armed men, urged on by hosts of evil angels, arepreparing for the work of death. It is now, in the hour ofutmost extremity, that the God of Israel will interposefor the deliverance of His chosen. Saith the Lord: “Ye shall

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have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept;and gladness of heart, as when one goeth . . . to come into themountain of Jehovah, to the Mighty One of Israel. And theLord shall cause His glorious voice to be heard, and shallshow the lighting down of His arm, with the indignation ofHis anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scat-tering, and tempest, and hailstones.” Isaiah 30:29, 30.

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 ofthe night, falls upon the earth. Then a rainbow, shiningwith the glory from the throne of God, spans the heavens,and seems to encircle each praying company. The angrymultitudes are suddenly arrested. Their mocking cries dieaway. The objects of their murderous rage are forgotten.With fearful forebodings they gaze upon the symbol ofGod’s covenant, and long to be shielded from its over-powering brightness.

By the people of God a voice, clear and melodious, isheard, saying, “Look up,” and, lifting their eyes to theheavens, they behold the bow of promise. The black, an-gry clouds that covered the firmament are parted, andlike Stephen they look up steadfastly into Heaven, andsee the glory of God, and the Son of man seated upon Histhrone. In His divine form they discern the marks of His hu-miliation; and from His lips they hear the request, presentedbefore His Father and the holy angels, “I will that they also,whom thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.” John17:24. Again a voice, musical and triumphant, is heard, say-ing, “They come! they come! holy, harmless, and undefiled.They have kept the word of My patience; they shall walkamong the angels;” and the pale, quivering lips of those whohave held fast their faith, utter a shout of victory.

It is at midnight that God manifests His power for thedeliverance of His people. The sun appears, shining in itsstrength. Signs and wonders follow in quick succession. Thewicked look with terror and amazement upon the scene, whilethe righteous behold with solemn joy the tokens of their de-

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liverance. Everything in nature seems turned out of its course.The streams cease to flow. Dark, heavy clouds come up, andclash against each other. In the midst of the angry heavensis one clear space of indescribable glory, whence comesthe voice of God like the sound of many waters, saying,“It is done.” Revelation 16:17, 18.

That voice shakes the heavens and the earth. There isa mighty earthquake, “such as was not since men were uponthe earth, so mighty an earthquake and so great.” Revelation16:17, 18. The firmament appears to open and shut. Theglory from the throne of God seems flashing through. Themountains shake like a reed in the wind, and ragged rocksare scattered on every side. There is a roar as of a comingtempest. The sea is lashed into fury. There is heard the shriekof the hurricane, like the voice of demons upon a mission ofdestruction. The whole earth heaves and swells like thewaves of the sea. Its surface is breaking up. Its very foun-dations seem to be giving way. Mountain chains are sink-ing. Inhabited islands disappear. The seaports that have be-come like Sodom for wickedness, are swallowed up by theangry waters. Babylon the Great hath come in remembrancebefore God, “to give unto her the cup of the wine of thefierceness of His wrath.” Revelation 16:19, 21. Great hail-stones, every one “about the weight of a talent,” are doingtheir work of destruction. The proudest cities of the earth arelaid low. The lordly palaces, upon which the world’s greatmen have lavished their wealth in order to glorify themselves,are crumbling to ruin before their eyes. Prison walls are rentasunder, and God’s people, who have been held in bondagefor their faith, are set free.

Graves are opened, and “many of them that sleep inthe dust of the earth” “awake, some to everlasting life,and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Daniel12:2. All who have died in the faith of the third angel’smessage come forth from the tomb glorified, to hearGod’s covenant of peace with those who have kept Hislaw. “They also which pierced Him,” (Revelation 1:7) thosethat mocked and derided Christ’s dying agonies, and the

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most violent opposers of His truth and His people, areraised to behold Him in His glory, and to see the honor placedupon the loyal and obedient.

Thick clouds still cover the sky; yet the sun now and thenbreaks through, appearing like the avenging eye of Jehovah.Fierce lightnings leap from the heavens, enveloping the earthin a sheet of flame. Above the terrific roar of thunder,voices, mysterious and awful, declare the doom of thewicked. 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 anddefiant, 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 soundof the elements. Demons acknowledge the divinity ofChrist, and tremble before His power, while men are sup-plicating for mercy, and groveling in abject terror.

Said the prophets of old as they beheld in holy vision theday of God: “Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; itshall come as a destruction from the Almighty.” Isaiah 13:6.“Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of theLord, and for the glory of His majesty. The lofty looks ofman shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall bebowed down; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one thatis proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; andhe shall be brought low.” “In that day a man shall cast theidols of his silver, and the idols of his gold, which they madeeach 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 theragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of Hismajesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” Isaiah2:10-12, 21 (margin).

Through a rift in the clouds, there beams a star whosebrilliancy is increased fourfold in contrast with the darkness.It speaks hope and joy to the faithful, but severity and wrathto the transgressors of God’s law. Those who have sacri-ficed all for Christ are now secure, hidden as in the se-

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cret of the Lord’s pavilion. They have been tested, and be-fore the world and the despisers of truth they have evincedtheir fidelity to Him who died for them. A marvelous changehas come over those who have held fast their integrity inthe very face of death. They have been suddenly deliv-ered from the dark and terrible tyranny of men trans-formed 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 andstrength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will notwe fear, though the earth be removed, and though the moun-tains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the watersthereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shakewith the swelling thereof.” Psalm 46:1-3.

While these words of holy trust ascend to God, theclouds sweep back, and the starry heavens are seen, un-speakably glorious in contrast with the black and angryfirmament on either side. The glory of the celestial citystreams from the gates ajar. Then there appears againstthe sky a hand holding two tables of stone folded together.Says the prophet, “The heavens shall declare His righteous-ness; for God is judge Himself.” Psalm 50:6. That holy law,God’s righteousness, that amid thunder and flame wasproclaimed from Sinai as the guide of life, is now revealedto men as the rule of judgment. The hand opens the tables,and there are seen the precepts of the decalogue, traced aswith a pen of fire. The words are so plain that . . . His lawthat they might have compared their characters with it, andlearned their defects while there was yet opportunity for re-pentance and reform; but in order to secure the favor of theworld, they set aside its precepts and taught others to trans-gress. They have endeavored to compel God’s people toprofane His Sabbath. Now they are condemned by thatlaw which they have despised. With awful distinctness theysee that they are without excuse. They chose whom theywould serve and worship. “Then shall ye return, and discernbetween the righteous and the wicked, between him thatserveth God and him that serveth him not.” Malachi 3:18.



The enemies of God’s law, from the ministers down tothe least among them, have a new conception of truthand duty. Too late they see that the Sabbath of the fourthcommandment is the seal of the living God. Too late theysee the true nature of their spurious sabbath, and the sandyfoundation upon which they have been building. They findthat they have been fighting against God. Religious teach-ers have led souls to perdition while professing to guide themto the gates of Paradise. Not until the day of final accountswill it be known how great is the responsibility of men inholy office, and how terrible are the results of their unfaith-fulness. Only in eternity can we rightly estimate the loss of asingle soul. Fearful will be the doom of him to whom Godshall say, Depart, thou wicked servant.

The voice of God is heard from Heaven, declaring theday and hour of Jesus’ coming, and delivering the ever-lasting covenant to His people. Like peals of loudest thun-der, His words roll through the earth. The Israel of God standlistening, with their eyes fixed upward. Their countenancesare lighted up with His glory, and shine as did the face ofMoses when he came down from Sinai. The wicked cannotlook upon them. And when the blessing is pronounced onthose 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 whichsurrounds the Saviour, and which seems in the distance tobe shrouded in darkness. The people of God know this tobe the sign of the Son of man. In solemn silence they gazeupon it as it draws nearer the earth, becoming lighterand more glorious, until it is a great white cloud, its base aglory like consuming fire, and above it the rainbow of thecovenant. Jesus rides forth as a mighty conqueror. Not nowa “man of sorrows,” to drink the bitter cup of shame andwoe, He comes, victor in Heaven and earth, to judge the liv-ing and the dead. “Faithful and True,” “in righteousness hedoth judge and make war.” And “the armies in Heaven fol-low Him.” Revelation 19:11, 14. With anthems of celestial

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melody the holy angels, a vast, unnumbered throng, at-tend Him on His way. The firmament seems filled withradiant forms,—“ten thousand times ten thousand, andthousands of thousands.” No human pen can portray thescene, no mortal mind is adequate to conceive its splendor.“His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of Hispraise. And His brightness was as the light.” Habakkuk 3:3,4. As the living cloud comes still nearer, every eye be-holds the Prince of life. No crown of thorns now marsthat sacred head, but a diadem of glory rests on his holybrow. His countenance outshines the dazzling brightness ofthe noonday sun. “And he hath on His vesture and on Histhigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords.” Rev-elation 19:16.

Before His presence, “all faces are turned into pale-ness;” upon the rejecters of God’s mercy falls the terrorof eternal despair. “The heart melteth, and the knees smitetogether,” “and the faces of them all gather blackness.” Jer-emiah 30:6; Nahum 2:10. The righteous cry with trem-bling, “Who shall be able to stand?” The angels’ song ishushed, and there is a period of awful silence. Then the voiceof Jesus is heard, saying, “My grace is sufficient for you.”The faces of the righteous are lighted up, and joy fills everyheart. And the angels strike a note higher, and sing again, asthey draw still nearer to the earth.

The King of kings descends upon the cloud, wrappedin flaming fire. The heavens are rolled together as a scroll,the earth trembles before Him, and every mountain andisland is moved out of its place. “Our God shall come, andshall not keep silence; a fire shall devour before Him, and itshall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call tothe heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judgeHis people.” Psalm 50:3, 4.

“And the kings of the earth, and the great men, andthe rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men,and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselvesin the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said tothe mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the



face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath ofthe Lamb; for the great day of His wrath is come; and whoshall be able to stand?” Revelation 6:15-17.

The derisive jests have ceased. Lying lips are hushedinto silence. The clash of arms, the tumult of battle, “withconfused noise, and garments rolled in blood,” (Isaiah 9:5)is stilled. Naught now is heard but the voice of prayer andthe sound of weeping and lamentation. The cry bursts forthfrom lips so lately scoffing, “The great day of His wrath iscome; and who shall be able to stand?” The wicked pray tobe buried beneath the rocks of the mountains, rather thanmeet the face of Him whom they have despised and rejected.

That voice which penetrates the ear of the dead, theyknow. How often have its plaintive, tender tones calledthem to repentance. How often has it been heard in thetouching entreaties of a friend, a brother, a Redeemer. To therejecters of His grace, no other could be so full of condem-nation, so burdened with denunciation, as that voice whichhas so long pleaded, “Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways;for why will ye die?” Ezekiel 33:11. Oh that it were to themthe voice of a stranger! Says Jesus: “I have called, and yerefused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded.But ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none ofMy reproof.” Proverbs 1:24, 25. That voice awakens memo-ries which they would fain blot out,—warnings despised, in-vitations refused, privileges slighted.

There are those who mocked Christ in His humilia-tion. With thrilling power come to their minds theSufferer’s words, when, adjured by the high priest, Hesolemnly declared, “Hereafter shall ye see the Son of mansitting on the right hand of power, and coming in theclouds of heaven.” Matthew 26:64. Now they behold Himin His glory, and they are yet to see Him sitting on the righthand of power.

Those who derided His claim to be the Son of God arespeechless now. There is the haughty Herod who jeered atHis royal title, and bade the mocking soldiers crown Himking. There are the very men who with impious hands placed

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upon His form the purple robe, upon His sacred brow thethorny crown, and in His unresisting hand the mimic scep-ter, and bowed before Him in blasphemous mockery. Themen who smote and spit upon the Prince of life, now turnfrom His piercing gaze, and seek to flee from the overpow-ering glory of His presence. Those who drove the nailsthrough His hands and feet, the soldier who pierced His side,behold these marks with terror and remorse.

With awful distinctness do priests and rulers recallthe events of Calvary. With shuddering horror they remem-ber how, wagging their heads in Satanic exultation, they ex-claimed, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If Hebe the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross,and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliverhim now, if he will have Him.” Matthew 27:42, 43.

Vividly they recall the Saviour’s parable of the husband-men who refused to render to their lord the fruit of the vine-yard, who abused His servants and slew His son. They re-member, too, the sentence which they themselves pronounced:The lord of the vineyard will miserably destroy those wickedmen. In the sin and punishment of those unfaithful men, thepriests and elders see their own course and their own justdoom. And now there rises a cry of mortal agony. Louderthan the shout, “Crucify Him! crucify Him!” which rangthrough the streets of Jerusalem, swells the awful, de-spairing wail, “He is the Son of God! He is the true Mes-siah!” They seek to flee from the presence of the King ofkings. In the deep caverns of the earth, rent asunder by thewarring of the elements, they vainly attempt to hide.

In the lives of all who reject truth, there are momentswhen conscience awakens, when memory presents thetorturing recollection of a life of hypocrisy, and the soulis harassed with vain regrets. But what are these comparedwith the remorse of that day when “fear cometh as desola-tion,” when “destruction cometh as a whirlwind!” Proverbs1:27. Those who would have destroyed Christ and Hisfaithful people, now witness the glory which rests uponthem. In the midst of their terror they hear the voices of the



saints in joyful strains exclaiming, “Lo, this is our God; wehave waited for Him, and He will save us.” Isaiah 25:9.

Amid the reeling of the earth, the flash of lightning,and the roar of thunder, the voice of the Son of God callsforth the sleeping saints. He looks upon the graves of therighteous, then raising His hands to heaven He cries, “Awake,awake, awake, ye that sleep in the dust, and arise!” Through-out the length and breadth of the earth, the dead shallhear that voice; and they that hear shall live. And thewhole earth shall ring with the tread of the exceeding greatarmy of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. From theprison-house of death they come, clothed with immortal glory,crying, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thyvictory?” 1 Corinthians 15:55. And the living righteousand the risen saints unite their voices in a long, glad shoutof victory.

All come forth from their graves the same in statureas when they entered the tomb. Adam, who stands amongthe risen throng, is of lofty height and majestic form, in stat-ure but little below the Son of God. He presents a markedcontrast to the people of later generations; in this one re-spect is shown the great degeneracy of the race. But all arisewith the freshness and vigor of eternal youth. In the be-ginning, man was created in the likeness of God, not only incharacter, but in form and feature. Sin defaced and almostobliterated the divine image; but Christ came to restore thatwhich had been lost. He will change our vile bodies, andfashion them like unto His glorious body. The mortal, cor-ruptible form, devoid of comeliness, once polluted with sin,becomes perfect, beautiful, and immortal. All blemishes anddeformities are left in the grave. Restored to the tree oflife in the long-lost Eden, the redeemed will “grow up”(Malachi 4:2) to the full stature of the race in its primevalglory. The last lingering traces of the curse of sin will beremoved, and Christ’s faithful ones will appear “in the beautyof the Lord our God;” in mind and soul and body reflectingthe perfect image of their Lord. Oh, wonderful redemption!long talked of, long hoped for, contemplated with eager an-

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ticipation, 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 glo-rified; now they are made immortal, and with the risensaints are caught up to meet their Lord in the air. Angels“gather together the elect from the four winds, from one endof heaven to the other.” Little children are borne by holyangels to their mothers’ arms. Friends long separatedby death are united, nevermore to part, and with songs ofgladness ascend together to the city of God.

On each side of the cloudy chariot are wings, and beneathit are living wheels; and as the chariot rolls upward, the wheelscry, “Holy,” and the wings, as they move, cry, “Holy,” andthe retinue of angels cry, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Al-mighty.” And the redeemed shout “Alleluia!” as the chariotmoves onward toward the New Jerusalem.

Before entering the city of God, the Saviour bestowsupon His followers the emblems of victory, and investsthem with the insignia of their royal state. The glitteringranks are drawn up, in the form of a hollow square, abouttheir King, whose form rises in majesty high above saint andangel, whose countenance beams upon them full of benig-nant love. Throughout the unnumbered host of the re-deemed, every glance is fixed upon Him, every eye be-holds His glory whose “visage was so marred more thanany man, and His form more than the sons of men.” Uponthe heads of the overcomers, Jesus with His own right handplaces the crown of glory. For each there is a crown, bear-ing His own “new name,” (Revelation 2:17) and the in-scription, “Holiness to the Lord.” In every hand are placedthe victor’s palm and the shining harp. Then, as the com-manding angels strike the note, every hand sweeps the harpstrings with skillful touch, awaking sweet music in rich,melodious strains. Rapture unutterable thrills everyheart, and each voice is raised in grateful praise: “UntoHim that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His ownblood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and HisFather; to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.” Rev-



elation 1:5, 6.Before the ransomed throng is the holy city. Jesus

opens wide the pearly gates, and the nations that havekept the truth enter in. There they behold the Paradise ofGod, 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 MyFather, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from thefoundation of the world.”

Now is fulfilled the Saviour’s prayer for His disciples,“I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me be withme where I am.” “Faultless before the presence of His glorywith exceeding joy,” Jude 24. Christ presents to the Fatherthe purchase of His blood, declaring, “Here am I, and thechildren whom Thou hast given Me.” “Those that Thougavest Me I have kept.” Oh, the wonders of redeeminglove! the rapture of that hour when the infinite Father,looking upon the ransomed, shall behold His image, sin’sdiscord banished, its blight removed, and the human oncemore in harmony with the divine!

With unutterable love, Jesus welcomes His faithful onesto the “joy of their Lord.” The Saviour’s joy is in seeing, inthe kingdom of glory, the souls that have been saved byHis agony and humiliation. And the redeemed will besharers in this joy, as they behold, among the blessed,those who have been won to Christ through their prayers,their labors, and loving sacrifice. As they gather about thegreat white throne, gladness unspeakable will fill their hearts,when they behold those whom they have won for Christ, andsee that one has gained others, and these still others, allbrought into the haven of rest, there to lay their crowns atJesus’ feet, and praise Him through the endless cycles ofeternity.

As the ransomed ones are welcomed to the city of God,there rings out upon the air an exultant cry of adora-tion. The two Adams are about to meet. The Son of Godis standing with outstretched arms to receive the father ofour race,—the being whom He created, who sinned against

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His Maker, and for whose sin the marks of the crucifixionare borne upon the Saviour’s form. As Adam discerns theprints of the cruel nails, he does not fall upon the bosom ofhis Lord, but in humiliation casts himself at his feet, crying,“Worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain!” Tenderly theSaviour lifts him up, and bids him look once more upon theEden home from which he has so long been exiled.

After his expulsion from Eden, Adam’s life on earthwas filled with sorrow. Every dying leaf, every victim ofsacrifice, every blight upon the fair face of nature, every stainupon man’s purity, was a fresh reminder of his sin. Terriblewas the agony of remorse as he beheld iniquity abounding,and, in answer to his warnings, met the reproaches cast uponhimself 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 ofthe promised Saviour, and he died in the hope of a resurrec-tion. The Son of God redeemed man’s failure and fall, andnow, through the work of the atonement, Adam is re-instatedin his first dominion.

Transported with joy, he beholds the trees that were oncehis delight,—the very trees whose fruit he himself had gath-ered in the days of his innocence and joy. He sees the vinesthat his own hands have trained, the very flowers that heonce loved to care for. His mind grasps the reality of thescene; he comprehends that this is indeed Eden restored,more lovely now than when he was banished from it. TheSaviour leads him to the tree of life, and plucks the glori-ous fruit, and bids him eat. He looks about him, and be-holds a multitude of his family redeemed, standing in theParadise of God. Then he casts his glittering crown at thefeet of Jesus, and, falling upon his breast, embraces the Re-deemer. He touches the golden harp, and the vaults of Heavenecho the triumphant song, “Worthy, worthy, worthy is theLamb that was slain, and lives again!” The family of Adamtake up the strain, and cast their crowns at the Saviour’sfeet 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 resur-rection, ascended to Heaven, having opened the grave for allwho should believe on His name. Now they behold the workof redemption accomplished, and they unite their voices inthe song of praise.

Upon the crystal sea before the throne, that sea of glassas it were mingled with fire,—so resplendent is it withthe 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.” Rev-elation 15:2. With the Lamb upon Mount Zion, “havingthe harps of God,” they stand, the hundred and fortyand four thousand that were redeemed from the earth; andthere is heard, as the sound of many waters, and as the soundof a great thunder, “the voice of harpers harping with theirharps.” Revelation 14:1-5; 15:3; 7:14-17. And they sing “anew song” before the throne, a song which no man can learnsave the hundred and forty and four thousand. It is the songof Moses and the Lamb,—a song of deliverance. None butthe hundred and forty-four thousand can learn that song; forit is the song of their experience,—an experience such as noother company have ever had. “These are they which followthe Lamb whithersoever he goeth.” These, having beentranslated from the earth, from among the living, arecounted as “the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb.”“These are they which came out of great tribulation;” (Rev-elation 14:1-5; 15:3; 7:14-17) they have passed through thetime 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 out-pouring of God’s judgments. But they have been delivered,for they have “washed their robes, and made them white inthe blood of the Lamb.” “In their mouth was found no guile;for they are without fault” before God. “Therefore are theybefore the throne of God, and serve Him day and night inHis temple; and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwellamong them.” Revelation 14:1-5; 15:3; 7:14-17. They haveseen the earth wasted with famine and pestilence, the sun

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having power to scorch men with great heat, and they them-selves have endured suffering, hunger, and thirst. But “theyshall hunger no more; neither thirst any more; neither shallthe sun light on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb which is inthe midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead themunto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away alltears from their eyes.” Revelation 14:1-5; 15:3; 7:14-17.

In all ages the Saviour’s chosen have been educatedand disciplined in the school of trial. They walked in nar-row paths on earth; they were purified in the furnace of af-fliction. For Jesus’ sake they endured opposition, hatred,calumny. They followed Him through conflicts sore; theyendured 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 ab-horrence. A sense of the infinite sacrifice made for its cure,humbles them in their own sight, and fills their hearts withgratitude and praise which those who have never fallen can-not appreciate. They love much, because they have been for-given 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 hov-els, from dungeons, from scaffolds, from mountains, fromdeserts, from the caves of the earth, from the caverns ofthe sea. On earth they were “destitute, afflicted, tormented.”Millions went down to the grave loaded with infamy, be-cause they steadfastly refused to yield to the deceptive claimsof Satan. By human tribunals they were adjudged the vilestof criminals. But now “God is judge Himself.” Psalm 50:6.Now the decisions of earth are reversed. “The rebuke of Hispeople shall He take away.” Isaiah 25:8. “They shall callthem, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord.” He hathappointed “to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joyfor mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heavi-ness.” Isaiah 62:12; 61:3. They are no longer feeble, af-flicted, scattered, and oppressed. Henceforth they are tobe ever with the Lord. They stand before the throne clad inricher robes than the most honored of the earth have ever



worn. They are crowned with diadems more glorious thanwere ever placed upon the brow of earthly monarchs. Thedays of pain and weeping are forever ended. The King ofglory has wiped the tears from all faces; every cause of griefhas been removed. Amid the waving of palm branches theypour forth a song of praise, clear, sweet, and harmonious;every voice takes up the strain, until the anthem swellsthrough the vaults of Heaven, “Salvation to our God whichsitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” And all theinhabitants of Heaven respond in the ascription, “Amen:Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, andhonor, and power, and might, be unto our God forever andever.” Revelation 7:10, 12.

In this life we can only begin to understand the won-derful theme of redemption. With our finite comprehen-sion we may consider most earnestly the shame and the glory,the life and the death, the justice and the mercy, that meet inthe cross; yet with the utmost stretch of our mental powerswe fail to grasp its full significance. The length and thebreadth, the depth and the height of redeeming love are butdimly comprehended. The plan of redemption will not befully understood, even when the ransomed see as theyare seen and know as they are known; but through theeternal ages, new truth will continually unfold to thewondering and delighted mind. Though the griefs and painsand temptations of earth are ended, and the cause removed,the people of God will ever have a distinct, intelligent knowl-edge of what their salvation has cost.

The cross of Christ will be the science and the song ofthe redeemed through all eternity. In Christ glorified theywill behold Christ crucified. Never will it be forgotten thatHe whose power created and upheld the unnumbered worldsthrough the vast realms of space, the Beloved of God, theMajesty of Heaven, He whom cherub and shining seraphdelighted to adore,—humbled Himself to uplift fallen man;that He bore the guilt and shame of sin, and the hiding of HisFather’s face, till the woes of a lost world broke His heart,and crushed out His life on Calvary’s cross. That the Maker

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of all worlds, the Arbiter of all destinies, should lay asideHis glory, and humiliate Himself from love to man, willever excite the wonder and adoration of the universe. Asthe nations of the saved look upon their Redeemer, and be-hold the eternal glory of the Father shining in His counte-nance; as they behold His throne, which is from everlastingto everlasting, and know that His kingdom is to have no end,they break forth in rapturous song, “Worthy, worthy is theLamb that was slain, and hath redeemed us to God by Hisown most precious blood!”

The mystery of the cross explains all other mysteries.In the light that streams from Calvary, the attributes ofGod which had filled us with fear and awe appear beau-tiful and attractive. Mercy, tenderness, and parental loveare seen to blend with holiness, justice, and power. Whilewe behold the majesty of His throne, high and lifted up, wesee His character in its gracious manifestations, and com-prehend, as never before, the significance of that endearingtitle, our Father.

It will be seen that He who is infinite in wisdom coulddevise no plan for our salvation except the sacrifice ofHis Son. The compensation for this sacrifice is the joy ofpeopling the earth with ransomed beings, holy, happy,and immortal. The result of the Saviour’s conflict with thepowers of darkness is joy to the redeemed, redounding to theglory of God, throughout eternity. And such is the value ofthe soul that the Father is satisfied with the price paid;and Christ Himself, beholding the fruits of His great sac-rifice, is satisfied.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST: THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST: THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST: THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST: THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST

“And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every manaccording as his work shall be.” Revelation 22:12.

“For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; andthen He shall reward every man according to His works.” Matthew 16:27.

“And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, andHe will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoicein His salvation.” Isaiah 25:9.

“And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and greatglory.” Luke 21:27.



Chapter Forty-oneChapter Forty-oneChapter Forty-oneChapter Forty-oneChapter Forty-one

TTTTTime to Thinkime to Thinkime to Thinkime to Thinkime to Think—Desolation of the Earth—Desolation of the Earth—Desolation of the Earth—Desolation of the Earth—Desolation of the Earth

———————————————————————This world is tottering, ready to fall,—and what will comeThis world is tottering, ready to fall,—and what will comeThis world is tottering, ready to fall,—and what will comeThis world is tottering, ready to fall,—and what will comeThis world is tottering, ready to fall,—and what will come

after? This chapter is a penetrating analysis of the millenniumafter? This chapter is a penetrating analysis of the millenniumafter? This chapter is a penetrating analysis of the millenniumafter? This chapter is a penetrating analysis of the millenniumafter? This chapter is a penetrating analysis of the millennium—that time not far off when time shall stand still,—when Satan will bebound and there will be a time of reckoning —

View that time when a great controversy is nearing its end.View that time when a great controversy is nearing its end.View that time when a great controversy is nearing its end.View that time when a great controversy is nearing its end.View that time when a great controversy is nearing its end.A time to think. Here is the truth about the millennium —A time to think. Here is the truth about the millennium —A time to think. Here is the truth about the millennium —A time to think. Here is the truth about the millennium —A time to think. Here is the truth about the millennium ————————————————————————

“Her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hathremembered her iniquities.” “In the cup which she hathfilled, fill to her double. How much she hath glorified her-self, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow giveher; for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow,and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come inone day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall beutterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God whojudgeth her. And the kings of the earth, who have committedfornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her,and lament for her, . . . saying, Alas, alas that great cityBabylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judg-ment come.” Revelation 18:5-10.

“The merchants of the earth,” that have “waxed richthrough the abundance of her delicacies,” “shall stand afaroff for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, andsaying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in finelinen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and pre-cious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches iscome to naught.” Revelation 18:15-17.

Such are the judgments that fall upon Babylon in the

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day of the visitation of God’s wrath. She has filled up themeasure of her iniquity; her time has come; she is ripefor destruction.

When the voice of God turns the captivity of Hispeople, there is a terrible awakening of those who havelost all in the great conflict of life. While probation contin-ued, they were blinded by Satan’s deceptions, and they justi-fied their course of sin. The rich prided themselves upon theirsuperiority to those who were less favored; but they had ob-tained their riches by violation of the law of God. They hadneglected to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to dealjustly, and to love mercy. They had sought to exalt them-selves, and to obtain the homage of their fellow-creatures.Now they are stripped of all that made them great, and areleft destitute and defenseless. They look with terror upon thedestruction of the idols which they preferred before theirMaker. They have sold their souls for earthly riches and en-joyments, and have not sought to become rich toward God.The result is, their lives are a failure; their pleasures are nowturned to gall, their treasures to corruption. The gain of alife-time is swept away in a moment. The rich bemoan thedestruction of their grand houses, the scattering of their goldand silver. But their lamentations are silenced by the fearthat they themselves are to perish with their idols.

The wicked are filled with regret, not because of their sin-ful neglect of God and their fellow-men, but because Godhas conquered. They lament that the result is what it is; butthey do not repent of their wickedness. They would leave nomeans untried to conquer if they could.

The world see the very class whom they have mockedand derided, and desired to exterminate, pass unharmedthrough pestilence, tempest, and earthquake. He who isto the transgressors of His law a devouring fire, is to Hispeople a safe pavilion.

The minister who has sacrificed truth to gain the fa-vor of men, now discerns the character and influence ofhis teachings. It is apparent that an omniscient eye was fol-lowing him as he stood in the desk, as he walked the streets,

Desolation of the Earth Desolation of the Earth Desolation of the Earth Desolation of the Earth Desolation of the Earth [653-654] [653-654] [653-654] [653-654] [653-654]


as he mingled with men in the various scenes of life. Everyemotion of the soul, every line written, every word uttered,every act that led men to rest in a refuge of falsehood, hasbeen scattering seed; and now, in the wretched, lost soulsaround him, he beholds the harvest.

Saith the Lord: “They have healed the hurt of the daugh-ter of My people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when thereis no peace.” “With lies ye have made the heart of the righ-teous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened thehands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wickedway, by promising him life.” Jeremiah 8:11; Ezekiel 13:22.

“Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheepof My pasture! . . . Behold, I will visit upon you the evil ofyour doings.” “Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow your-selves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock; for the days ofyour slaughter and your dispersions are accomplished; . . .and the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the princi-pal of the flock to escape.” Jeremiah 23:1, 2; 25:34, 35 (mar-gin).

Ministers and people see that they have not sustainedthe right relation to God. They see that they have re-belled against the Author of all just and righteous law.The setting aside of the divine precepts gave rise to thou-sands of springs of evil, discord, hatred, iniquity, until theearth became one vast field of strife, one sink of corruption.This is the view that now appears to those who rejected truthand chose to cherish error. No language can express thelonging which the disobedient and disloyal feel for thatwhich they have lost forever,—eternal life. Men whomthe world has worshiped for their talents and eloquence nowsee these things in their true light. They realize what theyhave forfeited by transgression, and they fall at the feetof those whose fidelity they have despised and derided,and confess that God has loved them.

The people see that they have been deluded. They ac-cuse one another of having led them to destruction; butall unite in heaping their bitterest condemnation uponthe ministers. Unfaithful pastors have prophesied smooth

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things; they have led their hearers to make void the law ofGod and to persecute those who would keep it holy. Now, intheir despair, these teachers confess before the world theirwork of deception. The multitudes are filled with fury. “Weare lost!” they cry, “and you are the cause of our ruin;” andthey turn upon the false shepherds. The very ones that onceadmired them most, will pronounce the most dreadful cursesupon them. The very hands that once crowned them withlaurels will be raised for their destruction. The swords whichwere to slay God’s people are now employed to destroytheir enemies. Everywhere there is strife and bloodshed.

“A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for theLord hath a controversy with the nations: He will plead withall flesh; He will give them that are wicked to the sword.”Jeremiah 25:31. For six thousand years the great contro-versy has been in progress; the Son of God and His heav-enly messengers have been in conflict with the power ofthe evil one, to warn, enlighten, and save the children ofmen. Now all have made their decision; the wicked havefully united with Satan in his warfare against God. Thetime has come for God to vindicate the authority of Hisdowntrodden law. Now the controversy is not alone withSatan, but with men. “The Lord hath a controversy withthe nations;” “he will give them that are wicked to the sword.”

The mark of deliverance has been set upon those “thatsigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done.” Nowthe angel of death goes forth, represented in Ezekiel’svision by the men with the slaughtering weapons, to whomthe command is given: “Slay utterly old and young, bothmaids, and little children, and women; but come not nearany man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctu-ary.” Says the prophet, “They began at the ancient men whichwere before the house.” Ezekiel 9:1-6. The work of destruc-tion begins among those who have professed to be the spiri-tual guardians of the people. The false watchmen are thefirst 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 in-



habitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth also shalldisclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.” Isaiah26:21. “And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord willsmite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem: Theirflesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and theirtongue shall consume away in their mouth. And it shall cometo pass in that day that a great tumult from the Lord shall beamong them; and they shall lay hold every one on the handof his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the handof his neighbor.” Zechariah 14:12, 13. In the mad strife oftheir own fierce passions, and by the awful outpouringof God’s unmingled wrath, fall the wicked inhabitants ofthe earth,—priests, rulers, and people, rich and poor, highand low. “And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day fromone end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth:they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried.”Jeremiah 25:33.

At the coming of Christ the wicked are blotted fromthe face of the whole earth,—consumed with the spirit ofHis mouth, and destroyed by the brightness of His glory.Christ takes His people to the city of God, and the earthis emptied of its inhabitants. “Behold, the Lord maketh theearth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down,and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.” “The land shallbe utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled; for the Lord hath spo-ken this word.” “Because they have transgressed the laws,changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they thatdwell therein are desolate; therefore the inhabitants of theearth are burned.” Isaiah 24:1, 3, 5, 6.

The whole earth appears like a desolate wilderness.The ruins of cities and villages destroyed by the earth-quake, uprooted trees, ragged rocks thrown out by thesea or torn out of the earth itself, are scattered over itssurface, while vast caverns mark the spot where the moun-tains have been rent from their foundations.

Now the event takes place, foreshadowed in the last

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solemn service of the day of atonement. When the minis-tration in the holy of holies had been completed, and the sinsof Israel had been removed from the sanctuary by virtue ofthe blood of the sin-offering, then the scape-goat was pre-sented alive before the Lord; and in presence of the congre-gation of high priest confessed over him “all the iniquitiesof the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in alltheir sins, putting them upon the head of the goat.” Leviticus16:21. In like manner, when the work of atonement in theheavenly sanctuary has been completed, then in the pres-ence of God and heavenly angels, and the host of the re-deemed, the sins of God’s people will be placed upon Sa-tan; he will be declared guilty of all the evil which he hascaused them to commit. And as the scape-goat was sentaway into a land not inhabited, so Satan will be ban-ished to the desolate earth, an uninhabited and drearywilderness.

The Revelator foretells the banishment of Satan, andthe condition of chaos and desolation to which the earthis to be reduced; and he declares that this condition willexist for a thousand years. After presenting the scenes ofthe Lord’s second coming and the destruction of the wicked,the prophecy continues: “I saw an angel come down fromHeaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a greatchain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that oldserpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thou-sand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shuthim up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive thenations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled;and after that he must be loosed a little season.” Revelation20:1-3.

That the expression, “bottomless pit,” represents the earthin a state of confusion and darkness, is evident from otherscriptures. Concerning the condition of the earth “in the be-ginning,” the Bible record says that it “was without form,and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” [Gen-esis 1:2; The word here translated “Deep” is the same that inRevelation 20:1-3 is rendered “Bottomless Pit.”] Prophecy


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CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: THE BIBLICAL MILLENNIUM: THE BIBLICAL MILLENNIUM: THE BIBLICAL MILLENNIUM: THE BIBLICAL MILLENNIUM: THE BIBLICAL MILLENNIUM

We live in the last days of history. The end of life as men now know it isnearly ended. Soon Jesus will return. We only have one period of probation—and that is during our present life. The millennium will not be a thousand yearsof glory and peace here on earth. And it will not be an age of technologicalprogress or a “second chance” for the wicked. All mankind will not be con-verted before it, during it, or after it. And neither Christ nor His redeemed oneswill be on the earth during the thousand years.

Here is the truth about the millennium and the events that mark its begin-ning and end:

1 - Jesus is going to return for His people: He promised us that He would(John 14:1-3), and so we can know that He will.

2 - There are four identifying marks of His second advent that cannot becounterfeited by false christs: (1) He will come so that all alive on the earth atthat time can see Him return (Rev 1:7; Acts 1:9-11; Matt 24:30, 23-27). (2) Hewill come so all can hear Him as He returns (Matt 24:31; 1 Thess 4:16). (3) Hewill come in immense glory—that of His own and the millions of angels thatwill come with Him (Lk 9:26; Matt 28:2-4; Matt 25:31; Rev 6:14-17). (4) Hewill come unexpectedly (Matt 24:44, 36).

3 - His second coming will mark the beginning of the millennium. Six eventswill take place: (1) He will raise the righteous dead (1 Thess 4:16). (2) He willcatch up the righteous living together with the righteous dead—to meet Him inthe clouds (1 Thess 4:17). (3) He will change their vile bodies to be like untoHis glorious body (Phil 3:20-21) and translate them (1 Cor 15:51-55; Isa 25:9).(4) Having gathered all the righteous (1 Thess 4:17-18; Matt 25:34-40; 24:30-31), He will take His redeemed ones to heaven (Jn 14:1-3; 17:24; 1 Thess4:16-18). (5) He will destroy the living wicked with the brightness of His com-ing (Lk 17:26-30; 2 Thess 2:8). (6) He will bind Satan to this earth (Rev 20:2-3).

4 - During the millennium, the earth will be desolate (Rev 20:3; Jer 4:23-26; Isa 24:1, 3). The wicked are dead (2 Thess 2:8), and there is no man left(Isa 24:20-22; Jer 4:25-26; 25:31-33). Satan is bound on a desolate earth(Rev 20:1-3), and the righteous are in heaven (Rev 20:4, 6; Dan 7:22) engagedin a work of judgment (Rev 20:4; 1 Cor 6:1-3; Acts 24:25; Jude 6).

5 - At the close of the millennium, the Holy City descends from heaven(Rev 20:9; 21:1-5; Zech 14: 4, 9), the wicked are raised—the “second resur-rection” (Rev 20:5, first part), and Satan is thus loosed to deceive them again(Rev 20:7-8). Satan and the wicked surround the City to take it (Rev 20:8-9. Allof the wicked are destroyed (Rev 20:9), and this earth is made new (Rev 21:1-5; 2 Pet 3:10-14). How we long for the second coming of Christ!

Desolation of the EarthDesolation of the EarthDesolation of the EarthDesolation of the EarthDesolation of the Earth


teaches that it will be brought back, partially, at least, to thiscondition. Looking forward to the great day of God, theprophet Jeremiah declares: “I beheld the earth, and, lo, itwas without form, and void; and the heavens, and they hadno light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, andall the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was noman, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld,and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the citiesthereof were broken down.” Jeremiah 4:23-27.

Here is to be the home of Satan with his evil angels fora thousand years. Limited to the earth, he will not haveaccess to other worlds, to tempt and annoy those whohave never fallen. It is in this sense that he is bound;there are none remaining, upon whom he can exercisehis power. He is wholly cut off from the work of deceptionand ruin which for so many centuries has been his sole de-light.

The prophet Isaiah, looking forward to the time of Satan’soverthrow, exclaims: “How art thou fallen from Heaven, OLucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cast down to theground, which didst weaken the nations.” “Thou hast said inthine heart, I will ascend into Heaven, I will exalt my throneabove the stars of God.” “I will be like the Most High. Yetthou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and con-sider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth totremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the world as awilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened notthe house of his prisoners?” Isaiah 14:12-17.

For six thousand years, Satan’s work of rebellion has“made the earth to tremble.” He has “made the world as awilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof.” And “he openednot the house of his prisoners.” For six thousand years hisprison-house has received God’s people, and he would haveheld them captive forever, but Christ has broken his bonds,and set the prisoners free.

Even the wicked are now placed beyond the power ofSatan; and alone with his evil angels he remains to real-

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ize the effect of the curse which sin has brought. “Thekings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every onein his own house (the grave). But thou art cast out of thygrave like an abominable branch. . . . Thou shalt not be joinedwith them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land,and slain thy people.” Isaiah 14:18-20.

For a thousand years, Satan will wander to and fro inthe desolate earth, to behold the results of his rebellionagainst the law of God. During this time his sufferingsare intense. Since his fall, his life of unceasing activityhas banished reflection; but he is now deprived of hispower, and left to contemplate the part which he has actedsince first he rebelled against the government of Heaven,and to look forward with trembling and terror to thedreadful future, when he must suffer for all the evil that hehas done, and be punished for the sins that he has caused tobe committed.

To God’s people, the captivity of Satan will bring glad-ness and rejoicing. Says the prophet: “It shall come to passin the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow,and from thy trouble, and from the hard service wherein thouwast made to serve, that thou shalt take up this proverbagainst the king of Babylon (here representing Satan), andsay, How hath the oppressor ceased! . . . The Lord hath bro-ken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers; He whosmote the peoples in wrath with a continual stroke, He thatruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.”Isaiah 14:3-6.

During the thousand years between the first and thesecond resurrection, the Judgment of the wicked takesplace. The apostle Paul points to this Judgment as an eventthat follows the second advent. “Judge nothing before thetime, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light thehidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the coun-sels of the hearts.” 1 Corinthians 4:5. Daniel declares thatwhen the Ancient of days came, “Judgment was given to thesaints of the Most High.” Daniel 7:22. At this time therighteous 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 priestsof God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousandyears.” It is at this time that, as foretold by Paul, “the saintsshall judge the world.” Revelation 20:4, 6. In union withChrist they judge the wicked, comparing their acts with thestatute book, the Bible, and deciding every case according tothe deeds done in the body. Then the portion which the wickedmust suffer is meted out, according to their works; and it isrecorded against their names in the book of death.

Satan also and evil angels are judged by Christ and Hispeople. Says Paul, “Know ye not that we shall judge an-gels?” 1 Corinthians 6:3. And Jude declares that “the angelswhich kept not their first estate, but left their own habita-tion, He hath reserved in everlasting chains-under darknessunto the Judgment of the great day.” Jude 6.

At the close of the thousand years the second resur-rection will take place. Then the wicked will be raisedfrom the dead, and appear before God for the executionof “the judgment written.” Thus the Revelator, after de-scribing the resurrection of the righteous, says, “The restof the dead lived not again until the thousand years werefinished.” Revelation 20:5. And Isaiah declares, concerningthe wicked, “They shall be gathered together, as prisonersare gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, andafter many days shall they be visited.” Isaiah 24:22.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: DELIGHT AND JO: DELIGHT AND JO: DELIGHT AND JO: DELIGHT AND JO: DELIGHT AND JOY IN GODY IN GODY IN GODY IN GODY IN GOD

“Ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace.” Isaiah 55:12. “Therighteous shall be glad in the Lord, and shall trust in Him, and all the upright inheart shall glory.” Psalm 64:10. “Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart.”Isaiah 65:14. “Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright inheart.” Psalm 97:11. “Then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shaltlift up thy face unto God.” Job 22:26. “Our heart shall rejoice in Him, because wehave trusted in His holy name.” Psalm 33:21. “I will rejoice in the Lord; I will joyin the God of my salvation.” Habbakuk 3:18. “My soul shall be joyful in myGod.” Isaiah 61:10.

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Chapter Forty-twoChapter Forty-twoChapter Forty-twoChapter Forty-twoChapter Forty-two

An EterAn EterAn EterAn EterAn EternitynitynitynitynityWith ChristWith ChristWith ChristWith ChristWith Christ

—The Controversy Ended—The Controversy Ended—The Controversy Ended—The Controversy Ended—The Controversy Ended———————————————————————

Here is the storHere is the storHere is the storHere is the storHere is the story of a battle that never takes place, after ay of a battle that never takes place, after ay of a battle that never takes place, after ay of a battle that never takes place, after ay of a battle that never takes place, after apreparation that involves whole nations. The storpreparation that involves whole nations. The storpreparation that involves whole nations. The storpreparation that involves whole nations. The storpreparation that involves whole nations. The story of Satan’s lasty of Satan’s lasty of Satan’s lasty of Satan’s lasty of Satan’s lastfight for supremacy—and then a view of the Great White Thronefight for supremacy—and then a view of the Great White Thronefight for supremacy—and then a view of the Great White Thronefight for supremacy—and then a view of the Great White Thronefight for supremacy—and then a view of the Great White Throneand the Final Judgment.and the Final Judgment.and the Final Judgment.and the Final Judgment.and the Final Judgment.—And the awesomely beautiful heaventhat, for God’s people, shall follow. The story of the end of sin and oflife in the new earth. A story that helps us want to be there —

All the treasures of the universe will be open to the study ofAll the treasures of the universe will be open to the study ofAll the treasures of the universe will be open to the study ofAll the treasures of the universe will be open to the study ofAll the treasures of the universe will be open to the study ofGod’s redeemed at that time. Unfettered by morGod’s redeemed at that time. Unfettered by morGod’s redeemed at that time. Unfettered by morGod’s redeemed at that time. Unfettered by morGod’s redeemed at that time. Unfettered by mortalitytalitytalitytalitytality, they will, they will, they will, they will, they willwing their tireless flight to worlds afarwing their tireless flight to worlds afarwing their tireless flight to worlds afarwing their tireless flight to worlds afarwing their tireless flight to worlds afar. With unutterable de-. With unutterable de-. With unutterable de-. With unutterable de-. With unutterable de-light, the children of earlight, the children of earlight, the children of earlight, the children of earlight, the children of earth will enter into the joy and wisdom ofth will enter into the joy and wisdom ofth will enter into the joy and wisdom ofth will enter into the joy and wisdom ofth will enter into the joy and wisdom ofunfallen beings. Here is the storunfallen beings. Here is the storunfallen beings. Here is the storunfallen beings. Here is the storunfallen beings. Here is the story of life in the New Eary of life in the New Eary of life in the New Eary of life in the New Eary of life in the New Earth—ath—ath—ath—ath—astorstorstorstorstory we want a pary we want a pary we want a pary we want a pary we want a part in —t in —t in —t in —t in ————————————————————————

At the close of the thousand years, Christ again returnsto the earth. He is accompanied by the host of the re-deemed, and attended by a retinue of angels. As He de-scends in terrific majesty, He bids the wicked dead ariseto receive their doom. They come forth, a mighty host,numberless as the sands of the sea. What a contrast tothose who were raised at the first resurrection! The righteouswere clothed with immortal youth and beauty. The wickedbear the traces of disease and death.

Every eye in that vast multitude is turned to beholdthe glory of the Son of God. With one voice the wickedhosts exclaim, “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of theLord!” It is not love to Jesus that inspires this utterance. Theforce of truth urges the words from unwilling lips. As the

The Controversy Ended The Controversy Ended The Controversy Ended The Controversy Ended The Controversy Ended [661-662] [661-662] [661-662] [661-662] [661-662]


wicked went into their graves, so they come forth, with thesame enmity to Christ, and the same spirit of rebellion. Theyare to have no new probation, in which to remedy thedefects of their past lives. Nothing would be gained bythis. A life-time of transgression has not softened their hearts.A second probation, were it given them, would be occupiedas was the first, in evading the requirements of God and ex-citing rebellion against Him.

Christ descends upon the Mount of Olives, whence,after His resurrection, He ascended, and where angels re-peated the promise of His return. Says the prophet, “TheLord my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee.” “AndHis feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Ol-ives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mountof Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof, . . . and thereshall be a very great valley.” “And the Lord shall be Kingover all the earth. In that day shall there be one Lord, andHis name one.” Zechariah 14:5, 4, 9. As the New Jerusa-lem, in its dazzling splendor, comes down out of Heaven,it rests upon the place purified and made ready to re-ceive it, and Christ with His people and the angels, en-ters the holy city.

Now Satan prepares for a last mighty struggle for thesupremacy. While deprived of his power, and cut off fromhis work of deception, the prince of evil was miserable anddejected; but as the wicked dead are raised, and he sees thevast multitudes upon his side, his hopes revive, and he de-termines not to yield the great controversy. He will marshalall the armies of the lost under his banner, and through themendeavor to execute his plans. The wicked are Satan’s cap-tives. In rejecting Christ they have accepted the rule ofthe rebel leader. They are ready to receive his sugges-tions and to do his bidding. Yet, true to his early cun-ning, he does not acknowledge himself to be Satan. Heclaims 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

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their graves, and that he is about to rescue them from themost cruel tyranny. The presence of Christ having been re-moved, Satan works wonders to support his claims. Hemakes the weak strong, and inspires all with his ownspirit and energy. He proposes to lead them against thecamp of the saints, and to take possession of the city of God.With fiendish exultation he points to the unnumbered mil-lions who have been raised from the dead, and declares thatas their leader he is well able to overthrow the city, and re-gain his throne and his kingdom.

In that vast throng are multitudes of the long-livedrace that existed before the flood; men of lofty statureand giant intellect, who, yielding to the control of fallenangels, devoted all their skill and knowledge to the exalta-tion of themselves; men whose wonderful works of art ledthe world to idolize their genius, but whose cruelty and evilinventions, defiling the earth and defacing the image of God,caused him to blot them from the face of His creation. Thereare kings and generals who conquered nations, valiantmen who never lost a battle, proud, ambitious warriorswhose approach made kingdoms tremble. In death these ex-perienced no change. As they come up from the grave,they resume the current of their thoughts just where itceased. They are actuated by the same desire to conquerthat ruled them when they fell.

Satan consults with his angels, and then with thesekings and conquerors and mighty men. They look uponthe strength and numbers on their side, and declare that thearmy within the city is small in comparison with theirs, andthat it can be overcome. They lay their plans to take pos-session of the riches and glory of the New Jerusalem. Allimmediately begin to prepare for battle. Skillful artisansconstruct implements of war. Military leaders, famed for theirsuccess, marshal the throngs of warlike men into companiesand divisions.

At last the order to advance is given, and the count-less host moves on,—an army such as was never sum-moned by earthly conquerors, such as the combined forces



of all ages since war began on earth could never equal. Sa-tan, the mightiest of warriors, leads the van, and his angelsunite their forces for this final struggle. Kings and warriorsare 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 anduneven surface to the city of God. By command of Jesus,the gates of the New Jerusalem are closed, and the armiesof Satan surround the city, and make ready for the on-set.

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 theSon of God, and around Him are the subjects of His king-dom. The power and majesty of Christ no language can de-scribe, no pen portray. The glory of the Eternal Father isenshrouding His Son. The brightness of His presence fillsthe city of God, and flows out beyond the gates, floodingthe whole earth with its radiance.

Nearest the throne are those who were once zealousin the cause of Satan, but who, plucked as brands from theburning, have followed their Saviour with deep, intense de-votion. Next are those who perfected Christian characters inthe midst of falsehood and infidelity, those who honored thelaw of God when the Christian world declared it void, andthe millions, of all ages, who were martyred for their faith.And beyond is the “great multitude, which no man couldnumber, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, andtongues,” “before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothedwith white robes, and palms in their hands.” Revelation 7:9.Their warfare is ended, their victory won. They have run therace and reached the prize. The palm branch in their hands isa symbol of their triumph, the white robe an emblem of thespotless righteousness of Christ which now is theirs.

The redeemed raise a song of praise that echoes andre-echoes through the vaults of heaven, “Salvation to ourGod which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” Andangel and seraph unite their voices in adoration. As the

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redeemed have beheld the power and malignity of Satan, theyhave seen, as never before, that no power but that of Christcould have made them conquerors. In all that shining throngthere are none to ascribe salvation to themselves, as ifthey had prevailed by their own power and goodness. Noth-ing is said of what they have done or suffered; but the bur-den of every song, the keynote of every anthem, is, Salva-tion to our God, and unto the Lamb.

In the presence of the assembled inhabitants of earthand Heaven the final coronation of the Son of God takesplace. And now, invested with supreme majesty andpower, the King of kings pronounces sentence upon therebels against his government, and executes justice uponthose who have transgressed His law and oppressed Hispeople. Says the prophet of God: “I saw a great white throne,and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and theheaven 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 wasopened, which is the book of life; and the dead werejudged out of those things which were written in thebooks, according to their works.” Revelation 20:11, 12.

As soon as the books of record are opened, and theeye of Jesus looks upon the wicked, they are conscious ofevery sin which they have ever committed. They see justwhere their feet diverged from the path of purity andholiness, just how far pride and rebellion have carried themin the violation of the law of God. The seductive tempta-tions which they encouraged by indulgence in sin, the bless-ings perverted, the messengers of God despised, the warn-ings rejected, the waves of mercy beaten back by the stub-born, unrepentant heart,—all appear as if written in lettersof fire.

Above the throne is revealed the cross; and like a pan-oramic view appear the scenes of Adam’s temptation andfall, and the successive steps in the great plan of redemp-tion. The Saviour’s lowly birth; His early life of simplicityand obedience; His baptism in Jordan; the fast and tempta-



tion in the wilderness; His public ministry, unfolding to menHeaven’s most precious blessings; the days crowded withdeeds of love and mercy, the nights of prayer and watchingin the solitude of the mountains; the plottings of envy, hate,and malice which repaid His benefits; the awful, mysteriousagony in Gethsemane, beneath the crushing weight of thesins of the whole world; His betrayal into the hands of themurderous 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 ofGod exultingly displayed before Annas, arraigned in the highpriest’s palace, in the judgment hall of Pilate, before the cow-ardly and cruel Herod, mocked, insulted, tortured, and con-demned to die,—all are vividly portrayed.

And now before the swaying multitude are revealedthe final scenes,—the patient Sufferer treading the pathto Calvary; the Prince of Heaven hanging upon the cross;the haughty priests and the jeering rabble deriding His ex-piring agony; the supernatural darkness; the heaving earth,the rent rocks, the open graves, marking the moment whenthe world’s Redeemer yielded up His life.

The awful spectacle appears just as it was. Satan, hisangels, and his subjects have no power to turn from thepicture of their own work. Each actor recalls the part whichhe performed. Herod, who slew the innocent children ofBethlehem that he might destroy the King of Israel; the baseHerodias, upon whose guilty soul rests the blood of John theBaptist; the weak, time-serving Pilate; the mocking soldiers;the priests and rulers and the maddened throng who cried,“His blood be on us, and our children!”—all behold the enor-mity of their guilt. They vainly seek to hide from the divinemajesty 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 lovingJohn, and their true-hearted brethren, and with themthe vast host of martyrs; while outside the walls, with

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every vile and abominable thing, are those by whom theywere persecuted, imprisoned, and slain. There is Nero,that monster of cruelty and vice, beholding the joy and exal-tation of those whom he once tortured, and in whoseextremest anguish he found Satanic delight. His mother isthere to witness the result of her own work; to see how theevil stamp of character transmitted to her son, the passionsencouraged 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 tobe Christ’s ambassadors, yet employed the rack, thedungeon, and the stake to control the consciences of Hispeople. There are the proud pontiffs who exalted themselvesabove God, and presumed to change the law of the MostHigh. Those pretended fathers of the church have an accountto render to God from which they would fain be excused.Too late they are made to see that the Omniscient One isjealous of His law, and that He will in nowise clear the guilty.They learn now that Christ identifies His interest with thatof His suffering people; and they feel the force of His ownwords, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least ofthese My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.” Matthew 25:40.

The whole wicked world stand arraigned at the barof God, on the charge of high treason against the gov-ernment of Heaven. They have none to plead their cause;they are without excuse; and the sentence of eternal deathis pronounced against them.

It is now evident to all that the wages of sin is notnoble independence and eternal life, but slavery, ruin,and death. The wicked see what they have forfeited bytheir life of rebellion. The far more exceeding and eternalweight of glory was despised when offered them; but howdesirable it now appears. “All this,” cries the lost soul, “Imight 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 seethat their exclusion from Heaven is just. By their livesthey have declared, “We will not have this Jesus to reign



over us.”As if entranced, the wicked have looked upon the coro-

nation of the Son of God. They see in His hands the tablesof the divine law, the statutes which they have despisedand transgressed. They witness the outburst of wonder,rapture, and adoration from the saved; and as the waveof melody sweeps over the multitudes without the city, allwith one voice exclaim, “Great and marvelous are Thy works,Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, Thou Kingof saints;” and falling prostrate, they worship the Prince oflife.

Satan seems paralyzed as he beholds the glory andmajesty of Christ. He who was once a covering cherubremembers whence he has fallen. A shining seraph, “sonof the morning;” how changed, how degraded! From the coun-cil where once he was honored, he is forever excluded. Hesees another now standing near to the Father, veiling Hisglory. He has seen the crown placed upon the head of Christby an angel of lofty stature and majestic presence, and heknows that the exalted position of this angel might have beenhis.

Memory recalls the home of his innocence and purity,the peace and content that were his until he indulged inmurmuring against God, and envy of Christ. His accusa-tions, his rebellion, his deceptions to gain the sympathy andsupport of the angels, his stubborn persistence in making noeffort for self-recovery when God would have granted himforgiveness,—all come vividly before him. He reviews hiswork among men and its results,—the enmity of man to-ward his fellow-man, the terrible destruction of life, the riseand fall of kingdoms, the overturning of thrones, the longsuccession of tumults, conflicts, and revolutions. He recallshis constant efforts to oppose the work of Christ and to sinkman lower and lower. He sees that his hellish plots have beenpowerless to destroy those who have put their trust in Jesus.As Satan looks upon his kingdom, the fruit of his toil, hesees only failure and ruin. He has led the multitudes to be-lieve that the city of God would be an easy prey; but he knows

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that this is false. Again and again, in the progress of thegreat controversy, he has been defeated, and compelled toyield. He knows too well the power and majesty of the Eter-nal.

The aim of the great rebel has ever been to justify him-self, and to prove the divine government responsible forthe rebellion. To this end he has bent all the power of hisgiant intellect. He has worked deliberately and systemati-cally, and with marvelous success, leading vast multitudesto accept his version of the great controversy which has beenso long in progress. For thousands of years this chief of con-spiracy has palmed off falsehood for truth. But the time hasnow come when the rebellion is to be finally defeated, andthe history and character of Satan disclosed. In his last greateffort to dethrone Christ, destroy His people, and take pos-session of the city of God, the arch-deceiver has been fullyunmasked. Those who have united with him see the totalfailure of his cause. Christ’s followers and the loyal an-gels behold the full extent of his machinations againstthe government of God. He is the object of universalabhorrence.

Satan sees that his voluntary rebellion has unfittedhim for Heaven. He has trained his powers to war againstGod; the purity, peace, and harmony of Heaven would be tohim supreme torture. His accusations against the mercy andjustice of God are now silenced. The reproach which he hasendeavored to cast upon Jehovah rests wholly upon himself.And now Satan bows down, and confesses the justice ofhis sentence.

“Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name?for Thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and wor-ship before Thee; for Thy judgments are made manifest.”Revelation 15:4. Every question of truth and error in thelong-standing controversy has now been made plain. Theresults of rebellion, the fruits of setting aside the divinestatutes, have been laid open to the view of all createdintelligences. The working out of Satan’s rule in contrastwith the government of God, has been presented to the whole



universe. Satan’s own works have condemned him. God’swisdom, His justice, and His goodness stand fully vindicated.It is seen that all His dealings in the great controversy havebeen conducted with respect to the eternal good of His people,and the good of all the worlds that He has created. “All thyworks shall praise thee, O Lord; and Thy saints shall blessthee.” Psalm 145:10. The history of sin will stand to alleternity as a witness that with the existence of God’s lawis bound up the happiness of all the beings He has cre-ated. With all the facts of the great controversy in view,the whole universe, both loyal and rebellious, with oneaccord declare, “Just and true are thy ways, thou Kingof saints.”

Before the universe has been clearly presented the greatsacrifice made by the Father and the Son in man’s behalf.The hour has come when Christ occupies His rightfulposition, and is glorified above principalities and pow-ers and every name that is named. It was for the joy thatwas set before Him,—that He might bring many sons untoglory,—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 re-deemed, renewed in His own image, every heart bearing theperfect impress of the divine, every face reflecting the like-ness of their King. He beholds in them the result of the tra-vail of His soul, and He is satisfied. Then, in a voice thatreaches the assembled multitudes of the righteous andthe wicked, He declares, “Behold the purchase of myblood! For these I suffered; for these I died; that theymight dwell in my presence throughout eternal ages.”And the song of praise ascends from the white-robed onesabout the throne, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to re-ceive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor,and glory, and blessing.” Revelation 5:12.

Notwithstanding that Satan has been constrained toacknowledge God’s justice, and to bow to the supremacyof Christ, His character remains unchanged. The spiritof rebellion, like a mighty torrent, again bursts forth.

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Filled with frenzy, he determines not to yield the great con-troversy. The time has come for a last desperate struggleagainst the King of Heaven. He rushes into the midst of hissubjects, and endeavors to inspire them with his own fury,and arouse them to instant battle. But of all the countlessmillions whom he has allured into rebellion, there arenone now to acknowledge his supremacy. His power isat an end. The wicked are filled with the same hatred ofGod that inspires Satan; but they see that their case is hope-less, that they cannot prevail against Jehovah. Their rage iskindled against Satan and those who have been his agentsin deception, and with the fury of demons they turn uponthem.

Saith the Lord: “Because thou hast set thine heart as theheart of God; behold, therefore I will bring strangers uponthee, the terrible of the nations; and they shall draw theirswords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall de-file thy brightness. They shall bring thee down to the pit.” “Iwill destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of thestones of fire. . . . I will cast thee to the ground. I will lay theebefore kings, that they may behold thee.” “I will bring theeto ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that be-hold thee. . . . Thou shalt be a terror, and never shaltthou be any more.” Ezekiel 28:6-8, 16-19.

“Every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, andgarments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning andfuel of fire. “The indignation of the Lord is upon all nations,and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyedthem, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.” “Upon thewicked He shall rain quick burning coals, fire and brimstone,and a horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.”Isaiah 9:5; 34:2; Psalm 11:6 (margin). Fire comes down fromGod out of Heaven. The earth is broken up. The weaponsconcealed in its depths are drawn forth. Devouring flamesburst from every yawning chasm. The very rocks are on fire.The day has come that shall burn as an oven. The ele-ments melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and theworks that are therein are burned up. Malachi 4:1; 2 Pe-



ter 3:10. The earth’s surface seems one molten mass,—avast, seething lake of fire. It is the time of the judgmentand perdition of ungodly men,—“the day of the Lord’svengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversyof Zion.” Isaiah 34:8.

Behold the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth.Proverbs 11:31. They “shall be stubble; and the day thatcometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts.” Malachi4:1. Some are destroyed as in a moment, while otherssuffer many days. All are punished “according to theirdeeds.” The sins of the righteous having been transferredto Satan, he is made to suffer not only for his own rebel-lion, but for all the sins which he has caused God’s people tocommit. His punishment is to be far greater than that of thosewhom he has deceived. After all have perished who fell byhis deceptions, he is still to live and suffer on. In the cleans-ing flames the wicked are at last destroyed, root andbranch,—Satan the root, his followers the branches. Thefull penalty of the law has been visited; the demands of jus-tice have been met; and Heaven and earth, beholding, de-clare the righteousness of Jehovah.

Satan’s work of ruin is forever ended. For six thou-sand years he has wrought his will, filling the earth withwoe, and causing grief throughout the universe. The wholecreation has groaned and travailed together in pain. NowGod’s creatures are forever delivered from His presence andtemptations. “The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet; they(the righteous) break forth into singing.” Isaiah 14:7. And ashout of praise and triumph ascends from the whole loyaluniverse. “The voice of a great multitude,” “as the voice ofmany waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings,” isheard, saying, “Alleluia; for the Lord God omnipotentreigneth.”

While the earth was wrapped in the fire of destruc-tion, the righteous abode safely in the holy city. Uponthose that had part in the first resurrection, the seconddeath has no power. Revelation 20:6; Psalm 84:11. WhileGod is to the wicked a consuming fire, he is to his people

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both a sun and a shield. Revelation 20:6; Psalm 84:11.“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the

first heaven and the first earth were passed away.” Rev-elation 21:1. The fire that consumes the wicked purifiesthe earth. Every trace of the curse is swept away. No eter-nally burning hell will keep before the ransomed the fearfulconsequences of sin.

One reminder alone remains: our Redeemer will everbear the marks of His crucifixion. Upon His wounded head,upon His side, His hands and feet, are the only traces of thecruel work that sin has wrought. Says the prophet, behold-ing Christ in His glory, “He had bright beams coming out ofHis side; and there was the hiding of His power.” Habakkuk3:4 (margin) That pierced side whence flowed the crimsonstream that reconciled man to God,—there is the Saviour’sglory, there “the hiding of His power.” “Mighty to save,”through the sacrifice of redemption, He was therefore strongto execute justice upon them that despised God’s mercy. Andthe tokens of His humiliation are His highest honor;through the eternal ages the wounds of Calvary will showforth His praise, and declare His power.

“O Tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter ofZion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion.” Micah4:8; Ephesians 1:14. The time has come, to which holy menhave looked with longing since the flaming sword barred thefirst pair from Eden,—the time for “the redemption of thepurchased possession.” Micah 4:8; Ephesians 1:14. Theearth originally given to man as his kingdom, betrayedby him into the hands of Satan, and so long held by themighty foe, has been brought back by the great plan ofredemption. All that was lost by sin has been restored. “Thussaith the Lord . . . that formed the earth and made it; He hathestablished it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to beinhabited.” Isaiah 45:18. God’s original purpose in the cre-ation of the earth is fulfilled as it is made the eternal abodeof the redeemed. “The righteous shall inherit the land, anddwell therein forever.” Psalm 37:29.

A fear of making the future inheritance seem too ma-



terial has led many to spiritualize away the very truthswhich lead us to look upon it as our home. Christ assuredHis disciples that He went to prepare mansions for them inthe Father’s house. Those who accept the teachings of God’sWord will not be wholly ignorant concerning the heavenlyabode. And yet, “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neitherhave entered into the heart of man, the things which Godhath prepared for them that love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9.Human language is inadequate to describe the rewardof the righteous. It will be known only to those who be-hold it. No finite mind can comprehend the glory of the Para-dise of God.

In the Bible the inheritance of the saved is called a coun-try. Hebrews 11:14-16. There the heavenly Shepherd leadsHis flock to fountains of living waters. The tree of life yieldsits fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree are for theservice of the nations. There are ever-flowing streams,clear as crystal, and beside them waving trees cast theirshadows upon the paths prepared for the ransomed ofthe Lord. There the widespreading plains swell into hillsof beauty, and the mountains of God rear their lofty sum-mits. On those peaceful plains, beside those livingstreams, God’s people, so long pilgrims and wanderers,shall find a home.

“My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and insure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places.” “Violence shallno more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction withinthy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thygates Praise.” “They shall build houses, and inhabit them;and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. Theyshall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, andanother eat: . . . mine elect shall long enjoy the work of theirhands.” Isaiah 32:18; 60:18; 65:21, 22.

There, “the wilderness and the solitary place shall be gladfor them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as therose.” “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, andinstead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree.” Isaiah35:1; 55:13. “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and

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the leopard shall lie down with the kid; . . . and a little childshall lead them.” “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all Myholy mountain,” (Isaiah 11:6, 9; 33:24; 62:3; 65:19) saiththe Lord.

Pain cannot exist in the atmosphere of Heaven. Therewill be no more tears, no funeral trains, no badges of mourn-ing. “There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor cry-ing, . . . for the former things are passed away.” Revelation21:4, 11, 24, 3. “The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick; thepeople that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.”Isaiah 11:6, 9; 33:24; 62:3; 65:19.

There is the New Jerusalem, the metropolis of the glo-rified new earth, “a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord,and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.” Isaiah 11:6, 9;33:24; 62:3; 65:19. “Her light was like unto a stone mostprecious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.” “Thenations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it;and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor intoit.” Revelation 21:4, 11, 24, 3. Saith the Lord, “I will rejoicein Jerusalem, and joy in My people.” Isaiah 11:6, 9; 33:24;62:3; 65:19. “The tabernacle of God is with men, and Hewill dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and GodHimself shall be with them, and be their God.” Revelation21:4, 11, 24, 3.

In the city of God “there shall be no night.” None willneed or desire repose. There will be no weariness in do-ing the will of God and offering praise to His name. Weshall ever feel the freshness of the morning, and shallever be far from its close. “And they need no candle, nei-ther light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light.”Revelation 22:5; 21:22. The light of the sun will be super-seded by a radiance which is not painfully dazzling, yet whichimmeasurably surpasses the brightness of our noontide. Theglory of God and the Lamb floods the holy city with unfadinglight. The redeemed walk in the sunless glory of perpetualday.

“I saw no temple therein; for the Lord God Almighty andthe Lamb are the temple of it.” Revelation 22:5; 21:22. The



people of God are privileged to hold open communionwith the Father and the Son. Now we “see through a glass,darkly.” 1 Corinthians 13:12. We behold the image of Godreflected, as in a mirror, in the works of nature and in Hisdealings with men; but then we shall see Him face to face,without a dimming veil between. We shall stand in His pres-ence, and behold the glory of His countenance.

There the redeemed shall “know, even as also they areknown.” The loves and sympathies which God Himself hasplanted in the soul, shall there find truest and sweetest exer-cise. The pure communion with holy beings, the harmo-nious social life with the blessed angels and with the faith-ful ones of all ages, who have washed their robes and madethem white in the blood of the Lamb, the sacred ties thatbind together “the whole family in Heaven and earth,” (Ephe-sians 3:15)—these help to constitute the happiness of theredeemed.

There, immortal minds will contemplate with never-failing delight the wonders of creative power, the mys-teries of redeeming love. There is no cruel, deceiving foe totempt to forgetfulness of God. Every faculty will be devel-oped, every capacity increased. The acquirement of knowl-edge will not weary the mind or exhaust the energies. Therethe grandest enterprises may be carried forward, theloftiest aspirations reached, the highest ambitions real-ized; and still there will arise new heights to surmount,new wonders to admire, new truths to comprehend, freshobjects to call forth the powers of mind and soul and body.

All the treasures of the universe will be open to thestudy of God’s redeemed. Unfettered by mortality, theywing their tireless flight to worlds afar,—worlds thatthrilled with sorrow at the spectacle of human woe, and rangwith songs of gladness at the tidings of a ransomed soul.With unutterable delight the children of earth enter into thejoy and the wisdom of unfallen beings. They share the trea-sures of knowledge and understanding gained through agesupon ages in contemplation of God’s handiwork. With un-dimmed vision they gaze upon the glory of creation,—

7 1 77 1 77 1 77 1 77 1 7

suns and stars and systems, all in their appointed ordercircling the throne of Deity. Upon all things, from the leastto the greatest, the Creator’s name is written, and in all arethe riches of His power displayed.

And the years of eternity, as they roll, will bring richerand still more glorious revelations of God and of Christ.As knowledge is progressive, so will love, reverence, andhappiness increase. The more men learn of God, the greaterwill be their admiration of His character. As Jesus opensbefore them the riches of redemption, and the amazingachievements in the great controversy with Satan, the heartsof the ransomed thrill with more fervent devotion, and withmore rapturous joy they sweep the harps of gold; and tenthousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands ofvoices 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 thatare in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory,and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, andunto the Lamb forever and ever.” Revelation 5:13.

The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners areno more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of har-mony and gladness beats through the vast creation. FromHim who created all, flow life and light and gladness,throughout the realms of illimitable space. From the mi-nutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate andinanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy,declare that God is love.

CHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENTCHAPTER SUPPLEMENT: LIVING FOREVER WITH CHRIST: LIVING FOREVER WITH CHRIST: LIVING FOREVER WITH CHRIST: LIVING FOREVER WITH CHRIST: LIVING FOREVER WITH CHRIST

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no goodthing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:11.

“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried he shall re-ceive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him.” James1:12.

“But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abun-dance of peace.” Psalm 37:11 (Isa 35:10; Dan 7:18).

“And this is the promise that He hath promised us, even eternal life.” 1 John 2:25.“Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the

tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Revelation 22:14.



The Fall of Lucifer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525-533 492-500The Fall of mankind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533-534 500-501Enmity between man and Satan . . . . 538-543 505-510The life and death of Christ . . . . . . . . 533-536 501-503Siege and destruction of Jerusalem . . . 31-53 17-38Persecution of Christians . . . . . . . . . . . 54-64 39-48Apostasy in early church . . . . . . . . . . . 65-69 49-52Attempted change of the Sabbath 69-71, 604-607 / 52-54, 574-578The Dark Ages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71-79 54-60The Early Reformers:

Britain, Scotland, etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . 80-83 61-63The Waldensians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83-98 64-79John Wycliffe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99-115 79-96John Huss and Jerome . . . . . . . . . .116-138 97-119

The Reformation:German . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139-188, 203-230 / 120-170, 185-210Swiss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189-202 171-184French . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231-257 211-236Scandinavian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258-266 237-244Later English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267-287 245-264

The French Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . 288-313 265-288The Founding of America . . . . . . . . . . 314-323 289-298The Advent Awakening . . . . . . . . . . . . 324-428 299-408Investig. Judgment begins . . 429-456, 512-524 / 409-432, 479-491Modern revivals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .494-511 461-478Modern spiritualism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544-593 511-562Objectives of Babylon . . . . . . . . . . . . 594-618 563-581Scriptures our defense . . . . . . . . . . . . 630-639 593-602Nature of the Final Crisis . . . 457-493, 619-629 / 433-460, 582-592The Final Crisis begins . . . . . . . . . . . . 603-610 603-612When probation closes . . . . . . . . . . . . 651-672 613-634Final deliverance . . . . . . . . . 673-678, 690-694 / 635-640, 653-657The Second Advent of Christ . . . . 678-689, 694 / 640-652, 657The Millennium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 690-700 653-661The Third Advent of Christ . . . . . . . . . .701-711 662-672The destruction of the wicked 711-712, 536-537 / 672-673, 503-504Heaven and a new earth . . . . . . . . . . . 712-715 673-677Eternity beyond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .716-717 677-678

THISTHISTHISTHISTHIS18881888188818881888EDITIONEDITIONEDITIONEDITIONEDITION

STANDARDSTANDARDSTANDARDSTANDARDSTANDARD19111911191119111911EDITIONEDITIONEDITIONEDITIONEDITION

A Brief Timeline

The above brief outline will help pinpoint the sweeping overview ofhistory, as presented in this remarkable book.

7 1 97 1 97 1 97 1 97 1 9

Source IndexIndex to the 132 sources quoted throughout this book.

Abbot, Dr. Lyman, in the Christian Union, June 26, 1890 [AmericanCongregationalist] 493

America, January 4, 1941 [R.C. journal] 202American Ecclesiastical Review, January, 1946 [Roman Catholic] 230Aquinas, Thomas, Suma Theologica, Vol. IV, p. 90. [This is the standard

Roman Catholic book of theology and church operation. Only Catholiccouncils and papal decrees are superior to it.] 230

Augustine 163Augustinus Triumphus, Summa de Potestate 163

Bellarmine, Robert, Disputationes de Controversis Christianae Fidei(“Disputations Concerning Controversies of the Christian Faith”), Tom. II,cap. XXII [Bellarmine, later canonized, was a leading Jesuit leader andwriter.] 257

Bellarmine, Robert, On the Authority of the Councils 163Berg, Joseph F., The Great Apostasy, pp. 156-158 613Bernard, St., [fifth century archbishop] 163Binney, Amos, Theological Compendium, pp. 180-181 [Methodist] 492-

493Brady, Priest, address, reported in the Elizabeth, N.J. News of March 18,

1903 490Brief Bible Readings, p. 16 256-257Bronson’s Review, Vol. 1, p. 48 202Bronson’s Review 202Brotherhood of St. Paul, “The Clifton tracts,” Volume 4, tract 4, p. 15 491

Campbell, Alexander, in The Reporter, October 8, 1921 [Christian Church]493

Cardinal Gibbons, through Chancellor H.F. Thomas, Statement, November11, 1895 618

Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 12, p. 266. 256Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 14 202Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 14, p. 765 613Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 14, p. 766 202Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 14, p. 768 202Catholic Mirror, December 23, 1893 490Catholic National, July, 1895 163, 491


Catholic Press, Sydney, Australia, August, 1900 490Catholic Universe Bulletin, August 14, 1942, p. 4 491Catholic World, June 1871, pp. 422-423 613Catholic World, August, 1871, p. 589 613Chalmers, E.M., How Sunday Came into the Christian Church, p. 3 617Chamber’s Encyclopedia, article, “Sabbath” 616Civilta Cattolica, April 1948 [official Jesuit newspaper, published at the

Vatican] 202Civilta Cattolica 202Coleman, Dr. Lyman Coleman, Statement 489Coleman, Lyman, Ancient Christianity Exemplified, chap. 26, sec. 2, p. 527

618Constantine I, First Sunday Law of Constantine I, in “Codex Justianianus,” lib.

3, tit. 12,3; trans. in Phillip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol. 3, p.380 616

Corpus Juris Canonici, 1555 ed., Vol. 3, Extravagantes Communes, Book 1,chap. 1, col. 29 163

Council of Laodicea, c. A.D. 337, Canon 29, quoted in C.J. Hefele, A Historyof the Councils of the Church, Vol. 2, p. 316 618

Council of Trent, decree of, quoted in Philippe Labbe and Gabriel Cossart,The Most Holy Councils, Vol. 13, col. 1167 163, 491

Cummont, Franz F.V.M., Astrology and Religion Among the Greeks andRomans, p. 55 615-616

Dale, Dr. R.W., The Ten Commandments, pp. 106-107 [Congregationalist]492

Delacroix, Jean 611-612de Liguori, The Duties and Dignities of the Priest 215de Liguori, The Glories of Mary (1750) 215de Liguori, The Glories of Mary (ed. Eugene Grimm: Redemptorist Fathers,

1931) p. 83, 137, 124, 273, 82, 180-182 215Di Bruno, Catholic Belief, p. 33 616Doctrinal Catechism, p. 174 [Roman Catholic] 473Durant, Will, The Age of Faith, 1950, pp. 745-746 97Durant, Will, Caesar and Christ, p. 672 616Douay Catechism, p. 59 613Dowling, John, History of Romanism, 13th Edition, p. 65 614

Enright, Thomas, CSSR, president, Redemptorist College, Kansas City,Missouri, lecture at Hartford, Kansas, February 18, 1884, and published inThe American Sentinel [R.C. journal], June 1893, p. 173 473, 613

Eusebius, Bishop, quoted in J.P. Migne, “Patrologie,” p. 23, 1169-1172[Eusebius of Caesarea was a high-ranking Catholic leader duringConstantine’s lifetime] 617

7 2 17 2 17 2 17 2 17 2 1

Eyton, Canon, Ten Commandments [Presbyterian] 492

Fausset Bible Dictionary, p. 666 615Ferraris, Lucius, Prompta Bibliotheca, Vol. 6, 1772-1777 ed., pp. 29, 438, 442

[R.C. sourcebook] 163, 612Flick, Alexander C., Rise of the Medieval Church, pp. 148-149 97Flynn, Loretto, and Simon, Living Our Faith, p. 247 [a widely used high

school textbook.] 202Franklin, Benjamin, Letter dated October 9, 1780 230

Geiermann, Peter, CSSR, A Doctrinal Catechism, 1957 edition, p. 50 491General Catholic Catechism 473Gibbons, Cardinal, from the office of, statement through Chancellor H.F.

Thomas, November 11, 1895 613, 618Gildea, William L., “Paschale Gaudium,” in The Catholic World, 58, March,

1894, p. 809 97Gildea, William L., “Paschale Gaudium,” in The Catholic World, 58, March

1894 614-615Guinness, H. Grattan, Romanism and the Reformation, pp. 144-145 611Guiness, H.G., Romanism and the Reformation 616

Halsberge, Gaston H., The Cult of Sol Invictus, 1972, p. 26 615Harnack, Adolf, History of Dogma, Vol. 4, pp. 318-319 (1898) 97Hefele, C.J., A History of the Councils of the Church, Vol. 2, p. 316 618Heggtveit, H.G., Illustreret Kirkehistorie, 1895, p. 202 617Hermias Sozomen, quoted in Ecclesiastical History, vii, 19, in A Select

Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd Series, Vol. 2, p. 390[written soon after A.D. 415] 617-618

Hinkley, Dr., The Watchman, July 1926 [a well-known astronomer] 489Hiscox, Dr. E.T., author of the Baptist Manual [Baptist], Statement 492Hiscox, Dr. E.T. Hiscox, report of his sermon at the Baptist Minister’s

Convention, New York Examiner, November 16, 1893 [Baptist] 493History of the Councils of the Church, Vol. 2, p. 316 618Hyde, Walter Woodburn, Paganism to Christianity in the Roman Empire, p. 60

615Hyde, W.W., Paganism to Christianity in the Roman Empire, 1946, p. 261

616Hyde, W.W., Paganism to Christianity in the Roman Empire, 1946, p. 257

614

Jeffries, Dr. Frank, Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and ResearchDirector of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, England, Statement 489

Keenan, Stephen, Doctrinal Catechism, p. 176 490

Source IndexSource IndexSource IndexSource IndexSource Index


Kelly, Vincent J., Forbidden Sunday and Feast-Day Occupations, p. 2 [thesispresented by a priest to Catholic University of America] 490

Kelly, V.J., Forbidden Sunday and Feast-Day Occupations, 1943, p. 29 616-617

Kelly, V.J., Forbidden Sunday and Feast-Day Occupations, p. 203 618Killen, William D., The Ancient Church, p. xvi 97, 614

Laing, Gordon J., Survivals of Roman Religion, 1831 edition, pp. 92-95, 123-131, 238-241 97

Langdon, S.H., Semitic Mythology, 1931 ed. 97“Lawfulness of Persecution,” in The Rambler, 4, June 1849, pp. 119, 126

[English R.C. journal published from 1848 to 1862] 257Learned Treatise of the Sabbath, p. 77 614Lecky, W.E.H., History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in

Europe, Vol. 2, p. 32, 1910 ed. 256Lucas, Dr. D.H., in the Christian Oracle, January 23, 1890 [Disciples of Christ]

493

Macaulay, Thomas B., 230Marcellus, Christopher, Oration in the fifth Lateran Council, session IV (1512),

in J.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum, Vol. 32, col. 761 163McClintock and Strong, Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiasti-

cal Literature, Vol. 9, p. 196 614Mosna, S.C., Storia della Domenica, 1969, pp. 366-367 491

Neander, Augustus, A History of the Christian Religion and Church, 1843, p.186 614

Newman, John Henry, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, p.373 (1906) 97

Novena Prayers in Honor of Our Mother of Perpetural Help (published bySisters of St. Basil, with imprimatur) 215

New Schaff Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, P. Hinschius,“Heresy,” Vol. 5, pp. 234-235 (1909) 257

“The Protestant Episcopal Explanation of the Catechism.” [ProtestantEpiscopal] 492

O’Toole, Monsignor, Catholic University of America, 1939 126Ott, Ludwig, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, p. 211 (1974) 215Our Sunday Visitor, “Bureau of Information,” Huntington, Indiana, April 18,

1915 [nationwide R.C. weekly journal] 612Our Sunday Visitor, February 5, 1950 490Pontificale Romanum Summorum Pontificum 230Pope Boniface VIII, quoted in Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. XV, p. 126 202Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter, June 20, 1894 163, 491

7 2 37 2 37 2 37 2 37 2 3

Pope Leo XIII, Magnae Dei Matris 215Pope Pius X, Mary Mediatrix, in Encyclical: Ad Diem Illum 215Pope Pius X, quoted in F.J. Sheed, Theology for Beginners, p. 132 214Pope Pius XII, April 6, 1951 202Pope Pius XII, quoted in E.R. Carrol (ed.), Mariology, Vol. 1, p. 49 (1955)

215Pope Sylvester, quoted by S.R.E. Humbert, “Adversus Graecorum

Calumnias,” in J.P. Migne, Patrologie, p. 143 [Sylvester (A.D. 314-337)was the pope at the time Constantine I was emperor] 617

Rheims Douay [Catholic] Bible, note on Revelation 13:18 611Ringgold, James T., The Law of Sunday, p. 267 618Robertson, James, Director American Ephemeris, Navy Department, U.S.

Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C., March 12, 1932, Statement 489Rordorf, W., Sunday, p. 157 614

Scott, Martin J., Things Catholics Are Asked about, 1927, p. 236 618Segur, Monsignor Louis, Plain Talk about the Protestantism of Today, p. 213

613, 491 (more complete)Seymour, Bishop Why We Keep Sunday [Episcopalian] 493Shea, John Gilmary, in American Catholic Quarterly Review, January 1883

490Smith, Albert, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, replying for the

Cardinal, in a letter dated February 10, 1920 491Socraties Scholasticus, quoted in Ecclesiastical History, Book 5, chap. 22

[written shortly after A.D. 439] 617

Taylor, Joseph Judson, The Sabbatic Question, pp. 14-17, 41 [SouthernBaptist] 493

Totten, Dr., Professor of Astronomy at Yale University, Statement 489Tuberville, Henry, An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine, p. 58 163

Veuillot, Louis [French Catholic writer, speaking to Protestants] 230Villien, Antoine, A History of the Commandments of the Church, 1915, p. 23

614Vincent, Marvin R., D.D., Word Studies in the New Testament, Comment on

Revelation 13:18 611Walsh, M.E. 615Watchman, The [Baptist] 492Webster, Hutton, Rest Days, pp. 122-123, 270 618Weigall, Authur, The Paganism in Our Christianity, 1928, p. 145 615Williams, Isaac, Plain Sermons on the Catechism, pp. 334, 336 [Anglican]

492

Source IndexSource IndexSource IndexSource IndexSource Index


As the people of God approach the perils of the lastdays, Satan holds earnest consultation with his angels as tothe most successful plan of overthrowing their faith. Hesees that the popular churches are already lulled to sleepby his deceptive power. By pleasing sophistry and lyingwonders he can continue to hold them under his control.Therefore he directs his angels to lay their snares espe-cially for those who are looking for the second advent ofChrist, and endeavoring to keep all the commandments ofGod.

Says the great deceiver:“We must watch those who are calling the attention

of the people to the Sabbath of Jehovah. They will leadmany to see the claims of the law of God; and the samelight, which reveals the true Sabbath, reveals also theministration of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, and showsthat the last work for man’s salvation is now going for-ward. Hold the minds of the people in darkness till thatwork is ended, and we shall secure the world and thechurch also.

“The Sabbath is the great question which is to decide

AppendixAppendixAppendixAppendixAppendix

The SecretThe SecretThe SecretThe SecretThe SecretInstrInstrInstrInstrInstructionsuctionsuctionsuctionsuctions

—Satan’s Plan to Destroy God’s People—Satan’s Plan to Destroy God’s People—Satan’s Plan to Destroy God’s People—Satan’s Plan to Destroy God’s People—Satan’s Plan to Destroy God’s People

What would it be like to understand, ahead oftime, Satan’s plan to destroy the people of God? Theinformation which follows was part of the Second(1884) Edition of this book. We are including it in thisreprint of the Third (1888) Edition.

7 2 97 2 97 2 97 2 97 2 9

the destiny of souls. We must exalt the sabbath of ourcreating. We have caused it to be accepted by bothworldlings and church members; now the church must beled to unite with the world in its support. We must work bysigns and wonders to blind their eyes to the truth, and leadthem to lay aside reason and the fear of God, and followcustom and tradition.

“I will influence popular ministers to turn theattention of their hearers from the commandments of God.That which the Scriptures declare to be a perfect law ofliberty shall be represented as a yoke of bondage. Thepeople accept their ministers’ explanations of Scripture,and do not investigate for themselves. Therefore byworking through the ministers, I can control the peopleaccording to my will.

“But our principle concern is to silence this sect ofSabbath-keepers. We must excite popular indignationagainst them. We will enlist great men and worldly-wisemen upon our side, and induce those in authority to carryout our purposes. Then the sabbath which I have set upshall be enforced by laws the most severe and exacting.Those who disregard them shall be driven out from thecities and villages, and made to suffer hunger and priva-tion. When once we have the power, we will show what wecan do with those who will not swerve from their alle-giance to God. We led the Romish Church to inflictimprisonment, torture, and death upon those who refusedto yield to her decrees, and now we are bringing theProtestant churches and the world into harmony with thisright arm of our strength. We will finally have a law toexterminate all who will not submit to our authority. Whendeath shall be made the penalty of violating our sabbath,then many who are now ranked with commandment-keepers will come over to our side.

“But before proceeding to these extreme measures,we must exert all our wisdom and subtilty to deceive andensnare those who honor the true Sabbath. We can sepa-rate many from Christ by worldliness, lust, and pride. They

The Secret InstructionsThe Secret InstructionsThe Secret InstructionsThe Secret InstructionsThe Secret Instructions


may think themselves safe because they believe the truth,but indulgence of appetite or the lower passions, whichwill confuse judgment and destroy discrimination, willcause their fall.

“Go, make the possessors of lands and money drunkwith the cares of this life. Present the world before them inits most attractive light, that they may lay up their treasurehere, and fix their affections upon earthly things. We mustdo our utmost to prevent those who labor in God’s causefrom obtaining means to use against us. Keep the money inour own ranks. The more means they obtain, the more theywill injure our kingdom by taking from us our subjects.Make them care more for money than for the upbuilding ofChrist’s kingdom and the spread of the truths we hate, andwe need not fear their influence; for we know that everyselfish, covetous person will fall under our power, and willfinally be separated from God’s people.

“Through those that have a form of godliness butknow not the power, we can gain many who would other-wise do us great harm. Lovers of pleasure more than loversof God will be our most effective helpers. Those of thisclass who are apt and intelligent will serve as decoys todraw others into our snares. Many will not fear theirinfluence, because they profess the same faith. We willthus lead them to conclude that the requirements of Christare less strict than they once believed, and that by confor-mity to the world they would exert a greater influence withworldlings. Thus they will separate from Christ; then theywill have no strength to resist our power, and erelong theywill be ready to ridicule their former zeal and devotion.

“Until the great decisive blow shall be struck, ourefforts against commandment-keepers must be untiring.We must be present at all their gatherings. In their largemeetings especially our cause will suffer much, and wemust exercise great vigilance, and employ all our seductivearts to prevent souls from hearing the truth and becomingimpressed by it.

“I will have upon the ground, as my agents, men

7 3 17 3 17 3 17 3 17 3 1

holding false doctrines mingled with just enough truth todeceive souls. I will also have unbelieving ones present,who will express doubts in regard to the Lord’s messagesof warning to His church. Should the people read andbelieve these admonitions, we could have little hope ofovercoming them. But if we can divert their attention fromthese warnings, they will remain ignorant of our power andcunning, and we shall secure them in our ranks at last. Godwill not permit His words to be slighted with impunity. Ifwe can keep souls deceived for a time, God’s mercy will bewithdrawn, and He will give them up to our full control.

“We must cause distraction and division. We mustdestroy their anxiety for their own souls, and lead them tocriticize, to judge, and to accuse and condemn one another,and to cherish selfishness and enmity. For these sins, Godbanished us from His presence, and all who follow ourexample will meet a similar fate.”

Map Index

The above set of instructions was originallyincluded in the first four pages of the chapter, “TheSnares of Satan,” in the Second Edition of this book.It will also be found on pages 472-475 of the book,Testimonies to Ministers.

Map IndexMap IndexMap IndexMap IndexMap Index

Two maps have been prepared to enable you to locate every place which isnamed in chapters 1 to 15.

Map 1, on pages 724-725, identifies every location in chapters 1 through 6.Map 2, on pages 726-727, locates every place which is named in chapters 7

through 15.The following index first lists the city, followed by the nation it is now in, and then

the map page where you will find it.

Alexandria, Egypt 719Alexandria, Egypt 719Algiers, Algeria 720

Antioch, Turkey 719Augsburg, Germany

718, 721

Avignon, France 718Bade, Switzerland 720Basel, Switzerland 720


Bedford, England 720Berlin, Germany 721Bern, Switzerland 720Bremen, Germany 718

Canossa, Italy 718Carthage, Tunisia 718Clonard, Ireland 718Cologne, Germany 718,

721Constance, Germany

718, 721Constantinople, Turkey

719, 721Corinth, Greece 719Cracow, Poland 721

Damascus, Syria 719Darmstadt, Germany

721Dresden, Germany 721Dublin, Ireland 720Durham, England 720Edinburgh, Scotland 720Einsiedeln, Switzerland

720Eisleben, Germany 721Ephesus, Turkey 719Erfurt, Germany 721

Florence, Italy 718, 721Frankfort, Germany 721Geneva, Switzerland 721Glasgow, Scotland 720Granada, Spain 720

Halle, Germany 721Ingolstadt, Germany 721Iona, Scotland 718

Germany 721Orebro, Sweden 721Orleans, France 720

Paris, France 718, 720Patmos, Aegean Sea

(Greece) 719Pella, Jordan 719Philippi, Greece 719Prague, Czechoslovakia

719, 721Reims, France 718Tours, France 718Rome, Italy 718, 721

Segovia, Spain 720Seville, Spain 720Schmalkalden, Germany

721Spires, Germany 721Stockholm, Sweden 721Syracuse, Sicily 718Thebes, Egypt 719Toledo, Spain 718Toulouse, Spain 718,

720Trent, Italy 721

Ulm, Germany 721Utrecht, Netherlands

720Valence, France 720Wartburg, Germany 721Westphalia, Germany

721Worms, Germany 720,

721Zurich, Switzerland 720Zwickau, Germany 721

THE PAGING IN THE ABOVE MAP INDEX is keyed to the four maps on pages 724-727.

Jerusalem, Isreal719

Kiev, Ukraine 719,721

Leipzig, Germany721

Leyden, Nether-lands 720

Lisbon, Portugal720

London, England718, 720

Lubeck, Germany721

Lyons, France 718,720

Madrid, Spain 720Magdeburg,

Germany 718,721

Mainz, Germany718, 721

Marburg, Germany721

Meaux, France 720Memphis, Egypt

719Milan, Italy 718Munster, Germany

720, 721

Naples, Italy 721Nantes, France 720Navarre, Spain 720Nicomedia, Turkey

719Nicea, Turkey 719Nuremberg,

7 3 37 3 37 3 37 3 37 3 3

Amazing 1260 Year Prophecy293

Apostasy Predicted 77Awaiting His Coming 340Bible Truth 649Biblical Millennium 697Biography of Satan 551Catholicism Speaks 490-491Centuries of Persecution 256-257Christ Our Mediator 446-447Christ Our Shelter 672Daniel Predicts the Apostasy 115Day of Judgment 524Declared to be Divine and

Infallible 163Delight and Joy in God 700Earthly Tabernacle 434-435Eternal Life Only in Christ 582False Christs 543Faith to Overcome 629Forty-eight Steps Down 78-79God Our Refuge 313God’s Empowering Grace 287God’s Love for Man 162Healthful Living 511How the Sabbath Was Changed

to Sunday 614-618Importance of Prayer 266Importance of the Bible 639Keeping the Truth 649Jerusalem Taken by Titus (Map)

48Law of God 472Law of God as Changed by Man

473Law of God in the New Testament

474Living Forever with Christ 717Millennium 696New Covenant 428Number and the Mark 611-613Obedience by Faith 395Official Position, An 230Only Authority, The 202Pagan Origins 97Plan of Redemption 411Predicting the Persecution 64Prophecy of Revelation 13 464Protestantism Speaks 492-493Rebellion and Capture of

Jerusalem 49Resisting the Snares 563Revelation 12 64Roman Channel of Grace 214-

215Seal and the Mark 475Searching the Word of God 376Second Coming of Christ 689Supplying Our Needs 286Test of Loyalty 650Three Angel’s Message 478Trusting in the Lord 1881260-Year Prophecy 2922300-Year Prophecy 432-433Weekly Cycle 488-489Why Do God’s People Suffer?

138

Chart IndexChart IndexChart IndexChart IndexChart IndexChart Index

This in an alphabetical index to the 58 charts in this edition of GreatControversy.


Scripture IndexThis index lists every Bible verse quoted or referred to in this book. Allpaging notations are to the bracketed page numbers at the top of thepages (which are the standardized, original paging of the 1888 and1911 editions).

GENESISGENESISGENESISGENESISGENESIS1:2 6582:1-3 4552:2-3 523:1 5313:2-5 5323:4-5 5613:5 5543:15 5053:19 5323:24 5346:5, 11 54315:1 8622:9,16-18 1828:12 1932:24-30 61632:30 622

EXODUSEXODUSEXODUSEXODUSEXODUS5:2 26920:8-11 43420:10-11 43725:8 41125:9, 40 41331:17 43732:33 48334:6 1934:6-7 500, 541, 627

LEVITICUSLEVITICUSLEVITICUSLEVITICUSLEVITICUS10:17 41816:8, 21, 22 41916:16,19 419

16:17 42816:21 65816:22 48516:29-34 40017:11 41819:31 55620:27 556

NUMBERSNUMBERSNUMBERSNUMBERSNUMBERS14:34 32423:8,10,20,21,23

52924:9 52925:1-3 556

DEUTERONOMYDEUTERONOMYDEUTERONOMYDEUTERONOMYDEUTERONOMY4:6 23028:56-57 3229:29 32430:15 544

2 SAMUEL2 SAMUEL2 SAMUEL2 SAMUEL2 SAMUEL13:39 537

1 KINGS1 KINGS1 KINGS1 KINGS1 KINGS18:17 10418:17-18 590

2 KINGS2 KINGS2 KINGS2 KINGS2 KINGS6:17 20819:35 512

1 CHRONICLES1 CHRONICLES1 CHRONICLES1 CHRONICLES1 CHRONICLES21 1928:12,19 23

2 CHRONICLES2 CHRONICLES2 CHRONICLES2 CHRONICLES2 CHRONICLES32:21 51236:16,15 19

EZRAEZRAEZRAEZRAEZRA3:12 247:12-26 326

NEHEMIAHNEHEMIAHNEHEMIAHNEHEMIAHNEHEMIAH4:10,14 568:10 47713:14 481

JOBJOBJOBJOBJOB1:6 5181:9-10 5139:2 25411:7 34414:10-12 55014:21 55019:25-27 29938:6-7 45538:7 51142:6 477

PSALMSPSALMSPSALMSPSALMSPSALMS1:1-3 4786:5 5468:5 511

7 3 57 3 57 3 57 3 57 3 5Scripture IndexScripture IndexScripture IndexScripture IndexScripture Index

9:5-6 54511:6 67214:1 27516:4 31019:7 46825:14 31227:5 63430:5 35034:7 513, 63237:10 54537:29 67437:38 54140:8 46646:1-3 63948:2 1750:2-4 30050:3-4 64250:6 639, 65051:17 48453:5 11756:8 48173:11 27476:2 2378:68-69 2380:8 1984:11 67390:2 47991:3-10 63095:6 43796:11,13 30097:11 522100:3 437103:19-21 512106:28 556109:5 20111:7-8 288, 434112:4 340115:17 546119:11 600119:18 600119:45 466119:46 207

119:89 434119:97 468119:99,104 602119:105 267119:130 94, 195,

320119:142,172 467121:5-7 630132:13 19139:12 346145:10 671145:20 541146:4 545

PROVERBSPROVERBSPROVERBSPROVERBSPROVERBS1:24-25 6421:27 6441:29,31 2861:33 2853:13 6023:14 3124:18 47611:31 67314:34 27716:12 27716:25 59728:9 43628:13 489

ECCLESIASTESECCLESIASTESECCLESIASTESECCLESIASTESECCLESIASTES8:11-13 2868:12-13 5409:5-6,10 54610:16 16512:6 55012:13 43612:13-14 48212:14 481

SONG OFSONG OFSONG OFSONG OFSONG OFSOLOMONSOLOMONSOLOMONSOLOMONSOLOMON

6:10 425

ISAIAHISAIAHISAIAHISAIAHISAIAH2:10-12,20-21 6383:10-11 5404:2-3 4855:1-4 205:20 5576:3,5 4718:16,20 4528:19,20 5598:20 5939:5 37, 642, 67211:6,9 67613:6 63813:9 31113:11 31014:3-6 66014:7 67314:12-17 65914:13-14 494, 50414:18-20 66021:11-12 63224:1,3,5-6 65724:4-5 59024:22 66125:8 65025:8-9 30025:9 64426:19 30026:20-21 63426:21 65727:5 61928:5 30128:15 56028:17-18 56228:21 62730:11 2830:29-30 63532:17 27732:18 67533:16 626, 62933:24 67634:2 672


34:8 67335:1 67535:2 30237:23 28738:18-19 54640:5 30140:8 28840:25-26 43741:17 62942:16 34642:21 46643:25 48345:18 437, 67446:9-10 34448:18,22 28549:14-16 62649:15 3251:3 30251:7-8 46051:11-16 63351:21-23 63453:4 41653:7 1854:17 28855:8-9 34455:13 67556:1-2,6-7 45156:8 45158:1-2 45258:12-14 45358:13 44759:14 58659:19 60060:18 67561:3 65062:4-5 30262:12 65065:6-7 48165:19 67665:21-22 67566:5 372

JEREMIAHJEREMIAHJEREMIAHJEREMIAHJEREMIAH2:13 4783:14 3813:20 3824:19-20 3104:23-27 6596:16 4788:11 6559:1 2113:17 2116:21 28717:8 60217:21-25 1923:1-2 65525:31 65625:33 65725:34-35 65526:18 3530:5-7 61630:6 64131:34 48550:20 485

LAMENTATIONSLAMENTATIONSLAMENTATIONSLAMENTATIONSLAMENTATIONS4:10 32

EZEKIELEZEKIELEZEKIELEZEKIELEZEKIEL1:14 5122:7 4593:7 4594:6 3249:1-6 65612:21-25,27-28 39313:22 65514:20 62316:14-15 38318:20 53318:24 48320:20 43728:6 49428:6-8,16-19 67228:12-15,17 494

28:18-19 50433:7-9 46033:8-9 33033:11 535, 627, 642

DANIELDANIELDANIELDANIELDANIEL5:27 4917:2 4407:9-10 4797:10 414, 5127:13 4247:13-14 4807:14 4277:22 6617:25 51, 54, 4467:27 3478:14 4099:18,15,20 4719:22-23,25-27 3259:25 31310:11 47012:1 48112:2 63712:4 356

HOSEAHOSEAHOSEAHOSEAHOSEA2:19 3814:6,1-2 606:3 6118:2,1 31012:4 61713:9 3514:1 35

JOELJOELJOELJOELJOEL1:10-12,17-20 6282:1,15-18,12-13 3112:11 3102:23 6112:26 3502:31 308


AMOSAMOSAMOSAMOSAMOS3:7 3245:20 3108:3 6288:11-12 629

OBADIAHOBADIAHOBADIAHOBADIAHOBADIAH16 545

MICAHMICAHMICAHMICAHMICAH3:9-11 263:12 274:8 484, 6745:2 3137:8-9 346

NAHUMNAHUMNAHUMNAHUMNAHUM1:3 6271:9 4052:10 641

HABBAKKUKHABBAKKUKHABBAKKUKHABBAKKUKHABBAKKUK1:13 3102:2 5213:3-4 6413:3-13 3013:4 6743:17-18 629

ZEPHANIAHZEPHANIAHZEPHANIAHZEPHANIAHZEPHANIAH1:12 3101:15-16 3101:18-13 310

HAGGAIHAGGAIHAGGAIHAGGAIHAGGAI2:3 242:9,7 23

ZECHARIAHZECHARIAHZECHARIAHZECHARIAHZECHARIAH2:8 6263:2 4844:6 232,529

6:13 4169:9 40514:5,4,9 66314:12-13 657

MALACHIMALACHIMALACHIMALACHIMALACHI2:17 5573:1 4243:2-3 4253:4 4253:5 4263:16 4813:17 6343:18 6404:1 504, 672, 6734:2 645

MATTHEWMATTHEWMATTHEWMATTHEWMATTHEW4:19 1715:17-18 4665:17-19 4475:18 4347:2 297:7 5287:16 465, 5208:11 42710:5-6 32710:18-20 11210:23 19610:32-33 48310:33 15610:34 46, 12611:5 2011:28 20, 75, 56911:29-30 48912:22 51512:36-37 48113:30,38-41 32118:10 51320:27 5821:5 10021:8-16 367

21:9 40221:12 12722:11 42823:4 56823:37 2223:38 24, 43124:2-3 2524:9,21-22 3924:15 34124:15-16 2624:22 26724:23-26 52524:24-27,31 62524:29 37,33324:30,27,31 32224:30-31 3724:33 38, 33424:35 2624:36,3,33,42-51 37124:39 338, 49125:5-7 39825:21,41 54925:31 62525:31-32 301, 34725:31-34 32225:40 77, 66826:64 64327:25 3227:42 63027:42-43 64328:3-4 51228:20 351

MARKMARKMARKMARKMARK1:14-15 3271:15 3452:28 4475:9 5147:26-30 5159:17-27 51512:24 59913:1 25


13:24 30613:24-26 37, 30413:33 49013:35 3813:35-36 49113:37 5716:15 351

LUKELUKELUKELUKELUKE1:32-33 4162:14 46, 3142:25,32 3154:8 514:18 20, 3274:25 3234:33-36 5154:36 5166:26 1449:54,56 57010:20 48111:13 47712:36 42713:7 2718:7-8 63119:40 40419:41 1819:42-44 1719:44 31620:35-36 48221:16-17 5421:20 2621:20-21 3021:25 37, 30421:28,30-31 30921:34,36 30922:24 34822:30 42724:27 34924:32 35024:52-53 339

JOHNJOHNJOHNJOHNJOHN1:9 262, 5281:51 193:14-15 743:16 4173:19 2653:20 4583:36 5335:28-29 5445:29 4825:40 227:16 2437:17 528, 5998:12 312, 4768:29 46911:48 2711:50 61512:35 31214:1-3 30114:2-3 54814:3 33914:14 47714:26 60014:30 62315:10 46915:19-20 14415:20 4715:22 16416:13 46916:24 47716:26-27 46917:17,19 46917:24 501, 63618:36 29720:13 403

ACTSACTSACTSACTSACTS1:11 301, 3392:17,21 6112:29,34 5462:47 379

3:19-20 485,6123:21 3014:12 744:32,31 3798:4 2198:4-5 3288:10 6258:20 12810:38 20, 32713:47 31517:3 40517:31 54822:21 32824:15 54424:25 16426:5 21326:28 164

ROMANSROMANSROMANSROMANSROMANS1:17 1252:5-6,9 5402:7 5332:12-16 4363:20 4673:31 4685:12 5336:2 4686:23 5447:12 4678:1 4778:4 4688:7 4678:32 4778:34 3508:38-39,37 35011:33 52712:1 47313:10 46714:23 43615:4 32415:16 469


1 CORINTHIANS1 CORINTHIANS1 CORINTHIANS1 CORINTHIANS1 CORINTHIANS1:27,25 2322:9 6752:14 5243:10-11 564:5 481, 6615:7 3996:2-3 6616:10 5396:19-20 47510:20 55613:12 67615:16-18 54615:22 54415:23,20 39915:50 32315:51-53 32215:52-55 55015:55 64415:57 470

2 CORINTHIANS2 CORINTHIANS2 CORINTHIANS2 CORINTHIANS2 CORINTHIANS4:4 5084:17 4605:19 417, 5026:17-18 4757:1 4747:9-11 46211:2 38112:2-4 47112:9 48913:8 101

GALATIANSGALATIANSGALATIANSGALATIANSGALATIANS1:8 2435:22-23 474

EPHESIANSEPHESIANSEPHESIANSEPHESIANSEPHESIANS1:14 6742:20-22 4163:8 471

3:15 6773:16-19 4764:3-5 3795:5 5415:14-16 6025:27 425, 4846:11 5106:12 5106:17 56

PHILIPPIANSPHILIPPIANSPHILIPPIANSPHILIPPIANSPHILIPPIANS1:12 2192:12-13 4693:13-14 4703:21 3994:3 4814:4 478

COLOSSIANSCOLOSSIANSCOLOSSIANSCOLOSSIANSCOLOSSIANS1:9-11 4761:16 493

1 THESSALONIANS1 THESSALONIANS1 THESSALONIANS1 THESSALONIANS1 THESSALONIANS4:3 4694:14 5504:16 3014:16-17 322, 6254:16-18 302, 5485:2-5 38, 3715:4-5 3155:16-18 4785:23 469, 473

2 THESSALONIANS2 THESSALONIANS2 THESSALONIANS2 THESSALONIANS2 THESSALONIANS1:8 4242:3 356, 444, 4562:3-4 5712:3,4,7 492:4 532:7 54, 3842:8 37, 321, 5792:9-10 553

2:9-11 390, 4442:10-11 5592:10-12 431, 5242:12 390

1 TIMOTHY1 TIMOTHY1 TIMOTHY1 TIMOTHY1 TIMOTHY2:3-6 2624:1 4446:20 522

2 TIMOTHY2 TIMOTHY2 TIMOTHY2 TIMOTHY2 TIMOTHY1:10 5333:1-5 4443:9 2753:12 48, 507, 6083:13, 1 3213:16 3244:3 595

TITUSTITUSTITUSTITUSTITUS2:11 262

HEBREWSHEBREWSHEBREWSHEBREWSHEBREWS1:6 5021:14 5112:11 4772:14 5032:18 4163:19 4584:15 4164:16 3476:18-19 3506:19-20 4216:20 4897:25 4828:1-2 4138:5 413, 4189:1-5 4119:9, 23 4139:12 4219:22-23 4179:24 413, 420, 482


9:28 315, 48510:29 60010:32 3910:35-39 40811:6 74, 43611:14-16 67511:26 46011:35 4111:36-38 4012:14 54112:22 512

JAMESJAMESJAMESJAMESJAMES1:25 4662:8 4662:10 5822:12 4822:14-24 4723:15 554

1 PETER1 PETER1 PETER1 PETER1 PETER1:10-12 3441:25 3502:6 2102:11 4743:3-4 4623:12-13 5294:17 4805:8 510

2 PETER2 PETER2 PETER2 PETER2 PETER1:5-10 4701:19 3121:21 3243:3-4 3703:9 483:10 672

1 JOHN1 JOHN1 JOHN1 JOHN1 JOHN1:7 742:1 416, 4822:4-5 472

3:4 4673:6 4725:3 436, 4685:4 477

JUDEJUDEJUDEJUDEJUDE3 51, 646 6616,14,15 54914-15 299, 42624 646

REVELATIONREVELATIONREVELATIONREVELATIONREVELATION1:1-3 3411:5-6 416, 6461:7 301, 625, 6371:9 781:13-15 6241:17 4712:10 412:17 6463:1,3 3103:3 371, 4903:4 4843:5 4833:7-8 430, 4353:10 560, 6193:21 4164:5 4144:11 4375:11 5125:12 6715:13 545, 6786:12 3046:12-17 37, 3346:13 3336:15-17 6427:9 6657:10, 12 6517:14 4287:14-17 6498:3 414

11:2-11 26611:4 26711:5 26811:11 28611:12 28711:15 30111:19 415, 43312:6 5512:9 43812:10 52012:12 62312:17 59213:1-10 43913:2 5413:3 57913:5-7 5413:8 57913:11 43913:11-14 44213:11-16 57913:13 61213:13-14 55313:16 450, 60413:16-17 44514:1-5 64914:6-7 311, 35514:8 381, 536,

60314:9-10 438,

605, 62714:9-11 59415:2 64815:2-3 45015:3 649, 66915:4 67016:2-6, 8-9 62816:13-14 56216:14 55616:17-18 636,

63716:19,21 63717:2 536

7 4 17 4 17 4 17 4 17 4 1

17:4-6, 18 38217:15 44018:1,2,4 60318:3, 15-17 65318:4 39018:5 60418:5-10 65319:9 42719:11,14 64119:16 64120:1-3 658

20:4,6 66120:5 66120:6 544, 67320:11-12 66620:12 480 54921:1 67421:2 42721:4,11,24,3 67621:6-7 54021:9-10 42721:22 676

21:27 474, 48122:5 67622:11 61322:11-12 49122:12 352, 42222:14 46622:14-15 54122:18-19 26822:20 302

General Index This index will provide you with a study guide to a number of basic topicsdiscussed in this book.

Aleander the papal legate, 166-187

Advent awakening, 324-428Apostasy in the early church, 65-

70Augsburg Council, 153-159Bible, importance and study of,

554-556, 630-639Books in heaven, 512-520Britain, church in early, 81-83

Calvin, John, 241-256Christ’s predictions on Olivet, 31-

40Dark ages, cause of, 71-77Dark day, 330-332Dead, state of, 564-569Deliverance of God’s people,

674-678Destruction of Jerusalem, 40-53Destruction of the wicked, 711-

712Early persecutions of Christians

54-63

Enmity between man and Satan,538-543

English Reformers, other(Latimer, Barnes, etc.), 270-275

Evil, origin of, 525-537

Fanaticism in Germany, 204-211French Reformation, 231-256French Revolution, 288-313Great disappointment, 424-428Heaven, 713-717Huss, John, 116-129Hussite wars, 134-138Immortality, conditional, 564-582Intercession of Christ, 429-453,

515-518

Jacob’s trouble, 654-674Jerome, 129-133Judgment, investigative, 512-524

Sentencing, 690-700Final, 701-712

Law of God,


final conflict over, 619-629importance of and controversy

over, 457-478, 498-501Lisbon earthquake, 329-330Loud cry, 640-649Luther, Martin, 139-188, 203-214

Mark of the Beast, 462-478Midnight cry, 418-424Millennium, 690-700Miller, William, 341-428Netherlands reformation, 258-263Papacy, 65-70, 594-611Pilgrims to America, 314-323Plagues, seven last, 665-666Probation, close of, 651-653Protest of the princes, 219-224Revelation 13, 462-478Revivals, modern religious, 494-

511

Sabbath, attempted change of,69-70, 604-608

and Revelation 13, 457-478importance of, 479-488

Sanctification, erroneous views of,502-511

Sanctuary message, 429-453,512-424

Satan, fall of, 525-537Demons of, 544-550

Snares of, 551-563First lie of, 564-566Enmity between man and,

538-543Second Advent, great truth of,

324-340of Christ, 678-689

Spires, Diet [Council] of, 216-230Spiritualism, dangers of, 583-593St. Bartholomew’s massacre,

297-299

Tetzel, John, 146-148Third angel’s message, 457-478Time of Trouble, 651-6741260-year prophecy, 290-2942300-day prophecy, 348-352,

429-430Two witnesses, 289-294Tyndale, William, 267-270

Waldensian Christians, 83-97Wartburg, Castle of, 186-188Wesley, John, 275-286Wicked, punishment of, 569-582,

711-712Worms, Diet [Council] of, 164-

186Wycliffe, John, 99-115Zwingle, Ulric, 190-202

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