The Bible Student's Library.

THE

GREAT CONTROVERSY

BETWEEN

GOD AND MAN,

ITS

ORIGIN, PROGRESS, AND END.

WITH
THE CHURCH NOT IN DARKNESS; THE THREE WORLDS; THE LAST DAYS;
PLAIN TRUTHS; ANCIENT LANDMARKS; OLIVE LEAVES; IMPORTANT
QUESTIONS; ONE THING; OUTLINE OF THE COAST, ETC.

BY
H. L. HASTINGS,

AUTHOR OF THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES; REASONS FOR MY HOPE;
THESSALONICA, OR THE MODEL CHURCH; ETC.

_______________


BOSTON:
PUBLISHED BY H. L. HASTINGS, NO. 167 HANOVER ST.
W. H. PIPER AND CO., NO. 133 WASHINGTON ST.
NEW YORK: G. W. CARLETON, 413 BROADWAY;
GEORGE W. YOUNG, 35 ANN ST., UP STAIRS.
PHILADELPHIA: SMITH, ENGLISH, AND CO.
1864

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Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860,
By H. L. HASTINGS,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the
State of Rhode Island.


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THE GREAT CONTROVERSY.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
The Great Controversy. The World in disorder and commotion. What is the cause of all this Tumult? Problem of
History. Its solution. Jehovah hath a Controversy with the nations. Its origin and grounds. Right and wrong. Man has
revolted from God. He must yield, or meet the consequences. He must bow or break. He is placed under the
restraints of toil, sorrow, and mortality, to prevent Eternal Rebellion. p. 1119.

CHAPTER II.
Primitive Revelations. Proposals and Conditions of Peace. Probation abused. The repentant Few. The sinful Multitudes.
The Warning. A Preacher of righteousness. A Rebellious World. Their Doom. The Deluge. The New World. The
Saved Family. Renewed Iniquity. Consolidation. A City and a Tower. Confusion of Tongues. A new Restraint.
Idolatry. The Friend of God. Renewed Impiety. The Cities of the Plain. Sudden Judgments. The Controversy closed
with them. Israel in Egypt. Oppression. Israel's Deliverer, his Character. Plagues. The Hardening. The Exode. The
Guide. The Pursuit. Deliverance. Destruction of Pharaoh. The Controversy with him closed. The Song of Moses. A
terrible Example. - - - - - 2043

CHAPTER III.
The Fear of the Nations of Canaan. The People of Jericho. Will they obey God? His Purpose. Infidel Cavils answered.
Character of the Canaanites.Idolatrous, cruel, debauched "Free-lovers." Are their modern Apologists like them?
They were cast out. God's Purpose moves on. Another Example. - - - - - 4452

CHAPTER IV.
The Scene Changed. The Mighty Hunter. A vast Empire. "That Great City." Impiety abounding. A Warning from God.
Repentance. Judgment deferred. Renewed ungodliness. Israel invaded. A praying King. A prayer-bearing God. An
angelic Warrior. The Army destroyed. The King slain. Nahum. God's War-cry against Nineveh. The Avengers. A
strange Prediction. "An overrunning Flood." "Devoured as Stubble fully dry." Nineveh's Overthrow. - - - - - - 5362

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CHAPTER V.
Israel in their own Goodly Land. They rebel. God's Controversy with them. Remove the diadem. Wrath provoked; there
was no Remedy. The King of Chaldea. Jerusalem Taken; her People in Captivity. Harps on the Willows. The King
degraded. Repentance. Impiety. Vengeance. The Medes and Persians. A new Kingdom. Israel delivered. Jerusalem
rebuilt. Returning blessing. The new Empire; its sins and punishments. The Grecian Conqueror. Persia prostrate.
Alexander victorious. His Fall. His Progeny destroyed. His Kingdom divided. His four Generals. The City of the
Robbers. The Roman rule. The Iron Kingdom. Rome continues the Controversy. Israel Apostatize. The Controversy
unsettled. The prospect dark. - - - 6378

CHAPTER VI.
Jehovah's Purpose. The heavenly Visitant. The celestial Song. Temporary quiet. God's great Ambassador. His reception
by Israel. His reception by the World. "Away with Him." Earth rejected Him. Heaven opened to receive Him. The
Controversy yet unsettled. Grace abounding. The Messengers of Peace. Their treatment by Jews and Gentiles. God's
Judgments on Israel. Jerusalem Overthrown. Israel dispersed. Hope yet for fallen Israel. A warning to the Gentile
Church. - - - - - 7993

CHAPTER VII.
The message of peace to the Gentiles. The Messengers persecuted. The Church exalted. Coquettish Dalliance. Open
Wantonness. The faithful Remnant. Rome subverted. Treacherous Friends. The weeping Bride. Judgments on the
Apostate. The False Prophet. The Locust Plague. The Lion-Like Horsemen. Myriads of myriads. New Instruments of
Destruction. "They repented not." A mighty Angel. A Lion-like Voice. An open Bible. Offers of Mercy. The
Reformation. Imperfection. Degeneracy. The World still ungodly. Refinement is not Righteousness. The present
Conditions of the World. The Key to the Mystery. The Lord hath a Controversy with the Nations. The Prospect
gloomy. Practical Admonitions. - - - - - - 94115

CHAPTER VIII.
The Great Controversy. How shall it Issue? Analogies are unfavorable. The Works of the Flesh. The natural Man the
same. Reformations are only individual. AnticipationsThe DespotThe RepublicanWorldling, etc., etc.
Discordant Views. All sit secure. Wickedness Increases. The World Rebellious. All governments guilty before God.
Iniquity abounds. Love waxes cold. Preaching smooth things. "Love," but

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not the Love of Christ. Pride. Popularity. "the Celestial Railroad." Heathen Abominations. Demon Worship.
Violence and Impiety aroused. What shall be the end? Is there Light beyond? - - - - - - 116130

CHAPTER IX.
The Great Controversy: its Close. Analogies may be mistaken. What saith Jehovah? How shall the struggle end?
Testimony of JEREMIAH.The "wine-cup of fury." The Message. The condemned Nations. Their death-warrant. The
slain of the Lord bestrew the earth. Jehovah pleads with all Flesh. DAVID's Testimony.the Glorious King. The
Heathen. The Rod of Iron. His Foes made his Footstool. He maketh Wars to cease. The Lord Reigneth.Let the
Earth rejoice. ISAIAH's Testimony."The Branch." The coming Glory. Jehovah's Glorious Reign. The Day of
Vengeance. Redemption. EZEKIEL's Prophecy.The Latter-day Judgments on God and his Host. DANIEL's
Testimony.The Great Image. The Mystic Stone. The Four Beasts. The Great Tribunal. The Eternal Kingdom.
JOEL's Predictions."The Wine-press." "The Valley of Decision." The Voice of God. Judgments. Returning
Blessing. ZEPHANIAH.The Gathering of the Nations. The Fire of God's Jealousy. "A Pure Language." HAGGAI.
Shaking of Heaven and Earth. The Overthrow of Kingdoms. MALACHI.The World corrupt. The Burning Day. The
Jewels. The Sun of Righteousness. 131147

CHAPTER X.
The Great Controversy: its Close. The teachings of JESUS.Wheat and tares. The Harvest. Our Lord's Great Prophecy.
The Gospel preached to all the World. The End. The "Little Flock." "Thy Kingdom Come." The Waiting Servants.
The Thief. The Virgins. The Lightning. The Destruction of Foes. Testimony of the APOSTLES. PAUL.The Kingdom
delivered up. Foes Destroyed. The Revelation of Christ. The Lawless One; his Doom. The Latter Days. Seducing
Spirits. Perilous Times. JAMES.Oppression denounced. Patience enjoined. The Judge at the door. PETER.The
Last Days. "Where is the promise?" The Day of the Lord. The New Earth. JUDE.Enoch's Prophecy. JOHN.The
coming of Antichrist. The Apocalypse. The Martyr Cry. The Trumpets. The Vials. The Kingdoms given to Christ.
The Earthquake. The Harvest. The Vine. The Wine-press of Wrath. Spirits of Demons. The Warning. The Last Vial.
"Babylon is Fallen." The Mourning. The Song of Victory. The King of Kings. Heaven's Armies. Their Foes
Destroyed. The Last Conflict. The Judgment. The New Earth. The Controversy Closed. Peace and Blessing. God All
and in All. - - - - - 148-157

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PREFACE

To write a complete and perfect account of the controversy of Jehovah with mankind,
would require the repetition of all human history, both sacred and profane. This work has
not been attempted. Only a brief sketch of the workings of a divine hand, as manifested in
some of the more prominent events of past ages, has been designed. The reflective reader
can use his own judgment and information in filling up the hasty outline.
If the representations of future scenes be regarded as too definite, the only excuse is,
they are transcribed from the Scriptures of truth; if they are considered as too vague, it is
because we see in a glass darkly, and have not reached the perfection of knowledge.
If the truths here presented should be unwelcome to the popular mind, it only
indicates that the attitude of that mind towards truth is the same that it ever has been. To
the pilgrims and strangers on the earth, whose hearts and hopes are in the better land,
perhaps these pages may be acceptable.
If God shall make them a blessing to any person, and shall by them in any wise
glorify his own name, the object of the writer's prayers and labors will have been
attained. That the blessing of God may attend this feeble effort, is the earnest desire of
THE AUTHOR.

ROCHESTER, N. Y., January, 1858.
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PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION.
______

Six years have passed since this volume, prepared during a period of peace and
prosperity, was given to the public. The world was in comparative quiet, and men talked
and sang of a Golden Age at hand. Now we stand amid the rising tumult which portends
the final storm. The cyclone of divine vengeance, the predicted whirlwind of the latter
days, seems riding on the burdened air, and the winds that wail from every quarter bring
nigh the day of desolation and dismay.
"The Lord hath a controversy with the nations; he will give them that are wicked to
the sword." Many who doubted this six years ago, believe it now; many who doubt it
now, may yet believe it soon.
Looking over the pages I see nothing to recall. Matters have only changed from good
to evil, and from bad to worse. While the more pleasing aspects of the gospel work are
sketched in "Reasons for my Hope," those who are willing to know the worst, and look
the world's condition in the face, are referred to my later and more elaborate collection of
facts and figures, concerning the wealth, the crimes, the morals, and the cruelties of
Christendom entitled "The Signs of the Times, or a glance at Christendom as it is;" and to
the various other volumes and tracts composing "The Bible Student's Library," which
will assist the studies of such as desire to examine these subjects.
May God prepare us for the conclusion of his controversy with the nations, and bring
us to his home of peace at last, is the prayer of the
AUTHOR.
Boston, Mass., May, 1864.

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THE
GREAT CONTROVERSY
BETWEEN GOD AND MAN.
____

CHAPTER I.

THAT the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain, beneath the countless curses,
afflictions and curses; is clearly written both in the book of nature and in the book of
God. Rest, quiet, peace and enjoyment, in their fullness and perfection, are here
unknown. The spirit of disturbance is, in its influence, wide as the world. Earth moves in
disorder! physical, mental and moral. Like some gigantic machinery, dislocated by
tremendous shocks, it rolls and crashes in harsh confusion; it grates upon our ears in its
terrible course; and it bears within its mighty whirl the torn and bleeding forms of those
who have vainly endeavored to reduce it to order, symmetry and harmony. In the natural
world there is enough of order to indicate that it was made by a Divine architect; enough
of disorder to demonstrate that it has been marred by a malignant hand. Yet

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creative power predominates, else the ruin would long ere this have been complete.
Hence arises the pleasing hope that the ruin may sometime be repaired; that the world
may again shine beneath its Creator's smile, and yet once more awaken star-born
melodies, sweeter even than those that rang at first amid its birth-day bloom:
12-*
that
where sin abounded grace may so much the more abound, and the conclusion be better
than the commencement. That man redeemed may be better than man when created, and
the world regenerated be better even than it was when God at first pronounced it very
good; that the race of man may enjoy a deeper and richer peace with God than ever
before, when the abiding 'enmity of ages shall be forever slain.
To such a condition of peaceful and permanent blessedness humanity aspires. But,
alas! that the promise and the hope of it should be so long deferred, until the heart grows
sick with disappointment, and the expectant soul is wearied with the lapse of years. The
night of sorrow has been long, but as yet no day has dawned. Toil must precede rest, and
trials go before triumphs. The anguish or the hour of travail must be endured ere the
deliverance and consequent joy can be tasted. Yet the wheels of progress move but
slowly, and the prospect seems sometimes to grow darker day by day.
As we survey the world, we behold it rocked in

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restless tumult by the fury of contending forces. Deeply as men desire times of national
and social quiet, they fail to enjoy them. Much as they covet peace and prosperity, their
desires are still ungratified. And all that genius, and wisdom, and philanthropy have
accomplished for humanity, still leaves the whole head faint, and the whole heart sick.
The dire malady that has so long afflicted the world is still uncured; nor have the ten
thousand panaceas of men, wise in their own conceits, accomplished the much desired
and often promised relief. Though again and again some new state-ship, freighted with
the hopes of humanity, is launched, none reach the haven of security. A worm eats
through onea gale founders another, a sand-bar breaches a third, and the lee-shore of
time is strewn with the scattered fragments of many a stranded navy.
Why is all this? Why is every human project a failure, every human hope a phantom,
every human promise a falsehood? Why has the political world seethed and tossed like
ocean in a storm, for nigh six thousand years, and why does it still show no token of "the
working of a sea before a calm, that rocks itself to rest"? Why is it that after so many
storms, instead of calm, the eye looks out on clouds that give no doubtful presage of still
more terrific tempests? What is the cause of earth's long continued rageits ceaseless din
of war, commotion, and strife? Why do nations rise like gourds and


12-*
Job xxxviii:7.
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fall like potsherds? Why do governments linger out a brief existence stained with cruelty
and crime, and then go down unregretted to a forgotten grave, to make room for others
that are as vile as those who have gone before them? Why is all this long continued
struggle? Why this incessant tumult and confusion? Reason, philosophy and history can
give us no proper solution of this question. They cannot solve this problem of the ages
that are past. They miss the real causes, and only glance superficially at the difficulties in
the case. Only an Omniscient mind can trace these complicated difficulties to their secret
cause, and unravel this mysterious web which meshes the events of human history. God
alone can answer these questions, and His word affords us an answer. It is brief, it is
simple, it is truthful. Kept from the wise and prudent, it is revealed unto babes. Hidden
from the great and mighty, it is disclosed to the humble and the believing, "THE LORD
HATH A CONTROVERSY WITH THE NATIONS."
14-*

This fact, duly appreciated, and this alone, can unravel the mystery which has for ages
enveloped the political condition and destiny of this world. To comprehend it without this,
would be like comprehending astronomy while ignoring gravitation. This is the great truth,
hard to believe, unwelcome to the earth, and repulsive to the fancy: yet which

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alone can enable us to gaze with an intelligent calmness upon the various mutations of
time; or divine with correctness the probable issue of the tumults that encompass us. "The
Lord hath a controversy with the nations." This written in lines of blood and fire in the
history of the past, and a hand of mysterious shade inscribes it upon the events of the
present and the hopes of the future, in characters as terribly significant as those that
startled the drunken king of Babylon when his doom was written upon his palace wall.
15-*

To understand and exhibit the bearings of this fact upon the history and destiny of the
race, it will be expedient to consider this controversy in its origin, its progress, its present
position, and its anticipated termination. To do this properly we must do it scripturally.
There is no other light than the word of God, that sheds a gleam of radiance through the
ages of primeval darkness; and none but this that can pierce with its resplendent ray the
cloudy curtain that veils the mysterious future.
To learn the origin of Jehovah's controversy with the nations, we need first to learn
what circumstances would furnish a proper ground for a controversy between Jehovah and
his creatures on the earth. We are not left to vague conjecture concerning this point, for the
facts revealed in the scriptures settle it most conclusively. When in ancient times the

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prophet of God became the reprover of Israel for their iniquities, he bore to them this
message, "Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath A
CONTROVERSY with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor

14-*
Jeremiah xxv:31.
15-*
Daniel v: 2627.
knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and
committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood."
16-*

This declaration discloses the reason why Jehovah had a controversy with his own
peculiar people, the nation of his covenant and his choice. They had rebelled against him
and broken his law. They had violated their most solemn obligations. They had
dishonored his glorious name, and caused it to be blasphemed among the nations around.
They had despised the messages of his grace, and had stained with blood and polluted
with crime the goodly land which he had appointed as their heritage. Jehovah held them
responsible for their acts. He held them amenable to the rule of right. He required of them
obedience to his righteous laws. They rejected this responsibility. They refused their
allegiance to the king of heaven. They set at naught his high authority. Hence he had a
controversy with them. Sin was the cause of it. Sin made and perpetuated the breach
sin, transgression of God's holy law, provoked the indignation of the universal Ruler, and

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lifted up the puny hand of man against his Maker and his God.
Sin, then, is an appropriate cause of controversy between God and man. And the
origin of the great controversy which we propose to consider, is to be referred back to
that primal transgression which interrupted the existing harmony between the creature
and the Creator, which made this globe an accursed and revolted province in the Divine
dominions, and this race an accursed and rebellious race. It was sin that caused this world
to be a scene of mourning, lamentation and woe; sin that blighted the fair prospects which
lay before the progenitors of our race; sin that turned paradise into a desert; and sin that
arrayed man, in all his impotence and frailty, against the might and wisdom, the love and
mercy of the Deity.
We are then to regard this controversy as a controversy between right and wrong,
between good and evil; between the supporter of righteousness on one hand, and the
perpetrators of iniquity on the other. Between a just and Almighty ruler and his frail and
rebellious subjects. The controversy on the part of Jehovah is a just and righteous one. As
such then it admits of no adjustment by compromise or by a yielding up of the everlasting
principles of right, to the will of misguided men. Nor could it be adjusted by mutual
neglect or indifference, which should allow the tumult to subside in quiet and in forget-

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fulness of the sins that caused the strife. No. The wisdom that cometh from above is, in
its operations, first pure, then peaceable. The root of bitterness must be plucked up
before the fruits and blossoms can be eradicated. Sin and violence, and war, and
blasphemy, must end before the controversy on their account, can be adjusted.
There are, therefore, but two ways in which the controversy between God and man
may end. First, man must yield to the reasonable requirements of his Maker, and return,
meek, penitent and obedient unto his allegiance to his God; or, second, if he refuse to do
this and continue persistently and determinedly to set at naught the Divine authority,
rejecting offered mercy and despising extended grace, he must at last fall beneath the

16-*
Hosea iv.12.
stroke of that justice which he has outraged, and perish under the execution of those laws
which he has violated. He must bow or break. He must yield or be overthrown. These
considerations may assist us in forming our estimate of the course and issue of this
controversy.
If we commence with man's first revolt by disobedience in Eden, we find that the
Almighty, in his wisdom and sovereignty, saw fit to lay certain important restrictions
upon the human family, which had thus early risen up against his authority. These
restrictions were such, that their tendency was to remind the race of their dependence,
and their impotence, and thus tame the pride of their rebellious

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hearts. Hence, that man might not run a race of lusty and unrestrained excess, rioting
upon the bounties of nature, and consuming upon his passions the blessings of
providence, the very 'ground' was 'cursed' on his account, and his daily bread was made
to depend upon constant and toilsome exertion. And further, lest he should go on
immortal in his rebellion, and eternal in his sin and hatred of God, his existence was
limited, and he was driven forth from the garden of delight and excluded from "the tree of
life," lest he should "eat and live forever:" while the sentence, "dust thou art, and unto
dust shalt thou return," fell like a knell of death upon his ear, and withered in a moment
those hopes which he had based upon the falsehoods of the deceiver. These were the
divinely appointed safeguards to prevent the overleaping rampancy of human
wickedness, and to avert the danger of unending rebellion.
19-*


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CHAPTER II.

IN what manner the gracious proposals of divine mercy were communicated to
primitive generations, we are not definitely informed. We are taught that our first parents
received their instructions while in their state of innocency, and even after their
transgression, directly from the divine legislator himself. Certain we are, that to
succeeding generations "he left not himself without a witness." And the fact that he had
in all ages those who served him and were reconciled to him, proves conclusively that
there was no necessary ignorance of the conditions upon which he would accept and
forgive his creatures who sought to know and to do his will. And now, if the world would
have heeded those proposalsif the race had been unitedly returned to Godif the
rebellious would have responded to the call of divine mercy, how soon the controversy
might have been adjusted, how soon the controversy might have been adjusted, peace
restored, the curse removed, the flaming sword withdrawn, Paradise repened, the race
reconciled, and the blight and sin and ruin of earth's controversy with God forever ended.
But this desirable consummation was postponed indefinitely through the stubbornness
and wickedness of man. The age

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19-*
Genesis iii: 1724.

wore away, marked by divine goodness and by human iniquity. Centuries which were
granted to individuals as a season for repentance and submission, were misimproved; and
death came with tardy steps, only to find them hoary headed and incorrigible rebels
against divine authority. The race, abusing a protracted probation, grew worse and worse,
incurring deeper guilt, and manifesting more determined hostility to their Maker.
Individuals meanwhile had their hearts inclined to obedience to the divine precepts. Here
and there "men began to call upon the name of the Lord,"
21-*
and they stood as witnesses
of his faithfulness and love. A succession of holy men walked with God an by faith
obtained a good report, which has endured to all subsequent generations.
21-
But the
world, as a worldthe race, as a racebecame lamentably corrupt. God saw the
wickedness of man that it was great. The controversy presented no favorable aspect. The
hope of adjustment grew less and less. The race would not repent of sin, nor bow to
divine authority. The earth was filled with violence and strife and impiety. The
imaginations of man's heart were evil and evil alone. The bent of his mind was opposed
to God, and his will rose proud and rampant against the supremacy of the Almighty
One.
21-

In his wisdom Jehovah determined to bring the

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fruitless controversy with that generation to a definite and terrible issue. But he what not
condemn hastily, nor inflict judgments on men unwarned. The message of warning and
admonition was committed to Noah, "a just man," and one who obeyed the divine
requirements. To him was disclosed the fact that the world was sentenced to destruction,
that their probation was limited, and that within an hundred and twenty years the race
must yield to God or be destroyed. The patriarch raised his voice in warning and reproof,
and became to the surrounding multitudes "a preacher of righteousness." The world was
under sentence of deathits inhabitants were as "spirits in prison,"
22-*
while God by his
spirit gave them yet admonitions and warnings, so that they might repent and be saved.
But the same purpose of rebellion which had provoked the righteous wrath of God upon
the race, closed their hearts against the admonitions of his spirit, and blinded their minds
that they should not discern his truth. And so, while they might have repented, they rioted
in lust and crime. When they should have fasted in sackcloth, they ate, and drank, and
bought, and sold, and planted, and builded.
22-
Thus they filled up the cup of their
iniquities, and treasured up wrath against the day of wrath which was so swiftly rolling
on. In the pursuits of business, or the enjoyments of pleasure, they wore out the last hours
of divine

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21-*
Genesis iv: 26.
21-
Genesis v: 22.
21-
Genesis vi: 37.
22-*
1 Peter iii: 1820/
22-
Matthew xxiv: 3639.
forbearance and human probation, which bore them swiftly and unconsciously on to the
approaching catastrophe.
The heart of Noah was sad in view of the scene. "Moved with fear," "by faith" he
"prepared an ark for the saving of himself and house," thereby giving them an example
which they might follow, and so condemning the world, and becoming heir of the
righteousness which is by faith.
23-*
He bore the insulting mockery of the sinners around
him. He toiled and preached; he built his ark and warned his fellows; but it was all in
vain. At length God calls him to enter the completed structure, and with his family he
obeys the call. The beasts of earth and fowls of heaven, moved by a strange impulse,
come and find refuge with the servant of the Lord. But the scoffing world pass heedlessly
on. The solemn hours of anxious suspense fled swiftly by, and finally, when all around
was apparent peace, the predicted judgment came. Dark clouds mantled the sky, and hung
like a pall of death above the rebellious and sinful generation. This flood-gates from on
high were opened, and poured down their waters like a raging tempest. The foundations
of the dark abyss beneath were all unsettled, and the upgushing floods mingled with the
descending torrents. Earth reeled with mighty throes as if tossed by an earthquake's
power; and above, the blazing sheets of

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lurid flame lighted the dark and threatening clouds. No fancy can paint the terrors of that
tremendous scenewhen the waves seemed to rise and roll in boiling masses along the
gloomy horizonwhen the surging waters swept away cities, and tribes, and kingdoms
when lightnings danced and thunders bellowed above the swelling tidewhen ascending
and descending waters at last lifted the ark upon their bosom, and bore the huge structure
like a toy away,when joy and mirth gave place to the wild and discordant wailing of
despairwhen the accumulating waters swept at last smoothly above the loftiest peaks,
and drowned in their death-gurgle the last of the revolted and heaven-defying race. And
thus amid the wild voices of deep calling unto deepamid the thunders and the
lightnings of Omnipotent poweramid the wasteness and desolation of a shoreless
deluge, the controversy was closed, the war was over, and the tide of impiety was stayed.
But the race was destroyed, and the only gleam of light and hope for humanity shone
through the window of that storm-driven but God-protected ark that glided calmly over
the swelling floods.
24-*

The emergence of the deluged world from beneath the level wave, furnished a theatre
for further disclosures of divine mercy, and the egress of Noah and his family from the
ark, afforded a race which could still further illustrate the facts of mortal depravity.

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The controversy with the antediluvians was closedclosed in their overthrowclosed in
their destruction. They would not yield, nor repent, nor be obedient to the call of God,
hence they must die; and this seemed the only way to secure the salvation of any portion
of the race. For, even then, but eight souls had escaped the contagion of evil; and it was

23-*
Heb. xi: 7.
24-*
Genesis vi: vii: viii.
morally certain, from the course of events, that another generation would be totally and
universally apostate and impenitent. Hence the imperious necessity of the deluge, that the
race might not utterly perish in their ungodliness, but that a few might be rescued from
the overwhelming destruction.
And not it was left with this single family to come and yield unfeigned obedience and
homage to Jehovah. Thus might the world be at peace with God once more; at least until
a future generation should again revolt from him. But the inclinations of perverse
humanity were opposed to divine restraint. The descendants of Noah engaged anew in
controversy with God, not to conclude, but to prolong it. The solemn schooling of the
deluge and the ark seemed lost upon them. Disobeying the divine command to disperse
and people of the earth, they dwelt in a plain in the land of Shinar. Here, in direct
contravention of the will of God, they commenced to build a city and a tower, whose top
might reach to heaven, that they might make them a name, and, gathering around it as a
central landmark, avoid be-

[GC page 26]

ing dispersed abroad throughout all the earth.
26-*
God saw that that tower and city bade
fair to be the nucleus of a system of gigantic transgressions and guilt. All were of one
language, and under such a consolidated system of operations as they now proposed, the
scenes of antediluvian iniquity would be speedily renacted.
Something must be done. Divine wisdom was equal to the emergency, and the
confusion of their tongues accomplished the necessary work. As each looked with idiotic
stare upon his neighbor, and listened to the strange and unintelligible mouthings that were
heard on every hand, 'they left off to build,' and confused, perplexed and disgusted, they
departed to various lands, and left the name of "Babel" or "Confusion" as the permanent
designation of the scene of their first discomfiture.
26-
This confusion of tongues, like the
original curse inflicted on man, became an additional check for the prevention of
universal impiety. Like imprisoned criminals, forbidden to speak together lest they
should conspire to work mischief, so the race were shut up in small divisions, unable to
concoct or comprehend any scheme of combined, simultaneous and universal rebellion.
And never was this restriction removed until the apostles of Christ were commissioned
and empowered to publish the message of reconciliation and salvation in all the world.
God then caused his servants

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for the time to be free from those restraints, laid upon man on the plain of Shinar,
27-*
but
his enemies must abide beneath them, or only partially deliver themselves by slow and
tedious study and research. Upon this basis, and with this new restraint, the controversy
was continued.
But man, though restrained, was not reformed. Not many generations had passed
away, ere from the idolatrous inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Abraham was called forth and

26-*
Gen. xi: 14.
26-
Genesis xi: 9.
27-*
Acts ii: 411.
separated from his kindred, in order that he, amid all the surrounding wickedness, being
severed from the friendship of the world, might become "the friend of God." To him
promises were made. With him Jehovah held converse. To him angels appeared. His faith
was subjected to the severest trials and found steadfast. Believing God was counted to
him for righteousness. Thus he became the type and father of a faithful seed, that was to
be innumerable as the sands by the sea shore, and illustrious as the stars of heaven. In his
purpose and course, however, he was almost solitary and alone. Partaking of the
prevailing impurity, his father's family were so unlike him, that he was required to
forsake their society before he could enter into the everlasting covenant by which he
became the father of the faithful and the heir of the world.
27-
Like some lofty pharos on
which the watchful voyager gazes when many leagues away

[GC page 28]

from land, so Abraham stands, a glorious example of the power of living faith, made
perfect by obedient works. God gave him as a kind of pattern to the believing portion of
the race, who have the assurance that they who are of faith are blessed with faithful
Abraham.
28-*

But he and his scanty progeny were almost the only instances of faith in the world
and the brief biographies of an Abraham, a Lot and a Melchizedek, make up almost the
sum total of the religious history of those times. Outside of the tents of the patriarchs, and
away from the altars of the faithful, the great controversy went on. The earth increased in
crime. War, robbery and murder were unprovoked on every hand, and finally wickedness
seemed about to resume its uninterrupted and universal sway.
Away upon the fertile plains of Palestine, beside those verdant banks where the
waters of Jordan rolled their fructifying flood, impiety rose to its greatest height. Pride
and luxuryidleness and dissipationrevolt and blasphemy, with licentiousness so vile,
and deep, and damning, and promiscuous, that purity became impossible amidst it; these
reigned in rampant and lusty pride within "the cities of the plain." God in long-suffering
forbore to punish for many years. All nature spoke to that people of goodness and love;
but it spoke in vain.
WickednessSudden Judgments. [GC page 29]

The voice of mercy they would not hear. Every day and every night the All-seeing
eye beheld, and the All-hearing ear heard actions so vile, so impious, so defiant, so
abominable, that mercy, in all her boundless love, found no just reason for further
kindness to them. Indeed an everlasting and indiscriminate forbearance, had in it nothing
of the qualities of mercy in this case. Continuance of such a plague-spot on the earth, had
in it neither mercy nor compassion. Surely it was not mercy to those vile abusers of their
Maker's goodness, to continue them tin a course of sin and devilishness, in which each
departing hour only served to sink them deeper and deeper beneath the tide of guilt and
woe. Continuance of that state had also the character of an unmitigated curse to those
around, who were insulted by their words, defiled by their abominations, seduced by their
influence, and misled by their examples, and who, if such a condition of things had been

27-
Romans iv: 13.
28-*
Galatians iii: 9.
perpetuated, would have sunk ere long into worse than antediluvian guilt, and have been
by the same unerring principles of rectitude and justice engulphed in an universal doom.
As the kind and merciful physician arrests a mortal malady, by the excision of the
diseased member, when all other remedies prove ineffectual, nor dreams of cruelty,
though the pain produced is most excruciating,so the merciful Dispenser of good to
man saw fit by efforts equally prompt, to arrest the tide

[GC page 30]

of wickedness which portended a revolt as universal as it was incurable.
When the inhabitants of those cities had refused all offers of mercy and of grace
when they had trampled upon forbearance, and had insulted long-suffering, then God
brought the controversy with that people to a close. When his servants had gone forth,
when none but the sinful race were there, then God hung above them a pall of gloom and
wrath.Anon the sheeted flames burst forthlightnings danced upon the gloomy cloud,
and a tempest red with fire and flame, poured its sulphurous torrents upon the cities of the
plain. The work was done. The cities were overwhelmedtheir iniquities were fearfully
expiatedthe rushing wave of pollution and blasphemy was met and arrested by a
mightier wave of fire, and the dead sea, the desolate plain, and the surrounding ruin, were
all that remained as tokens of the folly of fighting against God. They were set forth as an
example to them that after should live ungodly, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
But though mankind had been so solemnly taught by divine Providencethough the
voice of the many waters of the deluge spake to themthough the desolations of Sodom
were more significant than words, more impressive than aught of human eloquence; yet
men still refused to listen to the messages of mercy from their God. They would not

[GC page 31]

submit to himtheir hearts abhorred the rule of Jehovah, and, misled by Satan, and
forgetful of Divine authority, they strove to walk in the ways of their base and beastly
passions, regardless of consequences either proximate or remote.
In the process of years the descendants of Abraham passed down to Egypt, to escape
the rigors of a famine, and to enjoy the plenty which had been secured for that country by
the counsels and administration of Joseph, whom they before had basely sold. The sons
of Jacob, with their father, located themselves in the fertile land called Goshen. Here for a
time they increased in wealth and numbers, and still maintained to some extent the
knowledge of the true God of heaven and earth. But in the mutations of human affairs,
their prosperity departed. Another king arose. He forgot the national obligations to a
foreign race. He violated the word of his predecessor, which had granted them the
peaceful possession of the lands which they desired. The vast enterprises in which he was
engaged afforded an opportunity, and the numbers and wealth of the stranger nation a
pretext, for reducing them to slavery. He laid upon them heavy burdens. He placed over
them task-masters that ruled them with rigor. He disregarded their rights, but natural and
acquired. He sought, by a violence most cruel, inhuman, and despicable, to destroy their
increase and diminish their numbers. He resisted all their entreaties for an

[GC page 32]

amelioration of the rigor of their servitude. He defied their power, and trembled not at the
justice of that God whose chosen nation they were. Hence he waged war with Jehovah;
by pride, by oppression, by infidelity, by murder, and by conspiracy against the rights and
liberties of those who were weaker than he; those whom Jehovah had separated from the
nations and constituted as his own special charge. Thus the Egyptians entered into a
controversy with God. By violating the everlasting principles of rightby trampling
upon the immutable laws of justice and of truththey brought themselves in puny but
determined warfare against the Almighty God.
But he was prepared for the conflict. In the person of an infant committed by faith to
the frail casket of bulrushes, pitied providentially by an Egyptian princess, trained in
godliness in the house of his Hebrew parents, and instructed in earthly wisdom in the
regal halls of the Pharaohs; gifted with rare graces of person and unparalleled mental
attractions; enriched by the grace of God and the consciousness of a sublime and lofty
destiny; possessed of an heroic greatness which endured as seeing him who was invisible;
endowed with a fortitude of should which enabled him to labor, and to wait for ages, if
need be, for his recompense of reward; upheld by a clear and vivid faith which made the
distant "city of foundations" as real, and its promised glories as palpable to him as were
the waters of the Nile or the

[GC page 33]

palaces upon its fertile banks; schooled by deep meditation in the solitude of the desert,
and in the society of the sages of his time; strong in that hidden might which his growing
soul had gathered in loneliness from the mighty God, while in the wilderness of Midian
he kept his father Jethro's sheep; in such a person as this, the Almighty possessed an
instrument which served well as an agent by whom he might manifest his will intelligibly
to his people and to their oppressors; and afford them every requisite opportunity for
obeying his commands, and also of receiving the blessings attendant upon obedience.
Attended by a brother who was almost his equal, and in some respects his superior, he
entered the land of Egypt and the palace of the Egyptian monarch, bearing proposals for
an adjustment of the growing controversy. The requirement was simple and reasonable.
"Thus saith Jehovah, God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me
in the wilderness." The answer was characteristic of the oppressor, the robber, and the
spoiler: "Who is JEHOVAH that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not
JEHOVAH, neither will I let Israel go. Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, hinder the
people from their works? get you unto your burdens." And then came the fruits of this
agitation, in the shape of heavier tasks and renewed impositions; and instead of granting
deliverance he said, "They be idle, therefore they cry, saying, Let

[GC page 34]

us go and sacrifice to our God. Let more work be laid upon the men, that they may labor
therein; and let them not regard vain words."
34-*
Thus with obdurate and rebellious

34-*
Exodus v: 19.
pertinacity, did this oppressive monarch adhere to the rule of conduct which he had
chosen, and resist divine interference with the unrighteous institutions of his government.
But though defiance was bold it was futile. He had not well counted the cost, when he
entered the lists with an omnipotent foe. Plagues came upon the refractory nation.
Plagues wide, and grievous, and sore. Plagues which, though the magicians might
succeed in imitating, they strove in vain to remove. Plagues which followed each other in
rapid succession, like scourge-strokes on the offender's back. Often did Pharaoh, moved
by these calamities, partially relent, but soon he hardened his heart. Again the loud
murmurs of his afflicted servants roused him to some faint degree of interest concerning
the matter; and then, as the infliction abated, he relapsed into the same state of stubborn
disobedience. At length sorer judgments pressed from him the essence of meanness, in
the shape of a consent that they whom he had spoiled and robbed might go forth, leaving
behind them their flocks and herds and possessions; thus subjecting them to renewed
robbery and enriching himself by their departure.
This insulting proposal was sternly refused. Tem-
[GC page 35] A Judicial Hardening.

pests of fire and hail then desolated the land, and ruin sat brooding over the mighty realm.
The controversy was no nearer adjustment than at first. And God, provoked by past
oppression, had now hardened Pharaoh's heart. It is terrible indeed for a man to resist the
mercies and the chastisements of God, and grow hard beneath them as the clay grows
hard beneath the summer's heat; it is awful when God has said of a man, he is joined to
idols, let him alone; when thenceforth he prospers in the world, but treads a flowery path
down to the dread perdition of ungodly men. But there is another state more dreadful
still.When a man has hardened his heart till he has placed himself where reformation is
impossible, when he has stood out against all mercy and grace, and deliberately, and
persistently, and determinedly said to God, "Depart from me;" and then, when
emboldened by ease and immunity from judicial visitation, when trusting in the
enjoyment of a fancied safety, he ventures to resist the march of the Divine purposes, and
to make war upon a God who had previously left him to himself. Then having passed
beyond the sphere of mercy, and beyond the limits of his passive rebellion, when he
breaks out in open and defiant warfare against God, he becomes henceforth an example
of Divine power, and may be used without injustice, in any and every way which may be
needful to convince the world of the might of God and of the weakness of this puny

[GC page 36]

foes. In this condition was the Egyptian monarch, and for this purpose God caused him to
stand henceforth as a monument of his indignation. He preserved him long,he delayed
the merited visitation for the purpose of revealing in him his power in the eyes of all the
nations. Hence God hardened Pharaoh's heart. No judgments could reform him,no
mercies could melt him, and, enveloped in judicial blindness, he was led on to meet his
doom.
The passover and the sprinkling of blood were kept by faith among the children of
Israel. The death-wail of the first-born of Egypt filled the land with notes of woe, and
caused the Egyptians to demand, and Pharaoh to permit, the immediate departure of
Israel; and early on the morrow the captive nation began their march. Directed by God,
guided by Moses, and hastened by Pharaoh, they stretched their long lines across the
plain. Each house of bondage contributed to swell the host, and the whole, like a mighty
army departed from Succoth, and followed the majestic guiding cloud to the borders of
the wilderness. Thence they turned and passed by Migdol, and coming where two lofty
mountains flanked an intervening valley, they entered it, and marching down, encamped
on the verge of the Red Sea. But when once they were gone, the old and ungodly
passions burned again in the Egyptian monarch's heart. He gathered his warriors, he
assembled his horsemen, he prepared his chariots, and

[GC page 37]

with arms and armies he started forth to recapture the fleeing fugitives. The people, the
spoils and the women were the objects that stimulated their pursuit. Rage, covetousness
and lust hurried them with headlong haste, Away they speed, the earth trembles beneath
the clatter of the countless hoofs of Egyptian horses, and as the Israelites were encamping
on the borders of the sea, they heard in the distance the roar of the seething multitude, the
cries of rage, and lust, and haste the jostling of chariot wheels, the neighing of horses, and
the rattling of armor. They saw the dust that attended their hurried march, and in it the
glitter of gold, the flash of steel, and all the dread accompaniments of war's tumultuous
and desolating tide. Cries of anguish and despair rose from the lips of the imperiled host
of Israel. And then came the mandate, "Speak to Israel that they go forward." The
wondrous rod was outstretched above the foaming waves; the billows crouched, the flood
divided and stood congealed in giant walls on either side, while between them lay, for
Israel, the highway of salvation from their foes. "By faith they passed through the Red
Sea dry shod." The old man and the young, the matron and the maid, the little timid child,
holding the hand of his stalwart father; all, with bleating flocks and lowing herds before
them, pressed on in the awful pathway. The sea was about them, they learned the hidden
secrets of its silent

[GC page 38]

depthsthe waves were on either hand, the awful cloud of glory beamed on them and on
their foes, and the everlasting God led them through the mighty deep. By faith they
passed the sea. Faith gave courage to the weakest heart. Faith held them steadfast in their
purpose. Faith chased away the last vestige of their fear and caused them to walk
solemnly yet triumphantly on. At length they reached the shore. The last of all the mighty
host was gathered on the other verge of the flood, and Pharaoh saw with rage and
disappointment his prey eluding his grasp and passing beyond his reach. Could he be
foiled thus? Could he at last relinquish his hellish scheme? Nay, he would make one more
effort. "Whom the Gods will to destroy, they first make mad," said the ancient heathens.
So it was now. The great controversy between Pharaoh and Jehovah approached its
termination. But there was one more act. God hardened the monster's heart unless
reckless madness ruled his mind supreme. And thenthe way is yet openIsrael is yet
in sighthe will try the perils of that awful passage. Why should not he yet be victor in
the strife? And so those foaming steeds turn toward the margin of the flood. 'Forward!'
shouted the king, now but a maniac burning with lust and rage. 'Forward!' rings the
maddening cry from the lips of each foe of God. Down the verge they plunge into the
most awful path an army ever

[GC page 39]

trod. On, on, rush chariots; on, on, leap horses; on, on, press the armed men; mad, wild,
furious, they haste into the awful net. And when the shore is vacant, when all are within
the watery gorge, then invisible hands hold the rushing chariot wheelsthey drag heavily
on the miry bottom; the steeds flag in their hurried course; the charioteers urge them on in
vain; and dire dismay settles upon the infatuated throng.
And now Moses stands upon the beetling shore, and overlooks the mighty host. The
sky grows black with a gathering tempestthe cloud of fire glares angrily through the
gloomand as the morning breaks, the wonder-working rod is raised aloft once more.
Oh, how those solid walls of waters melt! "Fleeflee!" but flight is too late. The sea
asserts its rule. The gurgling waves roll back with torrent-like flowthe death wail of
Egypt's chivalry sounds loud and shrill above the roar of the tempest and the booming of
the Red Sea's billowsthe storm-tossed waters rave and thunder above the Egyptians'
headsthe deep boils awfully with wild and tameless ragethe vivid lightnings gleam
along the darkened sky, and hiss amid the swelling wavesthe thunders mutter the
funeral dirge of the ungodly hostand the controversy of Jehovah with Egypt and its
rulers is closed, in the might and majesty of God, by the destruction of his infatuated
foes. Above the roar and confusion of their over-

[GC page 40]

throw there rings from the other shore a pean of lofty praise. A few snatches of the song
have floated on the air, and come down through the years of many generations, and are
still known among men. "Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto
Jehovah, and spake saying

I will sing unto Jehovah, for he hath triumphed gloriously:
The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
Jehovah is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation:
He is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation;
My father's God, and I will exalt him.

Jehovah is a man of war: Jehovah is his name.
Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea:
His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea.
The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.

Thy right hand, O Jehovah, is become glorious in power:
Thy right hand, O Jehovah, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.
And in the greatness of thine excellency
Thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee:
Thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.
And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together,
The floods stood upright as an heap,
The depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.

The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them;
I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. {destroy: or, repossess}

Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them:
They sank as lead in the mighty waters.
Who is like unto thee, O Jehovah, among the Gods?
Who is like thee, glorious in holiness,
Fearful in praises, doing wonders?

[GC page 41]

Thou stretchedst out thy right hand,
The earth swallowed them.
Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people thou hast redeemed:
Thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.

The people shall hear, and be afraid:
Sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina.
Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed;
The mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them;
All the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away.
Fear and dread shall fall upon them;
By the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone;
Till thy people pass over, O Jehovah.
Till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased.
Thou shalt bring them in,
And plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance.

In the place, O Jehovah, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in,
In the sanctuary, O Jehovah, which thy hands have established.
Jehovah shall reign for ever and ever.

For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea,
and the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel
went on dry land in the midst of the sea.
And Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all
the women went out after her, with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered
them,
"Sing ye to Jehovah, for he hath triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea."
41-*


Such were the high and holy strains that cele-

[GC page 42]

41-*
Exodus xiv: xv.

brated the overthrow of the adversaries of the Lord Pharaoh's race was run. His
controversy with God was closed. He had fallen in the mad onset against Omnipotence.
He had fallen like an oak of Bashan, or like a cedar of Lebanon before the thunderbolt.
And as the sound of this fall rolled in echoes across the desert, surely others would fear.
The princes of Edom, the rulers of Moab, the inhabitants of Canaan, all these would
tremble at the dire catastrophe and learn to reverence the God of heaven and earth. And
so was closed up the controversy of God with the ruler of Egypt,closed as all other
controversies had been closed, not by submission, not by arbitration, not by mercy, but
closed on the one hand by unmitigated and stubborn rebellion, and on the other hand by
sudden and overwhelming and exterminating vengeance. Every mercy was abused
every respite misimproved, every promise repudiated, every vow violated, every
command disregarded, every sign mimicked. Every effort for pacification and adjustment
was put forth, but all in vain. Man would not repent, would not yield, would not obey,
and so nothing remained but to give up the struggle, and allow the dark tide of revolt to
roll on unhindered, or else by measures prompt, speedy and decisive to put an end to their
rebellious course. It was donethe Red Sea buried them in her depths, and then vomited
them up and rolled them, horses, chariots, king, princes, robes and weapons, upon the

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distant shore. Thus was Israel delivered from hard and cruel bondage. Thus was there a
lesson taught which has caused the ears of oppressors to tingle wherever it has been told.
Thus were judgments executed which magnified God, honored his law, vindicated his
government, delivered his people and destroyed his foes.

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CHAPTER III.

WITH such an awful manifestation of divine power and justice as was afforded by the
overthrown of Pharaoh and his host, we might easily infer that the world, when made
acquainted with the facts pertaining to his destruction, would yield at once to the superior
claims of God, and cease for ever to interpose themselves as obstacles to the performance
of his purposes. Such an inference, however, is unwarranted by analogy and unsustained
by fact.
Instead of this, those very people who were thus delivered from Egyptian tyranny,
were some of them forgetful of the God of their salvation, and rebellious against the rock
of their strength. The carcasses that filled the graves of lust, or that rotted in the
wilderness during Israel's lengthy sojourn there, are but another indication of the
downward proclivity of man, and of his deep-rooted unwillingness to yield appropriate
obedience to the God of heaven and earth.
But, leaving Israel for the present, we follow the report of Pharaoh's overthrow, and
mark its moral influence upon the inhabitants of adjacent countries.

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A judgment as terrible as that inflicted upon Pharaoh could not long remain unknown.
The tidings of a deliverance like that vouchsafed to Israel could not be kept secret. The
knowledge that this emancipated host were destined to inhabit Canaan, was by no means
withheld from the parties interested. It was no secret that Canaan was promised to Israel,
or that they were coming to possess it. Long before, Abraham had been informed that
when the iniquity of the Amorites was full, his children should return from Egypt and
dwell in Palestine.
45-*
"When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance
when he separated the sons of Adamhe set the bounds of the people according to the
number of the children of Israel."
45-
This definite purpose had been announced for
hundreds of years. This land, of all the earth, was reserved by Jehovah as his heritage, the
abode of his chosen people. The deliverance of Israel from Egypt was a virtual notice to
the nations of Canaan to leave the territory in which they had only been tenants at will,
until the time of the promise should come. The miracles connected with Israel's exode
were sufficient to convince any who would reason, that resistance to Israel and Israel's
God would be alike impious and futile.
45-
But they would not receive the lesson. Thus,
when the spies, Caleb and Joshua, went up to examine the land, the King of Jericho
immediately sent for

[GC page 46]

them, no doubt on purpose to destroy them. The general impression produced upon any
whose minds were open to learn the truth, may be inferred from the words of Rahab to
the spies:"I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen
upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard
how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when ye came out of Egypt; and
what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side of Jordan,
Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our
hearts did melt; neither did their remain any more courage in any man, because of you:
for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above and in earth beneath."
46-*

With such convictions as these, resting upon a basis of such stubborn and recent facts,
there was but one reasonable course for the inhabitants of that land. They should submit,
or emigrate from the territory to which others had a prior claim. But they would do
neither. The only alternative was to resist the power of Almighty God himself. This they
undertook, and in the strength of frail mortality, entered the lists, determined to oppose
the will and thwart the purpose of Jehovah. But such endeavors were vain. The
arrangements of God cannot be modified by the rebellion of a few wrong-

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headed men. His counsel shall stand. The car of his purpose must rush along its appointed
track. Those who resist, resist at their peril; those who acquiesce have peace. The nations

45-*
Genesis xv: 1316.
45-
Deut xxxii: 8.
45-
Joshua ii: 911; 2425.
46-*
Joshua ii: 911.
of Canaan resistedthey were overthrown. Their judgment was severe, but justly
merited.
There is a certain class of men who, for the sake of covering up their own faults, and
excusing their non-compliance with Divine law, or for some similar purpose, take infinite
pains to make us believe that the Bible is a fiction, its author a cunning knave, and its
God a fiendish monster of cruelty. One of their hackneyed objections to the Bible is
this"Can it be true that a merciful God would destroy the nations of Canaan, as is
related in the Old Testament? We don't believe in such a God." Well, let us reason
together. Who makes noxious reptiles and venomous insects? The God of nature, is it
not? Very well, if venomous insects should drive the inhabitants of a country out of her
borders, who would be to blame? No one, except the God of nature I suppose! Well, the
kings of the Amorites were driven out, not with the sword or the bow of Israel, but by
swarms of hornets which infested the landsent, Moses says, by Jehovahinfidels
would say by the laws of nature. Now, what is the difference? These are the recorded
facts. If God sent the hornets, then it was certainly right for Israel to possess the land
and if nature sent them, the case

[GC page 48]

is not altered one jot that I can discern. In either case their title is equally good, and the
cavil is goodfor nothing.
48-*

But it is asserted that there were others of the inhabitants of Canaan who afterwards
were expelled from its borders by force. This is very true, and to be able to judge of the
propriety of the act, we must note a few striking traits in their characters. Among these
were the following.
In the first place, they were gross and abominable idolators, who would not worship,
obey or serve the Most High God, having perhaps views and conceptions of his character
in accordance with those of their modern sympathisizers.
48-
Second: they were firm
believers in the essential elements of modern "spiritualism," and practiced necromancy,
or pretended to divine and reveal secrets by means of intercourse with the departed; and
were thus guilty of the abominable practice of leaving the living God to consult dead
men.
48-
Third: there were many of them who fully developed "spiritual mediums," or in
ancient phraseology "consulters of familiar spirits," "diviners," and "wizards," who like
the "medium" at Endor, professed to bring up dead men for the accommodation of
backsliders and God-forsaken rebels like king Saul.
48-
Fourth: they were,

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as it because idolatrous heathens and "progressive" spiritual believers to be, freed from
the restrictions which God had placed upon the lustful propensities of their nature, and
were consequently at full liberty to develop their ideas of "free love" and "passional
attraction": which they did to a perfection which resulted in the most degrading and

48-*
Ex. xxiii: 28; Deut. vii: 20; Joshua xxiv: 12.
48-
Deut. viii: 25.
48-
Lev. xviii: 912.
48-
Deut. xviii: 11; 1 Sam. xviii: 7.
unnatural sexual connections, even with the very brutes of the fieldto say nothing of
the vile abominations of Sodomy.
49-*
Fifth: their principles of "free love" not only
allowed adultery and fornication, but also incest, and all nameless licentious practices of
the most revolting character; and quite as free as ever I heard of being advocated in any
modern spiritual newspaper, or by any speaker in a spiritual newspaper, or by any
speaker in a spiritual convention.
49-
Sixth: they not only begot children in shameless and
promiscuous debauchery, but those same children were murderously burned in the fire by
their ungodly parents.
49-


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Those were some of the precious traits of character belonging to that reprobate and
besotted men which God destroyed. A race scarcely possessed of its solitary recorded
virtue, and not exempt from one single imaginable vice. A race debauched, polluted,
licentious, and idolatrous. A race progressive, but progressive towards perdition. This
was the race of whose presence God purged the world, when their iniquities were full.
These the men whom the land vomited forth. And if Israel had imitated their examples,
the reddest bolts from Sinai, or the most lurid fires of Sodom, would have been tame
compared with the retributive vengeance which would have been visited upon them. But
these menwho would have suffered capital punishment in any land where there is to-
day the semblance of a decent lawthese men, who had forfeited their lives a dozen
timesthese men who had done ten times more mischief than their necks were ever
worththese men who had seized on one of the fairest spots beneath the sun, and turned
it into an ulcerous brothel of whoredom and a den of crime and bloodthese ancient
murderers of their own childrenthese heathenish "spiritualists" and "free lovers" of
olden timesthese are the men for whom the gentlemen infidels, spiritrappers, and Bible
haters of the present day, generally, plead. Ah! they pity the poor Canaanites. They blame
Moses. They find fault with Joshua. They rail at God. They plead for these villains,

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cut-throats, and Sodomites. They palliate the stinking lecherousness of these unholy
scoundrels! They, who have learned all they every knew of God or goodness at their
mothers' knee, or from the Bible, the hymn-book, or in the Sabbath-school, rail at
Jehovah for wiping out such a plague-spot at this from the universe. Why is all this
sympathy? Are they partial to such courses? Are they spiritualists and necromancers? Are
they "free lovers" too? Is it "a fellow feeling" that makes them so "wondrous kind?" If so,
I excuse their indecent assaults upon God, and truth, and righteousness. But if not, I ask
some reason why men speak evil of the things that know not of.

49-*
Leviticus xviii: 2224.
49-
See The New Era, Vol. 1, No. 16, article by "V. C. T." corresponding editor. Also Speech of Mrs. L
, at the Spiritual Convention, at Ravenna, Ohio, July 4th and 5th, 1857. "To confine her to love one man
was an abridgement of her rights. Although she had one husband in Cleveland, she considered herself
married to the whole human race. All men were her husbands, and she had an undying love for them. What
business is it to the world whether one man is the father of my children, or ten men are!I have the right to
say who shall be the father of my offspring." &c, &c.
49-
Deut. xii: 31.
To return, these were the men that entered into a controversy with Almighty God.
Their efforts were idle. The waters of Jordan receded before their approaching foes; the
ramparts of Jericho fell in utter ruin at their presence; the sun and the moon stood still
that the work of retribution might go on; the hail from heaven battered their routed
legions in the dust; the stars in their courses fought against the enemies of God; all
elements combined to effect their overthrow; the ancient river Kishon swept away the
fleeing fugitives; and the sword of a righteous avenger exterminated the race.
51-*
Thus
closed the controversy which God had with the nations of Canaan. It closed as all others
have closed,

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not by submission, arbitration, or accommodation; but by stern judgments which
punished the rejection of unnumbered mercies and the vilest prostitutions of the best of
temporal blessings and favors, and which left on record the same awful lesson which the
world had previously refused to learn, that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God. It taught man that God's providence would move upon the appointed path of
divine purpose and promise, and that those who opposed, opposed to their own
destruction. It taught them that a warfare with Jehovah was a most unequal strife, and that
man must submit to the divine will or perish in disobedience. This was the lesson written
for their instructionalas that, to the present hour, men should have failed to learn it, and
refused to obey it.

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CHAPTER IV.

IN noting the progress of governmental opposition to God, we are led a little while by
the course of empire, from the shores of the Mediterranean to the plains of Mesopotamia
and Assyria. When Nimrod, early in the post-diluvian age, had by his policy and prowess
commenced his rule in the land of Shinar, out of that land he went into Assyria and
builded Nineveh.
53-*
Upon the fertile borders of the Tigris, he laid the foundations of a
city and an empire which were destined to eclipse the glory of all previous human
undertakings.
Of the rise and early history of the empire thus originated, we know but very little.
Ages passed away however, and at length we find it powerful, populous and impious.
History represents this city as having a circumference of about sixty miles, and its walls
are said to have been one hundred feet high, and were surmounted by fifteen hundred
towers, each two hundred feet in height, while the walls themselves were said to be so
broad that three chariots might run abreast upon them.
53-
There were said to be in it more
than six score thousand persons who could not discern their right hands from their

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51-*
Joshua iv: vi. Judges v: 1921.
53-*
Gen. x: 11marginal reading.
53-
Diodorus Siculus, Book II, c. i.

left.
54-*
If this included only such as were less than two years old, and if these were only
one-twentieth of the whole population, it gives us as a total, some two millions five
hundred thousand souls. A city so great must of course manifest very marked moral
characteristics. This city in its character was evil. The prophet Jonah was commanded to
go and announce to its inhabitants its doom. Its wickedness had come up before the Lord,
and his anger was kindled against it. Reluctantly, and only after a vain attempt at
disobedience, did the prophet fulfil the command. Then, coming from the cavernous
depths of sheol, whence his cry had reached the ear of the eternal one;with the slime
and weeds of ocean about him, he entered the portals of Nineveh, and trod with trembling
step the crowded thoroughfares of that metropolis of the world. Around him were the
pilgrims of Mammon gathered from every clime, and the hum and din of traffic and of
revelry was on every side. On, one he strode wit a burdened and quaking heart, until he
had entered the city a day's journey. Standing in its most public places, passing through
long avenues of sculptured bulls and lions, surrounded by all the symbols of an impious
and debasing idolatry, and by all the tokens of a boundless wealth and conquering might,
he lifts up in the ears of peasant and slave, of prince and nobles, the prophetic cry "Yet
forty days and Nineveh shall

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be overthrown!" This was God's message to those with whom he held solemn controversy
for their sins. The word was strange. The accent; the mournful aspect; the pathetic
cadence; the earnest gesture, attracted immediate notice. The trembling voice grew firm;
the warning pealed in still deeper notes; the eye glistened mournfully and gushed with
tears; the crowd were astonished, hushed and alarmed; and from street to street, from lane
to lane, from square to square, rang like the trump of doom, the solemn message of the
prophet, "Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be destroyed." An unearthly majesty and
power was in those words. They weighed heavily on the hearts of those that heard them.
The fear of God was not utterly gone. None scoffed at the prophet of the Most High. For
once God's messenger and his message were respected. No abuse or insult as at Sodom or
in Egypt; no indifferent contempt as among the antediluvians was witnessed here. The
warning was heeded.
"So the people of Nineveh BELIEVED GOD, and proclaimed a fast, and put on
sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the
king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and
covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and
published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither
man nor beast, heard nor flock,

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taste any thing; let them not feed, nor drink water. But let man and beast be covered with
sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil ways,

54-*
Jonah iv: 11.
and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and
turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?"
56-*

The result was as it always has been in the providence of a merciful God. Mercy
rejoiced against judgment, and, according to an express principle of the existence of
which Jonah was well aware
56-
and which is clearly enunciated in other scriptures, the
Ninevites were spared. They had acceded to the Divine requirements, and thus had closed
up the controversy by submission to the will of God.
With reference to such circumstances, God has said:"At what instant I shall speak
concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to
destroy it: if that nation against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I WILL
REPENT of the EVIL that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak
concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in my
sight, that it obey not my voice, that then I WILL REPENT of the GOOD, wherewith I said I
would benefit them."
56-

The Ninevites had repented according to the di-

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vine mandate; had turned from their evil way, and from the violence that was in their
hands, and notwithstanding the objections of Jonah, who seemed to care more for his own
reputation than for God's mercy,"God saw their works, that they turned from their evil
way; and God REPENTED of the EVIL that he had said that he would do unto them; and he
did it not."
57-*
Thus the dire calamities were averted, and men learned, by a glad
experience, how easy it was for the penitent to find mercy when they sought it of Israel's
God. Happy is that people and that nation who thus complies with the divine requisitions,
and thus adjusts the controversy that it has waged with God.
But this repentance, though timely, was only temporary. It was not long before the
empire relapsed from its brief reformation. That generation passed away, and their
successors forgot the solemn warning of the messenger of Jehovah. The lust of power and
wealth burned in the breasts of the Assyrian rulers, and wealth and power begat
arrogance, cruelty, presumption, and debauchery. The Assyrian which had been a rod in
the hands of Jehovah for the chastisement of others, for its own self-sufficiency and
pride, was dishonored by Him who beholdeth the proud afar off.
57-
The cruelty and
oppression of the rulers, and the cries of afflicted and subjugated nations, reached the ear
of God. He had a contro-
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versy with Assyria. After a course of conquest and devastation, Sennacherib, the king, led
his army to the gates of Jerusalem, and, as if in utter defiance of God and right, sounded
his blasphemous and impudent summons in the ears of the inhabitants, threatening them,
in case they dared to offer resistance to his mandate, with a fury from which, as yet, no

56-*
Jonah iii: 59.
56-
Jonah iv: 2.
56-
Jeremiah xviii: 710.
57-*
Jonah iii: 10.
57-
Is. x: 5.
God had delivered any nation, and from which Jehovah himself would be powerless to
deliver those who trusted in him. Full of grief and anguish, Hezekiah, the king, sought
divine interposition. The honor of God's name, the sanctity of his temple, the perpetuity
of his worship, and the welfare of his chosen people, were all at stake. God heard the
prayer, and gave promise of deliverance. The prophet declared that the haughty invader
should not shoot an arrow or lift a shield against the city of the Lord. That night, while
the Assyrian army was reposing in fancied security, exulting in the prospect of the speedy
execution of their blasphemous threats, forgetful of that God with whom they were at
warthat night the God of Israel sent forth a single warrior for the protection of
endangered innocence, and for the overthrow of an invading host. That warrior, potent in
the might of God, accomplished a fearful work. He breathed the blast of death upon the
slumbering myriads that lay encamped before Jerusalem; and when the morning broke,
there lay one hundred and eighty-five thousand dead corpses

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stretched in ghastly silence on the battle plain. Sennacherib had tried the controversy with
Jehovah, and he retired from the scene of his boastful blasphemy and discomfiture, and
returned and dwelt at Nineveh. There, while engaged in offering adoration to his god
Nineveh, he was slain by two of his sons, who fled to Armenia, leaving his son
Esarhaddon to occupy the Assyrian throne.
59-*

The subsequent history of Assyria is much of it mingled with fabulous traditions; but
enough remains to enable us to trace the progress of God's controversy with the nation.
Some timeperhaps a century and a halfafter the solemn warning of Jonah, another
Hebrew prophet uttered the curses of God against Nineveh. Vividly does he describe the
iniquitous character and condition of that populous metropolis. It was a lion's dennone
made them afraid. The den was filled with ravin; the holes were full of prey; there was no
end of the store her wealth and pleasant furniture. In her palaces were the treasures of the
robbed, and the spoils of the oppressed. She was a well-favored harlot, and nations were
sold and ruined by her whoredoms. Her merchants were countless as the stars; her
crowned heads were like locusts; and her captains like the grasshoppers of the field. Her
wickedness had been continually upon all around. Nahum's prophecy is God's war-cry
against Nine-

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veh:"Woe to the bloody city! it is full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not. The
noise of a whip; and the noise of the rattling of the wheels; and of prancing horses, and of
the jumping chariots."
60-*
So he continues to describe the storm of battle beneath which
the pride of Assyria should forever sink. God's controversy with the nation was
approaching its issue, and this prophetic denunciation was to them the call of another
Jonah to repent. But it was unheeded. Their wickedness was deep and determined, and
the divine vengeance was to be sudden and irreversible.

59-*
2 Kings xix; Isaiah xxxvi and xxxvii.
60-*
Nahum ii: 11 13; iii.
Vague and various as are the accounts of different historians, yet we can obtain some
evidence as to the overthrow that befell that wicked city. History relates that the rulers of
the provinces of Babylon and Media lifted up the standard of revolt against Nineveh. Its
monarch, Sardanapalus, was a most infamous voluptuary. Lost in sensual pleasures, he
feared not the coming of the avenger. An ancient tradition had declared that Nineveh
could not be taken till the river Tigris had turned to be its enemy. And the Hebrew
prophet had declared that with an overrunning flood God would make an utter end of the
place thereof.
60-
The siege was protracted two years with no special result, but says the
heathen historian, Diodorus, The third year it happened that the river "overflowing with
continual rains,

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came up into a part of the city, and tore down the wall twenty furlongs in length."
61-*

Thus was the prophecy fulfilled, for "the overrunning flood" had come. Another
prophecy remained to be accomplished, "While they be folded together as thorns, and
while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry."
61-

Says the same heathen historian, who relates the occurrence of the flood, "The king
hereupon utterly despaired; and therefore, that he might not fall into the hands of his
enemies, he caused a huge pile of wood to be made in his palace court, and heaped
together upon it all his gold, silver, and royal apparel, and enclosing his eunuchs and
concubines in an apartment within the pile, caused it to be set on fire, and burnt himself
and them together."
61-
The invaders took the city, the prophecy was fulfilled, the
government subverted, the city brought, by successive blows to heaps and ruins, and for
ages, until very recent discoveries, the site of Nineveh was uncertain and unknown. Thus
the controversy which God had with Nineveh was closed, closed as all other had been
closed, in merited manifestations of divine judgmentclosed not by repentance, but by
retributionnot by submission, but by destructionand so the world had another
example of the working of that power against which it is useless to contend or to rebel.

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We have, in tracing the progress and conclusion of this branch of apostate and
rebellious dominion, been led a little in advance of other important events to which we
must now return. We take our stand in Palestine, and contemplate the position and
behavior of that chosen people who had entered into solemn covenant with God, and who
were his special treasure among all the nations of the earth. Let us mark their character,
and scan with an observant gaze their changeful and interesting history.

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CHAPTER V.

60-
Nahum i: 8.
61-*
Diodorus Siculus, Book II, c. ii.
61-
Nahum i: 10.
61-
Diodorus, Book II, c. ii.

WE behold Israel safely planted in their own beautiful land. Their foes are expelled,
their wanderings are over, and they are at rest. God has chosen them to be his people. He
has led them from Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. And if they will
but obey his voice, then he will be their God forevermore. Every motive, both temporal
and spiritual, seemed to incline them to obedience; but yet they did not obey. The record
of their early history under their various judges, is but a record of sin, of rebellion, of
apostacy, and of consequent punishment, chastisement, and captivity.This state of
things continued until their disaffection became open and general. The rule of God was at
length rejected, and a king was desired. Saul was given in anger and removed in wrath,
for consulting necromancers and committing crimes similar to those of the Canaanites
before him.
63-*
To the throne of Israel succeeded the shepherd-boy of BethlehemDavid
the son of Jesse, who, after a long and most prosperous reign, gave place to Solomon his
son.Under their consecutive administrations, the king-

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dom of Israel reached the acme of its dignity, and the people were most favorably
situated for moral and religious development. The kings, though by no means perfect in
all things, during a large portion of their reigns ruled in righteousness and in the fear of
God. The priests were well instructed, and highly and deservedly honored. The law of
God was the law of the land. The nation were blessed with all temporal endowments.
They had erected to Jehovah a magnificent temple. There God was continually adored.
Within the veil was the ark of his covenant. The shekinal glory illuminated the mercy
seatsigns and wonders attested the presence of the Lordthe cloud of Divine splendor
bestowed on the temple and tabernacle an unearthly sanctity, and all things united to
facilitate the progress of the Israelitish nation in the ways of truth and righteousness.
Under these circumstancesin a land which was the glory of all landsunder a
government of divine appointmentunder the enactments of a Divine legislator
isolated by law, custom, and affinity, from all the surrounding nationsbearing with
them the awful memories of the wonders of the Red Sea, and of the land of Egypt, with
the miracles of Divine power on every page of their history; with all the pomp and glory
of Sinai and Horeb still in fresh recollection; with their collective vows of supreme and
perpetual fealty to Jehovah but lately made; with a succession of inspired teachers,with
all these

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assisting circumstances we might suppose that this nation would cease to war with God
that the controversy would be closed up, and that they would henceforth be a peculiar
treasure to the Lord.
Vain anticipation! Their course was one of revolt from first to last. They followed the
abominations of the nations that were cast out before them. Soon the kingdoms was
divided. Civil war, intestine dissentions, idolatrous practicespersecution of the
worshipers of Jehovah, rejection of his law, disregard and profanation of his ordinances,

63-*
Deut. xviii: 914; 1 Sam. xxviii: 7, 8; 1 Chron. x: 13, 14.
forsaking the living God to consult dead men, seeking after those that had intercourse
with familiar spiritsthese were some of the baleful indications of human apostacy
which overspread like leprosy the chosen nationThen it was said "The Lord hath a
controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor
knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and
committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood."
65-*
Expostulation proved
in vain. They hardened their necks, and made them like an iron sinew, until at length God
sent his prophet with this solemn message to Zedekiah, the last king of Jesse's lineage
that ever sat upon the throne of David:
65-
"And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel,
whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, thus saith the Lord God; Remove
the diadem, and take

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off the crown; this shall not be the same; exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.
I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no more, until HE COME whose RIGHT
IT IS; and I WILL GIVE IT HIM."
This was an overthrow; though not an utter destruction. Fore even here, a promise
gleams like a bow of hope in the wrathful cloud, reminding us that the overthrow is only
till "He come, whose right it is," and God will "give it HIM." All warnings and mercies
and entreaties were alike disregarded, and the Jewish nation seemed fully determined to
make war with God. They would not obey his voice. They would not yield to his
admonition. They would not be at peace with him. And at length the Almighty
determined to break up the kingdom as he had predicted by Ezekiel and Jeremiah. The
closing chapter of the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel, gives the mournful
recital of their sins and of their punishment, as follows:"Moreover, all the chief of the
priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen;
and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. And the Lord
God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes and sending;
because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling-place: but they mocked
the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until

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the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was NO REMEDY. Therefore he
brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in
the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old
man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand. And all the vessels of
the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the
treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon.And they
burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces
thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. And them that had escaped
from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons
until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: to fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of

65-*
Hos. iv: 12.
65-
Ezek. xxi: 2527.
Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept
sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years."
67-*

The scene of this controversy changes. Judah's hearths are desolate, and her altar-fires
gone out. Her temple is in ruins, and her beautiful Jerusalem, the City of Peace, is
prostrate, with its palaces burned, and its glory departed. Her children are scattered as
captives in the dominions of a foreign prince, and under a mighty and oppressive ruler.
There by the rivers of Babylon they sat down, and

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wept when they remembered Zion. They hanged their harps upon the willows that grew
by the water-side. They that carried them away captive desired a song, and they that
wasted them asked of them mirth, saying sing us one of the songs of Zion. But their
mournful answer was, "How can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" They could
not forget Jerusalem, with its fallen templeswith its prostrate altarswith its ruin and
wastenessand while their city was desolate, and they were captives, how could they
sing?
68-*
As they thus humbled themselves and drew near to God, he heard their cries,
and had now another controversy pending even with their proud oppressors. The great
and mighty kingdom of Babylon, though it had been the instrument of Jehovah's anger,
and the minister of correction to the many nations which were subjected to its sway, was
yet limited in its duration and circumscribed in its operations by the will of the
omnipotent One. Those limits were transcended. The power which God gave for a time
they claimed foreverthat power which he gave for purposes of correction they used for
purposes of self-aggrandizement and worldly ambition. Wealth and independence and
worldly ambition. Wealth and independence culminated in pride and impiety. God had a
controversy with Babylon and its ruler. Though warned by divine admonitions, and
solemnly instructed by Daniel that he could only hope for a

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lengthening of his tranquility by showing mercy to the poor, and breaking off his sins by
righteousness; only twelve months had elapsed before the king, while walking in his
palace, spoke and said, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the
kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty? While the word
was yet in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven: O King Nebuchadnezzar, to
thee it is spoken; the kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men,
and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as
oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in
the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever he will."
69-*
Seven years of beastly
humiliation did their work of reformation upon the king. He returned to his kingdom and
his throne a changed man. He was made to stand upon his feet as a man, and a man's
heart was given to him.
69-
He praised and honored the overruling God of heaven and

67-*
2 Chron. xxxvi: 1421.
68-*
Psalm cxxxvii.
69-*
Dan. iv. 2932.
69-
Dan. vii. 4.
earth, and extolled the King of heaven whose providence had so signally subdued his
pride.
69-
Henceforth he ruled in humility and ceased to war against the Lord.
But another monarch arose and under him the controversy with God was continued.
He carried his impiety to the greatest heights. His crowning

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act was at a splendid and voluptuous festival, during which he called for the golden
vessels of the house of God, and with his wives and concubines, prostituted them as
utensils of riotous debauchery and idolatrous adoration. The same hour a mysterious hand
recorded his doom upon the palace wall. His kingdom was numbered and finished. He
was weighed in the balances and found wanting; and his kingdom was divided and given
to the Medes and Persians.
70-*

For along time these sanguinary nations, under a skillful and intrepid leader, had been
waiting beneath the impregnable walls of Babylon, as the ready ministers of
predetermined vengeance. At length the appointed time arrived. The waters of the
Euphrates were diverted from their channel, and on that night of feasting and riot, just as
the impiety of the Babylonian monarch disclosed itself in idolatrous desecration and
profane debauchery, the besieging army entered the river's channel, at its point of ingress
to and egress from the city; and marching through its bed, issued into the city from the
gates leading to the river, which drunken guards had left unlocked. Instantly the streets
were filled with armed hosts.
70-
One post ran to the palace with tidings that the city was
taken at one end; another met him from the opposite extremity with the same
intelligence.
70-
The roar of battle resounded in the

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broad places of Babylon; the gleam of swords, the clash of spears, the twang of
bowstrings, and the rattle of arrows, all told of divine vengeance inflicted upon the
oppressive city. Roused from his feast, the king rushed to the palace gate, sword in hand;
but the tide of battle was too strong for him to stem. The same night was Belshazzar, the
king, slainhis drunken nobles slept the sleep of death, pierced by their conquerors'
weapons of war. Darius, the Median, took the kingdom, and the pride and splendor of
that mighty dynasty were past forever.
71-*
God had put a check upon the controversy, had
stained the pride of human glory, and had learned the Babylonians how vainly they
endeavored to contend with his purpose and his providence. In this striking amount of the
overthrow of Babylon, the analogies are observed to be entirely similar to those of all the
previous stages in this great controversy of God with the nations of the earth.
It was closed, not by mercy, but by judgment; not by submission, but by destruction.
Power had been abused, prosperity had begotten impiety, admonitions had been
disregarded, examples had been forgotten, and it needed another out-flashing of the

69-
Dan. iv. 3437.
70-*
Daniel v.
70-
Herodotas, Book I, chap. 191.
70-
Jeremiah li: 31.
71-*
Dan. v: 3031.
sword of justice, to hush for a little the tumult of rebellion, and show that there lived a
Ruler who was over all, and who mocked at their counsels, and derided their puny and
rebellious pride. That God they had

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chosen to resist; they had entered the controversy with him; they refused to yield: they
perished!
Nearly two hundred years before, while Babylon stood, in its impregnable grandeur,
the harlot city of Chaldea; God's prophet had denounced its doom; a doom that required
generations ere it began to be accomplished, and ages for its full accomplishment; but
which now, at a distance of more than twenty-five hundred years, stands out fulfilled
before the world so literally and circumstantially, that among all the boasted oracles of
antiquity it will be impossible to obtain an instance that will compare with this. Said the
prophet of Jehovah:"And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees'
excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be
inhabited, neither shall the shepherds make their fold there: but wild beasts of the desert
shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell
there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands in their pleasant
palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged."
72-*

Thus Ichabod was written upon the palaces of the golden city. The controversy
reached its issue; the

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prophetic denunciation was accomplished; the majesty of an Almighty Ruler was made
manifest; and the fairest hopes of revolted and heaven-defying mortals were forever
frustrated.
Another nation ruled. The Median and Persian governments were consolidated in one
mighty empire, which, erected upon the ruins of the Babylonian monarchy, was destined
yet to play an important part upon the theatre of mortal action.
But though the night of judgment closed in darkness upon the proud rulers of
Chaldea, the morning broke sweetly upon the weeping captives, who hanged their harps
upon the willows in the midst of the captured city. Their liberation was ensured. The
Lord stirred up the spirit of the Persian monarch to proclaim deliverance to the captives,
and the opening of prison doors to them that were bound. Under the direction of their
appropriate leaders, the Jews took up their march from the land of bondage to the home
of their fathers. Again the long-desolate villages were restored and inhabited; the city was
builded on the holy hill; the streets and walls were finished in troublous times; and the
temple once more crowned its lofty eminence. Its service was restored, its altar-fires
relighted, its offerings slain, its law rehearsed, and over its sanctuary was hung that
mysterious veil which was to remain until the glory of the latter house should exceed that
of the former, in the consummation and fulfillment

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72-*
Isaiah xii: 1922.

of its typical arrangements, and until, by a more perfect way, and through a more
excellent veil, the faithful of every nation should approach a more glorious mercy seat,
and by faith draw nigh to God. Judah had become penitent, and God had heard her
penitential cry; the fires of inspiration enkindled the lips of her prophets, the blessings of
temporal prosperity abode within her gates, and the beauteous sunlight of divine favor sat
sweetly upon the countenance of the once captive, but now ransomed daughter of Zion.
The world without pursued its accustomed course. The Persian monarchy grew cruel
and rapacious, even like those which had gone before it. The story of its rise and its
expansion, of its crimes and its subjugation, illustrates the principles which we have been
enforcing. By the instrumentality of an obscure Grecian kingdom, from which arose the
mighty Alexander, God at length overthrew the Persian monarchy; and the Grecian was
established upon its ruins. Persia, like Babylon before it, had been weighed in the
balances of divine justice, and found wanting in those qualities which Jehovah required in
the rulers of the earth. God had proved the haughty nation with dominion, and they were
found unworthy of the important trust. Hence they fell, and other rulers took the sceptre.
And their fall was not fortuitous, or unforeseen. The prophets' eye had beheld, and the
prophets' pen had recorded, the

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doom of Persia, and the agency by which its overthrow was to be effected, long before
the event occurred. In the eighth chapter of Daniel we find that the Persian and Grecian
empire are designated by appropriate beastly symbols. While the Persian monarchy was
standing in the stateliness of its power, like its chosen emblem, 'the ram,' Grecia, like 'a
rough he-goat,' sent her warriors to the fray. The conflicts between the rival armies were
few but terrible. The overthrow of Darius was speedy and final. Alexander was a
conqueror; Persia was prostate; and Grecia was thenceforth the dominant power of earth.
In the hands of the Grecian conqueror, that power which he received by divine purpose,
was, as usual, abused. Alexander did not acknowledge Jehovah as his God. Though the
prophets of Israel had minutely depicted his triumphant career, yet he still rendered
homage to the idol gods around. He ruled unjustly. He lusted after conquest, and gratified
his lust by invading the peaceful and overcoming the weak. He grew tyrannical, and was
inflated with pride. He even sought to be adored as a God by his fellow-men. He, in rage
and intemperance, murdered his friend by his own hand. He gave his strength to strange
women. He was mighty to mingle strong drink. He tarried long at wine.
At last he stood amid the grandeur and magnificence of Babylon. Of its decaying
splendor much remained. He strove to arrest the process of disso-

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lution. He proposed, contrary to the divine purpose, to restore its departed glory and
make it mighty, when God had pronounced it base. There are many devices in the heart
of man, but the counsel of the Lord that shall stand. The counsel of the Lord concerning
Babylon was declared. The devices of Alexander opposed that counsel. His puny arm
strove to throw back those events of providence which rushed in majestic grandeur along
their predestined way. He failed. He looked upon the wine when it was redhe drank
until the serpent's bite and adder's sting were in all his being. He was crazed by the fever
of wine, and he slept the sleep of death. Bacchus took away his crownnay, Jehovah
stained thus the pride of his glory, and brought into contempt all the honorable of the
earth. Broken and plucked up, the "horn" of Grecian power was no more. Children and
wives had Alexander, but jealousies came in among them. One was idiotic through the
poison of another, one was assassinated through the treachery of anotherambition and
lust of dominion performed their work, and in fifteen years the race of Alexander was
extinctnone were left to bear his name, or wear his honors; or, with filial affection, to
revere his memory. Such is human grandeur. So passed like a bubble the glory of the
mightiest warrior that earth had seen. Fifteen years of time's ebbing and flowing blotted
out his dynasty, and destroyed his progeny from the face of the earth.

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His four generals, who had been his companions in toil and conflict, distributed
among themselves those honors and emoluments for which there remained no
acknowledged claimants. Precisely in accordance with the forewritten prediction of
Daniel, the kingdom was divided into four sections. Four other "horns" or power "came
up towards the four winds." Lysimachus had Thrace and Asia Minor in the northern
regions; Selucus had Syria and Babylon in the east; Ptolemy founded a southern dynasty
in Egypt; while Cassander had Greece and the neighboring countries in the west. Thus
passed away that great government, subsiding into a number of antagonistic and self-
destructive powers, which maintained a mutual strife until at length the strongest
devoured the weakest, and they, in their turn, succumbed beneath the mighty hand of the
Iron Kingdom of the west, the haughty empire of the Romans.
From some seven centuries the city of the robbers upon the Tiber, had been aspiring
after dominion. And now at last God had said: "Give the scepter to the Romans and let
them reign." It was done. Syria and Egypt, the last remaining divisions, yielded to the
Romans, the former being conquered by Pompey, the latter surrendered to Caesar. Rome
was now the incarnation of political power. Rome was the mistress of the world. Rome
had received the ensigns of dominion, and with them the solemn re-

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sponsibilities which their reception entailed. But Rome recreant to her trust. She stole the
liberties of the world. She mocked the claims of God. She worshiped all else save him.
Thus she rose and triumphedmighty in guilt, and sin, and transgression. She assumed
and maintained the previous controversies with God. She would not bate one jot of her
claims for his law; nor yield in the least her dignity to his majesty. Hence the controversy
stood unsettled, and the breach was widening all the time. So far from obeying God, they
would not know him, but filled his throne with idols and abominations, to which they
offered incense and adoration.
Israel too, by this time, demanded attention. They had been restored from the spoilers
land, but they had not learned righteousness. They forgot the wonders of divine power,
and the manifestations of divine mercy. They remembered not his works of old. They
were corrupted by the nations about them. The Pharisees drank from the turbid currents
of oriental philosophy. The Sadducees rushed to an opposite and dangerous extreme. The
elders encumbered the law with multitudinous traditions. The scribes taught the way of
obedience but refused to walk in it. The poor were oppressed and the proud called happy.
God was robbed in tithes and in offerings. The prophets prophesied falsely, the priests
bore rule by their means, and the multitude were pleased with the course they pursued.
Few were

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zealous for the Lord of Hosts. Few were earnest in the rebuke of iniquity. Few sought
unto God and strove to be at peace with him. Gentile iniquity and Jewish rebellion were
reaching an awful pitch. The controversy with Israel and the nations was yet unsettled.
No progress had been made towards an universal adjustment. The quarrel was undecided,
and man was unsubmissive. The vineyard of God had brought forth deadly berries. He
had uprooted and replanted the vine, and now the husbandmen gave him no fruitthe
vine-dressers yielded him no returns for his labor. So the dark tide of oppression and
ungodliness rolled down to death. The hearts of men were estranged from God, and hence
the embittered controversy showed no tokens of adjustment. The prophets of Israel had
been slain, but the nations now built them gorgeous tombs, and while they honored their
fame, they violated their preceptscast aside their examples, and persecuted their
successors and followers. Iniquity aboundedfaith was weak, worship formal, and
service hypocritical; while transgression was constant, and unrighteousness steadfast.

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CHAPTER VI.

WHEN all the world thus lay buried in wickedness and guilt, Jehovah interfered, in the
accomplishment of a long-determined purpose for the salvation of man, and the
adjustment of the great controversy. He sent forth his Son into the world, born in the
likeness of sinful flesh. The angels were full of rapture at this sight, which was a fresh
proclamation of God's good will to his enemies. So, while the celestial choir wheeled in
glorious ranks above the plains of Bethlehem, they sang first"Glory to God in the
highest ," and then, "On earth peace and good will to men." This was the Messiah's
errand to the world: To restore peace between God and his revolted province, to decide
the great controversy, and to reconcile all things to God. He came, the accredited
Messenger from heaven to earth; he came, the one Mediator between God and man; he
came, the great Ambassador, with messages of reconciliation to a fallen race; he came,
giving all mankind the offers of his favor. And God wondrously prepared the world for
his coming. The passions of men were held in check, and the closing of the tem-

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ple of Jannus at Rome gave such a token of political quiet as had only occurred thrice in a
period of more than seven hundred years. The world, too, were in expectation of the
coming of a mighty one. The Gentiles had imbibed this wide-spread impression, and the
Jews especially were warned to anticipate the advent of their Prince. In the wilderness of
Judea, a moral giant heralded the coming of the greater Proclaimer of the divine will, and
exhorted the nation to repent, and by reformation, prepare for the approaching
manifestation of a mightier one, and one much more worthy than was he. Multitudes
heeded the proclamation, and were baptized of John in Jordan, confessing their sins, and
thus seeking a reconciliation to their Creator's will.
And now, if the world will accept of the Messenger of the Divine Covenant; if they
will listen to his proposals for an adjustment of this controversy; if they will war against
God no longer, and disobey, his commands no more; if they will accept of conditions
advantageous and reasonable, and, ceasing to war against God, will obey his commands,
then the controversy will be at an end, the difficulty over, and the race can once more
walk in the sunlight of the Divine favor.
But how did earth receive its Saviour? How did the Jewshis own peculiar nation;
his kindred; his subjectsreceive him? When, after sore temptations of Satan; after the
testimony of John, and
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the witness of the voice from heaven, accompanied by the descending Spirit of the Holy
One, he stood up in the synagogue at Nazareth as the Messenger of good tidings, and the
anointed Comforter of all that mourned, they for a little while "wondered at his gracious
words," and then, filled with wrath, they thrust him out of the synagogue, and dragged
him toward a frightful precipice, that they might hurl him down headlong and destroy
him. They hated him without a cause. They slandered and belied him without justice or
mercy. They denied him the possession of any virtue; they falsely accused him of almost
every vice; they taunted, and derided and reproached him; they watched and spied his
discourses; they vainly thought to entangle him in his talk; they accused him of gluttony,
of intemperance, of Sabbath-breaking, of transgression, and of blasphemy; they made his
works of mercy occasion of renewed accusations, and they sought to kill those who were
living monuments of his quickening power; they plotted against him in secret, they
slandered him in their councils, and they railed on him openly. For his friends, he must
needs seek the Galilean fishermen or the despised tax-gatherers; he must suffer hunger in
the midst of plenty, and have not where to lay his head in a world which was his rightful
heritage. They treated him as an imposter; they cried and clamored for his death, and
coveted the release of a robber rather than the deliverance

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of God's holy Ambassador to man. Thus did the Jews reject both the message and the
messenger of God, and their rejection was their ruin.
How did the Gentiles receive him? At first, in his infancy, they sought his life, and
afterwards, in his manhood, they took it. They broke in upon the speechless agony of his
midnight prayer, with the flash of their torches and the tramp of their armed bands. They
led him in mockery about the streets of Jerusalem for many a weary hour. They bound his
temples with the twisted thorn. They beat him cruelly with their hands. They arrayed him
in a gorgeous robeblind-folded him, and bade him prophesy unto them. They drew his
blood with the gory scourge. They gave him a reed for a sceptre, and cried in mockery,
"Hail, King of the Jews."They delivered him up to the clamor of the Jews, even while
he was shown to be innocent of any crime. They laid his cross upon him, and led him
forth to execution. They drove the nails through his quivering, bleeding flesh. They hung
him in ignominy between two thieves. They watched him thereJews derided him,
Pharisees and priests wagged their heads contemptuously at his dying agoniesGentiles
gave him vinegar to drink, and cast lots for his garments beneath his cross. Jews rejoiced
to see him expirea Roman pierced his side, and out of it came a stream which has been
health to the heart-broken ever since. Romans watched his sepulchre
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while dead; they sealed it with a Roman seal, and when he rose, both Jews and Romans
agreed to lie about his resurrection, and both Jews and Romans persecuted to the bitter
death those who afterwards maintained his cause, and bore witness to the truth of God
concerning him.
Thus the world received God's Messiah. No sooner had he unfolded his message than
they sent up to God an universal hiss of contempt and rage. Satan himself could not have
planned a reception more in accordance with hate, and wrath, and wrong. No sooner had
he presented, and urged his claims, than the Jews cried out, "We will not have this man to
reign over us." "W have no king but Csar." "Away with him, away with him! crucify
him, crucify him!" "Not this man, but Barabbas." "His blood be upon us and upon our
children."And this was the world's welcome to him who came to reconcile them to
God! This the greeting that they extended to the celestial visitant, over whose advent all
heaven resounded with rapturous song, and into the mysteries of whose glorious work
angels desired to look. Every insult was heaped upon him. Every honor was denied him;
until at length he turned away from the race that had refused his mediation, and leaving
him a few chosen but humble friends, he retired from a rejecting and despising world, and
ascended to a more congenial clime, there to enjoy the glory that he had with the Father
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before the world was.
88-*
Earth rejected Christ, but heaven received him; and with him a
glorious multitude of captives
85-
whom he had delivered from the grasp of death, and
borne upward as a kind of first fruits of a future and glorious harvest, which he proposed
to gather eventually from earth to the garner of the Most High.
The personal efforts of Messiah failed to adjust the controversy between God and the
arrogant sons of men. Haughty and hardened, the kings of the earth set themselves, and
the rulers took counsel together, against the Lord and against his anointed.
85-
And it was
a marvel of divine forbearance that God did not at this time break forth in wrath upon the
abusers, and rejecters, and murderers of his Sonand thus consign them all to speedy,
utter, and irrevocable ruin. But such was not the Divine purpose. God had richer tokens
of his infinite mercy to his enemies, and he still persisted in efforts to reconcile man unto
himself. And though human indignation would in such a case hurl forth, at such
offenders, bolts red with uncommon wrath, yet Divine mercy and long-suffering still

88-*
Mark xvi: 19; Luke xxiv: 51; Acts vii: 55; John xvii: 5.
85-
Ephesians iv: 8margin; Matt. xxvii: 5253.
85-
Psalms ii; Acts iv: 2428.
continued to be exercised. God sent his sunshine on the very men that pierced his well-
beloved; and caused the rain to fall upon the very land that had been the scene of the

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Saviour's suffering and ignominy. Nay, so far from executing vengeance on them, he left
chosen witnesses to testify of his love to fallen and revolting humanity, and commanded
them to begin at Jerusalem
86-*
their testimonies of his free and boundless love.There,
where they clamored for his life; there, when they mocked him as he died; must the
gospel first be preached. And so it was. For to those whose hands were red with his
blood; to those who had been the betrayers and murderers of "the just One"; to those who
"killed the Prince of Life"; was the "word of salvation" sent first of all; when the
pentecostal baptism was upon the apostles of Jesus, and when they were endowed with
power from on high.
86-
Many heard with gladness the word, and entered into covenant
with the Lord, through the blood of him upon whom their iniquities had been laid. But
though some believed, the multitude still continued to despise Christ and transgress
against the Most High God.
When Jesus the Messiah left a world which had been so unmindful of his teachings
and his favors, he left not himself without a witness on the earth. To a few faithful
ambassadors he committed the offers of that sovereign mercy which the world had
rejected at his hands; and he required of them that they should, at whatever hazard,
publish those offers among all the nations of the earth. Like lands

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among wolves, he sent forth his disciples, to declare his mercy; strengthening them with
might by his spirit in the inner man; endowing them with power from on high;
encouraging them by blessed words of hope; and cheering them with the assurance that
he was with them always, even to the end of the world; and that whatever might be their
tribulations here, their obedience to him should receive the rewards of an endless life, and
the resplendent honor of a never fading crown.
87-*

Leaving his followers thus to propose peace to the disobedient; breaking down the
middle walls of partition between the separated nations, concluding all, both Jews and
Gentiles, under sin, that he might have mercy upon all; promising his powerful spirit to
assist his messengers to perform their work; he obeyed a voice that said "come up
higher," and ascended and sat at God's own right hand in the heavenly places, far above
all principality and power, and every name that is named, both in heaven and earth; and
having all power in heaven and in earth delivered into his hands, he there remains from
henceforth expecting till his enemies shall be made his footstool;
87-
and the controversy
between God and man shall be definitely, and finally adjusted. Jehovah had beheld the
warring strife of earth, and


86-*
Luke xxiv: 47.
86-
Acts ii: 22, 23.
87-*
Eph. iii: 16. Luke xxiv: 49. Math. xxviii: 20. Math. xix: 2729. 1 Pet. v: 14.
87-
Eph. ii: 14. Rom. xi: 32. Eph. i: 1923. Math. xxviii: 18. Heb. x: 12, 13.
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foreseen the rejection of his anointed Messiah, and he had said to him, "Sit thou at my
right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool."
88-*
And there he yet abides, for we see
not yet all things put under him.
88-
An exile from his purchased heritage, he beholds it
the prey of cruel men and of savage beasts; a theatre of blood, and strife, and carnage; an
abode of impiety and blasphemy; a haunt of rebellion, sin, and shame; where the few that
stand as his representatives, receive for their fidelity the malice of the many who spurn
his authority; and who in defiant wrath wage war against the King of Kings.
The apostles went forth to execute their mission. And how were they, the
ambassadors of Christ, received? How did the Jews receive them? They rejected their
authority. They forbade them to exercise their office. They accused them falsely. They
straitly charged them, under grievous penalties, to cease to speak in the name of Jesus.
They scourged them publicly. They placed them like felons in the prisons of Jerusalem.
They stoned them for their faithful testimonies; they killed them uncondemned, save by
the blind fury of a lawless mob. They persecuted them even to strange cities. They stirred
up tumults against them, while they sought to worship God. The rulers gave to mad
zealots their official authority for the work of devastation. They

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drove them from their homes in Jerusalem, and compelled them to flee to other regions.
They had killed their own prophets, and now they persecuted the apostles; they feared not
God and were contrary to all men.
89-*
They filled up the cup of their iniquity, and offered
their blasphemous insults to that God whom they had vowed to obey, whose name they
still hypocritically retained; but whose laws they violated, and whose glory they deeply
disgraced.
God had a controversy with Judah. Their sin was written as with a diamond point.
They had rejected the last message of God's mercy, sent to them by the messenger of the
everlasting covenant. The husbandmen had killed the heir to gain the heritage. The
citizens had not only despised the invitation to the marriage-feast, but had slain the
servants who brought it to their ears.
89-
They had forgotten the wrath which had been
kindled against their nation in other years. They sat secure. They feared not the sayings of
the Nazarene, nor the threatenings of their own neglected prophets.They had a
controversy with Jehovah. They would not seek to adjust it. They were reckless of
results. They defied the hand that had been their help.They profaned the name which
had been their trust.
God's controversy with them approached its issue.

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88-*
Ps. cx.
88-
Heb. ii: 8.
89-*
Acts iv: v: vi; viii chapters. 1 Thess. ii: 1416.
89-
Math. xxi: 3345. Math. xxii: 113.
The chosen seedwhich, like the new wine in the cluster, had long preserved the
wholehad now been brought forth.
90-*
The nation had been already broken off from any
special spiritual relation to God, while Gentiles, like wild olive branches, were grafted in.
The sentence of moral excision had been pronounced. "Lo ammi""not my people," was
said by God of those who had been his people.
90-
They had broken the marriage
covenant, though he was an husband to them. He had divorced them, and sent them away
with the shame of adultery resting upon them; and while rejecting them, had called his
servants by another name.
90-
But now another calamity must come upon them. They had
so far defied the Almighty, that now he determined to lay heavily upon them his
chastening hand; to crush that outbreaking wickedness which was kindled in the city
which was called by his name; and to blot out, in blood and flame, the mad opposition of
those who professed to be his friends, but were in truth his inveterate foes.
Woful was the day when Israel hardened their neck against God! Dire was the
calamities which they thus entailed upon themselves! God brought against them the
messengers of his indignation.
Again the predictions of divine wrath, long-uttered, and conditioned upon the conduct
of Israel, gleamed
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like bolts of vengeance above a devoted race. Precisely as was predicted, the calamity
came. God brought against them the Romans from far, from the end of the earth, swift as
the eagle's flight; a nation of a strange and unknown languagea nation fierce of
countenance, which neither regarded the old nor showed favor to the young. They
plundered and pillaged the surrounding country; they besieged them in all their gates,
until their walls were prostrate and their cities taken.
91-*
The chosen city of God, beautiful
for situation, the joy of the whole earth, was devoted to a terrible destruction. The
followers of Jesus, seeing it compassed with armies, fled to the mountains, according to
their Master's admonition, and were safe.
91-
But the thronging sons and daughters of
Judah gathered within the city's walls. Their enemies laid siege to them; and cast mounds
against them; and dug a trench about them; and sought to execute all the fierce anger
which Judah had enkindled against themselves. The terrors of that siege I need not
attempt to delineate. They are written on the dark page that records the destruction of
those who rebel against the Most High. The fury of the assaults; the valor of the defence;
the steady courage of the Roman legions, and the fierce and furious rage of the despairing
Jewsall these need not now be recounted. God brought to pass his strange act of
judgment and of

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punishment. Not one of his threatenings fell to the ground unfulfilled.

90-*
Isaiah lxv: 810.
90-
Rom. xi: 1723; Hosea 1:9.
90-
Hosea ii: 3; Is. lxv: 15.
91-*
Deut. xxviii: 48 52.
91-
Luke xxi: 20 21. See Eusebius' Ec. Hist.
In the starvation that ensued, the tender and dedicate woman, who would not set the sole
of her foot upon the ground, was compelled by hunger to kill and devour her own
children; and other sought to participate in the horrid repast with a greediness which
caused relatives to quarrel for the flesh of their friends.
92-*
And after all the unparalleled
sufferings of the siege, the city was taken, the houses rifled, the women ravished, the
temple overthrown, the tabernacle burned, the palaces broken down, the buildings
destroyed, the walls prostrated, the city desolate, and the nation of Jehovah's choice was
scattered to the winds of heaven. The whirlwind of righteous fury descended upon them;
the storms of desolating wrath were let loose, and the nation which had rejected Jehovah's
counsel and madly rushed on to controversy with God, perished in their vain attempt, and
were driven like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a thistle-down
before the whirlwind. So closed, for the time, the controversy of God with his rebellious
people. It closed not by peace but by war-not by mercy but by judgment. Humanity had
done its worst, and the outflashing of divine indignation was demanded by the exegencies
of human depravity. Since that time Israel as strangers have wandered with weary feet in
every

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land; have abode without a king or prince or teraphim for many days,
93-*
have borne the
stumbling block of their iniquity; have left their name for a curse to the world; have been
a hissing and a byword among all nations; have looked vainly for rest and have wept for
the land of their ancient glory; while Jerusalem itself has been trodden down of the
Gentiles, and will be until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
93-
Yet there is in divine
mercy one hope for fallen Israel. If they continue not in unbelief, God is able to graft
them in; and so by the ingathering of the chosen remnant, the bringing in of all who seek
unto the Lord, all Israel shall be savedsaved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation.
And to the Gentile Church their example furnishes a most solemn and impressive lesson.
Because of unbelief they were broken off, and now thou standest by faith. Be not high-
minded, but fear. For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare
not thee. Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell
severity; but towards thee goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise THOU
ALSO SHALT BE CUT OFF.
93-

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CHAPTER VII.

WHEN the Gospel of God had been rejected with indignant scorn by the Jews, then the
apostles said, "Lo, we turn unto the Gentiles."
94-*
They did so, and bore to them the
message of reconciliation which Israel had so steadfastly despised. Some believed and
were saved, both Jews and Greeks. But the multitudeshow did they receive the new

92-*
Deut. xxviii: 5357.
93-*
Hosea iii: 4.
93-
Luke xxi: 24.
93-
Romans xi: 1424.
94-*
Acts xiii: 46.
and glorious light which had flashed from heaven across their paths? They treated it with
contempt. They called its messengers "babblers," and its truths "foolishness." They
persecuted the servants of God. They bound them with chains "for the hope of Israel."
They beat them with scourges and rods, openly and uncondemned. They locked them in
prisons with their feet fast in the stocks. They flung them to wild beasts, or delivered
them to be executed by still more cruel men. They burned them to light the gardens of the
imperial monster who sat in the throne of the Csars. They tormented them with many
grievous tortures. They drove them from the abodes of men. They banished them to toil
and labor in the mines. They condemned them to the fate

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of the worst of criminals. The Christians then became, through satanic malice, the filth of
the world and the off-scouring of all things. The bearing of Christ's name was an offence
worthy of death. They buried themselves in the dark recesses of the Roman catacombs, to
seek there, in the home of the dead, that security which they were denied among the
abodes of the living. The fled to distant lands, to wild inhospitable climes, to gain there a
refuge from the storm of satanic fury that burst upon them from every centre of human
power and government.
Still, in all their persecutions, they trusted in the living God. They labored, and
suffered reproach. The records of the steadfast faith of some have floated down to us; but
the vast host have their story in the "Book of Remembrance," and their names in "the
Book of Life." All hail, ye noble saints of the Most High! Peace to your ashes! And may
the day soon come when ye shall war your undecaying glories in the saint's sweet home!
We have seen how the world refused to accept of the messages of God, and adjust the
long-pending controversy with their Maker. The world that had crucified the Master, had
no mercy on his servants. Him they called Baalzebub; them they treated with equal abuse.
But by-and-bye the name of Christ was honored. The Church first loved the world, and
then the world loved the Church. The professors of Christianity then were honored, and
religion sat

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in coquettish dalliance with the great and mighty of earth. The world did not reform, but
the Church apostatized. Nay, the true Church of God yet lived, and God had reserved still
to himself the chosen remnant that had "not bowed the knee to Baal." The world loved
not them. They wore not its honors. They confessed themselves pilgrims and strangers;
and though despised as enthusiasts, or reproached as heretics, they kept before a
gainsaying world the facts of human alienation from God, and the conditions of human
reconciliation to him.
But things grew worse and worse. The dalliance of an unfaithful bride became, in
time, the shameless wantonness of the undisguised harlot. Other beings than God were
worshiped; other mediators besides Christ were invoked; others than the Most High were
adored. The operation of the hidden leaven of "malice and wickedness" had gone on till
almost "the whole was leavened." The wise took away the key of knowledge, and the
people perished for the lack thereof. Men were taught to obey others rather than the Lord.
The flock were driven to follow evil shepherds, and bade to climb up into the fold some
other way. Men were taught to propitiate God with paltry gold, and permitted to retain
their sins while they parted with their money. The world sat in darkness, and the harlot
trod out almost all the light that glimmered amid the gloom. So the Church were tried,
and troubled, and dis-

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tressed on every side. Those were evil timesdays of peril to the flock of God. The
truths of God were hidden beneath countless fables. The commandments of God were
made void through man's tradition. The word of God was sealed, prohibited, perverted,
and mutilated; and the ages of darkness rolled in upon the world. To reveal God's
proposals for peace was a crime; to publish that God had a controversy with all sinners,
and to point out the divine method of adjusting it, was to imperil every earthly good, and
even life itself.
The few faithful messengers of Jehovah were hunted and driven, with persistent
cruelty, from the abodes of comfort and of peace. They were stoned; they were sawn
asunder; they wandered in deserts and in mountainsin dens and caves of the earth. Of
them the world was not worthy; and yet they were accounted as the filth of the world, and
the offscouring of all things, for the sake of Him who sent them to preach peace and
salvation to the revolted and the perishing.
God had, in his own time, brought punishment and destruction upon the empire of the
Csars. Judgments had been poured out like vials of wrath. Barbarian hordes had broken
in upon its ancient grandeur, and rolled the tide of war and blood across her fertile plains
and beautiful valleys. Power, long prostituted to unholy ends, had been taken away. The
sceptre of abused dominion had been wrestled

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from the Roman's hand, and ten other powers had risen up like so many horns of cruelty
upon the head of a ferocious beast of prey.
98-*
The wars and tumults and commmotions
which ensued, furnished all needful opportunities for the exercise of priestly craft,
ecclesiastical usurpations, and unholy alliances with the dominant powers around. Thus
the harlot allured all with her charms, and with an enchantress' smile, made them drunken
from her golden cup, while she became intoxicated with a more terrible potion, and was
"drunken with the blood of saints" and martyrs of the Lamb.
98-
So she revelled in her
shameless wantonness and adulterous lust. But the bride of Christ sat in darkness. She
trod a weary waste. She scattered her tears over the promises of her absent Bridegroom's
return, and nourished, with her own blood, the faith that was ready to die. And when
these ages of darkness closed in, and she fled from the haunts of men; when impiety was
most dreadful among those who named the name of Christ; when the traitors to God were
most deadly in their hate than his open foesthen God brought chastisements upon them.
The "scourge of God" had fallen upon imperial Rome, and hurled it into ruin and

98-*
Dan. vii: 824.
98-
Rev. xvii: 16.
desolation; and now another calamity must come upon those who were engaged in
revelry with the harlot, and who worshiped the power that upheld her.

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God would not permit the tide of idolatry to roll on thus unchecked. His messenger of
wrath, had denounced the woe of God's displeasure against the dwellers on the earth; and
the herald "trumpet of divine providence, sounded the clangor of impending doom.
To the false prophet of Mecca there was given power to unlock the dark abyss, from
whose depths rolled forth the deep and ominous shadows of approaching wrath. From the
lurid and baleful fires of fanaticism which he engendered and unloosed, there came forth
a host countless as the locusts, poisonous as the very scorpions, whose mission was, not
to devour the grass and herbs of earth, but to destroy and afflict those who bore not the
seal of God upon their foreheads.
99-*
Most minutely did the prophet depict this locust-like
horde of Mohammedan horsemen, with their gorgeous crown-like turbans; their
streaming hair, their iron breast-plates, and the rattling of their armor like the distant hum
of locusts' wings, or like the rush of armed hosts. Behind

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them came the scorpion sting of desolation, tribute, oppression and perdition; while
before them went a king whose very name or title of "Destroyer" told but too plainly the
character of his work.
100-*

Like an overrunning and devouring throng did these armies go forth to work deserved
vengeance upon the apostate and idolatrous races. And their power was felt. They burst
like the woe of God upon the perverters of his worship, and the despisers of his law. They
trembled with terror at the dire infliction, and shuddered at the war cry of the followers of
the false prophet. A few saw in these calamities the hand of God afflicting an apostate
and ungodly people. "The surprising success of the Saracens over the Christians, though
as much superior in number and discipline, was thus accounted for by a pious officer to
the emperor Heraclius: 'The Greeks have been everywhere worsted by the Arabs,
because they have for a long time walked unworthy of their Christian profession: they
have corrupted their holy religion, injured and oppressed one another, been guilty of
fornication, and fomented divisions and animosities among themselves.'"
100-
At length
the Saracenic scourge abated; they rested from their invasive warfares and settled down
in the quietude of more polished life. But the world learnt no wisdom from the
tribulations

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99-*
"Destroy no old women or children; cut down no palm trees nor fruit trees; burn no corn fields; kill no
cattle except for your own use; slay no religious persons in the monasteries, nor injure their places of
worship; but give no quarter to the synagogue of Satan, except they either embrace Islamism, or consent to
pay tribute." Directions given by ARUBEKR, the successor of MAHOMET to YEZID the commander of an
expedition against Syria, A. D. 633. Vide Hales' Chronology, vol. Iii, p. 352. How accurate the fulfillment
of Rev. ix: 35!
100-*
Rev. ix: 111.
100-
Theophanes Chronograph, p. 276. Hales' Chron. vol. iii, p. 356.

that they had borne. The scourging power also exceeded their bounds, and by cruelty and
rapine brought upon themselves calamities such as they had inflicted on others.
A voice from the disposer of human events, commanded the release of four other
messengers of vengeance that had been bound in the great river Euphrates. It was done.
The hordes of Mohammedan Tartars, the Seljukians; the Moguls, headed by the terrible
Gengis-Khan; the Ottomans, and the Moguls again, under the more terrible Tamerlane;
rolled like successive waves of desolating flame over a large portion of the world. The
locust-like horsemen, with their destroying leader, were cast in the shade by those more
horrible messengers of wrath whose work was to slay the third part of men.
101-*
The hosts
that went forth upon this mission of desolation were peculiar. They were horsemen; and
such hosts of cavalry as had not been marshalled before. Myriads of myriads waited to do
the bidding of the avengers.
101-


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In splendid garments of scarlet, blue and yellow, like breast-plates of fire, and jacinth;
mounted upon horses terrible as lions,
102-*
they came forth to punish those who warred
against the Highest. Europe was alarmed. The terror of the Moslem name spread itself
every where. Their conquests were extended, and the serpent-like poison that followed in
their train, was the portion of those who survived the fierceness of their conquering
might. Oppression, violence, taxation, and robbery, were afflictions that made the
condition of the living more burdensome than that of the dead.
But besides all the advantages afforded by the number of these barbarian armies, that
gathered like countless vultures to their prey, they seem to have been furnished with new
and strange means of destruction. From the mouths, as it were, of these ferocious
horsemen, there seemed to be vomited forth fire and smoke and brimstone.
102-
In all the
preceding ages of warfare since the world began, there was no such agent of destruction
as this introduced. The first account given us in history of the employment of cannon
relates, that the Mohammedan Moors made use of them in defending Algeriza, in
Grenada, from the assaults of the Castillians.
102-
Their use, subse-

101-*
Rev. ix: 1315.
101-
The Turkish and Tartar tribes numbered their cavalry by myriads, i. e. by a toman, or 10,000 horse.
Gibbon speaks of "the myriads of the Turkish horse overspreading the Greek frontier," and the Turks of
Mount Altai as "being both men and horses proudly computed by millions." It is stated that when Ladislaus,
king of Hungary, went out against Amurath with 24,000 horse, Dracula, governor of Wallachia, advised
him not to attack the emperor of the Turks with so small an army, since he went out hunting every day with
more than that number!Gill on Rev. ix: 17.
102-*
See the account of the Chaldean horses "swifter than leopards and more fierce than evening wolves."
Habak. i: 8.
102-
Rev. ix: 1519.
102-
"The besieged thundered upon the king's camp with cannon, which were here first employed, as all the
Spanish historians agree." A. D. 1341, MODERN UNIVERSAL HISTORY, Vol. xvi, p. 419. The Mohammedans
continued to make use of this destructive invention, Mohammed II, the Great, in 1452, having built a strong
fortress on the European side of the Bosphorus, about five miles from Constantinople, levied tribute on all
passing vessels. A Venetian refusing to pay was sunk by a shot from their cannon.Hales' Chron. Vol. iii.
416. Muskets were in use in 1430, and by means of them the inhabitants of Lucca defended themselves

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quently, became more common. When Mahomet II, brought his army of four hundred
thousand men, mostly cavalry, against Constantinople, one could hardly fail to see, in
their prestigious artillery, carrying stone bulletssome of one hundred, and one, even, of
six hundred pounds weighta most striking resemblance to the innumerable lion-headed
horsemen, vomiting fire, and smoke, and brimstone, and death, from their mouths; which
were so aptly described, ages before, by the inspired seer of Patmos. By these were
multitudes destroyed. Constantinople fell. A religion which had but its name to
recommend it, sunk before the fanatical fury of the followers of the false prophet, and the
crescent floated proudly above that prostrate "banner of the cross," which had never been
unfurled had men recollected that the kingdom of Jesus was not of this world, and that his
cross was no fit emblem for those who refused his yoke and violated his requirements.
On them fell the fierce wrath of God. From the horns of "the

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golden altar" of mercy had gone forth a cry, strange even as "the wrath of the Lamb;" the
long-suffering of God could abide such iniquities no longer, and the rod of chastisement
and the bridle of restraint were put upon the apostate people as just judgments of the
Almighty. In the language of the historian, "the history of the Turks is nothing else but
the true record of the woful ruins of the greater part of the Christian commonwealth."
104-*

And yet, though all these calamities came upon them; though the avenging hand of
Divine Providence was so clearly manifestyet those who survived the calamities were
unmoved by their terrible power. The rest of the men, who were not killed by these
plagues, yet repented not. They had no desire to adjust their controversy with God; they
loved rebellion too well; they still worshiped demons; they still adored idols and images
of gold, and silver, and brass, and wood, which could neither hear nor see nor walk. They
repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their
thefts.
104-
The most terrible crimes were perpetrated by those who still claimed to be the
vicegerents of God on earth. Said an orator at the council of Lateran, A.D. 1512, "We
have seen violence, rapine, adulteries, incestevery pestilence of wickedness, so
confound all things sacred and profaneso strike upon the sacred vessel, that amidst the
waves of iniquity, she was

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almost foundered."
105-*
The world reeked with pollution. The professed Church revelled
in the rottenness of licentious indulgence. The great apostacy had come; the word of God

against the assaults of the Florentines, who had only some large artillery.MODERN UNIVERSAL HISTORY,
Vol. xxxiii, p. 260.
104-*
Knolles' History.
104-
Rev. ix: 2021.
105-*
"The crimes of Popes, copied naturally throughout Christendom, present an abundant fulfillment of this
prediction. Nicholas V. gave a safe-conduct, and then immediately put the person holding it to death. Sixtus
IV. Put the offices of his court to sale, and was party to a conspiracy to assassinate the Medici in the
was sealed; the gospel of Christ was prohibited. A few sought to be at peace with God,
but they suffered the loss of all things; and from their names the stigma of heresy and the
shame of false accusations is hardly yet removed.
It needed some thunder-note of warning to arouse men from their sleep; it needed a
messenger to cry with a voice like a lion's roarto testify of coming wrathto declare
that heaven's long-suffering was almost exhaustedto announce the finishing of the
mystery of divine mercyand to herald the coming of the seventh angel who should
sound the final woe to the inhabitants of the earth.
105-
God saw the need. The reformers
arose in their might; and amid the warring discordance that grated around them like
seven-fold thunders, they proclaimed their message.

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They tore the word of God from its winding-sheet of ages that were past; they unlocked
the dark and mysterious tongues in which it was found; they gave it to the hungering
millions, who took it and devoured its words, that were "sweeter than honey and the
honey-comb," though in the struggles and persecutions which they endured for it as they
went forth to bear witness of the truth before many nations, peoples, tongues, and kings;
they found that that which had been sweet as honey to the taste, was to them like the
wormwood and the gall, which their master received to drink.
106-*
Nevertheless the word
of God grew and prevailed. The earth was lightened with its glory, and multitudes came
with joyful and obedient hearts to acquaint themselves with God, and be at peace. Still, as
before, many heard, but few obeyed; many were called, but few were chosen. The
struggle between the Church of God and his foes waxed intense. The blood of his
witnesses was poured out as the dust, and their flesh scattered as the dung. Their ashes
were flung to the heedless winds, or cast upon the restless waters. They groaned and died
in prisons and in cells. They expired beneath the most exquisite tortures that ingenuity
could suggest, or malice execute. They yielded their bodies to be burned. They laid their
heads upon the executioner's block, for the testimony of Jesus and the word of God. Still
God raised up

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others to bear his word to the nations. And, from that day to this, he has not left himself
without a host of witnesses. And in the present age his truths have been more widely
spread than ever before. The Gospel has gone to every land; the word of the everlasting
God has been translated into almost every tongue on earth, and copies of it are scattered
like healing leaves among the sin-sick nations of the earth.
107-*


cathedral of Florence. Innocent VIII. Publicly owned seven illegitimate children. Alexander VI.called by
Romish writers a serpent and a monsterdied of poison, intended by him for some of his cardinals," etc.
etc.ATLAS OF PROPHECY, p. 133.
105-
Rev. x: 17.
106-*
Rev. x: 811.
107-*
Since 1802 more than one hundred and twenty different translations of the Bible, or parts therof, have
been issued, besides all that existed before. About fifty millions of copies have been issued by Bible
Societies alone.
And now, since the dawn of the Reformation, the world has had an opportunity to heed
the opened word of God, accept the divine conditions of peace; close the long
controversy that they have waged with God, and be restored to harmony with him. But,
alas, humanity is steadfast only in its iniquityand faithful only in its perversity. "Hath a
nation changed their gods?" was the prophet's ancient question, and the answer seemed to
be, that while all idolatrous nations were steadfast in their adherence to their idols, the
followers of the true God alone had proved unfaithful to their vows.
107-

The Reformation had in it the might of divine working, but with it was the frailty of
human instrumentalities. In that cause other armor than that of righteousness was taken
up, and other conflicts save

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those of faith were engaged in. Worldly policy found admission to the arena. Strife and
bitterness prevailed. Tradition still held a partial sway over the minds of those who
professed themselves free. Persecution still continued, and a church which became too
much like the world, and which decorated with the name of Jesus the pride and pomp of
earthly state, was like the world, ready to hate, imprison, punish, and slay the members of
the little flock who knew the shepherd's voice, while a stranger they would not follow.
The Reformation was not the final triumph of righteousness. The controversy with God
was yet unsettled. In the language of an able writer, "The lapse of three hundred years has
revealed the great imperfections of that work, and shown the fallacy of the expectation
then entertained of its spread and triumph through all the kingdoms of Europe. A large
share of the nations that first united in it soon returned to the Catholic Church. No
accessions have been made to the territory of Protestantism in Europe during the last
three centuries; while, on the other hand, the decline of the churches that still survive on
the continent, especially in faith and piety, is portentous in the extreme. Sunk during the
last seventy years into open and profligate infidelity, with but here and there an
exception, they are now as conspicuously apostate as the idolatrous church from which
they seceded, and stand in as urgent need of a total reformation of principle and

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manners."
109-*
Such, is the estimation of competent judges, in the present condition of
Christendom.
A profession of allegiance to God is not enough to constitute a man a friend of God.
The being called by the Christian name avails nothing. The acceptance of certain facts
pertaining to the salvation of men, as historical verities, is of no account. There must be
an obedient faith in Jesus Christ, and a fulfilling of his commands, or else man can never
be reconciled to God. To these reasonable and easy conditions the world has never
assented. They are rebellious as at the beginning. They are disobedient as they ever have
been. They will not acknowledge Christ as their sovereign Lord. Men advance, but not
toward God. Men progress, but not in holiness. Men become wise, but not in the wisdom
of God. Men become polished, but not as stones for the diadem of Jehovah. Men become

107-
Jeremiah ii: 1113.
109-*
Exposition of the Apocalypse, by David N. Lord, p. 307. A most valuable commentary.
refined, but not with that fire that purges away the dross of sin. Men become elevated, but
they disdain the meek humility of the Son of God. They love the world. They revere not
Jehovah. They delight not in his law. They receive not his spirit. They reject his word.
They oppose his will. They despise his followers. Pride and vain glory, envyings and
strifes, worldliness and luxury creep in among those who once were the humble sharers in

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the sufferings of their Saviour. Among all the churches that bear the name of Jesus,
where is to be found the chaste virgin, the spotless bride? How few sigh and cry for the
abominations that are in the land! How few mourn over the spiritual desolation around!
How few have not defiled their garments, and are prepared to walk with Christ in white!
How many have left their first love! How many have a name to live and are dead! How
many are lukewarm and nauseous, because they are neither hot nor cold! How many
boast of riches and increase of goods, while they are poor, and miserable, and blind, and
naked! How many are at ease in Zion! How many say "to-morrow shall be as this day and
more abundant!" How many join hands with the multitude and shun the cross of Christ!
How many think more of earth than of heaven or hell! How many follow the multitude to
do evil! How many feast when they should fast, and robe themselves with purple when
they should sit in sackcloth and ashes! How many are swayed by the lightest breath of
popular censure or applause! How many forget that the Lord hath a controversy with the
nations, and that they should pass the time of their sojourning here in fear! Ah, the world
is still, as ever, the enemy of God. Satan is its God, and destruction its destiny.
If we glance at the nations of the earth, we find

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nothing to brighten the prospects of the race. The law of God is not the law of men. There
is not a nation that obeys Godnot a nation that follows Christ. Four-fifths of the
inhabitants of the globe reject even the dubious title of "Christian nations." Four-fifths are
sunk in heathenism, superstition, idolatry, and Mohammedanism. Not more than one-
twentieth of the race profess a personal allegiance to Jesus of Nazareth, and of these "he
that searcheth the hearts" alone can tell how few are his faithful followers. But the
nations sit in darkness. Not because they must, but because they will. Not that no light
has come into the world, but because men love darkness rather than light, because their
deeds are evil. And if individuals are so rebellious, what shall be said of nations? What
can we say, but in the language of a statesman and orator,
111-*
"There is not a Christian
nation on the earth." Where is there a nation that hath not blood on all its palaces that
hath not shame and crime amid all its glory? Where is there a nation that doth not
establish iniquity by law? Where is there a nation against which the blood of murdered
innocence does not cry out?Where is there a nation that hath not in its treasures the
gains of iniquity, the hire of ungodliness, the wages of oppression, and the price of
blood? Where is there a nation against which the cries of the op-

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111-*
Gov Louis Kossuth's Speech in New-York.

pressed have not ascended to the ears of God?Where is there a nation that can stand
justified before the Highest?
Do we then wonder at the commotions that rock the world? Do we wonder at the
turmoil that reigns around? Do we wonder at the dark clouds that hang portentously on
all earth's political horizon? Do we wonder at the vengeful out-flashings of retributive
justice that appall our hearts? Do we wonder at the struggles of the oppressed, and at the
violence of the oppressor? Do we wonder at the mutual hatred of the nations that God
hath made of one blood? Do we wonder at the self-destructive infatuation that pervades
the councils of the mighty? Do we wonder at the failure of man's fairest schemes? Do we
wonder at the feverish restlessness that pervades the world? Do we wonder that there is
distress of nations with perplexity? Do we wonder that men's heart's fail them for fear,
and for looking for those things that are coming on the earth? Do we wonder that nations
heave in restless fury, like the roaring of the ocean's billows? Let us learn then the reason
of all this. Let us take the key that unlocks the whole: "THE LORD HATH A CONTROVERSY
WITH THE NATIONS." It is neither adjusted nor suspended. It is neither forgotten nor
forsaken. The conflict goes on. The world are at war with God: with his truth, his justice,
his holiness, his love, his purposes, and his law. This is

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the secret of earth's "vanity and vexation of spirit." This is the poison in all earth's
banquets. This is the element that dislocates earth's machinery, and sends it grating in
disordered fury to work its own perdition. This has stained the pride of all glory until
now. This has been the rock upon which every mortal enterprise has been wrecked, and
this is still the bane of earth, the ruin of the world.
We have briefly surveyed the controversy of God with the nations of the earth, from the
beginning of the world till now. We have cast a hasty glance along the track of time, and
found it like the prophetic scroll, full of "mourning, and lamentation, and woe." We have
surveyed the present. We have seen the multitudes that sit in gross darkness, and that hate
the light. We have seen the still deeper guilt of those who have sold themselves to work
iniquity, with the word of God before them, and the gospel of Christ sounding in their
ears. We have seen that while grace abounds, sin also abounds; while light is shed abroad
men close their eyes upon it; and while men might be at peace with God, they choose to
remain at war with their Creator. We have seen all this, and if our hearts sink at the
recital of such iniquity, oh! what must be the feelings of Him who, with an all-seeing eye,
scans the open and secret wickedness of this world, and takes in at a glance the whole
deep depravity of a rebellious race! Oh, how this world must seem, as it rolls day by day
its reek-

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ing abominations before the piercing gaze of Him whose eyes are pure, and whose nature
is holiness! Ah, if man could but take in at a glance what Jehovah daily beholds in this
polluted world, he would learn more than he has ever yet comprehended, of the "long
suffering" and the love of God. He would see a patience long and triedhe would see a
love, deep and unsearchablehe would see a compassion tender, pure, and disinterested.
He would see a mercy that endureth forever.
Reader, the long suffering of God is for man's salvation!
114-*
He waits that men may
seek his face. Though the world is doomed, individuals may be saved, and saved to-day.
Let us improve this hour. Our controversy with God may be decided at once. Let us seek
the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while he is near.

"To-day the Saviour calls,
Ye wanderers come;
Oh, ye benighted souls,
Why longer roam!
The Spirit calls to-day,
Yield to its power;
Oh, grieve it not away,
'Tis mercy's hour."

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CHAPTER VIII.

WE turn away from the consideration of the prevailing iniquity of mankind to
examine another question. What is to be the issue of this great and protracted
controversy? Shall it go on forever? Shall it wax worse and worse? Shall the warfare be
perpetual? The discord eternal? Or how shall it be? Shall the controversy end? If so,
how? By what means shall creation's harp-strings be put in tune? How shall peace brood
o'er earth again, and the gentle dove bring back to this warring world the olive branch
once more? Will the principles of right and truth be overthrown, and the cause of iniquity
prevail at last? No; not while God Almighty rules the universe. Not while justice and
judgment are the habitation of his throne. Shall the antagonism be eternal? Shall evil and
rebellion forever dart their snaky tongues, and send up their blasphemous hissing in the
presence of the God of heaven? This cannot be; for then how shall the day come when
God shall "be all in and in all?"
115-*

Two ways only remain for the adjustment of this great controversy. First: by the
submission of man

[GC page 116]

to the will of God; or Second: by the destruction of the rebellious by the power of God. In
one or the other of these ways this controversy must find its issue. How shall it be?
If we reason from the analogies furnished by the past history of mortal affairs, we can
certainly have but little hope of human improvement. The uniform tendency of humanity
has been downward.Man's penitence has been briefhis apostacy permanent. His
acknowledgment of divine authority has been feignedhis fealty to Satan has been
sincere. His reformations have been temporaryhis revolts protracted. He has turned to

114-*
2 Peter iii: 15.
115-*
1 Corinthians xv: 28.
God only when he has been roused as by the thunder's voiceand then he has fallen
away so quietly, and so calmly, that apostacy was perfected before it was observed. His
returns to God have been like the toil of the laboring oarsman as he heads his boat against
the streamhis departures have been like the floating of an unguided bark upon the
bosom of a gently flowing river, that merges its tide in the dark rapids that surround the
vortex of destruction. The works of the flesh are manifest. They have been manifested as
widely as the race has been scattered, and as long as man has lived on the earth. They are
the same everywhere, and throughout all generations. The fountain is corrupt and the
stream is corrupted. The heart is deceitful and the life hypocritical. The source of
wickedness is within, and the manifestation

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of it without. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and inherits all the lusts and
vileness natural to carnality. The works of the flesh are these: "Adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, withcraft [sic], hatred, variance, emulations, wrath,
strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like."
117-*

These are not the occasional outbreakings or mistakes of a better nature, but they are the
legitimate actions of a perverted and fallen character. They are the lusts of the flesh that
war against the soul;
117-
they are the outworkings of a law of sin in man's members
which wars against the law of the mind:
117-
they are the fruits of the carnal or fleshly
mind which is enmity against Godwhich is not subject to his lawwhich knows no
rule but lustwhich ever lurks about those who dwell in this mortal statewhich must
be kept under by tireless vigilance, else it would make even an apostle a cast-away
which can only be subdued by the power of God, controlled by his holy Spirit, and
crucified and slain by the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
117-

And this settled, and perverse, and unholy disposition, does not change in "the natural
man." Refinement does not change it. Civilization does not change it. A profession of
allegiance to Christ does not change it. The repressive enactments of earthly

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governments do not change it. It is ever the same. The tree is vile, the fruit is like unto it.
Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs or thistles? Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or
the leopard his spots? No more can the perfidious hearts and lives of a revolted race be
brought by any such means into allegiance to the God of heaven. The 'old man' is the
same forever, and the only way that a change can be effected is when men are "created
anew in Christ Jesus unto good works."
118-*

The only permanent reformations which God has wrought in all the ages that are past
have been individual works. All national improvements have terminated in degeneracy or
revolt. All ecclesiastical improvements have terminated in backsliding or apostacy when

117-*
Gal. v: 20, 21.
117-
1 Pet. iii: 11.
117-
Rom. vii: 23.
117-
Rom. viii: 7; 1 Cor. ix: 27; Gal. ii: 20; v. 24.
118-*
Eph. ii: 10; iv: 24.
their course was fully run. Out of all these God selects his chosen "remnant, according to
the election of grace." Among the apostate Jews he reserves his seven thousand who have
not bowed the knee to Baal, and the idolatrous Gentiles he visits "to take out of them a
people for his name." The hidden wisdom of God is unknown to the princes of this world;
the preaching of the cross is to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness;
but to the saved, both Jews and Greeks, it is Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of
God.
118-
Always and everywhere, among antediluvi-

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ans, Sodomites, Egyptians, Caananites [sic], Assyrians, Babylonians, Jews, Persians,
Grecians, Romans; among all nations, tribes and generations, the works of the flesh have
been manifest and identical. Among barbarous and polished, learned and unlearned,
powerful and weak, honorable and vile, the same dispositions have been manifested, and
with persistent perversity, men have refused to submit to the righteous laws of God, and
have disdained to seek his mercy or adjust the long continued controversy which they
have waged with him.Never has mercy prevailed with the multitude. Never has
goodness been appreciated. Never has man submitted to the rule of God. In all the
controversy heretofore judgment has been the only infallible resort. Nothing but an
overwhelming manifestation of wrath has stayed the tide of ungodliness. Nothing but
vengeance has hushed the uprising discord of blasphemy. Nothing but the red flame of
righteous indignation has purged away the deeply aggravated guilt which the ungodly
have contracted. The sword has been bathed in bloodit has come down upon the people
of God's curse. They have been blotted out, and their fallen palaces and desolate cities
have been left as warnings that the way of the transgressor is hard; warnings that would
be remembered by the few, but forgotten by the many; thus rendering fresh judgments a
necessity for the restraint of the overrunning tide of evil.

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If then, we apply the analogies of the past in forming our judgment of the
probabilities of the future, we can reach but one conclusion. Judging from the past,
mankind will grow worse and worse, until divine judgments shall break in upon their
guilty course, like thunderbolts from overhanging clouds. I know all this is contrary to the
current expectation of the world; I know that every ray of light is eagerly hailed as the
dawning of a golden age; I know that however men differ in other things, they nearly
agree in this. The despot sees promise of future good in the stability of existing
institutions, and in the crushing out of the last dim spark of patriotic fire that burns within
the human breast. The republican looks for his halcyon days when existing orders are
subverted, thrones overturned, tyrants slain, and "liberty, equality, and fraternity"
universally prevail. The worldling looks for his millennium amid anticipated scenes of
material wealth and prosperity. The philosopher looks for a higher intellectual culture,
and a return to an ideal simplicity of social life. The bigot sees millennial glory in the
exclusive promulgation of his contracted creed. The latitudinarian hopes for the same in
the largest and most indefinite condition of liberty of speech and thought. The believer

118-
1 Kings xix: 18; Rom. xi: 4; Acts xv: 14; 1 Cor. i: 18 24.
sees his vision of peace in the spread of the Gospel, the diffusion of the Scriptures, and
the revelation of God. The infidel is equally sanguine in his anticipations of the

[GC page 121]

triumph of reason, the overthrow of the Bible, and the downfall of everything save the
religion of the God of nature. The divine contemplates the new order of things as a result
of a manifestation of the Spirit of the living God. The necromancer hails his jubilee as
foreshadowed and introduced by pretended manifestations of the spirits of dead men. The
chaste look forward to it as a time of domestic purity and conjugal fidelity. The Mormon
and free-loving Spiritualist contemplate it as an opportunity for the full gratification of
"passional attractions," magnetic itchings, and fleshly lusts; and so each, hugging his idol,
or rejoicing in his faith, looks forward to the hoped for period, when their idol shall be
enthroned, and their faith realized, as the "good time coming." It is strange that all these
varying classes, holding such antagonistic and mutually destructive tenets, can agree in
one thing. Yet they do agree in one thing. They all look for the golden age. They all hope
to behold its dawning, though they cannot agree at all as to what is to be desired or
anticipated. Yet each class anticipates the gratification of their own desires. All alike
ignore the analogies of judgment that are past. All seem to forget that God wages terrible
controversy with sin, and with the world of sinners. All forget that the world lieth in the
grasp of the wicked one.
121-*
All unite in saying smooth things. All prophesy peace.

[GC page 122]

peace. All disdain the thought, that in the midst of this security the thunderbolts of divine
wrath may break forth; and all hug the fond anticipation, that by some gentle
transformationby some philosopher's stone which they, each of them alone, have
discoveredthis age of iron is to be changed to one of gold, and these times of deep and
dark abominations are to improve to days of halcyon bliss and purity. And so the ship of
human hope and pride, is allowed to sail calmly and easily down the gulfstream of ruin,
and yet expected by some means to reach the port of quietude, and peace, and joy at last.
In all these anticipations of humanity, there seems to be one element of truth in which
they all agreenamely, the one fact of a glorious future for the world. But the pathway
that leads to that scene of delight, they vainly hope to find, in the courses which they
pursue. The intervening shades and clouds that precede the dawning of that day they
forget. They look for the light of day ere the darkness of night has passed, and they hope
for the coming glory without the rising the rising of the Sun of righteousness, with
healing in his wings. In the hopes of the world, we can see no rational prospect of an
adjustment of earth's controversy. All history, all analogy, all nature, testify against this
phantom-hope.
122-*


121-*
1 John v: 19. "The wicked," to poneros. See ver. 18, ch. iii: 12.
122-*
For proof that the now popular doctrine of the conversion of the world by the preaching of the Gospel
is of very recent origin and was disbelieved for more than fifteen hundred years from the birth of Christ,
consult "The Voice of the Church on the Reign of Christ," by D. T. Taylor, which may be had of the
Publishers of the present volume. The reader will there find the testimonies of nearly four hundred of the
greatest preachers and theologians the Church has ever produced, from the beginning down till now,
against the prevalent opinion of a world's conversion.

[GC page 123]

But if we turn from these, and glance at the present condition of the world, we are
drawn to the same conclusion. The dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of
cruelty, and the superior genius and intelligence of civilized and Christian governments
are used to bind the fetters of thraldom upon those who are in ignoranceto crush the
rising spirit of manhood from the breast of the degradedto subject the defenceless to
grinding oppression, for the sake of gain and gloryand to force, even upon the
unwilling heathen, those noxious and infernal habits and vices, which work the death of
the individual and the ruin of society. Though God has sent his word running very swiftly
through the world, yet from the same countries that issue it, go forth curses so dire, that
none can describe their terrible power. The idols for heathen adoration are many of them
said to have been the handiwork of the dwellers in a Christian land.
123-*
From the same
ports go forth missionaries and murdererssoldiers of the cross and soldiers with carnal
weapons. The same ship carries to heathen lands, guns and gospel, bran-

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dy and bibles, prophecies and poisons, oracles and opium; and the effects are
proportionate to the vast predominance of evil efforts, and the natural proclivity of the
human heart to sin. Missionaries do much, but the messengers of Mammon do infinitely
more. The stinted contributions of individuals sustain the heralds of peace; but the
treasured millions of a nation's wealth are lavished to sustain oppressive rule by
sanguinary contest.
Throughout Christendom, there are the perils of secret and open apostacy that thicken on
every hand. The authority of God is but little regarded in this age of temporizing and
Mammon-worship. Other lords have dominion. Fashion, pride, wealth, glory, pleasure,
lust, and iniquitythese are the gods that have reverence here, and whose votaries are
among the great and mighty of this world.
The Word of God is not revered as it should be. Men disavow its inspiration, they deny
its authority, they cavil at its teachings, they wrest its truths, they make it void through
their traditions, they turn their ears away from the truth, they are turned unto fables, they
cannot endure sound doctrine. The plain, simple truths of Almighty God, are too insipid
for them. They must have human eloquence, flowery essays, elegant orations, and soft
sayings, in the place of those pungent outpourings of divine truth, that lay bare the heart,
that expose its falsity, that probe the conscience, that arraign the soul

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before the word of Christ as before the great white throne, and which only offer peace
and salvation upon the grounds of unconditional and eternal obedience to the will of the
living God.
And alas, there are too many who have no higher calling than to minister thus to the
comfort of the itching of the ears that wait upon their words. The might and faith of holy

123-*
Manufactured in Birmingham, England.
men of old is far too rare. Gold outweighs grace, and silver has more influence than
salvation. The terror of the Lord is forgotten, the judgments of the Lord are ignored, the
wrath of the Lord is in the shade. The judgment is denied, the resurrection forgotten,
damnation is unpopular, hell horrid, and destruction detestable! The heart is left full of
idols, and prophesying smooth things is disguised under the subtle name of "preaching
love." But alas, this love is not the love of God to man, nor the love of Jesus to the lost. It
is not that mighty, devoted, all-sacrificing impulse, that tears the should from every idol,
that weans the heart from all luxurious ease and selfishness, that binds the body as a
living sacrifice to the horns of Jehovah's altar, and that yearns with unutterable longings
for the glory of God and the salvation of men. This love that fills the heart with the agony
of intense desirethis love that allies the soul to the Great Eternalthis love that turns
"the world upside down," if it may but pluck sinners as brands from the burningthis
love that counts all things loss

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and dross that it may win Christthis love that, renouncing all its worldly honors, glories
only in the cross of the Lord Jesus, is in its character and manifestations very far from
resembling the smooth sayings, the soft and honeyed words, with which men are
accustomed to be lulled in the lap of fleshy security, and enabled to slide quietly, and
peacefully, and unconsciously down to perdition.
Under such influences, while iniquity abounds, the love of many waxes cold. Faith is
weak, faith is low, faith is dead. Zeal is unfashionable, and earnestness is impolite. Now
then a spasmodic revival, like a galvanic shock, thrills a church for a moment, and then
leaves them to relapse into a slumber more lethargic and death-like than before. Pride
creeps inhumility goes out. Aristocracy takes the chief seats in the synagogues, and
piety is crowded in the corner. Evil is done that good may come of it. Sin is winked at
that money may be gained. Wordlings are courted for their influence and their gold; and
pure religion, and undefiled before God, is as unusual as it is desirable. The earnest,
fervent piety of other days is remembered by some with regret for its departure, while
others gladly discard the staff and toil of the "pilgrim's path" for the comfort of the
"celestial railroad," even though the track be far from the King's highway, and Apollyon
himself be installed as engineer!
Outside the church things are still worse. Hosts

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of apostates gather there. Many, disgusted with hypocrisy, rail at all religion. Infidels
crack their impious jests, and find within the pale of the church abundant basis for their
bitterest scoffs. Necromancy prevails. The old tricks and halucinations of ancient
heathenism are revamped and palmed upon the world as the opening glories of a new era.
The demons of darkness are invoked, and their strange responsesa medley of
falsehood, blasphemy, and follyare received as revelations from celestial "spheres!"
"Doctrines of demons" are rife. The marriage covenant is treated with contemptlaws,
both of God and man, are derided, and satanic revelations authorize adultery, fornication,
and the countless abominations that are, with such witchcraft, "the works of the flesh."
127-
*
The ages of heathenish darkness seem setting in upon us. The abominations of demon
worship are revived. The juggling and satanic mystery of ancient sorcery and divinations
have returned to curse the world, and the lurid and baleful flickerings of this phantom-
light are held by many to be the veritable dawnings of the perfect day! As Jannes and
Jambres withstood Moses, so do these resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds reprobate
concerning the faith. Deceptive demons go forth to the kings

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of the earth and the whole world to array them in conflict against the Almighty God.
Multitudes are meshed and ensnared in these strong delusions, because they believed not
the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
128-*
The results are obvious. Crime
abounds. The mad lust for wealth pushes men beyond the pale of religion, morality, or
honesty. Adulteries, murders, and all kindred abominations haunt us on every side.
Dishonesty causes no surprise. Violence is a matter of common occurrence. Veniality and
corruption are all around us. Blood toucheth blood. Vice rolls in torrents. Piety weeps.
Judgment is turned away backwards, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the
street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth, and he that departeth from evil is
accounted mad.
128-
Intemperance, riot, and revelry, with all the horrid crimes that flow
from them as streams from a fountain, prevail on every hand. Iniquities are defended,
crimes are legalized, villainy is extenuated, and ungodliness is made honorable. Darkness
is put for light, and light for darkness. Good is put for evil, and evil for good. Humility is
despised, godliness is derided, righteousness is nearly obsolete, and piety almost
forgotten.
Turn which way we will we find no general disposition to yield to the divine
requisitions. The great
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controversy is still pending. There is no peace to the wicked, saith my God. The tumult
shows no token of abatement. The broils and strifes of mortals still go on. The dark
clouds still mantle the skies. The heavens gather blackness. The thunders of approaching
wrath still mutter. The Lord hath a controversy with the nations! What shall be its issue?
Shall earth ever find rest? Shall peace stretch her mantle over this world again? Shall
the discordant jarrings ever end, and earth take up its appointed part and chime with all
the countless orbs of heaven in the glorious music of the spheres? Shall the earth be full
of the knowledge and glory of Jehovah? Shall it rejoice in all its hills and vales and grow
vocal with its Maker's praise? And if so, how? How shall the great struggle between light
and darkness, between good and evil, end? Who can tell us? Who can relieve the dread
suspense that encompasses us? Oh for the voice of inspiration to reveal to us the mighty
secret! Let us search the sacred oracles and find answers to these questions.

127-*
The reader may consult "Spiritualism, a Satanic Delusion and a Sign of the Times," by Wm. Ramsey,
D.D., a most valuable work upon this subject, published by H. L. Hastings. The writer hopes to issue a
work on the subject of spiritual influences ere long, if God permit.
128-*
2 Tim. ii: 8; Rev. xvi: 14; 2 Thess. ii: 1112.
128-
Isaiah lix: 15margin.

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CHAPTER IX

THOUGH the analogies of the past and the aspects of the present, speak with no
uncertain voice concerning the probable issue of this mighty conflict, yet their verdict is
manifestly insufficient to decide the question, in the absence of more positive testimony.
Analogies may be mistakenappearances are deceptive. God alone can scan and foretell
the future. To his word then we turn, and before the door of the eternal oracle we enquire.
What shall be the end of these wonders? What shall be the issue of this great
controversy? We must refer to the words of the prophets of God, and learn from them the
course and issue of this terrible contention.
First, then, let us listen to the words of the prophet Jeremiah, who has so plainly
spoken of this controversy. As the custom of kings anciently was to inflict death on
criminals by a cup of poison, this figure is made use of in speaking of God's dealings
with the nations of the earth. The prophet, who in his childhood had been set "over the
nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw
down, to build and to

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plant,"
131-*
was therefore bidden to bear the cup of wrath to the enemies of God. "For thus
saith the Lord God of Israel unto me; Take the wine-cup of this fury at my hand, and
cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it. And they shall drink, and be
moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them. Then took I the
cup at the Lord's hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the Lord had sent
me."
131-
He then proceeds to an enumeration of the nations that were designated as guilty
criminals, deserving of divine wrath, and destined to drink the wine-cup of his fury. "To
wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to
make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse; as it is this day; Pharaoh
king of Egypt, and his servants, and this princes, and all his people; and all the mingled
people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines,
and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod, Edom, and Moab, and
the children of Ammon, and all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the
kings of the isles which are beyond the sea, Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in
the utmost corners, and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people
that dwell in the desert, and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the
kings
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of the Medes."
132-*
After indicating the various nations that were thus doomed to bear the
judgments of the Lord, the prophet's vision seems to widen and encompass unknown and

131-*
Jer. i: 10.
131-
Jer. xxv: 1517.
132-*
Jer. xxv: 1825.
unnamed nations and empires, that were yet hidden in the womb of timefor he
continues to say: "And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all
the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the EARTH: and the king of
Sheshach shall drink after them. Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord
of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and FALL, and RISE NO
MORE, because of the sword which I will send among you. And it shall be, if they refuse
to take the cup at the hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of
hosts; YE SHALL CERTAINLY DRINK. For lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is
called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished; for
I will call for a sword upon all the INHABITANTS OF THE EARTH, saith the Lord of hosts.
Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The Lord shall
roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar
upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against ALL THE
INHABITANTS OF THE EARTH. A noise shall come even to the ENDS OF THE EARTH; FOR THE

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LORD HATE A CONTROVERSY WITH THE NATIONS, HE WILL PLEAD WITH ALL FLESH; he will
give them that are WICKED TO THE SWORD, saith the Lord.Thus saith the Lord of hosts,
Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up
from the coasts of the earth. AND THE SLAIN OF THE LORD SHALL BE AT THAT DAY FROM
ONE END OF THE EARTH EVEN UNTO THE OTHER END OF THE EARTH: THEY SHALL NOT BE
LAMENTED, NEITHER GATHERED, NOR BURIED; THEY SHALL BE DUNG UPON THE GROUND."
Here is the terrible history of this controversy, forewritten by the servant of the living
God. The judgments that commenced upon Jerusalem and Israel for their rejection of
divine authority, were to overspread the earth. They commenced in isolated inflictions
upon various nations and tribes. And where are those nations whose death-warrant is here
issued by Jehovah? With scarce an exception they are gone. Their power has been
broken, their cities overthrown, their governments subverted, their palaces desolated,
their glory departed, and they have perished from the face of the earth. But others were to
share in these judgments. The bounds of geographical knowledge were reached, but the
cup still overflowed. Palestine and all the adjacent countries had been mentionedthe
great empires of antiquity had been included, and still he extends the dreadful
malediction, and hurls it down to time's remotest

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year; and fastens it upon "ALL THE KINGDOMS OF THE WORLD WHICH ARE UPON THE FACE
OF THE EARTH." No refusal can avail them. They must certainly drink the cup of fury. The
world shall not be unpunished. God will call for a sword against all the inhabitants of the
earth. He shall rush to their destruction as the vintagers tread the grapes. The noise of the
conflict "shall come even to the ends of the earth, FOR THE LORD HATH A CONTROVERSY
WITH THE NATIONS." And how shall it issue? "He will plead with ALL FLESHhe will give
them that are WICKED to THE SWORD." The tempest of wrath shall burst like a furious
tornado. It shall fall grievously upon the head of the wickedit shall do its work of
desolation "in the latter days,"
134-*
and as its result the slain of the Lord shall strew the
earth from end to end, ungathered, unlamented and unburied, they shall be dung on the
ground. The mighty, the great, the princes and the nobles, are called upon to mourn over
their impending ruin."Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the
ashes, ye principal of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are
accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. And the shepherds shall have no
way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape. A voice of the cry of the shepherds,
and a howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the Lord hath

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spoiled their pasture. And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce
anger of the Lord. He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate
because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger."
135-*

This is their doom. Their days of slaughter, in which they have nourished their hearts,
and dispersed and killed the just, are ended.
135-
They shall be destroyed as a crystal
goblet is shivered by its fall, and over all their hopes and prospects brood the clouds of
darkness, desolation, and despair.
Such is the terrible destiny that overhangs the impenitent world. A destruction so
awful and so wide-spread, has never been known since the waters of Noah overwhelmed
the race. No history can furnish a fulfillment of the whole of this terrible denunciation.
The controversy has not yet reached its final issue. Some nations have fallen; but "that
day" in which "the slain of the Lord" shall bestrew the world, and the wicked shall be
given to the sword of his vengeance, is manifestly yet future. No local judgment can
accomplish it; no mere national calamity can answer to it. It overhangs THE WORLD like a
pall of darkness. It is the death warrant of a godless and impious race. Nothing but a
slaughter, wide was the world, can fill the terrible picture. "For, behold, the Lord will
COME with fire and with his chariots, like a whirlwind, to ren-

[GC page 136]

der his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by FIRE and by HIS SWORD
will the LORD plead with ALL FLESH: and the SLAIN of the Lord shall be MANY."
136-*

The whole tenor of the Scriptures accords with this representation. It were almost too
great a task to quote the various passages that point to this terrible conclusion. It is the
universal voice, the concurrent testimony of prophets and apostles, and of Christ himself,
that necessitates this decision.
If we turn over the pages of inspiration, we look in vain for any tokens or predictions
of a process of gradual development, that is to usher in a brighter day. The whole Bible
represents the world as growing worse and worse, until the protracted controversy
reaches its terrible consummation, in manifestations of divine indignation; compared with
which, all previous national inflictions are like rain-drops before the storm.

134-*
Jer. xxiii: 1920.
135-*
Jer. xxv: 3438.
135-
James v: 56.
136-*
Isaiah lxvi: 1516.
If we examine the writings of the Psalmist, we find him describing the king to whom
God has given "length of days forever and ever," upon whom "honor and majesty" are
laid by a divine hand, who is made full of joy by the countenance of God
136-
, and who,
through the mercy of the Most High, "shall not be moved;" and to him the Psalmist
says:"Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: they right hand shall find out those
that hate thee. Thou

[GC page 137]

shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the Lord shall swallow them
up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them. Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the
earth, and their seed from among the children of men."
137-*
If we glance at the second
Psalm, we find the same issue presented. In the midst of the rage of the heathen, and the
vain imaginations of the peoplein the midst of the plottings of rulers, and the impotent
devices of kingsamid purposes of rebellion, and plots of mutinous revolt, then,
observing the whole"He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have
them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore
displeasure. Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree:
Jehovah hath said unto me, Thou art my Son: this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me,
and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth
for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron: thou shalt dash them in
pieces like a potter's vessel."
137-
The same thought breaks out in another place, where the
Lord is called up from the warring tumults of the world, and bidden to sit at God's right
hand, till his enemies are made his footstool by the power of the Almighty Father. The
rod of his strength is to go forth out of Zion, and he is to rule in the midst of his enemies.
Then
[GC page 138]

after an allusion to his everlasting regal priesthood, there comes in the work of the
Almighty Father, in the overthrow of the foes of his Son:"The Lord at thy right hand
shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen; he
shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many
countries."
138-*

Again, when God is presented as the refuge and strength of his people, the process of
their deliverance seems to be narrated as follows: "The heathen raged, the kingdoms were
moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of
Jacob is our refuge. Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolation he hath made
in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and
cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am
God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts
is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge."
138-


136-
Acts ii: 28.
137-*
Ps. xxi: 810.
137-
Ps. ii: 49.
138-*
Ps. cx: 5, 6.
138-
Ps. xlvi: 611.
In this manner God closes the controversy, and commands the silence and the
reverence of the world, while he claims the honor and exaltation which is his due. And
there is no other prospect than this of peace or blessing to this misgoverned world, in all
the noble lyrics of Israel's royal bard. If the earth is called to be joyful at the triumphant
reign
[GC page 139]

of Jehovah, while righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne, then we
are told, "A FIRE goeth before him, and BURNETH UP HIS ENEMIES ROUND ABOUT. His
lightnings enlightened the world; the earth saw, and trembled. The hills melted like wax
at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. The heavens
declare his righteousness, and all THE PEOPLE SEE HIS GLORY.
139-*
If all creation is bidden
to rejoice in Jehovah's ruleif the floods clap their hands and the hills are joyful
together, it is "Before the Lord: for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall
he judge the world, and the people with equity."
139-
So throughout all these sacred songs,
judgment and mercy are combined.Judgment first, crushing every foe, and mercy
afterwards, poured upon God's trusting flock, like rain upon the mown grass. Judgment to
close the controversy with the obdurate, and mercy unfolding all its stores of riches for
the submissive and obedient.
If we survey the writings of Isaiah, the same grand and solemn truth pervades the whole
of his prophecies. Out of the stem of Jesse there was to come a Rod, and a Branch was to
grow out of his roots. The spirit of God was to rest upon him, and give him wisdom and
power to judge and rule aright. "And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips shall he slay

[GC page 140]

the wicked." Then comes a description of such joy and glory as the world has never seen
since it revolted from God; when "The earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as
the waters cover the sea."
140-*
Again the prophet refers to a period when the earth, reeling
to and fro like a drunkard, is dissolved and removed like a cottage; he declares that, "It
shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the kings of the earth upon the
earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit and shall be
shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited. Then the moon shall be
confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and
in Jerusalem, and before his ancients glourously."
140-
Then the controversy is closed, and
after it comes triumph and glory for the saints of the Lord. Once more he shows us the
conqueror, glorious in his apparel, and traveling in the greatness of his strength,
threatening that he will tread the people in his anger, and trample them in his fury,
sprinkling the blood upon his garments and staining all his raiment: "For the day of
vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And I looked, and

139-*
Psa. cxvii: 36.
139-
Ps. xcviii: 9.
140-*
Is. xi: 19.
140-
Is. xxiv: 2123.
there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold; therefore mine
own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury,

[GC page 141]

it upheld me. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in
my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth."
141-*
The imagery is the same
here as in the prophecy of Jeremiah, the controversy closes in vengeance, with the foes of
God trampled by him in fury, with shoutings as of those that tread the grapes. And so the
last chapter of Isaiah again refers us to the time when God shall plead his cause by fire
and sword, and crush by his power, those who have resisted and despised his long
suffering and his grace.
141-

The predictions of Ezekiel indicate a similar consummation of this controversy. After
pouring vials of terrible wrath upon the various nations that then surrounded him, his eye
glances onward to the events of "the latter days." There he descries the countless foes of
God marshalled and gathering like a storm to battle, only to be met by divine vengeance,
with "hailstones, fire, and brimstone," while all the beasts of earth and fowls of heaven
are summoned to come and gorge themselves with the flesh of the great and mighty of
earth, who have fallen beneath the hand of divine justice.
141-

Similar are the representations of Daniel in all his prophecy. Earth's kingdoms are
compared to a great and terrible image, which stands in colossal grandeur, gradually
degenerating in character until, from gold,

[GC page 142]

and silver, and brass, it descends to iron, and clay, or pottery, and then, sudden and
terriblea Stone, heaved by unseen hands from the brow of an adjacent mountain, rushes
downward with terrible velocity, strikes the colossal giant on his feet, and then crushes
the whole to powder, which is driven by whirlwinds and hurricanes, until not one vestige
of it can be found;and then that strange and mystic Stone expands to a mountain size
and fills "the whole earth." By this was foreshadowed the fact that earth's four great
monarchies would gradually degenerate, until at last, smitten by the resistless might of
God, they would be exterminated, and give place to another and better order and
condition of affairs, when the God of heaven should set up a kingdom, which, like the
expanding Stone, should crush every opposing power, and fill the world with its
benignant and eternal influence.
142-*
Again, the four great empires of earth are likened to
so many terrible and ferocious beasts; which war with God and devour the whole earth,
until the time when the fourth, with its horns of blasphemy and rage, having warred with
the saints of God and crushed and worn them out, has filled its cup of iniquity. Then the
seats of judgment are placed; the Ancient of days is enthroned amid the fiery flame,a
river of fire rolls forth before him,countless thousands gather at his beck,the
judgment sets,the books are opened,the blasphemies

141-*
Is. lxiii: 46.
141-
Is. lxvi: 15.
141-
Ezekiel xxxviii and xxxix: 1722.
142-*
Daniel ii: 3144.

[GC page 143]

of the horned beast are remembered,the beast is slain, and his body given to the
devouring fire,the Son of Man appears in clouds of glory,there is given to him
universal and eternal dominion,and the world, rid of its tumults and controversies, is
forever subjected to his sway; "the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the
kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most
High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey
him."
143-*
At another time the power that rebels against God pursues its course, standing
up against the prince of princes, until it is "broken without hand,"
143-
and there the
controversy ends. Finally, by another prophetic track he arrives at the same terminus,
when a mighty potentate from the north, like the one mentioned in Ezekiel, comes like a
whirlwind from afar, and plants his royal tents in the glorious holy mountain, and then, in
the midst of his might and his triumph, he shall come to his end"none shall help
him"Michael shall stand up as the princely defender of the Israel of God,a time of
unparalelled [sic] trouble ensues,the people of God are delivered, the multitudes of
those that slumber in the dust awake to eternal life or to shame and everlasting
contempt;the controversy closes in days of glory for the church of God, when "they
that be wise, shall shine as the brightness of the firmament;

[GC page 144]

and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever."
144-*

If we turn to the prophet Joel, we find him likewise taking up the same strain. First is
sin, then judgment, then returning blessing. The nations are summoned to the contest
the men of war are invited to draw near. They are bidden to beat their ploughshares into
swords, and their pruning-hooks into spears. They are called to gather both weak and
strong to the valley of Jehoshaphat, where God will bring down his mighty ones, and sit
to judge the nations round about. Then comes the cry for vengeance"Put ye in the
sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come get you down, for the press is full; the fats overflow,
for the wickedness is great." Multitudes are in the valley of decisionthat skies are
mantled with blacknessthe voice of God thunders from Zionthe heavens and earth
are rocked as by an earthquake's powerand judgments fall with exterminating fury
upon the puny foes of God, and truth, and righteousness. Then there dawns the brighter
day. Jerusalem is holystrangers pass through it no more: the mountains and the valley
flow with milk and wine. Judah dwells in peace forever, and Jerusalem is safe from
generation to generation.
144-

Amos, Obadiah, and Micah have similar allusions, and coincide in these
representations. Zephaniah

[GC page 145]

143-*
Daniel vii.
143-
Daniel viii: 126.
144-*
Dan. xi: 4045; xii: 14.
144-
Joel iii: 921.

predicts the period when Jehovah shall "rise up for the prey," and gather the nations, and
assemble the kingdoms, and pour upon them his indignation, even all his fierce anger,
and all the earth shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy. Then when the rebellion is
crushed, the long confusion and restraint that was laid upon man around the tower of
Babel shall cease. The people shall be turned to a PURE LANGUAGE, and call upon
Jehovah's name and serve him with one consent.
145-*

The prophet Haggai also delivers, as from Jehovah, this message:"I will shake the
heavens and the earth; and I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the
strength of the kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen;
and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their
riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother."
145-
And the apostle,
commenting on this passage, teaches that this shaking is to be more terrible than that of
Sinai, for the voice that then shook the earth, shall now shake not only earth, but heaven
also; and this shaking will remove everything that can be removed, while the things that
cannot be shaken, and the kingdom that cannot be moved, shall abide as the permanent
heritage of the servants of the Lord.
145-

Zechariah also predicts corresponding events, and Malachi closes up the canon of the
Old Testament
[GC page 146]

with similar statements. The proud are exaltedthe wicked are honoredwhile the glory
of the saints is reserved for the day when God shall make up his jewels. Then shall be
known, in that day of terrible discrimination, the difference between the righteous and the
wickedthe servant of God, and him that serveth Him not. Their different destinies shall
decide their real characters beyond dispute. "For behold, the day cometh, that shall burn
as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day
that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither
root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name, shall the Sun of righteousness arise with
healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye
shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day
that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts."
146-*

There is no need of further quotations from the writings of the Hebrew prophets
concerning this subject. Their testimony is characterized by its unity and harmony. They
all lead us to one and the same conclusion. God's controversy with the world will be
closed up by judgments of unparalleled and indescribable severity. This is the spirit of all
ancient prophecy. Do the New Testament teachings correspond with this idea? Let us
examine them with candor; and may God guide us into all truth.

[GC page 147]

CHAPTER X.

145-*
Zeph. iii: 8, 9.
145-
Hag. ii: 22.
145-
Hebrews xii: 2529.
146-*
Mal. iii: 13 18; iv: 13.

IF we survey the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament, we arrive at conclusions
similar to those already intimated. He knew too well what was in man, and saw too fully
in his own experience, the depravity of mortals, and the devices of Satan, to anticipate a
speedy or a peaceful termination of God's controversy with men. Every where he points
out to his followers a humble path, aloof from worldly grandeur, as the path of their
pilgrimage. He calls them to forsake all for his gospel. He warns them that they shall be
hated of all men for his name's sake. He sends them forth as sheep among wolves. He
blesses the poor, the heart-broken, and the persecuted; but it is only with hope of future
joys. He predicts that this world, where he has sown the seed of gospel truth, will be like
a field where an enemy scatters tares in abundance among the growing grain; whence no
art can eradicate them till the final harvest, when angels shall gather the wicked for the
flames, and the righteous for the garner of God. Then, when vengeance is taken on the
ungodly, shall

[GC page 148]

the righteous shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
148-*
Then they have
peace and rest and glory. Our Lord's great prophecy
148-
upon the Mount of Olives,
concerning Jerusalem's overthrow, his own coming, and the completion of the age or
"end of the world," is in harmony with all the rest. It is a tale of woe from beginning to
the end. Only one gleam of light breaks in"This gospel of the kingdom shall be
preached in all the world." But this is only for a witness unto all nations, to save the
believers, and make more sure the perdition of the unbelievers, and then shall the end
come.
148-
Until then there is no permanent rest. Deceivers, wars, commotions, famines,
pestilences, and earthquakes; these are but the beginning of sorrows. Afflictions,
persecutions, betrayals, hatred, offences, false prophets, and iniquities abounding and
quenching the little of love that remained, are the characteristics

[GC page 149]

of those times. Jerusalem was to be overthrowntribulations, great and mighty, were to
comethen signs in heaven above, and earth beneathand then the appearing of Christ,
the surprise of the world, the gathering of the nations before his throne, the scenes of
judgment, the great separation, the damnation of the wicked, and the welcome of the
righteous to the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world.
149-*

The various similitudes and allusions by which Jesus illustrates the completion of this
dispensation, and his own return from heaven, are in perfect accordance with all we have

148-*
Math. xiii: 2432; 3743.
148-
See a valuable work with this title, by Rev. D. D. Buck, Nashville: Graves, Marks & Co.
148-
Crysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, A.D. 400, in commenting on Math. xxiv: 14, says: "Attend with
care to what is said. He saith not when it hath been believed by all men, but when it hath been preached to
all. For this cause he also said: 'For a witness to the nations,' to show that he doth not wait for all ment ot
believe, and then for him to come; since the phrase, 'for a witness,' hath this meaning,for accusation, for
reproof, for condemnation of them that have not believed." Homilies, part I, p. 141, Oxford Translation.
See "THE VOICE OF THE CHURCH on the Reign of Christ, by D. T. Taylor, p. 93.
149-*
Math. xxiv and xxv: Mark xiii; Luke xxi.
read thus far. He predicts no days of peace till he shall have first subdued his foes. He
came not to send peace on earth but a sword. He would have the fire that he was to send
already kindled. He warns, and cautions, and encourages his little flock, by the promise
of a kingdom, to sell and give alms, and to stand steadfastly awaiting his return. He will
have them content with nothing else. They must make no compromise. They must pray
for God's will to "be done in earth as it is done in heaven," and pray till the prayer is
answered. They must watch. He is coming as comes the master from a long journey, and
they must be ready to open to him. He is coming as comes the thief in the darkness of
nightthey must watch for his approach. He will come as the

[GC page 150]

lord returns from the wedding-feast, and however unreasonable the hour, they must stand
with their loins girt and their lights burning to receive him. He will come when the evil
servant riots in security, nor apprehends his approach, and he will cut him asunder. He
will come as the bridegroom cometh, too soon for virgins who are unprepared to go in to
the marriage. He will come on the world as the deluge came in the days of Noah, and
arrest with judgment the careless iniquity of a sinful generation. He will come as the
lightning-flash that gleams in the darkened sky. He will come as fire came down upon the
cities of the plain in the midst of their unsuspecting slumbers, and destroyed them all.
150-*

Such were the Saviour's own illustrations of the awful facts. Such his representations of
the way in which the controversy with man should be closed up. When at last earth
rejected her Saviour, and heaven opened wide its everlasting doors to receive the King of
Glory in ,
150-
he heard howling after him the seditious protest of a fallen race"We will
not have this man to reign over us"And when he shall return, invested with dominion
and majesty, while he gives honors to his followers, he shall say, "But those, mine
enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither and slay them
before me."
150-
Then the strife closes at

[GC page 151]

the endcloses as it ever has closed, in judgments that overthrow and exterminate the
foes of God, and which thus pave the path for mercies upon his people.
The writings and teachings of the various apostles, clearly indicate that the
instructions of Christ regarding this subject, had not been misapprehended by them. In
their eyes creation was groaning beneath the bondage of corruption, from which it cold
only find deliverance when the sons of God were manifested and received the adoption,
to wit, the redemption of their body.
151-*
Paul brings to our view the time when Christ
who now hath all power both in heaven and in earth given into his handsshall, after
having accomplished the gathering of his chosen ones, deliver up the kingdom to God
even the Father, that HE may reign till he hath put all things under his feet. So when all
things are subdued unto Christ by the father's might, and even death, the last enemy, is

150-*
Luke xii: 2250; Math. xi: 10; 2 Pet. iii: 10; Math. xxiv: 3651; xxv: 113; Luke xvii: 2337.
150-
Ps xxiv: 7 10.
150-
Lk. xix: 27.
151-*
Rom. viii: 1923.
destroyed; then Christ himself receiving everlasting dominion and glory, shall "be subject
to him that did put all things under him, that God may be all and in all."
151-
The same
power that shall overcome mortality and transform man from his abased condition unto
the likeness of the Redeemer's glory, shall also enable him "to subdue all things unto
himself."
151-


[GC page 152]

To the Thessalonian Church, Paul writes of the persecutions which they endured, and
directs their hopes to a rest which they shall receive "when the Lord Jesus shall be
revealed from heaven in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and
obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power, when he shall come
to be glorified in his saints and admired in all them that believe in that day."
152-*
Again,
he foretold the coming of a lawless and ungodly one, whose course of blasphemy,
deception, and usurpation, would only be arrested by the power of Christ, who would
consume him with the spirit of his mouth, and destroy him with the brightness of his
coming,the splendor of his personal appearance.
152-

His description of the latter days contrasts strangely with the modern notions of a
world gliding calmly into scenes of peacefulness and repose. The express teaching of the
Spirit is thus plainly declared. Those days are to be days of apostacy, when men shall
depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing (or vagabond) spirits, and doctrines of
demons,speaking lies in hypocrisy,having their consciences seared as with an hot
iron,forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats. And the duty of
reminding the brethren of these things was

[GC page 153]

urged by the consideration that if he did it he should thus be a good minister of Jesus
Christ.
153-*
In another epistle the apostle predicts those evil times in words like these:
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers
of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents,
unthankful, unholy. Without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent,
fierce, despisers of those that are good. Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures
more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof;
from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive
silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts; ever learning and ever able to
come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do
these also resist the truth; men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they
shall proceed no further; for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also

151-
1 Cor. xv: 2128; Phillip. iii: 21.
151-
Dan. vii: 13, 14.
152-*
2 Thess. i: 510.
152-
2 Thess. ii: 712.
153-*
1 Tim. iv: 16.
was."
153-
He exhorts Timothy to PREACH THE WORD, and enforces the duty by the
assertion that "the time will come when men will not endure sound doctrine; but after
their own lusts they shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall
turn away their ears from the truth, and be turned unto fables."
153-
These are the inspired
statements concerning the moral
[GC page 154]

condition of those times which precede and usher in that outpouring of indignation which
shall conclude God's controversy with men. There is no hint if improvement here. The
picture is dark at first, darker afterwards, and darkest at the close. First mercy is rejected,
then long suffering is abused, then threatenings and admonitions are despised, and then
judgment is inflicted.
The Apostle James also depicts the same scenes. He pours his denunciations upon the
rich and proud, the oppressors of the suffering and the down-trodden, and while he
threatens the one with terrible vengeance, he bids he other be patient in all their
tribulations. Thus he writes"Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries
that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.
Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and
shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept
back by fraud, crieth; and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of
the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have
nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just;
and he doth not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord.
Behold, the
[GC page 155]

husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until
he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; establish your hearts; for the
coming of the Lord draweth nigh."
155-*

The testimony of Peter is equally decisive concerning the moral condition of the world at
the completion of this age. There were to come in the last days scoffersmen of lust and
blasphemy, men who derided judgment and denied punishment, men who were willingly
ignorant of past inflictions, men who had even forgotten the deluge that overwhelmed the
ungodly of old, and denied all future retribution. And men such as these, were to
sneeringly and scoffingly ask, "Where is the promise of his coming?" Then, in the midst
of all this carnal ease, would break in terror on them, "the day of judgment, and perdition
of ungodly men." Despite of all their security, and all their scepticism, and all their
misbelief, when the patience and long suffering of God shall have extended to all
appropriate and profitable bounds, then "the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the
night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall
melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."

153-
2 Tim. iii: 19.
153-
2 Tim. iv: 3, 4.
155-*
James v: 18.
And in view of such a sudden and terrible catastrophe, how appropriate the exhortation,
"Seeing then that all these

[GC page 156]

things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation
and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the
heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?"
Then, too, how bright the sunny landscape, that smiles in holy radiance beyond the
scenes of doom. Then, when the controversy is ended, scepticism overthrown, infidelity
refuted, and every foe destroyed, "We, according to his promise, look for new heavens
and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness;" and "seeing we look for such things, let
us be diligent, that we may be found of him in peace."
156-*

Similar to the language of Peter is that of Jude, who after describing the sins and
iniquities of which men were to be guilty, says: "And Enoch also, the seventh from
Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his
saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of
all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard
speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. These are murmerers,
complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling
words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage"and having thus
foretold their doom, he returns to remind his brethren that others have predicted it, and

[GC page 157]

to exhort them as to their duty under these most dangerous circumstances"But,
beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord
Jesus Christ; how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should
walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual,
having not the Spirit. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith,
praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of
our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."
157-*
To us to-day is this admonition especially
necessary. For if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And while on the
one hand many reject the word of God, and on the other many deny the power and
influences of his Holy Spirit, it becomes the Christian not only to build himself up in his
holy faith, but to pray always in the Holy Ghost that he may attain eternal life at last.
The testimony of one other inspired writer, "the disciple whom Jesus loved," must
conclude this long array of evidence concerning the termination of God's controversy
with man. If we examine his epistles, we find in them no hope expressed of any peaceful
adjustment of the matter. "We know," he says, "that we are of God, and the whole world
lieth in wickedness."
157-
He warns them of an antichrist by whose presence the last time
was disturbed, and he


156-*
2 Peter iii: 113; Isaiah lxv: 17.
157-*
Jude 1421.
157-
1 John v: 19; properly "in the wicked one."
[GC page 158]

declares that there were already many antichrists, "hereby we know it is the last time."
158-
*
These were the tokens of the latter timesnot righteousness, but sinnot glory, but
shame. But it is especially in that wondrous "Revelation of Jesus Christ," which he
received while an exile in Patmos, that we are furnished with more definite and particular
information concerning the changeful destinies of the church and of the world. Around
this book there gathers at times the deepest gloom, and anon the brightest glory. The
mutations of time are here most clearly unfolded. The world's future history from the
days of the revelator is here most strikingly disclosed. And the whole representation is
perfectly coincident with the concurrent testimony of the numerous writers whose words
have been quoted. He represents the world as at war with God. Its governments are
beastly, blasphemous, and blood-thirsty. The people of God are in affliction, and the
martyr-host cries out, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge
our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" And they are bidden to rest until others like
them have endured a similar fate.
158-
The warfare goes on. Judgments are poured upon
the nations, but without effect.They will not repent. Trumpet after trumpet sounds in
their ears the terrible warning of approaching woes; vial after vial of wrath is poured in
fury up-

[GC page 159]

on them; storm after storm of indignation comes down, but it works in them no
permanent reformation. The harlot still plies her wiles. The nations are till drunk from her
cup. The church and the witnesses of God still wear their raiment of sackcloth, and still
shed their blood for the testimony of God. All this continues till, in the midst of it, the
great day of divine wrath comes, and among the proud and mighty arises the question,
"Who shall be able to stand?"
159-*
Each trumpet in the succession sounds more and more
loudly the dread alarm, until the seventh breaks like a peal of thunder upon the rebellious
host, and great voices from heaven proclaim the controversy accomplished and the order
changed, saying, "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and
of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which
sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshiped God, saying, We give
thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou
hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy
wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou
shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear
thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth

[GC page 160]

And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of
his testament; and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake,

158-*
1 John iii: 18; iv: 3.
158-
Rev. vi: 912.
159-*
Rev. vi: 17.
and great hail."
160-*
Here is a terminus. The nations are angry; it is their final ebullition of
impotent ragebut the work of God proceeds, and all heaven gives thanks that the Lord
and his Christ are hence to rule supreme and unopposed in this misgoverned world. And
when the decision is made, then the temple of heaven is openeda manifestation of
glory is seen at which the fires of Sinai lose their brightnessthe ark of a new covenant
is there disclosedan earthquake shakes "not only earth but heaven also"every rebel is
destroyedevery thing that can be shaken is removed, while the "kingdom that cannot be
moved" remains as the heritage of the poor in spirit and the holy in heart.
160-

Again, we behold earth represented as it was by the prophet Joel, filled with
wickedness and ripening for the vengeful harvest. At last "the vine of the earth is reaped,"
and cast into the wine-press of the wrath of God, which is trodden in fury, while blood
flows from it in torrents as to the horses' bridles.
160-
Still further, when vial on vial of
wrath have been poured out, at length spirits and demons go forth upon their lying
errands, and breed commotion and discontent abroad, and gather the nations

[GC page 161]

to war against God Almighty. Then comes a warning"Behold, I come as a thief.
Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his
shame." Then as the seventh vial of wrath is poured into the air, there peals from the
throne the cry, "It is done." And then voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, an
earthquake such as never was before, add terror to the scene. The great city is divided
the cities of the nations fallBabylon drinks the cup of wraththe islands fleethe
mountains are removedand the terror of God's judgments falls fearfully upon the
earth.
161-*

Once more, we behold great Babylon exulting in the glory of her luxury and wealth, and
singing like a harlot"I sit a queen and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow;"
161-

when "in one day" her plagues come upon her. She falls like a millstone hurled into the
depths of the sea. The voice of mirth and melody, the sounds of gladness and prosperity,
the tokens of wealth and glory, shall be known in her no more. In her is found the blood
of prophets and saints, and all that were slain on the face of the earth. For her the mighty
mourn, but over her the holy prophets and apostlesyea, all the hosts of heavenunite
in rejoicing at her downfall. And then when the struggle is over, the strife past, the
judgment inflicted, and the controversy closed,

[GC page 162]

the shout of triumphant exultation breaks forth in the highest heavens. Much people cry
Hallelujah, and ascribe salvation and glory and honor and power unto the Lord their God
for his judgments and his vengeance, which he has inflicted. And again they cry,
Hallelujah! Then the elders and the glorious cherubim lift up their voices and worship

160-*
Rev. xi: 1519.
160-
Math. v: 3.
160-
Rev. xiv: 1520.
161-*
Rev. xvi: 1321.
161-
Rev. xviii: 7.
God, crying, Amen hallelujah! And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our
God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it were
the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of
mighty thunderings, saying, Hallelujah: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be
glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his
wife hath made herself ready."
162-*
Thus the leader of heaven's high devotions calls forth
a universal shout of joy, and all his servants answer to the call. Those whose
"Silent harps, o'er Babel's streams,
Were hung on willows lone."
will hush their songs no longer. When the harlot falls, the true bride rises. When foes
wail, then the saints of God rejoice; and when God closes in wrath the reign of sin on
earth, then all heaven's harps awake in rapturous melody, and all heaven's voices break
forth in triumphant songs"Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!"

[GC page 163]

Another scene rolls in. The heavens are opened, and the white war-horses come
marching down the parted skies. The Captain of salvation marshals the host of God. He is
faithful and true. In righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of
fire. Many crowns of glory adorn his brow, and he had a wonderful or secret name
written, which was known to none but himself.
163-*
His garments had been baptized in
blood, and his name is called "THE WORD OF GOD."
163-
Following him are heaven's
warriors, clad in spotless white. He travels in the greatness of his strength. He goes forth
to decide the controversy of God with manto accomplish the same scenes which have
been already depicted under so many different emblems. "Out of his mouth goeth a sharp
sword, that with
[GC page 164]

it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth
the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture
and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords."
164-*
He comes to
decide by his sword the long-pending dispute. An angel stands in the sun, and calls the
beasts and birds to feed upon his foes. Rebellious man girds on his harness for the closing
strife. The beastly government is there. The kings of the earth have gathered their armies

162-*
Rev. xviii and xix: 18.
163-*
Rev. xix: 12; Is. ix: 6; Judges xiii: 18.
163-
Rev. xix: 13. In this passage we learn the origin of this title as applied to our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Chrsit; and if individuals, instead of reading God's revelations backwards, had read them in the order in
which they were given, they would have had no occasion for their vain and fruitless searches among Jewish
traditions or Greek philosophies to find the origin of the title "HO LOGOS," or "THE WORD." Let it always
be remembered, that the Apocalypse was written before John's Gospel. No other writer in the New
Testament ever applied the term "HO LOGOS" to Christ, because their writings were finished before the
Apocalypse was given. John's gospel was written after the Apocalypse. In the revelation, Christ is for the
first time called by this title, "Ho Logos tou Theou""The Word of God." Then, when after his return from
Patmos, John takes up the pen to write his gospel, he uses this word, which he learned on Patmos,"In the
beginning was HO LOGOSTHE WORD, etc.John 1:1.
164-*
Rev. xix: 1516.
to war against the King of kings, and against his hosts. The nations are angry. His wrath
is come. They will oppose his reign. They will test their titles by the strength of their
arms. But the contest is short. It is hard to war with Omnipotence. The beast is captured,
and with him his lying prophet, and both are hurled alive into the seething waves of a
lake of fire and brimstone. The remnant fall beneath the sword of the conqueror, and the
fowls of heaven revel and feast upon their rotting carcasses. The deceiver's spell is
broken, and he is hurled into the abyss; and the saints and martyrs and witnesses of God
are enthroned to reign with Christ.
163-
Away beyond this, in the distance, still another
scene presents to view Satan released, going forth to deceive the nations that are in the
four quarters of the earth, gathering them to battlea host countless as the sands of the

[GC page 165]

sea. But the deceiver's last device has failed. His hour is come. His hosts compass the
camp of the saints about and the beloved city, and then, upon that countless throng, the
last reserve in Satan's mighty army, comes down the storm of sheeted flame, with which
God decides his controversy with them. Their last act is rebellion, and the fire devours
them. The deceiver, too, is hurled into the same fiery abyss into which the beast and the
false prophet were cast, there to endure the torments assigned them, day and night,
forever and ever.
165-*

Again the scene changes. The great white throne is established, and the Judge
summons the generations of the dead before his awful presence. The sea yields up its
hosts, from the multitudes that the deluge engulphed down to the latest generation.
Death's heavy chains are sundered. The gates of Hades are thrown open by him who
bears the keys thereof,
165-
and the long buried multitudes congregate to hear their solemn
doom. Death, with his prison Hades, are cast into the lake of fire, and there consumed and
swallowed up in victory. The book of life is opened, and those not registered there are
cast into the lake of fire, there to reap the wages of sin, and endure the second death.
There the fearful, the faithless, the vile, the impure, the blood thirsty, the idolatrous, and
the sorcerers, all have their part, the second death in the lake of fire and brimstone.
165-


[GC page 166]

THE CONTROVERSY IS CLOSED. Death, the last foe, is destroyed,
166-*
and the warring world
is at peace with God. The first heaven and the first earth, the scenes of all the strife, have
passed away, being transformed by the dissolving fires, and there springs to view a new
heaven and a new earth. The holy Jerusalem descends from God out of heaven in all the
magnificence of its divine adorning, and those whose earthly house was dissolved by the
fires of the consummation, are invited, are clothed upon, with their house which is from
heaven.
166-
The ancient oath of God is now performed
166-
from the jasper walls of the

163-
Rev. xx:15.
165-*
Rev. xx: 710.
165-
Rev. i: 18.
165-
Rev. xx: 1215; xxi: 8.
166-*
1 Cor. xv: 26.
166-
2 Cor. v: 13.
166-
Num. xiv: 21.
celestial city, flows forth in perpetual tide the glory of God to fill and irradiate the world.
The patriarchs behold the long-looked for city that hath foundations, whose builder and
whose maker is God.
166-
Its gates of pearl are wide open that all may enter. No night
hangs its pall of gloom above the gorgeous scene. The city and all its adornments shine
perpetually in everlasting day. No temple is therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the
Lamb are the temple thereof. No defilement ever cometh there. From the throne there
rolls a crystal river, and its waters flow with life, and health, and blessing. In the midst of
the city, in the grand central space, stands "the tree of life, which is in the midst of the
paradise of God."
166-
There it puts forth its monthly fruits and healing

[GC page 167]

leaves, fairer and brighter than in the paradise of old. And without those jasper walls,
wide as the eye can behold, the earth blooms in all the beauty of Eden. A rejoicing and
peaceful multitude fill up its beauteous glades, and make the air resound with shouts and
praises. The mountains break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field clap their
hands. The curse of God is forever removed. Instead of the thorn there blooms the myrtle,
instead of the briar the fir tree, and all around declares the Creator's glory, majesty, and
love.
167-*

The Lord hath now a controversy with the nations no longer. The nations that have
warred against his government have drank the wine cup of his fury, and become "as
though they had not been."
167-
But in the sunny radiance of divine glory, "the nations of
the saved" delight to walk, and into that city the kings of the earth bring their glory and
honor, and pay reverent homage to the King of kings. And so the scenes of bliss and
blessedness stretch away and fill the fair landscape of futurity, through all the ages of
eternityand God shall be
"ALL AND IN ALL."

166-
Heb. xi: 9, 10, 16.
166-
Rev. ii: 7; xxii: 2.
167-*
Is. lv: 12, 12.
167-
Obadiah 16.
THE

CHURCH NOT IN DARKNESS.

BY H. L. HASTINGS.

But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that DAY should overtake you as a thief.
1 Thess. v., 4.

A deep sense of the vast responsibilities resting upon a servant of God, prompts me to
express the thoughts that stir my inmost soul. A fearful prospect lies before mea world
slumbering on perdition's fiery brink,a church drowsily proclaiming my Lord delayeth
his comingclouds, darker than ever have mantled earth's sky since the first beaming of
Bethlehem's star, gathering along the horizon,pent-up surges of desolation, fire, and
blood, pressing against their yielding barriersand beyond all the rest, the day of God,
the mighty judgment, the awful destruction that awaits the ungodly, and the triumphant
deliverance of the ransomed of the Lord. These are the scenes that rise before methe
visions that crowd my path in the busy whirl of human activity, or in the place of privacy
and of prayer. These are the coming events that cast their shadows o'er my path, and the
premonition of whose approach I read in the book of providence and in the Book of God.
The sword comethHow can I hold my peace? The Judge standeth before the door
how can I be silent?
[Church Not in Darkness, page 4]

The Day alluded to in this passage is more definitely named in the preceding verses.
For the consolation of those of the Thessalonians whose hearts were bleeding with
bereavement, the Apostle undertakes to dispel their anguish by dispelling their ignorance,
"concerning those who are asleep" in Jesus. Looking downward and pointing to earth's
world-wide charmed house, he sees and traces from the rock-hewn tomb of Joseph of
Arimathea, a single brilliant ray of light and hope. Here was a torch for the hand of faith
and a light for the eye of hope. If God had brought Christ from the dead, then those who
are "in Christ" must also be brought. The living shall have no preeminence at last over
those who in former ages had lived and died in the Lord. For the Lord himself shall
descend from heavena mighty shout shall proclaim his victorious power and majesty
the awful voice of the Archangel, and the swelling echoes of the far-resounding trump of
God, shall proclaim alike perdition to the sinner and deliverance to the saint. What a
scene ensues!forth from their graves burst the unnumbered saints of Godearth and
ocean team with an immortal hosteach living saint feels a sudden thrill,it is "the
power of an endless life"and lo! this mortal puts on immortality.
And now they ascend. Slowly, calmly they rise!earth sinks and recedes from their
viewthe deep despairing wail of the ruined world sounds fainter and fainter in the
distancewhile around them and above them burst on their ears the enrapturing
harmonies of Cherubim and Seraphim. Still they ascendthe vast and radiant cloud of
glory unfolds a gorgeous portal, and attendant angels escort them within it. Still they
come, an innumerable company from every land and climefrom prisons, dens,
[Church Not in Darkness, page 5]

and deserts, from vallies [sic] and from hills. Oh, how beauteous are their glittering
ranks! And now the last one has arrived. The shout of joy goes upthe Savior's smile is
seen, the Savior's greeting heardthe pierced hand wipes away the lingering tearthe
dead and the living are together once morethe prophets and the apostles meetmartyrs
behold their martyred Lord. Sinners saved gaze upon their Savior, and so are they for
ever "with the Lord."
Calmly and kindly does the Apostle turn and place this glowing page before the
mourners' weeping eye, bidding them to "comfort one another with these words." Blessed
words,consoling thoughts. They have been the "oil of joy" to mourning hearts for
eighteen hundred years, and still they "hush the low complaining sigh,"still they "dry
the flowing tear,"still they make the place of weeping a place of joy, and bind about
the tomb the flowers of never fading hope. Still they illuminate the path that lies along
the dark valley. Still they strengthen those who stand beside the dying. Still they comfort
those who weep above the dead. Never shall the Christian's eye cease to contemplate the
picture; never shall his heart cease to thrill with the anticipationnever shall his hope
cease to embrace the promise, until the rent heavens disclose the majestic form of the
descending Kingthe quaking earth deliver up its sleeping captives at his call, and the
saints from every age and clime, unit in singing the song of Moses and the Lamb,
"Far from a world of grief and sin,
With God eternally shut in."

Concerning "the times and seasons" when these sublime

[Church Not in Darkness, page 6]

anticipations should be realized, there then existed no present necessity for further
communications. They were perfectly acquainted, however, with the fact, that the day of
the Lord in its coming would resemble a thief in the night. When the whisper of 'peace'
and the careless thoughts of 'safety' should possess the minds of a slumbering, dreaming,
and besotted worldthen destruction, unparalleled for suddenness and exterminating
fury, shall burst upon them. Vainly they flee from its devastating influencevainly they
pour their piteous prayers for refuge to towering mountains and to craggy rocks. Vainly
their mighty wail reaches from sea to seaoverspreading continentsechoing from the
islands and comprehending "all the tribes of earth." Vainly are ten thousand stubborn
hearts brokenten thousand blasphemous lips employed in supplicationten thousand
brazen foreheads bowed in sorrow, and ten thousand knees bent before God that never
bowed before! Alas, it is too late. "Sudden destruction" has come, and from the faithful
word peals forth the dread announcement, "They shall not escape."
It was this "day" which stood full in the view of the inspired Apostle, and the
expectant churchthis day of resurrection, of triumph, of glory, of reunion, of
deliverance, of immortality to the righteous, and of destruction and despair to the
impenitentit was this day to which he alluded when he declared, "But YE, brethren, are
NOT IN DARKNESS that THAT DAY should overtake YOU as a thief. Ye are ALL the children
of light, and the children of the DAY; we are not of the night nor darkness."
The teaching, then, of the Apostle was clearly this:FIRST:That the people of God
at that period, needed no special information concerning "the times and seasons" of

[Church Not in Darkness, page 7]

the Saviour's second advent. SECOND:They were informed that the coming of that day
would be sudden and unanticipated by the world. THIRD:That, still further, at its
coming the worked would be denying the very possibility of its approach, and dreaming
of perfect safety. FOURTH:That at that time of profoundest carelessness, the sudden and
unavoidable destruction from the Almighty should fall with resistless fury upon their
heads. FIFTH:That the people of God were not in darkness but were "of the day."
SIXTH:That, therefore, that day can not overtake them as a thief, but by watchfulness
and sobriety they might discern its proximity, observe its precursors, and escape its
terrors, while they participated in its joys.
Concerning this "great and terrible day of the Lord," we are not left destitute of
further information. Information, too, that is amply sufficient to stir the deep and swelling
surges of emotion within every pious soul. Strangely hardened must be the heart that can
behold unmoved the approach of the tremendous scene, and strangely perverted must be
that Christianity that can view without the intensest awe and solemnity, the coming of
that day of clouds and darkness, of judgment and of wrathor that can anticipate without
delight that day of deliverance, of triumph, of joy, of songs and of crowns, for "all that
love His appearing."
The events of that great day are most graphically sketched by the Apostle Peter, in the
concluding chapter of his last epistle. Carrying the lustful scoffers of the last day
backward on the track of time, to the antediluvian world, he, by that awful example,
reproves their impious mockery. He teaches us that the same God who condemned that
world, condemns this, and "the same word" that overwhelmed that with water, shall
desolate this by fire. Not-
[Church Not in Darkness, page 8]

withstanding the patience and compassion of Godnotwithstanding his "long-suffering
to us ward,"notwithstanding his unwillingness that one guilty rebel "should perish,"
notwithstanding his mercy holds open the door of refuge, and his love bids and entreats
sinners to enter thereinnotwithstanding all this, yet "the day of the Lord" must and
"will come as a thief in the night;" wickedness must find a shore to its foaming wave;
impiety must be smitten on its brazen front; oppression must be punished; blasphemy
must be hushed; and righteousness, so long abased and abused, must triumph at last.
Hence "the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night." And in that day the
ascending fires of wrath shall reach the very heavensawful thunderings shall tell their
dissolution and departure: "The elements shall melt" like wax within the glowing furnace:
earth, too, shall be molten before the presence of her God, an shall roll, an orb of fire
within a sky of flame, while "the works that are therein," the products of human pride,
and power, and cruelty, shall perish with the enemies of the Most High, amid those all-
devouring flames.
But beyond all this, a vision of purity and peace rises in brightness before the prophet's
eye. God's curse hath devoured the earth, his blessing shall restore it. No longer groaning
beneath the burden of sin; no longer charred and molten by the fires of wrath, her
desolateness is exchanged for the verdure of Eden; perfection blooms where barrenness
reigned; Carmel and Lebanon are faint types of its blushing beauty and unfading green;
the glory of God floods it with one sea of radiant splendor, and peace waves her olive
branch from shore to shore. Righteousness, too is therenot as a visitant, merelynot as
a contrasting spot amid surrounding corruptionnot as exemplified in

[Church Not in Darkness, page 9]

the character of a single "Man of sorrows," but as the pervading principle, the constant
disposition, the ruling thought of an innumerable, peaceful, and adoring throng. There, on
a throne "established in righteousness," reigns a righteous king "over all the earth." There
the people are "all righteous, they inherit the land forever." There the "righteous
flourish." There the "work of righteousness is peace, and the effect of righteousness
quietness and assurance forever." There the pilgrim finds his home, the Christian his rest,
the martyr his crown, and the mourner his joy, in that "new heavens and new earth,
wherein dwelleth righteousness."
This, then, is a brief, a faint and an imperfect sketch of these tremendous scenes that
go to fill up, and add grandeur and importance to the "great and terrible day of the Lord."
It is this day, concerning which the church of God "are not in darkness;" it is this day
which shall not come upon them "as a thief." It is this day that shall be put far off by a
dreaming world, and which, coming suddenly, shall find them sleeping, and overwhelm
them with consternation and despair. It is this day for which the church of God are to
look, it is this day for which the children of Satan will not look. It is this day for which
the church of God should watchit is this day for which the children of Satan will not
watch. It is this day for which the church of God seek to prepareit is this day for which
the wicked will not prepare. This day will bring deliverance to the saint and perdition to
the sinner. WHAT WILL IT BRING TO YOU?
In further illustration and proof of the main proposition before us, namely: That the
people of God are not and should not be "in darkness" concerning the coming of that

[Church Not in Darkness, page 10]

day, we may cite the recorded occurrences of ages past, as "written for our learning" in
the Book of God.
Reasoning from analogy, we conclude that God will be just, because he has been in
time past; that he will be merciful, because he has been in days gone by; that he will hear
the cry of sincere penitence, because he has always done so; that he will care for the
interests of his people, because his care for them has marked with many a monument the
track of ages past. And so in the present argument, if we look to the dealings of God with
his church and with the world, we shall find that in every dispensation of mercy and
judgment which has proceeded from the Almighty in days gone by: the same principles
has been attended to and acted upon by the Most High, the Unchangeable God.
We go back, then, and witness the consequences of primeval transgression, as
exemplified in the first universal and total revolt of rebellious humanity from their
allegiance to the God of heaven.
Go, stand with me upon the yet undeluged world. Gaze upon the Eden-like beauty of
the wide-spreading landscape. Paradise has been closed and the curse has fallen, but still
the earth retains its primitive form, and to a great extent its pristine glory. Earth, though
cursed, still is glorious beyond description. In that healthful climate, old age comes
slowly on, and numerous centuries are the measure of human existence. But wickedness
aboundsdefilement prevailsviolence fills the earth. Men's hearts in all their purposes
are at war with the Almighty. Muttered blasphemies and outspoken words of defiant
impiety are heard on every hand. The altar-fires have ceased to burn, and with a single
exception, houses and families of prayer seem to be unknown.

[Church Not in Darkness, page 11]

One voice amid all this transgression is raised in reproof. One venerable patriarch
learns, from lips that cannot lie, that this world-wide iniquity cannot long remain
unpunished. To him is revealed the solemn fact that earth's probation is limited, and that
within the space of one hundred and twenty years man must repent or perish.
That patriarch raises his voice in warning and expostulation. To the gathering
multitudes around him, who have hitherto known him as a "just man," he becomes "a
preacher of righteousness." The world are thus shut up"spirits in prison""prisoners
of hope" if penitent, of despair, if they will not repent. Time rolls on, the Spirit strives; by
it Christ, through the instrumentality of Noah, faithfully admonishes a sinful race, but it is
in vain: they heed not the warning, they despise the entreaty, they mock the reproof.
And now Noah's heart is sad. There is no hope of the world's repentance, and the fear
of its ruin broods heavily on his soul. "Moved with" this "fear," he seeks to escape.
Looking round on his wife and the children that gathered by his side, he "prepared an ark
for the saving of himself and house."
Exposed to fresh insults by his obedience to God, he commences and continues to
rear the mighty structure. Bearing their jeers, enduring their scoffs, submitting to all their
mockery, beneath his assiduous hand the future ark arose and approached completion. By
faith he prepared it. Faith in God, "in things not seen as yet," in things disbelieved and
unheeded by the world, this was the spring of action. Faith hewed each timber, faith laid
each plank, faith fastened each bolt, faith finished with pitch the mighty structure, and
then sat down to calmly wait the issue.

[Church Not in Darkness, page 12]

Behold the edifice! The world denominate it 'Noah's folly;" the fruit of insensate and
blind fanaticism; the work of an idiot, a lunatic; the strange hobby of a croaking fool; the
result and end of all his paltry religion, his fanatical preaching and praying. But faith calls
it Noah's ARK prepared "for the saving of himself and his house."
How the world mocked and scoffed and sneered at that ark I cannot tell. How oft they
tried to raise a smile upon the melancholy countenance of that sad old man, I know not
and how sadly, yet eloquently, he besought them to seek with him a refuge from
impending destruction, I cannot determine. This much I know, they heeded it not.
The last week of human probation commenced. The beasts of earth and the fowls of
heaven had found their way into the ark, but the sinners passed heedlessly by. And now
the day of destruction has dawned. They eat, they drink, they buy, they sell, they fear no
evil. Noah is within the ark. The hand of God has shut the door. He is safe. And now
earth reels and rocks with mighty throes, floods burst forth from the pent up caverns of
the depths beneath, and above, one sheet of lurid flame lightens the angry clouds, the
thunders mutter and swell, and roll, and lo! all the floodgates from on high are opened on
a ruined world. O! what a wail goes up from the impious host of the enemies of God. The
distant horizon is one mass of rushing wavesonward and still onward the surging
waters sweep; the ark sways heavily above the swelling tide; the waves rush onthey
sweep away the fleeing enemies of God; descending torrents flood the loftiest hills, and
drench each sinner there. Night comes on. The darkness is thick, and still the dread roar
of heaven's artillery is heard; still the awful clouds ride madly o'er the boiling

[Church Not in Darkness, page 13]

deep; still the vivid lightning plays and dashes along the darkened sky, or hisses amid the
swelling waves. The morning dawns, but no sunbeam gilds the scene of despair, still
descending and ascending waters meet, and borne upon their heaving bosom, the ark
glides safely away.
Thus for forty days did these ruins descend, and for forty nights did those waters
accumulate, till the last man upon the topmost summit of the highest mountain had met
his fatethe race was destroyedearth was one shoreless oceanand the light that
faintly gleamed from the window of that storm-tost, heaven-guarded ark, was the only
token of hope to a sinful and a ruined race.
The sun shines once more. The angry clouds once more disappear in the distant
horizon. The waters assuage.The swelling waves sleep silently beneath the sky. The
ark grates on the towering summit of Ararat, and its tossings and its swayings cease. The
"dove" and the "olive leaf" tell the tale of God's returning favor, and are consecrated for
ever as the emblems of peace. The patriarch leads forth his family upon the surface of the
emerging earththe altar is erectedthe sacrifice smokes thereon, the rainbow spans the
heaven with its arch of gloryGod's covenant is made once more with man, and a new
probation is granted to the fallen race.
In this transaction we observe these prominent facts.FIRST: Noah was previously
warned of the approaching danger. SECOND: He faithfully warned the world around him,
giving them as favorable an opportunity as he himself had to know and escape the
danger. THIRD: The world did not and would not know the truth. FOURTH: Noah was
readywas "not in darkness, that it should come upon him as a thief," and he was saved.
FIFTH: "They
[Church Not in Darkness, page 14]

knew not til the flood came," found them unprepared, "and took them all away."
To this type we find all the subsequent judgments of God conform. Destruction
cometh not undeserved.Mercy's warnings and expostulations are expended without
stint. Those who heed them anticipate and escape the foretold destruction, while others
pass on and perish in their wilful ignorance, their blind stupidity, their obdurate impiety,
and their invincible unbelief. From the base of Ararat we pass onwe leave the
unfinished Babel, the monument of human pride and folly, and the token of returning
ungodliness, and we pass to the fertile valley of Jordan. Beauteous as the garden of God,
it seems to carry us back for a moment to the time when Eden was the abode of the happy
and the blest. Lured by fertility of the soil, and the genial beauty of the landscape, Lot,
the kinsman of Abraham, had chosen it as his residence, unmindful of the fact that the
"men of Sodom were sinners exceedingly," and forgetting that great blessings are great
curses in the hands of wicked men. The current of sin rolled on apace. Pride, gluttony,
idleness, especially among her daughters, cruelty to the poor, haughtiness and untold
abominations, the reeking slime and filth of the lowest depths of polluting
licentiousnessthese, with steadfast refusal to obey the Almighty, and with unflinching
determination to maintain the wrong and deny the right; were the sins that rolled
heavenward a cry which reached the listening ear of God, and awoke to judgment the
wrath of him whose mercy was thus abused.
It was a sultry summer day when Abraham arose from the shelter of his tent to
welcome the wayfaring angels, and give them entertainment. And as they turned to go to-

[Church Not in Darkness, page 15]

wards the vale of Siddim in the accomplishment of the purpose of their journey, the
question arose, "Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?" Another moment and
we find Abraham informed of the meditated judgment, and standing up to plead in behalf
of those guilty cities. The promise is given that "for ten righteous men" the city shall be
spared, and Abraham proceeds to his place.
Onward pass those mysterious strangers towards the cities of the plain. Lot, in the
performance of the duties of hospitality, entertains "angels unawares;" and in the wild
and beastly brawl before his door the strangers find enough to indicate the character of
the place. The warning is given, and the father trembling with fear goes out to apprise his
children and their families. How startling his admonition, "Up! get you out of this place!
for the Lord will destroy this city!" Thus did the old man plead with the children of his
love, but he plead in vain. And as the daylight reddened the eastern sky, Lot was bidden
to depart. Led forth and quickened in his tardy course by angelic kindness, as the sun
arises he enters Zoar.
But how is Sodom now? Hark! the shouts of the revellers that have arisen through the
weary night, are still rising drowsily upon the morning air. Wickedness is bold and
brazen as before. They eat, they drink, they buy, they sellthey dream on.
But see! Ah, see that awful lurid cloud, as it gathers o'er that city! How it veils for
ever the pride and sin of the cities of the plain from the sunshine of heaven. O, hark, that
bursting thunder! and see! see!storms of firetorrents of burning brimstonefloods
of hot, hissing, roaring flame fall from abovewhile earth beneath reels and quakes and
kindles with the wrath of God. The last

[Church Not in Darkness, page 16]

note of musicthe last sound of mirththe last terrific blasphemy-the last song of the
drunkardthe last jeer of lustthe last scoff of brutalized and impious humanity is lost
and swallowed up amid the mighty roar of sulphurous flame.
Early in the morning, the anxious eyes of Abraham were turned towards the cities of
the plain; and lo! the fertile valley was one vast furnace, and from the seething lake of
fire arose a cloud of smoke that covered all the adjacent country, and ascended slowly
toward the skies.
Sodom is overthrown, and now let us go and sit upon that encrusted shore, and gaze
upon the boding waves of the Dead Sea that roll sluggishly there. Let us interrogate them
and learn wisdom from their dark and solemn flow.
We find here, as in the case of the deluge, FIRST: Lot (and Abraham also) was
previously warned of the danger in season to make his escape. SECOND: those around
were warned by him that they might also escape. THIRD: They did not and would not give
heed to the admonition. FOURTH: Lot was "not in darkness that that day should overtake
him as a thief," and he was saved. FIFTH: They knew not till the fiery tempest burst upon
themfound them unprepared, and they perished, and "are set forth as an example to
them that should afterwards live ungodly, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."
Throughout this whole transaction we see the same principles of reasonable justice
prevailing. First, warnings and deliverance for those who heed the admonitions.
Second, punishments for those who disregard them.
Similar in character were the dealings of God with the kingdom of Babylon. Warnings
had been given, and they were understood by the people of God. During the last

[Church Not in Darkness, page 17]

scene of impious and insulting revelry and sacrilege when the vessels of Jehovah's
Temple were made the instruments of riotous intoxicationat that hour, the mysterious
hand traced in characters legible and intelligible to the anointed eye of the Hebrew Seer,
the last warning of Babylon's overthrow. That night, the glory of that kingdom passed
away; and those who had long refused to listen to the warning providences of God, were
overwhelmed in irretrievable ruin. While on the other hand, those who wept at the
remembrance of their much-loved Zion, while they hanged their harps upon the willows
of Babel's streams, found in that overthrow of their oppressors, the pledge of deliverance,
liberty and restoration, for which they had so long and patiently waited.
We might notice other instances, but the time would fail us to relate them all. Once
more may be adduced.
We pass onward in earth's story of sin and rebellion, until we notice the people of
God, the Jewish nation, filling to the brim their cup of iniquities and abominations. The
appointed time of their foretold overthrow approaches. They are about to consummate
their blackest crime in the crucifixion of their King.
A solemn weeper overlooks the city of Jerusalem from an adjacent height. "How oft
would I have gathered youbut ye would not. * * * Your house is left unto you
desolate." These are the pathetic utterances that issue amid tears and sighs, which speak
the anguish of an affectionate heart. A warning too is spoken in the ears of those disciples
that gather around him. "When ye see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then flee!"
Years passed away ere that sight was beheld. But at length they saw it. The Roman
eagles glittered in the
[Church Not in Darkness, page 18]

surrounding valleys, and destruction seemed inevitable.Suddenly the army withdrew
itself, and then with all haste the followers of Christ fled from that devoted city. The
village of Pella afforded them a resting place. But the Jews were heedless.
Notwithstanding the command of Jesus, that those who were in the adjacent countries
should not enter into the city, they continued to come. The appointed feast congregated
the multitudes of that hypocritical nation, and again a Roman force environed the city of
blood and violence. The horrors of that fearful siege no tongue can tell. The violence that
reignedthe sedition that prevailedthe intestine divisions that consumed their
strengththe determined energy of those assaults, and the wild fury of that resistance
the wasting faminethe loathsome pestilencethe intolerable hunger, compelling
women to devour even their infant childrenthe nauseous stench of the unburied dead
the awful warning. "Woe, woe to Jerusalem," that was uttered by that haggard man who
trod the ramparts of the city until slain himselfthe fierce and final strugglethe
burning of the templethe overthrow of the charred and tottering wallsthe tortures and
sufferings of the captivesthe cruelty of the captorsthe passing of the ploughshire of
destruction over the very ground on which that city stoodall these and other
circumstances of unmitigated suffering, stand too full upon the page of history to require
a repetition.
But the important fact is that not ONE Christian perished there. ELEVEN HUNDRED
THOUSAND Jews were destroyed in the siege. NINETY-SEVEN THOUSAND were carried
away captive, and NOT ONE Christian among them all.Why was all this? It was because
the church of God were apprized of the predetermined desolation, and made their escape.

[Church Not in Darkness, page 19]

Here we find the same principles of justice and reason that we have observed before
in the dealings of God with those who incurred his displeasure. FIRST: The church of God
were forewarned. SECOND: They communicated the warning to others that they might
escape. THIRD: The wicked did not and would not heed the admonition given. FOURTH:
The Christians "were not in darkness," and were not overtaken unawares. FIFTH: The
wicked knew not the danger, and were overwhelmed in ruin. Destruction vast, inevitable
and indescribable came down upon them as the tempest bursts in fury upon some careless
and unwatchful sailor, and sinks his bark beneath the yawning wave.
These are the facts of the past, and they are "written for our learning." The deluged
worldthe wave-covered plain of Jordanthe scathed and desolate heaps that mark the
place of Babel's past and punished pride and glorythe ruined temple of Jerusalem, and
the scattered remnant of her ancient peopleall these are eloquent teachers of mankind.
From them we learn such lessons as these: "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear
him." "The wise shall understand, but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the
wicked shall understand."
Centuries have passed away since these examples have been recorded for our
admonition and instruction. But while the great facts stand blazoned on the historic page,
the mighty mortals, the important lessons which these examples were to teach have
almost faded from the mind and memory of mankind. The world has grown old, and
careless, and proud, and lustful, and covetous, and cruel, and oppressive, and impious,
and defiant, and secure. Sodom and Egypt may be regarded as the appropriate
[Church Not in Darkness, page 20]

types of perverted humanity as it appears at present. Sodom's pride, fulness of bread,
abundance of idleness, cruelty to the poor, and unbridled licentiousness; and Egypt's
infidelity, unbelief, oppression, and impiety; these are marked characteristics of human
character at the present day.
These were long since predicted by the prophets of God and by the Saviour himself.
There are the same "perils" that were to mark the "perilous times" that should be "in the
last days." There is the same powerless "form of godliness;" there is the same turning
"their ears from the truth;" there is the same turning "unto fables;" these are the same
"seducers" waxing "worse and worse;" these are the same resisters of the truth, like
"Jannes and Jambres" of old; there is the same abundance of iniquity; there is the same
waxing cold of love; there are the same lustful "scoffers," there is the same taunting
denial of the coming of Christ; there is the same "evil servant," saying "in his heart, my
Lord delayeth his coming;" there is the same "smiting of fellow-servants;" there is the
same "eating and drinking with the drunken;" there is the same slumbering and sleeping;
there is the same saying "peace and safety" that was to mark the concluding period of
earth's sinful course.
So also in the political world. There is the same corruptionthe same laxity of
principlethe same unscrupulous ambitionthe same warlike spirit and preparation
the same political upheavingthe same wide-spread national "distress"the same
"perplexity"the same waking up of "mighty men"the same gathering of Israel's
enemies and Satan's friendsthe same thickening struggle of mighty powersthe same
war of principles, re-
[Church Not in Darkness, page 21]

ligions, and racesthe same stupendous preparations for the coming "battle of the great
day of God Almighty" that we are warranted in anticipating, in connection with the
approach of the day of the Lord.
In the natural world, too, pestilential diseases, earthquakes, signs "in heaven above
and earth beneath," "the sea and the waves roaring," all these speak the concluding groans
and throes of that "whole creation," which "groaneth and travaileth together in pain until
now, waiting for" the final and eternal deliverance from the vanity and sorrow of a cursed
and mortal state.
Here then we stand, and while beset by ignorant scoffers, while listening to the
deceitful declaration of "peace and safety," we hear a voice coming down above the
storms the tempests of eighteen hundred years, and ringing in our ears like the clarion
blast that wakes a slumbering army, "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day
should overtake you as a thief."
Can it be possible, then, that the church of Christ in this world, are to remain in utter
ignorance of the approach of that tremendous day? Such a supposition is entirely at war
with the whole character of God as exemplified in his dealings with the human race in
ages past. Would God forewarn the antediluvians, the Sodomites, the Babylonians, the
Jews, yea, every nation upon whom his wrath has fallen, of their approaching doom, and
afford them opportunity to repent, and escapeand shall the last world-wide catastrophe,
come unheralded, unpredicted? Shall guilty cities and kingdoms, be the objects of God's
care and compassion, and receive admonitions and warnings from his mouth, and shall he
at last permit all the kingdoms of the world to fall beneath his exterminating ire,
unadmonished and unwarned? Impossible? "Surely, the Lord God

[Church Not in Darkness, page 22]

will do nothing, but he revealeth his secrets to his servants the prophets."
Upon this point the teachings of His word are equally explicit. The duty of
watchfulness is enjoined. The necessary preparation is only found in expecting the
approach of that day, and in the most strict and constant obedience to the commands of
God.
God is ever merciful and in all the manifestations of his judgments in days gone by,
the disobedient have been the wilful victims of their own inattention to the commands of
God. They have not known his approaching judgments, not because they could not, but
because they would not know. So it shall be at the end. Men are willingly ignorant and
willfully impenitent. They do not discern the signs of the times because they are resolute
in their determination to sin on in security, and to close their eyes against every heaven-
sent warning that God in mercy gives them. Let us watch lest coming suddenly he finds
us sleeping.
When we recollect that "The Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secrets to
his servants the prophets;" that "The things that are revealed belong to us and to our
children;" that the Jews were condemned as hypocrites because they would not "discern
the signs of the times;" that their house was left desolate because they "knew not the time
of their visitation;" that Jesus has commanded us to lift up our heads, "knowing that our
redemption draweth nigh;" that we are commanded to "know that the Kingdom of God is
nigh at handeven at the door;" that to be ignorant is to be guilty, when light is given
and when the word of prophecy as a light "shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn;"
when we recollect all these things, the conclusion is inevitably forced upon our minds,
that it is the stern and solemn duty of the church of God and

[Church Not in Darkness, page 23]

of every individual Christian to be searching the word of God, discerning the signs of the
times, giving heed to the sure word of prophecy, and waiting "for the Son of God from
heaven." We have reasoned from analogy. We have drawn our conclusions from the
known facts in history and from known principles of divine government. But, though this
reasoning is clearly conclusive in itself, we intend to make it far mare conclusive still.
When we read the record of antediluvian sin, and reproof, and disregard, and destruction,
we are not left to a mere supposition that earth's approaching catastrophe will transpire
under similar circumstances. No! Lips that cannot lie, have uttered the solemn truth, that
"as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying, and
giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the
flood came and destroyed them ALL, so also SHALL the COMING OF THE SON OF MAN BE."
Thus inspiration positively teaches us that as in the days of Noah the people of God
knew the danger, as the wicked were warned of it, as the people of God expected it, as
the wicked put it off, as the people of God were saved and the wicked destroyed, so shall
the coming of the Son of Man be.
So also in the case of the cities of the plain. Reasoning from analogy, we are led to
think that as God is unchangeable in his principles of impartial justice, he will punish this
world, delivering the just, as in the case of Sodom. But the Savior tells us that this which
we might infer is really and truly so. The concluding days of the Gospel dispensation
shall be like the days of Sodom. Then they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they
planted, they buildedthey shall do so at the end. Then Lot was warned, and also warned
othersit shall be so at the end. Then, they disregarded and despised the warningit
shall
[Church Not in Darkness, page 24]

be so at the end. Then "the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and
brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all: even THUS SHALL IT BE in the day WHEN
THE SON OF MAN BE REVEALED."
No language can be more explicit. There will be such circumstances developed in
connection with the close of this dispensation, and it is left to us to choose the position
which we will occupy. Warnings have been given. While the godless world and a slothful
church are gazing forward to scenes of worldly prosperity, aggrandizement, and peace
while many are putting away indefinitely that evil day because they wish it far offwhile
others strangely regard the declaration, "no man knoweth the day and hour," as
precluding the possibility of knowing "when it is nigh, even at the door"while the
world sleep on and dream on, the day breaketh, the morning cometh. The foretold tokens
of redemption at hand, are before our gaze, and the weary eyes of the anxious watcher on
Zion's walls, are greeted by the lustre of the ascending day-star, that portends the speedy
rising of the King of Light. Signs of this description thicken on every hand. They cloud
the heavens, they fill the earth, and we are bound to heed them. If we do it, it is our
safety; if we neglect them it is at our peril.
We are to look, then, and wait for the Son of God. We are not to be "in darkness." We
are to anticipate and prepare for that day. Ere we are aware it shall come upon us. Like
the stealthy thief prowling in the midnight darkness, like the travail of a woman with
child, like the sudden snare, entrapping the unwary feet, yea, like the brilliant lightning as
it rends the cloud and gleams athwart the midnight sky, so sudden, so unexpected, so
startling, shall the coming of the Son of Man be. Hence the necessity of diligence that we
may "be found of him in peace."

[Church Not in Darkness, page 25]

Reader are you saying peace and safety? Are you decrying that your Lord delayeth
his coming? Are you saying in mockery and incredulity, Where is the promise of his
coming? Oh, friend, remember where you are. Heed the word of God. Heed the
revelations of his holy prophets. Heed the prophetic warnings of his Son who died for
thee. Forget not the sayings of holy men of old. Study God's word. Discern the signs of
the times, and prepare to meet thy God. While all the elements of strife are let loose while
the whirlwind speeds from land to land, while the tempest sweeps wildly along and will
noon burst heavily upon the earth, while nations are in their death struggles, and while
others are hastening toward the outer circles of the awful whirlpool which shall speedily
engulf them in destruction and perdition, while the notes of pleading entreaty and solemn
warning fall upon thine ear, while mercy yet lingers to call you, and waits to receive you,
I pray you flee from the impending storm. A little while, and it may be too late. "Sudden
destruction cometh," and the unprepared "shall not escape." Heed, then, the voice of God.
Repent! Why live on in sin? Why court ruin and wrath? Why earn death? Why crucify
afresh the Son of God? Why despise his outpoured blood? Why rush madly on to
perdition? Why grieve the heart of him who died for thee? Why reject a salvation that is
free and boundless as the unmeasured love of God? WHY WILL YOU DIE?
Reader, are you a Christian? a watchful observer and discerner of the signs of the
times? Then you are not in darkness. But are you where and what you should be? Are you
serving God with all your heart? Are you laying up treasures in heaven? Are you taking
heed lest at any time your heart be overcharged, and that day come

[Church Not in Darkness, page 26]

upon you as a thief? Are you faithful to God? to your self? to the world? to the church of
Christ? to sinners around you? Do you confess Christ? Do you have his voice? Do you
obey his commands? Are you alive or dead? Are you in Christ Jesus, or out? Are you hot
or cold? Are you lukewarm? Are you watchful? Are you prayerful and laborious? Are
you pure from the blood of all men? Take time to consider these questions. Ponder them;
you had better settle them now than at the judgment-seat of Christ. Let us who are of the
day be sober, putting on the breast-plate of faith and love, and for an helmet the hope of
salvation. Your duty is before you. Will you do it? WILL YOU DO IT? Spirit of the living
God, fasten this question on the reader's heart!
Christian pilgrim, rejoice! Lift up thy head. Lo, heaven is radiant with the promise of
the hastening day. You "are not in darkness," why need you be in tears? The morning
comeththe morning that shall end thy woes. The morning that shall chase away thy
sorrows, that shall waken with its rising glory thy loved ones that sleep in Jesus, and that
shall throw the vigor of immortality throughout thy wan and weary form.
Ah, yes, in the nearing distance gleam the crystal towers and the glittering palaces of
the city of God. A little while, and the swelling anthem of the redeemed shall burst
sublimely on thy ravished ear, the crown of glory shall sparkle on thy brow, the palm of
triumph shall wave above thy head, the spotless raiment of the blest shall be thy fair
adorning, the angels of God shall be thy joyful company, the marriage supper of the
Lamb shall be thy feast, the voice of Jesus shall pronounce thy blessed welcome, the
peaceful paradise of God shall be thine everlasting home, and thou shalt be forever with
the Lord.

THE

THREE WORLDS;
OR
EARTH'S PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE.

BY H. L. HASTINGS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE past, the present, and the future. These are the three all-embracing divisions of
events and things, through which human imagination and human research pursue their
course. The pastdim, shadowy, and obscure; the presentrestless, changeful, and
inconstant; and the futurevast, portentuous, and uncertain; these furnish a field for the
widest wanderings of those thoughts that roam throughout eternityfor the farthest
stretch of human imaginations.
But whether we inquire concerning the past, the present, or the future, we find
ourselves surrounded by numberless perplexities. History is brief in its extent, meagre in
its details, and often contradictory in its declarations. Opinion, as it regards the present
condition of earthly affairs, is vague, various, and conflicting. And the veil of futurity
hangs its gloomy folds over the obscure, the mysterious, the unknown hereafter.
Surrounded then, as we are, by uncertainty and anxiety, longing for a more definite
apprehension of human history

[Three Worlds, page 28]

and of human destiny, we invoke external aids to assist us in pursuing the object of our
desires. Navigating this stormy and tempestuous sea, we desire a chart to inform ns of our
locality, and look forth for some guiding star to direct our course. Groping in a dark and
devious pathway, we seek anxiously for some lamp which shall illuminate our footsteps,
and conduct us to a peaceful termination of our weary journey.
That chart is granted us! That star we can see! That lamp is placed within our hand! It
is the Word of Godthe transcript of the divine will and mindthe certified and attested
copy of the things "noted in" those awful "Scriptures of Truth" which mortal eye has
never gazed upon, and upon which the hand of mortal was never laid. By this, alone, we
thread the mazes of the intricate past. By this we correctly estimate the inconstant
present. By this, too, we behold as through a glass the dim and shadowy future, revealed
in bold and striking outline, thrilling us by its terror, cheering us by its beauty, or
entrancing us with its sublime and resplendent majesty.
The Word of God, in its historical records, its declarations, and its prophetic
delineations, brings to our view three worlds, with which human destiny has been, is, and
is to be connected. These worlds, existing in successive and consecutive chronological
periods, distinctly separated from each other by unmistakable periods and processes of
transition, are termed "The World that then was," "The Heavens and Earth that now are,"
and "The World to come" or "The new Heavens and the new Earth." To sketch, briefly,
these worlds in their origin, progress, and course, is the object of the present writing.
What occurred prior to "the beginning," an account of

[Three Worlds, page 29]

which we find in the opening pages of Divine revelation, it is neither important or
possible for us to ascertain. Beyond that) landmark, eternity expands its vast extent.
There we may conjecture, but we cannot affirm. The silent depths of the eternal Past are
unfathomed and unfathomable.
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." This is the sublime
announcement of the world's origin. "He spake, and it was DONE. He commanded, and it
stood fast." At His word, a flood of light burst in upon the heaving mass, that lay
formless and unfurnished beneath the overshadowing wings of night. His mandate
gathered the waters together, shut up the sea with doors, made the cloud the garment
thereof, and the darkness its swaddling band. He established his decree upon it, saying,
"Hitherto shall, thou come, but no farther; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed."
His word established the earth in strength, and robed it in verdure and beauty, while trees
of God's own planting stood, in all the magnificence of Paradise, on every hand. Above,
the stars and planets were marshalled at his call; by day, a flood of glory, and by night, a
still, calm radiance fell softly on the new made world. At His voice, earth teemed with
life. The noble forests and the verdant fields were peopled with hosts of living ones. Gay
birds, of beauteous wing and melodious note, were waving their sun-lit pinions and
trilling their gushing songs; and the blue and silent waters of the mighty deep were
swarming with ten thousand things of life and joy, from the mighty leviathan to the
smallest creature that played and gamboled amid the ripplings of the sparkling waters.
And when the mighty work was accomplished, and a new

[Three Worlds, page 30]

province, created for the glory of God's name, was added to His vast dominionwhen
the seal of perfection was set upon it all, then God created its ruler and lord. Moulded of
clay, formed in the image of God, enlivened by the breath of the Almighty, and receiving
at his hands the sceptre of universal dominion, he became the ruler over all the world.
The gay phantom of universal dominion so often pursued by mad ambition, was here a
sober reality. To Adam were committed the reins of government. Earth was his dominion,
and all its multitudinous inhabitants were his peaceful and rejoicing subjects.
"And the Lord God saw EVERY THING that was made, and behold it was VERY
GOOD." Our ideas of good are relative, not absolute. To the savage, his hut is good; it
affords him shelter from the storm. To the peasant, his cottage is good; it is his joy-lit
home. To the hunted Christian, the cave is good; it is a hiding place from foes. To the
warrior, his castle is good; it is a tower of strength. To the king, a palace is good; it is the
repository of regal magnificence. To the Hebrew, the temple was good; for a day in its
courts was better than a thousand. But what must that be, when the infinite God, dwelling
in the heavenly abodes of light and glory, could look with approval upon it, and
pronounce it "very good."
How pure such a world must behow holy, how full of peace and love; how Sweet
the rich beauty of its landscapes, and how perfect the character of all its inhabitants, ere
God, beholding all, could pronounce it "very good." It was very good. The earth was
good, as it expanded in firmness and beautythe abode of the creatures of God. The sea
was good, as it glittered in the sunbeams, or rippled like a flood of molten gold beneath
the breathing of

[Three Worlds, page 31]

the evening zephyr and the shining of the setting sun The sun was good, as it declared the
glory of the Lord, and went forth in its diurnal splendor to illuminate the world. The
moon was good, as it walked in its brightness, mellowing all around with its silver light,
and shedding a softened glory through the starlit heavens. The animate creation were
good, as they dwelt in peaceful companionship, yielding obedience to their common
Lord. Adam was good, as he stood erect in all the majesty of manhood, imaging forth in
his noble countenance the glory of his Creator. Everything was good, and at the
conclusion of Creation's week, God's Sabbathearth's first day of solemn rest sat like
a crown of light upon the wondrous week, hallowing, calming, and sanctifying all
around.
Thus was earth created, and, as if this was not enough to reveal the fullness of Divine
beneficence, away in the eastward, amid the spice-laden trees and flowery fields of Eden,
beneath the first beams of the rising sun, God planted a beauteous garden.
We have heard of the royal gardens of antiquity; we have seen the gardens of the rich,
where wealth, and art, and taste, and pride united to lavish all their beauties on some little
spot of earth. But what are these gardens with their stately trees, with their gorgeous
flowers, with their sparkling waters and their verdant banks, compared with that
beauteous work of God? On that virgin soil grew "every tree that was pleasant to the
sight, and good for food.'" How stately were the palms of Paradise! How beauteous the
orange-laden groves! How rich the pending fruits! How gay and glorious the flowers!
How sweet the floating fragrance of the sighing zephyr! How soft the murmur of the
passing breeze!

[Three Worlds, page 32]

How brilliant the gushing music of the fair-winged birds! How fair the Tree of Life,
with its monthly fruits and its healing leaves! How bright the waters of that crystal river,
that spread perpetual beauty on its verdant banks, and rolled its divided waters to the far-
off regions of Havilbah, Ethiopia, and Assyria! Ah! those were happy days, when this
garden stood like a gem of unfading beauty upon the peaceful bosom of the world that
then was.
We have tried to imagine some of the glories of that world. Shall we dwell upon its
ruin? Shall we speak of the entrance of sin; of the consequent guilt, and shame, and
condemnation; of the sorrow and remorse of those erring ones who go forth in tears from
that fair abode; of the dazzling glare of the flaming sword, and of the majestic glory of
the guardian cherubim? Shall we mark the disorder that reigned from that fatal hour when
Jehovah said, "Cursed is the ground for thy sake"? The fields of Paradise a tangled mass
of thorns and thistlesthe flowers fading, the leaves drooping, the beauty fleeting, the
strength decaying; the beasts howling, and roaming far and near in their thirst for blood;
the winds wailing and moaning amid the upturned trees; dark masses of clouds rolling
angrily about the sky, and "all nature giving signs of commotion and unrest. Shall we
follow man through his life of toil, and misery, and anguish, and woe, and guilt, and sin,
and fear, and trembling, and infirmity, and sickness, and old age, until finally he sinks
into the darkness of a dishonored grave? Alas! the picture is too dreary for our lengthened
contemplation, and we cannot forbear a sigh as we behold the fair image of God reduced
by sin and death to corruption and to dust. "By one man sin entered into the world, and
death by sin, and so death passed upon all."

[Three Worlds, page 33]

The subsequent history of "the world that then was" is brief, but sad in the extreme.
The first-born of earth was a murderer, and the second was a martyr. Generation
succeeded generation, and degeneracy and sin marked the protracted periods of their
misspent lives. A few holy men stood forth as lights shining in a dark place, holding forth
the truth of God; but they were like the oasis in the desert, the island in the sea, or the
faint glimmering of a single star amid the blackening rage of the midnight tempest. Of
one of these, it is recorded that he walked with God for many years, and after predicting
the advent of the Lord, with ten thousand of His holy ones, he passed gently away from
earth, unharmed and unhindered by the hand of Death, and the simple record of his
departure was, "God took him." But the common character and the common lot of
mankind were widely different. The prevailing tendency of human character and of
human purpose from the beginning, was from good to bad, and from bad to worse. There
were men of might, and honor, and renown, before whom men couched in terror, or
bowed in suppliance, but the penetrating glance of the All-seeing One beheld "that the
wickedness of man was great in, the earth, and every imagination of his heart was only
evil every day." The earth was corruptall flesh had corrupted its way, and the earth was
filled with violence. This was the result of man's revoltthis the return for the divine
indulgence which had lengthened out his hour of probation. Throughout the world sin had
spread like some loathsome pestilence, and scarcely an individual had escaped its
polluting power.
Amid this world-wide transgression, one person was "found righteous''one man
was "just and perfect in all his ways"one man walked with God, and notwithstanding

[Three Worlds, page 34]

the surrounding impiety, found grace in the eyes of the Lord. He alone was found worthy
to escape the things that were coming on the earth. lie was selected as the only proper
medium for the communication of the Divine will and the Divine warnings to mankind.
In his ear the mysterious whisperings of the Eternal Spirit could find audience. His
obedient heart would heed them and obey them. Accordingly he was warned of
approaching danger. His eye, anointed by the Holy Ghost, foresaw the approaching
deluge; and moved with fear, he not only warned others and preached faithfully to the
world, but he prepared an Ark for the saving of himself and house. Thus he condemned
the world. Thus he was justified before God, and became heir of the righteousness which
is by faith.
But the same spirit of disobedience which invoked the righteous indignation of God
upon that race, closed their ears against the warnings of the Almighty, and sealed their
eyes to the denunciations of approaching and impending danger. Hence the hours that
might, well filled with penitence, have averted the dread calamity, were employed in
filling up the cup of sins to its brim, and in heaping up iniquity before Jehovah, thus
treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of
God.
Swiftly the appointed day sped on. Men pursued their ceaseless round of business,
sin, and pleasure, forgetting that they were wearing out the last brief moments of divine
forbearance and of human probation, and thus braving the vengeance of the Almighty.
Let us sit down within the Ark. The family of Noah are there, and the animate
creation have their representatives. The door is closed by an Invisible hand, and now

[Three Worlds, page 35]

we wait the departure of the last hours of human probation and impiety. How solemn that
last week! The dying hour of a single sinner, or the execution of one criminal, is enough
to chill the stoutest heart. But what emotions swell within us as we mark the solemn
march of probation's departing hours, and await the execution of a guilty world! How
dread the suspense! how breathless the anxiety!
The world goes on as usual. The farmer is in his field, the merchant in his shop, the
drunkard at his cups, the reveller at his revelry, and the sinner at his sin. Violence and
strife and iniquity roll on in resistless current, the world is given up to destruction, and
yet fears no danger. What a scene! to-night a world's feast, to-morrow a world's funeral!
To-night a world's revel, to-morrow a world's ruin! To-night a world's exultation, to-
morrow a world's execution! To-night a world's debauch, to-morrow a world's
destruction!
The last day dawns. . . . The laborer goes to his toil, the tradesman pursues his calling,
the murderer marks his victim, the robber watches for the unwary, the harlot gads about
in gay attire, the drunkard cracks his maudlin joke about Noah's Ark, little children join
in mockery of the man of God, men shake their heads and say, We're safe enough, and
Noah will feel different to-morrow. But hark! The swelling echoes of the distant thunder.
. . . See! swift as the eagle's flight, Vast inky clouds foil up the sky. Earth tocks like a
storm-tossed vessel beneath the blackened heavens, and On every hand the ground swells
and yawns beneath our feet. Who can depict the scene? The floodgates of heaven are
openedthe foundations of earth are broken upthe deep rolls up its floodsthe waves
roarthe winds howlthe clouds gatherthe rains de-

[Three Worlds, page 36]

scendthe lightnings blazethe thunders bellowsinners wailjoy perisheshope
expiresand all above, beneath, and around is one wild scene of confusion, darkness,
anguish and dismay.
What a funeral! The funeral of a godless world! The wide earth was their burial
placethe rushing wave their winding-sheetthe swelling thunders their funeral knell
the hanging clouds their gloomy pall,and the mourners who were they? Were they
not those eight lonely survivors who surveyed in safety the terrific scene? Were they not
the angels who once shouted for joy over that now ruined earth? Aye! and was there not
sadness in the very heavens, and did it not repent the Lord that he bad made man upon
the earth?
What a night succeeded that fearful day! No sun, no moon, no stars; no peace, no joy,
no hope; but one dread scene of alternate blackness and brightness, of gleaming
lightnings, and of booming thunders, of falling torrents and of rushing waves. How
different from the previous night! What a change from the music, mirth and blasphemy
which were then wide as the world, to the awful roar of deep calling unto deep and
thunder answering thunder. So suddenly were they cut off! so fearfully did the storm
break in upon their carnal slumbers! Shall I anticipate? Shall I drop a warning in the
careless reader's ear? Hear it: "As it was in the days that were before the flood, they were
eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered
into the ark, and knew not until the flood came and destroyed them all, so also shall the
coming of the Son of Man be." That flood closed the history of that dispensation and of
that world. This is distinctly affirmed by the Apostle

[Three Worlds, page 37]

who declares that "The WORLD that then was, being overflowed by water, PERISHED.
""2 Pet. iii: 8. The history of that world is a sad one, as we have seen. Good at first,
evil at last. Created by God for man's happinesscursed by God for man's
transgression,and destroyed by God for man's ungodliness. Alas, that we should be
constrained to say that it furnished but too true an index of human characteralways
progressive, but progressive towards ruin, always advancing, but advancing to
destruction.
A year passed away, and on the towering summit of Mount Ararat, from the door of a
strange and weather- beaten structure, there came forth (with no scoffer to deride or insult
them) a solitary family, to stand upon the bosom of a new world. Every thing around was
strange. Nothing familiar was visible. Paradise and every thing else which reminded man
of the days of human innocence and primeval happiness, had been "pushed by the horned
flood" into the watery depths, or buried amid the ruins of some upturned mountain; while
the marine remains scattered every where around, gave evidence that the highest summits
once lay beneath the level wave, and the whole wide landscape was but a memorial of
God's disapprobation of sin and iniquity.
There was a new earth, but not such an one as that whose beauty called forth the
anthems of the morning stars and the shouts of the Sons of God. That was a comely
structure, this a disordered ruin. That was hallowed by God's blessing, this was stricken
by his curse. That was the peaceful home created for the abode of the happy and the blest,
this the dilapidated habitation which God's mercy had spared from utter And eternal ruin,
and which his low permitted man to inhabit as the scene of new mercies and

[Three Worlds, page 38]

of a continued probation. That world was good, this evil. That full of bliss, this, alas,
destined to be full of woe. But still it was a rest after the tossings on the waves. It was a
home for those who deserved no better, and who had no other,it was a place where
God could bless man with summer, winter, seed-time, harvest, food, raiment, grace,
mercy, peace, and truth; and where man might honor God by faith, hope, love, obedience,
self-denial, and unchanging fidelity; and so seek for glory, and honor, and immortality,
and eternal life in the world to come. This was the theatre of man's extended probation.
The rainbow had spanned the heavens with its arch of glory, a new covenant had been
made with the race, the oath of God was pledged that the waters of Noah should no more
cover the earth, and immediately the race commenced anew their course of sin. Let us
proceed to briefly sketch the course of empires and events which go to fill up the history
of this present world.
The first object of note is the unfinished Tower of Babel from which the bewildered
hosts are retiring confused and dismayed. The families of man thus dispersed, establish
their settlements in various quarters of the globe. A brief period developes their true and
proper character, and nothing but a storm of fire and brimstone from heaven on the cities
of the Plain is sufficient to strike terror to the hearts of offenders, and prevent the
universal extension of disorder, sin and shame. The example of "the world that was"
availed little towards the reformation of the race. The current of sin rolled on apace.
Oppressive and mighty empires arose. We see the proud and cruel dynasty of the
Pharaohs, (worthy prototype of American slaveholders and slave hunters) oppressing and
pursuing the weak and

[Three Worlds, page 39]

the fearful, until finally amid the closing waves of the Red Sea their crimes were
expiated, and their power and glory overwhelmed. We see the commencement of the
Assyrian empire, founded by Nimrod, rising in strength and grandeur heaping its
gathered treasures within the ramparts and palaces of Nineveh, until at length its
increasing and insulting impiety provoked the indignation of the Almighty, and beneath it
the power of Assyria was broken forever.
Next upon the stage came Babylonraging like a mighty lion, scattering and
devouring the flock of God, ruling over all the earth, holding its court and displaying its
glory upon the banks of the Euphrates, until God numbered the kingdom and finished it,
and divided it, and gave it as the spoil and the reward of the Medes and Persians.
The Medo-Persian empire carried its conquests far and near. It was cruel, fierce, and
ravenous, in its character; despotic and oppressive in its administration, and continued
until smitten by the fierce onslaught of the Macedonian conqueror, its diadem was
trampled in the dust.
The Grecian empire sped in its course of conquest to the far distant Indus, spreading
the name and fame of the world's conqueror, Alexander, to the remotest lands, and to the
remotest ages, until its divided governments, weakened by mutual conflicts, fell a prey to
the mighty rulers of the West.
The Roman empire rose from the robber city on the Tiber to be the robber and the
ruler of the worldoppressing with an iron handbreaking in pieces other kingdoms
expanding in its full glorythen broken up and dismembered by external incursions and
internal divisionsrearing its "Ten Kingdoms" like so many "horns" of cruelty upon the
head of a ferocious beast,exalting the tripple

[Three Worlds, page 40]

crowned Pontiff to the temple of God. and running on through the years of many
generations, a course of sin and blood and strife until the present day.
The Eastern empire maintained a struggling existence for many centuries, until
swallowed up by the great eastern Antichristthe dominion reared by the ambitious
fanaticism of the Prophet of Mecca, and perpetuated through periods of national vigor
and conquest of national pride and cruelty, of national strength and security, to its present
state of dotage and dependence, while the Papal Antichrist of the west arose, founded in
priestly usurpations, up-built by iniquity, cemented by blood, sustained by cruelty, and
crowned by crimewith its wide spread influence, its unlimited power, its unceasing
impiety, its protracted war with Jehovah,with its bulls, its edicts, its decrees and its
anathemas,with its filth, its corruption, its covetousness and its idolatries,with its
tortures, its poisons, its engines of hellish cruelty and malignant hate and wearing out
the remnant of the flock of God, and making this world the theatre of crimes enormous
beyond the power of human understanding, and marking with blood and agony no small
portion of the history of the world.
The Asiatic nations with their huge and gory systems of idolatry, with their cruelty,
oppression, and perfidy, the inhabitants of far distant China, the dwellers in the palm
groves of Hindostan, the inhabiters of the islands of the sea, all these have sinned till their
iniquities have risen before the Almighty and provoked his wrath. Shall we go further,
and speak of the modern nations of Europe? Even now the cup of punishment is placed to
their lips, the sword of vengeance gleams above their heads, and ere long prince and
ruler, emperor and sultan, kaiser and autocrat

[Three Worlds, page 41]

must meet, in their exterminating destruction, the reward of national perjury, oppression,
and perfidy.
Shall we follow the star of empire in its westward course? The groans of four millions
in a bondage bitterer than that of Egypt, rise mournfully on our ears, and convince us that
earth has nothing to expect from man but the most determined and invincible iniquity
which he is capable of committing.
Oh, how sad the history of the present world! "The whole world lieth in the wicked
one" and the refinement and politeness of the present ago contrasts strangely with the
constant effort to bind heavier burdens on the weak, to rule with more relentless rigor the
trembling sons of want, to fraudulently retain the hire of the suffering laborers, to fill up
in common with all the nations of the earth the cup of human transgression, and to awake
to judgment the vengeful ire of the Lord God omnipotent.
Let us turn from this picture and contemplate the history of the elect disclosed in the
records of inspiration. Shall we commence with Abraham as he forsakes his father's
house, as he wanders a pilgrim in many lands, as he builds his altar and erects his tent, as
he talks with God and joyfully embraces the promises from his lips? Shall we follow his
descendants in all their changeful histories? We see them journeying toward the realm of
the Pharaohs, a famine-stricken company of "threescore and ten "we hear their groans
beneath the oppressor's iron handwe behold them marching forth by hundreds of
thousands, defended by that God whose angel of destruction had passed by their
sprinkled doorswe hear their cries on the one bank of the Red Sea, and their shouts and
songs on the otherwe journey with them through the wilderness

[Three Worlds, page 42]

we pass Mount Sinai with its robe of cloud and its crown of firewe see the overthrow
of the rebelliouswe behold the sweltering carcases of the disobedientwe feed on the
dropping mannawe drink from the smitten rock we behold the flying hosts of
Amalekwe see the heaped up Jordan stay its flow, the ramparts of Jericho fall, the
rulers of the heathen flee, the usurping nations driven asunder, and finally, amid the vine-
clad hills and verdant vales of Palestine, amid the water-brooks and springs, the milk and
honey, and surrounded by every privilege, they find at last the goodly promised land.
Here we might expect obedience. But alas! to the disgrace of humanity be it told, that
the constant tendency of this favored people was to apostacy and sin. Their history is a
history of sin and punishment; of repentance and blessing; of revolt and judgment. The
writings of the prophets are thickly strown with reproofs, and are finally closed with the
prediction of a threatened curse. The Judges ruled till the people rejected their Almighty
King, and received instead a man who was given in anger and removed in wrath.
The reigns of David and Solomon were measurably prosperous, but still marked with
guilt, which augmented with succeeding generations, causing them to mock God's
messengers, despise his prophets, and murder his children, until from the lips of an
insulted God pealed forth the mandate, "Remove the diadem, take of the crown, abase
him that is high, and exalt him that is low. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it, and it
shall be no more until he come whose right it is, and I will give it him." Ezek. xxi: 26, 27.
Thenceforth no king possessed the throne of David. The nation of God's choice became
the portion of contending powers until well nigh destroyed.

[Three Worlds, page 43]

At length, infinite wisdom and compassion manifested itself in one great effort to rescue
men from ruin. The herald-angels sang the song of Peace o'er the plains of Bethlehem
the star walked on in its brightness to mark the spot where Jesus lay, and a Prince and a
Saviour was granted to the world. But said the chosen race, "This is the heir: let us kill
him, that the inheritance may be ours." It was done. Upon a hill-top, strewn with skulls
and bones, between two malefactors, beneath darkened skies, amid the tears of disciples,
the mocking of Jews, the rocking of earth and the rending of graves, the Son of Man
expired. Sinner, he died for you! Believer, he died for you! Reader, he died for YOU!
Thus earth was moistened by the tears and crimsoned by the Mood of the Son of God.
But from his death came pardon, and from his resurrection came peace. To his disciples
he gave a message of salvation, bidding them to carry it to earth's remotest bounds, and
then passed away from earthly shame to heavenly glory, awaiting at God's right hand the
subjugation of his foes.
His Gospel has been preached. Beginning at Jerusalem, faithful men have published it
in every land. They have thirsted in the desert and chilled upon the mountain; they have
crossed the seas and penetrated the foreststhey have parted with ease, and perilled even
life itself, bearing this blessed message to perdition-bound men. Some have heeded it. For
a while it sped swiftly in its conquering flight; but at length it assumed the places and
habiliments of human pride and power. Woeful were the succeeding ages. The Church
fled to dens and caves, and her pathway was marked by the blood of the faithful, and lit
by the martyrs' faggot-fires. Thus the Church went on till the

[Three Worlds, page 44]

religion of Christ became the occasion of bloody conflicts, and the man of sin enthroned
himself in God's own temple. The dawning light of the Reformation gave a ray of hope to
the struggling Church, and by the movements of Divine Providence they have been for
the most part delivered from their persecutors. But still they turn away from God. The
spirit and the practice of holy men of old is rarely to ' be found. Garnished temples,
gorgeous altars, broad phylacteries, and long prayers, are numerous; but faithful
ministers, reprovers of wrong, pleaders for right, haters of evil, rebukers of oppression
and sin, are very few indeed.
A sickly, hollow religion, is the religion of the dayan educated, polished, and
attenuated religiona polite and fashionable religiona religion that cuts the rebukes of
slavery out of Sunday-school books and Tract Society volumes. A religion whose
ministers go to the communion table and break the consecrated bread to oppressors, to
slave owners, and buyers and sellers, and breeders! And shall not God judge and visit
upon such a church? Shall not fearfulness surprise the hypocrites? Shall not the sinners in
Zion be afraid?
Earth speeds on in her course of folly. She hastens to her goalthe goal of
destruction. Already the premonitory throes of her final travail are coming upon her. The
nations are awake! The ring of hammer and anvil are heard as they beat their plow-shares
into swords, and their pruning hooks into spears. Strength is infused into the weak. Men
have gone forth to make the stirring proclamation, "prepare war among the Gentiles!"
The clouds gather. The thunders mutter. The storm of wrath rolls up the sky. O Earth!
Earth! EARTH! Thou hast drunk the blood of prophets, and hidden the ashes of

[Three Worlds, page 45]

saints, and borne the curse of God for long, long ages past. Thy final travail shall speedily
come.

But while the world that now is moves onward in its mighty race, the inhabitants of it
are, and are to be, mostly unconscious of the nearness of the impending catastrophe: not
on account of lack of evidence, but on account of the lack of faith Men are not
necessarily in darkness, that that day should overtake them as a thief. The bursting buds
of the forest trees are not more unmistakable indications of the approach of summer, than
that the signs of these times are of the speedy consummation of the present age. The child
of God is warned to know by these unmistakable tokens that the kingdom of God is nigh
at hand.
But what availeth warning? Did it save Jerusalem? Did it save Tyre? Did it save
Babylon? Did it save Egypt? Did it save the Antediluvians? Did it save the Sodomites?
And will it save this present generation? Of what avail are signs in heaven above and in
earth beneath? Of what avail are the mighty roarings of the sea and the waves thereof? Of
what avail is the distress of nations and perplexity that pervades the world? Of what avail
are the premonitory thunders that mutter in the distant heavens, and the premonitory
shocks that jar the distant earth? Of what avail are those portentous clouds of darkness
that overhang the nations, or those fierce lightnings that gleam in red fury above them?
Will all these things be heeded by wicked men? Hark! "The wise shall understand, but the
wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand." And so,
notwithstanding the amazing efforts put forth in this last hour of this dispensation,-
notwithstanding God has sent his messengers, rising up early and sending them,yet, "As

[Three Worlds, page 46]

it was in the days of Noah and as it was in the days of Lot, so also shall the coming of the
Son of man be."
Alas that it must be so! But so it is. Men will dream en until God shuts the door,
breaks up the foundations of the great abyss and opens the floodgates of heaven. Men
will riot on till the angels gather the just from their midst and pour the fiery storm upon
their heads. Men will say, "My Lord delayeth his corning" until his sign glares in the
darkened sky, and all heaven is flooded with the glory of his presence. Men will jest and
mock until all the tribes of the earth begin to mourn. Men will sleep in sin till the last
trumpet wakes them, and refuse to pray till they pray to rocks and mountains! Ah, yes,
and scoffers will enquire in mockery, where is the promise of His coming, until the
heavens are kindling with nature's final fires.
The concluding period of the history of the world that now is, as sketched by
inspiration, is dark, cheerless, and stormy. Iniquity abounds. Love waxes cold. Evil men
and seducers wax worse and worse. Men will not endure sound doctrine. Perilous times
come. Men have a form of godliness, and deny the power thereof. Men, like Jannes and
Jambres of old, resist the truth by their counterfeits and imitations. Scoffers walk after
their own lusts. Evil servants smite their fellows. Faith is almost extinct in the earth. The
Church is like the widow crying day and night. The world are secure and careless. The
elements of strife are abroad. The whirlwind rises from the coasts of the earth. The
unclean spirits gather the nations to battle. The kings of the earth assemble for fierce and
final conflict. Armageddon gleams with glittering armor, and then it swims with flowing
blood. The dispensation of God's mercy to this present world closes up. The

[Three Worlds, page 47]

night grows darker and darker, the clouds thicker and thicker, the storm fiercer and
fiercer, the riot wilder and wilder, until the red blaze of the conflagration bursts along the
darkened heavens, and the Son of God is revealed.
"But the heavens and earth, which are now, by the same word, are kept in store
reserved unto FIRE against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. The Lord
is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long suffering to
us ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But
the day of the Lord will come, as a thief in the night; in the WHICH the HEAVENS shall
pass away with a great noise, and the ELEMENTS shall MELT with fervent HEAT, the
EARTH also and the works that are therein shall be BURNED UP. Seeing then that all
these things shall be DISSOLVED, what manner of persons might ye to be in all holy
conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God,
WHEREIN the heavens being ON FIRE shall be DISSOLVED and the ELEMENTS shall
MELT with fervent HEAT? Nevertheless we according to His PROMISE, look for NEW
HEAVENS and a NEW EARTH wherein dwelleth RIGHTEOUSNESS." 2 Pet. iii.
Here is the conclusion of the history of the world that now is, as forewritten by the
inspired penman. In the midst of earth's carnal and ungodly slumber the day of the Lord
shall come. And oh! what a day! Silent, stealthy, thief-like it comes. That day is a day of
darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. That day, like the pillar of
cloud, is light to Israel and dark to Egypt. Light to those weeping ones who will find that
joy cometh in the morning. But that day of joy is the night of despair to a guilty world!
What a day!

[Three Worlds, page 48]

How the thunders shall shake the departing heavens. Bon the flames shall melt the
solid ground! How the works of man shall perish and the joys of man depart! O reader,
will that day bring joy or sorrow to your heart? Thus shall God purge the world of sin.
Thus shall the works of man be burned up, ere the works of God can be displayed in the
fulness of their perfection. So God shall wipe out the serpent's burning trail, and unbind
the burdening curse from the bosom of a groaning earth.
But what is beyond? Is it non-existence? Is it a sea of lava? Is it a world-ruin left
floating a vast wreck in space, to show the danger of transgression and of sin? Ah, no. A
glorious future is yet in reserve for this curse-burdened, groaning world. Yes,
notwithstanding iniquity must come, and judgment must come, and fire must come, and
ruin must come, yet that God who rolled back the surging waters of the deluge, and
smiled benignly on the emerging earth, shall call forth "from the conflagrant mass,
purged and refined," a fairer world; shall clothe it with a deeper verdure, shall beautify it
with the trees of God, shall garland it with Sharon's roses, shall roll crystal rivers through
its wastes, and call forth sparkling fountains in its deserts, shall hang a brighter bow of
promise in its heavens than Noah ever saw, shall bless it as he never blessed Eden of old;
shall plant Jerusalem from above as a gem of unfading beauty upon its verdant bosom,
and shall welcome His people to it as their resting place, the Paradise pf God.
This was the blest landscape that lay before the eyes of the apostle. And it was no
phantom of his imagination, it was no dream of a disordered brain. Nay! "We, according
to his promise, look for a NEW HEAVEN and a NEW EARTH." Listen to that Prophet
whose lips were

[Three Worlds, page 49]

enkindled by fire from the altar of God. "Behold I create NEW HEAVENS and a NEW
EARTH, and the former shall not be 'remembered, nor came into mind." This is the
imperishable "promise" that stands written in the Scriptures of Truth, and which is
handed down for the consolation of the exiled flock of God. And then as we reach the last
pages of divine revelation, we discern the same glowing scenes. "Behold I create all
things new!" peals forth sublimely from the eternal throne. The work is done. The rubbish
and wreck of a former creation has passed away. The sea is no more. The palace of the
King of kings descends heaven and earth are filled with one gloryGod dwells with
men and wipes away their tearsand death, and sorrow, and crying, and pain have
disappeared forever. The gates of pearl are wide open. The streets of gold echo the tread
of immortal hosts, the jasper walls resound' with matchless melody, as the ransomed
come with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. The palms wave on highthe
harpings swell amid the golden archesthe song of Moses rolls its rapturous melody
aroundand mingling with it, and rolling full and free its thunder-notes as high as
heaven, is heard the song "Worthy the Lamb that was slain!" Reader, will you be there?
This is the third world, and here the "third heaven" to which Paul in rapturous vision
was caught away, shall bend lovingly to embrace an earth so fair. It is termed by the
Saviour "the Regeneration" in which the apostles shall be enthroned beside their Lord.
Matt. xix. 28. It is an uncursed, a sorrowless, a tearless world It is a world where
righteousness dwells. Sin and pollution are eternally exiled from its holy borders, and
naught shall mar the peace of the blessed or cast gloom upon its beauteous face.

[Three Worlds, page 50]

Friend, Three Worlds are before your mind as exhibited in the Word of God. One of
them is past. Another is now in being, but it "passeth away," its course is well nigh run, it
waxeth old as doth a garment, and groaneth beneath the burden of the curse of God. It
rolls on towards a fiery abyssit is "reserved unto fire." Another is "the world to come
whereof we speak." Heb. ii. 5. Choose now your world! Remember that Jesus died to
redeem you from "this present evil world." Will you then cling to it? Will you choose it
as your home? Will you have your treasure here? Will you seek earth's honors? Will
you share its pleasures? Will you love its wealth? Have then the world! Riot on. Sin on.
Forget God. Forget Christ. Forget Gethsemane. Forget Calvary. Forget the deluge. Forget
the cities of the Plain. Forget alike God's mercies and his judgments until they burst upon
you and then!"weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth."
Christian, seeing we look for such things, let us be holy. Eternal glories are in
prospect. Let us seek them. Cast off the world. Throw pleasure aside. Strive for an
abundant entrance. Fight the good fight. Run the race. O, hasten to finish thy work. Weep
over the perishing. Beseech men to be reconciled to God. Save some. One at least. One to
sing eternally. One to dwell in Paradise restored. Delay not. The Judge is at the door.
May we escape the things that are coming on the earth, and meet at the judgment
uncondemned. Amen.

THE LAST DAYS.

BY H. L. HASTINGS.

___________________

The period of human probation is not one wide waste of unmeasured ages. It is on the
contrary a definite space, selected by the Divine ruler as the appropriate time for the
accomplishment of certain important purposes. Of all the ages that have measured man's
misspent existence, none have been accidental. All have been marked with the utmost
exactness, by that God with whom one day "is as a thousand years, and a thousand years
as one day;" and who has marked the bounds of human habitation, and "determined the
times before appointed." 2 Pet. iii. 8. Acts xvii. 26.
Hence every important event in human history has its appointment time of
accomplishment. It was in "the self same day," appointed by God, that Israel was
delivered from the Egyptian yoke. Exod. xii. 14. It was at the end of a specified period,
that the King of Babylon was to be punished, and the weepers by Babel's silent waters
delivered from oppression. Jer. xxv. 11, 12. It was "when the fullness of time was come"
that God sent forth his Son into the world. Gal. iv. 4. It was "in due time" that "Christ
died for the ungodly." Rom. v. 6. And so the final ingathering and uniting of all the
ransomed of the

[The Last Days, page 52]

Lord, whether in heaven or earth, is to be "in the dispensation of the fullness of times."
Eph. i. 10.
The various periods that stretch themselves into the receding past and into the
approaching future, find in the Scriptures their appropriate and distinctive designations.
Thus the period of the old world's history is termed "the days that wee before the flood."
Matt. xxiv. 38. The period of wandering in the wilderness is termed "the day of
temptation." Heb. iii. 8. The period of Mosaic Law and prophetic inspiration, passes
under the general designation of "Old time." Matt. v. 21; 2 Pet. i. 21. the ages of Gentile
ignorance and transgression are termed, "the times of this ignorance." Acts xvii. 30. The
preaching of Jesus and his apostles introduced "the time of reformation." Heb. ix. 10the
"accepted time" and "the day of salvation." 2 Cor. vi. 2. The time from Christ's ascension
to his revelation in glory is "the last time," "the last days," "the times of the Gentiles"
Luke xxi. 24. While beyond earth's scene of toil and strife, are the "times of restitution,"
"the times of refreshing," the "times" of Christ. Acts iii. 1921; 1 Tim. vi. 15. And the
glad and glorious future, which is presented as the theatre of the full revelation of God's
exceeding love to fallen man, is termed "the ages to come," throughout whose eternal
succession the saints shall ascribe glory to God through Jesus Christ. Eph. ii. 7; iii. 21.
It is to a consideration of one of these periods, namely, "The Last Days," or "The Last
Time," that we wish to direct the reader's attention. The expression "the last days," it will
be remembered, has an import more or less extensive according to the period in which it
is used. Thus, as the pilgrim, while on a journey of six thousand

[The Last Days, page 53]

miles, having passed one-third of the distance, would look forward to the last two
thousand, as the last miles, so the prophets saw the whole Christian dispensation as The
Last Days; and as the pilgrims after traveling four thousand miles of his journey would
naturally at times speak of being already on the last miles as yet in the future, and
immediately proceeding and extending to the journey's end; so the Apostles, standing at the
commencement of the Gospel age, at times represent themselves as living in "the last
days," and then again speak of those days as being yet in the future, and extending to and
closing with the conclusion of the church's long journey in a groaning world. One thing,
however, is clear, that the expression, "The Last Days," in its most comprehensive sense,
cannot embrace more than the last half of the specified period. And so, as the Apostles
spoke of living "in the last days," or "last time," the conclusion is inevitable, that the
world's allotted period was then more than half expired,that "the night was far spent and
the day was at hand," Rom. xiii. 12, and that the vain imaginations of those men who fancy
that myriads of ages will pass ere the end of this dispensation, are entirely destitute of truth.
The view which we shall take of "the last days" will include that period in its widest
as well as its most limited signification. We shall view it as extending from the cross to
the crownfrom Calvary to Zion,and also, as having especial reference to the
concluding period of the present dispensation. We shall show that the period of "the last
days" is peculiar in its character, and marked by peculiar circumstances,marked by
peculiar manifestations of divine goodness, and also by peculiar manifestations of

[The Last Days, page 54]

human guilt and depravity. We shall take the word of God as our guide, and shall let
those who were "moved by the Holy Ghost" to write and speak, declare the character of
this important period. And may we be enabled to sit meekly at their feet to learn and to
believe.
I. WE SAY THEN, THAT "THE LAST DAYS" WERE TO BE MARKED BY PECULIAR
MANIFESTATIONS OF DIVINE GOODNESS.
And FIRST: These days were to be INTRODUCED by the PERSONAL manifestation and
ministration of the SON OF GOD.
The faint and doubtful utterances of the prophets in days gone by, gave place to
something less obscure. Visions, dreams, types and ceremonies, by means of which
divine instruction was wont to be communicated, were displaced, and "God who at
sundry times and in divers manners spake unto the fathers by the prophets, hath IN THESE
LAST DAYS spoken unto us BY HIS SON." Heb. 1: 1 2. High above the plains of Bethlehem
run the joyous anthem of the herald angels, and brightly shone the guiding star, telling
with its silent beaming where the young child lay. The long expected Saviour was born
the woman's conquering seedthe seed of Abraham, in whom all the world should be
blessed,the Son of David whose dominion should be to the ends of the earth,the
Ruler whose goings forth had been of old from everlasting,the Wonderful, Counsellor,
Mighty God, everlasting Father and Prince of Peace,the "Lamb without blemish and
without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was
manifest in THESE LAST TIMES for you who by him do believe in God that raised him from
the dead." 1 Peter i: 1921. To the husbandmen who had before stoned the 'servants' the
'SON' was sent, Matt. xxi. 27. The Desire of all nations, the expected deliver of the

[The Last Days, page 55]

people of God, the star that was to rise out of JacobImmanuelGod manifest in the
flesh, appeared and introduced by the works he wrought, the life he lived, the preaching
that he preached, and the death that he died "The last days."
SECOND: The Last days were to be marked by the especial outpouring of the Holy
Spirit.
Previously the influence of the Spirit was comparatively restricted in its
manifestations. Prophets and "holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost." 2 Pet. i. 21. Leaders and reformers were raised up and prepared for emergencies
by the same influence, and on rare occasions the spirit of prophecy rested upon private
individuals, but the earnest exclamation of Moses, "Would God that all the Lord's people
were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them," was to have its
realization only in "The Last days." Thus by the prophet Joel God had declared that this
blessing should be granted.
And it shall come to pass IN THE LAST DAYS, saith God. I will POUR OUT OF MY SPIRIT
upon ALL FLESH, and your SONS and your DAUGHTERS shall PROPHESY, and your YOUNG
MEN shall see visions, and your OLD MEN shall dream dreams: and on my SERVANTS, and
on my HANDMAIDENS, I will POUR OUT in those days of MY SPIRIT: and THEY SHALL
PROPHESY." Acts iii. 17, 18. On the day of Pentecost the infant church received "the
promise of the Father," were "baptized with the Holy Ghost," and "endowed with power
from on high." Luke xxiv. 49. Acts i. 4, 5, 8. Thus the "ministration of the Spirit" was
introduced which exceeded in glory the ministration of condemnation which was written
and engraven upon stones amid the voices and thunderings and lightnings of Mount

[The Last Days, page 56]

Sinai. Those gifts which were once granted to a few "holy men," were now opened for all
the faithful. Servants and handmaidssons and daughters, were alike to receive the spirit
and prophecy. Those dreams and visions of God which were anciently granted to the
prophets were no so extended that "young men" were to "dream dreams" and "old men"
to "see visions." The promise was not only to the Jewish nation, but to "all that were afar
off," even so many as the Lord should call. The Apostles preached the gospel "with the
HOLY GHOST sent down from heaven," "in demonstration of the SPIRIT," "God also
bearing them witness both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles and gifts of
the HOLY GHOST, according to his will." Heb. ii. 4. The baptism of the Spirit attended the
first preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles, Acts xi. 15; it gave an unearthly energy to
the unlettered fishermen of Galilee; it taught them the strange and various language of
different lands, it gave them a boldness that nothing could daunt, and a power that was
irresistible. It brought all things to their remembranceit comforted their heartsit
directed their laborsand it helped their infirmities. And it has been the strength and
power of every minister of Christ from that day to this. He that would win souls and be
approved of God as a faithful servant, must "be filled with the Spirit"must be "led by
the Spirit"must the truth, and empowered thus to declare it in the ears of the perishing;
he will turn many to righteousness, and finally shine amid the heavenly glory as a star
forever and ever. Blessed is that servant! Glorious shall be his unfading crown, and pure
beyond description his everlasting joys.

[The Last Days, page 57]

THIRD: The last days were to be marked by an EXTENSION of the BLESSEDNESS OF GOD
to EVERY NATION on the earth.
The Jewish religion was never intended to be universal in its extent. That were an
impossibility. Three times a year must the JEWS appear in Jerusalem before the Lord. But
none could to this save the dwellers in Palestine and the adjacent countries. The Jewish
was essentially a national religion, destitute of that spirit of extension and progression
which characterized Christianity. But in "the last days" the middle wall of partition was
broken downthe spirit was poured upon "all flesh"in Christ there was neither Jew
nor Greek, male or female, bond or freethe yoke of burdensome rites were broken off,
and the law of commandments, the handwriting of ordinances was "abolished," "blotted
out," and "nailed" to the gory cross of Christ. The temple worship at Jerusalem gave
place to the sincere adoration of those who worshipped "in spirit and in truth," whether in
Jerusalem, Samaria, or the uttermost parts of the earth.John iv. 23. The Gentiles
became "fellow-heirs" by faith of Gospel blessings. Eph. iii. 6. The whole church became
a "royal priesthood" whose "Great High priest" appeared before God in their behalf. The
thankofferings of ancient times were exchanged for the devout homage of grateful
heartsthe sacrifices of bulls and goats gave place to "living sacrifices, holy and
acceptable in his sight." The 'yoke' became 'easy,' the 'burden' 'light,' and the gospel thus
adapted to human necessities was presented to the race. The apostles were bidden to "go
into all the world," and, assured of their Master's presence, they were to "preach the
gospel to every creature." They went forth and preached everywhere. No longer
circumscribed by
[The Last Days, page 58]

the limits of Judeano longer confined in their efforts to a single nation, their field was
"the world." Standing on Calvary, they had looked out on a world condemned and
ruinedstanding by the open sepulchre, they believed on him who rose for the
justification of sinners for whom he diedstanding on Mount Olivet, they had gazed
after the departing mediator and intercessor, and now, as the baptism of the Spirit was
upon them, faith's eye looked upwards and beheld Jesus enthroned amid the glory of the
highest heavens, and sounding in the ears of the perishing race the glorious invitation,
"Look unto ME and be ye SAVED, ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH." Is. xlv. 22.
Inspired with such a message, baptized in such a spirit, sent forth by such a leader,
commissioned for such a work, no wonder that their words prevailed. No wonder that
men believed, when added to all this were signs and wonders exceeding human power.
No wonder that their hearts were full of courage and of hope. Three thousand believed in
a day, and that number was speedily augmented to five thousand through the blessing of
God, notwithstanding all the malice and the art of enemies. And from that time the gospel
has shed light and glory into all the earth.
FOURTH: The last days were to be marked by a CLEARER REVELATION of divine TRUTH
than was granted to previous dispensations.
The single promise uttered in Eden was expanded into numerous "promises exceeding
great and precious"the types and shadows were no longer needed when the "good
things to come" were realized.The law given by Moses was good, but oh! how much
better was "grace and TRUTH" which came by Jesus Christ! The old covenant was good,
but this was a "better covenant," based upon "better pro-

[The Last Days, page 59]

mises,' and furnishing ground for a "better hope" of a "better resurrection," and "a better
country." The great problem, "How can man be just with God?" was solved on Calvary.
The important question, "If a man die shall he live again?" was answered at Joseph's
opened sepulchrethe prophecies grew vivid as they received their fulfilment, and the
sacred word glowed with the strange lustre of a double inspiration when quoted anew by
the Apostles of the Lamb. The kingdom of God was more fully preached, the glorious
advent of Messiah more clearly taught, the way of salvation more perfectly displayed
life and immortality were brought to lightthe world to come was rolled up in rapturous
visionthe holy Jerusalem rose in sublime and blissful prospectthe harpings of the
blest fell sweetly on the pilgrim's ear, and the world of bless, with its joys, its songs, its
palms, its crowns of glory; its robes of white; its adoring myriads; its rejoicing angels; its
eternal King; and its endless blessedness; were revealed as they never were before, in
"the Revelation of Jesus Christ."
Were we now standing amid the opening glories of the new dispensation, how should
we estimate the anticipated success of the gospel? Taking as a basis the fact that
thousands had been converted in a single daythat there were then five thousand
Christians in Jerusalemthat the gospel was potent to savethat its believers were full
of ardorthat the Holy Ghost attended the word; what might have been expected? Surely
we might have easily believed that those five thousand Christians could each of them, in
the course of the year, bring one sinner to God. Then the succeeding year might witness a
similar effort on the part of ten thousand Christians, with a similar

[The Last Days, page 60]

effect. But proceeding in this moderate ratio at the end of eighteen years the converts
would number more than thirteen hundred millions, a number far greater than the
population of the earth. And after making every allowance for sickness, old age, and
death, the conclusion remains that had each Christian brought a single soul to Christ
every year, the world would have been all converted within twenty years from the day of
Pentecost.
And what should hinder the accomplishment of this work? Were not the means
adequate? Was not the salvation desirable? Did not Jesus die for all? Was he not able to
save to the uttermost? Were not the water of life free? Why, then, might not the children
of those days have spent their manhood's strength in a converted world? And why might
not those whose heads were then white with age, have yet beheld the sun of righteousness
shining in cloudless splendor from pole to pole ere they should depart in peace, having
seen the salvation of the Lord?
Alas! that after eighteen hundred years of toil on the part of God's faithful servants,
facts should wring from our mouths the sad confession, that of the thousand millions that
people this rebellious world, probably not one twentieth are faithful followers of Jesus
Christ. And how passing strange is it that after this sad experiment on so vast a scale
this awful demonstration that "men love darkness rather than light"yet men professing
to be ministers of Christ, will sit in their easy chairs, or stand in their gorgeous pulpits
and proclaim the speedy conversion of the world, forgetting that even now the sword of
vengeance gleams aloft, and in the midst of "Peace and safety, sudden destruction
cometh upon them." 1 Thes. v. 3.
[The Last Days, page 61]

And now, having considered the manifestations of divine goodness which were to
work "the last days"the coming of Christ,the outpouring of the Spirit,the
extension of the gospel,and the full and lucid manifestation of divine truth, all of which
exhibit the amazing love of God to fallen man, we must turn to the other side of the page,
to complete the picture of "the last days," by proving from the Scriptures that
II. THE LAST DAYS WERE TO BE MARKED BY PECULIAR MANIFESTATIONS OF HUMAN
GUILT, DEPRAVITY AND REBELLION.
"Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?" Was the inquiry of the Apostle.
This course, so abhorrent to every child of God, appears to be the constant and settled
policy of this rebellious world. Did God spare man's forfeited existence after the first
transgression? and did not man in return fill the world with violence? Did he water the
verdant valley of Jordan? and were not the men of Sodom "sinners exceedingly?" Did he
deliver Israel from Egyptian thralldom? and did not they rebel and murmur in the desert?
Did he crown them with goodness in Canaan? and did not they go whoring after other
gods? Did he place his sanctuary among them? and did not they insult him in the
chambers of imagery? Did he send his Son to bless them? and did they not hang him on
Calvary's cross? Did he send his gospel into all the world? and has not the world rejected
it, and despised it, and derided it to this day? So always where grace has abounded, sin
has also abounded, and especially in "the last days." But more particularly
FIRST: The last days were to be marked by the most determined opposition to Christ.
Till there was a true
[The Last Days, page 62]

Christ, there would be no Antichrists; but as soon as the one appeared bringing blessings,
the other followed with curses for mankind. Says the Apostle: "Little children it is THE
LAST TIME: and as ye have heard that ANTICHRIST shall come, even now there are MANY
ANTICHRISTS whereby we KNOW that it is THE LAST TIME."1 JOHN II. 18. He knew that
"the last time" was to be marked by a gigantic manifestation of rebellion and opposition
to God; and, as in the very commencement of the Christian dispensation he met on every
hand the working so "the mystery of iniquity" and the many denials of Christ, he could
say "this is that spirit of ANTICHRIST, whereof ye HAVE HEARD that it SHOULD COME, and
even now ALREADY is in the world," 1 John iv: 3even then the fiendish form of "the
enemy" might be discerned stalking amid the darkness and scattering his tares, while
careless servants slept. Tares, too, that human effort should never eradicate or pluck up,
but which were to "grow together" in all their rank luxuriance until gathered out and cast
into the "furnace of fire," by those vengeful angels who shall reap the final harvest of the
earth. Even then the warring agencies were in motion, and the spirit of deadly enmity
against the Most High was fast developing itself, and by this sad sign they knew that they
were in "the last time." This was only one feature of human guilt. A more alarming and
melancholy characteristic is
SECOND: The last days were to be marked by a widespread and fatal APOSTACY. It
was not enough that Jews must persecute Christ, but Judas must betray him. And the
sorrow of Jesus, amid all his cruel mockings and scourgings, never rose so high and sunk
so deep, as when his sad eye caught a glimpse of Peter denying him with

[The Last Days, page 63]

oaths and curses. And was not this the hour (if ever) in which Peter gave his sanction to
the papal pontiff? Certainly to those bitter oaths and curses we do see something akin to
that river of blasphemy that has rolled for ages from that "mouth speaking great words
against the MOST HIGH."Dan. vii. 8, 25.
The grand outlines of this apostacy are sketched by the Apostle Paul, 1 Tim. iv. 16.
FIRST: "In the LATTER TIMES some shall depart from the faith." And does not the great
apostacy of the Romish church, to say nothing of the corruptness of the Greek
communion, afford an awful verification of this solemn prophecy? "The faith" was in the
BibleRome has burned it. "The faith" was in the ChurchRome has persecuted it.
"The faith" was the Gospel of Christ, and Rome has tried to exterminate it. SECOND: The
Apostates were to give "heed to pnemasi plnois, vagabond, or
wandering spirits." And though the unbelief of the past generation may have cast aside
God's warnings concerning evil spirits, do not the recent developments of the malignant
and impious influence of seducing or vagabond spirits, coming like vagrants from their
"spheres" of darkness, to delude the ungodly, afford us sufficient evidence that the
Apostles were not mistaken when they taught that a stern struggle was going on between
them and the "Prince of the power of the air,""The rulers of the darkness of this
world?" And is not this new development of Satanic spiritual power a key to unlock the
miracles and mysteries that have attended the Papal Church in her departure from the
faith? THIRD: Giving heed to "doctrines of devils." These were either doctrines taught by
demons, (and if so, was it not fulfilled in the visions and

[The Last Days, page 64]

hallucinations so prevalent in monkish tales?) or else they were doctrines concerning
demons, namely, saint worshipwith the Romish notions of departed souls in Heaven,
Hell, and Purgatory, so like the doctrines of demons held by the heathen before them.
FOURTH: "Speaking lies in hypocrisy." And the marvelous tales of relics, visions and
miracles, so fruitful of gold, together with the forgeries, deceptions and pious frauds of
rapacious and remorseless Romish ecclesiastics, are sufficient evidence that while
"speaking lies in hypocrisy" they had "their consciences seared as with an hot iron."
FIFTH: Over the door of every monastery where dissolute monks and friars waste their
years; above the gate of every nunnery where incarcerated females are locked in the
embraces of lecherous priests; upon the commission of every Romish ecclesiastic, from
the lordly Pontiff to the meanest friar,upon the frequent laws and vows that bind them
to celibacy, but not to chastity,we may inscribe "Forbidding to marry." While the
numerous fasts that embellish the Romish calendar point out beside these characteristics,
a SIXTH, "Commanding to abstain from meats."
Such was to be the character of the apostates of "The latter times," and such have
been the characteristics of those whose history is written among the direst curses and
abominations of the earth. A somewhat similar manifestation of wickedness is sketched
by the same master hand in another epistle. 2 Thess. ii: 312. Certain events were to
occur before the deliverance of the Church. Hence that day could not come except there
came first "a falling away." The "Man of Sin" must be revealedlike Judas "The Son of
Perdition" (John xvii. 12)opposing and exalting himself above God, and sitting in the
temple of

[The Last Days, page 65]

God, he was to assume the rights and privileges of divinity. Human efforts to remove this
"mystery of iniquity," or to root up the tares from among the wheat before the final
harvest, would prove abortive. Matt. xiii. 20. And the usurper was only to be dethroned
by the Lord, who should consume him "with the Spirit of his mouth" and "destroy him by
the brightness of his COMING."
The "strong delusions" that encompassed these "who believed not the truth," were to
gather their meshes still closer about them, until they should "all be damned" who "had
pleasure in unrighteousness," and the veil of darkness would only be lifted from their
eyes as they plunged downward to perdition at last.
THIRD: The last days were to be noted for OPPRESSION and INJUSTICE.
I have sometimes fancied the Apostle James, risen from his martyr-grave, and
standing upon some lofty height, over looking a sinful world, glancing from scene to
scene, until at length his eye rests upon the suffering bondmen in the rice-swamps and
cotton-fields of the south, as they groan beneath the oppressor's iron hand,and then I
have heard from his lips, those burning words that have come rolling down to us through
eighteen hundred years: "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that
shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your
gold and silver is CANKERED; and the RUST of them shall be a WITNESS AGAINST YOU, and
shall EAT YOUR FLESH as it were FIRE. Ye have heaped treasure together for the LAST
DAYS. Behold the HIRE of the LABOURERS who have REAPED down YOUR FIELDS, which is
of YOU kept back by FRAUD, CRIETH; and the CRIES of them which have REAPED are
entered into the ears of the

[The Last Days, page 66]

LORD OF SABAOTH. Ye have lived in PLEASURE on the earth, and been WANTON; ye have
nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter: ye have CONDEMNED and KILLED the
JUST, and HE DOTH NOT RESIST YOU." JAMES v. 16. What a torrent of rebuke! Would to
God that every oppressor might read it with tingling ears, and repent in dust and ashes
before the Lord. But no, instead of that, from those piles of hoarded silver, and cankered
gold, they contribute to send this message to heathen lands! Think of it. This curse of
God reprinted by the accursed, (as if Judas should organize a Bible Society, and cast his
thirty pieces of silver into the treasury thereof!) But, oh! how sweetly the Apostle turns
from the rotting wealth, the moth-eaten garments, and the hoarded gains, to console the
afflicted and suffering ones. "Be PATIENT, therefore, brethren, unto the COMING OF THE
LORD. Behold, the husbandman WAITETH for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath
LONG PATIENCE for it till he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also PATIENT;
STABLISH YOUR HEARTS: for THE COMING OF THE LORD DRAWETH NIGH. Grudge not one
against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, THE JUDGE STANDETH BEFORE
THE DOOR. Take my brethren the prophets as an example of suffering affliction, and of
patience. Behold we count them HAPPY which endure." JAM. v. 710.
This is the consolation of the afflicted bondman. Not a rotten system of government;
not the devices of office-seeking politicians and slimy demagogues; not in the long
delayed promise of human help, but "THE COMING OF THE LORD DRAWETH NIGH!" "THE
JUDGE STANDETH BEFORE THE DOOR." This is apostolic consolation, and this, better

[The Last Days, page 67]

than any other, will enable them to stablish their hearts with an unshrinking faith and a
joyful hope.
And this is the inspired description of the last daysdays of oppression, guilt, luxury,
and wantonness. And the groans and sights of the bondmen shall never cease until the
great Emancipator shall "proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of prison doors
to them that are bound." Is. lxi. 1. Surrounded by oppression-remembering those in bonds
as bound with them, and convinced by this that we are now in the last days, we look with
longing hearts and eyes for the appearance of that great Deliverer, whose coming draweth
so nigh. To the sighing bondman we say, "Be patient unto the coming of the Lord,"
soon shall the glory of the ascending day-star guide each child of God to liberty and rest.
FOURTH: The Last Days were to be times of GREAT PERIL to the Church of God.
To this fact Paul bears solemn witness in the last Epistle that he wrote: 2 Tim. iii. 19.
"In the last days perilous times shall come." The professed church in her present
deplorable state is accurately described in this inspired prediction of the Last Days. Men
were to be "covetous, lovers of their own selves." They are so now. They were to be
"boasters, proud, blasphemers." They are so now. They were to be "unthankful,
unholy"(not like "holy men of old")they are so now. They were to be "without
natural affection," the warm bond of social life; it is so now. They were to be "truce-
breakers"false to their word, "false accusers" or slanderers, "incontinent" or unchaste,
with lusts and passions unbridledthey are so now, as every observer knows. They

[The Last Days, page 68]

were to be "fierce," and the rest with which professed Christians plunge into scenes of
blood and carnage, fighting like devils, is a monument on the prediction. They were to be
"despisers of those that are good"and now a brainless fop, a wealthy scoundrel, a
bloody hero, or a fashionable whoremonger, are honored far more than the faithful
servants of God. They were to be "traitors;" they are treacherous both to God and man.
They were to be "heady," or willful and insolent, "high-minded," not condescending "to
men of low estate;" they are so to-day. They were to be "lovers of pleasures more than
lovers of God"going to a church feast, but not to the place of prayer, seeking honor of
men rather than of God, and making five times the sacrifices to gratify their worldly
desires that they will to feed the poor, clothe the naked, or sustain the cause of God. Does
not this describe the great majority of church goers to-day? But there is another feature,
"Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof;" and this featurethis stolen
livery of heaven, distinguishes them from the heathen world, and marks them as the
professed church of the present day. Having a form of godliness, but rejecting and
disowning its sanctifying, restraining, and controlling influence, they creep into houses
and lead captive the weak, laden with divers lustslusts of the flesh, lusts of the eye and
all the rest, and though "ever learning" and appending to their names great titles, yet they
are "never able to come to the knowledge of the" stern and solemn "truth" of God. Thus
like Jannes and Jambres, they resist it by traditionary counterfeits, and they shall soon
receive a similar exposure and overthrow. And the solemn injunction of the apostle is,
"From such turn away." These are the "PERILS" that beset the

[The Last Days, page 69]

church even now, in these last days. These are the dangers that threaten the unwary. O,
who can escape them all? Thank God, he "giveth the more grace" to those who trust in
him!
FIFTH: The Last Days were to be noted for SCOFFERS and MOCKERS at the doctrine of
the coming of the Lord.
"Knowing this first, that there shall come IN THE LAST DAYS SCOFFERS, walking after
their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of HIS COMING? for since the fathers fell
asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." 2 Pet. iii. 3
4. "But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the Apostles of our
Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you there should be MOCKERS in the LAST TIME,
who should walk after their own ungodly lusts." Jude 1718. And have not these
predictions been fulfilled? Have not the scoffers come? Surely, the last days are upon us.
There are theological scoffers who locate "His coming" in the past, or spiritualize it till,
like the baseless fabric of a vision, no wreck is left behind. There are geological scoffers,
who pretend that the dumb rocks dispute their Maker's living Word, saying, "all things
continue as they were from the beginning of creation." There are spiritualist scoffers,
who have learned from the familiar spirits of the dead, that "know not any thing," Eccl.
Ix. 5, or from Satan transformed into an angel of light, that the Judgment is a fiction and
the coming of Christ a fable. There are scoffers with the leer of lust in their countenance,
the odor of drunkenness in their breath, and the marks of willing ignorance in their brutal
faces, who blaspheme Christ, and deny his coming, whose damnation now of a long time
slumbereth not.

[The Last Days, page 70]

SIXTH: The Last Days were to be days of CARELESSNESS and SECURITY (?) on the part
of a rebellious world.
As it was in the days of Noah, when the deluge rolled its swelling waves above an
unheeding raceand as it was in the days of Lot, when the fiery tempest burst in awful
fury upon the scenes of mirth and riot, so sudden shall the coming of the Son of Man be.
Luke xvii. 2630. Like the unexpected return of the master from a distant journey. Luke
xii. 36, 37. Like the stealthy approach of the midnight thief. Rev. xvi. 15. Like the snare
entrapping the incautious animal. Luke xxi. 35. Like the sudden lightning flash gleaming
amid the darkness. Matt. xxiv. 27. As the coming of the lord of the servant while he in the
midst of riot and misrule is smiting his fellow servants and saying in his heart "my lord
delayeth his coming"so sudden, so unexpected by a careless world shall the Son of
Man appear. "For when they shall say, PEACE and SAFETY; THEN SUDDEN DESTRUCTION
cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they SHALL NOT ESCAPE." 1
Thess. v. 3. and have we not come to witness such a condition of things? And are we not
then in The Last Days?
SEVENTH: The Last Days were to witness an INCREASE of KNOWLEDGE.
While Satan was putting forth all his energies, and rallying all his forces for fierce
and final conflict, there was to be a corresponding effort on the part of the Almighty to
publish the last message of mercy to perishing men. The words of the Prophets were to be
"closed up and SEALED till the TIME OF THE END." Dan. xii. 9. And the command was "but
thou, O Daniel, SHUT UP the words, and SEAL the book even TO THE TIME OF THE END:
many shall RUN TO

[The Last Days, page 71]

AND FRO, and KNOWLEDGE SHALL BE INCREASED." Dan. xii. 4. "This Gospel of the
KINGDOM shall be preached in ALL THE WORLD for a WITNESS UNTO ALL NATIONS: AND
THEN shall the END COME." Matt. xxiv. 14. And to-day is this Scripture fulfilled before
your eyes. The visions and prophecies are unsealed. Many run to and fro, coursing in
arrowy speed over earth and ocean, to preach the word of God. And knowledge is
increasedknowledge of every kind. No art, no science, no pursuit, is unaffected by this
increase. Survey the world now, and imagine it a century ago, and you cannot fail to
observe the fulfillment of this prediction. The Gospel has gone to every land and clime,
and though rejected by the ungodly, yet it stands "for a witness unto all nations." More
than forty millions of Bibles, in near two hundred languages, have been issued by Bible
Societies alone within the last half century. And the Missionary work, so recent, yet so
extensive, assists to fulfill the word. And when this work is done, "then shall the END
come"not the millennium of glory, but the end of the age when the wicked shall be cast
"into a furnace of fire," and the righteous shall emerge from the long dark night of time
and "shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Matt. xiii. 4043.
EIGHTH: The True Church of God, though few and despised, were in the Last Days to
be EXPECTING the coming of the Lord.
"But YE, brethren, are NOT IN DARKNESS, that THAT DAY should overtake YOU as a
thief." "Ye are all the children of LIGHT and the children of the day, we are not of the
night nor of darkness." They are to lift up their heads rejoicingly as their "redemption
draweth nigh." Luke xxi. 2831. They are to know
[The Last Days, page 72]

"that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand." They are to be like virgins taking their lamps
and going "forth to meet the bridegroom," whose coming they were hourly expecting.
Matt. xxv. 113. And has not that time arrived? Has not the angel flying in mid-heaven
proclaimed in every land the thrilling message, "Fear God and give glory to him, for the
hour of his judgment is come!" Rev. xiv. 67.
NINTH: The Last Days were to be days of bloody STRIFE, DISTRESS and CARNAGE
among the nations of the earth.
A glance at the prophetic record will show this with indisputable clearness. The
Prophet Isaiah pronounces the woe of God upon "the multitude of many people," that rush
"like the rushing of MIGHTY WATERS." "The nations SHALL RUSH, but GOD SHALL REKUKE
THEM, and they shall flee far off and shall become as the chaff of the mountain before the
wind, and like a thistle-down before the WHIRLWIND." Is. xvii. 1213. "For behold THE
LORD WILL COME with FIRE, and with his chariots like a WHIRLWIND, to render his anger
with fury and his REBUKE with flames of fire. For by FIRE and by HIS SWORD will the Lord
plead with all flesh, and the slain of the Lord shall be MANY." Is. lxvi. 1516. Jeremiah
beholds the Almighty engaged in dread controversy with the nationsthe evil goes from
nation to nation, the whirlwind rises from the coasts of the earth. The wine-cup of fury is
put to the lips of all the nations, and finally the "Slain of the Lord" lie ungathered,
unburied and unmourned from one end of the earth to the other. Jer. xxv. 2633. Ezekiel
beholds the enemies of God rushing onward from "the north quarters" "like a storm" to
"the mountains

[The Last Days, page 73]

of Israel" until at length amid a tempest of fire and brimstone they perish at the presence
of God, and all the fowls are bidden to feast upon their carcasses. Ezek. xxxviii. and
xxxix. Daniel traces the history of the world until "the King of the North," goes forth to
run a race of conquest and devastation, until, planting his royal tent in the Holy
Mountain, he comes to a strange and awful end: Michael, the Great Prince, stands up
troubles some upon the worldthe dead are raised, and God's people have deliverance,
and glory. Dan. xi. 4045; xii. 12. Joel and the other Prophets point to the times when
the nations, mad with rage, shall beat their plowshares into swords and their pruning
hooks into spears, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, there to be crushed in the
awful wine-press of Jehovah's wrath. Joel iii. 914. The Saviour points us onward to a
time when amidst "distress of nations with perplexity," and the failing of hearts for fear,
they shall see the Son of Man appearing in the clouds of heaven. Luke xxi. 2527. And
the Revelator, after beholding the strange history of the world for many generations, sees
at last the kings of the earth gathered together to make war against the King of kings, who
is seen descending in glory from the skies, and who destroys them all. Rev. xix.
And do we not stand to-day upon the verge of a tremendous crisis? Are not the
nations preparing for the battle of the great day of God Almighty? Do we not hear the
thunders that portend a coming storm? Do we not feel the throes that herald earth's last
convulsion? And are we not in the last days? We have seen what their character is to be,
and there is NO ROOM for the FABLE of a CONVERTED WORLD this side of that LAST DAY
when Christ shall raise his people and sit in judgment on the human

[The Last Days, page 74]

raceJohn vi. 40; xii. 48. No doubt a time of peace and glory is coming, but the Prince
of Peace, the King of Glory must come to bring it. And who shall bide the day of his
coming? Who shall stand when he appeareth?
We stand to-day amid earth's concluding scenes. The last days are the present days.
The grand drama approaches its conclusion. Deceptive demons gather the nations
together,the kings of the east shall soon come with hasty steps to Armageddon's
plain,plagues heavy and grievous are poured upon the nations,the echoes of the sixth
trumpet are dying away, and ere long the seventh trumpet will sound in wailing cadence
its final WOE to the inhabitants of the earth. Shouts of praise shall then be heard in
heaven, and curses and strife on earth; while "voices, and thunderings, and lightnings,
and a mighty earthquake" shall close the terrific scene. But beyond these voices and
thunderings are those voices of still louder praise that the saints shall utterbeyond these
lightnings, the glory of God shall enlighten the world, and beyond that earthquake is the
"kingdom that cannot be moved."
Reader, these are solemn considerations. The Judge is nearare you ready to meet
him? The Lord is at handcan you shout for joy as he appears? Christian, are you ready,
all ready to enter in to the marriage supper of the Lamb? I beseech you, be not deceived.
Live pure and holy. Walk close with God. Strive to possess the mind that was in Christ
Jesus, that you may be welcomed to his presence when he comes. Sinner, turn; for why
will you die?

Prophetical Truths. No. 1
____________________

PLAIN TRUTHS.

BY H. L. HASTINGS.

Christians derive their ideas of Truth from two sources. First: ScriptureSecond:
Tradition. Truth may be obtained by either of these means, just as water may be obtained
from the spring where it bubbles up in its freshnessor from the aqueduct along which it
is carried to our homes. Scripture is the fountainTradition is the aqueductboth have
waterboth should have equally good water, as it is from one source. But while the spring
is always good, the aqueduct sometimes becomes defiled. So Scripture is always true, and
Tradition is sometimes true also, but not always. Scripture is the perfect standard, and
Tradition is right as far as it agrees with Scripture, and no farther. Most men get their faith
below the fountainso it becomes sometimes somewhat impure,hence it appears
various in formor in taste and color, and the only way to tell whose bucket has pure
water in it, is to go at once and compare it with the fountain. And even then men will
sometimes contend that though the water looks like that in the fountain, yet it could not
have come from there or some one else would have known it beforeand then the only
way to convince them is to go to the fountain head, and trace the stream directly down, and
thus show not only that the Scripture teaches certain doctrines, but also that the church for
ages past have believed them, and rejoiced in them. To do this work fully would require
volumes: It has been done to some extent by various persons, particularly in a work entitled
"The Voice of the Church," and I shall now do it very briefly in these few pages. I shall
first advance such propositions as seem to be true: I shall then sustain them by the WORD of
GOD, and shall finally, where it seems needed, quote from noted [Plain Truths, page 2] and
well-known writers, showing that they held the same opinions. Among other things, I
find in the Scriptures the following

PLAIN TRUTHS.

I. THIS WORLD WAS ORIGINALLY CREATED BY GOD VERY GOOD, WITH ALL THAT IT
CONTAINED.

ProofGen. i:31 And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very
GOOD. Ps. civ: 24. O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made
them all: the earth is full of thy riches. Eccl. iii: 11. He hath made everything beautiful in
his time. Job. xxxviii: 47. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? ...
when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

II. THE WORLD AND ITS CREATURES WERE IN CONSEQUENCE OF MAN'S
TRANSGRESSIONS SUBJECTED TO THE CURSE, AND TO A STATE OF SORROW AND
VANITY.

Proof.Gen. iii: 17-19. Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it
all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth unto thee; and thou shalt
eat the herb of the field: In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto
the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return.
Eccl, i: 2-8. Vanity of vanities saith the Preacher; all is vanity. . . . All things are full of
labor; man cannot utter it: the eye in not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with
hearing.Eccl. ii: 17, 22, 23. Therefore I hated life because the work that is wrought under
the sun is grievous unto THEE: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit. For what hath man
of all his labor, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath labored under the sun? For
all his days are sorrow, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This
also is vanity. Rom. viii: 22-23.For we know that the whole creation groaneth and
travail- [Plain Truths, page 3] eth in pain together until now, and not only they but we
ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the spirit, even we ourselves, groan within
ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

http://books.google.com/books?id=vRgNAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA3-
PT76&dq=%22H.+L.+Hastings%22+%22Three+Worlds%22&ei=AUo8R7_XGJzc7AKunrz7CQ#PRA1-PA13,M1

III. THERE IS YET TO BE A VERY GLORIOUS CONDITION OF AFFAIRS OF EARTH, WHEN SIN
SHALL CEASE AND SORROW SHALL HAVE AN END, AND THE GLORY OF GOD SHALL
BE REVEALED.

Proof. Num. xiv. 21. But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the
GLORY of the Lord. Ps. lxxii: 18-19. Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who
only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name forever: and let the whole
earth be filled with his glory; Amen and Amen. Is. xi: 9. They shall not hurt nor destroy
in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the
waters cover the sea. Is. xl: 5. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh
shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Is. lv: 12-13. For ye shall
go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth
before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the
thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree: and
it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

IV. THIS WORLD WILL NEVER BE CONVERTED TO GOD BY THE PREACHING OF THE
GOSPEL BEFORE THE COMING OF JESUS CHRIST, BUT WILL CONTINUE PERVERSE AND
UNGODLY, PERSECUTING THE PEOPLE OF GOD TILL CHRIST SHALL COME AGAIN THE
SECOND TIME.

Proof.2 Tim. iii: 1, 12, 13. This know also that in the last days perilous times shall
come. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer PERSECUTION. But
evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. 2 Pet .
iii: 3. There [Plain Truths, page 4] shall come in the last days, scoffers, walking after
their own lusts. Matt, xiii: 24-30; 36-43. Didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? from
whence then hath it tares? Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? Nay; lest while
ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until
the HARVEST: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together
first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the WORLD; the good seed
are the children of the kingdom,; but the tares are the children, of the wicked one; the
enemy that sowed them is the Devil; the harvest is the END OF THE WORLD, (age) and
the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so
shall it be in the end of this world (age.) The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and
they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and them that do iniquity; and
shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.Then
shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
Proof from the Faith of the Church. HERMAS says, "This world is as the winter to
the righteous men, because they are not known, but dwell among sinners; but the world to
come is as summer to them." JUSTIN MARTYR, A. D. 150, said, "The princes of, this
world .... will not cease from killing and persecuting those that call on the name of Christ,
till he shall come again, and destroy them all, and render to every man according to his
deserts." TERTULLIAN says, "Truth wonders not at her own condition. She knows that
she is a sojourner upon earth; that she must find enemies among strangers; that her origin,
her home, her hopes, her dignities are placed in heaven." Said CHRYSOSTOM, "The
gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations,
and then shall the end come. Attend with care to what is said. He said not when it hath
been believed by [Plain Truths, page 5] all men, but when it hath been preached to all.
For this cause he also said, 'for a witness' to the nations, to show that he doth not wait for
all men to believe, and then for him to come: since the phrase, 'for a witness' hath this
meaning,--for accusation, for reproof, for condemnation of them that have not believed."
CALVIN, on Mat. xxiv: 30, says, "There is no reason why any person should expect the
conversion of the world, for at length (when it will be too late and will yield them no
advantage) they shall look on him whom they have pierced." LUTHER, on John x: 1116,
says, "Some in explaining this passage say, that before the latter days all the world shall
become Christians. This is a FALSEHOOD FORGED BY SATAN, that he might darkened
sound doctrine, that we might not rightly understand it. Beware therefore, of this
delusion." Said ZUINGLE, "We cannot make a heaven upon earth,and Christ has taught
us that we must let the tares grow up along with the wheat." DAVID PAREUS, 1590,
said, "It is a thing never to be looked for, that the whole earth shall become Christian;
since the enemies of the church, together with Antichrist, shall not cease but at the last
coming of Christ." JOHN KNOX, A. D. 1550, speaks of Christ's coming, "to reform the
face of the whole earth, which never was, nor yet shall be, till that righteous King and
Judge appear for the restoration of all things."
Dr. A. CLARKE says, "Probably no such time shall ever appear, in which evil shall
be wholly banished from the earth; till after the day of judgment, when the earth having
been burnt up, a new heaven and a new earth, shall be produced out of the ruins of the
old, by the mighty power of God, righteousness alone shall dwell in them. Clarke's
Notes on Rev. xx: 2.
MATHEW HENRY says, "As long as the world stands there will still be in it such a
mixture as we now see there is of good and bad. We long to see all wheat and no tares in
God's field; all corn and no chaff in God's floor; but it will not be till the time of
ingathering, till the winnowing- day comes; both must grow together until the harvest.
There is no remedy but that wicked people will do wicked- [Plain Truths, page 6] ly; and
such people there are and will be in the world till the end of time."
INCREASE MATHER says, "And when we pray, 'Thy will be done on earth as it is
in heaven,' we pray for the day of judgment; for then, and not till then, will the will of
God be done on earth as it is in heaven." COTTON MATHER says, "For when our Lord
shall come, he will find the world almost void of true and living faith, (especially of faith
in his coming;) and when he shall descend with his angels, what else will he find, almost,
but the whole church, as it were, a dead carcass, miserably putrified with the spirit, and
manners, and endearments of this world. . . . They indulge themselves in a vain dream,
not to say insane, who think, pray, and hope, contrary to the whole sacred Scripture and
sound reason, that the promised happiness of the church on earth will be before the Lord
Jesus shall appear in his kingdom. They who expect the rest promised for the church of
God, to be found anywhere but in the new earth, and they who expect any happy times
for the church in a world that hath death and sin in it,these do err, not knowing the
Scriptures nor the kingdom of God." WHITEFIELD says, "As it was formerly, so it is
now, and so will it be to the end of time; he that is born after the flesh, the natural man,
does and will persecute him that is born after the Spirit, the regenerate man.
Notwithstanding some may live in more peaceful times of the church than others, yet all
Christians in all ages will suffer persecution. The enmity of the serpent. . . will continue
to rage and show itself in a greater or less degree to the end of time."

V. THIS WORLD IS DESTINED TO BE MELTED AND PURIFIED BY FIRE WHICH SHALL
CONSUME THE WORKS OF MAN.

Proof.Deut. xxxii: 22. For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and it shall burn to the
lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations
of the mountains. Is. lxiv: 1,2. O that thou wouldst rend the heavens that thou wouldst
come down, [Plain Truths, page 7] that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,
Ha when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name
known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence! Mai. iv: 1. For
behold the day cometh that shall burn, as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do
wickedly, shall be stubble, and that day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of
hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 2 Pet . iii: 7, 10-12. But the heavens
and earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, /'- served unto fire against
the day of judgment, and perdition of ungodly men. But the day of the Lord will come as
a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a. great noise, and the
elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall
be burned up.

Proof from the Faith of the Church. COTTON MATHER says, "But this word of
God is in my wind like burning fire shut up in my bones: nor can I any longer forbear, but
must again and again denounce this doom to the earth, sufficiently prepared for the fire, a
sorceress condemned to the flames, yea, though some Nero should command me to be
burned in the flames, I will not cease to preach and foretell, with an earnest voice, the
dissolution, renewal, and purification of the world by fire" Dr. A. CLARKE thus
remarks, "The present earth, though destined to be burned up, will not be destroyed but
renew- id, and refined, and purged, from all moral and material imperfections, and made
the endless abode of happy spirits. But this state is certainly to be expected after the day
of judgment."

VI. THIS GLOBE IS TO BE RESTORED, RENEWED, OR REGENERATED, AND MADE
GLORIOUS BY THE POWER OF GOD.

Proof .Is. xxxv: 1, 2. The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them;
and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and
rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory [Plain Truths, page 8] of Lebanon shall be
given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord,
and the excellency of our God. Is. lxv: 17-19. For, behold, 1 create NEW HEAVENS and
a NEW EARTH: and the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind. But be ye
glad and rejoice forever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing,
and her people a joy. Matt, xix: 28. Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed
me, in the REGENERATION, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye
also shall sit upon TWELVE THRONES judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Is. li: 16. I
have covered thee in the shadow of my hands that I may plant the HEAVENS, and lay
the FOUNDATIONS of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people. Is. lxvi: 22.
For as the NEW HEAVENS and the NEW EARTH which I WILL MAKE, shall remain
before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. Acts iii: 19, 21.
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sin? may be blotted out, when the times
of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send JESUS
CHRIST which before was preached unto yon; whom the heaven must receive until the
times of RESTITUTION of all things which GOD hath spoken by the mouth of all his
holy prophets since the world began. Heb. ii: 5. For unto the angels hath he not put in
subjection the WORLD, (oikumene, HABITABLE EARTH,) to come, whereof we
SPEAK. 2 Pet. iii: Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of
persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting
unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved,
and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his
PROMISE, look for NEW HEAVENS and NEW EARTH, wherein dwelleth
righteousness. Rev. xxi: 1, 5. And I saw a NEW HEAVEN and a NEW EARTH: for the
first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no mere sea. . . And he
that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make ALL THINGS NEW. [Plain Truths, page 9]

Proof from the Faith of the Church:-- METHODIUS, bishop of Tyre, A. D. 270,
says, "It is to be expected that at the conflagration, the creation shall suffer a vehement
commotion, as if it were about to die: whereby it shall be renovated, and not perish: to the
end that we, then also renovated, may dwell in the RENEWED WORLD free from
sorrow. Thus it is said in Ps. 104. ' Thou wilt send forth thy spirit, and they shall be
created, and thou wilt renew the face of the earth.' For seeing that after this world there
shall be an earth, of necessity there must be inhabitants; and these shall DIE NO MORE,
but he as angels, irreversibly in an incorruptible state, doing all most excellent things."
Said JEROME: "God will make new HEAVENS and a new EARTH, not other heavens
and another earth, hut the former ones changed into better.'" Said GREGORY the Great:
"Others are not to be created, but these same renewed. Eccl. iii: 14, they will pass as to
their present figure or appearance, but as to their substance they will remain forever."
THE COUNCIL OF NICE, A. D. 325, says: "We expect NEW HEAVENS and a NEW
EARTH, according to the Holy Scriptures, at the appearing of the great God, and our
Saviour Jesus Christ. And then as Daniel says, ' The Saints of the Most High shall take
the kingdom? and there shall be a pure earth, holy, a land of the living and not of the
dead, which David foreseeing by the eye of faith, ' I believe to see the goodness of the
Lord in the land of the living'the land of the meek- and humble. Christ says, "Blessed
are the meek, for they shall inherit the EARTH,' and the prophet says, ' the feet of the
meek and humble shall tread upon it." CYRIL, bishop of Jerusalem, A. D. 350, says:
"Adam received the doom, ' cursed be the ground; thorns also and thistles shall it bring
forth unto thee.' . . . For this cause Jesus wears the thorns that he might cancel the doom;
for this cause also was he buried in the earth, that the cursed earth might receive, instead
of the curse, the blessing. Our Lord Jesus Christ then comes from thence with glory, at
the end of this world, in the last day. For this world shall have an end, and this [Plain
Truths, page 10] created world shall be made NEW; for since corruption and theft, and
adultery, and every sort of sins have been poured forth over the earth, and blood has been
mingled with blood in the world, therefore that this wondrous dwelling place may not
remain filled with iniquity, this world shall pass away, that that fairer world may be made
manifest." Said AUGUSTINE, bishop of Hippo, A. D. 890: "By the change of things the
world will not entirely perish or be Annihilated. Its form, or external appearance, will be
changed, but not its substance. The figure of this world will pass away by the general
conflagration. The qualities of the corruptible elements of which our world is composed,
which were proportioned to our corruptible bodies, will lie entirely destroyed by fire; and
the substance of those elements will acquire new qualities which will be suitable to our
immortal bodies, and thus the WORLD by being more PERFECT, will be proportioned
to the then improved state of the human body." Says the martyr JOHN BRADFORD,
writing from his dungeon, A. D. 1550: "Now every creature travaileth and groaneth with
us; but we being restored, they also shall be restored: there shall be new heavens, new
EARTH, and all things new." JOHN CALVIN says: '' I expect with PAUL a reparation of
all the evils caused by sin, for which he represents the creatures as groaning and
travailing, . . . strictly speaking, Christ will come, not for the destruction of the world, but
for purposes of salvation." Says DR. THOS. GOODWIN, A. D. 1650: "God doth take the
same world that was Adam's, and make it new and glorious. . . , Bead the prophets and
you shall find promises of strange and wonderful things, of glorious times, and that here
upon EARTH." Says MILTON: "The world shall burn, and from her ashes spring New
Heavens and earth, wherein the just shall dwell; And after all their tribulations long See
golden days, fruitful of golden deeds." Says BAXTER: "I believe there will be a new
heaven and earth, on which will dwell righteousness." Says BUNYAN: "None ever saw
this world as it was in its first creation but Adam and his wife, neither will any see it until
the mani- [Plain Truths, page 11] festation of the children of God; that is, until the
redemption or resurrection of the saints. But then it shall be delivered from the bondage
of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." Says DODDRIDGE: "Let
this illustrious day come, even with all its horrios. We shall go from the ruins of a
dissolving world, to the now heavens and new earth, wherein righteousness forever
dwells." Says CHARLES WESLEY on Isa. lxv: 17.
"Come, Divine effectual power, Fallen nature to restore; Wait we for thy presence
here, Long to see Thy throne appear; Bid the new creation rise, Bring us back our
Paradise. Now our universe create, Fair beyond its first estate When Thine eyes with
pleasure viewed, When thy lips pronounced it goof; Ruined now by sin and curst, Speak
it fairer than at first."

VII. THE PROMISE OF AN HEAVENLY COUNTRY MADE TO ABRAHAM AND HIS SEED
HAS NEVER BEEN FULFILLED, NOR WILL IT BE UNTIL THE RESTORATION OF THE EARTH
AND THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST.

Proof.Gen. xiii: 14-17. And the Lord said unto Abraham, after that Lot was
separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art
northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest,
to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. . . . Arise, walk through the land in the
length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto THEE. Gen. xxviii: 13. I am the
Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to
thee will I give it, and to thy seed. Ps. cv. He hath remembered his covenant forever, the
word which he commanded to a thousand generations; which covenant he made with
Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to
Israel for an everlasting covenant: saying, unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot
of your inheritance: while they were yet but a few men in number, yea, very few, and
strangers in it. Rom. iv: 13. For the promise, that he should be the heir of the WORLD,
was not to Abraham or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteous- [Plain
Truths, page 12] ness of FAITH. Gal. iii: 29. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's
seed, and heirs according to the promise. Heb. xi: 8-16; 39-40. By faith Abraham, when
he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance,
obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land
of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the
heirs with him of the same promise: for he looked for a CITY which hath foundations,
whose builder and maker is GOD. . . . there sprang from him so many as the stars of the
sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. These all died in
faith, not having received the promises, but haying seen them AFAR OFF, and were
persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and
PILGRIMS on the EARTH. . . . For they that say such things declare plainly that they
seek a COUNTRY. . . . But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly:
wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a
CITY. . . . And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the
PROMISE: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not
be made perfect. Acts vii: 25. The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham when
he "was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, and said unto him, Get thee out of
thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I will shew thee. Then
came he out of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when
his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. And he gave
him none INHERITANCE IN IT, no, not so much as to SET HIS FOOT ON: yet he
PROMISED that he WOULD give it to HIM for a possession, and to his SEED after him,
when as yet he had no child. Ezek. xxxvii: 11 -14. Thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, O
my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and
bring you into the LAND of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the LOUD, when I have
opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your [Plain Truths, page
13] GRAVES, and shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall LIVE, and I shall place you in
your own LAND: then shall ye know that I the Lord have SPOKEN IT, and have
PERFORMED; it, saith the LORD.
Proof from the Faith of the Church.--- Says IRENAEUS, Bishop of Lyons, A. D. 178,
"It is fitting that the JUST rising at the appearing of God, should in the renewed state
receive the PROMISE of the INHERITANCE which God covenanted to the fathers, and
should REIGN IN IT. . . .The promise likewise to Abraham, decidedly confirms this, Gen.
xiii: 14-17. For Abraham received no inheritance in it,not even a, foot breadth, but
always was a stranger and a sojourner in it. And when Sarah, his wife, died, and the
children of Heth offered to give him a piece of land for a burial place, he would not
accept it, but purchased it for four hundred pieces of silver, from Ephron, the son of
Zohar, the Hittite; staying himself on the PROMISE of God, and being unwilling to seem
to accept from man what God had promised to GIVE him, saying to him, ' To thy seed
will I give this LAND,' &c. Thus, therefore, as God promised to HIM the inheritance of
the EARTH, and he received it not during the whole time he lived in it, it is necessary
that he should receive it, together with his seed, that is, with such of them as fear God,
and believe in him, in the RESURRECTION of the JUST. . .Thus, therefore, those who
are of faith are blessed with faithful ABRAHAM, and the same are the children of
Abraham. For God repeatedly promised the inheritance of the LAND to. Abraham and
his seed; and as neither Abraham nor his SEEDthat is, not those who are justified
have enjoyed any inheritance in it, they will undoubtedly receive it at the resurrection of
the just. For true and unchangeable is God; wherefore also he said, 'Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth,' Is. xxvi: 19; Ezek. xxxvi: 12-14; xxxviii: 25, 26; Jer. xxiii:
7, 8; Is. xxx: 25, 26; lviii: 14; Luke xii: 37-40; Rev. xx: 6; Is. vi: 11; Dan. vii: 27; Jer.
xxxi: 10-15; Isa. xxxi: 9; xxxii: 1; liv: 11-14; lxv: 18-28." Said JUSTIN MAR- [Plain
Truths, page 14] TYR" Wherein did Christ grant a greater favor to Abraham than to
others? Because he called him by his word, and commanded him to depart out of the
country where he dwelt, by the same calling wherewith he hath likewise called us all by
the same word; and we have already departed from that way in which we used formerly
to live, like the rest of the inhabitants of the earth, in sin and wickedness; and we together
with ABRAHAM shall POSSESS the HOLY land and receive an ETERNAL
INHERITANCE therein, being the children of Abraham through the same faith." Says
COTTON MATHER, "The new heavens in conjunction with the new EARTH, is that
heavenly country which the patriarchs looked for. When the great God promised them
that he would be their God and bless them, they understood it of his bringing them into
this deathless and sinless world.''

VIII. THE GOD OF HEAVEN SHALL ESTABLISH AN EVERLASTING KINGDOM ON THE
EARTH; IN WHICH CHRIST SHALL REIGN FOREVER WITH HIS SAINTS.

Proof.--Dan. ii: 44. And in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a
KINGDOM, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other
people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and shall stand
FOREVER. Dan. vii: 13, 14, 27. I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son
of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the ancient of days, and they
brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a
KINGDOM, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him; his dominion is an
EVERLASTING dominion, which shall not pass away, and his KINGDOM that which
shall not be destroyed. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the
kingdom, UNDER the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the
Most High, whose kingdom is an EVERLASTING kingdom, and all dominions shall
serve and obey him. Is. ix: 6, 7. For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and
the govern- [Plain Truths, page 15] ment shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall
be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the PRINCE
OF PEACE. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no END, upon
the THRONE or DAVID, and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with
judgment and with justice from henceforth even FOREVER. The zeal of the LORD of
hosts will perform this. Is. xxiv: 23. Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun
ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall REIGN in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and
before his ancients gloriously. Jer. xxiii: 5, 6. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD,
that I will raise unto David a righteous BRANCH, and a KING shall reign and prosper,
and shall execute judgment and justice in the EARTH. In his days Judah shall be saved,
and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his NAME whereby he shall be called, THE
LORD OUR. RIGHTEOUSNESS. Ezek. xxi: 26, 27. Remove the diadem, take off the
crown. . . . I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no more, until HE come
whose right it is; and I WILL GIVE IT HIM. Luke i: 82, 33. He shall be great, and shall
be called the ban of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the THRONE of
his father DAVID: and he shall REIGN over the house of Jacob FOREVER, and of his
KINGDOM there shall be no end. Mat. xxv: 31-34. When the Son of man shall COME in
his GLORY, and all the holy angels with him, THEN shall he sit upon the THRONE of
his GLORY. .. .THEN shall the KING say unto them on his right hand, come ye blessed
of my Father, inherit the KINGDOM prepared for you, from the FOUNDATION of the
WORLD. 2 Tim. iv: 1. The Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the DEAD at
his appearing and his KINGDOM. Rev. xi: 15, 18. And the seventh angel sounded, and
there were great voices in heaven, saying, the KINGDOMS of this WORLD are become
the KINGDOMS of OUR LORD and his CHRIST; and HE shall REIGN FOREVER and
EVER. . . .And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the DEAD
that they should be JUDGED, and that them shouldst give REWARD unto thy servants
the prophets, and to the saints, and [Plain Truths, page 16] to them that fear thy name,
small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. Math, vi: 9, 10. Our
Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. THY KINGDOM COME. TIM' win.
he done IN EARTH, as it is in heaven

Proof from the Faith of the Church. Said the COUNCIL OF NICE, A. D. 326:
"We expect NEW HEAVENS and a NEW EARTH. . . . and then the saints of the Most
High shall take the KINGDOM." CYRIL, bishop of Jerusalem, A. D. 850, wrote, "Do
thou look for the true Christ, the Son of God, the only begotten, who is henceforth to
come . . . with angels for his guards, that he may judge quick and dead, and REIGN with
a KINGDOM heavenly, eternal, and WITHOUT END." Said AUGUSTINE, bishop of
Hippo, A. D. 390: "His KINGDOM will come when the' RESURRECTION of the
DEAD shall have taken place; for then HE will come himself." The WALDENSES in
their "Noble Lesson," A. D. 1150, say: "Many signs and great wonders shall be from this
time forward to the day of judgment The heaven and the earth shall burn; and all the
living shall die, . . . and then shall be the last judgment, . . . from this may God deliver us,
if it be his pleasure, and may lie give us to hear that which he will say to his people
without delay: when he shall say, come unto me ye blessed of my Father, and possess the
KINGDOM which is PREPARED FOR YOU from the beginning of the WORLD. In that
place you shall have delight, and riches, and honor." Said the martyr LATIMER: "The
saints in that day shall be taken up to meet Christ in the air, and so shall come DOWN
with him AGAIN. . . . That man or that woman that saith these words, ' THY KINGDOM
COME,' with a faithful heart, no doubt desireth in very deed, that God will come to
judgment and mend all things in this world, and put down Satan,-that old Serpent, under
our feet."
The CATECHISM OF EDWARD VI., A. D. 1550, written by ARCHBISHOP
CRANMER, has the following "Question. How is that petition, ' Thy kingdom come, to
be understood? Ans. We ask that his KINGDOM may COME, because that [Plain
Truths, page 17] as yet we see not alt things subject to CHRIST: we e not jet how the
stone is cut out of the mountain without human help, which breaks INTO PIECES and
reduces to nothing the image described by Daniel: or how the only rock, which is Christ,
doth possess and obtain the EMPIRE of the WHOLE WORLD, given him of the Father.
As yet Antichrist is not slain; whence it is that we desire and pray that at length it may
come to pass and be fulfilled; and that Christ alone may REIGN with his SAINTS,
according to the divine promises; and that he may live and have DOMINION in the
WORLD. Said JOHN BUNYAN, with more than TWENTY THOUSAND other
BAPTISTS in their Confession of Faith presented to king Charles II. in London, in 1660,
"Concerning the kingdom and reign of our Lord Jeans Christ, . . . we do believe, that, at
the time appointed of the Father, he shall come again in power and great glory; and that
at, or after his coming the second time, ho will not only raise the dead, and judge and
RESTORE the WOULD, but will also take to himself his KINGDOM, and will,
according to the Scriptures, reign on the throne of his father David, on Mount Zion, in
Jerusalem, FOREVER." Said DR. CRESSENER: "The kingdom of the saints hath
these properties in it: 1st. To begin at the destruction of a kingdom that did devour the
whole earth, and of a great tyrannizing power in it, that did wear out the saints of the
Most High. 2dly. To be in the actual possession of the obedience of all people, nations,
and languages, and all dominions under heaven. 3dly. To be ETERNAL from that first
beginning of such an universal dominion. And this can be nothing but Christ's second
coming in glory; for though all power, both in heaven and earth, was given to him at his
ascension into heaven, yet St. Paul tells us that all things were not yet put under him.'''
Heb. ii: 8. INCREASE MATHER wrote, "Christ has taught us to pray, ' Thy kingdom
come,' we must therefore pray for the day of judgment j for the kingdom of Christ, will
not come in all the glory of it before that blessed day. And when we pray, ' Thy will be
done on earth as in HEAVEN, we pray for the day of judgment; for thin, and not TILL
then, will [Plain Truths, page 18] the will of God be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Then will the saints that shall come down from heaven in the new Jerusalem, do the will
of God with as much perfection on EARTH as now it is done in HEAVEN. DR. GILL
declares: "That Christ will have a special, peculiar, glorious, and visible KINGDOM, in
which he will reign PERSONALLY on the EARTH. This kingdom will be after all the
enemies of Christ and of his people are removed out of the way." COTTON MATHER
wrote: "Without doubt the kingdoms of this world will not become the kingdoms of God
and of his Christ, before the pre-ordained 'time of the dead,' in which the reward shall be
given to the servants of God, and to' those that fear his namethe rest of the saints, and
the promised Sabbath, and the kingdom of God, in which his will shall be done on
EARTH as it is in HEAVEN, and those great things of which God hath spoken by the
mouth of all his prophets, all prophesying as with one voice, all shall be confirmed by
their fulfillment in the new earth, not in our defiled and accursed earth." CHARLES
WESLEY on Ezek. xxxvii: 24-25, sung thus: "Trusting in the literal Word, We look for
Christ on EARTH again; Come, our everlasting Lord, With ALL thy SAINTS to reign."
Says DR. WATTS: "The world to come, re-teemed from all The miseries which attend
the fall, New made and glorious shall submit At our exalted Saviour's feet." And
BISHOP HEBER sung of a time When "o'er our ransomed nature, The Lamb for sinners
slain, Redeemer, King, Creator In bliss RETURNS to REIGN."

IX. THE EVERLASTING INHERITANCE AND ETERNAL HOME OF THE SAINTS IS TO BE
NOT IN HEAVEN BUT ON THE RENEWED EARTH.

Proof.Job xix. "I know that my Redeemer liveth, [Plain Truths, page 19] and that
he shall stand at the latter day upon the EARTH: and though after my skin worms destroy
this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." Ps. xxxvii: 9-11, 22, 29, 34. "For evil doers
shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LOUD, they shall inherit the EARTH. For
yet a little while and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shall diligently consider his place,
and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the EARTH; and shall delight themselves in
the abundance of peace. For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth. The
righteous shall inherit the LAND, and dwell therein forever. Wait on the Lord, and keep
his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, thou shall
see it. Prov. ii: 21, 22. For the upright shall dwell in the LAND, and the perfect shall
remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be
rooted out of it. Prov. xi: 31. Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the EARTH:
much more the wicked and the sinner. Is. Ix: 18-21. Violence shall no more be heard in
thy LAND, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls
salvation and thy gates praise. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon
withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy
mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be ALL righteous: they shall inherit the
bind forever. Mai. iv. 1-3. Behold, the day cometh that shall burn ax an oven; and all the
proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn
them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But
unto you that fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with, healing in his wings,
and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the
WICKED, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do
this, saith the LORD of hosts. Mat. v: 5. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the
EARTH. 2 Pet . iii: 18. We/ according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new
EARTH, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Rev. xxi: 17. And I saw a new HEAVEN and a
[Plain Truths, page 20] new EARTH, for the first heaven and he first earth were passed
away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming
down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband And 1 heard
a great voice out of heaven saying:, Bo- hold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and HE
will dwell with THEM, and they shall he his people, and God himself shall be with them,
and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be
no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the
former things are passed away... He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be
his God and he shall be my son." Rev. v. 9, 10. "And they sang a new song, saying, Thou
art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hunt
redeemed us to God, by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and
nation; and hast made us unto our God KINGS and PRIESTS: and we SHALL REIGN
ON THE EARTH."
Proof from the Faith of the Church. IRENAEUS said, "It is fitting that the just, rising
at the appearing of God, should in the renewed state receive the promise of the
inheritance, which God covenanted to the fathers, and should reign in it. . . .It is but just
that in it they should receive the fruits of their suffering, so that where for the love of God
they SUFFERED death, there they should be brought to life again; and where they
endured bondage THERE also they should REIGN." TERTULLIAN writes: "We confess
that a kingdom is promised ns on EARTH. . . . but in another statenamelyafter the
RESURRECTION. .. . in a CITY of divine workmanship, namely, Jerusalem brought
down from heaven. .. .this is the city provided of God to receive the saints in the
resurrection, wherein to refresh them with an abundance of all spiritual good things, in
recompense for those which in the world we have either despised or lost. For it is both
just and worthy of God that his servants should there triumph and rejoice, where they
have been afflicted for his name's sake. [Plain Truths, page 21] This is the manner of the
heavenly KINGDOM. Says Dr. GILL, "It is suggested, that for the saints to come down
from heaven, and leave their happy state there, and dwell on earth, must be a diminishing
of their happiness, and greatly detract from it. No such thing; for Christ will come with
them."
Says WATTS: "Yet, when the sounds shall tear the skies, And lightnings burn the
globe below, Saints, you may lift your joyful eyes, . . There's a new HEAVEN and
EARTH for YOU."

X. THEREFORE THE SAINTS DO NOT OBTAIN THEIR REWARDS AND CROWNS AND
GLORY IN HEAVEN AT DEATH, BUT AT THE COMING AND KINGDOM OF THE REDEEMER.

Proof.Ps. xvii: 16. As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be
satisfied, when I AWAKE with thy LIKENESS. Is. xl: 10. Behold, the Lord God will come
with a strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him. . . .behold, his REWARD is with him,
and his work before him. Is. Ixii. Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation
cometh; behold; Just REWARD is with him, and his work before him. Luke xvi: 13, 14.
When thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: for they cannot
recompense thee; for thou shall be recompensed at the RESURRECTION of the JUST.
Mat. xxv: 31, 84. When the Son of man shall COME in his glory... THEN shall the king
say unto them on his right hand, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the KINGDOM
prepared for you from the foundation of the WORLD. John xiii: 33; xiv. 1-3; iii: 13.
"Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the
JEWS, Whither I GO ye cannot come; so now 1 say to yon... .Let not your heart be
troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions:
if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come AGAIN, and receive you unto my-
[Plain Truths, page 22] self; that where I am, there ye may be also." And no MAN
hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man
which is in heaven. Acts ii: 3, 4. For David is not yet ascended into the HEAVENS. Col.
iii: 34. For ye are dead, and your life is HID with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our
life, shall appear, THEN shall ye also appear with him in glory, 2 Tim. iv: 7, 8. I have
fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is
LAID UP for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall
give me at that day: and not to me only, but to ALL them also that love his APPEARING.
1 Pet. i: 6,7. Though now for a season, if need be, ye are In heaviness through manifold
temptations: that the trial Of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that
perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise, and honor, and glory at
the APPEARING of Jesus Christ. 1 Pet. iv: 12, 13. Beloved, think it not strong*
concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto
you; but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that when his
GLORY shall be REVEALED, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 1 Pet . v: 4. And
when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a CROWN of GLORY that fadeth
not away. Rev. xxii: 12. And behold I COME quickly; and my REWARD is with me", to
give to every man according as his work shall be.

Proof from the Faith of the Church. Said JUSTIN MARTYR. A. D. 150: "Some
indeed are called Christians, but in reality are atheists and wicked heretics, because that
in all things they teach what is blasphemous, ungodly, and unsound. If therefore you meet
with some that are called Christians, who confess not this truth, but even dare to
blaspheme the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and say that
there is no RESURRECTION of the DEAD, but that IMMEDIATELY when they DIE
their SOULS are RECEIVED up INTO HEAVEN, take cars that you do not look upon
these as Christians; as no one- [Plain Truths, page 23] that rightly considers would say
that the Sadducees or the like sects of Genists, Merists, and PHARISEES are JEWS, .. .
but that they only SEEM to be Jews, and the children of Abraham, and to confess God
with their lips as God himself hath said, but their heart is far from him." Said BISHOP
JEREMY TAYLOR: "That is a plain departure from antiquity, which was determined by
the Council of Florence, ' That the souls of the pious being purified, are immediately at
DEATH received into HEAVEN, and behold clearly the triune God just as he is:' for
those who please to try, may see it dogmatically resolved to the contrary, by JUSTIN
MARTYR, IRENAEUS, ORIGEN, CHRYSOSTOM, THEODORET," &c. Said
CALVIN: "Christ is our head, whose kingdom and glory have not yet appeared. If the
members were to go before their HEAD, the order of things would be inverted and
preposterous: but we shall FOLLOW our Prince then, when he shall COME in the glory
of his FATHER, and sit upon the throne of his majesty." "The Scripture uniformly
commands ns to look forward with eager expectation to the coming of CHRIST, and
defers the crown of glory that awaits till that PERIOD." Said TYNDALE, the translator
of the Bible, to MORE the Papist: "Ye in putting departed SOULS in HEAVEN, HELL,
and PURGATORY, destroy the arguments wherewith Christ and Paul prove the
RESURRECTION. If the souls be in heaven, tell me why they be not in as good a case as
the angels be? and then what cause is there of a resurrection." Said JOHN WESLEY in a
sermon on Luke xvi: 31. "It is indeed very generally supposed that the souls of good men,
as soon as they are dislodged from the body, go directly to heaven; but this opinion has
NOT the LEAST FOUNDATION in the ORACLES of GOD: on the contrary, our Lord
says to Mary, after the resurrection, ' Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my
Father,' in heaven."

XI. THE COMING OF CHRIST IN GLORY AND THE RESURRECTION IS THEREFORE THE
HOPE OF THE CHURCH, AND SHOULD EVER BE LOOKED FOR AND DESIRED BY THE
PEOPLE OF GOD.

Proof.1 Cor. xv: 16-18. For if the dead rise not, [Plain Truths, page 24] then is not
Christ raised: and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then
they also that are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. Rom. viii: 22-23: For we know that
the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only
THEY but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the spirit, even we ourselves
groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our BODY.
Phil. iii: 20-21. For our conversation (citizenship) is in heaven; from whence also we look
for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be
fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able even
to subdue all things unto himself. Acts xxiv: 14-15. But this I confess unto thee, that after
the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things
which are written in the law and in the prophets: and have hope towards God, which they
themselves also allow, that there shall be a RESURRECTION of the DEAD, both of the
JUST and UNJUST. Acts xxvi: 6-8. And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the
promise made of God unto our fathers: unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly
serving God day and night, hope to come: For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am
accused of the Jew. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God
should RAISE the DEAD? Acts xxiii. 6. Of the hope and RESURRECTION of the
DEAD, I am called in question. 2 Cor. v: 4. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan,
being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but CLOTHED UPON, that
mortality might be SWALLOWED UP OF LIFE. Heb. ix: 27-28. And as it is appointed
unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the
sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin
unto salvation. 1 Thess. 910. Ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true
God; and to WAIT for his SON from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus,
which delivered us from the wrath to tome. 1 Thess. ii: 19. For what is our HOPE, of joy,
or [Plain Truths, page 25] crown of rejoicing? are not even ye in the presence of BUT
Lord Jesus Christ at his coining? 1 Thess. iv: 13-18. But I would not have you
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others
which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them which
sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord,
that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them
which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
then we which are alive and remain shall be CAUGHT UP together with them in the clouds
to MEET the Lord in the air: and so shall we EVER be with the LORD. Wherefore
comfort one another with these WORDS. John iii: 2-3. Beloved, now are we the sons of
God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: hut we know that, when HE shall
appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this
hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure. Luke xii: 35-40. Let your loins be
girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their
Lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they
may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when he
cometh shall find WATCHING. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at
an hour when ye THINK NOT. Titus ii: 11-15. For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared unto all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly
lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, in this present world; looking for that blessed
hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave
himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity. and purify unto himself a
peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things SPEAK, and EXHORT, and
REBUKE with all authority. [Plain Truths, page 26]

Proof from the Faith of the Church. Said CLEMENT, A. D. 96, "Wherefore let
us every hour expect the kingdom of God in love and righteousness, because we know
not the day of our Lord's appearing. Said CYPRIAN, A. D. 220, "It were a self-
contradictory and incompatible thing for us, who pray that the kingdom of God may
quickly come, to be looking for long life here below . .. Lot us ever in anxiety and
cautiousness be awaiting the sudden advent of the Lord." Said CYRIL, A. D. 350. "Do
thou look for the true Christ, the Son of God, the only Begotten, who is henceforth to
come not from earth but from heaven, appearing to all more bright than any lightning, or
any other brilliance, with angels for his guards, that he may judge quick and dead. . .
.Venture not to declare when these things shall be, nor on the other hand abandon thyself
to slumber, for he saith WATCH, &c. . .but it behoveth us to know the SIGNS of the
END,and we are looking for Christ." Said AUGUSTINE concerning the Virgins in
Mat. xxv, "But men continually say to themselves, ' Lo, the Day of Judgment .is coming
note, so many evils Are happening, so many tribulations thicken; behold all things which
the prophets have spoken have well nigh fulfilled the day of judgment is already at
hand.' They who speak thus speak in faith, go out, as it were, with such thoughts to meet
the bridegroom." Said TYNDALE, "Christ And his apostles . . . warned to look for
Christ's coming again every hour." Said JOHN BRADFORD, "Covet not the things that
are in THIS WORLD, but long for the coming of the Lord Jesus." Said JOHN
PISCATOR, "The Advent of the Lord is to be looked for with perpetual vigilance,
especially by ministers of the WORD." Said LATIMER, "Let us therefore have a desire
that this day may come quickly; let us hasten God forward; let us cry unto him, day and
night, Most Merciful Father, thy kingdom come." Said RIDLEY, "The world, without
doubt,this I do believe, and therefore I say it,draws towards an end.' Let us, with
John, the servant of God, cry in our hearts unto our Saviour Christ, Come, Lord Jesus,
come." Said CALVIN, "We must hunger after Christ, we must seek and contem- [Plain
Truths, page 27] plate the dawning of that great day, when our Lord will fully manifest
the glory of his kingdom." Said LUTHER, "I ardently hope, that amidst these internal
dissensions on the earth, Jesus Christ will hasten the day of his coming, and that he will
crumble the whole universe into dust." Said BAXTER, "This is the day that all believers
should long, and hope, and wait for, as the accomplishment of all the work of their
redemption, and all the desires and endeavors of their souls. Hasten, O Lord, this blessed
day. Said JOSEPH ALLEINE, writing from Ilchester jail to his flock, "This is the day I
look for, and wait for, and have laid up all my hopes in. If the Lord return not, I profess
myself undonemy preaching is vain, and my suffering is vain, and the bottom in which
I have entrusted all my hopes is forever miscarried." Said the seraphic RUTHERFORD,
"The Lord hath told you what ye should be doing till he come; wait and hasten, saith
Peter, for the coming of your Lord. All is night that is here, in respect to ignorance and
daily ensuing troubles . . . therefore sigh and long for the dawning of that morning, and
the breaking of that day of the Son of man, when the shadows shall flee away. Persuade
yourself that the King is coming. Head his letter sent before Him,Rev. xxii: 20.-
Behold I come quickly. Wait, with the wearied night- watch, for the breaking of the
eastern sky." Said MATTHEW HENRY, "As Christians, we profess not only to believe
and ' look for, but love and long for the appearing of Christ, and to act in our whole
conversation with regard to it.' The second coming of Christ is the centre in which all
the lines of our religion meet, and to which the whole of the divine life hath a constant
reference and tendency." Said INCREASE MATHER, "Yon must not only look for, not
only believe that such a day will come, but you must hasten to itthat is, by earnest
desires and longing wishes. Said DODD RIDGE, "He comes quickly, and I trust you can
answer with a glad Amen that the warning is not troublesome or unpleasant to your ears;
but rather that his coming his certain, his speedy comingis the object of your
delightful hope, and of your longing expectation. For with [Plain Truths, page 28] regard
to his final appearance to judgment, our Lord says, ' Surely I come quickly.' And will you
not here also sing your part in the joyful Anthem? Amen; even so come. Lord Jesus."
Said JOHN WESLEY: "The church in her militant state, Is weary and cannot forbear;
The saints in an agony wait To see Him again in the air: The news of his coming I hear
And join in the catholic cry O Jesus in triumph appear, APPEAR in the CLOUDS of
the sky."
And WATTS exclaims: "How bright the vision! O how long Shall this glad hour
delay, Fly swifter round, ye wheels of Time, And bring the welcome day!" The above are
a few of the plain truths taught in the word of God. Let us, like the Bereans of old, search
the Scriptures daily and see if these things are so. Let us give heed to the words of the
Lord and seek for eternal life through Jesus Christ at his coming.
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