The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan Part 24

"Canst thou by searching find out G.o.d? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?" "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." "I am G.o.d, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done."(572)

Even the prophets who were favored with the special illumination of the Spirit, did not fully comprehend the import of the revelations committed to them. The meaning was to be unfolded from age to age, as the people of G.o.d should need the instruction therein contained.

Peter, writing of the salvation brought to light through the gospel, says: Of this salvation "the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching _what_, or _what manner of time_ the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto _themselves_, but unto _us_ they did minister."(573)

Yet while it was not given to the prophets to understand fully the things revealed to them, they earnestly sought to obtain all the light which G.o.d had been pleased to make manifest. They "inquired and searched diligently," "searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify." What a lesson to the people of G.o.d in the Christian age, for whose benefit these prophecies were given to His servants! "Unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister." Witness those holy men of G.o.d as they "inquired and searched diligently" concerning revelations given them for generations that were yet unborn. Contrast their holy zeal with the listless unconcern with which the favored ones of later ages treat this gift of heaven. What a rebuke to the ease-loving, world-loving indifference which is content to declare that the prophecies cannot be understood.

Though the finite minds of men are inadequate to enter into the counsels of the Infinite One, or to understand fully the working out of His purposes, yet often it is because of some error or neglect on their own part, that they so dimly comprehend the messages of Heaven. Not infrequently the minds of the people, and even of G.o.d's servants, are so blinded by human opinions, the traditions and false teaching of men, that they are able only partially to grasp the great things which He has revealed in His word. Thus it was with the disciples of Christ, even when the Saviour was with them in person. Their minds had become imbued with the popular conception of the Messiah as a temporal prince, who was to exalt Israel to the throne of universal empire, and they could not understand the meaning of His words foretelling His sufferings and death.

Christ Himself had sent them forth with the message, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of G.o.d is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel."(574) That message was based on the prophecy of Daniel 9. The sixty-nine weeks were declared by the angel to extend to "the Messiah the Prince," and with high hopes and joyful antic.i.p.ations the disciples looked forward to the establishment of Messiah's kingdom at Jerusalem, to rule over the whole earth.

They preached the message which Christ had committed to them, though they themselves misapprehended its meaning. While their announcement was founded on Dan. 9:25, they did not see, in the next verse of the same chapter, that Messiah was to be cut off. From their very birth their hearts had been set upon the antic.i.p.ated glory of an earthly empire, and this blinded their understanding alike to the specifications of the prophecy and to the words of Christ.

They performed their duty in presenting to the Jewish nation the invitation of mercy, and then, at the very time when they expected to see their Lord ascend the throne of David, they beheld Him seized as a malefactor, scourged, derided, and condemned, and lifted up on the cross of Calvary. What despair and anguish wrung the hearts of those disciples during the days while their Lord was sleeping in the tomb!

Christ had come at the exact time and in the manner foretold by prophecy.

The testimony of Scripture had been fulfilled in every detail of His ministry. He had preached the message of salvation, and "His word was with power." The hearts of His hearers had witnessed that it was of Heaven. The word and the Spirit of G.o.d attested the divine commission of His Son.

The disciples still clung with undying affection to their beloved Master.

And yet their minds were shrouded in uncertainty and doubt. In their anguish they did not then recall the words of Christ pointing forward to His suffering and death. If Jesus of Nazareth had been the true Messiah, would they have been thus plunged in grief and disappointment? This was the question that tortured their souls while the Saviour lay in His sepulcher during the hopeless hours of that Sabbath which intervened between His death and His resurrection.

Though the night of sorrow gathered dark about these followers of Jesus, yet were they not forsaken. Saith the prophet: "When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.... He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold His righteousness." "Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee; but the night s.h.i.+neth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee." G.o.d hath spoken: "Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness." "I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them."(575)

The announcement which had been made by the disciples in the name of the Lord was in every particular correct, and the events to which it pointed were even then taking place. "The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of G.o.d is at hand," had been their message. At the expiration of "the time"-the sixty-nine weeks of Daniel 9, which were to extend to the Messiah, "the Anointed One"-Christ had received the anointing of the Spirit, after His baptism by John in Jordan. And the "kingdom of G.o.d" which they had declared to be at hand, was established by the death of Christ. This kingdom was not, as they had been taught to believe, an earthly empire.

Nor was it that future, immortal kingdom which shall be set up when "the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High;" that everlasting kingdom, in which "all dominions shall serve and obey Him."(576) As used in the Bible, the expression "kingdom of G.o.d" is employed to designate both the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory.

The kingdom of grace is brought to view by Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews. After pointing to Christ, the compa.s.sionate intercessor who is "touched with the feeling of our infirmities," the apostle says, "Let us therefore come boldly unto _the throne of grace_, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace."(577) The throne of grace represents the kingdom of grace; for the existence of a throne implies the existence of a kingdom.

In many of His parables, Christ uses the expression, "the kingdom of heaven," to designate the work of divine grace upon the hearts of men.

So the throne of glory represents the kingdom of glory; and this kingdom is referred to in the Saviour's words, "When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations."(578) This kingdom is yet future. It is not to be set up until the second advent of Christ.

The kingdom of grace was inst.i.tuted immediately after the fall of man, when a plan was devised for the redemption of the guilty race. It then existed in the purpose and by the promise of G.o.d; and through faith, men could become its subjects. Yet it was not actually established until the death of Christ. Even after entering upon His earthly mission, the Saviour, wearied with the stubbornness and ingrat.i.tude of men, might have drawn back from the sacrifice of Calvary. In Gethsemane the cup of woe trembled in His hand. He might even then have wiped the blood-sweat from His brow, and have left the guilty race to perish in their iniquity. Had He done this, there could have been no redemption for fallen men. But when the Saviour yielded up His life, and with His expiring breath cried out, "It is finished," then the fulfilment of the plan of redemption was a.s.sured. The promise of salvation made to the sinful pair in Eden was ratified. The kingdom of grace, which had before existed by the promise of G.o.d, was then established.

Thus the death of Christ-the very event which the disciples had looked upon as the final destruction of their hope-was that which made it forever sure. While it had brought them a cruel disappointment, it was the climax of proof that their belief had been correct. The event that had filled them with mourning and despair, was that which opened the door of hope to every child of Adam, and in which centered the future life and eternal happiness of all G.o.d's faithful ones in all the ages.

Purposes of infinite mercy were reaching their fulfilment, even through the disappointment of the disciples. While their hearts had been won by the divine grace and power of His teaching, who "spake as never man spake," yet intermingled with the pure gold of their love for Jesus, was the base alloy of worldly pride and selfish ambitions. Even in the Pa.s.sover chamber, at that solemn hour when their Master was already entering the shadow of Gethsemane, there was "a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest."(579) Their vision was filled with the throne, the crown, and the glory, while just before them lay the shame and agony of the garden, the judgment-hall, the cross of Calvary. It was their pride of heart, their thirst for worldly glory, that had led them to cling so tenaciously to the false teaching of their time, and to pa.s.s unheeded the Saviour's words showing the true nature of His kingdom, and pointing forward to His agony and death. And these errors resulted in the trial-sharp but needful-which was permitted for their correction.

Though the disciples had mistaken the meaning of their message, and had failed to realize their expectations, yet they had preached the warning given them of G.o.d, and the Lord would reward their faith and honor their obedience. To them was to be intrusted the work of heralding to all nations the glorious gospel of their risen Lord. It was to prepare them for this work, that the experience which seemed to them so bitter had been permitted.

After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples on the way to Emmaus, and "beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself."(580) The hearts of the disciples were stirred. Faith was kindled. They were "begotten again unto a lively hope," even before Jesus revealed Himself to them. It was His purpose to enlighten their understanding, and to fasten their faith upon the "sure word of prophecy." He wished the truth to take firm root in their minds, not merely because it was supported by His personal testimony, but because of the unquestionable evidence presented by the symbols and shadows of the typical law, and by the prophecies of the Old Testament. It was needful for the followers of Christ to have an intelligent faith, not only in their own behalf, but that they might carry the knowledge of Christ to the world. And as the very first step in imparting this knowledge, Jesus directed the disciples to "Moses and the prophets." Such was the testimony given by the risen Saviour to the value and importance of the Old Testament Scriptures.

What a change was wrought in the hearts of the disciples, as they looked once more on the loved countenance of their Master!(581) In a more complete and perfect sense than ever before, they had "found Him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write." The uncertainty, the anguish, the despair, gave place to perfect a.s.surance, to unclouded faith.

What marvel that after His ascension they "were continually in the temple, praising and blessing G.o.d." The people, knowing only of the Saviour's ignominious death, looked to see in their faces the expression of sorrow, confusion, and defeat; but they saw there gladness and triumph. What a preparation these disciples had received for the work before them! They had pa.s.sed through the deepest trial which it was possible for them to experience, and had seen how, when to human vision all was lost, the word of G.o.d had been triumphantly accomplished. Henceforward what could daunt their faith, or chill the ardor of their love? In the keenest sorrow they had "strong consolation," a hope which was as "an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast."(582) They had been witness to the wisdom and power of G.o.d, and they were "persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor princ.i.p.alities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature," would be able to separate them from "the love of G.o.d, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." "In all these things," they said, "we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us."(583) "The word of the Lord endureth forever."(584) And "who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is _risen again_, who is even at the right hand of G.o.d, who also maketh intercession for us."(585)

Saith the Lord: "My people shall never be ashamed."(586) "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."(587) When on His resurrection day these disciples met the Saviour, and their hearts burned within them as they listened to His words; when they looked upon the head and hands and feet that had been bruised for them; when, before His ascension, Jesus led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands in blessing, bade them, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel,"

adding, "Lo, I am with you alway;"(588) when on the day of Pentecost the promised Comforter descended, and the power from on high was given, and the souls of the believers thrilled with the conscious presence of their ascended Lord,-then, even though, like His, their pathway led through sacrifice and martyrdom, would they have exchanged the ministry of the gospel of His grace, with the "crown of righteousness" to be received at His coming, for the glory of an earthly throne, which had been the hope of their earlier disciples.h.i.+p? He who is "able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think," had granted them, with the fellows.h.i.+p of His sufferings, the communion of His joy,-the joy of "bringing many sons unto glory," joy unspeakable, "an eternal weight of glory," to which, says Paul, "our light affliction, which is but for a moment," is "not worthy to be compared."

The experience of the disciples who preached the "gospel of the kingdom"

at the first advent of Christ, had its counterpart in the experience of those who proclaimed the message of His second advent. As the disciples went out preaching, "The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of G.o.d is at hand," so Miller and his a.s.sociates proclaimed that the longest and last prophetic period brought to view in the Bible was about to expire, that the judgment was at hand, and the everlasting kingdom was to be ushered in. The preaching of the disciples in regard to time was based on the seventy weeks of Daniel 9. The message given by Miller and his a.s.sociates announced the termination of the 2300 days of Dan. 8:14, of which the seventy weeks form a part. The preaching of each was based upon the fulfilment of a different portion of the same great prophetic period.

Like the first disciples, William Miller and his a.s.sociates did not, themselves, fully comprehend the import of the message which they bore.

Errors that had been long established in the church prevented them from arriving at a correct interpretation of an important point in the prophecy. Therefore, though they proclaimed the message which G.o.d had committed to them to be given to the world, yet through a misapprehension of its meaning, they suffered disappointment.

In explaining Dan. 8:14, "Unto two thousand and three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed," Miller, as has been stated, adopted the generally received view that the earth is the sanctuary, and he believed that the cleansing of the sanctuary represented the purification of the earth by fire at the coming of the Lord. When, therefore, he found that the close of the 2300 days was definitely foretold, he concluded that this revealed the time of the second advent. His error resulted from accepting the popular view as to what const.i.tutes the sanctuary.

In the typical system, which was a shadow of the sacrifice and priesthood of Christ, the cleansing of the sanctuary was the last service performed by the high priest in the yearly round of ministration. It was the closing work of the atonement,-a removal or putting away of sin from Israel. It prefigured the closing work in the ministration of our High Priest in heaven, in the removal or blotting out of the sins of His people, which are registered in the heavenly records. This service involves a work of investigation, a work of judgment; and it immediately precedes the coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; for when He comes, every case has been decided. Says Jesus, "My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be."(589) It is this work of judgment, immediately preceding the second advent, that is announced in the first angel's message of Rev. 14:7, "Fear G.o.d, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come."

Those who proclaimed this warning gave the right message at the right time. But as the early disciples declared, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of G.o.d is at hand," based on the prophecy of Daniel 9, while they failed to perceive that the death of the Messiah was foretold in the same scripture; so Miller and his a.s.sociates preached the message based on Dan.

8:14 and Rev. 14:7, and failed to see that there were still other messages brought to view in Revelation 14, which were also to be given before the advent of the Lord. As the disciples were mistaken in regard to the kingdom to be set up at the end of the seventy weeks, so Adventists were mistaken in regard to the event to take place at the expiration of the 2300 days. In both cases there was an acceptance of, or rather an adherence to, popular errors that blinded the mind to the truth. Both cla.s.ses fulfilled the will of G.o.d in delivering the message which He desired to be given, and both, through their own misapprehension of their message, suffered disappointment.

Yet G.o.d accomplished His own beneficent purpose in permitting the warning of the judgment to be given just as it was. The great day was at hand, and in His providence the people were brought to the test of a definite time, in order to reveal to them what was in their hearts. The message was designed for the testing and purification of the church. They were to be led to see whether their affections were set upon this world or upon Christ and heaven. They professed to love the Saviour; now they were to prove their love. Were they ready to renounce their worldly hopes and ambitions, and welcome with joy the advent of their Lord? The message was designed to enable them to discern their true spiritual state; it was sent in mercy to arouse them to seek the Lord with repentance and humiliation.

The disappointment also, though the result of their own misapprehension of the message which they gave, was to be overruled for good. It would test the hearts of those who had professed to receive the warning. In the face of their disappointment, would they rashly give up their experience, and cast away their confidence in G.o.d's word? or would they, in prayer and humility, seek to discern where they had failed to comprehend the significance of the prophecy? How many had moved from fear, or from impulse and excitement? How many were half-hearted and unbelieving?

Mult.i.tudes professed to love the appearing of the Lord. When called to endure the scoffs and reproach of the world, and the test of delay and disappointment, would they renounce the faith? Because they did not immediately understand the dealings of G.o.d with them, would they cast aside truths sustained by the clearest testimony of His word?

This test would reveal the strength of those who with real faith had obeyed what they believed to be the teaching of the word and the Spirit of G.o.d. It would teach them, as only such an experience could, the danger of accepting the theories and interpretations of men, instead of making the Bible its own interpreter. To the children of faith the perplexity and sorrow resulting from their error, would work the needed correction. They would be led to a closer study of the prophetic word. They would be taught to examine more carefully the foundation of their faith, and to reject everything, however widely accepted by the Christian world, that was not founded upon the Scriptures of truth.

With these believers, as with the first disciples, that which in the hour of trial seemed dark to their understanding, would afterward be made plain. When they should see the "end of the Lord," they would know that notwithstanding the trial resulting from their errors, His purposes of love toward them had been steadily fulfilling. They would learn by a blessed experience that He is "very pitiful, and of tender mercy;" that all His paths "are mercy and truth unto such as keep His covenant and His testimonies."

20. A GREAT RELIGIOUS AWAKENING.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Chapter header.]

A great religious awakening under the proclamation of Christ's soon coming, is foretold in the prophecy of the first angel's message of Revelation 14. An angel is seen flying "in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." "With a loud voice" he proclaims the message, "Fear G.o.d, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and wors.h.i.+p Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."(590)

The fact that an angel is said to be the herald of this warning, is significant. By the purity, the glory, and the power of the heavenly messenger, divine wisdom has been pleased to represent the exalted character of the work to be accomplished by the message, and the power and glory that were to attend it. And the angel's flight "in the midst of heaven," the "loud voice" with which the warning is uttered, and its promulgation to all "that dwell on the earth,"-"to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,"-give evidence of the rapidity and world-wide extent of the movement.

The message itself sheds light as to the time when this movement is to take place. It is declared to be a part of the "everlasting gospel;" and it announces the opening of the judgment. The message of salvation has been preached in all ages; but this message is a part of the gospel which could be proclaimed only in the last days, for only then would it be true that the hour of judgment _had come_. The prophecies present a succession of events leading down to the opening of the judgment. This is especially true of the book of Daniel. But that part of his prophecy which related to the last days, Daniel was bidden to close up and seal "to the time of the end." Not till we reach this time could a message concerning the judgment be proclaimed, based on a fulfilment of these prophecies. But at the time of the end, says the prophet, "many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."(591)

The apostle Paul warned the church not to look for the coming of Christ in his day. "That day shall not come," he says, "except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed."(592) Not till after the great apostasy, and the long period of the reign of the "man of sin," can we look for the advent of our Lord. The "man of sin," which is also styled the "mystery of iniquity," the "son of perdition," and "that wicked,"

represents the papacy, which, as foretold in prophecy, was to maintain its supremacy for 1260 years. This period ended in 1798. The coming of Christ could not take place before that time. Paul covers with his caution the whole of the Christian dispensation down to the year 1798. It is this side of that time that the message of Christ's second coming is to be proclaimed.

No such message has ever been given in past ages. Paul, as we have seen, did not preach it; he pointed his brethren into the then far-distant future for the coming of the Lord. The Reformers did not proclaim it.

Martin Luther placed the judgment about three hundred years in the future from his day. But since 1798 the book of Daniel has been unsealed, knowledge of the prophecies has increased, and many have proclaimed the solemn message of the judgment near.

Like the great Reformation of the sixteenth century, the Advent Movement appeared in different countries of Christendom at the same time. In both Europe and America, men of faith and prayer were led to the study of the prophecies, and tracing down the inspired record, they saw convincing evidence that the end of all things was at hand. In different lands there were isolated bodies of Christians who, solely by the study of the Scriptures, arrived at the belief that the Saviour's advent was near.

In 1821, three years after Miller had arrived at his exposition of the prophecies pointing to the time of the judgment, Dr. Joseph Wolff, "the missionary to the world," began to proclaim the Lord's soon coming. Wolff was born in Germany, of Hebrew parentage, his father being a Jewish rabbi.

While very young, he was convinced of the truth of the Christian religion.

Of an active, inquiring mind, he had been an eager listener to the conversations that took place in his father's house, as devout Hebrews daily a.s.sembled to recount the hopes and antic.i.p.ations of their people, the glory of the coming Messiah, and the restoration of Israel. One day hearing Jesus of Nazareth mentioned, the boy inquired who He was. "A Jew of the greatest talent," was the answer; "but as He pretended to be the Messiah, the Jewish tribunal sentenced Him to death." "Why," rejoined the questioner, "is Jerusalem destroyed, and why are we in captivity?" "Alas, alas!" answered his father, "because the Jews murdered the prophets." The thought was at once suggested to the child, "Perhaps Jesus was also a prophet, and the Jews killed Him when He was innocent."(593) So strong was this feeling, that though forbidden to enter a Christian church, he would often linger outside to listen to the preaching.

When only seven years old, he was boasting to an aged Christian neighbor of the future triumph of Israel at the advent of the Messiah, when the old man said kindly, "Dear boy, I will tell you who the real Messiah was: He was Jesus of Nazareth, ... whom your ancestors have crucified, as they did the prophets of old. Go home and read the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, and you will be convinced that Jesus Christ is the Son of G.o.d."(594) Conviction at once fastened upon him. He went home and read the scripture, wondering to see how perfectly it had been fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth.

Were the words of the Christian true? The boy asked of his father an explanation of the prophecy, but was met with a silence so stern that he never again dared to refer to the subject. This, however, only increased his desire to know more of the Christian religion.

The knowledge he sought was studiously kept from him in his Jewish home; but when only eleven years old, he left his father's house, and went out into the world to gain for himself an education, to choose his religion and his life-work. He found a home for a time with kinsmen, but was soon driven from them as an apostate, and alone and penniless he had to make his own way among strangers. He went from place to place, studying diligently, and maintaining himself by teaching Hebrew. Through the influence of a Catholic instructor, he was led to accept the Romish faith, and formed the purpose of becoming a missionary to his own people. With this object he went, a few years later, to pursue his studies in the College of the Propaganda at Rome. Here his habit of independent thought and candid speech brought upon him the imputation of heresy. He openly attacked the abuses of the church, and urged the necessity of reform.

Though at first treated with special favor by the papal dignitaries, he was after a time removed from Rome. Under the surveillance of the church he went from place to place, until it became evident that he could never be brought to submit to the bondage of Romanism. He was declared to be incorrigible, and was left at liberty to go where he pleased. He now made his way to England, and professing the Protestant faith, united with the English Church. After two years' study he set out, in 1821, upon his mission. While Wolff accepted the great truth of Christ's first advent as "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief," he saw that the prophecies bring to view with equal clearness His second advent with power and glory.