The Watchtower, January 1, 1889

VOL. X. ALLEGHENY, PA., JANUARY AND FEBRUARY, 1889. NO. 4.

Zion's Watch Tower

AND

HERALD OF CHRIST'S PRESENCE.

PUBLISHED MONTHLY.

TOWER PUBLISHING COMPANY.

BUSINESS OFFICE: No. 151 Robinson St., Allegheny, Pa. C. T. RUSSELL, EDITOR.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION.

DOMESTIC,--Fifty cents a year, in advance, by Draft, P.O. Money Order, or Registered Letter.

FOREIGN,--Three shillings per year. Remit by Foreign Postal Money Order.

TO POOR SAINTS.

This paper will be sent free to the interested of the Lord's poor, who will send a card yearly requesting it. "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come ye buy and eat--yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." And you who have it-- "Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently--and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." --`ISAIAH 55:1,2`.

Entered as SECOND CLASS MAIL MATTER, at the P.O., Allegheny, Pa.

NEW POSTAL RULINGS require that our lists shall be composed of bona fide [actual] subscribers. We are obliged to be more strict than formerly, and all who wish to continue receiving the TOWER must send at least a request for it.

MILLENNIAL DAWN.

VOL. II.

"THE TIME IS AT HAND."

Cloth Bound Edition, 366 pages, now ready. Price $1.00--to TOWER subscribers 75 cents (TOWER one year and book $1.25).

Back orders have all been filled; any who ordered and have not yet received it, should communicate at once. Any mistakes cheerfully corrected.

A Paper Bound Edition will be published, as soon as we receive pledges for 5000 copies, at 35 cents per copy. Send no money for these now; merely say how many you desire, if published.

A perfect deluge of letters and orders followed the announcement in our last issue, that DAWN VOL. II. in cloth binding was ready for mailing. Such an evidence of interest is very refreshing and encouraging to us; for though we labor not for the visible results, but for the Master's approval, whether men will hear or whether they will forbear, yet none are so strong that fruit of labor will not serve to still further strengthen them. All have need to remember, however, that their efforts accomplish more than appears on the surface, and to remember well the apostle's words, that "Our labor is not in vain in the Lord," lest we should become weary or faint in our minds. Seeds of truth like natural seeds germinate out of our sight. It is only when the sprouts and fruitage appear, that we can appreciate, "what God hath wrought" by our feeble efforts.

The additional office work connected with VOL. II., coupled with the fact that many of you would be busy reading it, and the lateness of the December TOWER, led us to make but one issue for January and February. It will count, however, as only one number. As twelve papers constitute a year's subscription, this change will be of no financial loss to any one.

We bespeak for VOL. II. very careful study. Some have written us, that they have read VOL. I. three and four, and some even eight and ten times, with increasing interest and profit. We assure such, that in our opinion VOL. II. will require no less study.

The knowledge that eternal torment is not the wages of sin, and that because of Christ's sacrifice all men must sooner or later come to a full knowledge of the truth and a full opportunity of everlasting life, may have tended to decrease the zeal of some in the great present work of preaching the gospel--especially where they have met with great opposition, before they had caught the spirit of the plan of the ages, or seen that present opposition is permitted to test, develop and discipline us, and to prove our love of and faithfulness to the truth. Relieved from the false strain of error and from unholy sectarian zeal and rivalry, some sink into a spiritual lethargy and may readily become swallowed up in the maelstrom of business, etc., with the majority, and lose the very spirit of the truth which set them free. God has provided "meat in due season" to give needed strength to his saints, to enable them to withstand this tendency of the present day rush and ambition, in the knowledge he provides of the hour in which we are living. The evidences which God gives us of the time in connection with the plan, tend to redouble our zeal in his service, showing us clearly that the time is short, in which we may make our calling and election sure, by faithfulness to the light given us. In a word, the realization, that the Time is at Hand--that we are even now in the "harvest" of the Gospel age, will not only quicken to double service, but also diminish the burden. As we realize that we are now in the eleventh hour, and that soon the rewards will be given, we may cheerfully lift up our heads and rejoice, knowing that our redemption draweth nigh. The day is probably not far distant, when opposition to the truth will be so intense, that the trial will be too great to be withstood by any not strengthened by a clear understanding of the times and seasons of God's Word. Be assured, that no part of the Scriptures were prepared for us in vain. Give this subject, then, not only careful reading, but more--careful study.

One brother wrote that he staid up all the first night after the arrival of VOL. II. and read it through. This, as an evidence of interest, is excellent; but it is not the best way. A more excellent way would have been to read one chapter carefully and critically. Cramming is as unprofitable with spiritual as with natural food. To obtain the greatest nutriment and richest flavors from either kind of meat requires careful and thorough mastication.

Many have written expressing the hope that VOL. II. will be published in the cheaper, paper, binding. And a line

from Brother Adamson says:--

DEAR BROTHER RUSSELL:--It is late at night and I must go to work in the morning and yet must acknowledge with joy and thanks, MILLENNIAL DAWN VOL. II.--The Time is at Hand.

I have read but a few chapters yet, but I am carried away with you and John the Revelator, to a very high mountain--the Kingdom of God established and blessing mankind through Him (Christ), to whom all the prophets bear witness.

I do hope and partly believe, it will have a large circulation--many times what you expect.

I have from the first assumed that we must have a cheap paper edition--many of them I hope. And now that you call for pledges, I am sure some will expect me to take one fifth of the 5000 to be pledged, but I think it best to make it 500, or one tenth of the amount. I will see what others do--or leave room for them to do--and endeavor to do many times what I have promised before Vol. III. is ready. I expect, strange as it may seem, three classes to want Vol. I., because of having bought or seen Vol. II.

1st, Those who buy from curiosity;

2nd, All classes of Adventists;

3d, The mass of the groaning creation --the world, awaiting deliverance and expecting it in some way.

Received the December TOWER also-- another bomb in the centre of the besieged N.C.--a good number. If I did not have full confidence in the justice and love of God in casting off both the stumbling houses, I would shudder at the length of apostasy and rejection to which they will go, or indeed have already gone as a mass. Wait awhile, before you call me "an enthusiast," because I say Vol. II. will in some cases sell Vol. I. But directed by the spirit we shall all do the very best thing to be done--all things considered. In Love, Faith, and Hope, fellowship and service, J. B. ADAMSON.

Brother Rogers, who has been doing a great work with DAWN Vol. I., in paper covers, in Michigan, writes, that if a 35 cent edition is gotten out, he will with the Master's aid become responsible for the sale of 1000 copies during the present year. These and other similar expressions,

with pledges for smaller quantities, seem to indicate that the desired number will come to hand, and the cheaper edition become a fact. We strongly advise and urge, however, that Volume I. be considered the book for all new readers; and that Vol. II. be loaned and sold only to those who have read Vol. I. carefully. No one is really ready to know the time of the fulfillment of God's plans, but the consecrated; and they not until they first see clearly, what is to be fulfilled-- in the plan.

VOL. III., the title of which will be "Thy Kingdom Come," is in course of preparation, as we have opportunity. You will need to have a clear understanding of Vol. II., before you will be ready for the next, which will be a continuation of the same subject. Therefore give diligence to make its arguments and proofs your own, by tracing every statement to its source--God's Word.

VIEW FROM THE TOWER.

THE CAUSE IN AFRICA.

The following information on Missions is furnished by the Church Missionary Intelligencer:--

"Forty additional missionaries bound for Eastern Equatorial Africa received their final dismissal in the Cathedral of Algiers, Africa. Cardinal Lavigene presided in person, and, after the usual addresses, each missionary knelt down at his Eminence's feet, and received the kiss of peace and episcopal benediction. After this the missionaries took their position in front of the altar, and stood in a row. The Cardinal, the bishops present, and all the clergy and seminary students then knelt down and humbly kissed the feet of each missionary, in memory of the passage of the Scriptures, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good tidings.' [A miserable exegesis.--Editor.]

"Some ardent Protestants may see in all this nothing but opposition to Protestant missions, and a determination 'to fight a hand-to-hand battle with Protestant missionaries of all denominations.' But we think there need be no apprehensions of this sort, because even if there were any likelihood of an ecclesiastical fight between these good people, Bishop Taylor, the Methodist, is already on the ground with a large band of missionaries, and expects to establish a line of missions in the opposite direction, from the western to the eastern coast, across the continent.

"Fortunately, as it would appear, there can be no such hand-to-hand battle with any of our Protestant missionaries, for Cardinal Lavigene informed the writer in the Intelligencer, as far back as 1882, that his orders were that no Roman Catholic establishment was to be fixed within sixty kilometers of a Protestant one, and it seems that, up to this moment, this rule is still enforced."

Thus we see, that Protestants and Roman Catholics are recognizing each other in a practical manner; each thus recognizes the other as a good and proper teacher of religion; and each leaves the other in quiet possession of whatever part of the field it may enter upon first. How evident it is, that Protestants have lost sight of those doctrines, to which the "unchangeable" church was once so opposed, that she anathematized as heretics all such and burned many of them at the stake. She now calls these "separated brethren"--no longer separated much in doctrine, but chiefly now in name and forms. She waits to welcome them back to her communion, well pleased to hear some of their representative ministers declaring, "Every doctrine which we hold dear we received from Rome, our Mother."

But now note the difference: While all denominations can and do respect each other's views, what is their attitude toward the free, unsectarian teachings of

God's Word as presented in Zion's Watch Tower publications, without fear or favor except toward God? As the apostle foretold (`2 Tim. 4:3`), They cannot endure sound doctrine; though they are willing to make any sort of combination and union to oppose the truth. An illustration of this is furnished by recent reports from Liberia, on the West Coast of Africa, --the very land in which Protestants and Catholics, we are told above, so harmoniously co-operate.

It is now about two years since Brother Seaton, under the Lord's providence, by some means unknown to us, receiving some of the Watch Tower publications, was led out of sectarian darkness into the Bible light. Too noble to attempt to preach covertly the Bible doctrines, while under pay to preach for an "ism," the doctrines of men, and anxious for the spread of the "good tidings of great joy," as well as for the great reward in heaven for those who suffer in its service, Bro. Seaton boldly renounced his pulpit, salary, etc., and explaining his reasons to his flock began to teach and preach the Bible only. As a result of his labors quite a number--natives and foreigners-- received the truth and are rejoicing in it.

The interest may be judged from the fact that upwards of two hundred copies of DAWN VOL. I. and thousands of copies of the Arp Tract have gone to two of these mission stations, and we now have over fifty regular subscribers to the Watch Tower there.

As might be expected the Episcopal bishop there, Bp. Ferguson, was highly incensed against the Bible teacher and teachings which led men more directly to the fountain of truth--the Bible--and consequently exposed some of the absurdities, pretensions and false doctrines of sectarians. Forthwith the bishop formed a union of all the denominations represented there--Episcopalean, Methodists and Baptists,--to withstand the unsectarian Bible Teachings of Bro. Seaton and the TOWER.

A meeting was held in the Baptist church, in which ministers and officers of five churches (three Episcopalean, one Baptist and one Methodist) were present to the number of forty-four. Here resolutions were passed unanimously, by men who probably had never read Millennial Dawn, denouncing it and the Watch Tower and the Arp Tracts, as the doctrines of Satan; and requesting the prayers of all Christians that the Lord would deliver them from their false teachings. A four paged tract embodying these resolutions and warnings, and bearing the signatures of the aforesaid forty-four ministers and officers was printed and scattered; a copy of which is before us.

Truly, it is wonderful, how Satan does blindfold some of the Lord's children; for we have no doubt, that some of these are the Lord's, and that if prejudice could be removed long enough for them to get a glimpse of the questions really involved, some would gladly receive the truth. This union of all the sects against the truth reminds one of the union of the Pharisees, Sadducees, etc., against the truth in the early church. It reminds us too of the prophet's words, "Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing. The mighty ones of the earth and the rulers set themselves in opposition to the Lord and his anointed."

Peter said to the Jews, who had crucified the Lord, "I wot that in ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers;" and our Lord declared of the same, "They know not what they do." So ignorance, blindness, is still the real cause of most of the opposition to the truth. The time will come when those who now despitefully use and persecute the truth, and its advocates, will be brought to a knowledge of the truth, and be ashamed. Thank God there is forgiveness for such ignorant opposition to his Word. Ere long the mornlight of the grand new day will enable all to discern truth from error. Bro. Seaton's last letter tells that already prejudice is giving way to some extent. The church there requests your prayers and sympathy.

ORIGIN OF SUPERSTITION.

Archbishop Trench calls words, "the indestructible vesture of thought."

The original thought may have become corrupt, obscured, or obsolete; but the word remains "indestructible," and by it we may recover the thought. Superstition is such a word. It originally meant something standing over or above--something that remains or has taken the place of something else. It is, therefore, akin to supersede and superimposed. So the tree stands over or above the root of which it has grown; so other subsequent cities have stood over and buried out of sight the genuine Homeric Troy. But as the something to which the word refers is always false or delusive in distinction from the true, so, (we may say) does the fungus "stand over" the fallen and decayed tree in whose substance it is rooted. Nature and the world, like wheat and the corn field as well as religion, are full of such false parasitic outgrowths, bred from the decay of higher organisms which only exist in lower and degraded forms-- superstition.

The word superstition, thus gives us an important thought, of which it is the "indestructible vesture." Something previous, and in a purer and better form, was before superstition. What was it? A comparative history of the oldest religions, such as those of Egypt and Persia and India and China, surprises us with many likenesses to the Bible faith. Trench has beautifully illustrated this idea in his Hulsean lectures, "The Unconscious Prophecies of Heathendom," under such headings as these: "The Vanquisher of Hades," "The Son of God," "The Perfect Sacrifice," "The Redeemer From Sin," etc. These things were in the oldest religions, anticipations of the true and obscured by myth and superstition; but how did they get there? The idea of a suffering God was not unfamiliar to the Eastern mythologies --one who, like the Egyptian Osiris, also descended into Hades and there judged the dead righteously. And in their worship these religions were all originally monotheistic. The inference is, of course, the one suggested by the word superstition. It is an independent peep into the Eastern world, far up under the dawn. Outside the Jewish nation and uninfluenced by it, before Abraham's day, before the evolution of superstition, there was among the scattered nations a purer religion, and one received, apparently, from the same general reservoir of truth. Nor, if Moses was inspired to record for us the true history, need this surprise us. And Christ must in some way be got rid of, before skeptics can get rid of "Moses and the prophets." According to the Mosaic chronology Abraham was fifty-eight years old when Noah died: he lived to be one hundred and

seventy-five, and even then died thirty-five years before Shem! Up to that time these two patriarchs of the flood were living somewhere among those Eastern nations. They are not mentioned, nor any of the nations except Egypt, because they no longer touched the onward historic stream. But, at the dispersion of Babel, some two hundred years before Abraham's birth, these two must have gone with some of the descendants, carrying with them, as they had already made known, the true religion, and something of the earlier civilization.

This fact of an earlier religion, however soon and widely it may have become corrupted, explains some things which the brevity of Scripture has left obscure. When Abraham, himself a monotheist from the Euphrates in the East, was in the vale of the Jordan in the far West, there came to him and blest him, Melchizedec, "Priest of the Most High God;" whilst not far off there was Abimelech and his people, with whom still dwelt "the fear of the Lord." This in Canaan itself, and in the very neighborhood of Sodom! But from beyond that same distant Euphrates, 470 years later than Abraham's time, came Balaam to confront Moses and Israel; a man who worshipped the same God with Moses, and by the same name: "I cannot go beyond the word of Jehovah, my God;" the man who, when the king of Moab, in his terrible extremity, proposed to "sacrifice his first born," uttered those sublime words, recorded only by Micah: "Jehovah hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God!" "Hath showed thee" --where, how, in what early record known to both Balaam and the king as the word of the "Lord?" Moreover, of this Balaam from the far Euphrates it is said, that he "knew the knowledge of the Most High"--the very word used for God by Abraham and Melchizedec in the valley of the Jordan. Except once in `Deuteronomy`, we do not meet it again till the history gets back to the Euphrates, to Daniel, to the Chaldeans, to Nebuchadnezzar the Assyrian, and to Cyrus the Persian. They all use it, as evidently the earliest and the descended term for the one God. It brought Cyrus, as belonging to a common monotheistic worship, into sympathy with the Jews. It is known to-day among the mountains of Thibet; and in the form of Shang-Ti, is the one missionaries in China have adopted to express the idea of God.

This word (in its different forms), Most High, the Highest, the Lord God of Heaven, is, indeed, itself pregnant with thought. It indicates a process of thought and a conviction in the earliest men as they looked up to heaven; a conviction of a One God who was above all in power and glory, and to be worshipped. It was a source of conviction independent of any other source of knowledge, as, for instance, Noah and Shem; and how strongly it impressed them is crystallized in the word they used and handed down to indicate God. David felt precisely the same when he exclaimed: "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork." And this has an intimate bearing upon some present discussions about the heathen. Paul declared them "without excuse." Why, upon what ground? Upon the ground that "the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made." Their lapses into idolatry and superstition, with the consequences, were purely willful--they "did not like to retain God in their knowledge." Up the stream of universal history there was that knowledge, "clearly" to be derived, in all ages, from the same overspreading testimony, the heavens. The power of that testimony and its effect upon the earlier men, lives in many languages, in that "indestructible" word, the Most High God. --A. G. Vermilye.

REMARKS BY THE EDITOR.

The above observations are valuable, considered in connection with Paul's inspired account of how ignorance and superstition came to be so wide-spread throughout the world, as detailed in `Romans 1:18 to 3:23`. Deplorable and dense as the ignorance and superstition of the world is, it is well that all should see that it is not the fault of God, that it is not because God made men degraded and vile. It is necessary that this be fully recognized as an offset to the growing idea that God did a very imperfect work in the creation of man, and that present progress from darkness and superstition, to light and reason and civilization, is merely human development--evolution.

Be it noted, that the Scriptures everywhere give one harmonious account of the origin and cause of evil and ignorance in the world, and show that God is not guilty; they tell that "God hath made men upright but they have sought out many inventions" (`Eccl. 7:29`); and that it was when and because man was not desirous of retaining a knowledge of God in his heart that God gave them over to a reprobate mind. (`Rom. 1:28`.) Thus sin, which entered at Eden (`Rom. 5:12`), manifested its tendency to be continually downward, except as God introduced "the salt of the earth" (those exercised by his truth--led of his spirit) whose influence has been to keep the social mass from utter corruption. Thank God for the blessed assurances of his word, that though the world has been thus left largely to its own course, that both angels and men may see the real tendencies of sin, yet, that when this severe lesson has been well illustrated and deeply impressed, then He will through his anointed ones, Christ Jesus and his Bride the overcoming church, arrest the sway of ignorance, and sin, and superstition, and cause the knowledge of the Lord and his perfect plans to fill the earth. Thank God that his promised kingdom (the glorified church "a royal priesthood" --rulers and teachers) shall re-establish righteousness and give to the billions of earth (who, as inheritors of sin and weakness, have never known or been able to appreciate righteousness, purity, and their attendant joys), an opportunity to taste and see that the Lord is gracious and that wisdom's righteous ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

When thus the right is known, and its results appreciated, all will be permitted to choose good or evil, right or wrong, righteousness or sin, obedience or disobedience to God; and according to their choice, they shall receive their final and lasting reward; according as it is written, "The wages of sin is death [extinction, the withdrawal of all life], but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ," to as many as truly accept of him as their Lord and Master.

ALL THINGS NEW.

"The world is old with centuries,

But not for these she bows her head;

Close to her heart the sorrow lies,

She holds so many dead!

Sad discords mingle in her song,

Tears fall upon her with the dew,

The whole creation groans--How long

Ere all shall be made new?

"Yet brightly on her smiles the sun,

A bounteous heaven delights to bless;

Oh, what shall be that fairer one,

Wherein dwells righteousness?

Oh, happy world! Oh, holy time!

When wrong shall die, and strife will cease,

And all the bells of heaven chime

With melodies of peace.

"No place shall be in that new earth

For all that blights this universe;

No evil taint the second birth,

'There shall be no more curse.'

Ye broken hearted, cease your moan;

The day of promise dawns for you;

For He who sits upon the throne

Says, 'I make all things new.'

"We mourn the dead, but they shall wake!

The lost, but they shall be restored!

Oh, well our human hearts might break

Without that sacred word!

Dim eyes look up, sad hearts rejoice,

Seeing God's bow of promise through,

At sound of that prophetic voice:

'I will make all things new.'"

THE DESIRE OF ALL NATIONS.

"We know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now,...for the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." "And the Desire of all nations shall come."--`Rom. 8:19,22`; `Hag. 2:7`.

Thus the apostle and the prophet refer to the woes of earth and the great remedy which God has provided, and which is soon to be applied. None, experienced in life or acquainted with history, will dispute the correctness of the apostle's statement. And the declaration of the prophet, that God will eventually establish a reign of righteousness in the earth which, when realized, will indeed be the desire of all nations, is borne out by the testimony of every prophet and apostle (`Acts 3:19-21`), and cannot, therefore, be disputed by any who acknowledge the inspiration of the Bible.

The cause of all creation's groaning and pain is sin; for all the moral as well as the physical degradation which directly or indirectly causes the pain and groaning of humanity, is part of the wages of sin. Humanity is thus under a blight and suffers both individually and as a whole. Its own imperfect and often unjust governments, as well as its aches and pains of body and mind, are the natural consequences of its imperfect, fallen condition. And though men can do something toward general improvement, their efforts are at best, but feeble and spasmodic; they are utterly incapable of releasing themselves from their difficulties. Their varying success, but on the whole futile efforts for the past six thousand years, prove this conclusively.

They have never yet, in all the centuries they have had for experiment, succeeded in establishing a perfect government; nor have they silenced the groans and wiped away the tears of the race, or lifted it up physically, or mentally, or morally, to the image of God in which they were created, as represented in Adam. Diseases of every description still prey upon them physically. There are still burning fevers, wasting ulcers, frightful cancers,

loathsome skin and poisonous blood diseases; and there are sightless eyes, deaf ears, dumb tongues, broken backs and limbs, and other physical disorders and deformities. Mentally, their condition is still worse: some are crazed; others are partially so; and in all the race not one is perfectly balanced. Morally, their condition is no less deplorable; selfishness, and greed, and pride, and love of display, and hatred, and malice, and evil speaking, and deceit, and envy, and contention, and war, and bloodshed, wring agonizing groans from the lips of millions; and desolate widows, and helpless orphans, and broken-hearted mothers, and grief-stricken fathers, and disappointed friends still weep over the graves of buried hopes and fond ambitions.

Truly, it is a groaning creation still; and yet, as the apostle suggests, they are not hopeless; they are waiting for something, they know not exactly what--a panacea for sickness and pain and sorrow and death, and a just and righteous government, which will lift up the poorest and meanest from the mire of ignorance and squalor, to comfort and happiness and a share of life's luxuries. They are looking forward to "a good time coming," "a golden age," of which even heathen poets and philosophers have dreamed in glowing terms. And some, catching a strain from the divine inspiration, though unconscious of how it will be brought about, sing of a blessed millennium--

"When man to man united,

And every wrong thing righted,

The whole world shall be lighted,

As Eden was of old."

But what heathen poets and philosophers, and all mankind have longed and vaguely hoped for,--but have proved themselves utterly incapable of bringing about, with all their state-craft and priest-craft, and multiplied religious ceremonies and forms of godliness without the power,-- God, through his prophets, has clearly and definitely foretold, will come. And further, he has shown exactly, how it is to be brought about,--that it is to come to pass through the agency of the Lord Jesus Christ, the messenger of Jehovah, who nearly nineteen centuries ago redeemed the world, giving his life as the ransom-price for the life of the world; and who will shortly set up his Millennial kingdom and establish his authority over the redeemed world. He will not oppress the people and exalt himself, as human rulers generally do; but will "bless all the families of the earth" through a wise and righteous administration. Having "tasted death for every man," and thus secured the right to give everlasting life to all who shall prove themselves worthy of it, the object of his Millennial reign will be to so instruct, train and discipline men, as to enable them to become worthy of lasting life, on the original conditions--perfection and obedience. To this end, he will first "rule with a rod of iron" (`Psa. 2:9`) --with power and force, causing in the overthrow of present imperfect, selfish, proud and unjust systems, "a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation" (`Dan. 12:1`); and then he will "fill the earth with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." (`Hab. 2:14`.) He will restrain and humble the wicked and selfish, and bless and lift up the humble and those seeking righteousness (`Zeph. 2:3`; `Matt. 5:5`); finally making an end of sin and all its train of evils, by destroying (finally and forever) all who then, with full knowledge and appreciation, still love sin; and by bestowing upon all who shall then love righteousness "the gift of God," everlasting life.--`Rom. 6:23`.

OBSTACLES TO FAITH IN CHRIST'S MILLENNIAL KINGDOM.

All this would seem reasonable to thinking people but for two reasons. One is, that another, and an unscriptural view has for centuries predominated, and the people have been instructed from infancy in that direction. The second reason is, that so long a period has elapsed, before the establishment of this kingdom as the remedy for sin and its disorders. Yet so convinced are people of the propriety of such a divine rulership, that regardless of facts and Scripture, some claim that Christ is reigning over and ruling the world now. And yet, if posted in the world's history, and candid, all must admit that it has been a monstrously bad rule; and all might well pray that it be discontinued. Humanity, if given the entire control, certainly would not do much worse than has been done in the way of misgovernment.

As we look backward our hearts are sickened with the injustice, misery and oppression we behold. If this be God's kingdom and ruling, let it end; it is far from what sane people want. But it is not God's kingdom. On the contrary, as the Scriptures declare, it is the dominion and ruling of Satan, "the prince of this world" (`John 14:30`), and will cease with the introduction of Christ's Millennial Kingdom, for which his servants have long prayed, as some still do, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven."

People naturally wonder that God has not long since exerted his great power (his kingdom power and authority) to suppress sin, and to lift mankind out of its present state of ignorance, superstition, groveling depravity, disease and death. But since six thousand years have passed without such an interposition, they reason that God's future dealings should be judged of by the past. And hence they think, we cannot expect such a rule or kingdom in the future, believing that all things must continue as they now are and have been from the foundation of the world.--`2 Pet. 3:4`.

But what reply can be made to this objection? We answer: It can be shown that the Scriptures teach that God not only has promised such a kingdom for the purpose of blessing the world, but that he also foretold the long period intervening, in which evil has been permitted. And they show good and sufficient reasons for the six thousand years' delay. This, clearly seen, should remove every obstacle to faith in the promised Millennial kingdom. Yet, in examining the reasons for the delay of the reign of righteousness, let us not forget that it is only as measured by the shortness of present life that six thousand years seems very long. With God, "a thousand years are but as yesterday."--`Psa. 90:4`.

WHY THE LONG DELAY.

The long delay and its purposes are clearly marked in the Scriptures. Over four thousand years after the first promise of deliverance, the redemption was accomplished; and nearly two thousand more fill the measure of the Gospel age for the selection and development of the Gospel church to be the bride of Christ and joint-heir with him of the coming Millennial kingdom; while the long six thousand years were designed to give the race a necessary experience with the dreadful effects of sin, its exceeding sinfulness, and the firmness of that justice which will by no means clear the guilty violators of God's just and holy law--an experience which will be of inestimable value to all, for all eternity. By contrast, it will lead to such an appreciation of righteousness, during Christ's Millennial reign, as to make it, when realized, what the prophet predicted--"The desire of all nations."

The delay, from the time of the redemption to the Millennial age, while it served this purpose to the world, served also a further purpose--the development of the Gospel Church, a "little flock" of believers in and followers of Christ, sharers of his reproach in the present time, and thus selected to share his Millennial work and glory,--to reign with him as joint-heirs of the long promised Kingdom of God for the blessing of all the families of the earth.--`Gen. 28:14`; `Gal. 3:16,29`.

The selection of this company, as individuals, has been in process during the entire Gospel age now closing, though as a class they were foreknown from the foundation of the world. (`Eph. 1:4`.) That is, God predetermined to exalt to this kingdom honor and restitution work a certain class, each of whom should meet certain predetermined conditions; and the Gospel age of nearly two thousand years was appointed as the time for developing, testing and selecting the individuals who should compose that class. The election of these individuals is not arbitrary, but according to fitness; the qualifications being, first, justification by faith in Christ; then meekness and devotedness to God's service, at the cost of self-sacrifice.

Many (justified believers) were "called" or invited to share these kingdom honors, but only the above mentioned, a faithful few, will be selected or chosen; the majority even of professed Christians, we are informed, will fail to make their calling and election sure; and hence will fail to share those kingdom glories as joint-heirs with Christ their Lord--though with the world they will be blessed and disciplined under this kingdom. During the Millennial age, Christ's power will be exercised to prevent deceptions, to clear away ignorance, to strengthen the weak and lead and restore to sight those now blinded by the god of this world. (`2 Cor. 4:4`.) A thousand enticements to sin, which appeal specially to the depraved appetites of the fallen race now, will not be tolerated, when the new, heavenly rule is established. But the Gospel church--the kingdom class--is called and tested during this age, while evil is permitted to hold sway, in order that their testing may be like that of gold tried in the fire. This company will be complete when the present age ends, and the control of earth will then be entrusted to them, under and in co-operation with the Lord Jesus, then the King of kings.--`1 Cor. 6:2`.

LOOKING FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

No student of the Bible can have overlooked the fact that the constant theme

of our Lord and his apostles was the coming Kingdom of God. The Jewish people, as a nation, had for centuries expected Messiah's coming, to be the ruler of the world; and they naturally expected that as he was to come out of their nation, they would be his soldiers, co-workers, and joint-heirs in that kingdom. They knew themselves to be the natural seed of Abraham, and inferred that they were indispensable to God's plan. They saw not, that spiritual children of God, of the faith and loyalty of Abraham, were meant by the promise.

But the real greatness of the promised kingdom and its work of blessing were not appreciated by Israel: they expected a kingdom similar to the kingdoms of this world; that Messiah, as a fleshly being of the seed of Abraham, would establish his kingdom at Jerusalem, and that his glory would be the earthly glory of purple

and fine linen and gold and silver and the usual accompaniments of earthly royalty. And their pride and ambition longed for the time when this promised king should exalt himself above the Caesars, and them above all the nations of the earth. Hence their rejection of him who came humbly, born in a manger, with no assumptions of titles, or earthly honors, or influence, or even friends; and yet he came proclaiming the kingdom of heaven at hand and himself the promised king.

So thoroughly impressed upon the Jewish mind, was the thought, that Messiah's coming meant the establishment of a kingdom of righteousness, that several times the "common people" would have taken Christ by force to make him king; but he withdrew, that their ardor might cool, knowing that they who shouted "Hosanna to the Son [and heir] of David" were not the class whom the Father designed should be the joint-heirs with him of that kingdom. He knew too, that the Father's time for his exaltation to power had not yet come, and that first he must die to purchase those whom he was to afterward reign over,--to whom he might therefore restore the original blessings and favors lost for all through Adam's failure. --`Rom. 5:12-19`.

Like others, the twelve apostles held this hope of the kingdom, and believed Christ to be the promised Messiah, or King of kings. And our Lord Jesus, so far from ever contradicting their ideas, always encouraged them, and told them that they should yet sit with him in his throne. But, he explained that "first he must suffer many things and be rejected of this generation" [people]. To the same class he explained that, as it had been written in the prophets,--"thus it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead;" and said to them: "O, slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken; was it not needful for Messiah to suffer these very things and to enter into his [kingdom] glory?"

One of our Lord's parables, given just before his crucifixion, was for the very purpose of teaching them that the expected kingdom would be deferred until his second coming. It is introduced thus: "And he spoke this parable unto them because they were near to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the Kingdom of God would be manifested immediately." (`Luke 19:11-27`.) That parable represents the Gospel age as the period in which Christ, "the Nobleman," went "into a far country" (heaven), to receive for himself a kingdom--to be invested with authority. The parable also shows that during the absence of the Nobleman, the opponents of his rule are in the majority and hold sway; they even declare that they do not desire him to come and establish his kingdom, preferring to be let alone as they are--"They sent an embassage after him, saying, 'We do not desire this man's rule.'"

The parable shows, too, the proper attitude of those who love the Nobleman. Obedient to his command, "Occupy till I come!" they are to use their various talents to forward the interests of his coming kingdom. And finally, the parable shows that the Nobleman will surely return with full power, and how he will use it, to reward those faithful to him with a share in the kingdom, and to destroy all opposed to his rule of righteousness. Thank God, there is good reason to believe that many now enemies to the King of kings will not be such, when present misconceptions are cured by the increased knowledge of the King's character, plan and kingdom, then to be afforded to all.

A SCRAP OF HISTORY. THE BEGINNING OF PRESENT, SO CALLED CHRISTIAN KINGDOMS.

During the first century of its existence the church held firmly to the Apostolic teaching and waited for the second coming of the Lord Jesus, and the establishment then of the long-promised kingdom of God and its rule of righteousness, by which triumph all overcoming Christians were to share with Christ. The period of that reign, it was generally understood would be a thousand years.--`Rev. 20:2-4`.

Chamber's Encyclopaedia says, "In the first Century of the church, Millennarianism (the Greek equivalent of which, Chiliasm from chilioi, a thousand, is the term employed by the "fathers") was a widespread belief....The unanimity which early Christian teachers exhibit in regard to Millennarianism, proves how strongly it had hold."

This was the period of the church's purity and fervor, before she left her first love. But, as time passed, and the expected Lord came not, the love of many waxed cold and their hopes turned in other directions. Then, as Christianity became formalistic, Grecian philosophers came into the church, and the doctrines of Christ became blended with heathen mythologies, producing the great apostasy, or falling away from the true faith, foretold. (`2 Thes. 2:3`.) Nevertheless, there was always a faithful, though small minority, which clung to the truth; for the Lord has never left his truth without witnesses.

It was at this time, that the degenerated Christian system conceived the view commonly held since, that the Church was to establish Christ's Kingdom upon the earth, without waiting for the Young Nobleman's return, and that Christ would come after the Millennial reign of the Church had ended--to approve her work. This is styled the post-millennarian view of the Lord's coming. This view introduced into the nominal church an aggressive political policy; and thenceforth the Church sought influence with the civil power,--and that successfully, though to her injury and apostasy. It was not long until Christianity was recognized by Constantine, the Roman emperor. Soon, from among several aspiring chiefs, or bishops, the bishop of the city of Rome rose to prominence and influence in religious matters, and finally to influence in the empire. In 534 A.D. the emperor of Rome, Justinian, recognized the Bishop of Rome as chief bishop, or POPE--the head of the religious affairs of the Roman empire, which for centuries had ruled the world.

This great success, though accomplished by cunning, trickery and scheming political intrigue, wholly foreign to the spirit of true Christianity, and in opposition to the express counsel of the Lord and the apostles (`Matt. 20:25-28`; `23:8-12` and `1 Pet. 5:3`), was hailed as the beginning of the establishment of Christ's kingdom in power. By this time, be it remembered, the nominal church numbered millions who were Christians in name merely, and totally ignorant of the doctrines of Christ; for the clergy had gradually lowered the true standard, amalgamated errors, and exalted themselves, to gain popularity and to draw the people, through fear and superstition, to their support. And when the imperial authority began to recognize the apostate church, and to concede its false claims, the unregenerate heathen millions rushed into her bosom, adding to her defilement their uncircumcised views and heathen superstitions. So fast did they come, that the original form for symbolizing consecration by immersion, was abandoned as no longer practicable, and the multitudes were sprinkled.

But though nominal Christianity had now gained freedom from persecution, civil recognition, and finally religious jurisdiction as Papacy, her ambition, sustained by her post-millennial error, was far from satisfied. Scheming, plotting, etc., continued, under the theory that the end justifies the means, until the power, authority and crowns of the civil rulers of Europe, were subjected to the popes. The beginning of this temporal power was gradual, from A.D. 539, but it was fully established in A.D. 800, when Charlemagne, king of France, was crowned by Pope Leo III., and accepted from him, and by his supposed divine authority, the title of Emperor of the West. There, really, what was afterward known as the "Holy Roman Empire," had its beginning.

Thenceforth it was boldly claimed and generally admitted (except by the Lord's faithful few, who discerned the apostasy and waited for the establishment in righteousness of his true, promised kingdom) that the (nominal) church was God's kingdom in the world, and that the popes successively represented Christ as King of kings, while as his joint-heirs, cardinals and bishops filled the places promised to the overcomers. In support of these claims, the universal authority of the popes in matters both secular and religious was claimed and admitted; and kings and emperors representing the greatest nations of Europe and the world (even England and Germany) prostrated themselves at the feet of the pope, acknowledging him as King of kings. Every title which the Scriptures apply to the true Christ, and every prophecy describing his future kingdom and its glory has been applied by the popes to themselves and the kingdom thus introduced, which was none other than the kingdom of Antichrist, the counterfeit of the true, predicted by the prophets and apostles. (See `2 Thes. 2:3-7`; `Dan. 7:25,26`; `Rev. 13:4-8`.) The deception was so

great and magnificent that all the nations of Europe were deceived; and as the Lord himself foretold, had it been possible, the very elect [faithful] would also have been deceived by it.

But the inevitable came: the reverence and flattery of the people, the pride and power of the clergy, and especially of the higher dignitaries, gradually sunk the doctrines and practices so low as to excite the disgust and open the eyes of the honest and blinded souls connected with the system. It was nearly a century after the invention of printing, when men were beginning to think for themselves, that the public sale of indulgences by the authority of the pope for the purpose of raising money for the completion of St. Peter's Cathedral at Rome, and particularly by one John Tetzel, a Dominican monk of notorious character and shameless effrontery, that general indignation was aroused; and under the bold leadership of Luther, Zwingli, Carlstadt, Melanchthon, and others, a Reformation movement set in, which, though beset by many hindrances, thank God, is not yet extinct. It is progressing steadily toward the utter repudiation of priestcraft and the various superstitions and errors of the dark ages, back to the old landmarks of primitive simplicity and purity which characterized the apostolic church, both in life and doctrines.

Luther, Knox, Melanchthon, Zwingli, Calvin, and others of their time, though still befogged by the errors of Antichrist, which for so many centuries held the world as under a mesmeric power, made remarkable progress out of the darkness toward the full, clear light. When all the circumstances of their time are realized, it cannot be denied that they were remarkable men, and that they not only took a courageous step, but a long one in the right direction. The trouble is that those who since have followed these leaders, have taken their names as sects, without having their spirit of reform. So far from continuing the reform movement, each party or sect set itself against all light, truth, and reformation in advance of what its leader had seen and advocated. Hence reform almost ceased with the reformers of the sixteenth century. What progress has since been made, has been in opposition, not only to Papacy, but to professed Protestants as well.

But the course of the reformers was not a wholly uncompromising one. They soon saw that the masses of the people were so steeped in ignorance that they could not appreciate the Scriptural teaching that God is no respecter of persons; and that in his sight all men are free, and that king, peasant and slave are on a common footing before God. So long had people been taught that the pope and church dignitaries represented God, and must be obeyed as God; so long had they been taught that kings and princes, when crowned and commissioned by the pope, were God's appointed rulers, reigning by God's authority in matters civil, as the "clergy" by the same authority reigned as princes in matters religious; so long had they been taught that to deny or oppose such pope-sanctioned authority, was to deny and oppose God and his kingdom, that (under this ignorance and superstition) to have declared the whole truth, would have involved all Europe in anarchy and lawlessness. Stepping out of such deep slavery of mind and body, into full liberty, the masses were far from prepared to use it wisely.

This, indeed, was the basis of the conflict between the early reformers. Zwingli in Switzerland, was a representative of some who took their stand for full liberty; he not only denied the authority of the pope to rule the church, but denied also his authority to appoint civil rulers in the name of God. He claimed for the people the right to elect their rulers, as we do in this great Republic. Here, Luther wavered for a time as to what course to pursue, when he saw that the reform, fully carried out, would not only take away the authority of the pope, but also the authority of all the princes and kings of earth appointed by him. While retired for ten months in Wartburg Castle under the hiding and protection of Elector Frederick, Luther reflected on the situation carefully; then he came forth to oppose Zwingli, Carlstadt and others under whose preaching the images in the churches were being dashed to pieces and the Mass abolished. His plea was moderation. He cooled the rising ardor of the Germans, and with Melanchthon turned the German Reformation into the channel which it finally took. The German princes on the one hand glad to be freed from their abject bondage to Papacy, and on the other hand glad to escape the growing tendency of teachings such as Zwingli's, recognized in the teaching of Luther and Melanchthon a way of escape from both, which would still preserve their powers, and even increase them. From policy, therefore, many of

the German princes embraced the Lutheran cause, which prospered, while the yet more thorough reformers and their works went down.

Why did not God forward the greater and purer views? it may be asked. Because it was not then due time, we answer. But slowly, after three centuries, thinking people will admit that Zwingli and Carlstadt were much nearer the truth, much more thorough teachers of reform than Luther. D'Aubigne (Hist. vol. 3. p. 243.) upon this subject, cautiously but forcibly remarks: "Notwithstanding his opposition to Papacy, Luther had a strong conservative instinct. Zwingli, on the contrary, was predisposed to radical reforms. Both these divergent tendencies were needed. If Luther and his followers had been alone in the work, it would have stopped short in its progress; and the principle of reformation would not have wrought its destined effect."

Luther, though he had denounced the Papacy as Antichrist, and declared that the popes had no right or authority whatever to rule the world in the name of Christ, was led by his course of moderation into doing the very thing he had condemned in Papacy. The princes who remained in harmony with Papacy, were forward to claim its sanction as the true basis of authority over the people; and, those who espoused Luther's side, of course looked to him who claimed to represent the true reformed Church, to pronounce in their favor--as the choice of the true church, and hence the divine choice. Having taken the stand he did, escape from the dilemma was impossible; and there was considerable truth in Luther's joke, when, later on, he called himself

"THE GERMAN POPE."

Thus it came that Protestantism continued the very error which lay at the foundation of the great apostasy--the very error it started out to remedy. Instead of advocating freedom--government of and by the people--it arrayed itself on the side of these false kingdoms of God whose rulers were glad to have assistance in holding the control which Antichrist had given them over the people. They desired to hold forever, for themselves and their families, the fat positions already attained. Hence, the various governments of Europe are wedded to some religious system, which they support, and at the hands of whose officers, with religious pomp and ceremony, titles and offices are entered upon. No matter how villainous, or imbecile, or insane, or opposed to both the letter and spirit of God's Word, these announce their authority to perpetuate wrongs under the hypocritical mask (authorized first by Papacy, and since conceded by all Protestant sects)--king, or queen, or emperor, "by the grace of God."

Thus we find to-day, many so-called Christian kingdoms in the world, as well as many churches, though our Lord only established one church, which in due time was to be completed and glorified to constitute the one kingdom of God promised. In the light of God's Word, we must deny that kings and emperors now reign by the grace of God, or that God is in any degree, responsible for their misruling, though he predetermined to permit these various experiments at self-government for an appointed time--"until He come, whose right it is." (`Ezek. 21:27`.) The facts of history corroborate the testimony of the Scriptures, that present governments are under the control of "the prince of this world." (`John 14:30`; `Eph. 2:2`.) To deceive the people he assumes a garment of light, and authority is given not in his own name, but in the name of God, at the hands of the apostate church.--`2 Cor. 11:14,15`.

How much of the spirit of Christ do they manifest? Hear louder and louder down the centuries the clash of arms, the thunder of artillery, the tread of mighty armies, and the groans of the dying, in the strife of these so-called kingdoms of God to annihilate each other; and remember, that at no period of the world's history were there ever, as to-day, armies numbering eleven millions of men, thoroughly equipped and trained, ready at a moment's call to rush to battle, armed with weapons of carnage a hundred fold more dreadful and destructive than were ever before known, which make them equal to a hundred millions in former times.

Remember too, that these eleven millions must soon be called into action, if for no other reason than that the great expense of their maintenance is rapidly bankrupting these various kingdoms of Christ (?). Remember too, that when the tocsin of war shall sound, the various pulpits will support the various thrones with words of burning eloquence and prayers to God for help, each to consume the other. And with the army corps shall go chaplains, to cheer the dying soldiers of God's (?) kingdom; to assure each host that its cause is just, and that if they fall it is in support of the Lord's anointed representatives.

Mark the oppression, and injustice, and tyranny, and misrule; and behold how giant evils are licensed to enslave and oppress mankind; and say not that these are Immanuel's kingdoms. Surely,

they bear little resemblance to the character of that kingdom promised under the "Prince of Peace." Verily, if these kingdoms of Europe are Christ's kingdoms, free America wants none of them. Away with Christ's kingdom, if such be its character; and welcome to this free soil the poor oppressed refugees from European "Christendom."

When Christ's kingdom has come, it will indeed be "the desire of all nations." It will be just what all men need. At first it will rule with a rod of iron dashing the now tottering kingdoms of this world in pieces like a potter's vessel (`Psa. 2:9`), breaking up every civil, social and religious system of tyranny and oppression, putting down all authority and power opposed to it, humbling the proud and high-minded, and finally teaching all the world to be still and know that the Lord's Anointed has taken the dominion. (`Psa. 46:10`.) Then the blessings of its peaceful reign will begin to be experienced. Truth and equity will be established on a sure and permanent footing; "justice will be laid to the line, and righteousness to the plummet" (`Isa. 28:17`), and the great restitution work will progress grandly to its glorious consummation.--There will be sweeping moral reforms, great educational and philanthropic enterprises, wonderful faith-cures from every disease and deformity, mental and physical. There will be awakenings also from death, and a grand re-organization of society under the new order of the Kingdom of God. And all the world's bitter experience during the six thousand years past will prove a valuable lesson, on the exceeding sinfulness of sin; helping them to appreciate the new rule of righteousness, and to live in everlasting conformity to the perfect will of God, and thus to accept God's gift of everlasting life, designed for all who will receive it on his conditions of love and loyalty and obedience to him. Then, "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."--`Rev. 22:17`.

Such being the grand object of our Lord's return and the establishment of his kingdom, we believe with the prophet, that it will be "The desire of all nations;" and with the apostle that the earnest expectation of the creature longs, though ignorantly, for this coming revelation of the Sons of God--the overcoming Church exalted with their Lord.

COMING FROM EAST AND WEST.

"Many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."-- `Matt. 8:11,12`.

Israelites were "the children of the kingdom," the natural seed of Abraham, to whom God had promised that Millennial kingdom whose power in all the earth shall, under divine arrangements, be instrumental in spreading truth and righteousness, and restraining evil, so that all the families of the earth shall be blessed. In the words above quoted, our Lord foretold the change of dispensation by which the natural seed of Abraham were cast into outer darkness--as outcasts from God's favor, and from the special light of prophecy which for eighteen hundred years had enlightened them and given them "much advantage every way" above the world in general.

…