The Immortality of the Soul, Is it a Scriptural Doctrine?

The Immortality of the Soul, Is it a Scriptural Doctrine?
BY A. T. JONES.
[Pacific Press Publishing Association]
[Oakland, Calif.]
[September 1890]
[Bible Students' Library No. 70]
2
The doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul is one of the oldest and one of the most widespread doctrines that has ever been in this world. It was preached in the world before ever faith in Christ the Saviour was preached. "The serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die;" and from that day to this that doctrine has been believed more generally by the children of men than has the truth of God.
 Indeed, in our day the doctrine of the immortality of the soul has gained such favor among even those who profess the word of God as their standard of belief, that to deny it is considered by the majority of them as equivalent to a denial of the Bible itself. But, instead of such denial being in any way a denial of the truth of revelation, the fact is that the truth of revelation can be logically and consistently held only by the total and unequivocal denial of the doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul. This, the Scriptures plainly show. 
1. THE RESURRECTION
There is no truth more plainly taught nor more diligently insisted upon in the Bible than this: That the future existence of men depends absolutely upon either a resurrection of the dead or a translation without seeing death at all. Paul's hope for future existence was in the
resurrection of the dead. In speaking of his efforts to "win Christ," he says: "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." Phil 3:10, 11.


It was of "the hope and resurrection of the dead" that he was called in question by the council (Acts 23:6); and when he had afterward to make his defense before Felix, he declared that the resurrection of the dead was the end of his hope, saying: "And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." Acts 24: Time and again Paul thus expresses his hope of future life. 


Nor is Paul the only one of the writers of the Bible who teaches the same thing. The resurrection of the dead is that to which Job looked for the consummation of his hope. Job 14:14, 15; 17:13-15; 19:23-27. David says: "Thou which hast showed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken [give life to] me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth." Ps. 71:20. And, "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness." Ps. 17: And what shall we more say? For the time would fail us to tell of Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and Daniel, and Hosea, and Micah, and all the prophets and apostles, and of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; for Jesus himself declared that it was the resurrection of the dead of which God spake when he said, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." More than this, Jesus pointed his disciples always to the resurrection of the dead, through which alone they could obtain the reward which he promised.


In John 6:39-54 we find that no less than four times the Saviour, in giving promise to those who believe in him, sets it forth as the consummation of that belief that "I will raise him up at the last day." And in Luke 14:13, 14 we read: "When thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind; and . . . thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." 


Paul, however, gives us, upon this subject, a straight-forward, logical argument, which leaves the doctrine of the immortality of the soul not a particle of ground to rest upon. The fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians is devoted entirely to an argument in proof of the resurrection of the dead. The apostle first proves, by hundreds of living witnesses who had seen him after he was risen, that Christ arose from the dead. Still there were some who said, "There is no resurrection of the dead," and in refutation of that idea, he introduces three points of argument, any one of which utterly excludes the doctrine of the immortality of the soul from any place whatever in Christian doctrine. 


1. In verse 16, his premise is, "If the dead rise not." The first conclusion from that is, "Then is not Christ raised;" then upon this conclusion follows the logical sequence, "Your faith is vain," and upon that another, "Ye are yet in your sins." From his premise,-"If the dead rise not,"-the second conclusion is, verse 18, "Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." Nothing can be plainer than that this statement and the doctrine of the immortality of the soul cannot both be true. For if the soul be immortal, as is held, it cannot
perish, and, therefore, so far as its existence is concerned, it is utterly independent of the resurrection of the dead. Is it not supposed by all those who believe the soul to be immortal that all who have passed from this world in the faith of Christ, have gone to heaven, and are now enjoying its bliss?-Assuredly it is. Then, if that be the truth, upon what imaginable principle can it be conceived that they "are perished," if there be no resurrection? What need have they of a resurrection? Have they not, without a resurrection, all that heaven can afford? Upon that theory they certainly have. Then it just as certainly appears that not one of them has perished, even though there never be a resurrection.
 
Over against this theory stands the word of God, that "if the dead rise not, then they which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." That word is the truth. Therefore it follows that if there be no resurrection of the dead, there is no hereafter for any who have ever died, or who shall ever die. 


But God has given assurance to all men that there shall be a hereafter, and that assurance lies in the fact "that he hath raised him [Christ] from the dead" (Heb. 9:27; Acts 17:31). The resurrection of Christ is the God-given pledge that there shall be a resurrection of all the dead: "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive," and, "There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." Therefore it is by virtue of the resurrection of the dead, and not by the immortality of the soul, that there will be any hereafter for the dead, whether just or unjust.


2. The second point that the apostle makes in this connection is in verse 32: "If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die." On this nothing can be better than to present Dr. Adam Clarke's comment upon this same passage. He says (and the italics are his):- 
"I believe the common method of pointing this verse is erroneous; I propose to read it thus: 'If, after the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what doth it advantage me? If the dead rise not, let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die.' What the apostle says here is a regular and legitimate conclusion from the doctrine that there is no resurrection; for if there be no resurrection, then there can be no judgment-no future state of rewards and punishments; why, therefore, should we bear crosses, and keep ourselves under continual discipline? Let us eat and drink, take all the pleasure we can; for tomorrow we die, and there is an end of us forever." 


That is sound exegesis, and a just comment upon the words of the apostle. As we have shown, that is the point of Paul's argument throughout, and it is the thought of the whole Bible upon this subject. But if the soul be immortal, neither Dr. Clarke's comment nor Paul's argument is sound. For if the soul be immortal, when-soever it may be that we die, that is not the "end of us forever," resurrection or no resurrection. By this it is plain that the doctrine of the immortality of the soul nullifies the plainest propositions of Scripture, and is therefore false. 


This view fully explains the query which Dr. Clarke propounds in his remarks at the close of his comments on 1 Corinthians He says:- 


"One remark I cannot help making: the doctrine of the resurrection appears to have been thought of much more consequence among the primitive Christians than it is now! How
is this? The apostles were continually insisting on it, and exciting the followers of God to diligence, obedience, and cheerfulness through it. And their successors in the present day seldom mention it! . . . There is not a doctrine in the gospel on which more stress is laid; and there is not a doctrine in the present system of preaching which is treated with more neglect!" 


From the doctor's insertion of exclamation points and his query, "How is this?" it would appear that he was surprised that it should be so. It is indeed surprising that it should be so. But it is easily enough explained. The fact is that the doctrine of the immortality of the soul has become so all-pervading "in the present system of preaching" that there is no room for the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead.


If the doctrine of the immortality of the soul be true, then the doctrine of the resurrection is indeed of no consequence.


If that doctrine be true, then all need of laying stress upon the gospel doctrine of the resurrection of the dead is destroyed.


And although "the apostles were continually insisting on" the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, and although there is "not a doctrine of the gospel upon which more stress is laid," yet it is through the insidious deceptive influence of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul that the preachers of the present day "seldom mention it," and that in the present system of preaching there is indeed "not a doctrine that is treated with more neglect," and nothing is needed to show more plainly than does this the irreconcilable antagonism between the truth of God and the doctrine of the immortality of the soul.


3. The third point is in verse 36: "That which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die." To quicken is to make alive. "What Paul says therefore is, "That which thou sowest is not made alive except it die." That this is spoken directly of man and his resurrection, is evident from verses 42-44, "It is sown a natural body," etc. Now the doctrine of the immortality of the soul is that the body properly has no life, that it is not the real man, but that the soul is the real, living, sentient man, that it is that about man which alone possesses real life. In other words, the body is only the house in which the real man lives. The real "I," the soul, dwells within the body, and death is simply the separation of the soul from the body. Death breaks down the house, and lets the occupant free. According to this doctrine, there is no such thing as death, because the body properly has no life, consequently it does not die, and the soul-the real man-is immortal, and it cannot die; therefore, there is in reality no such thing as death. If this be true, there is not only no such thing as death, but there is, likewise, no such thing as a resurrection of the dead; for upon the apostle's premise that "that which thou sowest is not quickened [made alive] except it die," it follows that, as the body, having no life, does not die, it cannot be quickened (raised from the dead); and as the soul does not die, it cannot be raised from the dead; consequently, there is no such thing as a resurrection of the dead. 


Therefore it stands proved to a demonstration that the doctrine of the immortality of the soul is utterly subversive of the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. But the resurrection of the dead is a Bible doctrine; it is the very truth of God. So then it is plain that the doctrine of the immortality of the soul is subversive of the truth of God, and is therefore false, deceptive, and destructive. 

How to Get Knowledge

How to Get Knowledge

E. J. Waggoner

"Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets; she crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates; in the city she uttereth her words, saying, how long, ye simple ones, will you love simplicity? and the scorners delight In their scorning; and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof; behold, I will pour out My Spirit unto you, I will make known My words unto you." Prov. 1:20-23. 

This is the language of the Lord Jesus Christ, "in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Col. 2:3. This means that there is nothing of any kind whatever that is worthy to be called wisdom, which is not to be found in Christ. Read 1 Cor. 1:22-24: "For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." That is, the wisdom which the Greeks sought after, is contained only in Christ. Because they sought it in themselves, and not in Christ, the wisdom which they had became foolishness. Out of Christ it is impossible to find true wisdom. 

True wisdom consists in knowing God.

"Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness, in the earth; for in these things I delight, saith the Lord." Jer. 9:23, 24.

 To know God is the sum of all scientific knowledge for Christ, who is the only manifestation of God, is the Source of all creation. "O the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things." Rom. 11:33, 36. Christ is the beginning, the head, or source, of the creation of God. Rev. 3:14. He is "the firstborn of every creature." Col. 1:1-5. "For in Him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through Him, and unto Him; and He is before all things, and in Him all things consist." Col. 1:16, 17. Therefore the study of natural science must begin and end with the study of God in Christ. 

But Christ is the righteousness of God. Righteousness is the character of God. Therefore no one can know God without knowing His righteousness; and so the study of true science reveals the righteousness of God. And this is wisdom, for "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." Prov. 1:7. The knowledge of the righteousness of God is connected with the knowledge of the works of God that we see with our eyes; for the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, and the power of God is seen in the things that are made. Rom. 1:16, 20. Therefore when the Bible speaks of wisdom and knowledge, it means not only the wisdom and knowledge which would be counted as such by men, but also "all wisdom and spiritual understanding."

All this is summed up in the words of Moses to the children of Israel: "Behold I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people." Deut. 4:5. 3. They who keep the commandments of God, not in form merely, but in fact, will have wisdom which will excite the wonder of people who do not recognize the source of knowledge. 

And now that we have seen what wisdom is let us note the words with which this article begins, to see how it may be obtained. The Lord says, "Turn you at My reproof; behold I will pour out My Spirit unto you, I will make known My words unto you." That is; those who listen to heed the reproofs of the Lord, will know His words, which are wisdom. "For the Lord giveth wisdom, out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding." Prov. 2:6. 

The reproofs of the Lord are by the Spirit of the Lord and are given, not for the purpose of taunting us with our failures, nor for the purpose of causing us to cringe in terror before Him, but that we may turn from our sins to righteousness.

Before He went away, Christ promised to send the Holy Spirit as a Comforter, and the first thing that He was to do was to convince the world of sin. This He does by revealing the righteousness of God. These reproofs come in various ways, according to the sin and the peculiarity of the person. They are not simply of a general nature, but they come home to the individual, pointing out specific acts of wrong, and saying "Thou art the man." 

It is naturally a severe trial to any one to receive a sharp reproof, because it cuts directly across self. But no matter how cutting it may be, and even though the Lord has allowed the knowledge of our failing to come to us through an unfriendly source, it is the part of wisdom to heed it.

To heed it means to forsake the evil, and that can be done only through Christ; for it is the blood of Christ alone that cleanses from all sin. "If we walk in the light He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John 1:7. The promise is that those who turn at the reproof of wisdom shall have the words of wisdom made known unto them. 

Not only will such an one have the words of the Lord,-the words of wisdom, told to him, but he will have them made known to him.

In this is found the secret of the failure of many to understand the Bible. They are cherishing some sin, or they unwilling to keep all the commandments of God, and consequently they cannot know the meaning of the words of wisdom.

Self stands in the way.

Christ said that if any man had a mind to do the Father's will, he should know of the doctrine. John 7:17. "The meek will He guide in judgments; and the meek will He teach His way." Ps. 25:9. 

Surely the result is worth all that it costs, even though the lesson be a trying one. The pain comes only in the letting go of self. When one has once yielded fully to the Lord; the reproofs of the Lord are pleasant. When self is dead, it cannot be hurt by them. Then instead of mourning over the reproof, because of wounded pride; or even in despondency, he will delight himself in the increased knowledge of God.

Try it, all you who wish that you might understand the Bible. Let your doubts go to the winds. Let your own foolish wisdom, which would lead you to hesitate to receive the word of God, if it is contrary to your preconceived opinion, give place to the meekness of wisdom. In short; let your own opinions go entirely, and do not try to draw conclusions according to your own wisdom, but let God teach you at every step of the way.

When you cannot see how a certain statement harmonizes with another, do not get impatient, and begin to doubt, but wait in faith, and God will explain it to you. Do not be afraid of waiting awhile. It may be that the Lord has some other lesson for you to learn before you can understand this one. But while you are, waiting, wait only on the Lord, and His words will explain themselves. "Consider what I say; for the Lord shall give thee understanding in all things." 2 Tim. 2:7.

Christ Ruling in the Heart

February 10, 1897

The Spirit of Prophecy. - No. 2.

A. T. Jones

(Wednesday Forenoon, Feb. 10, 1897.)

….

The power which God implants, taken into the heart, will enable the man to stand under temptation, and in the midst of his weakness. It will give him that which he does not possess, and it will make him what he is not by nature. 

When a man makes a failure in a position in which he is placed, we are liable to think that God has made a mistake in allowing him to be placed there; but this does not follow. God made no mistake in having Saul to be king of Israel; but Saul made a mistake in not becoming what God wanted him to be. He made a mistake in following his own ways and schemes, rather than listening to the voice of God. So also God made no mistake in making Jeroboam king over Israel. Although the purpose of God in separating the ten tribes from Judah was not carried out on account of the perversity of the people, yet God had a plan, but Jeroboam would not permit it to be carried out. God may call me or you to a position, and if we have some point of weakness which will prevent our usefulness, and God sends us a message, that message is to make us what he wants us to be, that through his grace we may stand where he wants us to stand.

"Day by day men are revealing whether the kingdom of God is in them. If Christ rules in their hearts, they are gaining strength of principle, power, ability to stand as faithful sentinels, true reformers; for there can be no reform unless there is a thorough co-operation with Jesus Christ.

Through the grace of Christ men are to use their God-given faculties to reform themselves [not to reform others, but to reform themselves]; by this self-denying, action, which the Lord of heaven looks upon with approval, they gain victories over their own hereditary and cultivated tendencies.

Then, like Daniel, they make impressions upon other hearts that will never be effaced. The influence will be carried to all parts of the world." 

The work of reformation begins with self.

I can make impressions upon other hearts only when I have reformed myself. God reaches others by reaching us, and reaches others through us.

Turn to 2 Cor.1:3, 4:- 

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 

God comforts us that we may comfort others; God helps us that we may help others. We are brought in a place where we need the comfort of God, that we may be able to comfort others.

He has others in mind when he comforts us. "And if we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation." If I am afflicted, it is for the consolation and salvation of some other man. I may not meet for years that man whom I am to comfort; but sometime I shall meet him, and the experience I have had prepares me to sit down by his side, or take him by the hand, and be a help and a comfort to him. He receives from me that which I have received from God, and he receives it that he may in turn communicate it to others, and these to others; and thus the influence of God's grace imparted to us extends to all the earth, although we may not move out of the State in which we live.

Born Again.

February 9, 1897

The Spirit of Prophecy. - No. 1.

A. T. Jones

(Tuesday Forenoon, Feb. 9, 1897.)

Continued…

Next there is cited for us here the story of Nicodemus and Christ. Nicodemus was a ruler in Israel, and it says that "Nicodemus sought an interview with Jesus at night, saying, 'Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.' All this was true as far as it went, but what said Jesus? He 'answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' Here was a man in high position of trust, a man who was looked up to as one who was educated in Jewish customs, one whose mind was stored with wisdom. He was indeed in possession of talents of no ordinary character. He would not go to Jesus by day, for this would make him the subject of remark; it would be too humiliating for a ruler of the Jews to acknowledge himself in sympathy with the despised Nazarene. Nicodemus thinks, I will ascertain for myself the mission and claims of this teacher, whether he is indeed the light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Israel. 

"Jesus virtually says to Nicodemus, It is not controversy that will help your case. It is not arguments that will bring light to the soul. You must have a new heart, or you cannot discern the kingdom of heaven. It is not greater evidence that will bring you into a right position, but new purposes, new springs of action: you must be born again. Until this change takes place, making all things new, the strongest evidences that could be presented would be useless. The want is in your own heart; everything must be changed, or you cannot see the kingdom of God. 

"This was a very humiliating statement to Nicodemus, and with a feeling of irritation he takes up the words of Christ, saying, 'How can a man be born when he is old?' He was not spiritual-minded enough to discern the meaning of the words of Christ. But the Saviour did not meet argument with argument. Raising his hand in solemn, quiet dignity, he presses home the truth with greater assurance: 'Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit.' Nicodemus said unto him, 'How can these things be?'

"Some gleams of truth were penetrating the ruler's mind. Christ's words filled him with awe, and led to the inquiry, 'How can these things be?' With deep earnestness Jesus answered, 'Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?' His words convey to Nicodemus the lesson that instead of feeling irritated over the plain words of truth, and indulging in irony, he should have a far more humble opinion of himself, because of his spiritual ignorance. Yet the words of Christ were spoken with such solemn dignity, and both look and tone expressed such love to him, that he was not offended as he realized his humiliating position. Surely one entrusted with the religious interests of the people could not be ignorant of truth so important for them to understand as the condition of entrance into the kingdom of heaven. 'Verily, verily, I say unto thee,' continued Jesus, 'We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you heavenly things?'

"This lesson to Nicodemus I present as highly applicable to those who are today in responsible positions as rulers in Israel, and whose voices are often heard in council giving evidence of the same spirit that Nicodemus possessed." Who will listen and let the same words have the same effect upon their hearts and lives to-day? Nicodemus was converted as a result. 

These words were spoken to the presidents of conferences, elders of churches, and those occupying official positions in our institutions. You know whether you are a president of a conference. It speaks to you; it says, You must be born again. You know whether you are an elder of a church. It speaks to you; it says, You must be born again. You know whether you are occupying an official position in any of our institutions. It speaks to you; it says, You must be born again. It says, You must be converted. It does not say that you never were converted; even though we have been converted, the time is such that God calls for a more thorough conversion, a deeper consecration than ever you or I have known before. It is nothing to you or to me that we were converted five, ten, or fifteen years ago, if we are not converted now, to-day. And to-day he says if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. To-day, while it is called to-day, he says to you and to me, You must be born again; you must be converted; and except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. And there is the blessed promise, A new heart will I give unto you. Thank the Lord! Let us seek the Lord with such heart, with such earnestness as never before, that he may use us as never before; and then he will roll away the reproach from his church, and she will rise to go forth untrammeled, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners. That is what the Lord wants of you and me today. Shall he have it? 

We Are Here to Find God.

The Third Angel’s Message (1897)

February 9, 1897

The Spirit of Prophecy. - No. 1.

A. T. Jones

(Tuesday Forenoon, Feb. 9, 1897.)

I SUPPOSE there is no one in this room who does not think but that he truly believes in the Spirit of Prophecy; that is, that the Spirit of Prophecy belongs to the church,-to this message as is manifested through Sister White, and that these things are believed, professedly believed at least, so far as the idea and the Scriptures that prove that such things are a part of this work. But that is not where the trouble lies, for we are in trouble now. If we do not know it, we are much worse off than if we were in trouble and did know it. And more than that, the cause of God, as well as you and I, are in such trouble that we are in danger day by day of incurring the wrath of God because we are where we are. The Lord tells us that more than once, and he tells us how we got there, and he tells us how to get out of it. And the only thing I know how to tell you here, is to study the Spirit of Prophecy, and get out of it what you need.

 

That is only one of the statements that is made. In knowing these statements, and having known them for some time, I would have been glad to stay at home and go on with the work there, because there is so much to be done and so many involved. God calls for many changes among the men who have formed committees, boards, councils, etc., and these men who compose these committees, boards, and councils are the very ones assembled here upon whom it will fall to make the changes. Now, how shall these men make the changes in which they themselves are involved, unless they themselves are changed first? The only way to have the change wrought is to have the men changed. All who will do so God will work through, and all who will not do so-what will become of them? That is why I say we are in trouble to-day. When the Lord tells us what trouble we are in, he tells us how we got there and how to get out of it. It all comes through disregarding the Testimonies. Then when we get into trouble by disregarding the Testimonies, and the Testimonies tell us just how to get out of that trouble, and we follow the testimony that leads us out, then we shall be straight on the Testimonies.

I have nothing to get off onto you, for I am in it with the rest of you. The Lord says that the cause is in trouble, and I am part of the cause; I belong with it, my life is wrapped up in it, and so is yours; it is everything to us. Then when the cause is in trouble, you and I are in trouble. It may be that you personally had no definite connection with the steps that brought the cause into trouble; yet we, being a part of the cause, and the cause itself being our life, are in trouble all the same because the cause is. But God tells us what to do to get out of it. 

I do not want to give you man's counsel, but the Lord's. It may be that we shall see men's names, and if so I shall not dodge it. If a name should be left out and not read, and we know who it is, it does not follow that an attack is made upon that brother. Suppose that I commit a wrong, and the Lord tells me of it in a testimony. When that testimony comes to me, I turn my back upon the wrong, and you may use it all you want to, and it will not be against me; for I am not in it if I have turned from it by acknowledging it, and acting accordingly. 

As a real matter of fact, it is a question whether anybody finds right down in his own heart a belief of the Testimonies until he gets one or two or three, and he has accepted all, and then he will be pretty well satisfied that he believes the Testimonies, and not till he has had some such experience. I will begin and end with the Word. Here is something that tells us what to do when we come to such places as this: "If the Lord is in the midst of your councils, beholding your order and love and fear, and your trembling at his word, then you are prepared to do his work unselfishly." 

Here we are in council. Though we be different in character, if we are molded by the same spirit of Christ, we are one. Then the church can rise as clear as the sun at mid-day, and go forth as terrible as an army with banners. 

God has been shut away from his work, from the management of his work in general, in state work, councils, in boards, in churches, etc. We have had false gods, because the people have put men, and men have allowed themselves to be put, between God and the work. God is going to work in his cause anyhow, and if you will not get out of his way and let him work his own way, the wrath of God will fall upon those who are in the way. Men keep themselves, and allow themselves to be kept, in places that they should have been out of long ago. If we will get out of his way, and let him work, he will work with a gentle hand. We do not want a whip of cords. We would better be surprised a little now, than become greatly surprised after awhile; and in love be reproved, than to go on not knowing these things, and be made to flee from the temple as they did that day, or to be altogether surprised when we cannot help it. 

So if the Lord is in the midst of your councils, beholding your love and your fear, and your tremblings at his word, then you are prepared to do his work; and he will not be in partnership with any unjust transactions. 

Again I read: "Man's way is to devise and scheme. God implants a principle." And where God has implanted a principle, our life and actions together are simply an expression of that principle. And if God's principle is not there, then the principle of the devil is there. "Circumstances cannot work reforms. Christianity proposes a reformation in the heart. What Christ works within will be worked out under the dictation of a converted intellect. The plan of beginning at the outside and trying to work inward, has always failed and always will fail." 

I cannot apply a testimony to anybody else than myself, for it must be applied at the heart, and work from within. God will then apply it wherever I go. And it is the same with all of us in the testimony that comes to any, in any meeting or council or General Conference meeting. The president cannot apply all over the field a testimony given to him. He must accept it in his soul, and surrender to it body, soul, and spirit; and then Jesus Christ will apply the testimony everywhere he, the president, goes. It is a living thing in him, and then if he goes forward, that testimony is applied by the Lord wherever he may be.

But men have tried to apply the Testimonies to other people without having the testimony a living thing in themselves.

Over and over again that has been tried, and that is where the trouble is. If the testimony is not accepted by him body, soul, and spirit, so that the principle which is in it is a living thing in him, it matters not how much he may read that testimony and apply it to other people, his own influence will be against the testimony which he is applying. For if it is not lived in his life, and all that he says and does, it is destroyed by his actions.

And that is what has brought about the conditions that exist now. "God's way is to give man something he has not." We are to take the thing that we have not, that God gives us, and that will make us a power in the Lord. 2 Cor.2:14: "Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place."

When that principle is there, wherever we go God is talking; he is speaking. He is making known the knowledge of himself by us in every place. It may be a business transaction; that makes no difference. Everything we do will remind them of God after we are gone, so he makes manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. 

"God's way is to make man something that he is not;" to make me something that I am not. Then when a testimony comes to me telling me that I am not right, that testimony is to make me what I am not,-to make me right. I cannot stand where I am and apply it; but when I apply it, I shall be what I was not, and everywhere I go God can make himself manifest. 

"Man's way is to get an easy place, and indulge appetite and selfish ambition. God's way is to work in power. He gives the grace if the sick man realizes that he needs it. Man is too often satisfied to treat himself according to the methods of quackery, and then vindicate the manner of his working as right." God's way is different. We are all sick men, and if we could realize it God would give the cure necessary. Man prefers quackery, and thinks his manner of work is right; but God purposes to purify the soul. John 7:38: "He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."

This is the kingdom of God within him. "Day by day men are revealing whether the kingdom of God is within them. If Christ rules in their hearts they are gaining strength of principle, power, ability to stand as faithful sentinels, true reformers; for there can be no reformation unless there is a thorough co-operation with Jesus Christ. Through the grace of Christ men are to use their God-given faculties to reform themselves. By this selfdenying action, which the Lord of heaven looks upon with approval, they gain victories over their own hereditary and cultivated tendencies; then, like Daniel, they make impressions upon others that will never be effaced. The influence will be carried to all parts of the earth." 

This is the witness that I referred to a minute ago. When you receive a testimony and take it into your heart and life, that makes you something you were not, and then it is the kingdom of God within you, and the witness will be carried to all parts of the earth. May be you will never go out of your State. Then how can it ever be? Where you go and where I go, God is making impressions on the heart that will never be effaced, and by them making yet other impressions, and so on. One may harden himself against it, but it will go there just the same; and when that impression is made by you, he will know that it is from the Lord. The Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection, but they also said that they took knowledge of the disciples that they had been with Jesus and learned of him after his death. In their hearts they knew that he had risen. The fact was there, but they were not converted by it. That is the principle that is in the Bible. From a testimony written in 1896 I read: "Many of the men who have acted as councilors in board and council meetings need to be weeded out." Notice, it says many. There are not very many altogether, so that when many of them are weeded out, many cannot be left. "Other men should take their places, for their voice is not the voice of God. Their plans and devices are not in the order of God. The same men have been kept in office as directors of boards, until under their own management and their own ways, common fire is used in the place of sacred fire of God's own kindling. These men are no more called Israel but supplanters." Supplanters instead of Israel! In what worse trouble could we be? 

Again, from a testimony written in 1894: "Changes should have been made long ago. God would have the church roll away her reproach." Here are the words: "The same men are not to compose your board year by year; changes should have been made long ago. God would have the church roll away her reproach; but as long as men who have felt fully competent to work without accepting counsel of God are kept in office year by year, this cannot be done. This state of things is leavening every branch of the work, because men do not feel their need of the guidance of the Holy Spirit." 

What shall be done? Is the Lord going to have a chance to work now? Shall he be allowed to bring about the needed changes? This testimony is not to be applied by our taking hold of this work and going about abruptly to make the changes. My heart must be right before I can take part in any change. The thing to do is to surrender ourselves to God, and then let him work through us. We do not care who the men are if God is there.

 

We are not to begin here to look about now to see what candidates we can raise up, that we can favor and work into positions that are held now by others; for then, though they would be out of the places, we would be in the places, and the Lord would be as far off as before. The trouble is now that the Lord has been left out. Now, if we would work ourselves into their places, the Lord would be left out still, and the cause would be worse off than before. But that is not what is wanted. There is to be no politics here; but if politics is in us, it will be here, and will show itself here. If indeed a man does have politics in him, the best place for him to spend it is out in the open world, amongst those who are politicians and nothing else, for that is all he is; and if he does not spend it there he will spend it in the church, and only spread mischief and deviltry there. And of course it is better that such work as that should be open in the world than in the church. So that is not what we are here for. We are here to find God, and open our hearts that he may occupy the place from center to circumference, in every thought and word and deed; and God is not a politician; he is God. What we are to do is to seek God with all the heart, so that God shall do all that is to be done; and he will do it if we let him. Give God a chance. Those who are in the way are to get out of the way, and the rest of us are to keep out of the way. Then God can have the place that belongs to him. 

 To be continued…

Take Heed to Old Testament Warnings.

Sunday Evening, March 14, 1897.

AS we saw in the previous lesson, Israel apostatized, and called for a king that they might be like all the nations. In the present study, we shall see how entirely like the nations they did become. But Israel apostatized from God; because they did not believe God with all the heart. The word was not mixed with faith in them that heard it. They grew formal, and then the evils that they would have escaped if they had been faithful to God, came upon them, as upon any other heathen; and then, as the Spirit of prophecy tells us, all the evils that were the result of their own apostasy they charged back upon the government of God. They considered that his government was a failure; it was not good enough for them, it was not sufficient for them in this world, and they must have a government of their own-one which they could handle and by which they could govern and protect themselves. 

Then they said to Samuel, "Make us a king like all the nations," "that we may be like all the nations;" and although the Lord, by Samuel, solemnly protested against it, they protested against that protest, and said, "Nay; we will have a king over us like all the nations." As they' would have it so, the Lord let them have it so. Not only had they decided and settled it that they would have a king, but they had already decided who it was they should have for king. It was Saul, the son of Kish; and the Lord let them have him, too, because they must have their own way.

 

But all the evils which the Lord told them would come because of their choosing a king and a kingdom, did come upon them. They began to reap some of it in the days of Saul. They were helped considerably to be saved from their evils by the influence and reign of David. Although they rejected God, he did not forsake them, he still remained with them to lead all who would be led, and to save them, if possible, from the calamities that must certainly come, and which he knew would come, and from which they could not escape, as a nation. But he would save all who would escape it as individuals. They had started in a course that inevitably and irrevocably carried them on, one step after another, until, as we shall see, ruin came. 

With Solomon began in plainest measure the troubles that were a necessary result of the course which they had taken against the protest of the Lord. And Egypt was always with it. Egypt always comes in. Solomon took a wife from Egypt, against the word of the Lord. He sent to Egypt for horses, against the word of the Lord. The glory that the Lord gave him he perverted to the service of Egypt and Egyptian idolatry, and the idolatry of all the nations around. The burdens which were brought upon the people in supporting Solomon's three hundred wives and seven hundred concubines from all the heathen nations, in their idolatrous worship, were such as should not have been borne, that could not have been borne for good by the people; and for the good of both peoples, the Lord decided to separate the ten tribes from the two. 

We cannot know what that good was that the Lord intended for the ten tribes, or for the two, because it never was realized. Jeroboam was signalized as the one who should rule the ten tribes first. But Jeroboam, forgetting the splendid example of David, to wait the Lord's good time, and have him bring him to the throne of the ten tribes in his own way-even yet while Solomon lived, he lifted up his hand against the king, in that he took the step that proposed to take the throne of the ten tribes and rule them, to set himself up for king against Solomon. That was treason and rebellion. Solomon thought to punish him for it, and he fled to Egypt and stayed there until Solomon's death. 

If he was not an Egyptian in heart before, he was after he got there. When Solomon had died, Jeroboam returned from Egypt. The time came for the ten tribes to be separated from the two, and Rehoboam took the course that separated them. When the people came and asked him to lighten the burdens that his father had laid upon them, it was a reasonable and proper request. The ancient men who had been advisers of Solomon, advised him to do that thing. But Rehoboam was not content to take the advice of these, because he did not want to be the servant of the people, as they advised him to be; he wanted to be the boss of the people, and he therefore consulted with the young men that had grown up with him. His mother was an Ammonitess, one of the basest of the idolatrous wives that Solomon had; and the young men who had grown up with him were the sons of other idolatrous women whom Solomon had for wives. These young men had grown up in all the abominations of heathenism that Solomon had practiced with his wives. Rehoboam partook of their sentiments and leaned to their way, and of course rejected the Lord's counsel, and the counsel of the men who had the fear of the Lord before them. 

Rehoboam gave to the people the answer with which we are all familiar: You have asked me to make your burdens lighter, but instead of that, I will make them heavier; where they were as your little finger, I will make them to be like unto your loins. They said, "To your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David." Rehoboam, when he saw what had come, was really surprised at it; and yet that is not so strange in him, because when he was so blind as not to be able to see that the thing that he said to them was the most unwise thing to say, it is not strange at all that he should be surprised at what followed when he did say it. He sent his treasurer to them, to pacify them and to smooth the thing over and bring them back, if possible. But they stoned the treasurer to death at once, and Rehoboam, seeing what the result was, became scared and rushed to his chariot and hurried back to Jerusalem, raised up an army to come up and subdue them and compel them to serve him. But the prophet of the Lord told him that was not what was to be done, and that they should remain at home, and they did so. 

Then Jeroboam took the kingdom, and set up the golden calves which he had brought from Egypt, so that the ten tribes were led at once into Egypt, into Egyptian idolatry and Egyptian system of government when they were separated from the two. Thus by Jeroboam the tide was started, and the example was set that was followed by all the rest of the kings of the ten tribes. And always after, it is "Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which sinned and made Israel to sin." And the apostasy was steadily, steadily downward, until the whole kingdom perished, and never was heard of again, and never will be. The apostasy in the line of kings of the ten tribes was from bad to worse and worse. Jeroboam was bad; the ones who immediately succeeded him were bad also. Then came Omri, and he was worse than the others; then came Ahab, and he was worse then all before him. Thus it went on through the kingdom, until the whole of it perished and was gone.

But the Lord was all the time trying his best to get them to serve him. He sent them prophets after prophets; he called again and again unto the kings to fear him, to serve him. When we come to the last days of Israel, you have Amos and Hosea especially prophesying. Amos, Hosea, and Micah prophesied for Israel, and to Israel, in the last days of Israel. Only a little of Micah, however, directly concerns the ten tribes. Almost all of Amos is concerning them, and the most of Hosea. Amos and Hosea are largely, almost all, prophesyings concerning Israel, and the Lord's last call for Israel to turn once more to him, and be saved from utter destruction. 

All those prophesyings, and the history of Israel, are put in the Bible for the warning of the people who live in the last days of this word's history. And the instruction of God is there for the people in the last days-to turn to God that they may be saved from actual ruin. That is why those things are put there. So that Amos and Hosea are just as much present truth to-day, to you and to me, and to everybody in the world, as they were to the people in the ten tribes in the day that they wrote. 

Amos prophesied, and the priest that was at Beth-el said to him, Don't you prophesy here; this is the king's house, and the king's court; get you over to Judah. And he went and told the second Jeroboam that Amos was prophesying evil concerning the land, and was teaching rebellion against the king, and saying that the sword of the Lord would fall upon it all, and that the Lord could not bear all his words. 

Let us turn now to the particular passage, and read Amos 7:10-15:- 

Then Amaziah the priest of Beth-el sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land. Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there; but prophesy not again any more at Beth-el: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court. Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit: and the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. 

And he did prophesy unto them; but do not forget, those were the last days of Israel. But when they would not let Amos prophesy in that land, and drove him off, and persecuted him as they had many of the prophets before, the Lord raised up Hosea in the land of Judah; and he, being in the land of Judah where this idolatrous priest told Amos to go, could prophesy concerning Israel, and they could not persecute him and do as they wanted to him. 

Now just a word, glancing again over this whole field: You know that from the time of Samuel onward, the kings of Israel persecuted the people of God, persecuted the prophets, slew the priests, as they chose. They did it because they had the power, as well as the spirit, to do it. But now if Israel had never had a king, a kingdom, or a government of their own, could they have done that?-No; it would have been impossible. You know that the kings of Israel were worse than the heathen kings to the men of God and the prophets of the Lord: so that where kings of Israel and kings of Judah wholly maltreated the prophets of the Lord, heathen kings would respect them, and favor them. 

Hosea, as I was saying, prophesied concerning this also. Now I will read a few verses in Hosea, that you may see what he says on this. Look at the ninth chapter first, just a word or two:- 

They shall not dwell in the Lord's land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt. 

Ephraim was one of the ten tribes; but the name is used here for the whole of them. The ten tribes went to Assyria; they were carried captive by the Assyrians. Yet when they were carried captive by the Assyrians, what does the Lord mean when he says they shall return to Egypt?-Egypt signifies the farthest possible apostasy from God. The darkness that is altogether Egyptian darkness, is where men rule in the place of God, and the whole rule-the government, the men, and all-is set against God, and against his people, as it was against Israel when they were in the land of Egypt just before the plagues fell upon Egypt, and Israel was delivered. And when the Lord here says that Ephraim should go to Egypt, although Assyria-the government of Assyria-was to carry them captive, it shows that they were determined to go into absolute apostasy, and therefore they could not, simply because they would not, dwell "in the Lord's land." 

You remember that we read what the Lord said to Abram: "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, into the land that I will show thee." Then that land is the Lord's land. And when he speaks by Hosea that Israel shall not dwell in the Lord's land, it does not refer to that little spot of land around Samaria; but refers to the land that was shown to Abraham and to which God had called his people when he brought them up out of Egypt. They shall not dwell in the Lord's land; then follows Egypt, absolute apostasy. You will see that further, as I shall read. 

They shall not dwell in the Lord's land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria. They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord, neither shall they be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted: for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the Lord. What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the Lord? For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be in their tabernacles. 

Tenth chapter:- 

Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images. Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images. For now they shall say, We have no king. 

At this time they had no king. He had been murdered, and there was an interregnum. Another king had not yet come in his place. But mark what he says, "For now they shall say, We have no king." The Lord said to them, when they chose that king against his protest, that they were rejecting him. "Nay; but we will have a king." Did they have a king?-Yes; and the time came when they were compelled to say, "We have no king." But what did the Lord say just at this time? 

For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the Lord; what then should a king do to us? They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field. The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Beth-aven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it. 

In the thirteenth chapter you have what the Lord says. Ninth verse:- 

O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help. I will be thy king. 

But they would not have it so. So you see all the way through, the Lord wanted to be alone their king; wanted them to find him their king, and not to have any other. Then as he says in the next verse, "I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath." So I read the whole of that verse:- 

I will be thine king: where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes? 

He points them right back to the time when they said, Give us a king to reign over us. He says now, I protested that time that you should not have him, and told you this evil would come; now you confess, yourselves, that you have no king, but you have destroyed yourselves. I will be your king; let me be your king.

Now look at the eleventh chapter, first verse:- 

When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.  Why does he speak that here in the last days of Israel, a thousand years after he had brought him out of Egypt? What is it for? 

When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images. I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them. I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them. He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return. And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels. And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the Most High, none at all would exalt him. 

The Lord is mourning over Israel now, just when he is on the brink of ruin. He is making the last call: the last prophecy comes now; and with this, and at this very time, Hezekiah is reigning in Judah. When he came to the throne he set about to reform the kingdom, and to recover it from the apostasy of Ahaz. When he had cleansed the temple, and put everything in order, they had a two weeks' Passover. But before that Passover, Hezekiah sent messengers throughout the whole of the ten tribes, what remained of them, to call them up to the Passover at Jerusalem, to worship the Lord God of Hosts; but the record is, they scoffed at the messengers, and they laughed them to scorn; yet "a multitude" out of Issachar, and Zebulun, and Naphtali, and the different parts of the provinces came up to Jerusalem, and kept the Passover, and joined themselves to the Lord. And when these people went up to Jerusalem and took their places among the people in Judah, in that very season the Assyrian king came up and took possession of the whole land of the ten tribes. And thus those who obeyed that call by Hezekiah to go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord, were saved from the captivity to Assyria. 

Now, just before Hezekiah makes his plea, Hosea is writing this, and the Lord is mourning over what the people are determined to do. See what he says:-  I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms. 

The Lord was so anxious to have them go in the right way, that he took them by the arms, and led them along; but they drew back the arm, they would not be led even that way. But yet he cannot give them up. See:- 

How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together. I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city. 

Thus he holds himself back from the judgments that must fall upon them. Because he is God, he will not let it fall yet; even when it must fall. But still they rebelled; still they went on in their own way. And the result is recorded in 2 Kings 17:5-8:- 

Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria and placed them in Halah, and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, and walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. 

Then it follows them down to the thirteenth verse:- 

Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets. Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God. And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them. 

Thus the ten tribes were lost. Hosea, when he prophesied of these, said, "Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints." Judah could stand yet awhile. Hezekiah was king; Manasseh followed Hezekiah, and he plunged the kingdom into apostasy again; his son followed his steps; Josiah followed him, and reformed the kingdom once more; and when Josiah was killed, then the kingdom went straight to ruin. There was no one after Josiah that feared the Lord. Even in Hezekiah's day, they were constantly calling for Egypt, and holding onto Egypt, trying to get Egypt to save them, trying to get help from Egypt, when the difficulties that had been brought upon them were all because of their unbelief and departure from the Lord. 

Now look at the latter days of Judah. Ahaz sent to Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, and asked him to come up and save him out of the hand of the king of Damascus and the king of Samaria. Tiglath-Pileser did so; he took possession of Damascus, thus relieving Ahaz. Ahaz paid him tribute, and went up to Damascus to meet him, and to pay him obeisance as a subject. While there he found an idolatrous altar, had one made like it, and set it up at the door of the temple of the Lord. Thus he led the nation into apostasy, as the others in Israel. 

In Judah Hezekiah succeeded Ahaz. When Hezekiah became king, he wanted to be delivered from the Assyrian rule and tribute. There was a party in Judah that were with Hezekiah, determined to be delivered from Assyria. This party supposed that the only way to do this was to get the help of Egypt. Isaiah was prophesying then, and he told them to depend upon the Lord for deliverance from both Egypt and Assyria. He told them that it was because of their sinning against the Lord, that they were oppressed. He told them that their attempt to get help from Egypt would not avail; because their trying to get help from Egypt, would bring them more oppression, because Egypt would only oppress them instead of helping them; that Egypt could not deliver. 

Now look at the eighth chapter of Isaiah. What passage of Scripture is it that is used so much by us in the book of Isaiah, about the coming of the Lord, and the waiting for the coming of the Lord? Where do we find it? Do you remember that the eighth chapter of Isaiah is the one that speaks about those who seek unto familiar spirits, that peep and mutter,-referring to Spiritualism? There is where it says, "Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him." Then is that an advent chapter?-Yes. Is that a chapter that reaches to the coming of the Lord?-Yes. 

Now see what is in that chapter. See what is in the beginning of this chapter, beginning with the fifth verse. 

The Lord spake also unto me again, saying, Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloh that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son [this was Assyria and Damascus]; now, therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks: and he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel. 

That was literally true concerning them. The king of Assyria came up and flooded the whole land. But why is that written in a connection and in a place where the coming of the Lord is looked for, and concerning a people who are to look for the coming of the Lord?

That is written in that place, and brought down to us, to show to all the people now in our day, that difficulties and hardships and perplexities are going to come upon all the land and upon all the nations, that will overflow and pass over and reach even to the neck and fill the breadth of the land, and that the people will not know how to escape it.

That is why this passage is brought down to us who are looking for the Lord. Let us read on and see. 

Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. Take counsel together, and it shall come to naught; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us. For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. 

Are there such times as that now, just now, just when the coming of the Lord is looked for? Are they associating themselves because fear and perplexity is upon them? because troubles are coming upon the land? Do we see anything of that kind anywhere? Have any of you seen it?-O yes, you have! Has anybody but Seventh-day Adventists seen it?-Indeed, if there could be any difference, nearly everybody sees it more plainly than the Adventists. But it is seen; that is plain enough. And they are associating themselves together, binding themselves in companies and bundles, and girding themselves. What are they girding themselves for? What is going to come?-They are going to be broken in pieces. Then what are they girding themselves for?-To be broken in pieces. Yet they do not think so; but that they are girding themselves against the evils that are coming. And the attempts they make to deliver themselves from the evils, only deepen the thing, and bring them that much nearer to destruction, and to the breaking in pieces.

Sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble, and fall and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of Hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion. 

It is clear that that reaches to the coming of the Lord. It is an exhortation to the people who are to meet the Lord. But why does it bring in the troubles in the time when Assyria was oppressing Judah? Because that simply shows most plainly what kind of troubles would be upon all the land and trouble all the people in the time of the coming of the Lord. And the attempts that Judah made to escape those evils and to deliver themselves from them, are exactly such attempts as will be made by made by those who profess to be the people of God, to deliver themselves from the evils that are coming. 

God is calling all the time: Put no dependence upon Assyria; put no dependence upon Egypt; but put your dependence upon the Lord alone.

Turn your back against Assyria: that is right. But do not go to Egypt to escape Assyria. Seek the Lord. Go not to Egypt; go to the Lord. And when you find the Lord with all your heart, you will be delivered from all this trouble and oppression from Assyria. Just a few words upon that. The thirtieth chapter of Isaiah tells us the secret of that. 

Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin: that walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt. Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. Verses 1-3.

His ambassador came down there to make their overtures to Egypt. And when Judah sent ambassadors to Egypt, Egypt was ashamed of the ambassadors. 

For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes. They were all ashamed of people that could not profit them, nor be a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach. The burden of the beasts of the South: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them. For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still. Verses 4-7. 

Now that you may see that this is not foreign, I turn here and read from a testimony, dated July 5, 1896, as follows:- 

The warnings given in the word of God to the children of Israel were meant, not merely for them, but for all who should live upon the earth.

 He says to them, "Woe to the rebellious children, . . . that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin: that walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt."

 If the Lord reproved his people anciently because they neglected to seek counsel of him when in difficulty, will he not be displeased to-day if his people, instead of depending on the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness to enlighten their way, turn from him in their test and trial, for aid, to human beings who are as erring and inefficient as themselves?

Where is our strength? Is it in men who are as helpless and dependent as ourselves; who need guidance from God even as we do? Christ says, "Without me ye can do nothing;" and he has provided the Holy Spirit as a present help in every time of need.

 

But you know that in the perplexities of last year, that were hoped to be settled by the political campaign, even Seventh-day Adventists were so carried away from their allegiance to God that they would take part in the campaign in trying to manipulate the affairs of politics and to control the elections and trying to shape up things. What for?-O to help the land out of the difficulties that they were so sure were coming upon the land. Of course, difficulties are coming upon the land. But will Seventh-day Adventists form themselves into companies for any such work as that? Let them be delivered from Assyria; let them be delivered both from Assyria and Egypt unto God. This is the only salvation. This is the only deliverance, whether then, now, or evermore.