Emptied of Self By Christ.

Read the following excerpt.

 

Some question the validity of Christ's being able to overcome sin. They say He had the upper hand over us because He was God in flesh. We have no power, we are sinners from birth, we have no way of defeating sin. Logic dictates that Christ's overcoming sin had to be valid or Satan would not be defeated. If there were any special privilege given to Christ that we have no access too then what was accomplished would have no meaning at all. 

So what exactly happened? How did Christ overcome as us in human flesh if He did not use any special means due to His divinity?

 

Read the following excerpt- the insight is incredible-

 

(Excerpt)

 

Luk_17:21  …the kingdom of God is within you.

 

"The kingdom of God is within you." Christ dwells within us and He is the King.

 

The law of God is written upon the heart and that is the law of the kingdom. Where the King and the law of the kingdom are, there is the kingdom. In the inmost recesses, the secret chamber of the heart, at the very root, the fountain of the thought--there Christ sets up His throne; there the law of God is written by the Spirit; there the King asserts His authority and sets forth the principles of His government and allegiance to that [sic.] is Christianity.

 

Thus at the very citadel of the soul, the very citadel of the thoughts, the very place, the only place, where sin can enter--there God sets up His throne; there He establishes His kingdom; there He puts His law, and the power to cause the authority of the law to be recognized and the principles of the law to be carried out in the life, and the result is peace only and all the time. That is the very thing that Christ hath brought to us, and which comes to us in the mind of Christ.

 

Let us look at that a little further.

 

When Christ had our human nature, He was there in His divine self but didn't manifest any of His divine self in that place. What did He do with His divine self in our flesh when He became ourselves?

 

His divine self was always kept back--emptied--in order that our evil, satanic selves might be kept back--emptied.

 

Now in the flesh He Himself did nothing. He says: "Of mine own self I can do nothing." He was there all the time. His own divine self, who made the heavens, was there all the time. But from beginning to end He Himself did nothing. Himself was kept back; He was emptied.

 

Joh_5:30  I can of mine own self do nothing…

 

Who, then did that which was done in Him?  The Father that dwelleth in Me, "He doeth the works, He speaks the worlds"--Then who was it that opposed the power of temptation in Him in our flesh? The Father. It was the Father who kept Him from sinning. He was "kept by the power of God" as we are to be "kept by the power of God." 1 Peter 1:5.

 

1Pe 1:4  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 

1Pe 1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 

 

He was our sinful selves in the flesh, and here were all these tendencies to sin being stirred up in His flesh to get Him to consent to sin. But He Himself did not keep Himself from sinning. To have done so would have been Himself manifesting Himself against the power of Satan, and this would have destroyed the plan of salvation,  even though He had not sinned.

 

And though at the cross the words were said in mockery, they were literally true: "He saved others; Himself He cannot save." Therefore He kept Himself entirely out. He emptied Himself,  and by His keeping Himself back, that gave the Father an opportunity to come in and work against the sinful flesh and save Him and save us in Him.

 

Sinners are separated from God, and God wants to come back to the very place from which sin has driven Him in human flesh. He could not come to us, in ourselves, for we could not bear His presence. Therefore Christ came in our flesh and the Father dwelt with Him. He could bear the presence of God in its fullness, and so God could dwell with Him in His fullness and this could bring the fullness of God to us in our flesh.

 

Christ came in that sinful flesh but did not do anything of Himself against the temptation and the power of sin in the flesh. He emptied Himself and the Father worked in human flesh against the power of sin and kept Him from sinning.

 

1Pe_1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

 

Now it is written of the Christian: "Ye are kept by the power of God through faith." That is done in Christ. We yield to Christ; Christ abides in us, giving us His mind. That mind of Christ enables our wicked self to be in the background. The mind of Christ--"let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus"--puts our wicked selves beneath and keeps ourselves back and keeps us from asserting ourselves, for any manifestation of ourself is of itself sin.

 

When the mind of Christ puts ourselves beneath, that gives the Father a chance to work with us and keep us from sinning. And thus God "worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure."

 

Thus it is always the Father and Christ and ourselves.

 

It is the Father manifested in us through Christ, and in Christ.

 

The mind of Christ empties us of our sinful selves and keeps us from asserting ourselves in order that God, the Father, may join Himself to us and work against the power of sin and keep us from sinning.

 

Thus Christ "is our peace, who hath made both [God and us] one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;  having abolished in his flesh the enmity...for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace."

 

Eph_2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace

 

So it is always the Father and Christ and we; we, the sinners; God the sinless; Christ joining the sinless One to the sinful one and in Himself abolishing the enmity, emptying self in us, in order that God and we may be one, and thus make one new man, so making peace. And thus the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through, or in, Jesus Christ.

 

Is it not a most blessed thing that the Lord Jesus has done that for us and so takes up His abode in us and so settles that question that there can be no more doubt that the Father will keep us from sinning than there is that He has kept Him from sinning already? No more doubt; because when Christ is there, He is there for the purpose of emptying self in us.

 

And when ourselves are gone, will it be any very great difficulty for the Father to manifest Himself? When ourselves are kept from asserting ourselves there will be no difficulty for God to assert Himself in our flesh. That is the mystery of God: "Christ in you, the hope of glory." God manifest in the flesh. It is not simply Christ manifest in the flesh; it is God manifest in the flesh. For when Jesus came in the world Himself, it was not Christ manifest in the flesh; it was God manifest in the flesh, for "he that hath seen me, hath seen the Father."

 

Christ emptied Himself in order that God might be manifest in the flesh, in sinful flesh, and when He comes to us and dwells in us, upon our choice, bringing to us that divine mind of His which is the mind that empties self wherever it goes, wherever it can find an entrance, wherever it can find any place to act, the mind of Christ is the emptying of self, is the abolishing of self, the destruction of self, the annihilation of self. Therefore, when by our choice that divine mind comes to us, the result is as certain that ourselves will be emptied as that the mind dwells in us. And as soon as that is done, God works fully and manifests Himself, in sinful flesh though it be. And that is victory. That is triumph.

And thus with the mind we serve the law of God. The law is manifested, it is fulfilled, its principles shine in the life, because the life is the character of God manifest in human flesh, sinful flesh, through Jesus Christ.

 

It seems to me that that thought ought to raise every one of us above all the power of Satan and of sin. It will do that as certainly as we surrender to that divine mind and let it abide in us as it abode in Him. It will do it.

 

To be continued…

 

1895 G.C. Sermon #18  by A.T. Jones

 

Where The Thoughts Are.

(Excerpt)

 

We will begin our study this evening with Rom. 7:25: "With the mind I myself serve the law of God."

 

I repeat the expression that I made in the previous lesson--that it is in the realm of the thoughts where the law of God is served, where the contention against sin is carried on and the victory won.

 

The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life--these tendencies to sin that are in the flesh,  drawing upon us--in this is the temptation. But temptation is not sin. Not until the desire is cherished is there sin.  But as soon as the desire is cherished, as soon as we consent to it and receive it into the mind and hold it there,  then there is sin; and whether that desire is carried out in action or not, the sin is committed.

 

In the mind, in fact,  we have already enjoyed the desire. In consenting to it we have already done the thing so far as the mind itself goes. All that can come after that is simply the sensual part, the sense of enjoying the satisfaction of the flesh.

 

This is shown in the Saviour's words in Matt. 5:27,28:

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: but I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

 

Therefore the only place where the Lord could bring help and deliverance to us, is right in the place where the thoughts are, at the very root of the thing that is sin, the very point where the sin is conceived and where it begins.

 

Consequently, when tempted and tried as He was--when He was spit upon, when they struck Him in the face and on the head in the trial in Jerusalem and in all His public ministry when the Pharisees, the Sadducees,  the scribes, and the priests in their iniquity and hypocrisy, which He knew, were all doing everything they could to irritate Him and get Him stirred up--when He was constantly tried thus, His hand was never raised to return the blow. He never had to check any such motion, because not even the impulse to make any such motion was ever allowed. Yet He had our human nature in which such impulses are so natural. Why then did not these motions manifest themselves in our human nature in Him?

 

For the reason that He was so surrendered to the will of the Father that the power of God through the Holy Spirit so worked against the flesh and fought the battle right in the field of the thoughts, never, in the subtlest form of the thought was there allowed any such thing to conceive. So that under all these insults and grievous trials He was just as calm, our human nature in Him was just as calm, as it was when the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove overshadowed Him on the banks of the Jordan.

 

Now "let this mind be in you."

 

It is not enough for a Christian to become all stirred up and say a few spiteful words or raise the hand in resentment and then say to Himself, "O, I am a Christian; I must not say this or do that." No. We are to be so submitted to the power of God and to the influence of the Spirit of God that our thoughts shall be so completely controlled that the victory shall be won already and not even the impulse be allowed. Then we shall be Christians everywhere and all the time under all circumstances and against all influences. But until we do reach that point, we are not sure that we shall show a Christian spirit under all circumstances and at all times and against all insults.

 

As stated in the previous lesson, the things that were heaped upon Christ and which He bore were the very things that were the hardest for human nature to bear. And we, before we get through with the cause in which we are engaged are going to have to meet these very things that are hardest for human nature to bear, and unless we have the battle won already and are Christians indeed, we are not sure that we shall show the Christian spirit in these times when it is most needed. In fact, the time when the Christian spirit is most needed is all the time.

 

Now in Jesus the Lord has brought to us just the power that will give us into the hand of God and cause us to be so submitted to Him that He shall so fully control every thought that we shall be Christians all the time and everywhere, "bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."

 

1895 G.C. Sermon #18  by A.T. Jones

Let Christ's Mind Be In You.

(Excerpt)

 

Now as to Christ's not having "like passions" with us: In the Scriptures all the way through He is like us and with us according to the flesh. He is the seed of David according to the flesh. He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. Don't go too far. He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, not in the likeness of sinful mind. Do not drag His mind into it. His flesh was our flesh, but the mind was "the mind of Christ Jesus." Therefore it is written: "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." If He had taken our mind, how, then, could we ever have been exhorted to "let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus?" It would have been so already. But what kind of mind is ours? O, it is corrupted with sin also. Look at ourselves in the second chapter of Ephesians,  beginning with the first verse and reading to the third, but the third verse is the one that has this particular point in it:

 

Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 

Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 

Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 

 

Now I refer you also to page 191 of the Bulletin, to the lessons we studied on the destruction of that enmity. We studied there where the enmity came from, you remember--how it got into this world--the ground is covered in this that I have just read. Adam had the mind of Jesus Christ in the garden; he had the divine mind--the divine and the human were united, sinlessly. Satan came in and offered his inducements through the appetite, through the flesh. Adam and Eve forsook the mind of Jesus Christ, the mind of God that was in them, and accepted the suggestions and the leadings of this other mind. Thus they were enslaved to that and so are we all. Now Jesus Christ comes into the world, taking our flesh, and in His sufferings and temptations in the wilderness He fights the battle upon the point of appetite.

 

Where Adam and Eve failed and where sin entered He fought the battle over and victory was won and righteousness entered. He having fasted forty days and forty nights--perfectly helpless, human as ourselves,  hungry as we--there came to Him the temptation, "If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." He answered, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

 

Then Satan took another turn. He argued: You are trusting in the word of God, are you? All right. Here the word of God says: "He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone." Now you are trusting in the word of God: you jump off here, for it is written, "He shall give his angels charge concerning thee." Jesus answered again: "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."

 

Then Satan took Jesus upon an exceeding high mountain and showed Him all the glory of them too--the glory,  the honor, the dignity--he showed Him all that. And there at that moment there was stirred up all the ambition that ever appeared in Napoleon or Caesar or Alexander or all of them put together. But from Jesus still the answer is: "It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."

 

Then the devil departed from Him for a season, and angels came and ministered unto Him. There was the power of Satan conquered in man on the point of appetite--just where that power was gained over man. This man at the first had the mind of God; he forsook it and took the mind of Satan. In Jesus Christ the mind of God is brought back once more to the sons of men, and Satan is conquered. Therefore, it is gloriously true, as the word reads in Dr. Young's translation and in the German, as it does in the Greek: "We know that the Son of God is come and has given us a mind." 1 John 5:20

 

Read the last words of 1 Cor. 2:16: "We have the mind of Christ."

 

Put the two transactions together. The German and the Danish and also the Greek are alike. Put the two together: "We know that the Son of God is come and has given us a mind" and "We have the mind of Christ." Thank the Lord!

 

Read in Romans now. I will read from the Greek, beginning with the twenty-fourth verse of the seventh chapter.  You remember from the tenth to the twenty-fourth verses is that contest: The good I would do, I do not; and the evil I hate, that I do. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. There the flesh has control and draws the mind after it, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. Now.:

O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I myself with the mind indeed serve the law of God [or rather serve God's law, literally here];  but with the flesh, sin's law. There is then now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus who walk not according to flesh but according to Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus set me free from the law of sin and of death. For the law being powerless, in that it was weak through the flesh, God having sent his own son in likeness of flesh of sin, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the requirement of the law should be fulfilled in us, who not according to flesh walk, but according to Spirit. For they that according to flesh are, the things of the flesh mind; and they according to Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit [that is, the Spirit's mind; the one is the flesh's mind, and the other is the Spirit's mind], life and peace. Because the mind of the flesh is enmity toward God: for to the law of God it is not subject; for neither can it be; and they that in flesh are, God please can not [that is, cannot please God]. But ye are not in flesh, but in spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you; but if any one the Spirit of Christ has not, he is not of him: but if Christ be in you, the body is dead, on account of sin, but the Spirit life [is] on account of righteousness.

 

Our minds have consented to sin. We have felt the enticements of the flesh and our minds yielded, our minds consented and did the wills and the desires of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. The flesh leads and our minds have followed, and with the flesh the law of sin is served. When the mind can lead, the law of God is served. But as our minds have surrendered, yielded to sin, they have themselves become sinful and weak and are led away by the power of sin in the flesh.

 

Now the flesh of Jesus Christ was our flesh and in it was all that is in our flesh--all the tendencies to sin that are in our flesh were in His flesh, drawing upon Him to get Him to consent to sin. Suppose He had consented to sin with His mind--what then? Then His mind would have been corrupted and then He would have become of like passions with us. But in that case He Himself would have been a sinner; He would have been entirely enslaved and we all would have been lost--everything would have perished.

I will read now from the new Life of Christ, advance copy, upon this very point:

 

It is true that Christ at one time said of himself, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." John 14:30. Satan finds in human hearts some point where he can gain a foothold; some sinful desire is cherished, by means of which his temptations assert their power.

 

Where does he start the temptation? In the flesh.

 

Satan reaches the mind through the flesh; God reaches the flesh through the mind.

 

Satan controls the mind through the flesh. Through this means--through the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, the pride of life, and through ambition for the world and the honor and respect of men--through these things Satan draws upon us, upon our minds to get us to yield. Our minds respond and we cherish that thing. By this means his temptations assert their power. Then we have sinned. But until that drawing of our flesh is cherished, there is no sin. There is temptation, but not sin. Every man is tempted when he is drawn away thus and enticed, and when lust has conceived, when that desire is cherished, then it brings forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death.

 

Read farther now:

 

Some sinful desire [with us] is cherished, by means of which his temptations assert their power. But he could find nothing in the Son of God that would enable him to gain the victory. Jesus did not consent to sin. Not even by a thought could he be brought to yield to the power of temptation.

 

Thus you see that where the victory comes, where the battlefield is, is right upon the line between the flesh and the mind.

 

The battle is fought in the realm of the thoughts.

 

The battle against the flesh, I mean, is fought altogether and the victory won in the realm of the thoughts.

 

Therefore, Jesus Christ came in just such flesh as ours but with a mind that held its integrity against every temptation, against every inducement to sin--a mind that never consented to sin--no, never in the least conceivable shadow of a thought.

 

And by that means He has brought that divine man to every man on earth. Therefore every man for the choosing and by choosing can have that divine mind that conquers sin in the flesh. Dr. Young's translation of 1 John 5:20 is: "Ye know that the Son of God has come, and hath given us a mind."

 

The German says the same thing exactly and the Greek too--"has given us a mind."

 

To be sure he has. That is what He came for.

 

We had the carnal mind,  the mind that followed Satan and yielded to the flesh. What was it that enslaved Eve's mind? O, she saw that the tree was good for food. It was not good for any such thing. The appetite, the lusts of the flesh, the desires of the flesh, led her off. She took of the tree and did eat. The appetite led, and enslaved the mind--that is, the mind of the flesh, and that is enmity against God; it comes from Satan.

 

In Jesus Christ it is destroyed by the divine mind which He brought into the flesh. By this divine mind He put the enmity underfoot and kept it there. By this He condemned sin in the flesh. So there is our victory. In Him is our victory, and it is all in having that mind which was in Him.

 

O, it is all told in the beginning. There came in this enmity, and Satan took man captive and enslaved the mind.  God says, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed." Who was her seed? Christ. "It [her seed] shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his" head? No, sir. No, sir. "Thou shalt bruise his heel." All that Satan could do with Christ was to entice the flesh, to lay temptations before the flesh.  He could not affect the mind of Christ. But Christ reaches the mind of Satan, where the enmity lies and where it exists and He destroys that wicked thing. It is all told there in the story in Genesis.

The blessedness of it is, Satan can only deal with the flesh. He can stir up the desires of the flesh, but the mind of Christ stands there and says, No, no. The law of God is to be served and the body of flesh must come under.

 

We shall have to follow this thought further. But even only so far there is blessing, there is joy, there is salvation in it for every soul.

 

Therefore "let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." That conquers sin in the sinful flesh. By his promise we are made partakers of the divine nature. Divinity and humanity are united once more when the divine mind of Jesus Christ by His divine faith abides in human flesh. Let them be united in you and be glad and rejoice forevermore in it.

 

To be continued…

 

1895 G.C. Sermon #17  by A.T. Jones

Every Human Being.

'The very thing that we are studying is that Christ has allied Himself with every soul on the earth. He has linked Himself with every human being, with every one in sinful flesh, and we are not to hide ourselves from Him who is our flesh…

 

…What is our profession in the world? We profess the name of Christ, which in the nature of things, demands that we respect the investment that He has made in every human soul and that we minister to all in need.

 

… "Search heaven and earth and there is no truth revealed more powerful" in Christian work and in teaching the truth as it is in Jesus. In heaven and earth there is nothing like it.

 

Just in this time, when such a fast as that is needed everywhere and among us especially, how blessed a thing it is that the Lord brings us right to that point and reveals the whole subject to us, giving us the Spirit and the secret that will do the whole of it in Christ's name, for His sake, with His Spirit, and to every man, because every soul is the purchase of Christ. Wherever we meet a human being, Christ has allied Himself with that man.  Whoever He is, the Lord is interested in Him; He has invested all that He has in that man.

 

This truth draws us to the point where we shall always be doing everything possible to put forth the attractions of Christ, the graces of Christ and the goodness of Christ to men who know Him not but in whom He has invested all so that they may be drawn to where they, too, will respect the goodness of Christ and the wondrous investment that He has made in them.

 

If you are doing it for the man's sake or for your own credit, you may be taken in, of course. But if you do it as unto Christ and because of Christ's interest in the man, it is literally impossible for you ever to be "taken in, for Christ ever liveth and doth not forget. "Give to Him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away."

 

Here is the principle: It is to Christ that we are doing it. And as stated in the previous lesson, though the man may despise Christ and never believe on Him as long as the world lasts and may sink into perdition at the last,  Christ in that great day when I stand on His right hand yonder will not have forgotten it. And in remembrance of it He will then say: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

 

You remember the place where He says: "Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward." Matt. 10:42.  And this being so, when done only in the name of a disciple, how much more when it is done always in the name of the Lord himself! "For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love which ye have showed toward His name in that ye have ministered to the saints and do minister." Heb. 6:10. Do you minister? That is the question.

 

This is the true fellowship of man, the true brotherhood of man. A great deal is said nowadays about "the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man." But it is just the brotherhood of such men as they approve all the time. If you belong to our order, then that is the brotherhood of man, but if you do not, we have nothing to do with you. Even churches also act the same way: If you belong to our church, then that is the brotherhood of man, but if you do not belong to our church, why, we have no particular interest in you, as we have nothing to do, properly, with caring for those who are outside of our church. This is our brotherhood of man.

 

All this is not the brotherhood of man at all. The true fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man is the brotherhood of man in Jesus Christ. It is to see Jesus Christ as He has allied Himself to every man, and as He has invested all He has in every man. He has broken down the middle wall of partition. In His flesh, which was our flesh, He has broken down the middle wall of partition that was between us, for to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace indeed. And in Him there is neither Greek nor Jew, black nor white, barbarian, Cythian,  bond, nor free; nothing of the kind. All are one in Christ Jesus, and there is no respect of persons with God.

 

In Jesus Christ alone is the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, and in Jesus Christ we find the brotherhood of man only when we find Christ the Brother of every man.

 

It is written, "For which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren." Not ashamed to call who brethren?  Every one that is of flesh and blood--Christ is not ashamed to call him brother. He is not ashamed to go and take him by the hand, even though his breath does smell of liquor and say, "Come with me, and let us go a better way." That is the brotherhood of man.

 

It has been Satan's work always to get men to think that God is far away as possible. But it is the Lord's everlasting effort to get men to find out that He is as near to every one as possible. So it is written: He is not far from every one of us.

 

The great trouble with heathenism was to think that God was so far away--not only far away but full of wrath at them all, and only waiting to get a chance to pick them up and savagely shake them and plunge them into perdition. So viewing Him, they made offerings to get Him in a good humor and to keep Him from hurting them.  But He was not far from every one of them all the time. "Not far." That is near--so near that all they had to do was to "feel after him." Although they were blind and in the dark too, all they had to do was to feel after Him and they would "find him." Acts 17:21-28.

 

Then the papacy came in, the very incarnation of that enmity between man and God. This incarnation of evil entered under the name of Christianity, and it again puts God and Christ so far away that nobody can come near to them. Everybody else comes in before God.

 

Then in addition to all this, He is so far away that Mary and her mother and her father--and then all the rest of the Catholic saints clear down to Joan of Arc and Christopher Columbus pretty soon--all these have to come in between God and men so as to make such a connection that all can be sure that they are noticed by Him.

 

But this is all of Satan's invention. Christ is not so far away as that. He is not far enough away to get a single relation in between Him and me or between Him and you. And this is just where God wants us to view Him--so near that it is impossible for anything or anybody to get between. But to how many people has He come so near?  He is not far from every one of us, even the heathen.

The incarnation of that enmity that is against God and that separates between man and God--the papacy built up this, and now here is this same thought that we mentioned a moment ago, the false idea that He is so holy that it would be entirely unbecoming in Him to come near to us and be possessed of such a nature as we have--sinful,  depraved, fallen human nature. Therefore Mary must be born immaculate, perfect, sinless, and higher than the cherubim and seraphim and then Christ must be so born of her as to take His human nature in absolute sinlessness from her. But that puts Him farther away from us than the cherubim and the seraphim are and in a sinless nature.

 

But if He comes no nearer to us than in a sinless nature, that is a long way off, because I need somebody that is nearer to me than that. I need someone to help me who knows something about sinful nature, for that is the nature that I have, and such the Lord did take. He became one of us. Thus, you see, this is present truth in every respect, now that the papacy is taking possession of the world and the image of it is going on in the wrong way,  forgetting all that God is in Jesus Christ and all that Christ is in the world--having the form of godliness without the reality, without the power. In this day is it not just the thing that is needed in the world, that God should proclaim the real merits of Jesus Christ once more and His holiness?

 

It is true He is holy; He is altogether holy. But His holiness is not that kind that makes Him afraid to be in company with people who are not holy for fear He will get His holiness spoiled. Anybody who has such a kind of holiness that they cannot be found in the company--in the name of Jesus Christ--of people who are fallen and lost and degraded, without spoiling it would better get rid of it as quickly as possible and get the right kind,  because that kind of holiness is not worth having. It is already spoiled.

 

[Question: What about the reputation?

Answer: The Christian has no reputation. He has character. The Christian asks no questions about reputation.  Character, character is all that the Christian cares for and that the character of God, revealed in Jesus Christ.]

 

But there is a great amount of just that kind of holiness among professed Christians in these days… It is that kind of "holiness" which leads many to be ready to exclaim if a brother or sister--a sister especially--should go among the fallen,  unfortunate ones and begin to work for them and sympathize with them and help them up: "O, well, if you are going with such people as that, I cannot associate with you any more. Indeed, I am not sure that I want to belong to the church any more, if you are going to work for such people and bring them into the church."

 

The answer to all such expressions as those is: Very good. If you do not want to belong to the church with such people as that, you would better get out of the church as quickly as possible, for very soon the church of Jesus Christ is going to have just that kind of people in it. "The publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom before you."

 

The church of Jesus Christ, in a little while, is going to be so molded upon the grace of Jesus Christ and so filled with His holy character that its members will not be afraid to go, as did He, to the lowest depths to pick up the fallen. They will have such measure of the holiness of Jesus Christ that they will not be afraid of becoming defiled by going in His name down to the lowest.

 

But that kind of holiness which says: "Come not near to me, for I am holier than thou"--stand aloof or you will defile my holy garments--O, that is the holiness of the devil! Away with it!

 

God's holiness is pure, that is true; it is such holiness that sin cannot bear the presence of it. It is holiness of such transcendent purity and power as to be a consuming fire to sin. Its consuming power upon sin is because of its wondrous purity, and therefore because of the wondrous purity, and the power of that wondrous purity of the holiness of God in Jesus Christ, He longs to come in contact with those who are laden with sins, who are permeated through and through with sins in order that this holiness, finding an entrance, shall consume the sin and save the soul. That is Christ's holiness.

 

It is one of the most blessed truths in the Bible, that our God is a consuming fire because of His holiness. For then in Jesus Christ we meet Him whose holiness is a consuming fire to sin, and that is the pledge of our salvation in perfection from every stain of sin. The brightness, the glory, the all consuming purity of that holiness will take every vestige of sin and sinfulness out of the man who will meet God in Jesus Christ.

 

Thus in His true holiness, Christ could come and did come to sinful men in sinful flesh, where sinful men are.  Thus in Christ and in Christ alone is found the brotherhood of man. All indeed are one in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Some have found and all may find in the Testimonies the statement that Christ has not "like passions" as we have. The statement is there; every one may find it there, of course.

 

Now there will be no difficulty in any of these studies from beginning to end. If you will stick precisely to what is said and not go beyond what is said nor put into it what is not said, whether it be touching Church and State,  separation from the world or this of Christ in our flesh. Stick strictly to what is said. Do not go to drawing curious conclusions. Some have drawn the conclusion some time ago--and you can see what a fearful conclusion it is--that "Christ became ourselves; He is our flesh. Therefore, I am Christ." They say Christ forgave sins; I can forgive sins; He wrought miracles; I must work miracles. That is a fearful argument. There are no two ways about that.

 

Christ became ourselves, in our place, weak as we, and in all points like as we are, in order that he might be that forever and never that we should be Himself. No. It is God who is to be manifested always and not ourselves. In order that this might be, Christ emptied Himself and took ourselves in order that God Himself might come to us,  appear in us, and be revealed in us and through us in all things. It is always God and never ourselves. That which ruined us at the start was the exaltation of ourselves, the setting forth of ourselves and the putting of ourselves above God. In order that we might get rid of our wicked selves, Christ emptied His righteous self and stood in the place of our wicked selves and crucified ourselves, putting ourselves under foot always, in order that God might be all in all. How much? All. All in how many? All. It was done that God might be all that there is in me and all there is in you and all there is in Christ. Assuredly that is what this was done for. We are not to exalt ourselves. Christ is to increase. I am to decrease. He is to live. I am to die. He is to be exalted. I am to be emptied.'

 

1895 G.C. Sermon #16  by A.T. Jones

A Fast Not of Food- But of Self-Serving.

Isa 58:1  Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. 

Isa 58:2  Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. 

Isa 58:3  Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. 

Isa 58:4  Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. 

Isa 58:5  Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? 

Isa 58:6  Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 

Isa 58:7  Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? 

Isa 58:8  Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. 

Isa 58:9  Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; 

Isa 58:10  And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: 

Isa 58:11  And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. 

Isa 58:12  And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. 

Isa 58:13  If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: 

Isa 58:14  Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. 

'Turn to the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah. Let us read a portion of that chapter to begin with this evening, as connecting with the close of the lesson we had last night:

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet and show my people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways as a nation that did righteousness and forsook not the ordinance of their God.

Just as though they were in harmony with all the ordinances of the Lord.

"They ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. Wherefore have we fasted,  say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul and thou takest no knowledge?

[Here is the answer.] 

Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure and exact all your labors. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen?

The text asks, 

"Is it...a day for a man to afflict his soul?" 

The margin is the better reading: "Is it... for a man to afflict his soul for a day?"

A man proposes to fast; he goes without vituals, perhaps from breakfast to supper--and afflicts his soul by thus going hungry and calls that a fast. He has afflicted his soul for a day.

Is it such a fast that I have chosen? for a man to afflict his soul for a day? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast and an acceptable day to the Lord?

Here is the fast that the Lord has appointed:

Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

That is the point at which the lesson closed last night. That is the fast that God has chosen for His people; that is an acceptable fast unto the Lord. But that fast never can be observed until those who would observe it have come to the place where they shall see Jesus Christ allied, as He is, to every soul on this earth and shall treat him according to the alliance that Christ has made with him. When we reach that place--and we reach it in Jesus Christ, for it is there--then that will be the fast that we will observe right along.'

1895 G.C. Sermon #16  by A.T. Jones (EXCERPT)

Not Until They Are Sealed.

After John saw so much, he was shown more. Jesus had opened six seals which reached all the way down through history to the 'great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?'  Seriously, our Savior's return will be a GREAT day of wrath for many, we can't ignore that truth in favor of wanting to believe the lies that Satan weaves all about us. Too many want to believe that they will face no wrath, that there isn't even a God to exact any wrath other than the god portrayed in movies. That great day will arrive and John was witness to that day in the visions given to him.

 

Ask yourself a question… after the great day of wrath, after the return of our Savior then strife no longer matters- it's over- for all those who are Christ's are now redeemed and all those who are not Christ's are destroyed.

 

What John sees next isn't the seventh seal being opened, so he is still being shown things of the sixth seal. Perhaps in greater detail. We understand how we can be shown something and then we zoom in so we can see more detail. This has to be what is happening, because the angels work is finished after our Savior returns. So, having said that, let's look in greater detail at what John is being shown under the sixth seal.

 

Next, John saw four angels… 

 

Rev 7:1  And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. 

 

Four angels standing on the four corners of the earth- North, South, East and West. These angels were holding the four winds of the earth. We all know how destructive wind can be in a literal sense, and we know that if there are four angels HOLDING the wind they are holding the four winds for a reason. This wind is being kept from blowing on earth, sea, and trees. The power of the angels needed to keep things from being destroyed is tremendous. Yet things need to be kept from being destroyed because God will have His way. God will keep things in check only allowing them to have their way according to His plans.

John watched the four angels protecting the earth and then he saw ANOTHER angel. This angel came from the east and he had the SEAL of the living God.

 

Rev 7:2  And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, 

Rev 7:3  Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. 

 

This angel cried with a LOUD voice to those four angels. The four angels who were by God's command in control of allowing things loosed, the winds released, and those things, those winds, would be allowed to HURT the earth and sea once they were loosed. This angel cried loudly to those other angels in control saying, HURT NOT the earth, neither the sea nor the trees.  DO NOT HURT anything yet! Do not let go of the winds, do not release the power that will hurt. Why? Because the other angel has to SEAL the servants of God in their forehead first. God's servants need to be protected, and they are protected by being sealed as belonging to God.

 

Now, I want to go to the writings we've been following- Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith, and I want to read what he has to say about the above.

 

I am not a Biblical scholar by any means. I seek God's truth only and I pray to God that He will open my understanding, helping me discern between truth and lies. Too many would have me believe that what I believe are just lies, but when I look at the very big picture of history hand in hand with God's word I can't help but believe that God has opened my eyes by the Holy Spirit to His Truth. Prayerfully all who seek God will know only His truth and nothing else. I'm not asking anyone to believe what I believe- they need to believe what God would have them believe- which prayerfully is His truth.

 

Excerpt-

 

'The chronology of the work here introduced is established beyond mistake. The sixth chapter closed with the events of the sixth seal, and the seventh seal is not mentioned until we reach the opening of chapter 8.

 

The whole of chapter is therefore thrown in here parenthetically. Why is it thus thrown in at this point? - Evidently for the purpose of stating additional particulars concerning the sixth seal.

 

The expression, "after these things," does not mean after the fulfilment of all the events previously described; but after the prophet had been carried down in vision to the close of the sixth seal, in order not to break the consecutive order of events as given in chapter 6, his mind is called to what is mentioned in chapter 7, as further particulars to transpire in connection with that seal.

 

Then we inquire, Between what events in that seal does this work come in?

 

It must transpire before the departing of the heavens as a scroll; for after that event there is no place for such a work as this. And it must take place subsequently to the signs in the sun, moon, and stars; for

p 459 -- these signs have been fulfilled, and such a work has not yet been accomplished. It comes in, therefore, between the 13th and 14th verses of Revelation 6; but there, as already shown, is just where we now stand. Hence the first part of Revelation 7 relates to a work the accomplishment of which may be looked for at the present time.

 

Four Angels. - Angels are ever-present agents in the affairs of the earth; and why may not these be four of those heavenly beings into whose hands God has committed the work here described; namely, holding the winds while it is God's purpose that they should not blow, and hurting the earth with them when the time comes that they should be loosed? For it will be noticed (verse 3) that the "hurting" is a work committed to their hands equally with the "holding;" so that they do not merely let the winds go when they are to blow, but they cause them to blow; they impel forward the work of destruction with their own supernatural energy. But the hurting process here brought to view does not include the seven last plagues. That work is given into the hands of seven special angels; this, into the hands of four. Or, it may be that when the time comes for the pouring out of the plagues, the seven angels who have specific charge of these judgments, unite with the four whose mission it is to cause the winds to blow, and all together bring on that pre-eminent exhibition of divine vengeance against a generation which is pre-eminent in guilt.

 

Four Corners of the Earth. - An expression denoting the four quarters, or the four points of the compass, and signifying that these angels, in their particular sphere, had charge of the whole earth.

 

The Four Winds. - Winds, in the Bible, symbolize political commotion, strife, and war. Dan. 7:2; Jer. 25:32. The four winds, held by four angels standing in the four quarters of the earth, must denote all the elements of strife and commotion that exist in the world; and when they are all loosed, and all blow together, it will constitute the great whirlwind just referred to in the prophecy of Jeremiah.

 

p 460 -- The Angel Ascending From the East. - Another literal angel, having charge of another specific work, is here introduced. Instead of the words "ascending from the east," some translations read, "Ascending from the sun rising," which is a more literal translation. The expression evidently refers to manner rather than locality; for as the sun arises with rays at first oblique and comparatively powerless, but increases in strength until it shines in all its meridian power and splendor, so the work of this angel commences in weakness, moves onward with ever-accumulating influence, and closes in strength and power.

 

The Seal of the Living God. - This is the distinguishing characteristic of the ascending angel; he bears with him the seal of the living God.

 

From this fact, and the chronology of his work, we are to determine, if possible, what movement is symbolized by his mission. The nature of his work is evidently embraced in his having the seal of the living God; and to ascertain what his work is, the inquiry must be answered what this seal of the living God is, which he bears with him.

 

1. The Term Seal Defined. - A seal is defined to be an instrument of sealing; that which "is used by individuals, corporate bodies, and states, for making impressions on wax, upon instruments of writing, as an evidence of their authenticity." The original word in this passage is defined, "A seal, i. e., a signet ring; a mark, stamp, badge; a token, a pledge." Among the significations of the verb are the following: "To secure to any one, to make sure; to set a seal or mark upon anything in token of its being genuine or approved; to attest, to confirm, to establish, to distinguish by a mark." By a comparison of Gen. 17:11 with Rom. 4:11, and Rev.7:3 with Eze. 9:4, in connection with the above definition, the reader will see that the words token, sign, seal, and mark are used in the Bible as synonymous terms.

 

The seal of God, as brought to view in our text, is to be applied to the servants of God.

 

We are not, of course, to suppose that in this case it is some literal mark to be made in the flesh, but that it is some institution or observance having special reference to God, which will serve

p 461 -- as a "mark of distinction" between the worshipers of God and those who are not in truth his servants, though they may profess to follow him.

 

2. The Use of a Seal. - A seal is used to render valid or authentic any enactments, or laws, which a person or power may promulgate. Frequent instances of its use occur in the Scriptures. In 1 Kings 21:8, we read that Jezebel "wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal." These letters then had all the authority of King Ahab. Again, in Esther 3:12: "In the name of King Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king's ring." So also in chapter 8:8: "The writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse."

 

3. Where a Seal is Used. - Always in connection with some law or enactment that demands obedience, or upon documents that are to be made legal, or subject to the provisions of law. The idea of law is inseparable from a seal.

 

4. As Applied to God. - We are not to suppose that to the enactments and laws of God binding upon men, there must be attached a literal seal, made with literal instruments; but from the definition of the term, and the purpose for which a seal is used, as shown above, we must understand a seal to be strictly that which gives validity and authenticity to enactments and laws.

 

This is found, though a literal seal may not be used, in the name or signature of the law-making power, expressed in such terms as to show what the power is, and its right to make laws and demand obedience. Even with a literal seal, the name must always be used. (See the references above given.) An instance of the use of the name alone seems to occur in Dan. 6:8: "Now, 0 king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not;" that is, affix the sigmature of royalty, showing who it is that demands obedience, and his right to demand it.

 

In a gospel prophecy found in Isaiah 8, we read: "Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples." This must refer to a work of reviving in the minds of the disciples some of the claims of the law which had been overlooked,

p 462 -- or perverted from their true meaning, and this, in the prophecy, is called sealing the law, or restoring to it its seal, which had been taken from it.

 

Again, the 144,000, who in the chapter before us are said to be sealed with the seal of God in their foreheads, are again brought to view in Rev. 14:1, where they are said to have the Father's name written in their foreheads.

 

From the foregoing reasoning, facts, and declarations of Scripture, two conclusions inevitably follow: -

 

1. The seal of God is found in connection with the law of God.

2. The seal of God is that part of his law which contains his name, or descriptive title, showing who he is, the extent of his dominion, and his right to rule.

 

The law of God is admitted by all the leading evangelical denominations to be summarily contained in the decalogue, or ten commandments. We have, then, but to examine these commandments to see which one it is that constitutes the seal of the law, or, in other words, makes known the true God, the law-making power. The first three commandments mention the word God; but we cannot tell from these who is meant, for there are multitudes of objects to which this name is applied. There are "gods many and lords many," as the apostle says. 1 Cor. 8:5. Passing over the fourth commandment for the time being, the fifth contains the words Lord and God, but does not define them; and the remaining five precepts do not contain the name of God at all. Now what shall be done? With that portion of the law which we have examined, it would be impossible to convict the grossest idolater of sin. The worshiper of images could say, This idol before me is my god; his name is god, and these are his precepts. The worshiper of the heavenly bodies could also say, The sun is my god, and I worship him according to this law. Thus, without the fourth commandment, the decalogue is null and void, so far as it pertains to enforcing the worship of the true God. But let us now add the fourth commandment, restore to the law this precept, which many are ready to contend has been expunged, and see how the case will then

p 463 -- stand. As we examine this commandment, which contains the declaration, "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is," etc., we see at once that we are reading the requirements of Him who created all things.

 

The sun, then, is not the God of the decalogue; the true God is he who made the sun. No object in heaven or earth is the being who here demands obedience; for the God of this law is the one who made all created things. Now we have a weapon against idolatry. Now this law can no longer be applied to false gods, who "have not made the heavens and the earth." Jer. 10:11. Now the author of this law has declared who he is, the extent of his dominion, and his right to rule; for every created intelligence must at once assent that He who is the Creator of all, has a right to demand obedience from all his creatures. Thus with the fourth commandment in its place, this wonderful document, the decalogue, the only document among men which God ever wrote with his own finger, has a signature; it has that which renders it intelligible and authentic; it has a seal. But without the fourth commandment, it lacks all these things.

 

From the foregoing reasoning, it is evident that the fourth commandment constitutes the seal of the law of God, or the seal of God. But the Scriptures do not leave us without direct testimony on this point.

 

We have seen above that in Scripture usage, sign, seal, token, and mark are synonymous terms. Now, the Lord expressly says that the Sabbath is a sign between him and his people. "Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." Ex. 31:13.

 

The same fact is again stated by the prophet Ezekiel, chapter 20:12, 20. Here the Lord told his people that the very object of their keeping the Sabbath, that is, observing the fourth commandment, was that they might know that he was the true God. This is the same as if the Lord had said, "The Sabbath is a seal. On my part it is the seal of my authority, the sign that I have the right to command obedience; on your part it is a token that you take me to be your God."

 

p 464 -- Should it be said that this principle can have no application to Christians at the present time, as the Sabbath was a sign between God and the Jews only, it would be sufficient to reply that the terms Jew and Israel, in a true Scriptural sense, are not confined, to the literal seed of Abraham. Abraham was chosen at first because he was the friend of God while his fathers were idolaters; and his seed were chosen to be God's people, the guardians of his law and the depositaries of his truth, because all others had apostatized from him; and it is true that these words respecting the Sabbath were spoken to them while they enjoyed the honor of being thus set apart from all others. But when the middle wall of partition was broken down, and the Gentiles were called in to be partakers of the blessings of Abraham, all God's people, both Jews and Gentiles, were brought into a new and more intimate relation to God through his Son, and they are now called "Jews inwardly" and "Israelites indeed."

 

And now the declaration applies to all such; for they have as much occasion to know the Lord as had his people of old.

 

Thus the fourth commandment, or the Sabbath, is taken by the Lord as a sign between him and his people, or the seal of his law in both dispensations; the people by that commandment signifying that they are the worshipers of the true God, and God, by the same commandment, making himself known as their rightful ruler, inasmuch as he is their Creator.

 

In harmony with this idea, the significant fact is to be noticed that whenever the sacred writers wish to point out the true God in distinction from false gods of every description, an appeal is made to the great facts of creation, upon which the fourth commandment is based. (See 2 Kings 19:15; 2 Chron. 2:12; Neh. 9:6; Ps. 115:4-7,15; 121:2; 124:8; 134:3; 146:6; Isa. 37:16; 42:5; 44:24; 45:12; Job 9:8; Isa 51:13; Jer. 10:10-12; Ps. 96:5; Jer. 32:17; 51:15; Acts 4:24; 14:15; 17:23, 24, etc.)

 

We refer again to the fact that the same company who in Revelation 7 have the seal of the living God in their foreheads, are brought to view again in Rev. 14:1, having the Father's name in their foreheads. This is good proof that the "seal of

p 465 -- the living God" and the "Father's name" are used synonymously. The chain of evidence on this point is rendered complete, when it is ascertained that the fourth commandment, which has been shown to be the seal of the law, is spoken of by the Lord as that which contains his name. The proof of this will be seen by referring to Deut. 16:6: "But at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name in, there shalt thou sacrifice the passover," etc. What was there where they sacrificed the passover? - There was the sanctuary, having in its holiest apartment the ark with the ten commandments, the fourth of which declared the true God, and contained his name. Wherever this fourth commandant was, there God's name was placed; and this was the only object to which the language could be applied. (See Deut. 12:5, 11, 21; 14:23, 24, etc.)

 

Having now ascertained that the seal of God is his holy Sabbath, having his name, we are prepared to proceed with the application.

 

By the scenes introduced in the verses before us, namely, the four winds apparently about to blow, bringing war and trouble upon the land, and this work restrained till the servants of God should be sealed, as though a preparatory work must be done for them to save them from this trouble, we are reminded of the houses of the Israelites marked with the blood of the paschal lamb, and spared as the destroying angel passed over to slay the first-born of the Egyptians (Exodus 12); also of the mark made by the man with a writer's ink-horn (Ezekiel 9) upon all those who were to be spared by the men with the slaughtering weapons who followed after; and we conclude that the seal of God, here placed upon his servants, is some distinguishing mark, or religious characteristic, through which they will be exempted from the judgments of God that fall on the wicked around them.

 

As we have found the seal of God in the fourth commandment, the inquiry follows, Does the observance of that commandment involve any peculiarity in religious practice? - Yes, a very marked and striking one. It is one of the most singular facts to be met with in religious history that, in an age of such boasted gospel light as the present, when the influence of Christianity

p 466 -- is so powerful and wide-spread, one of the most striking peculiarities in practice which a person can adopt, and one of the greatest crosses he can take up, even in the most enlightened and Christian lands, is the simple observance of the law of God. For the fourth commandment requires the observance of the seventh day of each week as the Sabbath of the Lord; but almost all Christendom, through the combined influences of paganism and the papacy, have been beguiled into the keeping of the first day. A person has but to commence the observance of the day enjoined in the commandment and a mark of peculiarity is upon him at once. He is distinct alike from the professedly religious world and the unconverted world.

 

We conclude, then, that the angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God, is a divine messenger in charge of a work of reform to be carried on among men in reference to the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. The agents of this work on the earth are of course ministers of Christ; for to men is given the commission of instructing their fellow men in Bible truth; but as there is order in the execution of all the divine counsels, it seems not improbable that a literal angel may have the charge and oversight of this work.

 

We have already noticed the chronology of this work as locating it in our own time. This is further evident from the fact that, as the next event after the sealing of these servants of God, we behold them before the throne, with palms of victory in their hands. The sealing is therefore the last work to be accomplished for them prior to their redemption.

 

In Revelation 14 we find the same work again brought to view under the symbol of an angel flying in the midst of heaven with the most terrific warning that ever fell upon the ears of men. We shall speak of this more fully when we reach that chapter. We refer to it now, as it is the last work to be accomplished for the world before the coming of Christ, which is the next event in order in that prophecy, and hence must synchronize with the work here brought to view in Rev. 7:1-3. The angel with the seal of the living God, mentioned in chapter 7, is therefore the same as the third angel of chapter 14.

 

p 467 -- And this view strengthens the foregoing exposition of the seal. For while, as the result of the work in chapter 7, a certain company are sealed with the seal of the living God, as the result of the third message of chapter 14 a company are brought out rendering Scriptural obedience to all the "commandments of God." Verse 12. It is the fourth commandment of the Decalogue and that alone which the Christian world is openly violating and teaching men to violate; and that this is the representative question in this message is evident from the fact that the keeping of the commandments, observing, with all the other moral precepts, the Lord's Sabbath, is what distinguishes the servants of God from those who worship the beast and receive his mark, which is, as will be hereafter shown, the observance of a counterfeit sabbath.

 

Having thus briefly noticed the main points of the subject, we now come to the most striking feature of all. In exact accordance with the foregoing chronological argument, we find this work already in process of fulfilment before our eyes. The third angel's message is going forth; the angel ascending from the east is on his mission; the reform on the Sabbath question has commenced; it is surely, though yet in comparative silence, working its way through the land; it is destined to agitate every country entitled to the light of the gospel; and it will result in bringing out a people prepared for the soon coming of the Saviour, and sealed for his everlasting kingdom.

With one more question we leave these verses, upon which we have so lengthily dwelt. Have we seen among the nations any movements which would indicate that the cry of the ascending angel, "Hurt not," etc., by the blowing of the winds, "till we have sealed the servants of our God," has in any manner been answered? The time during which the winds are held could not, from the nature of the case, be a time of profound peace. This would not answer to the prophecy. For in order to make it manifest that the winds are being held, there must be disturbance, agitation, anger, and jealousy among the nations, with an occasional outburst of strife, like a fitful gust breaking away from the imprisoned and struggling tempest; and these outbursts must be suddenly and

p 468 -- unexpectedly checked. Then, but not otherwise, would it be evident to him who looked at events in the light of prophecy, that for some good purpose the restraining hand of Omnipotence was laid upon the surging elements of strife and war. And such has been the aspect of our times for nearly half a century. Commencing with the great revolution of 1848, when so many European thrones pled into the dust, what a state of anger and political unrest has existed among all the nations of the earth! New and unlooked-for complications have suddenly sprung up, throwing matters into apparently inextricable confusion, and threatening immediate and direful war. And now and then the conflict has burst forth in fury, and a thousand voices have been raised to predict that the great crisis had come, that universal war must result, and the termination no man could foretell, when suddenly and unaccountably it has been extinguished, and all subsided into quiet again.

 

In our own land the terrible civil war of 1861 to 1865 is a notable instance. By the spring of the latter year, so great had become the pressure upon the nation for men and means to continue the war that it began seriously to impede the progress of the work symbolized by the ascending angel, even threatening to arrest it entirely. Those interested in these truths, believing that the time had come for the application of the prophecy, and that the words of the angel, "Hurt not," etc., indicated a movement on the part of the church, accordingly raised their petitions to the Ruler of nations to restrain the cruel work of tumult and war. Days of fasting and prayer were set apart for this purpose. The time at which this occurred was a dark and gloomy period of the war; and not a few high in political life predicted its indefinite continuance, and an appalling intensity of all its evils. But suddenly a change came; and not three months had elapsed from the time of which we speak, ere the last army of the Southern Confederacy had surrendered, and all its soldiers had laid down their arms. So sudden and entire was the collapse, and so grateful were all hearts for relief from the pressure of the terrible strife, that the nation broke forth into a song of jubilee,

p 469 -- and these words were conspicuously displayed at the national capital: "This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes." There are those who believe there was a definite cause for this sudden cessation of the strife, of which, of course, the world is but little aware. The sudden conclusion of the Franco-German war of 1870, of the war between Turkey and Russia in 1877-78, the Spanish-American war in 1896, and the recent war between Russia and Japan, may be cited as still later examples.'

 

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Clearly, living in the year 2020, we've a lot more history than Uriah Smith had. Our God is LONGSUFFERING, make no mistake. While our God is longsuffering He will not be mocked, and He will not be denied the ultimate ending. When the cup is filled, when all who will be His are His, then it will be over. Sealed… God's people will be sealed as His. May WE be sealed at His, keeping all His truth, now and always!

 

More soon. All by the will of our LORD by HIS MERCY and GRACE, HIS LOVE!