ALONE WITH GOD     

The Sign Of The Times

  "Oh, what an innumerable army of innocent children are being slaughtered and sacrificed to the flames of everlasting perdition for the sake of the sect Molech, which these poor helpless children are taught to love rather than God, and to fear and obey its lords rather than to fear and obey God. When but a few years old, upon them is imposed the Romish rite of sprinkling for baptism, and before their young minds are capable of discriminating between truth and error they are forestalled with the poison contents contents of creeds which have come down from the dark ages of Ignorance and superstition, and which bar their souls from God and salvation and lead to idolatry and destruction. ,. When a party spirit of devotion to 'our church' is infused into innocent children, what on earth will more surely bind them with Satan's chains. The casting of infants to crocodiles by Hindu parents, the burning of them by ancient heathen and by corrupted Jews, or even the I eating of them by cannibals, shocking as they appear, are small things compared with the sacrifice of their innocent souls by bringing them up under some iron-bound creed that teaches a worship of a form and rejects God and Bible holiness.... Oh, may God raise up many thousand witnesses to go forth with the righteous indignation of Josiah, and the thunderbolts of heaven's truth, and take away the high places of pride and idolatry, and abolish the abomination of sectism out of the hearts of the people. Amen."

  Having considered the time and manner of the defiling and casting down of the sanctuary, or church, we will now consider its cleansing, which was to take place in the evening of time. "There shall be two thousand and four hundred days; and then the sanctuary shall be cleansed." —Dan. 8:14. It is said that the defiled condition of the church was to continue "until the chief captain shall have delivered the captivity."—Ver. 11, as rendered in the LXX. The "chief captain" is Jesus Christ. Heb. 2:10. The captivity is the host of saints who are held captive in spiritual Babylon under the great apostasy. Thank God their deliverance has come. This is the same as the gathering of the elect. Matt. 24:31-33.

  We will now turn to Daniel 12. In verse 6 the question is asked, "How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?" From what follows we conclude that the wonders spoken of refer to the great apostasy already considered. "And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth forever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord what shall be the end of these things ? . . . Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand: but the wise shall understand."—Verses 7, 8, 10. The "time, times, and an half," as observed in the previous chapter, equal 1260 years, and cover the time of the reign of Popery. It is also seen that the apostasy did not end with the conclusion of the Papal age; for following the "time, times, and an half" comes a scattering of the holy people, an age of dispersion. This has been fulfilled during the reign of Protestantism.

  Now comes the question, "What shall be the end of these things?" (Ver. 8); viz., the end of the entire reign of the apostasy, the end of the dispersion, or scattering. Hear the answer: "Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried." "And many must be tested [chosen out —Greek] and thoroughly whitened and tried with fire, and sanctified." (LXX.)—Ver. 10. Here we see that at the end of the apostasy there was to be a great holiness reformation This is the very work that was to cleanse, or purify, the sanctuary, or church. How clear! By retrograding from true holiness the church went into apostasy, and was defiled. By returning to the true standard of holiness the church is brought out of the apostasy, and cleansed. Thank God the dispersion is ended and the holy messengers are gathering together the saints of God out of the various sects into the apostolic unity.

"Oh, glory to Jesus!
We hail the bright day,
And high on our banner salvation display;
The mists of confusion are passing away.

"The prophet's keen vision transpiercing the ages,
Beheld us to Zion return;
We'll sing of our freedom, though Babylon rages,
We'll shout as her city cloth burn.
ţThe Kingdom of God

"The 'figtree' is budding, the 'evening' is shining
We welcome the wonderful light;
We look for the Savior, for time is declining,
Eternity's looming in sight."

  This same cleansing and redeeming of the church is seen in the first chapter of Isaiah. We will give it as rendered in the LXX. "How has the faithful city Sion, once full of judgment, become a harlot! wherein righteousness lodged, but now murderers. Your silver is worthless, thy wine merchants mix the wine with water. Thy princes are rebellious, companions of thieves, loving bribes, seeking after rewards; not pleading for orphans. and not heeding the cause of widows. Therefore saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, Woe to the mighty men of Israel; for my wrath shall not cease against mine adversaries, and I will execute judgment on mine enemies. And I will bring my hand upon thee! and purge thee completely, and I will destroy the rebellious, and will take away from thee all transgressors. And I will establish thy judges as before, and thy counselors as at the beginning, and afterward thou shalt be called the city of righteousness, the faithful mother-city Sion, for her captives shall be saved with judgment, and with mercy."—Verses 21-27.

  "The faithful city Sion, once full of judgment, . . . wherein righteousness lodged," refers to the pure church of God in her pristine glory. "She became an harlot." This refers to her apostatized condition. "Her merchants" refers to her ministers. It is said that "they mix the wine with water", that is, they weaken it, and do not deal it out in its full strength. "The wine" signifies the gospel truth. Oh. how truly is this fulfilled in Babylon! The pure unadulterated truth is not heard there. Their ministers fear to preach it. They weaken it to suit their theories and the crooked lives of their members. They "seek after rewards" preach for the people's money, rather than their souls. A hireling ministry. But thank God this was not always to continue. God declares that he will execute judgment on all such. "And I will bring my hand upon thee [viz., his people, his church] and purge thee completely and I will destroy the rebellious, and will take away from thee all transgressors." Here is the cleansing of the sanctuary, now going on, which restores a pure church. "And I will establish thy judges as before"; viz., establish his people and ministry in holiness (1 Thess. 3:13), where they shall be full of judgment by the Spirit of the Lord, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and unto Israel his sin. Micah 3:8. "And thy counselors as at the beginning"—apostolic days. "Zion shall be redeemed with judgment and her converts with righteousness." "And afterward thou shalt be called the city of righteousness, the faithful mother-city Sion." This represents the glory of the church after being purified and cleansed in this evening time. This same truth is brought out in other texts. We will here give Isa. 4:3-5—"And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning . . . for upon all the glory shall be a defense." Zion and Jerusalem are metaphors which signify the church. Here it is seen that after she is purged by the spirit of judgment and burning—the word and Spirit—all that remain shall be called holy, and upon "all the glory shall be a defense"; viz., "the glory that thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one as we are." Thank God for a redeemed church.

  Another point worthy of consideration is the "daily sacrifice." The same power which defiled and trod down the sanctuary took away the daily sacrifice. Dan. 8:913; Dan. 11:31. It is said in Dan. 8:12, as rendered in the LXX., that a "sin-offering was given for the sacrifice, and righteousness was cast down." This can not refer to the sacrifices offered by the Jews under the old dispensation, for the prophecy relates to the New Testament dispensation. The power that took away the daily sacrifice did not develop until about the third century of the Christian era. By turning to the scriptures this is made very clear. Peter denominates the New Testament church "a royal Priesthood That ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."—1 Pet. 2:9. "A spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ."—Ver. 5. "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifices of praise to God continually; that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.'—Heb. 13 :15, 16. "My tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long." —Ps. 35:28. "I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth."—Ps. 34 :1.

  In this dispensation salvation saves people from all sin and they are enabled to render to the Lord "an offering in righteousness." That is, by a daily holy walk and righteous life they render acceptable service. By the fire of the Holy Spirit they offer up a continual sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. This was taken away by the apostasy and supplanted by a sin-offering: and as a result "righteousness was cast down." People have been educated that they cannot be delivered from sin—that they must sin more or less all the days of their life—and the result is they have been living far below the standard of righteousness; sinning and repenting day after day with no sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to offer unto the Lord. Thank God this daily sacrifice is restored to us with the cleansing sanctuary in the evening light. Hallelujah!

  We will now consider the time when this great work should begin. "Evening and morning there shall be two thousand and four hundred days, then the sanctuary shall be cleansed." Two thousand four hundred days, counting each day for a year (Num. 14 :34; Ezek. 4 :6), equal two thousand four hundred years. The reader will observe that there is a difference of one hundred years between the LXX and the received version. As was seen in a previous chapter, the perverters of the Hebrew text took one hundred years from nearly every time text. At the end of two thousand four hundred years "the sanctuary shall be cleansed." It was but a few years prior to the close of the captivity that Daniel received this vision. "Inspiration was doubtless measuring from the return of the literal seed from the captivity in literal Babylon, to the return of the spiritual seed from the captivity in spiritual Babylon."

  The seventy years of Babylonish captivity ended 536 B. C., and in that year 42,360 Jews returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. See the first three chapters of Ezra. But they were greatly hindered in the work by the Gentile nations (Ezra 4:1-21), and finally by force and power were compelled to cease. Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. Ezra 4:23, 24. But the prophets Haggai and Zechariah "prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them."—Ezra 5:1. Here they got a commission from heaven, and God was with them and they "began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem, and with them were the prophets of God helping them." —Verse 2. This is the first time they went to work with inspiration from heaven; "but the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, that they could not cause them to cease."—Ver. 5. God was in the work, and none could hinder it, "and this work goeth fast on, and prospereth in their hands."—Ver. 8. "And thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house that was builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded and set up."—Ver. 11. This occurred in the year 520 B. C., and this is the true starting-stake of the 2,400 years. Measuring forward 2,400 years from 520 B. C. brings us to 1880 A. D. In other words, just 2,400 years lay between 520 B. C. and 1880 A. D. Then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

  How wonderful is the fulfillment of prophecy. That very year God began to raise up holy men, who discerned the body of Christ—the church—and a great reformation began. From that time on a mighty gathering together of God's people out of the confusion of sectism has taken place. And with the great truth that the body of Christ only is the church, the pure doctrine of holiness is preached and lived to the Bible standard, and the thousands of souls thus gathered out of confusion are being cleansed and purified by the blood of Christ.

  But it may be asked: Why did God choose the return of the Jews from literal Babylon and the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem for the starting-point of the 2,400 years? We answer: Because that was a type of the return of the people of God from spiritual Babylon to the new Jerusalem. Thus sayeth the prophet: "But the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs of everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." Also the rebuilding of the house and temple at Jerusalem by the Jews, was a clear type of this glorious work we are now engaged in. They said, "We are the servants of the God of heaven, and build the house that was builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded and set up." The house of God in this dispensation "is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."—1 Tim. 3:15. The apostasy crushed it down under human authority and rule, and a great pile of sectarian rubbish covered it over for the centuries from the clear view of the people but in these last days. with the flaming torch of truth, this great pile of human rubbish is being consumed, and the house of God, which was so crushed and scattered during the great apostasy, is again being built up and cleansed by the burning Spirit of God with the blood of Christ, and thus restored to its primitive glory and power. Thank God we have reached that time. The glorious truth of the whole gospel of Jesus Christ is again shining forth in all its brilliancy and beauty. The clouds and mists of confusion are passing away, and the clear rays of the Sun of righteousness are again being shed forth in these last days. This was prophesied in Zech.. 14:6, 7. We will give it as rendered in the LXX. "And it shall come to pass in that day I gospel day] that there shall be no light [the dark day of Romanism] and there shall be for one day cold and frost, and that day shall be known to the Lord, and it shall not be day nor night I the cloudy day of Protestantism—Ezek. 34:12—a time of mixture of truth and error, light and darkness], but towards evening it shall be light." Thank God we have reached that time.

  The sun of time is fast sinking in the western horizon, and the last gleams of the light of God are now shining forth. We are in the evening time. The sanctuary, or church, is being cleansed. The elect are now being gathered. Thus the bride of Christ is being prepared for the bridegroom. "And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints." This is the special "sign" of Christ's coming. "When ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is near, even at the door."

"The fury of God has come up in his face,
He raiseth with power to deliver his saints;
His angels are flying to gather them home,
A positive sign that the Lord's near to come."
—Selected.

  Beloved friend, are you ready for that great event? You cannot evade it. You are hastening onward with an awful speed to eternity. Amidst the hurry and whirl of this fast age, you may forget God, and have little concern about things eternal; but remember, that soon you will leave these earthly scenes. The laugh of the gay and lighthearted, the riches and pleasures of this world, the tears and sighs of the care-worn; the rumbling and rattling of commercial and social and political life will soon be exchanged for the thunders of final judgment and the catastrophe of a ruined world. While the responsibilities of life may be pressing upon you, and the changing, fleeting, deceptive things around you may divert your mind from this awful truth, let me still, in kindness, remind you of the fact that you are going to the judgment. Soon you must bid a last farewell to earth's scenes and deceitful joys—life's fair summer past, its opportunities forever gone, hell rumbling beneath you, the world on fire, and heaven glittering above you. What will you do amidst the scenes of eternity in that great day? Will you spend eternity with the pure and holy in heaven, or amidst the shrieks and wails of damned souls, and howling demons writhe in hell forever? "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." "The wicked shall be turned into hell. with all the nations that forget God." "CHOOSE YOU THIS DAY."