Page images
PDF
EPUB
[graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed]

ability amounted to an ordination, unto this same era there is a period of about 1260 solar years.

We have now presented the several eras of Israelitish history. The first, B. C. 1921-1872; the second, B. C. 721-588; and the third, A. D. 570-607.

The first, commencing at B. C. 1921, registers the beginning of that mighty nation; the second, commencing at B. C. 721, registers the complete overthrow of the nation; the third commencing at A. D. 570, registers the complete overthrow of the church; and the last, commencing at A. D. 1830, must if it registers anything, register a restoration. There is nothing else for it to register, seeing that the previous dispensations had completely destroyed the fortunes of Israel, both national and spiritual.

The first may be regarded as the Times of the Beginning; the second as the Times of the Overthrow of the Nation; the third as the Times of the Overthrow of the Church; and the last as the "Times of the Restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." (Acts 3:21.) It is the "Dispensation of the Fullness of Times." (Ephesians 1: 10.)

From the Times of the Beginning to the Times of the Overthrow of the Nation there is a period of 1260 prophetic years; and from the Times of the Overthrow of the Nation to the Times of the Overthrow of the Church, there is a period of 1260 prophetic years; and from the Times of the Overthrow of the Church to the Times of the Restitution, there is not only a period of 1260 prophetic years, but the same number of solar and lunar years as well. In all justice, therefore, to harmony, history, and prophecy, 1830 must be the year.

ADMITTED UNFULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHETIC PERIODS PREVIOUS TO 1830.

It is singular and yet not at all surprising that leading minds of the reformation have all along admitted that the prophetic periods had not matured in their day. As a matter of fact the prophecies on the downfall and restoration of the church are so glaring that most anyone, even with an ordinary investigation would be convinced that the reformation broke far too soon for it to come anywhere near the time set for the restoration of the church. We submit the following admissions:

Sir Isaac Newton, A. D. 1733: "The sanctuary and the host were trampled under foot 2300 days and in Daniel's prophecies days are put for years. They were to last till the sanctuary which had been cast down should be cleansed and the sanctuary is not yet cleansed."

1968

Sir Henry Kett, B. D., one of his Majesty's preachers at Whitehall, A. D. 1801: "We have sufficient ground to conclude positively that from whatever

6s Observations on the Prophecies, pp. 123, 124.

remarkable era these prophetical years are dated the period of their accomplishment can not be very remote from the present time." "

Archdeacon Woodhouse, M. A., A. D. 1805: "The 1260 years are not yet elapsed."

[ocr errors]

Messrs. Rivington and Hatchard, A. D. 1810: "How or when did the woman return from her long stay in the wilderness? to which it must be I answered that as her stay in the wilderness is not yet completed, the method of her return being future can not be pointed out." "1

Rev. G. S. Faber, B. D., A. D. 1811: "We are living in the predicted last days of antichristian blasphemy and that the 1260 years are rapidly drawing near to their termination." "

Rev. William Girdlestone, A. B., A. D. 1820: cleansing of the sanctuary.'

[ocr errors]

"But there has been yet no

74

Thomas Newton, D. D., lord bishop of Bristol, in his thirteenth edition, published A. D. 1823: "These 2300 days denote the whole time from the beginning of the vision to the cleansing of the sanctuary. The sanctuary is not yet cleansed and consequently these years are not yet expired." Rev. Robert Culbertson, A. D. 1826: "Some interpreters date the commencement of this period with the time of the vision, which was in the third year of Belshazzar; Daniel 8: 1. But this is manifestly too early, because more than 2300 years have elapsed and we know that the sanctuary is not yet cleansed."

99 75

In view then of these clear cut confessions of leading representatives of the reformation that the prophetic periods had not expired in their day, and knowing further that the church of Christ was not to emerge from the bondage of Babylon until said periods had expired, who shall say that the reformation did in anywise restore said church.

It could not be. When reformation ministers themselves own up that the prophecies had not matured, that "the sanctuary is not yet cleansed," that the church's "stay in the wilderness is not yet completed," "her return being future"; it is most uncharitable to charge them with the possession of that they did not claim.

Turning once more to 1830, toward which the needle of prophetic forecast for ever points, we ask what movement was brought forth in that year possessing the nature of and making claim to being the kingdom or church of Jesus Christ?

It was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was organized on the 6th day of April, A. D. 1830.

It is without a competitor. It stands at the polls the only nominee. It must be elected! It is elected!! It went in by acclamation !!!

"History of the Interpreter of Prophecy, vol. 2, p. 58.

70 The Apocalypse, p. 303.

"Daniel's Metallic Image, p. 333.

12 Dissertation on the Prophecies, vol. 2, p. 220.

73 Visions of Daniel, p. 222.

"Dissertation on the Prophecies, p. 294.

Lectures on the Rock of Revelation, vol. 3, p. 541.

THE RESTORATION.

The child of the restoration having demonstrated itself to be a creature of necessity and the offspring of destiny, we have but to open and read and the pages of prophecy will unfold with familiarity.

But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the King Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed.-Daniel 2: 28, 44.

And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.-Isaiah 11: 12.

Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold his reward is with him, and his work before him.-Isaiah 62: 10, 11.

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.-Matthew 24: 14.

A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: and sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. Luke 14: 16, 17.

And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.-Matthew 20: 6, 7.

Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap. -Malachi 3: 1, 2.

Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?-Isaiah 29: 14, 17. But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains.-Micah 4: 1.

And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship_him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of water.-Revelation 14: 6, 7.

The reader will not fail to observe the wonderful ring of relationship encircling these texts. To be fulfilled in the latter days, all of them, and accomplished by the selfsame God, it must be that they are related and point to the same work.

The variety of verbiage voiced by various prophets living hundreds of years apart, only illustrates the individuality of the men. They were neither copyists nor caterers and foretold the future in their own way, regardless of how others had or would see it.

It matters not, then, whether they said, "the latter days," or "end of the world," it referred to the same time. The "kingdom of God" and "gospel of the kingdom" are inseparably associated, and both are to be set up in the "latter days." From them we

would not wrest "the ensign" nor lower "the standard"; for, who ever heard of a kingdom without a standard?

The standard of the kingdom of heaven is that which is carried to the forefront in all her campaigns, the everlasting gospel,"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel unto every creature." "And again, in that great day of reckoning, when the books are opened, it will be this same gospel that will acquit or convict the unnumbered throngs; and thus in a second sense it becomes a "standard," a standard of judgment. (Romans 2: 16.)

Neither is there any dissimilarity of thought in such privileged appellations as the "house of the Lord" and "marvelous work and a wonder." Verily the house of the Lord, as scripturally constructed, is a wondrous institution, of inspirational architecture and superhuman finish: "This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes."

The sending of a "servant" at "supper time," or the appointing of a "messenger" to "prepare the way" of the Lord, together with the licensing of "laborers" in "the eleventh hour," simply signifies that the Lord will work through the agency of man. And the fact that God will do the hiring, the sending, stands out in bold relief, in striking contrast to the self-appointed parsons of to-day. Well may we expect, then, a "marvelous work and a wonder."

1. TO BE RESTORED IN THE LATTER DAYS.

When the Savior of mankind opened up his ministerial career with that vivifying proclamation, "The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand," he struck the keynote of popular expectancy. Israel was looking for such, and why? Simply because the four hundred and ninety prophetic days of Daniel were maturing to fulfillment.

However much they were unready to receive the king, they had sense enough to know that when God said he would do a certain work, within a certain time, he would do it. And he did it.

We may therefore be reasonably assured that since the same God has decreed a restoration of the church, it will come, and come, too, within the appointed time.

The prophecies referred to declare that it will be restored in the "latter days," at a time when the gospel trump may be sounded as a tocsin of alarm, as "a witness unto all nations" of a soon coming King.

We have reached those days. The signs of the times announce it. The languishing of the earth, whereby its olden productiveness is diminished; the astonishing increase of pestilence and plagues, becoming more and more baffling, are surely supplications from the soil for rest.

Cyclones, typhoons, earthquakes, and wars are doing their deadly work. It seems that the very elements of air, and of earth, are vieing with each other in the enormity of their destructions. "Blood and fire and pillars of smoke" are on every hand. According to F. W. Fitzpatrick, in a recent number of McClure's, the fire losses on buildings in the United States alone, for the last five

« PreviousContinue »