Part III. The Evening.

Part III. The Evening.Or,Christianity In The Closing Days Of This Gospel Era.We have now come to consider the evening time of this gospel day. The morning was light because of the truth being experienced and taught. The noonday was dark because traditions and theories and vain philosophies of man became substitutes for the Word of God. This evening time was seen by prophetic eye.“But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.”We are nearing the close of this gospel day. The sun of time hangs low in the western horizon. The gospel light is now shining in peaceful splendor like the clear setting of the sun after a dark and cloudy noonday.“Misty fogs so long concealingAll the hills of mingled nightVanish, all their sin revealing,For the“evening shall be light”“Lo, the ransomed are returning,Robed in shining crystal white,Leaping, shouting, home to Zion,Happy in the ev'ning light.”—Sel.[pg 455]Chapter I. The Apostasy In Two Days.In our introduction we gave a number of texts which spoke of the whole of the gospel dispensation as one day; but any period of time distinguished by some extraordinary historic event may be and is also termed a day. The apostasy or dark noonday being under two forms is marked in Bible history as two days. The first form of the apostasy, namely, Catholicism, is called by the Scriptures a“dark day.”A Cloudy Day.The second form of the apostasy was not such utter darkness as the first, and is therefore called a cloudy day.“For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.”Ezek. 34:11, 12. The cloudy day was a day of the scattering of God's people. This has been true of Protestantism. God's own people have been divided and scattered among the various organizations of man. The time of the seeking out refers to the evening, when God is going to gather his children together that“were scattered abroad,”[pg 456]and they shall be“one heart and one soul”as in the morning.One more text refers to the cloudy day.“And it shall come to pass in that day that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: but it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.”Zech. 14:6, 7. This day of Protestantism was neither“clear nor dark”; was neither“day, nor night.”It was a mixture of light and darkness, truth and error, and therefore is fitly termed a cloudy day.A Revival.After those two days there shall be a great revival caused by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.“Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.”Hos. 6:1-3.The two days of beastly power come to an end. The time comes when they shall no longer govern God's true people. It was true of literal Babylon, that had taken captive the children of God, that the time came when they returned from their captivity. The same is true of spiritual Babylon. The children of God have long been taken captive in her. In the evening[pg 457]time, after two days, they shall say,“Come, let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he will revive us in the third day, he will raise us up,”etc. Praise God! Then shall we know the Lord.“His going forth is prepared as the morning.”Just as God was known in the morning in his holiness and power, just so he will be known in the evening. Throughout the“two days”(apostasy) the Lord in his power to save to the uttermost, to heal, and to exclusively control his church was unknown. Therefore he says:“Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.”Micah 3:7.Such is the ignorance of the seers of Babylon. They are educated in the wisdom of the world, but know little of God. Their sermons are the theories of man, and not the pure Word of God. For this reason there is a great spiritual famine in Babylon.The evening time is called the third day, when God shall send copious showers of rain. The first day is a“dark day,”and relates to the reign of the Catholic power. The second or dark and cloudy day relates to the reign of Protestantism. The third day is the“time of the end,”when there shall be a consumption of the beast powers. Dan. 7:26. Daniel was told that the fourth beast he saw in his vision was a fourth kingdom. This was the Roman kingdom. Three had preceded—the Babylonian, Medo-Persian and Grecian. This beast had ten horns. Ver. 7. These[pg 458]ten horns were ten kings, or kingdoms, which were created out of the Roman empire by the barbarians of the North. History records the overrunning of the Roman empire from A.D. 376 to A.D. 476 by the different“powerful and warlike nations of the North; namely, the Huns, Goths, Vandals,”etc. Thus in one century of time the kingdom of the Cæsars gave rise to ten different minor kingdoms.In verse twenty-four of Daniel seven the prophet was told that another horn should arise after these ten. From the description of this horn we at once learn it to represent the Roman hierarchy, or to be the same as the first beast of Rev. 13. In verse twenty-six the prophet says,“Judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.”The apostasy is being consumed by the powerful and sharp judgments of God's Word being executed by the faithful and true who are proclaiming,“Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come.”This is in the time of the end, this glorious evening hour.The apostle Paul gives a description of the apostasy in 2 Thes. 2. In verse eight he speaks of its consumption, which is being effected in this evening of time. Babylon is being consumed. Hear her cries of pain. The prophet Isaiah foretells the consumption of the apostasy in these words:“And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed.”[pg 459]This is being accomplished in this present day. The gospel truth is being held up as a“lamp that burneth,”and Babylon is consumed. The Lord is washing“away the filth of the daughter of Zion, ... by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.”Isa. 4:4.“Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul.”Morning And Evening Light Compared.How light shall be the evening? Will God“revive us and raise us up”in the third day to the apostolic plane? The answer is,“His going forth is prepared as the morning.”“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 rearward.”Isa. 58:8.By these two texts we are given to understand that in the evening the light shall shine as bright as in the morning. The church of God will be raised to the same plane from which it was dragged down by ecclesiastical lords. God's people shall enjoy the same degree of holiness in the evening as they did in the morning. They shall enjoy the same blessed unity—“one heart and one soul,”“and all speak the same thing.”They shall possess apostolic faith. They shall have power with God to heal the sick, to open blinded eyes, to cause the lame to walk and the deaf[pg 460]to hear, to cast out devils, and to raise the dead the same as did the saints in the morning. Why shall they be given such power? Because they believe, experience and practise the whole truth. They are free from all manism. God has absolute control in each and every heart. Every hindrance to faith is removed, every barrier between them and God is taken away, and the Lord works with them,“confirming the word with signs following.”Glory to his name!Chapter II. The Time Of The Evening.The morning was of 270 years' duration. The first form of the apostasy lasted, as we have shown, 1260 years, bringing us to the Lutheran reformation in 1530. Now when we ascertain the duration of the second beast power we will know the time the sun, moon and stars reappear in the evening. One especial text that gives us information on this subject is found in Revelation. In speaking of the two witnesses the Revelator says:“And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. And after three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.”Rev. 11:10, 11.[pg 461]In this we learn the duration of the power of Protestantism and the breaking forth of the evening light. We have before proven that a day in Scripture is used to represent different lengths of time, sometimes the whole of the Christian era, sometimes a thousand years, sometimes a hundred years, and sometimes a year. In this text a day represents a century. Three days are three centuries, and a half day is a half century. After three days and a half, which are three centuries and a half, or 350 years, of the reign of Protestantism, the Spirit of life from God entered into them. This is the dawning of the evening, when the whole and entire Word of God is believed and experienced and the Holy Spirit has the same power in governing the church of God as he did in the days of the apostles. The downfall of the first beast, or Romanism, and the arising of the second beast, or Protestantism, was in the year 1530. The duration of Protestant power is 350 years, which added to 1530 brings us to the year 1880 A.D., at which time the dark noonday closes and we emerging hail with joy the peaceful glowing evening light.Prior to the year 1880 it was, with rare exceptions, universally conceded that to gain heaven we needs must unite with some religious denomination. About this time God by his Holy Spirit gave to men everywhere (whose hearts were prepared) an intuitive knowledge that we could be saved and live a Christian life outside the walls of sectism. Just to lean upon[pg 462]God alone and be guided solely by his Word and Spirit, they discovered to be their blessed privilege. We are not alone in thus interpreting Rev. 11:11. We will quote from other authors.“Cloudy day (Protestantism). Length of period 350 years.”Rev. 11:9.—S. L. Speck in Bible Readings, p. 104.“The two witnesses [Word and Spirit] lie dead three days and a half [three and one-half centuries]. Rev. 11:7-9. The church dwells in a wilderness, which is neither dark nor light. Period 350 years. Time from 1530 to 1880.”—W. G. S. in Bible Readings, p. 69.“Time of reign of second beast, from the year 1530 to 1880, making 350 years.”—H. C. Wickersham in Holiness Bible Subjects, p. 178.This same author on page 244 in quoting Rev. 11:11 encloses in brackets the words:“At the end of three hundred and fifty years of Protestant sectism the true children of God come out of Babylon and are sanctified.”“The three days and a half they were to lie dead is interpreted by the Holy Spirit to mean three centuries and a half. This gives us the length of the Protestant age.”—Biblical Trace of the Church, p. 143.In the few years prior to 1880 A.D., there was a great declension in the spirituality of Protestantism. Who can deny this fact? Quite a number of the leading denominations held revivals, where was witnessed[pg 463]the power of the Holy Spirit. People were genuinely converted. They loved and worshiped God in quite a degree of simplicity and equality. The ministry was of a humbler class and more devoted to its charges. In the decade preceding 1880 there was a great change. This change perhaps can be no better described than is done in the following words of Mr. Foster, bishop of the Methodist denomination:“Worldly socials, fairs, festivals, concerts, and such like, have taken the place of the religious gatherings, revival meetings, class and prayer-meetings of earlier days.... Under such worldly performance spirituality is frozen to death.... The early Methodist ministers went forth to sacrifice and suffer for Christ. They sought not places of ease and affluence, but of privation and suffering. They gloried not in their big salaries, fine parsonages, and refined congregations, but in the souls that had been won for Jesus. Oh, how changed! A hireling ministry will be a feeble, a timid truckling, a time-serving ministry, without faith, endurance, and holy power. Methodism formerly dealt in the great central truth. Now the pulpits deal largely in generalities and in popular lectures. The glorious doctrine of entire sanctification is rarely heard and seldom witnessed in the pulpits.”There is not a Methodist minister but knows the truthfulness of these statements, however much they may deny it. In the quoted texts of Scripture from Revelation 11, the ninth and tenth verses say:[pg 464]“And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another.”By the“dead bodies”is meant the two witnesses, the Word and Spirit. These throughout Protestantism were dead. While they professed to be led by the Spirit and to believe and practise the Word, they did neither. Thus they would not entirely and openly in words deny the power of the Holy Spirit and verity of God's Word, yet in works they did deny them.“They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.”Titus 1:16. These two witnesses were dead, yet they would not allow their dead bodies to be buried: they professed to receive them.The tenth verse tells of the worldliness of sectism at the time the Spirit of life from God entered into the Word and Holy Spirit, after the 350 years or the ushering in of the evening light. They were making merry and sending gifts. Sectism is straining every nerve, and adopting most every scheme for money-getting. The fundamental object in the socials, fairs, concerts, etc., is to get money. They adopt these worldly, sensual amusements to rob men of their money. We have in possession a clipping[pg 465]from theNew York Sunwhich is a fair sample of the present-day performances and merry making for money, and well explains the rejoicing, merry making and sending of gifts as mentioned in Rev. 11:10. It is as follows:“Saved The Church.“Members Performed Many Services in Turning an Odd Penny.“From New York Sun.“Pittsburg, March 5.—The church edifice of the Coraopolis Methodist church was advertised to be sold by the sheriff this week, and the members of the congregation made a heroic attempt all last week to save it. Coraopolis is a few miles below here. One vivacious young woman won a wager by riding a spirited horse without a saddle; other good sisters and brethren cleaned shoes and peddled, while some pushed wheelbarrows in which were conveyed some very staid-looking business men. The whole church community was animated by the common desire to keep the sheriff from the church-door. Luxuries were denied, and many ludicrous situations were invented until enough money was raised to secure a postponement of the sale.“Nobody seemed in the least disconcerted over these unusual exhibitions. If any one asked Samuel Marshall, the well-known station agent, what he was doing when he was shining the boots of the ex-Burgess, he would have replied:‘Raising money for our church. Don't you want a shine?’Among the most active[pg 466]in the work was Mr. Marshall, and his industry in turning in the most money won for him the prize of a gold watch. The following items from his statement show some of the methods adopted:“February 20.—Delivered message to F. D. Stickney, 10 cents. H. S. Misseldine wanted me to stand on my head, but found I could not do this, so added up fifty columns of figures, for which I received 50 cents.“February 21.—Carried can of milk to restaurant of J. G. Walters, 10 cents.“February 22.—Delivered head of cabbage, which afterward on a‘banter’was thrown at Mr. Walters, 10 cents.“February 23.—Young lady paid me 5 cents to call on her; polished shoes for George Arras, 5 cents.“February 24.—Swept pool-room of J. E. McKee, 10 cents; delivered hardware to Mr. Boyers, $2.00.“February 26.—Wheeled M. W. Watson from store of J. C. Walters to shop, 25 cents.“February 27.—Shaved Henry DeGrange, the barber, for which I charged him 10 cents.“Mrs. Hamilton, a well-known society woman, sold bread and laundered the gentlemen's ties. She also presented a report in rhyme at the‘pledge meeting’on last Tuesday night. One item of the report was:“First I peddled chestnuts and met with success,And to-day I raked in nickels is the truth, you better guess.Say, I must tell a secret, those chestnuts were alive,But what of that, when I realized one dollar thirty-five.[pg 467]“Mrs Hamilton returned about forty dollars as the result of her labors. Miss Fannie Siebold, a vivacious young woman with auburn hair and with eyes that sparkle, was visiting friends in the place. She never lost an opportunity to show her interest in the little church. Her host, curious to see if she could not be made to retract from her offers, told her he would give her fifty cents if she would ride one of his spirited horses without, a saddle.“She was told that she might ride any fashion. Miss Siebold made all the male portion of the family promise to remain indoors, where they could not observe her during the performance. They agreed to this, but people passing along the road were surprised at the sight of a handsome young lady galloping over the fields on the flying charger in a manner that would do credit to any man.“As a result of all the industry, $208.54 was raised, the sheriff's placard was taken down from the church-door, and a thirty days' extension secured on the $2,500 remaining to be paid.”The following article, recently published in a God-fearing, religious paper, contains weighty and powerful truths, and should awaken the reader to the present condition of things in this dark, seducing, and soul-deluding, sinful world.“There has been for many years a rapid decline among the Protestant churches of the spirit of revivals and of the manifestations of the power of the Holy Spirit. Not only is there great ignorance on[pg 468]the doctrines of the Bible, but almost universally a positive antagonism to anything like the supernatural in religious experience.“Just as Jesus was rejected and crucified by the professed church at the close of the Jewish age, so the Holy Spirit is being despised and crucified by the professed church at the close of the Gentile age. Just as Jesus was rejected from the nice homes of Bethlehem, and had to go into a stable to find a place to be born, and where he could utter his infant cries, so the Holy Spirit to-day is utterly rejected from thousands of Protestant churches, and he has to go into rented halls, slum missions, canvas tents, and woods meetings to find a place to utter his voice through the lips of those who know and feel him. Just as there were a few who had supernatural discernment to recognize and worship the infant God, so there are now a few who discern the personality and operation of the Holy Spirit, and pour out to him their gold and frankincense and myrrh. Just as the people of Bethlehem, who had turned the unborn Savior from their door were soon made to wail by the king's order of assassination, so the thousands of nominal churches which now reject the work of the Holy Spirit from their doors will soon wail under the awful tribulation that is rapidly coming on all the earth. Oh, if the Protestant churches could only see the day of their visitation, and that the history of the way the Jews treated Jesus is being exactly repeated over and over again in the way the modern churches treat the Holy[pg 469]Spirit, and that the same doom that overtook the Jewish church for rejecting Christ, will speedily overtake the modern churches for rejecting the Holy Spirit!“Another feature of the present crisis is, God is working mainly through individuals, and not so much through machinery. Thousands of individuals in Europe and America have been called of the Spirit to launch out into soul-saving work along lines of personal enterprise more than ever in past ages.“There never was a time in the world's history when Christian men and women felt so led of God not to wait for committees nor the red tape of ecclesiastical authority, but to hurry forth under a personal call from God and do what they could with their individual means and talents for the saving of souls, the sanctifying of believers, and preparing the chosen few to meet Jesus. There never seemed a time when anything like church machinery would run to seed so quick as now. Even if an enterprise that is started definitely as a holiness work gets a few officers and committees in it, in a few days or months it gets just as churchly and high-headed and dictatorial as an old popish institution. For this reason God is utilizing individuality in his kingdom as never before.“Another feature of the present crisis is, that God will test the faith of his waiting ones, and all those persons who are making almanacs for the Lord, and fixing dates for the fulfilling of certain prophecies, are going to be disappointed. We are living a life of faith in every particular, clear down to the last[pg 470]moment of his appearing in the sky. The Scriptures are very clear in setting forth two facts concerning Christ's coming. On the one hand we are told of the signs that would precede his coming, and we are told to watch those things, and they will indicate his coming as near; on the other hand we are expressly told that the day and hour of his appearing will never be made known beforehand, and our wisdom lies in not forgetting the signs on the one hand, nor in fixing dates on the other. Hence Jesus commands us to keep in the attitude of a watcher, always ready, always expecting, yet not knowing. In the parable of the ten virgins, our Savior clearly intimates that the bridegroom will tarry beyond the time that his people expected him. The picture is that of a crowd of passengers sitting in a station and waiting for a night train which is behind time, and while they are yet waiting they get drowsy and nod. The sentence,‘They all slumbered and slept,’should more properly be, they became‘drowsy and nodded.’This applies to the very elect, who will be taken into the wedding, and indicates a crisis of the trial of the faith of the sanctified ones.“But the most significant of all things in the present crisis is the testing of true faith in all points of doctrine. There never was a time since the fall of Adam when the human race was so drenched with the muddy waters of heresy. Everything moves with lightning rapidity. The principles that lie hidden in every system of government, education, social life,[pg 471]and manifold forms of religion, are swiftly pushing themselves to prestige and open manifestation. Sin is not only working out every species of wickedness that can be invented, but the intellect of the so-called Christianized world is showing signs of decay in its ability to grasp sturdy Bible truth, and is largely turning from the Bible to old worn-out heathen ideas. Every doctrine of the Bible is being twisted into fanciful theories. The scriptures teaching of sin and the need of broken-hearted repentance is practically ignored by thousands of ministers and church-members. The absolute divinity of Jesus is growing weaker in the faith of many who claim to teach his gospel, and some who profess to be very orthodox say they do not pray to Jesus. The literal resurrection of the body taught by the Scriptures is caricatured and treated lightly by professed theologians, ministers, and professed Christians. The immortality of the soul and its conscious existence, either in heaven or hell, during the sleep of the body in death, is being rejected for the old heathen notion. The experience of justifying and sanctifying grace, attested by the personal Holy Spirit, is rejected by millions of church-members. Everlasting reward and punishment is laughed at as an old tradition instead of a serious doctrine of the Bible.“It is well nigh impossible to enter a single professed Christian family in Europe or America in which some member has not a new patent on Scripture[pg 472]truth and holds some fanciful notion concerning the serious teachings of the Bible. I find a great many passages in which the last form of testifying for God's saints will be that of their faith in the simple plain old doctrines of God's Word. Jesus warns us that just before his coming every possible heresy and every variety of false Christ will appear to deceive the people, and that if it were possible they should deceive the very elect. And John in Revelation tells us of an era of the going forth of frogs, which are evil spirits, to seduce the people from the true faith. We are living in the frog era. In nearly every city in the land there are from one to three persons who claim to be God, or an incarnation of Christ, or the Holy Spirit. Thousands of religious people think it is too tame and uninteresting to accept all of the plain old doctrines of the Scripture, so they want something original and startling.”In the past two years the popular religious bodies, including an aristocratic ministry, have turned to worldliness at a rapid and unprecedented rate, and what will be seen of proud formalism, socialism, and rejection of divine truth in the circles of denominationalism within the next ten years would now appear incredulous.The following poem selected from a recent religious periodical is vividly descriptive of the present-day religious denominations, commonly known as churches. However the true church of God is an entirely different[pg 473]institution, and just as far separated from the world, and just as bitterly hated by her as when she imprisoned, stoned and martyred her devoted followers.The Church Walking With The World."The Church and the World walked far apart,On the changing shores of time;The World was singing a giddy song,And the Church a hymn sublime.'Come, give me your hand,' cried the merry World,'And walk with me this way;'But the good Church hid her snowy hand,And solemnly answered, 'Nay,I will not give you my hand at all,And I will not walk with you;Your way is the way of endless death;Your words are all untrue.'"'Nay, walk with me but a little space,'Said the World with a kindly air;'The road I walk is a pleasant road,And the sun shines always there.Your path is thorny and rough and crude,And mine is broad and plain;My road is paved with flowers and gems,And yours with tears and pain.The sky above me is always blue:No want, no toil, I know;The sky above you is always dark;Your lot is a lot of woe.My path, you see, is a broad, fair path,And my gate is high and wide—There is room enough for you and for meTo travel side by side.'[pg 474]"Half shyly the Church approached the World,And gave him her hand of snow:The old World grasped it and walked along,Saying, in accents low,'Your dress is too simple to please my taste;I will give you pearls to wear,Rich velvet and silks for your graceful form,And diamonds to deck your hair.'The Church looked down at her plain white robes,And then at the dazzling World,And blushed as she saw his handsome lipWith a smile contemptuous curled.'I will change my dress for a costlier one,'Said the Church with a smile of grace;Then her pure garments drifted away,And the World gave in their place,Beautiful satins, and shining silks,And roses and gems and pearls;And over her forehead her bright hair fellCrisped in a thousand curls."'Your house is too plain,' said the proud old World,'I'll build you one like mine:Carpets of Brussels, and curtains of lace,And furniture ever so fine.'So he built her a costly and beautiful house—Splendid it was to behold;Her sons and her beautiful daughters dwelt there,Gleaming in purple and gold;And fairs and shows in the halls were held,And the World and his children were there;And laughter and music and feasts were heardIn the place that was meant for prayer.She had cushioned pews for the rich and the great,To sit in their pomp and their pride,While the poor folks, clad in their shabby suits,Sat meekly down outside.[pg 475]"The angel of mercy flew over the Church,And whispered, 'I know thy sin.'The Church looked back with a sigh, and longedTo gather her children in;But some were off in the midnight ball,And some were off at the play,And some were drinking in gay saloons;So she quietly went her way.The sly World gallantly said to her,'Your children mean no harm—Merely indulging in innocent sports.'So she leaned on his proffered arm,And smiled, and chatted, and gathered flowers,As she walked along with the World;While millions and millions of deathless soulsTo the horrible pit were hurled."'Your preachers are all too old and plain,'Said the gay old World with a sneer;'They frighten my children with dreadful tales,Which I like not for them to hear:They talk of brimstone and fire and pain,And the horrors of endless night;They talk of a place that should not beMentioned to ears polite.I will send you some of the better stamp,Brilliant and gay and fast,Who will tell them that people may live as they list,And go to heaven at last.The Father is merciful and great and good,Tender and true and kind;Do you think he would take one child to heavenAnd leave the rest behind?'So he filled her house with gay divines,Gifted and great and learned;And the plain old men that preached the crossWere out of the pulpit turned.[pg 476]"'You give too much to the poor,' said the World;'Far more than you ought to do.If the poor need shelter and food and clothes,Why need it trouble you?Go, take your money and buy rich robes,And horses and carriages fine,And pearls and jewels and dainty food,And the rarest and costliest wine.My children they dote on all such things,And if you their love would win,You must do as they do, and walk in the waysThat they are walking in.'The Church held tightly the strings of her purse,And gracefully lowered her hand,And simpered, 'I've given too much away;I'll do, sir, as you have said.'"So the poor were turned from her door in scorn,And she heard not the orphans' cry;And she drew her beautiful robes aside,As the widows went weeping by.The sons of the World and the sons of the ChurchWalked closely hand and heart,And only the Master who knoweth all,Could tell the two apart.Then the Church sat down at her ease and said,'I am rich, and in goods increased;I have need of nothing, and naught to doBut to laugh and dance and feast.'The sly World heard her, and laughed in his sleeve,And mockingly said aside,'The Church is fallen—the beautiful Church—And her shame is her boast and pride!'"The angel drew near to the mercy-seat,And whispered, in sighs, her name;And the saints their anthems of rapture hushed,[pg 477]And covered their heads with shame.And voice came down, through the hush of heaven,From Him who sat on the throne,'I know thy work, and how thou hast said,I am rich; and hast not knownThat thou art naked and poor and blindAnd wretched before my face;Therefore, from my presence I cast thee out,And blot thy name from its place!'"—Sel.To-day the proud, fashionable sectarian churches are lovingly folded in the arms of the giddy world, and in her mad, drunken, lustful craze she is crying,“On with the dance, let joy be unconfined.”

We have now come to consider the evening time of this gospel day. The morning was light because of the truth being experienced and taught. The noonday was dark because traditions and theories and vain philosophies of man became substitutes for the Word of God. This evening time was seen by prophetic eye.“But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.”We are nearing the close of this gospel day. The sun of time hangs low in the western horizon. The gospel light is now shining in peaceful splendor like the clear setting of the sun after a dark and cloudy noonday.

“Misty fogs so long concealingAll the hills of mingled nightVanish, all their sin revealing,For the“evening shall be light”“Lo, the ransomed are returning,Robed in shining crystal white,Leaping, shouting, home to Zion,Happy in the ev'ning light.”—Sel.

“Misty fogs so long concealingAll the hills of mingled nightVanish, all their sin revealing,For the“evening shall be light”

“Misty fogs so long concealing

All the hills of mingled night

Vanish, all their sin revealing,

For the“evening shall be light”

“Lo, the ransomed are returning,Robed in shining crystal white,Leaping, shouting, home to Zion,Happy in the ev'ning light.”—Sel.

“Lo, the ransomed are returning,

Robed in shining crystal white,

Leaping, shouting, home to Zion,

Happy in the ev'ning light.”—Sel.

Chapter I. The Apostasy In Two Days.In our introduction we gave a number of texts which spoke of the whole of the gospel dispensation as one day; but any period of time distinguished by some extraordinary historic event may be and is also termed a day. The apostasy or dark noonday being under two forms is marked in Bible history as two days. The first form of the apostasy, namely, Catholicism, is called by the Scriptures a“dark day.”A Cloudy Day.The second form of the apostasy was not such utter darkness as the first, and is therefore called a cloudy day.“For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.”Ezek. 34:11, 12. The cloudy day was a day of the scattering of God's people. This has been true of Protestantism. God's own people have been divided and scattered among the various organizations of man. The time of the seeking out refers to the evening, when God is going to gather his children together that“were scattered abroad,”[pg 456]and they shall be“one heart and one soul”as in the morning.One more text refers to the cloudy day.“And it shall come to pass in that day that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: but it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.”Zech. 14:6, 7. This day of Protestantism was neither“clear nor dark”; was neither“day, nor night.”It was a mixture of light and darkness, truth and error, and therefore is fitly termed a cloudy day.A Revival.After those two days there shall be a great revival caused by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.“Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.”Hos. 6:1-3.The two days of beastly power come to an end. The time comes when they shall no longer govern God's true people. It was true of literal Babylon, that had taken captive the children of God, that the time came when they returned from their captivity. The same is true of spiritual Babylon. The children of God have long been taken captive in her. In the evening[pg 457]time, after two days, they shall say,“Come, let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he will revive us in the third day, he will raise us up,”etc. Praise God! Then shall we know the Lord.“His going forth is prepared as the morning.”Just as God was known in the morning in his holiness and power, just so he will be known in the evening. Throughout the“two days”(apostasy) the Lord in his power to save to the uttermost, to heal, and to exclusively control his church was unknown. Therefore he says:“Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.”Micah 3:7.Such is the ignorance of the seers of Babylon. They are educated in the wisdom of the world, but know little of God. Their sermons are the theories of man, and not the pure Word of God. For this reason there is a great spiritual famine in Babylon.The evening time is called the third day, when God shall send copious showers of rain. The first day is a“dark day,”and relates to the reign of the Catholic power. The second or dark and cloudy day relates to the reign of Protestantism. The third day is the“time of the end,”when there shall be a consumption of the beast powers. Dan. 7:26. Daniel was told that the fourth beast he saw in his vision was a fourth kingdom. This was the Roman kingdom. Three had preceded—the Babylonian, Medo-Persian and Grecian. This beast had ten horns. Ver. 7. These[pg 458]ten horns were ten kings, or kingdoms, which were created out of the Roman empire by the barbarians of the North. History records the overrunning of the Roman empire from A.D. 376 to A.D. 476 by the different“powerful and warlike nations of the North; namely, the Huns, Goths, Vandals,”etc. Thus in one century of time the kingdom of the Cæsars gave rise to ten different minor kingdoms.In verse twenty-four of Daniel seven the prophet was told that another horn should arise after these ten. From the description of this horn we at once learn it to represent the Roman hierarchy, or to be the same as the first beast of Rev. 13. In verse twenty-six the prophet says,“Judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.”The apostasy is being consumed by the powerful and sharp judgments of God's Word being executed by the faithful and true who are proclaiming,“Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come.”This is in the time of the end, this glorious evening hour.The apostle Paul gives a description of the apostasy in 2 Thes. 2. In verse eight he speaks of its consumption, which is being effected in this evening of time. Babylon is being consumed. Hear her cries of pain. The prophet Isaiah foretells the consumption of the apostasy in these words:“And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed.”[pg 459]This is being accomplished in this present day. The gospel truth is being held up as a“lamp that burneth,”and Babylon is consumed. The Lord is washing“away the filth of the daughter of Zion, ... by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.”Isa. 4:4.“Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul.”Morning And Evening Light Compared.How light shall be the evening? Will God“revive us and raise us up”in the third day to the apostolic plane? The answer is,“His going forth is prepared as the morning.”“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 rearward.”Isa. 58:8.By these two texts we are given to understand that in the evening the light shall shine as bright as in the morning. The church of God will be raised to the same plane from which it was dragged down by ecclesiastical lords. God's people shall enjoy the same degree of holiness in the evening as they did in the morning. They shall enjoy the same blessed unity—“one heart and one soul,”“and all speak the same thing.”They shall possess apostolic faith. They shall have power with God to heal the sick, to open blinded eyes, to cause the lame to walk and the deaf[pg 460]to hear, to cast out devils, and to raise the dead the same as did the saints in the morning. Why shall they be given such power? Because they believe, experience and practise the whole truth. They are free from all manism. God has absolute control in each and every heart. Every hindrance to faith is removed, every barrier between them and God is taken away, and the Lord works with them,“confirming the word with signs following.”Glory to his name!

In our introduction we gave a number of texts which spoke of the whole of the gospel dispensation as one day; but any period of time distinguished by some extraordinary historic event may be and is also termed a day. The apostasy or dark noonday being under two forms is marked in Bible history as two days. The first form of the apostasy, namely, Catholicism, is called by the Scriptures a“dark day.”

A Cloudy Day.The second form of the apostasy was not such utter darkness as the first, and is therefore called a cloudy day.“For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.”Ezek. 34:11, 12. The cloudy day was a day of the scattering of God's people. This has been true of Protestantism. God's own people have been divided and scattered among the various organizations of man. The time of the seeking out refers to the evening, when God is going to gather his children together that“were scattered abroad,”[pg 456]and they shall be“one heart and one soul”as in the morning.One more text refers to the cloudy day.“And it shall come to pass in that day that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: but it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.”Zech. 14:6, 7. This day of Protestantism was neither“clear nor dark”; was neither“day, nor night.”It was a mixture of light and darkness, truth and error, and therefore is fitly termed a cloudy day.

The second form of the apostasy was not such utter darkness as the first, and is therefore called a cloudy day.“For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.”Ezek. 34:11, 12. The cloudy day was a day of the scattering of God's people. This has been true of Protestantism. God's own people have been divided and scattered among the various organizations of man. The time of the seeking out refers to the evening, when God is going to gather his children together that“were scattered abroad,”[pg 456]and they shall be“one heart and one soul”as in the morning.

One more text refers to the cloudy day.“And it shall come to pass in that day that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: but it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.”Zech. 14:6, 7. This day of Protestantism was neither“clear nor dark”; was neither“day, nor night.”It was a mixture of light and darkness, truth and error, and therefore is fitly termed a cloudy day.

A Revival.After those two days there shall be a great revival caused by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.“Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.”Hos. 6:1-3.The two days of beastly power come to an end. The time comes when they shall no longer govern God's true people. It was true of literal Babylon, that had taken captive the children of God, that the time came when they returned from their captivity. The same is true of spiritual Babylon. The children of God have long been taken captive in her. In the evening[pg 457]time, after two days, they shall say,“Come, let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he will revive us in the third day, he will raise us up,”etc. Praise God! Then shall we know the Lord.“His going forth is prepared as the morning.”Just as God was known in the morning in his holiness and power, just so he will be known in the evening. Throughout the“two days”(apostasy) the Lord in his power to save to the uttermost, to heal, and to exclusively control his church was unknown. Therefore he says:“Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.”Micah 3:7.Such is the ignorance of the seers of Babylon. They are educated in the wisdom of the world, but know little of God. Their sermons are the theories of man, and not the pure Word of God. For this reason there is a great spiritual famine in Babylon.The evening time is called the third day, when God shall send copious showers of rain. The first day is a“dark day,”and relates to the reign of the Catholic power. The second or dark and cloudy day relates to the reign of Protestantism. The third day is the“time of the end,”when there shall be a consumption of the beast powers. Dan. 7:26. Daniel was told that the fourth beast he saw in his vision was a fourth kingdom. This was the Roman kingdom. Three had preceded—the Babylonian, Medo-Persian and Grecian. This beast had ten horns. Ver. 7. These[pg 458]ten horns were ten kings, or kingdoms, which were created out of the Roman empire by the barbarians of the North. History records the overrunning of the Roman empire from A.D. 376 to A.D. 476 by the different“powerful and warlike nations of the North; namely, the Huns, Goths, Vandals,”etc. Thus in one century of time the kingdom of the Cæsars gave rise to ten different minor kingdoms.In verse twenty-four of Daniel seven the prophet was told that another horn should arise after these ten. From the description of this horn we at once learn it to represent the Roman hierarchy, or to be the same as the first beast of Rev. 13. In verse twenty-six the prophet says,“Judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.”The apostasy is being consumed by the powerful and sharp judgments of God's Word being executed by the faithful and true who are proclaiming,“Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come.”This is in the time of the end, this glorious evening hour.The apostle Paul gives a description of the apostasy in 2 Thes. 2. In verse eight he speaks of its consumption, which is being effected in this evening of time. Babylon is being consumed. Hear her cries of pain. The prophet Isaiah foretells the consumption of the apostasy in these words:“And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed.”[pg 459]This is being accomplished in this present day. The gospel truth is being held up as a“lamp that burneth,”and Babylon is consumed. The Lord is washing“away the filth of the daughter of Zion, ... by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.”Isa. 4:4.“Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul.”

After those two days there shall be a great revival caused by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.“Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.”Hos. 6:1-3.

The two days of beastly power come to an end. The time comes when they shall no longer govern God's true people. It was true of literal Babylon, that had taken captive the children of God, that the time came when they returned from their captivity. The same is true of spiritual Babylon. The children of God have long been taken captive in her. In the evening[pg 457]time, after two days, they shall say,“Come, let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he will revive us in the third day, he will raise us up,”etc. Praise God! Then shall we know the Lord.“His going forth is prepared as the morning.”Just as God was known in the morning in his holiness and power, just so he will be known in the evening. Throughout the“two days”(apostasy) the Lord in his power to save to the uttermost, to heal, and to exclusively control his church was unknown. Therefore he says:“Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.”Micah 3:7.

Such is the ignorance of the seers of Babylon. They are educated in the wisdom of the world, but know little of God. Their sermons are the theories of man, and not the pure Word of God. For this reason there is a great spiritual famine in Babylon.

The evening time is called the third day, when God shall send copious showers of rain. The first day is a“dark day,”and relates to the reign of the Catholic power. The second or dark and cloudy day relates to the reign of Protestantism. The third day is the“time of the end,”when there shall be a consumption of the beast powers. Dan. 7:26. Daniel was told that the fourth beast he saw in his vision was a fourth kingdom. This was the Roman kingdom. Three had preceded—the Babylonian, Medo-Persian and Grecian. This beast had ten horns. Ver. 7. These[pg 458]ten horns were ten kings, or kingdoms, which were created out of the Roman empire by the barbarians of the North. History records the overrunning of the Roman empire from A.D. 376 to A.D. 476 by the different“powerful and warlike nations of the North; namely, the Huns, Goths, Vandals,”etc. Thus in one century of time the kingdom of the Cæsars gave rise to ten different minor kingdoms.

In verse twenty-four of Daniel seven the prophet was told that another horn should arise after these ten. From the description of this horn we at once learn it to represent the Roman hierarchy, or to be the same as the first beast of Rev. 13. In verse twenty-six the prophet says,“Judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.”The apostasy is being consumed by the powerful and sharp judgments of God's Word being executed by the faithful and true who are proclaiming,“Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come.”This is in the time of the end, this glorious evening hour.

The apostle Paul gives a description of the apostasy in 2 Thes. 2. In verse eight he speaks of its consumption, which is being effected in this evening of time. Babylon is being consumed. Hear her cries of pain. The prophet Isaiah foretells the consumption of the apostasy in these words:“And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed.”[pg 459]This is being accomplished in this present day. The gospel truth is being held up as a“lamp that burneth,”and Babylon is consumed. The Lord is washing“away the filth of the daughter of Zion, ... by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.”Isa. 4:4.

“Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul.”

Morning And Evening Light Compared.How light shall be the evening? Will God“revive us and raise us up”in the third day to the apostolic plane? The answer is,“His going forth is prepared as the morning.”“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 rearward.”Isa. 58:8.By these two texts we are given to understand that in the evening the light shall shine as bright as in the morning. The church of God will be raised to the same plane from which it was dragged down by ecclesiastical lords. God's people shall enjoy the same degree of holiness in the evening as they did in the morning. They shall enjoy the same blessed unity—“one heart and one soul,”“and all speak the same thing.”They shall possess apostolic faith. They shall have power with God to heal the sick, to open blinded eyes, to cause the lame to walk and the deaf[pg 460]to hear, to cast out devils, and to raise the dead the same as did the saints in the morning. Why shall they be given such power? Because they believe, experience and practise the whole truth. They are free from all manism. God has absolute control in each and every heart. Every hindrance to faith is removed, every barrier between them and God is taken away, and the Lord works with them,“confirming the word with signs following.”Glory to his name!

How light shall be the evening? Will God“revive us and raise us up”in the third day to the apostolic plane? The answer is,“His going forth is prepared as the morning.”“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 rearward.”Isa. 58:8.

By these two texts we are given to understand that in the evening the light shall shine as bright as in the morning. The church of God will be raised to the same plane from which it was dragged down by ecclesiastical lords. God's people shall enjoy the same degree of holiness in the evening as they did in the morning. They shall enjoy the same blessed unity—“one heart and one soul,”“and all speak the same thing.”They shall possess apostolic faith. They shall have power with God to heal the sick, to open blinded eyes, to cause the lame to walk and the deaf[pg 460]to hear, to cast out devils, and to raise the dead the same as did the saints in the morning. Why shall they be given such power? Because they believe, experience and practise the whole truth. They are free from all manism. God has absolute control in each and every heart. Every hindrance to faith is removed, every barrier between them and God is taken away, and the Lord works with them,“confirming the word with signs following.”Glory to his name!

Chapter II. The Time Of The Evening.The morning was of 270 years' duration. The first form of the apostasy lasted, as we have shown, 1260 years, bringing us to the Lutheran reformation in 1530. Now when we ascertain the duration of the second beast power we will know the time the sun, moon and stars reappear in the evening. One especial text that gives us information on this subject is found in Revelation. In speaking of the two witnesses the Revelator says:“And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. And after three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.”Rev. 11:10, 11.[pg 461]In this we learn the duration of the power of Protestantism and the breaking forth of the evening light. We have before proven that a day in Scripture is used to represent different lengths of time, sometimes the whole of the Christian era, sometimes a thousand years, sometimes a hundred years, and sometimes a year. In this text a day represents a century. Three days are three centuries, and a half day is a half century. After three days and a half, which are three centuries and a half, or 350 years, of the reign of Protestantism, the Spirit of life from God entered into them. This is the dawning of the evening, when the whole and entire Word of God is believed and experienced and the Holy Spirit has the same power in governing the church of God as he did in the days of the apostles. The downfall of the first beast, or Romanism, and the arising of the second beast, or Protestantism, was in the year 1530. The duration of Protestant power is 350 years, which added to 1530 brings us to the year 1880 A.D., at which time the dark noonday closes and we emerging hail with joy the peaceful glowing evening light.Prior to the year 1880 it was, with rare exceptions, universally conceded that to gain heaven we needs must unite with some religious denomination. About this time God by his Holy Spirit gave to men everywhere (whose hearts were prepared) an intuitive knowledge that we could be saved and live a Christian life outside the walls of sectism. Just to lean upon[pg 462]God alone and be guided solely by his Word and Spirit, they discovered to be their blessed privilege. We are not alone in thus interpreting Rev. 11:11. We will quote from other authors.“Cloudy day (Protestantism). Length of period 350 years.”Rev. 11:9.—S. L. Speck in Bible Readings, p. 104.“The two witnesses [Word and Spirit] lie dead three days and a half [three and one-half centuries]. Rev. 11:7-9. The church dwells in a wilderness, which is neither dark nor light. Period 350 years. Time from 1530 to 1880.”—W. G. S. in Bible Readings, p. 69.“Time of reign of second beast, from the year 1530 to 1880, making 350 years.”—H. C. Wickersham in Holiness Bible Subjects, p. 178.This same author on page 244 in quoting Rev. 11:11 encloses in brackets the words:“At the end of three hundred and fifty years of Protestant sectism the true children of God come out of Babylon and are sanctified.”“The three days and a half they were to lie dead is interpreted by the Holy Spirit to mean three centuries and a half. This gives us the length of the Protestant age.”—Biblical Trace of the Church, p. 143.In the few years prior to 1880 A.D., there was a great declension in the spirituality of Protestantism. Who can deny this fact? Quite a number of the leading denominations held revivals, where was witnessed[pg 463]the power of the Holy Spirit. People were genuinely converted. They loved and worshiped God in quite a degree of simplicity and equality. The ministry was of a humbler class and more devoted to its charges. In the decade preceding 1880 there was a great change. This change perhaps can be no better described than is done in the following words of Mr. Foster, bishop of the Methodist denomination:“Worldly socials, fairs, festivals, concerts, and such like, have taken the place of the religious gatherings, revival meetings, class and prayer-meetings of earlier days.... Under such worldly performance spirituality is frozen to death.... The early Methodist ministers went forth to sacrifice and suffer for Christ. They sought not places of ease and affluence, but of privation and suffering. They gloried not in their big salaries, fine parsonages, and refined congregations, but in the souls that had been won for Jesus. Oh, how changed! A hireling ministry will be a feeble, a timid truckling, a time-serving ministry, without faith, endurance, and holy power. Methodism formerly dealt in the great central truth. Now the pulpits deal largely in generalities and in popular lectures. The glorious doctrine of entire sanctification is rarely heard and seldom witnessed in the pulpits.”There is not a Methodist minister but knows the truthfulness of these statements, however much they may deny it. In the quoted texts of Scripture from Revelation 11, the ninth and tenth verses say:[pg 464]“And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another.”By the“dead bodies”is meant the two witnesses, the Word and Spirit. These throughout Protestantism were dead. While they professed to be led by the Spirit and to believe and practise the Word, they did neither. Thus they would not entirely and openly in words deny the power of the Holy Spirit and verity of God's Word, yet in works they did deny them.“They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.”Titus 1:16. These two witnesses were dead, yet they would not allow their dead bodies to be buried: they professed to receive them.The tenth verse tells of the worldliness of sectism at the time the Spirit of life from God entered into the Word and Holy Spirit, after the 350 years or the ushering in of the evening light. They were making merry and sending gifts. Sectism is straining every nerve, and adopting most every scheme for money-getting. The fundamental object in the socials, fairs, concerts, etc., is to get money. They adopt these worldly, sensual amusements to rob men of their money. We have in possession a clipping[pg 465]from theNew York Sunwhich is a fair sample of the present-day performances and merry making for money, and well explains the rejoicing, merry making and sending of gifts as mentioned in Rev. 11:10. It is as follows:“Saved The Church.“Members Performed Many Services in Turning an Odd Penny.“From New York Sun.“Pittsburg, March 5.—The church edifice of the Coraopolis Methodist church was advertised to be sold by the sheriff this week, and the members of the congregation made a heroic attempt all last week to save it. Coraopolis is a few miles below here. One vivacious young woman won a wager by riding a spirited horse without a saddle; other good sisters and brethren cleaned shoes and peddled, while some pushed wheelbarrows in which were conveyed some very staid-looking business men. The whole church community was animated by the common desire to keep the sheriff from the church-door. Luxuries were denied, and many ludicrous situations were invented until enough money was raised to secure a postponement of the sale.“Nobody seemed in the least disconcerted over these unusual exhibitions. If any one asked Samuel Marshall, the well-known station agent, what he was doing when he was shining the boots of the ex-Burgess, he would have replied:‘Raising money for our church. Don't you want a shine?’Among the most active[pg 466]in the work was Mr. Marshall, and his industry in turning in the most money won for him the prize of a gold watch. The following items from his statement show some of the methods adopted:“February 20.—Delivered message to F. D. Stickney, 10 cents. H. S. Misseldine wanted me to stand on my head, but found I could not do this, so added up fifty columns of figures, for which I received 50 cents.“February 21.—Carried can of milk to restaurant of J. G. Walters, 10 cents.“February 22.—Delivered head of cabbage, which afterward on a‘banter’was thrown at Mr. Walters, 10 cents.“February 23.—Young lady paid me 5 cents to call on her; polished shoes for George Arras, 5 cents.“February 24.—Swept pool-room of J. E. McKee, 10 cents; delivered hardware to Mr. Boyers, $2.00.“February 26.—Wheeled M. W. Watson from store of J. C. Walters to shop, 25 cents.“February 27.—Shaved Henry DeGrange, the barber, for which I charged him 10 cents.“Mrs. Hamilton, a well-known society woman, sold bread and laundered the gentlemen's ties. She also presented a report in rhyme at the‘pledge meeting’on last Tuesday night. One item of the report was:“First I peddled chestnuts and met with success,And to-day I raked in nickels is the truth, you better guess.Say, I must tell a secret, those chestnuts were alive,But what of that, when I realized one dollar thirty-five.[pg 467]“Mrs Hamilton returned about forty dollars as the result of her labors. Miss Fannie Siebold, a vivacious young woman with auburn hair and with eyes that sparkle, was visiting friends in the place. She never lost an opportunity to show her interest in the little church. Her host, curious to see if she could not be made to retract from her offers, told her he would give her fifty cents if she would ride one of his spirited horses without, a saddle.“She was told that she might ride any fashion. Miss Siebold made all the male portion of the family promise to remain indoors, where they could not observe her during the performance. They agreed to this, but people passing along the road were surprised at the sight of a handsome young lady galloping over the fields on the flying charger in a manner that would do credit to any man.“As a result of all the industry, $208.54 was raised, the sheriff's placard was taken down from the church-door, and a thirty days' extension secured on the $2,500 remaining to be paid.”The following article, recently published in a God-fearing, religious paper, contains weighty and powerful truths, and should awaken the reader to the present condition of things in this dark, seducing, and soul-deluding, sinful world.“There has been for many years a rapid decline among the Protestant churches of the spirit of revivals and of the manifestations of the power of the Holy Spirit. Not only is there great ignorance on[pg 468]the doctrines of the Bible, but almost universally a positive antagonism to anything like the supernatural in religious experience.“Just as Jesus was rejected and crucified by the professed church at the close of the Jewish age, so the Holy Spirit is being despised and crucified by the professed church at the close of the Gentile age. Just as Jesus was rejected from the nice homes of Bethlehem, and had to go into a stable to find a place to be born, and where he could utter his infant cries, so the Holy Spirit to-day is utterly rejected from thousands of Protestant churches, and he has to go into rented halls, slum missions, canvas tents, and woods meetings to find a place to utter his voice through the lips of those who know and feel him. Just as there were a few who had supernatural discernment to recognize and worship the infant God, so there are now a few who discern the personality and operation of the Holy Spirit, and pour out to him their gold and frankincense and myrrh. Just as the people of Bethlehem, who had turned the unborn Savior from their door were soon made to wail by the king's order of assassination, so the thousands of nominal churches which now reject the work of the Holy Spirit from their doors will soon wail under the awful tribulation that is rapidly coming on all the earth. Oh, if the Protestant churches could only see the day of their visitation, and that the history of the way the Jews treated Jesus is being exactly repeated over and over again in the way the modern churches treat the Holy[pg 469]Spirit, and that the same doom that overtook the Jewish church for rejecting Christ, will speedily overtake the modern churches for rejecting the Holy Spirit!“Another feature of the present crisis is, God is working mainly through individuals, and not so much through machinery. Thousands of individuals in Europe and America have been called of the Spirit to launch out into soul-saving work along lines of personal enterprise more than ever in past ages.“There never was a time in the world's history when Christian men and women felt so led of God not to wait for committees nor the red tape of ecclesiastical authority, but to hurry forth under a personal call from God and do what they could with their individual means and talents for the saving of souls, the sanctifying of believers, and preparing the chosen few to meet Jesus. There never seemed a time when anything like church machinery would run to seed so quick as now. Even if an enterprise that is started definitely as a holiness work gets a few officers and committees in it, in a few days or months it gets just as churchly and high-headed and dictatorial as an old popish institution. For this reason God is utilizing individuality in his kingdom as never before.“Another feature of the present crisis is, that God will test the faith of his waiting ones, and all those persons who are making almanacs for the Lord, and fixing dates for the fulfilling of certain prophecies, are going to be disappointed. We are living a life of faith in every particular, clear down to the last[pg 470]moment of his appearing in the sky. The Scriptures are very clear in setting forth two facts concerning Christ's coming. On the one hand we are told of the signs that would precede his coming, and we are told to watch those things, and they will indicate his coming as near; on the other hand we are expressly told that the day and hour of his appearing will never be made known beforehand, and our wisdom lies in not forgetting the signs on the one hand, nor in fixing dates on the other. Hence Jesus commands us to keep in the attitude of a watcher, always ready, always expecting, yet not knowing. In the parable of the ten virgins, our Savior clearly intimates that the bridegroom will tarry beyond the time that his people expected him. The picture is that of a crowd of passengers sitting in a station and waiting for a night train which is behind time, and while they are yet waiting they get drowsy and nod. The sentence,‘They all slumbered and slept,’should more properly be, they became‘drowsy and nodded.’This applies to the very elect, who will be taken into the wedding, and indicates a crisis of the trial of the faith of the sanctified ones.“But the most significant of all things in the present crisis is the testing of true faith in all points of doctrine. There never was a time since the fall of Adam when the human race was so drenched with the muddy waters of heresy. Everything moves with lightning rapidity. The principles that lie hidden in every system of government, education, social life,[pg 471]and manifold forms of religion, are swiftly pushing themselves to prestige and open manifestation. Sin is not only working out every species of wickedness that can be invented, but the intellect of the so-called Christianized world is showing signs of decay in its ability to grasp sturdy Bible truth, and is largely turning from the Bible to old worn-out heathen ideas. Every doctrine of the Bible is being twisted into fanciful theories. The scriptures teaching of sin and the need of broken-hearted repentance is practically ignored by thousands of ministers and church-members. The absolute divinity of Jesus is growing weaker in the faith of many who claim to teach his gospel, and some who profess to be very orthodox say they do not pray to Jesus. The literal resurrection of the body taught by the Scriptures is caricatured and treated lightly by professed theologians, ministers, and professed Christians. The immortality of the soul and its conscious existence, either in heaven or hell, during the sleep of the body in death, is being rejected for the old heathen notion. The experience of justifying and sanctifying grace, attested by the personal Holy Spirit, is rejected by millions of church-members. Everlasting reward and punishment is laughed at as an old tradition instead of a serious doctrine of the Bible.“It is well nigh impossible to enter a single professed Christian family in Europe or America in which some member has not a new patent on Scripture[pg 472]truth and holds some fanciful notion concerning the serious teachings of the Bible. I find a great many passages in which the last form of testifying for God's saints will be that of their faith in the simple plain old doctrines of God's Word. Jesus warns us that just before his coming every possible heresy and every variety of false Christ will appear to deceive the people, and that if it were possible they should deceive the very elect. And John in Revelation tells us of an era of the going forth of frogs, which are evil spirits, to seduce the people from the true faith. We are living in the frog era. In nearly every city in the land there are from one to three persons who claim to be God, or an incarnation of Christ, or the Holy Spirit. Thousands of religious people think it is too tame and uninteresting to accept all of the plain old doctrines of the Scripture, so they want something original and startling.”In the past two years the popular religious bodies, including an aristocratic ministry, have turned to worldliness at a rapid and unprecedented rate, and what will be seen of proud formalism, socialism, and rejection of divine truth in the circles of denominationalism within the next ten years would now appear incredulous.The following poem selected from a recent religious periodical is vividly descriptive of the present-day religious denominations, commonly known as churches. However the true church of God is an entirely different[pg 473]institution, and just as far separated from the world, and just as bitterly hated by her as when she imprisoned, stoned and martyred her devoted followers.The Church Walking With The World."The Church and the World walked far apart,On the changing shores of time;The World was singing a giddy song,And the Church a hymn sublime.'Come, give me your hand,' cried the merry World,'And walk with me this way;'But the good Church hid her snowy hand,And solemnly answered, 'Nay,I will not give you my hand at all,And I will not walk with you;Your way is the way of endless death;Your words are all untrue.'"'Nay, walk with me but a little space,'Said the World with a kindly air;'The road I walk is a pleasant road,And the sun shines always there.Your path is thorny and rough and crude,And mine is broad and plain;My road is paved with flowers and gems,And yours with tears and pain.The sky above me is always blue:No want, no toil, I know;The sky above you is always dark;Your lot is a lot of woe.My path, you see, is a broad, fair path,And my gate is high and wide—There is room enough for you and for meTo travel side by side.'[pg 474]"Half shyly the Church approached the World,And gave him her hand of snow:The old World grasped it and walked along,Saying, in accents low,'Your dress is too simple to please my taste;I will give you pearls to wear,Rich velvet and silks for your graceful form,And diamonds to deck your hair.'The Church looked down at her plain white robes,And then at the dazzling World,And blushed as she saw his handsome lipWith a smile contemptuous curled.'I will change my dress for a costlier one,'Said the Church with a smile of grace;Then her pure garments drifted away,And the World gave in their place,Beautiful satins, and shining silks,And roses and gems and pearls;And over her forehead her bright hair fellCrisped in a thousand curls."'Your house is too plain,' said the proud old World,'I'll build you one like mine:Carpets of Brussels, and curtains of lace,And furniture ever so fine.'So he built her a costly and beautiful house—Splendid it was to behold;Her sons and her beautiful daughters dwelt there,Gleaming in purple and gold;And fairs and shows in the halls were held,And the World and his children were there;And laughter and music and feasts were heardIn the place that was meant for prayer.She had cushioned pews for the rich and the great,To sit in their pomp and their pride,While the poor folks, clad in their shabby suits,Sat meekly down outside.[pg 475]"The angel of mercy flew over the Church,And whispered, 'I know thy sin.'The Church looked back with a sigh, and longedTo gather her children in;But some were off in the midnight ball,And some were off at the play,And some were drinking in gay saloons;So she quietly went her way.The sly World gallantly said to her,'Your children mean no harm—Merely indulging in innocent sports.'So she leaned on his proffered arm,And smiled, and chatted, and gathered flowers,As she walked along with the World;While millions and millions of deathless soulsTo the horrible pit were hurled."'Your preachers are all too old and plain,'Said the gay old World with a sneer;'They frighten my children with dreadful tales,Which I like not for them to hear:They talk of brimstone and fire and pain,And the horrors of endless night;They talk of a place that should not beMentioned to ears polite.I will send you some of the better stamp,Brilliant and gay and fast,Who will tell them that people may live as they list,And go to heaven at last.The Father is merciful and great and good,Tender and true and kind;Do you think he would take one child to heavenAnd leave the rest behind?'So he filled her house with gay divines,Gifted and great and learned;And the plain old men that preached the crossWere out of the pulpit turned.[pg 476]"'You give too much to the poor,' said the World;'Far more than you ought to do.If the poor need shelter and food and clothes,Why need it trouble you?Go, take your money and buy rich robes,And horses and carriages fine,And pearls and jewels and dainty food,And the rarest and costliest wine.My children they dote on all such things,And if you their love would win,You must do as they do, and walk in the waysThat they are walking in.'The Church held tightly the strings of her purse,And gracefully lowered her hand,And simpered, 'I've given too much away;I'll do, sir, as you have said.'"So the poor were turned from her door in scorn,And she heard not the orphans' cry;And she drew her beautiful robes aside,As the widows went weeping by.The sons of the World and the sons of the ChurchWalked closely hand and heart,And only the Master who knoweth all,Could tell the two apart.Then the Church sat down at her ease and said,'I am rich, and in goods increased;I have need of nothing, and naught to doBut to laugh and dance and feast.'The sly World heard her, and laughed in his sleeve,And mockingly said aside,'The Church is fallen—the beautiful Church—And her shame is her boast and pride!'"The angel drew near to the mercy-seat,And whispered, in sighs, her name;And the saints their anthems of rapture hushed,[pg 477]And covered their heads with shame.And voice came down, through the hush of heaven,From Him who sat on the throne,'I know thy work, and how thou hast said,I am rich; and hast not knownThat thou art naked and poor and blindAnd wretched before my face;Therefore, from my presence I cast thee out,And blot thy name from its place!'"—Sel.To-day the proud, fashionable sectarian churches are lovingly folded in the arms of the giddy world, and in her mad, drunken, lustful craze she is crying,“On with the dance, let joy be unconfined.”

The morning was of 270 years' duration. The first form of the apostasy lasted, as we have shown, 1260 years, bringing us to the Lutheran reformation in 1530. Now when we ascertain the duration of the second beast power we will know the time the sun, moon and stars reappear in the evening. One especial text that gives us information on this subject is found in Revelation. In speaking of the two witnesses the Revelator says:“And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. And after three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.”Rev. 11:10, 11.

In this we learn the duration of the power of Protestantism and the breaking forth of the evening light. We have before proven that a day in Scripture is used to represent different lengths of time, sometimes the whole of the Christian era, sometimes a thousand years, sometimes a hundred years, and sometimes a year. In this text a day represents a century. Three days are three centuries, and a half day is a half century. After three days and a half, which are three centuries and a half, or 350 years, of the reign of Protestantism, the Spirit of life from God entered into them. This is the dawning of the evening, when the whole and entire Word of God is believed and experienced and the Holy Spirit has the same power in governing the church of God as he did in the days of the apostles. The downfall of the first beast, or Romanism, and the arising of the second beast, or Protestantism, was in the year 1530. The duration of Protestant power is 350 years, which added to 1530 brings us to the year 1880 A.D., at which time the dark noonday closes and we emerging hail with joy the peaceful glowing evening light.

Prior to the year 1880 it was, with rare exceptions, universally conceded that to gain heaven we needs must unite with some religious denomination. About this time God by his Holy Spirit gave to men everywhere (whose hearts were prepared) an intuitive knowledge that we could be saved and live a Christian life outside the walls of sectism. Just to lean upon[pg 462]God alone and be guided solely by his Word and Spirit, they discovered to be their blessed privilege. We are not alone in thus interpreting Rev. 11:11. We will quote from other authors.“Cloudy day (Protestantism). Length of period 350 years.”Rev. 11:9.—S. L. Speck in Bible Readings, p. 104.

“The two witnesses [Word and Spirit] lie dead three days and a half [three and one-half centuries]. Rev. 11:7-9. The church dwells in a wilderness, which is neither dark nor light. Period 350 years. Time from 1530 to 1880.”—W. G. S. in Bible Readings, p. 69.

“Time of reign of second beast, from the year 1530 to 1880, making 350 years.”—H. C. Wickersham in Holiness Bible Subjects, p. 178.

This same author on page 244 in quoting Rev. 11:11 encloses in brackets the words:“At the end of three hundred and fifty years of Protestant sectism the true children of God come out of Babylon and are sanctified.”

“The three days and a half they were to lie dead is interpreted by the Holy Spirit to mean three centuries and a half. This gives us the length of the Protestant age.”—Biblical Trace of the Church, p. 143.

In the few years prior to 1880 A.D., there was a great declension in the spirituality of Protestantism. Who can deny this fact? Quite a number of the leading denominations held revivals, where was witnessed[pg 463]the power of the Holy Spirit. People were genuinely converted. They loved and worshiped God in quite a degree of simplicity and equality. The ministry was of a humbler class and more devoted to its charges. In the decade preceding 1880 there was a great change. This change perhaps can be no better described than is done in the following words of Mr. Foster, bishop of the Methodist denomination:

“Worldly socials, fairs, festivals, concerts, and such like, have taken the place of the religious gatherings, revival meetings, class and prayer-meetings of earlier days.... Under such worldly performance spirituality is frozen to death.... The early Methodist ministers went forth to sacrifice and suffer for Christ. They sought not places of ease and affluence, but of privation and suffering. They gloried not in their big salaries, fine parsonages, and refined congregations, but in the souls that had been won for Jesus. Oh, how changed! A hireling ministry will be a feeble, a timid truckling, a time-serving ministry, without faith, endurance, and holy power. Methodism formerly dealt in the great central truth. Now the pulpits deal largely in generalities and in popular lectures. The glorious doctrine of entire sanctification is rarely heard and seldom witnessed in the pulpits.”

There is not a Methodist minister but knows the truthfulness of these statements, however much they may deny it. In the quoted texts of Scripture from Revelation 11, the ninth and tenth verses say:[pg 464]“And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another.”

By the“dead bodies”is meant the two witnesses, the Word and Spirit. These throughout Protestantism were dead. While they professed to be led by the Spirit and to believe and practise the Word, they did neither. Thus they would not entirely and openly in words deny the power of the Holy Spirit and verity of God's Word, yet in works they did deny them.“They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.”Titus 1:16. These two witnesses were dead, yet they would not allow their dead bodies to be buried: they professed to receive them.

The tenth verse tells of the worldliness of sectism at the time the Spirit of life from God entered into the Word and Holy Spirit, after the 350 years or the ushering in of the evening light. They were making merry and sending gifts. Sectism is straining every nerve, and adopting most every scheme for money-getting. The fundamental object in the socials, fairs, concerts, etc., is to get money. They adopt these worldly, sensual amusements to rob men of their money. We have in possession a clipping[pg 465]from theNew York Sunwhich is a fair sample of the present-day performances and merry making for money, and well explains the rejoicing, merry making and sending of gifts as mentioned in Rev. 11:10. It is as follows:

“Saved The Church.

“Members Performed Many Services in Turning an Odd Penny.

“From New York Sun.

“Pittsburg, March 5.—The church edifice of the Coraopolis Methodist church was advertised to be sold by the sheriff this week, and the members of the congregation made a heroic attempt all last week to save it. Coraopolis is a few miles below here. One vivacious young woman won a wager by riding a spirited horse without a saddle; other good sisters and brethren cleaned shoes and peddled, while some pushed wheelbarrows in which were conveyed some very staid-looking business men. The whole church community was animated by the common desire to keep the sheriff from the church-door. Luxuries were denied, and many ludicrous situations were invented until enough money was raised to secure a postponement of the sale.

“Nobody seemed in the least disconcerted over these unusual exhibitions. If any one asked Samuel Marshall, the well-known station agent, what he was doing when he was shining the boots of the ex-Burgess, he would have replied:‘Raising money for our church. Don't you want a shine?’Among the most active[pg 466]in the work was Mr. Marshall, and his industry in turning in the most money won for him the prize of a gold watch. The following items from his statement show some of the methods adopted:

“February 20.—Delivered message to F. D. Stickney, 10 cents. H. S. Misseldine wanted me to stand on my head, but found I could not do this, so added up fifty columns of figures, for which I received 50 cents.

“February 21.—Carried can of milk to restaurant of J. G. Walters, 10 cents.

“February 22.—Delivered head of cabbage, which afterward on a‘banter’was thrown at Mr. Walters, 10 cents.

“February 23.—Young lady paid me 5 cents to call on her; polished shoes for George Arras, 5 cents.

“February 24.—Swept pool-room of J. E. McKee, 10 cents; delivered hardware to Mr. Boyers, $2.00.

“February 26.—Wheeled M. W. Watson from store of J. C. Walters to shop, 25 cents.

“February 27.—Shaved Henry DeGrange, the barber, for which I charged him 10 cents.

“Mrs. Hamilton, a well-known society woman, sold bread and laundered the gentlemen's ties. She also presented a report in rhyme at the‘pledge meeting’on last Tuesday night. One item of the report was:

“First I peddled chestnuts and met with success,And to-day I raked in nickels is the truth, you better guess.Say, I must tell a secret, those chestnuts were alive,But what of that, when I realized one dollar thirty-five.

“First I peddled chestnuts and met with success,

And to-day I raked in nickels is the truth, you better guess.

Say, I must tell a secret, those chestnuts were alive,

But what of that, when I realized one dollar thirty-five.

“Mrs Hamilton returned about forty dollars as the result of her labors. Miss Fannie Siebold, a vivacious young woman with auburn hair and with eyes that sparkle, was visiting friends in the place. She never lost an opportunity to show her interest in the little church. Her host, curious to see if she could not be made to retract from her offers, told her he would give her fifty cents if she would ride one of his spirited horses without, a saddle.

“She was told that she might ride any fashion. Miss Siebold made all the male portion of the family promise to remain indoors, where they could not observe her during the performance. They agreed to this, but people passing along the road were surprised at the sight of a handsome young lady galloping over the fields on the flying charger in a manner that would do credit to any man.

“As a result of all the industry, $208.54 was raised, the sheriff's placard was taken down from the church-door, and a thirty days' extension secured on the $2,500 remaining to be paid.”

The following article, recently published in a God-fearing, religious paper, contains weighty and powerful truths, and should awaken the reader to the present condition of things in this dark, seducing, and soul-deluding, sinful world.

“There has been for many years a rapid decline among the Protestant churches of the spirit of revivals and of the manifestations of the power of the Holy Spirit. Not only is there great ignorance on[pg 468]the doctrines of the Bible, but almost universally a positive antagonism to anything like the supernatural in religious experience.

“Just as Jesus was rejected and crucified by the professed church at the close of the Jewish age, so the Holy Spirit is being despised and crucified by the professed church at the close of the Gentile age. Just as Jesus was rejected from the nice homes of Bethlehem, and had to go into a stable to find a place to be born, and where he could utter his infant cries, so the Holy Spirit to-day is utterly rejected from thousands of Protestant churches, and he has to go into rented halls, slum missions, canvas tents, and woods meetings to find a place to utter his voice through the lips of those who know and feel him. Just as there were a few who had supernatural discernment to recognize and worship the infant God, so there are now a few who discern the personality and operation of the Holy Spirit, and pour out to him their gold and frankincense and myrrh. Just as the people of Bethlehem, who had turned the unborn Savior from their door were soon made to wail by the king's order of assassination, so the thousands of nominal churches which now reject the work of the Holy Spirit from their doors will soon wail under the awful tribulation that is rapidly coming on all the earth. Oh, if the Protestant churches could only see the day of their visitation, and that the history of the way the Jews treated Jesus is being exactly repeated over and over again in the way the modern churches treat the Holy[pg 469]Spirit, and that the same doom that overtook the Jewish church for rejecting Christ, will speedily overtake the modern churches for rejecting the Holy Spirit!

“Another feature of the present crisis is, God is working mainly through individuals, and not so much through machinery. Thousands of individuals in Europe and America have been called of the Spirit to launch out into soul-saving work along lines of personal enterprise more than ever in past ages.

“There never was a time in the world's history when Christian men and women felt so led of God not to wait for committees nor the red tape of ecclesiastical authority, but to hurry forth under a personal call from God and do what they could with their individual means and talents for the saving of souls, the sanctifying of believers, and preparing the chosen few to meet Jesus. There never seemed a time when anything like church machinery would run to seed so quick as now. Even if an enterprise that is started definitely as a holiness work gets a few officers and committees in it, in a few days or months it gets just as churchly and high-headed and dictatorial as an old popish institution. For this reason God is utilizing individuality in his kingdom as never before.

“Another feature of the present crisis is, that God will test the faith of his waiting ones, and all those persons who are making almanacs for the Lord, and fixing dates for the fulfilling of certain prophecies, are going to be disappointed. We are living a life of faith in every particular, clear down to the last[pg 470]moment of his appearing in the sky. The Scriptures are very clear in setting forth two facts concerning Christ's coming. On the one hand we are told of the signs that would precede his coming, and we are told to watch those things, and they will indicate his coming as near; on the other hand we are expressly told that the day and hour of his appearing will never be made known beforehand, and our wisdom lies in not forgetting the signs on the one hand, nor in fixing dates on the other. Hence Jesus commands us to keep in the attitude of a watcher, always ready, always expecting, yet not knowing. In the parable of the ten virgins, our Savior clearly intimates that the bridegroom will tarry beyond the time that his people expected him. The picture is that of a crowd of passengers sitting in a station and waiting for a night train which is behind time, and while they are yet waiting they get drowsy and nod. The sentence,‘They all slumbered and slept,’should more properly be, they became‘drowsy and nodded.’This applies to the very elect, who will be taken into the wedding, and indicates a crisis of the trial of the faith of the sanctified ones.

“But the most significant of all things in the present crisis is the testing of true faith in all points of doctrine. There never was a time since the fall of Adam when the human race was so drenched with the muddy waters of heresy. Everything moves with lightning rapidity. The principles that lie hidden in every system of government, education, social life,[pg 471]and manifold forms of religion, are swiftly pushing themselves to prestige and open manifestation. Sin is not only working out every species of wickedness that can be invented, but the intellect of the so-called Christianized world is showing signs of decay in its ability to grasp sturdy Bible truth, and is largely turning from the Bible to old worn-out heathen ideas. Every doctrine of the Bible is being twisted into fanciful theories. The scriptures teaching of sin and the need of broken-hearted repentance is practically ignored by thousands of ministers and church-members. The absolute divinity of Jesus is growing weaker in the faith of many who claim to teach his gospel, and some who profess to be very orthodox say they do not pray to Jesus. The literal resurrection of the body taught by the Scriptures is caricatured and treated lightly by professed theologians, ministers, and professed Christians. The immortality of the soul and its conscious existence, either in heaven or hell, during the sleep of the body in death, is being rejected for the old heathen notion. The experience of justifying and sanctifying grace, attested by the personal Holy Spirit, is rejected by millions of church-members. Everlasting reward and punishment is laughed at as an old tradition instead of a serious doctrine of the Bible.

“It is well nigh impossible to enter a single professed Christian family in Europe or America in which some member has not a new patent on Scripture[pg 472]truth and holds some fanciful notion concerning the serious teachings of the Bible. I find a great many passages in which the last form of testifying for God's saints will be that of their faith in the simple plain old doctrines of God's Word. Jesus warns us that just before his coming every possible heresy and every variety of false Christ will appear to deceive the people, and that if it were possible they should deceive the very elect. And John in Revelation tells us of an era of the going forth of frogs, which are evil spirits, to seduce the people from the true faith. We are living in the frog era. In nearly every city in the land there are from one to three persons who claim to be God, or an incarnation of Christ, or the Holy Spirit. Thousands of religious people think it is too tame and uninteresting to accept all of the plain old doctrines of the Scripture, so they want something original and startling.”

In the past two years the popular religious bodies, including an aristocratic ministry, have turned to worldliness at a rapid and unprecedented rate, and what will be seen of proud formalism, socialism, and rejection of divine truth in the circles of denominationalism within the next ten years would now appear incredulous.

The following poem selected from a recent religious periodical is vividly descriptive of the present-day religious denominations, commonly known as churches. However the true church of God is an entirely different[pg 473]institution, and just as far separated from the world, and just as bitterly hated by her as when she imprisoned, stoned and martyred her devoted followers.

The Church Walking With The World."The Church and the World walked far apart,On the changing shores of time;The World was singing a giddy song,And the Church a hymn sublime.'Come, give me your hand,' cried the merry World,'And walk with me this way;'But the good Church hid her snowy hand,And solemnly answered, 'Nay,I will not give you my hand at all,And I will not walk with you;Your way is the way of endless death;Your words are all untrue.'"'Nay, walk with me but a little space,'Said the World with a kindly air;'The road I walk is a pleasant road,And the sun shines always there.Your path is thorny and rough and crude,And mine is broad and plain;My road is paved with flowers and gems,And yours with tears and pain.The sky above me is always blue:No want, no toil, I know;The sky above you is always dark;Your lot is a lot of woe.My path, you see, is a broad, fair path,And my gate is high and wide—There is room enough for you and for meTo travel side by side.'[pg 474]"Half shyly the Church approached the World,And gave him her hand of snow:The old World grasped it and walked along,Saying, in accents low,'Your dress is too simple to please my taste;I will give you pearls to wear,Rich velvet and silks for your graceful form,And diamonds to deck your hair.'The Church looked down at her plain white robes,And then at the dazzling World,And blushed as she saw his handsome lipWith a smile contemptuous curled.'I will change my dress for a costlier one,'Said the Church with a smile of grace;Then her pure garments drifted away,And the World gave in their place,Beautiful satins, and shining silks,And roses and gems and pearls;And over her forehead her bright hair fellCrisped in a thousand curls."'Your house is too plain,' said the proud old World,'I'll build you one like mine:Carpets of Brussels, and curtains of lace,And furniture ever so fine.'So he built her a costly and beautiful house—Splendid it was to behold;Her sons and her beautiful daughters dwelt there,Gleaming in purple and gold;And fairs and shows in the halls were held,And the World and his children were there;And laughter and music and feasts were heardIn the place that was meant for prayer.She had cushioned pews for the rich and the great,To sit in their pomp and their pride,While the poor folks, clad in their shabby suits,Sat meekly down outside.[pg 475]"The angel of mercy flew over the Church,And whispered, 'I know thy sin.'The Church looked back with a sigh, and longedTo gather her children in;But some were off in the midnight ball,And some were off at the play,And some were drinking in gay saloons;So she quietly went her way.The sly World gallantly said to her,'Your children mean no harm—Merely indulging in innocent sports.'So she leaned on his proffered arm,And smiled, and chatted, and gathered flowers,As she walked along with the World;While millions and millions of deathless soulsTo the horrible pit were hurled."'Your preachers are all too old and plain,'Said the gay old World with a sneer;'They frighten my children with dreadful tales,Which I like not for them to hear:They talk of brimstone and fire and pain,And the horrors of endless night;They talk of a place that should not beMentioned to ears polite.I will send you some of the better stamp,Brilliant and gay and fast,Who will tell them that people may live as they list,And go to heaven at last.The Father is merciful and great and good,Tender and true and kind;Do you think he would take one child to heavenAnd leave the rest behind?'So he filled her house with gay divines,Gifted and great and learned;And the plain old men that preached the crossWere out of the pulpit turned.[pg 476]"'You give too much to the poor,' said the World;'Far more than you ought to do.If the poor need shelter and food and clothes,Why need it trouble you?Go, take your money and buy rich robes,And horses and carriages fine,And pearls and jewels and dainty food,And the rarest and costliest wine.My children they dote on all such things,And if you their love would win,You must do as they do, and walk in the waysThat they are walking in.'The Church held tightly the strings of her purse,And gracefully lowered her hand,And simpered, 'I've given too much away;I'll do, sir, as you have said.'"So the poor were turned from her door in scorn,And she heard not the orphans' cry;And she drew her beautiful robes aside,As the widows went weeping by.The sons of the World and the sons of the ChurchWalked closely hand and heart,And only the Master who knoweth all,Could tell the two apart.Then the Church sat down at her ease and said,'I am rich, and in goods increased;I have need of nothing, and naught to doBut to laugh and dance and feast.'The sly World heard her, and laughed in his sleeve,And mockingly said aside,'The Church is fallen—the beautiful Church—And her shame is her boast and pride!'"The angel drew near to the mercy-seat,And whispered, in sighs, her name;And the saints their anthems of rapture hushed,[pg 477]And covered their heads with shame.And voice came down, through the hush of heaven,From Him who sat on the throne,'I know thy work, and how thou hast said,I am rich; and hast not knownThat thou art naked and poor and blindAnd wretched before my face;Therefore, from my presence I cast thee out,And blot thy name from its place!'"—Sel.

The Church Walking With The World.

"The Church and the World walked far apart,On the changing shores of time;The World was singing a giddy song,And the Church a hymn sublime.'Come, give me your hand,' cried the merry World,'And walk with me this way;'But the good Church hid her snowy hand,And solemnly answered, 'Nay,I will not give you my hand at all,And I will not walk with you;Your way is the way of endless death;Your words are all untrue.'

"The Church and the World walked far apart,

On the changing shores of time;

The World was singing a giddy song,

And the Church a hymn sublime.

'Come, give me your hand,' cried the merry World,

'And walk with me this way;'

But the good Church hid her snowy hand,

And solemnly answered, 'Nay,

I will not give you my hand at all,

And I will not walk with you;

Your way is the way of endless death;

Your words are all untrue.'

"'Nay, walk with me but a little space,'Said the World with a kindly air;'The road I walk is a pleasant road,And the sun shines always there.Your path is thorny and rough and crude,And mine is broad and plain;My road is paved with flowers and gems,And yours with tears and pain.The sky above me is always blue:No want, no toil, I know;The sky above you is always dark;Your lot is a lot of woe.My path, you see, is a broad, fair path,And my gate is high and wide—There is room enough for you and for meTo travel side by side.'

"'Nay, walk with me but a little space,'

Said the World with a kindly air;

'The road I walk is a pleasant road,

And the sun shines always there.

Your path is thorny and rough and crude,

And mine is broad and plain;

My road is paved with flowers and gems,

And yours with tears and pain.

The sky above me is always blue:

No want, no toil, I know;

The sky above you is always dark;

Your lot is a lot of woe.

My path, you see, is a broad, fair path,

And my gate is high and wide—

There is room enough for you and for me

To travel side by side.'

"Half shyly the Church approached the World,And gave him her hand of snow:The old World grasped it and walked along,Saying, in accents low,'Your dress is too simple to please my taste;I will give you pearls to wear,Rich velvet and silks for your graceful form,And diamonds to deck your hair.'The Church looked down at her plain white robes,And then at the dazzling World,And blushed as she saw his handsome lipWith a smile contemptuous curled.'I will change my dress for a costlier one,'Said the Church with a smile of grace;Then her pure garments drifted away,And the World gave in their place,Beautiful satins, and shining silks,And roses and gems and pearls;And over her forehead her bright hair fellCrisped in a thousand curls.

"Half shyly the Church approached the World,

And gave him her hand of snow:

The old World grasped it and walked along,

Saying, in accents low,

'Your dress is too simple to please my taste;

I will give you pearls to wear,

Rich velvet and silks for your graceful form,

And diamonds to deck your hair.'

The Church looked down at her plain white robes,

And then at the dazzling World,

And blushed as she saw his handsome lip

With a smile contemptuous curled.

'I will change my dress for a costlier one,'

Said the Church with a smile of grace;

Then her pure garments drifted away,

And the World gave in their place,

Beautiful satins, and shining silks,

And roses and gems and pearls;

And over her forehead her bright hair fell

Crisped in a thousand curls.

"'Your house is too plain,' said the proud old World,'I'll build you one like mine:Carpets of Brussels, and curtains of lace,And furniture ever so fine.'So he built her a costly and beautiful house—Splendid it was to behold;Her sons and her beautiful daughters dwelt there,Gleaming in purple and gold;And fairs and shows in the halls were held,And the World and his children were there;And laughter and music and feasts were heardIn the place that was meant for prayer.She had cushioned pews for the rich and the great,To sit in their pomp and their pride,While the poor folks, clad in their shabby suits,Sat meekly down outside.

"'Your house is too plain,' said the proud old World,

'I'll build you one like mine:

Carpets of Brussels, and curtains of lace,

And furniture ever so fine.'

So he built her a costly and beautiful house—

Splendid it was to behold;

Her sons and her beautiful daughters dwelt there,

Gleaming in purple and gold;

And fairs and shows in the halls were held,

And the World and his children were there;

And laughter and music and feasts were heard

In the place that was meant for prayer.

She had cushioned pews for the rich and the great,

To sit in their pomp and their pride,

While the poor folks, clad in their shabby suits,

Sat meekly down outside.

"The angel of mercy flew over the Church,And whispered, 'I know thy sin.'The Church looked back with a sigh, and longedTo gather her children in;But some were off in the midnight ball,And some were off at the play,And some were drinking in gay saloons;So she quietly went her way.The sly World gallantly said to her,'Your children mean no harm—Merely indulging in innocent sports.'So she leaned on his proffered arm,And smiled, and chatted, and gathered flowers,As she walked along with the World;While millions and millions of deathless soulsTo the horrible pit were hurled.

"The angel of mercy flew over the Church,

And whispered, 'I know thy sin.'

The Church looked back with a sigh, and longed

To gather her children in;

But some were off in the midnight ball,

And some were off at the play,

And some were drinking in gay saloons;

So she quietly went her way.

The sly World gallantly said to her,

'Your children mean no harm—

Merely indulging in innocent sports.'

So she leaned on his proffered arm,

And smiled, and chatted, and gathered flowers,

As she walked along with the World;

While millions and millions of deathless souls

To the horrible pit were hurled.

"'Your preachers are all too old and plain,'Said the gay old World with a sneer;'They frighten my children with dreadful tales,Which I like not for them to hear:They talk of brimstone and fire and pain,And the horrors of endless night;They talk of a place that should not beMentioned to ears polite.I will send you some of the better stamp,Brilliant and gay and fast,Who will tell them that people may live as they list,And go to heaven at last.The Father is merciful and great and good,Tender and true and kind;Do you think he would take one child to heavenAnd leave the rest behind?'So he filled her house with gay divines,Gifted and great and learned;And the plain old men that preached the crossWere out of the pulpit turned.

"'Your preachers are all too old and plain,'

Said the gay old World with a sneer;

'They frighten my children with dreadful tales,

Which I like not for them to hear:

They talk of brimstone and fire and pain,

And the horrors of endless night;

They talk of a place that should not be

Mentioned to ears polite.

I will send you some of the better stamp,

Brilliant and gay and fast,

Who will tell them that people may live as they list,

And go to heaven at last.

The Father is merciful and great and good,

Tender and true and kind;

Do you think he would take one child to heaven

And leave the rest behind?'

So he filled her house with gay divines,

Gifted and great and learned;

And the plain old men that preached the cross

Were out of the pulpit turned.

"'You give too much to the poor,' said the World;'Far more than you ought to do.If the poor need shelter and food and clothes,Why need it trouble you?Go, take your money and buy rich robes,And horses and carriages fine,And pearls and jewels and dainty food,And the rarest and costliest wine.My children they dote on all such things,And if you their love would win,You must do as they do, and walk in the waysThat they are walking in.'The Church held tightly the strings of her purse,And gracefully lowered her hand,And simpered, 'I've given too much away;I'll do, sir, as you have said.'

"'You give too much to the poor,' said the World;

'Far more than you ought to do.

If the poor need shelter and food and clothes,

Why need it trouble you?

Go, take your money and buy rich robes,

And horses and carriages fine,

And pearls and jewels and dainty food,

And the rarest and costliest wine.

My children they dote on all such things,

And if you their love would win,

You must do as they do, and walk in the ways

That they are walking in.'

The Church held tightly the strings of her purse,

And gracefully lowered her hand,

And simpered, 'I've given too much away;

I'll do, sir, as you have said.'

"So the poor were turned from her door in scorn,And she heard not the orphans' cry;And she drew her beautiful robes aside,As the widows went weeping by.The sons of the World and the sons of the ChurchWalked closely hand and heart,And only the Master who knoweth all,Could tell the two apart.Then the Church sat down at her ease and said,'I am rich, and in goods increased;I have need of nothing, and naught to doBut to laugh and dance and feast.'The sly World heard her, and laughed in his sleeve,And mockingly said aside,'The Church is fallen—the beautiful Church—And her shame is her boast and pride!'

"So the poor were turned from her door in scorn,

And she heard not the orphans' cry;

And she drew her beautiful robes aside,

As the widows went weeping by.

The sons of the World and the sons of the Church

Walked closely hand and heart,

And only the Master who knoweth all,

Could tell the two apart.

Then the Church sat down at her ease and said,

'I am rich, and in goods increased;

I have need of nothing, and naught to do

But to laugh and dance and feast.'

The sly World heard her, and laughed in his sleeve,

And mockingly said aside,

'The Church is fallen—the beautiful Church—

And her shame is her boast and pride!'

"The angel drew near to the mercy-seat,And whispered, in sighs, her name;And the saints their anthems of rapture hushed,[pg 477]And covered their heads with shame.And voice came down, through the hush of heaven,From Him who sat on the throne,'I know thy work, and how thou hast said,I am rich; and hast not knownThat thou art naked and poor and blindAnd wretched before my face;Therefore, from my presence I cast thee out,And blot thy name from its place!'"—Sel.

"The angel drew near to the mercy-seat,

And whispered, in sighs, her name;

And the saints their anthems of rapture hushed,

And covered their heads with shame.

And voice came down, through the hush of heaven,

From Him who sat on the throne,

'I know thy work, and how thou hast said,

I am rich; and hast not known

That thou art naked and poor and blind

And wretched before my face;

Therefore, from my presence I cast thee out,

And blot thy name from its place!'"—Sel.

To-day the proud, fashionable sectarian churches are lovingly folded in the arms of the giddy world, and in her mad, drunken, lustful craze she is crying,“On with the dance, let joy be unconfined.”

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