THE SERMON - CREATION VS. EVOLUTION

W. W. PRESCOTT

The first verse of the first chapter of the Bible reads thus: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The last verse of the last chapter of the last book, barring the benediction, reads thus: “He who testifieth these things, saith, Yea; I come quickly.” “Come Lord Jesus.”GCB May 27, 1909, page 182.8

The first verse of the Bible introduces us to God as the Creator of the heavens and the earth. The last verse of the Bible leaves us facing the personal second coming of Jesus Christ, and with the prayer that he should come.GCB May 27, 1909, page 182.9

These two ideas, these two revelations, span all the way from the beginning to the ending of the gospel, because the first chapter of Genesis is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the closing verse, the second advent of our Lord, is the consummation of the gospel. Neither is complete without the other. The original creation involved the new creation. The power of God in the original creation was the power in the new creation. The old heavens and the old earth pass away, but we, “according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”GCB May 27, 1909, page 182.10

If any attack is to be made effectively upon the gospel of Jesus Christ, it must be made upon the foundation. And the foundation is creation,—God as the Creator. There can be no adequate conception of God except it be as a personal being, who brought into existence the things that are, who existed before these things, who was not dependent upon things that are; for “by faith we understand that the worlds were framed, not out of things that do appear.” Therefore, when we have come to the last generation, the generation that was to come and to hear the message of the second advent of our Lord, the final attack has been made upon the gospel of Christ by beginning with the first chapter of Genesis. This attack upon the first chapter of Genesis began in an apparently innocent way, by simply claiming that investigation had shown that the days mentioned in the first chapter of Genesis, instead of being days of twenty-four hours time, were long, indefinite periods. That attack, which began apparently in that simple way, involved everything that has been developed since, down to the denial of the second personal advent of Christ. He who shaped that attack from the beginning, the enemy of truth, had in mind, without doubt, to defeat the message of the second personal advent of Christ, and the preparation for that event.GCB May 27, 1909, page 182.11

A people have arisen during this generation who are called Seventh-day Adventists. This people, by the very name which they have taken, in their teaching, in the platform upon which they stand, are a living protest against these perversions of Scripture, either through an infidel science or through a denial direct, or a misinterpretation of Scripture.GCB May 27, 1909, page 182.12

It would be impossible in one brief hour to show to what extent this movement and this people are a living protest against all this perversion. I shall emphasize two things that stand out in the very name Seventh-day Adventists:GCB May 27, 1909, page 182.13

(1) keepers of the seventh day; (2) believers in the near advent of our Lord.GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.1

First, the Sabbath day. A great deal more is in it than the mere question of choice between two periods of time, each of equal length: a great deal more is in it than the questions, “Shall we stop work, and attend public service on the seventh day of the week?” or, “Shall we stop work, and attend public service on the first day of the week?” In this question of the Sabbath of our Lord is involved this whole question of apostasy. No true observer of the seventh day should ever apostatize from the truth of the gospel, because the very observance of the seventh day is his testimony to his belief in the original gospel, as revealed in the Scripture. Notice, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.”GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.2

No one can truly believe this commandment without believing in a personal God, the Creator. That which distinguishes between the true God and false gods is the fact that he is the Creator. We worship him because he is the Creator. He is worthy of our worship. We may worship him, and not be abased thereby. We may worship him, and be lifted up thereby, because he is the Creator. Read his own invitation: “O come, let us sing unto Jehovah: let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and let us make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For Jehovah is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the height of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship, and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. “It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves.” “All the gods of the nations are idols; but the Lord made the heavens.” The gods of the other nations were falsehoods; they were lies. But God is not so. He is the former, the maker, of all things.GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.3

Now see how this foundation has been struck at, and, with many, absolutely overthrown, until, in place of a personal God,—a God who has a dwelling-place in the heavens, a place where he may be found in a sense in which he is not found elsewhere, a God everywhere present by his Spirit, and yet a personal being,—see how this whole idea has been perverted and cast aside.GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.4

In the old times the out-and-out pagans made visible gods, and fell down and worshipped them, and they had gods many and lords many. In these modern days, men have not made in this country visible gods, they have not fallen down to images of wood and of stone; but they have made false gods just the same. For that God who is designated as an infinite power merely, that God who is simply designated as an impersonal essence, is just as much a false god as was Jupiter of the Romans, or Zeus of the Greeks, or Rah of the Egyptians. It makes no difference whether man’s idea of God takes a visible form, before which he bows, or whether his idea of God is kept in invisible form (in his mind), he worships a false god just the same. When that god is the god of his own imagination, his own imagining, or image-making, it is a false god just the same.GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.5

Now what is the basis of the attack, and how is it presented? It is presented on the basis that creation was not a special act, but a development; that according to certain laws, beginning with the fire-mist, and ending with man, there has been, through untold ages, a development, step by step,—a development from within, rather than a special creation by a God from without. Originally, this idea was confined merely to the material creation; but here is what it covers now, as set forth by one who has given it some study, and endeavors to refute it. He says:—GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.6

“Every scientist understands, as do also intelligent teachers of the Scriptures, that the theory of evolution is not simply a question of the origin of species, but, in its present-day application, proposes to account for everything material, from fire-mist to the perfected frame of the universe; everything animated, from the sterilized cell of lowest life, to the Man of Nazareth; and everything moral, from the sensations of the amoeba, to the sacred communion between God and man.”GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.7

There is not an idea in the whole range that evolution has not laid its hand upon, to change it, and to pervert it.GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.8

At first it was thought, “Ah, we can accommodate the Bible to these things; we can grant that those days in Genesis were simply periods; that does not really affect the Bible or the gospel.” So that was granted by many professed believers in, and teachers of, the Scripture; but when they granted that claim, they granted the whole question; they granted a principle which, when developed, set aside the whole plan and revelation of the gospel; and in place of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and salvation through his atoning work, it established a principle which, when developed, made man, as it were, his own creator and his own savior, and has ended in dispensing with the revelation of the Scripture, in putting reason in the place of revelation, in putting self-salvation in the place of salvation by grace through our Lord Jesus Christ.GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.9

Now see how this has worked. Here is another statement by one who believes in evolution:—GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.10

“It has been difficult to reconcile geology with the first chapter of Genesis, but not impossible. By making the Mosaic ‘day’ an epoch of undefined duration, and by tracing what really is a remarkable, though not a scientifically exact parallel between the order of creation in Genesis and the order in geology, the theologian was able to make geology confirm Genesis. But it was impossible to reconcile Darwinism with the third chapter of Genesis. The ‘Origin of Species,’ and Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost,’ can not be harmonized; and ‘Paradise Lost’ is a great poet’s interpretation of the philosophy of life once universally accepted in the church. That philosophy may be epitomized in a sentence thus: Man was created perfect; he fell; in his fall he involved all his descendants in ruin; to recover man from that ruin and restore him to the primitive state of innocence, Jesus Christ has come into the world. Darwinism denied that there was any historic fall, and by necessary implication denied that there was or could be any process of recovery from a fall and restoration to a lost state of innocence. For the fall and redemption of man, Darwin substituted the gradual development of man.”—The Outlook, Feb. 20, 1909, page 378, published in New York City.GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.11

Sometimes we can get a view of such a thing as this by looking at it a little from the ridiculous side. Here is a new translation of the first chapter of Genesis, or certain portions of it, adapted to modern science and modern conclusions:—GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.12

“1. Primarily the Unknowable moved upon cosmos and evolved protoplasm.GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.13

“2. And protoplasm was inorganic and undifferentiated; containing all things in potential energy; and a spirit of evolution moved upon the fluid mass.GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.14

“3. And the Unknowable said, Let the atoms attract, and their contact beget light, heat, and electricity.GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.15

“4. And the Unconditional differentiated the atoms each after its kind; and their combination begat rock, air, and water.GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.16

“5. And there went out a spirit of evolution from the Unconditioned, and working in protoplasm by accretion and absorption produced the organic cell.GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.17

“6. And cell by nutrition evolved primordial germ, and germ developed protogene; and protogene begat eozoon, and eozoon begat monad, and monad begat animalcule.GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.18

“7. And animalcule ephemera: then began creeping things to multiply on the face of the earth.GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.19

“8. And earthly atom in vegetable protoplasm begat molecule, and thence came grass and every herb of the earth.GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.20

“9. And animalculae in the water evolved fins, tails, claws, and scales; and in the air wings, beaks; and on the land they sprouted such organs as were necessary, as played upon the environments.GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.21

“10. And by attrition and absorption, came the radiata and mollusca, and mollusca begat articulata, and articulata begat vertebrate.GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.22

“11. Now these are the generations of the higher vertebrata in the cosmic period that the Unknowable evoluted the bipedal mammalia.GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.23

“12. And every man of the earth, while he was yet a monkey, and the horse, while he was yet the hipparion, and the hipparion before he was an orebon.GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.24

“13. Out of the ascidian came the amphibian, and begat the pentadactyle, and by inheritance and selection, produced the hylobate, from which are the simiade in all their tribes.GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.25

“14. And out of the simiade the lemur prevailed above his fellow and produced the platyrhine monkey.GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.26

“15. And the platyrhine begat the cattarryhine monkey, and he begat the anthropoid ape, and the ape begat the longimanous orang, and the orang begat the chimpanzee, and the chimpanzee evolved the what-is-it?GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.27

“16. And the what-is-it went into the land of Nod, and took him a wife of the longimanous gibbons.GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.28

“17. and in the process of the cosmic period were born unto them their children, and the anthropomorphic primodial types.GCB May 27, 1909, page 183.29

“18. The homunculus, the prognathus; the troglodyte, and the autochthon, the terragon,—these are the generations of primeval man.GCB May 27, 1909, page 184.1

“19. And primeval man was naked and not ashamed, but lived in quadrumanous innocence, and struggled mightily to harmonize with the environment.GCB May 27, 1909, page 184.2

“20. And by inheritance and natural selection did he progress from the stable and homogeneous, to the complex and the heterogeneous; for the weakest died, and the strongest grew and multiplied.GCB May 27, 1909, page 184.3

“21. And man grew a thumb, for that he had need of, and developed capacities for prey.GCB May 27, 1909, page 184.4

“22. For, behold, the swiftest men caught the most animals, and the swiftest animals got away from the most men; wherefore the slow animals were eaten, and the slow men starved to death.GCB May 27, 1909, page 184.5

“23. And as the types were differentiated, the weaker types continually disappeared.GCB May 27, 1909, page 184.6

“24. And the earth was filled with violence; for man strove with man, and tribe with tribe, whereby they killed off the weak and foolish and secured the survival of the fittest.”—Quoted from the Bible Student and Teacher, for July, 1908, pages 39 and 40, being a portion of an article by Rev. W. B. Riley, D. D., of Minneapolis, Minn., to prove the theory of evolution unscriptural.GCB May 27, 1909, page 184.7

Now that, in ridiculous form, is simply the science of evolution. We are asked to accept unproved theories, unprovable theories, which deny the inspiration of the Scriptures, which set aside the gospel of creation, which remove the very foundations from under our feet. We are asked to accept those on the authority of men, on the authority of reason, on the authority of imagination in place of the living Word of God. Now there is no reconciliation between evolution and the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the man who attempts to harmonize the two is doing that impossible feat of riding two horses going in opposite directions. Those who have attempted it in the past have either given up the one or the other, or have been left in the dust of the arena. It is impossible to harmonize the two.GCB May 27, 1909, page 184.8

Now let us see what further is involved in this. We say, What difference does it make about protoplasm and all that? The difference is in just this one vital principle, and that is the question of special creation by the power of the Word of God. Now look (Genesis 1:1), “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth;” and again (John 1:1), “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.” Now it is true that God, through the living Word, the Word his Son, the Word spoken, created all things; for “by the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.” “He spake, and it was; he commanded, and it stood fast.” This teaching is the very foundation of the gospel of salvation, and that is here; it is the first chapter in the Bible. Now see how it extends. Because God created the heavens and the earth through Jesus Christ, therefore we are invited to put our trust in him, because he promises to recreate us through the same power and the same living Word. Let us read it, as expressed in the Scripture, the first chapter of the epistle to the Colossians: “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church.” The head of creation is the head of the church. When you take away the headship of Christ in the creation, you take away the headship of Christ in the church; and when you take away Christ as the head of the church, what is headless church but a dead church?—A form of a body without a living head, weak, powerless, inefficient. That is what the professed church is without Christ as the living head.GCB May 27, 1909, page 184.9

Now note it says here, “In him all things consist.” That is to say, things in themselves, apart from him, can not endure. “In him all things consist.” But what does science say in this generation? “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” What need of God, what need of his Son, Jesus Christ? What need of any second advent, since all things continue? The Scripture says, “In him all things consist.” The scientist says, “All things,” not mentioning him, “all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” Ah, but he says, this they wilfully forget, because it is revealed in the Scripture that all things have not continued as they were from the beginning of creation. What an effort has been put forth to discredit the flood! What volumes have been written to prove such a thing ridiculous, impossible, contrary to science, contrary to all the laws of evolution, that there should come upon the earth such a catastrophe as is spoken of in the Scripture! This they wilfully forget, because it is revealed in the Scripture. Things have not continued as they were. There has been a catastrophe; the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. That same God presides over the world to-day. Another catastrophe is pending. The heavens and the earth are “reserved unto fire.”GCB May 27, 1909, page 184.10

But now what has this to do with the protest of Seventh-day Adventists, so far as it relates to the question of the Sabbath? When God had given the Sabbath, the seventh day, he made it a sign. We read of this in various scriptures. I read one from Ezekiel 20:20: “And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God.”GCB May 27, 1909, page 184.11

The Sabbath was made a sign immediately after it was pronounced from Sinai to the people. It was a sign to them that they were delivered out of Egypt. Why?—Because, first and foremost, it was a sign of God’s creative power. And in bringing these people out from the land of Egypt, it was by a great manifestation, the repeated manifestation of creative power, that they were delivered. Therefore, the Lord took that which had previously been a sign of his creative power in creating the heavens and the earth, and made it to them a sign of that power which delivered them from the bondage of Egypt. Yes, and further, their experience was simply a typical experience. Egypt was the land of sin and darkness, and the deliverance of his people out of the land of Egypt is the type of the deliverance of every Christian from this land of darkness and sin. The Sabbath, which was a sign of the original creation, which became to Israel a sign of the literal deliverance from the literal land of Egypt, has become to every true Israelite a sign of that same creative power which delivers him, through Jesus Christ, out of sin. In the beginning God created man in his image, and man lost that image. When David had committed that great sin, he prayed, but he did not pray to unknown force. He said, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”GCB May 27, 1909, page 184.12

Man can do great things. This generation is an evidence of that. The wonders of this generation, the conquests that man has made upon the earth, in the air, and in the water, are wonderful; but man has never learned to change his own heart, he has never learned to create within him a right spirit. So in the Gospels we read concerning this work of creation that we are created in “Christ Jesus unto good works;” and in “Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.” If any man be in Christ, there is a new creation. And what is the sign of the new creation?—It is that same Sabbath that is the sign of God’s creative power, revealed through Jesus Christ. And in this generation, when science has made this attack on the Scripture, to set aside the whole idea of special creation, the whole idea of a personal God, there has arisen, under God’s providence, a mighty voice protesting against it. That voice is being heard from the East to the West, from the North to the South, in the islands of the sea, in Europe, Asia, and Africa, a mighty protest against this perversion of the gospel of Jesus Christ; and wherever there is an observer of the seventh-day Sabbath, there is a living protest against infidel unbelief. May these voices multiply in every land.GCB May 27, 1909, page 184.13

But now, further,—not only do this people call themselves observers of the seventh-day Sabbath, but they are Seventh-day Adventists—those who observe this seventh-day Sabbath, according to the Scriptures and those who, according to the Scripture believe in and teach the near, personal, second advent of our Lord. Is such a protest needed in this generation? There are two standpoints from which some look at this matter. Here are two classes of teachers: the Roman Catholic teacher does not hesitate to say, frankly and openly, “The tradition of the church is of more authority than the Scriptures; the teaching of the church is above the teaching of the written Word.” I am not making any wrong statements. I am not making any attack or charge in saying this. You may read it in any authoritative Catholic work upon this subject. The church writers say there are two divine streams, the written Word, and tradition; both of these are divine, “but to us,” they say, “tradition is very clear, and more safe.” In fact, you know perhaps that they make the charge that Protestants would not have the Bible if the Catholic Church had not allowed them to have it. Any Protestant who does not know that, they think, ought to know it right away. But on the other side are Protestants who profess to believe the Word, claim to teach the Word, and they are brought into a very inconsistent position. Now, Roman Catholics are not inconsistent on the Sabbath question. Their position is perfectly consistent. Here are some of the things they say. Cardinal Gibbons takes this view, in order to prove that the Bible is not the single rule of faith:—GCB May 27, 1909, page 184.14

“A rule of faith, or a competent guide to heaven, must be able to instruct in all the truths necessary for salvation. Now the Scriptures alone do not contain all the truths which a Christian is bound to believe, nor do they explicitly enjoin all the duties which he is obliged to practice. Not to mention other examples, is not every Christian obliged to sanctify Sunday, and to abstain on that day from unnecessary servile work? Is not the observance of this law among the most prominent of our sacred duties? But you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.”—From “Faith of Our Fathers,” page III.GCB May 27, 1909, page 185.1

Look at the logic; the great mass of professed Christian believers are observing the first day of the week. The Bible clearly teaches that the seventh day is the Sabbath, as Cardinal Gibbons says; therefore, “the Bible is not a sufficient rule of practice.” That is to say, if the majority of the people decide to act contrary to the Bible, that is proof that the Bible is not a divine guide. That is the logic of such a position. Now the consistent Protestant must say that the Bible is a sufficient rule of faith and practise; and no matter if nine tenths, or ninety-nine hundredths, of the people of the world depart from it, that does not prove the Bible wrong, but proves the people wrong. The consistent Protestant must say that the Bible is to remain forever a sufficient guide. But the Catholic says it is not sufficient; the church, he says, is above the Bible, tradition is above the Bible. We read:—GCB May 27, 1909, page 185.2

“It is worth while to remember that this observance of the Sabbath—in which, after all, the only Protestant worship consists—not only has no foundation in the Bible, but it is in flagrant contradiction with its letter, which commands rest on the Sabbath, which is Saturday. It was the Catholic Church which, by the authority of Jesus Christ, has transferred this rest to the Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord. Thus the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the Church.”—“Plain Talk,” page 213.GCB May 27, 1909, page 185.3

Now while speaking as a Seventh-day Adventist, I say the Roman Catholics are consistent, speaking as Catholics. This next is from a Catholic writer as it appeared in a prominent Catholic paper, The Mirror:—GCB May 27, 1909, page 185.4

“Those who follow the Bible as their guide, the Israelites and Seventh-day Adventists, have the exclusive weight of evidence on their side, whilst the Biblical Protestant has not a word in self-defense for his substitution of Sunday for Saturday.”—From the tract, “The Christian Sabbath,” page 14, published by the Catholic Mirror, Baltimore.GCB May 27, 1909, page 185.5

Now when you are willing to put tradition and the voice of the church above the Bible, you have no trouble with these questions; but so long as you stand upon the Protestant platform,—the Bible as the rule of faith and practise,—the revelation of the living Word as the revelation we are to follow,—then we must hew to the line; then we must follow the guide. But how is it in this generation? Professed Protestants have discarded the Scriptures as a sufficient rule of faith and practise; they have substituted speculation, reason, the conclusions of a false science, in the place of the Bible; and they are following that ignis fatuus. The two, although seemingly so far apart, yet have one common principle, and what is that?—The exaltation of the authority of man above the authority of God. It does not make any difference whether it is a combination, as in the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church, or whether it is one person. It does not make any difference whether millions upon millions of Catholics agree and have one pope, or whether millions upon millions of Protestants disagree, and have just as many popes as there are Protestants. The thing is just the same. It is the exaltation of human authority, the exaltation of man above God; and Protestants are adopting the Roman Catholic principle, only in a different way.GCB May 27, 1909, page 185.6

Now what is the result of both?—They all come to one result finally. By different routes, they appeal to different classes of minds; but there is one mind behind the whole thing. Any one who can take a wide view of the present situation, as regards the religious world, must recognize that to-day the master mind which has been plotting against the gospel of Jesus Christ since the first promise was made that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head,—that that master-mind is marshaling all his forces, from every point, bringing them into line for the final contest against the Son of God. That is the situation just now, in this generation, just in the time when people’s minds ought to be directed toward heaven and heavenly things, when they ought to see in the heavenly sanctuary the great High Priest doing his final work of atonement preparatory to his laying aside his priestly robes and putting on his robe as a king and coming in power and great glory. Just at that time, all theories are marshaled, all forces are brought into line, everything is brought to bear to prove that there can be no such thing as the second advent, to prove that the whole thing is a delusion and a snare. Now just read what professed Protestants say about it:—GCB May 27, 1909, page 185.7

“The time has fully come for Christian leaders to admit frankly that it is impossible to construct a credible doctrine of the second coming of Christ on the basis of a literal interpretation of texts. The books of Daniel and Revelation were written to instill courage and hope into men harassed by terrible persecution; they were tracts for their times, one for the Maccabean age and the other for the days of Domitian, and their use to predict world catastrophies is a sin against all sound principles of exegesis. The words of Jesus, as recorded, would seem to show that he expected his return within the lifetime of men then living [talk about “principles of exegesis,” and make that statement! I challenge it!], and St. Paul and his contemporaries awaited the parousia daily. Time has shown that this was an error; and if Christian experience counts for anything, it is demonstrated that the whole attitude of waiting for the clouds to break is unwise and harmful. Already in New Testament days the wiser and more spiritual view obtained [when the apostasy began, you know]; for in the fourth Gospel a portion is no longer marvelous and apocalyptic, but a quiet coming of the Spirit of the Lord. This is the only parousia which can be preached with any compelling force to men of to-day.GCB May 27, 1909, page 185.8

“No considerable body of people will ever again anticipate the personal return of Jesus to the earth.”GCB May 27, 1909, page 185.9

I protest! I say, There is a body of people, to be in every nation, out of every kindred, tongue, and people, that will be a living protest against that statement!GCB May 27, 1909, page 185.10

“A pervading of society by his Spirit, which is actually taking place, is something a great deal better.”—N. Y. Independent, 1908.GCB May 27, 1909, page 185.11

“Actually taking place!” Think of the record of the last three or four years, and ask yourself whether you want that spirit to continue to increase, and pervade society more and more. Rottenness in politics! Rottenness in finance! Rottenness in morality! Rottenness in the home! Rottenness in the church! Rottenness everywhere! That is not the Spirit of Christ pervading society: that is the spirit of the devil! And, I may add, in my humble opinion, the devil inspired that statement concerning it.GCB May 27, 1909, page 185.12

But now that is from a liberal. That is from a paper that professes to be liberal. Here is something from a paper that does not profess any such thing. This is from The Christian Advocate, of New York, the leading Methodist paper of this country:—GCB May 27, 1909, page 185.13

“The Seventh-day Adventists maintain that ‘the end of all things is at hand,’ and believe that the world should be warned of that event.... They do not now fix a day, but they feel certain that his [Christ’s] coming is near at hand. Through the whole career of Christianity, people have been teaching that same thing. Believing, as we do, in the Gospels, and that the words and passages in the Bible which relate to the coming of Christ must be compatible with the lapse of nineteen hundred years, though they seem in their letter to imply his speedy coming, we infer that what is compatible with nineteen hundred years may be compatible with ten times that number. We trust that the Seventh-day Adventists, whom we respect for their energy and adherence to an unpopular doctrine, will not think us inclined to scoff when we show that Saint Peter meets the case in a way which convinces us of the entire uncertainty of the time of Christ’s doming [ and that “entire uncertainty,” when you analyze it, means to-morrow—never “this generation”], and that he may not come for thousands of years; and further, that the reason he is delaying is that more souls may be saved.GCB May 27, 1909, page 185.14

“In the third chapter of the Second Epistle of Peter it is written that, ‘There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”GCB May 27, 1909, page 186.1

I think I would not have quoted that, if I had been the editor. He then draws a parallel between the people who did not believe the flood was coming, but were mistaken,—just see how complete this is,—and proceeds:—GCB May 27, 1909, page 186.2

“‘But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing; that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.’ In stating that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day, the apostle overturns the view that undertakes to determine whether he is coming soon or will long delay.”—Christian Advocate (New York), March 25, 1909.GCB May 27, 1909, page 186.3

Now this is another view of this question of the advent; and just notice the basis upon which this is made to rest. One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. But he did not say it is so with men. One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day; but not so with me. And when the Lord deals with me, he deals with me for what I am, and on my basis, and not on his basis.GCB May 27, 1909, page 186.4

Now observe: If that is a correct exegesis, let me indicate what you have got to overthrow.GCB May 27, 1909, page 186.5

First, you must overthrow the literal prediction given by God to Noah, that in 120 years the world would be destroyed by a flood. The flood came, and that prediction was fulfilled.GCB May 27, 1909, page 186.6

You must overthrow the prophecy of the 400 years, given to Abraham—a prophecy that was afterward literally fulfilled.GCB May 27, 1909, page 186.7

You must overthrow Isaiah’s definite prophecy, that “the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people;” and this was literally fulfilled.GCB May 27, 1909, page 186.8

You must overthrow Jeremiah’s literal prophecy, that he would give the children of Israel, and the city of Jerusalem, into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, “seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon.” When the seventy years had ended, this prediction was literally fulfilled, and the children of Israel returned to the land of their fathers.GCB May 27, 1909, page 186.9

You must overthrow Daniel’s definite prophecy of the 1260 years, when the church was to be given into the hands of a persecuting power “until a time and times and the dividing of time,”—the time when the woman [the church] “fled into the wilderness,” as brought to view in the seventh chapter of Daniel and in the twelfth chapter of Revelation.GCB May 27, 1909, page 186.10

You must overthrow Daniel’s remarkably definite prophecy of the seventy weeks,—dated from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem, and made up of three definite periods of seven weeks, threescore and two weeks, and one week, or 490 years in all. And this prophecy of Daniel 9:25 was literally fulfilled.GCB May 27, 1909, page 186.11

And, I pray you, what must you not do, if you adopt that position? Every fulfilled literal prophecy in the Bible says that exegesis is wrong!GCB May 27, 1909, page 186.12

But that is simply to show that on all sides, and among all classes, the scientist, the Roman Catholic, the liberal Protestant, the man who believes himself to be a conservative Protestant, are all setting aside the idea of the second advent. Seventh-day Adventists proclaim the message to the world (and I hope live the message to the world) that He is coming, and coming soon, and that this is the generation that is to witness the closing of this mighty conflict. Let the forces be marshaled; let the enemy do his worst; let his forces attempt to set aside the Bible; let them attempt to put man in the place of God; but the day will come, and will come soon, when our God shall come, and shall not keep silent, and a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. Then those who have defied him, then those who have denied his Word, will call to the rocks and the mountains to hide them “from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” But those who have protested against infidel science will say, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”GCB May 27, 1909, page 186.13