The Portland daily press., 1884-09-12

Am Interesting COasecrRtiOn meeting-A
sermon on the Hnvestigatve Judgment.

CAMP GROUND, Sept IL.
The wind last evening swept through the
tented groves on frolic, making things lively
for short time. The great tent, during ser
vices, swayed back aud forth like a thing Of
life causing slight uneasiness on the part OF
some, who we're not aware that the pavilion
had safely weathered many a gale.
The evening discourse was delivered by
Elder S. n. Haskell from the words: "And
the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure
the temple OF God, and the altar and them
that worship therein REV. Kill. A few
remarks were rnsde concerning the books OF
Daniel and Revelation, showing that they
differ from other books in the Bible, in that
they present consecutive lines Of prophecy,
covering the history of the world and the
church, even to the end Of time. Adventists
dwell much on these books because they pre-
sent 50 clearly the second appearing of Christ
and kindred subjects. 1t has been said that IL
is easy to identify Bible owned by an Ad-
ventist because the prophetic portions of 1t
give evidence of careful study and show in
dark bands on the edge.
The speaker noticed the verses preceding his
text which bring to view message to the
world based on time (Rev. x SID, which mes
sage is represented as going by land and sea
and presenting truths which at first brought
joy, or according to the symbol were sweet in
the mouth, but which afterward brought dis
appointment and sadness, or were bitter to tho
taste. The book containing these truths
which the angel or messenger held open In his
hand was shown to be the book OF Daniel,
which God designed should be sealed until tho
time of the end Dan. xii:4), at that time 1t
was to be opened, light was to shine on the
prophetic page and knowledge be increased.
The speaker then took the position that the
message given by William Miller in 1874 full
filed the prophecy of Rev. x:8-11, in that It
was time message, it was worldwide, II
brought joy to the believer at first and
then disappointed his hopes. The basis Of
William Miller's calculation was the 300
days of Dan. 8:14 which mark the beginning
of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary
and not the cleansing of this earth by FIRE as
he supposed, hence his mistake was In the
event and not in the calculation Of the time.
The text brings to view another message to
follow the disappointment, namely q measur-
ing message, which calls the attention of the
church to the temple of God and the altar, or
in other words to the heavenly sanctuary
where Christ, acting as High Priest, measures
the characters of men by Gods great measur-
ing rod, the ten commandments, and where he
will officiate until the close of the investigat-
i've judgment. The remark was made that on
the application OF Gods moral measuring rule
many would find themselves too short by one
commandment at least.
This morning the people awoke to find de-
afdo 60hu in h0 a onlA
less sky and a dreary drizzling rain sent
melancholy feeling through the camp for
short. time, but the people soon recovered their
spirits and sought the guidance OF Him who
hath His way in the Storm"
At 9 OF CLOCK session of the Maine Confer
ence was held and the following officers chosen
for the ensuing year: Elder S. N. Haskell,
president; Timothy Bryant, secretary; J. O.
Choate, treasurer.
This meeting was followed by an interesting
general social meeting. No fears were ex-
pressed as to the final triumph of the message,
but many individuals seemed to feel that the
danger lay in denying their faith by their
works, and thus losing the blessings which 20
with the truth. The church seemed to be
waking mp to the Importance of making q per-
sonal application of the practical part of the
sermons to which they had listened and conse-
Grated themselves anew to Gods service. The
interview was extended much beyond the
usual time, and took the form Of a general
consecra ion meeting
An invitation was extended to sinners and
back-sliders, and almost before the words were
out of the minister's mouth a general move
was made towards the front seats. Three long
rows OF chairs were soon filed with earnest
seekers for blessing; there was no urging for
ward and no excitement, but q calm settled
purpose on the part of scores to draw near to
God. This meeting was in marked contrast
with the one last Saturday, when the same in
vttation was extended and met with a response
from only two individuals. One aged pilgrim
testified TO having recently been healed from o
lameness of six years standing by means Of
prayer and faith in God. The leader remark
ed that he believed that when the church was
clothed with the powers that oVer.shadowed 1t
in apostolic times cases OF this kind would be
numerous, and signs and wonders accompany
the work of the Lord in the latter days. The
ministers in this denomination seem to have q
great burden for the church and urge the inn
portance of individual devotion, watchfulness
and prayer.
They do not seem to look for great increase
of numbers until the church get into place
where God can work through its individual
members with almighty power. The church
are beginning to realize this, and the steps
taken today seemed to be marked with siDcer-
ity of heart. The conservation meeting was
continued until some past noon.
In the afternoon, Elder Smith preached on
the subject of the "investigative Judgment"
taking the following words for text: "And
while they went to buy, the bridegroom came;
and they that were ready went in with him to
the marriage; and the door was shut" Matt.
25-10. The following are few OF the points
made: The words OF the text are a part of the
parable of the ten virgins, which was given to
illustrate the condition of the church Just pri-
or to the appearance of Christ in the clouds Of
heaven. The bridegroom, in the parable, rep
resents Christ, the virgins those called to the
wedding. The marriage of the lamb is the
union between himself and the bride. The
bride is the New Jerusalem Grew. 21-9-10)
which is called the mother of the church.
(Gal. 4-26) The throne Of God is in the city
which will form the metropolis of Christ's
bingdom. His marriage with the city is when
he takes the throne of his father David, and
begins his everlasting reign. This marriage
will take place before he comes to this earth
(Dan. 1919, for when he comes, he comes az
King of kings and Lord Of lords. The mes
sage of William Miller in 1884 brought
church in reference to the coming Of the
bridegroom and his tarrying. The going in of
the bridegroom TO the marriage represents
work of Christ in connection with the heaven
ly sanctuary, which is the anti-type Of the one
on earth in the Mosaic dispensation. (Acts,
7.44). In the type the most holy place was
entered only on the day of atonement, which
is Identical with the cleansing of the sanctu-
airy. Heb. 9-7.) The prophetic period, on
which VIM. Miller based his calculation, ex-
I0QQ0Q 10 LU6 Cleansing u Tue (LJhQs
8-14) and ended in 1874. Since thu prophetic
period ended in 1884, Christ, according to the
type, changed his position from the holy to the
most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary, or,
according to the parable, went into the mar
riage not, however, to receive his kingdom
Immediately, but to finish his work as priest
before coming TO this earth as king. The work
of Christ in the most holy place of the heaven
ly sanctuary is work of investigative lude-
ment, during which the cases of the dead and
then of the living will pass in grand review
before the great tribunal above. This scene
is brought to view in Matt, %, HIP, under
the figure of the examination OF guests by the
king at wedding, in order to ascertain IL
they had on a wedding garment The work
OF Judgment must be completed before Christ
comes to this earth--for when He appears the
righteous dead will be raised and with the
righteous living be caught up instantaneously
to meet him in the air II Thess., 3, I'D giving
no time for a work of judgment. In the iudg-
ment God the Father sits as Judge, Christ acts
az mediator between God and man and angels
assist in the work of investigation (DaE. ,9-10)
When the work of atonement has been COM
pletsd the sins OF those who have obtained par
don through Christ will be blotted out, (Acts,
8. 19) being then according to the figure trans
ferred to the antitypical scapegoat which ia
the devil, who in the lake of fire will suffer for
the sins which he has instigated, The COM
pletion of the work of atonement marks the
shutting of the door brought to view in the
text The going in of those that are ready
with the hriHaor to the marriage eignifiAn