ANTI-CHRISTIAN
AND
ANTI-SEMITISM
THE TWIN EVILS OF THIS PRESENT WORLD
BY
ARLEN L CHITWOOD
[Booklet cover
writing]
When we consider the actions of this
present world and how those actions are motivated by the
people who suffer the most under the deeds of the evil one are
God’s own people - both the Jews and the Christians.
In this booklet
Arlen Chitwood traces the root of these satanically motivated “causes” [which] have been inflicted on God’s people and as the author states
“Satan and his angels hold the sceptre in the
heavenly sphere of the present kingdom, and the Gentile nations hold the
sceptre under Satan and his angels in the earthly sphere. Within this
framework, power from the heavenlies is exhibited
through an earthly rule among the nations in Satan’s ever-continuing
anti-Semitic and anti-Christian endeavours. The Gentile nations are being used
by Satan on both fronts, though in different ways; and this is a fact which
must be recognized.”
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CONTENTS
History of Satan’s Anti-Christian Endeavours 4
Through
Then Through
Continuance and End of Satan’s
Anti-Christian Endeavours 14
It Becometh a Tree 15
It Remaineth a Tree 19
From
The Reason for and Beginning of
Anti-Semitism 24
The “Why”
of Anti-Semitism 26
The Beginning of Anti-Semitism 28
A Continuing Anti-Semitism, Which is About to End 33
The Death of the Firstborn 36
An End of All the Nations 41
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[Page
4]
HISTORY OF SATAN’S
ANTI-CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOURS
Another parable put he forth
unto them, saying, The kingdom ofthe heavens is like to agrain oftnustard seed, which a
man took, and sowed in hisfield: Which
indeed is the least of all seeds: but when
it is grown, it is the greatest
among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches
thereof (Matthew 13: 31,
32).
Satan is presently directing his activities against two groups
of people in the world. On the one hand he is moving
against
The reason is very simple and obvious: Both of these creations
occupy their place in time at the centre of God’s preordained activity
surrounding His Son throughout the ages (cf. Hebrews
12: 2); and the purpose for the very
existence of both, when realized, will result in the end of Satan’s
present rule over the earth.
Satan has sought for millenniums to use the Gentile nations to
do away with
Satan and his angels hold the sceptre in the heavenly sphere
of the present kingdom, and the Gentile nations hold the sceptre under Satan
and his angels in the earthly sphere. Within this framework, power from the
heavenlies is exhibited through an earthly rule among
the nations in Satan’s ever-continuing anti-Semitic and anti-Christian
endeavours. The Gentile nations are being used by Satan
on both fronts, though in different ways; and this is a fact which must be
recognized.
(For additional information on Satan and his angels’ present rule
from the heavens through the Gentile nations here on earth, refer to the author’s
book, “The Most High
Ruleth.”)
[Page 6]
THROUGH ISREL FIRST
Though Satan’s warfare against Christians down through
the years has been channelled through the Gentile nations, there was a short
period, comparatively speaking, of persecution by
The Church at this time, and for the
first few years of its existence (possibly as many as ten years), was comprised
only of converts from the nation of Israel; and the rulers of the Jews looked
upon Christianity in several different ways - mainly as a perversion of true
Judaism, though also as a rapidly spreading movement which was decimating their
constituency.
Thus, in their efforts to stop the spread of Christianity, one
finds the early persecution of the Church beginning in
Saul was a strict Pharisee who thought he was performing a
service for God by striving to eliminate this “new sect.” Saul “made havoc of the Church, entering into every house, and [Page 7] haling [‘dragging’] men and women committed them to prison” (Acts 8: 3); and he is seen consenting
to the death of numerous Christians during this period (Acts 8: 1; 26: 10, 11).
Saul was on such a mission, headed for Damascus, when the Lord
stopped him en route and revealed the true nature of his persecutions (Acts 9: 14).
Saul was, at that moment, converted; and after his experiences in “the house of Ananias” and subsequently spending
“certain
days” with the
disciples at Damascus, straightway [‘immediately’]
he preached
Christ in the synagogues,
that he is the Son of God” (Acts 9: 8-20).
Beginning at this point, Saul found himself numbered among the
persecuted (Acts 9: 21-24); and he then began doing that which
he previously thought he had been doing - performing a service for God.
The Jewish persecution can be traced in the Book of Acts through about the first thirty years
of Christianity’s existence (cf. Acts 4: 1-22; 21: 27-31). Jewish persecution beyond this
point though could only have lasted a few more years, for
However, before this occurred, the period of Roman persecution
commenced; and this is the point in history where Satan began his efforts to
destroy Christianity through the Gentile nations. Although Satan used the
nation of
[Page 9]
THEN THROUGH
So long as Christianity was thought of as associated with
Judaism, the Romans had little
problem with Christians in the
Empire, for Judaism was recognized as “a legal
sect.” But once the Romans began to view
Christianity as separate and distinct from Judaism, problems arose - major
problems.
Christianity, separate from Judaism, came under the banner of
the Roman state; and because of the non-allegiance of Christians to the state,
it was seen as “an illegal religion.”
“Religion” and “State” were one in the
On the other hand, “Christianity”
and “State” were separate in the
Christian practices were looked upon
as treasonable in some quarters, not only because they spoke of a King other
than Caesar, but also because they refused to join in emperor-worship. Thus,
Christianity gradually became quite unpopular among the Romans; and by the time
of Nero (54-68 A.D.), Christians were ready-objects for that which was about to
occur - a long-lasting persecution at the hands of
[Page 10]
The event that sparked the beginning of the official
persecution of Christians by rulers in the Roman Empire was their being accused of arson when
Christians were burned as human torches,
thrown to mad dogs, and slain in other grotesque fashions. And such persecutions were continued at intervals and spread
throughout the Empire by nine of Nero’s successors over the next two
hundred and fifty years.
But just as a persecution of the
Israelites in
Then, by the year 200 A.D., Christians could
be found in all parts of the Empire; and by the year 250 A. D., it is
estimated that Christians constituted five to twelve percent of the population
of the Empire, a population totalling about 75,000,000. This is what led Tertullian, one of the early Church
fathers living during the time of Roman persecution, to say:
[Page 11]
“The
blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”
Not all was well with the Church during these years though.
False doctrine began to make inroads during about the last one hundred fifty
years of Roman persecution. Gnosticism
made its appearance in the Church during this time. The Origen school of interpretation then followed (Origen’s system of theology resulted in
the influence of an allegorical interpretation of Scripture, with
its inherent amillennial eschatology). The doctrine of
the Nicolaitanes
(a priestly class
elevated to a position over the common people)
was also becoming widespread.
Then, toward the latter part of this period (about the last
fifty years), the Church began to become wealthy. In fact, by the close of this
period, Christianity had become the richest religious organization in the
In one sense, the Church was ripe for the greatest tragedy
that has ever befallen Christianity, a tragedy which
some historians, who do not understand Christianity at all, have erroneously
called, “The Triumph of Christianity.”
The persecuting edicts of Diocletian
were repealed during the opening years of the fourth century by Constantine the
Great after he
came into power, and Christianity was then regarded as simply another religion
in the countries over which
[Page 12]
This move by
These efforts of
Christianity then found itself completely en-meshed within a world power in the sphere of governmental
authority over which Satan exercised control, completely out of line with
God’s plans and purposes for the new creation “in Christ.”
Rather than Christianity
converting the world, the world had converted Christianity.
It is this position, assumed by the Church [today], beginning during the time of
Satan then had the Church exactly where he wanted it.
Where the pagan persecuting emperors had failed (although not
completely, for Christianity was gradually corrupted during [Page
13] their reign), the
so-called Christian emperors succeeded. Satan had attacked the Church from
without during the reign of the persecuting emperors; but once the persecutions
stopped and Christianity began to be one
with the state, the attack by Satan then
came from within.
And that which resulted and how well
Satan succeeded - a success which has continued into modern times,
deteriorating as it has continued.
[Page
14]
CONTINUANCE AND END OF SATAN’S
ANTI-CHRISTIANENDEAVOURS
It took Satan about three and one-half centuries to bring the Church completely within his
sphere of governmental control. Then, what is referred to
as “The Dark or Middle Ages” (an
expression, not “ages” per se) in
Church history rapidly ensued, lasting for over one thousand years; and even
though the Reformation (16th
century, with a subsequent restoration of great prophetic truths [17th
- 20th centuries, attaining fruition in the 19th and 20th
centuries]), followed
“The Dark Ages,” the Church as a
whole has never really departed from the position it began to assume during the
time of Constantine.
Segments of Christendom, at times, have stood apart, but not
the Church as a whole; and this continues to be the case even today.
IT BECOMETH A TREE
The parable of the grain of mustard seed in Matthew 13: 31, 32 reflects upon the position in which
the Church has found itself since the time of
“A tree”
in Scripture symbolizes a national power. In Judges 9: 8-15, which relates the oldest known parable in the
world, “trees” represent nations which sought
to elect a king to reign over them. Daniel 4: 10-12 refers to a vision of “a tree in the midst of the earth,” having a great height which
“reached
unto heaven.”
The interpretation of the vision is given later in the chapter
(vv. 20-22), and “the tree” is said to symbolize the
(Refer to Chapter VIII in the author’s
book, “Prophecy on Mount
Olivet,” for information on “the fig tree” and “all the trees.” Also, refer to the author’s book, “Mysteries of the
Kingdom,” for additional information on the parables
in [Page 16] Matthew chapter thirteen.)
There can be no question concerning Scripture identifying
“trees” in a symbolic sense with
national powers; and this fact, along with the fact that the grain of mustard
seed (another symbol) germinated and subsequently experienced an unnatural growth, must be understood to correctly interpret Matthew 13: 31,
32.
The next thing to note is the fact that after the national
power appeared, “the birds of the air” found places to lodge within that power. Again, one is not left to his own understanding to ascertain the
interpretation. In verse four, in the first
of the seven parables in this chapter, “the fowls” came and devoured the individuals “sown by the wayside” (literal understanding derived
from v. 19
[ref. ASV]; these are Christians sown at specific places in the world, with a
view to their bringing forth fruit [ref. v. 8]). Then in verse
nineteen, in the interpretation of this parable, “the fowls” from verse
four are identified with “the wicked one.”
The words “fowl” in verse four and
“birds” in verse thirty-two are translations of the same word in
the Greek text, and understanding these parables in the light of one another,
the “birds” which found a place to rest in
the branches of the tree can only be identified with the agents of Satan. That
is, after that which is represented by the grain of
mustard seed germinated, took an unnatural growth, and became a world power,
the agents of Satan simply moved in. Through an unnatural growth, following [Page
17] the germination
of the grain of mustard seed, the agents of Satan found a natural place to lodge.
Now, note what must be looked upon as
the overall interpretation, which
will reveal the identity of that which is represented by the grain of mustard
seed. Interpreted in the light of the two preceding parables (which are
explained in the text), only one thing can be in view. The first two parables
concern Satan’s move against Christianity (not against
The grain of mustard seed, the object of attack in the
parable, can only represent the Church which,
somewhere along the way, experienced an unnatural growth and became a world
power, something it was not supposed to become at all. And
there is only one place in history to which an individual can go to show the
fulfilment of such an event.
This is what began to occur during the time of
[Page 18]
Note the sharp contrast between the work of Satan in verse four and his work in verse thirty-two. In the former verse, Satan devoured
Christians (cf. 1 Peter 5: 8, 9); but in the latter verse, there was no need for Satan to devour them. The
Christians in this verse had joined his ranks, and he, along with his agents,
simply positioned himself among them. They were no longer in a position to
bring forth fruit through proclaiming a
true witness concerning the kingdom; and he, as a
consequence, simply left them alone.
IT REMAINETH A TREE
Within the scope of
the parables in Matthew chapter thirteen, [Page 19] once a course of action had been taken, there was no turning back (e.g.,
“till the
whole was leavened”
in the parable of the leaven [v. 33]); and once fruition had been attained, the text appears to clearly
indicate that no change would occur throughout the remainder of the
dispensation in relation to that which had come to pass.
This, then, leaves the final form given in the parable as that
form which would carry through to the end of the dispensation. That is, once
the mustard seed had germinated and grown into a tree (the final form
revealed), it would, from all indication, continue as a tree for the remainder
of the dispensation.
Not only so, but the birds of the air would also remain in its
branches (again, the final form revealed) for the remainder of the
dispensation. There is no intimation at all that, sometime during the course of
the remainder of the dispensation, the tree could one day become a mustard bush
- or anything else - possibly resulting in the birds of the air departing, etc.
In fact, such a thought, aside from being contrary to sound interpretation
within the scope of the parable, is contrary to any Scripture bearing upon the
course of Christianity throughout the dispensation.
(The dispensation would end with Christendom completely leavened, as
seen in the Matthew thirteen parables; or, presented another way in
Scripture, the dispensation would end with Christendom in a Laodicean state [“...wretched, and miserable, and [Page 20] poor, and blind, and
naked”], as seen in Revelation chapter three. And the Church at the end of the dispensation, during the day in which we live, is so
blinded to the position which it is supposed to occupy that Christians forming
these Churches have little to no understanding of that which has occurred and
continues to occur, with the end result seen Luke 18:
8:
“Nevertheless
when the Son of man cometh,
shall he find
faith [lit., ‘the faith’] upon
the earth?”
“The faith” has a peculiar reference in the
New Testament to ‘the Word of the
Kingdom;’ and the way in which the question is worded in the Greek text of Luke 18:8, a negative response is
indicated. That is, when the Son of Man returns, he
is not going to find “the faith”
being taught in the Churches of the land, liberal and fundamental Churches
alike [this is the one place where the
two find common ground; neither will have anything to do with ‘the Word of the Kingdom’].)
Within the symbolism of “a tree” - from the time of
[Page
21]
FROM
Now, how does all of this continue from the time of
The matter is evident on every hand, but it is something which is possibly even more deceptive today than
at any other time in history. After all, the “leaven” which the woman placed in the
three measures of meal in Matthew 13: 33 has been working for almost two millenniums, and Satan has been allowed the same length of time to sharpen the
cutting edge of his master plan.
Over a period of hundreds and hundreds of years, Satan, in
progressively carrying out his plans and purposes, has created such confusion
that no segment of Christendom has escaped unscathed (cf. Luke 18: 8). Those from the liberal wing and
fundamental wing have, both alike, fallen prey to the wiles of Satan in the area of world government, as he
has continued to foster the association of Christians with that symbolized by
“a tree.”
The crux of the plan of Satan is to involve Christians in the
present kingdom [and it rulers], an involvement which can only
detract from the things in which they are supposed to be involved - things
having to do with the coming [Messianic] kingdom.
[Page 22]
The coming kingdom of Christ is symbolized in Scripture by “a great
mountain” or
“a high
mountain” (Isaiah 2: 2-4; Daniel 2: 35; Matthew 16:
28-17: 5), and the only escape for Christians in the world today is to go “to the mountain.” in fact, it is, “Escape
for thy life
[‘soul’]” (Genesis 19: 17).There is no such thing as a
Christian being actively involved in both “the tree” and “the great mountain.” When a Christian becomes interested in “the tree,” he loses interest in “the great mountain,” and vice versa.
Thus, the great deception of Satan revolves around his efforts
to keep the Christians’ attention centred on the present “tree” rather than upon the coming
“great
mountain”; and this
deception has been present and effectively executed for hundreds of years.
One of the great cries one hears day after day after day over
the religious radio stations and religious TV broadcasts, especially within what
is recognized as “fundamental
Christianity,” is the call for an increased
association of Christians with world government. Christians on every hand are continually being exhorted to involve themselves
within the political structure of this present world system. They are being exhorted to band together
for purposes of becoming a powerful force or voice in the present system, and a Christian who doesn’t follow
suit is looked down upon as being among the uninformed.
[Page 23]
Again, it would not be “The
Triumph of Christianity” should Christians find themselves
controlling, after any fashion, Gentile world power today. In fact, as with the
association of Christianity and
Those individuals exhorting Christians to become involved in
the political structure of this presentworld system
are, in reality, encouraging Christians to forsake their high calling and
become involved in matters totally unrelated to their calling. And for Christians to do this is for
those Christians to involve themselves in affairs related to the wrong kingdom - the present
Christians are to bide their time, keeping their eyes on the
things having to do with the coming kingdom of Christ, not on the things having
to do with the present kingdom under Satan. The former is about to be
manifested, overthrow and destroy the latter, then become a great mountain and
fill the whole earth (Daniel 2: 35, 44,
45).
[Page 24]
THE REASON FOR AND BEGINNING OF
ANTI-SEMITISM
And thou shalt say unto
Pharaoh. Thus saith the Lord,
“Anti-Semitism,” from
a strict adherence to the compound structure and meaning of the word itself,
can be defined simply as being against (antagonistic toward, opposed to) the
Semitic people. In a grammatical and etymological sense (as pertaining to
race), such a definition would include all the descendants of Shem (e.g., the
Arabic nations as well as the nation of
The word “anti-Semitism”
though is not really used in a broad sense pertaining
to the entire Semitic line. Rather, the word is invariably
used in a much more restrictive sense, referring to opposition exhibited
toward only one branch of the Semitic line - opposition exhibited toward the
descendants of Shem through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Webster’s New World Dictionary defines anti-Semitism as
“having or showing prejudice against Jews,”
“discriminating against or persecuting Jews,”
“...hostility [toward Jews].” The
Jewish people alone, among the Semitic people, have been the target of
persecution after persecution during the past three and one-half millenniums;
and “anti-Semitism” is an expression which has come into use pointing to these
persecutions.
[Page 25]
Other Semitic nations are not in view at all. “Anti-Semitism” is actually older than the
nation of
Jewish persecution which began under this
new king in
The outworking of the principles set forth in Genesis 12: 3 have always come to
pass, and they always will come to pass. A nation lifting its hand
against
The epitaph written on the tombstones of nations throughout history which undertook anti-Semitic practices reads,
“Fallen because of their vain attitude toward
and ill-treatment of the nation of
[Page 26]
THE “WHY” OF
ANTI-SEMITISM
Why does anti-Semitism even exist in
the first place?
Or, why have nations not taken a lesson
from history? What is it really all about when a
nation (such as
Why did the Third Reich during the World War II years single
out the Jewish people for destruction? Why has
Why did the late Israeli prime minister, Golda Meir, view the
situation from her vantage point after the same fashion during the succeeding
Yom Kippur War of 1973 when she said, “We are
defending our very existence [from surrounding nations, supported by
Russia]”? Why has the leader of
Why has
[Page 27]
Answers to questions concerning the “Why” of anti-Semitism can be
found in the Word of God alone. Secular history can comment upon the
matter and record a persecution of the Jewish people down through the years,
but such history can never reveal either the true
origin of anti-Semitism or the reason for the
continuance (and even acceleration
today) of persecution directed toward the Jewish people.
Only the Word of God provides this information. And apart from an understanding of that which Scripture reveals
concerning the matter, it is not possible to assess, and place in its proper
perspective, a segment of mankind’s hatred for a people which God
called into existence for special and particular purposes, which -
[in the ‘age to come,’ under Jesus their long-awaited promised ‘Messiah’] - includes being the channel through which God would bless the very
nations seeking their destruction.
[Page 28]
THE BEGINNING OF ANTI-SEMITISM
When God called Abraham out from
God never gets in a hurry to fulfil His promises; nor does God
ever forget that which He has promised. Even though the
Abraham dwelt as a stranger and a pilgrim in both the
It was after this, after the end of
the four hundred-year sojourn of the seed of Abraham, that God set about to
fulfil His promise given to Abraham four hundred and thirty years prior to the
termination of this time - a promise given at the time of Abraham’s call,
while he was still in Ur of the Chaldees [Page 29] (cf. Genesis 12: 1-3; 15: 13, 14; Exodus 2: 23-25; 3: 6-8; 4: 22, 23; 12: 40-41).
(The “four
hundred years” in Genesis 15: 13, 14 provide the
time of the sojourn of Abraham’s seed [from the birth of Isaac to the
Exodus from Egypt]; the “four
hundred and thirty years” in Exodus
12: 40, 41
cover the same period but include an
additional thirty years preceding the four hundred years,
dating to Abraham’s call in Ur at the age of seventy. Thus, the full sojourn - that
of both Abraham and his seed,
called collectively, “the children of
The Israelites were in
[Page 30]
It was following Joseph’s death but preceding
Moses’ birth (about sixty years later) that “there
arose a new king over
The new king who arose over
In Stephen’s address before the religious leaders in
This is the reason that the governing
power in
The growth, prosperity, and potential power of the Israelites
in Egypt had become such that it caused the Assyrians controlling the affairs
of state to look upon them as a possible threat to their continuance in power
(should they one day side with the enemies of the Assyrians [the Egyptians]).
To prevent such from occurring, the Assyrians first attempted to stem the
growth and, in this manner, check the potential power of the Hebrew people
through a rigorous form of enslavement.
After a time, when it became evident
that this was not the answer (for “the more they afflicted them, the more they
multiplied and grew”),
they then resorted to a plan whereby all of the Hebrew male children would be
slain at birth. It
was during these days that Moses was born, hidden by his parents, and
eventually, through the providence of God, was reared
under the very protection of Pharaoh in the palace itself (Exodus 1: 7
- 2: 10).
Once this persecution began in
In fact, the persecution became so intense during the latter years, that the cry of the Israelites “came up unto God by reason
of the bondage.”
And, when this occurred, in complete accordance with later promises to
“And God looked upon the
children of
[Page 33]
A CONTINUING ANTI-SEMITISM, WHICH IS ABOUT TO END
And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord,
That which occurred in the Book of Exodus, both preceding and during Moses,
day, constitutes a type of that which is about to occur in a climactic manner.
Under the Assyrian Pharaoh in
Thus, in this respect, the story of anti-Semitism as it exists
from beginning to end, is revealed in Old Testament
history. The Assyrian controlling the affairs of state in
[Page 34]
The ten plagues brought upon the kingdom of the Assyrian in
This complete judgment befell the kingdom of the Assyrian
following Moses’ return to His people, and it led to the destruction of
Gentile world power in the
(For more information on these judgments, refer to Chapters 18, 19 in the
author’s book, “The Time of the End.”)
The deliverance of the Israelites from
[Page
36]
THE DEATH OF THE FIRSTBORN
The death of the firstborn was the last of the ten plagues
brought upon the kingdom of the Assyrian in
And after all of these judgments have come to pass, “a great voice” is going to come “out of the temple of heaven, from the
throne, saying, ‘It is done’ [a perfect tense verb - ‘It has come to pass’ - referring to that which has been completed in past
time, which presently exists in a completed state]” (Revelation 16: 17).
“What” will have been completed in past time, existing in a
completed state, at the time this voice comes forth from the throne? Relative
to
And this, in turn, exactly as in the type
(
[Page 37]
(The death of the firstborn in
God’s provided substitute for
the Jewish people had to do not only with the firstborn in a family but with
the nation as a whole,
with God’s firstborn son. And the lack of a substitute apart from Israel had to do with
firstborn sons throughout the nation of Egypt and with the nation of Egypt
itself [Which
could only have been recognized as the firstborn within Satan’s realm, for Egypt was the central ruling nation of
that day under Satan and his angels].)
God told Moses to announce to Pharaoh:
“Thus saith the Lord,
Then, God’s threat to slay Pharaoh’s firstborn,
though referring to the firstborn in his household (Exodus 12: 29), must be looked upon in a broader
sense than just a reference to Pharaoh’s flesh and blood firstborn son.
It must be looked upon as also carrying national
implications, for that was the subject at hand (“
Satan and his angels presently rule the earth from the heavens
through the Gentile nations (Daniel 10: 13, 14, 20).
[Page 39]
As Satan had delivered these rights to the Assyrian ruling
over
Following Israel’s departure from Egypt under Moses, the
Assyrian Pharaoh and his armed forces were overthrown in the Red Sea (Exodus 14:
13ff). The firstborn
(individuals) throughout all the kingdom in
[Page 40]
As it was, so shall it be: The future Assyrian and his
armed forces will be overthrown (Revelation 19: 17-21); and, as in the type, there will be both a personal and a national death
of the firstborn in connection with this overthrow. The Antichrist and those
comprising his kingdom will personally experience the death of the firstborn;
and the destruction of the worldwide kingdom of the Assyrian - that future
kingdom exercising a firstborn status under Satan - will constitute the
national death of the firstborn.
[Page 41]
AN END OF ALL THE NATIONS
God, in Jeremiah 46: 28, has stated that He
would one day deal with all of the Gentile nations in a final respect: “Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the
Lord: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whether I have
driven thee: but I will not make a full end of
thee...”
God is going to “make a full end of all the nations” where the Israelites have been
driven. The textual setting of this passage in Jeremiah 46: 28 is during and
following the coming Great Tribulation. The nations are those within the
Anti-Semitism in that day - evident
from the matter at hand in Matt. 25: 31-46 and from that which is revealed concerning the kingdom
of Antichrist (Matthew. 24: 15-22; Luke 21: 20-24; Revelation
12: 1-17) - will break out on a worldwide
scale and will be of such magnitude that the Israelites (as the Israelites in
Egypt) will be forced to cry out to God for deliverance (cf. Hosea 5: 15 -
6: 2).
At this time, as in the past, God will hear their cry,
remember His covenant, and send a Deliverer - the One greater than Moses. Then
that which befell the kingdom of the Assyrian in
[Page 42]
Though God will make a “full end of all the nations,” numerous Gentiles will enter
into the Millennium, forming nations. The “full end of all nations” has to do with national power,
a firstborn status. The nations under Satan are now exercising this status, as
Shem was the only one of Noah’s three sons having a God,
and the nation descending from Shem through Abraham is the only nation on earth
today possessing a God, Who is identified as Jehovah,
the one true and living God. And it is this nation
which God recognizes as His firstborn, which necessitates that seen in the type
occurring in the antitype.
Gentile power must be put down,
with
It will not, it cannot possibly happen any other way.
God has brought these
things to pass concerning Israel’s status relative to the nations, He has spoken through the prophets
concerning that which is about to happen, and that is the end of the
matter.
-------
The Kingdom Offered to Gentiles - Future
This is graphically set forth in a type-antitype treatment of
the Book of Jonah. Jonah was called and commissioned to carry God’s message of
salvation to the Gentile city of
The nation of
The message of the 144,000 will be the
“gospel of the kingdom” (Matt.
24: 14), for the kingdom of the heavens can
then once again be announced as being “at hand.” Results of the ministry of the 144,000 are described as “a great multitude, which no man could number, of
all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues
...” (Rev. 7:
9). These individuals, however, are only the ones martyred for
their faith during “the Great Tribulation (vv. 13-15; cf. Rev. 13: 15; 20: 4). There will also
be an innumerable multitude of saved Gentiles who escape martyrdom and come out
of the Great Tribulation alive. These Gentiles will comprise the “sheep” appearing at the judgment of
the nations in Matt. 25: 31ff.
Gentiles who are saved under the ministry of the 144,000 and
suffer martyrdom will be accorded the privilege of ruling and reigning with Christ
“a thousand
years” (Rev. 20: 6; cf. James 1: 12; Rev. 2: 10). These individuals will have “all tears” wiped from their eyes,
something not said of everyone until after the Millennium (cf. Rev. 7:
17; 21: 4).
The promise of rulership with Christ held by the Tribulation
martyrs (which must, of necessity, be “from the heavens”) does not appear to be equally
held by saved Gentiles appearing at the judgment of the nations. Of these it is
said, “Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world” (Matt.
25: 34). Nothing is said
about ruling with Christ, as is said of the Tribulation martyrs. These individuals
will, then, form the “sheep”
nations which will enter into the earthly sphere of
the kingdom with
Israel, converted and restored, will be placed at the head of
the nations; saved Gentiles surviving and coming out of the Great Tribulation
will form the nations over which Israel will exercise supremacy; and Christ
with His “bride” will rule from the heavens, a
rule which will also include Tribulation martyrs.
- A. L. Chitwood (from ‘By Faith’, pp. 70-71).
* * * * * * *
[PART TWO]
THE PROGRESS OF THE TRUTH
III
BY Rev. SAMUEL H. WILKINSON,
Director of the Mildmay Mission to the Jews.
-------
TRUTH in itself is eternal, unalterable and therefore un-progressive.
What is true is not new
What is new is not true.
But truth in its revelation is
progressive: also in its recognition, both in extent and intensity. With
apparent setbacks, it nevertheless marches on inevitably to final dominance:
for in the same measure as it is revealed and recognized,
does it become dynamic.
In the domain of Divine plan and in respect of the final
recovery of humanity from the consequences of sin, and the establishment of
universal righteousness and felicity, the progress of truth finds its
outstanding illustration and confirmation in
1. IN
* Hebrews 2: 16.
This truth is still further to be revealed in the future for
as Jesus was the procuring cause of the
blessing, which Israel’s election was instrumentally to bring to the
world, so Israel itself is yet to be the distributing agent of the said blessing. “
* Isaiah 27:
6.
2. IN
3. IN
* Isaiah 43:
2.
4. IN
That
* Isaiah
6: 10. **Romans
11: 25.
As regards scattering,
the original establishment of this form of chastisement was part of eternal
purpose and truth. A land of defined frontiers as the special
gift of God, its possession and enjoyment as the special reward of obedience
and as the theatre for the display of Divine power and demonstration of Divine
truth, involved the possibility of its loss, of ejection from its borders, of a
painful and wide and ever wider scattering into other and strange lands.
“And I will scatter you among the heathen (nations), and will draw out a
sword after you: and your land shall be desolate
and your cities waste.”*
* Leviticus 26: 33.
This truth has been progressively
revealed and developed and has compelled an increasing degree of recognition
from all whose thoughts and capacities can embrace matters outside their own
selfish interests. Century by century,
* Jeremiah 31: 10.
And finally as regards persecution. Here is a
phenomenon, if possible, more striking still. It is evident to careful
observers that Jews - the largest integral portion of
This antipathy is universal. It
differs only in degree and form of expression. Where brutal instincts, are
dominant, where masses of people are incited by agitators, it takes the form of
violence and spoliation: where Society is more self-restrained, it may express
itself in social ostracism or some not unreasonable form of Anti-semitic
attitude. The important point is not so much the form in which it expresses itself but the fact that the antipathy is there. In the Christian who has learned to love
Israel for the Lord’s sake, the antipathy is overcome; but even in such a
case, there is the consciousness that it needed to be overcome, and if
unwatched might arise again.
Now for the causes. “Anti-Semitism”
(to use the recognised term for an attitude of antipathy to Jews) has a certain
raison d’etre.
Some of those who adopt Anti-semitism sincerely, do so because they desire
to set a check to such movements of materialism as undermine the National
observance of Sunday, the highest principles of commercial integrity, the
spirit of quiet dignity as opposed to ostentatious display, the preservation of
high standards of character as opposed to the mere acquisition of wealth. On
the other hand, Jews will not as a rule admit the existence of any
justification at all for an Anti-semitic attitude, but ascribe it wholly to
ignorant and jealous prejudice. They use it, and not without
some show of reason, as an argument against the Christian faith; for, say they,
if a tree is to be known by its fruits, and if those who profess and call
themselves Christians can so behave towards a section of their fellow men,
“Christianity” is proved impotent
to produce the love which its doctrines inculcate.
Neither Jew, nor Anti-Semite is wholly right. The only full
and satisfactory explanation of that attitude of Gentile antipathy towards
“Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and
Did not the Lord,
He, against Whom they have sinned?
For they would not walk in
His ways,
Neither were they obedient
unto His law.” *
* Isaiah 52:
24. (read the whole context).
Here then is the truth, eternal in Character, progressive in
Revelation and Recognition. The full floodtide of
Anti-semitic hatred has yet to arise under Antichrist: the darkest page
therefore of
* Jeremiah
31: 18.
Similarly, truth makes its triumphant
progress among Gentiles in regard to Israel: and after [that soon coming] judgment
has been measured out to them in respect of their own guilty ill-treatment of
Israel,* a chastened attitude of respect towards Israel is adopted; and
representatively, “ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations,
even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew,
saying, We will go with
you: for we have heard that God is with you.”**
* Zechariah 1: 21;
Joel 3: 12. **
Zechariah 8: 23.
They will have reason indeed to do so: for the objectionable
features in Jews which have provoked antipathy and made Jews, while under Chastisement,
rather a curse than a blessing* have disappeared: and a spell of holy attraction will surround
the Jew, drawing to his company all who have, with him, desires after God.
* Zechariah 8: 13.
The progress of Truth as regards
[* See Revelation
19: 11- 16. Cf. Zechariah
8: 11-17,
R.V.]
Even now, by illuminating grace through the Word, these,
truths have been revealed to and recognized by a large section
of the believing
* * * * * * *
[PART THREE]
THE DESTINY OF THE WICKED
By
REV. S.
C. BARTLETT, D.D.
I. THE course of providential government in this world not only
does not conflict, but accords with, the doctrine of unending punishment.
1. This life as a whole exhibits, among
many remediable and many unavoidable evils, not a few remediless conditions of
calamity brought on by sin, recklessness, wilfulness and voluntary ignorance. (a)
Crimes and sins of brief duration leave consequences for life. (b) Morally thoughtless acts often
involve the gravest disasters. (c)
Excuses, however specious, do not relieve, nor do regrets
and repentances retrieve. (d) The calamity itself makes additional obstacles in
the way of recovery by its experiences, associations, discouragements and
subsequent influences. (e) These calamitous results clearly would
ensue to a far greater extent did the longer life of
the offender give ampler opportunity for the wrong-doing to meet its legitimate result.
2. In a multitude of instances the wrong-doer apparently would not retrieve himself if he
could. (a) He cannot,
by any possible influences, be prevailed upon. So, often, is it with the
sot, gambler, debauchee. (b) There is also, the longer he continues, the steadier and surer
tendency to fixedness of character, and so of condition. (c) Some men in this world have become, to all appearance, as
hopelessly abandoned to evil courses and consequences, as though their moral
freedom were extinct. It seems almost as incredible that a being like Satan
should turn to good as God to evil.
3. All observation here gives no proof nor hint of the discontinuance of sin and its
suffering, but the contrary. For six thousand years
this earth has been inhabited, and during
that time sin and suffering clearly have held on their way. There has been
neither (a) an arrest of the
dreadful consequences of sin, (b) an
eradication of the disposition of sin, (c) a suspension of the freedom to sin, nor
(d) an extinction of the race of
sinners. Everything certainly looks towards the endless continuance of all
this.
4. We see
agencies now working which make probable
the continuance of sin and suffering indefinitely
hereafter: (a) Evil passions, which carry in themselves
germs of wretchedness; namely, various forms of malignity and selfishness, from
envy, jealousy, cruelty, hatred, falsity, reckless and insatiate lusts and
passions, lawless ambitions, regardlessness of other’s rights and
welfare, down to the spirit, in general, which places its whole end and aim
and satisfaction in scenes, objects and pursuits that cannot satisfy and will
not last. These
dispositions are, many of them, tormenting in themselves, others necessarily
painful in their disappointments. (b) A steady indisputable tendency in these evil passions to rise
higher and destroy more, very frequently becoming so irresistible in this short
life as to rupture life-long friendships, sever the closest natural ties and
affections, break away from all better surroundings, frequently embittering the
highest outward prosperity, and usually at last, in their least offensive form,
leaving a man restless and unhappy, - Chesterfield as truly as Charles the
Fifth or Nero. (c) A present holding in check of the full results of
these dispositions by influences plainly but transient and extrinsic, such as
physical enjoyments and diversions, necessary occupations, the inevitable
dependencies of life, natural but not insuperable attachments, public
sentiment, pride of character, position, personal persuasions, and religious
pressure. (d) The certainty that these hindrances and alleviations,
most of them must, and all may, pass away with the circumstances of this life. The enjoyments and expectations of the inebriate, the libertine and
the miser, the schemes and hopes of the ambitious, the present outward
diversions and occupations, the interests to be subserved,
the concealments to be practiced, the religious restraints and persuasions, and
the veru objects which formed the aim of the whole
life, nearly all of them inevitably, and all of them quite probably, end with
the laying aside of this life and its relationships. (e)
The inevitable consequence that with the certain withdrawal of these restraints
and alleviations at death, and the manifest continuance of all the inherent ruinous tendencies of sin,
though rising even no higher than often in this life, and not seldom witnessed
in full power at the last instant of life,
there follows, or rather is, a hell at once; and from the terrible and growing
tenacity of the sinful disposition, often witnessed to and through the last
moment, a hell to all human appearance
hopeless.
In order that a scheme which denies
endless punishment should, in the words of Mr. Gladstone, “attain weight
and authority as distinguished from mere popularity, it seems requisite that
some sort of effort should be made … to sustain it by analogies and
presumptions from human experience and from the observation of life, character,
and the scheme of things under which we live, to show that it takes hold of,
and fits into, the moral government of the world.” It has not been
done; I think it cannot be done. But the
contrary. “On the matter of sin and suffering and the terrible sanctions
of law,” says a late writer of “liberal
tendencies, nature is sterner and harder and colder than Arctic ice.”
It is, however, asserted (by Dean Farrar and others), that the texts which give
prima facie plausibility”
to the doctrine of endless punishment “are alien to the broad unifying
principles of Scripture.” Wherefore it is important to add, that:-
II. The doctrine is in harmony with the
other cardinal teachings of the Scriptures. It fits into its place among the
great verities therein set forth, adequately accounts for the fact of a
revelation to man, explains its chief declarations, and sustains the gravity
and stringency of its speech.
1. It vindicates, and fully justifies,
the fact of a revelation. It is a very common assertion with some classes of
men, that revelation is superfluous and incredible. If the ultimate cessation
of all sin and misery will take place without it, there is great weight in the
assertion. Special interposition is unnecessary. It may in
some instances shorten the process, but it makes no difference in the
total result. Or if Christ’s work were a needful
but certain agency, there is no great urgency to make it known. But the Scriptures represent the case as momentously urgent,
calling for the special manifestation of God himself. Even the negative loss of
a possible blessedness presents, it must be conceded, no such pressing exigency
for a revelation, and its proclamation “into all the world,” as the positive danger of
eternal woe, This, certainly, is the one thing which most fully vindicates
God’s extraordinary interposition, and the inexpressible gravity of the
message. The best practical comment on the force of this consideration is exhibited in the extreme paucity of mission to the
heathen except by those who receive the Scripture teaching concerning the
danger of “losing the soul.”
2. It accords
with the revealed character of God in its whole aspect: Holy and insisting on
holiness, as well as kind and loving; hating sin as intensely as He loves
holiness; determined never to make men blessed at all hazards and in their sin,
and not putting forth, at all hazards, influences sufficient to arrest their
sin; lamenting the doom which he yet suffers to come - “O that
thou hadst hearkened” ; “I have no
pleasure in the death of him that dieth.” The Bible offers not a hint that God
will secure all men’s well-being without their repentance, or that He
will enforce their repentance. Its utterances are in the opposite direction.
They who insist that His holiness, goodness, wisdom and power, guarantee the
extermination of all sin, would have proved, were the argument good for
anything, that sin never could have entered the world.
3. It accords with the Scripture view
of the appalling nature of sin as an evil of immeasurable magnitude, malignity,
and persistency. Those who regard sin as but a trivial thing, “an incident of development,” a passing act and
not also a habit and character, as an excusable “error”
and not an “enmity against God,”
a superficial excrescence and not a radical and self-propagating disease, may
talk lightly and hopefully of its cessation and the arrest of its consequences.
But those who accept the deep and intense view of its nature, character, and
tendency, which the Bible constantly sets forth, and which men like Edwards
have received and felt, must admit there is a correspondence between its
character and its threatened doom.
4. It harmonizes with the Scripture
estimate of human ruin. “Dead in trespasses and sins,” “the wrath of God
abideth on him,” “children of wrath,”
“hating the light,” “without God and having no hope in the world,”
“enemies” of God and “without strength;” - these are among the phrases
whereby the Scripture sets forth human condition. The Saviour described the
moral estrangement between the Pharisees and Himself in denunciations and woes
almost too terrible to repeat. If such utterances are
advisedly employed, there is a correspondence between the condition they
describe and the consequences into which they declare it shall emerge.
5. It accords with the extraordinary
character of the remedy proposed. There was no hope in nature; a remedy is offered outside of nature. The Scriptural atonement is often decried as needless and baseless. It is common for
those who deny eternal punishment to deny also a proper atonement effected by
the Word made flesh. But God’s word justifies
itself. In its statement of the desperateness of the case and the inconceivable
magnitude of the doom lies the necessity and the
vindication of the great Son of God’s
unparalleled efforts and sufferings to rescue the sinner. The two things
match each other.
6. It accounts for the extreme urgency
of the Scriptures. Over and above the solemn call to duty the
sacred writers abound in warnings to flee from “the wrath to come,”
to be persuaded by reason of “the terrors of the Lord,”
to guard against the loss of the soul though the whole world were the purchase,
to sacrifice hand and eye rather than to be cast into hell, and to lose the
life itself in order to save the life.
The intensity of these and similar statements certainly receive their full
meaning and explanation in connection with that other teaching, of eternal
punishment for disobedience.
Thus the general scheme of God’s word, as well as the
whole current of nature, harmonizes with the express Scripture teaching of
endless punishment. In the calm words of Henry Ward Beecher, Christ’s
“advent, his teaching, his life, his sacrifice,
his death - he connected all of them with the peril that betided men; and the
whole example of Christ was a silent testimony to the reality of that fear
which brooded like dark thunder-clouds over the whole horizon of the future.
This was the undertone which ran through the whole of Christ’s teaching,
both public and private.”
It is open to question whether the doctrine of Universal
Restoration, if generally accepted, would not in a single
generation reduce the morals of the world to a level with those of
* * * * * * *
[PART FOUR]
BEAUTIFUL SNOW
[These verses were found, after death,
in the desk of a girl of twenty-two, highly educated, accomplished, and
beautiful, but whose life was one frightful fall. She wrote them where she died - in the
Oh ! the snow,
the beautiful snow,
Filling the sky and earth below,
Over the housetops, over the street,
Over the heads of people you meet;
Dancing - Flirting - Skimming along!
Beautiful snow! it can do no
wrong;
Flying to kiss a fair lady’s cheek,
Clinging to lips in frolicsome freak;
Beautiful snow from heaven above,
Pure as an angel, gentle as love!
Oh, the snow, the beautiful snow,
How the flakes gather and laugh as
they go.
Whirling about in maddening fun;
Chasing - Laughing - Hurrying by,
It lights on the face and it sparkles the eye;
And the frisking dogs with a bark and a
bound
Snap at the crystals as they eddy
around;
The town is alive, and its heart is
aglow,
To welcome the coming of beautiful
snow!
How wild the crowd goes swaying along,
Hailing each other with humour and
song;
How the gay sleighs like meteors flash
by,
Bright for a moment, then lost to the
eye;
Ringing - Swinging - Dashing they go,
Over the crest of the beautiful snow;
Snow so pure when it falls from the
sky,
To be trampled and tracked by
thousands of feet
Till it blends with the filth in the
horrible street.
Once I was pure as the snow, but I
fell,
Fell like the snow
flakes from heaven to hell;
Fell to be trampled
as filth in the street,
Fell to be scoffed,
to be spit on and beat;
Pleading - Cursing - Dreading to die,
Selling my soul to
whoever would buy,
Dealing in shame for a
morsel of bread,
Hating the living and
fearing the dead.
Merciful God I have
fallen so low!
And
yet I was once
like the beautiful snow.
Once I was fair as the beautiful snow,
With an eye like a crystal, a heart like its glow;
Once I was loved
for my innocent grace -
Flatter’d and sought for the charms of my face!
Fathers - Mothers - Sisters - all,
God and myself I have lost by my fall;
The veriest wretch that goes shivering
by
Will make a wide sweep lest I wander
too nigh;
For all that is on or above me, I
know,
There is nothing so
pure as the beautiful snow.
How strange should it be that this
beautiful snow,
Should fall on a sinner with nowhere
to go!
How strange it should be, when the
night comes again;
If the snow and the ice struck my
desperate brain.
Fainting - Freezing - Dying - Alone,
Too wicked for prayer, too weak for a
moan,
To be heard in the streets of the
crazy town,
Gone mad in the joy of snow coming
down;
To be and to die in my terrible woe,
With a bed and a shroud of the
beautiful snow.
Helpless and foul as the trampled
snow,
Sinner, despair not! Christ stoopeth low
To rescue the soul that is lost in
sin,
And raise it to life and enjoyment again.
Groaning - Bleeding - Dying - for
thee,
The Crucified on the cursed tree!
His accents of mercy fall soft on
thine ear.
Is there mercy for me? Will He heed my
weak prayer?
O God! in the
stream that for sinners did flow
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than
snow.
* * * * * * *
[PART FIVE]
THE KINGS HONOUR
The Kingdom and the Coming Revival
By PHILIP MAURO
“In the Multitude of People is the King’s Honour” (Proverbs 14: 28).
THERE exists at the present time* a
very general expectation among the people of God that the last days of this
gospel-dispensation (which are now upon us) will be marked by a Revival of world-wide scope. This
expectation is “in the air.” One meets with evidences of it on every side. Men of proved
conservatism and sobriety declare openly their confidence that an unprecedented
outpouring of the Holy Spirit is close at hand. The Great Commission Prayer League of Chicago is distributing in
all parts of the world circular letters urging
the Lord’s people to join in prayer for a great revival, and
publishes a list of prominent teachers and preachers who are looking for it.
As I write, these lines there lies before me a leaflet
written by one of the most spiritual and enlightened of the servants of Christ
I have been privileged to know. It is entitled World-wide Revival; and the writer thereof reasons out of
the Scriptures, and without any strained or fanciful interpretations, that
there is to come, “in the last days, before the great and
terrible day of the Lord come,” a God-sent, world-embracing
Revival, a season of unprecedented
blessing, in which God will, according to His promise, pour out His Spirit upon
all flesh; and that the result will be
the ingathering of “the fulness
of the Gentiles.” Our brother points out that it was in the darkest hour of Jewish apostasy, and just before the overwhelming judgments of God swept the land with
the besom of destruction, that the
great ingathering of the Jews,
beginning with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, took place. Therefore we may
expect that the final outpouring of the [Holy] Spirit,**
which is to embrace “all nations and kindreds and peoples and tongues,” will occur in this dark hour of Gentile apostasy, on the eve of the day
of world-wide judgments.
[* That
is, during November 1924 - when this article was first printed in D. M. Panton’s Evangelical
Magazine: “THE DAWN”!
How quickly ‘the
Today, almost a century later, we are now witnessing
the immoral practises, greed, and “wicked”
behaviour by some of the Lord’s redeemed people!
All of this activity is now being encouraged by Law-makers,
and apostates
within the ‘Church’!
The love of money, and the Church misuse
of it by the purchase of property, the burden of large debts,
the acceptance of financial bribes, and many other activities which are contrary
to our Lord’s teachings and will, have brought about the disobedience
to His commands! See Acts 5: 40; Hebrews 10: 25; Luke 22:
19b, R.V. etc.
The deceptions, lies, and propaganda we see around the world-wide today, is rapidly preparing humanity for the introduction
of Antichrist - the man of sin: and foretold Divine judgements will
come upon all nations, to bring an end to Christian apostasy, and establish our
Lord’s righteous and millennial rule.]
**
See Acts 5: 32,
R.V.: “And we
are witnesses of these things (Gk. ‘sayings’);
and so is the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given TO THEM THAT OBEY HIM” Cf.
1 John 3: 24ff.: “And
he that KEEPETH HIS COMMANDMENTS abideth in him, and he in him. And whereby we know that he
abideth in us, by the Spirit which he gave us.” See also 1
Samuel 12: 15 and compare with 16: 14: “And the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.”
Septuagint, LXX. And again: “Create in me a clean heart, O
God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; And take not thy HOLY
SPIRIT from me.” Psalm 51: 10, 11.]
I fully share the expectation referred to; but my belief is
that, as in revivals of the past, there will be not only a special manifestation of the Spirit of God, but also the
proclamation of some special and definite message, whereby the people will be pricked in their heart, and
constrained to ask, “What shall we do?” And what
will that message be?
“THE WORD OF THE KINGDOM”
About twenty years ago a book was
published by one who had tens of thousands of readers on the western side of
the
These are weighty considerations. But
there are others which appeal to the present writer with even greater force.
Thus, it is the opinion of many of our teachers (as the one already quoted)
that a firm foundation for expecting a great revival, and at just such a time
as this, is laid in Joel 2: 28-32, where we find the promise of God
that He will pour out His Spirit on ALL
flesh. This promise justifies the expectation of a repetition of the events of
Pentecostal times in
This is “as it was in the beginning”; and hence we feel confident
that so it will be also in the end of our [apostate and evil] era. For we believe there is a special
significance in our Lord’s reply to His disciples’ question
concerning “the end of the age.”
That reply is of far greater moment to us, who are on earth in the time of the end, than it was to them. He said: “And this GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM shall
be preached in ALL THE WORLD, for a witness to ALL NATIONS, and THEN,
shall the end come” (Matthew 24: 14). The words “all the world,” “all
nations,” are
commensurate in scope with the “all flesh” of Joel’s prophecy concerning the outpouring of
the [Holy] Spirit. Thus the preaching of the ‘Word of the Kingdom’
and the outpouring of the [Holy] Spirit were to be co-extensive, and embrace all creation. And the reply of Christ is the more important because it is
the only thing in the way of an indication or sign of the end. All the signs
given in our Lord’s discourse on Mount Olivet (though this is not always
perceived by those who expound it) relate, not to the far-off event of His
second advent, but to the nearby event of the invasion of Judea and the
destruction of the city and sanctuary by the armies of [the coming Antichrist and] Rome.*
* See the writer’s recently
published volume, The Seventy Weeks and the Great
Tribulation, Hamilton Bros., 120,
And further we should not fail to note that the
parallel passage in Mark’s Gospel reads thus: “And THE GOSPEL must first be published
among all nations,” which shows that “the gospel of the kingdom” is a specific name for “the
gospel,” and
not “another gospel,” as some teach.
THE WORD OF A KING
Having in mind such passages as “Where
the word of a King is there is power”
(Ecclesiastes 8: 4), and “The Kingdom of God is
not in word but in power” (1 Corinthians
4: 20), and “The Kingdom of God is righteousness, and peace, and Joy in the Holy
Ghost” (Romans 14: 17), we are deeply convinced that the lack of POWER in the
preaching of the gospel in our day, and the paucity of the results attending it
are due primarily to misplaced emphasis. The apostles in their preaching gave prominence to the
resurrection of Jesus Christ, and to His exaltation as the Anointed of God, the promised Heir of David’s throne, to the position of
Supreme Ruler. But the emphasis in the
gospel-preaching of our day is upon the benefits to be obtained through
believing in Jesus Christ. It is forgotten that the
King’s honour is of far greater importance than the welfare of His
people. “Only believe” is the
burden of the preaching to-day, the royal authority of Jesus Christ being generally ignored. It is because of this that we do
earnestly plead for a return to the manner of preaching that gave Christianity
its existence among the nations, and its power, [as] at the first. The Holy Spirit is just
as ready now as then to bear a mighty testimony to the preaching of Jesus
Christ exalted, glorified and enthroned in heaven, “angels and authorities and
powers being made subject unto Him.”
Furthermore, we urge consideration of the important fact that
God’s salvation is not primarily for the benefit of
sinners, but for His own glory and the honour of His beloved Son. The Shepherd seeks the
lost sheep for His own sake, rather than theirs; and their recovery is His joy
and wealth. The Scripture at the head of this paper declares a great truth: “In the multitude of people is the King’s
honour.” The saved
are to be a “multitude of people”
- yea, “a great multitude, which no
man can number,” and they are to be gathered out of every nation under heaven - not so much
that the sum total of the blessedness of God’s creatures, may be
increased, as that the King may have
the greater honour.
The usual appeal for sending the gospel into the un-evangelised
parts of the earth is based upon the sorrowful fate of
those who die without Christ. But the true appeal
should be that the eternal purpose of God and the honour of His Anointed demand
the salvation of a vast multitude of people. This appeal is
rarely heard.
Now it is chiefly because the
salvation of a great “multitude of people” is for “the King’s honour” that we confidently look to
Him, “for Whom are all things, and
by Whom are all things,” to augment greatly the Kingdom of His dear Son through the
mighty working of the Spirit of God, and the preaching of the Word of the
Kingdom. For that
great multitude, out of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues, was
seen by John “before the throne of God, and
before the Lamb” (Revelation 7:
9, 10). Many of these have yet to be gathered, for these are peoples and tongues not yet
reached by the gospel. But they will be reached, for
the King’s honour demands it.
Salvation is the special responsibility of THE KING. For God’s
promise was, “I will be thy KING;
where is any other that may SAVE thee?” (Hosea 13:
10). Moreover, He plainly foretold just what this promised salvation
was to be, saying, “I will ransom them
from the power of the grave, I will redeem them from death”
(verse 14). Accordingly, when the fulness of the time (as
predicted in Daniel 9: 25) was come, their King appeared. Moreover, He came to them precisely as
foretold, “Just, and having salvation” (Zechariah
9: 9). But they “received
Him not,”
because they had been misled by their teachers, those blind leaders of the
blind, into the vain expectation of a kingdom and a salvation of earthly
character. For they “knew Him not, neither the voices
of the prophets” (Acts 13: 27). But God exalted Him with His right hand to be “a
Prince and a Saviour”; and let it be noted that it is as a PRINCE that He
gives to Israel (Acts 5: 31) and to the Gentiles also (id. 11: 18) repentance
unto life, and the forgiveness of
sins.
More to the same effect might be added; but we must close, and in doing so will but
briefly call attention to a few additional points in connection with the
preaching of the
-------
[“It is remarkably confirmatory
of Mr. Mauro’s contention that the
World-Revival
It is my belief, says Mr. D. E. Hoste, the Director of the China Inland Mission abroad,
that just as when Judah was on the
downgrade towards deepening apostacy, and final judgment, the Lord from time to
time raised up a king who restored the law of the Lord, so now, if only His
[redeemed] children stir themselves up to
intercede in persevering faith and condition of heart, He is prepared to raise
up men and women to do great and deep work of
cleansing and uplifting the church. Then, through a cleansed and
uplifted church, to work salvation among the nations of the earth, in gathering
out from them great multitudes.
Let us pray continually for a revival of sound doctrine, a revival of
the authority of the Holy Scriptures,
based not on an inherited orthodoxy, but on
an experimental knowledge of their power and truth in the lives of [regenerate] believers; and
then for a revival of the conviction of
sin and of coming Divine wrath and eternal judgment against impenitent men,
who, refuse to submit themselves to obey the light presented to them,
whether in nature, conscience or Scripture.
The Lord looks for intercessors, He
is easy to be entreated. Again and again we find in Scripture that when about
to smite in judgment He stayed His hand - for a time at any rate - in response
to the intercession of godly man or remnant.
May we be kept from despondency or apathy that
virtually says, ‘There is no hope’!
A solemn responsibility rests upon God’s believing children at the present time, to take hold of Him in interceding “prayers and supplications.”
* * * * * * *
[PART SIX]
A RENUNCIATION OF SOCIALISM
By REV. R. W.
CUMMINGS.
WAS our
dream wrong? Had it not been dreamt by Isaiah the Prophet and
John the Apostle and Augustine the Mystic? Yes. But
I, the economic Socialist, had dreamt it to better purpose than they. I had
learned to give it concrete and palpable shape. I had seen
it, not as a distant millennium, but as a tangible near reality; a Kingdom of
perfection, created in solid, economic and commercial forms by the very human
and therefore very erring and sinful and selfish men and women around me; a
political industrial order that would dispense with the necessity for that duty
of personal repentance and regeneration that had grown stale in our ears with
the insistent repetition of its demands.
The Socialist Crusade, in which we launched forth the germinal
principle of our vision, was born of an idea that became very prevalent in the
days following the great political upheaval of 1906. It was the idea of social
redemption through economic reorganization. Our purpose was
to select men out of the Socialist movement; to train them to combine in their
own personalities the economic ideals of Socialism saturated with the zeal and
enthusiasm of religious inspiration - political dervishes who would preach the
good news of economic salvation with all the glow of mystical fervour - crusaders
who would command attention, as the revivalists of every age have, by the spiritual
splendour of their vision - men of socialized personality, who would incarnate
in their own beings the spirit of the New Jerusalem, which our Socialism would
found. Doubtless, with the rank and file of our
comrades, the dream is as materialistic as a Moslem’s heaven. But with many of the comrades this is not so. Finer,
sincerer, loftier souls exist nowhere on this planet.
Surely, if ideals are the true test of men, these belong to,
the fellowship of the highest. Even now, in the disenchanting light of reality,
I must perforce acknowledge them as splendid. And I,
too, might have been as splendid as they, if circumstances had caged me in to
as narrow an experience of life as theirs. Surely fate
has done me a disservice in giving me that wider knowledge of life that has
burst the bubble of my dream. Surely my Church has
robbed me of a fair and enchanting fantasy, in its insistence on the all-shattering
doctrine of human depravity. Ah, that old-world doctrine of “original sin.” How desperately
unattractive it sounded to our emancipated souls. How little we foresaw that in
it resided the disruptive dynamic that was to scatter to the four winds of
heaven the exploded fragments of our heart-melting dream. For alas, though ten
righteous men might have saved Sodom, yet ten righteous men will not suffice to
sustain the immense ethical and moral demands that Socialism will make not upon
some, but upon all. And not all our comrades were thus
splendid. With huge expenditure of time and money we
launched our Socialist Crusade. Comrades, carefully selected out of the
movement, we gathered to our banner. Emancipated from the necessity of service
to a capitalistic master, we sent them forth to storm the very ramparts of the
foe. And at once the gulf began to yawn wide between
the ideals of the movement and its men. Victims of capitalism, our comrades in
the cause, up to their chins in card-parties, dance-parties, too busy consuming
the flesh-pots of
Something from the Unseen World is needed
to transform human lives to conformity with its strenuous and resolute demands.
Only by the gift of divine grace, only by the power of religion, personal,
experimental, supernatural, can this common human clay of ours be made worthy
of citizenship in that Holy City.
For years I have passionately wished
that it could be different, but the experience of my life has contradicted the
hope of my heart, and in the cold light of an awakened day I know that the
vision of a perfect human society, constructed out of imperfect human
characters, is the unsubstantial phantom of a dream.
-------
EARTH-DWELLERS
[“The
Apocalypse lays a curious emphasis on the phrase, “the dwellers upon the earth,”
apparently indicating (in a moral sense) the mass of mankind who, at the end,
are absorbed in earth and earthliness, This poem, the authorship of which is
unknown to us, is full of the untold pathos of a soul which, bankrupt of
heaven, has found earth also a mirage.” - D. M. Panton.]
Wake and weep, wake and weep,
Ye that lie in the dust of the earth
Wake and weep, then turn and sleep
A sleep unbroken by second birth.
Our fathers lived in a world that was sown
With seeds of sorrow and weeds of sin;
But they died with a quiet and tranquil
moan,
For they hoped that their joy would
then begin.
They died, and their bones were laid in the clay
With kindly weeping and womanly tears;
They died, and their children loved to
pray,
And babble of hope beside their biers.
There were sorrows around them and
shadows above,
Sorrows and shadows that would not
flee:
There were clouds that darkened the
face of love -
God’s face itself looked
mournfully.
They journeyed along mile after mile,
With mournful heart and misty eves;
But they rested at night with a weary
smile,
And they spoke of a day that was yet to
rise.
* * * * *
’Tis past - that troubled and
weary dream -
The shadows are fled
to their fabled hell.
And the name of God, like a sick man’s
scream,
Is passing away - ‘tis well, ’tis
well.
And all is bright, and clear, and trite;
Threescore and ten is the life of man;
The time is short,
there is work to do;
Gather the roses while yet you can.
Our sons and our daughters grow up in
our sight;
They die and are
buried in dust again:
Why should we weep? It is nature’s
right -
The earth will have her
own again.
Gather the fruits with both your hands;
Stay not for monarch, nor stay for
slave,
Can a brother’s curse or a king’s
commands
Follow us into the deep dumb grave?
*
*
*
*
*
We are happy now, and yet it seems
A joy that almost calls for tears -
Pains and sorrows here below.
Eternity void of hopes and fears.
We will not weep,
we will go to the grave
With voice unbroken and eyelids dry;
Why, should we weep, for to-day is past?
And why be glad, for to-morrow we die?
But the race that is yet in the womb of
time
Mourn for the sorrows ye soon shall
see;
Weep with a bitter foreboding moan
For the short and shameful life to be.
And wake and weep, wake and weep,
Ye that lie in the dust of the earth;
Wake and weep, then turn and sleep,
A sleep unbroken by second birth.
-------
ESCAPING HELL
The great earthquakes of the end will start
the last fires, which draw nearer every moment. In the