INDEX
351. IS CHRIST A GHOST? By D. M. Panton, B.A.
352. THE
353. THE LAYING ON OF HANDS By D. M. Panton, B.A.
354. THE FELLOWSHIP OF HIS SUFFERINGS
355. QUALIFICATIONS FOR SELECTIVE RAPTURE By A. B.
Simpson, D.D.
356. FROM LADY POWERSCOURT LETTERS /
ARCHBISHOP BENSONS LIFE RULES
357. CALVINIST AND ARMINIAN By R. E. Neighbour, D.D.
358. A FEDERATION OF NATIONS AGAINST GOD By D. M. Panton,
B.A.
359. A MOTHERS AMBITIONS FOR HER SONS By D. M. Panton,
B.A.
360. THE CASE AGAINST THE SECOND ADVENT By D. M. Panton,
B.A.
361. THE
362 THE NEW TESTAMENT PROBLEM AND
THE LABOUR PROBLEM By D. M. Panton, B.A.
363. JOHN THE IMMERSER NOT ELIJAH By G. H. Lang.
364. THE LORD JESUS AND THE OLD TESTAMENT By Adeline M.
Palkington.
365. APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION By D. M. Panton, B.A.
366. BURIED SEED
367. SPIRITUALISM AND RESURRECTION By D. M. Pantin, M.A.
368. THE CRISIS IN CONVENTIONS By Albert Hughes, B.A.
369. LITERAL OR FIGURATIVE By H. S. Warleigh.
370. THE MASONIC CRAFT By Rev. C. Penney Hunt, B.A.
371. BISHOP LIGHTFOOT ON THE NEW TESTAMENT PRESBYTER
372. TESTS FOR THE [HOLY] SPIRIT
IN PROPHETS
373. COMING MIRACLE By D. M. Panton, B.A.
374. THE SIN OF THE HOUSE OF
375. WHAT THE ATONING BLOOD
OF CHRIST DOES NOT DO By G. H. Lang.
376. THE PROPHET OF JUDGMENT (Elijah) By D. M. Panton,
B.A.
377. MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM By Arlen L. Chitwood.
378. THE KINGDOM OF THE HEAVENS By Arlen L. Chitwood.
379. SOME SHALL DEPART By Arlen L. Chitwood.
380. INSTRUCTION IN THE KINGDOM By Arlen L. Chitwood.
381. OUR RESURRECTION BODY By D. M. Panton, B.A.
382. DIAGRAM OF THE AGES By D. M. Panton, B.A.
383.
384. THE RE-BIRTH OF THE
385. BACK FROM THE GATES OF DEATH By Ozora S. Davis, D.D.
386. THE CHRISTIAN FATHERS ON THE MILLENNIUM.
387. MILLENNARIANISM AND ERROR. By Horatius Bonar, D.D.
388. WISE WORDS FROM ARCHBISHOP SECKER.
389 TOTAL DEPRAVITY By
390. THE WISDOM OF THE WORLD By D. M. Panton, B.A.
391. THE EAGLE By D. M. Panton, B.A.
392. ON EAGLES WINGS By William J. Lang.
393. THE BEATIFIC VISION By D. M. Panton, B.A.
394. THE FIRST RESURRECTION By D. M. Panton, B.A.
395. ARISE, LET US GO HENCE By Dr. F. W. Boreham.
396. THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD By S. Borrows.
397. ON HAVING CONVICTIONS By J. W. Watson.
398. THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT By Robert Govett, M.A.
399. THE CHILD AND CHRIST By Edith Goreham Clarke.
400. FALSE MESSIAHS By William Beirnes.
*
* *
351
IS CHRIST A GHOST?
By D. M. Panton, B.A.
Is Christ a ghost ? All Spiritualists with
one voice affirm that He is. But, what is vastly more
critical, a growing section of the modern Church boldly asserts that Christ is
a ghost. It is certain, says Mr. Charles Tweedale
- who, amazingly enough, is a Church clergyman, a Spiritualist vicar in
* Present Day
Spirit Phenomena and the Churches, pp. 7, 12.
Now the very first fact which, in point of time, obstructs the
theory is also its death-blow. The Old Testament prophecy of the Resurrection
specifically stated that the flesh of the Lord, not only was to rise, but was never to be corrupted at all. MY FLESH also shall dwell in safety: for Thou wilt not leave my soul to Sheol - that is, the Lord was actually to
die, but the bodiless soul, entering Hades, was not to be left there - neither wilt they suffer thine
Holy One to SEE CORRUPTION (Ps.
16: 9) -
the flesh was never to experience decomposition at all. So, as a matter of
fact, the Lords Body never corrupted: therefore it was the Body that was buried
which came up out of the tomb. Since the body was never dissipated into dust,
no dust can be, nor ever was, in the remotest recesses of Josephs tomb. The
reason of the un-decomposed Body is very simple. Messiah was to rise so soon
after death that there would not have been time, in this or any corpse, for
decomposition to set in: within three days, before corruption had touched Him,
or could have touched
Him, not only had His soul left Hades, but His body had left the grave. So the
Apostle records the fact as fulfilled:- He whom God raised up saw
no corruption: be it known unto you therefore, brethren,
that through this man is proclaimed unto you remission
of sins (Acts 13: 37).
The second decisive fact is that, inside a tomb where once a
corpse lay, guarded perpetually by a cohort of Roman soldiers, and clamped with
an official government seal, on the third day no body could be found: They entered
in, AND
FOUND NOT THE BODY (Luke 24: 3): what had been
buried, that had been raised:
tenantless, empty, the rock-hewn sepulchre, with nothing within but the cast
off wrappings of the dead, they found vacant. And Joseph took the body,
and laid him - for the body
is still Jesus - in a tomb that was hewn of stone
(Luke 23: 53):
the spirit could not be
buried; nor could the spirit be watched by soldiers, or imprisoned in stone.
Moreover, the spirit of Jesus never left the tomb, for it had never been in the tomb: it left for Hades from the cross*: what the grave yielded up was the
buried body. Who then took the body out? If His enemies had taken the body,
nothing could have prevented their showing it to the vast crowd at Pentecost, and so striking
Christianity dead at one blow: why has it never been produced for nineteen
hundred years, and where is it to-day? If the disciples had taken the body, it
- a corpse - would have been quite useless for their main purpose -
resurrection: to show the body would have killed their Gospel, and to hide the body (each
thus knowing the other guilty) would have killed their character. Then who took
it?*
The Apostle answers. David spake of the resurrection of Christ, that neither was he left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. THIS JESUS DID GOD RAISE UP (Acts 2: 31).**
[* See Luke
23: 46, R.V.
** There are regenerate Christians
today, who, in order to negative Scriptural teachings on HADES and RESURRECTION at our Lords return, (1 Thess. 4: 16, cf. 1 Cor. 15: 23. Cf. Rev. 3: 11; 6: 9-11; 22: 12), believe all Christians can now go to Heaven
immediately after the time of Death! Hades, they believe was emptied of
Christians at the time of our Lords Ascension - ten days before Peters Sermon on
Pentecost (Acts 2); and therefore years before
the Apostles writings throughout the N.T. Scriptures! See Matt. 16: 18; 17: 9, 10; 24: 14ff.; 28: 19-20; Mark 13: 9, 10; Luke 21: 34, 35; John 3: 13; 14: 3; Acts 28: 30, 31; 2 Tim. 2: 17, 18; James 1: 12; 1 Pet. 1: 5, 9, 13; Rev. 3:11, 21, 22; 6: 9-11, etc. Is it any wonder why the millennial reign of
Christ, upon this earth, is vehemently being denied!]
* Mr. Chas. Tweedale (here at one with
all Spiritualists and the whole unbelieving world) has no solution to offer of this
age-long riddle. It was absolutely necessary, he says, that the mortal body should be removed: whatever became of Christs mortal body, it was not that body which appeared to the
Apostles. Where any solution but the truth is impossibly weak, it is
safest to offer none. The incorruption of the body with which Elijah appeared
on the Mount is so complete an overthrow of the Spiritualist that Mr. Tweedale calmly kills Elijah. Samuel, Moses, Elijah, and Christ, he says, all returned after the death of their mortal bodies.
Clergy who thus believe and practise Spiritualism will find it difficult to
avoid the example in consistency set by Mr.
Stainton Moses, Mr. Leadbeater, and Mr.
Vale Owen in withdrawing both from holy orders and from the
The third fact, even if it stood alone, completely silences
the Spiritualist. The evidence on which all science rests, the sole method of
its vast accumulation of exact knowledge, is identically the evidence of the
resurrection - namely, the senses; and on this evidence the body in the upper
room is proved the body that was on the cross. As the Angels appealed to the
senses on the brink of the grave - Come, see the place where the Lord lay (Matt.
28: 6) - that
is, look hard at the vacant slab - so Jesus Himself among the assembled
Apostles says to doubtful Thomas - See my hands
and my feet that it is I MYSELF:
handle me, and see; and when he said this,
he showed them his hands and his feet (Luke 24: 39). Our Lord does this, directly and
intentionally, to counter the Spiritualists theory; for the disciples, we
read, were terrified and affrighted, and
supposed they beheld a spirit (Luke 24: 37). Now the Lord submitted Himself to examination
in order to remove their terror by removing the cause - their supposition that
He was a ghost. A spirit had
not been crucified: therefore wounds - or their absence - will settle the
question whether He is ghost or man. No spirit [or angelic creature] is indented or mutilated, or can be,
with physical wounds, much less with old wounds inflicted on the body before
death: lo, Jesus, as they feel Him, is no scarless ghost, but the Crucified
come back!*
* Science is proving, beyond our dreams, ineradicable personal
identity in the body. Detective
Sergeant C. G. Garrett, of the
fingerprint bureau, New Scotland-yard, says he has been engaged in the
identification of persons solely by means of finger prints for thirteen years,
and has never known any two impressions to be alike. More than 200,000 unknown
persons have been identified by this means since 1901 without an error.
According to the Spiritualist our Lord never rose on the third day, but
on the first: that is, He rose the
moment that He died, and appeared, later, in a simulated body made of octoplasm, assumed for temporary purposes. Thus the scars
shown to Thomas were a sιance fraud,
since the body shown had never been on the
Cross, and the Lords demonstration was thus a gigantic imposture.
The fourth fact is so final that it proves that a denier of
the Lords resurrection is no disciple of His at all. For the Son of God, who
of all witnesses most stresses the [out] resurrection*, and stresses it as vital, Himself gives a
point-blank denial to the ghost theory, as a lie straight from Hell. Why are ye
troubled? Jesus
says the frightened disciples; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, AS YE SEE ME HAVE (Luke 24:
39); solid flesh and bone not only as proved
to the senses, but as asserted by the Lord. It was
an assertion exactly similar to one He made on the
[* See Matt. 17: 9: And as they were descending the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying,
tell the vision to no one, till the Son of Man be risen from the dead.
Literal Greek: Till the Son of Man from
dead ones should be raised. No disembodied soul, but that of
our Lord Jesus Christ, was resurrected with an immortal body at the time
of His resurrection: which was selective - by leaving all
other disembodied souls waiting in the underworld
of Hades for their resurrection!]
* Paul adds his later confirmation: and last of all, as unto one
born out of due time, he appeared to me also
(1 Cor. 15: 8). It is
worth while to put on record one infidels view of Paul as a revelation of the
heart almost incredible. For ten years long,
says Mr. G. W. Foote, the disciplined and subtle intellect of Paul denied the
Resurrection, and regarded the whole of the vulgar and barefaced imposture
connected therewith as a pernicious figment. But the subtle intellect was
paralysed by a sunstroke, and the poor semi-maniac, who survived the
affliction, was disposed to believe in the man-god of the illiterate and
ghost-stories of the vulgar.
Almost the most significant is the final fact. The Christian waits for the redemption of the body;
the Spiritualist waits for redemption from the body: the one is human redemption; the other is
human disintegration. * O what a happy meeting will
this be, what a sweet greeting between the soul and body, the nearest and
dearest acquaintances that ever were! What a welcome will that soul give to
that beloved body! Blessed be thou (will she say), for thou hast aided me in to the glory:
blessed art thou that suffered thyself to be mortified, giving thy members as weapons
of righteousness unto God. I prayed inwardly, and thou didst attend my
devotions with bowed knees and lifted-up hands. We too have been
fellow-labourers in the works of the Lord; we too have suffered together; and
now we too shall ever reign together, where there are pleasures for evermore
(John Boys). Therefore we behold an
extraordinary change of attitude in the Apostles. The disciples, we read, disbelieved for
joy (Luke 24: 41):
that is, the coming of the spirit of Christ brought terror; but the coming of the body of Christ
brought such joy as almost to choke the belief.
* They deny the bodys future
punishment, and neglect its present discipline: they despair of its glory hereafter, and debase it by sin here (Tertullian).
* *
* *
* * *
352
THE
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
So
impenetrable have the closing, chapters
of Ezekiel been supposed to be - Gregory the Great, starting on their
exposition, said, We pursue a midnight journey
- that the Rabbis, who forbid (or did forbid) any Jew under thirty to read
them, say:- When Elijah comes, he will expound them. But the context, to the
prophetical student, makes at least the general outline transparently clear.
For Ezekiel opens his book with an apostate Israel in exile, a polluted and
abandoned Temple, and a Holy City in ruins: then, as the Advent draws on,
Israels vast valley of dry bones heave in resurrection (Ezek. 37.), and
hordes from Rosh pour down on the Holy Land (38.
& 39.), to be extinguished in
Armageddon: now, finally, the horizon fills - in nine detailed and amazing
chapters - with the superb Metropolis of the Millennial earth. So Ezekiel opens
with all lost: he closes with all restored, in earths new, splendid dawn. From
the stark ruin of
[* See Isaiah
56: 7. Cf. Mark 11: 17,
R.V.]
THE
The new City, covering 144 square miles,* with a huge
belt of isolating suburbs, a garden-city, will be pitched on the north of the
vast valley split by the earthquake
(Zech. 14:
4); and the new Temple, not built on the
site of the old, and now outside the Holy City, is of enormous proportions and most
complicated structure.** Pitched on the plateau of a very high
mountain (Ezek. 40: 2) which was thrown up by the Advent earthquake,
by which the whole Land is lifted up (Zech. 14: 10), the Temple is pyramidal - an ascending
climax - and the Holy of Holies is the apex of the pyramid. For the base of the
mountain is a square, a mile each way; the Outer Court, higher up the mountain,
1,000 feet on each face of it; the Inner Court, still higher, 600 feet square
near the summit, the Court of the Priests, 200 feet by 200 and on the final
platform, 100 feet by 100, is the Holiest in the centre of which - and thus of
the whole earth - are the Altar and the Throne, for the solitary royal
priesthood after the Order of Melchisedek.
* I take these figures, unchecked, from The
Students Commentary. The
area of
** Voltaire declared that he could not remember in
all antiquity a national temple so small as Solomons. If it be reeds and not
cubits (Ezek. 42:
17), Ezekiels Temple is 36 times larger
than Solomons; and the Holy City above as far surpasses the dimensions of
Ezekiels as Ezekiels surpasses that of ancient Jerusalem.
THE CONSTRUCTION
Thus the
THE SACRIFICES
The restoration of the Sacrifices, which has been a stumbling block
to thousands, nevertheless is a certainty, and seems based on two facts:- (1) for ceremonial cleanliness of the
flesh, for men in the flesh;* and (2) for
a memorial backward - exactly such as the Lords Supper is - of Calvary. Like
the Mosaic sacrifices (and unlike Transubstantiation) these sacrifices are no more
identical with
* Even decades after
* Wine is not forbidden to the priests,
except when on
THE LAND
All
* The Most Holy, into which Ezekiel himself is not invited, is
sacrosanct: even the Prince can approach no further than the Inner Gate of the
Sanctuary.
** Thus
THE GLORY
But the crowning glory still is wanting, without which all this
amazing preparation were unconvincing and incomplete. No sooner had the Inner
Sanctuary been marked off than the Wonder that had abandoned the foul premises
of the polluted
* The Shekinah never entered Ezras
** Only wood and hewn stone (40: 42; 41: 16, 22) are named.
We are indebted to Mr. G. H. Ramsay for a reproduction of Dr. Delitschs Map of the land in the
coming Age.
* *
* * *
* *
353
THE LAYING ON OF HANDS
By D. M. Panton, B.A.
The
laying on of hands - that is, bodily contact - has been from the dawn of the
world a means of transmission of powers or gifts from God to man, or from one
man to another. The Hand of the Lord was upon David as he played, upon Elisha
and Isaiah as they prophesied, and upon Ezekiel as he saw his visions by Chebar. It might be for the imparting of physical strength.
And
the hand
of the Lord was on Elijah; and he girded
up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel (1 Kings
18: 46):- an exhausted man could
outrun a chariot if touched by God. Or the hands might impart gifts of wisdom
for office. At Gods command Moses laid his hands on Joshua; and we read:- Joshua was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid
his hands upon him (Deut. 34: 9). Moreover, just as contagion - that is,
infection by contact - is a constant transmitter of disease, so contact by
physical touch, from those empowered of the Holy Ghost, was the normal means of
miraculous cure. All they that had any sick brought them unto Him and He laid
his hands on every one of them, and healed
them (Luke 4: 40).
Now in the plan of God, after the Holy Ghost had been poured
forth - on the Jew in
* So much so that the shadow
of Peter cured (Acts 5: 15), and handkerchiefs from the person of
Paul dispossessed (Acts 19: 12).
** The order of the Greek is this:- baptisms (1) of teaching,
or instruction,
and (2) of laying on of hands: the baptism of water, and the
baptism of the Spirit.
Now we arrive at a point so crucial, so solving countless
modem problems, so devastating to ecclesiastical pretensions or inflated
personal claims, that its importance can hardly be exaggerated. In what lay the
Proof that the Holy Ghost was transmitted? An assertion so stupendous - that a
Person of the Godhead has been conferred by one man on another - how is it
proved fact, and not fancy? The answer is patent at
* Although Simon had seen the miracles
performed by Philip, yet this was the first time he had seen miraculous
influences communicated from one person to another: Simon saw it; the effects of the communication, therefore, were visible, probably
in the inspired utterances of the recipients. Simon would have no desire to
purchase the sanctifying effects
of the Spirit (P. J. Gloag, D.D.).
** The sole example (so far as we know)
of the laying on of hands without either the intention or the effect of miracle
was the designation of Paul and Barnabas to missionary labours (Acts 13: 3);
and here the Church, not the
Apostles, laid hands on them: an example that may make such imposition of
hands, meant merely to designate, innocuous in an age of non-inspiration.
Now this complete absence of the
very proof which the Holy Ghost Himself commanded and gave, this absolute silence of the Spirit
supposed to be transferred, this
entire disappearance of the very thing that was to be conferred - namely, the Holy Ghost working in manifested power - is fatal to the claim. If the gifts
are absent, the gift cannot have been
conferred: the technical catalogue of the Gifts (1 Cor. 12: 8-10) reveal
them as miraculous,* and therefore if
there be no miracle, there has been no miraculous Unction. Moreover, the absence of ocular proof
has made possible rival claims to an
imagined transmission which, by being mutually destructive, cancel out each
others claims. For it is obvious that all competing formalisms must
silence and destroy each others pretensions: rival ecclesiasticisms, all
claiming ordaining powers by imposition of
hands, and each doubting, or wholly denying, the transmission of the Spirit by
any but themselves, cannot possibly be the channels of the Holy Ghost.** Without
miracle there is no miraculous Unction.
* The wisdom of a
Solomon, the knowledge of a Paul,
the faith that transplants a
mountain, are miracles, not graces; and few will care to deny the miraculous contents of gifts of healings, workings
of miracles, prophecy, discernings of spirits, tongues,
and interpretation of tongues. It has been the tragedy of exposition (in this
sphere) that the terms have been watered down, against all
Scripture use, in order to hide our poverty. It was a manifestation of the Spirit (1 Cor. 41: 7) - a
making visible (Lidden & Scott) - by which the
Spirit made Himself audible (Acts 13: 2), and, at least at Pentecost, visible (Acts 2: 3), in supernatural actions always
unmistakable to the senses and (often) an immediate conviction to the infidel (1 Cor. 14: 25). George Muller said correctly that he
had the grace of faith, but not the gift of faith.
** In the eyes of the
So, therefore, we have no alternative but to reject all ceremonies
and experiences emanating from any quarter which claim to transmit the [Holy] Spirit without the power. This manikin, this lay figure without life, is
the very citadel of ecclesiastical pretension and usurped authority.
* That the Most High is not dependent on a mechanical
succession, nor has appointed it, and that a God-created ministry can be wholly
independent both of historicity and ordination, is established by one
exceedingly remarkable Scripture. The house of
Stephanas have set themselves to the ministry: I
beseech you that ye be in subjection unto such (1 Cor. 16:
15): for Paul not only confirms the
ordination, but lifts it into a general principle. Dean Stanleys translation
runs thus:- They appointed themselves to the ministry
of the saints; and I exhort you that ye also
appoint yourselves to be under such.
** Perhaps the closest approach to an on-fall of the Spirit in
modern times lies in the experience of Charles
Finney. I found myself, he says, endued with such power from on high that a few words,
dropped here and there to individuals, were the means of their immediate conversion. My words seemed to fasten
like barbed arrows in the souls of men. They broke the heart like a hammer.
Multitudes can attest this. Sometimes I would find myself, in a great measure,
empty of this power. I would go out and visit, and find that I made no saving
impression. I would exhort and pray, with the same result. I would then set
apart a day for private fasting and prayer, fearing that this power had
departed from me, and would inquire anxiously after the reason of this apparent
emptiness. After humbling myself, and crying out for help, the power would return upon me with all its
freshness. This has been the experience of my life. But such an
experience is rare, if not unique; its effect, unlike that of the Scriptural
gifts, was purely evangelistic; it
is entirely personal, and unconnected with any kind of conferred favour; and it was devoid of all miracle. It is no
more than the present mixed and secret agency of the Spirit raised to its
maximum.
-------
TRANSUBSTANTIATION
In 1989 a lady (who afterwards entered
the Church of Rome) wrote to
MADAM. - The bread in the
Holy Communion is certainly not God either before consecration or after, and you must not worship it.
Yours faithfully,
F. CANTUAR
* *
* * *
* *
354
THE FELLOWSHIP
OF HIS SUFFERINGS
By J.
Eadie, D.D.
A share in
Christs actual sufferings was impossible to Paul. But the sufferings of Christ
were not ended - they are prolonged in His body, and of these the apostle
desired to know the fellowship (Phil. 3: 10). He longed so to suffer, for such
fellowship gave him assimilation to his Lord, as he drank of His cup, and was
baptized with His baptism. It brought him into communion with Christ, purer,
closer, and tenderer than simple service for Him could have achieved. It gave
Him such solace as Christ Himself enjoyed. To suffer together creates a dearer
fellow-feeling than to labour together. Companionship in sorrow forms the most
enduring of ties, - afflicted hearts cling to each other, grow into each other.
The apostle yearned for this likeness to his Lord, assured that to suffer with Him was to be glorified with Him, and
that the depth of His sympathies could be fully known only to such as through much
tribulation must
enter the Kingdom. In all things Paul coveted conformity to His Lord - even in
suffering and death. Assured that Christs career was the noblest which
humanity had ever witnessed, or had ever passed through, he felt a strong
desire to resemble Him - as well when He suffered as when He laboured - as well
in His death as in His life. And the
aspiration is closely connected with the promise: if we suffer
with Him we shall also reign with Him (2 Tim. 2: 12). Such
participation in Christs sufferings so identifies the sufferer with Him, that,
the power of His resurrection is
necessarily experienced. Such conformity to His death secures conformity to
His resurrection.
-------
REJECTION WITH CHRIST
Yet it was
well, and Thou hast said in season,
As is the Master shall the servant be:
Let me not subtly slide into the
treason,
Seeking an honour which they gave not
Thee:
Nay, but much rather let me late
returning
Bruised of my brethren, wounded from within,
Stoop with sad countenance and blushes
burning,
Bitter with weariness and sick with
sin, -
Straight to Thy presence get me and
reveal it,
Nothing ashamed of tears upon Thy
feet;
Show the sore wound and beg Thine hand
to heal it,
Pour Thee the bitter, pray Thee for
the sweet.
Then with a ripple and a radiance
thro me
Rise and be manifest, O Morning Star!
Flow on my soul, thou Spirit, and renew me,
Fill with Thyself, and let the rest be far.
Give me a voice, a cry and a
complaining, -
O let my sound be stormy in their
ears!
Throat that would shout but cannot
stay for straining,
Eyes that would weep but cannot wait
for tears.
Surely He cometh, and a thousand
voices
Call to the saints and to the deaf are
dumb;
Surely He cometh, and the earth rejoices
Glad in His coming who hath sworn, I
come.
Yea thro life, death, thro sorrow
and thro sinning
He shall suffice me, for He hath
sufficed:
Christ is the end, for Christ was the
beginning,
Christ the beginning, for the end is
Christ
- F. W. H. MYERS.
* *
* * *
* *
355
QUALIFICATIONS FOR
[SELECTIVE] TRANSLATION
By A. B. SIMPSON, D.D.
LUKE 21: 34 - 36, A.V. - And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time
your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this
life, and so that day come upon you unawares. [35] For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the
face of the whole earth. [36] watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be
accounted worthy to escape all these things - [i.e., the events mentioned above] - that
shall come to pass, and to stand before the
Son of man.
Again:-
REVELATION
3: 10, R.V. - Because thou didst keep the word of my
patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of trial [or temptation],
that hour which is to come upon the whole world [Gk. inhabited earth] to try them that dwell upon the earth.
-------
I see
two races of men, the one marching to the grave, the other marching to the sky;
the one going down to the cemetery, the other looking up to the ascension. Beloved,
to which do you belong? We find it easy to distinguish the character and
quality of the people that belong to this resurrection band, to this
resurrection company. Just one simple touchstone, just one feature and
lineament in their faces. They walk with God. Enoch walked with God. Enoch pleased
God. Enoch was not, for God took
Him. Oh, how
simple and yet how sublime is this photograph of the children of immortality!
They walk with God. That means they have
become acquainted with their heavenly Father. They know Him.
They are reconciled to Him. They are in fellowship with Him. They enjoy His
companionship. They talk to Him, and He talks to them. They keep step together.
There is no cloud or barrier between them. They are both going to the same
place. They both have the same purpose, the same aim, and the same end, and the
same home and destiny.
When you pass that magnet over a box of sawdust with a few
iron filings in the sawdust, nothing moves. But if there are steel filings
among the sawdust they will fly to meet the magnet. At first they will begin to
tremble, and when the magnet comes closer, they will leap up and attach
themselves to it. When the Lord begins to draw near to this old earth in His glorious
parousia, we shall feel the thrill, even as the little bits of steel begin to
tremble when the magnet draws near. When He comes a little closer, we shall
find our wings and be caught up without an effort above the law of gravitation
to meet the lord in the air. This old, dead world will still roll on, and the
men that belong to it be left behind.
Shall we, beloved, take our place like Elijah? Shall we begin the journey that
leads to the gates of light and the chariots of the translation?
-------
THE DISAPPEARANCE
By A. J. GORDON, D.D.
Two young girls, sisters, were much attached to each other, but
far apart in religious interest and sympathy. The Christian girl was deeply
concerned for the salvation of her sister. One night as they came home from a
religious service, where the preacher had dwelt upon the text, One shall be taken and the other left, she was so deeply moved that she
could not hold back her tears, and earnestly pleaded with her sister to give
her heart of God. She could not bear the thought of their eternal separation,
but she was only spurned. As they lay down together, the thoughtless one was
soon asleep; and the other drenched her pillow with tears, and after a while,
unable to bear the agony, she rose from the bed, and retired to an adjoining
room, where she lay before the Lord in agony and prayer for a long time.
Suddenly the sister arose, and found herself alone. The thought flashed upon
her: Has the Lord really come, and has she been taken, and I left? The thought filled her with dismay.
She sought for her sister in the room, but found no trace of her. At last, she
burst into bitter weeping and fell on her knees, and for the first time she
really prayed. After a while, she heard a low wailing and sobbing, and
hastening to the other room, was surprised to find her sister. Together they
wept and knelt and prayed; and before they closed their eyes again, they knew
that if He should come, they would part no more.
RIPENING WHEAT
All the time the corn was growing, those hollow stems served
as ducts that drew up nourishment from the soil. At length the fibres of the
plant become rigid; they cease their office; down below there has been a
failure of the vital power, which is the precursor of maturity. Henceforth, the
heavenly powers work quick and marvellous changes: the sun paints his
superscription on the ears of grain. They have
reached the last stage; having fed
on the riches of the soil long enough, they
are now only influenced from above. - C. H. SPURGEON.
* *
* * *
* *
356
I
FROM LADY POWERSCOURTS LETTERS
The path of each believer is just the kindest and best that
love and wisdom could devise, when sitting in counsel upon it before the world
was.
I every day see more and more, how Gods glory is to be found
only in simple obedience.
Love makes drudgery Divine; the question is not, what must I
do, but what may I do.
So admirably has He interwoven His glory and our happiness, that
while our happiness constitutes His glory, His glory constitutes our happiness.
Did I not think my Teacher as faithful as He is infallible,
there is no book I should so fear to handle as the Book of God.
There is something sweet in being pruned by a wounded hand.
Have you ever marked His steps, His gentleness, when bringing
a painful message?
He has not suffered you to walk smoothly down the stream of
time, but by large and rough billows has dashed you on the promises.
We must find God to be our all in the midst of all, if we
would find Him sufficient when possessed of nothing.
Anything with Thy smile: anything but Thy frown.
Our wants are fathomless, but our help is infinite. None but
God can tell the uttermost our God can do.
Let us remember that the greatest compliment God can pay us,
is to heat the furnace to the utmost.
There is something sweet in spelling out of a book, the leaves
of which were cut by Him.
You have much to ask for me, and how blessed would my
necessities be to you, could they keep you but a moment longer in communion
with the Friend of sinners.
II
ARCHBISHOP BENSONS LIFE RULES
Not to murmur at multitude of business
or shortness of time, but to buy up time all around.
Not to magnify undertaken duties by seeming to suffer under
them, but to treat all as liberties and gladnesses.
Not to call attention to crowded work, or petty fatigues, or
trivial experiences.
Instantly to reply to temptations in thought.
Learn how unintentionally forbidding and depressing tone and
look may be if there is not inner peace.
Before censuring anyone obtain from God a real love for them.
Be sure that you know and that you allow all allowances which can be made.
Otherwise, how ineffective, how perhaps unintelligible, how perhaps provocative
your best-meant censure may be.
Oh! how well doth it make for peace to be silent about others,
not to believe everything without discernment, and not to go on easily telling
things.
Heal wounds which in time past my cruel or careless hands have
made.
Not to seek praise, gratitude, or regard from superiors or
equals on account of age or past service.
Not to feel any uneasiness when my advice or opinion is not
asked or is set aside.
Never to let oneself be placed in favourable contrast with
another.
To make no remarks from answers to which self-satisfaction is
hoped; seeming singular: hungering for conversation to turn on oneself.
To endure often, even if ones innocence cannot be established
without shame to another.
When credit for my own design or execution is given another
not to be disturbed - to give thanks.
Not to let the undeserved love of others be an unpaid debt.
* *
* * *
* *
357
CALVINIST AND ARMINIAN
By R. E. NEIGHBOUR, D.D.
There
is, necessarily, more or less of conflict between two groups of Christians: the
one known as Calvinists, who believe
in [eternal] salvation by grace, apart from works; and the other, known
as Arminians, who believe in [eternal] salvation by grace plus works. Now very Godly men and
women are on both sides of the line; some Arminians are mighty men of God; some
Calvinists are mighty men of God. Why do we have this conflict? for the Word of
God does not and cannot teach two opposite and contrary things. The Calvinist
says the Arminian is wrong; the Arminian says that the Calvinist is wrong. I
think both of them are wrong. I
think that the Calvinist is absolutely right in clinging to [initial] salvation by grace alone, apart from
works, in holding to the eternal security of the saved: but I think that the
Calvinist is wrong when he fails to go
into the Word of God and to seek out what the Holy Spirit has to say in many [conditional and accountability] passages, both in the Old and in the New
Testament, which present tremendous warnings, freighted with tremendous
meanings, about falling away. We have no right to eliminate such warnings from our
messages. That has been, to my mind at least, a grave fault among Calvinists. I
am one of them, for I believe in [eternal] salvation by grace apart from works. The grave fault
is this: We have cheapened Christian living and placed rewards for Christian service out of our testimony. God puts tremendous emphasis in the Bible on obedience. There are many rewards to
those who walk with Him. We must remember
that, while we are saved by grace, from the very moment we are saved we enter
into the school of Christ, and that there lie before us tremendous
possibilities, in [future] rewards, [for either good
behaviour, or for bad behaviour]* at the graduation day, when we stand before the Bema of Christ.
[* See 1 Cor. 3: 10 -15, R.V. -
I laid a
foundation; and another buildeth thereon. [11] But let each man take heed how he
buildeth thereon. For other foundation can no man lay that that
which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. [12] But if any man buildeth on the foundation gold, silver,
precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; [13] each mans work shall be
made manifest: for the DAY shall
declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself shall prove each mans work of what sort it is. [14] If any mans work shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward.
[15] If any mans work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall
be saved*; yet so as through fire.
* See also 1
Pet. 1: 5,
9. Cf. Heb.
5: 9:
he [Christ] became unto all
them that OBEY him the author of
eternal - [Gk. aionios
= agelasting
in this context] - salvation
See also Gal.
6: 7-10, R.V.
For more detailed information, see S.S. Craigs book: the Duality of
Eternal Life.]
The Spirit of God is not discussing salvation from hell at
all, in Hebrews 4.; He is discussing
the salvation that [the future salvation of souls (1 Pet. 1: 5, 9, R.V.)
which] is to be brought unto us at the Coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ; He has in mind the
heirship of Christ and of His saints,
and the millennial reign. There are those who are going to lose their
heirship and miss their place in the reign.
The
* *
* * *
* *
RESURRECTION
The full significance of this does not
yet seem to have dawned on the
RISING AGAIN
Resurrection (as the word implies) is
no substitution of another body for the corpse; but the rising again of what is buried. Dr. E. W. Bullinger, who
denied eternal punishment, still more gravely denies that anything ever comes
up out of the coffin: he assumes an annihilated body between death and hereafter;
in the case of the saved only, he asserts the reception at the resurrection of
a body which is an entirely fresh creation; and this theory he embodied in his Companion
Bible, which is spreading the error far and wide. Since a seed dies,
says the Companion Bible, every germ, every substance in the old body,
dies also, and therefore it cannot be quickened.
The farmer would be very astonished, and quickly bankrupt, whose seeds, in this
sense, died. Our Lords body reappeared, for
death is dissolution, never annihilation.
RESURGAM
I shall arise. For centuries
Upon the grey old churchyard stone
These words have stood; no more is
said,
The glorious promise stands alone,
Untouchd while years and seasons roll
Around it; March winds come and go,
The summer twilights fall and fade
And autumn sunsets burn and glow.
I shall arise! O wavering heart,
From this take comfort and be strong!
I shall
arise, nor always grope
In darkness, mingling right with
wrong;
From tears and pain, from shades of
doubt,
And wants within, that blindly call,
I shall
arise, in Gods own light
Shall see the sum and truth of all.
Like children here we lisp and grope
And till the perfect manhood, wait
At home our time, and only dream
Of that which lies beyond the Gate:
Gods full free universe of life,
No shadowy paradise of bliss,
No realm of unsubstantial souls,
But life, deep life, more real than this.
O soul! whereer
your ward is kept,
In some still region calmly blest,
By quiet watch-fires till the dawn
And Gods reveille break the rest,
O soul! that left this record here,
I read, but scarce can read for tears,
I bless you, reach and clasp your
hand,
For all these long two hundred years.
I shall arise - O clarion call!
Time rolling onward to the end
Brings us to life that cannot die,
The life where faith and knowledge
blend.
Each after each, the cycles roll
In silence, and about us here
The shadow of the Great White Throne
Falls broader, deeper, year by year.
- The Jewish Missionary Magazine.
* *
* * *
* *
358
A FEDERATION OF THE NATIONS
AGAINST GOD
By D. M. Panton, B.A.
Facts are
slowly rising to the surface which portend a future such as the human race has
never known. A missionary recently from
Now the Second Psalm
portrays, in miniature, the coming storm. The Psalm opens abruptly: there is no
prelude, and at once there breaks on the ear the tramp of gathering armies, the
tumult of nations, the huge throb of universal. rebellion. Why - cries the onlooker, in wonder and
horror - do the nations rage - in frantic uproar * - and the peoples - in all ranks and classes - imagine a
vain thing - an impossibility, namely, the overthrow of the Throne
of Jehovah? For they are set on nothing less. The kings of the earth set
themselves, and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord [Jehovah]
and against His Anointed [Christ] - for all at last identify God and Christ as inseparable, and
to be accepted, or opposed, together - saying - the inarticulate rage of the masses
finds utterance in the studied atheisms of the intellectuals
- Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us (Ps.
2: 1).
That is, these assault, because they know, God and His Christ: they are
therefore the Gentiles upon whom my name is called (Acts 15:
17) - that is Christendom, mainly
* [The word
] properly refers to the rage of an unmanageable horse (Lange) all humanity
would throw its rider, the Enthroned One.
** A medal was struck, which still survives, bearing the
inscription:- Diocletian, for having everywhere
abolished the superstition of Christ. The final Roman Emperor will
tread in his steps.
*** Zinovieff, a Jew, a master-spirit of
The drama next shifts in a moment to Heaven, and suddenly
there speaks the Great Opponent of the rebel nations. With the Apostasy raging
below, the Throne is suddenly unveiled above. He that sitteth in the heavens
- remaining seated, in
the awful calm of God, in the repose of perfect power - shall laugh:
the Lord shall have them in derision. There is something very awful in this
sudden portraiture of God. The mere thought that a universe founded deep on
righteousness, a world stamped all over with retributive law, a throne of Deity
which called all things out of nothing - that these can be overthrown by worms
of the dust in the dust, is so absurd as to be laughable; as though a spider
sought to shift Mount Everest, or a fly to roll earth out of her orbit: their
very conscience is built on the Decalogue they would destroy. But the sublime
comedy passes swiftly into dread tragedy. They who mock God will reap the
mockery of God. Detecting the plots, unmasking the motives,
measuring the atheisms on earth, Deity, serene, as the march of stars and suns,
immovable with the immovability of Godhead, and regarding the Apostasy as
simply absurd, launches the last judgments with that Word which is itself
creative. Then - after the patience of four thousand years - shall He
speak unto them in His wrath - not now with Scriptures, but with judgments; not with His
mouth, but with His arm - and vex them - trouble them, in
the Great Tribulation - with His sore displeasure. So the nations, after decreeing
lawlessness, now hear the counter-decree of God. Yet - despite a world in arms, and because a world is in
arms: the whole soul of the Psalm, says Luther, is in that yet - I - emphatic: One against earths
millions, the Creator against the creature - have set my King upon my holy
hill of Zion:
literally, as for Me, I
have set my King upon Zion, the mount of my holiness.
Into the drama now suddenly breaks a third voice, the voice of
the Son of God, the Vox Humana in Gods stupendous
organ-music. I will tell of the decree - for He reigns, not by the will of
man, but by the grace of God; not as a usurper, but as the lawful Heir; by a decree
which overrides and cancels all decrees of lower thrones: . for in its own
times - its
appropriate season - He shall show who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of
lords (1 Tim. 6: 15). The Lord Jesus fastens upon His resurrection
as the seal, the proof, the initial act and all-embracing germ of His coming
kingly power. The Lord said - spoke the decree once for all - unto me, Thou art my Son
- Son, as no other is Son: for - this day - therefore not in a day-less,
dateless eternity, but in a given moment of time, which is cut up into days -
have I begotten thee - out of the tomb: ask of Me - for the Lords resurrection day was
virtually, if not actually, His coronation day and the asking is for the nations, in an earthly Throne not the heavenly
Throne, which is His, not by asking, but by right - and I will
give Thee the nations - for the ultimate salvation of the Gentiles lay buried
deep in the Old Testament - for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth - for the Lords empire
will be the first and last to be universal in fact as well as in title
- for Thy possession. And men must learn that it is as impossible to
overthrow God on earth as it is to storm the stars. The sceptre, which His
enemies think is still the wooden reed He held in the Judgment Hall, becomes an
iron staff in contact with which all earthly militarism is as brittle as china.
This at once disproves all interpretations that apply the Psalm to the Gospel
Age. Now He breaks no bruised reed:* then He smashes (where wickedness compels) with blow on
shattering blow. Whole nations must be destroyed rather than that Christ shall
be dethroned: when God moves, even a
* A bruised reed shall He not break,
and smoking flax shall He not quench TILL He send forth judgment unto
victory (Matt. 12: 20).
The drama now closes in the Voice of the Holy Ghost, in that
final summary of appeal which must more and more be ours, in the only divine
patriotism of the Gospel Age. Now therefore -
in view of the fact that God will not allow Himself to be dethroned; in view of
the hopeless futility of rebellion; in view of the irresistible decree already
pronounced; in view of the empty Tomb which proves a filled Thone
- be wise, O ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of
the earth; learn
from observation and Scripture and experience, if you are not wise enough to
know it intuitively: serve the Lord with fear, and
rejoice with trembling: KISS THE SON. The kiss upon the hand, or upon the hem of the robe, is,
to-day, as it always has been, the act of homage to kings: He is so gracious,
so easily placated, that but a kiss will avert the coming wrath. Here we get
once more the revelation of the heart of God. The threatening of Jehovah is
neither an impatient taunt nor a vindictive passion, but a revelation of danger
in order to open up a golden offer of safety. Swear
fealty and homage to Him, submit to His government, take His yoke upon you, and
give up yourselves to be governed by His laws, disposed of by His providence,
and entirely devoted to His interest (M. Henry).
So the Psalm closes with the never-varying, never-altered,
never-ceasing alternative. One horn of the dilemma - Kiss the Son,
lest He be angry, and ye
perish in the way, for His wrath will soon be kindled; the other horn of the dilemma - Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him. Thus everything turns upon The Son. To sin against the Son, is to sin
against the remedy, to destroy the Mediator, to cast off the bands that save as
well as the bands that irk, and to be buried beneath the debris of a ruined
world. How fearful the final prayer! - Hide us from the face of Him that
sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath
of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath is come (Rev.
6: 16).* To be truly
wise is to know our danger in time. Blessed are all
they that find refuge in Him (Dean
Perowne): blessed every way and blessed always! As one of the greatest of
the judges of the Earth has said:- I have been driven
many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else
to go (Abraham Lincoln).
*The wrath
of the Lamb is an
awful revelation of outraged and enraged Love which suggests an ocean of oil on
fire. The noblest and most daring thing, says
Dr. F. W. Norwood, ever said about the Infinite is that God is love. That means
that God is nothing but love. That means that love is nothing but God.
The populations of the world, as the Day of the Lord draws on, will not thank
the Christian teachers who fed them with such dangerous falsehoods.
* *
* * *
* *
359
A MOTHEWS AMBITION
FOR HER SONS
By D. M. Panton, M.A.
Salome, one of the holy band of women-ministrants to the Lord, and
a star in the still brighter cluster around the Cross, shared with her sons the
noble ambition that they might be Daniels to a new and holier Belshazzar, or
Josephs to a mightier Pharaoh. So crucially, however, is Kingdom glory
dependent on attainment, not on gift obtainable by prayer, that Jesus ignores
the mother throughout, and addresses Himself solely to the aspirants for [millennial
and] heavenly fame.
Salomes prayer had been prompted by a revelation the Lord had
just made of approaching glory. Peter, ever the questioning voice of the
Church, put a challenge to Jesus which evoked an answer laying bare approaching
recompense. Lo, he says, we have left all, and followed
thee; what then shall we have? (Matt.
19: 27):
we have beggared ourselves for God; we have invested our all in the world to
come: what, Lord, is the recompense for the great renunciation? Sadducees all
down the ages have answered that virtue is its own reward, and that the inward
joy of doing good is its only recompense. Profoundly different is the reply of
Christ. Verily I say unto you, that ye
which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit on
the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon
twelve thrones - the
first mention of plural thrones in the New Testament - judging the
twelve tribes of
Now this critical revelation, rousing the noblest of
ambitions, and which had already evoked the petition of Salome and her sons,
reappears in the last scenes of the upper room. And there arose also - in
consequence: thrones had been revealed, but no pre-eminence among the thrones -
a
contention among them, which of them is accounted greatest - counted so already: which is greatest to be greatest; which seems, appears before men, ranks in
official position as greatest (Luke 22: 24). Having just inquired which should be the
traitor, they now inquire which should be the prince; believing the Kingdom
imminent, in which administrators would of necessity be required, they imagine
to allot among themselves the sovereignties of the Age to Come. It is a definite
challenge to the Lord to reveal the principles underlying the allotment of Thrones.
To James and John, therefore, absorbed with the same problem,
the Lord first unmasks their ignorance and counters with a home-thrust. Ye know not
what ye ask: they
neither pondered their prayer, nor mastered the elements of the principles of
reward: are ye able to drink the cup that I drink- a draught of internal sorrow - and be
baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with - an immersion in external trouble (Mark 10: 38)?
Not sorrow, but His sorrow,
not any cup or baptism, but His: can you
bear the heartbreak, and stand the intolerable strain, involved in a full-orbed
fidelity to your Lord - the tonic cup and anointing baptism which alone
consecrate to supreme rank? Can you bear without flinching, without
compromising, without bitterness, without despair?*
* The answer of Zebedees sons - We are able - is met by our
Lords prophetic knowledge - Ye shall: unable, but
enabled: of the two, who both fled from the Cross, one took the Gethsemane-cup
at the hand of Herod, and the other his baptism in a caldron of boiling oil. It
is remarkable that they give the same answer, and rightly (Phil. 4: 13), as that given by the two great victors in the
Wilderness type - We are well able to overcome
(Num. 13:
30).
So also our Lord enlightens their complete ignorance on the
principles of reward. To sit on my right hand or on my left hand is not mine to give:
but it is for them for whom it hath been prepared. It is true that Christ is the donor;
for He says, - He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne (Rev.
3: 21):
but it is no capricious appointment, or biased favouritism, or unmerited gift,
or arbitrary selection: it is not to be had merely for the asking, but is prepared for those preparing. I cannot give, the Lord
implies; I can only adjudge: for a millennial throne is no part of everlasting
life, a gift already given to every child of God. They ask it as a gift: He
refuses it as a gift.
So therefore Jesus addresses Himself to elucidate this crucial
revelation; and He first completely negatives all present worldly principles of
rank and power. He neither rebukes His disciples ambition, nor casts any doubt
on the coming sovereignty; but He completely revolutionizes their conception of
the path to the Throne. The kings of the Gentiles, He says, present royalties, have
lordship over them - that is, they have their thrones now; and they that
have authority over them are called Benefactors - saviours of
society, or philanthropists (Luke 22: 25): not so shall it be
among you (Matt. 20: 26). That is, stars and orders and peerages and
princedoms - even the applause conferred on scientists and philanthropists and
politicians and millionaire donors of princely benefactions - are, in a
Christian, proof that, in this sphere, he has acted on non-Christian
principles.
Having thus negatived, for the Church, all royalties in this [evil] age - ye have reigned as kings is a reproach of Paul to the
merchant-princes in the Church of Corinth (1 Cor. 4: 8) - there now bursts on us the extraordinary revolution
in ambition which our Lord has brought us in His unique teaching, as He now
lays bare the pathway to the imminent Thrones. But ye - for the axioms
of Gentiles can be no principles for the Church - shall not be so; but
he that is the greater among you - greater in the earthly sense: more distinguished in birth,
in station, in training, in gifts - let him become - of his own
free action and choice - as the younger - that is, taking the lowlier place
assigned to a junior; and he that is chief - head and shoulders above others in attainments and
achievements - as he that doth serve (Luke 22: 26) - a servant, as Matthew (20: 27) says,
not of some, but of all. So to James and John seeking, not thrones, but supreme
thrones, the Lord Jesus puts a still sharper antithesis:- Whosoever
would become great among
you - attain
royalty beyond the broken tombs - shall be your servant; and whosoever would
be FIRST among you - the greatest among the great - shall be SLAVE of all - supreme now in self-abasing service
(Mark 10: 43).
There is a path, our Lord says, for holy ambition to tread, culminating in
thrones; but it is no path leading in this [evil, apostate and ungodly] age to high office and official
dignities and popular applause: it is the actual reverse of worlds ambition
for more wealth, more power, more fame. Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not (Jer.
45: 5).
By achieving great things now, we lose them hereafter; by renouncing them now,
we achieve them: and it is remarkable that our Lord closes His first revelation
of the Thrones by exhibiting the constant crossing and re-crossing of the
runners in the race - but many shall be last that are
first; and first that are last (Matt. 19: 30).
* The word our Lord uses - Euergetes - was actually a title
given to Kings in that age; as to Cyrus among the Persians, Antigonus among the
Greeks, Marcus Aurelius among the Romans: and it is a curious coincidence that
the Zionists keep in their central cities, to commemorate the founders of their
Colonies, a roll called the Golden Book of Benefactors.
Next, the Lord presents Himself as the
embodiment, the type, the first case in the working of the new law. For - as a sharp contrast embodied in
Himself - whether is greater, he that
sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? - there is such a thing as rank,
dignity, precedence, but - how (He asks) do you explain this? - I - your Chief, your King, the
destined Heir to the Throne of all thrones - am in the midst of you AS HE THAT SERVETH - and so till death; crownless,
throneless, outcast. And the Lord enforced the lesson, there and then, by a visible act which, whether we take it
as instruction embodied in an ever-recurring ritual, or as a parable in action
done once for all, is extraordinarily illuminating. To teach them the sublime
and novel truth that the world-rulers of the future
must be the servants of to-day, that self-abasement is the germ of all future
greatness, Jesus took a towel, and girded himself, and began to wash the
disciples feet (John 13:
4).* That is, present service regulates future rank; and the nearer to Christ in
grace, the nearer to Christ in glory.
* If foot-washing had been maintained as a ritual - Binghams Antiquities records the fact that some fifty per
cent. of the sub-apostolic churches practised it - it is certain that the truth
our Lord is inculcating would not have been so largely lost.
But our Lord, setting the example for a crowd of later
Scriptures, also reveals the parallel line in the double rail-track leading to
the Throne. But - lest you imagine from these new principles that future royalties are a
fiction and a dream - ye are they - servants singled-out and choice - which - unlike Judas, and many another
renegade disciple all down the ages - have continued with me in my
temptations [i.e., trials, testings in order to prove ones worth] The Lord lays deep in sorrow and suffering
the foundations of coming greatness. The Saviours testings - not His
temptations in the wilderness, for the Apostles were not with Him then - were
life-long: in His reproaches, poverties, afflictions, persecutions they had
shown unswerving loyalty: in all His afflictions they were afflicted. If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him: if we deny Him, He also will deny us (2 Tim. 2: 12). Everyone that gets to the throne, as McCheyne says, must put his foot upon the thorn: we must taste the gall if
we are to taste the glory.
So then we come to the great and closing summary in answer to
Peters question - Lo, we have left all, and followed Thee: what then shall we
have? And - Jesus says - and as a consequence, as a
reward the inevitable and of our Lords
fidelity to fidelity - I appoint unto you a kingdom, EVEN AS - for those who deny reward to
disciples, must also deny reward to their Master: Christ and His followers are
recompensed on identical grounds - my Father appointed
unto me a Kingdom, that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom
- the Millennial therefore, not the Eternal; the Kingdom which the Lord
ultimately gives up to the Father (1 Cor. 15: 24); and ye - Twelve Apostles, for your peculiar
and personal allotment of honour: our Lord foresaw Matthias replacing Judas - shall sit on THRONES - thrones come at last - judging the
twelve tribes of Israel.* Supreme in service, the Apostles will be supreme in sphere.
Thus, once for all, the Lord makes manifest the conditions of Millennial
royalty, the grounds on which I appoint unto you a Kingdom. The Kingdom is no general inheritance
of all who believe, but a special appointment to disciples tried and approved:
the Lord grounds the gift not on faith, but on fidelity: even Apostles are not
given it as apostles, and much less because they are among the saved; but it is
appointed to them because they have loyally, courageously, unswervingly shared
the ministries and sufferings of Christ. He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as
I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in
his throne (Rev. 3: 21).
* Few will deny that the Apostles are
part of the Church (Eph. 2: 20). Their reign
over
* *
* * *
* *
360
THE CASE AGAINST THE
SECOND ADVENT
By D. M. Panton, B.A.
How
strongly Second Advent truth is telling is proved by the elaborate attempts now
being made to refute it, the latest being advanced (Christian
World, Feb. 10th
and 17th., 1927) by Dr. Charles E. Jefferson, of New York. Dr. Jefferson begins by giving away a
good deal more than he can afford. After dilating on the watchword of the
We do not say to one another Maranatha. We seldom
think of His coming. That will account in large measure for the difference in
spirit between the first century Church and our own. Their belief in the early
coming of Christ gave an intensity to their life which ours does not possess.
We are intense about certain things but not about our religion. There was an
other-worldliness in the Church of the Apostles which has vanished. The early
Christians kept their thoughts upon the other world, the world into which Christ
had vanished and from which He was soon to emerge again. We do not think much
about the other world. The present world is amazingly attractive and it absorbs
all our strength and time. It is a difficult world to manage and we have no
time for any other. The
Now this encomium - a perfectly true
one - is exceedingly dangerous to Dr. Jeffersons case. Do men gather
grapes of thorns? Does it not go far towards overthrowing the very foundations of morality
to paint in glowing colours the heavenly mind and unearthly conduct which
sprang, and spring, out of what is later described as a
deadly superstition? It is a fundamental law of the universe that like
alone produces like. If the life radiant to which (as Dr. Jefferson says) the
modern Church without the Advent is a stranger, is the fruit of a travesty and a caricature
of the Gospel (again the Doctors words), morality is at an end, and truth has
committed suicide.
But why does the Doctor admit so much?
For one very simple reason. He thinks he has a deadly torpedo which he can
launch at any moment into the flank of the Advent, sinking it hopelessly. Here it is:-
Let us see what Paul
believed. We have his belief recorded in 1 Thess. 4: 16-18: For the Lord Himself shall
descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice
of the archangel, and with the trump of God;
and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we that are alive,
that are left, shall
together with them be caught up in the clouds, to
meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever
be with the Lord. That is very clear and very
positive. The Lord is coming out of the sky with a shout. An archangel is going
to speak. The trumpet of God is going to blow. All the Christians then alive, and
Paul will be among the number, will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord
in the air. That was Pauls joyful belief. Of that he had no doubt. That is the
doctrine which he taught his converts. But Paul was mistaken, so were all the
Apostles. Every one of them was mistaken. Their mistake is recorded in our New
Testament. That mistake cannot be got rid of. It was a huge mistake, and it
forms a part of the New Testament for ever.
Alas, the huge
mistake is Dr. Jeffersons! It is always an error to attack a citadel
with such contempt as not first to have mastered its ground plan. Cannon
emptied at outworks which do not exist waste their shot. A not very recon dite study of the
Scripture documents reveals that the attitude and not the date was the one
constant factor inculcated, combining
unwavering readiness with the possibility of indefinite postponement. We to-day
use exactly the language of the Apostle,
with an identical meaning:- we that are alive, that remain, shall be caught
up: whether we shall be alive, and remain, is one of the secrets of God. Dr.
Jefferson confounds expectation with prediction. The Apostle John carefully guards (John
21: 23) against any dating of the
Advent prophecies. Pauls huge mistake simply
does not exist, and with it collapses the solitary argument, the lonely
foundation, from which Dr. Jefferson, with a curiously uniformed assurance,
jettisons the Second Advent literature as a deadly
superstition. Nor is the Doctors knowledge of Advent prophecies any
more accurate than his knowledge of Advent prophecies.
They say He is coming soon. They used to name the date. They
missed it so many times they dare not do it any more. Only a fanatic of unusual
stature ventures, any longer, to specify the day on which the Lord will bring
the world [i.e., this evil age] to an end. They now use ambiguous
adverbs. They declare He is coming soon.
Had Dr. Jefferson any knowledge at all of Advent literature -
he seems acquainted only with the date-fixing vaticinations
of non-Christian sects such as Russellism,
or Mormonism, or the Order of the Star in the East - he would know that we could range through the thirty
volumes of the Quarterly Journal of Prophecy, or the entire output of the Rainbow - probably the most remarkable periodical on prophecy ever issued
- or the pages of any foremost exponent of the Coming, and cross-examine
hundreds of thousands of prophetic students of every grade of gift and grace,
and not only find no date, but the strongest possible enforcements of our
Lords prohibition of all date-affixing to an event the very soul of which is
its inviolable secrecy.
Nor is Dr. Jeffersons one practical criticism a mistake less huge.
He imagines because Christ's Gospel finds so obstinate a refusal as to shift
the centre of gravity for world-reform across the grave, rendering all present
political and social effort a constant Sisyphus miscarriage, that the Advent
attitude is, therefore, folded hands and a slumbering heart.
A reading of the Bible which cuts the nerve of
action is certainly a deadly superstition which all open‑eyed lovers of
the truth must resist and overcome.
As a matter of fact, the mass of work accomplished in the
world, and for the world, by watchers for the Lord during the worlds latest
century is out of all proportion to their rank or number. Missionaries like Hudson Taylor, philanthropists like Lord Shaftsbury, evangelists like Moody, preachers like Spurgeon, expositors like Govett, authors like Pember,
scholars like Tregelles, founders of
institutions for Christian rescue like George
Muller; - all these giants in their several spheres, whose labours were
colossal, not only could say, but most have said, that so far from cutting
the nerve of action, it was the nerve. We have space for but a single
witness. Mr. Moody, beyond challenge
the greatest evangelist of the modern age, and from his earliest years an
exhaustive worker, says:- I have felt like working
three times as hard since I came to understand that my Lord is coming again.
Dr. Jeffersons own view of the Coming is a coming so
ineffectual that it never ceases, and never arrives.
The proper expression is the continuous coming of
Christ. He has already come many times. He is coming many times. In the present
hour He mill come and keep on coming.
It seems a light matter to critics of this kind that such a
view contradicts point-blank the Son of God, who says:- they shall
see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (Matt.
24: 30).
If the Apostles erred, the Lord erred much more deeply, for His assertions of
His bodily return are the most drastic and constant in the whole range of
Scripture.
It is deeply pathetic that the very faith in the future which the Church often
so loyally, so bravely, exercises is itself a tragic unbelief
- in the Scriptures - doomed to bitter disenchantment. Israel stressed the
crown and forgot the cross - the Church stresses the cross and forgets the
crown; and critics of the Advent, coming perilously near to filling the role of
the mockers foretold (2 Pet. 3: 3), may well
be cautious lest they duplicate Israels blunder, who, because they
knew not the voice of the prophets
fulfilled them by condemning Him (Acts. 13: 27).*
* The
only Christian date-affixers (so far as we know) are found among advocates of
the Year-day theory, nor would even they (we
imagine) attempt to forecast the exact day of rapture, or the hour of our
Lords arrival on earth.
* *
* * *
* *
361
THE
MANY MEMBERS, AND ONE SPIRIT, MAKE ONE BODY.
By Robert Govett, M.A.
1 Corinthians 12: 12, 13: For as the body is
one, and hath many members, and all the members of the (one*) body, though they be many,
are one body; so also is
the Christ. [13] For truly in
one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether
Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or freemen;
and all were made to drinkinto
one Spirit.
* The words [
see Greek text] are omitted by Scholtz.
-------
The four
concluding sections of the chapter are occupied in considering the resemblance
of the
The former section had presented the Holy Ghost as imparting
gifts to the individual,
but now the same Spirit is to be viewed in relation to the whole,
as constituting the unity of the body collectively.
Observe, says the Apostle, the human frame. All confess its
oneness. It seems so to others, as an idea; it is so to ourselves, in action. But of what
character is that oneness? It arises not from its simplicity of structure, in
being the same throughout, as a lump of ice is one, or a diamond is one. No, it hath many members. When we consider it closely, its parts
are various, have different offices and powers, different sensations and
actions. It is the unity of a multitude: both the unity of the whole, and the
multitude of the parts, being from God: it is a unity that gives play to
diversity; it is a diversity which is entirely consistent with unity.
So also is the Christ. This is a wonderful expression. We should have
expected - So also is the church. But
the church is the mystic Christ, the mystic body of which he is the heavenly
and ascended Head. The union of Christ and his church is beautifully assumed in
these words. Why persecutest thou me? said the Saviour to Saul, concerning his oppressed followers.
As the church is a spiritual body, so the great
characteristics of the human body are to be found in it. It is a body divinely
framed, as truly as the natural body, and intended to bring greater glory to
God than the natural body which types it. Who but the divine Creator could have
devised and brought into being so wondrous a spiritual body?
But what gives unity to the many members of the natural body?
The one spirit of the man, wielding at will every part, and concentrating the
various members upon his purposes as they arise. Even thus the one Spirit of
the mystic body of Christ is the Holy Ghost. He it is that first awakened the
dead soul to life, and afterwards (in old time) baptized each individual,
giving it the peculiar action and power which constituted it such and such a
member of Christs body, as apostle, prophet, teacher, or worker of miracles.
Thus the Holy Spirit was the source, at once, of the divinely appointed diversity,
in the variety of the gifts in the many members, and of the unity of the
body in its collective sympathy, love and harmony of sentiment, faith and
action.
The mystic Christ then, being a body dwelt in by one Spirit,
and framed by the hand of God, in it too, unity springs out of diversity; and
the multitude of parts is no hindrance to unity, but rather the display of it.
Its unity consisted in the oneness of the internal, presiding, moving
principle. Its diversity in the different actings of the many members.
But how was that unity attained? For in* one spirit we
all were baptized into one body.
* The received translation
makes the Holy Spirit the baptizer erroneously.
The baptism in the Holy Ghost was the means, divinely
appointed, of conferring this visible unity. Jesus is the baptizer in the Holy
Ghost, the Holy Spirit the element in which they were baptized: John
1: 33. I indeed have baptized you in
water, but he shall baptize you
in the
Holy Ghost: Mark 1: 8.
As unbelievers or natural men born into the world, they were
formerly members of the body politic or society, possessing certain natural powers. As regenerated men, admitted into the
supernatural and heavenly society of the
A mistake in the rendering here has given currency to the
belief that this baptism of the Holy Ghost is possessed by every believer now.
But the apostle speaks in both parts of this verse in the same past tense. We were baptized; we were made to drink. And this baptism was no secret thing, but communicated openly
after believing, in one of two ways. Either
(1) by the Holy Spirits visible
descent in fire as at Pentecost, and on the Gentiles: (Acts
2: 10) or (2) by the laying on of apostles hands, as in the case of the
Samaritans, and of the twelve at
But now the apostle notices the universality and impartiality
of the baptism - Whether Jews, or Greeks,
whether slaves or freemen. The extremes of nation and of rank
are taken. The Jews were quite unprepared for the bestowal of this grace on the
Gentiles. The Jewish brethren from Joppa, who went with Peter to visit
Cornelius, were astonished that even on the Gentles the gift of the
Holy Ghost had been poured out Acts 10: 45. Yet these fleshly differences were no barrier
to the [Holy] Spirits gracious anointing. As the gifts at the very first preaching of
the gospel were promised to the Jews and their children, and to all of the Gentiles
whom the Lord should choose, (Acts 2: 39) so
it was fulfilled in actual fact. And therefore Paul, treating of the agency of
Jesus in procuring the gifts alike for both, says that he endured the curse, That the
blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles, through Jesus Christ, that we
(Jews) might receive the
promise of the Spirit through faith: Gal. 3: 14. Similarly to the Ephesians he writes, that
this was part of the mystery, that Jew and Gentile should both alike be partakers of his
promise in Christ by the Gospel, that is of the supernatural gifts of the Holy Ghost: Eph.
3: 6. So
also he observes in Romans 11, that the
Gentiles were grafted in among the original branches of the good olive tree,
and with them partook of the root [as sons of Abraham and] the fatness of the olive tree, or the anointing
of the Holy Ghost. The covenant of
circumcision (or the Law) recognized the distinctions of the flesh,
which are presented in differences of nation, and rank; but, that all might form
parts of Messiahs body, these distinctions are melted down, and put out of
view, by one glorious sealing of the Holy Ghost. All were baptized into one
body. All made to drink of the one
Spirit. The one
body and the one spirit came from the energy of the Holy Ghost. How wonderful
and glorious the oneness of the body made out of such seemingly discordant
materials.
Many again confound the regeneration of the Holy Ghost with the baptism of the Holy Ghost; yet no two things can be more distinct. The
regeneration of the Holy Ghost is that act of the
Holy Spirit, by which the soul, dead in trespasses and sins, is made to live
again: John 3. The baptism of the Holy Ghost is the imparting of supernatural gifts
to those already born again - [i.e., regenerated by the Holy Spirit.]
The regeneration
of the Holy Ghost makes those who were members of the old Adam, members of
Christ; but the baptism of the [Holy] Spirit gave them their place of supernatural
action and usefulness in the body. We have the members now, without the
super-added functions which proved the church manifestly a supernatural body.
We were all baptized into one body.
The preposition used intimates, I believe, one of two meanings. It may
signify:-
In the Spirit we are all baptized unto,
that is, with the view of
constituting - one body:-
Or it may mean - We were bathed in
one Spirit into one body, i.e.,
so as to make in result one
body. The latter I believe to be the
true meaning. And from the tense used, I judge the apostle alludes to the
successive additions of members by the preaching of the gospel. Each, after he
believed, and was baptized in water, received in turn the laying on of the apostles hands, and thus was baptized into the body.
But then the
bestowment of gifts was not a rigid thing. The style of it was not - to you is assigned that gift, and no other will be imparted
so long as you live. No, they might pray for and receive additional gifts.
And they were
made to drink into one Spirit.
There seems in this, an allusion to two special rites of the
Christian Church, baptism and the cup of the Lords Supper. The uniting energy
of the Holy Ghost was not simply an external
effect as baptism, introducing individuals, one by one, but was represented
also by inward communication, such as that presented
in drinking of the cup at the Supper. Baptism, and the supper of the Lord, are
the two appointed symbols of the churchs unity; baptism the entrance to it
through death to the Old Adam and the world; and the Lords table, the visibly
centre of union to those brought out from the world. Baptism in the Holy Ghost then represents the first action of the
Holy Spirit in fitting the members for the body; the drinking into one spirit
any subsequent additions of the spirit of unity, which might be continual; even
as baptism takes place but once, but the partaking of the cup at the supper,
frequently.
* *
* * *
* *
362
THE NEW TESTAMENT AND
THE LABOUR PROBLEM
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
It is a
most valuable fact that the Holy Spirit has chosen a slave - a class so low in
the social order that none can be lower - to show that every mans handicraft
can be a divine work. The vast majority of servants in the Greek and Roman
worlds, at the moment when Paul was writing, were slaves, and in most districts
the slaves were much more numerous than the free population - in
THE MASTER
So first the Spirit fills the horizon
with a new Master. Slaves* - slaves by
calling, but Christians by character - obey in all things them that are your
masters according to the flesh - only in the flesh masters, no lords over conscience or the
soul; so a lordship, because in the flesh, extremely temporary: not with eye
service - only while under the masters eye - as men-pleasers - thinking of the employers
approval, rather than the efficiency of the work - but in singleness of heart - an undivided devotion to excellence
of workmanship - fearing the Lord (Col. 3: 22) - in
whom all lordships are swallowed up, serving in awe of Christ. And ye masters,
do the same things - act on identical principles - unto them,
knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven (Eph.
6: 9); render - supply on your side, as far as you
are concerned, the force of the Middle (Lange)
- unto your slaves that which is just and equal, knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven (Col.
4: 1):
the master must remember that in heaven the servants Master is his own also (Westcott). Our labour is manward: our
heart is to be Godward. Here is the complete and profound solution - if ever it
was accepted and obeyed - of the labour problem; for, by making God the central
and final employer, instead of what Dr.
Chalmers called the dream of making universal
selfishness do the work of universal love, it substitutes the working
fact of a universal devotion, such that both employer and employed are devoted
to each others interests, because both are devoted to Gods. It was not Christs plan, as Dr. R. W. Dale observes, to effect an external revolution, but to change the moral
and spiritual life of the race.
* Peter
uses another word [
see the Greek text] for domestic servants (1 Peter 2: 18).
THE SERVICE
For the Spirit, next buries deep in the Christian slaves heart
a dynamic and revolutionary principle. Whatsoever ye
do, do all - everything on which the
labourers hand rests - from the soul - with your whole soul, as we say; the soul being the sum
of the human faculties: act from inward principle, not from outward compulsion
- as UNTO THE LORD,
and not unto men - the earthly employer, often unworthy, thus lost to
sight in the heavenly, always worthy of our best. Paul, the greatest of the
Apostles, and so of all Christians, describes himself as the slave of Jesus Christ (Rom.
1: 1) -
as equally bought, indentured, owned, as any other slave: for the Lord Jesus is
Master as well as Saviour: so, therefore, ours is to be a devotion to our work
even more than a devotion to our employer, for the work is Christs. This transfigures the office, the
farm, the factory, the shop, the kitchen, the nursery, the school: as it
stands, no such work is Christian, for it is equally done by the ungodly; but
it can be instantly made so by being done consciously to Christ. As a surgeons or nurses
may be disgusting work, yet it saves life, so the menial drudgery of a slave
can match the manual labour of an angel. So the Christian lay-worker is to do
his work as though the universe were a huge factory in which there is but one employer
- Christ, and but one workman - himself: with good will doing service, as unto
the Lord, and not unto men (Eph.
6: 7).
THE RECOMPENSE
To enforce this utterly unearthly conduct, the [Holy] Spirit now strikes strongly the double
chord of hope and fear. Knowing - keeping wide awake to the fact; seeing
ye know, causal participle, giving the reason for the preceding command
(Ellicott); knowing for a certainty
- that from the Lord - a Master (no article) as though there were but one in the
universe, the munificent Rewarder who stands in the background of every life -
ye shall receive - receive in return, receive
in proportion - the recompense of the inheritance - an inheritance which is a
recompense; the inheritance which is the compensation (Alford).* No ingenuity of reasoning, no subtlety of intellect,
can evade the fact that the inheritance here is a reward, dependent solely on
conduct: what the Roman Catholic expositors, fastening on this verse to
establish merit for salvation, have missed is that there are two inheritances, the Eternal and the
Millennial; and that this is not the Eternal inheritance, unconditionally ours
on simple faith; but the Millennial fellow-heirship with the Christ, dependent on a share in His
obedience and sufferings. Paul has summed up both once and for ever:- If
children, then heirs: two inheritances follow - one a sheer gift, one a reward
for obedience and sanctity: heirs indeed [
see
Greek word] of God - an inheritance unconditional,
absolute, ours for ever; but [
see Greek word] joint heirs with Christ, IF SO BE that we suffer with Him - a sharply imposed condition - that
we may be glorified with Him (Rom. 8: 17).** So then in
the hope of it - and the enjoyment of it could not be very distant - they were
to work and suffer and wait, and in the possession
of it they would find immediate and ample compensation (Eadie) : the utterly disinherited - for
a slave to be an heir was a paradox (Lightfoot) -
would become the most wonderful of inheritors; and the righteous master would
acquire an estate beyond stock exchange collapse, and beyond the jeopardy of
death. For whatsoever good thing each one doeth, the same shall he
receive again -
as a deposit, or as seed sown (Wordsworth)
- from the Lord, whether he be bond
or free (Eph. 6: 8).
* The
recompense with the article denotes a
recompense in prospect, while the preposition ([
see Greek]) indicates that it is one compensating
for the present privations (Lange):
the double compound involves the idea of exact
requital (Lightfoot).
** If, at least, we are suffering with
Him i.e., if (provided that) we are found in the course of participation in
Christs sufferings (Alford).
Wherever the
PENALTY
The Spirit now strikes the second chord of fear, by disclosing
a tribunal to which all forcible redress of social or individual wrongs must be
postponed, and which reserves to itself all ultimate jurisdiction. For - that is, what follows is to be a
motive of conduct (Lange) - he that doeth
wrong - whether
master or slave - shall receive again - receive as recompense: receive
back, as it were a deposit (Ellicott)
- for the wrong that he hath done - not the wrong itself, but for it, the wrong in the form of
punishment (Eadie); and there is
no respect of persons - which therefore sweeps into the ambit of judgment - for one recompense
or the other, for reward or penalty - every slave of Jesus Christ. This, as Dean Spence observes, is the judgment of Christians: we are inclined to forget
this while warning publicans and sinners of coming judgment. A penal
recompense is thus balanced against a recompense of reward, and both are the other side of the grave.
Neither the recompense nor the penalty falls in this life.* The Divine
judgment, says Bishop Westcott, lies essentially in each deed of man. The good which we do
remains ours still; and the evil also. The doer in each case will receive what
he has done: that each may receive the things done in the body (2 Cor. 5: 10). The adverse recompense is again stated by Paul to
be Millennial, and it is a forfeiture of the secondary inheritance:- know ye not that
wrong-doers - the same word as here, [
see Greek] shall not inherit the
* Thus the drawing of the sword for freedom, bitter class
conflict, or armed rebellion - all forcible redress on this side of the grave -
is swallowed up in the Tribunal to which alone forcible redress is finally
possible, and which alone is absolutely competent. Even to the slave Pauls
word, paraphrased by Bishop Westcott, is this:- Seize
not liberty by force, but embrace it with joy (1
Cor. 7: 21).
Thus before the eyes of the whole Church the Spirit of God
erects the purging vision of the judgment Seat of Christ; and so transfigures
all daily drudgery - if consciously and deliberately done to our Lord as part
of our work for Him - as an alchemy changes all base metal into gold. That
there is no respect of persons establishes a tribunal of incorruptible
impartiality. As Ambrose says:- the judge discerns causes, not persons; and the idea
that the slave is more exempt than the master is wholly unscriptural - thou shalt not
favour a poor man in his cause (Exod.
23: 3).
The face of Christ is not against either master or servant, either employer or
employed, either spiritual believer or carnal, but He is against all wrong-doing
in all: so that the want of
bias in God as judge is equally a terror to the deceitful wage-earner and the
tyrannous capitalist; and the wrong-sufferer of every class and kind will find
that his wrong-doings are not cloaked by his wrong-sufferings. So also, on the
contrary, the lowest drudgery done for Christ is coining royalty. The slave
gets his keep, or otherwise he would die, and his master lose him; and the
employee gets his wage, for in a slaveless community
labour can only be purchased; but the keep may be beggarly, and the wage a
pittance: nevertheless - and even if both are adequate and generous - all work
fully and faithfully done as to Christ, either by master or slave, is
recompensed with a coming glory inconceivable, to which no royalty now on earth
can be compared.
* *
* *
* * *
363
JOHN THE IMMERSER NOT
ELIJAH
A Note on the Doctrine of the
Transmigration of Souls.*
* The fruit of a conversation with a
wealthy Copt in
By G. H. LANG
Advocates of the pagan, Oriental teaching that after death men
pass through various reincarnations, desiring to persuade Christians to accept
this doctrine naturally seek to find support for it in Holy Scripture, and they
rely mainly on the assertion that the New Testament says that John was Elijah.
This only shows how hard pressed they are to give even due semblance of Bible
support to the doctrine.
That Eastern philosophies and manners
had infected
This sufficiently explains why Jews of
Christs time thought He might be one of the older prophets (Matt. 16: 14), or the semi-pagan Herod that He was John the
Baptist (Matt. 14:
2), and why others conceived that a certain
man might have been born blind because
of sin of his own (John 9: 1). But this last notion Christs answer set
aside. Thus, we may in no wise regard the then current Jewish conceptions as
being necessarily divine truth. They must be shown to be grounded in divine
statements in Old Testament scripture. The passages regarding John and Elijah
are:-
1. Luke 1: 16, 17, the angel Gabriels words before Johns birth:
Many
of the children of
2. Matt. 11: 13, 14, 15. Christs words concerning John: All the
prophets and the law prophesied until John, and
if ye are willing to receive it, this is Elijah
that is to come. He that hath ears to hear let
him hear, i.e.,
the meaning of this is not on the surface, a warning not to form a hasty
opinion of the meaning.
3. Matt.
17: 10-13. As they came down from the transfiguration the disciples
asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elijah must first come?
And he answered and said, Elijah indeed cometh, and
shall restore all things; but I say unto you
that an Elijah came just now, and they knew him
not, but did unto him whatsoever they would.
... Then understood the disciples that he spake unto
them of John the Baptist.
As to the first passage, the angel did not say that John
should be Elijah, though
that could have been stated quite simply and distinctly. He said only that John
should fulfil his appointed ministry in Elijah-like spirit and power: [
See Greek] (of Elijah). See R.V. and Nestle
texts. If one said that a general acted in the spirit and energy of Napoleon he
would not be saddled with meaning that the general was Napoleon. The phrase
would implicitly distinguish the two.
In the second scripture our Lord made the fulfilment in John
of Malachis prophecy concerning Elijah, as the one sent before the face of
Messiah, to depend upon the willingness of
The remaining passage is equally decisive.
1. The Lord said the scribes were
correct and that Elijah indeed cometh, and
shall restore all things. So that (a) Elijah
was not yet then come, but was yet to come; therefore, John was not he: and (b) Elijah was to do a work which John
had not accomplished, to restore all things, so that Johns ministry was not Elijahs ministry, even
though it was of the same order and partook of the same spirit and power.
2. Because of
this last feature Christ could add: I say unto you an Elijah came just
now, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they would.
Then understood the
disciples that he spake unto them of John the Baptist. Thus the first statement, that Elijah
indeed is to come, did not make the disciples think of John. It was the added
remark that did this. It was (I think) Mr.
Pember who pointed out that, on account of the Greek not using an
indefinite article, the words should read in this clause as above, an Elijah
came just now ([
See
the Greek text.]).
Thus far the actual statements of Scripture. Each of them not
only does not support the notion that John was Elijah reincarnate, each is
definitely against it. But these further considerations are equally and fatally
opposed thereto.
1. John had been already murdered, and
his corpse minus its head had been buried. Elijah, at the time of Christs last
statement had just been seen by the disciples in propria
persona in a glorified [but
still in a mortal, (Rev. 11: 7, R.V.)] condition. If John was Elijah then Elijah had been formerly taken to
heaven (2 Kings 2.), reincarnated in John, decapitated,
and directly after glorified. In this case the heresy would be true, for him at
least, that resurrection is past already (2 Tim.
2: 17, 18). The three last assertions will defy all proof
from Scripture.
2. 2 Kings ch. 2. shows that
Elijah was taken to heaven alive, [but not into the presence of
God in the highest heaven without an immortal body!] which allows without difficulty of his appearing in glory on the mount - [and
also, to complete his prophecy on earth during the Great Tribulation. (Rev. 11: 3, R.V.).] But as he never had died his case is not in point as proof of the
reincarnating of dead men. It is singular that advocates of this unfounded
theory seem to overlook this fatal defect in their argument. But drowning men
will clutch at a straw, and theosophy subtly perverts or boldly denies
Scripture as may suit its theories.
* *
* * *
* *
364
THE LORD JESUS AND
THE OLD TESTAMENT
By ADELINE M. PILKINGTON
1. - THE CREATION OF MAN (Gen. 1: 27, 28).
He which made them at the beginning
made them male and female (Matt. 19: 4; Mark 10: 6).
2. - THE MURDER OF ABEL (Gen. 4:
8).
The blood of righteous Abel (Matt 23:
35; Luke 11.
3. - NOAH, THE
And as were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man ... they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the
day that Noah entered into the ark the flood came and took them all away. (Matt.
24: 37-39, R.V.; Luke 17:
26 and 27).
4.- THE DESTRUCTION OF
The same day that Lot went out of
5. - MOSES AND THE BURNING BUSH (Exod.
3: 1-6).
Have ye not read in the Book of
Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him? (Mark 12:
26; Luke 20:
37).
6. - THE BRAZEN SERPENT (Num. 21:
8, 9).
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up (John 3:
14).
7. - DAVID AND THE SHEWBREAD (1 Sam. 21: 1-6).
Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungered ...
he entered into the house of God, and did eat
the shewbread (Matt. 12: 3, 4; Luke 6: 3).
8. - THE MAGNIFICENCE OF SOLOMON (1 Kings 3: 12, 13; 2 Chron. 9: 3-8).
Solomon in
all his glory (Matt. 6: 29; Luke 12: 27).
9. - THE VISIT OF THE
QUEEN OF
The Queen of the south came to hear
the wisdom of Solomon (Matt. 12:
42; Luke 11:
31).
10.- ELIJAH, THE DROUGHT, THE WIDOW OF ZAREPHATH (1 Kings
17: 1-9).
Of a truth I say unto you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah,
when the heaven was shut up three years and six months ...
and unto none of them was Elijah sent, but only to Zarephath (Luke 4: 25, 26, R.V.).
11. - THE HEALING OF NAAMAN (2 Kings 5: 14).
There were many lepers in
I2. - THE MURDER OF ZECHARIAH (2 Chron. 24: 20, 21).
Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary (Luke 11:
51, R.V.; Matt.
23: 35).
I3. - JONAH AND THE GREAT FISH, AND HIS VISIT TO
Jonah was three days and three nights
in the belly of the sea monster (Matt. 12: 40, R.V.
margin).
The men of
14. - OUR LORD CONFIRMED THE WRITINGS OF ISAIAH.
I say unto
you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, and He was reckoned with the transgressors (Luke 22: 37,
R.V.; Isa. 53: 12).
There was
delivered unto Him the book of the Prophet Isaiah. ... He closed the book ... and He
began to say, This day is this Scripture
fulfilled (Luke 4: 1: 7-21; Isa. 61: 1, 2).
It is written ... they shall all be taught of God (John 6:
45; Isa. 54:
13).
Well did Isaiah prophesy of you (Matt.
15: 7; Mark 7: 6; Isa. 29: 13).
It is written,
My house shall be called the House of prayer [for all nations] (Matt. 21: 13; Mark 11: 17;
Luke 19: 46; Isa. 56:
7; cf. Matt.
13: 14; Isa. 6: 9).
15. - OUR LORD CONFIRMED THE PROPHECIES OF DANIEL (Dan.
9: 27; 12: 11).
The
abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel
the Prophet (Matt. 24: 15; Mark 13: 14; Luke 21: 22 with Dan. 9: 26, 27).
16. - THE PROPHECY OF ZECHARIAH CONFIRMED.
Jesus saith
unto them ... it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and
the sheep shall be scattered aboard (Matt. 26: 31; Mark 14: 27; Zech. 13: 7).
17. - THE WRITING AND PSALMS OF DAVID CONFIRMED.
Did ye never
read ... The stone which the builders rejected,
the same is become the head of the corner (Matt. 21: 42; Mark 12: 10; Luke 20: 17; Ps. 117: 22).
David himself
said by the Holy Ghost (Mark 12: 36;
2 Sam 23: 2).
David himself saith in the Book of
Psalms (Luke 20: 42; Ps. 110: 1; Cf. Matt. 21: 16 with Ps. 8: 2; John 13: 18 with Ps. 41: 9; John 17: 12
with Ps. 109:
8).
18. - THE WRITINGS OF MOSES WERE CONSTANTLY CONFIRMED BY OUR LORD.
Moses wrote
... of Me. But if ye
believe not his writings, how shall ye believe
My words? (John 5: 46, 47).
Did not Moses give you the Law? (John 7:
19).
Offer the gift
that Moses commanded (Matt. 8: 4; Mark 1: 44; Luke 5: 14.
See also Matt.
19: 8;
Luke 16: 31;
John 7: 22, 23;
cf. Luke 17: 14 with Lev. 13: 3; Matt. 4: 4, 7-10 with Deut. 8: 3 and Deut. 6: 13-16).
19. - OUR LORD CONFIRMED THE COMMANDMENTS.
For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and
thy mother (Matt. 15: 4; Mark 7: 10).
Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God (Matt. 22:
37; Mark 12:
29).
Do not kill,
Do not steal (Mark 10: 19; Luke 10: 27; Luke 18: 20).
Think not that I am come to destroy
the Law ... but to fulfil (Matt.
5: 17).
20. - OUR LORDS CONFIRMATION OF THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING HIMSELF.
All things that are written by the
Prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished (Luke 18: 31).
The Son of Man goeth as it is written
of Him (Matt. 26: 24).
The Scriptures testify of Me (John 5:
39).
O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all the Prophets have spoken.
... And beginning from Moses and from all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things
concerning Himself (Luke 24: 25-27. R.V.).
Thus it is
written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer (Luke 24:
46 and 5:
26).
All things must be fulfilled which
were written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms
concerning Me (Luke 24: 44).
His disciples said unto Him ... Now are we sure that Thou knowest all things, and needest not that any should ask Thee, by this we believe that Thou camest forth from God (John 16:
30).
And behold a voice out of the cloud
which said, This is My beloved Son ... hear ye Him (Matt. 17: 5).
- The Bible
Student,
* *
* * *
* *
365
APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
Drawing
closer every year, the great Sacerdotal Churches, as they bear down on us like
enormous steam-rollers threatening to crush out all opposition, compel us -
whether we will or no - to master the problem which is central to their claim.
That claim is that all bishops in the true succession down the ages act in the
place, and with the authority, of the original Apostles; and it is a claim
which can be brought home on the conscience with a pressure as powerful as the
pressure of the Inquisition on the body. BISHOPS, says the Council of Trent (Session
xxiii.),HAVE
SUCCEEDED UNTO THE PLACE OF THE APOSTLES. It is very remarkable
that the Episcopal Churches have never claimed that their Bishops are Apostles:* what they claim
is that, Apostles having lapsed, and bishops having replaced apostles in the
government of the Church as a matter of historical fact, the Bishops have
succeeded to the spiritual authority and power of the Apostles; that the
government of the Church has descended to them from the Apostles; and that so
the authority of the Apostolate is now vested in the Episcopate.
* So the Apostolic Fathers,
says Bishop Lightfoot, look upon themselves as distinct from the Apostles.
THE ORDER OF APOSTLES
It is one of the mysteries in the history of the Church of God
how completely the Church has ignored, forgotten, disregarded the miraculous
constitution with which God started His Church on earth, with the Apostles as
the keystone in the arch. God hath set as limbs in the joints, so orders in
the Church - in the Church - for miracles and miraculous orders, so far from being in
Corinth only, were as wide as the Church, and existed wherever the Church was -
first
APOSTLES*:- first in order, for the apostolate was the first office the
Lord created in His Church; and first in authority, for apostles appear to have
possessed the plenitude of miraculous endowment. The Apostles, like the
Prophets, were thus an order in the Church, not an arbitrary selection of a unique
group, but (in Gods design) essential and dominant limbs in the Body of
Christ:** whose functions were (1) the
witness of personal knowledge of the Risen Lord; *** (2) dispensers, by the laying on of their hands, of the Holy Ghost;
and (3) the exercise of final
authority in the Church, as the principal channels of immediate inspiration
from its Invisible Head.
* 1 Cor. 12,
28.
** Twenty-two are named in the New Testament, with implications
of at least two more. Eusebius speaks of numberless apostles beside the
Twelve: so the Didache treats the
Apostles, equally with the Prophets, as an Order.
*** The name expresses the character of
those who had either been immediately sent forth by Christ Himself, or who had
been raised to a level with the Twelve by direct revelations from Him (Dean Stanley). So Paul saw Christ
before he became an apostle, and probably in order to become one. Among the properties belonging to an apostle, says Bengel, it
was one, that he should have seen the Lord Jesus Christ: so that false apostles
were persons who not only preached false doctrine, but also set it forth with
an apostolical air as if they had seen Christ, or perhaps falsely pretended to
have done so. 1 Cor.
9: 1.
There is no authority, as Bishop Lightfoot has said, that the order afterwards called bishops were formerly
called apostles. Miracle entered into the very warp and woof of the
New Testament Church; and the Apostolate combines the
two sides of gift and office, both raised to their highest power (Godet).
PROOFS OF AN APOSTLE
Now for powers so absolute, and for claims so lofty, there
must be evidences as decisive and unique; and the more so because in all ages of the Church persons have appeared who have
claimed apostolic authority (Lange).
Therefore, when critics challenged his apostleship, Paul reveals its
indispensable evidence and its unchallengeable foundation. Truly, he says, the SIGNS of an apostle - the proofs,
the evidences, the identifying seals of apostleship: of the Apostle - that is, of him who is
invested with the apostolical mission (Dean
Stanley) - were wrought among you by SIGNS and WONDERS and MIGHTY WORKS (2 Cor. 12: 12): signs as God-derived power, legitimating
his mission; wonders, as awesome proofs to all mankind of a supernatural message;
and powers, as actual accomplishments outside the range of all merely
natural devotion or gift. This fulness of miracle is never stated of any but
Apostles - except Christ, and Antichrist (2 Thess. 2: 8). So all real Apostles God authenticates, and
His main authentication is miracle-working powers; no one, therefore,
unsupported by the powers of the age to come, can be an apostle:
for an office so unique, the evidence must always be as unique. Others might possess some
powers: apostles must possess all.
FALSE APOSTLES
Our problem, therefore, rapidly approaches solution. It is
obvious at a glance that apostleship, while creatable at any time by God, is
incapable of mere official and formal transmission to successors. For Paul
reveals that false apostles would be liable to crop up throughout the Christian
ages. Such men are false apostles, fashioning themselves into apostles of
Christ (2 Cor. 11: 13): they
appear to be apostles of Christ only by a concealment of their own true nature
(Dean Stanley). Profession, pretension,
language, possibly doctrine - were all correct, yet the man was false.* The probing of the reality behind the name, therefore, is commended by our Lord
in language remarkably strong, and He selects it (so important is it) as the
one signal service of the Ephesian Angel. I know that thou didst try - sift, thoroughly examine (Moses Stuart) - them which call themselves apostles, and they are not, and didst
find them false (Rev. 2: 2) - Exactly how the Ephesian Angel unmasked these
false claimants to apostleship we are not told; but the easiest of all tests of
an apostle is ready to our hand in the challenge put into the hands of his
enemies by Paul to test his own: the simple challenge to produce the plenitude
of miracle which constitutes apostleship.
* Trust nothing to appearances, even
though angelic, they who fear no danger never try the spirits. (Lange).
APOSTOLIC CLAIMS
Now, therefore, we have reached an impregnable position for
confronting the double modem peril. For we are threatened at this moment with
two claimants to apostolic jurisdiction; and the double-edged sword of
Scripture flashes right and left, mortally. We are confronted by Tongues apostles, claiming miracles; and by claimants
to apostolic succession, claiming no miracles. The first we dismiss for
childish insufficiency of miracle. No Mormon or Irvingite apostle of eighty years ago, no Tongues apostle of to-day, no secret apostles now concealed in various parts of the world and attended
by esoteric circles, no Theosophic apostles of Krishnamurti -
have ever produced a single power beyond the
trivial tongues and healings
already perfectly familiar to the Spiritualistic sιance. Every office, as Dr. Hodge says, necessarily supposes the
corresponding gift. No man could be an apostle without the gift of
infallibility; nor a prophet without the gift of inspiration; nor a healer of
diseases without the gift of healing. Men may appoint to offices for which they
have not the necessary gifts, but God never. If any man therefore claims to be
an apostle without the gift, he is a pretender. The second claim is
demolished with still greater speed. Apostles alone can exercise apostolic
authority: successors of apostles
without the signs of an apostle are not apostles: apostles with signs, but
not apostolic signs, are false apostles. Apostles have lapsed - so
infallibility (and therefore autocracy) have lapsed also, exactly as in the old
forecast and studied type, the Theocracy lapsed with Urim and Thummim. The
substitution of successors for apostles, the ungifted for the miracle-gifted,
is merely for stags to pose as lions, or bows and arrows to claim the authority
of cannon. The sole ground for apostolic authority is apostolic power.
OUR SEAT OF AUTHORITY
What then is our seat of authority? Apostles are gone; and to
submit to successors wholly devoid of apostolic powers as though they were
apostles is so dangerous, so obviously unscriptural, and so impossible because
of mutually excommunicated episcopates, that some other seat of authority is
imperative. The answer is transparent. We have the
Apostles doctrine (Acts 2: 42) we have the
revelations of His holy Apostles and Prophets (Eph.
3: 5) we
have the commandments of the Apostles (2 Pet. 3: 2 ) and we have the words
of the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ (Jude
17) We might have more words, but could not have conflicting words - a larger body of truth, but not a different body of truth - if living Apostles were speaking
amongst us.* The seat of authority remains what it always was - the
Holy Spirit speaking through apostles and prophets; and in the Holy Scriptures,
surviving intact from the age of inspiration, we are built, and are building,
on the foundation of the apostles and prophets
(Eph. 2: 20). It follows as a truism that all who do so
are, ipso
facto, the sole
* If I read our Lords mind aright, apostles must [in the future] be restored: Luke 11. Matt. 23: 34; Luke 12: 41-46; Matt. 24: 41-51 (Govett).
-------
AN APOSTLES WITNESS
Christ, the Son of God, hath sent me
Through the midnight lands;
Mine the mighty ordination
Of the pierced Hands.
Mine the message, grand and glorious,
Strange, unseald
surprise, -
That the goal is Gods Beloved,
Christ in
Hear me, weary men and women,
Sinners dead in sin, -
I am come from heaven to tell you
Of the love within:
Not alone of Gods great pathway
Leading up to Heaven;
Not alone that you may enter
Stainless and forgiven;
Not alone of rest and gladness
Tears and sighing fled;
Not alone of life eternal
Breathed into the dead:-
But I tell you I have seen Him
Gods beloved Son,
From His lips have learnt the mystery
He and His are one.
There, as knit into the body
Every joint and limb,
We, His ransomd beloved,
We are one with Him;
Wondrous prize of our high calling!
Speed we on to this,
Past the cities of the angels
Further into bliss;
On into depths eternal
Of the love and song,
Where in God the Fathers glory
Christ has waited long:
He who in His hour of sorrow
Bore the curse alone;
I who through the lonely desert
Trod where He had gone:
He and I, in that bright glory,
One deep joy to share -
Mine, to be forever with Him;
His, that I am there.
-
TER STEEGEN.
* *
* * *
* *
366
BURIED SEED
Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days (Eccles.
11: 1).
Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground
and die, it abideth by
itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit (John 12:
24)
Behold, the
husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it
receive the early and latter rain (Jas.
5: 7).
I was once
standing here about sixty-two years ago, preaching the Word of Life, and after
I had done I was cast down because my words seemed to me so cold, so dull, so
lifeless. And not till three months after did I hear that through that very
address abundant blessing had been brought to nineteen different persons. - GEORGE MULLER, at the age of ninety-two.
*
* *
A lad once heard Mr. Flavel preach from the text, If any man
love not the Lord Jesus, let him be anathema. The lad became a man. He emigrated to
the States. He lived to be a hundred years of age, but had never found Christ.
Standing at that age in his field one day, he recalled the sermon he had heard
eighty-five years before, and the fact that Mr. Flavel
had closed by saying:- I shall not pronounce the
benediction. I cannot pronounce it where they, may be in this audience those
who do not love the Lord Jesus, and
are anathema. The memory
of it overwhelmed him, and he gave his heart to God.
*
* *
The Baptist mission in Telugu,
Shine on, Lone Star! I would not dim
The light that gleams with dubious
ray;
The lonely Star of Bethlehem
Led on a bright and glorious day.
Shine on, Lone Star! in grief and
tears
And sad reverses oft baptized;
Shine on amid thy sister spheres;
Lone stars in heaven are not despised.
Shine on, Lone Star! Who lifts his
hand
To dash to earth so bright a gem,
A new lost Pleiad from the band
That sparkles in nights diadem?
Shine on, Lone Star! Thy day draws
near
When none shall shine more fair than
thou;
Thou, born and nursed in doubt and
fear,
Wilt glitter on Immanuels brow.
Shine on, Lone Star! till earth, redeemd,
In dust shall bid its idols fall;
And thousands, where thy radiance beamd,
Shall crown the Saviour Lord of All.
At breakfast his host, Judge
Ira Harris, a Judge of the Supreme Court of the State of
*
* *
A Moravian missionary, named George Smith, went to
Whereer you ripend
fields behold
Waving to God their sheaves of gold,
Be sure some corn of wheat has died,
Some saintly soul been crucified:
Someone has sufferd,
wept, and prayd,
And fought Hells legions undismayd.
* *
* * *
* *
367
SPIRITUALISM AND THE RESURRECTION
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
On one
tenet Sir Oliver Lodge, who, as the oldest
living Spiritualist and a man of deserved scientific fame, is exercising a
profound influence on the Church of God - Sir Oliver
Lodge, in the amazing words of Dr.
R. F. Horton, has become a more intensely
orthodox exponent of Christian verity than many of our Free Church preachers
- challenges the Christian Faith with a challenge of life or death. The body, Sir
Oliver says, is a nuisance to be got rid of. If
people would get over that trouble about interment and about lying there for
centuries waiting for a general resurrection
- all that kind of mediaeval superstition - they could begin to regard
death as more like what it is, an adventure, an episode that is bound to come,
something that we may be ready for, welcome when it comes, and not be afraid of.
Resurrection is thus always denied in toto by Spiritualism, as never having occurred, as
undesirable, and as impossible. How far this Spiritualistic and Gnostic acid
has eaten into the vitals of the Christian Creed, and how far the modern Church
has advanced on the road of abandonment of the Faith, can be seen from words of
the Dean of St. Pauls. Few, if any Bishops, says Dr. Inge (Church
of England Newspaper, May
4th, 1923), would hold a candidate
[for the ministry] to the quite literal acceptance of
the Descent into Hell, the Ascension into Heaven, or the Resurrection of the Flesk.
A COLLAPSED FOUNDATION
The Apostle at once grapples with the consequences of a denial
of resurrection. If there is no resurrection of the dead - if a resurrection of the dead has
no existence; if the springing of a corpse to life is an impossibility; if no
dead body ever rose, or ever could rise, or, as a matter of fact, ever will
rise - neither hath Christ - for the denial cuts backward as well as forward - been raised (1 Cor. 15: 13). You cannot (he says) isolate Christ from
humanity, so that He rose, but we do not: He is the typical Man, and all His
human experiences are the experiences of all the human: to deny our resurrection
is to leave, somewhere in the abysses of Josephs grave, the Sacred Dust.
Now the first ineludable fact built on a full tomb is that the
Christian Faith is (in that case) an unsubstantial dream. If Christ
hath not been raised, then is our preaching vain, - void, groundless, a shell without
a substance, a nut without a kernel; it would contain no substantive, no
objective, truth, nothing to which the preacher could appeal as a vera res (Ellicott), an acknowledged event, an
actual fact: and your faith also is vain - all that on which your faith
fastens - atonement, pardon, heaven, bliss - collapses; for from a closely knit
history and revelation, the central fact, the king-nut, is thus withdrawn.
Christ Himself rested His claims upon the resurrection, both before and after
the event. If Christ rose, He lifts our
corpse out of the grave, as well as delivers our soul out of Hades:
if He failed to rise, He leaves our soul in Hades, and our body in
corruption. The corrupt cannot save the uncorrupt, or themselves: or
else Abraham or Moses or David or Isaiah, one or more, would long ago have left
their graves. Gods crowning surgery is an operation on the coffin; and an
unemptied tomb can only mean an unsaved soul. No resurrection proves no redemption.
FALSE APOSTLES
The second consequence fastens at once on those primarily
responsible. Yea, and
we - the fountains of the Faith
- are found - by a cross-examining world and an incensed God - false
witnesses - not mistaken witnesses, but false - of God; because we witnessed of God - empowered by the Spirit of God, and
attributing the event to God (Acts 2: 32) - that He raised up Christ: whom He raised not up, if so be
that the dead are not raised. Innocent fanatics, deluded enthusiasts, the Apostles could not be, for they were witnesses before they were
preachers, and they asserted as a fact perceived by their senses what their senses had never perceived*;
and since the Apostles were unanimous (Acts 4:
33), false testimony to a fact which they
said they had seen, and which they had never seen, could only be a collective and deliberate
conspiracy. Who can believe that the writer of 1 Cor. 13., the man
who has more influenced the world for good than any other man since Christ, and
who laid down his head at last on the block for his faith - was a fraud
throughout, living a life of continued and systematic falsehood? But false
witnesses, false apostles, if thus disclosed, are a death-blow of the Christian
Faith.**
* If a man says that he handled a scarred body, and watched the
man risen from the dead eating solid food, and says it repeatedly, and it never
happened at all, he must be conscious that it never happened, and so it is the
deliberate invention of a false witness; and by asserting that God authorizes
his testimony, he either makes God suborn false witness, or else commits
sacrilege by using Gods name for falsehood - a capital offence under the Law.
** The obverse truth is singularly
effective: - namely, that deniers of the Resurrection can betray an evil morale
equally convincing as an integral part of error. Mr. G. W. Foote, famous in the nineteenth century as Saladin, a foremost infidel, says:- Christianity has elected to stand or fall by a myth so monstrously
improbable that it is impossible to discuss it without insulting common sense
and outraging the most rudimentary principles of experience and reason. He who
discusses the probability of the Resurrection of Christ as if it were a grave
and legitimate subject for debate is as demented and absurd as he who would
gravely state it. If you set a reasonable thesis before me, O Christian, I will
reason with you; but if you set before me a proposition so monstrously absurd
that to seriously attack it would only be a logical burlesque, a pedantic
mockery, you must not deem me disrespectful if, without noticing it, I pass by
on the other side. But if, as in the case with the Resurrection monstrosity, you insist on thrusting your devout
imbecilities upon my attention, do not deem me discourteous if I reserve reason
and criticism for higher purposes, and treat your puerile superstitions with
ridicule and contempt. Jack and his beanstalk was just as suitable for the
nucleus of a religious system as Christ and his cross; but the one has been
taken, and the other left. Christ and his cross is the more blood-stained, and
crude legend of the two, and would, therefore, receive the readier acceptance
by the barbarous mental and moral instincts of priest-manipulated ignorance.
Amazing nonsense of this kind is a good deal more than nonsense: it is an evil heart vitiating and falsifying the
intellect, whose motions it dooms to sterile and eternal miscarriage.
A DESTROYED FAITH
If one link is broken, a chain is worthless: the Apostle
passes to a third rotten link. And if - Paul drives home, by repeating it,
the cardinal fact - the dead - dead persons dead men - are not raised - if no grave can be emptied - neither hath Christ been raised: if the thing is impossible, it has
never happened: and if Christ hath not been raised, YOUR FAITH IS VAIN - not empty of substance, as before (ver. 14),
but fruitless in effect; that
is, ye are yet in your sins: your faith has never delivered you from the realm of
sin, the guilt of sin, or the corruption of sin. A dead Redeemer is no
redeemer: if the Lamb is dead, so is the atonement: if the Debtor,
bearing a whole worlds debts, is unreleased, it can only be because the debt
is unpaid. Denial of the Resurrection sweeps away the Atonement, because it
strips it of any proof of validity: as the Resurrection is the proof of the
Sacrifices acceptance, so no Resurrection is a rejected Sacrifice. If Christ
lies in His grave, I lie in my sins: if He lies under death, I lie under guilt:
if He is in dust, I am in Hell.
A LOST CHURCH
The fourth article in an unbelievers unescapable creed is a
lost Church. Then they also which are fallen asleep - a sleep necessarily means an awaking - in Christ have perished: all the saints of all the ages
closed their eyes in fancied salvation, only to open them in real damnation.
For what wrought death? Sin. And what keeps souls dead? Sin. And therefore if
Christ never rose, what keeps Him dead? Sin. Universal death means universal
sin, unexpiated, unlifted, unforgiven. If Christ is not raised, it is proof
positive that on Calvary He was no propitiation, but the feeble victim of an
enormous wrong; and if thus Christ is bodiless, Himself a wandering and
homeless spirit, all the dead saints are unshriven ghosts, guilty spirits, lost
souls. In other words, if Christ never rose, all that is good and noble and
best in the history of mankind has gone down into a common ruin, and we wake to
a universe that is a nightmare, and a God of whom the best that can be said is
that He is unknown and unknowable.
A VANISHED HOPE
The final consequence of our Lords unemptied tomb is the
utter miscarriage of all Christian
experience. If in this life only we have hoped in Christ - if the Christian cannot cross the
grave, or look for a world to come - we are of all men most pitiable: in this world, off scouring, in the world to
come, lost; conspicuously mistaken, we have been
conspicuously fooled. Hope which is only hope is a cruel mirage. We have
abandoned evil for good; we have given up sin for righteousness; we have left
impurity for purity; we have renounced all that the world holds dear for no
visible recompense - even for possible martyrdom: yet the fruit of it all is -
damnation. To be dying of thirst in a wilderness and, crawling to an oasis of
palm and spring, to find it a mirage - this is worse far than dying of thirst without a mirage.
INCREDIBLE UNBELIEF
Now, finally, face the facts. A minister said some time back:-
More than twenty years ago, just after my ordination,
this question forced itself upon me. What if after all this article of our
creed were a beautiful romance, an ancient myth or idle dream? Solemnly and
seriously I had to face the question, and find my way back to the home of truth.
We are confronted with an inexorable dilemma. An unrisen Christ makes of the
apostles monsters of guilt; it charges Christians with unchanged sinfulness; it
involves all the holiest in perdition; it changes renunciation of evil into a
folly. This is a creed vastly more difficult of belief than the Christian
Faith. The moral miracle of unbelief is greater than the physical miracle of
faith; the more so as the limits of the physical are unknown, but the limits of
the moral are within sharp and known boundaries. For if Christ is not risen, He
is dead: if the Gospel is not true, it is false: if my sin is not forgiven, I
am lost: if Gods word is not truth, it is falsehood. On the other hand, if but
one Apostle is true,
if but one man is delivered
from his sins; if but one dead saint in the whole history of the world is saved:-
CHRIST IS RISEN; and the Gospel is the one momentous truth of the universe.
No physical miracle can be any difficulty to the Creator. Professor Virchow, the founder (as he has
been called) of modern pathology, and the operator of probably more thousands
of post-mortem dissections than any other man living or dead, was asked, - Do you believe in the resurrection of the dead? Why shouldnt I? was the prompt response.
* *
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368
THE CRISIS IN CONVENTIONS
By ALBERT HUGHES, B.A.
There
never was a day in the history of the Church when so many conventions and
conferences were held. From one end of the land to the other in small and large
centres, at home and abroad, conferences are a thing of the hour. Keswick now
is in every country, and Keswick has produced scores of conferences for Bible
study and the deepening of the spiritual life.
There is no doubt that the Christian conference has done much
to keep the light burning. Christians who have come to the conference from dead
churches and barren centres have gone back heartened and encouraged, ready for
another year of service for the Saviour.
For some time now the writer has attended many conferences
both as speaker and hearer, and, while he bears his testimony to blessing
received, this article is written for the purpose of disclosing some
misgivings. We are not at all asking that conferences should cease, but that
those in charge of conferences should be awake to the crisis and seek to save
themselves while it is called to-day. It would be a pity if in any way the
conference should be killed or its purpose paled. With the hope of helping, I
herewith outline some of the dangers as they appear to me.
1. There is the danger of
constant feeding on the Word,
but failure to witness forth the Word.
There may be great skill with chalk and blackboard and yet a
great scarcity in character and belief. To see an analysis may attract for a
moment, but to see an outline in life will linger long after the analysis has faded.
Crowds may convene to hear expository preaching, but how often it is true there
is a kicking against the pricks of plain practice.
Convention towns are left practically untouched and unmoved
from year to year in spite of all this preaching and teaching. After the crowds
have gone, and the streets are cleaned and cleared, sin still continues to
control and blight.
How different this condition is from
what was true in Apostolic times. The cities then were strangely stirred. Homes
where delegates stayed were shaken and families were fascinated and
transformed. But towns are no longer turned up-side-down and turned to the
Saviour and new living. Far more often they are ignored and even slighted by
the saints, until the townspeople dread the day of the convention gathering.
Many conventions are held without
a Gospel [of the kingdom] word ever being heard. If Gospel meetings are held they are put into the hands of those unsuited
and untrained, and they are held at the fag-end of busy days when the delegates
must either eat or rest. How scarcely,
if ever, are the convention leaders seen in attendance at these Gospel
gatherings. In many of the convention hymnals it is difficult to find a hymn of real soul-winning worth. Unless
conventions keep in mind that they are avenues and not academies, they are
doomed to die.
2. There is the danger of desiring
fellowship with the saints,
but missing fellowship with the Saviour.
It is undoubtedly thrilling and
delightful to meet with so many who can sing and pray and preach. To see the
large numbers who have not yet bowed the knee to Baal is blessed. Undoubtedly
it is a pleasurable portion to meet with those of the household of faith. The
tie that binds is very strong and it is good for brethren to dwell together.
But if this
fellowshipping with each other ever becomes the be-all and end-all of the
conference, then surely there is failure and a few years of such failure will
soon create a crisis. We may miss the Master by looking too much at men. Conferences
are called for the primary purpose of seeing Him.
3. There is the danger of feeling after a
deeper spiritual experience with
no evidence of a deep and passionate feeling for an empty and
dying world.
We are all anxious to be aristocrats of grace, but how easily
we forget the beggars sitting at the gate. To be clothed in the purple of His
glory and the white of His holiness is a splendid desire, but if we are forever dwelling on dress (even
though spiritual) we dissipate our deepest desires.
Is the charge not often too true that those who teach to the
platform of the deeper life are
altogether unapproachable, and that the regular year by year listeners are
sometimes uppish and un-Christian-like. The deeper life ought never to
produce spiritual snobbishness, but rather more simplicity and humility. It is
far easier to preach about the deeper life than it is to demonstrate it. Peace,
love, victory, compassion, grace are in Christ. We obtain these delights by
drawing near to Him. When we come to Him we get His Spirit, and His Spirit will
be anxious and sympathetic toward all men, and especially toward the sheep not
having a shepherd. The deeper life is never given for our delight and ecstasy.
It partakes more of the nature of a river than a reservoir. A theoretical
analysis of truth is useless unless it leads to a demonstration in life. Our
standing must be illuminated by a state; recognition must be revealed by
realization.
4. There is the danger of seeing things close at hand
and losing sight of
tasks far off.
It is true in almost all the Christian
conferences some time is given to see and hear the returned missionaries. But the little time really given to the consideration of Kingdom enterprise
is often disappointing to those who have the world on their hearts. Far too much is crammed
into one meeting known as the Missionary Session. Eight or ten speakers are
asked in eight or ten minutes to tell of the miracles of grace abroad. The
impression is generally left upon many hearts of trying to cram into a small
space a necessary evil. As a result of this lack of proportion, the results in
offerings of life and money are altogether inadequate to the astounding and
rapidly-developing needs.
The conviction of this writer is that
we will find the best life ourselves and be successful in keeping our orthodoxy
clean and our evangelism alive by paying greater respect and heed to the Royal
Commission. Going people will see their need of the deeper life and of a greater knowledge
of the Word. No people will desire the Christian conference more than those who
are continually pouring out their all for the whole wide world.
5. In some
sections, there is the danger of making
the conference a gold field for the
specialist.
The labourer is always worthy of his
hire. A worker should always be adequately paid. But a deeper-life message
loses much of its depth and delight when it is learned that there was a great concern about remuneration.
6. The Christian conference is
in danger of dying through old age.
I mean the danger of being dominated too long by men long
since too old. Thank God where old age keeps young and strong. Thank God for
some of our leaders advanced in years whom we are still glad to hear, whose
eyes are undimmed and voice undiminished; whose souls are strong and sturdy and
whose messages always throb with new life and glory, men like Caleb who ever
desire to conquer the hill land. But surely we must all recognize that there
are some leaders who have worn themselves out and who no longer have a strong, virile message.
7. And, lastly, there is the
danger of
giving undue proportion to certain solitary truths.
We all recognize that a great many conferences were raised up
to emphasize and stimulate certain special truths. But is there not grave danger of over-emphasis by undue time and talent
being given to certain subjects? Sanctification, the life of victory,
the Lords coming again, are important themes, but these truths ought always to
be preached in relation to other great truths. We must not sacrifice
truth for the sake of truth. Let us not look askance at the man who does not
use the phrases which are peculiar to certain platforms. No conference has all
the truth.
There is a tendency to go round and round until a certain
spiritual dizziness is created. Much country waits for us to explore. There are
wide plains, rugged steeps, lofty heights inviting us on. Why go around the
base of the mountain for forty years? Our Christian conferences composed of
Gods best people ought to be the pioneers in
bringing to their platforms the [prophetic] message which is needed for the hour through which we are passing.
God has done great things for and through the Christian
conference. Great things we are in need of at this very hour. Let our
conferences keep alive to the needs, and God will yet do greater things than we
have prayed or thought of.
-
The Evangelical
Christian.
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369
LITERAL OR FIGURATIVE?
By H. S. WARLEIGH
The figurative
mode of interpretation endangers the cause of revealed truth, for it abandons
the sober, literal, and usual sense of the words, about which the cool judgment
may be exercised, and where tangible, well-founded rules may assist it in
coming to a decision; and commissions the imagination to exercise its ingenuity
to find out some meaning other than that which the words themselves would
literally indicate. This method has found great favour in the Christian Church,
ever since it was introduced by Origen,
whose great name gave it a reputation which it by no means deserved. Such a
mode of interpreting Scripture is in itself a dangerous error, and has opened a
door through which the veriest puerilities have been introduced; and, indeed,
it has been the fruitful source of almost all the heresies by which the Church
has been disturbed. It has given licence to the inventions of a heated and
fanatical imagination, has destroyed all fixed rules of interpretation, and has
made it very difficult, if not impossible, for plain men to comprehend the
larger portion of the sacred oracles, which yet were written for their
instruction and edification; and seeing each mans fancy will find, that is,
invent, its own meaning, what wonder if divisions arise, and ultimately heresies
be introduced?*
* If God raised me from this bed,
said Dr. Horatius Bonar when dying,
I would read the Bible more literally.
* *
* * *
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370
THE MASONIC CRAFT
AND THE GOSPEL
By Rev. C. PENNEY HUNT, B.A.
Three
aspects of the Gospel are vital for every Christian (1) Christs Objective
Sacrifice on the Cross; (2) Salvation by faith only; and (3) The
Sacraments, interpreted spiritually
and apart from all notions of pagan magic.
One of the most prolific Masonic writers, Mr. W. A. Waite, from whose pen has issued volume after volume for
a generation, manifests an amazing lust for these things. He is a great
archaeological student and a great admirer of the Kabbalists.
There are 1,400 degrees known to Masonry of various ages and lands. 1,200 have
entirely ceased to be worked, but Waite has taken the remaining 200 and has
minutely studied the rest. If he is not an authority, who is? In his Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry he tells us that the Masonic ritual is
as sacramental as anything practised in the Churches. Like other writers quoted
- Vishnu, Osiris and Christ are re-incarnations of the same deity. In his
latest work, published 1925, under the title Emblematic
Masonry, p. 286, he
writes: We are the officiating priests, alone
ordained truly, by a succession that is more than Apostolic. Note the
words: masons are alone truly ordained. They
are a succession more than Apostolic. Again
we read, p. 284, The pupil of the great master Eckehart so grew
in the grades of the Divine Love that in the hypothesis concerning her
attainment it was possible and valid for her to make the amazing affirmation I
am God. Again, p. 286, But we are the Sacred
Host that is poured into the chalice, and the wine ... is that of our own being, on the understanding that it is
God within us.
But of course masons who are Church Leaders would repudiate
this sort of thing? Let us see.
The masons of Dundee, to raise money, have issued a volume,
the proceeds from which are to be devoted to the erection of a new
Does Masonry repudiate this book? Nay, a new masonic lodge is
being erected out of the profits. And a recent reference in the masonic press
tells us the book is being read the world over. Do masonic Ministers repudiate
it? Why, the preface to this volume is written by the Rev. W. Paxton, F.R.S., at the time a Congregational Minister of
Dundee. Previously he was President of the Bradford
Free Church Council. He is now pastor
of
But the classical passage illustrating the Cristian Interpretation of Masonry, is Wilmshursts description of the
mystic experiences of the candidate passing through the final stages of these
degrees, as set forth in 50 pages (146-182, of the Masonic Initiation. The writer represents him lying in his
coffin in a condition of Hypnosis (and
compares his experiences with the hallucinations effected by inhaling nitrous
oxide gas). The candidate seems to be led by a guide into the Celestial Lodge
above. Here celestial workmen are busy designing plans for use below - social
systems, national constitutions and plans for the use of modern Masonry. They
have given up, states the writer, designing ecclesiastical constitutions - God
has no further use for the Church. Thus all things on earth are in accordance with the pattern shown in the Mount.
His guide then takes him into still higher regions and coming to the Pillars of
the Royal Arch, leaves him to proceed into the darkness beyond and alone. This
is the Day of Atonement. Each must tread the winepress alone. The candidate
hears his guide in the rear, praying Father, into Thy
hands I commend his spirit. The candidate finds himself divested of all
clothing save his masonic apron. Blood and sweat drip from his brow. He cries
for help to the other sons of the widow (i.e.
Hiram Abiff and the rest). The remainder I give in
the authors own words. I felt myself lifted up above
the earth ... my frame into vertical erectness and rigidity, extending my arms
horizontally, making taut and tense under its strain every fibre of my being.
In mid air, my head held towards heights I could not reach my feet pointing to
the earth they no longer touched, my arms wide-flung traversely into void
space, I hung suspended upon that invisible impalpable Life-Tree; myself a
cross; myself the crucified upon the cross. ... As I hung, my thorny crown
stabbed its spikes more deeply, more insistently into my brow. ... It was the
zero-point of negative consciousness ... where nothing is and God is not. Eloi, Eloi; Lama Sabachthani! ... I revived ... I rejoined my former brother
and guide ... at the pillars ... my presence dazzled him with the light it now
radiated. ... Then
as we embraced he exclaimed: The Master is Risen! and to
him I replied - He is risen indeed. Ward and Waite draw
similar pictures. So does Powell.
Here is one sentence. Before the soul rises again in
its glory, there must be Gethsemane and
So the Christian Interpretation
of Masonry is this - Just as Christ atoned for his own sins and for nobody
elses, so must each individual make atonement for himself, unaided by any
other individual.
* *
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371
BISHOP LIGHTFOOT ON THE NEW
TESTAMENT PRESBYTER
As soon as
the expansion of the Church rendered some organization necessary, it would form
a synagogue of its own. The Christian
congregations in
On their very first missionary journey the Apostles Paul and Barnabas are described as appointing presbyters in every church (Acts 14: 2, 3). The same rule was doubtless carried out in all
the brotherhoods founded later.
The name of the presbyter then presents no difficulty. But
what must be said of the term bishop? In the
apostolic writings the two are only different designations of one and the same
office. How and where was this second name originated?
To the officers of Gentile Churches alone is the term applied,
as a synonyme for presbyter. At Philippi (Phil.
1: 1), in
Asia Minor (Acts 20: 28; 1 Tim. 3: 1, 2), in
The duties of the presbyters were twofold. They were both rulers and instructors of the
congregation. This double function appears in
It is clear then that at the close of the apostolic age, the
two lower orders of the threefold ministry were firmly and widely established;
but traces of the third and highest order, the episcopate property so called,
are few and indistinct.
For the opinion hazarded by Theodoret and adopted by many
later writers, that the same officers in the Church who were first called
apostles came afterwards to be designated bishops, is baseless. If the two
offices had been identical, the substitution of the one name for the other
would have required some explanation. But in fact the functions of the Apostle and the bishop differed widely.
So for communicating instruction and for preserving public
order, for conducting religious worship and for dispensing social charities, it
became necessary to appoint special officers. But the priestly functions and
privileges of the Christian people are never regarded as transferred or even
delegated to these officers. They are called stewards or messengers of God,
servants or ministers of the Church, and the like: but the sacerdotal title is
never once conferred upon them. The only priests under the Gospel, designated
as such in the New Testament, are the saints, the members of the Christian
brotherhood (1 Pet. 2:
5, 9). In
both passages in which Paul sums up the offices in the Church (1 Cor. 12: 28; Eph. 4: 11), there is an entire silence about priestly
functions: for the most exalted office in the Church, the highest gift of the Spirit,
conveyed no sacerdotal right which was not enjoyed by the humblest member of
the Christian community.
-------
PRAYER FOR REVIVAL
As I travel from one end of this land to the other, and have
opportunity to see for myself the condition of the churches; as I read the
various religious periodicals of the various denominations; as I talk with men
and women in positions of influence and power in the Church, my heart would be
sick, yes nigh unto despair, if I did not know God and did not know that He
answers prayer. The gross error that is being taught by many professedly
orthodox ministers; the absence of the real, living Gospel from the preaching
of many who do not preach error, but who are certainly not preaching the truth
in its simplicity, in its fulness, and in the power of the Holy Ghost; the
unconcern of apparently the great mass of the membership of our churches
regarding the lost at home and abroad; the rapidly growing compromise with the
world on the part of a very large proportion of the membership of our churches,
the neglect of real prayer proclaim it. Conditions in our universities, in our
colleges, in our high schools and our grade schools, not merely the religious
conditions, but the moral conditions, are terrible beyond expression. I could
not put into print things that have come under my personal observation as to
the slump, not only in the modesty, but in the moral decency, not only among
our young men and boys, but among
our young women and girls.
But shall we despair, or throw up our hands and say nothing can be done? No, not
for one moment. Throughout the
centuries when conditions were as bad as they are to-day or worse, God has
heard prayer, and He is just the same to-day. I know that God answers prayer
for revival - deep, thorough, wide-spread, miracle-working
revival, as well as I know that I exist.
Pray, pray, PRAY! Pray definitely, pray intensely; pray persistently; meet the conditions of prevailing prayer and BE SURE YOU PRAY THROUGMH.
- R. A. TORREY, D.D.
* *
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372
TESTS FOR THE SPIRIT
IN PROPHETS
These
tests, taken from an eighty-year-old pamphlet, are suggestive to an age
witnessing demon inroads and experiencing demon subtilties to a degree unknown
to its author of a less tested but more Scriptural generation.
Since the Holy Spirit foresaw that the miraculous Gifts would not actually be at all times with the Church,
and yet the imminent danger that would befall it, if an evil spirit should be
received, and obeyed by the Church, in place of Himself, He has given seven
marks whereby to try any spirit.
1. The first test is the confession of Jesus Christ come in the
flesh. Beloved, believe not every
spirit, but try the spirits whether they be of
God; because many false prophets are gone out
into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God:
every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come ([
see the Greek word]) in the flesh is of God: every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God; and this is the spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come, and even now already it is in the world. ... Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error 1
John 4: 1-6. Many indeed
talk of trying the spirits as if it meant
trying doctrines by Scripture:
but the personal test proposed shows the absurdity of such an idea. How can
a doctrine (transubstantiation
for instance) confess or deny Christ come in the flesh? Besides the apostle
still more clearly explains himself, by teaching that the reason of the command
was, that many false prophets are gone out into the world. The spirits to be tried then were the spirits of those
who were inspired and prophesied: and the indwelling spirit and not the man was to be questioned. So our Lord in his
converse with the demoniac of
* [A
remarkable confirmation has just reached us of this imperative necessity of keeping
the spirit and the prophet sharply distinct in testing. Mr. P. H. Halsinger,
of
2. The second test is Christs coming
again in the flesh. Many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not
that Jesus Christ is coming* ([
see Greek word]) in the flesh: 2 John 7.
[* But, how seldom do we hear from preachers today, precisely
what our Lord Jesus is coming back into
this evil world
to
do!]
3. The third is
the Messiahship*
of Jesus. Who is the liar ([
see
Gk.]) but he that denieth that Jesus is the Messiah? He is the
antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son: 2 John 2:
22.
[* That is, Gods anointed Prophet, Priest, King and
Divine Ruler over all creation. See Hab.
2: 14; Isa. 9: 6, 7; 42: 4ff.; Ps. 2: 8; 72. & 110: 1-3f., etc.. cf.
Rev. 3: 21; 11: 15, R.V.]
4. The fourth is
the acknowledgement of the Lordship pf Jesus, or confessing him to be Jehovah.
No one (that is, none under inspiration) can say that Jesus is Lord (or Jehovah) but by the Holy Ghost: 1 Cor. 12: 3.
5. The fifth is a
negative proof. No one inspired who pronounces Jesus accursed, can be speaking
by the Holy Ghost: 1 Cor.
12: 3.
6. The sixth is the
confession, that the commandments regulating the worship of the Churches (such
as that forbidding women to speak) were dedicated by Jehovah. If any man
thinketh himself to be a prophet or spiritual, (that is inspired), let him acknowledge that the
things which I write unto you are the commandment of the Lord: ([
see Greek])
7. The seventh is
the predicting the day of Christ as instantly at hand, without reference to the
apostasy and Man of Sin as about to precede it: 2 Thess. 2: 2, 3.
-------
A TEST FOR PROPHETS
DEAR SIR,
Allow
me to point out that the seventh of the Tests for the spirit in prophets is based on the mis-translation of the Authorized Version of 2
Thess. 2: 2, 3. The Revised Version reads, That the day of
the Lord is now present.
With the first five tests I thoroughly agree, save that I do
not think that speaking by the Holy Ghost necessarily involves inspiration, and
this is why I do not follow the writer in the sixth test, as I do not think a
spiritual man is necessarily inspired.
I am, etc.,
THEODORE ROBERTS.
[The writer of the pamphlet would (we imagine) agree fully
with Mr. Roberts that the spiritual are by no means identical with the
inspired; but the point to investigate is whether the Holy Spirit, in these
contexts, does not use [
see the Greek word] technically for the
inspired, or Spirit-gifted. - D. M. Panton.]
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373
COMING MIRACLE
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
It is an extraordinary fortification of
the heart, in days of upheaval and dark foreboding, to realize Gods enormous
resources foretold as stored up against the day of battle and storm. The coming
irruption of Divine miracle is one such. A deepening necessity is creating the
vacuum into which miracle must rush back at last. The steady growth of the
Satanic miraculous, to culminate in great
signs and wonders (Matt. 24:
24), requiring corresponding counter-miracle
(2 Tim. 3:
8, 9);
the growing inadequacy of the old natural apparatus to meet modern supernormal
conditions; the explicit prophecies of supernatural ambassadors of Heaven at
the End, especially prophets (Joel 2: 28); persecutions yet to come so involving bombing
and gassing as to be met at last only miraculously (Rev.
11: 5),
unless Divine testimony is to be absolutely quenched:- all will compel what
Scripture has foretold. Gods resources are equal to all coming emergencies;
and whether the Church (in whole or
in part) will then have been
removed, though a question of absorbing interest in itself, need not and ought
not to deflect our minds from the splendid vision of returning miracle. What
the Most High has done already, He will do again:- By a prophet the Lord brought
CHRIST
Now in a type more in formative (perhaps) than any other in
the Bible, we have the master-clue to it, given by the Holy Ghost Himself. These things
happened unto them by way of figure - that is, the Wilderness experiences were a kindergarten
forecast of us; and they drank of a spiritual* rock, and
the ROCK was CHRIST (1 Cor. 10: 4, 11). Jehovah
stood on the rock, thus identifying Himself with it; apparently visibly, and so
it must have been Christ, the Jehovah Angel: and as Moses, the embodiment of
the Law, took the rod of judgment - the rod wherewith thou smotest the
river (Ex. 17: 5) - and struck the rock in sight of the Elders of
Israel, so on the Cross the curse of the Law, its whole judgment, fell upon the
Lord, again in sight of the Elders of Israel; and from the gash of the falling
rod came the gush of the living waters. Jesus, Paul says, was made a curse, that we might
receive the promise of the Spirit (Gal. 3: 13). The Cross
was the Rod which changed the river to dead blood
(Ex. 7: 20), and so released the Spirit from the rock: One of the
soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and straightway there
came out blood and water (John 19: 34). Therefore
Peter, at Pentecost, says, This is that which hath been spoken by Joel,
I will pour forth of my Spirit: He hath poured
forth this, which ye see and hear (Acts 2: 16, 33).
* For the sense of [
the Greek word] typical - seen in the light of the
Spirit - see Rev. 11: 8. (Dean Stanley).
PENTECOST
So, therefore, the Lord Jesus Himself explicitly unfolds the
type. Jesus stood and cried, If any
man thirst, let him come unto me and drink:
but this spake He of the Spirit, which they that
believed on Him were to receive: for no spirit was yet - there was, as yet, no miraculous
gift* because Jesus
was not yet glorified (John 7: 37).
That is, after Pentecost, the believer, like His Lord, would become a rock out
of which would rush rivers of inspiration and power. For two post-Calvary
actions of the Holy Ghost are revealed - (1)
an inrush, or drinking - an internal draught; the water conveyed the rock to
the drinking soul: and (2) an
out-rush, an impetuous gush of miracle; the Spirit made visible. The one
corresponds to the entering in of the Spirit, to dwell: the gushing out of the Spirit, after imbibing, is -
naturally - the manifestation of the Spirit (1 Cor.
12: 1) in
miraculous gift and power. All the desert water was locked up in the rock: no drop
of the Holy Ghost is in unregenerate man. It would seem as if the Psalmist
makes separate references to the two ruptures of the Rock, for only in the
first does he name the smiting:- Behold, he smote the rock,
that waters gushed out, and
streams overflowed (Ps. 78:
20): then later, - He opened the
rock, and waters gushed out: they ran in the dry places like a river (Ps.
105: 41).*
* As the body knows no death more awful than the death by thirst,
and as no agony on the Cross drew a cry from the Lord but thirst, so vital, so
overpowering by the very nature of its constitution, is the human souls need
of the Holy Spirit, the living water.
LAPSE OF MIRACLE
Now we come to an element in the
Wilderness type only less remarkable than the Church experience it foreshadows.
Silence in a type - the deliberate
suppression of certain facts - is an integral part of the type, the Spirit
selecting only the resemblances; and the
omissions can be as significant and informative as the insertions. The
outstanding example is Melchizedek as bodying forth the timeless Christ.
Without father, without mother - that is, with no recorded father or mother - without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like - by the omissions from his record - unto the Son
of God (Heb. 7: 3). So for
* The
imperfect [see
Greek
] were drinking, was intended to denote their continuous drinking all through
the entire march in the wilderness: in the previous sentence we have the aorist
[
see Greek word], signifying the simple fact of drinking (Lange).
** The region of Sinai is very
elevated, and not only are the mountain ridges immensely higher than the south
of Palestine, but the ground slopes from the base to a considerable distance
all round, so that the water would naturally flow with the Israelites (P. Fairbairn, D.D.). So, also Moses says:- I
cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the Mount (Deut.
9: 21).
RESTORATION OF MIRACLE
Now there bursts upon us, who also are standing on the threshold
of our Promised Land, the extraordinary conclusion of the Type, which closes in
* It is difficult
to foresee just what Moses violent disobedienc ' e (anti-typically)
portends. Can it mean that apostate Church authorities, by crucifying to themselves the Son of God afresh (Heb. 6: 5), and laying the whole murmuring, mutinous,
despairing Church under anathema, compel Gods resort again to miracle to save
His entire people from perishing?
POWERS OF THE AGE TO COME
Moreover, the last outpour is to be
fuller, more wonderful; for only of the second output of the Rock is it said, -
and
the water came forth abundantly (Num.
20: 11) -
in cataracts. Thus in another type - the rush of the living waters from
Ezekiels
THE DATE
It is of intense and legitimate interest to learn exactly when
(if God has revealed it) the second outrush occurs. All seems to converge on
one approximate date. The first outrush was apart from the people, in the
presence of the Elders alone: at the second, all the People of God are gathered
together - an explicit forecast of the muster in the heavens. The Kingdom was
on the threshold; the Presence-cloud, containing the Shekinah, had come, the
Shekinah always accompanying the local descent and presence of Jehovah (Num. 20: 6) - that is, the Parousia has begun; and the rod
evoking the flood was Aarons sole rod of all the rods of Israels leaders that
budded - the almond-rod of the First Resurrection. And the saints are being
grouped in their grades: Miriam, type of excluded dead saints, is just dead (Num. 20: 1)*; Moses and Aaron, type of excluded living saints, hear
their sentence; and Caleb and Joshua, within a few months of the outrush, enter
in.**
So Joel approximately dates it:- In the last days, saith God, I will (1) pour forth
my Spirit, and I will (2) show wonders,
before the day of the Lord come (Acts 2:
17, 20).*** Presumably
somewhere between His departure in the first rapture (2
Thess. 2: 1), and the out-burst of the Great Tribulation,
the Spirit returns as the Spirit of God sent forth into all the earth (Rev.
5: 6).
Sections of
* It can scarcely be doubted that her
death in the unlovely wilderness was a punishment like the death of her
brothers (Dean Spence).
** Two enter from the living (Caleb and
Joshua), and two from the dead (Jacob and Joseph: Gen.
47: 30, Ex. 13: 19), making up the world-number of the Kingdom on
earth.
*** Both in the Old Testament and the New, the last outpouring is
quoted together with the last judgments, and as inextricably mixed up with
them. Our Montanist, Irvingite and Tongues brethren
have all overlooked this fatal overthrow of their claims - claims themselves
mutually destructive to have experienced the latter
rain. As Habakkuk (3: 2) says:- Revive thy work in the midst of the years; in wrath remember mercy.
Was Jesus poor? Ah me! Ah me!
How could such query ever be
Concerning one who staked his claim
With no boundary but his Fathers
name?
He, with one wide statement, made
Inventory of all he had:
Of wealth, no limit; lack, no sign;
All that the Father hath is mine.
*
* * *
* * *
374
THE SIN OF THE HOUSE OF
By
How inexpressibly grave a doctrine it is which re-covenants into Christ a nation of the darkest
guilt without a single word to that effect from Jehovah, solely on the authority
of some none too careful thinkers twenty-six centuries after the
excommunication of the entire nation by God Himself, and with no national
repentance or even recognition that they are Israel at all, can perhaps best be
realized by Professor Milligans slight sketch of the sin of the Ten Tribes.
Jeroboam,
king of the ten separated tribes, felt that he must break the unity of the
Jewish people, or see his kingdom soon wrested from his hand. Accordingly, no
sooner did he ascend the throne than he set himself to subvert the community of
religious faith which existed between
Jeroboam, Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Oinri,
six kings between the date of the division of the tribes and the appearance of
Elijah, with a seventh now upon the
throne; and three of the six either murdered or brought to a cruel end through
the usurpers by whom they were expelled;- the record is little better than one
of tumult and violence and blood; while at the same time foreign wars, with the
Syrians in the North and the Philistines from the South, helped to fill up the
cup of national misery.
-------
The Messiah, however His coming be delayed, is one day to
gather the scattered tribes from the four corners of the earth, and to reign in
glory in their own land. And on that day, The Law shall go forth from
* *
* * *
* *
375
WHAT THE ATONING BLOOD
OF CHRIST
DOES NOT DO
By G. H. LANG.
In the matter
of deliverance from the Destroying Angel in
Thus for the redeemed Israelites the blood was the
commencement and basis of all future relations with God, it was the doorway out
of estrangement into a life of faith and communion. Moreover, all through the
life thus entered there continued various sprinklings of blood, showing that it
remained perpetually the basis of intercourse with God. Nor is the place and
efficacy of atoning blood at all diminished by the abrogation of repeated
sacrifices and sprinklings through the one complete and final sacrifice of the
cross, because the virtue of that death, and of the blood of Christ there shed,
is eternal and is the perpetual basis of all communion with God.
Nevertheless the door is not the road or its goal, the
foundation is not the superstructure, the blood by itself serves its ends but
not all ends; deliverance from the judicial penalty of sin is not the same as
deliverance from the practical power of sin, freedom from servitude in Egypt
must advance to conquest in Canaan, turning from idols is to develop into
service to a living and true God. For the numerous phases and necessities of
this developing life the blood is ever the basis but is not by itself
sufficient. There are things which blood cannot do and does not do, which it is
not its function to do. In particular, as all histories and types show, it does not (1) dispense with the obedience of faith, or (2) with need
of bread, or (3) do the work of water, or (4) take the place of oil, or (5) act
as fire and serve the ends of discipline, or (6) do the work of the sword.
Blood does not dispense with faith and obedience.
The sprinkling of the Passover blood opened the door to escape
from
How many there are today who have rested their hope of safety
from eternal death upon the precious blood of Christ, but have failed to break
with the world, and so they continue entangled by its pleasures and
enslaved by its Prince. Either they never heard the call and command
to break every yoke with unbelievers, or they have lacked the energy and
decision of faith to do this. Protected by the blood they yet remain enslaved
by the world, the flesh, and the devil. The apostle rejoiced greatly in the
continuing faith of his children in the faith (Eph. 1: 15; Col. 1: 4; 1 Thes. 1: 3), and gave thanks to God when he knew that it grew
exceedingly (2 Thes. 1: 3). He was
keenly aware of the practical dangers attendant upon a failure of faith in children
of God. He stressed heavily that the disasters that overwhelmed Israel in the
wilderness, though they were the redeemed of the Lord, can have counterpart in
the experience of [regenerate] Christians,
for, he says, these things happened unto them by way
of example [Greek, figure]; and they were written [put into Gods historical
records] for our admonition upon whom the ends of the
ages are come (1 Cor.
10: 1-13). These disasters befell most of them that had been redeemed by the blood
of the lamb and brought into liberty and fellowship with God. They were
sufficiently spiritual to know that manna and water had spiritual counterparts
and to partake of these latter: they did all eat the same spiritual
food; and did all drink the same spiritual drink:
for they drank of a spiritual rock that went with them:
and the rock was Christ.
In the face of these explicit assertions of Scripture as to
the spiritual state of those concerned, and in the face of the direct
application of their experiences to Christians in Corinth, it is wholly without
warrant to say that they were not real believers and that the application here
made is to mere professors of this age, not to true [born again] believers. Such treatment of
Scripture would mean that all but a very small number of the Corinthian
Christians were either hypocrites or self-deceived, for of those who were
examples for them only three or four of the men who left Egypt did not die in
the desert. Jude refers to the same ancient events and says:- I desire to
put you in remembrance, though ye know all
things once for all, how that the Lord, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not (verse 5).
This is exactly how Paul warns us in
the passage cited, saying, Neither murmur ye, as
some of them murmured and perished by the destroyer (verse 10).
Therefore there is such a thing as being saved from the
Destroyer in
Blood does not take the place of food.
The same night that
The Blood does not dispense with discipline.
The classic instance of this is David after his lapse and
recovery (2 Sam.
12: 12-14).
He was pardoned, his sin put away, the capital punishment remitted, and all
this because God was able to give the repentant offender the benefit of the
blood Jesus would shed. But to the announcement of pardon the sentence was
added that his child should die and the
sword would harass his house to the end. He had sinned publicly and had
given great occasion to the enemies of his God to blaspheme, and that holy God
was bound to vindicate His holiness and to show publicly that He does not
tolerate [wilful (Heb.
10: 26, 30)] sin in His people. The after life of
David showed that he humbly bowed to
this severe chastisement and was benefited by it.
The leading passage on parental discipline by God is Hebrews 12: 1-17. This follows the great exposition of remission
through the blood and of cleansing by the water. Can discipline, then, add
ought to these? The passage declares that the Father scourges
every son whom He receiveth, and that this is a proof of His love and of their sonship.
The object of this severe treatment is for our profit, that we may be partakers [eis to metalabein, so that we may
partake] of His holiness (verses 6-10). Every one of His sons has already been
reckoned righteous by faith in Christ. But that is something imputed, securing a clear and safe
standing in law; this holiness is the
actual character and activity of God infused into and wrought out in His sons.
The only other place of this exact word in the New Testament is 2 Cor. 1: 12, where
Paul uses it of his practical conduct at
For the furthering of this needful and noble end chastisement
is employed by God our Father, and neither blood, water, nor oil dispenses with
it. Gold is freed from dross by neither of these but by fire (1 Pet. 1: 7). This is set in direct connexion with the
believer being found unto praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Our passage in Hebrews puts heavy emphasis upon this same
connexion by exhorting us to follow after peace with all men, and the
sanctification without which no one shall see the Lord (verses
14-17), that is, God the Father, for
every eye is to see Christ and every knee to bend before Him at one or other
session of His judgment seat.
In my commentary on Hebrews it was shown from many Scriptures that there is a possibility that this scourging
of a child of God may continue after death. An indignant critic
complained in a magazine that it seems that what the blood cannot do, a
thousand years in purgatory is to do. I had shown that the process proposed
differed radically and essentially from the Roman Catholic conception of
purgatory in that the Catholic doctrine makes salvation dependent upon such purgation, which is false. The critic
ignored this. His phrase was clever, well calculated to catch the unwary and
mislead the uninstructed by a seeming honouring of the blood: but it revealed the common and regrettable
theological error that the blood is like money and answereth for all things.
Yet it is very evident that in this life at least the atoning blood
does not serve the end that chastisement serves, nor, if discipline be
resented, will the blood compensate by perfecting holiness in the child of God. To lead the people of God to rest on this misconception is injurious to
their souls and to their prospects. It retards growth in holiness, induces
unwarranted confidence, and conduces to lethargy.
Blood does not do the work of the sword.
By blood
Hast thou sheltered under the precious blood of Christ, then
thou art secure from eternal damnation; but take not thou for granted that all
the privileges and advantages of the new life in Christ, in time and eternity,
are certain to become thine. Not so, not so! Thou must put on the whole armour
of God, and use the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Eph. 6.). Therefore
challenge thy heart with the question, Am I fighting the good fight of faith? Am I a soldier of the cross? Thy new birth grants
thy title to inherit in
Christ; the atoning blood has removed the legal obstacle to thy inheriting, even thy sin; but possession will
only be secured by thy sword. Therefore, my brother, say resolutely to thy soul
Since I must fight if I would reign
Increase my courage, Lord:
Ill bear the toil, endure
the pain
Supported by Thy word.
What the blood does has been opened up in the former part of
this exposition - [Atoning Blood What it Does
and Does Not Do by G. H. LANG.]. The God of all grace be praised for the rich and establishing truth there
set forth. Yet it is very necessary that the Christian should understand what
the blood does not do, in order that he may feel his need of water and oil, may
set himself to the life of detail obedience to the will of God declared in His
Word, may thus eqjoy the communion of the Holy Spirit
and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. To Him be the glory both now and unto
the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Pet.
3: 18. [R.V.]).
--------
FOOTNOTE ON ATONEMENT
The principal, because the basic, benefit of atoning blood is
that it atones. Of it God said: I have given it to you
upon the altar to make atonement for your souls [lives]: for it is the blood that maketh atonement by reason of the
life, with which it is all one (Lev.
17: 11).
The Hebrew word translated atonement
has the picture to cover. Thus the ark was
covered with pitch (Gen. 6: 14), where
the same noun and verb are used as atonement
and atone. That which is covered is hidden from
sight, and true here is that saying out of sight, out
of mind. The same thought is expressed by another word meaning to smear
over, and so erase a record. It is used negatively and positively as a term of
judgment: positively, let their name be blotted out
(Ps. 109: 13,
14). In Neh. 4: 5: let not their sin be blotted out is parallel
with another word meaning to cover, cover not their iniquity. This word for to cover has the picture of clothing which covers,
and so conceals, the person of the wearer. It is therefore similar in meaning
to the former word for to cover, to render
unseen and it is used in Isa.
44: 22 in
connection with yet another picture of hiding from sight: I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and as a cloud,
thy sins: return unto Me,
for I have redeemed thee.
Thus there is a triple picture of the hiding of sin from
sight, the pitch hid the wood of the ark, the substance smeared on the book
hides the record of the offence, the cloud hides the earth from the view of one
on the mountain top. By words and pictures God has taken pains to encourage the
repentant and believing sinner to be
assured that He removes the guilt which hinders fellowship and demands punishment.
It is the atoning blood which effects this saving change of status Godward.
The first of the words for to cover
has an unique application. One form of it is used exclusively of the golden lid
that covered the ark of the covenant
in the
That the Hebrew word to cover
is the equivalent of the Greek word propitiate,
used in the Septuagint and the New Testament, shows that the truth of atonement
is in the New Testament though the word is not.
But though that golden covering sufficiently hid from sight
the tables of the law, this did not by
itself secure the sinful people from the judgment of God, for not gold but
blood is that which shows that death, the full penalty of sin, has been
executed and the broken law repaired. Therefore that golden lid had to be
sprinkled annually with the atoning blood that erased the record of the sins of
the people and hid these from the sight of God as a thick cloud blots out the
landscape, being proof visible that the sins had been expiated by equivalent
penalty. The divinity of our Lord could not by itself save sinners, it being no
equivalent whatever for the forfeited life of men. It was indispensable that He, being God, should become man so as to
meet the whole legal demand of God that death must follow sin. Therefore,
as the passage quoted from Romans 3: 25 says, God set Him
forth to be a propitiation ... in [the
virtue of] His blood.
That precious blood covers for ever the sins of those who
truly repent and unfeignedly believe. ... Of such He says, their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more
(Heb. 10:
15-18).
Blessed, indeed, is he whose transgression is forgiven, and whose sin is
covered (Ps. 32:
1), being hidden from the eye of God.
- G, H. LANG.
* *
* * *
* *
376
THE PROPHET OF JUDGMENT
By D. P. PANTON, B.A.
Elijah
is incomparably the most wonderful of the prophets of Jehovah. He is referred
to more often and more directly than any other prophet in the New Testament;
and when the Lord on the Mount [of Transfiguration (Matt. 17: 4; Mark 9: 4; Luke 9: 30, R.V.)] summons to Himself the Law and the
Prophets, while Moses stands for the Law, it is Elijah who embodies the
Prophets. His appearances and disappearances are extraordinarily dramatic. He
appears from nowhere, suddenly, in full maturity as man and as prophet, without
a single recorded word on his past: he disappears into nowhere - an
abode which to this moment remains one of the secrets of God - in a
whirlwind. He is the prophet of action, brief, summary, compelling: far the
most miracle-gifted of all the ancient prophets, his miracles are greater even
than those of Moses - for where Moses sterilized a
Elijah was a flaming prophet of judgment; and the nearer we
approach the end [of this evil age], the more valuable he will become as a beacon-light
and a model. His appearance in the Northern Kingdom was at a moment,
not only of the deepest corruption, but of nation-wide apostasy, and
on the eve of
For the Holy Ghost three times in the New Testament punctuates
the life of Elijah as advents of mercy: the Tishbite means the
converter and so our Lord reveals him as a missionary into the heathen
dark. Jesus says:- Of a truth I say unto you, There
were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah; and unto none of them was Elijah sent, but only to Zarephath, unto a
woman that was a widow (Luke 4: 25).
Elijah is a designed embodiment of Gods power in the midnight of the world: in an atheistic and idolatrous
crisis when Gods physical re-assertion of Himself is (in grace) desperately
needed, miracles are abundantly granted:-miracle over the animal creation - the
feeding by ravens; miracle over food - the multiplied meal and oil; miracle
over the body - a forty days fast; miracle over earth- the parted Jordan;
miracle over the heavens - the rain withheld; miracle over the other world [i.e.,
the underworld of Hades (Matt. 16: 18. cf. Acts
2: 31, 34,
R.V.)] - the raising of
the dead; and even miracle of annihilation - the fire-consumed stones on
Carmel. But the spiritual kernel in it all is unhusked by our Lord. In the
desolation of nations God does not forget a widow gathering sticks. Elijah sent
to Sarepta is an embodiment of the
sovereign election of God, sent out into earths uttermost darkness to find the
Redeemers jewels. There is always a Widow of Sarepta in the heart of
Jezebels land.
The next selection in the life of Elijah made by the Holy Ghost
is a moment of fearful depression and wonderful revelation. What saith
the answer of God unto him? I have left for
myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed
the knee to Baal
(Rom. 11:
4). Elijah, in a loneliness in no way altered by the existence of the invisible
thousands, without any human protection, companionship, or even sympathy -
for he does not appear to have known of the Jehovah worshippers - confronts two
savage tyrants, eight hundred and fifty demoniac prophets, and an entire nation acquiescing in
State-established idolatry - the most dangerous of all things to oppose.
Single-handed he killed Baal-worship at a blow. But again the Holy Ghost
reveals Gods heart of mercy in judgment. When despair is clutching at the
prophets throat, and he is certain the apostasy is universal, God - doing an
altogether unique thing - turns the finished side of the tapestry up, and, by
unveiling omniscience in a divine census, not only shows His work to be seven
thousand times greater than Elijah knew, but that He is working to an exact pattern. Not one soul will be missing
from the roll of the elect.
Lastly the Holy Ghost, in selecting, out of all the Old
Testament heroes, Elijah as the model of prayer, reveals his intercession as
mainly mercy. Elijah was a man of like passions with
us, and he prayed fervently that it might not
rain - a remarkable proof that the
gifts of even the most powerful miracle-workers cannot be divorced from prayer,
and that Deity alone (as our Lord
before raising the dead) is exempt from petition before the mightiest wonders -
and
he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain (Jas.
5: 17).
Elijahs praying was judgment in order to mercy: first the drought, then the showers: he prayed
again, and the earth brought forth her fruit. We are told that
he prayed fervently for the drought, but we
are told that he prayed seven times (1 Kings 18: 43) for the rain. Is it not a gigantic parable
that it is Elijahs prayer, when he comes again, which will call down the
Latter Rain?* As Elijah came in the person of
John between Law and Grace, so he will come again in his own person between
Grace and Law; and both dawns have in them the light of both sunsets:
in each case Elijah is a gigantic twilight figure.
* It is suggestive that Elijah obtained the promise of the
showers before, but the showers themselves after, the struggle on
Three tremendous closing episodes in this tremendous life are
each introduced with Behold, so marking the great emphasis God puts upon them. BEHOLD, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and Elijah
went up by a whirlwind - in an ascent, in law not grace, startlingly
unlike the calm ascent of our Lord - into heaven (2 Kings
2: 11). Whither he went, the present
abode of Enoch and Elijah, is utterly unrevealed: it is not Hades, for they
ascended; it is not the heaven of heavens, for
no
man - our Lord
states - hath ascended into heaven (John 3:
13), and He Himself has alone passed through the heavens (Heb.
4: 14):
probably it is the third heaven - counting from the Throne, and so the lowest -
to which Paul was caught away, and where it is possible that converse with Enoch and Elijah was
among the things not lawful to utter (2 Cor. 12: 4).* Deathless removal from earth vindicates the servant of
God establishes, by physical proof, worlds beyond; reveals God as Lord of
Death, which He holds in abeyance at His will; breaches the dam of judgment by
uplifting its keystone - My father, my
father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen
thereof! uncovers
the sole pathway to the Bema; and (in the case of Enoch) gives the world for
five thousand years a palpable proof of the ultimate removal of the Church down
the far ages of time.
* It is remarkable that they are nowhere
said to have been taken to Paradise, which can only be accounted for on the
ground that Paradise - to which Paul, in manifestly a parallel and separate
experience, was caught away (there is no up
in the Greek) - is a department of Hades, to which our Lord descended (Luke 23: 43),
in the lower parts of the earth. (Eph. 4: 9). This
locality of Paradise our Lord Himself makes certain, for after three days in it
He says to Mary - I am not yet ascended (John 20: 17);
for, as He had Himself foretold, He had been three
days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Matt. 12: 40.).
Elijahs second appearance on earth gives the evangelical
vital which is the soul of his life and the heart-content of all prophesy. BEHOLD, there talked with
him two men, which were Moses and Elijah,
who appeared in glory, and
spake of his decease (Luke 9: 30):
Moses, fifteen centuries old, and Elijah nearly a thousand years; both in
glory, bodily witnesses of a glory-world
beyond.* The great drama of the ages was about to be enacted; and, on this elevated
plateau of the world, Moses (as it
were) says, The Law was the
Schoolmaster to bring us to Christ; and Elijah, - The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. For their central theme is
disclosed. They do not tell Him of a grave God-dug, with mournful angels
standing round; nor of a chariot and horses of fire, waiting: their converse is
of a cross, and a crown of thorns; an altar, and
a flame. The Law-giver ponders the
most lawless act of all eternity; and the Prophet ponders the burial of all
hope: yet in that lawlessness the Law-giver sees the Law finally accomplished;
and in that tomb - into which he himself had never entered - the deathless
Prophet sees the death of death.
* If Elijah is one of the two Witnesses slain by Antichrist (Rev. 11: 7), his martyrdom proves that a servant of God,
once glorified, can die. Fixity in glory after rapture, incorruptibility, is
stated to be a special privilege by our Lord - accounted
worthy of the resurrection, they cannot die
any more (Luke 20: 35); and thus 1 Cor. 15. covers Kingdom saints (verse
50) as incorruptible.
Probably at [the seventh hour (John 4: 47-52ff.)!] now no very distant date lies Elijahs
third appearance on earth, and his second
descent to the earth. BEHOLD, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and
terrible day of the Lord come: and he shall turn
the heart of the fathers to the children, and
the heart of the children to the fathers - turning the hearts of the alienated, apostate
children to the hearts of their orthodox ancestors, as they leave the Talmud
for the Scriptures, and turning the now rejoicing hearts of the patriarchs to
the broken and contrite souls of repentant Israel - lest - for the heart of even Elijahs
second coming, as of the first, is still mercy - I come and smite the earth
with a curse (Mal. 4: 5). The
roots of all revelation are deep in the past, and to part with them is to part with God: so Elijah is - as our
Lord alone asserts (Matt. 17: 11) - the Restorer,* both to Israel and the world; and so his 7,000 in Israel becomes
144,000 (Rev. 7:
1), and his heathen widow of Sarepta becomes
the countless sheep on the right hand of
the King.
* It is an apocryphal tradition (Ecclus. 48:
10) that Elijah is to restore the tribes of Jacob. It has also been
conjectured that, as restorer, is he who will
reawaken the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost which have been dormant since
the Apostolic age.
-------
The bread that giveth strength I want
to give;
The water pure that bids the thirsty
live;
I want to help the fainting day by
day,
Because I shall not pass again this
way.
I want to give the oil of joy for
tears;
The faith to conquer cruel doubts and
fears;
Beauty for ashes may I give alway,
Because I shall not pass again this
way.
I want to give good measure running
oer,
And into angry hearts I want to pour
The answer soft that turneth wrath
away,
Because I shall not pass again this
way.
I want to give to others hope and
faith
I want to do all that the Master
saith;
I want to live aright from day to day,
Because I shall not pass again this
way.
-------
Disillusionment.
Like a lightning-flash this fact, a fact in no remotest
connection with prophecy, discloses the reason of our own (and others')
unceasing emphasis on to-days dark facts. Every hope lodged in an error is a hope
withdrawn from the truth; and all noble effort and devotion based on it is the
launching of a boat without a bottom. How can we build Utopia on approaching
insanity? and what is to stop an insanity which advances Pari Passu with science? and who but ourselves
are responsible for all waste of devotion on the futile? Only in the bankruptcy
of human hope is born the Hope of God.
The Advent. For the Advent is the Morning Star in
the darkness. Sir Martin Conway, in
the Prayer Book debate in the House of Commons, voiced the heart-hunger of
millions:- We are waiting for someone who will not
overthrow the old revelation, who will not disestablish the old faith, but who
will carry us into a wider field and will give us a new vision of the world
that is beyond, a new vision of the unknown, of the eternal, towards which we
ordinary folk can but blindly grope. Thirty years ago I and my companions were
standing on the shores of an
* *
* * *
* *
377
MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM
[1]
By ARLEN L. CHITWOOD
The same day
went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the
seaside.
And great multitudes were gathered
together unto him, so that he went into a ship,
and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the
shore.
And he spake many things
unto them in parables
When anyone heareth the word
of the kingdom
every scribe which
is instructed unto the kingdom of the heavens is
like a man that is an householder, which
bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old (Matt.
13: 1-3a, 19a, 52b).
FOREWORD
In
relation to the central message of the New Testament - the Word of the Kingdom - first century
Christianity and twentieth century Christianity would have very little in
common. Things have changed in Christendom to that degree, and they have not
changed for the better. Rather, relative to correct, Biblical teachings
regarding the Word of the Kingdom, over the past two millenniums there has been
a steady deterioration.
The central message of the New Testament was universally
understood and taught throughout the first century Church. But this same
message, except in isolated instances, is not understood or taught at all
throughout the twentieth century Church.
The false message concerning the kingdom, introduced by Satan
very early in the dispensation through false teachers (apostates) in the
Church, resulted in a continuing deterioration which has left Christendom in
its present condition, two millenniums later. And it matters not whether one is
viewing Christendom from the standpoint of those in fundamental circles or
those in liberal circles. In relation to a knowledge of and attitude toward the
Word of the Kingdom, exactly the same thing can be seen among those in both groups.
Those in fundamental circles dont understand any more about the Word of the Kingdom than those in liberal
circles do. And anyone daring to proclaim this message today will be fought
against by those in both groups - usually more so by the fundamentalists than
by the liberals. In relation to this message, both groups exist
in an almost completely leavened state; and both are seen described in Rev. 3: 17 as wretched, and miserable, and poor,
and blind, and naked.
The seven parables in Matthew
chapter thirteen have to do with both Christendom and Israel. The first four parables cover a
history of Christendom in relation to the Word of the Kingdom which extends throughout the
dispensation; and the last three parables continue with events which will occur
after the dispensation has run its course, events having to do with both Christendom and Israel,
events during and immediately following the Tribulation which lead into the
Messianic Era.
Never in the history of the Church has it been more important
for Christians to understand that which is revealed in these parables than it
is today, for never in the history of the Church has the Word of the Kingdom been more misunderstood and spoken against than
it is today.
Christians are in a race - the race of the faith - with its corresponding spiritual warfare.
And the highest of all possible prizes is being held out for the victors - that
of being accorded the
privilege of ascending the throne with Gods Son and ruling over the earth as
co-heirs with Him for 1, 000 years.
A Christian can overcome in the present race, in the present
warfare, and occupy one of these positions with Gods Son; or he can be
overcome in this race, in this warfare, and fail to occupy one of these
positions. This is the message which Satan has fought so hard to destroy.
And, is it any wonder that Satan has expended so much time and
effort to do away with this message? Christ and His co-heirs are to take the
kingdom and rule the very domain which Satan and his angels rule today. Satan
and his angels are to be put down, and Christ and His co-heirs are to ascend
the throne in their stead. And this is something which Satan, at all costs, has
sought to avoid.
This is the realm where Satan centers his attack against
Christians and against the Word of God. This is at the heart of all things surrounding the spiritual warfare.
Satan attacks Christians, seeking at all costs to bring about their defeat in the race of the faith,
causing them to be disqualified for the prize set before them. And he attacks the message which
relates these things - the Word of the Kingdom seeking at all costs to corrupt and destroy this
message.
And how well Satan has succeeded can be seen on every hand today. This message is all
but absent in the Churches throughout the land, and the vast majority of Christians throughout these same Churches lack any real spiritual
direction and purpose in their lives. This is what the leaven which the woman
placed in the three measures of meal in Matt.
13: 33
has done during a period encompassing almost two millenniums.
This is the state in which Christendom finds itself near the
end of the dispensation. And this existing state of Christendom should surprise
no one, for Scripture clearly reveals that this is the way the dispensation
would end.
* *
* *
* *
378
THE KINGDOM OF THE
HEAVENS [2]
By ARLEN L. CHITWOOD
The
verb, homoioo, is used introducing the parable of the
wheat and tares after a manner which should be translated, it has become
like. Accordingly,
this parable should begin with the statement, The kingdom of the heavens has
become like...
But this same translation - has become like - should not be repeated in the
remaining five parables. Rather, using the noun homoios, with a verb following,
the translation, the kingdom of the heavens is like... (introducing each of the remaining
parables) is probably as accurate as it can be rendered.
But this translation, introducing the last five parables, must
be understood in the light of the way in which the whole matter is introduced
in the parable of the wheat and tares. That is, this parable opens by
revealing, The kingdom of the heavens has become like... Moving from the parable of the Sower to
the parable of the wheat and tares, the kingdom of the heavens became like;
then, the kingdom of the heavens continues like... in the remaining five parables.
Thus, in this respect, the opening statement in each of these
succeeding parables - the kingdom of the heavens is like... - must, contextually, be understood
in the sense, the kingdom of the heavens continues like... There is a
chronological continuity of thought after this fashion as one moves through
these parables, something which must be recognized if the parables are to be
properly understood.
2) The Kingdom of the Heavens
The kingdom of the heavens is a realm. And, in relation to this earth, the expression would
refer simply to the rule of the heavens over the earth.
Satan and his angels presently rule from a heavenly sphere
over the earth. And this heavenly sphere is that realm in which Christ and His
co-heirs will reside during the coming age when they rule from the heavens over
the earth, following Satan and his angels being cast out (Rev. 12: 4, 7-9; ref. the authors book, THE MOST HIGH RULETH).
Thus, the kingdom of the heavens becoming as described in the parable of the wheat and tares, or continuing as described in the subsequent five
parables, cannot be a reference to the realm of the kingdom per se. The realm itself doesnt change.
Only certain things about the kingdom can change (e.g., the message about the kingdom).
The complete parabolic section in Matthew
chapter thirteen is introduced and concluded after a similar fashion. And
seeing how this is done, the thought inherent in the use of the expression, the kingdom
of the heavens,
in the second through seventh parables can be easily ascertained.
In the parable of the Sower, setting the stage for the
remaining parables, the word of the kingdom is in view (vv.
19-23). This is a message pertaining to Christian faithfulness during the
present dispensation, with a view to occupying positions as co-heirs with
Christ in the kingdom of the heavens during the coming age. That is to say, the
Word of the Kingdom is a message about the realm presently occupied by Satan and his angels, which
Christ and His co-heirs will one day occupy.
Then, concluding all seven parables, Christ stated relative to
these parables, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom
of the heavens is like unto... (v. 52). Again, the Word of the Kingdom is in view.
The instruction to which Christ referred is instruction in exactly the same
thing seen in the introductory parable, the parable of the Sower - i.e., instruction in the Word of the Kingdom.
And exactly the same thing is in view through the use of the
expression, the kingdom of the heavens, introducing the second through
seventh parables. Its not the realm of the kingdom of the heavens which has become like and continues like that described
in these parables. Such would be impossible. Rather, it is the proclamation, offer, and reception or rejection of the kingdom
of the heavens (referred to both before and after these six parables) which has become like and continues like that described
in the parables.
(The same thing can be seen in the offer of the kingdom to
Sons of the Kingdom, Sons of the Devil
Only two types of individuals are seen
in the parable of the wheat and tares. They are referred to by the expressions wheat [or, good seed] and tares (vv.
24, 25). The wheat, the good seed, are identified as the children
[sons] of the kingdom, and the tares are identified as the children [sons] of the wicked one (v.
38).
The One sowing the good seed is identified as the Son of
man, a Messianic
title (v. 37; cf. Ps.
8: 4; Dan.
7: 13, 14; Matt. 16: 13-16); and the one sowing the tares is
identified as the enemy, the devil, the incumbent ruler in the kingdom (v.
39).
Everything about this parable has to do with a particular work
of God (relative to the kingdom) and with a particular countering work
of Satan (also relative to the kingdom). God has placed individuals out in the
world, with a view to their
bringing forth fruit; and this fruit would, in turn,
be in relation to the proffered kingdom. And Satan has placed contrary minded individuals (v. 41) in the
midst of those who are bearing fruit, seeking to counter that which is occurring. It is only
through this means that Satan would envision any hope at all of retaining his
present ruling position.
(The word tares is a
translation of the Greek word zizanion, which refers to a troublesome sprout
appearing in grain-fields, resembling wheat, though it is not wheat.)
Now, put all of this together for the complete picture of
something which has been occurring throughout the dispensation, which has gone
almost completely unrecognized. This parable has to do, not with how Satan
seeks to prevent fruit-bearing (that was seen
in the first three parts of the previous parable, the parable of the Sower),
but with how Satan seeks to stop fruit-bearing - something not
seen in the previous parable, or really not seen in the same fashion in any of
the subsequent parables.
This parable reveals Satans attack against a select group of Christians. It reveals his
attack against fruit-bearing Christians. And it is among these Christians that Satan goes about
seeking to counter Gods plans and purposes through sowing that which resembles
wheat, though it is not wheat.
Satan knows that fruit-bearing is that which God requires of
those who are to ascend the throne with His Son in that coming day (cf. Matt. 21: 18, 19, 43; Heb. 6: 7-9). And
he will, first of all, do everything within his power to prevent Christians from bearing
fruit (seen in the first three parts of the parable of the
Sower). But, when Christians begin bearing fruit (seen in the fourth part of
the parable of the Sower), then he will do everything within his power to stop them from bearing fruit. And it is among
the latter group of Christians - those bearing fruit - that Satan is seen
sowing counterfeits (in relation to fruit-bearing, individuals producing counterfeit fruit [Matt. 7: 15-20]).
1) The Wheat - Sons of the Kingdom
The good seed sown by the Lord out in the world are specifically referred
to by the expression, the children [sons] of the kingdom. And, beyond that, the title used to identify the Sower is
the Son of man, a Messianic title.
The significance of their identification as sons lies in the fact that Christians are
presently sons of God awaiting the adoption in one respect, but children of God with a view to sonship in another respect.
Note how Paul dealt with this matter in Rom. 8: 14-23:
For as many as are led [lit.,
are being led] by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again
to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
The Spirit itself [Himself] beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of
God.
And if children, then heirs: heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together...
... even we ourselves groan within
ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our
body (vv. 14-17, 23b).
In this chapter in Romans,
as also in Galatians chapters three and four and in Hebrews
chapter twelve, reference is made to Christians being sons in a present sense, preceding the adoption (Rom.
8: 14, 15; Gal. 3: 26; 4: 5-7; Heb. 11: 5-8, 16, 17, 23). And these instances would correspond to
the way in which the matter is handled in Matthew
chapter thirteen.
Sonship implies rulership. Only sons can rule in Gods kingdom. But, as will be shown, only firstborn sons can rule within
the human realm in Gods kingdom.
All angels are sons of God because of their special, individual creation. And
angels occupy various positions of delegated power and authority in Gods
kingdom (cf. Job 1:
6; 2: 1; 38: 7).
Adam was a son of God because of a special creative act of God. But Adams
descendants were not sons of God. Rather, they were sons of the one from whom
they descended. They were sons of Adam (Gen.
5: 3ff; Luke 3: 38).
Thus, Adam, before the fall, being a son of God, was in a position
to rule the earth. But the fall resulted in his disqualification. Though he was
still a son of God, he, following the fall, was no longer in a position to take
the sceptre.
And Adams descendants were in no position to take the sceptre,
for two reasons. Not only were they fallen creatures (a position inherited from
Adam), but they were not sons of God. Rather, they were sons of Adam, sons of a
fallen creature.
Two thousand years later God called Abraham out of
This special creation was performed in the person of Abrahams
grandson, Jacob (Isa.
43: 1);
and this special creation was of a nature which would allow it to be passed on
through the genes, through Jacobs twelve sons, resulting in a nation
recognized as separate and distinct from all the other nations (thus, the
distinction between Jew and Gentile [Num. 23: 8-11]).
Then, once God had a separate nation of this nature - which
would be viewed as a son because of the special creation in Jacob - he adopted this nation into a first born
status (Ex. 4: 22, 23), redeemed those comprising this nation (Ex.
12: 1ff),
and called this nation out
of Egypt under Moses to rule at the head of the nations in a land previously
covenanted to their forefathers (cf. Ex. 2: 23-25; 3: 7-12; 15: 17, 18; 19: 5, 6). That
is, a redeemed people, recognized as Gods firstborn son, was being called forth to rule in that
part of Gods kingdom which Adam had previously been created to rule.
But coming on down into modern times,
Then the Church, a separate creation from either Jew or
Gentile, is likewise in no position to rule. Though those comprising the Church
are new creations (in Christ [2 Cor.
5: 17]), can be viewed as sons,
and are saved (unlike those
comprising the nation of
Prior to ascending the throne with Christ, Christians must first be adopted. And this is
what Romans chapter eight, Galatians chapters three and four, and Hebrews
chapter twelve are about.
Christians are presently Sons, (because of their standing as new creations),
awaiting the adoption (their present status); and consequently, although
Christians are presently sons, they are in no position to rule. Only adopted sons (the Christians future standing) can rule. Thus, sonship,
portending rulership, is seen in Romans,
Galatians, and Hebrews
in relation to adoption and inheritance (both future).
The matter can be illustrated quite easily from Romans. The verses leading into Rom. 8: 14 (the verse presenting Christians as sons) deal with Christians either living
after the flesh or putting to death the deeds of the flesh. Then verse fourteen deals with individuals being led by
the Spirit of God (contextually, individuals under the leadership of the Spirit
putting to death the previously mentioned deeds of the flesh), and these
individuals are said to be the sons of God, with adoption mentioned in connection
with sonship in the next verse (v. 15; cf. v. 23). But then the following verse (v. 16)
specifically states that Christians are also presently children of
God.
However, though Christians are presently seen as both children and sons, no Christian is presently seen as a firstborn son. That standing
awaits a future time, a time following the adoption.
Contextually, Rom. 8: 14-16 should be understood in the light of Heb. 12: 5-8, where Christians are seen undergoing child-training as sons (seen as children of God who are being
child-trained as sons of God), with a view to adoption into a
firstborn status (vv. 16, 17, 23). Thus,
Rom. 8: 14-16 would have to be understood in the
sense of Christians presently being led by the Spirit of God (undergoing child-training as sons),
who will be manifested as firstborn sons in that coming day following the adoption, occupying positions as joint-heirs with
Christ in His kingdom (vv. 17, 19).
That is the subject of the whole passage. And exactly the same
thing can be seen through the use of the expression, sons of the
kingdom, in Matt. 13: 38, for
that is the subject of the whole passage there as well.
(For additional information on the preceding, refer to the
authors book, GODS FIRSTBORN SONS, Chapter 3,
pp. 25-31)
The sons of the kingdom in Matt.
13: 38 are the good seed, the ones bringing
forth fruit. They, as the ones in Rom. 8: 14
(actually, the sons both places are the same), are the ones who will be manifested as the sons of
God, in the
kingdom, in that coming day (Rom. 8: 19).
Though all Christians can presently be viewed as sons because of
creation, not all Christians are being referred to in Matt.
13: 38 by the expression, sons of the
kingdom. Nor are
all Christians being referred to in Rom. 8: 14 by the expression sons of God. The specific reference in Matthew is to those Christians bringing forth
fruit, and the specific reference in Romans
is to those Christians following the leadership of the Spirit.
And, again, the two are the same. Fruit-bearing cannot be
realized apart from following the leadership of the Spirit; and following the
leadership of the Spirit will invariably result in fruit-bearing.
It is the Son of Man who sows Christians out in the world,
with a view to fruit-bearing, which is with a view to the kingdom. Everything points ahead to
the kingdom - the Son of Man (the Sower, described through the use of a Messianic
title), the sons of the kingdom (those sown,
described through the use of an expression portending rulership), and fruit-bearing (a bringing
forth, with a view to the kingdom).
2) The Tares - Sons of the Wicked One
The tares though present the other side of the picture. As previously shown, the
tares present Satans efforts to stop fruit-bearing, to put a stop to
that presently occurring, in the various places where it is occurring.
And, as also previously shown, Satan is seen carrying on his
activities on two fronts:
1)
He is seen seeking to prevent Christians
from bringing forth fruit (described in the first three parts of the parable of the
Sower).
2)
he is then seen seeking to stop
Christians from bringing forth fruit (described in the parable of the
tares, forming a commentary on the fourth part of the parable of the Sower).
If Satan can prevent Christians from bringing forth fruit,
the matter will be settled at that point, and a continued work will be
unnecessary. But, if he cant prevent Christians from bringing forth fruit,
then he has to stop them.
It is here that he is revealed sowing tares. He sows them
right in the midst of Christians bearing fruit, and this is done with one goal in mind. It is done in
an effort to stop, through any means possible,
Christians who are bearing fruit from continuing to bear fruit.
c)
Identity of the Tares
Exactly who are those whom Satan sows among fruit-bearing
Christians in an effort to stop them from bearing fruit? The answer is easy to
ascertain.
These parables were given by Christ at His first coming, at a
time when the kingdom of the heavens was being offered to the nation of Israel;
but these parables had to do with events beyond that time, occurring during a
time when the kingdom of the heavens would be offered to a separate and
distinct entity, the one new man in Christ. And, whether during that time when
the kingdom was offered to Israel, or during that time when the kingdom would
be offered to the one new man in Christ, any realization of the offer was
contingent on one thing - fruit-bearing (Matt. 21: 18, 19, 43).
They were the ones who followed Christ about the country
seeking, at every turn, to speak out against the Messenger and His message.
They were the ones directly responsible for the nations rejection of the King
and kingdom. They had shut up the kingdom of the
heavens against men [in the presence of men]
(Matt. 23:
13). And for this reason they experienced a
rebuke and condemnation at Christs hands unlike that experienced by any other
religious group in
Bringing this over into Christendom, whom would Satan use
during the present dispensation to either prevent or stop fruit-bearing
relative to the kingdom? In the light of the past offer to
It was Jewish religious leaders then, and the
counterpart would have to be Christian religious leaders today. Those outside the nation - the
unregenerate world - had nothing to do with the matter then; nor can those
outside the Church - the unregenerate world - have anything to do with the
matter today. It was those within which Satan used in
But how could [regenerate] Christians be identified by the expression, sons of the wicked one (Matt.
13: 38)?
Note several references in Scripture relative to Israelites acting in similar
capacities and the answer will become apparent.
In John chapter eight, Jews who had believed on Christ (v. 31), who
were acknowledged by Christ to be Abrahams seed (v.
37), were also said, because of their works, to be of their father the
devil (vv. 39-44).
In Matthew chapter sixteen,
Peter, because he stated relative to Christs sufferings, death, and
resurrection on the third day, Lord: this shall
not be unto thee, was associated directly with Satan. Jesus said to Peter - not to Satan,
but to Peter - Get thee behind me, Satan (vv.
21-23;
cf. John 6: 70).
Then in Matt. 23: 15, the
Scribes and Pharisees - those having shut up the kingdom of the heavens (v.
13) - were said to have made a proselyte twofold more
the child of hell [lit., twofold more a son of Gehenna] than themselves. Their sonship,
because of that which they had done, was associated with Gehenna (the place of
refuse) rather than with the kingdom.
With all these things in mind - seeing a counterpart in Israel
to that existing in Christendom - viewing the expression, sons of the
wicked one in Matt. 13: 38 as a reference to the saved, not
the unsaved, would, contextually, be the only natural way in which
the matter could be viewed. And, that this is the correct way to view this part
of the parable can be shown through other means as well.
Seeing the tares, the sons of the wicked one, as those within the Church, not without,
is in complete accord with all facets of the matter. It is in complete accord with
the history of the offer to Israel, it is in complete accord with (and the only
thing which can possibly adequately explain) that which can
easily be seen occurring throughout Christendom today, and it is in
complete accord with that which can be seen when one moves on into the third
and fourth parables in Matthew chapter thirteen.
Then there is one other thing which will preclude viewing the
matter after any other fashion. That which the text reveals about Gods future
dealings with the wheat and tares should resolve all doubts which anyone might
have concerning their identity.
b) Judgment of the Wheat and Tares
Both the wheat and tares are seen being dealt with at the same
time and place. And the Lords dealings with both after the fashion seen in the
parable is with a view to entrance into or exclusion from the kingdom.
All those represented by the wheat are gathered into the barn. But the matter is quite
different for those represented by the tares. They are seen being gathered and burned (vv. 30, 40-43).
But note something, and note it well. Eternal verities are not being dealt with in this parable. Rather,
the subject is fruit-bearing, with a view to [ones entrance into, or their exclusion from] the [Messiahs coming millennial] kingdom.
Everything stated about the Lords dealings with those
represented by the wheat and tares is in perfect accord with Scripture elsewhere relating to
that which will emanate out of issues and determinations at the judgment seat
(cf. Matt. 24: 45-51; 25: 19ff; John 15: 1-6; 1 Cor. 3: 12-15; Heb. 6: 7-9). And
dealings by the Lord of this nature would be completely out of line with any thought that the tares represent unregenerate individuals. Scripture never presents the Lord dealing with the saved and unsaved
at the same time and
place after the fashion seen here. The saved and unsaved being dealt with
together in this fashion would have the Lord dealing with both in relation to fruit-bearing, with a view to the
kingdom - an impossibility.
c)
Leave Them Alone
Then there is one other thing which needs to be considered
about those whom Satan has sown in the midst of fruitful Christians, seeking to stop them from bearing fruit. And
the importance of following Christs instructions in this respect cannot be overemphasized.
What is to be the fruitful Christians attitude toward those
whom Satan has placed in their midst, to stop them from bearing fruit? What are
fruitful Christians to do about antagonism toward their fruitfulness and the
reason why fruit is being borne? The question is asked and answered in verses twenty-eight through thirty of the parable.
Wilt thou then that we go out and
gather them [the
tares] up?
But he [Christ] said, Nay; lest while ye gather up
the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the
time of harvest I will say to the reapers [angels
(v. 41)],
Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
Those standing in the way of ones interest in having a part
with Christ in His [millennial] kingdom are to be dealt with after only one fashion.
They are to be left
ALONE! Leave them
ALONE (Matt.
15: 14). Simply
IGNORE them, CONTINUE doing that which the
Lord has called you to do, and let
the Lord take care of the matter in His Own way and time.
* *
* * *
* *
379
SOME SHALL DEPART [3]
By ARLEN L. CHITWOOD
Satan deceived Eve into eating fruit from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, contrary to Gods command. And once Eve had
disobeyed God, she was no longer in a position to rule with Adam, which meant
that Adam couldnt rule. A part of Adams very being - bone of his bones, and flesh of his flesh (2:
23) - was no longer in a position to rule,
preventing him from ruling.
Thus, Adam, in this condition - an incomplete being - was left with only one choice. Eve had to be redeemed. And there was only one way in which this could be done.
Adam, taking the only course available, partook of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil as well (Adam could only drop to Eves level,
not she rise to his). And Adam did this with a view to redemption and his one day
being able to occupy, as a complete being (the man and woman together), the position for which God had created man.
Comparing type with antitype, all of this can be clearly seen.
The Second Man, the Last Adam, found His bride in the same fallen state; and He
took the only course
available. He Who
knew no sin was made sin for us that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him (2 Cor.
5: 21).
As the first man, the first Adam, couldnt reign apart from
the one in a fallen state - his wife - neither can the Second Man, the Last
Adam. And since man is to ultimately realize the purpose for his creation in
the beginning, it must be recognized that both the first Adam and the Last Adam
took the only course
available as it
pertains to the reason for mans existence and the sin question. To properly
understand the actions of either Adam in
Mans redemption - wrought through Christs finished work at
Calvary - has its direct connection with that revealed in Genesis surrounding the reason for mans creation,
Eves subsequent fall because of Satans deception, and Adams resulting
subsequent act.
Salvation in Scripture is connected with regality, not as man often presents the
matter, with a rescue or deliverance from the lake of
fire [Rev. 20:
15, R.V.)].
Though the lake of fire does await individuals rejecting
Christs finished work at
In this respect, the lake of fire has its connective origin with regality as it pertains to the
earth - the same as the purpose for mans salvation. And this
connective origin of the lake of fire with regality and the earth is why [unregenerate] man, rejecting Gods remedy for sin,
will end up in this place.
Fallen man will have rejected that which has to do first and
foremost with regality and the earth. He will have rejected a salvation
which finds its revealed purpose in the reason for mans creation and subsequent fall. And man, rejecting a salvation of this nature [i.e., eternal salvation], is doing little more than rebelling against Gods supreme regal
power and authority - the same as
Satan and his angels had done, though after a different fashion.
Doctrines of Demons
The doctrines of demons in the text from 1 Tim.
4: 1-3 would involve a counterfeit parallel to the truth presented in the
Word of God. God has His deep things, and Satan has his deep things (1
Cor. 2: 10; Rev. 2: 24). And
the latter, as it is presented in Scripture, is simply a corruption of the former.
It is taking the former, remaining within the same framework as the former, and
producing a counterfeit, a corrupted parallel.
For example, Scripture begins with a foundational framework (Gen. 1: 1 - 2: 3), providing an unchangeable pattern for the whole of that which God was
about to lay out in His Word (Gen. 2: 4ff). And Satan
begins at the same point, providing a corrupted parallel to that which God has laid out in His Word (cf. 2 Peter 3: 3-8).
Satan not only has his corrupted parallel relative to
salvation by grace through faith (Gen. 1: 2b-5), but he has his corrupted parallel relative to
present and future aspects of salvation as well - the salvation of the soul (Gen. 1: 6ff). And, as God in His Word places the emphasis
on present and future aspects of salvation (not only in Gen. 1: 1 - 2: 3, but also in the remainder of Scripture), so
does Satan in his counterfeit parallel. And, as God in His Word reveals a
specific goal for mans salvation (not only in Gen.
1: 1 - 2: 3, but also
in the remainder of Scripture), Satan seeks to entirely corrupt this teaching
in his counterfeit parallel.
Satan places the emphasis where God has placed the emphasis, and he seeks to set forth a counterfeit at the same points God has set forth the truth (cf. Isa. 14: 13, 14). He has taken Gods truth and introduced error in his efforts
to mislead the masses.
(A good counterfeit will approximate the original as closely
as possible; and, as with any good counterfeit, it is easier to mislead the
masses in this manner [cf. 2 Cor.
11: 13-15])
Then note that Gods Word is directed to the saved, not the
unsaved. The unsaved are dead in trespasses and sins and cannot understand this Word (Eph. 2: 1; cf. 1 Cor. 2: 14).
And so it is with Satan and his counterfeit parallels. These
counterfeit teachings have been designed for those who have passed from
death unto life (John 5: 24).
Those dead in trespasses and sins are in no position to understand
spiritual issues - whether corrupted (emanating from Satan) or uncorrupted (emanating from God). Both fall
completely outside the realm of the natural (the soulical).
Such a corruption of the truth, received by the saved, can easily be seen from 1 Timothy, where Paul sounded a warning. Paul
foretold a departure from the faith where some Christians would begin giving heed to seducing
spirits rather
than to Gods Word; and these seducing spirits would teach that which is
untrue, specifically referred to in the text as the doctrines of
demons.
These Christians spiritual awareness would become seared
(Gk., kausteriazo;
Marriage points to a work
occurring during mans day (with the truth surrounding the matter established before and at the
time of mans creation), which would be brought to fruition and realized in the
future Lords Day; and meats has to do with that part of Biblical doctrine which centers around this
overall subject (vv. 6, 13, 16).
And those seen being misled in 1
Tim. 4: 1-3, in the latter times by seducing spirits, resulting in their proclaiming doctrines of
demons, are seen,
standing
in the way of marriage... (literal thought from the Greek text [v. 3a]) and are referred to
as apostates. Further, a
misleading of individuals after this fashion is presented in a very specific
and limited sense in Scripture. It is presented specifically as and limited to an apostasy from the faith - nothing
more, nothing less.
1) Apostasy from the Faith
Apostasy has to do with standing away from a position
previously held, and the faith is an expression which encompasses the whole of a
specific part of the Word of God (actually, the central teaching) - the Word of the Kingdom. The Spirit of God, revealing through
Paul the central message which Christians
were to be taught, explicitly singled out that which would occur in the latter
times in Christendom
relative to this central message.
In short, there would be a departure from this central message;
and that associated with the doctrines of demons would, instead, be taught.
a) Apostasy
The word depart in 1 Tim. 4: 1 is a translation
of the Greek word, aphistemi, which is the verb
form of the noun, apostasia. And apostasia is the word from which our English word apostasy is derived. The English word apostasy is simply an Anglicized form of the Greek
word apostasia. Accordingly, to
understand that which is meant by apostasy, the Greek word needs to be
referenced.
Apostasia is a compound
word comprised of apo and stasis.
In 1 Tim. 4: 1, the
departure from the previously held position is specifically stated to pertain
to the faith. That is, seducing spirits, promulgating the doctrines of
demons, are seen leading individuals adhering to the faith (of necessity, [regenerate] Christians, not unsaved individuals [1 Cor. 2: 14]) away from this position.
b) The Faith
The central thrust surrounding the truth of the matter,
derived from the Word of God, has to do with the faith. And the central thrust surrounding that which is false,
derived from the doctrines of demons, also has to do with the faith. One emanates from the deep
things of God,
and the other emanates from the depths [lit., the deep things] of Satan (1 Cor.
2: 10; Rev. 2: 24). The
former is the Truth;
the latter is a corrupted, counterfeit parallel to the Truth.
The faith is an expression peculiarly related
in Scripture to the overall scope of the Word of the Kingdom, to the mystery revealed to Paul, to
the gospel of the glory of Christ, to the salvation of the soul. This is the
manner in which the expression appears in numerous New Testament references -
in the Gospels, in the Book of Acts, and in
the Epistles (both Pauline and General).
Christ, during the course of His earthly ministry, at His
first coming, looked 2,000 years
ahead to His second coming, and, through a question, called attention to a
solitary fact concerning the central message of the New Testament. Christ asked, ...when the
Son of man [a
Messianic title] cometh, shall he find faith [lit., the faith] on the earth?
(Luke 18: 8).
And the manner in which the question is worded in the Greek text designates a negative answer.
The Son of Man will not find the faith being taught in Christendom at the time of His return.
The leaven which the woman placed in the three measures of meal in Matt. 13: 33 (having to do with the doctrines of demons)
will have taken care of that.
Now, if the expression, the faith,
refers to that held by fundamental Christendom today (the whole of mans
categorization of fundamental doctrines; e.g.,
the virgin birth, the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, salvation
by grace through faith, etc.) - as commonly taught - then a major problem
exists.
Fundamentalism, in the preceding respect, is
presently a major force in
Christendom; and the faith would be something held to and
proclaimed throughout a rather large segment of Christendom. Thus, if the faith is to be understood as a reference to
the body of Biblical
doctrines, as held by those recognized as fundamental Christians, then conditions in Christendom are such that Christ cannot
return during the present time. Fundamentalism of this nature is
presently alive and well in Christendom. In fact, it is actually a growing
force in numerous quarters. Millions of Christians in this country alone would
fall within the mainstream of fundamentalism and adhere to this body of
Biblical doctrine.
But the preceding is really neither here nor there, for, when
one looks to Scripture for its own definition of the faith, something completely different is
seen. Scripture uses this expression in a very limited sense. Scripture uses
this expression in contexts having to do with the Word of the Kingdom, not in
contexts having to do with the complete body of fundamental doctrines of the
Christian faith.
Doctrines of the faith, in the preceding respect, in actuality, represent that
which man has attempted to categorize as he has looked at the Scriptures, not
doctrines seen through allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture. To take the
Biblical expression, the faith, and attempt to identify it with mans categorization of
doctrine (a list of Biblical doctrines) is the height of folly in Scriptural
interpretation.
Scripture is always to be interpreted in the light of Scripture (1 Cor. 2: 9-13). And
this is exactly the way in which the expression, the faith, must be understood.
Scripture must be allowed to
explain that which is meant by the expression. It is an expression which is
used over and over in Scripture. And the interesting thing is that Scripture
not only clearly explains how this expression is used, but it does so in
numerous instances.
Paul, for example, in his first letter to Timothy, following
his warning concerning the apostates, said:
Fight the good fight of [the] faith,
lay hold on eternal [Gk.
aionios]* life [lit., Strive in the good contest of the faith, lay hold on life
for the age], whereunto thou art also called... (6:
12).
[* See The Duality of
Eternal Life by S.S. Spears.]
And, in Pauls second letter to Timothy,
a similar usage is again seen:
I have fought a good fight [lit., I have strived in the good contest],
I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness... ([2 Tim] 4: 7, 8).
Or, when Jude sought to write an epistle relative to the common
salvation [the
good news concerning salvation by grace through faith, a subject which none of the epistles
centers on], the Spirit of God led him to write on an entirely different
subject. The Spirit of God led Jude to write an epistle exhorting Christians to
earnestly contend [lit., earnestly strive] for the faith which was once
delivered unto the saints [the good news concerning salvation in relation to the coming glory of
Christ, something seen as central in the subject matter of all the epistles] (v. 3).
The words fight (1 Tim. 6: 12), fought (2 Tim.
4: 7),
and contend (Jude 3) are translations
of the same word in the Greek text - agonzomai,
the word from which our English word, agonize,
is derived.
In Jude though, the word
has been intensified through the writer prefixing the Greek preposition epi to the word,
forming epagonizomai. Thus, the correct translation would be, earnestly
strive...
In all three of the preceding passages, the thought, through
the use of agonizomai,
has to do with straining every muscle of ones being relative to the faith.
In the first two references (from 1,
2 Timothy), the picture is that of an
athletic contest. Christians are to strain every muscle of their being in the present race of the faith in
which they find themselves engaged.
Then Jude, in the face of apostasy relative to the faith, still remaining within the thought of
an athletic contest, intensified the word. Jude, because of apostasy among Christians relative to the faith - Christians giving heed to seducing
spirits, teaching the doctrines of demons (something also spoken of by Christ,
Paul, and Peter) - intensified the thought of striving in his exhortation. He,
in essence, exhorted Christians, while running the race of the faith, to be especially and particularly on guard because of the
apostates.
And it is apparent that Jude, with a view to the apostates, intensified
this word because of the specific nature of apostasy, because of the realm in
which the apostates had centered their teachings - seeking to mislead
Christians relative to the faith, seeking to draw Christians away from the
central teaching of Scripture. The doctrines of demons, promulgated by the apostates, is the most dangerous and deadly teaching
that has ever been proclaimed or ever will be proclaimed in Christian circles. And, because of
this, Jude exhorted Christians to strain every muscle of their being in the race of the faith.
The preceding would form only a few examples of the way in
which the expression, the faith, is used in the New Testament. Other examples would be the
conversion of priests in Israel during the re-offer of the kingdom, who were
then obedient to the faith (Acts 6: 7), disciples exhorted to continue
in the faith
relative to entrance into the
kingdom (Acts 14: 22), Paul proclaiming the
faith which he had once sought to destroy (Gal.
1: 23;
cf. Eph. 6: 16; Phil. 1: 27; Col. 1: 23; 2: 7; 1 Thess. 5: 8; 2 Thess. 1: 4, 11; 1 Tim. 1:
2, 19b; 5: 8; 6: 10, 21; 2 Tim. 2: 18; 3: 8; 4: 7), and the
usage of the expression in the general epistles (cf. Heb. 12: 2; James 1: 3; 2: 14, 17, 18, 20, 22, 26; 1 Peter 1: 7, 9). Faith is
articular in the Greek
text in each of the preceding references.
Thus, there is a uniform usage of this expression throughout
the New Testament. And, though it doesnt have to do with the body of Biblical
doctrine held by those forming fundamental
Christendom, it does have to do with a body of Biblical doctrine. It
has to do with that body of Biblical doctrine rejected by Christendom at large
- fundamentalists and liberals alike. It has to do with that body of Biblical
doctrine referred to various ways in Scripture - the Word of the Kingdom, the mystery, Pauls gospel, the
gospel of the glory of Christ, etc.
2) Marriage, Meats
Foundational principals and Biblical doctrine surrounding the marriage
relationship have forever been set forth in the opening chapters of Genesis. And, any time one finds the man and the
woman together beyond this point - whether during Mans Day or during the
coming Lords Day - rulership is in view.
Or, to present the truth of the matter from another perspective, turn the
statement around. Any time one finds rulership in view beyond the opening chapters of Genesis
(relative to man), a husband-wife relationship must also be in view.
This is why Israel is seen as the wife of Jehovah in the Old Testament theocracy - a
wife later seen as an adulterous wife, resulting in God divorcing
Israel - with God then, of necessity, ending the Old Testament theocracy (cf.
Jer. 3: 1-14; Ezek. 9: 3; 10: 4, 18; 11: 22, 23). And
this is why, before a theocracy can be established on the earth yet future,
This is also why Christ is to have a wife yet future. If Christ is to reign over the earth as the
Second Man, the Last Adam, He must have a consort queen to reign with Him. This is why a marriage must occur prior to
the time He reigns. A Husband-wife relationship must exist at this time.
And further, this is why the husband-wife relationship today,
during Mans Day, is dealt with in Scripture in connection with an heirship together (1 Peter 3:
7). There is a present reigning in life,
seen in the marriage relationship; and this is at the heart of that which
Paul refers to as a great mystery relative to Christ and the Church in Eph.
5: 21-33.
There are two books in the Old Testament which bear the names
of women. One is Ruth, and the other is Esther. And, interestingly enough, no one knows
who wrote either book. The Book of Ruth
presents one aspect of this overall matter, and the Book of Esther presents the other.
The Book of Ruth has to do
with a Gentile who marries a Jew, with a redeemed inheritance in view. Ruth, in
her marriage to Boaz, sets forth truths surrounding Christ and His wife yet future. And the entire Book of
Ruth sets forth the overall scope of the matter from beginning to end, with the husband-wife relationship, in
connection with the inheritance. being brought to the forefront in the
end.
* *
* * *
* *
380
INSTRUCTION IN THE KINGDOM [4]
By ARLEN L.CHITWOOD
Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed
unto the kingdom of the heavens is like unto a man that is an householder,
which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old (Matt. 13: 52).
The Word of the
Kingdom - the
message surrounding the kingdom of the heavens (Matt.
13: 11, 19, 24) - is the central message of the New
Testament. Whether studying the gospels, the Book of Acts, the epistles, or the Book of Revelation, an individual will be studying
Scriptures dealing centrally with a message pertaining to the kingdom.
The person understanding this message will possess a proper
foundation to build upon as he studies different parts of the New Testament.
However, if this message is not understood, the converse of the preceding will
be true. That person will possess an improper foundation to build upon; and his
studies throughout any part of the New Testament will, accordingly, be
adversely affected.
This is why an individual instructed in the Word of the
Kingdom can be likened to the householder in the text. Not only will he able to
go to the Scriptures and bring forth things which are old, (things he has already seen and
understood) but he will also be able, from the things which are old, to begin seeing and bringing forth things which are new as well (things
he has not previously seen and understood).
And, according to the text, he will be able to do this because he has been instructed unto the
kingdom of the heavens. He now possesses a key to the
Scriptures, a key which will open numerous
passages of Scripture to his understanding, passages which otherwise would have
remained closed.
Such an individual, as he studies and learns new things about
the Word of the Kingdom, will progressively find himself being able to, more
and more, take the old and see and understand that which is new. And the more that person comes into
an understanding of the Word of the Kingdom, the more he will see Scripture
opening up to him in this fashion. The latter, in this respect, is inseparably linked
to and dependent on the former.
This is what an understanding of the Word of the kingdom will
do for an individual in his quest for a knowledge of Scripture. And, though
this has been the experience and testimony of numerous Christians, this is not
simply what they might have to say about the matter. Rather, this is what the unchangeable Word of
God has to say about the matter.
The Word of God clearly reveals that a person instructed in
the Word of the Kingdom can go to the Scriptures and bring forth out of this
storehouse of unlimited treasures things new and old. But by the same token, apart from an
understanding of the Word of the Kingdom, though an individual may be able to
see and understand certain truths, the same situation referred to in Matt. 13: 52 simply doesnt exist.
The preceding will explain why this whole realm of teaching
lies centre stage in Satans
attack against the Word during the present dispensation. An understanding of
the Word of the Kingdom is the key to a proper understanding of Scripture as it relates to
Christians, and Satan knows this. He knows that if he can corrupt or destroy
that which will open the door to a proper understanding of the numerous other
Scriptures bearing on the subject, he can best accomplish the purpose for his
present work among Christians.
Satans efforts toward this end are something easily seen in
the first four parables in Matthew chapter thirteen.
These four parables present a chronology of Satans work as he seeks to subvert
the Word of the Kingdom, and this chronology covers the progressive results of
his work in this respect throughout the entire dispensation.
Satans attack in the first parable, the parable of the Sower
(vv. 3-8, 18-23), was seen to be against those hearing the Word of the Kingdom. He sought to
stop the matter at that point, preventing individuals from understanding this
message and subsequently bringing forth fruit.
Four types of [regenerate] individuals are seen responding to the message, with Satan being successful
in his attack against three of the four. Those seen in the first three of the four categories fell
away and bore no fruit. But Satans attack against those in the fourth category
proved to be unsuccessful. They heard the Word, received and understood the
Word, overcame Satans attack, and bore fruit.
Then the next parable, the parable of the wheat and tares (vv. 24-30, 36-43), centers around Satans attack against the ones bearing fruit from the
previous parable. Satan placed those with a false message (false
teachers) in the midst of those bearing fruit, seeking to subvert the message
and stop that which was occurring. That is to say, he sought to corrupt the
true message through introducing a false message. And this was done with a view
to stopping that which had resulted from a proclamation of the true message.
This was done with a view to stopping those Christians who were bearing fruit
from doing so.
Then the next parable, the parable of the mustard seed (vv. 31, 32), shows that which happened in Christendom over the course of time
during the dispensation because of this false message. The mustard
seed germinated and took a normal growth for awhile. But then something
happened, which caused it to take an abnormal growth and eventually become a tree. And after this
abnormal growth had occurred - after the mustard bush had became a tree,
something which it wasnt supposed to become at all - the birds of the air
(ministers of Satan, seen in the first parable [v.
4]) found a lodging place therein.
And the fourth parable, the parable of the leaven (v. 33), completes the picture. The false
message introduced near the beginning of the dispensation is likened to leaven
placed in three measures of meal (three is the number of Divine perfection, and meal is that which is used to make bread. Leaven [a
corrupting substance] was placed in the meal [resulting in corruption in the
bread]). And this leaven would continue to work (this false message would
continue to permeate and corrupt the true message) until the whole had been
leavened (until the whole had been corrupted).
This is the revealed direction which Christendom would take
relative to the true message concerning the Word of the Kingdom following the
introduction of the leaven, following the introduction of a false message
concerning the Word of the Kingdom.
These four parables together show a history of Christendom throughout the dispensation in
relation to the Word of the Kingdom. This message - the central message of the New Testament - was universally taught throughout the Churches during the first
century. But the introduction of a false message resulted in changes.
Christendom itself took an abnormal growth; and this abnormal growth was such
that the false teachers eventually found themselves welcomed within that which
they, through their false message, had corrupted.
Corruption though didnt stop at this point. The working of
the leaven continued, and it would continue until this false message had
permeated all of Christendom. This corrupting process would continue, according
to the text, till the whole had been leavened.
And, viewing the matter solely from the standpoint of that
which can be seen in the world today, what has been the end result of the
working of the leaven? As the dispensation draws to a close, where does the
Church find itself today?
The answers are easy to ascertain. All one has to do in order
to see and understand that which has happened is to go into almost any Church
of the land (fundamental and liberal alike) and listen for any mention of
things having to do with the Word of the Kingdom. A person will listen in vain. Because of the
working of a leavening process which is in its final stages, the true Biblical
message surrounding Christians and the coming [messianic and millennial] kingdom is practically nonexistent
throughout Christendom today.
This leavening process recognizes no bounds or barriers.
Fundamental Christendom finds itself just as permeated with the leaven, as it
relates to the Word of the Kingdom, as does liberal Christendom. From the
theology schools to the pulpits of Churches to the pews in these Churches, the
whole of Christendom finds itself in exactly the same state insofar as that revealed throughout the first four
parables in Matthew chapter thirteen is
concerned.
Many of the fundamentalists, not understanding the true nature
of the leavening process, look upon themselves as having escaped this corruption.
But such is not the case at all. Insofar as any understanding and proclamation
of the Word of the Kingdom is concerned, the fundamental groups find themselves
in exactly the same
state as the liberal groups. They find themselves permeated through and through with
exactly the same corrupting leaven. There is absolutely no difference
between the two groups in this respect. Neither understands nor proclaims this
message.
Seminaries - fundamental and liberal alike - are training
students in everything but the one message which will open the Scriptures to
their understanding. And these same seminaries are turning out graduates who
are filling the pulpits of Churches with a message completely void of any
reference to the Word of the Kingdom. These seminary graduates dont know the
truth of the matter, and, as a result, their entire ministries are negatively affected. The various
flocks which the Lord has entrusted to their care are not being properly fed;
and, in reality, for the most part, Christians under their ministries are slowly [prophetically] starving to death.
Christians throughout the Churches today are simply not
hearing the one message, above all other messages, which they should be
hearing. And the reason is given in the first four parables of Matthew chapter thirteen. The working of the
leaven over almost two millenniums of time has produced a corruption extending
throughout Christendom which has all but destroyed the message surrounding the
Word of the Kingdom. And, as a result of this corruption, the Bible, for the
most part, remains a closed book for the vast majority of Christians.
The preceding is why a person, untrained in the theology
schools of the land, but understanding the Word of the Kingdom, often has a
better grasp of the whole of Scripture than many of those who are teaching in
the theology schools. The person having an understanding of the Word of the
Kingdom possesses a key to Scripture which a person without this understanding
does not possess. He can go to the Scriptures and bringforth things
both new and old, but the
same thing cannot be said for those who lack this understanding.
Why?
Why will instruction in the Word of the Kingdom open the
Scriptures to a persons understanding like nothing else? Why is an
understanding of this message so vital if a person is to possess a correct and
proper grasp of Scripture? The answer could be looked upon in a twofold
respect.
First, an understanding
of the Word of the Kingdom is the only thing which will provide the true
Biblical picture surrounding the purpose for the Christian life. Why did God bring the new creation in Christ into existence? Why is God taking an entire dispensation to
do a work among the Gentiles? Why is the Holy Spirit presently in the world
performing a work among Christians?
And second, an understanding
of the Word of the Kingdom is the only thing which will provide the true
Biblical picture surrounding direction for the Christian life. What is the goal toward which
everything moves as it pertains to the new creation in Christ? What is the spiritual warfare about?
What is the race of the faith about? What will be the end result of victory or
defeat as it pertains to the warfare or the race?
An understanding of the Word of the Kingdom will answer
questions surrounding the Christian life unlike anything else in the Word of God. This is the only thing which will
present the complete Biblical picture in its correct fashion. Only out of this teaching can all the
issues surrounding the Christian life be properly addressed, and only out of this teaching can one find the
true motivation for Godly Christian living.
But, if all the preceding is true - and it is - then why is
this message so fought against in Christian circles today? It would appear that
acceptance rather than
rejection would be the norm.
Such though is not the case at all. Rather, with rare
exceptions, rejection is invariably the norm. And the reason is
seen in the working of the leaven in Matt. 13: 33. The
negative attitude of Christians toward the Word of the Kingdom is simply the
end result of a work of Satan which has been going on for almost 2,000 years.
1) Purpose of...
The overall picture of the Word of the Kingdom in the New
Testament begins with the offer of the kingdom of the heavens to
The one new man, the new creation in Christ (2 Cor. 5: 17; Eph. 2: 15) was brought into existence to bring forth
fruit where
And, since
And, in order to carry out His purposes surrounding this new creation,
God sent the Holy Spirit into the world. Throughout the present
dispensation, the Spirit of God is in the world performing a work in the
antitype of that seen in Genesis chapter twenty-four.
As Abraham in this chapter sent his servant into the far
country to procure a bride for
his son, God has sent the Holy Spirit into the world to procure a bride for His Son. And, as in the
type, so in the antitype - the search occurs among those in the [redeemed] family. The Spirit of God is conducting His search among those comprising the one new man, for this one new man forms the body
of Christ, and the bride is to be taken from the body (cf Gen. 2: 21-25; 24: 2-4, 9; Matt. 22: 14).
And also as in the type, once the search has been completed,
the bride will be removed. As Rebekah was removed from Mesopotamia, so will
Christs bride be removed from the earth; as Isaac came forth to meet Rebekah,
so will the Son come forth to meet His bride; and as Rebekah went with Isaac to
his home, where she became his wife, so will the bride go with
Christ to His home, where she will become His wife (Gen. 24: 61-67; 1 Thess. 4: 16, 17; Rev. 19: 7-9).
2) Direction for...
The goal toward which everything pertaining to the new creation in Christ moves is exactly the same as the goal
set forth in the beginning, in the opening two chapters of Genesis. The point out ahead toward which all
things move is the earths coming Sabbath, foreshadowed by the Sabbath in Gen.
2: 1-3, which followed six days of restorative work (Gen. 1: 2b-25).
And it matters not whether one is viewing the reason for the
existence of the one new man, the reason for the present dispensation, or the
reason for the Spirit of God having been sent into the world, the point toward
which everything moves is always the same. It has to be the same, for this is the way matters were set forth and established
at the beginning of Gods revelation to man (Gen. 1: 1 - 2: 3).
And properly understanding the spiritual warfare and the
present race of the faith is contingent on properly understanding things
surrounding the goal which lies out ahead. It is contingent on properly
understanding the reason God has brought the one new man into existence, the reason God has set
aside an entire dispensation to deal with this new man, and the reason God
has sent His Spirit into the world to perform a work during the dispensation.
Christians are engaged in a warfare against powerful spirit
beings in the heavens, which is part and parcel with the race of the faith in
which they find themselves engaged; and whether Christians do or do not
understand all the various things about this warfare and race, Satan knows
every one of these things all too well. And he is ever lying in wait to defeat
the Christian in the warfare or sidetrack him in the race.
And the end result will be either victory or defeat. An individual will either overcome in the warfare
and race or he will be overcome.
And note what is at stake in either victory or defeat - the greatest thing God could ever
design for redeemed man. The Spirit of God is presently in the world opening the
Word of God to the Christians understanding, calling their attention to one
central fact - They are being offered positions as co-regents with Christ in His kingdom, forming the bride which will reign with the
Son as consort queen.
Thats what is at stake. And knowing this, is it any wonder
that Satan, very early in the dispensation, set about to accomplish the things
outlined in the first four parables in Matthew
chapter thirteen? Is it any wonder that he has done and continues to do
everything within his power to corrupt and destroy the true message surrounding
Christians and the coming kingdom?
From Genesis to Matthew
to Revelation
As previously seen in this book,* several things must be kept in mind
when studying the parables in Matthew chapter
thirteen. The first four were given outside the house, by the seaside;
and the last three were given after Christ had re-entered the house. This fact,
often overlooked, is significant beyond degree if one is to understand these
parables correctly. Then, a chronology is seen in the parables which carries
the reader from the beginning of the present dispensation to the future
Messianic Kingdom.
[* That is, Mysteries of the
Kingdom. by Arlen L. Chitwood. Orders from I.C.M.
Books.co.uk. www.icmbooks.co.uk]
As previously shown, the first four parables (given outside
the house, by the seaside) present a history of Christendom as it relates to
the Word of the Kingdom; and this history covers the entirety of the
dispensation. To understand why conditions in Christendom are as they presently
exist, one has to go back in history and follow the course of events leading
into the presently existing situation.
And going back in history after this fashion can only be done one way. It can only involve going to the Scriptures to see
what the Word of God reveals about the matter, not what the various Church
history books written by man reveal. All of mans writings on Church history
might as well be categorized as secular
insofar as this aspect of Church history is concerned. That which man has
written simply doesnt deal with Church history in this respect, though this is the main crux of the
matter seen within the way Scripture deals with the subject.
The earliest period of Church history is dealt with in the
Book of Acts, following the inception of the
Church. This period covers that time when the kingdom was being re-offered to
The epistles (some written during the Acts period, some
following) deal centrally with the same message seen in Acts - one having to do with the kingdom. These epistles simply form different facets of instructions
written to Christians surrounding the same central message. And these
epistles, as the Book of Acts, provide information surrounding early Church
history.
Both the Book of Acts and
the epistles deal with the Church during the first century only. But there are
two places in Scripture which deal with a history of the Church throughout the
dispensation. One is in the parables in Matthew
chapter thirteen, before the [New Testament] Church was even brought into
existence; and the other is in Revelation chapters
two and three, at a place in the book
where the Church is seen being dealt with at the judgment seat in the heavens
following the dispensation (though the record itself was given during the early
years of the dispensation and has to do with a history of the Church during the
dispensation as well). Thus, one complete history is seen in Scripture at a
point preceding the dispensation (Matt.
13), and the other is seen in Scripture at a
point following the dispensation (Rev. 2, 3).
In Matthew chapter thirteen,
before the dispensation began, a history of the Church - in relation to the Word
of the Kingdom - is seen in the first four parables. And, in Revelation chapters two and three, at a point in the book which follows the
dispensation, a history of the Church - in relation to the Word of the Kingdom
- is seen in the seven letters (seven epistles) to the seven Churches.
The first presents a history of the Church in relation to the
Word of the Kingdom from the perspective of the Lord using parables; the second
presents a history of the Church in relation to the Word of the Kingdom from
the perspective of the Lord using epistles to seven existing Churches in
Then, all of this is intimately connected with Gods original
structure of His Word at the beginning. The parables in Matthew chapter thirteen and the seven epistles in Revelation chapters two and three are structured after a fashion which is in
complete keeping with the way God set matters forth at the very beginning of
His revelation to man, in the opening chapters of Genesis.
And this is easy to understand, for the latter rests upon and is inseparably
linked to the former.
Scripture begins with a foundational framework upon which the
whole of subsequent Scripture rests - six days of restorative work (a
restoration of the ruined material creation, with man created at the conclusion
of this work, on the sixth day), followed by a seventh day of rest, a Sabbath
day. And the preceding relates the story of the whole of Scripture beyond this
introductory framework.
Man, following his creation, fell. And he, through this fall,
became a ruined creation, bringing about not only his own ruin but the ruin of
the restored material creation once again as well. And God, following this
ruin, again set about to perform six days of restorative work - which this time
had to do with both man and the material creation. And this latter restorative
work will be followed by a seventh day of rest - a Sabbath rest awaiting the
people of God, the coming Messianic Era (Heb.
4: 4-9) - in exact keeping with the pattern set forth
at the beginning.
Each day in the former restoration was twenty-four hours in
length, including the Sabbath; and each day in the latter restoration has been
/ will be 1,000 years in length, including the Sabbath (cf. Matt. 16: 28-17: 5; 2 Peter 1: 16-18; 3: 1-8).
All of Scripture beyond the foundational framework in the
opening two chapters of Genesis rests upon
and forms additional information for this framework. And it matters not whether
one is dealing with the framework set forth at the beginning or with subsequent
Scripture, all restorative work can be seen moving toward the same goal - a coming Sabbath of
rest.
(Note also that exactly the same septenary structure beginning
the Old Testament in the opening two chapters is seen in the opening two
chapters of Johns gospel as well [which, in this respect, should be the gospel
beginning the New Testament, paralleling Genesis
beginning the Old].
As well, with respect to everything moving toward the seventh
day, the subject matter is the same throughout both books. In Genesis, this is accomplished mainly through the
use of types; and in John, this is accomplished mainly through the use
of signs.
The former [Genesis] has to
do with the restoration of a ruined material creation, occurring over six days
time, with a seventh day following [a day of rest following]; the latter [Johns
gospel] has to do with the restoration of another ruined creation, ruined man,
occurring over six days time, with a seventh day following [a day of rest
following].
Thus, if Johns gospel occupied its proper place in the Canon
of Scripture - set at the beginning of the four gospels - each Testament would
be introduced by this septenary structure.)
Then, with the preceding in mind, note the first four parables
in Matthew chapter thirteen. Events in these
parables form one facet of a commentary on that which occurs during the two
days immediately preceding the Sabbath, which covers the entire present
dispensation.
And, viewing events in the remaining three parables, which
move beyond the present dispensation and progress on into the Messianic Era, its
easy to see and understand how all these parables move toward this same goal -
the same goal set forth at the beginning of Scripture, the coming Sabbath. Everything moves toward this goal.
And exactly the same thing can be seen in the seven epistles to
the seven Churches in Revelation chapters two
and three. This sequence of epistles simply
forms another facet of a commentary on that which occurs during the two days
immediately preceding the Sabbath. And, from the overcomers promises, along
with that which is revealed in Revelation chapters
one and four, its easy to see and
understand that all of this (exactly as the parables in Matthew chapter thirteen) has to do with the Church in relation
to the Word of the Kingdom and the coming Sabbath. Again, everything moves toward this goal.
Thus, it should be a simple matter to see that anything in the
New Testament which has to do with the Church centers around things having to do with the coming [millennial] kingdom. And though man may write his history books
completely separate from
this message, Scripture centers its revealed history of the Church completely
around this message.
During the first century, Christians would have understood a
history of the Church in keeping with Scripture, for the Word of the Kingdom
was universally taught throughout the Churches of the land. Today though, the
situation has become completely reversed. Because of the working of the leaven
over almost two millenniums of time, the message surrounding the Word of the
Kingdom has become so corrupted that two things would be evident:
First, a Church historian wouldnt
know enough about the Word of the Kingdom to even include it within his account
in the first place, much less ascribe to this message a central place in his
account.
Second, even should a Church historian
write about the matter, Christians wouldnt be able to understand that which he
was writing about. Because of the working of the leaven over almost two
millenniums of time, the truth about the Word of the Kingdom has become so
corrupted that it would be completely alien to their way of thinking.
And thats where we are in a supposedly enlightened twentieth
century Christendom, immediately preceding Christs return for the Church.
Were living during a time when there is far more material available for Bible
study and research than has ever existed in the history of the Church -
everything from the extensive computer study and research programs to new books
being printed every day. But we are also living during a time when the birds of the air are freely lodging in the branches of the tree, with its roots
sunk deep into the earth, where the leaven has almost completed its work.
Warning
The parables in Matthew chapter
thirteen deal far more extensively with the negative than they do with
the positive. More space is given in the first parable to those who fail to
bring forth fruit than is given to those who do bring forth fruit (in three of
the four parts). And the emphasis in the second, third, fourth, and seventh
parables is on different facets of this same work of Satan as well. Only the
fifth and sixth parables, which have to do with Christs redemptive work as it
relates to the earth and to His bride, form an exception.
Thus, the central thrust of these parables is seen to be far more negative than positive. These parables have to do centrally
with exposing the work of Satan throughout the dispensation in relation to the
Word of the Kingdom, along with revealing where this will lead, both during and
following the dispensation.
As the dispensation draws to a close and Satans corrupting
work nears its final stage, the whole matter goes almost completely
unrecognized in Christendom. And the reason for this is easy to see and
understand. The leavened [and apostate] state
of Christendom is being viewed by those who have themselves been adversely
affected by the leaven.
They are, in this respect, as the two disciples on the Emmaus
road who were walking alongside the resurrected Christ and didnt even
recognize Him. Their inability to recognize the Christ of the Old Testament
Scriptures - the Word which had become flesh, the Old Testament Scriptures
which had been manifested in a Person - resulted from their inability to
properly understand these same Scriptures. It was only after these Scriptures
had been opened to their understanding, followed by Christ breaking bread, that
their eyes were opened. And Christians today, viewing a leavened Christendom
and not seeing or understanding its true condition [before a holy God], are simply not viewing matters from a correct Biblical perspective. Their
inability to recognize the true condition of the Church stems from their
inability to understand that which Scripture reveals about the matter. And, if
their eyes are to be opened to the truth of the existing situation, such will
occur only through the truth of the Word being presented to them and being
accepted by them.
But will such occur during the present dispensation? Will the
truth about the coming kingdom ever be proclaimed in such a manner that it will
be accepted, allowing the eyes of Christians to be opened?
One here and one there will hear and understand the message,
but not the Church at large. Conditions can only continue to deteriorate in the latter respect. Such was
assured - the pattern was set - when the woman placed the leaven in the three
measures of meal. And conditions can only continue to deteriorate, until the whole has been leavened.
* *
* * *
* *
381
OUR RESURRECTION BODY
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
1. - THE SAME BODY
Our Lord
reveals the exact nature of the resurrection body. He does not quiet the
Apostles fears by saying that there is no spirit-world; or that no apparition
can appear; or that a spirit is necessarily invisible; or that a deceptive
spirit cannot appear among Apostles in the very heart of the Church.* What He does
say is:- Handle Me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and
bones, AS YE SEE ME HAVE (Luke 24: 39):
that is, feel My flesh; and
press it, so as to detect the bones beneath. A spirit, He says who made all
spirits, is fleshless and boneless; and it is Luke, the physician, who records
this anatomy beyond the tomb. It is exceedingly remarkable that in Ezekiels
detailed analysis of what resurrection is - I will lay sinews upon you [the naked) bones],
and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin (Ezek. 37: 6) - there is no mention whatever of blood.**
*To say (with the Modernist and the
Spiritualist) that resurrection is the liberating of the spirit from the body
at the moment of death, is completely disproved by the fact that Christ rose on
the third day - seventy-two hours after He had
given up the ghost. [i.e., His animating spirit (Luke 23: 46. cf. Acts
7: 59, R.V.).]
** Nothing would have impressed upon
Jews more forcibly the transfiguration of Christs body than the verbal
omission of the element of blood, which was for them the symbol and seat of
corruptible life. (Westeott). So believers are united, not to His flesh and
blood but to His flesh and bones (Eph. 5: 30). This is
the key to the text in which the Modernist supremely rests. Flesh and bones -
for that is resurrection - can enter the
Our Lords words
are fearfully important. They establish three facts: first, that resurrection
is not the return of the dead spirit, or ghost, but a complete restoration of
the man who died - spirit, soul, and body; secondly, that our Lord Himself now
possesses, and will possess for ever, a body of flesh and bones; thirdly, that
so much critically turns upon this fact that He is more anxious than anyone
else in the universe that we should know it, and understand it, and so gave the longest recorded
interview after the resurrection to establishing this point alone. The fact is
most solemn; for it means that the body that sinned will be the body that is
judged. The eyes that lusted, the mouth that betrayed, the hand that forged,
the feet that trampled its enemys face into gore - that body is coming again. A new body will not be punished for sins it never
did; nor can the old body escape the punishment it deserves. A mouth can be for
praise that is not for food; and hands for service, that are not for labour.
The crown of thorns was no figure, no phantom, and neither will be the many
diadems.
2. - A CHANGED BODY
The Holy Spirit is a dove that flies through Scripture and
through nature on two wings. Truth is often a balance of opposites. Our Lords
Body in the Upper Room - at first, in its new functions and powers,
unrecognized, yet very soon, from its surviving scars, absolutely identified -
is the prophecy, though not exactly the model (for He never corrupted) of the
double entity which is resurrection. Who shall change this body of our
humiliation - not
exchange it, much less annihilate it, but pass it under a profound
transformation - that it may be conformed to the body of His glory (Phil.
3: 21),
Scylla and Charybdis are rocks on either hand which
the Spirit avoids: one, that the risen body is the exact corpse that was buried;
and the other, that it is another body altogether: he who steers too clear of
Scylla founders on Charybdis. Christs body is the
prophecy of ours.
Now Paul, under the guidance of the Spirit, has seized on an
analogy in nature which reveals the ground-plan of God. The seed we sow answers
the question put to the Apostle: With what manner of body do they come? For what happens to the seed - after
burial? It dissolves; and its husk, its material wrappings, disappear under the
action of the earths moisture and heat; later on, its life-germs, which no
biologists microscope or scalpel has ever disclosed, and which, though buried,
do not perish, simultaneously shoot upward and downward; and lo, something
breaks up forcibly out of the earth as startlingly different as a lily is
unlike its bulb. The husk never rises, the life-germ never dies;* the husk
perishes, the life-germ comes up infinitely richer, with leaves, calyx,
corolla. The giant cedar produces a seed as minute as that of the smallest
wayside weed, out of which its whole vast structure is evolved. The lily is the
very bulb that was sown, not another; yet the ugly, black, lifeless-looking
bulb is replaced by white and gold: the new and lovely shoot is largely
composed of entirely fresh particles of matter: the breathing leaves and the
waxen petals live in the sunshine and the wind, in another world from that of
the bulb.
* Even life-germs as we know them are among the most
indestructible of all things, flourishing in poisonous and corrosive substances,
and surviving incredible temperatures of heat and cold.
Therefore, also, in the identity of the seed and the plant
lies a truth of awful significance. Wheat, in the tomb, does not become barley,
or barley change into wheat: there is no change, no
second chance, in the grave: wheat comes up wheat, tares come up
tares: what the seed falls, that it springs: yet
how enormously different! All the winter the bulb lies dead, an unsightly root,
hidden in the earth: but they that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake (Dan.
12: 2),
and all that are in the tombs shall come forth (John 5: 28, 29) - in
the case of the saints, lilies springing out of the black earth, with a
whiteness with which no fuller on earth can whiten.*
* Paul used the word kokkos - grain or berry. The grain is not the vital part
of the seed - (the sperma) - but the mere
carrier of that; while in the process of germination (as the activity of the
dormant powers of the germ are stimulated by atmospheric oxygen) the bulk of
the kokkos undergoes decomposition (it perishes) in the presence of warmth
and moisture, for its material to be used in the metabolism of the infant
plant, from the moment that that begins to send out its ascending and descending
shoots, and until these nascent organs acquire the functional power of assimilation of food material from the
air and the soil (A. Irvng).
For (in 1 Cor.
15: 42) it is sown - for the corpse is a seed entrusted
to the earth to grow, exactly as a seed is; we sow, we do not bury - in corruption;
it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in
dishonour -
physical dishonour, not moral - it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness - too weak even to resist the worm - it is raised
in power - of a material that will never
waste, and never wear: it is sown a natural body - an animal body - it is raised a SPIRITUAL BODY - as truly a body, but not as animal
a body: for there are heavenly bodies - bodies made for heaven like our Lords, and the bodies of the saints
that came out of the tombs (Matt. 27: 52, 53) - and there are earthly bodies - bodies made for the earth-life. So,
for the heavenly life, since this flesh cannot inherit the
3. - A NEW BODY
We have seen, in the scarred Figure in the Upper Room, that
our body to come is the same body that died: we have seen, in the magic
transformation of the bulb into the lily, that it is a changed body: now, in
the fall of a tent and the substitution of a mansion, we learn the startling
truth that it is a new body. For we know, says Paul, that if the earthly house - the animal, the earthly body - of our tent - the housing of
the soul made of skin and hair-cloth- be dissolved - for
dissolution only, not destruction, awaits this mortal frame - we have a building - more
substantial than a tent, and replacing it: another creation altogether - FROM GOD (2 Cor.
5: 1) -
no more from the birth of an earthly mother, nor yet from the tomb; no fragile
collapsible tent, but a marble mansion from God - pure from the hands of the Most High in a fresh
creation. Our present body is also from God, but mediated through the human;
the new body is not from my mother, who conceived me in sin, and brought me
forth in visible frailty; the new body is the direct, unmarred workmanship of
God, sinless, physically perfect, immortal. The new body is in the heavens: it is nowhere said to be made out of the dust of the earth. Paul sits weaving his tent-skins, so easily rent,
so perishable; then he looks at the hands that weave - themselves the fragile
tent-skins of the soul; and then he lifts his eyes and sees an indestructible
mansion of the spirit, not woven with fingers, which human hands never built,
and human hands can never destroy. There will be no martyrdoms there. For it is
eternal, and in the heavens: a new, immortal, incorruptible,
indissoluble, heaven-born residence of the soul. So therefore we groan, not to
get rid of the body, but to get a better; a body in which prayer will not be a
weariness, sin will not be an attraction, disease will not be a possibility,
and death will not be the goal. Literally we are not
willing to divest ourselves [of our fragile tent], but to put on [the indestructible dwelling] over it (Alford);
it is not the stripping off in the charnel-house that we yearn for, but the
robing in the throne-room. We have no desire, with the Spiritualist, to be a
ghost; for to be simply disembodied is, for humanity, to be unclothed before God, decomposed, incapable of the
complex joys of eternal life. The Holy Spirit thus banishes for ever the pagan
notion that the body is a disgrace, or itself the source of evil; and the
monkish idea which used to address the living body as this
corpse: what we yearn for is a new body, longing to be clothed upon
with our habitation which is from heaven; not buried under the dibris of the
collapsible tent, but, like Enoch or Elijah, transmuted at once into the holy
and the heavenly.
So Paul, in order to adjust together the many-faceted diamond
of resurrection truth, now gives us the master-key in a single gorgeous
phrase:- THAT WHAT IS MORTAL
MAY BE SWALLOWED UP OF LIFE; absorbed and transmuted by glowing, glorious life in an
utter, final, total abolition of death. Here we get the junction of the two
aspects of the truth. In the germinating seed there is a life germ which
survives, yet the great bulk of the plant is new: so what is
mortal is not
annihilated, nor dropped, but swallowed up, in absorption by the new body from
God. The tomb does not give up a resuscitated mummy, as the old Egyptians thought;
but God giveth it a body, and to each seed [each corpse] a body of its
own. So then the
risen body is the old, and yet it is the new: it is substantially physical, but
it is functionally spiritual: it is not two bodies, but an absorption of that
which issues from the tomb into that which descends out of the heavens. All
science is the advance of mans mastery over matter, for the purposes of the
soul: resurrection is a final and miraculous mastery of the body, for the
purposes of the spirit. Deep down in the bowels of the earth, by a process no mortal
knows, and which, if it could be discovered, would make a chemist inconceivably
wealthy, charcoal turns to diamond: the substance is the same, yet beyond
conception different: the charcoal has been swallowed up of diamond. The
softest of minerals in the bowels of the earth becomes the hardest and most
durable - as well as most valuable - metal known. So also is the resurrection
of the dead.
-------
GRACE TO DO
We know the path wherein our feet should pass,
Across our hearts are written Thy
decrees;
Yet now, O
Lord, be merciful to bless with steel, to strike the blow.
Grant
us the
will to fashion as we feel,
Grant us
the strength to labour as we know,
Grant us
the purpose, ribbd and edged with steel, to strike
the blow.
Knowledge we ask not - knowledge Thou
hast lent,
But, Lord, the will - there lies our
bitter need;
Give us
to build, above the deep intent,
The deed,
the deed!
-------
ELIMINATED SIN
Sin, which is that which dissolves the
human frame, is absent from the body that comes up out of the grave. A man
working for Faraday, the great French chemist, accidentally knocked a splendid silver
cup into some fluid and was astonished to see the silver rapidly disappear. The
workmen gathered round and were greatly dismayed, deploring the loss of such
handsome workmanship. When the chemist was informed he poured a small quantity
of fluid into the basin, and gradually the silver dropped to the bottom.
Carefully pouring off the liquid, he took the silver and sent it to be remade
at the silversmiths who had designed the cup. In a few days the cup was even
more beautiful than at first, cleansed in the acid, and remade faultless.
* *
* * *
* *
382
DIAGRAM OF THE AGES
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
It is
extraordinarily beautiful and wonderful that the Most High, in the kindergarten
of
1. - THF SABBATH - REDEMPTION
The Sabbath was the foundation of all the festivals, so as to
be before all, through all, and after all. The first of the seven feasts was
the Sabbath; all through the following feasts, the Sabbath continued, in
sabbatic days, sabbatic months, and sabbatic years; and Gods whole scheme of
time closes, first with the sabbatic month - the millennial age, and then with
the sabbatic jubilee, seven sevens of years - the vast eternity beyond. So that
the Sabbath begins all, permeates all, and closes all, because it is the picture of redemption. For before a
single soul is saved, redemption is ready; throughout every vicissitude of the
Church or the believer, redemption never leaves, never forsakes; and after the
last soul has been brought in, redemption remains our foundation for ever. All
that preceded our epoch went to produce redemption - creation, conscience, law,
incarnation, sacrifice, resurgence from the tomb - all are Gods laborious work
ending in the conversion of the human soul.
For the Sabbath was the first blessing God ever gave man; for
Gods seventh day was mans first; and God called man at once to share, having done no work himself,
in the restful enjoyment of all that He had made. So when our Lord sat down
on high, His rest began: the work was over, for everything possible for the salvation of a universe had been done:
He then rested from His works, even as
God did [at the
creation] from
His (Heb.
4: 10). And exactly the same invitation is
once again given to man. Man, with no works
of his own, is now invited to share in the Rest of an ended work; as surely as
man had no hand, and could have no hand, in the creation of the universe, and
yet was invited to share its benefits, exactly so we who have had no hand, and
could have had no hand, in the salvation
of the universe, are yet invited to share its benefits to the full.
2. - THE PASSOVER - CONVERSION
The first essential, after a provided redemption, is the new
birth: all things begin afresh from the moment of Gods descent into the
individual soul. In the first month - although it was the seventh in
* The reader who wishes a fuller
exposition of sections 2, 3, and 4, will find them in the author's (1) Expiation By Blood, p. 13; (2) The judgment Seat of Christ, p. 8; and (3) Rapture, p. 24.
3. - UNLEAVENED BREAD - SANCTIFICATION
The next feast is that in which, antitypically, we are now
living. And on the fifteenth day of the same month - that immediately after crucifixion with Christ on the
fourteenth - is the feast of unleavened bread (Lev.
23: 6).
The Holy Spirit again leaves us in no manner of doubt. Our passover
hath been sacrificed for us, even Christ;
wherefore - since expulsion of all leaven is
immediately to follow the sprinkling with blood upon the lintels (Exod. 12: 15) - let us keep the feast - a seven-day purgation covering our
whole dispensational era - with the
unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1 Cor. 5: 8). It is the sacred festival of a consecrated life, which should follow upon our union to
Christ in His death (Lange).
Appropriately, therefore, to this
section the Holy Spirit attaches excommunication for leaven retained (1 Cor. 5: 8), and a cutting off
(Exod. 12: 19) from
the [Millennial] Kingdom of the [regenerate] believer guilty
at the Bema of un-expelled leaven (1 Cor. 6: 9). [Progressive] Sanctification is the process
through which we are now supremely passing.
4. - HARVEST - RESURRECTION AND RAPTURE
The next feast is not celebrated in
the wilderness at all for it is ascension into heaven. When ye come into the land, ye shall
reap the harvest thereof (Lev. 23: 10). The
seed are the children of the [coming and promised messianic] kingdom (Matt.
13: 38),
planted in ever-recurring relays: the Saviour is both Sower (Matt. 13: 37), and Reaper (Rev.
14: 15);
so that the wheat is the crop sown between the two Advents; and the harvest is
the garnering out of the field - from off the plains, and from out the bowels
of the earth [i.e., from Hades
(Rev. 1: 18; 2: 25-26; 3: 21, 22, R.V.], in a reaping accomplished after the
wilderness journey is over, in successive flights of resurrection and rapture
[Luke 21: 34-36; Rev. 3: 10, R.V.]. The reapers, our Lord says, are angels (Matt.
13: 39).
The harvest is exactly and minutely graded. The first Sheaf - which is Christ (1 Cor. 15: 20); or,
since a sheaf is a plurality of ears, the group that ascended after the
resurrection, including Christ (Matt. 27: 53) - is
garnered while the feast of
unleavened bread is still going on; then, when seven sabbaths shall be complete - the enormous lapse of a whole dispensational era - two
first-fruit loaves, leavened, for they are types of rapt saints, not
of Christ (Lev. 23:
17); these are followed, two or three weeks
later, by the main harvest; and finally the batch is gleaned of un-reaped ears
in the corners of the field - for even towards the close of the Day of the Lord (Rev. 16: 15) the
characteristic Church warning for watchfulness goes forth.*
* The type makes it as clear as anything can be that the field,
which is the world (Matt. 13: 38), is
reaped by a plurality of cuttings, and not by one swing of the scythe. The
enormous gap separating the Solitary Sheaf, with which no sin-offering is
offered, from the Two Loaves, which are accompanied by sin-offerings, makes the
guess that the Loaves are Pentecost manifestly impossible; for in that case the
Loaves must have come immediately after Passover - Calvary, and before Leavenless Bread - the Church in her age-long walk of
commanded separation. The Lords own ruling of the type (Matt. 13: 39) shuts
up the reaping to resurrection: the cutting of Firstfruits and Harvest is the
same as the cutting of the Lonely Sheaf - ascension off the Field altogether.
5. - ATONEMENT - JUDGMENT
Atonement, or covering, follows; for
the Day of Atonement, the awful crisis of the wrath of God, so covers sin
finally as to finish transgression,
and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness (Dan.
9: 24).
In absolute loneliness the High Priest does it all; he confronts the wrath of
God with the covering incense and the
blood of the slain goat - Christ lifts Himself between the saved and the wrath of God; while the temple
was filled with the smoke from the glory of God, and from His power; and none was able to
enter into the Temple till the seven plagues
should be finished (Rev. 15:
8). It is Christ alone before the tribunal
of Deity, sheltering His redeemed in the great day when God rises up to
judgment; it is the inrush of the Blood between the saved and the outrush of
the Divine wrath. Then follows the dismissal of the sin-laden goat into the
wilderness - the living nations (the goats on the left hand), and later, the
mustered dead before the Great White Throne, all adjudicated to Hell; and at
last the High Priest puts off his sacrificial robes, all sin having been
finally dealt with, and comes forth, clothed in his garments of beauty and
glory, for His millennial and eternal reign.*
* A full exposition of this section is
given in DAWN, April, 1929.
6. - TRUMPETS - WAR
Trumpets muster for war, and open actual battle against a foe;
for the trumpet is a war-weapon; and so we read, as Gods final judgments fall,
And
I saw the seven angels which stand before God; and
there were given unto them seven trumpets (Rev.
8: 2).
These trumpet-blasts proclaim war against an earth in conscious rebellion
against God: each trumpeting is followed by a judgment: six blasts still hope
for repentance; the seventh, covering all the closing disasters, are pure,
unadulterated, awful war. And as the peculiarity of the feast of trumpets was
that the trumpets were blown all day, from dawn to sunset, so, throughout the
Day of the Lord, trumpet-blast follows trumpet-blast till its sun has set. The great day of the
Lord is near: the mighty man crieth there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of
the trumpet, and of alarm (Zeph. 1:
14). Gods appalling thunders break the
silence of two thousand years, rouse the world, wake the dead, and usher in the
tremendous events that cluster at the end. Finally, the
loud trumpet ushered in jubilee (Lev.
25: 9):
so the seventh angel sounded; and the kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ (Rev. 11:
15).* That seventh trumpet-blast covers a vast epoch: the last judgments descend;
the millennial era - itself wholly judicial - runs its course; the great
judgment takes place before the Great White Throne; and
the final jubilee of the ages is ushered in.
[* Verse 15, reads from the Greek:- And the SEVENTH messenger sounded, and [there] were voices great in the Heaven, saying; Became the kingdom of the world, of the Lord of us
and the Anointed of him - (i.e., our Lord
Jesus is His heavenly Fathers anointed Messiah:) and He
will reign for the ages of the ages.]
7. - TABERNACLES - JOY
The Feast of Tabernacles is the final mustering of the whole
people of God, first for investigation and reward, and then for eternal bliss. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, a holy assembling; and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest: that is, before the millennial age,
and again before the eternal state, there will be musterings
of Gods people; solemn gatherings, first for millennial, and then for eternal,
joy. In the words of Jehovah: Thou shalt be altogether joyful [literally, Thou shalt only rejoice] (Deut. 16:
15). In every sabbatic year the Law was read
to all
The supreme characteristic of the Feast of Tabernacles - its
lavish burnt offerings - reveals a humanity throughly
redeemed and devoted to God. Its only sin-offering was the single slaughtered
goat, daily offered: whereas the burnt offerings were twice as many as on the
Feast of Unleavened Bread, and five times as many as during Passover Week; so
our devotion in that day will be twice as much as in our utmost sanctification
now, for our body will then be redeemed as well as [i.e., at the same
time as our disembodied soul is
released from Hades (see Matt. 16: 18. cf. Acts
2: 23; 2
Tim. 2: 17,
18) and] our
spirit; and it will be five times as much as in the moment of our
conversion, for then the ordinance of the law, [five is the
number of law] will be fulfilled in us (Rom.
8: 4):
and all the sacrifices are a multiple of seven, because it will be the
revelation of Calvary perfectly understood and fully appropriated at last.
So Gods wonderful kindergarten of the Churchs history closes
in the folding up of the pilgrim tent and the final entry into the city whose
foundations are immovable and eternal. The long pilgrimage is over. Grounded on
the Sabbath of redemption, which precedes, interpenetrates, and winds up all;
born from above at the touch of the Passover blood; battling for holiness
against a thousand forms of leaven; an enormous dispensational interlude of
seven weeks then divides the first three feasts from the last four - three in
the wilderness, four in the land; the first three in the first month, and the
last three in the last month: so resurrection and rapture resume Gods work in
harvest; war on a rebellious world is ushered in by trumpets; universal
judgment blots out sin in the day of covering or atonement; and now, after tent
life on earth and in heaven is over, on the last day, the great day of the
Feast (John 7: 37) -
for it is a symbol of eternity - is the final convocation of the redeemed. On the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. The main distinction of this eighth
day was the abandonment of the booths, which were broken up, and the return of
all the people into solid houses: it is a final passing of the pilgrim life,
and the entry into the many mansions in the House of the Father. This eighth
day is sometimes regarded as in the Feast, sometimes not: the old calendar,
strictly speaking, is over: the morning of the eighth day is the final Sabbath
- Gods eternal Rest never to be broken again by sin. And His
servants shall do Him [liturgical] service [as priests]; and they shall see His face; and they
shall reign for ever and ever (Rev. 22: 3).
* *
* * *
* *
383
By G. H. PEMBER, M.A.
There is,
perhaps, no section of the Apocalypse more fraught with difficulty than the
predictions concerning
Now if we turn to the two chapters, the seventeenth and eighteenth,
containing the greater part of the revelation which
we propose to examine, we are at once struck by the apparent discrepancies
between them. Were the seventeenth chapter all that remained to us, there would
be little difficulty in its interpretation: for few students of Scripture can
peruse it without recognizing the lineaments of
On this point, the single fact that the Woman is said to be
sitting on seven mountains is in itself conclusive. For the Apostle to whom the
vision appeared was certainly intended to understand it; and in his days
* The Septimontiunt,
or Festival of the
Still more decisive is the declaration of the interpreting
angel, that the Woman is the great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth - a description that no one could
have mistaken at the time. For as yet, in the reign of Domitian, Rome showed no symptoms of waning power, although a full
century had elapsed since Propertius characterized her as The
city, high on seven hills, that rules the boundless earth. *
* Septem urbs alta jugis, toto quEe
prwsidet orbi. Prop.
iv. xi. 57.
As soon, however, as we begin to read the eighteenth chapter we find the scene changed, and
pass from Mystery Babylon to a literal city, which is evidently the commercial
centre of the world, and bears little resemblance either to
Yet, strange to say, nearly all interpreters of the two
chapters have failed to notice the distinction. And so they have either
recognized the outlines of Rome in
the seventeenth chapter, and then assumed,
in spite of difficulties, that she is likewise to be found in the eighteenth; or else, being aware that the literal Babylon on the Euphrates has yet a
grand part to play in the closing scenes of the age, and perceiving that all
that is written in the eighteenth chapter
would be applicable to her were she restored, they have endeavoured to adapt
the previous chapter also to her circumstances.
But, whichever of these views be taken, the result is equally
unsatisfactory; neither of them can supply an adequate interpretation of both
chapters. Nor is this wonderful: for a careful and unprejudiced examination
cannot fail to convince us that, whatever may be intended by the
For, in the first place, we observe that the subject of the seventeenth is represented to us as a Woman, that of the eighteenth as a City, and, in accordance with this, the Woman is called Mystery
Babylon, whereas the City is
simply Babylon the Great, or that great city Babylon. This fact in itself is a hint that
the former is not the literal
Again, Mystery Babylon is to be destroyed by the Ten Kings,
because God hath put in their hearts to fulfil His will, and to agree, and give their
kingdom unto the Beast, until the words of God
shall be fulfilled (Rev. 17:
17).
Thus the Woman, or
* Rev. 14: 8. The Authorized Version has,
The Woman, then, must be destroyed before Antichrist begins his baleful reign. But elsewhere
we learn that a great
Thus the catastrophes of the two chapters are not merely
distinct, but are separated by an interval which cannot be less than three
years and a half, and may be more.
Lastly, the Woman is destroyed by human agency, that of the
Ten Kings; and the description given of their future work certainly leads us to
infer that it will not be accomplished in a day.
But the city perishes instantaneously by an appalling judgment
of God. At the outpouring of the Seventh Vial it is engulfed in a moment by the
great earthquake which causes all the cities of the nations to fall (Rev. 16: 17-19). Its
cloud-capped towers and gorgeous palaces, its massive pediments, its spires and
domes, will suddenly sway to and fro, like trees beneath a mighty wind, and
then descend in ruin into the yawning jaws of earth, and disappear amid the
flames vomited forth from their fiery grave.
* *
* * *
* *
384
THE RE-BIRTH OF THE
Just a
century ago Sir C. Napier wrote: in a few years we English shall be at
For Sir William Willcocks
has worked for years among the countless ruined cities and villages of
Babylonia; and to-day he is re-erecting dams originally dug by Nimrod, and
irrigation works once planned by Cyrus and Alexander. He says:- I have traced out hundreds of the old canals. The headworks were at
* The Geographical Journal, Jan., 1910.
But the restoration of Mesopotamia covers the site of
Nor is it without dread significance
that the modern mind is losing its recoil against the concentrated iniquity
summed up in the word BABYLON - the queen of the cities, says Sir William Willcocks, the capital of the world, the finest city men ever built.
Christian man, and Jewish man before him,
has cast over it the ban of superstitious loathing: only the evil of
Belshazzar is remembered. My hopes, my ambitions, my work, are bound up with
the recreation of
* The Geographical Journal, Aug., 1912. It is amazing how men can
ignore (as in the rebuilding of
So restored
The peculiar intoxication of pride which Babylon has ever
inspired - O thou MOST PROUD,
saith the Lord of hosts (Jer. 1: 31) - will make its re-erection, subserved by science and woven out of a worlds wealth, a
dream of mans proudest age erected in the spirit of Augustus Caesar:- I found Rome brick, and
left her marble." So Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed:- Is not this
great
* *
* * *
* *
385
BACK FROM THE GATES OF DEATH
By OZORA S. DAVIS, D.D.
One of the most steadying of all
truths in the revelation of God is the extreme simplicity of salvation combined
with the extreme complexity of reward. Evangelicalism (we believe) has
constantly tended, through a want of Scriptural balance, to make salvation more
difficult (or at least more involved) than it is, and reward more easy than it
is, through a confusion of justification and sanctification, and their effects.
The outlook (for example) at the Judgment Seat of Christ for a thoroughly
unsound Christian teacher is one of appalling gravity (1 Cor. 3: 15); and yet no loving heart, confronted with such a record as
this, can miss a thrill of joy at seeing, once more, how the grace of Christ
can underlie a tragedy of error. It is sufficient to say that Dr. Ozora Davis is the Principal of the Theological Seminary of
Chicago. [D. M. Panton.] - Ed.
-------
Suddenly
my world was changed, with tragic and shattering swiftness. Perhaps it ought
not to have been so sudden. For many months the danger signals had been thrown
across, my track; but the momentum of life was great, the urgency and charm of
my work were upon me like a spell, and I dismissed the warnings as not meant
for me. To be halted in mid-career, just at the moment when life was fullest
and all the dreams seemed about to come true; to look swiftly and clearly into
the face of pain; to front the prognosis of deadly disease; to have the whole
house of life tumble in an hour into what might seem ghastly ruin - this is to
face the ultimate meanings of human life and the verities of the Christian
faith. This is what came to me not many weeks ago. In such a situation, if
anywhere, will living convictions be defined; the anchors of faith can surely
be forged in the white heat suffering and by the blows of pain.
At the risk of the apparent projection of my own experience
into a public occasion, I am about to throw down all the barriers of reserve
and without apology, humbly, diffidently, yet courageously, I am going to try
to tell what living convictions I have won as I have been far out on the
margins of mortal life where the boundaries of the eternal were waving and tenuous.
I, too, am going to endeavour to say what I felt and knew in the valley of the
shadow of death. For life never can be
the same to me again, however long or short the span of my mortal days may be.
I have the burden of a testimony resting upon my assured soul and I must give
it, asking for your faith in me that I do not speak these words except in a
chastened, grateful and confident spirit.
Now I know that this is a spiritual universe, and that the
Father God, with whom Jesus lived, is the supreme reality in it. Our Father means such a sustaining reality as
can bear one through the deepest waters. Father, into Thy hands I commit my spirit* - I
understand the confidence and peace with which a man may say this. In Him we
live, and move, and
have our being -
this is not a vivid sentence caught from the plea of a herald of Christ in the
centre of the worlds culture; it is the solid fact, the absolute dependable
truth of the operating room and the bed where pain is so near and constant that
every breath is a form of anguish.
[* NOTE: The spirit here is the animating (or
life-giving) spirit which always returns to God at
the time of Death: (Luke 23: 46. Cf. Acts
7: 59, R.V.).]
God, the Father God, who loves me and
helps me, in whom I rest and conquer - this is the reality of the universe.
When I knew that a few deep breaths would mercifully free me from conscious
pain, I said to myself, as clearly and confidently as I would have repeated an
axiom, Underneath are the Everlasting Arms. And they were there; I say
that they were there. It was not the result of anaesthetic or morphine; it was
not hallucination or self-deception. I lost ,consciousness in the presence of
strengthening radiances; I came back in the assurance of supports, steadier and
surer than all those blessed and beautiful ministries by which the modern
hospital has learned to surround and ameliorate pain. I cast myself into the
arms of the Father about whom I had learned from Jesus; and He was with me,
until my little boat floated in the sea of His goodness, and my spirit winged
itself through the atmosphere of His love. I never can doubt this for a moment.
[* Underneath
where? Presumably this text is a reference to the blessed and holy department of Hades (Luke 16: 22, 23, 26, 29-31. cf. Rev.
20: 4-6. R.V.).]
Now I come to a second living conviction which has become my
possession. I am reporting as clearly as I can and am not attempting to
rationalize at all; but the reality of a living, present Christ I do surely
know. I am now venturing to give you the new conviction, crystal clear in my
consciousness, which I never can lose, which has come to me out of the
discipline of mental and physical suffering. I shrink from doing this for two
reasons: the consciousness that I cannot adequately set it forth; and the fear
lest I may seem to claim too great a privilege. I have seen no vision of a face
or form that assumed physical outline. The voices to which I have listened may
be explained as only the utterances of my own memory of the words of Jesus; but
there was vast difference. between what I heard from Him and the harsh calls of
the annunciators in the hospital corridors summoning
the doctors. I never can be persuaded that it was mere memory. I have experienced
an awareness of Christ, a certainty of His presence beside and within me, a
conviction that the age-old mystic union is
true and possible to-day, to which I must give testimony, so long as my life on
earth endures. This is the form in which the experience came to me:- called
upon suddenly to look squarely into the face of permanently crippled powers and
the surrender of the work to which I had given myself for twenty years, I was
upheld and sustained and saved by my consciousness that Christ was intimately with me,
giving me strength. Barring one brief moment, I never lost my self-control,
never felt rebellion, never failed to conquer the grim tragedy of my lot in the
strength that I knew came radiantly, ceaselessly, savingly from Christ. Once I
stood on the edge of the abyss of doubt, and now I know why Jesus cried, Why hast thou
forsaken Me? It
was the blackest moment of my life; and it passed in a moment, as I felt myself
up-borne and made superior to the hideous doubt by the strength and love of
Christ. This instants experience of the dark night of the soul - and such darkness is more awful than any
earthly midnight torn by lightning and drenched by rain - never has returned;
and I think it never will.
Instead, courage, confidence, strength, joy, peace! And this
is the way Christ kept His promises in my experience of shattered human plans [false teachings,] and physical suffering. I heard His words, with the clearness of bugles in
the morning, with such confidence as I put in my fathers assurance the day he
taught me my first lesson in swimming in a chill Vermont river, with a new
certainty that is burned forever into my soul - I heard the promises of Jesus,
I say, spoken to me in a hospital room. I may read again what I have read
before, that we have no proof that Jesus ever spoke the words reported in the
Gospels; but He has said them to me and He has confirmed them to me, and I know
this and I affirm it.
I heard him say, Let not your heart be troubled. Oh, it was finer and sweeter and more
exquisite than the flute notes of the thrushes around my
I heard Him say, Peace I leave with you. This was something more than memory
sounding a sweet sentence down the corridors of the past for my comfort. I know
that we have more senses than the physical. I was not saying over words for my
consolation. Christ was speaking. And peace, such peace - as the world cannot
give, the peace that passeth understanding, became mine, as the gift of Jesus.
Perhaps the tides of this Christ-given benediction may ebb and flow; but I know
that I never shall lose it wholly. Like a man who has looked up at great
mountains, there will always be a new lift and glory above whatever low levels
on which I may temporarily dwell. The little fretting experiences are all fused
in a great glory of calmness and composure.
In such an experience - [presumably what others have described as an out of body
experience]
- as has come to me, the
values of life swing into new clarity and relationship. All my life has been
engaged in external activities. Especially have the last five years been
crowded with action. It has been worth while; I do not disparage it; but life
is something far more than the carrying out of programmes and the successful
achievement of projects. The whole meaning of a human life is summed up in
loving, in being kind, in helping, in being comfortable to live with. The New
Testament took the word love out of its common
usage, where it had been touched with ignoble meanings, and lifted it into the
crystal clearness and the radiant light of the words of Jesus,- This is My
commandment, that ye love one another, even as I have loved you. The great conviction that I have won
out of pain is that the new commandment of Jesus sums up all.
Seeking other words to interpret what I mean by a life of
Christ-like love, I would describe it in the language of the Beatitudes; I
would sum it up in kindness. I am convinced now that the only times when my
life has been worth while have been when I was unselfish and kind and generous
in my relations with others. When I have been self-seeking or merely aggressive
I have not been worthy of my Master or of my life at its highest and best. It
was not when I was putting over something
that I was really living; it was when I was putting myself under my own burdens
cheerfully and under the loads of others with quiet helpfulness that I was living. Perhaps this is only another
way of saying that the Cross is the true
and glorious symbol of the Christian faith.
-------
IN MEMORIAM
A second contributor to the DAWN
- [i.e., D. M. Pantons Evangelical
Magazine]
-, and one in warm sympathy, has fallen on sleep, Commissioner F. de L. Booth-Tucker. A lovely little incident (given
by Dr. John Wilson in the Christian) is a fitting memento of a brother beloved. I
heard Booth-Tucker say that he preached in Chicago one day, and out from the
throng a burdened toiler came and said to him, before all the audience:-
Booth-Tucker, you can talk like that about how Christ is dear to you, and
helps you; but if your wife was dead, as my wife is, and you had some babies
crying for their mother, who would never come back, you could not say what you
are saying.
Just a few days after our
separation, he lost his beautiful and nobly gifted wife in a railway wreck, and
the body was brought to
* *
* * *
* *
386
THE CHRISTIAN FATHERS
ON THE MILLENNIUM
By EDWARD GRESWELL, B.D.
It is
generally the case with all error, in some way or other to be based upon truth;
that nothing absurd or false is proposed, or obtains a reception, but as
possessing the appearance, at least, of reason or probability. Some things
there are too so extraordinary in their own nature, that in whatsoever shape
they may be afterwards proposed, the first idea of them could scarcely have
suggested itself spontaneously to the authors of such representations. Of this
number the doctrine and expectation of a millennium are one. We should not have
met with the vestiges of a doctrine like this, even in heretical or apocryphal
productions, had not the conception of it been previously in existence, as
derived, in all probability, from inspiration, or from some infallible
authority which first communicated it, and gave it a right to general reception
and implicit belief.
The formation of such an expectation as that of the
millennium, without any light or intimation from without - and as a mere
creature of the human imagination - we may venture to say was impossible; and
even could it have been so conceived, yet if proposed as a serious truth - as
an anticipation some time to be fulfilled by the event - were there no
foundation for the assurance of the fact, beyond the mere conception of the
thing itself - to assent to it would exceed the bounds of credulity in the
weakest, and to expect it, the utmost measure of infatuation, in the most
foolish of mankind.
Besides which, whatever be the particular character which the
millenary doctrines assume in the hands of such and such persons; however
monstrous, perverted, and consequently unscriptural, they may become in their
mode of representing them; yet in the mere fact of the expectation, in the circumstance of believing and teaching the futurity
of such an event as the millennium in general, there is nothing heretical or
apocryphal even in the opinions of heretics and apocryphal writers; or if there
be, the charge of heresy must be brought against many orthodox writers of the
same period, who expected and taught the same thing.
For example, the first nominally Christian writer, who
perverted the doctrine of the millennium, and while he recognized the fact of
it in general, clothed it with so objectionable a dress in particular, as to
make it necessarily offensive and disgusting to sober and religious minds - was
Cerinthus, the founder of a sect of
Gnostics, called after his name. Yet Cerinthus was contemporary with Papias, Polycarp, Justin Martyr - if he was not even older than they; at a time when
the doctrine of the millennium, as set forth in the simple, evangelical
plainness of its origin, was not only believed by these persons, but was the
general persuasion of the church.
We need not hesitate, then, to claim even Cerinthus as a
credible witness to the fact of the prevalence, at least, of such a doctrine,
in his own time; while, as to the nature and explanation of the doctrine, we
repudiate and reject his testimony as unscriptural and unsound; as simply his
own, and to be dealt with as such; not as that of the church, in his time, nor
as entitled to any portion of the authority which it might have derived from
the concurrence of ecclesiastical antiquity in its favour. The doctrine of the
millennium shared in this respect the same fortune as the Book of Revelation,
on which it is mainly founded. There were always some who doubted of the
authenticity and authority of that book, even while the majority of the church
acknowledged both.
The next ancient father, whose testimony to the millennium I
shall consider, is Justin Martyr, a
Samaritan, of Neapolis in
I shall proceed in the next place to consider the testimony of
Tertullian, a Christian writer of
Africa; and a contemporary of Irenaeus;
one of the last of his works which have come down to us, his five books against
Marcion, having been written in the fifteenth
year of Severus, A.D. 208, at which time Tertullian himself was an old man. I
shall produce a passage from this work, which is one of the most complete and
elaborate of his treatises.
For we do indeed confess, that a
kingdom on earth is promised us; but before the time of heaven - but in another
state - because in a city the work of God,
* [Thus the truth of a rising dependant on sanctity (Rev. 20: 6), the select resurrection which Paul sought as a
prize (Phil. 3:
11), was held in the Church in its very
earliest dawn. - Ed.]
It appears from ecclesiastical history, that sometime before
A.D. 262, Nepos, a bishop in Egypt, wrote
a book of which Eusebius gives an
account, describing its author as teaching that the
promises made to the saints in the holy Scriptures, should be fulfilled rather
after the Jewish fashion; and supposing that there will be a certain period of
a thousand years upon this earth, to be spent in bodily enjoyment. His
work, says Eusebius, entitled a Refutation of the
Allegorists, was highly esteemed; being thought to have demonstrated,
by irrefragable arguments, that Christs kingdom would be a terrestrial one.
Victorinus, bishop of Pettaw, and one of the martyrs in the
great persecution, A.D. 303-313, is known to have been an advocate of the
doctrine of the millennium; and though nothing of his has come down to us,
except a corrupt and mutilated fragment of his (Tractalus
de Fabrica Coeli), there is evidence of the nature of the opinions
which he entertained on this subject, even therein. That
that true and proper Sabbath should be kept in the seventh millennium,
therefore the Lord hath assigned to those seven days a thousand years
individually; for so it is provided, In thy
eyes, O Lord, a thousand years are as one
day. A thousand years individually then are
appointed in the eyes of God; for that true Sabbath will be in the seventh
millennium, in which Christ is to reign with his elect.
None of the fathers has been more diffuse on the subject of
the millenary kingdom, or more particular in describing the times and events
before and after it, than Lactantius; whose
acme is A.D. 300. I think it unnecessary to produce more than one passage from
an author so full of testimonies to the points at issue.
Let the philosophers, therefore, who
reckon up thousands of ages from the beginning of the world, understand, that
the sum total has not yet reached the six thousandth year; and when that number
is complete, an end must be made of the present state of things, and the
condition of humanity be moulded anew for the better. As then all the works of
God were finished in six days, the world must continue in its present state, through
six ages, that is, six thousand years. And again, as, when his works were
finished, he rested on the seventh day, and blessed it, it follows that upon
the end of the six thousandth year, all evil and wickedness must be wiped away
from the earth, and justice reign for a thousand years, and the world enjoy a
calm and repose from the labours it has now so long endured. And as man was
then created mortal and imperfect, of the dust of the earth, to live a thousand
years in this world, so is he now formed for perfection of this earthly state
of being, that being made alive by God, he may rule in this same world a
thousand years.
It was generally felt among the Fathers that the six days of
creation antecedently were construed to stand symbolically for so many thousand
years, as the destined period of the subsequent continuance of things created;
and the seventh day of rest from the work of creation, to be the emblem of a
millenary sabbath, which was to follow upon the consummation of the present
state of things, but to precede its transition into eternity; the ogdoas, or first day of a new symbolical week, was
considered to be typical of the commencement of eternity itself. And as the
ancient Jewish Sabbath, or seventh day of the week, was supposed to be emblematical
of the intervening period between the end of time, and the beginning of
eternity; so was the Lords day, or first day of the week, considered the type
of this ogdoas, or new era and cpurse
of things, destined to subsist without change through all eternity.
* *
* * *
* *
387
MILLENNARIANISM AND
ERROR
By HORATIUS BONAR,
Let us
inquire into the connection said to subsist between millennarianism and false doctrine.
Can it be proved by facts? Or is it the mere inference of those who, having a
very bad opinion of the system, think that it must be, and ought to be,
connected with all forms of error?
I state then, and am willing to prove, that those who have not
only endangered, but subverted the whole fabric of Christianity, have not been millennarians, but
their opponents.
The gnosticism of the early ages was openly as well
as essentially anti-millennarian. It was allegorical and anti-literal, a patch-work of
Christianity and pagan philosophy. It not only allegorized into a spiritual
shadow the first resurrection,
but all resurrection whatsoever, condemning as carnal all who believed in
any resurrection, just as our opposers condemn us for believing in the first
resurrection. And who upheld the truth against these anti-millennarian and
allegorizing gnostics? Irenaeus and Justin Martyr, two noted millennarians.
The connection between anti-millennarianism and heresy, in the first ages, can
be clearly established by fact. The antagonism between millennarianism and heresy can
be as clearly proved. The heretic gnostics were the only opposers of millennarianism in these days; the thoroughly
orthodox fathers were its unanimous supporters. Gnosticism and anti-chiliasm were friends;
Gnosticism and chiliasm* were open enemies. Yet our system is said to be all
along linked with heresy.
* The doctrine of the Personal Reign of Christ
on earth during the millennium.
The carnal follies of Cerinthus
are sometimes exhibited as specimens of millennarianism. But Cerinthianism and
chiliasm were thoroughly and openly opposed to each other. The millennarian
fathers were the strongest condemners and confuters of Cerinthus and his
abominations. There was antagonism, not alliance between them; and it would be
as correct to identify Calvinism and Socinianism, because Priestley happened to
be a predestinarian, as to identify chiliasm and Cerinthianism, because
Cerinthus spoke of the saints reigning on the earth.
In the second century the state of
matters was the same; millennarianism and orthodoxy still went hand in hand.
Whencesoever the danger to the fabric of Christianity might come, it did not
come from millennarians. Chiliasm constituted
(says a German writer), in the second century, so
decidedly an article of faith, that Justin held it up as a criterion of perfect
orthodoxy.
Then Origen came
into the field, - no friend to chiliasm, and as little to orthodoxy. He turned
the whole Bible into a riddle; he denied the doctrine of eternal punishments,
He seems to have been thoroughly unsound even upon fundamental points. In his
case, surely heresy and anti-chiliasm were the allies. The chiliasts in these
days, instead of endangering the whole fabric of
Christianity, were its steadfast supporters against anti-chiliastic
heretics, who were introducing not only a new
dispensation, but a new Christianity. *
* Dionysius of
Then came Jerome,
one of the keenest and most unswerving opponents that millennarianism ever had;
one who never loses an opportunity of assailing it. Was Jerome sound in the
faith? Alas! he seems to have no idea of free justification at all. All with
him is works;- superstition and self-righteousness darken the pages both of his
Epistles and his Commentaries. Perhaps Popery owes more to Jerome than to any
of the fathers. Even in his day, the great mass of the godly, as he tells us
more than once, were millennarians. Are chiliasm, and heresy then inseparable?
or is not the reverse the truth? I know that Augustine was against us, and he was much sounder in the faith; but
his case is only a confirmation of our statements, for he is almost the only
example in that age, of orthodoxy and anti-millennarianism being in union.
Anti-chiliasm was now spreading. And how did its abettors defend
it? By denying the inspiration of the Apocalypse! It
is worthy of remark, says Bishop
Russell - no chiliast, - that so long as the
prophecies regarding the millennium were interpreted literally, the Apocalypse
was received as an inspired production, and as the work of the apostle John;
but no sooner did theologians find themselves compelled to view its
annunciations through the medium of allegory and metaphorical description, than
they ventured to call in question its heavenly origin, its genuineness, and its
authority.
Dead churches have been pre-eminently anti-chiliastic, and
from the pens of some of our coldest divines have come the strongest
condemnations of our system. In the days of the Westminster Assembly there were
many chiliasts to be found: Twisse, the prolocutor, and many members were such. A
century after, hardly a supporter of the system was to be found in
[It must, however, be admitted that during the last hundred
years, in Irvingism, Mormonism, Seventh Day Adventism in its origins, and various Tongues sects,
the Powers of Darkness have repeated their strategy in Montanism - studiedly linking
their manifestations with Advent truth, they have sought to besmirch it
hopelessly in the eyes of the sober and the Scriptural. The Advent and the
miraculous gifts are most counterfeited the nearer they draw. But
feather-brained fanaticisms have no remotest resemblance to Millennial truth as
it is presented in the Prophets; and the true antidote to perverted
Millennarianism is not scepticism but Scripture.
Some ancient Chiliasm was superstitious and grotesque but
where it was merely gross or carnal, the error probably arose from ignorance of
the two compartments of the Kingdom - a heavenly, for the
bodies celestial (1 Cor.
15: 40) of the risen, in the Holy City
overhanging earth; and an earthly, for bodies
terrestrial on the earth itself, where men are still in the flesh. Paul
prayed to be preserved unto the heavenly Kingdom (2 Tim. 4: 18) * - [D. M. Panton] Ed.]
* Mr. Mauro is right in protesting, as we ourselves have done, against an
extreme dispensationalism which, while
justly repudiating the Law of Moses in the day of grace, stretches that Law so
as to cover all the New Testament except four short Letters, thus robbing the
Church of all but the entire Book of Grace: on the other hand, the man clever
enough to make the Bible coherent without dispensational truth (the four epochs
of conscience, law, grace, and righteousness) has never been born.
* *
* * *
* *
388
WISE WORDS FROM
ARCHBISHOP SECKER
1. Sanctified persons do much good, and
make but little noise.
2. They bring up the bottom of their
life to the top of their light.
3. They prefer the duty they owe to God
to the danger they fear from man.
4. They seek the public good of others above
the private good of themselves.
5. They have the most beautiful
conversations among the blackest persons.
6. They choose the worst sorrow rather
than commit the least sin.
7. They become as fathers to all in
charity, and as servants to all in humility.
8. They keep their hearts the lowest,
when God raises their estates the highest.
9. They Seek to be better inwardly in
the substance, than outwardly in appearance.
10. They are grieved more at the
distress of the church, than affected by their own happiness.
11. They render the greatest good for
the greatest evil.
12. They take those reproofs best which
they need most.
13. They take up duty in point of
performance, and lay it down in point of independence.
14. They take up their contentment in
Gods appointment.
15. They are more in love with the
employment of holiness than with the enjoyment of happiness.
16. They are more employed in searching
their own hearts, than in censuring other mens states.
17. They set out for God at the
beginning, and hold out with Him to the end.
18. They take all the shame of their
sins to themselves, and give all the glory of their services to Christ.
19. They value a heavenly reversion
above an earthly possession.
20. This world is very large in our
hopes, but very small in our hands.
21. The water without the ship may toss
it, but it is the water within the ship that sinks it.
22. A harp sounds sweetly, yet it hears
not its own melody.
23. If the sun be eclipsed one day, it
attracts more spectators than if it shone a whole year.
24. John the Baptist was a burning and shining light. To shine is not enough,
a glowworm will do so: to burn is not enough, a firebrand will do so.
Light without heat does but little good; and heat without light does much harm.
Give me these Christians who are burning lamps, as well as shining lights.
25. Believers resemble the moon, which emerges from her eclipse
by keeping her motion; and ceases not to shine because the dogs bark at her.
26 We should never land in triumph at
the haven of rest, if we were not tossed upon the sea of trouble. If Joseph had
not been
27. It is impossible to be conformed to
the world in our outward man, and transformed to God in our inward man.
28. He that would be angry and not sin,
must be angry with nothing but sin.
29. Temporary professors are like
hedgehogs which have two holes, one to the north, and another to the south:
when the south wind fans them, they open to the north; and when the north wind
chills them, they turn to the south.
-------
SCRIPTURE JESTS
Nothing is more easy than to create a laugh by a grotesque
association of some frivolity with the grave and solemn words of Holy
Scripture. But surely this is profanity of the worst kind. By this book the
religious life of men is quickened and sustained. It contains the highest
revelations of Himself which God has made to man. It directly addresses the
conscience and heart and all the noblest faculties of our nature, exalting our idea of duty, consoling us in sorrow, redeeming us from sin and despair, and inspiring us with the HOPE of immortal blessedness and [MILLENNIAL] glory. Listening to its words, millions
have heard the very voice of God. It is associated with the sanctity of many
generations of saints. Such a book cannot be fit material for the manufacture
of jests. For my own part, I should be disposed to say that a man who
deliberately and consciously uses the words of Christ, of Apostles, and of
Prophets, for mere purposes of merriment, might have chalked a caricature on
the wall of the Holy of holies or scrawled a witticism on the sepulchre in
Josephs garden. - R. W. DALE, D.D.
* *
* * *
* *
389
TOTAL DEPRAVITY
By
About to
call upon a young woman, to whom I had sometimes spoken on the subject of
religion, but who uniformly appeared very indifferent, I began to consider what
I should say to her. I recollected, that, although she had always been polite
to me, yet she evidently did not like me; and therefore I deemed it my duty, if
possible, not to allow her dislike to me, to influence her mind against religion. I recollected also that I had
heard of her inclination towards another denomination, whose religious
sentiments were very different from my own; and I thought, therefore, that I
must take care not to awaken prejudices, but aim to reach her conscience and her
heart. The most of her relatives and friends were members of my church; she had
been religiously educated, was a very regular attendant upon divine worship;
and I knew, therefore, that she must have considerable intellectual knowledge
on the subject of religion. But she was a gay young woman, loved amusements and
thoughtless society; and I supposed she would be very reluctant to yield any
personal attention to her salvation, lest it should interfere with her
pleasures. And, beyond all this, I had heard
that she possessed a great share of independence, and the more her friends had
urged her to attend to her salvation, the more she seemed resolved to neglect
it.
I rang the bell, inquired for her, and she soon met me in the
parlour. I immediately told her for what purpose I had called, and asked
whether she was willing to talk with me on the subject of her religion. She
replied:- I am willing to talk with you; but I dont
think as you do about religion. I do not ask you to think as I do. I
may be wrong; but the word of God is right. I have not come here intrude my
opinions upon you, but to induce you to act agreeably to your own. Do you
believe the Bible? Yes;- to be sure I do
(Tartly.) Are you aiming to live according to it? For example, are you daily
praying to God to pardon and to save you? No!
said she; (with an impudent accent.) Does not the Bible command you to pray? to seek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while he is near? Yes, I know that; but I don't believe in total depravity.
No matter. I do not ask you to believe in it. But I suppose you believe you
are a sinner? Why, yes.
(Impatiently.) And need Gods forgiveness? Yes.
Are you seeking for it? No. Ought you not
to be seeking for it? Yes; I suppose so.
Well, then, will you begin, without any more delay? and act as you know you
ought, in order to be saved? You and I dont agree,
says she.
No matter for that. But we agree in one thing: I think
exactly as you do, that you ought to seek the Lord. But you dont agree with yourself. Your course
disagrees with your conscience. You are not against me, but against your own reason and good sense - against your known
duty, while you lead a prayerless life. I am surprised that a girl of your good
mind will do so. You are just yielding to the desires of a wicked and deceitful
heart. I do not ask you to think as I think, or feel as I feel; I only ask you
to act according to the
Bible and your own good sense. Is there anything unreasonable, or unkind, any
bigotry in asking this? Oh no, sir.
How came you to neglect salvation? I
dont
know! But they keep talking
to me, - a kind of scolding I call it and they talk in
such a way that I am provoked, and my mind turns against religion. If they
would talk to me as you do, and reason with me, and not be dinging at me, and treating me as if I were a fool, I should not feel
so. Said I, They may be
unwise perhaps, but they mean well; and you ought to remember that religion is
not to be blamed for their folly. - And now, my dear girl, let me ask you
seriously:- will you attend to this matter of your salvation as well as you
can, according to the word of God and with prayer, and endeavour to be saved?
Will you do it, without any further delay? If you are not disposed to do so if
you think it best, and right, and reasonable to neglect it if you do not wish
me to say anything more to you about it; then, say so, and I will urge you no
more: I shall be sorry, but I will be still. I am not going to annoy you, or
treat you impolitely. -What do you say? shall I leave you and say no more?
I dont wish you to leave me.
Well, do you wish to seek the Lord? I wish to be saved, said she. But
I never can believe in total depravity. The doctrine disgusts me. It sounds so
much like cant. I never will believe it. I abhor it. And I wont believe it. Perhaps not, said
Well, said she, if I attempt to be religious, I shall be a Unitarian.
Be a Unitarian then, if the Bible and the
Holy Spirit will make you one. Do not be afraid to be a Unitarian. But get at the truth, and follow it, according to your own sober judgment. Study your Bible, for your own heart.
Get right. Pray God to direct you.
And never rest, till you feel that God is your friend and you are his. I
beseech you to this; because I love you and wish you to be right and happy. -
And now, my dear girl, tell me, will you try to do it! Yes, sir, I will.
In a few days she sent for me. I found her very sad. She told
me she was in trouble. She had not found it so easy a thing to be a Christian
as she expected. Her heart rebelled and recoiled; and she did not know what was
the matter. Her mind would wander. The world would intrude. I said but little
to her, except to direct her to Gods
promises, to those that seek him with all their heart. She desired me to
pray with her, which I did. As I rose to depart she affectionately entreated me
not to neglect her.
About ten days after this she sent for
me again. I obeyed her summons. She told me with tears in her eyes that she
never dreamed she was so wicked. She said the
more she tried to love God and give up sin the more her own heart opposed her.
Her sins not only appeared greater; but it seemed to her that sinning was as
natural to her as breathing. What shall I do?
said she; I
have no peace, day or night! My resolutions are weak as water. I
repeated texts of Scripture to her. In me is thy help. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, (his thoughts are wrong,) and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will
abundantly pardon. Strive to enter in at the strait gate.
I saw her several times. She said her troubles increased upon
her, temptations came up every day; and it seemed to her, there never was so wicked a heart, as she had to contend with. Among
other things, she said, some Christian people would keep talking to her, and
she did not wish to hear them. I advised her to avoid them as much as possible.
And, without letting her know it, I privately requested her officious exhorters
to say nothing to her. But I found it hard work to keep them still. And when
she complained to me again of their officious inquiries about her feelings; I
requested her to leave the room, whenever any one of them should venture on
such an inquiry again.
She continued her prayerful attempts after the knowledge of
salvation; and in a few weeks she found peace and joy in believing in Christ.
She told me she knew her entire depravity; but,
said she, I never should have believed it, if I had
not found it out by my own experience. It was just as you told me. When I
really tried to be a Christian, such as is described in the Bible, I found my
heart was all sin and enmity to God. And I am sure I never should have turned
to Christ, if God had not shown me mercy. It was all grace. Now I believe in
total depravity, but I learnt it alone. You did not convince me of it.
I never tried, said
* *
* * *
* *
390
THE WISDOM OF THE WORLD
By D.M. PANTON, B.A.
Ecclesiastes,
a book absolutely unique in the Bible, embodies a truth as absolutely unique.
It is the whole of life watched and reported upon by a man selected by God as
the most appropriate for the purpose who has ever lived. Life in all its length
and breadth can only be judged adequately by a man who has lived it all, and
lived it to the full; and in Solomon God found - for in him God had created -
exactly the man. With a wisdom, as the Scripture describes him, like the sand
that is on the sea shore; in wealth, exceeding all the kings of the world;
absolute in monarchical power; famed throughout the world:- combining in
himself these supreme earthly endowments as none ever before or since, Solomon
drank deeper than any other man of the draught of life. He is the ideal man of
the world judging, impartially and after exhaustive experience, this sublunary
life, a life under the sun: he voices the highest and noblest aspirations of the carnal
man. I applied my heart, he says, unto EVERY WORK that is done under the sun (Eccles.
8: 9). It
is the most marvellous summary of fallen life ever given in the history of the
world.
Solomons first and crowning instrument for judging life is
what we, in modern days, call SCIENCE.
God
gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart - an intellect extraordinarily comprehensive - even as the
sand that is on the sea shore; for he
was wiser than all men (1 Kings 4: 29). This
supernatural endowment embraced, to a degree of which we have no knowledge,
what we call scientific culture:- He spake of trees, from the cedar unto the hyssop, and had mastered the entire animal
creation. None ever lived who, on the natural plane, was so competent to judge
the value of life. What then is Wisdoms judgment? Through all systems of
philosophy, all panaceas for human ill, all inventions of applied knowledge,
Solomon saw straight into our engulfing ignorance, the night of mystery that
bounds our little life. All this have I proved in wisdom: I said, I will be wise;
but it was far from me: I
beheld all the work of God, that man cannot find
out the work that is done under the sun (Eccles.
7: 23; 8: 17). How remarkable is the confirmation
given by a wizard of modern science We do not know,
says
Myriads of men turn from wisdom to the sweets of WEALTH. Solomon
exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches: an
King Solomons drinking vessels were of gold, and
all the vessels of the [palace] of pure gold (1 Kings 10: 21, 23). Wealth
can buy any conceivable pleasure, and almost any conceivable position. So
Solomon says:- I had great possessions, above
all that were before me in Jerusalem; and
whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them; I
withheld not my heart from any joy (Eccles.
2: 9).
And what is his summary of this surfeit of wealth and indulgence? Behold,
all was vanity and a striving after wind. Riches are like painted grapes,
which look full of satisfaction for a man, yet never slake his thirst or quench
his longing. Where there is most luxury, there is most suicide.
Suicides, in
But many men turn from wisdom and pleasure, to find
satisfaction in POWER. So Solomon says:- The king [or possibly the Prime
Minister, President, or coming World-leader (Antichrist)] doeth whatsoever pleaseth
him; because the kings word hath power, and who may say unto him, What
doest thou? (Eccles. 8: 3). Moreover, Solomon himself was a master of
statecraft, and a great king. Yet what is his summary of power? I have seen
servants upon horses, he replies, and princes
walking as servants upon the earth* (Eccles.
10: 7).
Russian princes are driving taxicabs in
[* See also 2
Cor. 5: 15. cf. 1 Cor. 4: 8, R.V.]
Solomons own destiny is a vivid comment on his shrewd analysis
of political
power; for his son Rehoboam lost to
Perhaps the last resort of the man of the world - certainly of
the man of genius - failing wisdom, wealth, and power, is FAME. The Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon (2 Chron. 9: 1); and there came of all peoples to
Solomon, from all the kings of the earth (1 Kings
4: 34). And what is his summary of
fame? The heart of the sons of men is full of evil,
and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead: - [i.e., intoSheol
/ Hades (see Luke
16: 22. cf. 22: 43; Acts 2: 34; Rev. 6: 9-11 and 2 Tim. 2: 18ff.)] - the memory of them is forgotten. How dread a summary
of life! Crowds, multitudes, whole generations thronging down to death like
autumn leaves, goodness delivering none from the worm until death is far vaster
on earth than life, and all fame is swallowed in night. For of the
wise man, even as of the fool, there is no remembrance for ever; seeing that in the days to come all will have been already
forgotten. And how doth the wise man die even as
the fool! So I hated life (Eccles. 2: 16). Napoleon has summarized fame with a
master-hand:- I am doing now what will fill thousands
of volumes in this generation; in the next, one volume will contain all; in the
third, a paragraph; in the fourth, a single line. In Lord Rosebery,
a premier of England, thrice a winner of the Derby, and holder of one of the
proudest of earldoms, Solomons dictum that an untimely birth is better than
life (Eccles. 6:
3) finds curious corroboration. Every thinking man, are the great Statesmans
painful words, not devoured by a diseased curiosity,
must reckon mortality a great blessing. Youth was his season of strength and
gladness, and he pictures the ideal world as a world of that period; so that as
the world moves onward he is left further and further behind, suffering at each
change all the anguish of a wound.
So then the summary is tremendous. One expression, used
twenty-nine times in the Book and nowhere else in the Bible, rolls through all
life like a Dead March in Saul. I have probed life relentlessly, says the
embodied Wisdom of the World; I have stated the truth frankly, even cruelly:
there is no hope UNDER THE SUN: all is
vanity. The wisdom of the world, in its last analysis, is an enormous
negative; but its very bankruptcy on earth opens a window in heaven: it is the
disillusioned that find Christ. Ecclesiastes
is an epitaph over mortality pointing forward to an Empty Tomb. A foremost
thinker when asked what, in his judgment, was the greatest wonder of the
nineteenth century, replied:- The emergence of Jesus
as the great need of the world. The long pilgrimage ends above the sun,
in God, and a world to come.
THIS IS THE
END OF THE MATTER; ALL HATH BEEN
HEARD: FEAR GOD, AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS; FOR THIS IS THE WHOLE DUTY OF MAN. FOR GOD SHALL
BRING EVERY WORK INTO JUDGMENT, WITH EVERY HIDDEN THING, WHETHER IT BE GOOD OR WHETHER IT BE EVIL.
* *
* * *
* *
391
THE EAGLE
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
Nature
is full of spiritual parables, with none lovelier perhaps than the
heaven-soaring eagle - the Golden and Imperial Eagles are the two species most
abundant in the
The eagle is built for flight, and supremely for upward flight. An eagle, says Solomon, flieth TOWARD HEAVEN
(Prov. 23: 5). Its anatomy
combines strength, lightness and power: the cylindrical structure of the bones
and feathers gives a balloon-like effect, so that when the wings are spread in
flight, the tendency is upward instead of downward, and the body is buoyed up
in air. It is so constructed as to overcome hostile forces and currents in the
heavenly places. Built for heaven, and far out-stripping every other bird in
ascending power, the eagle will continue soaring in tireless flight where none
can see it but God. God, being rich in mercy,
raised us up with [Christ] and made us to sit with
Him in the heavenly places (Eph. 2: 4). Purer
air; clearer vision; untroubled quiet rare landscape; cloudless sunshine:- what
a home! I have watched an eagle, says Mr. Seton Gordon, the chief living
authority on eagles, commence to mount when just
above the tree tops, and with never a movement of the wings reach a height so
great as to be invisible to the eye - and for an eagle to be invisible it must
be, at a conservative estimate, at least eight thousand feet in the air.
The Christian is not only one who seeks the highest ideals, but who has the
power to reach them put into his very bones: far above every other
terrestrial creature, he is so a sharer of the Divine nature that he is capable
of a life which, in all but infinity of
scope, is the life of God. Solomon said:- There be
three things which are too wonderful for me, yea,
four which I know
not: the way of an eagle in the air
(Prov. 30: 18): how much more wonderful, the way of a [resurrected and immortal (Isa. 40:
31, R.V.] Christian in the heavenly places!
The eagle is a solitary bird. Other birds go in flocks the
eagle, never: if two are seen together, they are mates. He is lonely because he
is lofty: he is remote from other birds, because no other bird can live where
he lives, or follow his tremendous lead. When
the Lord says, Follow Me, men do not rise in flocks, but here one, and there
another; and the higher the ascent, the lonelier the flight. The further earth recedes, the less the
world appeals. I noticed a small dark speck,
says Mr. Seton Gordon, against the
blue of the sky, and thought it was an insect. Then I saw the black speck was
approaching with incredible speed, and realized, that it was a Golden Eagle
rushing down to the eyrie from the high snow corries behind. He was travelling
like a thunderbolt. His speed must have been at least two hundred miles an
hour, and I am confident this is no over-statement.
The eagle has one peculiarity of vision which belongs (we
believe) to no other creature. It is furnished with a double eyelid, the inner
one transparent and always drawn over the eye; so that while other birds see in the light of the sun, the
eagle SEES the sun. It lives so much
in the land of light that God has made it, alone among creatures, to be
undazzled, unblinded, by the fount of day. Satans
design is to keep an unsaved soul a hooded, blinded eagle, - in whom the
god of this age hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, to rob them of the light of
the knowledge of the GLORY of God in
the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor.
4: 4).
What makes us Gods eagles is that we see Christ,
the Sun of Righteousness, as He is: it
is the alchemy of the Beatific Vision.
God is careful in the training of His eagles. The eyrie, or
eagles nest, is generally on the jagged edges of a precipice: the nest of the
Sea-Eagle is enormous, sometimes with a diameter of six or eight feet. So
Jehovah says:- As an eagle that stirreth up her nest - pulling the straw awry and thus
irritating the nestlings with the sharp points, and exposing the thorns, or
even thrusting the eaglets out of the nest - that fluttereth over her young,
He spread abroad His wings, He took them, He bare them on
His pinions (Deut. 32: 11). Only by a broken nest, and the apparently
heartless precipitation over the precipice, together with the actual testing of
the Divine power to uphold, can God make strong and developed eagles; and as
the mother-eagle entices the nestlings outward and upward, or catches them if
they flutter dangerously, and spreads her pinions between them and any possible
enemy, so God does with His own. Between the arrow and the eaglet is God. Earth
is its greatest danger.
But there are times when we shall find a sad, tired, drooping
eagle the birds power to soar is gone: it is the moulting season. But what
does the eagle do? It basks quietly in the sunshine; slowly the plumage
returns; and then she mounts up with wings as eagles, and the extraordinary rapidity of
flight and power of ascent comes back. They shall put forth - says the Greek version of Isaiah 40: 31 -
fresh
feathers as the moulting eagle. Who satisfieth thy mouth with good
things, so that thy youth - thy spiritual prime - is renewed LIKE THE EAGLE (Ps. 103: 5) *
The eagle is the only non-human creature on earth which God
has ever chosen for the proclamation of His truth to all mankind;* just as the
snake is the only non-human creature on earth that Satan has used for the
proclamation of his falsehood. John says, in Patmos:- And I saw,
and I heard an eagle, flying in mid-heaven, saying with a great voice, Woe,
woe, woe, for them that dwell on the earth (Rev.
8: 13). Where the
slain are, God
says, there is she (Job 39:
30). A lectern (presumably for this reason)
is often constructed, on the under side, with the figure of an eagle. What was
it in my sermon that won you to Christ? a preacher asked a new convert. It was nothing you said, was the reply, but something that came out of
the back of the eagle We
are Christ-based. She dwelleth on the rock, and hath her
lodging there (Job 39: 28). The Eagle is the greatest enemy the
Serpent has on earth: some species of eagles are called snake-eating eagles, which they disable and consume,
with rapid blows from the beak: and so it is when the Dragon approaches (Rev. 9: 11), that God sends forth (Rev. 8: 13) His warning Eagle. Eagles are also used for
hunting wolves, and in Turkestan a wolf-hunting eagle
will fetch as much as £50, or six times the price of a horse.** By
harmlessness and goodness we wrestle with wolves and serpents, unafraid - for them an evident token of perdition (Phil.
1: 28).
* An ass (2 Pet. 2: 16) warned a
single prophet.
** Mr. Matthew Edwards describes the combat between a wolf and two of these hunting eagles. The wolf stood at bay, and though his eyes were gone he
lashed out this way and that with flashing fangs in the hope of finding his
assailants. Ballah and Naja
had been taking turns in dealing sharp, quick blows with their razor-like
beaks. As we watched, the wolf sank to ground, and, as quick as a flash, Ballah seized him by the scruff of the neck with his
terrible talons and swept up into the air. Up and up the big bird mounted, and
at about two hundred feet he picked out a rocky spot and let his quarry drop.
When we got to Mr. Wolf he was nothing but a bag of broken bones.
So powerful is its upward flight, and so native is it to
heaven, that the eagle, alone of birds, disappears altogether from sight. It is
a rapt eagle. I bare you on eagles wings, and
brought you unto Myself (Ex. 19: 4). Where the
carcase is, our
Saviour says, there will the eagles be gather together (Matt. 24: 28). Above
the carcase of a corrupting world, death-doomed, in the eyrie of the
But the very soaring capacities of the human soul can make it
a more awful wreck. The largest and most powerful of all, eagles (or vultures)
is the Condor; and Nietzsche, of all moderns the most virulently anti-Christian
- Christianity, he says, is the one immortal blemish of mankind - says: I am a condor of the air. Such swarm around all who
would soar to-day. A flock of black condors above the
Brazilian jungle, the greatest and swiftest of soaring birds, charged and
wheeled, and charged again, swooping closer and closer. In momentary dread lest
one of the huge creatures, with its wing-spread of ten or twelve feet, should
foul the propeller and bring down the plane, de Pinedo
resorted to all the manoeuvres and trick stunts in his gamut of airmanship.
Diving, soaring, speeding, looping, tumbling, he sought desperately to shake
off this terrifying pursuit, only to find himself still the quarry of an
ever-augmenting flock of the great birds of prey. * But the end of the
earth-bound eagle is tragedy itself. A man one winters day was scanning the
whirl of the waters above the
* The Literary Digest, July 2, 1927.
* *
* * *
* *
392
ON EAGLES WINGS
By WILLIAM J. LONG
One day,
when 1 came to the little thicket on the cliff where I used to lie and watch
the nest through my glass, I found that one eaglet was gone. The other stood on
the edge of the nest, looking down fearfully into the abyss, whither, no doubt,
his bolder nest-mate had flown, and calling disconsolately from time to time.
Presently the mother-eagle came swiftly up from the valley, and there was food
in her talons. She came to the edge of the nest, hovered over it a moment, so
as to give the hungry eaglet a sight and smell of food, then went slowly down
to the valley, taking the food with her, calling the little one in her own way
to come and he should have it. He called after her loudly from the edge of the
nest, and spread his wings a dozen times to follow. But the plunge was too
awful. The meaning of the little comedy was plain enough. She was trying to
teach him to fly, telling him that his wings were grown, and the time was come
to use them. Suddenly, as if discouraged, she rose well above him. I held my
breath, for I knew what was coming. The little fellow stood on the edge of the
nest, looking down at the plunge which he dared not take. There was a sharp cry
from behind, which made him alert, tense as a watch-spring. The next instant
the mother-eagle had swooped, striking the nest at his feet, sending his
support of twigs and himself with them out into the air together.
He was afloat now, afloat on the blue air in spite of himself,
and flapped lustily for life. Over him, under him, beside him, hovered the
mother on tireless wings, calling softly that she was there. But the awful fear
of the depths and the lance tops of the spruces was upon the little one; his
flapping grew more wild; he fell faster and faster. Suddenly - more in fright,
it seemed to me, than because he had spent his strength he lost his balance and
tipped head downward in the air. It was all over now, it seemed; he folded his
wings to be dashed in pieces among the trees. Then like a flash the mother-eagle
shot under him, his despairing feet touched her broad shoulders, between her
wings. He righted himself, rested an instant, found his head; then she dropped
like a shot from under him, leaving him to come down on his own wings ... it
was all the work of an instant before I lost them among the trees far below.
And when I found them again with my glass, the eaglet was in the top of a great
pine, and the mother was feeding him.
And then, standing there alone in the great wilderness, it
flashed upon me for the first time just what the wise old prophet meant; though
he wrote long ago, in a distant land, and another than Cloud Wings had taught
her little ones all unconscious of the kindly eyes that watched out of a
thicket:- As the eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth
abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings - so
the Lord.
-------
THE EAGLE
He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringd with the azure world he stands.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.
- TENNYSON.
-------
PARENTAL TRAINING
I once saw a very fine and interesting sight above one of the
crags of Ben Weevis. Two parent eagles were teaching
their offspring the manoeuvres of flight. They began by rising from the top of
a mountain in the eye of the sun (it was about midday, and bright for this
climate). They at first made small circles, and the young birds imitated them;
they paused on their wings waiting till they had made their first flight, and
then they took a second and larger gyration, always rising toward the sun, and
enlarging their circle of flight, so as to make a gradually ascending spiral.
The young ones still slowly followed, apparently flying better as they mounted;
and they continued, always rising, till they became mere points in the air, and
the young ones were lost, and afterwards their parents, to my aching sight.
- SIR HUMPHRY DAVY.
* *
* * *
* *
393
THE BEATIFIC VISION
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
The
circumstances of our eternal state, the other wonders of other worlds which God
is preparing for them that love Him, often absorb our thoughts; but there is
another destiny ahead of Gods children incalculably profounder and more
entrancing. Important as are the many mansions, the services to which He may appoint
us, the honours with which He may crown us, incomparably more satisfying,
inexpressibly more wonderful, is a deeper revelation of God. Beloved, now are
we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be; but we know that,
if he shall be manifested, we shall be LIKE
Him, for we shall see him even as he is (1 John 3:
2). No man is ever converted but there is the germ of a
perfect image of Christ. What I am
must always be infinitely more vital than where I am, and what I am than what I have. While it is conceivable - though it can never happen -
that our honours might be stripped from us, our mansions forfeited, our service
ended, our characters are our own for
ever; and the butterfly already slumbers in the chrysalis. We are far more than
royalties travelling incognito.
THE PLAN
Now this profound plan of God lies
embedded in a past eternity of which we have no knowledge. Whom he foreknew, he also FOREORDAINED to be conformed to the image
of his Son (Rom. 8: 29). All
that we are as reborn children of God has its background, its draft-plans, in a
past eternity; and we do not read that God foreordained us to pardon, or to
THE TRANSFORMATION
The next passage is peculiarly valuable for showing that the
transformation is not physical only in resurrection, but a transfiguration of
character that has already begun in the regenerate. We all,
with unveiled face, beholding
as in a glass -
or, reflecting as in a mirror - the glory of the Lord are [being] transformed into the same
image from glory to glory as from the Lord the Spirit (2 Cor. 3: 18). The
veil, that concealed Christ, has, for as, been removed, and the new man in us, a creation of like substance
with Him, and so mouldable and capable of complete likeness, is being
renewed after the image of
him that created him (Col. 3:
10). If we look at a person, the pupil of
our eye reflects his complete image: so, as we habitually contemplate the Lord.
the image at which we look - like a photographic negative exposed to an object
in the light - reproduces itself in us, and as conversion itself is a
fundamental, structural change toward ultimate glory,
so, as the process continues under the fingers of the indwelling Spirit, the
change - not of thought, or even conduct, only, but of being - mounts from glory to glory. By continually beholding, we are
continually transfiguring. It is not great talents
God blesses, says Mc Cheyne,
so much as great likeness to Christ. Thus
future [millennial] glory is not so much something added
from without, a goodness emerging from within: it is the butterfly springing
from the chrysalis: it is manifestation of sons of God.*
* This passage also settles the critical point of the date, just
when the change takes place is partly determined by the thoroughness of the
prior work of the Spirit; even as in a back-slider, deepening in a backsliding
life, the process actually and manifestly retrogrades. The vision will be
effective in all, but not simultaneously
in all. Moreover, as it is by the Lord the Spirit,
the final moment must be His decision alone, and does not depend solely on the
physical vision: we read of no change in Moses or Elijah, though they watched
the transfiguring Christ; nor in Mary when she beheld the risen Lord in the
Garden, or the Apostles witnessing the Ascension. The vision did not change
John in Patmos any more than it will change all believers at the Judgment Seat
of which the
THE VISION
But a far fuller, and therefore a far more potent, vision
awaits us in resurrection bodies; for if the vision of the Lord in the mirror
only - the Scriptures - so changes us, what must be the reality? We shall be like him, for - because: it is philologically
certain that the proposition introduced by [the Greek word
] contains the real and essential cause
and ground of that which it follows (Alford)
- we shall see him even as He is - that is, no longer as weary by Sychars well, or convulsed in agony on Calvary. All
through it is a transforming vision. The first vision is - Behold the
Lamb of God; and
the susceptible negative created by this second birth, touched and retouched by
the transfiguring [and indwelling Holy] Spirit during life, has the process
sharply completed by the direct vision of the Lord. Exceptional servants of God
have betrayed gleams of the coming Glory.
After Moses had been forty days, and no more, in the presence of God his
countenance was so transfigured that people were afraid to approach him (Ex. 34: 29); and Stephens
face awed his murderers. Looking up steadfastly into heaven, he saw Jesus; and all saw his face as it
had been the face of an angel (Acts 7:
55). For the rest of us the transcript is
written in faint, though indelible, ink, which will steal out, one day, in
letters of fire.
THE LIKENESS
The Apostle is keenly conscious of the
necessarily limited grasp of our imagination. We know not - we are in the dark - what we shall
be, but we shall be like him. The word ([see Greek
]) - as Dr. Lange says - means resembling, similar to;
not equal to ([
]): it is only of Christ Paul says that
He is equal to God (Phil. 2: 6). Christ is the Image of God (Heb. 1: 3) in a sense in which we cannot even be an image
of Christ. All that separates the creature from the Creator - omnipotence,
omniscience, omnipresence - is a gulf we can never bridge; but the human Christ, in moral and physical
perfection, is the model to which God is working: we shall be replicas of
Christ; and it includes the physical - who shall fashion anew the body of
our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the
body of his glory (Phil 3: 21).
It is one thing to know that we shall be sinless; it is another and altogether
more wonderful thing to know that we shall be like Christ. Earth would be
heaven if all men were duplicates of Christ. We know not what - it is not
defined closer than a resemblance. Our Lord sums up the perfect Man, of all
types; so each of us will resemble Him in the type in which we were created. No
profounder criticism of the missionary body has been offered than the question
of a Japanese woman:- Missionary, when was it that
Christians stopped being like Jesus?
THE GOAL
So in eternity we reach the goal to which God is steadily
working, a goal of indescribable wonder. It is the felt discord with our own
ideal which produces all the misery that is in the Christian life: the hour
hastens when our nature, through and through and to its innermost core, will be
transformed into exact accord with a heavenly environment. For they shall
see His
face: and His name shall be on their foreheads (Rev.
22: 4):-
hall-marked for Gods name can be stamped on
that only which is in Gods nature. The all-devastating vision, so dread as to
cause instant death - for man shall not see Me and live (Ex.
33: 20),
before Whose face earth and heaven dissolve - is, reversed, the same enormous
power, unimaginably potent, which changes what it smites into the image of
itself. We shall have the mind of Christ, the outlook of Christ, the tastes of
Christ, the unselfishness of Christ, the affections of Christ, the angers of
Christ, the compassions of Christ, the purity of Christ, the habits of Christ,
the devotion of Christ, the heavenliness of Christ. And the change is final.
The presence of God made the
skin of Moses to shine; the vision of God will make the substance of the soul glorious:
but the presence-glory decayed and died; while the glory from the vision,
saturating all the extent of our being in all its depth, passes into the
imperishable substance of the soul. The whole world must one day acknowledge in
us the very beauty which they now acclaim in Christ.
SECOND BIRTH
So we see the fearful necessity of the initial act. In the day
that God created man, in the image
of God made he him; but Adam begat a son in his own
likeness, after his image (Gen. 5:
1, 3): the image of God was lost. Only God can recreate it, and He does
so in a second birth - that Christ may be the firstborn among many brothers, fellow-images in the likeness of God.
Now
are we children of God: unless born again in the nature of
God, it is obviously impossible to grow into the image of God. And the proof is
in the likeness. As an image plants itself upon a mirror so that the image now
reaches the eye, not from the image only, but from the reflection in the
mirror, so the godly man is the ungodly mans mirror of Christ. Renan says:- Francis
of Assisi has always been one of my strongest reasons for believing that Jesus
was very nearly such as the synoptic Gospels describe Him. When Voltaire visited
-------
DUTY
Stern Lawgiver! yet thou dost wear
The Godheads most benignant grace;
Nor know we any thing so fair
As is the smile upon thy face:
Flowers laugh before thee on their
beds,
And fragrance in thy footing treads;
Thou dost preserve the stars from
wrong
And the most ancient heavens, through
thee, are fresh and strong.
WORDSWORTH.
*
* * *
* * *
394
THE FIRST RESURRECTION
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
As we
draw rapidly nearer to the breaking tombs, we are met
by a pregnant and most arresting fact. A select resurrection from the dead has already occurred. For we read:- The earth did quake - a shock such as shall end the world, and dissolve the earth - and the rocks - natures hardest adamant, and the
very foundations of the Holy City - were rent; AND THE TOMBS WERE OPENED (Matt.
27: 51);-
as a consequence of the rending earthquake, and in the very moment of the
crucifixion, to show that the saints rising was the fruit of Christs dying. The voice of the
dying Son of God was heard in the tombs, and they that heard, lived: the loud
death-cry like the shout before the sepulchre of Lazarus, penetrated the halls
of Hades with the life-shock of creative power.* If the Lord Jesus emptied
tombs in the very moment of His dying, at the apex of His weakness, how much
more shall He liberate the dead when He comes on the clouds of heaven, in the
apex of His power? Earthquakes are the travail-pangs
with which that with which earth labours - the holy dead - are born afresh (Is. 26: 19) out of [the place of]* death; and
it is immediately after the enormous earthquake in Rev.
6: 12 -
that which our Saviour calls the beginning of birth-pangs (Matt. 24: 8) - that we find the countless multitude in the
heavens (Rev. 7:
9).** I will ransom them from
the power of the grave (Hos. 13:
14) - and the moment the ransom had been
paid, the graves power snapped: the shock that will shatter the world will
only liberate the redeemed.
* The type lies in perhaps the most extraordinary miracle ever wrought;
for no sooner did the bones of Elisha - so steeped are even the bones of Gods
anointed in the Holy Ghost - touch the dead Moabite than he sprang to life (2 Kings 13 : 21);
the death of Gods Holy One is the life of the dead.
[* NOTE: There is nothing shown in the text or
its context, to suggest that this was a resurrection into immorality! Nor is there
any mention of these resurrected saints ascending into Gods presence in
Heaven afterwards!
In 1 Sam. 28:
11-18,
R.V. we have an identical example of the resurrection of Samuel the prophet:
but no details are given of Samuel ascending into Heaven after speaking to King
Saul. After warning Saul of Gods displeasure in him and his disobedience,
Samuel makes known to Saul of his soon location ( as a disembodied soul in Sheol = Hades) - Because thou obeyest not the voice of the LORD, and didst not execute his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the LORD done this thing into thee this day.
Moreover the LORD will deliver
** Everything which shall yet occur in
the fullest extent in the Parousia was thus indicated partially in Christs
First Advent (Olshausen).
A First Resurrection
And now we see an actual historical example
of what is foretold in prophecy as still
to come to pass - a SELECT
resurrection from among the dead. And MANY - not all saints: not only was it a resurrection in which there
were no wicked, but a resurrection from which the vast majority of the saints
(so far as we can judge) were absent - bodies of the SAINTS - the only place in the Gospels where
the disciples are called saints, because blessed and holy (saintly) is he that hath part in the first resurrection (Rev.
20: 6);
and only on distinguished saints, and saints distinguished
for their saintliness, could the honour of ascending w ith
the Son of God be conferred.* Our Lord alone is the solitary Sheaf
(Lev. 23:
10), the first-begotten from the dead
(Col.
1: 18):
so that while the earthquake burst the graves, our Lords flinging open the
gates of Hades as He came up liberated the souls of the dead. The graves were
unlocked by the crucifixion: the occupants were summoned up after the
resurrection.** So we learn, by a vivid example before our eyes, that all
is graded: the only Holy One of God rises first and alone; after His
resurrection, these; after these, resurrections yet to come:
until at last arrives (with no honour in it) the resurrection of the wicked.
For whilst the Incarnation ensures the tom-emptying of
the whole of mankind (1 Cor.
15: 21, 22), priority in blessing involves priority in issuing from the grave. Observe the
extraordinary emphasis laid by the Holy Spirit on resurrection being physical. Not saints that had fallen asleep were raised, but the BODIES of saints that had fallen asleep were raised: no
phantoms, no ghosts, no unsubstantial visitants from the spirit-world - such as
Spiritualists have daily contact with, and are pressing upon us as if they were
resurrections - but the bodies which had been laid in the tombs; the bodies
that had died, rose - thousands of years (if Old Testament martyrs like Abel
were among them) after death. Miraculous power will restore even as it
cures: and his flesh came again - for in leprosy the flesh
disappears, together with whole limbs - like unto the flesh
of a little child (2 Kings 5: 14) -
sweet, sound, pure.
* There must have been some ground of selection; and it will hardly be contended that the carnal among the dead
saints were chosen. All emptied graves were refilled
in the Old Testament, yet a better resurrection was known and sought. Women received their dead by a resurrection - a temporary resuscitation of the body: and others were
tortured, not accepting their deliverance; that
- as a golden goal - they might obtain - for
it depended on fidelity even under torture - a BETTER resurrection (Heb. 11: 35). Thus the First Resurrection
was a constant prize before the eyes of Old Testament saints, so precious that
they were willing to undergo torture to attain it.
** The words after His resurrection
belong to the whole sentence, not merely to coming
forth (Alford).
Unnamed Saints
So resurrections still to occur will
simply be a continuation of an already historic event. For coming forth
out of the tombs, they entered into the holy
city - an
exquisite forecast of the flight of the risen into
* Since Scripture
holds no hint of any spiritual change in Hades, there is no
ground to suppose that saints already found unworthy to ascend with Christ
will, at the next breaking of the tombs, suddenly be found worthy:
nevertheless, as saints by calling if not by practise, ascending from Hades as
distinct from Death (Rev. 20: 13) after
the First Resurrection (that Age) is over,
their names are revealed (Rev. 20: 15) in the
Book of Life.
Rapt Saints
Suddenly the veil drops: no word is uttered
of the next step in their history: they are simply gone. It is not credible
that they died again. For it would have been no true proof of our Lords
resurrection, nor a true sample of the First Resurrection - incorruptibility -
had they died afresh*: nor, as a matter of fact, were their bodies ever
found on earth as Moses, like that of Lazarus: nor is there any record of God having buried them, as He buried
Moses. Moreover, all cases of mere resuscitation, the temporary suspension of
death, lived out their restored life on earth, and amongst men; and it is
hardly conceivable - and there is no adequate purpose visible - that these
should have died again, thirty or forty days after, when our Lord ascended.
Moreover, it was as saints they rose, in honour and
glory; not as Lazarus, merely to show forth the power of Christ: they were Enochs, who was not, for God TOOK him (Gen.
5: 24). So, from where Elijah came for the Transfiguration, thither doubtless
these saints were rapt; and the very discussion of what became of them is an
exact reproduction of the search that was made for Elijah by the sons of the
prophets. The mystery that
enshrouds them is the mystery that is coming again. Augustine, followed by a host of expositors, supposes that they died
again; Origen and Jerome, followed by a still greater
host, assert that they ascended with Christ to glory.** Efforts have
also been made by various expositors to ascertain their identity. Who are these
that fly as the doves to their windows? (Isa.
60: 8)
asks the Jewish prophet, in amazed and questioning wonder. We hunt as vainly
for their names or their corpses as the band of searchers scoured the mountains
for Elijah. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found
(Elijah) not; and Elisha
said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not? (2 Kings 2:
17). No human searcher will ever find the man whom God has rapt. Enoch was NOT FOUND, because GOD translated him: for before his translation he hath had witness borne to
him that he had been well pleasing unto God (Heb. 11: 5).
* If it had been a mortal life, it
would not have been a proof of a perfect resurrection (CALVIN). Of those in the
First Resurrection our Lord says:- They that are
accounted worthy to attain to that age, and the
resurrection from the dead
- for that age and the resurrection from the dead are synonymous terms:
it is not the mere act of rising, but the permanent state of resurrection - neither marry, nor are given
in marriage: FOR NEITHER CAN THEY DIE ANY MORE (Luke 20: 35).
It is those only who inherit the [coming Millennial] Kingdom (1 Cor. 15: 50) of whom
Paul says that they rise incorruptible: temporary resuscitations for presentation at the
Bema, found in the Book of Life (Rev. 20: 15), are
ultimately raised to eternal bliss.
** The survival of Davids sepulchre unbroken (Acts 2:
29) goes far to prove it an exclusively Christian
resurrection, composed of companions of our Lord deceased.
A Reaping in Groups
Thus it has been established by actual historic fact that the
first resurrection is not a general rising, but a reaping in batches or groups,
one of which has already actually occurred.* Nature has its own lovely little
parable. The snowdrop is the first
flower to herald the rebirth of nature in spring; it breaks up
through the hard, frozen ground, and it always comes up alone;
only one species is known, a bulb
which, falling asleep, awakes first, breaking up through the ground before winter has left the earth; drooping in perfected humility, it is clothed
with an inner cloak of green - the colour of mercy; and it appears in a garment
of snowy white, with just the touch of yellow in its antlers to hint the crown
of gold. Thou hast a few names in Saridis that have not defiled
their garments -
saintly [because obedient] saints; they shall walk with Me - obviously in resurrection, as Christ is risen - IN WHITE, for they are
worthy (Rev. 3
: 4).**
* The First
Resurrection is not one summary event, but is made up of various resurrections
and translations, receiving its last additions somewhere about the overthrow of
the Beast and his armies (J. A.
SEISS, D.D.)
** White heads of snowdrops have
already shown themselves upon a grass bank in
Walking With Christ
Now the Holy Ghost definitely uses this thought for the First
Resurrection. For - says the Apostle, picking up the
thread of the newly baptized walking the clean-washed life; and now revealing
the consequences of such holiness of walk - if we have become fellow-pants - seeds sown together, germinating
together, and organically grown into one: if we have become one and the same
plant (Godet), interlocked until we interlace
- in the likeness of His death - its visible emblem or picture,
which is baptism - we shall be - in the future - (fellow-plants)
of His resurrection (Rom.
6: 5) -
companions with Christ in the resurrection of glory.* The good
seed, these are the sons of the kingdom
(Matt. 13:
38); and as the burying of a seed is its planting, so we were buried
with Him - seeds planted in the same seedbed - through baptism - the baptismal trench cut in the
ground is the seedbed - into death: THAT - to the intent that - like as Christ was raised from the
dead, so we also (Rom.
6 : 4). No farmer ever buried a seed in order
to get a crop more surely than God buries His child with a view to resurrection. So Paul elsewhere shows that our body
is a seed deliberately planted to grow again; for of the resurrection to glory
he says, - Thou sowest a bare grain; and God giveth to each seed a body of its own (1 Cor. 15: 37); and so in the ritual grave the eye of faith
sees not only the burying of the bulb, but the springing of the bloom.
* The
reference to the resurrection of the body is altogether authorised by verse 9,
if we regard the new life as continuing to the bodily resurrection - therefore
in ethical and physical resurrection
(Lange). So Tertullian, Chrysostom,
etc. The word [
in the Greek text] occurs more than forty times in the New Testament,
and always in one uniform and exclusive sense - the coming up of the fallen
body from the grave (Seiss). So also Govett: - We are already partakers in
baptism of the likeness of
Christs resurrection: what we hope for is the reality.
For now we reach the grand ethical
secret of select resurrection:- Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that - as the great purpose of our salvation - the body of
sin might be destroyed (crippled, disabled), that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin: such only are ACCOUNTED
WORTHY to attain to that age, and THE RESURRECTION [OUT] FROM THE DEAD (Luke 21: 36). The Christian ought to live now as if already risen, his
old man steadily dying in crucifixion; and if he so lives, earlier
emergence from his tomb will prove his earlier sanctity. Yet the
rite of baptism, while it alone can force no plant up through the frozen
ground, is of enormous consequence. For he cannot be regarded
as saintly with the saintliness of select resurrection who gives a steady and
lifelong refusal to the initial act of faith: if a man contend in the games, he is not crowned, except he have contended LAWFULLY (2 Tim. 2: 5).* For blessed - each of the seven beatitudes of the Apocalypse embraces only a selection of believers - and HOLY
is he** - not the redeemed corporately, enjoying a collective privilege
founded on grace, but an individual attaining through
personal holiness - THAT HATH PART IN
THE FIRST RESURRECTION (Rev.
20: 6).***
Thus taught almost the earliest sub‑apostolic Christian known to us, an
actual disciple of the Apostle John:- If we please Him in this present Age, we shall receive also the Age to come;
and if
we walk worthy of Him, we
shall also reign together with Him (Polyearp).#
* So (in the type) the Red Sea had to be crossed; and while
Israel as a whole failed to enter the Land, no one did enter except through
baptism in the sea (1 Cor. 10: 2). So our
Saviour says:- Except a man be born of WATER and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
** Not only happy, but holy; he is in
the highest degree worthy of the name of Saint (H. B. Swete, D.D.)
*** Holiness,
conformity to the mind and will of God, is the condition of this resurrection
beatitude. The rewards of Christ are not mere external things, but inward and
spiritual possessions. Therefore to say that we shall be content with the
lowest place in [the coming millennial kingdom and] heaven may sound like humility and Christian meekness; but
it means being content with less of likeness to Christ, less of His Spirit,
less of His love. The share in the first resurrection is according to these
things; and how can we be content with but little of them? It is not humility, it is a wrong to Christ Himself, to be indifferent
to this reward. Oh, then, seek, strive, pray for his holiness of heart
and life, that you may be of those blessed ones who have part in the first
resurrection! (Pulpit Commentary.)
# Since Polycarp three views have prevailed on the Kings
associated with Christ in the Millennial Kingdom:- some
holding that they are all the saints; others that they are only the martyrs; others still,
that they are the specially faithful, including the martyrs (Lange). The inspired
forecast (Rev. 20:
4) certainly lays enormous emphasis on the
martyrs, who compose three out of the four divisions of Thrones, and to all the
martyred our Lord assures the First Ressurrection (Matt. 16: 25): nevertheless other passages, while confining
it to overcomers within the Church (Rev. 3: 21), and the early rapt (Rev.
12: 5), embrace
- happily for us - more than martyrs (Luke 20:
35). In a
preliminary period of the Kingdom of glory upon [this] earth there
will be thrones and cities (Luke 19: 17, 19), and, for a time yet, first and last: to be first rather
than last - to attain to the first resurrection - after this we ought all to strive. There will
indeed remain, in eternity, also the less exalted members of the one Body
(Stier). Dr. Swete, though no Millennarian, also
so understands John:- The
limitation of the First Resurrection is to the martyrs, and (as a second class)
to those who have suffered reproach, boycotting, and imprisonment without
winning the martyrs crown. Also Lange:- The truly perfected Christians,
the approved ones, with all the martyrs.
Select Resurrection
Our Lords own up-springing is
wonderfully portrayed. Defined to be the Son of God by
the power (according to the Spirit of holiness) of the SELECT RESURRECTION from among the dead
(Rom. 1: 4): AS FIRST of the select
resurrection from among the
dead He is about to announce light to the people (of
* Govetts translation. [See
Greek
] It seems a just (if startling)
inference from Dan. 12:
2, that a select resurrection of wicked souls
will also antedate their general rising - certainly including Nero (Rev.
13: 18),
and probably Judas (Rev. 13: 11) - as firstfruits of the damned, stamped, by
prior resurrection, as ripe in wickedness as the risen saints are mature in
grace.
The Cost
We now arrive at the supreme passage on the select
resurrection from the dead. All that Paul once valued, he says, he cast
overboard as so much dead cargo; I do count
them but
dung: and why? if by any means - if possible (Meyer): if anyhow (Eadie) - I may attain - the word attain means to arrive at the end of a journey - unto the select
resurrection from among the dead (Phil. 3: 11);- that is, not the resurrection of the dead,
but a resurrection out from among the dead, leaving the rest sleeping in their
graves. The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished: this is the FIRST resurrection (Rev. 20: 5). In the
words of Bishop Ellicott:- As the context suggests, the first
resurrection; any reference here to a merely ethical resurrection is wholly out
of the question. * That Paul is speaking of bodily resurrection is clear
from the closing verse of this very chapter: we wait for a Saviour who
shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of
his glory. As Professor T. Croskery,
D.D., puts it:-It is not
a part in the general resurrection (for it is an out-resurrection from among
the dead); it is not spiritual resurrection, for that was already past (in the
experience of the Apostle); it is part in the resurrection of the just, the resurrection of life.
* The context forbids us to adopt the
notion that the noun refers to spiritual or ethical resurrection (Eadie).
The Standard of Attainment
Never was Paul so anxious to impress uncertainty on the
Church: he piles phrase on phrase
implying extreme difficulty of achievement. Not that I have already obtained the standard
qualifying for the prize;* the word obtain [in this context] means to win a prize
(as in 1 Cor. 9: 24): or am already
made
perfect - with the maturity
required for the reaping sickle of the [firstfruits in the] first resurrection: but I press on - in hot pursuit - if so be that I may apprehend that for which also I
was apprehended by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself yet
to have apprehended. It is a statement crammed with deliberate uncertainty: if by any means is used when
an end is proposed, but failure is presumed to be possible (Alford); the
Apostle states not a positive assurance, but a modest hope (Lightfoot); the
idea of an attempt is conveyed, which may or may not he
successful (Ellicott). So
high was Pauls inspired conception of the standard
required by God, that more than any in the
A Prize
Now Paul reveals the profound yet
simple truth explaining the uncertainty: namely, that the
out-resurrection is not a gift in grace, but a prize to be won by devotion and sanctity. The First Resurrection is a reward for obedience rendered
after the acceptance of salvation, and Paul knew not the standard which God
had fixed in His own purpose
(G. H. Pember). Tertullian tells us that the Church of
his age prayed for a share in the First Resurrection. For a gift and a prize
are worlds asunder. Here is the solution of words of Paul
which have puzzled thousands.* For obtaining simple salvation Paul has
just stated that all works he had jettisoned for ever overboard, for Gods [eternal] salvation is
sheer gift, the righteousness of Another given in grace; but so far from this
truth producing carelessness in Paul, or the conviction that works after faith
are of no account, either for time or for eternity, by a counter-truth Pauls
master-passion is now revealed as the attainment of the Select Resurrection as
the prize. I press on to
seize the prize, to attain which Christ seized me: the prize consequent on the faithful carrying out of that
summons which I received from God in heaven (Alford): it is Christs
wish that all believers should win the prize: it is our heavenward calling (Lightfoot),
for God is invoking us all so to run that we shall break up with the first
through the shattered tombs. For no prize is won
except at the goal: the runner who, at any point of the track, calculates that
he has out-distanced all competitors; or gets out of the running-tracks; or
lingers to look back in satisfaction at the ground covered; or runs with
anything but intense concentration - loses the race.** Seest
thou, says Chrysostom, that even here they crown the most honoured of the athletes,
not on the ,ace‑course below, but the King calls them up and crowns them
there? God give us to
cry with the saintly Fletcher of Madeley:- Oh, that
the thought, the hope of millennial blessedness may animate me to perfect
holiness in the fear of God, that I may be accounted worthy to escape the
terrible judgments which will make way for that happy state of things, and that I may have part in the first resurrection!
* With the right motive of safeguarding
our eternal security, numberless commentators, confounding the resurrections
and oblivious of a peculiar resurrection of reward, wrest the plain grammar so
as to force the passage to assert a certainty which it is Pauls whole aim to
repudiate. But [the Greek word
] means resurrection simply; and [the other Greek word
] means OUT-resurrection. If in one place the Spirit uses [the
latter word
for out-resurrection], and in every other [the
former word
], there must be a divinely perfect
reason; and he who refuses to recognise it does so at his own peril (E. W. Bullinger, D.D.) Let us suppose, says Prof. Moses Stuart, a first resurrection to be appointed as a special reward of
high attainments in Christian virtue, and all (in the passage) is plain and
easy.
** Of carnal believers Hudson Taylor, than whom none did a
vaster work for Christ in the nineteenth century, and few (I imagine) walked
closer to God, says:- They have forgotten the warning
of our Lord in Luke 21: 34-36, and hence are not accounted worthy to excape:
they have not counted all things but loss, and hence do not attain unto that resurrection, which
Paul felt he might miss. We wish to place on record our solemn conviction
that not all who are Christians will
attain to that resurrection, or thus
meet the Lord in the air.
The Best
Paul finally presents us with a
priceless cluster of truths that shine out like stars. First,
our resolve: Let us
therefore, as many as be perfect
(full grown, mature, as distinct from the neophyte, the newly planted, the
newly born) be THUS minded: that is,
of Pauls mind; not doubting or denying that there is such a prize; not
foolishly scorning the doctrine of reward; not despairing of ourselves, or
ruling ourselves out as competitors; not absorbed in discussion as to who shall
win the prize, or wondering how near, or how far, we ourselves are; not
reposing on past victories and resting on past laurels, or crushed and hopeless
over past failures: but making it the supreme effort of our lives to attain.
There is a difference between the perfect and the
perfected: the perfect are ready for the race; the perfected are close upon the
prize (Bengel).
Concentration is the secret of power. Now follows a golden promise. And if in anything
(or in any detail of this truth) ye
are otherwise
minded - if you think
that the prize is for all believers without effort; or that there is no prize;
or that the first resurrection is not the prize; or that it is not worth lifes
devotion; or that you have, by effort, already secured it: even this - the Apostle
makes the enormous assumption of a single eye for truth in us all - shall God reveal unto you:
the verb indicates an immediate disclosing to the
human spirit by the Spirit of God (Lange).
To differ from Paul is manifestly to confess oneself in error; nevertheless,
Paul says, walk with me so far as you can see your
path; where you fail to agree with me, or with one another, ask God. Paul teaches, but God enlightens (Chrysostom). This meets the inevitable
challenge all down the ages:- Paul, your doctrine of the
Prize will plunge the Church into chaos, and sharply sunder the adults (if they
follow your counsel) from the babes (who for the most part will refuse it).
This is the answer. Seek the best you know, and God will give you a still better best: be perfect in devotion, as a
passionate runner, and God is pledged to show us what is the hope of our calling (Eph. 1: 18), the most golden ideal that ever hovered
before human vision. Only - and here we reach the divine closing word - there must be no mutual excommunications: whereunto we have already attained by
that same rule let us walk. The unity of the Church lies not so much in the mind, as in
the heart: all who have received the Gift are for ever
within the Fold, whether running for the Prize, or scorning it: YE ARE ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS (Gal.
3: 28).
Follow light, and do the right, for
man can half control his doom,
Till you find the deathless angel seated
in the vacant tomb.
-------
Overcomers
Pauls thorn
in the flesh was not pleasant to him.*
He prayed to be rid of it. But when he found it had come to stay, he made friends with it swiftly. It was no longer how to dismiss,
but how to entertain. He stopped groaning, and began glorying. It was clear to
him that it was Gods will, and that meant new
opportunity, new victory, [for others, (through reading his epistles),
and] new likeness
to Christ.
What God means is always too good to be lost, and is worth all it costs to
learn. Let us learn swiftly as we may. Time is short. - Mattie B. Babcock.
[*We are learn from Pauls epistles that
he was a simple person in the word, that his
bodily presence was weak (unattractive), and
that his words were despised! (2
Cor. 10: 10, 11, Lit. Greek). Presumably the great
Apostle to the Gentiles was not a handsome man, or an eloquent speaker! But these things, in and of themselves, were not a
disadvantage for the great work which God had planned for him to accomplish!].
Christ will place the overcomer
in the golden Age that is soon coming. He that overcometh, and he
that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the
nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of
iron, AS
THE VESSELS OF THE POTTER ARE BROKEN TO SHIVERS (Rev. 2: 26).
* *
* * *
* *
395
ARISE, LET US GO
HENCE
(John 14:
31)
By DR. F. W. BOREHAM
Arise, Jesus exclaimed, let us go hence! Let no man brush
it aside as a mere triviality. No triviality ever fell from the lips of the Son
of God. He who is tempted to regard these words as incidental
or even immaterial, should reflect that they were the last five words spoken in the Upper Room -
the closing words of that immemorial utterance that began with the promise of tht many
mansions.
Let not your heart
be troubled! - so He
began.
Arise,
let us go
hence! - so He closed.
John concludes his Gospel by telling us that there were also many
other things Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, the world itself would not contain the books that should be
written. If, therefore,
the exclusions from the inspired record are so mountainous, and the frugality exercised
so severe, is it likely that anything that has been admitted
can be treated as a triviality, a matter of small importance? To ask such a
question is to answer it.
Arise, let us
go hence! It is the Excelsior of Jesus. He moves through Time and through Eternity
with a forward look in His divine eye. He has always something stupendous ahead
of Him. However notable His utterance, He has something still more sublime to
say. However amazing His achievement, He has something still more glorious to do.
If, on the one hand, it is His divine mission to give to weary feet the boon of
rest, yet, on, the other, there is an inescapable element of progressive
restlessness about Him. Through all the ages to come He will still be moving
towards the completion of His celestial and unending programme. Excelsior! Excelsior!
Arise, let us go hence!
Arise, let us
go hence! Five little words! Yet those five words represent five
of the most precious factors in this world or in any other.
1. These five words express the Priceless Boon of the Divine
Fellowship. The experience of the disciples in the Upper Room must
have resembled the experience of Peter and James and John on the Mount of
Transfiguration. The three could scarcely credit the evidence of their senses.
They seemed to have left the earth millions of miles behind them. Whether they
were in the body or out of the body they could not
tell. They were seeing things that would have filled the angels with wonder and
hearing things that it is not lawful for a man to utter. They were with Elijah,
the fiery representative of the Prophets; they were gazing into the face of
Moses, the giver of the Law; they were listening to the heavenly converse of
these two as they talked with their own glistening and glorified Lord! Their
eyes were dazzled by excess of light: their lips were
silenced by the splendour that appalled them!
Then, all at once, the vision began to fade. They could not
endure the thought that such a moment should prove transitory. Lord, they cried, it is good
for us to be here! Let us make three tabernacles,
one for Thee and one for Moses and one for Elijah! If only such fleeting ecstasy could
crystallize into an abiding rapture! But it could not
be! The world, with its aching need, was awaiting their return from the shining
heights! Arise, Jesus said, let us go hence! And they
made their way down the slope. But they did not
descend the mountain as they had ascended it. For all three of them, life had been immeasurably enriched by all that they had seen and
heard. In his Epistles, Peter claims special authority on the ground
that, in the holy mount, he was an eyewitness of his Lords majesty, and
actually saw Him receive from God the Father honour and glory. James and John
felt very similarly. Every common day in the long after-yrears
acquired a new sanction and a new glory from the recollection of those moments
on the Mount.
So was it in the Upper Room. It was wonderful beyond words, to
have participated in the gathering to which the Saviour Himself attached such
importance and for which He had made such careful preparation. It was
unspeakably wonderful to have participated in that final Passover, that first
Communion, that washing of feet, that dismissal of Judas, that warning of
Peter, and then to have listened to those deathless cadences that, in the ears
of the ages, have sounded like the music of the eternities. But
it came to an end. Arise,
let us go hence! And they all went out to persecution, to martyrdom, to death; but they went out braced and
strengthened by the banquet of sacred fellowship that they had enjoyed with
their Lord in the never-to-be-forgotten room on that never-to-be-forgotten
night.*
[* The Messianic promised Kingdom, was always held foremost in their minds: Persecution, Martyrdom and Death would not be allowed to
destroy the Vision and Divine Promise - a promise which they
knew would be realised by powers of the
age to come (Heb. 6: 5, R.V.). If we endure, we shall
also reign with him
Fear not the
things
which thou art about to suffer:
Be thou
faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life: (Rev. 2: 10, R.V.).]
2. These five words express the Priceless Boon of the Divine
Disturbances! The Upper Room was a pleasant place in which to be; but
its tranquillity must be disturbed. Arise, let us
go, hence! A
vital principle lies here - a principle that has
never been more picturesquely or more tellingly stated than it was stated by
Moses. Amidst the most fearsome and awe-inspiring scenery, the old leader was
about to die. And, in dying, he gave the people a
philosophy of disturbances. Things cannot go on for ever
in the same old way. He looked round upon a wilderness of splintered peaks,
jagged summits, scarped crags and beetling cliffs. Everything was wild, weird,
precipitous, desolate, and grand. The people were confronted
by a hurricane of change. They were passing from one land to another; from one
leadership to another; and from a life to which they had grown familiar to a
life of a totally different kind.
In view of this whirl of transition, Moses bequeaths to them
his philosophy of disturbances! Employing an image suggested by the
immense birds soaring in the skies above him - the birds that have their nests
amid the solitary fastnesses and gloomy ravines - he assures the people that,
with as deep and as mighty a solicitude as the eagle
exercises in regard to her eaglets, the Most High will watch over them. But the eagle shows
her solicitude for her young, not by defending the nest, but by destroying it!
She knows that a nest may become a dangerous place. Hawks,
kites and vultures see it from above; rats, weasels and snakes lurk around. If
the eaglets are too comfortable in their nest, they will never attempt to fly. So the mother-bird tears out the soft lining of the nest and
exposes their tender skin to the hard twigs beneath. Not until the nest is
broken up are the young birds safe. The fledglings may resent the process, but
it is dictated by the highest wisdom.
We are living in a period [of immorality and apostasy] to which this imagery particularly
applies. Homes are being depleted. Families are being
scattered. It is not a joyous experience. But the
companionship of the Upper Room is not intended to be permanent.* Arise, let us go hence! It is for every man, as he leaves any
of lifes Upper Rooms, to vow that he will carry their fragrant atmosphere with
him till his last sun shall set.
[* For God is
our refuge and strength,
Therefore will we not fear though
the earth do change
(Ps. 46: 1, 2, R.V. Cf. Rom.
8: 18-22, R.V.]
3. These five words express the Priceless Boon of the Divine Guidance. When the time
comes to move, He leads the way! Arise, let us
go hence! If the time has come for striking camp and moving on,
He always finds some perfectly simple and perfectly natural means of indicating
His will. He may not always give the Sign of the Fleece as He
did to Gideon; or the Sign of the
Flowers as He did to Aaron when He
made the dry rod blossom; or the Sign of the Food as He did to Peter in his approach to the house of Cornelius; but by some sign, suited to
the seeker and his special circumstances, God will find a means of directing
those who earnestly desire His guidance. Some Pillar of Cloud will
precede them in the daytime; some Pillar of Fire will blaze on their horizon in
the night. To those who are willing to follow the gleam, there will always come a Kindly Light to lead. Let us go hence!
I will gyide thee! He says. Nothing
could be more explicit. He even tells us how: I will guide thee with
mine eye! I have seen a noble dog sit at
his masters feet, intently gazing into his masters eye for the faintest
intimation of his masters will. The words obviously mean that I am to live
very near to HIM in perfect accord with HIM - my eyes riveted upon His. And to those who enter into that rapt and sacred intimacy-
such an intimacy as the disciples tasted in the Upper Room - the path that it
is their wisdom and their happiness to tread will always be made unmistakably
clear. Arise, let us go hence!
4. These five words express the Priceless Boon of the Divine Service. Arise, let us go hence!. He led His disciples
down from the Mount because a miracle needed to be performed.
In Raphaels celebrated painting of the Transfiguration, the
scene on the summit occupies only a corner picture. In the foreground is the
multitude in the valley - the afflicted man, the helpless disciples and the
eager, anxious throng. In the same way, He led His disciples out of the Upper
Room because a world needed saving. The Cross stood waiting.
There are two principles operating in the individual life -
two principles that correspond with the two principles that hold the universe
together - the centripetal and the centrifugal. There is the tendency to cleave
to the Centre and the tendency to fly to the Circumference. The universe
preserves its poise and the earth holds its orbit because the two are so
perfectly balanced.
There is the tendency to cleave to the Centre - to build
tabernacles on the holy mount; to remain indefinitely in the Upper Room; to sit
with Mary at the Masters feet. And there is the,
tendency to neglect the centre for the Circumference - to turn ones back prematurely upon the glory on the summit; to invent some excuse for leaving the Upper
Room; to be busy, like Martha, about a multitude of things.
Have we sufficiently recognized the significance of the fact
that, when Jesus ordained His men, and sent them out two by two, He bade them be shod with sandals?
Now the point is that sandals are easily slipped off and easily slipped on. A man should be ready,
at a moments notice, to bare his feet. And why? He who
has read his Bible knows. Men took the shoes from off their feet when they
realized that, God being visibly present, the place on which they stood was
holy ground.
Be shod with sandals, said the
Master, so that, the moment the Vision comes, you may be ready adoringly to
welcome it. Nothing is more important than that a man should
keep in touch with his dreams, with his visions, with his revelations.
Yes, ready for the revelation and ready, also, for the road! For sandals are easily slipped, on. The servant of the Most High must expect the call of
the road at any moment. Be shod with the sandals! said the Master; so that at a moments
notice you may slip them off to welcome the Vision,* or slip on to take to the [divinely appointed] Road. The crest of the Baptist Missionary Society
is a picture of an ox between a plough and an altar, whilst, underneath the
symbols, are the words, Ready for Either! - ready for service in the field or for sacrifice in the temple!
[* The Vision
is a pre-view the Messiahs coming Millennial Rule upon this earth; and the service is our obedience to His commands.
Why asketh thou me concerning that which is good;
but if thou wouldst enter into life,
keep the commandments:
(Matt. 19:
17, R.V.).
Charge them that are rich in this present world, that they be not highminded, nor
have their hope set in the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who giveth us
richly all things to enjoy; that they do good,
that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against
the
time to come, that they may
lay hold on life which is life
indeed: (1 Tim. 6: 17-19, R.V.).]
The Christian stands between the glory and majesty of things
divine on the one hand and all the pathos and the
prose of human life on the other. He must be ready at any moment to enter into
fellowship with the skies; and he must be ready at any moment to soothe the
pillow of a sick child, to comfort a heartbroken woman, or to share the load of
a man whose burden is greater than he can bear. Be shod with sandals, so that,
whether the revelation or the road shall call, you are ready for either. Be
ready when the time comes to sit with the Master in the Upper Room; and be ready, when He bids us arise and go hence, to follow Him in the
Paths of service and sacrifice - to Gethsemane
and Calvary if need be!
5. These five words express the Priceless Boon of the Divine
Companionship. Not Go hence! but Let Us go hence!.
He never sends us out of the warmth of the Upper Room into the
cold, cold world alone. Lo, I am with you always! How Livingstone lived on those words amidst
the solitary jungles of
Arise, let us go hence!
Let
us! He and I together! That, I imagine, is what Brother Lawrence meant when he entitled
his invaluable little book, The Practice of the
Presence of God. I used to shrink from using the word practice. It seemed to savour of drudgery, as when
young people practise music, or practise drawing, or practise shorthand. I
preferred to think of the luxury of the Presence, the revelry of the Presence,
the ecstasy of the Presence. I was impressed by the
unspeakable delight of awaking each morning to the sweetness of His smile, of
passing through each common day in a palpitating consciousness of His nearness
and of closing my tired eyes every night under the fragrant breath of His
benediction.
But I see now that Brother Lawrences
word is the right word. It is good to practise the Presence, to realize it, to
test it, to make sure of it, to exult in it.
O Jesus, Jesus, dearest Lord,
Forgive me if I say
For very love Thy precious Name
A thousand times a
day!
It is good to speak to Him even though I have nothing particular
to say: it will intensify my recognition of His immediate immanence: it will
unconsciously move me to live my whole life to approval and delight.
Arise, let
us go hence! Jesus says, as step by step,
we make our way through this life. And, when the time
comes, He will say it on the threshold of the life to come. As the gates open, exclaimed Adolph Monod, within sight of the end of
his apostolic ministry, as the gates open, I shall
hear the Masters voice saying, Arise, let us go hence! It will not be going
out alone, or to be alone yonder, but Let us go hence! The valley shall be aflame
with the light of His presence and the waters of the river shall part at the
touch of His divine feet!*
* The above is a chapter from Dr. F. W. Borehams
book, Cliffs Of Ppal, by kind permission of the publishers.
* *
* * *
* *
396
THE RESURRECTION OF THE
DEAD
An Exegetical Study of Romans 1: 4
By S. BURROWS
The
phrase anastasis nekron occurs in the following scriptures: Acts 17: 32, 23: 6, 24: 21, 26: 23; Rom. 1: 4; 1 Cor. 15: 12, 13, 21, and Heb. 6: 2, and in
the A.V. is rendered resurrection of the dead except in Acts
26: 23 and Rom.
1: 4. The
Revisers, in conformity with their rule of consistent rendering, bring these
into line with the others (see R.V. preface, N.T. III 2, rule 4); but it must
not be supposed that they had not also in view a clearly defined idea as to the
meaning of the phrase which they wished to bring out. Most commentators of the
period (e.g., Alford and Wordsworth, both members of the N.T. company) took the phrase as referring to the whole
resurrection of the dead regarded as accomplished in that of Christ. So Humphry
(also a member of the N.T. company) explains the change in his Commentary on the R. V. Unfortunately this is
not apparent to the ordinary reader, and the meaning of the phrase is
consequently left somewhat obscure.
The A.V. here renders
the
resurrection from the dead. Young, in his, literal translation, has the rising
again from the dead. Of the free translations, Conybeare has His resurrection from the dead, and
Wicliffe is referred to at some
length as his version is sometimes quoted in support of a literal translation
of the phrase anastasis nekron - i.e., the
resurrection of dead persons, signifying the resurrection of Lazarus and others. This,
however, is grammatically and exegetically untenable. Kelly, a Greek scholar of repute, states that it is impossible to
render the phrase literally into English. Furthermore, the phrase is never used of the raising of dead persons to their
natural life again; only once is the word anastasis so used - Heb. 11: 35, and the
context here shows it to be used in a lower sense than the ordinary. It is a
rhetorical touch which does not affect the main usage of the word for
resurrection in the fullest sense, or, as a Greek lexicon puts it, .. a continuance of life on earth, which is spoken of as an anastasis by a kind of licence. Further,
in the Scriptures anastasis is always used in a passive sense, not a
causative - a rising, not a raising, though there are instances in secular
literature of the latter usage. Then, if a definite
class were intended (i.e., Lazarus and others, or the many saints of Matt. 27: 52) the article would be
necessary (Kelly). By the
absence of the article, nekron coalesces closely in meaning with anastasis so
as to give it very much the force of a compound word by a dead-rising (Sandy and Headlam). Nekron simply
qualifies anastasis, and the
sense is by a resurrection as of dead ones. It is a characteristic description and therefore without the
article (Kelly). As resurrection has come to mean practically all that
is included in the longer phrase, something is gained in clearness if we
translate simply by resurrection, or, as
Acts 17: 32 confirms, for clearly
the phrase cannot here mean when they heard of the resurrection of dead
persons, for but
One had been mentioned; the sense is when they heard of a resurrection as
of dead ones, or
better when they heard of resurrection. In Acts
26: 23, too, the sense is how that He
first by resurrection should proclaim. So also in Corinthians: it was not the resurrection
of dead persons merely that was denied; some in
From our grammatical investigation we
conclude both on the authority of
scholars of the front rank and from the usage of the phrase in the Scriptures
that anastasis nekron cannot mean the
resurrection of dead persons; that its sense is a resurrection such as of dead ones or a dead-rising; and that in some cases at least there
is a gain in clearness without much loss in fullness if we translate simply resurrection.
We now propose to show that in Rom.
1: 4, and
Acts 26: 23,
the phrase ex anastaseos nekron refers to the resurrection of the Lord.
The contrasted statements of Rom.
1: 14, should be carefully noted:
His Son who was born of (ek) (the) seed of
David according to (kata) (the) flesh who
was declared to be the Son of God with power according to (kata) (the) spirit of holiness by (ek) (the) resurrection
of (the) dead Jesus Christ our Lord.
It will be seen that there are three
statements in the first group balanced by three contrasted or antithetical
statements in the second group.
1. born (lit. became, as in John 1: 14) determined or designated Son of God in power;
2. according to flesh
according to spirit of holiness;
out of seed
of
David,
3. out of resurrection of (the) dead.
It is not necessary for our present purpose
to attempt any detailed exegesis of these statements. It is with the last that
we are more particularly concerned, and we shall therefore deal very briefly
with the others. His Son applies to all the statements: That the Lord never ceased to
be. Became suggests a change of condition - the assumption of a
condition of weakness as distinct from the power in which He was
designated or marked out Son of God. The one is the earthly condition - the days of
His flesh; the
other the heavenly condition in resurrection. 2 Cor. 13: 4 gives a close parallel: He was
crucified through weakness, yet He liveth
through the power of God.
The statements of the next pair marked out by the preposition kata are so clearly
contrasts, whatever significance we attach to spirit of holiness, that for our present purpose no more
need be said.
But if we accept the contrast here we
must surely allow that the statements of the last pair - out of seed
of David and out of
resurrection of (the) dead, both introduced by the preposition ek are contrasts also. That a contrast was intended there can be little doubt. What is the contrast
to out of seed of David? Not surely the raising of dead
persons to life. It can only be the Lords own [select] resurrection. The
seed of David, the door by which He entered on His humiliation; resurrection,
the portal to His exaltation.
Pauls words to Timothy confirm in a very remarkable way what
we have said. Remember, he said, Jesus Christ, risen
from the dead, of the seed of David (2 Tim. 2: 8). Plainly these two facts had a place together in the
Apostles mind. He sets them down in antithetical form just as he had done when
writing to
Then, further, the letter to the Galatians has many parallels
with the letter to the Romans, so much so that many
have thought they were written almost together. This similarity of thought is seen very clearly in the opening paragraphs: there is the
same emphasis on his apostleship - on the fact that he had received his
commission direct from the Lord - and on the resurrection. This creates a
strong presumption, which only compelling evidence, to the contrary - lexical,
grammatical, or contextual - could upset, that our Lords own resurrection is
in view in Rom. 1:
4.
Returning now to Rom. 1, verses 3 and 4 form a
carefully balanced statement on the subject of the Gospel. We may be sure that
in such a statement Paul will state only essential truth. The Incarnation is
essential to the Gospel; so also is the [select] Resurrection. It is to the risen
exalted Lord that Paul ascribes his own grace and apostleship; verse 5 thus flows naturally from verse 4. No
lesser truth than the resurrection [of one divine Person] is in place here. Again
and again in his letters, his speeches and addresses, the Apostle refers to the resurrection - never once
to the rising of dead persons to life. There is no Gospel apart the
resurrection.
Acts 26: 33, the only other
occurrence of the exact phrase, now claims attention: how that He first
by the resurrection of the dead should proclaim light both to the people and to
the Gentiles.
Does the meaning we have given to the phrase ex
anastaseos nekron fit this context? - how that He first out of (as the issue of) resurrection should proclaim
There is no difficulty here; Acts
and epistles testify that the Lord, though risen from the dead and seated at
the right hand of God, is no mere interested spectator of the labours of His
servants - He is working with them, directing them, encouraging and
strengthening them. As the issue of resurrection, the worldwide Gospel of light
and life first speeds on its way. Go! is His command, but the power is in
His Lo!
On the other hand what have we? Light
proclaimed to Jews and Gentiles by two or three dead ones raised
again to a few more years of natural life! Is this the climax of Pauls defence
before Agrippa? Then why, we may well ask, is it never once
referred to (leaving out of account, of course, the passages under
discussion)? The theory refutes itself, for it is incredible that the Lords
raising of dead ones should have held such an important place in the message of
the Gospel as its inclusion in two such passages would imply and yet find no
place elsewhere in Acts or epistles. There is, however, one truth which is so woven
into the warp and woof of the N.T. Scriptures that it is impossible to miss it
or to deny its importance - the truth of the [select] resurrection [of Gods coming Messiah (our Lord Jesus), and of
those accounted
worth to attain to that age, and of the
resurrection that out of dead ones
(Luke 20: 35, Lit. Greek. cf. Phil. 3: 11)], the central truth of the Faith, a truth which held such a place in Pauls
mind, as shown in his epistles and addresses, that we should almost count it
strange if it had not a place in such a sutement of
the Gospel as Rom. 1:
5.
We may therefore conclude that in a translation to be understanded of the people the main consideration in Rom. 1: 4 is
that it shall clearly make the phrase ex anastaseos nekron refer to the [select] resurrection of the Lord; other
considerations are secondary. In this connection it is remarkable that the
American Standard Version, which reflects the continued labours of the American
Revision Company, reverts to the A.V. rendering and relegates of the dead to the margin.
* *
* * *
* *
397
ON HAVING CONVICTIONS
By J. B. WATSON
This is a day in which the virtue of open-mindedness is much
extolled. To be
suspected of being inaccessible to new points of view, or so fixed in opinion
as to be above persuasion, is counted an intellectual sin beyond pardon. It is
certainly desirable to be ready to look any fresh idea or proposal in the face
and give it fair consideration. To fail
of this is to fall before the charge of obscurantism. But
let us be sure that we understand what we mean by open-mindedness. Far from us
be that spurious brand which means leaving the door of the mind open for any
thief to enter and remove all our treasures. True openness of mind is to keep
an outward facing window from which we may scan the features of any newcomer as
he approaches, ready to consider his credentials dispassionately in the light
of what we know already to be true.
There are, of course, many subjects on
which it is right to suspend judgement. Lord Balfours
phrase, I have no settled convictions,
expresses a correct attitude towards many
matters: subjects morally colourless, or remote from lifes great issues,
speculative subjects on which no revelation has been given, some political
opinions, and many questions the yes or no of which matters nothing to anybody. No one can be blamed for keeping an open mind about whether Mars is
inhabited or what will be next years fashion in frocks. Such debatable
questions afford scope for the open mind.
But we will now praise the contrary
virtue of the closed mind. For there are great matters on which it is essential to arrive at settled
certitude, and having arrived, to regard them as outside the realm of debate.
We must have this settled conviction about foundations. How far is it
possible to proceed, say, with the study of the science of mathematics if the
student keeps an open mind on what twice two are? To get anywhere in that study
one must look upon the multiplication table as incontestably true. So also, in
the all-important sphere of things spiritual, a man must reach settled working
beliefs if he is to live higher than brute or vegetable.
What are Convictions?
Some regard the word believe as derived from Saxon sources, and
think of it as compounded of two words by and
lief (live), the
word thus meaning the things we live by. When
King Hezekiah recovered from his
sickness that had seemed to be unto death and wrote his psalm of the
convalescent, musing upon the reality of the dealings of God with him
in that experience, he confessed, O Lord, by these things men live, meaning surely the things that make
men sure of God. By these beliefs or convictions we live; they are lifes bases: the
anchorage in the sure holding of which we ride out the gales that sweep our
vessel.
The unshakable certainty that a thing is true though the sky
fall down and is not only true but big; true enough and big enough to live for
and, if need be, to die for; that is what we mean by having convictions.
What are not
Convictions?
It is a curious fact that many mistake prejudices for
convictions. Prejudice is never Christian. He who is governed
by prejudice is a bigot. A prejudice is a sour deposit which
has been allowed to fill a dent in ones character. We need constantly
to challenge our hearts whether the things for which we fight are Christian convictions
or mere prejudices, and it requires honest dealing with oneself to allow the
distinction.
Beware also of fads, for many confound these with convictions.
A fad is a tame mouse whose owner believes it to be a lion. The owner of a fad
becomes a crank, and in extreme cases an eccentric. The whole world is plagued
with earnest but mistaken folks who have given themselves over to the
occupation of cracking egg-shells with sledge-hammers.
A din and a useless splash is all they accomplish. Therefore
pray that the grace of a sense of proportion may keep you from both the sources
of prejudices, and the futility of fads.
What is the Basic
Christian Conviction?
It is the conviction that makes its possessor sure of God.
That He is good, wise, just, transcendent. That His
ways are indefectibly right, whether we understand them or whether they are
darkness to our minds, whether we can trace them or whether they seem to
contradict everything we have hoped and believed. Hoseas conviction - the
immovable rock on which he rested his life, The ways of the Lord are right; the conviction of Paul, standing
before inscrutable mysteries of His providence: O the depth of the riches both
of the wisdom and knowledge of God; the final conviction of John, as he thinks into the heart of
things God is love. This is lifes ballast; this the conviction that
steadies, the souls sure hold of God.
And what is
The Guiding Conviction
that has charge of every truly ordered life?
It is the sure belief that God has spoken, revealing Himself in His Son. A silent God? Who made mans mouth? He that planted the ear,
shall He not hear? He that formed the eye, shall He not see? Shall He who made
mans mouth Himself be dumb? Or shall He Who implanted
in man the impulse to communicate his thoughts be Himself devoid of desire to
communicate with man? Did He create the hunger our souls have for Him, only to
mock it with eternal silence? We decline to believe it. God has spoken.
He has spoken of His power and Divinity in the works of His
hands. His wisdom and goodness are uttered in His
ceaseless providence. But His heart, His very heart of
mercy, grace, truth, and love are told out in Him Who is the Revealer of the
Father. The story of that supreme revelation is enshrined in Holy Scripture.
There, in a way that is not known otherwhere,
the voice of God is heard. These writings are the Word of God.
The implications of this conviction are far-reaching. His will
is unfolded in the Word; His will for me. He has a way of life for me to
follow. I may find it if I will hearken, and realize it if I will
obey. This Word, then, must guide - to it rather than to subjective
frames, impressions and impulses I must turn for lifes guidance. Thus will mine become the indoctrinated life, its direction
fixed by the conviction that God has spoken and that His revelation is made
available for me in His written Word. Then, what is
The Driving Conviction
of true Christian living? It is the
profound persuasion that the Cross of Christ is the focal centre of Gods
revelation of Himself. The writer to the Hebrews
regards the Cross as standing at the centre of Time, saying that Christs
appearing to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself occurred at the consummation
of the ages,
i.e., that even as all past ages had looked forward to that unparalleled event,
so all succeeding ages look back to it. The Cross rules
all Time. In a very real sense it is race-wide. Hear
Paul express his considered judgement of its vast significance: If one died
for all, then all died. O levelling Cross, laying all men
low; making the lost estate of man at his best and
worst clearly evident. And He died for all that they might live. O life-bestowing Cross, through it
there are those who, out of their former death have been made to live, as in
another place this same Paul confesses, I have been crucified with Christ,
nevertheless I live. And now,
what is his conviction concerning these who have their new life from this
once-dead, now living Christ? WE THUS
JUDGE, that they which live should not
hence-forth live unto themselves, but UNTO HIM who died for them and rose again. It was this calm, deliberate
conviction of the meaning of the revelation of God which centres in the Cross that drew Paul on and ever on, and would not let him
rest save in unremitting service to the Lord Jesus, Whose love had conquered
him.
Let this conviction of the significance of the Cross lay hold of a man and he will be constrained, as Paul
was, to live unto Him. Think through them till you, too, thus judge. As C. T. Studd did when he said, If Jesus Christ be God, and if He
died for me, then no sacrifice I can make for Him can possibly be too much.
A long steady look at the Cross, till
its moral claim is so clearly seen by us that we come to a love-constrained
recognition of His claims; that is what we all need.
When Abraham Lincolns
body was being taken from
Take a long, long look at the wondrous Cross: let it speak to
you, till the love of Christ shall make its gracious compulsion felt, and you
come to share the driving conviction that sends us out to live, not to
ourselves, but to Him Who died for us.
-------
WORSHIP THE LORD IN THE
BEAUTY OF HOLINESS
O Jesus Saviour, born in lowly
station,
A virgins Son, in Davids royal line!
Men to redeem from every tribe and
nation
Thou didst stoop down and die, and I
am Thine.
When I look back and see in Historys
pages
The story of Thy world-wide
triumphs told -
While oer the globe to Thee, the Rock
of Ages,
Men turn from sin Thy beauty to
behold.
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to
Thee -
How great Thou art, how great Thou
art!
Before Thy lofty throne
I bow the knee
And there confess how great Thou art.
And since I know the Babe of Bethlehems
manger
Is Lord of Heavn Whom myriad hosts acclaim,
Yet here amid the poor, on earth a
stranger,
He dies to save me - I extol His name.
He Who on
earth was scorned, despised, rejected
Who now in Heavn sits on His glorious
throne,
Is coming soon, the King so long
expected,
To rule the universe and bless His own.
- A. NAISMITH.
* *
* * *
* *
398
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
By ROBERT GOVETT, M.A.
(Continued Matt.
6 : 8.)
Ought
you not to pray? Ask Scripture! Ask conscience! Is it not the duty of a
creature to worship his Creator and Preserver ?
Ought not a creature to acknowledge its God? You acknowledge
your superiors, or your equals by a bow. Ought you not
to render God His due? You are daily dependent on His
goodness! Is it right thanklessly to swallow all His mercy: to render no praise
in return?
He bids you pray! Ought you not to listen? Should
not the law of the King of kings be obeyed?
Ought you not to pray? What will
become of those who never pray? When the throne is set for judgment, what will
become of the unforgiven? And how can they be
forgiven, who never asked forgiveness? Reader, would you wish to be damned? If
not, let then the word of Christ convict you no longer of sin.
When thou
prayest. Begin
today. Each week a day is set apart for these sacred exercises. You cannot say, you have no time. Today God appeals to you.
Go in secret. Pray first for what is first needed,
forgiveness of sins. Be no longer worse than the heathen:
with greater light, be not worse than the Mahometan. Five times a day he
renders to god what he accounts worship. His god indeed is content with mutterings; of the lip and bendings
of the knee. Our God, the true God asks the heart, without which prayer
is a vain shadow. Ought He to ask
less? Ought you to give less?
The Mahometan appeals to his god
through Mahomet. Affecting to me was the prayer, which the pilgrim to Medinah
puts up. We, thy friends, O prophet
of Allah! appear before thee, travellers
from distant lands and far countries, through dangers and difficulties in the
times of darkness, and in the hours of day, longing to give thee thy rights
(honouring the prophet) and to obtain the blessings of thine intercession: for our
sins have broken our backs, and thou intercedest with
the Healer. And Allah said, - And though they have injured themselves, they
came to thee, and begged thee to secure their pardon, and they found God an
accepter of penitence, and all of compassion. O prophet of
Allah, intercession! Intercession! intercession!-
From far the Mussulmen travel to the grave of their prophet,
to obtain his favourable regard, to ask his prayers for them. Will you refuse
in your own land to call upon the True Prophet, the Great Atoning Priest?
Mahomet hears no prayer of his disciples; his cars are sealed
in death. Jesus ever lives to make intercession for you!
Do not those words beat upon your heart? - Our
sins have broken our backs and thou intercedest with
the Healer. Have you less sense of sin than they? Does not that thrice repeated word touch you? - O prophet of Allah, intercession, intercession, intercession! Will you not draw nigh to the Son of God and ask Him with like zeal for
your forgiveness? - O Son of God
intercede, or else I am lost! intercede! INTERCEDE! If you do not, will not these arise against you in
the judgment, and condemn you? for they are more
earnest with a false prophet, and a dead ear, than you with a living Saviour,
and the Son of God slain for your sins.
[Verse] 9 After this
manner therefore pray YE. Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
At this point I can imagine a
plausible objection raised. Do you use the Lords
Prayer?
No! not the exact words.
Either then the Sermon on the Mount
is not intended for us; or you are inconsistent, in not making use of the Lords Prayer.
How shall we answer it? Very easily.
What, we inquire, is our Lords design in giving the prayer?
Evidently, a model for supplication; not as a form which
must always be used. This I gather -
1. From the fact,
that the Saviour, after having warned us against the heathens use of vain
repetitions, and their much speaking, gives this as an example on the contrary,
of brevity and concise fulness of meaning.
2. After this manner pray ye. Here is your model.
3. It comes expressly as a consequence
from the principle just laid down. After this manner therefore pray ye.
4. It is proved
by His setting the disciples as the intelligent contrast to the senseless
heathen. After this
manner pray ye.*
* The Ye is emphatic in the
original.
But, it may be replied, the other occasion on which our Lord spoke the prayer, binds
it on us more strictly than here. If you will turn to Luke 11: 2, you will see that
Jesus, in giving the form, said, When ye pray say, Our
Father, etc.
1. Yes; but notice also, that on that
occasion there was a very serious defect in the mode of asking. Lord teach us to pray, as John
also taught his disciples.
From this it seems fair to infer,
that John gave his disciples a set form; and that the disciple, therefore, who
addressed our Lord was asking for a form of prayer, without inquiring whether a
form was best for prayer.
2. But that the Lords Prayer was not designed to be the constant form of petition to God
seems clear, by comparing the words of Luke with those of Matthew. The genuine
copy of the prayer, as given by late critics, is as follows:-
Father, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins:
for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.
Here are but five petitions, in place of the seven of
Matthews; and no doxology.
3. Our Lord at the close of His career, when
telling His disciples of His own departure, and of the descent of the Holy
Spirit, discloses to them a new era in prayer which
was then to commence. Hither to ye have asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that
your joy may be full (John 16: 24).
4. Lastly, it does not appear, that the apostles or disciples understood our Lord
to require the use of the prayer as a form of words. On more than one occasion they are exhibited to us as praying: when Matthias was
chosen, and after they were threatened by the Sanhedrim (Acts 1: 24; 4: 24). But, while their supplications are given, there is no
mention of their use of the Lords Prayer.
The Saviours prayer then is to serve us as a model for our
addresses at the throne of grace. Let us then notice its structure. It consists
of seven petitions, divided into four and three. In this case
the three precede, and are very evidently distinguished from the four which
follows. The three first seek the glory of God: the four last take up the
weakness and poverty of man. The distinction is thus clearly
exhibited by a German writer.
1.
Thy name be
hallowed.
2. Thy kingdom come.
3.
Thy will be done.
But the key note of the after-part is
different
4.Us give daily bread.
5. Us forgive our debts.
6. Us lead not into temptation.
7. Us deliver from evil.
We are instructed then to approach
God with the confidence of sons: and, in the spirit of adoption, to
cry, Abba, Father. We are to come with reverence.
This Father is in heaven. Under the law, God was
as a king dwelling among His subjects on earth. But now
the Son of God has revealed the father, and himself is inhabiting the heaven,
to draw our hearts thither where our portion is.
We are addressing God alone,
not saints or angels. We are to remember our oneness with other believers, and
to say, not, My
Father, but Our Father.
* *
* * *
* *
399
THE CHILD AND CHRIST
By EDITH GOREHAM CLARKE
Do
children need a Saviour?
Anyone who has ever been in a childrens, Court knows that little mites of
eight and ten years of age are found guilty of
stealing and of other crimes. If we do not teach the young of the Saviour, what
hope have they of ever knowing Him and of His love. A
child is sweetly teachable, a child is trustful and easy to lead, a childs emotions are quick to feel love and tenderness. Of
it was said: God heard the voice of the LAD. A child can be
chosen of God in his youth, as Samuel was, to stand for God before a
whole nation.
Dr. Weldon, who was once headmaster at
Spurgeon, that prince of preachers, writes:- It is a sacred joy to me know that
certain boys and girls who come here make it a habit to pray for me. Upon the
subject of the conversion of children, if I was to deal with facts alone, and
not with mere opinion, I could spend the whole day in giving details of young
children I have known and personally conversed with, and some of them very
young children indeed. I will say broadly that I have more confidence in the
spiritual life of the children I have received into the Church, than I have of
the spiritual life of the adults thus received. I will go even further than
that and say that I have usually found a clearer knowledge of the Gospel and a
warmer love to Christ in the child convert than in the man convert.
Dr. Aitdrew
Bonar wrote:- There is a peculiar fitness in
the Gospel for saving souls of little children. The Holy Spirit uses most
notably two of its features, namely its entire freeness (for what can a child
give to God?) and its amazing simplicity, which is so humbling to the pride of
self-righteous man. The drawing love of the Cross of Christ surely appeals as
readily and suitably to the hearts of children as to adults.
D. L. Moody, speaking on the subject of child
conversion, said:- I believe there is a great deal of
infidelity in the Sabbath School, as well as in our churches, on this point,
and that even many parents think their children cannot come to Jesus early in
life. I believe myself that if children are old enough to come to
I have no sympathy with the idea
that children have got to grow up before they can be converted. One day I saw a
lady with three daughters at her side. Stepping up to her I asked her if she was a Christian. Oh, yes, she said.
Turning to the eldest daughter I asked her the same
question. Tears came into her eyes as she said, I Wish I were.
The mother looked angrily at me and said, I dont want you to speak to my
daughters on that subject. They are too young and do not understand, and in a
great rage she took them away. Their ages were 14, 12 and 10 years. Not old enough! The sadness of it.
Many a mother is mourning because her child has gone beyond her reach. In those
early days when the mind was young and tender, she might have won him or her
for the Saviour.
Dr. F. B. Meyer wrote:- I am increasingly enamoured of the work among the children.
They have not to unlearn those habits of doubt and misconception
which hinder so many from accepting the Gospel. When they have received it they are frank in confessing and so eager to win others.
There is everything in our Saviour to charm and attract the children and His
dear Gospel does not present difficulties to their simple faith. The Lord told us to become
as little children that we might enter His Kingdom. Surely then the
little children themselves have not far to go - only a step to Jesus.
Oh, the devotion and love that can he found in the heart of a
child. Let us never forget that there have been child martyrs. A little
Armenian maid six years old, deserted and almost
starved, was taken by Turkish soldiers who told her they would make a
Mohammedan of her. She answered emphatically, I will
never be a Mohammedan. They told her she would die if she refused, but
if she became a Mohammedan they would give her a good
home. I wont be a Mohammedan, was all she
would answer. Growing angry, they took her to a stable where wild, half-starved
dogs were kept, to which Armenian children were
habitually tossed to be devoured.
As they approached, the dogs leaped to their feet, and snarled
and growled. The little maid, neither hesitating nor
shrinking, said through her tears, once more, I
wont, I cant be a Mohammedan. So they
pitched her in, and locked the door. Next morning, when they came all was
silent; and when they opened the door, with her curly head resting on one
shaggy brute, they found Anistiana - for that is her name - sound asleep, bearing on
one arm the marks where one of the dogs had seized her. As they lifted her, and
she rubbed her sleepy eyes, she murmured, I wont be
a Mohammedan. She was sold, and finally fell
into the hands of a Christian woman. Their angels do
always behold the face of My Father which is in heaven. - The Christian Fundamentalist.
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401
FALSE MESSIAHS
By WM. BEIRNES
There
are three distinctly different peoples, different in race and religion,
scattered over the whole earth, who are looking for
the coming of some Great Personage. They are the Arab or Moslem people,
the Jews, and the Christians. They are not looking for
him in the distant future. Each group is looking for their Great One in their lifetime. They are expecting him to come soon,
very soon, any time, thus making the conditions perfect for the appearance of
false messiahs and the prince of all false messiahs, the antichrist.
The Christians Have the Blessed Hope of
Christs Return in Their Generation
Of the three groups of expectant watchers, only one, the true
Christian believers, is not subject to these deceptions. Christ is to return,
first with the sound of the trumpet for the rapture, and at His revelation He will come riding out of the heavens on His
white horse with power and great glory, followed by His glorified saints. The
rapture and the revelation cannot be counterfeited.
Before the rapture the many who come in His name saying I am Christ will deceive only those professors
who are religious minded but do not understand the Scriptures regarding the
manner of His coming, or those backslidden in heart and willing to be deceived.
Even the tribulation, weary believers who refuse the mark of
the beast and flee from one hiding place to another waiting for Jesus to come,
when they are told, behold
He is in the desert - behold He is in the seceret place, will not be misled, knowing
that as the lightning
cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
This, His revelation, is scheduled immediately
after the tribulation of those days. No true believer when he knows the Scriptural teaching of the
rapture and revelation will be deceived. Christ the Christians coming King, their deliverer from those
things that shall come to pass. We know Him by Christian experience,
and know that He is coming again at the end of this age during this time
tribulation - distress of nations with perplexity. There turn of the Jews to
The Jews are Looking for
Their Messiah To Come
They are looking for Him to come in their lifetime. But they have always looked for Him so, even as the
Christians of byegone centuries have looked for the
coming of Christ in their time. I heard a Rabbi say that he expected the
Messiah to come in his lifetime. Some are known to be
praying earnestly for the Messiah to come, and expressing willingness to accept
Him even if He should prove to be the Christ of the
Gentiles. The prophecies disclose that during the
great tribulation many will be convinced, and when the nations of the world
gather against Jerusalem to battle, they will pray in greater earnestness and
in distress of soul for Messiah, the Christ of Calvary, to come and save them
and He will appear to be their glory but to
the shame and destruction of the nations gathered against them to battle.
Did not Jesus tell them ye shall not see me henceforth till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord?
Moslems Are Looking for Their Messiah
(Mahdi) in Their Lifetime
There are many political and religious
factions in the Arab world, any or all of which may produce would-be Super-men,
but eventually one must take the spotlight and be accepted
by all. In northern
Now comes news of a new Mahdi in
According to the religious belief of this Moslem Cult all the
great personages from Adam, through Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed and the
latters successors were representatives or manifestations of God (Allah). The Bahais, of which we have many
groups in this country, teach similarly, doubtless because Bahaism
had its source in the Mohammedan religion. They too, declare the coming of a
great
one, another manifestation of God. He is to have a name all his
own. The declaration of Scripture that Jesus will return in the clouds of Heaven
as He so asserted, is, they declare, not to be taken
literally. This same Jesus is not coming again in like manner as He went into Heaven, but will come only in spirit in another body as all
the former manifestations of God have come. To make Bahaism
acceptable to all people they have attempted to produce a universal religion by
adopting and combining portions of the creeds of all religions and inviting
people of all creeds to a universal compromise thus making, what might be
termed, a religious
The Cult of which Saleh Ali Shah is
the head requires that each successive leader must produce written evidence
which has been handed down to him from the twelfth Imam who is believed to have
been Mohammeds last legitimate successor. He lived centuries ago and finally
entered a cave from which he never returned. It is believed that some day when mankind is in terrible trouble he will emerge from the
cave and deliver them.
The adherents of the Sufi
Cult believe that Saleh Ali Shah and his father and
grandfather before him are the true representatives of the hidden Mahdi. They are
inclined to reject the doctrine of succession and to accept that of spiritual
revelation. Therefore, Saleh Ali Shah is greatly
venerated, always surrounded by many devout worshipers. His doctrine, he
declares, differs from that of the rest of the Moslem world for they follow the
law, while his followers seek for light and truth and
the way to Heaven. People make pilgrimages for long distances to sit at his
feet.
With a manner calm, serene and sincere, this new Mahdi believes himself to be the highest
spiritual authority now present on this earth, but there is no indication of
pride or arrogance in his bearing. Above average height, he wears a black
beard, and soft brown eyes look out from a mild but commanding countenance. One
devotee declared those eyes fascinated him. A wealthy young Sufl
business man from Teheran expressing himself regarding
this great cult leader, said that Saleh Ali Shah
was greater in his eyes than the Pope of Rome was to the Catholics.
The Man of Sin - The Super-Deceiver
It is a man of this
type who will first interest himself in the welfare of both Jews and Arabs in
their contentions over
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400
A BRAND PLUCKED
By CHAS. CHIGMAN
While
was a child I listened with interest to the Bible stories told by my mother.
Later on when I grew up I had other interests, namely, a military career. This intention
obliged me to leave school before my studies were finished and join the army.
My mother was a believer, while father, with the rest of the
children (two brothers and two sisters), were unbelievers. I had a great love
in my heart for mother. I saw her sorrow, tears and suffering in soul and body.
I noticed how sometimes she spent all night under the starry sky and prayed to
the Heavenly Father for us. In spite of persecution from the government
she spoke to everybody about repentance.
I cannot remember my mother without tears. I loved her and
obediently submitted myself to her. After seeing her tears
I inquired as to the reason for them, adding that I would gladly do or give
away everything in order to cheer her up. But she
answered, My dear son, I do not weep because of
material or other difficulties, but because all the members of my family are
not believers. At such moments I was willing to believe, but did not
succeed. As soon as I went out from the house to school, or elsewhere, often I
heard mockery and laughter about my mother. As for me, people usually said, This is the son of a holy mother. This made me
extremely angry. However, I continued to love my mother.
Years passed by. Things which my mother said
remained fruitless for the time being. Yet the Lord heard and answered her
prayers. My father, after a long absence, returned home and became a Christian.
Thus a family trouble came to an end. The local
priest, who had previously driven mother out of the church, apologised for
having said and done the wrong in the past. People learned to respect her.
These were the last days of my sojourn at home. On October 28,
1940, for the last time I kissed my mother and weeping father and went away
into the dark. Only mother stood under the tree and with tears in her eyes
watched her sons departure. Her last words were, My
son, wherever God places you, do no harm to anybody, do good to all men, pray
to God and He will save you, whether it be on land or on the sea.
Military service brought me to Mourmansk
in
On another occasion one wanted to
shoot me down, but a comrade struck
his arm and my life was spared. On another occasion, together with a comrade,
we were lying and watching the enemy. Then I left that place. A few moments later my fellow-soldier was wounded. He told me that had I
stayed, I would have been killed. The fourth time, I
refused to go to see the commander of our battalion. Two others were sent out,
and on the way perished as they were blown up by a mine.
They perished in my place, and my life was preserved. Thus many times I was
only a hairs breadth from death, but escaped every time. Those deliverances I
ascribe to the prayers of my mother.
On September 12, 1941, at 6 a.m., I became a prisoner-of-war.
During the four years of captivity I experienced
hunger, cold, privation of all sorts, and fear. That was a hard time. Various
thoughts entered my mind and sometimes I felt so downcast that the only way out
seemed to be that of committing suicide. Then I remembered mother, and became
ashamed of such thoughts. She was only a woman, and had gone through much
hardship without murmuring. Why should I, being a young fellow, be so downcast?
This thought meant a certain relief for a while.
The period of my captivity was spent
in the North-Finland and
Then the war ended. New difficulties
arose. I forgot everything. Forgot also the wonderful
deliverances and the help of the Lord. I began to drink, using the
strongest drinks, including ethyl alcohol (of which some people had died),
smoked cigarettes, one after the other, led an immoral life and used bad
language. Once a comrade told me that he in his dream had seen me being drowned in dirt. Indeed, so it was. Though I realised
myself that I was sinking deeper and deeper, yet I could not help myself.
Despair mastered me. Having lost all self-respect I was sometimes afraid of
myself asking, What has happened to me? Then another drink and more cigarettes in order to subdue these
feelings. Once an awful supernatural power urged me to take a revolver
and point it in my eye. On the first trial there was
no shot. I tried the second time, but did not succeed. Then I pointed the
revolver towards the wall and a shot went off. All my sleeping comrades awoke
and I did not touch the revolver any more. Once again
my life was preserved.
I did not want to return to my homeland, but went to the
forest. This meant a new period of hardship and danger. Many times
I had to remain in a boat on the sea during storms when it seemed that the
waves would swallow me up. Many times the Soviet secret police wanted to catch
me, but did not succeed. All were afraid to receive me into their homes, even
my friends left me alone. Once in a forest, during a bright polar night (in
July) when the sun does not shine, I bent my knees in His Presence, Who has
promised not to leave nor forsake us. I asked Him for help and preservation of
life. Indeed, my prayers were heard. Soon I got in
touch with Norwegians, then with English and Americans, who sent me to
There, in an atmosphere of freedom and safety I forgot completely
about the marvellous deliverances in the past. The old life of sin began again.
Yet deep in my heart I had longings which were
cravings for satisfaction.
Having spent a year and a half in
While reading a Russian book, The
Only Way, by Dr. Oswald J. Smith,
of
Thus the prayers of my dear mother have
been heard. Her sleepless nights were not in vain. Where are you, Mother? What
a great joy it would be to meet again after eight years of separation! Perhaps
you are no more on this earth. Now the Lord has put me in your place; and I ask
for grace to glorify His Name as you have - Christ For
the World Messenger.
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Continued