INDEX
401 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ADVENT By D.H.S. Bartlett, D.D.
402
THE GREAT UNVEILING By Gordon Chilvers.
403
TTE POWER OF PRAYER By Sten Lindberg.
404
THE DATE OF THE RAPTURE By D. M. Panton, B.A.
405 THE
406
REPENTANCE AND JUDGMENT By Bertram Hall.
407
408
THE REIGN OF ANTICHRIST
409
WILL SOULS BE SAVED DURING
THE GREAT TRIBULATION? By D. M.
Russell-Jones.
410 THE
MODEL MARTYRDOM By D. M. Panton, M.A.
411
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT By Robert Govett, M.A.
412
PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT By Richard A. Belsham.
413
A CHRISTIAN MANIFESTO
414
RAPTURE
415
THE FIVE CROWNS By George L. Arlich
416
CONVERSION THE SUPREME PROOF
OF REVELATION By D. M. Panton, B.A.
417
ONE IS TAKEN ONE IS LEFT By D. M. Panton, B.A.
418 A WARNING AND AN APPEAL By C. A. Coates [Part 1]
419
MIRACLES AT THE END By D. M. Panton, B.A.
420
CHRISTLESS CHRISTIANITY By J. F. Rowlands.
421
A WARNING AND AN APPEAL By C. A. Coates [Concluded]
422
AN EXTRACT OF JOSEPHUSS DISCOURSE
TO THE GREEKS CONCERNING HADES
423 THE SPIRITS IN SPIRITUALISM By D. M. Panton, B.A.
424 THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST By D. M. Panton, B.A.
425 THE GODHEAD OF JESUS By D. M. Panton, B.A.
426 WARTHQUAKES By H. L. Turner /
SUFFERING By Miss E. M. Leathes.
427 WILL CHRIST BE IN THE AIR BY 1999
[or 2020] ? By
A. G. Tilney.
428
429
THE BUILDING OF THE
THE DOME OF THE ROCK
430 WILL
431 BAPTISM By D. M. Panton, B.A.
432 THE
433 THE JEWS AND SCRIPTURE By M. Zeidman, B.D.
434 A JEW AND SCRIPTURE
435 JEW-HATE
436 EXCLUSION FROM THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM By D. M. Panton, M.A.
437 PUNISHMENT EVERLASTION By D. M. Panton, B.A.
438 THE NAZARITES VOW By C. A. Coates.
439 THE JUDGMENT SEAT
440 THE LAST LAP By Samuel Scoville (All footnotes by D. M. Panton.)
441 WEEPING OVER
442 THE RETURN OF OUR LORD AND
WORLD-WIDE EVANGELISM By S. M. Zwemer, D.D.
443 THE SORROW OF GOD By James S.
Stewart.
444 THE RAPTURE AND THE TRIBULATION By G.
H. Lang.
445 YE DID IT UNTO ME By D. M. Panton,
B.A.
446 THE NAZARITES VOW By C. A. Coates [Concluded]
447 NOTHING By F. Suter.
448 I CAME OUT ALIVE By E. G. Matthews.
449 JEHOVAHS WITNESSES By Leopold
Clarke.
450 THE
* * *
401
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ADVENT
By D. H. C. BARTLETT, D.D.
The Second Advent will come net only unexpectedly- as a thief in
the night - but
suddenly, imposingly, appallingly. 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. The lightning leaps out of the bosom
of the dark cloud, sweeps the heavens, and completes its journey in an instant!
So also shall the coming of the Son of man be. Before that mighty flash, which
will remain a permanent light, all our reputation, church standing, social distinctions,
and petty deeds will vanish like cobwebs before a terrific storm. In that great
day, with the Apostle Paul, may we each be found in him, not having mine (our) own
righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.
How different from the First Coming! Then Christ came as a
Babe, veiling His deity in obscurity and poverty. A single star, detected by
only a few astronomers, marked the spot. One band of shepherds alone heard the
angelic birth song. A lonely man, a voice crying in the wilderness, heralded
His Kingdom. Truly He came not with observation. But listen! There shall be signs in the
sun, and in the moon, and in the
stars; and upon the earth distress of nations,
with perplexity; the sea
and the waves roaring; mens hearts failing them
for fear, and for looking after those things
which are coming on the earth: for the powers of
heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see
the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Not a single star simply, but all creation, above, below, will act as herald of the coming King.
With
power and great glory, yea, in his own glory, and in his
Father's and of the holy angels, shall he
appear the second time without sin, and therefore gloriously.
His first appearance was intimately connected with sin. He was
made in the likeness of sinful flesh. Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins. Made him to be sin for us, who
knew no sin. All
His sufferings, every pang, were because of sin. Now He has done with it. Thine eyes
shall see the king in his beauty. No longer shall the Son of God appear as a man of sorrows. No
longer shall the King of kings be represented as a dying malefactor. No longer
shall the Lord of lords be a servant. Then He came not to judge the world but
to save it. Now He comes not to save the world but to judge it!
The king in his beauty. His hair of glistening whiteness -
whiter than the driven snow. His eyes penetrating like a flame of fire. His
feet like metal raised to white heat in the furnace. His voice like the roll of
the mighty sea. His countenance as the sun shineth in his strength. From His mouth a two-edged sword which none can escape. In His right
hand seven stars and in His left hand the keys of hades and of death. No wonder
the apostle had to record the effect of that sight - When I saw
him, I fell at his feet as dead. Later is indicated the effect such a
sight will have upon others: The kings of the earth, and the great men ... hid
themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from
the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and
from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of
his wrath is come.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Yes, many a longing heart is praying
that prayer today. But there is another verse before the Bible ends. The grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Had it not been for His grace,
longing heart, He might have come before thou hadst known Him. Is His grace
arresting the quickness of His coming to give thee one more opportunity to obey
His departing orders? Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every
creature.
Let Christians obey during this year, straining every nerve;
affecting if necessary, every health; emptying, if necessary, every pocket !
Then, and only then dare we cry, Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
-------
THE TONGUE
Of the tongue
different races have spoken. The Greeks - the boneless tongue, so small and
weak, can crush and kill.
The Turks - the tongue destroys a greater horde than the sword.
The Persians - A lengthy tongue means an unhappy death; dont let your
tongue cut off your head.
The Arabians - The tongues greatest storehouse is the heart.
The Hebrews - Though your feet slip; never let your tongue.
God says, The tongue
is a fire, a world of iniquity ... it
defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire
the course of nature; and is set on fire
of hell (James 3: 6).
I say: The tongue
is a deadly evil. The tongue speaks only as the heart beats. A silent tongue promotes
peace; a prating tongue stirs up strife. The tongue is an instrument of good or
bad, according to the person whose nature it expresses. The Bible speaks of different tongues:
1. The flattering tongue - They flatter
with their tongue (Psalm 5: 9).
2. The mischievous tongue - The tongue deviseth
mischief
(Psalm 52: 2).
3. The singing tongue - Then was our mouth
filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing (Psalm 126: 2).
4. The lying tongue - A lying tongue (Prov. 6: 17). This tongue is associated with hands that
shed innocent blood.
5. The froward tongue - The froward tongue
shall be cut out (Prov.
10: 31).
A froward tongue is one that speaks out of place when it should be silent.
6. The wholesome tongue - A wholesome tongue
is a tree of life (Prov.
17: 4).
7. The naughty tongue - A liar giveth ear to
a naughty tongue (Prov.
15: 4).
8. The perverse tongue - He that has a
perverse tongue falleth into mischief (Prov. 17: 24). A
perverse tongue is one promoting wrong principles.
9. The backbiting tongue - The north wind
driveth rain away; so doth an angry
countenance and a backbiting tongue (Prov. 25:
23). The backbiting tongue is a tongue that
seeks revenge through the use of words.
10. The devouring tongue - And his tongue as
devouring fire (Isaiah 30: 27).
Therefore we are admonished to Keep our tongues
from evil, and our lips from
speaking guile (Psalm 34: 13). This is in contrast with those who whet their tongues like a sword (Psalm 63: 3).
Solomon said:-Whoso
keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles (Prov. 21:
23). This is in contrast with those who Teach their tongues to speak lies (Jer. 9: 5).
* *
* * *
* *
402
THE GREAT UNVEILING
By GORDON CHILVERS
Paul
teaches us a vital, yet sadly neglected truth. For we - that is all Christians - must all
appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
By using the word we Paul points to the church, For ... judgment must begin at
the house of God (1 Pet. 4: 17).
We must - the judgment is inevitable, and so
unavoidable by desire or accident. All - the judgment is comprehensive. The
word all makes the word we emphatic; it is all believers whether
living or dead; none escapes through special sanctity or sin; all whether
Jew or Gentile according to the flesh.
All appear or rather be manifested - the judgment is illuminating. Here
will be an end of all secrets. Many things - [Gods accountability
truths and prophetic teachings, which are
now being disbelieved and rejected,] - which have been kept from
fellow-believers will lose their secrecy as they receive the full blaze of
Divine Light. Paul
has in mind no private examination but a full public trial. Now we see the
reason why Paul was ambitious to be well pleasing to Christ - he knew that he
would be publicly exhibited before the assembled saints. Paul was misunderstood
and misrepresented by the Church at
Now we can see why our Lord encouraged us to pray, to fast,
and to give our alms in secret. Those who do everything for public attention
receive praise from men for their goodness and piety; that is their reward and
they will receive but little in the coming day. Our Lord says, When thou
doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy
right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in
secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret
himself shall reward thee openly (Matt. 6: 3, 4).
We must all appear before the judgment
seat - the
judgment is impartial. The word used is the technical name for the seat of the
Roman magistrate - Bema. It was the official seat of the judge and the place of
a formal trial. This judgment Seat is that of no Roman Governor but of Christ. God as Sovereign over the universe had
appointed His Own Son to be judge of quick and dead, believer and unbeliever.
John sees Christ with eyes as a flame of fire - indicating a searching and
penetrating gaze (Rev. 1: 14). The
effect of Christ being the Judge is seen in His words to the church at
Thyatira. All the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the
reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your
works (Rev. 2: 23). Christ the Judge will act in perfect wisdom,
with true justice, power over all, and with strictest impartiality.
That everyone
may receive a
recompense - the judgment is individual. There will be no mass trial, but each
will be tried separately. Every one of us shall give account of himself to
God (Rom. 14: 12). We should not expect mass trials in our
earthly courts of law, and Christ could not have them. One by one we shall
stand before Him, and He will determine what is our due. That we may receive - this word is the technical word for
receiving as wages. It is something which will be received because it has been
earned. As Lange says:- Every action of Gods children during their bodily life must
be judged according to the strict law of righteousness and each believer must
be rewarded according to his good or evil conduct. Nothing is said here about
names being in the Lambs Book of Life or of justification, for there will be
none there but, those who are saved. As the first Psalm (1: 5) says, The ungodly shall not stand
(or rise) in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. It is not a question of eternal
life but of reaping the fruit of our works. We find in the parable
of the talents that after our Lord had returned, He asked His servants to give
an account of their stewardship. After a long time the lord of those servants
cometh, and reckoneth with them (Matt.
25: 19).
He then apportioned their wages; one who had gained five talents was rewarded
with rule over five cities; another who had gained two talents was rewarded
with authority over two cities. The third had profited nothing because he had
not used his talent, and so that one talent was taken from him.
Each is rewarded according to what he deserves. He will receive
the
things done in his body. We must do all the good that we can while we enjoy this life
for after it is over there is no further opportunity for service. Lazarus might
have been willing to cool the rich mans tongue with a drop of cold water, but
he was not allowed to do so. According to that he hath done - the judgment is by exact measure.
In other words it will be reward according to works. It is not according to what Christ
has done for us but rather according to what we have done for Christ. Before
our conversion our works at their best were as filthy rags. We were then in the
employ of another master and served sin. Since our conversion we are servants
of the Most High, answerable to our Lord. Works are divided into two
categories, good and bad. It is delightful to realise that the little good that
we have done will be recognised as it is done in the name of Christ. He that
receiveth a prophet in the name of the prophet shall receive a prophets reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a
righteous man shall receive a righteous mans reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little
ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward
(Matt.
10: 41, 42). There is such a great variety of service
which can be done for Christ that none of us need lack opportunity. We may be
able to do little because we have little strength, but if we devote to Christ
that which we have, it will be rewarded. We may have little of this worlds
goods, but if we give that which we have, then we shall be rewarded in the [millennial] day to come. We are reminded of the
incident in which our Lord watched the people as they were putting their gifts
into the treasury. It was not the rich making magnificent gifts from their
abundance which caught the eye of Christ, but the widow putting in her two
mites. Reward is one incentive held out to believers so that
they should not grow weary in well-doing. Christ closes the Bible
with these words, Behold, I come quickly,
and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be (Rev.
22: 12).
Then there is the unpopular side, evil works. It is clear that
a judge couldnt reward evil with good. We cannot deliberately practise
something which we know to be wrong and expect our Lord to overlook it. We know
that Paul realised that Christians did sin from the injunctions which he gives.
Let
him that stole steal no more (Eph. 4: 28). Lie not one to another, seeing that we have put off the old man with his deeds (Col.
3: 9).
Now we know that all our sins before conversion are under the blood and so
pardoned, never to be remembered against us again. But what of our sins
committed since we were converted, are they all pardoned? Of course they can
be, but it all depends. John says, If we confess our sins - and forgiveness
hinges on confession - He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:
9). As pardon depends upon our confession,
only unconfessed sins can come before the Judgment Seat. Concerning wilful
sin a very strong statement is made. If we sin wilfully after we
have received the knowledge of the truth, there
remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a
certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries (Heb.
10: 26, 27). This view that there can be bad works for
which a Christian has to answer is confirmed by another passage. He that doeth
wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no
respect of persons (Col. 3:
25). The only possible recompense for wrong
doing is punishment. Be not deceived; God is not
mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap (Gal. 6: 7). Though
in this life a man may sow evil and appear to reap good, in the coming day he
will reap exactly as he has sown; the harvest [and First Resurrection (Rev. 20: 6, R.V.] will follow the pattern of the sowing.
The Lord gives us an example of a believer who had fallen very low, but who
said that he was rich and increased with goods and had need of nothing. In
contrast to his own judgment, Christ says of him, Thou knowest not
that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked (Rev. 3: 17). Here we
find a [regenerate] believer who did not even know that he
was in the wrong. He, far from being well-pleasing to Christ, was completely
ignorant of his own spiritual condition. Can such a one expect to hear from the
lips of Christ, Well done, thou good and
faithful servant? If ye - children of
God - live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye
- the same people - through the Spirit do mortify the
deeds of the body, ye shall live (Rom.
8: 13).
In certain cases a believer must suffer loss at the Judgment Seat. It has been
known for a believer to live in known sin and die unrepentant; can God overlook
that sin? No! He must receive the things done in his body whether good or bad. Paul was forsaken of his fellow believers
when he most needed their help and comfort. In love he says, I pray God
that it may not be laid to their charge (2 Tim. 4: 16). If all
sin were to be forgiven in the coming day Paul, inspired as he was by the Holy
Spirit, need never have prayed such a prayer. If we are surprised that a record
is kept of the wrong doings of a child of God, we have only to look at the Old
Testament, and there we shall see the sins of outstanding men like Abraham,
Noah and David painted in the blackest colours.
The position is summarised as follows: All sin committed
before conversion is pardoned when we come to Christ: all sin [in
the regenerate] after conversion which is confessed
and abandoned is forgiven: deliberate sin [in the regenerate] goes to the Judgment Seat there to receive due recompense [both now, and if repentance is not granted (Acts 11: 18, A.V & R.V.] in the coming day.
Our Lord is still silent. How anxious is the feeling of
knowing that a Judgment has been formed
of us, and waiting, not knowing what it will turn out to be. So let us take
heed to the words of John. And now,
little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we
may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming (1 John 2:
28).
-------
Storms
There are some natures that only a tempest can bring out. I
recollect being strongly impressed on reading the account of an old castle in
Tribulation
In the world ye shall have
tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (John 16:
33). The word tribulation
comes from the Latin word tribulum,
which was a kind of threshing instrument
for separating corn from chaff. That is the use of tribulation. It is Gods
instrument for separating what is mean and trivial in us from what is solid and
lasting. This is what happens when God is allowed to guide our pain. Count it all
joy, wrote James,
when
ye fall into diverse trials. Time and again the Christian church has seemed to be submerged
by the pagan tide, but always it has risen, bringing, like the diver, some new
pearl from the depths to add to the lustre of the faith. - DR. JAMES REID.
Watch
Every moment now makes our relation to the Lords coming a
matter of more vital and urgent importance. Questions are being settled now
which shall determine not so much our salvation, but our position in the coming
age, our reward, or loss. Some are going to reign in life (Rom.
5: 17);
some will be ashamed before him at his coming. Some will receive the victors crown;
some will see their works burnt up, like wood, hay and stubble (1 Cor. 3: 11-15). In Matthew (ch. 24, 25), after
describing the signs and conditions preliminary to His coming in judgment, our
Lord (verse 42), turns to warn His own
servants. Watch therefore introduces the parables of the Householder and Thief; the
Faithful and Evil Servants; and the Wise and Foolish Virgins, and concludes in verse 13 with a reiterated Watch
therefore. For at
any time, we who are His servants may be summoned to render account.
* *
* * *
* *
403
THE POWER OF PRAYER
By STEN
LINDBERG
In the town in
When the Communists swept down through
This left the orphanage in the hands of a young Chinese nurse.
Foreign money was cut off, but the orphanage carried on, buying wheat on the
market, grinding it in their mills and making bread to sell. The little mission
donkey was sold because they couldnt afford to keep it, and the little girls,
putting blinders on their eyes to keep from growing dizzy, took turns going
around the stone mill all day long, grinding wheat.
The Communist officials soon felt that the testimony of the
orphanage was too strong, and so one day this young nurse was called before the
peoples court and sentenced to death. When the little girls heard that, they
went down on their knees and prayed and prayed. And something happened. The
officials could never come and take the young nurse to be executed.
A little later the nurse was brought to trial again, and again
she was sentenced to death. Again something happened; the execution wasnt
carried out. There was a third trial and a fourth, and at the fourth sentence
of death the Communist official in charge stood up in a rage. Give me a rope, he stormed. Im going to go and bind and execute her myself! I dont believe theres
any God protecting her.
Again, as this news came to the little orphanage, the girls
went down on their knees. Presently the Communist official, rope in hand and
followed by the executioners, came marching dawn the dusty street. But just as
he put his foot in the front doorstep, something happened: he suddenly doubled
up in agony, and had to be carried home.
A few months later, when the Communists evacuated the city and
the Nationalists took over, the new mayor invited the Chinese nurse and the
girls at the orphanage to share the protection of the citys inner bastion.
Once more there was prayer at the orphanage, and while praying the nurse was
reminded of Psalm 118: 8:- It is better to trust in the Lord
than to put confidence in man.
That very night, after she had told the mayor that she and the
girls felt led to stay where they were, the Communists unexpectedly came back,
stormed the inner bastion and, so people told me, killed or carried away three
thousand persons. But the little group of Gods people at the orphanage was
left safe and sound.
- THE MOODY MONTHLY.
-------
WHERE ARE THEY?
Where
are the men of vision today? Where are the men who have seen the King in His
beauty, by whom henceforth all else is counted but refuse that they may win
Christ? Where are the adventurers, the explorers of God who count one human
soul of greater value than the fall or rise of an Empire - or even their own
reputations? Where are the men who glory in God - in holiness, difficulties,
persecutions, misunderstandings, discipline, sacrifice, death? Where are the
men who are prepared to pay the price of vision? Where are the men of prayer?
Where are the men who, like the Psalmist of old, count Gods Word of more
importance to them than their necessary food? Where are the men who, like
Moses, comune with God face to face as a man speaks with his friend and
unmistakably bear with them the fragrance of that meeting through the day?
Where are Gods men in this day of Gods power? - Dr. Howard Guinness.
REWARD
To
take such promises of reward and glory as are given to special labour and make
them the portion of all believers, however faithful to the Lord, is to destroy
the power of the promised recompense. God knows our need of the hope of the
reward or He would not have said so much about it in His Word. And Satan knows
its practical power when fully realised, and has therefore struggled to blind
the eyes of the children of God to this doctrine altogether; either mixing it
up with salvation of filling the mind with mock humility that counts it
presumption to strive for the offered crown. The fact of our strivings being
all so mixed with sin shall be lost amidst the honours that shall grace the
saints in that day of glory.
- The Prophetic Digest.
OVERCOMERS
When
you are forgotten or neglected or purposely set at naught and you smile
inwardly
glorying
in the insult or the oversight -
This is Victory
When
your good os evil spoken of, when your wisher are crossed, your tastes
offended,
Your
advice disegarded, your opinions didiculed and you take it all
In
patient and loving silence -
This is victory.
When
you are content with any food, any raiment, any climate, any society,
any
solitude, any interruption -
This is victory.
When
you bear with any discord, any annoyance, any irregularity, any unpunctuality,
-
of
which you are not the cause -
This is victory.
When
you can stand face to face with folly, extravagance, spiritual insensibility,
Contradiction
of sinners, persuasion, and endure it
all as Jesus endured it -
This is victory.
When
you never care to refer to yourself in conversation, nor to record your good
works,
Nor
to seek after commendation, when you can truly love to be unknown -
This is victory.
-
*
* * *
* *
*
404
THE DATE OF THE RAPTURE
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
What is
the date of the rapture? Does the rapture occur before the Great Tribulation?
or does it occur after the Great Tribulation has begun? In our terribly distressing
days no question could be more urgent or vital.
No Panic
Now the Holy Spirit has seized on panic in the
Midnight
Now we get fresh light. It is not fear of the Day of the Lord
which Paul condemns, but fear that that Day is on us before certain events have occurred. Pauls opening
words had told them. We beseech you, brethren, by the
parousia of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our
gathering together unto him,
that ye be not shaken. The descent of Christ into the
heavenlies, and the rapture of saints to meet Him there, are the simultaneous
events which, if they have not occurred, are to quell alarm; for the Day of the
Lord cannot arrive until these events have happened. Midnight is the exact
moment when two days meet; and at midnight the cry went forth,
Behold the Bridegroom! come
ye forth to meet him (Matt. 24:
6): so the descent of Christ, and the ascent
of the saints, ends the Day of Grace and opens the Day of Judgment. The date of the rapture is midnight,
whenever the midnight may be.
The Restraint
But so long as the rapture does not occur, the appearance of
Antichrist is impossible. Let no man beguile you in any wise; for it [the Day of the Lord] will not be except the falling away - the Apostasy - come first, and the man of sin be revealed, that sitteth in the temple of God setting himself forth as
God. Words of our
Lord shed light on the fact that saintly [i.e., holy
and obedient
(Luke 21: 34-36, cf. Rev. 3: 10, R.V.] saints are a block to evil which
makes it impossible for Antichrist to appear before the rapture. Ye are the
salt of the earth, the supreme check to corruption on the
earth: earths final (Matt. 10: 13)
corruption is impossible until the Church [i.e., the out-calling] has gone. So Paul assumes that they
now understand. And now ye know - after what I have said - that which restraineth - now you understand the block which
prevents the public arrival of the Antichrist, and the terrible day of terror.
Manifestly from what Paul has just said, that which restraineth is the body of [righteous] saints removed on high: we beseech you, brethren,
by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not
shaken. The Flood
never came until Enoch had gone; and no lightning wiped out
The Restrainer
But Paul reveals more than a restraint:
he also reveals a restrainer. For the
mystery of lawlessness - the underground, secret anarchy of two thousand years - doth already
work: only - the reason of its remaining a mystery, a suppressed volcano
- there is ONE THAT
RESTRAINETH now, until he be taken out of
the way, until he
removes himself, until he is gone. Only one Person has blocked, or could block,
the lawlessness of two thousand years - the Holy Spirit. And the picture is
perfect. As the Holy Spirit descended to earth to inaugurate the Day of Grace,
and to inhabit the spiritual Temple of God, the Church; so when judgment and
the day of terror arrive, and technically there is no more a Church on earth,*
Pentecost is reversed, and the two great blocks to lawlessness - saintship and
He who creates it - are gone.
[* NOTE: Mr.
G. H. Lang believes the Restrainer
to be one whom God has commanded to release from the Underworld of the
dead! If the Holy Spirit were taken away
from earth at the time of this first rapture, then His influence
and strength would not be available to those left
behind to endure Antichrists persecutions and possible martyrdom! See Rev. 5: 9-11, R.V. cf.
Rev. 3: 10, R.V.
This first rapture of those
who prevail to escape
(Lk. 21: 36, R.V.
cf.
accounted worthy to
escape A.V.) is a REWARD for faithfulness and holy living! Take
heed
to yourselves
watch you then in every season, praying,
that you may be accounted worthy to escape
and to stand in the presence of the Son of man (Lit.
Greek).
Contrary to the vast majority of what
the Christians believer today, (those living for pleasure with minds blinded by
Satan to Gods accountability truths) will not escape! God is a righteous
Judge: and He never acts contrary to His principles of selection! I will be a swift
witness against the sorcerers, and against the
adulterers, and against the swarers, and against false swearers; and against those that oppress the hirling
in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the
LORD of hosts. FOR I THE LORD CHANGE NOT
(Mal. 3: 5, 6, R.V.).]
Not Quickly Shaken
So therefore this dating of the rapture reveals the balanced,
profoundly wise attitude God enjoins upon us. It is not the easy, irresponsible
conclusion of either of todays prophetical schools of thought. Nothing could
have been simpler, clearer, or more final than for Paul to say one of two
things, either of which would have made his whole argument unnecessary:- either
(1) all the Church is removed before
the Tribulation, and therefore fear is absurd; or else (2) all the Church must pass through the Tribulation, and therefore
fear must somehow be conquered. Not only does he say neither of these, but the word Church
is carefully excluded from the whole passage. And more than that. One word is a
flash of lightning:- Be not QUICKLY - hastily, too soon, prematurely - shaken from
your mind. There
is danger; but if we serve a living and true
God, and wait or His Son from heaven - by no means true of all [regenerate] believers, the majority of whom deny the Second Advent [and
millennial
reign of Christ Jesus (Luke 1: 32. cf. Rev.
20: 6,
R.V.)]* altogether - HE DELIVERETH US FROM THE WRATH TO COME (1 Thess. 1: 10).
[* See also Isa. 11: 1-10; Ezek. 34: 20-31; Jer. 33: 14-14-21, R.V. etc.]
Watch and Pray
Finally, so far from discouraging a fear of the Tribulation, Paul
reveals its peculiarly deadly nature. Exactly as our Lords presence always
paralyzed the demon world, and wherever the Gospel has triumphed witchcraft and
sorcery have always faded out, so the departure of the [teachings of the] Holy Spirit from the earth, and all saintly souls with Him, is the signal
of an outbreak of Satanic miracle utterly unparalleled. And then
shall be revealed the lawless one, whose coming
is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and wonders [wrought on behalf
of] falsehood. So our Saviour also fastens on
miracles of a most startling power as the central peril of the Day of the Lord.
For
then shall be great tribulation such as hath not been from the beginning of the
world until now, no, nor ever shall be: for there
shall arise false Christs, and false prophets,
and shall show great signs and wonders; SO AS TO LEAD
ASTRAY, IF POSSIBLE, EVEN THE ELECT (Matt. 24: 21).
All this gives tremendous momentum to one command of our Lotd. Watch ye and pray always that ye may be accounted
worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand - be set, by rapture - before the Son of man.
--------
TWO SELECTED QUOTES
1
It will be
rumoured that a certain part of the world, at mid-day, while markets are in
full swing, numbers of buyers suddenly vanished, while at the same time many
salesmen, in the very act of selling their goods or receiving their money from
them, suddenly disappeared. In another part of the world at midnight while
households are all wrapped up in slumber, suddenly, many of the sleepers
vanished.
No wonder many of the survivors
went raving mad! It was then whispered abroad that many of the vanishing ones were
expecting to be carried right away from this earth. Many had made the statement
that Jesus Christ, in whom they implicitly believed, would come for them. Was it true? they asked themselves. Many added that they had been
warned by their friends to get ready, but they had laughed them to scorn, and
now
! O, if they had only believed! But everybody laughed at them, and they
were missed by the noisy, worldly set. Then
shall the tribes of the earth mourn
When,
alas, it is too late (Matt. 24: 30). The saints in Christ will have been carried in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air, and will now for ever be with the Lord (1 Thess. 4: 17). The giddy pleasure-loving set, who had stigmatised those
who had vanished as joy-kills, will discover their great blunder. We have one more
question to ask: Why are Gods [chosen] saints carried away from
the earth? the answer is obvious. They are to be rescued from the horrors of
the great tribulation. As this is universal, Gods children can find no shelter
on this doomed earth, they can only be rescued by being carried away from the
earth.
- S. SCHOR.
2
According
to this passage [Luke 21: 36] there is only one way in
which we can be prepared for the coming of the Lord when He appears, that is,
through much prayer. The coming again of Jesus Christ is a subject that is
awakening much interest in our day; but it is one thing to be interested in the
Lords return, and to talk about it, and quite another thing to be prepared for
it.
We live in an atmosphere
that has a constant tendency to unfit us for Christs coming. The world tends
to draw us down by its gratifications, and by its cares. There is only one way
by which we can rise triumphant above these things - by constant watching unto
prayer, that is, by sleeplessness unto prayer. Watch in this passage is the same strong word used in Eph. 6: 18, and always the same strong phrase in every season. The man who spends
little time in prayer, who is not steadfast and constant in prayer, will not be
ready for the Lord when He comes. But we may be ready. How, Pray! Pray! Pray!
-
Dr. R.A. TORREY.
* * *
* * *
*
405
THE
By E. E. WORDSWORTH
The eyes
of the whole world are on
Chemical engineers have discovered
that the waters of this strange lake contain vast quantities of many of the
substances most valuable to industry, agriculture and warfare. They found that
from the depth of 200 feet down the waters were practically a saturated
solution of various salts. Consequently a pipe line thirty inches in diameter
and 2,800 feet long was laid, terminating at a depth of 200 feet below the
surface of the Sea. By the use of enormous pumps this water is lifted for use.
The soil on the shore is a heavy clay, which does not permit the water to
escape by filtration.
The wind blows all day from the south and from the north all
through the night. Under these conditions the water in shallow pans is quickly evaporated, leaving behind a
residue of chemicals. At certain stages of evaporation the water is drained off
into lower pans and the process continued. The top pan condenses to a certain
stage, and is then allowed to flow down into pan number two. When the water in
pan number two is sufficiently evaporated, it is again drained off into pan
number three, leaving behind the double salt known as carnallite
: this is composed of magnesium and potassium, which are easily evaporated. The
process of evaporation is continued and
when the water is once more drained into pan number four it contains magnesium bromide from which pure bromide is
obtained cheaply. This fourth and last pan is completely evaporated, and the
process is finished. The final stage yields another salt. This is known as
potassium chloride. Evaporating pan number one produces sodium chloride. Pan
number two, magnesium and potassium (carnallite). Pan
number three, magnesium bromide. Pan number four, potassium chloride.
What God hath wrought! Across the centuries He has been
storing up these valuable salts for the last days, these priceless ingredients
for the use of our day. The total value of these deposits is inestimable.
Thousands of millions of tons, there is at the very least right now forty-one
thousand million tons of these wonderful and precious chemicals available, and
still the streams are constantly pouring into this Sea forty thousand
additional tons yearly. It is said that all the money minted since the days of
Julius Caesar would not equal the cost price of this chemical treasure, if it
had been purchased in the mass.
Why is this enormous wealth stored up? God provided it for
- The Midnight Cry.
* * *
* * *
*
406
REPENTANCE AND JUDGMENT
By BERTRAM HALL
According
to the consensus of opinion of practically all prophetic students, the end of the
age and the return of our Lord are rapidly approaching. The four main signs of
the time of the end, namely, the economic and political distress of nations (Luke 21: 25, 26), the apostasy
of the churches (2 Tim. 3: 5; 4: 4), the
return of the Jews to Palestine (now crystallised by the formation of the
Jewish state of Israel) (Deut. 30: 1-5), and the completion of the prophetic times
(Jews 1917, Gentiles 1939), are manifestly with us. To these may be added the
incipient formation of a western Union of Europe (Rev.
17: 12),
and the emergence of
[* We are now waiting for the building of
the
In view of the general tenor of Scripture, it is fully evident
that the change over from this age to the next, whilst eventually bringing marvellous
blessings to mankind, must in the meantime entail ruin and disaster,
catastrophe on an unparalleled scale; it will be the day of the Lords wrath,
bringing judgment and destruction on all that is evil, shaking all human
institutions to their foundation and overthrowing all which are found
incompatible with the new rule of righteousness; and causing mental and
physical anguish and violent death to millions of human beings.
Can we do anything to avert all this? In the long run, and on
the large scale, probably not. The Word of God stands, and the future is
unveiled by the unerring mind of God, which knows the end from the beginning.
Yet we have no reason to think that it is irrevocably fixed as to time and
place, that no jot or tittle of it could be subject to the slightest
alteration. To do so would be contrary to all human experience.
We have in the Scripture two classic examples to guide us. The
first is Jonahs mission to
What of the
present crisis? Can it be averted, or postponed? We do not know, when we
see [immoral behaviour - (the
result of world-wide apostasy) and] modernism, ritualism, spiritism,
and worldliness eating into the very vitals of the church, when we see whole
nations like Germany and Russia become avowedly atheist, when we see
totalitarianism creeping over the world like a blight, when we see the unstable
political equilibrium of the time and the devastating possibilities of modern
warfare, when we see the grim economic position and the hapless plight of
millions in Europe and Asia, when we see the moral and spiritual decadence rife
in the foremost nations of Christendom: Britain, America, France; the
selfishness, the immorality, the godlessness; the craving for pleasure,
excitement, sport, gambling, drink; the disregard by high and low alike of
things once held sacred, we may well wonder whether the time is not fully ripe
for [divine] judgment.
Nevertheless, we must not lose hope, for there are hopeful
features to set against the dark catalogue above. Considerable numbers of
spiritual Christians are to be found in the membership of all our churches in
this country, in the Dominions, in
But notwithstanding all
this, the great mass of the people is unaffected by any of these agencies, and
the current sets strongly in the wrong direction. There is a great and urgent
need for prayer, prayer that there may be a great world movement of repentance,
so that the Lord may be able to defer the impending judgment and send a season
of peace and prosperity. The prayers of Joel 2, Daniel 9 and Nehemiah
9 may serve as examples of what is possible in response to national
repentance and confession, which may well be brought about by Christian people.
The spirit-filled prayer of a righteous man is very effective indeed (Jas.
5: 16).
-------
GRACE
What is grace? Grace is more than a mere negation. Grace is much more than the ending
of Gods enmity against sinful man.
Grace is infinitely more than the cessation of punishment. Grace is infinitely more than a friendly
attitude on the part of God. Grace is infinitely more than a fine sentiment, even though that sentiment
should be a superlative favour and goodwill. Grace is Divine Energy. Grace is the divine energy of holiness. And
lastly, grace is the divine energy of holiness issuing in the
ministry of love in quest of the unlovely, and by the communication of itself
converting the unlovely into its own loveliness. Grace is the holy love of God in quest
of unlovely man, seeking to woo and to win and to transfigure him into the
loveliness of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- DR. J. H. JOWETT.
-------
CONSECRATION
FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL, towards the close of 1873, entered
upon a spiritual experience that transfigured the rest of her life.
On Advent Sunday I first saw clearly the blessedness of true consecration, she tells us. I saw it as a flash of electric light, and what you see you
can never unsee. There must be full surrender before
there can be full blessedness. God admits you by one into the other.
This thought finds expression in her hymn, In full
and glad surrender. One of the fruits
of this experience is her well-known Consecration Hymn, which was literally
true of her in every line. This is how she describes its composition:- I went for a little visit of five days to Arley House. There were ten persons in the house, some
unconverted and long prayed for and some converted but not rejoicing
Christians. He gave me the prayer, Lord give me all in this house, and He
just did. Before I left the house every one had got a blessing. I was too happy
to sleep, and passed most of the night in praise and renewal of my own
consecration, and these little couplets formed themselves and chimed in my
heart one after another till they finished with Ever, only, all for Thee.
-
JOHN BISHOP, M.A.
* *
* * *
* *
407
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
This I say, brethren,
the time is
shortened (1 Cor. 7: 29)
Paul
says in one of his letters that we are to buy up the opportunities; that is to say, we are to make
merchandise of all our opportunities; we are so to handle them as to make the
largest possible profit out of them; we are to be good merchants, good business
men, in respect to the opportunities which God gives us, buying them up. There is a
time, Solomon
says (Eccles. 3:
17) - that is, a season, an opportunity - for every
purpose and for every work; one opportunity, and one only, for each.
God holds His hand over the sand-glass of our years. His hand
covers the upper half; we see the sands falling through, but Gods hand hides
the upper half - we cannot see how much sand is left. But in the lower half we
see the ever-accumulating sands; and all the sands poured out are so many
opportunities that are done with for ever - they are gone.
Now as the opportunities of each year of Gods mercy are
flocking around us, fairly crowding around us with fresh openings in the
morning of the year, we ask ourselves, What are we to do with the
opportunities offered? The Holy Spirit answers through Paul:- As we have
opportunity, let us do good (Gal.
6: 10) - do good.
But what is the good we are to do? Let us read from Dr. Moffatts translation of 1 Cor. 13:- Love is very
patient, very kind. Love knows no jealousy; love
makes no parade, gives itself no airs, is never rude, never selfish, never irritated, never
resentful; love is never glad when others go
wrong; love is gladdened by goodness, always slow to expose, always
eager to believe the best; always hopeful, always patient.
Let us do good; that is the good: love is the supreme heart
of it. In
While we have the opportunity, let us do good; good shot through the heart of it
with love. Dont you think that we should be very much tender and more habitually
kind in speech and action if we only realised the brevity of our opportunities?
While we
have the opportunity, let us do good; for this I
say, brethren, the time is shortened (1 Cor. 7: 29).
A well-known Christian figure said to a friend inside the
chapel where a meeting had been held, I am good for
another ten years yet; and as he crossed the threshold, he fell dead.
It may be now Im nearer home,
Much
nearer, than I think.
Hence the urgency.
Could anything be more unutterably sad than this - that as a
husband once placed a flower carefully and tenderly in the dead hand of his
wife, a bystander said:- That is the first flower he
ever gave her? Could anything be more unutterably pathetic than that?
You remember Carlyles heart-broken
cry over his dead wife, after the sad years of estrangement,- Oh, that I could see her again for five minutes, to tell her
that I loved her through it all!
A wife was offered a kiss of reconciliation by her husband at
the cottage door, ere he departed for business, after a domestic
misunderstanding, and she refused it. At mid-day he was brought home dead. O God, cried the heart-broken woman, if I had only spoken to him as I should have done!
Let the law of kindness be upon our hearts and upon our
tongues before it is too late. We are accustomed to heap the flowers upon the
bier. Far better heap the flowers upon the loved and living heart! Mary did not
wait till the Saviour was dead before she broke the oil upon His feet.
Let the little actions of appreciation, the little words of
praise, be given now, while we have the time to do it. And how true that is of
the Church also. How many opportunities there are slipping away as the faces
are rapidly changing; as, for one reason or another, so many faces are gone. Mr. Cuff preached upon the fortieth
year of his ministry in Shoreditch
Tabernacle from the text on which he had preached his opening sermon forty
years before, and there were only five of the old faces in that large congregation; only five who had heard both sermons.
Oh, friends,
I pray tonight
Keep not your kisses for my
dead cold brow,
The way is lonely, let me
feel them now.
Think gently of me; I am
travel-worn,
My faltering feet are pierced
with many a thorn.
Forgive, O hearts
estranged, forgive, I plead;
When dreamless rest is
mine, I shall not need
The tenderness for which I
long tonight.
Cannot all our hearts say that? While we have the opportunity, let us do good.
Now, finally, let us remember, for all of us, believers and
unbelievers alike, that our opportunity is just as magnificent now as ever it
was. It is at least as magnificent as it was twelve months
ago: if we have run steadily, our influence is greater, our opportunities are
more numerous, our circle is wider than it was a year ago; and it is possible
for all of us to begin today seeking the highest and the best. God is as strong as ever; Christ is as fresh as ever; the Holy Ghost is as full of love
and the power to impart
love as ever He was.
Unbeliever, it is possible for you too, but there must first
come the melting of the snows before you can,
in a few weeks, look for the cutting of the harvest. Repent and believe; and then the opportunity opens in all its magnificence
before you, as it does before every believer here today; and was there ever
such an age as this? Any man who has got anything in him to say is on the whole
given a very fair hearing; a day when education is so advanced that where one
could listen and understand a hundred years ago, there are a dozen today who
can hear, and pass on what they hear; a day that is pulsing with the tremendous
events that are on the threshold! Second only to the actual days of the First
Advent and the actual days of the Second Advent - and we may yet be in these
last - today is as
magnificent an opportunity for service as the world has ever seen. This is
the day which the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
After the last speech Mr.
Gladstone ever made in the House of Commons - in 1894, I think it was -
after the House had emptied, another Member saw the old man go and stand behind
the Speakers Chair, and shade his failing vision as he looked out over the
arena of all his battles, and as he knew that he looked out upon it for the
last time; then the old man quietly slipped out of the House for ever. It was
the last look. Some year it must be so with us. As we stand today shading our
eyes and looking out over the misty unknown, and remembering that there must
come a year when we are looking out for the last time; backward also over the
life:- how it makes us feel the pilgrim spirit, and desire to use wisely the
little time in the old home - the old church - the old business; for today, for
aught we know, we may be taking the last look. While we have the opportunity, let us do good; a whole harvest may be gathered in
the closing weeks: unto all men - unto all who come within the circle
of our touch.
There are
moments quickly passing,
Opportunities which rise,
Nevermore to cross our
pathway
As we journey to the skies;
Opportunities, God-given,
With these precious moments
flow,
Oh, if we are watching,
waiting,
We shall seize them as they
go.
There are moments quickly
passing,
So on our little day is done;
Soon beyond the far horizon
Faster fade the setting
sun;
Let us use these golden
moments,
Which the Lord to us doth
give,
Till at length with Him in
Heaven
We the life of lives shall
live.
-------
A little boy rehearsing this prayer after his mother, in place
of - Thy will be done, said My will be done. His
mother corrected him, but still he repeated the same words. My dear, it is the will of God, not your will, for which you should pray. It is not fit that your
will should be done. You know very little, and would often desire things amiss.
Yes, mother, replied he, I know that my will is not to be done: but prayer is asking
God for what we wish, and I do wish my will to be done.
This is the secret feeling of many hearts: tis the prompting of nature in
young and old. Tis very hard to submit
to Gods rule, when His providence is a sword that cuts deep. When an only
child is taken - a blooming youth opening into fair promise - when a loving wife
is rent from the side - tis no easy task to acquiesce, and say, Thy will be done.
When one enquired of a deaf and dumb boy, why he thought he
was born deaf and dumb? Taking the chalk, he wrote on the board, Even so,
Father; for so it seemed
good in Thy sight. Great part of the joy of heaven will consist in a heart fully attuned to
the government of God: and its perfection will be, that God will then have no
need to inflict pain.
The same sentiment is repeated by our
lord in Mark 11: 24-26. And when ye stand
praying, forgive if ye have aught against any;
that your Father
also which is in heaven may forgive your trespasses.
Methinks this petition is often passed
by in silence where the Lords prayer is repeated. The conscience of the utterer checks him. To ask to be
forgiven as you forgive, is to pray that you may NOT be forgiven; for remember the grudge you owe to -. But leaving out the petition will
not prevent its taking effect. He who repeats the petition with careless lip
but unforgiving heart, will be
self-condemned. He prays for wrath on himself. But he who passes it by, will
not escape the just anger of God.
- ROBERT GOVETT, M.A., [From The Sermon On The Mount (Matt. 6: 12).]
* *
* * *
* *
408
THE REIGN OF ANTICHRIST
THE Word
says that the Antichrists coming will be after the
working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and
with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness in them
that perish, (2 Thess. 2: 9-10). John describes the miracle working power of
the second beast - the false prophet. All are under the power of the devil.
There is no longer any restraint, for the restrainer has been taken away and
all satanic power is put on display. The antichrist declares himself to be God,
the only God, and his miracles are used to prove his deity. Further, it is said
of him that he opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or
that is worshipped; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple
of God, showing himself that he is God (2 Thes. 2: 4). And all that dwell upon the earth
shall worship him, whose names are not written
in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Rev.
13: 8).
The length of his diabolical rule is given to be three and
one-half years. Power is given to him to continue forty and two months (Rev.
13: 5). And he shall
speak great words against the most High, and shall
wear out the saints of the most High, and think
to change times and laws: and they shall be
given into his hand until a time (one year) and times (two years) and the dividing of time (half a year) (Dan. 7: 25). This is
the last three and one-half years of the covenant week. Although he continues
to the battle of Armageddon his authority is not recognised beyond that date,
at which time
The statement that he shall rule three years and seven months
and twenty-seven days may appear to differ somewhat from that given by Daniel.
However, there is no conflict as it is only a minor detail which Daniel did not
bring out. The wars under the seals elevate the antichrist to presidency of The
United States of The World. The one month and twenty-seven days would, bring
him to a point fifteen days earlier than the descent of Christ on His white
horse. His kingdom begins to crumble at the end of the seven years. The other
statement that after 1,332 days the Lord shall come with His angels and with the forces of
the saints must date
from the middle of the seven years and therefore would extend seventy-three
days beyond the seven years.
The covenant week is exactly seven years to a day. The
antichrist breaks his covenant and the abomination that maketh desolate
is set up in the middle
of the seven years. At that time multitudes of
Daniel declares that from the time the daily sacrifices are
taken away and the image of the antichrist set up there shall be 1,290 days,
that is thirty days longer than half the covenant week. This is the space of
time for the cleansing of the temple of the image and the gathering of the
nations to Armageddon. But Daniel adds, blessed is he that waiteth and cometh
to the 1,335 days. That would be the complete end of
Armageddon. It could very well be that Christ will ride out of the heaven 1,332
days after the covenant is broken and the antichrist, then world dictator,
declares himself to be God; and in the ensuing seventy-two hour period Christ
will break the nations as a potters vessel, so swiftly destroying the armies
of the antichrist that blood will flow to the horses bridles. The beast and
the false prophet are taken and cast alive into the lake of fire and the devil
into the bottomless pit.
This generation is going into the great tribulation. Your boys
and girls, if not ready for the rapture, will be suffering these things. Some
of our preaching should be directed along these lines that they may know what
to expect if left behind. If we preach these things we may have some fruit of
our ministry after we are raptured to heaven. May God awaken the blind
multitudes. -The Midnight Cry.
* *
* * *
* *
409
WILL SOULS BE SAVED DURING THE
GREAT TIBULATION?
By D. M. RUSSELL-JONES
In this
article we come to what is the burning problem among many Christians. Will
souls be saved after the [first
rapture* of the] Church has gone? Many earnest believers, while yearning to see the Lord
coming, long to see their loved ones saved before that great event takes place.
They are under the impression that after the Advent of Christ no further
opportunities will be given to men and women to get saved. Our task is to
reveal how unscriptural is this attitude.
[* See Luke
21: 34-36
and Rev. 3:
10, R.V.).]
The Word of God provides us with a wonderful revelation of Gods
passion for the souls of men. Consider the outburst recorded in Ezekiel 33: 11:
As
I live saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in
the death of the wicked; but that the wicked
turn from his way and live; turn ye from your
evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? His passion is not a mere thing of words, but of
action. In the Cross of Calvary we see the length God is prepared to go to save
sinful man, God so loved the world, that
He gave His only begotten Son. We must avoid bringing Gods great passion down to the level
of our own puny, parochial, and selfish affection.
It is thought in some quarters that souls cannot be saved
after the [accounted worthy to escape (Lk. 21: 36, A.V.)
members* of the] Church has been raptured to glory. Those who advocate this view base their
belief on the following grounds:-
[* Note the conditional clause in the
text, which is so often not recognised, and ultimately
discarded by multitudes of the Lords redeemed people!]
1. It offers a second chance.
2. The Age of Grace closes with the
Rapture.
3. The Holy Spirit has been withdrawn.
Each one of these reasons is fallacious, revealing a shallow
knowledge of Gods word and an inadequate conception of the mighty Love of God.
The Word clearly reveals that souls will
be saved during the Great Tribulation, as well as during the Millennial reign
of Christ.
This does not mean that a second chance is given to men and
women after [all] the Church has gone. The Bible gives
us no warrant for believing that there will be a second
chance after death; when a soul enters Eternity, then its destiny is fixed forever. But while men are alive they may have many opportunities of responding to [conditional promises and accountability truths found within] the Gospel invitation. Even after [chosen members of] the Church has gone there will be
many opportunities given to men to get saved.
All souls who are saved are saved by Grace.
Even in the previous ages, men were saved by grace alone. There will not be
one soul in Eternity saved by his own merits. The matchless grace of God will
be the theme song of all the redeemed. While Judgment will be very much in
evidence during the Great Tribulation, and even during the Millennium, Grace will not be absent. It is perfectly true
that Rev. 4,
5 tells us that out of the
Throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings, and
voices: let us
never forget that there was a rainbow round about the Throne. Grace is there! On the other hand,
there is no rainbow around the Great White Throne, in Revelation
20: 11-15.
That is the Throne of Judgment.
As for the Holy Spirit completely withdrawing His saving
influence from the world after the Church has gone, we are unable to find any
evidence of this in the Word of God. We shall have more to say of this later.
1. The Channels of Salvation during the Tribulation
(1) The Effect of the Rapture
It is impossible to estimate the impact of the Rapture on the
lives of the relatives of those who have been caught up. Think of the unsaved children who
find their parents have gone! Such an event will undoubtedly drive them to their knees before God. Let
us forget for the moment the many interpretations we have on the parable of the
Ten Virgins, this fact is obvious; when the five wise virgins were admitted
into the banquet it roused within the hearts of the five foolish virgins a
passionate desire to enter as well. We are firmly convinced that the rapture of
the Church will be used of God to the salvation of multitudes.
(2) The Power of the Word
Even in these days we have known of individuals who have been
led to Christ simply through the reading of the Scriptures. Although the Church
will have been caught up, there will be numerous Bibles left on the earth. No
doubt the Antichrist will endeavour to destroy the Scriptures, but he will
never succeed. There can be no shadow of doubt that the remarkable events of
that period will drive many to read the Word to the salvation of their souls.
(3) The Impact of Divine Judgments
The period under discussion will be a time when Gods
judgments will be abroad. The world will know that these judgments are coming
from God, just as the Egyptians did when Moses brought the plagues upon
(4) The Testimony of the Two Witnesses
God will not be
without His messengers during this period. Foremost among them will be the two
witnesses mentioned in Revelation 11. The
Antichrist will not have it all his own way, the powerful preaching of these
two men, backed by remarkable signs and wonders, will win many to God.
Furthermore, it is quite obvious that the Commission given in Matthew 10, will be finally fulfilled during this
very period. At last the Antichrist will appear to win the day, the two
witnesses will be slain, but after three and a half days, they will be
resurrected and ruptured in the sight of the inhabitants of Jerusalem; this
will cause multitudes to give glory to the God of Heaven.
(5) The Ministry of the Holy Spirit
May we again point out that the Holy Spirit has been
convicting and converting all down through the ages. The Antedeluvians were
able to resist His efforts to save, Gen. 6: 3. Even the [redeemed] Children of Israel rebelled and
vexed His Holy Spirit (Isaiah 63: 10).
When the Church age began it also saw the commencement of a new and unique
ministry, He now indwells [every obedient
believer]*, and is able to anoint every [regenerate] believer. When this [evil and apostate] age draws to a close, this unique ministry to the Church will come to an
end, but the task of saving souls will go on. If we grant that souls will be
saved during the Great Tribulation, then we must concede the fact that that
work must be done by the Holy Spirit, for He alone has the power to regenerate
man. To say that the Holy Spirit withdraws His Presence from
the earth, is to make a statement that finds no foundation in the Scriptures.
His peculiar work in and upon the Church comes to an end, but He will still be
here to win souls.
[*See Judges
16: 20 ff. Cp. 1 Sam. 15: 22, 23 with 16: 14; 28: 15: and Psa. 51: 11 with Acts 5: 32,
R.V.).]
(6) The Effect of Persecution
Satanic persecution has never succeeded in crushing the Truth,
it only purifies the believer, and causes the Message to spread. When we turn
to the Book of Acts we find that the
opposition of the Jews failed completely to prevent the growth of the
We have briefly referred to the possible channels of salvation
during the Great Tribulation. Will these methods be successful? Let Rev. 7: 14-15 and 14: 1-4 supply us with the answer. John saw a tremendous
company of people in heaven, he could not identify them. The Elder informed him
thus - These are they which came out of Great Tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood
of the Lamb. In Chapter 14, he sees another Company, but they are
the Firstfruits from the Jewish Nation. When a Jew is saved today, he becomes a
Christian, but when a Jew gets saved during the Great Tribulation, he will not
become a member of the Church, for the Church has gone, he will be the
firstfruits of that Nation, the remainder of which will turn to the Lord when
they shall see Him Return in Glory.
2. The Cost of Salvation during the Great Tribulation
While souls will be saved during this period, nevertheless
they will sustain a great loss. We must urge men and women to yield now. Many are reluctant to yield to Christ
now, but it will cost them infinitely more when the Church [i.e., the out-calling] has gone. We can only mention three reasons why it is best to yield to
Christ now.
(1) Diabolical Atmosphere
Churches will be closed. Sundays will be completely discarded.
Evangelistic campaigns will be prohibited. The Antichrist will introduce all
kinds of laws to make it difficult for true believers to meet for worship.
(2) Definite Loss
Souls will be saved, but they will lose the great opportunity
of being linked to the Church. Have we taken into full consideration the full
implication of Christs commendation of John? Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a
greater than John the Baptist, notwithstanding
he that is the least in the
(3) Difficult Choice
Please read carefully Rev. 13: 15-17, and 14: 9-13. There
will be no middle choice, no compromise; to become a believer may cost life itself. How much easier it is to
accept Christ today! There will be no hypocrites when Antichrist reigns. Those
who are unsaved, we would urge them to take Christ as Saviour now. May the Lord stir up, His Church to
true evangelism. - The Midnight Cry.
-------
PREPARATION
Dr. A. B. Simpson has this remarkable word. The Holy Spirit
prepares us for the coming of the Lord, and to be among the first fruits at His appearing. There is
a remarkable expression in Rom. 8: 23, which has a deeper
meaning than the first fruits of the Spirit. It means that the Holy Spirit is preparing a first company of holy and consecrated
hearts for the coming of the Lord
and the gathering of His saints, and that these will be followed later by the larger company of all the saved.
There is a first resurrection, in which
the blessed and holy shall have part, and of this He is preparing all who are
willing to receive Him in His fulness. Transcendent
honour! Unspeakable privilege! May
God enable us to have a part in that blessed hope!
-------
A GIVING GOD
He giveth
more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength
when the labours increase;
To added affliction He
addeth His mercies,
To multiplied trials His
multiplied peace.
When we have exhausted our
store of endurance,
When our strength has
failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of
our hoarded resources
The Fathers full giving is
only begun.
His love has no limit, His
grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known
to men,
For out of His infinite
riches in Jesus,
He giveth, and giveth, and
giveth again.
- Anon.
* *
* *
* * *
410
THE MODEL MARTYRDOM
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
Probably
more than we realize, this century is a return of the age of martyrs. The figures
are already terrible. The century opened with the massacre of thirty thousand
Christians in
Stephen
The first Christian martyrdom ever to occur, and the only one
ever recorded in the New Testament in detail, is put on record with such a
fulness, and such a richness of instruction on how (if called to do so) we are
to offer our life for Christ, as to make it the model martyrdom of all time.
And the very name of the martyr pours a searchlight on the record. Stephen - of whom we know practically nothing
except his martyrdom means crown, or crowned; and the word means not a crown
inherited, but a crown won: it thus singularly embodies our Lords
assurance to every martyr down all the ages:- Be thou
faithful unto death, and I will give thee
the crown of life (Rev. 2: 10).
False Charges
Two fundamentally different groups of persecutors appear all down
the ages, and we do well to master the fact. The first group is utterly
unprincipled. When the Sword of the Spirit proves unanswerable, and the truth
irrefutable, the defeated disputant takes up the weapons of force and fraud: they seized
him, and set up false witnesses. A twisted, distorted charge - exactly
similar to our Lords alleged threat to destroy the
Saul
But there is another group with whom martyrs have to do. The witnesses
laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul; and Saul was consenting unto his death. A three hundred and fifty year old
letter has come to light. It is dated August 28, 1572, and addressed to the
Presidents and Chancellors of the King at
Full of Faith
At once we are confronted with the kind of man that makes a
martyr. Stephen, full of faith and of
the Holy Spirit (Acts 6: 5). Stones are
not thrown, says
the proverb, except at a fruit-laden tree. No other man in the Bible has this
particular description - full of faith: that is, a man of passionate conviction;
with so complete a faith in his facts that he can face death fearlessly. His obligations to the Throne of Mercy are so great, his
deliverance so gracious, his hope so animating, his responsibilities so awful,
that one master feeling holds his mind - a desire to walk worthy of God, who
hath called him to His Kingdom and glory (R. P. Buddicom, M.A.)
Scriptural
But a still intenser flash of light shows us exactly on what,
and on what alone, a martyrs faith is to rest. Stephens defence before the
Sanhedrin, the fullest record of a single address in the New Testament, is
solely Scripture so expounded as to meet the charge against him; an appeal to
documents (in this case) acknowledged as divine by his opponents; and in any
case the sole seat of authority. The model martyr is no fanatic, rushing on
death; but a man whose life-interests are bound up with the Truth: a balanced
mind, an informed judgment, passionately Scriptural. So also full of grace - Gods favour permeating tone,
words, thought, bearing - and power - the impress of character; and all summed up in a
phrase repeated three times - full of the Holy Ghost - to a degree, alas, impossible to
us, for he wrought great wonders and signs (Acts 6:
8).
The Face of an Angel
Now before the martyr has uttered a word, an extraordinary
fact emerges. After the bribed witnesses have been heard, and the fictitious
charges formulated, all eyes are turned on the prisoner in the dock; and all that
sat in the council, fastening their eyes on him,
saw his face as it had been the face
of an angel. Gods stars shine brightest at midnight. A face radiant
in the act of dying is spoken alone of Stephen in the New Testament, probably because
it is the martyr alone who is sure of the Kingdom. Death, for us, can have deep
shadows, for our heart trembles over our lifes record: the martyr, on the contrary, knows he has won the Prize. I saw thrones; and I saw the souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of
Jesus, and they lived AND REIGNED WITH CHRIST A THOUSAND YEARS (Rev.
20: 4).
So dominant is the martyr class in the coming [Millennial] Kingdom that the sub-Apostolic Church
thought that none but martyrs would compose its kings.*
* Forty young Claretian priests were taken out to be shot; as they went
they sang hymns and cried:- Long live Christ the King!
The radiance on their faces so moved a young man among the onlookers that he
stopped one of the motorcars and got in, saying that he wished to be allowed to
join them, and he died with them. The Face of an Angel can create Sovereign Martyrs.
The Face of Jesus
A very precious revelation follows. In that vast crowd there was
not one friendly face, so God - allowing no burden greater than we can bear -
opens Heaven, and shows Stephen the only Face that matters, in radiant
sympathy. He looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of
God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. The help may not always be thus
miraculous. When John Huss of
Our [Animating] Spirits Home
It is extraordinary proof that this is the model martyrdom
that on the dying lips are two of the very utterances of
Love of Christ
Finally, we learn the secret of martyrdom in the only
martyrdom revealed years, even decades, beforehand. Jesus says to Peter:- When thou
shalt be old, another shall carry thee whither
thou wouldest not (John 21: 18)
- Peter was crucified upside down. Three times the Lord asks Peter:- Lovest thou me? Peter answers:- Lord, thou knowest that I love thee; and so dearly does Jesus love Peter that he now gives him
thirty years of faithful service; the production of letters which shall enrich
the Church for two thousand years; and then - a second Calvary. Not hatred of sin, not mastery of
theology, not love for our fellow-believers - not in these lovely virtues lies
the root of martyrdom: the master-anchor of the martyred soul is deep love for Christ. It is this love,
and this love alone, which will carry us through.
* *
* * *
* *
411
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
By ROBERT GOVETT, M.A.
(From Matt.
6: 16.)
16. Now when ye fast, become not,
as the hypocrites, of a
sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces,
that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They
have their reward at once.
17. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint
thine head, and wash thy face:
18. That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in
secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall
reward thee.
I shall first expound the words; then consider the duty of
fasting.
The Saviours method in enforcing this part of righteousness,
is the same which He adopted in the former two. He first cautions us against
the false practice, then exhibits the true.
Our Lord brings before us false fasting, as displayed in its (1) Mode, its (2) Motive, and its (3)
Results.
1. Fasting is a thing right in itself; but as observed by the
Pharisees, it was evil. Fasting is a secret observance of religion. But its
unobtrusiveness displeased the Pharisee. He therefore put on a sad expression of
countenance. Nor was that enough: he disfigured his face. He did not wash himself, or bathe as
usual. He probably put dust and ashes on his head, face, beard. Perhaps he
covered his head and clothed himself with sack-cloth. As far as possible, he
put off his usual appearance. This was the faulty manner of his fast.
2. It sprung from a corrupt MOTIVE.
Abstinence from food is a thing secret to all, except the inmates of the
individuals house. This did not suit the intention of these pretenders. They
would have everyone know, and say - That man is
fasting. They took care, therefore, to hang out the signs of it. This
was hypocrisy. Fasting is properly a religious act offered to God. They disregarded
God, and addressed man. The outside of the cup was fair: within it was foul.
Hypocrisy is hateful to God. Let us perceive, that we have to do with the word
of God, which is living, (Greek) powerful, and sharper
than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the
dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the
joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart (Heb. 4: 12).
Yes! the Word of God is an index of the mind of the Great
Person in whose sight we are manifest, and to whom we must give account. All things
are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Look to your motives, reader,
for Christ looks to them! Such as your motives are, such are your
actions in Gods sight. Such as the seed is, such is the plant. If the motive
be holy, if the act be done to God, tis good. At the collection the other day,
why did you drop your shilling into the
plate? Was it because you thought you must, or people would think it mean, or
perhaps speak to you about it? If that were your motive, twas not done from
love to God, or meant for His eye, but arose from fear of man.
3. Jesus would have us notice also the RESULTS, Verily I say unto you, they have their reward at once. In the same terms on the three occasions,
our Lord exhibits the consequences of false service. It was an arrow shot at an
earthly target. It hit the bulls eye there, and gained a name among the bowmen
of earth. But it was not aimed heavenward. Such archery would win no reward
there. This then is a specimen given to us of a combined fault and folly, to be
avoided by every disciple.
Fasting was also abused by the so-called Fathers of the church.
Once more, and still guiding ourselves
by the judgment of antiquity, we come to consider that great article of ancient
piety - Fasting. It is indeed difficult to determine, according to the opinion
of antiquity, which of these elements of Christianity, continence or
abstinence, should have the precedence. Every writer of the times speaks of
this virtue in the highest terms of praise, and, as to the biographies before
us, there is nothing in the discipline of the ascetics about which so much is
said. And let us understand, that this admired article of the celestial
philosophy was not an occasional abstinence from ordinary food, such as we hear
of in Scripture, and which is the utmost that scriptural examples can warrant;
but it was a devotion of the whole energies of the life to the business of
fasting. It was no such thing as the writers of the Tracts for the Times
speak of, and wish to make us believe to have been the practice of antiquity.
With the ancient church, the degree of abstinence was the measure of
sanctity. If a man was holy
who never tasted food until sun-set, he who ate only once in two days was
holier: and holier still the eminent man who fasted absolutely five days in
every week! If he who ate flesh sparingly might pretend to a little sanctity,
he who never touched animal food might pretend to more: and as to the prodigy
of Christian perfection who denied himself whatever had been prepared by fire
(the totaller of that day), the pity was that such a
hero of the stomach should have been detained on earth at all. If to drink
water only was a merit, great was the merit of drinking fetid water! Ask the
writers of antiquity to show you, in their opinion, the highest style of man.
There he stands, and he has supped on raw herbs and ditch water! (Ancient
Christianity, vol. 2, p. 124).
But Jesus next exhibits TRUE
FASTING, and under the same three divisions of (1) Manner, (2) Motive, (3) Result.
Hear then the true disciples MANNER of fasting. Thou when thou fastest, anoint thy head and wash thy face.
Jesus does not bid us give up the practice, because, though
good in itself, it had been so abused.
1. He would have His servant dress and
prepare himself as usual. The command concerning the washing of the face, and
anointing of the head, seem to intend this. For we find, that when Davids fast
for his child was broken by its death, he washed and anointed himself (2 Sam.
12: 20; also 14:
2). The
Saviour does not, however, bid His servant to put on a joyful look, for that might
be quite unsuited to the occasion, and were difficult for one fasting to
maintain. He simply forbids the putting on of an uncommon appearance, for the
sake of mans favourable notice. Rather seek to elude observation, than to
attract it.
2. For your MOTIVE must be right: that thou
appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy father which is in secret. Your motive is not an hypocritical
one. Your religion looks to God. Then your mode of proceeding will bespeak the
purity of your motive. You will not be as the helmsman looking north, and
steering south. Your eye will be on the compass, and your ships course will be
true to it. Yours is not the gilding, to catch mans eye; but the gold, to meet
Gods. Yours is not a smugglers box, professedly full of glass, really packed
with contraband silks. You act to God. He needs no flag
to be hoisted in order to let him know what you are about. Deep does
His silent eye dive to the depth of your bosom. Does He approve? Be content!
Let this read us a lesson concerning our present station. Are
not some ambitious, and at times discontented with our obscurity, our lowly and
unnoticed course of life? Do we at times wish - O
that I were placed in some more public sphere, some arena more fitted to
exhibit my abilities, and to win me a great name! Remember, brother,
that every warrior of the cross, even in the lowest ranks, has that distinction
which the soldier courts most. He is fighting under the eye of his general. And the Great
Captain is impartial. He will promote: often now; certainly at last, according to merit. He is looking
on, who will reward. Be content then! Small and unnoticed you may be among men,
but it is not they who will apportion your praise or promotion, but your Father
who sees in secret. Act for His eye, and it will be enough!
3. Soon will come the CONSEQUENCES of
all our actions here. The day of the kingdom, and of the crown, is hasting on. Thy Father, if thou have looked to Him herein, will reward thee. These acts pass
away, and no notice seems to be taken. It is not fitting that it should. Now is
the time of trial. God observes if we are fitful, steady workmen. Are we a John Mark, going forth with Paul and Barnabas, but speedily cooling and returning to his snug fireside?
It will be seen. The present is the sowing time. The seed falls without any
sound into the earth, but it will be reaped with songs of praise. Harvest, the
harvest of the kingdom, the great season
when God will be shown to be just, and the sowers
carry to the garner as they have sowed, is hasting apace. See that your
reward be [then] from your Father above. It will be given openly, when there is no fear of your
becoming vainglorious or proud.
This promise is added to the close of each part of the righteousness
which God claims, to show His bounty, and to fix your eye on reward; so it be
reward of the right kind, and at the right time. Sense says - Give me all now! And it eats, yet is not satisfied: it drinks, yet is thirsty
still; it hoards, but still feels poverty; it lays up raiment, but feels cold
still. Faith says, I put my money and my deeds in a
savings-box. Once dropped through the hole, it cannot be drawn out
again. My Father keeps the key. But a
day is at hand, in which He will remember what I have entrusted Him with:
and then my copper farthings will have turned into golden guineas. I can afford
to wait. I dare not build on the
quicksand, which swallows up both the house and its builder. Be my mansion
beyond deaths domains and sins pestilential atmosphere!
* *
* * *
* *
412
PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT
By RICHARD A. BELSHAM
Precious in the
sight of the Lord is the death of his saints - Psalm 116: 15.
In opening the Scriptures of truth, the
inspired word of the living God, and reading their statements concerning
persons, things, and happenings, we are confronted with the fact that the
prophet Isaiah so definitely declared: For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my
ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. It is well then for us to look
carefully at things and happenings as God looks at them, and to think of them as God
thinks of them. In the light of this it is good for us to ponder the words of
the text above, not easy at first to take them in as the ordinary mind would
comprehend them. They tell us that the death of His saints, whatever that may mean to us who
suffer the loss of them here below, is precious in His sight. There must be some real reason for
this; let us seek to discover it for our good and satisfaction.
The opening word Precious means Valuable,
dear, much set by, greatly esteemed. And this applies to His saints.
Their death is precious because they are precious, as those who have been
bought with precious blood, saved through precious
faith ... blest with a precious Saviour, and sustained
with precious promises. Their saintship, or separation
unto God from all
that is contrary to the will of God, has brought them into such close
relationship to God as to mark them out among their fellow men as belonging to
Him - His people. Know ye that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for
Himself; and that
The
Lords portion is His people; His inheritance
in the saints.
And they are Precious in His sight because of seven things mentioned in His infallible
word of truth. Consider then:-
1. The Price paid for them. Forasmuch as ye know that ye
were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain
conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood
of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot. What! know ye not that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost?
and that ye are bought with a price, even the blood of Jesus Christ. And you [who are regenerate] are a member of the Church which He has purchased with His own blood. What a price! You can, in the light
of that fact understand
how valuable, dear, much set by, and greatly esteemed they are. How delighted
and overflowing with gratitude we ought to be! Praise Him!
2. The Presence abiding with them. An holy
temple in the Lord: in Whom ye are builded
together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. As God hath said: I will dwell
in them, and walk in them, and they shall be My people, and
I will be their God. The Christians at
3. The Privileges extended to them. They have access to Himself at all
times, seeing the holiest of all is ever open to them, and the welcome to come boldly
to the throne of grace is theirs unceasingly. They also have fellowship with the Father and with
the Son, and are
truly one with them. They have the inestimable privilege to use the name of
Jesus in their approach to the Father: Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in
My name, He will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. This is an abiding blessing
throughout life for His saints, and they who take the fullest advantage of it
are those who enjoy the privilege; for even after [their] death their asking often finds a belated answer.*
Praise His name!
[*
See Isa. 40: 10, 31; Ezek. 37: 12-14, 22-28. Cf. Rom.
8: 17b- 25 with Rev. 3: 21. R.V. We
can trust God, who cannot lie, to do in His appointed time, that which His
prophets have said He will do!]
4. The Protection exercised over them. The eternal
God is thy refuge; and underneath are the
everlasting arms. The Lord shall preserve thee
from all
evil; He shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from
this time forth, and even for evermore.
He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. His presence is salvation - [a future]* salvation from all evil and harm, as well as from all the power
of the enemy. He
is our shield and buckler - our sure defence.
[* See 1 Pet.
1: 5, 9, R.V.. Cf. Heb.
10: 35, 36-39 with James 1: 21,
R.V.).]
5. The Provision made for them. My God shall
supply all your need, according to His riches in
glory by Christ Jesus. He has provided for their present and eternal
salvation through the one sacrifice of
6. The Purpose revealed for them. And we know
that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to His purpose. And that follows; His purpose is clearly stated: For whom He did foreknow, He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the
firstborn among many brethren. What a future! Sinless, immortal,
glorified; to be companions with the glorified One. No wonder they are precious in
His sight when
death is the prelude to it all, to be perfected at His coming. For our citizenship is in heaven, from
whence we look for the Saviour, our Lord Jesus
Christ; Who shall change our vile body (the body of the fall) and make it like unto His
own glorious body (the
body of His glory) according to the working whereby He is able to subdue all things unto
Himself.
7. The Place prepared for them. Let not your hearts be
troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My
Fathers house are many mansions: if it were not
so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you (obtain the right for you to be
there). And if
I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am ye
may be also.
Yes, the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
With all these seven things we are well enabled to see that
His saints, even in death, whenever
it comes, are precious in His sight. For though absent from the body, they are present with the Lord - [i.e., in Sheol / Hades]* - awaiting the moment of re-union
with the loved ones left behind for a little longer. Wherefore
comfort one another with these words.
[* NOTE: If we could ascend into Gods heavenly presence, -
(without our soul being clad within an immortal
body of flesh and
bones - identical to that resurrection-body presently possessed by our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ after His resurrection) - as a spirit
only (Lk. 24: 39, R.V.),
there would be no need for our Lord Jesus to return to this earth to resurrect
His O.T. and N.T. saints out
of dead ones (Lk.
20: 35,
Lit. Greek) at the first resurrection
(Rev. 20:
5, R.V.)! See also John
14: 3 highlighted in bold type above, and compare Phil. 3: 11 and Heb. 11: 35b, 40 with 2 Tim. 2: 17, 18, R.V.]
* *
* * *
* *
413
A CHRISTIAN MANIFESTO
(This has been issued by a number of
leading Evangelical Christians)
Deeply moved by, and increasingly
concerned with, the great crisis which our world now faces, and not a little
surprised and disquieted that the Church of Christ, as a whole, seems almost
silent as to the significance of this crisis in the light of the Word of God,
or, gives voice to many plans and programs not revealed in the Word of God, we
have been led to compose the following statement, praying that God may use it,
in part or in whole, to encourage, quicken and establish fellow believers
around the world. We do hereby affirm it to be our personal and mutual
conviction:
1. That we are living in an hour
confessed by statesmen, scientists, economists and leaders of thought everywhere
to be the supreme crisis of mans history, so acute that, for example,
Englands greatest poet says the world is at the edge
of the abyss; and another at the closing session of the United States
Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization, April, 1949, said, I am making no
political statement when I note the incontestable scientific fact that we live
today in the most crucial period of the worlds history. This crisis is
world-wide in its extent, intensified by the invention of weapons of frightful
destructiveness, and penetrates into the very foundations of thought and
principles of conduct, increasing in intensity because of the determination of
one super-power, atheistic and materialistic, to rule the world.
2. That such an hour as this in which we
are living was long ago foreseen in the Holy Scriptures by the prophets of the
Old Testament, by our Lord in His Olivet discourse, by the apostles as uttered
in their speeches and letters and, with great detail, in the closing book of
the New Testament, the Apocalypse. Because such predictions are therein made to
relate to that period of time known generally as the end of the age, when the second advent of our Lord
Jesus Christ will take place, we believe that unless the powerful forces now
sweeping our civilization on to an hour of awful catastrophe are, by the hand
of God, for a time arrested, the end of this age and the return of Christ are
near at hand.
3. That the establishment of Israel as
an independent nation, May, 1948, by which, for the first time in over 2,500
years she now enjoys complete freedom from all external sovereignties,
accompanied by the entrance into Palestine since the beginning of our century
of over 1,000,000 Jews, is certainly of vast significance in the partial
fulfilment of many prophecies concerning Israel in the last day. Her present
occupation of the outskirts of Jerusalem, and her growing insistence that she must be allowed to occupy and rule from
that city, would surely seem to indicate the possible near fulfilment of
our Lords prophecy Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the
times of the Gentiles be fulfilled (Luke 21: 24).
4. That the return of Christ, as the New
Testament often affirms, is the only hope for this world; that when He comes,
all who are His will then be clothed in
resurrection bodies, incorruptible and glorious, dwelling with Him forever in
joy and holiness; that His return and no other event will bring an end to
all war; that at His return, peace, justice and righteousness will prevail,
when all enemies will be under His feet, for according to His promise,
we look for new heavens and a new earth wherein
dwelleth righteousness (2 Pet. 3:
13).
5. That in the whole history of the Christian
Church, this seems to be the supreme hour when every follower of Christ should
anew dedicate himself to a fresh study of the Holy Scriptures, that we might remember the
words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and the commandment of the
Lord and Saviour through the apostles (2 Pet. 3: 2; Luke 24: 25).
We are encouraged to undertake such a renewed study of the Scriptures at this
particular time: (1) that we may
know the meaning of what is taking place in this world crisis, the events of which
can but fulfil the Word of God (Rev. 17: 17); (2) that we may not ourselves be
deceived by the increasing delusions, deceptions and false teachings predicted
for the last days; (3) that we may
be delivered from the evil, brutality, pride and selfishness which will more
and more characterize unregenerate humanity (compare 2
Tim. 3: 13-17 with 3: 1-13); (4) because of the confusion which seems
to prevail among so many of Gods [regenerate] children regarding prophetic truth; (5) because we may expect, as we draw near to the end of this [evil] age, that the Spirit of God will let
increasing light shine upon the pages of His Holy Word.
6. That the Church, which has in large
part grown strangely silent regarding the great truths of the prophetic
Scriptures and the second advent of our Lord, particularly in the last three
decades, in spite of the fact that the unbelieving world refers to this time as
apocalyptic, should unitedly return to a
Spirit-controlled, Scripture-guided proclamation of the blessed hope, the
coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ. This should be done that in this day by
such preaching, as many in the Apostle Pauls day from such preaching, many may
turn unto God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath to come (1 Thess. 1: 9, 10), daily
praying the last prayer of the inspired records, and the prayer of every
generation since, Come, Lord Jesus (Rev.
22: 20).
7. That all who love the Lord Jesus
should, with new fervour pray for, sacrificially support and actively
participate in, every effort now being made to bring men to confess Jesus Christ
as their Saviour: the regular preaching services of the church, missionary
activity which honours the Gospel, radio preaching which centres in Christ,
revivals in which the Holy Spirit reaches great masses of people, personal
testimony and worthy literature warning every man to flee from the wrath to
come. This must be done knowing that God hath appointed a day in which He will
judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, even Jesus whom he raised from the
dead (Acts 17 : 30,
31), convinced that those who do not believe
are eternally condemned and realizing that doors are fast closing in many areas
against the true preaching of the Gospel.
8. That in this
hour (1) when the concepts involved
in dialectical materialism embrace millions of new adherents every year through
the enforced teachings of communistic societies, (2) when naturalism and humanism, uncompromising enemies of the
Christian faith, predominate in most of our universities, (3) when increasing
preoccupation with the pursuit of science is drawing so many of our best
manhood into an attitude of indifference to Christ and His salvation, (4) when each recent decade finds the
Western world knowing less and less of the Word of God (the recent decision of
our own Supreme Court giving encouragement to this ignorance) and (5) when there is every reason to expect
new and more powerful attacks to be launched against the Christian faith, we
believe Christian ministers everywhere should more earnestly than ever engage
in the defence and confirmation of the faith (Phil. 1:
7, 16).
We believe that there should be undertaken in every church
where the Gospel is preached, classes for the intensive training of young
Christians, that they might be as thoroughly equipped in giving reasons for the
hope that is in them (1 Pet. 3: 15) for the
great battle which now draws near between the falsehoods of the evil one and
the truth as it is in Christ, as the young men and women of Russia are being
prepared to engage in the promotion of atheism.
We believe that those to whom God has given gifts for such
work should seek to unite their efforts in the production of trenchant,
Christ-centred Bible-interpreting literature, explaining simply the plan of
salvation and showing the reasonableness of our faith, which can be widely
distributed among those millions who today know not that Christ died for their
sins.
9. That, finally, because we are members
of Christs body, indwelt by the same Spirit, acknowledging the same Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ, we should walk worthy of the calling wherewith
we were called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering,
forbearing one another in love, giving diligence
to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, refraining from speaking one against
another (James 4), being all
likeminded, compassionate, loving as brethren, tender-hearted,
humble-minded (1
Pet. 3: 8) and thus labourers sent forth by the Lord of
the harvest (Matt. 9: 38).
- The Christian Fundamentalist.
* *
* * *
* *
414
RAPTURE
The
translation of the saints will be an event so stupendous and so alarming that
the whole world will be in a panic. No merely human being will be able to cope
with the terror and confusion that shall then arise. But Satans man, the
antichrist, will assume dictatorial power over the earth: he will have supreme
control over the nations for three and a half years (Rev.
13: 5-8).
The disappearance of so many people from the earth will be
such a mystery that it will be the chief topic of conversation and
investigation. So suddenly and so mysteriously shall His chosen ones vanish
from the earth, that consternation shall seize the hearts of men. Out of the
store and office some have vanished; out of the home some have gone; out of the
field, out of the factory, out of every church and out of every school; in fact
out of every city and countryside; out of every nation and village the world
over, some have so quickly and so mysteriously disappeared. Preachers are left
behind who failed to warn the people, Christians are left who become careless
and prayerless. Husbands are left and wives taken, wives are left and husbands
taken, parents are left and children taken, children are left and parents
taken. Dear reader: Will you be among the left ones? Well, the Bible is full of
warnings and entreaties to be ready. How often Jesus stressed the
need of preparing for His coming. If every saved
person will be ready then His emphasis on preparation becomes meaningless. His
warnings and exhortations were addressed, to His redeemed people. Salvation
is free, it is a gift, but the right to
escape the Tribulation will depend on our obedience to His repeated entreaties
and warnings.
It is very clear by the illumination of the Spirit that, when
Jesus says lest
coming suddenly He find you sleeping, He is referring to [regenerate] Christians who Will be left behind, and also when He says - The one shall
be taken, and the other left, the left ones will be Christians who are not ready. Everybody
knows that unsaved people will not be caught up to heaven. His warning here is
clearly to His own people, some of whom will be left behind.
It would violate
scripture to say that every saved person is an overcomer. In 1 Cor. 3: 15 we see a man who is saved as by
fire, but loses
his reward. His works are burned up, yet he [eventually] gets into heaven. He could not be
rated as an overcomer. Babes in Christ will reach heaven when they die [and are resurrected], but are not overcomers. The thief on
the cross reached heaven,* but could not be classed with
overcomers. Jesus said To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my
Throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His Throne (Rev.
3: 21).
Only trustworthy saints will qualify for rulership; no weakling could meet the
requirements of the throne.
[* Here, the author has implied that the words - To-day
shalt thou be with me in
The last book of the Bible reveals how the Lord deals with
various groups of Gentiles and Jewish saints. It is Gods own classification
based on their rating in heaven. He shows in Rev.
4: 4 the
crowned elders sitting on thrones up in heaven before the tribulation plagues
begin. And then tells us who they are in Rev.
5: 9, 10. The elders say to Jesus Thou wast slain, and
hast redeemed us to God by the blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and
people, and nation: and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we
shall reign on the earth. They are Gentile saints from every tongue and
nation. Then we see in 7: 13 a great company, that cannot be numbered who
have come up out of great tribulation, standing before the throne with palms in
their hands. Both are Gentile saints. One group reached heaven before the
tribulation began. The latter company is much larger as they cannot be
numbered. Yes, more of the [martyred] saints will reach heaven out of the tribulation than those who are caught
up in the rapture.
Let us be glad and rejoice:
... for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife has made herself ready (Rev.
19: 7).
Many saved people give no thought to preparation for this wedding, but here it
says that it is the responsibility of
the bride to make herself ready. It is an individual responsibility, and
cannot he neglected. The faithful bride
will purify herself even as He is pure in anticipation of that glorious
wedding. In the next verse we read, Blessed are they that are called
(invited), to the marriage. The bride never has to be invited.
Who then will be invited? Other redeemed saints who are friends of the bride.
In 1 Th. 4: 16, we see
that the saints in the grave will rise and be caught up with the living saints.
There are companies and ranks in the resurrection just as there will he
companies and ranks among those living when Jesus comes. Those in the grave who
were in the ready company before dying will rise first, other companies will be
resurrected later. In 1 Cor.
15: 22 we
read, As in Adam all die, even so in
Christ shall ail be made alive, but every man in his own order. Each group will rise in its own order
and rank. They will come up in an orderly and majestic manner, rank upon rank,
as the regimented brigades of a vast army. How do we know? Because God always
does everything in an orderly and majestic manner. In l
Cor. 15: 41, 42 we read,
There
is one glory of the sun, and another glory of
the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory: so also is the resurrection of the dead. The first rank to rise will shine
like the sun, the second rank like the moon, the third rank like the stars of
the first magnitude, and the remaining ranks like the stars of the lesser
magnitudes.
-
The Midnight Cry.
* *
* * *
* *
415
THE FIVE CROWNS
By GEORGE L. ALRICH
And, behold, I come
quickly; and my reward is with me to
give every man according as
his work shall be. Rev. 22:
12.
We find
that the Word speaks of five crowns to be given by the Lord to certain of His
own. Though this is an old subject it should stir our hearts afresh as we draw
near the closing moments of the age, and all but see the goal at the end of the
race. May the Holy Spirit who has been given to us, guide us in our study of
the Word and bring much joy and blessing to our hearts and lives in Christ
Jesus our Lord.
First is what is called The Crown Incorruptible. We find it mentioned in 1 Corinthians 9 : 24-27: Know ye not that they which run in a
race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in
all things. Now they do it to obtain a
corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
I therefore so run, not
as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and
bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. Solemn words these! May we gather
somewhat for our hearts meditation and to help us to so run that we may win
the promised crown.
The background here would be familiar to every believer at
The striving here is connected with the many things that are
perfectly lawful, and even necessary, yet
the lawful and necessary things, if indulged in, too far, may hinder the
running of the believer. Godly self-control that is prompted by love for
God, the love of the heart that really knows Him, is the test of what would
help or hinder. The query is, does my eating and drinking glorify God or simply
satisfy self? The Word pierces to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and
of the joints and marrow. What would be
perfectly legitimate up to a certain point, beyond that hinders, and may rob us
of the coveted prize. The word castaway has nothing to do with the loss of
eternal life. It means disapproved as to
the reward; because of not keeping under the body. Such a runner was Lot,
who vexed his righteous soul in
Next we read of a Crown of Rejoicing. For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing?
Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus
Christ at His Coming? For ye are our glory and
joy (1 Thess. 2: 19, 20).
The work of Paul and his fellows at Thessalonica throws light
upon these words. With what faithfulness had he proclaimed the truth in Jesus
Christ to them is shown clearly in this whole chapter, and it is summed up in
the verses 7 and 8.
But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children: so being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the Gospel of God only,
but also our own souls, because ye were dear
unto us.
What a blessed faithful worker for the Lord; practically
giving himself and his life for the people to whom he ministered. The results
are seen in the fact that many of that city were saved and brought into blessed
fellowship with the Lord and His own. They were really Pauls spiritual children
and this is as it ever should be with the true Christian workers. The testimony
in the Spirit should ever result in the saving of men and women. True these
results may be hidden from us for the time, but they are, nevertheless, very
real and blessed. And next the joy of being saved ourselves and knowing the
Lord as our personal Saviour and Redeemer is the joy of being used to bring the
Gospel of grace to the hearts and minds of the men and women of the day, to
their eternal salvation.
The reward for this work here spoken of is the crown of
rejoicing. It
looks forward to the Rapture to gather all the saints home, the happy meeting
of the redeemed in His presence, the greetings of the saved to each other, and
of the deep joy of the heart in meeting there those we led to Christ. There is
joy for all the saints, but specially will it be the portion of the worker to
know somewhat of the joy of the Lord Himself, who shall then see of the
travail of His soul, and be satisfied. What joy to greet those who are our
spiritual children there! Remember, too, that our ministry may be at the throne
of grace on the behalf of the unsaved rather than by letter or speech. What an
opportunity the present time affords the true worker who heralds forth the
simple Gospel of Jesus Christ, in sharp contrast with all the dead
religiousness of the day. True, it may mean shame and reproach to him; but what
of that! All modern methods break down and fall while the old story of the
Cross is as effectual as ever. Yet must it be told out from the heart that
really and truly knows Him, otherwise it is of no value or power. As we near
the end of the age it would be well to search our hearts, minds and ways to see
if we are giving a testimony to lost souls, so as to win the crown of
rejoicing. I should ask myself the question, Have I any spiritual children in
Christ Jesus? If not there is something absolutely wrong about my life and
testimony; and I would better have the Lord straighten it out. Remember the
words of the Lord in Daniel 11: 32, 33; 12: 3.
Next we have The Crown of Righteousness spoken of by the inspired Paul in 2 Timothy 4: 7,
8:- I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I
have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up
for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto
all them also that love His Appearing.
Paul is about to accomplish his exodus, so he states in verse 6, For I am now ready to be offered,
and the time of my departure (exodus [Gk. dissolution]) is at hand. Blessed home-going for this faithful man of God. He
comes to this glowing sunset of his life as a victor in the long, long battle
that had been waged the many years since his Lord stopped him at high noon on
the
Ever as he went on in the life God had planned for him he had
been loving more and more the Appearing of the Lord - longing and looking for
Him whom he loved and served. Now is he clearly seeing [after resurrection] the reward ahead, the crown of righteousness which is then to be his. To the one who loves His Appearing is this crown
given.
Not so difficult, you say? Perhaps not, but in the present apostasy from the faith in
high places within the professing church it is no easy warfare to wage the
fight for the truth of God as it is in Jesus.
This presupposes the keeping of the faith both in the heart
and in the life; the holding to the truth as in Jesus, in spite of all
departure from the faith. This finds its root in the heart fully believing in
and trusting the Lord Jesus. Only as a life is fully yielded to Him can there
be a real true heart-love for the Appearing of Christ. For all such, not for
Paul alone, there is laid up a crown of righteousness; to be given by a
righteous Judge. Remember that Paul had not yet received his crown, nor has any
believer yet been crowned. All, all awaits the Coming of Christ [to resurrect the blessed and
holy dead (1 Thess.
4: 16; Rev. 20: 6, R.V.)] and then together in that day
shall the victorious ones be crowned by the Lord Himself. What a day it will
be! What concerns us now, and what demands our patient, thoughtful
heart-searching before God is this. Is this true of me? Do I really and truly
love His Appearing? Am I so labouring in the work of the Lord and so living for
Him that with Paul I too can really say, I have fought
a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith? Well for me if I can speak
thus. This needs heart-searching before the Lord.
Then comes The Crown of Life, as spoken of in at least two
passages. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, [i.e., when he hath been approved R.V. & Gk.] he shall receive the crown of life, which the
Lord hath promised to them that love Him (James 1: 12). Fear none of those things which thou
shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye
shall have tribulation ten days: be thou
faithful unto death, and I will give thee a
crown of life (Rev. 2: 10).
In noting the setting of the words in James there is some
precious truth concerning our being tried and tested. Verse
2 reads thus: My brethren, count it all joy
when ye fall into divers temptations, As though one had taken a journey alone, and on the road had
met with some companions who were found to be most agreeable and helpful,
although at first they were not very agreeable. So the Divinely-sent trials of
life are really good companions after all, if
we only have the faith to discern them as sent from our God, to accompany us on
our walk through this scene. Of course, they often come in unexpected ways
and at unlooked for times; and not always dressed as perhaps we would wish them
to be. Nevertheless are they good companions; for rightly received and rightly entertained and used they are but the
Divine harbingers of crowns just ahead. Might we not then note how to treat
them? This is set before us in the verse that follows, Knowing this,
that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. And then the Lord says, If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth
to all men liberally, and upbraideth not,
and it shall be given him. We need wisdom as to the source of the
trial, and as to its real purpose, also how one can properly apply them. All
this has to do with the coming crown that God has promised to the one who
thus endures. Of course we can stop the blessing by
rebelling against the trial; or by refusing to go to the Lord concerning the
matter. So we should miss the
precious fullness of blessing, future honour and glory of the crown is just
what the Lord would keep us from if possible. So when the trial is
ours, He would write good upon it; and tells us to unlock the fullness of
blessing by the way in the trial by the key of joy. To this same purpose are
the words in Revelation 2: 10. These saints are told of their having to
suffer tribulation for ten days; and for some of them it would mean the stake,
the arena, the block - death in its most dreadful forms. But faithfulness unto death in the path of the trial and suffering
would surely bring the crown of life. Life eternal every believer has in
Christ, but these suffering, tried, tempted, pressed ones who are
thus walking with the Lord amid the furnace are to be specially distinguished
by the Crown of Life.*
[* Undoubtedly,
the correct interpretation of the words above in bold type, is that the martyr
will be resurrected out of dead ones (Luke 20: 35, lit.Gk.), to enjoy his/her life
during the promised Messianic and Millennial era.]
Lastly, we have the Crown of Glory as mentioned by the Spirit in 1 Peter 5: 1-4. The elders which are among you I
exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of
the glory that shall be revealed; feed the
flock of God which is among you, taking the
oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, [i.e., nor for base gain(Gk.)] but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over Gods heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the Chief
Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
Shall we recur to the Lords commission to Peter as serving to
help us in our study of this precious word about the Crown of Righteousness? It
is recorded in John 21: 15-17, So when they
had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me more than these? He saith unto Him, Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I
love Thee. He saith unto him, Feed My lambs. He saith to
him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me? He saith unto Him, Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I
love Thee. He saith unto him, Feed My sheep. He saith unto
him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me?
Peter was grieved because He said unto him the third
time, Lovest thou Me? And he said unto Him, Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou
knowest that I love Thee. Jesus saith unto him,
Feed My Sheep (shepherd My flock). Our Lord had work to be done in the
feeding of the lambs (vs. 15), in the feeding of the sheep (vs. 16), in the
shepherding of the flock (vs. 17). But He
would not have other than loving hands and hearts attempt to do any work.
Hence the persistent questioning of Peter. Then as an under shepherd and elder
saint He sends him forth to the work. And when the Chief Shepherd inspires him
through the Holy Spirit to write concerning this work that is to devolve upon
others as he is about to leave the scene, he tells us that the same requisite
of heart love is sought, and the same work is given to be done, feed the
flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by
constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. Neither
as being lords over Gods heritage, but ensamples to the flock. None
but a loving regenerate heart full of Divine love (
Inasmuch as this is only for saved people it is of prime
importance that we settle the matter of our salvation of first importance. This
is done solely by faith in Christ. The word is, Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved. Please dwell in mind and heart upon the Person who saves and
not upon the faith that but makes the vital connection with Christ. When saved,
then the path is open for the effort of any to win one or all of the crowns
promised by the Lord. Nor should any of us be content to sit down satisfied
with [our initial and eternal] salvation merely; or with some attainment of experience or of arriving at
some true position, or holding of a creed. On,
on, to the goal for the prize. Let not the judgment seat of
Christ proclaim our shame! Rather let it reveal that we have not been running
in vain, neither labouring in vain.
-
The Bible Scholar.
-------
CHOOSE THE BEST
Oh, How very, very sad the
disappointments that heaven will reveal, the might-have-beens that will pass before
our vision and then vanish forever away, the crown we might have worn, the high
callings we might have won!
The potter may take up the clay again
and make another vessel. So God takes up our broken lives and does the best He
can with them. Oh, may God inspire us to choose His highest choice, and let
nothing hinder all the good pleasure of His goodness, that we may lose nothing
of what He has wrought, but may receive a full reward! - Dr. A. B. SINPSON.
* *
* * *
* *
416
CONVERSION THE SUPREME PROOF
OF REVELATION
By D. M. PANTON
Into
Pauls conversion is crowded the whole truth concerning our revolutionary
change from death to life. For the Holy Spirit means it to be so. Paul is the solitary
apostle whose life before conversion is known to us; the crisis of his change
is far the most crucial and dramatic in the Bible; alone among conversions it
is recorded three times by the Holy Ghost, in full length portraiture; and it
is the sole conversion down all the Christian centuries (so far as we have been
allowed to know) in which the Lord Himself appeared as the visible Evangelist.
So the Apostle himself describes it:- Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners, of whom I am chief: for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me as chief might Jesus Christ show forth all his
longsuffering for an ensample - a normal, a typical, a crucial
conversion - of them which should hereafter believe (1 Tim. 1:
16); a crowning sample within the covers of
which all conversions are illustrated and contained.
Saul
Saul of Tarsus belonged to the oldest traceable family in the
world: religion was rooted in the Jew, and exclusiveness centred in Abraham
none had a prouder genealogy than Saul. He was a man of the proudest intellect.
He was educated in
A Murderer
Paul himself has drawn, in a few rapid strokes, the portrait
of Saul. I was before a blasphemer, and
a persecutor, and injurious (1 Tim.
1: 13) -
an injury-inflicting, dangerous wild beast. He held the garments of Stephens
murderers, and so in any law court in the world, would have been brought to the
scaffold as one of the murderers. Saul was (in respect to the Christian Faith)
an aggressive infidel, with the further stiffening fact that, like a Hindu or a
Mohammedan, he was fanatically possessed by a creed which insists on wiping out
all other creeds. The prophets forecast of his tribe came to full flower in Saul:-
Benjamin
is a wolf that raveneth: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at even he shall divide the spoil (Gen.
49: 27). Torquemada slumbered in the soul of Saul.
Paul
Now look at Paul, on the other side of conversion, Gods
chosen picture of a changed soul:- the aristocrat, the ecclesiastic, the
infidel, on the one side; a totally different man on the other. Everything the
natural heart counts precious had vanished once and for ever from the life of
Saul of Tarsus. And all that heard him were amazed,
and said, Is not this
he that made havoc of them which called on His name? But the internal
revolution is far more startling. It is no
mere change of front, so that from a Jew persecuting Christians he has become a
Christian persecuting Jews: pay, his words are now a reverse almost incredible,
I
could wish that I myself were anathema from Christ for my brethrens sake,
my kinsmen, according to
the flesh (Rom. 9: 3). We are up against something absolutely new,
something that was never in the man before - a love for the very men that cast him into prison and to death.*
* Nevertheless, the change is not total
until we get our new bodies, which will be like Christs (Phil. 3: 21). That
our old nature survives now could not be put more plainly than by Paul himself.
In me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good
thing (Rom. 7: 18).
Saul and Paul
The very change of names is
significant. Saul means a destroyer Paul means (in Arabic) an
instrument - building up what he once destroyed: Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? (Acts 9:
6). The contrast is amazing. Saul is hate:
Paul writes the greatest hymn of love ever written in all the ages (1 Cor. 13). Saul was a lost soul, doomed to Hell: Paul will
shine for all eternity as one of the brightest jewels in the Redeemers crown.
Saul is blinded by the awful light of the Crucifixion: Paul never loses sight
of Jesus on the Cross again. Sauls ambition was place and power in his native land: Pauls a share in the resurrection from among the dead.
Conversion
The perfection of Pauls after-life - no crescent moon, but a
full orb - makes the revolutionary change of conversion singularly complete. Of whom (sinners) I am chief; that in me as chief might Jesus Christ show forth all his
long suffering, for an example of them which should hereafter believe on him unto eternal
life (1 Tim. 1: 15. 16). Paul
is under no illusion concerning the depth of the pit from which Saul of Tarsus
was dug. Christ allowed Saul to get nearer the brink of Hell than any man who
has ever come back, to show that He can save at Hells brink. I have
never doubted Gods power to convert the heathen, exclaims John Newton, once
He converted me. Not a whit behind
the very chiefest apostles (2 Cor.
11: 5):
miracles - special miracles (Acts 19:
11) - such as no other has ever wrought: the
solitary man, apart from Christ, set forth as our model (1 Cor. 11: 1): the
highest rank, the greatest power, the most shining example - God makes all this
out of the blackest sinner. And a convincing fact lies in its identity with the
God of nature. Common mud consists of clay, sand, soot, and water: God hardens
the clay into sapphire; He changes the sand into opal; He compresses the soot
into a diamond; and He freezes the water into a star of snow.
Conviction
So conversion is summed up in Pauls meeting Christ. It was a
new contact, producing, like lightning, a new conviction; and the moment of
mans new conviction is the moment of Gods new creation. Christ stood before
Paul bodily, visible, audible. The actual resurrection of our Lord - the deadly
heresy, the pestilential error, which the Sanhedrin, despairing of getting
abler hands, had put into his, to stamp out and crush for ever - smote him in
the face, as a fact, - and as a fact that changed, for him, the entire
universe. The most awful thing conceivable to a Jewish mind had occurred - the Messiah had come; and
The New Birth
Conversion means nothing if it is not a revolution in
character. Environment does not do it. Judas shared all the revelations, all
the compassions, all the love of our Lords entire ministry; and he sells Him
for thirty pieces of silver. What we confront is a second man created by a second birth. As Paul himself says:- If
any man is in Christ, he is a NEW CREATION (2 Cor. 5: 17). The
moment Paul saw Jesus, his knowledge of Scripture identified the Messiah, and
he saw the Cross. Thou shalt make his soul - Messiahs soul - AN OFFERING FOR SIN: He
poured out his soul unto death, and bare the sin of many (Is.
53). Paul saw in a moment that the Jew had
slain the Messiah to save the world:
by
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God Him did they crucify and slay (Acts 2: 23): countless lambs sacrificed in the Temple for
fifteen centuries closed in the last awful sacrifice of the Lamb of God. In a
moment Saul saw his sins forgiven.
* *
* * *
* *
417
ONE IS TAKEN AND ONE IS LEFT
By D. M. PANTON. B.A.
The
appalling fall in the Churches today, the all but universal undermining of
belief in the Word of God, the advance in all nations of an ever-growing lawlessness;
these are but some of the symptoms that remind us of our Lords words:- When these
things begin to come to pass,
LOOK up, and lift up your heads (Luke 21:
28). Look up for what? A rending heaven, and
a descending Christ. And the Lord gives what He reveals as a peculiarly
convincing proof of a closing crisis. When the [fig trees] branch is now tender - when
[* Nationalism
is a
striving after national unity or independence, as we see happening
today in
Escape
Now, the Lord gives us a studied simile, revealing once again that
God acts on identical principles in different ages, so that what He has done is a photograph of what He will
do. As were the days of Noah, so shall be the presence of the Son of Man. The
deliverance in Noahs day was double. By faith Enoch
was translated that he should not see death; and
he was not found, because God translated him
(Heb. 11:
5). There was a complete and miraculous
heavenly disappearance before the world-wide judgment of the Flood came. But
there was another deliverance in an earthly escape. The
long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved
through water (1 Pet. 3: 20). So, our Lord says, it will be again. The faithful
of Gods earthly people,
One Taken
So now we arrive at the extraordinary act of God which He is
about to repeat. Then shall two men be in the field; one is taken, and one is left:
two women shall be grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left (Matt.
24: 40).
Obviously, their disappearance takes place before the Tribulation judgments have devastated earths fields and harvests,
and while ordinary business engagements - in the field or in the factory - are
going their normal round. We are at once startled by the complete passivity of
those removed. In counselling
Unwarned
And the consequences will be just as blank as in the olden
days. The disappearance will no more startle the godless from their eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, than the world trembled at the disappearance
of Enoch or the
Humble Believers
For us the removal is full of extraordinary instruction. Most
significant is it that our Lord draws the rapt from the humblest classes- farm
labourers and peasant women. Hearken, my beloved
brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this
world, rich
in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to them that love him? (Jas. 2: 5). And it
is no mass removal: in this field, a man is gone; in that home, a woman that is
all. And mentally, at the moment, they are utterly unprepared had they known
the day,
they would have gathered assemblies of the saints for prayer; had they known
the hour,
they would have been on their knees on the field and in the allotment. Lukes
example is still more significant: there shall be two on one bed; a married couple, asleep, and
suddenly one is gone.
Watch
The lesson our Lord Himself draws becomes overwhelming. Watch therefore:
for ye know not on what day your Lord cometh; your
Lord; that is,
both him in the field and she at the mill are both servants of Christ needing
to be forever watchful. It is vital to remember that to watch is far more than to hold Second
Advent truth: it is to square all our
life to the Judgment Seat of Christ. The removal is no act of sovereign
grace, for their ignorance of the date would be totally immaterial, as it would
depend solely on our conversion; whereas ignorance of the date can be met
solely by perpetual readiness. So our Lord says:- Be ye also READY; for
in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh (Matt.
24: 44).
Denial of the Advent
So now we face the gravity of the facts today. The signs
around us today simply palpitate with the imminence of the Advent; at any
moment the [first] removal* may happen; the whole world is conscious of imminent crisis.
Yet what is the attitude of the Church? In almost all the groups of the Church,
it is a scattered minority only that await the return of the Lord; and the
immense majority deny any such return of Christ at all. A Bishop has expressed
it thus: I hate it on three grounds: first, it is
pessimism; second, it disturbs and divides our people; and third, it cuts the
nerve of missions. And to cloud and darken it still further, the great
majority of prophetic students, while thoroughly fundamental and evangelical,
openly and studiedly deny that watchfulness has anything to do with rapture:
either conversion is the sole qualification; or else they assume that none of
us will escape the most awful Tribulation the world has ever known, or ever
will know.
[* NOTE: This first
rapture is selective! It will embrace only those accounted
worthy to escape (Luke 21: 36, A.V.; cf. Rev.
3: 10).
God takes notice of His redeemed peoples standard of moral behaviour! For except your righteousness exceed
Not every one
but he
that doeth
the will of my Father which is in heaven (Matt.
5: 20; 7: 21). I forewarn you, even
as I did forewarn you, that they which practise
such things shall not inherit the
Conditions of Rapture
Our whole lives, therefore, should be controlled by the conditions of rapture given by our Lord. Three
signal Scriptures assert, broadly, deeply, decisively, that a set attitude of
watchfulness is essential for the disciples disappearance. Our
Lord invokes
us to continual prayer for rapture. He says:- 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 ... Watch ye therefore, and pray
always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man (Luke 21: 34).
To pray for that of which we are already possessed is unbelief: to assume our
certainty of rapture is to make this prayer of our Lord unprayable. Again, our Lord explicitly promises
deliverance to a watchful disciple. He says:- Because
they didst keep the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the
hour of trial, that hour which is to come upon
the whole world to try them that dwelt upon the earth. I come quickly (Rev.
3: 10).
On the Philadelphian Angels having kept the word of His patience - the Lords delaying of His Advent -
Christ lodges the sole and entire reason of the Angels removal. This is in
beautiful keeping with Enochs experience. 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). Again, our Lord levels a solemn warning at
the unspiritual disciple. He says:- Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when He cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I
say unto you, that He will set him over all that
He hath. But if that servant - the same man - shall say in his heart,
My Lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and the maidservants,
and to eat and drink, and
to be drunken; the Lord of that servant shall
come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not (Luke 12: 46).
What this means is seen by our Lords word to the Sardian Angel:- If therefore
thou shall not watch, I will come as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will arrive over thee (Rev. 3: 3). The peril is an unconscious survival, unrapt,
into the Great Tribulation. COULD ANY
TRUTH BE MORE POWERFUL TO MAKE US SQUARE OUR WHOLE LIFE TO THE ADVENT!
* *
* * *
* *
418
A WARNING AND AN APPEAL
To all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity
By C. A. COATES
We are
living in days of religious activity. In the past century Christianity, if
measured by its outward signs, greatly improved the position of this country.
During the last few years too, there have been efforts, not only to erect
buildings for religious purposes, but also to get the people into them. Outwardly Christianity is still recognised,
even by many who are boasting loudly of the progress that men are making.
I recognise thankfully the efforts made by many real
Christians towards evangelisation, and that sinners have been converted to God.
There was in the early years of the nineteenth century a remarkable movement of
the Spirit of God amongst Gods people, and long-lost truths pregnant with
blessing and sanctifying power have been, through grace, restored to the
intelligence and faith of many hearts. But there is now a widespread movement
which is entirely opposed to the word of God, and which must lead eventually to
the complete subversion of every truth vital to spiritual Christianity. It is
against this latter movement that I raise a warning voice. What is the worth of
progress and popularity if these are gained at the expense of truth, and by the
surrender of everything that gives Christianity its divine character?
The history of the fourth century appears to be repeating
itself, in a modified form, in the twentieth. From infamy and persecution the
church arose in a very short time to greatness and supremacy. She laid aside
the gory crown of martyrdom, assumed the glittering tiara, and forthwith began
to walk, as Bunyan quaintly puts it, in the sunshine
with her silver slippers on. But at what a cost was this place of
popularity and power purchased! By the surrender of all spiritual blessings, by
being shorn of everything heavenly, by substituting earthly and carnal ritual for worship
in spirit and in truth, by wholesale conformity to the usages and customs of
the heathen world, and by the suppression of the word of God and the
introduction of teachings of morality and philosophy in place of the gospel. In
short, by giving up the truth, and by playing a traitors part to the Lord
Jesus, the church became great on earth where HE
had but a cross and a grave.
The church secured the masses; she got the people to fill her
sanctuaries, and to pour their money into her coffers, but at what a cost! We search the
writings of the Fathers in vain to find any clear knowledge of the simplest
elements of Christian blessing.
The forgiveness of sins, justification by faith, and peace with
God, the knowledge and assurance of salvation, the eternal security of the
believer, his acceptance in Christ, his title to enter the holiest with
boldness by the blood of Jesus, his being indwelt by the Holy Spirit as the
seal of sonship and the earnest of glory, his identification with Christ,s present place of rejection on earth, are all
subjects on which the apostles dwelt with happy familiarity in writing even to
it babes in Christ.
In the worldly church of the Fathers - both episcopal and
papal - all these, and other more exalted truths, were either quickly ignored,
grossly perverted, or flatly denied. The church gained the people, but she lost
the truth; she attracted the world by stripping herself of everything that
marked her as a chaste virgin espoused unto Christ. Was not success of this kind a
terrible calamity? Was not honour gained on such terms an immeasurable
degradation?
I raise a warning voice because I see so plainly the same
principles at work to-day. The attractiveness of Ritualism, the plausibility of
Rationalism, and the charms of worldly pleasure are being introduced on every
hand as valuable accessories to the great work of reaching the masses. I do not
write for the mere moralist, the Sunday religionist, or the worldly professor,
but for those of Gods people who are associated with this development of evil
without perhaps being sensible of its real nature in the sight of God. I call upon you to test your position, your surroundings, the practices you sanction by
your presence, and the teaching you listen to, by the word of God.
It seems to be Satans object at the present time to
obliterate the fact that [the accountability truths and
conditional
promises of] CHRIST IS REJECTED, or at any rate to rob that fact of all its deep and awful significance. There has
been a full declaration of God in the Person of His Son, but how was He
received? With what honours did the world invest Him? With what manner of
reverence did the husbandmen treat the Son of the Lord of the vineyard? The
very fact that God made Himself fully known only served to bring out the truth
that men hated Him, and that the world knew Him not. The path that began at the
manger ended upon the cross. The worlds answer to Gods Son was, Away with him!
Crucify him! Nor has this verdict ever been reversed; Satan is still the
god and prince of this world; and the PRESENCE OF THE HOLY
SPIRIT is the abiding
demonstration that Christ has been rejected, and of the real condition of the
world. When he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of
righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe
not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and
ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged, John 16: 8-11.
The One who has been rejected was FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH, and His rejection proved that there
was nothing in the natural man that would respond to GRACE or be attracted by TRUTH. Grace was
despised and truth was hated. Such is the world; such is
man; and such were we until the Spirit of God wrought in us. It is plainly
proved that the natural man has not one thought in common with God. It is not
until God works in divine power by His word and Spirit and effects THE NEW BIRTH
that there is anything in man in which He can take pleasure. The more moral and
religious a man is without being born again, the more ignorant he is of God,
and the more opposed to Gods truth and grace.
If the rejection of Christ has proved the real condition of
fallen man, it has also become the starting-point of all the wondrous grace and
blessings which have come out in the gospel; and which, having their foundation
in His death, are connected with Christ risen and glorified. Redemption has
been accomplished at the very moment when it was most clearly seen that the
world would not have the Christ of God; and now the earth-rejected One is
seated at the right hand of God as the One who has died for all, and who has
purged the sins of those who believe on Him. It is in Him - the risen and
glorified One - that we have life and acceptance; it is in Him that we are
blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places; and it is He who is now set at Gods right hand as head over all
things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all, Ephesians
1: 22. The church is the body of
Christ, and each member thereof is united to the Head in heaven by the Holy
Spirit. Thus the very constitution of the church proves the rejection of Christ
by the world. He would not be glorified as Man at Gods right hand if He had
not first been rejected here; and, as we have already seen, the presence of the
Holy Spirit is the abiding demonstration of the condition of the world which has
rejected HIM.
Christian, keep it ever before your heart that this world has
rejected Christ, and we can never gain popularity with the world except at the
expense of loyalty to Christ. Just in proportion as we step out of the path of
reproach and contempt, we forsake our true position. Hence you will find that as buildings become larger and finer, and
services more attractive, the inward spiritual power declines. Why should
the followers of a despised and rejected MAN be ambitious to make a fine appearance
in the world where He died? Yet to gain this object all kinds of worldly
expedients are adopted, and the help of unconverted people not only accepted
but solicited, and of course the world is only too glad to further an object
which is so entirely in consonance with its own tastes.
Then as to the doctrines preached. Vague and rationalistic
ideas as to the inspiration of the word of God are becoming more widespread
every day; and as a consequence all the truths which stand or fall by the
authority of Scripture are weakened or denied. The fall of man - the utterly
lost condition by nature of every child of Adam - has not a very prominent
place in present-day preaching. The absolute necessity of the new birth is
consequently kept in the background or ignored altogether. Along with this,
vague and misty theories of atonement are substituted for the solemn yet
divinely precious statements of Scripture as to the eternal efficacy of the
death and blood-shedding of Christ.
Unitarians are boasting in the spread of their anti-christian
views as to the Person and work of the Lord Jesus. The plain declarations of
the word of God as to eternal punishment are being challenged or explained away
on every hand. It is asserted that religious teachers should not speak so much about divine and eternal things
as about things connected with this life - science, morality, politics, etc. -
and it is said that if we want to attract people we must speak on subjects in
which they are interested.
That is, the church must come down to the level of the world
before she can win the worlds approval. That is true enough, but what is the
spiritual condition of the Christian who proposes such a thing?
Sober-minded Christians will not deny that the old paths are being forsaken both as to
doctrines and practice. Many are
protesting with indignation only to find themselves in a minority, or obliged
to compromise matters by a partial surrender to preserve peace. Thousands of
others are groaning in secret over the declension and departure, but have not
the courage to lift up their voices against it. Others, again, in spite of
misgivings and fears, are hoping for the best, and trying to feel satisfied
that the movement is in the right direction. And, lastly - it must he said with
sadness - some true children of God have
so fallen under the power of this flowing tide of worldliness and apostasy that
they are carried along by it, and give it their sanction and support. May
God in His great mercy arouse the sleeping consciences of such, and deliver
them from the snare in which they are taken!
Let us now turn to the word of God and see if such a state of
things has been anticipated. Does the inspired volume lead us to expect failure
and departure from the truth? If so we need not be surprised as we see the
evidence of it all around us. Read the following scriptures.
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over
the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the
Now the
Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter
times some shall depart from the faith,
giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of
devils, 1 Timothy 4: 1.
This know also, that
in the last days perilous times shall come. For
men shall he lovers of their own selves,
covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents,
unthankful, unholy, without natural affection,
trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of
pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power
thereof: from such turn away, 2 Timothy
3: 1-5.
Yea, and
all that will live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution. But evil men and
seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving
and being deceived, 2 Timothy 3: 12,
13.
For the time will come when they will
not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to
themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned
unto fables, 2 Timothy 4: 3,
4. See also 2
Timothy 1: 15, 2: 16; 2 Peter 2: 1; 3: 17; 1 John 2: 18-26; Jude 16-18.
It is manifest from the above scriptures, and others which
might be cited, that even in the apostles days declension had set in, and no
prospect of recovery is held out. The prophetic intimations as to the
churchs future on earth become increasingly dark and gloomy until its last days are described in words almost
identical with those which the Holy Spirit employs in speaking of the heathen
world before Christianity came into it, compare 2
Timothy 3 with Romans 1. The church as a public profession in the
world has failed in all the different forms which she has taken. At every phase
of her history she has failed, and if Scripture is to be our guide, we may
expect that failure to become deeper and deeper until it ends in open apostasy.
Many earnest Christians will he ready to ask, What can I do to remedy this state of things? or how can I
act so as to please the Lord in the present circumstances of the church? In
short, what is the path of faith for to-day?
In seeking to furnish a scriptural answer to these questions we
must bear in mind that there is no hope held out in the word of God of a
general recovery of the church. As a
public profession on earth its career is to end, as we have seen, in apostasy. No doubt where hearts are loyal to Christ,
and the departure and declension of the church are seen, there will he efforts
to bring back what is according to Gods mind, but such efforts will have but
small success. The tide of evil will be found too strong, and the conviction
will be forced upon those who feel it that the path of faith must be in selling themselves right. In proportion
as we walk with God, and have a spiritual judgment of things, we shall be
sorrowful to see the worldliness and corruption that are coming in like a
flood. We shall sigh and cry for all the abominations
that be done. We shall humble ourselves before God as being involved in
the common shame of the great dishonour done to the Lords name. We shall be
ready, like Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel in their day, to confess the sin of our
people, and to judge ourselves as having contributed to the weakness and
worldliness of the church by our want of devotedness and fidelity. I do not
believe that any Christian will he found in the path of faith at the present
day if he is not humbled and sorrowful as he sees the departure from the truth
which is so manifest to every spiritual eye.
HUMILIATION, SELF-JUDGMENT, AND CONFESSION
will surely characterise each one who
is truly learning the will of God in these evil days. Such a one will be of a
contrite spirit, and will tremble at the word of God, Isaiah
66: 2. He will be of like character
to those of whom it is said: I will also leave in the midst of thee an
afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust
in the name of the Lord, Zephaniah 3: 11, 12. While
the great religious bodies are boasting of their position and progress with
Laodicean self-complacency, spiritually minded believers are humbled and
distressed by seeing that the advances are being made at the expense of
fidelity to Christ and the truth.
If you cleave to the word of God and reject as error what is
opposed to its teaching, you may be called a narrow-minded bigot. If you are uncompromisingly
loyal to Christ you may be spoken of as peculiar and fanatical. If you begin to
judge things by the word of God you are accused of thinking nobody is right but
yourself, and all this may be said by those who take the place of being
Christians, and are foremost in what are considered to be christian activities.
Every faithful Christian finds himself in
a position of isolation which is in proportion to the measure of his fidelity
to Christ. He is shunned by the carnal and the worldly, and his absence from
their society is hailed as a relief. The
more faithful a man is to Christ, the more isolated will he be from his
surroundings in the professing church to-day.
There is however a direct word in Scripture for the guidance
of every true Christian in such days as these, a word which I trust the Holy
Spirit will lay upon the consciences of many who read this pamphlet. Here it
is. Nevertheless
the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth
the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. But in
a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth;
and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the
masters use, and prepared unto every good work. Flee also youthful lusts: but
follow righteousness, faith, love, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart, 2
Timothy 2: 19-22.
Blessed be God! there is a foundation the security and
stability of which nothing can impair. The professing church may drift into
open apostasy, error may be rampant, worldliness may come in like a flood, but
in spite of all, and in the midst of all, a sure foundation remains. What a
relief for a Christians heart to apprehend this! What a resting-place for the
soul amid the sea of unrest which rolls around us to-day! It may seem as if all
the old landmarks were being rapidly removed, yet an immovable foundation may
be found, and happy will be my readers portion if he is led to that foundation
and takes his stand upon it.
Two things characterise the FOUNDATION OF GOD, one of which is brought before us in the words, The Lord
knoweth them that are his. SOVEREIGN GRACE has secured its objects, and will secure
them to the end, in spite of all the evil and departure from truth. They may be
- and, alas! often are - hidden to human eyes, but the Lord knows them. Though
He can no longer own as His the great profession which bears His name only to
dishonour it, in the midst of it all He knows the chosen, called, and justified
ones. We may not be able to discriminate
between the wheat and the tares, or between the wise and foolish virgins. We may be deceived by the empty and
Christless, professor, or we may
misjudge the truly converted soul, but the Lord makes no mistake. GRACE has chosen her objects, and secured them, and keeps them in spite of men or devils, and the Lord
knoweth them that are his. I earnestly hope that my reader has the divine assurance on
the authority of the word of God, that his sins are forgiven, that he is
justified by faith, has peace with God, and has received the Holy Spirit.
But the FOUNDATION
OF GOD has
another seal - sometimes overlooked by those who rejoice in the first. Let every one
that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. It cannot be said that anyone is on
the foundation of God unless he is acting upon this solemn injunction. No one can
calmly and steadfastly stand for God in an evil day like this except as he acts
on this principle. To remain in association with iniquity is to nullify all our
power to testify against it, and those who do so in hope that they may be able
to do something to stem the current of evil, only vex themselves and prove
their own weakness; and in the end they either become soured in spirit by
continual contentions or for peace sake they tolerate and acquiesce in the
evil. In a day like this the only divine
path is one of unhesitating obedience to the word of God. Human reason and
natural feeling may suggest innumerable arguments to defer obedience to a word
like this. Another course may seem better calculated to attain the end in view.
But human expediency and policy are unknown things in the region of faith.
Faiths inquiry is, What saith the
Scripture? What saith the Lord? Faith hears His voice only to obey it.
Now, can my reader look this scripture honestly in the face: Let every one
that nameth the Lord depart from iniquity?
To be continued
* *
* *
* * *
419
MIRACLES AT THE END
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
Have we
pondered the critically significant fact that the first recorded prayer of the
Church was a prayer for miracle? That SIGNS AND WONDERS may be
done through the name of Thy holy Servant Jesus (Acts 4:
30). A heart right and sound in its attitude
towards miracle is of grave importance.
1. THE
RETURN OF MIRACLE SEEMS PROBABLE BEFORE
THE RAPTURE OF THE
WATCHFUL SAINTS.
Its return after the Rapture is certain: Mark 13: 11; Rev. 11: 5, 6. But (1) it appears that it is by the Latter
Rain that the Harvest, or at least the Firstfruits, shall be quickened into
maturity. Behold the husbandman [God: John 15: 1] waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, being
patient over it, until it receive the early and the latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts; for the
coming of the Lord is at hand (Jas.
5: 7).
Thus (2) the Rain, no less miraculous
than the Early, would seem to fall before the Great Tribulation sets in. And it shall
be in the last days, saith God, I will pour forth
of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and
your daughters shall prophesy, ... before the day of the Lord come (Acts 2:
17, 20).
Each dispensation has closed in God counterworking Satan with swift and
appalling power: so (3) this also is
foretold, in a church (1 Tim. 3: 15) epistle,
concerning the closing years of the Church. In the last days grievous times shall come. For
... like as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses [that is, miraculously: Ex. 7: 11], so do these also withstand the truth. ... But they
shall proceed no further: for their folly shall
be evident unto all men, as theirs Jannes and
Jambres) also
came to be - that is, by the counter-working of mightier
miracle (2 Tim. 3: 1, 8; Ex. 7: 12; 9: 11). Our latent title to miracle (Mark 16: 17, 18; 1 Cor. 12: 4-11; Gal. 3: 1-14) may
become operative at any moment.
2. NOR MUST OUR FAITH BE
STAGGERED
BY THE ABUNDANCE OF
SATANIC COUNTERFEIT.
Demonic miracles, singularly powerful, and singularly
seductive, are to crowd the closing days. In the last days grievous times shall come. For
... evil men and seducers [by magic: so Liddell and Scott] shall wax worse
and worse (2 Tim. 3: 13): for there shall arise false Christs,
and false prophets, and
shall show great signs and wonders; so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect (Matt. 24: 24): and Antichrists presence is to be with all power
and signs and wonders of
falsehood, and all deceit (2 Thess. 2: 9). But
forged coins are counterfeits of real. Beware of the inevitable stratagem of Satan to create in the
mind of the Church loathing for all miracle by swamping, at its outset, the real with the counterfeit. This is an acute
peril of the Church today.
3. FOR GODS WORD ABIDES
FOR EVER
AN INFALLIBLE TOUCHSTONE
OF DISCRIMINATION.
The test for a communicating spirit is a direct question, Did Jesus Christ come [i.e., before and after
His resurrection out of dead ones (see Acts 4: 2, Gk.)] in the flesh? (1 John 4: 1-3): the test
to put to an inspired man, while energised by the supernatural
power, is that he can, or cannot, say, Jesus anathema, or, Jesus is Lord (1 Cor. 12: 1-3). Other
tests are found in Matt. 7: 15-20; Gal. 1: 8; and 2 John 7. These tests assume the likelihood of an outburst, at any moment, of Satanic or Divine inspiration; and
the failure to apply them in all modern supernatural manifestations must be
fraught with heavy disaster. Quench not the Spirit; despise not prophesying; PROVE
ALL THINGS; hold fast that which is good;
abstain from every form of evil (1 Thess. 5: 20). God forbid that the approaching transference
of miracle from the Church to Israel should beget in us the blindness wrought
of old by the transference of miracle from Israel to the Church. Beware
therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken in the prophets; Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish;
for I work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, if
one declare it unto you (Acts 13: 40).
Pray for the anointed vision (Rev. 3: 18).
4. FOR A GREAT CRISIS IS
AT HAND.
The World draws on to an Armageddon of hostile miraculous
powers: shall any Christian soldier now skulk in his tent, merely eating his
rations, in the thunder of battle? Hear the solemn word: Curse ye
Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord,
to the help of the Lord against the mighty (Jud, 5: 23), Matt. 25: 26-30. For Gods commands abide unrecalled. Desire earnestly to
prophesy, and forbid not to speak with
tongues: desire earnestly the greater [among the miraculous] gifts (1 Cor.
12: 31; 14: 39). We
loathe and dread Satanic miracle: but that a child of God should disregard, or
distrust, or actually denounce the descent of his Fathers Spirit upon him in
supernatural power is as painful as it is astounding. Loved assembly of God, strike out for the highest and the best (Num. 11: 29; 1 Cor. 14: 5). Gods gifts are priceless. Therefore let us seek a frank, open mind; a sensitively alert and lowly heart; an unshaken trust in God and a light hold on earthly things, which
Christ may summon us to abandon at any
moment. Yet the Holy Spirit shows us a still more excellent way. If the
gifts of miracle are the Alps of the Church, grace and love are her
* *
* * *
* *
420
CHRISTLESS CHRISTIANITY
By J. F. ROWLANDS
One of the
many unmistakable signs that we are living in the closing days of this
dispensation of Grace and that the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is
now imminent, is the rapid spread of many false religions and doctrines
throughout the world. This state of affairs was clearly foretold by the Lord
Jesus Christ in Matthew 24: 11, when He said: Many false prophets shall rise,
and shall deceive many. It is very sad to say, but the time
has come which was spoken of by the Apostle Paul in 2
Tim. 4: 3,
4:- When they will not endure sound doctrine; but
after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they
shall turn away their ears from the truth, and
shall be turned unto fables. We are now living in the days of fabulous beliefs! Many
hearts have been bewitched by evil and have been warped into error (Gal. 3: 1). It is very important for the individual [regenerate] Christian to be on the
alert against a satanic invasion into fundamental beliefs. It is wise for us to remind
ourselves that not all who mention Christs name are [faithful
and] true. In Matt.
7: 21-23, Jesus says Himself: Not everyone
that saith, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
Kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the
will of my Father which is in Heaven. Many will
say unto Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy Name, and in Thy Name have cast out devils, and in Thy Name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart
from Me, ye
that work iniquity. We are living in a sign-seeking generation and Satan has his own agents
preaching in Christs Name, casting out devils in Christs Name and doing many
wonderful works in Christs Name: fifth-columnists practising Iscariotism within the
[* That
is, by their truthfulness and good
works after conversion.]
Once again we must remember that not all who prophesy about
Christ are true. An instance of this is clearly given in Acts 16: 16-18, when a certain damsel prophesied about Paul
and Silas being servants of God. Paul knew that, despite the correctness of her
predictions, she was possessed with an evil spirit and immediately rebuked the
devil from her in these words: I command thee in the Name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.
There are many - [even amongst them
regenerate Christian] - people who are specialists in twisting
the Scriptures and tearing verses away from their contexts; conveniently leaving out a little
here and adding a little there. In this connection we must remember that not
all who quote Scriptures are true.
In Matt. 4: 1-11 we see the devil himself quoting Scripture
after Scripture to the Lord Jesus, and many instruments of that same devil are
busying themselves today quoting and misquoting miscellaneous odd Scriptures artfully wrenched away from their original
setting, in an endeavour to bolster up
some erroneous belief in God. Dont believe everybody who comes to your
front door selling books and talking about God.
The Scripture clearly bids us avoid such people and to have
no company with them, that they may be ashamed (2 Thess. 3: 14). Any
believer who hobnobs with the likes of these people is acting contrary to the
instructions of the Word of God and is a stumbling block to the progress of
true Christianity.
Isms and splits usually started by
disciplined undesirables and 1 /or expelled cranks. The most extraordinary and
fantastic religions spring up overnight. Fanatics break away from Apostolic
Truth having mistaken wildfire for the true Holy Ghost Fire.
No time must be lost, we must earnestly contend for the
Apostolic Faith that was once delivered unto the saints (Jude 3). This precious faith should be the
possession of every believer. Everything should be sacrificed to obtain it.
There is no message in all the world so beautiful as the true Christian message!
The Christian Faith alone leads to God, and Jesus Christ alone is able to
forgive sin (John 14: 6 and Acts 4: 12).
In these days of turmoil and strife there is a great stir
amongst the peoples to return to God, and in unprecedented numbers men and
women are seeking Christ. Thousands of these seekers will never find Him
because of the Christless Christianity being preached from many a pulpit.
Christianity without a Living Christ is an empty shell. A Christian without a
born-again experience is a white-washed sinner. A religion that denies the
Divinity of Christ, the Virgin Birth, Salvation through the Blood and the
glorious [out-] Resurrection [from the dead], is a false religion.
- The
Good Samaritan, 44, Nallana Mudoly St., Royapettah,
* *
* * *
* *
421
A WARNING AND AN APPEAL
To all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity
[Continued from 418 ]
By C. A. Coates.
I do not
wish to lead anyone to take a single step beyond the measure of light and faith
which the Lord has given him, but I ask, Are you going on with anything which
in your faith and conscience you know to he contrary to the mind of the Lord?
If God has given you light by His word and Spirit, it is a serious thing to
trifle with it. Every ray of divine light which we receive is given to us that
it may, first of all, be applied in self‑judgment so
that we ourselves are delivered by
the truth and by the [Holy] Spirits power from motives and principles which are not according to God;
and, secondly, to enable us to judge of our associations and surroundings from a divine
standpoint.
Many Christians are sick at heart as they see the spread of
ritualism, the encroachments of worldliness, and the bold advance of infidelity
under a religious guise. The iniquity is clearly seen; its character is known; it is
sorrowed over; but it is gone on with. The sharp edge of the scripture we are considering is
not allowed to sever the link of association with that which is evil. Is it any
wonder that the [Holy] Spirit is grieved, that piety declines, and souls make no spiritual
progress? It is impossible for one to expect increase of light or blessing from
the Lord so long as this plain word is disregarded. Many have said to me, I do not know what to do. Well, here is a plain word
of direction. You cannot say that it is obscure or unintelligible. It does not
require much learning, wisdom, or research to understand it. It only requires the obedience of a heart subject to the
Lord. Let EVERY ONE that
nameth the name of the Lord DEPART FROM
INIQUITY.
Further, the Holy Spirit uses the figure of a great house to represent the condition of the
professing church in the evil days of which He speaks and in the midst of which
we are now living, and He says that some vessels therein are to honour and
some to dishonour. Then follows another solemn and searching word for the conscience of
everyone who seeks to be faithful unto the Lord. If a man therefore purge
himself from these - vessels to dishonour - he
shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified,
and meet for the masters use, and prepared unto every good work.
It has often been remarked that the word here translated purge only occurs twice in the New Testament - in 1 Corinthians 5: 7,
and in the scripture before us. At
A man who holds, teaches, and maintains what is contrary to
the word of God is a vessel to dishonour. Charity and liberality have no place when the truth of
God is in question. We must not excuse error on the
ground of the sincerity of the one who holds it. Truth is of God, and whatever
is contrary to it is of the father of lies. If you remain in association with
those who pervert or deny the truth, you lend your sanction to what they teach
or hold, and you fail to be a witness to the truth. You cannot do this without
an immeasurable loss to your own soul, as well as dishonour to the Lord.
Moreover, your continued association with vessels to dishonour indicates that
the Lords claims and the truth of God have but little hold upon your
conscience and heart.
You may say that if this were acted upon it would lead to many
professedly christian congregations being forsaken by all true Christians. I
believe it would, and such testimony would have its own solemn and weighty
effect. Whereas if Christians remain and
countenance by their presence worldliness, ritualism, infidelity, or
Unitarianism, they are helping to deceive the unsaved around them by leading
them to suppose that such things are all right. That which is contrary to the
truth, whether it be in practice or in doctrine, must be dishonouring to the
Lord, and those who maintain such things are without doubt vessels to dishonour. The scripture leaves no doubt as to
the course which a faithful one should pursue in reference to such persons. If a man
purge himself from these, he shall be
a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the masters use. Do you not covet the honour from God
of which these words speak?
Flee also youthful lusts is the next solemn injunction of the
Holy Spirit in this connection, and never was the word more seasonable than it
is to-day. Does it not seem in some quarters as if the gratification of these
lusts was a part of Christianity, or at least might be made subservient to
spiritual ends? What is the object of all the concerts, entertainments, and
worldly amusements - which are so often organised in connection with
professedly christian bodies - but the direct gratification of youthful
lusts? What is
ritualism with its imposing ceremonial but an appeal to the lust of the eye?
and everybody knows how attractive it has proved, especially to the young. The
thirst for something new is another lust which generally burns ardently in
youthful bosoms, and to gratify this longing for novelty the old anchorages of
faith and conscience are left, and all kinds of speculations and theories are
substituted for the solid verities of the word of God. I believe that all such
things are included under the head of youthful lusts, as well as those darker passions
which have so often played havoc with spiritual life.
Thus far we have been occupied with the negative side of the
path of faith; the faithful one must depart from iniquity, he must purge himself
from vessels to
dishonour, and he must flee youthful lusts. But there is positive occupation of heart for him
likewise, and that, too, in association with those whom the Lord approves.
Follow righteousness, faith, love, peace, with them that call on
the Lord out of a pure heart. RIGHTEOUSNESS is
to the will of God and to seek His glory.
FAITH is that divine principle by which we are able to walk with God and to
please Him, even if we have no human support whatever. LOVE in God is
the sovereign source of all blessing - an eternal spring which never fails
whatever state the church may he reduced to; and LOVE in us is the divine nature in virtue
of which we can, by the Spirit, walk in love as imitators of God whatever may
be the state of things around us. PEACE is that holy calm which can only be
known when our own wills are judged and displaced, and our hearts seek only the
will of God. What precious objects of pursuit for the Christian! Righteousness, giving God His right place in everything; Faith, maintaining us as dependent
ones in the paths of righteousness; Love, the
spring of everything, so that obedience flows out of divine affections, and is
not a mere cold sense of duty; and Peace keeping
our hearts and ruling there in spite of every storm around! Take courage, then,
beloved Christians! These are the things which the Lord sets before you and
which He would have your heart to pursue. No amount of evil, and no development
of the ripening apostasy, can hinder you from following righteousness,
faith, love, peace, if your heart desires to go after them. The Lord would not have
you to dwell upon the evil, but to judge it and forsake it that you may follow
and cleave to that which is good and of Himself. This must be your individual
path whatever others say or do. If you
could not find another to walk with you or to approve of your course, it would
still be your privilege and your responsibility to follow
righteousness, faith, love, peace.
The scripture we are looking at does not lead us to suppose
that we shall be isolated from all Christians, for it tells us to follow with
them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Does not this indicate that in the
darkest days and in the most perilous times there will still be not only
faithful individuals,
but a company with whom we may
be associated in a bond of divine fellowship? It is a pledge to us from the
Lord that if we are, through His grace, exercised in heart and seeking to do
His will, we shall find others in whom the same grace is working. We may not
know them - they may not be very prominent - but it should become our business
to seek them out. If the Holy Spirit has led you into the knowledge of the
truth in any measure, you will be able to recognise His leading and teaching in
others. There are some trying to find the right company of Christians with whom
to be associated who need, in the first place, to get into the presence of God
about their own spiritual condition, and if they got personally right with the
Lord three-fourths of their difficulties would be solved at once.
It is often urged, even by those who admit the excellence of
divine principles, that it is a practical impossibility to carry them out in
these days; but this is a solemn thing to say. If this be admitted as true, the
Christian is no longer to be under the authority of the Lord, of to obey the
word of God. On the contrary, when he reads plain words such as we have been
looking at in 2 Timothy, he is, after all,
to use his own judgment as to whether he will obey them or not. If obedience
does not suit his inclination, or the spirit of the times, he may disobey, and
excuse himself on the ground that it is a practical impossibility to act upon
the will of the Lord! To state such an argument in plain words is sufficient to
refute it for every heart that loves to hear and obey the voice of the Lord.
Imprisonment, torture, and death were not sufficient to turn aside the noble
army of martyrs from the path of subjection and obedience. They might often
have saved their lives by the surrender of fidelity in what might be called
things of minor importance. Alas! in our easy times the displeasure of
relatives or friends, the loss of business or occupation, the reluctance to
break away from old associations, often have a power to hinder fidelity to
Christ greater than that of the dungeon or the stake in their days.
I am also aware that it will he said that those who have
attempted to act upon divine principles have failed quite as much as others.
What does the failure prove? Nothing but the simple fact that divine principles
can only be carried out in divine power, and if Gods people are not really walking by faith and in the Spirit,
the more scriptural the principles on which they profess to act, the more
inconsistent will they he in carrying them out. But a devoted heart would never
make the failure of others an excuse for disobedience. If we really loved the
Lord. the more we saw others fail to carry out His mind, the more we should
seek, through grace, to carry it out ourselves. The one all-important
consideration is that the grace which is in Christ Jesus is a sufficient resource for the most
difficult days. Let us not forget that we are commended to GOD and the word of his
grace, Acts 20: 32. Surely no Christian would venture to say that GOD is not able to
maintain us in the path of obedience to His word! It is well, on the other
hand, to remember that we can only walk in this path as we are maintained by
divine grace and power.
The sectarian divisions of the church are often excused or
justified on the ground that all Christians can never be made to see alike, and
divisions amongst those who have professed to take an unsectarian position are
pointed to as proof positive of the assertion. But the important question is,
not how we or our brethren see things, but how does the Lord see them? If there are a thousand different judgments amongst His saints, and
they are divided in a thousand different companies, it is still true that the
Lord has not two different judgments about the same thing, and those who are
near enough to Him to have His mind will undoubtedly
be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same
judgment, 1 Corinthians 1: 10.
Everything thus becomes a test of our spiritual condition, for if we are not
going on with the Lord in humility and self-judgment how can we expect to know
His mind? It was said to the Corinthians, There must be also sects among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you, 1
Corinthians 11: 19. A division
amongst saints is the proof that some of them, at least, have failed to discern
the mind of the Lord as to the matter in question. Outwardly the one company
may retain as correct a form as the other, but their whole position is founded
upon the fact that in certain things they have not known the mind of the Lord;
that is, they have acted upon their own mind and judgment instead of His. Who
would say that in a company professing to call on the Lord out of a pure heart, it was a matter of no consequence
whether they had His mind or not on any subject that caused difficulty or
division? It is impossible for any spiritual person to suppose that a company
is gathered to the Lords name, if that company owes its existence to the fact
that the individuals who compose it have failed to discern His mind and
judgment on a matter serious enough to cause division amongst His saints. Such
a company owes its existence to the fact that mans mind and judgment have been
allowed to determine the question, and this is the very thing that has given
rise to the countless sects of Christendom. Such a company is essentially
sectarian - however much it may profess the contrary - and will necessarily he
found defective in the knowledge and maintenance of the truth according to God.
No question should be of greater interest and importance for
those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity than whether it is possible
for us in these last days to be found in a divine position. Something far
removed from the endless diversity of human opinion. Can you believe that the
Lord has so forsaken His own, that it not possible to be found to-day in a
position according to His mind? Through His grace, it is possible to be found
in such a position, and I trust that there may be kindled in christian hearts
an intense desire to be thus found.
Thank God! He will not fall nor forsake those who in loyalty
of heart to Christ desire to be found in the path of faith. Whatever be the
difficulties and complications, they are not too great for divine power and
wisdom; and if they serve to cast us upon God, they are blessings in disguise. To the
upright there ariseth light in darkness. The
meek will he guide in judgment; the meek will he
teach his way.
In conclusion, I appeal to the christian reader not to think
lightly of the privilege which, through the grace of God, lies within his
reach. Be not content to have the knowledge and assurance of [initial]
salvation and christian blessings, but covet
earnestly to be found in the true path of faith. The Lords return is very
nigh. May we be found with our loins girded, our lights burning, and we
ourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord ! Behold,
I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take
thy crown, Revelation 3: 11.
* *
* * *
* *
422
AN EXTRACT OF JOSEPHUSS
DISCOURSE TO
THE GREEKS CONCERNING
HADES
1. Now as to Hades,
wherein the souls of the righteous and
unrighteous are detained,* it is necessary to speak of it. Hades
is a place in [the heart of] the
world not regularly finished; a subterraneous region, wherein the light of this world does not shine; from which
circumstance, that in this region the light does not shine, it cannot be but
there must be in it perpetual darkness. This region is allotted as a
place of custody for souls, in which angels are appointed as guardians to
them, who distribute to them temporary punishments, agreeable to
everyones behaviour and manners.
[* See Matt.
11: 23. cf.
Matt. 16: 18; Acts
2: 34, R.V.]
2. In this region*
there is a certain place set apart, as a lake of unquenchable fire, whereinto we suppose no one hath
hitherto been cast; but it is prepared for a day afore determined by God, in
which one righteous sentence shall deservedly be passed upon all men; when the
unjust and those that have been disobedient to God, and have given honour to
such idols as have been the vain operations of the hands of men, as to God
himself, shall be adjudged to this everlasting punishment, as having been the causes of
defilement; while the just shall obtain an incorruptible and never-fading kingdom. These are now indeed
confined in Hades, but not in the same place wherein the unjust are confined.
[* Surely only after Hades is emptied,
and the present creation replaced by a new
heaven and a new earth (Rev. 21: 1, R.V),
that then death and Hades were cast into the lake of
fire (20: 14,
R.V.). The region being in another place set apart - somewhere other than within
this present groaning creation, (Rom. 8: 22).]
3. For there is
one descent into this region, whose gate we believe there stands an archangel with an host; which gate when those pass through that are
conducted down by the angels appointed over souls, they do not go the same way;
but the just are guided to the right hand, and are led with hymns,
sung by the angel appointed over
that place, unto a region of light, in which the just have dwelt from the beginning of the world; not
constrained by necessity, but ever enjoying the prospect of the good things they
see, and rejoice in the expectation of those new enjoyments, which will be
peculiar to every one of them, and esteeming those things beyond what we have
here; with whom there is no place of toil, no burning heat, no piercing cold,
nor are any briers there; but the countenance of the fathers and of the just, which they see always
smiles upon them, while they wait for that rest and eternal new life in heaven, which is to succeed this region. This place we call The Bosom of Abraham. *
[* See also Luke
16: 22-31,
R.V. cf.
Luke 23: 43,
R.V.]
4. But as to the unjust, they are
dragged by force to the left hand by the angels allotted for punishment, no longer going with a good
will, but as prisoners driven by violence; to whom are sent the angels
appointed over them to reproach them and threaten them with their terrible
looks, and to thrust them still downwards. Now, those angels that are set over
these souls, drag them into the neighbourhood of hell itself; who, when they
are hard by it, continually hear the noise of it, and do not stand clear of the
hot vapour itself; but when they have a nearer view of this spectacle, as of a
terrible and exceeding great prospect of fire, they are struck with fearful
expectation of a future judgment,
and in effect punished thereby: and not only so, but, where they see the place
[or choir] of the fathers and of the
just, even hereby are they punished for a chaos deep and large is fixed between them; insomuch that a just man
that hath compassion upon them cannot be admitted, nor can one that is unjust
if he were bold enough attempt it, pass over it.
5. This is the discourse concerning
Hades, wherein the souls
of all men are confined, when a proper season, which God hath
determined when he will make a resurrection of all men
from the dead, not procuring a transmigration of souls from one
body to another, but raising again those very bodies, which you Greeks, seeing
to be dissolved, do not believe [their resurrection]: but learn not to
disbelieve it; for while you believe that the soul is created, and yet made
immortal by God, according to the doctrine of Plato, and this in time, be not
incredulous; but believe that God is able, when he has raised to life that [presently unredeemed]* body which was made a compound of the
same elements, to make immortal**; for it must never be said of God, that he is
able to do some things, and unable to do others. We have therefore believed
that the body will be raised again; for
although it be dissolved, it is not perished, for the earth receives its
remains, and preserves them, and while they are like seed, and are mixed among the more fruitful soil, they flourish, and
what is sown is indeed sown bare grain; but at the mighty sound of God the
Creator, it will sprout up, and be raised in a clothed and glorious condition, though not before it has
been dissolved, and mixed [with the earth]. So that we have not rashly believed
the resurrection of the body; for although it be dissolved for a time on
account of the original transgression, it exists still, and is cast into the
earth as into a potters furnace, in order to be formed again, not in order to
rise again such as it was before, but in a state of purity, and so as never to
be destroyed any more; and to every body
shall its own soul be restored; and
when it hath clothed itself with
that body, it will not be subject to misery, but, being itself pure, it will
continue with its pure body, and rejoice with it, with which it having walked
righteously now in this world, and never having had it as a snare, it will
receive it again with great gladness: but as for the unjust, they will receive
their bodies not changed, not freed from diseases or distempers, nor made
glorious, but with the same diseases wherein they died, and such as they were in
their unbelief, the same shall they be when they shall be faithfully judged.
[* See
Rom. 8: 23, R.V.: And not only so,
but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
** That
is, our body will be released from the corruption of the
grave and be reunited to our disembodied soul from Hades. It will be an immortal
body of flesh and bones
(Lk. 24: 39, R.V.) -
like the body of our Lord Jesus Christ! See (in Gal.
6: 7) the
warning to the Church, and note the word aionian in the Greek text, should be
translated age-lasting in this context!]
6. For all men,
the just as well as the unjust, shall be brought before God the word; for to him hath the Father committed all judgment; and he in order to fulfil the
will of his Father, shall
come as judge, whom we call Christ. For Minos
and Rhadmanthus are not the judges, as you Greeks do
suppose, but he whom God even the Father hath glorified; concerning whom we have elsewhere given
a more particular account, for the sake of those who seek after truth. This person, exercising the righteous
judgment of the Father towards all men, hath prepared a just sentence
for everyone, according to his works; at whose judgment seat when
all men, and angels, and demons shall stand, they will send forth one voice,
and say, just is thy judgment; the
rejoinder to which will bring a just sentence upon both parties, by giving
justly to those that have done well an everlasting fruition; but allotting to the lovers of wicked
works eternal punishment. To these
belong the unquenchable fire, and
that without end, and a certain fiery worm never dying, and not destroying the body, but
continuing its eruption out of the body with never-ceasing grief; neither will
sleep give ease to these men, nor will the night afford them comfort; death will not free them from their punishment, nor will the
interceding prayers of their kindred profit them; for the just are
no longer seen by them, nor are they thought worthy of remembrance; but the
just shall remember only their righteous actions whereby they have attained the
heavenly kingdom, in which there is no sleep, no sorrow, no corruption,
no care, no night, no day measured by time, no sun driven in his course along
the circle of heaven by necessity; and measuring out the bounds and conversions
of the seasons, for the better illumination of the life of men; no moon
decreasing and increasing, or introducing a variety of seasons, nor will she
then moisten the earth; no burning sun, no Bear turning round [the pole], no
Orion to rise, no wandering of innumerable stars. The earth will not then be
difficult to be passed over, nor will it be hard to find out the court of
Paradise, nor will there be any fearful roaring of the sea, forbidding the
passengers to walk on it: even that will be made easily passable to the just,
though it will not be void of moisture. Heaven will not then be uninhabitable
by men; and it will not be impossible to discover the way of ascending thither.
The earth will not be uncultivated, nor require too much labour of men, but
will bring forth its fruits of its own accord, and will be well adorned with
them. There will be no more generations of wild beasts, nor will the substance
of the rest of the animals shoot out any more, for it will not produce men, but
the number of the righteous will continue, and never fail, together with
righteous angels, and spirits [of God], and with his word, as a choir of
righteous men and women that never grow old and continue in an incorruptible
state, singing hymns to God, who hath advanced them to that happiness, by the
means of a regular institution of life; with whom the whole creation also will
lift up a perpetual hymn from corruption to incorruption as glorified by a splendid and pure
spirit. It will not then be restrained by a bond of necessity, but with a
lively freedom shall offer up a voluntary hymn, and shall praise him that made
them together with the angels, and spirits, and men now freed from all bondage.
7. And now, if you Gentiles will be
persuaded by these motives, and leave your vain imaginations about your
pedigrees, and gaining of riches and philosophy, and will not spend your time
about subtitles of words, and hereby lead your minds into error, and if you will apply your ears to the hearing
of the inspired prophets, the interpreters, both of God and of his word, and
will believe in God, you shall both be partakers of these things, and obtain
the good things that are to come, you shall see the ascent into the immense
heaven plainly, and that kingdom which is there; for what God hath now
concealed in silence [will be then made manifest] what
neither eye hath seen, nor ear hath heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man the things that God
hath prepared for them that love him.
8. In whatsoever ways I shall find
you, in them shall I judge you entirely; so cries
the end of all things. And he who hath at first lived a virtuous life, but
towards the latter end falls into vice, these labours by him before endured,
shall be altogether vain and unprofitable,* even as in a play, brought to an ill
catastrophe. Whosoever shall have lived wickedly and luxuriously may repent;
however, there will be need of much time to conquer an evil habit and even
after repentance his whole life must be guarded with great care and diligence,
after the manner of a body, which, after it hath been a long time afflicted
with a distemper, requires a stricter diet and method of living; for though it
may be possible, perhaps, to break off the chain of our irregular affections at
once, yet our amendment cannot be secured without the grace of God, the prayers
of good men, the help of the brethren, and our own sincere repentance and
constant care. It is a good thing not to sin at all; it is also good, having
sinned, to repent, as it is best to have health always; but it is a good thing
to recover from a distemper. To God be glory and dominion for ever and ever
Amen.
[* See Ezek.
33: 7-20,
R.V. Cf.
Heb. 10: 23-39 and Jas. 1: 18-21, with 1 Pet. 1: 3-11, R.V. ]
* *
* * *
* *
423
THE SPIRITS IN SPIRITUALISM
If the sιance
room is crowded neither with good angels nor with the departed, in whose hands
is this elaborate network of intercourse? So far back as the eighteenth century
Swedenborg, the progenitor of
Spiritualism, warned of the perils of personation. Spiritualists themselves
have not been without suspicion of an agency wholly evil. Sir A. Wallace writes:- When the
influence [on the medium] is violent or
painful, the effects are such as have been in all ages imputed to possession by
evil spirits.a Of the votaries
of Spiritualism there are few who have not at some
time felt impelled to leave it alone and have nothing more to do with it.
b There are
more plausible reasons than many imagine, once wrote Mr. Owen, for
the opinion entertained by some able men, Protestants as well as Catholics,
that the communications in question come from the powers of Darkness, and that
we are entering on the first steps of a career of demoniac manifestations, the
issues whereof men cannot conjecture. c Finally, we are either of God or of the devil,
say
the spirits themselves. d Darkness is
helpful to most manifestations - these then are spirits of darkness (Eph. 6: 12); lies abound - they are lying spirits (1 Kings 22: 22);
they possess men, as in the
time of our Lord (Matt. 12: 43, 45); they lead away from faith in Jesus, and are
thus seducers (1 Tim. 4:
1). All these are characteristics of demons.
This, I admit, is an inference of appalling gravity. It led Mr. Gladstone, who became profoundly
convinced of its Satanic origin, to pronounce it far
the most important work being done on the planet today. But further
considerations support it forcibly. The tests given of God (1 John 4: 2, 3; 1 Cor. 12: 3), when applied, reveal evil spirits. e Amid much that is vague and trivial,
the underlying motive of the communications reveals an organised design. Mr. Moses writes:- Ever since I became intimately acquainted with the subject,
I have been deeply impressed with some serious questions respecting it. One is,
that there is an organised plan on the part of spirits who govern these
manifestations - of which all that we can get is but a fragmentary view - to
act on us, and on the religious thought of the age. Another is, that as soon as
we escape from the very external surroundings of the subject, we are brought in
some way into relation with this plan, or some phase of it.f It
is a movement directed by the hands of active, cautious and militant
intelligence. Spirits, good and bad alike, are
subject to the rule of commanding intelligences. g Why the dead should be thus drilled
and aggressive is not obvious. If demonic, the habitual deception in mediums,
so puzzling to the investigator, is explicable; for the medium, handled in an
unclean grasp, becomes at once dupe and knave. h Spiritualism, born in ill odour, has never been able to free
itself from charlatanry and fraud: nevertheless, it is certain that it embodies
an enormous movement launched from the unseen, charged with incalculable
consequences to the human race, and using the ablest men as mere puppets. My activities in Spiritualism, says Sir Conan Doyle - himself a
Spiritualist, a born detective and the creator of Sherlock Holmes - have passed beyond my control; I may head a movement,
but there is something ahead which is leading me. Isolated efforts at
intercourse culminated appropriately in our modern organised and predicted (1 Tim. 4: 1) sorcery. The rapping demon of Wesley; the
utterances of Camisards and Shakers; the violent outbursts of demonism at Morzine:- such were only foreshadowings of the quieter, far
more extensive, more intelligent approach that has shaped itself into
Spiritualism and Theosophy - an approach quiet with the stillness of death, and
white with the pallor of spiritual leprosy. An experienced Spiritualist
possessed of a wide acquaintance with his sect, says:- For a long time I was swallowed up in its whirlpool of excitement, and
comparatively paid but little attention to its evils, believing that much good
might result from the openings up of the avenues of spiritual intercourse. But
during the past eight months 1 have devoted my attention to a critical
investigation of its moral, social, and religious bearings, and 1 stand
appalled before the revelations of its awful and damning realities, and would
flee from its influence as I would from the miasma which would destroy both
soul and body. i Eminent doctors add their warning. Three of my friends, says Dr. Beattie Crozier, men of eminence who really believe in Spiritualism, have
told me they have forbidden the very name of it in their homes, as if it were a
thing accursed; because by the black magic which is always a part of it, it
so often leads to insanity and death. Science has no more right to transgress
the laws of God than Adam had to discover, experimentally, the exact qualities
lodged in the Forbidden Tree, and so to learn that Gods prohibition was wise;
knowledge which destroys the investigator, temporarily or eternally, it is
wickedness to acquire. No gain to science, Professor Barrett acknowledges, would ever justify experiment heedless of a risk so great;
and he acknowledges that the prohibition of all
psychical inquiry by the Jewish prophets was most
wise and rational : nevertheless, he stultifies himself with the
conclusion that the perils which beset the ancient
world in the pursuit of psychical knowledge do not apply to scientific investigation today. j
a Mir. And Mod. Sp., p. 202.
b M. and Dr. Theobald,
address before L.S.A., November, 1888.
c Footfalls on the
Boundary of Another World, p. 18. It seems not improbable,
says Professor Barrett (On the Threshold of
the Unseen, p. 113), that many of
the physical manifestations witnessed in a Spiritualistic sιance are the
product of human-like, but not really human intelligences - good or bad daimonia they
may be, elementals some have
called them, which aggregate round the medium.
d Sp. Teach., p. 136.
e I have been present when a spirit has solemnly denied our
Lords appearance in the flesh. 1 John 4 : 2, 3, is to
be applied to the spirit; 1 Cor 12: 3, to the prophet, or inspired person, while demonstrably speaking in the power. I have never beard of a right answer being
given by the Spiritualistic utterance when thus put to proof. See Tests for the Supernatural (Thynne).
f Spirit Identity, p. 30. t Sp. Teach., p. 14.
g Dr.
h Dr. B. F. Hatch, quoted by Miles Grant (Spiritualism Unveiled, p. 38). In a more
alluring, and widely influential, communication (Spirit
Teachings), all turns, as Mr. Moses recognised, upon the identity of his
familiars; and, after continued endeavour to ascertain it, he admits his
complete failure. Admitting that they dominated his mind with a kind of
hypnotic sway (pp. 72, 80, 244), and
were at pains to root from it all distinctly Christian precepts (pp. 101, 198), he is yet satisfied to say, in
confessing that he was ignorant who or whence were his new teachers, I did not then know, as I do now, that the evidence of
conviction is what alone is to be had (p. 92). They betrayed their origin by denial of our Lords return in
person (p. 151; 2
John 7). You will
see, they said that we have preached
to you a nobler gospel revealing a diviner God than you had previously
conceived (p. 207); nor does
Mr. Moses seem to have recalled the words of Paul - But
though we, or an
angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we
preached unto you, let him be anathema (Gal.
1: 8). Beings whom he does not trust for a
moment concerning their own identity or character, the Spiritualist trusts
without hesitation when they tell him that God is a myth and Christ an
impostor.
i On the Threshold of the Unseen, pp. 32, 261.
If we are to trust constant and unvarying reports from witnesses,
competent and the reverse, from palace and hut, alike in centres of culture and
haunts of barbarism, an active, independent consciousness guides the
manifestations; sometimes welcome and sought after, at others disliked and
mistrusted, or even exorcised. The body of teaching put forth, wholly
independent as it is of the religious environment in which the medium has been
educated, not only confirms this, but points to a unity of underlying thought
amid much diversity of detail. It seems, says
Professor James, exactly as if one author composed
more than half of the trance messages, no matter by whom they were uttered.
j On minor points there is infinite contradiction; and this alone is sufficient
to disprove that the source of the inspiration is Divine. But on such matters -
vital in the light of Christianity - as death, resurrection, the future state,
the incarnation and atonement, inspiration of Scripture, the personality of the
Holy Ghost and of Satan, and the accessibility of God, the pronouncement is
unanimous. k We
need not enlarge upon these; l to prove both the extraneous source
of the mediums utterance, and the antagonism of Spiritualism to the faith of
Jesus, it is sufficient to show that into the very fibre of spiritistic
teaching enters some single doctrine universally enunciated, and irreconcilable
with our Faith. In trance utterances on death and resurrection we obtain
this dual proof. In strictness, there is no death.
l The spirit is the man, the body is a
clog, a prison, a garment to be cast away. Man is a spirit, temporarily enshrined in a body of flesh. m At death the spirit quits the body for ever. n Death, therefore, is the gateway of
life. o
Hence death is resurrection; or, since it is the
casting off of the perishable part of man, and the severance is final, there is no resurrection. The humanity is
dead, and the spirit alone survives. The soul thus liberated roams the air at
large, and starts on the first rounds of an endless progression. Even the worst are surely if slowly progressing. p This doctrine is universal among
Spiritualists. Throughout the manifestations - in
every form and in every language - whatever the discrepancies, uncertainties,
and contradictions on other topics, on this of the nature of mans future
existence, all coincide and harmonize. q
j On the Threshold of the
Unseen, pp. 32,
261.
k Principles of Psychology, vol. 1, p. 394.
l Dr. A. C. Dixon says:- Do you
believe in the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation? Do you
believe that the atoning blood removes the guilt of sin from the sin-stained
soul? Ask the medium that. I
have been asking that question all over the world for forty years: if there is
any Spiritualist under the stars who believes that the blood of Jesus Christ
cleanses from all sin, and if I can find one who does, I am willing to
apologise for all that I have said. I have never met one yet. And here is the answer of Sir A. Conan Doyle:- The whole doctrine of original sin, the Fall, the vicarious
Atonement, the placation of the Almighty by blood - all this is abhorrent to
me. The
spirit-guides do not insist upon these aspects of religion.
m It is
in strict accord with Pauls prophecy (1 Tim.
4: 1-3) that flesh and wine are widely prohibited,
especially for aspirants to mediumship; as also among sects founded on alleged
intercourse with spirits, as Shakers, Mormons, American perfectionists, Theosophists,
Mohammedans, and Buddhists. Marriage also is frequently superseded either by
celibacy or by free love. For these are seducing spirits. Of evil spirits other than
human, says Mr. Mvers (Human Personality,vol. 2 : p. 203), there is no news whatever. Masked burglars do not
lay their visiting-cards on the table.
n Owen, Deb. Land., p. 123; S. C. Hall, Wise of Sp., p. 86.
o Moses, Higher Aspects,
p. 83; Sp.
Teach., pp. 77, 154, 245; Kardec, Heaven and Hell, p. 126.
p Wallace, Mir. And Mod. Sp., p. 101; Sp. Teach.,
p. 249.
q
* *
* * *
* *
424
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST
By D. M. PANTON
The
belief of one fact is vital for salvation. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth
Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in
thy heart - the core of your being - that God raised him from the dead, THOU SHALT BE SAVED (
The [select] Resurrection Foretold
Twelve times our Lord foretold His own death; and on eleven out
of these twelve occasions He foretold His resurrection also; that is, He almost
never spoke of His death without also saying that He would rise from the dead.
And His enemies witnessed to His saying it:- That deceiver said, After three days, I will rise
again (Matt. 27: 68); and the Angel who rolled away the stone from
the grave said it, - He is risen, even as he said (Matt. 28:
6). And Jesus foretold - what no one has
ever foretold in the history of mankind - exactly how long He would be dead. As Jonah was
three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Matt.
12: 40).
A Blocked Tomb
Now let us follow the counsel of the Angel who said,- Come, see the place where the Lord lay (Matt.
28: 6).
And first we observe no stone blocking the grave. Cometh Mary
Magdalene unto the tomb, and seeth the stone
taken away from the tomb (John 20:
1). His enemies determined to make resurrection
impossible, and so blocked the grave with a stone that only an angel could
move:- Joseph rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb (Matt. 27: 60); and so the women disciples cried, - Who shall
roll us away the stone from the door of the tomb? (Mark 16:
3). But even more remarkable: the stone was
secured in place by an official seal; and an armed guard was stationed before
the tomb - a Jewish guard, which, if
it allowed a prisoner to escape, was executed (Acts
12: 19). Pilate said unto them - the Pharisees - Ye have a guard; go your way, make
it as sure as ye can (Matt. 27:
65).
An Absent Body
When John entered the tomb, he saw, and BELIEVED; for he seeth the linen clothes lying.
The sole occupant of the tomb are the left clothes of the dead. If the body
had been stolen - as the Pharisees afterwards said - the clothes would never
have been left; and if either the Jews or the Romans had stolen it, they would
have produced the corpse since, and so have destroyed the Christian Faith at
one blow; or, equally effectively, have destroyed the corpse. Or if the
disciples had taken away and destroyed the body, how could such Apostles as
Peter and John have lived such holy lives while publishing a conscious lie for
the rest of their lives?*
[* For God always honours those, (in this
life and during the age yet to come), those
who honour Him: (Col. 3: 23, 24. Cf. Rev.
3: 21,
R.V.)]
Unbelief
It is most remarkable how the evidences of the resurrection
were such that our Lords enemies, having heard the facts, took elaborate pains
to explain them away. The Angel who rolled away the stone had been seen doing it by
the military guard. An angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone. His appearance was as lightning, and his raiment white as snow; and for fear of him the watchers did quake, and became as dead men (Matt. 28: 2). The guard
then returned to the authorities, and reported the facts. And they gave large money unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye, his disciples came by night, and
stole him away while we slept. So they took the
money, and did as they were taught (ver. 12).
The Risen Body Proved
Next, we find that our Lord took studied care to prove the
facts to His disciples; for the disciples - not having understood our Lords
own prophecies - could be convinced of the resurrection only by overwhelming
facts, seen and felt by themselves. When the women came back from the tomb, she
told
these things unto the apostles; and these words
appeared in their sight as idle talk, and they
disbelieved them
(Luke 24: 10).
But the most sceptical was Thomas. The other disciples said unto Thomas,
We have seen the Lord. But
Thomas said unto them. Except I shall see in
his hands the print of the nails, and put my
finger into the print of the nails, and put my
hand into his side, I will not believe (John 20:
25). At their next meeting the Lord Jesus
appeared: then saith he to Thomas, Reach
hither thy finger, and see my hands, and put it into my side, and
be not faithless but believing. Thomas was instantly overwhelmed by the facts. Thomas
answered, My Lord and my God. It proved that it was the Lord who
had come out of the tomb in the actual body crucified; for - as our Lord adds - a spirit hath
not flesh and bones, as ye behold me having (Luke 24: 39).
So then the mass of the evidence, and the character of it, makes
Christs bodily reappearance one of the best attested facts in all history.
First, we have the evidence of
the soldiers. They actually saw the Angel of the resurrection. An angel of
the Lord descended from heaven, and for fear of him
the watchers did quake, and became as dead men. Secondly, we have the evidence of the disciples. Paul enumerates them:- Christ hath
been raised the third day according to
the scriptures, and appeared to Cephas;
then to the twelve; then
He appeared to five hundred brethren at once, then
he appeared to James; then to all the apostles;
and last of all
he appeared to me also (1 Cor.
15: 4).
Here is a body of evidence unshaken and unshakable. Observe:- the occurrence
was too recent to allow of the growth of myth; the witnesses are men of
cleansed consciences and therefore of truthful lips; the identifiers of our
Lord had been His closest intimates for years, and therefore there could be no
mistaken identity; they were, like Thomas, allowed to handle Him, and so
prove a crucified body; and their evidence is unanimous, harmonious, and
without flaw. Thirdly, we have the evidence of the Angels. They said
unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? * He is not here, but is
risen: remember how He spake unto you that the Son of
man must the third day rise again (Luke 24:
6).
[* Here is scriptural proof of the present existence of Sheol / Gk. Hades -
the underworld of the disembodied souls of all
the dead): who are presently awaiting the time of their respective Resurrections.
See Matt. 3:
13. cf. Luke
16: 23; Acts
2: 31-34,
R.V. with Rev. 20:
13, R.V.).]
Our Lord could not have stated His resurrection more
overwhelmingly than He did in one sentence:- I AM THE RESURRECTION, and the life (John 11:
25).
-------
RESURRECTION
If the Resurrection goes the supernatural goes; if the
Resurrection remains, the door is open for the miraculous. We hear all around
about us today, in all sorts of voices the declaration that all miracle is
impossible. There is one fact that stands on its own appropriate evidence,
evidence which I venture to say is irrefragable; the historical fact of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which
shatters all such contention.
The fact is the key of the position.
Like some great fortress standing at the mouth of the pass to some fertile
country, as long as it holds out the storm of war is rolled back in broken foam
from its firm battlements. If it yields, all is surrendered. Around the alleged
fact of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ turns the whole controversy. More and
more it will be manifest that any theory of the relations between God and man,
which is not able to find a place for the fact of the Resurrection of Jesus
Christ [out] from the dead, is unable to hold the field. All sorts of
preposterous theories to account for the belief in the Resurrection upon
natural grounds spring up, generation after generation, generation after
generation, are swept away into the dust bin of forgotten absurdities, and the
old message stands. Jesus Christ is
risen [out] from the dead.
- Dr. ALEXANDER MAcLAREN.
* * *
* * *
*
425
THE GODHEAD OF JESUS
By D. M. PANTON
PAUL,
confronted with subtle and deadly error, and keenly alive to the fact that it
is life or death to the Christian Faith, bursts into one of the stupendous utterances
of the Bible. For - since they are cutting the live nerve of the Christian Faith, I say - in Him - and nowhere else; in Him, and in no
one else; in the (according to them) fallible, mistaken, blundering Christ- dwelleth - has its fixed abode (Bishop
Lightfoot), never to remove, never to depart - ALL THE FULNESS OF THE GODHEAD; not the grace, or the influences,
but the Godhead itself; and no fragment of Deity, but the whole unbounded, unexcepted essence and attributes of Deity. Therefore
Christ is no partial or approximate or temporary manifestation of God: His
incarnation is not something transient, to be displaced by some later
evolution: Christ is wholly filled with the whole of God for ever. The Pleroma or fulness
of the Godhead may mean the Father, Son, and Spirit - the entire essence of
the Godhead assuming to itself, as a habitation, the flesh of Jesus*; and it must
mean all essentials and attributes of Deity - self-existence, omnipresence,
omnipotence, omniscience, immutability, eternity, infallibility, sovereignty,
perfection. Deduct a single quality of God from Christ, and the pleroma is gone, much more all
the pleroma; and the worship of Him is
idolatry. That all the fulness dwells in Christ excludes
all others from possession of the Godhead: ALL the fulness is IN Him: so out of Him God can never be found: the Pleroma of Deity abides for ever in Christ. It is as though
God said - Look at my Beloved Son; I am just such. When you see Him, you see Me. No other likeness of Me is a true likeness. We are one
for ever. He that hath seen Me, as Jesus says, hath seen the Father (John 14:
9).
* For the whole fulness was
pleased to dwell in Him
(Col. 1: 19) - the pleasure of a Person, or Persons: so the
Holy Spirit took up His permanent abode on Jesus without
measure (John 3: 34); and the Father so dwelt in the Son (John 15: 11)
that Jesus could say that he who had seen the One had seen the Other - bodily.
Hence the title of this article - the Godhead of Jesus.
Fulness of Godhead
But far the most wonderful - and for us far the most vital -
revelation yet remains:- in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead BODILY: not exactly in a body, for Deity is not confined to space; nor as in a body, which might throw doubt on the reality
of our Lords physique; but body-wise, bodily - in the once mortal, but now
glorified, body of Jesus:- so that when we worship Christ, we do not worship a
second God. The fulness of the Godhead was always in the Son, but not until the
Incarnation did it dwell in Him bodily: then
the Godhead assumed a bodily form: it abode, and abides, in the Lords
humanity; neither consuming it, nor deifying it: so that Man is not a mere man, indwelt and sanctified, but God
manifest in flesh. God is in
believers, but they are not God; God is in Christ bodily - so that
every gesture, every action, every word of the Man Jesus, is a gesture, an
action, a word of Deity. Now the consequences on current controversies are
enormous. For if the assumption of manhood involved ignorances and blunders
and collapsed prophecies when our Lord was on earth, it must equally do so now : for as bodily as the Godhead now dwells in
Jesus, so bodily it dwelt in Him then, for God was in the FLESH: therefore,
our Lord now - if to be human necessarily means to blunder - is no more
authoritative in heaven than when He misquoted Jonah, gave wrong authorships to
the Pentateuch and the Psalms, or uttered impossible prophecies. If, because
human, His words were not immune from error and falsehood then, neither are they so now,
since He is as human as He was: He is unreliable for eternity. And we are
all personally involved in the ruin. For in Him - as a consequence of His fulness - ye are made
full: His pleroma in
our plerosis: everything, for us, depends on what
Christ is: for of His fulness we all received, and grace for grace (John 1: 16). He who robs Christ of His glory,
robs me of my [future] salvation;* by just as much as His dignity is lowered, and His fulness
diminished, and His powers impoverished
- by just so much is our foundation loosened, our sanctity sapped, and our
salvation imperilled and lost. If the Saviour is not Divine, the Sacrifice is inadequate and therefore worthless, and
there are in us no throbbings of immortal life. The
fallibility of Jesus is the epitaph of Christianity.
[* Or, He who robs Christ of His [manifested
and millennial (Rev. 2: 26; 3: 21a)] glory, robs be
of my [future (1 Pet.
1: 5,
R.V.] salvation - [and of any hope
of any share in His inheritance (Ps. 2: 8) - during
the powers of the age to come, (Heb. 6: 5, R.V.).]
Godhead
The evidence for the Godhead of our Lord is so colossal, so overwhelming;
it is so subtle, and all-pervading; it is so interlocked and inter-related with
all other revealed truth; it is so absolutely fundamental to everything
Christian that the mind staggers back from the attempt to state it.
Nevertheless, in one chapter of the Bible we move on a shining tableland from
which eternities open before and after, where we behold the Beacon-light of all
the Ages:-
I saw Thee in the eternal years
In glory all alone,
Ere round Thine uncreated fires
Created light had shone.
The Visible God
The first chapter of Hebrews
opens with an enormous statement concerning our Lord:- Who being the
effulgence - the
outburst - of His glory, and the very
image of His substance - the precipitate of Deity - and upholding all things by the word
of His power (Heb. 1: 3). Christ was God manifest long before He was God manifest in the flesh: He appeared
as the Jehovah Angel (for example) millenniums before a little Babe of flesh
and blood lay in the manger. Jesus was always the image of the invisible God (Col.
1: 15) -
that is, from all eternity He imaged forth that in God which is invisible. All
the invisible holiness that is in
God, is also in Christ; all the invisible love
that is in God, is also in Christ; all the invisible power that is in God, is
also in Christ: so here it is Christ who is the nexus between the invisible
power and the visible creation; upholding all things by the word of
His power - by
the dynamic of His utterance; or, as Paul puts it elsewhere, in Him all
things consist (Col. 1:
17) - hold together, cohere. That the sun
rises morning after morning only happens because Jesus is: but for the word of
Christ, which binds creation in cohesive and continuous life, all things would
fly back into their native nothingness: it is the act of creation (one had
almost said) indefinitely prolonged. Operative, visible Deity is displayed to
the creature in the Son alone.
Gods Own Statement
We pass now to a statement too stupendous for conception. Who maketh His
angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of
fire; but of the Son He saith
- for He wishes all
worlds to know the fact - Thy throne, O God,
is for ever and ever: that is, the Son is God, not by
appointment, or by achievement, but by nature; not a created god, nor a god by
office or function, but Diety absolute. It is
overwhelming. God directly addresses the Son as God: the throne on which He [now] sits is Gods; it is a throne for ever
and ever - never established, for it never was not; the Enthroned One is
Himself God; Thy throne, O God, is for ever and
ever. The
incarnation has heightened the wonder without diminishing the Deity: in him
dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Col.
2: 9):
not a lovely handful of Divine glories; not a fragment of the Deity, but the whole: so that, while strictly and perfectly human, that Body carried an
infinity which was able to bear the guilt of an entire world: under the
all-but-infinitude of human sin lay the absolute Infinitude of Deity.
Christ All In All
We close on one name which is conspicuously absent from all
the judgment scenes, and never uttered in the prophecies of the Apocalypse, but
which, shrined for ever in our redeemed hearts, holds all the secret of our joy
in His coming. God has poured His whole heart in a single word:- Thou shalt
call His name JESUS; for He shall save
His people from their sins (Matt. 1: 21). There is
awe in the name of God; there is eternity in the name of Jehovah; there is
infinity in the name of the Son of God; there is incarnation in the name of
Immanuel; there is stainlessness in the name of the Holy One of God; there is
omniscience in the name of the Logos; there is unction in the name of Christ;
there is mastery in the name of the Lord; there is a sob in the name of the Son
of Man; there is pity in the name of the Mediator; there is Gehenna in the name
of the Lamb; there is absolution in the name of the High Priest: there is
succour in the name of the Advocate; there is heaven in the name of the
Paraclete; there is wedlock in the name of the Bridegroom; there is empire in
the name of the King of kings and Lord of lords: but, although all these titles
are heaped upon our Lord, there is none other name given under heaven whereby men must be saved but
the name of JESUS.
Jesus! Jesus! let us ever say it
Softly to ourselves as some sweet
spell;
Jesus! Jesus! troubled spirit, lay it
On thy heart, and it will make thee
well.
Many names
are dear, but His is dearer,
How it grows more dear as
life goes on!
Many friends are near, but
He is nearer,
Always what we want, and all our own.
* *
* * *
* *
426
EARTHQUAKES
By H. L. TURNER
EARTHQUAKES, in the near future, will be one of the sore judgments of
God. We have visited the small city of
It had happened suddenly, without warning, and in a few
seconds all was over. Pelileo was just like any other
small city. People went about their business as usual, children played in the
streets; but almost in the twinkling of an eye there was a rending sound, the
earth heaved, and many were engulfed, going down to destruction. Not a house
remained standing. What was once a city was now a city of the dead. Many
escaped, and were left to mourn the loss of loved ones. The moans of the dying,
and the frantic cries of survivors were heard on every side. No one can tell
how many were swallowed up in the earth for all records were lost. Would-be
rescuers worked over the debris, looking for any who might have been trapped under
fallen buildings. One survivor related, I had just
left some children playing in the street. After a few seconds of the tremor, I
turned, but they were no more. Where they had been was a huge opening in the
earth.
But we had not yet seen all. As we proceeded we came to a
sudden ending of the plainly marked road. What lay beyond was a deep valley,
about one thousand feet deep, a mile across, and more than a mile long. Here
was the tomb of approximately eight hundred people. Prior to the earthquake this
had been a level plateau where people lived in homes and worked on their farms,
a place where children played in the streets. Now it is a large valley, and
desolate. All life had been buried completely, under tons of earth. Nation shall
rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom;
and there shall be great earthquakes (Luke 21: 10).
* *
*
SUFFERING
By Miss E. M. LEATHES
I have
now been confined to my bed for over two years. If any one had informed me that
such a disaster would have befallen me on the 19th. of June, 1949, I
should have been absolutely paralysed with terror. I never anticipated such a
calamity being permitted to come upon me. I can only say that on the day of my
accident, when I was engaged in a very simple and ordinary act of the day, that
of stooping down to button my shoe, I was suddenly taken off my feet and hurled
to the ground with tremendous force, so that I was utterly helpless and unable
to raise myself. From that time I seemed to be in the grip of some unseen
power, so that I can only describe it as an evil menace, which has pursued me
ever since. And yet I never lost my faith in God, Who has ever since surrounded
me with untiring, tender mercies; and I have always been in closest touch with
Him. From the time that I was carried to the hospital, Gods Word held me with
irresistible force, distinctly declaring to me I AM GOD. Moreover, the Lord added, I am not
an ordinary person and cannot be judged from the human standpoint. He
has proved this to me, removing from me all fear of consequences and keeping me
in perfect peace. Surely His loving-kindness and tender mercy have followed me
ever since, ever showering upon me His loving gifts from all quarters, and
never leaving me to doubt His wondrous care. I believed at first that the
consequences of this accident would be very short, possibly only a few weeks,
but the Lord knew otherwise. He has had His Eternal Purpose to fulfil, but
never allowed me to anticipate the suffering that was in front of me. Remember
the words of the Psalmist, God is our Refuge and Strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though
the earth be removed, and though the mountains
be carried into the midst of the sea (Psa.
46: 1, 2). Note verse 6
: The nations raged, the
kingdoms were moved: He uttered His voice,
the earth melted. He
maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; He
breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder. Verse 10:
Be
still, and know that I am God ... I will be exalted in the earth.
We must realise that we are living in
very difficult days: the very atmosphere seems to be steeped in poisonous,
satanic breath. If we look back to years ago everything seemed quieter and
easier, and we were able to carry on Gods work without much enemy opposition.
But now we need, indeed, to keep up a watchful attitude lest we are overtaken
in happenings we never expected. We need not be surprised at antagonism and
indifference meeting us at every turn: we can only pray for patience and
endurance, and stand steady when we meet opposition continually, and have our
true Biblical opinions challenged. We need never be discouraged or surprised if
those in whom we placed the utmost confidence utterly disappointed and deceive
us. Trust in God, and do the right. And who is he that shall harm you,
if ye be followers of that which is good? (1 Peter
3: 13).
- The overcomer.
* *
* * *
* *
427
WILL CHRIST BE IN THE AIR
BY 1999 [or in 2020]?
By A. G. TILNEY
The Lord
is coming for His people before He comes with them; He gathers
and judges them before He rewards and brings them.
But how long before? About how many years before? That is our
question.
There is very good reason to believe that there will be, on
this earth (as well as over it) a literal Millennium of 1,000 years. This is
hinted in Heb. 4:
9 (M) and declared in Rev. 20: 4, etc. The period is to be accepted, not interpreted - which in this case would mean
explaining it away. It is to be taken as
meaning exactly what it says; not made to mean something else, or nothing at
all. For while there are symbols in the Book of Revelation,
it is not all symbol. Besides, several symbols are explained, and many
statements are literal; for the Book is true to its name and purpose, i.e., not
an obscuration, but an unveiling, a revealing.
By about the end of this century (say, 1999), the human race
will have been on this earth 6,000 years, as nearly as we can tell. This period
is mans working week, or six days of 1,000 years each. Then this week is to be followed by a Sabbath-rest, the 7th day of God,
after mans day with its slipshod standard and slavish ways, its injustices,
pretence, deceits, abuses, is over.
Now there is a good deal of careless thinking and writing
about prophetic times and seasons. Of three common errors, the first is to assume
that because no one knew, 1,900 years ago, the hour or day of Christs
Return, therefore no one even now knows its decade or its century. Another error concerns
the date of the restoration of the kingdom to
There are times and seasons on earth which are controlled by
the sun and moon and stars in heaven which make our days and months and years -
and cycles. Valuable lessons - and data as to times - are to be learned from
consideration of the Hebrew Agricultural Year with its series of God-appointed festivals, and from
the Divinely-instituted week with its Sabbath and following eighth or new first
day. And the Sabbath being pre-Hebrew, is universal for humankind.
A Generation, too, is a period of forty years, which is also a
period of probation or testing. Indeed, through the French for forty comes
our Quarantine - forty days as a testing
or hatching-out time, a revealing or reaping time, a time of germination and
maturation.
Now Harvesting is a lengthy business. The Saviour has informed
us that the Harvest is the End of the Age (not of the
world!) and that the Reapers are angels, while the Field is the
whole wide world (Matt. 13: 38). In the
Old Testament we are told how long the harvest lasted. It extended from the
beginning of barley harvest to the end of wheat harvest - i.e., a period of forty days (Ex. 9: 31-32; Josh. 3: 15; Ruth 1: 22; 2: 21-23).
Without being committed to a year-day theory, we can discern
and use a year-day principle, for this is more than once disclosed in Gods
Word, e.g., Num. 14: 34; Ezek. 4: 5-6. In the
first instance, we know that the forty
days wandering in the Wilderness corresponded to the forty days of the spying of
the Land; in the latter case the prophet was to represent a year of siege and
captivity by a day in which he was bound in helpless discomfort; a year for a day, and a day for a year.
We are assured by the [Holy] Spirit, through Paul, that
The Lord too speaks of a generation not exhausted in and by A.D. 30-70,
but rather that of which Tituss siege of
Now the Saviours Return, rather carelessly translated Coming, is really His Parousia or Presence,
His Stay, in the air, and this He compares to the Days of Noah, thereby
indicating that it is a period. It will be invisible at first, for He is coming
as a thief, not to rob other peoples property, but to take His Own, secretly
and furtively, so that the unready will be caught unawares. And it will last a
considerable time, as there will be much to do, and also as there will be much
both in the air and on the earth for which time will have to be allowed. There will be the reaping of the ripening harvest, and also the
ripening of the vintage that follows.
Christian believers will be reaped in ascending resurrection
and rapture - caught up, not all at once (though all in time and turn), but every man in his own order (1 Cor. 15: 23), Christ the Firstfruits, afterwards they that
are His - not at His Coming, but during His Parousia-Presence
(1 Cor. 15: 23). That
is, during His protracted Stay in the air. In
the reaping, barley comes before wheat harvest, and the whole harvesting takes
forty days. But forty days in the
type stands for forty years in the anti-type (or ultimate reality) indicated by
the object-lesson.
Worldlings too will be on probation, tempted and tested by
Satan. Christs Church is both the Light of the world and the Salt of the
earth. And just as Moses elevation and absence - of forty days in the Holy
Mount - meant an absence of leadership
and control which, removed, led to the worship of the Statue of the young Gold Bull, so the elevation and absence
of effective Christian believers, albeit
continuous and progressive throughout the forty days of harvesting, will
precipitate [i.e., speed up a] national Gentile apostasy, the revelation of the Lawless One, and the
worship of the Statue of this Brute and Beast, and the consequent persecution -
after
a spell of [worldly pleasure, luxury,] false peace and security. For the
Hinderers will [then] be removed (2 Thess.
2: 6-7) and, we read, Jordan - the River of Death - the
Great Divide - zigzagging too towards the Dead Sea - overflows its banks all the days
of harvest. Out of the Overflowing of Jordan also comes the Roaring Lion, whom, however,
the Lord will paralyse with His Glory.
If, then, our Lord is coming visibly to earth - as the
lightning - at
the end of this century, say, in 1999, [or during the present apostasy and immoral behaviour amongst
Christendom] to judge the nations and to reign;
and if He is coming first as a thief, invisibly, with (on our part) needed watching and
waiting, to judge His people - and Judgment must begin at the House of God; if, further, and finally, this reaping, rupturing and
adjudicating takes forty years - the probationary period for Israel, for the
Church, and for men in general, then it is clear that the Lord will be in the air a whole generation before He comes [both visibly
and majestically] to judge [the nations and
rule] the world.*
[* See Luke
1: 31, 32; Matt. 13: 41-43; Luke 22: 28-30. Cf. Rev. 2: 25; 3: 21, etc.]
It may of course be a little earlier, or a little later, for
we cannot be quite sure of our dates and reckoning. The Historicists who
foretold the significance of 1917 for the End-time are now looking upon that
year as the beginning of the last generation, or forty-year period. The
advocates of Numerics (as in Ivan Panins uniquely careful Bible
Chronology) indicate some eleven years later. And the Signs of
the Times do point to century and decade[s] while not of course to hour and day.
Our Lord said, As it was ...[i.e., in the days of Noah] so it will be ... probably in duration and warning as well as in character and certainty. Forewarned is forearmed. Neglect, contempt or
over-confidence, are fatal. The children of light are not taken by
surprise. Let us, then, keep awake and alert, and on the watch - and be found ready, found in peace, occupying till He comes and thus accounted worthy when He comes and let us sound the warning, and tell out the
Good News!
* *
* * *
* *
428
By Rev. REINHOLD BARTH
In 1948 it was my privilege to observe the Spirit of God at
work in
First of all, there is a wonderful receptivity to the printed
page. I recall riding through many of the villages of
In
Then, too, there is a wonderful receptivity to the preaching
of the Word. In Scotland I saw crowds of over five hundred standing for more
than an hour on a street corner, past eleven oclock at night, listening to the
ministry of the Word; and not with a casual, amused interest either, but
crowded close around the gospel truck, respectful and attentive. This same
scene was repeated again and again at the noon hour amongst factory workers in
In seven tent missions in
The greatest hindrance to evangelism in
Visiting a refugee camp in the north of
A born-again Lutheran pastor in
While relationship between pastor and people is better in the
Free Churches, yet the devil has subtilely robbed
many of them of real evangelism with the doctrine of universal reconciliation -
a teaching that provides that even the devil himself will ultimately be saved!
This doctrine prevails particularly on the continent. Thus hell [or
Sheol and Hades] is
a myth, a figment of the imagination. One Baptist preacher in
The devil has his agents busy in
Fear is dominant in
For two years I have constantly said, As goes
Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their
wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the
Lord is near in the valley of decision (Joel 3:
13, 14).
- The
* *
* * *
* *
429
THE BUILDING OF THE
By HAROLD J. SHEPSTON
EZEKIELS
vision of a restored Jewish nation and a restored temple is significant when we
recall what has happened to
Herod spent forty-six years in the building of his temple.
Over a century was spent in the erection of St. Peters in
But before Solomon could erect his temple he had to prepare
the site. It adorns the rocky pinnacle of
With its outer buildings, which included the Judgment Hall,
the Kings Palace, the House of the
Research would go to show that the total number of men called
into requisition to erect this wonderful worshipping-place was no less than
180,000. These men worked constantly for a period of three years. Today with
modern methods of construction and up to date labour-saving devices, the number
of workers could be reduced. But the cost would still be enormous.
Those authorities who have studied the subject declare that
the cost of building a temple today would be between $250,000,000 and
$300,000,000. This would be for a building after the pattern of that erected by
Herod which was devoid of that lavish ornamentation of the precious metals
which characterised Solomons building. The
* It is
unlikely that Israel would attempt to rebuild the Temple today at its original cost; but we need also
to remember that there are Jews in the United States of such immense wealth as
to make a more moderate building possible at any moment. - [D. M. Panton.]
The Jews declare that
the temple will be built on its original site.* This great thirty-five-acre platform
belongs to the Moslems. To them it is no less sacred than
[* NOTE: It is believed my many today, (and
for several Scriptural proofs and Archaeological discoveries), that the reputed site of the Temple of Solomon is NOT where the Mosque el-Asks presently
stands: and the construction, known as the Wailing
Wall, is NOT what multitudes
of Jews and Christians believe it to be today!
It is, in fact, the remnants of a Roman structure built by the
Romans to protect a legion of some 6,000 Roman soldiers stationed on the
thirty-five acre site in A.D. 70!
For more Scriptural proofs, - including Josephus account (who
was himself an eye-witness at the time of the destruction of Herods Temple by
the Roman soldiers under Titus) - see Robert
Cornukes book Temple,
- a recent publication of the findings of Dr.
Martin which he published in his book The Temples Which
the Jews Forgot.
Both authors, in my opinion, have placed the original site of
all three previous three Jewish Temples, much closer to the Gihon Spring which
is some distance in the opposite direction from the
Wailing Wall!
Christian tradition has now also become the
enemy of Biblical truth, in regard to the correct location for Messiahs
temple. That is, the Temple which Messiah Himself (our Lord Jesus
Christ) will build, after the destruction of what the Jewish nation want to build
today - the Temple which the Antichrist will desecrate, after breaking his
three and a half year covenant of peace with them.
For more information on Messiahs
-------
THE DOME OF THE ROCK
The Dome of the Rock of Jerusalem is
known also as the Mosque of Omar, and is second alone to the Kaaba at
The seventh century was a period of bloodshed for
The Dome of the Rock, is a regular
octagon in shape, built within a circle 177 feet in diameter. Its walls are
decorated with Oriental ceramics placed there in the reign of the Sultan
Suleiman the Magnificent. Verses from the Koran are inscribed in the frieze
below the dome. Within is the Sacred Rock, regarded by the Mohammedans as the
scene of Mohammeds ascent to heaven, and the Jews as that of the proposed
sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham. On this the Crusaders set up an altar. The
building stands on a platform about twelve feet in height, and is approached
from four sides by flights of broad steps surmounted at the landing by graceful
arcades.
It is probable that the passing of the
Dome of the Rock out of the hands of the Moslems will be one of the marks of
the ending of the times of the
Gentiles (See
Luke 21: 24).
- The Good Samaritan,
* *
* * *
* *
430
WILL
By BRIG. - GEN. F. W. FROST
ANCIENT
It was built on both banks of the river
Rocks and stones must have been brought hundreds of miles by
animal transport for the building, because there are no signs of any stone in the neighbourhood. In those days there
were no labour-saving devices, nor
any mechanical transport, but the great dictator had many thousands of slave
labourers under his control as Stalin as
to-day.
It is amazing what a
dictator can do, when he has only himself to please and everyone elses interests are subordinated to his vanity.
In those days it was thought that no human power could break
such an Empire. But they reckoned without God.
The prophet Isaiah prophesied against it, Behold,
I will stir up the Medes against them ... And Babylon, the glory of the
kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans
excellency, shall be as when God overthrew
In view of these prophecies, is it possible for
How have the Scriptures been fulfilled in the past? Literally.
The condition of ancient
There are two Babylons in Revelation.
(1) Mystery
After her destruction the ten kings will give all their power
to the Beast, the Man of sin, whose capital will be at another
(2)
There is no part of ancient
A new inland sea is already in process of being made in
World commerce will be flown there as indicated in the
prophecy of Zechariah 5: 5-11. The river
Euphrates, with its inland sea, will draw shipping from all parts of the world,
and the new
The palace of the Dictator will exceed the magnificence of
that of any previous monarch. Trade Unions will not be allowed to limit the
output of the bricklayer as they do in
* *
* * *
* *
431
BAPTISM
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
IF any man is in Christ, he is a new
creation (2 Cor. 5: 17). One fact
alone is sufficient to destroy for ever the dream that the new birth is the
result of baptism, as the official words are repeated over the baby, - This child, which is now regenerate. The
Anglican organ, The Guardian, gives (Dec. 29, 1944) the figures reported by a joint
Committee of Canterbury and York. Statistics, says the report, reveal that, while 67 per cent. of all children born in
A Rite
The most profound word on baptism ever uttered defines beyond
all possible challenge who are to be baptized, the exact form of the ritual,
and the spiritual truth which the rite is made to picture. But before examining
it we do well to ponder carefully what a rite, or ritual ceremony, exactly is.
A rite is a spiritual truth pictured by things which can be seen and felt, so
preserving the truth, visibly, for ever. The broken loaf is the broken body of
Christ, and the wine poured out is His outpoured blood, both absorbed by the
believer - a crucified Christ appropriated for ever. Therefore a mutilated rite
is a ruined truth; for the ritual is an exact picture of the spiritual truth
which it shows to all who see it.
The Baptized
Now we first learn who are to be
baptized. Are ye ignorant - for we may never have mastered the meaning of a ritual which
we have sincerely and rightly undergone - that all we who have been baptized
into Christ Jesus - for even in Pauls day there were Christians who had not obeyed the
command - were baptized into his death? (Rom. 6: 3). This is critically important for all who
honestly desire to know Gods mind on baptism. Four times in this passage the
baptized are defined as those who have shared Christs death; who, having been
crucified with Him, have been laid in His tomb; souls now walking in newness of
life. He that hath died is justified from sin. Paul adds (ver. 11):-
Even
so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive
unto God in Christ Jesus. In the ever memorable words of George Muller:- There was a day when I died, died utterly; died to
George Muller, his opinions, preferences, tastes, and will - died to the world,
its approval or censure - died to approval or censure even of my brethren and
friends - and since then I have studied to live unto God.
A Funeral
But, while it is only the dead in Christ that are to be
baptized, the death is not the baptism. A funeral must follow death, and it is
baptism which is the funeral. They that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof (Gal.
5: 24):
now says, - We were BURIED
therefore with him through baptism into death: baptism is a public funeral with the
Lord. So the baptistry shines forth in its marvellous symbolism: a trench dug
in the earth for a dead man, laid on his back as a corpse; by other hands, for
no man can baptize himself any more than he can bury himself: the body placed
under the judgment flood, a picture so close to reality that if the baptized
were kept under the judgment-flood for five minutes,
he would be a corpse.* The world hath been crucified unto me, and I unto the world (Gal. 6: 14~): baptism is the public funeral, closing every
vista of worldly glory, and opening the narrow avenue that leads to the [coming Millennial] Kingdom. Of all revealed truths, not one is more
clearly revealed in the Scriptures than believers baptism - not even the
doctrine of justification by faith; and the subject has only become obscured by
men not having been willing to take the Scriptures alone to decide the point (George Muller).
* Immersion is practised even in the Arctic regions. One who had
been his churchs baptizer for many years told the writer that he had baptized
not less than 2,000 with his own hands, and had never known any ill effects,
bodily. John was baptizing near Aenon,
because there was much water there (John 3:
23. [See also Acts
8: 38, 39,
R.V. & A.V.]). A tumbler -full would be enough for
the sprinkling of either babies or men.
Immersion
Thus the form of the ritual is placed
beyond all challenge. Even a great Anglican Bishop, the beloved Dr. Handley Moule, translates the
passage thus:- We are entombed therefore with Him, by
means of our baptism, into His death; and he adds, - As to the plunge, and emergence, baptism was at first,
theoretically, an entire immersion. It has rarely been denied. All commentators of note except Stuart and Hodge)
expressly admit or take it for granted that the ancient prevalent mode of
baptism by immersion and emersion is here implied (Lange). Therefore the sprinkling of holy water on an infants
brow is not baptism in any sense or form; the infant is neither spiritually
buried nor spiritually risen with Christ; and thus the truth for which the rite
stands is totally destroyed. *
* The wish to bring the family to
Christ, and to dedicate each infant, is a noble motive; but to confound it with
the ritual of the born again - and, still worse, to make it the cause of
re-birth - is a blunder as obvious as it is grave. Nor is baptism given as the
badge of a sect: we are nowhere told to
refuse fellowship to the unbaptized believer.
Resurrection
But baptism embodies much more than a funeral. Having been
buried with him in baptism, wherein ye were also
raised with him (Col.
2: 12).
But it is more even than resurrection. We were buried therefore with him
through baptism into death; that like as Christ
was raised from the dead, so we also - ascending out of an open grave, and
abandoning the moth-eaten garments of a buried life - should walk - for we are corpses no more - in NEWNESS OF LIFE. The hard, deep, black trench which
God draws between the Church and the world, is the baptismal grave which drowns
the old life, and smothers and suffocates all the past; and we rise out of the
tomb, typically washed, to walk with God.
The Type
The New Testament ritual is wonderfully confirmed by its Old
Testament type. Unto him that loveth us, and washed
us from our sins - total immersion in the baptismal
bath - and made us to be PRIESTS
unto his God and Father (Rev. 1:
5). The ancient priests underwent a similar
ritual. At the entrance of the Tabernacle was the altar of burnt offering: at the
far opposite end was the Holy Curtain behind which was God: lying exactly
mid-way between was the Laver, or brazen sea of water. So when the priests were
consecrated, and before they could act as priests, Moses presented them to the
people at the altar of burnt offering - atonement: then as the first act, when
they crossed the threshold as priests, they washed in the laver of water; and
so, emerging, reached the immediate presence of Deity - to walk with God.*
* The priests
were bathed both in hands and feet (Ex. 30: 19) so
to-day the additional rite of feet-washing (John 13:
15) completes the ritual cleansing.
The Kingdom
The Holy Spirit lets drop a warning and an incentive very
valuable to an ear sensitive enough to hear. For if we become united with him
in the likeness of his death - that is, baptism, the ritual
photograph - we shall be also - shall be, at a future date; also, that is, correspondingly - of his
resurrection -
that is, the First.* The sentence would appear to make baptism part of the
fidelity which wins [entrance into] the
Kingdom. So our Lord says, - Except a man be born again, he cannot see the
* Not in the likeness of His
resurrection but in the fact: the Lords resurrection has just been referred to
(verse 4) as out of dead ones; that is, a select resurrection, leaving others
dead. The if marks the resurrection to be the prize of our calling, not
attained by all [regenerate] believers, but dependent upon the holiness
called for by God - the contrast to the continuance in sin of the proposal (Govett).
* *
* * *
* *
432
THE
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
One of
the most amazing revelations ever made is given by Paul in his word to
* Your
body, i.e., the body of each man among you the
temple, not a temple (Dean Allord).
[* See Acts 5:
32, R.V. cf. 1
John 3: 24, R.V. See also The
Personal Indwelling of the Holy Spirit by G. H. Lang.]
The Body
At is indeed an amazing revelation - that we [if obedient] are a habitation of God through
the Spirit (Eph. 2: 22). We should expect the Holy Ghost to dwell in
our spirit - the part of us that contacts us with God, or our soul - our
intellect, in both of which we were made in the image of God; but that Deity
should dwell in our, body, literally dwell in it, is an extraordinary
revelation. The
Conflict
But the very immensity of the blessing carries with it a
counter-balancing truth. The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit
against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other (Gal. 5: 17). In the words of Spurgeon:- Our greatest danger is from within. All the devils in Hell
and tempters on earth could do us no injury if there were no corruption in us.
Alas, our heart is our chief enemy: Lord, save me from that evil man myself.
But the battle can be won. Choose between the worst and the better that is within thee.
Thou hast it in thy power to become the slave of passion, the slave of luxury,
the slave of sensual power, the slave of corruption. Thou hast it also in thy
power to become the free master of thyself, to become the unfailing champion of
God (Dean Stanley). No one
was allowed across the threshold of the
Destruction
But the battle between the flesh and the Spirit can be lost as
well as won; and the Apostle suddenly flashes out a terrible red-light warning
corresponding to the enormous privilege. Any defilement of the
* All the sins of the flesh, if persisted in, forfeit the Millennial Reign: of the which I forewarn you,
even as I did forewarn you, that they which
practise such things shall not inherit the
[* That is, at the time
of their Resurrection, when Hades is empty
and Death
and Hades
cast into the lake of
fire (Rev. 20: 13, 14, R.V.).]
Power
So then we see what enormous powers are ours if we co-operate fully with the Holy Spirit.
Paul prayed for the Ephesian believers that they might be filled unto
all the fulness of God (Eph.
3: 19).
The indwelling [Holy] Spirit can control our eyes, where they look; our tongue, what it says;
our ears, what they hear; our hands, what they do; our feet, where they go; our
brain, what it thinks. He can cure any bodily disease. He can restrain, or even
annihilate, appetite: it is extraordinary how a drunkard, when converted, can
lose all appetite for drink. The passage which most stresses the fearful
conflict between the flesh and the Spirit reveals the victory that can be
achieved. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance: such have crucified the flesh
with the passions and the lusts thereof (Gal. 5: 22).
A Bought
The Apostle then reveals that this unique wonder is reserved
for this generation alone. Ye are not your own; for ye were bought with a price. Not until the price
was paid, and the body was bought, could the temple be created: therefore it is
only in the Church, following
Glory
So then we arrive at the golden conclusion. Glorify God
therefore in your body.* There is
not a part of our frame which may not be the embodiment of spiritual things or
the means of religious service. When I comb my hair, the very hairs remind me
that they are all numbered. And the eyes, are they not inlets wherewith I may
first take into my heart all the beautiful works of God in nature, and
providence, and grace; and then by bright and loving looks spread peace and
happiness? How much of Satan, and how much of Christ, there may be in the look
of the eye! And the mouth: what action the mouth has for sin and
self-indulgence, or self-denial and careful moderation for Christs sake.
Glorify God with your mouth! And the tongue; what a curse or blessing it may
be! Learn when to shut it and when to open it. And your nerves; they are very
good servants, but very bad masters. Pray constantly for more calmness. And all
the senses - consecrate them. They are the Lords. And all your members! Those
hands - let them he busy, useful hands. And those knees: let them fulfil the
great design for which God gave you knees. And the feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. And your whole body! Keep
every part of it for God (J.
Vaughan, M.A.).
* The added sentence - and in your
spirit - is emitted by all the best manuscripts, by nearly all
commentators, and by the Revised Version: it is the body alone which is emphasised throughout.
So now also Christ shall be magnified
IN MY BODY, whether by life, or by death (Phil.
1: 20).
-------
MORAL LAPSE
One of
the most significant and appalling signs of the days in which we live is the
spate of unclean novels that are being sent forth from the printing presses of
this American continent. While it is difficult to secure the necessary paper in
America to print Bibles, textbooks and other matter that would be to the help
and upbuilding of the life of the people there seems to be unlimited quantities
of pulpwood for the dissemination of literature whose only claim on public
attention is its filth. The whole structure of society is being affected to-day
by the uncleanness of the literature that is being produced, which grows worse
and worse as the lines of moral demarcation are being rapidly eliminated. On this
continent we are witnessing a return to moral conditions that are only
paralleled in the days of Noah. It is true, of course, that to-day we have and
always will have, a remnant according to Grace, but society at large on this
continent is rapidly passing into the penumbra of moral eclipse. The literature
of to-day that is coming from the secular presses is breaking down the moral
fibre of the nation, and huge fortunes are being made by these purveyors of
obscenity. It is a terrifying situation if one could only grasp even a little
of its trend and implications. We are approaching a time such as obtained in
the ancient world when every imagination of the thoughts of their heart were evil
continually. The
strange thing is that the forces of
righteousness seem to be spiritually paralysed and are unable to make any
effective protest. So the earth becomes filled with violence as it was in the days of Noah, and
twentieth century society on this continent sinks under the weight of its own
moral corruptions and hastens on to its inevitable judgment and its doom.
- The Evangelical Christian.
* *
* * *
* *
433
THE JEWS AND SCRIPTURE
By M. ZEIDMAN, B.D.
The Jew
and the Bible is a study necessary toward an understanding of the present
Jewish attitude toward Jesus the Messiah, and the surprising ignorance of the
average Jew about the Bible and
Messianic prophecies.
The Hebrew name for the Bible - that is, the Old Testament -
is Torah. The meaning of the word Torah is teaching. Torah is the name of the
Pentateuch, or the five books of Moses; but it also refers to the Old Testament
as a whole, or to all the teaching of the written law as well as the oral law.
According to the teaching of the Rabbis, the Law, or the teaching of God, was
given to
What is the written law, or as it is called in Hebrew, Torah
Shebecsab,
literally, the teaching by writing, or written law? The written law is the
Pentateuch, known as the five books of Moses. Orthodox Jews believe that these
five books were written by Moses with the exception of a few verses which speak
of the death of Moses. Furthermore, Jews believe that this law was dictated to
Moses by God Himself. Also that apart from this written law there is also
another, called the oral law. What is the oral law or, in the Hebrew, Torah
Shebal Peh, literally, the law given by mouth?
The oral law, the Jewish Rabbis believe, was given by God to
Moses by word of mouth. This law given orally to Moses was handed down from
generation to generation. As it is said in the Pike Abboth
(sayings of the Fathers) Chapter I: Moses received the law from Sinai and
transmitted it to Joshua; Joshua to the Elders; the Elders to the Prophets; and
the Prophets to the Men of the Great Synagogue, who said three things: Be ye deliberate in pronouncing judgment; make many
disciples; and make a fence for the Law.
Please note this last maxim of the learned Rabbis, Make a fence for the Law. This fence for the Law has now become holier and more respected than the Law it
set out to protect; and which caused Jesus Christ to cry out against and rebuke
the scribes, accusing them of Teaching for doctrine the commandments of men. This fence of laws and statutes
probably began during the Babylonian exile, when the great order of Scribes
came into being. It was the period of the formation of the Mishnah, which was
codified at the end of the second century A.D. This Mishnah is made up of
Rabbinical amplifications and interpretations of the Old Jewish laws.
According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, The effect of this enormous intellectual output of the Talmudic legal
mind was to establish a great system of law, theoretically based on the Torah,
but containing the inherent power of adapting itself to the changing conditions
of life. It rested upon the theory that all possible modifications of the law
had been foreseen at the beginning, and that when once uttered by an authority
ex cathedra, they, took place naturally in the system, as though they had been
there since time immemorial. The Rabbis taught that Even that which an able Talmudical student may hereafter
expound before his master has already been communicated (by God) to Moses on
Sinai.
The legalism and traditionalism was declared binding on all
Jews as being not only of equal, but of even greater obligation than the
written law that is Scripture
itself. The Rabbis say that Scripture - the written law - is like water, but
the oral law, that is, the teaching of the traditions of the Elders, is like
wine. The Scribes were looked upon as a religious aristocracy, and the laws and
traditions they taught received greater veneration than the written law, or the
Word of God. Dr. Alfred Edersheim in
his Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah says
that this is not illogical, since tradition was
equally of Divine origin with Holy Scripture, and authoritatively explained its
meaning; supplemented it; gave it application to cases not expressly provided
for, perhaps not even foreseen in Biblical times and generally guarded its
sanctity by extending and adding to its provision, drawing a hedge around its
garden enclosed. Thus, in new and dangerous
circumstances, would the full meaning of Gods Law, to its every tittle and
iota, be elicited and obeyed. Thus also would their feet be arrested who might
stray from within, or break in from without. Accordingly, so important was
tradition, that the greatest merit a Rabbi could claim was the strictest
adherence to the traditions which he had received from his teacher. Nor might
one Sanhedrin annul, or set aside, the decrees of its predecessor. To such
length did they go in this worship of the letter, that the great Rabbi Hillel
was actually wont to mispronounce a word, because his teacher before him had
done so.
To prove that the Bible, the Mishnah and the Talmud were all
given by God to Moses on Sinai, the Rabbis quoted Exodus,
chapter 20, verse
1, And God spake all these words. The Rabbis emphasize the word spake, that is, the Law of God was spoken as
well as written. It took several centuries to codify the laws, sayings, and
maxims, of the Scribes and Rabbis. Originally intended as a hedge and a fence
for the Word of God, in time the fence became so high and the hedge so thick
that the main structure wherein God dwelt, was totally obscured. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ condemned
these laws and traditions in no uncertain terms. As we read in the Gospel
according to St. Mark, chapter 7, verse 10,
For
Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: but ye
say, If a man shall say to his father or mother,
It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. And ye
suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; making the word of God of none effect through your tradition,
which ye have delivered:
and many like things do ye, and as you can see by reading the Gospels, and the disputes
and discussions Jesus carried on with the Scribes and Pharisees, in regard to
healing on the Sabbath day, plucking corn in the fields on the Sabbath, the
eating of unclean food, fasting, and the washing of hands, etc. (see Matt. 15: 1-21).
The traditions of the Elders focussed the eyes of the Jewish
people on the minutiae of the law, and on their teachers, the rabbis. They
venerated the creatures rather than the Creator. The Voice of God was no more
heard. Prophecy had ceased, and the disputer, the legalist and the
ritualist had taken the place of the prophet. The living faith disappeared and
was supplanted by the dead letter of the law. The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. You can thus easily understand how
when the voice in the wilderness, the voice of John the Baptist was heard, it
was a clarion call to those who were lying dead in legalism and ritualism. And
there went out to him
Remember, that most heretical religions have a sort of
Mishnah, Gemarah, commentary or aid to the Bible.
Mohammedans believe the Bible, but they have the Koran. Romanism believes in the Bible, but has the Lives of the Saints to
guide them in faith and practice. Rabbinism
has the Mishnah and Gemarah. Mormons believe the Bible, - but they have also the Book of Mormon.
The Rosicrucians
believe the Bible, but they have the Wisdom of the
Ages. The Illuminatti believe the Bible, and also the Yogi
Wisdom; the Bahaist
believes the Bible, and everything else outside of it. The Christian Scientists believe the Bible, but they also believe in
the Key to Science and Health.
Let us, as Bible Christians, believe the Holy
Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise
unto Salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works (2 Tim.
3: 15-17).
-
The
Evangelical Christian.
* *
* * *
* *
434
A JEW AND SCRIPTURE
I was
born in
My family left for the
When I came to
The lower
One interruption to my plunge toward hell came when I was,
thirteen years of age. That is the greatest day in a Jewish boys life and in
the life of his parents, for then by Jewish law he becomes a man. Until he is
thirteen, his sins are considered to have been placed on his fathers head. But
now the boy himself becomes accountable, and can take his place as a man in the
synagogue. What a day that was for me! Ten men had to be present for the
service of the synagogue to begin. If there were present only nine men, no
matter how many women and children, the service could not begin until another
man, or a boy who had become Bar Mitzvah (son of the law) came in. So you can
appreciate how important I felt.
When my name was called, I proudly took my place at the
pulpit, and stood there while they read a portion of the Law, or five Books of
Moses, and then the Haftorah, the chapters that coincide with that portion of
the Law, taken from one of the Books of the Prophets. I was a proud boy when I
read the Law and then the Haftorah. Then when I stood up to make my speech,
thanking my parents for my upbringing, and God for keeping them and my family
safe, I made a vow that thenceforth I would be a much better Jew, go to the
synagogue, say my prayers, and do all that any Jewish man or boy could do.
Little did I realize that I would break my sacred vow before the week was over,
and that I would go back to my gang and begin all over again to steal fruit
from the pushcarts, and engage in fights with the Italian boys.
When war was declared in 1917, I persuaded my dad to sign for
me so that I could enlist. I was sent to
I have been all over the
One day in
It was a couple of weeks after Pearl Harbour, December 7,
1941, that I decided to come back home to straighten out my life; I did not
know at the time that it was the Ruach Ha-Kadesh
(Holy Spirit of God) who was leading me.
It was in February, 1942, that I arrived in
In spite of myself, I finally reached the church and there I
met a Hebrew Christian woman by the name of Mrs. Levy, who began to talk to me
about the Lord. Finally, I promised her that I would attend the Bronx Messianic Centre, which I did. After
three weeks of faithful attendance, I finally could stand the pressure no
longer. I kept asking myself, What have I done to
make myself worthy of God? Then that Scripture in Proverbs 29: 1
came to me, He that being often reproved hardeneth his
neck, shall suddenly be destroyed and that
without remedy. I wondered what was going to happen to me if I should
suddenly die, and then I shuddered and began to take stock. I began to read the
2nd Psalm, the 22nd Psalm, and the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, and all those Messianic prophecies that were written in
the New Testament that Brother Curve gave me. And I began to remember all the
love that was shown me by many Christians. That night I determined was to be
the deciding one for me for or against Jesus.
With that thought in mind, I went to the Bronx
Messianic Centre. When the service was over, I wanted to
surrender to Jesus, but the devil had too much of a hold on me. Miss Blumberg,
one of the mission workers, invited me with some others to remain for some
refreshments. There at the table I witnessed a Jewish woman accept Christ. That
was too much for me, and in front of everyone I cried, I cant stand it any longer. I fell on my face and cried, O God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, show me if Jesus is Your
Son, and my Messiah. Reveal Him to me. Then Christ took me at my word
and showed me in the Second Psalm, verse 7, I will declare the decree: The Lord hath said unto me, Thou
art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Also the verse in Matthew 3: 17, This is My
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. I could do nothing else but cry out,
Father, forgive me, and save me for Jesus sake.
Then such a peace came over me, as I felt all my burdens roll
away. It was joy unspeakable and full of glory. I felt as did King Nebuchadnezzar
after the Lord restored to him his reason (Dan.
4: 36, 37). And now the burden on my heart is to see all
* *
* * *
* *
435
JEW-HATE
I
The attempt
to extirpate the Jew has been made under the most favourable circumstances, and
on the largest scale, and for the longest period of time. Egyptian Pharaohs,
Assyrian kings, Roman emperors, Scandinavian crusaders, Gothic princes, and
so-called holy inquisitors have alike devoted their energies to the fulfilment
of this common purpose. Expatriation, exile, captivity, confiscation, torture
on the most ingenious and massacre on the most extensive scale, have been tried
in vain. The Jew however remains! His preservation is the miracle of history. -
LORD
II
Dr.
Bauman tells of an encyclopedia published in
And what is the Word of God in this matter? Here it is Though I make
a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, says God to
Behind all anti-Semitic activity is Satan the arch-enemy of
God and of man. It is the strategic place
III
We cannot
expect the Gentile, who merely uses the term Christian
to designate the difference between Gentile and Jew, to love the Jew, but we
who are Christians indeed, in that we have been saved through faith in Christ,
should love His ancient people. Above all things in this regard we should keep
constantly in our minds that our Lord Himself was a Jew - born a Jew, lived a
Jew, died a Jew. Also, the great majority of those heroes of the faith I
personally long to see when I go to be with that Lord are Jews. I want to see
Abraham; and he is a Jew. And I want to see Isaac; he is a Jew. I want to see
Jacob; and he is a Jew. I want to see Joseph; and he is a Jew. I want to see
Moses; and he is a Jew. I want to see Joshua; and he is a Jew. I want to see
Gideon and the other judges; and they are Jews. I want to see the prophets -
Isaiah, Elijah, Elisha, and all the rest; and they are Jews. I want to see
Daniel and Ezra and Nehemiah; they are Jews. I want to see John; and he is a
Jew. I want to see James; and he is a Jew. I want to see Peter; and he is a
Jew. I want to see Paul; and he is a Jew. These are only some of those I long
to meet who bear the name of Jew. How could I hate the Jew?
Not long ago an influential Jew in
How odd of
God to choose the Jews,
But not so odd, as those
who choose
The Jewish God and hate the
Jews.
- FRANCIS S. SHAEFFER.
* *
*
MESSIAH
Mr. Reichart, a missionary to the Jews in
- The
Sunday School Times.
HIS ADVENT
It is tragic that a truth can be abandoned when it is far more
urgently needed. The first editor of The British Weekly
welcomed the Second Advent in words The British Weekly
would now totally repudiate. Dr.
Robertson Nicoll in its leading article:- I venture to think it is a great weakness of our teaching
that so little is said about the blessed hope and appearing of our great God
and Saviour. His coming will be visible, corporeal, local; and wherever we open
the New Testament we find it thrilling to the heat and joy of that
manifestation and coming of the Lord when we shall see Him as He is.
TRIBULATION
The post-tribulationists, who consign all believers - whether watchful
or unwatchful - the Great Tribulation, but contend that the tribulation is not the wrath of God, a wrath which is expressed only, in the great and
terrible day of the Lord which follows it, are silenced by a single fact. That the
Great Tribulation is in the
Great and Terrible Day of the Lord - no prelude to it, but part of it - is
proved by our Lords words describing it. Then shall
be great tribulation, such as hath not been from
the beginning of the world until now, NO, NOR
EVER SHALL BE (Matt. 24: 21). Since
no such horror will occur again, the Tribulation must include, not forestall,
the Day of the Lord.
RAPTURE
So the pre-tribulationists, who are sure that all believers -
even the grossest backsliders - will be rapt en masse into sudden glory before the Tribulation starts, overlook the
warning of the Lord. Watch ye at every season, making
supplication, that ye may prevail to escape all
these things - He
has just described the Great Tribulation, days of vengeance (ver. 22)
- that shall come to pass (Luke 21: 36). The Old Testament type, which our Lord
stresses as a warning to His disciples concerning His return, is
extraordinarily illuminating:- Remember
WRATH
Both groups base their teaching in 1
Thess. 1: 10 - the pre-tribulationists asserting that all believers
will escape the Tribulation wrath, the post-tribulationists that the
Tribulation is not wrath.
But while we are fundamentally and eternally delivered from the wrath to come,
Paul equally states that we believers can incur the wrath of God, even in the day of grace. After
speaking of fornication and uncleanness, he says, - Let no man
deceive you with empty words; for because of
these things cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience; be not ye therefore partakers with them (Eph.
5: 6). So
also:- Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth,
fornication, uncleanness,
passion; for which
things sake cometh the wrath of God upon the
sons of disobedience (Col. 3: 5). It
follows indisputably that the incestuous brother, whose body was committed to
Satan for destruction that his spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord
Jesus* (1 Cor. 5: 5), incurred
the wrath of God. One word of our Lord, upsetting both groups, explicitly states
that the overcomer will escape, and the overcomer only, the coming judgments. Because thou
didst keep the word of my patience - not because he was a believer, a saved man - I also will
keep thee from the hour of trial, that hour
which is to come upon the whole world, to try
them that dwell upon the earth (Rev. 3: 10).
[* NOTE: The clause that
the spirit
might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus is not a guarantee that all
believers will be resurrected at the first
Resurrection (Rev. 20: 6), and
subsequently enter the coming Messianic and Millennial Kingdom - as many Bible
Students mistakenly suppose!
See the teaching of the Old Testament type found in Num. 14: 23, 24, R.V. - surely they
- (the disobedient, apostate and accountable
generation who sheltered under thr lambs
blood, were redeemed from Egypt, baptised in the Red Sea, and sustained in the
desert by angels food) - shall not see the LAND which I sware unto their
fathers, neither
shall any of them that despised me see
it: but my servant Caleb, because he had
another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the LAND whereinto he went
Now compare Gods teaching in the type with His teaching
through the Apostle Paul, in the antitype, For
I the Lord change not (Mal. 3: 6, R.V.):
and will always follow His detailed teachings from the type: Matt. 5: 20; 1 Cor. 10: 1-10; Acts 7: 4b-5; 2 Tim. 2: 17b, 18; Heb. 9: 27-28; 1 Pet. 1: 5, 9; Heb. 11: 8-10, 24-25, 26; Rev. 3: 21, R.V.]
MARTYRS
This was the farewell hymn sung at the wedding of Mr. and Mrs.
Marcus Whitman before leaving
Yes, my
All thy scenes, I love them well;
Friends, connections, happy country,
Can I bid you all farewell?
Can I leave you
Far in heathen lands to dwell?
Home, thy joys are passing lovely,
Joys no stranger heart can tell;
Happy Home! tis sure I love thee!
Can I can I say Farewell?
Can I leave thee
Far in heathen lands to dwell?
Yes, in deserts let me labour;
On the mountains let me tell
How He died, the blessed Saviour,
To redeem a world from hell.
Let me hasten
Far in heathen lands to dwell.
Later, both were massacred.
* *
* * *
* *
436
EXCLUSION FROM THE
MILLENNIAL KINGDOM
Godly servants of Christ have understood the Scriptures to
teach the possibility of a believers exclusion. So Mr. Robert Chapman: Has any child of God any warrant of Scripture to expect that
he will reign with the Lord during the period of Rev. 20? But, on the contrary, has not every child of God a promise
of reigning with Christ in the perfect and final state?* So Mr. G. H. Pember: To those who believe on Him, but go no further, the Lord does,
indeed, give eternal life; but the fruition of it will not begin until the Last
Day, until the thousand years of the Millennial reign are ended. Such persons
will not, therefore, be permitted to enter the Kingdom of the Heavens.**
So Dr. A. T. Pierson: The greatest of all the revelations about the future
condition of the saints is, that they are to be identified with Jesus Christ in
His reign, - that is, those who overcome. Not all saints are to be elevated
to this position; this is for victorious saints.*** So Mr. Robert Govett: The native magnitude of this truth must speedily redeem it
from all obscurity. Those who have the single eye will perceive its amplitude
of evidence, and embrace it, in spite of the solemn awe of God which it produces,
and the depth of our own responsibility which it discloses. +
* Morning Star, Oct., 1902.
** The Church, the
Churches, and the Mysteries, p. 46.
***Life of Faith, Sept. 14, 1904. + Preface to Entrance Into the Kingdom.
2. - It is certain that all crowns are
conditional on works done after faith. 2 Tim.
2: 5. (1) The crown of incorruption. In a race all
run, but one receiveth
the prize. Even so run, that ye may attain. And every man that striveth in the games is temperate in all
things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible
crown; but we an incorruptible (1 Cor. 9: 24, 25). Can
that racer be crowned who failed in the running? Paul dreaded the
loss of the crown for himself: lest by any
means, after that I have preached to others,
I myself should be rejected. (2)
The crown of rejoicing. What is our hope, or joy,
or crown of rejoicing? Are
not even ye, before our Lord Jesus at His coming? (1 Thess. 2: 19). Dan. 12: 3. Can he
be crowned for turning many to righteousness who never turned one? (3) The crown of glory. The elders therefore among you I exhort, Tend the flock of God,
... and when the chief shepherd shall be manifested,
ye shall receive the crown of glory (1 Pet. 5: 1-4). Can a
disciple be rewarded for shepherding the flock of God who never did it?
(4) The crown of righteousness. I have kept
the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,
... and not only to me, but
also to all them that have loved His appearing (2Tim.
4: 7, 8). Can the crown for watchfulness be given to one
who never watched?
(5) The crown of life. Blessed is
the man that endureth temptation: for when
he hath been approved, he shall receive the crown of life (Jas.
1: 12). Rev. 2: 10. Can he be crowned for resisting temptation who succumbed to it? That a crown may be lost to a believer is as certain as any truth in
Holy Scripture. Hold fast that which thou hast, that no
one take thy crown (Rev. 3: 11). Matt. 7: 21.
3. - Scripture states that the [Messianic] Kingdom is offered to all believers
as the master-prize for service and suffering. He that overcometh, and he that keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I
give authority over the nations (Rev. 2: 26). 2 Tim. 2: 12. It was a supreme desire of Paul. He abandoned
all, he says, and suffered all, if by any means I may attain unto the [select] resurrection from the dead. Not that I have
already obtained. ... but one thing I do, forgetting
the things which are behind, and stretching
forward to the things which are before, I press
on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded (Phil.
3: 11-15). For
the fall of
4. - Scripture also explicitly asserts
the exclusion of certain believers. Proud
(Matt. 18:
3); unfaithful
(Matt. 24:
48-51); disobedient (Luke
12: 47, 48);
covetous (Eph.
5: 5); effeminate (1
Cor. 6: 9); slothful
(Matt. 11:
12); strife-loving
(Gal. 5: 20); unbaptized
(John 3: 5);
erroneous (1
Cor. 3: 15); or luxurious
(Luke 6: 24)
disciples are unripe for the duties and harmony of Messiahs Reign. Most rigorously also will all unclean
disciples be excluded. Eph. 5: 3-8; 1 Thess. 4: 3-7. The Holy
Ghost has given a summary of exclusion. Now the works of the flesh are
manifest, which are these: fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, idolatry,
sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties, envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like of the
which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that
they which practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
(Gal. 5:
19-21). 1 Cor. 6: 9, 10. For it is the
Kingdom of the holy, who are holy,
not by imputation only, but also by active righteousness. Heb.
12: 14. 2 Thess. 1: 5. BLESSED AND HOLY IS HE THAT HATH PART IN THE FIRST
RESURRECTION: THEY SHALL BE PRIESTS OF GOD AND OF CHRIST, AND SHALL REIGN
WITH HIM A THOUSAND YEARS (Rev. 20: 6). O God, I have lost this world: grant that I lose not that
which is to come!' (
* *
*
Sin
Conviction of sin is the first work of the Spirit in salvation. One of the
saintliest Bishops of the Victorian age, Dr.
Handley Moule, found Heaven in the conviction of sin. It was when my University course was over, and at a time
when much outward success attended my path, that a profound conviction of the
fatal guilt of sin found its way to my deepest heart. I cannot recall word or incident
as the exciting cause, but it was there in deep and dread reality. That dark
time ended in a full and conscious acceptance of our crucified Redeemer. I was
permitted to realize the presence, pardon and personal love of the Lord, not
reasoned, just received.
* *
* * *
* *
437
PUNISHMENT EVERLASTING
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
It is seldom realized that the prediction of Hell is an act of
love. The Most High has foretold Hell, and foretold it so explicitly and so
appallingly, in order that it may
never happen: if the world heeded Gods warnings, Hell
would never have existed. It is the heart of love and mercy that flashes out the
red light. Tremendous is the impact of the truth. General William Booth said:- I was made a red-hot Salvationist by
an infidel lecturer. That lecturer said, - If I
believed what some of you Christians believe, I would never rest day nor night
telling men about it. The truth, as usual with all truth, is balanced:
the horror of the divine destruction is as awful, as the marvel of the divine
salvation is beyond conception.
Resurrection
The first fact is the universal resurrection of the human
race. For since by man came death, by
man came also the resurrection of the dead: for
as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all - the same all
in both cases, entire humanity - be MADE ALIVE (1 Cor. 15: 21).*
Our Lord states the truth beyond all challenge. The hour cometh in which all
that are in the tombs shall
hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done ill unto the resurrection of
judgment (John 5: 28).
The First Adam produced universal death; the Second Adam creates universal
resurrection: as Adam sank the whole of humanity into the dust, so Christ lifts
the whole of humanity out of the tomb.
* The verity lying at the root of this
verse is that by man only can general effects pervading the whole human race be
produced (Dean Alford). The
order, of resurrection immediately
follows: (1) Christ, the firstfruits; (2) they that are Christs in his parousia
- during His presence in the heavenlies; and
lastly (3) the end - final resurrection
before the Great White Throne.
Death Destroyed
But it is more than coming up out of the tomb: it is physical
life for ever; and a further revelation puts this also beyond all challenge. The last
enemy that shall be destroyed is death. The body coming from the tomb will be
no temporary body, like that of Lazarus; but an immortal body, like that of
Christ. Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death no more hath dominion over him (
A Second Death
But if the wicked are made alive, and
that for ever, how can it be that only the saved have eternal life? The answer reveals a new expression
for prolonged existence. Death [Abaddon] and Hades were cast into the lake of fire this is the second
death, EVEN THE LAKE OF FIRE (Rev.
20: 14)
the very compartments which now hold all the dead are themselves destroyed in an
eternal Hell. That is, there are two completely separate deaths: in the first
death the spirit leaves the body, and the body rots; in the second death the
whole man - spirit, soul and body - is cast into the
Eternal Sin
The moral reason underlying an eternal Hell is inescapable.
Eternal punishment is no penalty for the sins of a lifetime, but the penalty
for undying sin: no just punishment for eternal sin is conceivable except
eternal punishment; and sin in the unsaved, both now and hereafter, never ceases. Until this
moment, for six thousand years the evil angels have never repented, never
reformed, never ceased from sin. The demons also believe and - not repent, or recoil from sin, or
long for heaven, but - shudder (Jas. 2: 19); they
shudder at the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25: 41); and Satan, even after a thousand years in the
Pit, launches a fresh attack on God. It is an extraordinarily convincing fact
that the law courts of the world administer justice on the principle of eternal
punishment: that is, if an offence is ceaselessly committed, it is ceaselessly
punished. Jack London, the novelist, received sentences which together exceeded
imprisonment for five hundred years: if and when any man commits eternal sin,
he will receive eternal punishment. The Tares ripen at last perfectly, equally
as does the Wheat. And this awful certainty of unceasing sin the Scripture
states:- cauterized in their conscience as with a hot iron (1 Tim. 4:
2): that is, their conscience is seared,
branded, burnt out of existence: they never cease from sin; who, because of the hardening of their heart, being past feeling, gave themselves up to work all uncleanness (Eph.
4: 18).*
* Since corruption
cannot inherit incorruption (1 Cor. 15: 50) - a fact that covers the whole human race - all
mankind rises, and the risen body of the unsaved cannot (as the Conditional
Immortalist contends) suddenly corrupt, after (it may be) millions of years of
incorruption, the whole man - spirit, soul, and body - then ceasing to exist.
The corruption is physical, not spiritual. The
degree of punishment will depend on the amount
of the sin. It is possible to treasure up for thyself wrath in the
day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God (Rom.
2: 5).
The Warning
So now our duty emerges clear as light. In face of a
never-ending Hell just below the horizon, nothing could be more cruel, more
incredibly heartless, than to suppress the fact: it is for us, even if it be at
the cost of our lives, to wave the red flag before the express train now
rushing for the precipice. Nothing could be more awful than our hiding -
however sincere our motive might be - from the untold millions of the lost the
Hell in which they will spend eternity. There is an extremely solemn utterance
of Jehovah. When I say unto the wicked, Thou
shalt surely die; and thou givest him not
warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from
his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die
in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at
thine hand (Ezek. 3: 18). It is inexpressibly solemn that Hell is now
an abandoned truth. In a recent questionnaire sent out to ministers (Guardian, Sep.
22, 1944) it was revealed that 96 per cent. of Episcopalians, and nearly the
same proportion of Methodists, deny all belief in a lake of
fire. Dr.
Spencer, of
The Gospel
So now we arrive at the very heart of the Gospel. As in Adam
all die, so in Christ all can be made spiritually alive. All have sinned (Rom.
3: 23) - therefore
all die; but all the sin of all the world was laid on God Incarnate - who alone
could have borne it - and therefore the death-sentence is lifted off all; but
without repentance and the consequent gift of life - I am the life (John 11: 25),
Jesus says - all must experience the Second Death, dead in trespasses and sins for ever. The
Apocalypse, which says of the redeemed, - They shall reign for ever and ever (Rev. 22: 5), says of the lost, - They shall be
tormented day and night FOR EVER AND
EVER (Rev. 20: 10).* But an atonement for the entire race, proved a fact by
entire resurrection, makes possible a total salvation, with no exception
whatever. The proclamation of Heaven and Hell is the only full and effective
Gospel. Mr. Lionel Fletcher, the
evangelist, says:- After five months intensive work
during which 11,000 professed conversion, I found that the biggest response
always came after an address in which I had shown the awfulness of sin, the
certainty of punishment, and then had definitely spoken of a salvation through
Christ. The reason is clear. On an American man-of-war the sailors
crowded around their chaplain asking, - Are you a
Universalist? He answered, - I am. Dont, you believe in hell? - I do not. Well, then,
they answered, will you please resign; for if there
is no hell we do not need you; and if there is a hell, we do not wish to be led
astray.
* Behold! We stand alone in creation;
earth, sea, and sky can show nothing so awful as we are! The rooted hills shall
flee before the fiery glance of the Almighty Judge; the mountains shall become
dust, the ocean a vapour; the very stars of heaven shall fall as the fig-tree
casts her untimely fruit! Yea, heaven and earth shall pass away, but the
humblest, poorest, lowliest among us is born for undying life. Amid all the
terrors of dissolving nature, the band of immortals shall stand before their
Judge (W. Archer Butler, M.A.).
* *
*
HEBREWS 11: 6. - THE MUCH NEGLECTED TRUTH
GOD loves all His saints. But He
makes a difference in regard of those who diligently seek Him. Most Christians are careless. They do
not diligently seek. And they lack that which is the root of diligent seeking;
they do not believe in God as the Rewarder of diligent work. They do not so look on the work of Christ set
them to do, as to see the need of diligence on our part. They will not accept
the tidings of reward, and of its
coming day. It is said that
Sadduceeism began by Zadok, its founder, denying that the reward of God was to
be sought for, or would be given.
Here this truth of reward to works is testified,
and in many other places. After our reception of the work of Christ for us, our
own work comes into view. Please do observe, reader, that faith in this truth
is a necessary element in pleasing God. It is displeasing to the Lord, not to accept and act on this His
testimony. - R. GOVETT.
* *
* * *
* *
438
THE NAZARITES VOW
NUMBERS 6
By C. A. Coates
Before entering upon the subject of the Nazarites vow, I
should like to say very plainly that the salvation of a sinner depends altogether
upon Christ and His perfect work on the cross, and it is received only by faith. The prayers,
works, self-denial, and devotedness of the believer add nothing whatever to his
[eternal] salvation. To suppose that our [God-given] salvation depends in any way upon
ourselves is to be fallen from grace, and to be in darkness and uncertainty as to the whole matter.
But when we see that Christ is the Alpha and Omega of our salvation, that His
atoning work has settled every question that sin had raised between God and our
souls, that His blood cleanseth us from all sin, and that we are on the shoulder of
the Good Shepherd who has pledged His word that we shall never perish, we find
ourselves upon solid ground, and divine assurance takes the place of
alternating hope and fear.
An important fact in connection with [our initial] salvation is sometimes overlooked,
viz., that [this eternal] salvation is linked with the
recognition of the rights of the Lord Jesus. It is written, If thou shalt
confess with thy mouth THE LORD JESUS,
and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised
him from the dead, thou shalt be saved, Romans 10:
9. In a coming [millennial] day every knee will be made to bow to Him, and every tongue will have
to confess THAT JESUS CHRIST is LORD, but the believer does it now.
By-and-by the rightful but now rejected King will have dominion from sea to
sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth; but to-day His authority is only
acknowledged and confessed by those who believe on His Name. A little
millennium is set up in the heart of the believer, and he confesses Jesus as
Lord.
I fear that often Jesus is trusted as the Saviour, but not fully recognised as Lord. He is
regarded more as a passenger than as captain of the ship. The captain has
authority from stem to stern; the ship sails whithersoever he listeth; everything about the vessel and her
voyage is under his control. Now let each of us ask himself the question, Have
I Christ on board as a Passenger, or as Captain of the ship?
Some - Jacob-like- will give Christ the tenth part; others
will offer Him a larger proportion; but giving Him one-tenth or nine-tenths is
not really owning His rights. The inhabitants of a besieged city wanted to make
terms with their enemies, but the answer was, No terms: unconditional surrender. That is what we
must have if we want to be Christians worthy of the name. No terms with Christ, but
unconditional surrender to Him - the loyal and unreserved recognition of His
rights as LORD - [over all creation].
Is He not worthy? Think of His unconditional surrender for us!
See the Lord of glory stooping down into the dust of death! He sacrificed
everything and laid down His life to make us His own. The love of Christ,
expressed in death, has a constraining power over every heart that really knows
it; and it pleads with a cogency which nothing but the hardness of unbelief
resist, that we should not henceforth live unto ourselves, but unto Him. Do we
believe that he gave himself? Then how can we make reserves in our surrender to Him? Shall we not
fervently exclaim -
Higher than the
highest heavens,
Deeper than the deepest
sea,
Lord, Thy love at last hath
conquered.
Grant me now my spirits
longing,
None of self and all of Thee?
May all bargaining and compromise and reserve cease from our hearts
here and now, and may that short but all-comprehensive prayer of a surrendered
and subject heart - Lord, what wilt Thou have me
to do? - be our
souls utterance to-day and evermore!
Surely none of us could be content to quietly assume that
because our sins are forgiven we need not concern ourselves as to whether we
are devoted to Christ or not! Let us not forget the judgment-seat! Let us
remember that there is such a thing as being saved yet so as by fire! Believer, your present
happiness and your future place in the [Lords] kingdom glory depend on your loyalty to Christ here on earth. May
God touch us with a little of the fire that burned in the soul of a true Nazarite!
No one was compelled to be a Nazarite he was one who
voluntarily devoted himself to the Lord with a willing mind. Grace wrought in
his heart the desire to be wholly for the Lord, and then grace provided a way
in which that devotedness could be expressed. The great need of to-day is more
Nazarites- more thoroughly devoted men and women. Spiritual young men are a great testimony for Christ in
these days of secularised Christianity, and I should like every true christian
young man to have it impressed upon his heart that God has committed to him a stewardship of the interests and glory of
CHRIST. If we have not an intense longing to be really for Christ, may God
give it to us now!
Notice the three words - eight times repeated in this chapter
-
UNTO THE LORD.
These words are the key to the chapter. It is not under the law, but UNTO THE LORD. There was no servile constraint - no legal bondage - about
the Nazarites vow. He was one whose heart burned with a desire to be wholly
devoted unto the Lord. Now I confess I know no arguments, and I am acquainted with
no power that will move the heart to devotedness except the knowledge of the
Lord Himself and of His love. It is possible to read books by the score, and to
listen to the most faithful and blessed ministry for years together, and yet
never know the Lord as a present living object in heavenly glory. I venture to
say that it is impossible to see and know Him there by faith without having an
intense desire to be wholly devoted to Him here. Do you think that we could
gaze upon the glory-crowned Person to whom angels and principalities are
subject, and yet withhold the allegiance of our poor hearts? Do you suppose for
a moment that we could see the hands, the feet, the side, that bear the tokens
of His love to us, and remain in a state
of passive indifference to His glory here? Could we see Him there - the
exalted object of the worship of heaven - and at the same time be content to compromise His glory and
dishonour His Name by conformity to the world which still sets Him at naught?
A sight of that MAN in the glory takes
the glitter from this corrupt and godless world. Its charms attract and its
shams deceive no more. The heart says, What have I to do any more with idols? The ONE in glory becomes the object bright
and fair, to fill and satisfy the heart, and the one who thus knows Him begins
a new life. Instead of the affections and the energies finding their home and
object in the world and self, they begin to flow in the current of Numbers 6, unto the
Lord. It is not that we deny ourselves for an indefinite
reason, or to improve our spiritual standing or reputation, but there is a
positive object - a Person of infinite worth - before our souls, and for the
sake and for the love of that Person what would otherwise be painful
self-denial becomes a source of deepest happiness to our souls. I am bold to
say that the Nazarite who really devoted himself unto the Lord got overwhelmingly repaid for his
self-denial in the blessing and joy of his soul. I would ask, Are you prepared to
be a true Nazarite? Does the Person of the Lord and His love so command you,
that the deepest and most cherished desire of your heart is to be devoted
entirely to HIM.
There were three things the Nazarite was not to do; these three
negatives being simply the fruit and the expression of the positive fact that
he was a man devoted UNTO THE LORD.
1. He was not to eat or drink any part
or product of the vine.
2. He was not to cut his hair.
3. He was not to come in contact with a
dead body.
1. The Nazarite willingly devoted
himself to a life of SELF-DENIAL,
and for the Lords sake he abstained from that which would have been naturally
pleasant to him. The testimony of scripture is that wine maketh
merry, Ecclesiastes 10: 19,
and maketh glad the heart of man, Psalm 104:
15, and hence wine becomes the type of those
earthly and worldly things that elevate and give pleasure to the heart and mind
of man. The ordinary Israelite might indulge in wine and keep a good
conscience; not so the Nazarite. The one who desired to be wholly for the Lord
must abstain so totally that from the kernels even to the husk not a particle or drop that came from
the vine of the earth must pass his lips.
Alas! my friends, there
are many professing Christians to-day who are ready to drink every drop of the
vine of earthly pleasure that they can get. They are ready to eat the whole
vine - kernel and husks and all. The strait-laced legality of Puritan times has given place to a corrupt taste for pleasure
and amusement, which is being gratified to the full by a sickly, effeminate,
and unfaithful profession, so that there is hardly any form of earthly or
worldly pleasure which is not indulged in by professed people of God. Dear
fellow Christians, if you are set for the Lord, you will very soon find out
that you cannot go to a cricket or football match, to a dramatic or musical
entertainment, or to a worldly party, and you cannot read light or fictitious
literature, without defiling the head of your consecration. If you indulge in such things you will find that they destroy your
appetite for the word of God, they take away your liberty in prayer, they bring
a shade upon your spiritual joy, and very soon - unless you repent - they will
deprive you of all power to be a living witness for Christ.
I speak plainly because I judge you do not want to be merely a
theoretical Christian. The things which I have already mentioned carry so
evidently the stamp of the world upon them that you have probably shunned them
ever since you were converted. Perhaps the girdle of truth needs to be drawn a
little tighter than this around the loins of our minds. There are many things
which could not be pronounced sinful from which a devoted heart would hold
aloof. Each one has tastes and tendencies of thought which if we had remained
unconverted would have dominated and coloured our lives. With one it is a love
for society, with another a taste for music, a third is held spellbound under
the magicians wand of the poet, the mind of a fourth is absorbed by mechanical
or scientific ideas, and so on. Remember I am not now speaking of what a man is
engaged in as his business or profession, but
of the source to which he turns for the pleasure of his heart when the claims
of duty are discharged. All such things are products of the earthly vine - not
always evil in themselves, but when the hearts affections are entwined round
them, and the heart looks for its solace and joy in them, they have diverted us
from the true source of our joy; they have displaced the Lord from His true place as our hearts
absorbing object, and the Nazarite is defiled.
Suppose a widow passing through a place where her husband had
been murdered a few years before; you would hardly expect her to find much to gratify
her heart there, however interesting the occupations and however innocent and
entertaining the amusements of the place might be! Now do we look upon this world as the place where the One we love best was
murdered? The earth did not yield Him wine, but vinegar and gall, and He has
turned His back upon all earthly joys, saying, I will not
drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come, Luke
22: 18.*
His joys are with the Father and in heaven, and He would have
us so to know and to share them that we might count it a gain to turn aside
from the vine of the earth.
Thy love is better than wine ... we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine, is
the language of a heart truly attached to the Lord, Song of Solomon 1: 44; and David could say, Thou hast put
gladness in my heart, more than in the time that
their corn and their wine increased, Psalm 4: 7. Bear witness, every Christian! Have you not had
seasons of joy in the Lord which have infinitely surpassed everything that the
vines of earth can afford? Would you willingly and deliberately sacrifice the
former for the sake of the latter? I think not. Then take heed that you are not
beguiled by the serpent, who ever seeks to rob us of our true joys by turning
us aside to things which promise fair, but which yield no real satisfaction to
the heart. It is a real loss to us when we turn aside to these things, and we
have to prove it so in the end; even as it is said of Israel, MY people have committed
two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them
out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water, Jeremiah
2: 13.
Those who selfishly want to enjoy everything in heaven and on
earth - often particularly the latter - without caring much in what relation
things stand to CHRIST, will lift up
both hands in great surprise, and protest against being deprived of innocent pleasures, and will tell us very
emphatically that they cannot see any harm in
these things. Well, we shall have to let such take their own course, but the
true Nazarite will know very well who has the best of it even now; and a day is
fast approaching when others may find out that a different course would have
been more to advantage.
Deuteronomy 29: 6 is instructive
in connection with this subject: Ye have not eaten bread, neither have
ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might
know that I am the Lord your God. In the wilderness the Lord would make Himself the only source whether of
sustenance or joy to His people. In the true spirit of this the altogether
perfect One refused both the bread, Luke 4: 4, and the wine, Mark
15: 23. He would only accept support from God. He would only
have the solace and joy ministered by His God and Father. Even so He would have
us to prove that He can carry us through this wilderness world without either
its support or its solace. He would make Himself our bread and our wine, and instead of being worse off we
should be infinitely better off, like Daniel and his friends, who fairer and
fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the kings
meat. The devil
is always ready to suggest that an out-and-out Christian is a melancholy
creature who does not enjoy life at all. Every thread of that suggestion, warp
and woof, is a lie, and you may take it for granted that it is not
whole-hearted separation to the Lord that makes any unhappy.
Leviticus 10: 9, 10 is another suggestive scripture as to this
matter: Do not drink wine nor strong drink ... that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean. A man cannot indulge in earth-born
joys without having his spiritual perceptions blunted. If he goes on with them,
he will presently tolerate what he would have once judged to be evil. Then
godly watchfulness as to the little everyday details of life gives place to
carelessness and laxity. Week by week the line of separation from the world
becomes less distinct. Solidity and force of spiritual character is lost. The
holy is not sought, nor the unholy shunned, with that intensity of purpose
which once burned brightly in the soul; and ere long the once devoted saint
drifts along with the circumstances by which he is surrounded, with little
exercise and less joy, and completely shorn of the beauty of his Nazariteship.
Another solemn voice reaches us from Lamentations
4: 7: Her Nazarites were purer than
snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire: their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become
like a stick. How
sad to think that the once lovely Nazarite may be reduced to such a condition
as this! Have you never seen a blighted and withered Nazarite - a man who has
lost the simplicity that is in Christ, and the beauty of holiness, and all the
devotedness and heavenly mindedness that once shone so brightly in him? Now
nobody can read Christ in him. True, his name is on a church-roll somewhere; he
attends meetings perhaps; but he is not known in the streets. The men where he
works do not know that he is a Christian, and it is as well they do not, for he
is now more like a spiritual scarecrow than anything else. A man in that
condition, instead of attracting souls to Christ, only scares them away. Let
that man be a beacon-light to warn you from the rock on which he has made
shipwreck. The Nazarites decline and fall begins by his turning aside to find pleasure in some joy that
is of earth and not of heaven. The Lord loses for the moment His all-commanding
and unrivalled place as the object of the heart. This opens a crack - very
small, probably, at first - but the devil has got wedges which are small enough
at one end to get into the
smallest crack; and when they are once in he knows how to drive them home,
unless divine grace works repentance and restoration. Then you get a man like
one of Jeremiahs Nazarites - worldly, conscience-smitten, and unhappy - a man
who, sooner or later, will feel his thorough wretchedness; for if he is a
converted man the Holy Spirit can neither give him the joys of heaven nor
suffer him to be happy with the lays of earth. Thus, in seeking to enjoy two
worlds, he for the present loses both.
To
be continued, D.V.
*
* * *
* * *
439
THE JUDGMENT SEAT
IF we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins,
and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness.
If we do not confess our sins, then that unrighteousness must
be manifested (exposed) at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
To emphasize this truth, we quote the following verses:
Every mans work shall be made
manifest
(exposed): for
the day (i.e., when the
Lord comes, see 1 Cor.
4: 5) shall declare it, because it
shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall
try every mans work of what sort it is.
If any mans work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he
himself shall be saved: yet so as by (through) fire (1 Cor.
3: 13, 15).
For we must all appear before the
Judgment Seat of Christ; that everyone may
receive the things done in his body, according
to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad (2 Cor. 5: 10).
Surely no conscientious believer can ignore either the
importance of these Scriptures, or the true meaning of them. The solemn message
running through them all is that judgment must begin with us. And if we are not
willing to make this judgment here in our pilgrimage journey, it will be made
for us when our pilgrimage is over.
When Paul wrote to the Colossians, he said:
Knowing that of the Lord ye shall
receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye
serve the Lord Christ.
But he that doeth wrong shall receive
for the wrong which he hath done: and there is
No respect of Persons (Col. 3: 24-25).
The Apostles stirring words are for all Christians, he says:
You will - at the Judgment Seat of Christ - receive for the wrong which you have done. It is
necessary that we seek to understand this scripture; and we shall do well to
take heed of its warning.
Again I say with all seriousness:- God
cannot condone sin even in His Children. Let us come humbly and plead:
O God, I desire to be led by the Holy Spirit to
examine myself and seek the removal of all things which mar fellowship with
Thee. Help me to realize how serious a sin it is to trifle with our
opportunities, and to walk out of fellowship with Thee.
Walk in the light. Then sin abhorred,
You shall the victory gain;
The Blood of Jesus Christ your Lord,
Will cleanse from every stain.
- Life and
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440
THE LAST LAP
By SAMUEL SCOVILLE
KNOW ye not that they which run in a race run
all, but one rreceiveth
the Prize? Even so run, that ye may attain. I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage; lest by any means, after
that I have preached to others, I myself
should be rejected [for
the Prize] 1 Cor. 9: 24, 27.
I was a
freshman at Yale. The Captain of the race team told me that Yale was anxious to
have me win the Intercollegiate Mile. Then old Miles Murphy, the best trainer
the world has ever known, muttered some advice in my ear about not getting
pocketed and laying back until the last quarter. The next moment I was out upon
the track, which was ringed around with stands full of shouting, cheering
spectators.* Thirty or forty of us contestants got out on our marks
across the cinder path: then came the bang of a pistol - and we were off.**
* So Heb.
12: 1:- Let us also, seeing we are
compassed about with. so great a cloud of witnesses, run with patience the race that is set before us. [NOTE: All the
footnotes are by D. M. Panton, M.A.]
** So 2 Tim. 2: 5:- If a man contend in
the games, he is not crowned, except he have contended lawfully.
One of the boys who ran that day was an almost unknown runner,
representing a small school. At the first corner, while fighting for the lead,
he was accidentally spiked and thrown headlong. One of his legs was gashed by
the long spikes on the shoes of another competitor, and his hands and face were
cut by the sharp cinders. By the time that he had struggled to his feet again,
the whole field was thirty yards ahead of him.
He had fallen. His face was blackened and bleeding. He was left
far behind. It seemed hopeless for him to go on. Nevertheless he started after
that crowd of runners as bravely as if nothing had happened.*
* So Phil. 3: 13:- Forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward
to the things which are before, I press on
toward the goal unto the prize.
All around the first lap he remained behind them all. Little
by little, however, he began to cut down the lead of the runners nearest him,
and by the end of the first half he was up among the laggards of the race,
twenty yards or so back of the leaders.
Then came that bitter third quarter. There is nothing in
athletics harder than the third quarter of a fast mile. One has already run a
half at full speed and there is still another quarter to come. An iron band
seems to tighten around ones chest. There is the salt taste of blood in the
mouth, and one longs desperately to give up and fall down and rest.
Yet that boy who had been last, blackened and bleeding, with
set teeth, cut down one faltering runner after another of those farthest
behind, until, as the leaders neared the finish of the third lap, they heard
behind them the pad, pad of flying feet coming nearer and nearer.
In another moment the pacemakers had reached the fourth
quarter, and a deep-toned bell signalled the beginning of the last lap, while
the cheers of the crowd swept across the track like a storm.
The sound was like a spur to the speed of that boy who had
been last. He shot by a little group of runners, and in the backstretch was
hard upon the heels of the four leaders. As they swung around the last corner
into the home-stretch, those four, who were in front, heard the sound of flying
feet approaching them from behind, and knew that the race that day was to be
fought out by five instead of four.
As all five of them swung into the home-stretch, the
spectators leaned forward from the stands and called upon the runners by name
for one last desperate effort. No one called to the boy who ran last of that quintette
nor even knew his name.
At the finish a red strand of worsted was stretched
breast-high across the track. The runner who first broke that cord was the mile
champion for the coming year. There were grouped the judges and the timers, and
to the men struggling toward it, that thin red line seemed to move back and
back to an interminable distance.
The extreme limit of their endurance had been reached, and as
their strength flagged, each runner called upon the very soul that was in him
to help him bear the pain and carry him on to the finish.
Lurching and staggering with mortal weakness each one drew
upon the last atom of strength in him for a final effort. A strange silence fell
upon the crowd, and in the stillness the rapid, laboured breathing of the
runners could be heard.
Suddenly, up level with the fourth man came the blackened
gashed face of the last runner, and slowly drew away from him.* Now the finish
was only thirty yards away, and suddenly beside the third man showed that same
disfigured face, whose staring eyes saw nothing but the goal.
* So Matt. 19: 30:- Many shall be last
that are first; and first that are last.
That third man did his best and gave all that he had to hold
his place - I ought to know, I was that third man - but slowly and surely the
boy who had fallen at the start drew away from him. Then he challenged the
other two who were running neck and neck, and five yards from the finish drew
up even with them.
For an instant that seemed a year the three struggled for the
lead, and then, at the very finish, the runner who had been left lying
prostrate in the dirt when the race began threw himself forward, broke the tape
a scant inch ahead of the other two, won the race, and broke the
Intercollegiate Record, for the Mile.*
* So 2 Tim. 4: 7:- I have fought the good fight, I
have finished the course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me THE CROWN.
In forty years of athletics I have never seen again so gallant
a finish, and to the day of my death never will I forget that race nor that
runner.
There are times in the lives of us all when we stumble and
fall and are defiled by dirt and cut and gashed and hurt. Yet we are only beaten if we give up and lie down
hopeless and helpless. No matter how far
the fall nor how dreadful the failure there is only one thing to do - get up
and go on and on and on and never, never quit!
The Start is important, but - its the Finish that wins!
The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews had seen the races at
the great Olympic Games, and still his instructions about the race of life ring
down to us through the mist of the years:
Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight,
and the sin which doth so easily beset us,
and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.
- The Sunday School Times.
* *
*
Apart altogether from the fact that
Israel has forfeited all right to the Holy Land until she repents, Britains
substitution of the White Paper for the Balfour declaration is open to grave
criticism. Mr. J. S. Bevan
quotes (Christian, Dec. 23, 1945) Mr. Winston
Churchills comment on the White Paper on its issue. I accuse His Majestys Government of being unable to form a
coherent opinion on affairs in
* *
* * *
* *
441
WEEPING OVER
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
WE draw
rapidly nearer to the great tragedy of
Tears
In one extraordinary action of our Lord is revealed for ever
our right attitude to
A Mother
The Lord now speaks: the tears become words. O Jerusalem,
Even Thou
Our Lords words show what a focus of revelation
* It is fitting that in the new age the
Refusal
Our Lord now reveals the awful power of the human will. But ye would
not: ye willed not to accept my appeals.
Jehovah had foretold it, and we are finding it true of the whole Gentile world
to-day. Thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken unto thee: thou shalt also call unto them, but they will not answer thee (Jer. 7: 27). The whole crisis of salvation turns on the
human will. It must: for goodness that is forced is not goodness; love that is
merely commanded is not love: the human will is among the most magnificent
gifts of God, and so we decide our own eternal destiny, and can resist God to
the last. The most moving appeal our Lord ever made is made in the face of
obstinate rejection and final doom: exactly so, for us the tenderness of His
tears bids us announce the terrible coming judgments, not in anger, but in
divine and heart-breaking justice.
Blindness
We are now awed by the theology of the Son of God. The Saviour
who never wept even in the agony of the Cross, sobs over the doom of the lost. Thou wouldest
not: now they are hid from thine eyes. If men will not see, Gods decree is that they shall not see: a point is
always reached in human history when righteousness would be outraged if mercy
was prolonged any further. Our Lord already pronounces judgment on irrevocable
sin:- Unto them that are without - the outcast Jews - all things
are done in parables; that seeing they may see,
and not perceive; and
hearing they may hear, and not understand;
lest haply they should turn again, and it should be forgiven them (Mark 4:
l1). To every soul a time of grace is
allotted, after which salvation is impossible: even the tears of Christ cannot
save a soul who lets his hour of visitation pass. No
preachers are so terrible as the Redeemers tears (W. Arnot).
Destruction
So now the Lord photographs the judgment forty years before it
occurs. They shall
dash thee to the ground, and thy children within
thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone
upon another. As Lange has truly said:- Not without reason has there been found at all times in this
prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem, on the very place where afterwards
the Romans pitched their first camp, one of the strongest proofs of the
infallible and Divine foreknowledge of Jesus. Isaiah
64: 11 had foretold it four centuries
before:- Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned with fire. When the city was destroyed, the untouched stones of
the
To-day
Extraordinary significance lies for us in our Lords answer to
the disciples question, - When shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of the end of the age? (Matt.
24: 3).
The Lords answer sketches the Great Tribulation the doom of
Visitation
The Lord sums all up in the one critical fact. - Ye knew not the time
of your visitation. Have we known ours? Christ can be on our door-step, and
we are totally unaware of it. In childhood, by a
mothers tenderness; in youth, by a fathers wisdom; in young manhood or
womanhood, by many voices of the home and the Church uniting to say, Seek the
Lord while he may be found; in prime, by
some chastening providence, laying His hand upon us and constraining us to
listen and to understand (J. M.
Lang, D.D.).
Yet even to this heart-breaking nation, our Lord has kept open
the door to individual salvation for nineteen centuries.
A converted Jewess, daughter of a
* *
* *
* * *
442
THE RETURN OF OUR LORD AND
WORLD-WIDE EVANGELISM
By S. M. ZWEMER, D.D.
IT is
only modern rationalism and unbelief which, after denying Christs virgin
birth, His bodily resurrection and ascent into heaven, mock at the promise of
His return, saying, From the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the
creation. Let
them mock! The Christian Century says in a remarkable article on the War and the Second Coming (Aug. 18, 1943):- It is interesting to note the growth during these past years
of the new apocalypticism. This is found mainly in scholarly circles;
premillennialism is a lay theology. But both share the mood which we find
beginning with Jewish writings twenty-one centuries ago: a sense of
hopelessness as to the achievement of good in history or by human effort, the
belief in the existence of powerful forces of evil and their dominance over
humanity and the course of events, and the conviction that human hope must rest
upon a final decisive and irresistible act of God.
Dr. Deismann, the great New Testament scholar,
declared that for the past thirty years the
discernment of the eschatological character of the gospel of Jesus has more and
more come to the front in international Christian theology ... We to-day must lay the strongest possible stress upon the
eschatological character of that gospel which it is the practical business of
the Church to proclaim, namely, that we must daily focus our minds upon the
fact that the [Millennial] Kingdom of God is near, that God with His
unconditional sovereignty comes through judgment and redemption, and that we
have to prepare ourselves inwardly for the Maranatha - the Lord cometh. All earnest Christians of every
school of theological thought seem agreed that we face to-day an eschatological
crisis. The day of the Lord is at hand. We hear the same note of warning from
many voices. Professor D. R. Davies,
of
The Unfinished Task of the Church
In view of all this it is not remarkable, therefore, that those
who look eagerly for Christs second advent are most eager also to complete the
task of evangelism. The gospel must first be preached unto all nations for
a Witness. The law
of priority always produces a crisis. There is no stronger incentive to
immediate evangelism than the imminence of Christs return.
In a day when the pillars of western civilization are
crumbling, when the foundations of society seem tottering, and when sword and
famine and pestilence walk abroad, we must preach a message that is
otherworldly, or we have no message at all. To-days evangelism must be, in the
words of Adolf Harnack,
in the midst of time for eternity by the strength and
under the eye of God. The older generation of evangelists was not
ashamed of a gospel that dealt with eternal issues. They preached a message
that bridged death and revealed eternal glory or eternal woe. Evangelism that
preaches Christs resurrection and His return goes far beyond social
reformation or new-world plans or political blueprints. We can no longer go to
the East to share the social and cultural benefits of the West, for the whole
of so-called Christian culture stands at a period of terrible crisis, every section
of it under Gods judgment. We are compelled by the present situation to look for new
heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness.
A Living Hope for a Despairing World
The return of Christ is the living hope for a despairing
world. It tells of the dawn of an eternal morning after our night of gloom. As
Jesus said to John in lonely
When the gospel of the resurrection lays hold of our minds and
hearts, we begin to see the meaning of Barths
penetrating words:- Eternity is not the prolongation
of time. Eternity is the unknown which in Jesus Christ has broken into our
world. According to this conception, eternity is, as it were, the
hidden, the other side of time. Time is empty, impoverished eternity. Eternity
is time filled full. There comes a year, there comes an hour when things grow
earnest, when some crisis comes. That means eternity is flooding into time, as
a mountain freshet after storm floods the dry bed of a stream. The fulness of
time is the crisis. Christs return will be the crisis of all human history and
its final consummation. Then cometh the end.
The Strongest Incentive to Missions
This hope of Christs imminent, personal, visible return is
the strongest possible incentive to missions. It sounds the note of urgency.
Those who are filled with the hope of His coming are also on fire for world-wide
evangelism. Of this fact the cloud of witnesses is evidence absolute and
convincing. Great church theologians, great pioneer missionaries, and many
ardent evangelists are among them: Dean
Alford, Delitzsch, Auberlen, Bishop Ellicott, Vanoosterzee, Bengel,
Godet, Bonar, Bickersteth,
Pentecost, Whittle, Lord Radstock, Hammond,
Nunhall, Muller, A. T. Pierson, Moody, J. Hudson Taylor, R. E. Speer, and many others. All
of them held the premillennial view and held it soberly - with their loins girt
about and their lights burning.
There are different views of the times and the
seasons which the
Father only can reveal in His own time and way. But even our post-millennial
brethren do not deny the second advent. Even the a-millennial group, who reject
dispensationalism and the millennium idea, hold just as firmly that Christ will
return from heaven to judge the world. The greatest danger is not the
discordance between these views of the time of the advent, but rationalistic
unbelief which denies and derides Christs second coming altogether. The
fulness of time for the coming of our Saviour at
The Practical Implication of This Belief
Unless a Christian doctrine has practical effect in our lives,
it is a dead letter. For example, there is no particular benefit in a mere
intellectual belief in the deity of Christ unless with Thomas we are willing to
call Him my Lord and my
God. It has
occurred to me that there is perhaps no doctrine which has received such
prominence in recent years, both in print and in discussion, and at the same
time so little emphasized in practical life, as the doctrine of the second
coming.
Some have been very clever at
preparing at timetable of prophetical events and suggesting the hour when we
may expect our Lord. A man may know all about the timetable, and yet miss the
train! Some are not living as if they were anxious to be found ready for that
return. Premillennial teaching demands above anything else otherworldliness, a
sense of stewardship, and a supreme sense of the urgency of our task. There is
no other event in history which will have such absolute, immediate, and
startling effect on all property values as the rending of the sky and the
return of our Lord.
Are all of us ready for His coming and faithful stewards of
His blessings? Were mens hearts ever so expectant of a climax and a crisis in
history as now? Was the world ever in greater need of a deliverer and judge?
Are not the signs of which Jesus spoke in the Gospels, and which usher in the
day of the Lord, on the front pages of our newspapers? Were the opportunities
for evangelism ever so great as now? Apart from His coming again is there any
hope for this disillusioned, stricken, war-torn world? An age, which is
drinking the bitterest waters of all historical eras. In a day when the
judgment of God has melted into burning lava and is pouring through the ruins
of mans proudest achievements, let the prophetic tnimpet-call
of repentance pierce the tormented soul of man.
Jesus came; Jesus is coming again. To accept these two statements, which
are the shortest summary of the New Testament, with all they imply of faith and
hope and glory, would fill us with the joy of the early Christians and their
devotion.
- The
* *
* * *
* *
443
THE SORROW OF GOD
By JAMES S. STEWART
When we
think how persistently man has desecrated and made havoc of this earth, which is
Gods creation, how stubbornly the human heart has crucified Christ afresh in
every age and put Him to an open shame, how defiantly it has refused the light
of life, preferring the darkness and chaos of its own wrecking passions, and
ruthless self-assertion - when we think of these things, do not we, like
Luther, stand amazed at the self-control of heaven? Why has the great Creator
not despaired utterly of His creatures? Why is the whole tragic performance not
swept away into oblivion? The sin of man - how can God bear it?
One of the most moving statements ever given of this
bewildering patience of God is to be found in the pages of the prophet Hosea.
This man, out of an experience of crushing personal sorrow, was able to bring
for Israelite religion and for the world a new philosophy of history and an
amazing discovery of the mind and heart of God.
It seems to have happened like this: one day, when he was
brooding in secret on the domestic tragedy which had wrecked his home and
darkened his life, it suddenly occurred to him that there was something
strangely similar in national history.
But stay, thought Hosea, Here am I, crucified in the region of my affections, and yet
knowing that if Gomer came back to me tomorrow I would sing for joy and take
her to my arms and forgive everything - I love her still so utterly. Shall God
love less? If I would do that for my dearest possession, shall God do
less for His? This was the swift insight which made the man a prophet,
this daring logic of faith rising from the human to the divine. If human love can know such agony, how much more love
divine! If I can suffer so for Gomer, how much more God for
So this man Hosea,
seven hundred years before Christ, arrived at three of the greatest truths of
religion.
First, the Sorrow of God. The tragedy which had happened in his
own home was a kind of miniature of the vast tragedy which had happened in
Gods world. Gods relation to the nation, as he now pictured it, had been one
of marriage and romance, Jehovah was the husband of Israel ... I will betroth thee to Me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto
Me in righteousness and in justice, in real love,
and in tender mercies: I will betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness,
and thou shalt
know Jehovah. It is a forecast of that lovely New Testament picture [of
His plans for the Jewish Nation during the Millennium, (Rom. 9: 4) and of] - the Church as the Bride of Christ [Rev. 19:
7, 8,
R.V.)].
The misery of the worlds tragic wrongness and rebellion is
not that it breaks a law, but that it smites love in the face. An impersonal
law cannot suffer; and if, God is a kind of philosophic Absolute, then, of
course, God cannot suffer, and those who declare that the notion of suffering is incompatible with
divinity and a degradation of the idea of God are perfectly right. But it is
quite certain that love can suffer terribly; and if God is love, then
immeasurable must be the agony, overwhelming the burden, that weighs on God
to-day. That is why the central symbol of the Christian religion is a Cross.
Beyond this first great truth, so decisively relevant to our
situation to-day, Hosea discerned another - the undiscourageable Patience of God. His own love for Gomer, he found, survived the wrecking
of his home: he loved her still, and could not let her go. How much more would
God refuse to let
There was a third truth which Hosea saw shining like a beacon above the chaos and corruption of
his time. This was the ultimate Victory of God. The midnight of
his own domestic tragedy led on to a
brighter day; for he found Gomer in the far country, and brought her back
to the home of her youth. How much more would God win the
[* See also Hos. 5: 15- 6:
1-3, R.V. and compare Rom. 8: 20-22
with
What is this but the Christian evangel?
In Jesus Christ, crucified, risen and exalted, God has acted in history. In
that life and death and resurrection, God has intervened decisively against the
hosts of evil. The fact of Christ is the living God going forth to war, with
power and great glory, against every wrecking force that desolates the earth,
and every sin that rots the souls of men. The Cross is not a poignant memory of
a moving human heroism. It is God in action. It is God defeating evil
irrevocably and for ever at the very point where all the concentrated forces of
evil were boasting their greatest victory. It is God turning the wrath of man
to His praise. It is a lever strong enough to move the world.
Can there be any doubt of the issue?
Even Hosea, in the dim ages before Christ, had no doubt: O death, I will be
thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction. All the deadly fortes of history, the
tyrant principalities and powers, the ruthless blight of wickedness in high
places, and the sins from whose stubborn grip no man can ransom himself or be
his own redeemer, shall yield to the
Name that is above every name. - World Dominion.
* *
* * *
* *
444
THE RAPTURE AND THE TRIBULATION
By G. H. LANG
THERE are
two principal views on the Rapture and the Tribulation: one, that the Parousia
will commence prior to the Times of the End, and that at its inception all
believers of the heavenly calling, dead and living, will be taken to the
presence of the Lord in the air; the other, that the Parousia will occur at the
close of the Great Tribulation, until when no believers will be raised or
changed. The one view says that no believers will go into the End Times; the
other that none then living will escape them. The one involves that the utmost
measure of unfaithfulness or carnality in a believer puts him in no peril of
forfeiting the supreme honour of rapture or of having to endure the dread End
Days: the other view involves that no degree of faithfulness or of holiness
will enable a saint to escape those Days. As regards this matter, godliness and
unfaithfulness seem immaterial on either view, which raises a doubt of both
views.
1. Our Lord Jesus Christ has declared
distinctly that escape is possible. In Luke 21
is a record of instruction given by Him to four apostles on the
Then He mentions the disturbances in nature and the fears of
mankind that are grouped under seal 6 in Rev. 6: 12-17, and adds
explicitly that then shall they see
the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory, and that when these things begin His
disciples may know that their redemption draweth nigh (ver. 27,
28).
In concluding this outline of the period of the Beast the Lord
then uttered - [to His disciples:
compare Matt. 24:
3, R.V. with Luke
21: 34-36,
R.V.] - this exhortation and promise: But take heed
to yourselves, lest haply your hearts be
overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and
cares of this life, and that day come on you suddenly
as a snare: for so shall it come upon all them
that dwell on the face of all the earth. But
watch ye at every season, making supplication,
that ye may prevail to escape all these things
that shall come to pass, and to stand before the
Son of Man.
This declares distinctly: (1) That escape is possible from all
those things of which Christ had been speaking, that is, from the whole
End-times. (2) That that day of
testing will be universal, and inevadable by any then on the earth, which
involves the removal from the earth of any who are to escape it. (3) That there is a fearful peril of disciples becoming worldly of heart and
so being, enmeshed in that last period. (4)
That hence it is needful to watch and to pray ceaselessly, that so we - [who are regenerate (i.e., born
again see Jn. 3: 3, 5, R.V.)] may prevail over all obstacles
and dangers and thus escape that era.
This most important and unequivocal statement by our Lord sets aside the opinion that all Christians will escape irrespective of
their moral state, and also negatives the notion that no escape is possible.
There is a door of escape; but as with all doors, only those who are
awake will see it, and only those who are in earnest will reach it ere the
storm bursts. In every place in the New Testament the word escape has its natural force [see the word in the Greek
] - to flee out
of a place of trouble and be quite clear thereof.* It never means to endure the trial successfully.
In this very discourse of the Lord it is in contrast with the statement, He that endureth ([see
the Greek
]) to the end (of these things) the same shall be saved* (Matt. 24:
13). One escapes, another endures.
* It comes only at Luke 21: 36, Acts 16: 27; 19: 16; Rom. 2: 3; 2 Cor. 11: 33; 1 Thess. 5: 3; Heb. 2: 3; 12: 25. In comparison with
[* Compare
this future
salvation, which is a living hope, with 1 Pet. 1: 3, 5, 9, 11 and 13, R.V.]
The attempt to evade the application of this passage to
Christians on the plea that it refers to Jewish
disciples of Christ is baseless: (a)
No Jewish disciples of Christ are known to
the Scriptures (Gal. 3: 28: Eph. 2: 14-18). (b) The God-fearing remnant of
2. In harmony with this utterance of
our Lord is His further statement to the church at Philadelphia (Rev. 3: 10): Because thou didst
keep the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from (ek) [i.e., out of] the hour of trial, that hour which is to come upon the
whole inhabited earth, to try them that dwell
upon the earth.
Here also are declared: (a) The
universality of that hour of trial, so that any escape from it must involve
removal; (b) the promise of being kept from it; (c) the intimation that such preservation is the
consequence of a certain moral condition: Because thou
didst keep ... I also will keep. As this is addressed to a church, no
question of a Jewish application can arise. Nor do known facts or the Scriptures allow of the supposition that
every [regenerate] Christian keeps the word of Christs patience (Matt. 24: 12: Rev. 2: 5; Gal. 6: 12; Col. 4: 14 with 2 Tim. 4: 10 concerning
Demas); so that this promise cannot be stretched to mean all
believers.
In The
Bible Treasury, 1865,
p. 380, there is an instructive note
by J. N. Darby (see also Coll.
Writings, vol. 13, Critical 1, 581) on the difference between
(apo) and
(ek). The former regards hostile persons and being
delivered from them; the latter refers to a state and being kept from
getting into it. On Rev. 3: 10 he wrote:
So Rev. 3 the faithful are kept from getting into this state,
preserved from getting into it, or, as we say, kept out of it. For the words
here answer fully to the English out of or from. That the thought
is .not being kept from being injured in soul by the trials is implied in the
expression Keep thee out of that hour; it is from the period of time itself that the faithful are to be kept, not merely from its spiritual perils.
* *
* * *
* *
445
YE DID IT UNTO ME
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
ONE of
the most wonderful of the revelations of the Bible is the identity of Christ with
His disciples, a unity as close as our own body - head and hands and feet - is
one. The wonder of the revelation lies in its consequence, which our Lord has
thus expressed - Inasmuch as ye did it unto my brethren, ye did it unto me (Matt.
25: 40).
We suddenly realize that loving action, given to a suffering brother, is
actually felt by Christ; and we discover a method of repaying - in a slight
degree - the infinite love the Lord Jesus has for us. The Son of God actually
announces Himself as our debtor - if and when we comfort a suffering brother.*
* Even these least (See Greek). Our own belief is that the least
brethren are the Jews when spiritually restored, but still universally persecuted;
but the spiritual lesson of the parable is only enforced in the case of greater brethren. The Lords chief brethren are the
sons of Mary (Matt. 12:
46); His greater
brethren are the members of His Church (ver. 49);
and His least brethren are the Jews
regenerated after the Day of Grace is past. That it is a judgment of the
Gentiles makes this certain.
The Unity
First we observe a most revealing
physiological fact. The nerves of sensation all centre in the brain: every
pain, every pleasure in the body, is telegraphed instantly to the head; and so,
if the head is drugged, or unconscious, the deepest wound in the body is not
felt. Now see:- Ye are the body of Christ, and severally - individually - members thereof (1 Cor. 12: 27); for Christ is head over all things to the church, which is
his body (Eph. 1: 22). For all purposes of joy and sorrow, for all
conscious life and experimental sensation, Christ and His Church are regarded
as one man: one, that is, not so that the Body suffers all that the Head suffers,
but that the Head suffers all that the Body suffers. So tremendously important
is this vital unity of Christ and His Church, that Paul, the selected channel
for this truth, was told it in the very hour of his conversion - Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou - not, my church, but - me? (Acts 9:
4). For both He that sanctifieth and they
that are sanctified are all OF ONE:
for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren (Heb.
2: 11).
Suffering
Now it follows from this that our Lord has three great
physical sufferings in the world to-day:- want, loneliness, and disease. In the
judgment, looking backward, He says:- I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was
thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was naked, and ye clothed me. Now, giving to a hungry brother is
most stringently commended. If a brother or sister be naked,
or in lack of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Go
in peace, be ye warmed and filled, and yet ye give them not the things needful to the body, what doth it
profit? Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead
in itself (Jas. 2: 15). Some one beautifully says, - Many love at
their tongues end; we are to love at our fingers end: or, as an old writer said
fifteen hundred years ago, - The bread, which you
hold back, belongs to the hungry: the shoe which is mouldering away in your
wardrobe belongs to the shoeless (Basil).
So our Lord promises reward to the minutest practical assistance given to a
child of God. Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a
cup of cold water only - a mere glass of water - in the name of a disciple - as one Christian to another - he shall in
no wise lose his reward (Matt. 10:
42). But the amazing revelation in Matt. 25 is,
that Christ hungers when His people have to go without bread and, when they are
clothed in sheepskins and goatskins, He shivers. In all their afflictions he is afflicted: therefore, in relieving the destitute child of God, the act
is done, not only for Christ, but to Christ.
Christ is more amongst us than we dream. The puzzled hearers ask:- When saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? And Jesus
unveils the wondrous revelation:- inasmuch as ye did it unto one of
these my brethren, YE DID IT UNTO ME.
Loneliness
We turn to another need of Christ. I was a stranger, and ye took me in. The word used beautifully suggests a covert
allusion to church fellowship. A stranger to the church - but a saved soul,
that is, I in him - you took Me along
with you, you introduced Me into the family circle. We may remember the reply
of Miss Matthews, of Worthenbury, to her friends when they objected to her
marrying Mr. Philip Henry, father of
the immortal commentator, because he was a stranger, and no one knew where he
came from. True, she said, but I know where he is going, and I should like to go with
him. Our Lord says it elsewhere, quite distinctly, - Whoso shall
receive one such little child in my name - as one Christian receiving another - RECEIVETH ME. (Matt. 18: 5). How
this hallows and ennobles all church reception! But doubtless it refers chiefly
to individual loneliness. I was a stranger. See,
parenthetically, what dignity this puts upon the lonely soul: it is a
loneliness that Christ so peculiarly shares that what is done to the lonely
soul is done to Christ. Many Christians have been left by circumstances wonderfully lonely: others find themselves in a
totally strange neighbourhood; others, like missionaries, are scattered through
foreign lands. We can be far too chary of strangers. The command is - Forget not to
show love unto strangers (Heb. 13: 2). Gaius, you
remember, is praised because - thou doest a faithful work in whatsoever thou
doest toward them, that are brethren and
strangers withal (3 John 5); and one
qualification for a deaconess was that she had used hospitality to strangers (1 Tim.
5: 10).
Disease
We find yet another need of Christ. I was sick, and ye visited me:
I was in prison, and ye
came unto me. I was sick - how
strangely that comes from the lips of our Lord! It is deplorable that, because
in the modern church visiting is mainly left to church officers - to which only
one passage in the whole New Testament refers - it has been forgotten that it is the commanded duty of us all. Listen.
Pure
religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction,
and to keep himself unspotted from the world (Jas.
1: 27).
Some are too poor to feed and clothe others: none are too poor to visit. Christ
does not say, I was sick and ye did not cure me; I was in prison, and ye did not release me: all He asks is a visit; and while this is cheaper from a worldly point of view, it is more costly
from a spiritual.
The love to a stranger, and the visits
to the sick and the imprisoned, require something more costly than money - they
require self-sacrifice of time, rest, comfort, and sympathy. Gifts that are coined out of flesh and
blood are more valuable than those which bear the imprint of the Royal Mint;
and the amazing thing is that these are gifts which we can all confer ON
CHRIST. In the writers experience throughout fifty years, it is by
the sick bed he has been most conscious of the presence of Christ. I was sick,
and ye visited me. It is Christ who lies on the sick bed where we minister:
in times of persecution we find our Lord in a prison cell or a concentration
camp.
Love of Christ
Let us, in summing up, burn these thoughts deeply into our
minds. One - the invisible Lord whom
we love is easiest found among the poor of His people. As, in the days of His
flesh, Jesus was always surrounded by the obscure and the despised and the
sick, so He is thronged by them here and now; and even in the glory of the
gathered nations, He draws them round Him still - These my
brethren. Two - the Lord is actually suffering in the sufferings of His people. I was hungry: I was a stranger: I was sick: I was in prison. In a dreadfully real sense the sufferings of Christ have
lasted for well nigh two thousand years: as Paul says, - in my sufferings
I fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of the Christ in my flesh for His bodys sake, which is the church (Col. 1: 24). Every
smart the Body feels, the Head suffers. Three
- therefore it is actually possible to tend Christ in the person of His people.
What would we do if Jesus were here amongst us, underfed, ill-clad, sick and
lonely? How exquisite is the discovery that - in a real sense, so real as is
known only to God - we can do actually what the holy women did of old -
minister unto Him of our substance (Luke 8: 3). We can feed and clothe and cheer and love Him,
as He wanders through the bleak and cheerless world to-day, by reaching Him
through them, an opportunity that will never recur for all eternity. One
profound reason why Christ lets us all suffer is that, by bearing one anothers
burdens, we may all prove our love to Him. Finally
- the Lord never forgets a kindness done to Him in the person of His child. It
will amaze us to find every transient item, every forgotten sympathy, every
practical kindness tabulated and restored to us in the Light of Glory; and
happy is that disciple who goes before the Judgment Seat clothed in the
intercession of the comforted sufferer. YE DID IT UNTO ME.
Reward
An old legend expresses it exquisitely. A knight from the
Round Table travelled over deserts and mountains in search of the Holy Grail,
the cup our Lord used at the Lords Supper. Distressed and exhausted, he
returned after a futile search; and as he was nearing the gate of Camelot, he
saw a poor man writhing in the ditch, evidently dying. Descending from his
steed, and procuring a cup, he handed the water to the dying man; and as he did
so, the cup flamed as with the sapphire of the New Jerusalem - it was the Holy
Grail!
Christ as King of kings will reward
those who comforted His suffering Body. It is said that Ivan of Russia used sometimes to disguise himself and go out among
his people to find out their true character. In the suburbs of
* *
* * *
* *
439
THE JUDGMENT SEAT
IF we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins,
and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness.
If we do not confess our sins, then that unrighteousness must be
manifested (exposed) at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
To emphasize this truth, we quote the following verses:
Every mans work shall be made
manifest
(exposed): for
the day (i.e., when the
Lord comes, see 1 Cor.
4: 5) shall declare it, because it
shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall
try every mans work of what sort it is.
If any mans work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he
himself shall be saved: yet so as by (through) fire (1 Cor.
3: 13, 15).
For we must all appear before the
Judgment Seat of Christ; that everyone may
receive the things done in his body, according
to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad (2 Cor. 5: 10).
Surely no conscientious believer can ignore either the importance
of these Scriptures, or the true meaning of them. The solemn message running
through them all is that judgment must begin with us. And if we are not willing
to make this judgment here in our pilgrimage journey, it will be made for us
when our pilgrimage is over.
When Paul wrote to the Colossians, he said:
Knowing that of the Lord ye shall
receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye
serve the Lord Christ.
But he that doeth wrong shall receive
for the wrong which he hath done: and there is
No respect of Persons (Col. 3: 24-25).
The Apostles stirring words are for all Christians, he says: You will - at the Judgment Seat of Christ - receive for the wrong which
you have done. It is necessary that we seek to
understand this scripture; and we shall do well to take heed of its warning.
Again I say with all seriousness:- God
cannot condone sin even in His Children. Let us come humbly and plead:
O God, I desire to be led by the Holy Spirit to examine
myself and seek the removal of all things which mar fellowship with Thee. Help
me to realize how serious a sin it is to trifle with our opportunities, and to
walk out of fellowship with Thee.
Walk in the light. Then sin abhorred,
You shall the victory gain;
The Blood of Jesus Christ your Lord,
Will cleanse from every stain.
- Life and
* *
* * *
* *
440
THE LAST LAP
By SAMUEL SCOVILLE
KNOW ye not that they which run in a race run
all, but one rreceiveth
the Prize? Even so run, that ye may attain. I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage; lest by any means, after that
I have preached to others, I myself should be
rejected [for
the Prize] 1 Cor. 9: 24, 27.
I was a
freshman at Yale. The Captain of the race team told me that Yale was anxious to
have me win the Intercollegiate Mile. Then old Miles Murphy, the best trainer
the world has ever known, muttered some advice in my ear about not getting
pocketed and laying back until the last quarter. The next moment I was out upon
the track, which was ringed around with stands full of shouting, cheering
spectators.* Thirty or forty of us contestants got out on our marks
across the cinder path: then came the bang of a pistol - and we were off.**
* So Heb.
12: 1:- Let us also, seeing we are
compassed about with. so great a cloud of witnesses, run with patience the race that is set before us. [NOTE: All the
footnotes are by D. M. Panton, M.A.]
** So 2 Tim. 2: 5:- If a man contend in
the games, he is not crowned, except he have contended lawfully.
One of the boys who ran that day was an almost unknown runner,
representing a small school. At the first corner, while fighting for the lead,
he was accidentally spiked and thrown headlong. One of his legs was gashed by
the long spikes on the shoes of another competitor, and his hands and face were
cut by the sharp cinders. By the time that he had struggled to his feet again,
the whole field was thirty yards ahead of him.
He had fallen. His face was blackened and bleeding. He was left
far behind. It seemed hopeless for him to go on. Nevertheless he started after
that crowd of runners as bravely as if nothing had happened.*
* So Phil. 3: 13:- Forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward
to the things which are before, I press on
toward the goal unto the prize.
All around the first lap he remained behind them all. Little
by little, however, he began to cut down the lead of the runners nearest him,
and by the end of the first half he was up among the laggards of the race,
twenty yards or so back of the leaders.
Then came that bitter third quarter. There is nothing in
athletics harder than the third quarter of a fast mile. One has already run a
half at full speed and there is still another quarter to come. An iron band
seems to tighten around ones chest. There is the salt taste of blood in the
mouth, and one longs desperately to give up and fall down and rest.
Yet that boy who had been last, blackened and bleeding, with
set teeth, cut down one faltering runner after another of those farthest
behind, until, as the leaders neared the finish of the third lap, they heard
behind them the pad, pad of flying feet coming nearer and nearer.
In another moment the pacemakers had reached the fourth
quarter, and a deep-toned bell signalled the beginning of the last lap, while
the cheers of the crowd swept across the track like a storm.
The sound was like a spur to the speed of that boy who had
been last. He shot by a little group of runners, and in the backstretch was
hard upon the heels of the four leaders. As they swung around the last corner
into the home-stretch, those four, who were in front, heard the sound of flying
feet approaching them from behind, and knew that the race that day was to be
fought out by five instead of four.
As all five of them swung into the home-stretch, the
spectators leaned forward from the stands and called upon the runners by name
for one last desperate effort. No one called to the boy who ran last of that quintette
nor even knew his name.
At the finish a red strand of worsted was stretched
breast-high across the track. The runner who first broke that cord was the mile
champion for the coming year. There were grouped the judges and the timers, and
to the men struggling toward it, that thin red line seemed to move back and
back to an interminable distance.
The extreme limit of their endurance had been reached, and as
their strength flagged, each runner called upon the very soul that was in him
to help him bear the pain and carry him on to the finish.
Lurching and staggering with mortal weakness each one drew
upon the last atom of strength in him for a final effort. A strange silence fell
upon the crowd, and in the stillness the rapid, laboured breathing of the
runners could be heard.
Suddenly, up level with the fourth man came the blackened
gashed face of the last runner, and slowly drew away from him.* Now the finish
was only thirty yards away, and suddenly beside the third man showed that same
disfigured face, whose staring eyes saw nothing but the goal.
* So Matt. 19: 30:- Many shall be last
that are first; and first that are last.
That third man did his best and gave all that he had to hold
his place - I ought to know, I was that third man - but slowly and surely the
boy who had fallen at the start drew away from him. Then he challenged the
other two who were running neck and neck, and five yards from the finish drew
up even with them.
For an instant that seemed a year the three struggled for the
lead, and then, at the very finish, the runner who had been left lying
prostrate in the dirt when the race began threw himself forward, broke the tape
a scant inch ahead of the other two, won the race, and broke the
Intercollegiate Record, for the Mile.*
* So 2 Tim. 4: 7:- I have fought the good fight, I
have finished the course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me THE CROWN.
In forty years of athletics I have never seen again so gallant
a finish, and to the day of my death never will I forget that race nor that
runner.
There are times in the lives of us all when we stumble and
fall and are defiled by dirt and cut and gashed and hurt. Yet we are only beaten if we give up and lie down
hopeless and helpless. No matter how far
the fall nor how dreadful the failure there is only one thing to do - get up
and go on and on and on and never, never quit!
The Start is important, but - its the Finish that wins!
The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews had seen the races at
the great Olympic Games, and still his instructions about the race of life ring
down to us through the mist of the years:
Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight,
and the sin which doth so easily beset us,
and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.
- The Sunday School Times.
* *
*
Apart altogether from the fact that
Israel has forfeited all right to the Holy Land until she repents, Britains
substitution of the White Paper for the Balfour declaration is open to grave
criticism. Mr. J. S. Bevan
quotes (Christian, Dec. 23, 1945) Mr. Winston
Churchills comment on the White Paper on its issue. I accuse His Majestys Government of being unable to form a
coherent opinion on affairs in
* *
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* *
441
WEEPING OVER
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
WE draw
rapidly nearer to the great tragedy of
Tears
In one extraordinary action of our Lord is revealed for ever
our right attitude to
A Mother
The Lord now speaks: the tears become words. O Jerusalem,
Even Thou
Our Lords words show what a focus of revelation
* It is fitting that in the new age the
Refusal
Our Lord now reveals the awful power of the human will. But ye would
not: ye willed not to accept my appeals.
Jehovah had foretold it, and we are finding it true of the whole Gentile world
to-day. Thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken unto thee: thou shalt also call unto them, but they will not answer thee (Jer. 7: 27). The whole crisis of salvation turns on the
human will. It must: for goodness that is forced is not goodness; love that is
merely commanded is not love: the human will is among the most magnificent gifts
of God, and so we decide our own eternal destiny, and can resist God to the
last. The most moving appeal our Lord ever made is made in the face of
obstinate rejection and final doom: exactly so, for us the tenderness of His
tears bids us announce the terrible coming judgments, not in anger, but in
divine and heart-breaking justice.
Blindness
We are now awed by the theology of the Son of God. The Saviour
who never wept even in the agony of the Cross, sobs over the doom of the lost. Thou wouldest
not: now they are hid from thine eyes. If men will not see, Gods decree is that they shall not see: a point is
always reached in human history when righteousness would be outraged if mercy
was prolonged any further. Our Lord already pronounces judgment on irrevocable
sin:- Unto them that are without - the outcast Jews - all things
are done in parables; that seeing they may see,
and not perceive; and
hearing they may hear, and not understand;
lest haply they should turn again, and it should be forgiven them (Mark 4:
l1). To every soul a time of grace is
allotted, after which salvation is impossible: even the tears of Christ cannot
save a soul who lets his hour of visitation pass. No
preachers are so terrible as the Redeemers tears (W. Arnot).
Destruction
So now the Lord photographs the judgment forty years before it
occurs. They shall
dash thee to the ground, and thy children within
thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone
upon another. As Lange has truly said:- Not without reason has there been found at all times in this
prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem, on the very place where afterwards
the Romans pitched their first camp, one of the strongest proofs of the
infallible and Divine foreknowledge of Jesus. Isaiah
64: 11 had foretold it four centuries
before:- Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned with fire. When the city was destroyed, the untouched stones of
the
To-day
Extraordinary significance lies for us in our Lords answer to
the disciples question, - When shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of the end of the age? (Matt.
24: 3).
The Lords answer sketches the Great Tribulation the doom of
Visitation
The Lord sums all up in the one critical fact. - Ye knew not the time
of your visitation. Have we known ours? Christ can be on our door-step, and
we are totally unaware of it. In childhood, by a
mothers tenderness; in youth, by a fathers wisdom; in young manhood or
womanhood, by many voices of the home and the Church uniting to say, Seek the
Lord while he may be found; in prime, by
some chastening providence, laying His hand upon us and constraining us to
listen and to understand (J. M.
Lang, D.D.).
Yet even to this heart-breaking nation, our Lord has kept open
the door to individual salvation for nineteen centuries.
A converted Jewess, daughter of a
* *
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* * *
442
THE RETURN OF OUR LORD AND
WORLD-WIDE EVANGELISM
By S. M. ZWEMER, D.D.
IT is
only modern rationalism and unbelief which, after denying Christs virgin birth,
His bodily resurrection and ascent into heaven, mock at the promise of His
return, saying, From the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the
creation. Let
them mock! The Christian Century says in a remarkable article on the War and the Second Coming (Aug. 18, 1943):- It is interesting to note the growth during these past years
of the new apocalypticism. This is found mainly in scholarly circles;
premillennialism is a lay theology. But both share the mood which we find
beginning with Jewish writings twenty-one centuries ago: a sense of
hopelessness as to the achievement of good in history or by human effort, the
belief in the existence of powerful forces of evil and their dominance over
humanity and the course of events, and the conviction that human hope must rest
upon a final decisive and irresistible act of God.
Dr. Deismann, the great New Testament scholar,
declared that for the past thirty years the
discernment of the eschatological character of the gospel of Jesus has more and
more come to the front in international Christian theology ... We to-day must lay the strongest possible stress upon the
eschatological character of that gospel which it is the practical business of
the Church to proclaim, namely, that we must daily focus our minds upon the
fact that the [Millennial] Kingdom of God is near, that God with His
unconditional sovereignty comes through judgment and redemption, and that we
have to prepare ourselves inwardly for the Maranatha - the Lord cometh. All earnest Christians of every
school of theological thought seem agreed that we face to-day an eschatological
crisis. The day of the Lord is at hand. We hear the same note of warning from
many voices. Professor D. R. Davies,
of
The Unfinished Task of the Church
In view of all this it is not remarkable, therefore, that those
who look eagerly for Christs second advent are most eager also to complete the
task of evangelism. The gospel must first be preached unto all nations for
a Witness. The
law of priority always produces a crisis. There is no stronger incentive to immediate
evangelism than the imminence of Christs return.
In a day when the pillars of western civilization are
crumbling, when the foundations of society seem tottering, and when sword and
famine and pestilence walk abroad, we must preach a message that is
otherworldly, or we have no message at all. To-days evangelism must be, in the
words of Adolf Harnack,
in the midst of time for eternity by the strength and
under the eye of God. The older generation of evangelists was not
ashamed of a gospel that dealt with eternal issues. They preached a message
that bridged death and revealed eternal glory or eternal woe. Evangelism that
preaches Christs resurrection and His return goes far beyond social
reformation or new-world plans or political blueprints. We can no longer go to
the East to share the social and cultural benefits of the West, for the whole
of so-called Christian culture stands at a period of terrible crisis, every
section of it under Gods judgment. We are compelled by the present situation to
look
for new heavens and a new earth, wherein
dwelleth righteousness.
A Living Hope for a Despairing World
The return of Christ is the living hope for a despairing
world. It tells of the dawn of an eternal morning after our night of gloom. As
Jesus said to John in lonely
When the gospel of the resurrection lays hold of our minds and
hearts, we begin to see the meaning of Barths
penetrating words:- Eternity is not the prolongation
of time. Eternity is the unknown which in Jesus Christ has broken into our
world. According to this conception, eternity is, as it were, the
hidden, the other side of time. Time is empty, impoverished eternity. Eternity
is time filled full. There comes a year, there comes an hour when things grow
earnest, when some crisis comes. That means eternity is flooding into time, as
a mountain freshet after storm floods the dry bed of a stream. The fulness of
time is the crisis. Christs return will be the crisis of all human history and
its final consummation. Then cometh the end.
The Strongest Incentive to Missions
This hope of Christs imminent, personal, visible return is the
strongest possible incentive to missions. It sounds the note of urgency. Those
who are filled with the hope of His coming are also on fire for world-wide
evangelism. Of this fact the cloud of witnesses is evidence absolute and
convincing. Great church theologians, great pioneer missionaries, and many
ardent evangelists are among them: Dean
Alford, Delitzsch, Auberlen, Bishop Ellicott, Vanoosterzee, Bengel,
Godet, Bonar, Bickersteth,
Pentecost, Whittle, Lord Radstock, Hammond,
Nunhall, Muller, A. T. Pierson, Moody, J. Hudson Taylor, R. E. Speer, and many others. All
of them held the premillennial view and held it soberly - with their loins girt
about and their lights burning.
There are different views of the times and the
seasons which the
Father only can reveal in His own time and way. But even our post-millennial
brethren do not deny the second advent. Even the a-millennial group, who reject
dispensationalism and the millennium idea, hold just as firmly that Christ will
return from heaven to judge the world. The greatest danger is not the
discordance between these views of the time of the advent, but rationalistic
unbelief which denies and derides Christs second coming altogether. The
fulness of time for the coming of our Saviour at
The Practical Implication of This Belief
Unless a Christian doctrine has practical effect in our lives,
it is a dead letter. For example, there is no particular benefit in a mere
intellectual belief in the deity of Christ unless with Thomas we are willing to
call Him my Lord and my
God. It has
occurred to me that there is perhaps no doctrine which has received such
prominence in recent years, both in print and in discussion, and at the same
time so little emphasized in practical life, as the doctrine of the second
coming.
Some have been very clever at
preparing at timetable of prophetical events and suggesting the hour when we
may expect our Lord. A man may know all about the timetable, and yet miss the
train! Some are not living as if they were anxious to be found ready for that
return. Premillennial teaching demands above anything else otherworldliness, a
sense of stewardship, and a supreme sense of the urgency of our task. There is
no other event in history which will have such absolute, immediate, and
startling effect on all property values as the rending of the sky and the
return of our Lord.
Are all of us ready for His coming and faithful stewards of
His blessings? Were mens hearts ever so expectant of a climax and a crisis in
history as now? Was the world ever in greater need of a deliverer and judge?
Are not the signs of which Jesus spoke in the Gospels, and which usher in the
day of the Lord, on the front pages of our newspapers? Were the opportunities
for evangelism ever so great as now? Apart from His coming again is there any
hope for this disillusioned, stricken, war-torn world? An age, which is
drinking the bitterest waters of all historical eras. In a day when the
judgment of God has melted into burning lava and is pouring through the ruins
of mans proudest achievements, let the prophetic tnimpet-call
of repentance pierce the tormented soul of man.
Jesus came; Jesus is coming again. To accept these two statements, which
are the shortest summary of the New Testament, with all they imply of faith and
hope and glory, would fill us with the joy of the early Christians and their
devotion. - The
* *
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443
THE SORROW OF GOD
By JAMES S. STEWART
WHEN we think
how persistently man has desecrated and made havoc of this earth, which is
Gods creation, how stubbornly the human heart has crucified Christ afresh in
every age and put Him to an open shame, how defiantly it has refused the light
of life, preferring the darkness and chaos of its own wrecking passions, and
ruthless self-assertion - when we think of these things, do not we, like
Luther, stand amazed at the self-control of heaven? Why has the great Creator
not despaired utterly of His creatures? Why is the whole tragic performance not
swept away into oblivion? The sin of man - how can God bear it?
One of the most moving statements ever given of this
bewildering patience of God is to be found in the pages of the prophet Hosea.
This man, out of an experience of crushing personal sorrow, was able to bring
for Israelite religion and for the world a new philosophy of history and an
amazing discovery of the mind and heart of God.
It seems to have happened like this: one day, when he was
brooding in secret on the domestic tragedy which had wrecked his home and
darkened his life, it suddenly occurred to him that there was something
strangely similar in national history.
But stay, thought Hosea, Here am I, crucified in the region of my affections, and yet
knowing that if Gomer came back to me tomorrow I would sing for joy and take
her to my arms and forgive everything - I love her still so utterly. Shall God
love less? If I would do that for my dearest possession, shall God do
less for His? This was the swift insight which made the man a prophet,
this daring logic of faith rising from the human to the divine. If human love
can know such agony, how much more love divine! If I can suffer so for Gomer,
how much more God for
So this man Hosea, seven
hundred years before Christ, arrived at three of the greatest truths of
religion.
First, the Sorrow of God. The tragedy which had happened in his
own home was a kind of miniature of the vast tragedy which had happened in
Gods world. Gods relation to the nation, as he now pictured it, had been one
of marriage and romance, Jehovah was the husband of Israel ... I will betroth thee to Me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto
Me in righteousness and in justice, in real love,
and in tender mercies: I will betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness,
and thou shalt
know Jehovah. It is a forecast of that lovely New Testament picture [of
His plans for the Jewish Nation during the Millennium, (Rom. 9: 4) and of] - the Church as the Bride of Christ [Rev. 19:
7, 8,
R.V.)].
The misery of the worlds tragic wrongness and rebellion is
not that it breaks a law, but that it smites love in the face. An impersonal
law cannot suffer; and if, God is a kind of philosophic Absolute, then, of
course, God cannot suffer, and those who declare that the notion of suffering is incompatible with
divinity and a degradation of the idea of God are perfectly right. But it is
quite certain that love can suffer terribly; and if God is love, then
immeasurable must be the agony, overwhelming the burden, that weighs on God
to-day. That is why the central symbol of the Christian religion is a Cross.
Beyond this first great truth, so decisively relevant to our
situation to-day, Hosea discerned another - the undiscourageable Patience of God. His own love for Gomer, he found, survived the wrecking
of his home: he loved her still, and could not let her go. How much more would
God refuse to let
There was a third truth which Hosea saw shining like a beacon above the chaos and corruption of
his time. This was the ultimate Victory of God. The midnight of
his own domestic tragedy led on to a
brighter day; for he found Gomer in the far country, and brought her back
to the home of her youth. How much more would God win the
[* See also Hos. 5: 15- 6:
1-3, R.V. and compare Rom. 8: 20-22
with
What is this but the Christian
evangel? In Jesus Christ, crucified, risen and exalted, God has acted in
history. In that life and death and resurrection, God has intervened decisively
against the hosts of evil. The fact of Christ is the living God going forth to
war, with power and great glory, against every wrecking force that desolates
the earth, and every sin that rots the souls of men. The Cross is not a
poignant memory of a moving human heroism. It is God in action. It is God
defeating evil irrevocably and for ever at the very point where all the
concentrated forces of evil were boasting their greatest victory. It is God
turning the wrath of man to His praise. It is a lever strong enough to move the
world.
Can there be any doubt of the issue?
Even Hosea, in the dim ages before Christ, had no doubt: O death, I will be
thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction. All the deadly fortes of history, the
tyrant principalities and powers, the ruthless blight of wickedness in high
places, and the sins from whose stubborn grip no man can ransom himself or be
his own redeemer, shall yield to the
Name that is above every name. - World Dominion.
* *
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444
THE RAPTURE AND THE TRIBULATION
By G. H. LANG
THERE
are two principal views on the Rapture and the Tribulation: one, that the
Parousia will commence prior to the Times of the End, and that at its inception
all believers of the heavenly calling, dead and living, will be taken to the
presence of the Lord in the air; the other, that the Parousia will occur at the
close of the Great Tribulation, until when no believers will be raised or
changed. The one view says that no believers will go into the End Times; the
other that none then living will escape them. The one involves that the utmost
measure of unfaithfulness or carnality in a believer puts him in no peril of
forfeiting the supreme honour of rapture or of having to endure the dread End
Days: the other view involves that no degree of faithfulness or of holiness
will enable a saint to escape those Days. As regards this matter, godliness and
unfaithfulness seem immaterial on either view, which raises a doubt of both
views.
1. Our Lord Jesus Christ has declared
distinctly that escape is possible. In Luke 21
is a record of instruction given by Him to four apostles on the
Then He mentions the disturbances in nature and the fears of
mankind that are grouped under seal 6 in Rev. 6: 12-17, and adds
explicitly that then shall they see
the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory, and that when these things begin His
disciples may know that their redemption draweth nigh (ver. 27,
28).
In concluding this outline of the period of the Beast the Lord
then uttered - [to His disciples:
compare Matt. 24:
3, R.V. with Luke
21: 34-36,
R.V.] - this exhortation and promise: But take heed
to yourselves, lest haply your hearts be
overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and
cares of this life, and that day come on you
suddenly as a snare: for so shall it come upon
all them that dwell on the face of all the earth. But watch ye at every season, making
supplication, that ye may prevail to escape
all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.
This declares distinctly: (1) That escape is possible from all
those things of which Christ had been speaking, that is, from the whole
End-times. (2) That that day of testing
will be universal, and inevadable by any then on the earth, which involves the
removal from the earth of any who are to escape it. (3) That there is a fearful peril of disciples becoming worldly of heart and so being, enmeshed in that
last period. (4) That hence it is
needful to watch and to pray ceaselessly, that so we - [who are regenerate (i.e., born
again see Jn. 3: 3, 5, R.V.)] may prevail over all obstacles
and dangers and thus escape that era.
This most important and unequivocal statement by our Lord sets aside the opinion that all Christians will escape irrespective of
their moral state, and also negatives the notion that no escape is possible.
There is a door of escape; but as with all doors, only those who are
awake will see it, and only those who are in earnest will reach it ere the
storm bursts. In every place in the New Testament the word escape has its natural force [see the word in the Greek
] - to flee out
of a place of trouble and be quite clear thereof.* It never means to endure the trial
successfully. In this very discourse of the Lord it is in contrast with the
statement, He
that endureth ([see the Greek
]) to the end (of these things) the same shall
be saved* (Matt.
24: 13). One
escapes, another endures.
* It comes only at Luke 21: 36, Acts 16: 27; 19: 16; Rom. 2: 3; 2 Cor. 11: 33; 1 Thess. 5: 3; Heb. 2: 3; 12: 25. In comparison with
[* Compare
this future
salvation, which is a living hope, with 1 Pet. 1: 3, 5, 9, 11 and 13, R.V.]
The attempt to evade the application of this passage to
Christians on the plea that it refers to Jewish
disciples of Christ is baseless: (a)
No Jewish disciples of Christ are known to
the Scriptures (Gal. 3: 28: Eph. 2: 14-18). (b) The God-fearing remnant of
2. In harmony with this utterance of
our Lord is His further statement to the church at Philadelphia (Rev. 3: 10): Because thou didst
keep the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from (ek) [i.e., out of] the hour of trial, that hour which is to come upon the
whole inhabited earth, to try them that dwell
upon the earth.
Here also are declared: (a) The
universality of that hour of trial, so that any escape from it must involve
removal; (b) the promise of being kept from it; (c) the intimation that such preservation is the
consequence of a certain moral condition: Because thou
didst keep ... I also will keep. As this is addressed to a church, no
question of a Jewish application can arise. Nor do known facts or the Scriptures allow of the supposition that
every [regenerate] Christian keeps the word of Christs patience (Matt. 24: 12: Rev. 2: 5; Gal. 6: 12; Col. 4: 14 with 2 Tim. 4: 10 concerning
Demas); so that this promise cannot be stretched to mean all
believers.
In The
Bible Treasury, 1865,
p. 380, there is an instructive note
by J. N. Darby (see also Coll.
Writings, vol. 13, Critical 1, 581) on the difference between
(apo) and
(ek). The former regards hostile persons and being
delivered from them; the latter refers to a state and being kept from
getting into it. On Rev. 3: 10 he wrote:
So Rev. 3 the faithful are kept from getting into this state,
preserved from getting into it, or, as we say, kept out of it. For the words here
answer fully to the English out of or from. That the thought is
.not being kept from being injured in soul by the trials is implied in the
expression Keep thee out of that hour; it is from the period of time itself that the faithful are to be kept, not merely from its spiritual perils.
* *
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445
YE DID IT UNTO ME
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
ONE of
the most wonderful of the revelations of the Bible is the identity of Christ with
His disciples, a unity as close as our own body - head and hands and feet - is
one. The wonder of the revelation lies in its consequence, which our Lord has
thus expressed - Inasmuch as ye did it unto my brethren, ye did it unto me (Matt.
25: 40).
We suddenly realize that loving action, given to a suffering brother, is
actually felt by Christ; and we discover a method of repaying - in a slight
degree - the infinite love the Lord Jesus has for us. The Son of God actually
announces Himself as our debtor - if and when we comfort a suffering brother.*
* Even these least (See Greek). Our own belief is that the least
brethren are the Jews when spiritually restored, but still universally
persecuted; but the spiritual lesson of the parable is only enforced in the
case of greater brethren. The Lords chief
brethren are the sons of Mary (Matt. 12: 46); His greater brethren are the members of His Church (ver. 49); and His least
brethren are the Jews regenerated after the Day of Grace is past. That it
is a judgment of the Gentiles makes this certain.
The Unity
First we observe a most revealing
physiological fact. The nerves of sensation all centre in the brain: every
pain, every pleasure in the body, is telegraphed instantly to the head; and so,
if the head is drugged, or unconscious, the deepest wound in the body is not
felt. Now see:- Ye are the body of Christ, and severally - individually - members thereof (1 Cor. 12: 27); for Christ is head over all things to the church, which is his
body (Eph. 1: 22). For all purposes of joy and sorrow, for all
conscious life and experimental sensation, Christ and His Church are regarded
as one man: one, that is, not so that the Body suffers all that the Head suffers,
but that the Head suffers all that the Body suffers. So tremendously important
is this vital unity of Christ and His Church, that Paul, the selected channel
for this truth, was told it in the very hour of his conversion - Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou - not, my church, but - me? (Acts 9:
4). For both He that sanctifieth and they
that are sanctified are all OF ONE:
for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren (Heb.
2: 11).
Suffering
Now it follows from this that our Lord has three great physical
sufferings in the world to-day:- want, loneliness, and disease. In the
judgment, looking backward, He says:- I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was
thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was naked, and ye clothed me. Now, giving to a hungry brother is
most stringently commended. If a brother or sister be naked,
or in lack of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Go
in peace, be ye warmed and filled, and yet ye give them not the things needful to the body, what doth it
profit? Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead
in itself (Jas. 2: 15). Some one beautifully says, - Many love at
their tongues end; we are to love at our fingers end: or, as an old writer
said fifteen hundred years ago, - The bread, which you
hold back, belongs to the hungry: the shoe which is mouldering away in your
wardrobe belongs to the shoeless (Basil).
So our Lord promises reward to the minutest practical assistance given to a
child of God. Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a
cup of cold water only - a mere glass of water - in the name of a disciple - as one Christian to another - he shall in
no wise lose his reward (Matt. 10:
42). But the amazing revelation in Matt. 25 is,
that Christ hungers when His people have to go without bread and, when they are
clothed in sheepskins and goatskins, He shivers. In all their afflictions he is afflicted: therefore, in relieving the destitute child of God, the act
is done, not only for Christ, but to Christ.
Christ is more amongst us than we dream. The puzzled hearers ask:- When saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? And Jesus
unveils the wondrous revelation:- inasmuch as ye did it unto one of
these my brethren, YE DID IT UNTO ME.
Loneliness
We turn to another need of Christ. I was a stranger, and ye took me in. The word used beautifully suggests a
covert allusion to church fellowship. A stranger to the church - but a saved
soul, that is, I in him - you took Me along
with you, you introduced Me into the family circle. We may remember the reply
of Miss Matthews, of Worthenbury, to her friends when they objected to her
marrying Mr. Philip Henry, father of
the immortal commentator, because he was a stranger, and no one knew where he came
from. True, she said, but I know where he is going, and I should like to go with
him. Our Lord says it elsewhere, quite distinctly, - Whoso shall
receive one such little child in my name - as one Christian receiving another - RECEIVETH ME. (Matt. 18: 5). How
this hallows and ennobles all church reception! But doubtless it refers chiefly
to individual loneliness. I was a stranger. See,
parenthetically, what dignity this puts upon the lonely soul: it is a
loneliness that Christ so peculiarly shares that what is done to the lonely
soul is done to Christ. Many Christians have been left by circumstances wonderfully lonely: others find themselves in a
totally strange neighbourhood; others, like missionaries, are scattered through
foreign lands. We can be far too chary of strangers. The command is - Forget not to
show love unto strangers (Heb. 13: 2). Gaius,
you remember, is praised because - thou doest a faithful work in
whatsoever thou doest toward them, that are
brethren and strangers withal (3 John 5);
and one qualification for a deaconess was that she had used
hospitality to strangers (1 Tim. 5: 10).
Disease
We find yet another need of Christ. I was sick, and ye visited me:
I was in prison, and ye
came unto me. I was sick - how strangely
that comes from the lips of our Lord! It is deplorable that, because in the
modern church visiting is mainly left to church officers - to which only one
passage in the whole New Testament refers - it has been forgotten that it is the commanded duty of us all. Listen.
Pure
religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction,
and to keep himself unspotted from the world (Jas.
1: 27). Some
are too poor to feed and clothe others: none are too poor to visit. Christ does
not say, I was sick and ye did not cure me; I was in prison, and ye did not release me: all He asks is a visit; and while this is cheaper from a worldly point of view, it is more costly
from a spiritual.
The love to a stranger, and the visits
to the sick and the imprisoned, require something more costly than money - they
require self-sacrifice of time, rest, comfort, and sympathy. Gifts that are coined out of flesh and blood
are more valuable than those which bear the imprint of the Royal Mint; and the
amazing thing is that these are gifts which we can all confer ON CHRIST.
In the writers experience throughout fifty years, it is by the sick bed he has
been most conscious of the presence of Christ. I was sick, and ye visited me. It is Christ who lies on the sick bed where we
minister: in times of persecution we find our Lord in a prison cell or a
concentration camp.
Love of Christ
Let us, in summing up, burn these thoughts deeply into our
minds. One - the invisible Lord whom
we love is easiest found among the poor of His people. As, in the days of His
flesh, Jesus was always surrounded by the obscure and the despised and the sick,
so He is thronged by them here and now; and even in the glory of the gathered
nations, He draws them round Him still - These my brethren. Two
- the Lord is actually suffering in
the sufferings of His people. I was hungry: I was a stranger:
I was sick: I was in prison. In a dreadfully real sense the
sufferings of Christ have lasted for well nigh two thousand years: as Paul
says, - in my sufferings I fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of the Christ in my
flesh for His bodys sake,
which is the church (Col.
1: 24).
Every smart the Body feels, the Head suffers. Three - therefore it is actually possible to tend Christ in the
person of His people. What would we do if Jesus were here amongst us, underfed,
ill-clad, sick and lonely? How exquisite is the discovery that - in a real
sense, so real as is known only to God - we can do actually what the holy women
did of old - minister unto Him of our substance (Luke
8: 3). We can feed and clothe and
cheer and love Him, as He wanders through the bleak and cheerless world to-day,
by reaching Him through them, an opportunity that will never recur for all
eternity. One profound reason why Christ lets us all suffer is that, by bearing
one anothers burdens, we may all prove our love to Him. Finally - the Lord never forgets a kindness done to Him in the
person of His child. It will amaze us to find every transient item, every
forgotten sympathy, every practical kindness tabulated and restored to us in
the Light of Glory; and happy is that disciple who goes before the Judgment
Seat clothed in the intercession of the comforted sufferer. YE DID IT UNTO ME.
Reward
An old legend expresses it exquisitely. A knight from the Round
Table travelled over deserts and mountains in search of the Holy Grail, the cup
our Lord used at the Lords Supper. Distressed and exhausted, he returned after
a futile search; and as he was nearing the gate of Camelot, he saw a poor man
writhing in the ditch, evidently dying. Descending from his steed, and
procuring a cup, he handed the water to the dying man; and as he did so, the
cup flamed as with the sapphire of the New Jerusalem - it was the Holy Grail!
Christ as King of kings will reward
those who comforted His suffering Body. It is said that Ivan of Russia used sometimes to disguise himself and go out among
his people to find out their true character. In the suburbs of
* *
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446
THE NAZARITES VOW
By C. A. COATES
(Concluded from 438)
The fearful results of a defiled Nazariteship have also
another voice to us. We should be not
only constrained thereby to keep ourselves pure, but we should be also reminded of our responsibilities
in regard to others. I raised up ...
of your young men for Nazarites ... but ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink, Amos 2: 12. I
believe I am right in saying that the temptations which prevail most easily
with the young in Christ are those which come from professing Christians. I
have seen many a promising spiritual life blighted by the company and example
of professed believers. In this respect, woe unto him that giveth his
neighbour drink!
Remember the Saviours solemn words about an offence, or cause of stumbling,
given to one of His little ones.
2. I think we may
find a key to the significance of the unshorn locks of the Nazarite in a
sentence from the apostle Paul: Doth not even nature itself teach you, that,
if a man have long hair, it is a
shame unto him? 1 Corinthians 11: 14. The Nazarite was found in a condition which,
according to the thoughts of nature, was one of reproach and shame. In
connection with this I should like to read Hebrews
11: 24-26:
By faith Moses, when he
was come to years, refused to be called the son
of Pharaohs daughter; choosing rather to suffer
affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy
the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming
THE REPROACH OF CHRIST
greater riches than the treasures in
To refuse and to choose as Moses did requires uncompromising decision, or what the New
Testament calls PURPOSE OF HEART. Jonathans armour-bearer presents a
fine example of a decided and devoted servant. Do all that is in thine heart,
said he to his master: behold,
I am with thee according to thy heart, 1 Samuel
14: 7. He was thoroughly one with his
master, regardless of consequences. It looked like tempting
This is the spirit in which Moses acted. He recognised in the
toiling brick-makers the chosen people of the Lord. If Gods heart was with
these poor toilers, Moses heart would be with them too. Not simply to pity and
patronise them, but to suffer affliction and bear reproach along with them. No
doubt people thought he was carrying things to extremes, and making himself
foolish. So he was, from
Saviour, I
long to follow Thee,
Daily Thy cross to bear!
When a man was seen bearing his cross, everybody knew that he
had done with the world, and as long as he remained in it he was an object of
contempt. Now is that what we covet and expect? It is all very well to talk and
sing about it here in barracks, but how do we feel on the battle-field? We can all be very valiant for the truth when it costs us nothing. But
a soldier must be prepared to stand fire, as well as to shine on the parade
ground. It is at home, in the office, behind the counter, in the
workshop, and on the street, in ten thousand details of everyday life, that the
test comes. Are we prepared to face the Egyptians and the Philistines and all
the foes of our Lord, ever saying to Him in loyalty of spirit, I am with
thee according to thy heart?
Do we really look upon the sneers and scorn of the world as
our greatest treasure upon earth? We are not told that Moses submitted to the reproach or bore it well when
it came, but that he chose it and esteemed it greater riches than the treasures in
There is another scripture which I dare say has already
occurred to your minds in connection with this subject: Let us go
forth therefore UNTO Him without the camp, bearing his reproach, Hebrews
13: 13. This scripture appeals directly to the true
Nazarite by the introduction of these two central words - UNTO HIM. But here a much narrower circle is in question. It is not now
It is an evil day for the Nazarite when the questions begin to
arise in his heart, Whatever will the think?
What will Mr. - say? When he begins to
consider the opinions of others, and to shape his course to please men, whether
they be friends or foes, the locks of his Nazariteship will soon he shorn. His
spiritual strength will depart from him, and then woe be unto him when the
Philistines come upon him!
A devoted Christian must be a fool in the eyes of the world and of carnal believers. He
is impelled by unknown motives; he
suffers loss with no visible compensation in any form; he goes calmly and
steadily in the opposite direction to everybody else; he despises the
advantages which all others are eager to pursue; he spends his time, his
talents, and his means in the service and for the glory of One who is only a
myth to men of the world. In a word, he lives UNTO THE
LORD, and he is glad to be a
fool for
Christs sake.
3. Finally, the Nazarite was not under
any circumstances to touch a dead body. In connection with this let us read Romans 8: 12, 13: Therefore, brethren, we
are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For
if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if [note the condition] ye through the
Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body,
ye shall
live. Nothing could be more
solemn than this scripture and its context, for it shows the absolute impossibility of living to God as men in the flesh. The
lesson learnt by the painful exercises of Romans 7
is that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no
good thing, and the soul cries bitterly, O wretched
man that I am! who shall deliver me from this
body of death? The figure present to the writers
mind was that of the dreadful punishment of lashing a criminal to a dead body
in such a way that it was impossible for him to free himself, and then leaving
him to die. What was the dead body from which Paul had sought to be delivered?
Was it not himself, and all that he
was as a man in the flesh? Nor did he look for deliverance in vain. Having
given himself up - as a man in the flesh - as being a body of
death, he looked
outside himself for deliverance, and could immediately exclaim, I thank God,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. He saw that the judgment of death had
passed upon him at the cross, and that grace
[and Gods long-suffering] now gave him a perfect title to take
the new ground that he was IN CHRIST
JESUS. A door of life and liberty was thus opened
to him - for there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are IN CHRIST JESUS - and, along with this, power by the [indwelling]* Holy
Spirit, so that he could say, The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath
made me free from the law of sin and death.
[* NOTE: See Acts 5: 32. cf. And he that keepeth His commandments abideth in him, and he in him. 1 John 3: 24a,
R.V. Note Gods condition! See also the possibility and dire consequences of continued
disobedience in 1 Sam. 16: 14, LXX; 1 Sam. 18: 12; 28; 2 Sam. 1: 8b-10, R.V. -
So I stood beside him, and slew him, because I was sure that he could not live after that he was
fallen: and I took the crown that was upon
his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought then hither unto
my lord (verse 10). Cf.
Rev. 2: 10 with Rev. 2: 25-27; Rev. 3: 11, R.V.).
By continued disobedience and unrepentance to Gods commands; and
by his continued evil behaviour and jealously toward David after conversion (see 1 Sam. ch.
10, LXX), Saul forfeited life upon this
earth for a thousand years! (See Rev. 20: 2, 3. R.V.)!
Rewards for faithfulness to Christ (after conversion) and to His teachings,
will be distributed at that time to all accounted worthy to
attain to that age (Luke 20:
35, R.V.) . Cf. Luke 22: 28-30; Phil. 3: 11, ff.; Heb. 11: 35b; Luke 14: 14 and Rev. 6: 9-11, R.V.]
Do not run away with the idea that I mean anything mystical or
visionary when I say that the true Nazarite must live MORALLY APART FROM HIMSELF as a man in the flesh. In saying this, I
am speaking the sober and practical truth of the word of God. If ye live after the flesh, ye
shall die. He that soweth to his flesh shall
of the flesh reap corruption, Galatians 6:
8. You cannot come morally into contact with
the flesh without being defiled. The Holy Spirit wages perpetual warfare
against the flesh, and we are plainly told that if we walk in the Spirit we shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh, Galatians 5: 16.
The Holy Spirit [if repentant
and obedient] is dwelling in us to maintain us in freedom from that law of sin
and death to which
we were in bondage when we were in the flesh. When a Christian thinks or speaks or
acts according to the flesh, he is practically acknowledging the man who is
under death - the man who was set aside at the cross. To use the figure, he
touches the dead body and defiles the head of his consecration. And, inasmuch
as he is allowing that upon which death has passed in the sight of God, he has
to reap from it death and corruption.* We have to learn - it takes some of
us a long time - that it does not pay to live after the flesh; to do so brings darkness into the soul,
robs the heart of its divine joys, and entails the misery of an accusing
conscience. We cannot afford to embrace or cherish that dead body any longer. They that are Christs have
crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts, Galatians
5: 24.
[* NOTE: The Apostle Paul may be drawing a
comparison here between the blessed and holy -
those who will rise from death at the
first resurrection (Rev. 20: 6) to reign
with Christ during the promised Millennium - from those judged after
death (Heb. 9:
27, R.V.) - and therefore before
their resurrection - who do not! (Compare Luke 20:
35 with Phil.
3: 10-12, and note Gods decision after His Judgment -
their flesh will remain in the grave for an
additional thousand years, under corruption! See Gal.
6: 7-9. cf. 2
Tim. 2: 16-20, R.V.). For I the
Lord change not! (Mal. 3: 6 ff.).]
If we refuse the vileness and wickedness
of the flesh, let us not forget that the flesh has a moral and religious side
which is equally defiling to the true Nazarite. We are often, like Saul, 1 Samuel 15: 9,
ready to spare the best and the good of Amalek, while we would destroy utterly everything that is
vile and refuse. The Galatians, having begun in the Spirit, were seeking to be
made perfect by the flesh. Some were insisting on the necessity for
circumcision and of keeping the law; they were observing days, months, times,
and years, and were glorying in the flesh in a religious way. They were putting
themselves again in moral contact with the dead body
of the flesh, and Paul could hardly find language strong enough in which to
describe their defilement thereby. He speaks of them as being troubled,
bewitched, foolish,
turned away to weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage, fallen from grace.
Christians are warned against those who would spoil them through
philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition
of men, after the rudiments of the world,
and not after Christ; and they had to be asked, Wherefore,
if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the
world, why, as
though living in the world, are ye subject to
ordinances? Spiritual
circumcision is the putting off the body of the flesh by the
circumcision of Christ. Christianity is not the flesh educated, or
regulated, or decorated, but a new creation in Christ Jesus. If you see a man setting himself off with a religious title, or a religious dress, or
even a bit of blue ribbon, you may be sure that he is not quite clear of
the dead body. He is not walking according to the rule of the new creation,
but according to a rule which can be equally well carried out by an unconverted
[or unregenerate] man. It seems a most admirable thing for a man to
pledge himself to touch not, taste not, handle not some evil thing; but the very fact that he puts himself under
an ordinance as to it shows that he is upon the old ground of a man in the
flesh, on which ground he can
never live unto God, or be a true Nazarite. However fair it may promise, the flesh
can never yield anything but defilement, death, and corruption.
Then by what power can the spiritual Nazarite hold himself
aloof from the dead body of his former self as a man in the flesh? Only by
the Spirit of God. If we have not the [Holy] Spirit, or if, having Him, we grieve Him, nothing can
preserve us from [His indwelling in us,* if we are] living after the flesh. We naturally gravitate in that direction, and it is only as
the counteracting law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is
in operation that we are maintained in freedom from the law of
sin and death.
The spiritual Nazarite has no power to hold himself aloof from the dead body save as he walks in the Spirit. No words of mine can convey the
importance and solemnity of this to your hearts, but I trust God will impress
it upon us all. Through the Spirit, and only thus, can we mortify the
deeds of the body, and keep ourselves morally clear of the flesh both in its carnal and legal
aspects. There seems to be a great difference between flesh that is
licentious and self-indulgent and flesh that is exemplary, self-controlled, and
ascetic. But flesh is flesh, and is always opposed to what is of the Spirit of
God; and the better it looks, the more
it is to be dreaded. The professing church has gone in for the cultivation
of mans intellect as a chief part of preparation for the ministry. What is the
result? Under cover of higher criticism infidelity is now sown broadcast from many a pulpit
from which a few years ago the word of God was faithfully preached. On the
other hand, there are those who cultivate the religious sentiment of the
people. With what effect? Popery, in everything but the name, has spread itself
over the land. They have sown to the flesh, and of the flesh have they reaped
corruption. Rationalism appeals to man as an intellectual being, and Ritualism
appeals to him as a religious being. But both ignore the fact that they that are in the flesh
cannot please God; both are clinging to the dead body which can only defile.
[* See G. H. Langs The Personal Indwelling
of the Holy Spirit.]
What happens on a large scale in christendom is just what will
happen in the smaller circle of our own lives if we do not walk in the Spirit,
and as those who are alive unto God IN
CHRIST JESUS. May God keep us clear alike of the self-indulgence, the
wisdom, and the religiousness of the flesh! May He keep us by His Spirit
morally apart from that defiling dead body!
But what if the Nazarite be defiled? I think everyone will be
profoundly thankful to know that grace has anticipated the possibility of
defilement, and [after ones repentance (if granted, see Acts
11: 18, R. V.)] has made provision for it. Yet let none of us
overlook or think lightly of the solemnity of such a thing. Indeed, this
scripture is one of peculiar impressiveness in the solemn light which it throws
upon the consequences of defilement.
The defiled Nazarite has, so to speak,
to begin again. He shaves his head, and he brings a sin-offering, a
burnt-offering, and a trespass-offering to the Lord. When we defile the head of
our consecration there is no restoration until God brings us back
morally to the basis of all our blessing. The only ground whether of
our clearance from sin and judgment or of our acceptance with God is the death
of Christ, and our hearts have to return to a sense of the infinite cost at
which our clearance and acceptance have been secured. While this is in one way
deeply blessed, and calls forth the full praise and worship of our hearts, it
must, on the other hand, inevitably lead to the most profound self-judgment as
we are brought to Gods presence that we have allowed that which Christ died to
remove, and from the [consequences of the future] judgment* of which nothing but His death could
save us. Do you think it is a light matter to discover that we have allowed the
very thing which cost the Son of God His life?
[* See Heb.
9: 27. cf.
10: 30-39; Col. 3: 25, R.V.]
But there is another thing! The days
that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled.
Is not this very solemn? The longer a
Nazarite maintained his consecration, the more serious it was for him if he
suffered himself to be defiled. I believe the longer we go on right, the
more serious it is for us if we [apostatize from the truth and] turn aside. We have to make it up in moral time, which is not reckoned in days and
months and years, but in exercise of soul.
I trust that the Lord will set our hearts very distinctly for
Himself in this world, and that He will use what has come before us to warn us
against the things that would defile the head of our consecration! It is worth our while to be out-and-out for Christ. There is
not only the recompense of the reward by-and-by, but an immense return in spiritual blessing [with persecutions] even now. It is
at the end of this chapter - descriptive of a devoted man - that we find one of
the most glorious benedictions that the Old Testament affords: The Lord
bless thee, and keep thee: the Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and
give thee peace.
A devoted man is always a prosperous and happy man spiritually. He honours the Lord with his substance, and with the firstfruits
of all his increase, and the result is that his barns are filled with plenty,
and his presses burst out with new wine. Melancholy and long-faced Christians
are not the out-and-outers but half-and-half men -
those who want to fear the Lord and serve their own graven images, to make the best of both worlds, or to
be pious according to the flesh.
Numbers 5 tells us about the bitter water of jealousy, and ends with a
curse upon the unfaithful one; but Numbers 6
describes one who is loyal to the core, and ends with a blessing. It is even so
with us. We are reaping governmentally day by day either the curse or the
blessing. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for
whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap
corruption; but HE THAT SOWETH TO THE SPIRIT SHALL OF THE
SPIRIT REAP LIFE EVERLASTING. *
[*Gk. aionios.
See
The Duality of Eternal Life on this website.]
* *
* * *
* * *
447
NOTHING
By F. SUTER
May we talk about the word NOTHING in various connections in which we find it in the precious
book that God has given us? Let us turn
first to Gal. 6:
3 where we read: If a man think
himself to be something when he is NOTHING,
he deceiveth himself. Such self-deception in a servant of
Christ is fatal. For by it he renders himself unusable in the hands of his
Lord. Let us beware of an exaggerated idea of ourselves, our importance, our ability,
our gifts. Be not wise in your own conceits says Paul (Rom.
12: 16). Seest thou a
man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope
of a fool than of him (Prov. 26: 12). Woe unto them
that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in
their own sight (Isaiah 5: 21).
Even the Apostle Paul was in danger of being exalted above measure through
the abundance of the revelations given unto him. Therefore the Lord Jesus saw that it
was needful to give to him a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet him. When the purpose of it was revealed
to him he ceased to ask for deliverance; but rejoiced in the sufficient grace
of Christ. Following that it is most interesting to observe the Apostle Pauls estimate
of himself: (1) He says that he is
the chief of sinners (1 Tim. 1: 15). (2) Least of the Apostles, and not meet to be called an Apostle (1 Cor. 15: 9). (3)
Less
than the least of all saints. It seems as if he could not find a low enough place and so
puts himself below the least. (4) Finally
he says: though I be NOTHING (2 Cor. 12: 11). So then neither is he that planteth ANYTHING,
neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase (1 Cor. 3: 7).
Now let us turn to 1 Cor. 9: 16, where we find the word NOTHING in another connection. Here the Apostle Paul says: Though I
preach the gospel, I have NOTHING to glory of: for necessity
is laid upon me.
He goes a step further and adds: Yea, woe
is unto me if I preach not the gospel. The word translated necessity implies a compelling urge,
constraint, hence an obligation to do; no alternative but to do, therefore he
must preach the gospel. The word is used in this sense in Luke 23: 17.
The late C. H. Spurgeon used to say
to the students in Pastors College: Dont preach if
you can help it. He had learned the truth of this verse. The true
servant of Christ preaches the gospel because he cant help it, he feels the
urge of the necessity laid upon him. Therefore he has NOTHING to boast of. Praise God for every servant of Christ who is
conscious of that urge, that constraint, and who apprehends the woe of not
preaching the gospel, for it alone is the power of God unto salvation to
everyone who believeth.
Now let us turn to 2 Cor. 6: 10. As poor yet making many rich; as having NOTHING,
yet possessing all things. I wonder if we have ever considered
this aspect of the service of Christ. Having NOTHING ourselves yet having the distinguished honour of being the
dispensers of the unsearchable riches of Christ. As poor yet making many rich.
Blessed, says Jesus, are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Christ, though He was rich, yet for
our sakes He became poor, that we,
through His poverty, might
be rich (2 Cor. 8: 9). Hath not God
chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith,
and heirs of the kingdom which God hath promised to
them that love Him (James 2: 5).
For
all things are yours; whether Paul or Apollos,
or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things
to come; all are yours: and ye are Christs; and
Christ is Gods (1 Cor. 3: 21-23). Then the Apostle goes on to say (1 Cor. 4: 1): Let a man so
account of us, as of the ministers of Christ,
and stewards of the mysteries of God. What a position! What an honour! He
gives us also this assurance: God is faithful, by
whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Cor. 1: 9). Let us consider with humility and gratitude
this exalted position, and rejoice in the distinguished honour and privilege of
being made, though we are NOTHING in
ourselves, and have NOTHING,
dispensers of the unsearchable riches of Christ, Gods riches in glory by
Christ Jesus, as poor yet making many rich. Hallelujah! Freely ye
have received, freely give (Matt.
10: 8) When I sent
you, said Jesus
to his disciples, without purse and bag and shoes, lacked ye anything? And they
said, NOTHING (Luke 22:
35). In such circumstances as these is there
any room for anxiety? Be careful for NOTHING, says the Apostle Paul in writing to
the Philippian believers, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which
passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts
and minds through Christ Jesus (Phil. 4: 6-7). Let patience have her perfect work,
that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting NOTHING
(James
1: 4).
There is another interesting connection in which we find this
word. 1 Cor. 8: 2: If any man
think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth NOTHING yet as he ought to know. Let us beware of being proud of our
knowledge. It is wiser to be ashamed of
our ignorance than to be proud of our little knowledge. For our
encouragement let us consider that it is of the NOTHINGS that God makes use. Now turn to 1
Cor. 1: 27: God hath chosen the foolish thing of
the world to confound the wise; and God hath
chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which ate not, to
bring to nought things that are. My strength, said Jesus to the Apostle Paul, is made
perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12: 9). God hath
spoken once, says
David, twice have I heard this; that
power belongeth unto God (Psalm 62: 11). All power, said Jesus to his disciples, is given unto
me in heaven and in earth. Go ye THEREFORE (Matt.
28: 18-19).
The great hindrance with most of us is, that we are too strong
in ourselves for God to use us, and He has to use means in His wisdom to reduce
our strength that He may be able to demonstrate that the power is HIS and not
ours: It is only when
I am weak in myself that Christ can be strong in me. When I am
weak, says the
Apostle Paul, then am I strong. Without
me, says the
Master, ye can do NOTHING.
Gideons case presents us with a precious lesson. Gideon had
put God to the test three times, and God put Gideons faith to the test three
times. Gideon had gathered a great army with which to fight against the Midianites;
but God saw where Gideon saw not. The people are too many for ME to give the Midianites into their
hands, lest
- The Peruvian Inland
* *
* * *
* *
448
I CAME OUT ALIVE
By E. G. MATTHEWS
We were
in the first wave of troops landing on
The driver of our tractor, which holds about nineteen men and
operates with a crew of three, drove in against a sea wall about five feet
high, and we - those of us who were left - piled out.
The Japs were only about ten or
fifteen feet away on the other side of the sea wall, mostly in machine-gun
nests. We were fairly safe if close to the barrier, but the Japs
could still fire at us from the flanks. We were standing in five or six inches
of water. All we could do was hug the wall and throw grenades.
I noticed a Jap off to my right and kneeled to fire at him. I
dont know if I got him or not, but just as I stood up straight again, I was
struck with four machine-gun bullets, three of them entering my left leg near
the knee and the fourth breaking the skin on my right leg.
Had I still been kneeling when the blast came, the bullets
would have gone through my chest. Although I had put a tourniquet on my leg
shortly after I was wounded and hadnt lost much blood, I was too weak to lift
a rifle, so I fired with a pistol.
It was about 10.00 a.m. Saturday when I was wounded; and, with
three other fellows, two of whom were wounded, I stayed hugging that sea wall
until 4.00 p.m. Sunday, when some tanks came down from our beachhead up the shore
and wiped out the machine-gun nests. We surely were happy when those tanks came!
We managed to crawl up the shore to our beachhead. By 5.00 p.m. Sunday I had been evacuated to a ship and
was operated upon.
During the campaign in the Solomons
I had not given much serious thought to God and eternity, until that Saturday
morning when I was shot down on the beach in that terrible battle of Tarawa. As
I crawled in near the sea wall, with the battle raging all around and with
little hope of ever being picked up alive, my thoughts went to my home far
away. I thought of my mother, then of Mothers God and of the Lord
Jesus Christ, her Saviour.
Then, as never before, I
realized my need of this
Saviour, too; so I cried to Him for mercy, and He heard my cry. And, lying
there behind the sea wall, I experienced deep peace and joy in knowing I had received this Saviour as mine. I could face death with a peace I had never
known before.
I began to think at once of my loved ones and longed for them
to know, if I were not taken out alive, that my soul was saved. An Italian boy,
wounded and lying near me, promised that if he got out alive and I did not, he would
try to get the word to my mother that, I had Jesus in my heart, in answer to
her prayers.
To-day, I thank God that, even though I had to lose my left
leg above the knee, He saved my life as well as my soul. I sought the
Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears (Ps. 34: 4).
* *
* * *
* *
449
JEHOVAHS WITNESSES
By C. LEOPOLD CLARKE
RUSSELLISM, called formerly Millennial Dawn but now better known as the International Bible Students Association, is
probably as cunning and vigorous a
heresy as has been launched in modem times. Dr. Haldeman of
Its main teaching, as contained in its seven bulky volumes of Studies,
undermines the foundations of Godly fear, and torpedoes the mission of the
Gospel, by shifting the scene of
human robation from the present age to the Millennial
period, when every man is to have a second chance to save
himself by his own obedience, and will be resurrected to that end. Thus:- Men, not God, have limited to the Gospel age the chance or
opportunity of attaining life. God tells us that the Gospel age is merely
selecting the Church through whom, during a succeeding age all others shall be
brought to an accurate knowledge of the Truth, and granted full opportunity to
secure everlasting Life under the new Covenant (Vol. 1, p. 131).
The World-Redemptive value is entirely eliminated from the death
of Christ. The truth of Substitution is destroyed by the idea of further
probation and human effort. Every man is said to die for Adams sin in this
dispensation; in the next for his own. But it is literal physical dying that is
meant, which he calls extinction of being.
The scene is wholly temporal. But Christ declared that He came to give His life a Ransom for many. The essential thing was extinction of being to ransom Adam
from extinguished existence, is his comment on Christs death. Russell knows nothing either of
spiritual death or spiritual life. There is no tincture in his writings
of any conception of a racial spiritual death as the result of Adams
transgressions or of racial spiritual Redemption by the Second Adam. He knows
nothing of Death in trespasses and sins
apparently. The significance of the Atonement is thus relentlessly erased - Suffering played no part in the Ransom, he declares. The sacrifice of Christ only
places men in a position equal to Adam unfallen and provides no saving grace for anyone. But let the system speak
again:- The Ransom for all given by the man Jesus
Christ does not give or guarantee Eternal Life or blessing to any man, but it
does guarantee to every man another opportunity or trial for Life Everlasting
(Studies, Vol. 1, p. 150).
So that the Ransom is only a
temporal and material thing - not fulfilling the meaning of a Spiritual
Redemption; not the meeting of mans debt of sin by vicarious suffering. It leaves men still to save themselves - if save can
be applied to a state that is no more than a physical
life lived on this earth and sustained by eating food. (Harp of God, p. 320). Russell says:-
It was an earthly home, human life, and attendant
blessings that Adam, lost, and these are the blessings God promised shall be
restored to man. ... All mankind may receive again through faith in Christ and
obedience to His requirements not a spiritual, but a glorious perfect human
nature (Studies, Vol. 1, pp. 177-180). Thus
On the death of Pastor Russell, who with his wife, was
responsible for the writing of Seven
Volumes of so-called Studies in the
Scriptures; the mantle fell upon a person known as Judge Rutherford, who set to work to endeavour to repair the lost prestige of the Russellite cause, owing to the failure of Russells
confident predictions concerning the end of the age. This he did in a booklet
called: Millions now living will never die,
and in lectures on the same subject. To the same man is due the authorship of a
small volume known as The Harp of God,
in which the revelation of God is supposed to be represented by the ten
strings.
This work is a veritable compendium of false doctrines, and is
of especial importance as it purports to supply the reasonings of the system,
and is calculated to impose upon the uninstructed and unwary. In this book the
Person of Christ is one of the chief subjects of treatment, the whole being to
show, what Arius
sought to establish, that He was a created Being,
instead of the Creator of all things, as John declares in his gospel:- All things were made by Him
and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was Life and the Life was the light of men (John 1:
4). The latter part of this text is avoided,
but in the same place, where John says and the Word was God, Russell
adds the indefinite article a and teaches
that it means A mighty One; one who speaks and acts for Jehovah, thus suggesting
a plurality of Gods.
On p. 99 it is said:- Some have
earnestly believed that Jesus was God Himself, but such a conclusion is not
warranted by the scriptures. Yet Jesus said I and My
Father are one, and He that hath seen Me hath seen
the Father. On p.
101 it says again:- Some insist that Jesus when on
earth was both God and man in completeness. This theory is wrong, however.
Is it wrong? Does it not say In whom dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Col.
2: 9). Theotees, meaning the essential Deity, replaces
other words for Divinity?
Russell declares that had Jesus been
merely an incarnated being, it would not have been necessary for Him to be born
as a babe (p. 103). Incarnation is of course authorized in the text, The Word
became flesh and dwelt amongst us, but it is no case of a spirit being
inhabiting a body of flesh, but of God redeeming man by assuming mans estate. This doctrine
is not recognized in this book. Russell rises no higher than spiritistic
conceptions of materialisation. In place of this truth of the descent of God in
Christ, a theory of the crudest character is advanced touching the Person of Christ.
Thus we are told that Our Lord before He left His
glory to become a man, was in a form of God (as though the form of God was
multiple and various) a spiritual form, a spirit being, but since to be a
ransom for mankind He had to be a man ... it
was necessary that His nature be changed. Thus we see that in Jesus there was
no mixture of natures, but that twice He experienced a change of nature; first,
from spiritual to human, afterward, from human to the highest form of spiritual
nature, the Divine, and in each case the one was given up for the other
(Plan of the Ages, pp. 177-180). Again it is
said:- If Christ had the Divine nature when on earth
He could not possibly have died ... While on earth He was a man, only a man,
perfect indeed, but a man with nothing superhuman or supernatural about Him.
It must be noted, further, that the teaching concerning Christs
resurrection is deliberately falsified in the Harp of God.
In that volume it is affirmed (p. 165) that Jesus was
born on the Divine plane to the Divine nature at His resurrection. It
is further plainly said that He was put to death in
the flesh and was resurrected a Divine Being - thereby denying to Him,
not only Deity,
which is an idea repugnant both to Russell and
Reasonable people take the accounts of
Christs post-resurrection appearances as designed to prove, to His disciples
and to us, that His actual body was
raised [and, at that time and reunited to
His disembodied soul from Hades (see Acts 2:
31, and compare with verse 34, R.V.).
See also Matt.
16: 18, Matt. 12: 40, and
Luke 24: 39,
R.V.]. His efforts to convince Thomas, by
permitting him to touch the very place of the wounds in His hands and side,
seem to have no other purpose. But both Russell
and Rutherford deny this, going so
far as to suggest that the Body of Christ is preserved somewhere in Heaven, or
perhaps dissolved into gases (Russell) the while they assure us that it did not see corruption!! They say He was a
spirit,* yet He was at pains to disown that
very thing; A spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye
see Me have. They say He created a body and clothing at any time and
upon any occasion that He desired. But why so in order to prove a non-bodily resurrection? Is such a thing reasonable? And would it have satisfied the Romans or
been sufficient for the preaching of Jesus and the resurrection? And what of the many bodies of the saints which arose ... after His
resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared unto many, as we are told by Matthew (27: 53). Did they also make bodies and clothing as they desired?
[* NOTE: There are multitudes
of regenerate
believers who teach the same! They believe and
teach that the body is not required to ascend
into the presence of God in Heaven immediately after the time Death! Therefore,
the meaning of Resurrection in their minds, is their waiting for a redeemed
body! (Rom. 8:
23): and no thought is given to a disembodied
soul - or its location in Sheol = Gk. Hades!!-
The true meaning of Resurrection - the reuniting of what Death has separated - is
deliberately ignored; and there is no mention made of an
Intermediate place and state of the Dead in the
heart of the earth! (Matt. 12; 40, R.V.)]
The teaching of Russellism on the future things - the second
coming of Christ and the judgment of the wicked - is in line with what has gone
before. It is obvious that any second coming of a Christ who was not
resurrected except in some inexplicable spirit sense, must be a first rate
dilemma for these heretical teachers. So He is supposed to have returned
spiritually in 1874 and to have been
ordering events on the Earth since then. Christ therefore is not coming, but
has already come (p. 212), the reason being given why no one has seen Him, that
He is no longer human but Divine and that He has a
glorious body which no man hath seen, nor can look upon and live (p.
219). Yet it is written that every eye shall see Him, and His coming in glory is continually stressed in the New
Testament, in circumstances which it would seem impossible for the subtilty
even of this heresy to evade.
The Millennium is a period of Judgment-Trial
for all who have lived once without knowing God. Thus on the text, They that have done
good unto the resurrection of Life and they that have done evil unto the
resurrection of damnation, Russell
says:- A precious promise for the world of a coming Judgment-Trial
for life everlasting is by a mistranslation turned into a fearful imprecation.
The text should read: Will come forth unto raising up to perfection by
judgments, stripes, disciplines! (Plan of the Ages,
Vol. 1, p. 147).
Christ said in His commission to His servants:- He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved, he
that believeth not shall be damned. Writing to the Church, Peter says in his first Epistle, chap. 4: 18, And if the righteous scarcely be
saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear? What hope of a second chance appears in such a saying as that?
There is nothing in the Bible which teaches such a view of the meaning of
Redemption, which is an invention to blind the eyes of men to the urgency of the present probation and the
invitation of Christ. So far are these teachers from understanding the true
position of man in the sight of God that it is taught that sinners who turn to
God are a part of the great Sacrifice of Gods
beloved Son, Jesus (Harp of God,
pp. 194-5): instead of which the
Scripture constantly insists that the believer is redeemed by that sacrifice of Christ as of a lamb without spot and without blemish. How then can he be a part of the
sacrifice?
The pretensions of Russell in the 7th volume, for which he is
expressly held responsible by the Editors in the introduction, can only be
described as blasphemous. Recording the events of Revelation,
chap. 10,
and the descent of the Angel, it says (10: 1-4) And cried
with a loud voice - Pastor Russell was the voice used. And when he
had cried, - with the first cry, Food for Thinking Christians, 1,400,000 copies given away free.
Seven
Thunders SevenVolumes of Studies in the Scriptures. And when the
Seven Thunders had uttered their voices, I, Pastor Russell as a
representative of the John class (!!) (pp. 167, 168). Further on where
it says, And write them not, the interpretation offered is that 36 years elapsed from the publication of Food
for Thinking Christians to
this Volume VII!!
- The Fundamentalist.
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450
THE
By D. M.. PANTON, B.A.
IN the
last picture of the Church on earth given in the Bible, manifestly meant to be
its final picture, our Lord separates each angel - the churchs minister - from the
church: the angel is a shining star, the church is a lit lamp. How the minister
and the church come together is not revealed; circumstances infinitely differ;
but the angel is a resident, local official - one only - guiding and
instructing the church. So God-established is this ministry that nearly a whole
chapter of the Bible is devoted to making it clear that not only is the
minister in a life office, but that the church is responsible for his financial
support. Even so did the Lord ordain that they which proclaim the gospel
should live of the gospel (1 Cor.
9: 14).
No Priest
Now in the pictured ideal of the ministry given by Paul we
learn at once what a minister is not. Let a man so
account of us, as of servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God (1 Cor. 4: 1). This at once rules out all Sacerdotalism. The
minister is not a priest. He is no offerer of sacrifices, but a steward of
mysteries: he does not dispense absolution, but imparts instruction. Nor is he
an administrator of sacraments. Baptism and the Lords Supper are never
attached to ordained hands: on the contrary,
even the chief of the Apostles says, with extraordinary significance in view of
Sacerdotalism:- Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach
the gospel (1 Cor. 1: 17). No
minister is ever described as a priest in the New Testament, for the decisive
reason that all the members of Christ are priests.
A Servant
First, therefore, the minister is a servant. Let a man so
account of us as servants of Christ. It is the exquisite privilege of the
under-shepherd that, as he receives his commission from none but God, so he is
responsible for that commission to none but God; but, for Christs sake, he becomes the churchs
servant. We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves your
servants for Jesus sake (2 Cor. 4: 5). And the
servant of Christ is immortal till his work is done. The natives in an
Indian village planned to kill Brainerd. With their tomahawks in hand, they
crept toward the tent of the stranger. As they cautiously lifted the flap, they
saw, in the centre of the tent, Brainerd on his knees praying. As he prayed, a
rattlesnake crossed his feet, and paused. It raised to the position to strike.
But it did not strike. It lowered its head again, and glided out of the tent!
The Indians whispered among themselves, This man must
be a messenger from the Great Spirit! Instead of killing him, they
received him with honour.
A Steward
Secondly, the minister is a steward. Let a man so
account of us, as stewards of the mysteries of God - the secrets of God now unfolded in
fresh revelations. The word steward originally
meant an under-rower: our Lord sits at the helm;
the church is the group of passengers on board; and the minister is the under-rower,
uniting and propelling the local assembly. A steward is a man entrusted with
the use of goods: talents, opportunities, souls are all spheres of usefulness;
but the ministers supreme trust is Scripture - the mysteries of God. A ministry devoted to
committees, church clubs, guilds, countless organizations, has been the
bankruptcy of the modern ministry: the task of the godly steward,
absorbing his life, is to pass on the riches, not of a divine book, but of a
divine library. No criticism of a minister is more searching or more revealing
than to observe exactly how he handles
the Scripture with which he is dealing, and also what Scriptures he brings before the
assembly. His supreme task is to so expound the Scriptures that
his hearers - both believers and unbelievers - absorb and live the Word of God.
The World
Paul now presents four courts through
which, as a matter of fact, the minister passes for judgment; and the first is
the court of the world. The Apostle dismisses this with a wave of the hand. With me it is
a very small thing - a matter of insignificance - to be judged of mans judgment. It is not that
the minister does not seek to please. The Apostle himself says:- I also please
all men in all things,
not seeking my own profit - there is the saving clause - but the
profit of the many, that they may be
saved (1 Cor. 10: 33). Learning,
eloquence, intellectual power, all can be used by the Holy Spirit, and are
highly approved by mans judgment; so also is success; but a wooden key,
nothing like so beautiful as a golden key, is far more valuable if it opens the
door which the golden key leaves shut.* As Fletcher of Madeley said:- If you should live to preach the Gospel forty years, and be
the instrument of saving only one soul, it will be worth all your labours.
* The late Dr. F. B.
Meyer gave this striking testimony of his experience in dealing with men:- Up to a certain point in my own life I sought to influence
men by mental conceptions, polished sentences, and vivid and striking
metaphors; I found it did not help them. But when I began to try humbly to realize
the Heavenly vision, I laid my whole being open to the torrent of Gods power,
which is always seeking to reach men, and suddenly to my surprise I found that
God was pouring through my life river after river, and this began to be
realized, He that believeth on Me, out of Him shall flow rivers of Living Water. Oh, how I welcomed that text t! I said - Lord, from
to-day I am not going to dam up the water, but I am going to be a channel
through which the royal power of God Himself may reach men and women.
The Church
We now come to the second court, the court of the Church. Paul
supremely valued the love of the church, the prayers of the church, the
appreciation of the church; but he gently, though firmly, repudiates its
judgment. With me it is a small thing to be judged of you. Faithful preachers have to give
offence. In Bishop Halls
words:- Gospel ministers should not only be like
dials on watches, or milestones upon the road, but like clocks and alarums, to
sound the alarm to sinners. The prophets were commanded to lift up their voice
like a trumpet: a sleeping sentinel may be the death of a city. A
church can crown a steward whom the Lord will disrobe; an assembly, like Diotrophes, may excommunicate even apostles: who art thou
that judgest another mans servant? (Rom.
14: 4).
The inner life of the minister is unknown to all but God. The Eye that judges
must be able to travel backwards through all the secrets of the ministers
life, and sink through the motives of his heart. The hydrometer is an
instrument by which the quantity of
water mixed with a spirit is revealed. A merchant in
Conscience
The third court is conscience. Yea, I judge not mine own self : for I know nothing against my own self ; yet am I not hereby justified. Even conscience is no supreme
tribunal. Rare indeed are the ministers
who can say with Paul, -I know nothing against myself; but, even so, sins of which we are
unaware are never marshalled before the bar of conscience, but they are there,
though we may be totally unaware of them: it is to a steward whom He recognized
as such, but declared him to be poor and blind and naked, that the Lord had to say,- Buy of me
eyesalve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see - mayest see thyself (Rev. 3: 18). It was
the cry of Whitefield:- O could I always live for eternity, preach for eternity,
pray for eternity, and speak for eternity; I want to lose sight of man and see
only God.
Christ
So we arrive at the inevitable and only court: the minister
passes from the tribunal of the world, from the tribunal of the church, from
the tribunal of conscience, to the tribunal of the Godhead. He that
judgeth me is the Lord. Even a Paul has to be judged. The thoroughness of the judgment
is what makes it utterly satisfactory. Wherefore judge nothing before the
time, until the Lord come, who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness,
and make manifest the counsels of the hearts. The glory of the Judgment Seat is
that it will be thorough, complete, final. As an old Puritan summed it up:- While so many brethren are preaching for the times, suffer
one poor brother to preach for eternity.
Fidelity
All closes in what is the deep key-note of the ministry. Then shall
each man have his praise from God. How marvellous - God praising a man! But praising him for
what? It is required in stewards, that
a man be found faithful. Faithful - a quality that can be shown in any soul, of any
rank, in any class: faithful, not necessarily fruitful: in the words of Spurgeon, - Husbandman,
your Great Employer sent you out to sow the seed, but if no grain of it would
ever come up, if you sowed the seed as He told you, and where He told you, He
will never lay the blame of a defective harvest on you.
A Drink-Offering
The golden devotion possible to a servant of God, in a rapidly
dying opportunity for us all, was shown by D.
L. Moody in his closing years. Warned by a
* Greek: see Revised margin.
* *
*
The Church Universal
There is a glorious
catholicity of the saints, a mystic brotherhood of the farsighted who have long
been straining their eyes to catch a glimpse of the King in His beauty in the
land that is very far off. With great joy and deep humility I claim membership
in that brotherhood. This is the oldest and largest church in the world; it is
the church of the cross-smitten, of the God-enamoured. As the years go on, I am
coming to care less and less about any mans denominational ties. Let a man
have a far-away look in his eyes, let him bow his head and whisper the ever
blessed Name of Jesus, and he is my brother whatever his name may be. And he is my brother whether he will admit
it or not. If by some bit of unfortunate education he may believe his
church to be the only one, and consign
me to perdition because I am not in it, I will still own him a member of the
family of God if I find in his life the marks of the cross and in his eyes the
long look that reveals the man of faith.
- A. W. TOZER.
Confession of Sin
In the confession by one
sinful being to another, of what we call moral evil, hardly in one case out of
a thousand can such detail do other than harm to both minds. Such, at least, is
my conviction. Under the fallacious assumption that spiritual diseases
regularly require a human physician, because physical diseases usually do so,
and under the consequent supposed necessity of a minute diagnosis by the
supposed physician, it is terribly easy to aggravate by the intended remedy.
Even in our confession to God let us confess to him everything with simplicity,
not everything with minuteness.
- BISHOP HANDLEY MOULE.
Purity
There is hardly a single
grace dearer to God than this - to keep lily-white amid the defiling
atmosphere; to walk with unspotted garments even in
- F. B. MEYER, D.D.
Crowns
At the time of the Pagan
persecution, there were twelve men, Christians, who were under sentence of
death, and the jailor of the prison had a strange dream just before the
execution was to take place. He saw an extraordinary fine-looking man coming
into the prison, and he had twelve crowns with him, and he went and tried the
crowns on the head of the first prisoner, and the second, and right on to the
eleventh, and the crown fitted the head of everyone. At last he came to the
twelfth and the crown did not fit him at all, and he told the jailor to come
over and he put the crown on his head and it fitted him perfectly and he left
it there in his dream. The next day the prisoners were taken away to be burned but
when it came to the twelfth man he recanted and cursed Christ and when the
jailor saw that he said, That is not what Christ deserves. He was asked, And would you recant? No, he said, and took that
mans place at the stake and got the Crown which awaited him.
- NEIL CAMERON.
Prayer
When we pray, we link
ourselves with an inexhaustible motive power that suspends the universe : we
ask that a part of this power that suspends the universe be a portion to our
needs.
- DR. ALEXANDER CARREL.
Prayer is the unburdening
of our heavy hearts where we know they have been fully anticipated by the
yearnings of an infinite compassion; the laying of our perplexities toward a
light which we know must arise upon them, and which, until it comes, will send
peace that they may be borne, the lifting of our sin to a Love which we know
seeks to pardon us, and whose pardon is therefore our most just as it is our
most eager hope.
- GEORGE MATHESON.
Out-Resurrection
The resurrection of all saints
is by grace. and is indissolubly
linked to our salvation from sin. It is for all believers, apart from
anything they are, or do.
This out-resurrection is quite different. It is
something to be attained, therefore it is something for which we must strive, and
press, with the spirit of, This one thing I do. Why should the Lord not separate the faithful
saints from that host of carnal saints who lived for the things of this world?
As long as there is a just God in Heaven, He will not be unfaithful or
unrighteous to forget the work and labour of love, which the valiant have shown
towards His Name. Our God could never permit an equality, a like reward, an
equal inheritance among the spiritual and the Carnal believers in the ages to
come. Let us count all things as loss, as we press on to know Him, and the
fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, that we, also, may
attain. Let us also say, in all sincerity, this one thing I do.
- THE GOSPEL HERALD.
* *
* * *
* *
To be continued, D.V.