[PHOTOGRAPH:
INDEX
751THE CROWNING OF JOSHUA AND THE MAN
WHOSE NAME IS THE BRANCH By David Baron. [PART ONE]
752 THE WISE VIRGINS
753 THE UNEQUAL YOKE
754 PEACE AND REST THROUGH MESSIAH-JESUS
755 FROM A KIKUYU PASTORS DIARY
756 THE APOSTLE PAUL By D. M. Panton, B.A.
757 THE IDEAL PREACHER By D. M. Panton,
B.A.
758 ANTICHRIST IN FICTION AND FACT By
George H. Stevens, M. TH.
759 THE LAST DAYS
By L. W. Kemmis.
760 THE CROWNING OF JOSHUA AND THE MAN
WHOSE NAME OS THE BRANCH By David Baron. [PART TWO]
761 THE SECOND
COMING By D. R. Davies.
762 ELEVENTH HOUR LABOURERS
763 THE HEART By D. M. Panton, B.A.
764 PRAYER - BY ANOTHER NAME By A. G. Tilney.
765 THE SECOND DEATH By Lt.-Col. L. Merston Davies.
766 THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT By Robert
Govett, M. A. (From Matt. 7: 9)
767 THE AWFULNESS OF SIN By S Norton.
768 GOD HEALED ME By Dr. Oswald J. Smith.
769 THE CROWNING OF JOSHUA AND THE MAN
WHOSE NAME IS THE BRANCH By David
Baron.
770 OUR ANCHOR By D. M. Panton, B.A.
771 AN EXPOSITION OF THE EPISTLE TO
THE HEBREWS (From Heb. 9: 26) By Robert Govett, M.A.
772 THE WOMAN ON THE SEVEN HILLS
773 FREEDOM AS INTERPRETED BY
774 FROM
(Let us labour
)
By Arlen L. Chitwood.
775 THE HOPE SET BEFORE US By Philip
Mauro.
776 ATTAINING THE PRIZE By G. H. Lang.
777 THE
778 BE YE ALSO READY By D. M. Panton, B.A.
779 THE CHURCH AT WAR
780 THE MILLENNIAL
781 THE NEW PASSOVER By Alexander
Maclaren, D.D. Litt. D.
782 SINNING WILFULLY By Philip Mauro
783 SEE TO THAT
By Alexander Maclaren, D.D. Litt.D.
784 MIRACULOUS GIFTS By D. M. Panton, B.A.
785 WHO ARE THE SPIRITS IN SPIRITUALISM?
786 ATTAINING THE PRIZE By G. H. Lang.
787 PEACE LIKE A RIVER
788 IS THE BIBLE THE WORD OF GOD? By Percy
Crawford
789 THE GREAT TRIBULATION By G. H. Lang.
790 PRAYING FOR THE ADVENT By D. M.
Panton, B.A.
791 THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
By Robert Govett, M.A. (From Matt.
7: 21.)
792 THECHURCH IN THE LAST CRISIS By
Leonard Ravenhill.
793 THOUGH YOUR SINS BE AS SCARLET By
Lionel P. Coeckelberghs.
794 WHAT IS COMMUNISM?
795 MORE ABUNDANCE By William Arthur.
796 THE JOY OF THE SON By C. A. Coates.
797 THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST By D. M.
Panton. B.A.
798 RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH By
Earnest J. Long.
799 THE KINGDOM OF THE THOUSAND YERS By Nathaniel
West.
800 WILL BELIEVERS HAVE PART IN THE
THOUSAND YEARS? BY Robert Govett, M.A.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
751
THE CROWNING OF JOSHUA
AND
THE MAN WHOSE NAME IS
THE BRANCH
(Zechariah 6: 9-15)
By DAVID BARON
[PATR ONE]
The word of Jehovah came unto me,
saying, Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah;
and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, whither they are come from Babylon; yea, take of them silver and
gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak,
the high priest; and
speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, saying, Behold, the Man whose name is the Branch: and He shall grow
up out of His place; and He shall build the Temple of Jehovah; even He shall build
the Temple of Jehovah; and He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon His throne;
and He shall be
a priest upon His throne; and the
counsel of peace shall be between them both. And
the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah,
and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the
-------
THE
series of eight visions is followed by a very significant symbolical transaction,
which must be regarded as the crowning act - the headstone of the rich symbolico-prophetical teaching which was unfolded to the
prophet on that memorable night.
It shows us what will follow the banishment of evil from the
land, and the overthrow of world-power in the earth, as set forth particularly
in the last three visions - namely, the crowning, of
the true King, the Mediator of Salvation, who shall be
a Priest upon His throne, and build the true temple of Jehovah,
into which not only Israel, but they that are far off - the Gentiles - shall have access.
To indicate that the visions are now ended, the prophet adopts
the usual formula by which the prophets always authenticated that they spake, not
of themselves, but as they were moved by the Holy Spirit: And the word of Jehovah came
unto me, saying. The whole section
divides itself into two parts - the first (vers. 9-11) gives the account of the symbolical
transaction; and the second (vers.
13-15)
records the verbal prophecy.
The symbolical act was occasioned by the following
circumstance: There arrived in Jerusalem, probably on the very morning after
the vision, three prominent men as a deputation from the Haggolah, the
Captivity - that is, from those who were still settled in Babylon,
whither they were originally carried captive - bringing with them an offering of
silver and gold for the Temple, which was then still in building. The sight of
these men from far-off Babylon, bearing their offering for
the Lords House, was the occasion of the opening of the prophets eyes by the Spirit of God to behold the future glorious [Millennial] Temple,
which in Messiahs time shall be established in Jerusalem as an House of Prayer
for all nations,* and to which even the Gentile peoples which are far off shall flock, bringing their worship and their
offerings.
[* See Mark
11: 17. Cf. Isaiah 56: 7; Jer. 7: 11, R.V.
& A.S.V.]
The incident recorded in John 12:
20-33 may
in a sense be regarded as parallel to this. There the coming of Andrew and
Philip to our Lord with the touching request made in the first instance to the
latter of these two disciples by the Greeks who came up to Jerusalem among
those who came up to worship at the feast: Sir, we would see Jesus, took our Saviours mind to the time [yet future] when all men, without distinction of race or
nationality, shall be drawn unto Him, and to the only possible way by which this could be brought about.
In the temple of His pre-resurrection body, as the Son of David, there was no
room for these poor Gentiles. The Son of Man must be lifted up: except the
corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it
abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth
forth much fruit. So here the appearance in Jerusalem of these strangers takes the prophets
mind from the Temple they were then building, over the second outer court of
which when completed there was the inscription put up in Greek and Latin: No stranger may enter
here on pain of death,* to the future Temple, which Messiah,
the true Prince and Priest, of whom Zerubbabel and Joshua the son of Josedech,
were types, would build; which, as already said, shall be an House of Prayer
for all nations, and in which those that are far off by which we must understand not only
the Jews who were still in the far lands of their captivity, but the
Gentiles, from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the
same, as the last
post-exilic prophet Malachi predicts - shall come and build.
* The interesting discovery in 1871 by Clermont-Ganneau, the learned Oriental
archaeologist (the same who discovered and translated the inscription of the
Moabite Stone), of the block of stone with the Greek version of this inscription,
which was actually built into the wall or enclosure of the Second Temple,
separating the Court of the Gentiles from the
Court of the Women, is now well known. I have
myself more than once seen and examined the block with the inscription on it,
which, with many other precious archaeological treasures, is now in the
How significant, in the light of this fact, are the words of
the apostle: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes
were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace who bath made both (i.e., Jew and Gentile) one, and bath broken down the
middle wall of partition (Eph. 2: 13, 14).
The symbolical act itself which the prophet is commanded to perform
was as follows:
He was to go to the
house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, whither they
(i.e., these distinguished strangers) are come from
Babylon, as the original words in the 18th
verse are properly rendered in the Revised
Version - the 14th verse indicating, as we shall see,
that this Josiah, like a true son of Abraham, was a man given to
hospitality, and
lodged these strangers in his house as an act of kindness. Having gone that
same day to that hospitable house, he was to take some of the silver and gold
which they had brought as an offering from those still in Babylon, and make ataroth. The word
is in the plural, and is rendered in the Authorised Version and in the text of
the Revised Version crowns,* some commentators supposing that
there were at least two crowns - one made of silver and the other of gold: the
first for the high priest, or at any rate as an emblem of the priestly dignity;
and the other of royalty. But what follows does not at all agree with this
supposition, for the prophet is commanded to put the ataroth upon the head of Joshua; and, as
Keil and Lange well observe. You do not put two or
more crowns upon the head of one man. Ewald, Hitzig, and
others, to meet the supposed difficulty, would interpolate the words and upon the
head of Zerubabbel in the 11th verse, as if one
crown was to be put upon the head of Zerubbabel and the other upon Joshua; but
there is no justification whatever for such a free-and-easy method of handling
the sacred text, and the interpretation based upon their reconstruction only obscures the rich significance
and spiritual beauty of the truth set forth in this symbolical transaction.
* In the margin of the R. V. it is rendered in the singular, a crown.
There is no mention whatever of Zerubbabel in this passage,
neither was a silver crown, or indeed any crown, ever worn by the high priest -
the priestly mitre being never so designated.* In fact, the whole significance of the
incident lies in the fact that these crowns, or crown, was placed upon the head of Joshua. The plural ataroth is
used in Job 21: 36 for one crown, and what most probably is meant is a single splendid royal crown, consisting of a number of gold
and silver twists or circlets woven together.
*The silver
might have formed a circlet in the crown of gold, as in modern times the iron
crown of Lombardy was called iron because it had a plate of iron in its summit,
being else of gold and most precious. - Pusey.
In Rev. 19. our Lord Jesus is spoken of as wearing many
crowns; but what is probably meant is a diadem composed of, or encircled with,
many crowns.
The Verbal Prophecy
Having placed this crown upon the head of Joshua, the prophet
was, by the Lords command, to deliver to him the following message: Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, saying, Behold the Man
whose name is the Branch, and He shall grow
up out of His place, and He shall build
the Temple of the Lord: even He shall build
the Temple of the Lord: and He shall bear
the glory, and shall sit and
rule upon His throne; and He shall be a
priest upon His throne; and the counsel of
peace shall be between them both.
This is one of the most remarkable and precious Messianic
prophecies, and there is no plainer prophetic utterance in the whole Old
Testament as to the Person of the promised Redeemer, the offices He was to
fill, and the mission He was to accomplish. Let us examine the sentence in detail.
Behold the Man! - an expression which has become
famous and of profound significance, since some
five centuries later, in the overruling providence of God, it was used by
Pilate on the day when He Who came to bring life into the
world was Himself led forth to a death of shame.
Here, however, it is not to the Son of Man in His humiliation,
to the Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief, that our attention is directed by God
Himself, but to the only true Man after Gods own heart - the Man par excellence - the Ideal and Representative of the race, Who,
after having for our salvation worn the crown of thorns, shall [return
to that same cursed ground (Gen. 3: 17, A.S.V.)] as the reward of His sufferings, be crowned with glory and honour, and have all things put in subjection under His feet.
Behold the Man! Behold MY Servant! (Isa. 42: 1, 52: 13), Behold thy King!
(Zech. 9:
9), Behold your God! (Isa. 40:
9): thus variously, as calling attention to the different aspects
of the character of the same blessed Person, is this word Behold used by God Himself.
Behold the Man! - the words are indeed addressed to
Joshua, but by no possibility can they
be made to apply to him as the subject, as modern Jews and some rationalistic Christian
interpreters seek to do.*
* Rashi, Aben
Ezra, and Kimchi assert that the Man, the Branch,
is Zerubbabel; but, for obvious controversial reasons, they have departed from
the older received interpretation, as is seen from Targum of Jonathan, where
the passage (ver. 12) is paraphrased thus: Behold
the Man; Messiah is His Name. He
will be revealed, and He will become great and build the
The Messianic interpretation is also
defended with great force by Abarbanel,
who thus decisively refutes the interpretation adopted by the great trio of
Jewish commentators, Rashi, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi. He says, Rashi has written that
the words, Behold the Man Whose Name is the
Branch, have by some been interpreted of the
Messiah. He here means Jonathan,
whose interpretation he did not receive, for he adds that the building here
spoken of refers altogether to the Second Temple; but I wish that I could ask
them, if this prophecy refers to the Second Temple and Zerubabbel, why it said,
The Man Whose Name is the Branch, and He shall grow up from
beneath Him. Surely we know that every man
grows up to manhood, and even to old age and hoary hairs. Rashi, perceiving this objection, has interpreted this to mean that
He shall be of the royal seed; but this is not correct, for the word (from beneath Him) teaches
nothing about the royal family. ... But, at all events, I should like to ask
them, if these words be spoken of Zerubbabel, why does the prophet add that He shall build the
Dr. Alexander McCaul says on this passage, The prophecy promises
these particulars: first, He shall he a priest
upon His throne; secondly, He shall build the Temple of the Lord; thirdly, He shall bear
the glory (the majesty), and shall sit and rule
upon His throne, and they that are far off shall come and build the Temple of the Lord.
It is not necessary to point out the well-known passages which prove that these four particulars are all features of
Messiahs character, and in that of no one else. It is also easy to
identify these features in the character of Jesus of Nazareth. He is represented
in the New Testament as a High Priest, as a King; and it is certain that the
Gentiles, who were then afar off, have acknowledged His dignity; and, as for building a
Joshua himself knew of a certainty that that which was set
forth by the symbolical act of his being crowned, and the great prophecy
contained in the words which followed, could
not refer to himself.
Perhaps if it had been Zerubbabel - who was a prince of the
House of David - who had been so crowned, and to whom the words had been
addressed, there might have been some shadow of ground for such a mistake; but Joshua, as priest, never could wear a crown,
nor sit and rule upon a throne,
since as long as the old Dispensation lasted the priesthood and royalty were, by Gods appointment, apportioned to different tribes, and no true prophet would ever think or
speak of any one but a son of David as having a right to sit and rule on a throne in Jerusalem. This, in all
probability, was the reason why the crown was placed on the head, not of
Zerubbabel, but of Joshua. But Zechariah, who was a priest-prophet, and Joshua,
to whom the words are addressed, knew well that there were
predictions in the former prophets that in a time to come the Redeemer, whom
God promised to raise up in Israel out of the House of David, would combine in
His own Person the two great mediatorial offices of Priest and King, and be at
the same time the last and greatest Prophet, through Whom God would reveal
Himself more fully and perfectly to man. Thus, for instance, in the 110th Psalm it is predicted of the theocratic King, Who shall
strike through kings in the day of His wrath, and judge among nations -
The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent.
Thou art a priest for ever,
after the order
of Melchizedek.
Now, of this royal Priest, whose priesthood was to be for ever, Joshua was already told in the 3rd chapter that both he and his fellows of the Aaronic family were anshei mophcth - literally, men
that are a sign, i.e., types - so that there
could be no shadow of a possibility of his understanding this new and fuller
message about the Priest-King in the 6th
chapter as referring to himself, beyond the fact that in his official
capacity as high priest he (like all the other priests of the House of Aaron)
foreshadowed the Person and office of the One who should be the true and only
Mediator between God and man.
To return for a moment to the symbolical action which preceded
the delivery of the verbal message, there is truth in Puseys observation, that the
act of placing the crown on the head of Joshua, the high priest, pictured not
only the union of the offices of Priest and King in the person of the Messiah,
but that He should be King, being first
our High Priest. Joshua was already high priest;
being such, the kingly crown was added to him. It says in act what the Apostle
says in plain words, that Christ Jesus,
being found in fashion as a man, humbled Himself, and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the Cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him.
But to remove any possibility of mistake or doubt, the Man to whom the attention of Joshua is directed
away from himself is introduced by the well-known Messianic title, which in the
Book of Zechariah
is used as a proper name of the promised Deliverer.
Behold the man Tsemach - The Branch
- is His Name!
We have fully entered into this point in the exposition of the
8th verse of chap. 3., and
have there shown also how, under this title, the Messiah is brought before us
in the Old Testament prophecy in the four different aspects of His character to
which reference has already been made above - namely, as the King (Jer. 23: 5, 6), the Servant (Zech.
3: 8),
the Man (Zech. 6:
12), and
as the Branch of Jehovah (Isa. 4: 2): which
answer so beautifully to the fourfold portraiture of the Christ of history
which the Spirit of God has, through the Evangelists, given us in the four
different Gospels. We therefore pass on to the next clause.
And He shall grow up out of His place - umitachtav
itsmach* - literally, He shall
branch up from under Him - from His own root or stock.
* The only other place where umitachtav
is found in the Old Testament is Ex. 10: 23, where
it means out of his own place.
First, as to the race or nation, He shall be of the seed of
Abraham, of the tribe of
At the same time it is true, as Hengstenberg observes, that the expression presupposes the
lowliness from which He will first rise by degrees to glory. Thus, to quote another writer, in this one significant sentence the lowly origin of the
Messiah on the one hand, and His royal dignity on the other, are both not
obscurely referred to. *
*Dr. Wright.
* *
* * *
* *
752
THE WISE VIRGINS
IN the
face of all opposition, the midnight cry (Matt.
25: 6)
will wax louder and stronger, and more definite and uncompromising than ever.*
* Prophetic students should circulate as
many prophetic books, pamphlets and tracts as possible, and give an earnest
Gospel exhortation to sinners to come to Jesus Christ in faith and prayer for
forgiveness and salvation.
The public journals, reviews and periodicals will be forced by
the growing interest in the subject to notice the movement, and write articles
upon it: and probably it will often be attacked with all the artillery of their
satire, logic, and denunciation. It is emphatically in relation to such a
period that Peter predicts, There shall come in the last days scoffers,
saying, Where is the
promise of His coming: for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the
creation. This predicts that the derision of worldly men is to be directed not so
much against the Gospel in general as against the doctrine of Christs personal Coming, in particular; and various
philosophers, scientific professors, and politicians will probably maintain it
to be incredible that the ordinary course of events in the material and
political world should now be arrested by so violent and unnatural an
interruption as these prophecies foretell; and they will maintain that the world is
in an era of enlightenment, and
commercial prosperity. The idea of a
fresh religious persecution will be scouted by them, as contrary to the advanced spirit of the age; and the predictions that the maker of the seven-years covenant with
the Jews is necessarily to become the Man of Sin will be denounced as
groundless and uncharitable (2 Thess. 2).
Nevertheless, all Christians will more or less be aroused by
the Covenant and the startling signs of the times, so much so that the prophecy
foretells that the foolish virgins - the representatives of Christians who are
ignorant and bewildered in regard to these Second Advent doctrines - will
anxiously come to the wise virgins, who are Christians thoroughly understanding
and believing the doctrines: and will earnestly entreat them, Give us of your oil (the oil of prophetic discernment), for our lamps are going out (not gone out). But the wise answer, saying, Not so, lest there be not enough for us and you, but go ye rather to them that sell (namely, the
three Persons in one God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, who impart knowledge
without money and without price), and buy for yourself. Here the foolish Christians, who have only sufficient
grace to believe in the ordinary doctrines of the Gospel, and who have not
obtained by prayer and searching of the Scriptures the more ample supply of the
illuminating oil and teaching of the Holy Spirit, which alone can enable them
rightly to interpret the signs of the times and to understand Prophecy, betake
themselves in their perplexity to the wise Christians who have obtained that
higher spiritual anointing, and ask them to impart to them a satisfactory
comprehension of the subject. This request cannot be fulfilled by the wise
Christians, because the argument and explanations which are conclusive to them
prove only vague and inconclusive to those who have not obtained by earnest
prayer and meditation upon Gods word the prophetic teaching of the Divine Spirit.
The foolish Christians are, therefore, recommended to resort
in supplication to the mercy-seat for a further supply of Divine grace and
enlightening faith to enable them to believe and confess the immediate nearness
of Christs return. But while they are occupied in seeking by prayer and study
of the prophecies for this required grace and faith, and have not quite arrived
at any decided belief on the subject, so as openly to bear testimony and unite
in the midnight-cry-suddenly Christ comes, and takes away to heaven those who
are plainly confessing their belief in the proximity of His Advent, and who are
thus holding forth brightly burning lamps of testimony, and crying, Behold, the
Bridegroom cometh.
* The same advice is given to the Laodiceans, who prophetically
represent the foolish virgins in Rev. 3: 18. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and
white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed,
and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear;
and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. Compare Rev. 16: 15. Many writers understand the seven churches to
be prophetic of seven successive states of the Church Militant - Sardis the era
of the Reformation; the Philadelphian church, the wise virgins; the Laodicean
church, the church of the foolish virgins who are left behind, but assured of
forgiveness, if they will be zealous and repent, and of admission to the marriage
supper, although excluded from entering with the wise virgins to the marriage.
The foolish undecided Christians then finding themselves left
behind on earth, engage in agonising prayer, Lord, Lord, open to us. This shows that
they are not mere hypocrites or unconverted, for, if so, they would not be very
likely to pray. But he answered and said, Verily, I say unto you, I know
you not. Christs refusal of their request will virtually be
equivalent to saying, I know you not. He does not recognise them as fit at that
time to be admitted to heaven, because they are in a worldly, Laodicean,
lukewarm state; but still they are not consigned to perdition. Nothing further
is said in that parable about their subsequent destiny. But various Scriptures
show that during the succeeding period of great tribulation, multitudes will
repent and call upon the name of the Lord, and be ultimately saved, although
not taken to heaven at the same period as the wise virgins.*
* Christ is only contemplated as a
Bridegroom throughout the parable of the Ten Virgins, and not at all as a
Redeemer, Intercessor, or Judge. As a Bridegroom, He knows them not, because
they have not the waiting spirit of a bride; but still, at that same time, He
may know them as their Saviour, Intercessor, and Friend.
Various expositors, such as the Revs. Dr. Seiss, E. Bickersteth,
J. Hooper, R. Govett, etc., justly reject the common idea that the foolish virgins are false
professing Christians, and they consider them to be really converted Christians but unbelievers
in the personal Coming of Christ, or backsliders, and afterwards to have mercy
extended to them.
The Midnight Cry.
* *
* * *
* *
753
THE UNEQUAL YOKE
By SARA
P. SHIELDS.
ONE
afternoon, while travelling on a bus, a young woman spoke to me. I didnt
recognise her at first, but when she said she had met me at Mrs. Joness house, I remembered who she was.
Quite frankly, she said, Mrs. Jones
is a lovely Christian woman; she led me to the Lord, but I havent seen much of
her lately, because she doesnt approve of my being engaged to an unsaved man.
I keep telling her that even if Harry isnt a Christian before we are married,
Im sure I will be able to win him, afterward.
Before I could reply, the young woman had reached her stop and
got off. I began to think of the fine Christian woman of whom she had been
speaking. I prize that womans friendship, and, many times, her wise counsel
has helped me. One of the texts she often quotes is, Be ye not
unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for
what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? (2 Cor. 6: 14).
One day she said to me:
What I suffered for wilful
disobedience only God knows. I knew he drank a little, but he stopped it during
the months I was engaged to him. So many Church people thought I was doing a
big thing, reforming a man. They told me how great my influence was on him,
and, mind you, some of the good people were Christians. Even the minister of
our church, who was known as a conference speaker, and outstanding in many
ways, encouraged me to go through with the marriage. My dear Christian mother
wasnt happy about it. She did warn me that I ought to wait at least another
year. She died the year I was married, so she never knew the unhappiness I
experienced.
I soon discovered that reformation
doesnt mean regeneration. My husband had never accepted Jesus Christ as his
personal Saviour. He knew nothing about the precious blood that cleanses from
sin, and I also discovered that he expected to take me his way, when all the
time I had expected he would walk with me in the ways of the Lord.
He brought his unsaved drinking
friends to our home. He expected me to be friendly with them. He allowed them
to openly insult me. I can tell you with the utmost sincerity that only the
marvellous grace of God saved my reason.
It is over twenty-five years since I
married this man, and he isnt a Christian yet. But how wonderful is the
loving-kindness of our God. As I watched my husband going deeper into sinful
living, God helped me to go deeper in His ways. He has blessed and kept me, and
protected me so often from my husband and his wicked friends.
There is a degree of peace, now,
between my husband and me. He is kinder now, and none of those bad people come
to our home any more. But, oh, what I missed in the way of married happiness
and companionship, and Christian fellowship!
Those church people who encouraged
me to marry this man didnt know Gods Word. But it doesnt excuse me at all. I
was a Christian. I had access to the throne of grace to find the wisdom and
guidance I needed, Instead of relying on the living Word, I took the advice of
other so-called Christians, and my own way. I went against the Holy Spirits
warnings.
How I pray to warn Christian young
people against the unequal yoke. I have heard people of God say, God guides us
through circumstances. Yes, that is true, but I beg Christian young people
contemplating marriage, Stick to Gods Word. I learned in
childhood that The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Psa. 111: 10). If I had heeded that
instead of taking my own way and the advice of others, I could have been saved
many years of misery.
You have commented often on my
quiet, serene way, havent you? But I havent always known the peace of God I
possess today. I married an unsaved man. I thought he was a Christian; he said he
was. But I didnt wait long enough to get the Lords will in the matter. I
thought I loved him, and felt I couldnt live without him.
I stayed with my husband, when many
times I was tempted to go so far away from him. God gave me grace to stay by
the vows I took on my wedding day. He gave me grace to do my duty, and He
continues that grace. Yes, you are right when you say I have a quiet peace and
serenity. He gives me that. Praise Him! And He keeps me day by day. But oh,
with all my heart I pray, Christian young people, beware of the unequal yoke.
* *
*
THE PRINTED WORD
IN
scattering divine literature, we liberate thistledown laden with precious seed,
which, blown by the winds of the Spirit, floats over the world. The printed
page never flinches, never shows cowardice; it is never tempted to compromise;
it never tires, never grows disheartened; it travels cheaply, and requires no
hired hall; it works while we sleep; it never loses its temper, and it works
long after we are dead.
The printed page is a visitor which gets inside the home and
stays there; it always catches a man in the right mood, for it speaks to him
only when he is reading it; it always sticks to what it has said and never
answers back, and it is bait left permanently in the pool.
The printed page is deathless; you can destroy one, but the
press can produce millions more; as often as it is martyred, it is raised
again; the ripple started by the given tract can widen down the centuries until
it reaches the Great White Throne.
- The Indian Christian.
* *
* * *
* *
754
PEACE AND REST THROUGH MESSIAH-JESUS
Testimony heard at the 66th Anniversary Meeting of the
American Messianic
Fellowship at
(Stenographically reported).
IN this
church, during the Sunday Evening service of December 14th last, I
came forward. It was a long aisle, and I would not have made it but for the
encouragement and the assistance of Deacon
James. After the services when Mr. McCarrell asked for persons to come forward and accept
the Lord I did not do so, but when Deacon James approached and asked if I would
go with him and discuss the matter I did. And he spoke to me and I accepted the
Lord Jesus then and there. After that, there was much doubt in my mind and he
introduced me to Pastor McCarrell, who spoke to me personally and comforted me.
I said that it was a long aisle. It led not only from my seat
to the front of this church, but also from Judaism to Christianity over the
campus of a University, by way of the American
Messianic Fellowship, then known as the Chicago Hebrew Mission.
I have come from a Jewish background. I have not been brought up
too strictly in the faith, as many of my brethren are not. But I have had a
curious mind and I was well provided for. I was well fed, well clothed, and
well polished. I was not given the Bible at the age of nine, but I was given a
set of The Book of Knowledge which is a childs encyclopaedia.
At the age of fourteen I had outgrown The Book
of Knowledge and
turned to Encyclopaedia Brittanica, and then I began to try to satisfy my
natural curiosity by the study of languages, by the study of mathematics, by
the study of English Literature, and later by the study of Philosophy,
Sociology, no Zoology, but every other ology you
can think of.
After my undergraduate days at the University I went to
So I returned for graduate work to the University. Again I
received another degree but not an answer to my question. I had become
convinced that I did not know what life was, and neither did anyone else, for
surely my Professors knew nothing.
It was during this discouraged condition that I found myself
at a lecture in the Jewish Peoples Institute about
a year ago last September. The subject was
As a lawyer I was interested, for this seemed to absolve me
and my people from the charge as Christ-killers,
and so I asked Joe where he received this information, and he urged me to meet
him the following Sunday at 816,
I was there the following Sunday afternoon. I could not accept
the Virgin birth. I could not accept the Resurrection and I argued with the
Superintendent, Milton Lindberg, but
I also realised that these people were
good people, that they truly loved us, that they were lending their weight
against anti-Semitism, against the claim of some so-called Christians who blame us Jews alone for the death of
Christ. And so, after arguing that afternoon with Mr. Lindberg I apologised
and told him that I would not return because I did not wish to continue
offending him; but I wished him well in his work. He said that I had not
offended him, and invited me to return and continue the argument with him.
At the University I had learned one thing, never leave an
argument - and I will tell you why. I was going to win this argument and that
is why I returned the following Sunday. That is why I continued returning. But
one November Sunday afternoon during the Home Hour
Mr. Constable, the Vice-President of
Moody Bible Institute, was speaker of the
afternoon. He did not seem like a fanatic to me. Somehow, he was a business
man. He was a man I could speak to and I did. I began to become convinced then
and there that if Mr. Constable could believe this then perhaps it was
rational, for what a reasonable man believes is rational.
Before that time there was a part of me that wanted to
believe. As Moses Gitlin
once said, another Christian Hebrew, a Jew must be converted four times - once
with his heart, once with his intellect, once with his stomach, and once with
his pocketbook. It was a week or so before that I had experienced a conversion
of the heart, but my intellect, as one of our Missionaries here has said so
often occurs, would not accept it. My intellect was rebelling.
But now I had spoken to Mr. Constable I became convinced that
this was not only something that satisfied the emotions but could also satisfy
the intellect. Moreover, Mr. Constable suggested that I read the book Therefore Stand by Wilbur Smith. I read
the book. The book had not been written by a fanatic. My intellect had also
been convinced.
I came to this church that Sunday evening prepared to accept the
Lord, not prepared to accept Him publicly, or formally, but prepared to accept
Jesus as my Lord as a silent believer, as many of us Jewish people do. We
remain silent because the cost of salvation is very high if one is a Jew. A Jew
sometimes loses all his friends, his family, his business, and everything else
he possesses, and the question is always Is what you
are buying worth the price?
I was not yet convinced that salvation was worth that price.
But I knew that I had not found satisfaction in the world and that I had longed
for peace and comfort and joy and I became envious of the Christians whose
testimonies I had heard at the
I rejoice that for me the Day of Atonement is no more only for
this year, but for all time, that I may
honour my Lord not by fasting, but by feasting with thanksgiving, that because
of one Divine Atonement I shall never be called upon to sacrifice my love for
Him, that He will comfort me in time of death, will also strengthen me and
prepare me to meet the issues of life. And so I now acknowledge and confess
that I am a true Believer.
* *
*
THE WORLDS FUTURE
FROM a
purely human viewpoint the future becomes steadily more frightening. Last
Easter [during 1955] the Pope referred to the means of destruction available to man which are
capable of causing the total extermination of all animal and vegetable life in this
world. They were no idle words. More recently it has been estimated that 400
one-ton cobalt bombs would be sufficient to destroy all life on earth. When
cobalt is bombarded with neutrons, it becomes highly radio-active, giving off
radiations over 300 times more powerful than the gamma rays given off by
radium. Prof. Harrison Brown says
that a cobalt bomb containing a ton of deuterium (a
variant or isotope of hydrogen) could be exploded on a north-south line in the
Pacific about a thousand miles west of
* *
* * *
* *
755
FROM A KIKUYU PASTORS DIARY
ON
Friday, February 13th, at 2 a.m., we were deep in sleep. At any rate, I was; my
wife heard some people outside saying, Samuel, Samuel,
Samuel. Sarah tried without success to wake me. When they realised I
was not answering they began to break down the door. Their last blow woke me up
with a start but, after a little, the Lord restored His peace to me, for I had
prayed that night that He would be my guard.
My wife opened the bedroom door and in came two of them each
with two pangas (knives) in his hand. They were just young fellows. We asked: What do you want? They replied, our money and
quickly, or else we should die on the spot.
They asked for the keys of our boxes and cupboards and began
opening them and searching through everything. While this was going on, I was
struck three times with a panga and the blood was pouring out like water and blinding
my eyes. My hands had been tied behind my back with a girdle of my wifes and I
was sitting on the edge of the bed.
While one kept cutting me without respite the other passed
all our belongings to those outside who were many in number, women as well as
men. My shoulders and arms were covered with wounds and even now I cannot walk
properly because of a wound on my right heel, where the tendon was almost
completely severed.
When they finished with me, they cut my wife on the head,
asking why she had laughed while they were cutting me. She said she felt no
anger for what they had done, whereupon they made a deep gash on her head and
snapped her little finger on the left hand.
All this time we talked with them in a friendly way and
explained that our work was preaching the Gospel so people should come to know
Jesus and be saved, white and black alike.
Then they said: Wasnt it you who
refused to co-operate in the good work we Kikuyu are trying to do these days? Now you will learn what sort of
people we are.
They redoubled their efforts and beat us all over our bodies.
They wanted me to agree to take their oath, but I told them: No, I have drunk the blood of Jesus and it was sufficient
for me.
At Jesus name their beating became even more ferocious.
After each refusal to take the oath, they laid about me without ceasing. They
pierced my waist at the back with a sword so that I thought they had cut my
kidneys and cried out Lord in a loud voice.
Why are you calling on the Lord?
they asked and when I did not answer they beat me more. They took some of our
blood and smeared it over our lips. They put me on the bed and loosed my hands.
Just then, our smallest child began to cry and they asked
Sarah, Do you want this child killed? Dont you know
we are murderers? Sarah answered No,
and they told her: Shut her up.
They seemed about to go and Sarah asked for one blanket with
which to cover the child. They threw one to her. I, too, asked: And what shall I cover myself with? They said: We have already given your wife one, how can we give you one
too? They brought my surplice and threw it over me.
When they had gone, taking everything we had with them, we
began to pray for them. They had said to us: We are
going now, so dont forget to pray for us. We told them we would do so,
so that the Lord might help them and bring them to salvation.
As we lay there, Sarah and I had peace in our hearts but our
bodies had been badly handled. What amazed us and set us praising God was that
all the time we were beaten and hacked we felt no pain, nor did we show any
sign of grief or despair. We were sure it was the Lords work and that He alone
had saved us from death, for no man had told them not to kill us. We rejoiced
that our children, who had been watching all that was done, had been spared.
We praised the Lord who had delivered us and then prayed for
our attackers that God would forgive them. We really meant this and had they
turned back and asked for a cup of tea, we would have been willing to try to
get it for them. Finally we prayed that the brethren might come to hear of this
soon and bring us help. After this, we rested in the Lord, despite the pain we
felt in our bodies. - A.M.F. Monthly.
* *
* * *
* *
756
THE APOSTLE PAUL
By ROBERT B. LARTER
PAUL is
the most outstanding Apostle in the New Testament. If we had any leanings towards
Popery we should differ from it, in that we would be inclined to regard Paul,
not Peter, as the first Pope. Paul rebuked Peter, not Peter Paul! But as
Christian Protestants we know that Paul was no Pope. The Pope of Rome claims to
be infallible and the Head of the Church. Paul regarded himself as the least of
the Apostles and
the chief of sinners.
Paul was born in
According to custom, Paul was put to a trade, namely,
tent-making. We are not sure when he left this to go to
The course of instruction that Paul received, at the feet of
Gamaliel,
consisted entirely of the study of the Scriptures and the comments of the sages
upon them. Thus we have the source of Pauls extraordinary knowledge of the Old
Testament. Dr. Stalker writes: At the age when the
memory is most retentive, Paul acquired such a knowledge of the Old Testament
that everything it contains was at his command: its phraseology became the
language of his thinking; he literally writes in quotations, and he quotes from
all parts with equal facility - from the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms.
Thus was the warrior equipped with the armour and the weapons of the [Holy] Spirit
before he knew in what cause he was to use them.
The Apostle would give early indications of being a first-rate
scholar. He may be described as an all-round scholar. He was a born thinker. Sir W. M. Ramsay speaks of him as a
real philosopher, perhaps not in the technical sense of the term, though he
knew how to hold his own with the Epicurean and the Stoic philosophers. He
possessed linguistical ability, as he knew Greek, Aramaic, Hebrew, and, as he
managed his own cases in the various trials before the Roman Courts, he must
have known some Latin too. But it was as a profound theologian that Paul was
destined to make a mark upon the whole world. For this reason alone we can say
with Dr. James Denney that he is the most important figure in Christian history.
God was pleased to give Paul some profound spiritual
experiences. On the
But in addition to seeing Christ, Paul
heard the voice from heaven: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? Only Paul heard these words; his
companions heard merely a sound.
The result of this supernatural intervention was the
instantaneous conversion of Paul. He surrenders on
the spot and at discretion. There is no reserve. He is the slave of Jesus from
this time forth, to obey the commands of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Light had shone into his heart, the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ (2 Cor. 4: 6). He had seen the face
of Jesus before he fell to the earth and darkness came over him (A. T. Robertson).
Paul became a new creature: old things passed away; all things
became new. Christ, like a skilful physician healed
him when his fever was at the worst (Chrysostom). The cruel persecutor became the obedient disciple. In the words of Iverach,
Christ, in a human body,
manifested Himself to Paul, and, in His own kingly way, changed the persecutor
of His Church into His servant and Apostle.
The conversion of Paul has great apologetic value to
Christianity. As Lord Lyttleton observes, the
conversion and apostleship of
The Apostles rapture to the third heaven was a wonderful
experience. There he heard words which he could not repeat. No hint is given as
to the nature of the revelation which Paul received. Perhaps he was given some
further light on future glory. God has not told us and so it is folly on our
part to indulge in vain speculation.
God knew that Satan could use Pauls revelation for his own
evil purposes. So, lest Paul should be exalted above measure, he was given a thorn in
the flesh. We are
not positively certain what this stake (Greek) in the flesh was. There is evidence that the Apostle suffered from a
malady which affected his eyes. It is thought that the thorn in the
flesh was this
complaint.
Paul saw much fruit for his labours. His three great
missionary journeys were greatly blessed by the Most High. Under his ministry
sinners were converted, saints were edified, flourishing churches were
established. The peoples of
To Paul (humanly speaking) the Church is indebted for its
theology. Augustine, Luther,
Zwingli, Calvin, Pelagius, and Arminius, all drink from the fountain of Pauls
theology. Many treatises have been written on Pauline theology. All we can do
here is briefly note how Pauls theology
centres round Christ and His Cross. The Person and Work of Christ are the
great themes of his writings. To Paul the death of Christ was no mere martyrs
death; neither was it a death designed merely to teach the duty of
self-sacrifice. The Cross had a deeper meaning for Paul. To him it signified the substitutionary atonement of Christ for
the sinner. Such a conception of the Cross implies that man is depraved and
unable to save himself from sin and its awful penalty. To save the sinner Christ made a complete atonement by dying
in his room and stead on the Cross.
It is a sad fact that this aspect of the atonement is never,
or very seldom, heard from some of our pulpits today. This goes to show how the
modern Church has drifted from Pauls theology of the Cross.
Few, if any, have suffered more for Christ than Paul. In three
places he tells us about his sufferings. We may note one. He says: In stripes
above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews
five times received I forty stripes save one.
Thrice was I beaten with rods. Once was I stoned,
thrice I suffered shipwreck; ... in perils of waters, in
perils of robbers, in perils by mine own
countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in
perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false
brethren;* in weariness and
painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and
thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness (2
Cor. 11: 23-27).
[* NOTE: To imagine
these false brethren were unregenerate people, is
in my opinion a grave mistake! See 2 Tim. 2: 15-19. Cf. John
3: 13; 14: 3 with Acts 2:
34; Luke 16: 23; Acts 7: 4, 5; Acts 5: 32; 1 John 3: 22, 24, R.V.]
The death of Paul was tragic and yet glorious. The brutal Nero was dead by the middle of June
A.D. 68. The tradition is that Paul was beheaded before Neros departure. It is
thought that Paul was released from his earthly struggles in May or early June
A.D. 68. Thus ended the noble life of the greatest Apostle of Christ that the
world has ever known. We may sum up in the words of A. T. Robertson: Passing by Jesus
Himself, Paul stands forever the foremost representative of Christ, the ablest
exponent of Christianity, its most constructive genius, its dominant spirit
from the merely human side, its most fearless champion, its most illustrious
and influential missionary, preacher, teacher, and its most distinguished
martyr.
* *
*
THE GIFT OF GIFTS
When childhood lisps its earliest
prayer
Before the Mercy-Seat;
Or snowy glows the golden hair,
And weary grow the feet.
Untutord Lord, our foolish words
For ever turn astray -
But Thou wilt guide the willing
chords,
And teach us how to pray.
For Thou the Light of manhood art,
O, Stronger than the strong,
To Thee we lift the grateful heart,
And pour the grateful song;
Through years of silent love adored
As Life and Truth the Way,
Creator, Sacrifice, and Lord -
Now teach us how to pray.
Until the prayer before the Throne
Shall yield Thee perfect praise,
And all our hearts are Thine alone
And all our works and ways:
While yet Thy saints in dim eclipse
Pursue their lowly way,
Lord, touch our hearts, and purge our
lips,
And teach us how to pray.
D. M. PANTON.
January, 1902.
* *
* * *
* *
757
THE IDEAL PREACHER
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
A GREAT PREACHER, said Principal Charles Edwards, is Christs last
recourse. This is far truer of the Prophet than the Preacher:
nevertheless, for an age of decaying faith and a collapsing Church, the public
witness for Christ becomes of enormous importance; and the model for the
preacher - the only explicit model (so far as we can recollect) given in the
Bible - becomes of great practical interest to us all.
The Wise Preacher
Gods model preacher, we read, because he
was wise, still taught the people knowledge
(Ecclesiastes,
12: 9); and the preachers task is now laid bare. Yea, he gave good heed - he gave careful study - and sought out - weighed, dug deeply - and set in
order - balanced,
set in right order dispensational divisions, rightly dividing the Word of Truth
- many proverbs - epigrams, short succinct sayings, the wisdom of many
crystallised by the wit of one. All this requires the concentration of a
devoted lifetime. Archbishop Temple
puts it thus:- If the time ever comes when you have
to choose between study and visiting, choose study.
For the preacher is to have his eyes
set on his coming congregation. The preacher sought
to find out acceptable words, and that which was written uprightly -
words that can be understood, and that express the truth exactly. Methods of
expression will differ with temperament. Dean
Farrar, when asked why he never preached extempore, replied that in doing
so once he said many things he never thought he would ever live to say, and
more than one thing he did not in the least believe in. Emotion can over-balance
us in unpremeditated speech, so that we utter extravagances or even unconscious
untruths. Look upon your congregation, said Richard Baxter, believingly and with compassion. Oh, speak not one cold or
lifeless word about so great a business as Heaven or Hell.
Loving His Hearers
So the preachers words are studied for his congregation. The preacher
sought - strove -
to
find out - to
pick out - acceptable words, and that
which was written uprightly, even words of truth. The true preacher has a profoundly
deeper work than a mere bald statement of Scripture truth; he has to garner his
material out of the vast experience of saints of God - and even his own - agreeable
words, jewels of
utterance, rich experiences of emotion, lovely truths, stimulating tonics,
worldwide facts; but they are all upright word; and true - not only striking
sayings but exact truth. A clergyman once asked David Garrick - Why can you move people so deeply, when I cannot move them
by expounding the most momentous truths? Garrick replied:- Because I utter fiction as if it were fact, and you utter
fact as if it were fiction. The preachers utterances should be the
convictions of a burning heart. This came home to Bishop Colenso, who wrote:- For myself, I
see not how I can retain my Episcopal Office, in the discharge of which I must
require from others a solemn declaration that they unfeignedly believe all the
Canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, which, with the evidence
now before me, it is impossible wholly to believe in.
A Vital Experience
So the preacher must have a vital experience behind his words.
As Emerson puts it:- No man can preach well unless he coins his own flesh and
blood, the living, palpitating fibre of his very heart, into the words which he
utters from the pulpit. If he speaks what he has learned from others, what he
finds in books, what he thinks it decorous and seemly that a man should say in
his place, he may indeed be a good mechanic in the pulpit, he may help to hand
down a worm-eaten stereotyped system of theology, to those who have no more
heart for it than he has himself; but a true prophet of God, a man baptized
with the Holy Ghost and with fire he can never be. The Word of God is the only Word of life. When Lord Guthrie was studying at
Piercing Words
Some measure of the manner of Gods
model preacher is now revealed. The words of the wise are as goads - pungent, pregnant, stinging - and as nails
fastened - as
pegs on which principles hang, fixed
ideas on which righteous life is fastened - by the masters of assemblies
(ver. 11). St. Teresa says:-
Our preachers ought to do all for us. But, as a
matter of fact, everybody knows that they do not much help their hearers to the
knowledge of themselves. They do not come close enough to us. They do not tell
us plainly enough what we are. They preach, but so as not to alarm us too much,
or to offend us in any way. Do you know any man whose life has been much
amended by the preaching he has heard? The preacher must learn what is
effective. An experienced Sunday School teacher gave this testimony:- I find that if I give an old address with new illustrations,
my hearers think it is a new address; and if I give a new address with old
illustrations, they say it is an old address: that is, illustrations
can be nails - to use Solomons word - incapable
of dislodgment. It is well exampled by Wesley.
Suddenly he startled his hearers by a loud cry of Fire!
Fire! A panic followed in his congregation; and a man cried out, Where, Sir, where? In Hell,
replied the preacher, to them who sleep under the preaching of the Word.
Living Near God
Finally, we are shown the ideal preachers only fountain and
source. Which [words] are given from
one shepherd. As Martin Luther says:- My whole endeavour in all my writings is to teach people the
Scriptures. If people would only search the Scriptures for themselves, we
should not have to write any more books. So the preacher must be
drenched in the eternal. The Shepherd is one of the titles of God, and also of our Lord - The Shepherd
and bishop of our souls. Under-shepherd is to reproduce the words of the Shepherd of shepherds. How is it, said a Christian to his companion after
they had heard the saintly Bramwell, that brother Bramwell tells us so much that is Dew? His
companion answered, - Brother Bramwell
is so near to the gates of heaven that he hears a great many things which the
rest of us do not get near enough to hear. Gods model preacher stands
in the background of all vital things:- he is the voice of eternity in time;
all his preaching culminates in one point - the Good Shepherd; and his summary
is this, - By these words, my son,
be admonished.
Hearers Understanding
Let us remember that God is in the assembly. An old Puritan
divine wrote in his journal:- Resolved that, when I address a large meeting, I shall
remember that God is there, and that will make it small: resolved that, when I
address a small meeting, I shall remember that God is there, and that will make
it great. Bishop J. C. Ryles words are well worth pondering. It may be doubtful whether the modern way of teaching
Christianity, as a general rule, is sufficiently simple. It is a certain fact
that deep reasoning and elaborate arguments are not the weapons by which God is
generally pleased to convert souls. Simple plain statements, boldly and
solemnly made, and made in such a manner
that they are evidently felt and believed by him who makes them, seem to have
the most effects on hearts and consciences. Parents and teachers of the young,
ministers and missionaries, Scripture-readers and district visitors, would all
do well to remember this. We need not be
so anxious as we often are about fencing, and proving, and demonstrating, and
reasoning, out the doctrines of the Gospel. Not one soul in a hundred was ever
brought to Christ in this fashion. We
want more simple, plain, solemn, earnest affectionate statements of simple
Gospel truths. We may safely leave such statements to work and take care of
themselves. They are arrows from Gods own quiver, and will often pierce hearts
which have not been touched by the most eloquent sermon.
* *
* * *
* *
758
ANTICHRIST IN FICTION AND FACT
By GEORGE H. STEVENS,
M.TH.
VOLTAIRE is quoted
as having said that if there were no God we should still have to invent Him.
Similarly, it would appear that those who are ignorant of the eschatology of
the New Testament feel compelled to invent some sort of eschatology, so burning
is mans desire to know something of the future history of life upon this
planet. Karl Marx, the renegade Jew
who is hailed as the great prophet of Communism, substituted for the Jewish
hope of the coming of Messiah the perverted messianism
symbolized by his concept of the coming Utopia of the classless society.
In recent weeks we have had more than one example of how folk of
little or no faith have yet indulged in some sort of dream of the future. Two
outstanding examples given in recent B.B.C. broadcasts, have attracted
widespread attention. The first was the televising of George Orwells fantastic picture of the future of
It is not impossible to imagine circumstances on which, with
still further scientific inventions placed in the hands of godless men, a
situation not altogether unlike that of 1984
might come to pass. But George Orwell, when he wrote the book on which this
television play was based, was a desperately sick man, dying of tuberculosis
and tragically without any faith in a supernatural or spiritual order. His work
therefore ends on a crescendo of despair, which might well appear justified
apart from the Christian hope.
Incarnation of Evil
As I watched the unfolding of the drama of 1984, with its ruthless despotism under the
dictatorship of Big Brother whose face as it appeared constantly on the
ever-present telescreens (by means of which every man was watched and his
thoughts read) seemed to me the very incarnation of evil power, I could not
help thinking of the biblical prophecies of the Antichrist, the Beast,
the Man of Sin, under whose rule evil makes its final bid for power.
There have indeed already been Many
antichrists, and
with Hitler still vivid in our minds it no longer seems fantastic to imagine
the rule of a personal Antichrist. The fact that a secular thinker like Orwell should have depicted such a man
as holding supreme power in the future is of profound significance. Thus
another Biblical concept which would have been laughed out of court a decade or
so ago now appears as a distinct possibility. There is much talk to-day of world government, and it is generally
assumed as a matter of course that were this ever to be realised it would be a
great blessing to mankind. The Bible,
however, gives the opposite view. It too depicts world government, but under the rule of the Beast to whom was given
power over all kindreds and tongues and nations (Rev. 13: 7). The only world government that will ever bring blessing and
happiness to mankind is the Kingdom of
God and of His Christ. Nor is the reason far to seek. With fallen,
unregenerate man (in Lord Actons
much abused but none the less profound aphorism), all power
corrupts and absolute power corrupts utterly. Only the Lord [of lords] Himself can be trusted to use absolute
power benevolently, since for Him absolute power is always united to absolute
love.
Broadcast Atheism
Forward by Mrs.
Margaret Knight in her broadcast talks on Morals
without Religion. There is no need to go into her argument
Christianity, since it contained nothing new and showed a lamentable ignorance
of the very doctrines of Christianity against which she spoke. But something
ought to be said about the hope that she apparently has for the future.
By the application of sound psychological principles to the
upbringing of children (children, be it remembered, who are, according to Mrs.
Knight, to be taught that the idea of God is no more real than that of Santa
Claus, and that the stories of the New Testament are nothing but legend) it is
hoped to eliminate the egotistical and anti-social instincts to such an extent
that war and crime will be abolished. The great motive power is to be love, so
that we are to look forward to an order of society in which a generation of
atheists, folk believing that there is no God and consequently no purpose in
the Universe, will nevertheless so love each other that war and crime will be
things of the past, As Mrs. Morton so sensibly said in her Christian reply to
the last broadcast, this all assumes that the world will wait for these lengthy
psychological processes to be carried out. It assumes that, and a great deal
more as well. It assumes that psychology can not only diagnose the nature and
diversity of mans destructive tendencies, but also give him power to overcome
them. This is an utterly unwarrantable assumption. There is no evidence that
psychology can do anything of the sort.
The sort of thing that happens when faith in God is abandoned
on a wide scale, and human beings are regarded as test-tube specimens, can be
seen behind the Iron and Bamboo Curtains to-day. Indeed of the two visions of
the future there can be no doubt that the optimistic vision of Mrs. Knight was
by far the more fantastic. If the secularists had the last word in this matter
there can be little doubt that there would be no future to which man could look
forward.
Our Lords Predictions
When we turn from these blind leaders of the blind to the
words of our Lord, the supreme authority on the future as on all the other
matters of importance to the Christian, what do we find? In answer to His
disciples explicit question, What shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the
end of the world? He replied, Many shall come
in My Name, saying I am Christ, and shall deceive many. Ye
shall hear of wars and rumours of wars. Nation
shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom: there shall be famines and pestilence and earthquakes in
divers places ... They shall deliver you up to
be afflicted and shall kill you: many shall be
offended and shall betray one another, and shall
hate one another (Matt. 24: 5-11). That is to say, He foretold precisely that the signs of the
end would be a multiplication of false teachers propounding erroneous doctrines
and philosophies, an aggravation of racial and international conflict, bitter
persecution of the followers of Christ, and widespread betrayal of others, and
hatred.
It may of course be argued that such things have always been
present in history, and that there has never been a time when they have not
been happening on the earth. In a sense that is perfectly true, but there are
times when they are more frequently and vividly present. Of all such, can
anyone deny that our own age stands out as pre-eminently the age of war and
conflict - since 1914 on a world scale - when also more pseudo-gospels are being offered to the world than ever
before? Moreover, at a time in history when tolerance is supposed to have
become accepted as the one great virtue of modern man, the persecution of the
Christian Church has been revived on a scale unknown since the days of Nero.
No one can say how near we are to the end of this stage of
human history. But enough has been said to show the need for especial
vigilance, and a sense of urgency in all we attempt in the service of our Lord
Jesus.
- The Morning Star.
* *
* * *
* *
759
THE LAST DAYS
By L. W. KEMMIS
THE
phrase the last days is found both in the Old and in the New Testaments. The Word
of God leads us to calculate the coming and indeed the presence of the last
days on two scales. One scale is as in the sight of God: the other as in the
sight of man. The former is counted on a scale of a thousand years to one day:
the latter on a scale of one day to one year.
I. THE SCALE AS IN THE SIGHT OF GOD.
In Heb. 1: 1 we read God hath in these
last days spoken unto us by His Son. Clearly the last days had already commenced when the Son of
God, made flesh - Jesus Christ - went about preaching the Gospel [of the kingdom] nearly two thousand years ago. But the last days of what?
The number seven signifies completion, e.g., the seven days of
the week, the seven seals, the seven trumpets or the seven bials.
The last days of the week therefore incorporate the fifth, sixth and seventh
days of the week.
In Psa.
90 we are told that a thousand
years in thy (Gods) sight are but as yesterday, and in 2 Pet. 3 this is confirmed to us, one day is
with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.
If seven is the complete number, should we not expect seven
thousand years from the completion of creation (in seven days) and the entering
of sin into the world till the consummation. Does not Holy Scripture indicate
such to be the case?
Rev. 20 speaks three times of
the thousand years reign of Christ in righteousness while Satan is bound. It is
the last day of a thousand years as in Gods sight. Therefore the day of rest -
rest from wars and strifes. Christs reign of peace on earth as He rules the
nations with a rod of iron. This leaves six days as in Gods sight to be
accounted for.
Genesis gives the ages of the patriarchs at the birth of their heirs.
Thus we have the means of reckoning there were four thousand years or four days
with
Are there then but some fifty years to run before the Prince
of Peace takes His power and reigns? Jesus Christ, as Man, spoke to men as on
the scale in mans sight. That is a day to a year. He said with reference to
the last days that except those days be shortened, no flesh should be saved. In the light of modern warfare how
true! Jesus continued: But for the elects sake those days shall be Shortened.
If there are but fifty more years - [and
after two days
(Hosea 6: 2,
R.V. ) i.e., after 2,000 years from our Lords First Advent (2 Pet. 3: 8, R.V.)] - and they have to be shortened according to the Scripture which cannot be
broken, how near
are we [today in 2020 (according to our calendar)] to the Lords second Coming in the
clouds? Not only are we in the last days, but in the last
one-twentieth of the last day before the millennium is established. The eleventh hour indeed.
II. THE SCALE AS IN THE
SIGHT OF MAN.
Have we any Scriptural authority for supposing that God has
based prophetical times on the scale of a year to a day? The answer is Yes,
abundantly so. Did not
Likewise
Ezekiel was told to lie on his side three hundred and ninety days for the sins
of
Again, in Dan. 9 we read of the time from the going forth of the commandment
to restore and rebuild
Cyrus was the first to issue a decree for the rebuilding, but it
was hindered by enemy action and Hebrew despondency, so that further decrees
were needed. Artaxerxes issued the last in 457 B.C. Add 483 to this date and
allowing one in the cross over from B.C. and A.D. arrive at the baptism of
Jesus in Jordan, and His saying the time is fulfilled (Mark 1: 15).
If such an important prophecy as this was fulfilled to time,
why should not others on the same scale be likewise calculated with every
expectation of fulfilment? But there is an important point to remember. Time
may be measured on the lunar scale of 360 days to a year or on the solar scale
of 365 days to a year, or on both. The Word of God is for all nations. Times
are therefore given on the lunar scale that Eastern nations who reckon on it
may understand as well as Western nations counting on the solar scale. Be it
noted that
Now recall that in Lev. 26: 18, 21, 24, and 28,
Israel, if they kept not the commandments of God should be driven out among the
nations for seven times. What is a time? Nebuchadnezzar was driven out to dwell
among the beasts till seven times should pass over him (Dan. 4:
25). That king was a type of the Jews to be driven out from
Does history tally with this? Nebuchadnezzar's first attack on
Jerusalem as king in his own right was in 604 B.C. Add 2,520 on the same
principle as above indicated and arrive at 1917 A.D. - the year in which
Jerusalem was released from Gentile oppression. The heavy burden of Turkish
taxes was taken away.
Is not this verified in the last chapter of Daniel for it also points us to 1917 both on the
lunar and on the solar count?
Prophecy usually has more than one application. In Dan. 12:
11, there shall be
one thousand two hundred and ninety days from the time that the abomination that maketh desolate be set up. The third such abomination was (and
is) the mosque of Omar on [what is
believed today to be]* the
[* See Robert Cornukes book
But the date of the Hegira is 622 A.D. - the date from which
the Moslems reckon their time. Use the second figure given in the same verse -
1335 - on the lunar scale, and once again 1917 A.D. is indicated.
Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh
to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. How very much so to the understanding
Jew.
It is interesting to understand that Turkey who switched from
the lunar to the solar reckoning in 1917 A.D. minted their coins for that year
with the Eastern and the Western dating on them- 1917 and 1335. Thus 1335 lunar
checks 1290 solar and both check the seven times of Leviticus.
The number forty seems to be remarkably interrelated to the
seven times. In Genesis 7, we read the rain was
upon the earth forty days and forty nights. It was a period of steadily
increasing disaster, of evident oncoming destruction of the wicked, but of the
salvation of Noah, a believer of God, a preacher of righteousness, and obedient to the Word.
Remembering that Jesus Christ in His Gospel likened the days
of Noah to those at the Coming of the Son of Man should we not
expect on the scale of a year for a day a like period immediately preceding His
second Coming!
Lunar and Solar
It is striking that the seven times calculated on the lunar
system and on the solar system leaves a difference of forty years at the end of
the time. The lunar count ended in 1917; the solar should end in 1957. Is it
not therefore unreasonable to suppose that as the world was inundated - even all the high
hills under the whole heaven, so will the judgment by fire at this end after forty years of increasing iniquity. The daily newspapers bear witness to this
increase.
2 Pet. 3: 5-8 tells us plainly of the fiery
judgment, and reminds us of the sin of being willingly ignorant. Many [regenerate believers] are willingly ignorant to-day
because they will not read the Word - the sure word of
prophecy, many
because they will not really believe it - some because they do not seek to understand it by prayer. See Dan. 1: 3.
There is an even greater corroboration of this view - the
words of Jesus Christ speaking of the end-time signs. This
generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled.
[* NOTE: It is a marked date
when the
manager of the Evangelical Book Shop at College Square,
Belfast, said they were clearing out all their stock of
Pre-millennial books; and the Principle of the Baptist Church Bible College at Moira,
said he didnt want any millennial tracts to be left at the reception desk in
the Bible College!
When the Holy Spirit has used words thousand years
to be written six times, and within six verses in the 20th
chapter of Revelation, Christians
should be aroused from any spiritual slumber they might have, and be willing to
respond
to what is written, should they not? Or at the very least, make
numerous enquiries from other Bible scholars what they think these verses mean?
To ignore what God has
allowed us to understand - (that the first
Resurrection is still future, and Rev.
20: 6 is not
a reference pointing back to the time of ones regeneration!); and those who
say the resurrection is past already (2
Tim. 2: 18,
R.V.), are in grave error. The same can be said of others who refuse to
disclose accountability truths and conditional promises! They are false
prophets! See Ezek. 33: 1-9 and compare with Mal.
3: 6: For I the Lord
change not
When an ordained Presbyterian
minister, says to a bible student attending his church: Drop
that word millennial when speaking to other members of his
congregation, should he obey his instruction? NO! When his Lord makes
opportunity for him to speak on that subject he should OBEY! Why?
Because Peter reminds us that the Holy Ghost [Spirit] is given TO THEM THAT OBEY HIM (Acts 5: 32,
R.V. cf 1
John 3: 22-24,
R.V.). When we experience opposition toward unfulfilled prophetical truths,
should we not be better equipped to respond in a gracious manner - for secular
wisdom and spiritual understanding are poles apart! (Jer. 9: 23-25; 38: 20, R.V.).
Surely by now, we should be able to recognise who the real enemy is! The
Apostle Paul said:-
the god of this age [Satan, who] hath blinded
the minds of the unbelieving [Christians], that the
light of the gospel [good news] of the GLORY of Christ, who is the image
of God, should
not dawn upon them (2 Cor. 4: 4, R.V. Cf. Habakkuk
2: 14; Isa. 40:
5)! Let us ask the Holy Spirit for His help
to be better equipped to understand, react, and deal with known apostates
within the
We Do Not Know When
It is written, Ye know neither the day nor the hour? when Christ shall appear. It is also
written, Be ye circumspect and so much the more as ye see the day
approaching (Heb. 10: 25). We must not fix dates for what even
the Son of Man knew not, nor the angels which are in heaven, but the fulfilment
of many prophecies concerning the Jew, the Gentile, and the Church of God
indicate the day that shall burn as an oven is at hand‑the day of the glorious appearing of the great God our
Saviour.
- The Advent Witness.
* *
* * *
* *
760
THE CROWNING OF JOSHUA
AND
THE MAN WHOSE NAME IS
THE BRANCH
(Zechariah 6: 9-15)
By DAVID BARON
[PART TWO]
From His glorious Person and family, or place of His origin,
as the Man, or Son of David, our thoughts are next directed to the great work He is to
accomplish:
And He shall build
the Temple of Jehovah; even He (or,
literally, He Himself)
shall build the
The repetition and the strong emphasis laid upon the pronoun He being intended as an affirmation both
of the certainty of the fact,
and the greatness of the
task to be accomplished by Him. Joshua the priest and
Zerubbabel the prince were then engaged in the building of a
* Ezra 3: 10-13; Hag. 2: 3; Zech. 4: 10.
But, we may ask, what
In answer to this question we would say first of all that we
cannot exclude from this prophecy the reference to a literal [Messianic and Millennial] Temple in Jerusalem, which shall, after Israels national conversion, be built under the superintendence of their Messiah‑King, and
which will, during the millennial period, be " the House of Jehovah "
on earth, to which 11 the nations will flow " and many peoples go, in
order that they may be taught His ways, and learn to walk in His paths, and
which will be literally " An House of Prayer" and worship " for
all nations!' *
* Isa. 2:
2-4, 56: 6, 7; Mic.
4: 1-7 ; Ezek. 40, to 43.
But there is something greater and deeper in this prophecy
than the reference to a future material
But soon sin - that
hateful and accursed thing in Gods universe - entered, and communion between
God and man was interrupted. The outward token of this was the banishment of
the man from the garden, and the placing of the cherubim with the flaming sword
which turned every way to bar the way against his re-entering that blessed abode.
But the heart of God yearned for man, and in His infinite
wisdom and grace He devised a means by which His banished be not for ever an
outcast from Him.
He chose Israel, whom He suffered to approach to Him through
the sprinkling of blood, which in His mind pointed to the blood of the
everlasting covenant which the Messiah, who was to be led as a lamb
to the slaughter, was to shed as an atonement for sin; and to them His proclamation went
forth, Make Me a tabernacle, that I
may dwell among you. The tabernacle was built, and then the
After the destruction of the first Temple by the Chaldeans
under Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 25.) the Jews built another one after
their restoration from Babylon, but the manifest presence of Jehovah no more
returned to it; for Rabbi Samuel Bar Juni, in the Talmud (Yoma, f.
21, C. 2), and Rabbis Solomon and Kimchi, in their comment on Hag. 1: 8, all agree that five things that were in the first Temple were wanting in
the second - i.e., the ark, wherein
were the tables of the Covenant, and the cherubim that covered it; the fire that used to
come down from heaven to devour the sacrifices; the Shekinak Glory;
the gift of prophecy,
or the Holy Ghost; and the miraculous Urim and Thummim.
But before that Temple was destroyed by the Romans, another
Temple, not built by the hands of man, arose, and in it dwelt the fulness of
the Godhead bodily (Col. 2: 9). One
came, and in sight of the magnificent structure which had then become more a den of
thieves than a house of
prayer,
proclaimed, Destroy this
Behold, therefore, O Christian, in the Person of the Redeemer
Himself, the fulfilment of these words, He shall build the
But there is another
Thou art Peter, were the
words of Jesus on a certain solemn occasion, and upon this rock (i.e., the confession Peter had just
Uttered, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God) I will
build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall
not prevail against it. And what is the Church but the
And He shall bear
the glory, or regal majesty.*
* The word [
] is used in different significations, but it is especially employed to describe royal majesty (Jer. 22:
18; 1 Chron.
29: 25; Dan. 11: 21). Pusey
observes: This word is almost always used of the
special glory of God, and then, although seldom, of the majesty of those on
whom God confers majesty, as Moses or Joshua (Num. 27: 20), or the glory of the kingdom given to Solomon
(1 Chron.
29: 25).
It is used of the glory or majesty to be laid on the ideal King in Ps. 21: 5 - which the Jews themselves interpreted of the
Messiah.
The pronoun is again emphatic: He Himself, and none other,
shall build the
Already, as the result of His sufferings, having by the grace
of God tasted death for every man, He is exalted and extolled, and lifted very high, crowned
with honour and glory; but this prophecy speaks especially of the royal majesty which He shall
bear when He shall come forth again from the presence of the Father - and, all His
enemies having been made a footstool for His feet, He shall sit down upon His own throne as the theocratic King of Israel.
Then, indeed, upon His head there shall be many crowns; for, not only will God the Father
invest Him with glory and majesty, but men too, especially His own nation, will
glorify Him; and He, as the true Son of David, the One Whose right it is to reign,
shall
be for a throne of glory to His Fathers house: and they
shall hang upon Him all the glory of His Fathers house, the offspring
and the issue, every small vessel, from the vessels of cups to the vessels of flagons (Isa. 22: 23, 24). We come to the next sentence of the prophecy:
And He shall sit and
rule upon His throne,
i.e., He shall not only possess the honour and
dignity of a king; He shall not be a constitutional
monarch, who reigns but does not rule; but He shall Himself exercise all royal power
and authority. Yes, the rule of King-Messiah will be absolute and autocratic, but autocracy
will be safe and beneficent in the hands of the Holy One, Who is infinite in
wisdom, power, and love. The result of His blessed rule will be that -
In His days
shall the righteous flourish;
And abundance of peace till
the moon be no more.
He shall have dominion also
from sea to sea,
And from the River unto the
ends of the earth.
Yea, all kings shall fall
down before Him!;
All nations shall serve Him.
He shall judge the poor of
the people,
He shall save the children
of the needy,
And shall break in pieces
the oppressor;
For He shall deliver the
needy when he crieth,
And the poor that hath no
helper.
He shall redeem their soul from oppression and
violence:
And precious shall their
blood be in His sight.
...
And men shall be blessed in
Him:
All nations shall call Him blessed.
(Psalm 72.)
The character of
His blessed rule is further explained in the next sentence:
And He shall be a
priest upon His throne.
How full of significance is this one sentence of Holy Writ! As
is the manner of Zechariah, we have in these
four Hebrew words a terse summary of nearly all that the former prophets have
spoken of Messiah and His work.
Here is the true Melchizedek, Who is at the same time King of
Righteousness, King of Salem, which is King of Peace, and the great High
Priest, whose priesthood, unlike the Aaronic, abideth for ever.
He shall be a Priest upon His throne.
Now He royally exercises His high priestly office as the Advocate with the
Father, and only Mediator between God and man, at the right hand of God in
heaven. From thence He shall come forth
again to take possession of His throne, and to commence His long-promised [millennial] reign on the earth. But, even when as King he exercises
His sovereign rule, He will still be a Priest upon His throne, who will have compassion upon the
ignorant and erring (Heb. 5: 2), and
cause His righteous severity to go forth only against the wilfully froward and
rebellious. For our Lord Jesus is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever; and that which will eternally constitute His chief glory will be,
not His power, but His grace, manifested once in His laying down His
life - a ransom for many - and since in His priestly mediatorial rule, whether in
heaven or on earth.
* *
* * *
* *
761
THE SECOND COMING
By D. R. DAVIES
BERTRAND RUSSELL was reported a short while ago to have
said that unless the problem of peace is solved very soon, the human race will be destroyed this
year!
This situation presents to the Church a double challenge -
first of all to those in the Church who are already convinced of the utter and
absolute truth of our Lords return, to those who have not waited on events to
convince them; and, secondly, to all those in the Church whom events have
forced to a new attitude towards the Second Advent of our Lord. Let me deal
briefly with each.
On the believers (if I may so describe those in the first category) there
falls a special obligation of witness. In the propagation of Christian truth,
there are two clearly marked phases, which may be defined as those of
preparation and proclamation. In the stage of preparation, the believer is
seeking to deepen, to intensify, his own conviction, and to illumine his own
understanding of the truth he will proceed to proclaim. This phase involves the
believer in personal prayer, meditation, and study, particularly and supremely
of the Scriptures. Personal prayer and study do not mean only isolated,
individual activity. They imply also a
fellowship with other like-minded believers. We have an example of this
phase of preparation in the life of
The preparation, both individual and social, then enters upon
the public proclamation. And this is the phase on which convinced believers in the
Second Coming are now called upon to embark. In every church throughout the
land, there are at least two or three convinced believers in our Lords return;
at least two or three who, like Simeon of old, look with eager longing for the
fulfilment of the Hope of His Coming. And wherever two or three are met
together in prayer and anticipation, there too will Christ Himself be. Let
those who truly believe in our Lords return form themselves into an active
fellowship in every church and meet regularly, say once a month at least, for
prayer and study and for talks and lectures to members of the church not
already members of the inner group.
The challenge to the second class - those who hitherto have
disregarded the Second Advent, but are now awakening to it - is for a new
seriousness, which will help them to realise that belief in the Second Coming
is not just another belief, but a fundamental belief,
without which the Church cannot adequately preach her Gospel to this day
and generation.
In this great matter, a special duty falls upon the clergy, to
whom I make an earnest appeal that they should give prominence to the Hope of
Christs return in their preaching. It is no longer enough to make this belief
a merely seasonal theme, just during Advent. The Second Coming in all its
aspects - scriptural, personal, historical, social - must be made a staple part of our preaching. In this way, the
Church will be led to a genuine and deep-going revival of religion, and to the
fortifying of the hopes of the Church in Gods providence in an age of trial
and despair.
- The Morning Star.
* *
* * *
* *
762
ELEVENTH HOUR LABOURERS
ABOUT the eleventh hour He ... saith unto them, Why stand ye here
all the day idle? (Matt. 20: 6). Christ here is rebuking for idleness
in the days of the Harvest. Those to whom He was speaking had knowledge of the
need for He asks, Why? This is a
true picture of Christendom to-day.
Busy for Self-Idle for God
We have a knowledge that a thousand
million souls are as yet without an adequate Gospel witness, yet we stand idly
by, while a hundred thousand souls a day are passing one by one away in Christless
gloom and night. We are rightly called idle for it. Never has a generation known
so much about missions and done so little. We have maps and geographies, we
have our Bibles, and returned missionaries to inform us.
We have more men and money to meet the need than ever before.
We have ships and planes. We have easier access to these fields and more
trained men to occupy the fields, than ever before.
So the Lord rebukes this generation as He has no other. Those
who went in the earlier hours were not so rebuked, for like Abraham, they
obeyed and went in faith. What is the true meaning of idleness? In Gods sight,
it is simply this - doing nothing for Him. These people He rebukes are in the
market place.
If you have ever been in an Oriental market place, you will
see people moving about buying and selling and the whole place is a beehive of
activity. One can hear the buzzing multitudes a long way off. No, it does not
mean just to be lazy, for you may be the busiest person in town, and yet be
idle for God. Busy for yourself, and idle toward God.
Time, Talent, Money Idle For God
What makes a man idle? Working for ones self and doing little
or nothing for Christ, makes you an idler in His sight. Elisha was busy plowing
(for himself) until he sacrificed those oxen and burned that plow, and went out
to be Gods witness. The disciples were busy fishing day and night (for
themselves) until they answered Christs call. Paul was very busy travelling in
the heat of that tropical sun, until he saw that heavenly vision. All these,
with their past activities, were only idlers since that activity did not count
in heaven.
Is not this a true picture of our present generation? We have
never been so busy, flitting about in business and pleasure. We have time for
everything but God and yet we have no time or money for His service. He told us
to seek ye first the
Why Stand Ye Here all the Day Idle?
Dont you know the harvest is white, the labourers too few?
Cant you hear His call? And if not, WHY
not? If you, like Isaiah, become a cleansed vessel, you may become a chosen
vessel.
If you are not fit to Go, then neither are you fit to stay.
Listen to what Gen. Booth has said
to such, Not
called, did you say? Not Heard the call, I think you should say. He has been
calling loudly ever since He spoke your sins forgiven, if you are forgiven at
all, entreating you to be His ambassador. Put your ear to the Bible and hear
Him bid you go and pull lost sinners out of the mire of sin. Put your ear down
to the burdened agonised heart of humanity and listen to its pitiful wail for
help.
Go and stand by the gates of hell,* and hear the damned entreat you to go to their fathers
house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters NOT to come here. Then look the Christ
in the face, whose mercy you have professed to have gotten and whose words you
have promised to obey, and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and
body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world. Get up! Shake yourself! Do something! Do it at once! Go on doing it! Do
it with your whole might. Spare no pains! God will help you!
[* That
is in Hades, (see Septuagint, R.V., N.I.V.,
etc.) - meaning the underworld, containing the disembodied souls of the dead (Acts 2:
27, 31, 34,), where they are presently awaiting immortal bodies at the time of RESURRECTION: (Matt. 12: 40; 16: 18; Luke 16: 16: 23, 30, 31. cf. John
3: 13; 2
Tim. 2: 18;
Rev. 6: 9-11; Luke 20: 35; Phil. 3: 11; Rev. 20: 4-6, R.V.)]
God says Go! He Does Not Accept Excuses
What excuse do these eleventh hour people give to their Lord
when He rebukes them for being idle? They say unto Him, No man hath
hired us. Does He
take this or any other excuse? They said they were not hired. In other words
they had no contract such as the others had of a penny a day. They had no
backing of money, or promise of salary. Is not this the big excuse young people
to-day make for not serving the Lord at home and abroad? They say, I would go if some Board or Society sent me. They will not venture without that. But
we see here that God does not accept that excuse. He simply says, Go ...
and whatsoever is right, I will give you. - Matt. 20:
4. Now what is there to depend on here? All the promises of God.
Is that not enough? Would you rather trust man?
You will see at the end that these likewise received their
penny, but with this difference. Because
they went in faith with no guaranteed salary, they were rewarded above all others. They were rewarded likewise
with these that bore the burden and heat of the day. This is an amazing thing, yet that is
the way God works. He wants us to have faith and He says, Without faith
it is impossible to please (God). - Hebrews 11: 6. Faith honours God and God will in
turn honour those who have faith in Him.
It Looked Like Folly - But It Was Faith
We waited for two years for a certain board to send us. But
times were hard. Many were on the waiting list. Then I heard of the
We had our hearts set on opening a new field. But we needed
money after we got there. On the way to
God Honours Faith and Rewards Faithfulness
These eleventh hour labourers went in faith, with no promise
of a penny, or even a tenth of a penny. The Husbandman only promised Whatsoever is
right, I will give you. - Matthew 20: 4. They
had to trust Gods goodness and not to good pay. But they answered that
emergency call and they received as much as they who worked all day, and
received it first. What marvellous grace was shown to them!
It caused the earlier workers to murmur saying, These last
have (worked) but
one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us,
which have borne the burden and heat of the day. Yes, faith pleases God and if you want
to be favoured of Him, have faith!
The Husbandmans answer was, I do thee no wrong ... take that thine is ... Is
thine eye evil, because I am good? - Matthew 20: 15. They contracted for a penny and got
it. When God chooses to show grace and reward faithfulness, why should there be
complaint? Let us stop murmuring and try to understand His way and how
to live and labour in a manner that pleases Our Lord.
Thousands of Bible students to-day stand around idle, thinking
and saying the same things as these did, that no man hath hired us. Gods
good money has gone into the training of these young people. His faithful
servants gave their time to teach and train them, yet they stand idle.
Thousands are being graduated out of our Bible schools and colleges, who settle
down to a secular calling, often backsliding just because they are awaiting to
be hired. There is no time for the process of hiring now, as this is the
eleventh hour. We should obey the command to GO without any further quibble, or we shall
be too late.
Now is the Hour!
All through the day, the Lord went forth at specified times - the third hour, the sixth
hour, and the ninth hour. Now a break comes and a new thing is done. He goes
forth at the eleventh hour, not the twelfth hour, according to the set time.
No, that would be too late. The twelfth hour stands for darkness, and you know
what happened at midnight when the Bridegroom came and the door was shut. There
was no time for either service or re-entrance. Now is the time to answer Gods
call and Christs constraint. This is the eleventh hour and no
time for idling. What we do must be done in this last hour.
God is calling! Christ is constraining! The heathen are
saying, Come over and help us, and yet many of us have failed to answer and still
say, No man hath hired us.
Mouth Closed to Excuses
Jesus said Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, for
they are white unto harvest. He closed our mouth to excuses for ever
for He said, Say not ye, There are yet four
months, and then cometh harvest. - John 4: 35. Christian, if you are among those who
are waiting for an impulsive call, you may be forever waiting. Please believe
me when I say that Christs plain command to Go Ye is greater and more important than
any sentimental impulse.
Let Christs love constrain you to go. In my own case this is
true for that is all that constrained me to go and I am not conscious of having
made a mistake after 25 years of service. Gods call and Christs constraint is
sufficient for me. Do not wait for your church or
denomination to send you. If you have faith obey God, and He will give you whatever is right
just as He said.
Harvest is Precious
Why did these eleventh hour labourers get so much for so
little labour? Why was their time of only one hour worth as much as those who
worked the whole day? Can I tell you why I think it was so precious? It was
harvest time and a man will give everything he has to save the harvest. If the
harvest is lost, all is lost. All labour and expense of sowing and cultivating
is gone with the wind if the harvest is not gathered. It is better to be slack
in sowing and careless in cultivation than fail at harvest.
That is why the Lord of the Harvest was willing to pay such a
rich reward to those who answered His last desperate plea for labourers. They
worked but one hour and even then it was in the cool of the evening, yet their
labour was so precious that He rewards them twelve times as richly as the others.
They laboured, too, in faith, not having a definite promise of a set reward.
In every nation millions await the reapers. Time is short. God offers rich rewards. It only remains for us to hasten and be
faithful. Others have laboured and we must enter into
their labours.
We may not be trail blazers like Livingstone, Carey and Taylor
but almost anyone may come in on the harvest. Livingstone said he could have
counted his converts on the fingers of both hands. That was a time of sowing. To-day are days of the
harvest and almost anyone, even though he is not worthy to pick up the sandals
of such a man as David Livingstone, can go out to that same Dark Continent and
perhaps win his thousands to Christ! What makes the difference? HARVEST!
When Livingstone wanted to reach the heart of
What a fearful
responsibility is ours! And yet what glorious opportunity! We can at best be only Eleventh Hour
Labourers. We may possibly be among those who receive their reward first for if
He comes and finds us living and labouring in His Harvest, we have the promise,
Behold,
I come quickly; and my
reward is with Me, to give every man according
as his work shall be. - Revelation 22:
12. These shall be rewarded according to this parable before the prophets and apostles are raised from the dead* for the Lord will find them at the battles front when He comes!
[*
That is, by means of a selective rapture of those
accounted worthy to escape all these things
- (Antichrists persecutions during the Great Tribulation.) - that shall come to
pass, and to stand before the Son of man:
(Luke 21: 36,
A.V.). Again: Because
thou hast kept the word of my patience, - (Gods patient
endurance.) - I
also will keep thee from the hour of temptation (
the trial of that
Lit. Greek) - which
shall come upon all the world (Rev.
3: 10,
A.V.). KEEP YOURSELVES IN THE LOVE OF GOD (Jude 21).]
- Herald of His Coming.
* *
*
THE NAME
Without making bare a sword,
Christ has established a universal empire. Without founding a school, He has
illuminated the intellect of the races of the world. Without instituting a
reform, He is compelling the transformation of human character. Subtract Jesus
from history and the remainder will be a zero. Cancel Christ and this planet
will be a good place to emigrate from. The name which soothes to rest the
sin-stained conscience and girds the soul for victory in its daily struggle
with temptation; the name that heals the ache of the breaking heart and shines
like a star through the shadow of death and the deep mystery of life, is the
name that long ago was written in Latin and Greek and Hebrew and placed over
the cross upon which the Saviour of men died for the sin of the world. To exalt
that name with our lips and to magnify it with our lives is your privilege and
mine.
- The
Good Samaritan.
* *
* * *
* *
763
THE HEART
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
IT is a
cardinal principle of the world - a principle on which all thought around us is
built up, in the sharpest possible contrast to the truth of God - that mans
heart is good: the entire fabric of politics and sociology is based, by
everybody, on this fundamental principle of the goodness of mans heart. Rousseau, the author of The Rights of Man, and the founder of all modern
revolution, says:- Man is by nature a virtuous and
benevolent being; therefore the impulses and judgments of a majority of mankind
must be morally right. This is the death-trap into
which the
The Heart
Now nothing could be more vitally opposed to the Christian
Faith; nothing could be in more immediate and direct collision with the teaching
of Christ. After
Jesus had spoken to the crowd, the disciples challenged Him, and He says:- Are ye also even
yet without understanding?
to eat with unwashen hands defileth not the man;
but out of the HEART
come forth the things which defile the man (Matt. 15: 16). Even Philo, the wisest of the heathen, saw a kindred truth, and said:- By the mouth mortal things enter; but immortal things issue. The Grostic lodges sin in diet; the Communist lodges it in institutions; so
the Sacerdotalist cures it by holy
water; and half the inhabitants of the world today - Buddhists, Hindus, Mohammedans - in order to change men, change the externals: the Lord Jesus plants all - the disease and
the cure - in the heart. He says:- There is NOTHING from without the man, that going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man - not out of a man, or of some man, or of many men, but out of the MAN, as man - are those that defile the man (Mark 7: 15). George
Lansbury, the Socialist, says:- We claim that wars and
strife between classes cannot be got rid of until we get rid of the causes that
produce these evils; and in our judgment these causes are inherent in
the Capitalist system. On
the contrary, the Son of God declares that the poison of the world is not in an
institution, which might be altered; or in circumstances, which might be
changed; or even in one of a mans limbs, which could be amputated: it is in
the very core and essence of man - THE
HEART. When the wheels of a watch move within, the hands of the watch move
without. With the heart man believeth unto righteousness (Rom.
10: 10).
Spiritual Tombs
Our Lord expressed the truth in a picture extraordinarily and
appallingly graphic. He says to the Pharisees:- Ye are as the tombs which appear not, and the men that walk on them know it not (Luke 11:
44). Perhaps no modern case is more vivid than Dr. Crippens.
In a long murder trial Dr. Crippens nerve of iron
never wavered; no shame, no blush, no twitching muscle ever betrayed him; he
pleaded not guilty at the start of the trial,
and said - I protest my innocence at the end;
and under a cross-examination by the ablest intellects his face and his replies
betrayed absolutely nothing. But, even more remarkable, witness after witness
came forward to attest a character of known sweetness and amiability: not one
witness knew him as anything but an affectionate husband, a kind friend, an
upright business man. And yet his murdered wifes remains were dug up from the
cellar floor; and the Lord Chief Justice
of England, following a unanimous Jury, declared that the ghastly and wicked crime was established upon evidence which could leave no doubt in the mind of any
reasonable man; and Dr. Crippen was hung.
Myriads around us are hidden tombs; carrying about, wherever they go, dead
hearts; garnished, respectable, apparently upright mausoleums of all
wickedness. And the men that
walk over them KNOW IT NOT.
No Outside Cure
Now it is obvious that the cure must
be where the seat of the disease is therefore the human cure is on the surface, where they think the disease is, but where it is not. Ye cleanse
the outside, Jesus says to
the Pharisees, but your inward part is full of extortion - the very sin to which the Socialist is most sensitive - and wickedness (Luke 11 : 39). Skin-ointments never cure heart
trouble. Underneath the skin, underneath the flesh, deep inside a man is his spirit,
his heart: all the shiftings of environment, all the changing of institutions,
all the washings in the world - ablutions the most constant and scrupulous -
cannot ever touch the heart, much less cleanse or cure it. As the Duke of Wellington said:- By education, and education only, you can make clever devils.
We wash our hands - like Pilate - instead of our hearts; and Jehovah says, Though thou
wash thee with lye, and take thee much soap,
yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God (Jer. 2: 22). You cannot make water pure by whitewashing the pump: you
cannot make music by painting the organ-pipes: you cannot make a watch keep
time by gilding the case. As Livingstone,
saint though he was, wrote to a friend:- You think
much more highly of me than I deserve. You see the outside. I see the heart,
and He Who knows the heart sees in me a bitter fountain. The providence of God
has been most graciously manifested to me, notwithstanding all my defects and
sins. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for our of it are
the issues of life (Prov.
4: 23).*
[* NOTE: Being
set in a context of works, the only life which is
meant here is that attained by the regenerate believer, (Phil. 3: 11; cf. Luke
20: 35) - after the time of the first Resurrection, and during the millennial
Age to come: (Rev.
20: 4-6; Heb. 6: 5, R.V.).]
The Cure
So there is a Divine cure, and our Lord has revealed it for
ever. He says:- Cleanse first the INSIDE,
that the outside may become clean also (Matt. 23: 26). The Pharisee, like the Sacerdotalist or the Hindu, washes the
outside, to make the inside clean; God washes the inside first, that the
outside may become clean: regeneration is the sole fountain of real and permanent
reformation. As the Apostle
James says (4: 8): Cleanse your hands, ye sinners,
and purify your hearts, ye double-minded; or as God has said through Jeremiah (4:
14) - Wash thine HEART from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved.* But what exactly
is it that cleanses the heart, the conscience, the motives? How much more shall THE BLOOD OF CHRIST cleanse your
conscience from dead works (Heb. 9:
14): who washed us
from our sins BY HIS BLOOD (Rev. 1: 5); that he might sanctify the people THROUGH HIS OWN BLOOD
(Heb. 13:
12); THE BLOOD of Jesus Christ
his Son cleanseth us from all sin (1 John 1:
7).
[* NOTE: This is pointing to a future
salvation, for [the elect] who were previously
saved by grace
through faith (Eph.
2: 8) alone
in Jesus Christ. See 1 Pet. 1: 1-23, R.V.).]
Whiter Than Snow
So the cry should go up from all
hearts:- Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow
(Ps. 51: 7). When whiteness is stricken through
the heart of a man, it whitens all outward:
the life grows white, for it is white at the fountainhead. Though thy
sins are as scarlet, they shall be AS WHITE AS SNOW (Isa. 1: 18).
* *
* * *
* *
764
PRAYER - BY ANOTHER NAME?
By A. G. TILNEY
ONCE had
a colleague who more than amused himself by planning imaginary trans-European
railway trips. He collected information about various Continental countries and
cities of interest, got the departure and arrival times of ships and trains
(planes were not in common use yet), and worked out the cost and the pleasure
of his imaginary journeys from his armchair.
It is notorious that pilgrims to the Holy Land often knew far
more about
May we not call prayer thinking ahead, thinking around what we
are going to do, and voicing a kindly desire with faith in God? May we not in a
word call it spiritual organisation?
The people who do not pray are the self-sufficient, the self-centred,
the self-satisfied and self-confident - perhaps even the sulky and surly.
Prayer involves interest and sympathy, imaginativeness and
understanding. It implies on our part some acquaintance with Gods power, love
and plan, His willingness to help, and actual experience of His love in time
past, for which we return thanks and praise. In our turn we recognise that we
are Gods representatives, ready to help others as they show need. Hence prayer
is not only action at a distance, but present assistance in trouble. I remember
on one occasion dumb-founding a man who asked me for the price of a lunch, but
who said he did not believe in God, by replying, Well
I do, and Hes telling me to give you half-a-crown (incidentally my
last coin for some time).
What about praying for your day, as lots of other people do? More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of;
therefore pray! Most of us have some sort of time-table, for housework,
school or business. If it is not as rigid as British Railways at their best, it
should at least be reliable - in the sense of orderly and determined. We have,
however, to answer as many of our prayers as possible. In fact God will
probably not answer any prayers of our own that we can answer ourselves, but wont,
dont want to. Take getting up in the morning, for instance - winter mornings
as well as Monday mornings. The Lord may waken us as unfailingly as an alarum
clock, but if we turn a deaf ear, He will, of course, let us remain in bed. Say
a little prayer in bed, by all means, but end with this one: Please, Lord,
Help me to get up this very moment! You will be able to resume your prayer
downstairs, if you are really an early bird. You are allowed to pray for
yourself first, if you wish, for your own vineyard needs cultivating. But it is
a good plan to thank and praise a lot in prayers for yourself, not
pharisaically, to be sure, but for Gods goodness to you, and then to send up
requests for lots of other people who are in need - the sick, the lonely, the sad,
the poor, the oppressed, the unsaved. But as far as your daily work is
concerned, try to live it through in prayer - each duty, each class and lesson,
each appointment and interview.
It may be a special day - a Sports Day, if you are still
young, or an Examination Day; or it may be a Service, and a Sermon, you are to
conduct and deliver in the Lords Name. Well, think it out, think it through.
The race and answer will - like the service and sermon - depend a great deal
upon previous preparation, training and practice. All the same, and though we
do of course reap what we have sown, it is God Who gives the increase, and Who
will surely help us to make the most of what we have worked at, what we have
really done. He will give us courage and confidence. He will bring all things
needful to our remembrance. He will make us careful, imaginative, original,
seeing to it that nothing important is overlooked. He will make us resourceful,
determined, successful.
Our life is like a play or a novel, with each new day a fresh
scene or chapter. It is up to us to sit - or kneel-down and study the
characters and their likely reactions in their parts; also, of course, the plot
and its purpose. Let us put ourselves in our characters places, in their
shoes, and live a little of their lives. And not least, let us profit from the
mistakes of yesterday or last year. We are going to meet an unpleasant person -
then God will give us enough grace to make up for this persons lack of grace.
The manager in business or public service will have all the
jobs ready for the clerk of the works, or at any rate suggestions for these,
giving credit for their outworking, even for their origination; or he will have
anticipated the journeys and visits of his travellers and assistants, or of his
callers. And this can all be done beforehand in prayer, which is the great
unseen rehearsal, the private interview with the Director.
Then there are the underprivileged, the handicapped -
suffering, sorrowing slaves, we can pray for. The prayerful think of them,
flash out loving thoughts for them. Every Christian should have, hung upon the
walls of his heart, a picture of a hospital ward, and a mind full of sympathy
each time he passes a cripple in the street he should pray for the afflicted
ones compensation and encouragement, and send up a little word of gratitude
for his own use of preserved limbs, faculties and reason. He should also
remember the sorrowing souls he may meet, perhaps carrying a burden with no one
to share and cheer.
The rulers of the world require our prayers - which can
support them as surely as our own beloved Queen was supported at Coronation
time by the many prayers of her devoted people. Here are lonely hearts and no
mistake, with no one to look up to except God. How they need to be kept from
harmful impulses, kept open and responsive to all that is generous and true. We
are in the New Testament specially bidden to pray for all in authority, for so
much depends upon their example and influence - as is clear from the attention
God pays to kings and rulers in the Old Testament. If men are there compared to
the flowers of the field, then we may say that they are fertilised by angels - good and bad - who stir up their spirits to noble or evil designs. Here
then are ways in which Christians can be the power
behind the Throne, praying for the establishment of that which is right
in the eyes of the Lord and for the correction or overthrow of that which is
evil in His sight. The final - or semi-final - drama of prophecy is about to be
enacted; we can see the setting, possibly even the actors themselves - the King
of the North, the King of the South, and the Land of unwalled villages. And
those who can pray are stage-hands, scene-shifters, announcers, prompters - or
publicity agents of the coming tragedy of Ezekiel 3:
8, and of the coming triumph of Daniel 7.
Mourners always thank us for our prayers, and so do
missionaries in their circulars. So let us read these, as we are able, and
remember them. A little arrangement will enable us to take, if not a country
then a continent, nightly for a week, to uphold them and to give thanks for
them - our representatives, and the Lords ambassadors, in enemy territory. Let
us also write to them now and again, considering how much we ourselves love to
have news from a far country - perhaps with foreign stamps for the younger
children, ours or other peoples; and we too can save stamps to help foreign
missions, getting our friends to pass on theirs through us.
Finally, in this now restricted world, disunited and divided,
but crowded as involuntary neighbours, let us envisage the whole restless ocean
of it, knowing that it is shortly to become the
Kingdom of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, Himself now thrilling to the
prospect of His impending Return and Reign, and of having us as His fellows to
share His Government. The active interest that we show in the reality of the
Saviours Rule and Reign by picturing its literal Advent, by caring for its
actual citizens, will prove both a preparation and a qualification for our
share in its control, and this not least by our devotion to the Crown, our
personal attachment to the Lord of Glory Himself. In the coming Day there will
be many a cry of Lord! Lord! Open to us! but the sad reply will be: I never
knew you! It is those who are faithful to the Saviour in this time of His rejection to whom
He will say: Come, ye
blessed of My Father! Ye are they who have
continued with Me in My temptations, and I
appoint unto you a throne. Active
service may not always be possible, nor open witness, but fellowship in
intercession and communion on the Mount will give us a pre-view of the
Returning one day to
* *
* * *
* *
765
THE SECOND DEATH
By LT.-COL. L. MERSON DAVIES
IT is
significant that in these last days of our Christian dispensation when - as
Paul foretold - The Lie (which denies the existence of Hell, or the awful Lake of Fire)
would be widespread among men, we find that not only is the existence of Hell
denied by men at large, and by the many false sects (like Christian Science, Jehovahs
Witnesses, etc.), which have risen in recent times, but it is also
being minimised by supposedly orthodox Christians, who either believe that all
will finally be saved, or - alternatively - that the irredeemably lost will be
exterminated by the Lake of Fire, and so will cease to suffer after a limited
period.
Thus the Bible warnings about the fate of those who refuse
Salvation are either denied altogether, or else are reduced to relative
insignificance; for no temporary woe can compare with that which has no end. So
The
Lie is now widely
accepted - either totally, or in practical effect.
What concerns us here is not the flat denial of future
punishment by those who reject the Bible, but the attempts made by professed
believers to treat the doctrine of eternal torment as disproved by Scripture
itself. As already remarked, these persons agree that the torment is of
limited duration; some holding that it ends in the final forgiveness of the
lost, and others that it ends in their extermination.
Now the first difficulty which faces these writers is that, as
even Prof. H. R. Mackintosh, D.D.
(no conservative) wrote:- How apostolic writers could
have expressed the eternity of bliss and woe otherwise than by terms they have
actually used, it is impossible to conceive (Immortality
and the Future, 1915,
p. 204).
What tactics, then, do the supposed Biblical opponents of the
doctrine of eternal torment adopt? These take many forms; but one element is
common to all, namely, the declaration that endless torment is incompatible
with the Love of God.
So note that the Devil adopted this line from the first. When
urging Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, he supported The Lie (denial of the death
penalty for sin) by declaring
that God knew that Eve would better herself by eating the fruit. So he
represented the death penalty as incompatible with Gods Love and Justice. Yet
death came upon the whole human race, because of that act - the consequences of
which were quite as drastic as Gods warning had indicated. How, then, do the
minimisers of Bible warnings about the Second Death reconcile even the first
death with their purely sentimental approach to Scripture? For the Bible speaks
just as clearly about Gods WRATH as
it does about His LOVE. Obviously,
in our day as in Eves, it is the Devils first object to make men forget that
terrible WRATH.
For God is unspeakably HOLY,
and so cannot overlook sin. We are told
that the soul that sinneth, it
shall die (Ezek. 18: 4), and that, without
shedding of blood there is no remission of sin (Heb. 9: 22). But Gods LOVE found a way - at unspeakable cost to Himself - of forgiving
without infringing His perfect Justice and Holiness. He gave His own Divine SON to die in our stead.
But further note that He dieth no more (Rom. 6: 9). So there can be no future sacrifice for sins; and if, as is
clear, even the first death would have lasted for ever, but for His sacrifice,
much more will the awful Second Death (which is not for a single act by our
first parents, but for all our own countless sins) last for ever.
The strongest available words to express eternal wrath are
used; and the contexts show that they did mean eternal in regard to future bliss
and woe. Our Lord used the same word to express
the duration of both the life of the redeemed and the punishment of the damned;
while the Apocalypse shows that the suffering of the lost will be as long as the glory
of the saved, and, indeed, as the very life of
Christ. Our Lord also said, about those who go into Gehenna (or the
We are sometimes reminded of Pauls words:- The last
enemy that shall be destroyed is death (1
Cor. 15: 26). But the context shows that
the reference there is to the first death; for Paul was discussing the successive
resurrections from it, and people will die even during the Millennium, after
the Rapture and the First Resurrection, and many will be killed during Satans
great final rebellion after the Millennium. Then cometh the end,
or last and general resurrection, when all the remaining dead are yielded up by
the Sea, and Death and Hades (not Hell) and there follows the final judgment (Rev.
20: 13-15). And note that both
Death and Hades (not Hell) are then
themselves thrown into the
We have seen that Scripture indicates no end to the torment of
the lost; and that all attempts to argue for such an end are quite illogical
and lead to sheer absurdities. The Bible is most consistent and its warnings
are very terrible for those who reject the FREE SALVATION which it offers to all. Now is the
accepted time (2 Cor.
6: 2) - and there is no hope of a future offer to those who ignore the one given in
this life.
And we have had that opportunity. Let us therefore beware of
minimising it, and the consequences of rejecting it. No Christian likes to
contemplate the
- Fundamentals.
* *
* * *
* *
766
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
By ROBERT GOVETT, M.A.
(Continued from Matt. 7: 9)
HOW
often is a prayer answered long after it has been forgot? Zacharias,
THY PRAYER IS
HEARD What
prayer? Thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son. That prayer had been put up often and
zealously. But with waning probability, Zacharias faith failed: he ceased to
ask, he ceased to expect. It dropped from his recollection. And now, just when
it is to be granted, he will not believe a messenger from heaven, that it is
close on its fulfilment.
9. Or what man is there of you, of whom if his son ask bread, will
he in answer give him a stone? 10. Or if he ask a fish, will he in answer give him a
serpent?* 11. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall
your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?
Monarchs sometimes wear idle titles, or titles really false. For
how many years did the kings of
Before they pray, Gods gracious heart is disposed to do His
children good. He feels for their need, ere they express it. He sympathizes
with their sorrows, before they pour them out in His presence.
Jesus appeals to the fathers round Him, whether they were not
ready to grant their children what was good and necessary, ere they asked it.
Their sons might certainly trust them, that they would not take advantage of
their superior wisdom, to give them what was evil. Ill-will may deceive
simplicity, and put into its hand something resembling its petition, and
something having a show of good, while yet it would injure. But would a father
give his child a round flint instead of a loaf? A flint possessed of no power
to sustain life, and ready to break his teeth? Or if he desired a fish in his
hunger, would he give him a serpent, to cause him pain and death by its bite?
All would reply, No!
This holds good, in spite of the selfish and malignant
tendencies of fallen human nature. The very men who might play such tricks with
anothers children, would not do so with their own. The merchant, who in the
market would seize every unfair advantage to palm off an inferior or noxious
article upon his fellow man, would not do so with his children. He regards them
as a part of himself. He should feel love to all: but the only green spot in
the wilderness of his bosom is his love to his children. Love shields them from the effects of the selfish and
malignant east winds which blow everywhere else across his domain.
But if children may trust their
parents benevolence, in spite of tempers, malevolent and banefully active in
all other directions, how much more may the children of God trust their Father! He is Good, the only good. In Him dwells no
malignancy, no selfishness. Then will He give to His children, assuredly, whatever is good.
How brief, but how forcible, those two
words - BEING EVIL! It tells us at a glance what Christ
thought of human nature. It discloses to us, like a sudden flash of lightning
in the night, the whole murky landscape. What is the verdict of Him who knows
what is man? What says the Creator, the Preserver of the race that tenants the
globe? You are evil! He does not attempt proof. He assumes it as a first principle,
so obvious, or so often proved, as not to need proof. Let moralists talk of the
dignity and innate goodness of man, till spoiled by corrupt example! Jesus
assumes it as true universally, and from inward disorder of the soul, that the
race is EVIL. This is the gospels foundation. No
architect is sent to repair a palace which is perfect within and without. No
ship-owner commissions carpenters to
restore a vessel which is sound from stem to stern, from maintop to keel.
Here is the grace of God and of His
Son! It is to us being evil, that the message of reconciliation is sent. It was not with
anticipation of a glad welcome amidst the ruined sons of man, that Jesus left the
regions of splendour and love, for the dark, cold, foggy realm below. He knew
its mount to be the Mount of Scorpions, and its dale, the
From the same sentiment of the
benevolence of God, it results, that He will
not give His
children what is evil, though they ask it. If a son ask his father for a venomous snake, with
scales of green and gold glittering in the sun, will the father give it? Or if,
in answer to a sons importunity, something in itself injurious be granted in
displeasure, will not something to counteract the evil effects, be given also?
Here is a lesson which a loving mother gave to her young child. She was Pickling some peaches [twas in
No, my dear, you must eat it all;
you know that was the condition on which I gave it you.
Maria began to cry. O mamma, you
wont make me eat that nasty thing?
Yes, Maria, you must abide by your
own choice: you see now you had better have believed me.
Maria was sure she could never get
it down, sure it would make her sick, it would kill her; but her mother was
firm. At length, with the help of a piece of bread which her mother allowed
her, and with tears and signs, the nauseous morsel was fairly swallowed. But
Maria did not soon forget the lesson it taught her.
The conclusion of the Saviours inferring is not exactly such
as we should have expected from the former part of the sentence. If you men give good things to your children, how much more
will God give to His children ?
- would have been the natural close. Instead, Jesus says, To them that ask him. It is fairly
implied, that Jesus
is speaking of disciples, or of the children of God. Here then is a description of Gods children. They call upon His name. They appeal in their need to God: for aid
given they return thanks. They who
do not pray, then, are not Gods children. Do you never pray, reader?
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767
THE AWFULNESS OF SIN
By S. NORTON
THE most
solemn fact of sin is either laughed at or glossed over in this our day. It is
well to consider that the Lord God, who is Holy in all His ways, hates sin with
a hatred which cannot be measured by man. We can appreciate this when we
realise that sin is the grand cause of the misery and sorrow at this very day.
Pain, disease and death; wars, battles, and fightings;
envy, jealousy and malice; deceit, fraud, and cheating; violence, oppression,
and robbery; selfishness, unkindness, and ingratitude - all these are the
fruits of sin. Sin is the parent of all woes. Sin has marred, spoiled and ravaged the face of Gods
creation.
More than all, sin crucified the Son of God. Should we not expect a Holy God to
hate and loathe it, when it works such fearful evil? The wonder is that man
should be found in love with that which God hates. The popular idea is that sin
is a mere fault which God winks at and will, in the end, pass over. But if we open the
Bible, we shall read and learn by the types and figures God has given, what He
thinks of that fearful thing called sin.
LEPROSY, Lev. 13th
and 14th chapters. Loathsome,
defiling, separating, spreading, incurable.
PHYSICAL DISEASE. The blind, lame, deaf, dumb,
palsied, withered, bowed down; doubtless our Lords miracles of healing such
were spiritual parables of the cure of sinners.
WOUNDS, bruises, Isa. 1: 6; 30: 26; Luke 4: 18.
POISON, venom, Rom. 3: 13; Jas. 3: 8.
DEATH, Eph. 2: 1; Jas. 1: 15; 5: 20.
BURDEN, grievous
and intolerable, Matt. 11: 28.
SLAVERY, as to
the worst of masters, Jno.
8: 34; Rom. 6: 20; 7: 14; the drudgery, worse still, of many lusts and
pleasures, Tit. 3:
3; 1 Kings 21:
20-25.
CAPTIVITY, such as in ancient times, was marked
by cruelty and hardship, when captives were bound and often blinded, Isa. 61: 1 (see
Concordance on BONDAGE).
LEAVEN, corrupting, spreading, Matt. 13: 33; 16: 6; 1 Cor. 5: 6-8; Gal. 5: 9.
DEBT, even to the utmost and most hopeless
extent - the bankrupts debt of ten thousand talents, Matt.
18: 23-25.
SPOTS AND STAINS, crimson and scarlet dyed, Isa. 1: 18; double
dyed (as the Hebrew word for scarlet implies), Deut.
32: 5; 2 Pet. 2: 12; Jude 12-23.
FOUNTAIN OF IMPURITY, Jer. 6: 7.
FLOODS, Psa. 18:
4; Rev. 12: 16.
CROOKED, PERVERSE,
Deut. 32:
5; Psa. 125:
5.
CAGE, full of unclean birds, Jer. 5: 27.
GIRDLE, cleaving to a man, Jer. 13: 10, 11.
VINE OF SODOM, and grapes of
THE OLD MAN, not called old
for weakness and decay (though Heb. 8: 13 is true
of the believer), but rather from antiquity, because inherited from Adam, and
also because pervading the whole of mans fallen nature.
THE BODY OF SIN, Rom.
6: 6 (body, as consisting of many members, and all instruments of unrighteousness) (see the catalogue:
hands, lips, tongue, throat, feet, etc., Isa. 59:
3-7; Rom. 3: 13-17).
THE LAW OF SIN, Rom.
7: 25,
the antagonistic principle to the ruling power of grace, the deliberate,
organized rule and system of evil, Psa.
94: 10.
Although sin is such an appalling thing in Gods sight, yet we
can find in the same Bible the way God takes its defilement, guilt and power
from the one who believes in Jesus.
Thou hast covered all their sin, Ps.
85: 2.
As far as the cast is from the west, so far hath He removed
our transgressions from us, Ps. 103: 12.
Thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged, Isa. 6: 7.
Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back, Isa. 38: 17.
I will not remember thy sins, Isa. 43:
25.
I have blotted out, as a thick cloud thy transgressions, Isa. 44: 22.
The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all, Isa. 53: 6.
He shall bear their iniquities, Isa. 53:
11.
The iniquity of
None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned
unto him, Ezek. 33:
16.
Wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea, Micah 7: 19.
Hath He ... put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, Heb. 9: 26.
All those who know by experience the forgiveness of sin
through Jesus Christ, have cause to thank, praise and adore the God of all
Grace for such a wonderful Saviour.
-
The Monthly Messenger.
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768
GOD HEALED ME
By DR. OSWALD J. SMITH
HOW often
God has healed me I do not know. Suffice it to say that more than once I have
been at deaths door and have been raised up, wholly, I believe, in answer to
prayer.
As a boy I was always of a delicate constitution. Few ever
expected to see me grow up. Many times, even when at play, I fainted from sheer
weakness. For months at a time I had to be kept out of school owing to my
physical condition. Schooldays I almost dreaded; certainly they were not
enjoyed, for I suffered much at the hands of stronger boys. Unable to defend
myself, I was in constant fear of assault.
Well do I remember once when while standing in class,
everything suddenly grew dark. I fell backward in a dead faint and my head came
into violent contact with the hard floor. Once when I went for the milk the
woman who gave it to me passed this remark: Poor boy,
hes not long for this world. Colds I could scarcely shake. Pneumonia
left my lungs weak. Again and again it was feared that I would become a
consumptive.
As a young man in my later teens and early twenties, I
developed a serious eye trouble. Every now and again, perhaps twice a month,
there would suddenly come a film of some kind over a portion of the sight, so
thick that it was absolutely impossible to see through it. As a rule it covered
the lower half of the eye-ball, thus making it necessary for me to hold my head
down in order to see the street with the eye affected. If I happened to be in
class it would be terrible; the letters would dance before me until I was
utterly bewildered.
This experience was of quite regular occurrence and I never
knew the moment it might come upon me. It would last for perhaps half an hour.
If I was at home, I would bury my head in the pillows, shut my eyes and wait
for it to pass away. If outside I simply had to go through the agony of it as
best I could. At the end of about half an hour it would leave almost as
suddenly as it had come, and immediately complete sight would be restored. But
then came the greatest agony of all and the thing that I dreaded beyond
description: no sooner was the film removed than there followed a headache that
I know not how to describe. It was simply terrible and it always lasted from
twelve to twenty-four hours.
Such was my experience for years. I lived in constant dread of
an attack. The moment the film covered my eye-ball and sent everything dancing
before me, I knew perfectly well that I was doomed to hours of suffering and
that plans for a day or so at least would have to be laid aside.
Of course I went to eye specialists, one of the best in
Then came the movement of the Holy Ghost, and my heart
continually rejoiced that God was simply testing me and I was determined to
maintain my stand. At last, blessed be His name! relief came; gradually, it is
true, but my sight became more and more natural, until finally I was able to
recognise people in an audience a hundred feet away. Never once has that film
appeared since the day I wholly trusted Him six years ago.* Those days of agony are passed and gone. Hallelujah! Do you
wonder that I love Him?‑The
* Dr.
Smith wrote this account twenty-six years ago. In the meantime he has carried
on a tireless ministry in every part of the world.
* *
*
INSPIRATION
WE believe
Scripture to be inspired. And our faith in the inspiration of Scripture has
its basis and root in our faith in God Himself. It is because we have
experienced the Divine power of the truth Scripture contains, and because in
the reading of Scripture we have heard the voice of God; it is because God
speaks to us in this written Word that we believe it is Gods. This faith is a
conviction, an inward beholding and seeing, a knowledge which far transcends in
light and strength, in certainty and firmness, all human evidence and argument.
We cannot communicate this faith to our neighbour; for faith is the gift of
God, and they shall be all (and each) taught of God; we can only testify of it and give a
reason, a connected statement of the knowledge that is in us. But on no lower
ground can we build our assertion, that Scripture is God-inspired; not on the
testimony of the church, not on the evidences (valuable as they are) of the
historic faithfulness of the record, the fulfilment of prophecy, the effects of
the sublime teaching on human minds, etc.
The inspiration of Scripture is an object of faith; and faith
can only rest on the Word of God, the testimony of the Spirit to the soul.
- AOLPH
SAPHIR.
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769
THE CROWNING OF JOSHUA
AND
THE MAN WHOSE NAME IS
THE BREANCH
By DAVID BARON
[PART TWO: CONTINUED FROM 751]
And the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
The expression atsath shalom, counsel of peace, means not merely peace, for if that alone were meant, the simple idiom,
vehayah shalom, there shall be peace between
them both, would be used. The word used here
signifies a counsel planning or
procuring peace for some other than those who counsel.
But who are the twain who thus devise peace for man between them?
Some commentators consider that the offices of Priest and King
are alluded to, but the phraseology naturally constrains us to think of
persons, not of things or abstract offices. The explanation advocated by Hengstenberg, and adopted by Koehler, is a probable and reasonable
one - namely, that the reference is to the two
offices of Priest and King combined in the Person of Messiah, and that the
prophecy speaks of a plan devised by Messiah in His double character, whereby peace and salvation should be secured for the people of
God, and on the earth
during His reign. This fact, observes Dr. Wright, agrees
with the New Testament statements in which the angelic choirs are represented
announcing Peace on
earth as one of the results of
Christs birth; and with our Lords own words, Peace I leave with you - My peace I give unto you, the full realisation of
which is exhibited in the final vision of the Book of Revelation. But I am personally inclined to
think that another view, which is held by many scholars, is the right one -
namely, that the two are Jehovah and the Messiah, or Jesus and
the Father.* It is
clear, no doubt, that the pronoun His in the expression His throne is used twice in ver. 13 in reference to the
Messiah, and cannot well be regarded as relating to Jehovah. The royal dignity
of the Messiah is specially referred to, inasmuch as the Messiah, as King,
would have power to perform the work which He had to do. But the fact that the
pronoun in the phrase His throne cannot
refer to Jehovah, does not prove that Jehovah cannot be one of the two persons
referred to at the close of the verse. Two, and only two, persons are referred
to in the verse - namely, the Lord and the Lords Christ; and many eminent
scholars - as Vitringa,
Reuss, Pusey, and Jerome - have considered that these are the two Persons to whom
reference is made in the clause, the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
* Pusey.
The prophecy indeed is closely
connected with Ps. 110., where a counsel between the Lord and His Christ is plainly referred to,
and where Messiah is predicted as King and Priest. This is the natural meaning,
and the way in which the words were no doubt interpreted by the hearers of the
prophet Zechariah.*
* Dr. Wright.
In Christ, to quote another writer, all is perfect harmony. There is a counsel of peace between
Him and the Father whose
In all fulness, however, the blessed fruit of this counsel of
peace, and the thoughts of salvation between the Father and the
Son, will only be realised by Israel and the nations of the earth during the
period of Messiahs reign, and by the one Church of the living God through the
eternity that is to follow. Then - in the limitless ages to come - He will show
the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Him unto
a dispensation of the fulness of the times, to
sum up all things in Christ, the things in the
heavens, and
the things upon the earth ... according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after
the counsel of His will (Eph. 1: 9-11, 2: 7, R.V.).
We now come to the 14th
verse. First let me give a word of explanation in reference to the
difference of the names here as compared with the 10th
verse. As to Helem, it is the same as Heldai, the difference being probably occasioned
by a very slight scribal error of running two separate Hebrew letters into one.
Hen
is not a proper name at all, but an
appellative, meaning the favour, or grace, and is rightly rendered in the margin of the
R.V. and by all scholars, and for the kindness of the son of Zephaniah.
This is very beautiful. The crowns were to be deposited in the
Temple of God as a memorial, not only of these three distinguished strangers
who had brought their own and their brethrens offerings for the House of God,
but as a memorial also of the kindness of this true son of Abraham, who, as stated at the
beginning of this exposition, was evidently a man given to hospitality, and
received these three strangers into his house. It was apparently a small
service rendered to the cause of God, but it was very precious to Him because
it was doubtless done for His Names sake. And so many a little and apparently
insignificant deed done out of love for our Lord Jesus - yea, even the cup of
cold water given in the name of a disciple - is treasured up in His memory, and
shall in no wise lose its reward - For God is not unrighteous to forget
your work, and labour of love, which ye have showed toward His Name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister (Heb.
6: 10). As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto
them who are of the household of faith (Gal.
6: 10).
But while the crowns were to be thus deposited in the Temple as
a memorial of these four men, they were also to serve as a pledge and earnest
of the fulfilment of the prophecy, and of the realisation of the symbolical
action on which it was based: And they that are far off shall come and build in the Temple of the Lord.
These words not only refer to those Jews who were still in the
far lands of the dispersion, who in
Messiahs time would be gathered, and take their share in the building of the
future [millennial] Temple, as some have explained, but are a glorious
promise, as I have already stated at the beginning, of the conversion of the
Gentiles, and of the time when all
nations would walk in the light of Jehovah. It is
probable, as another writer suggests, that the great Apostle of the
Gentiles may have had this prophecy in his view when he reminded his converts
in Ephesus that now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off have become nigh
through the blood of Christ (Eph. 2: 13). On the other hand, Peter probably
understood the similar expressions to which he gave utterance as referring
(primarily) to the dispersed of
But again, I repeat, that whatever fulfilment of the words we
may already see, the full realisation of
them will not be until Messiah sits and reigns a Priest upon His throne over
And ye shall know that
Jehovah of hosts has sent Me unto you.
The fulfilment, or realisation, of what had here been
predicted in symbol and verbal prophecy would be, so to say, the Divine
authentication of the Message and Messenger, and
The final sentence of the prophecy reads: And this shall come to pass (vehayah: this shall be) if (or when) ye diligently obey (lit., if hearkening ye
shall hearken - i.e., give
heed with a view to obey)
the voice of
Jehovah your God.
Not that the fulfilment of the prophecy will be conditional on
their obedience - that is, conditional on the will and unchangeable purpose of God alone - but their participation in it depends on their faith and obedience. Because He had said, And ye shall know that
Jehovah of hosts hath sent Me unto you, observes an old writer. He warns them that the
fruit of that coming will reach to those
only who should hear God, and with ardent mind join themselves to His Name.
For as many as believed in Him were made
sons of God, but the rest were cast into outer darkness.
The whole Hebrew phrase, I may point out, is taken bodily from
Deut. 28:
1, where it is rendered: And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt
hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God - then [when Gods conditional promise is
obeyed] - all the [messianic] blessings promised to them under the
old covenant would be enjoyed by them. Under the law, however, though they were
very ready to promise, they had no power diligently to hearken or to obey the voice of Jehovah their
God, and instead of enjoying the blessings they came under the curse of the law. But what was impossible
under the law shall be realised under grace. Then, as one great blessing of the
New Covenant under which they shall be brought, the law of God shall be put in their inward parts and written in their hearts, or, as we read in Jer. 32: 38-41, They shall be My people, and I will be their
God; and I will give them one heart, and one way, that
they may fear Me for ever, for the good of
them, and their children after them: and I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I
will not turn away from them, to do
them good; and I will put My
fear in their hearts, that they shall not
depart from Me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I
will plant them in this land assuredly with My whole heart and with My whole soul.
And then, also - after
* *
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770
OUR ANCHOR
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
NEVER in
our lifetime have we learned as we are learning to-day the priceless value of
hope. All things are dissolving around us in raging storms; and when these
things begin to come to pass, the Saviour said, LOOK UP, and lift up your
heads (Luke 21: 28). As his boy grew giddy while gazing from a topmast, and was in
immediate danger, Look up! thundered his
father, the captain, and the boy descended in safety. Hast
thou hope? John Knox was
asked when he was dying. He said nothing, but simply pointed his finger
upwards, and died. The root of the word hope
in Anglo-Saxon means to open the eyes wide and to watch for what is to come: it
is one of the three priceless jewels of the spiritual life - faith, hope, and
love.
An Anchor
So the Apostle depicts our refuge in overwhelming storms as an
anchor - only referred to here in all Scripture - the anchor of hope. We have fled
for refuge to lay hold of the hope set
before us, which we have as an anchor of the soul (Heb. 6: 18). Faith saves from the eternal storms, hope saves from the
tempests of to-day. All fundamental [and eternal] salvation is by faith alone; but hope, itself based
solely on faith saves us from being dashed to pieces on rocks everywhere
around; or from being swallowed up in quicksands. There
are storms of care, storms of conscience, storms of temptation; and all
thoughtful natures know that the wildest storms that ever rage are those that
are felt within: what deep Christian thinker has not some time been nearly
overwhelmed in waves of mental perplexity? But if in such hours of dark tempest
we retain the conviction that He who presides amidst the glories of heaven is
our own Redeemer, and will never let us go, our ship will never founder: in the
very rush and agony of waters, our anchor holds (C. Stanford, D.D.) Holding faith and a
good conscience, which some having thrust from
them have made shipwreck concerning
the faith (1 Tim. 1: 19).
Sure and Stedfast
Our anchor is now described. A hope both sure and stedfast. The moment comes, in the height of a
storm, when the life of all on board depends on the anchor being sure - that is, undragged
- and stedfast - that is, unbroken: a ship, to be safe, must be fastened to
a cable that no tempest can snap, and to iron teeth that no current can drag
from its grip. Such is our hope. Our anchor is sure, for it has its grip on
God, and on the Word of God; and it is stedfast, because in times
of storm our hope descends into deep, fundamental truths, which are dead sure.
An anchored boat grows firmer in a storm, for the harder the ship drags, the
tighter the anchor grips. We are sure that God has a plan; that that plan is
immutable; and that, since it is a Divine plan, it can never suffer the wreck
which founders every scheme and hope of man: it rests on Gods unchangeable
truth and priceless oath. Fierce strain on the anchor is proof that it holds. When the mighty stream of vanity on which you float produces
no ruffling at the point of contact - when it is not disagreeable to you, and
you are not disagreeable to it - suspect that your anchor is dragging, that it
has lost its hold, and that you are drifting into danger (W. Arnot).
The Veil
Next we learn that the only anchor that holds is the anchor
that grips the invisible: so long as we can see an anchor, it is quite worthless. We have an
anchor entering into that which is within the veil. No Jew (except
the High Priest) ever saw the inside of the Holy of Holies; but he knew what was there: so we cannot see the
other end of our cable, but we feel the pull, for we know the facts that are
behind the Veil. But it is more than that. Our anchor not only enters within
the Veil, but enters into that which is within the veil; it fastens itself in the things
which the Veil hides. What are these? The blood-stained Mercy Seat - atonement
through Calvary; the Decalogue in the
* The forerunner of the ancient ship
was the Anchorarius, the man who had charge of the anchor, and
who carried it within the harbour, when there was not yet water sufficient to
float the ship in it (C.
Stanford, D.D.)
Assurance of Hope
It is most illuminating to note the sharply different
foundations of faith and hope. Faith is based solely on the work of Christ:- Having
boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, let us draw near with a true heart in the full assurance of faith (Heb.
10: 19). But hope rests on our own service of
Christ:- Show the same diligence unto the full assurance of hope even to the end, that ye be not sluggish, but
imitators of them who through faith and patience [patient
endurance] inherit the
promises (Heb. 6: 11). Our sacred activities to the end bring hopeful assurance.
Present Hope
Very wonderfully does George
Muller create fresh hope in us by his own experience in desperately
difficult circumstances. He says:- Hope thou in God. Oh remember this - there is never a time when we may not
hope in God. Whatever our necessities, however great our difficulties, and
though to all appearances help is impossible, yet our business is to hope in
God. And it will be found that it is not in vain - in the Lords own time, help
will come. Oh, the hundreds, yea, the thousands of times that I have found it
thus within the past seventy years and four months! When it seemed impossible
that help could come, help did come from God and His own
resources and these resources may be counted by hundreds, by thousands. He is not
confined to this thing or that thing, or to twenty things in ten thousand
different ways, and at ten thousand different times, God may help us. Our
business is to spread our case before the Lord in childlike simplicity, to pour
out all our heart before God, telling Him - I do not deserve that Thou
shouldest hear me and answer my requests, but for the sake of my precious Lord
Jesus - in whom alone I trust for the salvation of my soul,
thy perfect Servant, my Saviour - for His sake answer my prayer, for I believe
Thou wilt do it in Thine own time and way. Thus invariably I have found that, with the exception of one case
for which I have prayed since November 10, 1844, my prayers have been answered,
and I cannot tell you what an effect this had on my life, and how it has made
me a happy man, and in my greatly advanced age, it makes me a very happy man.
Hope In Service
Hope can control with blessing our future on this side of the
grave, making us labour in a fruitless field that will one day be white with
harvest. A single example will make this plain. Hans Egede, of
The Future
But hope, by its very nature, fastens supremely on the beyond,
within the Veil. The hope of vanishing from earth before the horrors of the Day of Terror; the crowns depending
solely on devoted service; so overcoming as to share the Throne of the Son of
God; supremely, to hear the loving words of our Saviour, Well done,
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord - all this is hope, but not
certainty; but it is a hope of extraordinary stimulus, the direct work of the
Holy Ghost. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in
believing, that ye may ABOUND IN HOPE, in the
power of the Holy Ghost (Rom. 15: 13). In these immense possibilities let us imitate Abraham, who in hope
believed against hope (Rom. 4: 18).
Purity
Very blessedly - the Apostle John sums up the effect hope is to
have on our life. We know that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like
him; for we shall see him even as he is. And everyone that hath this hope set
on him - everyone who is thus anchored on the returning Christ - purifieth himself, even as he is
pure (1 John 3: 2). It is most remarkable that the burden
is placed four-square on our own
shoulders - he purifieth himself. The word hagios is especially used of the chaste spirit; it
rests essentially on the internal abhorrence of anything that would tarnish
virgin purity and honour; there is no word which to the same extent expresses
the whole grace and tenderness of moral perfection (Haupt). Purity of heart; purity
of thought; purity of action; purity of doctrine; the
hope of Christs coming must have a purifying effect on all who truly possess
it, because without holiness it is absolutely impossible for
them to inherit His glory (D. Dickson, D.D.) In the words of Nelson in his last conflict:- Now for
Westminster Abbey or the peerage!
* *
* * *
* *
771
AN EXPOSITION OF THE EPISTLE
TO THE HEBREWS
By ROBERT GOVETT, M.A.
(Continued from Heb. 9: 26)
-------
He hath been manifested.
JESUS,
from all eternity, was in the bosom of the Father (John 1:
18). He came forth thence to manifest Himself on earth by His life and death. Thus John the
Baptist says:- I knew Him not, but that He
should be made manifest to
Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and
the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them,
Behold the man (John 19: 5).
Two different words in the Greek are employed to distinguish (1) the Saviours manifestation in the
flesh to us on earth (phaneroo), and (2) His presentation of
Himself in resurrection to the Father on high (emphanizo). This last word is very little used by
the Septuagint. There it occurs in Moses petition that God would show him His way, that he might know Him (Ex.
23: 13).
This self-presentation was typified, I believe, on the Day of
Atonement. The high priest was to take the two goats, and present them before
the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation (Lev.
16: 7) - Thus Christ was led by the high priest
and by
Unto the putting away of sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
The entire removal of sin has yet to be accomplished in the
new heavens and earth. Sin will only be finally put away by judgment, which
will sever the saved from the lost.
Christs death was His voluntary sacrifice of Himself.
What, according to Unitarians, are the reasons of the
Saviours first coming? To give us perfect instruction, and a perfect example
of life. What says God?
He came to put away sin from man, the lost sinner; and in the only possible way
- by His death.
27, 28.
And as it is reserved unto men once to die, but after that judgment; so the Christ
also having been once
offered to bear the sins of many, the second time without
sin shall be seen by
those who are expecting Him to save them. *
* This is the order of the Greek, and
where two or more constructions are possible, there the order of the Greek is
decisive.
Death is reserved for men. It is something in Gods mind, though not
visible yet. So Pauls crown was reserved for him. Some would distinguish here,
and say, that death does not apply to the saints, who, as in Christ, are beyond
death and judgment. The distinction is valid in those epistles which view the
saved as in union with Christ. But the expression in Christ does not appear in Hebrews. Believers are here regarded as
individuals set on earth, and drawing near to God on high. In this Epistle,
Christ Himself is regarded as man, and as treated like men. The argument is
built on it.
1. For the living, death is reserved.
2. For the dead, judgment is reserved.
Many understand, after death the judgment, as though it taught, that at each
ones decease the final sentence was passed. The article inserted before
judgment has led to this. Now the final sentence does not take
place at death, although, as our Lord has shown, there is a placing of each in Hades, suitable to his standing on earth,
as already condemned, or as forgiven. Thus Dives and Lazarus, at
once on their departure, are set, one in
In this verse is found the answer to a difficulty strongly rested on by anti-millenarians
- Christ is entered once for all as High Priest and Intercessor into the
Holiest above. How can He ever come out? His intercession must take place there
alone. It is necessary for the salvation of His Church. What can avail to take
Him thence?
I answer: What brought Moses down from his forty days
converse with God? Sin and
judgment! (Ex. 32).
Judgment! Most seem unable
to believe in any dispensation but the one that is running on. What is this
present day? That of grace; the accepted time proceeding from the throne of
grace. But all the [true, and divinely
chosen] prophets are full of the day of [Gods] wrath and of [His righteous] judgment soon about to come. While our Lord is in the Holiest it is the time of Gods patience, and of the ingathering of the
elect of the Church. But the coming [millennial]
[* NOTE: In bible numerics the number eight signifies both resurrection and a new
beginning.]
This future judgment will take effect on all - [even on ALL the dead presently in Hades (Luke 16: 23, 29-31; Acts 2: 27, 34. Cf. John 3: 13;
14: 3; 1 Cor. 15: 23; 1 Thess.
4: 16; 2 Tim. 2: 18; Rev. 20: 4, 5, 12-15, R.V.) - awaiting their resurrection!]. There will be a
judgment of Christs friends. My brethren, be not many masters [teachers], knowing that we shall receive
greater condemnation [judgment] - (Jas. 3:
1; 2: 12; Luke 19: 11-27; Gal. 5: 10). He that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore, judge nothing
before the time, until the Lord come (1
Cor. 4: 4, 5; Matt. 5: 21, 22; 1 John 4: 17; 2 Tim. 4: 8; Heb. 10: 30; 12: 23; 13: 4; Rev. 11: 17, 18).
The coming judgment is
one of the foundations of the faith, and is eternal (Heb.
6: 1, 2). It is also once for all,
like, death. It is necessary, in order permanently to sever the
evil from the good, and to adjust the stations of the saved.
This verse tells us, that mans trial ends with the present life.
Now tis mercy, and the call to salvation. But after death there is no further opening for deliverance, judgment comes in, which fixes the destiny
of men.
Thus our Lord, as being man, and made in all things like His
brethren, was to die but once, and therefore He can atone but once; so that that requires a
perfect and infinite sacrifice. It is the Christ Who was offered. This presents Him as
the
anointed High Priest. He is both High Priest and Sacrifice (Lev.
16: 32).
And, as Jesus was Son of God, and offered an infinite
sacrifice, so it can be offered but once. He was offered. His passivity as the sacrifice is now
set before us. He offered Himself, as He was High
Priest. But as man, and as the victim, He was under obedience, and suffered Himself
to be disposed of by His Father. He was offered, and once for all. For as man He
can die but once. Such is Gods arrangement.
To bear the sins of many. The sense of this phrase is very
important. To bear sin is often said of a transgressor. The priests were not to eat any meat
torn by beasts, lest they bear sin and die (Lev.
22: 9). Again: Whosoever curseth his God,
shall bear his sin (Lev.
24: 15).
This means that the guilt of it would lie on him, and made him obnoxious to its
just punishment. Hence we have
often the added phrase: and die.
To this attaches also the remarkable phrase, his blood
upon his own head, to signify the mans liability to destruction, as a criminal worthy of
death. It shall be, say the spies to Rahab that
whosoever shall go out of the door of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless:
and whosoever
shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be
upon our head, if any hand be upon
him (Josh. 2: 19; Lev. 20: 9, 27; 2 Sam. 1: 16). This gives the more significance to
the sinners laying his hand upon the head of his sacrifice (Lev.
4: 4). The sin, and guilt, and penalty of
the offender were to pass thereby to the victim, and its blood was taken and
presented to God as substitute, in place of the guilty.
After the laying on of the hand of the offerer, the sacrifice
was considered as laden with the sin and its penalty. Thus: And Aaron shall
lay his hands upon the head of the live goat,
and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send
him away by the hand of a fit man [a man ready for the purpose]* into the wilderness. And the goat
shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited (Lev.
16: 21, 22). The disappearance of the goat, then, was the token of the
removal of sins.
* Etoimon, LXX
But that was only one phase of atonement. The other was that
which was endured by the goat slain as a sin-offering. It was not only slain,
and its blood taken into the Holiest, but it suffered the curse of fire,
exhausting the penalty of law as here set forth; (1) death, and (2) after death
the judgment of fire.
Thus it was with our Lord. My righteous Servant shall justify
many, for He shall bear their iniquities. He poured out
His soul to death; and He was numbered with the
transgressors; and He bare the sin
of many, and made intercession for the transgressors (Isa. 53: 12). Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we being
dead to sins, should live unto righteousness,
by Whose stripes ye were healed (1 Pet. 2: 24).
Thus, too, the high priest was considered as bearing sins, and
putting them away. The plate of gold shall be upon Aarons forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy
things which the children of
Israel shall hallow in all their gifts; and it
shall be always upon his forehead, that
they may be accepted before the Lord (Ex.
28: 38). Thou [Aaron] and thy sons and thy
fathers house with thee,
shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy
sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood (Num.
18: 1, 22, 23). Moses was angry with Aarons sons,
because they had not eaten the sin-offering in the holy place, seeing it is
most holy, and the Lord hath
given it to you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for
them before the Lord (Lev. 10: 17).
The iniquity when borne by the substitute was put away. To bear the
sins of many. Atonement was made generally for all. But Christ was
the Substitute specially for those who in result shall be saved, whether those
of the Old Testament or of the New. For them the Saviour bore the full penalty,
and the curse they had deserved has given place to the blessing merited by our
Lord.
The second time without sin shall He be seen by those waiting.
Sin being put away by His death, Jesus, like the dead in
general, is withdrawn from view. And His presence above before God, as the High
Priest, makes this day the day of mercy.
He has appeared once on earth. And the Fathers counsel is to present Him again the second time on the
habitable earth (1: 16). Here then, I again
observe, is the answer to the difficulty proposed by the anti-millenarians: How can Christ, having once entered into the Holiest above
to intercede, ever leave it? The answer is: That judgment is in reserve. And that will take Christ out of His
present place of service on high to [this] earth. A [future salvation, for the elect (see 1 Pet. 1: 1, 5, 9, R.V.) and a future] change is coming over Gods plan.
After so long mercy, wrath [and Divine judgment] is at hand. The
living and the dead, foes and friends, are to be judged.
The Saviour, then, when He appears the second time, shall come
without
sin. He bore the
sins of many at His first coming. - He shall bear none any more, nor make
atonement again for the guilty. It is not as Mr. Darby says, that He shall have nothing
to do with sin in any shape,
when He returns. On the contrary, He
comes to avenge sin, by judgment, wherever it is found (1 Thess. 4: 4-6; 2 Thess. 1: 8; Matt. 24; 25; Heb. 12; 13: 4;
* *
* * *
* *
772
THE WOMAN ON THE SEVEN HILLS
I
NO other
city in the world has ever been celebrated, as the city of
* Georg., lib. ii. v. 534, 535. ** Lib. iii. Eleg. 9, p. 721. ***Carmen Seculare, v. 7, p. 497. *** Lib. iv. Ep. 64, p. 254.
- ALEXANDER HISLOP.
II
The Woman is drunken with the blood of the saints (Rev. 17: 6). Tis no slight draught of blood that intoxicates her: it is
long and deep. For many years the Most High has restrained
It is instructive to notice that she is not said to shed blood, but to drink it. Papal
- ROBERT GOVETT.
III
Political facts are enlightening Canadian Christians on a
danger to which prophecy ought to have made (but has not) all believers wide
awake. The Evangelical Christian,
The Church of Rome is not destined for conversion
but for destruction. Its end is set forth in the Bible, and timed to take place
when this dispensation shall close. It will go down in headlong ruin, sudden,
awful and complete, under the apocalyptic judgments of God. That there are
Christians within the Church of Rome we have not the slightest doubt, even as
there were saints in Caesars household and some who wore white garments in
Sardis, but they are Christian in spite of the system that is leading
multitudes to perdition, and not because of it. They may be in the Church of
Rome, but they are not of it. It is to such that God is saying Come out of her, my people, that ye
partake not of her sins and receive not of her plagues (Rev. 18: 4).
* *
* * *
* *
773
FREEDOM AS INTERPRETED BY
By A. STUART McNAIRN
No voice
is more clear or insistent in the chorus of Freedom than that of the Roman
Catholic Church. The Pope himself has made repeated references to the
inalienable right of nations, races, and individuals to this fundamental gift
of God. It is only the student of history, or the traveller in Roman Catholic
lands, who raises his mental eyebrows when confronted with this claim. There
can, of course, be no controversy as to history, nor as to the fact that
All that, however, is dismissed to-day by the
freedom-and-tolerance-loving Protestant, as stirring up old-forgotten things
that have no bearing on present-day problems and relationships: and
Take
Now, the extraordinary thing is that many Roman Catholics in this
country have no idea of these things, and would repudiate with indignation the
suggestion that their Church would ever persecute Protestants as they may once
have done in the old, dark days, just as Protestants
did to Catholics, say they. And the average Protestant is equally
ignorant of the true attitude of
It may seem ungracious to such as only know the Church of Rome
as a great Sister Church to impugn the sincerity
of their leaders and spokesman at such time as this, when everywhere their
voices are blended with ours in demands for human freedom and the abolishment
of racial, religious, and other persecutions, and for the protection of
minorities. But, faced as we are with the unchanging record of the Papal
system, and the equally authoritative definitions of her spokesmen and leaders,
as to what they mean by religious freedom and the rights of minorities, it is
essential that we be very clear on the fundamental question.
Let us, then, hear the voice of the Church, not merely using
words common to us all, but defining her attitude, and the interpretation of
these words.
A French Catholic writer, Louis
Veuillot, has tersely summed up the official
attitude of the Church to the liberty of minorities, in these words: When we are in a minority, we ask for religious liberty in
the name of your (Protestant) principles. When we are in a majority, we refuse
it in the name of ours. And that is no humorous remark, but the very
essence of all Roman Catholic teaching on the attitude of the Church towards
religious liberty.
An official pamphlet issued, with the blessing of the Pope, by
the Apostolic League for the Return of Nations and
Peoples to God through
We might fill pages with such quotations, leaving no shadow of
doubt that when the Roman Catholic Church demands religious liberty, and tells
the world that she stands for the Four Freedoms of the Atlantic Charter, she means freedom for the Roman
Catholic religion and for that alone.
All this is clearly seen in the present intensive campaign on
the part of the Church to stamp out Protestantism and the Evangelical movement
in
- World Dominion.
* *
*
DECISION FOR CHRIST
IT was Dr. R. A. Torreys
practise, in dealing with inquirers, to offer them a card for signature on
which was printed this decision for Christ.
I Believe Gods Testimony
Concerning Jesus Christ, that my
iniquity was laid upon Him (Isaiah 53: 6), that He bore my sins
in His body on the Cross (1 Peter 2: 24),
and that He hath redeemed me from the curse of the
law of God (which I had broken) by
becoming a curse for me (Gal. 3: 13).
I Do Now Accept Jesus
as my Sin-bearer and Saviour, and
believe what God tells me in His Word,
that all my sins are forgiven, because
Jesus died in my place (Acts 13: 38-39).
I Also Believe Gods Testimony
concerning Jesus Christ, that He is both
Lord and Christ (anointed King);
and I do now receive Him to be my Lord
and King (Acts 2: 36).
I Yield to Him
the control of all I am and all I have
- my thoughts, my words, my actions.
Lord Jesus, Thou art my Lord; I belong
to Thee. I surrender all to Thee.
I Purpose to Confess My Lord Jesus
before the world, as I shall have
opportunity (
and to live to please Him in all that
1 do each day (Gal. 1:
10).
I Will Take No Man
for my
example, but Jesus only (1 John 2: 6; Matt. 17: 5-8).
Having Thus Received Jesus Christ
I know on the authority of Gods sure
word of promise that I am a child of God, (John 1:
12),
and that I have everlasting life (John 3: 36).
Sunset
THE
human incrustations upon, and the human props to, Christianity, disappear at
the ordained time, and leave Christianity to itself. We live amid closing
histories, and amid falling institutions; there is an axe laid at the root of
many trees; foundations of fabrics have been long giving way, and the visible
tottering commences. The earth quakes and the heavens
do tremble. The sounds of great downfalls and great disruptions come
from different quarters; old combinations start asunder; a great crash is
heard, and it is some vast mass that has just broken off from the rock, and
gone down into the chasm below. A great volume of time is now shutting, the
roll is folded up for the registry, and we must open another. Never again -
never, though ages pass away - never any more under the heavens shall be seen
forms and fabrics, and structures, and combinations that we have seen. They
have taken their place among departed shapes and organisms deposited in that
vast mausoleum which receives sooner or later all human creations. The mould in
which they were made is broken, and their successors will be casts from a new
mould. The world is evidently at the end of one era, and is entering upon
another; but there remain the Christian Creed and the Christian Church, to
enlighten ignorance, to fight with sin, and to conduct men to eternity.
- J. B. MOZLEY.
* *
* * *
* *
774
FROM
Let Us Labour Therefore...
By ARLEN L. CHITWOOD
-------
The problem which most students of
the Word encounter when studying passages such as these in the Book of Hebrews
is actually self-induced. Individuals seek to understand these and other passages
in this book apart from two main things: (1) Understanding that Hebrews seals,
not with the [common
(Jude 3, R.V.)] salvation which we presently possess, but with [a future (1 Pet. 1: 6, 9, 10, R.V.)] salvation of the soul, and (2) understanding that Hebrews draws extensively from
Old Testament typology at almost every point.
That is to say, issues in the Book
of Hebrews have to do with millennial
rather that eternal verities. The
warnings in this book have to do with the
Messianic Era alone, not with ones presently possessed eternal salvation. And the spiritual
lessons surrounding these issues are drawn mainly from the Old Testament types. - A. L. CHITWOOD.
-------
Let us labour
therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. For the word of
God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged
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. Neither is there
any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the
eyes of him with whom we have to do (Heb.
4: 11-13).
The rest
lying before Christians is spoken of different ways in Scripture. It is a rest
typified by the rest which lay before the Israelites under Moses, and later
under Joshua (Heb. 3:
7A 9; 4: 6-8; cf. Deut. 12:
9; Joshua 1:
13); it is a rest referred to by the sign of
the Sabbath (Heb. 4:
9; cf.
Ex. 31: 13-17), and a
rest which has its basis in the opening two chapters of Genesis (Heb. 4: 4; cf. Gen. 2:
1-3; Ex. 20: 11; 31: 17).
This is a rest into which one can enter only after he has entered
the land to which he has been called (that heavenly land for Christians,
typified by the earthly land for
Thus, the rest which Christians are to labour to enter into
has to do with a future rest which can be realized only during the earths
coming Sabbath (the seventh millennium); and this rest can be realized only in
that heavenly land* to which Christians have been called,
after the enemy
presently inhabiting the land has been overthrown.
[* NOTE: The words in that heavenly land can hardly mean a land in
heaven!
They must refer to a time, yet future, when the ground
of this
sin-cursed earth, will, (for one day 2 Pet. 3: 8, R.V.) be set free from the Divine
curse presently resting upon it! (Gen. 3: 17. cf.
Rom. 8: 19-22, R.V.).]
We are to labour to enter into rest in that heavenly land, lest any man
fall after the same example of unbelief (Heb. 4: 11; Cf. v. 1). The
allusion, of course, is to the experiences of the Israelites under Moses. They
failed to enter into the rest set before them because of unbelief
[unfaithfulness] (Heb. 3: 18). And the warning to [all redeemed and regenerate] Christians under Christ is that exactly
the same fate can likewise befall them. They too, through unfaithfulness, can fail to enter into the rest set
before them.
In the type, those comprising the house of Moses had been
called out of the
Caleb and Joshua alone, of that generation, were singled out
as exercising faith relative to their
calling. And Caleb and Joshua alone were singled out as being allowed to later
enter the land, conquer the inhabitants, and realize an inheritance in the land
(Num. 13: 30; 14: 30; Joshua 14: 13, 14; 19: 49, 50).
And in the antitype, the purpose for and end result of
activity in the house of Christ can only be the same as the purpose for and end
result of activity in the house of Moses. The antitype demands this, for the antitype must follow the type
in exact detail. Christians have been saved for a purpose, and that
purpose has to do with the land set before them. All activity in which
household servants have been called to engage themselves during the present
time, after some fashion, has to do with this purpose. There is a goal in view,
and that goal has to do with the heavenly land to which Christians have been
called.
A servant in the house of Christ can exhibit either faithfulness or unfaithfulness, as clearly set forth by the actions of those comprising the house of
Moses. And also, as clearly set forth by the actions of those comprising the
house of Moses, faithful [and
obedient] servants will one day realize the goal of their calling, but
not so with unfaithful servants.
Faithful servants will pass through the same experiences
in the antitype as did Caleb and Joshua in the type. They will be allowed to
enter the land, victoriously combat the inhabitants (Eph.
6: 12ff),
and one day realize an inheritance therein (Eph.
1: 11-23). Christians exhibiting faithfulness after this
fashion will one day
realize the rights of
the firstborn, inheriting as
joint-heirs and ruling as co-heirs with Gods Son (Rom. 8: 17, 18; 2 Tim. 2: 10-12; Rev. 3: 21).
Unfaithful servants though will be cut off from the house of
Christ, as unfaithful Israelites were cut off from the house of Moses (Heb.
4: 1). They, as the unfaithful Israelites
in relation to their earthly calling, will not be allowed to enter that
heavenly land and realize an inheritance therein. They, as the unfaithful
Israelites, will be overthrown on the right side of the blood but on the wrong
side of the goal of their calling (Matt. 24: 48-51; 2 Tim. 2: 5, 12b).
If the preceding is not what is meant by the exhortation and
warning in Heb. 4:
11, then, from a Scriptural framework, no
meaning can really be derived from this verse. The verse must be understood
within a type-antitype framework in the light of its immediate context, which
begins with chapter three. And this section
of Scripture leading into Heb. 4: 11 has to do with the Israelites under
Moses, Christians under Christ, and a rest lying before both.
Let us [Christians] labour therefore to enter
into that rest
[seventh-day rest, Sabbath rest], lest any man [Christian] fall after the same example of unbelief [unfaithfulness exhibited by the
Israelites under Moses, which can also be exhibited by [regenerate] Christians under Christ].
THE WORD OF GOD
The concluding part of the portion of Scripture covering the
second of the five major warnings in Hebrews
deals with the Word of God (vv. 12, 13) and the Spirit of God (vv. 14-16). And there is a natural flow of
thought from the lengthy section dealing with parallels between the house of
Moses and the house of Christ (3: 1 - 4: 11) into this section.
Revelation in verses twelve and thirteen, dealing with the Word of God, begins with For, showing a direct relationship between
that which is about to follow and that which has preceded; and revelation in verses fourteen through sixteen,
dealing with the Spirit of God,
begins with Seeing, again showing a direct relationship between that which is
about to follow and that which has preceded. And viewing these two sections
together, they, in one respect, form a capstone to the second warning, much
like chapter eleven of this book (the
chapter on faith) forms a capstone to the entire preceding ten chapters.
The Spirit of God, beginning this section through calling
attention to the Word of God, states things about this Word which must be
understood in the light of other Scripture; and the first thing stated about
this Word provides an explanation concerning how the remaining things stated
about this Word can be possible.
1. THE LIVING WORD
Hebrews 4: 12 begins, For the word
of God is quick [alive], and powerful [effectually works], and sharper than any two-edged sword... The key word is quick [alive], and
the Word of God is alive for one simple reason: This Word is God-breathed.
2 Timothy 3: 16 states, All scripture
is given by inspiration of God... The words, given by inspiration of God, are a translation of one Creek word,
the word theopneustos. This is a compound word made up of Theos (God)
and pneuma (spirit, wind, breath). The
word theopneustos thus, literally translated, means God-breathed; and, accordingly, 2 Tim. 3:
16 should either be translated or understood in the sense, All scripture
is God-breathed... (ref. N.I.V.).
Because all Scripture is God-breathed, it is living; and for that reason alone this living Word can effectually work to the point of
accomplishing things far beyond the natural, things which can be explained only
through its supernatural origin.
The connection of Gods breath with life (the connection between 2 Tim. 3: 16 and Heb. 4:
12) is given in Gen. 2: 7. Man was
not created alive. Rather, man was formed from the dust of the ground as an
inanimate, lifeless being. Then God, through breathing into His lifeless new creation, imparted life. God breathed into
his [Adamsl nostrils
the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
This is the first mention in Scripture of life in relation to
man, establishing a first-mention principle which can never change throughout
Scripture. Any time beyond this point in Scripture when one finds life in relation to
man, this life must always be effected by means of the breath of God. There must always be a breathing in on Gods part in
order for life to exist (cf. Ezek. 37: 1-10; Luke 8: 54, 55).
And the inverse of that is equally true. The removal of
breath, a breathing out,
results in death. A body without the spirit [pneuma, breath]
is dead (James 2:
26).
This is possibly best illustrated in Scripture by Lukes
description of that which occurred at the exact moment Christ died. Luke 23: 46
states, And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave
up the ghost [lit., and having said thus,
he breathed out]. At the exact moment Christ breathed out, life ceased to exist in His physical
body.
The Word of God was given to man through man after one
revealed fashion: ...holy men of God spake as they were moved [borne along] by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter
1: 21). This is what is meant by the statement, All scripture
is God-breathed... It is the Holy Spirits inseparable connection with the Word of God which
makes it so. God, through the instrumentality of the Spirit (the Pneuma;
same word which is also used for breath), gave His word to man through man.
This Word, though given through man, is thus not of human
origin. It is of Divine origin (Psa. 12: 6). And
because of its Divine origin - because it is God-breathed, because it is living - this Word can effectually work after a supernatural manner to accomplish
that which God has intended for it to accomplish (Isa. 55:
11).
The word translated power in Heb. 4: 12 is energes in the Greek text, the word from which we derive our
English word energy. The Word of God has the
Divine energy - it can effectually work after a supernatural manner - to divide between the soul and
spirit, penetrate
the joints and marrow, and discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.
(Ref. the authors
book, SALVATION
OF THE SOUL, Chs. II, III, for a more
comprehensive treatment of the God-breathed Word.)
2. BETWEEN THE SOUL AND SPIRIT
The reference in Heb. 4: 12 to a division being effected by the Word of God between mans soul and
spirit is drawn from the opening verses of Genesis
(as seen earlier in this chapter relative to the rest set before the people of God [vv.
4, 9]).
The Spirit of God moves in Gen. 1: 2b, and God
speaks in Gen. 1:
3. In relation to mans salvation, it is at
this point in the type that a division is made between his soul and spirit in
the antitype.
In the type, the Spirit of God moved, God spoke, and light
came into existence. Genesis 1: 2b, 3 records the initial act of the Triune
Godhead in bringing about the restoration of the ruined material creation, an
act in which the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit each participated (note
that nothing can come into existence apart from the Son [John 1: 3]).
In the antitype, within the framework of mans salvation
experience, the matter is identical. There must be an act of the Triune
Godhead. for this is how God worked to restore a ruined creation in the Genesis
account, establishing an unchangeable pattern for a later work. The Spirit of
God moves, God speaks, and light comes into existence. The matter is as simple
as that.
Everything is based on the Sons finished work at
When man sinned in the garden, he died
spiritually; and when unregenerate man, dead in
trespasses and sins (Eph. 2: 1), is made alive today, he is made
alive spiritually. The movement of the Spirit (Gen. 1: 2b) and God speaking (Gen.
1: 3) in order to restore the ruined
creation are simultaneous events. It is the [Holy] Spirit using the God-breathed word to effectually perform a
supernatural work in unredeemed man. It is at this point - through the inbreathing
of God - that life is imparted to that which previously had no life. God
breathes into dead man (the Spirit using the God-breathed Word, based on the
finished work of the Son), and man is quickened [made alive] (Eph.
2: 1, 5).
* *
* * *
* *
775
THE HOPE SET BEFORE US
By PHILIP MAURO
In many
hearts the question has arisen, in reading Hebrews
6: 4-6,
Do those words signify that a child of God can fall away in such a manner as to
be [eternally] lost? When the Apostle thus speaks,
does he lay a foundation for the doctrine that one who has been redeemed by the
blood of Christ can ever perish?
The best answer we can get to this question is found in the
verses that follow, in which the writer declares that, as to the very ones whom
he reproved for their sluggishness and backsliding, and whom he warned in such
strong terms of their danger, he was persuaded better things, even of them, and
things connected with [a future] salvation, though we thus speak. Those words forbid us to infer that even backslidden
and sluggish saints will ever perish, though they do not
warrant the inference that they are not exposed to danger [and apostasy] that is real and great.
The things that accompany salvation, or, as given in another translation which are
connected with salvation,* are evidently the continuing
steadfastly in the faith, the firm clinging to the hope set before us (which is [having an inheritance in] the coming [millennial] kingdom), and the patient endurance of present trials and
afflictions, however severe and protracted.
*
As a reason for this hopeful view, the writer says: For God is not
unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward
his name, in that ye have ministered to the
saints, and do minister.
From this statement it appears beyond all doubt that the salvation here referred to is not the saving of - [by Gods grace, through faith in
Christ] - a sinner from his sins, for none is saved (in
that sense of the word) by his service to God's saints, or by any other works
of his own. Moreover, an unconverted
person is manifestly incapable of any work or labour of love toward the name of
the Lord.
Assuredly then, we have here to do with a matter of the
righteous rewards which God so
liberally bestows in recognition of any service rendered to the least of His
disciples, though it be but the ministry of a cup of cold water. But the
manifestation of love toward his name is an evidence that Gods grace has
wrought in the heart; and this, in turn, affords ground for the persuasion that
such a one will escape [if obedient to Christs
precepts, (Acts 5: 32,
R.V.)] - from the danger [of apostasy] and difficulties of which we are
warned in the preceding verses. This brings us to the desire which the Lord
cherishes concerning every one of His beloved people, namely, that every
one of you do shew the same diligence to the
full assurance of the hope unto the end. Having showed love toward His name by
ministering to His saints, let us also show diligence of the same sort, and
continue so doing [good to all men (Acts 10: 34,
R.V.)] unto
the end, whereby we shall realize the full assurance the [promised (Psa. 8: 8. cf. Psa. 110:
1-3,
R.V.)] kingdom. This is an echo of the words of chapter 4: Let us
labour (lit., let us give diligence) to enter into
that rest. It
recalls also the words of the Apostle
Peter: Wherefore the rather, brethren,
give diligence to make your calling and election sure,
[for IF YE DO THESE
THINGS, ye shall never stumble, R.V.] for so an entrance shall
be ministered unto you abundantly into
the everlasting [Gk. aionios] kingdom
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1: 10, 11).
Then follows the exhortation to be not any longer sluggish
(repeating the word rendered dull of hearing in 5: 11), but imitators of those
who, through faith and long patience [patient endurance], inherit the promises.
We are not to imitate the generation of Israelites who came
out of
Thus is pressed upon us again the great lesson which runs all
through the Epistle, namely, the immense
importance of steadfastness to the end in the path of faithfulness and
obedience to God.
And here again the [Holy] Spirit directs our earnest gaze to the glorious hope that is set before us, that it may serve to incite us to patient endurance and diligent
effort. As a strong encouragement to lay hold upon this hope we are
reminded that God has, in this case, not only given His Word, but has confirmed
it with an oath; and we learn that He has done this in order to show, unto the heirs of the promise (the promised [inheritance in Messiahs coming] kingdom) the unchangeableness of His counsel.
This ought to impress us deeply. It shows how important in Gods eyes it is
that the heirs of the kingdom should regard their coming
inheritance as a great reality set plainly and clearly before them, and not as
a vague, shadowy thing concerning which there is little need that we should
inquire at present. It is an evidence of our faith
in Gods Word that we should take a deep interest in His promised kingdom, and
manifest a strong desire to attain it.
The Lord sware and will not repent,
Thou art a priest for ever after the order of
Melchisedec. Thus
the priesthood of the Son of God is a fixed and eternal fact, and this fact is
of the utmost importance to us; for it not only establishes the future [millennial] kingdom of Christ on a sure foundation,
but it also clothes Him during the present age with the authority of an abiding
priest-hood, on the behalf of those who
are co-heirs with Him of that glorious kingdom.
In this connection we are pointed to Abraham, who was one of
the men to whom God gave His oath.
The incident here called to mind is the strong encouragement
God gave to Abraham in confirming His previously given word or promise by an
oath. This oath of the Lord was given to Abraham after the testing of his faith
in the matter of offering up Isaac, of whom God had said, In Isaac
shall thy seed be called. Then it was that the Lord sware, saying, By myself have I
sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast
done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
that in blessing
I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of
the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall
possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of
the earth he blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice; (Gen. 22: 16-18).
This word, confirmed by an oath, had not to do with the
inheritance of the land of Canaan [only], but with the multiplication of Abrahams seed as the stars
of heaven, the possession by them of the gate of their enemies, and the
blessing of all nations [throughout
the whole inhabited earth] through them. It is asserted in Hebrews 6: 15, that Abraham, after he had had long
patience, received [from the angel of the Lord] this [Divine] promise. Abraham
saw no multiplication of Isaacs seed until Isaac was sixty years old. Isaac
was aged forty years when he married Rebekah (Gen. 25: 20), and sixty when Esau and Jacob were born (Gen. 25: 26). Consequently, Abrahams grandsons were about fifteen years old when he
died (Gen. 25:
7). He saw no further multiplication of his
seed, so that, to the end of his life, he exercised patience in regard to this [future, millennial] promise. The promise has not yet
been fulfilled in its fullness [see Acts 7: 5.
Cf. 2 Tim. 2:
17, 18,
R.V.)]; but the word and oath stand, and will be accomplished [after his resurrection] in the age to come. For, when God set Himself to the accomplishment of His eternal [and millennial] purpose
in bringing many sons unto glory, He took not hold of angels for that
purpose; but He took hold of the seed of Abraham (Heb.
2: 16);
that is to say, of those who are of faith, as it is written, Know ye
therefore that they which are of faith, the same
are the children of Abraham (Gal. 3: 7). And again, Therefore it (the promise [of the earthly and millennial
inheritance]) is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all* the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which
is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all (Rom. 4: 16).
[* Keep in mind: God has promised the coming
inheritance of a thousand years, (2 Pet. 3: 8, 9, R.V.); to Gentiles and Jews of the seed of Abraham; but
it is limited to overcomers! See Rev.
2: 25; 3: 21; Luke 20:
35; Phil.
3: 11; Rev. 20: 4-6, R.V. There
are numerous places in Holy Scripture where the word all
is used in this limited sense! Compare Gen. 6: 13 with Gen. 7: 1. Compare the two verses of 1 Cor. 15: 22, For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. [23] But each in his own order; Christ the
firstfruits: then they that are Christs at His coming.
All who have died will most certainly be resurrected and made alive; but not all
at the same time! (Rev. 20: 13-15, R.V.).]
Let it be noted, then, that the faith of Abraham, exhibited in
the incident recorded in Genesis 22, was the
obedience of faith, as the
Lord said, Because thou hast obeyed my voice. That is what gives it pertinence to
the lesson enforced in Hebrews 6. The word and the oath of the Lord are the two immutable things whereby
God has been pleased to show to the
heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His counsel, to the end that we [Gentiles], who have fled to Him for refuge (The God
of Jacob is our refuge, Psa.
46: 7), might have a strong encouragement to lay hold upon the hope set
before us.
Laying hold of the hope set before us is in contrast with turning
back to the things of this [evil] age.
The coming [millennial and messianic] age is the time when all the promises
that have been made to the heirs of promise will be fulfilled. Christ warned
His disciples that in this age they should have tribulation (John 16:
33). Of course, the saints have many blessings and promises
available at the present time but none connected with, or proceeding from, the
world. From that quarter they can count upon nothing with certainty, but
tribulation. We should not, however, faint in tribulation, but rather glory
therein, because tribulation worketh patience; and
patience, experience; and experience, hope (Rom. 5: 3, 4). Therefore, in order that we may be stimulated to lay hold upon the
hope set before us, we have the Word of God confirmed by an
oath.
In seeking a more definite idea concerning the nature of this
hope, help may be derived from the connection in which the same words, set before, are used in chapter 12. There we read of Jesus the
author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the
cross. The
joy set before Him, which He will have in those whom He is not ashamed to call
His brethren, is closely connected with the hope that is set before us.
This hope is likened unto an anchoria,
by which we understand is meant a massive stone embedded firmly in the ground
near the waters edge of a harbour to which a line from a vessel might be
fastened, so that the vessel might thereby be drawn to the shore when it could
not beat its way in wind or tide. Our hope is a thing by the which
we draw nigh unto God (7: 19), whereas the ordinary ships anchor is a device for holding
the vessel stationary. Our hope enters into that within the veil, whither as Forerunner
for us is entered Jesus, made a High Priest for ever after the order of
Melchisedec. The hope we have is, therefore, connected directly with the Son of
God in the character of High Priest after the order of Melchisedec. This brings
before us once more the lesson that the knowledge of the Son of God in this
character is that which distinguishes adult sons of God from babes, showing the
great importance of laying hold of this [spiritual] knowledge.
There is an instructive parallel between the word and oath of
God to Abraham, and the word and oath of God to the Son, in Psalm 110. The word is found in verse 1 of the Psalm: The Lord said unto my Lord; the oath in verse 4: The Lord
hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. That the parallel is intentional is
evident from the fact that the oath to Abraham is mentioned in direct
connection with that to the Son (comp. Heb. 6: 13 and 7: 21); and in the same connection the
meeting of Melchisedec with Abraham is described. Surely, that incident
foreshadowed the coming meeting of the great antitype of Melchisedec with the
seed of Abraham,
who are overcomers by faith, teaching that the word of promise
to Abraham, which God confirmed by an oath, will have its fulfilment [during the
powers of the age to come (Heb. 6: 5, R.V.)] in that One whom God, by the word of the oath (Heb. 7:
28), made a priest for evermore.
It must be remembered that while Abraham did not have in his lifetime
the fulfilment of the promise recorded in Genesis 22, which is the most extensive of all the promises, he did obtain the promised son, Isaac,
through whom it and all other promises made to him were to have their [yet future] fulfilment. The promises were all
attached to Isaac. The same is true with Abrahams
spiritual seed, the [overcomers and] heirs of [that future (1 Pet. 1: 5, 9, R.V.)
promised] salvation. They have not yet received
the fulfilment of the promise, but God has imparted to them the knowledge of
the One in whom all Gods purposes are to be fulfilled. Every promise attaches
to Christ, who is now entered within the veil as the forerunner for us. For all the promises of God in him
are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of
God by us (2 Cor.
1: 20). Therefore our hope, which is
connected with Him, enters into that within the veil. It attaches to that which
is sure and steadfast. That attachment cannot fail or become loose. Hence, we have simply to hold fast to the end.
Furthermore, in another aspect of the matter, Christ being
Himself the seed of Abraham, as it is written, He saith not, And to seeds, as of many;
but as of one, And to
thy seed, which is Christ (Gal. 3: 16), we [Gentiles] who are
begotten again in Christ, are established
in Him as the spiritual seed of Abraham, and therefore are [potential] heirs* of all the promises.
[* See Gal. 5: 1-6; Eph. 5: 1-11; 2 Thess.
2: 10-12.]
* *
*
LOOKING
Christ, on His return, will be seen at first only by those looking. Unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time (Heb. 9: 28). It is an extraordinary statement that our Lord appears to
them that look for Him if, as a matter
of fact, He appears equally to them who do not look for His return: it is
meaningless. Dr. W. L. Pettingill records a telling incident. Asked by Dr. George E. Guille
what was his attitude on the Lords Second Coming, Pastor William Anderson, of
* *
* * *
* *
776
THE
MOVEMENT
is the law of life. Lo, we turn to the Gentiles (Acts 13: 46) ; for, Paul
most remarkably adds, so hath the Lord commanded us. (1) A moment comes when further effort
is useless - this peoples heart is waxed
gross; when brain and nerve and heart poured out on such is
wasted; and when, God Himself having withdrawn, the effort no longer has the
dynamic of he Holy Ghost behind it. My spirit shall not strive with man
for ever (Gen. 6: 3). But a truth of extraordinary comfort
now emerges. (2) It is of the very
nature of the Gospel, which is a river of mercy rushing from the Throne of
Grace, that when it is blocked by immovable rock, it flows off and past, to
fertilize regions beyond: the Gospel must save - that is its whole life on
earth; and if it does not save one soul,
one nation, one race, it sweeps on to another. No sin, no refusal, no
blasphemy can quench that fathomless ocean of Divine Love, which, so long as
the Day of Grace lasts, must flow somewhere to
save.
Moreover, a heavenly plan lies behind
the
* It is deeply important that believers should also realize that
this holds good of all truths, and not of the Gospel only: whatever truth we
may reject - or which others reject when we approach them with the spoken or
printed word - just round the corner are souls eager, ready, waiting. Nothing
could be more encouraging to the faithful worker.
A lighted match falling on a granite rock, or on a heap of
sand, immediately goes out; but if it falls on gunpowder, it explodes: all
depends on where it falls. Michael
Angelo once picked up a dirty block of stone in the streets of
* *
* * *
* *
777
THE
By J. SIDLOW BAXTER
THE book
of Esther, besides being of high interest
historically, seems to contain latent type-teachings which ought not to escape
our notice. The Persian Jews as a whole are here used as a type of the worldly among
the Lords people. The voice of Jehovah to His people rang throughout the
Undoubtedly these Jews are types of the worldly among the
Lords people to-day. They are the figures of those who profess faith in Christ
but who love the world and the flesh too
well to make renunciation for Christs sake. - They want to be numbered
with the redeemed of the Lord; but they
also want to enjoy the pleasures of the world for a season.
And what of these worldly believers, these modern
correspondents of the old-time Jews who stayed on in
Let the absence of Gods name from the
book of Esther burn this truth into our
minds: God will not associate His name with the worldly among His professing
people to-day, any more than He would associate it with those old-time Jews in
- The Record,
* *
* * *
* *
778
BE YE ALSO READY
By D. M. Panton, B.A.
OUR
Lords picture of the ideal servant of God can become the photograph of each
one of us if we respond to the Holy Spirit to the uttermost and to the end.
First, the girt loin: let your
loins be girded about (Luke 12: 35). The flowing garments of the Oriental, if loose, impeded
motion and checked work: therefore let your loins be girt up for rapid motion
and intense activity. The Old Testament type enriches the thought. Thus shall ye
eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on
your feet, and your staff in your hand: and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lords
passover. For I will go
through
Next, there is the lit lamp: let your lamps be burning. Lamps are kept burning only at night:
and all night, unless we sleep. From evening to morning, was the command to
First, the girt loin - incessant service; next, the lit lamp -
radiant witness; now, the looking eyes - the expectant heart. Be ye yourselves like unto men
looking
for their Lord. Since the command has held good for nineteen centuries,
it can only mean that Christ may come at any moment; and He strikingly chooses
the darkest hours:- if he shall come in the second watch, and if in the third (Luke 12:
38). The
Let the door be on the latch in your
home,
For it may be through the midnight He will come.
The fourth point - watching:
Blessed are those
servants, whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching: not, blessed are all servants, but blessed are those servants found watching. What is meant
by watching? Look at the African explorer as he sits alone by his
camp-fire, keeping himself awake because he hears the roar of the lion in the
forest close by: he is watching. Look at that nurse,
moving swiftly and silently about the room of a dying man, neglecting her own
day-sleep as well as night-sleep, for she knows the crisis is at hand and she
must be utterly ready: she is watching. It means, every faculty attent, the whole soul roused
to meet a crisis attention, alarm, hope, all keeping the whole man intently
alert! Our Lord emphasizes exquisitely the urgency of untiring vigilance. Had
the burglar notified his coming in
the third watch, the householder could safely sleep through the first and
second watches; but the unknown hour of the burglary means that he must sit up all night. Whatever hour
the burglar comes, the householder must be found watching: so the church is to be ready, not because it [now] sees [numerous] symptoms of the approach, but because it has never been unwatchful. For yourselves know perfectly - and ought to have made arrangements
accordingly - that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night (1 Thess. 5: 2). Watch therefore through the night, in
Finally, readiness: Be ye also ready; that is, readiness
is something other and more than either looking
or watching. It is all life squared to the Second Advent. Death can be sudden, but it nearly
always throws out warning symptoms: there will be no warning symptoms here: sudden as an avalanche, swift as the lightning, irrevocable as death - one flash, and the watchful will be gone, and the Great Tribulation will be here. * Are
we ready? A famous ruby was offered for sale to the English government. The
report of the crown jeweller was that it was the finest he had ever seen or
heard of; but that one of the facets, ode of
the little cuttings of the face, was slightly fractured. The result was that
that almost invisible flaw reduced its value by thousands of pounds, and it was
rejected from the regalia of
[* See the pre-tribulation selective rapture, of those accounted worthy to escape at
Luke 21: 34-36
and Rev.
3: 10.]
* *
* * *
* *
779
THE CHURCH AND WAR
WE are
living in one of the great crises of human history, a time that is trying mens
souls, and nothing is more important than that the Church should be thoroughly
awake to the opportunities and the responsibilities that face it to-day. In the
words of Mordecai to Esther: Who knoweth whether thou art
not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
What must be the task of
the Church to-day?
It must, first of all, seek to interpret the true meaning of
the awful calamity which has come upon the people of the world. It must make it
clear that God is visiting judgment upon the nations. War information bureaux
and propaganda agencies in all of the warring countries, as might be expected,
are working overtime to justify their own course of action and to lay the
entire blame for the present tragedy at the door of their enemies. And it is
usually quite easy for all of us to use darker colours in painting the picture
of our neighbours sins and iniquities while we lightly gloss over our own.
However, could we detach ourselves from our own environment
and look down on this warring world with the eyes of God, what a mournful sight
would greet our eyes! A world steeped in sin is being
destroyed by the very evils it has created. Human
greed, human lust, human selfishness and human hate have had free course, and
now their fruits have begun to appear. Nothing
is more clear in the teaching of Scriptures than this, that sin brings its own
judgment, whether it be individual sin or national sin. The Lord is known by the
judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.
The wicked shall be turned into hell [sheol R.V.], and all the
nations that forget God (Ps. 9: 16, 17).
Therefore, like Gods prophets of old, the servants of the
Church must make it clear to men that war is a judgment of God because of sin.
They must proclaim the eternal truth that God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that
shall he also reap. And with that proclamation there must also be sounded Gods solemn call to repentance. It is God who is speaking to
mankind to-day through the woes that have come upon us; but thus far we have
not seen many evidences that men are much concerned about what He has to say to
them. Must the sorrows of mankind be multiplied before men will turn to Him, or
will they begin to cry out to Him for mercy that the days of tribulation may be
shortened? God alone knows the answer.
Here also we are constrained to mention how the spirit of war
almost unconsciously sears mens
souls, blunting the finer human sensibilities, silencing the conscience, and
causing even Christians to lose sight of their higher ideals. Instead of those
nobler Christian virtues which are the fruit of the Spirit, we find the baser
instincts of cruelty, hatred, revenge, and fear taking possession of mens
souls. We are no longer shocked by the bombing of great cities and the killing
of thousands of innocent women and children - not as long as it happens to be
an enemy city. And we find a peculiar joy in communiquιs that tell how tens of
thousands of men have been killed and wounded in a single battle - that is,
when those who were slain and maimed are Japs or
Germans or Italians. Even little children are not immune to this devastating
war psychology, and it is most depressing to the thoughtful Christian to behold
how tender minds, whose thoughts should be of the good, the pure, the kind, and
the beautiful, become saturated with tales of cruelty, carnage, death, and
destruction. Thus we perpetuate from generation to generation the falsehood
that there is a peculiar glory and glamour about war instead of teaching our
children to know and to understand its true hideousness and how inimical it is
to the spirit of true Christianity, with its teachings of love and compassion
and brotherhood.
Nor may the Church shut its eyes to all the other enumerated
moral evils which are some of the distressing by-products of war. Sin must be
exposed and condemned wherever and whenever it appears, in time of war as well
as in time of peace. Christian ideals and virtues are constant, and the Church
may never stoop to opportunism in relaxing its standards. Even the State, when it violates the eternal laws of God, or when it
condones or winks at evil, or seeks to justify it because of the exigencies of
war, must not be spared; for the Church may not violate its
own conscience.
We must obey God rather than men.
- The Religious
Digest.
* *
* * *
* *
780
THE MILLENNIAL
By E. BENDOR SAMUEL
IN chapter 37 the prophet
Ezekiel predicts
That the building of the [millennial]
Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear
with thine ears and set thy heart upon all that I shall show thee, for in order that it might be shown thee art thou brought
hither. Declare thus to the house of
The shape and size and all the particulars of the building and
its furniture were shown him and he was commanded to give all the details of
them to his people, that realizing Gods gracious purpose with them they may be
ashamed of their iniquities. He was to show them the form of the house and its
fashion, and its goings out and its comings in, and all the ordinances, and
all its forms, and all its laws, and write it all before them that they may keep the whole
form thereof and all the statutes thereof and do them (43: 10, 11).
The Man Who disappeared together with the cherubim from the
temple that was about to be destroyed now reappears with the Glory of the Lord
in the rebuilt temple nevermore to depart from His people. That the Temple of
Ezekiel does not refer to that of Zerubbabel, nor of Herod, is clear from the
fact that it differed from them in its structure and observances:-
(a) The one described by Ezekiel is
larger than the earlier ones, but its altar is smaller, for while the earlier
ones were the centre of worship for
All that are left of all the nations
that came against
It will then be a house of prayer for all nations.
(b) The altar is smaller than that of
Solomons as the great antitypical sacrifice was already offered and those in
the future
(c) For the same reason the Day of
Atonement is not mentioned by Ezekiel as full atonement has already been made
by Christ for all who believe in Him. This
is in accordance with Heb. 10: 14, 18.
(d) It is remarkable that Ezekiel does
not mention the paschal lamb he speaks of the Passover as the feast of seven
days, and says that the Prince shall prepare for himself and for all the people
a bullock for a sin offering. Christ completely fulfilled, first, the command
regarding it by taking part of the meal on the Passover night with His
disciples; and secondly, its type, when He died on the cross on the very day
that the paschal lamb was offered according to the Jewish way of reckoning,
that is, the day being from sunset to sunset. The command is From even to
even shall ye celebrate your sabbaths.
The Feast of Passover is to be observed as it sets forth not
only
According to Zech.
14: 16,
the Feast of Tabernacles will also be kept. It was the feast of ingathering and
represents the completion of the ingathering of the nations.
(e) The Feast of Weeks, of Pentecost, is
not mentioned as that is connected with this age of the Spirit (1 John 14:
11, 17; 15: 26; Acts 2: 23), Who is with us in a special sense
during the bodily absence of the Lord Jesus.
(f) There will also be a change in the offering of the
sacrifices suitable to the times. The burnt offering, for instance, will only
be offered in the mornings (46: 13-15), and not
in the evenings also.
(g) In harmony with Jer. 3: 16, there will be no
And it shall be when ye are
multiplied and become fruitful in the land in those days, saith Jehovah, they shall say
no more The Ark of the covenant of Jehovah; neither
shall it come into the mind, nor shall they
remember it, nor shall they make it.
And as we have seen, the Divine Man will be in the Holy of
Holies where the
The Jewish Rabbis say that the
(h) Ezekiel does not say anything about
the Veil, or Shewbread, or Candelabra. There is good reason for the omission.
The Veil that was rent asunder by invisible hands at the death of our Saviour
will probably never be restored, because it has opened for the saved ones the
way to the presence of God where, Christ as our High Priest Himself has entered
and the way will ever remain open to us. The Presence of our Lord will far
outshine any light that all the candelabra could give us (as will be the case
in the heavenly City, Rev. 21: 23). The
house of Jacob will then walk in the light of Jehovah (Isa. 2: 5), and in their turn will shine for Him,
according to the declaration of the prophet.
Arise, shine, for thy light is come
and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee. For, behold, darkness shall cover
the earth and gross darkness the people, but
Jehovah will arise upon thee, and His glory
shall be seen upon thee (ibid. 60: 1, 2).
The Shewbread, or more literally, the Bread of the Presence,
being placed before Jehovah, set forth Christ in His human perfection together with
His redeemed people, the twelve loaves also representing the twelve tribes of
Israel, but the Lord Jesus in His human form being Himself present in the midst
of the entire nation of Israel, it will, perhaps, be one amongst other symbols
no more necessary in the Millennium.
(1) The arrangement of the
There is a remarkable verse in Isaiah
53 which reads:-
All we, like sheep, have gone astray,
we have turned every one to his own way, but Jehovah hath caused to meet on Him the iniquity of us all.
Hiphgia Caused to meet, that is the literal translation. The
picture is graphic. Christ in the centre of Gods purpose of salvation; the
sins travelling from all points of the compass, North and South, East and West,
and from all points of time, before Christ and after Christ, meeting upon Him
as their focal point. In harmony with this would be the system of sacrifices,
those offered by the ancients looking
forward and those offered in the Millennium looking back upon Christ as the
centre.
This is further indicated by the fact that the centre of the
The
When God first chose
The Israelites will probably set
forth in all harmonious parts the outward beauty and inward sanctity of the
To set forth this and not to
invalidate the principles of the Epistle to the Hebrews, that after Christs perfect
sacrifice no further propitiation is needed, is probably one object of the
future Temple liturgy. Israels province will be to exhibit in the minutest
details of sacrifice the essential unity of the Law and the Gospel which now
seem opposed (A. R. Fausset).
When the Tabernacle was erected we are told that A cloud
covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of
the Lord filled the Tabernacle (Exod. 40:
34).
Likewise at the completion of the
Alas! that glory, the visible emblem of the invisible presence
of God, was seen by Ezekiel to disappear slowly and reluctantly, from the gate
that looketh toward the east. And first from the Cherub unto the threshold of the
house (Ezek. 9: 3), then from the threshold of the house unto the door of the gate (10: 11,
19). Finally, the prophet saw it disappearing from the midst of
And he brought me unto the gate,
and behold, the glory of
the God of Israel came from the way of the east; and His voice was like the sound of many waters and the earth shined with
His glory. ... And the glory of Jehovah came
into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east,
And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the
inner court, and behold the glory of Jehovah
filled the house (Ezek. 43: 1-5).
This will surpass anything that took place in the Tabernacle
or former temples because the Glory will not be merely symbolic as was formerly
the case, but will be the accompaniment of the
personal presence of Jehovah, for the prophet continues -
And I hear one speaking with me out
of the house; and a man was standing by me, And he said unto me, Son of
man, This is the place of My throne, and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel
for ever (Ibid. 43: 6, 7).
The Millennial age will
likewise foreshadow and prepare the way for the perfect state. In the former Gods presence will be
in the midst of
Both in the heavenly and earthly
In the earthly city the names of the twelve tribes are on the
twelve gates; in the heavenly city there are also twelve gates with the names
of the twelve tribes of
In Ezekiel the
configuration of the earth is to be changed, in the Apocalyptic vision there is
a new earth.
In Ezekiels vision the chief part is the
In Ezekiels
- The
Hebrew Christian Quarterly
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781
THE NEW PASSOVER
By ALEXANDER MACLAREN, D.D. LITT. D.
-------
Now the first day of the feast of
unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus,
saying unto Him, Where wilt Thou that we prepare
for Thee to eat the passover? 18. And He said, GO into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master
saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with My disciples.
19. And the disciples did as Jesus had
appointed them; and they made ready the passover.
20. Now when the even was come, He sat down with the twelve. 21. And as they did eat, He said, Verily I say unto you, That
one of you shall betray
THE
Tuesday of Passion Week was occupied by the wonderful discourses which have
furnished so many of our meditations. At its close Jesus sought retirement in
Bethany, not only to soothe and prepare His spirit, but to hide Himself from the Sanhedrin. There He spent
the Wednesday. Who can imagine His thoughts? While He was calmly reposing in
Marys quiet home, the rulers determined on His arrest, but were at a loss how
to effect it without a riot. Judas comes to them opportunely, and they leave it
to him to give the signal. Possibly we may account for the peculiar secrecy
observed as to the place for the last supper, by our Lords knowledge that His
steps were watched; and by His earnest wish to eat the Passover with the
disciples before He suffered. The change between the courting of publicity and
almost inviting of arrest at the beginning of the week, and the evident desire
to postpone the crisis till the fitting moment which marks the close of it, is
remarkable, and most naturally explained by the supposition that He wished the
time of His death to be that very hour when, according to law, the paschal lamb
was slain. On the Thursday, then, he sent Peter and John into the city to
prepare the Passover; the others being in ignorance of the place till they were
there, and Judas being thus prevented from carrying out his purpose till after
the celebration.
The precautions taken to ensure this have left their mark on
Matthews narrative, in the peculiar designation of the host, - Such a man! It is a kind of echo of the mystery
which he so well remembered as round the errand of the two. He does not seem to
have heard of the token by which they knew the house, viz., the man with the
pitcher whom they were to meet. But he does know that Peter and John got secret
instructions, and that he and the others wondered where they were to go. Had
there been a previous arrangement with this unnamed such an one, or were the token and the message
alike instances of Christs supernatural knowledge and authority? It is
difficult to say. I incline to the former supposition, which would be in
accordance with the distinct effort after secrecy which marks these days; but
the narratives do not decide the question. At all events, the host was a
disciple,* as appears from the authoritative the Master
saith; and,
whether he had known beforehand that this day incarnate salvation
would come to his house or no, he eagerly accepts the peril and the honour. The message is royal
in its tone. The Lord does not ask permission, but issues His commands. But He
is a pauper King, not having where to lay His head, and needing another mans
house in which to gather His own household together for the family feast of the
Passover. What profound truths are wrapped up in that MY time is come! It speaks of the voluntariness of
His surrender, the consciousness that His Cross was the centre point of His
work, His superiority to all external influences as determining the hour of His
death, and His submission to the supreme appointment of the Father. Obedience
and freedom, choice and necessity, are wonderfully blended in it.
[* NOTE: Since a time of Divine judgment was fast approaching, and was
about to fall upon Judas and all other apostates, it would not be
unscriptural, to suggest that this stranger may have been an angel! (See Gen. 18: 2. Cf.
Josh. 13:
22 with Heb.
13: 2.)]
So, late on that Thursday evening, the little band left
The fact that Jesus put aside the Passover and founded the
Lords Supper in its place, tells much both about His authority and its
meaning. What must He have conceived of Himself, who bade Jew and Gentile turn
away from that God-appointed festival, and think not of Moses, but of Him? What
did He mean by setting the Lords Supper in the place of the Passover, if He
did not mean that He was the true Paschal Lamb, that His death was a true
sacrifice, that in His sprinkled blood was safety, that His death inaugurated
the better deliverance of the true Israel from a darker prison-house and a
sorer bondage, that His followers were a family, and that the childrens
bread was the
sacrifice which He had made? There are many reasons for the doubling of the
commemorative emblem, but this is obviously one of the chief - that, by the
separation of the two in the rite, we are carried back to the separation in
fact; that is to say, to the violent death of Christ. Not His flesh alone, in
the sense of Incarnation, but His body broken and His blood shed, are what He
wills should be for ever remembered. His own estimate of the centre point of
His work is unmistakably pronounced in His institution of this rite.
But we may consider the force of each
emblem separately. In many important points they mean the same things, but they
have each their own significance as well. Matthews condensed version of the
words of institution omits all reference to the breaking of the body and to the
memorial character of the observance, but both are implied. He emphasises the
reception, the participation, and the significance of the bread. As to the
latter, This is My body is to be understood in the same way
as the field is the world, and many other sayings. To speak in the language of
grammarians, the copula is that of symbolic relationship, not that of
existence; or, to speak in the language of the street, is here means, as it often does, represents. How could it mean anything else, when
Christ sat there in His body, and His blood was in His veins? What, then, is
the teaching of this symbol? It is not merely that He in His humanity is the bread
of life, but that He in His death is the nourishment of our true life. In that
great discourse in Johns Gospel, which embodies in words the lessons which the
Lords Supper teaches by symbols, He advances from the general statement, I am the
Bread of Life, to
the yet more mysterious and profound teaching that His flesh, which at some
then future point He will give for the life of the world, is the bread; thus distinctly
foreshadowing His death, and asserting that by that death we live, and by partaking
of it are nourished. The participation in the benefits of Christs death, which
is symbolised by Take, eat, is effected by living faith. We feed
on Christ when our minds are occupied with His truth, and our hearts nourished
by His love, when it is the meat of our wills to do His will, and when our whole inward man
fastens on Him as its true object, and draws from Him its best being. But the
act of reception teaches the great lesson that Christ must be in us, if He is
to do us any good. He is not for us in any real sense, unless He be in us. The word rendered in Johns Gospel eateth is that used for the ruminating of
cattle, and wonderfully indicates the calm, continual, patient meditation by
which alone we can receive Christ into our hearts, and nourish our lives on
Him. Bread eaten is assimilated to the body, but this bread eaten assimilates
the eater to itself, and he who feeds on Christ becomes Christ-like, as the
silk-worm takes the hue of the leaves on which it browses. Bread eaten to-day
will not nourish us to-morrow, neither will past experiences of Christs
sweetness sustain the soul. He must be our daily bread if we are not to pine with hunger.
The wine carries its own special
teaching, which clearly appears in Matthews version of the words of
institution. It is My blood, and by its being presented in a form separate from the bread
which is His body suggests a violent death. It is covenant
blood, the seal
of that better covenant than the old, which God makes now with all mankind, wherein
are given renewed hearts which carry the divine law within themselves; the
reciprocal and mutually blessed possession of God by men and of men by God, the
universally diffused knowledge of God, which is more than head knowledge, being
the consciousness of possessing Him; and, finally, the oblivion of all sins.
These promises are fulfilled, and the covenant made sure, by the shed blood of
Christ. So, finally, it is shed for many, for
the remission of sins. The end of Christs death is pardon, which can only be extended on the
ground of His death. We are told that Christ did not teach the doctrine of
atonement. Did He establish the Lords Supper? If He did (and nobody denies
that), what did He mean by it, if He did not mean the setting forth by symbol
of the very same truth which, stated in words, is the doctrine of His atoning
death? This rite does not, indeed, explain the rationale of the doctrine; but it is a piece of
unmeaning mummery, unless it preaches plainly the fact that Christs death is
the ground of our forgiveness.
Bread is the staff of life, but blood is the life. So this cup teaches that the life of Jesus Christ must pass into His
peoples veins, and that the secret of the Christian life is I live;
yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. Whine is
joy, and the Christian life is not only to be a feeding of the soul on Christ
as its nourishment, but a glad partaking, as at a feast, of His life and
therein of His joy. Gladness of heart is a Christian duty, the joy of
the Lord is your strength and should be our joy; and though here we eat with loins
girt, and go out, some of us to deny, some of us to flee, all of us to toil and
suffer, yet we may have His joy fulfilled in ourselves, even whilst we sorrow.
The Lords Supper is predominantly a memorial, but it is also a prophecy, and is marked as
such by the mysterious last words of Jesus, about drinking the new wine in the Fathers kingdom. They point the
thoughts of the saddened eleven, on whom the dark shadow of parting lay heavily,
to an eternal [after a millennial] reunion, in a land where all things are become new, and where the festal cup shall be
filled with a draught that has power to gladden and to inspire beyond any
experience here. The joys of heaven will be so far analogous to the Christian
joys of earth that the same name may be applied to both; but they will be so
unlike that the old name will need a new meaning, and communion with
Christ at His table in His kingdom [Luke 22: 28-30, R.V.)], and our exuberance of joy in the full drinking in of His immortal life,
will transcend the selectest hours of communion here. Compared with that fulness of joy
they will be as water unto wine, - the new wine of the kingdom.
* *
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782
SINNING WILLFULLY
By PHILIP MAURO
The
passage beginning at Hebrews 10: 26 contains warnings similar to those of chapter 6, which have been already discussed. There
are, however, some further comments that may be made to the profit of the
reader.
For if we sin wilfully after that 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 (26, 27).
This passage states what would happen if we [who are regenerate] should sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the
truth. The
passage brings to view an important distinction which the law of God made
between what were called sins of ignorance (Lev. 4: 2, 13, 22, 27,etc.) and presumptuous sins. An instance of the latter is given in
Numbers 15. Sins of ignorance, or errors, are
described in verses 22-29; and for sins of this class sacrifices were provided. And the
priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the Lord, to make an atonement for him; and
it shall be forgiven him (verse 28).
But the soul that doeth presumptuously (or
highhandedly), whether he be born in the land or a
stranger, the same reproacheth the Lord; and that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him (30, 31).
Then is related, as an instance of presumptuous sin, the case
of the man who violated the Sabbath, and was stoned to death.
This distinction is observed in the Epistle to the Hebrews. At chapter 9: 7 is a reference to the atonement which
the priest made for the errors, literally, the sins of ignorance, of the people. The passage quoted
above from the tenth chapter of Hebrews brings to mind that, for a wilful sin by
one of Gods people of the former dispensation, there was no sacrifice
provided, but instead there was a certain expectation of judgment, namely, the
cutting off of that soul from the congregation of the Lord.
The reason for the severity of the punishment prescribed for
presumptuous, or highhanded sins, was that he who committed such a sin had
reproached the Lord, despised His Word, and broken His commandment.
A sin of this nature, if committed by one who has received the
knowledge of the truth, i.e., the knowledge of Christ and the Sacrifice offered
by Him, would be a yet more serious matter, and deserving of sorer punishment;
for such an one would have trodden under foot the Son of God, and would have
counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy
thing, and would have done despite to (i.e., insulted) the Spirit of grace.
Because of the strong expressions used in this passage many
have supposed that it could not be intended for the children of God.
Nevertheless the words if we sin wilfully, and other phrases, leave no room to doubt that these solemn warnings
are for the [regenerate] people of God. And furthermore the
language, strong as it is, does not assert or even imply that any child of God
would [ignorantly] be guilty of treading under foot the
Son of God and counting the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified
an unholy thing or of insulting the Spirit of grace. The purpose of this strong
warning is, like that of chapter 6, to
prevent the people of God from the commission of the wilful sin; and since this
is the purpose for which God has intended the warning, we have no warrant to
suppose that it would fail to accomplish its object. Let us therefore give
earnest heed to the warning and note carefully that if anything could rob it of
its power and defeat its purpose, it would be the teaching, which unhappily is
quite common, that it has no application to the [regenerate] children of God.
In the experience of Gods pilgrims,
while journeying through the wilderness of this world, we may, trace two great
lines of effort by the adversary to obstruct their progress. The first
comprises the various temptations and allurements whereby it is sought to turn
them aside [to apostatize] and induce them to depart from the
living God. Against these efforts of the enemy the Spirit of God raises, as a
standard, the strong and solemn warnings to which we have been directing our
attention.
The second line of effort by the enemy is in the nature of
discouragement by reason of the difficulties, tribulations, and sufferings
which the people of God must encounter on their onward progress. That there is
a necessity for these sufferings is plainly declared in many Scriptures. In the world ye shall have tribulation, is the Lords
own word (John 16: 33).
All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution (2 Tim. 3: 12).
Consequently the [Holy] Spirit
extends to the suffering people of God the aid of strong exhortations.
Thus we have warnings
against dangers, and exhortations against discouragements; and among these stimulating
exhortations there is none better calculated to raise the fainting spirit and
cheer the sorrowful heart than the opening passage of Hebrews
12. In that well-known passage we are exhorted not to forget that whom the Lord
loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son
whom he receiveth. If we are enduring discipline,
that should not tend to discourage us, but quite the contrary, for it is a
clear proof that God is dealing with us as with sons; for what son
is he whom the father chasteneth not?
For those who endure trial, affliction, and distress, the Word
of God abounds in comfort. Their part is to recognize and to despise not the
chastening of the Lord, nor to faint when rebuked of Him. For if, when the
fathers of our flesh corrected us we gave them reverence, shall we not much
rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live? Our Father knows
that no chastening at the time seems a matter of joy, but rather of grief.
Nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those
who have been exercised by it. It is by means of chastening that the soil of
our hearts is prepared, that it may bring forth fruits meet for the One by whom
it is dressed.
Wherefore, being thus instructed by the Word of God as to the
real significance of trials and sufferings, let us not be discouraged. Lift up
the hands that hang down, and the enfeebled knees, and make straight paths for
your feet, lest that which is lame be turned aside for Gods will is, not that
it be turned aside, but rather that it may be healed.
The test or trial of faith is to be expected by the children
of God, and they should not wish to avoid it; for the trial of their faith is
more precious to God than that of gold which perishes (1
Pet. 1: 7).
Therefore, they should greatly rejoice in the living hope of the [future] salvation that is ready to be
revealed in the last time, even though at present they be in heaviness through manifold
trials (1 Pet. 1:
3-6). The object is that the faith, when tested, may be found unto praise,
and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
The saints have one great, unfailing, and all-sufficient
resource in the time of affliction. Therefore, in Hebrews
12, they are exhorted to look away unto Jesus, the leader and the finisher of faith. In order to run with endurance the
race set before them, they must be like Moses, who endured as seeing - that is,
just as if he actually saw - Him who is invisible. Thus does faith always, in
the testing time, prove that it is faith, by resting upon that which is not
seen.
In like manner the Apostle Peter, in the passage referred to
above (which may be profitably studied in connection with Hebrews), after
referring to the reward of tested faith at the appearing of Jesus Christ, adds,
Whom having not seen, ye
love; in whom, though
now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice, with joy
unspeakable and full of glory: receiving the end
of your faith, the salvation of your souls (1 Pet. 1: 8, 9).
We would note again that the end in view, in the perfecting of
the sons of God through trials and afflictions, is the saving. But at present
it is the testing of faith that we are considering; and in concluding this
subject we would say that, since the saints of God know not when nor how the
test will come, it is above all things
important to be prepared for it. Among the lessons taught in Hebrews, one of the clearest is this, that the way
to insure preparation for the day of temptation in the wilderness is first, to pay constant and earnest heed to
the things that we have heard, which are things not seen (for faith comes by
bearing, and is the conviction of things not seen); and, second,
to consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession,
Jesus, even looking away from ourselves and from the seen things,
unto Him, from whom our faith originated, and by whom alone it can be finished.
Thus may we be strengthened in faith to meet the trial when it comes.
The subject of the race which the saint is called upon to run
is introduced by words which are very familiar, but perhaps not generally
understood. 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 (12: 1, 2).
* *
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783
SEE THOU TO THAT!
By ALEXANDER MACLAREN, D.D., LITT.D.
-------
I have sinned
in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And
they said,
What is that to us? See thou to
that. 24. I am innocent of the blood
of this just Person: see ye to it.
- Matt. 27:
4, 24.
So, what the priests said to Judas, Pilate said to the priests. They contemptuously bade their
wretched instrument bear the burden of his own treachery. They had condescended to use his services, but he presumed
too far if he thought that that gave him a claim upon their sympathies. The
tools of more respectable and bolder sinners are flung aside as soon as they
are done with. What were the agonies or the tears of a hundred such as he to
these high-placed and heartless transgressors? Priests though they were, and
therefore bound by their office to help any poor creature that was struggling
with a wounded conscience, they had nothing better to say to him than this
scornful gibe, What is that to us?
See thou to that.
Pilate, on the other hand, metes to them the measure which
they had meted to Judas. With curious verbal correspondence, he repeats the
very words of Judas and of the priests. Innocent blood, said Judas. I am innocent of the blood of this just Person, said Pilate. See thou to that, answered they. See ye to it, says he. He tries to shove off his responsibility upon them,
and they are quite willing to take it. Their consciences are not easily
touched. Fanatical hatred which thinks itself influenced by religious motives is the blindest and cruellest of
all passions, knowing no compunction, and utterly unperceptive of the innocence
of its victim.
And so these three, Judas, the priests, and Pilate, suggest to
us, I think, a threefold way in which conscience is perverted. Judas represents
the agony of conscience, Pilate represents the shuffling sophistications of a
half-awakened conscience, and those priests and people represent the torpor of
an altogether misdirected conscience.
I. Judas, or the agony
of conscience. I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. We do not need to enter at any length upon the difficult question as
to what were the motives of Judas in his treachery. For my part I do not see
that there is anything in the Scripture narrative, simply interpreted, to bear
out the hypothesis that his motives were mistaken zeal and affection for
Christ; and a desire to force Him to the
avowal of His Messiahship. One can scarcely suppose zeal so strangely
perverted as to begin by betrayal, and if the object was to make our Lord speak
out His claims, the means adopted were singularly ill-chosen. The story, as it
stands, naturally suggests a much less far-fetched explanation.
Judas was simply a man of a low earthly nature, who became a follower
of Christ, thinking that He was to prove a Messiah of the vulgar type, or
another Judas Maccabeus. He was not attracted by Christs
character and [prophetic] teaching. As
the true nature of Christs work and [coming messianic] kingdom became more obvious, he became more weary of Him and it. The closest proximity to Jesus Christ
made eleven enthusiastic disciples, but it made one [apostate] traitor. No man could live near Him
for three years without coming to hate Him if he did not love Him. Then, as
ever, He was set for the fall and for the rise of many. He was the savour of life unto life, or of death unto death.
But be this as it may, we have here to do with the sudden
revulsion of feeling which followed upon the accomplished act. This burst of
confession does not sound like the words of a man who had been actuated by
motives of mistaken affection. He knows himself a traitor, and that fair,
perfect character rises before him in its purity, as he had never seen it
before - to rebuke and confound him.
So this exclamation of his puts into a vivid shape, which may
help it to stick in our memories and hearts, this thought - what an awful
difference there is in the look of a sin before we do it and afterwards! Before
we do it the thing to be gained seems so attractive, and the transgression that
gains it seems so comparatively insignificant. Yes! and when we have done it
the two change places; the thing that we win by it seems so contemptible -
thirty pieces of silver! pitch them over the
For instance, suppose we do anything that we know to be wrong,
being tempted to it by a momentary indulgence of some mere animal impulse. By
the very nature of the case, that dies in its satisfaction and the desire dies
along with it. We do not wish the prize any more when once we have got it. It
lasts but a moment and is past. Then we are left alone with the thought of the
sin that we have done. When we get the prize of our wrong-doing, we find out
that it is not as all-satisfying as we expected it would be. Most of our
earthly aims are like that. The chase is a great deal more than the hare. Or,
as George Herbert has it, Nothing between two dishes - a splendid service of silver
plate, and when you take the cover off there is no food to eat - such are the
pleasures here.
Universally, this is true, that sooner or later, when the delirium
of passion and the rush of temptation are over and we wake to consciousness, we
find that we are none the richer for the thing gained, and oh! so infinitely
the poorer for the means by which we gained it. It is that old story of the
Veiled Prophet that wooed and won the hearts of foolish maidens, and, when he
had them in his power in the inner chamber, removed the silver veil which they
had thought hid dazzling glory and showed hideous features that struck despair
into their hearts. Every mans sin does that for him. And to you I come now
with this message: every wrong thing that you do, great or small, will be like
some of those hollow images of the gods that one hears of in barbarian temples
- looked at in front, fair, but when you get behind them you find a hollow,
full of dust and spiders webs and unclean things. Be sure of this, every sin is a blunder.
That is the first lesson that lies in these words of this wretched [apostate] traitor; but again, here is an awful picture for US of the
hell upon earth, of a conscience which has no hope of pardon. I do not suppose
that Judas was lost, if he were lost, because he betrayed Jesus Christ, but
because, having betrayed Jesus Christ, he never asked to be forgiven. And I suppose that the difference between the traitor who
betrayed Him and the other traitor who denied Him, was this, that the one, when
he went out
and wept bitterly, had the thought
of a loving Master with him, and the other, when he went
out and hanged himself, had the thought of nothing but that foul deed glaring before him. I pray you to learn this lesson
- you cannot think too much, too blackly, of your own sins, but you may think
too exclusively of them, and if you do they will drive you to madness of
despair.
My dear [Christian] friend, there is no penitence or remorse which is deep enough for the
smallest transgression; but there is no transgression which is so great but
that forgiveness for it may [after repentance] come. And we may have it for the asking, if
we will go to that dear Christ that died for us. The consciousness of
sinfulness is a wholesome consciousness. I would that every man and woman listening
to me now had it deep in their consciences, and then I would that it might lead
us all to that one Lord in whom there is forgiveness and peace. Be sure of
this, that if Judas Iscariot, when
his soul flared forth in the dark, died without hope and without pardon,
it was not because his crime was too great for forgiveness, but because the
forgiveness had never been asked. There is no unpardonable sin except that of
refusing the pardon that avails for all sin.
II. So much, then, for
this first picture and the lessons that come out of it. In the next place we take Pilate, as
the representative of what I have ventured to call the shufflings of a
half-awakened conscience.
I am innocent of the blood of this just Person, says he: see ye to it. He is very willing to shuffle off his responsibility upon
priests and people, and they, for their part, are quite as willing to accept
it; but the responsibility can neither be shuffled off by him nor accepted by
them. His motive in surrendering Jesus to them was probably nothing more than
the low and cowardly wish to humour his turbulent subjects, and so to secure an
easy tenure of office. For such an end what did one poor mans life matter? He
had a great contempt for the accusers, which he is scarcely at the pains to
conceal. It breaks out in half-veiled sarcasms, by which he cynically
indemnifies himself for his ignoble yielding to the constraint which they put
upon him. He knows perfectly well that the Roman power has nothing to fear from
this King, whose kingdom rested on His witness to the Truth. He knows perfectly
well that un-avowed motives of personal enmity lie at the bottom of the whole
business. In the words of our text he acquits Christ, and thereby condemns
himself. If Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent, he knew that he, as governor,
was guilty of prostituting Roman justice, which was Romes best gift to her
subject nations, and of giving up an innocent man to death, in order to save
himself trouble and to conciliate a howling mob. No washing of his hands will
cleanse them. All the perfumes of
Here, then, we get once more a vivid picture that may remind
us of what, alas! we all know in our own experience, how a mans conscience may
be clear-sighted enough to discern, and vocal enough to declare, that a certain
thing is wrong, but not strong enough to restrain from doing it. Conscience has
a voice and an eye; alas! it has no hands. It shares the weakness of all law,
it cannot get itself executed. Men will get over a fence, although the board
that says, Trespassers will be prosecuted is
staring them in the face in capital letters at the very place where they leap
it. Your conscience is a king without an army, a judge without officers. If it had authority, as it has the power, it would govern
the world, but as things are, it is reduced to issuing vain edicts and
to saying, Thou shalt not, and if you turn
round and say, I will, though, then
conscience has no more that it can do.
And then here, too, is an illustration of one of the commonest
of the ways by which we try to slip our necks out of the collar, and to get rid
of the responsibilities that really belong to us. See ye to it does not avail to put Pilates crime on the priests
shoulders. Men take part in evil, and each thinks himself innocent, because he
has companions. Half-a-dozen men carry a burden together; none of them fancies
that he is carrying it. It is like the case of turning out a platoon of
soldiers to shoot a mutineer - nobody knows whose bullet killed him, and nobody
feels himself guilty; but there the man lies dead, and it was somebody that did
it. So corporations, churches, societies, and nations do things that
individuals would not do, and each man of them - wipes his mouth and says, I have done no harm. And even when we sin alone we
are clever at finding scapegoats. The woman tempted me, and I did eat, is the formula universally used yet.
The schoolboys excuse, Please, sir, it was not me, it
was the other boy, is what we are all ready to say.
Now I pray you, brethren, to remember that, whether our
consciences try to shuffle off responsibility for united action upon the other
members of the firm, or whether we try to excuse our individual actions by laying
blame on our tempers, or whether we adopt the modern slang, and talk about
circumstances and heredity and the like, as being reasons for the diminution or
the extinction of the notion of guilt, it is sophistical trifling; and down at
the bottom most of us know that we alone are responsible for the volition which
leads to our act. We could have helped it if we had liked. Nobody compelled us
to keep in the partnership of evil, or to yield to the tempter. Pilate was not
forced by his subjects to give the commandment that it should be as they
required. They had their own burden to carry. Each man has to bear the
consequences of his actions. There are many burdens which we can bear for
one another, and so fulfil the law of Christ; but every man has to bear as his own
the burden of the fruits of his deeds. In that harvest, he that soweth and he
that reapeth are one, and each of us has to drink as we ourselves have brewed.
You have to pay for your share,
however many companions you may have had in the act.
So do not you sophisticate your consciences with the delusion
that your responsibility may be shifted to any other person or thing. These may
diminish, or may modify your responsibility, and God takes all these into
account. But after all these have been taken into account there is this left -
that you yourselves have done the act, which you need not have done unless you
had so willed, and that having done it, you have to carry it on your back for
evermore. See thou to that, was a heartless word, but it was a true one. Every one of us shall give an account of himself to God, and as the old Book of Proverbs has it, If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: and if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.
III. And so, lastly, we
have here another group still - the priests and people. They represent for us the torpor and
misdirection of conscience.
Then answered all the people and said, His blood be on us
and on our children. They were perfectly ready to take the burden upon themselves.
They thought that they were doing God
service when
they slew Gods Messenger. They had no perception of the beauty and gentleness
of Christs character. They believed Him to be a blasphemer, and they believed
it to be a solemn religious duty to slay Him then and there. Were they to blame
because they slew a blasphemer? According to Jewish law - no. They were to
blame because they had brought themselves into such a moral condition that that
was all which they thought of and saw in Jesus Christ. With their awful words
they stand before us, as perhaps the crowning instances in Scripture history of
the possible torpor which may paralyse consciences.
I need not dwell, I suppose, even for a moment, upon the
thought of how the highest and noblest sentiments may be perverted into
becoming the allies of the lowest crime. O
But, passing that, to come to the thing that is of more
consequence to each of us, let us take this thought, dear brethren, as to the
awful possibility of a conscience going fast asleep in the midst of the wildest
storm of passion, like that unfaithful prophet Jonah, down in the hold of the
heathen ship. You can lull your consciences into dead slumber. You can stifle
them so that they shall not speak a word against the worst of your sins. You
can do so by simply neglecting them, by habitually refusing to listen to them.
If you keep picking all the leaves and buds off the tree before they open, it
will stop flowering. You can do it by gathering round yourself always, and
only, evil associations and evil deeds. The habit of sinning will lull a
conscience faster than almost anything else. We do not know how hot a room is,
or how much the air is exhausted, when we have been sitting in it for an hour
and a half. But if we came into it from outside we should feel the difference. Styrian peasants thrive and fatten upon arsenic, and men
may flourish upon all iniquity and evil, and conscience will say never a word.
Take care of that delicate balance within you, and see that you do not tamper
with it nor twist it.
Conscience may be
misguided as well as lulled. It may call evil good, and good evil; it may take honey for gall, and
gall for honey. And so we need something outside of ourselves to be our guide, our
standard. We are not to be contented that our consciences acquit us. I know nothing against myself, yet I am not hereby justified, says the apostle; he that judgeth me is the Lord. And it is quite possible that a man
may have no prick of conscience and yet have done a very wrong thing. So we
want, as it seems to me, something outside of ourselves that shall not be
affected by our variations. Conscience is like the light on the binnacle of a
ship. It tosses up and down along with the vessel. We want a steady light
yonder on that headland, on the fixed solid earth, which shall not heave with
the heaving wave, nor vary at all. Conscience speaks lowest when it ought to
speak loudest. The worst man is least troubled by his conscience. It is like a
lamp that goes out in the thickest darkness. Therefore we need, as I believe, a
revelation of truth and goodness and beauty outside of ourselves to which we
may bring our consciences that they may be enlightened and set right. We want a
standard like the authorised weights and measures that are kept in the Tower of
London, to which all the people in the little country villages may send up
their yard measures and their pound weights, and find out if they are just and
true. We want a Bible, and we want a Christ to tell us what is duty, as well to make it possible for us to do it.
These groups which we have been looking at now, show us how
very little help and sympathy a wounded conscience can get from its fellows.
The conspirators turn upon each other as soon as the detectives are amongst
them, and there is always one of them ready to go into the witness-box and
swear away the lives of the others to save his own neck. Wolves tear sick
wolves to pieces.
Round us there stand Society, pitiless
and stern, and Nature, rigid and implacable; not to be besought, not to be
turned. And when I, in the midst of this universe of fixed law and cause and consequence, wail out, I have sinned, a
thousand voices say to me, What is
that to us? See thou to that. And so I am left with my guilt - it and I together. There
comes One with outstretched, wounded hands, and says, Cast all thy burden upon Me, and I will free thee
from it all. Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows! Trust in Him, in His great sacrifice,
and you will find that His innocent
blood has a
power that will liberate your conscience from its torpor, its vain excuses, its
agony and despair.
* *
* * *
* *
784
MIRACULOUS GIFTS
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
AS the
Age closes, few truths are more vitally important than all that God has said on
the coming open battle of miracle between Heaven and Hell, and our preparation
for this last conflict, and we do well to take a rapid, birds-eye view of all
the facts, as related in history and as perfected in prophecy. There is perhaps
no subject on which evangelical believers are more unscriptural, though utterly
unconsciously so; and the great Conventions, with the admirable aim of a deeper
sanctity, use language on the baptism and the
filling of the Spirit which gravely obscures the original miraculous nature of the Church,
and the coming miracles of God. The result is mental twilight. The
miraculous design in the Church has been ignored and dismissed; or else,
discerning the error, a graver danger has been fallen into - demonic miracles have been welcomed in the
belief that they are Divine.* We
need not remind our readers of the fact of unutterable gravity that an official
Commission of the Church of England has reported in favour of Spiritualism, though the Report has not been
published.
* The Montanists in the second century, the Camisards in the eighteenth century, the Irvingites in the nineteenth
century, and the Petecostalists
in this century - all have had among
them true and devoted Christians, and all have had gifts of tongues; but none have miracles greater than, or
different in kind from, the supernatural in the great demon movements of
history - Witchcraft, Spiritualism, and Theosophy.
Pentecost
The bedrock fact underlying all is the presence of a Person of
the Godhead on the earth. Christ had foretold it. When the
Comforter is come, whom I will send
unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, he shall
bear witness of me (John 15: 26); if I go, I will send him unto you (16: 7). The gathered
Apostles witnessed the arrival. Suddenly there came from heaven a
sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it
filled all the house where they were sitting. And
there appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire; and it sat upon each one
of them (Acts 2: 2). The Holy Spirit, having thus arrived at Pentecost, remains,
carrying out the whole work of God on earth for two thousand years, until, with
the first rapt, He returns to Heaven.
The Baptism of the Spirit
This arrival of the Holy Ghost
involved what is called the baptism of the Spirit. Our Lord foretold it. He charged the
assembled Apostles to wait for the promise of the Father; for John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence (Acts
1: 4). This baptism is a
filling: so we read at Pentecost, - They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2: 4). Totally distinct from the birth of the Spirit, or regeneration, which is
internal and invisible, this baptism or filling is an on-fall, or immersion, of
the Holy Ghost, falling upon the man, and always producing miracles. The Holy
Ghost fell on all them which heard the word, because
on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost; for they heard them speak with tongues - here was the
proof - and glorify God (Acts 10:
44). There is no record of the baptism or filling of the Spirit
which was not accompanied by miracles: where there are no signs there is no proof that the Spirit has fallen:
the baptism is a manifestation of the Spirit (1 Cor.
15: 7) - that is, the Spirits presence made
visible and audible to the senses. This miraculous working of the Holy Spirit
was but a fulfilment of our Lords words:- These signs shall follow them that
believe: in my name shall they cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues: they shall take up serpents,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in
no wise hurt them: they shall lay hands on the
sick, and they shall recover (Mark 16, 17).
The Miracle-endowed Church
The consequence of the baptism in the Spirit was a
supernatural Church, endowed with miraculous orders and gifts. God hath set
some in the church - with no hint whatever that it would be for only two
hundred out of two thousand years - first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly
teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, divers kinds of
tongues (1 Cor.
12: 28). Miraculous gifts were distributed
throughout the assemblies. To each one is given the manifestation of the
Spirit to profit withal. For to one is given
through the Spirit the word of wisdom; and to
another the word of knowledge, according to the
same Spirit; and to another gifts of healings,
in the one Spirit; and
to another workings of miracles; and to another
prophecy; and to another discernings of spirits;
and to another divers kinds of tongues; and to another the interpretation of tongues (1 Cor. 12: 8). Thus we face the inexplicable
fact that for at least eighteen centuries the Church has been devoid of all [instantaneous] miracles; and this can hardly
have been the Divine plan, for it is elsewhere explicitly
stated, - The gifts and the calling of
God are without repentance (Rom.
11: 29); that is, His gifts may cease to
operate; but it is not that He
withdraws them [without having a justifiable reason for doing so!]*
[* NOTE: There are multitudes of
regenerate believers today, who are disobedient, unrepentant, and
apparently content to continue sinning wilfully against Him!
They are regenerate believers who, over a period of time, have become apostate.
They rejected Gods accountability truths and conditional promises: and they
are now seeking to lead other Christians away from these truths! Gods
presently unfulfilled prophetical teachings, have no place in their
eschatology! For this reason God has given up to
the
lusts of their hearts unto uncleanness, that
their bodies should be dishonoured among themselves: for they exchanged the truth of God for a lie,
For this cause God
gave them up unto vile passions: for their women
changed the natural use into that which is against nature: and likewise also the men, leaving
the natural use of the women, burned in their
lust one toward another, men with men working unseemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense of
their error which was due: (Rom.
1: 24-27, R.V.). cf. Acts
7: 51, 52;
Jude 5, 7,
11, R.V.)].
Tests
But just here is slipped, in a warning that is critical and
vital. Miracle is not confined to God: our wrestling
is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers,
against the
world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly
places (Eph. 6: 12). Spiritualism itself at first put
forward a claim to be Pentecost.* Even Antichrist will work all signs and wonders (2
Thess. 2: 9). Therefore, most strikingly, one of the nine miraculous gifts
is the discerning of spirits: that is, the
power to detect, supernaturally, whether a spirit communicating is good or
evil. With all the other miraculous gifts, this discerning power has
disappeared; but by the mercy of God two infallible tests are put into our
uninspired hands - tests which appear to be unknown to the modern Church. (1) There is a test for the spirit. Beloved,
believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether
they be of God. Every spirit that confesseth - in answer to the challenge - that JESUS CHRIST IS COME IN THE FLESH is of God (1 John 4: 1). The reply to the challenge must be given by the spirit, not
by the person on whom he has fallen. (2)
A second test is for the inspired. Now concerning the inspired,** brethren,
I would not have you ignorant. No man speaking in the Spirit of God - that is, no inspired man - saith,
Jesus is anathema; and
no man [inspired] can say JESUS is LORD, but in the Holy Spirit (1
Cor. 12: 1). All untested spirits must be utterly avoided. The great
apostasy from the Church itself, by millions of Christians, is to be based on
direct intercourse with seducing spirits (1 Tim. 4:
1).
* See R. D. Owens Debatable Land
Between This World and the Next.
** The word that follows no man speaking - proves that
pneumatikon refers to inspired men, not inspired gifts: the speaker must say, Jesus is Lord, while provably under inspiration.
The Coming Outpour
The dispensation of the Church disappears, and the Holy
Spirit, having returned to Heaven with the watchful (2
Thess. 2: 6), is in a position to be out-poured once more,
when the seven Spirits of God [shall be] sent forth into all the earth (Rev.
6: 5) * Pentecost is to be repeated, for the prophecy of the last
outpour is quoted as having an earlier fulfilment in Pentecost. This is that
which hath been spoken by the prophet Joel: And
it shall be in the last days, saith God, I will pour forth my Spirit upon all flesh - all without distinction, not all
without exception; and your sons and your daughters shall prophecy: before the day of the Lord come (Acts 2: 16). The sending
forth of the seven Spirits of God into all the earth is a full restoration of
the entire ministry of the Holy Ghost. These seven Spirits of God are to he
sent forth into all the earth: from this
we see the coming of the great latter rain outflowing of the Holy Spirit which
will restore the prophetic vision and bring about such a transformation in the
ways and means of preaching that thousands of people, filled with the Spirit,
will prophesy;
that is, they will preach by direct inspiration; not only forthtelling
by the power of the Holy Spirit, but also fore-telling events to come. Can we
not see how this will be in the order of God as the last warning and
instruction just before His awful judgments are to fall on the world? Therefore
we can surely look right ahead for the greatest outflowing of the Holy Ghost
the world has ever known (W. C.
Moore). In the words of Lange:-
When the waves of the last agony of a submerging
world break, yet once more, and louder than ever, goes forth the call of a vast
and infinite compassion.
* The Holy Spirit could not now be sent
into all the earth, for He is there at this moment: this proves that His coming
temporary departure from earth (2 Thess. 2: 7) is a fact.
Millennial Gifts
All closes with a wonderful revelation: namely, that the
coming Kingdom of the Lord on earth will be one of miraculous gifts lasting
throughout the thousand years. A single phrase proves it: THE POWERS OF TI1E AGE TO COME (Heb. 6: 5): so characteristic are miracles of the coming Kingdom, so fully then in
evidence, that they are the powers of the Age to Come. Their operation is not
described; but the works of the Two Witnesses, who have power to shut
the heaven; and they have power over the waters
to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth
with every plague (Rev. 11: 6), reveal them.
The Bible
One fact of enormous importance
springs out of the original nature of the Church as God planned and made it. The Bible was born in an inspired
Church. In assemblies where men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Ghost (2 Pet. 1: 21), the exact, God-given books of the Old Testament were finally
determined, and all man-made apocrypha excluded; and the fresh inspirations
that compose the New Testament were added, and closed: that is, we were given,
for these two thousand years, the mind of God, revealed directly and infallibly
and for ever.*
* God has not
thought fit by a perpetual miracle to preserve the text from transcriptional
errors. Having by extraordinary revelation once bestowed the gift, He leaves
its preservation to ordinary laws, yet by His secret providence furnishes the
Church, its keeper and witness, with means to ensure its accuracy in all
essentials (Rom. 3: 2). Criticism does not make variations, but finds
them, and turns them into means of ascertaining approximately the original
test. More materials exist for restoring the genuine text of the New Testament
than precarious, makes almost certain the text - CANON A. R. FAUSSET.
* *
* * *
* *
785
WHO ARE THE SPIRITS
IN SPIRITUALISM?
THE extraordinary growth of
the movement, says Mr. Frank T. Podmore,
the number
of its adherents, and their fidelity through evil and good report, has made
Spiritualism an important historical fact.* Thousands are conscious of movements
propelled by unseen realities.
* Frank Podmore, Naturalization
of the Supernatural, p. 172.
The Ghost in Man, the Ghost that once
was Man,
But cannot wholly free itself from
Man,
Are calling to each other through a
dawn
Stranger than earth has ever seen; the
veil
Is rending, and the Voices of the day
Are heard across the Voices of the
dark.
But these facts, as also Tennysons lines, introduce us to an
even weightier problem. Mankind is not without a history. What relation is
borne to older supernatural facts, to embodied spiritisms of other generations,
other climes, by this great revival of spiritual forces? Spiritualism has not
the distinctness or the unity of a single revelation; rather, it appears as one
aspect of a many-sided movement, linked on to curious displays of the
supernatural in the present, and to strikingly similar developments in the
past. On all hands is admitted the active existence of good and bad spiritual
powers. To which does Spiritualism belong? Or is it a mixed agency? The Lord
Jesus, accompanied by His apostles and prophets, was the channel of an
harmonious revelation, backed by beneficent miracle and holy life: various
occult practices, on the other hand, mixed with strange teachings and manifold
uncleannesses, have also had root in the unseen, and revealed themselves to be
witchcraft.* Under what heading must Spiritualism fall? To the
Spiritualist himself this must be a question of the deepest moment. Holding
loosely, perhaps, older forms of faith, facts, to him convincing, have crossed
his vision; he thinks he has grasped a faith based on personal experiment; he
rejoices in communion with loved ones, passed, hitherto, beyond his ken; and,
though perplexed over many things curious and contradictory in his new sphere
of experience, he is gladdened by optimistic messages and new-born assurances
of the souls immortality. But it is obvious that all this rests on an
assumption that the intercourse is really with the dead. What if the spirits
claim to be the dead be falsified? What if other hands indite the script, other
eyes direct the dark circle? Immortality would remain unproven; and, for the
rest, the Spiritualist be a dupe of organised deception and systematic cunning;
voices would speak but to allure; and crystals, let down before the eyes with
visions of surpassing loveliness, prove, it may be, foolish dreams and opiate
fantacies, the illusory portal to a lost world.
* The term is used here in its wider sense;
as intercourse with evil powers, with whatever motives and aims; though with
special reference to those mediaeval practices which, when spurious, were
contemptible, and when real, were felt by all to be abhorrent. Demonic
possession the Bible always regards as involuntary, pitiable, and not
necessarily connoting great wickedness; sorcery, or witchcraft, it regards as
voluntary and evil. There shall not be found with thee
an enchanter, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or a consulter
with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a necromancer (Deut.
18: 10).
We appeal to the Spiritualist, as solemnly as we know how, to
ponder deeply the problem of identity; for upon it much hinges. Unconscious of
evil, and with laudable rectitude, it is possible to assimilate irretrievable
error; and it is certain that no investigation is so fraught with the perils of
ignorance as is this. Forcible objections render the hypothesis of the dead
difficult of belief. (1) Why should
death paralyse the memory, and frequently make the returning soul powerless
even to spell his name? A Spiritualist, keenly sensible of this difficulty,
offers an explanation which frankly admits the fact. It
would appear from the experience of others, he says, as well as from my own, that the memory of names, or of
other words in themselves not suggestive of ideas, is a faculty almost
exclusively confined to a material brain.* The pseudo-Stainton Moses, after death, endeavours in vain to recall the names
of his controls in life**; and Mr. F. W. H. Myers has forgotten the
existence of the Psychical Research Society which he helped to found.*** (2) The incompetence of returning
spirits is proverbial. Homer cannot write passable Greek; Shakespeare spells,
but in neither Elizabethan nor Victorian fashion;
* Address,
The evidence presented by the so-called dead is nearly always
faulty and inadequate.* Personation must be an ever-present danger so long as
the sιance is open to spirits morally perverse. A certain degree of moral perversity, says Mr. Frank
Podmore, is a frequent and
notorious characteristic of automatic expression.** Here is the
extraordinary admission of Professor Lombroso:- If the medium is not specially wicked, he becomes so in the trance.*** Helpless recipients, powerless to guard against imposture except by
recalling incidents, which can be recalled by others, or noting mannerisms,
which can be assumed, - we stand on the threshold of a domain, in which the
history of each life is an unrolled map, and each soul the object of lengthened
observation. (3) Is it wonderful
that tricky spirits are known to masquerade as the dead? - Vain creatures, as Mr. Moses says, strutting in borrowed plumes - Shakespeares
who cannot spell; Bacons who cannot convey consecutive ideas; others are really
actors of excellence, who play for a time with skill.§ Imperfect
actors we might rely on our own ability to expose; but how discover actors of excellence, masked in once familiar
mannerisms, when, in an unguarded moment, we had thought our lost found, and
heard, as we believed, voices that struck the deepest chords of our memories.
* Dr. Maurice Davies records a test case. I was sent for by a lady who had been a member in my
congregation, and who had taken great interest in these questions. She was
suddenly smitten down with a mortal disease, and I remained with her almost to
the last - indeed, I believe her last words were addressed to me, and referred
to this very question of identification - she consulting me on the great problem she was then on the very point of solving! As
soon as she had gone from us, I went home, and tried to communicate with her. I
was informed that her spirit was present, and yet every detail as to names,
etc., was utterly wrong. Mystic
**Apparitions
and Thought Transference, p. 95.
*** After Death, p. 121 :
§ Higher
Aspects of Spiritualism, p. 66.
Nor are these emotions too sacred for mimicry by apish
tricksters in the unseen. For seven years,
says one once a Spiritualist, I held daily
intercourse with what purported to be my mothers spirit. I am now firmly
persuaded that it was nothing but an evil spirit and infernal demon, who in
that guise gained my souls confidence, and led me to the very brink of ruin.* One such
exposure proves the possibility of others. Such an imposter,
thinks Mr. Moses, acting with an air of sincerity, and even sublimity, must be
as Satan, clothed in light.** Yet he also says, If
there be such a Devil as you postulate, I should be very anxious as to my
future, not knowing what pranks such an omnipotent fiend might not elect to
play with one who habitually meddles with his spiritual domain.*** (4) It is a favourite argument with
Spiritualists that the agency is as mixed in moral character as are the
departed themselves. We admit to the full,
says Light,
the reality of evil agencies in the unseen. We not
only admit it, we assert it, we urge it. ... We never cease to advise inquirers
to be on their guard, but we also never cease to remind them that a good God is
over all; and, if a good God is over all, it is monstrous - it is, in a way,
impious - to imagine that only the hosts of hell can reach us here. §
* Mr. Miles Grants Spiritualism
Unveiled, p. 40. The frequency, writes Mr. Massey, of admittedly deceptive communications proves at least that
there are mixed influences abroad, and that the hospitality of the mediums
spiritual neighbourhood is shared by very questionable guests. Preface
to Transcendental Physics, p. 33.
** Spirit Identity, p. 46.
*** Ib., p. 18.
§ May, 1896. The hosts of heaven are also round
about us (Heb. 1, 7: 14) but,
day and night, they serve God the Father (Matt.
18: 10);
and the Father, with the blessed bands of unfallen angels, is approachable only
through One (John 14: 6).
But it is also argued, both by spirits and Spiritualists, that
purified spirits depart into spheres remote
from earth; thus behind with men, are left guiltier spirits, intercourse with
whom must obviously be unsavoury. Further, the notion of a mixed agency does
not square with loftier claims of the spirits. Spiritualism is pronounced to be
a revelation, a religion, a means of salvation.* If it claims to be all this, and is
not, it is fraudulent; yet how substantiate such claims in face of the admitted
preponderance of evil spirits, whose art may be beyond human capacity to gauge,
and the cruelty of their malevolence beyond our conception? I have listened, says an experienced Spiritualist, to communications about matters quite beyond the knowledge
of anyone present at the circle which contained such a subtle mixture of truth
and falsehood as to suggest the guile of the serpent, and these communications,
when carefully analysed by the light of subsequent tests, were unmistakably
designed, with a degree of cunning almost beyond mortal wickedness, to entrap
men to the undoing of their very souls. **
* Spirit
Teachings, p.
128. It is so faulty a revelation, however, that Spiritualists admit it to
be, as
a revelation, valueless. Absolute dependence, says Dr. Wallace, is to be placed on no individual communications (Miracles and Modern Spiritualism, p. 220). We may
lawfully dispute, the London Spiritualist Alliance is informed, both the truth and the wisdom of their utterances; we must
subject them to criticism, and judge for ourselves what their import and value
are (M. and Dr. Theobald, Address, Nov. 1888). Do not believe everything you are told,
adds Mr. Moses (Conduct of Circles).
** Borderland, April, 1894.
* *
* * *
* *
786
ATTAINING THE PRIZE
By G. H. LANG
IT being the case that the first resurrection, while open indeed
to all, is a prize which must be attained, and which, like every prize, may be
forfeited, it is at once made clear why in Rev. 20, 4: 6, where the two resurrections are set,
one at the opening of the Millennial kingdom and the other at its close, it is
said that blessed and holy is he that hath part in the former, including pre-eminently
those who in varying degree had suffered for and with Jesus and for the word of
God. And that some [regenerate] believers not accounted worthy of that resurrection, will rise in the
second resurrection unto eternal life, though they will have missed reigning
with Christ in His kingdom, fitly explains why at the final judgment the book
of life will be opened and searched (Rev. 20: 11: 15). Were it known as a fact that no
possessors of eternal life would or could be there this examining of the book
of life would not be required, nor should we expect the statement that if any was not found written in the book he was cast into the lake of fire; for in that event the
natural expression would be -as their names were not found, etc.
A correct understanding of future events is of high value in
the life of the Christian, but it is not fundamental to the gospel, neither
does any rearranging of the order or particulars of those events imperil the
faith. Men of undoubted orthodoxy and greatly used of God have taken very
divergent views on these topics, which teaches that great names cannot prove
any one view to be the true meaning of Scripture. On the other hand, this divergence
should assure toleration and earnest research, so that more light may be gained
and ever closer agreement be reached.
It is worthy of mention that the late Mr. Hudson Taylor and Mr. R.
C. Chapman held the view here advocated. In the Appendix to his small work
on The Song of Songs, entitled Union and Communion (ed. 5, p. 83), Mr. Hudson Taylor wrote
of such as if saved, are only half-saved: who
are for the present more concerned about the things of this world than the
things of God. To advance their own interests, to secure their own comfort,
concerns them more than to be in all things pleasing to the Lord. They may form part of that great company spoken
of in Rev. 7,
9: 17 who come out of the great
tribulation, but they will not form part of the 144,000, the
first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb (Rev.
14, 1: 5). They have forgotten the warning of our Lord in Luke 21, 34:
36; and hence they are not accounted worthy to escape all these
things that shall come to pass, and to stand
before the Son of Man. They have not, with Paul counted
all
things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord, and hence they do not attain unto that resurrection from among the
dead, which Paul felt he might miss, but aimed to attain unto.
We wish to place on record our
solemn conviction that not all who are Christians, or think themselves to be
such, will attain to that resurrection of which
Mr. Robert Chapman about the year 1896 issued a series
of Suggestive
Questions. Number 10 includes
the following:- Are not the redeemed in Rev. 4 and 5 the same with those in ch. 20, 4, Thrones and they sat upon
them? (verse 5) This is the first
resurrection. Is it not a resurrection
of first-fruits? Now in
the essential nature of the case first-fruits are but a portion of the whole
harvest, and so the Question proceeds:- And the rest of the dead (in the same verse), do
they not include all the family of God? not the wicked dead only? Hence, in verse 12, Another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out
of those things which were written in the books, according to their works (verse 15). And whosoever was not found
written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Further as to this last passage, the
exact rendering in the Revised Version, if any was not found written in the book of life he was cast into the lake of
fire, by its
negative form strongly supports this view. If it should be said of the crowd at
a platform barrier that, If any was found not to have a ticket he was refused admittance, no one
would suggest the meaning that not one of all who were there had a ticket or was allowed to
pass.
Now from verses 4 and 6 of Rev. 20,
they lived and
reigned and Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first
resurrection ... they shall reign, it is clear that all who rise in
the first resurrection do reign, from which it certainly follows that such as
are not accounted worthy to reign do not rise at that time. Who shall say to what large degree
this searching,
conscience-quickening belief contributed to the blamelessness of Mr. Chapmans
beautiful life? The doctrine of the
coming of our Lord is in the Scripture so set forth as to promote holiness of
life (1 John, 3: 2 Pet. 3, 11-14
: Pet. 1, 13). That line of exposition will be found most
accordant with Scripture which makes the most imperative demand for holiness.
To gain that prize I towards that goal
will struggle
Which God has set before;
To gain that prize gainst sin and death Ill battle
And with the world, make war;
And if it brings me here but shame and
troubles
And scorn, if pain life fills,
Yet seek I nothing of earths empty
baubles;
My God alone my longing stills.
To gain that prize, to reach that
crown Im pressing
Which Christ doth ready hold;
I mean His great reward to be
possessing,
His booty for the bold.
I will not rest, no weariness shall
stay me,
To hasten home is best,
Where I some day in peace and joy
shall lay me
Upon my Saviours heart and rest.
(From the German).*
[* NOTE: This article is from Firstfruits and Harvest, obtainable from I.C.M. books, 115 Dunkirk Road, Lurgan, Craigavon BT 66 7AR. Tel. 028383 321488. Orders at ICM Books @
icmbooks.co.uk]
* *
*
FEAR
Our brethren who say that every [regenerate] believer will escape the Great
Tribulation, and our other brethren who say that every [regenerate] believer will experience the Great
Tribulation, both unwittingly jettison overboard the priceless
dynamic of fear, which therefore is sadly lacking in nearly all Second Advent
literature. No plot of ground is so carefully avoided as one in
which lies an unexploded time-bomb, if it is known to be there.
Scripture commands fear. If ye call on him as Father, who without respect
of persons judgeth according to each mans work, pass the time of your
sojourning in fear (1 Pet. 1: 17). For there is a [future] salvation [for those who are eternally saved. (See 1 Pet. 1: 5, 9,
R.V.] - an escape from the perils of
coming judgment [Rev. 3: 10.
cf.
Luke 21: 34-36)] - which is within our own grasp and
dependant on our own efforts: work our your salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2: 12). So our Lord, though He
constantly said, Fear not anything on earth including
martyrdom, commands fear with awful emphasis. I will warn you - He is addressing disciples (verse 1)
- whom ye shall fear: Fear Him,
which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell [Gk. Gehenna]; YEA, I SAY UNTO
YOU FEAR HIM (Luke 12: 5, [A.V.]).
-------
ABUNDANT ENTRANCE
So an
entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly
into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1: 11, [A.V.]). So many are satisfied to escape punishment and get to heaven when
they die - saved as by fire; others are holding
their own - keeping the pound carefully
laid up in a napkin. Both classes are missing an
abundant entrance and participation in the reward of the coming [messianic] Kingdom. 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).
- The
-------
SECOND ADVENT REFUSAL
Mr. Bamber - [in his booklets: The
Personal Return and The Hour and the
Man] - puts on record his keen and devoted
testimony to the Lords return. His own experience of the
refusal of the Second Advent by the Church as a whole is pathetic. One is truly conscious of a deep heart-break. I was brought
up in a Baptist church, trained for the Baptist ministry, and amongst those of
the Baptist faith and order I find spiritual accord, yet everywhere I
go I am conscious that in the majority of Baptist churches Second Adventism is
taboo. Any man who believes it must never press it
in denominational circles. If our colleges refer to the subject of His glorious
appearing, it is to treat it as some treat their poor relatives, or else to
deny its truth altogether. For lack of this teaching in our churches in the
power of the Spirit our congregations are being starved and our chapels are
emptying.
* *
* * *
* *
787
PEACE LIKE A RIVER
MR.
SPAFFORD was a member of the
Mrs. Spafford and her four children took passage on the French
liner to Havre, and the story of that voyage is one of the most appalling of
the calamities of the sea. When in mid-ocean and in the blackness of a November
night, the steamship collided with the
The saved were taken to Havre, and from that city she sent a
message to her husband in
In his unutterable sorrow Mr. Spafford did not chant a dirge
to impossible hope. When he reflected that his property was lost in
destructions waste, that his wife was painfully prostrated, and that his
children were buried in the dark waves of the sea, there came from his heart a
song of trust and resignation that has many times encircled the globe:-
When peace
like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea
billows roll,
Whatever my lot Thou hast
taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with
my soul.
When Mr. Spafford returned from Havre with his invalid wife he
said to his friends:- I never felt more like trusting
God than I do now.
One Sunday evening a service of song was given in one of our
large city churches at which the story of It Is Well
With My Soul was told and the lines sung with great tenderness of
expression by the audience and choir. Attending the service was a gentleman who
had suffered financial reverses in the panic of 1893. When he heard, the story
of Spaffords heavy affliction and joined in singing the hymn so pathetically
inspired, he said to his wife on returning home from the service:- I will never again complain of my lot. If Spafford could
write such a beautiful resignation hymn when he had lost all his children, and
everything else save his wife and character, I ought surely to be thankful that
my losses have been so light. -
The Christian
Witness.
* *
*
788
IS THE BIBLE THE WORD OF GOD?
By PERCY CRAWFORD
MY main premise in this discussion is, that the Bible as we now have it, in its various translations and
revisions, when freed from all errors and mistakes of translators, copyists,
and printers, is the very Word of God and consequently without error.
In other words, when God chose to use
the personalities of Moses, Joshua, David, Malachi, Peter, James and John and
the rest, he took their personalities and breathed through them inspiring them
to write His Word. For instance, in 2 Samuel 23: 2 it is recorded that David said, The Spirit
of the Lord spake by me and His word was in my tongue. These were the words of David as he
lay dying. Peter said, Holy men of God spake as they were moved [or carried along] by the Holy Ghost. In 2 Timothy 3: 16 Paul says, All scripture
is given by inspiration of God. Now I know that some of our more supposedly modern, thinking
men say that the Bible contains the word of God. Some say they can accept the words of
Jesus but none other. I maintain it is the Word of God, or it is not. If one
part of the precious book is in error, then away with it. If it isnt what it
professes to be, I for one will take hands off and announce to the world that
it is a fake. But it is in truth the Word of God and I believe so.
I
Because it is logical to expect God
to reveal Himself to man in this
way.
He could have used angels to speak from heaven. He could have
caused writing to appear in the Heavens or could have spoken Himself with a
loud voice. But how would you and I know that God really spoke? Instead, He did
it in the logical way. He conveyed His thoughts through the medium of words.
These two are inseparable, as a sum to its figures, as a tune to its notes, as
the words to ideas. Over 3,000 times youll find the writer says, Thus saith
the Lord or words
to that effect. Suppose these men were liars, how do you account for the high
type of moral and spiritual life? Theres only one way and thats through the
conception that these men were inspired, or God Breathed, conveying to man the
plan and mind of God. Another reason I accept the Bible as the Word of God is
that
II
The Bible claims so to be.
A man said to me a few years ago, when I didnt know much
about the Bible, The Bible nowhere claims to be the
Word of God. I was stumped. But if I were to meet him now I would show
him it does so claim. It claims it in 1 Cor. 14:
36; 2 Cor. 4: 2; Heb. 4: 12; Tim. 4: 5; Titus 2: 5; etc. Then too
III
Christ endorsed it as being the Word of God.
It is recorded in Luke 24: 27, And beginning at Moses and all the prophets He expounded unto
them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. He was the Son of God endorsing and
putting His approval on the entire Old Testament, or the Bible of the Jews as
we have it to-day. Again, before Jesus went up into heaven He said, John 14: 26,
The Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name,
he shall teach you all things and bring all things to
your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. This was to be the work of the Holy
Ghost, and how wonderfully and thoroughly He recorded the things in the gospels
and the epistles for our learning. Another proof the Bible is the Word of God
is
IV
Its fulfilled Prophecies.
A prophecy is easy to make, but it is another thing to have it
come true. Gods prophecies always come true. He prophesied in Ezekiel 26: 3,
4 against the Gentiles, saying, - Therefore thus saith the Lord
God; Behold, I am
against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up. And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I
will also scrape her dust from her, and make her
like that top of a rock. And it was not until 240 years after Nebuchadnezzar that
Alexander the Great came. He came conquering and took the built-up part of the city of
Then, too, His prophecy concerning the Messiah. In Isa. 7:
14 and Micah 5:
2 and Isa. 53 read it for yourself; youll see Jesus
was prophesied minutely even 1,000 years before He did come and when He came,
He fulfilled these and other prophecies in all details, even to the nails in
His hands and His unbroken bones.
V
In the fifth place I maintain that if man wrote the Bible,
man could write a better one.
By that I mean if the Bible is a product of mans genius, with
God left out altogether, then if there has been any evolution or growth of
mans learning capacity, why doesnt some professor from some of our great
schools of learning write an entirely new Bible instead of tearing out a few
pages of our present Bible? But they cant do it. What man has made, man has
improved. Take transportation for instance: The airplane, the locomotive, the
automobile. Take our means of lighting. First we used a torch, then a candle,
then a lamp with a wick, then gas jets, then
VI
The unity of the books of the Bible.
How wonderfully they dove-tail. Written as they were under God
by over 35 different authors covering a period of some 1,500 years, the first
man not seeing the last, yet when all these 66 books are brought together, all
agree perfectly, not one conflicting with the other. How do you account for
that? Theres but one answer and that is that God was in it.
The other day we had the honour of being shown through the
Kaiser shipyards by the officials in
And so you must conclude in regard to
the Scriptures. The Master Mind of God is in it.
- The Christian Digest.
* *
*
JUDGMENT
JUDGMENTS that have already fallen are an appalling revelation
of the judgments to come. In 1902 the volcanic eruption of Mount Pelee, which buried 40,000 citizens of
A traveller who wintered recently in
the West Indies is authority for the following statement of present conditions [i.e. conditions during
December 1943]:- Since the overthrow of
*
* * *
* * *
789
THE GREAT TRIBULATION
BY G. H. LANG
Leaving
the great multitude of details to be supplied by His hearers from the Old
Testament scriptures, or to be learned from those later revelations which He knew
they would receive when the Holy Spirit should declare unto them things that
were to come, the Lord carries forward their thoughts to the crisis hour of
that crisis epoch.
The Wild Beast is supreme. Using the combined weight and force
of the ten-kingdom empire, he has constrained to acquiescence the remoter
nations not actually members of that league; and dazzling and deceiving by the
wonder of his arrival from death (Rev. 13: 3; 17: 8), he has secured the worship of the whole earth.
But there is a fly in the ointment - a Mordecai who has the
effrontery to remain seated when all bow obsequiously before this Satan-exalted
Human. This is intolerable; and those who persist in worshipping the true God
and in keeping His laws, and those who, in addition to this, confess Jesus to
be the true Lord of heaven and earth, these all must be exterminated.
The scheme for effecting this is simple, and fatally
effective. Nebuchadnezzar shewed the way the last universal Emperor will
perfect the method of the first. Let there be made an image of the Emperor, and
let every person be required to worship it. Is he not the fit person to be
honoured with divine worship? He is the embodiment of humanity, and is not
humanity the full and final exhibition of the all-inclusive deity? Also, he is
the head and concentration of the State, and there is nothing higher than the
state: the life of the state is the law of the state
is a saying as ruthless as it is ancient and pagan! Again, he is the supreme
incarnation of Satan, the god and prince of this world! On every account he
ought to be worshipped! So the edict is issued that henceforth, not for thirty
days only but for evermore, no worship or prayer shall be offered to any god
save to the Beast only.
And if any of these pestilential Jews or Christians will not
render this homage they shall be immediately subjected to an universal
commercial boycott, and it shall be illegal to buy from or sell to them; and
also they shall fall under sentence of death. Nor shall there be any evading of
these measures; for as soon as one has performed the required act of worship he
shall be branded upon the right hand or the forehead with a mark distinctive of
the beast, and whoever does not exhibit the sign, and will not receive it,
shall thereby stand condemned (Rev. ch. 13).
But hold! there is an obstacle to this measure. The Beast, for
purposes of his own, had made with the Jewish people a solemn treaty for seven
years, and but half the period has expired (Dan. 9: 27; Isa. 27: 14-22) Pashaw Popes have broken them with
impunity, why should not emperors do so? Moreover, there is abundant and
ancient precedent to show that faith need not be kept with heretics. Enforce
the decree; set up the image; and let it be placed in the court of the
But hark! What is this majestic voice that rings around the
whole earth, drowning the voices of the heralds that in every city are
simultaneously proclaiming the deity of the Emperor? It is an angel flying in
mid heaven, saying with a great voice, If any man worshippeth the Beast
and his image, and receiveth a mark upon his
forehead or upon his hand, he also shall drink
of the wine of the wrath of God, which is
prepared unmixed in the cup of His anger; and he
shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment goeth up for ever and ever;
and they have no rest day and night, they that worship the Beast and his image, and whoso receiveth the mark of his name (Rev. 14: 9-11). Thus, as godlessness reaches its
climax, God once more warns His foes, if perhaps some may repent. And perchance
there are those who do so; for some who never openly professed faith in Christ,
yet befriend His brethren during the ensuing reign of terror, and are accepted
of Him at His return (Matt. 25: 24-36). But almost all submit to the Beast,
join him in persecuting the saints, and incur the threatened eternal doom.
Thus the abomination that maketh desolate, spoken of by Daniel
the prophet, is standing where it ought not, even in the Holy Place, and like as
the net is suddenly thrown over the unsuspecting bird, so has come upon men as
a snare that day of great tribulation such as hath not been from the beginning of
the world until now, no, nor ever shall be (Matt
24: 1-22;
Lk, 21: 14-20).
The evangelist Luke records an important detail. Perhaps
fearing violent resistance from the Jews, or to overawe them into submission,
or to be prepared to take advantage of any pretext that may justify an early
massacre, the Beast has begun beforehand to concentrate troops around
Jerusalem. To such as remember and believe the words of Christ, the
commencement of this encirclement will be the definite sign that the worst of
the trouble is imminent: when ye shall see Jerusalem being encircled [kuktoumenen,
the present participle] with armies, then know that her desolation is at hand
(Lk. 21: 20). This will be the signal for instant
flight at the utmost speed, and without regard to sacrifice of goods or even
clothing; and sorry will be the plight of any unable to hasten (Matt. 24: 17-19; Mk. 13: 14-17). How terrible will be the lot of
those entrapped in the city, upon their refusing to adore the Beast, may be
inferred from the fact that life on the bare mountains, unrelieved by customary
comforts and full of uncertainty as to its necessaries, is yet greatly to be
preferred.
In this awful emergency the hated fugitives have but one
resource - PRAYER: the Lord adds, PRAY YE. And an altogether striking hint of both the limit and the
power of prayer is here given. Prayer cannot avail to avert this fearful era:
the end of the age must come, and cannot but be of this character, for a
consumption [of the lawless] is strictly decided upon, overflowing with
righteousness: for a consummation, and the
strict decision, shall the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, make in the
midst of all the earth (Isa.
10: 22, 23 see R.V., with Variorum Bible). But prayer has such
unique influence that it can affect the matter of whether the flight must be in
the inclement winter season, when rains make the mountains almost impossible as
a refuge, or at a lesser rigorous time of the year; and prayer can avail to
secure that the escape shall not have to be on a sabbath, when only a very
short journey would be feasible in a land where no provisions could be
purchased by the way, nor transport or help be hired, nor other hindrances be
wanting, by reason of the bulk of the inhabitants scrupulously observing the
Sabbath. Well will it be if saints, before that emergency bursts, are practised
in the use of this mighty weapon All-prayer, and, in view of the predicted
crisis, have controlled these particular circumstances by believing
intercession.
Objection has been taken to the application of this scripture
to the literal future
1. It has been asserted that the term temple here used, namely, Sanctuary, naos, cannot be properly applied to any shrine erected by
man. But it is so used in Matt. 23: 16 (twice), 17, 21,
35; 26: 61; 27: 5, 40, 51; Mk. 15: 29, 38; Lk.
1: 9, 21, 22; 23: 45; John 2: 20; Rev. 11: 1, 2: in all eighteen times. Obviously there is nothing to forbid Paul so using
it when the subject required, though naturally enough he more often employed it
in its spiritual sense since the spiritual
2. That there will be a temple at
1. Dan. 9: 27, The Desolator of
2. The prophecy of Joel unmistakeably
applies to the day of the Beast. It is declared that the day of
the Lord is at hand (1: 15.) and that the day is mentioned again in 2: 11. The restoring of temporal prosperity
to the land and people is pictured in 2: 18-27, the last
verse showing that the Lord is now in the midst of Israel, and affirming that
henceforth His people shall never be ashamed, which marks this as the permanent,
final restoration of Israel. Then follows the blessing of all flesh
(2: 28, 29). Ch. 3 amplifies the details of the judgments that the
Lord will inflict at that era upon enemies of His people, and again He is
described (verse 17) as now dwelling in
3. That the abomination
that maketh desolate had a foreshadowing in the acts of Antiochus
Epiphanes, B.C. 110, did not hinder the Lord from declaring (Matt. 24: 15; Mk. 13: 14) that
the fulfilment of that prophecy lay in the future; and the setting up of that
abomination is to be accompanied by the enforced cessation of sacrifice, by the
profanation of a sanctuary, a holy place (Dan. 9: 27; 11: 31), all implying a temple then standing.
4. As we have before seen, Rev. 11:
2, refers to the treading down of the
5. But it is asked: if it be allowed
that a temple will be erected, is it conceivable that the Holy One of Israel,
should acknowledge it as his sanctuary seeing (a) that it will be built by an unbelieving people, and (b) that this is the age of
But let it be observed (a)
that the temple of Christs day was built by a most monstrously wicked man,
Herod the Great, and he moreover an alien by race, and that it was ruled by
rationalists and hypocrites and profaned by officially-recognized merchant
robbers; and yet the Lord spoke of it as My Fathers house. As to (b) it should be noted that the end of the [present evil]
age will be the very
close of the Lo ammi period (Hos. 1:
9), and a transition epoch. God will then be definitely dealing
with the nation to turn them to Himself, and as a result there will be a
perceptible turning of heart to Him on the part of many. It is only the majority of Israel, not the whole nation, that will
covenant with the Beast: he shall make a firm covenant with the many
= the majority (Dan. 9: 27); and it is ever Gods
way to regard mercifully a godly minority (Gen.
18: 32; Jer. 5: 1); and so this minority at that time we read: they shall call on My name,
and I will hear them (Zech. 13: 9).
6. But it is objected that the Lord
Jesus upon leaving the temple for the last time, formally rejected the place,
saying, Behold, your house is left
unto you desolate, and that so no temple can be properly called the temple of God until the
people accept Jesus as the Messiah, crying, Blessed is he that cometh in the name
of the Lord (Matt. 23: 38, 39).
To this we answer (a)
that God does most distinctly term that temple which, as above shown, is to be
built the house of Jehovah and the house of God (Joel
1: 14, 16), even as He speaks of Jerusalem at
that period as My holy mountain (Joel.
2: 1) and the holy city
(Rev. 11:
2), for it is sacred, and this
perpetually, not because Israel dwells there, but because Jehovah has chosen it, and set it apart, as His centre on earth.
(b) Moreover, what
is the true force of the word desolate which Christ applied to the house? The answer is given
by the next words: your house is left unto you
desolate, FOR ye shalt not see me henceforth. This necessarily means; My personal, bodily presence
shall once again be seen in this house; for there was not, nor had there ever
been, any other divine presence in that temple. Scripture speaks of
five temples at
7. There seems not to be any proper
sense in which the Man of Sin can be said to seat himself in the
As no Christian ecclesiastical edifice is ever contemplated in
the New Testament, no such sense can be in view, and the term
It remains only to take the term as we have before done, and
after all, such an act of blasphemy as this enthronization in the sanctuary of
God is no more than a natural and to be accepted climax in the career of one as
bold, and proud, and ambitious. It will befit the era and the person, as well
as the scheme of Satan.
* *
*
THE REBUILDING OF THE
It is of solemn significance that this article
appeared in a Jewish national paper*
[* From February 1955 issue of D. M. Pantons Evangelical
Magazine, DAWN.]
THERE has
been much ado about the lack of formal religious life in the new State of
Israel, and many are the missionaries from
our own American Jewish community who desire to establish synagogues throughout
the
What these well-intentioned members of our community fail to
realise is that the synagogue performs a vital function in the Diaspora
(dispersion), where it is the very heart, centre, and source of Jewish
endeavour. However, in
What
All
The glowing Menorah (candlestick) would once more give light.
Mighty symphonies and glorious choirs would there dedicate their songs to God.
It would be a place of prayer and meditation, a place of beauty and serenity, a
place of memories of our past and dreams of our future, a place where all that
occurred would be, not of a secular nature, but on the highest religious plane
- devotion and dedication to the service of God.
Once again on the glad Festivals of Succoth, Passover and
Shavuot, joyful pilgrims would come from all over
It is time to build that
The world is sick with its philosophies of materialism, and our
youth, yes, our modern youth, seeks for God timidly, shyly, ashamed to frankly
express its need.
- The National
Jewish Post.
-------
PERHAPS TODAY
THE
great event of the coming of the long-expected Lord may take place this day;
there is absolutely nothing to hinder it happening any moment; what if it
happened the very next moment?
To some, to those who are not ready, it will be an awful
moment; an awful coming, an awful separation, an awful suddenness, an awful
disappointment; but to those who are ready, what a glorious coming what a
glorious reunion! what a glorious change! what a glorious moment! That glorious
moment when the thundering shout of Gods archangel will burst asunder the
vaulted doors of the damp cold chambers of the grave, and snap for ever the
mouldy chains of death, and the dead in Christ shall on their immortal wings
ascend to the land of radiant glory and delight.
That glorious moment when the angelic trump shall strike its
sweetest strain, that magic and magnetic chord that will suddenly and
completely draw the living saints from the world of care and sorrow to that
endless summer clime!
That glorious moment when the everlasting gates of glory, upon
their gigantic and eternal hinges, shall suddenly swing open and admit to their
future happy home, the Redeemed - the Bride - the Queen of Glory.
Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
-
* *
* * *
* *
790
PRAYING FOR THE ADVENT
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
PROBABLY
no generation since our Lord ascended has had such urgent reasons as our own
for praying for our Lord to come back: certainly none of us have had such
urgent reasons in our lifetime. God works according
to the prayers of His people, said Evan
Roberts; and the date of the Advent is a loose end which prayer can effect.
Since God has made all His actions in this poor world to depend on faith and
prayer, God may be depending on us for the Advent much more than we dream. The Lord Himself, in the words of Canon Simpson, would never have bidden us pray, Thy kingdom come, if those
times and seasons, which no man knows, were so irrevocably fixed that our
efforts could not hasten or retard the wheels of His chariot. If the
Jewish disciple, by praying that his flight might not be on a Sabbath or in
winter could so modify that date as to change it not only by the day of the
week but by the season of the year, much more is it in the power of the Church,
and therefore our glorious responsibility, to hasten
the coming of the day of God.
The Holy spirit
First we learn what is the mind of the Holy Ghost. The Spirit and the Bride say, Come (Rev.
22: 17). This is (so far as we recollect) the
only recorded prayer of the Spirit: He who prays with groanings that cannot be uttered, and when they are uttered, their
summary is, Come. The Spirit has
a myriad ways of affecting the world for good, yet His prayer is, Come: He
knows the inexhaustible resources, the unrevealed powers, the secret plans of
God, yet His prayer is, Come: the Holy Ghost knows no solution to the problems
of the universe except the Second Advent of Christ, and it is His only supreme
prayer. Thus the fuller we are of the Holy Spirit of God, the surer we are to
pray the prayer.
The Saviour
Next, we learn the mind of our Lord. When ye pray,
say, Thy kingdom come. Now it is true
that this prayer for the Kingdom, and therefore for the King, involves the
coming first of the judgments which precede it, and
perhaps this is one reason why we shrink from the prayer: nevertheless no
prayer is so comprehensive of the worlds need. In the words of Dr. E. P. Crown:- In this
prayer is summed up all that the Christian here can desire - the destruction of the power of Satan; the deliverance
of the creation from the bondage of corruption; the banishment of sin and
sorrow from the individual and from the world; the restoration of all things;
the establishment of the Kingdom of righteousness; the beholding by Jesus in
fulness of the travail of His soul, the bestowment upon Him in completeness of
promised reward. Or, in the words of Lord Shaftsbury,
who wrought more social benefit to his generation than any other man:- There is no
remedy in all this mass of misery, but the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why do we not plead for it every time we
hear the clock strike!
The Apostles
We learn, next, the mind of the Apostles. Jesus says, Yea, I come quickly. Amen, John cries, Come, Lord Jesus
(Rev. 22:
20). It is the last prayer from an Apostles lips, the last and
crowning prayer of the Bible. As Dr. Talmage puts it:- There may be many years of hard work
before the consummation, but the signs are to me so encouraging that I would
not be unbelieving if I saw the wing of the apocalyptic angel spread for its
last triumphant flight in this days sunset; or if tomorrow morning the ocean
cables should thrill us with the news that Christ the Lord had alighted on
Mount Olivet to proclaim universal dominion. O you dead Churches, wake up!
O Christ, descend! Scarred temple,
take the crown! Bruised hand, take the
sceptre! Wounded foot, step the
throne! Thine is the Kingdom!
The Churches
Next, we learn the mind of the Churches. The Spirit
and the
Bride say, Come. All sections of the Church - the Roman
Faber, the Greek Chrysostom, the Anglican Fletcher of Madebey,
the Puritan Baxter, the Presbyterian
McCheyne,
the Methodist Wesley, the Baptist Spurgeon, the Plymouth Brother Darby - all have uttered this prayer, which
has never ceased all down the ages. But only when John wrote did the Bride,
as a whole, thus pray: there is not a Church in Christendom: (except the Plymouth Brethren) that would corporately pray this prayer today. Surely I
come quickly,
says Sir Robert Anderson, are Christs
last recorded words, but their
fulfilment awaits the response of His people, Amen, Come, Lord Jesus. How impressive, therefore, it is that
the Holy Spirit immediately adds, and he that heareth - he who
has the hearing ear because he has the overcoming life - let him say,
Come. Hardly had our Lord reached the threshold of the house of
the Father than He shouted back, Surely I come quickly: nor does the Church enter
into the rapture of her hopes until she
brings herself to respond, Amen, even so come, Lord Jesus (Dr. Seiss).
Ourselves
Next, we learn our need. It is our peril that we are so
concerned with the doctrine that we forget the prayer. In 24 volumes of The Quarterly
Journal of Prophecy (1849
to 1873) there is not a single
article on Prayer for the Coming. His coming quickly is the speed
of desire. In the words of W. Lincoln:-
Many Christians do not realize that the Lord is waiting until He is invited to
return by His own: we only need to be urged; He does not. Let us learn to say,
with Puritan Baxter:- Master, O
Saviour, the time of Thy return! Delay not, lest the living give up their
hopes; delay not, lest earth should grow like Hell, and Thy Church be crumbled
to dust. Oh, hasten that great
resurrection day, when the graves
that received but rottenness, and
retain but dust, shall return Thee glorious stars and suns. Thy desolate Bride saith, Come. The whole creation saith, Come, even so come, Lord
Jesus. The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain, waiting for the revealing of the sons of God
(Rom. 8: 19).
The Bridegroom and the Bride
A whole book of the Bible is reserved as an embodiment of the
heart-cry for each other of the Bride and the Bridegroom. The waiting Bride suddenly cries: The voice of
my beloved! behold, he cometh, leaping upon the mountains, like
a gazelle or a young hart (Song of Songs 2:
8) - the two loveliest and swiftest creatures of the
mountains. And He replies: Arise [resurrection] my love, my fair one,
and come away [rapture]. For lo, the winter
is past, and the time of the singing of birds is
come O my dove that art in the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the steep place - on the precipitous summit of the
Parousia. And then she cries back, in words that end the Song:- Make haste, my Beloved, and be Thou like to a gazelle or a young hart - for swiftness - upon the mountains of spices. In the words of McCheyne:- The day of eternity
is breaking in the east. On, brethren, do you know what it is to long for Himself
- to cry, Make haste,
my Beloved?
* *
* * *
* *
791
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
By ROBERT GOVETT, M.A.
(Continued from Matt.7: 21)
WE
return to the plea of the parties before us. They urge, that they have
confessed the name of Jesus prominently and powerfully. They have done so in
three ways; all of them commanding the utmost attention: for all suppose the exercise
of supernatural power.
Did we not in thy name prophesy?
This does not mean preach:
though many, seeing that prophecy has not abode in the church, would crush the
word, till it mean this only.
Everyone therefore who shall confess
me, him will I confess also before my Father which is in
heaven (Matt. 10: 32). Also I say unto you,
Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of
Man also confess before the angels of God (Luke 12: 8).
On this they take their stand. They had confessed the name of
Christ on earth. They had acknowledged His future glory as their hope. Must He
not therefore own their names, and admit them into that kingdom, of which they
had been such eminent witnesses?
But Jesus, impelled by a sense of duty, and by the force of
the principles of the kingdom, would refuse their plea. He will tell them
plainly, I never knew you.
The statements on which their plea for entrance is founded
Jesus does not deny. They were true. But He will not own them as His servants.
Jesus never approved them; never confessed them as His. From that, I suppose,
it follows, that these are unconverted men. Their acts of power could only have
been done by power from Himself. But if any have not the Spirit of
Christ, he is none of His (Rom. 8). If they were Christs, He must have
known them. I am the Good Shepherd, and
know my sheep, and am known of mine (John 10: 14; 2 Tim. 2: 19; Gal. 4: 9).
From the particulars of this case I gather, that these are
Jewish disciples of Jesus, who arise after the Church is rejected. For, as far
as we learn, after the Church began to exist on the day of Pentecost, no person
who was not truly a believer in Jesus, received the supernatural gifts. Simon
the magician was near to receiving them; but was refused, as having no part or
lot in the matter, because his heart was
not right in the sight of God (Acts 8).
The unbelieving sons of Sceva the Jew
used the name of Christ in exorcism, but did not prevail over the spirit; on
the contrary, the evil spirit prevailed against them (Acts
19).
But the gifts of miracle and inspiration will be again
bestowed, specially on believers of
Observe next:-
II. The Judges decision
What is our Lords sentence?
Depart from me, ye workers of lawlessness.
To those who are to enter the kingdom, Jesus says, Come, ye blessed of
my Father, inherit the kingdom. But to these the rejected, He says, Depart from me. Their plea is
set aside; because, though workers of miracles in Christs name, they were not workers of righteousness (Psa. 15: 2). The
will of God is far more truly done by holiness, than by miracle.
This is a reference to the Psalms,
which utter many a loud voice against the workers of iniquity (Psa. 28; 36: 7-12; 64; 92). In the 101st Psalm Jesus, as son of David,
declares the sentence of admission or exclusion, and gives specimens of the
works of iniquity or lawlessness, which will shut out.
I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of
them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me. A forward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a
wicked person. Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an
high look and a proud heart will not I suffer. Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the
land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me. He that worketh
deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my
sight. I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off
all wicked doers from the city of the Lord (3-8).
Confirmatory is the witness of the New Testament. It is a
faithful saying: For if we died with him, we
shall also live with him. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us. If we believe
not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself ...
Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord
knoweth them that are his. And, Let everyone that
nameth the name of Christ 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 (2 Tim.
2: 11-13, 19-21).
Here then is a case of exclusion; and not a singular one. Many will stand in this predicament. It is
a very strong case by which to exhibit the principles of admission and of
shutting out. If those miraculously gifted, and employed in furthering by acts
of power the interests of the kingdom, will yet be excluded, it, of course,
settles the case of all nominal Christians, who have no such power of miracle.
These evil doers are held, righteously held, by our Lord to have worked against the kingdom far
more than they wrought for it. For the millennial kingdom is not, primarily and
characteristically, a kingdom of power. Its power is subordinate to its holiness. For the
Workers of iniquity (or lawlessness) build up Satans kingdom by
their spirit and deeds of evil, far more than they pull it down by acts of
power. Such men therefore take Balaams place. I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold
him, but not nigh: there shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth (Num. 24: 17).
They appeal to their public and supernatural confession of
Christs name, and to the will of the Father, done by miracles. Jesus refuses them as unacknowledged by Himself, and counteracting the
main will of His Father, which is holiness. Thy will be done on earth, as
it is in heaven. How is it done there? In holiness.
* *
* * *
* *
792
THE CHURCH IN THE LAST CRISIS
By LEONARD RAVENHILL
THEN the word of the Lord came unto
me, saying, Before
I formed thee ... I ordained thee a prophet unto
the nations.
Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak:
for I am a child. But the
Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt
go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever
I command thee thou shalt speak.
Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, said the Lord.
Then the Lord put forth his hand,
and touched my mouth. And
the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth.
See, I
have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out,
and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build and to plant
(Jeremiah 1: 1-10).
When
Jesus the Son of God began his ministry, they identified him with Jeremiah.
Jeremiah had lived 800 years before and yet when Jesus came some said, He was Jeremias, or one of the
prophets (Matt. 16: 14).
Why was Jesus like Jeremiah? Why was Jeremiah like Jesus?
Because Jeremiah was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. There is
nothing human to compare with the lamentations of Jeremiah. Dante said they were the greatest
things he had ever read.
In the first chapter and
the twelfth verse, Jeremiah says this in his
Book of Lamentations, Behold, and see if there be
any sorrow like unto my sorrow. In the ninth chapter of Jeremiah he begins in the first verse
by saying this, Oh that my head were waters, and
mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep
day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
You can take people as dull as myself
and put us through the machinery and process of a Bible school and turn us out like
they turn out Ford cars in
Jeremiah carried this nation upon his heart. He was a man of
sorrows. Oh, that my head were waters. He was no play actor. He came to this
distressed nation, a selected man of God. He was ordained to be a prophet, not
a preacher. The preacher says almost apologetically, In
my opinion. That is what the preacher says. The prophet says, Thus saith
the Lord.
God raised Jeremiah up to be against everybody - the priests
and the people, the pastors and the whole population. God made him to pull down
and to pull up and to root out and to destroy. And he had a sense of the
magnitude of his task. That is why he was so burdened. That is why he was a man
of sorrows. The whole nation lay on his heart. And he knew the only need, the
only hope of that nation was the mercy of God and the nations return to Him.
We do not these days see much burden like this, do we?
It amazes me very often how dry our eyes are. We can see whole
nations go down. We never saw the decline and fall of the
Wrong Emphasis
Of course, in these days, the whole emphasis is on the love of
God. The heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind. We picture the father
of the prodigal son. As though God were much kinder than He used to be, and His
justice not quite the same - His anger moderated. As though He can look upon
sin now, and wink at iniquity! These are the days in which we never say
anything nasty about the folk around about us in false doctrines!
It seems the emphasis in the churches these days is not on how
much we can carry, but on how little we can carry - not how much we can do, but
how much we can shrink from doing.
One day David Garrick,
the great Shakespearean actor was going down a street and there standing at the
corner was a man yearning over the people. David Garrick said, I stood on the outside of the crowd, but I found myself
imperceptibly working myself in, until I stood right under that man, and there
came down from his breast hot tears.
Garrick said that a woman pointed her shaking, withered finger
at the man and said, Sir, I have followed you since
you preached this morning at seven oclock and I have heard you preach five
times in the streets of this city, and five times I have been wet with your
tears. Why do you weep?
The man that preached was George
Whitefield. He was severely cross-eyed. This man was burlesqued on the
English stage. He was tied up with immorality, though he was as pure as an
angel. This man was denounced from almost every pulpit in
David Garrick said, I listened to George
Whitefield, and as I listened to him I saw his passion and his earnestness. I
knew that he meant that without Christ men would die. As I listened to him, he said, when he came to the place where he could say nothing more,
he reached up those mighty arms, and his voice seemed almost like a thunder
storm, and he yearned over that people and said, Oh!.
Why, he would break an audience with that word. When George Whitefield said, Oh! men bowed before the Holy Ghost like corn bows
under the wind. David Garrick said,
I would give my hand full of golden sovereigns if I
could say Oh! like George Whitefield. Then,
he continued, I would be the greatest actor that the
world has ever known.
But you cannot play act
with God. You may string together a lot of nice words in a prayer meeting, but it is brokenness and contrition
that God wants. Jeremiah did what we fail to do. He identified himself with
the sin of the nation. The people flirted with Almighty God. They had forgotten
His mercy. I believe unless very quickly we have a Holy Ghost
revival we are going to see the vials of Gods wrath poured out. He will not always chide. Do you know that
According to the Alliance Weekly,
Oh that my head were waters
... mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people.
I am no longer nervous about embarrassing folk. It would be very
interesting to know how many of us in our praying this week have shed any tears
over this poor, lost, frightened, frustrated generation.
Take the political situation - it does not matter whom you put
into office. Conditions are too bad to be redeemed by any political effort. I
think if I could only pray one prayer I would pray this - that God would give to this generation ten
thousand Jeremiahs - not pleasant men to listen to, not pleasant men to look
upon.
We need men who gaze upon
God, and who gaze upon the sin of the world. As Jeremiah looked upon the sin of the nation, his
heart was full of pain and anguish and sorrow and travail.
Oh, the situation in the world is grievous! It is
heartbreaking. But I sometimes wonder if the greatest tragedy in the world is
not the
Alexander Whyte says, What is needed is not just a preacher,
but a prophet
who can disturb the godly! Disturb the godly! Could you take these
words and pin them on your heart and say to Almighty God, Look, this is the very language of my spirit. Behold and see
if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow. I have no happiness in living while
people are dying without Christ.
Jeremiah was a prophet. He did not dishonour the pulpit.
Jeremiah never moved about in theological twilight. Jeremiah did not do some
kind of spiritual juggling act to fascinate the people. Jeremiah did not deal
in philosophical uncertainties. Jeremiah was essentially the prophet of sin and
the prophet of the human heart. He said, The heart is deceitful above all
things, and desperately wicked: who can know it (Jeremiah
17: 9). I have heard people say I do not know my own heart.
God can reveal our hearts to us.
Bunyan said, When
God showed me John Bunyan as God saw John Bunyan, I no longer confessed I was a
sinner, but I confessed that I was sin from the crown of my head to the soles
of my feet. I was full of sin.
We need Jeremiah! Oh, that God, in these last terrible seconds
of this dispensation, would send us out some men of the calibre of John the
Baptist and Jeremiah-pleading prophets. Have you a passionate love for souls?
Are you keeping your end up in the work of the Lord? Are you praying? Are you
travailing? The harvest will soon be past. The clock is running out on us. It
is nearer the end than we know.
Shall we pray? Our heavenly Father, we look to Thee and pray for those who
have heard Thy Word so often, and yet are unmoved. We pray for those. Thy
people, backslidden in heart, their Bibles an opened, with grass grown over the
way to the Prayer Closet. Our eyes have no vision. Our souls have no passion.
We have no intensity. Thou art not our First Love. Self is our first love. Oh,
Lord, wilt Thou move upon us for Thy Sake!
- Herald
of His Coming.
* *
* * *
* * *
793
THOUGH YOUR SINS BE AS SCARLET
By LIONEL P. COECKELBERGHS
LAST
December the owner of the six-apartment building in which we reside changed building
managers. It was not long before we realised that the occupants of the five
other apartments were trying to influence her against us, as had been true in
the case of each preceding manager. Because of what we had suffered in the
past, my wife was disturbed and fearful. As we have been expecting to move, I
told her not to worry.
The first time I met the new manager she was standing in the
street talking with one of our neighbours. She was smoking. Her face was hard
and it was easy to detect that she was unhappy.
Immediately the Spirit of God prompted me to visit her at the
first opportunity and witness to her of the Lord Jesus Christ.
When I visited the lady a couple of days later I had quite a
long talk with her about the way, the truth and the life. I learned that her
life had been one of trouble and suffering. Her husband is an officer in the
French army and is in
She said that if I had come to teach her religion, I should
not waste my time. She had left her religion because it had never done her any
good and was no help to her, and so she was through with religion.
Madam, do you believe in the
existence of God? I asked.
Oh, yes, sir, she replied
firmly, but as God will never have anything to
do with me, all that I retain of my former religion is belief in His
existence.
Do you have any interest in becoming
acquainted with God? I replied.
Who or what will ever bring me into
the presence of God but death?
The Bible can reveal God to you,
I said.
Oh! she said, I heard that once during my captivity in
I said to her in German, Do you also
speak German, Madam?
Quick as a flash she took a step backwards and fixed her eyes
on me with such a fearful expression on her face that I lost my power of
speech. And as she kept staring at me, tears coursed down her cheeks. As I
tried to break the painful silence, she rushed at me and, while pushing me
towards the door, she cried out in an anguished voice, Sir, do not say anything more to me now. Please go! Before I
fully realised what was happening I was standing outside in the hall.
The only thing to do was to make my way to our apartment. I
could not understand her strange behaviour. She did not seem angry. I wondered
whether after all I had done the right thing by visiting her and I feared that
she might create new difficulties for us because of the prejudice against us
which the other tenants had tried to create in her mind.
The Second Visit
The Lord, however, made it clear to me that I should see her
again as soon as possible. But perhaps I would have put off the second visit
indefinitely if God had not impressed upon me daily the conviction that
I should visit her quickly. When
I called upon her the second time I was surprised to be kindly received, but
she offered no excuse for her strange behaviour at the conclusion of my
previous visit.
We had quite a long talk about the Bible and how the gospel is
able to change lives and make everything new for those who are in Christ. She
requested a Bible, but quickly added that I should not expect her to visit our
church because as soon as a permanent manager for our building could be found
she expected to take over the management of a hotel on the Belgian seacoast. A
few days later she came to our apartment to ask for the promised Bible. As an
extra copy was not available just then, I gave her a New Testament.
Although she had been a school-teacher, she had never read the
Bible. But from that day she began searching the Scriptures, and as her
negotiations for assuming the management of a hotel on the seacoast hindered
her spiritual progress for several weeks, she finally gave up the idea and
concentrated upon seeking the only way of escape from her troubles. She said, I have
worked beyond my strength during the last few years that I might forget the
past and find peace. I enquired whether I could help her, but received
no answer.
Reading the Bible
When I called upon her again I found that she was reading the
Bible. In the course of our
conversation I ventured to say that if she continued searching the Scriptures
so earnestly she would soon experience the new birth. Oh
sir, she said, this must already have taken
place, for I do not recognise myself any more!
At the very next service in our meeting hall she surrendered
to the Lord. But there was one thing about her conversion that astonished me
greatly, namely that she manifested no joy. Because she had been so very
unhappy, I expected her to pass from darkness to light with rejoicing.
Since she trusted Christ as her Saviour, she attended services
quite regularly, but there was no evidence of joy in her life. True, she
suffered from a chronic headache, but that would be insufficient reason for her
to be constantly cast down. When I asked her what was the matter, she shook her
head as she replied that she would never be able to continue fellowshipping
with the happy saints in our little church. They are
happy because God has forgiven them and they know it. But He will never forgive
me and I know it, too she said. In vain I tried to reason with her.
When she called upon us next she was pale and trembling.
Embracing my wife, she said between sobs, Help me!
Help me! I see him again as he lies in his own blood. Chase him away from me!
Help me!
But you dont need to be afraid now
since you have become a Christian. The Lord will take care of you, we
assured her.
No! No! I cannot be a Christian, for
I killed a man during the war. They supplied me with the weapon and told me to
kill him, and I did it! Who shall deliver me from my blood red sins?
she cried out.
She continued: in the interest of
what was explained to me as a most urgent cause, I committed this crime. The
first words that my victim said to me when I made his acquaintance were exactly
those which you used the first time you came to my apartment and asked me in
German, Do you also speak German, Madam? Now you will understand my strange
behaviour that day and will pardon me for having pushed you out of the
apartment.
During the last four years I have
been unable to sleep. I have worked beyond my strength. I have smoked
incessantly. I have had injections of morphine regularly to deaden the feeling
of remorse, but nothing has helped me. I cannot sleep, and if I should chance
to slumber for a moment I see my victim standing before me as soon as I open my
eyes. On one occasion I was placed in an institution for the mentally afflicted
for three months. If I do not obtain relief very soon I will lose my mind or
commit suicide. If you can, help me! she cried out as she wept
bitterly. We were deeply moved by her distress.
Going to the living room the three of us knelt in prayer and
then I went through the Scriptures with her, starting with the vengeance of
Moses against the Egyptian whom he killed. I pointed out Davids great sin in
being responsible for the death of Uriah, whom he arranged to have killed by
the Ammonites, and how that God, after Davids repentance, forgave him. Then I
told of one of the malefactors crucified with Christ receiving everlasting life
when he repented on the cross.
Though your sins he as scarlet ...
I referred to the account of Saul consenting to the death of Stephen,
the first Christian martyr, and of Christ's appearance to Saul on his way to
Finally I asked her to read for herself the words of 1 John 3: 20:
For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart,
and knoweth all things. Through her tears she read the verse
over and over again, and then repeated, He knows all!
He knows all! All! He knows that they placed in my hand that weapon.
Her voice had changed. She no longer wept in despair. We
realized that the accusing devil had lost all his power over her during the
reading of the mighty word of God. When I asked
her whether she now had boldness to stand in the presence of the Lord, she replied,
Yes. I told her to continue reading,
beginning at 1 John 3: 21, and just as she was to start reading the
twenty-fourth verse the Holy Spirit filled her heart with such great joy that
she spontaneously began praising and thanking the Lord Jesus for His wonderful
love and goodness. How wonderful it was to hear her praising the Lord as her
Saviour!
- The World Christian Digest.
* *
* * *
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794
WHAT IS COMMUNISM?
WHAT is Communism,
anyway? What are the beliefs, principles, and practices of this force that is
spreading like wild-fire over the face of the earth? A good answer is found in
House Report No. 2, of the Seventy-sixth Congress, First Session, under the
heading, Investigation of Un-American Activities and
Propaganda.
Communism may be defined as an
organized movement which works for the overthrow by force or violence of the
government of countries which are yet not under the control of the Communists,
and establishment in place thereof (a) a
regime termed proletarian dictatorship, and (b) an economic system based upon the substitution of communal
ownership of property for private ownership.
Communism is a world-wide political
organization advocating: (1) the abolition of all forms of religion; (2) the
destruction of private property and the abolition of inheritance; (3) absolute
social and racial equality; (4) revolution under the leadership of the
Communist International; (5) engaging in activities in foreign countries in
order to cause strikes, riots, sabotage, bloodshed, and civil war; (6)
destruction of all forms of representative or democratic government, including
civil liberties, such as freedom of speech, of the press, and the assemblage;
(7) the ultimate objective of world revolution to establish the dictatorship of
the so-called proletariat into a universal union of Soviet socialist republics
with its capital at Moscow; (8) the achievement of these ends through extreme
appeals to hatred.
It follows, therefore, that
Communism is diametrically opposed to Americanism. It also follows that a
scheme or philosophy of government or a teaching which embraces all or any
essential part of the principles of Communism is un-American.
May I suggest that you re-read this quotation before
continuing. Every statement in this definition is based on written declarations
made by leaders of the Communistic movement. Not one word in this quotation mistates or over-emphasizes a principle or practice of
Communists.
Communism and Socialism
Communism and Socialism are the same under different names and
working in a little different way to accomplish the same goal. Morris Hilquist, International Secretary of the Socialist party and
head of the legal department of the Soviet Bureau in the
It is high time that the American
public abandon the myth of diverse meanings of socialism and the diverse
kinds of socialism. There is not, and probably never was, a theory and
movement of more striking uniformity than the theory and movement of Socialism.
The International Socialist movement is all based on the Marxian programme and
follows substantially the same methods of propaganda and action. There is no
such thing as European socialism or
American socialism. There is only one kind of
socialism the world over - International Socialism, which means everywhere the same.
Proof of the sameness of these two isms
is seen in the fact that the present Russian government, which is recognized
everywhere as the seat of Communism, is officially named the
Claim Bible Basis
It would seem impossible for any sensible loyal American -
certainly not a religionist - to embrace Communism. And yet some religious
leaders are open advocates of this godless system. They think it accordant with
Bible teaching. Nothing is further from the truth. The passage usually cited is
Acts 4: 32-37 where the early Church had community of goods
for awhile. Read the passage: it nowhere says what it is usually made to say.
It plainly recognizes the rights of the
individual to his own property: And the multitude of them that
believed were of one heart and of one soul;
neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common (Acts 4: 32).
Each individual voluntarily shared his own with all others in
the church.
Acts 5: 1-11, which is a part of the passage above, shows that property
was privately owned, and rightly so. You remember that Ananias and his wife
sold their property, and claimed to put all the price in the common treasury of
the church, but did not. Speaking by the Holy Spirit, Peter said: Ananias,
why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy
Ghost, and to keep back part of the land?
While it remained, was it
not thine own? and after it was sold,
was it not in thine own power? This teaches that the property was
rightly Ananias, and that he was not compelled by any principle to put it into
the common fund.
Dr. R. V. Clearwaters rightly analyzes this communal incident in the following
words:
Acts 4: 32-37 records what some moderns cite as the New Testament
sanction of communism. Let us analyze the passage: 1. They were all believers in
the Lord Jesus Christ, and they were not atheists, agnostics, and rationalists.
2. They voluntarily sold their personal possessions which were not confiscated
by any power of man or God. 3. The price each received for his possessions he
voluntarily laid at the Apostles feet, and no one was compelled to surrender
his wealth. 4. The Apostles, officials of the church, distributed the money
according to the needs of the poor, and the State had no part in its use or
distribution.
The inspired writer takes six verses
to tell the story of this New Testament experience in Christian communism. The
same inspired writer takes eleven verses following to tell the story of the
insincerity, condemnation, and death of two insincere cult members. Apparently
the Christian profession of Ananias and Sapphira was insincere, and this
insincerity was disclosed by a revelation of their dishonesty with money.
Whatever Christian communism was in the New Testament, it seems to have been
wrapped up in a sheet and carried out with the lifeless bodies of Ananias and
Sapphira. It is not mentioned again in the New Testament.
The willingness of the early Christians to share with each
other expresses what should always be our attitude toward our brethren when
circumstances require it, but it seems evident that God did not intend what
they did to become a pattern for world economics. The idea of all having an
equal share is a wonderful Utopian dream, but it has never worked and never
will until Christ takes over this world. The plan brought poverty, even to the early
saints; for, ere the plan had been in operation long, Paul was passing the hat
to feed the poor saints in
- Christ for the World Messenger.
* *
* * *
* *
795
MORE ABUNDANCE
By WILLIAM ARTHUR
FOR
depth of spirituality and amazing comprehensiveness we know of no greater
prayer than that of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 3:
14-20. We
have:
A Wonderful Experience Prayed for
Spiritual strength. Strengthened with might by His Spirit
in the inner man.
An indwelling Christ. That Christ may dwell in your hearts
by faith.
Establishment in love. Rooted and grounded in love, that is, having your root and
foundation in love.
Increase of knowledge in the love of Christ. May be able
to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height.
For the fulness of God. That ye might be filled with all the
fulness of God.
What amazing provisions and possibilities are involved in the
above most remarkable prayer!
Adam Clarke says: To be
filled with God is a great thing; to be filled with the fulness of God is still
greater; but to be filled with all the fulness of God utterly bewilders the sense
and confounds the understanding.
In view of this exalted state of grace no wonder the hungry
soul cries out:
Eager for Thee, I ask and pant;
So strong the principle divine
Carries me out with sweet constraint,
Till all my hallowed soul is Thine;
Plunged in the Godheads deepest sea,
And lost in Thy immensity.
But wonderful as this experience is, we have a more wonderful
possibility of attaining it. If you ever feel the poverty of human language you
feel it here. The apostle piles up a six-fold affirmation:
1. God is able to do.
2. All that we ask or think.
3. Above all that we ask or think.
4. Abundantly above all that we ask or think.
5. Exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.
According to the power which worketh in us
Here you have mountain piled upon mountain, as when the
ancient giants essayed to scale the heavens. There is nothing like it in the
entire Word of God.
Able to do exceeding abundantly (or, superabundantly, above the
greatest abundance). In commenting on the above words, Adam Clarke says: We can ask every good
of which we have heard; every good which
God has promised in His Word; and we can think of, or imagine goods and
blessings beyond all that we have either read of or seen: yea, we can imagine
good things to which it is impossible for us to give a name! we can go beyond
the limits of all human descriptions; we can imagine more than God has specified
in His Word; and can feel no bounds to our imagination of good, but
impossibility and eternity; and after all, God is able to do more for us than
we can ask or think.
- Herald
of His Coming
* *
*
WATCHING FOR THE ADVENT
By A. V. RYN
IT is the divine cure for heart trouble:
I go to prepare a place for you; and I will come again and receive you unto Myself; that where I am there ye may be also (John 14: 1-3).
It is the prescription for permanent joy:
And ye now therefore have sorrow, but I will see you again,
and your heart shall rejoice; and your joy no man taketh from you (John 16: 22).
It is the incentive to remember Him each Lords day,
for as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lords death, till He
come (1 Cor.
11: 26).
It holds out the bright prospect of absolute conformity to
Christ; our conversation (our citizenship)
is in heaven, from
whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord
Jesus Christ (Phil. 3: 20-21).
It is our deliverance from divine wrath poured out on this
world: we wait for His Son from heaven, Whom He raised from the dead,
even Jesus, the Deliverer from the wrath to come
(1 Thess. 1: 10).
It is a source of deepest comfort,
we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds (1 Thess. 4: 16-18).
It teaches the believer to live a Christ-honouring life, for the
grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live
soberly, righteously and godly in this present
world. Looking for that blessed hope and the
glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ (Titus 2: 11-13).
It introduces pure, holy living, but we know that, when He
shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, as He is pure (1 John 3:
2-3).
Even so,
Come Lord Jesus! Amen!
* *
* * *
* * *
796
THE JOY OF THE SON
By C. A. COATES
JOHN 15: 11;
17: 13
In
venturing to suggest the consideration of the joy of the Son one is conscious
of very limited capacity, and this creates a great sense of dependence. But
there is something peculiarly attractive in the subject itself, and especially
when we see how the Lords words to His own, and even His words to the Father,
were uttered for the purpose of making His joy known to us so that it might be
in us. This applies particularly to what fell from His lips after the Supper,
as recorded in John 13-17. No doubt the company amongst whom He was represented the assembly, and what
the Lord said in their midst. He said as having the assembly in view, so that
we see here the kind of spiritual impressions which would accompany the
presence of the Lord in the assembly. An honoured servant of the Lord used
habitually to read these chapters before being found with his brethren in
assembly.
When we see that the Lords intent in what He said was that
His joy might be in the saints of the assembly it gives a distinctive character
to all His utterances, and concentrates all the varied rays of divine light
which shine in those utterances in one bright focus. They are all to make known
to us the joy of the Son, and to put it in us - that is, in those who compose
the assembly. One wonders whether we have quite seen it all as centring in this?
This stands in very intimate relation to our knowledge of the
Father. These chapters bring out clearly that the joy of the Son is to take a
place with the Father outside the world in which His own can have a place with
Him. It is the joy of His love to have our companionship in that place. He came to earth to make it known, that we might share His joys. The true blessedness of our place
with the Father is wonderfully enhanced as we see it to be the joy of the Son
to go and prepare it for us. All is looked at in John
14: 2, 3,
as the Sons doing - the place prepared, the coming again, the reception to
Himself, the being with Him - all is done by the Son, and He would have us to
know that His joy consists in having brought it about. There would be no Fathers
house without the Son, and no revelation of God as Father without the Son. The
Sons joy will be to have His own in the place in the Fathers house which He
has Himself prepared, and to which He Himself will receive them. If it is the
Sons joy to do it all how great the Fathers joy in it all! Everything in His
house speaks to Him of the One whom He loves, and into whose hand He has given
all things. In all this there will be full joy for the Father and the Son.
Then He speaks (John 14: 6-11) of the Father having seen in Him.
This, too, was His joy. He was in the Father drawing all from Him, and He would
have us to believe Him that this was so, but if not to
believe Him for the works sake themselves. This would lead us to consider the
works done by Jesus - particularly in this gospel - as the Fathers works. The
Father would bring in fulness of joy where it had to be admitted that there was
no wine, chapter 2. The Father would answer a heart in
sorrow by relieving it of its distress, chapter 4. The Father would relieve man of all
his weakness, chapter 5 and satisfy his hunger, chapter 6, and give him sight, chapter 9, and bring him out of deaths domain, chapter 11. The conditions here brought out what
the Father was in a way it could not be known in heaven. All that was the Sons
joy. We learn the Father here in Jesus. We must not look at the varied
conditions which He met in His blessed pathway here merely as the result of
mans sin - though that they surely were - but as opportunities for the Son to
have joy in expressing the Father. His purposes of love were not seen in the
works, but in giving men a part and place with the Son in the Fathers house.
But His revelation in grace as the Father was seen in Jesus here, so that the
gospels stand alone in a peculiar glory which will never be seen in the same
way again. There were three-and-a-half years during which the Father was seen
in Jesus, and did works which brought out His blessed nature and character in
presence of all the evil conditions here. The Father was seen by mortal eyes.
The immense character of the revelation may be gathered from the fact that, if
all the things Jesus did had been written one by one, John supposed that not
even the world itself would contain the books written. My impression is that it
is all written in heaven in the hearts of those who saw the works done. We have
only a very small part recorded of what Jesus did as having the Father abiding
in Him to do the works, but not a bit of the mighty volume will be lost, and all
went to make up the joy of the Son.
His doing whatsoever we shall ask in His name that Father may
be glorified in the Son (John 14: 13, 14) is another element in His joy. It is part of His joy that His
obedient lovers should have the Comforter. Then He has joy in coming to His
saints so that they are not left orphans during the time of His absence from
the world, and He has joy in manifesting Himself to faithful hearts. Then in chapter 15 His joy lies in the fact that He
becomes the Source of fruit for the Father. The vine being used in this
connection suggests that the fruit which the Father delights in is the joy of
His saints - this is the new wine which cheers God and man (Judges 9: 13).
This would be confirmed by the Lords words, that my joy may be in you, and your joy be full. As this comes about I believe the
Fathers portion is secured.
Another element in the Lords joy is the delight He has in
loving His own complacently. As the Father has loved
me I also have loved you: abide in my love,
John 15: 9. This is clearly a complacent love,
for it is as the Father has loved Him. It is therefore conditional; it was so
even in His case. If ye shall keep my
commandments, ye shall abide in my love,
as I have kept my Fathers commandments and abide in
his love, verse 10. He has a peculiar joy in His saints as those who keep His commandments: obedient lovers are the only ones who afford Him this joy, or who
really abide in His love. Nothing ought to affect our hearts more than to
think we can minister to His joy, and, in so doing, have His joy in us. He
looks that we shall be powerfully affected by the thought of His joy, and that
it shall be in us as a mighty influence, bringing about that our joy is full.
It must be admitted that very few saints know what it is habitually to have
their joy full. Our feebleness in service and testimony largely results from
our lack of this. All believers have some joy but
Gods thought is that our joy should be full, and that it should be consequent
on the joy of the Son being in us.
Then the Lord would have us to regard His wonderful words to
the Father in chapter 17 as an
utterance of joy, having for its object that His joy may be fulfilled in us. And these
things I speak in the world, that they may have
my joy fulfilled in them, verse 13. One would not think of attempting to compass all that
constitutes the joy of the Son as referred to here, but we may note some of its
deep springs.
In the first place He asks to be glorified that He may glorify
the Father. He speaks from the standpoint of having glorified the Father on the
earth, and completed the work which the Father gave Him to do. He had brought
to completion what could be done on earth, but He had before Him a continuous
glorifying of the Father which required that the Father should glorify Him in
order that He should bring it about. It is now as glorified that He gives
effect to every thought of divine love, and thus glorifies the Father. The
Father has given Him authority over all flesh in view of full blessing being
brought in for men. The divine position at the present time is that the Son has
rights in grace over all flesh. The bearing of Jesus being glorified is as wide
for blessing as was the bearing of Adams sin. The Father can be known in full
blessing in spite of sin and death having come in. Looking at things as they
are publicly here we might think that sin, or death, or Satan had authority
over all flesh, but it is the Son who has it, and He is exercising it in giving
life eternal to all that the Father has given Him. A sovereign act of the
Father is needed to secure to the Son a company to whom He gives life eternal.
This is the Sons joy, too, as we may see in Luke 10: 21: I praise thee, Father, Lord of the heaven and of the earth that thou hast hid these
things from wise and prudent, and has revealed
them to babes.
The Father is glorified as men are brought into the knowledge
of Himself in the infinite grace which can set aside the power of sin and
death, and bring in life eternal. At the very beginning God thought of
something superior to a life of innocence amidst the good of the garden of
Eden, for He put the tree of life in the midst of the garden. But the
fulfilment of what was promised, if we may so say, in the tree of life awaited
the coming of Jesus Christ as the Fathers sent One. Then the Father was
glorified on the earth in respect of all that had come in, so that He might be
known in the supremacy of His grace, not only atonement to cover sin, but all
done to disclose the Father. Eternal life and sonship for men are two great
thoughts of divine love, and it is the joy of the Son to secure them. They have
been brought into manifestation in Christ, but were not available for men in their
full blessedness until He was glorified, because neither could be the portion
of men without the Spirit.
It is the joy of the Son to be
glorified as Man along with the Father with the glory which He had along with
the Father before the world was, John 17: 5. That glory was not new to Him, for He
had it before the world was, but it
was new that He should have it as
As regards the men given Him out of
the world by the Father it was His joy to have manifested to them the Fathers
name. Manifesting refers to what He
set before their eyes in His own blessed Person; the Fathers name was
objectively presented to them in its fulness of grace in the Son, for it had
been given to Him for revelation, verse 11.
Manifesting would refer to
what they saw. He said, The Father who abides in me, he
does the works, chap. 14: 10. What a manifestation there was in
them! But making known the Fathers
name would refer, I think, to what they heard. He communicated to them the
words which the Father had given Him (v. 8); as a result those spiritual communications
they kept the Fathers word, and knew that all things that the Father had given
Him were of the Father. They had received the communications, and knew truly
that He came out from the Father, and they had believed that the Father sent
Him.
The men saw in Jesus One who
was in relationship with God as His Father, and they had a sense that the
Fathers love rested upon Him. The last verse of the chapter shows that the
making known of the Fathers name brings the love with which He loved the Son
into those to whom it is made known, and they are to have such a glory that the
world will know that the Father has loved
them as He loved Christ.
It is clear that keeping the Fathers word, and knowing as in verses 7 and 8, conveys the thought of great spiritual intelligence. I
believe in saying these things the Lord is anticipating the Spirits day, and
the result of the Spirits formation. The men were, in His eye, representatively,
the assembly - all that should believe through their word being linked up with
them in the Lords mind and heart. Had He been thinking of them as not having
the Spirit, there would surely have been some reference to the Spirit in the
prayer.
The Lord would have all this known as His
joy. All that is in the prayer with reference to the men given Him is covered
by life eternal, sonship, and glory. He would have our hearts penetrated and
permeated by the knowledge that His joy is found in these things being secured
to His own. But it is a joy that is not complete apart from these things having
their full place with us. So He says, that they may have my joy fulfilled
in them. That is
to say, that His joy is brought to completion in His own as they take in the great
thoughts of divine love.
* *
* * *
* *
797
THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
THE
burning heart of all Christian responsibility looms immediately ahead -THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHUST. Wherefore we make it our aim - the word means to love and seek for
honour (Lange) in what Bengel calls the sole legitimate
ambition in the world - to be well-pleasing unto Him; for - as the
fountain of motive in all holy ambition - we must - as a necessity inherent in Divine justice; for the
vindication of Gods holiness, and for the satisfaction of our own highest and
holiest instincts - all - even all apostles, all prophets, all martyrs- be made manifest - to our own
consciences, to all the world, and above all to the [Righteous] Judge; a complete manifestation of
all that has transpired within us, or in the external life (Lange) - before the judgment
seat of Christ; that each one may receive - the technical
word for receiving wages (Dean Alford)
- the things done in the body - therefore thoughts and words as
well as deeds, since the brain and the tongue are thus also involved - according to the things that
[plural] he hath
done - works
exactly regulating reward: not according to the things that Christ did in His body;
nor according to things done out of the body after death - whether it [the award] be good or bad (2 Cor.
5: 10). In the words of Lange: - Pauls tireless aim to please Christ can only be fulfilled by his being found approved at that
tribunal where he and his fellow believers are shortly to appear; for every action
of Gods children during their bodily life must there be judged according to
the law of strict righteousness, and each believer must be rewarded according
to his good or evil conduct.
For the sweep of the decree as quoted
from Isaiah
is absolutely universal - every knee shall bow,
and every tongue shall confess to God. So then - since it is universal and the Church is, therefore, not exempt - each one of us must
give account of himself to God (Rom.
14: 11). Nor could it be otherwise. In view
of the chaos of conflicting creed and conduct - the bitter controversies, the
personal quarrels, the excommunications and anathemas - all denial of a
judgment seat is inherently incredible and impossible: there must be a judgment seat; and there is. Molinos, the Quietist, when
condemned as a heretic and led away to his prison cell - We shall meet again, said the old
man to his judges, in the judgment day; and then it will appear on which side,
on yours or
mine, is truth. Furthermore, it rests upon the oath of God. By myself have I sworn, the word is gone forth from my mouth in righteousness,
and shall not
return - the
decree establishing it is as irrevocable as the life of God - that unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear (Isa. 45:
23). So then, says the Apostle (Rom. 14: 10), let us forbear to judge, for we
shall be judged, and, therefore, the bedrock of all our action is to be the
approval of our Divine Judge. We labour (A.V.) - we strive (Alford) - we are eager (
The tribunal, before which disciples appear, is peculiar. (1) It is a Bema,* not a Thronos; a judgment seat for the investigation of
disciples,** not a throne for the arraignment of rebels: for the Judge (2 Tim.
4: 8) is
a certain king,
which would make
a reckoning with his servants (Matt. 18: 23). It is the first of our Lords three judgments (Rom.
14: 12; Matt. 25: 31; Rev. 20: 12) on His return; and judgment begins at the house of God
(1 Pet. 4:
17). (2) Thus those
examined are Christians only. We all - i.e., them that are
sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that call upon the name of our Lord in
every place (1 Cor.
1: 2): it
is a final investigation of the whole
* The portable tribunal carried about with him by a Roman
magistrate.
** Churches are judged now (Rev.
2: 5).
The Church is never judged corporately
- as the Body or Bride - either here or hereafter; but
disciples, apart from their collective standing, in their
individual responsibility as servants, must render account. So the
Church, as an entity, is never named in the Apocalypse, except once (Rev. 22: 17), where the reference is to the present Age;
nor do the children of God appear as aught but servants
throughout that book of judgment, except once (Rev.
21: 7),
when the Millennial Age has passed into the Eternal. The fact that the judgment of the [unregenerate, regenerate and apostate (Num. 16: 26; 1 Cor. 5: 13)] wicked is
by itself, separated by a thousand years (Rev. 20: 17), reveals that in 2 Cor.
5: 10, it is genuine Christians of whom Paul is speaking; all whose
shortcomings and failures will one day be exposed, and who therefore make it their
aim to avoid such defects (International
Critical Commentary). Individual judgment is not
possible for believers as such, for
in justification [by faith] no [regenerate] believer differs from any other; but
individual judgment as servants
yields a variety of adjudication as
infinite as the service and the sanctification.
The procedure is revealed as exclusively judicial: that each one
may receive the things done. Not, that each may receive something from God, but that each may receive the
things he himself has
done: it is not a
general granting of glory, irrespective of service., but an exercise of the
Divine Law, - as he hath done, so shall it be
done to him (Lev.
24: 19).
Be not deceived - is a word to disciples - God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap (Gal. 6: 7). Paul puts it with exquisite clearness, and twofold emphasis.
Whatsoever good thing - for a
judge approves - each one doeth, the same shall he receive again from the Lord, whether he be bond or free (Eph.
6: 8): on the other hand - Ye serve the
Lord Christ. For he that doeth wrong - for a judge
censures - shall receive again for the wrong that he hath done: and there is no
respect of persons (Col. 3: 25).
The evidence wholly decides the award: whether it
[the award] be good or
bad The Greek
points to the award: that each may receive according to the things done, whether it -
i.e., what he receives - be good or bad. Reward (as distinct from salvation,
which is through faith, against deserts) is strictly defined by [our] works. So Paul says: With me - as an example and model to all
Christians - it is a very small thing - it is a matter of the least
importance - that I should be judged of you (1 Cor. 4: 3) - the
[*
Keep in mind: It is forbearance when opposed that commends
the truth professed!
- G. H. Lang.]
* *
* * *
* *
798
RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH
By ERNEST J. LONG
IN these
days of declension and widespread departure from the truth of God, the task of
the Christian teacher is one of grave and growing responsibility. Happy the man
who, in his ministry of the Word, can affirm with the utter sincerity of the
Apostle Paul:- I do not handle the word of God deceitfully,
but, by manifestation of
the truth, commend myself to every man's
conscience in the sight of God (2 Cor. 4: 2). Pauls dying commission to Timothy was - preach the
Word. Now that is
surely another way of saying, declare the whole counsel of God, without fear, and without
reservation.
This is no light undertaking. It commits us to declare not
only pleasing truth, but pungent truth; though most of us certainly need the
bracing tonic - if not the outspoken rebuke - more than we need the soothing
syrup! Natural eloquence, and a novel message - particularly if it flatters the
carnal man - may fill a church, but it will never glorify Christ.
Now Paul, who is our pattern, was no mere man-pleaser.
If
I yet pleased man, he said, I should not be the servant of Christ (Gal. 1: 10). It mattered little that his carnal critics said of him, - His bodily
presence is weak, and his speech contemptible: in other words, he has neither personality nor eloquence. Here is
Pauls rejoinder to such critics (I am giving the virile rendering of
It is tremendously reassuring to remind ourselves that God has
foreseen the exceptional difficulties and dangers of these last days, and has
made the fullest provision for our needs. It is as true today as when Peter wrote
his Second Epistle that His divine power hath given unto us ALL THINGS that pertain unto life and godliness (2 Pet. 1: 3); and although we may be standing upon the very brink of the great apostasy
- the general landslide from the Faith - there
are certain things which, if we do them (says
Peter), WE SHALL NEVER FAIL. For not only is our faith sustained
and buttressed by exceeding great and precious promises, but all the resources of the Godhead are,
through the Holy Spirit, constantly available to us. The grace of God,
the power of God, and the truth of God are at the disposal of the Lords
children in every age: and let us remember that the grace that saves also suffices; the power that keeps also enables;
the truth that sanctifies also equips.
Then, too, it is greatly reassuring to remember that not only
is the Truth of God constant and invariable in every age, but that error
itself, even so-called modern error, is no
novelty, that it should take us by surprise. I believe the devil exhausted his
ingenuity centuries ago; for all pseudo-modem cults, stunt religions,
spiritisms, tongues movements and the rest are simply ancient errors in modern
guise - reappearances, recrudesences of early heresies
that assailed the Christian Church in the days of Paul and John, of Tertullian and Chrysostom, Augustine
and Cyprian. Were any of these
saints and worthies in the world today, they could immediately and infallibly
pigeon-hole such re-hashes as Christian
Science (falsely so-called), Millennial
Dawnism, Buchmanism, and a score of other isms.
Such isms, alas! have
split up, not merely Christiandom, but often the Church
of God itself into water-tight compartments of intolerant and mutually
exclusive little coteries.
In this age, as in every age, there is only one type of
Christian who is carried away by every new stunt religion; and that is the Christian who does not know his Bible.
The devil comes not always as a roaring lion, neither do his emissaries always
appear as fairly obvious wolves in sheeps clothing. They often turn up like
silver-tongued angels of light, complete with frock-coat and bed-side manner,
and they look upon the Christian who does not know his Bible as their lawful
prey.
Now let us bear in mind, in view of all this, that the Bible
is not only up-to-date, up-to-the-minute; it is over a thousand years ahead of the daily newspaper and of current
error. We may therefore accept Pauls advice to Timothy, the young teacher, as
the safest possible guide in these days when Satan is making a final, large-scale,
and alas! highly successful onslaught upon the citadel of the Churchs faith.
First of all, in his Second Letter to Timothy (1: 13) Paul reminds Timothy that truth is neither
fluid nor flexible. It is not something that you can conveniently pour into any
mould, or press into any shape. The whole counsel of God, therefore, cannot receive a purely
denominational impress. The exact opposite is the case. Truth is itself a
mould, a matrix, an exact pattern or form: the truth of God is expressed in
words: so the doctrine of Verbal Inspiration is simply the obvious insistence that
infallible truth can only be expressed in infallible words. And so Paul urges (verse 13 of 2 Tim. 1) - Hold fast the form of sound words. Hold tenaciously - never for a moment relax your grip - the form, the pattern, the inspired outline, of the sound
doctrine, the wholesome teaching, which you have heard from my lips.
To differ
from Paul is to confess oneself in error: to hearken to Paul is to sit
at the feet of Christ; for the great
apostle was Christs chosen vessel and
mouthpiece for the transmission to His Church of precious revelations of divine
truth that had been kept secret from the foundations of the world.
Later on, in his Second Letter to
Timothy, the last that Paul ever wrote, he underlines the duty and
responsibility of the Christian teacher in these words:- Study to show thyself approved
unto God, a workman that needeth not to be
ashamed, rightly
dividing the Word of Truth (2: 15). The context is illuminating.
In the previous verses Paul condemns those that strive about words to no
profit; whilst in
the following verse he condemns profane and vain babblings that
increase unto more ungodliness. To modernize the language and clarify the point at issue,
with younger readers especially in view, may I say that here, as ever, the
truth is indicated as a mean - a sane, wise, spiritual mean - between two
extremes.
In verse
14 Paul is warning against a narrow rigidity. In verse 16 he is opposing a wanton laxity. There is a narrowness that
begets exclusivism, and there is a broadmindedness that leads to ungodliness.
Both are abhorrent. In verse 14 there is
strife about words, Bible readings in which verbal polemics degenerate into
wordy contentions, clamorous strife, open discord; with the inevitable result
that the faith of those who listen is either unsettled or even completely overthrown.
Narrow-minded intolerance, masquerading as orthodoxy, was
in the Church in Pauls day: it is with us still. In verse 16, on the other hand, there is a laxity
in the pulpit that goes to more and more daring lengths of impiety. Such loose
teaching, says Paul, destroys the hearer like a deadly gangrene that eats
deeper and deeper. And Hymenaeus and Philetus - [both disbelievers and deniers of a future Salvation of SOULS
(1 Pet.
1: 5, 9,
R.V.); and of an
What, then, is Pauls ideal for Timothy,
for you, for me? Listen:- Study (strive; be diligent; seek earnestly -
[with the Holy Spirits help, for a mind free from all traditional
errors of interpretations and denominational traditions] -) to show thyself approved unto God (to
commend yourself to God; to set yourself in Gods
presence as one who has been tested, and proved worthy by trial; that
is what the words mean); a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed (one who needs not blush
for his work); RIGHTLY DIVIDING
THE WORD OF TRUTH.
* *
*
INTERCESSION
IN Gods
wonderful and gracious economy, prayer has a very definite place of value. For just
as the sun effects evaporation, and the wind transports the blessing of
fruitful rain, so the operation of Gods love upon our grateful and responsive
hearts means help and cheer to the needy. Corresponding blessings we enjoy
through those who pray for us - and we feel uplifted and encouraged when they write
or tell us of their prayerful remembrance. Prayer, not merely begging or
pleading, but the warm and lively interest of the heart, is the souls out-breathing, its effusion,
radiation, and is likened to incense, perfume, fragrance caught and conveyed by
angels (Acts 10: 3-4; Rev. 5: 8; 8: 3) in
refreshing, vivifying power, pleasing God and helping our fellow men.
Intercession is not forced or
strained. Our gracious Lord does not have to wring reluctant concessions from
an alienated Deity on our behalf. He intercedes or intervenes not as a mediator
in a quarrel, but as an intermediary and go-between for those already accepted
in the Beloved One. Besides, love is easy to be
entreated, like a kindly compassionate father, a tender devoted mother.
The Lord Jesus has had all things given into His Hand, and His intercession is
really transmutation or transmission of the Divine blessing, as the rays of the
Sun of Righteousness through the Spirit-taking of the things of Christ - convey
to us every good and perfect gift.
We, too, as intercessors, must outbreathe
love and joy and every blessing in His Name, unwearyingly to refresh the weary,
and to water our own souls, to His Glory.
- A. G. TILNEY.
* *
* * *
* *
799
THE KINGDOM OF THE THOUSAND YEARS
ALL of
the problems that are raised by the questions concerning the
[*NOTE: Nathaniel Wests book is available from:- icmbooksdirect.co.uk
First of all, let us mention, though with all too much
brevity, some of the characteristics of the 1,000 years, as Dr. West has
tabulated them.
(1) Satan, with his evil angels, will be imprisoned in the
Abyss for the 1,000 years. His power over man and the nations will be broken (Isa. 24:
21, 22; 17: 1; Rev. 20: 1).
(2) Antichrists kingdom, overthrown for ever, and the kingdoms
of this world with it, shall never be revived, nor antichrist and his
confederates ever reappear to dwell upon the earth (Isa. 24: 21, 22; Rev. 19: 20; 20: 10).
(3) There shall be but one kingdom in that day, the
(4) There shall be but one religion, that of Christ.
(5) All idols shall be destroyed.
(6) All
(7) War shall exist no more.
(8) Harmony shall be restored in creation, between man and
man, and a covenant of peace be made between man and the lower animal world.
(9) The
(10) Patriarchal years will return, in which a man 100 years
old shall be esteemed a child (Isa. 65: 20-22). The risen saints neither marry nor are given in
marriage (Matt. 22: 30); but the unglorified are a blessed seed and
their offspring with them (Isa. 65: 23).
(11)
(12) Jerusalem and Mount Zion, by means of physical convulsion
and geological changes suddenly effected through disruption, depression, fissure
and elevation, at the Lords appearing, shall be exalted, or lifted high,
above the surrounding hills, and the adjacent region be reduced to a plain,
like the Arabah, or Ghor, that runs from the slopes
of Hermon to the Red Sea (Isa. 64: 14; Micah 1: 3, 4; Judges 5: 4, 5; Psalm 97: 4, 5; Ex. 19: 18, 24; Hab. 3: 6, 10; Nah. 1: 5, 6; Matt. 27: 51, 52; Isa. 40: 13; 2: 2; Mic. 4: 1; Zech. 14: 4, 5, 10, 11; Jer. 31: 38-40).
(13) The City itself shall be built again, broadened,
enlarged, and adorned with the wealth of the nations, and the
(14) The Outcast of Israel and the Dispersed of
Judah, gathered
to enter the Kingdom, will return to their fatherland from the East, the West,
the North, the South, to sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, conducted
thither by Gentile hands, and presented as a holy Offering to the Lord Himself,
revealed in His glory.
(15) Ten men, of all nations, that is, a large number - in token of their
recognition of what the Lord in His glory does for the Jew in the hour of his
final deliverance - will take hold of
the skirt of a Jew, then honoured beyond all others,
and, detaining his step, beseech
his favour, as he moves to the Holy
City. The wiping away of the
reproach of Israel brings the national conversion of the Gentiles, international concerts of prayer, and the concourse of men to the Throne of
Jehovah to worship before the Lord.
(16) A perennial stream of living water shall flow from the
(17) A re-distribution and division of the Holy Land shall be
made according to the 12 tribes of
(18) There will be a cessation of sorrow, tears and death for
Gods people in that age.
(19) There will be a sevenfold fulness and increase of light,
solar and lunar, in that day.
(20) There will be a restoration of
(21) A yearly concourse of people from all nations shall go to
(22)
(23) The Jewish People and their Land, long divorced and
desolate, shall be remarried with grand solemnities, as a new bride to the
Lord, over whom He will joy with singing, and He will rest in His love.
(24) Around the land of Israel
thus glorious, and the Holy City, now the light of the world because of the glory of Christ, within it and on it, the nations of earth shall dwell in obedient and willing submission, and, blessed in Abrahams seed, and free from Satanic domination, enjoy the Millennial age of
righteousness, peace and rest.
* *
*
RESPONSIBILITY
Any scheme of prophetical teaching
which serves to slacken the witness of Christians in this apostate age, or to
undermine their faith, or to develop the attitude of pessimistic laissez faire among them, deserves to be received
with suspicion. It has bad flavour. It is subtly dangerous.
- EDWIN ORR.
-------
PROPHECY
The Prophetic News (Jan. 1942) reminds us that in the
sixteenth century Nostradamus (Micheal de Nostredame) among other remarkable predictions foretold
that in 1940 Europe would be in arms, the war beginning in August, 1939, when a German dictator, Hister, would plunge all
Europe into war, which would close in 1944. If some of the predictions of
Nostradamus really did occur - including, it is said, the Armada and the
execution of Charles I - it is an outstanding fulfilment of Jehovahs word: - If there arise in the midst of thee a prophet, and he give thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, when he spake unto thee, Let
us go after other gods, thou shalt not hearken
unto the words of that prophet (Deut,
13: 1).
But the prediction of Histler
is also peculiarly illuminating: for like all Spiritualistic or Pentecostalist
prophecies, it is not prophecy at all, since prophecy is an exact unfolding
of the future; while here the close yet inexact date and name indicate a shrewd
prediction based on facts which, unknown to man, are known (though imperfectly) to the spirit world.
-------
ADVENT
The Angles said to the Apostles:- This Jesus
shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him
going into heaven (Acts 1: 11) - that is, bodily, visibly, exactly as He went. A spirit hath
not flesh and bones as ye see me have (Luke 24:
39). Do our readers realise what
keen evangelical Christians can say of this return which is to be identical
with the ascent? The Free Presbyterian Magazine (Jen., 1942) writes:- This popular present-day dispensational false doctrine,
relative to the supposed pre-Millennarian Second Advent of Christ, is but a
side track cast up by the Devil. Indeed it has so permeated the Evangelical
section of the Church of the Grace of God. It is a crudely carnal,
Christ-dishonouring, un-Scriptural theory of the Second Coming of Christ which
cannot be too frequently exposed or too severely condemned, while we patiently
wait for the glorious spiritual millennial reign of Christ world-wade.
-------
SLEEP
We quote this not in order to comment on the spirit of it -
which would require a grave comment - but only to prove what ought to be
obvious: namely, that dear and earnest children of God such as these, who have
suffered great loss in defending the fundamentals of the Faith, themselves
expressly deny that they are watching for the
Second Advent, and therefore (it is obvious) must incur the consequences of unwatchfulness. The implicit
assumption of dominant prophetic study that all believers are watching is at once proved false, and topples over
like a house of cards. It is impossible to watch
for an event which is totally denied. If thou shalt
not watch, I will come as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will arrive over [see Greek] thee
(Rev. 3: 2) - Christ will have arrived in the clouds while
the unwatchful are unrapt. Dr. Chafor names an aged
negro who, when asked what value his belief in Christs soon coming was in his
life, said, Im sitting with my feet untangled,
-------
READY
Mr. Lindsay Glegg, in his A Comfort or a Craze? Gives an
excellent parable of the ready saint. When
* *
* * *
* *
800
WILL BELIEVERS HAVE PART
IN THE THOUSAND YEARS
By ROBERT GOVETT, M.A.
Doctrines
are being now taught, in relation to the
1. It is earthly and
Jewish.
2. We are not to seek it,
for we are in the kingdom already! And the entrance to it is of pure grace. It
is not a time of reward for good works, or of punishment for evil ones.
3. All believers of the
Church must enter the kingdom of glory; or, You must teach, that the Bride of
Christ will be a mutilated bride.
Let us then look at what the Scriptures of the New Testament
say. It will not be difficult to overthrow these doctrines from the words of
our Lord Jesus Christ. But here we are met by exceptions taken against some of
the witnesses.
You must not argue from our Lords
Sermon on the Mount. It was never intended for the Church! The Church was not
then thought of. Nor from the Epistle to the Hebrews. Epistles of Paul, who
alone preached the Church as the Body and Bride of Christ, are able to decide
this matter. The Sermon on the Mount was meant to be a guide only to a Jewish
remnant, to rise after the
1. When witnesses
are present in court, of great and decisive weight against one of the parties
in a suit, it is no wonder if exceptions are taken. The assertion that the
Sermon on the Mount was not meant for the
2. Again, our
Lord, in Matthew 16: 24-27, speaks of the
Kingdom, and enjoins a seeking of it at any present cost of life; while in Matthew
18: 17
& 18 He extends to the small assemblies
of believers about to rise, the same power which he had by anticipation given
to Peter.
3. If a brother
should refuse to own an offence given to one of the Assembly, Christ says, If
he shall neglect to listen to the two or three witnesses who have investigated
the affair, Tell it unto the Church (orAssembly); but if he neglect to hear even the Church (Greek), let him be unto thee as a
heathen man, and a publican: Matthew 18: 15-20.
4. When at Pentecost the Holy Ghost
descended to raise up the Church as Christs Body, the new Assembly at once
observed the commands of Christ, given in the Gospels. Peter called on inquirers,
desiring to know how they might escape being treated as the foes of Christ, to
repent and be immersed - each individual of them. They would then be sealed by
the Holy Ghost, and some of His gifts would be bestowed. By faith and immersion
three thousand joined the disciples that day. They were then led on, and continued
steadfastly in the apostles doctrine, and in
the fellowship of the breaking of bread, and in
the prayers.
Moreover, at once rich disciples sold house and land, and distributed to those
who were poor: Matthew 19: 27; Acts 2: 45; 4: 33 and 5: 11. In the case of Ananias and Sapphira, Peter used the keys of the Kingdom to lock against the two the entrance thereinto.
And Paul turned the key against the
incestuous Corinthian. But on his
repentance, the locked door was opened anew, and he proceeded onward on his way
to the hope set before him: 1 Corinthians 5 and 2 Corinthians 2: 5-11.
With regard to the Hebrews,
I think I have proved in my book, Christ Superior to
Moses and Aaron, that none but Paul could have written it. At all
events, it is an inspired letter, addressed to believers in Christ, as the
three following texts will prove.
Hebrews 4: 3 For we believers are entering into the rest:
Hebrews 10: 22
Let us draw near with true heart in fulness of faith,
having had our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience,
and the body bathed in clean water: Here are faith, pardon, immersion. (Greek.)
Hebrews 10: 38
& 39
Now the righteous by faith shall live; but if he draw back, My soul
hath no pleasure in him. But we are not (men) who draw back unto perdition
[destruction];
but who believe to the saving of the soul:
I shall then with a good conscience quote the words both of
Paul and of the Lord Jesus to believers as decisive, in relation to the way of
obtaining the millennial kingdom. Let us then inquire about the way of
entrance. These brethren say: We are not to seek the
Kingdom, (1) Because it is Jewish. Does our Lord say so?
a. Seek ye first the
b. Rather seek ye the
c. Know ye not, that they who run
in the stadium (race-course) run all indeed, but one (only) obtaineth the prize. Run as they do, that ye may
obtain it: 1 Corinthians 9: 24.
d. This one
thing I do, forgetting indeed the things behind,
but stretching after those in front, I press on to the goal, for
the prize of our calling above, by God in Christ
Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are adults, be thus
minded: (Greek) Philippians. 3:
14. If by any means
I may attain to the (select) resurrection that is from among the dead:
Philippians 3: 11.
Those who desire further evidence may look at 1 Thessalonians 2: 11
& 12; 2
Thessalonians 1: 4 & 5.
2. But opponents
have a second reason why Christians should not seek the kingdom. Seek not! We are in the kingdom already! Colossians 1: 12
& 13.
This is an odd reason to follow after the declaration, that
the
The true statement is, that the millennial
a. For it is written, that
Abraham had two sons; one of the slave-woman
(Hagar), and one of the
free-woman (Sarah). But the one from the slave-woman was begotten according to
the flesh; but the one from the free-woman,
by the promise. Which things
are to be allegorized, for these (women) are two
Covenants: one from
There are then two covenants or testaments, two births, two
cities - (1)
At the end of this evil age, The Son of Man shall send
forth His angels, and they shall gather together
out of His Kingdom all stumbling-blocks, and
those who do iniquity; and shall cast them into
the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.
Here is the kingdom of the Son of Man, which is the earth: Psalm 115: 16 and Psalm 8. But what have we next? Then shall the righteous shine out like the sun in
the Kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears
to hear, let him hear: Matthew 13: 41-43. Here is the other department of the millennial kingdom - the
heavenly - wherein lies the inheritance of those begotten from above. The
kingdom which Paul so earnestly sought and will attain, is the heavenly. The Lord
shall deliver me from every evil work, and
preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom: 2
Timothy 4: 18.
3. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul adds, that the approved out
of the earthly people and out of the heavenly shall both be in the one
The apostles answer is in general, that God has varieties of
bodies in His power - power too to change one body for another. There are
different kinds of bodies on earth; the body of man differs from that of
cattle, from that of fish, and of birds. There is also a marked distinction
between the bodies of earth, and those of the heaven.
There are also heavenly bodies and
earthly bodies; but the glory of the heavenly is
one, and that of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another
glory of the stars; for star differeth from star
in glory. So also is the resurrection of the
dead: 1 Corinthians 15: 35-42. The apostle is showing that the
saints present bodies are not fit for the millennial kingdom; not even the
bodies of the living; how much less those of the dead, corrupting in the tomb!
Flesh and blood (the bodies of living saints) cannot have part in the
So then, my beloved, become steadfast,
immovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that
your labour is not in vain in the Lord: 1
Corinthians 15: 47. This passage, then, is opposed to two
other principles of opponents - (1)
We are diligently to seek the Kingdom; and (2) reward of the saints diligent service is certain.
But on behalf of these views a text is presented by them Giving thanks
to the Father, who has made us meet to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. Who delivered us from the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of His love:
Colossians 1: 12
& 13.
Now are these words intended to carry with them the assurance
of entry into the millennial kingdom of glory, after passing before the
judgment-seat of Christ? By no means! What follows?
I. And you, that were sometime
alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of His flesh through
death, to present you holy and blameless and unreproved in His sight: IF ye
continue in THE FAITH grounded and
settled, and be not moved away from THE HOPE of the Gospel which ye have
heard: Colossians 1: 21-23.
II. Beware lest any spoil (strip) you
through philosophy and vain deceit, after the
tradition of men, after the rudiments of the
world, and not after Christ: Colossians 2: 18.
Ye are complete in Him, who is the Head of all principality and power: Colossians 2: 10 -
having the circumcision wrought by Christ without human
hands; a circumcision which removes the body of
the flesh. Buried with Him in the immersion,
in which also ye were raised with Him by faith in the
operation of God, who raised Him from the dead:
Colossians 2: 12. This immersion most of the opponents
have not obeyed - though it is the foundation of the inspired argument here. As
dead with Christ to Moses, and risen with Him, care not if the men of law
condemn you, as non-observant of the festivals of
III. Let none cheat you of your reward by affected humility and
worship of angels: Colossians 2: 18. If you died with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why,
as if you were alive in the world, should you be subject to the ritual commands
of any mere man? Colossians 2: 20. Their obedience to Christs command of
immersion is the way in which the apostle shows them their freedom from Moses
law, and much more from the merely human precepts of the errorist of their
neighbourhood. As risen with Christ in His ordinance received by faith, seek
the things above - and be looking for His appearing, who is our Life, and with
whom you shall be manifested in glory: Colossians 3: 1-4.
But here an opponent pleads against any submission to the
ordinance then observed. Baptism is, indeed, the mark
of dutiful obedience; but the non-fulfilment of it will carry with it no
penalty, since we are not under law, but under pure grace. What, then,
says Paul about the position of the Christian as now under grace? Sin shall not
have dominion over you: for ye are not under law,
but under grace. What
then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law, but
under grace? God forbid: Romans 6: 14
& 15.
He goes on to say, that if, after taking your place and
privileges as a believer, you obey sin instead of righteousness, you will, in
the coming day, be adjudged to be the servants of sin, and receive its wages: Romans 6: 16. Once you were slaves of wickedness, but you professedly left
that, to become servants of righteousness: Romans 6: 17, 18. You served sin fully then; serve righteousness fully and
exclusively now. You did not serve sin by halves then; serve not Christ by
halves now. Looking back over your past career of ungodliness, is there ought
of which you can boast? The end of such things is death: Romans 6: 19-21.
But now being made free from sin,
and become servants of God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end eternal [Gk. aionios] life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord: Romans 6: 22
& 23. In regard of Christs entrance-rite
Scriptures teach, that the absence of [believers] baptism will exclude from the
And all the
multitude that heard Him, and the publicans
justified God, being baptized with the baptism
of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected
the counsel of God against themselves, being not
baptized by him: Luke 7: 29, 30.
b. Jesus answered, Verily,
verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be begotten out of water and the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the
c. We were buried with Him (Christ) by immersion into death, in order
that, as Christ was raised up from the dead by
the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life. For IF we became grown together in the
likeness of His death, why we shall also be of
the (first) resurrection: (Greek) Romans 6:
4, 5. Will there be no punishment to
the disobedient?
d. That servant which knew his Lords will, and prepared not himself, neither
did according to His will, shall be beaten with
many stripes: Luke 12: 47. Present excommunication is a witness to future exclusion from the [millennial] Kingdom.
e. Do not ye judge them that are within? Them that are without God will judge. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person:
1 Corinthians 5: 12,
13 (Greek). The next chapter says:
f. Know ye not,
that unrighteous persons shall not inherit (have
part in) the
These then who were baptized and
justified, having the beginning of sanctification, were no hypocrites, who had
crept in unawares. Yet the apostle does not recall his word - Nay, ye are doing wrong, and defrauding,
and that your brethren: 1 Corinthians 6: 8. But there is one plea which forms the
citadel of opponents. Then you believe in a mutilated
Bride - a thing abhorrent to God and to His Son! Not so! The Bride
shall be presented, at length, in full completeness. But WHEN?
You teach, that it will be presented in perfection as soon as
Christ appears, and that the Church will, with Jesus the Lord, reign over the
earth during the millennium. Will you please prove this from the New Testament?
Observe that the Bride of the Apocalypse, with one exception - Revelation 22: 17
- (and
that named after the prophecy is finished, and the Judgment Day is past)
- is NOT THE CHURCH. I shall
startle some; but I affirm that Paul in his epistles never speaks of the Church
as THE BRIDE OF CHIRIST! What then is the Bride of the
Apocalypse? The city of
I. And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven
vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked
with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the Bride,
the Lambs wife. And he
carried me away in the Spirit (and set me) on a
great and high mountain, and showed me the city,
the holy
II. I will
kill her (Jezebels) children with death
(pestilence); and all the churches shall know that I am
He who searcheth the reins and hearts; and I
will give to each of you according to your works: Revelation 2: 22,
23. [The establishment, who
allow women to teach from the Holy Scriptures today, would do well to heed this severe warning from the Head of the Church! - D. M. Panton.]
III. And he that overcometh, and
keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I
give power over the nations. And he shall rule
them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a
potter shall they be broken to shivers; even as
I received of My Father: Revelation 2:
26, 27. The style of doctrine I am opposing
insists on the privileges of the Corporation, THE CHURCH, to which, if once you belong, all is well. The rapture of the Church, the
glory of the Bride of Christ, and so on, are much on their lips. Now this is not the style of the New Testament; but it dwells rather on
individual responsibility, and the award to be rendered to each believer.
Therefore For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey,
who left his house, and
gave authority to his servants, and to each his
work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: Mark
13: 34, 35. Secondly Repent,
and be immersed, every
one of you: Acts 2: 38. Thirdly Each shall receive his own
reward, according to his own labour: 1 Corinthians 3: 8.
Finally The day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of
God, who will render to each according to his
deeds: Romans 2: 5, 6. These are a specimen. In conclusion, as
faith is necessary to obtain eternal life, so WALK (or sanctification) is necessary to entrance into the [millennial] Kingdom. On this many texts may be
cited; I will content myself with four.
1. Let us walk honestly, as in
the day; not as
rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and
wantonness, not in strife, and envying. But put ye on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for
the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof: Romans 13: 13.
2. I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech
you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with all longsuffering, forbearing
one another in love; endeavouring to keep the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace: Ephesians
4: 1-3.
3. Each shall receive his own reward, according to his own labour: 1
Corinthians 3: 8.
4. As ye have, therefore, received Christ Jesus (as) the
Lord, so walk ye in Him. Rooted and built up in Him, and
stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught,
abounding therein with thanksgiving: Colossians 2: 6, 7.
For Scripture points out a number of sins which will exclude
from the [messianic] kingdom. There are several texts
addressed to believers, which declare that some shall not enter the kingdom. I
need not quote them all.
a. Unbelief in
the millennium. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the
b. Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
c. For this is
the will of God, even your sanctification,
that ye should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel
in sanctification and honour. Not in the lust of
concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know
not God: that none go beyond or defraud his
brother in the matter: because that the Lord is
the Avenger of all such, as we have forewarned
you and testified. For God hath not called us
unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despiseth,
despiseth not man, but God, who hath also put within us His Holy Spirit: 1 Thessalonians 4: 3-8. This passage just precedes the account of the descent of the Lord
Jesus, to take to His presence the living and the dead of believers.
d. The
unforgiving, far from entering the kingdom, shall be sorely punished. So likewise
shall My heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye
forgive from your hearts not each his brother their trespass: Matthew 18: 35.
e. Something in
high estimation now among men will then exclude. The rich young man turned away
from Christs call.
f. Then said Jesus
unto His disciples, Verily I say unto you,
That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of
heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle,
than for a rich man to enter into the
INSINCERITY OF THE
DOCTRINE
Firstly doctrine of the Lord Jesus and his apostles is, that
His people are to be holy, of which His sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in
them is the proof: Romans 5: 5; 8:
2-11. Secondly the doctrine of Paul is,
that the coming Day of Gods judgment on the living will affect every soul of
man that doeth evil, with indignation and wrath,
tribulation and anguish! Romans 2: 8. We are therefore to abstain from sin,
and to do that which is good. For Christ our Passover is crucified for us,
therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of
malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth:
1 Corinthians 5:
7, 8. Follow peace with
all, and the holiness without which none
shall see the Lord.
But the plain English of this wicked system is: Keep up appearances;
but know, that Christ died to grant license to the Church to sin! Paul could say: Having therefore the promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and
spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God: 2 Corinthians 7:
1. But this doctrine removes the fear of God, and practically
opens the door to sin, declaring, with Satan in
If this scheme of doctrine were laid before an honest man of
the world, he would be apt to say: If these be the
principles of Christ, as accepted by His advanced followers, I had better
remain a son of Adam the first! Doctrine so
corrupt must inevitably lead on to corruption in practice.
MAY THE LORD AWAKEN HIS TRUE HEARTED ONES
TO STAND ALOOF FROM EVIL,
AND PURSUE AFTER HOLINESS!
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THE END