-
*
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____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
INDEX
301. WORD STUDY by Eugene Stock.
302. BAPTISM: ITS MEANING AND METHOD
303. THE LAMP AND THE LIGHT
304. BRITISH-ISRAEL REFUTED by Fred John Meldau.
305. SHALOW SOIL AND THORNY SOIL by Edward Greswell, B.D.
306. AN EXPOSITION OF JOHNS GOSPEL by F. F. Bruce, M.A.
307. NEW TESTAMENT STUDIES by W. Wilcox.
308. THE PROPHECY OF EZEKIEL by H. L. Ellison, B.A., B.D.
309. BEHOLD MY SERVANT by A. Mc Donald Redwood.
310. SEVEN OLD TESTAMENT FEASTS by A. Mc Donald Redwood.
311. IS THE BLESSED VIRGIN PRESENTLY IN HEAVEN
AS ROMAN THEOLOGY AVOWS? by
G. H. Lang.
312. THE PROGRESSIVE REVELATION
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT by A. T. Pierson, D.D.
313. NOTES ON HEBREWS by W. E. Vine, M.A.
314. THE STORY OF THE HIGH ALTITUDES by A. Mc Donald
Redwood.
315. THE TWOFOLDNESS OF DIVINE TRUTH by Robert Govett,
M.A.
316. THE CHALLENGE OF A DEFERRED ADVENT by D. M. Panton,
B.A.
317. AN EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN by Robert
Govett, M.A.
318. GRACE AND DRUGS
319. AN EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN by Robert
Govett, M.A.
320. THE DREAD ALTERNATIVE by A. Z. Conrad.
321. DANGERS IN LIFE AND TESTIMONY by W. Wilcox.
322. STUDIES IN PHILIPPIANS (chapter
2) by R. North.
323. THE PAROUSIA OF CHRIST
324. THE GOLDEN DAY by Mary Ardine.
325. THE BODY OF THE FIRST RAPT by D.
M. Panton, B.A.
326. THE CHALLENGE OF A DEFERRED ADVENT by D. M. Panton,
B.A.
327. SUGGESTIVE STUDIES IN ISAIAH by H. A. Woolley.
328. THE DRAMA OF THE APOCALYPSE by D. M. Panton, B.A.
329. THE TRUTHFULNESS OF THE APOCALYPSE by J. A. Seiss,
D.D.
330. THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD by D. M. Panton, B.A.
331. THE SINGLE SEED
332. THE APOSTLE PETER AND THE ADVENT by Theodore
Roberts.
333. PRAYER OF AMOS by Derek Rous: (June 2019.)
334. THE FIVE FAITHFUL SAYINGS by A. McDonald Redman.
335. THE TESTIMONY OF BIBLE PROPHECY by Dr. Wilbur M.
Smith: (
336. WORLD LEADERS IN THE FINAL CRISIS by W. W. Fereday.
337. THE THEOPHANIES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT by Alex Sutter.
338. NOTES ON HEBREWS by W. E. Vine, M.A. (
339. THE HEBREW PSALTER by E. W. Rogers (Psalm 2.)
340. HOW TO STUDY AND UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE (Proverbs 2: 1-5.)
341. EXEGICAL STUDY OF COLOSSIANS (Chapter 4: 2.)
342. CONTROVERSY by D. M. Panton, B. A.
343. SOME DIFFICULTIES REMOVED by James Payne.
344. ESCAPE FROM THE TRIBULATION by James Payne.
345. AMBITION GOOD OR BAD by Rev. David Clarke
(Terrace Row Presbyterian Church, Coleraine.)
346. A DISILLUSIONED MODERNIST by D. R. Davies.
347. PERSECUTION ON THE HORIZON by Bernard Manning.
348. THE JEWISH REMNANT by Benjamin Willis Newton.
349. THE PHILISTINES by David Richardson.
350. HADES by Philip Schaff,
D.D.
*
* *
301
WORD STUDY
Doctrine in the Epistles
By
There are two Greek words in the N.T. which signify doctrine or teaching - that
is either the thing taught or the act of teaching. These are didache and didaskalia. The former
only occurs twice in the Pastoral Epistles, though common elsewhere; while the latter
is specially characteristic of them, occurring fifteen times, and only five
times elsewhere. The A.V. translates them both doctrine in every case; the R.V. has doctrine ten
times and teaching five times for didaskalia, and teaching both times for didache doctrine. Bishop Bernard* reads
doctrine fourteen times and teaching three times, while Dr. Plummer**
thinks didaskalia generally means teaching and didache doctrine. So doctors differ! Adopting the R.V. here, we have
the following occurrences of didaskalia (look them up and compare them carefully): 1 Tim. 1: 10; 4: 1, 6, 13, 16; 5: 17; 6: 1, 3; 2 Tim. 3: 10, 16; 4: 3; Titus 1: 9; 2: 1, 7, 10.
*
Comb. Gk.Test.
** Expository Bible
And
the following of didache: 2 Tim. 4: 2; Tit. 1: 9.
Four times, it will be seen, Paul speaks of sound doctrine. We
find also sound
words twice (1 Tim. 6: 3; 2 Tim. 1: 13), sound in the faith twice (Tit.
1: 13; 2: 2), and sound speech once (Tit. 2: 8). This
word is very interesting, and means healthy or, healthful, as in the R.V. margin. The A.V. has wholesome in 1 Tim. 6: 3. The word
(or a connected one) is whole in the
Gospels, where sick men are made whole. The
Greek adjective is hugies, and the
verb hugiaino, and we can
easily see the origin of our word hygiene.
We are all familiar with the phrases sound and unsound teaching,
sound and unsound doctrine, sound in the Faith;
and we owe them to these Epistles. But notice that the expressions really mean healthful, healthy, wholesome. There is such a thing as spiritual hygiene. Am I
spiritually sick? I need spiritual treatment that will heal me, make me
healthy. Am I spiritually well? I need spiritual food that will keep me in good
health. Now, Paul not only lays stress on sound doctrine; he gives us a test
whereby to try it. Look at 1 Tim. 1: 10, 11, sound doctrine
is doctrine which is according to the gospel
of the glory of the blessed God,
that very Gospel, that Glad Tidings, which is committed to our trust, as it was
to Pauls. Look also at 1 Tim. 6: 3, where sound words are
identified with the
words of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and with the
doctrine which is according to godliness. Liddon
thus analyses this verse:
(1), In its
substance, morally healthy discourse.
(2) In its source,
coming from our Lord Jesus Christ.
(3) In its standard,
corresponding to the needs of piety.
The phrase even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ is very interesting. What words would they be? The
three Gospels, even if written (as I for one think), could not then be widely
known. But those narratives to which Luke
alludes (ch. 1: 1), may have
been scattered about; and most scholars now think many of His discourses were
contained in a lost document, which they call Q.
Isolated sayings of Christ were certainly in mens mouths; one is quoted in Acts 20: 35,
and others (called logia) have been found in the sands of
There
is also the word the Truth used in these
Epistles of the Gospel, a word which assures us that the Faith (yet another phrase) is no collection of cunningly-devised fables, or even something which has an element of uncertainty
in it, something which may possibly be true, but of which we cannot he quite
sure. Twelve times in our Epistles does Paul apply to the doctrine of the
Gospel of the word aletheia, the Truth
(besides in 1 Tim. 2:
7, where the word twice refers to speaking
the truth): here are the references: 1 Tim. 2: 4; 4: 15; 4: 3; 6: 5; 2 Tim. 2: 15, 18, 25; 3: 7, 8; 4: 4; Titus 1: 1, 14.
Now
while we naturally speak of believing the Gospel, we speak rather of knowing the
Truth. The Glad Tidings are received into the heart; the
Truth - that is, the doctrine - is grasped by the mind. And so we find it in
these Letters. Of the twelve passages just quoted, five are concerned with knowing the Truth. And this brings us to the interesting
Greek words gnosis and epignosis. The latter word, which is the stronger, and generally
means thorough
knowledge, and its cognate verb,
are found in the five places where knowledge of the Truth is referred to; while the more ordinary word gnosis occurs only in 1 Tim. 6: 20, where knowledge (A.V. science) falsely so-called is mentioned. Very simple faith, if with but little knowledge,
is sufficient for salvation, as with Cowpers cottager in his Truth:
Just knows, and knows no more, her Bible
true -
A truth the brilliant Frenchman never knew;
And in that charter reads, with sparkling
eyes,
Her title to a treasure in the skies.
But we should not he lazily, content with a minimum of
knowledge. Pauls prayer for the Colossians (1:
9, 10)
was that they might be increasing in the
knowledge of God and filled with the knowledge of
His will; and for the Philippians
(1: 9), that
their love might abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment; and so also for the Ephesian Churches (4: 13); and in
all these cases it is the stronger word epignosis that he
uses. This word occurs twenty times in
the N.T.. fifteen of them being in Pauls Epistles. The ordinary word gnosis occurs
twenty-nine times, twenty-two of which are in Paul. Both, therefore are
distinctly Pauline words.
There
is, however, a pursuit of knowledge which is unsanctified and dangerous. Knowledge wrote
Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor.
8: 1), puffeth up, but love
buildeth up (see R.V. margin).
The day came, not many years after his time, when the Gnostics
arose, who exemplified in their teaching what gnosis falsely
so-called is. They claimed to
lead their disciples (as Bishop Moule
puts it) past the common herd of mere believers to a superior and gifted circle show should
know the mysteries of being, and who by such knowing should live emancipated from the slavery of
matter, ranging at liberty in the world of spirit. We can see how the teachers in Timothys day anticipated these
errors, and we may perceive that the advanced
thinkers of the first century did not differ much from the advanced
thinkers of the twentieth!
Our
Lord Himself gives us the key of the position. If ye abide in My word, He said (John 8: 31, 32), then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the Truth, and
the Truth make you free. Justly has Dr Griffith Thomas reminded us Christianity
is Christ. The Lord Himself said, I am the Truth. Which reminds me of a once-familiar anagram on
Pilates question put to the
Prisoner standing before him (John 18: 38), What is truth?
In Latin this question would be Quid est veritas? and
these letters rearranged make Vir est qui adest, It is the
Man Who is here before thee.
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WATCH
The
word occurs 27 times in the, N.T. It refers in the majority of instances to spiritual
vigilance, and in this sense is
the translation of three Greek words which are worth noting:
1. Agrupneo: To abstain
from sleep, to keep awake. Occurs in Matt 13: 23; Luke 21: 36; Eph. 6: 18; Heb. 13: 17.
2. Gregoreo: A stronger word.
Represents a more active wakefulness, as a result of arousing effort, calling
for resolution of will and desire. Occurs
in Matt. 24: 42, 43; 25: 13; 26: 38, 40, 41; 1 Cor. 16: 13; Col. 4: 2; 1 Thess. 5: 6, etc.
3.
Nepho: Contains
the additional idea of wakefulness guarding against beclouding influences such
as strong drink: hence it also
includes the idea of sobriety. Occurs in 2 Tim.
4: 5; 1 Pet. 4: 7.
Hence the full force of the thought is to keep awake,
to keep active, and in order to both to keep sober-minded, avoiding all
benumbing or enervating seductions.
*
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302
BAPTISM: ITS
MEANING AND METHOD
GREEK
LEXICONS
The word baptize is a Greek word dressed in English clothes.
It is not a translation from [the Greek word
] but
a transliteration, with the mere change of
the final letter in the ultima.
The many Greek lexicographers of to-day give evidence that
means to dip, to plunge under water, to submerge, to immerse, etc.-
Thayer, Liddell & Scott, White, Berry, Hinds & Noble, Hickie, Bagster, Dunbar,
Pickering, Greenfield, Groves, Schoetgenus, Donegan, Robinson, Green, Bass, Dawson, Jones, Fradensdorf, Hedericus, Suicer, Schleusner, Lascarides, Cremer, Laing, Leigh, Maltby, Parkhurst, Young, Sophocles, Bloomfield, Wahl, Valpy, Schwarz, Cyril, Pasor, Simson, Mintert, Stock, Pollux, Morel, Estienne Wright, Schrevelius, Sessa and De Ravanis, Dalmer, Constantine,
Scapula, Stephens, Wilke, Dugard,
Alstedius, Suidas, Bretschneider, Robertson, Ewing, Loveland, Kontopoulos, Bullinger, Simons, et al. These many scholars
are among the various religious persuasions extant. When a scholar gives out an
opinion, and his scholarship is at stake, he usually takes care to give it
right. Is it possible that all these many scholars are mistaken together, and
that on the same point?
HISTORY
Testimony of Neander
Baptism was administered, at first, only to adults, as men
were accustomed to conceive of baptism and faith as strictly connected. We have
all reason for not deriving infant baptism from apostolic institutions.
- Church
History, Vol. I, p. 311.
In respect to the form of baptism, it was in conformity with
the original institution and the original import of the symbol, performed by
immersion. -Ibid, p. .310.
It is certain, that Christ did not ordain infant baptism.
- Christian
Religion, p. 360.
Without the conscious participation of the person baptized,
and his own individual faith. ... We have every reason for holding infant
baptism to be no Apostolic institution, and that it was something foreign at
that first stage of Christian development. At first, baptism necessarily marked
a distinct era in life, when a person passed over from a different religious
standpoint to Christianity; when the regeneration, sealed by baptism, presented
itself as a principle of moral transformation, in opposition to the earlier
development. In meeting the pretence that
infant baptism sprang from Apostolic tradition, he answers: That such a tradition should first be recognized in the
third century is evidence rather against, than for, its Apostolic origin. For it
was an age when a strong inclination prevailed to derive from the apostles
every ordinance which was considered of special importance, and when, moreover,
so many walls had been thrown up between it and apostolic times, hindering the
freedom of prospect. - Armitages History,
p. 162.
The testimony of Neander shows plainly that the
apostolic mode of baptism was immersion and that infant baptism had its origin
in the third century, A.D.
Testimony of Mosheim
In this century (first)
baptism was administered in convenient places without the public assemblies;
and by immersing the candidate, wholly in water. - Church History, Vol. 1, p. 87.
Testimony of Waddington
The ceremony of immersion (the oldest form of baptism) was performed
in the name of the three Persons of the Trinity. - Waddingtons Church History, p. 46.
Testimony of Justin Martyr (A.D.
139)
For in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe,
and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they received the
washing with water.- Anti-Nicene Fathers, Vol. I, p. 183.
Testimony of Origen
Man therefore through this washing is buried with Christ in
regeneration.
Testimony of Tertullian
For the law of dipping has been imposed, and the formula
prescribed: Go, he saith, teach the nations, dipping them into the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. - Treatise on Baptism, chapter 13.
Testimony of Cyprian (A.D. 250)
For if the apostle does not
speak falsely when he says, As many of you as are dipped into Christ have put
on Christ, certainly he who has been baptized among them into Christ, has put
on Christ. - (See Immersion, J. T. Christian, p.
116).
Testimony of Dollinger
Baptism
by immersion continued to be the prevailing practice of the church as late as
the fourteenth century. - Church History, Vol. II, P. 294. This
is strong proof as Dollinger was a Catholic author
and spoke as he understood his doctrine.
Testimony of Schaff
Finally, as to the outward mode of administering this
ordinance; immersion, and not sprinkling, as unquestionably the original normal
form. This is shown by the very meaning of the original Greek words baptizo, baptisma, baptismos, used
to designate the rite. - History of the Apostolic Church, Vol. II, Book 4.
Testimony of Harnack
Baptism undoubtedly signifies immersion. - Schaffs Teaching of the Twelve, p. 50. This ought to serve as strong proof, as
Dr. Harnack was a noted German church historian.
Testimony of Dr. Wall
There had been, as I said, some synods in the diocese of
Testimony of Kurtz
Baptism was administered by complete immersion. -
See his History.
Testimony of
I have traced the practice
of the British churches, relative to baptism, from their commencement until the
time that sprinkling was first introduced among them; and I found that in the
first three centuries no other rite was used as baptism but that of immersion;
and no other subjects were baptized but those of adults upon a profession of
their faith.
MODERNISM
I
should like to indulge in a little autobiography. My only claim to discuss
Modernism at all lies in the fact that, although emphatically not a Modernist,
I am a Modern. When I began my university career about a dozen years ago I was
the kind of case with which Modernism claims
to be especially competent to deal - a young man brought up in one of the
straitest sects of nineteenth-century rationalism and just beginning to be
aware of a need and yearning for religion. Yet I cannot remember a single occasion
during the whole process of my conversion upon which it even occurred to me to
regard Modernism as a live option. The
Modernist had his problems, but they were emphatically not mine. He was
worried, for example, about miracles, but I was worried about God, and I always
knew that once I could arrive at the stage of believing in the Living God of
the Bible I should have no particular difficulty about the Virgin Birth or the
Empty Tomb. He was worried about the authorship of the Fourth Gospel, but I was
worried about the nature of man, and desperately anxious to find a key to the
solution of the everlasting private and public perplexities of human beings. If
the Church could tell me what a man is - and stupendous achievement of
revelation and grace, she could! - I was not particularly disposed to question
her tradition as to the authorship of the Fourth Gospel. Later on I discovered
that my attitude towards Modernism was in no way peculiar to myself, but was
shared by other thoughtful members of my generation, and not of my generation
only; indeed, one might go so far as to say that the vast mass of thinking
people, Christian and non-Christian alike, are united in their rejection of the
conventional Modernist compromise.
- J. V. LANGMEAD
CASSERLEY.
-------
In
the prayer our Lord taught His disciples, all the relationships in which we
stand to God are taken up. The believer prays as - 1. A CHILD FROM HOME. Our Father,
etc. 2.
A WORSHIPPER. Hallowed, etc. 3. A
SUBJECT. Thy kingdom come. 4. A SERVANT. Thy
will be dome. 5. A
BEGGAR. Give us, 6. A DEBTOR. Forgive us. 7. A SINNER AMID TEMPTATION AND EVIL. Lead us not into temptation.
*
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303
THE LAMP AND
THE LIGHT
Of John the Baptist several things are said which have
never been said of any other man. John is the only man - apart from Christ and
Antichrist - who was personally foretold in the Old Testament. John is the only
man of whom it has ever been said that he was filled with the Holy Ghost from
his mothers womb. John is the only man who - so far as we know - has ever seen
the Holy Ghost upon the earth. John is the only man whom our Lord ever called
great, and Jesus declared that no greater had ever been born. John was one of
the most wonderful men who ever lived.
One
consequence is obvious. We might ransack the ages, and search through all
nations, and find no witness to Christ so extraordinarily competent. The
Levites, Gods appointed teachers of
Johns
first direct testimony to Christ springs out of the challenge of the Levites. Why then baptizest
thou, if thou art not the Christ? It is most remarkable that the Levites did not object
to the Baptism: they objected to the Baptizer. Johns answer is profound. This
is the answer that he implies. Isaiah, and other prophets, predicted two baptisms:
one of water - wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings (Is. 1: 16) - a baptism of repentance; and one of spirit - I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed (Is. 44: 3). Now men
can wash themselves - the water baptism is human; but no man can immerse
himself, or others, in the Spirit of God - the Spirit baptism is Divine. John could baptize in water, and did; but the Baptizer in the Spirit must be God. The voice of one that crieth, Prepare ye
in the wilderness the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a high way for
our
God.
What
did the Voice next say? No sooner had the Voice revealed Who had come than he
revealed why; though he goes back again to the Who, because the Why is valuable,
or worthless, entirely according to the Who. This is He of whom I
said, after me cometh a man which is become before
me: for He was before me. Jesus ranked above John because Jesus
had come out of eternity. This alone
justifies and establishes the Atonement. The North American Indians asked
Brainerd, - How can one man alone die for a world?
Brainerd answered, - A sovereign is a solitary gold
coin; but it equals in value 240 pence, because its quality is so much greater:
so Who Christ was makes all the difference to
what He did. Weigh God against the
world, and which outweighs the other? Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.
What
does the Voice mean by the Lamb? Once a
year the Mohammedans of Calcutta - though Islam is no believer in Sacrifice -
offer up an annual lamb or kid. The person who presents the offering lays his
hand on the animals head, saying, - For my head I
give thine. Then he touches the ears, mouth, eyes, etc., each time
repeating, For my ears, thy ears; for my mouth, thy
mouth; for my eyes, thy eyes. Lastly, the priest, or moulvie, takes a knife, and, as the offerer says, For my life, thy life, he plunges it into the heart
of the lamb or kid; and then absolves the offerer from sin. The blood of Christ
is efficient in all believers, but it is also sufficient for the whole world. Behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world. John does not see the blood, he only sees the Lamb:
God says, When I
see the blood - the blood is visible only after a lamb is killed - I will pass over you (Ex. 12: 13). John
saw
What
is the next utterance of the Voice? John now reveals how he recognized Jesus. I knew Him not: but He that sent me to baptize with water, He said unto me, Upon
whomsoever thou shalt see the Spirit descending, is the Baptizer with the Holy Ghost. Jesus so veiled
Himself by taking flesh, and the flesh He took was so much that of a common man
- He came not with the beauty of an Absalom or a Saul - that He could not be
recognized as Messiah by bodily sight. Jewish tradition said that Messiah was
to remain unknown until Elijah, as forerunner, should anoint him, and so make
him known. Now our Lord Himself says that John came in the spirit and power of
Elijah (Luke
1: 17); and though John did not
baptize Him with the Spirit - God is the sole Baptizer with the Spirit - John saw the
Dove descend, and abide on Christ. How exquisitely this reveals the spirit of
the Gospel! Humility - that the Persons of the Godhead should stoop to be
pictured by animals: sacrifice - both the Lamb and the Dove were sacrificial animals:
harmlessness - probably the two most defenceless animals in the world: an
earthly and a heavenly - the incarnate Christ upon the earth and the heavenly
Dove alighting for a time upon the world: the Lamb to die, the Spirit
to give life: - what a picture of God's love!
Johns
last testimony is the most pathetic, and in some respects the most important,
of all. I have
seen, and have borne witness, that this is the Son of God. I have lived: the purpose of my life is over: the
lamps go out one by one - the Light is extinguishable for ever. A man once
heard two ministers on one Sunday. In the morning, he said, I could not see the Master for the man: in the evening I
could not see the man for the Master. So John had said, - He must increase, but I must decrease; and the Voice, which had been foretold for centuries, dies at thirty
because the Word has come, and so he closes his testimony on the climax of
revelation. For Who is the Son
of God? Let God answer. Of the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God (Heb. 1: 8). Here is
the apex of revelation, the touchstone of conversion, the guarantee of
salvation; for WHOSOEVER SHALL CONFESS THAT JESUS IS THE SON
OF GOD, GOD DWELLETH IN HIM AND HE IN GOD (1 John 4: 15).
-------
They are the tribes of sorrow and for ages have been
fed
On brackish desert-wells of hate and exiles bitter
bread.
They builded up fair cities with no threshold of their
own,
They gave their sigh to
And have they not had tears enough, this people shrunk
with chains?
Must there be more Assyrias,
must there be other Spains?
*
* * *
* * *
304
BRITISH-ISRAELISM
REFUTED
By FRED JOHN MELDAU
George
Goodman sums up many pages of argument in these terse statements:
1.
The Ang1o-Saxons are an uncircumcised race. This, according to Genesis 17: 14,
would absolutely debar them from any national blessing. For Spiritual Israel
(Christians) Circumcision is nothing (Gal. 6: 15).
2.
3.
If the British are the Ten Tribes, their kings are not those to whom the
promises were made. The Royal Tribe was
4.
The British are not the nation of
5.
Again it is written: For the Children of Israel shall abide many days without a
king and without a prince and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and
without an ephod, and without teraphim: afterward shall the Children of Israel return and seek the
Lord their God, and David their King: and shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days (Hosea 3: 4-5). This is
obviously not true of the Anglo-Saxons, whose line of Kings is well known, but
exactly suits the history of those we indiscriminately call Jews (who include
Israel), who remain scattered, without King, temple, sacrifice, or priesthood
as is well known.
6.
If the British are
7.
This judicial punishment they are still under, as we read: Blindness (hardening) in part is happened
to
British Israelism is a false and
dangerous theory, that can only lead men to hope in the flesh,
to expect national blessing, while they
continue in personal rejection of Christ and disobedience to God.
I. It is an
injurious system because its proponents
rob the Scripture of its clear, explicit meaning. In Amos
9: 8, 9
God declares that He will sift the house of
II.
British-Israelism is a real betrayal of the fundamental principles of the
Gospel. All men today, whether Jews
or Gentiles, are either believers or unbelievers. If unbelievers, they are
under the curse; yet 180,000,000 of mankind (
III. British-Israelism ignores the Biblical threefold
classification of the human race into Jew, Gentile, and
IV.
British-Israelism presents to the world a pitiful travesty of
the
The
Bible predicts that the nations of the world,
including
Four
Encyclopedias giving their authoritative pronouncement are emphatic in their
rejection of Anglo-Israelism. (a) The theory is destitute of scientific proof - New
International. (b) A peculiar
belief untenable on any scientific grounds - Americana. (c)
A theory that sets at defiance all ethnological and
linguistic evidence - Chambers Cyclopedia. (d)
And the greatest authority we have, the Encyclopedia Britannica, says: The
theory of Anglo-Israelism rests on premises all deemed by scholars, both
theological and anthropological, to be utterly unsound. We know of no
other supposedly reputable religious or near-religious teaching that so stands
condemned before the world of highest scholarship and erudition as
Anglo-Israelism does. The late Professor of History at Oxford University, Canon Rawlinson,
was not incorrect when he wrote: - Such effect as it
may have can only be on the ignorant and unlearned - on those who are unaware
of the absolute diversity in language, physical type, religious opinions, and
manners and customs, between the Israelites and the various races from which
the English nation can be shown historically to have descended.
- The Christian Victory Magazine.
*
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* * *
305
SHALLOW SOIL
AND THORNY SOIL
By EDWARD
GRESWELL, B.D.
The hearers of the shallow soil, our Lord says, receive the word with joy (Luke 8: 13), as soon as they have heard it; there must be
something, therefore, in the external appearance of what they have heard,
agreeable to their apprehensions, and calculated to fall in with their likings
and expectations. In time of temptation, that is, of trial, forthwith they take offence, fall
away; they find something in the
Word, then, by experience, very different from their first impressions, and
very contrary to what they had expected. It might well be said, therefore, that
they are only
for a season, and under certain
circumstances are liable to fall away; and both, because they have no root in
themselves; they have no ground of support, confirmation, or reliance from
within, of which the pressure of external circumstances, the threats and
intimidation of danger from without, never can deprive them.
Believers of this description, we may presume, would be
principally they, who should embrace the gospel, on its first publication, with
a mistaken idea of the nature and consequences of their Christian vocation; of what the profession of the gospel
would require from themselves, and of what they should be exposed to by it, chiefly
with reference to their external circumstances - their ease, their comfort,
their peace and security, in person or fortune - in the present life. The
reception and profession of the Christian religion must have appeared, to such
persons, a safe and an easy thing, at least beforehand; if tribulation and
persecution for the Words sake, coming afterwards to be experienced, and found
to be necessary to their continuance in the choice they have made, are so
unexpected and startling, so harsh and unpalatable, that rather than submit to
them with patience and resignation, they prefer to apostatize from their faith
itself, and to give up their interest in a religion hereafter, which is so full
of trouble and discomfort, of risk and difficulty, in the present life.
The
seed which fell on the shallow ground was exposed to the heat and drought, but
it did not grow among thorns, and had the nature of its position secured it
against the danger of being dried up at last through the former of those
causes, it would not have been choked by the latter. It is not impossible that
even men, whose hearts would be otherwise wholly devoted to God, and in the
ordinary career of their Christian profession, would go on to make their
calling and election sure, may yet give way, and endanger their salvation,
under circumstances of extreme and unusual trial.*
The strongest support, if overloaded, will bend or break; the firmest faith, if
based on the passive energies of mere human endurance, may be intimidated into
weakness by sudden alarms, or forcibly borne down by overpowering violence.
Judas fell; Peter was surprised into the denial of his Master, whom he loved in
truth and simplicity all the while; Paul considered it possible, that when he
had preached to others, he might himself be a castaway; and in various parts of
their Epistles, neither he nor Peter think it unnecessary to fortify and secure
their converts (of whose faith and sincerity at the time there is not the least
reason to doubt), by every argument which can influence the hopes or fears of
men, against the possible danger of lapsing, and apostatizing from the faith,
which they had once embraced, under the urgency of that antagonist power from
without, to which they were either exposed already, or liable at any time to be
so.
*
When Pliny
the younger was carrying on his inquisition against the Christians in
Bithynia, a vast multitude (ingens multitudo) were brought before him, who, it
appeared, had once been Christians, some a longer, others a shorter time,
previously; but had afterwards renounced their profession: no doubt either in
consequence of that persecution, or of some other, like it, before.- Plin. Epp. lit). x. xcvii.
The
physical cause of the failure of the seed, in the third instance, was the
obstruction to its growth and arrival at maturity, which proceeded from the
thorns; an obstruction produced by their overhanging and shading, and at last
stifling and suffocating the sprouts and stalks of the plant, as neither able
to penetrate through their texture, nor yet to enjoy underneath it the natural
aids of the air and the sun.
The
nature of such an impediment is expressed in general by the following
classification of moral motives; the cares of this world, the
deceit of riches, and the desires which
concern the rest of things: which last the account of Luke shews to be
equivalent to the pleasures of life
in general. The class of hearers to whom the influence of such motives is
applicable may be described, in one word, as the worldly
minded of every sort;
by whom, however, I understand all who, though they may receive and nominally
profess the gospel, do not in practice attend to its great and monopolizing
importance, nor wholly give themselves up to its influence - all in whose
hearts the seed, or Word of God, is not unable to take root, but to thrive
there, and bring forth fruit - as not having the heart to itself, but being
entertained in conjunction with other things, in the society of which it cannot
subsist and prosper, until it arrives at maturity: its freedom of action is
fettered and restrained; its natural health and vigour are gradually impaired
and stifled.
This
description will comprise all whose minds, though partially affected by the love
of God, are never wholly devoted to Him; though sensible of the value,
necessity, and importance of religious duties, are never entirely fixed upon
the prospects of another life; but are divided between God and the world, and
hang as it were between heaven and earth, neither altogether forgetful of their
spiritual interests, nor altogether mindful of them; labouring, perhaps, for a
while to reconcile the duties of religion and the concerns of eternity with the
business of life and the objects of time and sense; distracted by opposite
inclinations and pursuits; combining, or endeavouring to combine, the service
of God with the worship of some favourite idol of their own creation: until at
last the love of the world, in which they live, gains the ascendant over them,
and by the superior force of its attractions, absorbs their affections,
engrosses their thoughts, engages their time and attention, and immerses them
totally in secular pursuits and employments.
Each
of the above motives, however, may be considered applicable to a distinct class
of [regenerate] persons. The cares of this world apply to the case of
men, more particularly, who are of an aspiring or ambitious turn of mind; whose
ruling passion is the desire of power and influence, of rank and authority,
among their contemporaries; who mix eagerly in active life; manage, or aim at
managing, the affairs of societies; grasp at honours and distinctions, as the
reward of civic merit; lay the foundation of families and titles. The deceit,
or deceivable tendencies of wealth,
will apply, in an especial manner, to the men of business, and of trading or
commercial enterprise; to all whose object or employment it is in any way to
amass wealth, to provide for families, to accumulate and leave behind them fortunes.
The desires which concern the rest of things, as we may collect from Lukes
exposition of their nature, point sufficiently clearly to another comprehensive
division of mankind, the votaries of pleasure; who think of nothing, and live
for little, or nothing, but their own gratification and indulgence. Under this
description will be comprehended, not only the mere sensualist or man of fashion; but even the men of
science and letters; the admirers and cultivators of the elegant arts or
accomplishments. For personal pleasure and gratification may be intellectual as
well as bodily; and only a more refined species of the love of self and sense
in general. The desires which turn upon every object of human attachment and
human pursuit, distinct only from wealth as such, and the subject matter of the
cares of the
world, must be of a very general
description; and will extend to every thing that men can propose or seek after,
as the main business, concern, or employment of life, independent of mere and
simple utility. And what is this, but some one or other of the manifold shapes
and varieties, under which the same common property of apparent good, presents
itself in the form of the pleasant? Whatever be the idol of a mans heart,
distinct from power or wealth, it is still some favourite creature of his own
choice and selection; and in worshipping and devoting himself to it, he is
still studying his own pleasure and gratification. If the philosopher, or the
scholar - if the patron of science, or the admirer of letters and of the fine
arts; if the artist himself, and the candidate for literary or scientific
distinction, do not come under the description of such as are influenced by the
first or the second class of motives, they find a place among those who are affected
by the third: and if these persons too have no other purpose in their favourite
study, their exclusive object of pursuit, but what is purely selfish and
secular; finding both its beginning and its consummation within the limits of
this present life, and going no further than their personal satisfaction,
amusement, reputation, or comfort - they too must be classed with the rest in
whose hearts the seed has been stifled, or is liable to be stifled, in its
progress to maturity, by the pleasures of life, and by the desires that concern
the rest of things.
-------
The
monument erected to Richird of Droitwich
has these words engraved upon it:- May I know Thee
more clearly, love Thee more dearly, and follow Thee more nearly.
*
* * *
* *
*
306
AN
EXPOSITORY STUDY
OF
By F. F. BRUCE,
M.A.
(PROLOGUE, Ch. 1: 1-18 cont.)
Verse 14 - And the Word became Flesh, - Augustine,
in the seventh book of his Confessions, tells how shortly before his conversion
he was introduced to a Latin translation of some Neoplatonic
writings, and found in them much that echoed the teaching of the opening
sentences of the Fourth Gospel, in the substance of their thought, if not in
the same words. Again I read there that God the Word was born not of flesh nor of blood, nor of the
will of man nor of the will of the flesh, but of God. But that the Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us - that I did not read there.
And so the differences between John and the Neoplatonists
were more important than the resemblances (and even these were more superficial
than Augustine realized). For this is the event to which all that has gone
before in the Prologue has led: that the Word became flesh. From Johns Gospel and Epistles it is plain that by the end of the
first century Christian thinking was infected by the opinion that matter was
essentially evil whereas spirit was essentially pure. It followed that God
could not come into direct contact with His material creation. In relation to
the incarnation of the Son of God, this tendency found expression in the heresy
known as Docetism, i.e., the doctrine that there was
something unreal about the Manhood of our Lord, since it was impossible that
God could dwell in an ordinary human body. This sort of teaching propagated
especially at this time by a heresiarch named Cerinthus - undermined the very foundations of the Gospel, and John
made it his business to refute it as emphatically and effectively as possible.
- So here he makes the
uncompromising affirmation that the Divine Word became
flesh. He might have said
that the Word took humanity or assumed a
bodily form, but neither of these expressions would have been so unambiguous as
the expression he actually uses.
In
the fulness of time, the Eternal Word of God became incarnate as the Man Jesus
of Nazareth. To His Godhead He now added Manhood, and
so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one
person, for ever (Westminister Shorter Catechism, 21). His human nature was
and remains as perfect as His divine nature, and yet it is our human nature
(sin apart) and not some unique heavenly humanity
of quite a different order. Those who talk unguardedly about a heavenly humanity are really opening the door to a
new Docetism. Since then the children are sharers in
flesh and blood, He also Himself in like manner
took of the same (Heb. 2: 14). A Saviour not quite God, said Bishop Moule, is a bridge broken at the
farther end. And it may be added with equal truth that a Saviour not
quite man is a bridge broken at our end. (A Saviour neither quite God nor quite
man, as envisaged by some ancient and modern heresies, is a bridge broken at
both ends and hanging in mid-air - no bridge, no Saviour, at all!) The
Incarnate Word, in whom we trust for salvation, is altogether
God and altogether Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting
(Athanasian Creed).
And dwelt among us, -
The verb skenoo (here rendered dwell) is derived
from skene (tent). In saying that the
Incarnate Word pitched His tent among men,
John is thinking more especially of the wilderness tabernacle (skene in LXX),
erected by the command of God that He might have His dwelling place in the
midst of His people Israel. Let them make me a sanctuary, said God, that I may dwell among them (Ex. 25: 8). So, John implies, as God formerly manifested
His abiding presence amid His people in the tent pitched by Moses, now in a
fuller and more immediate sense He took up His dwelling on earth in the Word
made flesh. The Incarnate Word is the ultimate reality to which the tabernacle
pointed forward.
Not
only so, but among Greek-peaking Jews in those days the Greek word skene commonly associated with the Hebrew verb shakan (to dwell and its derivatives, such as the Biblical mishkan (tabernacle) and the post-Biblical shekinah - a
word which literally means residence but was used more particularly of the
Divine Presence which inhabited the Mosaic tabernacle and Solomons temple. When
Moses finished the building of the tabernacle, the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (Ex. 40: 34).
Similarly, at the dedication of Solomons temple, the cloud filled the house of
the Lord ... for the glory of the Lord filled
the house of the Lord (1 Kings 8: 10
f.). Now, says John, when the Word became flesh, the Divine Presence was fully
embodied in Him, for He is the true shekinah of God.
And we beheld His glory, glory as
of the only begotten from the Father, - The glory of God which shone in the tabernacle
and temple, veiled in the mysterious cloud, was but the fore-glow of that
excelling glory which shone in
Christ, veiled indeed by His humanity from all save those who, like the Evangelist, had eyes to see.
According to the Synoptic Gospels, His glory
was fully revealed to Peter, James and John on the mount of transfiguration,
but now John looks back and sees how the whole of Christs life on earth, and
especially His death on the cross, manifested the glory of God. We beheld His glory might almost be the title of the Fourth Gospel; glory is
one of its chief keywords. And the glory
which shone in Christ was glory such
as a best-1oved son receives from his father. The Greek adjective monogenss (here translated only begotten) is one of the words used in LXX to render Heb. yachid.
This Hebrew word, while primarily meaning only,
had a further significance when used of a son or daughter which is expressed by
another Greek word sometimes employed as its equivalent in LXX - agapetos (beloved).
Thus Isaac, according to Gen. 22: 2, was
Abrahams only son (his yachid),
but in LXX the word used here is agapetos. Isaac
was not in the literal sense Abrahams only begotten son, but he was his
best-loved son, his unique son, on whom he
bestowed all that he had. How infinitely greater, then, is the glory bestowed by God upon His only
Son, of the
Fathers love begotten, ere the worlds began to
be! Such, says John, was the glory that we beheld.
Full of grace and truth,
- Which of the foregoing substantives is qualified by the adjective full? The standard English versions make full refer to the Word, and
indicate this by putting the clause which immediately precedes full within brackets, lest the reader should think
that full refers to glory. The reason for this is that Gk. pleres
(full) is nominative, agreeing with logos
(Word) and not with the accusative doxan (glory). There is, however, sufficient evidence for
believing that in Hellenistic Greek the form pleres was used indeclinably, as capable of
agreeing with a noun in any case. If that is so, full of grace and truth may well be intended as a description of the glory that was seen in the Incarnate
Word. This becomes still more probable when we recall the Old Testament
background of these words.
Moses,
in Ex. 33:
18, asked a boon of the God of Israel: Shew me, I pray thee, thy glory. The answer he received ran thus: I will make all my goodness
pass before thee, and will proclaim the name of
Jehovah before thee. For the glory of God - the attribute which is
surpassingly His - is His goodness. Accordingly, as we read in Ex. 34: 5 f., Jehovah descended in the cloud, and stood with him there,
and proclaimed the name of Jehovah. And Jehovah passed by before him, and proclaimed, Jehovah,
Jehovah, a God full of
compassion and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy and truth. These words describe the goodness which is the
excelling glory of God. But when
John uses the words full of grace and truth in reference to the Word Incarnate, he is simply giving his own
translation of the Hebrew words at the end of Ex.
34: 6,
which appear in our version as plenteous in mercy and truth. The glory which
John and his companions saw was the very glory
of Jehovah which was revealed to Moses when the Divine Name was proclaimed in
his ears. But now that glory was
manifested on earth in a human life, full of grace and truth.
Verse 15. - John
beareth witness of Him, and crieth, saying, this was He of whom I said, He that cometh after me is become before me: For He was before me. This parenthetic verse constitutes the second prose
passage dovetailed into the poetical Prologue, the former such passage consisting
of verses 6-8.
In verses 6-8
we were told how John (the Baptist) was sent to bear witness to the true Light;
now we are told some of the content of that witness. John was forerunner to the
One who was to follow him; yet that Coming One had precedence over John, not
simply because one whose way is being prepared is regularly superior in status
to his precursor, but also because (paradoxically) the Coming One existed
before John. He
was first in regard of me, John
cried (such is the literal rendering of R.V. margin) - a remarkable phrase
which, as Westcott says, expresses not only relative but (so to speak) absolute
priority. In His public ministry (as in His birth, according to Lukes
narrative), He was later than John; but in His essential Being, He had eternal
precedence over him (as over Abraham; cf.
Ch. 8: 58); for He is the One whose going forth are from of
old, from everlasting (Micah 5: 2). This testimony of John is quoted here in
detachment from its context, in which it reappears below in verse 30.
Verse 16. - For of His fulness we all received, - The poem in
praise of the Word is resumed; the fulness from
which John and his companions drew is that fulness of grace and truth which was
the essence of the glory which they
beheld. But when he says we all, John
probably includes his readers as well, and all those who share the blessing
pronounced later in Ch. 20: 29 upon
those that have
not seen, and yet have believed. This plenitude of divine glory and goodness which resides in Christ is an ocean from which
all His people may draw in abundance without ever diminishing its content. The
thought is beautifully expressed in that stanza of Anne Ross Cousins
paraphrase of Samuel Rutherfords last words which begins:
O Christ! He is the fountain,
The deep, sweet well of love.
And grace for grace. - The
preposition translated for is anti,
but no satisfactory sense can be got by pressing anti to mean instead of here. What we draw from the well of divine
fulness in Christ is grace upon grace, grace after grace; there is no limit or
end to the supply which God has placed at our disposal in Him. John, like Paul,
has proved the truth of the Lords assurance: My grace is sufficient for thee (2 Cor.
12: 9).
Verse 17. - For
the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, - Although God manifested, Himself to Moses as plenteous in mercy and truth, the quality that chiefly characterizes the divine
revelation through Moses is the quality of law. The grace and truth which
constitute the divine glory, although included in the proclamation of the name
of God to Moses, had to wait until the coming of Christ to be fully displayed
among men. Grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ:
for the first time John gives a name to the Word made flesh, identifying Him
with Jesus of Nazareth, whom God anointed (i.e., designated Messiah or Christ) with the Holy Spirit and power. John
does not mean that the qualities of grace and truth were completely absent from
the law, but that for the first time they were present in full reality in the
person of Christ.
Verse 18. - No man hath seen God at any time - The revelation made to Moses was but partial. When
he asked that he might be shown the glory of God, he was told: Thou canst not see my face;
for man shall not see me and live (Ex. 33: 20). The
consuming fire of divine majesty cannot be approached or viewed by sinful
mortals. Moses was instructed to stand in a hollow in the rocky slope of Sinai
while the glory of God passed by,
and there, said God, I will cover thee with my hand until I have passed by: and I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back: but
my face shall not be seen (Ex. 33: 22 f.). We should probably say, less anthropomorphically
but equally metaphorically, that Moses saw, so to
speak, the afterglow of the divine glory.
But what even Moses could not look upon has at last been displayed among men.*
[* NOTE: The powers of the age to come (Heb. 6: 5, R.V.), will manifest our Lords millennial
glory!
This also, for one day (2 Pet. 3: 8 R.V.), is to be displayed
among men!
For the earth shall be filled with the
knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as
the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:
14; and The wilderness
and the solitary place shall be glad; and the
desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the
rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of
The
scenes of two thousand years ago, which once bore witness to our Lords humiliation
and suffering,
will once again bear witness to His manifested millennial glory and exaltation: for
He is
the Lord of all creation. Even the very stones
will cry out (Luke 19: 40) on that glorious day
and have a message of transformation from bondage (Gen.
3: 18. cf.
Rom. 8: 21) from our Covenant-keeping God! See Gen. 8: 21; 15: 7, R.V. cf. Acts
7: 5, R.V.).]
The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared him - The perfect manifestation of Gods glory was seen
in Christ, the only begotten Son, or, as R.V. margin has it, following very
many ancient and excellent authorities for the text, God
only begotten (monogenes theos in
place of monogenes hyios).
He who begat is God, and He who was begotten is equally God. Clearly, then,
there can be no revelation of God approaching in perfection that which has been
given in the Only-begotten. For He is the One who has His being eternally in
the Fathers bosom, a phrase which expresses the mutual love and understanding
of the Father and the Son, and at the same time the Sons dependence on the
Father. Only He who so fully knows the Father can make Him fully known. As the aerolite from the Johannine heaven embedded in the Synoptic
record puts it, neither
doth any know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him (Matt. 11: 27; cf.
Luke 10: 22). Or, as Paul expresses the same
thought, it is
God, that said, Light
shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our
hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (1 Cor.
4: 6). And
how that knowledge shone throughout Christs earthly ministry, how He declared
the unseen God to men, it is Johns business to relate in the Gospel to which
these eighteen verses form the preface.
-------
STANDING
WITH THE MESSIANIC
CONGREGATIONS
& MINISTRIES
By SHMUEL
CHAZON
For the
The Gentiles were not asked to be circumcised or to
keep the Torah of Moses, nor were they asked to convert to Judaism i.e. become
Jews. But by faith alone in
Each age has its hidden mystery reserved by God for
His people. The inclusion of Gentiles into Gods salvation plan of history was
reserved by God until the century of this era. As we approach the close of the
age before the glorious return or Second Coming of Yeshua the Messiah, the
mystery of Romans chapter 11 is unfolding
before our eyes! Gods salvation plan for both Jew and Gentile is coming to its
completion.
The hardening of
The Apostle Paul said, hardening in part has happened to
God is dealing with
The end of the hardening process and the removal of the
veil of spiritual blindness will set the stage for
Hundreds of thousands of Jews have come to recognize
Yeshua since the 1970s. The Holy Spirits sovereignty was poured out and
revealed Yeshua to many from my generation and each following generation. God
had mercy upon me blessed be the Lord! These were the beginnings of a spiritual
awakening among ordinary people and a greater consciousness that we are living
in the time proceeding the Messianic era.
The coming years will be crucial in establishing
Messianic believers in the Land. Each year more Israelis are coming to know
Yeshua as their Messiah. In my estimation, this is still the beginning of the
removal of the veil of spiritual blindness and hardening spoken of in Romans 11 by the Apostle Paul. As the Jewish
people find Yeshua as our Messiah and as believing Christians find their
relationship to Messianic Jews and Congregations, the Messianic blessing of Romans 11 will come to that part of the Body of
Messiah. The removal of the veil of blindness from the remnant of
*
* * *
* * *
307
NEW
TESTAMENT WORD STUDIES
By W. WILCOX
Sincerity (haplotes)
This word is variously
translated in the New Testament by such words as sincerity,
simplicity, and liberality.
Trench, in his Synonyms, says it is from
haptoo, that
which is spread out and thus without folds or wrinkles. This notion of
singleness, simplicity, absence of folds, which thus lies according to its
etymology in haplous, is also predominant in its use. Soutter defines
it as singleness of mind, sincerity, and Grim-Thayer as singleness, simplicity, sincerity, mental honesty: the virtue of one who
is free from pretence and dissimulation.
Denneys note on the word in the Expositors
Greek Testament on Rom. 12: 8 says, it is the quality of a mind which has no arriere pensee: when
it gives, it does so because it sees and feels the need, and for no other
reason: this is the sort of mind which is liberal, and God assigns a man the
function of metadidonai when He bestows this mind on him by the
Spirit.
It
is used in the New Testament by Paul only; mostly in that portion of the second
letter to the Corinthians which deals with Christian giving, 2 Cor. 8: 2; 9: 11, 13; Rom. 12: 8; but also
in Cor. 3: 22, and Eph. 6: 5, in connection with the state of heart or mind
in which the believer serves his Lord; and in 2 Cor. 11: 3, that state of mind from which he is not to
allow himself to be corrupted.
So
we may see the use of the word as connected with three functions of the
believer:
1. Serving: Col.
3: 22, in singleness of heart. Even the slave is exhorted to do the round of his service without any
ulterior motive, hope of
gain, or desire for a word of commendation when working under the eye of his
master. No selfish interest is to be served: his duty is a full-time service in
the interests of his master.
Yea,
more, he is to remember that his service is a higher one; it is a service to
his Lord. The daily routine of the hum-drum task is charged with new purpose,
with greater dynamic, and with more glorious ends. It is done for his Lords
glory; in it he may beautify the Gospel of Christ,
by means of it he may so testify to the change wrought in him by Christ that he
may win others and even lead a master and tyrant according to the flesh to
become a brother
beloved in the Lord.
It
is of interest to note that, in the Ephesian Epistle this service is to be done
as unto Christ,
as servants of Christ, doing
the will of God from the heart,
while in the Colossian Epistle it is to be done fearing the Lord, heartily as unto the Lord. In Ephesians it refers to Him who was the Anointed
of God, the Sent One, who pleased not Himself, but came to do the will of His Father: In Colossians, the reference
is to God, the supreme Lord, to whom our service under the earthly master is
rendered with a will, heartily, to please Him. Here are high aims for lowly
service; here are lofty ideals for routine duties. Ye serve the Lord Christ.
2. Giving:
Rom. 12: 8; 2 Cor. 8: 2; 9: 11, 13; 11: 3.
One of the characteristics of the Christian life is that the believer likes to give, to give liberally, to give without a thought of recompence. In this he
follows the example of his God, for the term is used of His giving in Jas. 1: 5.
In
our giving there is to be no -
(a) Ulterior
motive, such as the thought of future recompence, or gain in another
field, or making a name for himself. And yet there is always some gain in
giving, for that soul which finds no delight in giving to God and to others is
a crushed soul, wrapped up within itself and unable to enjoy the pleasures of
the liberal spirit. Lifes problems do not press so heavily on the soul when
there is the consciousness of blessings wherewith we may bless others, and seek
no other gain for ourselves save that which ever accompanies the act of true
giving.
The
Christian is not to be a Post Office Savings Bank always hoarding up for his
own small interest, but rather as an irrigation channel which, being enriched
by open access to the source, enriches the fields and the channels to which it
is connected.
(b) Hypocrisy, or stage-acting:
it is to be the spontaneous act of the one who feels the joy of the Lord in his
own heart, and therefore desires to communicate some of that joy to others.
There is to be no pretence about it, as if we were giving a great deal while
yet withholding much. The Scriptural rule is to lay aside week by week as God hath prospered
him. It is not to be given with a
grudge, and so destroy alike the joy there should be to giver and receiver.
So
Paul is able to approve and commend the liberality of these Corinthian
believers who sent such generous contributions for the poor saints in
Some
hide behind pious phrases and say, they give the
widows mite. Let us remember that she gave two and if that seems a large amount, let us take note of the
explanatory phrase, she hath given all that she had, not a tiny fraction, not the smallest amount
possible, but all.
(c)
Design, i.e.,
hidden motive or even careless indolence as when men merely give to get rid of
a persistent appeal for help or to ease a troublesome conscience. The gift is robbed of its normal accompaniment of joy
and, while it may relieve a necessitous case, there is no pleasure either in
the giving or in the receiving. Paul speaks of bountiful giving, and manifestly
intends that it should be the outflow of a generous heart.
3. Thinking: 2 Cor.
11: 3. Our minds are not to be corrupted from the simplicity that is towards Christ.
(a)
Our thinking is to have a centralized character - it is all directed towards Christ and so associated
with him. There are to be no reservations, all is to be without folds, it is to be single, sincere, straightforward.
It
is in the region of the mind that Satan makes his most subtle attacks;
presenting that which is corrupt as if it were pure; that which is crooked as
if it were straight; and that which is coarse as if it were refined. The
believer thus needs to have his mind continually occupied with Christ and that
which is of Christ. If the perceptive organs are constantly towards that which is impure and insincere, it cannot be
hoped that the mind will retain the simplicity that is towards Christ (see R.V.).
(b)
Our thinking is to have a true standard from which it is not to be corrupted. All is to be
measured by what Christ is, even as the pure virgin espoused to one husband measures all by what He
is. Christ is all to the
individual believer and to the assembly of which he forms a part. He is the
Divine Standard by which every act is to be measured. Mental aspirations are to
be measured not by how they appear to us, but by what we know through the
Scriptures they will appear to Him. Here is a standard of thinking to which it
is by no means easy to attain. But is it impossible, seeing we are exhorted to
bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ? Wherein lies the
secret? Surely in our constantly
being towards
Christ, even as with the Lord
Himself, Who alone could say in
truth, I have
set the Lord always before my face, therefore I
shall not be moved.
(c)
Our thinking is to be pure, even
as He is pure. Many
editors and commentators hold that the phrase and the purity in our text is a gloss and should be omitted. But it
is retained in the R.V., and, at any rate is one of the aspects of that simplicity that is towards
Christ, for everything that is
associated with Him must be pure, and it is the antithesis of the corrupting that leads us from Him. This condition is not merely
a negative one in which there is the absence of that which is, impure, but it
is a positive activity of the pursuit of, and occupation with, that which is
pure.
If
we allow our minds to be occupied by that which is impure, we shall have our
minds corrupted
from that which is towards Christ.
Thus, in the illustration Paul uses, did Eve who allowed the serpents
suggestions that there were higher planes attainable which, once reached, would
give a more advanced knowledge, and put them on an equality with the gods. How
often such suggestions have been offered to the aspiring mind, and regions of
advanced knowledge and of higher reasoning have been entered only to corrupt
the mind from the
simplicity which is toward Christ!
It is ever necessary to heed the warning of the Apostle and to beware lest we
also be beguiled.
Let
the mind be without
folds, with no backward thought, but ever directed in singleness of purpose towards
Christ.
*
* * *
* * *
308
THE PROPHECY
OF EZEKIEL
By H. L.
ELLISON, B.A., B.D.
The Judgment on the Priestly Leaders, 11: 1-12
It has been urged that this section is an isolated
prophecy, placed here for convenience, or that it has been accidentally moved
from its original place after 8: 18; the ground for this view is that there is no
room for it here, as Gods judgment has already been carried out (9: 1-10: 2, see
especially 9: 6)
and there is no room for any further judgment. When, however, the purely
symbolic nature of the still future judgment is remembered, the difficulty
seems to disappear. It is, moreover, a commonplace in Hebrew narrative to place elements, which would hold up its flow,
out of their strict chronological order.
There
are no serious grounds for doubting that the twenty-five men (verse 1) are the same as in 8: 16. The
description in verse 6 agrees with 8: 17, and
their activity in verse 2 suits their
position as leading priests, while their blatant idolatry (8: 16 f)
matches their cynicism (verse 3). The two
names given us cannot be identified with any probability.
With
their rejection of Jehovah went a rejection of His will. They refused to see in
the capture of
We be the flesh
reflects further the pride of those left in the city, which had already been
condemned by Jeremiah (Jer.
24), For them the exiles under Jehoiachin
were the offal thrown out on the dung-heap of Babylonia; they were the good
flesh preserved by God in Jerusalem.
The
spirit of prophecy fell on Ezekiel (verse 5),
and in pronouncing their doom he declared that Gods favourites would be those
whose deaths they had caused (verse 6 f).
They would not even have the privilege of dying in
Though
Pelatiah did not hear Ezekiels message, there is no ground for considering his death as visionary. This result of his
message was completely unexpected by Ezekiel, and it drove him to intercession
(verse 13). Goethe, early in his famous play, shows Faust sitting down to translate the Gospel according to John.
He says:
Tis writ, In the beginning was the
word!
I pause perplexd! Who now
will help afford?
I cannot the mere Word so highly prize;
I must translate it otherwise,
If by the spirit guided as I read,
In the beginning was the Sense! Take heed,
The import of this primal sentence weigh,
Lest thy too hasty pen be led astray!
Is force creative then of Sense the dower?
In the beginning was the Power!
Thus should it stand; yet, while the line I trace
A something warns me, once more to efface.
The spirit aids! from anxious scruples freed,
I write, In the beginning was
the Deed!*
* Goethe: Faust,
Pt. 1, 1.876-889, translated by A. Swanwick
Faust
here stands for the modem man and his suspicion of words. He has no
understanding for the old tales of magic and wonder in which the right word or
words are so important. But with all the folly of these tales our forefathers
were expressing their awe of words, there having remained with them some broken
and distorted memory of the power of the divine Word.
When
Ezekiel spoke the Word of God he had caused something to come into being that
was active and creative. The sudden death of Pelatiah reminded him of his other
messages of woe, which if allowed to go into full operation, might imperil the
existence of all
The
Church today suffers from too much preaching. Sunday by Sunday a spate of words
is poured out all around the world, but their
fruit is small in proportion to their quantity. Few who speak really grasp that they are there to proclaim the Word of
God and not their views about the Word, and so there are only few who know
the power that belongs to the Word.
Gods Grace
to the Exiles (11: 14-21)
God
answered Ezekiels plea by confirming the promise He had earlier given to
Jeremiah (Jer. 24) and expanding it. His promise is apparently addressed
not merely to the exiles with Jehoiachin but also to the earlier exiles from
the North (all
of them, verse 15
R.V.). We should follow the chief
versions in this verse and read the men of thy exile, i.e., thy fellow exiles (so R.S.V.) instead of the impossible the men of thy kindred, which is not even a true
translation of the Hebrew. We should also absolve those left in Jerusalem of
callous cruelty by rendering with a minor change in the Hebrew vowels They have gone far from the LORD (R.S.V.). Primitive conceptions like the one we find
in 1 Sam. 26:
19 were still prevalent; the exiles were
looked on as far from Jehovah, because far from His land, while those living
near the temple were thought to be basking in the smile of his favour.
The
English versions seem to miss the force of the Hebrew in verses 16, 17,
which should be rendered: Whereas I have removed them ... and whereas I have scattered them ... and have become to them a sanctuary in small measure
... therefore ... I will
gather you. In fact verse 16 seems to be an indirect continuation of
the Jerusalemites claim; Jehovah answers it in verse
17 with a promise of restoration. The little sanctuary of A.V. has been a comfort to many, but as a
translation it seems to be linguistically impossible. We are not dealing with a
gracious promise, but with the spiritual loss felt by the exiles by their
separation from the temple. The exile was punishment. Like all Gods
punishments it was remedial for some and productive of ultimate blessing, yet
even those that profited most had to feel its bitterness to the full.
The
threefold you in verse 17 is
emphatic in contrast to verse 15. The
interpretation of verse 19 is complicated by
textual difficulties. Three MSS and the Syriac read a new heart and a new spirit, The change of text involved in Hebrew is small, but
on the whole it is likely that it is an unconscious or deliberate assimilation
to 18: 31;
36: 26.
LXX and Vulgate read another heart and a new spirit. Here the only change involved concerns the two most
easily confounded letters in Hebrew, r
and d. The present Hebrew text may be
supported by an appeal to Jer.
32: 39,
but since here too LXX has in both cases another for one, we merely have added proof of how easily these two words
could be confused. The Targum, the official rabbinic translation, into Aramaic,
has a fearful
heart. This is a legitimate
paraphrase of either LXX or the Syriac rendering, but not of the Hebrew. So we
shall probably be safe in rendering another heart,
or possibly (a new heart, there being no
essential difference in meaning; the remainder pf the verse seems to support
this. If we retain the Hebrew text, one heart
refers presumably to the removal of the old
jealousies between north and south, cf. 37:
22. Within you
should be as in many MSS and all the versions within them (R.S.V.).
Though
we shall consider the gracious promise of verses 17-20 in closer detail, when we deal with its fullest
form in 36: 16-38, there is one point that should be noted here.
Though Ezekiel stresses the sovereignty of God, he is no determinist. Salvation [in the future] is [also] Gods work,
but [redeemed] man has to prepare the way for it by
repentance. God brings back the
people to their land (verse 17), but before the transformation of character (verse
19 f), which is also Gods work, there is the
removal of all traces of idolatry by the people (verse
18): the outward sign of their
change of heart. Note in this connection 18:
31 and see the notes on ch. 18 as
a whole.
Similarly
the judgment on those left in
The
Ezekiels
long vision ended with the sight of the withdrawal of the chariot-throne
eastward to the
The Fate of
King and People (12: 1-20)
Ezekiel
had told the exiles his vision of the destruction of
The
need for the prophecy is given by the term a rebellious house
applied to the exiles (verses 2, 3, 9). They
were obviously still hoping for an early return to
In
the explanation (verses 10-16) Ezekiel was told that he had acted out the
special fate of Zedekiah in the general exile. It looked forward to his flight
by night through the breached city wall (2 Kings 25:
4), his capture, blinding and leading into
exile (2 Kings 25: 5
ff.). Note that Jehovah is pictured as Himself snaring Zedekiah and
bringing him to his doom (verse 13).
In
verse 10 we apparently have the same play on
the two meanings, of
In
our study of ch. 34 we shall see why the Messianic king is called prince (nasi')
in the prophecy of the restoration, but Ezekiels reason for using nasi of
Zedekiah is another. He never calls him king (melek) as he does Jehoiachin (17: 12), cf.
21: 25,
for the general description in 7: 27 can hardly be regarded as an exception to this
statement.
The
clue is given by the only other use of nasi for a reigning king, viz., 1 King 11: 34,
where it is applied to Solomon. Clearly the implication there is that Solomon had forfeited his right to be
king by reason of his sin. Ezekiel regarded Jehoiachin as the true king (cf.
B.S., Vol. xxii, p. 150 and 17: 13); the
Judaean kingship had ended with his exile. This is the attitude of the
Chronicler as well, as may be deduced from the way he dismisses Zedekiahs
reign (2 Chr. 36: 11 ff).
Ezekiel may well have been influenced too by his foreknowledge of Zedekiahs
broken oath (see notes on ch.
17.).
The
acted fate of Zedekiah was followed by the acting out of the fate of the people
(verses 17-20); this section is largely a repetition
of 4: 9-12. But while there the stress was on the small
quantities carefully measured, here it is on the dismay and anxiety with which
his rations were eaten. We are not told how Ezekiel expressed these emotions,
but he was doubtless able to communicate them vividly.
*
* * *
* * *
309
BEHOLD MY SERVANT!
By A. McDONALD REDWOOD
I must work the works of Him
that sent me while it is day:
the night cometh when no man can work.
Isaiahs prophecy contains the portrait of the Divine
Servant, revealing something of His personal qualifications and the work He
would accomplish. One of the distinctive passages is in ch. 42: 1-4, Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect,
in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon Him: He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. The verses that follow define certain details of His
work, more specially verse 7, To open the blind eyes,
to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. In chapter 53 God
calls Him my
righteous servant, implying not
merely that His character is righteous, but that the divine righteousness and
its realization in human experience is to be the objective of His ministry.
Moreover,
the Servant was to receive the special anointing of the Holy Spirit for His
great work. The prophet stresses the fact in three different passages which are
worth noting. The first in ch.
11: 1
ff., The spirit of the Lord
shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. That this may have special reference to the
Incarnation is probable, but it also
looks forward to the second Advent and the Millennial reign. Chap. 42: 1 already quoted, refers to His baptism (see Matt. 3: 17; cf. Jn. 1: 32); and then chap.
61: 1 was
fulfilled at the beginning of His public ministry (cf. Luke 4: 17-21).
Centuries
passed ere the Servant arrived - as the Babe in
For
our immediate purpose, however, it is sufficient to concentrate on the study of
one rather distinctive phrase (recorded by John in ch. 9: 4) uttered by the Divine Servant Himself: I must work the works of Him that
sent me while it is day; the night cometh when
no man can work. It is so simple
and terse as to almost escape particular notice, but it lays bare the Servants
own profound sense of obligation and urgency to fulfil the purpose of His
coming into the sphere of human life and sharing in its conditions. It is worth
examining in some detail therefore.
1. The central note in the statement is found in the words - HIM THAT SENT ME - they state the fact that He had been divinely COMMISSIONED: He was the Sent One
in a totally unique sense, different from the numerous prophets God had raised
up in the past history of His people. He had been commissioned to a unique
work, a work that should have profound meaning for the whole of mankind from
the creation to the end of time.
At
the very commencement of His public ministry in the Synagogue in Nazareth He
introduces Himself as the fulfilment of Isaiahs well-known prophecy: The Spirit of the Lord is
upon me to preach good tidings to the poor; He
hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives
today hath this scripture been fulfilled in your ears (Lk.
4: 18
ff.).
Thus
quite simply and yet with authoritative assurance He announces His commission
and ministry. He was not there to carry out His own will, on His own
initiative: such a thought was impossible, for, though He were son, He learned obedience (Heb. 5:
8): or to use His own words Verily, verily, I say unto you,
the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth
the Father doing ... for the Father loveth the
Son, and sheweth Him all things that He Himself
doeth (Jn. 5: 19, 20; cf.
3: 34).
He was the sent
One (the word
itself occurs over forty times in the Gospel) and His supreme ambition, yea
delight, was to live a life of complete dependence upon the Father, receiving
from Him in turn all the spiritual reinforcements and supplies required for the
execution of His mission. I seek not my own will, but
the will of Him who sent me. He could
appeal also to the testimony of the works He performed: the very works that I do bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. And the Father
which sent me He hath borne witness of me (ch. 5: 30, 36, 37, etc.).
2. The second feature in the statement is the divine
Servants profound consciousness of His true VOCATION: I must work the works of Him that
sent me. His miracles of healing
and mercy and the raising of the dead truly attested His divine character and
power as the sent-One from God. . But they had (we might say) an even deeper
meaning and intention, namely, that His unique vocation was the cleansing of
mans soul from the degradation of sin and restoring it to God. In other words,
the death of SIN must be
exchanged for the very LIFE of God
Himself. A lost world must be recovered from the Devils dominion
and made the
Even
as a boy of twelve years, this sense of vocation is expressed in His reply to
His parents pained enquiry: wist ye not that I must be occupied in (lit. immersed in) my Fathers
business? (Luke 2: 49). They
were His first recorded words: That they were spoken in no spirit of youthful
precocity is proved by the fact that later He went down with (his parents) ...
and was subject unto them. Also verse 52 makes clear that Jesus advanced in wisdom and
in stature, and in favour with God and man. His own conception of His vocation grew steadily as
He thus advanced, but all the while, be it
said, it was His in a manner and measure transcending His perfectly normal
development from childhood to manhood. We cannot venture beyond the veil that
hides Him from our inquisitiveness during those silent years of youth. But He knew He had a
vocation from the Father, as already indicated, His I must lays down the law of
devotion to His Father by which He was to walk even to the cross (Farrar): and in His reply to His
parents enquiry (Luke 2: 48), He does not accept the phrase employed by
Mary thy father
(alluding to Joseph), but turns it to ho pater mou, the Father of me
- it was to His
house He had resorted when His
parents missed Him. Similarly in John 20: 17, I ascend unto the Father of
me and the Father of you, for God
is His Father in a different way to that which constitutes Him our Father. But
all through life the dignity of being the Son of God was held in perfect
equipoise with His being the divine Servant: The Son of man came not to be ministered unto,
but to minister, and to
give His life a ransom for many.
As the shadow of the cross drew nearer He could reiterate I am in the midst of you as he
that serveth (Luke 22: 27).
But
what of the works which characterized His vocation? The phrase the works of God is used frequently throughout this Gospel: in fact
the miracle which gave rise to the statement we are studying provides an
illustration of the reason for the Servant coming into the world: the opening
of the blind eyes was a miracle not so much on the man as in him - alike
on his physical body (verses 6 and 7), and in his spiritual healing (verses 29-39),
as evidenced in the healed man worshipping! The doing of these works were as food to His own soul for they
were in obedience to the will of His Father (ch. 4: 34). They bore witness to His divine commission (Jn. 5: 36; 10: 38); and as
the cross and its agony drew nearer He was able to say to the Father, I have glorified thee on the
earth, having accomplished the work which thou
gavest me to do (Jn. 17: 4 also verses 6, 7, 14-23 in the
same context).
3. Whilst it is day: This day of the MANIFESTATION of the grace, mercy and love of God through the work
of the divine Servant. His ministry was that of bringing into the light what
had hitherto been hidden, although there had always been the glimmerings in the great ministry of the prophets,
lighting up the passing centuries with hope and expectation of the coming
Saviour. Now His very presence constituted it DAY; as
John puts it, In
Him was life and the life was the light of men. Jesus Himself meets His Jewish opponents with the
declaration: Your
father Abraham rejoiced to see my day,* and he saw it and was glad. Even before His birth Zacharias sang, the Dayspring from on high hath visited us to shine upon them
that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death; to guide their feet into the way of peace (Luke 1: 78, 79. Cf. 2:
32).
[* Without doubt,
this is a reference to Messiahs millennial Kingdom and His righteous
rule over all peoples and nations upon this presently sin-cursed earth: (Gen. 3: 17 ff.). See also Isa.
ch. 34. & ch. 35. cf. 2 Pet. 3: 8; Rev. 20: 4, R.V.]
Christs
ministry was to turn mans darkness into day, as expressed in His own words, He that followeth me shall in
no wise walk in the darkness, but shall have the
light of life (Jn. 8: 12). In the very
first of the miracle-signs characteristic of this Gospel. the divine Servant manifested His glory, and His
disciples believed on Him (Jn.
2: 11);
and, to refer again to the miracle of ch. 9,
the real purpose behind it was that the works of God should be made manifest. (cf. verse
3).
St.
John is particularly fond of that verb phaneroo, to
manifest; to bring into the light, using it no less than eighteen times
in his writings - which is more than in any other single N.T. book. The life was manifested,
and we have seen, and
bear witness and declare unto you the life. ... (1 Jn.
3: 5, 8, etc.). In that matchless high-priestly prayer
of the Saviour-Servant (Jn.
17) He dwells somewhat on the outcome of His
ministry: I have
manifested THY name unto the men
whom thou hast given me; with
which may be compared the statements in verses 6,
8, 14, 22, etc. And in manifesting the Name He revealed
all the plenitude of Gods love behind that name, even the very heart of God.
We can sing, therefore, with the Psalmist, This is the DAY the
LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. (Ps. 110: 24; see the context also).
4. The final clause is equally full of meaning: The night cometh
when no man can work. It implies
both CONCLUSION and CONSUMMATION;
the day of grace and the Gospel of salvation will end; the night of judgment will follow upon a Christ-rejecting
world. As to the servants of the Lord, no man can work. The
forces of evil will [then] be in full control. Whatever deeper implication may
lie in the statement, it is applicable to the period [after] the Church has been caught away* to the presence of her Saviour
Lord: I go to
prepare a place for you; and if I go ... I come again and will receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may
be also (Jn. 14: 13, 14).
[* See Luke 21: 34-36; Rev. 3: 10, R.V.).]
Great events will follow, involving the
whole creation, but there is [a prior] one at least
which refers to [both the first resurrection (Rev. 20: 4) and
the recompense of the inheritance
(Col.
3: 24.
ff.) for regenerate] believers in general: We must all be made manifest before the
judgment seat of Christ, that each may receive
the things done, whether it be good or bad (1 Cor.
3: 10-15, R.V. Read the whole passage carefully). Hence
for us all, but in a sense for those who
are His servants in particular perhaps, the apostles exhortation is challenging: Ye are all sons of light,
and sons of the day: we
are not of the night, nor of darkness; so then let us not
sleep, as do the rest, but let us watch and be sober ... putting on the
breastplate of faith and love; and
for a helmet the hope of salvation* (1 Thess. 5: 4-8). What directly concerns us at the moment is the
fact that it is still DAY. Though the divine Servant, our Master, has been in the
glory nigh two thousand years, His Message is still being heralded forth
throughout the world. It is just in this fact that the text has an immediate
and compelling [exhortation
and warning for all.]
[*NOTE: The hope of salvation, in this context, is
undoubtedly a reference to a future salvation
of souls (1 Pet. 1: 9, R.V. cf.
Matt. 16:
18; Acts 2:
27, 34,
R.V.). This salvation ready to be revealed in the last
time (1 Pet. 1: 5, R.V.) is
based upon the quality and quantity of His servants post
conversion works to select those accounted
worthy to attain to that age - the millennium - and the resurrection out of dead ones (Luke 20: 35a,
Greek). See also Heb. 9: 27, R.V.]
Personal
Challenge
which
will be found in the Revised Version rendering of the text we are studying (for
which there is strong MS authority) - note the reading -
WE MUST WORK the works of Him that sent me.
(John 9: 4, R.V.).
Here is our continuation of what He inaugurated, namely the spread of the
Gospel, and not merely continuation but most vitally also CO-OPERATION, as Marks record fully bears out: And they (i.e., the disciples) went forth, and preached everywhere, the LORD working with them, and confirming
the word by the signs that followed
(Mark 16: 20). Here is work for every true servant of
God, in fact for every believer who owns Christs sway in daily life and
testimony.
In
our Lords high-priestly prayer already alluded to He says: As thou didst send me into
the world, even so sent I them into the world (Jn. 17: 17). The
aorist tense of the verb views the divine intention as already accomplished,
though in actual experience it could not be until Christ was glorified. This
reference to His own commission is placed first as being the basis and example
of their subsequent mission who would continue what He had commenced. He
repeats His words after His Resurrection with even fuller emphasis: As the Father hath sent me, even so
send I you (Jn. 20: 19-23). The subsequent history of the church as seen
in the Acts is illustrative of what the risen and glorified Lord expects of us
still in this day and generation (cf. Acts
1: 1-8)
in particular). The Lords own words still ring out world-wide in the heart of
His true disciples: ye shall be witnesses unto me ... unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Moreover
our equipment is the same anointing of
the Holy Spirit as was His: He breathed on them, and saith
unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit (Jn.
20: 22)
which was but a prelude to the more comprehensive coming of the Spirit that
could only take place after His Ascension (Acts 2).
In this fact lies the guarantee of all effective service, and without it no service will stand the test
at the judgment-seat of Christ: wherefore, says
the apostle, we
make it our aim (we are ambitious)
to be well-pleasing to him for we must
all be made manifest there (2 Cor. 5: 10).
We
close with the challenging words of the apostle: Ye are all sons of light, and sons of the day; we are
not of the night, nor of darkness; so then let us not
sleep, as do the rest, but let us watch and be sober ... putting on the breastplate of faith and love: and for a
helmet the hope of salvation (1 Thess.
5: 4-8).
I charge you in the sight of God, and of Christ Jesus ... Preach
the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove,
rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and teaching: For the time will come when they will not endure sound teaching, but will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts ... (2 Timothy 4: 1-4); the Night cometh
when no man can work!
*
* * *
* * *
310
SEVEN OLD
TESTAMENT FEASTS
A
TYPOLOGICAL STUDY OF LEVITICUS 23
By A. McDonald Redwood *
[* See also 297]
-------
IV. The
Subject Considered Analytically
3. THE FEAST
OF FIRST-FRUITS
(a) VIEWED TOGETHER WITH FFAST OF WEEKS
SEVEN OLD
TESTAMENT FEASTS
A
TYPOLOGICAL STUDY OF LEVITICUS 23
By A. McDonald Redwood
-------
IV. The
Subject Considered Analytically
3. THE FEAST
OF FIRST-FRUITS
(a) VIEWED TOGETHER WITH FFAST OF WEEKS
In taking these two Feasts together first we need to
remind ourselves of what has already been pointed out - that together they form the second pair of the seven,
and are related to the first pair by being dependent upon them. Further, in
these two pairs of Feasts the first members of each pair refer their teaching
to Christ, whilst the second members refer to the believer and the church. A
reference to previous chapters will make this clear.
Looking at the two Feasts, let us note four points of
comparison and contrast:
1.
Both were to be celebrated in the land of Canaan, in fact, they could not have been celebrated outside
of it.
The
teaching implied has already been referred to under the Feast of Unleavened
Bread. And remembering that both feasts were harvest festivals, implying resurrection, we have here the thought that like as Christ was raised up
from among the dead by the glory of the Father, even
so we also should walk in newness of life (Rom. 6: 4) - which
is resurrection life. But such a walk is only possible in the land - which, as seen before, is spoken of in the New
Testament as in
the heavenlies. Whether for the
church or the individual believer the land is the proper sphere of the
Christian life and walk.
2. Again
both Feasts are connected with the ingathering of the harvest. But the first (the Feast of First-fruits) differed from
the second in being held at the commencement of the barley harvest which
ripened before any of the other grain; whilst the second was held at the end of
the harvest season when both the barley and the wheat had been gathered in,
seven Sabbaths (fifty days) intervening between the two.
There
is another harvest field for the first ripe fruit of which the Lord of the
harvest had long been waiting - a harvest of which Christ is the First-fruits* and the whole redeemed family, all they that are Christs perfected in resurrection glory at His
coming, shall be the fulness.
* 1 Cor. 15: 23.
3.
The third point to note is the contrast between the kinds of offerings presented before Jehovah. Let us look at first one, then the other.
(a) In the
Feast of First-fruits the main
offering consisted of a sheaf (an omer) of newly-cut barley - the grain in the ear, unbaken and untouched
(as it were) by hand. It was to be waved before Jehovah, to be accepted for you. The beautiful fresh grain was there as a result of
death, and exemplifies for us Christs own words spoken centuries later: Verily, verily, I say unto you,
except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die,
it abideth alone; but if
it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.*
So death had to pass upon Him if He was to be able to take that glorious title,
First-born from
amongst the dead, that in all things He might have the pre-eminence. ** How very wonderfully that Sheaf of First-fruits
pointed onwards to the day of Christs glorious Resurrection! It was both type
and prophecy, that
He should be the First that should rise from the dead.***
* Jn. 12: 24. ** Col. 1: 18. *** Acts 26: 23 (the R. V. is probably more
correct, but still embodies the thought of priority in resurrection.)
(b)
The main offering in the Feast of
Weeks consisted
of two wave
loaves, made of fine flour and
baked. They were also called a First-fruits unto Jehovah, though the two words are somewhat
different in the Hebrew. Then applied to the Church the appropriateness of the
type is immediately apparent - for that
one body is now to have no distinction between Jew and Gentile and yet is
composed of both.* The
Churchs oneness with her risen Head is at least hinted at in the fine flour - an ingredient, in fact the main one, in every meal-offering, which
stands ever as a type of that Holy One in whose spirit there is no guile. This Church, holy and spotless, is the very one He is
going to present
to Himself, a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle,
or any such thing; that it should be holy and without blemish.**
Apart from His own bodily resurrection this could not have been possible.
* Eph. 2: 14-18; cf.
1 Cor. 12: 13. ** 5
Eph. 5:
25-27.
4. The only other point to note is a very
important one, for it serves to illustrate the present
contrast between Christ the Head, and the Church His Body.
(a) In
the First-fruits Feast two significant differences were to be observed in the
offerings that accompanied the main offering. There was to be no leaven allowed
and the sin-offering was
omitted. The only offerings allowed were the burnt-offering and the
meal-offering, both of which served to emphasize the sinless character of
Christ. The designed omission is without doubt to guard the spotless holiness of
the Antitype to whom the Feast pointed. Thus the whole picture of the Christ is
preserved intact - His solitary dignity and pre-eminence both in death and in
resurrection; His peerless, holy character; His representative ministry at the
right hand of God - the priest shall wave the sheaf before Jehovah, to be accepted for you.
(b) In
contrast, the two loaves of the Feast of Weeks were to be baken with leaven, and there
was to be a sin-offering also, added to which was the peace-offering. Does this
seem to imply that sin is permitted in the Church which is His body?
Emphatically, No! But as long as the Church is the church militant on earth it will ever be in the presence of sin; and whilst
judicially every member of that Body is holy and sanctified in God the Father, it
is still true experimentally that the sinful nature is there and will assert
itself if not kept in its right place. It recognizes both the presence of
sin and the possibility of sinning. But at the same time it also provides the sin-offering
for the cleansing of sin, and the peace-offering for the grace to walk in newness of life
- because He is our peace. There is also the burnt-offering and the
meal-offering telling of every possible exigency being met by Christ Himself.
(b) VIEWED SEPARATELY
It
is instructive to note the time when the Feast of First-fruits took place. Verse 11 of the chapter indicates its very close
connection with the previous Feasts, and specially the phrase: on the morrow after
the Sabbath. To get the
significance of this expression we must again remind ourselves of what was
mentioned previously that the lamb slain as a sacrifice in the Passover became
the food that introduced the Feast of Unleavened Bread; so the latter followed
the former without any break. That brings us to the 15th day of the
month, which was to be a day of holy convocation. It might either have preceded or coincided with the
weekly Sabbath- but whether the one or the other, this Feast of First-fruits
was to commence on
the morrow after the Sabbath - i.e., on the first
day of the week. Now we
turn to the N.T. to find it written: The first day of the week, cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the
sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the
sepulchre ... Jesus saith unto her Mary!*
*
Jn. 20: 1, 16.
Henceforth,
for the Church, the first day of the week becomes the Lords Day, the day of
His resurrection [out] from the dead.* Notice that this was the third day after the paschal lamb had been slain; at the very
time, or within a few hours of the time, when the leaders and priests of Israel
were busied in preparing and presenting in their Temple the Omer of
First-fruits.
[* Literally:
out of dead ones. See Acts 4:
2:
being grieved
because they TAUGHT the PEOPLE, and
announced in Jesus THE RESURRECTION - that out of dead
ones. (Greek).]
In this, connection David Baron very suggestively quotes. Isa. 4: 2, and says: The construction
of the Hebrew demands that the expression, The fruit of the earth, should be regarded as another title of The Branch of Jehovah. It is one of
the most remarkable prophecies of the mystery of the Divine and human natures
of the Messiah in the Old Testament. He
then goes, on to quote Adolph Saphir - Exactly as the type had pre-figured it, so was He offered up
unto God. And on the morrow after the Sabbath He came forth the Sheaf, the
Branch out of the earth. ... Suffering and death were behind Him. He had died
once unto sin, but now He lived unto God.
Here
is the glorious Head of redeemed humanity coming forth out of [Hades (Acts 2: 31, R.V.) and] the earth, that He might sit at the right hand of the
Father. How wonderfully is the Passover fulfilled unto us; Christ our Passover
is offered; Christ the First-fruits of the dead is RISEN!
It
has ever been the Churchs glorying that the Resurrection of her great Head and
Lord is the Foundation, Stone of Christianity
- taken in conjunction with its essential correlative, the Atoning Death. Or,
to use another figure, it is the key-stone of the Arch of Salvation, of which
the Incarnation and the sacrificial Death of Christ, are the two great Pillars.
Everything in Christianity, everything in the Church, everything in the Bible,
everything in the earth, we may say, is of little or no value if this bulwark of the Faith is anything
but literal fact. In these days of increasing unbelief and wholesale attack
upon the central truths of Revelation, it is most essential we pause to study
and understand this glorious truth for ourselves.
(C) SUMMARY
We
may summarise the subject as follows; it will be convenient, to view it in
three aspects: 1. As an historical Fact; 2. as a cardinal Doctrine; 3. as a holy Dynamic for the daily life of service and testimony. In so considering it, we
shall the easier realize that, it is not merely a great doctrine, but it has life and
motive-force. Not mere dogma, to be held by those professing Christianity in
differentiation from other Religions; but it is, what even in these Feasts it
is designed to typify, a spiritual source of Life-Power. It is this which makes
it so vital a truth for the whole Body, and every member severally.
1. Considered
as an Historical Fact. A famous Lord Chancellor well said, No fact of ancient history is attested by evidence so
abundant, and unique. There are several lines of evidence to prove the
fact, but we must confine ourselves to three only:
(a) The existence of the primitive
Church is a very definite proof. It cannot be
denied that the early Community of Christians came into
existence as the definite result of belief in the Resurrection [of
Christ Jesus]. The characteristic theme of apostolic preaching was the Resurrection. On every occasion when they were faced by
unbelievers, Jews or Gentiles, their testimony was of Jesus and the Resurrection*.
Both the apostles, Peter and Paul, in their addresses made it prominent, as a
study of the earlier chapters of the Acts shews. ** Two facts stand out: (1) the Society was gathered together by
preaching; (2) the theme of the preaching was the Resurrection of Christ. There was nothing vague about the
preaching or the theme. Had it been possible at all, there were enough Jewish
enemies existing only too eager to use any contrary evidence had it existed. But the
silence of the Jews is as significant as the speech of the Christians (Fairbaim). And
we can heartily endorse the statement that as the
Church is too holy for a foundation of rottenness, so is she too real for a
foundation of mist. (Archbishop
Alexander).
*
See Acts 4: 2. ** See e.g.,
Acts 2: 32; 4: 10; 10: 40; 9: 5; 13: 30; 17: 31; 1 Cor. 15:1-4.
(b) The second proof is found in the
Scripture record itself,
mainly of course in the Gospels.
In
all four Gospels the appearances of Christ are recorded without any sign of
hesitancy or of special pleading. There are
two sets of appearances, one in Jerusalem and the other in Galilee, and their
number and the amplitude and weight of their testimony cannot easily be
explained away, but bear the closest examination. For example, the story of the
walk to Emmaus,* the visit of Peter
and John to the tomb,** and the
appearance to Mary herself, all reveal striking marks of reality and simple
straightforwardness. Moule comments
on Luke 24, It
carries with it, as great literary critics have pointed out, the deepest inward
evidences of its own literal truthfulness. For it so narrates the intercourse
of a risen God with commonplace
men as to set natural and supernatural side by side in perfect harmony. And to
do this has always been the difficulty, the despair of imagination. ... The
risen Christ on the road to Emmaus was a fact supreme, and the Evangelist did
but tell it as it was. The same tokens
of credibility are observable in all the other appearances. That there are difficulties
we do not deny, but the very difficulties are a testimony
to a conviction of the truth of the narratives on the part of the Christian
Church through the ages. The records have been fearlessly left as they are
because of the facts they embody. (Griffith
Thomas).
* Luke 24. ** John 20.
(c) Another evidence is the personal
story of the Apostle Paul. He
possessed the three essentials of a true witness: intelligence, candour, and
disinterestedness. His conversion and work stand out clearly as a background to
his own fearless preaching of the Saviour, of
the Resurrection in particular. He affirms that
within five years of the crucifixion of Jesus he was taught that, Christ died
for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He
was raised the third day according to the Scriptures. (Kennett). He writes this
less than twenty-five years after the great Event, and with complete assurance
after quoting the summary of the evidence (given in 1 Cor. 15: 3-7), adds his
own personal experience (verse 8) - last of all ... He appeared to me also. So that Within a very few years of the time
of the crucifixion of Jesus the evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus was, in
the mind of at least one man of education, absolutely irrefutable. (Kennett). This personal testimony of
one who at one time was the implacable enemy of the Nazarene and of His people
(as he himself humbly confesses), but later became the mighty instrument in
Gods hands for the establishing of Christs Church, it is difficult to refuse.
The
story has often been told of how Lord
Lyttelton and his friend Gilbert
West left Oxford University at the close of one academic year, each
determining to give attention respectively (during the long vacation) to the
conversion of Paul and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, in order to prove the
baselessness of both. They met again in the autumn and compared experiences: Lord Lyttelton had become convinced of
the truth of Pauls conversion, and Gilbert
West of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The
living Fact of the Resurrection still stands impregnable!
*
* * *
* * *
311
IS THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PRESENTLY IN
HEAVEN AS ROMAN THEOLOGY AVOWS?
By G. H. LANG
The Catholic creed avows [i.e.,
acknowledges] the orthodox doctrine of the trinity of Persons in the one God. In
practice, however, the glorification of Mary makes her the chief object of
devotion. In the first period of the
ATONEMENT
The
Catholic church avows that the sacrificial death of Christ is indispensable to
the believers salvation but this is vitiated [i.e., weakened and spoilt in quality and force] by the
doctrine that this salvation (eternal life) is obtained through the sacraments,
and these require the priest for effectual administration.
The
Catholic creed admits the Divine origin of the Old and New Testaments, but this
is corrupted by the recognition of the Apocrypha also. Moreover, before the
official Catholic creed admits the Holy Scriptures it requires the avowal
(acknowledgement or confession) of a steadfast assent (agreement) to and
acceptance of alleged apostolic traditions. (traditions declared or asserted,
often without actual proof.) And to the acknowledgement of the Scriptures the
promise is appended (added or attached) not to interpret them save according to
the unanimous consent (complete agreement) of the Church Fathers. As these in
fact are now unanimous on doctrine - no interpretation of Scripture by the
individual Catholic is possible. Thus tradition
is made the more important, and the Word of God is made of none effect.
PURGATORY
Scripture
warns that an unsanctified (unholy)
believer is liable to the parental chastisement of God after death. To this
salutary (beneficial) teaching the Catholic Church adds the fundamental (basic)
error that this purification is necessary to final salvation (eternal life),
whereas the blessed truth that this is dependant solely upon the atoning death
of Christ relied upon by faith.
To
false doctrine on this matter the Church then appends (adds) the further
falsity that its priests can help the sufferer through and out of purgatory
(the place Catholics believe to be where the souls of dead people are purified)
by their masses, thus greatly strengthening the grip of the priests on their
dupes (deceived followers) and their money.
THE
ASSUMPTION OF MARY
It
is worth deep and full inquiry whether it be not the case that the whole system
of Roman theology, and each dogma [i.e., an established belief laid down by the church] separately,
has some element of Truth at its heart,
truth perverted and corrupted, but there. It is to be doubted whether any one
of those dogmas is underlined error. That Church has been pre-eminently the
woman that has hid the leaven of error in the meal of truth; but the meal is
there.
If
this is so, it is to be expected that in even their doctrine of purgatory there is an element of truth.
A
reviewer remarked upon the above paragraph that there
is true insight here, but the statement goes too far: what element of truth lies
at the heart (for example) of the latest Dogma, that of the Assumption of the
blessed Virgin Mary?
The
answer affords a useful illustration of the feature here discussed.
The
history of this dogma begins with an early legend that almost immediately after
the death of Mary Christ appeared, with his angels, and caused her soul to be reunited with her body and she was carried to
heaven.
The
legend appeared in the third or fourth century and was attributed to Gnostic or
Collyridian heretics. The latter worshipped the Virgin Mary as a goddess and
offered to her cakes as a sacrifice. The book that preserved this story was for
a while rejected by the Church and was officially condemned as heretical by a Decretum attributed to Pope
Gelasius A.D. 494. By a series of forgeries in
the names of John the Apostle, Melito, Athanasius, Jerome, and Augustine, and further by the
adoption of the Gnostic legend by some accredited teachers, writers, and
liturgies [i.e., rituals of public worship], it became
accepted by the Church in centuries 6, 7, and 9 (see Smiths Dict. of Christian Antiquities, 2, 1142,
1145). But it remained only a pious tradition
(which nevertheless ought to be accepted) down to A.D. 1950, when it was
exalted to being a Dogma which the faithful are bound to believe at peril of
the soul.
Here
is a clear denial of the Dogma of Papal Infallibility, for what was
condemned as heretical in 494 was affirmed as Divine truth in 1950.
Thus
the lowly Mary, the blessed Mother of Jesus, and of His brothers and sisters (Mark 3: 31; 6: 3; John 2: 3-5; Gal. 1: 19), was
metamorphosed [i.e., transformed] into the Perpetual (everlasting) Virgin and impiously
exalted to be the Queen of Heaven with the blasphemies which are attached to her,
as in the instance cited above where she is placed between the Father and the
Son in adoration, and as well when she is set fourth as the tender-hearted
Intercessor, who pleads for sinners at the hands of her harsh and unwilling
Son.
Thus
the pagan Queen of Heaven, as owned at first by the heretical Collyridians, was
adopted by the Confederate Church at large when it had become paganized as the
Church of the Empire.
The
reader my think the reviewer justified in questioning whether there can be any element
of truth in this blasphemy. Yet going back to the original form of the legend,
its essence is this:- That immediately after Marys death, by a descent of the
Lord from heaven with His angels, her body was re-quickened [i.e., brought back
to life again] by reunion with her soul, brought from
The
error mingled with the truth was that the
event had already taken place in the case of Mary, and this paved the way
for the disastrous corruptions mentioned.
If
the Apostles had taught the early church that all believers go to heaven at death
this would of necessity have applied to Mary and there would have been neither
need nor reason for inventing a special legend so as to get her there. The fact
of the legend about her in particular shows that the Apostles had not so
taught.
THE PLACE OF DEAD SAINTS
Let
it now be much observed that, according to the legend, Marys soul did not at
death go to heaven above, but was carried by angelic agency to
Upon
this the learned Bishop Pearson, in
his monumental treatise on The Creed, writes on Article 5 as follows:-
This hath been in the later ages of the church the vulgar
opinion of most men ... But even this opinion, as general as it hath been, hath
neither that consent of antiquity, nor such certainty as it pretendeth ... The
most ancient of all the fathers, whose writings are extant, [i.e., still existing] were so far from believing that the end of
Christs descent into hell (Hades) was to translate the saints of old into
heaven, that they thought them not to be in heaven yet, nor ever to be removed from
that place in which they were before Christs death, until the general
resurrection ... Indeed, I think there were very few (if any) for above five
hundred years after Christ, who did so believe Christ delivered the saints out
of hell (Hades), as to leave all the damned there; and
therefore this opinion cannot be grounded upon the prime antiquity, when so
many of the ancients believed not they were removed at all, and so few
acknowledged that they were removed alone ... But there is no certainty that the
patriarchs and the prophets are now in another place and a better condition
than they were before our blessed Saviour died; there is no intimation of any
such alteration of their state delivered in the Scriptures; there is no such
place with any probability pretented to prove any
actual accession of happiness and glory already past.
(Hell is used in its older sense of the place of the
dead, not in its present common sense of final punishment, the
This
opinion that believers at death go to heaven and glory IS WORSE IN ITS NATURE THAN THE DOCTRINE OF
THE ASSUMPTION OF MARY, that doctrine did at least include the resurrection of
the body as prerequisite [i.e., a required condition] to assent to heaven; this other opinion (which is the belief of the vast majority of
Protestants) DISPENSES WITH
RESURRECTION AS A PRELMNARY TO TRANSLATION TO THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN HEAVEN.
In this particular the one was
scriptural, the other is unscriptural; and in scope and influence the latter IS THE LARGER ERROR, for the
one applied to Mary alone, the other affects myriads of believers.
Its
particular effect is to make resurrection unnecessary, for the saint has
already reached the goal and the highest state possible, the glory of God. In
essence this is much the same as the error of Hymenaeus and Philetus,
that resurrection is past, and its moral
effect is similar, even to diminish faith as regards a living expectation of
resurrection at the coming of the Lord, even in those who sincerely aver
(declare in a positive way) belief in the last doctrine.
Now
that which lessens in the Christian the keen desire for the coming of the Lord
is injurious. It works alongside of the error that the church is to convert the
world in this age, which error gained ground at the same time that the hope of
the Lords return ceased to be greatly held by Christians.
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SAINTS
Scripture
teaches that it is the purpose of God that Christ SHALL BE KING OVER ALL
THE EARTH (Ps. 2; Dan. 7: 13-14; Matt. 25: 31 etc.).
Included in that purpose is the plan that those who will form the church of the firstborn ones, (not all
of the Church as many may suppose, but only those who have not lost their
inheritance in the coming Kingdom Age) those who conquered (as overcomers)
in the present wars of the Lord, shall share the sovereignty and glory of
Christ (Matt. 19: 28; Luke 22: 28-30; 1 Cor. 6: 2, 3; Rev. 2: 25-28; 3: 21; etc.).
This
high prospect the
Out
of this perverse (wilful or wayward) and ill-timed application of the truth
grew the rank and poisonous weed of Papal Supremacy. The Pope claimed to be
king of kings, lord over all rulers and peoples, and to have authority to
depose (remove from office and power) sovereigns and absolve (pardon or release
from guilt, blame, obligation) a kings subjects from their due allegiance to
him. As Viceregent for Christ it was his to live in more than royal splendour
and luxury.
This
corrupt and civilly corrupting leaven, this evil political theory, is still
held firmly by the church, and is yet to be realised when the Harlot Church
shall for a short time sit on and direct the Scarlet-coloured political Beast,
the kingdom of Antichrist (Rev. 17).
Annually,
in mock imitation of the blessed Lord having washed the feet of the Apostles,
the Pope washes the feet of twelve beggars. But, as Bengel said, it would show more true humility were he to wash the
feet of ONE KING.
The
blessed hope of the return of the Lord was a vital part of apostolic doctrine.
Whatever diminishes it in the heart of the believer is of the nature of leaven,
a corrupting of truth by an admixture of error. Here each who abhors the Woman
has to fear and watch lest he help to spread leaven. The Roman Catholic Church IS NOT THE ONLY AGENCY THAT HAS DONE THIS
WORK OF THE EVIL ONE. CHRISTIAN TEACHER, BEWARE! WE ALL MUST PAY ATTENTION TO OURSELVES AND OUR
DOCTRINES. For there is coming a DAY when we must all give an account of ourselves to Christ, and He
will judge and REWARD US ACCORDING TO OUR WORKS.
*
* * *
* * *
312
THE
PROGRESSIVE REVELATION
OF THE HOLY
SPIRIT
By A. T. PIERSON, D.D.
In the New
Testament there seems to be, proceeding from the Gospel narrative and through the
Epistles, a regular and systematic unfolding of the doctrine of the Spirit of
God. I would indicate a few of the steps, or stages, in this development.
Starting
with that emphatic declaration in John 16: 7, It is expedient for you that I go away, this is more than to say There
will be a compensation for My
absence, for the word expedient
carries with it the idea of something advantageous. It
is better for you that I go away, and that the Holy Spirit should come. That seems almost incredible. But in view of our Lord
saying, It is
better for you that I go away, we
know that it could not be best to change places with the disciples of old and
all their advantages, and yet, in the secret heart, there is a feeling that we
would rather be as they; yet our Lord says there is a positive advantage in His
withdrawal, because on His withdrawal depended the bestowal of the Holy Spirit.
Let us look at it still more closely. When the Lord
Jesus Christ was upon earth, He was with some and not with others, with them at
some times and not always, outside of them and not within them, but when the
Holy Spirit came He was with all and not some, with them at all times, within
them and not merely with them. Hence it is perfectly clear that it is better
for us to be under the dispensation of the Spirit, than to have been among the
actual company who met with Christ in the days of His flesh.
But
more than that. In the 15th and 16th chapters
of John are two words of great importance: The Spirit of truth shall TESTIFY of Me (15: 26). He shall GLORIFY Me (16: 14). The
Holy Spirit is to witness to Christ, to testify to Him and of Him, and to
glorify Christ. Notice what the two words mean. For all true knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ you are dependent upon the Spirit, and especially for such
knowledge as glorifies Him in your eyes. The Spirit of God thus came into the
world to testify of Christ, and so testify of Him as to make Him seem glorious
in our eyes, chiefest
among ten thousand and the altogether lovely. He is a necessity to the understanding of the true
character of Christ, and for the blessed Son of God to become the actual centre
of all things to us.
Paul
tells the Corinthians, Though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet henceforth know we
Him no more. This was not an
expression of a disadvantage to be lamented, but rather as a better and greater
privilege to know Christ through the spiritual comprehension than through the
physical. Though it was a blessed thing to know Him after the flesh, it is more
blessed to know Him by those senses of the spirit which, being exercised,
discern between good and evil. It is greater to know Christ by the Holy Spirit
than by the witness of the eyes and the ears and other personal contact.
I.
Now if we turn to the Acts of the Apostles, this book is a kind of biography of the Holy Spirit, holding a somewhat
similar relation to His person as the gospel narrative does to that of Christ. This
book of the Acts begins with the Incarnation of the Spirit in the Church, and
all through the history, which covers about the same period as the gospel -
thirty-three and a half years, we trace the history of the working of the Holy
Spirit within the Church. Again, the book of the Acts is intended to show the
Holy Spirit in the believer becoming the power in all witnessing - the Governor
and invisible Presiding guide. We see here His activity in the witnessing
Church, as the disciples went through Judea and
II. In the Epistle to the Romans, for the first time we meet the
expression, the
Spirit of Life, in chap. 8, the
centre of the whole epistle, literally and spiritually. The whole chapter is
occupied with what may be called the development of life. The Holy Spirit is
there represented as performing the maternal offices, bearing, nursing, rearing, and training the child of God,
teaching us to walk and talk as a mother teaches her babe, and, like her,
directing the mind to right objects of thought. The word Abba is the Aramaic word for Papa.
Certain words need only the closed lips and the outgoing breath, when as yet
there are no teeth, and so papa, mamma, are the natural beginnings of speech in the
infant child. So the believer, under the Spirits tuition, learns to talk in
the dialect of the Spirit to the newly recognized Father, looking up and
saying, Papa. All through this chapter the
Spirit is shown in these maternal offices, instilling life into the child,
teaching him to walk and to talk; and directing the mind from carnal to
spiritual things; and, just as in the body there go on the mortifying and the
vivifying processes, so we are told in this chapter that the New Life is developed
by the mortification of sin on the one hand, and the vivification of the Spirit
on the other, so that All things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to His purpose.
III. Then, in Galatians, the great word there is Walk. Lusts are ascribed to the Spirit. Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh; for the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, AND THE SPIRIT
AGAINST THE FLESH, and these are contrary
the one to the other, so that ye cannot do (under the Spirit) the things that ye would (under the control of the flesh). When lusts are thus ascribed to the Spirit, there is no
inconsistency or wrong in the term employed. What are lusts? they are the
over-mastering desires of the flesh over the spirit of the man on the one hand,
and the overmastering desires of the Spirit of God over the flesh on the other.
The flesh lusts when it overmasters. By the expulsive
power of a new affection the Spirit overmasters the grosser passions.
Dr Chalmers asked John, the coach-driver, why he whipped his leading horse when
it seemed so unnecessary, and he replied, There is a
great white stone just round the bend of the road there, and a deep crevasse on
the other side, and this horse always shies; so I give him something to think about till he
gets past that stone! Chalmers
went home and wrote that sermon on, The Expulsive
Power of a New Affection. Just so the Holy Spirit gives you something
to love that makes you unlove what you once loved, and to love what you once
did not love. He kindles in you overmastering
affections, so that the inordinate affections of the flesh are subdued.
IV. Then, as in Galatians we are taught how the Spirit enables us to walk
with a Heavenly Companion, so in the Epistle to the Ephesians we are taught how
the Spirit lifts us to a fellowship in the heavenlies, by
our identification with Christ. In Christ we ascend above the earthly level,
and actually live in the spiritual sphere, apart from the world, though we
still have to be in it.
This
Epistle to the Ephesians declares that every human being is either indwelt by
the Spirit of Evil, or else by the Spirit of God (chap.
2: 2, 3). And you, who were dead in
trespasses and sins, wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of
this world, according to the prince of the power
of the air (one of the names of
the Devil), THE
SPIRIT that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our course of life in times past in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the
desires of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. There are only. two
classes in Gods eyes: the children of disobedience, and the children of obedience, and among the former we ALL
had our conversation in times past.
Whatever may be the respectable gloss of a worldly life, that life is
controlled by the Devil, and every man, controlled by the Spirit of God, is
thus separated absolutely from those that are under the power of and controlled
by the Evil One. The whole subject of the possession of human beings by the
spirits of evil needs an entirely fresh examination. The Bible teaches that not
only does the spirit of Evil dwell in every unconverted man, woman, or child,
but that more than one evil spirit may dwell in such, for a spirit
occupies no space. It is no mere figure of speech that out of Mary Magdalene were cast seven demons,
or that a legion of demons were cast out of the Demoniac of Gadara and
suffered to enter into the herd of swine. We see men sometimes commit crimes of
which they seem really incapable; but if we believe that evil spirits dwell in
men, then we can understand how they can carry out crimes and plans of evil,
which they would have been personally unable to do otherwise.
The
consummate triumph of Christ over the Devil was not when, in the Temptation He
overcame him and he departed for a season, nor at the Cross and sepulchre, but
when He sent down from Heaven the Holy Spirit
of God to dwell within every believing child of God. Oh, what a triumph that is! The Holy Spirit coming
into a sinful soul to depose and displace the spirits of evil. Even though
there were seven or a legion of demons, the Spirit of God comes henceforth to
be the dominating force over all others. Is not that Christ putting sin and
Satan under His feet and under our feet too? Because in Him
we triumph over the Devil and all his host. And so this Epistle to the
Ephesians lifts us up to the heavenly level.
Again,
notice that thus, in this Epistle, in which you have the most terrible
presentation of the malice and malignity of the powers of evil, you are lifted
up to the highest possible level of holy and blessed experience. In
ch. 6: 10 you have
this warning: Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on
the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the
Devil. Remarkable! What have I
to, do with the wiles of the Devil, when I have not only received the Spirit of
adoption, but have power to witness to Christ, been, conscious of the Spirits
witness with my spirit, learnt the over-mastering desires of the Spirit, been
lifted up into a higher atmosphere, into blessed experience of communion and
fellowship with my Lord? Ah, it is that high level where you are sure to meet the Devil in his
mightiest power. As long as you are on the lower plane he is not
going to give himself much trouble about you, for you are doing little harm to
his kingdom; your own lusts are doing his work for him. But when you leave the
lower behind, when the lusts of the flesh have been brought into subjection,
when you have gone up yonder in the Spirit and are walking with Christ in the
heavenlies, then you will find Satan to be your personal antagonist.
I doubt whether we are ever clothed with the whole armour of God, in the sense
of the 6th chapter of Ephesians,
till we have mounted there into the heavenlies, where the most desperate form
of encounter takes place: For when Satan sees you are
endangering his kingdom, then, like a general-in-chief that sees his cause
tottering, he will come himself against you in all his wiles. So that the more desperate your combats with the Devil are, the more
you may be thankful that you are more or less endangering his kingdom. He lets us alone when we are captivated by
the world and the flesh.
In the fourth chapter of the Second
Corinthians some say we might translate: If our gospel be hid it is hid by those
things which are perishing. Young
people go after the pleasures of this world, and when rebuked they say: We do not intend to follow them to any great extent; we know
they will not give lasting satisfaction, but we mean to enjoy ourselves while
we are young, and later on we will turn over a new leaf. But did you
ever see how men build an arch? They first of all put up scaffolding, and then
a stone arch over the wooden structure; then when the stone arch is finished
they tear down the wooden one and burn it up, but the stone arch stands. So these pleasures of this
passing world, the vanity and the pomp of this life, are the wood-work, and by
and by you will be sick of it all and pull the scaffolding down, but the personal character you have been building will
stand as long as God stands, eternally. So the Holy Spirit is seeking
to draw you away from these things which perish, lest they give shape to
eternal character.
We
are within reach of a divine power that no man or woman from the time of Adam
has ever more than begun to touch. When the people pressed upon the Lord Jesus,
one woman so touched Him that the Master felt the touch, and said, Some one hath touched ME, for
virtue has gone out of ME. The mere historical
or doctrinal touch of Christ, is not the great touch
which brings virtue out of Christ; but if you get into true touch directly with
Christ Himself, in a higher sense, you will have an experience of power,
satisfaction, delight and fellowship with God that is absolutely new even to a child
of God.
A
brief summary of the teaching about the Holy Spirit may be given as follows:
Christ
1. Born of the Spirit - John 3: 6.
2. The Spirit of truth dwelleth with you and shall be in you. - John14:
17.
3. Receive ye the Holy Spirit. - John 20: 22.
Paul
4. God giveth unto you His Holy Spirit. - 1 Thess. 4: 8.
5. Salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit. - 2 Thess.
2: 13.
6. God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into
our hearts, crying Abba,
Father. - Gal. 4:
6.
7. Ye are the
8. God anointed us, also sealed us, and gave us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. - 2 Cor. 1: 21, 22.
9. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made
us free. - Rom. 8: 2.
10. Be filled with the Spirit. - Eph. 5: 18.
11. We worship by the Spirit of
God. - Phil.
3: 3.
Hebrews
12. Made partakers of the Holy Spirit. - Heb. 6: 4.
James
13. The Spirit which He made to dwell in us. - Jas.
4: 5.
Peter
14. The Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you. - 1 Pet.
4: 14.
15. Men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit. - 2 Pet. 1: 21
Jude
16. Praying in the Holy Spirit. - Jude 20.
John
17. The Spirit which He hath given to us. - 1 John 3: 24.
18. The Spirit that beareth witness (along with the
water and the blood.) - 1 John 5: 6-9.*
[*
See also the possibility of the Holy
Spirit being WITHDRAWN in cases of
continued disobedience and apostasy!
19. 1 Sam. 16: 14; 18: 12. cf. Ps. 51: 11, etc.
See also The Personal
Indwelling of the Holy Spirit by G. H. Lang.]
*
* * *
* * *
313
NOTES ON HEBREWS
By W. E. VINE, M.A. (
Chapter
12
This chapter brings before us a continued, but again a fresh,
view of the superior glories of the Lord. Jesus. His superiority is now seen in
the matter of faith, of which He is the Pattern and Perfecter (vv. 1-3). This is made the basis of exhortations. The
subject of chastening is presented as to its necessity and its purposes. That
has to do with the relationship of the individual child of God (vv. 4: 13).
Then comes an exhortation as to relations with
fellow-men and especially fellow-believers (vv.
14-17).
There follows a contrast between the terrors of Sinai and the blessings of
Analysis
(1) A
twofold exhortation - verses 1-3
(a) the
reason - verse 1a
(b) the acts - verse 1b
(c) the incentive, The Person - verse 2
(1) What He is
(2) What He did
(3) Where He is
(d) The reason for the incentive - verse 3
(2) A
twofold rebuke - verses 4-13
(a) Sin and chastening - verses
4-11
(b) A twofold
command - verses 12-13
(3) Another
twofold command - verses 14-17
(a) As to others - verse
14a
(b) As to
self - verse 14b
(c) Watchfulness
against dangers - verses 15-17
(1) of falling
short - verse 15a
(2) of bitterness
- verse 15b
(3) of fornication
- verse 16a
(4) of profane
greed - verses 16b-17
(4) Past, Present, Future:
(a) to what we
have not come - verses18-21
(b) to what we have come (seven-fold) - verses 22-24
(c) a twofold exhortation
and the reasons - verses 25-27
Notes
Verse 1. Therefore let us also, seeing we are
compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, - In the eleventh
chapter they were spoken of as those who had witness borne to them (vv. 2-5, 39); here
they are themselves witnesses. Not that those who are now with Christ are the
spectators of those still on earth, but that, as to the persons mentioned in chap. 11, their
lives of faith are so recorded in the O.T. narratives that they seem to be living
spectators urging us on to run as they did. The inspired record is like an
amphitheatre, and, as with the cloud of onlookers of old, so these heroes of
faith utter their voices in the sacred page of Scripture. As we read of their
trials and triumphs, they, so to speak, compass us about.
The writer of the Epistle is here testifying to the permanence and vividness of
the records of Scripture.
lay aside every weight,
and the sin which doth so easily beset us, - Every encumbrance must be removed; everything that
would entangle our feet must be got rid of. Cumbering cares and sinful desires
arise from unbelief, and from these we must free ourselves if we are to run the
race successfully. This is necessary for our spiritual athletic training. Euperistatos, here only in the N.T., means easily standing around: hence besetting.
and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, - The word prokeimai means
to lie before, i.e., to lie in full view. The patience to which we are exhorted
is not that of enduring trials, but that of perseverance in our efforts. For patience see ch.
10: 36.
Verse 2. looking unto Jesus - The verb aphorao is found
here only in Scripture. It signifies, lit., to look
away, and may suggest looking away from all else, though it probably
conveys the thought of looking earnestly. The eyes gaze at that which engrosses
the heart. If carnal desires are harboured in the heart, they obscure the moral
vision. The single Name, Jesus, combines both grandeur and tenderness. He is so
called because He saves His people from their sins.
the Author and Perfecter of our faith, - For archegos, author, see on ch. 2: 10. The word
denotes a leader, and as such He is the perfect Exemplar of faith. He trusted in God. The word teleiotes
signifies one who completes, who brings to the destiny determined. The corresponding verb has been used
of Christ in 2:
10; 7: 28. The thought seems, then, to be One who has arrived at the goal of faith. His faith
has had its issue in His exaltation at the right hand of God. Accordingly as
the Leader He is our Pattern, as the Perfecter He is our encouragement, being
Himself the incentive to our faith. The two words point us first to His life on
earth, and then to His position and ministry in the Sanctuary. He has trodden
the pathway of faith from beginning to end.
Who for the joy that was set before Him - The preposition
anti
rendered for, does not here mean instead of; it has its other significance of the
value set upon a thing. For example see verse 16,
of Esau, who for
(anti) one mess of meat sold his own
birthright. The joy set before
the Lord was the anticipation of His glory with the Father and all that was to be the outcome of His
finished work on the cross, both in the present age - [next, the millennial age] - and [all] the ages to come. Because of the value He set upon all this He endured
the cross.
endured the cross, despising the shame, - For endured see ch. 10: 32. The article
is absent in the original before cross the shame, and this serves to emphasise the nature of what He
endured. He underwent even such an agonizing and ignominious death as that of a
cross. The aorist tenses in both verbs rendered endured and despising mark each act as single
and decisive.
and hath sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God. - In this His faith has had its perfecting and He
Himself has had His reward. The perfect tense, hath
sat down, indicates the permanent effects thereof. Thus He is set
before us as the great incentive to us in our life of faith. As we endure to the end so shall we be
rewarded. Looking unto Him, we shall be enabled to resist the evil
tendencies within and the foes without. See Rev.
2: 10.
Verse 3. For consider him that hath
endured such gainsaying of sinners against themselves, - The word analogizomai,
rendered consider, is found here only in the N.T.; it means to reckon
up, and here signifies to reflect upon Him, to take His example into careful consideration.
We are exhorted to meditate upon Him, taking into account all that is recorded
of Him as consummated in what is here stated concerning Him.
The
most ancient texts are divided between the plural themselves,
and the singular Himself. There is perhaps an
indication in the similar phrase used in Num.
16: 38.
Cp. Jude 11.
that ye wax not weary, fainting in your souls. - The verb kamno, to be weary is used elsewhere in the
N.T. only in Jas. 5:
15, where it differs from that in verse 14, and signifies weariness of soul, as
here. The clause fainting in your souls
describes the nature of the weariness. The word (Gk. ekluomai) denotes to be disheartened. Occupation with Christ, His sufferings and His
reward, is the great preventative of such laggardness.
Verse 4. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against
sin, - That the subject is
that of striving against sin shows that the resisting unto blood is not here a
matter of enduring martyrdom at the hands of persecution. The metaphor is a
striking expression as to the utmost degree of striving against sin, the
negative statement putting their failure in contrast to what Christ endured. It
may be that the sin to which the Hebrew Christians were being tempted was that
of unbelief, tempting them to apostatise from Christ. The warning, however, is
against slackness in resisting temptation to any form of sin.
Verse 5. and ye have forgotten the exhortation, which reasoneth
with you as with sons, - The Scripture is vividly spoken of in the verb dialegomai, to
reason, as dealing with us by way of argument and persuasion. Cp. the use of
the word in Acts 24: 25. It is rendered disputed in Jude 9. For a similar personification of Scripture
see ch. 4: 12. The word
huioi, sons, is wrongly rendered children in the A.V. Sons are such as can enter intelligently into what is being dealt
with by a father.
My son, regard not lightly the chastening of the Lord, - The quotation is from the LXX of Prov. 3: 11, 12, with the insertion of My. The word oligoreo (here only in the Greek Bible) means to make little of, and so to treat
with carelessness. Paideia, which sometimes means instruction or discipline, here has the
meaning of chastening either by rebuke or by corrective dealing. One of the
ways in which unbelief produces lethargy of soul is failure to apprehend the
Divine meaning and motive in our chastisement.
nor faint when thou art reproved of Him:- Ekluomai, as in v.
3, here speaks of desponding. Such a spirit
fails to realise both the need of
the reproof and the loving wisdom that administers it. It leads to that
resentment which makes us unfit for the discharge of filial service.
Verse 6. For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every
son whom He receiveth. - The verb agapao signifies love, not merely by way of affection,
but in a practical way by approbation, and this is indicated here in the
chastening and its motive and object. The word paradechomai, to receive, here has the meaning of
accepting by way of recognizing, and refers to Gods recognition of a person as
His son. The chastening is an indication of love; the scourging is an act with
the object of our highest good.
Verse 7. It is for chastening that ye endure; God dealeth with
you as with sons; for what son is
there whom his father chasteneth not? -
To endure suffering in the spirit of patience is to realize that God has the
best motive in chastening; and therefore to recognise that He is dealing with us
as sons, and not in any other way. Gods dealings confirm the existence of such
a relationship. While we need constant correction, all is ministered in the
love of God.
Verse 8. But if ye are without chastening, whereof all have
been partakers, then are ye
bastards, and not sons, -
Whereas chastisement is a token of sonship, absence of such dealing gives
evidence of the lack of that relationship. The positive and negative statements
at the close give emphasis to the solemn fact.
Verse 9. Furthermore, we had the fathers
of our flesh to chasten us, and we gave them
reverence; shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? As such He has at heart our highest
spiritual welfare. By these things men live, and
wholly therein is the life of our spirit (Isa. 38: 16, R.V.,
with Deut. 8:
3). The word rendered to chasten is really a noun, chastisers.
The verb rendered be in subjection is in the passive voice, be subjected, that is, suffer yourselves to be subjected. The tense is the Aorist, describing it as a decisive
act. With the title the Father of spirits, cp. Numb.
16: 22; 27: 16.
*
* * *
* * *
314
THE STORY OF
HIGH ALTITUDES
By A. McDONALD REDWOOD
The story of high altitudes is the story of thrilling achievement.
The
story is not confined to mountain climbing, however. Equally fascinating is the
story of men who have reached up to high altitudes in other spheres: many of
them in the pure service of Truth and Right.
Every
such romance of achievement is full of the great lessons of life. They are as
wholesome and salutary in their influence as they are worthy of the closest
study. They call forth the noblest faculties of chivalry, of faith, of courage,
of endurance, of emulation: whilst others will sound a more solemn, yet equally
wholesome, note of warning.
Whilst
this, is true of any one of the higher realms of human enterprise, we have a
particularly wide, and in most respects unique, field to glean from in the
moral and spiritual. Here are found lessons which take us beyond and above
those offered elsewhere. This is as we should expect. The high altitudes of the
spiritual life soar higher than any other. Whatever is purest and truest and
best in other realms is found here. These heights possess characteristics all
their own. They appeal more strongly to that which is best and worthiest in us
all. It is to these we turn when we wish to urge upon young men and women the
inspiration of high ideals, and the pursuit of an ennobling purpose in life:
And the high soul climbs the
highway,
And the low soul gropes the low.
Yes,
it is the mark of the high soul to be attracted by such altitudes. To such the
appeal is irresistible - climb they must, be the summit ever so hid in the far
away azure blue, unreachable. There is progress in no other direction. Is it not the essential condition of all progress the pursuit of an ideal toward which one ever
tends and yet can never reach?, were the words of M. de Nelidoff in his Presidential
Address at the opening of the International Peace Conference of 1907 (if I
mistake not the first Conference of its kind).
In
all essentials that is true for the spiritual life also. And those who refuse
the adventure of high altitudes refuse the path of real progress. The path of the just (and we are not just indolently
or indifferently, but determinedly), says the Wise Man of Proverbs, is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the
perfect day - as the sun, rising
higher each degree, reaches the noonday.
John Oxenharn describes the alternatives:
And the low soul gropes the
low:
And in between, on the misty flats,
The rest drift to and fro.
Each
line here is pregnant, for the whole implies choice - to
climb, to grope, to drift -
But
to every man there openeth
A high way and a
low,
And every man
decideth
The way his soul
shall go.
It
is of the very quality of the spiritual that such choice is not easy. We might
go further and say that, even to the high soul the choice is not easy, however
inviting. It is not easy just because the heights seem so inaccessible and
enveloped, whilst the lowlands are at hand and attractive. They also have an
enticing appeal to make.
Again,
it is not easy because their true character seems veiled - instead of a leap
upwards from crag to crag it seems rather a painful stumbling among rocks and
briars. The peaks recede as we approach: As soon as one is attained a yet
higher one appears above.
In
spite of all however, the high soul is assured that the path does lead onwards
and upwards. Take Moses, for example: He chose (after
having refused the alternative) rather to suffer affliction ... esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches ... He endured as seeing
Him who is Invisible, Who, like a
true Guide, went ahead to point the way and fill his vision, and receive him into glory. That is the blazed trail the heroes followed before
him, and he had eyes to see what it is given to faith alone to see and attain.
But
as you climb these altitudes remember there are dangers. Abraham, Moses, David -
they all proved this. The saints have always proved it. To some natures the way
seems all danger and nothing else. They reach upward to each succeeding summit
with trembling knees and fearful countenance. Thank God they are still heroes,
however; for they labour doubly and yet keep on in spite. But to others of more
ardent self-confidence there are seemingly no dangers. With un-chastened
assurance born more of egotism than of faith no pinnacle seems beyond reach.
Of
course both are mistaken, and both are liable to suffer defeat. In the one case
the danger of dangers is to stop just short of victory, unconscious that it is
within grasp. The eyes are blinded perhaps, or courage at last gives out. This
is a very real danger, and the inner secret of overcoming it successfully to
the very end is contained in the words already quoted: Moses endured as seeing
Him who is Invisible. is the Law
of Climbing - fix the gaze
on the Heights above, not
on the depths below!
The supreme danger on the other hand is pride of
spiritual attainment, and overweening confidence. This is tragically
illustrated in the story of King Josiah. You will not find it in the Book of Kings which is written from the purely historical
side, but in the Books of Chronicles giving the
incident as viewed from the Godward standpoint. Josiah began to climb at an
early age, and with ardent zeal for God. With increasing momentum and
thoroughness, he swept before him like a whirlwind the accumulated putridity of the previous reigns - he
purged society, he revived religion, he restored the law, and then stood
looking round from the dizzy height for fresh heights to conquer. It is an
inspiring picture of youth, valour and religious zeal combining to crown him
with the treasures of conquest. His people worshipped him - he was their last
hope in a hopeless future, their only saviour from the yawning depths just
ahead. He had reached the high altitudes in more ways than one.
But the archers shot at the
king, and pride laid him low - he lost both the voice of God and the
vision of God, and he died prematurely (2 Chron.
35: 22, 25). With him the last
gleam of the sunset of
But though he fell he was born of such stuff as heroes
are made of, and he left behind him a blessing where previously there was a
curse. It shall be counted to him for righteousness.
Such and much more is the story of High Altitudes - moral and spiritual.
And yet, tell me, O my soul, is it not nobler, like
Peter -
To climb and fall,
And rise again -
Than never to climb at all - at
all?
-------
Make us Thy mountaineers;
We would not linger on the lower slope,
Fill us with hope, O God of Hope,
That undefeated, we may climb the hill
As seeing Him who is invisible.
Let us die climbing. When this little while
Lies far behind us, and the last defile
Is all alight, and in that light we see
Our Leader and our Lord - what will that be?
(AMY WILSON CARMICHAEL
of
*
* * *
* * *
315
THE TWOFOLDNESS OF DIVINE TRUTH
By ROBERT GOVETT, M.A.
Much mischief has resulted therefrom.
I.
The Arminian has fallen into vain
self-reliance, bustle, and idolatry of the means. The agency of man, his powers
and activity, have come prominently into his view. The glory and praise of man
have taken the place of the glory and praise of God.
2.
The Calvinistic scheme, taken alone,
has fostered an equal mischief in the other direction. Accustomed to regard God
only as the Sovereign Benefactor, and man as passive and helpless only, it has
fallen into spiritual sloth; and has looked, with suspicion and a frown, on
those who would use means to advance the salvation of men.
Extreme Arminianism has made man independent of God, and has denied
either His infinite foreknowledge or His boundless power.
Extreme Calvinism
has so swallowed up the responsibility of man, by assertion of his passivity,
as to foster inactivity, and to verge on making God the author of sin.
What then is to be done? Which are we to believe of the two statements?
Here
lies the core of the mischief. IT IS
TAKEN FOR GRANTED THAT WE ARE TO MAKE OUR CHOICE BETWEEN THE TWO; AND THAT, IF
WE CANNOT RECONCILE THE TWO SYSTEMS, WE ARE AT
It
is not necessary to reconcile them, before we are bound to receive and act upon
the two. It is enough, that the Word of God distinctly affirms them both.
II. Take another point. What is THE EXTENT OF THE REDEMPTION procured
by the death of the Lord Jesus?
The
testimony of Scripture on this point is seemingly opposed.
1. Now redemption
is affirmed to have been wrought on behalf of the saints and elect, as witness
the following passages:-
(1) Christ loved the
church, and gave Himself for it: Eph. 5: 25.
(2) This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you: Luke 22: 20.
(3) The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. I lay down My life for
the sheep: John
10: 11, 15.
(4) Who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him: 1 Thess. 5: 10.
2.
But again, the death of Jesus is affirmed to have been for the salvation of the world.
(1) Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world: John 1: 29.
(2) The bread which I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world: John 6: 51.*
* The attempt to turn the edge of these passages, by affirming that the world here means the world of the elect, scarcely
calls for an answer. It is a sad perversion of the Word of God. In John, and
the rest of Scripture, the world means, not
the elect, but the opposite company.
(3)
Prayers are to be made for all men. For this is good, and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who is willing*
that all men should be saved. For the man Christ
Jesus gave Himself a ransom for all: 1 Tim. 2: 1, 4, 6.
*[See the Greek word
] Our version is too strong. It does not affirm Gods
decree for the salvation of all, but simply His willingness that they should be
saved.
(4) Jesus is the propitiation for our sins: and not
for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2: 2.
What does the apostle mean by the whole world? We know
that we are of God, and that the
whole world lieth in wickedness: 1 John 5: 19.
(5) We trust in the living God, who
is the Saviour of all men, specially of them that believe: 1 Tim. 4: 10.
Again
we are brought to the same point. Here are two seemingly opposing truths. And
hence Christians have gone off into opposite directions about them. Time and
ingenuity have been wasted in the attempt to compress both into one. They will
ever resist the pressure.
But are they not contradictory? Nay, that cannot be;
for they are both parts of the Word of God; and contradictions cannot both be
true. Both, then, are to be received; whether we can reconcile them or no.
Their claim on our reception is not that we can unite them, but that God has
testified both.
III. With regard to the PERSEVERANCE
of the saints on their course of holiness, there is the same diversity, or
contrast of view.
1.
Now the full security of the sheep of Christ is affirmed in terms the most suited to
console them.
(1) I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish,* neither shall any pluck them out of My hand.
My Father,
which gave them Me, is
greater than all; and none is able to pluck them
out of My Fathers hand: John 10: 28, 29.
* Or rather, they shall not perish for ever.
(2) Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril or
sword? I am persuaded that neither death,
nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other
creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of
God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord: Rom. 8: 35, 38, 39.
(3) But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth: 2 Thess. 2: 13.
2. And
yet, how strong and awful the exhortations against falling away! How absolute
the terrors threatened in case of so doing! What is the Epistle to the Hebrews,
but a long plea against such apostacy?
(1) Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the
things which we have heard, lest at any time we
should let them slip. For if the word spoken by
angels was stedfast, and every transgression and
disobedience received a just recompense of reward; How shall we escape, if we neglect so
great salvation? Heb. 2: 1-3.
(2) For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and
tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and tasted
the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, if they shall fall
away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves
the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame: 6:
4-6. (See Greek.)
For if we sin wilfully after
that we 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: 10: 26, 27.
*
* * *
* *
*
316
NO GOSPEL
THROUGH THE DEAD
By D. M.
PANTON, B.A.
The dead Patriarchs answer to a dead man (Luke 16: 25)
closes all hope for him; so Dives exclaims, - But if
Lazarus cannot be sent to me, let him be sent to my brothers; if he cannot
cross the impassable gulf, he can at least return to the earth he so lately
quitted. In other words, only let the
dead preach the
gospel; let one warning of solemn testimony as to the fact of hell-fire be
given by one who has felt it, and a message arrive from one actually in it, and
men will believe. Thus clearly it is the heart of an unbeliever still who is
speaking; for the implication is, If only I had had sufficient evidence that such a place of torment [in
Hades Luke 16:
23, R.V.) presently] exists
- if only I had been warned clearly enough of the awful consequences of
impenitence, I should never
have been here: even the ulcered
beggar at my gates would be a preacher good enough for my brothers and me, if only he had actually come back from the dead.
RETURNING
SOULS
Now
let us first thoroughly grasp what Abraham in reply does not say: he does not say
that no occupant of Hades can never return. Between the saved and the lost in
Hades, a gulf is fixed, yawning, fathomless, bridgeless, which cannot be
overleaped, on the other; but no impassable barriers are stated to exist
between Hades and the earth. The way the [disembodied] soul went, it
can come back. Moreover, Abraham does not say that no intelligent
communication could be established; or that if a spirit returned it would be
unrecognizable. On the contrary, of beheaded martyrs whose disembodied souls
were in the other world, John, himself in the body, says:- I saw the souls
of them that had been beheaded (Rev. 20: 4); and when the discarnate spirit of Samuel
reappeared, Saul
perceived
that it was Samuel (1 Sam. 28: 14). The soul is an exact counterpart of the body,
and the body is the physical manifestation of the soul: there is no physical impossibility in the dead returning and
communicating with the living. Necromancy is a real and forbidden sin (Deut.
18: 11). But all are not the dead who call themselves so. The
mere fact of a genuine communication from the other world is no guarantee
whatever of the truth of that communication, or of the identity of the spirit
communicating. Sir Oliver Lodge says
(Strand Magazine, June, 1917): - Guessing, on the part
of the control there may be - there sometimes is - and occasionally there are
direct impersonations. M. Flammarion, the great French astronomer, and a lifelong
Spiritualist, says:- As to beings different from
ourselves - what may their nature be? Souls of the dead? This is far from being
demonstrated. The
innumerable observations which I have collected during more than forty years
all prove to me the contrary. No satisfactory
identification has been made.
THE
SCRIPTURES
What
then does the
dead Patriarch say? He says:- They have Moses and the prophets: let them
hear them. How remarkably
this comes from Abraham, who lived before a single book of the Bible was
written, testifies, in the other world [of the dead], that it is
the Book of God; and that salvation is through it alone. Sir Conan Doyle (Daily Express,
Oct. 31, 1916) utters the very sentiment of Dives:- in
recent years there has come to us from Divine sources a new revelation which
constitutes by far the greatest religious event since the death of Christ. When
one knows, as I know, of widows who are assured that they hear the loved voice
once again, or of mothers whose hands, groping in the darkness, clasp once
again those of the vanished child, and when one considers the loftiness of
their intercourse and the serenity of spirit which succeeds it, I feel sure
that a fuller knowledge would calm the doubt of the most scrupulous conscience.
Men talk of a great religious revival after the war. Perhaps it is in this
direction that it will be. But the Book
itself has come from the other world: therefore I need no apparition from the
dead: the Book came from heaven, not hell - a message from God, not a message from the dead; they may lie, God
never. Even if with Paul, we could return from
SPIRIT-TALK
And
of what sort is the spiritistic revelation that does come? Maeterlinck, commenting upon the astounding triviality of spirit-talk, exclaims:- Why
do the spirits comeback with empty
hand and empty words? Is that what one finds when one is steeped in infinity?
Of what use is it to die, if all lifes trivialities continue? Is it really
worth while to have passed through the terrifying gorges which open on the
eternal fields, in order to remember that we had a great uncle, called Peter,
and that our cousin, Paul, was afflicted with varicose veins and a gastric
complaint? At that rate, I should choose for those whom I love the august and
frozen solitudes of the everlasting nothing. And if a dead spirit did
come back, he would have no new and unheard of principles to reveal, but could
only remind us of the old: so heaven is silent, and Hades is silent, because God has spoken, and that
is enough. The most exalted dead can only point to the Book.
UNBELIEF
To
the second appeal of Dives Abraham now makes a stronger statement. He says:- If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will the be
persuaded, if one rise from
the dead. God is appealing to the consciences of
men, not to their astonishment: God
has laid out the future, including
this very scene which Dives begged might be sent to the world, in His Holy Word; and with it has given ample
directions, so that no mortal need ever arrive at that place of torment. Not only do we need no fuller revelation,
but the revelation Dives suggests would not effect his purpose. Would I
believe it if a dead man came to tell me? Am I likely to believe in the
under-fires reported by a wandering spirit, when I will not believe in them at the mouth of God? And if I did
believe it, can a messenger from Hades cleanse my soul, or purify my life, or
pardon my sin, or open to me the gates
of
*
The Patriarchs answer proves that the
Gospel is never entrusted to the dead by God for delivery in the sιance, since
the errand would be futile; nor would the holy dead accept the commission, for
its futility is already known in the underworld. God sends the living to the
dead, in judgment for necromancy (1 Chron. 10: 13), but
never the dead to the living, for mercy unto life. The Patriarchs words also
imply that all apparitions of our Lords dead mother, or of deceased saints, where they are not frauds, are demonic
personations.
A LOST
FAMILY
How
pathetically is the Rich Mans family like myriads of families to-day! It was a
family one of whom was a lost spirit; it was a family in which all the
surviving brothers were unbelievers; it was a family which had all the power to
be saved in its hands, and did not
use it; it was a family whose
lost brother in hell would have saved them if he could, but he could not. No special crime is charged
against Dives and his brothers: what he had been, they are - simply worldlings:
and now he discovers that a time comes when one-by-one soul-winning work is too late. And what is it that the dead man is
trying to get to the hearts of his brothers? That the doctrines
[taught in the Bible, of
the Intermediate State of the Dead before their resurrection,] he had
slighted in life, are now found to be actually true beyond death; that the Bible is effective for salvation only among
the living; that the terrors of hell [i.e., in hades]* are no fictions of designing ecclesiastics, but
tremendous and appalling realities; that a man may die an infidel, but that he
wakes up - too late - a believer; and that the faith to which he wakes is the
faith of the devils - who believe and shudder (Jas. 2: 19). Dives does not utter a single prayer for himself, for he is where he
knows, beyond question or quibble, that prayers for the dead are too late.
The tragedy is that men do not know: the criminality is that they will not
believe. For while sin shuts the door on Heaven, unbelief locks it.
[* See
Footnote on Hades.]
REPENTANCE
Nor
is it less impressive to learn what the message of a dead man is on the salvation of a soul.* Dives, unconsciously laying bare his soul, gives us a
diagnosis of the lost. He says:-Nay, father Abraham, - the Scriptures are not enough, for they never influenced
my own life; and thus he confesses tacitly that the Book was in his hands, and
yet he is in the place of torment: but if one go to them from the dead - a ghost will do what the Bible never did, which
reveals what he thinks of the Bible, and its [Gods] power - they will repent - which is a frank confession that he never repented [before
his death].
But what a word of instruction for the living is here! What does a dead man
think the living need? Repentance. What does a lost soul say can alone deliver the
living from the place of torment? Repentance. What gospel does a man already in hell-fire preach? Repentance.
Dives knows that sin alone brought him here; that nothing but a clean cut with
sin can ever save; and that no such repentance [to alter his position
in Hades before resurrection]* is now possible for him. It
is to the living only that the words are addressed:- God commandeth all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17: 30); and the sobbing soul gets home. O
fellow-preachers, Lazarus was not sent to tell the awful truth of hell because
you and I are!
[*
For all
the dead in hades will be resurrected; but not
all at the same time! See Luke 20: 35; Phil. 3: 11; Heb. 11: 35b; Rev. 20: 4-6, R.V. cf. Rev.
20: 13-15, R.V.)]
So
we plant our feet on rock in the words of Professor
Max Muller:- No one who watches the intellectual
atmosphere of
* Earl Dunraven is among the extremely few Spiritualists who claim
that Spiritualism is Christian. Conversions,
he says, have been made by the agency of Spiritualism
from Atheism and from simple Deism to Christianity. That the shock of the
supernatural realized may be one means of rousing faith in Christ is possible
enough; but the claim that Spiritualism is therefore Christian is shot through
by our Lords disclosure of what a right message from the dead would be, by the
request of Dives. The one fact carefully suppressed is this Place of torment, and the one command never given is repent.
[* See Matt. 16: 18; Acts 2: 29-34; cf. Acts
7: 5; 2
Tim. 2: 17; Rev. 6: 9-11, R.V.]
-------
FOOTNOTES
Denial of
Resurrection
It is astounding how foremost leaders in the
Churches, unrebuked, are openly abandoning the Christian Faith, a faith which
they are paid to maintain. To connect our Lords
resurrection, says Archdeacon R.
H. Charles, with such a gross miracle as the empty
tomb would make it impossible for thoughtful people to believe in Christs
resurrection and in His full spiritual life immediately after His death on the
Cross. Sir Wilfred Grenfell
said in his Rectorial address at St. Andrews:- MY
body is but an altered form of ether, for use
just for this particular cosmos, and only very, very temporarily mine. Men
worry over whether the body will rise
again. Which body? I personally do not want any of my old changing bodies over
again, anyhow. The virgin birth and the
physical resurrection, says Dr.
W. B. Selbie, may be
discarded without any real loss to our faith in Jesus Christ. - D. M. PANTON.
After Three
Days
Against every conceivable theory of a resurrection body which is not the body that was in the grave, one phrase in the mouth of
Christ lies, annihilating in
its deadly effect:- AFTER THREE DAYS she shall rise again (Mark 8: 31).
A body which has no connection with the
defunct flesh, a sheath of soul and spirit, must simply be freed from the
corpse in the act of dying: the moment of death is therefore the moment of
resurrection: after
three days, in that case, are
words not only meaningless, but false. But if this phrase in the Saviours
mouth stands for a fact - the fact that three days after death resurrection
(whatever it is) occurred - all the phantasmal body theories are proved
phantoms of the brain. After three days the dormant Corpse arose. That which lies down, rises. Nothing else is Christianity. A filled
tomb is a dead Christ and a lost world. God has redeemed all of man, or none: redemption cannot be limited to
fractions of the human. If Christ hath not been raised, your
faith is vain; ye are yet in your
sins (1 Cor. 15: 17). - D. M. PANTON.
-------
Hades
HADES
occurs 11 times in the Greek Testament, and is improperly translated in the
common version - [presumably referring to the King James
1611, A.V.] - 10 times by
the word hell. It is the word used in the Septuagint* as a translation of the Hebrew word sheol,
denoting the abode or world of the dead,
and means literally that which is in darkness, hidden, invisible, or obscure.
As the word hades did not come to the Hebrews from any classical source, or
with any classical meaning, but through the Septuagint, as a translation of
their own word sheol, therefore in order to properly define its meaning
recourse must be had to the various passages where it is found. The Hebrew word
sheol
is translated by hades, in the Septuagint, 60 times
out of 63; and though sheol in many places, (such as Gen. 35: 35; 13: 38; 1 Sam. 2: 7; 1 Kings 2: 6; Job 14: 13, 17: 13, 16,
&c.,) may signify keber, the grave,
as the common receptacle of the dead, yet it has the more general meaning of
death; a state of death; the dominion of death. To translate hades
by the word hell, as is done ten times out of eleven in the New Testament,
is very improper, unless it has the Saxon meaning of helan,
to cover, attached to it. The primitive signification of hell only denoting what
was SECRET or CONCEALED, perfectly corresponds with the Greek term hades
and its Hebrew equivalent sheol, but the theological
definition to it at the present day by no means expresses it. - BENJAMIN WILSON
-------
THE
SEPTUAGINT TRANSLATION OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES
The Jewish Scriptures were written in Hebrew,
between, roughly, 1400 and 450 BCE. They are the only ancient writings in that language. As the
Jewish religion spread, translations into other languages were needed. Outstanding
was a version if all the Scriptures unto Greek begun in
The Septuagint contains material that is not in the
Jewish Scriptures. These additions to existing books of Scripture, or fresh
writings, were never regarded as canonical. When the New Testament books were
written in Greek in the first or early second century CE, the Greek Septuagint
was the standard text of the Old
Testament for the widely scattered Christian congregations, and revered.
The writers of the Gospels, and of the Epistles, who drew deeply on the Jewish
Scriptures in the Septuagint, which are the Apocrypha.
In about 400 CE, Jerome
was commissioned to standardise the Latin versions of parts of the Bible which
had sprung up. A Hebrew scholar, he worked well on the Old Testament (less well
on the New Testament). His work was adopted by the church in
Within the Old Testament, Jerome found a problem. What
was he to do with the Septuagint material from Greek-dominated
*
* * *
* * *
317
AN
EXPOSITION OF THE
GOSPEL OF
JOHN
By ROBERT GOVETT, M.A.
(John 8: 56-59)
Abraham your father
rejoiced that he should see My day: and he saw
it, and was glad. Therefore said the Jews unto Him, Thou
art not yet fifty years old, and hast Thou seen
Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, before
Abraham was born, I am. They took up therefore stones to cast at Him: but Jesus hid Himself, and
went out from the
In the words
which follow, our Lord proceeds to assert His essential superiority above
Abraham, greatly as He knew that it would exasperate them.
The Saviour now asserts His place of superiority to
Abraham. (1) First with regard to Abrahams death. Abraham did see death in his
dying, but he should not forever. The promises of God to Abraham suppose his
resurrection before the earth is destroyed. Then restored to his body, his soul
will no longer be left in Hades, but will possess the land of promise.
The greatness of Jesus superiority, then, was seen in
this, that Abraham looked to Christ as the Great Redeemer and fulfiller of all
the hopes of Abraham; the Jehovah, indeed, who by His power would bring in the
resurrection of the dead. Abraham knew that he was to die, and be buried,
and that hundreds of years should pass ere his hopes were fulfilled. But he
trusted in One whose power would bring in resurrection. But God promised Him an
individual Heir to whom all promises were made, and Christ was that heir (Gen. 15: 4-15).
My day. The coming day is characterized by its belonging to
Christ. It is the day of the Lord, in
which all the promises are included. Some endeavour to make the words, He saw and rejoiced refer to some discovery of Christ made to Abraham after
death, and at the time of His (Christs) appearing on earth. But the words will
not bear any such thought. They would then have been, He
saw and rejoices. Or He sees and rejoices. As they
stand the words intimate that both the sight and the joy were past, because
both refer to the time of Abrahams life in the flesh.
The Jews understand the death of Abraham as being a
clear refutation of Jesus assertion, that the observers of His word should not
see death. To my eye Jesus observes only, that Abraham should not be held for
ever under the bonds [of death]. Hence it runs just parallel with The gates of Hades shall not
prevail against My church.
Abraham
at the Saviours first coming did not cease to contemplate death, whether by
that we understand generally that (1)
seated among the dead he beholds the souls of men continually entering into the
place of the dead; or whether (2)
taking Death as the place of the wicked dead, we mean that he will one day in
resurrection be moved away from beholding the place of the wicked dead, for he
will then walk before the Lord in the land
of the living. It represents the time, then, when at Jesus return, death shall be swallowed up in victory, and the
cry of the ransomed shall be, O death, where is thy sting?
O Hades, where is thy
victory? Abraham is still
dead, and the day of Christ is only to be seen in the resurrection [out] from the dead. Till then, God is not showing Himself to be the God of Abraham.
Abraham rejoiced that he should see My day. Then Jesus was greater than Abraham. Abraham was
waiting for the time when his Seed should put forth His power against His foes,
and on behalf of Abraham himself and of his two seeds after the flesh and the
spirit. My day, signifies chiefly My day of
glory, and of the millennial Kingdom. This is seen in the Saviours
words (Luke 17). When
is the
Then
they would be in danger of being misled by false Christs pointed out on earth.
But all such pretences would be tested by this - Jesus
when He came would fill the sky in an instant with glory, and would need no one
to point Him out! Then would the days of unbelief, and of destruction
of the wicked, the few righteous suddenly caught away, like Enoch, to the ark
above, and so kept out of the flood of wrath below. So in the earthly escape
out of
The
promises then to Abraham assure to him a place in that day of the millennial
kingdom of heaven. He is then to arise,
and enjoy the
We
may say that Abraham saw Christ, both (1)
in the promises of the coming millennial day, and (2) also in the typical
events which befel our Lord during His life. These are written for us children
of Abraham, that we also may behold the coming day of the Son of Man, and may
have our part in it (Gen. 18).
Jesus
second coming is the day. For
He is the light of the world. Now it is night. His coming, too, will put an end
to the worlds winter.
The
Redeemer takes, then, the place of the Seed of
Abraham, such as He exhibited Himself to Moses at the bush when He began
the deliverance of
He
takes also the place of the God of
Abraham to whom the
promises were made, excluding the sons of Abrahams flesh for their unbelief. The sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into the darkness
in that day (Matt. 8: 12).
Abraham,
in some of the scenes of his life which are written for us, saw, by the
teaching of God, types of that coming [millennial] kingdom of
glory.
1. He beheld then in the type of Isaac raised (in a figure) from the
dead, that the promises were to come to him through his Individual Heir after
His being slain, and raised. It was over the risen Isaac that the Angel-Jehovah
uttered His oath never to be recalled. When those promises (Gen. 22.) are [literally] fulfilled, Messiahs day of glory will have come.
2. So in the battle and slaughter of the kings, the meeting with
Melchizedec - the priest-king, and the blessing he received at His hands, Abraham
beheld the day of Christ.
These
scenes are written for us, as the sons of Abraham, the man of faith, that we
also may behold that coming [millennial and messianic] day, may seek it, win it, and rejoice.
Here,
then, our Lord owns the millennial hopes
of the Jews, as set forth in the Law and the Prophets. This appeals against the
Gnosticism of the day of John, and of our own.
But
the Jews do not rise to the greatness of the Saviours meaning in these words.
They see not that here He gives Himself out as the object of Abrahams hope, who would by Almighty power in [the first] resurrection fulfil the promises to Abraham.
They
understand Him only to say - That He had had the
honour of seeing Abraham: an honour which they would greatly have coveted,
and boasted of, as a thing of the flesh. They burst out then in indignation and
astonishment at His rash and false boast of having seen
the patriarch! Why, the patriarch lived
nearly two thousand years ago! and you are not fifty yet! The thing is absurd,
and impossible!
The
Saviour then will rectify their mistake by a further claim, which supposes
Godhead.
In
these words Jesus indicates His superiority of essence above the very father of
the faithful! Abraham was born. He
began to be. Jesus had no beginning of existence. I AM!
58. Before Abraham was born, I AM.
With solemn emphasis He assures them that while
Abraham began to be, he Himself was always existing. Though as a man He was not
fifty years old, as the Son of God He was from all eternity. Thus the Apostle
John by our Lords own words is
establishing the positions with which his Gospel set out, that Jesus is God,
from eternity with God.
The
Saviour, therefore, here affirms His two natures, and asserts His independent
and eternal existence; by consequence, therefore, His Godhead. And the Jews
understand it so. Whom makest Thou Thyself? The I AM that spake to Moses, the
Jehovah that appeared to Abraham.
But
how then do Unitarians and others explain away these words? They say, Jesus only meant, that He existed as Messiah in Gods
counsels before Abraham was born. But so did Adam, so did those Jews,
His enemies. Besides, it is not I was, as that idea supposes; but I am. And had the Jews so understood it, they would
not have attempted to deal with the Lord as a blasphemer. O Jews, you cannot understand how I should have seen
Abraham. But I tell you, I existed in Gods counsels long before Abraham was
born! What was that to the purpose? The other is full to the point.
The
Son exists from eternity. But they give Him not worship, they would have stoned
Him. But His time was not come. He smites them not, however, but only hides,
and withdraws. Behold herein another forth-putting of power.
So
shall He one day take His people away from their persecutors, and hide them
with Himself in His pavilion of peace.
Reader,
which will you do? Worship Christ as the Son of God? or stone Him as a
blasphemer? There is no third moral position allowable!
Let
us seek to have part now in Abraham joy, in the believing apprehension of
Christ coming day and kingdom! To enter into the joy of our Lord as His good
and approved servants will be joy indeed!
The
Jews understand not the speech of the Son of God. Will they understand His
works, the works of God? No: they close their eyes, lest they should be
converted, and be healed.
To
Moses Jehovah gave three miracles as signs of His mission. So John cites three
especial acts of Christ as His credentials to His people. (1) The impotent healed. The lame walk.
(2) The blind from birth made to
see. (3) The dead raised. Lazarus is
brought out of the tomb. Each sign increases in might, and out of this one
Jesus preaches the Gospel. But
CHAPTER
9
1-3. And going away from thence He saw a man blind from his birth.
And His disciples asked Him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his
parents, that he should be born blind? Jesus answered, Neither did
this man sin, nor his parents, but (he was born blind) in
order that the works of God might be manifested in Him.
We
lose often somewhat of force and meaning by the sharp division of chapters, and
by our reading but one at a time. Thus we often miss the connection with what
precedes. How wonderful that Jesus was so calm, as at once after the attempt to
stone Him, to speak, and to act in the healing of this man! It was doubtless
near the temple that the blind man sat or stood, as we find in the lame mans
case (Acts 3).
Blindness
is very common in Eastern lands, and especially in
Neither
We
are apt to interpret as chastisement from God the trials that befall our
brethren. We are apt to overlook any such meaning in what befalls ourselves.
But
this shows, that what we call accidental has
its meaning in the plan of God. Why this man rather than that is blind, or breaks his arm, we cannot tell. But God
knows why.
The
results of sin are sickness, suffering, and death, in various forms. The
disciples wished to know whether special sin was the cause of the blindness;
sin of the parents, or of the man.
This
seems to prove that the doctrine of a previous existence was one which obtained
among the Jews. Some have held that the trials, and even the stations of each
at birth, befall men in consequence of the offences of a former life. Some
believed, that there was at death the change of a soul from the old body into a
new one. This seems to be supposed by Herod, when he imagined that Jesus was
John the Baptist whom he had slain.
Our
Lord denies that the affliction was the consequence of special sin on the part
of the man or his parents.
It
is true that sickness is the direct consequence of certain sins. Thus leprosy was
inflicted on Miriam on King Ahaz, and Gehazi, as the result of special sin.
Jesus implied the same in regard of the impotent man, whom He healed at
When
we see the lame and blind, let us give thanks to God who has given us feet and
eyes!
In
this instance we see from our Lords words another source of the trials of
life. They are designed to glorify God. This is indeed the master-key that
opens everything, and which embraces also the cases of sickness, suffering and
death, sent in punishment of sin.
All
things are designed by God for His own
glory. Everyone
is a vessel either of wrath, or of glory. This is the main reason of creation.
God is a sovereign. Earth is His estate, and it is governed for His glory
primarily. The creature man is not His first end in what He does. It is by
supposing the contrary that many fall into insuperable spiritual difficulties.
Neither did this man sin nor his parents. I wonder that this text has never been quoted in
proof, that there are some men who never sinned! Of course,
these words must be taken in connexion with the question to which they are the
answer; and then our Lord meant only, That neither
sin on the part of the man nor of his parents was the direct cause of the
blindness from birth.
What
was the reason then of this calamity? That the works of God might be manifested in Him.
Thus
Lazarus died to glorify the Son of God. Thus Jesus, speaking of Peters decease, foretold by what death he should
glorify God (John 21).
The works of God
were to be evidenced in Him. None but one possessed of Almighty power could
bestow sight in such a case.
The works of God
are works of supernatural energy, proper to God alone. And Jesus was to exhibit
them; in proof, that is, of His Godhead. For that is the force of the Saviours
words. That was the great truth, in opposition whereto the unbelieving Jews had
just taken up stones to destroy our Lord.
-------
POLITICAL
PACIFICISM
Prophecy reveals that loud professions of pacificism -
with little of the fact - will dominate the worlds closing age. To-day, says Mr.
G. H. Wells, the lip service paid to peace is
astounding. Our world abounds in the literature of pacificism, demanding peace,
even though it demands a vague and futureless peace, and denouncing every sort
of armed struggle, conflict and systematic warfare. At times this once sinful
planet looks like a grove of olive branches. The books against war must amount
to scores of thousands. Never before has the will for peace been so formulated
or found such sustained and enthusiastic expression. It is deeply
solemn that the Scripture says:- When they are saying, Peace
and Safety, THEN sudden destruction
cometh (1
Thess. 5: 3).
WAR
For one of the very first judgments will be an
embassage from the Throne taking peace from
the earth (Rev. 6: 4), and for this mans warring heart, unemptied of
a single lust, prepares with all its might. Since the Great War bombs have
increased in weight [and destruction] from
400 pounds to 4,400 pounds [with
untold numbers of guided missiles]. We now have at our disposal, says a French expert, more than 1,000 gasses. Gasses
now exist, says a British expert, that are a
thousand times as powerful as anything used in the last war - [i.e., The 1914-1918 World War.]
Five-sevenths of the expenditure of
[* Compare the
above information, with what we see being spent today for use in multiple
wars; and for protection and use in future wars!]
FACT AND
THEORY
The conflict of theory with fact is driving a schism
through the Modernist mind which is bound to grow. The Master of the
THE CLAY
On the other hand, the corresponding corruption of the
Clay which will compel (politically speaking) the rise of the iron Antichrist
steadily grows. Since, says a Chicago
Correspondent of the Times, at least one in five of
the police of all ranks is in the pay of one or other of the criminal gangs,
the arrest of gangsters, and the collection of evidence against them if
arrested, are extraordinarily difficult. Within 12 hours of a visit to the
police the intending witness receives a series of threatening phone calls. If
he persists in his refusal to forget
his evidence his house or his place of business will be bombed, first with a
comparatively harmless sort of bomb and later, if he insists, with a more
damaging variety. If he still holds out his wife and children may be abducted,
and ultimately he himself will be shot. In the ominous words of President Hoover:- We are not suffering from an ephemeral crime wave, but
from a subsidence of our foundations.
CATACLYSM
Where, in such a world, is the
*
* * *
* * *
318
GRACE AND
DRUGS
Every creature of God is good
[that is, morally clean, though not necessarily suitable for food or medicine:
its use may be un-wisdom, but it is not sin] if it be received with thanksgiving (1 Tim. 4: 4): all
things indeed are clean; howbeit it is evil for that man who eateth with
offence (Rom. 14: 20). All things are lawful for me; but I will not be brought under the power of any (1 Cor. 6: 12).
The
defective delinquent becomes a drug-addict only as an incident in an already established
criminal career. No branch of medicine is equipped with sufficient alchemy to
turn the leaden instinct of such individuals into golden ones. It must be
appreciated, however, that the defective and psychopathic delinquent, whether
he be a drug-addict or not, is a menace to society. But society does little to
minimize this menace until the individual, as a result of his acts, is brought
within the purview of the criminal codes. - W. L. TREADWAY, M.D., chief of the U.S. Public Health Service,
narcotics division.
Heroin is a derivative of opium. Diacetyl-morphin-hydrochlorid
is its chemical name; commercially, and to the under-world, it is universally
known by the shorter term. It is the deadliest product of the poppy, and it is
largely because it has almost supplanted
cocaine and morphine, so far as illicit use is concerned, that the drug
threat has become so menacing. This white powder, the snow
of the underworld, takes a quicker and stronger hold on its victims than any
other narcotic. The transformation of character which it produces is swift; in
an incredibly short time the youth who has been hooked
by the habit loses all the results of good heredity and careful home training.
Self-respect, honour, obedience, truth, honesty, ambition melt away. Virtue and
morality disintegrate. To get his daily supply of the drug becomes the only object in the addicts life. To get it, he will lie, steal, rob, even
commit murder if necessary. Add to this, the fact that heroin induces an exaltation of the ego, so that the user loses all
fear, and will dare anything no matter
how dangerous, and we can begin to understand why so much crime of the
violent sort is committed by youths under the influence of the drug.*
- CAPTAIN R. P. HOBSON.
*
Regular daily doses will make addicts of
the average person in a mouth, and of those very susceptible in ten days. In
the
MORPHIA AND
CHLORAL
Ten
years ago God set me completely free from the degrading bondage of the morphine
and chloral habits. Only those who have sounded the dark depths of despair,
where I made my dwelling for years, can know how much reason I have to praise
God, and glorify with every breath our all-conquering Jesus. Needless to say
nothing was further from my thought and intention than becoming a drug
habitude; yet in times of suffering, sleeplessness, nervous irritability, or
excessive strain from overwork or anxiety, I resorted to morphine, singly or in
combination with other drugs. This I did only very occasionally at first, at
long and irregular intervals. Yet, knowing as I did the awful power of the
habit-inducing drug to enslave and destroy its victims, and with practical demonstrations
of it before my eyes every day among the most brilliant members of the medical
profession (I am a medical graduate), I feel that I was utterly inexcusable for
daring to trifle, even for a moment, with such a destructive agent. I thought
that I was toying with the drug, but one day I made the startling discovery
that the drug (or rather, the demon power that lies back of it) was playing
with me, the bloodthirsty tiger who had devoured so many victims.
My
ordinary dose of the drug varied from ten to fourteen grains a day. I took
fifty times the dose for an adult without any danger to life. I also regularly
used chloral hydrate to induce sleep, taking one hundred and twenty grains each
night in two doses of sixty grains each. I could, by desperate efforts (only
God knows how desperate they were), diminish the dose considerably, but I
always reached a minimum quantity beyond which it was impossible to carry the
reduction. To ask me whether I had taken the drug on any particular day would
be as needless as to inquire whether I had inhaled atmospheric air; the one
seemed as necessary to my existence as the other. When, by tremendous exercise
of will power, I abstained from the drugs for twenty-four hours, my condition
was truly pitiable: trembling with weakness, my whole body bathed in a cold
sweat, my heart palpitating and fluttering, my stomach unable to retain so much
as a drop of water. I was unable to articulate clearly, to sign my name, or
even to think connectedly, and, worst of all, my whole being was filled with
the specific, irresistible, indescribable craving for the drug.
I
may say that I did not succumb without many fierce struggles. Over and over
again I threw away large quantities of the drugs, determined that I would never
touch them again, if I died as the result of abstaining from them. I must have
wasted a small fortune in this way. I tried all the substitutes, and every
method of cure that I could hear of. I consulted physicians, some of them men
of national reputation. I can never forget the tender consideration which I
received at the hands of some of these; but they were powerless to break my
fetters. I tried Christian Science, so-called, and took the gold cure. If there
is anything I did not try I have yet to learn what it is. After leaving the Gold Cure Institute I was transferred
to a sanatorium for nervous diseases, and was there under the care of a
specialist and my mother, herself a physician, for weeks. From thence I
emerged, still regularly taking morphine
sulphate and chloral hydrate. Of
the suffering the efforts to give up the drugs cost me it is useless to speak.
I could not describe it if I would.
But
the blessed hour of deliverance was not far off. I was now so weak that I spent
much of my time lying on my bed, and sometimes I was alone for hours. Lying
thus, I drew my Bible over to me and read, and prayed (oh, how I prayed!). Not
to while away a lonely hour, not to admire its literary excellencies, I read
the Book. No; I read for my very life! I said:- Now I
have tried everything that will-power and medical science and suggestion and
all the rest can do, and there is absolutely no hope for me unless it lies
between the covers of this Book. I knew it was Gods Book. Some years
before He had been pleased to reveal to me Jesus the Christ, - the Son of the
Living God, as my personal Saviour, and I had had blessed years of the sweetest
fellowship with the Father and the Son. I was not afraid to go into the
presence of God if He should call me, for I was deeply penitent for my sin, and
believed that the Blood that can make the foulest clean atoned even for me,
although I was absolutely unable to discontinue the use of narcotic drugs.
People
whispered, She is dying fast. Earthly things
receded, eternity was close at hand. I swung clear out over the abyss; but I
found a rope in my hands. I had no power to hold it in my nerveless grasp, but
there was no need, for it was a living rope and held me, and the other end of
the rope was fastened to the throne of God. It was Hebrews
13: 8:- Jesus Christ the
same to-day. From that day the cure began, though I
suffered acutely after the drugs were taken away. Nevertheless, I gained
rapidly in health and strength. With the drugs went the craving, never to
return! Natural sleep came back, and from that day to this I just lay my head
on the pillow and fall almost at once into sweet, refreshing slumber. The
hardest work of my life has been done during the ten years since I was healed.* - LILIAN B. YEOMANS, M.D.
*
Christian and Missionary
ALCOHOL
I
was preaching in Chicago a few weeks ago, and I said that it does not matter
what a man is - there were 8,000 people present - if what I am saying is true,
if it depends on His will, and God says it does - and God is saying this, of
course, in view of the cross, and in view of the finished work of Jesus Christ
- a man can be saved if he wills, if he is as black as the devil; and I
happened to add, If you have been a drunkard for
years. A man came down the aisle in front of all the people and flung
his arms about his head, and he cried, My God! a
drunkard for twenty years! And when he got to the front he fell. And
some of the workers lifted him up and took him to the inquiry-room, and I went
on and finished the service.
That
man got on his knees, though he was soaked in whisky. He said, If what that man has said is true, I will be a free man,
free from this drink. He willed, and God met his will with deliverance,
and the next night they took me from
the platform and said, That man wants to see you.
I went down, but I could not find him. I positively did not know him, his face
was so changed. He looked ten years younger in twenty-four hours; the grace of
God had worked a miracle on that mans face; and when I left, that man and his
wife and five children were rejoicing in Jesus Christ; saved after twenty years
a drunkard!
NICOTINE
It
was about that time that I was led definitely to decide to fulfil the purpose
which had been latent with me since I was ten years old, namely, to be a real
Christian, and in connection with this decision it seemed to me to be my clear
duty to give up the use of tobacco, which I knew was doing me real physical
harm. Tobacco, however, had such a hold on my system that all my resolves and
endeavours to rid myself of the intolerable slavery were in vain for twelve
long, weary years, at any time during which I would have given my right hand,
or all I possessed, to be set free.
Then,
in Gods own time, in answer to my definite prayer to be completely delivered
from this slavery which my own resolves and endeavours had proved unable to
remove, Jesus Christ - just the very same in love and tenderness and
willingness and power that He was when He walked this earth nearly nineteen hundred
years ago - performed a miracle on me, and in one moment changed the physical
condition of my body, and threw out the tobacco disease, so that from that day
thirty-two years ago to the present moment I have had no physical craving or
longing for tobacco, but, on the contrary, a repulsion.
The
important point to note is that my mind and heart and soul had for twelve years
abhorred this slavery; but I was helpless under the fierce bodily craving,
until God, in answer to prayer, cast it out, and left my body as pure from the
tobacco taint as if I had never suffered from it.
OPIUM
Hsis
opium-habit was of long standing, and his whole system thoroughly impregnated
with the drug. As hour after hour went by, his craving became more intense than
the urgency of hunger or thirst. Acute anguish seemed to rend the body asunder,
accompanied by faintness and exhaustion that nothing could relieve. Extreme
depression overwhelmed him. Giddiness came on, with shivering, and aching
pains, or burning thirst. For seven days and nights he scarcely tasted food,
and was quite unable to sleep. Sitting or lying, he could get no rest. The
agony became almost unbearable; and all the while he knew that a few whiffs of
the opium-pipe would waft him at once into delicious dreams. Medicines were
given in larger doses, and native as well as foreign drugs were tried, but all
without avail.
At last, after many days of anguish, his attention was
attracted by some verses in his open Bible telling about the Comforter; and, as he read, it was borne in upon his
mind that He, the Holy Spirit of God, was the mighty power expressly given to
strengthen men. Then and there, in utter weakness, he cast himself on God, and
cried for the gift of the Holy Ghost. And there as he prayed in the stillness,
the wonderful answer was given. Suddenly a tide of life and power seemed to
sweep into his soul. The reality was so intense that from head to foot he broke
into a profuse perspiration. Anguish and struggle ceased; the conflict was completely
ended. From that moment, Hsi
says, my body was perfectly at rest. And then I knew
that to break off opium without real
faith in Jesus would indeed be impossible. - Mrs. HOWARD TAYLOR.
-------
BORN AGAIN
No crowd encircles him about;
He stood despised with
two or three, -
But like a spring in summer drought,
The word he utterd quickend me.
Around us
Majestic, breathed her charm august;
But which of all her spells had power
To raise the wretched from the dust?
What
Bared to my eyes the depths of grace,
And all the unguessd
treasure hid
Beneath the dust of commonplace.
Since then I tread the pilgrims way,
Still plodding on through sun and rain,
But like a star shines out that day,
The day which saw me born again.
*
* * *
* * *
319
AN
EXPOSITION OF THE
GOSPEL OF
JOHN
By ROBERT
GOVETT, M.A.
(John 9:
3)
The Most High would have us glorify Himself, actively,
and passively. (1) Actively, as seeking his honour, not our own. Whether ye eat or drink,
do all to the glory of God. He smites also what takes away from His glory. So we
see that Herod was cut off, because he gave not God the glory. (2) Passively, where we cannot act, but are called to endure what befalls us as
from God. For none of us liveth to himself, and none dieth to himself.
4. I must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day.
The night is coming in which none can work. While I am in the world I am the Light of the world.
The
Son was sent to work the works of God, as sent and deputed by the Father. Thus
Jesus ever keeps before His own eye and ours
His willing subordination. He was the angel of the Lord, as being sent; no
longer now of the angelic nature, but a man. And to Him as man, a certain time
of life was allotted, in which to accomplish the Fathers will. While He died
not, as we do, because of our sin; for in Him was no sin; yet He was to give up
life. And His day therefore, like ours, was to have an end. He had just
received a sharp testimony of the nearness of the close, in the Jews attempt
at stoning Him. His work of service to the Father in displaying His acts of
power and grace was nearly at an end. To us also this principle applies. Brief
is our time (Eccles.
9: 10). Let us use it for Christ our Lord!
Let
us not misuse it as if given for ourselves alone. It is not to be idled away. We shall give account, and the unprofitable servant
receives chastisement at last, and not commendation or reward. This life is the time in which to put forth our best efforts. For our station in [the
Lords millennial Kingdom and] eternity
depends upon our conduct now.* What
place we shall fill in Gods great palace as a vessel of gold, or of silver, of
honour, or of dishonour, turns upon our way and work now (2 Tim. 2).
Most
[regenerate believers] are misusing their time. Very many of Gods people
are misemploying it. Let it not be so with us!
Death
cuts short, not existence altogether, but a peculiar form of life. Activity
ceases. It is described as a sleep. The man
is unclothed. He will rise again clothed; but then will be a new
sphere of activity.
Our
Lord here takes the place of the sun. What the sun is to the natural world, He
is to the spiritual. But He was going to leave it, and darkness would fall on
Thus,
John is again confirming the great principles he has alleged concerning our
Lord in his preface.
Jesus
was Jehovah the Healer, according to the promise (Exodus
15.).
John had testified of Him, that He was the light of men (1: 4), Whose light, however, was not accepted, either
by
Then
came the work which proved these words to be no idle boast.
6. When He had so said, He spit
on the ground, and made clay of the spittle,
and anointed with the clay the eyes of the blind man,
and said unto him, Go,
wash in the pool of Siloam. He went away therefore, and
washed himself, and came seeing.
This
was a work of
God. It had
reference to previous works of God. In the beginning Jehovah had said, when all
around was darkness, Let light be!
and light was. He had also made orbs of light to diffuse light on earth, and to
distinguish day from night. Jesus then was the greater light, the ruler of day,
about to set; and to leave the church, as the lesser light to rule the night of
His absence. For the church as kindled by Christ is the other light of the world.
Jesus making the clay had a purposed contrariety to the
Sabbath of Moses. It was to their eyes brick-making,
a servile work, forbidden on the Sabbath day. But was the opening of the eyes of one
born blind, a servile work? No! It was the work of the great Creator, Jehovah the Healer who made the seeing or the blind. They refuse our
Lords words of claim, they refuse the works of mastery whereby He sustains His
pretensions. They set Moses against Christ; and so remain under blindness, and
the curse. While they refuse the waters of
Jesus
has just before declared Himself the Sent One (8:
16- 18, 26-29; and
especially 9: 4).
But
though natural light was shining, to this blind man it was as yet in vain.
Jesus would therefore bestow light on him. He does it in a very peculiar way,
designed, as I suppose, to recall another work of God at the beginning. For we
read, And the
Lord God moulded man of the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life, and man
became a living soul, Gen. 2: 7. [Heb.].
In
this case there is life, but not light. The latter blessing the Most High would
communicate. He could have done so without the clay, or the water of Siloam.
But it is God manner to work according
to a former pattern. Thus in things temporal we recognize the artist. We
say of a piece of music, that must be Handel, it is
so exactly his style. That picture must be
Rembrandts; look at the colouring, and the disposition of the light and shade!
In the formation of Adam, life was to be bestowed; and the Lord breathed into
his nostrils, and he became a living soul. In this case light is to be given:
the eyes are touched with the clay and spittle. Neither alone would have
satisfied our Lords mind. We should have thought the clay more likely to take
away sight from the seeing, than to impart it to the blind. But thus the
serpent of brass was appointed to procure life to those stung by the serpents.
Thus Elijahs cruse of salt cast into the fountain of
This
obedient one goes to Gods Sent One in order to find healing, and gets it. Let
us not stumble at the strangeness and meanness of the means used, if the end be
blessing. Clay might be a strange eye-salve, but in Gods hands it wrought
sight!
But
now let us regard the typical meaning of this sign. By the man blind from his
birth is meant
The
Lord came to give sight to the blind as foretold, to prove Himself thus the
Lord. The Lord
openeth the eyes of the blind; the Lord raiseth them that are bowed down;
the Lord loveth the righteous. Ps. 146: 8. He came
To open the
blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the
prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the
prison house. Is. 42: 7. But His coming in this humble station, and in
the likeness of sinful flesh, was a stumbling-block to
Thus
was fulfilled the word of Isaiah 6.
An
awful page of their history has in consequence yet to be unfolded, as testified
in a following chapter of Isaiah. This chapter of our Gospel shows how they
refused the waters of
This
scene then may remind us of 2 Corinthians 3.
These readers of Moses had a veil on their hearts while they read him, and only
when they should turn to the Lord the Spirit, would the veil be taken off, and
they behold in Jesus, not the impious one to be stoned, but the Son of God to
be adored. By the clay on the eyes - a hindrance to the sight - may be figured
the ordinances of Moses, which they refused to put away at the word of Jesus,
the true Sent One. To them natures blindness was increased by their fierce
retention of Moses in the presence of the foretold Son of God. His waters flow
softly, not like the trumpet-words from the mount of thunder and storm. But
they refused them.
The
Sabbath of Moses is the hindrance here to their seeing the true Sent One. They
would keep the clay, and they become doubly blind, and the Saviour pronounces
them so. In the presence of the Light of the World, they remain dark.
*
* * *
* * *
320
THE DREAD
ALTERNATIVE
By A. Z. CONRAD
Take it or leave it. There is no other alternative. Christianity is not
the complicated thing many would have us believe. It professes to be a revealed
religion. As such it is nowise conditioned on human opinion. It is revelation
or it is not. If it is, then it is not a matter for discussion except as to
application. If it is not, then it can make no claim to recognition. If it
fails to be what it pretends to be it is unworthy of further regard. It is
utterly beyond the influence of mere human opinion. Its pre-eminent claim to
acceptance is that God has spoken. Has He? Either He has or He has not. If He has, that
settles it. If not, then why consider it at all? Now, the fact is, Christianity
is all false or it is all true. It is no fanciful thing to be juggled with or
to be used as a conjurers wand.
Eclecticism
has no more place in dealing with Bible Christianity than it has in dealing
with the law of gravity. Christianity is not fanciful, it is factual. By no law
of true thinking can the New Testament story of Jesus be made to be conditioned
upon human acceptance. Either Jesus lived, taught, worked, and died as the
Gospels declare, or He did not. Either we have Salvation through the voluntary
Sacrifice of Jesus Christ or we have no Salvation whatsoever, either from the guilt
of sin or the love of sinning.
The
erudition and the intellectuality of any man or any group of men does not
qualify for an interpretation of the supernatural. It is not a question of what
God Almighty might have done; the question is what did He do to save a lost world?
The
Gospel is good news, or the world has no good news. The very significance of
the term itself would indicate that a message of extraordinary import and
incomparable satisfaction has been given to the world. There it stands despite
the cavilling and contentions of men. Take it or leave it. Not even God can
compel acceptance of it, against predetermined and persistent opposition.
There, too, Christ stands. Take Him or leave Him. It
is just as simple as that. What you cannot do is this: you cannot take the
Gospels in part and reject them in part. They constitute a unit of truth. This
unit is unbreakable. Christianity stands or falls with the credibility and the
reliability and the authenticity of the whole.
Christianity
presents the conditions and the provisions of pardon for sin. Take it and be
saved, leave it and be lost. Now that is the hard, cold, simple fact. No living
mortal ever did or ever will guarantee Salvation apart from Jesus Christ.
The
Christ of the Gospels is not the Man that nobody
knows. The Jesus of that book is utterly fictitious. Nobody knows such
a Jesus because he never existed. The Jesus whom regenerated disciples do know is the Christ who was born of Mary,
supernatural as the true Son of God; who wrought miracles, who died voluntarily
on Calvary; who redeemed a lost world, who rose again from the dead, just as He
had predicted, and who ascended to the Glory which He had with the Father before the world was. This same Jesus is to-day the intercessor for believers, the strength of the sad, the comfort of
sufferers and the companion of all who are willing to obey and trust Him.
Speculation
about the possibility of forgiveness without an atonement is just as valuable as
a dissertation on the kind of a world God might have made, but did not. The
fact is unalterably true, that God did provide an atonement. The atonement He provided is
clearly revealed in Gods Word. It is adequate. It works. Take it or leave it.
If you take it you have peace and assurance of life everlasting. If you leave
it, you leave sin with its virus, leading steadily toward wreck.
Once
more, let us say Christianity is not theoretical, but factual. There it stands
in all of its completeness and beauty. It is subject to neither revision,
modification, nor improvement. It is perfect in all of its provisions. It is adequate to every
human requirement. You can no more tamper with it and still leave it effective
than you can qualify or limit the Infinite Personality. You may deny it if you
will, but God
manifest in the flesh and the
fact that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures are unalterable facts constituting the very essence
of Christianity. Take it or
leave it. You cannot
change it, you cannot improve upon it. It stands.
- The Announcer
-------
I know not now why doubts and cares
Should dim my faith by haunting fears;
I know not why when needing rest
My heart remains still sore opprest;
I know not now when seeking aid
The answer is so long delayd;
I know not now why burning tears
My heart should harass through the years.
I know not why life should be
A school of discipline for me;
I know not now why grief and pain
Should check ones course and should remain:
I know not why sore distress
The heart should fill with weariness;
I know not now why He should show
On me such marvellous grace below:
All this some day Ill understand
When I have reachd the
- DORIS GOREHAM
-------
A
A
Russian recently arrived (as World Dominion
notes) in
*
* * *
* * *
321
DANGERS IN
LIFE
AND TESTIMONY
[OR
APOSTASY
FROM THE FAITH]
(A Study of 2
John)
By W. WILCOX
1. Withheld
Love. verse 5. The
intensity of the Apostles appeal, coupled with the statement that he writes not
a new commandment but that which had been given from the beginning, seems to
infer that the one to whom he writes may be in danger of withholding love from
some other member or members of the Christian Community. This danger he would
avert by friendly warning and earnest appeal.
First
he had commended the elect lady because certain of her children were walking in the truth. Here is one of the most important features of
Christian life; their conduct must
measure up to the new standards contained in the Christian Teaching which had
been delivered to them.
(a) The Love which he bears to this dear one finds its conditioning
element to be the truth. It is thus a love which is genuine, with no touch of unreality
about it. It is a love which is sincere with no touch of hypocrisy in it. It is
a love which is pure with no dilution or adulteration in it.
(b) The knowledge of the truth brings with it a similar love for those who
are in the truth. That knowledge influences the whole personality including its
emotions and so prompts to an inclusive love of both the truth itself and those
who hold that truth.
Knowledge
of the truth carries with it, from one point of view, responsibility
which cannot be shirked. The knower must
act in accordance with this knowledge and so regulate his activities
appropriately to the truth understood.
(c) A further step is found in walking in the truth. The whole tenor and temper of life are to be characterized by truth. This
was important in the early stages of the Church, as the many believers had been
formerly members of heathen societies in which truth was not found either in theory or in practice. A
difference was thus to be noted between the conduct of the members of the
Christian society and that of the heathen peoples around them.
It
was not easy to maintain that integrity of conduct in such an environment.
Therefore the Apostle found particular pleasure when he saw this Christian
virtue manifest in the walk of those of whom he writes.
Secondly
he proceeds to urge the importance of a reciprocated
love amongst the
saints. It was not to be only a love of the truth as theoretically stated, but
as incarnated in living persons accompanied by all the warmth and ardour common
to the peoples of the Orient.
But
such love was also to have a conditioning element, for it was a love that had
its origination in the Love of God to them and so of their love to God. This
love would therefore have a Godward aspect and would express itself in a walk after His commandments.
This
is in accord with the words of the Lord Jesus, If ye love Me, keep
My commandments. Arising
spontaneously from our love for our Lord is the desire to act in accordance
with His expressed commands, and so our walk is regulated and directed to
purposive ends. But what if this love be withheld? Then the Godward aspect of
life will not be manifested and His Command will not be honoured. A loveless
life is an anomaly not contemplated in Holy Scripture; for in every believer
there must be something of Christ and therefore something that can be loved.
2.
Wandering Deceivers. verse 7. Apparently there had come into being a number of
teachers who journeyed about from place to
place. In order to gain an audience each of these sought to advance some new
theory or some further variation on old themes. So they deviated from the true
stream of teaching that had emanated from the Apostles and their immediate
followers. Such are here described as deceivers.
Their line of teaching is here denoted by three negatives. They
(a) Denied that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. To John, the
Incarnation was a truth of prime importance, for it stood at the foundation of
the faith. The Christ had really come in the flesh and dwelt among us. If this
fact were denied, he who denied it was an Antichrist with whom there could be
no parley.
(b)
Deviated from the Teaching of Christ, verse
9, for they abode not in it. By their interpretation of Scripture, over-symbolization
of types, and advancement of mysticism they were deceiving the converts to the
Christian Faith, purely for their own advantage. By so doing the believers were
in danger of losing the values of the Christian life, and the hope of the Christians reward.
(c)
Declared not the
Teaching, verse 10, for they came preaching
another Gospel and presenting a different Christ from what they had been
taught. From such they were to turn away and neither to welcome them to their homes
nor even give them the greeting of Peace.
3. Abused
Hospitality. verse
10. Of the many Christian Graces mentioned in the New
Testament, hospitality held a prominent place. It was very important for, when
Christians moved from place to place either in pursuit of their occupations or
under duress because of persecution, they were not likely to find a welcome in
the public inns or amongst the ordinary citizens of the towns or villages on
the public highways. Hence they would only find congenial and welcome
hospitality in the homes of fellow-believers. This might be withheld either
because of inability to meet, their own needs adequately and so there could not
be hospitality extended to others, or because of a risk run by giving shelter
and aid to those under the ban of the law whether political or ecclesiastical. Hence the believer was urged again and again to
extend such hospitality as they could to fellow-believers.
But
such hospitality might be abused by wandering teachers who came self-styled as exponents
of the word, but who were not teaching the doctrine of the
Christ. For such they were neither to offer hospitality nor to give them a God-speed.
To
some, such action might appear harsh and unlike the commands to love, as
frequently found in Johns writings. But it was needful to protect the unlettered and untutored saints from exploitation and
from heretical teaching, it was needful to encourage an undiluted loyalty to
Christ, and it was incumbent upon all to separate from that which did not honour
their Lord and did not hold to His teaching.
Charity
does not demand that every kind of self-named Christian teaching or teacher
should be embraced but rather that Godly discretion being used, the Lords people should be kept from the
evils of false teaching, even to the extent of not giving it house-room or
friendly salutation.
Let
us not withhold love from any true believer, let us not readily listen to
deceivers, and let us not embrace one who comes not with the doctrine of
Christ.
*
* * *
* * *
322
STUDIES IN
PHILIPPIANS
By R. NORTH
CHAPTER
2
CHRIST THE BELIEVERS PATTERN
Exhortation to unity (v. 1-4)
In spite of the generally happy condition of the saints
in
The
If of verse 1 is not
of doubt or possibility, but of emphasis. Consolation in Christ, comfort of
love, fellowship of the Spirit, tender mercies and compassions, had been in
evidence from the first day the Philippians had received the gospel to the time
of Pauls writing, and they constituted the motive on which he based his
appeal. Although they had given him so much joy already, he intimates that
something more was necessary to fill his cup to the brim. So in verse 2 he says Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of
one accord (lit. joined in soul), of
one mind. Here are four counterparts to the four grounds of appeal in verse 1: a unity of heart and soul and mind. Not
that one should attempt to impose his mind on the rest, but that the gracious
mind that was in Christ Jesus should be seen in all.
Strife is one
of the works of the flesh enumerated in Gal.
5: 19-21, and is the fruit of jealousy. In chapter 1 of this epistle we read of some who
preached Christ even of envy and strife, which shows how subtle are the
workings of the flesh even in Christians. Vainglory
is simply empty glory; personal vanity. We have ample grounds for glorying, but
never in ourselves (see ch.
3: 3; Gal. 6: 14). The disposition to think highly of ourselves,
and the habit of speaking disparagingly of others, constitute one of the
greatest hindrances to unity. We are to do, nothing through strife or
vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each is to esteem others better than
himself. Most of us have little difficulty in esteeming some Christians better
than ourselves; but if each one counted each other one worthy of a higher place
and greater honour than himself, strife and vainglory would disappear and unity
would prevail.
Verse 4 does not mean that
we are to neglect our own things; nor does it mean that we are to be busybodies
in other peoples matters. It does mean that we are not to have regard solely
to our own interests, but that we are also to have
regard to the interests of others. There will be no difficulty in this if we
are occupied with Christ. Selfishness, as well as self-assertion, will
disappear.
The Great
Pattern of Humility (verses 5-8)
This
is one of the outstanding passages relating to the Incarnation of the Son of God,
but it is introduced to illustrate the nature of humility to which Paul was
exhorting the saints. We have in these verses, therefore, not simply the
downward path He took, first in His Incarnation and then in His death, but the
mind that marked Him in taking that path: the lowliness of mind that was
expressed in His down-stooping grace, from a height of glory beyond all
possible apprehension, to the death of a cross; every step that He took
involving the giving up of something that might rightly have been held. So if
we ask ourselves how lowliness of mind, and unselfish consideration for the
things of others, can be realised, the answer is: Have this mind in you,
which was also in Christ Jesus (verse 5 R.V.).
Who, being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery (counted it not a thing to be grasped at, or held as
a treasure) to be equal with God; but made Himself of no reputation (emptied Himself R.V.). We may well ask ourselves Of what did He empty Himself? Did He empty Himself of His Godhood?
Did He empty Himself of His Divine attributes? Never. Our Lord did not
lay aside the essential fact of His Deity. For in Him all the fulness of the Godhead was pleased to
dwell (Col.
1: 19
J.N.D. New Tr.). For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Col. 2: 9). He Who
came to earth is Immanuel, God with
us (Matt. 1: 23).
So that, in the words of Phil. 2, His emptying Himself
consisted in taking the form of a servant, becoming in the likeness of men;
setting aside one form of manifestation for another form, in which the fact of
equality with God was for a time veiled and hidden.
We
must therefore be careful to distinguish the word form in verse 6 and 7 from the word fashion in verse 8, which denotes the
outward appearance. Being in the form of God describes His essential and eternal Being. The only
other place in the N.T. where this word occurs is in Mark
16: 12, where we read that after our
Lords resurrection, He appeared in another form unto
two of His disciples as they walked and went into the country. It was the same
Person, but in a changed form; so that they did not recognise Him until He
revealed His identity.
The form of God
and the form of
a servant were both real: one
intrinsic, the other that to which, He condescended in infinite grace. Taking
upon Him the form of a servant is one of the evidences of His Deity, for only
God could take the form of a servant. Michael or Gabriel or any other created
being could not take the form of a servant, for they are already Gods
servants, and have no greater dignity. It was Self-humiliation for Christ
Jesus. The Self-emptying was His own voluntary act.
In
this same spirit He came, not in angelic form but in the likeness of men. The outward fashion of a
man was all that men could see, and in it they saw no comeliness or beauty that
they should desire Him (Is. 53: 2, 3). The anointed eye can see infinitely more than
that, and the heart is bowed in wonder and worship in contemplation of the stupendous
fact that obedience to His Fathers will brought Him farther still in His
downward path. Being found in fashion as a man He
humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto
death, yea the death of the cross (verse 8 R.V.);
the most shameful and ignominious of all deaths. Even our Lords obedience
could not go farther. Yet the very fact that He humbled Himself in this way
proclaims His Divine glory, for it shows that death was not the natural portion
of our Lord even when come in the likeness of men.
Although
we see in these verses the mind that seeketh not its own, but the good of
others at all cost to itself, our Lords death is not here regarded as making
atonement (although of course He did make atonement); for that is not a path
that we could take, and therefore in that sense could not be a pattern for us.
Paul is setting before the saints the Supreme Example of Christ in His
voluntary humiliation, and in the climax of His obedience to the will of God,
so that they might imbibe the same spirit.
The
Corresponding Exaltation (verses 9-11)
During
His public ministry our Lord declared that he that humbleth himself shall be exalted (Luke 14: 11; 18: 14). No one ever did or could humble himself as
Christ Jesus. Wherefore
God also hath highly exalted Him; a word used nowhere else in the N.T., calling to
mind the words of Is. 52: 13. Since
it was to God He became obedient, God highly exalted Him. It is Gods answer to
the mind that was in Christ Jesus. God has such pleasure in obedience that the One Who obeyed to the uttermost has been exalted to the
highest place, bears the greatest
Name, and will yet have and exercise universal sway.*
[* See Isaiah 40: 4, 5, 9, 10; cf.
Psalms 2: 8
and 110: 1-3; Revelation 2:
25-27; 3: 21; 11: 15, R.V.
For bitter was the battle
And greater still the shame,
To make us His for ever
That we with Hin MIGHT
REIGN.]
The
Name of Jesus is the Name which our Lord bore in His humiliation.
It is the Name that proclaims His character as Saviour. Once men bowed the knee
in mockery before Him, but, the lowly Name that was His as the Nazarene on
earth shall yet be honoured everywhere.
Reconciliation includes things on earth
and things in the heavens (Col. 1: 20). Ph. 2: 10 includes things under
the earth also, and
contemplates the universal subjection of all - [even souls of the
dead in Hades] -
to the One Who humbled Himself and God highly exalted. It does not contemplate
the salvation of all. All shall own Him Lord, willingly or unwillingly, to the glory
of God the Father. How we bless God for the grace
that has taught us now, before that Lord the
knee to bow (see Rom. 10: 9)!
[* See Luke 16: 23; Acts 2:
27, 34. cf.
Revelation 6: 9-11, R.V.]
The Practical following of His Example (verses 12-30)
The
word Wherefore in verse 12
connects the exhortations that follow with the preceding verses: their obedience is thus connected with the
obedience of Christ. As in ch.
1: 19, so
in ch. 2: 12, the word salvation is to be understood in the light of its context. When a man fears and trembles as to his eternal
salvation, it is evident that he is ignorant of the truth of the gospel.
The particular aspect of salvation from
which the Philippians needed to be saved was the danger of division, which
could only be attained by allowing the mind that was in Christ Jesus to be in
them. The presence of Paul had meant a great deal to them, and there
may have been a tendency to lean upon him. Paul counteracts this tendency by
reminding them of the greater necessity, during his absence, of working
out their own salvation; not, indeed
in their own strength and power, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of
His good pleasure. And what is
Gods good pleasure? That ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel
(ch. 1: 27); that ye be likeminded, having
the same love, joined in soul, of one mind (ch. 2: 2).
Verses 14 and 15 form a lovely picture of Christs path through
the world. The children of
Three illustrations
In
verses 17 to 30
we see the mind that was in Christ Jesus illustrated in His servants: Paul,
Timothy and Epaphroditus.
In
chapter 1 Paul stated his conviction that he
would continue with the saints for their progress and joy of faith. Now he
contemplates the possibility of being put to death in the course of his
service; and the thought of being a libation upon the sacrifice and service of
their faith filled him with joy. He says If I be offered (Gr. poured
out as a drink-offering) upon the sacrifice and
service of your faith I joy and rejoice with you all; and he calls upon them to rejoice with him. The
allusion is to the drink offering, which was offered with the burnt offering
and its accompanying meal offering. Meal offerings were of fine flour mingled
with oil. Drink offerings were of wine. The oil of the meal offering, and the
wine of the drink offering, were of equal quantities (see Numbers 15). Oil is the well-known
emblem of the Holy Spirit: wine is a
symbol of joy. The mind that was in Christ Jesus was so operating in the heart
and mind of Paul that he represents himself, in this most expressive figure, as
being ready to pour out his life in the joy of serving others. If our hearts
are stirred as we see the devotedness which filled his soul, we may well ask
ourselves how many of us have it as a principle and a passion entering into our
own lives.
The
same fruits of love are seen in verses 19-24, where he proposes to send Timothy to them, as
soon as the result of his trial is known, and hopes in the Lord to come himself
shortly. We can scarcely fail to detect a sense of disappointment as he says I have no one likeminded,
who will truly care for your state; for all seek their own, not
the things of Jesus Christ.
Timothys fitness for the mission was that he had a genuine care for the welfare of others. They knew the proof
of him, that, as a child serveth a father, he served with Paul in the
furtherance of the gospel. To part with him might cause the greatest privation
to Paul; but, in view of his peculiar fitness, he says Him therefore I hope to send shortly.
Would
he leave them without a word in the meantime? No. He says I counted it necessary to
send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and
fellow-worker, and fellow-soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need (verse 25 R.V.). In verses
25-30 the fruits of love are seen in
Paul, in Epaphroditus and in the saints. Epaphroditus, giving practical expression
to the love of the saints, hazarded his life to minister to the apostles need.
Paul appreciated it the more as being for the work of Christ. Epaphroditus is not mentioned elsewhere, except in ch. 14: 8, but what
a description we have of him in these few verses! The thought of fellowship is expressed throughout.
Epaphroditus
longed after them all, and was full of heaviness. Why? Because he had been
sick? No. Because he had been sick nigh unto death? No, although he came nigh
unto death. Because they had heard that he was sick. He was sore troubled because of the
effect which the news of his sickness might have on them. In his sickness he
thought not of himself, but of others.
If
the life of Epaphroditus had been laid down in the accomplishment of his
mission, it would have been a great sorrow to Paul and to the saints; but God
had mercy on him and on Paul also. Paul would have been glad to retain him, but
he knew how glad the saints would be to see him again. He sent him therefore
the more carefully, and exhorted them to receive him in the Lord with all joy,
and to hold him in honour. Epaphroditus was to be held in honour because he had
approved himself as one who sought not
his own, but the things of Jesus Christ; one who was willing to lay down his life for the brethren.
Had
we only the Supreme and Perfect Example of the Lord Himself, we might have
pleaded that it was too high and impossible for us to follow. For our comfort
and encouragement God has been pleased to give us three witnesses, men of like
passions with ourselves, in circumstances far more trying than most of us are
likely to encounter, who exhibited in a very real measure the mind of Christ,
and who testify that it is possible to Have this mind in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus.
*
* * *
* * *
323
THE PAROUSIA
OF CHRIST
The first great act in the coming drama of the Advent
is the formation of the Parousia. It is impossible to exaggerate the importance
of the doctrine of the Parousia; a word which is the cardinal pivot of all
Second Advent truth, and the keystone in the arch of unfulfilled prophecy. In
itself, the word parousia states merely a stationary presence,* and a coming only
when linked with words implying motion: it is not
merely coming, but actual
personal presence. (F. T.
Bassett). It is sometimes (beyond challenge) used of a static, not a
dynamic, proximity:- even as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only,
but now much more in my absence (Phil. 2: 12). The
Transfiguration was not a descending, but a stationary, parousia (2 Pet. 1: 16). This
Parousia of Christ, used by the Holy Spirit as
a technical expression, is His presence in the immediate neighbourhood of the
earth; it is His proximity in air; it is
the arrival of the judge when He standeth before the doors (Jas. 5: 9) ere they
swing open and the King of Glory issues forth. Its meaning the Psalmist
exquisitely unfolds He bowed the heavens also, and
came down; and thick darkness was under His feet. He made darkness His hiding
place, His Pavilion round about Him; darkness of waters,
thick clouds of the skies (Ps. 18: 11). For it
is a stage in the Advent. Christs downward motion stops: His peoples upward
motion stops: the Lord silently forms His Royal Court in a pavilion of cloud.
Parousia is thus, according to the Psalmist, secret - a ding place; it is
stationary - a pavilion; it is invisible - in thick darkness; and it is the
centre of rapture - For it is thus that our Lord is to reurn.
He ascended visibly, and was wrapt from sight in cloud; but He is to so come in like manner (Acts 1: 11), - that is, the process is to be reversed: He
descends invisibly, concealed by clouds, and then bursts forth, visibly and
bodily, as the Sun of righteousness. The
interlude is the Parousia.
* Liddell and
Scott give its primary and root meaning as a being
present, a presence; and the Revised Version, while translating coming, is careful always to note in the margin that
the Greek is Presence. This does not exclude the meaning it also held in
contemporary non-classical Greek of a royal
procession, or arrival in state.
The
Parousia serves purposes of vital import to the Church. It is thither saints
are to be rapt, encompassed, as our Lord was, with clouds: we that are alive, that are left, shall
together with them be caught up [a sudden and irresistible seizure by a power beyond us:
Dr Eadie] in the clouds to meet the Lord; a reunion, not on earth, nor in the heaven of
heavens, but in
the air
(1 Thess. 4: 17): as
homing doves flock to their airy dovecotes. Who are
these, cries the Jewish Prophet (Is.
60: 8), that fly as a cloud, and as
the doves to their windows? with
the Holy Dove of God (2 Thess.
2: 7) in
the midst? For the Parousia is our ark of refuge.*
In the covert of
Thy presence Thou shalt hide them from the plottings
of man: Thou shalt keep them secretly
in a pavilion from the strife
of tongues (Ps. 31: 20). It is the heavenly Tabernacle against which
Antichrist, enraged by the loss of his prey, hurls impotent blasphemies. And he opened his mouth for
blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name,
and His tabernacle, even them
that tabernacle in the heaven (Rev. 13:
6). Thus the epiphany
or manifestation to the Church (1 John 3: 2; 2 Tim. 4: 8) occurs in
the parousia: the epiphany to the world (2 Thess. 2: 8) is
delayed until the apocalypse (2 Thess. 1: 7). So the
type is exquisitely apt. Joash, secreted in the Temple for just seven years, is
first revealed to the priests and nobles within the invisible precincts of the
Temple, and then brought forth and shown where every eye could see him (2 Chron. 23: 3, 11). Joash
had (as our Lord will have) two, epiphanies.
*
Our Lord, however, frequently appears in
the super-heavenlies during the Parousia; and since some of the saved are rapt
to the Throne (Rev. 12:
5), and others are on the
The
Parousia is also the judgment court of the Church. Judgment begins at
the House of God (1 Pet. 4: 17): for after a long time the lord of
those servants cometh and maketh a reckoning with them (Matt. 25: 19). Within
the Parousia are enacted the Virgins, the Talents, the Pounds: here converts
are presented by the evangelist (1 Thess. 2: 19): here the disciples heart and life are
examined (1 Thess.
3: 13), and blamelessness (1 Thess. 5: 23) or shame
(1 John 2: 28)
revealed. For the Household is examined in camera;
the Bema is set up in the Throne-room; and the approval of the Judgment Seat is
the supreme reward of the disciple, and an incorruptible motive of holiness. We make it our aim to be
well-pleasing unto him. For we [disciples] must all be made manifest before the
judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body,
according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad (2 Cor.
5: 10).
The
Parousia of Christ runs simultaneously with the Parousia (2 Thess. 2: 9) of the
Antichrist; the heavenly Parousia is the advanced outpost whither God recalls
His ambassadors, on the outbreak of war against the world and the last
judgments of God; and
unrecalled ambassadors are in peril from both batteries. The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered His
voice; hailstones and coats of fire.
And He sent out His arrows and scattered them; yea, lightnings manifold, and discomfited them (Ps. 18: 13; Rev. 8: 5; 10: 3; 11: 19; 16: 10). But Antediluvian and Sodomic wickedness
recur, and remain obdurate, during the Parousia. At length ripeness of iniquity
below, and the close of the judgment scene above, together produce the break-up
of the Parousia; scattering clouds on a sudden reveal to every eye the triple
glory (Luke 9: 26)
burning in the heart of the Pavilion. For as the lightning cometh forth from the east, and is
seen even unto the west;
so shall be the Presence [see Revised Margin throughout] of the Son of Man (Matt. 24: 27); who shall paralyze Antichrist by the manifestation, or outburst, of His
Parousia*; and then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father (Matt. 13: 43). Our Lords feet at last alight (Zech. 14: 4) upon Olivet.
* The manifestation of the Parousia - the [
see Greek] of His Presence (2 Thess. 2: 8) - is
decisive proof of its earlier invisibility, for only that can be manifested
which has hitherto been concealed; and it is directly associated with the
simultaneous presence of the Antichrist (2 Thess. 2: 9), which is
also local and continuous. All prophetic schemes which omit an interlude
between the two stages of the Coming must be erroneous: because no season is
left during which iniquity can finally ripen unchecked; no time whatever is
afforded for the prolonged investigation implied by such parables as that of
the Talents; no opportunity is presented for individual examination of saints
in view of the Kingdom; and no escape is provided for the Church from the Day of
Wrath. However the processes of the Churchs judgment may be quickened by
miracle, we can hardly suppose, with the parables of the Pounds and Talents
before us, that it is instantaneous; and if not instantaneous, the
investigation of the servants one after another, however abbreviated, must,
considering the millions involved, cover a very considerable period. The one
Christian rapture already accomplished - our Lords - was secret, veiled in
clouds, and invisible to the world; and Christs [
see Greek] (1 Thess. 4: 16) is, as
the word implies, a shout heard only by those to whom it is addressed. Even
martyrs under Antichrist appear upon the
So
the Presence is to be the lode-star of the Church; for its Bema is the
criterion for all regenerate life and conduct. The exact duration of the
Parousia has not been revealed: as Antichrist cannot be manifested before it (2 Thess. 2: 6), and he
reigns for three and a half years after it has begun (Rev.
13: 5),
it must extend for at least that period; but nothing prevents a far longer
sojourn of our Lord in the heavens: Dr.
Maitland believed it would cover not less than fifty years. The Presence must last at least four years, and may last
forty or fifty (Govett).* For while the inception of the
Parousia is a loose end which can be hastened by prayer (Matt. 24: 20) or retarded by neglect, its close comes after
crowding events still utterly unfulfilled, some of which are definitely timed
and measured: e.g., Israel is given to know the exact date of the Advent at a
given moment after the Parousia has begun (Dan. 12: 12). Thus
the date of our Lords return turns, for us, on the unknown and unknowable
factors of the moment and duration of the Parousia. Unfulfilled prophecy all
lies after rapture begins: nothing
stands between us and the summons of God; no premonitions, no warnings, no signals, no prophecies.** Again and again our Lord asserts His coming as a
Thief, with the consequent need of our unceasing alertness. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he
that watcheth (Rev. 16: 15). Now a
thief-like approach - for which, in our Lords case, there is no reproach, since
He takes only that which is His own - is pregnant with meaning. (The day cometh - 1 Thess. 5: 2 - not simply in the
night, but in the night as a thief. - Dr. Eadie.)
It implies a hidden Saviour, ambushed in a secret Parousia, from which He
accomplishes His removals; it implies that the taken goods disappear invisibly,
and are discovered as taken only by having vanished; it implies that,
thief-like, only the costliest goods are removed; and it implies that constant
watchfulness, an unbroken vigil throughout the night, is the sole preventive of
the burglary - for thus our
Lord Himself illustrates the Advent - since no thief gives warning
of his coming. But
know this, that if the master of the house had
known in what watch the thief was coming, he would
have watched, and would not have suffered his
house to be broken through. Therefore be ye also
ready (Matt. 24: 43). In the words of Calvin:- God intended that the time should be hidden from us, for the
express purpose that we may keep diligent watch without the relaxation of a
single hour.
*
The 31 years of the Witnesses (Rev. 11: 3) precede the 31 years of Antichrist (Rev. 13: 5), as
their murder removes his last obstacle to world-worship (Rev. 13: 4); and the emancipated host are on high (Rev. 7: 9) under the Seals, before the Witnesses appear (Rev. 11: 3) under the Trumpets.
** Paul (2
Tim. 4: 6)
and Peter (2 Pet. 1:
14) both knew of their own decease, and
therefore, by inference, of our Lords delay; but both knew it by special
revelation alone: an experience
therefore which has no bearing on us. Nor has it been
proved that, their deaths must occur before the Lord arrived: for anything that
appears, the saints might have been rapt, while these two Apostles were left
behind on the earth (Govett).
*
* * *
* * *
324
THE GOLDEN DAY
By MARY ARDINE.
But will all the nations accept this state of things gladly?
asked the Objector.
As
a whole they must surely only rejoice in their glorious King, and in all the
blessings of His Kingdom. There will then be no more ignorance and darkness of
heathenism. for
the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the
sea. We are told, indeed, in two
or three passages of some who will render feigned obedience; for, although
Satan and his angels will be imprisoned in the Abyss, and will no longer be
able to present their evil suggestions to men, yet the human heart remains the
same, and there will ever be those who in secret hate righteousness and
justice, and only yield obedience because they are compelled to do so. And so
we read, that He will rule the nations with a rod of iron, and break them in
pieces like a potters vessel. No open rebellion, nor covert act of oppression
will be tolerated for a moment, and there will be no possibility of evading the
inflexible laws of Him Who is first King of Righteousness, and then King of
Peace.
But the Jews will not want to rebel, said the
Invalid.
No,
indeed, replied the Master: the days of their rebellion and hardness will be
over for ever.
It seems very wonderful to think of the despised Jews - those in
Yes,
said the Master, and I wonder sometimes how some readers of the Bible
interpret many of its passages. Take, for example, the last verse in the eighth
chapter of Zechariah;- In those days ... ten men ... of all the
languages of the nations, shall take hold of the
skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we
have heard that God is with you.
But
it appears that, in the Millennium, the world will render them glad and
grateful homage, and for the most part rejoice with them in their glorious
King; for they shall be in the midst of many peoples
as dew from the Lord, as showers upon the grass, a blessing among the
nations.
And will there be no more heathen? asked the
Invalid.
NO
said the Master. In this dispensation the Lord is taking out a people from
among the nations, one here, another there, and the great mass of heathenism is
practically untouched; but, in that Golden Age, all nations shall serve Him:
for the darkness will have passed away, and the true light will be shining to
the ends of the earth. The
Will the Church be on earth during the Millennium?
asked the Enquirer.
7
ETERNITY
And what lies beyond the Millennium? asked the
Enquirer.
Eternity
lies beyond it, replied the Master gravely.
We
speak the word glibly enough, but no human mind can attempt to measure the
vastness of its meaning. Many details of the scenes of the closing years of
this dispensation are given us in the book of Revelation; but of what lies
beyond the Millennium we have only broad outlines.
We
are told, that, at the end of the thousand years, Satan will be loosed for a
little season, and will go out to deceive the nations.
It seems inconceivable, said the Objector, that after a thousand years of the blessings of the reign of
Christ, men should be ready to go over to Satan again.
Yes,
said the Master, but the human heart is evil, and, until they are renewed by
the Holy Spirit, men will ever love darkness rather than light, in whatever
favourable circumstances they may be placed. We need light within as well as
light around us.
And
so, Satan will once more gather all the nations against
And, after all that, the Day
of judgment? asked the Enquirer.
Yes,
replied the Master; you will find it in the twentieth chapter of Revelation at
the eleventh verse, immediately after the account of Satans last defeat. I saw, says the Apostle, a
Great White Throne, and Him That sat on it, from
Whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. Great and awful, indeed,
will that day be, when all the dead who had no part in the first resurrection
shall stand before the Throne of the Son of Man to be judged according to their
works. Many, even then, shall come forth to the resurrection of life; but alas,
in that day, for the hardened, the impenitent, and the rebellious; for those
who have rejected the mercy of God in Christ, and whose names have been blotted
out of the book of life! What can remain to them but eternal destruction from
the presence of the Lord, and the lake of fire which is the second death!
The
Master ceased: and there was silence for a while. Then the Objector said;- If we realize this, it ought to make us all try to do something
to help those around us. Look at the hundreds, even in this little place, who
never seem to give a thought to anything beyond the needs and pleasures of the
moment.
True
indeed, assented the Master: it is terribly sad to think how many there are
who have the light and the knowledge of salvation, and are yet content to sit
with folded hands while souls are perishing around them. God willeth that all
men should be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth; and He works
chiefly through human instrumentality. The command to preach the Gospel to
every creature is for each individual disciple, and the Lord has given to every
one his work and sphere of influence, whether it be great or small. But too
often His people are silent, or think that the proclaiming of the Kingdom is the business of ministers and
missionaries only. Yet, in some way or other, we must all take our part in the
great work, if we are to be faithful servants. The knowledge of [eternal] salvation
through faith in Christ, and of the
Coming of His Kingdom, is a mighty talent entrusted to us, not to be
wrapped up carefully and buried in our own hearts, but to be proclaimed by voice and life, that others may hear, and see, and share, the blessings and the glory
of His great salvation.
*
* * *
* * *
325
THE BODY OF
THE FIRST RAPT
By D. M.
PANTON. B.A.
One sentence photographs for ever the body of the first
rapt at the moment of their arrival in the heavenlies. Their miraculous ascent,
as destined supplanters of the fallen angels, at once draws on them, in
mid-air, the full fury of Hell: their guardian and transporting Angels closing
round the ascending human hosts, for one critical moment the hostile
angel-squadrons are locked in the Armageddon of heaven: then, overborne by
sheer force as well as outmatched in subtilty, the Dragon and his hosts are
cast headlong to earth. Exactly as Satan disputed (Jude
9) over the corpse of Moses, to prevent his arrival at the Mount of Transfiguration, so Michael
again forces deliverance for a myriad corpses, as also living myriads to reach
the Kingdom. This delivered body of the first rapt, thus isolated and radiant
in Heaven, are the birth out of earth, the begotten from the tomb (cp. Acts. 13: 33, 34) - the
Man-child - who are to rule all the nations with a rod of iron (Rev.
12: 5) -
a sceptre, that is, which can neither be broken nor resisted, governing,
disciplining and controlling all the peoples of the Millennial earth.*
*
That the Woman is the Holy Jerusalem, the
centre of all dispensations, see Govetts Apocalypse. (Thynne & Jarvis, cloth, 7/6 net).
In the apocalypse Christ Himself applies to believers
the words here used (12: 5), which are literally
true of Himself alone - 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 (Rev. 2: 26). Thus Christ Himself
interprets the vision before us (Bishop
Wordsworth).
THE ACCUSER
The translated host are introduced in a triumph-song. And I heard a great voice in
heaven - apparently from the
victor angels - saying,
Now is come the salvation - a miraculous deliverance shot upward - and the power - proved in the massed overthrow of Hell - and the kingdom of our God - not the Kingdom of the world (as in 11: 15) for
only now is the Kingdom arrived in heaven - and the authority of His
Christ - the spear-head of the
Kingdom: for the
accuser of our brethren - for we
are brothers of the Angels - is cast down, which ACCUSED them before our God - impleading in the law
courts of Heaven - day and night -
in a ceaseless prosecution and appeal in the council-chambers of God. Satan
fastens supremely on the one vulnerable spot in the Church - her sins: he seduces the
believer on earth, and then accuses him in heaven. It is a masterpiece of
wisdom; because, while he knows that he is powerless to shake the Christians
foundation, he can, by seducing him into sin, embroil him with God: for none
knows better than Satan two things - (1) that God compounds sin in no one; and
(2) the tragic frailty of the child of
God. Therefore final salvation is impossible for us until we are above and
beyond the considered charges - true or false - of the Accuser; and until he is
cast out of it, Heaven itself is not Heaven.*
* How secret the pavilion created by the darkness of the
skies - He made darkness His hiding place, His pavilion
round about Him; darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies (Ps. 18: 11); an
airman, entering a cloud, reveals:- It was like a huge black wall into which
we dived headlong; and I had to switch on the lights to see the instrument
board a foot in front of me (Daily News, April 9th, 1926). So it was thick darkness where God was (Ex. 20: 21) in the Parousia of the clouds on Sinai. Recent
discovery modifies the physiological changes we imagined essential for life
above the highest
THE BLOOD
Now
therefore there follows, in a photograph taken in a heavenly exposure and of
extraordinary value, an exact moral delineation of the souls miraculously
removed, and of exactly how they successfully rebutted the Satanic prosecution. It
is a disclosure of the innermost secrets of rapture. And THEY - the they is emphatic: they alone; they, the Man-child just named as
caught up to the Throne of God; they, in contrast to all the undelivered down below - OVERCAME him - that is, they are overcomers: angels wrestled and
threw Satan above, physically; these wrestled and threw Satan below,
spiritually (Eph. 6:
12): and their ground of victory, the
inspired reason for their miraculous removal beyond Satans reach into the
heavenlies, is a threefold maturity
before God. The first ground is the Blood. They overcame him by - because of, in virtue of, on the ground of - THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB. It is not the blood of Christ, but the
blood of the Lamb; not the
blood of a martyr Messiah, but the blood
of the slaughtered Sacrifice: for
THE
TESTIMONY
But
a second weapon is revealed as vital to the victory. Passive acceptance of the
Blood of Calvary, though enough for eternal life, is not, alone, sufficient for
translation: the worthiness for which our Lord commands us to pray (Luke 21: 36) is
obviously not His worthiness, which all disciples already possess, but (as is
transparent in the context) a worthiness, by
vigilance and prayer, of the saint himself.* And - as a second weapon of overthrow - [they overcame him] by - because of, in virtue of, on the ground of - THE WORD OF THEIR
TESTIMONY; - not the testimony of Jesus only, for these are overcomers risen and rapt out of
all dispensations. The strict sense of [
the Greek word
] with the accusative must again be kept: it is because they have given a faithful testimony, even unto death, that
they are victorious (Alford). The block to Satan, the
exposure of his craft, the dissolution of his plans, his spiritual paralysis -
all lie in Scripture loved, lived,
preached: as with our Lord in the Wilderness, it is written - unmasks and paralyzes every Satanic imposture and
wile. John states the same truth elsewhere:- I have written unto you, young men, because the word
of God abideth in you, and ye have OVERCOME
the evil one (1 John 2: 14).
So the second ground for rapture is lip
and life squared to the Word of God. The
Sacrifice of the Death of Christ, as Dr. Swete expresses it, does not spell victory except for those who suffer with
Him (Rom. 8: 17, 2 Tim. 2: 11): thus a secondary cause of the martyrs victory is found
in their personal labour and
self-sacrifice.
* Prevail to escape - Revised Version.
THE
RENUNCIATION
But
a third and final weapon, the subtilest and most difficult of all to achieve,
is also indispensable for removal in the dawn. It is not necessarily martyrdom,
but the martyr-spirit; at heart, a complete abnegation of the world:- they LOVED NOT their life even unto death: did not
hold their life too dear to be given up to death (Seiss); their non-attachment to life was carried to the extent of
being ready to die for their faith (Swete); so little did they value their present life, that they
preferred death to apostasy (Moses
Stuart). These had mastered the things that usually master men. Pope Pius IV., on hearing of Calvins
death, exclaimed:- All the strength of that proud
heretic lay in this - that riches and honour were nothing to him. With a few
such men our Church would soon be mistress of both shores of the ocean.
Such build on the other side of the grave: they
invest their whole wealth for God: they risk life itself in the cause of Christ.
Paul has expressed it once for all:- I hold not my life of any account, as dear unto myself, so that I may accomplish my course and the
ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus (Acts 20: 24).
THE
UNREMOVED
Suddenly
the camera tilts, and, in a moments earthly exposure, it picks up a scene far
down below. The Devil, now finding all heaven impenetrable to him, and maddened
by the brevity of his chance, went away to make war with THE REST of her seed - plural: two separate remainders; a double remnant:
namely - they (1) which keep the commandments of God - regenerate Jews and Gentiles - and they which (2) hold the
testimony of Jesus - unrapt
Christians: not in bodies, or in church states, regularly formed, as
heretofore, but in private families, and some here, and some there (Dr. Gill). As the Pulpit Commentary says:-
The members of the Jewish Theocracy were they to whom
the commandments of God were specially
revealed: and Christians are they who specially hold the
testimony of Jesus.* In the
words of Dr. E. C. Craven, editor of
Langes Apocalypse:- These are left on the earth after the removal of the Firstfruits. There is a growing
conviction in my mind that the Firstfruits do not include
all true Christians, but consists of a select portion of these - the specially faithful. These remnants are strongly confirmative of
this view. For it is impossible to say that all
the saved - a gross backslider, for example - reach the triple standard here
revealed, or fulfil the three conditions named as the grounds of the removal: it is impossible to deny that such believers as combine all three are,
on the whole, exceptional: moreover we are actually shown the
undelivered below; so, as Dr. Seiss says, we are taught, as Ambrose,
and Luther, and Kromayer admit, that other particular
resurrections - [or,
of a particular out-resurrection (Phil 3: 11. cf. Lk. 20: 35) of the blessed and holy (Rev. 20: 6, R.V.)]
- and translations of certain eminent saints - [who prevail to escape all
these things that shall come to pass (Lk. 21: 36; cf. Rev.
3: 10,
R.V.) will]
- occur at
intervals - [or
interval]
- preceding the full completion of the glorified company.
*
Prophetic students who believe in a
universal and simultaneous harvest, with no first-fruits but Christ, confess
the difficulty of this phrase. It might be a difficulty to some, says Mr. William Kelly, that a Jewish remnant would have the testimony of Jesus;
but the difficulty, he says, is not insuperable.
But so far from being Jewish - an exposition
manifestly invented to grind an axe, for it is the reverse of the meaning of
the words - the phrase never so used; nor could it be, for the testimony of
Jesus has been entrusted peculiarly to the Church; and John elsewhere gives it
as a definition of himself as a Christian apostle, - who
bare witness of the word of God, and the testimony of
Jesus Christ (Rev. 1: 2). It would
take very powerful reasons indeed to dispossess it of its obviously Christian
meaning. The verse includes all the people of God who
will at that time be exposed to Satans malice, whether they be pious Jews, or Christians who were not found worthy to
escape the impending woes (G.
H. Pember, M.A.). Rev. 14: 12 - a
Tribulation verse - lends remarkable confirmation.
THE SERPENT
So
we see the exact point which at this moment we have apparently reached. With
the subtilty of a python, the venom of a rattlesnake, the crushing power of a
boa-constrictor, the invisibility of a fer-de-lance, the dragon stood - all eyes - before the woman which was about to be delivered, that when she was delivered he might devour her child. For Satan is ignorant of the moment of the First
Resurrection; and, as his empire trembles to its fall, his anxiety grows to
white heat; and he plants himself at the spot of supreme peril. As the moment
of the birth out of the tomb approaches, the Dragon, dyed all over with the hue
of murder, watches, with intensity of alertness, for the first quiver in the
sleeping sod, the first flash upward of an ascending saint, and seeks to block
supremely the ripening of the firstfruits (Mark 4:
29) on which depends the exact moment of the
bursting of the tombs.*
*
I have called the Manchild (apparently
identical with the Palm-bearers of Rev. 7: 9) the body
of the first rapt; but it is possible (as Govett thinks) that a prior
rapture - indicated by Johns summons heavenward (Rev.
4: 1) -
occurs at the moment when the throne of judgment replaces the throne of grace.
The Manchild ascends somewhere between the Sixth Seal and the Fourth Trumpet.
-------
SAINTS IN
THE HIGH PLACES
In
Dan. 7: 18, 22, 25, and 27,
the Authorised Version translates, Saints of the Most
High, whereas it should read, Saints of the High Places. Daniel could not of course understand who these would
be, for the mystery of the Church was not then revealed; but we can easily
recognise those who will live and reign with the Lord in the heavenly regions,
taking the place of the host of the High Ones that are on high.
In
verse 25, the reference is specially to that
portion of them which will be upon earth during the great tribulation, but will
suffer martyrdom rather than worship the Beast or his image.
In
verse 27, there is also mention of another
class, the
people of the Saints of the High Places; that is, the people which stand in close relation to these saints,
namely, the Israelites. To the latter the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the Kingdom
under the whole heaven shall be given. That is, they shall become the Kings of the Earth upon
the Earth, in the stead of the
destroyed Gentile powers (Isa.
24: 21).
In
verse 21, the simple expression, the saints,
seems to embrace all the people of God who are upon Earth at the time, the
believers who pass through the tribulation, and the pious Jews. In ver. 22 it includes still more, nothing less indeed
than the completed Millennial Kings and the whole Israelitish people; for the
reference is to the Millennial age, and the Kingdom
comprehends both the heavenly and the earthly portions of Christs
government. - G. H. PEMBER.
*
* * *
* * *
326
THE CHALLENGE OF A DEFERRED ADVENT
By D. M. PANTON, M.A.
That there are scoffers at the Second Advent within the
*
Dr.
C. Williams, The
Coming End of the Age, p.
9. A reasoned rejection of the Second
Advent has just been issued by the Christian World (Sept. 2, 1926); and, bearing in mind that Greek thought is only another name for heathen
unbelief, the Christian Worlds historical sketch of how the Church
came to reject this truth is so correct, so illuminating, and so
self-condemnatory that we simply reproduce it without comment. The idea of the Second Advent prevailed widely in
Christianity till it had been permeated and transformed by Greek influence. It
lingered in the East until the beginning of the third century, and in the West
it had a much stronger sway. But the Greek spirit was hostile, and in the end
fatal to it. We can, with little difficulty, understand how attractive it would
be to the Jew to believe in a millennium at
So
the Apostle gives a profound reassurance to the waiting Christian. But forget not - as against their wilful forgetting this one thing, beloved - as a
master-solution of the problem - that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (2 Pet. 3: 8); or, as
the Psalmist (90: 4)
puts it - a
thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday. Divine activity is such that it can spread over a
thousand years, or concentrate into a single day, what, in nature, would belong
to a day or to a millennium. The twenty-four hours of
Now this long-suffering so enormously magnifies the
character of God, that we do well to ponder it. With a hatred of s in out-running our utmost conception, God,
omnipresent, yet stands alongside the murderer as he beats down his victim, and hears the dying whimper,
motionless: He listens to the vilest
obscenity, and the most daring blasphemies, and says nothing: He sees little
children being corrupted in soul and body by men of awful iniquity, when He has
but to think a thought and they would never provoke Him again - yet He never
stirs. It is manifest that a reason of extraordinary force must, so to say, tie
the hands of God - a deterrent from action inconceivably powerful. What is it?
It is because every human soul is salvable;
and the only hope of the salvation of
any man lies in the sell-control of God. It is an astounding revelation. For the self-repression in the Deity is
as extraordinary a revelation of the power of the Godhead as the universe
contains. A volcano curbed requires vaster power than a volcano in action.
Gods wrath is justice at white-heat, and repression of it is a thing
incomparably more powerful than its liberation. Herod unsmitten is
a greater evidence of Gods power than Herod smitten. Longsuffering, in such a world as this, is the
greatest exhibition of power on this side of the annihilation of worlds.
Moreover, the measure of the restraint must be a measure of the peril from
which God would save man. If it is mercy that continues whole nations in
outrage and horror, and a world in wild tumult, what must be the doom beyond,
from which starvation and massacre are a merciful interposition of delay? God must foresee a future of inconceivable horror.
So
the Apostle now reveals the heart of the divine reluctance, and into his answer
is crowded all the grace, the love, the sob of God. Not wishing that any should perish, but that ALL
should come to repentance. He who
bids all, forbids none. God wills here as the result of conscious deliberation,
but not with irresistible coercion (Lange);
exactly as a monarch wills that all his subjects should be happy - but as subjects, not as criminals. Gods wish (or will) not only embodied itself in the
sublime intervention of the
Incarnation, the Cross, the Ascension, the descent of the Holy Ghost - a desire
unexhausted, and now surviving in
all its force, its supreme effort is to achieve repentance in all. And so He
delays, and delays, and delays, for immediate judgment would mean immediate
Hell. So (the Apostle says) account that
the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation: that is, see that you put this
interpretation on Gods strange inactivity: esteem its actual effect to be
salvation; for it is actually the salvation of all who are being
saved. Experience
shows that this is true. Forbearance can be fruitful, when chastisement and
threatenings fail: men can get simply tired of disillusionment, and sorrow, and
disappointment, and the bitterness of sin - and turn to God. God does not
prolong the worlds sin in order to deepen its guilt and consequent doom; but
for an exactly opposite reason - that NONE
should perish; but that all hardness may be melted; that rebellion may be
replaced by loyalty; that hate may give way to love; and - wonderful words! - that all [earths teeming millions] should come to repentance; and salvation
so quench all evil as to cancel all judgment. Justice inherently compels, and
the order of the universe demands, judgment: yet the Lord moves like the
glacier of a thousand years. Hell is inevitable, but hell is no wish of God;
God never laid on any man the desire or the necessity to sin; no class, or
group, or person, is outside the divine salvation; the decree consigning to
hell can never be operative without a mans own signature. It is not according
to the heart of God that even one whom He has created, and one for whom Christ
died, should be lost. The one
Person in all the universe who is not responsible for hell is GOD.
So,
then, let the very deferred Advent (as it were) soak into us Gods delaying
grace. Our golden opportunity and privilege is to co-operate with Gods will to
save. Mockers account it slackness, disciples account it salvation; we seize
the delay, in order to seize its redemption. I exhort, says Paul that prayers be made for ALL
MEN (1
Tim. 2: 1).
If I am to pray for all men, what must I assume? I must assume that all men need praying
for; that all men can be benefited by my prayers; that the benefits of Christs
death, the sole ground of all prayer for sinners, reaches to all men; and
therefore that all men can be saved. As Gordon
wrote from
Thus
the deferred Advent, as we confront it to-day, spells but one word - Salvation.
Work of incalculable importance may still
remain. Some have not yielded, that have been called; some have not yet
been called, that are now in dens of infamy, or in prison cells, or in heathen
forests; some have not yet been born, whose names, nevertheless, are in the
Lambs Book of Life: all of us are spared for golden purposes of priceless
service. The delay is no counsel of despair, but an amazing revelation of
salvation, and in it is the whole reservoir of effective grace. Yet the pause
is only a pause; and though He hath leaden feet, He
hath iron hands. For THE DAY OF THE LORD
WILL COME AS A THIEF IN THE NIGHT.
-------
THE AGE TO COME
The
yearning of the human heart, its Paradise-hunger, has again and again
foreshadowed the Golden Age which God has pledged Himself to bring in, and which only His wisdom and power can achieve.
All the full-brain, half-brain races, led by Justice,
Love and Truth;
All the millions one at length with all the visions of
my youth.
All diseases quenchd by
Science, no man halt, or deaf, or blind;
Stronger ever born of weaker, lustier body, larger
mind.
Every tiger madness muzzled, every serpent passion killd,
Every grim ravine a garden, every blazing desert tilld.
Earth at last a warless world, a single race, a single
tongue -
I have seen her far away - for is not earth as yet so
young?
Robed in universal harvest up to either pole she
smiles,
Universal ocean softly washing all her wareless Isles.
- TENNYSON.
*
* * *
* * *
327
SUGGESTIVE
STUDIES IN ISAIAH
By H. A.
WOOLLEY
Like the great Book of which it forms a part, Isaiah is
a mine of wealth to all seekers of the Truth. Gods thoughts about things are
therein revealed. Gods purposes and plans for Jew and Gentile are therein made
known. Sin, and the precious sin-Bearer, are set forth repeatedly, and
wonderful forecasts of that which shall
be hereafter are given. Full of the wonders of the Lord, and abounding in
God-given revelations, Isaiah is a book to be gone over again and again.
Yet
it has not received the attention it so richly deserves. In common with certain
other Old Testament portions it is, methinks, largely neglected. To many it
consists of a single chapter - the 53rd so dearly beloved by every child of God, yet
but one among the many beautiful gems sparkling from Isaiahs pages. Some may
tell us of the sixth chapter with its wonderful vision of God, sin, grace, and
opportunity - and there their knowledge ends. Others can point to isolated
verses here and there which have been a source of comfort and strength to them;
whilst not a few preachers will admit they have oft extracted phrases or verses
for use as Gospel texts.
To
all such the real scope and contents of Isaiah are entirely unknown. And how
much they miss! For if properly studied this book will be a veritable revelation
to those who perchance for the first time are led quietly to ponder it page by
page.
Not
only will a clearer insight into Gods ways result, and fresh light be thrown
on other parts of Scripture, but valuable spiritual lessons for individual growth
and profit will become apparent to the prayerful reader ready to receive Divine
principles into heart and mind.
Let
us then in humble dependence on the Holy Spirit for guidance and help, look
first at the general construction of the book, and then briefly indicate a few
suggestive lines of thought, any or all of which if carefully followed out
cannot fail to produce lasting blessing. Perhaps also our present study may
lead to other little known portions of Gods Word being explored and more
widely opened up.
ANALYSIS
Isaiah
falls into two main divisions. One has judgment for its chief theme- the other,
grace. The latter can be sub-divided into three smaller sections of nine
chapters each, all of which end in similar strain. Thus -
1. Chapters 1 to 39 (Judgment).
2. Chapters 40 to 66 (Grace).
(1) 40-48.
(2) 49-57 (The central chapter of this middle section is
the unique 53rd.)
(3) 58-66.
Between
Isaiah and the Bible a close resemblance exists. Isaiah has 66 chapters - the
Bible 66 books. Isaiah is in two parts - the
Bible is composed of Old and New Testaments. Thirty-nine books go to make up
the Old Testament - the 1st Division of Isaiah
has 39 chapters. Isaiahs 2nd Division has 27 chapters - so the New
Testament has 27 books. Again, Isaiah is like unto the Bible in its wide range
of vision. We hear the Creators voice, and also the same One proclaiming
Himself the
first and the last. In a sense
far-seeing Isaiah seems to range from Genesis to
Revelation. Creation - Redemption - Regeneration.
We
cannot be reminded too often that the
Lord Jesus Christ is the key to the Bible. Hence in all reading the
foremost thought should be - how is
Christ presented here in this particular portion?
Our first short study then,
is necessarily -
CHRIST IN
ISAIAH
Many
names are given to the Redeemer in Isaiah, and in keeping with the character of
its contents these are almost invariably linked to
He
is the King (chap. 6.), your
King (chap. 43.),
King of Israel (chap 44.) and the Mighty One of Jacob in chapter 60.
Immanuel (chaps.
7 and 8.)
is another name, and chapter 9, verse 6 gives us a beautiful cluster of names.
Then He is called the Mighty One of
But
throughout the entire book there runs another name to which special attention
is asked, the writer during recent study having been greatly struck with its
frequent usage, force, and significance. This name is THE
HOLY ONE OF
IN THAT DAY
Our
second study springs out of another of Isaiahs oft repeated phrases. In that day
occurs in nearly every chapter of the judgment
section, as might be expected, for the day referred to so frequently is the day of the Lord, a
day of darkness, sorrow, and judgment for the ungodly - a day of happy
deliverance for the faithful remnant. Much will happen in that day.
Idols will be abolished, and the Lord alone exalted (see chaps. 2. and 31.). The
Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious (chap.
4.), My
Servant exalted (chap. 22.), and the Lord
of hosts shall be for a crown of glory (chap.
28.). As to mankind, many are slain (for it
is the day of the Lords vengeance -
see verse 8 of chapter
34, the key-verse to this subject), but scattered
ANTICHRIST
IN ISAIAH
And
here we must tread softly, for we enter a sphere where we shall most likely be
accused of saying either too much or too little! Nevertheless, the subject is
so important in these last days, so essential to a right understanding of prophecy and
those future events with which Isaiah so largely deals, and withal so full of
meaning to those who can accept it,
that we cannot refrain from touching upon this intensely interesting subject.
Two persons are seen at work all through Holy
Scripture - God and Satan. And these are
always opposed to one another. God, through Christ, is ever seeking the true
good of mankind, Satan (personally or through others) ever opposes and tries to
thwart Gods plans. Satan is a great imitator. If God has his Man - the Man
Christ Jesus - Satan will yet produce his - the Antichrist! If God appoints a
city (
One
is tempted to speak of Nimrod, the beginning of whose kingdom was Babel; to say
something of Nebuchadnezzar (a partial type of Antichrist) and the great
Babylon he built and boasted of; and to speak of future Babylon (mighty and
magnificent in mans eyes). But we are in Isaiah,
and wishing first to get a grip of what he says [we] shall not now stray from the pages of this prophet.
Nor
need we. For here we have a surprising array of facts concerning things to come, which if collected and grouped will surely invest Isaiah (and other
prophets) with a new interest and meaning.
Please
note in considering the following - and we stress this point - how fully all is
bound up with the day of the Lord, that day, and the
promised future restoration of [the nation of]
(Note
- In Isaiah, as in other parts of Scripture, happenings are not consecutive: there is often a reversion - in
fuller detail - to that which has already been mentioned).
ISAIAH
Chapter 10. introduces the
Assyrian (verses 5, 6)
- the king of Assyria (verse 12) a haughty
monarch of stout
heart and high looks, whose purpose is to destroy and cut off nations not a
few, and who smites after promising protection (verses
7 and 20-23).
But the indignation shall cease, the oppressors yoke be removed and
destroyed. Indeed, Antichrists raging thrust at
Chapter 11. presents earths Rightful Sovereign who shall
slay the wicked, praise following in chapter 12.
Chapter 13. The burden of BABYLON in the day of the Lord, a day of wrath and fierce
anger (6-13).
Its fate and that of its inhabitants described in verses
14-22. Note: verses
4 and 5 of this chapter and 26-30 of chapter 5. probably refer to an Eastern invasion
aimed at
Chapter 14., verse 3 and 4
show the Assyrian to be the king of
Chapter 19., 4 (An earlier event)
Chapter 21,: Evil tidings
-
In
chapters 24., verses
21 and 22 and in chapter 27. we have Satan and his host overthrown,
and the kings of the earth punished.
Chapter 28. has a
reference to the
covenant with hell (connected
with Antichrist) in verses 15 and 18.
Chapter 30. The Assyrian beaten down through the voice of the
Lord, verses 27-33.
Chapter 31. verses 8 and 9
speak again of his downfall: his stronghold is mentioned to which he now goes
in fear, his princes being afraid of the ensign.
(We believe there is more in the word ensign -
referred to several times - than appears on the surface).
Chapter 43. :
Chapter 47. reverts to
Chapter 51. Where is the
fury of the oppressor?
(verse 13).
Chapter 57. 9, the false king; and chapter
66. - the end o the transgressors.
Just
a fragment of a great whole has been given, but the reader can follow the line
out at leisure, comparing what has been advanced with other parts of Scripture.
To
all who have understanding to discern the times is a final word added: Watch
developments in
And
does there not come to us as we peep into the future and see Satans idea of a
world without God - with peace and safety (both unstable yet at first seemingly
real), prosperity and pleasure for all - taking shape before our eyes - does
there not come a still small voice asking what manner of persons we (professed)
pilgrims and strangers in a Christ-rejecting scene ought to be!
THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD in Isaiah would
form another profitable study, chaps. 11., 41., 59., 61., and 63 being looked at in this connection.
For
the sake of young believers it might be well to add that everlasting burnings and
devouring fire in chapter 33. (verse 14
and 15)
refer, we believe, not to hell, but to our God who is a consuming fire.
Also verses 1-6 of chapter
63., allude not to Calvary, but to Christs personal punishment of
And
now in closing may I repeat what I have already written?
Like
the great Book of which it forms a part, Isaiah
is a mine of wealth to all seekers of the truth. Gods thoughts
about things [yet to occur in
the future] are therein revealed. Gods purposes and plans
for Jew and Gentile are therein made known. Sin, and the precious sin-Bearer
are set forth repeatedly, and wonderful forecasts of that which shall be hereafter are given. Let
us then give to it the attention it so richly deserves!
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Advent Dates
The
fatuous unbelief which fixes Advent dates, when spirit-prompted, is self-proved
as demonic. Mrs. White, the prophetess of the Seventh Day Advents, shortly
before her death received a revelation appointing a Mrs. Rowan as her
successor, who, however, was never accepted by the sect. Two years ago [i.e., in
1924],
Mrs. Rowan gave forth a Message from God, which
ran thus:- My Son will return on Feb. 6th,
1925: proclaim it from the skies! The Lord neither returned, nor were
the 144,000 waiting Adventists miraculously transported (as she had predicted)
from
*
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328
THE DRAMA OF THE APOCALYPSE
By D. M.
PANTON, B.A.
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CHAPTER
I
The structure and proportions of the Apocalypse - that
golden thread on which can be strung all the pearls
of earlier prophecy - are exactly defined, and defined once for all, by
our Lord Himself. Write the things which thou sawest - that is, the Priest amid the Lampstands; and the things which are - that is, seven representative churches, embodying
the things which dispensationally exist; and the things which shall came to pass after these things - namely, after the Things which Are, or the Church
epoch - that is, the last judgments. Section One is thus an apocalypse of our Lord as Priest, in the midst of that actual,
upper Temple, the furniture of which Moses had seen and copied in the Mount (Heb. 8: 5); and, in exquisite keeping with the judicial
character of the Book throughout, the highly peculiar description of Christ
looks toward imminent judgment. For the priest was always the judge in holy things. The eyes of penetrating flame; the
feet of irresistible brass, aglow as though already tramping through judgment fires;
the voice as the roar of a cataract; the sword flaming from the mouth: it is
little wonder that even the beloved Apostle, overwhelmed with the apocalypse of
the righteous Judge, fell as one dead. It is Christ alone with His Churches: it
is the last hour - the hour of the midnight darkness, and the lit
lamp: it is the era of angel-stars bearing gracious Gospel-witness in a world
of gloom: it is the face of the Sun of Righteousness as He stands on the
threshold of the Dawn.
II. -THE
CHURCHES
CHAPTERS
II, III
Section
Two embraces the Letters to the
III. - THE
THRONE
CHAPTER
IV
Section
Three - the Things that shall come to pass after These Things, that is after the current Age - opens
with an apocalypse of a new throne, a throne of judgment. John, rapt upward -
doubtless a hint of rapture impending immediately on the close of the Day of
Grace - sees a Throne being set: it is a throne seething, like an angry
volcano, with lightnings and voices and thunders: it is set in the full panoply
of God, and amid the worship of the hosts of Heaven. This Throne, which
henceforth regulates the entire drama, and out of which pour desolating
judgments, creates and reveals the judicial nature of the Age to Come.*
For that day is an era, not of mercy, but of justice: its throne
is a throne, not of grace, but of judgment: for it is the day of wrath and revelation [apocalypse]
of the righteous JUDGMENT of God: who will render to every man
according to his works (Rom. 2: 5). Therefore within the sphere of the Coming Age
all judgment falls, and by its triple tribunal it exhausts judgment. For (1) at the Bema the Lords reckoning
with His servants (Matt. 25: 19)
inaugurates the processes of judgment, beginning at the house of God (1 Pet. 4: 17); (2)
the Throne of Messiahs Glory sifts the nations that are alive on His return (Matt. 25: 31, 32); and
the great White Throne (Rev. 20: 11)
accomplishes [after
the Lords Millennium] the mighty assize of the dead. Thus the erection of
this Judgment Throne is the signal for a prolonged Day of justice: for the
Throne is seething with suppressed wrath; the Sitter on the Throne is Himself
of fire-colour - for MY fury, saith
God, is come
up in My face (Ezek. 38: 18): yet around the Throne is an emerald bow, for
in the midst of wrath God remembers mercy. The Throne is an apocalypse of
imminent judgment.
[* See Heb. 6: 5, R.V. cf.
those
deemed
worthy to obtain that AGE, and of the resurrection
- that out of dead ones
(Lk. 20: 35.Lit.
Gk.).]
IV. -THE
LAMB
CHAPTER
V
Now
the action of the Throne begins. Exquisitely accordant with its judicial
character, the cry of a strong angel, flung into the furthest abysses of the
universe, challenges the whole creation - WHO IS WORTHY? All judgment is based on an investigation of
worthiness; and before the assembled hierarchies, rank
over rank, and circle beyond circle, with nothing human in the vast
congregation of God but our Lord - for the us of chapter 5: 9 is
a foolish and mischievous copyists blunder*
- God challenges for Absolute Perfection: who so good as to receive the empire
of all, so wise as to plumb the unfathomed depths of God, so strong as to
handle the last judgments? The cry comes back from ten thousand times ten
thousand, and thousands of thousands - WORTHY is the LAMB that
hath been slain! Jesus then takes
the Little Book from off the blazing palm of Deity; all judgment is at once
placed in the hands of the Son; and henceforth the whole universe, from the
heart of the Throne outward, is dealt with on the ground of worthiness. Worthy art Thou our Lord and
our God (Rev.
4: 11): worthy
is the Lamb
that hath been slain (Rev. 5: 12): they shall walk with
Me in white, for they are worthy (Rev. 3: 4): blood hast Thou given
them to drink, for they are worthy (Rev.
16: 6).
*
The Revised Version, acting solely on
textual grounds, dismisses the us
unconditionally, as do modern scholars, as Alford,
Swete,
etc. Thou didst purchase us, and they reign is an impossible construction, of which no speaker
or writer could be guilty; and as there is no textual doubt at all of the they,
it is the us which must go. See Govetts Apocalypse Expounded
by Scripture.
V. - THE
JUDGMENTS
CHAPTERS
VI TO XVIII
At
last a rebellious world comes into view. The guns of God are now trained upon
the earth: the human globe becomes a besieged and bombarded city. Partly
consecutive, partly overlapping, Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls empty upon man the
wrath of God. The judgments are so gradual that their start is almost
imperceptible: they first blight the food, then touch the body, then kill the
man; first a fourth of the earth is involved, then a third, then the entire
globe: each blow is heavier than the last, and more wounding, in Jehovahs
awful controversy with the nations. As an overtaxed dam, behind which has grown
a steadily accumulating mass of waters, cracks with a noise like thunder, and
pours a desolation all the more irresistible because so long delayed - such is
the wrath of the Lamb. So also miraculous deliverances out of the imperilled
area begin: resurrections and raptures - obviously more than one, if for no
other reason than that the martyrs under Antichrist must, and do, reach the
heavenlies, whereas the first rapt
precede the day of Satans wrath (Rev. 12: 5, 12) - prove the omnipotent grasp of God to
deliver. We may drop one word here on interpretation.* It is the expositors wisdom never to swerve from the
bedrock canon of all literary interpretation - namely, that every document is
to be taken literally, unless (1) the context is obviously figurative, as in a
parable or a poem; or (2) when the literal sense is in itself absurd: as, for
an example of the first - a sower went forth to sow; and, as an example of the second - I am the door. But how shall the problem be solved if conflict of
judgment arises as to what is absurd? History (in
most cases) will at once demonstrate the meaning of the prophecy. The third part of the sea became blood (Rev. 8: 8): is that absurd? Let
the
*
The secret of the symbolism of the
Apocalypse should also be noted. When a person or thing is seen out
of its place, it is seen
under a symbol, as a mystery, so the Churches,
literally on earth, are seen as lampstands above. So throughout.
VI. - THE
KINGDOM
CHAPTERS
XIX, XX
Destructive
judgments now rapidly draw to a close: administrative judgment is at hand. The
supreme apocalypse of all - the Son of Man descending out of the heavens
visibly to the whole globe - ushers in at last the
* That the old worlds are not purged, but annihilated, the Apocalypse
makes certain; for the phrase it uses - there was no
place found for them
(Rev. 20:
11) - lodges the extinction not in a word,
which might be ambiguous or disputable, but in a sentence which can have no meaning but
annihilation. Not from one place to another, but to
none (Bengel): the new heaven
and new earth (21: 1)
take
the place of the old.
VII. - THE
CHAPTERS
XXI, XXII
We now come within sight of the shoreless sea of the
Eternal Ages. The [millennial
and messianic] Kingdom is over (1 Cor. 15: 24): the old heavens and earth have fled away: in all Gods universe no object remains
save one glittering White Throne, before which the dead stand, both small and
great. Books of works - one book of names: books of
works, that all condemnation may be exactly adjusted to guilt; a book of names,
for the saved have nothing in the Book of Life but a name. We stand for ever on
the sole merits of our blessed Lord. The new heavens and the new earth, inherently sinless - the House that will now
appear; Behold,
I make all things new. Outside the
EPILOGUE
The
Apocalypse is the only book in the Bible given, not primarily to man at all,
but to Christ; it is the only book in the Bible that is our Lords - it
describes itself as Jesus Christs Apocalypse;
it is the only book in the Bible on which a specific blessing is guaranteed; it
is the only book in the Bible deliberate alteration of which is stated to
involve participation in its plagues; and it is the only book in the Bible that
solves every problem of the future. There is nothing
in all the Canon of Scripture which the Lord Jesus more pointedly attests, more
solemnly guards, or more urgently presses (Seiss). BLESSED IS HE THAT KEEPETH THE WORDS OF THE
PROPHECY OF THIS BOOK (Rev. 22.). It
is in our understanding of its facts before
they arrive that the
blessing lies. The Apocalypse is a shock to the sleeper; a sting to the carnal;
a tonic to the good; a summons to the dead: by disclosing the things that as a
matter of fact will happen, it places in our hands the master-key to every
modern problem. It illuminates backwards like an electric flare; and by
revealing their issues it tears out the heart of the movements around us, so
that our feet are shepherded for ever in the narrow way. They who reject the
word of prophecy have no lamp shining in a dark place
(1 Pet. 1:
19). Canon
Adderley once asked Archbishop Temple what he thought would happen in the future. I havent the remotest ideal answered the
Archbishop. It is this cultured ignorance which will lure the
Church to her wreck. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto
you these things for the
churches: SEAL NOT UP - by neglect or alleged
bewilderment or refusal or mockery - the words of the prophecy of this book; for the time is at hand (Rev. 22: 10, 16).
*
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329
THE
TRUTHFULNESS
OF THE
APOCALYPSE
By J. A. SEISS, D.D.
The first thing we are called on to note is, the
absolute truth and certainty of these Revelations. There is nothing in which
the difference of the Scriptures from all other teachings is more manifest than
in the positiveness and authority with which they deliver themselves on all
subjects; even where reason can tell us nothing, and where the presentations
are so marvellous as to stagger belief. Even where angels would scarce dare to
tread, it enters with perfect freedom, as upon its own home domain, and declares
itself with all that assured certainty which belongs only to omniscience. Even
with regard to all the astounding and seemingly impossible wonders of this
Book, the absolute truth of every jot and tittle is guaranteed with the
abounding fulness of the completest knowledge of everything involved.
Thrice
is it repeated, that these presentations are faithful and true (Rev. 19: 9; 21: 5; 22: 6); and twice is it affirmed that these showings
are all from God. In the opening of the Book it is said, that He sent His angel to His servant
John for the purpose of making
these revelations, and here, at the conclusion, we have it repeated that the Lord the God of the
spirits of the prophets sent His angel to show to His servants what things must
come to pass. Nay more, Christ
himself adds special personal testimony to the fact I, Jesus, sent my angel to
testify to you these things. Thus
the very God of all inspiration, and of all inspired men, reiterates and
affirms the highest authority for all that is herein written.
Either,
then, this Book is nothing but a base and blasphemous forgery, unworthy of the
slightest respect of men, and specially unworthy of a place in the Sacred
Canon; or it is one of the most directly inspired and authoritative writings
ever given. But a forgery it cannot be. All the Churches named in its first
chapters, from the earliest periods succeeding the time of its writing, with
one accord, accepted and honoured it as from their beloved Apostolic Father. Papias, Bishop of Hicropolis, a disciple of St. John, a colleague of the Seven
Angels of these Churches, and who gave much attention to the collection of all
memorable sayings and works of the Apostles, accepted and honoured this Book as
the genuine production of this venerable Apostle. Nor is there another Book in
the New Testament whose genuineness and inspiration were more clearly and
strongly attested on its first appearance, and for the three and a half
centuries next following. Augustine
and the Latin Council unquestionably had good and sufficient reason for
classing it with the most sacred apostolic records, and the Church in general
for regarding it as a Book of prophecy from Christs
own divine omniscient and eternal Spirit. And if it really is the Lord
Jesus who speaks to us in this Book, there is nothing in all the Canon of
Scripture which he more pointedly attests, more solemnly guards, or more
urgently presses upon the study and devout regard of all who would be his
disciples. People may account us crazy for giving so much attention to it, and
laugh at our credulity for daring to believe that it means what it says; but
better be accounted possessed, as Christ himself was considered, and be
pronounced beside ourselves and mad, after the manner of Paul, than to take our
lot with Pharisees, and Festuses, and Agrippas, and Gallios.*
*
Dr.
South, in one of his sermons, affirms
that none but a madman will meddle with the Revelation; or, if he has wits at
the beginning, before he has done he will be crazy.
In
the opening verses the inspired writer said: Blessed is he who readeth, and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and observe the things which are written in it. But here the Saviour himself, even he whose nearing
Apocalypse these records were given to describe, says, in a voice uttered from
His glorious throne in heaven, Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this
Book. Is there another Book in
the holy Canon so intense, so emphatic, so constant, so full from end to end,
in its expressions of the good to be gained and the ill to be avoided by the
hearing and learning of its own particular presentations? It is precisely as if
the Saviour knew and foresaw, as he certainly did, what neglect, prejudice and mis-treatment this Book would encounter in the later ages,
of the Church, and how it and the students of it, and especially the believers
in its wonderful descriptions, would be ridiculed, avoided, and put aside, as
not in the line of proper and wholesome edification.
Will its critics say that it is too difficult a Book
for them to understand? This would only be adding insult to their
unfaithfulness. Dare we suppose that the
merciful Jesus would hang his benedictions so high as to be beyond the reach of those to whom they are so graciously
proposed? Would he mock us by suspending his offered blessings on terms beyond our power? Yet this is the
charge men bring against their Redeemer when they think to plead the in comprehensibility of this Book for their
neglect and practical rejection of it. The very propounding of these blessings
and rewards is Gods own seal to the possibility of understanding this Book
equally with any other part of Scripture.
Let men estimate us and our work as they please, we have
here the unmistakable authority of heaven for it, that this Apocalypse is capable of being understood;
that its presentations are among the most momentous in all the Word of God and that the highest blessedness of believers
is wrapped up with the learning and keeping of what is pictured to us in it. And if Christians would rise to the
true comfort of their faith, if they would possess themselves of a right
philosophy of Gods purposes and
providence, if they would be guarded against the greatest dangers and most
subtle deceptions of the Old Serpent, if
they would really know what Redemption means,
and what the height and glory of their calling is, let them not despise or
neglect this crowning Book of the New Testament,
but study its pages, take its statements as they read, get its stupendous
visions into their understandings, treasure
its words in their hearts, and believe and know that it is comprehensible for
all who are really willing to be instructed in
these mighty themes. It is in our understanding of them before they come to
pass that the blessedness lies; for when once Christ comes in the scenes of his
Apocalypse, the time to begin to put ourselves in readiness for it will be
past.
*
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330
THE LIGHT OF
THE WORLD
By D. M. Panton, B.A.
One of the most peculiar titles our Lord ever applied
to Himself, and one which seems the most morally unlikely and incorrect, is the
Light of the World. He has always been the light of His saints, and the
illumination of His Church; and the age is hastening of which Isaiah says, - Arise shine, for thy LIGHT is
come (Is.
61: 1),
the Age when the
knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. But Jesus, in the Gospels, says something much more
difficult:- I am - not, I will be - the light of the world, and not of
the Church only. So the Apostle John says, There was the light which lighteth every man; a light, John says (John
1: 9), which came into the world at
JOSEPHUS
For we have concrete proof that the Lord really and
literally is the Light of the World. We start with the first century: with a
priest of the
SPINOZA
We
overleap a thousand years, and come to Spinoza, not, like Josephus, an orthodox
Israelite, but an apostate Jew; the father of modern Pantheism. It has been
said that he who really knows what has been written by Spinoza and Strauss
knows all that can be said against Christianity. What then does Spinoza say? Jesus Christ, he says was the
DIDEROT AND
ROUSSEAU
We
overleap another half a-thousand years and, from the French Revolution, take
two only of the creators of this tremendous epoch. Diderot, who laid the dragons
egg of the Terror, said:- I know nobody who could write as these Scriptures are written.
This is a Satan of a book. I defy anyone to prepare a tale so simple, so
sublime and touching, as that of the passion of Jesus Christ. Rousseau
says:- Is it
possible that a Book so simple and at once so sublime should be merely the work
of man? Is it possible that the Sacred Personage whose history it contains
should be Himself a mere man? When Plato describes his imaginary just man,
loaded with all the punishments of guilt, yet meriting the highest rewards of
virtue, he describes exactly the character of Jesus Christ, and the resemblance
is so striking that all the Church Fathers perceived it. If the life and death
of Socrates were those of a sage, the life and death of Jesus were those of a
God. On these men of desperate
wickedness, such was the light that poured from Christ that it would be
difficult for a Christian to surpass their language of eulogy.
NAPOLEON
We
pass to one of the greatest minds, and to one of the most wicked men on the
grand scale, of all history. Here is Napoleon
on
STRAUSS AND
RENAN
Finally,
though the list could be greatly extended, from the nineteenth century we take
but two names, again from the ranks of total rejecters of the Gospel. Strauss, the German author of the
mythical theory of our Lord, who was buried without a syllable of Christian
prayer or song, says:- Jesus represents within the
religious sphere the highest point, beyond which humanity cannot go - yea, whom
it cannot equal, inasmuch as everyone who hereafter should climb to the same
height could only do so with the help of Jesus who first attained it. He
remains the highest model of religion within our thought, and no perfect piety
is possible without His presence in the heart. Renan, the apostate French monk, who totally abandoned the
Christian Faith, says:- Whatever may be the surprises
of the future, Jesus will never be surpassed. His worship will grow young
without ceasing; His legend will call forth tears without end; His sufferings
will melt the noblest hearts: all ages will proclaim that among the sons of men
there is none born greater than Jesus. Once again, therefore, the
standard of moral right, the model of moral character, the ideal of human life,
remains, to these infidels never uninfidel, Jesus of
Nazareth, the LIGHT of THE WORLD.
FAITH
Such
concessions made to the character of Christ, such appreciations of the Lord,
make unbelief simply impossible. For we cannot stop there. It is illogical, it
is mentally impossible, to pause forever at only a partial, a qualified,
rejection of Christ. He was either less than a truthful man, or He was more
than a man altogether: for He says He was more than a man. His enemies being the judges,
the character of Christ compels the acceptance of Christ. The very standard the
world expects of the Christian is an extraordinary testimony to Christ;
and its estimate of His character compels, either discipleship, or deadly
enmity. The multitude that acclaimed Him Elijah or Jeremiah murdered Him. For
when the conscience is on the side of Christ, but the will is not, the will
ultimately murders the conscience, and would (if it could) murder Christ;
whereas it will follow conscience, it enthrones Christ. Admiration is
useless: faith SAVES.
-------
LIVING UP TO OUR LIGHT
My beloved brother, Mr.
George Muller once said to Dr. A. T. Pierson, the
Lord has given you much light in Scripture, and will hold you correspondingly
responsible for its use: obey Him, and walk in the light, and you will
have more; fail to do so, and He will withdraw the light you have.
Matt. 13:
12.
*
* * *
* * *
331
THE SINGLE SEED
[Mr.
Wormaulds second question - the first was dealt with
in our last issue - is this: How can Paul argue as he
does (Gal. 3: 15) when there is no
case, in the Word of God, where the singular form of seed is not used?]
Abraham
moves to the plain of Moreh. The Lord appears to Abraham and says:- To thy seed will I give this
land: Gen.
12: 7.
Here first appears the promise to the seed, and here Abrahams self is not
named.
Who
then is the seed? The Judaists would say:- The
children of
He
quotes from a covenant in which God has named together Abraham and his seed.
This is shown by his saying - And to thy seed.
What,
then, is the passage to which he refers? At this point many commentators have
stumbled, as if the apostles argument were a mere quibble; seeing that seed in the Hebrew is not used in the plural to denote the
posterity of any; and that the word Seed in the
singular, generally means many descendants. Now this is true. But the objectors
have omitted to study on this point the covenants with Abraham, or they would
have seen the truth and force of the inspired statement. Let us then look at
the covenant cited.
It
is that given in Gen. 13: 14-17. God was
well pleased with Abrahams conduct in his interview with
In
this covenant, then, we have promises to Abraham and his seed, as Paul says;
and we have the very words:- And to thy seed.
What, then, is the Seed here spoken of? Is it not Abrahams numerous heirs? Are
they not here spoken of as many? So many
as to be incapable of being numbered? Had we not Pauls inspired comment, we
should have thought that but one Seed, and that a numerous one, was spoken of.
But his argument shows the mind of Cod to be more profound in this matter than
we should have anticipated. It is true then, that in the seed as the dust of the
earth we have Abrahams plural
seed. But the apostle teaches, that where the word seed alone occurs, without additions which prove it to be plural,
there an individual is intended; and that individual is Christ.
Now,
in the passage before us there is such a clause. To thee will I give it, and to thy Seed.
Here, says the inspired writer, by the word Seed,
one person alone is intended by God.
We
establish this more firmly, and show the reasonableness of Pauls statement, by
bringing into comparison with it, a passage from the covenant of circumcision,
on which the Judaizers rested. I will establish my covenant between Me and thee and thy Seed after thee in their generations: 17: 7. I will give unto
thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger.
To
which of the two seeds is the land here promised? To the single or to the
plural seed? Not to the plural; but to the singular. The land which thou seest to
thee will I give it and to thy seed.
To the plural seed the land is not promised, but innumerability. Here, the posterity like the dust of earth is
named for the first time. But the One Seed
is thrice named in the covenants up to Genesis 15;
and thrice is the land promised to it: 12: 7; 14: 15; 15: 18.
The
plural seed like the stars are named in Gen.
15; but the land is not promised to them [alone].
Opponents
of Paul rested their cause on the lands being promised to the plural
circumcised seed of Gen. 17. That was a
promise which depended on their obedience
to the covenant. But [disobedient]
Again:-
Thou shalt keep My covenant therefore, thou and thy seed after thee in their generations. Here the seed referred to is not Christ, the
individual. The plural circumcised seed of Abrahams flesh are the persons
intended. Christ is not the seed after
Abraham, but before him. Before Abraham was born,
I am.
Moreover,
Christ is not Abrahams seed of the earth, but the One that came down from
heaven. The Saviour thus distinguishes between Himself and
The
argument, then, of the apostle, as soon as we bring into view the history of
Abraham, and the covenants with him becomes quite reasonable. Abraham had a
numerous family:-
1. In fact (1) Ishmael; (2) Isaac; (3) his sons by Keturah; the sons of
the concubines: Gen. 25.
2. In prophecy and promise. He was to have two posterities: (1) one
innumerable as the dust of earth; (2) the other, innumerable as the stars of the
heaven. Do, then, the promises belong equally to all
Abrahams numerous family, of fact and of promise? No! The terms of the
ratified covenant of Genesis 15. point to an
individual and that individual is Christ.
Jesus
in the mind of God is so pre-eminently THE SEED of Abraham, that in His presence the other numerous
seeds are not named, save with some mark of discrimination. Thus Matthews
Gospel begins:- The
book of the generation of Jesus Christ, Son of
David, Son of Abraham. The Seed then,
taken absolutely, is always Christ.
So the
resurrection in the New
Testament, is the blessed, the select one.
And
it may be added, in confirmation, that seed
occasionally means an individual, Eve called her sons name Seth. For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed, instead of Abel,
whom Cain slew: Genesis 4: 25;
also 3: 15.
-------
THE
INEVITABLE DAY
It
will not be the first moral catastrophe that has profoundly affected the
destiny of man, though it will be beyond all comparison the greatest. True, it
is not yet upon us; but it is surely, silently, in preparation. As the moments
pass they bring us nearer one by one to the Second Advent. As lives are lived
and then drop silently out of sight, as actions are done or left undone, one
way or the other they tend to make the judgment more imperative, more
inevitable. Each man, each nation, lives, and by living brings it nearer: its
causes are ever accumulating new force and urgency; the angels are ever moving about
silently, making the necessary dispositions. And at last their task will be
achieved, and the Judge will come. One cause still delays it - the love of God.
Christs coming will be sudden when it does take place; but it will be the
product of a lengthened preparation. The vision is yet
for an appointed time, but at the end it shall
speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it;
because it will surely come, it will not tarry. - CANON LIDDON.
-------
PREPARATION
Dr. J. T.
Spangler, for many years a College
professor thoroughly established on the Scriptures, yet ignorant of the Lords
return, tells the American Sunday School Times of his discovery and its practical
effects. I see now, he says, that, for such a
consummation of Gods purposes as His Sons return to this earth, simply be
ready is not sufficient. We need also to be gravely interested in it. My old
attitude of thinking that I was ready whenever the Lord might come was, I fear,
culpably indifferent and irreverently short-sighted. Does the Bible warrant
such a general interest only? I am gravely apprehensive that it is as
unpsychological as it is unscriptural. We do not get ready for the coming of
our friends in that manner and spirit. Our preparation for them is particular,
suited even to the moods and temperaments of our expected guests. We are
interested in the time of their arrival, the train they ride on, or even the
name and model of their automobile. For this transcendent achievement of the
ages our preparation needs to be specific, particular, and decorous, as the
event is sure to be epochal and glorious.
*
* * *
* * *
332
THE APOSTLE
PETER AND THE ADVENT
Dear Sir,
Allow me to reply to Mr. F. W. Finnies letter in this months number of THE DAWN headed Any Moment, with special reference to the apparent
difficulty he raised in regard to our Lords word to Peter - When thou wast young thou
girdedst thyself and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old,
thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another
shalt gird thee, and carry thee whither thou
wouldst not.
I
would point out that the comment of the evangelist which follows his record of
this statement shews that it was found needful to explain that Peters death
was within the scope of the prophecy, which would indicate that another
interpretation had been previously put upon it. I have taken it to refer to the
lesson the apostle was to learn from his fall and subsequent restoration. Our
Lord had already promised him that when he turned again he would be able to
strengthen his brethren (Luke 22: 32), and I believe a spiritual experience is
indicated by this subsequent word of our Lord to Peter.
I
suggest that the opening clauses - When thou wast young thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest - refer to Peters impulsive declaration at the
Supper Table that he was ready to go with our Lord both to prison and to death,
the result of his inexperience of his own strength indicated by the word youth and which ended so disastrously for him. I think the
words when thou
shalt be old mean when he had
gained this experience of his own weakness, and the words thou shalt stretch forth thy
hands indicate dependence, and
the words another
shall gird thee that he should
have the strength of Another to support him, and the final words carry thee whither thou
wouldst not mean that he would
thereafter do the will of Another rather than his own will.
The lesson was therefore the same that the apostle
Paul sets forth in Romans 6. and 7., and expresses in his declaration that he was
always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of
Jesus may be manifest in our body (2 Cor. 4: 10); the reality of this experience being shewn by
the next phrase - For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus
sake that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. This answers very much to the apostle Peter
glorifying God in living, the new life of a crucified man as well as in
ultimately dying the martyrs death.
I
gather that it was not until the time referred to in 2
Peter 1: 14, that the apostle
received from his Master the intimation that the words in question involved
literal death. Until this time they would therefore present no difficulty to
the apostle in expecting the Coming of the Lord at any
moment. If he had taken them from the first to mean he was to die a
martyrs death, he could hardly have offered, in his second recorded sermon to
the Jews, that if they would repent there would come seasons of refreshing from
the presence of the Lord, and He would send the Christ (Acts 3: 19, 20) in accordance with Hosea
5: 15.
I am, etc.,
THEODORE
ROBERTS.
-------
UNANSWERED YET
Unanswered yet? The prayer your lips have pleaded
In agony of heart these many years?
Does faith begin to fail; is hope departing
And think you all in vain those falling tears?
Say not the Father hath not heard your prayer,
You shall have your desire, sometime, somewhere.
Unanswered yet? Though when you first presented
This one petition at the Fathers throne,
It seemd you could not wait
the time of asking,
So urgent was your heart to make it known;
Though years have passd
since then, do not despair,
The Lord will answer you sometime, somewhere.
Unanswered yet? Nay, do not say ungranted,
Perhaps your part is not yet wholly done,
The work began when first your prayer was utterd,
And God will finish what He has begun.
If you will keep the incense burning there,
His glory you will see, sometime, somewhere.
Unanswerd
yet? Faith cannot be unanswerd,
Her feet were firmly planted on the Rock;
Amid the wildest storms she stands undaunted,
Nor quails before the loudest thunder shock.
She knows Omnipotence has heard her prayer,
And cries, it shall be done sometime, somewhere!
E. B. BROWNING.
*
* * *
* * *
333
THE PRAYER
OF AMOS
By DEREK ROUS *
[*From Prayer for
-------
O Lord God forgive I pray.
Oh, that Jacob might
stand - for he is small.
Oh Lord God, cease I pray. Oh, that Jacob may stand,
for he is small, Amos
7: 2 and 5.
These verses
reveal the heart of Amos for the people of the northern tribe of
Reading Amos, I wonder if anything has changed in
Nevertheless,
Let us pray like Amos, that
THREE WOES
OF AMOS 5
In verse 18 Amos first appeals to
Today, the same is
true for those [regenerate] Christians
who have a wrong understanding of [the
prophetic scriptures, and]*
of eternal security. The word here reminds us that when the Lord comes in
mighty power to gather His people to Himself - but it will be a terrible day for the world. It will be darkness
and not light
says Amos.
Its the end of the Day of
Grace. Its the end of
mercy and only darkness, judgment and hell await those who have rejected Jesus
as Saviour and Lord. This is the essence of the Gospel! The good news is only
good because the impact of the bad news is going to be so awful for the world.
Paul in Romans 11: 22
makes this very clear. Consider the goodness and
severity of God. On those who fell - severity; but towards you
- goodness, if you continue in
His goodness. Otherwise, you too will be cut off.
[* NOTE: This is a
conditional
text: and it can also apply to Gentile believers - in relation to
the possibility of them being cut off from
their future inheritance
(Eph. 5: 5, 6; Gal. 5: 21ff.) - after Christs Second Advent, during the
time of His millennial reign upon and over this restored earth (Rom. 8: 19-22, R.V.)!
As many as I love, I reprove and chasten: be
zealous therefore, and repent.
He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my
throne
(Rev. 3: 19, 21, R.V.). This future and Divine promise can only
become effective after the first Resurrection,
(Rev. 20:
5): and only by those who have fulfilled His
stated conditions!]
The second woe in 6:
1, concerns those who are at ease in
The third woe in verses 3-6 is reserved for those who put far off
the day of Doom. Here, there is a remarkable description of the
pursuits of those who would claim to be worshipping God in their own way.
Without being critical, one might see similarities to the practises of many
modern western churches.
But its the final statement that sums it all up.
Despite all that goes on amongst the Lords people, they have not grieved for the
affliction of Joseph. Amos 6: 6. In
other words, there is no care or concerns for the Lords People, the nation of
Israel and all that is happening in the region. Ignorance can never be an
excuse for failing to recognise one of the greatest miracles of our day. There
are consequences to rejecting Gods plan of redemption and siding with Gods
enemies.
May the Lord help us to consider the realities of the
coming of the Lord with due regard to what it will mean for our neighbours as
well as the nation of
*
* * *
* * *
334
THE FIVE FAITHFUL SAYINGS
By A. McDonald Redwood.
One very
interesting feature of the three pastoral Epistles, which we find nowhere else
in the N.T., are the five faithful sayings,
so called because they each have the formula, Faithful is the saying, attached,
either at the beginning or at the end of the saying.
The expression pistos ho logos is unique. Somewhat of a parallel, viz., These words are faithful and true, occurs twice,
in Revelation (21:
5 and 22:
6), but the difference is obvious and so are
the contexts. It is also interesting to compare Christs repeated Verily,
verily (truly, truly) found in Johns Gospel.
The relevant passages are as follows, taken from the
R.V.:-
1.
Faithful is the saying and worthy of all acceptation,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners;
of whom I am chief (1.
Tim. 1: 15).
2.
Faithful is the saying, If a man seeketh the office of a bishop (overseer),
he desireth a good work. (1.Tim. 3: 1).
3.
Godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life which now is, and of that which is to come. Faithful
is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation.
(1.Tim. 4: 8, 9).
4.
Faithful is the saying: For if we died with Him, we shall also live
with Him; if we endure, we shall also reign with Him, etc. (2. Tim. 2: 11-13).
5.
When the kindness of God our Saviour, and his love toward man, appeared
... according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy
Ghost ... that ... we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Faithful is the saying
(Titus 3: 4-8).
(NOTE:
All
the verses given in each reference are included in the saying.)
Let
us note certain initial points:-
(1) The R.V. rendering of the phrase or
formula is the more correct, for the emphasis in the Greek is on the word faithful - faithful is the saying. Faithful is used in the sense of trustworthy; that upon which the fullest reliance
can be placed, and therefore demands our acceptance.
(2) This is further strengthened in two
references by the addition of worthy of all
acceptation (1 Tim. 1: 15; 4: 9). The word
acceptation does not occur again in the Gk. N.T., but we have acceptable in the sight of God twice (1.Tim.
2: 3; 5: 4). The all means everyone.
(3) In three of the references the
formula comes before the attached saying or
statement (i.e. in Nos. 1, 2, 4); whilst
in Nos. 3 and 5 it comes at the end. This is the order most generally accepted by the best
commentators, but there are those who differ from this view. For example, a few would refer the formula in Nos. 2 and 4
to what precedes it; and in Nos. 3 and 5 to what follows
it. Humphreys (in Camb.
Bible for Schools series) holds that the formula refers in all
cases to the sentences following it. We have however felt confident in adopting the more widely held
opinion as indicated above; but the serious student will wish to examine for
himself by careful study.
(4) The
interesting question arises regarding the nature of these faithful sayings. The general opinion has been that they were current sayings among the early Christians, which Paul quotes, and endorses
with his emphatic faithful. It is
not possible to dogmatize, but there is something in the suggestion that they
originally derive from some simple creed or catechism, either written or
probably only taught orally in the scattered assemblies.
No. 5 may even have been taken from some well-known hymn;
for we may presume that psalms and hymns and spiritual songs were already in use in the churches (see Eph. 5: 19; Col. 3: 16; James 5: 13). Dr. Cox (in his Expositions) asserts that in all probability some of
these were prophetic sayings; sayings first uttered
by the prophets
of the church (cf. 1 Cor. 12: 28). He
goes on to say: If we remember that these sayings are
found only in the Pastoral Epistles, and that these epistles were not written till
more than 30 years after Pentecost, i.e. after the Christian prophets had commenced their
work, we shall at least admit that there had been ample time for some of their
sayings to have crept into common use, to have won general acceptance as true, trustworthy and most happy
expressions of the fundamental truths of the Gospel. Whatever their
origin, the manner in which the apostle cites these Sayings
in confirmation of his own words indicates their more or less authoritative character.
Turning
to the more detailed study of the passages, we may profitably consider them as
a definite body of
Christian teaching. They have a fairly obvious progressive development of
subject matter which seems to link them together. Viewed thus they may be
described as the sign-marks of the Christian
Way, as the latter term is used
characteristically by Luke several times in the Acts (see R.V. of Acts 9: 2; 18: 25, 26; 19: 9, 23; 24: 14, 22).* Those early
Christians were known as followers of Him who is the Way, the
Truth, and the Life (John 14: 6). Their
whole life testimony proclaimed their allegiance to the Lord Christ - the File-leader (archegon, Heb.
12: 2) in
this new Way. They wore no distinctive badge
or garment (as some are fond of doing today) but they could be recognised by their outstanding character and conduct.
There was no mistaking them in any environment.
*
In the R.V. the word is printed with a
capital W to indicate its distinctive usage by
Luke, viz., that it was the new mode of thought and life of the early Christians as a result of
Christs work and teaching; so different from their former life, and from the
prevailing Judaism of the Pharisees. In this, sense Way
could be equivalent to cult or culture in the
highest spiritual sense.
Thus
we may summarise the teaching of the whole group as follows (the numbering
corresponds with that already given above).
No. 1. Christs
Coming - the Means of Sins
Forgiveness: The initial entrance into the Way.
No. 2. Christs Ministry - the Privilege of
Spiritual Service.
No. 3. Christs
Life - the Mark of Holy
Character.
No. 4. Christs Fellowship - the
Way of enduring Witness.
No. 5. Christs Salvation - the Foundation of the New Life, present and future.
Taking
them in this order, we shall examine each briefly:
No. 1 Christs Coming: In this
first Saying the apostle sets out two important matters concerning
Christ Himself: He affirms His pre-existence and His mission.
Jesus Christ
came into (helthen eis)
the world
can only mean He must have existed in heaven before He came. The phrase occurs
frequently in Johns Gospel, and each reference carries that connotation,
specially ch. 16: 28 - I came out from the Father (which has the force, from
beside the Father) and am come into the world (cf. also Ch. 1: 9; 12: 46). The Son knew whence He came and whither He went (John 8: 14). This point fittingly comes first in the Sayings, for it establishes both the deity of Jesus and the
object of His mission, to save sinners.
None but One so qualified could accomplish salvation and all it implied for
mankind at large.
In
addition, the personal note added by the apostle focuses attention on the
individuality of this salvation,- of whom I am chief
classes him with all the rest of mankind as sinners, for whom Christ came to
die. He could never lose sight of his own former state as the enemy of God and His Son the
Saviour, for it demonstrated the wondrous grace of God towards every such
individual sinner in rebellion against God. The next verse brings this out even
more clearly - that
in me
as chief (of
sinners) might Jesus Christ
shew forth all His longsuffering, (or as Dr.
Vaughan translates - His all-patience). Hence the Way
is open to all, but each
needs to enter by the wicket gate of
repentance and salvation for himself.
No. 2 Christs Ministry: The A.V. here needlessly varies the formula, which the
R.V. correctly renders faithful is the saying. The chief lesson here is the privilege of spiritual service, with the
underlying point of contrast to the old service of self, sin, and Satan. Whilst the special
reference is to overseership in the Assembly, we must not forget that in the
N.T. it is not so much the sphere but the spirit in which all service for God is rendered that is of
supreme importance.
The A.V. also errs in rendering two different words by
desire which mars the whole point of the
apostles exhortation. The first word is the Greek oregetai, which means actually stretches forward to, not in any ambitious or grasping sense, but rather
as a legitimate moral aspiration, the outcome of the Holy Spirits inworking.
The second term really means aspires to.
Underlying both words is the latent yet obvious necessity of growth in
spiritual maturity, progressing from the lesser to the greater sphere of
activity. No one begins at the top; there must be a beginning in lowlier
service where the aspirant learns initial lessons which can alone qualify him
for more responsible spheres of service,
particularly in the things of the spiritual life.
This,
we suggest, is the important general teaching of the Saying for all of us. And the verses which follow (2-13) indicate
the spiritual qualifications which need to be cultivated in any service for
God. Addressed as it is to a young man in the faith, it serves as a challenge
to the Christian youth of today who have a wonderful opportunity to qualify for
such service for God within the
church. There is
an increasing demand for true spiritual leadership in the assemblies of Gods
people, along the lines particularly dealt with in this chapter. Evangelism,
vigorous and strong, is needed in abundance, but it is within the church itself
that guidance, directive, and sane moral judgment on matters connected with the collective testimony to
a distraught world, and to an increasingly ineffective and debilitated
ecclesiasticism, is even more needed.
It is well to point out before leaving this subject,
that the particular phrase occurring here, the office of a bishop, is a
misleading translation of the original. Alford
in dealing with this point acknowledges here that, the
episcopoi (overseers) of the N.T. have officially nothing
in common with our bishops
(our italics). And no less a commentator than Ellicott remarks without reserve: It
seems proper to remark that we must fairly, acknowledge with Jerome that in the Pastoral epistles,
the terms episcopos and presbyteros (cf. Tit. 1: 5) are applied
indifferently to the same persons. To these we may usefully add Lilleys remarks on the same subject: The terms episcopate or office of a bishop, though
etymologically accurate, is really inadmissable,
because it suggests the features of singularity in succession and superiority
in ordination, which had no place in the primitive conception of the office.
He continues: The official here spoken of was one
of a body that was jointly responsible for the oversight of the flock, and the
qualifications desiderated had to be found in one and all. In any study
of the subject of leadership in the church or local assembly these points are
of utmost importance. The apostle was not dealing with anything like officialism within the assembly, he was dealing with
the godly responsibility of spiritual leadership and care of the assembly as a
whole.
No. 3 Christs Life: It is worth noting that the R.V. of the previous verse 7 begins a new sentence in the middle with the words, And exercise thyself unto
godliness. This connects,
therefore, directly with verse 8 which
continues the same thought and expands it. The main subject of the Saying is godliness, and the necessity to be disciplined therein. The word godliness (usebeia) occurs in the Pastorals ten times but
in none other of Pauls epistles. The cognate theosebeia, also translated godliness is found in 1 Tim.
2: 10 and
nowhere else. Both Greek words are formed from the verb sebomai, to worship, or to reverence - a word
much used by Luke in the Acts of the devout Jews living in their midst. Both are used in
the same sense, the devout worship and service of God. Godliness is not the
mere belief in God and acknowledgment of Him in outward ceremonial or ritual.
It is practical religion, only with a God-ward devotion grid aspiration and is
exhibited in godly character and behaviour, indicative of the reality of the
new life within. In 1 Tim. 6: 3 it is the
test of true doctrine,
contrasting the
doctrine which is according to godliness with
the teaching that leads to envy and strife. The same test is alluded to in Tit. 1: 1, concerning the knowledge of the truth which is according to
godliness. Moreover there is such
a thing as holding
a form of godliness, yet denying the power thereof (2 Tim. 3: 5), supposing godliness is a way
of gain (1
Tim. 4: 8).
The
apostle appeals, therefore, for an energetic, purposive cultivation of the true
godliness. This has to be a daily habit. The whole spiritual nature is
involved; the mind, heart, and will. The apostle uses the verb gumnazo, exercise, in verse 7, and
the noun gumnasia in verse 8 from which we get
our gymnastics and gymnasium
and all that they imply in the training of the athlete, the soldier, etc. The
similar thought is found in Chap. 6: 11, where
Timothy is urged to flee from the
multifarious hindrances of the previous verses, and to follow after (dioko) righteousness, godliness, etc. The strong ethical force of dioko is illustrated further in Phil.
3, where it occurs three times, in verse 6, persecuting; in
verses 12 and 14,
I press on. And Paul himself sets the example of such a spirit of
strenuous discipline in 1 Cor.
9: 25, 27 (R.V.), where the Greek agonizomai (striveth) gives us our word
agonize, and buffet really means bruise into
shape.
Such
is the vivid and strenuous
holiness of character to which we are summoned - a true sign-mark of The Way
which leads to [our Lords millennial] glory!
No. 4
Christs Fellowship: Paul has been exhorting Timothy in the
previous verses of this passage (2 Tim. 2: 3-10) to be a brave soldier, strenuous as an
athlete, laborious as a husbandman. He cites the example of Christ, and then
his own example: I suffer hardship unto bonds ... I endure
all things for the elects sake
(verse 9). Now we would encourage Timothy to
the same spirit of loyalty and endurance in the same noble cause, in the face
of persecution.
The
successive clauses are carefully balanced; the first two dealing with faith, and last two with unbelief. It is this rythmic form which lends colour to the suggestion it is part
of a well-known hymn. The present and future effects of faith are here blended
together, with perhaps some emphasis on the latter, but it is not easy to
separate them for the one are the roots of the other. They may be set out as
follows, transliterated from the Greek:-
If we died with
Him, we
shall also live
with Him.
If we endure, we shall also
reign with Him.
If we shall deny Him, He
also will deny us.
If we are faithless, He
abideth faithful.
It
has been pointed out that clauses 1, 2 and 4, appear to have their roots in the
epistle to the Romans. The words of clause 1 are similar to those in Romans 6: 8,
but while in Romans the thought is of
baptism as typifying a death to sin, here the reference seems to be to death by
martyrdom. But we may also connect it with 2 Cor. 4: 10, where Paul avers he was always bearing about in the
body the dying of Jesus; that is,
his was, as ours should be, a daily dying (1 Cor. 15: 31) in
order to fill up
the sufferings of Christ (Col. 1: 24) for His bodys sake,
i.e., the Church.
Then
the second clause seems to reflect the thought of Rom. 8: 17; whilst the third is more reminiscent
of the Lords words in Matt. 10: 33. But the
tense of the verb here is future, implying a
contingency to be shunned, and not to be contemplated: Never even think of denying Him
however great the trial. The final clause is the most solemn, for it
implies not just untrueness or
unfaithfulness, the denials
of our weaker moments, but definitely unbelief (Ellicott. Cf. Mark 16: 11, 16). But
God abides; faithful alike to His unchangeable purpose, His promises and His
warnings: He cannot deny His nature, His
name, nor His antagonism to sin (see Rom.
3: 3).
We
have in this Saying, therefore, mingled encouragement and warning, the
grand possibilities of faith, feeble though it be, if only it is true; and the
solemn warning against unfaithfulness; of denying Him whom we thought to trust,
until the enemy became too strong! We
cannot play fast and loose with the long-sufferings, the tender mercies, the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Though there is pardon and final recovery
for the truly born-of-the-Spirit believer, let such remember the tremendous loss we incur by living on the
edge spiritually between life and death.
But the loss of those who, having once professed and then
have gone back, is beyond description in its tragedy. Let us live ever in the first two stanzas of this great Saying.
No. 5
Christs Salvation: Although the second epistle to Timothy
was written after the one to Titus, the Saying it
contains would seem to be in its moral order, containing as it does a somewhat
comprehensive statement of salvation in its origin, present channel, and future hope. We cannot
consider it in detail but confine our study to a few points.
It
will be observed how the three Persons of the Trinity are fundamentally and
equally active in the divine scheme of salvation. The Source is found in Gods kindness (chrestotes) and love-for-man
(philanthropia). The
former word is used again in
Then
follow two phrases which are related with the Holy Spirit, the washing of regeneration and the renewing. The
first has nothing to do with baptism, though a number of commentators so
connect it because of their ecclesiastical view-point. Baptism is never
referred to in the N.T. as a cleansing
medium, but solely as an act of confession of having died with Christ to sin, and being raised again to walk in newness of life with Him (Rom. 6: 3, 4). Its
value is nil until the new birth has become
a reality in experience through the Holy Spirits operation. Whether it is exegetically
correct to consider regeneration
here as equivalent to the new birth is not easily determined, though many so
view it. The only other occurrence of the word in the N.T. is in Matt. 19: 28 with a very different connotation. What is
perfectly clear, however, is that the Holy Spirit is the Agent of the new birth, which implies a new life altogether
different to the old, and that He is ever renewing it to a fuller growth and manifestation in all its
aspects (cf. John 3:
5-8; 16: 13, 14; 1 Cor. 2: 10-14; 2 Cor. 4: 16; Col. 3: 10; Rom. 12: 2). Further, the medium
through which the Holy Spirit cleanses and renews is the Word itself (Eph. 5: 26, 27).
Nothing can make up for the neglect of the Scriptures.
Thus
the Holy Spirit is said to be poured out upon us richly, which is probably a reference to His first coming
recorded in Acts 2: 33,
where the same aorist tense is used indicative of an accomplished fact once for
all, but in which all His successive giving was
potentially included.
Finally,
all this is said to come through Jesus Christ, the One who made it possible by His death, resurrection, and
ascension to the right of the Father. The words justified and heirs, are the
two great themes of the epistles to the Romans and Galatians, as well as other
passages, which are devoted to the exposition of the standing of the believer
in Christ (cf. Rom.
5: 1, 2; 8: 1-11, etc.). We have, therefore, in this Saying a remarkable though condensed presentation of the
foundation upon which our whole salvation rests. It remains for us to
demonstrate in life and in word that we are not only followers in The Way, but that these Sign-marks
are attractively displayed in and by us for
the help, succour and encouragement of those who may be seeking the Way to the
-------
RESOLVED: We will go by the Kings
*
* * *
* * *
335
THE
TESTIMONY OF
BIBLE
PROPHECY
By DR. WILBUR M. SMITH (U. S.A.)
The Bible assumes that we should know something of the
future. When God came to Abraham and told him what He was going to do with
There
have been many nonsensical statements made out of Biblical passages, of which
we can be ashamed. They are silly and foolish, and they have brought disrepute
on prophetic study. For example, the other day I was working on the subject of
the kings of the East coming over the
In
too many volumes we find all kinds of dates and foolish calendar schemes. Once
in
During
World War I, Kaiser, Wilhelm was said to be the Antichrist - they had him all
worked out on 666, only it didnt add up. They were six short so they added the
six to 660! But even though there have been many careless and foolish
interpretations of prophecy, it is still true that you and I should be able to
see the way things are to shape up from the study of the Word of God.
Of
course there are those who say, You ought not to
look, into the future. You ought not even to try to predict what is to come.
But there is a strong answer for this. It is that men who have no use for the
Word of God are always writing about the future. Bertrand Russell himself, about fifteen years ago, edited a book
called Dare We Look Into the Future?, though when he got through looking at
the future, he nearly dropped dead.
Charles Beard,
In
this volume, Beard said:
All over the world the people who scan the horizon of the
future are attempting to assess the value of civilization and speculating about
its destiny. For one reason or another, the intellectuals of all nations are
trying to peer into the coming days to discover whether the curve of
contemporary civilization now rises majestically for a distant zenith or in
reality has already begun to sink rapidly toward the end.
Dont
let anyone tell you that you and I should not try to foresee the future, when the
whole secular world would give its eyes if it could do so, when its leaders are
trying to look into the future and are writing in this vein.
Having
noted that the Christian is fully justified in examining the future, I want to
point out six different statements by Biblical scholars of a hundred years ago,
who foretold the very movements that are now in evidence in this world. First,
let us look at an ancient, four-volume work by Edward B. Elliott:
Horae Apocalypticae, published
in 1844, probably the most scholarly work on Revelation
ever written. It cost the author thirty years of work. In many places he is
wrong, but it is a great work. At the end of the fourth volume, he talks about
the signs of the times. He writes:
There are signs for prophetic students, not for the man of
the world, the philosopher, which inevitably point toward our coming to the end of the age. First, the interest felt by
Protestant Christians for the conversion
and restoration of Israel - an
interest unknown for eighteen centuries but now strong, fervent and prayerful.
Second, the universal preaching of the
gospel, according to Christs command, a sign of which Augustine said that could we but see it, we might indeed think the
time of the consummation was at hand. Third, the marked political ascendancy of the chief nations of the old Roman
world, seething in rebellion and bringing our attention back again to the
Mediterranean basin. Fourth, this revolutionary, internal upheaval of the European nations with infidel and democratic
agitation according with Christs and the apostles' description of the last
days, and the preparation for a deadly conflict with new and increased powers
of destruction, such as thus far the world has not yet seen.
This
statement was written 105 years ago, in 1844. Elliott foresaw a great missionary movement, a new interest in the
Jew, revolutions in
Patrick Fairbairn is another very interesting student of prophecy.
Writing in 1829 on the restoration of the Jew, Fairbairn said:
If these predictions of Ezekiel do not prove the future restoration of literal
And how wonderfully has the Lord reserved the future to
fulfil these prophecies that they will return to
One
hundred and twenty years ago this man foresaw what you and I are now beholding
- the return of Gods people to their land. Im not saying that they are
returning there in the fulness of Gods will, but still they are coming back to
the land of promise.
Consider
next the words of grand old Bishop Ryle, in his Notes on the
Gospels. This passage
was first published in 1873.
Nothing is so calculated to
chill the heart and dampen the faith of a Christian as indulgence in unscriptural
expectations. Let us dismiss from our minds the vain idea that nations will
ever give up wars before Jesus Christ comes again. So long as the devil is the
prince of this world and the hearts of the many are unconverted, so long must
there be strife and fighting. There will
he no universal peace until that Prince of Peace shall come and then, and then only, shall man learn war no more.
Let, us cease to
expect that missionaries and ministers will ever convert the world and teach
mankind altogether to love one another. They will do nothing of the kind.
They were never intended to do it. They will call out a witnessing people who
will serve Christ in every land and die for Him, but the bulk of mankind will
continue to refuse the gospel. The nations will always go on wrangling and
fighting until the end. The last days of
the earth will be its worst. The last war will be the most fearful and terrible
war that has ever desolated the earth.
When
Bishop Ryle
was writing eighty years ago [now 146 years
ago],
he was writing with the Word of God in
his hand, and what he says still stands today.
Only
recently I came upon still other statements which were so astonishing I could
hardly believe them. They were in an article on Gog and Magog, published in
June, 1888, in a magazine, The Prophetic News
and Israels Watch. This
article was the work of a British writer, Walter
Scott, who, sixty years ago, when
What
an astonishing statement!
Let
us look, now, at another remarkable evidence of foreknowledge, this time
concerning
The
amazing thing is that what these Jewish papers now fear was predicted in 1844
in the writings of George Bush,
professor of Hebrew in
Nor do we see room to doubt
that the best informed and finest men of
Even now we hear rumours and rumblings in the congregations
of Europe that there is a division in Judaism and in the midst of this ferment
of the Jewish mind, the exposition of prophecy and the interpretation of the
Word of God for the Jews will come in as a new element of disturbance and will
precipitate violence among the Jews themselves. The result will be a revolution
throughout the great body of
Keep
in mind that this was written, not in 1949 in
One
of
The false prophet asserts that the forms and doctrines of
Christianity are of no importance, under which specious pretence men will try
to get rid of everything in Christianity which came down from above, which is
supernatural - a divine redemption, a divine regeneration, a divine life and a
divine Saviour. It is evident that the philosophic tendencies in modern Europe
are rationalistic and materialistic, and out of this will come our final
apostasy, an alienation from a holy God, a deification of man; and then, will
come the thousands and thousands, rejecting Christianity to bow down to the
forces of power and to the false gods of our modern age. Science, with its mysteries and discoveries, will dominate the minds,
of modern men.
Think
for a moment of the scope of these various statements concerning, the future.
The writers we have noted foresaw, [more than] a hundred
years ago, the return of the Jews to Palestine, the return of the Jews to the Word of God, the rising significance of Jerusalem, convulsions, and revolutions in Europe, the ascendancy of Russia, the increase of war, the dominion of science and the growth of apostasy [within
the church]. Where did they get this foreknowledge? For each one, the source of insight was a study of the
Word of God.
What,
then, should be our conclusions? First of all, we should be more and more persuaded by this
kind of study that we have a Book in our hands that came down from God. They
did not get these conclusions from philosophy or science.
Secondly, you and I
have a hope that maketh not ashamed. Men have a lot of hopes that do make them
ashamed. What kind of mood do you think German officers are in today who
expected a few years ago to sit on the thrones of the world? They had a hope,
but it was a hope that made them ashamed. You and I have a hope of which we
never need be ashamed, and if this Books prophecies are coming true regarding
these dark days, the prophecy that the Lord is coming back is coming true too,
and He is our hope.
Third and last, I think you and I ought to have a deeper
prayer life than weve ever had before: Do you remember the ninth chapter of Daniel?
Daniel knew by books that the end of the captivity was at hand and
And when these things begin
to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads;
for your redemption draweth nigh (Luke 21: 28).
- From. The Moody Monthly, Chicago, by permission.
*
* * *
* * *
336
WORLD LEADERS
IN THE
FINAL CRISES
By W. W.
FEREDAY
IV. GOG
(Ezekiel, 38:
39)
The Four-Empire
system of powers shown in the prophecies of Daniel and Zechariah, which began
with Nebuchadnezzar, and which will be brought to a summary end by the
appearing of the Son of Man, has no place in the book of Ezekiel. Nebuchadnezzar personally is mentioned,
but merely as an instrument used by God in his own day. Ezekiels prophecies
have a feature not found elsewhere in the Scriptures; the nations which
surrounded the land of Israel are spoken of as trees
of
Another
feature of the lengthy book of Ezekiel is
remarkable: There is no direct mention of Christ either in His first coming in
lowly grace, or in His second coming in power and majesty. Isaiah, Daniel and
Zechariah give us a mass of detail concerning the general situation in the last
days, and our Lords Olivet prophecy, and. the book of the Revelation tell us much more. But the many events
connected with the coming of the Son of Man are all omitted by Ezekiel. The
facts make his predictions concerning Gog (chs. 38
and 39) the more noticeable for here we have
something not found in any other of the inspired books. The invasion of the
Holy Land by Gog and his satellite Powers is Satans last desperate effort
against the people of God after their full restoration to the land, and the
destruction of all their other foes. By His terrible judgment of this atrocity
God will vindicate His great Name before all the nations.
The correct translation of ch. 38: 2 is given in the Revised Version, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech,
and Tubal.
The verse was thus rendered in the Greek Septuagint before our Lord was born. Rosh stands for
The
foundations of the Russian Empire appear to have been laid by Ruric when he
arrived at
The
time of this final attack upon
Gods
latter-day judgments will have a two-fold effect: (1) the
whole house of
Great
changes are impending; mighty convulsions will take place world-wide; and the
whole fabric of human organization will come down with a crash which nothing
can repair. But the All-wise God will replace it with. a new order of things
that will bring good to all, and give pleasure to His own heart of mercy. How
delightful the transformation when it can be truly said, O Jehovah our Lord, how excellent is Thy Name in all the earth! (Psa.
8). The Son of Man enthroned in
It
may be helpful to distinguish the various actors in the worlds last crises. I
suggest the following:*
* The four groups refer respectively to the four World
Leaders dealt with in these articles: The 1st., is the Western Despot (see Jan. issue); the 2nd., the Anti-christ (April
issue), etc. Each leader bears more than one name, as indicated in the
references given in each group.
(1) The
Beast from the sea - Rev. 13: 1;
The Beast from the Abyss - Rev.
17: 8; 11: 7;
The little Horn - Dan.
7: 8;
The Prince that shall come - Dan.
9: 27.
(2) The
Anti-christ - 1 John 2: 22;
The Man of Sin, etc. - 2 Thess. 2: 3;
The King - Dan. 11: 36; Isa. 30: 33; 57: 9;
The Beast out of the earth - Rev.
13: 11;
The False Prophet - Rev.
19: 20;
The Idol Shepherd - Zech.
11: 17;
The Man of the earth - Psa. 10:
18.
(3) The
Assyrian - Isa. 10; Micah 5: 5;
The King of the North - Dan.
11: 40;
The little Horn - Dan.
8: 9;
The King of fierce countenance - Dan. 8: 23.
(4) Gog - Ezek. 38: 39;
The treacherous Spoiler - Isa. 33:
1.
*
* * *
* * *
337
THE
THEOPHANIES OF THE
OLD
TESTAMENT
By ALEX SOUTTER
(IV. Moses at the
Bush)
The divine visitation described in Exod. 3
ranks among the greatest of the theophanies of Scripture. In this scene is found
the call of Moses, and in Moses call we witness the first of a series of
divine acts that culminated in
Horeb,
here called the
At
the beginning of his sojourn in Midian, Moses met Jethro and later married
Zipporah his daughter. His relationship with his father-in-law stands in
striking contrast to that between Jacob and Laban. Jethro is called the priest
of Midian and when we piece together the fragments of information, as recorded
by the sacred writer (in this case Moses himself) we find in Jethro an
interesting example of how the remnants of the primitive faith were in part
held by certain individuals who did not belong to the stock of Abraham. Later on when
And
what of Moses and his stay in Midian? First, his life there was a life of
contentment, despite obscurity, poverty, and (doubtless) a sense of frustration
over the failure of his mission. Stephen, in Acts 7:
25, refers to that mission, and of how
Moses brethren failed to understand the import of it. We know, of course, that
Moses was in too big a hurry to begin his work of deliverance. He needed years
of wilderness solitude, sheep-rearing and sheep-tending, before he could
effectively lead
The Divine Appearance described in the first six verses of chapter three arrested the man of God as he tended
his sheep. He saw the thorn bush (
The
Divine Call occupies verses 7 to 10.
Gods determinate counsel is now seen to operate with clear-cut precision. The
hour had struck for action. No longer would Pharaoh he allowed to toy with
spiritual values. It was not
The
Divine Name is then proclaimed in answer to the
question of verse 13, What is His Name? I AM THAT I AM - Jehovah is the One who sends Moses to
Manifestations
of Divine Power followed
the declaration of the Name. This was needful. The Lords commands are the Lords
enablings, and since a great task was being assigned to Moses, the Lord gave
him this triple demonstration (chap. 4) of the power that would be at his disposal.
Moses rod became a serpent, then turned again to its original form. His hand
became leprous, then was made completely whole. And the water of the river was
turned to blood. The lessons behind these acts of power seem to be: (1) Devoted
Service - What
is that in thine hand? A rod!
Then cast it down before the Lord at His command and lift it for Him, whatever
your gift may be use it for Him as He directs. (2) the Sanctified Life -
the leprous hand made whole and used wholly for God; and (3) the Warning of Coming Judgment - water turned to blood, betokening
the stern message that Moses was given to deliver to a sinful king - and the responsibility also that rests upon us all to fulfil our duties as
Gods watchmen. Gods signs were supernatural signs, for Gods
servant was about to do a work that was beyond the natural powers of man to
accomplish. That should have been enough to reassure Moses, yet a justifiable
sense of his own insufficiency grew into what virtually was a false humility.
But in the end grace triumphed.
Several
words in these chapters correspond closely to certain of Pauls questions in Romans 10, as follows:
Rom.
10: 15. Except they be sent?
- I will send thee.
Ex. 3: 10.
Rom.
10: 15. How shall they preach?
- Thus shalt thou say. Ex. 3:
14.
Rom.
10: 14. How shall they hear?
- They shall hearken. Ex. 3:
18.
Rom.
10: 14. How shall they believe?
- And the people believed. Ex. 4: 31.
Moses
concern was over
This
presents a challenge to us all as the servants of Christ. Gods constant desire
concerning us is surely this, the strengthening of our faiths anchorage in God
and in His Word. That is why trials are so often made to cross our pathway. It
was in the darkest hour of his banishment that David encouraged himself in the
Lord his God (1 Sam. 30: 6) - an act of faith. Concerning Daniel the Spirit
of God has set it on record that in the den of lions he believed in his God (Dan. 6: 23) - an
amazing attitude of faith. Paul stood on a battered ship, with wind and waves
assailing him, and proclaimed his faith in these simple words - I believe God (Acts 27: 25). One of the most trenchant passages to be
found in the Psalms has to do with
*
* * *
* * *
338
NOTES ON
HEBREWS
BY W. E. VINE,
M.A. (
Chapter
9:
11-28
The
Contrasting Excellency of Christs High Priesthood
-------
Analysis
1. (a) It is good things to come - Verse 11
(b) by
a greater tabernacle.
2. (a) He entered by His own blood - Verse 12
(b) having
obtained eternal redemption.
3.
(a) He offered Himself through the Eternal Spirit - Verses
13, 14
(b) His blood cleanses the conscience, to
serve the living God.
4.
(a) His death for former transgressions makes Him Mediator of a new covenant - Verse 15
(b) gives the called the promise of eternal
inheritance.
5. (a) Whereas death, and the shedding and application
of blood were necessary under the first covenant,
with its copies of the heavenly things - Verses 16-23
(b) Christs better sacrifice cleanses the
heavenly things.
6. (a) Christ entered into Heaven itself - Verse 24
(b) appearing before God for us.
7. (a) Not often, but once at the height of the ages He
has been manifested - Verses 25, 26
(b) to put away sin by the sacrifice of
Himself.
8. (a) As man dies
once and then comes judgment, so
Christ was offered once to bear sins - Verse 27
(b) and will appear for His waiting people
a second time, sin apart, unto salvation.
NOTES
Verse 11. But Christ, having come a high
priest of the good things to come - That is to say, having come as a High Priest who procures future
blessings; this the high priests of old could never do.
through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands,
that is to say, not of
this creation, - Through is here almost equivalent to in connection with, or through the instrumentality of, cp. 10: 20.
Verse 12. nor yet through the blood of goats and
calves, but
through His own blood, entered in once for
all into the holy place, -
The high priest of old carried into the inner sanctuary first the blood of a
bullock, which he sprinkled on the mercy-seat, Lev.
16: 14,
and then that of a goat, with which he did the same, 16:
15. Christ did not take blood into Heaven,
for this holy place is not a material sanctuary. He entered it in the full
efficacy of His completed sacrifice, the shedding of His own blood.
This
indicates His own interest in, and unutterable love for us. It was a love that
overcame all difficulties, that overpowered all opposition, refusing to be
turned aside, that underwent all the judgments, suffering and agony of the
cross, in order to secure redemption for us - eternal redemption, too - for sin
has been put away for ever, Satan has been vanquished irretrievably and death
and the grave have had their terrors for ever removed. That Christ has obtained
eternal redemption for us recalls the effects of His death as mentioned in 2: 13, 14, namely, that He has delivered those who were
in bondage. Redemption, as spoken of here, includes both the price paid down
and the liberation of the captives.
We
have in these two verses (1) the
good things to come in contrast to the merely figurative arrangements of old, (2) the perfect tabernacle in contrast
to the sanctuary formed of earthly materials, (3) the blood of Christ in contrast to animal sacrifices, (4) the entrance of our great High
Priest into the holy place once for all, in contrast to the repeated entrances
of the Levitical high priests into the earthly sanctuary, and (5) eternal redemption in contrast to
the bondage of an unsatisfied conscience under the Law.
We
are now to have our attention drawn more fully than before to the character and
efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ. To this subject is devoted the section
from 9: 13
to 10: 18.
This constitutes the third section of the central part of the Epistle
concerning the priesthood of Christ. The first, 7:
1 to 25,
gives a comparison between His priesthood and that of Melchizedek. The second,
from 7: 26
to 9: 12,
presents a contrast between His priesthood and that of the priests under the
first Covenant. The third, from 9: 13 to 10: 18, recalls the substance of the two sections, and
gives a comprehensive view of the redeeming work of Christ on the cross, His
ministry in the sanctuary and the effects of all this as made good to the
believer. The 13th and 14th verses of this ninth chapter both sum up what precedes and
introduce what follows.
Verse 13. For
if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling them that have been
defiled, sanctify unto the
cleanness of the flesh: The
special point of significance is that the water in which the ashes of the
sacrifice were put, having been laid up in a clean place outside the camp,
served to cleanse those who had been defiled by contact with a dead body. A
person who was clean was to sprinkle the unclean with the water of separation.
Thus the cleansing was purely outward. Not so with the sacrifice of Christ.
Verse 14. how much more shall the blood of Christ: That
is, the giving up of His life in the shedding of His blood in expiatory
sacrifice.
who through the eternal Spirit - Not Christs own spirit, but the Holy Spirit, the
Person. It was by the Spirits overshadowing power that Christ was born of the
Virgin (Luke 1: 35).
The Spirit descended upon Him in form as a dove at His baptism (3: 22), led Him
subsequently into the wilderness (4: 1), and was upon Him in His ministry (4: 18), God
having anointed Him with the Holy Ghost (Acts 10:
38). Again, after His resurrection, it was
by the Holy Ghost that He gave commandment to His Apostles (Acts 1: 2). So in
the work of the Cross, the oblation was made through the same Holy Spirit, an
important point in the representation of the infinite value attaching to the
sacrifice.
There is also an intimation of the perfect obedience
of Christ, even unto death. The Spirit who led Him from
This
mention of the Spirit of God in connection with the sacrifice is consistent
also with the teaching of the whole passage. The writer has already mentioned
the part that the Holy Spirit had taken in the arrangement of the tabernacle of
old, and the sacrifices connected therewith. He it was who caused the special
significance to attach to the entry of the high priest every year with the
blood of animal sacrifices, which the priest offered both for himself and for
the errors of the people, the Holy Ghost thus signifying, that the way into the holy place was not yet made manifest
while as the first tabernacle was yet standing (verses 7, 8). Now, in passing from the symbol to the
antitypical reality, the writer shows that the same Being who had, as the Holy
One, arranged the symbol Himself as an eternal One took part in bringing about
the great offering which these former sacrifices had foreshadowed.
That
He is now spoken of as the eternal Spirit
indicates three things: firstly, as to the past, that the sacrifice of Christ was the
fulfilment of the eternal counsels of God; secondly, as to the
life and death of Christ, that there was an unbroken continuity of obedience
and steadfastness of purpose on the part of the Son of God until the sacrifice
was accomplished; thirdly, as to the future, that the value of the offering
would never pass away. Whatever took place in connection with the offering
under the Old Covenant was necessarily temporary. The sacrifice of Christ,
offered through One who is the eternal Spirit, is of permanent validity.
offered Himself ... unto God
- This reminds us of the words in the third verse of the seventh chapter, that
it was necessary that as a High Priest He should have an offering to offer.
That, as we saw, indicated that His death was a priestly act. He offered
Himself; this is stated in Scripture in several ways. In the words of Isaiah, His soul was made an offering
for sin (53:
10). The Lord Himself said, The Son of Man came ... to
give His life a ransom for many (Matt. 20: 28) - the word rendered life also denotes soul; and
again, I will
give ... My flesh for the life of the world (John 6: 5). He spoke also of His body, as that which was
to be given for us (Luke 22: 19). Hebrews speaks of the offering of the body of
Jesus Christ once for all (10: 10). Whether
the soul, or the flesh, or the body is mentioned each, while having its own
significance, speaks of the Person Himself. He gave Himself for our sins; gave Himself up for me (Gal. 1:
4; 2: 20). Christ gave Himself
up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God;
Christ ... loved the
church and gave Himself up for it (Eph.
5: 2, 25).
All
these point to the voluntary character of the act of Christ in submitting to
death in entire obedience to the Father, and therein also in love toward fallen
man. Men had power over Him solely in so far as He permitted them to exercise
it. He had said I
lay down My life for the sheep ... I lay down my
life that I may take it again. No one taketh it
away from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.
I have power (marg. authority), to lay it down,
and I have power (authority)
to take it again. This
commandment received I from My Father (John 10: 15-18). Of
this He gave practical evidence in causing those who had come to arrest Him in
the
The words translated bowed
His head occur again but twice in the N.T., in
Matt. 8: 20, and its parallel, Luke 9: 58, where they are
rendered lay His head. They mean more than the mere physical act; they mean that
the rest denied Him on earth He found. His work completed, on His Fathers
bosom ... He had voluntarily assumed the body prepared for Him, that in it He
might do the will of God; He voluntarily left it, that by so doing He might
fulfil that will to the uttermost ... to that
end He submitted to crucifixion at the hands of men. He bare our sins in His own body upon the tree; He bowed under the stroke of Divine justice; He laid down
His life; He gave up His spirit. He endured the penalty of sin to the
uttermost; but each act that went to make up the whole of that absolute
obedience, the price of our redemption, was His own.
without blemish - He
offered Himself thus. Not only is
this antitypical of the animal sacrifices under the Law (e.g., Ex. 12: 5; Lev. 9: 3; Num. 19: 2), it sets forth the sinlessness of Christ in
contrast to the high priests of old, who had to offer for their own sins (verse 7). Christ was holy, guileless and undefiled (7: 26);
in Him is no sin. He needed not to offer for His own sin, for He had
none of His own for which to offer. Had there been the slightest taint in His character,
had He made a single mistake in word or deed, He could not possibly have
obtained redemption for us; His sacrifice would have been entirely unavailing.
Nor could he have been our High Priest, for the blessing He came to provide
would have been required first for Himself. But the redemption He has obtained
for us is complete, for we are redeemed with precious blood, as of a
Lamb without blemish and without spot, even the
blood of Christ (1 Pet. 1: 19).
Since
He offered Himself the sinlessness of the Person involved the spotlessness of
His offering. God, who had smelled a sweet savour in the former sacrifices
anticipatively, now actually found that the sacrifice of His Son that savour of
rest by means of which the Divine purposes of grace towards sinners, in the
pardon of their sins and their acceptance with Him, could be provided.
cleanse your conscience from dead works - The effect
of the death of Christ is to do away with all works on our part, as a means of
obtaining acceptance with God. These are dead works, they effect nothing before
God, they bring no pardon, no peace, no life, no communion. More, they leave
the conscience still under a burden of defilement and alienation. But if the
blood of Christ cleanses our conscience from such a condition, it brings us
thereby into a life of service to the living God not a mere outward service,
but springing from the inward experience of communion with, and devotion to,
the Lord, and therefore devoid of all self-merit. And this effect of the death of
Christ is made good to us through His entrance into the presence of the Father
for us.
to serve the living God?
- The word rendered serve is latreuo, which denotes to serve as a worshipper. This
implies that the way has been made clear for the believer to draw near to God
and so render service to Him. We learn also that in order to serve God
acceptably our conscience must be freed from all that interrupts our communion
with Him.
Any
attempt to render service apart from this must fail of its purpose. The
provision made in the offering made by Christ once for all is sufficient to
enable the believer to enjoy such communion with God that his service may be
rendered in the spirit of worship. The Israelite who had been ceremonially
cleansed under the Law was thereby enabled to take part in the worship of God
in connection with the tabernacle, though as a worshipper he had not been
perfected as regards the conscience. But now all who have been cleansed by the
blood of Christ can enjoy fellowship with the Father and with the Son, and thus
are able to serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
Verse 15. And for this cause He is the Mediator of a
new covenant, that, a death having taken place for the redemption of the
transgressions that were under the first covenant, they that have been called may receive the promise of the
eternal inheritance. It is owing
to the necessity of such a sacrifice as Christ offered, an offering which could
put away sin and transgressions and cleanse the conscience, that He is the
Mediator of the new covenant. The eternal inheritance, as a blessing promised
under the new covenant, could never be granted unless atonement were made for
the transgressions under the first covenant; and in order for this there must be
a death: efficacious for its accomplishment. Never could any other sacrifice
but that of Christ Himself accomplish it. None other was either of sufficient
value or of sufficient dignity to suit the terms of the new covenant.
Now
a covenant was ordinarily ratified by the sacrifice of a victim, suggesting
that the covenanting parties were dead to all possible change of mind. Hence arose the use of the phrase, to cut a covenant, the reference being to the death of the victim. Thus,
when the Lord made a covenant with Abraham concerning the inheritance promised
to him and to his seed, he was commanded to sacrifice a heifer, a she goat, a
ram, a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. These, except the birds, were divided,
and laid, the half of each victim over against the other half, a Divine token,
accompanied by the symbols of the smoking furnace and the flaming torch, that
the covenant of promise would be carried out. As another illustration we may
take Gods message through Jeremiah to the men who had transgressed the
covenant into which they had entered, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof (Jer.
34: 18).
That breach of covenant involved their death (verse
20). Again, the writer of the Hebrews epistle draws attention to the
fact that the first covenant, that of Sinai, was not dedicated without blood;
for when Moses had given every commandment to all the people he took the blood
of calves and goats and sprinkled both the Book itself and all the people,
saying, This is the blood of the covenant which God bath enjoined unto you (commanded to you-ward,
R.V., verses 18 to 20).
The
death of these victims, necessary to the old covenant, prefigured the death of
Christ as the basis of the new covenant, by which they that have been called
may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. They which have been called are the spiritual seed of Abraham, even us whom He hath also
called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles (Rom. 11: 24). The promise of the
inheritance stands not for the
promise itself, which was made long before, but for the subject of the promise,
the inheritance. Christ is both the sacrificial Victim and the Mediator. He is
the latter in virtue of His Sacrifice. Its unique character constituted Him the
only possible Mediator through whom the covenant could be promulgated, and such
an inheritance could be promised.
*
* * *
* * *
339
THE HEBREW
PSALTER
By E. W. ROGERS
The N.T.
Usage of the Psalms (contd.)
Psalm
2
We select this Psalm because as Psalm 1 sets out the two classes of persons in the world, so
Psalm 2 visualises the age-long conflict that exists between them. That conflict
was seen in full force at
Psalm 2 may be read in
three ways: As demonstrated (a) at
the cross (cf. vv. 1
and 2 and Acts 4:
25, 27; (b)
at Armageddon; and (c) at any
time when the wicked seem to be in persecuting power.
The
main divisions of the Psalm are indicated in the R.V. (a) Verses 1-3, the revolt
of man. (b) Verses. 4-6,
the intervention of God, (c) Verses 7-9, the announcement of Messiah. (d) Verses 10-12, advice to world rulers.
(a) The revolt of man (verses 1-3). The
student should have the R.V. beside him when studying the Scriptures, for important
alterations are shewn, which help to a more correct understanding of the text.
For example, the word people here is
pluralized in the R.V. When in the singular people usually
refers to
Later
on, the great Adversary will again stand up against the Prince of Princes, (Dan. 8: 25). War
will again be made against the Lamb
(Rev. 17:
14; 19: 19,) Who, under another figure, is seen riding a
white horse. The nations will resist being subjugated to Him. Although they blindly
and stupidly will agree to give their power to the Beast (Rev. 17: 13) yet they will refuse to cede their power to
the Prince of Princes.
This
section, therefore, should be read in the light both of history and prophecy.
Fallen man is ever opposed to God.
(b) The
intervention of God (verses 4-6). The
silence of heaven as the events of
(c) The
announcement of Messiah (verses 7-9). In this
section the Lord Jesus Christ, Gods anointed, recounts what Jehovah has said
to Him. Thou art (not hast become) My Son:
This day have 1 begotten thee. Let the student examine the usage of this phrase in
the N.T. He will find it in Acts 13: 33; Hebrews 1: 5, and 5: 5. In the Acts
passage the Incarnation is referred to. In Hebrews
5 it is the Ascension and
resultant session at Gods right hand which is in view. In Hebrews 1: 5 His future [millennial] Kingdom is referred to. Not that we must suppose that
the Son was begotten in the sense of having had a beginning of days?. He ever was the Son of God: Thou art My Son. He was
always in the
bosom of the Father, which
implies the Eternal Fatherhood of God and the Eternal Sonship of the Son. But begotten denotes His being installed into the position or office.
In
the Prayer of the Lord Jesus uttered in the Upper Room He specifically says I pray not for the world (John 17: 9). Events
having developed as they had, and the King rejected, the time
was not ripe for Him to ask for the
nations as His inheritance. But when the day of grace has run its course, the acceptable year of the Lord has been finished, and the day of vengeance of our God has arrived, He will then ask of God and He will give the nations
for His inheritance. Then His
Kingdom will not be limited by the geographical sphere defined to Abraham (see Gen. 15: 18-21) but it will stretch from shore to shore and embrace all
the earth. Then His
rule will be autocratic; He will resist all opposition, visiting it with
summary punishment. How expressive is verse 9!
The weakness inherent in democratic
rule as understood today will not then exist. It was ever Gods intention that
Christ should rule autocratically and all should be subject to Him; yet His autocracy
is exercised in perfect justice and holiness and equity for all.
Such will be His rule in Millennial days. But it will need to be preceded by
the smashing to pieces of the ten brittle toes of the great Image, which implies
the ending of the whole system of Gentile (that is, of all types of human)
rule.
This
leads us to remark that the R.V. makes it plain that the term heathen does not mean those countries or peoples which are
not predominantly Christian, but means all nations except the Jews, to whom was
committed the knowledge of the true God. They are always distinguished in
scripture. Not that they are better than the rest, they are indeed rather worse
because their privileges have been greater. But all the other nations are dealt
with in relation to them.
(d) Advice
to world rulers. Oh that they
had hearkened to the advice here given! How gracious it is! How wise!
Alternatives are placed before them. Those who trust, in Him are blessed: But
for the rest, wrath is certain and imminent. The
Son will be the great Administrator of Gods judgment and everything
will depend upon the relationship of the individual to Him. To kiss the Son is
to recognize His royal rights (see 1 Sam.
10: 1). To be hostile to Him is to court
destruction. Here is the heart of all Gods dealings with man. He deals with men and nations through His
Son: Their attitude towards Christ reveals their attitude towards God. Though addressed to kings and judges it applies to all, from the highest to the lowest.
Psalm
8
This
is an interesting Psalm in many respects. Most likely it is one of Davids
earliest, representing the thoughts which filled his mind when caring for his
fathers sheep long before he became the anointed king of Gods choice. It does
not mention the sun, but speaks of Gods care for man as shown by the moon and
stars, which filled his vision as he himself watched over and preserved his
flocks from the wild beasts in the darkness of night, like the shepherds long
centuries after when Christ was born in
As
he thus ponders the greatness and kindness of Gods providence as revealed in
the heavenly bodies, he is led to exclaim What is man, that thou art
mindful of him? (verse 3 ff.).
This
Psalm can only be understood in the light of the resurrection of Christ. As
stated in the title, it is set to Gittith,
and Gittith means the winepress.
Only by reason of the cross where the True Vine was
crushed can the crown which the first Adam lost be won back for man.
Verses 1 and 2 form the first section, and the remainder the
second.
The
great Jehovah God who has stamped His glory upon the heavens, as seen by the
sun, moon and stars, is not too great to take note of the babes and sucklings. They may be the butt of the attacks of the enemy and the avenger but they are at the same time the objects of Divine
care. This they know, and from their mouth proceed praises appropriate to such
a Keeper (see Matt. 21:
16). These
words are supra-dispensational; applicable at all times; but specially so when
the great Enemy, the Man of Sin, will be in power in a coming day.
Part
2 gives us the thoughts of David as he contemplates the heavens by night.
Limitless as they appear, awe-inspiring as they are, they demonstrate the
power, wisdom, provision and care of God. His power is shown,
for they are the work of His fingers.
Although it required the arm of Jehovah to effect redemption from sin, it tobk
but His fingers to make the universe. But what power was in those
fingers! His wisdom is shown in the fact that the universe is ordained as it is. The movement and orbits of the heavenly
bodies and their regularity of procession and phases: tell of a wisdom far
exceeding that of the greatest of men, causing scientists to stand in amazement
as they make discovery after discovery even today, revealing a superintending
and designing Mind far excelling any other. His provision for the needs of the chiefest of His earthly creation,
namely man, is proven by Gods mindfulness of man: The fruit of the trees, the
meat of the herds, the fish of the sea, the corn of the field, all show how
creation was designed to furnish the table of man. All this proves the care that God
had for man. To visit a person in need proves that the visitor cares for
the one visited. It cannot be gainsaid that God cares for man; all creation
utters this truth; the lights of the heavens and the fruits of the earth; all
were put there by God for the benefit of man. But what is man (enosh - weak, frail, mortal man), and what is the
son of Adam that God should so act on his behalf?
From
verses 5 to 8
the Psalmist recounts mans original Edenic and sinless state. All on earth,
the birds of the air, the creatures of the sea, the trees and fruits of the
fields, were put under the authority of the first Adam. He stood as vice-regent
in Gods creation. He alone was subordinate to God. That is what it was. In
Davids day it was not so. In his day,
as in the day when the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews lived, things were
different, man had lost his crown; he had lost his authority. His fall had entailed the fall of the creation and the eagle
became a menace, the wild beasts took their prey, and the great fish swallowed
Jonah! Sin had come in. Man had fallen, and in fallen man there was no hope.
The
student should read Psalm 8 in the light of Hebrews 2. The writer there
faces the problem of fallen man and fallen creation. While he owns the
universal nature of his original rule (for he observes that the all things admits of no exception) yet he draws comfort from the
fact that a second Man, (called elsewhere the last Adarn) has restored [and will, for one Day
manifestly
restore (2 Pet.
3: 8; Rom. 8: 19-22, R.V.)] that
which the first man had lost. Jesus, Man here, had authority over all creation.
The fish brought up the stater at His bidding. He was with the wild beasts in the wilderness but they were as tame animals, not one lifted its
fangs against Him. He wore the crown which Adam had lost. But He came into that
position in order to die, in order
to put away the sin introduced into the world by the first Adam, and to undo the damage that was done thereby. He died to put away sin, and He rose [out] from [amongst] the dead because it had been put away. Therefore, while we do not
yet see all things put under man, we do see Jesus, who for a
little time and to a little degree was. made lower than angels, on account of the sufferings of death (i.e. He became man in order to die) crowned as a Victor with glory and honour, that by the grace of God He
should taste death for everything. Note that word everything. The
object here in view is far wider than merely man. It is man and the creation over which
he was once head. The creation itself will be
delivered from the bondage of corruption and brought into the liberty that
attaches to the glory of the children of God (read Rom. 8: 20-21).
Hebrews 2: 9 is so worded that it would appear to be capable
of being read both ways: First He became Man, crowned
here on earth as Lord in all Gods creation, in order that He might taste death
for everything and thus restore the creation. Or, secondly He became man, in
order that He might taste death for everything, and having died was raised and
then crowned as a victor, having achieved His object and laid the foundation
for creations ultimate restoration.
The student will decide for himself which of the two senses to accept; or he
may elect to hold both. For both are true.
As
these outlines are intended merely to act as guides, little more need be said
as to Psalm 8. But the student should
exercise great care in reading Hebrews 2 to
identify the pronouns properly. Sometimes him refers to the
first Adam; sometimes him refers to
the Lord Jesus. From verse 5 to the end of verse 8 the him refers to
the first Adam; but in verse 9 the him (see R.V.) refers to the second, i.e., Christ.
The
damage wrought by sin in man can be undone by faith in the Saviour of sinners,
but it yet does not affect his body. It will do that only when he is raised
from among the dead in a coming day; when Christ comes back again a second
time. Creation itself awaits the material benefits of the work of the cross; but the sinner may
even now receive its spiritual blessings in salvation from sin.
*
* * *
* * *
340
HOW TO STUDY
AND UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE
A Study of Proverbs 2: 1-5
By I. M.
HALDEMAN, D.D.
-------
1. The Bible must be accepted as the Word of
God
My son, if thou wilt receive My words (verse 1). Do not try to prove it first and then
accept it. Accept it first and allow it to prove itself.
There
is no better way to test the truth or falsity of a thing than to give yourself
up to it. This was the attitude of the Thessalonian Christians; as it is
written: When ye
received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye
received it not as the word of man, but as it is
in truth, the word of God (1 Thess. 2: 13).
If
you take the attitude of unbelief or doubt when a friend seeks to impart a
matter to you, the friend will refuse to impart it. If you take the attitude of
doubt in face of the message this book seeks to give to you, it will not speak
to you. No matter how much you read
or study; no matter how much intelligence, education or culture you may have,
it will be no more to you than so much cold paper and dry ink.
Our
Lord went into a certain part of the country, but could not do many mighty
works there. And this is the startling reason given why He seemed to fail: because of their unbelief (Matt. 13: 58). The
Living and the Written Word are one. The same principle of action governs each
- the Bible will not disclose its wonders nor reveal its powers to unbelief
nor, even, to doubt.
2. Study of the Bible requires obedience to the
Bible
Hide My commandments with thee (verse 1). Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. (James 1: 22-25).
He who does not obey the Word, who does not translate
it into the practice of his daily life, is like the person who eats but whose
system does not assimilate the food, builds up no tissue and gives him no strength;
so is it with him who is disobedient to the Word, it does not become a part of
him, builds up no spiritual tissue, gives no spiritual strength; he is of those
who are ever learning and never coming to a knowledge
of the Truth.
3. Study of the Bible demands the attitude of
listening
Incline thine ear unto wisdom (verse 2).
The word incline is listening, hearkening.
In New Testament language it means to take heed; as it is written: Take heed therefore how ye hear (Luke 18: 8). That is, be careful of the way, the manner, in
which you hear. Give full, complete
attention [to the context]; listen for the slightest accent or emphasis.
If
you were in the presence of a king and listening to him you would be alert to
hear each syllable. How much more when
it is the Living God who is speaking to you from the pages of this Book.
The Lord God is a great Grammarian. He is a marvellous Constructor of
sentences: He puts enormous value upon a
preposition or a conjunction; His
uses of tenses are again and again an apocalypse in themselves. Take up a
verse, study it, and study it again. Read it over several times before you
attempt to study and search out the meaning; let the cadence, the rhythm and
the peculiarity of the arrangement, fix your attention. A word sometimes holds
in itself a multiplicity of meaning and, shades of meaning.
It
is worth while to become skilled in the craft of Bible study; keep the eyes
open; keep the ears open; be tuned up to the note and power of expectancy. Do this
and you will attain by practice and the special grace of God to that most
blessed of all attainments: Spiritual
discernment. Without it
the Bible will be only a partial book to you. Incline thine ear. Listen.
Hearken.
4. The whole
heart must be given up to the successful study of the Bible
Apply thine heart to understanding (verse 5).
The
man who would get anywhere in the world must put his heart into whatever he
seeks to do. The half-hearted man is defeated before he starts. This is particularly
necessary in any study. The man who would become a good mathematician, a
scientist, a linguist, must put his heart into it, have a purpose, a sincere
desire to attain, to know.
Application - that is the word. And in no study, in no range of effort
is application of the whole heart and being so necessary as in the study of the
Word of God. The Spirit of God is very sensitive, He is the essence of
sensitiveness; the slightest bit of indifferentism on the part of the student,
his unwillingness to persist, is met by a shutting out of the responsive action
of the Word.
The Word of God lies below the surface. There are
statements in which there seem to be no disclosures - all seems impenetrable, a
mystery; there are paradoxical statements, statements that at times seem,
flatly to contradict other statements; nor are these things accidental. The
very construction is a test, a test of sincerity, of heart. If the heart is in
the study and faith insists, suddenly there will come a flash of light, solution
to the problem, answers to the questions.
5. The Bible can be studied only with Prayer
If thou criest after knowledge and liftest
up thy voice for understanding (verse 5).
The
Apostle Paul prays the spiritual eyes of the Ephesians may be opened to the
Truth. He says: The
eyes of your understanding being enlightened (Eph. 1: 18). On that
Sunday night after His resurrection our Lord met His disciples in the upper
room and it is written: Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures (Luke 24: 45). The
Lord opened the understanding of
And
why pray? It is all plain enough. To be sure, the writing is
there; but that writing is as much a revelation today as when first given. Only
through the power of the [Holy] Spirit can you read and understand. The Living God
alone can take the veil off the mind, alone reveal the Book till it becomes a
revelation. The prayerless man cannot read the Bible intelligently. He cannot
divide it. Read, study, know the Bible without prayer? - The thing is
impossible. The man who wants to know, who feels his inability, will cry out to
God for light. The indifferent, surface reader will go on and pray not and - find not.
He
who would study the Bible with joy and find it a continual revelation of the
mind and will of God must learn to bend his knees in prayer and cry unto the
God who gave it to open mind and heart and understanding.
6. The Bible must be studied with the same
inspiration,
the same effort and energy with which men seek after
silver
Thou seekest her (understanding) as silver (verse 4). Silver in its final term stands for
money.
Money
is the purchasing medium of power, leisure, self-culture as well as
self-gratification. It is the lever by which men lift themselves into position,
into the place of authority, the uplook and envy of
others. Next to God money has the closest approach to omnipotence. This is the
declaration of Scripture; Money answereth all things (Eccl. 10: 19).
The
Word of God is compared to silver. The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times (Ps. 12:
6). Silver
signifies intrinsic value. Holy Scripture is all that silver is when tried out
in the fire and freed from dross, it is the pure Word of God and not of man. If
silver in the last analysis is money, the Bible in its last analysis is Truth. The truth about God and man, the truth about
the other side of death, the truth
about salvation [past, present and future] and the things God has prepared for those who
love Him. If money brings its
compensation for a time and yet, as riches, may take wings to itself and flee
away, the Bible brings compensation in blessings no money on earth can buy and
blessings that do not take wings nor fade away.
But
if you would have the Bible to be to you as the value of silver and more than
the purchasing power of money, then you must put into your study all the effort
of purpose and all the energy of determination to know and understand it. If
you cannot do that; if you cannot make every other book secondary to it; if you
cannot exalt it into the place of supremacy in your life, purposing in your
heart that you will go according to the demand of its precepts; if you are not
willing to spend time upon it and pour out prayer for the understanding of it; if
you cannot say with the Psalmist: Thy Word have I hid in my heart (Ps. 110: 11); if
with the Prophet you cannot say: Thy words were found, and I
did eat them; and Thy Word was unto me the joy
and rejoicing of mine heart (Jer. 15: 16), then
you are not seeking the wisdom, the truth of the Bible, as men are seeking for
silver, and the Bible is not of as much value to you as money is to men. And
yet, we are told to buy the Truth and sell it not; pay any price for it, the Truth which this Bible
essentially is, and sell it not - do not
give it up for anything that earth may offer you.
7.
If you would study and understand the Bible you
must
search it as men search for hid treasures
If thou searchest as for hid treasures (verse 4).
This
proposition is a parallelism of the other and yet has a distinctive thought.
The thought is that treasure does not lie on the surface. This is true not only
of such treasure as gold and silver, but precious stones, the jewels of earth.
To get those treasures men must search for them. They must be willing to dig
for them, go down into the depths for them; the deeper they go the richer they find.
It
has already been suggested that the truths of God do not all lie on the surface
of the Bible. There are truths there that lie open on the page so plain, so
distinct that he who runs may read no matter how swiftly he runs. There are
truths there, promises and pictures of things glorious which the simplest mind
may behold with delight; but there are truths, very jewels, to which diamonds
are common stones, so far under the surface that the passerby,
he who reads upon the surface alone, will never see, never know.
Our
Lord Jesus Christ reveals this in His admonition to the Jews. To them He said;
Search the Scriptures (John 5: 39). He did not say read. He said, search; and
that means, examine, go down into
the depths.
Compare Scripture with Scripture; take up a
thought in the New Testament, go back and find its origin in the Old Testament,
take up the types and follow them out
into the anti-types. Study the relation of this world to the purpose of God
and see revealed in the Word how this world was fashioned and made, that it might be the arena for the
revelation of the heart of God. The Word reveals the Cross, where the
beating of His heart of love can be seen.
Here
are seven rules. Follow these rules and there will be two results:
1.
Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD
(verse 5).
That
is, you will find yourself filled with reverence, with wonder and adoration.
Step by step as you follow the Spirit while He seeks to guide you into all
truth you will feel a profound awe stealing over you. You will have a
revelation of the being of God, the wisdom and the genius of God; with the
Apostle you will find yourself saying that this is, indeed, not the word of
man, but in very truth the Word of God.
But
there will be a second result of this study.
2.
Thou shalt find the Knowledge of God (verse 5).
Not
merely knowledge from God, not merely knowledge about God, but, knowing God.
This is the knowledge of which our Lord Jesus Christ speaks. This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only True God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent (John 17: 5).
But
apart from this Bible there is no revelation of Jesus Christ. Here you must come to
find
Christ, listen to Christ and know Christ. Here you must come
through Him to know and be conscious of God in your soul. Where there is no
Bible there is no knowledge and no consciousness of God in the soul. This Bible
then is a nexus with God. Study it as it should be studied and you will have in
your soul the consciousness of the eternal God as revealed in His Son.
*
* * *
* *
*
341
EXEGETICAL
STUDY OF COLOSSIANS
Chapter
4: 2
Concluding
Exhortations
By A. Mc Donald
Redwood.
Having dealt with the relationships in the family and
household, Paul now turns to make an appeal for the distinctive atmosphere in which alone such relationships can
function smoothly and in a manner pleasing to God. A prayerless Christian home
is a spiritual tragedy to be avoided indeed!
Verse
2
Te proseuche proskartereite, gregorountes en aute en eucharistia (continue steadfastly in
prayer, watching therein with thanks-giving). The present tense of the verb kartereo with pros has the meaning of persevering attendance (on a person or some
duty), see e.g., Acts 10: 7 - those who waited on (Cornelius) continually. So the believer needs to maintain his or her prayer
life with assiduous care; the great Enemy of prayer and the soul is ever ready
to weaken us just there. Linked to the exhortation, therefore, is the challenge
to watch therein. It may be freely rendered stick
to your praying and stay awake while praying (Robertson). It is not merely watch for the answer, but to be alert
and eager in praying, not careless or sluggish either in the act or habit of
prayer (cf. 1 Thess. 5: 6; Eph. 6: 18). In this way thanksgiving will always be an
accompaniment of prayer. Ceaseless prayer combined
with ceaseless praise was the atmosphere of Pauls spiritual life (Beet).
Verse
3
proseuchomenoi hama kai
peri hemon, hina ho theos anoixe hemin
thuran tou logou. (Withal praying also for us,
that God would open unto us a door for the word). Cf. Rom.
15: 30; Eph. 6: 18, 19; 1 Thess. 5: 25; 1 Thess. 3: 1; Heb. 13: 18, where
the apostle iterates similar requests. Great man as he was, both in prayer and
faith, Paul coveted for himself and his co-workers the prayers of the saints in
every assembly. In this he doubtless taught them the immeasurable value of such
fellowship. It is the same today: There is no service where the Holy Spirit is
working in the hearts of people where the workers can do without the fellowship
of prayer, even of those not actually engaged in their immediate circle. The
particular subject of the request is that a door for the word might he opened - such is the force of the article
before logou. It may be either the door of opportunity to preach (cf.
2 Cor. 2: 12; and
possibly Rev. 3:
8); or the door for liberty of utterance (the emboldened mouth), as in Eph.
6: 19, 20. Probably it was the former that was in the
apostles mind (Acts 14: 27; 1 Cor. 16: 9). The preaching of the Gospel requires both
these features in evidence.
lalesai
to musterion tou Christou, di' ho kai dedemai (to speak the mystery of Christ,
for which I am also in bonds:)
This was Pauls burning ambition ever - to speak for Christ. No other theme so pressing or so necessary, except perhaps the building up of the assemblies
in the truth. Both go together,
however, for Christ is the centre of both aspects.
The mystery of Christ (cf. Ch. 1: 26; 2: 2). The same
expression occurs also in Eph. 3: 4, and in
both places it undoubtedly refers to the Divine plan of salvation revealed through
Christ, and of which Christ is the very core; or (as Moule puts it) with Whose Person, work
and life, the great Secret was vitally bound up. In experience, its
essence was Christ
in you the hope of glory (Col. 1: 27). The
N.T. connotation of the word mystery is not
of some esoteric secret in which only a
select circle of the initiated can share, but
the revelation of God in Christ available to all believers indwelt by the Holy
Spirit. It occurs in eleven passages in this epistle and Ephesians, and in each
except one (Eph. 5:
32) the special aspect presented would
appear to be that of the admission of the Gentiles on
the same level as the Jew (whose covenant position was already something
special) into the one Body of which Christ is the Head and Corner-stone.
Some would interpret it as having a wider connotation, viz., that it includes
the whole purpose of God for the redemption of humanity, but this seems to us
too vague. Then follows the personal word: For which I am in bonds. It is almost a note of triumph rather
than regret, as if he would remind us that, even though he was bound to a Roman
soldier, he was daily preaching Christ in his prison. The greatest activity of
that masterful mind was displayed as much, or even more, during his imprisonments
as when pursuing his many perilous journeys through
Verse
4
hina phaneroso auto hos dei me lalesai (That I may make it manifest,
as I ought to speak.) Not only should they pray for the opportunity to preach,
but for the grace also to use it aright. The mystery is to be displayed openly and widely,
not merely by lip but by life also. Phancroo, see
Verse
5
In.
verses 5
and 6 the apostle turns to the thought
of their part
in spreading the knowledge of Christ and His Gospel.
En sophia peripateite pros tous exo, ton kairon exagorazomenoi (Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time).
Go on walking, with the idea not merely of
continuation but of effectively displaying the mystery just alluded to. Peripatei denotes life in its action and intercourse (Moule),
and occurs frequently in Pauls epistles, mostly, however, in Ephesians (e.g. Ch. 4: 1, onwards). Sophia is not wisdom in the abstract
but a sanctified commonsense and tactfulness
both in manner and word in every approach to the unsaved. The Lords own word
to His disciples is as relevant as ever: Be ye wise as serpents, and harmless (R.V. marg. simple) as doves (Matt. 10: 16); and
the imagery is worth pondering if we Would be successful winners of souls.
Tous exo (outsiders) is used
to describe those who are in need of salvation without any distinction of race
or character, and contains no idea of contempt. See 1
Cor. 5: 12; 1 Thess. 4: 12; 1 Tim. 3: 7. It
certainly has no reference to any ecclesiastical or merely religious distinctions.
The
verb redeeming occurs in Eph. 5: 16, and
twice in Galatians (Ch. 3: 13; 4: 5). It
literally means to buy in the market, from
other ownership. Dan. 2: 8 (in
Aramaic and Gk.) has the same phrase: I knew of a certainty ye would buy the time. The thought is probably buying back (at the expense
of personal watchfulness and self-denial) the present time, or opportunity,
which is now being used to lesser purpose (Eph.
5: 16).
Time here is kairos, (not chronos, which
means time in general or in duration) and usually means a moment or period,
with some idea of crisis or opportunity attached to it. Ramsay puts it: making your market fully
from the occasion (or opportunity).
Verse
6
Ho
logos humon pantote en chariti, halati ertumenos, (Let your
speech be always with grace seasoned with salt.) After the reference to the walking, comes the appeal
for a corresponding talking, for both must correspond if either are to be
effective. This is not merely preaching but
the often more effective personal conversation made with others. Moule would however see in it a more
special reference to discourse about the Gospel with
those without. Such converse must
contain not only graciousness but the purity of salt - to preserve the message from being
misunderstood or vitiated by unwise levity or looseness of speech or manner (cf.
Eph. 4: 29; 5: 4. Also see Matt. 5: 13).
cidenai
pos dei humas heni hekasto apokrinesthai. (that ye may know how ye ought
to answer each one.) It is a great
thing to know
how to say the right word, at the right time, in the right spirit.
This is not learnt in a day, nor by rote, but
by the help of the Spirit of God alone.
This requires a spirit of prayer and a heart filled with yearning to help souls
into the joy of the Lord, - all goes to make the wise-tounged eloquence of simple speech which reaches
the heart (see 1 Pet. 3: 15, 16). There
is much to be gained also from a study of the apostles own method mentioned in
1 Cor. 9: 20-22.
-------
WRECKED
Wrecked outright on Jesus
breast;
Only wrecked souls can thus sing;
Little boats that hug the shore,
Fearing what the storm may bring,
Never find on Jesus breast
All that wrecked
souls mean by rest.
Wrecked outright. So we lament:
But when
storms have done their worst,
Then the soul surviving all,
In Eternal Arms is nursed:
There to find that nought can move
One, embosomd
in such love.
Wrecked outright. No more to own
Een a
craft to sail the sea:
Still a voyager, yet now
Anchord to Infinity:
Nothing left to do but fling
Care aside, and simply cling.
Wrecked outright.
Twas purest gain:
Henceforth other craft can see
That the storm may be a boon,
That, however rough the sea,
God Himself doth watchful stand -
For the wreck is in
His hand.
- B. E. BARBER.
*
* * *
* * *
342
CONTROVERSY
By D. M. Panton, B.A.
Today every truth is challenged,
every doctrine assailed, every landmark assaulted, and every battle has to be
fought over again. The crisis has its dangers,
but it also enters like iron into the blood: for all who rest on the infallible
Word of God, enormous accession of strength comes with every truth mastered
afresh for oneself. Controversy,
therefore, can be a channel charged with blessing, as well as the occasion of
very subtle peril. In the
words of Archbishop Whately:- We must neither lead men, nor
leave them, to mistake falsehood for truth.
Not to undeceive is to deceive.
THE DANGER
But it is well, first of all, to keep some consciousness
of our peril steadily before us. Wise
words were written by John Newton
more than a century ago:- There
is a principle of self, which disposes us to despise those who differ from us;
and we are often under its influence, when we think we are only showing a
becoming zeal in the cause of God.
Whatever it be that makes us trust in ourselves that we are
comparatively wise or good, so as to treat those with
contempt who do not subscribe to our doctrines, or follow our party, is a proof
and fruit of a self-righteous spirit.
Self-righteousness can feed upon doctrines, as well as upon works; and a
man may have the heart of a Pharisee, while his head is stored with orthodox
notions of the unworthiness of the creature, and the riches of free grace. If
ever the defence of the truth were seasonable and expedient, it appears to be
so in our day, when errors abound on all sides, and every truth of the Gospel is either directly denied, or grossly misrepresented. And yet we find but
very few writers of controversy who have not been manifestly hurt by it. Either
they grow in a sense of their own importance, or imbibe an angry contentious
spirit, or they insensibly withdraw their attention from those things which are
the food and immediate support of the life of faith, and spend their time and
strength upon matters which at most are but of a secondary value. This shows that if the service is honourable,
it is dangerous. What will it profit a
man if he gains his cause and silences his adversary, if at the same time he loses
that humble, tender frame of spirit in which the Lord delights, and to which
the promise of his presence is made?
CHRIST AND CONTROVERSY
It
is critical to observe how our Lord, dealing with an identical situation,
acted; for it is written (1 Pet. 2: 21) that He left us an example, that we
should follow his steps. One writer (A. G. Knott, B.Sc.) has well expressed
it thus:- The Gospel is steeped in controversy. It would be
difficult to find many pages in any of the four Gospels, except the prayers of
Jesus in
THE COMMAND
For now we confront the command:-
Contend earnestly for the
Faith (Jude 3). Every problem is at bottom a religious
problem, and religion, being deeply felt, deeply divides: that a question is controversial means that it is burning and alive,
and cannot be touched without storm. If all
controversy is avoided, Satan has but
to stir up controversy on a given truth, to silence its testimony for ever. The
mere statement of truth is a challenge to error: to speak on justification by Faith was once violently controversial. Now the call not to flinch is imperative. Why? Because truth may be one thing, while what a man thinks to be the truth may be quite another,
and gulfs asunder; and no sincerity or
devotion will save the man from the consequences of his error. A doctor writes a prescription, containing
deadly ingredients: may a man not a chemist, and wholly ignorant of dispensing only
he be sincere, be trusted to make up the prescription? If so, the patient goes in peril of his
life. Do we put in a railway signal-box,
to manipulate its complex levers, a man wholly ignorant of the code of signals,
the scheduled timetable, and the block system, if only he be honest and sincere? If so, the passengers go in hourly peril, of
their lives. How much more is it a matter of life and death to know truly and to state
rightly the facts of the Gospel out of which alone springs the salvation of
God: in contending for the Faith we are
fighting for the very
life of the world. So also with
the Church. Sanctify them through Thy truth (John 17: 17): truth unknown, or ignored,
or disobeyed makes sanctification impossible; and each truth is
designed for its own specific sanctification: so in contending for the truth, we
are fighting for the very life of the Church.
THE CONTENTION
How
are we to contend? The merely
contentious spirit is so obnoxious to God as to disqualify a disciple from
holding office (1 Tim. 3: 3, R.V.),
and the Church is responsible to see that this prohibition is enforced. The word Jude uses is our word agonize: not, contend bitterly, or
angrily, or uncharitably; for the moment we are angry, we have ceased to
contend for the truth, and have begun to contend for ourselves: but
(as the word means) contend, standing
firmly planted on that which the enemy is trying to drag from under us: agonize over the Faith. But thus to contend for the Faith, we must
know exactly what the Faith is; which
means hard, close, comprehensive, and unprejudiced study of Scripture: and it
calls for a character so richly ripened as to speak the truth in love.
If (as someone says) it is personal, drop it; if it is principle, die
for it. So far
as what we utter is the truth, and so long as we keep our tempers, all that is of grace and God in our opponent is on our
side. The [Holy] Spirit enforces the Truth. Had those who first deeply disturbed the writer on his own early doctrinal
positions, and so ruined his worldly prospects, withheld for peace sake, he
would not have thanked them, as now he will throughout eternity. But it was done in
love. Bishop Brent has a suggestive and warning word: Conference is a measure of peace; controversy a weapon of
war. Conference is self-abasing; controversy exalts self. Conference in all lowliness strives to
understand the viewpoint of others; controversy to
impose its views on all comers.
Conference looks for unities; controversy exaggerates differences. Let us ponder the word of Carlyle:- Sarcasm is the language of the Devil.
THE CONTENDERS
Who
are to engage in this sacred toil of controversy? The Faith once for all delivered - not to apostles or prophets, for how then could the
truth have been expounded in ages which had neither? not to universities, or schools of theology; not even to
evangelists or pastors or teachers: but to the saints. The
saving Faith has been committed to the saved; the saints of every age are
responsible to pass it on intact to the saints of every succeeding age; and all
the saints are responsible for all
the truth, and its transmission, pure, whole, and undefiled. Every saint
is responsible to contend earnestly for all of the Faith that he knows: we are set for the defence
of the gospel (Phil. 1: 16), as well as for its dissemination. Lift the enforced controversies out of the life of Christ, and how
much of each Gospel remains? With
what giant strokes Paul lays about him, felling fearful errors: be ye imitators of me, even as
I also am of Christ (1 Cor. 11: 1). To-day, as Dr.
Campbell Morgan has said, there is a tolerance
abroad which is high treason. There is a passion saturating the air for a
comprehension which sacrifices the very heart of the Christian religion, and
the very core of the Gospel of the Nazarene.
THE FRUIT OF CONTROVERSY
Without
controversy no truth was ever yet established, or, when established, preserved;
and it can be most rich in its outcome. We quote Mr.
A. G. Knott again:- The outcome of true controversy always results
in revolutions taking place in mens thought and actions. Many a person has
been compelled under the imperious demands of truth, mediated to them through
controversy, to change their values and re-orientate their whole
personal and social living. Controversy
has constrained men to alter their faith, choose the way of poverty, offer
their lives to holy causes, re-think their Christian beliefs, change their
whole attitude to money and re-interpret their personal relationships to one
another. Further, in controversy
many have heard the voice of God as they have heard His voice nowhere else.
Their weaknesses have been exposed, their insincerities have been shown to
them, their faith has been tested as to what stuff it was made of, their spirit
has been deepened and they have been led out into a larger place where His will has been seen and felt.
*
* * *
* * *
343
SOME DIFFICULTIES REMOVED
CERTAIN Old
Testament Scriptures quoted in the New Testament sometimes seem to be given a meaning which the original passages in the Old Testament
seem not to bear in their contextual setting.
This gives rise to the question whether they are not to be understood in
a mystic sense rather than in the obvious and literal sense
which, at first sight, they would seem to sustain.
We refer to such Scriptures as Acts 15, 16 and 17 and Amos 9: 11; Rom. 9: 25 and 26 and Hos.
1: 10 and
2: 23; Rom. 11: 26 and Isaiah 59:
20 and 21;
1 Cor. 15: 54 and Isaiah 25: 8
and Hos. 13: 14; Isaiah 65: 17-19 and 2 Pet. 3: 13.
Some of these have already been
referred to and commented upon in the preceding chapters and we need
not, therefore, refer to them again. In
considering the remainder it is perhaps desirable that
we should give a brief summary revealed in Holy Writ of
Gods
purposes in the earth
At Creation God gave to Adam the complete sovereignty
over the earth and all that was therein (Gen.
1: 28). In the exercise of that sovereignty
Adam gave names to the whole animal creation and God brought the creatures to
Adam for that purpose. This sovereignty
was forfeited by sin and the destruction of men by the brute creation
eventually became one of Gods four sore judgments
(Ezek. 14:
21).
Immediately, however, there was the promise of the Seed of the woman whom Paul subsequently refers to as the second Adam who was Himself to have, as Man, the sovereignty
forfeited by the first Adam. He shall have dominion from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth (Psalm 72: 8) and also the field; the fowl
of the air, etc. (Psalm 8 and Heb. 2: 6-9).
The promise to Noah was very different. Here the fear of man was
put upon the brute creation and they were delivered into his hand. We need not enlarge upon the many and varied
cruel purposes for which man has used them in the exercise of his sinful
government.
For the accomplishment of His
purposes in earth, God, in His sovereignty, chose Abraham and promised to make
of him a great nation and a universal blessing. This promise was made in sovereign grace and in the first instance
without any reference to his Seed. That
the nation was to be the nation of
Subsequent revelation, moreover, showed the fulness of this blessing was to come
through the Seed, which is Christ.
The promise is again given to Abraham
unconditionally of universal blessing and universal sovereignty as well as an
innumerable seed. Paul interprets this
promise as indicating that Abraham should be heir of the world (kosmos) and emphasises its unconditional nature. And this blessing
God confirms with an oath and stakes His own existence upon it.
The Promises
cannot be Disannulled
Many similar promises are given subsequently to Israel
with the condition of obedience attached but, as Paul points out, the law which
was 430 years after cannot disannul the promise to make it of none effect. Moreover, the
promise concerning Davids Seed and His dominion is given
him unconditionally and again, the very being of God is staked upon it. (Psalm 89).
In the meantime, however, the promised Seed arrived through Whom all the
promises were to be fulfilled. All the promises of God are in Him Yea and in Him Amen, to the glory of God
(2 Cor. 1: 20).
In fulfilment of Gods promise to Abraham and many
other similar promises throughout the Old Testament, the great mystery of the
Gentiles being partakers of Gods promise in the Messiah is unfolded through
the Gospel [of the kingdom] and thus all believers [can, if judged accounted worthy,] become Abrahams seed and heirs according to the promise.
Many of the promises to
The
Spiritual Blessings in Christ
are applicable alike to
But the bringing of the Gentile believers into the
blessing of
So, similarly, the same sovereign grace which gave the
blessings to Abraham and
The Faithful
in all Ages
The promises of God are made,
in all ages, not to the unbelievers but to the faithful remnant. At the time of
The Church
Linked with
Moreover Paul, when writing to both Jew and Gentile in
the covenant of grace with
[* See:
Christians! Seek the Rest of God in His Millennial Kingdom, by R. Govett, M.A.]
In the Millennial reign of Christ, the earthly
The Lord says through Isaiah that
in this Mountain
shall the Lord make unto all peoples a feast of fat things
And He will destroy in this mountain
the vail that is spread over all mountains. He will swallow up
death in victory; and the Lord will wipe away
tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His
people shall He take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it. The Lord, moreover, says to the faithful remnant through Hosea, I will ransom them from the power of hell [Heb. Sheol = Gk. Hades]; I
will redeem them from death. And Paul makes perfectly clear in 1
Cor. 15 that
these promises are fulfilled at the
first resurrection. Therefore
the feast of fat things in
Isaiah
65: 17 and 18
There is a reference to two creations and the word
implies that the same God who will create the new heavens
and earth, creates first
To sum up then; as the SEED OF DAVID, Jesus will occupy Davids throne according to Gods
promise; as the SEED OF ABRAHAM,
He will be the heir of the kosmos: all nations shall serve Him; as the SECOND
ADAM, He will have control of all
creation, when the wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie
down with the kid
and a little child shall
lead them; as the SON OF GOD, He is appointed heir of all things; and in sovereign grace all His people [who suffer with Him (Rom.
8: 17b. cf. Matt. 5: 10; 2 Tim. 2: 3, 9, 12; 1 Thess. 1: 4, 5, R.V. etc.)] are [if
accounted
worthy (after judgment and death, Luke 20: 35; Heb. 9: 27) are to be] made joint-heirs with Him. And so, He is head over all things to
the Church which is His body, the fulness of Him
that filleth all in all. All these promises are in Him Yea and in Him Amen, to the glory of God by us; and we must not magnify one to the exclusion of the
others.
He is the Son of God; He is the King of Israel. Satan challenged the first in the wilderness,
but Christ was declared
to be the Son of God with power
by the
resurrection from the dead. Satan challenged the second at the cross but
this will also be made manifest when He comes in glory and
[* Keep in mind: Hades
is the word used in the Septuagint as a translation
of the Hebrew word Sheol. It
describes the abode of the disembodied souls of the dead (Acts 2: 31. cf.
Luke 16: 23,
31), who are presently in the
Underworld (i.e., in the heart of the earth)
awaiting the Lords return and the time of their Resurrection, (1
Thess. 4: 16). This is what our Lord and His Apostles taught
the people; and this is what the early Church believed, (Matt. 12: 40; Luke 16: 23; Acts 2: 27, 31, R.V.
etc.). According to the Apostle Paul,
all who teach contrary to this (now an unpalatable truth rejected now by the
vast majority of Bible teachers) have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already, and overthrow the faith of some (2 Tim. 2: 18, R.V.).]
*
* * *
* * *
344
ESCAPE FROM THE TRIBULATION
By JAMES P. WELLIVER
It must not be overlooked, that
to
This
will be
Teachers
are distressed because some see the Church going to heaven in more than one
company. But Paul said every man would go in his own order. This word is also translated rank, and means literally a series or succession (1
Cor. 15: 20-23).
Military men were not distressed because the First Division of the American
Army in the world war went over the sea first, nor because it took many
shiploads to take the millions across.
Neither did they count the army ruptured
because some remained for training while others were at the front. And if, through the ages, God has taken
generation after generation into His rest and comfort ahead of time, through
death, and this has not ruptured the body, what is so forbidding about the
idea of a few of these who precede, doing so without death? God will get the companies all there in
due time, and this age will not end without some kind of transition events, as
others have done. The principle of a Double Rapture is sound. All the parts put
together will constitute The Rapture - one
event in two (or more) phases.
All
ends with the visible appearance of Christ in the heavens, the crucial hour
when for the first time in the whole Plan
ALL the elect have
been gathered from the ends of heaven. The residue yet living must be
raptured in order to be in the final gathering, and the martyrs of their number
must be raised [i.e., resurrected from the underworld of the dead in Hades]. A final phase
of the (one) Rapture! How beautifully it fits in every detail! That great last
gathering of all the elect could not have been possible so long as the duties
of some of them had not been accomplished. Almost up
to the moment of His appearing there will be some of the elect still engaged in testimony, or else waiting in the
grave or at its edge, for resurrection and rapture. But with some called to Him
from the ends of heaven, whence they were taken in the former phases, and some
now taken in the final phase of the (one) Rapture, nothing remains lacking, and
any seemingly unanswerable passage is made clear.
The
reader will see in these studies, impartially considered, a way to reconcile
the extreme views, which have seemed hopelessly far apart heretofore. Nor is it
in the slightest degree a compromise, as any mind willing and able to weigh the
evidence will admit. The Gospel outlines become clear and simple. God prepare
us for the great and fast approaching Day of Christ, both in knowledge of and
submission to the inspired Word!
*
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* * *
345
AMBITION
GOOD OR BAD?
By Rev. David Clarke (Coleraine)
Should
you then seek great things for yourself?
Seek them not. Jeremiah 45: 5
By this time next week, the Rugby World Cup will have
started in
[* This attitude of mind, reminds us of the parable in Luke 12: 16-31 which Jesus spoke when warning His disciples against covetousness
for worldly things and comfort, coupled with unnecessary worrying about poverty
or entrance into His coming kingdom!]
The
present world athletics championships in
The
same drive is necessary for success in business. Lord
Sugar in The Apprentice tolerates
no slackness. Andrew Carnegie, the
steel magnate once said, Aim high. I would not give a
fig for the young man who does not already see himself the partner or the head
of an important firm. Do not rest content for a moment in your thoughts as head
clerk, or foreman, or general manager in any concern,
no matter how extensive. Say to yourself, My place is at the top!
Against
all that worldly wisdom, set the advice of the Bible, and in particular this
advice from Jeremiah the prophet to
his friend Baruch, Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. The sentiment would have come as a shock to
Baruch! He came from a home where his parents had great
expectations. The name they gave him, Baruch, means blessed, and no
doubt, like many doting parents they thought the sun rose and set on their
little lad. His grandfather, Maaseaih, had served as Governor of Jerusalem under King Josiah.
In
the city, Baruch was regarded as influential. Indeed,
some saw Jeremiah as an unwitting tool in the hands of the subtle Baruch. Thus
positioned, in the confidence of the royal family, and with influence in the
city, Baruch must have entertained high ambitions. It was quite a rude
awakening to discover that his friendship with the prophet Jeremiah was
bringing him into head-on conflict with the ruthless King Jehoiakim. No great things for you,
Baruch, my friend. Jeremiah was careful to warn him what lay ahead for
the both of them; how the authorities would try to arrest them (36: 26); how in
speaking the word of God, they would be accused of
lying (43: 2);
and how they would face captivity and death (43: 6).
Now
Jeremiahs advice might be construed in a very narrow
fashion, simply telling Baruch that in this historical context it would be
wrong to place all his hopes on the stability of the monarchy, for it was
doomed to defeat. I think, however, it carries a broader and abiding spiritual
warning against overweening ambition. Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not.
But
something also lay ahead for Baruch that no one could have predicted. He was
the one who gathered
together for posterity the writings and messages of his friend Jeremiah.
For that ministry later generations
have indeed called him Blessed. Fame came for him, as it so often does, as
a mere by-product, the result of an unselfish act in support of a great ideal.
Ambition needs a better press
To call someone ambitious
carries with it a note of criticism, and for that we
probably have to blame William
Shakespeare. Almost every reference to ambition in his plays suggests that
ambition is dangerous and unworthy. Over the dead body of Caesar, Brutus
remarks, As he was ambitious, I slew him. Elsewhere he talked about vaulting ambition, lamented the wars that made
ambition virtue, and encouraged men to fling away
ambition. Mind you, he was ambitious himself. Peter Ackroyd, in a biography of
Shakespeare, observed that there is no record of Shakespeare ever having
praised another writer.
Christian
preachers sometimes give the same impression.
The passage we read in Marks gospel appears to condemn ambition. But if you read it carefully you will see that part of the
reason that the colleagues of James and John were incensed at the brothers
coveting the top positions was that the other disciples wanted those positions
for themselves! And Jesus did not dash their ambition. He simply reminded them that every ambition has a price, asking
them, Are you
able to drink the cup of suffering I have to drink?
Ungoverned
ambition, of course, has been the source of boundless mischief. Much of human history is
stained with the sordid stories of men striving for power and sweeping
aside all considerations of morality in their rage for greatness and control. But if that impulse is often misdirected, it is still an
intrinsic part of our nature. The great scholar, Bishop Westcott, said, If by ambition
angels fell, by ambition men have risen. Was
it wrong for a dying mother to say to her son, Be
somebody? Was it wrong for the
young John Milton to confess that he
longed to write something that the world would not willingly let die? Was it
wrong for the young Charles Gounod
to write to his mother declaring that he wanted to be a musician, and when she
rebuked him by saying that a musician amounts to nothing in the world, to
reply, Is it nothing to be Mozart or Rossini?
Were they wrong?
A
proper view of our own worth underlines the appropriateness of such ambition.
We have been made in the image of God, just a little lower than the angels, and
we have been redeemed by the blood of Christ. There are talents and
potentialities in our lives that ought to be developed, and exploited,
if we are to fulfil ourselves as Gods creatures. The film My Fair
Lady is based on Bernard
Shaws play Pygmalion. A
professor of phonetics, Henry Higgins is teaching the Cockney girl, Eliza, how
to speak proper. After much exasperation, he bursts out, You are English. Your language is the language of Milton and
Shakespeare, and you are standing there cooing like a bilious pigeon.
Within each one of us there are great potentialities.
The counsel Dr. Jowett
of Balliol in
Ambition needs a better purpose
Baruch
was feeling low when he realised that his fondest dreams were impossible of
fulfilment. He was at odds with the king;
the nation was on the brink of dissolution; his hopes were
irretrievably dashed. In that situation God had
two things to teach Baruch. First, Baruchs heartache was as nothing compared
to the spiritual agony in the heart of God. There is no sorrow like unto His
sorrow. Verse 4, I will overthrow what I have built, and
uproot what I have planted. How it must have grieved God to see the
downfall of the nation he had cared for so laboriously over the years.
Second,
Baruch had to learn to thrust self into the background. In verse 3
in the Hebrew text the personal pronoun occurs 5 times, but even the NIV
conveys the self-centredness of it, You said, Woe to me! The Lord has added sorrow to my pain. I am worn out with groaning and find no rest. It is the same obsession with self
that the Pharisee expressed in his
The
apostle Paul was an ambitious man, but note the focus
of his ambition. There is a rare Greek verb (philotimeomai)
which he used to show the ambitions which governed
him. We make it
our goal to please him. (2 Corinthians 5: 9).
The cheers of the crowd, or the smiles of the powerful meant
nothing if he did not have the approval of the Man of Nazareth. The late
Catholic Archbishop of
Paul
revealed another of his governing ambitions when writing to the Romans, It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where
Christ was not known. (15: 20). When David Livingstone was interviewed by the London Missionary Society and was asked where he would like to go,
he replied, Anywhere, so long as it is forward.
In the middle of the American Civil War, the famous Confederate General known
as Stonewall Jackson, prayed this
prayer, O God, settle this cruel warfare, and send us
back to our homes to our God-given purpose of winning men to Jesus Christ.
Paul
expressed another of his controlling ambitions to the Thessalonians, Make it your ambition to lead
a quiet life. (1 Thessalonians
4: 11). Excitement
was at fever pitch in that city, for the Christians there had downed tools and
were standing around waiting for the return of Jesus Christ. Paul
attempted to defuse the situation. Live quietly. Let him find you
doing your duty when he comes. Covet the quiet
beauty of an ordered life. The Scottish church leader, Principal Robert Rainy of New College, Edinburgh,
who declared a teenage ambition to be eminently
spiritual, wrote this, Today I must lecture.
Tomorrow I must attend a committee meeting. On Sunday
I must preach. Some day I must die. Well
then, let us do as well as we can each
thing as it comes to us.
Pauls
writings abound with references to running and boxing and even chariot racing.
He noticed how diligently athletes strived to win the prize, in their case a crown of
laurel leaves, which quickly withered. Paul, on the other hand, was striving to
win an unfading crown of
righteousness.
Before
every baseball match the individual members of a team were required to enter a
room alone, and stand before a wall on which was written the slogan, For
Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. No, seek
them for God!
* *
* * *
* * *
346
A DISILLUSIONED MODERNIST
By D. R. DAVIES
The
profound shock of current facts, wrecking the easy optimism picturing a future that
is a mirage, and bringing the disillusioned soul back to divine truth, is one
main hope of the days immediately ahead. Though not expressed quite as a
Scriptural believer would frame it, here (from the British
Weekly, June 22, 1939)
is the testimony of a Congregational minister - a striking example, which may
God multiply. - D. M. PANTON.
-------
To what extent I speak for my generation (I am
forty-eight years of age) I do not know. But it is
certain that I am not speaking for myself alone. I am but one of a multitude.
The Book of Revelation speaks of a great multitude arrayed in white, that had come through Great Tribulation. We, too,
have come through a Great Tribulation, but alas! our
garments are no longer white. They are in rags and tatters; and the colours they once had have been laundered out by the pressure of
events.
The
sense in which I use the term rationalist
will, I trust, become clear in the course of my narrative. The term Liberal (in its religious rather than political connotation)
would do almost as well. In common with thousands of my generation, I drank
deep of the wells of Liberal thought in politics, religion and philosophy. I
accepted without question the assumption of Liberalism and Rationalism about
human nature. I accepted without question the belief in the self-sufficient
power of reason, the belief in the power of man, by education and organization,
to create a just and ideal world.
I
equated sin to ignorance. Given more enlightenment, man would create the world
of his dreams. Mr. H. G. Wells was one of my major prophets. The
To
begin with, the events of post-war
We
are witnessing the rise of slave States.
In 1933 Mein Kampf seemed
the ravings of a lunatic, but they are gradually being translated into fact.
To-day, the world triumph of Fascism is a satanic possibility. Who would have
believed, even in 1933, that we should live to see, in
the heart of
One
effect of this is the incredible degeneration that has taken place in
international relations. Symptomatic is the disappearance of the courtesies of
pre-war-diplomacy. The appalling vulgarity and boasting of the Dictators
poisons international communications. The whole process of internationalism has been reversed. In his speech to the Reichstag of January 30, Hitler
screamed, We dont want Humanity. (For some
curious reason that was not reported.)
These
events and tendencies have compelled me to recognize that there must be
something fundamentally evil in the heart of man, which cannot
be exorcised by sweet reason and education. Intimations of God and
Immortality are not the only things that lie in the depths of the modern mans
Unconscious. Indeed, the whole of post-war
Now
all these reflections have compelled me to reconsider the whole of history with
a new penetration - a consideration which deepens and
intensifies the pessimism induced by our contemporary world. One fact emerges clearly: History records
no progressive diminution of injustice, but simply a change in its
forms. Instead of the chattel-slavery of the
ancient world we have to-day wage-slavery. Instead of
the medieval superstitions of witchcraft we have the
superstition of racialism and nationalism. The gains of civilization are nearly
all neutralized by a parallel loss. The cause of all this
lies in the human heart and will. Where else can it lie? The Marxian
contention that by the ending of class-civilization man will cease to exploit
his fellows is altogether too naive.
So
I am driven to the grim conclusion that mankind is
doomed, historically, to perpetual injustice. Its forms may vary, but its
substance will remain. There is no escape for man, within history, from the
nemesis of his own will to power. Such a conclusion, if it is final, dries up
every source of inspiration and paralyzes the will to act. And
it is in the attempt to escape such a consequence that I am driven to religion,
to Christianity in its severest and most orthodox form, a process which I can
only barely indicate.
If
I have understood it aright, I am simply repeating the classical experience of
all Christian conversion in every age, the essence of which is this: that when
one comes up against a situation completely beyond ones own power or capacity,
one turns to religion. Religion becomes real in a state of final desperation.
Ones trust in ones will to power must somehow be broken before religion
becomes inevitable. As I have already endeavoured to describe - all too briefly
and imperfectly - that is the position into which a rational Liberalism has
landed me.
The
facts of History begin to acquire an altogether different significance once one
begins to see that they are part of a process whose fulfilment lies beyond the
sphere of History itself. Though History
cannot possibly fulfil its own promise of an Ideal Community, it can prepare
the preliminary conditions to its fulfilment.
The Ideal Community, what Jesus called the
This
faith, I discover, makes it possible for me to be a realist in relation to the
facts of History, of the contemporary world, and of human nature without
becoming either pessimistic or cynical.
Without deceiving myself about historic possibilities, I nevertheless
can co-operate with others in the struggle for further progress. And above all, in a
day of mounting tragedy, and triumphant reaction, this faith gives me a quiet
security and confidence that the ultimate decision in human affairs does not
lie within the power of men, be they ever so powerful, but in the hands of a
God whom Christianity has taught is a Creator, Judge, and Saviour.
-------
GOD CALLING
Harden not thine heart, O sinner,
Jesus still is calling thee,
Calling thee from earths destruction
Tarry not, rise up and flee
From the awful wrath of God,
From the smiting of His rod.
Still the voice of mercy pleading,
Spirit striving with thy sin;
Heart of adamant, cold and friendless,
Let the dew of heaven in;
Blood on
Ransom for thy dreadful guilt.
- KETTIE K.
PAYNE
* *
* *
* * *
347
PERSECUTION ON THE HORIZON
By BERNARD MANNING,
Fellow of
Prophecy is a revolving
searchlight that puts us on our guard against foes lurking in the shadows, otherwise
invisible except to the shrewdest eyes. Mr. Bernard Manning, addressing the
Protestant Dissenting Deputies of the Three Denominations (Baptist,
Congregational and Presbyterian), unmasks a peril of coming persecution in
* The Scientific
Outlook, p. 241.
-------
Our Three Denominations to-day are
more than tolerated. We have not merely
the right to worship according to our conscience: we own, as independent corporations,
a very considerable amount of property. We are able to influence public opinion
by any kind of social and educational service we like; that is to say, we may
give our strictly religious opinions the most favourable background and
attractive setting according as we are trying to influence children, boys in
their teens, mothers, clubbable men, and so on. In such protection as the law
affords to Sunday observance, to Christian ideas of marriage and morals, to
religion as a part of education; we, not less than the
Anglicans, are, socially and educationally, most happily placed.
There
is no reason to think these fortunate arrangements eternal or even durable.
There is much to be said for the opinion that the
happy position of our religious bodies, this independence of the State, this
semi-established position, was a temporary product of the nineteenth century
and must soon pass away. The nineteenth century, you remember; did not believe
much in State activities of any kind. It took State action only when absolutely necessary. The Free Church in the
In
the last twenty-five years men have become gradually
more aware of the possibility of manufacturing public opinion in the mass. By
the Press, by the wireless, by education you can produce any desired opinion.
We have not begun to do it seriously in this country. Every one in
There
is abroad, especially among us Free Churchmen, a mischievous notion that truth cannot be suppressed, that good causes must flourish under
persecution, that the blood of the martyrs is always the seed of the Church. It
may be true that in the long run, taking the world as
a whole, it is impossible ultimately to suppress truth. It may be true that
under a little persecution badly applied the blood of martyrs may become the
seed of the Church. But it is not a general rule.
There are plenty of examples to the contrary. In
Granted
then that opinion even in
First, Roman
Catholicism. Now I yield to no
one in my dislike of, and contempt for, a certain type of so-called Protestant
propaganda. But the Roman danger is real - Democratic institutions like ours give
enormous power to a well-organized block-vote under effective control, as the
Roman vote is. The recent education scuffles showed that Labour is even less
able than the other parties to ignore the crack of the
Roman whip. In some parts of
The factors of birth-control, mixed marriage, social
prestige the exclusion of Protestants from employment by public bodies as an
insult to the conscience of the Roman Catholic majority: by such means Reformed
religion is suffocated; and the whole trend of the modern state and its control
over opinion will make it increasingly easy for such a majority once in the
saddle to perpetuate itself.
The
second force in public life militating against the present favourable
conditions for Reformed religion is Communism. I am not thinking of Communism as an economic
system. But I now refer to Communism as a definitely
anti-Christian party. You may smile at the tiny number of votes cast for
Communism at the general election: I only ask you to compare them with the
number cast for Labour a generation ago. Not every minority, I know, becomes a
majority: but you must not underrate a minority merely because it is small. The
point is that you now have in
The
main reason why we ought to oppose the growth of Roman influence in public life
is not for its own sake. I have no fear of Roman Catholics making the whole of
our people Roman Catholic. What they can do here is what they have done
everywhere else; they can make half the people Roman Catholic and half
anti-Christian. By destroying Evangelical religion here
they can give our people, as they give people on the Continent, no choice but
clerical religion and anti-clerical materialism.
Christian
ethics is in certain fundamental respects opposed to the scientific ethic which is gradually growing up. Christianity emphasizes
the importance of the individual soul, and is not prepared to sanction the
sacrifice of an innocent man for the sake of some ulterior good to the
majority. The new ethic which is gradually up-growing
in connection with scientific technique will have its eye upon society rather
than upon the individual. It will have little use for the superstition of guilt
and punishment, but will be prepared to make individuals suffer for the public
good without inventing reasons purporting to shew that they deserve to suffer.
In this sense it will be ruthless, and according to traditional ideas immoral,
but the change will have come about naturally through the habit of viewing
society as a whole rather than as a collection of individuals. We view a human
body as a whole, and if, for example, it is necessary to amputate a limb we do
not consider it necessary to prove first that the limb is wicked. We consider
the good of the whole body a quite sufficient
argument. Similarly the man who thinks of society as a
whole will sacrifice a member of society for the good of the whole, without
much consideration for the individuals welfare. - BERTRAND RUSSELL.
*
* * *
* * *
348
THE JEWISH REMNANT
By Benjamin
Wills
(This article was
originally published as the second part of No 18 (now out of print) in
the Time of
the End series of booklets.
It was compiled from notes of a message given
by Mr Newton. The former part of the
whole article - entitled The Christian Remnant - was included in the
previous issue of Watching and Waiting).
At the time that
Jewish worship in much outward acknowledgement of Jehovah will be
re-established at Jerusalem; and when many a Jew, like Paul before his
conversion, will stand in advantageous contrast to the blaspheming infidel who
follows in the train of Antichrist, it might be deemed by many, that God would recognise
at such a season even this Jewish acknowledgement of His Name. But no! The
word still remains If
ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in
your sins (John 8: 24), and though many will be bowed and cry
in agony (see certain psalms), yet they will never be owned as His until they
have looked in contrition upon Him Whom they pierced; and this will only be
when He appears for their national deliverance.
The
means whereby they are humbled and finally brought into millennial blessing and
the contrast between their history and that of the Christian
remnant is clearly defined; as, when they are planted in the earth, the
Christian remnant will stand upon the sea of glass; for they who suffer
with Him shall reign with Him (2 Timothy 2:12).
That
there should be a spared remnant among
Israel, preserved through the fires of the Day of the Lords appearing but who
will not acknowledge Him until then, is necessary to the order which God has
been pleased to prescribe to Himself in his dealings. They are intended to be
the nucleus of Millennial Israel in the earth, and will be preserved from
worshipping Antichrist or they could never be forgiven (Revelation 14: 11). They must therefore have an intermediate
standing. Not antichristian, or they would be consumed.
Not [overcoming]* Christian, for they would be reigning with Jesus. Whereas they are destined, after
having passed through the fires, to be Gods witnesses in the earth, to blossom and bud, and to fill the face
of the world with fruit (Isaiah 27: 6).
Zechariah 13: 9 and 12: 9-10 show,
that having rejected testimony during the acceptable time
they are left to the refining of the fire, and will not believe until the day of visitation.
[*See
Luke 22: 28-30; Rev. 2: 26; 3: 21; 20: 4-6. cf. Heb. 10: 35-39; James 1: 12; 1 Thess. 2: 12; 2 Thess. 1: 4b, 5.]
Again,
it must be remembered that it will be in their
national character as Jews that this remnant will believe. At present, when a Jew believes, he is added
to the heavenly Body where there is neither Jew nor Greek; his citizenship being heavenly only.* This remnant on the
contrary, will never believe except nationally; and as a believing nation will
be accepted and owned. Accordingly in Isaiah 66, they are spoken
of as a nation
born at once, and are mentioned
as trembling and bruised in heart and therefore despised by their
self-righteous brethren (verse 5), but not
comforted until the Lord come. Their condition is one of darkness and bitter
anguish up till then.
[* NOTE: Only the resurrected saint, with an immortal
and glorified body, will be equal unto the angels (Luke 20: 36. R.V.), and
therefore ascend into the heavenly sphere of the Messiahs millennial kingdom:
but that distinction will not prevent them from enjoying their inheritance in
the Land (Acts 7: 4, 5, R.V.) also, with resurrected Abraham! (Rev. 2:
25-27,
R.V.).]
Yet
it must not be understood that God will bring no power
to bear upon their souls before. Many have been conscious of a subduing power
keeping conscience in the fear and reverence of God and His Word, long before
they have apprehended the ways of His grace in forgiveness through the Blood of
Jesus. Such will peculiarly be the case with the remnant of
Accordingly
in those Scriptures which describe the experience of that remnant during the time of their sorrow when brought low, we
find expressions of righteous indignation at the abounding blasphemies and also
of deep distress and anguish, but no thought of fellowship with Jesus! Their
lamentations refer partly to the outward dealings of God in the circumstance of
Israels desolation - by which they are perplexed, as not knowing what the end
will be - and partly to their own dark and mournful condition, in which they
recognise the wrath and indignation of the Lord (Psalm 89:
38; 74: 1;
79: 5). In this, they stand in marked contrast to the
Christian remnant; for, while saying, We see not our signs, etc,
they find in those self-same events the very signs and landmarks of their
certain way - the indication that their redemption draweth nigh.
At the very moment when this poor ignorant Jewish
remnant (though beloved for their fathers sake) are using the words of Isaiah 59: 9-11 and Lamentations
5 - we walk in
darkness, etc, - the Christian
remnant will be walking in the very noontide light of the prophecy of Him Who
has made them understanding
ones and taught them to lift up their heads, for the time of their redemption draweth nigh.
But it is not only in their estimate of the external
circumstances that there is a contrast, but also in the character of the
sufferings through which they pass and their experiences in them; accordingly
in Isaiah, Psalms,
etc. we find the distinction clearly marked between those who suffer under the
rebuke of God for their iniquities and those who suffer for righteousness
sake, in conscious fellowship of spirit with God.
Some of the psalms
in their primary interpretation belong to the Lord Jesus only, but they have a
secondary application to all who suffer, not indeed for the same end as the
Lord - Atonement - but who nevertheless suffer
for righteousness sake - Herod, Pontius Pilate and the Gentiles being
specially marked in Scripture as types of the Antichristian confederacy of the
latter day (Acts 4:
25-27). Such psalms
would be vain and idle words in the lips of the Jewish
remnant.
They
do not suffer as Christians. Their most advanced state will be one of waiting
for mercies to be shown them when the Lord comes, not of rejoicing in those already
received. This distinguishes psalms which belong to Christians from
those belonging to the remnant of
It
may be asked, Do these two
remnants co-exist in
During
this season Christians remain in
Whenever
the crafty power of Satan has succeeded in bringing the nation close up to the
point of apostasy which, when once reached, renders forgiveness hopeless (Revelation 14: 9-11), then the power of God will certainly be put
forth in restraining those whom it is His sovereign purpose to save. Their consciences may revolt at the
abominations and their hearts sicken at the trampling down of
But there
will be another kind of instrumentality God will use - the sackcloth testimony of the two witnesses (Revelation 11: 3). Testimony to grace will leave
Their
relation to the apostasy will be like Elijah against Ahab and Moses against Pharaoh:
both
Yet
this doubtless, will be in the Lords hands the great instrumental means
whereby He subdues and makes ready a people who will tremble at His Word;
humble themselves and cry unto Him: and thus be prepared for Him when He
cometh. They must cry and that by
affliction, before He will consent to hearken, for it is only when He sees
their power is gone, and they plead Spare Thy people and give not Thine heritage to reproach
that He will pity and have mercy on
them. Then and not till
then will He pour upon them the spirit of grace and supplication, and cause
them to trust in the Name of the Lord.
The
ministry of John the Baptist made ready a people prepared for the Lord; but his
disciples, though taught to respect the Messiah, were not
avowedly placed under the shelter of His grace until He Himself came and
received them. So again will it be with
the remnant of
*
* * *
* * *
349
THE PHILISTINES
By DAVID
RICHARDSON
The history of the Philistines occupies considerable
space in the records of Scripture, the reason doubtless being that there are
details to which the Spirit of God would invite our attention. The Philistines were descendants of Ham
through Migraim and Casluhim (Gen. 10: 14), but not nations of
The
Philistines occupied a small strip of country on the south-west border of
* Probably not one and the same
person, as the name Abimilech is used in a similar way to the name Pharaoh.
The
Philistines come into greater prominence when Israel enters into the possession
of Canaan, and they were amongst those who were not driven out but were left to
prove the descendants of the chosen people who had not known all the wars of
Canaan (Judges 3: 1).
The
lengthy details which are given concerning Samson and the
Philistines suggest that the Spirit of God has much to unfold to those
who are willing to pay attention to them. We are all slow learners and most of
us know by experience that we can only attain spiritual knowledge by growth,
and the moral history of Samson has much to teach us if we diligently seek the
Truth. The plain teaching is, we think, that the Philistines are diligently
seeking to ascertain the secret of our power that they may dispossess us of it.
The history of Samson shows what devices
the Philistines resorted to in order to nullify the exceptional physical powers which the Lord had given to Samson. The
Philistines are set to destroy the
special powers any servant of God may have, as those gifts are
used of God for the enemies discomfiture. Each saint of God has some peculiar gift
because he is not exactly like any other saint, and it is this individual character which the
Philistine seeks to know that he may destroy if possible. There is much in the life of Samson which is
hard to understand, but it surely shows that if any man upon whom the power of
God may come in a very marked and distinctive way follows a course
which is subversive to the exercise of it, then the end is the same
morally as that reached by Samson. The Philistines at last discovered the
strong mans secret, and they cut off his hair, put out his eyes, and tortured
him in the prison house. The secret of
the Lord is with them that fear Him, and it should
be our daily concern to keep that secret, knowing that if the subtle foe discovers covers it and dispossess us of it, our end
will be that our eyes will be put out and the moral torture of the prison house
will be ours also.
The Philistines later
captured the ark
of God, and Scripture furnishes
us with remarkable details of its subsequent history. This seems to indicate the
nearness with which the Philistine enemy is associated with that which stood as
the solemn and sacred symbol of Jehovah.
Sore judgment fell upon the Philistines whilst the
The trespass offering made by the Philistines of the
golden emerods and the golden mice which mar the land (see 1 Sam. 6.) would evidently teach us that religious men
have no conception of what is due to God from them as sinners; as the emerods
spoke of Gods chastising visitation, and the mice which marred the land as
that which destroyed the bread of man.
How
instructive is 1 Samuel 7., in which we see that in the
days of Samuel, when the Philistines were sorely pressing the children of
The later history still of the Philistines records
their slaying Saul, the anointed of the Lord, and Jonathan his son, which drew
forth the poetic lament of David - How are the mighty fallen ...
for there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away. Yes, truly, and how many since have fallen
morally upon Mount Gilboah, slain by the same enemy
into whose hands they have been permitted to fan because, like Saul, they have done foolishly
and have not kept the commandment of the Lord their God. In
their fall, alas, they have, like Saul, caused the
death of a Jonathan and many others who were in the line of battle. He that hath
ears to hear let him hear.
David finally subdued the Philistines by defeating their champion, Goliath, the
details of which we hope to study separately; but they come again into the land
after David had passed away.
Prophetically the Philistines come under review (Jer. 47.; Ezek. 25: 15-17), and like
all the enemies of God and His people, they historically perish. There
may possibly yet remain a revival of the Philistine as Scripture sets him forth
in a figurative way; and as his historical details were written aforetime for
our learning, we should pay careful heed to his characteristics that we may be
overcomers of a foe which is permitted in the land. Thank
God, he will be finally cast out when the Lord shakes
not the earth only but heaven also.
* *
* * *
* *
350
HADES
By PHILIP SCHAFF, D.D.
Notwithstanding the amount of distinct revelation, the
whole subject of Hades is obscured to the reader of the
English Version of the Bible by the erroneous rendering of the Hebrew term Sheol and its Greek equivalent Hades. These words which in the
original Scriptures have a fixed and definite meaning, indicating a place in
the Unseen World distinct from both Heaven and Hell [i.e., the lake of fire. R.V.] (regarded as the place of
final punishment), are constantly rendered by either grave or Hell. By this
mistranslation an idea proper to the Word of God is completely blotted out from
the English Version; and, not only so, but the texts which present that idea
are distributed amongst those which set forth two entirely distinct ideas -
thus obscuring the teachings of Scripture concerning both the grave and Hell. But the obscuring and
confusing influence of this erroneous translation does not terminate upon those
who study only the English Version. The first and most enduring conceptions of
the doctrines of Scripture are derived from the
Version we read in childhood - conceptions which, even when false, subsequent
study often fails to eradicate. And beyond this, every
Version, especially the one in common use, is, to a certain extent, a
Commentary, and as such exerts a powerful influence over the minds of students
of the original Scriptures. Had the word Hades been
reproduced in our Version, much of the confusion that now embarrasses
this subject could never have found existence.
As
to the mode of the investigation conducted in this study, all the passages in
which Hades occurs were tabulated and compared together with the view of
determining whether, consistently with the contextual requirements of each,
some uniform meaning might not be given to the term.
The experiment was successful beyond most sanguine expectation. It resulted in
the conviction that by Hades is designated - (1) not the grave; (2) not Hell [i.e., the lake of fire. R.V.]; (3) not
the Unseen World, including Heaven and Hell; (4) not the state of death: (5)
but - (a) a Place in the Unseen
World distinct from both Heaven and Hell; (b)
having two compartments - one of comfort, the other of misery.
Hades
is spoken of with expressions of comparison utterly
inconsistent with the idea of the
literal grave. Thus we read of - The lowest Hades (Deut. 32: 22; Ps. 86: 13); the depths of Hades (Prov.
9: 18); the midst of Hades (Ezek. 32: 21). It is
in two instances clearly distinguished from the grave. In Gen. 37: 35, where it first appears in the Bible, Jacob
declares - I
will go
down into Hades unto my son;
but from verse 33 we learn that the
Patriarch was under the impression that Joseph had not, and could not have, a
grave; he is there represented as exclaiming, An evil beast hath devoured him. And in Isaiah 14: 15
it is declared that Lucifer shall be brought down to
Hades, who, verse 29, is represented
as being cast
out of his grave. It is used in
antithesis with Heaven under circumstances which show
that the literal grave cannot be intended. It is as high as Heaven, what
canst thou do? deeper than Hades, what canst thou
know? (Job
11: 8). If I ascend up into Heaven,
thou art there; if I
make my bed in Hades, behold, thou art there
(Ps. 139:
8). Though they dig into Hades, thence
shall mine hand take them: though they climb up
to Heaven, thence will I bring them down (Amos 9: 2).
The
New Testament idea of Hades as distinct from the grave may be most clearly
perceived in the declaration concerning Dives in Luke
16: 23; and in the didactic teaching
of the Apostle Peter (Acts 2: 27-31) concerning
the soul of Jesus between His death and His resurrection.
The Apostle, manifestly, spoke of both the body and the soul of our Lord
(compare verses 27 and 31, asserting that the former did not see
corruption (although it was placed in a sepulchre) and that the latter was not
left in Hades - implying, of course, that it went to Hades. Unless we adopt the conclusion that the soul sleeps with the dead body
in the tomb - in the face of the manifest implications of the Apostle and the
whole tenor of the Word of God - Hades must be distinct from the tomb.
The underlying thought in the Lords narrative of
Dives seems to be that Hades is a world to which the spirits [i.e., the disembodied souls, as distinct from
the animating
spirit, which returns to God at the time of Death] - of all the dead are consigned, having two compartments - one of
comfort, and the other of misery - separated by an impassable gulf or chasm,
but within speaking distance of each other. That our Lord
did not intend to represent Lazarus as in Heaven seems to be evident. The place of his abode is not styled Heaven, but Abrahams bosom*;
he is not represented as being carried up to it (the general form of expression
when Heaven is the terminus), he is simply carried; it is within speaking distance
of Dives, being separated from him only by a chasm - but Heaven and Hades are represented as being poles apart: It is as high as Heaven
deeper than Hades
(Job 11: 8);
its central figure is not God, but Abraham; God is not there in His
glory, nor angels save as ministers of transportation; it is not represented as
a place of perfect bliss - Lazarus is merely comforted - a term never used in descriptions of the blessedness of Heaven. The hypothesis that Jesus contemplated Lazarus as in Hades not only
gives force and consistency to the whole narrative, but is directly in
accordance with the natural interpretation of the brief and scattered teachings
of the Old Testament concerning the abode of the righteous dead.
* The narrative itself suggests the idea that the phrase Abrahams Bosom might have been a Jewish name for the
place of departed spirits; and so Josephus asserts.
It
is a well known fact that there are two words in the
Greek Testament which in the English Version are rendered Hell - Hades and Gehenna. Our Lord is represented as employing the former of these only three
times - in reference to the humiliation of Capernaum (Matt.
11: 23; Luke 10: 15);
to the deliverance of the Church from its power (Matt.
16: 18);
and to the imprisonment of the disembodied spirit [soul] of Dives (Luke 16:
23). When he uttered His fearful
threatenings concerning the casting of both body and soul into Hell, into
unquenchable fire, the term employed by him was Gehenna; see Matt.
5: 22, 29, 30; 10: 28; 18: 9; 23: 15, 33; Mark 9: 43-47; Luke 12: 5.
Directly
in line with the teachings thus developed are those of the Apostles. Peter and
Jude (2 Pet. 2:
4; Jude 6.)
agree in declaring that the angels who kept not their first estate are reserved in everlasting
chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Are they not in the pit of the abyss (with the
exception of those permitted for a season to come forth with their leader),
reserved for that awful day when, with Satan, they shall be cast into that everlasting fire prepared for
the Devil and his angels? The everlasting destruction threatened in 2 Thess. 1: 9, is to be inflicted after Jesus has come in
flaming fire taking vengeance - after His advent for judgment. Until that time
also, when the
Lord cometh with ten thousand of His saints to execute judgment upon all, is reserved the blackness of darkness forever which the Apostle Jude teaches us is reserved for the
ungodly, Jude 11-15.
That the ungodly are in Hades all admit, but they are not yet in their place of
final and everlasting punishment - they are not yet in Hell - [i.e.,
until after their resurrection from Hades: and cast into the lake of fire, (Rev.
20: 13, 15, R.V.].
The
Hades of the good is not Heaven. This is evident from the following
considerations:
(1) God, angels, Jesus Christ (save
during the time between His death and resurrection), are never represented as abiding
therein. This is scarce explicable on the hypothesis that Hades is a general
term for the Unseen World. It may be said, however,
that the term is employed only in reference to the spirits of deceased men.
This answer, it will be observed, exceedingly limits
the hypothesis we are considering.
(2) Hades,
as an entirety, is distinguished from Heaven. This is done
in two distinct modes. (a) By being
placed in antithesis therewith, as in Job 11:
8 - It is as high as Heaven, what
canst thou do? deeper than Hades; what canst thou
know? See also Ps. 139: 8; Amos 9: 2. (b) By being localized
as beneath the surface of the earth. Thus it is described by the synonym nether parts of the earth; and approach to it is universally described as a descent -
thus (Num. 16:
33) Korah and his company are described as
going down alive into Hades [= Heb. Sheol] through the opening earth.
(3) Not only is the idea of situation
beneath the earth presented when the wicked are spoken of, but also when the entrance
thereinto of the righteous is described. Not only is it declared that Korah and
his company went down alive into (the pit) Hades; but, also, Jacob
exclaimed (Gen. 37:
35), - I will go down into Hades unto my son... Not only did Saul ask the witch of Endor to bring
up Samuel (1 Sam. 28: 8), thus testifying to the popular belief as to
the descent of the spirits [or
disembodied souls] of the good; and not only
did the terrified woman exclaim (verse 13) I saw gods ascending out of the earth, but
the spirit of Samuel (unquestionably his spirit, raised, not by the
incantations of the woman, but by the power of God) is represented as saying to
the King (verse ) Why
hast thou disquieted me to bring me up?
Of Elijah [and Enoch] alone of all the Old Testament saints is it said that
he ascended, and of him
alone it is said that he went into Heaven. Unquestionably
the idea of the Hades of the good presented in the Old Testament, is that of a
subterranean place distinct from Heaven. In strict accordance
with the usus loquendi of the
Old Testament, our Lord when he referred to His own abiding in Hades spoke of
it as remaining three
days and nights in the heart of the earth (Matt.
12: 40);
and the Apostle Paul in referring to the same event (Eph.
4: 9)
wrote of Jesus as descending
into the lower parts of the earth
- a well established Old Testament synonym for Hades.
The
real grounds of the opinion that Hades is a state, and not a place, are, as it seems to the writer, philosophical
and theological, and not exegetical. There are those whose psychological views
cause them to shrink from any localization of a pure spirit, and who,
therefore, affirm that Hades must indicate a state. The same views, it may be
remarked, should lead, and in many cases do lead, to the affirmation that the
terms Heaven and Hell are indicative, not of places, but of mere conditions of
the soul. Another ground is what may be styled the pseudo-scientific. It seems
plain that if the language of Scripture is to be interpreted
normally, the location of Hades is in the heart of the earth. There are many
who shrink from this opinion as though it must
be false. Why,
false? If Hades be a place, it must be somewhere; and if
somewhere, why not in the centre of the Earth as well as elsewhere? True
Science, which confesses its ignorance concerning the internal condition of our
globe, can, on this ,question, neither affirm nor
deny.
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