The PARABLES and PROPHECIES of CHRIST EXPLAINED*
[* NOTE:
Only TEN Parables are
selected from amongst the TWENTY-NINE
expounded:]
By J. R. GRAVES
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[Page 7]
PREFACE
THESE Expositions are eminently providential. Had their author not been
stricken down by a severe and protracted affliction,* they doubtless would never have been written. They were mainly thought out to beguile the long, weary months the
Author was confined to his bed, the Scriptures being read to him by some member
of his family. They were written out for his
paper in the brief intervals he was able to sit by a table and use a pencil.
They are offered to the public in this more permanent form at the urgent
request of his patrons and many friends who had read them in the paper, whose
kind partiality he fears has too willingly condoned
their many imperfections.
* He received a stroke of paralysis while preaching in the
The Authors reasons for Expositions of our Lords Parables so
variant, in so many particulars, from the many already before the public, are
fully set forth in the introductory chapter, and if they are not considered
satisfactory he can only cast himself upon the leniency of his judges - his
readers.
He can truly say these years were spent in Beulah, in almost
unalloyed spiritual enjoyment of the full assurance of hope, while he rested on the sunlit river of death for the
hourly expected summons to pass over.
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[Page
9]
CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTORY
THE SCHEME
OF
CHRISTS
PARABOLIC TEACHINGS
FROM a careful study of the parabolic
and prophetic teachings of Christ, I am convinced that He designed to unfold to
the understanding of His disciples the whole scheme of His redemption, from its
inception onward through all its progressive stages and its mysteries (Mark 4: 11), as connected with His visible [millennial] kingdom of heaven on earth, until its glorious consummation at
the end of the age.
We would therefore naturally expect to meet with a parable
introductory of all that are to follow, revealing to His disciples how evil was
introduced into the world, through the baneful influences of which, His
original design in creating the world and the human race seems to have been thwarted, and universal ruin and wreck following
as a natural consequence. Following this revelation we
would naturally look for parables illustrating His redemptive work in seeking
the recovery of a lost world and a
lost race - the comprehensiveness of
His redeeming work - whether it [Page 10] extended to one race
or nation or embracing all races and all nations. If the malignant
opposition of Satan is to be continued until the end
of the Gospel Ages to obstruct the progress of this merciful work, we should
expect that the character of his subtle machinations and the extent of them would be also illustrated
in His parabolic teachings.
And, then, the Jewish nation, having been for four thousand
years Gods peculiar people, the possessors of all the [divine] covenants and the promises, we should
expect He would instruct His disciples the attitude this ancient people would
assume towards the newly-organized kingdom of Christ and His purposes with
reference to them.
If this is a correct scheme of
Christs parabolic teachings, it certainly would not be complete without a full
development of His final dealings with His friends and His foes - the ultimate
rewards of the one and the destiny of the other party, and the ultimate destiny
of this once fair and beautiful, but now wrecked and ruined, earth.
Now, all these features of His gracious work in connection
with His earthly kingdom are fully illustrated by the
parables and prophecies he delivered to His disciples; and, as we have no
certain clue to the order in which
He delivered them, I shall explain them topically, classifying them in the
order indicated above.
Remarks on Parabolic
Interpretation
Many readers stumble at the opening
comparisons of the parables, under the impression that they must find a
likeness in the
kingdom of heaven to the
[Page 11] first person or object mentioned in the parable, while in most cases there
is no comparison intended; but we must seek the proper likeness between the principal features of the parable and one or
more of the particular phases in the administration of the kingdom of heaven,
and sometimes the likeness is to be sought between the administration of the
kingdom and the whole parable. I submit the remarks of Dr. Broadus
in his comments on The Net:
The opening verbal comparison of the
several parables is not uniform and essential to the meaning, but incidental
and varying. In Matt. 5: 5, the kingdom of heaven is like a man seeking pearls, but in
verse 44 it is compared not to the finder, but to the thing found. In verse 24 it is like the
owner of a field, i.e. the Messiah (v. 37), but in verse 47 it is compared
not to the owner of the net, but to the net. So, in 22: 2, the kingdom of heaven
is likened to the king, who gave a marriage feast for his son, but in verse 25 it is likened
not to the bridegroom, but to the virgins who desired to attend the feast. These
and other examples show that our Lord does not in each case carefully assert a
special relation between the Messianic reign and this or that particular object
in the parable, but means to say that something is true of the Messianic reign
which resembles the case in the parable; and, instead of speaking in vague
terms of general comparison (as in 25: 14), He often sets out by saying that the kingdom
of heaven is like some leading person or object of the story, or some feature
that readily presents itself at the beginning. (Comp. Matt. 11: 16.) In this parable (i.e. of The Net), then, we are not at
liberty to lay any stress upon the comparison of the kingdom of heaven to the net itself. The comparison is to the whole
story, and its particular point
is given by our Lord himself in verse 49.- Commentary on Matthew.
[Page 12]
The author, after more than three years of patient study of the
prophetic Scriptures since writing The Seven
Dispensations, has modified his views set forth in that work touching
two questions, viz.: 1. Will all Christians of all ages compose the Bride of Christ? and
(2) will all Christians at the advent of Christ be caught away to meet Him in
the air? He is now
thoroughly satisfied that these questions should be answered in the negative, and his reasons will be apparent to all who examine his
expositions of The Virgins, The Talents, and The Pounds. It has
been said, A wise man by investigation
sometimes changes his opinion, but a fool never.
If this production of a mind impaired
and a body enfeebled by disease, and prepared for the press in the midst of
pains and great weariness of the flesh, should prove acceptable to his
brethren, stimulating them in studying and aiding them in the better
understanding of the parabolic teachings of Christ, and in any respect
contribute to prepare them for His glorious appearing, the author will feel
that two years of his life of confinement have not been passed in vain.
SOME REASONS FOR OFFERING THESE NEW
EXPOSITIONS
OF THE PARABLES OF CHRIST TO THE
PUBLIC
It is my conviction that no part of the word of God, unless it be the
prophecies, has been more
generally misinterpreted by
commentators, and therefore misunderstood
by the people, than the parables
of Christ. Most of them have been interpreted, by even
Calvinistic writers, to teach that salvation, or the kingdom of [Page
13] heaven and its righteousness, can and must be purchased by the personal merits or
endeavours of the sinner himself. Examine the current expositions of
the Hid Treasure, of the Costly Pearl, and The
Labourers, etc. We are told that the treasure, as well as the pearl, is salvation, or the blessings connected with the
kingdom of heaven; and the sinner must not only diligently seek to find, but to sell
all and PURCHASE it. So, by the Parable of the Vineyard
Labourers, we are taught that sinners, some young, some old, enter the
vineyard - the service of God - and all work
for the same reward, i.e. salvation, as the price of their work! Take
even Christs statement in Matt. 11: 12. It is universally
interpreted as teaching that the sinner can and must obtain the blessings of the kingdom of heaven as
the result or reward of his own intense
personal exertions; while everywhere in Gods word it is taught and
emphasized that it is Christ himself who came to seek and to save the lost, and
that salvation is of Gods free grace through Christ, and that not of works, lest any man should boast.
Certainly all Christians who believe that salvation is by
grace, without works or deeds of law, will agree with me that such
interpretations are exceedingly pernicious, because subversive of the fundamental principles of Christianity, and lead the sinner away from instead
of to Christ. It
is a constant and surpassing wonder that Calvinistic expositors construe so
many of the parables to the support of Arminianism, and make them teach that a
child of God may, by an act of simple improvidence (as in the case of the improvident virgins), or slothfulness
(as in the [Page 14] case of the slothful servant, in the Parable
of the Talents and the Pounds), be finally lost.
I think Christ designed to teach and illustrate by His
parables the great fundamental facts that underlie the covenant of redemption,
and His dispensational work in the administration of His government, and His
dealings with sin, until He has consummated His work in righteousness at the
end of the coming or Millennial Age.
While some of His parables had, without doubt, application to
His hearers, and were spoken for their personal
instruction in righteousness, yet we know the principal ones were pregnant with
the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven for
the instruction of His disciples, and all who, with honesty of heart, desired
to be instructed. Christ himself declared this:
He answered and said unto them,
Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but
to them it is not given. - Matt. 13: 11.
And one of the greatest mysteries of the administration of the
How that by
revelation He made known unto me the
mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) which in other ages
was not made known unto the sons of men as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles, that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and
partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel. - Eph. 3: 3.
From this standpoint, we see the
introduction of sin [Page 15] into the world, and the world lost through sin, and Christs long forbearance with a race of
sinners, illustrated by the Parable of the Tares; and from it we learn that
sinners will abound in the earth, and oppress the good until the day of
judgment, when they will be judged, and the earth purged of them and made the
glorious abode of the righteous only.
In the Parables of the Wandering Sheep and the Lost Coin we see illustrated Gods love, not only for a lost
sinner, and the lost of the house of Israel, but for a lost world, and the amazing, self-sacrificing, seeking love of Christ in leaving all that He might seek and save it, and return it in sweet
subjection to the possession and government of the Father. (See 1 Cor. 15:
24-29) And in the
Parables of the Hid Treasure and the Costly Pearl, what it cost Him to purchase the salvation of His people, and the
redemption of a lost world.
In the Parable of the Labourers we
are taught the sovereignty of God, coupled with His goodness, in calling the nations by His gospel, at different
periods, to enter His service, in connection with the Jews. And we also see in this, as in the Parable of the Prodigal Son,
the deep-seated prejudice and envy of the Jews in seeing Gods favour extended
to the Gentiles as well as to themselves. Our readers are aware that this
parable is universally interpreted to illustrate
either the conversion of a profligate sinner, or the restoration of a backslidden Christian to the divine favour. But the trouble has ever been to say whom the elder brother
represented; for he is and ever will be quite as important a personage as the
younger son. Christians rejoice with exceeding great joy when they witness [Page 16] the conversion of a sinner, however old he may be, or however
wicked he may have been; and equally so in witnessing the restoration of a backslidden Christian. Neither of these
interpretations will do.
From the Parable of the Hidden Leaven
we see the disastrous effect of the introduction of false teachings into the
doctrine of Christ, which is the bread of life, or into a
That the Parables of the Rented Vineyard (Matt. 21:
33), the Great Supper (Luke 16: 16), the Barren Tree and the Cursed Fig
Tree, generally interpreted as applicable to sinners or barren Christians, will
be found to refer solely to the Jewish nation, and Gods dealings with it. The
Pharisees saw and felt their force when Christ delivered them, and yet these
have been and indeed are generally applied to
individual sinners!
I have intimated enough to convince the intelligent reader
that the parables of Christ demand new and different interpretations, if it is
necessary that their teachings should accord with the other plain and
unfigurative teachings of Christ.
[Page 17]
The candid reader will agree with me that the parables of
Christ, if rightly interpreted, will not conflict with the unfigurative teachings of Christ and His apostles. Of this I am confident, however widely
my interpretations may differ from those now before the public, they will be found by all students of Gods word in perfect
harmony with the plain, unfigurative teachings of the Scriptures. This
certainly will be a great gain over the commonly received interpretations of
the parables and prophecies of Christ.
I only ask an impartial reading of these Expositions by all
Bible students.
* *
*
1
[Page 116]
CHAPTER XI
THE PARABLE OF THE TWO SONS
I PLACE
the Parable of The Two Sons before that of The Elder
and Younger Brothers, since the true interpretation of this is a quite
satisfactory exposition of the latter, which seems to follow it in natural
topical order.
PARABLE
But what think ye? A certain man had two sons;
and he came to the first and said, Son, go work to-day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not; but
afterward he repented and went. And he came to the
second and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir, and went not. Whether of them
twain did the will of his father?
They say unto him, The first.
Jesus saith unto them, Verily, I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the
This is the briefest of all the parables of Christ - all of it
being condensed into two simple statements with one correct
answer. Brief as it is, it is a historic-prophetical parable, and has a purely
national application. Its primary sense needs no comment to elucidate it. The
Jews, to whom it was addressed, answered it correctly, [Page
117] although they
had an indefinite impression, as at other times, that they thereby condemned
themselves.
In its deeper and broader meaning, I think the son who was called, and promised to work, but refused, represents
the Jews as a nation. This nation, as we have seen, God called His son - His first-born.
God did twice specifically call His son,
And if it seem
evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this
day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which
your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites,
in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my
house, we will serve the Lord. And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods; for the
Lord our God, He it is that brought us up and
our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the
house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed; and the Lord drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land; therefore will we also serve the Lord, for He is our God. - Josh.
24: 15-18.
Let the reader read the whole chapter.
To both calls
Limiting the vineyard service to the
gospel dispensation, the Jewish nation was specifically called of God, by John
the Baptist and Christ and the apostles, to enter His service; and the crowds
that at first thronged the Jordan and received baptism at the hands of John,
and the still larger numbers baptized by the seventy evangelists during their
ministry, and the thousands that gladly received the word at Pentecost and in
the second great revival that followed (Acts 4.), seemed to be the answer of the Jews, We will go; but still they [Page
118] went not, and
for now eighteen hundred years - they still persistently refuse to enter the
vineyard. If any one
who reads this knows of one Jewish church in
On the refusal of the Jews to obey this call, the apostles
turned away from them, leaving them in disobedience to await their sad and
awful punishment, and made the call upon the other son - the Gentiles:
And the next Sabbath day came almost
the whole city together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw
the multitudes they were filled with envy, and
spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and
blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold,
and said, It was necessary that
the word of God should first have been spoken to you; but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
- Acts 13: 44-46.
The cruel treatment they at first received seemed to be their
answer - We
will not go into the vineyard. But age after age this second son has been
repenting, and more and more fully entering the vineyard of service.
The prophecy of this parable is the encouraging part of it to
all the friends of missions. The son repented and went, from which we know that
the fullness of the Gentiles will be brought in. We
also learn that the son who promised and went not will not
enter the vineyard during the continuance of the gospel dispensation.
THE IMPORTANT FACTS WE LEARN FROM THIS
PARABLE
1. The son that at first refused to go afterwards repented and went, from
which we learn, most encouraging to the friends of missions, that, despite all
the [Page 119] opposition and discouraging obstacles, nevertheless the fullness of the
Gentiles will be brought into the service of God.
2. That the Jews
are not, in any considerable number, to be converted
to Christianity by the preaching of the gospel, or by any human means, during
this present dispensation or before Christ comes. The first called, they will
be the last to accept of Christ as their Saviour and Redeemer; but then not by
missionary effort, but, as Paul was, by a personal appearing of Christ. Paul
declares, with respect to himself, that he was one born out of due time - a
premature birth - born before the rest of his nation, and yet in the same way
as his nation, that is to be born in a day - i.e. by the personal appearing of Christ at His second advent.
3. We learn that the Jews, as a race or
people, will not be converted, or accept Christ as their Saviour and Redeemer,
until after Christs Second Advent. Until then the elder brother (see Parable
of the Prodigal Son) will remain without, and this son, referring to the same
nation, will refuse to come in.
* *
*
[Page 120]
2
CHAPTER XII
THE ELDER AND YOUNGER BROTHERS
THE Saviour closed His rebuke of the scribes
and Pharisees, who murmured because He received sinners and ate with them, with this parable. It is introductory to
His teachings concerning, the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven - i.e. that the Gentiles are to be made fellow-heirs with the Jews in
all the privileges and blessings of the gospel dispensation, and their final
restoration to their forfeited heirship in the kingdom of Gods dear Son.
PARABLE
And He said, A certain man had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion
of goods that falleth to me. And
he divided unto them his living. And not many days after, the
younger son gathered all together, and took his
journey into a far country, and there wasted his
substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all,
there arose a mighty famine in that land, and he
began to be in want. And
he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into the fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that
the swine did eat; and no man gave unto him; and when he came to himself he said, How many hired servants of my father have bread enough and
to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called
thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off
his father saw him, and had [Page 121] compassion, and ran and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto
him, Father, I
have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and
am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants,
Bring forth the best robe and put it on him,
and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet;
and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it,
and let us eat and be merry: for this my
son was dead and is alive again;
he was lost and is found. And they began to be merry. Now
his elder son was in the field; and as he came
and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and
dancing. And he called
one of the servants, and asked what these things
meant. And he said unto
him, Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry and would not go
in. Therefore came his
father out and entreated him. And
he answering, said to his father, Lo these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy
commandment, and yet thou never gavest me
a kid that I might make merry with my friends;
but as soon as this thy son was come which hath devoured thy living with
harlots, thou hast killed for him the
fatted calf. And
he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and
all that I have is thine. It was meet that we
should make merry and be glad; for this thy brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found. - Luke 15: 11-32.
The principal features to be interpreted
in this parable are:
I. The elder
brother.
II. The younger
son.
III. His
voluntary alienation and self‑banishment from his father's house.
IV. His reckless
prodigality.
V. The utter degradation and ruin to
which he brou4ht him elf‑
VI. His
reflections and resolution.
VII His return and
reception by his father and the servants.
VIII. The
unbrotherly conduct of the elder brother.
[Page 122]
The superficial sense or application
of this parable, which the Jews seeing could see, and hearing could hear, was that a son, however unfilial, and even though ruined by his own extreme sinfulness, was still a son, and dear to
his father; and his recovery should be sought and considered just cause of
rejoicing; and from this fact they could see that a son of Abraham, though deep
sunk in sin and degradation, as they regarded the publicans
and sinners of their own nation to be, were still the objects of Gods
compassionate love, and should not be despised by them: and that even Roman publicans, being members of the human family and Gods creatures, were not altogether beyond His
compassionate and loving favour, and, should they turn unto Him, they would be
accepted. This
lesson, notwithstanding the obdurate prejudices that blinded their eyes and
deafened their ears, they could see, although its deeper and broader sense they
could neither perceive nor
understand.
The general interpretations are two:
1. That by this younger and prodigal son Christ intended to
represent the sinner - [saved by Gods grace] * - of that and of every
age, who, instigated by his own innate depravity of heart, alienates himself
from God by his own wickedness and plunges himself into utter degradation, at
length, convicted of his own extreme sinfulness, and fully awakened to
a sense of his utter ruin, arises and returns to
the God from whom he had departed.
[* Note the words:
this my son was dead
and is alive again. He was alive, and regenerate
initially, when in his with his father, and a member of His redeemed
family. Hence he is rightly described as His son before the tome of his leaving! Many regenerate
believers are described as dead (See Rev. 3: 1, R.V.); and alive again after their repentance, restoration and obedience! (See Acts 5: 32; John 3: 24,
R.V.)]
His being seen by his father a long way off, and being met, pardoned
and received - [after his genuine
repentance] - as a son by his father, indeed most beautifully and
touchingly represents the freeness of Gods love and His abounding grace
extended to every penitent sinner who seeks His [Page 123] face and favour; and the joy of the
servant falls in very naturally.
This interpretation appears complete so long as the elder brother and his conduct are
wholly ignored; and he certainly is quite as important a personage in the
parable as the younger son.* But so soon as the question is asked, whom does the
elder brother represent? insuperable difficulties
arise, two or three of which only I notice here.
* This parable is
generally spoken of as The Parable of the
Prodigal Son, as though the younger son is the main or only feature in
the narrative. This is misleading. I have denominated it as The Parable of the Elder and Younger Brothers, which
introduces the brothers as equally important - [and regenerate] - persons.
If the younger son represents - [the regenerate
and backsliders amongst] - sinners, the elder
brother, who was ever with the father, certainly represents [regenerate] Christians.
But who ever heard of Christians becoming offended because God extended His
pardoning grace and love to a poor, self-ruined - [and disobedient] - sinner, and refusing to rejoice over the conversion
of the most wicked prodigal, and refuse to own him as a fellow-heir with Gods
children? But then these Christians were not always
with the Father as sons, but were each of them once the children of wrath, even
as others. Again, this prodigal, as Major Whittle, the great revivalist,
expressed it, was not so much influenced to return through unfeigned repentance
as by an empty stomach and a longing for the abundance of food which his
fathers servants enjoyed, and one of which he was willing to be, so that his
appetite might be satisfied.
Still another difficulty: The prodigal was as truly a son in the
midst of his wanton riotings, and even [Page 124] while in filth and rags he was
feeding the swine, as he was before he left his fathers house which can in no
sense be predicated of an unregenerate sinner.
This so plausible and universal interpretation breaks down
under the weight of any one of these difficulties and the -
Second interpretation is at once resorted to, and certainly
with but little examination: viz., that the prodigal son is intended to represent a back-slidden Christian - a son of God by regeneration, who,
awakened from his self-alienated and degraded condition, arises and turns
himself to -
Seek an
injured Fathers face,
and a place, at least, among the servants
in his Fathers house and at his Fathers table. All the parts of the parable
fall in naturally and beautifully with this theory until the question again
arises, Whom does the elder brother represent who is so offended by the return
and reinstatement of his younger brother in the family, and refuses to
recognize him as a brother or take any part in the rejoicing? He certainly can not represent Christians, for who ever heard of
old church-members - Christians - becoming offended at the reclamation of a
backslidden brother, or refusing to rejoice with exceeding great joy, when such
an one, however far he may have wandered from his God and from duty, returned
with every manifestation of godly sorrow and humble penitence of heart, and
confessed all his sin? Who, I say, ever heard of Christians becoming
offended at the return of such a prodigal son,
and refusing to rejoice over him, and opposing his being reinstated as a son
and heir among them? [Page 125] They universally rejoice with exceeding great joy.
This interpretation, like the former one, although so long accepted as true, must be abandoned as untenable. The question then arises, What, then, is the fuller and deeper meaning of this
parable, which those scribes and Pharisees to whom it was addressed did not
fully perceive or understand?
With our pass-key in hand -
viz., that this, as many of the other parables, contains the mystery of kingdom of
heaven, that is, that
the Gentiles are be made fellow-heirs with the Jews in the full enjoyment of
the blessings of the kingdom of Christ - we boldly approach to open the door of
the deeper, fuller meaning.
The elder son unquestionably represents the Jewish nation. Of this we need be in no doubt with Gods word before us. God
expressly said to Moses, Thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord,
This elder brother
The Gentiles were of a common parentage with the Jews, being
the descendants of Noah, and
originally [Page 126] members of the same family, and
participants of the same blessing - the true
knowledge of God. But they sadly
and voluntarily departed from God, and the extreme depth of sinfulness and
moral degradation into which they fell can be learned from Pauls letter to the
Romans (chapter
1: 21-32):
Because that, when they knew God, they
glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to he wise, they became fools, and
changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to
corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and
creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up
to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For
this cause God gave them up unto vile affections:
for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against
nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of women, burned in their lust,
one toward another; men with men working
that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves
that recompense of their error which was meet.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their
knowledge, God gave them over to a
reprobate mind, to do those things which
are not convenient; being filled with
unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness,
covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy,
murder, debate,
deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God,
despiteful, proud, boasters,
inventors of evil things, disobedient to
parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers,
without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
who knowing the judgment of God, that
they which commit such things are worthy of death,
not only do the same, but have
pleasure in them that do them.
The first awakening of the Gentiles, and the first step of
their return, and the first token of Gods loving favour, was at Caesarea, in
the house of Cornelius; and the first note of joy ever heard in the household
over this [Page 127] event was heard in the church at
When they heard these things they
held their peace and glorified God, saying,
Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
- Acts 11: 18.
From the prophecy of this parable we learn
that the Gentiles are ultimately to come to the light and love Him who will be
the glory of
His people
And the Gentiles shall come to thy
light and kings to the brightness of thy rising. - Isaiah 60: 3.
This returning of this prodigal son
commenced, as I have said, the day the gospel was preached in the use of
Cornelius, and from that day the elder brother has been offended; and as the
feasting and joy have been going on in the family, the elder brother has been standing
without, refusing to come in and refusing to acknowledge the prodigal as his
brother, and even charging the father with lack of equity and positive
injustice in being willing to reinstate the squanderer his parental estate and
the disgracer of the family name, and he is
still standing without, and
still the halls of the old mansion are resounding with louder and still louder
shouts of joy over him who was - [for a time] - lost but now is found, and these glad shouts will go
on and on, with increasing gladness, until the very fullness of the Gentiles shall have been brought in.
The morning
light is breaking;
The darkness disappears;
The sons of earth are
waking
To penitential tears:
[Page
128]
Each breeze
that sweeps the ocean
Brings tidings from afar
Of nations in commotion,
Prepared for
See heathen nations bending
Before the God we love,
And thousand hearts ascending
In gratitude above;
While sinners, now
confessing,
The gospel call obey,
And seek the Saviours
blessing -
A nation in a day.
Blest river of salvation,
Pursue thy onward way;
Flow thou to every nation,
Nor in thy richness stay:
Stay not till
all the lowly
Triumphant reach their home;
Stay not till
all the holy
Proclaim, The Lord is come.
* *
*
[Page 129
3
CHAPTER XIII
THE LABOURERS AND THE HOURS
FOR the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder which went out early in the morning to hire labourers
into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the
labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third
hour, and saw others standing idle in the market
place, and said unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard,
and whatsoever is right I will give you; and they
went their way. Again
he went out about the sixth and ninth hour and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went
out, and found others sianding
idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man bath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye
also into thevineyard,
and whatsoever is right that shall ye receive. So, when the even was
come the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired
about the eleventh hour, they received every man
a penny. But when the first
came they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it they
murmured against the good man of the house, saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us which have borne the
burden and heat of the day. But
he answered one of them and said, Friend,
I do thee no wrong.
Didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that
is thine and go thy way: I will give unto this
last even as unto you. Is it not lawful for me
to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil because I am good? So the last shall be first and the first last; for many be called but few chosen.-
Matt. 20: 1-16.
[Page 129]
This parable is generally interpreted
from the pulpit as applicable to individuals, the unemployed labourers
representing sinners only, and the vineyard the service of God in connection
with His church; those who entered early in the morning representing persons
brought in in early youth, and the penny received for
their labour, salvation; those who were hired at the third, sixth and ninth
hours representing those brought in along later in life; while those hired at
the eleventh hour represent old sinners of sixty, seventy or eighty years. Who is not familiar with the expressions
that such and such a person was brought in at the
eleventh hour, and he was an eleventh-hour
sinner? Those who claimed to have borne the burden and heat of the day,
according to this theory, are then the old fathers and mothers in the churches.
There are insuperable difficulties opposing this interpretation:
1. The excuse of
these labourers for standing all the day idle in the market-place
can in no sense be rendered by sinners. These labourers wished to work, and
went, as it was then and is still the custom in Oriental lands, to the usual
place where day labourers went to be hired, and patiently waited for an offer.
Why all did not go to work in the morning was because
no man came to hire them, and not because they refused to work. Can the sinner
of thirty, forty, or fifty, or any old gray-headed sinner of seventy or eighty,
in gospel lands, plead this excuse for refusing to enter the Masters service-because
no man has hired, or offered to hire? Have not all sinners, from their earliest
youth, heard the gospel offer, and been repeatedly pressed to enter the Masters
vineyard? But, instead of [Page131] cheerfully and promptly accepting it, as did these labourers the offer of
work, have they not persistently rejected the proffer of salvation, and refused
to enter the service of God?
2. Then who ever heard of the old
brethren and sisters of a church becoming angry with and murmuring against God,
and charging Him with injustice, when they see an old sinner of eighty converted, and rejoicing with as great joy as
they themselves ever experienced in the hope of salvation? No one ever heard of
such an occurrence, and no one ever will. The oldest members always rejoice
over such an one with joy even exceeding that which they express when a young person of ten or
fifteen years enters the service.
3. This interpretation is Arminian throughout.
Salvation is not the offered reward for work in Gods service; and we dismiss
it, trusting no Baptist minister will ever again preach or exhort it in his
ministrations, or Baptist Sunday-school teacher so teach it to his class.
Salvation is the gift of God through His all-abounding grace in Christ Jesus,
and not of works, lest anyone should boast. But the Master will reward
- very servant according to his works. And so
faithful is He in this that no one can give a cup of cold water to one of His
disciples, in the name of a disciple, and lose his reward.
In the parable of the supper the king
made on the marriage of his son, we saw that those who were first bidden, who were undoubtedly the Jews, were accounted unworthy because of
their treatment of the kings invitation, and of his servants who bore it; and that
he sent his servants forthwith out into the highways and hedges to persuade all
they found to come [Page 132] in, and to pursue this course until his wedding should
be fully furnished with guests. The last bidden I interpret as referring to
the Gentiles. This prophetical parable of the labourers I understand as
referring to the self-same two classes of people - the Jews and Gentiles - but
more especially illustrating the fact that the Gentile nations would be, as they have been, called at different periods in
the gospel dispensation.
Those who were first called, and entered,
represent the Jews, to whom the gospel was first preached. They (a portion of
them) did answer its call, and entered the Masters service. They were the
first to hear it, and were the first to answer its call. The first church that was formed was composed entirely of Jews. Paul alludes to
this when he says: If the first fruit be holy, the lump is
also holy; and if the root be holy, so are the branches. (Rom. 11: 16.)
The hiring of the labourers at different hours of the day
represents the calling of the Gentile nations at different periods in the
gospel dispensation. The Gentile nations are well represented as standing ready
to hear the gospel call; and they have been hearing and accepting it all through
the gospel age, and been received into the Masters service; and it is true
that some have been waiting all the day long uncalled. How true is it that
From the prophecy of this parable we learn that the last one of the waiting nations will be
visited by the [Page 133] missionaries of the cross, and that representatives of
all nations will ultimately be found
engaged in the Masters service. The blessings granted to one nation will be
the same as those bestowed upon the others, irrespective of the earliness or
lateness of the hour in which they embraced them.
It is true also that the Jews, as a people, always claimed
superiority over their Gentile brethren, and to be deserving of superior
consideration; but how true is it that the first called are to-day last, and
the last first, in the service of the Master!
* *
*
[Page 187]
4
CHAPTER XXI
THE UNJUST STEWARD
AND He said also unto His
disciples, There was a certain rich man which
had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said
unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? Give an account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then
the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship. I can not dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am
resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lords debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou
unto my lord? And he
said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down
quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And
how much owest thou? And
he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And
he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. And the
lord commended the unjust steward, because he
had done wisely: for the children of this world
are in their generation wiser than the children of light. - Luke 26: 1-8.
Dr. Stephens, in his Explanation of the Parables, says:
Commentators,
while they have done much to explain the parables, have also done much to obscure them. They have sometimes
created more obstacles than they have
removed, and, by their multifarious explanations and hypercritical emendations,
have involved passages in perplexity which before were clear and simple.
With no little force do these remarks [Page 187] apply
to the Parable of the Unjust Steward, which some of the ancient fathers looked
upon as the most difficult and obscure of all, and the learned Cajetan even
declared not only difficult but impossible to give its true meaning, so as to be in harmony with the moral teachings of Christ in the
other Sacred Scriptures.
Archbishop Trench says: This parable, of which the difficulties are exceeding great,
has been the subject of manifold, and those of the most opposite,
interpretations.
The difficulty of those expositors
who, like Cajetan, stumble at this parable, arises from two evident
misconceptions, which will appear to the reader who will follow me in a careful
examination of the allegory.
It is strikingly oriental in its construction. An extensive land owner (lord) entrusts the rentals of his lands and
dwellings to his steward, who receives the rents from the tenants in the
produce of the lands - wine, oil, wheat - as is done to this day in oriental
countries. Through the steward the contracts were
made, and to him the rents were paid. The contracts or obligations were in the
handwriting of the tenants and countersigned by the steward, and, in his
accounts, were his bills receivable.
This steward had so long unjustly managed his business, and overdrawn
his salary, and reports from so many had reached his lords ears, that he had
decided to discharge him, and therefore called upon him to render an account of
his stewardship. The steward was conscious that his books would not bear an
examination, and that he would, as he deserved, be discharged in disgrace, so
that it would be impossible for [Page 189] him to get an engagement as a steward with any other
landlord, and, as a rational, forethoughted man, said to himself, What shall I
do? I am unused to manual labour. I can not dig and so
make a support. I have been reared and lived a gentleman
in good society, and to beg I am ashamed. What shall I do? Disgrace was sure,
and starvation stared him in the
face. It only remained for him to add open fraud to dishonesty; and he adopts
his plan, comforting himself that his course will at least secure him a home
when ejected from his lords service. He summons all the debtors to the estate
for an examination of their accounts. To the first he said, How much owest thou unto my
lord? And he said,
An hundred measures of oil. This was about one thousand gallons of olive oil, which was
a commercial article and valuable. He said, Take your bill, or contract, and rewrite it, inserting fifty. This
can the better be understood when we remember the obligation was in the
debtors own hand-writing. To another he said, How much owest thou? And he said,
An hundred measures of wheat. This was somewhat more than fourteen
hundred of our bushels, and also both easily marketable and valuable. And he said, Take back your contract and rewrite it eighty.
Although such like reductions are
mentioned in only two cases, we are left to understand that similar reductions
were made in the bills of all the debtors, graduating their indebtedness
according to their ability to pay easily; and thus he placed each one and all
under obligation to himself, so that, when turned out of office, he would find
a welcome and home with his masters debtors, fondly hoping that, although they
[page 190] knew that he was unfaithful to his lord, they would not prove faithless to him.
Now here comes in the difficulty of Cajetan and those
expositors who, with him, interpret the next sentence as spoken by our Lord
Jesus instead of the lord of the steward.
It was by attributing the commendation
of the unjust steward to our Lord rather than to the lord of the steward that
the emperor Julian the Apostate made it the ground for vilifying the character
of Christ; and, from his time down to the neological interpreters of the
present age, it has been made the instrument of assailing the character of
Christ, or of claiming a divine warrant for knavery and fraud. Such eminent scholars and
commentators as Matthew Henry and
On this supposition, then, our Lord,
as infidels claim, indeed seems to commend the dishonest conduct of the
steward, and advise His disciples to imitate, in some sense, his rascality, and
seek to purchase homes in heaven - [or a place in the heavenly Land i.e.,
in our Lords promised kingdom and inheritance (Ps.
2: 8; cf.
Ps 106: 1-5, R.V.)!] - by the use of their unjust gains - money unrighteously obtained. Such an interpretation no friend of
Christ can, for one moment, countenance. We know there must be a grave
mistaking of the statement of the narrative, and it evidently is attributing
the commendation to our Lord rather than to the master of the steward. Our Received Version favours, doubtless gave rise to, this mistake. It reads, the lord commended the unjust
steward, etc., which
leaves it uncertain which lord did this, our Lord or [Page
191] that of the steward. But
the Revised Version clears this uncertainty, rendering it thus, and his lord - i. e. the lord, or master, of the steward. Nor did the landlord who had been so egregiously defrauded praise the servant for his cunning rascality,
but he simply commended him because he had acted wisely.
This removes the charge of infidels and the enemies of Gods
word from Christ; and, if there is anything in this
that can be charged as immoral, it fixes it upon the landlord who had been defrauded.
But the difficulty, in the second place,
arises from the misinterpretation of the term phronimoos - rendered in our version wisely - which they take in the sense of correctly, commendably,
but which should be rendered sagaciously, providently, forethoughtedly. In no
other sense is it used in the Sacred Scriptures. In the sense of justly, correctly - never. In this sense,
then, let us read it: And his master commended the unjust steward because he had
acted prudently, not because he had acted fraudulently. He commended his ingenuity and
consummate forethoughtedness in providing - [for himself like-minded] - friends and a support for the
future - this and nothing more.
This expression will not appear so strange to a business man as to a strict moralist. How often is the business forethought of a speculator commended who
secures, by deed and gifts, valuable real estate and bonds to his wife against
impending bankruptcy - so that when the inevitable foreseen crash does come he
has a sure home and support for himself and family, although his creditors suffer by his acting with such forethought or business
prudence. It is not the very questionable morality that men commend, but
the [Page 192] forethought, the sagacity, the wise providence, of the bankrupt.
Nor does Christ advise His disciples to make friends on earth
or in heaven with their unjust gains, unrighteous mammon, as His enemies so
urgently charge.
Wealth - riches - are here termed the mammon of unrighteousness.
Riches in themselves have no moral character,
are neither good nor evil, but in their tendency
only.
They are, so
long as unused, passive and
innocuous; it is riches in motion which
give them a definite character; and here they are under two laws and under two
directions - the law of selfishness and the law of love - the direction towards
God and whatever tends to advance His glory, and the direction toward earth and
whatever abets its lusts and pleasures.
In what sense, then, can we make to ourselves friends of our wealth or earthly goods, of which we
are but stewards, and what connected with the conduct of the unjust steward
would our Lord have us imitate? In a word, what is the scope of this parable?
It certainly is not to teach us to waste property intrusted to
us, or to defraud our employers, or to make our fellow
men accomplices in our crimes. Certainly not to commend
injustice in any sense.
We learn:
1. That we Should
exercise a sagacious forethought with
reference to our soul's future welfare and happiness, as this steward did to
his earthly wealth.
2. That we can,
as our Lords stewards, so use our earthly goods in the support and extension
of His cause - in sending the gospel to the heathen and the relief of human
misery - not by a mere figure of speech, [Page 193] but by a glad and joyous reality,
make to ourselves friends who, going before us to the saints everlasting rest
- [and millennial rest
(Heb. 4: 9-11; cf.
11: 8, 13; Acts 7: 2-5, R.V.] - will, more than others there,
welcome us on our approach to their everlasting joys.
No better can we convey our understanding of this than by this
fact:
One of our missionaries in China, some months since, reported
that a native from the far interior came into his chapel and asked him if he
was a Jesus-Christ-man, and, on being answered in the affirmative, he said, Then I want to be baptized. And,
on being asked why, he said, Because I believe on the
Lord Jesus, who came into the world to save sinners. I love Him because He
loved me, and has saved me from my sins, and His book tells me that all who
believe and love Him should be baptized, and there is no one in my province to
baptize me, and I have come to you. Conversing with him, the missionary
learned that the year before, when he came down the river with a boat-load of tea, tracts and copies of the New Testament had
been distributed to the boatmen, as is the custom with our missionaries, and a
copy of the New Testament, in Chinese, had fallen into his hands. This new book he had read during his long journey back and during
the year, and its blessed good news had been
fastened upon his heart, and the Holy Spirit had graciously enlightened his
dark mind and taken the things of Christ and shown them unto him, and by its
influences had enabled him to accept the Lord Jesus as his Saviour, and to
rejoice in His love. Having drank of the waters of life, he had read the
precious book to others, and been enabled by his own experience to lead his
family and several of his idolatrous countrymen to
drink and [Page 194] live. These he had brought with him, and the joyous company were baptized by the missionary, and he
returned home rejoicing in the Lord with all his house.
Suppose these heathen friends should die years before that
Christian brother or sister in
Think, ye missionaries of the cross on heathen lands, of the
thousands of Karens, converted by his labours, who
received Carey into their Sweet Rest when he passed over the River, and read
again these words of Christ: Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of
unrighteousness, that when ye fail [die] they may receive [welcome] you into everlasting
habitations. Ye missionaries of the cross, read
this! Ye lovers of Christ, who sacrifice of your limited means to send the
gospel to the destitute at home and the heathen abroad, read this! Ye toiling, self-sacrificing pastors, even more sacrificing than
our foreign missionaries, read these words of Christ, and think of the reception that awaits you by the
hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of those you have instructed and led
to Christ, who may have passed before you to Paradise, and be [Page
195] encouraged to preach on, notwithstanding all your
discouragements and self-sacrificing labours! Surely, one hour amid that
throng will more than repay all the years of your toils and sacrifices, prayers
and tears.
We can testify that the sweet glimpses we had the past year of
The Bright Beyond, while our trembling
footsteps lingered upon the banks of the River, a thousand times repaid us for
the arduous labours, bitter opposition and persecutions of more than half a
century in the service of the blessed Christ.
We can not intelligently read this
parable and not be impressed with the fact that our future happiness will be
materially enhanced by the proper use of our earthly goods, as well as our time
and toil and influence, expended upon others.
From this parable Sunday-school superintendents and teachers
will find encouragement to sacrifice ease, time and money in their sphere of
labour.
Some months since we saw an
intelligent, well-dressed stranger take the hand of the old superintendent* of
our church, at the close of a morning service. and this was
about what he said:
You do not recognize me, but I know
you. Years ago I was a godless boy in this city. No
one took any particular interest in me, or looked after my religious training.
I was an habitual Sabbath-breaker, and seldom heard a
sermon. You sought my acquaintance, invited me to attend your Sabbath-school,
and interested me in it, and then to attend church. Moral principles and
religious truths were in this way implanted, which, in after years, God blessed
to my salvation. I feel, Brother C., that I owe all I
am, under [Page 196] God, to you, as my
Sunday-school superintendent, and to my teacher in your school.
* R. G. Craig.
That man is to‑day a prominent, wealthy business man in a Western city, and an active member in a
Baptist church.
Should he pass over the River before his old superintendent
and teacher, would he not with most grateful joy meet their approach, and
welcome them to his everlasting Rest?
We also learn from this parable the conscious existence of
disembodied saints, between their death and resurrection, denied by so many,
and even by so eminent a name as Archbishop Whately. And another most
pleasing doctrine, the recognition of our sainted friends in the
We also learn that we may so use our worldly mammon - money - as
to enhance our eternal joy as well as that of others benefited by us here.
I close with the words of Dr. French:
I can not doubt, however, that we
have here a parable of Christian prudence - Christ exhorting us to use the
world and the worlds goods in a manner against itself and for God.
Whether I have done more to obscure than to explain this
parable, I leave to my readers to judge.
* *
*
5
CHAPTER XXIV
The RICH MAN And LAZARUS.*
(HISTORICAL)
* It is denied by some that this is a
parable, since names are not given in parabolic instruction.
In Middle Life I have
treated it as an historical statement; used it in refuting spiritism.
-------
THERE was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and
fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate,
full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the
crumbs which fell from the rich mans table:
moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And
it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abrahams bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell
he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off,
and Lazarus in his bosom. And
he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send
Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am
tormented in this flame. But
Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and
thou art tormented. And
beside all this, between us and you there is a
great gulf fixed; so that they which would pass
from hence to you can not; neither can they pass
to us that would come from hence. Then he said, I pray you therefore, father, that thou wouldst send him to my
fathers house: for I have five brethren;
that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, Father Abraham: but if one
went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not [Page 217] Moses and the prophets, neither will
they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
- Luke 16: 19-31.
It is, in one respect, the most remarkable of all the
parables. It draws the veil and gives us a clear view of the state of the just
and the wicked dead, between death and the resurrection.
It answers those ever-present questions, which we can not dismiss, and which are proper for us to know: Do the
righteous and wicked go to their eternal rewards when they leave their bodies
here? Are they in a state of consciousness? Will they recognize those they knew
here? Can they communicate with each other? Will the good and evil done here enhance their
happiness or misery in the
intermediate state? Can disembodied spirits - [or
souls (See Psalm 16: 10; cf. Acts 2: 27, R.V.] - return to earth and communicate with the
living? The nature of the punishment suffered by the wicked?
etc.
It is urged that it is only a parable, an allegory - something
only supposed. The force of the parable is not broken by this, for, in this case, it teaches what may be. We can not conceive that Christ built a parable upon a falsehood. More than any other parable - if this indeed be
one - this comes to us as a plain narration of past facts, and by some authors
it is claimed as a plain statement of facts that had transpired. Be it parable
or narrative, it is to us a divine revelation of what has and will transpire in
the intermediate state in like circumstances.
It presents to our consideration six extremes:
The two extremes of life,
The two extremes of death, and
The two extremes of existence beyond
the grave.
Each of these are acts in the
parabolic drama. The [Page 218] characters are a supremely selfish rich man, an
extremely poor man (an afflicted
beggar), angels, the sainted Abraham. The scenes are laid
on earth and in hades.
From a consideration and examination of these several acts and
characters, let us learn the scope of this parable.
I. The two
extremes of life - an extremely selfish rich man and an extremely afflicted
poor man.
Nothing could better indicate the
formers great wealth and splendour than the statement that he was clothed in purple, a luxury that kings and the very rich alone could indulge in. Robes of purple were very costly, because of the scarcity of
the shell-fish (musex
trunculu),
from which the Tyrians obtained their celebrated purple dye, or from the
rareness of the purpura, from which, according to Pliny, the
Phoenicians extracted their rich varieties of purple. (Dr. Stevens.) The very rich and the
favourites in the courts of kings and princes are often termed by Cicero and Livy purpurati. But only the very rich could afford to wear tunics, or
undervests, of fine linen, which was of so soft a texture as to cost its weight
in gold. Nothing could better indicate the magnificence and costliness of his
attire. One more circumstance is mentioned in proof of
his extreme wealth - He fared sumptuously every day. He not only dressed royally, but
fared sumptuously: not occasionally, but every day. His whole life was one
round of extravagant luxury and sensuous pleasure, having all or more than
heart could wish. His house was, no doubt, a palace, and furnished in a manner
to correspond with his dress and his table. All that worldly [Page
219] men ever
possessed or wished of gorgeous splendour and luxury he possessed. But his name is not given.
II. The other
extreme in life.
There was an extremely poor man. He was not only a beggar, but
he was extremely afflicted with a loathsome disease. His name was Lazarus,
signifying in Hebrew, a helpless person,
or from a word signifying God is my helper. (The name of the rich man is not
even given.) This man was extremely friendless. He had
no one to give him a home, or even a shelter or a crumb of bread.
Some one or ones were known enough, perhaps
(and to escape his further beggary), to bring and lay him at the rich mans
gate, where he begged, not to be taken into his house, or to the rich mans
table, but only for the crumbs, or pieces of broken bread, which fell from the
rich mans table - the refuse accustomed to be swept out to the dogs of the
street (Matt. 15: 27); moreover, the dogs came and licked his
sores.
Can we imagine a condition of life more wretched - without a
house, or shelter from the heated summer or the extreme cold of winter, without
food or clothing, degraded, wallowed with the dogs of the street, afflicted
with a painful and disgusting disease, and, to crown all, without aid, or one
to sympathize, with him? Can one imagine a condition more extremely wretched
and degraded?
The next scene shows an advance.
THEIR RESPECTIVE DEATHS
It came to pass
that the beggar died. He doubtless starved to death. It is
not intimated that the rich [Page 220] man even allowed him the food of the dogs, for which
alone he begged. He was doubtless coffined in his filthy rags
by the public scavengers, and buried into the potters field, and no one
missed him, save, perhaps, the dogs at the rich mans gate. But
this was not all connected with his death. It may have been at the midnight hour,
and his requiem the cold, bleak and stormy winds; but it was not dark to his
eyes; nor was his pillow hard, although a bit of stone.
The Father sent a convoy of angels from His throne for His
child, and they took his head upon their arms and sang their sweetest songs as his spirit left*
its tenement, and he was not merely accompanied, but carried, by the angels and
laid in Abrahams bosom.
[* That is, his animating spirit returned to God in heaven. See Luke 23: 46; cf., Acts 7:
59 and James 2:
26, R.V.]
How extremely glorious was the death of the child of God, and
his reception among the nobility of heaven! But the
rich man also died. Death is no respecter of persons. He blends the sceptre and
the spade, and knocks with equal pace at the gates of the palace and the hovels
of the poor. He
died in his glorious
palace in the midst of his officers, attendants and physicians, and was buried
with every insignia of courtly pomp and splendour, borne and laid in a costly
tomb. But was this all connected with the rich mans
death? If heavenly angels of light hover over the bed of the
good man, receive and, amid light and songs, carry their spirits - [and disembodied souls] - to the realm of rest, is
it unreasonable to conclude that the dying hours of wicked men are made
dreadful by the presence of angels of darkness sent to convey their departing
spirits -[ and disembodied souls] into the darkness of eternal - [Gk. aionios, that is, in this context, millennial not eternal (Heb. 9: 27, 28; cf. 2
Tim. 2: 16-18, R.V.)]
- death? The dying statements of hundreds of both good and bad men
warrant us in believing this.
[Page 221]
The curtain that hides the world of spirits -[and
disembodied souls] - from our view, and the future with its unchangeable
conditions, is opened, and the rich man and Lazarus are again presented to our
view. But how changed their conditions! We see in
their case -
III. The two
extremes of existence beyond the grave.
Where now is the rich man?
In hades,
being in torments. and he lifted up his eyes and sees Abraham a great
way off, and Lazarus (en tois kloptois) in the folds
of his mantle, and, crying out, he, said, Father Abraham, pity me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in
water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in
this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy
life didst receive thy good things, and Lazarus
in like manner his evil things; but now here he is comforted and thou art
tormented.
THEIR CONDITION AFTER
DEATH
And the rich man also died, and was buried; and in hades
he lifted up his eyes, being in torments;
and seeth Abraham afar off, and
Lazarus in his bosom. - Luke 16: 22, 23.
They were both in hades, but the beggar highly honoured and
comforted, and the rich man degraded and
tormented.
To understand the true intent and scope of this parable we
must understand what place is meant by hades. lt is evident
that it can not be heaven, or the rich man would not have been in torments; nor can it
mean hell - the lake of fire, the place of final punishment - or Abraham would
not have been there, or the [Page 222] beggar comforted. From this we
learn that it is a place into which the spirits of both good and wicked pass
after death, and abide for a season at least.
Let us now inquire for the classical meaning of the word
itself, and the sense in which it is used in the Sacred
Scriptures, and universally understood by the Jews.
Let us then ascertain the meaning
and use of the term hades in the Old and New Testaments.
The translator and editor of the Emphatic Diaglott gives this
extended note on hell and hades:
Hades occurs eleven
times in the Greek Testament, and is improperly translated in the Common
Version ten 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 Hebrew from any classical source, or with any classical
meanings, 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 sixty times out of sixty-three; and though sheol in many places - such as Gen.
35: 35, 42: 38; 1 Sam. 2: 7; 1 Kings 2: 6; Job 14: 13, 17: 13, 17: 13-16 - 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 it is done ten times out eleven in the New Testament, is very improper, unless it has the Saxon
meaning 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 [Page
223]
definition given to it at the present day by no means expresses it.
Dr. Seiss, doubtless the ablest expounder of the Book of
Revelation that has written in this country or this age, says on hades in Revelation:
There is a word used sixty-five
times in the original Hebrew of the Old Testament which our English translators
in thirty-one instances grave, and in three instances the pit.
That word is sheol,
uniformly rendered hades in the Greek of the Old Testament, and wherever the
New Testament quotes the passages in which it occurs. By common consent the Greek word hades
is the exact equivalent of the Hebrew sheol. It occurs eleven times in the New
Testament, and always in the same sense as the Old Testament SHEOL.
To all intents and purposes,
therefore, sheol and hades denote one and the same thing. But sheol or hades is never used to denote the hell
of final punishment. Neither is it used to denote the mere receptacle of the
body after death - the grave. Nor yet is it ever used to denote the mere state
of being dead as to the body, and still less to denote the pit or abyss, as such.
A careful inventory of all the
passages conclusively proves that sheol or hades is the name of a place in the
unseen world, altogether distinct
from the hell of final punishment, or even the hell of final glory. Its true and ONLY
MEANING is the place of the
departed spirits - the, receptacle of
[disembodied] souls which have left the body.
To this place all departed spirits, good and bad, ...
went. In it there was a department for the good -
called paradise by the Saviour on the cross - and another department for the
bad. Thus, both the rich man and
Lazarus went to hades when they
died; for the word is in hades he lifted up his eyes, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Lazarus was then, too, in
hades, as [Page 224] Abraham, and the only difference between them and
Dives was, that the good were separated from the bad
by an impassable gulf, and that Lazarus was comforted and Dives tormented.
So the dying Saviour told the
penitent malefactor that they would yet that day be together in paradise; that is, in the more favourable part
of hades. There they
were neither in heaven proper nor in hell proper, but simply in hades.
To this hades all departed spirits - [and disembodied souls] - went - the good with the good and the bad with the bad.
There was comfort there for the pious, and privation and torment for the
wicked; and they of the one part could not pass over to the other part, but
still they could see and converse with each other, and none of them were yet in
their final happiness or misery.
That this is the proper meaning of hades, since it accords with all the other teachings of Gods word, will
readily occur to the thoughtful reader of the Sacred Scriptures.
Abraham and the patriarchs at their death went to sheol, which is the same with hades. Now, if hades means hell, the lake of fire and brimstone, from which there is no escape, then he and
all the righteous dead of the Old Testament are to-day in the lake of fire! But Christ, while His body was in the sepulchre, went to hades and preached to the spirits in
that place of safe-keeping: By which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison. (1 Peter 3:
19.) But He was not left there: Thou wilt not
leave my soul in hades, etc. (Acts 2: 27.) Will any one say that Christ went into the lake of fire and brimstone - which is the second
death - and preached to the lost spirits there?
He said to the dying thief, To-day shalt thou be [Page
225] with
me in paradise, the pleasant abode of the righteous
in hades.
If paradise is heaven, then heaven is in hades and hades is in
heaven; and if hades is indeed hell,
then heaven is in hell; and both heaven and hell are to be ultimately
destroyed, for John saw both death and hades
cast into the lake of fire - heaven with all its angels and saints cast
into hell!! and hell cast
into hell!! (Rev. 20: 14.) Hell destroying itself!!
This passage, and 2 Cor. 12: 2, 4, and Rev. 2: 7, are
the ones confidently urged by some in support of the idea that paradise and
heaven, the abode of God, are synonymous terms, and one and the same place.
Let us give these passages a moments attention.
I knew a man in Christ above fourteen
years ago, (whether in the body, I can not tell; or whether out
of the body, I can not tell: God knoweth;)
such an one caught up to the third heaven. ... How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which
it is not lawful for a man to utter. - 2 Cor. 12: 2, 4.
Paul distinctly tells us that he had had visions and revelations - more
than one vision - and he describes two of them. The first was of his being caught up into the third heaven, the
highest heaven, and the understood dwelling place of God. Of what he saw and
heard he says nothing - does not even intimate that he heard anything in this
vision. But not seeing the souls of the patriarchs,
prophets and saints, was [Page 226] doubtless the reason a second vision,
distinct from the first one, was given him; and this he says: And I knew such a man, etc., how that he
was caught up - [away, (G. H.
Lang.)] - into paradise, and heard
unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a
man to utter.
Here we know he saw the soul of Lazarus, and of the thief, and of Abraham, and
of all the righteous dead, but he was not allowed to
reveal what he heard. His statement is proof conclusive that paradise and
heaven are two separate and distinct places. If one and the
same, why was Paul twice caught up?
What is the necessity for two visions?
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of
life, which is in the midst of the
paradise of God. - Rev. 2: 7.
This is a highly figurative passage, and its figures are founded upon mans condition in the first age. He was placed in an earthly paradise, especially prepared for him,
in which was a tree of life, of which he was permitted to eat and live.
But all this he forfeited, and lost, and
from this earthly paradise he was driven forth, and forbidden to eat of the
tree of life, and left to die. Now this promise of Christ looks forward to the time
when this entire earth, defaced and wicked by sin, shall be restored and made
one glorious paradise indeed - the paradise of God, for He will dwell in it
with His people, and in it will be the true tree of life - Christ, the Redeemer
- of which its glorious and glorified inhabitants may eat, by being made
partakers of His life, and live forever. (See Rev.
20., 21., where this promise is to be literally
fulfilled upon this earth, after it shall have [Page 227] been renewed, and become the
beautiful abode of Christ and His bride - His redeemed people.) This passage,
therefore, sustains instead of militates against my position.
The view of hades and
intermediate state I have here presented, is supported
by the concensus of all Greek writers, and of all the
ancient Christian fathers, and the latest and best scholarship of this century.
The English and American revisers agree in rejecting hell as the proper translation of hades, and in no instance have they
translated paradiseos heaven.
The true meaning of hades, then, is the place of disembodied
spirits [and souls], the world of spirits, both good and bad. The ancient
Hebrews and the Jews in Christs day and the Greeks so understood. That part of
hades occupied by the righteous alone they called paradise, and far separated
from this was the abode of the wicked.*
*Any one wishing to see this question
more fully discussed, I refer him to The Bible Doctrine of the Middle Life, price
seventy-five cents; and to The Intermediate State
of the Dead, by Dr. Rovey, price one dollar: Baptist
Book House,
This is the most remarkable of all the parables, as well as
the most interesting. It is as a door opened into the Just Beyond, through which we may look and see the
state of all disembodied souls between death and the resurrection.
While in this parable we learn the
condition and restful enjoyments of all saints in the period between death and
the resurrection of their bodies, we can even find this knowledge supplemented
by a revelation of the condition and employments
of the saints during the entire
period from the time of their resurrection [Page 228] and the translation of the living,
watchful and worthy until the final judgment. This
knowledge we must believe, although not enough to satisfy our curiosity, is
certainly enough for our profit.
To attempt to force an insight into the secret things of God
is as the sin of witchcraft and rebellion.
Let us now consider what we undoubtedly learn from this
parable:
1. That there is
an intermediate abode occupied by all disembodied souls between the death and
the resurrection, and that this place is called by the Holy Spirit, which
inspired the writers of the New Testament, hades
(and, as we have seen by the writers of the Old Testament, sheol), meaning neither hell nor heaven,
but simply the unseen, the world of departed spirits, irrespective of
character.
2. That in this
abode the spirits - [or disembodied souls (Acts 2: 27; cf.
Psalm 16: 10,
R.V.)] - of the righteous are gathered to
the good alone, in a delightful part of hades
called paradise, and by the Jews known as Abrahams bosom, while the
disembodied souls of the wicked are gathered to their own place and company,
far separated from the righteous and in a state of great anguish of spirit.
3. That paradise, although a state of happiness, is not heaven itself, nor is hades hell itself, or purgatory, in which souls are purified of their sins by the fires of punishment.
4. That paradise is not heaven itself,
because Lazarus is there, and Abraham; and, if
Abraham, then Isaac and Jacob and all the patriarchs, and David, with all the Old Testament saints, since all
these were gathered together. But Christ told Nicodemus that up to the time He addressed him no man had [Page 229] ascended into heaven itself, and Peter told his hearers on the day of Pentecost that David had not then ascended into heaven,
but we know that Abraham had descended into paradise; and, if Abraham, then David
also, and all the saints of all ages past.
5. That hades is not purgatory, since no one can ever pass from it to
the abode of the blest.
6. That hades is not hell, since it is ultimately to be cast into
hell - [i.e., after their
resurrection into the lake of fire. - (See Rev. 20: 13, 15. R.V.) ] Where
hades is, in which paradise is located, as the first paradise or garden of the
Lord was in
7. That disembodied souls are ever in a
conscious state. (a) From the place
itself, paradise means a park, or garden, of delights. The paradise God made in
The rich man was conscious of the torment he suffered. We can not predicate torment,
suffering or unhappiness of an unconsciousness, which is but another word
for nonentity - NOTHINGNESS! Lazarus was both
honoured and comforted, and,
therefore, must have possessed a conscious existence. It was the spirit that was named Lazarus, and the spirit* [Page 228] designated the Rich Man, that enjoyed and suffered, for the bodies
of these persons were in their graves, and the bodies of the living, no more than of the dead, can be said to
enjoy or suffer. We learn -
* It is our spirits
here that enjoy pleasure and suffer pain, and not our material bodies. Matter,
organized or unorganized, can not suffer. Sentience alone can suffer or enjoy.
How say some that Christs [dead] body alone
suffered!
8. In paradise all Christians, like
Lazarus, will not only be honoured and comforted, but they will rest from all the toils, woes and
anxieties of mortal life, although they will not be in a state of absolute satisfaction and fruition of enjoyment, but of rest - sweet rest of the soul. David is to-day in
paradise, where Abraham and Lazarus are; but he is not perfectly happy - satisfied. He declared that he would not be satisfied until he awoke in the
likeness of his Christly Lord; nor will any other saint. But
this will only be at the resurrection of the just. David, then, is not in heaven; and paradise,
therefore, is not heaven itself!
We learn -
9. That paradise will not only be a
place of such surpassing beauty and loveliness as to ravish the soul, and of
sweetest rest from lifes distracting
anxieties, toils and woes, but also a place where our souls will enjoy the most
delightful companionship and personal and spiritual associations that earth or heaven can afford. For -
10. We shall carry with us all our affinities
and memories into the future life.
Since our memories and affinities are essential parts of
ourselves, we can not conceive of ourselves as
existing dispossessed of them any more than without our personal consciousness.
Therefore, were the word of God silent upon this, we would know that if we
enjoyed a conscious existence after death we would [Page 231] know that we shall carry our memories
and affinities with us. All we have known and loved in this life we shall
recognize and love in our disembodied
life. We have only to refer to our parable.
The rich man, from the far-off abode of the wicked, not only
recognized the one resting in the bosom of Abraham as the hapless beggar that
starved unpitied at his gate, but he instinctively knew Abraham. That Dives was
in the full exercise of his memory, we learn from the answer of Abraham: Son, remember that thou in thy life-time receivedst thy good things, and Lazarus his evil things. Here he is
comforted and thou art in anguish.
That the rich man was still possessed of his natural affinities, we learn from his intense anxiety for the personal welfare of his
five brethren above that of all others.
In the full exercise of our memories and affinities, how
unspeakably delightful must our associations - our social and spiritual
enjoyments - be in paradise!
Lazarus was in intimate companionship with Abraham, the
spiritual father and representative of the saints of all ages. If with Abraham,
then with Adam and Abel and Seth and Enoch and Noah.
From these he could learn circumstantially the history of the worlds creation,
of the beauties of the first paradise of God, the particulars of the fall, of
the ruin, of the closing scenes of the dread deluge. What shall I say of the
long communions with all that cloud of faithful witnesses referred to by Paul
in Hebrews 11., and what of the longer list,
were it but made out, reaching from the days of John the Baptist until now? Would an age be sufficient to
satisfy us with the companionship of Paul? [Page 232] What shall I say of the intimate
associations with our own sainted relatives? What of the
sweet communing with those tried and faithful ministers and brethren with whom
we have laboured and won signal victories for Christ and His truth over sin and
error here? What shall I say of our bliss enhanced by the fruitage of our
labours that will follow, on and on, as the years of time roll by, until our redemption is fully accomplished by the
coming of Christ, and our glorification
with Him? In addition to all this, can we doubt for a moment that Christ,
who walked at the cool eventide in
the first paradise, and conversed with its sinless occupants, does not often visit and gladden the spirits of
His waiting saints in paradise now? So often is He with them, that Paul,
referring to their condition, calls it being present with the Lord. Could not this be
said of our first parents, while they abode in innocence, that they
enjoyed the very presence of the Lord?
The wife speaks of
her husband as at home with her,
although he attends to his regular business, at his office during business
hours, and is only by her side, and immediately with his family, enlivening
the hearth-stone, when
the business of the day is over.
11. We learn that the good can not, if they would, administer to the comfort of the
lost.
It is a fundamental article in the faith of Spiritualists that
the good in the future state are constantly employed in ameliorating the
condition of the bad - those spirits who were wicked in life, and are therefore
occupying a far lower plane of existence and enjoyment in the future life.
12. From this we also learn that all
that we can do [Page 233] for the spiritual good of others we must do in this life;
that with it all our toils and prayers for others forever cease, both with
respect to the living and the dead.
13. We learn that as good spirits can not pass out of paradise to succour the self-ruined
spirits in hades, much less can they pass out of paradise and hades to instruct
or comfort the living on this earth. David recognized the fact that his child
could not return to him in any capacity, and, therefore, we know that no good
spirit ever has, or ever will or can return to instruct or comfort the living.
14. From this
parable we also
learn the conditions that govern the spirits of wicked men in hades.
That they are far separated from the righteous.
Not only are the saints guarded from intrusion on the part of evil spirits (the
devil and his angels) from without - so that they can not
enter to tempt and trouble, as they do the righteous here - but the spirits of bad men are not allowed to
enter the peaceful rest of paradise, or to come near. Were they permitted
to do so, the wicked there could disturb the repose
and enjoyment of the friends of Jesus as they do here. Blessed
rest, indeed, where emphatically the wicked cease
from troubling and the weary are at rest.
If the spirits in hades can not
trouble the just, much less can the living on earth trouble them by bringing
them down into sιances at their pleasure.
15. We learn that the wicked in the
world of despair do not wish the companionship of their wicked friends and
relatives. We can not conceive that such companionship would
in the least alleviate their sufferings, [Page 234] but we can conceive how such association
would immeasurably intensify them, and especially if, as it doubtless was in
the case of the rich man, their example and influence in this life had encouraged
them in a course of sin and rejection of God and salvation.
16. We learn that if lost spirits could
return to this earth and communicate with the living they would do so, to
induce them to believe the Bible, forsake sin and return to God and be saved.
17. If Dives could have returned to
earth, and, through any conceivable way - in spirit form and by spirit voice,
or by the voice of any earthly medium - have
communicated with his brethren, would he not have done so? We are bound to
answer this in the affirmative. But he had not
returned, and did not return, and, therefore, it is conclusive that he could not do so. We learn -
18. If
Dives could not return to earth to communicate with the living, no disembodied spirit ever did or ever can
do so. They are in prison, under guard. The gates of hades are locked upon them, as well as
upon the righteous; neither can they depart thence until He who has the key of hades opens and brings them forth to
glory or to shame. But then there is this difference between the righteous and
the wicked: the former desire not to go forth to be again troubled and worn,
tempted or distressed by the wicked without, and though the wicked would escape
they can not.
19. We learn from
this that if Dives could have returned
and communicated with his brethren, he
would have told them that there was an endless
hell - [Page 235] a state of indescribable misery and anguish like to being tormented in flames - and have warned
them if they lived on as he had lived, they would come to the same awful
punishment. But spirits (?) controlled by mediums do not so testify, but
that all are comfortably happy, and daily becoming more so. Therefore, we are
justifiable in concluding that a leave of absence has never
yet been granted to a disembodied spirit.
All communications that have been claimed as coming from the
spirits of the dead, whether good or bad, are
spurious.
20. That our
conduct in this life will immeasurably enhance our joys or our wretchedness in
the life to come.
We also learn -
21. The nature of the punishment suffered by the wicked in hades - the fires unquenchable, that
will torment, will be those they have kindled here. The remorseful memories
of his conduct in this life, not so much, perhaps, for what he had done - for
it is not intimated that he was an outbreaking sinner - but of what he had
neglected to do, were the scorpion stings that lacerated his soul
as flames of real fire would torment the body. The anguish of remorse,
begloomed by the total and everlasting eclipse of all hope, is all a deathless
spirit can suffer.
We learn -
22. That our relationship to a pious
ancestry, or Christian parents, will neither secure our salvation, nor mitigate
our wretchedness and anguish if lost, but will doubtless enhance.
Better a thousand times have lived and died
a heathen, and never have heard a prayer or heard a [Page 236] sermon, than to have heard the gospel
and rejected it, and to have been blessed with the instruction and prayers of
Christian parents and have despised them.
Let the case of the rich man be a warning to the children of
Christian parents. He believed that he would be saved
because he was the son of righteous Abraham.
* *
*
[Page
239]
CHAPTER XXV
REMARKS INTRODUCTORY TO THE ESCHATOLOGICAL PARABLES
THESE
(see preceding page) will complete the Expositions of the Parables and
Prophecies of Christ. I call them Eschatological, because they find their interpretations
in events connected with the last times of this dispensation, and the second
coming of Christ, which grand event will prepare the way for, and introduce,
the millennium. These parables can be readily understood
only, by those who hold Scriptural views of Eschatology, or the doctrine of the last things.
All orthodox Christian writers, from the first century down,
have held and taught, and all living orthodox writers do now hold and teach,
that there is to be a second coming of Christ; but they are divided upon the manner and the time of it:
1. Whether it will be a bodily and visible or a spiritual coming;
and
2. Whether it
will be pre- or post-millennial - i.e. whether it will take place before or subsequent to the conversion of the whole world, or the millennial
age.
Those holding the former view are known and
called Pre-millennialists, or Literalists; those holding the latter, Post-millennialists, or Spiritualists.
But the four parables to be explained [Page
240] unquestionably proceed
upon the admitted fact that the coming of Christ will be a visible and instantaneous
event; For, said Christ, as the lightning cometh out
of the east and shineth unto the west, so the parousia [presence] of the Son of Man will be, which means the bodily coming of Christ.
All these - [selected three only] - parables expressly teach that His
coming will be sudden and at any moment, the day and the hour being unrevealed.
As suddenly and unexpectedly as came the flood upon the world, Christ taught
His coming will be:
But as the days of Noe [Noah] were, so shall also the coming
of the Son of Man be. For as in the days that
were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into
the ark, and knew not until the flood came,
and took them all away; so
shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Then
shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other
left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill;
the one shall be taken,
and the other left. Watch
therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house
had known in what watch the thief would come, he
would have watched, and would not have suffered
his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such
an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh. - Matt. 25: 37-44.
This teaching is emphatically opposed to the idea that the
gradual conversion of the world is the coming of Christ, and the entire
conversion of the world is His parousia - His
presence - and the millennium. Has Christ been coming since John preached
his first sermon - two thousand years?
The emphatic lesson of each of these
four parables, also, is that only those servants will receive the chief honours
and highest rewards who are ready, watchful [Page 241] and in earnest, prayerful expectancy
of His coming: otherwise they will be left to live on and suffer the terrible
ills and tribulations that await all who remain on the earth until the close of
this dispensation, while the ready, faithful and watchful servants only will be taken away from the evils to come -
caught up, without seeing death, to meet the
coming Lord in the air:
Then we that are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and
so shall we ever be with the Lord. - 1
Thess. 4:
17.
These four parables, as well as this last prophecy, of Christ
proceed upon the assumed fact that the second coming of Christ will take place before the conversion of the world, or the
millennium.
The reader must see that it is not until after His coming that He
judges and utterly destroys these wicked nations from the face of the earth;
and by reference to Revelations 19: 19-20 it will be seen that it is after
His coming that he crushes the antichristian confederacies and wicked
potencies of earth, and casts the beast and false prophet, who inspire and
direct their rebellious assault, into the
lake of fire. It
is then, and not till then, by His righteous
judgments, He rids the earth of the wicked, as the chaff is separated and
driven away from the wheat, by the wind, on the summer threshing floor:
Whose fan is in His hand; and He shall thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff
in unquenchable fire.
If the world will be converted to
Christ before the end of the world (of this age), not only the [Page 242] above four, but several of the
principal, parables, as those of The Tares and of The Drag-net, will be made
worse than meaningless - be made to flatly contradict all the Scriptures that
have an admitted reference to the state of the world at His coming.
Notice, it was not
until after the bridegroom had returned that the foolish virgins became aware
of their unpreparedness to meet him. It was not until after the nobleman returned
that he summoned before him his enemies and destroyed them. It was until
the harvest, the very end of the dispensation, that the tares grew
rankly among the wheat, and not until then were they gathered out and burned - not converted. It
was not until the same time that the drag-net was
hauled to the shore and the bad fishes separated from the good.
To teach that the world will be converted before Christs
coming, is to teach that the chaff and the tares are not to be burned, but will
be converted into wheat; and that the bad fishes in the net will not be thrown
away, but converted into good ones.
These parables and the whole
eschatological teachings of our Sacred Scriptures can be interpreted
consistently with themselves only upon the admitted fact that Christs coming
is to be personal and visible, and before the conversion of the world and the millennial age.
Another fact must be admitted if we would understand these parables that remain to be considered: viz., that the
second coming of Christ will be in two
stages, and that there will be a short
period or rest between them.
He will come into the air, unseen by mortal eye, [Page
243] to gather unto
Himself, from the earth, all His faithful and true witnesses - His ready and
watchful servants, choice ones, His overcomers (see Rev. 3: 4-5) - to be His bride, preparatory to the marriage and her enthronement with
Him, to reign with Him over the nations.
Only those eminent saints who are ready
and watching to receive Him will
constitute His bride, and will be the Lambs wife.
* *
*
[Page 285]
6
CHAPTER XXVIII
THE ENTRUSTED POUNDS
AND as they heard these
things, He added and spake a parable,
because He was nigh to
This parable is only recorded by Luke, and is a companion of
the last, that of The Talents, and probably was related in connection with
that.
The veri-similitudes are so great, and
meet in so many points, that some expositors* are of the opinion that this is
Lukes version of the Parable of the Talents recorded by Matthew, of which
admission the enemies of inspiration are not slow to avail themselves.
* The man who can not perceive, or will not own, that these
are two distinct cases, with different though co-equal lessons, is not fit to
be an expositor of any writing, either sacred or profane. - ARNOT.
I can not for a moment entertain this
opinion.
1. Because it gravely militates against the inspiration of the
Scriptures, and -
2. Because it was evidently given to illustrate another
principle in the administration of rewards in the
3. To dispossess the minds of His disciples, and the
multitudes, of the impression that the
The Parable of the Talents was manifestly given to illustrate
that, in the administration of the rewards in the
In this parable, another equally important principle, viz.: that equal endowments used with unequal diligence will
be unequally rewarded.
[Page 287]
Both alike exhibit the grand cardinal
distinction between the faithful and faithless; but in pointing out also the
diversities that obtain among true disciples, they view the subject on opposite
sides, each presenting that aspect of it which the other omits.
The Parable of the Talents teaches us that Christians differ
from each other in the amount of gifts which they
receive; and the Parable of the Pounds teaches us that they differ from each
other in the diligence they display.
The third reason is stated by the evangelist:
And as they heard these things, He added and spake a
parable,
because He was nigh to
The disciples became fully occupied with
the thought that upon Christ entering Jerusalem He would publicly proclaim
Himself king and set up a temporal kingdom, and deliver them from the power of
the Romans, and at this time fulfil the prophecies concerning their Messiahs
kingdom and reign. To disabuse their minds of this idea - i.e. that this millennial kingdom was immediately to appear - was the prime reason for speaking this
parable.
The representative characters or events in this allegory are:
I. The nobleman.
II. His journey
and its cause.
III. His dividing
of his goods among his servants.
IV. The principle by which he was governed in settling with them.
V. The idle
servant.
VI. The conduct
and punishment of his enemies.
[Page
288]
This nobleman was doubtless the hereditary heir of this
kingdom, and it was but the formal investiture of kingship he went to receive
from the supreme head of the empire. This feature had a historical basis in the
political condition of the Jews under the Roman power.
Judea had
been conquered by the Romans, under Pompey, 63 B.C., and though it was still
governed in part by native princes, yet they ruled as deputies of
That it was not the kingship of a far distant country he
sought, but of his native land, else the conduct of his citizens would have
been incongruous.
This feature of the parable was based
upon the conduct of the Jews towards Archelaus, as stated above.
The nobleman called his ten servants and delivered [Page
289] unto them ten
pounds (two hundred dollars), from which two statements - i.e. the number of his servants (only ten) and the smallness of the amount (twenty dollars) entrusted to
each - some expositors infer the poverty of the nobleman. His
command was, Occupy till I come
- trade, use, with intelligence, to the best of your discretion, until I
return, which they knew could not be soon, for it was into a far country he was
going, and upon an important mission to the imperial court, and both the time
and the business at court would require time, and, therefore, they knew they
would have ample time to engage in business. Let it be
noted that all those to whom he entrusted his goods were, as in The
Talents, his own servants, not his enemies. The years roll on, and after a long time, as Matthew expresses it,
the lord returned, and commanded those servants to whom he had given the money
that he might know how much each man had gained by trading. They promptly
responded and each rendered his account, and it was found that some had
increased their trusts more than others.
The first came and said, Lord, with thy pounds,
by trading, I have gained ten pounds
(two hundred dollars). And the
lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and
faithful servant; because thou hast been
faithful with a very little, have thou authority
over ten cities. And the
second servant came, saying, Lord, with thy one pound I have traded, and made five pounds (one hundred dollars). And
the lord said unto him, Well done, thou good servant; be thou over five cities. These nine good and faithful servants,
all expositors and reasoners agree, represent Christians of this age; and to each one Christ, [Page
290] represented by
the hereditary nobleman, has entrusted a gift with which to serve Him.
Touching the last servant there is a diversity of views. He, like the servant entrusted with the one talent, was an idle
servant, and had done nothing with his pound. Bringing it back, he said,
Behold,
here is thy pound, which
I have kept laid up in a napkin - sudarium, sweat-cloth - which, not working, he needed
not use. His judgment was like that of the slothful servant in the Parable of
the Talents.
What we may learn from this parable:
1. That every child of God is created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, and are His servants
- douloi -
slaves. bond servants - having been purchased with His
own precious blood. Paul delighted to call himself a slave - bound servant of
Jesus Christ.
2. That to teach one of His servants,
He commits a trust - a pound - with which to serve Him; we may call this personal influence, which we can augment in proportion to our diligence in His service, and for this we are responsible, not for
its safe keeping only, but for its
diligent use.
3. That Christ our Lord has left this
earth, and ascended into the court of heaven, to be formally
invested with royal power and prerogatives over this entire earth as the
reward of His redemptive work. God the Father has said, Sit thou on my throne until
I make thy foes thy footstool. Christ has been formally invested with the
supreme government and judgeship of this earth. He so declared this fact when
He said, All power in heaven and in earth; Go ye therefore into all the earth, and preach the gospel to every nation.
[Page
291]
4. We learn that He will return to this
earth to reign over this kingdom He has received.
5. That His enemies will remain defiant
and protesting on this earth until He does return, and then they will all be
brought before Him and miserably slain, as saith the Scriptures:
Why do the heathen rage,
and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set
themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against
His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree:
the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten Thee. Ask of me, and I shall give Thee the
heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost
part of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt
break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt clash
them in pieces like a potters vessel. - Ps. 2: 1-9.
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse: and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He
doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a
flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and he had a name written,
that no man knew, but He
himself. And He was
clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His
name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white
horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He tread the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of
Almighty God. And He
hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS,
AND LORD OF
LORDS. And I saw an angel standing in the
sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together
unto the supper of the great God. - Rev. 10: 11-17.
[Page 292]
6. And finally -
The
disproportion between fidelity in the use of single pound of Hebrew money
(twenty dollars) and the reward consequent thereon, of being made a ruler over
five or ten cities, can not fail to arrest attention; and yet how beautifully
does this apparent disproportion illustrate a marked feature of the divine
economy, whereby God rewards not deeds, but motives; not results, but
principles! So here the principles of faithful zeal to the humblest trust
is requited by transferring that lowly labourer to a broader field of action,
where this principle, so fully tested in small matters, has now scope for noble
and efficient development. And a blessed thought it is, that we are not
rewarded so much for the outward and visible ministrations of duty as for the
inward and spiritual principles which guide our souls, which principles indeed
are not of our own getting, but are implanted in us by the Holy Ghost. Hence it
follows that the humblest servant of God may attain to heights in glory and
reaches of power far above what may be accorded to the more seemingly active
and fruitful professor, because of the different principles which were the
motive power in each.
The theory that they will all be converted, and made His
friends, and welcome Him back to reign over them. is
delusive to the mind by this parable.
* *
*
[Page 244]
7
CHAPTER XXVI
THE TEN VIRGINS
PARABLE
THEN shall the kingdom of
heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They
that were foolish took their lamps, and took no
oil with them: but the wise took oil in their
vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom
tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And
at midnight there was a cry made, Behold,
the bridegroom cometh;
go ye ut to meet him. Then
all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil: for our
lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not
enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them
that sell, and buy for yourselves. And
while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage:
and the door was shut.
Afterward came also the other virgins, saying,
Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily, I say unto you, I know you not. Watch,
therefore, for ye know
neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. - Matt. 25: 1-13.
This has been pronounced the most
graphic and touchingly beautiful and impressive of all our Lords parables. No
one, perhaps, has received more attention from expositors and commentators from
the days of Augustine and Luther down to the present. Dr. Seiss, who himself
has devoted an entire book to its explanation, says of it:
Books and commentators for its
explanation are [Page 245] not few. It seems to me, however, that it
is not understood as it ought to be. It touches upon
fields of doctrine, experience and hope, concerning which the popular mind needs more instruction than it
receives.
While it is true that the popular mind has not received the
amount of instruction it needs, it is equally true that it has not received the
character of instruction it needs, not only upon this parable, but upon its companions - i.e. those of The Talents, The Pounds, and The Judgment of the
Nations. Commentators and expositors widely disagree among themselves in their
interpretations, and the result is natural - the mind is left
in a confused and inquiring attitude, looking earnestly for interpretations
that will at least convey important truths and harmonize with the other
teachings of Gods word.
It is the fixed conviction of the
writer that to do this they must be interpreted dispensationally, and
strict connection with the time and events connected with the second coming
of Christ to receive His bride, and her favoured companions, preparatory to her
marriage and introduction into the beautiful habitation of the Bridegroom, which shall have been prepared
for her everlasting and glorious abode, according His promise.
This is the work I have undertaken in
great weakness, and a felt
disqualification to accomplish; but, in language of another, Should I even fail to establish the conclusions which the
terms and implications the parable appear to me to require, the cause of truth
may nevertheless be the gainer by
the reopening of the questions involved, and a resurvey of the field.
[Page 246]
This is the first of the last three and most remarkable
parables which Jesus spake to His disciples as His feet pressed for the last
time the brow of Mount Olivet, where for so many ages above all other places
piety had felt itself nearer to heaven. As these were His last teachings, so their
main scope had exclusive reference
to the last events, in which, at the end of the ages, His [messianic and millennial] kingdom will find its long promised
and glorious consummation.
This parable, unlike any other, is
introduced by then, clearly
implying that the kingdom of heaven is not now,
and never has been, but is only at some future time, to be likened unto ten
virgins, and that time is clearly designated - i.e. when the Son of Man cometh, then will the events that will take place in connection with His
coming be like unto those related in this parable, which is built upon the
ordinary circumstances and events connected with a wedding scene not uncommon
among the Jews, and still not unfrequent in Oriental countries.
An eye-witness of a Hindoo marriage
gives the following illustration of this custom:
The bride lived at Serampore, to
which place the bridegroom was to come by water. After waiting two or three
hours, at length, near midnight, it was announced in the very words of
Scripture, Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him. All the persons
employed now lighted their lamps, and ran with them in their hands to fill up
their stations in the procession. Some of them had lost their
lights, and were unprepared, but it was then too late to seek them, and the
cavalcade moved forward to the house of the bride, at which place the company
entered a large and splendidly-illuminated area before the house, covered with
an awning, where a great multitude of [Page 247] friends, dressed in their best
apparel, were seated upon mats. The bridegroom was carried in the arms
of a friend, and placed in a superb seat in the midst of the company, where he
sat a short time, and then went into the house, the door of which was immediately shut and guarded by sepoys. I and others expostulated with the door-keepers, but in
vain. Never was I so struck with our Lords beautiful parable as at this
moment. And
the door was shut.'
The principal features designed, I think, to convey specific
instruction to His disciples, then and to the end of the age, are:
I. The
Bridegroom.
II. His coming.
III. The time and
the manner of it.
IV. The bride.
V. Her virgin
companions.
VI. The guests of
the marriage supper.
VII. The class or classes of persons
represented by these virgins - the
five provident - the five unwise or improvident.
VIII. What is implied by the door being shut, and the expression, I know you not?
IX. What constituted the punishment of
their improvidence?
1. That the bridegroom represents
Christ all interpreters are agreed. David, Solomon, Isaiah and John the
Baptist, and the apostles, all refer to Him as the Bridegroom of His chaste and
pure bride, to whom He is now betrothed, and for His marriage to her the day is fixed in the Councils of Eternity.
2. His Coming; about this, both as to the time and manner of it, there is
a wide diversity of views.
(1). It can not be the destruction by
war of some [Page 428] important city, as Jerusalem, Babylon or Rome, as many
teach, since in no sense can their destruction be thought of as the joyous
coming of the Bridegroom to receive His bride, preparatory to the marriage
ceremony and the feasting.
His coming as a Bridegroom is spoken
of as a coming event, long after these cities had been destroyed.
(2). Nor can it be interpreted of the
descent of the Holy Spirit, or of a spiritual coming or presence of Christ, for
in this sense He has ever been with His - [obedient (see Acts
5: 32; 1
John 3: 24, R.V.)] - people.
(3). Nor can it be interpreted of
that providential event to which all are subject - death. Death is not a
glorious, loving bridegroom, for whose coming the bride ([chosen] Christians) wait, and hope, and pray
for, in loving and impatient expectancy. Death is, throughout the Sacred
Scriptures, represented as the enemy of our race, from whose approach we shrink
and recoil. Nor is the language consistent, applied to any one of these events
- Behold (a joyous exclamation) the
bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him!
This Coming of the Bridegroom unquestionably refers to the second, personal, bodily,
visible, coming of Christ to gather unto himself His elect, choice and eminently faithful saints, whom He will
honour before His Father and the holy angels, the world and the universe, by
making them His bride - the Lambs wife. His first coming was in two stages. For thirty years He was present, yet
unrecognized by the world, and even by His relatives and His own harbinger,
John [the Baptist], while He was
gathering and preparing a people for Him; but at His baptism He was bodily [Page
249] and gloriously manifested to Israel by the opening of the
heavens, the voice of the Father, and the descent of the Holy Spirit, as the divine
Son of God: so will His second coming be in two stages. He will come into the air
unseen by the dwellers on the earth, and unrecognized by even His friends,
where He will gather unto Himself, out of all nations, all His saints, those ready and waiting to receive Him, whom He will
make His bride; and when this shall have been fully accomplished, He will [afterwards] make Himself manifest to His people and to
the world as the all-glorious Son of God, coming on the clouds of heaven with
all His holy angels, with power and great glory, when every eye shall see Him.
The marriage will then take place, after which He will introduce His bride into
her now prepared and glorious habitation - the re-Edenized earth, with its
paradise restored.
The question which has so long perplexed
commentators I will now consider, viz.:
THE BRIDE OF CHRIST
Who will constitute the bride?
1. None but real Christians, pure and chaste virgins, will constitute His bride, the Lambs wife. All interpreters are
also agreed in this:
2. But not all Christians, nor even all virgins, will constitute His bride.
This must be so evident to all Bible readers, on a moments
reflection, as to need no discussion here. We all know that the bride, among
all virgins, in the eyes of the bridegroom, is the one most beautiful, and
the one altogether lovely. As an apple tree among he common trees of the wood, so is
His beloved among [Page
250] women the virgins. He loves them all, but He loves His betrothed one above all.
In all ages the Lord has had His choice and best beloved ones. They were
and are of that [select] class of faithful Christians typified by Abel, Enoch, Seth, Noah, Abraham,
Moses, Samuel, Jephthae, David, and that great cloud of witnesses for God - [and His truths] - in the ages before the coming of
Christ alluded to by Paul:
And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of
Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, of Jephthae; of David also,
and Samuel, and of the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness,
obtained promises, stopped the mouths of
lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, the armies of the aliens.
Women received their dead raised to life again: others were tortured, not accepting
deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: and others had trials of cruel mockings and
scourgings, yea,
moreover of bonds and of imprisonment: They
were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were
slain with the sword: they wandered about
in sheepskins and goatskins; being
destitute, afflicted, tormented:
of whom the world was not worthy: they
wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God
having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be
made perfect. - Heb. 11: 32-40.
And the largest cloud of faithful and true witnesses, not spectators, but witnesses who
testify what they know, have experienced, who have lived and
laboured, and suffered for Christ since, and the faithful ones, though few,
living and testifying now- these, and
only these - will receive the highest honour when Christ comes [for His bride]; i.e, that of being the nearest to the person of [Page 251] Him to whose heart they have been the dearest here. All Christians are loved by Christ,
and will be saved and rewarded according to what they have done and suffered for
Him, but all will not constitute His
bride - be enthroned and crowned and reign with Him. Not to all Christians can
He say, Well done, good and faithful servants. etc.
When the Kings daughter, the betrothed bride of His Son, is brought unto the Kings palace, all glorious in her robes
of beaten gold, these are her virgin attendants
who follow to grace her presence:
And the Kings daughter is all
glorious within [i.e. the
palace]: her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the King
in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her
shall be brought unto Thee. With gladness and
rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall
enter into the Kings palace.
- Psalms 45: 13-15.
Who are these virgin companions? They certainly represent [regenerate] Christians; but they are not the bride, and never will be, although next in honour to her. In the parable under consideration,
the wise virgins, whom all admit represent Christians, chaste and pure, were not the bride, nor a part of her. The kings
daughter was already within, and awaiting the coming of the bridegroom before
they entered. They were the virgin attendants of the bride - the invited guests
of the marriage, and in this were highly honoured and
blessed:
Let us he glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for
the marriage of the Lamb is come,
and His wife hath
made herself ready. And
to her was granted that she should he arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine
linen is the righteousness - [or
(the
righteous acts
R.V.)] - of saints.
And He saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper
of the Lamb. - Rev.
19: 7-9.
[Page 252]
If all Christians constitute the bride, why did not the
angel say, Blessed are those who are chosen to he the
bride, and not, Blessed are those who are
called to the marriage supper of the
Lamb? None but - [selected and worthy] - Christians will enjoy the honour of
being the guests of this supper.
John saw those who symbolized the class of Christians who will
constitute the Lambs wife:
And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the
These represent the comparatively few choice ones of the earth, the first-born ones, the first fruits unto God
and the Lamb; and these, and those like these alone, will be
honoured with being made the Lambs wife.
Notice the peculiar characteristics of these [chosen]
Christians:
1. They had not while living on earth defiled themselves with women - i.e. committed spiritual fornication. God charged
2. They were virgins. They had, while living here, kept themselves pure and chaste - intact from the
sinful and demoralizing pleasures of this world. I cannot believe that they
found sweet pleasures in the ball-room, the opera and
the theatre, which are peculiarly the pleasures of sin,
and of the children of this world. They kept their garments unspotted from the
world.
3. These, when here, were the followers of the
Lamb. not professedly,
nor in a general sense - not in a great many things; but these followed
Christ whithersoever He went. Where
He went in the paths of obedience, they followed Him. They obeyed from
the heart, all His commandments. As willing or wilfully disobedient Christians,
they were without fault before God.*
* I can not believe that those
Christian ministers or members who, while they profess to love Christ, refuse
to do what He commands them, because of the opposition of their own flesh and
blood - their own friends and family - or of the world, will ever constitute
any part of the glorious bride of Christ. Those Christian ministers or members who, while they
profess to love Christ, refuse to do what He commands them, because of the
opposition of their own flesh and blood - their own friends and family - or of
the world, will ever constitute any part of the glorious bride of Christ. Those
Christian ministers who refuse to obey the least
of Christ's requirements, and teach others so, certainly will
not be made the greatest in Christ's kingdom, but Christ says they shall
be the least:
Whosoever therefore shall break one
of these least commandments, and shall teach men
so, he shall he called the least in the kingdom
of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them,
the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
- Matt. 5:
19.
How many of our brethren, ministers whom we love, will far
miss this highest honour, refusing or failing, through fear of losing the
smiles and favours of men - errorists- to teach men all things, even those
accounted the least - non-essentials - and to teach them to do them. These are solemn and eternal
verities.
After this I
beheld, and, lo,
a great multitude, which
no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people,
and, [Page 255] tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed
with white robes, and palms in their hands;
and cried with a loud vice, saying, Salvation to our God
which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels
stood round about throne, and about the elders
and the four beasts, and fell before the throne
on their faces, and worshiped God, saying, Amen: blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving,
and honour, and power, and
might, be unto our God forever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying
unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And
he said to me, These are which came out of great
tribulation, and have washed their robes,
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more,
neither thirst any more; neither
shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
For Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed
them, and shall lead them unto living fountains
of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes. - Rev.
7: 9-17.
[Page 254] These one hundred
and forty-four thousand were certainly not the
representatives of all the saved, as some teach, for all who have been
saved did not possess these characteristics; nor will any one presume to say
that all living Christians to-day possess these distinguishing marks of consecration
to Christ, but they do represent all those Christians who will be honoured and rewarded by being made the bride of Christ.
In the day when Christ comes to elect from the earth and
receive His bride unto Himself, then will
His faithful ones be rewarded for all they have sacrificed and suffered for Him
here.
John was shown a countless multitude
of palm-bearers of all nations, who
were Christians; but they were no part of the bride; nor were they honoured, or
even blessed, with even an invitation to the marriage supper, and yet they were
saved, but never attained higher positions of honour than that of servants:
Who, at the coming of Christ, will be represented by the wise virgins? Who by the foolish?
Were the latter finally saved?
What class of persons are the five virgins intended represent?
Christians, undoubtedly, as the name indicates and implies. Virgin signifies
persons morally chaste and pure, and
is applied equally to both sexes in the Scriptures (see Rev. 14: 4), and is never applied to the unregenerate, or enemies of Christ. All
expositors are agreed that these five virgins represent Christians.
But, as we have noticed, they were
not, for some reason, chosen to be the bride, or any part of her, but they will
attain to the next place of honour and
blessedness; i.e. that of being the
nearest to her person - [Page 256] companions and attendants, and called to go into the
marriage supper. (Rev. 19: 9)
What class will the foolish
virgins represent?
Though called foolish, they were as certainly virgins
as the five wise ones. The term virgin as certainly designates Christian as
the terms elect, saints, and is never applied to the morally impure, or the
unregenerate, any more than the term leaven
is applied to something pure and
holy.
These five unwise virgins
were not enemies of Christ - hypocrites under the guise and profession of
friends. All that is said of them implies that they
represent Christians as certainly as
the wise ones. For -
1. They are
called virgins by Christ.
2. They went forth with lighted torches, as did the wise, to honour and welcome the coming bridegroom.
3. They waited as watchfully, and as earnestly desired the
coming of the bridegroom, as did the wise virgins. Christ would not intimate
that the unregenerate - His enemies - will be earnestly watching for and desiring His speedy coming, as did these five virgins. His enemies
- all hypocrites and mere nominal Christians - will dread and recoil from
the very announcement of His coming.
The foolish virgins also represent a class of Christians at
the coming of Christ.
Arminians, with great avidity and
confidence, bring forward this parable in support of their doctrine of the
possibility of the final apostasy of Christians. They rightfully claim that
these foolish virgins represent Christians, who, on account of the lack of something [Page
257] which they should have done, will at last be
forever shut out of heaven, as these virgins were shut out of the marriage
supper.
To break the force of this argument, the advocates of the
salvation of all saints adopt the opposite and quite as
untenable a position, viz.: that they were not intended to represent
Christians, but sinners, hypocrites, Christians only in profession, whom the coming of Christ will reveal
in their true characters.
Those adopting this interpretation claim that the oil symbolizes the saving
grace of regeneration, and that these foolish virgins never
had any oil even in their lamps, but wicks only, thus making them not merely unwise and improvident, but very idiots!
for, if
possessed of any sense, they would have known that their lamps would not have
burned for a moment with only wicks, and would have served them no purpose had
the procession actually been in sight the moment they went out!
But against this it
can be conclusively urged that these were not only called virgins, which is a misleading term, unless, like the others, they
represent Christians, and they voluntarily
went forth to welcome and honour the coming bridegroom, but that they as earnestly desired and awaited his
coming as did the wise virgins, which could not be said of hypocrites or
unregenerate persons. The enemies of Christ do not desire, but with mortal fear dread, the hour
of His coming, and will call upon the rocks and the mountains to fall on them
to hide them from His face. It is, with conclusive force, further urged:
1. That these virgins did go forth with oil in their lamps, or the cups
of their torches, and for [Page 258] all ordinary occasions, they had quit enough. Had it
not been for the long, and to these
virgins unexpected, tarrying of the
bridegroom, the oil in their lamps would have been sufficient; for, even at
midnight, when the cry was heard, their lamps were still burning, but burning
low, so that they said unto their fellows, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are going out.
I give the literal translation from
the Diaglott:
And the foolish said unto the prudent, Give us of your oil, for our lamps - sbennuntai
- are going out
- are being extinguished; so
I can not conceive how we can avoid
the conclusion that these foolish virgins were intended to represent [regenerate] Christians, otherwise the parable is
quite meaningless. It was addressed to the disciples
of Christ - Christians - it was intended for Christians, and Christians only,
and has application only for those Christians living at the time of Christs
coming to gather unto Himself His bride and her virgin companions.
Granting, as we must, that they
represent a class of Christians, some of which will be taken in, and some left
out, let us proceed to notice:
In what respects the
foolish resembled and differed from the wise.
1. They as voluntarily went forth to welcome his coming.
2. They equally provided themselves
with torches, or lamps, to honour his coming
3. They equally had oil in their lamps.
[Page 259]
4. They were as watchful and as desirous of
his coming as the wise.
5. They equally slumbered and slept
with the wise. And -
6. They awakened as promptly as did the wise, and when they
awoke their lamps were still burning. But they found they had not sufficient oil to
go forward in the procession to the house.
Now, the only thing the wise had which the others did not have
was a supply of oil in addition to what
was in their lamps.
A literal translation of the passage will make this evident: For the
improvident took their lamps, but carried no oil with
them [i.e. besides what was in their lamps.] The prudent or provident, however, besides their own lamps, took oil in vessels. (Diaglott.) This oil, then, cannot represent saving grace
or regeneration of heart, but a requisite faith in what was needful to be known
touching the movements of the bridegroom, and especially that there would be a
delay on his part, and probably a long one.
The fact that the wise virgins had made themselves acquainted
with this fact, or the probability of its occurrence, and thoughtfully provided
for it by carrying oil in their vessels, besides what their lamps contained,
that they might refill their lamps, was what constituted them wise or prudent. It was because of the failure of the foolish virgins, through
apathy or inexcusable negligence, to properly
inform themselves touching the movements of the bridegroom - movements that
might be known, that it was their duty to know, especially the fact that
there might or would he a tarrying, and possibly a long one,
against which [Page 260] it was their duty to provide.
Were not this the case, how could they justly have been punished? It was simply
for the lack of this provision that they lost their place in the procession,
and failed to be admitted to the marriage supper. They
were punished for willing and inexcusable ignorance of
the movements of the bridegroom.
The urgent application of the foolish to the wise for a portion of their oil is but too natural; the refusal of the wise ones, but too significant to have been omitted. Whatever the oil is intended to signify, it was something of which the wise
had not too much, and something they
could not upon that occasion part with.
Some able expositors hold that the foolish virgins did go
forth at that late hour and obtain a supply of oil, else, say they, they would
not have returned and applied for admission with those who were so provided;
this is held on the supposition that a lighted torch was an essential
qualification of a guest. Grant this; yet they were too late to be recognized
or received in as guests, and given the places they
had justly forfeited.
The door was shut, not of friendship certainly, or of
love, but of a present blessing and
enjoyment - i.e. participation as
guests in the wedding supper.
I know you not.
He does not say, as He will to another class upon another occasion, I never knew you; but I know you not as my bride. I
do not recognize you as worthy, in the circumstances, to be the companions of my bride on this
occasion. I do not recognize you as worthy to be blessed
and honoured by being allowed to be
guests at my wedding supper.
[Page 261]
They were not treated as enemies; for they are friends,
but improvident ones. He does not
order them to be destroyed,
but refuses to let them come in to the supper.
With the above understood symbolisms
of the parable, their application to persons and events they will represent at
the coming of Christ will not be difficult of understanding.
Christ is the Bridegroom, who is
coming at the close if this [evil] dispensation
to gather unto Himself in the air, or into paradise, all the very choice ones of His saints - the precious stones,
His jewels; and to these will He accord the highest reward and honour - i.e. that of being made His queen-bride
- who, as His wife, will sit with Him on His throne, and jointly rule with Him
over the nations.
This most distinguished honour will all this pre- eminent class of His saints
At this stage of His coming He will also gather a second
class, or band - those saints worthy to enjoy the second honour, that of being
the companions and followers of His bride, or the
especially invited guests of His marriage supper. This class I
understand both the Wise and foolish virgins represent. It will be incumbent
upon them to be ready and waiting His coming with lamps trimmed and burning, to
welcome His approach, and, with rejoicing, go with Him into the palace and
grace His marriage.
It will be incumbent upon all Christians who wish to be accepted of Him to be ready and waiting - ready and watchful.
It is said of the bride, the Lambs wife,
that she
hath made herself ready. As it is the privilege of [Page 262] of all
Christians, by lives of holy consecration and fidelity to His service, to
attain the highest rewards and honours Christ has to bestow at His coming -
even to be gathered among His choice
ones, His jewels, and
become His bride - so is it not only the privilege, but duty, of all Christians
to be prepared and ready to honour
and welcome His coming, and enter with Him into the marriage feast and sup with
Him.
For Christians to be prepared and ready
for this glad event, certainly implies that they should make themselves
acquainted with the instructions He has left them with respect to His
movements, and the duties required of them in connection with this important
event (Rev. 1: 3), and that by diligent inquiry they should constantly look for the signs of His coming, which He has given them, indicative of
His near approach.
While it may be true that we all may
not be able to understand all the Scriptures bearing upon the coming of Christ,
yet if, with prayerful diligence, we read
and hear, we can not fail, with His promised blessing, to learn and
understand enough so that we can readily recognize the cry, and have our lamps
trimmed and burning, and well supplied with oil.
Let us find encouragement in His
promise, Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy of this
book, which is
the Apocalypse - Revelation - of
Jesus Christ - a book which reveals the events that must transpire before, and in immediate connection
with, His coming, which are the signs He
has given of His coming, and reveals the events. We all can read and hear, and study all of it, if we can not fully understand all of it. We can obtain the [Page
263] blessing, and
that day will not overtake us as a thief and find us unprepared.
But if, through sinful apathy and negligence, like the
foolish virgins, who will represent a countless multitude of [regenerate] Christians, we fail to inform ourselves
so as to be found prepared to meet Him, we will be found standing at the shut
door of the marriage supper, vainly knocking for admittance.
By this
Christ did not teach that those of His servants who have not made themselves
ready to receive Him will be finally rejected
and lost. He will not close the door of salvation
against them, but only the door of a present distinguished honour and
blessing. Those who, through their negligence, refuse to improve the
opportunities He gives them will lose the
rewards He promises to the faithful and watchful. When He
comes to receive His elect ones
to Himself, the unfaithful and unwatchful will be left to suffer with the hypocrites and unbelievers those terrible years of
afflictions, trials and tribulations on this earth, which will close this
present dispensation, called the
great tribulation, such as never was suffered by men on earth from the
beginning of time, and such as never will again be suffered.
This is the period when the seven judgment seals will be opened (see Rev. 6. onward), and the seven vials of
Gods wrath will be poured out without mixture of mercy upon all those dwelling
on the earth (see Rev. 5. - 20.); when men will gnaw their tongues
for pain, and their hearts fail for fear of the things still to come; when men
will wish to die, and will seek death, and it will flee from them. This state
of things is well compared to outer darkness, where [Page 264] there will be weeping
and wailing and gnashing of
teeth.
Blessed, thrice blessed will those Christians be who are
accounted worthy to escape these things. Of this
Christ warns His disciples:
Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting -
[i.e., eating overmuch: gluttony.] - and
drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye, therefore, and pray ye always, that ye may be accounted
worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and, to stand before the Son
of Man. - Luke 21: 34-36.
Only those who do take
heed to themselves - only the ready
and watchful ones represented by the bride
and the five wise virgins - will be accounted worthy to
escape those things, and to stand before the Son of Man.
These will escape
by being taken away from the evils to come. It is
to this that Christ alludes:
I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,
and the other
shall be left. Two women shall be grinding
together; the one shall be
taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. And they answered and said unto Him, Where, Lord? And He said unto
them, Wheresoever the
body is, thither will the eagles be gathered
together. - Luke 17: 34-37.
Paul tells us to whom - [and at what time]* - these ready Christians will be
taken:
[* NOTE: There are
at least two raptures of living
saints; the first rapture will occur before
the great tribulation commences (Rev. 3: 10,
R.V.); and a later rapture will
occur at its end.
This later rapture of living saints will be accompanied by a select Resurrection of the dead:- those who will be accounted worthy of that age [the millennium] to obtain, and of the resurrection that
out of dead ones (Luke 20: 35- A literal
Greek translation: see the Emphatic Diaglott) - when our Lord
Jesus will appear in manifested
glory. Rev. 20:
4-6; cf.
Luke 20: 35.
There is no mention in Scripture of
a Resurrection out of dead
ones taking place at the time of the Pre-tribulation
rapture!]
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds,
to meet the Lord in
the air; and so shall we ever
be with the Lord. - 1 Thess. 4: 17.
But those Christians who are left
because accounted unworthy to escape
the chastening trials and [Page
265] sufferings of the great tribulation, will pass through them, and learn obedience through
suffering, and will
finally come safely out, some receiving a few
and others many stripes, and still
others saved yet as by fire, with the loss of all honours and all rewards promised
to the diligent and faithful. These chastisements take place on this
earth and before this age closes.
The final state of all those represented by the five foolish virgins can be
seen by reading Revelations (7: 9, to the
end). While they became servants in the temple of their God, they never become the bride - never
are honoured with thrones and crowns, as the faithful, and, therefore, chosen
or choice, ones are.
How sad to think the large proportion of Christians, through
sinful negligence, will lose the highest honours, and only through the greatest
tribulation will enter the [Lords millennial] kingdom! Will it not be as one hundred and forty-four
thousand to a multitude that no man can number? Reader, in what company will
you be ?
Whosoever therefore shall break one
of these least commandments, and shall teach men
so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom
of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called
great in the kingdom of heaven. - Matt. 5: 19.
Are there not those who are now very large in their own eyes,
and in the estimation of the multitudes they seek to please, who will be very small and insignificant when Christ
comes to reward His - [faithful and obedient] - servants? Will not some Christians
actually be
ashamed before Christ at His coming? Ashamed of what?
And now, little children, abide in Him,
that when He shall appear we may have confidence,
and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. 1
John 2: 28.
Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is
he that watcheth, and [Page 266] keepeth his
garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. - Rev. 16: 15.*
[* NOTE: This
actually happened, for all to see the shame of
a Roman soldier, who was found asleep on duty and during the hours of his
watch!]
Will all Christians be found ready and watching [for] the coming of Christ? Paul clearly
implies that only those Christians who love
His appearing will receive crowns of righteousness - i.e.
for doing as good and faithful servants. Do all Christians love His appearing?
Would they, if they could, have their wish - have Him
come to-day? Not one in a thousand of all who profess to be
Christians would have Christ come to-day if their prayers could prevent
His coming. Will such constitute any part of His bride? Have
such the spirit and desire of His bride? Her prayer is, Even so,
come Lord Jesus; COME QUICKLY. Will my readers
turn and read, in this connection, Luke 12: 35-49?
From all this we learn that it is one
thing to be barely saved, which every Christian will ultimately be, but quite
another thing to be honoured with the prize of our high calling - i.e., to sit
as a crowned king with Christ on His throne. (Rev. 3: 2.)
The second stage, or the concluding act of His coming, will be when
He appears in His own glory, and the glory of His holy angels, with ten
thousand of His saints (see Jude), with the
called ones the chosen ones, and the faithful ones (see Rev. 19: 14), to take vengeance on His enemies and put His faithful saints in full possession of the
redeemed earth, who, as His wife,
will share with Him the joint regency of it, when His enemies will have been
cut off out of it. (Ps. 37.)
If the world will be converted before Christ comes, where will He find enemies
to take vengeance upon?
[Page 267]
Will the reader stop long enough to read Revelations 17. and 19., and decide if the world is to be
converted before the coming of Christ?
TRIBULATIONS
There are special periods of tribulations and perilous times, recognized in the Sacred Scriptures, which must transpire before the
second coming of Christ and the close of this dispensation, and which the coming of Christ will
conclude.
The whole period of Satans dominancy on
this earth, from the day the curse was pronounced in Eden for mans sin, until
Satan is bound and cast into the abyss, and the tares (the wicked) and all
anti-Christian organizations and powers are crushed and removed from the earth,
to afflict and persecute the children of God no more, is, to all true and faithful Christians, one long period
of tribulation:
These things I have spoken unto you,
that ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
- John 16: 33.
Confirming the souls of the
disciples, and exhorting them to continue in
the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter the
Yea, and all that will live
godly in Christ Jesus SHALL suffer
persecution. - 2 Tim. 3: 12.
How very few professed
Christians are faithful enough, are sufficiently separated
from the world, as to suffer persecution! How few ministers can brook the least
persecution for the truths sake! Will such enter the kingdom or wear a crown?
To no faithful Christian is there a surcease - [i.e., a cause to cease] of
afflictions and persecutions from the enemies of Christ until [Page
268] His second
coming to rid the earth of His enemies. So there can
not be a millennium - a thousand years of peace, rest and glory - before He
comes.
The first of these
especially troublous times is, in the Old Testament, denominated the
TIME OF JACOBS TROUBLE.
This period commenced with the
conquest and subjugation of the Jewish nation by the Romans, and will continue
with more or less intensity until the
commencement of the second.
Jeremiah foretold this period in these words:
Alas! for that day is great,
so that none is like it; it is even the time of Jacobs trouble.
Daniel thus:
And at that time shall Michael stand
up, the great prince which
standeth for the children of thy people: and
there shall be a time of trouble, such as never
was since there ever was a nation even to that same time: and at that time
thy people shall be delivered, everyone that
shall be found written in the book. - Dan.
12: 1.
Christ predicts it in these words, which seem to include the
whole time from the destruction of
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this
time, no, nor
ever shall be. And except those days should be
shortened, there should be no flesh saved: but for the elects sake those days shall be shortened.
- Matt. 24:
21-22.
When Christ wept for the last time over
[Page
269]
Your house is left unto you desolate,
and ye shall see my face no more until the day ye shall
say, Blessed is He who cometh the name of the Lord.
That is, to deliver them; for after His coming all
Bear it in mind, these three
tribulation periods continue with increasing
intensity until the very hour His appearing; for it will be immediately after and concluding the time of Israels trouble
that Christ comes:
Immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the
sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her
light, and the stars shall fall from heaven,
and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall
appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven: and
then shall all the tribes of the
earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His
angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. - Matt. 24: 29-31.
THE MANNER OF HIS COMING
The angels told the disciples, on the
Which also said, Ye men of
[* NOTE: When a preacher was asked the
question: Do you believe in the
This is a classic example of the
extremes some preachers will go to, in order to support of a false theory, and
a statement on the verge of Blasphemy, That is profane
speaking: contempt or indignity offered to God - (The Comprehensive
Dictionary of the English Language, pp.99) - open denial and rejection (after
knowledge) of what our Lord Jesus had stated in one of His parables! Luke 16:
22-31,
R.V.
But, another shocking question was asked,
by the person hosting the Bible Study a short time later. He reminded his
listeners, after the words - And no man hath ascended into
heaven, but He that descended out of heaven, the Son of Man were quoted in
support of the Lords parable. He stated that these words recorded by the
Apostle John were written BEFORE our Lord Jesus was crucified! Thereby,
seeking to support the preachers previous statement, by drawing an affirmative
reply to his question. It was a classic example of undermining
what our Lord Jesus and all His Prophets and Apostles have recorded throughout
both Old and New Testament Scriptures! Look and see.]
Christ ascended from the
[Page 270]
From these passages we see His
coming, in its last act, will be a bodily
and visible coming.
But there is, also, a tribulation period, which is for the
Gentiles and for all those Christians,
who are not ready, faithful and watchful,
and therefore not accounted worthy to be taken away with the choice and faithful ones who will constitute the bride, but
are left to experience the terrible trials and afflictions of this period. This
is called
THE GREAT TRIBULATION,
and is included in the time of Jacobs trouble,
and ends with it.
There will be multitudes of - [regenerate and deceived] - Christians, which no man
can number, of all nations, who will be left in this outer darkness, as
was the slothful servant, to pass
through a part or the whole of this
great
tribulation period; and,
while they never attain to the
honour of being the bride, or a part
of the bride, of Christ, never obtain crowns and thrones,
will, nevertheless, be blessed in being
either the companions and followers and attendants of the bride or the invited
guests to the marriage supper, and even in being servants of the King, to
wait and serve Him in His temple:
And He saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which
are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. - Rev. 19: 9.
The time and length of this,
the great tribulation.
It commences with the first
stage of Christs coming, and after all the eminent and choice Christians have been taken
- caught up to meet the Lord in the air - and will continue until Christ
appears with His bride.
[Page 271]
Commentators are not agreed as to the length of this the great
tribulation. Some
think it is indicated by the time that elapsed between the translation of Enoch
and the flood (seven hundred and eighty-one years), which swept the wicked from
the earth; others, the number of days (taken for years) that intervene between
the time Noah entered the ark and the opening of the windows of heaven and
breaking up of the fountains of the great deep, which was seven days = seven
years.
But we have no satisfying data by which
to determine the exact length of this period; and we need not to know how long
it will continue:
And He said unto them, It is
not for you to know the times or the
seasons which the Father hath put in
His own power. - Acts 1:
7.
* *
*
[Page 272]
8
CHAPTER XXVII
THE ENTRUSTED TALENTS
FOR the kingdom of heaven is
as a man travelling into a far country, who called
his own servants, and delivered unto them his
goods. And unto one he gave
five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded
with the same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received
two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one went
and digged in the earth, and hid his lords
money. After a long time the lord of those
servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. And so he that had received five
talents came and brought other five talents,
saying, Lord,
thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and
faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a
few things, I will make thee ruler over many
things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me
two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful
servant; thou hast been faithful over a few
things, I will make thee ruler over many things:
enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou
art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not
sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: and I was afraid, and went
and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou
wicked and slothful servant, thou knowest that I
reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have
not strawed: thou oughtest therefore to have put
my money [Page 273] to the exchangers, and then at
my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take, therefore, the talent from him, and give
it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be
given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that
which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable
servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth. - Matt. 25:
14-30.
The Saviour follows the Parable of the Wise and Foolish
Virgins with this of the Entrusted Talents, and evidently to teach other
and important truths in connection with His coming and the end of this age. The
great lesson which He emphasized in the former parable
was the necessity of a watchful
readiness to meet Him at His coming. He closed it with the injunction, Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of
Man commeth. - (Matt. 25: 13.)
The instructive features of the parable before us are:
I. The lord whose
business or pleasure called him into a far country, to be gone a long time.
II. The division of his goods among his
own servants, and the manner of it.
III. The slothful
servant, and his punishment.
IV. The principle
on which the lord reckoned with his servants.
THE APPLICATION OF THE
PARABLE
This parable, in all its features, is eminently realistic. It
was not uncommon for the Greeks and Romans to employ
the better class of their slaves in trading with the means entrusted to them.
Their slaves were principally prisoners of war who had been
sold into [Page 274] slavery, and many of them were men of intelligence -
of eminent ability as tradesmen and in the various professions. The most
renowned fabulist of
The lord in our parable about to travel to a far country to be
absent a long time, instead of making a sale of all he possessed, called his
own servants unto him, and divided his goods among them. To one he gave five
talents ($6,000 of our currency), to another two talents ($2,500), and to
another one ($1,200), and so on. Mark the just principle that governed him in
this distribution - to each according to his ability. The one to whom he gave
but one talent had ability to use, trade with this sum, and make a reasonable profit,
but did not have business capacity to manage six thousand dollars, or even
twenty-five hundred.
Napoleon said no general could handle ten thousand men more
easily or effectively than General Berthier, but lie
could do nothing with twenty thousand. The great gift of Napoleon was in
understanding the capacity of his generals, and to entrust
them with commands according to their several abilities.
These were, one and all, his own servants. He had a right to their faithful
service - their best endeavours in using his means - so that upon his return he
could have his own with a proper increase. This we see in the epithets applied
to the servant who failed to profitably use the one talent entrusted to him, [Page
275] slothful, unprofitable, showing that the master required that all his
servants should be diligent and profitable, not sluggards.
THE RETURN AND RECKONING
Since the slothful servant is made
the most prominent character in the parable, and since so many expositors
misteach and destroy its whole scope and true intent, I will give him my first
and special attention:
1. He was, like the rest, his masters
own servant. In this he
differed not from his fellow servants. The lord only entrusted his goods to his own servants. If His other servants represent [regenerate] Christians, so must this servant
also. He differed from his fellows in this: He formed a false conception of his lords real character, and,
influenced by this, he fell into inexcusable slothfulness, and failed to work
for him - use to any advantage the talent entrusted to him - and thereby justly
incurred his masters displeasure and punishment.
When his lord called him to account he brought forward the
talent only, with this excuse for not having used it:
Lord,
I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where hast not sown,
and gathering where thou hast not strawed: I was
afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth:
lo, there thou hast that
is thine. His lord answered and said him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed. - Matt. 25: 24-26.
[Page 276]
How groundless and absurd his excuse, will be seer by slightly
paraphrasing his lords answer:
Grant that I
am the hard, exacting, unreasonable master you think I am; so unreasonable and
pitiless that you were afraid that had you invested my money in trade and lost it, I
would have punished you without mercy, and therefore you preferred to suffer my
displeasure for its non-use than my greater anger for its loss - grant that
your fears were well-grounded - why did you not go and deposit my money with
the exchangers; then there would have been no hazard about it, and when I came
I could have demanded mine own with a proper interest, which is my just due?
The mouth of the servant was stopped.
He could frame no answer. There were in Palestine, then, as here, bankers,
exchangers, who allowed interest on all sums deposited with them for any
considerable length of time, and this the slothful servant well knew - and his
conduct was therefore inexcusable in any light we may view it.
HIS SIN AND PUNISHMENT
Since he was his lords own servant, as were the other
servants, like them he represented [regenerate] Christians, but as a slothful servant
he represented slothful ones.
He had not rashly squandered his
lords money, but he had wickedly - disobediently - refused to use it for his
masters benefit, and, therefore, deserved to be sorely chastened with the rod
of affliction, as Jonah was, that he might learn
obedience through suffering, which, in his case, was spoken of as outer darkness, in contrast with the resplendent
honours and joys [Page 277] rewarded to his faithful fellow servants. To suppose that the heavenly Father would utterly destroy His own child for slothfulness is not only contrary to His revealed
paternal character, but to the manifold and explicit teachings of His word.
1. He was made
ashamed before his fellow servants the condemnation of his lord.
2. All that had
been entrusted to him was taken from him and given to the one who had
evinced the largest ability and faithfulness in using his masters money.
3. He was denied
the resplendent honours and joys awarded to the faithful ones, and suffered
grievous chastisement, which is indicated by the phrases outer darkness and gnashing of teeth. (See Parable of Virgins for the
punishment of the improvident virgins.) No one can find the least fault with
the demands or conduct of the lord toward this servant.
But the servant who had received five
talents came and returned them with other five talents he gained by diligent
use of them; and he received from his lord this commendation and reward: Well done,
good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful
over a things, I will make thee ruler over
many things [exalt thee to a higher trust and honor]. Enter thou the joy of thy lord [share in the festivities prepared to
welcome his return]. It was the fidelity the lord commended, and not the large amount he had
gained.
The one who received two talents came and returned them with
two other talents beside them, which he had made by the faithful use of them;
and the lord said unto him: Well done, good and
faithful [Page 278] servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will
make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou
into the joy of thy lord. Here we see the amounts entrusted and gained by service were unequal,
but the fidelity being equal the
lord equally commended and rewarded them.
The servants represent all
true [and regenerate] Christians,
including the unfaithful, for to no sinner can we properly apply
the term which Paul applies to himself, a bond servant
- i.e. slave of Jesus Christ. The
Scriptures nowhere apply this term to the unregenerate. The unfaithful servant represents the
large class of Christians in the churches of Christ who may
be said to do nothing, or so little, and that with the feeling of this
servant, that by the Master it is accounted as nothing.
But this parable being spoken to His
apostles, we will not far misapply it by interpreting it mainly with reference
to those endowed with the requisite gift to preach His gospel. Then this slothful and
unprofitable servant peculiarly represents that class who are disobedient to the heavenly calling,
refusing to use the gifts entrusted to them in the Masters service, regarding
it as too hard a service, and
requiring too much of them; and they hide their talents in the earth, in farms,
merchandise, or other secular professions, to
laying up earthly gains.
That the Saviour intended the lord in this parable to represent Himself no expositor has doubted. He left to go into a far country when He
left this world after his ascension. The servants to whom the lord entrusted
his goods represent the apostles and His ministers and witnesses of all
subsequent time. Jonah was well represented by this
servant. He was called [Page 279] and qualified of God
to go and preach to the city of Nineveh; but he regarded it as an unreasonable
duty laid upon him, evincing the same spirit illustrated by this slothful servant who refused to use the
talent for the Masters benefit: and he sought to hide himself, with his
talent, from God in the far-off land of Tarshish. But
God hastened to reason with him; and he as cast into outer darkness, from which
we hear his cries for relief:
Then Jonah prayed
unto the Lord his God out of the fishs belly, and
said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto
the Lord, and He heard me; out of the belly of
hell - [Gk. Hades] - cried I, and thou heardest my
voice. For thou hadst cast me into the deep,
in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet
I will look again toward thy holy temple. The
waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me forever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God. When my soul
fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. They
that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with
the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation
is of the Lord. And the Lord spake
unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the
dry land.- Jonah 2: 1-10.
He was sorely chastened in the deep
darkness, but God did not cast him off forever, for he was His servant, but gave him repentance, and taught him obedience through suffering.
Had not Jonah truly repented of his disobedience, and cried
out unto the Lord, resolving to pay what he vowed, can we believe that he would
have been brought forth - [out of
Hades]* - again to light ?
[* See
Luke 16: 23,
31. Cf. Psalm
16: 10; Acts
2: 27, 31,
R.V.]
[Page 280]
During the late war a case was
brought under my observation strikingly illustrated by this slothful servant:
A young physician was brought down
from the camp of
Although every room and bed but one was then occupied by
similar cases, I yielded to the solicitations of his friend, and took him in,
calling on my own family physician to attend him, and divided time with him and
the rest as a nurse. With every attention, day by day he grew worse and worse,
and ere long became the only doubtful case, and before a week had passed the
old doctor gave him up to die. I rested upon a couch in his room to give him
prompt attention. It was between twelve and one oclock one night that he
called me to his bedside, not to ask for water to moisten his lips, but to ask
me to tell him what I regarded as a call to the ministry. I gave him my views
of it, and related what I regarded as my own call.
After a pause he said: Shortly after my conversion and baptism I became similarly
impressed, and, notwithstanding all my resistance and endeavours to throw off
the impression, it grew upon me, and has continued to grow upon me; but I have
felt that in my case it involved too great a sacrifice - that it is an
unreasonable demand. I would have to give up my [Page
281] plans
of life - plans to achieve eminence in my profession, and to secure a
competency and even an ample fortune for myself and wife.
To become a minister I would have to consent to be a poor man all the days of
my life, and subject my wife and family to dependence and poverty. I have never
felt that I could do it; and I have kept my convictions a secret in my own
bosom - have not whispered them even to my wife - and now I am here, and about
to die; for I realize that I am daily and hourly sinking. And he
asked me if I really thought his convictions, as he had stated them, were a
call of God to preach the gospel. I answered him affirmatively, and told him I believed that God had brought him under my
roof, and had laid him upon that bed of affliction, and brought him under the
shadow of death, as he did Jonah, that he might decide this question in the
light of eternity. He asked me to pray for him, which
I did, and for God to give him grace to overcome all his temptations to
disobedience. When I rose he grasped my hand, and
said, as the tears burst from his eyes, I have
decided, if God will raise me up from this bed, I will give my life to Him; I
will give up the world and preach.
He soon became calm, and sank into a gentle slumber, and I
returned to my couch. When the physician called at nine in the morning he pronounced the symptoms favourable. At night the improvement was marked. In three or four days the last trace of fever had disappeared.
I well remember the evening he sat in his chair, and examined
with the doctor his pulse and tongue, and both agreed that he was convalescent,
and they counted the days when it would be safe for him to start home. [Page
282] I had moved my
couch below, leaving a bell within his reach should he
need my services in the night. At midnight I heard the bell, and
hastened to his bedside, and asked what he wished of me. Tell me, he
said, did I promise to preach if I recovered from this sickness? I answered,
Yes, Brother -, you
did. Did I positively promise? Most certainly and solemnly you did. Well, I can not; I will not. It is more than I am willing to
do. The sacrifice is too great.
I reasoned with him, and told him I believed he imperilled his
life should he violate his vow unto the Lord, and tried to pray for him; but he
closed the interview with, I can not, I will not,
preach.
Before the sun set the next day the doctor reported an
unfavourable symptom; the next morning a rise of
fever, which, despite all efforts, steadily increased, and in less than one
week from that dread night he died - died in great darkness of soul. His tongue
had shrivelled, and turned black as a coal, and seemed
drawn into his throat, choking him.
I have witnessed many a death, but never one like that! The
old doctor said it was a fearfully strange case, and seemed to him like a
judgment of God.
Was he a [regenerate] Christian?
I have never doubted it. The evidence he gave of regeneration, his religious
life, his deep and lasting conviction that it was his duty to preach the
gospel, all attested that he was a servant of God; but he was a disobedient servant. He hid his talent,
refusing to use it, although convinced that it was a duty required of him, but
an unreasonable one. He was sorely but justly punished, and his talent [Page
283] taken from him. Saved, yet as by fire! Saved, but without a reward!
Ministers endowed with five talents,
who use them with becoming diligence, will be both approbated and raised from
servants to rulers over many things. And ministers
entrusted with fewer talents, if they evince equal diligence, will be equally
rewarded with those who faithfully use larger trusts.
From this parable we learn these
important lessons:
1. That the King
imperatively demands work from every
citizen of His kingdom.
2. That He entrusts to each one the
means with which to work, and means according to his ability.
3. That the
absence of the Lord will give ample time for each one to work, and to work
effectually.
4. That the work done by each one will
be valued and rewarded according to the principle illustrated in the reckoning
made with these servants: viz., equal diligence
in the use of unequal endowments equally rewarded.
5. From the case of the slothful
servant, that the law of divine jurisprudence is that they who employ well what
they have shall retain it all and receive more in addition, whereas they who do
not rightly employ what they have will be deprived of that which they possess
but do not use.
6. That our
Master will pronounce the encomium good and faithful on many whom the world has regarded as comparative failures. The widows mite
is more to Him than the large gifts of the wealthy, because it is the offering
of a devoted spirit.
How blessed to serve a Master who is utterly superior to the
vulgar worship of success and quantity! [Page 284] How blessed,
moreover, to serve One who is as generous
as He is equitable! For that any servant should be praised
as both these were, is no less noteworthy than that one is as much praised as
the other. In this respect, also, the parable is faithful to the spirit of God
and of Christ as exhibited in the Bible.
* *
*
[Page
301]
9
CHAPTER XXX
PARABLE OF THE NET
AGAIN, the kingdom of heaven is
like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: which,
when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into
vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels
shall come forth, and sever the wicked from
among the just, and shall cast them into the
furnace of fire: there shall bewailing
and gnashing of teeth. - Matt. 13: 47-50.
Although this is one of the three briefest of Christs
parables, containing but four verses and eighty-four words, Christ clearly
explained its scope to His disciples, as He did the Parable of the Tares, yet,
like that, it has given rise to diverse interpretations to sustain a false
church theory and called forth no little discussion.
The principal figures of this parable are:
I. The net.
II. The fishers.
III. The fishes.
IV. The sea.
V. The separation
of the fishes.
VI. The great truths taught by it.
For a clearer understanding of this parable
we must understand what these figures or symbols were designed by the great
Teacher to represent. So much [Page 302] that is false has
been put forth that I must be allowed a little space
to remove the rubbish, that the
reader can better understand its true teachings.
1. The net.
There are two principal views put forth as to what the net was
intended to represent, which, I think, are equally unscriptural and absurd.
(a) The great
majority of commentators and interpreters maintain that it represents the church, which means as near nothing as can
be conceived of: since, as an entity, visible or
invisible, it does not exist, save in the exuberant imaginations of a certain
class of ecclesiologists. Whenever we meet with the phrase in the New
Testament, not referring to a local organization, it is only a figurative
expression, one being used for all - a collective noun.
The word of God knows no such organization as the church, composed of many or all of the churches of Christ.
Those who use this phrase can not
claim they mean Christs invisible spiritual
church, for two good reasons: (1) It
can not be shown that He has such a church. (2) None but true [regenerate] believers, saints, the really saved, could belong to such a body, if it existed, as
the very name indicates; but in this net were many bad fishes, and doubtless more bad than good ones.
This interpretation of the net is
evidently advanced in the interest of what is called the universal visible
church theory - i.e. religious
bodies like the Greek, Roman, Anglican and Protestant state organizations -
which forcibly gathers all the population of the state, good and bad, infants
and adults, into their world-wide folds, who will not enter voluntarily, and
retain them [Page
303] in church
fellowship, knowing them to be notoriously bad and worthless.
These commentators belong to such worldly organizations, and,
as I have suggested, their interpretations of Gods word are
influenced by their peculiar views of what they consider a
But Christ, in His interpretation of
the Parable of the Tares, tells us that the field is the world, and therefore it can not mean the church in that parable; and if the net
signifies the
church in this, then a
figure can represent a figure, which is contrary to the laws of figurative
language, and so this theory must be abandoned, and this parable is rescued
from being construed to support an unscriptural and pernicious church theory
and practice.
But the significations put forward by
some Baptist commentators and writers are no less absurd. So anxious to avoid
the rock of a world-embracing church
theory, they perish in Charybdis.
E.g.: Dr. Williams * teaches us that by the net Christ meant the Christian dispensation and says [Page 304] it can not
signify the
church, because its
members were once fishes themselves! (See Commentary in loco.)
* His Commentary on Matthew is published by the American Baptist
Publication Society,
We can by the same parity of reasoning say
that the fishers could not represent
the apostles in Christs day, and all the true ministers of Christ in all after
ages, because they were once fishes
themselves.
It is evident there should be some similarity between the things compared, or the design used, or the manner or results of their operation, to suggest the idea of a comparison or analogy . But what conceivable
likeness in any respect there is between a fishermans net and the Christian
dispensation, or between the world and a net, I have not an imagination
sufficiently fanciful to suggest.
By the net, in this parable, I
understand is meant the [millennial] kingdom of Christ, composed, as it is, of all
His true churches; not, primarily, because Christ says the kingdom is like a net, but because in some of
the above-mentioned respects it is like a fishermans net, and, secondarily,
because it is like nothing else mentioned in the parable. It is analogous in some respects to a
net, or there is no analogy, no parable. But granting that
fishes represent men, there is a striking analogy between the administration of
the kingdom by the ministers and servants of Christ (which is composed of all
His true churches), and the management and operation of a net by fishermen,
those who use it, and in the final results
of the operation, in separating the worthless from the good, as we learn
from Christ himself.
There is even a closer likeness. A fishers net is in organism, a definitely constructed implement
for a [Page
305] definite purpose, made of peculiar material - heavy twine with meshes of different sizes.
So is the [messianic]
But what conceivable likeness is there
between a fishers net and the Christian dispensation, a period of time, or the world, the physical earth or the race of
mankind?
2. Who do the fishers,
the men who manage the net,
represent?
Christ has answered this question for us:
And He saith unto them, Follow me,
and I will make
you fishers of men. - Matt. 4: 19.
What His apostles were in their days all the
true ministers of Christ are called to be
- fishermen - fishers of men.
We can readily see the analogy between the operations of
Christs ministers and expert fishermen. The latter, by
all judicious means, endeavour to get all the good fishes possible into their
nets. They certainly do not seek to gather in worthless ones. They fish and secure good fishes, if servants, for
the use of those who employ them.
So Christ makes it the duty of His ministers to disciple, by
the preaching of the gospel, so as to gather as many
believers as possible into His kingdom (which constituted of His true
churches), and this for His n glory.
But how can this rationally be said of
the Christian dispensation, or of the world?
[Page 306]
If the advocates of this theory claim that it gathers the race
of mankind into eternity, and before the angels who separate the good from the
bad, etc., I reply that it does so no more than any preceding one did, or the subsequent dispensation will do, and
therefore the figure fails.
3. The fishes, we know, represent men.
The good, which, in the final separation, are gathered
into vessels, are those who savingly receive the gospel preached - Christians. The
bad are hypocrites.
4. The sea undoubtedly represents the
world - the masses of mankind to whom the gospel - [of the
kingdom (See Matt. 13: 19-23; cf., Luke
22: 28)] - is to be preached, and upon whom the influences of the
kingdom of heaven are brought to bear for their salvation.
5. The separation (gathering the good fishes into vessels and casting the
worthless ones away), as Christ clearly teaches, points forward to the final
judgment which will take place, not at the close of this, but of the millennial
age.
THE GREAT TRUTHS TAUGHT BY THIS PARABLE
1. From the
peculiar kind of implement used - the net - we learn a lesson and a prophecy.
It was not a hook and line - hand-pole arrangement - or even a
common dip net (diktuon), that could only be used in pools along
the shore or cast over the side of a boat (John 21:
6), but a drag net (sagene), with which the whole Sea of Galilee could, by repeated efforts, be
dragged over. Dr. Trench thus describes it:
It is called a draw net, and the
particular kind is specified by the word in the original Isagene]. On [Page 307] the coast of
* This
kind of net is now used all along the
Launch out into the deep was the reproving command of Christ
to His unsuccessful disciples, who had fished all night and caught nothing (John 5: 4); and the result of their obedience
was, both boats were filled to sinking with the fishes taken at the one
draught.
Is not this meagre success of the
disciples - skimming along the shore of Lake Tiberias, dipping here and there
into a few favourite places - typical of the comparative failure of our
missionary policy in this [evil
and apostate] age? Have we
not spent our means, time and
energies principally upon our own shores, that have been, not Christianized to be sure, but years ago
thoroughly evangelized, and not launched out boldly into the
deep to sweep, as with a far-reaching drag net, the unseen waters of the broad
sea of our perishing humanity? It is the selfishness inherent in our churches
that is the source and root of this sinful disobedience to the explicit command
of Christ, Go
into all the world, not to attempt to Christianize
or educate, but to evangelize, the nations.
The Saviour, by this parable, evidently taught His [Page
308] disciples that
during His absence they were to act like discreet and energetic men fishing,
not with rod and line along the shore, but with a capacious drag net, sweeping
every part of the lake or sea.
Most respectfully would I submit my long-settled convictions,
confirmed by the careful study of this parable, in connection with that of the
invitations to the great supper, and that of the sower, that we, the Christians
of this age, are gravely mistaking the true purport of the great commission,
and consequently the duty it imposes upon us. We are
directing our foreign missionary enterprise, it seems to me, as though Christs
command read, Go into some of the
nations of the earth, and remain in those you do enter until you Christianize
and educate, and so elevate, them morally and socially. Are we not
concentrating and settling our foreign missionaries as residents in local
habitations in a few favoured spots, to remain for fifteen or twenty or forty
years, - [spending money, which
was specifically set aside for the Lords use, by acts of humanism and many
other means of support!] - building for them permanent residences and
costly church edifices and school buildings, and even high schools and colleges, for the secular education of the heathen, - instead of devoting
every dollar of our means raised for missions to the support of missionaries
while they go forth, as did the apostles and the seventy under the eye of
Christ, and as did the missionaries of the apostolic age, preaching from
province to province, and from city to city? By this active itineracy,
before the death of the last apostle less than a score of foreign missionaries
preached the gospel for a witness to every known nation of the earth. Must we
not believe that they adopted the policy Christ intended them to pursue, and for us also in
this age?* We must believe it. Let us then study the map of
[Page 309] the three
missionary journeys of Paul, Christs first called and sent missionary to the Gentiles.* Did he stop at any point and send
back an appeal or an agent to collect thousands and tens of thousands of
dollars from the poor churches to build school-houses, or even a meeting-house,
in Ephesus, Corinth or the great city of Rome, the metropolis of the world?
[* NOTE: bold type throughout this paragraph is mine.]
* Jonah was the first and only foreign missionary I read of in
the Old Testament sent to the Gentiles, but nowhere can I find an intimation
that he sent back to Judea for funds to build a synagogue or school-houses
in the great city of
Brethren, bear with me. I can nowhere find where Christ, our
only Law-giver and Guide in this work, has made it our
duty to build school-houses in order to educate the heathen, or to erect costly
or uncostly church edifices in their great cities or
towns for them to worship in. Nor do I anywhere read that Paul or Peter, in
their life-time missionary work, ever built a church edifice, much less a
school-house, and supplied teachers to educate the heathen; and until I am
better informed I must be excused for saying, Millions for the evangelization, but not a cent for the education, of the heathen. It is my serious fear
that if we continue this mistaken policy of expending tens and scores of
thousands of dollars in building school-houses and high schools, and supporting
teachers for them, to educate the heathen, we shall ere long break down our
whole foreign missionary enterprise. The churches will recoil from the whole
work as infinitely beyond their ability to accomplish.
The evangelical Christians of America can do what they are
called upon to do - preach the gospel to [Page 310] (evangelize) every nation on earth,
and do it in one generation - the next thirty or fifty years - if they will
only adopt and rigidly pursue the missionary policy pursued by the apostles and
missionaries of the first age of Christianity.
2. The second
lesson, which is a prophecy, clearly taught by this parable, is that in the
whole work of evangelizing the nations Christ did not contemplate or warrant us
in entertaining the thought that His kingdom would be free from hypocrites and
wicked men any more than a drag net, however skilfully cast and hauled to the
shore, would be free of worthless and bad fishes. His ministers can
not read the hearts of men, and it is the subtle policy of Satan, His
great adversary, to corrupt and work detriment to His kingdom. Although he can not prevail against it so as to destroy it, he can persecute and wear down, but not wear out
or exterminate, His saints.
This kingdom of heaven enclosed a Judas during the
administration of Christ himself. During the first revivals under the administration
of the apostles, it enclosed an Ananias and Sapphira, and Simon Magus.
The church at
3. We also learn that there will not be
a pure or converted citizenship in His kingdom even, much less a [Page
311] converted world,
before Christs Second Coming, and therefore the theory known as post-millennialism must be unscriptural
and false.
4. We learn that there will be an
ultimate and final separation
of the righteous from the wicked, and this at the end of the millennial
dispensation, when the net will be hauled to the
shore, which is in perfect harmony with the teachings of both the old and new
covenants.
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor
sinners in the congregation of the righteous. - Psalms 1: 5.
For evil-doers shall be cut off;
but those that wait
upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. - Psalms 37:
9.
And many of them that sleep in the
dust of the earth shall awake, some to
everlasting life, and some to shame and
everlasting contempt. - Daniel 12: 2.
Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
- Matt. 3:
12. (See Parable of the Tares.)
And death and hell - [i.e., hades, R.V.] - were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever
was not found written in the Book of
Life was cast into the lake of fire.
- Rev. 20: 14, 15.
5. That there
will be no second probation for those who reject the gospel in this age.
The net was pulled to the shore but once, and there was
only one separation of the good from the bad fishes.
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[Page
312]
CHAPTER X
A SUMMARY OF THE TEACHINGS OF THE
PARABLES
EXPLAINED
BEFORE dismissing the cluster of parables I have noticed, it
seems to me a brief summary of their teachings will be acceptable and
profitable to my readers.
There is to my mind a striking theological connection and order between the parables I have
explained, which, taken together, illustrate the doctrines bearing upon THE RUIN and REDEMPTION of
the RACE.
They may not have been spoken at the same time, or to the same audience, or in the order I have treated them, or the
evangelists have recorded them.
They were given, we know, to make
known to the apostles the great facts constituting
the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, which had not been heretofore revealed
to patriarch or prophet:
Whereby, when ye read, ye may
understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by
the Spirit. - Eph. 3: 4, 5.
And first made known by these parables to the
apostles:
[Page 313]
How that by
revelation He made known unto me the mystery; as
I wrote afore in few words. - Eph. 3: 3.
Some of these facts are:
1. That by
Satan, the great adversary of God and enemy of man, sin was introduced into the
world, and by sin death and the ruin of the race, and of the world. That the effects filled this world with wickedness, which state
would continue until the end of the age, when, and not before, there would be a
final separation between the righteous and the wicked, and that the wicked
would be punished; and, by implication, we learn from this that the field,
which is the world, will then be restored to its primitive state.
These facts we learn from the Parable of the Wheatfield
Oversown with Tares, etc.
2. The parables
of the finding of the treasure hidden in a field, and the purchase of that
field, and the merchantman finding and purchasing the pearl with all he had -
of the lost coin sought for and recovered - of the lost sheep sought after and
restored to its fold - illustrate the compassionate love of Christ for a lost
and ruined world, and the infinite price
He was willing to pay for its redemption, all that He had - Although He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that we, through His poverty, might become rich.
3. From the
parable of the prodigal son restored to his fathers love and house and
forfeited inheritance, from the invitations to the great supper being extended
to all, by that of the sower oversowing the whole field, and of the drag-net and the good
shepherd, we learn that the religion of Christ is not a race religion, to be confined to the Jews only, but that the [Page
314] blessings of
Christs redemptive work are intended for all people, kindreds, tribes and
nations - the Gentiles as well as the Jews - and this great and glorious fact
Paul denominates the mystery of Christ:
Which in other ages
was not made known to the sons of men, as it is
now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs,
and of the same
body,
and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel. - Eph.
3: 5, 6.
That the Jews, on account of their
persistent and wicked rejection of Christ and His authority and saving work,
would themselves be denied the blessings of His grace and honours of His
kingdom in this age, and that it would be taken from them and given to the
Gentiles, was also a great mystery, revealed for the first time in the Parables
of the Wicked Husbandmen, the Great Supper, and the Wedding Feast.
The continued, subtle and successful opposition of Satan to
the progress of Christs redemptive work, in every phase of it, is also forcibly illustrated in the parables I have thus far
examined.
The ruin he brought upon the world by the introduction of sin
we have already noticed.
That the gospel of mans salvation - the doctrine of Christ,
the bread of eternal life - introduced by Christ as the antidote of sin and its
maladies, Satan would stealthily corrupt by the introduction of the leaven of deadly error, is taught us by
the parable of the leaven which a
woman hid in the meal until the whole was leavened.
That His kingdom, which He designed
should be composed of saints - the saved only (Acts 2: 47) - would be demoralized and suffer
detriment by being [Page 315] filled with hypocrites, worldly and wicked men, who
are the emissaries of Satan, we learn from the Parable of the Mustard Tree,
into whose branches the birds of the air flocked to lodge, and of the Drag-net, which gathered
the bad and worthless fishes as well as the good.
And we learn the saddening fact that,
through the deceitful and baneful influence of Satan on the hearts of men, the
saying influences of the gospel preached will be successfully resisted and
aborted in the case of the vast majority of those who hear and profess to
receive it: so that if the field, being the world, were all
carefully oversown with the good seed of the gospel, as the sower sowed all
parts of his field, but a fractional part of it would so receive it as to bring
forth the saving fruits of it. So long as this powerful, malignant and subtle antagonism of
Satan is allowed to be exerted upon the race, how can
we expect, as the friends of Christ, to successfully oppose and counteract it,
when his success was so signal during
the personal ministry of Christ and His apostles?
In this connection, and in answer to this question, and to
cheer the despondency of Christians, I submit the Parable of
THE STRONG MAN ARMED.
When a strong man armed keepeth his
palace, his goods are in peace; but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh
from him all his armour wherein he trusteth, and
divideth his spoils. - Luke 11: 21, 23.
Satan is forcibly represented by a strong man, and a strong man armed. And
Christ is the only one stronger than he.
[Page 316]
Satan is in himself a powerful being - the prince of demons
and powers of darkness - and he is armed with all the deceivableness of
unrighteousness, and his influence over the hearts and persons of the wicked is
almost irresistible.
That he is the possessor of this world, of all its kingdoms
and their glory, he boldly asserted in the face of Christ on the mount of
temptation, and Christ did not contradict him:
And the devil, taking Him up into a high mountain, shewed unto Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of
time. And the devil
said unto Him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them; for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
- Luke 4: 5-7.
And he will continue to possess and
rule this world until the close of this dispensation, when he will be
dethroned, bound and cast out of it, and his kingdoms and their glory possessed
and ruled over by Christ and His saints, not by the preaching of the gospel,
but by omnipotent external force, we find clearly revealed by Christ by
His servant John:
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and
He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written,
that no man knew, but He
himself. And He was
clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His
name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white
horses clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp
sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron; and He treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath
of Almighty God. And He
hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, [Page 317] KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst
of heaven, Come and gather yourselves
together unto the supper of the great God;
that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and
the flesh of captains, and the flesh of
mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond,
both small and great. And I
saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to make war against Him
that sat on the horse, and against His army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before
him, with which he deceived them that had
received the mark of the beast, and them that
worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the
sword of Him that sat upon the horse, which
sword proceeded out of His mouth: and all the
fowls were filled with their flesh. - Rev. 19: 11-21.
And I saw an angel come down from
heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and
a great chain in his hand. And
he laid hold on the dragon, that old
serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan,
and bound him a thousand years, and cast
him into the bottomless pit, and shut him
up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and I saw thrones,
and they sat upon them, and judgment was
given unto them: and I saw the souls of
them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus,
and for the word of God, and which had
not worshiped the beast, neither his
image, neither had received his mark upon
their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a
thousand years. But
the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. - Rev. 20: 1-5.
The post-millennial theory - i.e. that all nations are to be Christainized and subdued to the reign of Christ by
the preaching of the gospel before Christs
second coming - is certainly unscriptural.
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[Page 318]
10
CHAPTER XXXII
CHRISTS LAST PROPHECY
WHEN the Son of Man shall
come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shal1 be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats: and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world: for I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was
thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took
me in: naked, and
ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in
prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered and
fed Thee? or thirsty, and gave Thee drink? When saw
we Thee a stranger, and took Thee in? or naked, and clothed Thee? or when saw we Thee sick, or
in prison, and came unto Thee? And the King shall answer and say
unto them, Verily, I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done
it unto one of the least of these my brethren,
ye have done it unto me. Then
shall He say also unto them on the left hand,
Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels:
for I was an hungred, and
ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave unto me no drink: I was a stranger,
and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not:
sick and in prison, and ye visited
me not. Then shall they also
answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an
hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto Thee? Then shall He answer them,
saying, Verily, I
say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one
of the [Page
319] least of these, ye did it
not to me. And these shall go away into
everlasting punishment: but the righteous into
life eternal. - Matt.
25: 31-46.
This is justly called Our Lords Great Prophecy. It is the greatest of all
He uttered while on this earth. Of all His prophecies or teachings, none have been more largely written upon or more generally wrested and
misinterpreted by commentators, and consequently misunderstood by the people,
than this. The cause of this, manifestly, is the substitution of men for
nations, and confounding this judgment with that of The Great White Throne recorded in Revelation 20. - the
final, although falsely called the general, judgment. They are certainly not the
same events. There is scarcely a feature common to both. Let us carefully
examine them:
1. They do not take place at the same time. They are more than one thousand years apart.
This judgment of the living nations will take place
immediately upon the second coming of Christ before the millennial age. Christ
says:
When the Son of Man shall come in His
glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory. - Matt.
25: 31.
The final judgment recorded in Revelation 20. will take place at the close of the thousand years of the
reign of Christ on this earth with His saints, and it does not say that all His
angels will then be with Him. Being more than a thousand years subsequent to
His second advent, and the judgment of the then living nations, they can not be one and the same event.
2. This judgment is that of the nations as nations, [Page
320] not of
individuals as individuals, then living on
the earth at the coming of Christ,
while the final judgment recorded in Revelation 20. will be a judgment of individuals.
3. While the first judgment is of the living only, the last or final one is of the dead only, who have been raised
out of their graves - [i.e., resurrected
from the dead] - to be judged. And I saw the
dead, small and great [i.e.
all those amenable to a judgment for sin] standing before the throne. Every one then
and there judged had been raised from the dead for this purpose. And the sea gave up the dead [i.e. bodies] which were in it; and death and hades gave up the dead [i.e. the spirits] of all the dead which were
in them; i.e. death is here put for the graves
which held the bodies of all the victims of death, and hades for the place that at this time will only hold the spirits [or disembodied
souls] of all the wicked dead, since it had already given up all the
[disembodied souls] spirits of the righteous
dead at the second coming of Christ, and they - these dead ones- were judged
each one according to their works. This, then, was exclusively a personal judgment for sin, and
of the wicked only, for all who were in their graves at this time were the
ungodly and wicked only. This day is expressly characterized, not as the day of
the judgment of the quick and dead, but as the day of Gods wrath,
the great day of
His wrath, and the day of
the judgment and destruction of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:
7.) All who are judged at this time will
be destroyed and cast into the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:
15.)
Nations sin as nations, and not as individuals; therefore, as
nations, are judged, and, as nations, are punished.
There is no future hell for nations, and [Page 321] therefore they ever have been,
are now, and will be, punished in time with national calamities, as war,
famine, pestilence, wasting desolations and everlasting destruction - i.e. denationalization. God has never
yet failed to judge the nations that have sinned against Him with a high and
long-continued hand.
4. This judgment of the great white
throne is not a judgment of the then living
nations or living individuals, but of the dead only. And I saw the
dead, small and great [all those amenable to a judgment for
sin], standing
before the throne. Every
one then and there judged had been raised from the
dead for this expressed purpose. And the sea
gave up the dead
[bodies] that
were in it, and death and hades gave up the dead which were in them i.e.
t e graves yielded up the bodies of the dead in them, and hades - the place
of departed souls - gave up the spirits of the dead that still remained in it],
and they [these raised ones] were judged each one
according to their works. (Rev. 20: 13.) This, then, will not be a national, but a personal, judgment for
sin, and of the wicked only.
5. There will be only one class present
at the last judgment; while at the judgment of the nations there will he three
classes, although only two will he judged: (1) The sheep nations; (2) the goat
nations - and (3) those whom Christ will call these my brethren.
6. In the final
judgment there
will be no separation, while in that of the nations there will be. The sheep
nations will be placed on the right hand, and the goat nations on the left.
7. In the judgment of the nations the verdicts will he radically different.
The one class will be blessed, the [Page
322] other cursed, while on the final judgment the same verdict of eternal punishment
will be pronounced upon all. This last, then, can not
be a general judgment of the
righteous and the unrighteous - saints and sinners - but of the ungodly only.
This judgment day is throughout the Bible spoken of as the day of wrath; the great
day of Gods wrath; the day of the revelation of the judgment and perdition - destruction - of
ungodly men to which the devil and his angels are in chains reserved unto the judgment
of the great day. (Jude 6.)
Job says that all the wicked are reserved unto this
day of destruction:
Do ye not know,
that the wicked is reserved unto the day of destruction? They shall
be brought forth to the day of wrath. - Job
21: 29, 30.
I have said that none but wicked
(ungodly) men will be judged at the judgment of the great white throne or final judgment, because none but
the dead - those men raised up out of their graves - will then be judged, and that all the wicked from Adam
until the close of the millennial age will, at this time, be in their graves. I scarce think any intelligent reader
of Gods word, unless wedded to a false theory, will deny this. A few facts
will make this evident:
(l.) All the wicked
from Adam to the second advent of Christ will be left
in their graves at the first resurrection, which will be of the righteous dead only, for the dead in
Christ will rise first. (2.) The wicked only will die
during the millennial age. The sinner, although
a hundred years old, will die accursed. (3.) At the close of the thousand years
all the wicked - then living, so soon as Satan is unchained and set at liberty,
will [Page 323] join him in the predicted universal revolt
against the government of Christ and His saints, and will come up on the face
of the whole earth, to invest the holy city and the camp of the saints, to put
Christ and His saints to death, and repossess themselves of the rule of the
earth; but fire will come down from heaven and destroy them. All the
wicked, then, that have ever lived on the earth will at this time be dead and
in their graves, and all the righteous, from Abel, will be alive and on the
earth. The dead, small and great, that will be raised to be judged will
be the ungodly and wicked, while the judgment of nations, as I have said, will
be of the then living only. They must, then, be two widely different judgments
- if more need be said to demonstrate that the judgment of the living nations (Matt.
25.) and the judgment of the raised dead (Rev. 20.) are not records of one and the same general
judgment.
8. The criteria of the judgments are not the same, but radically different.
The nations are judged by their treatment of those whom Christ
will call these my brethren.
Those nations that have treated them kindly will be blessed with a
continuance of existence, composing, as hey will, the kingdoms over which
Christ and His saints will reign in glory for one thousand years.
All those nations that have been unkind to Christs brethren will be cursed by an everlasting punishment as
nations, as the cities of the plains were forever swept from the earth with
fire and brimstone.
If it is urged that the sentence pronounced upon the goats can
not be executed upon nations as such, but only upon individual sinners, I
remark that nations [Page 324] can and do sin as nations, and they must be judged and
punished as nations, and individuals are not held responsible for national sins, but for personal transgressions. There is no
future hell for nations; they must be punished in
time, and with temporal punishments, national calamities, desolating wars and
wasting pestilences, and plagues and famines, and denationalization - i.e. by being swept from the earth as
nations.
Gods dealing with the nations that
persecuted, oppressed, carried into captivity and afflicted His ancient people
Let us notice this for a moment. God declared with respect to
His ancient people, The nation that shall not serve thee shall perish; those nations shall be utterly wasted. How much more those that persecuted and oppressed His people? Look carefully over the history of
those nations and point out one that has not - is not suffering to-day the
identical punishment that will be pronounced upon the
goat nations for their mistreatment of the brethren of Christ.
Where is
If the reader wishes to pursue the
history further, let him read Joel (chap. 3.), and then say if God will pour such
dire and desolating calamities and wasting desolation upon the nations that
have afflicted and mistreated His ancient people Israel, what will be the
judgments with which He will desolate and destroy and utterly waste those
nations who did for ages so mistreat His brethren?
The most pious heart, when their sufferings are recalled, can not but join in their cry from under the altar, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and
avenge our blood upon those that
dwell upon the earth? And with the
greatest Christian poet:
Avenge, O
Lord, thy slaughtered saints whose bones
Lie scattered on the Alpine
mountains cold;
Even them who kept Thy
truth so pure of old, [Page 326]
When all our fathers
worshiped stocks and stones,
Forget not; in Thy book
record their groans
Who were Thy sheep, and in
their ancient fold
Slain by the cruel Piedmentese, that rolled
Mother and infant down the
rocks.
Their moans The vales redoubled to the hills, and they to heaven.
And Christ, the holy and the true, will
judge those nations, and avenge the blood of His martyred brethren.
To sheep nations on His right hand He will say, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared [prospectively] for you from the foundation of the world.
These nations will be those referred
to by John (in Rev. 21: 24) as the nations saved - saved from
the desolations and calamities that destroyed the goat nations from the earth;
that shall walk in the light of the New Jerusalern -
the metropolis of the new earth; and their kings, the redeemed saints, who will
reign with Christ for one thousand years over these saved nations on the earth,
will bring the honour and the glory of these saved nations onto it.
What I have said above, taken in connection with Dr. Kendalls
able essay on The Four Judgments in the
Appendix, will be a sufficient explanation of this great prophecy of Christ.
It must be evident, we think, to every candid student of Gods
word, that this prophecy can not, without the most violent wresting, be made to
teach otherwise than that the second coming of Christ will be pre-millennial.
Before closing, I will notice and remove the most plausible
and conclusive proof-text brought by the advocates of post-millennialism in
support of their theory. It is from the Common Version, and reads thus:
[Page 327]
I charge thee, therefore, before God and the
Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the quick
[living] and the dead at His appearing and his
kingdom: preach the word.- 2 Tim. 4: 1.
All the aid and comfort post-millennialists can get out of this passage they get from the mistranslation of it. This will be seen when I place beside it that of the Revised Version, viz.:
I charge thee in the sight of God and
of Christ Jesus, who shall judge the quick and
the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom;
preach the word.
The former
translation teaches that the living and the dead will be judged at the
appearing and coming of Christ, and, therefore, the judgment recorded by
Matthew (chap. 25.)
will be a general judgment - making
Paul contradict Matthew, since he clearly teaches that only the living nations will be judged, and
rewarded and punished as nations for their national acts, good or bad.
And now, if the ever-blessed God will bless
these pages to the edification of my brethren who may read them in the most
holy faith, and strengthen them in the blessed hope of the speedy coming of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ, my prayer will be answered and my labours rewarded.
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