SELECTED WRITINGS
AND QUOTATIONS
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CONTENTS
1. REIGNING + 1 SHORT WRITING
2 SELECTIVE RAPTURE + 1
3. GODLY WOMEN + 1
4. I KNOW YOU NOT + 1
5. CHRISTS COMING AGAIN BOTH SECRET AND OPEN + 1
6. EZEKIEL 38 AND ARMAGEDON + 1
7. THE MARRIAGE SUPPER OF THE LAMB + 1
8. THE FINAL JUDGMENT NEAR + 1
9. LONGING
FOR HIS COMING + 3
10. THE TEN VIRGINS + 1
11. PRESS TOWARD THE MARK + 1
12. REWARD THROUGH SUFFERING + 2
13. THE SUPREME AUTHORITY OF THE SCRIPTURES + 1
14. THE TEN VIRGINS A CALL TO CONSECRATION + 1
15. THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM + 3
16. PRAYER + 2
17. DIVINE GUIDANCE + 1
18. OUT RESURRECTION FROM AMONG THE DEAD + 2
19. THE HINDERER AND THE HINDRANCE + 1
20. THE STRENGTH AND GLORY OF THE GIFTED CHURCH + 1
21. THE SILVER TRUMPETS + 1
* *
* *
* * *
PART 2
22. ALONE + 3
23. THE CHARACTER OF GOD + 1
24. BAPTISM + 1
25. ARE WE READY FOR THE COMING + 2
26.THE RETURN OF CHRIST + 1
27. THE CHURCH + 1
28. THE SALT OF THE EARTH + 3
29. PRAYER (2) + 4
30. A RABBI IN
31. A NEGRO GOD + 4
32. THE INCARNATE GODHEAD + 2
33. THE KINGDOM A REWARD + 3
34. THE PRIZE + 1
35. REGATHERING
36. PROPHECY + 1
37. HAS THE CHURCH MISSED THE MARK? + 1
38. WATCH THEREFORE + 1
39. SIN AND SINS + 1
40. FOOLISH VIRGINS + 3
41 MULTIPLE RAPTURE + 1
42 EXCOMMUNICATION AND EXCLUSION + 3
43 DENYING THE ADVENT + 1
44 MYSTIC
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PART ONE
SCRIPTURE
The Apostle Peter, after an angel of the Lord
by night opened the prison doors, and
brought them (the believers)
out said:- ... we are witness * of these things;
and so is the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that
OBEY HIM. [33] But they,
when they heard this, were cut
to the heart, and were mindful to
slay them (Acts 5: 32-33, R.V.).
* NOTE: Some
ancient authorities add in him.
And all the children of
Beloved,
if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness toward God; [22] and whatsoever we ask, we
receive of him, because we keep
his commandments, and do the things
that are pleasing in his sight. [23] And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ,
and love one another, even as
he gave us commandment. [24] And he that keepeth
his commandments abideth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know
that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which
he gave us (1 John 3: 21-24, R.V.)
And Samuel came to
Saul: and Saul said unto
him Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have
performed the commandment of the LORD. [14] And Samuel said, What
meaneth then the bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? [15] And Saul said, They have
brought them from the Amalekites: for the
people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. [16] Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee
what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he
said unto him, Say on.
[17] And Samuel said,
Though thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of
[* See also 1 Samuel 28: 17, 18; cf. 2 Samuel 1: 7-10, R.V. -
** Cf. Malachi 2: 17; 3: 2, 5, 6a,
- For I the Lord change not...]
Be ye therefore
imitators of God, as beloved children;
[2] and walk in love,
even as Christ loved you, and gave
himself up for us, an offering and a
sacrifice to God for an odour of a sweet smell. [3] But fornication, and all
uncleanness, or covetousness,
let it not even be named among you, as becometh saints; nor
filthiness, nor foolish talking,
or jesting, which are
not befitting: but rather giving of
thanks. [5] For this ye know of
a surety, that no fornicator,
[4] nor unclean person,
nor covetous man, which is
an idolater, hath any inheritance
in the
[* See also 1 Kings 13: 1-32. Cf. 1 Cor.
5:
1-13.
R.V.]
* *
*
1
REIGNING + 1
GOD would have granted to all
In this age of grace God seeks rulers for His [millennial] kingdom. The promises by means of
which He encourages us and strengthens us to allow Him fully to prepare us are
many. Notice :- If we suffer,
we shall also
reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us (2 Tim.
2:
12).
And if children, then
heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we
suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together (Rom.
8:
17). Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?
and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to
judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more
things that pertain to this life? (1 Cor.
6:
2,
3).
The crowns which are offered to us, provided that we meet specific conditions, distinctly point to
positions of highest authority in the
The promise in 1 Corinthians 6: 2, 3 reveals the scope of the inheritance which falls to the obedient
in the
[* See also Luke 20: 35; Philippians 3: 11; Revelation 20:
4-6; cf.
Hebrews 11:
35
with Luke 14:
14,
R.V.]
One of the most powerful incentives which a Christian can know
is the realization that God offers him surprising reward, even the honour of
reigning with Christ, if he continues obedient to Him to the point of suffering
while living now on earth. Christians have neglected this supremely important
truth, and so they lack its power to fortify them onto all obedience for
Christs sake.
When our Lord appears and establishes His [millennial] kingdom
by indisputable right,* He will have ready His full staff of
administrators; princes, rulers, and officials of all degrees of authority.
These will abolish all rule save His own. These will destroy the works of
wickedness in the earth. These will compel the nations to submit to the Lord. These will maintain perfect order
and righteousness in all parts of the kingdom. The Lords staff of
administrators will be thoroughly trustworthy to perform His least command, for He tried them and proved
them by the discipline of various experiences when they lived on earth. These
He will send forth throughout His
kingdom to put all His enemies under His feet.
[* NOTE: Psalm 2 and Isaiah 9:
6, 7. Cf.
Luke 20: 14ff.
R.V.]
We may exclaim, How trifling this life appears in comparison with the
experiences we shall have in the
- The Prophetic Word.
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THRONE WORTHINESS
Throne
power is one of the great rewards of the faithful servant, and comparatively few attain this honour.
There are many great ones of the Church who will be accounted small indeed when
brought before the judgment seat of Christ. There are those, according to the
statement of our Lord Himself, who are first among their fellows on earth, who will be last when the assizes of the
Son of Man will have pronounced judgment upon them.
But there is a group occupying the most outstanding official
position that both heaven and earth can offer. What are the qualifications for
such outstanding rank? It is begging the question to say that their places have
been given them through grace, and it is
also contrary to the teaching of Scripture. The Book of Revelation takes particular pains to point out that it is he that overcometh that is the recipient of divine favour. Throne worthiness is the only
guarantee for throne possession. And those who prove themselves worthy are not necessarily
great preachers or clever expositors or even great soul-winners. They are those
who have put into practice the lessons of holiness the [Holy] Spirit has set in the Word of God,
and have heeded the earnest care the
applications of these to their hearts by His constant inward monitions.
They have done justly, and loved mercy, and walked humbly with their God. They
have paid more attention to the subduing of their own lusts than the attaining
of a reputation for holiness. They have learned the meaning of perfect love
toward God and man, and have been, as with unveiled face they reflected the
glory of the Lord, transformed into the
same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Lord, transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as
by the Lord the Spirit.
The Emperor Napoleon, to emphasise the fact that it was
possible in his service to rise from the lowest ranks to the highest, made
the epigrammatic remark that every private soldier carried a field marshals baton in his
knapsack. And so the Almighty, as He sets forth the glories of the [millennial] age to come and the surpassing
magnificence of the eternal city, in which have been centred all the hopes of
the ages as they ran their course, broadcasts to the race a similar
announcement:- He that overcometh shall inherit all things - a promise of joint
heirship with His overcoming Son.
There is no believer in Christ to whom the highest honours of
heaven are not open. But, sad to say, the number is small who gave themselves
to the quest, and seek first (in
time and importance) the
-
The
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DIVINE FILLING
Take us Lord, oh, take us truly,
Mind and soul, and heart and will!
Empty us and cleanse us thoroughly,
Then with all Thy fullness fill.
Lord, we ask it, hardly knowing
What this wonderous gift may be;
Yet fulfill to overflowing -
Thy great meaning,
let us see.
Make us in Thy royal palace
Vessels worthy for the King;
From Thy fullness
fill our chalice
From Thy never-failing spring.
Father, by this blessed filling,
Dwell Thyself
in us, we pray!
We are waiting, Thou art willing!
Fill us with Thyself
to-day!
FRANCIS RIDLEY HAVERGAL.
* *
*
2
SELECTIVE RAPTURE
AND
NOT A HOOF LEFT BEHIND.+ 1
REPEATEDLY, when the subject of Selective
Rapture has come up of late, the reply has been There shall not a hoof be left behind. The manner in which this Scripture
is quoted is meant to leave us in no doubt that this is the death-blow to
Selective Rapture. We readily admit that there is a sound of finality about the
quotation, if indeed it can be made to refer to Selective Rapture; but does it?
The quotation is taken from Ex. 10: 26 (context vv. 24-27) and refers to Gods contest with Pharaoh. The latter is now willing
to let the Israelites leave
When our friends quote to us, There shall not a hoof be left behind, they mean us to understand that not a single [regenerate] believer will be left on earth after the
Rapture of 1
Thess. 4: 15-17 has taken place. So ignorant are
they of the teaching of the New Testament on this subject that they do not know
that all referred to in 1 Thess. 4: 15-17 had already been left
behind when the Firstfruits were raptured before the Great Tribulation
commenced, Rev. 12: 5, 14: 1-5. Furthermore if they would only look
at Ex. 10: 26 and its context (vv. 24-27) they would quickly discover that Ex. 10: 26 can at best only be made to apply to the New Birth of a
believer, when he departs from the World (
[* NOTE: When all the accountable generation had
died in the wilderness, because of their disobedience to Gods
commands, God protected their little ones
- who were not a prey! and
allowed their entrance under the leadership of Joshua. (See Num. 14: 3,
21-24ff.;
Cf.
1 Cor. 10: 5ff. R.V.)]
We wish to remind our friends that it was the purpose
of God that all - [the accountable generation of] - the Israelites who left
It is our Lords desire that all [regenerate] believers should have
part in the First Resurrection. He who knows the end from the beginning has made it
perfectly clear that the [vast] majority will repeat the grave blunder
of the Israelites who were behind in the Wilderness.
Thus we find that Ex. 10: 26 instead of being a death-blow to Selective Rapture proves it up to the
hilt. It further
proves that those who use it in
the above manner wrest this Scripture to their own undoing, 2 Peter 3: 16, for it teaches the very
opposite to what they intend it to teach. This ignorance is unfortunately met with in regard to the whole subject
of the Lords Second Advent.
The Jews of old said within themselves, - We have Abraham to our Father, therefore every blessing that God
can bestow is sure to us regardless of any condition. We know
that through their vain conceit they missed Gods wonderful [end-time] *
Salvation. Even so, there is a large section of present day believers, who boast of
their standing in Christ, assuming that sharing the Throne of Christ, and a
part in the First Resurrection, is a dead certainty as far as they are
concerned, yet being totally ignorant of the fact that these blessings will never be theirs unless they fulfil the conditions that God has
attached to them.
[* NOTE: The Apostle Peters mention of a future
salvation, when writing to the elect, of ... a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time and ... the END of your faith, even the salvation of your souls! The words salvation of souls has to do with the time of Christ will Return to Resurrect the souls
of the blessed
and holy dead (Rev. 20: 6, R.V.). At this time, (which is yet
future, and when Christ will Return) their disembodied and unredeemed
souls (Acts 2:
27; Psa.
16:
10;
Rom. 8: 8: 23), will be reunited to a redeemed and immortal body! Cf.
Luke 16: 22, 23,
31; 24: 39; John 3:
13;
2 Tim. 2: 16-18;
Gen.
37:
35, R.V. margin): Psa. 139:
8,
14b-16, R.V.).]
Eternal Life is the Free Gift of God to all [regenerate] believers,
but [to have] part in the First
Resurrection and Reigning with Christ on His Throne is only promised to,
and obtained by, Overcomers.* They are not a Free Gift, but a Reward to whole-hearted devotion to Christ; for the fine linen is the righteous
acts of the saints, Rev. 19: 8 R.V.
[* See Rev. 3: 11, 12, 21, R.V.)]
I am sewing, sewing day by day
A dress in time I shall display;
I want to make it fit and fair,
This dress my soul will have to wear;
And every day and passing minute,
Im putting common stitches in it.
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If the reader desires to be a Caleb, he will have to be prepared to stand alone amidst the very people of
God. He will have to go further and deeper into this subject than popular Periodicals and
Preachers will take him. If he desires to go more fully into this
matter, we recommend him to write - [and search] - for the under mentioned free leaflets, written
by aged and deeply taught Servants of God, who have no other desire but to
glorify their God and help their brethren. ...
Overmastering
Fact of the Universe - Firstfruits
and Harvest - Watchful, Prayerful, Victorious Overcomers - The Overcomer and
the Throne - The Bride of Christ - The Ten Bridesmaids - The First
Resurrection and the Great White Throne Judgment - Who will Escape
the Great Tribulation - Partial Rapture. ...
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NOT NOW
Mark 5: 18, 19
Not now, My child! A little more rough
tossing,
A little longer on the billows foam,
A few more journeyings in the desert
darkness,
And then the sunshine of thy Fathers
home!
Not now; for I have wanderers in the
distance,
And thou must call them in with
patient love:
Not now: for I have sheep upon the
mountains,
And thou must follow them whereer they rove.
Not now; for I have loved ones sad and
weary,
Wilt thou not cheer them with My words
of grace?
Sick ones who need thee in their lonely sorrow,
To carry my sweet messages of peace.
Not now; for wounded hearts are sorely
bleeding,
And thou must teach those saddened
hearts of Me;
Not now, for orphans tears are
thickly falling,
They need My Word, and this I give to
thee.
Not now; for many a hungry one is
pining;
Thy willing hand must be outstretched
and free;
Thy Father hears the mighty cry of
anguish,
And gives His messages of love to
thee.
Not now: for dungeon walls look stern
and gloomy,
And prisoners sighs sound strangely
on the breeze,
Wrecked lives, that need the Saviours
grace and mercy;
Hast thou no ministry of love for
these?
Go with the name of Jesus to the
dying,
And speak that Name in all its living
power:
Let not thy feeble heart grow chill
and weary;
Canst thou not watch with Me one
little hour?
One little hour! And then thy
Saviours presence.
Eternal praises and the victors palm:
One little hour! And then the
Hallelujah!
Eternitys long, deep, thanksgiving
psalm!
* *
* * *
* *
3
GODLY WOMEN
AND SCRIPTURE
By ASHBY PARVA
OUR first passage (1 Cor. 11: 1-16) deals with brethren being uncovered, and with sisters being
covered, when in prayer to God. Our
second passage (1 Tim. 2: 1-15) is with regard to sisters being silent in the assembly. Whatever
the right teaching, striking parallels will be noted. In verse 3 of chapter 11, the apostle would have us know these things.
Firstly we have in both passages a reference to all the churches, implying that the due order was
recognised. We have no such custom (i.e.,
sister without a covering) neither the churches of God (1 Cor.
11:
16).
As in all the churches of the saints (1 Cor. 14: 33) (i.e., with regard
to the gifts and their exercise in the
assembly). It was not left to the individual to decide as to what he or she
thought or felt. If any thought that
they were spiritual (v. 37), they were to acknowledge that the things written by the apostle were the commandments
of the Lord.
Secondly. The offending against the teaching of the apostle
implied shame (deserved reproach) in both passages.
If it be a shame for
a woman to be shorn or shaven (the very thing
If a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him (v. 14).
For it is a shame for a woman to speak in
the church (v. 35, ch. 14).
The strong wording will give us earnest desires to seek to
know the Lords will lest we
unwittingly offend.
Thirdly. Both passages end
with a similar affirmation.
If any man seem to be contentious,
we have no such custom, neither
the churches of God (ch.
11,
v.
16) (i.e.,
the contending one would not affect
the due godly order).
If any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant (ch.
14,
v.
38)
(i.e., if wilfully ignorant, and
would not harken, he would be left in
his ignorance).
[* NOTE: the words left in his ignorance, would imply that the
disobedient
regenerate believer, may forfeit the knowledge of Divine accountable
truths and conditional promises! Repentance
is
required immediately! See Matt. 4: 17; Luke 3: 8; Acts 26: 20ff. ]
With regard to the teaching itself, the case of the brother
seems clear. In prayer, or when prophesying, if his head is
covered he dishonoureth his head. A man indeed ought not to cover his head,
forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God
(ch. 11, v. 7). The implication is, that if wearing a
covering, this would be removed in prayer to God.
With regard to sisters the parallel is, that in prayer to God
she ought to be covered (the reasons are
stated). If uncovered, she dishonoureth her head, and it is as if she were
shorn, but if it is a shame (and it is, v. 6) for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.
A difficulty is felt by some because v. 15 states that a womans long hair is
given her for a covering, and therefore it is thought that an additional
covering is not necessary. In effect the thought is - if
I have long hair I am covered sufficiently in Gods sight. Only if I am shorn
am I uncovered.
Is this, however, the teaching of the whole passage? Firstly,
if this was so, would we not have to acknowledge that it would suffice for the
due order if a brother had short hair even though his head covering was not
removed? Secondly, an additional
covering to the sisters head of long hair must be implied in verses 5 and 6. If a sister being shorn or shaven was
the only state of being uncovered when in prayer to God, the apostle could not
say - If a woman be not covered let her also, (i.e.,
in addition thereto,) be shorn, for
she would already be in that state.
Thus the apostle labours at length to give the right order in
the assemblies; that which is fitting and decorous - [i.e., polite and delightful] - in the sight of God, and before
angels, and he refers to nature itself as also witnessing to this relative
distinction between the sexes. As sisters were prohibited from prophesying in
the assembly, the injunction as to covering the head would extend to other
spheres of service and worship besides the assembly. As we know the covering of
the head has in a great measure been observed in Christian assemblies
throughout the ages, although modern thought and fashion (and sometimes falsely
suggested, liberty of the Spirit), would seek to set the Lords will aside, or minimise its importance.
With regard to the silence of sisters in the assembly. - Let your women keep
silence in the churches (ch.
14,
v.
34), the word silence is the same word as
in verse 28. If there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church, i.e., the one concerned was not to deliver his message in tongues.
Verse 34 also adds, - It is not permitted into them, (i.e., the women,) to speak.
Does not 1 Tim. 2, give like instruction? Here prayer is enjoined when saints
meet together, and after specifying those for whom prayer is to be made to God,
the apostle continues (v. 8) - I will therefore
that the men pray everywhere, lifting
up holy hands without wrath and doubting. He then instructs the women as to
their part in like piety - their quiet behaviour and modest apparel; and says
that they are to learn in silence with
all subjection. He would not suffer a woman to teach, but to be in silence
(the reasons are stated).*
* The reasons for covering and for silence refer back to
creation - from the
beginning, 1 Tim. 2. It was no arbitrary arrangement, or merely local.
- (D. M. Panton. See DAWN Vol. XXVII, No. 3
No. 299 MARCH, 1949/)
The relative spheres of duty and privilege well pleasing to
God, of brethren and sisters, are
thus emphasised for our true dignity and glad obedience.*
[* Know ye not, that to whom ye
present yourselves as servants (Greek bondservants)
unto
obedience, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or
of obedience unto righteousness?
[17] But thanks be
to God, that whereas ye were servants of sin,
ye became obedient
from the heart to that form of teaching whereunto ye were delivered;
[18]
and being made free from sin, ye became servants of righteousness (Romans 6:
16-18,
R.V.)]
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OBEDIENCE IS LOVE
Finally, our Lord sheds wonderful light on how we can love Him. He that hath my
commandments, and keepeth
them, he it is - He
deliberately stresses it, singling this man out as His real lover - that loveth me
(John 14:
21). We must not detract from His
commandments, nor add to them, nor modify them; but, much more than that, we
must keep them - obedience is the sole proof of our
love. If ye love me, ye
will keep my commandments (John 14: 15, R.V.) An ancient King, much beloved, went
into a far country to help to quell disorder with his gracious personality, and
was away for long. When he returned, he found troubles and tumults, though he
received a joyous welcome. Entering the Council Chamber, he read aloud the
rules he had left on his departure: only to find that some had lost the paper;
some had wilfully burnt it; and many had broken one or more of the rules.
Looking sorrowfully at them, he gravely asked:- Do
you love your sovereign ? They all answered Yes.
But when he held up a copy of his laws, they all hung their heads; and then he
said, - He who has my laws, and keeps them, he, and
he only, loves me. According to the fulness of our obedience is the fulness of our love.
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4
I KNOW YOU NOT
By SAMUEL F.
HURNARD
THESE
words - Matt. 25: 12 - from the lips of our Saviour are a cause of difficulty and
confusion to not a few. They occur in a well defined passage of admonition,
following a prophetic picture of events leading up to His second advent. This
passage opens and closes with the arresting words: - Watch therefore. See verses 24: 42 and 25: 12. It contains three parables, viz., the Householder, the Servants, and the Virgins.
It is
important to see clearly to whom these are addressed. Speaking generally the
whole discourse of chapters 24 and 25 is addressed privately (v. 3) to His disciples. This is emphasised in this passage, for in verse 42 the words your Lord are used concerning those warned. The next parable relates
to the faithfulness or otherwise, of servants, clearly with regard to the
return of the Master to enquire into their conduct. While of the Virgins, it is
only to be noted that in New Testament usage the word, including 1 Corinthians 7, always implies saved believers. The word suggests purity and
separation.
1 Moreover the ten virgins of the
parable were all anxious to meet the Bridegroom; they had lamps burning, but
with five their supply of oil was running very low. All the ten virgins were
candidates for the kingdom of heaven, and they were commanded to Watch. Christ never tells unsaved people to
watch. Why should He? Clearly the unsaved do not come into view in these
parables. How then are we to understand His words:- I know you not?
The English word know occurs eleven times in this discourse. But in the Greek two quite
distinct words are used. One (ginosko), which means to know by
effort, or learning. It is objective and occurs five times in 24: 32, 33, 39, 43,
and 25
: 24.
The other word is oida and
occurs six times in 29: 36, 42, 43; and 25: 12, 13, 26. It is subjective knowledge, intuitive, or
intimate. Let us notice how differently the two words are used in these
chapters. The budding of the fig tree is known by observation (v. 32).
The near coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven (v. 33) is to be known from the signs He
gives in this chapter. Wicked humanity knew all about the Flood when it burst
upon them (v. 39).
Know this (ginosko),
in verse 43, would be just the obvious conclusion
to come to, if only the Goodman of the house had known
(oida), but of course he could not possess
intuitive knowledge of the thiefs intention. His only security would have been
constant watchfulness. The man with one talent (25: 24), may have heard an evil
report of his master and so said Lord, I knew
thee ... an hard man.
Turning now to oida
knowledge, in verse 36 it is used because the day and hour
of the Lords coming is a secret enshrined in the bosom of the Father.
Therefore, because utterly unknown, all [regenerate] believers must watch, be alert and ready for the
unexpected and unknown hour. Thus we find it used in verse 42, and of the ignorance of the Householder in verse 43. It is also used of the wicked
servant in 25: 26 who invented his own perverse opinion of his masters
character. Regarding verse 12, the Lord disclaims that intimate
knowledge (oida) with the five foolish virgins, which
would place them among His close friends. This use of the word is well
illustrated in Amos 3: 2, as applied to those like the wise virgins, where the Lord
says of Israel,- You only have I known of all the families of the earth, meaning His special interest in and knowledge of His chosen people. It
emphasises again in verse 13 the supreme importance of His urgent
warning - Watch
therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of
man cometh.
In one other passage only, Luke 13: 25, do we find the Lord saying, I know you not
(oida). Both these passages relate to a time of awakening to bitter shame and
remorse. This is described by Him seven times over as the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. This would appear to be the time when the first fruits are waved, or translated, while the unready crop is left to endure the
fiery trial of the great tribulation, thus to be ripened for the
harvest. How intensely solemn are these facts as the churches of Christ face a future dark with forebodings:
yet brightened for the eye of faith with promise of a glorious Dawn.
-------
S.O.S.
The day is coming when the doors of Heaven will be shut for ever.*
Some years ago a submarine sank in one of the world s great harbours, with
almost a hundred men. As soon as it settled at the bottom of the sea, a message
came by means of code tapping from the marooned men:-Is
there any hope? As the hours came and went and frantic efforts to save
them were failing, the same question came back from the men who were dying of
suffocation. Finally, the question came once more Is
there any hope? and this time from one surviving officer. Then there
was silence, as the great deep sealed the fate of all the men. They shall call upon
me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me diligently, but they shall not find me: for that they hated knowledge, and did
not choose the fear of the Lord (Prov.
1:
28).**
[* See Rev. 3: 1b-3:- I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and thou art dead,
[2] Be thou
watchful, and stablish the things that remain,
which were ready to die: for I have found no works of
thine faithful before my God [3] Remember therefore how thou hast received and didst hear;
and keep it (Greek observe), and repent. If therefore
thou shalt not watch, I will come as a thief,-
(Greek:- I may come
on thee as a thief) and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
R.V.]
[** See Deuteronomy 13: 4-5:-
Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his
commandments, and obey his voice,
and ye shall serve him, and
cleave unto him, [5] And that
prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to
death; because he hath spoken rebellion
against the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage, to draw thee aside out of the way which the
LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So
shalt thou put away the evil from the
midst of thee. R.V.]
* *
* * *
* *
5
CHRISTS COMING AGAIN:
BOTH SECRET AND OPEN
By A. G. TILNEY
WITHOUT being
over-confident and dogmatic, may we not ask whether truth is not often twofold?
It is pleasing to be in the light, but merely self-pleasing to be the only one
right. We can afford to agree that in the world there are tares as well as
wheat, for the earth is cursed as well as blessed; in the Church there is both
gift and reward, for there is both faith and works; in the Word there is
Calvinistic certainty of gift and Arminian uncertainty of reward. The human
race is threefold - consisting of Jew, Gentile and the
Now there is no doubt that Christ is going to be seen. Every eye shall see Him (Rev. 1: 7): therefore His coming will be visible and universal;
it will be like the lightning
(Matt.
24:
27): therefore unmistakable. But will the
Lord appear to everyone at once? Since humanity consists of Church, of Jew, and
Gentile (or Greek), and since judgment begins at the house of God (1 Pet. 4: 17), is it not likely that the Lord will be seen by His house before He is seen by
the others, to whom, therefore, He will for a time be and remain invisible?
To believers - men of faith - the Lord says: Watch! That is,
keep awake, alert, be on the look out; be ready, for in such an hour as ye think
not the Son of man cometh (Matt.
24:
42-51). He also tells the Church that He is
coming as a thief comes - furtively, secretly, unsuspected, unknown, till too
late; and then, conspicuous by absence and loss (Rev. 3: 3). The comparison is Christs, not ours - as a thief, He repeats (Rev.
16:
15). Next door they will know and see
nothing at all until they read about it in the paper; and in our own house we
shall see only if we watch for His down-coming as Elisha watched for his
masters up-going (2 Kings 2:
10) and received rapturing Spirit-power.
Now since our Lords coming is both visible (lightning-like)
and also invisible (thief-like), does it not seem to follow that it will
comprise two parts or stages, with the invisible part for His people to the air (1 Thess 4: 17), prior to the visible part with His people to the earth? Hence we read, To them that look
for Him shall He appear the second time
without sin unto salvation (Hebrew 9: 28). Must not this imply that those who do not look for Him will
not immediately see Him? And what about those who do not love His appearing? We can think of these parts of the Son
of mans coming: His sudden departure from heaven - His swift descent to the
air - His sudden arrival or coming proper - His prolonged visit or stay in the air, which is often translated coming, though its Greek name parousia (cf. Para-llel,
and esse-nce) means being alongside,
or presence;
then He will in time leave the air,
descend to earth, arrive there, stay there for judgment and rule.
At His first coming the Christ appeared only to those who looked for redemption in
Just as parousia (presence) needs to be distinguished from erchomai (arrival, cf. Luke 12: 4,
5;
18:
5;
Rev.
3:
3), so does epiphany (often a private manifestation of
appearing) differ from apocalypse (usually a public revelation); it needs to be borne in mind
that the English of the Authorised Version is in places not sufficiently
exact or precise for careful Bible study: e.g., end of the world [A.V.] should
be end of the age. [R.V.]
The harvest is, we are told, the end of the age, and will
probably take a considerable time, just as literal reaping is from the
beginning of barley harvest to the end of harvest wheat with the sequence of
first fruits, general but serial in-gathering, and, finally, corners of the
field. Christ is the first fruits of resurrection; those who are Christs will
be gathered not at His Coming, but during His judicial Parousia -
Presence (en su parousia, 1 Cor. 15: 2, 3), every man in his own order
(presumably of ripeness). Though the change takes
but a moment, it is not, therefore, quite certain that
all will be changed in one and the same moment. It will take
a considerable time for the Fanner to thoroughly purge His floor - judging (perhaps) a
few hundred million believers at a few minutes each would take, if one after
the other, half a century. The intimate sessions of the Bema, fitting1y, will
probably be held in camera. With [selected] Christians gone,*
and Christ still for a time invisible,
iniquity will quickly develop and
flourish, and the man of sin will at
length show himself on earth and gain a great following with counterfeit
miracles and all deceivableness of unrighteousness. Meanwhile, in the air, where mingling streams of rapt and resurrected Christians
meet the Righteous judge, there is, apparently, the epiphany IN the Paronsia,
before the apocalypse OF the Paronsia. Hence we read,
God shall show in His times
(1 Tim.
6:
15) the
Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the
quick and the dead at (i) His Appearing,
(ii) His Kingdom
(2 Tim.
4:
1), in which the righteous
shall shine forth like the sun, when
joint-suffering joint-heirs with Christ shall be revealed glorified together.
[* See
Luke 21:
34-36
& Rev.
3:
10,
R.V.]
-------
THE RETURN OF CHRIST
WE do
not know anything which so certainly sanctifies life to its highest service as
this great truth, steadfastly believed and maintained by Gods servants, while
they are journeying, not towards darkness, but the sunrising. When through the
mystics, moral mists, and half-lights of earth, the promise of the glorious
appearing is discerned, it determines
not only the direction of the journey, but
also its character. It settles the
question of our affinities. It corrects and brightens our outlook on the
things seen. It chases all gloom and care from the heart, and all weariness
from the feet. It keeps the first love alive, and fans the smoking flax into
flame. It puts a new song into willing lips and makes all life tuneful and
joyful. It transforms every cruse of mourning into a horn of anointing oil. It
makes even the lame man to leap as an hart, and replaces the tiredness of
exhausted nature with buoyant energy. - DR.
DUNCAN MAIN.
-------
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISM
DURING
the turbulent days of religious fanaticism and reckless theological guesswork
which followed the great disappointment of
1844, the foundation of the Seventh-Day Adventist creed was laid. At that time
the sects commonly termed cornerstone
doctrine, or its Christ-denying sanctuary teaching, which embraces the
blasphemous atonement and investigative judgment theories, originated. And
in those same days of confusion, many other erroneous beliefs were added to the
cults message,
among them the following:- (1) The
seventh-day Sabbath must be observed instead of Sunday; (2) Sabbath-keeping is the seal of God, Sunday-keeping is the mark of the
beast; (3) the end of
the world is to occur in this generation (meaning within the life-span of
those then living); (4) at His
coming, Christ will translate only 144,000 believers, this select number to be
composed exclusively of those who keep the seventh-day Sabbath; (5) the remnant mentioned in Revelation 12: 17, as those which keep
the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ, are Seventh-Day Adventists - the only
true church; (6) all religious bodies,
except the Adventists, constitute Babylon, and are rejected of God; (7) the dead, both saints and sinners,
rest in their graves in complete unconsciousness until the resurrection; (8) this earth is the bottomless pit where, as it lies in uninhabited desolation during the
millennium, Satan is to be bound; (9)
the wicked, including Satan and his angles, are to be finally annihilated; (10) the testimonies, or writings, of Mrs.
White are inspired just as was the Bible, and are meant to interpret the Bible.
These false beliefs constitute most of the major tenets which
the early day Advents styled present truth, all of which are held by the sect
of this day. - E. B. JONES.
-------
6
EZEKIEL 38
AND ARMAGEDDON
By Dr. ARTHUR I. BROWN
IT is difficult to understand why there
should be so much misunderstanding regarding these two events. There are some
students of Scripture who persist in making them identical; but even a
superficial examination of the Record ought to reveal how unwarranted is that
view. That there are resemblances between these two conflicts cannot be denied,
but the differences are clearly marked.
First, the resemblances:-
(1) Each event takes place towards the close of the Age of
Grace and near the termination of the period known as The Times of the Gentiles.
(2) Each describes an assault in
(3) Each army opposed to God and
(4) Each of the armies is defeated by the supernatural power
of God.
Second,
the differences:-
(1) Ezekiels message is directed to Gog, of the
(2) In Ezekiel, Gog, the Russian leader, is
mentioned as commander (v. 5, margin) of five named countries - Persia, Cush, and Put,
Gomer, and Togarmah; even many peoples
with thee (probably
referring to the several satellite nations under Russian control.)
At Armageddon, anti-Christ has under his command every tribe and tongue, and people, and nation, and all that dwell upon earth (Rev.
13:
7,
8).
(3) Gods plan of attack in Ezekiel differs widely from His warfare
against anti-Christ and his hordes. Ezekiel 38: 19-22:-
Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land
of Israel, so that the fishes of the sea, and the birds of
the heavens, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the
earth, and all the men that are on the face of the earth, shall shake at My
presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep
places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. And I will call for
a sword against him unto all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every mans sword
shall be against his brother. And with pestilence and blood will I enter into judgment with him; and I will rain
upon him ... an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.
The Armageddon Conflict is described in Rev. 19: 19-21:-
And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth, and their armies,
gathered
together to make war against Him that sat upon the horse, and against His
army.
And the beast was taken and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs
in his sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark of the
beast and them that worshipped his image: they two were cast alive into the lake of fire
that burneth with brimstone: and the rest were killed with the sword of Him that sat upon
the horse, even the sword that came forth out of His mouth: and all the birds
were filled with their flesh.
A supplemental account of the slaughter of Gods enemies is
given in Zechariah 14: 12. It reads as follows:-
And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord shall smite
all the peoples that have warred against
Zechariah is describing Armageddon and provides
a few details not found in Revelation.
(4) The END of the two leaders differs greatly. Ezekiel 39: 1, 4, 11:-
And thou, son of man, prophesy against Gog ... Thou shalt fall on the mountains of Israel ... I will give unto
Gog a place for burial in Israel, the valley of them that pass through on the
east of the sea ... there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude; and they shall call
it,
The Valley of Hamon - Gog
(the multitude
of Gog.)
Revelation
19: 20, quoted above, informs us that
anti-Christ and his associate are cast into the lake of fire.
(5) The Ezekiel picture finds no place for the Lord
Jesus accompanied by the armies of heaven upon white horses, nor any of the
interesting features mentioned in Rev. 19: 11-17.
(6) Following the defeat of the Russian armies in Ezekiel, a period of seven months is required to cleanse the land of dead bodies
and the debris remaining from the
great destruction (Ezek.
39:
9-16).
Armageddon is followed by the arrest of Satan, his casting
into the abyss, and the beginning of the millennial reign of Christ (Rev. 20: 3).
The death of the Russian leader is followed by a devastating
fire from heaven on
(7) Ezekiel 39: 4 tells us that the birds AND
beasts of the field are invited to feast upon the defeated enemies of God: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort,
and to the
beasts of the field to be devoured.
At Armageddon, according to Rev. 19: 17, 18:- An angel ... cried with a loud voice, saying
to all the BIRDS, that fly in the
heaven, Come and be gathered unto the great supper of God.
(8) Another vital difference between the two is found in the
fact that when anti-Christ comes on the world scene, he adopts a friendly
attitude towards the Jews, and actually poses as their friend, making a
seven-year treaty with the Zionist leaders, as shown by Daniel 9: 27, and Isaiah 28: 14-18.
The Russian prince makes no such pretence of friendship. These
two men cannot rule at the same time. Their policies and attitude are
different, even though each is actuated by hatred toward God.
In view of these clear differences, we are justified in
believing them to be two tremendous end-time developments, separated by a few
years from one another. That we have now arrived at the period known as the time of the end, would seem to be obvious. As never before we can read with
exultation, the inspiring words of Luke 21: 28:-
But when these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift
your heads; because your redemption draweth nigh!
Prophecy Monthly.
-------
OBEDIENCE IS LOVE (2)
Our Lord sheds wonderful light on how we can love Him. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth
them, he it is - He
deliberately stresses it, singling this man out as His real lover - that loveth
me (John 14: 21). We must not detract from His commandments, nor add to them,
nor modify them; but, much more than that, we must keep them - obedience is the sole proof of our love.
If
ye love me, ye will keep my commandments (John 14: 15, R.V.) An ancient King, much beloved, went into a far country to
help to quell disorder with his gracious personality, and was away for long.
When he returned, he found troubles and tumults, though he received a joyous
welcome. Entering the Council Chamber, he read aloud the rules he had left on
his departure: only to find that some had lost the paper; some had wilfully
burnt it; and many had broken one or more of the rules. Looking sorrowfully at
them, he gravely asked:- Do you love your sovereign?
They all answered Yes. But when he held up a
copy of his laws, they all hung their heads; and then he said, - He who has my laws, and keeps them, he, and he only, loves me.
According to the fulness
of our obedience is the fulness of our love.* - D.
M. PANTON
[* Psalm 43-44,
R.V.:- Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of
the people; Thou hast made me the head of the
nations: A people whom I have not known shall
serve me. [44] As soon as they hear of me they shall obey me:
The strangers shall submit themselves unto me:
R.V.)
* *
* * *
* *
7
THE MARRIAGE SUPPER
OF THE LAMB
By G. D.
WATSON.
After the glorified saints sing their victorious song
of Moses and the Lamb, standing on the sea of glass and playing on the harps of
God, there follows the judgments on Babylon and on the mother of harlots, and
after the false satanic woman has been judged and destroyed, then that company
which makes up the bride of the Lamb appears in glorified splendour and the
marriage supper is celebrated.
And I heard the voice of a great multitude as the voice of
many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Hallelujah: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let
us be 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
be arrayed in fine linen,
clean and white, for the fine linen
is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me. Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he
saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. (Rev. 19: 6-9.)
The
time of this marriage supper is at the close of the great tribulation judgment,
just before the destruction of the antichrist and the chaining of Satan. The
locality of this banquet is up in the sky, where Jesus and the glorified saints
have been during the years that the great tribulation judgments were poured out on the earth.
There
are also two women that are spoken of all through Scripture: one is typified by
Jezebel, the false prophetess, and the other is typified by Sarah, who
represents the true spiritual Church, and is the mother of us all, as Paul
says. In the previous chapter of Revelation, the false woman goes down in awful judgment, and in
the passage we have now before us we see the true woman, the bride of Christ, coming forth in
everlasting triumph and radiant glory to take her place in the union with the
Lord Jesus, the Lamb, to rule - [over
all the nations, (see Isa. 6: 3; cf. Rev. 3: 5, 6, 21, R.V.) and,] -
forever and forever.
The
word Hallelujah is mentioned four times in chapter
19, as expressing the perfection of
praise and victory that the great salvation has reached its final consummation.
There is more expression of joy, of gladness, over the marriage of the Lamb than over any other event mentioned
in the book of Revelation, because it is the consummation of redemption, the
fulfilment of all promises and all prophecies concerning the victory of the
Lord Jesus and His glorified saints.
In
explaining this passage, let us notice:
1.
Who is the Bridegroom?
The
Scriptures make it very clear that the
bridegroom can be no other person than the Lamb, the blessed Son of God, the
Saviour of sinners. But when we
say this, let us remember that there is a perfect fitness in the fact that the
Son of God is the bridegroom, because it is by Christ that God created the
universe, all worlds. and angels, and men, and because the Son of God is the
creator of all things the universe is to be linked on to God the Father through
His Son. Now, inasmuch as Christ is that Divine person that links the creation to the Godhead, it is eminently fitting that He should he the bridegroom.
The
And
again, it is of necessity that the Lamb shall be the bridegroom because He is
the one that died for sinners, and purchased for Himself a people from death.
We are not redeemed by the person of
the eternal Father or by the person of the Holy Ghost, but by the person of the Son of God, through
the sacrifice of His human - [blood
(see Rev.
5:
9,
A.V.) and] - body, and He thereby is the proprietor of the saved
ones as no other person in the Godhead is.
2.
Who is the bride?
In
answer to this question there are a great many different opinions, but I am
sure that the Scriptures are very clear as to who they are that constitute the bride of the Lamb. In every single
place in the Scripture where this subject is referred to there is a showing
that the bride of Christ does not take in all those who are
saved from the
earth, but a chosen company who have been
selected from the saved ones,
because they have met certain conditions of consecration, purification and obedience, and have been thereby qualified* to take rank
with Christ in His rulership in the coming - [Millennium, and eternal] - ages.
[*
See Jeremiah 35: 16-19:-
Forasmuch as the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their
father which he commanded them, but this people - (the redeemed children of Israel) - hath not hearkened unto me; [17] therefore thus saith the LORD, the
God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring upon
Judah and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have produced
against them: because I have spoken unto them,
but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have
not answered. [18] And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the LORD
of hosts, the God of Israel: Because ye have obeyed the commandment of
Jonadah your father, and kept his precepts,
and done according to all that he commaned you; [19] therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:
Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever. R.V. ]
There
are several
names given to that company
which constitutes the bride of Christ, such as the church of the firstborn. the elect,
the overcomers, and similar expressions. It is a great
mistake to think that the church of the first born includes all who are
saved from among men, for
the Bible expressly indicates what is meant by the first born. When the death angel
passed over
The
word elect is applied
often to the bride of Christ,
but that word elect never refers to being saved;
it always refers to the work of
sanctification and to a rank that believers take after they are saved,
as where Peter says, Ye are elect through sanctification.
In
the Forty-fifth Psalm.
David describes first the bride, groom, and in the second half of the psalm he
describes the bride. He mentions other companies of saved ones and speaks of
them as Kings daughters and as honourable women; but in contrast to these
companies he refers to the queen,
standing at the right hand of the king, dressed in the gold of Ophir. And in
the 6th
chapter
of the Song of Solomon
he describes various companies of saved ones under the names of queens,
virgins; and then refers to the elect
daughter who is the bride, as being superior to them all, and says, She is the choice one, and the word means, the elect one of all others.
Jesus
refers to this select company of bridehood
saints when He explained the reason why His disciples did not weep and
fast, in contrast to Johns disciples; because He said: my disciples are the children of the bride
chamber, and how can they weep and fast when they have the Bridegroom
with them? Hence the bride will be a company selected
from the saved ones of all the ages, both Jews and Gentiles, formed
into one body which will meet the conditions of heart purity and devotion to
God and have thereby been qualified for that rank which will be
manifested at the time of the marriage.
3.
She hath made herself ready. This preparation takes place before the wedding day comes on, just as the judgment of the
saints does not save them, but manifests their salvation and reveals the rank
that each will have in the heavenly [messianic and millennial] kingdom,
so the bride makes herself ready during her lifetime on the
earth and in the state of probation. But the fullness of the preparation is made
manifest in the time of the wedding.
4.
The wedding garments of the bride: She was arrayed in fine
linen, clean and white.
The
word white should be brilliant, radiant. There are always three words used in describing the condition or character of the victorious saints. One
word refers to justification, and
the next refers to sanctification,
and the third refers to the enduring
of tests and trials by which the soul is made radiant and luminous, or
radiant and glorious. Daniel says that the company shall be purified, made
white, and tried; that is, have their sins washed out, and then made white in
purity, and then tried to test and
prove their obedience.* In
this passage, the expression fine linen refers to justification, the
forgiveness of sins; and the word clean refers to purity, to holiness; and the word
white refers to being tested in the fire, and made radiant in the glory of a victorious experience.
The word righteous is, in
the original, in the plural number, and the passage should read, for
the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints. There is a righteousness that is obtained in
justification, and there is a
righteousness that is inwrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit; and then
there is a righteousness that is wrought out in the believers
life in obedience and good works. The Scriptures speak of the
soul being clothed by its character. The wicked are driven away in their sins;
that is, clothed, covered, with their sins as a raiment. Also the righteous are
spoken of as clothed with the garments
of salvation. When the saints are glorified they will be clothed in light, such as the angels wear and such as Jesus
wore after His resurrection. But just as there are
degrees of rewards and of ranks in the kingdom of Heaven, so there will be
great degrees in the size and lustre of the garments that the glorified saints
will wear; and David says that the
queen, the Lambs wife, will be dressed in the gold of Ophir, and in another
place it says that her garments are of wrought gold. It is in sanctification
that the soul becomes espoused to Christ,
but the marriage does not take place until [after] the
resurrection, when the saints
are caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and pass judgment, and
receive their rewards.
[* See
also Genesis
24: 8, 57-58:-
And if the
woman be not willing to follow thee,
then thou shalt be clear from this my oath; only thou shalt not bring my son thither again. ... [57] And they said, We will call the damsel, and
enquire at her mouth [58] And they called Rebekah, and
said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man?
And she said, I will go. R.V.]
-------
COMING SUDDENLY
Suddenly God opened the clouds of heaven and
broke up the fountains of the great deep, and the world that then was, perished
in a flood.
Suddenly He came down upon the builders of the
Suddenly He rained fire and brimstone on the
wicked cities of
Suddenly the angelic host announced the glad
tidings of peace and good will on earth at the advent of the Saviour (Luke 2:
13,
14).
Suddenly that peace and good will, will be
taken from the earth at the Second Advent of that same Jesus. He whom men
rejected and crucified, whom God raised [out] from the dead, and seated at His own right hand, will
come again. [Psa. 110: 1; cf. Psa.
2: 8,
R.V.]
Suddenly! Like the lightning flash; as the
twinkling of an eye; as the blast of a trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound and
the dead shall be raised, and the living shall be changed.
- J. W. BROWNING.
* *
* * *
* *
8
THE FINAL JUDGMENTS
NEAR
By D. R.
DAVIES
NEVER again will
war be declared by any Power, be it a democracy or a dictatorship. The nature
of the new weapons, which are only in their infancy, demands swiftness, suddenness, and complete surprise for their
decisive use. Rockets can already travel at a speed swifter than sound. They
can be charged with plutonium, nuclear energy. The bomb that fell on
So the new scientific weapons are a symbol of the manner in
which history is now shaping and developing. They presage the quality or
feature of finality, totality, irrecoverability. Historic events now produce
disaster and destruction from which it is becoming increasingly impossible to
recover. We are experiencing a foretaste of that condition even after the
semi-total war that ended in 1945. In our blitzed towns and cities ruins
still remain two years later and will for twenty years. In
The signs of the coming
of the Last judgment are visible in our tormented world. What, according to our Lord, are
some of those signs? Wars and rumours of wars, famine and hunger, growing
social strife, persecution, treachery, disloyalty, deception, and delusion, and
declining faith. What a dreadful, ghastly catalogue! But - let the reader
ponder over this - every one of these signs is visible to-day. These signs, said Christ, do not mean Final judgment in
themselves. But the end is not
yet ... all these things are the beginning of travail.
WORLD WITHOUT HOPE
Never has the world been so profoundly and bitterly divided.
Mankind is being torn by racial and class conflicts. In Europe and
It is too much to hope that the vast calamities of our age
will convince the modern, secular man that his trust in human nature is a
delusion. It will, I fear, take still greater calamities to bring him to that
point. History will produce those calamities. Let there be no mistake about
that.
But what about the Church? Is it too much to hope that, even
through the cataclysm of civilization, the Church will begin to, remember that
the faith she professes is an other-worldly faith, that her hope rests, not in
any vaunted powers of man, but wholly and only in the reappearing of the Lord
Jesus and the judgment that He will bring? Will the Church at last begin to
realize that it is not science but theology that has the last word? That the
Second Coming of Jesus Christ is not a picturesque mythical survival but a
divine and dynamic reality which cannot be side-stepped? And if it cannot be
escaped, as all the New Testament insists that it cannot be hasnt the
time come for the Church to see and evaluate our age and society in the light
of the Last judgment? Hasnt mans eternal destiny now become a more urgent and
grim problem than his temporal bodily welfare? Isnt spiritual security a more
fateful question than political or economic security? Is not the call to
repentance at least as pressing as the call to greater production? Will not the
Church display as much concern, at least as much concern, about the terrible
issue of our Lords impending return, as a governments concern about greater
coal production?
The world is
very evil;
The times are waxing late,
Be sober now and watchful -
The judge is at the gate.
- The Record
-------
WATCH THEREFORE
Watch against
the leaven of false doctrine. Remember that Satan can transform himself into an
angel of light. Remember that bad money
is never marked bad, or else it would never pass. Be very jealous for the whole
truth as it is in Jesus. Do not put up with a grain of error merely for the
sake of a pound of truth. Do not tolerate a little false doctrine one bit more
than you would tolerate a little sin. Watch and pray!
Watch against slothfulness about Bible study and private
prayer. There is nothing so spiritual but we may at last do it formally. Most
backslidings began in the closet. When a tree is snapped in two by a high wind,
we generally find there had been some hidden decay. Watch and pray!
Watch against bitterness and uncharitableness toward others. A
little love is more valuable than many gifts. Be eagle-eyed in seeking the good
that is in your brethren. Let your memory be a strong box for their graces, but
a sieve for their faults. Watch and pray!
Watch and pray against self-conceit. Peter said at first, Though all
deny Thee, yet will not I. Presently he fell. Pride is the
high-road to fall. Watch and pray!
Watch against the sins of
Watch not least against the sin of Jehu. A man may have great zeal to all appearance and yet have very
bad motives. It is quite another thing to love the truth. Watch and pray.
Let us watch for the worlds sake. We are the books they chiefly
read. They mark out our ways far more than we think. Let us aim to be living
epistles of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us watch for our own sakes. As our walk is, so will be our
peace. Above all, let us watch for our Lord Jesus Christs sake. Let us live as
though His glory was concerned in our behaviour. Let us live as though every
slip and fall was a reflection on the honour of our Lord. Let us live as though
every allowed sin was one more thorn in His head - one more nail in His feet.
O, let us exercise godly jealously over thoughts, words, and
actions, over motives, manners and walk! Never, never let us fear being too
strict. Never, never let us think we can watch too much.
- BISHOP J. C. RYLE.
* *
* * *
* *
9
LONGING FOR HIS
COMING
By A. B.
SIMPSON, D.D.
BELOVED, are we longing for the coming of our
Lord, or shall we meet Him with grief and not with Joy? Shall we open to Him
immediately, or shall we want more time to prepare? Is He coming to us as a
Judge, or is He coming to us as the
Bridegroom of our hearts and the blessed hope of all our life?
This is the special
work of the Holy Ghost [Spirit] in preparing His
Bride for the coming of the
Bridegroom, and, unless we have this expectant love for His appearing, it
is certain we are not in the right state of heart.
As the Lords coming draws nearer, it will doubtless be
somehow revealed to the hearts of His [redeemed and obedient] children, who are waiting and watching
for Him, in such a way that, while they will not know the day nor the hour,
they will at least be ready, and something within them will be going out to
meet the Bridegroom.
When a great magnet approaches a lot of little bits of steel
and iron filings in a box of sand, they become agitated, and a quivering
movement is seen along the whole line. They almost seem to be
conscious of something in the air attracting them upward;* and when the magnet comes a little nearer, they
just leap up to meet it and cling to it by the subtle attraction of the
magnetic field. And so, as the Lords coming draws nearer, the hearts of His - [Holy
Spirit-filled (Acts
5: 32,
R.V.)] -
people will become strangely conscious that the Bridegroom is at hand, and they
will be drawn out to expect Him in a manner which they themselves may not
understand. When these things begin to come to pass, He said, then lift up your heads and bend yourselves back, in the attitude of preparation for
flight, for your redemption
draweth nigh.
[* See Rev. 3: 10: Because thou didst keep the word of my patience,
I also will keep
thee from the hour of trial (or temptation) that hour which is to come upon the whole world (Gk. inhabited earth),
to try them that
dwell upon the earth. R.V.]
Sometimes we have seen on a branch a bird standing, almost
ready to fly, with wings just fluttering, and its whole attitude poised and
prepared to spring from the branch and sweep away into the sky at the call of
its distant mate. So should the Bride of
the Lamb be waiting with fluttering wing, uplifted eye, and all her being
poised and ready at the first call to mount on high and be transported to the Beloved of her heart.
-------
WESLEY AND THE ADVENT
It would
be well if the Methodists of today realized the attitude of their founders to
the Second Advent. Samuel Wesley, John
Wesleys father, says:- We believe, as all
Christians of the purest ages did, that the saints will reign with Christ on
earth a thousand years. At the beginning of the thousand years shall be the
first resurrection, wherein martyrs and holy men shall rise - [from
Sheol / Hades
(See Acts 2:
27,
34;
cf.
John 3:
13;
14:
3;
2 Tim.
2:
18,
R.V.)] - and reign
here in spiritual delight, - Athenian Gazette,
Vol. IV., 1691.
Wesley himself lived every day, every hour,
as though it were his last. He said:- Perhaps He will
appear as the dayspring from on high, before morning light. Oh, do not set us a
time! Expect Him every hour. Now He is nigh, even at the doors. He wrote thus to Dr. Conyers
Middleton in 1749. The doctrine, as you very well
know, which Justin deduced from the prophets and the Apostles, and in which he
was undoubtedly followed by the Fathers of the second and third centuries is
this: The
souls of them who have been martyred for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and who have not
worshipped the beast, neither received his
mark, shall live and reign with Christ a thousand
years. But the rest of the dead shall not live
again until the thousand years are finished.
Now to say that they believed this is neither more or less than to say that
they believed the Bible.
So Bishop Coke, who had charge of all the missionary work of the first
Methodism, wrote:- The period of time which yet
remains we know is short, who can tell? We ought to be in constant expectation
of it. At the coming of Christ to deliver and avenge His people, the faith of
His coming will be in a great measure lost. The doctrine of the Millennium was
greatly believed in the first three of the purest ages; the doctrine lay
depressed for ages, but sprang up again at the Reformation.
-------
ADVENT
We do well to remind ourselves of the words of Dr. A. B. Simpson. There are two ways of looking at the Lords Coming. There is
a looking for and there is a looking at it. It is possible to look at it with a
keen intellect and profound interest, and yet have it mean nothing to us
personally. It is possible to know but little of the theology and exegesis of
the subject, and yet have a deep and
holy longing for our Lord to appear. When a wedding is about to occur, the
public are looking at it, but the bride is looking for it.
Oh, that this great theme may not only be our study but our personal hope, for
unto them that look for Him shall He appear a second time without sin
unto salvation.
-------
ENOCH
In faith Enoch was translated so as
not to see Death; and he was not found, because God translated him:
for, before
his TRANSLATION he had obtained testimony to have been well-pleasing unto God: (Hebrews 11:
5,
Greek.)
The Church of today must be the Enoch of our world. We
Christians must show the people of our time what the good life really means: it
is the reproduction of the life of Christ by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Such an example will not be popular, but it
will please God, to whom one day we
must render an account. It may also earn Enochs reward: translation to Heaven without passing
through the portal of death. But we have Enochs testimony to give, namely
that Christ will return to this earth to set up the Golden Age. Two world wars
have sharpened the interest of many people in the truth of the Second Coming of
Christ; but this interest has been divided into two schools of thought. One of
these is linked with the name of J. N.
Darby, and holds that the Church
will entirely escape the tribulations which precede the Return of Christ.
The other school of thought is linked with the name of B. W. Newton, just as brilliant a scholar as
Darby, and these friends hold that the
whole Church must endure the tribulation. May it not be that the golden mean of these two antinomies is the truth? If we
exercise the faith of Enoch in a humble walk
with God and a clear testimony to His
Word, we may prevail to escape
what is coming upon the world. Watch ye and pray that ye may be accounted worthy to
escape (Luke 21:
36). - Frank V.
Mildred.
*
* * *
* * *
10
THE TEN VIRGINS
This parable embodies the lesson of the last verse:- Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour
(Matt.
25:
13).
The
ten virgins all alike took their lamps; all alike went forth to meet the
Bridegroom; all too had oil in their lamps although not all had a store of oil
in their vessels also. All were something more than nominal Christians; all
had, in some sense, come out of this world, and had gone to meet the
Bridegroom. There are no hypocrites in the parable, no openly wicked and
disobedient men. This consideration gives it a very awful meaning; it is not enough to have once awakened, there is need of constant,
persevering watchfulness.
The
parable embodies and enforces the lesson that the last verse, Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour. It is not enough to have been once lightened,
The foolish had their lamps; and the lamps were not empty or dark, they were
burning, they had oil in them. Then even the foolish were using the means of
grace, they had been made partakers of the
Holy Ghost [Spirit] (Heb.
6:
4).
But
they had no oil with them. They delighted
in their past experience, and trusted in it as if they had all that was
needed for their spiritual life. The wise virgins counted not themselves to
have apprehended; they forgot what was behind, and ever reached forth unto
those things which were before; they sought in persevering prayer and daily
self-denials, and the constant faithful use of the appointed means of grace,
for the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ; not quenching the [Holy] Spirit,
as careless clothful Christians do, but treasuring in their hearts
that sacred Gift, striving always to grow in grace, to walk in the Spirit, to mind the things of the Spirit, to be filled with the Spirit, to increase in the Holy Spirit more and
more.
The
Bridegroom tarried; the time of waiting was long - longer much than the foolish
virgins had thought. The first excitement passed away. Some had left their
first love. The love of most was growing cold. The shades of difference amongst
[regenerate] Christians are innumerable. Some are utterly careless.
Some arouse themselves from time to time to thought and real effort. Some try by the power of faith and prayer
to keep themselves in the love of God,
and to love the appearing of the Saviour.
But
none realize to the full the tremendous necessity of watchfulness. - [or
of obeying Christs commands!] None live in that fixed attention, in that full prepardness, in that daily and hourly anticipation of
the Saviours coming, which we
should regard as a true Christian frame of mind, to which we should strive to approximate nearer and nearer, in all humility and self-distrust, not counting ourselves to have attained
but ever pressing forward.
- The
Pulpit Commentary.
-------
HARDSHIPS AND TRIALS
By JOSEPH A. SEISS.
We are often disheartened with our hardships and
trials, and begin to think it is too hard a thing to be Christians. Nature is
so weak and depraved; there is such a burden in this incessant toil, and
self-denial, and watchfulness, and prayer; the way is so steep, and so narrow,
and difficult; we are tempted again and again to give up. But when we think of
what the dear Lord has done for us, what glories He has set before us, what
victories are to come to us, - [if obedient during the Millennium, (see Matt. 19: 17b: Luke 20: 35; Phil. 3: 11; 1 Pet. 1: 17; Acts 24:
16, etc. R.V.)] - what
princedoms and thrones in the great empire of eternity await us, and how sure
is all if we only press on for the prize;
we have the profoundest reason to rejoive and give thanks every day that we
live that such opportunities have been vouchsafed for us, were the sufferings
even tenfold severer than they are.
*
* * *
* * *
11
PRESS TOWARD THE MARK*
[* Edited
from a short writing by]
W. P.
CLARK.
A young Christian
student of a Bible school, learning of the possibility of being left behind - [See
Luke 21:
35,
36
& Rev.
3:
10] - when the
Lord comes for His saints and having to
go through the Great Tribulation, became terribly ferful and depressed. A
friend pointed out to him that his fear was a good sign of his spiritual state,
and was God-given and God-commanded - Let us fear lest a promise being left us of entering into His rest (the Millennium or Sabbath rest for the people of God, as literal, not spiritual, as the rest of
Canaan which the Israelites missed through unbelief, and to which the writer
was comparing it), any of ye should come short of it.
Dont, said his friend, be depressed in doing
or being what God has enjoined you should do or be, but rather follow the example of the apostle Paul
who, when he found he had not yet attained to the
resurrection from among the dead and counted
himself not to have apprehended that for which he had been apprehended of
Christ Jesus, far from being fearful and depressed, one
thing he did, forgetting
those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are
before he pressed toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The young student saw his mistake, his depression was
lifted, and like Noah of old, who by faith being warned
of God of things not seen as yet, moved with godly fear (R.V.) prepared an ark to the saving of his house, he now with that same godly fear presses on
towards the goal.
-------
SIN
The refuse of the entire universe is fused into one
unspeakably foul mass, completely hopeless from any angle. Those who are
unfortunate enough to make this their eternal abode will discover that they
helped to make it what it is. God did not create hell for you; He will not
force you into it. If you get there, it will be by your own free choice. It is
begotten in the heats of men and women here on earth. Its seeds are in the
heart of every son and daugter of Adam; and unless these potential destroyers are removed, they will bring forth a harvest which will create hell
within the individual and finally land him in hell, the land [or
place] of forgotten men. The
poisons of lust, pride, greed, hatred, envy and rebellion agains God are just
as leathal to the soul as are poisons of alcohol, opium, cocaine and social
disesase to the body. They poison both soul and body. - ROMAINE L. ARMSTRONG.
*
* * *
* * *
12
REWARD THROUGH
SUFFERING
By D. M.
PANTON
IT is vital to the Gospel that reward and salvation are
totally sundered. Reward is a recompense for service rendered; a prize gained
by conduct; a wage paid for labour accomplished. Do good, our Lord
says, and your reward shall be great (Luke 6: 35). To him that worketh, says the Apostle, the reward is not reckoned as of grace, but as of debt (
Reward as
Motive
But,
after [initial] salvation, reward becomes of immense importance, and an urge to the highest. The assertion not seldom made that it is wrong for a
believer to seek reward is a blank contradiction of our Lord and the Holy
Scriptures. Take
heed, the Lord Jesus says to His
disciples, that
ye do not your righteousness before men, to be
seen of them: else ye have no
reward with your Father which is
in heaven (Matt. 6: 1). He invokes reward as a perfectly legitimate motive. Love your enemies, and do them good, and your reward shall be great (Luke 6: 35). Our
Lord could not have put it more decisively:- Whosoever shall give to drink a cup of cold water only - a glass of water - verily
I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward (Matt. 10: 42). Even to [regenerate] unbelievers, - [and to the unregenerate] - He says:- How can ye believe, which receive glory
one of another, and the glory that cometh from
the only God ye seek not? (John 5: 44).
There is no crown without a cross.*
[*
See 2 Tim. 2: 9, 12, A.V. Cf. 1 Thess. 1: 6, 14, R.V.]
Righteous
Recompense
The
design underneath reward is deep and wonderful. God grooves the running-tracks
to reward deep down beneath the production of a perfected character: Gods
rewards are deliberately set to produce Christ-like lowliness, a body of
unblemished purity, and hands of strenuous, unremitting labour. Every one that hath left
houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children,
or lands for my names sake, SHALL RECEIVE A
HUTNEIREDFOLD (Matt. 19: 29).
Our eye is on the prize: Gods eye is on the spiritual athlete which running
for the prize creates. So also reward indicates the justice of God. The servant
who has become like his Lord, and done well like his Lord, shall enter into
the joy of his Lord: Whatsoever good thing each one doeth, the same shall he receive again from the Lord (Eph. 6: 8). Gods rewards are a recompense for fidelity that are absolutely
essential to prove His justice. Suffering,
in the light of
Suffering
Now
we reach one of the most exquisite expressions of this truth. Our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh
for us more and more exceedingly* an eternal
weight of glory (2 Cor. 4: 17, R.V.)
It is expressed elsewhere:- I
reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not to be compared - the two are incomparable - with the glory that shall be
revealed to us-ward (Rom. 8: 18).
The affliction - weariness, sorrow, sickness, bereavement, death: the glory -
the Throne surrounded with myriads of angels; innumerable witnesses watching
the winning of the race; a body perfect, a crown, a throne awaiting the old
physical wreck.
* Literally, in
excess unto excess (the
Pulpit Commentary).
Transient
Suffering
So
our present situation is first summed up. Our light affliction, which is but for a moment. Paul records the unique record of his own suffering,
which serves as an admirable test of the truth of the
statement. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I
suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been
in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of rivers, in perils
of robbers, in perils from my countrymen,
in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in
perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea,
in perils among false
brethren, in labour and travail, in watchings often, in hunger
and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness (2 Cor. 11: 24).* Is that light affliction? One opposite verse reduces
us to utter silence:- Their part shall be in the lake that burneth with fire and
brimstone (Rev. 21: 8). Is
it but for a moment? Put against it - suffering for a few decades - the smoke of their torment
goeth up for ever and ever
(Rev.
14: 11). As we look back from the unending ages of eternity,
our few decades here will be no more than a moment.
* Obviously the chief affliction rewarded is suffering
for Christ, but naturally our affliction covers all the believers suffering. He scourgeth every son whom he receiveth (Heb. 12: 6).
Effective
Suffering
But
we now face one of the most amazing revelations ever made. Our affliction WORKETH FOR US
- is actually creating - MORE AND MORE
EXCEEDINGLY - in ever growing
expansion - AN ETERNAL WEIGHT OF GLORY - our glory is created, ever
increasingly, by our suffering. Thus far more is stated than the
mere fact that glory will follow suffering: it is the
suffering which creates a loftier throne, a richer crown, a nobler heritage.
In a complex machine we see a wheel revolving in an opposite direction to the
working of the machine; but it is revolving other wheels which are driving the
whole work forward. Could comfort go further? The fingers of sorrow are
actually weaving the tapestry of glory: the deeper the sorrow, the
heavier the glory. If ye are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are ye; because the
Spirit of glory and the
Spirit of God resteth upon you. (1 Pet. 4: 14).
Our Gaze
But
a vital condition closes the revelation. Suffering creates, reward while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are
not seen. In the prayer of a
Saint of the middle ages, - O God, fix my eyeballs on
eternity! Centuries ago ships were afraid to go out of sight of the
land, for they were guided by the hills and the mountains; but when the compass
was discovered, they could go over the whole world and through the densest
darkness. The
things which are not seen are the
compass of our redeemed lives. The word here
translated look at, is in other places rendered, take heed, consider, mark, observe attentively, and
signifies serious fixed, repeated
consideration: it signifies also to aim
at, or pursue (J. Orton).
Of all the persons in the Old Testament our Lord tells us to remember only
one:- Remember
The
It
is beautiful to remember how a pearl is made. Dr. A. B. Simpson puts it thus:- The pearl is made in the bosom of the oyster down in the
Salvation
An
American worker, a Mrs. Barney, tells how sorrow and
affliction brought a soul to Christ. A man in
They
brought her in, and for a moment a great pallor fell upon his face; then he
broke out into violent sobbing. The little girl, touched with compassion came
to him, and laying her hand on his, she said, O poor
man, Im so sorry for you, and Jesus is so sorry for you, too. He took
the little hand and asked, Is her name Mamie?
Yes, was the reply. Oh,
he said, I had a little girl like her, and she died
fifteen years ago. Her name was Mamie, too. Since she died, I have cursed the
world, and God, and life, and everything. But when I saw your little girl, I
thought of my little Mamie. Then Mrs. Barney turned to him and said, Would you not like to see your little Mamie again? I would give a thousand lives and a thousand fortunes to see
her for one moment.
Then
she told of the love of Jesus, of the home above, and of the mercy that was so
full and free. The great tears came, and the fountains of the deep were broken
up. They knelt to pray, and little Mamie prayed a prayer that brought him
through. A day or two later he went to a meeting. He stood on his trembling
limbs and said, Boys, you know how they turn the
water in the sluices in the gold mines and as it runs down the sluices, the
water washes the dirt away and leaves the gold? That is what the blood of Jesus
did for me. It washed almost everything away, but it left enough to see my
Mamie and the Man that died for me; and now I am going to her and to Him
because His precious blood washed me from all my sin.
-------
A CHILD MY CHOICE
Let folly praise that fancy loves, I praise and love
that Child
Whose heart no thought,
Whose
tongue no word, Whose hand no deed defiled.
I praise Him most, I love Him best, all praise and love is His;
While Him I love, in Him I live, and cannot live amiss.
Loves sweet mark, lauds highest theme, mans most
desired delight,
To love Him life, to leave Him death, to live in Him delight.
He mine by gift,
I His
by debt, thus each to other due,
First friend He was, best friend He is, all times will try Him true.
Though young, yet wise, though small, yet strong;
though man, yet God He is;
As wise He knows, as strong He can, as God He loves to bliss.
His knowledge
rules, His strength defends, His love doth cherish all;
His birth our
Joy, His
life our light, His death our end of thrall.
Alas! He weeps, He sighs, He pants, yet do His angels sing;
Out of His tears, His sighs and throbs, doth bud a joyful spring.
Almighty Babe, Whose tender
arms can force all foes to fly,
Correct my faults, protect my life, direct me when I
die!
- ROBERT
SOUTHWELL (C. 1561-1595)
-------
JESUS
Tell
me how He got the song from the seraph and robed it in feathers and you have
got it in the canary. Tell me, then, what I wish you cound tell me, how Jesus came to my gypsy
tent. Oh it is such a mystery to me! I wish somebody would fathom the deep and
scale the heights and explain it to me. When I could not spell my name, when I
was only a little wandering gypsy boy, with my father and three sisters and by
father without God and without hope in the world - tell me how Jesus came to
that old gypsy tent and opened my eyes and made me know He was my Saviour and
my Lord. Tell me how, for I do not know. But I know He did it.
- GYPSY RODNEY SMITH.
*
* * *
* * *
13
THE SUPREME AUTHORITY
OF THE SCRIPTURES
IN order that our faith may be
established as upon rock, and our hearts guarded from all infidel criticism of
the SCRIPTURES, which are the mind of God precipitated into words, let us remind
ourselves exactly where we stand.
1. We stand where the
For eight hundred years after Christ no Christian teacher can
be found who denied the absolute inspiration of the Scriptures. Now take this
end of the Churchs long history. Dr.
Joseph Parker voices what all Nonconformists believed in the middle of the
Nineteenth Century. The reading of the Bible, he says, has made me an
unquestioning and grateful believer in the plenary inspiration, the divine
authority, and the infinite sufficiency of Holy Scripture. So also
the Church of England. The archbishops and bishops, in a united protest
addressed to Bishop Colenso in 1863, said:- All our hopes for eternity, the very
foundations of our faith, our nearest and dearest consolations, are taken from
us if one line of that Sacred Book be declared unfaithful or untrustworthy.
Even the Church of Rome, as lately as in the Vatican Council of 1870,
officially declared that the Scriptures, having been written by the Holy Ghost, have
God for their author.
What does all this mean? It means that if Polycarp and Justin Martyr,
Augustine and Chrysostom, Luther and Calvin, Wesley and Whitefield, Pusey and Spurgeon, were to rise from the dead, they - that is, the whole
Church of eighteen centuries - would
stand aghast at the utterances of the modern pulpit. We stand, with the
whole Church of God, where Chrysostom
stood fifteen hundred years ago:- There is not anything in Scripture which can be considered
unimportant; there is not a single sentence which does not deserve to be
meditated on : for it is not the word of man, but of the Holy Spirit and the
least syllable of it contains a hidden treasure.
2. We stand where all Gods Apostles and
Prophets have always stood. If Peter were
alive, and Paul, and our Lord, how eagerly we would run to listen to their
words as decisive on all our doubts! Yet that is exactly the evidence we have
got. In the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament there are 501 passages in
the Pentateuch, 292 in the Historical Books, and 1,111 in the Prophetical Books
in which the words, Thus saith the Lord,
God spake,
God said, or words to that effect, occur. No
less than 1,904 times do such expressions occur in the thirty-nine books; so
that at least three-fifths of the whole of the Old Testament is directly
declared to be the Word of God.
Their truth, their absolute reliability, was the very test which God Himself
proposed to prove their inspiration. If the thing follow not nor come to
pass, that
is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken (Deut. 18: 22).
Now the Apostles, in the New Testament, actually heighten the
sense of Gods authorship of the Old : for they say, The prophets
sought diligently what time or what manner of time - what kind of dispensation - the Spirit of
Christ which was in them did point unto, when it prophesied beforehand
(1 Pet.
1:
11). The Spirit in them prophesied, not they;
and the minds of the Old
Testament prophets examined separately what had been said through their mouths;
indeed so separate was their mind from the [Holy] Spirits and the inspired utterance,
that they did not always even understand its meaning.
It was the word which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet (Matt. 1: 22 R.V.); the Scripture which the Holy Ghost spake by the mouth of David (Acts 1: 16); things which God before had shewed by
the mouth of all His prophets
(Acts 3: 18): for the Scriptures are God-breathed,
and no prophecy - all the Scriptures are the writings of Prophets - ever came by the
will of man: but men spake from God,
being moved by the Holy Ghost (2 Pet. 1: 21 R.V.)
The Apostle John crowns it all by asserting the verbal
inspiration of the last book of the Bible under penalty of the most fearful
warnings:- If any man shall take away from the words
of the book of this prophecy, God shall
take away his part from the tree of life, and
out of the holy city (Rev. 22: 19 R.V.) We stand where all Gods
Prophets have always stood.
3. We come to the supreme authority last: and we find that we stand where Our Lord Himself stood.
Take three instances only. In the wilderness our Lord meets each assault of
Satan by a quoted Scripture, every time resting His whole weight on a single word in the passage: Not by bread alone;
thou shalt not tempt the Lord; Him only shalt thou serve; and Satan, who today will tell men
spiritually ignorant that God never wrote these words, never dared tell Christ
so.
Again, out Lord when using words which on the lips of the
highest Seraph would have been blasphemous, and for which the Jews did actually
charge Him with blasphemy, I and the Father are one, establishes His position by a quotation
from a Psalm in which He rests His whole defence on a single word:-
I
said, Ye are gods; and then, cutting off all criticism
with the awful authority of the Son of God, He adds:- And the
Scripture - that
is, even a single word in a psalm - cannot be broken (John 10: 35); for, according to our Lord Himself,
no jot (the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet) or tittle (the tiny strokes in each letter) of
the Scripture can fail (Matt. 5: 18). If no solitary Scripture can fall or be
broken, not even one word, it can only be because God has made it infallible, and that the whole Book is charged with God.
Finally, our Lord
expresses the inspired stability of Scripture with a force no lips have ever
equalled. It is easier, He says, for
heaven and earth to pass away, than for one
tittle of the law - the Old Testament - to
fail (Luke
16:
17 R.V.) He
who made the stars, who created the mighty world in which we live, says that it
is easier for the planets to disappear in mighty explosions, and easier for the
earth to roll away in a sheet of flame, than for one tittle - the smallest
fraction of a Hebrew letter - to fail:
the words of God are more sacred to Him
than the most stupendous of all His
works.
Thus we stand where the wholly Church of God for eighteen
centuries stood, where all the apostles and - [God-inspired, faithful and obedient]*
prophets have stood, and where the Son of God Himself stood and stands. Let us
remain, even if it were at the cost of
life itself, faithful to the Holy
Scriptures.
[* See 1 Kings ch.
13. Cf. Numbers 31: 16; Jeremiah 9: 2-6,
R.V.]
-------
A GERMAN NAPOLEON
The warning of Brigadier-General
Morgan is exceedingly expressive. What a field you
have left for exploitation by some great military adventurer of German blood,
who, calling in the dark forces of
The night lies dark upon the earth -
And we have light;
So many have to grope their way -
And we have light.
One path is theirs and ours
Of sin and care;
But we - are borne along,
And they - their burdens bear.
Foot-score heart-weary, they
Upon their way,
Mute in their sorrow, while -
We kneel and pray.
Glad are they of a stone
On which to rest,
While we - lie pillowd on
The Fathers breast.
* *
* * *
* *
14
THE TEN VIRGINS
CALL TO CONSECRATION
By
H. S.
GALLIMORE, M.A.*
* Chaplain,
Chinese
FEW of the Parables have aroused such interest as this (Matt. 25: 1). Over none has there been
more divergence of opinion. This expositor advances one interpretation; that,
another. Often the interpretations are mutually contradictory.
Forgetting for the moment the innumerable tracts, pamphlets,
dissertations, and sermons on the subject, let us adopt the attitude of a child
which opens its lesson book and ponders some simple yet vivid allegory for the
first time; depending on the context for conclusions and unembarrassed by
theological subtleties and niceties.
If, in biblical symbology, ten is, in fact, the number of
testing, and five the number of grace, the ten virgins seem to figure the
church of the end. The kingdom of heaven is likened, not to five virgins, but
to ten. Ten was sufficient for a company. Ten Jews were entitled to a
synagogue.
Thus the ten virgins represent the visible church at the
moment of the Second Coming. Nay, more: they typify the actual church militant;
the genuine, not the sham believers. Yet, though all were entitled to the robe
of virginity; though all went forth to meet the bridegroom; though all were differentiated
from the surrounding neighbours who had little or no interest in the
approaching wedding, nevertheless their degree of preparedness was not
uniformly the same. Five were wise and five were foolish.
The wisdom of the wise consisted in providing sufficiency of oil; the folly of the
foolish, in not providing enough.
An oriental wedding commonly takes place at night. In the
present instance, the ten virgins were to join the bridal procession en route
to the bridegrooms house, the future home of the bride. There, they were to share the festivities. The party,
however, was long in coming; the hours dragged by; the night wore on. The
virgins first nodded, then slumbered, then slept. Meanwhile, the lamps, the
wicks becoming charred, began to burn low.
Though their preparation was complete, even the wise virgins
lost somewhat of, should we say, the excitement over the interesting scene in
which they were shortly to be participants. But, at midnight, when least
expected, when all were sunk in deep sleep, the cry rings out - Behold, the
bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him!
And now it is that the scene assumes a solemn and dramatic
aspect but nothing to the anti-type. A few moments suffices the wise to
replenish their lamps and clean the wicks. The foolish, on the other hand, find
that the oil which lasted during the hours of waiting is not enough for the
crowning ceremony. They trim their lamps and find them dying.
Nor can their wiser sisters help them. The oil is
incommunicable. It is no more available at the crucial moment than
intercessions of saints, mothers prayers, and so-called works of
supererogation will be at the Day of the Lord and the Marriage Supper of the
Lamb.
Furthermore, their own prayer for admission was unavailable
the failure was irretrievable; the door was shut.
Late, late, so late; and dark the
night and chill!
Late, late, so late; but we can enter
still!
Too late, too late; ye cannot enter
now!
When studying parables, we have to distinguish between the
essential part and the trappings. The tarrying is an essential part. It was a
hint of long delay. So were touches here and there elsewhere, scattered through
the New Testament. Such were - My lord delayeth his coming ; After a long time the lord of those servants cometh; and so forth. The early Church was
organized on a permanent basis. Yet the possibility of an immediate coming was
never overlooked.
How are we to interpret the midnight cry? Does it foreshadow
that mighty, world-wide preaching of the Second Coming which has gathered in
millions of souls during the past hundred years? One believes it does; but the
point cannot be laboured, inasmuch as the said converts were allowed ample
opportunity for salvation and sanctification.
That the oil typifies the Holy Spirit, with His gifts and
graces, and, in particular, love to the Lord, all enlightened exegetes are
agreed. This, in fact, is the crux of the parable.
Are we, then, to write down the five foolish virgins as lost?
Here we have deep divergence of opinion, with sometimes, alas,
acrimony more fitted to a Council of Trent than assemblies of modern believers.
Rightly or wrongly, one sees two classes, and, by implication, a third: the
consecrated; the unsanctified; and the unsaved. It is primarily a question of
attitude. I anticipate an abundant salvation for the first class, a lesser
blessedness for the second, and total rejection for the third.
This interpretation seems to harmonize with other outstanding
prophecies. Though a member of the household, the unfaithful minister who ate and drank with the drunken was to be assigned his portion with the
unbelievers - the outsiders, at the Great Tribulation.
Equally significant are the apocalyptic groups.
Most suggestive of all, however, is the First Resurrection. Only the blessed and holy have part therein.
The attempt to divide mankind into definitely good and bad breaks down; for, between blessed and holy and cursed and unholy, rank intermediate grades. One is forced to the conclusion
that only the consecrated will be taken at the Rapture of the
Saints. Nevertheless, seeing that divine mercy is still operant on a
great scale, many who are left behind may stand with the
Tribulation martyrs on the sea of glass and win the crown of life.
Too much stress should not be laid on the words I know you
not or, rather,
they should be interpreted discreetly. There are many senses in
which Christ knows mankind. Citing Augustine, Trench takes the
knowing here as a mutual, a reciprocal knowledge. He deduces from the Parable
that the preparation for eternity is the work not of a moment or an hour but a
lifetime. The lesson our Lord inculcates is: Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour
wherein the Son of man cometh.
Whatever our school of thought, how incumbent is it on each of
us not to have counted himself to have apprehended, but to strive earnestly if haply we may through grace be reckoned worthy to
attain that resurrection from among the dead, and to enter in - [to our promised millennial inheritance]* - with the Lord at his coming!
[* See Psa.
2:
8;
cf.
1 Cor. 6: 9; Gal. 5: 21ff.; Eph. 5: 5, 6; Heb. 2: 1-3; 4: 1, 6-9; Rev. 2; 25-27; 3: 10-12, 21, R.V.]
-------
SATISFIED
Not with my life-work,
finishd, past,
Shall I be satisfied
at last:
Nor with my knowledge of His Word:
Not with the witness these lips give
Unto the One
who died to save:
Not with my service, or my love,
Shall I be satisfied
above.
Faulty and weak is my poor best,
Needing cleansing with all the rest.
Only from Christ can grace and power.
Sure sufficiently every hour.
He is my glory and my song,
He who has led my all along;
And in the Light no cloud can dim
I shall be satisfied
with Him.
-
* *
* * *
* *
15
THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM
IN certain present-day influential Christian circles the
The return of our Lord in person to establish a Kingdom over
the whole earth was the universal faith of the Church in its purest dawn. The assurance [of that return and reign] was carefully
inculcated by men who had conversed with the immediate disciples of the
apostles, and appears to have been the reigning sentiment of orthodox believers (Gibbon). This prevailing opinion met
with no opposition previous to the time of Origen (Mosheim): until Origen
no Christian writer can be found who denied it. No one can
hesitate to consider this doctrine as universal in the church of the first two
centuries (Giesler). The doctrine was
believed and taught by the most eminent fathers in the age next after the
apostles, and by none of that age opposed or condemned: it was the catholic
doctrine of those times (Archbishop
Chillingworth). FOR THE LORD
HIMSELF SHALL DESCEND FROM HEAVEN, WITH A SHOUT, WITH THE VOICE OF THE ARCHANGEL, AND WITH THE TRUMP
OF GOD (1 Thess. 4: 16): AND HE THAT OVERCOMETH, AND HE THAT KEEPETH MY WORKS UNTO THE END,
TO HIM WILL I
GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS; AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON
(Rev.
2:
26).
The world-wide revival of the Gospel of the Kingdom
before the End is certain. Matt. 24:
24. In our Lords teaching the conception of the
Kingdom is supreme. Yet it is safe to say that there is no subject upon which
there exists a greater amount of division among expositors. For some the Kingdom
is definitely the historical Church; for others it is altogether in the future,
a great Divine supramundane order of things which is suddenly to overwhelm the
temporal order; for others again it is simply the ideal social order to be
realised on earth ; for a fourth class the Kingdom is the rule of God in the
heart of the individual. Among recent critics the tendency is more
and more to lay stress on the eschatological interpretation, and to hold that, in our Lords
teaching, the Kingdom is essentially the
great future and heavenly order of things which will be revealed at His coming. The Kingdom in its fulness is yet to come. It is always to be prayed for. It is the great end which is ever before
us (Bishop DArcy, University Sermon at Oxford, 1910). FOR FLESH AND BLOOD CANNOT INHERIT THE
Slowly the further truth is emerging that the Kingdom, ushered in by the First
Resurrection, is the supreme prize
of the Christian hope and calling.
1 Thess. 2: 12 (R.V.). Heb. 3: 12-15, 4: 1, 11. It is most evident
that Paul
had some special resurrection in view (Phil. 3: 11) even
the first: and to share in that he was straining every nerve (J. MacNeil). The opinion that the Millennial
Reign was confined to the martyrs prevailed, as is known, to a great
extent in the early Church, and not
only proved a support under martyrdom,
but rendered many ambitious of that distinction (De Burgh). Heb. 11: 35. Scripture speaks plainly
concerning the exclusion of those who permit the old nature to disgrace their
Christianity: while they may be saved as by fire
for Heaven, they will forfeit all
their position in the coming
-------
JOYOUSNESS
In the days of acute difficulty and depression
it is of critical importance that we who love the Lord should not lose our
joyousness. In the golden words of George
Muller:- Above all
things, see to it that your souls are happy in the Lord. Other things may press
upon you; the Lords work even may have urgent claims upon your attention; but
I deliberately repeat, it is of supreme paramount
importance that you should seek, above all other things, to have your souls
happy in God Himself. Day by day seek to make this the
most important business of your life. This has been my firm and settled
conviction for the last five-and-thirty years. For the first four years after
my conversion, I knew not its vast importance; but now, after much experience,
I especially commend this point to the notice of my younger brothers and
sisters in Christ. The secret of all true and effectual service is Joy in God,
and having experimental acquaintance and fellowship with God Himself.
-------
GOLD, SILVER, PRESIOUS STONES
A missionary in Africa wrote:- For four years I have lived alone in
WOOD, HAY, STUBBLE
You have accepted Christ as your
personal Saviour, Christ is dwelling in that earthly tabernacle of yours, you
are saved and redeemed, and have eternal life. God has so graciously saved you
and Christ has given His all for you, but the question is - have you given all
for Him? In Colossians 4: 14, Paul had a companion by the name of Demas, and he includes
Demas in the
- The
Gospel Herald.
* *
* * *
* *
16
PRAYER
By ROBERT LARTER
TWO of the many
facts that distinguish Christianity from all other religions are:‑
(1) The fact that when we Christians pray, we pray to the
living God, whose attributes are infinitude, omnipotence, omniscience, and
omnipresence.
(2) The fact that this living God who possesses these
attributes is willing and anxious to hear and to answer our feeble prayers.
When we consider these facts it makes us marvel that we
Christians know so little of the practice of prayer.
1. NEED OF PRAYER
All the saints who have made indelible impressions for good
upon this world have been men of prayer. Charles
Simeon devoted the hours from four till eight in the morning to God. Charles Wesley spent two hours daily in
prayer. Martin Luther, the light
that shone so brightly during the dark days of the Reformation, said:- If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the
devil gets the victory through the day. * I
have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in
prayer. Luther had a motto:- He that has
prayed well has studied well.
John Welsh, the Scottish preacher, thought the
day ill spent if he did not spend eight or ten hours in prayer. He kept a
garment of woollen cloth which he used when he arose to pray at night. His wife
would complain when she found him lying upon the floor weeping. He would
reply,- O woman, I have the souls of 3,000 to answer
for, and I know not how it is with many of them.
Brainerd, the missionary, said:- I love to be alone in my cottage where I can spend much time
in prayer. Is it not amazing the time these saints spent in prayer? And
it was these men, and many others, who were used of God to such an extent that
even the world would marvel and respect such men: when I think of these men, I
feel that I have not progressed very far in the school of prayer.
Then we have the prayer life of the Lord Jesus Christ our
great Exemplar. His life upon the earth was a life of prayer. Our Lord was
praying when the Holy Ghost descended upon Him. By prayer we receive power from
above. Before choosing the Apostles our Lord spent a night in prayer. By prayer
we choose the right companions. Our Lord went up into a mountain to pray, and
then He was transfigured. By prayer our lives are transfigured. Our Lord prayed
and then raised Lazarus from the dead. By prayer we bring life to souls that
are dead in trespasses and sins.
Our Lord before His betrayal and crucifixion prayed. By
prayer, we can endure tribulation and even persecution. On the cross our Lord
prayed for those who had crucified Him. By prayer, we can return good for evil.
Such was the prayer life of our blessed Lord; and if our Lord prayed thus, how
much more ought His disciples to pray!
2. TYPE OF PRAYER
The Bible not only exhorts us to pray
but it tells us how to pray.
a. BELIEVING PRAYER
In Matt. 21: 22 we read, - And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing,
ye shall receive.
Faith plays a great part in prayer. All prayer must be offered before the
Throne of Grace in faith: all things, no matter how minute, no matter how
insignificant, all things, without any exception! As someone has said:- Prayer is the bow; the promise is the arrow; faith is the
hand which draws the bow, and sends the arrow with the hearts message into
heaven. The bow without the arrow is of no use: such is prayer without the
promise. The arrow without the bow is of little worth: that is the promise
without the prayer. And the prayer and the promise without the strength of the
hand, which is faith, are to no purpose.
Believing prayer signifies that the soul is spiritually
healthy. Our prayer uttered in faith is speaking to God by a power given to us
by God Himself.
b. IMPORTUNATE PRAYER
The parable, known as the parable of the Unjust judge, is
prefaced with the words:- Men ought
always to pray and not to faint. I understand to faint here
means to relax, to let go. In this parable we
read of two personalities. A judge, who feared not God neither regarded man,
and a widow. The widow comes to the judge, saying, Avenge me of
mine adversary. Now
we must not think of this vengeance as we understand it to-day. As one
commentator says - The widow wanted deliverance from
the oppression exercised over her in the keeping back of her heritage, to which
she was entitled. In the words of Godet:
- To avenge here is to deliver by a judicial sentence: this term does not necessarily include the notion of vengeance, but that of justice to be rendered to
the oppressed.
The judge at first would not avenge the
widow of her adversary. But soon he
says within himself:- Though I fear not God nor
regard men, yet because this
widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
And now the comparison:
And shall not God avenge His own elect,
which cry day
and night unto Him, though He bear long with them? I tell you that He
will avenge them speedily. The judge is unrighteous. God is righteous! The judges power
is limited. Gods power is unlimited! The judge is human. God is super-human!
The judge grows tired and heavy. God says Isaiah, fainteth not neither is weary. The judge grows
impatient. Paul says - Now the God of patience and
consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ
Jesus. The judge is
limited in understanding. Of God says Isaiah there is no
searching of His understanding!
Widows were neglected and even oppressed by those who were in
power during the days of our Lord. But that did not prevent this widow (Luke 18:
1)
from coming to the judge. She comes, but the
Judge at first would not give her the request of her heart. What does she
do? Is she discouraged? Does she go away and take the Judges first answer as
the final one? No; but she comes again
and again, and again! The widow is nothing to the Judge, but reaches her
objective not merely by her coming but
by her constant coming; not merely
by her pleading but by her constant pleading! As the Editor says:- What else but no answer could a poverty-stricken widow
expect from an unjust Judge. Yet by her importunity she gets it - her
importunity won the impossible. The judge was molested by this widow in
the court house; on the street corner; at his house: until at last he exclaims
- Because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her,
lest by her
continual coming she weary me.
The point of the parable is obvious. As it has been put:- If a careless, hardhearted Judge will listen to the earnest
prayer of a suppliant for whom he cares nothing or little, how much more will God listen and answer the perpetual prayer of one
whom He loves with an everlasting love? The Judge has no interest
in the widow; but we are Gods elect, chosen before the foundation of the
world. The widows plight is no concern of the Judge; but in all our afflictions God Himself is afflicted. The woman comes to the Judge a widow:
at last she leaves the Judge a rejoicing widow! But in spite of its teaching of
importunity, and that God will avenge His elect speedily, though He bear long
with them - Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find [the] faith on the earth?
Such is the warning with which our Lord closes this parable.
2. - THANKFUL PRAYER
In the epistle to the Philippians chapter 4, verse 6, Paul says:-
Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving let your requests be known unto God. The Greek word here for prayer means
prayer in its widest meaning. And the Greek word here for supplication means
some particular object of need. In both general and specific prayer
thanksgiving must have its place.
Paul realized the need for thanksgiving. For all his epistles,
except Galatians,
Timothy,
and Titus,
open with thanksgiving. And surely you and I have much for which to thank God!
When our Lord healed the ten lepers, and only one came back to return thanks,
our Lord exclaimed, - Were there not ten cleansed, but where are the nine? Are we like the nine lepers? May God
help us to be thankful!
3.
- POWER OF PRAYER
If you and I fully realized the power of prayer, we should
know more of the practice of prayer in our daily lives. The devil realizes the
power of prayer. The devil dreads prayer. The devil
trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees. Prayer is so
powerful that it shakes the devil. What a power! The devil who can transform
himself into an angel of light; the false accuser of the brethren; the one who
goeth about as a roaring lion; the one who one day will be chained for a
thousand years in the bottomless pit, shakes, here and now, when he sees us
using the instrument which God has given us.
The prayer meeting is the power-house that generates not
demoniacs but spiritually dead souls! Prayer breaks all your iron crosses.
Prayer supplies your every need. George
Muller was asked in his old age:- Have you always
found the Lord faithful to His promises? Nearly nine thousand, five hundred
orphans, he replied, have never wanted
a meal.
Hundreds of times we have commenced the day without a penny in hand; but our Heavenly Father has sent supplies
by the moment they are actually required. One million, four hundred
thousand pounds have been sent to me in answer to prayer. For nearly seventy years every need has
been supplied.
4. - THE SCOPE OF PRAYER
The scope of prayer is immense. Every department of our
Christian lives should be acquainted with prayer. Every problem, every need,
every barrier, every obstacle, every discrepancy, every trial, every
temptation, every circumstance comes within the scope of prayer. Pray for all
men (1 Tim.
2:
1).
Pray for all saints (Eph. 6: 18). Pray for the unity of Christians (John 17:
21).
Pray for all things (Phil. 4: 6). Pray for Jew and Gentile (
-------
ANSWERED PRAYER
Charlie was a little boy whose mother was dead. His father was
sick. They did not have enough to eat. Charlie went to Sunday School. He had
been taught to take his troubles to Jesus. Charlie knew that Jesus would help
him in his trouble if he would but ask Him. So, he wrote a letter. The letter
said, Dear Jesus: Papa is sick. We have no money to
buy food and medicine. Please send us a little very soon, and when I get big, I
will pay it back. Charlie Boyden, 23,
He put the letter in an envelope. On the envelope, he wrote, Lord Jesus in Heaven! When he went to the mail box,
he found that it was a little too high for him to reach it. He asked the man
standing near by to drop the letter in for him. Then he went home. He felt sure Jesus would help them in their need.
The man, who took the letter saw the words on the envelope Lord Jesus in Heaven. He opened the letter and read it. God put it
in his heart to go and see Charlie and his father. He gave them the money they
needed to buy food and medicine. He sent the little boy to school. He took care
of them until Charlies papa was well and able to work again. - The Gospel Hearald.
-------
THE BISHOP AND THE
SYNAGOGUE
If that is not a change of mind to the Jew
I do not know what is. This Jewish Rabbi ended up by saying, Now I want you to come and preach in my Synagogue on Sunday
morning. We tried to plan it out. Unluckily my
birth was booked for the Saturday, and I could not do it. He tried hard to
persuade me, saying, I have not only the Sabbath
service on the Saturday, but a large service attended by about two thousand
people in the Synagogue
on the Sunday morning. A great many Christians come, and I would
like you to preach. I said, Do you mean to
say you would let a Christian Bishop loose in your pulpit to say what he liked,
because, of course, I would not come under any other conditions? He
replied, Of course I should not expect you to come
unless you told us all you wanted. I assured him that I, too, would
have loved to come, and that I hoped to have the
opportunity to do so.
* *
* * *
* *
17
DIVINE GUIDANCE
A COLPORTEUR - [i.e., a peddler, especially one selling tracts and religious
books. (The Comprehensive Dictionary of The English Language, page
185.)] - travelling from one town to the
next through country lanes and fields took a path running alongside some
private land. As he walked meditating on the Word of God he halted feeling that
God was asking him to tell forth the gospel just where he was.
The man felt he must be dreaming as there was not a person or
habitation in sight, and he would have continued, but it seemed as if an unseen
hand held him and a voice bade him obey.
With a swift prayer for help he stood in that isolated spot
and in a loud voice he preached the gospel as though a large congregation was
before him. Having done this he continued his journey with a light heart and
sense of deep joy.
A year passed by and again the colporteur was in the district.
As he stood with his bibles and tracts in the market place, a man approached
him asking him if he had been that way a year before and passed along a certain
path between the towns.
The colporteur eagerly replied in the affirmative, remembering
so well what had taken place. Then he heard this amazing record of the work of the Holy Spirit:-
I was near that path, poaching, when
I heard footsteps and thought a gamekeeper was on my track and I crept into an
old broken-down shed right under the bank. To my amazement, you stood still and
began to tell me of all the evil of my past life until I realized that I was a
hell-deserving sinner - absolutely vile before God. Then you went on to tell me
of the love of God for sinners, in giving his son to die on the cross to make
atonement for sin.
For a long while after you had gone I crouched in
that shed in deep remorse until I cried to God for mercy. Later the light
dawned in my soul and I knew that I was saved through faith in Him who loved me
and gave Himself for me.
-------
Jehovahs yet-to-be-fulfilled
promise to
In round numbers, the average breadth
of the Promised Land would be six hundred miles, which multiplied by its
length, five hundred, gives an area of three hundred square miles, or more than
any kingdom or empire of
* The Bounderies of the
Promised Land, by ALEXANDER KEITH.
* *
* * *
* *
18
OUT-RESURRECTION FROM AMONG THE DEAD
AN exceedingly
remarkable example of a single resurrection, consisting of selected saints alone, has already occurred.* And the tombs were opened, and many of the bodies of the saints that had fallen asleep - not all - were raised; and coming forth out of the tombs they entered into the holy
city and appeared unto many (Matt. 27: 52).
[* NOTE: It would be very foolish and
unscriptural to suggest - (as multitudes of regenerate believers are doing
today) - that these resurrected saints, later ascended into the presence of God in
heaven - to that heaven where our Lord Jesus is now seated at His Fathers right hand! (Psa.
110:
1,
R.V.). That suggestion would contradict numerous other Scriptures,
and suggest that ...the Resurrection is
past already and overthrow the faith of some...! (2 Tim.
2:
18,
R.V.) Therefore, the question begging to be asked must be, - Why was Gods prophet Samuel, after
his death, not allowed to ascend into the presence of God in Heaven?
After his conversing with King Saul, Samuel said: ...the Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David. Because thou obeyest
not the voice of the Lord ... and tomorrow shalt thy and thy sons be with
me! See also Acts 2: 34; Acts 7: 5; John 3: 13; 14: 3; Heb. 11: 35, R.V.)]
It is exactly such a
resurrection of
selected saints, yet to come, on which Paul stresses the emphasis of his
whole soul. All that he once valued he says he cast overboard as so
much dead cargo:- I do count them but
dung; and
why? if by any means - if possible (Meyer); if
anyhow (Eadie) - I may attain - the word attain
here means to arrive at the end of a journey - unto THE OUT-RESURRECTION, OUT FROM AMONG THE DEAD (Phil.
3:
11); that is, not the resurrection of the
dead, but a resurrection out from the dead, leaving the rest sleeping in their graves.
That Paul is speaking of bodily resurrection is clear from the closing verse of
this chapter:- We wait for a Saviour who shall fashion
anew the body of our
humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of His glory. As Professor T. Croskery
puts it:- It is not a part in the general resurrection;
it is not spiritual resurrection, for that was already past (in the experience
of the Apostle): it is a part of the resurrection of the just, the resurrection
of life. It must be the First Resurrection, for only that resurrection leaves dead still in the tombs; the rest of
the dead lived not until the
thousand years were finished (Rev. 20: 5); and so it is the First Resurrection which here rises before
Paul as the mighty goal of a mighty effort.
Never was Paul so anxious to impress uncertainty on the Church
as he is here, touching the first resurrection: he piles phrase on phrase
implying extreme difficulty of achievement. Not that I have
already obtained
- that is, attained to the standard qualifying for the prize - the word means
to win a prize (as in 1 Cor. 9: 24):
but
forgetting the things which are behind - the failures, the disappointments, the follies - I press on - toward the maturity required for
the reaping sickle of the First Resurrection: or am already made perfect - I am in hot pursuit - if so be that I may
apprehend that for which also I was apprehended by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself yet to have apprehended. It is a statement crammed with
deliberate uncertainty: if by any means is used when an end is
proposed, but failure is presumed to be
possible (Alford). The Apostle states not a positive assurance, but a modest
hope (Lightfoot). So high was Pauls inspired
conception of the standard required by God, that most of all in the Apostolic
Church he disowned all self-confidence, though more abundant in labours, in
sufferings, in confessions than they all; for the clearer our spiritual vision,
the more sharply distinct is the distance of the goal. Let us ponder Bishop Lightfoots paraphrase:- Be not mistaken. I hold the
language of hope, not of assurance. I have not reached the goal: I am not yet
made perfect. But I press forward in the race, eager to grasp the prize, for as
much as Christ also has grasped me. My brothers, let other men count their
security. Such is not my language. I do not consider that I have the prize
already in my grasp. This, and this only, is my rule. Forgetting the landmarks
already passed, and straining every nerve and muscle in the onward race, I
press forward ever towards the goal that I may win the prize. Paul is now in prison; and the
nearer he is to martyrdom, the keener is his pursuit of the prize, - and the
closer to it, for all martyrs are crowned (Rev. 20: 4),
Now the Apostle reveals the profound yet simple truth
explaining the uncertainty:- namely, the out-resurrection is not a gift in grace, but a prize to be won by devotion and
sanctity. Nothing could be clearer than the Apostles words.
First, the renunciation - I count all things but dung: next, the aim - if by any means I may attain
unto the select resurrection from
among the dead: finally,
the reason - I press on toward the goal for THE PRIZE of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Morally and practically, a gift and a prize are worlds
asunder: if a gift has to be won, it is not a gift, but a prize; and if a prize
is received without effort, it is not a prize, but a gift. Here is the solution
of the whole problem, and of words of Paul which have puzzled thousands. Unlike simple salvation, the select resurrection is a prize, not
a gift: I press on
for the prize, he says. For obtaining simple
salvation Paul has just stated that all works he had jettisoned for ever
overboard, for Gods - [initial and eternal] -
salvation is a pure gift - the righteousness of Another given out of hand; but
so from this truth producing carelessness in Paul, or the conviction that works
after faith are of
little account either for time or for eternity, by a counter-truth Pauls
master-passion now is to attain to the Select
Resurrection as the Prize. I press on to seize the prize, to attain which Christ
seized me: it is Christs wish that I should win the prize: it is our heavenward calling (Lightfoot), for God is invoking us all so to run that we shall
break up with the first through the shattered tombs. A prize is never won
except at the goal: the runner who, at any point of the track, calculates that
he has out-distanced all competitors; or gets out of the running tracks; or
lingers to look back in satisfaction at the ground covered; or runs with
anything but intense concentration - loses the race. Seest thou, says Chrysostom, that even here they crown the most honoured of the athletes, not on the
race-course below, but the king
calls them up and crowns them there. I press on, cries Paul, toward the prize of our high calling - the heavenward, upward, Godward
call - in Christ Jesus.
Paul finally presents us with a priceless cluster of truths
that shine out like stars. First, our resolve: Let us therefore, as many as be perfect (full-grown, mature) be thus minded. That is, of Pauls mind: not doubting or denying that there
is such a prize; not foolishly scorning the doctrine of reward; not despairing
of ourselves, or ruling ourselves out as competitors; not absorbed in discussion
as to who shall win the prize, or wondering how near, or how far, we are
ourselves; not reposing on past victories, or resting on past laurels, or
crushed and hopeless over past failures; but making the supreme effort of our lives to attain. There is a difference between the perfect and the perfected; the perfect are ready for the race; the perfected are close upon the prize (Bengel). All the mightiest of mankind have been men of one idea,
for concentration is the secret of power; and they are the mightiest saints who
have no less an aim than a perfected holiness, the topstone of which is a
bursting upward from the tomb.
Now follows a golden promise. And if in anything - in any detail of this truth - ye are otherwise minded - if you think that the prize is for all - [regenerate] -believers without effort, or that there is no prize, or that the first
resurrection is not the prize, or that it is not worth a lifes devotion,
or that you have, by effort, already secured it - even this - always assuming a single eye for
Gods truth - shall God reveal unto you: the verb
indicates an immediate disclosing to the human spirit by the Spirit of God (Lange). To differ from Paul is, of course, to confess oneself in
error: nevertheless, Paul says, walk with me so far as you can see your path;
where you fail to agree with me, or with one another, ask God. Paul teaches, but God
enlightens (Chrysostom). This meets the inevitable
challenge, foreseen by Paul all down the ages:- Paul, your doctrine of the Prize
will plunge the Church into chaos, and sharply sunder the babes from the adult.
This is the answer. Seek the best you know, and God will give you a still better best: be perfect in devotion, and a
passionate runner, and God is pledged to show us what is the hope of your calling (Eph. 4: 4). Seek God about it, and even this - the most golden ideal that ever hovered before human
vision - shall God reveal
unto you: only whereunto we have already attained, by that same rule
let us walk.
For Paul himself the crowning fact remains:- This ONE THING I do; it remains the master-passion of my life.
- The Balance of Truth.
-------
CORRESPONDENCE
Sheol:
A Rejoinder
Dear Sir, May I beg a brief reply to F.B.T.? This will not do. Sheol
(N.T. & Lxx. Hadees)
is rendered in the A.V. sometimes Grave and sometimes Hell.
But they never mean either one or the other
(Govett). It is one general abode of the dead (Eccl. 3: 20; 6: 6), but when the souls of the saved and the lost are
differentiated, distinctive names are given to the places where they are waiting resurrection. Hadees, Death, and Destruction are terms used to
mark the places of the lost, while the saved are said to be in Abrahams bosom, or
To assume that any one of the heavens is synonymous with
The case of Elijah thus becomes irrelevant.
Finally, the Scripture record no instance of a disembodied
human spirit*
entering the joys of heaven. Though redeemed, it is unclothed, has the stigma
of death upon it, is ceremonially unclean, and is only part of the man. Not
till in the twinkling of an eye at the descent
of the Lord, will the saint be raised in glory,
body, soul and spirit re-united, one man, to be forever with the Lord.
[* That is with the one exception of our
Lords animating spirit, at the time of His
Death (Luke
23: 46,
R.V.).]
Yours, etc.,
CHAS. S. UTTING.
-------
JOHN WESLEYS TWELVE
RULES
FOR HIS HELPERS
1. Believe evil of no one, and put the
best construction on everything.
2. Speak evil of no one; keep your
thoughts to yourself till you come to the person concerned.
3. If you see what you think wrong in a
person, tell him / [or her] plainly.
4. Be serious; let your motto be Holiness to the Lord. Avoid all lightness, jesting, and
foolish talking.
5. Be diligent; never while away time,
nor spend more time at one place than necessary.
6. Converse sparingly and cautiously
with the opposite sex.
7. Beware of all affection, and preach
the gospel as the servant of all.
8. You have nothing to do but to save
souls; therefore spend and be spent in the work.
9. Be punctual; do everything exactly
at the time.
10. Be ashamed of nothing but sin; not
of cleaning your own boots or your neighbours or such things.
11. Act in all things not according to
your own will. Employ your time according to your profession, in preaching,
visiting, reading, meditating, [writing,] and prayer.
12. Speak as earnestly as you can, but
do not scream. Preach with all your heart but with a modulated - [i.e. by varying
the tone and pitch of your] -
voice.
* *
* * *
*
19
THE HINDERER AND THE HINDRANCE
By D. M.
PANTON
IT is
one of our keenest joys that we have amongst us young men and women of active
powers of thought, and of deepening piety of life; young men and women who,
when some of us have passed from the scene, may be plunged into the vortex of
the last conflicts; around whose brows may gather the burning lights of the
last battles Gods Church will ever have on earth.
Panic
Now there is one safeguard which young folk need in the
present world-convulsions, and that safeguard the Scripture supplies. The
Thessalonian panic - the shock of believing that they were caught in the Great
Tribulation - is a danger for us all which will grow sharper every year, and
which will be most dangerous for the youth of to-day. So Paul says:- We beseech
you, brethren, by
the coming - the
parousia, the presence in the heavenlies - of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him - our rapture - that ye be not quickly - prematurely - shaken from
your mind, nor yet be troubled - terrified - as that the
day of the Lord is now present (2 Thess. 2 : 1 R.V.).*
*The verb is so translated in the other passages where it
occurs (Rom. 8: 38; 1 Cor. 3: 22; Gal. 1: 4; Heb. 9: 9), except in 2 Tim. 3: 1, where it ought
also to have been so rendered (The Pulpit Commentary).
The Day of the Lord
Now a terror at being overtaken by the Day of the Lord is
fully justified. The descriptions of that Day given by the Holy Spirit are
appalling. One quotation will be enough. The great day of the Lord is near, it is near
and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man crieth there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a
day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness
and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as dung. (Zephaniah, 1: 14). Our Lord sums it up:- Tribulation such as there
hath not been the like since the creation, and never shall be (Mark 13: 19).
Apostasy and Antichrist
So Paul now unveils two vital facts which must first become
manifest, without which the Great Tribulation is impossible. For it will not be except (1) the falling away - the Apostasy, the world-wide
abandonment of the Christian Faith- come first, and (2) the man of sin - the Antichrist, the man who embodies all sin - be revealed. That is, two vast evils fill the
Day of the Lord: (1) the Apostasy; individuals are now apostate, but the crash of the whole Church left on earth
is yet to come: and (2) the Man of Sin, when all that dwell on the earth
shall worship him (Rev. 13: 8).
Lawlessness
The Apostle next gives the reason on which their fear that
they were in the Day of the Lord was founded - a fear already pressing on us,
beyond the Churchs experience in all history. For the mystery of lawlessness
- lawlessness disguised, but working secretly in all nations, and in all
sections of society - doth already work. The murder of six million Jews, the atomic bomb, the world
wars, the steady rise of crime in all countries. the industrial strikes all
over the world - the temptation is to believe that the Age of Anarchy has
arrived. The extraordinary increase of crime in youth is one extraordinary
apparent reason. The latest official statistics show that since 1939, 39 per
cent. of the burglars and thieves were under the age of 14; only one-fifth of
the burglars and housebreakers since 1939 were over 21 years of age. In
The Hinderer
So now the Apostle reveals the foundation fact. Only there is
one that restraineth now, until he be taken out
of the way. Here
one Person only, on earth, is singled out as alone blocking the worlds final
wickedness: such a person is inconceivable save One - the Holy Ghost. Only one
Person of the Godhead is on earth, and He alone is creating all good, and
blocking all evil. Therefore all depends on the moment of His removal. There is one
that restraineth now, until he be TAKEN OUT OF THE WAY;
and then shall be revealed the lawless one.
The Hindrance
But there is another hindrance here on earth which, so long as
it is here, makes the Day of the Lord impossible. And now ye
know that
which restraineth - in this case, not
a person, but a thing - to the end that he - the Antichrist - may be revealed in his
own season - that is, after the Gospel era.
Here is a hindrance manifestly created by the Hinderer, and to be removed from
the earth with Him. Paul had already revealed it: Now we
beseech you, brethren, touching the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him; to the end that ye
be not quickly shaken from your mind (ver.
1). With the Hinderer disappears the
hindrance: the Holy Spirit accompanies
the rapture: so long as the - [Pre-Tribulation
and select] - rapture has not occurred, the Day
of the Lord is not here.*
* This is a decisive overthrow of the
view of the post-Tribulationist - namely, that the whole Church must pass
through the Great Tribulation: the Thessalonians were not to think they were in the Day of the
Lord, because there had been
no gathering together unto Him.
Salt
But now we observe that the Apostle is careful not to say that they are not to be in the
Great Tribulation because they cannot be in it: all he says, guardedly, is that a rapture must have
occurred before the Day is here. Then who are the believers that are to be removed? Words of our Lord cast a
remarkable light. Ye are the salt of the earth - salt is that which prevents
corruption, and preserves from rottenness: the presence of the holy believer,
as of the Holy Spirit, the Hinderer, is the sole check on corruption, the sole
block which makes the arrival of the Antichrist impossible. Ten righteous men
would have indefinitely postponed the doom of
Savourless Salt
So our Lord is careful to add a very grave warning. The
hindrance to Antichrist vanishes with the purity of the salt. But if the
salt have lost its savour - if the regenerate soul has fallen into an insipid,
graceless life - wherewith shall it be salted?
it is thence-forth good for nothing - its hindrance of evil has ceased - but to be
cast out and trodden underfoot of men (Matt.
5:
13). It still looks like salt; it still is
salt; but it has lost the use of salt
it has become as refuse. What an exact picture of the [Christian] backslider! When the Son
of man cometh, will he find the faith [see Greek] on the earth? (Luke 18: 8).* So our Lord tells the Philadelphian
Angel, that because he had kept the
word of His patience, he would not be trodden
underfoot of men: I also will keep thee from the hour of trial, that hour which is to come upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth (Rev.
3:
10).**
* The
Lord will find faith - in this very context, they shall believe
a lie (ver. 11) - but He will not find the Faith.
** It
seems certain that the beloved Thessalonians would have been rapt had our Lord
come then (1 Thess. 4: 17); but what if His coming were deferred for months or years? A [regenerate] believers conduct to-day
is no certainty of his conduct tomorrow.
A Right Fear
So then the Apostle, like Christ, is very guarded in his
comforting assurance that without a [select] rapture having [first] occurred
the Tribulation is impossible. We beseech you, brethren,
that ye be not quickly -
prematurely, before the event - shaken from your mind, that the day of the Lord is now present. In the words of Professor T. Croskery:- Their disquietude and distress arose from the belief that
the Lord had already come without their sharing in the glory of His kingdom. Their relatives were still lying in their
graves without any sign of resurrection, and they themselves saw no sign of that transformation of body in
themselves that was to be the prelude to their meeting the Lord in the air.
A fear lest they be caught in the Day of the Lord was a perfectly right emotion
in the hearts of the splendid Thessalonian believers - and in ours; but if we wait for his
Son from heaven, HE DELIVERETH US FROM TI1E WRATH TO COME (1 Thess.
1:
10).
Watch and Pray
One fact, and one fact supremely, the imminence of the Advent
forces upon us. Our Lord says:- One is taken, and one is left: watch therefore, for ye know not
on what day your Lord cometh (Matt. 24: 40). In the words of beloved Samuel
Wilkinson, of the Mildmay Mission to the Jews:- Watch ye, therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted
worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before
the Son of Man. This
exhortation, this command, was uttered by our Lord after His own recital of the
programme of catastrophes which are to overtake the worlds population during
the period immediately antecedent to His public appearance in glory. Thus escape
from the awful period of earth-judgments is possible. It is possible but conditioned: - What
manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness? What indeed? Can
any standard of consecration be too high, any present sacrifice of self too great, any devotion of service or substance too great, if escape from the judgment described is
its reward.
-------
SODOMY
The depth of sin that is now - [in 2024] - openly
approved passes all imagination. A Joint Committee on Psychiatry and the Law, appointed by
the British Medical Association and the Magistrates Association, in its report
on The Criminal Law and Social Offenders, recommends that homosexual practices,
if done in private, should not be punishable at all. Here is open sanction of
Sodomy. In one of the strongest indictments of sin in the Bible, the
Sodomites are described as wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly
(Gen.
13:
13), and alone of the cities of the world
it called down on itself fire and brimstone a prelude of Hell. These doctors
and magistrates little dream of the
consequences. In the day that Lot went out from
* *
* * *
* *
20
THE STRENGTH AND GLORY OF THE GIFTED CHURCH
By A.
G. TILNEY
SAMSON,
who was by nature neither big nor strong, knew where his great strength lay,
and how he could lose it.
Once it was lost, he knew that by separation and obedience it
could be - at least in part - recovered, for the final conquest. His glory and
might were dependent upon devotion to God, upon carrying out the Divine
commands.
The
We are apt to look upon a single, unique, isolated Pentecost
as the scene and sign and season of the Churchs temporary enduement with power
from on high in one far-off Divine event. But
Pentecost does not stand alone, unrelated to antecedents or succession. For John 15-17 precedes Acts 2. From the former Gospel chapter we
learn that fruit-bearing in every season depends upon the branchs vital union
with the Vine, as in the natural realm. In the latter chapter we hear our
Lords own prayer-emphasis upon Christian unity as the needed and influential
reflection of the Divine. Those who
abide in Him can hardly fail to be united to one another, and to be an
attraction and blessing for the world. By THIS
shall ALL men know that ye are MY disciples, if ye have (visible) love one to another.
Pentecost was characterized and conditioned by obedient Christian unity. Its sweet refrain was: All with one accord (in one place). Pentecost, with
virtuous continuance of unity was virtually repeated
in Acts 4, 31 and 19, 6 (if not also 20, 16). Its fruitage persisted or reappeared
throughout the Epistles, that is, for a whole generation, as the dates heading Acts 2 and Ephesians 4
reveal. Indeed, Johns Epistles and Apocalypse show Pentecost operative up
towards the very end of the first century; while Church history shows it
operative far longer. For till the
substitution of hireling shepherds,
the wolves of persecution helped to
preserve the unity of the flock, responsive,
separate, secure.
It is customary to look upon the first Pentecost as the former rain (swelling new-sown grain), and
earths last Pentecost - the restored gifts of the [Holy] Spirit - as the latter rain (swelling ripened grain in the ear
just before reaping at the end of the age). But seed-time and harvest are
guaranteed as recurrent periods, so that, even though rain is at times withheld
from brazen heavens, there are - or should be - intermittent showers of
blessing, dependent upon repentance and
prayer. In fact, to prayer - of the
right kind - is promised blessing of glory and power as yet unknown:
receiving ANYTHING asked in Christs
Name, as Elisha received it from his master, the ascending prophet.
Christs - [redeemed regenerate and consecrated] - Body, the Church, was once - as it will be again - the ruling, healing
channel of Gods glorious power. He is our Head, and we are all members one of
another, interrelated, interdependent. Dislocation (strain and sprain),
fracture (simple or compound), and amputation (section, schism) clearly spell
loss of power, power that should have been permanent, perennial, public: by this shall
ye know, by this shall the Gentiles - all men - know.
The Church, alas, is mostly unconcerned about its palsy and
impotence, unconscious even that it really had - much less should have - an
apostolic succession not of wealthy imposition but of healthy strength and
glory. Like Samson who wist not that the Lord
was departed from him, it knows not, as a body, that it is wretched
- and poor - and blind, nor that its wealth and comeliness and
eyesight are recoverable by zeal, repentance, obedience and welcome to the returning Christ, with consequent
victory. It has actually invented an alleged professing
church on which to father its naked shame and needed chastisement. Oh
that it had at least one open ear to hear what the spirit is saying to it and
to all.
Power, divorced from loving service, tends towards proud abuse
of privilege and grace; so the gifted Corinthian church was early threatened
with disruption under rival leadership, even while some were boastful of
loyalty direct to the Chief Shepherd Himself - I am of Christ! you are all wrong, a dangerous unsectarianism, despising
under-shepherds and their allocated folds.
True, there have been godly but unsuccessful individuals obeying the counsel to covet earnestly the best
gifts, especially
prophecy; and there are still groups claiming their possession, but
questionably, in not testing their source and hidden character. Hence it is significant that no party boasting tongues is
able to use these in the Mission Field.
May it not, then, be that the essential condition of the
Gifts Return as Latter Rain is fullest Christian unity? Dislocation and
fracture and schism mean powerlessness, but unity is strength, also in the body
spiritual.
Now unity is especially stressed at the beginning of the practical part of Ephesians, in chapter 4
which
proceeds to speak of the gifts of the ascending Master-Prophet, and of their
progressive purpose in maturing the Church to true power and glory. Verse 16 in particular emphasises a united body (attached to the Head
as branches to the Vine) - fitly joined together - and compacted - by that
(current) which every joint (contact, connection) supplies - according to the
effectual working in the measure of every part - making increase of the body
unto the upbuilding of itself in love, that great unifying and invigorating
principle of service. It is not enough for the Church to be separate from the world - in it, but
not of it; it must be positive, through organic unification to Christ and to
all its members; not merely antiseptic, but nutritive, co-operating,
overflowing - all one in a Living Christ, of whatever nation or denomination.
Our united God of wisdom, love, might - the Lords,
a unity - thrice insists (Roms. 12, 1 Cor.
12,
Ephes. 4) on the vital importance of unity in diversity, of many
members and differing offices all together constituting but one body in Christ
and with one another. And in Gals. 5: 20-21 He ranks and rates with the vicious and vile, separatists and
exclusives to whom He denies inheritance in His kingdom. It is indeed a scornful wonder that in the
What seems imperative for Divine approval, power and blessing
is, therefore, a unity of Scriptural single-mindedness in the individual;
this one thing I do; unity in each individual assembly: bear ye one another's burdens, be ye kind to one another, forgiving
one another, as God for Christs sake hath
forgiven you; a unity throughout the locality: receive ye one another, all with one accord in one place, of one heart and one soul; and finally, a sense of world-wide unity of and
with all who in every place call upon the Name of the Lord.
We have no longer the unction, sealing, filling - earnest of
impending millennial powers, but we are to
ask for them, covet earnestly - be filled
- keep the unity. When we know and acknowledge our
lack, and are willing to test the spirits (as we are told) for their own
negative and positive attitude towards the Lordship of Jesus and the pivotal
points of the Christian faith - the Divine Incarnation and the Personal Advert;
but especially when we are really united in spirit and symphonize in Samsons
prayer: Strengthen me, I pray Thee,
only this once, O God, then Ichabod will be erased, Jochebed
re-written, and the strength and glory of the Gifted Church return (we trust)
to witness and to save. The rushing, shaking Spirit can re-unite and quicken
dry and scattered bones. Meanwhile the Gospel manifesto stands: As ye go,
proclaim: The Kingdom of
Heaven is at hand. Heal - cleanse - cast out. Freely ye have received, freely
give. After fat
and feckless - [i.e., feeble and incompetent (Oxford Essential English
Dictionary, p. 217)] - Eli and his sons, may we not expect - in these days without open
vision - the prophetic Spirit as on consecrated, listening Samuel to see and welcome the
Man after Gods own heart, Who shall fulfil all His Will? May we seek the
Glory of God, yea, God our Glory, and entreat Him that His Messenger, our
Paraklete, may come again unto us, and teach
us what we shall do through Him whose Name is Wonderful, Counsellor, Prince
of Peace.
-------
APOSTASY
The modern ignorance of the doctrine of miracle, both good and
bad, is almost incredible, and beyond all conception dangerous; and
subsequently the sharp peril foretold by the [Holy] Spirit (1 Tim. 5: 1-3) grows every year more acute.
But the gravity of the matter does not
end there. Canon
* *
* * *
* *
21
THE SILVER TRUMPETS
By D. M. PANTON
THE
Silver Trumpets are one of the loveliest pictures in the Old Testament types. Cry aloud,
spare not, lift up thy voice
like a
trumpet (Is. 58: 1). We are the trumpets, sounding forth the Word of God. The
trumpet is a mouthpiece; it is a speaking instrument; its sound is a fruit of the lips: so the
Christian is to utter the Word of God; to ring out the clarion call of the
Gospel; to warn, to command,
to invite on behalf of the Most High. All revelation is a trumpet call from
God the call is addressed from heaven to earth through the lips of men and our double trumpet is the Old Testament and
the New.
Two Trumpets
Make thee two trumpets of silver (Num. 10: 1). The double blast is most significant. They blew in two
directions: manward, to direct the people of God; and God-ward to invoke aid:
the double ministry of the Word and prayer. When ye go to war, ye shall sound an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies (ver.
9). There is the Godward trumpet. How the
Psalmist blows short, sharp blasts into the ear of God! Awake, why sleepest thou,
O Lord? (Ps. 44: 23); and Isaiah, - Awake, awake, put on thy strength,
O arm of the Lord! (Is. 52: 1) Two is the number of intensity and certainty: it is
the double of everything. Under the Law two witnesses established a fact; so our
Lord said, - The witness of two men is true (John 8: 17); He sent out the seventy two by two (Luke 10: 1);
two angels witnessed to the empty tomb; when the Lord Jesus would lay immense
stress on a fact, He said, - Verily, verily, I say unto you; and when God would show the
immutability of His counsel, He swore by two immutable
things (Heb.
6:
18).
Beaten Silver
The trumpets were made of silver, and silver that had been
beaten. Make thee two trumpets of silver; of beaten work shalt thou make them. Silver is white, brilliant, precious.
Flutes that are made of silver are said to be sweeter-toned than any other
flutes: so the Gospel trumpets sound a sweeter music than any other music in
the world. As John G. Paton says:- Life, any life,
would be well spent, under any conceivable conditions, in bringing one human
soul to know, and love, and serve God and His Son. And it is beaten silver. Spurgeon, so great a master of the trumpets, says - All the grace I got out of my comfortable easy times might
almost lie on a penny, but the good I
received from my trials, pains, and griefs is
incalculable. What do I not owe to
the fire and the file, the crucible
and the furnace, and the bellows, and the Hand that thrust me into the heat?
Trumpet Tones
Priests, and priests only, were allowed to sound the trumpets.
Only those who are born again can pass on the tones of God. A famous actor was
being honoured in a certain city. Many celebrities were invited to attend, and
among them was an outstanding clergyman, retired, old in years, and feeble with
life, and he wanted the actor to dramatize something to their liking. So the
actor said, What would you like me to give you? Some
words to recite? The great audience was quiet, and finally the old
clergyman spoke up and he said, I would love so much
for you to quote and recite, as an actor, the 23rd Psalm. The actor paused then he said, My friend, I will do it on one condition - when I am
finished if you, too, will quote the 23rd Psalm. The clergyman said, I
will do it. I am no actor, but Ill do the best I can. The actor started, The
Lord is my Shepherd, The audience was quiet. He went through it in
actors style. When he finished the applause burst forth all over the place. It
was a masterpiece. And then the old clergyman started, The Lord is my Shepherd, and with each word right in the presence
of God, one by one the heads went down bowed, the tears streaming. When he
finished, the actor put his hands on the shoulder of the old clergyman, and he
said, Sir, I had reached their ears; you have reached
their hearts. I have told them about the Shepherd; but sir, you know the
Shepherd. Only priests can blow the trumpets.
Obedience
The trumpets covered all the action of the People of God. They
worshipped and they fought, they journeyed and they halted, in simple obedience to the trumpet call: so our
whole life is to be regulated by the Holy Scriptures. As Archbishop Alexander said to the young men at Oxford:- You may be yet saved from the Nazarites ill-kept vow; from
a life unconsecrated; from the voices of
doubt deepening as the night draws on; from the few broken lights that
flicker, and the many shadows that darken, over the giants grave. The
blasts are the orders of God. Till the trumpet sounds, never stir: when it sounds,
never tarry.
Misused Trumpets
It is grave to remember how the trumpets are being misused
to-day. If the trumpet give an
uncertain voice, who shall prepare himself
for war? (1 Cor. 14: 8). The fearful words of John Wesley are even more true to-day.
How terrible when ambassadors of God turn out to be agents for the devil! -
when commissioned to teach men the way to heaven, they do, in fact, teach the
way to hell. If ever asked, Why, who does this? I answer, Ten thousand wise and honourable men; even all those of
whatever denomination, who encourage the proud, the trifler, the passionate,
the lover of the world, the man of pleasure, the unjust or unkind, the easy,
the careless, harmful, useless creatures, the man who suffers no persecution for
righteousness sake. These are false prophets in the highest sense of the word.
They are continually peopling the realms of night: and whenever they follow
poor souls they have destroyed, hell shall be moved from beneath to meet them
at their coming. The command of Jehovah abides: Cry aloud and spare not, lift
up thy
voice like a trumpet, and show my people their TRANSGRESSIONS, and the house of
Jacob their SINS (Is. 58: 1).
Are we ourselves sounding the trumpets? It has been well put
thus. In the great eternity which is beyond, among
the many marvels that will burst upon the soul, this surely will be one of the
greatest, that the Son of God came to redeem the world, that certain
individuals were chosen from mankind to be the first fruits of the new creation,
that to them was committed the inconceivable honour of proclaiming the glad
tidings to their fellow-creatures still in the darkness, and they never did it.
A young man, when dying, though
he was a believer exclaimed:- Lost! Lost! Lost!
His mother ran to him and cried:- My boy! is it
possible that you have lost your soul? No,
Mother, not that, he said. I have a hope of
Heaven, but I have lost my life. I have lived twenty-four years, and have done
nothing for my Saviour. I spent my life for myself, now its lost forever.
Innumerable Gifts
Let us remember how wonderful is the opportunity of us all.
One writer has put it beautifully thus. Grace expands
into all kinds of gifts. The limitless variety of innumerable gifted souls,
ever expanding, ever ministering, is the only adequate manifestation of an
infinite God; and stewardship of that grace is the bottom fact of Church life.
All talents are gifts; and all gifts are trusts: therefore we are stewards not
owners; trustees, not possessors: our gifts were Christs before they were
ours, and after they have become ours, they still remain His. So, in the
Church, no one is a giver only, or a recipient only: every one has some gift,
and every one has some need: thus only, as each is ministering to all, are all
built up on our most holy faith.
Blow the Trumpet
So let us blow the trumpets. The
same trumpet called to festival and to war; so the Gospel has two tones: it
calls lovingly, sweetly, tenderly; and it sounds an alarm, making the night tremble
through all its temple of darkness, and sending into mens hearts pangs of
apprehension and unutterable fear (Dr.
Joseph Parker). As the vice-president of a synod (Dr. Arthur Brunn) has just said - We need some very plain talk about sin. We need to be
terribly serious about sin with ourselves and with others. We need to tell men
that the inevitable consequence of sin is hell. We need to speak about hell
until people tremble at the fearful anger of God. God has permitted us to live
in one of the darkest periods in world history. Everything seems to indicate
that the midnight hour is at hand, that we are given our last chance. IN A MOMENT, IN THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE, THE TRUMPET SHALL SOUND, AND THE DEAD SHALL
BE RAISED INCORRUPTIBLE, AND WE SHALL BE CHANGED (1 Cor.
15:
52).
-------
ESCAPING HELL
The great earthquakes earthquakes of
the end will start the last fires, which draw nearer and nearer every moment.
In the
* *
* * *
* *
THE IMPORTANCE OF TRUTH
SCRIPTURE
Joshua 24: 6-14, R.V. And I
[the LORD (v. 2)] brought your fathers out of
2 Chronicles 18; 9-13, R.V.
:- Now the king of Israel - [Ahab (v. 3)] -
and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his throne,
arrayed in their robes, and they
sat in an open place at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them. [10] And Zedekiah the son
of Chenaanah made him horns of iron, and said,
Thus saith the LORD, With
these shalt thou push the Syrians, until
they be consumed. [11] And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to
Ramoth-gilead, and prosper:
for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
[12] And the messenger
that went to call Micaiah spake to him, saying,
Behold, the words of the
prophets declare good
to the king with one mouth: let the word
therefore, I pray thee,
be like one of theirs, and spake
thou good. [13] And Micaiah said, As the
LORD liveth, what my God saith,
that will I
speak. [14] And when he was come to the king, the king said unto him, Micaiah,
shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And he
said, Go ye up,
and prosper; and they
shall be delivered into your hand. [15] And the king said to him, How many
times shall I adjure thee that thou speak unto me nothing
but the truth in
the name of the LORD? [16] And he said,
I saw all
John 8: 25-32, 40-46, R.V.:- They
- [Pharisees and Jews (vv. 13 & 22)] - said therefore unto him, Who art
thou? Jesus said unto them, Even that which I have also spoken unto you from the
beginning. [26] I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you: howbeit he that
sent me is
true; and the
things which heard from him, these speak I unto
the world. [27] They perceived not that he spake to them of the Father. [28] Jesus therefore said, When ye have lifted
up the Son of man, then shall ye know
that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself, but as the Father taught me, I speak these things. [29] And he that sent me
is with me; he hath not left me
alone*; for I do
always the things that are pleasing to him. [30] As he spake these
things, many believed on
him.
[31] Jesus
therefore said to those Jews which had believed him, If ye abide
in my word, then are ye truly my disciples; [32] and ye shall know the truth,
and the truth
shall make you free. ...
[40] But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I
heard from God: this did not Abraham.
[41] Ye do the works of
your father. They said unto him,
we are not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
[42] Jesus said unto them,
If God were your Father, ye would
love me: for I came forth and
are come from God; for neither have I
came of myself, but he sent me.
[43] Why do you not
understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my word.
[44] Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do.
He was a murderer from the beginning, and stood not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he
speaketh of his own: for he is a liar,
and the father thereof. [45] But because I say the truth,
ye believe me not. [46] Which of you convinceth me of sin? If I say truth, why do ye not
believe me?
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22
ALONE
Truth
has been out of fashion since man changed his robes of fadeless light for a
garment of faded leaves. It is natural to compromise conscience and follow the
social and religious fashion for the sake of gain or pleasure: it
is divine to sacrifice both on the altar of truth and duty. Men are never faithful in crowds. Our nearest and
dearest can fail us. What is wanted to-day are men and women, young and old, who will
obey
their convictions of truth
and duty at the cost of fortune and friends and life itself. It is to reborn disciples that Jesus says (Matt.
7:
14):-
Narrow is the gate, and straitened
the way, that leadeth unto
life, and few be
they that find it.
Abel
was murdered alone. Enoch
watched alone. Noah preached alone. Abraham offered his son alone. Jacob wrestled alone. Joseph lay in the pit alone. Moses ascended Sinai alone. Samson repented alone. David fought Goliath alone. Elijah sacrificed on
[* NOTE: TRUTH will
always be spoken by the Holy Spirit filled obedient minority!
See Acts. 6: 5
and 7: 5. Cf. 2 Tim. 2: 12 and 18, R.V.]
Gods
People in the wilderness praised Abraham and
persecuted Moses. Gods People
under the kings praised Moses and persecuted the prophets. Gods People under Caiaphas praised the prophets and
persecuted Jesus. Gods People
under the Popes praised the Saviour and persecuted the saints: and multitudes now,
both in the Church and the world, applaud the courage and
fortitude of the patriarchs and prophets, the apostles and martyrs, but
condemn as stubbornness or
foolishness like faithfulness to truth to-day.
Nevertheless the
faithful servant of
God is never alone. He never has to repeat
[* See
also Luke
20: 35, Philippians 3: 11; Revelation 20: 4-6, R.V.;
and compare
with Acts 4:
1-2: And while they were speaking to the PEOPLE, the HIGH PRIESTS, and the COMMANDER of the TEMPLE, and the SADDUCEES, came upon them, [2] being grieved because
they TAUGHT the PEOPLES and announced THAT RESURRECTION from the dead in JESUS. (The
Emphatic
Diaglott
containing the Original Greek Text). Note the
words underlined above. In the Greek they read, - ... announce
in the Jesus the resurrection that out of dead ones. ]
-------
CONFESSION OF CHRIST
WHOSOEVER
shall confess me before men, him will I confess
also before my Father which is in heaven. What an extraordinary
world is this that such a sentence should ever have been uttered in it.
Consoder what is implied in these words. They manifestly imply that it is an
opprobrious thing in the estimation of
mankind to give honour to Him Who is the brightness of the Fathers glory and to acknowledge any connection with Him.
They imply that it is necessary to present the most porewful motives to the
mind in order to subdue the feelng of shame that would naturally arise in the
confession of Christ. Is not this a
fallen world? Is not the race of makind an utterly depraved race?
Were it necessary to hold up powerful
motives in order to induce a person to confess his alliance with some
arch-villain, one could think better of man. But the most magnificent rewards
are proposed, as an inducement to those who are acquainted with Christ, to
acknowledge their acquaintance; to those who rely on Him for salvation, to
confess Him as their Saviour.
- GEORGE BOWEN.
-------
OBEDIENCED REWARDED
AND DISOBEDIENCE PUNISHED.
Keep in mind:
(1) It is FORBEARANCE
when opposed that commends the TRUTH professed. He [Christ] will give the STRENGTH to resist any
OPPOSIOION that may come. - G. H.
LANG
(2) God is no Respector of persons IN JUDGMENT!
Servants, OBEY in all things
... not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in singleness
of heart, fearing the LORD, and not unto men; knowing that from
the LORD ye shall receive the recompense
[or REWARD] OF THE
INHERITANCE: ye serve the Lord Christ. For he that doeth WRONG shall receive against
the wrong that he hath done: AND THERE IS NO RESPECT OF PERSONS: (Col. 3: 22-25, R.V.)
(3) For each man shall bear his own burden
... Be not
deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth unto his own flesh
shall of the flesh reap CORRUPTION; but he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the
Spirit reap eternal life.
[(Gk. aionous = age-lasting or life
for the Age in this context).] And
let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season
we shall reap, IF WE FAINT NOT: (Gal. 6: 7-9,
R.V.)
-------
JUDGMENT
It
is this coming judgment - [still
future], when the
infinite patience of the Almighty is over, which ought to deeply warn believers and unbelievers alike. A
friend (Mr. Gogerly) of William Carey, the founder of modern missions, tells of
an interview he had with Carey almost immediately before his death. I said, My friend, you evedently are
standing on the borders of the eternal world; do you think it wrong then, if
I ask what are your feelings in the immediate prospect of death?
The question roused him from his apparent stupor, and opening his languid eyes,
he earnestly replied, As far as my personal salvation is concerned, I do not have the
shadow of a doubt; I know in Whom I
have believed, and am persuaded that
He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day; but when I think I am about to appear in
the presence of a Holy God and remember all my sins and manifold imperfections
- I tremble. He could say no more. The tears trickled down his
cheeks and after a while he relapsed into the same state of silence from which
I had aroused him.
*
* * *
* * *
23
THE CHARACTER OF GOD
If you are really earnest in your desire to know the
Bible with an unbiased mind, you may get a bit of a shock when you come up
against the standards of morality and
daily living as demanded by God. Still greater may be your surprise when
your eyes catch a glimpse of the unsullied holiness, purity, righteousness and
justice of God, that made the prophet shudder at his own uncleanness, or of the
indescribable majesty, mystery and power of God, which caused the tongue of the
prophet who was by the river Chebar, to cleave to the roof of his mouth. Even
greater still will be your horror at the unveiling of the depravity and
ingratitude of human nature, till you find yourself wondering why God should
ever work out a plan for mans salvation. Rather than maintaining that hell is
unworthy of God, you will marvel that He has not swept mankind into that hell
long ago. In this very thing lies the revelation of His marvellous grace and
love. How terrible to the heart of God was the fact of sin, and how unwilling He is that judgment should
overwhelm the sinner, is proved by
the admission that none could revoke that sentence but the Son of God Himself,
and then only by bearing in our stead
the ultimate penalty in full.
We
can look upon the awful anguish which must have wrung the hearts of both Father
and Son in that stupendous crisis of the history of the universe, and then say
that hell in incompatible with the love of God. What but the lowest hell does
he deserve who can spurn the unparalleled sacrifice of the Greatest Love? To
such a man, heaven itself would be greater torture than hell. In the last
resort, what other course remains if a man (who after all is a creature with
free will), refuses the offer of salvation and with it, Heaven? Someone has
said that hell is Gods last act of grace to self-doomed man, which cuts off
his opportunity of accumulation more judgment to himself. - The
Balance of Truth
-------
ILLUSTRATION
Outside
a church in Chicgo, a man used to stand with a pitcher of beey, and as the
people came out of the meeting he offered them a drink out of the pitcher. He
was hard and desperate and wicked. He had a praying mother in
* *
* * *
* *
24
BAPTISM
By A. E.
McKENZIE
THE word baptism is a
transliteration of the Greek word baptisma, which means dipping or immersion.
All references to baptism in the New Testament make it
quite clear that the intended meaning is immersion. The references
in John 3: 23 that John was baptising in Aenon near Salim, because there
was much water there, is
quite meaningless if his baptism was not by immersion. Jesus was doubtless
baptised by immersion (Matt. 3: 16). Philip baptised the Eunuch by immersion.
See Acts 8: 38 which reads, - They
went both down into the water;
surely a clear indication that his baptism was not by sprinkling.
The writings of the early Church clearly show how the
original baptism by immersion became changed for sprinkling. As Christianity
spread to colder climates or to regions where water was scarce, the rite was
first administered by pouring and then
later changed for sprinkling; however,
no Scriptural authority exists for such changes. The seriousness of
changing what God has revealed and commanded is seen
from Deut. 4: 2; 12: 32.*
[* Ye shall not add unto the
word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish from it, that ye may keep the
commandments of the LORD your God which I command you: (Deut. 4: 2,
R.V.). What thing soever I command you, that shall ye
observe to do; thou shalt not add thereto, not diminish from
it. (Deut. 12: 32, R.V.).]
If
baptism is administered by any other way than the Scriptural method of
immersion, the beauty of its meaning is
completely destroyed. What does baptism signify? It signifies death, burial, and resurrection
with Christ. Know ye not, that so many of
us as were baptised into Jesus Christ were
baptised into His death? (
Nowhere
in Scripture do we find that infants were baptised. The order throughout the New Testament is hearing
the word, believing it for salvation, and then being baptised (Acts 18: 8). In Matt. 28: 19, we read that the teaching or making disciples of all
nations was to precede baptism. Mark 16: 16 makes it clear that believing goes
before baptism. In Acts
2: 41 they
that gladly received the Word
were baptised. Philip. makes but
one condition for the
Eunuchs baptism, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest (Acts 8: 37). From Acts 9: 18 it is evident that Paul first believed and
then was baptised. From Acts 10: 44-48 it is
clear that the apostles only baptised those concerning whose faith they were fully assured. We read concerning
Philips visit to
Can
sprinkling be regarded as baptism in the light of the Scriptures? The answer
must be given in the negative by all who diligently search the Word of God.
Supposing that sprinkling is really a Scriptural method of baptism, the
question arises, when was it administered, in belief or unbelief? If before the reception of the new birth, it ceases to be the baptism of the Word of God, and merely assumes the character of dead and meaningless ritual
- one of the old things which pass away when new life is found in Christ (2
Cor. 5: 17). So what is usually
described as a second baptism, is in reality only the first and true baptism.
In Acts 19 we read of
some disciples who were baptised twice - one unto Johns baptism and then later
when they believed on Christ, they accepted believers baptism and entered into
great spiritual blessing as a result of their - [belief in truth and] - obedience.
May
the Lord enable you, dear reader, to search the Scriptures for light and
guidance on all matters of faith and conduct, so that you may stand perfect and
complete in all the will of God. (Col. 4: 12).
Let us individually make this vital subject a matter of prayer - Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do! (Acts 9: 6). Whatsoever He saith
unto you, do it (John 2: 5).
- The Balance of Truth,
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ENTHRONEMENT
WITH CHRIST
The condition of enthronement with Christ is expressed
in His own words sent to the Church by His own Apostle: Unto him that OVERCOMETH
will I grnt to sit with Me in My throne. So we labour towars making
believers overcomers. We seek to teach them to
war in order that they may reign. We
strive to cause them to overcome in order to share Christs throne: for he that
has been girt by the panoply of God, and has wielded his sword, shall be
honoured to stretch out the sceptre of the Most High.
- EVAN ROBERTS
*
* *
25
ARE WE READY FOR
THE COMING?
By SARAH FOULKES
What I say unto you
I say unto all, WATCH
VERY soon the
Lord is Coming. He is coming as a Bridegroom. He is coming for a Bride.
He leaves Ivory Palaces to come for her because He greatly desires her beauty.
The beauty of the Bride of
Christ is portrayed in the Bridal Psalm (45) as all glorious within. The
glory of the Lord is mentioned many times in Scripture. One translation of the
word glory is beauty, meaning the beauty of the Lord. Hence we
worship the Lord in the beauty of His holiness. So likewise His Bride for whom He comes from
Heaven to receive is portrayed in prophetic type and anti-type, as adorned in the beauty of holiness.
Her clothing is of wrought gold (Psa. 45). Christ espouses to Himself a Bride who is glorious within and
without. By revelation Paul sees Christ presenting to Himself this Bride, Glorious ... not having spot or wrinkle. John, the seer, envisions the Bride in Heaven. The one thing he emphasizes is the fact she had made herself ready.
The
Church of the Firstborn is spoken of
as a virgin, meaning a people separated from the world unto God.
Paul wrote to the Christians under his ministry, I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ (2 Cor. 11: 2). Christian, are you all-glorious within? Are your
spiritual robes without spot or wrinkle? God abhors garments spotted by the
flesh. He wants us to abhor them. Enoch
is a type of the [select] translation
saints. He had the testimony that he pleased God. Christian, is your life
chaste and pure? Is your walk with the Lord so attractive that He will greatly
desire your beauty? If you or I have one thing in us that is contrary to His
Word we cannot please Him. He measures
our Love to Him by the measure of our obedience to His Word (Jn. 14: 15).
Now
in this hour of His appearing the matter
of making ourselves ready is the most important thing that concerns us.
Many are taking for granted they are ready. Measured by Christs own words to
His disciples, readiness for translation
does not consist, as many erroneously suppose, in being [eternally] saved or
filled with the [Holy] Spirit. We need to go to the Word of God and see for
ourselves what conditions He imposes for [the
Pre-Tribulation] translation and reigning with Him. In His Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24 and 25)
the Lord foretells the terrible calamities coming upon the whole earth. With pointed warnings and explicit commands He cautions His disciples
to escape judgments. And He tells them how. It
is not without significance that His words of prudence and caution are not spoken to the Church as a Body but
to individuals:-Take heed to yourselves lest at any time your hearts be
overcharged. The original Greek renders yourselves and your
with peculiar emphasis. Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape ... Because
thou didst keep the word of my patience I
also will keep thee from the hour of trial which is to come upon the whole world. ... Blessed is he that keepeth his garments. In the
Lords emphatic admonitions to His disciples to be wary and watchful He does not encourage them to rely on their born-again experience. Neither does He encourage them to rest in any past blessing; nor does He tell them that, being filled
with the [Holy] Spirit,
they can drift along. The Lords
emphasis is laid on WATCHING, HEEDING, PRAYING. The escape
according to Christs own words is made on
condition of personal effort and
is wholly a reward of the effort to
be ready.
What
Christ says should mean everything to us. His oft-repeated command is to WATCH. To
watch means, in the original, to be alert; to be aroused; to be awake.
In this hour of His coming He has shown us in pointed warnings that the only way to escape the trouble coming upon the whole earth is to WATCH AND PRAY ALWAYS (Matt. 24: 42; 25: 13; Mk. 13: 35; Lu. 21: 34-36; 1 Thess. 5: 6; 1 Pet.
4: 7; Rev.
3: 2; Rev. 16: 15).
Again the Lord says,- Strive to enter in ... for
many will seek to enter in and shall not be able (Lu. 13: 24). The Greek rendering of strive is agonize - agonize to enter in. Paul, seeking to win Christ, as the Bridegroom, said I Press towards the
mark (Phil.
3).
How
great will be the disappointment of the careless, lukewarm, unready ones in the
hour of the escape (Lu. 21: 34-36). Now, before it is too late, is the time for us to
awake out of sleep and stir ourselves to watching and prayer, for the signs of
His appearing are everywhere around us. The tares are ripening. So is the
wheat. The ingathering is near.
The Lord rebuking the worldly Laodicean
Christians said, - I know your works, that thou art neither hot nor cold ... so
because thou art lukewarm,
I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Christian, is your service for the master, your praying, your Bible reading, the testimony of your life in private and
public, cold, or hot, or lukewarm? Ask yourself this question, - Am I a wise virgin trimming my life by the Word of God, or am I a foolish one, looking for His Coming but not preparing for
it? In contrast to the ease-loving, pleasure-loving Christian of
today, how different was Pauls pressing towards the goal. He put forth
desperate effort to win Christ as the
Bridegroom. He stripped himself of every weight; suffered the loss of all
things that he might in the fervour of his effort attain - [i.e.,
gain by effort (a Dict. Def.)] - to the first
resurrection out from among the dead (marginal rend. Phil. 3: 11).
Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord (Lu. 12: 35-36). There is a wall of worldly separation between most [regenerate] Christians
and Christ today, which renders impossible watchfulness and prayerfulness. Our
Churches are full of men and women living in slothful case and selfish
indulgence, unwatchfully gliding, drifting with the world, careless of the
rigid requirements imposed by the Lord upon all
accounted worthy to escape the things
overtaking the world and to stand before the Son of Man.
When He shall appear, we shall
be like him: ... every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself
even as he is pure (1 Jn. 3: 2-3). The imminent return of our Lord, avers Dr. Torrey, is the great Bible argument for a pure, unselfish, devoted,
unworldly, active Christian life. According to John, the apostle,
everyone who hath the hope of Christs return, purifies himself. Beloved, the question of great moment
is not, Is the Church Ready? But are You Ready? The Lord is preparing to take
His place on the Throne; and to those who will go all the way with Him to His
standard of perfection, by watching and praying always, He gives this glorious
promise, - To
Him that overcometh I will grant to sit with Me in My Throne even as I also overcame, and
am sat down with My Father in His Throne (Rev. 3: 21).
-------
AN ADVENT SONG
(Written by a Negro in the Cotton Fields.)
Theres a King and Captain high, wholl br comin
by-and-by,
And Hell find mr hoein cotton when He comes;
You will hear His legions chargin in the thunders of
the sky,
And Hell find me hoein cotton when He comes!
When He comes, When He comes,
All the dead will rise in answer to His drums,
While the fires of His encampment star the firmament
on high,
And the Heavens are rolld asunder, when He comes!
Theres a Man they thrust aside, who was tortured till
he died,
And Hell find me hoein cotton when He comes;
He was hated and rejected, He was scourged and
crucified,
But Hell find me hoein cotton when He comes!
When He comes, when He comes!
Hell be ringd with saints and angels when He comes;
Theyll be shouting out hosannas to the Man that men
denied,
And Ill kneel among my cotton when He comes.
-------
BECOME AS
LITTLE CHILDREN
The first great feature of childhood is pure
affection. In childhood, affection is spring-water. It just bubbles up most
naturally, and is pure and delicious. In manhood, affection is too often
tap-water. It has flowed through pipes of expediency, prudence, and
calculations, and has lost its sparkle and limpidity. The Lord wants us to have
the pure, uncalculating love of little children. He wants us to live so much
with Him thst to love Him shall be our highest bliss. The second characteristic
of child-nature is its fine sensitiveness. A childs spirit is like a
photographers sensitive plate, exceedingly impressionable, responding to the
daintiest touch of the softest light. The joys and sorrows of the world find in
children a most ready and sympathetic response. Now this fine sensitiveness is
apt to be lost as childhood is left behind. Our impressionableness is prone to lose
its deliacy. The grief and happiness of the world do not move us with the same
facility as of old. A third characteristic of childhood is its open-mindedness.
Childhood is an age of eager questionings and not of dogmatic conclusions. It
is a season of keen representiveness, of
intense love of the sweet light. If we are healthy, and have the nature of
little children, we shall have a hungry open-mindedness for the truth.
- J. H. JOWETT.
*
* * *
* * *
26
THE RETURN OF CHRIST
By Dr. DUNCAN MAIN.
We do not know
anything which so certainly sanctifies life to its highest service as this
great truth, steadfastly believed and maintained
by Gods servants, while they are journeying, not towards darkness, but the
sunrising. When through the mystics, moral mists, and half lights of earth, the
promise of the glorious appearing is discerned, it determines not only the
direction of the journey, but also its character. It settles the question of
our affinities. It corrects and brightens our outlook on the things seen. It
chases all gloom and care from the heart, and all weariness from the feet. It
keeps the first love alive, and fans the smoking flax into flame. It puts a new
song into willing lips and makes all life tuneful and joyful. It transforms
every curse of mourning into a horn of anointing oil. It makes even the lame
man to leap as an hart, and replaces the tiredness of exhausted nature with
buoyant energy.
-------
THE BIBLE
A quotation (its source he does not name) given
By Dr. OSWALD
SMITH
This Book
contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of
sinners, and the happiness of believers.
Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its
histories are true and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe
it to be safe, and practice it to be holy. It contins light to direct you, food
to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is a travellers map, the pilots
compass, the soldiers sword, and the Christians charter.
Here paradise is restored, Heaven opened, and hell - [i.e., the lake of fire (Rev.
20:
15,
R.V.)] - disclosed. Christ is its grand object, our good its
design and the glory of God its end. Read it slowly, frequently and
prayerfully. Let it fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. It is
a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be opened in
the judgment, and remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the highest labour,
and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contemts.
The Bible is supernatural in origin, Divine in
authorship, human in penmanship, infallible in authority, infinite in scope,
universal in interest, eternal in duration and personal in application.
It is composed of 66 Books, 1,180 chapters, 31, 173
verses, 773,692 words and 3, 566,490 letters And God spake all these words.
*
* * *
* * *
27
THE CHURCH
THE manifold divisions in the visible Church of our day
have all been brought about by the failure of individual believers to hold fast
to the Head, Christ, from whom all the members of the One Body, the Church, are knit together (Col. 2: 19).
When we base our unity with other Christians on the sole ground that we are all
members of the One Body and all holding to the one Head, and refuse to be associated with any more restricted
form of union, then and then only
will real spiritual unity be achieved.
While
the Scriptures do not recognise any division in the
In
these days when we find Churches called by the names of countries, or by the
name of some special doctrine of the Word of God which is emphasised by that
section of the Church, or by the names of men, it is well to note that the Word of God connects no other name to
the Church than the name of the locality in which the believers meet together.
Churches were named after the town, city or locality in which the [regenerate] believers
lived and never after the district or country. It was the Church in
The
names which we find in Scripture are all inclusive and not exclusive; names
which equally apply to all who
are in the true
[* NOTE: The Greek word ekklesia (out-calling) is
descriptive of all those called out of the world by the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, all those members of Gods family, redeemed by the blood of
Christ - from both Old and New Testament
Scriptures - are members of that One Body
and described as His universal Church!]
-------
WATCH
All the Lords emphatic warnings in His many Second
Advent parables in Matthew 24 and 25 are exhortations to unsleeping watchfulness. Christ gave His disciples
to reason to believe their readiness for His coming rested on any experience of
salvation they may have had. Pointed and plain He made preparation, for the
timeless and dateless Advent means unsleeping vigilance and prayer. All
teaching, all preaching, all activity, religious, secular or otherwise, that
to-day silences our Lords grave and solemn warnings to His own - [redeemed people] - to. Watch ye, therefore, and pray always,
that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that
shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man, vitiates - [i.e., spoils or makes less
effective.] - watchfulness and makes for dongerous sleep. - The
*
* * *
* * *
28
THE SALT OF THE EARTH
By ROBERT GOVETT, M.A.
(Continued Matt. 5: 13).
13. Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt shall have become foolish,*
wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing,
but to be cast out, and to be trodden underfoot by men.
* [See
the Greek word ...]
The
preceding paragraph showed to us Christians as related to the
When
a new substance is discovered, we wish to know what are its uses? Gutta percha
is found in one of the isles of the east. Of what use
is it? is the natural inquiry. If we could only tell for what purposes
God designed it, we should be glad to employ it in those. Our Lord, then, in
the paragraph before us, unfolds to us Gods design in raising up the new body
of Jesus disciples.
He
would hereby encourage His people under trial. In the last verse, Jesus
described His followers as reviled, rejected, persecuted. Of what use could
such a body be? Of very great service.
They
are compared to that useful, necessary article, - salt. That substance is in
its nature incorruptible: the opposite to leaven, which easily corrupts, and
excites fermentation and corruption in other bodies.
Its
taste is peculiar, its texture transparent, its colour white, its uses
manifold.
(1) The taste of salt is pleasant to men. Our meals
would be insipid indeed without it. (2) It was also a sacred thing, pleasant to
God. Every oblation of thy meat-offering shalt thou
season with salt: neither shalt thou suffer the
salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat-offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt: Lev. 2: 13. And this
too, when of leaven it is said, Ye shall burn no leaven nor any honey, in any offering of the Lord made by fire:
ver.
11.
(2)
It is a great anti-corruptionist. Applied to meat, it corrects its native tendency to
putridity; and preserves it sweet, as an article of human food, for a considerable
time. We find salt used, on one occasion, by Elijah, in order to heal bitter
and corroding waters. And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the
water is naught, and the ground barren. And he said, Bring me a new
cruse, and put salt therein. And they
brought it to him. And he went forth unto the
spring of the water, and cast the salt in there,
and said, Thus saith the
Lord, I have healed these waters: there shall not be from
thence any more death or barren land. So the
waters were healed unto this day, according to
the saying of Elisha, which he spake: 2 Kings 2:
19-22. Here
is a
greater than Elisha, throwing into the worlds bitter waters a nobler salt.
Does He anticipate then the healing of the waters? Nay, but rather the
corruption of the salt!
Jesus,
however, is speaking of real converts, true disciples. Mere professors but
little check the evil of the world. But one born again of God, and acting out
the life of God, cannot but affect the world by his (1) prayers, his (2) words,
his (3) life. He is unlike the evil
world of a spirit loftily above it. He is not of earth, but a citizen of heaven
a son of God.
The
earth is corrupt. The tendency is to grow worse and worse.
Each evil man encourages his neighbour in evil. The tendency of selfishness and
of irreligion is to grow bolder in word and deed, as each one sees himself
upheld by the countenance of others.
This
tendency is resisted by the disciples of Jesus. While they are genuine, they
display to the world not only justice and truth, in opposition to injustice and falsehood; but mercy,
love, heavenly-mindedness, forgiveness of evil. Much as the world may hate the
light thus cast on its evil, it is checked by it. Historically, this has been
the fact, wherever true Christianity has penetrated. It stayed the awful
corruption of manners that threatened, in the days of the Roman emperors, to
dissolve the state. Introduced amid the savage Fijians in our day, it has removed
the horrors of cannibalism, and the revolting abominations of heathenism.
The
Ye is emphatic. Jesus is raising up a new agent. He is not restoring the old: not re-seasoning the laws disciples. He
is creating a new body, which while it is to be in contact with the world, is
not to be of it, but above it: heavenly in its birth, its aims, its doctrines.
Mark
then the result! This throws
How
large are the views of our Lord! His disciples are not to be the salt of the
Jewish nation only, but of the earth at large. He foresaw that His truth would make its way through every nation, and affect each in turn.
But
what was to be the issue of this new exhibition of Gods goodness? What the
ultimate effect on the earth? In general, the reformer is loud in praises of
his movement. The discoverer of any principle or substance exalts the virtues
of the body he brings before us, of the benefits of the principle he offers.
Tis
not thus with Jesus; as neither was it with Moses. Moses, while leading
Does
salt ever lose its taste? It has been questioned. MAUNDRELL believed that he had found an instance of it in his
journey to
But
whether the thing be true physically or not, tis most evidently possible
morally. May Christians lose their distinctive principles, and desert the line
of conduct which they are taught to pursue? Can they become cold toward God and
Christ, and ardent for the worlds prizes? Tis most sadly evident that the
thing is not possible only, but actually fulfilled in past days, and exhibited in our own. Where are the churches of
-------
HUMILITY
God
often chooses the humblest instruments. Moses was the son of a poor Levite;
Gideon was a farm servant; David was a shepherd boy; Amos was a herdsman; the
apostles were obscure and unlearned; Luther was a miners son; Malancthon, the
great reformer, was an armourer; Carey, who planned the translation of the
Bible into the language of the millions of India, was a shoemaker; Morrison,
who did the same for the Chinese, was a lastmaker; Adam Clarke was the son of
Irish cottars; John Foster was a weaver; and Jay, of Bath, was a heardsman. This calling and choosing continues to-day,
in the fulfilment of Gods plan and purpose.
-------
THE
The Dead Sea has
other names - the
The Dead Sea is located in
22,000 million tons of magnesium chloride.
11,000 million tons of sodium vhloride (table salt).
5,000 million tons of calcium chloride.
2,000 million tons of potassium chloride.
1,000 million tons of magnesium bromide.
The water is
saturated with mineral wealth. In 1930 a British corporation was formed,
called the Potash, Ltd., to explore, develop and reap the rich harvest of this
great mineral wealth. Earth pans are used, one above the other, in which
evaporation leaves these salts. The saturated water is lifted to these pans by
a pipe 30 inches in diameter and 2,800 feet long. The sun (120 degrees), aided
by the strong winds, evaporates the water, and so the work is accomplished at
very little expense.
- The Christian Digest.
-------
ALUMINIUM
We have no knowledge that
will allow us to endorce these statements; but all students of PROPHECY
find such forecasts of the imminent Kingdom most fascinating, - [D. M.
Panton].
W. B. Landon, in an article entitled, Chemical Signs of the Times, says:- Aluminium, magnesuim, silicon, beryllium, helium, carbon,
oxygen, hydrogen, chromium, cadmium, potash, and notrogen indicate by their uses as materials and compounds that a NEW AGE is it
hand... The earth was made for and by Jesus
Christ, and the nine-two elements are for the
great
- [millennial] - age or period, vastly greater than man
has yet seen... One thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven years folled by
in this age of grace before aluminium was discovered. Millions upon millions of
people walked the earth and died and never knew that such a metal existed.
From the increased
consumption of aluminium in airplanes, cars, outomobiles, wire, furniture,
alloys, paint, etc., it is indicated
that the Millennial Age is near; for in that age the aluminium which is in
earth everywhere will be the universal material ...
- Christian Life.
*
* * *
* * *
29
PRAYER (2)
1.
Prayer to our Lord was more important
than teaching and healing, for great multitudes came together to hear and to be healed
but He withdrew Himself into the desert and prayed (Luke 5: 15, 16).
2.
Prayer to our Lord was more important
than rest, for in the morning, rising up a
great while before day, He went out, and departed into a
solitary place, and there prayed (Mark 1:
35).
3. Prayer to our Lord was more important than sleep, For He went
out into a mountain to pray and
continued all night in prayer to God (Luke 6: 12).
4. Prayer to our Lord was more important than the working of miracles, for instead of
working a miracle to deliver Peter He said, I have prayed for thee, that
thy faith fail not (Luke 22: 32).
5. Prayer to our Lord was more important in securing workers than either money or machinery,
for He said, Pray
ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He
will send forth labourers into His harvest (Matt. 9: 38).
6. Prayer to the Lord was more important to be taught than preaching, for He taught
men to pray, but we have no record
that He ever taught them to preach (Matt. 6: 5-15).
7. Prayer to the Lord was more important than all the ministries, for He ever liveth to make
intercession for [us] (Heb. 7: 25).
The earthly ministry of our Lord was begun in prayer (Luke 3: 21), continued in prayer and ended in prayer (Luke 23: 34).
The heavenly ministry of our Lord was begun in prayer (John 14: 16), and
in now continued in prayer (Heb. 7: 25).
Lord, teach us to pray (Luke 11: 1).
- F. W.
-------
Prayer is the
pulse of life. By the pulse we can
tell what is the condition of the heart. The sin of prayerlessness is a proof for the ordinary Christian or minister, that the life of God in the soul is in
deadly sickness and weakness. What is the reason why so many thousands of
Christian workers in the world have not a greater influence? Nothing save this
- the prayerlessness of their service. In the midst of all their zeal in the
study and in the work of the church, of all their faithfulness in preaching and
conversation with the people, they lack that ceaseless [personal
and humble] prayer which has attached to
it the sure promise of the [Holy] Spirit, and the power from on high. It is nothing but
the sin of prayerlessness which is the cause of the lack of a powerful
spiritual life! - ANDREW MURRAY.
-------
There was one striking case of unanswered prayer. After
eating an ice George Muller broke a
blood vessel, and, by strict doctors orders, was told not to stir from his
bed. His helpers naturally asked what was to be done about Sunday. As usual
there was only one reply, earnest and combined prayer. On the Sunday morning he
suddenly felt that he was healed, and went to take the usual service. His
doctor was a member of the congregation, and was horrified to see him in the
pulpit and begged him to come down. All that Mr. Muller could say was My dear brother, I am
healed. The doctor afterwards examined him and could only pronounce
that he was well. Surely, Mr. Muller thought, the gift of healing can be
restored to the Church. He started a prayer meeting early on Sunday mornings.
Many came week after week. But, before long, numbers fell off and finally, on
one Sunday, no one came and the pastor was left alone. He stopped the prayer
meeting and made a careful study of the situation. He found, as anyone can,
that healing was performed by apostles and by those on whom they laid hands,
but that, after early days, there was no
satisfactory evidence that the gifts of healing were continued, and
he regretfully came to the conclusion: it was not Gods will that they should
be. But, what about his case? He never had a doubt that he was miraculously
cured, there must be exceptions to the general rule, and he remembered the
words of our Lord to the blind man:- According to your faith be it unto you (St. Matthew
9:
29). - DEAN
CRANAGE.
-------
It is cheering
to learn that on the first Friday in Lent, women
the world over gathered for prayer. They met in cathedrals and cottages,
churches and hospitals, all using the same liturgical form of Christian
fellowship. Before entering upon the service, every group was reminded that
women were worshipping together in 60 countries and more than 1,000 tongues. In
The
disappearance of family prayers is very grave. The Bishop of Warrington writes:- It is
estimated that there may be as many as a million children in this country who
are denied the security of a happy, well ordered home and the guidance of both
their parents, as a result of divorce or legal separation. This is a serious
position, which is like a suppurating wound in the life of society, spreading
its poison in all directions.
-------
A welcome
warning is given by Edgar Hoover, director of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, who urged Americans to return
to God and the practice of daily prayer
if they want to save their children from lives of crime. More and more children are being led toward crime as parents
throw away responsibility, he says. God, in many instances, is not accepted in the home, and
concepts of morality have been relegated to the junk heap. The upswing
of major crime is the result of this condition, declares Mr. Hoover, with seventeen-year-olds leading all other age groups
in arrests for serious crime. If there is to be peace and happiness in our homes, then we,
as a nation must return to God and to the practice of daily family
prayer. Families that pray together stay together.
KNOW THE
TRUTH OF WHAT YOU ASK
A godly matron
in an American hospital was once asked by a sceptical student, Would your God
give me a hundred dollars if I asked Him?* The matron replied, If you went to see the President for the first time would you ask him for a hundred dollars? Why, no, not till I knew him better,
was the reply. Then she said, quietly, My God gives millions of dollars to George Muller, but then George Muller knows Him very well. When you know Him better it will not be for money you will ask Him, but for what you need far more. And what is that?
The forgiveness of your sins, and a change of heart. After
that will be the time to ask for other - [much
more important and needful] - things. The soft answer went home to the young mans heart
and conscience. The matron spoke the truth in gentleness and love.
[* See Mark 10: 36-40; Luke 18: 24,
25ff.;
cf.
Matt. 10: 37,
R.V.]
-------
The Moravians
sent a mission to
[* See also the importance of the disciples sufferings
and for speaking and teaching the TRUTH:- and the ultimate outcome. (See 2 Cor. 4: 17-18b, R.V.; Eph. 5: 1, 2, R.V.; 1 Thess. 1: 6, 7, 9b-10,
R.V.; 2
Thess. 1: 4-5, R.V.; 2 Tim. 2: 8, 12 & 4: 5-8, A.V.
& R.V.; Rev.
20: 4,
R.V.]
- Monthly
Messages.
*
* * *
* *
*
30
A RABBI IN
A FEW years ago Rabbi Cook, then Chief Rabbi of
Eighteen
months later the Chief Rabbi died, and Rabbi Slotovski was transferred to Tel
Aviv, and a little later to
What are the particular passages in this Book that you are opposed
to? courteously asked the abused Jew. I cant
tell you any certain passages. None of
it is to be read, said Rabbi Slotovski, with some heat. You havent read any of it, and yet you curse this Book!
said the young Hebrew Christian, in a surprised tone. Do
you think it is wise or right to abuse a
Book you have never read?
This
sunk like a shaft of conviction into his heart. It lodged so deeply he couldnt
throw it off. Perhaps his face showed a sense of uneasiness or even
discomfiture. At least the Hebrew Christian closely followed up the victory
which he had won in pointing out the utter unreasonableness of condemning a
Book he had never read, by asking him - Wont you
take this Book and read it? I have another. The furtive glance around,
and the momentary hesitation, were followed by a quick, definite decision. He
took the Book and promised to read it. It was hurriedly thrust into his pocket.
He
could scarcely wait until he reached his home that night, that he might read
this Book. And, with a feverish eagerness he began. Many verses deeply
impressed him. Matthew 24: 35
gripped him:- Heaven
and earth shall pass away. The
more he read, the more troubled he became. He began to realize that in this Book was Truth - final, ultimate and unchanging Truth, and in this Book was [about] a Person - righteous, lovely and utterly lovable. Reading on
until 2 a.m., he could stand it no longer. He must do something. He dropped to
his knees - a thing he had never done in his life before, for this was a Christian
attitude in prayer. A certain feeling of uneasiness seized him - he must pray
to God to forgive him if he was wrong in getting down on his knees. The great
struggle was on. He prayed to God in Jesus Name to show him the truth. And no sooner had he
uttered the Name of Jesus than that
uncertain feeling came to him again. So he prayed to God to forgive him if he
had done wrong in praying in Jesus Name.
He wept, he prayed, he read more from his New Testament. He fully realized that
Jesus [our Lord] was his Messiah and his Saviour, and he
surrendered to Him - and he knew he
was saved, a new man in Christ
Jesus. - [with a
new nature and new desires]. A great joy
came to him.
For
two months he continued his duties as a Rabbi, and secretly read and studied
his Testament. Then new uneasiness seized him. He was doing wrong. If he was a
Christian he could not go on with his rabbinical duties. What should he do? He
remembered reading, Ye cannot serve God and
mammon. But then he thought of his family and how they would
suffer if he lost his fifteen
pounds a month income as a rabbi.* He
thought of what the Jews, especially the other rabbis, might do to him, if they found out he was a Christian. But he had
taken up his cross to follow Jesus, and follow he must, whatever the cost. So, he went to the synagogue and asked
that he might resign. Of course they wanted to know why. Chil Slotovski knew if
he told them there in the synagogue they would stone him, while if he told
them in his own home they would respect
(as custom demanded) the sanctity of his own home and do him no physical
violence there. So he invited them to his home where he promised to tell
them. A few days later, seated with a group of rabbis in his home came the
second major crisis of his experience.
[*
Could this be one reason why so many pastors / ministers refuse to teach their
congregation truths which they
(and their colleagues, family and friends) continually reject? It will not be
enough for entrance into the Kingdom to hear the words: ... hardly shall
they that have riches enter into the
Before
long they asked him why he was resigning as a Rabbi. Wisely, he countered by
asking them a question - Why do we Jews suffer so?
Several of the Rabbis gave answers, and an undertone of suspense and excitement
grew steadily. Finally ex-Rabbi Chil Slotovski answered his own question by
saying, - The Jews have suffered and are suffering so
now, because they crucified their Messiah and had said, His Blood be upon us and upon our children. This
bomb set off the whole works - and wild bedlam followed. Shrieking and tearing
their hair they accused him of being an
accursed heretic; but finally they left his house without doing him
physical harm.
However, the immunity that his home provided was not
good for the streets, and so about a week later a group of Jews who had heard
of his apostasy stoned him on the streets of
Now
he faced a stone wall. What should he do? Where should he go? He had no money,
no income, no prospect of getting any money. He was surrounded by enemies as
fierce as Daniel in the lions den. He could no longer send money to his wife
and children. They had no other means of support. In desperation he called on God.
A
few days later he passed a Bible house in
This
he did, and Mr. Eddleman put him in touch with a church and Christian friends.
He was baptized, and then started studying the Bible in earnest in a Bible
school in
-
The
Christian Witness.
-------
THE HOLY SPIRIT
Is
there no peril that by this constant unseating of the Spirit. He may be finally
driven from His sanctuary, repeating as He retires the solemn lament of the
Saviour: Behold,
your house is left unto you desolate? That He may, and sometines does, finally withdraw
from His temple, there can be no question. Do we not know of churches once
fervently Evangelical which are now lying under the doom of desertion by the [Holy] Spirit?
The writer thinks, with all clarity, that he has seen such; churches upon which
the Lords sentence has gone forth, Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. [Rev. 3: 1] The body may still remain indeed, the creeds and Confessions may continue in tact, and the forms of
worship may even be multiplied and vastly enriched
as the years go on. But these outward
forms are only memorials of the departed glory, like the death-mask which
preserves the mould of features which have long since crumbled to dust.
- Dr. A. J. GORDON.
-------
REST IN THE
LORD
Above all and in all do thou, my soul, rest in the Lord always, for He
Himself is the eternal Rest of His saints. Grant me, O most sweet and
loving Jesus, to rest in Thee above every creature, above all health and beauty,
above all glory and honour, above all power and dignity, above all knowledge
and subtilty, above all riches and arts, above all joy and exultation, above
all fame and praise, above all sweetness and consolation, above all hope and
promise, above all desert and desire, above all gifts and presents which Thou art able to bestow or infuse,
above all joy and gladness which the mind is capable of receiving and feeling;
finally, above angels and archangels, and above all the host of heaven, above
all things visible and invisible, and above all that falls short of Thyself, O Thou, my God! For
indeed, my heart cannot truly rest, nor be entirely contented, unless it finds
its rest in Thee, and
mounts above all gifts and above all creatures.
- THOMAS A KEMPIS
*
* *
* * *
*
31
A NEGRO GOD
By D. M.
PANTON
WE pass on the most startling fact concerning an
Antichrist now in the world that we have ever encountered in our life.
A
Vicar (personally known to the Editor) has a very attractive daughter who
professed conversion in the Keswick Convention at the age of fifteen, and who
for seven years gave satisfactory evidence of having been born again: the
great-granddaughter of one of the greatest students of prophecy in the nineteenth
century. For five years now she has worshipped a
Negro God - Father Divine - and
says she has never been so happy in her life. Her father is heartbroken. Even more astounding, it was the wife of a
Methodist Minister personally known to the Editor), himself a spiritualist, who
won the girl to the worship of Father Divine. It is reported that Father Divine
has more than 50,000,000 worshippers throughout the world.
Godhead
The
tragedy and the fearful danger which this case reveals makes wise for us to study
this Antichrist. First, we have
Father Divines claim to the Godhead. (1) I am
unfolding the mystery of my actual supernatural, omnipotent, and omniscient
presence. Be conscious of God; not only the Son, but God Himself.* (2)
As I am universal. There is no comparison with any
mortal man on the face of the earth. (3) The
body of God: that is what I am talking about. God Himself (not someone else)
shall be with them and be their God; no longer something just imaginary, but a
living reality. I am doing away with the first imaginary heaven now, that was
not a heaven in reality. From your imagination I have brought you into the
recognization and realization of the personification of your God. The word is
made flesh and dwells among you. (4) The first Adam was of the earth, earthy, and the second Adam was the Lord from heaven. So it was a greater
unfoldment of my Deity in the second than in the first one: I reproduced the
perfect expression of God. (5) Many people
ask me, when did I begin my work? As a Deity, God is without the beginning of
days, and without the end of life. (6) My
spirit is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. One and all can see and know
beyond a shadow of a doubt that God Almighty is here personified.
* All the
quotations in this article are taken from the official organ of the sect, The New Day, dated January 3rd
and January 10th 1948. Two lengthy interviews between Father
Divine and the Vicars daughter are recorded in these issues.
Worship
The
response of his worshippers could not be more explicit. A Mr. Joy, a Baptist minister, says:- Thank you, Father, God Almighty. One of his staff says:- Born into the Royal Household of God, we become subject to
His holy attributes, characteristics and disposition, and reproduce the virtues
of God Almighty. As we imbibe his healing words, we become a new creature, for
truly his words are Spirit and Life. For thy mercy to the children of men,
Almighty God, we humbly thank thee. His wife, Mrs. Divine, says:- It is such a blessing
to be in this holy, beautiful atmosphere, where we can worship you in the
beauty of holiness. O God, our Father, we do thank you for coming and bringing
your holy body and transmitting to us all your beautiful attributes. He has
united us together from all parts of the world, from all nations, languages,
tongues, and people from all religions.
Salvation
It
inevitably follows that Father Divine claims to be the sole giver of salvation. (1) God in the midst of
you is mighty to save. But convincing you God is actually present is the great
essential and the only hope of your redemption. (2) Lots of people are convinced that my doctrine is right, and
it is the only hope of their salvation as well as the salvation of others.
(3) As one of those addressing him said:- I ask you,
Father, to cleanse me and make me realize, make me know, that you are my
Creator, my God, and my salvation.
World-Rule
So
also Father Divines aim is to establish a universal kingdom. We shall have a Righteous
Government and none shall lack in Gods abundance, and God shall reign, for
this truly is Christs administration - his own government - in the name of the Lord of lords and King of kings.
So he says again:- We shall have a righteous
government from shore to shore and from land to land: all the kindreds of the
earth shall be united together, and there shall be no division among them.
So once more:- I am going to have a glorious church
without a spot or wrinkle, and as it is right here under my personal jurisdiction
so shall it be all over this wide extended plane, and all humanity shall live
in joy, peace, and contentment. So a desire which the Antichrist will
alone be able to fulfil - a world-religion, with all men worshipping him (Rev. 13: 8) - is
already the dream of Father Divine.
Origin
Not
a great deal seems known of the history of Father Divine. This negros name is George Baker, and in 1899 he
was a Sunday School teacher in a Baptist chapel, which was visited by an
evangelist named Samuel Morris. This
evangelist was thrown out of the Church because he taught that his body was
Gods body and that therefore he was God, on the ground that ye are the
Our Peril
There
is one extremely important fact, a fact, which we need to bear carefully in
mind, that is revealed in Father Divine. Our Lord said:- There shall arise false christs and false prophets (Matt. 24: 24):
that is, christs;- either a returned Christ, or a fresh Christ; but
pure falsehoods. Father Divine says that our Lord ascended into heaven, but has
returned to earth, and that he (Father
Divine) is Christ. Exactly so
our Lord foretold:- Many shall come in my name, saying,
I AM the Christ;
and shall lead many astray (Matt.
24:
5). So Father Divine says:- Other
planets could have been blessed and redeemed before I condescended to descend
to this planet and prepare me a body in the body called Mary in the name of
Jesus. Throughout Faher Divine claims to, teach what Christ taught. As you know, I preach and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ
as recorded by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In the words of Mrs. Divine:- The
Blessed Babe was born in
A Universal
Religion
A recent writer (Thomas
F. Cooke) has revealed how in Mahatma
Gandhi were the religious deceits which will probably be the attractions to
win the world to Antichrist. He says (Guardian, Mar. 5, 1948):- Mahatma Gandhi has gathered up all that is highest in all
the teachings of the religions of the world - Christianity included - and woven
them together into a humanistic pantheistic system based on soul force. Whereas
in the past Christianity has had to meet a large variety of irreconcilable
religions, each of comparatively low moral and ethical standards, in the future
Christianity will have to face a united religious system of equal moral and
ethical status and having as its head Mahatma Gandhi, as the incarnation of the
Father, who has offered himself, with Guru Baba Nanak, Mohammed, Jesus of
Nazareth, Zoroaster, Buddha, Confucius, Krishna Vishnu as great teachers, or
even incarnations of the Christ, each bringing in the highest of their messages
to mankind. Thus be brought into shape a universal religion, which will
fool the votaries of all creeds, and which will enthrone the Antichrist on the
altar of the world.
-------
ANTICHRIST
The Midnight Cry gives an interesting comment on the possibility that
Antichrist is now among men. If we are as close to
the end of the Age and the rapture as most of us think we are, the antichrist
would have to be alive in the world to-day. His identity as such will not be
known until he arises to the position where he can make the covenant with the
Jews. When Jesus was here upon earth, His mission was known to a very few close
friends and to His mother; and even after His ministry had begun and He was
presented to the people as the promised Messiah, they said, Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joses,
and of juda and Simon, and are not his sisters
here with us,
and they were offended at him. The antichrist
will arise from obscurity but gradually come into political power. We cannot
doubt that many have seen him, but do not know him as The Man of Sin.
-------
RAPTURE
The belief
that the [whole] Church must
go through the Great Tribulation* can have a
startling effect. Does the Church go through the Tribulation? asks Dr. Sale Harrison, quoted by Christian Life. The answer affects everything
in the Word. Usually those who believe this, take on something else.
One woman said, I lost Christ as the
centre of prophecy. I lost interest
in tract distribution. I do not
believe the Jews are going back to their land and I do not believe in the imminent return of the Lord. Dozens thanked God that they had been led back. I am alarmed
because so many here and in
[* Note
the conditions
required.]
-------
WATCHING
Our right attitude is well expressed by E. W. Mills. When
I believe in the appearing of the Lord Jesus
Christ, I find I am centralizing my thinking. When I look for His appearing I sanctify my working. I am bound to. It
would never do for me to render a shoddy days work to my earthly employer, or
to rob him of time, if I believed that Jesus Christ was coming that very day.
Then, when I love His appearing, I
beautify my living.
I cannot help it: the whole thing is
glowing and glorious.
-------
PENTECOSTALISTS
The
peril of the untested supernatural grows all the time. The Pentecostal movement
(says Christian Life and Times) is continuing to grow throughout the world
with astounding rapidity. Some 6,000 Pentecostal churches have sprung up in the
Consequences. The consequences for other Churches are grave. Said Bishop Paul Garber of the European Area of The
Methodist Episcopal Church and former president of
Caution. But
here we need to be extremely cautious. A letter from a correspondent in The Christian (Mar. 18, 1948) is gravely unwise:- The
writer, a few years ago, witnessed in
[* 1 John 4: 1, 2, R.V. reads:- Beloved,
believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of
God: because many false prophets are gone
out into the world. [2] Hereby know ye the Spirit of
God: every spirit which confesseth that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every
spirit which confesseth not Jesus is not of God.]
Testing. The excellence of the person speaking in tongues is no sufficient proof of the excellence
of the spirit possessing him - exactly as in the mediums of Spiritualism. With one of the Cambridge Seven (who afterwards left the Tongues
Movement) while he was speaking in an unknown tongue,
the writer challenged the spirit, - Did Jesus Christ come in the flesh? and received, in a low and reluctant tone, the reply,
- I have always believed so. Who can imagine
the Holy Spirit so answering the question? But he
claimed to be the Holy Spirit.
*
* * *
* * *
32
INCARNATE GODHEAD
IN view of the
Antichrists now rapidly approaching, and the Antichrist seated in the
The
Apostles never warned their hearers against over-exaltation of Christ, lest
they fell into idolatry; Jesus never asked anyone to pray for Him, not even in
Paul
next reveals a still more wonderful truth - a truth amazing and astounding. All things, he says, have been created through Him, and for him, or unto him: that is, all things have come into being, have
sprung into existence, for Christ. The whole universe is concentrated upon Him: it was
made for His glory: He is the Coping-stone which coheres the whole together: He
made it for Himself. So Heaven was
created for Jesus: it is
prepared for Him; it reflects His glory; it is filled with His praise; it is
His home; and He is going to make it the many mansions of His bride. Earth was
created for Jesus:- a place for Him to live on, and to die on; a home
for the sons of men, that He might become a Son of man; soil in which to plant
a cross, and rock from which to hew a tomb; a province in His vast universe one
day to become His for ever. Creation is no chance chaos, but an ordered
progress and a co-ordinate harmony, culminating in Christ: it is a composite,
coherent, organic whole, so cohering in Him, that, if He loosed His grip for a
moment, it would burst asunder into its original nothingness. All nature is a
masterly unity centred in Christ, and made for Him, and revealing our blessed Lord as
seated on the full throne of Deity.
Paul
now advances to a new, and very peculiar and little known, revelation - a fresh
glory of Jesus which exalts our Lord still higher, in a rather extraordinary
way. For, he says, the whole fulness of God was pleased to dwell in Him. The whole fulness of God - not a single cluster of Divine attributes; not a
lovely handful of Divine glories; not a fragment of Diety - but the whole. But we observe a subtle and most important distinction. After the
Resurrection, the
whole fulness of God was pleased to dwell: what does
this mean? In Christ as Creator, and Coheir of the universe, dwells, and has
always dwelt, the Fulness of
Deity: but, as He is one Person of the Deity only, obviously not all the Fulness dwelt in Him. It pleased -
Persons therefore are referred to, for only persons can be pleased - the whole fulness of God - that
is, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - to dwell - to take up
abode as the Shekinah in the
Now
we arrive at the answer to Philips request, and perhaps the most wonderful
revelation of all. For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. The in
Him is emphatic; that is, in Him alone:
and the word is not divineness, as in Rom. 1: 20, but the Deity, Godhead, the
Divine Essence: not divineness dwelt in Christ, but the Godhead. But the marvel
concentrates in the word bodily. Before
His Incarnation the Fulness of Deity was in Him as
a Spirit: after His Incarnation the Fulness of the
Godhead dwelt in Him bodily, that is, in Him as
a
-------
A PRESENT SAVIOUR
Sir
James Simpson, one of
*
* * *
* * *
33
THE KINGDOM A REWARD
THERE
are passages of Scripture which plainly indicate that only those who are fully
given up to the Lord, and are faithfulto Him, will
share the place of administration with Christ. We do not agree in every
particular in what Mr. R. Govett has said upon this point, but the following
quotation is of interest.
Will all believers, then, reign with
Christ? By no means. The Kingdom of the thousand years is never said to belong
to those who only believe. There are not a few texts addressed to believers
which declare that certain classes of them shall not enter the kingdom.
1. Those whose (active)
righteousness shall not exceed that of the Pharisees (Matt. 5: 20).
2. Those who, while
professors of Christs name, do not the will of His Father (Matt. 7: 21).
3. Those guilty of strife,
envy, and contention. (Luke 9: 46-50; Mark 9: 33-50; Matt. 18: 1-3).
4. Rich disciples (Matt. 19: 23; Luke 6: 24; 18: 24).
5. Those who deny the Millennium (Luke 18: 17; Mark 10: 15).
6. The unbaptized (John 3: 5).
7. See also 1 Cor. 6: 9, 10; Gal. 5: 19-21; 6: 7, 8; Matt. 10: 32, 39; 16: 26; 18: 17, 18; Luke 9: 26.
Those who sit on the throne are evidently crowned
ones, for the throne-sitters are always those who are crowned. We know from
many Scriptures that all the saints will not be crowned, and therefore all will
not enjoy the high places of sitting on the throne. Christs injunction to the
Church at
Yet again we listen to what our Lord said to the disciples,
when some of them were desirous of sharing in Christs earthly kingdom, and
when, also, Peter called attention to what he had given up for the sake of the
Lord (Matt.
19:
28),
Verily I say
unto you, that ye who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall
sit on the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve
tribes of Israel.
What an urgent call this is to go in for all that the Lord has
for us, for those who are willing to suffer with Him now will
surely reign with Him in His coming glory.
Again, John says, I saw, and this time it was those who had been beheaded because of
the testimony of Jesus, and because of the Word of God. This body of martyrs is
a special set of people. They are evidently a part of that company which John
had previously seen, and who are described under the fifth seal as those who
had been slain because of the Word of God, and because of the testimony which
they held. And when he had
opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar - [i.e., in Sheol / Hades (See Matt. 12: 40. cf. 16: 18; Luke 16: 23; Acts 2: 27, 34, R.V.)] - the souls
of them that were slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony which they held
And white robes
were given unto them: and it was said unto them, that they should rest vet for a little season,
until their
fellow-servants also, and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled
(Rev.
6:
9-11). The whole company is now seen.
This special class is further described as those who had not
worshipped the beast nor his image, nor received his mark on their foreheads or
on their hand. We know there will be a terrible time of slaughter after
the - [Pre-Tribulation (See Luke 21:
36;
cf.
Rev.
3:
10,
R.V.)] - Church is removed, and during the
Great Tribulation, so much so that not a single believer of those days will
escape death.
This martyred company will share a peculiar privilege in a
distinct resurrection which is called the First. We must not confuse the First
Resurrection with the pre-resurrection of 1 Thess. 4, when the dead in Christ are raised. Many
will say that we thought the first resurrection included the redeemed of this
dispensation, and they come to this conclusion because of the word first.
Dr. Bullinger has gone into this matter of first and second in a very explicit
way, and I cannot do better than quote in extenso what he says
This is the first resurrection: or
this completes the first resurrection. There is an ellipsis of the verb in this
sentence; and we may supply completes, having in mind the several
resurrections which shall before then have taken place. It is also a fact that,
when two ordinal numbers are used in such a connection as this, they are used
relatively. The one is first in relation to the second, which follows: and not
to what may have occurred before. In like manner, the second stands in relation
to the first. Hence, in English we always say, in such cases, former and
latter, where we have only two things thus related: and not first and second,
unless there are more to follow in the series. It
is the same in chapter 21: 1, where we read of the new heavens and the new earth: for the first heaven and the
first earth were passed away.
Here again we have two things standing in related
contrast, the first and the new; i.e., the new and the one
that immediately precedes it: the former, and not the first. For the present heavens
and earth which are now (2 Peter 3: 7) are not the first. For Scripture tells us, of three, of
which the present is the second. In 2 Peter 3: 6, 7, 13, we read of the first - the world that then was (Gen. 1: 1) of the second - the heavens and the earth which are now; and of the third - a new heavens and a new
earth, for which we now look.
This (second of three) is what is called in Rev. 2: 1, the first of the latter two.
Hence this first resurrection is the former of the two
mentioned in this verse: and not the resurrection of the Church (the Body of
Christ, revealed in 1 Thess. 4: 16, 17. This special resurrection (1 Thess. 4: 16) must be carefully
distinguished from that which is called the first resurrection in Rev. 20: 6. The word first in 1 Thess. 4: 16, does not refer to the first resurrection, so called in Rev. 20: 6, but merely records the
order of events, and simply states that the dead in Christ will rise first; i.e., before the taking up of either them or the living saints.
This interpretation is confirmed by what Paul says in writing
to the Church at
All these who share in what the Spirit calls the First
Resurrection are said to be blessed and
holy, and
shall reign with Christ for a thousand years. They are blessed because of the special honour that
will be placed upon them, and they are holy because they shall share
in this separated and consecrated place of holy dignity, and their special reward is that they shall not only be with Christ, but shall reign with Him in manifested
glory during that time which we know as the Millennium. - Prophetic News.
-------
HOW?
Oh, says a man, tell me about this thing: show me how salvation works. Friend, explain the dewdrop - how the
thunder and the lightning slumber in it. You cannot analyse the dewdrop - you
cannot; but God fathers it. Tell me how He kisses the little bit of black earth
in your garden and makes a bunch of primroses bloom. Tell me how He came to my gipsy
tent when there was not a Bible, before I could spell my name, before I had
ever heard of Him. Tell me how He got hold of my father, that grand old saint,
when he was rough and raw, drinking, swearing, wild and lion-like. Tell me how
God in Christ got hold of him and won the children, and saved
us all, and made these eyes - these inner eyes of my life - see Him and know He
was my Saviour. Tell me how, will you? I do not know how, but I know He did it,
- [and
for 1,000 years He will do it] - and that is enough to prove the reality of
it!
GIPSY SMITH.
-------
A WORLD SHOCK
An event is yet to occur which will give to the world its
greatest shock. The shock will consist
in the sudden and complete disappearance of myriads of its choicest inhabitants.
The disappearance will be of such a mysterious nature that it will seem as
though the earth has opened its mouth and swallowed them. However, the very
reverse will be the case; heaven will
have opened its door to receive them!
The unparalleled mystery will be deepened by the discovery
that myriads of bodies which were at rest in mother earth will be missing at
the same moment.
Doubtless all manner of explanations of this mystery will be
offered by the great ones of earth. To be sure, it will be regarded as natural phenomena, for the worlds experts will not
tolerate any thought or expression of a supernatural event.
Shortly after this exciting incident, a most powerful dictator
will dictate peace to the nations then at war, and being a genius, he will also
cause business to prosper. The world will again not only forget God and its
soul, but also its troubles. It will become inebriated - [i.e., drunk; intoxicated.] -
with the fullness of the prosperity and will cry: Peace and safety. Then shall sudden destruction come upon it.
- T.
M. OLSON
-------
CHRISTIAN,
LOOK UP
By ANNA HOPPE
Christian, look up! The dawn will soon
be breaking -
The glorious dawn which Gods Word
doth tell,
Though wars increase, and all the
earth is shaking,
Fear not! Look up! Await Immanuel!
Soon thou wilt see the Lord of Glory -
Oh, what a sunrise will His advent be!
Till then, proclaim the precious
Gospel story -
Redemption through the Lamb of
Christian, look up! Soon will be past
forever
Thy pilgrim journey through this vale
of tears.
A Home awaits thee - built by Christ
the Saviour;
No night is there, no pain, no death,
no fears.
With loved ones thou again wilt be united;
No more to say Goodbye, no more to
part.
The flowers of
Oh, blessed hope! Christian, look up!
Take heart!
Christian, look up! When dawns that
glorious morrow,
Thy every burden thou wilt soon
forget.
Now with Christs Gospel, comfort
those in sorrow;
So many eyes to-day with tears are
wet!
The way is dark, but Christ, the Light
Supernal
Will bide with thee till thy last
pilgrim mile;
Soon thou wilt sup with Him, the King
Eternal!
Oh, blessed hope! Christian, look up and
smile.
- The Advent Witness.
* *
* * *
* *
34
THE PRIZE
By MISS E. M. LEATHES
BEYOND
the wondrous gift of Eternal Life in Christ Jesus, Paul unveils a marvellous
secret of a prize to be won, and a priceless treasure to be secured by all who are willing to count the cost.
We find him declaring with eager intensity, I press on, if so be that
I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus.
Brethren, he cries, I count not myself yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do,
forgetting the
things that are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before,
I press on
toward the goal unto the Prize of the Upward Calling of God in Christ Jesus. And what is the Goal towards which
Paul is stretching every nerve and flinging away every hindrance that he may
reach it? He then reveals his most thrilling secret. Howbeit, he declares, what things
were gain to me, those have I counted loss for Christ. Yea verily,
and I count all
things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:
for Whom I
suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may gain
Christ (or
win) (Phil.
3:
12,
13,
14,
7,
8. Amer. R.V.)
And for those who are out to win this prize the Apostle gives
another illustration. Paul had probably watched the runners who competed for
the prize in the Greek Games, when the winner received a laurel crown. Know ye not, he asks, that they
that run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? Even so run; that ye may attain. We know that the competitors in these
races had to undergo a very arduous physical training beforehand. So Paul
continues, Every man that
striveth in the games exerciseth self-control in all things. Now they do it to
receive a corruptible crown but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run,
as not
uncertainly so fight I, as not beating the air: but I buffet my body, and bring it into
bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others,
I myself should
be rejected
(or disapproved from the prize) (1 Cor. 9: 24-27.
Amer. R.V.) Note the Lords words to the lukewarm
I am certain there are many of Gods - [regenerate,
and] - intrepid - [i.e., fearless and brave
(Oxford Essential English Dictionary, p. 311)] - followers today, who are being
tested beyond all their natural resources: it is at such a time when
absolute reliance on God alone will avail. A free translation of 2 Cor. 12: 10, runs thus - I
take pleasure in being without strength, in being chased about, in being cooped
up in a corner, for when I am without strength, I am dynamite. And now
comes to us ringing down the centuries from the depths of a Roman dungeon the
triumphant shout of that old battered and wounded warrior, Paul. He exclaims, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the
faith: henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of Righteousness,
which the Lord,
the Righteous
Judge, shall give to me at that Day; and not to me only, but also to all
them that have loved His Appearing (2 Tim. 4: 7, 8. Amer. R.V.)
- The Midnight Cry.
-------
EXAMPLE OR SUBSTITUTE?
At the close of a preaching service in
German-town, a stranger came to Dr. Stearns and said, I
dont like your preaching; I do not care for the Cross. I think, said the stranger, that instead of preaching the death of Christ on the Cross, it would be
far better to preach Jesus, the teacher and example. Said Dr. Stearns:- Would you then be willing, if I
preach Christ, the Example to follow in His steps. Then, said Dr. Stearns, let
us take the first step. All right,
said the stranger. This, said Dr. Sterns, is the first step, who did
no sin. Can you take this step? The
stranger was somewhat confused. No, said the stranger, I do
sin; I acknowledge it. Then,
said Dr. Stearns, you do not need Christ for an example,
you need Christ for a SAVIOUR.
* *
* * *
* *
35
REGATHERING
By MILTON B.
LINDBERG
WITHIN a year or more the
so-called Dispersion of the Jews (Goluth) in
In short, says Mr.
Zuckerman, the Jewish scene in
When were the Jews dispersed in all the nations of the earth?
Nearly 1,900 years ago! When did the sacrifices cease? Nearly 1,900 years ago!
When were the sanctuaries made desolate and
Did the Prophet like unto Moses come, and was He rejected
1,900 years ago? But thou,
Bethlehem-Ephrathah, says Micah in chapter 5
of his prophecy out of thee shall
one come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in
In spite of the huge influx of people absorbed into a small
territory in wartime.
Chapters
30 and 31
of the prophet Jeremiah
describe a gathering out of all countries back to the mountains of
Better the chastening rod, with salvation the result, than no
chastening and no return to God. Confirmation of the truth that
Deliverance, regathering, and restoration of the covenants
which God made with the fathers are promised on one condition. Only acknowledge thine iniquity that thou hast transgressed
against the Lord thy God ... and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family,
and I will bring
you to Zion ... At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord;
and all the
nation shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem;
neither shall
they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart ... and they shall come
together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an
inheritance unto your fathers (Jeremiah 3: 13-18).
The order is plain: after acknowledgment of the iniquity which
brought on this 1,900-year dispersion comes regathering to the Land of their
fathers. No such national acknowledgment has yet been made. The Nation has had
the predicted sorrows in her dispersion, but she has not yet had the time of Jacobs
trouble which shall
be sufficiently severe to bring her to repentance.
In the meantime, therefore, we have the continuing fulfilment
of the words of the rejected Jesus. In British Hachodosho, New Testament, Luke 21,
Jesus tells His followers, all Jewish at that time, how they should be
delivered up to the synagogues, thrown into prison, and betrayed by their own
brethren and kinsfolk. Judgment would therefore fall upon the unbelieving
Nation. And when ye shall
see Jerusalem compassed with armies, He told them sadly, then know that the
desolation thereof is nigh ... And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led
away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the
times of the Gentiles be fulfilled (verses 20-24).
The period which Jesus called the times of
the Gentiles is,
therefore, not yet fulfilled. The fact that
The present gathering, therefore, is not the final regathering
when the Messianic hopes of
- The Jewish Era.
-------
UNBELIEF IN THE CHURCHES
The deep undermining of faith inside the churches is now
visible to other eyes than those which, sharpened by
sorrow, watch for the dawn beyond the coming crash. Every
one will agree, says a correspondent in the British
Weekly, that to-day there are vast
multitudes to whom the records of the resurrection of Christ bring no
certainty. We might even put it stronger than that. They leave a great many
people in despair. Is the testimony available sufficient to support the
tremendous fact? I believe the number who feel the
answer to this must be in the negative is very great - greater than, perhaps,
we have any conception of. They are to be found in all
our Churches. They are to be found, a great host of
them, outside of our Churches. For an immense number of people in the world
Easter is the saddest day of all the year. On that day
old things are recited from which the life has fled. We have to face the facts.
If the Church is bold enough to face the truth it must be ready for a schism
that will try the bravest. With the substructure of the Resurrection the
whole of Christianity collapses; and the schism contemplated is
apostasy.
ANGLICAN DISRUPTION
Meanwhile the Anglican Community faces a real peril of
disruption. It is all but certain, says Mr.
E. H. Blakeney in the National Review, that the attitude
of the extremists will provoke such a reaction that the disruption of the
-------
WORLD NEED
Any handful of missionary facts sting
like nettles.
Outside
* *
* * *
* *
36
PROPHECY
By D. M.
PANTON
HIGH up
above the sunset of literally a dying world, a sunset black and lurid, there
hung one lonely blazing star- Enoch, the only saint of God lifted up before us
in a prelude to the last judgments, the Epistle of Jude. There was born into the
world a child who has never died; a man whom the Holy Spirit carefully calls the seventh
from Adam (Jude 14) - that is, a type of all who will enter earths seventh
millennium, the sabbath-rest that remaineth, without seeing death;
the man who, as the first preacher of the Second Advent in the oldest extant
bit of literature in the world, held aloft a blazing head-lamp of prophecy
pouring a stream of light down five thousand years, and a man who fulfilled his
own peculiar rapture - prophecy by never dying. His years were three hundred
and sixty-five: it was a completed life, a finished work, an ended discipline,
a won crown: it pictured Gods year of grace rounded off with the deathlessness
of the rapt.
Prophecy presents us with the fixed termini to which all
things are streaming; so that we understand the present by means of the blazing
headlamp in front, illuminating all the shining lines that run from our very
feet up to the far goal. Dr. Clifford says of the Great War:- At first we were stunned when the blow fell upon us so
suddenly and unexpectedly. Speaking for myself, I felt as though I could not
pray for two or three days. The hopes that had been cherished for half a century
and seemed to be approaching their realisation were speedily and suddenly
blighted. Those who ignore or disbelieve prophecy are under dangerous
illusions, and coming events will shake and possibly shatter the very
foundations of their faith. God does not say that prophecy is a dark place, in
which it is unwise for us to grope: He says that it is the lamp, and the only
lamp, that luminates the darkness of a mysterious and otherwise unintelligible
world. How dangerous these illusions are! The religious leaders of
II.
Prophecy Alone Can Shape the True Conduct of the Church
A sharp cleavage now (as ever) sunders the
III. - Prophecy Foretells Approaching Evil in
Order to Prevent its Advent
Prophecy is no easy acquiescence in coming evil: rather it
creates what a mother feels when she sees a serpent gliding stealthily towards
the cradle. Edmund Burke unconsciously expressed the whole philosophy of
prophecy when he said:- If they (the moderate
reformers in the French Revolution) had thought it
possible such things would happen, such things
would never have happened. Had the Antediluvians believed Enoch and Noah, and turned to God,
there would have been no Flood: the whole world perished because it did not
heed prophecy. The long-suffering of God waited (1 Pet. 3: 20) for a repentance which never came.
IV. - Prophecy is Bound by the Holy Ghost upon
every Child of God
Whereunto ye DO WELL that ye take
heed (2 Pet. 1: 19), that ye bend your mind in systematic and continuous study: God approves,
endorses, and commands prophetic study; and even the greatest prophets studied
prophecy, as Daniel studied Jeremiah. The prophets
sought and SEARCHED DILIGENTLY what
time or what manner of time the Spirit of God did point unto, when IT testified beforehand (1 Pet. 1: 10). Seventeen books of the Old Testament,
four of the New, and immense portions of the rest - it is said, a third of the
Bible - are pure prophecy. Prophecy is Gods mind concerning the future
projected into the present; its study brings us into peculiar intimacy with
God, even as Jehovah, when about to destroy
* Jude states that mockers at Second
Advent truth will abound at the last. Dr. A. E. Garvie,
in an address which captured the assent of
the International Congress of Congregationalists in
V. - Prophecy is an Extraordinary Incentive
to Service
No mightier missionary force has moved the modern world than
the impetus which has put more than a thousand missionaries in the vast
VI. - Prophecy Makes This World a Preparation
for the Next
One of the only two men ever honoured, throughout the history
of the world, with immediate translation to God lived in the midst of a society
encompassed with domestic cares and marriage problems. Enoch walked with God after
he begat Methuselah (Gen. 5: 22). Marriage is no bar to
achieving one of Gods highest honours, and the home can be the nursery of the
saint. But Enochs life proves much more: it proves that a life can be the most
shining in a darkness that is as pitch. The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in
the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually, and the
earth was filled with violence (Gen.
6:
5).
One of the most eminent statesmen in
VII. - Prophecy Brings Us into the Closest
Intimacy with God
Enoch walked with God after
he begat Methuselah; and Enoch
walked with God: a repetition
which is not a tautology, but an emphasis, revealing the ground of all that
followed. God created man that he should walk with Him, even as they walked
together in
So we arrive at the tremendous climax. Enochs star suddenly
disappears in the Dawn. And he was not; or as Paul puts it, he was not found - happy is the man who is missed! not found, for
his body was gone: for God look
him; the Hebrew
means, took to Himself (Calvin);
and Paul makes what is meant unmistakable, adding, that he
should not see death. Death never
dared to look into the eyes that kindled into immortality. The setting of the
statement is extraordinary. Ten patriarchs, in whose every case but one the
chief thing noted is that he died ; in the chapter fullest
of death in the Bible, suddenly, at the seventh name, there comes the flash of
immortality; one deathless life illumines a chapter of constant death. The
manner of Enochs disappearance must have been secret, for, since he was not found, he must have been searched for: his
removal was a representative removal, and so shows the secrecy of the coming flight:
we are told that every eye shall see Him descending, but we are never told that
any eye shall see them ascending. God showed in the very dawn of the world
that the body is to be redeemed as well as the spirit; that godliness is
extraordinarily profitable; that the ultimate home of His heavenly people is in
a world beyond; and that personal holiness, as well as personal faith, is to characterize the removed. By faith Enoch was
translated -
not only the act of faith, but the life of faith; first
saving faith, then faith step by step as he walked with
God; including a passionate faith in
the Second Advent (Jude 14): and he was
not found because God translated him; for before his translation he hath had witness
borne to him that he had been
well-pleasing unto God (Heb.
11:
5). What wealth of meaning lies hidden in
- he was not! He was not any longer a toiling, suffering,
sorrowing servant of God: he was not any more baffled by Satan, tempted by the world, struggling
desperately with the flesh: he was not vexed any more with the filth and savagery and horror of a devilish
world: he was
not any longer sternly
battling in the midst of an unbelieving Church and a godless world:
he was not face to face with the agony of
horror-struck multitudes, with faces white with terror, flying up the
mountains.
-------
BISHOP ELLICOTT
The golden words of Bishop Ellicott, in the sunset of his
life, should sink deep into te
hearts of all. He says:- I
am deeply persuaded that the time has come for the final appeal to that which alone is final, the revelation of
Almighty God, not simply to the mind, but to the heart, and to the deepest convictions of the soul. Creeds are helpful - to many minds profoundly helpful, because in
them the voice of authority speaks out distinctly and clearly; but the time
seems now to have come when we must fall
back on that from which creeds were derived, and ourselves draw
from that ever-living Word the message which it has for us in this our own age, and amid the circumstances and characteristics of modern civilisation
and life.
* *
* * *
* *
37
HAS THE CHURCH MISSED THE MARK?
By A YOUNG CHRISTIAN
This article by an unnamed young
believer in The British Weekly (Aug.
11, 1949) is most refreshing, as proving that there are golden young hearts
which will stand for Gods truth in the coming world crisis. - D. M.
PANTON.
THE
Church, so Im told, has failed in its purpose. I am not in favour of the past
tense. Rather I would say, it is failing. Why is this?
Paul, you will remember, spoke of pressing toward the mark of
my high calling. If we,
members of the twentieth-century Church, are honestly trying to follow Christ,
Pauls high calling must be ours and therefore the Churchs also.
The Church, in its infancy, was merely a band (a large one, I
grant you) of men and women who loved Christ more than life itself, and sought
to be like Him. They wanted to do (and did) the things that He had done. They went about doing good. They told others about Him,
about His love, His death and, most important of all, the glorious news of His
resurrection.
The Church has travelled a long and a painful way since then. But - it turned the world upside down! Not even the imperial Roman eagle could stop its advance. Men
lived gloriously and died singing, for its sake, why? What was its attraction?
Because it proclaimed good news of a Loving Father Who wanted all men to be His sons.*
It proclaimed victory over death and a new way of life. A way of Love and Mercy
in a world of barbarity. Who, but the mean heart, could help being attracted to
it? This glorious creation survives among us - as a rather special social club.
[*
Note the distinction made in Scripture between sons
and children: the sons
- it has been said - will be those who will REIGN with Christ in the Day of His coming Messianic and
A Church I know is described as active, and has, for these days a
fairly large following. It has a good dramatic society, a fairly good concert
party, but Im afraid there is little emphasis in that Church on the Divine Destiny of
Dont you think we are being rather paltry? Arent we missing
the mark of our high calling? The Church should be
demonstrating a Way of Life, not seeking
merely to entertain. In our anxiety to popularise Church-going we have employed quite a number of the
devices of secular entertainment.
Unfortunately, instead of the Church
converting them to its own use, as
it might have done, they have
converted the Church.
We have well-run socials full (usually?) of good fellowship,
concerts by the score, sewing parties (excellent things for a purpose), but do we care a jot about the spread of the Kingdom? Do we mind that the Church is
missing the mark? That the world counts it - [in this respect, and rightly so] - a failure?
We are meeting expenses, you say. Excellent! We are keeping
our doors open. Fine! Splendid work, but what about the mark? What is the mark? Lets examine it
again in case we have forgotten.
The Church was surely intended to exist as the Body of Christ on earth. His Hands, with which to do good, His Voice to teach the way of
Love and Mercy. His Voice telling Men the startling, thrilling news that
they are called
to be sons of God. Its a frightening thought that every
time we do something we hope no one has seen; every time we put up
with something we ought to put right, we are betraying Christ as
surely as Judas did and with less excuse. We have had nearly two thousand years in
which to get things into their right perspective. Its no use each of us
saying:
Well! Why look at me? What can I do?
What about the others? Never mind the others. We must get ourselves
right first. Ask God to help you remember that you are Christs Hands, His
Feet, His Voice. Remember that by what you do and say, the Church is judged. It is the responsibility of each member to assist the Church to leave behind
its social club days and become once again the Messenger of God, pressing toward the mark.
-------
THE FRATERNAL
Scriptural Christians would do well to
watch with thoughtful sympathy and prayer the quiet rising tide embodied in the
Fraternal Union for Bible Testimony. With an inconspicuous platform and the
slightest of organisations, large gatherings are mustering in the chief cities
of
* *
*
38
WATCH THEREFORE
By BISHOP J. C.
RYLE.
WATCH against the leaven of false doctrine. Remember that Satan can transform
himself into an angel of light. Remember that bad money is never marked bad, or
else it would never pass. Be very
jealous for the whole truth as it is in Jesus. Do not put up with a grain
of error merely for the sake of a pound of fruit, Do not tolerate a little false doctrine one bit more than you would
tolerate a little sin. Watch and pray !
Watch against slothfulness
about Bible study and private prayer. There is nothing so spiritual but we may at last do
it formally. Most backsliding began in the closet. When a tree is snapped in
two by a high wind, we generally find there had been some hidden decay. Watch
and pray !
Watch against bitterness
and uncharitableness toward others. A little love is more valuable than many gifts. Be
eagle-eyed in seeing the good that is in your brethren. Let your memory be a
strong box for their graces, but a sieve for their faults. Watch and pray !
Watch against pride and
self-conceit. Peter
said at first, Though all deny Thee, yet will
not I. Presently
he fell. Pride is the highroad to fall. Watch and pray !
Watch against the sins
of
Watch not least against
the sin of Jehu. A man may have
great zeal to all appearance and yet have very bad motives. It is quite another thing to love the
truth. Watch and pray.
Let us watch for the worlds sake. We are the books they
chiefly read. They mark our ways far more than we think. Let us aim to be living epistles of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us watch for our
own sakes. As our walk is, so will be our peace. Above all, let us watch for our Lord Jesus Christs
sake. Let us live as though His
glory was concerned in our behaviour. Let
us live as though every slip and fall was a reflection on the honour of our
Lord. Let us live as though every
allowed sin was one more thorn in His Head - one more nail in His feet.
O, let
us exercise godly jealousy over thoughts, words, and actions, over motives, manners and walk! Never let
us fear being too strict. Never, never let us think we can watch too much.
-------
THE WEEK OF PRAYER
To open the new year
with a week of prayer is a magnificent conception; and it is remarkable that,
in spite of diminishing prayer gatherings, the Evangelical Alliance reports a
wider observance of the coming week (Ja. 4 to 10)
than ever before. That it may be the power-houst it might be, we do well to ponder deeply that it is not the arithmetic of our prayers, how many they are;
nor the rhetoric of our prayers, how eloquent they be; nor the geometry of our
prayers, how long they be; nor the music of our prayers, how sweet our voice
may be; nor the method of our prayers, how orderly they may be; nor even the
divinity of our prayers, how good the doctrine may be - it is not any of these that God cares for: but rather the fervency of spirit which availeth
much.
* *
*
39
SIN AND SINS
By W. P. CLARK
SIN is the root inherited and inbred in
everyones nature. Sins are the fruit
of Sin, All have sinned and
come short of the Glory of God.
There is none
that doeth good, no, not one, not even Mary the mother of the Lord Jesus. There is no such
thing as eradication of sin, or sinless perfection, as some erroneously teach.
We can be delivered from the power of sin - sin shall not have the dominion over you, but not from its presence - that will
not be until we stand on the other side of this life. There is no need to sin. The Lord is able to guard you from stumbling, and to set you
before the presence of His Glory, without blemish, in exceeding joy,
(Jude 24, R.V.) The authorised version has kept
from falling, but in the original it is from even stumbling. Peter walked on the water,
but when he saw the wind he was afraid; otherwise he could have walked all the
way to Jesus. If the Lord is able to keep from one sin - and surely no
Christian will deny he has been kept by Him from one sin - logically He can save from all sin.
There is a tremendous difference between sins committed before conversion and those committed after it. Thank God, the first are gone
for ever, and God has used in this work every simile to illustrate and confirm
it. As far as the East is from the West,
so far hath He
removed our transgressions from us. There is no point where East begins and West ends: go
East and you go East for ever, go West and you go West for ever: the distance
between the two cannot be measured. Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea
(Micah 7:
19). The weight of the water in the sea
is so great that not the most powerful hydraulic lift can bring up anything
fallen into its depths. I am He that
blotteth out thy transgressions, and will not remember thy sins. How can God judge sins that are
blotted out and not even remembered?
Thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back, so that He cannot see them even. Wash me and I shall
be whiter than snow, Blessed is he whose sins are forgiven and whose sins are
covered, Wounded for me - wounded for me- There on the Cross He was
wounded for me - Gone my transgressions and now I am free - All because Jesus
was wounded for me. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?
All those sins of the Believer - [which
he / she has committed before conversion] - are washed away in the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus, and he may forget the things which are
behind and press on towards the mark for the prize of the high calling.
Why press on? Not only for the prize - reigning with Him for a
thousand years - but because we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ,
that every one
may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be
good or bad. So then everyone of us shall give account of himself to God: our whole life, since we became the children of God in Christ, will be in review,
and every unforgiven sin committed since then will be judged. So keep short accounts with
God, and confess - [and repent - for the remission of sins (Luke 3: 3; cf. Rev.
2: 5,
R.V.] - and obtain forgiveness of each sin as soon as we are conscious of it. If we confess our
sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness, and the blood of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanseth
- present tense, keeps on cleansing - from all sin.
What we call gross sins all Christians endeavour to avoid; we
are enjoined not once to name
them, as becometh saints. And yet, alas, there are [regenerate] believers who succumb to them. What we call little sins are not so readily
avoided; but let us remember that little sins are as much sins as big ones, and
must be confessed and put away and
either forgiven or judged - sin is sin, whatever its size. Be ye angry and sin not; we are all apt to call it righteous anger when we get angry; but as it is hard
to be angry without sinning, let us try never to be angry. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, and grieve not the Holy Spirit. Let all bitterness
and wrath and anger and clamour be put away from you with all malice,
and be ye kind
one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for
Christ's sake hath forgiven you (Ephes. 4: 26-32). Little sins easily grow into big sins -
anger to murder, evil speaking to slander, and so on. The Apostle James points
out the tongue is a little member but it can be a fire, a world of iniquity.
He also points out a
little fire may kindle a great matter. A spark from a passing engine may set on
fire and destroy acres of growing grain. The little foxes spoil the vines - the little leak in the dam may lead
to a great flood, and so on. An artist chose for his painting of Christ the
purest-faced lad he could find. Years later he chose the vilest faced man he
could find for the face of Judas, and to
his astonishment he found they were one and the same person. So little sins
grow to great sins.
-------
THE SCRIPTURES
The unanimous pronouncement of the
Archbishops and Bishops of the Anglican Communion in 1863 ran thus:- All our hopes for eternity, the
very foundation of our Faith, our nearest and dearest consolations, are taken
from us, if one line of this Sacred Book be declared unfaithful and
untrustworthy. Where the Episcopal Bench thus stood the remnant of these last - [apostate, evil and demon-deceptive] - days stand - broad-based on an inerrant
and infallible Book, which has God for its author, and Christ for its goal.
* *
*
40
FOOLISH VIRGINS
WHEN
people accept, without a Scriptural investigation, that there is only one
translation of the [living] saints at Christs second coming, they must teach that
the foolish virgins represent mere nominal Christians never having had an
experience. Every eternal securitist must accept this view for he believes that
all backsliders are included in the [Pre-Tribulation] rapture and the Bride of Christ, since, according to their teaching, they
cannot be lost.
It should be remembered that you do not trim a lamp that has
not been lighted. Sinners and nominal Christians do not have lights to shine
for Christ. It is the oil, typifying the Holy Spirit or the supply of Divine
grace, that burns within the lamps. This is entirely lacking in the lives of
the unsaved. Sinners have no interest in the coming of the Heavenly Bridegroom. There are none taking the way to meet
Him. So there is a vast line of demarcation between the ungodly, the nominal
Christian, the backslidden class, and the true born-again believer. The latter
has received forgiveness of sins, and a light to guide him.
On the other hand, the only difference between the
wise and foolish [regenerate] virgins is shown in the possession by the wise of an extra vessel of
replenishing oil, which the foolish lacked. The foolish had thought the supply of oil in their
lamps sufficient to carry them through, but the wise wanted more grace, a more abundant supply to assure them an abundant entrance in, hence had sought and
obtained it. Furthermore, the world is not awakened by the midnight cry as
it goes forth. Only the Church, the true [and obedient (see Acts 5: 32; cf. 1 John 3: 24, R.V.)] - believers - [filled with the Holy Spirit] - are awakened. And see how Jesus points out that of those
awakened, only part are ready to
enter in.
Those translated at the first phase of Jesus coming are seen
in Rev.
4
and 5.
The great harvest of believers will be translated out of the great tribulation (Rev.
7:
9-17).
Another order of believers is translated in
the middle of the seven years (Rev. 12) and still another group just before the Armageddon battle (Rev.
14:
14-16; 15: 2-3).
These saints won the victory during the
three and one-half years reign of the antichrist. The final order of the first resurrection will be after Armageddon (Rev.
20:
4-6).
Those who believe in a one event translation must wrest these
plain Scriptures to their own confusion.
- The Midnight Cry.
-------
ADVENT
All our Lords emphatic in His many Second Advent parables in Matthew 24
and 25
are exhortations warnings - [addressed to regenerate believers] - to unsleeping
watchfulness. Christ gave His disciples no reason to believe their readiness
for His coming rested on any experience of salvation they may have had. Pointed
and plain He made preparation, for the timeless and dateless Advent means
unsleeping vigilance [obedience] and
prayer. All teaching, all preaching, all activity, religious, secular or
otherwise, that to-day silences our Lords grave and solemn warnings to His own
to, Watch ye, therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all
these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man, vitiates watchfulness and makes for dangerous - [sloth, disobedience, and spiritual] - sleep.
- The
* *
* * *
* *
41
MULTIPLE RAPTURE
By W.
M. BEIRNES
THE
unsound and unscriptural teaching that the Church must go through the
tribulation comes as a result of a misunderstanding of the Scriptures dealing
with the resurrection and translation of the saints. The generally accepted
theory along this line of prophecy is that all
the believers are translated to heaven at one time. This is incorrect.
There will always be confusion on this line until the believers come to
recognize the fact that the book of the Revelation
definitely shows the
rapture of the saints in different orders and at different times during the
seventieth week of Daniel while the judgments of the Revelation are in
progress. It is at the time of trouble such as never was that the angel said to Daniel, thy people shall be
delivered, EVERY ONE that shall be
found Written in the book.
Only the Bride of Christ escapes the tribulation judgments as described in
the book of Revelation. The
reason I say this is that there are other tribulation judgments upon earth before those described in the Revelation. Matthew, in chapter 24 : 7, 8, describes a world war
followed by famines, pestilences and earthquakes as the indication that we have
entered the beginning of
sorrows. We
are now in that period, and tribulation judgments are being visited on the
earth in preparation for the revelation of the man of sin and the rapture of
the saints in their own order.
Matthew 24:
1-14 gives us a picture of world events
and signs preceding the rapture of the Bride, while verses 15-31 picture events after the rapture of the Bride of Christ, during which time other saints are resurrected and translated to heaven, and the antichrist rules the
world.
Paul says, for as IN ADAM all die, even so IN CHRIST
shall all be made alive, BUT every man in his own order:
Christ the firstfruits; afterwards they that are Christs at his coming (1 Cor.
15:
22-23).
EVERY MAN IN
HIS OWN ORDER reveals the facts verified in the
book of Revelation. Until this
truth so plainly stated in the Scriptures is understood there will always be
great confusion among the people of God.
The first order of the first resurrection was Christ. He became the firstfruits of them that slept, the first begotten of the dead, and the PRINCE of all the redeemed regal saints. See
Revelation 1
: 4-6, 13-18.
The second order of the first resurrection - [but not with immortal
bodies! See 1
Sam. 28:
11-19. Cf.
John 3:
13;
14:
3;
Acts 2:
27,
34;
2 Tim.
2:
15-18,
R.V.)] - took place a moment after - Christ came out of the grave. Study the events in Matt. 27:
50-54.
MANY bodies of
the saints which slept arose, and came out of their graves AFTER HIS RESURRECTION. Here is a literal resurrection of
many of the Old Testament saints. They are described in heaven as Living Creatures, and testify that they are redeemed
from the earth, and that they shall
- [at the time of Christs return, be resurrected with immortal bodies to] - reign on the
earth. They say that they have been made unto God kings and priests. They are
associated with the Lamb, the four and twenty elders and the 144,000 and all
together are called firstfruits.
The third order of the first resurrection will be the New Testament Bridehood saints, and these will escape
the great tribulation judgments visited upon the earth under the reign of the
antichrist.* This order is described in Rev. 4: 1-5. These verses give the rapture scene in detail. They are
seated upon thrones and crowns are placed upon their heads. They also have
harps and golden vials full of odours which are the prayers of saints. Together
with the Living Creatures they testify that they are regal saints (Rev. 5: 8-10). They are translated to heaven before
the opening of the seals for they are glorified, enthroned and crowned before
the sealed book is brought forth. They cannot be angels as some affirm for it
cannot be said that angels are redeemed from every kindred, tongue, people, and
nation.
[* See Luke 21: 34-36;
cf. Rev.
3:
10,
R.V.)]
It is inconsistent to say that we are now living under any of
the seals. If that were true then the rapture of the Bride is over and we are
left behind. When the Lamb of God takes the scaled book to open it the Living
Creatures and Elders praise God in heaven and give their testimony as to their
position in the first resurrection. When Christ takes the book these redeemed
and glorified saints fall down before the throne of God and of the Lamb, and
shout the praises of our Lord and Saviour.
This group of saints escape
the reign of the antichrist and the judgments that fall in the time of great
tribulation. After prophesying of those times of tribulation, Jesus warned
his followers,
Watch and pray 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:
36). This admonition would be unnecessary
if there was to be no escape. He has no reference here to tribulations that
come to all Christians. In the world
ye shall have tribulation. We cannot escape those tribulations, but we can, if we will
take heed, escape THE tribulation
under the reign of the antichrist.
Isaiah, the prophet, speaking with confidence of his own
resurrection, and thinking of others, says, Come my people, enter thou into thy
chambers and shut thy doors about thee: HIDE
thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation (tribulation) be overpast. For behold, the Lord cometh out of His
place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also
shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain (Isa.
26:
19-21). Again, after Zephaniah vividly
described the tribulation in the first chapter, He admonishes the people of God
to seek righteousness and
meekness, adding, it may be ye shall be HID in the day of the Lords anger. He will hide the Bride of Christ from
this dispensation in the heavens before any of the seals are opened. In Gods
message to the
The fourth order of the
rapture occurs sometime after the translation of the Bride of Christ and before the second revelation of the antichrist
to the whole world at the beginning of the forty-two months of his reign over a
federated world. They are described in Rev. 7: 9-17. The angel tells John this unnumbered
company is translated to heaven out of the great tribulation. They do not have thrones nor are they
crowned. This is the great harvest of the earth. They are raptured during the
tribulation. This statement is so clear and emphatic that even a child should
understand.
The fifth order of the rapture is seen in Rev. 12. Immediately before the opening of the second seal God seals 144,000 of the children of
The sixth order of the
rapture takes place just before the Armageddon battle. See Rev. 14: 14, 15. These saints are the final harvest
of the earth. They are not numbered. They tell us in their testimony that they lived during the time the mark of the beast was forced upon the
people of the world, but that they had gotten the victory over it (Rev. 15:
2-4). They are
raptured just before the seven last vials of Gods wrath are poured upon the
earth, and are strictly tribulation saints.
The seventh order of the resurrection consists only of those who are
martyred during the entire tribulation. From the time of the rapture of the
four-and-twenty elders, martyrs blood will flow as rivers. Millions of the foolish virgins will be
martyred during the first part of the tribulation and millions will refuse the
mark of the beast and be martyred during the last three and one-half years,
and together they are resurrected
and go into the thousand years reign. See Rev. 6: 9-11, and 20: 4-6. In this last Scripture it is stated, This is the first resurrection. Literally it is the completion of the
first resurrection. Our friends who believe the entire Church goes through the
tribulation and are translated at the
revelation of Christ as described in Rev. 19 quote this as proof, but it does not prove their
point.
There are two precious Scriptures often quoted as proof that
all believers the world over, living and dead, will be translated at the same
moment, but if that is so there could be no translation of The saints until
after the battle of Armageddon or at the time of the battle when the
tribulation martyrs are raised. Paul in 1 Thess. 4: 14-18, and 1 Cor. 15: 51-53, is merely stating that the dead saints are first raised, and
then the living ones changed and together caught up to be with Christ, but the
book of Revelation gives us the scenes of the different
orders of the rapture. It reveals the
time when each order is raptured or resurrected. Our good friends who do
not believe in the millennial reign of Christ on earth base their theory on the
Scripture which states the fact that both the wicked and the righteous are
raised from the dead. They stick by their theory and ignore the plain
statements of the Word regarding the thousand year reign. They conclude that
since the righteous and the wicked are mentioned in the same verse or chapter
there must be a general resurrection. In like manner multitudes of
pre-millennialists are missing the mark by doing the same thing regarding the
resurrection and translation of the saints at the coming of Jesus, and are
being led into many grave errors. The purpose of
Satan in this is to keep the multitudes of [regenerate] believers from making the
necessary preparation for a place in the Bride of Christ. Let us face the facts; the hour is
late, midnight is approaching, and with it comes the midnight cry waking every
believer the world over, but then it
will be too late to obtain the [extra supply of] oil (the Holy Spirit). The new birth is not enough. Forget the wide differences of
opinion as to what takes place in the heart of the believer who receives the
Holy Spirit in His fulness, and seek Him at the Point of full surrender until the witness comes. - The Midnight Cry.
-------
BYRON AND MOORE
Among the papers of the poet Moore,
who was brought savingly to Christ in his later years,
this poem was found after his death, and has now (Times, Aug. 4, 1924) been
printed for the first time. It was written,
Bard
of the broken heart! Whose sovereign skill
Has
swept the clouds that waken human woe!
Thou
tuneful tracer of the streams that flow.
In fitful tides, from
Natures fount of ill -
Making life leprous -
thence such plagues distill.
Thou who hast known what
all would madly know,
Pleasures fierce throb,
and Fames exalting glow -
The cheating joys which
through our being thrill -
Till God retrieve us! Say, if light divine
Dawns on thy soul, and
brightens to thy view,
That holy page, whence
endlessly shall shine
The
Godheads glory?
If a ray of true
Intelligence shall win
thee to the mine
Of Gospel treasure - All
that man eer knew
Of bliss and wisdom,
Byron will be thine!
*
* *
42 +
EXCOMMUNICATION AND EXCLUSION
By D.
M. PANTON
Our Lord
said to the Church in
Fornication
Now it is certain that a disciples life can be too unclean
for the
Excommunication
But Paul goes much further than this. A fact of overwhelming
decisiveness now confronts us. Paul assumes that the identical sin might sweep
through the whole assembly. He says:- Know ye not that a little leaven
leaveneth the whole lump? (1 Cor. 5: 6). What was the whole lump? Was it a mixture of good and bad
dough? or good dough only? Were all regenerate or not? Paul answers Purge out the
old leaven, he
says, that ye may be a new lump - fresh, clean dough throughout - even as
ye are unleavened. That is to say, the Church Paul is addressing were all
pure and clean; it consisted of the regenerate alone; YE are unleavened: now, Paul says, keep so; and if any
leaven has come back, purge it out. See the decisive importance of this.* Hypocrites, empty professors, nominal unregenerate members
God is not addressing at all: ye are unleavened: all you have got
to do is to keep so, and you are sure to enter the
* Naturally there are sins which exclude from the [millennial] Kingdom which do not exclude from the
Church, for the standard for the Kingdom is higher than the standard for the
Church; since the Kingdom requires fellow-occupants of the Throne of Christ,
proved worthy by the height of their devotion and achievement.
The Exclusion
So we now arrive at the tremendous revelation. It is certain
that Christians can commit these sins: it is certain that some in
* It is not stated specifically where
the excluded will be during the Thousand Years; but it is a singular confirmation that both departments of the underworld, therefore including saved souls - are emptied for the final judgment of the Great White Throne (Rev.
20:
13).
Only the wicked die in the Millennium
(Is.
65:
20).
The Peril of the Believer
If proof is still required, Pauls concluding words are finally
decisive. Such were some of you - that is, in your unconverted days; but ye were
washed - through
blood and water - but ye were sanctified - set apart for God - but ye were justified - made righteous through the
righteousness of Christ. Whom then is Paul threatening with exclusion? The
washed, the sanctified, the justified; he puts it in that order for he is
pressing their former cleanness at the moment of their conversion:- defiled, ye
were cleansed; profane, ye were hallowed; unrighteous, ye were justified. See
how finally decisive this is. Paul finds fornication in the church: he sees the
danger, not only of its spreading, but of the churchs deception as to its
consequences: therefore he threatens them openly with exclusion from the
Kingdom.* Now if only unbelievers are to be
excluded, Pauls threat is not only pointless, but unjust. Believers are
sinning: unbelievers are threatened, - is that just? Ye do wrong: therefore the
world will be punished! is that justice? Who then are these who are threatened
with exclusion? The washed, the sanctified, the justified. Are hypocrites -
false brethren who have slipped in past the church examiners - justified,
sanctified, washed? Does God reveal the sins of one set of men, and then
proceed to threaten another set of men for those sins? Listen. He that doeth
wrong shall receive again for the wrong that he hath done: and there is no respect of persons
(Col.
3:
25):
I fear lest I should find you not such as I would;
lest, when I come again,
my God should humble me before you, and I should mourn for many of them that have sinned
heretofore, and repented not of the uncleanness
and fornication and lasciviousness which they committed (2 Cor. 12: 20). It has been said that the language of chapter 5 is so broken,
it is as if Paul wrote with sobs: even as a mother over a prodigal child, he
cried, - Let my brother be smitten to death, if only
his soul be saved!
* It is extraordinarily confirmatory
that our Lord Himself bases His own Reign not on His personality, but on His
having overcome as a human servant of God; for He adds, - Even as I
overcame, and am set down with my Father
in his throne. From that angle His death was a martyrdom, and therefore
with all martyrs He reigns. And I saw the souls of them that had been beheaded for the
testimony of Jesus; and they lived, and reigned with Christ a
thousand years (Rev. 2: 4).
Final Proofs
Finally, let us marshal some of the Scriptures which
explicitly exclude carnal believers from the Kingdom. Our Lord states it to two
of the Churches in the last words we have ever received from Him. To Thyatira
He say:- He that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the end - what
a condition! - to him will
I give authority over the nations;
and he shall rule them with a rod of iron (Rev.
2:
26). To Laodicea He says:- To him that overcometh, will I give to sit down with me in my throne (Rev.
3:
21).*
So our Lord had stated it on earth:- Not every one that saith unto me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father (Matt. 7: 21) - that is, works, after faith; for no unsaved soul can do the
works of God; and He presses it with extraordinary emphasis, - The kingdom
of heaven suffereth violence, and men of
violence take it by force (Matt.
11:
12). So the Apostle Paul gives a
specially strong warning: after giving a list of the works of the flesh, he
says, - Of the which I forewarn you, even
as I did forewarn you, that they which practise
such things shall not inherit the
The more
reward you get at the Judgment Seat, the more glory and honour you will bring
to Him - F. E. MARSH.
-------
EXCOMMUNICATION
Rome dooms all non-Catholics to Hell! Once a year, on Maundy Thursday, which is the day preceding
Good Friday, a form of excommunication used
to be pronounced against all
heretics who would not acknowledge the supremacy of the Papal See. In that
denunciation is the following clause, inserted since the days of the Reformation:-
We
excommunicate and anathematise, in the name of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Hoy Ghost, and by the authority of the blessed
apostles, Peter and Paul, and by our own, all Hussites, Wyckliffites,
Lutherans, Zwinglians, Calvinists, Huguenots, Anabaptists, Trinitarians, and apostates from the faith,
and all other heretics, by
whatsoever name they are called, and
whatsoever sect they be.
* *
* * *
* *
43
DENYING THE ADVENT
By W. F. ROADHOUSE
With the vast majority of believers of all groups openly
denying or else totally ignoring
the Second
Advent, our Lords warnings become extraordinarily
significant,
with the
drastic consequences of disobedience: - D. M. PANTON.
-------
A study
of the elements that make up the essential attitude of our hearts toward the
Lord Jesus and His Return in the New Testament, actually number twelve. By no
chance could all this admonition and example be a casual matter - there are scores of references with their
contexts to Christ Coming for His faithful ones. We cite these.
1. Wait for - Heb. 9: 28, Unto them that wait for Him shall He appear a second
time, apart from sin, unto salvation. 1 Cor. 1: 7, Waiting for the revelation of the Lord. Also Rom. 8: 19, 23, 25; Gal. 5: 5; Phil. 3: 20; also 1 Thes. 1: 10.
2. Give diligence (an overplus word) - 2 Tim. 2: 15,
Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God. Heb. 4: 11.
3. Working (both ergon
and poieo,
Gr.) - Col. 4: 11, Fellow-workers unto the
4. Awake - Rom. 3: 11-13,
That now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our -
[future ]* salvation (end-time rapture) nearer ... the night
is far spent, the day is at hand. - Eph. 5: 5ff.
[* See 1 Pet. 1: 5, 9, R.V.)]
5. Watch - Luke 21: 36, Watch ye therefore ... (thus) accounted worthy to escape (in rapture). Mark 13: 35, Matt. 24: 43; Rev. 16: 15. Used 15 times.
6. Pray - Luke 21:
36, And pray always ... escape. Escape used 13 times.
7. Look for - Titus 2: 13, Looking for
that blessed hope. Jude 21, etc. Used 14 times.
8. Hasting unto - 2 Peter 3: 12, Hasting unto
the day of God.
Three times.
9. Endurance - Jas. 1: 12, Blessed is the man that endureth (hupomeno,
Gr.) temptation ... approved
... the crown. Heb. Heb. 12: 1; Matt. 24: 13; Mark 13: 13. Twelve times, and another great word (makrothumia,
Gr.), 3 times, Jas. 5: 7, 8; Heb. 6: 12, Be patient therefore unto the coming.
10. Love - 2 Tim. 4: 8, Unto
them that have loved His appearing. Contrast Demas (v. 10; Jas. 4: 4). Matt. 24: 12. The overcomers (Rev. 12: 11) loved not their lives unto
the death. The
word is hagios, the deeper word for
love.
11. Ready - Matt. 24: 44, Therefore,
be ye also ready
... the Son of man cometh. Luke 12: 40. This word is used fully 10 times re
preparedness. All things are now ready. Are we?
12. Abide - 1 John 2: 28, And now little children, abide in Him; that if He shall be
manifested, we may have boldness, not be ashamed before Him at His presence? 1 John 2:
17,
He that doeth the will of God, abideth forever. 1 Cor. 3: 14,
If any mans work abide
... Five times.
Summary - Thus there are 122 references to
ones deep, innate attitude toward our Lords Return. The worldling, the
apostate, the agnostic, the cleric minus the evangelical message (1 Cor. 15: 1-4), the all-absorbed world-betterer
without the blessed hope, these and multitudes everywhere of indifferent, self-pleasing
believers will be shortcomers in that day - not overcomers as the foregoing Scriptures reveal
these to be. It is His standard - not ours! Do we love His
appearing?
-------
THE KEY
THE key to
statesmanship in all human activities is to be found in the new Testament, Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven, and all these things
shall be added unto you is
a paradox - [i.e., a statement which seems to contradict itself but which contains a TRUTH] - which is born out by all history. For the men who
have most lastingly promoted the social, economic and political welfare of
their fellows have been precisely those who did seek first the
*
* * *
* * *
44
MYSTIC
By D. M. PANTON
* We can conceive with what unexampled rapidity, and
in what mighty proportions, that city will rise upon which the united energy,
skill and resources of the whole world will be built to represent the wealth
and pride of nations, to be the emporium of the broad earth, the home of
merchant princes, the resort of all lovers of luxury and pleasure, and,
probably, the residence of the greatest
monarch - [the coming Antichrist] - who has ever ruled over men. - G. H.
Pember.
Mystic
But far more vitally important to us is
that, in between ancient
The Harlot
But now Mystic Babylon is a Woman, and not
the Beast on which she sits. There is a critical distinction in the titles.
Imperial
But now we arrive at the startling fact
underlying her title. The words Mystery,
The Queen of Heaven
One inheritance from
(See Jer. 44: 17-19, ff.).
A Bombed
The last stage but one in the coming drama now confronts us. I saw a woman sitting upon a
scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy
(Rev. 17: 3). The Concordat drawn up between the Pope and Mussolini,
which has been ratified by the present Republic, gives the
Return to
And now we reach the marvellous climax that
is on the horizon. And the angel said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth. And I said, What is it? This is the ephah
that goeth forth; and this is a woman that
sitteth in the midst of the Ephah (Zech 5: 5). An ephah is a means of commercial transport, and was used
for carrying exports from land to land. And the goal
of the Woman seated in this Ephah reveals her identity. Then said I
to the angel, Whither do these - two other Women, that is, two other cities - bear the
ephah? And he said unto me, To
build her an house in the
*
Flight by Aeroplane
But the method of the transport is one of
the marvels of prophecy. Her return is by flight. There came forth two women,
and the wind was in their wings: now they had wings like the wings of a STORK, and they lifted up the ephah
between the earth and the heaven. Under the Law, the stork was an unclean bird, an abomination
(Lev. 11: 19,
Deut. 14: 18). It is extraordinarily confirmatory of
the meaning of this prophecy that the stork is a bird of passage, sojourning in
* The names of the cities are not revealed. Are they
Apostasy
One point is not explicitly revealed, but seems convincingly
implied - namely, the apostasy of the
*
Doom
All now closes in the final doom. Therefore in
one day shall her plagues come, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall
be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord which judged her, saying, Woe, woe, the great city
-------
AN UNLIT LAMP
In
the Canton de Vaud, in
THE BELIEVERS
RESPONSIBILITY
SLOWLY but surely through the ranks of the watchful
throughout the world the truth is precolating which Mr. Philip Mauro, the ablest teacher among the Brethren of the present generation, expresses thus:-
It would be well for those who are at ease in Zion in
these self-pleasing days, those who have imbibed the comforatable doctrine - so
acceptable to the flesh - that grace discharges us from all obligation to keep the commandments
of God, and that obedience is legality, - to ponder the teaching and example
of the apostle Paul. He was the greatest preacher of the Gospel of grace, and
the great teacher of the doctrine of grace. But the grace
which he knew and preached, and taught and lived, did not foster laxity of
conduct, self-indulgence, worldliness, and indifference to the purposes of God
for His [redeemed] people; but just the reverse. His daily
course was like the behaviour of an athlete striving for the mastery, or
running with but one thing in mind - the prize. And he kept under his body
(literally, buffeting it), bringing it into complete subjection (allowing no
self-indulgences), lest, says he, that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself
should be a castaway.
What
possibility of shame and loss do these words put plainly before our eyes! They
are well calculated to awaken careless and indifferent saints. But they, for
the most part, have no wish to hear the sharp and solemn warnings which God, in
His faithfulness, has given them in many passages of Scripture. Hence those needed warnings are often passed
on to others - to the Jews, to mere - [unregenerate] - professors,or
perhaps to the tribulation saints. It is,
however, impossible to deal thus with the Scripture last quoted, for Paul says,
lest I myself
should be a castaway.
*
* * *
* * *