By H. M. S. Richards
Author of
Day After Tomorrow
The Indispensable Man
The Promises of God
Revival Sermons
The Stars and the Bible
Thirty Thousand Miles of Miracles
SOUTHERN PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
1957
FROM ancient times the hearts of men have longed for peace not merely for cessation of war but for peace of mind and heart and soul. In the early days of Israel the benediction was, “The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.” Numbers 6:26. As I have traveled through Moslem lands, the lands of the Near and Middle East, everywhere I have heard “Salaam aleikum”-”Peace be unto thee.”
What did Jesus say about peace? To His disciples then and in all ages, He said, “Peace I leave with you.” John 14:27. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace.” John 16:33. The peace that brings calm to the soul and, through each individual, to the world is found only in Christ, the Prince of peace. It can be found nowhere else. It is Jesus who brings an end to the discords of life. It is He who brings music to the feast of existence.
Wherever there is sin, however, disobedience of God's law, there can never be peace. “The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, says my God, to the wicked.” Isaiah 57:20, 21. That is why so many peace plans for this world go awry. High-minded, self sacrificing men and women have worked for world peace and spent millions of dollars seeking it. They have organized leagues of nations and world associations, and have made treaties again and again in which the nations themselves have forsworn war as a policy. Yet sooner or later the war drums throb again. Why is this? It is because they have been unable to eliminate sin from the world. Where there is sin, there is war in the heart and finally, in the land.
After World War I the American editor Edward Bok offered a $100,000 prize for a plan to ensure universal peace. Over 22,000 plans were submitted in the contest. The judges debated long over several, but swiftly passed up the shortest and most sensible plan of all. It contained just two words: “Try Jesus.” Why shouldn't we try Jesus? It is the only plan that will work. Yet men are trying to cure the world's ills with remedies that have failed a thousand times.
Havelock Ellis, the English scientist, tells us how he and others stood around Hudson Maxim's newest gun about sixty years ago and asked, “Will this gun not make war more terrible?” And the great inventor answered, “No, it will make war impossible.” But his machine gun did not make war impossible it only made it more deadly. The machine gun has been improved. Today it is nearly a hundred times more deadly than it was when Mr. Ellis saw it. Some may be saying now that this new gun will make war impossible, for it shoots 8,000 bullets a minute. But as long as man has his sinful heart, this world will never be free from war. New weapons, no matter how terrible, do not put an end to war. Peace conferences and treaties have not banished it.
Charles Evans Hughes, while secretary of state of the United States, said that peace seems to be merely the lull between inevitable storms. Another described it as an “ideal lost in inaccessible distances.” Certainly the verdict of Clausewitz is that peace is at best but a truce on the battlefield of time. Frederick the Great declared, in one of his letters to Voltaire, that as he ran over the pages of history, he noticed that ten years never passed without a war somewhere. He said that this intermittent fever might have moments of respite but would never cease. From a human standpoint he was right, but from God's standpoint he was wrong. War will cease. God's Word tells us so. Christ will come and war will cease, and cease forever. He will bring the peace that men for millenniums have dreamed about and striven for.
Some time ago I was crossing the Arizona desert with a group of friends. The sun was burning down, and the heat was hard to bear. All around us were only sand, rocks, and dust. Then suddenly, as if by magic, there appeared a silver strip of water, a lake shimmering under the desert sky. it was beautiful. How refreshed we would be when we reached its shore and felt the cool breeze from its surface! But as quickly and mysteriously as this strange lake had come, it vanished from our sight. It was no body of life-giving water, only an illusion, a mirage! Then the sun seemed hotter and the desert dustier than ever. So it has been with the disappointed hopes of men. They 1ooked for peace, but no good came.” (Jeremiah 8:15.) They saw world peace on the horizon, but it always proved to be a mirage.
In Isaiah 35 we find God's picture of the new world coming. “The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water.” Verse 7. The marginal reading of the American Revised Version says, “The mirage shall become a pool.” In other words, the dream will become a reality. Yes, according to Bible prophecy, the day is coming when this world's blasted hopes will become the real events of God's promise. He is now, and He is to be, our peace. The prophet Micah by inspiration gives us a beautiful prophecy of hope. Speaking of One who would be born in Bethlehem of Ephratah, where we know Jesus was born, “whose goings forth have been of old, from everlasting,” the prophet says, “He shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; ... for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.” Micah 5:2, 4. The marginal reading of the American Revised Version says, “This man shall be our peace.” “This Man” is Jesus Christ. And someday http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auworldwide, global, everlasting peace will be realized through Him in the new earth, which He has promised to all believers. “Blessed are the meek,” He said, “for they shall inherit the earth.” Matthew 5J. Then, as the prophet David declared, they “shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” (Psalm 37:11.)
The “new heavens and a new earth,” declared the Apostle Peter, will be a place “wherein dwells righteousness.” (2 Peter 3:13.) So we are to look for, to expect, to believe in, and to plan for this new earth, “wherein dwells righteousness.” And with this we read Isaiah 32:17, 18: `And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.”
It is only when Christ sits on the world throne that men will know world peace. In all things He must have the preeminence. “For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.” Colossians 1: 19, 20. Christ will bring peace at last to a warring world. He will, when He reigns.
But we need not wait for that day to have peace of heart. In the fourteenth chapter of John's Gospel is a fourfold cure for worry, a fourfold recipe for peace of heart in this life. “You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” Verses 1-3.
The first rule that Jesus gives for peace of mind is to “believe in God. - Anyone who has real faith in God will stop worrying. Jesus called Him Father, and God is our Father, too. When we were little children, we never worried about what we would eat, what we would wear, whether we would be sick, whether we would live or die. We left all worry to father and mother. They would look after everything. They knew everything, and they loved us. If God is our heavenly Father, why should we ever worry? Why should we not have peace in our hearts? Why should we, like many today, worry about losing our jobs; worry about getting ulcers, stomach trouble, cancer? Why be distressed about death, taxes, war, the atom? Jesus said that faith in God is a cure for worry. “Let not your heart be troubled”-in other words, distressed, worried, lacking peace. “Except you. . become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3. Let us have faith in God as a child has faith in his father.
A famous nose and throat specialist was compelled to operate on a little girl without an anesthetic. He took a fifty-cent piece from his pocket and said: “That's for you, honey, and you can spend it exactly as you wish. Now I'm going to hurt you a little, but not for long. Take a good look at this fifty-cent piece before I begin. Then hold it tightly in your hand, and while I am at work, remember what you saw. It won't hurt nearly so much if you do that.”
When it was all over, the doctor patted the little patient on the head and said, “You are a brave little girl. Now tell me, what you were thinking about while I was operating on you.”
“Oh,” she said, “the words!”
“You mean the date on the coin?” asked the surgeon. He hardly remembered that the coin had words on it.
“Oh, no, no! The words at the top,” she replied. “I had never seen them before because I had never had a half dollar. Those words, 'In God We Trust.' It's nice to have them there so that folks who have half dollars can think about them all the time.”
“In God we trust.” That's it! We can quit worrying. We can have peace of heart. Jesus loves us. He cares for as. He said that the very hairs of our head are numbered (Matthew 10:30), that God knows all about us. He understands our thoughts “afar off,” as we read in Psalm 139:2. He knows all about us and loves us just the same. We can believe in Him; we can trust Him.
We come now to the second part of Jesus' prescription for soul peace: “You believe in God, believe also in me.” We shall not worry if we believe in Christ. He is the Savior of the world. We must believe that He died on the cross for our sins. If we worry about our sins after we have confessed them, we do not believe that God has forgiven them. No one needs to carry a terrible burden of sin, a violated conscience that will not let him rest day or night. In 1 John 2:2 we read that Jesus died “for the sins of the whole world.” And in 1 John 1: 9 it is written, 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” So if we will but confess and forsake our sins, we need never worry more about them, no matter how we feel. Our salvation is not based on feeling, but fact: the very promise of God in Christ.
A prominent doctor, asked how to eliminate psychiatric problems, answered that there would be much less strain on men and women if they would team up with God as a daily partner. He declared that in that event, psychiatry would almost pass out of existence. He went on to say that people who live independently of God, whohttp://www.ThreeAngels.com.au ignore Him, are soon overwhelmed with fear and worry. Many of them become hypochondriacs. They worry about gall-bladder disorders, ulcers, appendicitis; they worry about losing their minds. Millions of people literally worry themselves into sickness. That is one reason why psychosomatic medicine is having such vogue today. If more people would team up with God, the human race would be able to throw off at least 50 per cent of its ailments.
Christ foresees the future, and we should not worry about that either. In the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, Jesus gave an outline of the future, a prophecy of the days to come. Our Savior not only takes care of the past, but He takes care of the future, too. And He promises that those who love Him will be with Him where He is. We need never to be separated from Him-neither now in spirit, nor then in actual presence. (John 17:24.) And in Matthew 28:20 He says, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” Then why should we worry? Let us believe in Jesus as our Savior, and then we can sing:
“Yes, 'tis sweet to trust in Jesus, just from sin and self to cease; just from Jesus simply taking Life, and rest, and joy, and peace. -Louisa M. R. Stead.
Now we come to the third part of the prescription that Jesus gave for mind peace. It is found in John 14:2: 1n my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” There it is! We are not to worry, because there is a home waiting for us; there is a heaven beyond. We are not going to be left out in the cold with no place to go. This life is not the end of the story; the cemetery is not the last resting place; the last word is not said at the funeral. The things that are so cruel, so unjust, so hard to understand in this world, will be straightened out in the next. The entries in the ledger of life will be carried forward to another page. There is a land beyond, a life beyond, a reunion beyond, where the children of God will meet and greet, nevermore to part. This verse (John 14:2) plainly says that there is a place for God's people-yes, heaven itself is a place; it is real, and Jesus will be there.
Though your heart may be broken today because you have lately lost a dear one, `Let not your heart be troubled.” If you believe in God's land of tomorrow, beyond the sighing and the crying, beyond the tears, beyond the night, beyond the heartache, you have confidence that God's tomorrow will be better than today. The Scriptures say plainly that in that glorious day we shall be like Jesus. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2. “Let not your heart be troubled.” The half has never yet been told!
When Marco Polo, the famous Venetian traveler of the thirteenth century, came back and told people of the wonders he had seen in the faraway kingdoms of the East, very few people believed him. Later, when he lay dying, he was urged by his attendants to recant, to, withdraw all the false statements he had made about China and the lands of the Far East. But he said, “No, I have nothing to recant. It's all true every bit of it. In fact, I have not told half of what I saw.” So it is with the subject of heaven: the half has never yet been told. Our doubting will not change the glories of heaven.
No matter what heaven is like, it is beyond our imagination. It cannot be judged by this life. We shall never be able to tell half, nor a hundredth, nor a thousandth part of what heaven really is.
Some time ago I stood in the railway station in Omaha, Nebraska, and saw the reunion of a soldier just returned from overseas duty, with his wife and little son. They evidently had been separated for several years. The little boy acted as though he had never seen his father before. The mother would just stand and look at her husband and then begin to cry. Then she would throw her arms around him and laugh. The little boy, holding to her skirt and to his father's trouser leg, looked up at both of them in wonder. He knew something wonderful was going on, but he could not understand it. I must admit that as I watched them, tears ran down my own cheeks. I thought of that glorious day of reunion when the people of God will meet and greet one another; and, best of all, when they shall see Christ, when they shall see the print of the nails in His hands and the scars on His forehead and the wound in His side. What a wonderful hour that will be! For “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” 1 Corinthians 2: 9.
And now we come to the fourth and last part of Jesus' cure for worry. It is in John 14:3: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” Jesus is coming again! He was here once, and He will come back. The world has not seen the last of Him. Looking out upon conditions in our world-war, famine, sickness, confusion, wickedness, and sorrow-many are filled with worry and anxiety. Hearts are failing for fear. Jesus speaks of this very time, as we read in Luke 21:25, 26: “There shall be ... distress of nations, with perplexity; ... men's hearts failing them for fear.” But, “let not your heart be troubled.” Why not? Because He is coming again! “Then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” Luke 21:27.
Ernest Lloyd, writing in the Review and Herald, tells us of an experience which came to Dr. John Kelman, one of England's great preachers, while crossing the Atlantic. Late one night he noticed a lonely figure on deck. It was that of a famous American citizen. They talked about social conditions in the big cities. The American described the poverty and sadness of modern life in some parts of the world. Then Dr. Kelman said, “I thought you in America were living in the van of all these things and showing us how to escape from the old evils.”
“No,” he said, “there is only one thing that will ever cure America.”
“What is that?”
“Empire!”
“Empire?” exclaimed Dr. Kelman. “Why, I have never heard an American talk like that. Have you selected an emperor? He would need to be a very wonderful man, incapable of mistakes and extraordinarily competent for leadership.”
“Precisely,” was the great man's quiet answer. “And we know the Man. We are waiting for Him; He is coming soon, and His name is Jesus.”
“The thrill of that reply,” said Dr. Kelman, “will never leave me.”
Whoever the man was, his faith was wisely anchored in Jesus. And he had spoken the truth: The second coming of Jesus is the one great, not-far-off event which will bring final and eternal peace to the world.
So we have these four great reasons why Christians should never worry, why they should always have peace of heart. Are you a Christian? If you are, there are available to you great reservoirs of strength and courage. If you are not, do not wait one minute longer. Accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior before you close this book. Then the burden of worry and sorrow will roll away from your heart, and you will be able to go through anything looking up.
An American soldier lay near death on a battlefield of the Civil War. A chaplain knelt beside him and asked what he could do. The boy gave him his mother's address and requested him to write her a letter with his final message. Then, handing him a Testament red with his own blood, he said, “Read from this she gave it to me. Read John IC' And the chaplain began: “Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions.” He read on, and the boy listened until he came to the twenty-seventh verse: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” The dying soldier struggled to speak: “Tell her -tell mother-1 have that peace.” And then he was gone.
Do we have that peace? It is ours for the seeking the peace of God, which passes all understanding,” which keeps our “hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:11 That peace is a promise and a foretaste of the peace that will reign over all the earth when the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” Revelation l l: 15.
Jesus is our peace now, individually; and when He comes in glory, His peace will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. We seek Thy peace-Thou Christ of peace and love, Who dwells in the shining land above; Accept our prayer forever to abide Where is no dark nor falling eventide. Till that dawn break, and earth's long shadows cease, O Christ of peace and love, grant us Thy peace.
THE SEARCH for happiness all too often ends in failure. In the laboratory the scientist works marvels with chemicals, but he fails to distill the elixir of happiness. The physicist shatters the heart of the atom, but he cannot discover the vibration of happiness amid the ceaseless dance of the electrons. The astronomer looks through his giant telescope into the lonely emptiness of space beyond the farthest star, but the gleam of happiness eludes him amid the hiding places of boundless voids. The artist sits before his canvas with the dream of happiness in his heart, but he is dismayed when his colors cannot portray it.
“O Time, who like a Master Painter stands Before the empty easel of the year,
Bring forth thereon some scene of wondrous beauty
Paint a fair picture for my friends so dear.
“Blend with the rosy tints of joy and gladness
Hope's fairy sunlight, falling from above;
And, if some shadows fall across the canvas,
Brighten them with the gladdening gleams of love.” -Selected.
A wealthy man finds that “a man's life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses.” Luke 12:15. The man at the top of the ladder of success discovers that money brings worry and sleepless nights, but cannot buy happiness. As expressed by one of our American rhymers:
“Around our ears the gold bug sings
The song he's ever sung
Fools reach to grasp his gilded wings Stung! Stung!”
Millions seek the white lights of pleasure and night after night fill the palaces of make-believe. There they find that laughter and song are but tinsel covering jaded souls and broken hearts. The lights flicker out into darkest night, and the song fades away into a sob. The world is ever seeking happiness but seldom finding it, like the boy who chases a rainbow. Many, rushing on through life pursuing the will-o' the-wisp of happiness, find their hair turning white, their shoulders beginning to stoop, wrinkles stealing across their faces, their steps faltering. At last there is a sigh, an outstretched hand, and they reach the end of the journey with happiness still beyond.
Solomon, the world's wise man, joined in the search for happiness. He tried everything. He said, I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.” Ecclesiastes 1: 13. Did he make a complete search? Did he succeed? We read on: I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.” Verse 14. He was the wisest man of his age, the leading scientist of his day, the world's greatest botanist. “He spoke of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springs out of the wall.” He was the greatest authority of his time on zoology, ornithology, herpetology, and ichthyology. “He spoke also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.” 1 Kings 4:33.
He was a literary genius, a walking encyclopedia. “He spoke three thousand proverbs.” He was one of the greatest song writers who ever lived. “His songs were a thousand and five.” 1 Kings 4:32. He was the world's leading bibliophile. He gathered the literary treasures of past time into his great library; but as he burned the midnight oil of research, he said with a sigh, “Of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.” Ecclesiastes 12: 12.
He tasted also every physical and mental joy of life. “God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.” 1 Kings 4:29. He stood at the peak of wisdom. When the Queen of Sheba journeyed to his court to hear his wisdom, she said the half was never told her. (1 Kings 1M.) But did all this bring him happiness? No. He said, 1n much wisdom is much grief: and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow.” Ecclesiastes 1:18.
Then Solomon tried wealth. According to the Scripture record, he was worth millions. (1 Kings 10:21, 27.) Did riches bring him happiness? He says, “He that trusts in his riches shall fall.” Proverbs 11:28. And “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold.” Proverbs 22: 1.
We shall not take time to tell of his great buildings, his farming enterprises, the luxury in which he lived; http://www.ThreeAngels.com.aubut he did not find happiness in those things. All that he could say was, “Vanity of vanities. . . . all is vanity.” Ecclesiastes 12:8. “Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought.... and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit.” Ecclesiastes 2: 11. No, the wise man did not find happiness in pleasure or activity. He also spoke about the men singers and women singers, the musical instruments he, secured. (Ecclesiastes 2:8.) Then, last of all, he dipped into alcohol (Ecclesiastes 13), but all he discovered was, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” Proverbs 20: 1.
Solomon's example is at once a warning and an inspiration; for though his efforts to find happiness through the devices of this world, through the gifts of intellect, failed, he did find true happiness at last: “He that keeps the law,” wrote Solomon, “happy is he.” Proverbs 29:18. He found happiness in obedience to God. In his old age he sat down and wrote out his final advice on the subject: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14.
These are almost the words that we find in Revelation 22:14: “Blessed are they that do his commandments.” The word blessed in both the Old and New Testaments carries as one of its strongest meanings “happiness,” or “happy.” Thus the Scripture could well be read, “Happy are they that do his commandments.” During the dark days of World War 1, this advice was echoed by President Woodrow Wilson. Trying to bring hope and cheer to the men in the American Army, he sent them a special message: “Strength and happiness and success are all summed up in the exhortation, 'Fear God, and keep his commandments.-
There is one thing certain: Disobedience to God brings unhappiness. Everywhere it appears in the world, it brings confusion, suffering, pain, and finally, death. When we break the laws of nature, we suffer for it. When we break the moral laws of God, we suffer for our disobedience. The child who puts his hand on the red-hot stove suffers for it. The man who cats the wrong kind of food suffers for it. The man who smokes and drinks pays the penalty for taking these poisons into his system. There is an effect for every cause.
It was the Creator's plan in the beginning that man should be honest, faithful, reasonable; that he should walk in the ways of God. He is constituted in that way, and when he disobeys these laws of righteousness in body or soul, he pays for it with disease of body and disease -restlessness, and dissatisfaction of heart. His conscience troubles him. There are many who are unhappy because they do not know the laws of life. They have never learned to trust in God. Some of the most successful and wisest men who have ever lived have been unhappy because they have not found the secret of happiness as Jesus knew and recommended it. When, on the occasion of his eightieth birthday, someone asked Thomas A. Edison, “What is your secret of happiness?” he replied, I have never known a happy man.” It takes something besides the wisdom of this world to bring happiness.
What did Jesus say about the possibility of being happy? He said much, much more than we shall be able to mention in this chapter. In the fifth chapter of Matthew alone He spoke about at least nine sorts of people who will be happy-and they are happy because they are the sort of people they are. Remember, the word blessed means “happy.” So we may read the Beatitudes this way: “Happy are the poor in spirit: for their's is the kingdom of heaven. Happy are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Happy are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Happy are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Happy are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Happy are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Happy are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Happy are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Happy are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” Matthew 5:3-12.
As we read these words of Jesus, we notice that not one condition described in these nine blessings is anything to be desired in itself. Indeed, we might think that some of the people spoken of would be most unhappy because of the suffering or inconvenience inherent in the situation in which they find themselves: poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hungering, persecuted, reviled, falsely accused. Yet Jesus said that they along with the merciful, pure in heart, and peaceful in spirit-should be happy. “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad,” He commanded.
Certainly Jesus was a living example of this command, for though He was “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3), His life was not shadowed with pain and worry. His spirit was not crushed. “His heart was a wellspring of life, and wherever He went He carried rest and peace, joy and gladness.” - Steps to Christ, p. 120. 1n the world,” He says, “you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33.
Remember this: Any happiness that is sought outside the path of duty, outside service to God; any happiness that is pursued merely for itself and with selfish motives, is unbalanced. It is only fitful, transitory. It soon passes away, and the heart is filled with greater loneliness and dissatisfaction than ever. The ultimate happiness of every believer in Jesus is assured, for He promised that it will be said to them, “Well done, thou good and faithful http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auservant: ... enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” Matthew 25:21. But we may also have joy and happiness in His service here and now.
Part of the Christian's secret of a happy life, as taught by Jesus, was the study of the Scriptures. Jeremiah testified, “Thy words were found, and I did cat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.” Jeremiah 15:16. The Scriptures are the source of spiritual understanding, the guide for life. Another rule for happy living is to know Jesus as a living Christ, not simply as Someone who was here long ago, but who died and is now gone. Jesus is alive; He is alive today. He says, “All power is given unto me.” “And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” Matthew 28:18, 20. It is not enough merely to believe in the death of Jesus for our sins. This gives us freedom from condemnation and the happiness that comes with that knowledge; but we must know Him as a risen Christ, a living, all-powerful Savior, who gives us victory step by step, hour by hour, day by day, and who has promised never to leave us. (Hebrews 13:5.)
Every true Christian has a right to be happy, and he ought to be happy. Faith in God should bring us joy. Do we not read in Psalm 35:9: “My soul shall be joyful in the Lord: it shall rejoice in his salvation”? Why shouldn't we be glad? Jesus says we should be happy. Our sins have been forgiven. The presence and power of God are with us now; Jesus is alive; and we have a happy future waiting for us in the land where dreams come true.
When Haydn, the Austrian composer, was once asked how it was that his church music was always so cheerful, he made this beautiful reply: `I cannot make it otherwise. I write according to the thoughts I feel. When I think upon God, my heart is so full of joy that the notes dance and leap, as it were, from my pen; and, since God has given me a cheerful heart, it will be pardoned me that I serve Him with a cheerful spirit.”
By faith, Christians can keep themselves in the atmosphere of Christ's love. It is our fault, and it is our shame, too, that we spend so many days in the chilling fogs or under the heavy clouds of unbelief and doubt. We do not need to live in the fog and darkness. We are to be the “children of light,” as Jesus said in John 12:36. We should not spend time in going over all our sorrows, disappointments, and troubles of the past; but we should think of the happy times we have had, of the interesting things, the beautiful things. God's mercy has been over us; Christ's presence has been with us. Let us put our confidence in Him.
How are we to feel when, as often happens, we are called upon to share the sufferings of Christ? Here is our answer in 1 Peter 4:14: “If you he reproached for the name of Christ, happy are you: for the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.”
Truly it is wonderful to be a Christian. Dwight L. Moody was so full of the joy of faith that someone said that he was simply bubbling over with the glory of his message. He reveled in it, and his joy was contagious. Men fairly leaped out of darkness into light and life and lived a Christian life from the hour that they saw and felt his joy. Isaiah expressed his happiness in these words: “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God [Why?]; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation.” Isaiah 61:10.
Life's best rewards come as we invest ourselves, without a thought of gain, in some great cause, in the welfare of human beings, or for the happiness of others. George Muller's happiness came to a great degree from this. His life was spent in service for others. Life is too valuable to be wasted. Jesus said, “He that loses his life ... shall find it.” Matthew 10:39. Over and over Again Sir William Osler, the great physician, quoted these words of Jesus to his medical students. We lose our 1ives, not by throwing them away, but by giving them away. It is not by seeking happiness that we find it.
There is another source of happiness for all believers. We find it in Psalm 133: 1: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” There it is-fellowship, especially Christian fellowship. This was manifested in the life of the early church, too, as we read in Acts 2:46: “They, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.”
How the devil hates a peaceful church! He will do all he can to stir up trouble in the church by making the members jealous of position, of place, of one another. He will do the same thing in the family and break up every family that he can. The devil hates joy-real joy, teal happiness. It is when we are discouraged that his temptations have greatest power. We read in Acts 13:52: “The disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.” And the Apostle Paul declared that the believers were his “joy, or crown of rejoicing.” 1 Thessalonians 2: 19. Some have the idea that moroseness, long-faced, and gloom are signs of a Christian. Far from it! We should rejoice evermore. “And again,” the apostle commands, “Rejoice.” Philippians 4:4.
When Charley Alexander, a singing evangelist of a few years ago, was a student at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, he got the idea that it was wrong to laugh. He tried to get his face so that no smile would ever come over it. He had read that text which says, “Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” Matthew 12:36.
One day Mr. Moody gathered the students around him for a confidential talk. He told them that he had http://www.ThreeAngels.com.aunoticed that some were wearing long faces. “I am quite sure that I was one of them,” Mr. Alexander wrote of the incident, “for I had been studying the text about idle words. I had usually been of a lively disposition, trying to cheer the fellow who was downhearted; but now I thought I was all wrong. I was trying to get my face so that no smile would ever come upon it. Suddenly Mr. Moody looked up with such a bright, happy look and said: 'Young men, do not think that the teaching of this verse means that you should go around with a long face and never have a happy word for anyone. A cheerful word is not an idle word. - Mr. Alexander wrote that from that time on he enjoyed perfect freedom and the unrestrained delight of service and joy in God's work.
The most consecrated Christian workers I know are the happiest ones. As I write this chapter, I am made happy by the fact that one of my dear friends has just arrived from a far country to visit me. Every time I see his face, though it may be years since the last visit, I see true happiness written there in large letters. It makes me feel better, it makes me feel happy, just to look at him. And others have told me that they feel the same way about this man. What a blessing a happy Christian is to the world!
A certain Chinese gentleman who had never attended a Christian service once went to a missionary and said,
“I want to hear about your religion. I have never heard the words of it, but I have heard the laughter in your house and in the houses of my countrymen who have embraced your faith. If you have anything that makes people so joyous, I want it.” Certain it is that one of the great needs today in all lands is for more glad Christians. If we are not glad, if we are not happy, we are entirely missing something; and others are missing what we ought to be giving them. Especially should those be happy who are waiting for Christ to return and who be1ieve that the signs of the times show His coming is near. Isaiah 25:9 reads: “And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and lie will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
Remember, Jesus will present us before the Father with exceeding joy, and God Himself will rejoice in 1Als people. “I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people.” Isaiah 65:19. Jesus said that all the redeemed at last will enter into a place of eternal joy. In one of His parables He used these words: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou has been faithful over A few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” Matthew 25:21.
And when the earth itself is made new, it will be a joyous place, a place of happiness, as we read in Isaiah 5: 10: “The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow And sighing shall flee away.”
Do you want to have joy? Do you want to be happy? Then believe in God. Give your heart to Christ and be happy forever.
To hear a wanderer's prayers; Believe in Him, Know that He loves and cares.
Amid the storm,
The whirlwinds that destroy, We have His peace And His eternal joy.
-H. M. S. R.
PRAYER IS the open highway to God. Jesus said, “Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” Luke 18: 1. In our fast-moving age, when everyone is highway conscious, why have we forgotten the most important road of all? Through life, death, and the starlit spaces themselves, prayer is the highroad, the King's highway.
In Trygve Gulbranssen's book The Wind From the Mountains, old Dag struggles toward the light amid his sorrows and troubles. But, opening the bishop's Bible, he sees these lines on the flyleaf:
“Our human thoughts and works are not so mighty That they can cut a path to God, unblessed, And so from Him the gift of prayer is sent us To hallow both our labor and our quest.
Over life, and death, and starlit spaces The highroad runs, that at His word was laid, And reaches Him across the desert places; By prayer it is our pilgrimage is made.”
In the Old Testament story of Jacob and his dream at Bethel, he saw a ladder set up on the earth. The top of the ladder reached to heaven, and the angels of God ascended and descended upon it. God was encouraging him-and us-with the truth that heaven and earth are not separated, that there is still a highway, still a ladder between man and Himself.
When the first Atlantic cable was laid in 1850, great celebrations broke out on both sides of the Atlantic. Two great continents, which had been separated through the ages, were now united. When the deluge of sin first separated heaven and earth, a mighty cable of prayer was laid in the love of God, and never from that day to this has it been broken. The tempted and tried of earth communicate with the God of heaven; and messages of blessing, encouragement, and power come earthward.
There are several essential features of prayer. Fundamental to them all, however, is a recognition of the character of God and His relationship to us. Jesus taught us to say, “Our Father,” when we pray. The purpose of prayer is to glorify God. “Praise waits for thee, O God. ... O thou that hears prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.” Psalm 65:1, 2.
Prayer involves thanksgiving when we recognize the true character of God and His constant manifestations of love and mercy to us as our Father. “In every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Philippians 4:6. Before we make any requests to God, we are to recognize His universal dominion, His authority over all the universe and over ourselves, for “his kingdom rules over all.” Psalm 103:19.
There are three kinds of petitions concerning our own welfare which are proper in prayer: (1) those that recognize God as the provider of all our necessities; (2) petitions that confess our sinfulness and seek God's forgiveness; and (3) those that recognize Him as our hope and refuge against all the workings of the evil one. In Jesus' life He practiced prayer, and in His words He teaches prayer. The whole aim of His life of ministry and sacrifice was to bring men back to God through redemption and adoption as sons, so that His disciples might pray in His name. His incarnation, His suffering, His ministry as our high priest-all are for this.
In what we call the Lord's Prayer there are six petitions for spiritual blessings and only one for our temporal wants. We need to remember that. Above all else, prayer is spiritual in its nature, its results, and the reasons behind it. The Lord's Prayer itself reveals Jesus Christ. Someone has said that He is in every word of it, that it is the “condensed substance of all previous prayers.
We know that Christ is in the Psalms, the great prayer book of the Bible, but He is there in prediction. He was the One longed for, hoped for, seen in the distance. In the Lord's Prayer He is Immanuel, God with us, the very loving heart of God speaking. Let us notice the main parts of the Lord's Prayer:
“Our Father which art in heaven.” The cross made this prayer possible. Jesus said, “I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” John 20:17. The Apostle Paul speaks of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 1: 17.) “Ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15. The word Abba, of course, means “Father.” It is only through Christ and the redemption of the cross that we can really call God our Father. Jesus has died for us. He took our place, and we take His place as sons of God. Now we have also become the sons of God through faith.
“Hallowed be thy name.” Jesus said, I am come in my Father's name.” John 5:43. “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” John 14:9. The name of Jesus is the “name which is above every name.” (Philippians 2:9.)
“Thy kingdom come.” Jesus is revealed as the King. He said, “My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, . . . but now is my kingdom not from hence.” John 18:36. But His kingdom will come, as we read in Matthew 25:31: “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory.”
The prophet Daniel describes the Son of man: “And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Daniel 7:14.
“Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus is the only One who has ever fulfilled God's will perfectly. “Lo, I come ... to do thy will, O God.” Hebrews 10:7. He said, “I seek ... the will of the Father” (John 5:30); I came down from heaven ... to do ... the will of him that sent me.” John 6:38. Through His petition the will of God will be done on earth and find its full realization when the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:9.)
“Give us this day our daily bread.” Jesus said, I am the living bread which came down from heaven.” John 6:51. All the goodness of God and the very food that we cat come to us through the grace and for the sake of Christ and the redemption. wrought in Him of all that is lost.
“Forgive us our debts.” 1f any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 John 2: 1. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9. God forgives us because Jesus has paid our debt upon the cross. In this we see the sufferings of Christ and His death for our redemption.
“Lead us not into temptation.” Jesus `was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” His sympathy for us is complete. He was “touched with the feeling of our infirmities.” (Hebrews 4:15.) When Satan desires to have us to sift us as wheat, Jesus prays for us that our faith fail not. (Luke 22:31, 32.) This shows our Savior as our high priest, ministering for us and watching over us in tender sympathy.
“Deliver us from evil.” Jesus won the victory on the cross. He said, “And 1, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” John 12:32. “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” Verse 31. I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” Luke 10: 18. Jesus is the victor in the great controversy between good and evil. He will bruise Satan's head at last, for He came not only to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8) but to destroy the devil himself. “That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” Hebrews 2:14. And He has promised to bruise Satan under our feet shortly. (Romans 16:20.)
“For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.” This reminds us of the words of the great prophecy of Revelation 11: 15, when “the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.”
“Amen.” Jesus Himself takes this name. In the Book of Revelation 2:14) we find these words: “These things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.”
We do well to study this prayer that Jesus gave us, for it is a model and part of His teaching. However, Jesus has much more to say on the subject. For example, our prayers are to be offered in His name: “Whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” John 14:13, 14. The Savior made this very strong: 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.” John 16:23. To pray in the name of Christ means more than merely mentioning His name at the beginning or ending of our prayer. It means to pray with the mind and spirit of Jesus, relying upon His promises, His grace, and working His works. Praying in Christ's name means praying for things that will promote His kingdom on earth. It means that we are seeking what He seeks. To come in Christ's name asking for selfish and worldly desires is absurd.
True prayer demands faith. “He that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:6. Prayer involves submission to the revealed will of God. “He that turns away his car from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.” Proverbs 28:9. Real prayer means willingness to forsake all known sins. “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” Psalm 66:18.
Prayer must be earnest. Jesus illustrated this with the story of the unjust judge who would not give justice because it was right to do so, but because the widow who desired justice continued to come to him and would not be denied. At last the judge said, “Because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.” Luke 18:5. And Jesus commented, “Shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?” Verse 7.
And here is something important: True prayer must be accompanied with the spirit of forgiveness. Jesus http://www.ThreeAngels.com.ausaid, “If you do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” Mark 11:26.
Prayer is to be offered not only in public but in private. We are to praise God in the great congregation, as David reminds us in Psalm 22:22, 25. At the same time we are to remember what Jesus said in Matthew 6:6: “But thou, when thou prays, enter into thy closet, and when thou has shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which sees in secret shall reward thee openly.”
We notice also in this connection that we are not to use “vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not you therefore like unto them: for your Father knows what things you have need of, before you ask him.” Verses 7, 8. We think of some who repeat the same words over and over, even thousands of times. In the hearts of millions such prayers become a mere form. Some even have prayers written on pieces of paper and hung on trees; some use prayer wheels turned by hand or even by water or electric power! They feel that the mere repetition of sacred names or exalted sentiments will bring the blessings that they need. True prayer is an intimate communion between God and man; this is not found in vain repetitions.
Every day should open and close with prayer. In ancient Israel the morning and evening sacrifices continually turned the people's eyes and hearts toward God. In the morning our prayer should be one of dedication, giving ourselves anew to God for the day's work and service, and asking His care and protection. Evening prayer should be a prayer of retrospection. We should look back over the day that is past, confess our sins, thank God for His mercies, and commit ourselves in childlike faith into His hands during the hours of darkness and sleep.
The quiet spirit of meditation has its place in our prayers, especially in our secret prayers. It is said that Madame De Stael after a two-hour visit with a friend, in which she had talked continuously, remarked in parting, “What a delightful conversation we have had!” So it is with some of us. We talk and talk and talk to God and never listen to His voice speaking in our hearts. We forget that the Lord would like to speak to us. Savonarola, the great reformer and martyr, once remarked ironically that many of the saints in his day were “so busy talking to God that they could not hearken to Him.” And so it is with us. We seldom wait to listen to God.
Listening for God's voice may be illustrated by the words of Samuel, who as a boy heard the voice of God and said, “Speak; for thy servant hears.” 1 Samuel 3: 10. Maurice D. Stevenson tells of an experience in the oil country of Pennsylvania, where his parents came to visit him. One day he and his father were in the barn. When someone opened the window suddenly, the father asked, “Son, where are they drilling out there?”
“Nowhere,” young Stevenson answered.
“Yes, they are. It might be a mile and a half or even two miles away, but I can hear them pulling the tools now.
The son could hear nothing, so he put his head out the window. Very faintly in the distance he could hear the humming of the rope, the turning of the wheels and pulleys. Then he remembered that there was a well being drilled about a mile and a half away.
Why had his father heard it when he did not hear it? His own hearing was normal, while the hearing of the father was not good. The reason the older man heard it was that he had spent about half of his life in the oil business and was trained to hear such sounds. So every Christian should be trained by experience and faith to hear the voice of God.
Our prayers should not be proud prayers. “And when thou prayest,” Jesus said, “thou shall not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray ... that they may be seen of men.” Matthew 6:5. Two preachers Dr. A. H. Franke and Dr. Anton, were walking along a country road when suddenly they heard someone praying. There, behind some bushes not far from the road, were two lads on their knees, one of them praying very loudly. It seemed to be a good prayer, and the ministers enjoyed listening to it. When he closed, the boy who had prayed turned to his friend and said, “Say, didn't I pray nice?” Of course the ministers were shocked. Such an attitude of spiritual pride pains us, but isn't that the experience of many, far too many, even now? Is it not possible to begin a prayer in humility and then, by an imperceptible change, end in some sort of self-praise?
The Apostle Paul by divine inspiration wrote, 'We know not what we should pray for as we ought.” But that wasn't all. He continued, “The Spirit also helps our infirmities: ... the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered.” Romans 8:26. We may have God's help even in our prayers. He who desires to hear our prayers will help us to pray.
Jesus stressed three ingredients of real prayer: First, it is conditional. We approach God on a condition, and that condition is threefold: (1) We must have clean hearts; we cannot cling to idols. (2) We must have faith; we must believe that God can and will answer prayer. (3) We must be obedient. “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.” 1 John 3:22.
Secondly prayer is costly. It takes a surrendered heart; it takes earnestness; it takes time. We are to be in a spirit of prayer all the time. We can pray while we work, while we walk, while we wash dishes, while we make beds, while we sit at our desks. But besides this, there must be earnest secret prayer. Jesus said, “But thou, when would not walk around continuing your work while talking to Him. You would welcome Him; you would sit down and talk with Him. You would show Him every respect. You would spend time with Him. So in prayer; prayer costs time. The devil will do all he can to stop such communion. He will interfere; he will bring interruptions.
Lastly, prayer is victorious. It conquers; it overcomes circumstances. And it will conquer not only in our own lives but in the lives of others. “If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death.” 1 John 5:16. We need power if others need help. If the work of God needs victory, let us pray. “Ask, and you shall receive.” John 16:24. Let us not limit God in our unbelief or hold back the blessings that would come upon the world if we prayed for God's work and God's workers. “Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command you me.” Isaiah 45: 11.
If we should quote all Jesus said about prayer and all the Bible says about prayer, we would fill many pages. Let us never forget that above all else, God desires to answer the prayers of His children. Jesus said, 1f a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? “ Luke 11: 11 - 13. Then why do we not ask? Any father loves to give good things to his children. He receives more joy from the giving than they do from the receiving.
So it is with God; He longs to give. The trouble is that we do not pray, we do not ask, we do not beseech Him for the gifts we need. Jesus told the story of a man who went to his friend at midnight and said, 'Lend me three loaves. A traveler who needs refreshment has come to my home.” But the response was, `Don't bother me. The children are all in bed. I can't get up and help you now.” But the man kept asking, he kept requesting. So this friend finally got up in the cold night and gave him the bread. By this parable Jesus illustrates the constancy, the earnestness, so necessary in prayer. We mean business in other things. Why not in prayer? When we pray in faith we should leave our worries and problems in the hands of God. He understands them all and does not wish us to carry the burdens of the world. Jesus has carried them, and He is watching over us. Hall Caine, the well-known British author, tells the story of a bishop who was riding along a road in the Isle of Man and saw a convict on his knees breaking stones on the road. The bishop stopped to give some encouragement and advice to the poor fellow. When he was about to leave him, he said, “I wish I could break up the stony hearts of my people as you are breaking up those rocks.” The convict looked up at the ecclesiastic and replied, “Perhaps, you could, Sir, if you would work on your knees.”
David Helfenstein tells of a time of special prayer in his own life. Great burdens were facing him, and apparent injustice was to be done to him. At the family altar he prayed earnestly that he might be delivered from those things and from unscrupulous men. The next day he expressed the same anxiety. His little girl ' about nine years old, came and climbed up on his knee, put her hands on his cheeks, looked him in the eyes, and said: -Father, you prayed about that last night. I wouldn't pray and worry both.” This reproof was heeded, and soon God did answer his prayer. So friends, why should we pray and worry both? Prayer is enough.
Both the Holy Scriptures and Christian experience are full of answered prayers. I shall tell here of just one answered prayer which has been of great interest to me for years. The story is taken from an old book which describes the work of Dr. Jacob Chamberlain, a pioneer missionary in south central India.
The Godavari River was in flood, and the missionary was caught out with a party of workers, having expected to find a government boat on the river. Word had come to them that the boat had broken down fighting the swift current. So there seemed nothing for them to do but to hasten to higher land back from the river. The path they had to travel was a dangerous one, and night would soon come. Already the roar of tigers could be heard in the jungles. The hired carriers had deserted their loads and fled for safety before nightfall.
The missionary dropped back a little way from the marching party and called upon God in prayer. “Master,” he said, “was it not for Thy sake that we came here? Didst Thou not promise, 'I will be with thee'? O Master, show me what to do!” Now we will let Dr. Chamberlain tell in his own words how the answer came:
“An answer came, not audible, but distinct as though spoken in my car by human voice: 'Turn to the left, to the Godavari, and you will find rescue.”
“Riding rapidly forward, I overtook the guides. “How far is it to the Godavari?” I asked. “A good mile.”
“Is there no village on its banks?”
“No, none within many miles, and the banks are all overflowed.”
“Is there no mound, no rising ground, on which we can camp out of this water?” “It is all low and flat like this.”
I drew apart and prayed again, as we still plodded on. Again came the answer, “Turn to the left, to the Godavari, and you will find rescue.”
“Again I called to the guides and questioned them: 'Are you sure there is no rising ground by the river where we can pitch with the river on one side for protection and campfires around us on the other, through the night?”
“None what ever.”
“Think well; is there no dry timber of which we could make a raft?”
“1f there were any, it would all be washed away by these floods.”
“Is there no boat of any sort on the river? I have authority to seize anything I need.”
“None nearer than the cataract.”
“How long would it take us to reach the Godavari by the nearest path?”
“Half an hour; but it would be so much time lost, for we would have to come back here again, and cut our way through this jungle to the bluff, and climb that. There is no other way of getting around these two flooded streams that we must pass to reach the cataract.”
“How long would it take us to cut our way through to the bluff?”
“At least six hours; and it will be dark in an hour.” “What shall we do for tonight?”
“God knows.” And they looked the despair they felt.
“I drew aside again and prayed as I rode on. 'Turn to the left, to the Godavari, and you will find rescue,' came the response the third time. It was not audible; none of those near heard it. I cannot explain it, but to me it was as distinct as though spoken by a voice in my car; it thrilled me. 'God's answer to my prayer,' said 1, 'I cannot doubt. I must act, and that instantly.'
'Hastening forward to the guides at the head of the column, I said, 'Halt!' in a voice to be heard by all. 'Turn sharp to the left. Guides, show us the shortest way to the Godavari. Quick?'
“They remonstrated stoutly that it was only labor lost., that we should be in a worse plight there than here, for the river might rise higher and wash us away in the darkness of the night.
“'Obey!' said I. 'March sharp, or night will come. I am master here. Show the way to the river.'
“All the party had surrounded me. My native preacher looked up inquiringly at my awed face. 'There is rescue at the river,' was all I said. How could I say more?”
Pushing his guides before him, the missionary soon broke through to the river, and there he saw the way of refuge. At that moment a boat crew was attempting to tie a large barge to a tree on the bank. The craft had broken loose far http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auabove, and at no place before had they been able to stop it. The boatmen were afraid, thinking that Dr. Chamberlain was an official. “Please don't he angry with us,” they said. “We did our best to keep the boat from coming here; but, Sir, it seemed as though it was 'possessed.'“ Dr. Chamberlain knew well the hand that had interposed.
No doubt many who read this could themselves tell true experiences of answered prayer. Jesus is our example. He prayed; His life was a life of prayer. He prayed during His ministry. He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. He prayed on the cross. The disciples were so impressed by His prayer life that they said, “Lord, teach us to pray.” Luke 11: 1. The Savior will teach us to pray, and our lives will be transformed and victorious.
“Lord, what a change within us one short hour Spent in Thy presence will avail to make!
What heavy burdens from our bosoms take!
What parched grounds refresh as with a shower! We kneel, and all around us seems to lower;
We rise, and all, the distant and the near,
Stands forth in sunny outline, brave and clear;
We kneel, how weak! We rise, how full of power!
Why, therefore, should we do ourselves this wrong, For others-that we are not always strong-
That we are sometimes overborne with care
That we should ever weak or heartless be,
Anxious or troubled-when with us is prayer,
And joy and strength and courage are with Thee -Archbishop Trench.
BIBLE SUMMARY
What did God do for job when he prayed?
“And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends.” job 42:10.
Who are some other men of God who prayed?
Jacob. (Genesis 32:24-30; Hosea 12:4.) Moses, a man of God. (Psalm 90.) Hannah, who prayed for a son. (1 Samuel 1:10-28; 2:1-10.) David. (2 Samuel 22.) Daniel, who prayed for the restoration of Jerusalem. (Daniel 9:4-19.)
What did Jesus say about agreeing in prayer?
1 say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:19, 20.
What can we do when the laborers in God's harvest are few?
“But when he Saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then said he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray you therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.” Matthew 9:36-38.
What should we do when temptation threatens?
“And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that you enter not into temptation.” “Why sleep you? rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.” Luke 22:40, 46.
Does the Bible give another example of brief prayer besides the Lord's Prayer?
“At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou has hid these things from the wise and prudent, and has revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.” Matthew 11:25, 26.
What should accompany prayer in some cases?
“Howbeit this kind goes not out but by prayer and fasting.” Matthew 17:21.
What did Jesus say about His Father's temple?
“My house shall he called the house of prayer.” Matthew 21:13.
http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auWhat was our Savior's prayer regarding His disciples?
“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us. That the world may believe that thou has sent me.” John 17:20, 21.
What did Jesus pray regarding the cup of agony that was presented to Him in the Garden of Gethsemane? “And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” Matthew 26:39, 40.
What was Jesus' last prayer before His atoning death upon the cross? “My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46.
What request is made in the last prayer in the Bible? “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Revelation 22:20.
With our readers we leave these words of Jesus: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened.” Matthew 7:7, 8.
“More things are wrought by prayer Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice Rise like a fountain for me night and day. For what are men better than sheep or goats That nourish a blind life within the brain, If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer Both for themselves and those who call them friend? For so the whole round earth is every way Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.”
-Alfred Lord Tennyson.
DR. HARRY EMERSON FOSDICK relates that one day in Paris a religious procession carrying a crucifix passed Voltaire and a friend of his. Voltaire, who was generally looked upon as an infidel, raised his hat. The friend exclaimed, “What! Are you reconciled with God?” The philosopher, with his characteristic irony, replied, “We salute, but we do not speak!”
What a description that is of the relationship of many to God! Philosophically they cannot explain the universe without Him. They are theists-they must be, to make sense of the universe. They believe in the church in a general way. It is good for humanity, for society. And at times they may have moments of subdued reverence when they themselves are moved with the dignity and beauty of the services of the church, but they have no personal fellowship with God. They salute, but they do not speak. They recognize the existence of God. They see His handwriting in the sky, in the constitution of matter, in the mystery and wonder of His providence. But they do not wish to know Him personally. He is not their God, their heavenly Father.
But it is not the Creator's wish to he the unknown God. He is the great lover of the Universe, and a lover needs a beloved. In His great desire to make Himself known to men, God sent His Son Jesus to the world. As the well-known Christian writer Ellen G. White has said, “Only He who knew the height and depth of the love of God could make it known.” We behold God in Jesus. “No man knows ... the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.” Matthew 11:27. Jesus is called “The Word of God” (Revelation 19:13), “God's thought made audible.”
“The light of the knowledge of the glory of God is seen “in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6. This is why the prophet called His name Immanuel” God with us.” (Isaiah 7:14.) To His own disciples the Savior said, “If you had known me, you should have known my Father also.” Then one of them asked, “Lord, show us the Father,” declaring that this would bring satisfaction to all the disciples. Jesus answered, “Have I been so long time with you, and yet has thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” John 14:7-9.
What did Jesus have to say about God? First of all, He said that God is like Himself. “If you had known me, you should have known my Father also.” John 8: 19. Jesus represents God to the world; and, in so representing Him, He shows us that God is a God of love, and that the supreme law of the universe is the law of unselfish giving. “I do nothing of myself,” said Jesus. “The living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father.” I seek not mine own glory.” John 8:28; 6:57; 8:50.
Jesus said that God is Lord of heaven and earth: I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou has hid these things from the wise and prudent, and has revealed them unto babes.” Matthew 11:25. Jesus said that `all things are delivered unto me of my Father.” Verse 27. Jesus said that God is to be obeyed: “Not every one that said unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 7:2 1.
God is the great giver in creation and in redemption. The hearts of men are often dark with misapprehension about God, but Jesus brings light. He shows that God is our Father, our heavenly Father, who delights in giving good gifts to His children. (Matthew 7:1l.) And His greatest gift is the gift of His Son. “For God so loved the world”-the words of the Savior Himself-”that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.
In other words, our Lord Jesus reveals God as a personal being. Not only does He constantly use the personal pronoun in referring to God but He also attributes personality elements to Him. God loves, and He expresses His love. Only a personal being can love. Love is the highest expression of personality and of God's character. “He that loves not knows not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.” “God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him.” 1 John 4:8, 9, 16.
On this matter of the personality of God it is interesting to note that Jesus said, I and my Father are one.” John 10: 30. Jesus was the greatest individual in history. He was here in this world as a real man. He was the living embodiment of love. His wonderful personality marked a decimal point in the record of time. Every event in history is either before Christ or after Christ. No historian, no philosopher, can ignore the influence of Jesus upon the world. Not only has His influence changed the world but millions of human beings testify that His love has changed them, too; that it is real to them. They declare that Christ meets all their needs and saves them from despair. With George Matheson they sing:
“O Love that wilt not let me go, 1 rest my weary soul in Thee; http://www.ThreeAngels.com.au
1 give Thee back the life I owe, That in Thine ocean depths its flow May richer, fuller be.”
All that Christ is, God is. The Apostle Paul declares that “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.” 2 Corinthians 5:19.
God is no mere philosophical abstraction. He is “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 1: 3. Blaise Pascal, the philosopher, finally realized this truth. This great French thinker was one of the outstanding intellects of all time. When he was only eleven years old, he wrote a treatise on sound. At sixteen he was a mathematical genius and prepared a paper on conic section. In the field of physics he discovered the law of fluid pressure, still known as Pascal's law. He will always have a place among the leading scientists of earth. But he was a religious thinker, a philosopher, as well as a scientist. What did he consider to be his greatest discovery? He wrote his answer to this question on a small slip of paper, sewed it up in his doublet, and wore it next to, his heart, where it was found after his death. Those who have read many of his philosophical and scientific works may be amazed to learn that he wrote on that paper that he considered his greatest discovery to be that “God is not the God of philosophy, but He is the God of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob, and of Jesus.”
Jesus spoke of the righteousness of God. God is righteous because He is a personal Being, having moral relationships to other personal beings. A mere idea is not righteousness. Because men today have departed from Bible teachings regarding the personality of God, they have lost their sense of personal responsibility to Him; and, with this sense gone, they have no fear of the judgment day, when an account of their lives must be given to God. Only a personal God can call men personally to the judgment.
Jesus pointed out that God is the creator. (Matthew 19:4.) God is not the universe. He is the creator of the universe and all things therein. (Isaiah 40:26.) The living God, revealed to men by Jesus Christ, is not the impersonal Force of pantheism, which some identify with the universe itself. He is the creator, who “spoke, and it was done; ... [who) commanded, and it stood fast.” Psalm 33:9. In spite of 6,000 years of sin there is still beauty in the world, reminding us of the Hand from which we came. The constitution of the atmosphere, the circulation of the winds about the earth, the sea, the mountains, the productivity of the land, the balance of nature all these speak of God.
In the Christian view there are two attributes of God which it is not easy for human reason to combine. One of them we call the “transcendence” of God; to the other we give the name “immanence.” By transcendence we mean that God is above all, blessed forever; that above the universe and apart from it there lives and reigns a personal Creator by whose word all things became, the One of whom it is declared in Scripture, In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). And of whom the inspired writer declared: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handy work. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night shows knowledge” (Psalm 19:1, 2). The Creator is greater than the things which He has created.
What do we mean by the immanence of God? We mean the presence of the Almighty Creator in His creation. We mean that time and space and all things, visible and invisible, are but the garments of His glory. It is His presence, His power, that pervades all things so that no man can escape from God. Though He is the Living God, whose throne is in heaven, yet His power controls and guides the world of electrons, the sweep of planets.
And so the transcendent, immanent God, the God of Holy Scripture, speaks to all thoughtful observers in the glory of the heavens above us, in the mystery of the earth about us, and in the wonder of the human mind within us. The prophet Zechariah speaks of God who is “the Lord, which stretches forth the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him.” (Zechariah 12: 1.)
Jesus said that God, our heavenly Father, is the ruler of providence. He not only upholds the worlds but He also cares for His creatures-not only for the sparrow and the ravens, and the very grass of the field, but for us as well. “Therefore,” says Jesus, “take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. [In other words, do not worry.) Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they?” “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” Matthew 6:25, 26, 28-30.
God knows our need-our need of food, drink, clothing. Jesus said, “Your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Verses 32, 33. Is it not true that in seeking “these things” first and making God second, we do not really seek God at all? In this modern age the tyranny of “things” is in conflict with the rule of God in our hearts. True, we need the “things,” but we need God and His kingdom more.
In the darkest days of the Reformation, when Luther was pressed beyond measure, he wrote to his friend Melanchthon:
I am against those worrying cares which are taking the heart out of you. Why make God a liar by not believing His wonderful promises when He commands us to be of good cheer and cast all our care upon Him, for He will sustain us? Do you think He throws such words to the winds? What more can the devil do than slay us? Christ has died for sin once for all, but for righteousness He will not die, but live and reign. Why then worry, seeing He is at the helm? He who has been our Father will also be the Father of our children. As for me (whether it proceed from God's Spirit or stupidity, the Lord Jesus knows), I do not torment myself about such matters.”
We are sure that it was not stupidity but the very presence of God that motivated that great man. The heavenly Father, who has thought things through from the beginning to the end, by the Holy Spirit goes with us to see us through to the consummation of His purpose in our lives.
When affairs in the American Constitutional Convention had reached an impasse, and further progress seemed impossible, it was Benjamin Franklin, a non churchman, who called for prayer. He said, “God governs in the affairs of men; and if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, neither can a kingdom rise without His aid.”
The Scripture declares God to be not only Creator, Administrator, Guide, and Upholder of the universe, the One who sets the stars aflame and guides them in their march through the ages, “the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity”; but also the God who dwells with him “that is of a contrite and humble spirit” (Isaiah 57:15), and the God who marks the sparrow's fall (Matthew 10:29). He is the loving, forgiving Father who welcomes the prodigal back home (Luke 15).
By His actions, as well as by His words, Jesus revealed the character of God. For example, Jesus exercised power over nature. He stilled the tempest; He turned water into wine; His word withered a fig tree; He fed 5,000 with a few fragments of food; He cured disease with a word or a touch; He broke the power of death itself and gave life to the dead. With this display of mighty power Jesus manifested love. He never turned away from a soul in need. He drew men to Him and then rejoiced to help them. And God is like Jesus, for Jesus came to make His Father known to us, and “God was in Christ.” 2 Corinthians 5:19. To know God better-yes, to see God-look at Jesus. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” John 1: 18.
So we see that God is interested in us as individuals. Some people, however, look out upon the vastness of the universe revealed by modern science and find it hard to believe that the Creator could have personal care for the human motes on this tiny speck called earth. The Holy Scripture recognizes this very attitude and declares: “For thus says the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isaiah 57:15. Jesus said, “He that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” John 14:21.
As science advances, we learn of the vastness of the universe, and we need to remember that we have a loving God. Many terrible things take place in this world, some of which, in our finite understanding, we cannot harmonize with acts of love. Nevertheless the Word of God stands sure, and in the shadow of the cross, we see that God is love. A thousand years ago Bernard of Clairvaux wrote: “Do you awake? Well, He too is awake. If you arise in the nighttime, if you anticipate to your utmost your earliest awaking, you will already find Him waking-you will never anticipate His own awakeness. In such an intercourse you will always be rash if you attribute any priority and predominant share to yourself; for He loves both more than you and before you loved at all.”
The small daughter of the distinguished sculptress Sally James Farnum. was asked which child was her mother's favorite. The little girl instantly replied, “She loves Jimmie because he is the oldest, and she loves Johnny because he is the youngest, and she loves me because I am the only girl.” In what better way could we describe the all-encompassing love of God for all men? No matter to what heights we may rise or to what depth we may fall, we are still human beings. “God so loved the world”-and that means all of us.
We see many things in the world that are evil. Sorrow, tears, suffering, and pain come to us and to others. We cannot, understand the universe or God's ways with it; we have our dark moments and our temptations to doubt. Not everything in the universe is good, but if we walk by faith we may hear, and certainly, later, know that “all things work together for good to them that love God.” Romans 8:28. The things themselves may not be good, but there will be good in the end. It is for us to come over onto God's side in the great controversy with evil.
In God, the Invisible King, H. G. Wells wrote: “Religion is the first thing and the last thing, and until a man has found God he begins at no beginning, he works to no end. Life falls into place only with God, who fights through man against blind force and might and non-existence; who fights with man against the confusion and evil within us and without, and against death in any form; who loves us as a great captain loves his men and stands ready http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auto use us in His immortal adventure against waste, disorder, cruelty, and vice; who is the end, who is the mean., who is the only King.”
So we cannot see everything at one time. Some things we shall not know until we find greater wisdom and understanding in a higher world. But Jesus declared that God is wise, that He is love, that He is righteous, that He is interested not only in the universe but in us, that He is our heavenly Father. Though we may be blind to many things that take place in the world about us, let us not be blind to the love and wisdom of God.
We need always to remember that Jesus said, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” John 4:24. These words of our Savior were spoken to the woman at the well at Sychar. She believed that the Samaritan temple at nearby Mount Gerizim (destroyed by the Jewish high priest Hyrcanus in 128 BC.) was the right place to worship. On the other hand, the Jewish people in the time of Christ were taught that true worship must he carried on in Jerusalem. So the woman at the well was ready to argue the point with Jesus. Our Savior announced that God is seeking true worship not only from Samaritans and Jews but from all men, “for the Father seeks such to worship him.” John 4:23. God is seeking true worshipers. Jesus said so. We may worship Him anywhere, at any time. The whole earth is our cathedral; the blue sky is its immense dome; the sun, moon, and stars are its candles.
We need to remember that God, our Father, is not some far off deity unconcerned with His children. He is interested in us individually. He encourages us to come to Him. God is not limited to some area, some locality. He is everywhere seeking true worshipers.
Many men look for God, thinking that He may he in some far off land, some location difficult to find, oblivious to the truth that “he be not far from every one of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our being.” Acts 17:27,28. God is near us; He is seeking us; and all those who worship Him in spirit and in truth-that is, in sincerity, with the entire mind; honestly, with the highest faculties of the mind and emotions, obedient to all the truth revealed to them-are recognized as true worshipers. All other worship is false.
If we will believe what Jesus told us about God, life may be beautiful for every one of us. We are not alone in this universe. God is our creator; He is not far from us; He knows about us; He loves us; He cares for us; He guides us; He hears our prayers. Knowing this and all that it means, we find life worth living.
Jesus said that we are to love our enemies, bless them that curse us, do good to them that hate us, and pray for them which despitefully use us and persecute us. And He added that if we do this, we may he the children of our Father which is in heaven, “for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” Matthew 5:45.
Fanny Crosby, the noted hymn writer, was blinded at the age of six weeks by the application of a too-strong poultice to her eyes. She never saw any of the light and beauty of this world. Her eyes were shut to it all; yet through her long life she did not repine; she did not blame God; she did not lose her faith, but became stronger and stronger spiritually. As a result millions of souls have been enriched by her beautiful songs. Of Fanny Crosby, who lived in the United States, Frances R. Havergal of England wrote:
“How can she sing in the dark like this? What is her fountain of joy and bliss? Her heart can see. Her heart can see. Well may she sing so joyously; For the King Himself, in His tender grace, Has shown her the brightness of His face.”
We, too, may have this vision of God here and now through faith in His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. And to the living God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things, the first Person of the Holy Trinity-whose eternity, omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, sovereignty, and love are declared in Holy Scripture-we pray: “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”
Bible Summary
“I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.” Genesis 17:1.
“And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shall thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” Exodus 3:14.
“And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.” Exodus 34:6, 7.
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.” Deuteronomy 6:4.
“Can thou by searching find out God? Can thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what can thou do? Deeper than hell; what can thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than http://www.ThreeAngels.com.authe sea.” Job 11:7-9.
“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” Psalm 90:1
“But the Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king.” Jeremiah 10: 10.
“You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” 1 Thessalonians 1:9.
“Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” 1 Timothy 1:17.
“He that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:6.
“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou has created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” Revelation 4: 11,
THERE ARE people alive on earth today who have no birthday-that is, no record was made of their birthday, or the record has been lost, or in some other way the actual date of their birth has been forgotten. Yet the fact that they are alive proves that they were born. They do have a birthday-if they only knew when it is.
Nobody knows the exact day that Jesus was born. If it had been important for us to know, surely the record of it would have been clear in Holy Scripture. Ancient traditions have suggested various dates as Christ's birthday, among them the twenty-fifth of December, which is popularly called Christmas.
But we know that Jesus was born. Thousands of people saw him. He healed the sick, raised the dead, spoke as “never man spoke” before or since. (John 7:46.) Therefore He was born, and we thank God for it.
The ancient prophet Isaiah had declared, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14. Immanuel, or Emmanuel, as the New Testament spells it, means “God with us.” That prophecy, written seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus, was truly fulfilled. He was Emmanuel. He was “God with us.”
For large numbers of people the advent story has lost its real meaning. Robert E. Luccock describes how dramatically this fact is illustrated in the experience of Life magazine in preparing its Christmas issue not long ago. A photographer had been sent to the School of San Roco in Italy to get pictures of the wonderful Tintoretto murals of the Nativity. He tried to photograph these exquisite paintings in natural color, but failed. He used every conceivable kind of light, but he was not successful. The colors would not come true and clear. Careful examination revealed that these wonderful murals of Christ's Nativity had been overlaid with four centuries of varnish, dirt, and dust. The radiant beauty of the original colors would not shine through. At last the photographer tried polarized light, and then the authentic colors were caught by his camera.
What a perfect parable this is of the real meaning of Christmas, or the advent story! For centuries it has been overlaid with traditional varnish, with commercial dust and dirt, until it has become only the sweet story of a baby in a manger, for whom we may be moved with pity; or the occasion of organized, commercialized, vulgar carnival and celebration, so that millions today fail to see the glorious, wonderful, majestic, and eternal fact of the Emmanuel, God with us.
We are likely to forget that Jesus came not to propound an idea but to do a work. He came to redeem a lost race. For that redemption it was necessary that He take human nature, that He become truly man and yet remain God. Because of sin, the incarnation, Christ's coming in human flesh, was necessary to accomplish the atoning sacrifice of redemption on the cross. Christ was God with us as a means to an end, and that end was our salvation. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Using this name Emmanuel, “God with us,” in its wider sense, we see that the truth is that “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.” 2 Corinthians 5:19. He reconciled man to God by His power, His love, His mercy, His companionship, His truth, His light, and His salvation.
What about the pre-existence of the Son of God? Did His life really begin at Bethlehem? His own words settle that question forever. Here they are in John 17:5. “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with your own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” That is clear, is it not? He was with the Father before the world was. He was with the Father in glory. Verse twenty-four gives us the same truth. Here the Savior says, “Thou loved me before the foundation of the world.”
Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, God manifested in the flesh, the living Savior. His birth in Bethlehem was not His beginning. He was never created. His “goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” (Micah 5:2.) The Bible says that “God . . . created all things by Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 3:9. The starry heavens are the work of His hands. The earth is His, for He made it. We are told that “all things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” John 1:3.
The Bible teaches us that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” Colossians 1: 15-17.
Consist means “to hold together.” The entire universe would explode into a chaos of atoms and electrons but for the power of Jesus Christ. His hand guides them in their ceaseless vibrations. In Him is the cohesion and order of the universe. The Bible says, “And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning has laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of your hands: they shall perish; but thou remains; and they all shall wax old as does a garment, and as a vesture shall thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years http://www.ThreeAngels.com.aushall not fail.” Hebrews 1:10-12. Jesus says, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” Revelation 22:13.
He, and He alone, could bring man back to God. Only He who was God could, by becoming man, save man from sin and its wages, death. He who was equal with God must humble Himself as a man, even to death itself, in order to meet and defeat and destroy Satan, to ransom sinners with the price of His own blood, and to open heaven to a lost race. He must become man's substitute and die in his place. He must be smitten of God and separated from God that men might be forgiven of God and reunited with God. He must die that men might live.
Would He do it? Did He do it? The Scripture says that Jesus who was “in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:6-11.
Jesus was the Son of man, and He was the Son of God. When He was but a boy of twelve, He recognized God as His Father in a unique way. When His mother chided Him for the anxiety and trouble they had been to in seeking for Him for three days, He replied, “How is it that you sought me? Know you not that I must be about my Father's business? And they understood not the saying which he spoke unto them.” Luke 2:49, 50. In the words and way in which He claimed God as His Father, His contemporaries, those who heard Him, understood Him to mean that He Himself was divine in nature.
In the fifth chapter of John we have a record of a great miracle that our Lord performed. He healed a man on the Sabbath day and what day would be more appropriate for an act that so greatly glorified God? Some, however, took exception to this and accused Him of breaking the Sabbath. “But Jesus answered them, My Father works hitherto, and I work.” John 5:17. Here Jesus was saying that the creative and sustaining activity of His Father and of Himself had known no cessation from the beginning up to that very time. Therefore, because of this saying, his critics `sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath [that is, in their estimation), but said also that God was his Father.” Verse 18. In fact the original makes it even stronger, as it might be translated that God was Christ's own Father. This, of course, made Him equal with God. That's the way Christ's hearers understood it, and they were right in gathering this to be His meaning, not merely from the words “My Father” but also from His claim of full right and authority to act as His Father did -in the same sphere of ceaseless activity and creative power. Anyone who reads the verses which follow will see clearly that our Lord Jesus Christ claimed to be the Son of God in an entirely different way from that in which we become the sons of God through faith.
We find another saying of our Lord Jesus Christ on this subject in John 10: 30, where he declared, I and my Father are one.” Immediately His hearers who did not accept His deity began to pick up stones to stone Him to death for blasphemy. Then Jesus said, “Many good works have I showed you from my Father; for which of those works do you stone me?” Verse 32. They answered, “For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makes thyself God.” Verse 33. From this it is clear that Jesus claimed deity. This is what He said about Himself.
Emperor Theodosius at one time denied the deity of Christ. When his son Arcadius was sixteen years old, the emperor decided to make him his partner in the government of the nation. The great men of the land assembled to congratulate the new wearer of the imperial purple. Among them was a bishop named Amphilocus, who made an able address to the emperor and was about to leave when Theodosius cried, “What! Do you take no notice of my son?”
Then the man of God went up to the lad Arcadius and, putting his hands upon his head, said, “The Lord bless thee, my son.”
The emperor was aroused to fury and exclaimed, “What! Is this all the respect you give to a prince whom I have made of equal dignity with myself?
Amphilocus replied, “Sir, you do so highly resent my apparent neglect of your son because I do not give him equal honors with yourself. Then what must the eternal God think of you when you degrade His co-equal and co-eternal Son to the level of one of His creatures?” It is said that the emperor judged the reproof to be just.
It was Jesus Himself who said that the Father “bath committed all judgment unto the Son: that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honors not the Son honors not the Father which hath sent him.” John 5:22, 23. That is what Jesus said about the honor due unto Himself.
And now one final saying of our Lord regarding His claim to deity. It is found in that wonderful eighth chapter of John, in which our Savior declared Himself to be the Light of the world. To those who saw Him and heard His messages and saw His deeds, He declared, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auand was glad.” John 8:56.
These critics of His came back at Him with this: “Thou art not yet fifty years old, and has thou seen Abraham?” Verse 57. Then follows our Savior's august reply, in which He assumes the title of deity: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” Verse 58.
Some time ago I stood in a little room in a house on Tenth Street in Washington, D.C., a room that is so small that it hardly has space for the great bed which occupies it. At 7:25 on the morning of April 15, 1865, United States Secretary of War Edwin Stanton rose from the side of that bed where he had been kneeling, pulled down the window blinds to shut out the bright spring sunlight, then turning to look at the still form of the one lying there, said, “Now he belongs to the ages.” It has been said that this is the briefest and the best biography of Abraham Lincoln.
But of only One is it really true that He belongs to the ages-He who said of Himself, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last (Revelation 22:13), He who by divine appointment and decree not only belongs to the ages, but to whom the ages belong. Of Him the rhetorical question is asked, “Who shall declare his generation?” Acts 8:33. And the answer is, His “goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting [margin, “from eternity”].” Micah 5:2. Christ belongs to all ages because He is of no age. He is “the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8.)
Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the A and the Z of human history. Even Abraham saw His day and rejoiced. (John 8:56.) Moses wrote of Him. David sang of Him. Isaiah, the gospel prophet, “saw his glory, and spoke of him.” (John 12:41.) Peter and John sat with Him at the last supper, and the Apostle Paul saw Him in vision on the Damascus Road. John saw Him in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks in his vision on the Isle of Patmos. (Revelation 1: 13. )
He who is “from everlasting to everlasting” (Psalm 90:2), He before whom the ages march in fulfillment of His Word, He who is the Creator and Upholder of the universe, is also our Savior, our Redeemer. our Friend, and Elder Brother.
We have heard the testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ concerning Himself. We have heard the words of the holy apostles and prophets as to His identity. We might bring these witnesses before us as in some court of last resort and question them. We might ask the Pharisees, With what would you reproach Jesus? And their reply would be, He eats “with publicans and sinners.” (Matthew 9: 11.)
And you, Caiaphas, who condemned Him, what have you to say of Him? “I tore my robes because He said, 'Hereafter shall you see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” Matthew 26:64.
Pilate, representative of the power and legality of Rome, what is your opinion? “I find no fault in this man.” Luke 23:4
And you, Judas, who sold your Master for thirty pieces of silver, do you have some terrible charge to hurl against Him? He who betrayed his Lord with a kiss, answers, “I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.” Matthew 27:4.
We call upon the centurion and the soldiers who led Him to the cross and nailed Him there for all the world to see. What do you say? “Truly this was the Son of God.” Matthew 27:54.
And now we call our Savior's cousin John the Baptist. What do you think of Him? “Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.” John 1:29.
And you, John, the beloved apostle, what do you record? He is “the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star.” Revelation 22:16.
And you, the Apostle Peter-you who denied Him, but wept with tears of repentance and then confessed Him in your changed life-what is your testimony? “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:16.
Now comes the great Apostle Paul, covered with scars received in his warfare for truth, who sealed his witness with his blood. What do you say? I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” Philippians 3:8.
And now the angels of heaven gather near, those shining armies of the heavenly land. What is your witness today? “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2: 11.
Last of all, as we bow our heads in worship, we call upon our Father which is in heaven, He who knows all things and is blessed forevermore. What do You declare to us regarding Jesus Christ, whom You sent to this dark world to be a Savior and a Light? From the lips of Infinite Truth comes this divine testimony: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17.
What do you say? What must I say? Shall we not say, and say it from the heart: “This is Jesus, the Son of God and Son of man-our Savior, my Savior”?
BESIDE the speaker's desk in the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., sits a man who knows parliamentary law thoroughly. Sometimes the speaker may not know just the proper procedure to take in some parliamentary tangle, but this expert knows without looking at his books, and quietly whispers the proper answer. Through study and experience he is able to give a quick decision in difficult situations.
When Jesus was about to leave this world, He said to His disciples, “I will send you another Comforter.” Comforter is a combination of two Greek words meaning “the one called to stand by,” like the man at the speaker's side, ready to help in times of perplexity. This One came on the day of Pentecost to stand by and give counsel to every Christian. Here are the words of Jesus: “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but you know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” John 14:16-18.
The Holy Spirit comes as a gift from the Father and the Son: “It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you!' While Jesus was with His disciples, He was their comforter, guide, and helper. Now He promises “another Comforter.... even the Spirit of truth!'
Jesus was the great Teacher. He taught His disciples when He was with them, but the Holy Spirit also is a teacher. “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you!' John 14:26. Ghost is simply the old English form of the word “spirit.” Therefore, the Holy Spirit and the Holy Ghost are one and the same. Notice here that the Holy Spirit is not only a comforter and a helper but a teacher, bringing to remembrance the things which Christ has taught. It is when the Word of God is understood by the teaching of the Spirit that we understand it, and not before.
When my father and mother were away holding evangelistic meetings, I stayed for months-yes, even for years at a time-on the farm with my grandfather and grandmother. While still in my teens I watched beside the bed of my dying grandfather, of whom I was fond. Alone with him that last night, I was unable to keep him from getting out of his bed, for he was a strong man. He went to the sideboard, picked up his Bible, opened it to the second chapter of First Corinthians, and read these words to me: “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knows no man, but the Spirit of God.” Verses 10, 11.
Then he said, “Remember, Son, you are planning to be a minister of Christ. You have received a call from Him, but you will never understand the Bible or be able to explain it to other people unless the Holy Spirit dwells in you and speaks through you. Since the Holy Scriptures are written by the Holy Spirit-for 'holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost' (2 Peter 1:21)-the Holy Spirit alone can fully explain them. You must be a spiritual man if you expect to have power as a preacher. If you ever understand the Oracles of God, it will be through the power and teaching of the Holy Spirit. Listen to this [and then he read on): 'Now we have received, not the spirit of the world but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which thins also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. - 1 Corinthians 2:12-14.
Then he laid down the Bible and quietly returned to his bed, from which he never arose. But his words keep ringing in my heart: “If you wish to understand the Bible and preach it with power, you must be a spiritual man.” Those words of my grandfather were simply another way of saying what Jesus said-that when the Holy Ghost comes into the life, “he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” Now, the Holy Spirit testifies of Jesus. He glorifies Jesus. Jesus said, “When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father, he shall testify of me.” John 15:26.
When our Savior returned to heaven, His presence through the Holy Spirit was still with His disciples on earth. Of the coming of the Spirit He said, “He dwells with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” John 14:17, 18. Thus Christ is present by the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. The world cannot receive Him because the world deals with the tangible and the visible, but the real presence of the Holy Spirit is with the believing disciple. Jesus said, 1f a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” Verse 23. Through the presence of the Holy Spirit each believer may have direct access to the truth of God, God's Word.
Notice now three things that Jesus said about the work of the Comforter: “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and you see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” “When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.” John 16:8-11, 13.
First of all, the Holy Spirit convicts of sin, for the word reprove has the sense of “convict” in the original. Jesus Himself convicted the wicked of their sins. as we read in John 7:7: “The world cannot hate you; but me it hates, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.” So does the Holy Spirit convict the heart of man. Of those who heard the Apostle Peter preach on the day of Pentecost, it is written, “They were pricked in their heart.” Acts 2:37.
True conviction of sin and the realization of our need of a Savior come from the Holy Spirit. J. Floyd Jones says that when he was pastor of a certain church, he felt that he was a complete failure. Something seemed to be wrong. He was a young man and was working especially for youth. In that community stood a great challenge to Christian faith-a man who had more influence than any other man in the community. He was well educated and beloved by everybody. If someone’s house burned, he always gave more than anyone else to rebuild it. He even gave to the church, but he was not a member, not even a Christian. Since he did not attend church, his example was a great barrier to the minister's efforts to reach the young people.
One night Pastor Jones, lay awake for hours and as he prayed, a voice seemed to say, “Why don't you strike at the source of your trouble? Prepare a sermon especially for this man and get him out to hear you-
He worked for many days on his sermon and drove by the townsman's home and told him that at his next service he would preach a sermon that he had prepared especially for him, and invited him to come. In a friendly way the man said it would be impossible for him to attend that morning, but he would be n the evening meeting. So the minister spoke on something else in the morning and kept his special sermon for the evening. But at nightfall a snowstorm developed. Very few attended church, and the man for whom the sermon had been prepared was not among them. The preacher was completely disheartened. It seemed that he would never have an opportunity to reach that man. He preached a short sermon on some other topic and went home.
As he sat by the fire, meditating and praying to himself, it seemed that a voice in his heart directed him to go to the man and preach the sermon to him alone, as Jesus did to Nicodemus. Before he realized what he was doing, Jones had dressed and was driving to the man's house. It was after one o'clock on that cold winter night, and he was afraid that he would be considered insane coming at such an hour and through such a snowstorm. But he was sustained by the knowledge that he was obeying the impression that had come to him as he studied the Word of God and prayed.
When he came within sight of the house, he saw a light. As he stepped upon the porch, the door opened at once, and the man reached out to him. With a sob he said, “Thank God! He has sent you to show me the way to find Him. I have been reading my Bible all night, but it is all dark to me. Your special invitation this morning got me to thinking, and I want to find God.” In a few moments he had found Him. The conviction of the Holy Spirit on both the pastor and the sinner drew them together to the salvation of a soul.
In the second place, not only does the Holy Spirit convict of sin but of righteousness-the righteousness of Christ. When Jesus was on earth, He pointed the way to the perfect righteousness which is required of all who enter God's kingdom. (Matthew 5:48.) Since the Savior went back to heaven, this has been the work of the Holy Spirit. It points men to the righteousness of Christ, both imputed and imparted, as the only hope of salvation. (Romans 10:340; Galatians 2:20.)
The Holy Spirit in the heart leads to loving and natural obedience. A litterateur in a great English university once made a special analysis of Tennyson's poems, and a tabulation of the various forms of poetic composition found therein. When this was shown to Lord Tennyson, he said, “You are exactly right. I was true and obedient to every specific regulation here outlined, but I did not know that I was doing it.”
So obedience, revealing the righteousness of Christ, is the fruitage in the Spirit-filled life. If we are led by the Spirit, we are not under the condemnation of the law, and we do by nature the things contained in the law. His holy righteousness, lived out in the life of Jesus, is ours. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, from the very presence of God, he had a shining face, but he “knew not that ... his face shone.” (Exodus 34:29.) So the Spirit-filled Christian obtains his righteousness, not by effort, but by communion with God, by the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Third, the Holy Spirit convicts of judgment. He warns men of the danger of rejecting the salvation so freely offered in Christ. During the great advent movement in the days of William Miller a revival meeting was being held by William Lull in a schoolhouse at Windham, New York. For six weeks there were only two converts, a woman and a boy. One evening a group of young men gathered in a tailor's shop were talking about the meetings. One of them, http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auOrrin P. Matthews, said, “Boys, would you like to hear Miller's sermon on the judgment?”
Several of them said, “Yes, Orrin, go ahead; let's have it.”
Matthews had read William Miller's sermon on the judgment. He was quite an elocutionist and also had a remarkable memory. So, getting up on a chair, he began.
He had not gone far when he noticed that the tailor's helper, seated in a corner of the room by himself working overtime, had stopped and was sitting there with bowed head.
Matthews turned to him and asked, “What's the matter, Cowels? Are you under conviction? If so, I'll pray for you. Someone said I could pray as well as old Giles up there at the meeting.” Then he got down on the floor and began to pray. But when he had spoken only a few words, he stopped and began to tremble like a leaf. His friends thought he was sick, and inquired what was the matter. He couldn't reply; he just kept on trembling so they took him home.
The next morning several of the young men called to see how he was, and he said, “Boys, as I was making that mock prayer, a terrible conviction for my sins came over me. I just couldn't speak. Boys, I'm under conviction.” The others admitted that they were in the same condition. They decided to go to the meeting that night and respond to the invitation to go forward.
They did go to the meeting, but Matthews failed to lead the way forward, and no one made a move. After the meeting, they went back to the tailor's shop, locked the door, got down on their knees, and began to pray so loudly that even the neighbors could hear them. That night three of the young men were converted. The next evening they all went to the schoolhouse and openly confessed their faith in Christ. Then a great revival spread through all that area. Three of the young men, including Matthews, who had been the mock preacher, entered the Christian ministry. The first of this group to find salvation was the youngest, Delos Lowe, who later became the father of John S. Lowe, who tells the story.
Before the day of Pentecost the disciples were full of fear and unbelief, but after the Holy Spirit had come upon them in fulfillment of the promise of Jesus, they were fearless witnesses to His resurrection. They preached the gospel to all the world, and many of them gave their lives as martyrs to the faith. They had no doubts as they went forth filled with heavenly power, for Jesus had said, “Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry you in the city of Jerusalem, until you be endued with power from on high.” Luke 24:49. Think of the invincible power that the church of God would have today if all Christian believers, were endued with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives!
There is a terrible spiritual drought in the hearts of millions-yes, even millions of Christians. To all those who are thirsty for the water of life, Jesus says, 1f any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believes on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly [heart) shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spoke he of the Spirit' John 7:37-39. All earthly springs and fountains fail to satisfy the human heart.
God created man in His own image, and his spiritual hunger and thirst can never be assuaged by the merely material things of this world. Man will never be satisfied with anything but the water of life. “Whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:14.
Mendelssohn once visited a cathedral containing one of the most priceless organs on the continent of Europe. He listened to the old organist and then asked if he might play. The organist did not know him and said to him, “It is not our custom to let strangers play on this organ.
At last the great musician persuaded him to let him play just a little. As he played, the great cathedral was filled with such music as the old organist had never heard before in all his life. With tears streaming down his face, he came over and put his hand on Mendelssohn's shoulder and asked, “Who are you?” The answer came, “Mendelssohn.”
Dumfounded the organist said, “And to think that such an old fool as I came nearly forbidding Mendelssohn to play upon my organ!”
If we could only realize what heavenly harmonies the Holy Spirit can draw from our lives, we would never be content until He has possession of us and works through us and by us to accomplish our Lord's will in the world.
BIBLE SUMMARY
The Holy Spirit is either mentioned or referred to 354 times in the Bible.
The Holy Spirit is first mentioned in Genesis 1:2, where we are told that “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters,” at creation. The Holy Spirit is mentioned in Isaiah 40:13 and also in Isaiah 63:11, where we read that God put the Holy Spirit within Moses. In judges 13:25 we find that the Spirit of God was the secret of Samson's http://www.ThreeAngels.com.aupower. David spoke with the aid of the Spirit. (Matthew 22:43.) The Spirit caused Eldad and Medad to prophesy. '(Numbers 11:26.) The Spirit was in Joshua. (Numbers 27:18.) The Spirit testified through the prophets. (Nehemiah 9:30.) No one can hide from the Spirit's presence. (Psalm 139:7.),
In the New Testament we read that the Spirit speaks 1 Timothy 4:1); teaches (1 Corinthians 2: 13); bears witness (Romans 8:16); makes intercession (Romans 8:26); distributes the gifts (1 Corinthians 12:11); and invites the sinner (Revelation 22:17).
What is the evidence of the Holy Spirit in the life?
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” Galatians 5:22, 23.
How are we to live in order to avoid an evil life?
“Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16.
What does the Holy Spirit bring to our hearts?
“The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
What are the leading gifts of the Spirit to the church?
“Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.” I Corinthians 12A. “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.” Ephesians 4:11. “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.” 1 Corinthians 12:28.
Do all these gifts come from the one Holy Spirit?
“Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12A. See also verses 7-11. Jesus said that the day would come when His disciples would be not only guided by the Spirit but filled with the Spirit. “At that day you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” John 14:20.
Is it possible for the Holy Spirit to withdraw from a person?
“And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man.” Genesis 6:3. And David prayed, “Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.” Psalm 51:11.
The Holy Spirit is God's greatest gift. It brings all other blessings in its train, for Jesus said: “You then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” Luke 11:13. Shall we not ask Him? Shall we not pray for the Holy Spirit today?
IN THE HEARTS of millions the materialistic spirit of this age has left no room for the holy angels of God. Strange legends and superstitious stories about angels handed down from the Middle Ages have driven some away from Bible teaching on this subject. Consequently angels have been relegated almost to the same category as the ghost. Like the Sadducces of old many churchmen declare that there is neither angel nor spirit. (Acts 23:8.) In denying the existence of the holy angels, they have impoverished their souls.
Those who believe in the Holy Bible must believe in the holy angels. It is filled with accounts of their exploits. The Holy Scriptures tell us more about angels than about baptism, the Lord's Supper, the holy Sabbath, the Christian church, and many other important subjects. Yet how few sermons we hear on the subject of angels! The number of the angels is said to be so great that our earthly arithmetic is inadequate to count them. The “angels round about the throne” are “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands” (Revelation 5:11), `an innumerable company” (Hebrews 12:22).
Who are the angels? Where did they come from? According to Scripture, angels were created by God. They existed before death ever entered this world. We find them at the gate of Paradise with a “sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.” (Genesis 3:24.) Since angels lived before the first man died, they are not the spirits of the dead, but holy beings created by God. They are of a higher order than man, for of man it is said, “Thou has made him a little lower than the angels.” Psalm 8:5.
Let us now take a look at the ministry of angels in regard to Jesus' birth. The angel Gabriel was sent from God to the little town of Nazareth. There he announced the birth of Jesus to the blessed virgin Mary. “And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” “And, behold, thou shall conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name JESUS.” Luke 1: 28, 3 1. Not only was the birth of Jesus announced by an angel but He was also named by an angel. (Luke 2:21.) And when His birth actually took place, it was announced by an angel to the frightened shepherds in these words: “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.” Luke 2:10, 11, 13-15.
The angels of God had a great deal to do with the ministry of Jesus too. An angel announced the birth of His cousin John, who was to prepare the way before Him. (Luke 1:11-19.) After the silent years in His Nazareth home our Savior appeared on the banks of the Jordan River to be baptized of John. Here, at His own request, He received the holy ordinance. (Matthew 3:13-17.) Immediately after His baptism He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. There He fasted forty days and forty nights and met the great tempter victoriously. Exhausted from the terrible conflict, the Son of God was not left alone in His hour of need, for we read, “Angels came and ministered unto him.” Matthew 4: 11. It is of interest to note that there are at least seventeen passages in the New Testament in which Jesus speaks of the angels and their ministry for men.
It was the belief of the early Christians that every believer has a guardian angel, an angel appointed by God to watch over, guide, and care for him from childhood to the grave. Of this wonderful truth Jesus declared in Matthew 18: 10, 11: “Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones [speaking of those who believe in Him-His children, and evidently, especially the boys and girls whom He had just mentioned in verse three); for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.”
Think of it! Our guardian angels may actually look upon the face of God. To our Father in heaven they may report the doings of men on earth, the treatment that they mete out to the innocent and the weak, especially to the followers of Christ. Through their ministry heaven is brought very near to the daily life of God's earthly children. It matters not where duty may lead us -through the crowded streets of business, in moments of relaxation, in the house of sickness or death, in palace or in cottage, at home or abroad everywhere the child of faith is found, there these heavenly beings are present.
The early Christians firmly believed in guardian angels. When King Herod cast the Apostle Peter into prison intending to bring him forth to execution, an angel delivered him in the night, although he was bound with chains between two guards. In answer to the prayers of his fellow Christians, the Lord sent His angel and saved the apostle from what seemed certain death. After leaving the prison, he went immediately to the house where the believers were met together in prayer. When he knocked at the door, a young girl named Rhoda came to listen. “And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate. And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel.” Acts 12:14, 15. Here we have proof that the early Christians believed in guardian angels. They could not believe that Peter himself had been released from prison. That was too good to be true! Although they were praying for his deliverance, they thought it must be his angel at the gate. It was not their belief that his angel was some disembodied spirit, because they knew that Peter was still in prison and was not to be executed until after the Passover.
The Jewish people of those days believed in the ministry of heavenly angels. They claimed the wonderful promise of Psalm 91:11,12: “He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.” And also they had the assurance of Psalm 34:7 that “the angel of the Lord encamps round about them that fear him, and delivers them.”
These promises were fulfilled more than once. For example, Satan could not afflict the patriarch job as long as God's hedge of protection was about him and all that he had. (Job 1:6, 8-12.) Then there was the occasion when the king of Syria sent his armies to surround the city of Dothan, in which the prophet Elisha and his servant were living. The latter cried out in fear, but God's prophet knew whom he served, and had the assurance that the angels of the Lord were about them. There was a great Syrian army encamped about the city, but the angels of God who were encamping about His true servants were more than all the hosts of the enemy. To the servant's despairing question, Elisha replied, “Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.... And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” 2 Kings 6:16, 17. What a beautiful picture this is of God's protecting care!
No doubt you have seen the beautiful painting of two children walking hand in hand over a dangerous path on a precipitous mountainside. They are almost on the edge of a great cliff which seems to drop down to unknown depths. On the other side of the path are rocks, trees, and flowers. One of the children is reaching out for a butterfly, apparently unmindful of the danger before him. The other is reaching for wayside flowers. Behind them, with hands outstretched toward both, is an angel of God. How symbolic this is of the care and watchfulness of the guardian angels! It was said in more ancient days of faith, that angels have two offices: Superius canere et inferius vigilare-”To sing above and watch beneath.” The angels do not guard and watch over God's children simply because they are commanded to; they have a tender love for them.
Jesus said that the angels are interested in man's salvation: “I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents.” Luke 15: 10. No gift to God will make such joy among the holy angels in heaven as the gift of a human heart. Why do we not repent of our sins this very day and set those angel choirs rejoicing? But not only does our repentance bring joy to the angels of God, our confession of Christ before men is known to them also. Jesus said: “Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: but he that denies me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.” Luke 12:8, 9.
In one of D. L. Moody's evangelistic meetings a little Norwegian boy stood up and came to the front. Trembling and with tears trickling down his cheeks, he said in his limited English, 1f I tell the world about Jesus, He will tell the Father about me.” That was all he said, but it was all he needed to say. Those few words went right to the heart of everyone present that day. If we tell the world-that's the condition-Jesus will confess us to God before the angels of heaven.
We need to remember that it is not only by our public confession of Christ in a religious meeting that we bring joy to the angels but in our everyday life itself, for it is
“Not merely in the words you say, Not merely in the deed confessed; But in the most unconscious way, Is Christ confessed.”
But there is also a dark side to what Jesus said about angels. Not only does He speak of the angels of God, those “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation” (Hebrews 1: 14), but He speaks also of evil angels, “the devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:41.) It is quite clear from Scripture that approximately one third of the heavenly host fell into sin and rebellion with Satan, himself a mighty angel who was cast down to this earth. We read in Revelation 12:7-9: “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auThese fallen angels are spoken of in the New Testament as demons. Their opposition to our Savior was manifested all through His earthly ministry. They recognized Him and cried out, “I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.” “Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?” Luke 4:34; Matthew 8:29.
It is these fallen angels, “the wandering bandits of the spirit world,” as Carlyle B. Haynes calls them, who are the spirits of spiritism, impersonating our dead, teaching doctrines of demons, and preparing for the final conflict of the day of God.
Their destiny has been settled forever, as we read in 2 Peter 2:4: “God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment-; or as is stated in other words in Jude 6: “The angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” And that day hastens on apace.
Jesus said that holy angels of God will have an important part to play in the final scenes of this world's history. Matthew 13:24-30 portrays the Savior's great parable of the harvest. He tells of a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while he slept the enemy sowed tares. When the seeds sprang up, his servants reported that tares had come up in the field with the wheat. The sower declared this to be the work of an enemy. Then the servants asked whether they should go and gather up the tares. His answer was, “Nay; lest while you gather the tares, you root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather you together first the tares, and bind them into bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” Verses 29, 30.
Then we have our Lord's own explanation of this parable: “He that sows the good seed is the Son of man [that is, Himself); the field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” Verses 37-43.
Notice, the reapers of the final harvest are the angels. They are the ones who separate the righteous from the unrighteous. This is done in connection with the second appearing of Christ in glory. “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matthew 24:30, 31.
Are you one of the elect, one of God's children, one of the redeemed? If so, you will have something to do with the angels on that day. Notice, “He shall send his angels.... and they shall gather together his elect.” The angels of God, our unseen protectors and guides; the angels, who have at times appeared in the humble guise of men and walked this earth-for the Scripture says that “some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2)-will in that day be revealed in heavenly glory.
And what a glory that is! When an angel appeared to Daniel in vision, the prophet fell at his feet as dead. “Neither is there breath left in me,” he said. (Daniel 10: 17. ) When an angel appeared at the garden tomb on the morning of Christ's resurrection, “there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.” Matthew 28:24. The glory and power of just one angel shook the earth and smote the soldier guard to the ground. What will it be when the heavens are filled with those radiant heavenly forms and the Savior comes with all the holy angels-”ten thousand times ten thousand [a hundred million], and thousands of thousands”?
So we see that the birth, life, ministry, atoning sacrifice, resurrection, and second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ are all accompanied by angel ministry, and that the redemption of this world involves “things which the angels desire to look into.” ( 1 Peter 1: 12. ) Yes, Jesus said much about the angels, and we should seek to know more about their holy ministries.
“Hark! hark! my soul, angelic songs are swelling O'er earth's green fields and ocean's wave-beat shore; How sweet the truth those blessed strains are telling, Of that new life when sin shall be no more!
“Angels, sing on! your faithful watches keeping, Sing us sweet fragments of the songs above,
http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auTill morning's joy Shall end the night of weeping, And life's long shadows break in cloudless love.
“Angels of Jesus, angels of light,
Singing to welcome the pilgrims of the night.” R W. Faber.
BIBLE SUMMARY
Angels have a duty in heaven as well as on earth. 'I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.” Revelation 5: 11. The Apostle Paul declares that their number is innumerable. “But you are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels.” Hebrews 12:22.
Did angels exist before the death of any of the human race?
“So he [God) drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubirns.” Genesis 3:24. Cherubim are an order of angels.
Have angels ever appeared as men and partaken of the hospitality of earthly homes?
“And he [Abraham] took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.” Genesis 18:8. “And he [Lot] made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.” Genesis 19:3. The context proves that those spoken of here are the angels of God. See also Hebrews 13:2.
How have angels ministered to God's children?
Angels have delivered God's children in times of trouble. `My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me,” were the words of Daniel when he was cast into the lions' den. Daniel 6:22. See also 2 Kings 6:8-17; Acts 12:5-11.
Elijah was fed by an angel in a time of crisis. “And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and cat; because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.” 1 Kings 19:7, 8.
Does the Scripture speak of the character, power, and work of the angels?
“His angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.” Psalm 103:20.
A teacher was explaining the obedience of the angels to God's commandments, saying that they are God's ministers that do His pleasure and that they hearken to His commandments. Then she asked the question, “How do the angels carry out God's will?”
Many answers followed. One child answered, “They do it with all their heart.” Another said, “They do it at once.” Someone else replied, “They do it well.” After a pause, a little girl added, “They do it without any questions.”
What did Jacob see in his dream at Bethel?
“And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.” Genesis 28:12. This shows that earth and heaven are connected by the ministry of angels.
Do the angels hear what we say?
“Better is it that thou should not vow, than that thou should vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thy hands?” Ecclesiastes 5:5, 6.
Someone has said, “Christians who live in the light of God's countenance are always accompanied by unseen angels, and these holy beings leave behind them a blessing in our homes.” Who protected Daniel in the lions' den?
“My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me.” Daniel 6:22. “What we call physical law is no obstruction to angelic ministrations. Bolts and bars and prison gates disappear at their volition, and dungeons like palaces shine in their presence. No place can be so dismal, no cavern http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auso deep and dark, no Inquisition cell so hidden and fetid, no fortress so strongly guarded, that they cannot find quick and easy access, if a child of God is there.”-E. A. Stockman, Footprints of Angels in Fields of Revelation, pp. 74,75. “He that overcomes...I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.” Revelation 3:5.
NEVER knew my mother,” said Henry Ward Beecher. “She died when I was three years old. But one day in after years, turning over a pile of old letters in my father's study, I found a package of her letters to him, beginning with her first acquaintance with him, and coming down into her married life; and as I read those pages, at last I knew my mother. I remember that there was one letter in which she first spoke freely and frankly of her love. That to me is like the Gospel of John. It is God's love letter to the world.”
In the Gospel of John especially God unfolds His love to us in the eternal gift of His Son, who was the Word of God revealed in human life, for “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” John 1: 14. Amazing and unfathomable love!
But the same message is apparent throughout the Bible. In word and act and life Jesus was the living Scripture. By His life He revealed what the Holy Scriptures had been saying for hundreds of years. Mary Lathbury put this thought into the beautiful words of her hymn:
“Break Thou the bread of life,
Dear Lord, to me,
As Thou did break the loaves Beside the sea;
Beyond the sacred page
I seek Thee, Lord;
My spirit pants for Thee, O living Word!”
We ask the question, What did He who was the living Word say about the Written Word? What did Jesus say about the Holy Scripture? In conflict with His enemies, our Savior, quoting from the Old Testament in defense of His assumption of the divine title the Son of God, plainly stated that “the scripture cannot be broken.” John 10:35. This is His clear statement. Being the expressed will of the unchangeable God, the Word of God is also unchangeable. The word scriptures simply means “writings”; Holy Scriptures, the “holy writings.”
Jesus, as He quoted from the Bible of His time which is our Old Testament-declared that nothing could break it; nothing could make it fail in the fulfillment of its prophecies, its declarations of divine truth, its record of inspired histories. Would it not be well for all of us to agree with Him? Many have tried to break the Bible, but so far they have not succeeded. According to the inspired word of Christ, they will never succeed. Our Savior depended upon the Holy Scripture and proclaimed it immutable. Why should not we?
As we read the Four Gospels we see clearly that the subject of Christ's teaching and preaching was the Word of God. He met questioners with: “It is written .....What says the scriptures?” “How reads thou?” He who was the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), pointed to the Scriptures of the Old Testament, saying, “They are they which testify of me” (John 5:39).
Turning to the New Testament we have in the Four Gospels the life and work of our Savior as it actually occurred in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. It was “the Spirit of Christ which was in them” which “testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.” 1 Peter 1: 11. The Acts of the Apostles describes the work and success of the early preachers of Christian faith. Then follow the Epistles and the rest of the New Testament, including Revelation, which is definitely said to be “the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass.” (Revelation 1: l.) Therefore, the entire Bible-Old and New Testaments together-is a Christian Book. It is a testimony to Jesus and the testimony of Jesus, given by inspiration.
It is recorded in the Book of Acts that when the Christian evangelist Philip heard a certain traveler reading the Holy Scripture, he recognized the words of the book of the prophet Isaiah and asked, 'Understand thou what thou reads?” Acts 8:30. The stranger replied, “How can I, except some man should guide me?” Verse 31. This guidance was given, as we read in verse thirty-five: “Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.” By explaining the birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and heavenly work of Christ as prophesied in the Old Testament and fulfilled before living witnesses, early New Testament preachers proclaimed the gospel.
Someone has truthfully said that the New Testament is hid in the Old, and the Old Testament is revealed in the New. It is by searching both Testaments together that we become informed regarding God's plan for man's salvation. Without the Old Testament the claims of our Savior to be the Messiah, or Christ, of prophecy cannot be http://www.ThreeAngels.com.ausubstantiated. The New Testament gives the history and teachings of Jesus Christ and shows Him to be the holy and pure Messiah, the Son of God; but if the Old Testament had not predicted what the Messiah would be and do, there would have been no standard by which to decide whether or not this Holy Being had appeared among men.
Again and again and again Jesus quoted Holy Scripture as authority for His acts, as predictions of His birth, His work, His sufferings, His resurrection, His victory over death. In quoting from the Scriptures, He recognized them as of divine authority. We should do the same.
Matthew 4: 1-11 records our Savior's threefold temptation at the hands of the devil. First, He was tempted to perform a miracle to satisfy His human hunger after a forty-day fast. 1f thou be the Son of God,” suggested the evil one, “command that these stones be made bread.” Verse 3. The answer was, “It is written.” The Scripture was from Deuteronomy 8:3. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God' Matthew 4:4.
Next, on a pinnacle of the temple the tempter said, 1f thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written [and here the devil himself quotes Scripture from Psalm 91:11, 12, but he quotes it imperfectly and partially, as follows), He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.” Matthew 4:6. Again Jesus countered with the Scripture, this time from Deuteronomy 6:16. “It is written again, Thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God.” Matthew 4:7. Here he assumed the title of God, which belongs to Him.
In the third and last temptation Jesus was taken into an exceeding high mountain where He saw all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them in a moment of time the world's first moving picture. The words of temptation were: “All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” Matthew 4:9. Our Savior's answer was again a quotation of Scripture, this time Deuteronomy 6:13. “It is written, Thou shall worship the Lord thy God, and him only shall thou serve. Then the devil leaves him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.” Matthew 4: 10, 11.
Christ's use of Holy Scripture in time of temptation is a lesson for us, a warning to us, and a promise to us. It is a lesson because it shows us how to meet temptation. It is a warning because so many of us fail to meet the temptation successfully. It is a promise because the record shows us how temptation can be met successfully. The only weapon with which we can successfully conquer Satan is the Written Word of God, “the sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17), “able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15).
With these three mighty sword thrusts, our Savior put the evil one to flight. This shows the great and supremely important necessity of reading the Word of God -yes, of studying it, absorbing it, until it has a place in our hearts and is ever available in times of need and temptation. Like our Savior, we must be able to say, “It is written; it is written; it is written.” Let us read the Holy Scriptures more that we may be familiar with them. Was it not Cardinal Newman who said, I read my Bible to know what people ought to do, and my newspaper to know what they are doing”?
The Holy Bible is like a telescope: If a man looks through his telescope, he sees worlds beyond; if he looks at his telescope, he sees nothing but it. Similarly the Bible must be looked through to see what is beyond. Too many people merely look at the Bible; therefore they see only the dead letter of it and not the glorious truth which it reveals.
God Himself is called the “God of truth” three times in the Old Testament. (Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 31:5; Jeremiah 10: 10, margin.) And for His disciples Jesus prayed to His Father, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” John 17:17. Christ Himself was the living Word, and therefore He could say, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), for the Word of God was lived in His life before the world. Christ, the Son of God, abides forever. (John 8:35; 12:34.) So also His Word shall never pass away. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Matthew 24:35. The gospel prophet Isaiah-who more than any other prophet of the Old Testament foresaw, foreshadowed, and declared before the glory of Christ said, “The grass withers, the flower fades: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” Isaiah 40:8.
The skeptic Voltaire declared that the Bible was an exploded book. Now, more than a century and a half after his death, the Scriptures are circulated more widely than ever. When he expressed his doubts and made his attack upon the inspiration of the Bible, it was translated in only a dozen or so languages. Today, in whole or in part, God's Word may be read in over a thousand languages. Not the Bible, but Voltaire's theory has been exploded. Robert Ingersoll once declared that the Bible would not be read after ten years. He has now been dead for over half a century, but the Scripture lives on.
The Bible continues or for one reason: Christ's words are life because He is life. “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” John 1:4. He personally is called the 'Word of life.” (1 John 1: l.) “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1A. In Revelation 19:13 also He is called “The Word of God.” He was “the Word.. . made flesh” (John 1: 14), who came and dwelt among us and revealed to http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auus the reality of the Holy Word. Jesus said that He Himself was the “bread of life: he that comes to me shall never hunger; and he that believes on me shall never thirst.” John 6:35.
Then what does He suggest that we should do? Listen to His words in verses fifty-seven and fifty-eight: “As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eats me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eats of this bread shall live forever.” Jesus was not speaking here of His literal flesh, but of His teaching, His Word. “It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” Verse 63. Therefore, to eat the flesh of the Son of God is to live by His words. Someone has beautifully said, “He who by faith receives the Word is receiving the very life and character of God.”
So when we say, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11), we should be praying not only for physical nourishment but for spiritual food. It is also clear that if we would really know the words of Christ, we must be willing to obey His Word, which is the Word of God. 1f any man will do his will,” He said, “he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” John 7:17. We think, too, of the close relationship to Christ which is the privilege of those who are obedient to the Word of God. Jesus said, “My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.” Luke 8:21.
The Word of God is like seed which falls into the earth, and that which falls into an honest heart will bring forth fruit unto everlasting life. This Jesus declared in His parable of the sower. (Luke 8:5-15.) He referred those who were seeking truth to the Written Word. When the rich young ruler came to Jesus and asked the conditions of eternal life, He directed his attention to the Scriptures: “He said unto him, What is written in the law? how reads thou?” Luke 10:26.
Likewise, if we wish to know the way of eternal life today, we can find it in the Word of God. Jesus said that those who do not know the Scriptures are in error. Here are His exact words: “You do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.” Matthew 22:29. He also pronounced a blessing upon those who hear the Word of God and obey it. “He said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.” Luke 11: 2 8. Is that blessing ours? It may be if we are willing to hear the Scripture and obey it. Jesus said that those who do not obey God do not have His Word abiding in them. (John 5:38.) And He also declared that the Word of God is the agency which cleanses the human heart. `Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.” John 15:3.
Let us always remember that the Word of God is seed. Jesus said so. “The seed is the word of God.” Luke 8: 11. And that seed will grow and grow and bring its full fruition in our lives and in the world if we do not destroy it by disobedience and doubt. As the apostle said, it will effectually work in those who believe. (1 Thessalonians 2:13.) No wonder our Savior's disciples said what they did about the Scripture! For instance, the Apostle Peter said, “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Peter 1:21. No wonder the Apostle Paul declared, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works”! 2 Timothy 3:16.
And here is something important: Even after His resurrection from the dead, Jesus still quoted Scripture to His disciples and explained its meaning to them. Read the beautiful story of His appearance to the disciples on the road to Emmaus on the day of His resurrection. They were discouraged and sad because they thought He was still in the tomb. And then He said to them, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?” Luke 24:25, 26. According to our Savior, one is very foolish who does not accept and believe all the Holy Scriptures. The disciples had misunderstood or neglected the Scriptures, so “beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” Verse 27. Jesus appealed to the Holy Scriptures to explain the very events that had so disheartened and discouraged His followers. All these things, including His death, had been predicted in the Scriptures, and when they took place the disciples should have found great courage and joy in their fulfillment. This they did a short time later when they said, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?” Verse 32.
Of the Scriptures Jesus Himself said, “[They] cannot be broken.” John 10:35. Heaven and earth will pass away before one letter or even a corner of a letter of God's Word will pass away. That is what Jesus said about the Scriptures. We dare not reject or neglect them. We must receive them, believe them, trust them, quote them, as did He who was and is the living Word.
“O Word of God Incarnate, O Wisdom from on high,
O Truth unchanged, unchanging,
O Light of our dark sky,
http://www.ThreeAngels.com.au 38
We praise Thee for the radiance That from the hallowed page, A lantern to our footsteps, Shines on from age to age.” -W. W. How.
IN HIS book The Recovery of Belief, written in the closing years of his life, C. E. M. Joad tells us that the rationalist-optimist philosophy, by the light of which he had tried his best to live, now seemed “trivial and superficial-a shallow rooted plant which, growing to maturity amid the lush and leisured optimism of the nineteenth century, was quite unfitted to withstand the bleaker winds that blow through ours.”
This modern philosopher was compelled to give up what had been made “utterly unplausible by the events of the last forty years.... It has come to seem intolerably shallow,” he said, “and the contrary view of it as endemic in man, more particularly in its Christian form, the doctrine of original sin, to express a deep and essential insight into human nature.”
Joad came to believe in the mystery of the fall. Like him, many are turning back to the Word of God to discover the true nature of that primeval catastrophe which marred our beautiful world and the order of the universe. From the Genesis story of Eden we read that in reality the world and all that was in it was “very good.” But then a dark shadow which has never been lifted moved over the earth. This shadow the Bible calls sin”; philosophy calls it “the problem of evil.”
This entrance of evil into human history came through the active participation of a great personality disloyal to God, one of a higher order of beings whom the Bible calls “angels.” This being did not come out in the open, but worked behind the scenes in disguise as a serpent. (Genesis 3A.) According to the Scriptural story, evil did not originate here in this earth, but came as an importation from a higher world, even from heaven itself. This is exactly what Jesus said: I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” Luke 10: 18. And again, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” John 8:44. Our Lord Jesus Christ believed in the existence of the devil. In fact He came to this world “that he might destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8. And not this alone, but to destroy the devil himself. (Hebrews 2:14.)
One night Thomas Carlyle took Ralph Waldo Emerson through some of the worst streets of London's eastside. As they walked along silently beholding the wretchedness and evil everywhere, Carlyle finally commented, “Do you believe in the devil now?” Indeed there are those who deny the existence of the devil and his work, but they cannot ignore it. They still must pay taxes for orphanages, asylums, hospitals, prisons, war. They still must suffer pain. They still must die.
Someone has put it this way:
“Men don't believe in the devil now As their fathers used to do;
They have forced the door of the broadest creed To let his majesty through.
“There isn't a print of his cloven foot, Or a fiery dart of his bow, To be found in earth or air today, For the world has voted so.
“Won't somebody step to the front forthwith And make his bow and show How the frauds and crimes of a single day Spring up? We want to know.
“The devil was fairly voted out, And of course the devil's gone;
But simple people would like to know Who carries his business on!' -Alfred J. Hough.
A friend once asked Dr. E. J. Pace whether he believed in a personal devil. The doctor replied with emphasis, “No.” The friend's only answer was a lifting of the eyebrows as though wondering at his heterodoxy. Then Dr. Pace proceeded to clear himself, saying, “I most certainly believe that there is a personal devil, but far be it from me to believe in him, for he is a liar and the father of lies, as Jesus said.”
Jesus declared that He saw Satan as lightning fall from heaven. That fall took place in connection with the creation of this world, and we know from Scripture that the Son of God was with the Father in creation. (John 1:1-3) The great deceiver appeared for the deception and defection of our first parents in the Garden of Eden. Therefore, his fall must have preceded their creation. Where and how Satan's revolt began, we learn indirectly from two Old Testament prophets, Isaiah and Ezekiel: Isaiah 14:12-15: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations! For thou has said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” Here two of the evil one's names are given-Lucifer, Son of the Morning-and his egotistical pride and ambitions are mentioned.
Ezekiel 28:12-19: “Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus said the Lord God; Thou seals up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou has been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou was created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covers; and I have set thee so: thou was upon the holy mountain of God; thou has walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou was perfect in thy ways from the day that thou was created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou has sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou has corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou has defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shall be a terror, and never shall thou be any more.
Symbolic language here describes the beauty and wisdom of Lucifer. He was created perfect, but iniquity was found in him. He was the anointed cherub that covered, having a high position by the throne of God.
Let us turn briefly to the last book of the Bible and see what it has to say about the devil. Since the Book of Revelation is “the Revelation of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 1:1), it is clear that whatever is recorded there is really the teaching of Jesus. His word on this subject is found in Revelation 12, beginning with verse seven: “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels.” The dragon, of course, is “that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan.” Verse 9. The result of this conflict was that Satan, or Lucifer, “was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Verse 9.
The joy of the unfallen angels at the expulsion of the rebels is revealed in verse twelve: “Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he hath but a short time.”
Because of his pride and rebellion, Lucifer, the bright and shining angel, was transformed into Satan, the adversary, the devil. God, who knew his heart, then acted to deliver heaven from his presence. “Thou has sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.” Ezekiel 28:16. Satan and the angels that followed him in rebellion God charged with folly. (Job 4:18.) Not only was he cast down to this earth, but eventually he will be destroyed. I will cast thee ... out: ... I will destroy thee.”
These fallen angels God delivered “into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.” (2 Peter 2:4) The sentence against them will be carried out when the results and consequences of Satan's rebellion are fully manifest and the possibility of another rebellion forever excluded. (Nahum 1:9.)
In the first gospel sermon ever preached, which we find in brief outline in Genesis 3:15, the final destruction of Satan is predicted. To the entire human race, which at that time consisted of two people, and to the devil there in the medium of the serpent, came these words: “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his heel.” The Seed of the woman, of course, is Jesus Christ, born of the virgin Mary. On Calvary's Cross Satan wounded Jesus in His human nature and through cruel human hands crucified the Son of man. But our Savior rose from the dead triumphant over Satan and over death. The time will come when Satan himself will be not only wounded but destroyed forever. The Seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head.
The cross settled the great controversy forever. Looking forward to His crucifixion, Jesus said, “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And 1, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” John 12:31, 32. The great controversy between God and Satan, between good and evil, was settled there. Only in the light of the cross could men see the true nature of Satan, that he was indeed a murderer from the beginning-that sin, of which he is the author, results only in death. Yes, even the death of the Son of God. There at the cross all men may see and all unfallen worlds may behold the true nature of the great rebellion and of the great rebel himself. There was dramatically illustrated once and for all the character of Satan and the character of God, as revealed in Jesus Christ. In the first place, the love of power; in the second place, the power of love.
It was at the cross that men made their decision between the good and the evil: Jesus, representing God and His kingdom; Barabbas, representing wickedness in all its forms. But the people chose Barabbas and crucified Jesus. (John 18:39, 40; 19:14, 15.) It is at the cross that all will have to meet and decide whom they will have as their king. Will it be Jesus or Barabbas, Christ or Satan? The Life-giver or the destroyer? The Redeemer of the world, or that serpent, called the devil and Satan?
It is interesting to note that in the Book of Genesis Satan's end is predicted; and in the last book of the Bible, Revelation, we read of its accomplishment in the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:10.) It was Dr. William Graham Scroggie of Edinburgh, preaching one day on the text, “In the volume of the book it is written of me” (Hebrews 10:7)-which, of course, is a prophetic reference to our Lord Jesus Christ-who said that the modern criticism which tells us that Genesis is a myth and Revelation a mystery is the work of the devil. He said, I wonder who inspired that theory?” From the -audience a voice shouted out, “The devil!” “Quite right,” said Dr. Scroggie. “And I'll tell you why the devil is so anxious to get rid of Genesis and Revelation: Because in Genesis his sentence is declared, and in Revelation it is executed.”
Turning now to the influence Satan wields, we find Jesus declaring that Satan was a liar and the father of lies. 1n the day that thou eats thereof thou shall surely die,” had been the word of God to our first parents regarding the tree of knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:17.) But Satan, through the serpent, cast doubt upon this word. “Yea, hath God said?” was his insinuation to Eve. It is a sort of sneer. Next he came out with a straightforward denial of the word of God, “You shall not surely die.” Genesis 3:4.
In Jesus' great parable of the Word, which was represented by the seed sown in the hearts of men, He said, “Then comes the devil, and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.” Luke 8:12. The devil knows the letter of the Bible. In Revelation 12:12 we read, “The devil ... knows that he hath but a short time.” His study of the prophetic Word shows him that, so he tries to hinder the propagation of that Holy Word. He withstood the Word of God in the days of the apostles and sought to turn men from the faith. (Acts 13:8.) Satan fights the Word of God, as we see in Ephesians 6:11-17; and it is with the Scripture that the children of God are to fight back against him, taking “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Verse 17.)
Satan attacked the Word of God in his conflict with Jesus, as we read in Matthew 4 and Luke 4. Taking the sword of the Spirit, Jesus routed him. Satan assailed our Lord with three temptations. First, he came to Him after He had fasted for forty days. Picking up a stone, he said, “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.” But Jesus answered and said, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:3, 4. Jesus appealed to the Holy Scripture. He used the Word of God in His conflict with Satan.
Next, “the devil takes him up into the holy city, and sets him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.” Verses 5, 6. Notice how the devil quotes Scripture when it suits him-but he quotes it out of its setting and leaves out an important phrase, “to keep thee in all thy ways,” which would remind Jesus to be obedient to the Word of God. The Savior again uses Scripture in the contest. “It is written again,” He said, “Thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God' Verse 7.
In the third temptation the devil took “him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and said unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” Verses 8, 9. Jesus saw the glory of the kingdoms of this world in a moment of time, as we read in Luke 4:5. The implication here was, You do not need to go to the cross. You do not need to suffer. Just recognize my suzerainty over the world as the god of this world, the prince of this world. just bow the knee to me; fall down and worship me; and You can have it all. Again Jesus quotes Scripture. He says, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shall worship the Lord thy God, and him only shall thou serve. Then the devil left him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.” Matthew 4:10,11. (Notice that all these quotations of our Savior were from the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy [8:3; 6:16; 6:13], the very book often attacked by modern skeptical criticism. Jesus believed the Scripture and used it.)
The devil came to Jesus attempting to lead Him into sin and thus ruin His mission to the world. And this has been his work with the people of God, with mankind in general-temptation and deception-tempting the followers of Jesus and deceiving the wicked. But we must never forget that Jesus our Savior was “touched with the feeling of our infirmities” and “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Therefore, we may “come boldly unto the throne of grace ... and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:15, 16.
Time after time attempts were made for the destruction of our Lord by mob action-to throw Him off a high cliff, to drown Him in the sea. Finally on Calvary's cross they put Him to death. There, when our Savior cried, “It is finished” (John 19:30), Satan knew that all was lost. The work of redemption had been accomplished. Every attempt of the devil to lead Jesus into sin and doubt, or to destroy Him, had failed. Satanic agencies had confederated with evil men, leading people to believe that Christ was the chief of sinners, and finally crucifying Him between two thieves.
Those who mocked Christ as He hung upon the cross were filled with the spirit of the first great rebel. But http://www.ThreeAngels.com.aufrom all his persecution of Christ, the devil, who had trailed His every step and brought affliction upon Him wherever possible, who had inspired the cruel treatment accorded Him by His enemies-their vile speeches, their taunts, their cruel whippings, their smiting, the nails tearing through His flesh, the cross jolting to its place in the earth-had gained nothing.
When Jesus ascended to heaven, Satan turned his wrath and persecuting spirit against the followers of Christ, against the church of Christ, as we read in Revelation 12:13: “And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman [the church].” Many millions have been put to death through the ages by persecution and war. And it is clear from the revelation that Jesus Himself gave, that right down to the end of time this persecution will be continued. “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17. The remnant, or last of God's church, will feel the wrath of Satan.
The devil will also deceive the wicked in the latter day, as we read in Revelation 13:14: “And deceives them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast.” Satan and the fallen angels or demons under his control will have part in the final war on this earth. “For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” Revelation 16:14.
The devil's last work will be an attempt to destroy the New Jerusalem, the City of God, that comes down from God out of heaven to this earth. (Revelation 20:7-9.) But his end has been predicted and will be accomplished. (Ezekiel 28:18, 19; Hebrews 2:14.)
Jesus resisted Satan and won the victory over him; and it is our privilege, too, to resist him and be victorious. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist stead fast in the faith.” 1 Peter 5:8, 9.
Do not think that Satan represents merely the vile, the low, the degrading. His greatest temptations often come in the guise of beauty, wisdom, learning, or culture. He is called “the god of this world.” (2 Corinthians 4:4) He is indeed the god of art, civilization, learning, beauty-all that is without God and without Christ. All these things might be blessings when rightly used, but the great deceiver often employs them in his efforts to lead us away from God and to defeat His plans for the human race.
It is not likely that Satan will rap at your door some day and say, “Good morning, Madam; I am the devil; 1have come to tempt you.” Or, “Good morning, Sir. I am glad to meet you here in your office. I have come to deceive you. I hope that you will follow my advice and cheat your creditor today.”
No, indeed! His approach to every man will be according to his own station, his own environment, his own outlook on life. His chief appeal will be to the ego, to the self -glorification, to the self -satisfaction, of the human heart. If his most successful attack can be made by the satisfaction of the physical senses, his temptations will be in that field. If the most insidious yet effective attack upon the citadel of the soul can be made through art, philosophy, science, literature, or culture, he will use these lines of approach; for it is written that he is “full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.” Ezekiel 28:12.
The popular conception of the devil as a horrendous creature with hoofs and horns, stoking the fires of hell or otherwise disporting himself, is in no way sustained by Holy Scripture. Such caricatures have doubtless led many thoughtful people to deny the existence and personality of the devil. Jesus said that Satan was “a murderer from the beginning,” that he was the father of lies and of sin. (John 8:44.) “And sin, when it is finished, brings forth death.” James 1: 15. Jesus is the good shepherd. He Himself said so: “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.” John 10: 11.
There was once a party of tourists on their way to Palestine. The guide who was with them was explaining the interesting customs of the Near East. He said, “You are accustomed to seeing a shepherd following his sheep, driving them on before him. But when you arrive in Palestine you will see just the opposite, for there the shepherd always leads his sheep, going on before the flock. They follow him, they know his voice, just as we read in the Scripture: 'My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. - John 10: 27.
When the party reached Palestine, to their great amusement, almost the first thing they saw was a man driving a flock of sheep along the road. The guide was astonished and humiliated. He immediately made it his business to speak to the man.
“How is it that you are driving these sheep? I have been told that an eastern shepherd leads his sheep.”
“Well,” the man said, “you are quite right. A shepherd always leads his sheep here in the Holy Land. But, you see, I'm not the shepherd. I'm the butcher.”
Jesus is the good shepherd. Satan is the murderer, but he cannot touch a soul who has the Lord Jesus Christ between himself and the evil one. Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” Luke 22:31, 32.
Jesus knew how to meet Satan and was always victorious over him. We cannot meet him in our own strength, but Jesus can. Martin Luther, who was often graphic in his descriptions of the activities of Satan, was once asked how he overcame the devil. He replied, 'Well, when he comes knocking on the door of my heart and asks, 'Who lives here?' the Lord Jesus goes to the door, and says, 'Martin Luther used to live here, but I live here now-Luther has moved out.' Then when the devil sees the nail prints in His hands, and His pierced side, he takes flight at once.”
When Jesus came to this earth to do His great work, the devil was here to oppose Him. When the church won her great victories in the early ages, the devil opposed her with persecution. And he will always oppose us when we have blessings from God. As C. H. Spurgeon has said, “The best evidence of God's presence is the devil's growl.” It was when David was crowned king in Hebron that “all the Philistines came up to seek” him. (2 Samuel 5:1M When God gives us some great blessing, we can expect the devil to be angry. It is well for earnest ministers to remember that one effect of faithful preaching is the attention of the devil. He never allows any attack on him or his interests to be overlooked.
When Paul had great success in preaching the gospel in the city of Ephesus, the devil used Demetrius and his craftsmen to stir up a city-wide riot against him. (Acts 19:24-4l.) In the days of Jesus the acts of some people were antagonistic to good and to God because the devil had entered into them. It was when the devil had entered into Judas Iscariot that he betrayed his Lord. (Luke 22:3.) Jesus said that it is the devil who sows the seed of evil in the world, and He declared that the harvest which comes from it will be gathered together and burned in the last day, and that the wicked will be destroyed in the “fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:41.)
Jesus said that those who follow the principles and leadership of Satan are the children of the devil. (John 8:44.) And those who are his children will finally be destroyed with him. “For, behold, the day comes, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: anti the day that comes shall burn them up, said the Lord of hosts, that it shall' leave them neither root nor branch.” Malachi 4: 1. Satan', the proud one, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble.
When Jesus bowed His head on the cross and died, then it was that Heaven saw Satan forever cast down. “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” Revelation 12:10. What had seemed Christ's defeat was really His victory. - ''
For long dreary years England had fought against Napoleon, expending her treasure and the lives of her citizens. Then came the final battle at Waterloo, where everything was at stake. There was no telegraph, no telephone, no radio. News from the battlefield had to be sent either by a-living messenger or, if the weather was clear, by semaphore. We can only imagine the tenseness, the fear, as the great city of London waited for some word of the battle. Suddenly the semaphore began to work, slowly spelling out, “W-e-1-1-i-n-gt-o-n d-e-f-e-a-t-e-d.”
Then the fog came down, and not another word could be received. “Wellington defeated!” Hope changed to despair as the darkness of night closed in. Orders were given to fortify the roads, the bridges, even the pathways; to throw up entrenchments along the coast, and to be ready to make a last stand. Then near noon the next day the fog lifted, the semaphore began to work again-”Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo!” The message was completed. Fear changed to joy, darkness to light, defeat to victory! The tyrant was gone; a new age had come, a new hour for civilization..'
So also was it dark at Calvary. It seemed that Satan had gained a victory over the world. Even the heavens were shrouded in gloom as Jesus cried, “My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46. The disciples fled, and our Savior's, mission seemed to end in irretrievable defeat as darkness covered the earth and the souls of men. But that wasn't the end of the story. He was crucified in weakness, but He arose in power. And when the mists rolled away on the morning of the third day, the cry went forth, “He is risen.” Defeat was changed to victory, darkness to light, night to day. That message which had seemed to be “Christ defeated,” when finished was, “Christ defeated Satan at Calvary' It-was the light of the resurrection which finished the message and completed the story, bringing a new age, a new hope, to the hearts of men.
BIBLE SUMMARY
(Following is a list of Bible texts which reveal the personality of the devil.)
Matthew 4:3; 12:24; 13:19, 38;
http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auJohn 8:44; 14:30;
2 Corinthians 4:4; 6:15; 11:3;
Ephesians 2:2; 6:12;
Colossians 1:13;
1 Peter 5:8;
Revelation 9:11; 12:10; 20:2.
A GENTLEMAN started across a busy street one day in one of our cities, when a woman suddenly pulled him by the arm and said, “Look at that red light!”
He replied, “But look at the people going across the street.”
The woman said, “Don't look at the people; look at the light and follow it!” That was good advice. It really put the whole thing in a nutshell.
Are we taking our walking signals in this world from Christ or from the crowd? Are we breaking His rules, His laws, in order to keep step with the multitude? Let us look to the Light for illumination, for instruction. What did Jesus say? Really, what did He say about salvation? We read His words in Luke 19:9, 10: “This day is salvation come to this house, for so much as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Our Savior says two things here: First, something is lost. Second, He came to save it. We might add that wherever He comes, salvation comes, for He is salvation. He wrought it out. He brings it. According to much of our modem philosophy, however, nothing ever was lost. If there was a fall in the beginning, it was a fall upward. But if there were no fall, no loss, certainly we would not need to be saved from that loss. Then there would be no need of a Savior, and Christ's whole mission would be superfluous. But down deep in every human heart is the consciousness that there has been a loss. When men look at themselves long enough and carefully enough, they realize that they are lost and need to be found.
So here we have the plain, positive statement from our Lord that He Himself is the Savior, that He brings salvation and saves that which is lost. That was the purpose of His advent to this earth.
There is something wrong with this world of ours and with this race of ours. Men call it by various names, but the Holy Scriptures call it sin. It is a disease of the mind and of the heart, and only the power of God can deliver a man from it. This Jesus came to do. He came “to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19: 10. That's why He is called Jesus. The angel who announced His birth said, “Thou shall call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21. The name Jesus actually means “Savior.” That He is: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.
The Apostle Paul, in his midnight witness to the jailer of Philippi, echoed these words of his Savior when he declared, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall he saved.” Acts 16:31. Notice, he did not say feel saved, but be saved.
Martin Luther, who had been trying to find peace of heart by various works and penances, discovered the truth of salvation when he read, “By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified” (Romans 3:20), and “What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and, for sin, condemned sin in the flesh”,(Romans 8:3). The light began to break. But still he did not find it fully.
In the great city of Rome he looked for humility and simple piety, but he found instead ambition, political intrigue, and worldliness. Determined on penance, he climbed Pilate's Staircase on his knees; but in all his works he did not find salvation from sin or the soul peace which he d6ir6d. At last the words of Scripture came to him, “The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:17. Then the light flooded in, and he could stand erect, a believer in Christ as his only Savior from sin. Luther accepted Christ’s righteousness as his own. He had seen that Jesus, the sinless Son of God, was treated as- we deserve that we might be treated as He deserved. He “died for our sins according to the scriptures.” 1 Corinthians 15:3. He took our place before the broken law, for “sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4. God so loved the world that He gave salvation as His free gift.
A teacher in Glasgow was trying to explain the first verse of Isaiah 55 to a class of boys and girls. “Ho, every one that thirsts,” he read, “come you to the waters, said he that hath no money; come you, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” The beautiful invitation of this verse seemed so difficult to explain to the little people that the teacher silently prayed for light upon the subject. Then the words of Scripture came to him: “A little child shall lead them.” Isaiah 11:6. Believing that God meant that one of the children could explain Isaiah's text better than he could, he asked them to listen as he read the text slowly again, and then to tell what they thought the prophet meant by inviting people to buy without money.
After the rereading of the verse, a little six-year-old girl promptly answered, “Please sir; have it charged!” Isn't that the real meaning of it? Our sins are charged to Jesus.
“Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain; He washed it white as snow.” -Mrs. Elvina M. Hall.
Abraham of old “believed God' and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” Romans 4:3. So we, too, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, and His righteousness is accounted to us. The Apostle Paul declares that “by the righteousness of one [Jesus] the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” Romans 5:18. This “free gift” is “'the gift by grace, Which is by one man, Jesus Christ.” Verse 15.
This salvation, which Jesus brings not only applies to forgiveness for sins of the past but also gives us grace and power to live for Him today. It is not only justifying grace, but sanctifying grace. True conversion will show itself in the life lived before others. It means regeneration, a new creation. True faith in Jesus as our Redeemer is a faith which works by love (Galatians 5:6) and reveals itself in the fruitage of good works.
One day the snow lay white over the earth, hiding every scar and sign of death. “It's a symbol of purity,” said the man as he looked out of the window. And he prayed, “O Lord, as Thou has covered the earth with whiteness, cover my soul with purity.”
The sun came up the next day and melted all the snow. The brown bareness of the dead earth, with all its waste and defilement, showed again. So he who had prayed to be covered with purity amended his prayer. Now his petition was: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 5 1: 10.
Purity is not a covering. It is a new life within, and salvation includes that. What we really need is a radical change, a new birth, creative power to make us new again. A prominent man who interviewed Jesus was told, “Except a man be born again for born from above, as the margin puts it), he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3.
This new birth, this birth from above, is a birth of water and of the Spirit; and Jesus made it emphatic, “You must be born again.” Verse 7. “How will this happen? How can it happen?” asked the learned man. And so we all ask. The answer is found in Jesus' own words immediately following His statement that man must be born again. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:14, 15.
This new birth, then, comes through faith. We believe that Jesus will do what He says. We believe that He is the Savior. As we see Him uplifted upon the cross, taking our place, we believe that He is the divine Son of God. As we accept Him by faith as our Savior, we have eternal life. What a wonderful promise this is!
It is a heart-searching experience for any preacher of Jesus Christ to visit the tomb of Dwight L. Moody. Think of the mighty work that humble, earnest man of faith and consecration did in a few years of life. Think of his implicit trust in God as he taught the simple gospel of faith, the gospel which Jesus proclaimed.
Moody once said that God put the offer of salvation in so simple a way that the whole world could grasp it. Everyone can believe. A cripple might not be able to visit the sick or run errands of mercy, but he can believe. A man who cannot see might be unable to read the Bible and do many other things, but he can believe. A deaf man cannot hear, but he can believe. Even a dying man can believe. Salvation has been placed within the reach of all-young and old, foolish and brilliant, rich and poor, high and low. All may have it freely if they truly believe.
It was because of this that Jesus said, “He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God' John 3:18. And at another time He said with positive words, “He that believes ... shall be saved.” Mark 16:16.
Someone may ask, “Did He really take our place in order to ransom us from our sins, from our own evil life?” Here are His words in Matthew 20:28, in which He makes it stronger still. He says, “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
That's plain and clear, isn't it? He came with one great purpose: “to give his life a ransom for many.” Remember, a ransom is a price paid to redeem a captive or a slave. Christ came, then, to pay the price demanded for our sin. The Scripture plainly says that “the wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23. That's why He had to die for us, to take our place before the broken law.
We who are captives through our own willfulness and disobedience, captives of sin, are bought back, ransomed, delivered, saved, by the blood of the cross.
“Christ died for our sins.” That is the foundation stone of our salvation. Everything rests upon that fact. The Apostle Paul, who received true understanding of salvation by direct revelation from Christ Himself, said this very thing. Listen to his words in I Corinthians 15:3, 4: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”
Our Savior said much about salvation. Of Himself He said, “The good shepherd gives his life for the http://www.ThreeAngels.com.ausheep.” John 10: 11. As He hung upon the cross, someone said, “He saved others; himself he cannot save.” Matthew 27:42. And that was true. He could not save us without suffering; He could not save us without death. He voluntarily took our place. “God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8. As the theologians put it, His death was penal, substitutionary, redemptive, propitiatory, reconciliatory, efficacious, vicarious, and atoning; for “as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many.” Hebrews 9:27, 28.
Not the least of Christ's statements is found in Mark 16:15, 16: “Go you into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall he damned.” Notice, here is a direct command to God's people. They are to go-to go everywhere, preaching and proclaiming the gospel, the good news. What is that good news? The good news that God gave His Son to die for men that all might be saved in Him. And that really is good news. But do we believe it? That is the question.
We repeat Christ's words, “He that believes and is baptized [manifests his faith by baptism, which pictures the death and resurrection of his Savior, and his death to the old life and resurrection to the new] shall be saved; but he that believes not shall he damned [or condemned].” Verse 16. These are straight, clear words. Do we believe? Have we acted on that belief and obeyed the gospel?
Baptism is one step in obedience, as we read in the words of our Savior: “Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” Matthew 28:19, 20. Notice: Teaching goes first, then belief. Those who are taught and who believe as a result of the teaching are baptized. Then, after baptism, teaching is to continue; and obedience of all the things commanded by Christ will have a part in the life.
As one looks upon the holy Savior dying for the sins of men, he is led not only into faith and obedience but also into repentance. Jesus said, “Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.” Luke 13:3. True repentance involves a sense of sin, sorrow for sin, and separation from sin by the grace and power of God. A false repentance may cause one to be sorry for the effect of his sin. That was the repentance of Judas. He repented and went and hanged himself through remorse. But the Apostle Peter, probably equally guilty-for he had denied his Lord-repented, wept bitterly, and went to Pentecost. He did a mighty work for God and finally died as a martyr for Him. Peter's was true repentance.
Real repentance as taught by Jesus is a right about face. It is turning around, turning away from evil, turning toward good. It is turning from man and turning toward God. If one does not rum away from sin and turn toward God, he will not find mercy. This turning about is spoken of in the Bible as a change of mind. A man may have little or much feeling as he does it, but the experience itself is not dependent upon feeling.
You will remember the parable of Jesus in Matthew 21-the parable of the man who had two sons. To the first he said, “Go work to day in my vineyard.” The boy replied, I will not.” Then the father turned to his other boy and spoke the same words. He answered, I go, sir” -but he did not. However, his first son thought it over and changed his mind. He was not only convinced that he was wrong, but he did something about it. He went off into the field, hoeing or mowing or whatever it was that needed to be done. This is Jesus' own illustration of repentance.
When a man says, “By the grace of God I will change my ways; I will cease doing wrong; I will do right,” that's repentance a turning about. As Moody reminds us, A man is born with his face turned away from God; but when he truly repents, he is turned right around toward God.
Two brothers were convicted of stealing sheep in the old days in England. In accordance with the brutal punishment of those times, they were branded in the forehead with the letters ST-Sheep Thief. One brother, unable to bear the stigma, fled to a foreign country where he tried to hide himself. He wandered from land to land and at last died full of bitterness, and was buried in a forgotten grave. The other brother repented of his misdeed and did not try to run away from home. He said, “I can't get away from the fact that I once stole sheep, but I will remain here until I win back the respect of my neighbors and my own self-respect.”
The years passed and he gradually established a reputation for respectability and integrity, honesty and worth. At last a stranger in town saw an old man hobbling along with the letters ST branded on his forehead and asked a native what they signified. After thinking for a while, the villager said, “It all happened a long time ago, and I have forgotten the particulars. But I think the letters are an abbreviation for Saint.”
There it is-the wonderful grace of God in the penitent, believing heart can change and transform the character and turn the very scars of sin into a badge of honor and beauty. We, too, may be Christ's witnesses today and forevermore.
DEAN FARRAR tells of visiting two great ships preparing to sail on a dangerous expedition to the Arctic, the land of snow and darkness. He found the brave captains full of confidence. On the wall of the cabin, as almost the only ornament, he saw the text, “Have faith in God.” Pointing to it, he said, “Now there's the true compass, the true needle, pointing to the pole.”
“Have faith in God.” Jesus spoke those words to the Apostle Peter. A fig tree had just withered away at the word of Christ, and when the apostle called the attention of Jesus to it, He said, “Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he said shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he said. Therefore I say unto you, What things so ever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them.” Mark 11:22-24.
The disciples had fixed their attention on the miracle of the withered tree itself rather than on the lesson Jesus intended it to teach. The Savior sought to rum their attention from the miracle and point out the supreme heights to which true faith may attain, especially in regard to answered prayer. Of course Jesus Himself never removed any literal mountains, and He did not expect His disciples to do so. He referred here to figurative mountains-the troubles, the difficulties that might and do arise.
Real faith in God is trust in Him, belief in His Word. 'Faith is the substance [ground, or confidence) of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11: 1. Without it no one can please God. “Without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Verse 6.
Faith in Jesus as the Son of God, faith in the redemption that God has wrought through Jesus, faith in our Savior's atoning sacrifice upon the cross, faith in His Word as the Word of God-these we must have too. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:14, 15. Belief on Him, faith in Him, brings eternal life. This is the genuine saving faith which Christians must have.
Do we trust Jesus to do the things He promises to do? Are we like the man in the Bible who “believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him”? John 4:50. During the Civil War a father came to Abraham Lincoln, begging him to pardon his son, who had been found guilty of some serious offense in army service and sentenced to be shot. Day after day he stood weeping at the door of the president's office. Day after day he knocked and pleaded and begged and wept again. Finally the president could endure it no longer. Although he had received messages from the military authorities that he must not pardon that particular soldier, the greathearted president said, “General or no general, discipline or no discipline, I am going to pardon that man's son.”
When the father was brought in to hear the news, he couldn't believe it. It was too good to be true! And when the president smiled in kindness, he was filled with terror. “I know what you are going to do,” he said. “You are saying this just to get me to go away, and then you will shoot my boy as soon as I am gone.”
Lincoln said, “Go away, old man. If your son lives until I have him shot, he will be as old as Methuselah.”
So it is that many of the promises of God in Christ seem too good to be true, and we are slow to believe them. But what a blessing comes when we accept our Savior at His word! We need to know the simplicity of faith, to believe the words of Christ and find blessing.
To the Roman officer who requested healing for his servant, Christ said, “Go thy way; and as thou has believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.” Matthew 8:13. And, speaking to those about Him, Jesus said, “Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” Verse 10. To the man afflicted with a withered hand, Jesus said, “Stretch forth your hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.” Matthew 12:13. To the two blind men who followed Him into the house where He was staying, pleading that they might have their sight, Jesus said, “Believe you that I am able to do this? They said.... Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.” Matthew 9:28, 29.
To the Samaritan leper who, together with nine others, had been instantly cleansed by the power of Christ, and who had returned to express his thanks, Jesus said, “Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.” Luke 17:19. To a woman who had suffered twelve years from an affliction that had been found to be medically incurable, Jesus said, “Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.” Luke 8:48. To blind Bartimaeus, sitting by the wayside and calling out to Jesus for help, our Savior said, “Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.” Luke 18:42. To a woman who had greatly sinned, but now was forgiven with a great forgiveness, Jesus said, “Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.” Luke 7:50.
Let us turn now to another instance of wonderful faith. One day a man helplessly sick with palsy was http://www.ThreeAngels.com.aucarried to Jesus by four of his friends. The crowd was so great that they ascended to the flat roof of the house in which Jesus was teaching, made a hole through it, and let the man down with ropes into the presence of Jesus. And, “when Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” Mark 2:5. What wonderful words those were to the afflicted man! Evidently his sins were harder for him to bear than his disease. Jesus could read his heart.
Immediately some of the theologians sitting nearby accused Jesus of blasphemy. Not recognizing Him as the Son of God, they said, “Who can forgive sins but God only?” Verse 7. But Jesus, perceiving in His spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, said unto them: “Why reason you these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he said to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into your house. And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.” Mark 2:8-12.
What a wonderful work of faith this was, resulting in the forgiveness of the man's sins and the healing of his body. Notice, it was not only the faith of the man himself, but the faith of his friends that brought him healing. The verse says, “When Jesus saw their faith.” How important it is for all believers to have faith-faith in the power of God to help themselves and to help others. Here were five men who had united in faith to seek help from Christ, and they received that help.
Long ago, in the days of the Russian Empire, a number of criminals were standing chained together in the courtyard of a prison waiting to start their long, sad journey into the Siberian' wilderness. One of them was a Christian, whose only crime was speaking to a fellow workman about the faith that had made his life new. The other prisoners were jeering at him. “You are no better off than we are,” they taunted him. 1f your God is alive, why isn't He of some use to you now? Why doesn't He knock off those chains and set you free?”
Quietly, but earnestly, the man replied, 1f it is the Lord's will, He can set me free even now; but I am willing that His will be done.” At that moment a voice was heard calling this man's name and telling him that a paper had just arrived granting him full pardon. He was told to stand aside. Then his chains were taken off. No wonder the awe-struck prisoners were solemnized by what they had witnessed. It was discovered later that a Christian woman of high station had taken an interest in this man and had interceded for him with the authorities. Truly it is the believer's privilege to exercise faith in time of danger.
But even when our faith is small and we do not exercise that which we have, our Savior's mercy is still extended to us. We think of the experience of Peter as he was sinking in the water, looking at the stormy waves instead of at Jesus, where lay his help. Turning his eyes again to the Savior, he cried out in one of the shortest prayers in the Bible, “Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore did thou doubt?” Matthew 14:3 O, 3 1.
God understands all our needs. Jesus was here on this earth; He took our nature; He understands the feelings of our infirmities. So in all things, even in our daily needs, we are to exercise faith in God. Jesus said, “If God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” Matthew 6:30. It is a principle of His kingdom that “he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.” Luke 16: 10.
The teaching of Jesus on the subject of faith is especially needed today, as we draw near the end of the age; for Jesus intimated that when He returns, faith will be scarce. “Nevertheless when the Son of man comes, shall he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8. He will find it, but it will be only among those who are looking for Him and are preparing for His coming. We must remember that true faith is believing God's promises when we cannot see their fulfillment. “We walk by faith, not by sight,” said the apostle in 2 Corinthians 5:7. John Wesley wrote in his diary: “My brother Charles, among the difficulties of our early ministry, used to say, 'If the Lord would give me wings, I would fly.' I used to answer, 'If the Lord bids me fly, I would trust Him for the wings. - In other words, God's commands are enabling. What He tells us to do, He gives us the ability to do, the resources to do.
Our salvation depends upon faith. Jesus said so: “Whosoever believes in him ... shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. On God's side, our justification, our being made righteous, is by His grace. “Being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:7. But on our side, we are justified by faith in Christ's blood. “Much more then, being now justified by his [Christ's] blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” Romans 5:9. But we lay hold upon this justification through faith. “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” Romans 3:28.
It is for us to believe that “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3); that He took our place before God's broken law; that He paid the debt which we could never pay; that He who is wholly righteous, wholly obedient, takes our transgressions upon. Himself, and that God counts us as though we had never http://www.ThreeAngels.com.ausinned because of what Jesus did and does for us.
It is written of Abraham, God's servant of old, that “he believed in the Lord; and: he [the Lord) counted it to him for righteousness.” Genesis 15.4 That is the way it is with us., We who believe are, said to he in Christ or, ,as it is written in Philippians 3:9, to “be found in him, not having ... [our) own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”
Do we have faith in Jesus' atoning sacrifice for us upon the cross? If we do, we have peace with God, as we find in Romans 5: 1: “Being justified by faith.” We do not personally see Jesus die upon the cross for us, but by faith we accept the record found in the Inspired Word of God, so that we, with all believers, may say:
“Strong Son of God, immortal Love, Whom we, that have not seen thy face, By faith, and faith alone, embrace.” -Alfred Lord Tennyson.
Although it is true that “God hath dealt to every man [that is, every believing man) the measure of faith” ,(Romans 12:3 ), it is also true that we may increase our faith. The secret of a growing, increasing faith is worth having. Here it is: 'Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10: 17. The bearing of God's Word, the real hearing by the heart, increases faith. The more we feed upon it, meditate upon it, practice it in our lives, the more faith grows. The reason is that the Holy Word of God reveals Christ. In fact Jesus Himself is called the “Word of God.” He was the Word made manifest. He was “the Word. . . made flesh.” (John 1:14.) Accepting that Word, believing that Word, we receive the faith of Christ.
Many years ago a man was sentenced to be hanged. While on the scaffold he asked for a drink of water. His request was granted, but his hand shook so violently that he was not able to get the water to his mouth. “Take your time,” said the king of the country, who was sitting nearby to see justice executed. “Take your time; you will not be executed until you drink it.” Instantly the doomed man dashed the cup from his hand, saying, “Well, then, I'll never drink it, so I'll never be hanged.” The king was as good as his word, and the convicted man's life was spared.
Even so we must instantly believe the Word of God and accept it-all of it, including the record which God has given us of His Son unto salvation. This is the faith that brings victory, the faith that is based on the Word of God. This is the faith that the people of God must have in the latter days, for of them it is written, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12. Notice, it is not merely faith in Jesus, but the faith of Jesus, the faith He had, the faith which He gives to those who surrender their lives to Him. This brings victory in every area of life daily living, witnessing for Christ, finding victory over evil habits, bearing witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. “For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.” 1 John 5:4. This is the faith that wins the victory in the hard fight, in the long-drawn-out test of the soul.
During World War I a party of journalists visited the great fortress city of Verdun, on the French frontier then being besieged by the mighty German Army. They were met outside the city by a French officer who gave them an eloquent speech of welcome, saying, “Gentlemen, the French Republic considers that the highest honor it can pay to its guests is to take them into Verdun. But, gentlemen, I should add that the French Republic cannot guarantee to take them out again.” But we can depend upon our Guide. He takes us through our Verduns, our trials and dark valleys. Our faith rests upon His faithfulness, for it is written that He will never leave us nor forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5.) In Him we may face the future with confidence, knowing that whatever His wisdom has planned for us is for our good.
It is a good thing once in a while to read the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, called by some the great Westminster Abbey of the Bible. Here the heroes of faith are brought to view one after another. As we read of their victories, we are strengthened for the battle of life. Of them it is said, “These all ... obtained a good report through faith.” Verse 39. And so may we. Why should we not continue this great list of victors?-as Archdeacon Hare has done in one of his well-known sermons:
“By faith the Waldensians retired among the mountain fastness and dwelt in the caves of the Alps that they might keep their religion in undefiled purity. By faith Wycliffe, the morning star of the Reformation, rose out of the darkness, and heralded the coming of daylight. By faith Luther proclaimed his Theses, . . . burnt the Pope's Bull, ... went to the Diet of Worms;. . . translated the Bible. By faith Rogers, the proto-martyr of the Reformation, when his wife and eleven children met him on his way to the stake and an offer of life and pardon was brought to him in their sight, walked on with a stout heart and washed his hands in the flames. By faith Oberlin went forth among the Vosges Mountains and spread the blessings of religion among the wild inhabitants. By faith Clarkson and Wilberforce overcame the slave trade. By faith Simeon preached the Word of God in this town (Cambridge) through a long life of persevering activity. And what shall I say more? For time would fail me to tell of Ignatius, and Justin, http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auand Cyprian, and Perpetua, and Basil, and Patrick, and Columba, and Bede, and Anselm, and Huss, and Melanchthon, and Zwingle, and Calvin, and Knox.... and Penn.... and Zinzendorf, and Howard, and Henry Martyn.”
In God's great record above, the names of all His true children will be added to the roll of heroes of faith.
There is one thing about faith that must never be forgotten: True faith is a working faith, or as the Apostle Paul puts it, a “faith which works by love.” (Galatians 5:6.) Faith does not exclude works; faith is revealed by works. In fact a faith which does not reveal itself in works is a dead faith. “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” James 2:20. No dead faith is a saying faith. No workless faith is a real faith. “Show me thy faith without thy works,” says the apostle, “and I will show thee my faith by my works.” Verse 18. The actual, genuine, visible proofs of justification by faith are holy works, obedience to the commands of God. “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.” Verse 24.
As Martin Luther put it: 'Faith is a living, busy, active, powerful thing; it is impossible for it not to do us good continually. It never asks whether good works are to be done, but has done them before there is time to ask the question, and it is always doing them.”
A certain Irish bishop was taking a walk into the country with a friend. On their return journey, the friend urged the bishop to hurry, as he feared that they might miss the train which was to take them to an important engagement. The bishop looked at his watch and announced that there was plenty of time. “But is your watch reliable? Is it on time?” asked the friend. The bishop said, “I have perfect faith in it.” When they arrived at the station, they found that the train had left a few minutes before. The friend turned to the bishop and said: 'Faith and good works are both necessary in this world of ours. If you had faith, complete faith, in your watch, it seems to me that in this 'case,”' tapping the bishop's watch, “good works were absent.” Could not that be so with us? Is there not a danger that we profess a full and complete faith in the Lord Jesus Christ but fail to obey Him?
Our Savior Himself was the greatest example of faith that this world has ever seen. He implicitly believed every word of His Father. At the same time He was the greatest example of obedience that the world has ever seen--obedience to God. Jesus Himself said, `My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.” John 4:34. And these are His words recorded in another place: “If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.” John 15:10. Let us hear and now begin to obey the word of Christ and “have faith in God!”
Have Faith in God-believe His holy Word; Have faith in God-and in His Son, our Lord; Have faith in God-forevermore adored. Have faith, dear friend, in God.
BIBLE SUMMARY
What did Jesus say about those who have not seen Him and yet believe in Him?
“Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.,” John 20:29.
What great truth was the foundation of apostolic preaching, and later of the Reformation?
The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1: 17.
What part of the Christian armor is faith?
“Putting on the breastplate of faith and love.” 1 Thessalonians 5:8. In another place the Apostle Paul speaks of it as “the shield of faith,” the “great shield,” as it is in the original, a shield to cover the whole body and protect it from the darts of the enemy. (Ephesians 6:16.)
Is faith something static, or may it grow?
“We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith grows exceedingly.” 2 Thessalonians 1: 3.
How does faith grow?
'Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10: 17.
Is faith always passive, or will there at times be conflict in a life of faith?
“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life.” 1 Timothy 6:12.
Why does the Word of God not benefit some people?
“The word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” Hebrews 4:2.
What does faith have to do with our drawing near to God?
“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” Hebrews 10:22.
Is it possible to be poor and rich at the same time?
“Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith?” James 2: 5.
What sort of prayer is needed in the healing of the sick? “The prayer of faith shall save the sick.” James 5:15.
What does justification by faith bring us?
“Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5: 1.
How are we saved?
“By grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8.
When God brought His ancient people out of Egypt, who among them were finally destroyed?
I will therefore put you in remembrance, though you once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.” Jude 5. See Hebrews 3:14.
In whom must we believe in order to be saved?
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.
When we believe on Jesus, where is the witness that our sins are forgiven?
“He that believes on the Son of God bath the witness in himself: he that believes not God hath made him a liar; because he believes not the record that God gave of his Son.” 1 John 5: 10.
What does this witness do for us?
“Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5: 1. That this witness is the witness of the Holy Spirit testifying to the Word of God is made evident by Romans 8:16. Our acceptance with God does not precede, but rather follows our faith in the promises of God's Word. No matter what our feelings may be, our duty is to accept His Word and trust in it, to believe it, to have faith in it, to believe that God has forgiven our past sins because He promises to do so. Though we may not have a happy feeling at first, we should still trust the Lord and know that He has done exactly what He has promised to do; for, “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and. to, cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1: 9.
Should we expect our faith to meet -with trials and tests?
“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” James 1:2, 3.
What may we expect every day if we go forward in faith?
“Now the God of heaven fill you with all joy and of peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” Romans 15:13. “AS thy days, so shall thy strength be.” Deuteronomy 33:25.
THE SUBJECT of the Holy Scriptures from beginning to end is Jesus. We might divide the teachings of the Holy Scriptures about Him into three parts: (1) the heretofore, (2) the here, and (3) the hereafter. Or in this way: (1) the Old Testament He is coming; (2) the Four Gospels-He is-here: (3) the Acts to the Book of Revelation-He will come again.
The first promise of Christ recorded in the Bible states that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent's head. (Genesis 3:15.) This is a prophecy of Christ's final victory over Satan. It includes the destruction of the devil and his influence forever and the second coming of Christ in glory and power. The last promise in the Bible is given by Jesus Himself: “He which testifies these things said, Surely I come quickly.” To this comes the answer of the church: “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Revelation 22:20. That is the last prayer in the Bible, too.
Millions of people believe and teach that the time of our Lord's return is near. Others say nothing at all on the subject, citing the fact 'that in the past some have set a time for the Lord to come and have been disappointed, and that they do not wish to be classed with them. Still others are totally indifferent to the doctrine.
What does Jesus have to say on this subject? That is all-important. What men think or believe means little compared to what Christ believed and taught. One ounce of Bible revelation is worth more than a ton of human speculation.
Did Jesus believe He would return to this earth? Jesus gives His own answer in John 14:3: “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again.” There is His reply in straight, plain, clear words. Our Savior said, I will come again.” Since He is the “true and faithful witness” (Jeremiah 42:5 ) and would not deceive us, His literal second coming is just as certain as His already established first appearing. His first coming to this earth had been distinctly foretold in the prophecies of the Old Testament. These prophecies were literally fulfilled in His birth in Bethlehem and in the events surrounding His life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven.
Jesus' second coming is foretold in the Old Testament as well as in the New. To prove it, let us get into the time machine of history and go back, back through the centuries and ages, almost to the beginning of things. Listen now! God is sending a message to the antediluvian world, the world before the Flood, declaring that Christ's coming in glory would end the reign of sin. Here it is in Jude 14, 15: “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” We see from this that the hope of Christ's return is not some upstart idea that has just come to popularity in the past few years, but it is the blessed hope which God's people have had from earliest times. The holiest men have predicted it.
Job, the ancient man of patience, believed in the coming of Christ at the last day. His words were written over three thousand years ago and read as follows: “For I know that my redeemer lives, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.” Job 19:25-27.
About one thousand years before Christ the psalmist spoke of our Lord's coming to gather His saints: “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” Psalm 50:3-5.
Seven hundred years before the first advent of Jesus the gospel prophet Isaiah prophesied of our Lord's second coming to save His people and to destroy the wicked: “He will swallow up, death in victory.” We know that this prophecy must refer to the Second Coming of Christ because that is when the resurrection takes place. See 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18. “And the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces.” This we know takes place in the City of God after the Second Coming of Christ. (Revelation 21:4.) “And the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” Isaiah 25:8, 9.
Jesus believed and taught that He was coming back again. As a basis for this, He pointed to the many inspired prophecies in the Old Testament Scriptures which were commonly known and believed by the people of His day and which were taught in all the synagogues of the land. He Himself declared, “The scripture cannot be broken.” John 10:35. Yes, Jesus declared with divine authority that He was coming back to this earth, that the world had not seen the last of Him. And He could appeal to the prophecies of the Old Testament, the Scriptures of His day, to prove it. He believed it. Why should not we believe it? We have His word for it.
One important testimony of our Lord must not be overlooked: When He stood before the high court of His own nation and was put under oath by the high priest, who said, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God,” Jesus replied, “Thou has said (or, in other words, Yes, it is true): nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall you see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven.” Matthew 26:63, 64. This was sworn testimony before the highest authority of God's chosen people on earth. Jesus stood before that court and declared He would come again, that He would be seen by those very men who had unjustly accused Him; that they would see Him sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. Those are the words of Christ from the official record, words spoken under sacred oath for time and for eternity. Why should not we believe that He is coming? Why should not we be looking for Him?
Someone has pictured the traveler who fell among thieves just able to sit in the doorway of the inn as he recovers from his wounds, he earnestly looks up the road and waits for the return of his deliverer, the good Samaritan. We seem to hear him say: “My benefactor promised to come again, and I know he will keep his word. I just want to be waiting and watching for him. I want to be the first to see him when he comes back, for he has been so kind to me.” That should be the attitude of every Christian believer who has been delivered from the power of evil by the Lord Jesus Christ. We should be daily waiting and watching for the coming of our Savior, who has been so good to us. We should be watching the road of events, listening for the coming of His feet, and “our gathering together unto him.”
Jesus did not say that an angel would come for us, or that the Holy Spirit would come for us, or that the church would come for us. He said, 'I will come again, and receive you unto myself.” John 14:3. That is what Jesus said about His second coming.
A well-known minister was called away from home one week end to preach in a distant city. Arriving at his destination by train, he stood with his luggage at the curb in front of the station, waiting for someone to come for him. Soon a motorcar drove up and the driver asked, “Are you Mr. Brown?”
“Yes,” answered the minister, I am. I was expecting someone to meet me here.” His luggage was placed in the car, which was immediately driven away. He stood wondering what to do next, when another, more handsome, car drove up to the curb. “Mr. Brown, I think,” said the gentleman who was driving.
“Yes,” said the visitor, I am Pastor Brown, but someone else has just asked me that question and gone off with my luggage.”
“Oh, that was a servant of mine. I sent him for your luggage, but I have come for you myself.”
And so the Lord Himself will come for His people; not the highest angel, not the most burning seraphim, the most glorious cherubim. They would not suffice for this occasion. The angels will come with Him, but He Himself comes for His people, as Paul says: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds ' to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever he with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17. That is the way Christ says it will be, and so it will be. We will be with the Lord, for the Lord Himself so declares it. We must yield ourselves to His Spirit here and now so that we may be ready for our Lord's appearance.
Dr. Andrew Bonar tells the story of a plain man from one of the Scottish country kirks who learned the precious doctrine of the second coming of our Lord. At one time he spent a week in Edinburgh playing the part of a “sermon taster,” going to a number of churches to see what they taught. When he returned to his vil1age, the people asked him how he liked the Edinburgh preachers. He said, 'Well, they all fly on one wing. They preach the first coming of Christ, but they don't say a word about His Second Coming.” There are a great many preachers of whom this might be said today.
There is nothing that arouses the fervor of evangelism, a missionary passion, and a yearning for personal holiness as does the realization that Jesus is coming soon, coming in person, coming Himself. The thought comes to us that we must be ready, that others must be ready, and that we must do our part to announce the glorious truth to the world.
While a minister in the city of Ottawa, Canada, I heard a lecture by Lord Shackleton. He spoke of his first great adventure, his expedition to the Antarctic. On one occasion he had to turn back and leave some of his men on Elephant Island, amid snow and ice. They were in desperate need of food and other supplies. He realized that the only hope was for him to go and get help for them. By heroic efforts he reached the island of South Georgia, made a perilous trip over snowy mountains, and finally came to the settlement, where he obtained another ship and the needed supplies. Then he started back for the men. He tried again and again to reach Elephant Island, but failed every time. Fog, storm, and ice blocked the way. Suddenly one day there appeared an opening through the ice leading to the island. Quickly he ran his ship through this channel, got his men on board, and came back out just before the ice closed together again. The whole thing was done in half an hour.
When the excitement was over, Lord Shackleton asked one of the men who had stayed on the island, “How did it happen that you were all packed and ready for my coming? You were standing on the shore ready to leave on a moment's notice.” The man replied, “Sir, you said that you would come back for us, so we never gave up hope. Whenever the sea was partly free of ice, we rolled up our sleeping bags and packed our things, saying, 'Maybe Shackleton will come today.' We were always ready for your coming.”
It is for all believers today to remember that the Lord is coming. We ought to be ready to go with Him at any time, any day, any hour. What a wonderful encouragement this is to Christian living, Christian giving, Christian doing! Surely this is a blessed hope, for it changes the whole outlook of the world.
“Sweet promise, I will come again; Go preach this gospel to all men;
'Come quickly, Lord,' my soul does say, 'And bring that happy day.
-R E. Belden.
Jesus said, I will come again.” His words will never be forgotten. He was here once, and the world will not forget Him. No, we have not seen the last of Jesus' He will appear again, and “every eye shall see him.” Revelation 1:7. He came the first time as a lowly Babe in the manger, but He will come the second time in glory and power as the King of an empire with no frontiers.
We have all heard, as school children, the story of Peter the Great-how he left the throne of Russia and in lowly disguise apprenticed himself as a shipwright in the towns of Zaaridam and Amsterdam. Among the common laborers he wrought, dressed in working clothes, living in a hut, preparing his own food, and making his own bed. Yet all the time he never ceased to be the emperor of Russia. His royal splendor was but laid aside for a time.
In like manner Jesus laid aside the glory of heaven and came to earth in the likeness of men. Divinity was clothed with humanity. But someday He will come all glorious, the Lord victorious, before whom all evil shall forever flee away.
When we die, we are soon forgotten. But, as Lacordaire says, “There is One who lived nearly two thousand years ago, yet His tomb is still wet with tears. In every land there are those who cry out to Him and love Him still.” That's the incomparable glory of Jesus: always to be remembered and always loved and longed for. And He says, “I will come again.”
‘He Himself, and not another,' He for whom our hearts have yearned Through long years of twilight waiting, To His ransomed ones returned; For this word, O Lord, we bless Thee, Bless our Master's changeless name Yesterday, today, for ever, Jesus Christ is still the same.”
-R R. Havergal.
There are at least two questions that most people would like to ask: How is Christ coming? and Why is He coming? And possibly there is a third, When is He coming? Now as to the how of His coming: It is clear from Jesus' own words that His second coming will be visible to all the world. There is nothing secret about it, nothing private about it, nothing mystical about it. Our Savior described His second advent to His disciples, saying, “As the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matthew 24:27. He declared that men shall “see the Son of man coming in the clouds.”' (Mark 13:26.) To millions it will be as unexpected as the coming of a thief in the night. To them it will be an overwhelming surprise. But, according to Christ's own words, He will come then with great power and glory.
Let us never forget this important fact: The same Jesus who was here is the Jesus who will come again. The same Savior who walked by blue Galilee will come in glory. The same Master who preached the Sermon on the Mount, who spoke His wonderful parables, healed the sick, and raised the dead the same Jesus will come in majesty with all the holy angels.
The Scripture says that when the disciples of old watched Him ascend into heaven, “a cloud received him out of their sight.” We read about it in the beautiful first chapter of Acts, verses nine to eleven: “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went UP, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, You men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, http://www.ThreeAngels.com.aushall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven.”
Those are wonderful words, “This same Jesus,” the Jesus they had seen crucified, the Jesus they had seen buried in joseph's new tomb, the Jesus they had seen by, the Sea of Galilee after His resurrection, the Jesus who had talked with them and loved them-this same Jesus would come back in glory indescribable.
The prophet Habakkuk described Christ's glorious appearance: “His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. And his brightness was as the light; he had rays coming forth from his hand; and there was the hiding of his power.” Habakkuk 3:3, A.R.V.
Yes, it is the same Jesus. There is no doubt about that. The mark of the cruel nails is the shining badge of His power to save and the proof that this is the same Jesus, the Jesus of the cross. As the old song says, I shall know Him by the print of the nails of His hands.” When the redeemed see Him who was crucified for them coming in glory, they will cry out: “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” Isaiah 25:9.
Notice the statement of the angels who spoke to the disciples on the Mount of Olives that day when they last saw the Savior. They said plainly that this same Jesus would come again in like manner as He had gone into heaven. His coming will not be a secret, spiritual coming. When He comes again, He will come in person; He will come literally; He will come physically; He will come bodily; He will come in the open sight of all the world. He will come accompanied with a demonstration of glory and power never before witnessed on earth.
When we speak of Christ's second coming, we do not speak of His spiritual presence with us, which has never left us from the beginning. He said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Hebrews 13:5. We are speaking about His coming in person, bodily, gloriously. God poured out the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, but that was not the second coming of Christ. Jesus has been with His church for nineteen centuries to comfort, to bless, and to lead; for He said, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). This is not His oft-predicted return. He has sent many messages to us through His Holy Scriptures and through His servants, but not one of these has been the second coming of Christ.
The same Jesus who was crucified and who arose from the dead, who said to His disciples in the upper room, “Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see me have” (Luke 24:39)-this same Jesus, in the clear sight of those same disciples, ascended to heaven. As He went up and was lost to their view, the promise was made, “This same Jesus . . . shall so come in like manner.” His departure was personal and literal, and He will come in the same way. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16. It is not a spirit that shall descend from heaven, not an angel, not an influence, not a dispensation of Providence, but “the Lord Himself.”
His coming glory will be threefold, for “He shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.” Luke 9:26. This great glory will envelop the whole world. Here is the plain statement of the holy apostle: “The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire.” 2 Thessalonians 1:7, 8. He will be seen by all the world.
When He came before, He came as a babe in Bethlehem's manger; when He comes again, He comes as King of kings. Before, He was despised and rejected; now His lightning will lighten the world, and all the earth shall see and tremble. Before, He was a sacrifice on Calvary; this time He comes as judge on the great white throne. Before, His enemies crowned Him with thorns; now He comes with many crowns. His first advent was like the slow dawning of a summer morning. Not so His second coming. His return to this earth will be the greatest demonstration of power and glory in the history of mankind. “Every eye shall see him.” Revelation 1:7. Never forget that text-”Every eye shall see him.”
This is the open, literal, visible, bodily, actual, return of Christ. The Holy Scriptures are clear and explicit on the manner of His coming, the how of His coming. We read the words of Hebrews 9:28: “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Notice, “He shall appear' - there is nothing secret or hidden about that.
In Titus 2:13 the apostle declares that we are always to be “looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.” There is nothing here of a secret snatching away of God's people without the knowledge of the world. We give here a number of texts that speak of His appearing:
Colossians 3:4: “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory.”
1 Peter 5:4: “When the chief Shepherd shall appear.”
1 John 2:28: “When he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.”
1 John 3:2: 'We know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
Matthew 24:30: “And they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auglory.”
When will Jesus return? This question is dealt with more fully in another chapter. Perhaps it will suffice here to say that to the majority His coming will be sudden and unexpected; even those who are looking for Him will be surprised. “In such an hour as you think not the Son of man comes.” Matthew 24:44. The exact day and hour of His coming has not been revealed. Jesus said, “But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” Verse 36.
Now we ask the question, Why is He coming? Jesus makes it clear that He comes to “gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24:31.) The Apostle Paul speaks of His advent as the “blessed hope” in Titus 2:11-13: “For the grace of God that brings salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world. Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.”
Paul fell in martyrdom with his eyes fixed on that wonderful day, as we read in 2 Timothy 4:6-8: “I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. And not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”
It is when the King comes that the resurrection of the just and the translation of the living children of God will take place. Then will be the harvest of the earth, when the wheat will be gathered into the heavenly garner. 'We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,” declared the apostle, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52.
And again, in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18, he declares: “We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [or precede) them which are asleep for dead). For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up, together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” And they are wonderful words, too! Then there will be a relinking of the family chain. We shall meet again those friends whom we have loved long since and lost awhile. For the people of God it will be the end of sickness, the end of disease, the end of poverty, the end of old age, the end of death, and the beginning of eternal youth.
Christ is not only coming sometime-that is only part of the truth-He is coming soon. The signs of the times indicate that we are living in the latter days. He is coming quickly; He is even at the door. (Matthew 24:33.) Yes, His feet are on the threshold, His hand is on the latch. Soon, how soon we know not, He will come. Some men and women are trying to put off that eventful day, trying to think that Christ will never come-or at least will not come in their lifetime-but listen: 1n such an hour as you think not the Son of man comes.” Matthew 24:44.
To some it will be a wonderful day, a beautiful day, a glorious day. just think of the word carried down the hall of some great hospital: No more operations; it is all over! Christ is coming! No more pain, no more groans, no more suffering. Christ is here! Christ has come! Close up the funeral chapel; fill up that unused grave. No more death for believers. Christ is here!
On the other hand, it will be a day of sorrow for those who have rejected the Savior. For His enemies it will be a day of destruction. Multitudes will not be ready for His coming and will be filled with terror and fear. A dramatic description of this day is found in Revelation 6:14-17: “And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains. And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”
We must remember this: No sin can endure before the consuming glory of our coming King, for “our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:29. Either sin must be consumed out of our hearts here, or we shall he consumed in His presence. Those who by faith approach the throne of grace here and receive Christ's righteousness to cover all their sins will he happy in that day. They will recognize the Savior as their King and will receive Him with joy. But to meet Him unsaved or unprepared will be the saddest thing that could ever happen to a human being. Read thoughtfully 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9, speaking of that day “when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.”
At His second advent Jesus resurrects the righteous dead and translates the righteous living. The living wicked die. As a boy, I grew up on my grandfather's farm. I often heard my grandmother singing to herself. One of her favorite songs was about that great day when the King shall return. I can remember the words distinctly; they ring in my soul now:
“There's a great day coming, a great day coming,
There's a great day coming by and by,
When the saints and the sinners shall he parted right and left,
Are you ready for that day to come?”
Those words made a deep impression on my youthful heart. And then she sang:
“There's a bright day coming, a bright day coming,
There's a bright day coming by and by,
But its brightness shall only come to them that love the Lord,
Are you ready for that day to come?”
1 wanted to be ready; I still want to be ready. It made me think seriously. And then I heard the last stanza:
“There's a sad day coming, a sad day coming,
There's a sad day coming by and by,
When the sinner shall hear his doom, 'Depart, I know you not,'
Are you ready for that day to come?”
William L. Thompson.
Are you ready for that day to come? We can be ready -all of us. Christ Jesus will be our Savior if we will have Him. Are you ready, friend, for the King to come?
A lover of children visited a certain school and talked to the youngsters. He said, I am coming back again sometime, and I am going to give a prize to the one who has the cleanest desk.”
“But when are you coming back?” was the question. “That I cannot tell,” was the answer.
A little girl who was noted for her disorderly habits announced to the other children that she intended to win the prize.
“You?” the schoolmates jeered. “You will never get it; your desk is always out of order.” “But I mean to clean it the first of every week.-
“Yes, but suppose he should come at the end of the week?”
“Then I'll clean it every morning,” she responded. “But suppose he comes in the afternoon.”
She thought awhile. Then she said, “I know what I'll do: I'll just keep it clean.”
Thus it must be with those who love their Lord's appearing. They must be ready all the time; they must keep their lives clean through His grace. They know not when He shall come at evening, at midnight, in the morning, or at noon. They must remember that the Savior's words were not “Get ready,” but “Be you ready.”
TWO FRIENDS and I were driving about ninety miles south from Delhi, India, to view the famous Taj Mahal on the outskirts of Agra. According to our map, the road which we were to follow would cross certain rivers and pass towns and villages, all named on the map. One by one we passed them. Like signposts along the way, they pointed to Agra and the Taj Mahal. We were sure we must be drawing near that world famous monument to a broken heart, for we had crossed the Jumna River and were passing through Agra. There was the great red fort, which we visited briefly. Soon every one of the signs was passed. Surely we would see the Taj when we turned the next corner. Sure enough, there it was, like a white cloud on the horizon; the beautiful dream of Shah-Jahan, the final witness to his love for his wife, the beautiful Murntaz Mahall, materialized forever in white marble by the labor of twenty thousand men for twenty years.
The road signs led us all the way from Delhi to the marble dream. Even so the road of time from Christ's day to ours, and beyond to His second coming, is marked with signs. Jesus said, `There shall be signs.” Luke 21:25. We should remember that when our Lord Jesus Christ was here on earth, He claimed a knowledge of the future. As the Son of God, He knew what was to come.
Our belief as to whether Christ is coming the second time or not depends upon what we think of Him. Who is He? If Christ is the divine Son of God, the Redeemer of the world, then His promise to come again has the authority of divinity. He declared that He was coming again and told the reason for His coming, even explaining how He would come. And, knowing all things, He also gave signs by which men might know when His appearing is near. He did not reveal the day and hour of His coming, but declared this knowledge was kept in the Father's power. (Matthew 24:36.) However, He told His people to watch, and He gave evidences of the nearness of His coming, for which all believers were to watch. He said: “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is nigh: so likewise you, when you shall see all these things, know that it [he, margin) is near, even at the doors.” Matthew 24:32, 33. The visits of the Son of God are of such supreme importance to mankind that in no case are they carried out in secret.
The prophecies of the Old Testament told men that His first coming was near. So also does the Old Testament as well as the New warn men of His second coming. Before His first advent to this earth He had, through His prophets, declared the very year in which He would be baptized and begin His ministry, after being anointed by the Holy Spirit. The exact time of His crucifixion was also revealed. Had God's people in those times believed the Holy Scriptures and profited by these divine announcements, they would have been expecting His Son and would have been prepared to receive Him. When John, the cousin of Jesus, began to preach in the wilderness of Judea, he announced with great earnestness: “Repent you: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 3:1 He knew that the hour had struck for Christ to appear. And when our Savior Himself was baptized of John in Jordan, He immediately began to preach: “The time is fulfilled.... repent you, and believe the gospel.” Mark 1: 15.
A small minority were watching for the fulfillment of the prophecies and were prepared to receive Him, but not so with the great masses. They were not watching, they were not waiting, and they did not receive Him.
So it will be in the latter days, when our Savior comes the second time. The Scripture declares that this great event will take place as a snare and as a thief in the night. It will be an overwhelming surprise to all the nations of the earth. But there will be some who will not be surprised, some who will be ready, some who will be watching for the signs of the times. Yes, Jesus said, “There shall be signs.” just as surely as when the fig tree and all the trees put forth their leaves in the spring, we know that summer is coming-in fact, is beginning -just so surely, when we see the events take place which Jesus Himself predicted, we will know that His coming is drawing near, that a wonderful change is coming in the affairs of earth, that an invasion is about to take place which will change the world for good in all the ages to come.
All through the Word of God there are predictions by the prophets and apostles concerning conditions in the world and concerning its various activities at the time of the ending of this age. Those conditions are in the world today and betoken the end of time and the beginning of eternity. The fulfillment of divine prophecies found in both the Old and the New Testament give reason to expect the coming of our long-absent Lord.
However, let it be said again that no man knows the day or hour of His coming. We cannot overemphasize that fact. No one has been authorized to announce the definite time of Christ's coming. Jesus made this clear when He said, “But of that day and hour knows no man.” Matthew 24:36. It is not a matter of human wisdom or cleverness to figure out. The time of the coming of Christ depends upon God's will and also upon the ripening of the harvest of evil and of good. None of us could know what constitutes the ripeness of the eternal harvest, for the Lord “is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9.)
But there are certain signs that are clearly stated in the Word of God as evidences of Christ's second coming. Among them are abounding wickedness; coldness and luke warmness in Christian faith; a formal, lifeless church; a terrible departure from the faith of apostolic times; worldwide fear of war and vast preparations for it, along with worldwide proclamations of peace and the creation of human organizations to secure peace; unparalleled development of human knowledge and science; and the mighty advance of the gospel to all the world. These are only some of the signs of Christ's coming.
That these conditions prevail today is evident to all. One does not need to be a visionary, an enthusiast, a dreamer, or even a pessimist to see them. The facts are apparent to everyone. When the Sadducees and Pharisees came to Jesus, tempting Him and demanding that He show them a sign from heaven, He said: “When it is evening, you say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will he foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O you hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky; but can you not discern the signs of the times?” Matthew 16:2, 3. God desires that we should recognize the signs of the times.
He has given other signs for the present generation of men, too. The entire twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew is a great sermon on eschatology, or last things. Two other parallel accounts with added details are found in Mark 13 and Luke 21. The first few verses of Matthew 24 deal largely with the signs that were to precede the destruction of the nation of Israel and the city of Jerusalem. All those events took place literally, as we know from history, and are a symbol of the final destruction of this world.
Let us now note how Jesus blends His description of two great crises: ( 1 ) the destruction of the Jewish nation and the fall of Jerusalem, and (2) His second coming and the destruction of civilization as we know it. As Jesus was leaving the temple for the last time, some of His disciples spoke to Him of the beauty of the buildings of the temple and of its glory. Then He prophesied that it would be demolished, the city destroyed, and its people scattered over all the world. Jesus said, “Verily I say unto you All these things shall come upon this generation.” Matthew 23:36. The generation which rejected Jesus was responsible in a special way for the destruction of the city of God and the dispersion of the people of Israel. Notice especially the words “these things” and “this generation.” “These things” refers to the punishment for all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from Abel to the prophet Zacharias. Jesus said that the punishment would come upon “this generation,” the generation that heard Him utter these words, and His prophecy received a literal fulfillment.
As the disciples went with Christ to the Mount Of Olives, they asked Him, “When shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Matthew 24:3. In answer to their first question, “When shall these things be?” He gave the signs that would be fulfilled preceding the fall Of Jerusalem. The Roman armies were to come and surround the city-this was to be a sign for the Christians to flee to the mountains. “When you shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter there into. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.” Luke 21:20-22.
When the crisis hour came to the city once chosen of God, those who believed what Christ had said escaped from the doomed city. On this point it is interesting to note that when Cestius surrounded Jerusalem with the Roman army and was about to take it, apparently unaware of the fact that the city was about to surrender, he suddenly withdrew and retreated toward the coast. The defending forces followed him and, with others gathered from the countryside, almost destroyed his army in the mountain passes. Some say it was the greatest destruction of a Roman army with the exception of that of the legions of Varus in the Teutoburg Forest of Germany. It was a great hour of victory for the Jewish defenders of Jerusalem.
At this very time of jubilation the followers of Christ fled from the city “like rats from a sinking ship,” as one writer put it. Why did they flee when all was going well and when it seemed that the Roman armies would never be able to take the city? They had the command of Christ, and that was enough for them. Remember, they did not flee in a time of defeat and desperation, but at a time of victory and hope. And they did this because Christ had given them the sign: “When you shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then ... flee.” They crossed to the cast side of the Jordan River at the little town of Pella and lived there for a number of years.
These events took place in AD. 66. In AD. 70 the Roman armies led by Vespasian and Titus, his son, returned, surrounded Jerusalem, and, after a terrible five month siege, captured it. The holy temple itself was seized and burned, contrary to Titus's orders.
According to Josephus, Titus declared that neither his armies nor his siege engines could ever have breached the walls of Jerusalem unless God Himself had helped them. The stubborn defense of the city aroused the anger of the besiegers, and they showed no mercy when they finally broke through the walls. The savagery of the slaughter at Jerusalem is probably the worst in the long history of Roman wars. Thousands of Jews were sold into slavery; other thousands were sent to various cities to die in the arenas. Titus reserved the tallest and most handsome of his captives for his triumphal return to Rome. It is said that 11,000 of his prisoners starved to death while he was http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auclassifying and dividing them. Josephus estimates that the Romans took 97,000 captives, and he calculates those who died in the siege to have reached the almost unbelievable figure of over 1,100,000. Most of these were visitors who were in Jerusalem for the Passover at the time the Roman army surrounded it. When the conqueror returned to Rome, a great arch was built near the forum, called to this day the Arch of Titus. On it one may see carvings of the trophies taken from Jerusalem, including the seven branched candlestick from the temple.
When Jesus spoke of the destruction of Jerusalem and of the great temple which was the pride of the whole nation, the disciples could imagine this taking place only at the end of time, in the final cataclysm of the world. Our Savior did not separate the two events entirely, but mingled the description of one with the other. In blending His description of these two great crises-( 1 ) the destruction of the Jewish nation and the fall of Jerusalem, and (2) His second coming and the destruction of civilization as we know it-the Savior made the future clear to those who open His Word. His entire discourse here was given not only for the disciples of that day but also of our day, those who will witness the last scenes of this world's history.
Turning to His disciples, Jesus said: “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” Matthew 24:4, 5. It is true that between His death and the siege of Jerusalem many false messiahs did appear. But this warning is also for us today. The same deceptions are still being practiced, for men are even now arising claiming to be mighty prophets or even Christ Himself. They are leading away hundreds of thousands of followers.
“And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that you be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” Verse 6. Before the destruction of Jerusalem various nations struggled for supremacy one over 'the other. There was even trouble within the Roman Empire. Emperors were murdered and their murderers became in turn emperors. “All these things must come to pass,” said Christ, “but the end [that is, of the Jewish people as a nation) is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” Verses 6-8.
Many who saw these events occurring in those days believed them to be judgments upon the nation for their affliction of the nation of Israel. But our Savior urged His followers not to be deceived. They were really the beginning of judgments upon His own people as well as upon the world. The signs which unbelieving Israel considered to be signs of their release from Roman bondage were really signs of their destruction. “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and you shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many he offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” Verses 9, 10.
This was all fulfilled. Christians suffered greatly in those times of persecution between AD. 31 and AD. 70. They were accused of being betrayers of their country. Children betrayed their parents; parents handed over their own children for execution. Friend delivered friend to the Sanhedrin. One of the most noted persecutors of this time was Saul, who later was converted and became Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles and writer of a large portion of the New Testament. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, and James the apostle were put to death with great cruelty. In the latter times we may expect a recurrence of persecution, of laws to restrict religious liberty and to force the consciences of men.
But as it was in the times of ancient Israel, there will be a boundary over which men may not step, for God will say, “Thus far, and no farther.” Persecution is a witness for Christ, and those who see it make decisions either for or against Him. We should remember that this warning which our Savior gave in His description of the destruction of Jerusalem was to be heeded forty years later. Likewise many of Christ's prophecies were to meet their application long centuries after He gave them. Only by a study of His Word can one tell exactly when they apply. Beginning with verse twenty-one of this twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, the signs foretold by Jesus point forward exclusively to the end of the world. Long centuries of darkness, centuries marked with blood and tears and agony for His church, were to stand between the end of the Jewish nation and the end of the world. The disciples had asked: “When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Verse 3. Now the last part of their question was emphasized in our Savior's reply. He gave many signs, all of which have been fulfilled right up to the present day. Anyone may read them in the twenty fourth chapter of Matthew. We are not here, of course, giving a verse-by-verse exposition of this great chapter of prophecy. For such a complete study, we refer the reader to the following authoritative books: The Desire of Ages, by Ellen G. White; God Speaks to Modern Man, by Arthur E. Lickey; Drama of the Ages, by W. H. Branson.
From the destruction of Jerusalem, Christ passed on rapidly to the final event in the chain of earth's history, His own coming in majesty and glory. With few words He sketched the tribulation through which His church was to pass during the intervening centuries. Having referred to Daniel the prophet as revealing events taking place in connection with the times He was describing, Jesus pictured the great tribulation of the Dark Ages. In this connection it is well to remember that Daniel speaks of a great power, which during this time was to “wear out the http://www.ThreeAngels.com.ausaints of the most High.” (Daniel 7:25.) Of this time Jesus said: “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.” Matthew 24:21, 22.
The first tribulation of the church came from the persecution by the Jewish leaders. (Acts 4:1-3; 7:59, 60; 8:1A.) A little later the Gentiles also persecuted the Christians. (Acts 16:19-24.) Pagan persecutions no nor ever shall be. And except those occurred intermittently for over three hundred years. Then in AD. 538 the 1260 years of papal supremacy and persecution began, as we learn from the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation. Unless God had intervened, the elect would have been destroyed. But changes came in the nations, and those days of persecution were shortened and did not reach to 1798.
The era of discovery and the great Reformation came to Europe, cutting short the persecution which had put multitudes to death for their faith. The Reformation throughout northern Europe put a stop to the unlimited ecclesiastical persecution. Although it is true that France shut out the great reform, rationalism, liberalism, and tolerance arose there and the power of intolerance was broken. In 1762 the torture to death of a Protestant in France so aroused public opinion, led by Voltaire, that the government paid the victim's family an indemnity. We are told that the last Huguenots condemned to the gallows as dissenters from the state religion were released from their ship prison in 1775. So the days of unrestrained persecution were shortened, even before the 1260 years of the prophecy had ended.
After describing these days of tribulation, the Dark Ages of tyranny and oppression, of political religion and ignorance, Jesus passes on to coming events. He says: “Then [that is, following the great tribulation) if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christ’s, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before.” Matthew 24:23-25.
It is said that, beginning with Bar Cocheba, up to the end of the seventeenth century, over twenty false messiahs had appeared at different times among the Jews. Since then, many false Christ’s and false prophets have arisen among the Gentiles also. With our present rapid and efficient means of communication, false Christ’s and teachers have been able to gather tremendous followings in a very short time. They have also secured the use of great financial resources. We are to remember that great claims-even the working of signs and wonders-are no evidence that a teacher is of God, for Jesus said that false Christ’s and false prophets would arise showing great signs and wonders.
“Wherefore,” He says, “if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning comes out of the cast, and shines even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Verses 26, 27. We surely need this warning today. Some false Christ’s teach that He has come secretly, in the chamber of death or the spiritualistic seance. We are not to believe it. Neither will the true Christ come to some desert gathering. We are not to go to such places to meet Christ. Jesus described His second coming as a coming in glory, as the lightning shining across the entire heaven-a great, public event. “So shall also the coming of the Son of man be,” He said. Our Savior's words leave no room for any secret rapture, or mystical coming, or private appearance, or any other false theory contrived by pious or over-zealous “prophets.” When Jesus comes, He will be seen “coming in the clouds of heaven.” (Matthew 24:30.)
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days [or, as we read in Mark 13:24] in those days, after that tribulation shall the sun be darkened. . . . and the stars shall fall from heaven.” Matthew 24:29. The sign of the darkening of the sun is mentioned many times in the Scripture. In Isaiah 13: 10 we read that “the sun shall be darkened in his going forth,” or in the morning. Joel 2:10; 3:15; Acts 2:20; and Revelation 6:12 -all mention the dark day as one of the signs of the times.
We note that, according to our Savior's words, this darkening of the sun was to take place immediately after the tribulation of those days. When the Dark Ages ended, modern times began, and the Reformation did its work. By 1750 practically all the intense religious intolerance was in the past, and immediately afterward certain signs began to appear. The first of these signs, the darkening of the sun, mentioned in three of the gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), occurred on May 19, 1780.
These signs in the heavens were too be introduced by an exceedingly great earthquake, as we read in Revelation 6:12: “There was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood.” This could have been none other than the great Lisbon earthquake, which occurred November 1, 1755.
Of the Lisbon earthquake, Prof. W. H. Hobbs, geologist, says in the book Earthquakes, pages 142, 143: “Among the earth movements which in historic times have affected the kingdom of Portugal, that of November 1, 1755, takes first rank, as it does, also, in some respects among all recorded earthquakes.
In six minutes sixty thousand people perished.” It affected nearly four million square miles of the earth's surface, surpassing anything of the kind in recorded history up to that date or, it may be, even to the present. It came in the midst of an age of rationalism and unbelief, but it did turn men's thoughts to God, as we read in The Life of Voltaire, by James Parton: “Half the world felt the convulsion. . . . For many weeks, as we see in the letters and memoirs of that time, people in distant parts of Europe went to bed in alarm, relieved in the morning to find that they had escaped the fate of Lisbon one night more.” Another writer stated, “The earthquake had made all men thoughtful. They mistrusted their love of drama, and filled the churches instead.”
Then followed the great Dark Day of May 19, 1780,
in the exact and proper order as given in the Scriptures. A description of this great Dark Day can be found in any encyclopedia or standard work on astronomy. It was not an eclipse, because it occurred when the moon was full. Its exact cause is not known, but it has been attributed to various factors. But whether it is known or not is not the question. It came on time and was one of the evidences or signs of Christ's coming. It was accepted as such by hundreds of thousands who saw it. People felt an alarm, an awe; they felt that God was working, that this great, strange phenomenon meant something serious and solemn. The extent of this darkness was remarkable, covering the northern and eastern parts of the North American Continent and lasting about fourteen hours. Candles were lighted in the houses, birds sang their evening songs and disappeared, fowls retired to roost. The poet Whittier described it in his poem “Abraham Davenport”;
'It was on a May day of the far old year
Seventeen hundred eighty, that there fell
Over the bloom and sweet life of the spring,
Over the fresh earth and the heaven of noon,
A horror of great darkness....
Birds ceased to sing, and all the barnyard fowls Roosted; the cattle at the pasture bars
Lowed, and looked homeward;
bats on leathern wings Flitted abroad; the sounds of labor died;
Men prayed, and women wept; all cars grew sharp To hear the doom blast of the trumpet shatter
The black sky.”
In the department explanatory of “Noted Names,” Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (edition 1883) says: “The Dark Day, May 19, 1780-so called on account of a remarkable darkness on that day extending over all New England. . . . The obscuration began about ten o'clock in the morning, and continued till the middle of the next night, but with difference of degree and duration in different places.. . . The true cause of this remarkable phenomenon is not known.”
President Timothy Dwight, of Yale College, tells of one of the historic incidents of that day. The legislature of Connecticut was in session. The House of Representatives had adjourned because of the darkness and the fear that the day of judgment was at hand. It was proposed to adjourn the Council, the second legislative body of Connecticut. When Colonel Davenport was asked his opinion, he said: “I am against an adjournment. The day of judgment is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for an adjournment; if it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. I wish therefore that candles may be brought.”
Whittier described this incident as follows:
“Meanwhile in the old Statehouse, dim as ghosts, Sat the lawgivers of Connecticut, Trembling beneath their legislative robes. 'It is the Lord's great day! Let us adjourn,' Some said; and then, as with one accord, All eyes were turned to Abraham Davenport. He rose, slow cleaving with his steady voice The intolerable hush. 'This well may be The day of judgment which the world awaits; But be it so or not, I only know My present duty, and my Lord's command To occupy till He come. So at the post Where He hath set me in His providence I choose, for one, to meet Him face to face. No faithless servant, frightened from my task, But ready when the Lord of the harvest calls; And therefore, with all reverence, I would say, Let God do His work, we will see to ours. Bring in the candles!'
So should all God's servants carry on His work until He comes. http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auJesus said that after this great Dark Day sign, “the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.” Matthew 24:29. This same event is described in Revelation 6:13: “The stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casts her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.” And so they did. Fifty-three years after the Dark Day, on the morning of November 13, 1833, there appeared the greatest star shower known in history.
Prof. Simon Newcomb, in his Astronomy for Everybody, page 280, compares this meteoric shower with others and says that it was the most remarkable one ever observed. It was seen over wide areas of the United States and other countries. The stars fell “even as a fig tree casts her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.” From one center in the sky near the constellation of Leo they flew out in every direction, one of the grandest sights that man has ever beheld. This phenomenon also was accepted by Christian people at the time as a sign from heaven.
Frederick A. Douglass, the liberated slave, wrote of the falling stars as follows: “I witnessed this gorgeous spectacle, and was struck with awe. The air seemed filled with bright descending messengers from the sky. It was about daybreak when I saw this sublime scene. It was not without the suggestion at that moment that it might be the harbinger of the coming of the Son of man; and in my state of mind I was prepared to hail Him as my friend and deliverer. I had read that the stars shall fall from heaven, and they were now falling. I was suffering much in my mind. . . . I was beginning to look away to heaven for the rest denied me on earth.”--My Bondage and My Freedom, p. 186.
Many people remembered the prophecy of Jesus and looked upon the falling of the stars as a harbinger of His second coming. Before discussing the Second Coming of Christ, which is the next great event in the heavens, I would draw your attention to other signs given by our Savior-events and conditions which will prevail in the world just before His second coming. He mentioned war, pestilence, famine, earthquakes, distress of nations, and perplexity as signs of His coming. Then He says, “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draws nigh.” Luke 21:28.
Someone may say that such things have always occurred on earth since the world began, so how can they be signs? The answer is that these visitations in the latter days would be so unprecedented in their severity and number that they would constitute signs of Christ's Second Coming. The Apostle Peter foresaw this very objection, for he says in 2 Peter 3:3, 4: “There shall come in the last days scoffers.... saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” Then he goes on to declare that in spite of the scoffing, “the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.” Verse 10. Any apparent delay in His coming is explainable only because God is waiting to warn all peoples and endeavoring to win them to Him, “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” Verse 9.
As the signs appear all over the world, so all over the world the message is to be given: “Repent, turn to God, and prepare for the coming of Christ.” It is easy to say that “all things continue as they were from the beginning,” and the prophecy says that many will say that. But the fact is that conditions in the world are not continuing as they were. Take wars, for instance. There have always been wars in the world since the beginning of sin, but there had never been any such war as the first world war (1914-18). Sir Winston Churchill said it was “different from all ancient wars, .... and from all modern wars.... All the horrors of all the ages were brought together.” In another book he said, “Henceforth whole populations will take part in war. Mankind has never been in this position before.”
Then followed World War 11. In it not only whole nations engaged in war, but whole nations were taken in captivity. Millions died of hunger, starvation, and forced labor, as well as from bombardment by land, sea, and air. Finally came the atomic bomb. War has taken on new dimensions. It is now worldwide - horrible!
There have been pestilences ever since sin entered the world, but following World War 1 came the greatest scourge ever known, the influenza epidemic of 1918-19. The Encyclopedia Britannica calls it “the crowning tragedy of so many tragic years.” At least twenty million perished. It was indeed a pandemic with almost universal sway. The famine of 1922-23 was the great hunger time in Russia. Dr. Nansen, of Arctic fame, says that it took a toll of two or three million, and states that this famine was “beyond all doubt the most appalling in the recorded history of man.” But there followed a worse famine in northwestern China, taking the heaviest toll ever known. More than twelve million people starved to death. D. O. Lively called it “the greatest human tragedy in the world's history.”
Then there were to be “earthquakes, in divers places.” (Matthew 24:12 Alonzo L. Baker, American journalist, reports on earthquakes, saying: “During the fifty years beginning with 1875 there were more severe earthquakes than in the 850 years preceding.” The great quake in Kansu, China, in 1920, had no parallel as to the vast area affected. A hundred thousand people were buried in one night. “The mountains walked in the night,” said the refugees. McClures Magazine called it “the greatest single disaster since the Flood.”
Truly all things do not continue as they were. The greatest wars, the greatest pestilences, the greatest famines, the greatest earthquakes-these have marked our day and generation, according to the reports of world observers. Satan is called “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4) and `the prince of the power of the air.” Ephesians 2:2. He is the king of havoc, the lord of destruction. But the God of heaven is hastening the day when He will bring an end to the destructive power of evil and set His creation free. As the Apostle Paul puts it, “We know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.... waiting for redemption.” Romans 8:22, 23.
Jesus Himself foretold these signs of the latter days, and He said: “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draws nigh.” Luke 21:28. That is the bright side of the picture. “There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear. . . . And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” Verses 25-27.
“Distress of nations, with perplexity”-distress and perplexity of mind-a perfect picture of our age and its thinking! No wonder hundreds of tons of soothing medicines are dispersed every year to the millions of troubled, worried people. It was the Prince of Wales who, some years ago in a speech made in the great Albert Hall, London, seemed to be commenting on this very sign that Jesus foretold, when he said: “We have before us today a world sick with fearful doubt.... a world of troubled nations.... It is an era of potential plenty, when confidence should be supreme, yet we see in almost every land widespread distress and perplexity.”
But in the midst of all these signs everywhere we must not overlook the greatest of all signs, the most wonderful of all signs the giving of the gospel to all the world in this generation. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matthew 24:14. This is the reason for our modern inventions, the means of rapid communication and travel, printing, and worldwide education. Why have all these great inventions come in this age, and not another? It is that the gospel of the kingdom may be preached everywhere, quickly, “for a witness unto all nations.” By word of mouth, by the printed page, by radio, by television, by faithful preachers around the world, the gospel is proclaimed.
This is the happiest, most glorious sign of all, and it should thrill our hearts. Let us not he among the last-day scoffers, who are themselves a sign. (2 Peter 3:3-7.) Every voice of skepticism, every denial of the Lord, is a last-day sign of His coming. Those who deny it, shutting their eyes to the evidence of Scripture and history and latter day events, are themselves living, walking, talking signs of His coming.
Are these things in the world today? Are the last-day scoffers here? Yes. Are the last-day preachers giving a message of gospel hope and peace to man? Yes. Will faith be a rare article on earth when Christ comes? Yes. “When the Son of man comes, shall he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8. It is a time when many will depart from the faith: “Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” 1 Timothy 4: 1.
These events-the great earthquake, the darkened sun, the falling stars-took place in the exact order as foretold in Holy Writ. How infidels and unbelievers would have triumphed had these events come in reverse order, or in any other way than predicted! But they came exactly as outlined by the prophets and by our Lord Himself. History proved that God spoke the truth.
The next great event in the heavens is to be the coming of the Son of man in power and glory. “And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matthew 24:3 1. Are we among His elect? Are we expecting Him? Are we waiting for His coming? Are we prepared for Him? “When you shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Verses 33-35. In concluding His message in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, our Savior compared the conditions in the last days to those in the days of Noah just before the Flood. “As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Verses 37-39.
Business will go on as usual. The occupations of life will continue. So will marriage and giving in marriage. The regular social life will continue. Then suddenly, all unexpectedly to most people, the great change will come, for which they are unprepared. Agricultural work will be going on, and women will be caring for the affairs of the home. The hour will come, the hour which has been predicted by prophets and declared by the Lord Jesus Christ as certain and sure. Yes, the hour will come; He will come! “Watch therefore,” is our Lord's command; “for you know not what hour your Lord does come.” 'Therefore be you also ready: for in such an hour as you think not the Son of man comes.” Verses 42, 44.
In Stockton, California, a minister preached an earnest sermon on the second coming of Christ. At the close, while he was praying, a woman arose and left the room. After he had finished the service, he went to the door to greet the people, and found this woman pacing back and forth in the lobby. The moment the minister appeared, she said: “How did you dare to pray as you did -'Come, Lord Jesus'? I don't want Him to come. It would break up all my plans. How dare you?” The minister said: “My dear friend, if you love the Lord, you will want Him to come. But He is coming whether you want Him to come or not. If you really know Him and love Him, you certainly will say in your heart, 'Come, Lord Jesus.
BIBLE SUMMARY
Is the unparalleled increase of scientific knowledge that has taken place during the past two hundred years a sign of the times in which we live?
The answer is in Daniel 12:4: “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”
Note: Should we go back just 150 years, there would be no electric lights, no steamships, no diesel trains, no airplanes, no telephones, no phonographs, no radios, no television sets, no steel buildings, no linotypes. The world of George Washington was almost like the world of Abraham as far as travel, transportation, communication, and other commodities are concerned. We must be living in the time of the end when “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” This is a time when universities, schools, and the printed page are available to all. The Bible, once little known, is now open in over a thousand languages, giving a knowledge of God's Word to almost the entire world.
Will there be a great “peace and safety” cry on earth?
“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come you, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” Isaiah 2:24
Note: This is what the nations say, what the people say: “We will have peace, we will beat our swords into plowshares.” This same prediction is made by the prophet Micah (4:2,3). He credits the saying to “many nations.” Never have there been so many peace movements as in the past generation. First, we had the League of Nations, then the Kellogg Peace Pact, in which the nations solemnly declared that they would outlaw war forever. Sixty-one nations signed it. Herbert Hoover, then president of the United States, declared: “We are at the beginning of the golden age.” Now we have the United Nations. Billions of dollars are spent for world betterment, peace, and prosperity; but God, through His prophets, has indicated that this peace movement will be short-lived. “For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.” “We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!” Jeremiah 8:11,15.
What did the Apostle Paul say about this?
“For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction comes upon them,. . . and they shall not escape.” 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 3. Our great peace movement is popular; and well-meaning, earnest people promote peace.
But what will be the actual state of things in the world?
“Proclaim you this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up; beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all you heathen, and gather yourselves together round about thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put you in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: ... for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.” Joel 3:9-13.
Note: We have a paradox here-the people saying, peace and safety; we will learn war no more; we will beat our swords into plowshares,” but they do not do as they say. As Alexandre Millerand, ex-president of France, once said, “We are marching to war behind the banner of peace.”
World War I cost the United States alone thirty billion dollars. It seemed a staggering sum. Some predicted that the nation would go bankrupt. But the Second World War cost our nation ten times as much-300 billion dollars, the cost of that war to one nation alone, and in money alone.
And now atomic and thermonuclear weapons bring fear to most of the human race. No wonder Jesus spoke of “fearful sights and great signs” that would be seen in the earth just before His coming. (Luke 21:11) Some suggest that the people of this day will become human moles and live underground for safety. Other say that there is no use doing anything, for there can be no escape millions will be swept away in one day.
When Jesus foretold these signs of His coming, how did He console His disciples? 'You shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that you be not troubled.” Matthew 24:6
Will there be a great departure from true Christian faith in the latter days?
The answer is 1 Timothy 4: 1: “Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.”
Will there be trouble in the industrial world in the latter times? Read carefully James 5:1-6.
What kind of times will come just before our Lord returns?
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” 2 Timothy 3:1.
Why will these times be perilous?
“For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” 2 Timothy 3:2-5. In the last days these nineteen sins will be prevalent among those who have a form of godliness but deny its power. As a result the last warning message of God will be unheeded by those here described, and the day of God will come upon them unawares. In what class are you?
What did the Apostle Peter say about his preaching on the coming of Christ?
“For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.” 2 Peter 1: 16-18.
Note: The apostle is referring to the experience of himself and James and John on the mount of transfiguration. There they saw an enacted prophecy of the Second Coming of Christ in glory. There was the cloud of glory, there was Christ transfigured, shining like the sun; there was the voice of God, there was Moses representing the resurrected saints, there was Elijah representing the saints who will be translated at Christ's return. The whole thing was a prophetic moving picture of Christ's glorious return. The three apostles were eyewitnesses of this, and when they proclaimed the Second Coming of Christ, they could describe it because they had seen it in miniature.
To what safe guide does the Apostle Peter refer us on this subject?
“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto you do well that you take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.” 2 Peter 1: 19.
Note: God's Word is a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our paths. (Psalm 119:105.) The prophecies light up the future. Only God knows the future. He alone can see the end from the beginning. (Isaiah 46:9, l0.) Prophecy is really history in advance, and all the prophecies of Scripture point to one great event, the coming of Christ. Those ignorant of these divine prophecies are without the light; they do not know that the end is near, and will be overtaken as by a thief.
RIDERS in New York City's subways have lately seen something new. A Brooklyn stenographer who had often looked at the advertising cards in the subway cars decided “it might do some good” if people riding the subways should occasionally be confronted with the Ten Commandments. Out of her own pocket, she paid full advertising rates-$400-for one month to put the Ten Commandments, printed in black and white, in every train. No church organization sponsored her work. She said, “It is something personal I have always wanted to do.” According to the press report, a newspaper picture of a boy murderer gave her the impetus to popularize the Ten Commandments in this way.
Though the efforts of the Brooklyn stenographer may not be productive of any great moral reform-if of any at all-she was on the right track in attacking lawlessness through the medium of God's holy law. And she has most impressive precedent for concluding that knowledge of the law is a first step toward reform. Almost 1,500 years before Christ, at a time when His people had, because of long years in Egyptian bondage, almost forgotten the moral foundations of His kingdom, and had, as a consequence, lost their conception of what constitutes right and wrong, God spoke His law from the top of Mount Sinai. Israel was camped about the base of the mountain and heard every word distinctly. After this God wrote the Ten Commandments on two tables of stone and gave them to Moses, who took them down from the mount and put them under the mercy scat in the holy ark which was prepared for them. (Exodus 25:16-2l.) This ark, covered with pure gold, was the center of the temple service of Israel. Over the tables of the law, at either side of the ark, golden angels, or cherubim, spread their wings. Here it was that God met with His people.
The Ten Commandments on the tables of stone remained in the most holy place as long as the temple of Solomon stood. Tradition says that just before its destruction by the king of Babylon, about six hundred years before Christ, the prophet Jeremiah hid the ark in a cave; and to this day it has not been found. The temple in Christ's day contained no ark and no tables of stone.
It is well for us to remember that there was another law written by Moses in a book-usually called “the law of Moses”-for we must distinguish between these two laws. Given in ten clear, crisp commands, the Ten Commandments deal with the great principles of man's relationship to God and to his fellow men. This law is applicable to all men in all ages. But the law of Moses was entirely different. It dealt with local Jewish ceremonies of meats and drinks, washings of purification, sacrifices, etc. It specified what kind of animal to bring for a burnt sacrifice, how to observe the Passover and the Day of Atonement. This law was intended to last only until Christ came, when it would automatically end.
Some of the distinguishing characteristics of the two laws are here listed:
The Ten Commandment Law The Law of Moses
Is called the “royal law.” James 2:8. Is called “the law contained in ordinances.” Ephesians 2:15.
Was spoken by God. Deuteronomy 4:12, 13. Was spoken by Moses. Leviticus 1: 1-3.
Written by God on tables of stone. Exodus 24:12. Was “the handwriting of ordinances.” Colossians 2:14.
Written “with the finger of God.” Exodus31:18. Was written by Moses in a book. 2 Chronicles 3 5:12.
Was placed in the ark. Exodus 40:20 Was placed in the side of the ark. Deuteronomy 31:24-26.
1 Kings 8:9, Hebrews 9:4.
Is “perfect.” Psalm 19:7. “Made nothing perfect.” Hebrews 7:19.
To “stand fast for ever and ever.” Psalm 117:7, 8. Was nailed to the cross. Colossians 2:14.
Was not destroyed by Christ. Matthew 5:17. Was abolished by Christ. Ephesians 2:15.
Was to be magnified by Christ. Isaiah 42:21. Was taken out of the way by Christ. Colossians 2:14.
Gives knowledge of sin. Romans 3:20; 7:7. Was instituted in consequence of sin. Leviticus 3-7.
At the time of Christ the Jewish people were very much interested in the law, especially the ceremonial law. They considered it extremely important, and had added many laws and traditions of their own until it became a tremendous burden to the people. They considered this law of ceremonies to be almost equal with the Ten Commandments-and sometimes it seemed that they exalted it above the Decalogue. They had a temple; other nations did not. They had the holy services of God; other nations did not. They had the sacrifices, the laws of purification, and the priesthood; therefore, they felt that they were far above other peoples, and that the law of Moses was God's special gift to them. In one sense it was, but they had added to the original Mosaic ordinances until the people groaned under the burden. Jesus finally said, 'Ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.” Matthew 15:6. The traditions which they had added had destroyed the whole spirit not only of the law of Moses, which, with its sacrifices and offerings, pointed forward to Christ, but of the Ten Commandments.
Naturally these people were very much concerned about the attitude of Jesus toward the Ten Commandments and the law of sacrifices. Everyone was eager to hear what Jesus would say in His first great sermon, as recorded in the fifth chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew. Some thought He came to do away with the law of God, to abolish it entirely. But listen! He said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:17-19. These words are definite. They leave no doubt about Jesus' attitude toward the commandments.
Some people today think the Ten Commandments are old and should be replaced by something new; but remember, they were old in Jesus' time, having been written by God Himself many centuries before. James Russell Lowell reminds us that the principles of the Ten Commandments are eternal, that they are just as important and just as much in force now as ever. He says:
“In vain we call old notions fudge, And bend our conscience to our dealing; The Ten Commandments will not budge, And stealing will continue stealing.”
There were people back in the time of Christ, as there are now, who interpreted the Ten Commandments in a narrow fashion. They obeyed them only in the most literal, word-for-word manner and would not recognize them as the expression of great principles. We have been told that there were some among the religious extremists of those days who, in order not to transgress the commandment, `Thou shall not kill,” actually carried a broom with them to sweep their path lest they step upon some insect and kill it! There were others who blindfolded themselves for fear that they might look on something and covet it! In this way they perverted the spirit of God's commandments. Their religion was a religion of works. It was not at all attractive to others. Jesus took these people to task.
In His Sermon on the Mount Jesus made strong statements regarding the perpetuity of the law of God and proclaimed that His mission was to fulfill it-that is, to show it in all its fullness, as well as to obey it and teach it. He said, 'You have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shall not kill [here He quotes one of the Ten Commandments); and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: but I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.” Matthew 5:21, 22. And again: 'You have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shall not commit adultery [quoting the seventh commandment]: but I say unto you, That whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” Verses 27, 28.
Jesus took these two commandments and showed their spiritual application. He showed that it is possible for one to go through life outwardly observing the commandments but inwardly breaking them every day. No wonder the prophecy concerning Jesus said, “He will magnify the law, and make it honorable”! Isaiah 42:2 1. If we look only at the letter of the law, “Thou shall not kill” applies only to actual murder. But when Jesus puts the magnifying glass of His holy life and teaching upon it, this command is seen to cover the whole area of human life. It shows that, in the sight of God, hatred breaks the spirit of this law.
Jesus taught that outward obedience is not the only thing the law requires. It requires a converted heart, something that man cannot work up himself or produce by his own efforts. This comes only through the grace of God through faith. In other words, a sanctified life necessitates regeneration.
Jesus was once accused by certain ecclesiastics of breaking some of their church traditions. In reply He quoted one of the Ten Commandments: “Honor thy father and thy mother.” Then He explained that, according to their tradition, a son or daughter could evade the support of his aged parents by simply saying the word Corban-that is, “a gift.” In other words, all his property was a gift to the temple. Thus he would not be compelled to support his parents. Jesus said, “And you suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which you have delivered: and many such like things do you.” Mark 7:12, 13. Speaking on this same general topic just a few months before, He had said to them, “Full well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition.” Verse 9.
Let us not deceive ourselves with the idea that this danger does not exist in the world today. It is not for us to put our own teaching, our own ideas, our own feelings and desires, ahead of God's commandments. They come first. His Word must be above the word of man.
There were those who came to Jesus with hard questions in the hope of getting Him to say something that would make trouble between Him and the authorities. But one day a man came to Him with what seemed to he an honest question. He asked, “Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord; and thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou has said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that does ask him any question.” Mark 12:28-34.
The man who questioned Jesus saw clearly the deep, spiritual significance of Jesus' reply. Holiness did not consist of routinely presenting burnt offerings and sacrifices before God. They were of value only as a man recognized that they pointed forward to a Redeemer who would die for the sins of men, and appropriated to himself by faith the merits of that sacrifice. Further they were offered because of transgression of the Ten Commandments-which Jesus, in His reply, summed up. Thus emphasis on the letter of the ceremonial law-of value only when its spiritual significance was discerned to the detriment of the very moral law whose transgression necessitated its existence was foolishness. Transgression of the moral law condemned man to death in the first place, for it is the wages of sin which are death (Romans 6:23), and “sin is the transgression of the law. (1 John 3:4).
The law demands righteousness, which, in his fallen condition, no man can give. Therefore, in himself, man has no hope. He is condemned to death. His only hope was that God would send “his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin” (Romans 8:3) to make a sacrifice for all the world (1 John 2:1,2). This God did. Jesus `died for our sins according to the scriptures.” 1 Corinthians 15:3.
The questioning scribe who came to Jesus understood right away that these two great commandments love to God and love to man-were more important than all the sacrificial system, which would come to an end when Jesus, the true Lamb, came to the cross.
In the parallel passage of Matthew 22:35-40, which records this same interview, with Christ's answer to the scribe's question, we are told that, after saying that love to God and love to man were the two great commandments, Jesus added, “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Verse 40. Just as the ten fingers hang on the two arms, so the Ten Commandments hang on these two great commandments. The first four commandments reveal love to God; the last six, love to man. “Love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13: 10), not its annulment, not its dissolution, not its breaking, but its fulfilling. This Jesus came to do, for He revealed the love of God.
Why do some religious teachers today speak against the commandments? Certainly if they had a full understanding of what they mean, that they reveal the love of God in Christ, they would never object to them. A friend of mine tells of a certain minister in the West Indies who spoke against one of the commandments. When reminded that he had the law of God carved on stone tablets behind his pulpit, he said, “Oh, that's only a part of the architecture. I'll have them taken out when the church is renovated.” And it was not long before the tables of the Ten Commandments were laid down as stepping stones in the minister's boathouse. That is the trouble with many people: the Ten Commandments, as far as they are concerned, are only a part of the architecture, not a part church.
Alexander Campbell, that mighty preacher of a hundred years ago, once said that the Ten Commandments are a synopsis of all religion and morality. He called them the `Everlasting Ten.” In harmony with this, we read in Psalm 119:42: “Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.”
Dr. Jason Noble Pierce, of the First Congregational Methodist Temple of San Francisco, said in a sermon some time ago, “The Ten Commandments, which God gave the world ... more than thirty centuries ago, will live forever. Did mankind observe them, the whole world would be at peace today.” This is true.
The Ten Commandments did not originate in the mind of Moses. They came directly from God, as we read in the twentieth chapter of Exodus, where they are recorded word for word. God spoke the commandments with His own voice from the summit of Mount Sinai. Then He, not Moses, wrote them upon two tables of stone.
In order to do what the commandments require, one must have life; and' in order to be what they demand, one must have righteousness. The natural man has neither spiritual life nor righteousness. Therefore, the law of God condemns all men and shows us that we must have the grace that is in Christ Jesus in order to be saved. Grace does not do away with God's holy law, but only with the false relation of the sinner to it. We are saved, not because we have kept the law, but in order to keep it. It is Christ's perfect keeping of the law that is, His righteousness-which is accounted to our credit when we believe in Him as our Redeemer. As we read in 1 John 5:3, “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.”
The Apostle Paul asks a question and then answers it himself in Romans 3:31: “Do we then make void the law?” This is in harmony with the words of Jesus: He said that He came not to destroy, but to fulfill the law. And this He certainly did in His own perfect life. So all Christians who are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8) should uphold the Ten Commandments in these days when crime abounds in the earth. We have the example of our Savior, who said, “I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.” John 15: 10.
Recognizing that the law “is holy, and just, and good” (Romans 7:12), leading religious denominations have made strong statements in favor of the Ten Commandments.
In Deharbe's A Complete Catechism of the Catholic Religion, page 172, we read: “The Ten Commandments contain that law which already binds all men, since it is grounded in human nature, and has been written by God in all human hearts.” That is surely a fine statement. The Presbyterian Church declares: “This law ... [is) a perfect rule of righteousness, and, as such, was delivered by God upon Mount Sinai in Ten Commandments.” The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, p. 87.
The Baptist Church Manual says: “We believe that the Law of God is the eternal and unchangeable rule of his moral government; that it is holy, just, and good.” J. Newton Brown, The American Baptist Publication Society, p. 15.
We read in The Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Article VI: “No Christian what so ever is free from the obedience of the commandments which are called moral.”
These same words, applying to the Ten Commandments, are found in Article VII of the “Articles of Religion of the Protestant Episcopal Church,” The Book of Common Prayer, page 588. At the communion service in this great church, after repeating the Ten Commandments, the people respond: “Lord, have mercy upon us, and write all these Thy laws in our hearts.” This is a wonderful prayer, good for all of us to learn and use.
Some of the great men of God in past ages have spoken highly of the Ten Commandments. Dr. Albert Barnes, the well-known Presbyterian scholar, said that though the ceremonial and judicial laws of the Jews were abolished, “the Ten Commandments... [were] neither abolished nor superseded.”-Dr. Albert Barnes, on Matthew 5:18.
Charles Spurgeon, the mighty Baptist preacher, said: “Jesus did not come to change the law, but He came to explain it, and that very fact shows that it remains; for there is no need to explain that which is abrogated.... By thus explaining the law, He confirmed it.” - Perpetuity of the Law, pp. 3, 4.
John Wesley, who founded the Methodist Church, said: “The moral law contained in the Ten Commandments, and enforced by the prophets, he did not take away. It was not the design of his coming to revoke any part of this.... Every part of this law must remain in force upon all mankind and in all ages; as not depending either on time, or place, or any other circumstance liable to change, but on the nature of God and the nature of man, and their unchangeable relation to each other.”-Sermons on Several Occasions, John Wesley, Sermon XXV, “On the Sermon on the Mount,” (2 vol. ed.) Vol. 1, pp. 221, 222.
These men had ample Scriptural confirmation for their expressions of regard concerning the law. The psalmist wrote, “All thy commandments are righteousness.” Psalm 119:172. Again, “Every one of thy righteous judgments endures for ever.” Psalm 119:160. It is to “stand fast for ever and ever.” Psalm 111: 7, 8. In a prophecy applied specifically to Christ by the apostles (Hebrews 10:7), it is written, “Then said 1, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.” Psalm 40:7, 8. No wonder Jesus said to His disciples and to all of us today who desire to, follow His will: 1f you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love”! John 15:10. Obedience is the highest form of worship. If we profess to be Christians, we must follow Christ's example, for it is written: “He that said he abides in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” 1 John 2:6 It was Isaac Watts, the hymn writer, who sang of his Savior:
“My blest Redeemer and my Lord, I read my duty in thy word; But in thy life the law appears, Drawn out in living characters.
“What truth and love thy bosom fill! What zeal to do thy Father's will! Such zeal, and truth, and love divine, I would transcribe, and make them mine.
“Be thou my pattern; make me bear More of thy gracious image here; Then God, the judge, shall own my name Among the followers of the Lamb.”
Now let us look at the Ten Commandments one by one-the commandments that lead us to see our sins that we may repent, the commandments that Jesus kept and recommended to all of us.
The First Commandment: “Thou shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3. Do we still need this commandment? We certainly do. Whatever holds the supreme place in a man's life is his god. All over the world millions of people still bow down to false gods. It is strange how modern men turn away from the living God-revealed in nature, in the Bible, and in the very heart of man himself-to invent imaginary gods to fit their unbelieving hearts.
Some today look upon God as merely “the spirit of the community.” One modem leader says, “God is myself.” Another says that he worships “man.” How would you like to pray to “the spirit of the community,” or to yourself, or to mankind in general? These are some of the false gods proclaimed by the wise men of today. Some worship pleasure; others, culture, reason, philosophy, or business. But all these things are as imperfect as men themselves. He who trusts in them will be left without light in a vacant and dark night, until these words of the first commandment meet him in the judgment: “Thou shall have no other gods before me.”
Second Commandment: “Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shall not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” Exodus 20:4-6.
Is there anything wrong with this commandment? Millions, even now, need to hear it-millions who look upon some object made of stone, wood, silver, or other material as God, or as a representation of God. Notice that not only are we not to make such objects, but we are not even to bow down to them. Jesus said, as we read in John 4:24, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” All representations of the true God or of false deities for the purpose of worship are forbidden. An idol image degrades God and it degrades man. God's jealousy against false gods is but infinite love, which, for our own good, allows no rival for our heart's affections.
The Third Commandment: “Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain.” Exodus 20:7. Has the world advanced so far that we do not need this commandment anymore? Has all profanity ceased? Have men-and women, and children too ceased to take God's name in vain? Have they at last learned to honor the holy name of our Savior? Alas, how many millions violate this commandment every day! And how many do about the same thing with common slang! Let us remember what Jesus said to some careless talkers of His time, as recorded in Matthew 12:36, 37: “Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shall be justified, and by thy words thou shall be condemned.” Let us not sweep away this third commandment; it is still needed.
The Fourth Commandment: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shall not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-11.
We who live in this busy age need not only physical rest but spiritual rest. We need the Sabbath, or God would not have made it for us. Jesus said that it “was made for man,” and that He Himself “is Lord also of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27, 28. The Sabbath is the memorial of Christ's creative work. It is also a test of man's willingness to recognize His Creator's first claim to his time. Wherever we are, and whether we regard God's holy day or not, the commandment is still there. Do you recognize and observe it in your home?
The Fifth Commandment., “Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God gives thee.” Exodus 20:12. Surely in this day of juvenile and adult delinquency we need this commandment. How can young people honor their fathers and mothers if the parents are dishonorable? And how can children be held accountable to human authority if they are not taught to respect the authority of God? Children owe their parents love, obedience, respect, and helpfulness. Think of the happiness that obedience to this one commandment would bring to thousands of homes today. Then every day would be Mother's Day, and every day would be Father's Day. So, “honor thy father and thy mother.” Disobedience to parents is one of the ominous signs of the last days, according to 2 Timothy 3:1, 2.
The Sixth Commandment: “Thou shall not kill.” Exodus 20:13. This is the shortest of all the commandments, having one letter less than the eighth commandment. Jesus quoted this commandment as meaning, “Thou shall do no murder.” Matthew 1: 18. God forbids murder, the unlawful taking of human life in private vengeance or otherwise. There are at large in the world many thousands who have broken this commandment. And, judging from past records, many thousands now living will die at the hands of others. Crime has become a gigantic threat to civilization. From the first groan of Abel to the last prayer on the scaffold, this commandment comes thundering into the hearts of men, “Thou shall not kill.”
The Seventh Commandment: “Thou shall not commit adultery.” Exodus 20:14. Do we need a greater regard for the sanctity of the home today? Do we need more honest obedience to marriage vows? Do we need more husbands and wives true to each other? Yes, a thousand times, Yes! In Luke 17:27~30 our Savior predicted that a Sodom like moral condition would precede His return to this earth. Now is the time for every Christian home to stand as an example of right living. This seventh commandment must stand, or our civilization will go down.
The Eighth Commandment: “Thou shall not steal.” Exodus 20:15. According to press reports and police blotters, the world still needs this commandment. The varieties of thieves are almost endless, ranging from mere pickpockets and purse snatchers to men who steal widows' homes, children's education, banks, industries, the good names of their friends, and even whole nations. Facing the dishonesty of men are these four words of God, “Thou shall not steal.”
The Ninth Commandment: “Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” Exodus 20:16. This forbids libel, slander, and backbiting, and calls for “the truth and nothing but the truth.” In Revelation 22:15 we are told that “whosoever loves and makes a lie” will be outside the gates of the New Jerusalem. And in Revelation 21:27 we read, “There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defiles, neither whatsoever works abomination, or makes a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.”
The Tenth Commandment: “Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shall not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.” Exodus 20:17. In Romans 7:7 the apostle says, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shall not covet.” God's commandments point out sin. If Paul needed this commandment, so do we.
The reason why some people oppose the Ten Commandments is that their lives are out of harmony with God's will as expressed in them. The great apostle says in Romans 7:12 that “the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” In verse fourteen he says that it is spiritual. You see, our obligations are not merely to a law, but to Him who enacted the law. God is good, so His commandments are also good. The evil is in us, not in God or in His commandments.
All who are justified by faith owe a double allegiance, based on both creation and redemption, to the Ten Commandments. We should pray that the blessed Holy Spirit, in harmony with the new covenant promise, will write these commandments upon our hearts. (Hebrews 8: 10.)
Right here someone may ask, Is this not legalism? Are you trying to teach that we will get to heaven by keeping the law? No. The Scripture says, “By the law is the knowledge of sin.” Romans 3:20. It takes more than knowledge to be saved, to live in harmony with the perfect, holy, divine, and spiritual law. The apostle says, “The law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.” Romans 7:14. Sin is in us; and no matter what we try to do in our own strength, we shall make a complete failure.
It is because we are not naturally spiritual that we cannot keep a spiritual law. Our lives, our hearts, have been defiled by sin. God says that death has “passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Romans 5:12. Man does not have the power in himself to live a perfect life, much less to be justified for his past sins.
God pictures His law as a mirror. (James 1:25.) A man may look into that mirror and see there his mistakes, his faults, his sins. But the mirror will not wash his face; the mirror will not cleanse him. He must go somewhere else for that. He must go to Jesus for the cleansing power; he must be “washed in the blood of the Lamb.”
Through the great gift of Christ who died for us on Calvary, God is able to be a just God and still “the justifier of him which believes in Jesus.” Romans 3:26. This is because Jesus met the full price of our condemnation. He gave His life for our sins. His perfect life is put to our account. When we believe on Him as our Savior, as our atoning sacrifice, His righteousness is counted as ours. So, Christ is our only hope, your only hope and mine. The only way to keep the Ten Commandments is for Christ to keep them in our hearts. We are “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:24.) There it is in plain words” justified ... by his grace.”
Once upon a time, a poor unlettered old woman was addressed by a skeptic. “Well, Betty,” he said, “so you are one of the saints, are you? What sort of people are they, anyway? What do you know about religion?”
“Oh, I am no scholar,” she said, “so I can't say much for the meaning of it. I only know I am saved by God's grace.
That's enough to make me happy here, and I expect to have a home in heaven by and by.”
“But what does being saved and being justified by grace feel like?”
“Why, it feels to me,” said the Spirit-led woman, “as if the Lord stood in my shoes and I stood in His.” She knew, didn't she? Yes, glorious grace! God's free grace. Grace that is greater than all our sin!
No one could possibly have been better qualified to offer forgiveness to men for their sins than Christ. In Him justice and mercy were met together. In His heart the law and perfect righteousness existed together-as they are to exist today in the heart of every believer. The law is to be seen by men not on tables of stone, but in the fleshly tables of the heart. So Paul writes that every Christian is an “epistle ... known and read of all men.” (2 Corinthians 3:2, 3.) An epistle, he says, ~1 written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.”
In two different places God wrote the law for men on tables of stone, broken on Mount Sinai, and on the tables of Jesus' heart, broken on Mount Calvary. Men might have argued at Sinai that they did not understand the law, its meanings, its spiritual implications. They might have argued that, far removed from God that they were, they could not comprehend His way. So Jesus, with the law of God written on His heart, came from heaven, where God was, down to this earth, where sinners were. Before Jesus came, men might have argued about what the Ten Commandments mean; but when He came among men with God's law written on His heart, they could look at Him and see the Ten Commandments lived out in a human life. His perfect, sinless, holy life was a rebuke to the sinners of His day. They were not comfortable in His presence, for His righteousness condemned their unrighteousness. He brought light, and the light destroyed their excuse for sin. “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world.” John 3:19. Jesus said, 1f I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.” John 15:22.
Finally, our Savior, after living a pure and holy life before men, working mighty miracles, fulfilling prophecy, and proving that He was the Son of God, died upon the cross. What killed Him? The spear thrust, the nails, the thorns on His brow? No! Our sins killed Him; our sins broke His heart. “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him.” Isaiah 53:5. He “died for our sins according to the scriptures.” 1 Corinthians, 15:3. Jesus came from heaven, where God was, to this dark world, where men needed to know God better, with the law of God written upon the tables of His heart. And the sins of men-your sins and mine broke His sacred heart. Upon our knees we must study that life, that sacred heart, and the law enshrined within. We must study that life until ours is like it, until the law as a living principle is enshrined again in a body temple to be -known and read of all men.” We are to look at Jesus and to be like Him. We are to seek God in prayer to make us like Him. We are to find through faith His justification, sanctification, and regeneration.
All through the Holy Book of God we find fragments of the picture. One by one, in the secret place of prayer, they come together, and we see more and more of His eternal love. We see our need, we obey the invitation, “My son, give me your heart.” Proverbs 23:26. We surrender and say, -Yes, Lord. Make my heart like His heart. Write on this poor human life the words that were on the tables of the heart that was broken for me.”
A lad, just coming to manhood, got into some trouble which deeply angered his father, who was one of the leading men of the town. The father ordered the boy away from home, and when the mother tried to intercede and begged the father to change his mind, he would not. He cried out, “No, I will never tell him to come back! “ And the boy said, “I will never come back! I will never even ask to come back!” You see, the father and son were much alike. How the mother's heart bled as she saw the train pull out that evening with her boy, driven away from home.
In a few days she was ill and took to her bed. The physician came. The father was solicitous and did everything he could for her, but she seemed to have lost the will to live. Months went by; and finally the doctor, who was a friend of the family, urged the father to call the boy home. He said, “Your wife is dying of heartbreak for him. If you don't send for him, she will die.” But the father was hard. “No!' he cried. I said I would never call him back, and I never will.
But he loved his wife, and his heart was torn with grief. He loved the boy, too, but he wouldn't admit it, even to himself. How strange we sometimes are toward those we love!
Finally a neighbor sent the boy a telegram with just five words: “Come home. Mother is dying.” Hundreds of miles away, out on the Pacific Coast, the boy's face went white when he read the message. In a few hours he was on the, train. It seemed that he would never get home. Why was the train so slow? He paced back and forth in the aisle. He couldn't sleep. Over and over, he said to himself, “Mother needs me. Why haven't I known it before? I must go, no matter what father says.”
At last he hurried up the street of a little Ohio town. It was night. As he opened the old gate, even its familiar creak sounded like home! There was a light in mother's room. He didn't knock, just walked into the house as http://www.ThreeAngels.com.aualways, and on upstairs, straight to her room. There he saw her face, so white on the pillow. On the farther side of the bed stood his father, who just looked, then turned his hard gaze away.
The mother was so weak she could hardly lift a hand, but with one she took her boy's hand and with the other the father's, and began to draw those hands together. She was weak-oh, so weak-and it was a mighty effort, for the candle of life was burning low. Closer and closer she pulled those two strong hands. At last they touched, then clasped together. Tears of forgiveness began to flow. Mother's hands relaxed. She gave a little sigh and was gone. She gave her life to make peace between the ones she loved, and in her death they were reconciled. The power of a mother's love was irresistible.
Jesus died of a broken heart to reconcile commandment breaking men to God, and we can feel the pull of God's love in Him. He cares and He understands.
'Through Christ on the cross peace was made, My debt by His death was all paid,
No other foundation is laid, For peace, the gift of God's love.
“Peace, peace, sweet peace, Wonderful gift from above. Oh, wonderful, wonderful peace, Sweet peace the gift of God's love. R. P. Bilhorn.
DURING the French Revolution an attempt was made to get entirely away from the Christian religion. In order to do so the week of seven days was officially abolished and a period of ten days instituted in its place. This ten-day cycle, however, did not fit in with man, beast, or the material world itself, and was soon given up. It seemed that even the horses in the streets broke down under this sort of regime. Neither could the people stand it. One skeptical writer was so impressed that he said it was easier to believe that Moses was inspired by some supernatural revelation to adopt the week of seven days than to believe that he just happened upon it by chance. “In fact,” said this writer, “it would be as easy to believe that Moses came upon this great principle of six days of labor and one of rest by chance, as it would be to believe that the Iliad was written by a hog scribbling with its snout.” This may seem a strange way to put it, but so the skeptic wrote, and I am inclined to agree with him.
H. L. Hastings drew attention to the fact that some fevers-for instance, typhoid-run seven, fourteen, twenty one, twenty-eight days, changing every seventh day, as do other diseases that result from physical exhaustion. Many believe that man is built on this seven-day plan and, therefore, needs a weekly rest day, just as an eight day clock needs to be wound up every week. It seems there is a law of sevens inwrought in our nature, as well as revealed in the fourth commandment.
However that may be, it was our Lord Jesus Christ who said, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27. It must have been needful to man, or it would not have been divinely made for him. Certainly both man and beast need rest, and the God who made all things knows how much rest is needed. To provide this rest, He gave the Sabbath, for the word Sabbath means “rest.” It is a time not only for physical rest but also for devotion and spiritual refreshment. Just think of it-one who has lived seven years has lived a full year of Sabbaths! At twenty-one he has had three years of Sabbaths for his spiritual improvement. At thirty-five he has had five years of Sabbaths. At seventy he has had ten whole years of Sabbaths.
What have these years of Sabbaths meant to you and to me? Have they been times of spiritual blessing and growth? Have these times of divine grace been blessed to us, or have we ignored them? Will they accuse us in the day of judgment?
Some people consider every day alike, but it is clear from plain Scriptural statements that Christ recognizes one specific day as His own. Let us turn to Revelation 1: 10: I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day.” We see here that the Apostle John considered one day, in a special sense, to be the Lord's day. It was different from other days. It was “the Lord's day.” And on this day the heavenly vision came to him.
Now what is this Lord's day called? We turn again to the words of our Savior in Mark 2:28: “The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” It is clear that the Lord has a day, and that this day is called the Sabbath.
But what day is the Sabbath? We turn now to the first mention of the Sabbath in Holy Writ-Genesis 2:1-3: “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” This is the story of the making of the Sabbath.
The world and all things in it were finished in six days. On the seventh day God ended His work; that is, He rested. After He had rested on that seventh day, He blessed it, then sanctified it, or set it apart for a holy use. Adam and Eve, being the only people on earth at that time, were the ones who kept the Sabbath; for they were the only ones there who could put it to a holy use.
Three times in this divine record of the origin of the Sabbath, the word made appears: (1) “On the seventh day God ended his work which he had made”; (2) “He rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made”; (3) “God blessed ... and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” This is the record of the making of the Sabbath, and it is to this that our Lord referred when He said, “The Sabbath was made for man.” The word man here, of course, is used in its generic sense: mankind; it does not apply to any one race, tribe, or people. Some have felt that the Sabbath was made for the Jews only, but we notice that it was made at creation, many centuries before the Jewish race as such appeared. It was made for man-all mankind.
Our next question is, Who made the Sabbath? This also is answered clearly from the Scripture: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.” John I:1-3.
Who is this divine Word? In the fourteenth verse we have the answer: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” It was by the Son of God the Father created or made all things.
That Christ's power is revealed in creation, as well as in redemption, we find in the words of the Apostle http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auPaul in Colossians 1: 14-16. Speaking of our Savior, he says: “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.”
To settle in our minds once and for all the great truth that the Son of God was the active agent in creation, we read the inspired words of Hebrews 1: 1, 2: “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, bath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he bath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.” Being the Son of God, He is divine and has the authority to the very name of God. Now verses eight to ten: “But unto the Son he said, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou has loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning has laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of your hands.”
We see here who actually made the Sabbath. The Sabbath was one of the things that was made (Mark 2:27); therefore Christ must have made it. And in a special sense He is the Lord of it, since the Sabbath is the memorial of creation. Every recurring Sabbath, believers are reminded of the creative power of Christ, who not only made all things in the beginning, but whose re-creative, regenerative power has made them new creatures. We are born again, not of the flesh or the will of man (John 1: 13), but of “the word of God, which lives and abides forever.” (1 Peter 1:23.)
Surely, then, Jesus Christ would be a perfect judge of the true design of the Sabbath and of its proper observance. We are not speaking now of the so-called Sunday-Sabbath, but of the true Bible Sabbath, the seventh day of the week.
A few years ago almost everyone could repeat the Ten Commandments. Fewer can today, but all should be able to do so. There would be far less juvenile and adult delinquency in the world if both old and young not only memorized, but obeyed, the Ten Commandments. The fourth commandment is the Sabbath commandment, found in the very heart of the law of God. It is preceded by commands against worshiping false gods, and the making and worshiping of images or likeness of the divine Being, and the prohibition of taking His name in vain. It is followed by the second table of the law, which prohibits murder, stealing, adultery, false witness, and covetousness.
The Sabbath command reads as follows: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shall not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-11.
Notice, in this commandment the reason for the Sabbath is given as the fact that God created the heavens and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh day. The Sabbath, then, is a memorial of creation, the birthday of the world. It forever draws the minds of all mankind to the living God, who created all things and who sustains all things by the word of His power. Since we know that Jesus was the active agent in creation, and that all things were made by Him, the Sabbath not only reminds us of His glory but also testifies that He is Lord of all. It is, therefore, the true Lord's day, since it was made by Jesus Christ, the Lord.
Here we have a clear line of truth: God has a day. (Revelation 1: 10.) That day is called the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27, 28.) The Sabbath is the seventh day. (Genesis 2:1, 2.) All these facts are strengthened and upheld by the fourth commandment, spoken by God Himself in audible words on Mount Sinai, written with His own finger on tables of stone, and later, under the new covenant, written in the believer's heart. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, said the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts.” Hebrews 8: 10.
When Jesus was here on earth, the true nature of the Sabbath had been perverted by human interference. Its gracious design was largely lost because of the traditions of men which had been heaped upon it. It was covered with the rubbish of human inventions. It was made a burden, which, instead of blessing men, was hard to bear. Jesus came to cast away these purely human enactments and to bring the Sabbath back to its rightful position as the blessed holy Sabbath of the Lord. He declared that it was made for man, and that it was to be a blessing and help to him.
Much of our Savior's ministry and teaching was devoted to the proper observance of the Sabbath. For those who teach that He came to destroy the Sabbath, this is difficult to explain. We read that at the very beginning of His ministry, “Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read.” Luke 4:14-16. Our Savior attended the Sabbath service and took part in it. He did not need to do this in order http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auto get a congregation, for vast crowds followed Him wherever He went. But in this way, He evidently intended to show His regard for the holy day of God.
The first recorded miracles which our Savior performed on the Sabbath are described in Luke 4:30-39. In Capernaurn Jesus taught on the Sabbath days. “And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.” Verses 33-35. The people were astounded at this miracle and said: “What a word is this! for with authority and power he commanded the unclean spirits, and they come out.” Verse 36.
Then Jesus left the synagogue and went into the home of the Apostle Peter. We read in verses thirty eight and thirty-nine: `Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her. And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them.” This was indeed a wonderful Sabbath at Capernaum. In fact, many of our Savior's miracles were wrought upon the Sabbath.
The Jewish people in Capernaum were so careful regarding the observance of the Sabbath that they waited until sunset, when the Sabbath was past, to bring their sick to be healed. Then “they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils. And all the city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils.” Mark 1:32-34. The Sabbath, of course, begins and ends at sunset. The Bible method of reckoning days was not from midnight to midnight, but from sunset to sunset. “The evening and the morning were the first day.” Genesis 1:5. 'From even unto even, shall you celebrate your Sabbath.” Leviticus 23:32. Even means “sunset”-”At even, at the going down of the sun.” (Deuteronomy 16:6.) “At even, when the sun did set.” (Mark 1:32.) According to the commandment, then, the Sabbath is from sunset Friday evening to sunset Saturday evening.
The next mention of the Sabbath in the public ministry of Christ is found in the twelfth chapter of Matthew. He and His disciples were passing through a grain field on the Sabbath day. The disciples, being hungry, plucked some of the cars of grain and ate them. The Pharisees, always ready to find fault with Christ and His teachings, accused the disciples of breaking the Sabbath and doing that which was not lawful. Of course, there is nothing in the Sabbath commandment against doing what they did. Such a prohibition was wholly in the Jewish ecclesiastical and traditional laws. So Jesus gave examples from Bible history to prove that the disciples did no wrong.
First, He referred these religious leaders to David's experience when he and his men, being very hungry, came to the temple and ate the show bread, which, according to the ceremonial law, was not lawful for any but the priests to eat. The show bread was placed on the golden table fresh every Sabbath day. The Savior also referred to the priests who labored hard in the temple on the Sabbath, offering the daily sacrifices and the extra ones that were necessary on that day. Yet, He said, they were blameless. I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.” Matthew 12:6. Jesus Himself was the One who made the Sabbath, and He knew how it should be kept. Then He added, “But if you had known what this means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day.” Verses 7, 8. The disciples were not guilty of breaking the Sabbath, even though the Pharisees had accused them of it.
Christ's argument here is that if David, in his necessity, did right in eating the show bread, which belonged only to the priests, how much less should blame be attached to the disciples for plucking and eating the grain from the field on the Sabbath! In referring to the priests in the temple, Jesus emphasized the words of the fourth commandment, which says, “Six days shall thou labor, and do all thy work.” Exodus 20:9. But the Sabbath was a day on which God's work could be carried on without blame. It was not a day for carrying on business, nor for the usual avocations or pleasures of life; but a day for God's work, for rest and worship.
Our Savior gave the true perspective on Sabbath keeping to these men of old. He declared that if they had known the meaning of the scripture, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice,” they would not have accused the disciples. The Sabbath is a merciful institution. It is to bring rest for the weary. It is to point us to God. It is a time for spiritual refreshment, for religious convocations and services, for the reading of the Scripture, for prayer, for meditation. And acts of mercy are far more acceptable to God than sacrifice.
There are some people who have a strange idea of Sabbath keeping. They make it more of a burden and hardship than a blessing. The Youth's Companion once carried the story of a minister who, while traveling in northern Scotland, stopped over Sunday with a local family. These good people considered Sunday to be the Sabbath, and they kept it with what they considered to be proper strictness. The day was dark and rainy and the house was completely shut up. The little room in which they were sitting became very close and stuffy. The minister suggested that a window he raised to admit some fresh air.
“Mom,” said the old woman, with stern disapproval in her voice and countenance, “Don’t you think that we can have fresh air in this house on the Sabbath?”
Jesus knew why the Sabbath was made, and for what it was made. He says that it was made for man, and http://www.ThreeAngels.com.authe acts which were necessary to give it existence were familiar to Him. These acts did not take place at Mount Sinai; they did not take place in Jerusalem; they did not take place in the wilderness; but they did take place in Paradise, with God's rest, His blessing, and His sanctification.
The Lord, who made man in the beginning, knew what he needed for rest, refreshment, and delight. The Sabbath has sustained this character from that time to this, but men had largely lost sight of it in Christ's day. Here is a promise which the men of His time should have remembered-Isaiah 58:13, 14: 1f thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shall honor him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words: then shall thou delight thyself in the Lord: and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”
We see that Jesus claimed the authority to teach proper observance of the Sabbath, and this was greatly resented by the theologians of His time. They not only criticized Him but finally sought to kill Him because of His teaching on the Sabbath question and His performing of miracles on that day.
On one Sabbath day our Savior entered the synagogue and saw a man with a withered hand. His enemies “asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days? That they might accuse him. And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days. [That is, according to law; in harmony with the law of God.] Then said he to the man, Stretch forth your hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other. Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.” Matthew 12:10-14. Compare Mark 3:1-6 and Luke 6:6-11.
What made these men so angry? It was because the man stretched forth his arm and the Savior spoke the word of healing on the Sabbath. The Sabbath law did not forbid either of these acts. Jesus did not break the Sabbath, but He did transgress the tradition of the Pharisees that forbade doing anything to heal the sick upon the Sabbath. Really He had only acted in behalf of the Sabbath, showing its true meaning and beauty, and setting aside the traditions that had perverted it.
Jesus had not broken the Sabbath law. He had honored the Sabbath. He had shown what real Sabbath observance is by keeping it in the most wonderful, beautiful, and righteous manner. The Savior came to sweep away cruel traditions, but these men were so wedded to them that they were actually consulting together how they might destroy Jesus.
It is possible for people today to be wedded to some particular view of the Sabbath which is not in harmony with the Scriptures. They think they are defending the Sabbath, when they are merely defending a human tradition regarding it. It is well for us all to get back to the Bible and to the actual teaching of Jesus on this subject.
Jesus made it clear that works of mercy are in perfect harmony with God's plan and intent for the Sabbath day. In all our Savior's miracles there was a wise purpose. When He healed the poor man who had been ill with an infirmity for thirty-eight years, and who had lain at the Pool of Bethesda, hoping for someone to carry him into the water, He was able to give sound instruction regarding Sabbath observance. The misguided theologians of that day tried to kill Jesus because of this mighty miracle (John 5:1-19), and some time later this same healing was brought under discussion again by the enemies of Jesus in an effort to prove Him a Sabbath breaker.
After healing this man, Jesus told him to take up his bed and walk. And “the man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath day. But Jesus answered them, My Father works hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.” John 5:15-18.
Here are two crimes charged against the Savior: (1) that He had broken the Sabbath, and (2) that He had made Himself equal with God. Certainly He had violated no law by healing the sick man. But He had set at naught the tradition which forbade doing anything for the cure of disease on the Sabbath and had commanded the man to carry his bed. This, however, was not the sort of burden forbidden by Scripture. (See Jeremiah 17:21-27.) It was only a small thing, like a coat or a mat, and carrying it was designed to show the reality of the cure which had been wrought by the Lord of the Sabbath.
Jesus justified what He had done by referring to what His Father had done hitherto, that is, from the beginning of the creation. He had preserved mankind. He had kept the world going. He had sustained the whole universe in its motions. The acts of God are acts of mercy, kindness, and love toward the human race and toward all created things. But this does not mean that the Father had hitherto lightly esteemed the Sabbath. God had solemnly enjoined Sabbath observance in both the law and the prophets. (Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 20:8-11; Isaiah 58:13, 14; Ezekiel 20.) Jesus recognized the authority of the prophets of God. (Matthew 5:17-19; 7:12; Luke 16:17.) There was no ground on which to accuse Him of disregarding the Sabbath, since He followed the example of the Father from http://www.ThreeAngels.com.authe beginning. In answer to these two charges, Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do: for what things so ever he does, these also does the Son likewise.” John 5:19.
Our Savior made it clear to those about Him that it was in harmony with the Sabbath law to heal the afflicted and relieve suffering on that day. He said, “My Father works hitherto, and I work.” All days are God's in which to carry out His divine plan for the human race. To satisfy some of these critics, God Himself would have to stop working and put an end to His oversight of the universe on one day of the week. The heavenly systems would have to stand still, the wheat stop growing in the field, the fruit on the trees; the flowers would not put forth their buds nor blossom on the Sabbath. But if God should withhold His power on the Sabbath, all life would cease; even man himself would faint and die.
There are certain acts that may be performed in harmony with God's plan for the Sabbath. “The necessities of life must be attended to, the sick must be cared for, the wants of the needy must be supplied. He will not be held guiltless who neglects to relieve suffering on the Sabbath. God's holy rest day was made for man, and acts of mercy are in perfect harmony with its intent. God does not desire His creatures to suffer an hour's pain that may be relieved upon the Sabbath or any other day.” Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 207.
Although the Sabbath commandment forbids secular labor on that day, it is not to be a day of inactivity. Neither is it a day for men to toil for a livelihood or labor for worldly pleasure or profit. As God ceased His labor of creation and rested on the Sabbath, so man is to leave the occupations of His daily toil and devote the sacred hours of the Sabbath to healthful rest, to worship, and to holy deeds.
It is clear from the New Testament record that our Savior risked His life to free the Sabbath from the burdensome restrictions placed on it by those who claimed to be its proponents but who actually were its enemies. On one Sabbath Jesus healed a woman who had been bound by Satan for eighteen years. At that time He met the arguments of His opponents by giving instruction on proper Sabbath-keeping. See Luke 13:10-17.
On another Sabbath day Christ met a man who had been born blind. In His divine compassion He moistened clay and anointed the blind eyes, and sent the man to the Pool of Siloam to wash, after which he came seeing. Some looked upon this as a violation of the Sabbath. See John 9. On another occasion, when the Savior went to dinner at the house of a Pharisee on the Sabbath and there healed a man afflicted with dropsy, He taught still more regarding true Sabbath keeping. (Luke 14:1-6.)
No wonder the bigoted religionists who opposed Him said, “This man is not of God, because he keeps not the Sabbath day”! John 9:16. He did not keep it according to the human restrictions which they had placed upon it. He who was the Lord of the Sabbath and had made it in the beginning knew how it should be kept; and this false charge, like others made against Him, only confirmed the fact that Jesus came not to destroy God's law, but to fulfill it. “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets,” he said; “I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:17-20.
We are not to think, much less to say, that Jesus came to do away with God's commandments, which include the fourth commandment declaring that “the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” A careful reading of the record of our Savior's works of mercy upon the Sabbath day reveals that the plan to destroy Him began in connection with His true attitude toward the Sabbath. It was carried on until it finally resulted in His crucifixion. “Therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath day.” John 5:16.
Our Savior's mission was one of restoration, of salvation, of life-giving. When He asked His enemies the question, Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill?” (Mark 3:4), He made this clear. There are some today who have the same spirit of enmity against true Sabbath keeping as had these religionists of old. If others have views regarding the Sabbath, either as to the day or the manner of its observance, that do not agree with theirs, they persecute them; and, through legislation and alliance with political power, seek to compel them to conform to their ideas.
Israel, the chosen people of God, went into idolatry and refused to observe the Sabbath that God had given them. (Jeremiah 17:24-27; 25:8-11, compared with 2 Chronicles 36:5-21) After they returned from the Babylonian captivity, which came upon them as a punishment, especially for their Sabbath breaking, they went to the other extreme and surrounded the Sabbath with human traditions and laws which were a burden too great to be borne (Matthew 23:4). And when Jesus came and swept these traditions away, they persecuted Him and finally took part in His crucifixion. They were so wedded to their traditions that, rather than bring their views back into harmony with http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auGod's true revelation of the meaning and blessing of the Sabbath and its observance, they crucified the Lord of the Sabbath Himself and rejected the salvation so freely offered to them by the Son of God.
And now we come to the final scenes in the earthly life of our Savior. He was betrayed by a friend, forsaken by His disciples, judged by His enemies, crucified by wicked hands, taken down from the cross by two secret disciples, and laid in the Garden Tomb. The day of shame and torture was over. The sun had set, which ushered in the Sabbath of the Lord. Our Savior's work of atoning sacrifice was completed, and He rested through the sacred hours of the Sabbath day.
“In the beginning the Father and Son had rested upon the Sabbath after their work of creation. Now Jesus rested from the work of redemption; and though there was grief among those who loved Him on earth, yet there was joy in heaven. Glorious to the eyes of heavenly beings was the promise of the future. A restored creation, a redeemed race, that having conquered sin could never fall, this, the result to flow from Christ's completed work, God and angels saw.” Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 769.
Someday there will be a restoration of “all things, which God bath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” Acts 3:21. Then the creation Sabbath, the Sabbath that Christ made, the Sabbath that Christ kept, will still be a day of rest, a day of rejoicing; and all the earth will unite in His praise, as from one Sabbath to another the nations of the saved come to worship before God. (Isaiah 66:23.)
Please note the following Biblical facts:
Certainly all Christians will agree that the example of Jesus Christ, as recorded in the New Testament, is for them to follow. Let us, therefore, follow the example of Him who said that the Sabbath was made for man, and that He Himself is Lord even of the Sabbath day. The Sabbath of creation, the seventh day that was blessed and sanctified by the Lord Jesus Christ who made it, and the very day which He declared belonged to Him as its Lord, is the Lord's day and the Christian Sabbath. It should, therefore, be so recognized by all Christians, and will be so recognized at last when all flesh come to worship before the Lord.
BIBLE FACTS ABOUT THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH
1. After working six days in creation, God rested on the seventh day. (Genesis 2: 1~3.)
2. The Creator blessed the seventh day. (Genesis 2:3.)
3. He sanctified the seventh day. (Genesis 2:3; Exodus 20: 11)
4. God made the Sabbath in the Garden of Eden before the fall. Therefore, it is not a type, for types were not introduced until after the fall. (Genesis 2:1-3.)
5. Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for man (Mark 2:27); that is, for the human race, including Gentiles as well as Jews.
6. It is a memorial of creation. (Exodus 20:11; 31;16, 17.) Every time we observe the Sabbath, we commemorate that grand event.
7. It was given to Adam, the head of the human race (Mark 2:27; Genesis 2:1-3), as, the representative of all nations. (Acts 17:26.)
8. It is not a Jewish institution, having been made 2,300 years before there was such a race. The Bible never calls it the Jewish Sabbath. It is always “the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” We should be careful how we refer to God's holy day.
9. It was part of God's law before Sinai. (Exodus 16A, 5, 27-29.) Later God placed it in the heart of His moral law, the Ten
Commandments. (Exodus 20:1-17.)
10. The seventh-day Sabbath was commanded by the voice of the living God. (Deuteronomy 4:12, 13.)
11. Then He wrote the commandment with His own finger. (Exodus 31:18.)
12. It was preserved in the ark in the holy of holies of the sanctuary. (Deuteronomy 10:1-5.)
13. God forbade work upon the Sabbath, even in the busiest times. (Exodus 34:21.)
14. He destroyed many of the Israelites in the wilderness because they profaned the Sabbath. (Ezekiel 20:12, 13.)
15. It is the sign of the true God. (Ezekiel 20:20.)
16. God promised that Jerusalem would stand forever if its people kept the Sabbath. (Jeremiah 17:24, 25.)
17. He sent them into Babylonian captivity for breaking the Sabbath. (Nehemiah 13:17, IS.)
18. God pronounced a special blessing upon all Gentiles who keep it. (Isaiah 56:6, T)
19. God requires us to call the Sabbath “honorable.” (Isaiah 58:13.)
20. After being trodden down for “many generations,” the holy Sabbath is to be restored in the last days. (Isaiah 58:12, 13.)
21. All the holy prophets kept the seventh day. Jesus kept the seventh day all His life. (Luke 4:16.)
22. In this He followed His Father's example at creation. (John 15: 10.) Shall we not follow the example of both the Father and the Son?
23. The Sabbath day is the Lord's day. (Revelation 1: 10; Mark 2:28; Isaiah 58:13; Exodus 20: 10.)
24. As the husband is lord of the wife, to love and cherish her (1 Peter 3:6), so Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath to love and protect it. (Mark 2:28.)
25. Jesus vindicated the Sabbath as, a merciful institution. (Matthew 12:5-8.)
26. Instead of abolishing the Sabbath, Jesus taught how it should be observed. (Matthew 12:1-13.)
27. Forty years after His resurrection Jesus told His apostles that they should prayerfully regard the Sabbath. (Matthew 24:20.)
28. Holy women observed the Sabbath carefully after His death. (Luke 23:56.)
29. Thirty years after Christ's resurrection the Holy Spirit calls it “the Sabbath day.” (Acts 13:14.)
30. In AD. 45 Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles, called it the “Sabbath day.” (Acts 13:27.)
31. Luke, the inspired historian, writing as late as AD. 62, calls it the “Sabbath day.” (Acts 13:44.)
32. The Apostle James at the great Christian council in AD. 52, in the presence of the apostles and thousands of Christians, called it the “Sabbath day.” (Acts 15:21.)
33. It was the custom of the Apostle Paul to preach upon that day. (Acts 17:2.)
34. The Book of Acts alone records many meetings upon the Sabbath. (Acts 13:14, 44; 16:13; 17:2; 18:4, 1 l.)
35. There never was any dispute between the Christians and the Jews over the identity of the Sabbath day. This is proof that the Christians in apostolic times observed the same day that the Jews did. In all their accusations against the Apostle Paul they never charged him with disregarding the Sabbath day. The Apostle Paul himself says, “Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I offended anything at all.” Acts 25:8.
36. The Sabbath is mentioned fifty-eight times in the New Testament, where it is called “the Sabbath day,” and always with respect. There is not a word anywhere in the New Testament about the Sabbath being abolished, done away with, changed, or annulled.
37. There is no record in the New Testament, either after or before the resurrection, of any Christian's doing ordinary work upon the seventh day. Why should modern Christians differ from Bible Christians? There is no record that God ever removed His blessing and sanctification from the seventh day.
38. As the Sabbath day was kept in Eden before the fall of man, so it will be observed eternally in the new earth after the restitution. (Isaiah 66:22, 23.)
39. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for pretending to love God while making void one of the Ten Commandments by their http://www.ThreeAngels.com.autradition. (Mark 7:13.)
40. The seventh-day Sabbath is an important part of the law of God, the Ten Commandments, spoken by His own mouth and written by His own finger upon tables of stone. (Exodus 20.)
41. Jesus declared that He had not come to destroy the law: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets.” Matthew 5:17.
SOME BIBLE FACTS ABOUT THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK
1. The first work recorded in the Bible was done on Sunday, the first day of the week (Genesis 1: 1-5), and the work was done by God Himself.
2. God calls it one of the six working days. (Exodus 20:8-1l.)
3. There is no record that any of the patriarchs ever kept it.
4. None of the holy prophets ever kept it.
5. God again calls it a working day. (Ezekiel 46: l.)
6. God did not rest upon it. He never blessed it.
7. Christ did not rest upon it. He never blessed it.
8. There is no record that the apostles ever rested upon it.
9. It was never sanctified.
10. There was no law given to enforce its observance. Hence there is no transgression in working upon it. “For where no law is, there is no transgression.” Romans 4:15.
11. The New Testament nowhere forbids work upon it. There is no penalty provided for its violation, no blessing promised for its observance, no regulation given as to how it should be observed.
12. It is never called the Christian Sabbath; never called the Sabbath day at all; never called the Lord's day; never even called a rest day. No sacred title whatever is applied to it. It is simply called “the first day of the week.”
13. Jesus never mentioned it in any way.
14. The word Sunday does not occur in the Bible.
15. The first day of the week is mentioned only eight times in all the New Testament: Matthew 28: 1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24: 1; John 20:1, 19; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2. Six of these texts refer to the same first day of the week, the resurrection day. The Apostle Paul directed the saints to look over their secular affairs on that day. (1 Corinthians 16:2.)
16. In the entire New Testament there is recorded only one religious meeting held on the first day of the week, and even that was a night meeting (Acts 20:512.) There is no intimation that a meeting was ever held upon that day before or after this one time. It was not the custom of the early Christians to meet on that day. There was no requirement to break bread upon that day more than upon any other. We have an account of only one instance in which this was done, and that was after midnight. (Acts 20:7-1l.)
17. Jesus celebrated the Lord's Supper on Thursday evening. (Luke 22.) The disciples sometimes did it every day. (Acts 2:4246.)
18. The Bible nowhere says that the first day of the week commemorates the resurrection. This is a tradition of men which makes void the law of God. (Matthew 15:1-9.)
19. Baptism commemorates the burial and resurrection of Jesus. (Romans 6:3-5.)
20. The New Testament is totally silent regarding any change of the Sabbath day or any sacredness attached to the first day of the week.
Shall we not turn from all merely human traditions and gladly follow the divine command, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy”?
CHARLES G. FINNEY, a young law student, was sitting in a village law office in upper New York State. It was early in the day and he was alone in the room. Suddenly it seemed as though a voice spoke in his heart: “Finney, what are you going to do when you finish your law course?”
His answer was, “Why, put out my shingle and practice law, of course.”
“Then what?”
“Make some money-get rich.
“Then what?”
“Build a beautiful home and have a family, and he respected by everyone.
“Then what?”
“Well, I suppose I'll get old and retire.”
“Then what?”
“Well, men must die.”
“Then what?”
Those words kept driving into his mind: “Then what? Then what?” And, from the storehouse of memory, the words of Holy Scripture heard in childhood: “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Hebrews 9:27.
The young lawyer leaped to his feet and ran to the woods about a mile and a half away. There he fell upon his face before God and prayed, and vowed that he would not leave until he had made his peace with Heaven. He seemed to see himself at the judgment bar of God. He had studied law for four years and was spending his life selfishly, merely for his own personal enjoyment. This was all made clear to him. Finally, when he came out of the woods after a prolonged struggle, he came with the high purpose of living henceforth for the glory of God and the honor of His name. From that day-yes, from that moment-joy and peace and blessing filled his life; and he has been known ever since, not as a lawyer, but as a great preacher and evangelist who has brought thousands to Christ during a ministry of over fifty years.
Concerning the judgment, what did Jesus have to say? In the first place, He made it plain that each of us must give an account of the way he lives. We shall answer for our acts, our words, and even our thoughts, for this is a moral universe, and there is a judgment day coming. This Jesus believed, and this He taught.
Listen to His words concerning some of the cities where He had preached the gospel: “Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.” Matthew 11:21, 22. When He left Capernaum, where He had lived and worked, He declared, “If the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.” Verses 23, 24. Yes, there is to be a day of judgment.
We should notice here also that the day of judgment was still future in our Savior's time. He said, 1t shall be more tolerable for ... Sodom”; “it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment.” The day of judgment had not yet come. Sodom and Gomorrha had been destroyed by fire from heaven many centuries before the time of our Lord, yet the day of judgment had not come to them, that is, to the people living in those cities.
We all are responsible for the light of truth which comes to us and for our acceptance or rejection of that light. We are responsible before God if we reject the gospel, if we refuse to accept Jesus Christ. If we do reject Him, it will he more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha than for us in the day of judgment.
Those to whom our Savior preached in person had more light than did the people in the time of Jonah, who preached to Nineveh. Jesus said, “The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.” Matthew 12:41. He Himself, the Son of God, preached to the people of His day and was rejected; while Jonah, not so great a preacher, not so mighty a representative of Heaven as our Savior, preached to Nineveh, and Nineveh repented.
Then Jesus continued, “The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.” Verse 42. The Queen of Sheba did come to hear the wisdom of Solomon; but Jesus, who is Himself the very Wisdom of God, preached to His generation, and that generation was condemned because they refused to hear Him. This shows that in God's judgment we are judged according to the light we have.
It was not God's plan that the coming of His Son into the world should condemn the world. “For God sent ,not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” John 3.17. The purpose of our Savior's advent was to save men, but those who rejected the light brought to them were condemned by the very light that would have saved them had they accepted it. “He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God' Verse 18.
The sin of sins is to reject Jesus Christ. This brings condemnation and judgment upon the unbeliever. “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” Verse 19. It is not primarily because men do wrong deeds in darkness that they are lost, but because they reject the light which reveals their deeds as evil. It is not ignorance that brings condemnation in God's judgment, but the rejection of light.
How necessary it is that we hear the words of Christ, for God has committed all judgment to His Son. We read in John 5:22, 23: “For the Father judges no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father!' When we realize that we must stand before Him in judgment, how can we reject the divine Son of God as our Savior and fail to honor Him as we honor the Father? “Verily, verily, I say unto you [are His words], He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life!' Verse 24. This is the only way to meet the judgment-in Christ, believing on Him.
Not only those living on earth today but all the dead of past ages as well must stand before Him in judgment. He declares that “the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man!' Verses 25-27. It is on His decision that the whole human race will stand or fall in the judgment.
“Marvel not at this [He says): for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” Verses 28, 29. There will be only two great classes then-not the rich and the poor, not the wise and the simple, not the cultured and the ignorant, but merely the righteous and the wicked. This great division is likened to a shepherd separating his sheep from the goats. But remember this: It is the meek and lowly Jesus, it is the holy Savior, it is the Christ, it is our Redeemer who makes this great division. It is He who speaks the word of judgment.
“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats: and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels ..... And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” Matthew 25:31-34, 41, 46.
What a picture! What a day! What an hour! Are we ready for it? How can we deny the reality of the judgment when Jesus speaks like this?
A cultured woman, a child of the age in which we live, did not wish to hear about the judgment or moral responsibility. She wished to live as she wished to live, with no inhibitions, with no one to say her Nay. Near her house she saw a big white tent being erected. Passing by it a few nights later, she heard beautiful music and a pleasing voice speaking. She stepped inside. The subject of the evening was “The judgment.” This message of the man of God went straight to her heart like an arrow -”The judgment, the judgment!” But she did not wish to hear of it; she would not hear of it. She arose and left in the middle of the service.
As she approached her beautiful home, a newsboy was selling papers on the corner. She saw the headlines and heard him cry, “Judgment is rendered; judgment is rendered!” There it was again-”The judgment, the judgment!” Entering the house, she went to her room, shut the door, and tried to find forgetfulness in sleep. But the great hall clock inherited from past generations seemed to be repeating, “The judgment, the judgment!” Finally she arose from her bed and surrendered her heart to God. Giving herself to Christ in full surrender, she prepared for the judgment.
We must keep in mind the fact that Jesus did not come into the world primarily to judge the world; He came to save the world. But those who reject His salvation are judging themselves unfit for eternal life, and in the day of judgment will find themselves facing His word. “I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejects me, and receives not my words, hath one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” John 12:47, 48.
In His great parable of the talents, Jesus said that the wicked servant would be judged out of his own mouth (Luke 19:22) that is, by his own words, his own declarations. This is well illustrated by the experience of a certain Scottish lawyer who was said to be a wicked man. He rented a horse and, through some accident or ill use, killed him. The owner, of course, demanded payment not only for the time the horse was used but also for the loss of the animal.
The lawyer said that he was perfectly willing to pay and wished to know whether the owner would accept a promissory note for the amount. He said that he would. Then the lawyer said that he would have to have a distant date for payment. This also was agreed upon. “Take as much time as you wish,” said the owner. In his unscrupulousness the wicked man made the note payable at the “Day of judgment.”
The creditor was finally compelled to take him to court. When the note was presented to the judge, he looked at it and said that it was a perfectly good note. Then he added, “Since this is the day of judgment' I decree that the note be paid tomorrow.” And so it was that this lawyer was judged out of his own mouth. His own words were the basis of his condemnation.
However, men will be judged not only by their own words but by the way they have judged others. Jesus said, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged: and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again.” Matthew 7:1, 2. And this judgment of others includes not only our deeds but our thoughts. 'You have heard that it was said by them of old time [said Jesus], Thou shall not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: but I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.” Matthew 5:21, 22.
How poor our judgment of others often is! We misjudge their motives as well as their deeds and their words. But not Jesus, He knows what is in man. (John 2:25.) He took human flesh that He might be tempted “in all points ... like as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15.) He understands our trials and sympathizes with us. He is a just judge. His judgment will be righteous judgment, not rendered according to mere appearances. (John 7:24.)
Think of how often the work of Christian ministers is misjudged, even by their own fellow believers. For instance, there was the session of the little Scottish church in the Highlands which had met for what they regarded as an unpleasant but necessary task. They felt that their minister was getting too old, and that they needed a younger, more vigorous leader. They claimed that the work of the church had slowed down, and that nothing was being done. Although they loved and respected their pastor, they felt that he should be replaced. A member of the session had been chosen to put their convictions into words. When they were all assembled, he spoke first of their love and respect for their pastor. Then he described the condition of the church and said that since no one had been added to, the church during the entire year, they felt that a change must be made.
The old pastor said, “No one has been added? Have you forgotten wee Bobbie?” They admitted that they had forgotten wee Bobbie, but after all, just one little boy didn't count for much. That didn't change matters any, so the aged minister did not remain longer in the parish. But before he left, he had many talks and seasons of prayer with wee Bobbie, and the lad determined to give his life as a missionary to Christ in some foreign land. A quarter of a century later “wee Bobbie” was working in China, translating the Holy Scriptures into the Chinese language and preparing the way for the great advance of Christian missions in that land. Little Bobbie had become Robert Morrison, famed pioneer missionary to China.
Truly our judgments are often unjust. We cannot see the future. We cannot even see the present well. How happy we can be that in God's judgment, as revealed in Christ, the whole sweep of the ages is taken into account, with the secret motives as well as the words and works of men!
It must be admitted by all of us that the Holy Spirit impresses the heart that there is a judgment of human life. “He [the Holy Spirit) will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” John 16:8. Down deep in our hearts we feel that we are responsible for our deeds. Jesus says distinctly that we must meet them, that we are responsible for them. And this is true not only of men but of angels-and even of the devil himself. “The prince of this world is judged,” said Jesus. John 16: 11. At the cross, before the whole world, his judgment began, so far as the evidence of his wickedness is concerned. The execution of that judgment will come in due time, for Jesus came not only to destroy the works of the devil, but to destroy the devil himself. (1 John 3:8; Hebrews 2:14.) That will be the final effect of Christ's judgment upon him and upon all sin and sinners.
Let us make no mistake about it: The very next experience that comes to any man after death is the judgment. “It is appointed unto men once to die.” We know that; it is universally recognized. We have it on the testimony of millions of graves. It is the universal experience of the human race. It is, indeed, appointed unto men once to die. Then from Divine Revelation we discover what comes next-”but after this the judgment.” Hebrews 9:27.
Are we ready for the judgment? It is certain, for God said it is. Charles Wesley, the great hymn writer, thought about this and wrote:
'When the solemn trump has sounded, Heaven and earth shall flee away;
All who hate Him, must, confounded, Hear the summons of that day
'Come to judgment! Come to judgment! Come to judgment! Come away!'“
This judgment will be by the old orchard test: “By their fruits you shall know them.” Matthew 7:20. Men will be judged “according to their works.” (Revelation 20:13.) The judgment of God will not be according to man's mere profession, but according to the fruits of his life.
Have you ever seen an old apple tree, gnarled, twisted, broken, yet bearing as sweet apples as ever? You don't know whether to pity it in its age and decrepitude or to admire it for its faithfulness in bearing fruit in spite of all its scars. Then have you ever seen another tree covered with luxuriant green foliage but just as unfruitful as a post? So may it be with human beings in the judgment of God. We remember that Jesus cursed the barren fig tree, and no fruit ever grew on it thereafter. It had passed its judgment. Its day of destiny had come. Its probation had ended. And certainly God will judge a man not by the mere profession of his lips, but rather by the occupation of his soul; not so much by his faults as by his fruits.
The way to prepare for the judgment is to lay our sins on Jesus. He will take them, and God will forgive them for His sake. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9. Then we shall stand before God as though we had never sinned, because Christ bore the guilt of our sins on Calvary. Then we shall be free and shall not be ashamed in the judgment. (1 John 2:28.)
Someday sinners' sins will “beset them about.” (Hosea 7:2.) In 1911 a man named Alvin Lundquist went to a sheriff in the state of Michigan and confessed that he had committed murder, and asked to be arrested. He told of killing a man by the name of Fogarty several weeks before. The body of the victim had been washed by the waves of Lake Michigan over five miles from the scene of the murder and cast up on the sand at the very door of the murderer. In his confession the slayer said: “Although Fogarty was dead, he followed me for five miles along the lake, and I found him staring at my heart when I went out to fish today. It was too much for me! “
This illustrates the great truth that the sinner's guilt follows him. That guilt will follow to the judgment bar of God and there condemn him. The only place where our sins cannot be seen in the day of judgment is under the blood of Jesus. It is only there that God will blot them from existence and from memory. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins,” He says. (Isaiah 44:22.) It is certainly true that “some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.” 1 Timothy 5:24. Let us send our sins on to be judged in Christ that we may be ready to meet Him in peace and joy.
When the Hon. Perrin H. Lowrey was circuit judge in Mississippi, he was one day holding court in Ripley, near his boyhood home. The son of a widow who had been a childhood schoolmate of the judge was convicted and fined in his court. The next day he received a letter from the boy's mother pleading with him to remit the fine for old friendship's sake. She reminded him that she was a widow with a number of children. She said that her son was wayward and improvident, and that she herself would have to earn the money for the fine by sewing. Her financial burdens were very great, in fact more than she could bear, so that this fine and the costs would have to be “sewed out with my needle,” as she put it. I therefore beg you to remit the fine,” she concluded, “not for my son's sake, but for mine, your childhood friend and playmate.”
The judge was moved to tears, but he signed the docket and adjourned the court. Then he wrote to his old friend that her letter had greatly affected him, and that for the moment he hesitated between fidelity to duty and his friendship and sympathy for her. He remembered their happy association in childhood, which, he said, '1ordered on something more sacred than mere friendship,” and that had made her appeal more powerful. But if he omitted the fine, he would be violating his oath to uphold and execute the law, and justice would suffer for the sake of mercy. “Therefore,” he said, “I cannot remit the fine, but enclosed herewith you will find my personal check to cover both fine and costs. I send this with joy because it gives me the opportunity to be both merciful and just. Please accept it in the spirit in which it is given. Yours in the bonds of most sacred friendship, Perrin H. Lowrey.”
This illustrates what we are trying to say here. God can be both “just, and the justifier of him which believes in Jesus” (Romans 3:26) because Jesus died to uphold the holy, righteous standard of God's law. Men have violated the justice of God, yet because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross, God's love and mercy as well as His justice can be upheld. This makes it possible for us to have the very righteousness demanded by the law attributed to our account. Thus the costs and penalty of our sins are met, and justly met. God is a God of righteousness, justice, and mercy. His righteous judgment is reflected in the light of the cross. “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And 1, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” John 12:31, 32.
“There's a wideness in God's mercy, Like the wideness of the sea; There's a kindness in His justice, Which is more than liberty.” Frederick W. Faber.
A MEMBER of a luncheon club was being congratulated by its members for working for a company which had been doing business for a hundred years. When the applause died down, the chairman asked whether there was anyone present who worked for an older concern. At that a minister stood up. Everyone laughed until the truth of his action suddenly struck home: the church of Christ is the oldest going concern on earth. It was founded by the Lord Jesus Himself and has been in organized and active operation for over 1,900 years!
Do you belong to the church? Do you attend church services? If not, why not? If the church were not important, Jesus would never have founded it. Here is the story in the sixteenth chapter of Matthew: One day Jesus asked His disciples, “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” They replied variously. “Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.”
Then came the direct question: “But whom say you that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of .heaven: and whatsoever thou shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:13-19.
The truth which Peter had confessed for all the disciples is the foundation of the believer's faith. The church, therefore, has a divine foundation, for Christ Himself is “this rock,” not Peter. Peter, or the Greek Petros, the name given by our Savior Himself to the apostle, generally means “a small slab of stone.” But the word rock is from the Greek petra, a large mass of living stone, a ledge, or rocky peak.
The Apostle Peter himself in his own writings disclaims the idea that he might be the “Rock” of which Jesus here speaks. In Acts 4: 11 Peter says of Jesus, “This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.” In his first epistle, the second chapter, verses four to eight, he speaks of Jesus as a “living stone,” quoting Isaiah 28:16: “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believes on him shall not be confounded.” In verses seven and eight he speaks of Jesus as “the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word.”
Our Savior also makes this fact forever sure in His words in Matthew 7:24: “Whosoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock [Greek, Petra].” It is evident from this parable of the house on the rock that Jesus Himself is the rock upon whom believers build. In other circumstances the Savior used the same term as referring to Himself alone. (Matthew 21:42 compared with Luke 20:17, 18.)
The Apostle Paul makes strong affirmation that Christ was the rock which went before His people in ancient times. “And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.” 1 Corinthians 10:4 He also states that Christ alone is the foundation of the church. “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 3: 11.
With Jesus, as the “chief corner stone” in the foundation of the church, are “the apostles and prophets.” (Ephesians 2:20.) So, in spite of Dark Ages, dark deeds, and dark doubts in the minds of some, the foundation of the church stands secure, and “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” In ancient cities the gate was the key defense spot against any approaching army, and the place where the city rulers met. The triumph of our Lord Jesus Christ over death and the grave, or hell, through His atoning sacrifice upon the cross and His resurrection from the dead is the central truth of Christianity. It was not possible for Satan to hold Jesus in the tomb. (Acts 2:24.) He arose in triumph over death and the grave. What seemed to be Christ's defeat was His victory. Satan, who figuratively rules the gates of death, or hell, could not hold Jesus captive. Our Savior by His death entered the fortress of the enemy and bound the strong man. (Matthew 12:29.) Jesus brought 1ife and immortality to light through the gospel.” (2 Timothy 1: 10.) Finally death itself will be destroyed, as we read in 1 Corinthians 15:26: “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” This we find in a beautiful figure in Revelation 20:14: “Death and hell. . . [are] cast into the lake of fire.”
Because of our Savior's victory over the grave, not one member of His church, not one believer, will be left under the domain of death. The gates of hell shall not prevail against the church in whole or in part. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.” 1 Corinthians 15:22, 23.
The keys of the kingdom of heaven are the words of Christ. Of course all the words of Holy Scripture are His and are included. They declare the conditions upon which men are received or rejected. Jesus Christ Himself speaks of the “key of knowledge” which had been taken away by some of the traditionalists of His day. (Luke 11:52.) It is by the words of Jesus Christ that we receive eternal life. (John 6:68.)
These keys of the words of Christ are to be given to the world. They were not handed over to Peter personally, but to all the disciples-yes, to all believers. As a matter of Scriptural record, it was not Peter but the Apostle James who exercised the administrative authority in the early church in Jerusalem. (Acts 15:13, 19.) On one occasion the Apostle Paul “withstood” Peter “to the face” because he had taken a course of action which was contrary to the will and plan of God. (Galatians 2:11-14.) He surely would not have done this had Peter been in authority with all the rights and privileges and priorities as the head of the church, as some claim. The entire statement in Matthew 16:19, 'Whatsoever thou shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. And whatsoever thou shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven,” is translated literally: “Whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatsoever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” The meaning is evidently that the church on earth will require or prohibit only what Heaven already has required or prohibited. See also Matthew 7:21-27; Mark 7:6-13.
When the apostles went forth to the world to preach, the new converts were to observe all things “whatsoever” had been taught by the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostles were not authorized to extend this binding and loosing beyond the revealed Word of God. It is the duty of Christian teachers and preachers to require of believers only that which has been required or bound in heaven, and to loose only that which has been loosed in heaven. To go beyond this is to substitute human authority for divine authority, the word of man for the word of Christ.
Founded upon the Rock, the church has been unshaken by the revolutions of ages. It seemed at times that the terrible persecutions of the pagan Roman emperors against Christianity would destroy the church founded by Christ. But when the pagan persecutions were past, she still lifted up her witness in the Roman world with a long list of those who had “resisted unto blood, striving against sin” (Hebrews 12:4), the names of the martyrs of Jesus. Next she passed through the age of temporal prosperity and political power, friendship, and wealth. But, in spite of the apostasy brought on by this prosperity, the church lived on. Then she entered the so-called Dark Ages, when civilization itself seemed to disappear; when ecclesiastical authorities became the persecutors of minorities; when the introduction of anti-Biblical doctrines and philosophies well nigh submerged the light. But the church lived on and brought the Reformation. Still later came the multiplication of sects and controversy among believers. Still the church endured. Then at last came the great age of materialism, of technical advance, of spiritual coldness, marked by occasional great revivals. The church herself took advantage of many modern inventions to proclaim the gospel. Finally came our own day, the latter days. The church is still here, still living, still vital, with multitudes of true believers holding the torch of truth, “the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12.
The church is indestructible because it is founded upon the Rock, Christ Jesus. As long as the church proclaims Him-as the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies, Son of man and Son of God, Redeemer of the world-and declares His atoning sacrifice for sin upon the cross as the only hope of a lost and ruined world, it will never be destroyed. The words of Christ are indestructible, and those words are in the church.
In the twelfth chapter of the Book of Revelation it is written that “there appeared a great wonder; . . . a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.” Verse 1. This woman represents the church of Christ. Everywhere in Scripture she is revealed in glory and majesty.
Even in the Old Testament prophetic description she is “fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.” (Song of Solomon 6: 10.) But the most glorious description is that with which the Apostle Paul clothes the true church when he calls it “the body of Christ.” (Romans 7:4.)
I once saw a city in the desert with beautiful gardens, flowers, and trees. All around it were green fields and fertility, but there was just a narrow strip of cultivation between “the desert and the sown.” All around were death, barrenness, and desolation; but there were aqueducts reaching this oasis from the far-off mountains. Through them water came rushing down to bring life and bloom to the arid waste.
This is like the church. No matter how and the desert waste of sin and suffering and evil may be, Christians lift up their eyes unto the hills of God from whence comes their help. (Psalm 12 1: l.) From the mountains of God's Word comes the water of life flowing in never failing streams, a river which makes glad the City of God. (Psalm 46:4.)
The Word of God is the real source of the life of the church. One of the aqueducts is the preaching of the gospel; the Holy Scriptures is another; the audiences of the church another, prayer and the communion of the saints still another. And so the water flows to cleanse, to wash the unclean, to satisfy the thirsty, to bring life in the desert.
Wherever true believers meet together, there is the church of God, the church of Christ. It is built on Christ. The church is to uphold Christ. Confession of faith in Him is its cardinal doctrine. It is God's plan that heaven's harmony, heaven's government, heaven's order, be represented in His church on earth. It is in His own people that Christ is glorified. “The church, endowed with the righteousness of Christ, is His depositary, in which the riches of His mercy, His grace, and His love, are to appear in full and final display. Christ looks upon His people in their purity and perfection, as the reward of His humiliation, and the supplement of His glory, Christ, the great Center, from whom radiates all glory.” -Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 680.
When the church, as the body of Christ, represents Him and preaches Him, her life is a life of power. When she fails, there is always a decline not only in spiritual power but in witness and in influence for good in the world.
A young minister of great talent, who unfortunately had majored more in human philosophies than in the gospel of Christ, was the pastor in a large church. There was little spiritual life there. The hungry sheep looked up and were not fed. One day as the minister entered his pulpit, he was surprised to see there a small sheet of paper on which were the words, “Sir, we would see Jesus.” John 12:21. He resented that note, and it was difficult for him to preach his philosophical dissertation that day. But the words kept ringing in his ears, in his heart, in his mind: “Sir, we would see Jesus.” He could not escape from them, and finally he began to look into his own soul and realized that he was not preaching Christ in that Christian pulpit. A great change came over his life and his preaching, and soon over the entire congregation.
After some time had passed, he stepped into the pulpit one morning and again found a slip of paper on the desk with these words: “Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.” John 20:20. The minister's heart was glad, too, now that he was preaching Christ crucified, the only hope, the gloriously sufficient hope, of the lost and ruined world.
Not only is the church said to be the body of Christ, of which the believers are “members in particular” (1 Corinthians 12:27), but it is also compared to a building, as we have discovered in the words of Christ in Matthew 16:18. Of this building the Apostle Paul says that Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone, “in whom all the building fitly framed together grows unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom you also are built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:21, 22. The church is not only a place for believers but it is also the habitation of God on earth. How important that it is!
At another time the apostle called the church “the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” 1 Timothy 3:15. Both the Apostle Paul and Timothy had been in Ephesus and there had seen the great Temple of Diana, considerably larger than the Parthenon in Athens and constructed on the same plan. It was adorned with paintings and sculptures by Praxiteles, Phidias, and Apelles. The roof was covered with white marble tiles. Sailors at sea could see it from miles away, gleaming before them on the coastline. However, the greatest glory of this temple was its pillars, 120 of them made of jasper, which upheld the roof. How magnificent those pillars were may be seen by anyone who visits Istanbul today, where there are eight of them in the great church of St. Sophia, now a museum. When the Goths destroyed Ephesus in AD. 262, these eight pillars escaped mutilation and were taken by Emperor Justinian to beautify his monumental house of God. God's church is the pillar and ground, or foundation, of the truth; and the supreme truth of all is the truth of redemption through Jesus Christ our Savior who is Himself spoken of as “the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6.)
The church is also compared to a flock. “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” Acts 20:28. Jesus is the good shepherd, and all believers are the sheep of His pasture. (Psalm 719:13.) It is the duty of true under-shepherds-or pastors, for the word means “shepherd”-to feed the sheep with the Word of God; and, in spite of all their faults and failings, ever to remember that they have been purchased with the blood of Jesus.
The church is represented in Scripture as a bride. The Apostle Paul said to believers in his day, for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:2. He wrote also in Ephesians 5:30: for we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.” As the bride takes her husband's name and is faithful to him, so believers take the name of Christ, or Christians. The word church is from the Greek ecclesia. The Bible writers use the word for an assembly of citizens summoned for legislative or other purposes-the “called-out ones,” called out from the world and united to Christ as supreme ruler and head. As a bridegroom loves his bride, so “Christ ... loved the church, and gave himself for it.” Ephesians 5:25. This preserves the church through all her tribulations and dangers.
When Caesar was crossing the Adriatic Sea to fight Pompey, a great storm enveloped his ship, and the soldiers were terrified. Caesar tried to calm them with his prideful words, “Remember, you carry Caesar and his fortunes.” On a higher plane, the church carries Christ and His message, His redeeming fortunes for all mankind; and no storm can overwhelm it. On the Sea of Galilee the entire church was in a sinking boat one day. It carried Peter, James, John, Matthew, Bartholomew, and the other disciples. These were the men upon whom Christ had chosen to found the church, and had they gone down, the church would have been destroyed. But the church did not go down; it did not sink; it was not dashed to pieces, for Christ was with them that night in the little ship on the tossing sea. “Where is your faith?” He asked. And then with a word, He shackled the billows, and “there was a great calm.” Matthew 8:26.
The church is likened to a family, the family of God. “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” John 1: 12. The Apostle Paul put it this way: “Ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15. Those who are redeemed in Christ “receive the adoption of sons.” (Galatians 4:5.) That is why we can call God our Father. As a father cares for his children and protects them, so God cares for His church on earth, “the general assembly and church of the firstborn.” (Hebrews 12:23).
The church founded by Jesus had government and discipline. Those who lived contrary to His word were subject to discipline. Jesus instructed His disciples, as we read in Matthew 18:17, to report such persons to the church, and if they refused to hear the church and abide by its authority, they were to be treated as heathen and publicans. They were no longer to be looked upon as members of the church, but as unbelievers to be won back to Christ and His fellowship.
Fulfilling the promise of Christ, the Holy Spirit fell upon the assembly of disciples on the day of Pentecost, as recorded in the second chapter of Acts. It was then that the church really was born as a public force in the world and spread out from Jerusalem over the earth. Its first meetings were held in private homes. It was many years before special buildings for worship were erected. The disciples fulfilled the command of Christ to “90 ... into all the world, and preach the gospel” first “in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8.) The first churches were entirely Jewish because all the first believers were Jewish. Then Gentiles began to accept the gospel, as we read in the case of Cornelius (Acts 10) and others.
In the apostolic age the leaders of the church had actually seen the Lord. (Luke 1: 2; 1 Corinthians 9: 1. ) They included, in addition to the original eleven chosen by Christ, Matthias, Paul, James, and probably Barnahas. Then seven deacons were chosen, honest men, “full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom,” to act as helpers in the work of the church looking after the needy, so that the apostles would have their full time for “prayer, and to the ministry of the word!' (Acts 6:1-6.) There also were prophets in the church in those days (Acts 11:27), and teachers ( 1 Corinthians 12:28), and evangelists (Ephesians 4: 11; Acts 21:8).
The church was not only founded by Jesus but it was guided by Him and appointed to preach the gospel to all the world; for He said, “Go you into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15), “baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” Matthew 28:19, 20. Under the preaching of the apostles on the day of Pentecost and afterwards, thousands were converted. We read in Acts 2:47: “The Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”
How can we reject or neglect the church when it is appointed by Christ and commanded to do this work? The Apostle Paul speaks of some in his day who despised the church of God. (1 Corinthians 11:22.) It is not for man to despise or neglect that which God has appointed. Theodore Roosevelt said that in the pioneer days of the West, it was an unfailing rule that after a community had existed for a certain length of time with no church, it began to go downhill. Of some who gave reasons for not going to church, he said in an article in the Ladies' Home Journal:
̏Yes-1 know all the excuses; I know that one can worship the Creator and dedicate oneself to good living in a grove of trees or by a running brook or in one's own house just as well as in a church, but I also know that, as a matter of cold fact, the average man does not worship or thus dedicate himself. If he stays away from church he does not spend his time in good works or in lofty meditation.... He may not hear a good sermon at church, but unless he is very unfortunate he will hear a sermon by a good man.
“Besides, even if he does not hear a good sermon, the probabilities are that he will listen to and take part in reading some beautiful passages from the Bible; and if he is not familiar with the Bible, he has suffered a loss which he had better make all possible haste to correct. He will meet and nod to or speak to good, quiet neighbors. If he doesn't think about himself too much, he will benefit himself very much, especially as he begins to think chiefly of others.”
There have been times in the past when things looked bad for the church, and there may again be such times; but the church of God will survive. The followers of Christ will not all be rooted out of the earth, or apostatize, or forget their high calling. There will always be a remnant of the true people of God.
In a dark hour of indifference and apostasy in England, Samuel Wesley, the father of John and Charles Wesley, was pastor of a church and doing all he could to uphold the light of truth. Looking forward by faith to a time of great spiritual revival, he said to his son Charles, “Be steady. The Christian faith will surely revive in these kingdoms. You shall see it, though I shall not.” We know that this proved to be true, for years later when his son John came to preach in his home town, he was forbidden the use of his father's church. Standing on the flat tombstone of his father's grave, he remembered the remark of his father and preached to the assembled multitude with great power. Out of that dark age of rationalism came the light of the great Methodist revival.
The present age may seem dark, too; but out of it will come the final great revival that will sweep the earth and, preparatory to His second coming in the clouds of heaven, will bring every honest heart into fellowship with Him.
Some of the reformed churches and others that held up the light of truth in dark and troublous times of persecution in Europe took as their motto the words which Moses wrote concerning the burning bush: 1t was not consumed.” Many of these groups of believers had to flee to the mountains and desert places, and even there they were pursued and in some cases destroyed. But the light of truth burned on in other places. In spite of apostasy, corruption, false teaching, and persecution, the record concerning the church is, `It was not consumed.”
And so it is not consumed today. It is still in the world doing its work, and it will be here until the Lord appears to receive the church unto Himself.
“The Church has one foundation,
Is Jesus Christ her Lord; She is His new creation, By water and the word:
From heaven He came and sought her To be His holy bride,
With His own blood He bought her, And for her life He died.
Elect from every nation,
Yet one o'er all the earth,
Her charter of salvation,
One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy name she blesses, Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses, With every grace endued.
“Though with a scornful wonder,
Men see her sore oppressed, Though foes would rend asunder The Rock where she does rest; Yet saints their faith are keeping, Their cry goes up, 'How long?' And soon the night of weeping Shall be the morn of song.
Mid toil and tribulation, And tumult of her war, She waits the consummation Of peace for evermore;
Till with the vision glorious Her longing eyes are blest, And the great Church victorious Shall be the Church at rest.”
-S. J. Stone.
BIBLE SUMMARY
Who were ordained in every church?
“And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.” Acts 14:23.
What other name is given to elders?
“For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou should set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: if any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God.” Titus 1:5-7. We see here that the words elder and bishop are used interchangeably.
Did these early churches sometimes meet in private homes?
“Greet Priscilla and Aquila.” “Likewise greet the church that is in their house.” Romans 16:3, 5.
What is the church said to be?
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” Colossians 1: 18.
Were there troublemakers in the church in Bible times?
'I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, receives us not.” 3 John 9.
What gifts has God set in the church?
“Now you are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.” 1 Corinthians 12:27, 28.
Where were the apostle's letters to be read?
“And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church.” Colossians 4:16.
What did Saul, when he was an unbeliever, do to the church?
“As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.” Acts 8:3.
What did the church do when the Apostle Peter was imprisoned by Herod?
“Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.” Acts 12:5.
To the churches of what seven cities in Asia Minor were messages sent?
Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea. (Revelation 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14.)
What did the Apostle Paul bear?
“Beside those things that are without, that which comes upon me daily, the care of all the churches.” 2 Corinthians 11:28.
What beautiful symbol of the churches do we find in the Book of Revelation?
“The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou saw are the seven churches.” Revelation 1:20.
In what statement of Jesus do we find the last mention of the church in the Holy Scriptures?
1 Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.” Revelation 22:16.
WHAT did Jesus say about marriage? We read His words in Matthew 19:4-6: “Have you not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” You see, our Savior goes back to the beginning, to the creation of man, and to the hand and mind of God for the origin of marriage and its permanency. Turning to the record of those first days of the world to which Jesus pointed, we read in Genesis 2:18: “And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him”-that is, one appropriate to him, one like himself. Man's life could not be at its best in loneliness. God did not make him to dwell in solitude; he was to be a social being. Even communion with holy angels could not satisfy his desire for sympathy and companionship. There must be someone of the same nature to love and to be loved. So God gave Adam a companion, someone who could be with him in love and sympathy, a helper corresponding to him, “an help meet for him.”
The story of her creation is found in verses twenty-one and twenty-two of the second chapter of Genesis. Eve was created from the side of Adam, signifying that she was not to control him as his superior, or to be trampled under his feet as his inferior, but to stand by his side, an equal. She was to be protected and loved by him. She was his “second self.” This arrangement showed the intimate and affectionate union which should exist in marriage, “for no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it.” Ephesians 5:29. Looking upon his beautiful bride in the morning of the world, Adam said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall he called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” The Inspired Record adds, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” Genesis 2:23, 24.
Ellen G. White has said: “God celebrated the first marriage. Thus the institution has for its originator the Creator of the universe. 'Marriage is honorable' (Hebrews 13:4); it was one of the first gifts of God to man, and it is one of the two institutions that, after the fall, Adam brought with him beyond the gates of Paradise. When the divine principles are recognized and obeyed in this relation, marriage is a blessing; it guards the purity and happiness of the race, it provides for man's social needs, it elevates the physical, the intellectual, and the moral nature. “Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 46.
Real marriage is not only a physical but a spiritual partnership. No man can act like an autocrat and treat his wife as mere chattel, as a convenience, adornment, or governess of his children. She must be more than a housekeeper or a cook. On the other hand she must not be a self-centered dictator herself, leading about a henpecked husband. In either case the two may live together, but their home will not be “a little heaven to go to heaven in,” as every home ought to be. It will not be “the haven of blessing and peace” which the prayer in the marriage service solemnly invokes. A schoolboy once wrote in his history paper, “Socrates died from an overdose of wedlock.” Of course he meant `hemlock,” but how aptly his mistake pictures many a broken marriage.
John Wesley's wife was a poor marriage partner for such a saint of God. It is said that she once dragged him over the floor of their dwelling by the hair of his head. On the other hand we think of Robert Browning and his wife, Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Their hearts and their home were filled with love. Their married life was a beautiful partnership, bringing out the finest in both of them.
One way to break up the home is for a husband to forget the little things-little marks of attention, little words of affection, the caresses. He can become so absorbed in business that he has no time for his home or his wife, who should always be his sweetheart. Perhaps it would be well for every married man to remember the words of Scripture on another subject, “Repent, and do the first works.” Revelation 2:5. If we do that, we shall have the first experience, the first love, the first joy, the first harmony, the first confidence.
An almost certain means of breaking up the home is nagging on the part of the woman. In 1925, in the state of Utah, a man fled for refuge to the county jail to escape the constant nagging of his wife. He said that she had pursued this irritating habit until he was sick, and he was asking for an opportunity to catch up on his sleep. He found a sympathetic car with the sheriff and was admitted. Of course we are often told that no woman really nags her husband or children; she merely tries to correct their mistakes and cure their manners and faults in general, to cause them to do their duty, to make them the highest examples of perfection. It is always the woman next door who really nags!
On the other hand, isn't it a blessing that so many wives and mothers can be described in these words of Scripture: “Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband does safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.” “She opens her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.” Proverbs 31:10-12, 26.
True marital love is a wondrous phenomenon. As so often happens, two persons, possibly born thousands of miles apart, grow up entirely ignorant of each other. Then some strange circumstance brings them together, and like a magic flame love springs up in their hearts. After that they are never perfectly happy unless they are together. They seem to belong together. They leave their friends, they even leave father and mother-the happiest and holiest associations-as Jesus said, and establish a new home, a new center, of their own. They become one flesh; they are one; and love deepens with the years.
Unfortunately, however, there have been millions of marriages in the world without love. Among savage tribes marriage is almost universally without love, and some husbands in those tribes treat their wives with terrible cruelty. It is only among people with spiritual attitudes that love becomes the supreme element in the marriage relation. Divorce itself is not the greatest evil destroying marriage; it is simply the symptom of the fundamental evil, which is loveless.
It is good for us to remember that marriage is based on the family. Jesus always recognized the family the father, the mother, the children-as the normal situation in life. Every government is based upon it, and permanent happiness, too.
Westermarck, in his monumental work The History of Human Marriage, says, “Marriage is rooted in the family, rather than the family in marriage.... There is not a shred of genuine evidence for the notion that promiscuity ever formed a general stage in the social history of mankind.” Here we find this writer, who is probably the world's greatest authority on this subject, making a statement which is perfectly in harmony with the Bible story. There is no evidence that marriage originated in any other way than the Bible says it did. It came from the Hand that founded the first home with the first man and the first woman in the first days of the world.
That marriage was to be part of the routine of human life Jesus quite clearly intimated when He spoke of the times before the Flood when the affairs of life were going on in their regular course. People were not expecting the Flood to come. “They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage.” “And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of man be.” Luke 17:27; Matthew 24:39. These texts show that marriage was not only instituted by God and was continued up to the time of the Flood, but that it will continue until the end of time.
There are several things that never can have two heads and live, and one of them is the home. According to the New Testament writers who followed the word and teachings and spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, the husband should be the head of the home, but this should be only in love. The Apostle Paul said, “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.” 1 Corinthians 11:1 “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church .....Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” “So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loves his wife loves himself.” Ephesians 5:22, 23, 25, 28. Then the apostle quotes the words of Jesus: “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.” Verse 31.
When our Savior was on earth, He accepted an invitation to a marriage feast. By attending it He honored marriage as a divine institution. In fact it was on this occasion that He turned water into wine to supply the needs of the guests. Marriage in those days was an impressive occasion, and its joy was not displeasing to the Son of man.
“In both the Old and the New Testament, the marriage relation is employed to represent the tender and sacred union that exists between Christ and His people.” However, marriage, God-appointed as it is, is never to come between the soul and Christ; for in one of His parables our Savior mentioned a man who said he could not accept the heavenly invitation because “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come” (Luke 14:20). God should come first in our lives, and the sweet presence of Christ by His Holy Spirit should enable us all to make our marriage such a success that both parties to it will receive the call of Heaven together.
According to the teaching of Jesus, the day will come when no more marriages will be performed. He made that assertion to the Sadducees who had brought Him a strange problem. They told of a woman who had had seven husbands. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead or in a future life. Then they asked, “Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.” Matthew 22:28. And “Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.” Verses 29, 30. Then our Savior went on and gave proof of the resurrection itself and of the life to come. The point is that although marriages will not take place in the resurrection life, certainly the heart unions which have taken place here will not he ignored there.
What are the ingredients for a successful marriage? Honesty, trust, and faithfulness are fundamental of course. No secret should be kept from either husband or wife. On the thirty-seventh anniversary of his wedding Amos Alonzo Stagg, the famous football coach, broadcast some advice along this line which is worth remembering. Standing at the kitchen sink helping his wife wash the dishes, this veteran coach met the newspaper reporters and said to them, “I'll give you seven ways to be happy though married:
“1 Play a fifty-fifty game. Help your wife with her work so she can help you with yours.
“2 Apply the rules of good sportsmanship to your married life, and that means the Golden Rule. Do as you would be done by.
“3 Be unselfish with each other.
“4 Have mutual confidence. Keep no secrets from each other. Let no jealousy come in.
“5 Be cheerful; never complain.
“6 Have children. A family without children is not really complete, and the views of one or both of the married couple may become warped without children.
7. Find your happiness in home life. Work together and play together. A couple who spends their time looking for pleasure won't find it. The couple who tries to make each other happy will be happy.”
These words of the great athletic coach are just the principles of Jesus put in concrete form.
A successful marriage is one that is happy in itself and makes the world a little better because it has taken place. For instance, there was the marriage of George B. Macdonald, a Wesleyan minister of about two generations ago. He and his wife were not very modern, for they welcomed six children into the world-one son and five daughters. The pastor's work was hard, and he was tempted at times to give it up. It seemed that he could not make ends meet and carry on his work as a minister of God. He made no great mark in the world, wrote no imperishable books. But was his a happy and successful marriage? It certainly was.
Four of the five daughters lived in a way to leave long remembered names. Alice stood one evening beside Rudyard Lake and there pledged her life and faith to Lockwood Kipling, a young man who was starting off for India. When their son was born, the parents thought about the night and the scene of their engagement and named their son Rudyard Kipling. Georgiana married an artist who later became famous as Sir Edward Burne Jones. Agnes also married a young painter, Edward Pointer, who later became president of the Royal Academy in London. Louisa turned away from the circle of artists and writers to marry a quiet-mannered Christian engineer whose name was Baldwin. Their son, Stanley Baldwin, not only became prime minister of Great Britain but a lay preacher of the Christian faith.
So the influence of a Christian marriage goes on and on and on, not only through this world, but through the great door of the eternal future. We can all thank God for the eternal influences which flow from really Christian homes.
It has been said, “It takes a heap o' livin' in a house t' make it home,” and certainly it takes Christian living in any union of man and wife to make it a true marriage. Although it is true that a happy marriage is a harbor in the storm of life, it is also true that an unhappy marriage is a storm in the harbor of life. Christ in the heart and in the home can work miracles and make apparently hopeless marriages over into blessed unions of hope and happiness, transforming mere households into happy Christian homes.
Rows and rows of houses on a well-laid street, Big and little houses, empty, new, and neat; Nothing ornamental-turrets, spires, or domes just a lot of houses waiting to he homes.
Waiting for the dreamers coming two by two, Waiting till the home folks make their dream come true; Waiting for the families with a roof above, Where there's much of laughter, where there's much of love.
Row on row of houses full of girls and boys, Full of shining faces, full of healthy noise; Big and little houses, row on row they stand, Nothing more important in the whole wide land.
So the years keep rolling as the seasons pass, Life and death have known them and their homes at last; Children grown and scattered far away may roam, But they will remember that one house called home. -H.M.S.R.
BIBLE SUMMARY
What guard does God put over marriage in the heart of the Ten Commandments?
“Thou shall not commit adultery.” “Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's wife.” Exodus 20:14, 17.
How long does marriage bind the contracting parties?
“For the woman which bath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he lives.” Romans 7:2. See also 1 Corinthians 7:39.
What does Jesus say about this?
“Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, commits adultery.” Matthew 19:9. Civil laws may recognize other grounds as justifiable cause for separation and divorce extreme cruelty, nonsupport, habitual drunkenness, and other offenses. According to the word of Christ, only this one offense warrants a complete annulment of the marriage tie.
What does the Scripture say about mixed marriages?
“It came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.” Genesis 6A, 2. The “sons of God,” the descendants of Seth, married the “daughters of men,” the descendants of the idolatrous line of Cain. Not only was plurality of wives an evil, but the whole race was corrupted by this intermingling in marriage of the godly with the ungodly. Soon after this the Flood came and destroyed them.
What restriction did God place on marriage in ancient Israel?
“Let them marry to whom they think best; only to the family of the tribe of their father shall they marry.” Numbers 36:6.
What prohibition was written in the law of Moses against the marriage of the people of Israel with the heathen nations about them?
“Neither shall thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shall not give unto his son, nor his daughter shall thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.” Deuteronomy 7:3, 4. Even King Solomon fell under the influence of his heathen wives. Concerning him we read, “His wives turned away his heart after other gods.” 1 Kings 11:4. The Scriptures, however, do not advocate separation from an unbeliever if the union has already been formed. (1 Corinthians 7:12-16.) But Christian believers should marry only Christian believers.
What instruction did the patriarch Abraham give his servant when sending him to select a wife for his son Isaac?
“Thou shall take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father's house.” Genesis 24:40.
What did the Apostle Paul say about being unequally yoked with unbelievers?
“Be you not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship bath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord bath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believes with an infidel? and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for you are the temple of the living God.” 2 Corinthians 6:14-16.
What advice does the Apostle Peter give to husbands and wives?
“Likewise, you wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation for manner of life] of the wives.” “Likewise, you husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life.” 1 Peter 3:1,7.
What admonition did the Apostle Paul give to husbands?
“Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.” Colossians 3:19.
Was it God's plan in the beginning that children should be born into this world?
“God said unto them [Adam and Eve], Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.” Genesis 1:28.
What does the psalmist say about children?
“Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord.” Psalm 127:1
Should parents teach the commandments of God to their children?
“And thou shall teach them diligently unto thy children, and shall talk of them when thou sit in your house, and when thou walks by the way, and when thou lies down, and when thou rises up.” Deuteronomy 6:7. We need to remember that the home is the child's first school, and that the influences and principles of the home will shape the entire life of the child. There the foundation of his life is laid. His education should be based on the Word of God, http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auwhich should be read in every home every day.
What does the Apostle Paul say about the instruction of children?
“And, you fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4.
How were the Scriptures taught to Timothy?
“That from a child thou has known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 3:15.
What will be the value of proper early education.
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6.
DIVINE HEALING is definitely taught in the Holy Scriptures. When a leper came to Jesus and said, “If thou wilt, thou can make me clean.... Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” Matthew 8:2, 3. Jesus raised from the dead the daughter of Jairus, the ruler. (Matthew 9:18-25.) He instantly healed the woman who had had an issue of blood for twelve years. (Matthew 9:20-22.) The Savior cured two blind men who asked for mercy. Jesus asked them, “Believe you that I am able to do this?” And they said, “Yea, Lord.” Then He touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith be it unto you.” And they were instantly healed. (Matthew 9:27-30.)
Jesus healed the daughter of a woman who came to Him from a foreign nation. This healing was in response to the prayer of the mother. (Mark 7:25-30.) Coming down from the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus healed a young man who was vexed with the devil. Two blind men sat by the wayside near Jericho. When Jesus passed along the road, they cried out for deliverance, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.” Matthew 20:30. When Jesus asked them what they wished Him to do, they said, 'Lord, that our eyes may be opened. So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.” Verses 33, 34.
On many other occasions Jesus healed people who were brought to Him. In some villages great numbers received the blessing of health. What a joy it is that people who come to God in prayer in the name of Jesus are still healed.
In Exodus 15:26 we read, “I am the Lord that heals thee.” Paul writes, “My God shall supply all your need.” Philippians 4:19. But does the fact that God is our healer imply that we should not co-operate with Him? Does this mean that God will always work in a supernatural, rather than in what we call a natural, way? Is it not clear that He heals in both ways? Millions of people recover from disease without any prayer whatever. We say they are healed by nature. (But are they not really healed by God?) As long as natural remedies are able to meet the situation, should they not be employed unless God indicates otherwise? Is it a denial of faith to eat food and drink water, when we know these things are needed for the health of the body? We should not expect God to put these things into our mouths when we are able to do so ourselves. The farmer plants the field, harvests the crop, and receives his reward in food and clothing; yet it is true that “my God shall supply all your need.” He gives us every heartbeat. He oversees our lives.
Yes, God sometimes employs a direct touch, a miraculous healing, to preserve us. Sometimes natural means are used. God is not confined to any one means of working. When God preserved the life of the prophet Elijah, He sent him bread and flesh in the morning and bread and flesh in the evening by ravens. But he drank of “the brook Cherith.” See 1 Kings 17:34 The food came in a miraculous way; the water in the most natural way. Yet in both the prophet was preserved by the Lord.
Should a Christian use doctors and medicine? Does doing so show a lack of faith? It is inconsistent with the Word of God, with common sense, and with God's work in other realms not to use such means. There are a number of scriptures which show that there is no sin in consulting a physician if it is done in faith, with dependence on God and not on man. For instance, we have the case of good King Hezekiah in Isaiah 38:1-5:
“In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus said the Lord, Set your house in order: for thou shall die, and not live. Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, and said, Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying, Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus said the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.”
What a wonderful case of healing! Do you suppose that Hezekiah immediately got out of bed and decided never again to call a doctor or take another dose of medicine? Far from it! How he got well is told in the same chapter, verse twenty-one: “For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover.”
We learn from 2 Kings 20:8 that on the third day the king was well enough to go to the temple. This was not an instant healing, yet it was a healing. it was a healing with the use of natural means, yet it was a miraculous healing in answer to prayer.
In 1 Timothy 5:23 we read the words given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit to the Apostle Paul. He advised Timothy to “drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and your often infirmities.” Wine-the juice of the grape was here used as medicine. If the pressed-out juice of the grape could be used medicinally, why could not the juice of the fig or the oil of the castor bean, when necessary? Many people had been http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auinstantly healed through the prayers and work of the Apostle Paul. Yet when his own son in the faith was ill, he prescribed a natural remedy, showing that medication is perfectly proper when employed by Christians trusting in God for help.
Jesus at one time made clay and anointed the eyes of a blind man that he might see. Why He did this we are not told, but He did use means. (John 9:1-7.) Jesus used a fish, a hook, and Peter to get money for taxes. (Matthew 17:27.) Why did He do this? He certainly could have created the money had He so desired. Jesus healed ten lepers and told them to go show themselves to the priests for a testimony, or witness. The Scripture says that in the act of going they were healed. “As they went, they were cleansed.” Luke 17:14.
Our Savior used five loaves and two small fishes to feed “five thousand men, beside women and children.” See Matthew 14:15-21. He could easily have fed the people without this small supply, for what He did took creative power; but He used the bread and fish; He used the disciples to carry the food; He used baskets to pick up the fragments. When Jesus made His triumphant entry into Jerusalem, He rode a donkey. (Matthew 21:1-9.) He could have flown, but He did not.
Why should our God not use natural means when He chooses to answer prayer for healing affirmatively? God could save sinners without any human aid, but He usually uses the human agent. He sends forth ministers, teachers, and believers to witness for Him. If a man with consecrated wisdom and love can be used to win a soul for eternal life, why should God not use a doctor, a pharmacist, a nurse, an earnest Christian with consecrated skill, in healing the sick? Why should He not use diet, exercise, and rational treatments? The fact is that He can and often does.
On the other hand, I personally know those who have had the blessed experience of divine healing in answer to prayer, without previously having any medical attention, or after medical efforts had failed. When a young man, my own father was healed in answer to the earnest prayers of his godly father. It was once my privilege to take part in a prayer service for a young lady who had a crippling affliction. In response to her mother's quoting the scripture, “According to your faith be it unto you” (Matthew 9:29), she arose and walked and ran, and has never suffered from that trouble since.
Remember this: 'Faith is a mightier conqueror than death. If the sick can be led to fix their eyes in faith upon the mighty Healer, we shall see wonderful results. It will bring life to the body and to the soul.' - Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, p. 62. Anyone who comes to God in prayer for the sick must have faith. He must believe that the Lord is the “rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6.) The words of our Savior, “According to your faith be it unto you,” must never be forgotten in seeking divine healing.
Many scriptures authorize us to pray for anything that we need. For instance, Mark 11:24: `What things so ever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them.” This would certainly include healing. Again in John 14:14 Jesus promised, '11 you shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” “Anything” would cover healing of the body. Philippians 4:6 commands, us, 1n every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
If we had no direct and definite instruction to pray for the sick, these promises certainly would include it, for they are meant to cover all the Christian's needs. Some people do not pray for healing until all natural remedies and medical help have failed. It is proper to pray then, but, according to the Scripture, we should seek God first of all. Then He will guide in the use of remedies and the work of physicians, or heal without them, as it pleases Him. It is written in Psalm 103:13: `Like as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities them that fear him.”
Many times we are not delivered from sickness because we do not ask. It is clear that Christians should pray for themselves when they are sick. “Is there any among you afflicted? let him pray.” James 5:13. It is right for the sick one to call his pastor and the elders to pray for him also. “Let him call for the elders of the church.” Verse 14. Then it is proper for Christians to pray together for healing. Let them pray one for another, confessing their faults one to another. Certainly sickness is a proper subject for prayer, and prayer for the sick is very practical prayer.
Now we need to remember right here that God does not always heal His faithful, consecrated children when they call upon Him for healing. In 2 Kings 13:14 we read that “Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died.” He was a consecrated prophet, a man of God, a faithful servant of the Lord who had the gift of prophecy on his very deathbed, yet the Lord did not see fit to heal him.
In 2 Timothy 4:20 it is written that the Apostle Paul left Trophimus, one of his fellow workers, “at Miletum sick.” Why did he not heal him? There is no indication that either Paul or Trophimus was to blame for this. In Philippians 2:27 we read that Epaphroditus “was sick nigh unto death.” In verse thirty we are told that it was because of his earnest devotion to the work of Christ. He worked too hard. He was not careful of his health. No doubt he did not rest enough. He wore himself out in the cause of the Lord.
Then we have the example of the Apostle Paul himself, who prayed three times, as he tells us, for http://www.ThreeAngels.com.audeliverance from a thorn in the flesh, “the messenger of Satan' which was sent to buffet him and to keep him humble. His request was not granted, but God said to him, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9.
These facts show that many of God's greatest saints have had physical afflictions, and that God does not always heal in answer to prayer. In His infinite wisdom he knows what is best for us. If every child of God were healed in answer to prayer, none of God's saints would ever die. We could name many of His children-the very salt of the earth, spiritually speaking-who have been deeply afflicted. Old age or death or both come to all eventually, and have come to all who have ever lived in this world except two - -Enoch and Elijah.
The final healing of all physical diseases and the immortalizing of our bodies will not take place until Christ comes the second time. Then this mortal shall be changed to immortality and this corruptible shall put on incorruption. “Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” 1 Corinthians 15:54.
It is written in Holy Scripture that Christ Himself “took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.” Matthew 8:17. But it is only at the resurrection morning, when these bodies of our humiliation shall be made like unto His glorious body (Philippians 3:21, A.R.V.), that we shall have the full and completed redemption to which the whole creation looks and for which it longs. That will be “the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” (Romans 8:23).
In the meantime it is our privilege to pray according to the will of God (Matthew 26:39) and to seek His healing mercies in the name of Christ. In the great majority of cases in which Christians come seeking healing, no doubt it is God's will to give it. If we will put sin out of our lives, seek to know the will of God, and pray earnestly, we shall find wonderful answers to prayer for divine healing in most cases. In any case, we shall be greatly blessed spiritually. But remember, we must not tell God; we must ask Him. We have the example of our Savior when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Not my will, but your, be done.” Luke 22:42.
The Christian seeking an answer to prayer for healing should put away every known sin. “The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” James 5:15. This implies that sin may be the cause of sickness. “Confess your faults one to another,” we read in the next verse, “and pray one for another, that you may be healed.” There must be a confession and a forsaking of sins if one expects healing.
A famed physician, who always entered the patient's room with a smile upon his lips, was once asked how he could live among so many terrible diseases and so much suffering and not he overwhelmed by them. His reply was, I always look upon disease from a curative standpoint.” No doubt the heart of Jesus would have broken long before He reached the cross had He not looked upon the sins and diseases of men from a curative standpoint. 1n him was life; and the life was the light of men.” John 1:4.
From that masterpiece on divine healing, by Ellen G. White, entitled The Ministry of Healing, I quote the following: “Our Savior's words, 'Come unto Me, . . . and I will give you rest,' are a prescription for the healing of physical, mental, and spiritual ills. Though men have brought suffering upon themselves by their own wrongdoing, He regards them with pity. In Him they may find help. He will do great things for those who trust in Him.” - Page 115.
Jesus came into this world to teach, to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. The Scripture declares that we should pray for the healing of the sick. We would be doing only half our work, however, if, after praying for the healing of the sick, we did not teach them how to keep well, how to live in harmony with God's laws of health. Jesus was both healer and teacher, so every true physician, as His follower, must be an educator. There is a great need of education in health principles today. Here are some suggestions for maintaining health:
Get plenty of fresh air. Breathe deeply. This is the first necessity of life. A person being denied air can live only a few moments. Drink plenty of pure water. Water is the second great necessity of life. Without it, one will perish much more quickly than without food. Four fifths of our body is composed of water. Many do not drink enough of it. On the other hand, we should avoid drinking things that are harmful, especially alcohol in all its forms. We should also avoid beverages that contain narcotic, sedative, or stimulating drugs. (Incidentally, when tobacco was first introduced, smoking was called “Drinking smoke.” It is well to remember that this is not a good “drink,” either.)
Eat moderately of proper foods. Each locality, each part of the world, each family's pocketbook, will determine the particular foods to be used; but there should be an adequate supply of starches, proteins, fats, mineral salts, vitamins. Let us become intelligent on these things. The family physician will give good counsel.
God originally gave to the race fruits, nuts, grains, and vegetables for food. (Genesis 1:29; 3:18.) In this ideal diet there was no flesh food. However, in Genesis 9:3-5 we read that after the devastation of the Flood permission was given to Noah to use flesh products (and man's life span declined rapidly). Noah knew the difference between the clean and the unclean animals. The ark housed only one pair of each kind of unclean beast as compared with seven pairs of each type of clean animal. (Genesis 7:2; 8:20.) This arrangement provided clean animals for offerings to God and for food.
In Moses' day the distinction between clean and unclean animals was put in writing, as we read in Leviticus There was a sharp prohibition against the use of swine's flesh and that of many other creatures. Modern science has declared that the use of pork is, a prolific cause of the disease called trichinosis, in which tiny parasites enter the human system, often causing death. It is believed that from 25 to 35 per cent of United States citizens now contract trichinosis. If one uses flesh foods at all, they should certainly be thoroughly cooked.
Here is a suggestion: Select the best foods you can and then eat regularly and moderately in a peaceful and happy frame of mind. The writer of the, Proverbs declared: “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.” Proverbs 15:17.
4. Get adequate sunshine. Sunshine is a great restorer and healer. Typhoid, cholera, even tuberculosis infections perish in the direct rays of the sun. The sun is a strong stimulant and vitalizer. As Fannie Bolton wrote:
“Come out in the sunshine! O gather its wealth!
There's joy in the sunshine, And beauty and health.
Why stay in the shadow? Why weep in the gloom? Come out in the sunshine, And let your soul bloom.
We might say, Let your body also receive its blessing-in proper doses, of course. Take reasonable exercise. God made the human body to endure a great deal of physical labor. In our age of automation thousands get little, if any, exercise. Instead of walking, some will drive a $3,000 car two or three blocks to get a five-cent spool of thread. Walking is an excellent exercise and is available to almost everyone. Those who are unable to walk can get important, gentle exercise in a rocking chair. But don't just sit - rock!
Take proper rest. Under normal conditions this comes naturally to those who have sufficient exercise. “The sleep of a laboring man is sweet.” Ecclesiastes 5:12. There are millions today who cannot sleep without the assistance of drugs of various kinds. Every night millions of sleeping pills are used in our modern world. Proper living habits, especially in regard to exercise, would help to eliminate this dangerous practice.
Proper posture should not be neglected. We should learn to stand tall and sit tall. Cleanliness is important. “Be you clean.” Isaiah 52:11. An old proverb declares that “cleanliness is next to godliness.” Although these words are not in the Bible, still God's Word does teach proper sanitation, order, and cleanliness. This cleanliness of life should apply to mind and heart as well as to the body.
Dress properly and appropriately. It is best to have the weight of the clothing supported from the shoulders, and not to wear anything too tight. The nature of the clothing, of course, must depend upon the climate, time of year, taste of the wearer, and good sense.
It is extremely important to have peace of mind and joy of heart. “For the kingdom of God is ... righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Romans 14:17. Remember always that “a merry heart does good like a medicine” (Proverbs 17:22), and that “godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6).
How can we have peace of mind? Listen to this: “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” Psalm 119:165. True love for the Word of God and trust in God are the foundation for peace of mind and confidence of heart. Jesus said, “Therefore take no thought [meaning no anxious thought, no worried thought] saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?” Matthew 6:31. In the verses that follow, He declares that our Father in heaven knows that we have need of all these things. Therefore we are to “seek ... first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness,” and all these things will be added unto us.
The answer to the need for peace and relaxation of spirit is trust in God and obedience to Him.
“Trust and obey, for there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” J. H. Sammis.
IT WAS early spring over seventy years ago in the little town of Atlantic, Iowa, and the swirling waters of nearby Troublesome Creek were icy. A group of believers, mostly young people, were to be baptized. However, since the leading member of the little band was ill, it had been suggested that the baptism be postponed until he was better. But that might mean months-possibly never. The young man, weak and trembling, took counsel of his own heart and then said to himself, “Jesus died for me, and it would not be much-it would be nothing--if I should die for Him.”
He insisted that the baptism proceed, and he was the first to be led down into the water by the minister. When he came out of the water, he was completely restored physically. From that day he was well and strong, and for sixty-five years was continuously in the active service of God and in the ministry. Later this same young man baptized me. He was my father.
Father was determined to be baptized because he knew what Jesus said about baptism. He had read in the New Testament of the work of John the Baptist, and of how thousands flocked into the wilderness to hear him preach, `The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 3:2. Many were brought to repentance and “were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.” Verse 6.
In Nazareth Jesus had heard of the work of His cousin John. Knowing that the time had come for His public ministry to begin, He joined those who were journeying to the Jordan River and there requested baptism of John. The Baptist, recognizing Him as different from the others, exclaimed, I have need to be baptized of thee, and came thou to me?” Verse 14.
Jesus replied, “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becomes us to fulfil all righteousness.” Verse 15. That is what Jesus said. It becomes us, it is proper for us, it is our duty, to fulfill all righteousness. So John led the Savior down into the Jordan and buried Him beneath the water, “and straightway coming up out of the water, he [Jesus] saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him.” Then the voice of God proclaimed, “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Mark 1: 10, 11.
The Holy Savior did not receive baptism as a confession of guilt on His account, but in His baptism He was identifying Himself with sinners. He took the steps that we must take and did the work that we must do. He was an example to us.
The words of God, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17), show what God thinks of true obedience. How can those who love Jesus refuse to follow Him into the waters of baptism? “He bath made us [to be] accepted in the beloved.” Ephesians 1:6 And being so accepted, should we not follow Christ's example?
“Jesus. . . was baptized of John in Jordan.” Mark 1: 9. The Divine Record states that the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus as He was coming up out of the water, so at that time He was baptized not only in water but with the Holy Ghost. (Luke 3:22.) This was the special anointing for His ministry, for we read in Acts 10:38 that Jesus was anointed “with the Holy Ghost. . . and went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil.”
In baptism Jesus is our example.
“Thus through the emblematic grave The glorious suffering Savior trod; Thou art our Pattern, through the wave We follow thee, blest Son of God.” S. F. Smith.
It may be well for us to notice here the method of baptism practiced at the baptism of our Lord. This baptism of Jesus was no mere sprinkling or pouring of water. He was “baptized in Jordan.” We read also in John 3:23, “And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.” Baptism was performed where there was “much water.” It took much water to perform that sacred rite, but this would not be so if baptism were identical with sprinkling or pouring a small amount of water upon the head or body.
While John Wesley was in America in 1737, he was tried by a jury of thirty-four men in a church trial on the charge of “refusing to baptize Mr. Parker's child, except by dipping.” It seems clear, therefore, that John Wesley, the father of Methodism, recognized baptism as immersion. The records of this trial are found in the court proceedings of Georgia.
The word baptize is simply a transliteration of the Greek word baptizo and is defined in lexicons as meaning “to dip, to immerse, to plunge.” There are eight different words in the Greek of the New Testament used to describe the application of liquids. Among these various words-meaning to sprinkle, to pour, to immerse only the one meaning to immerse is used in describing baptism.
The word baptize was familiar to the apostles and early Christians. They understood it perfectly and knew what Jesus meant when at the close of His earthly work He gave His last and great commission, saying, “Go you into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized shall he saved; but he that believes not shall be damned.” Mark 16:15, 16. So we have not only the example of Jesus but the command of Jesus. The preaching of the gospel will bring belief to the hearts of the hearers, and then those who have heard and believed are commanded to be baptized.
As the result of hearing the gospel and of the direct work of the Holy Spirit upon the heart, there are at least four steps which every sinner must take. The first is to believe, to have faith. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved.” Acts 16:31. “He that believes on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believes not the Son shall not see life.” John 3:36. “He that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11A This belief, this saving faith, means that one looks upon Jesus as having died for his sins.
As the Holy Spirit points out sin and points to Jesus as our Savior, conviction comes upon the heart. This brings us to the second step-repentance. “Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.” Luke 13:3. And again, “That repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations.” Luke 24:47. “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commands all men every where to repent.” Acts 17:30. Repentance means true sorrow for sin, putting away of evil, making every wrong right as far as in us lies.
The third step is confession of our faith in Christ. We read, 1f thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shall be saved.” Romans 10:9. Jesus said, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 10: 32.
The fourth step is a public confession of this faith in baptism. Unfortunately many people disregard this last step entirely. “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved,” is the plain statement of Jesus in Mark 16:16.
The Apostle Peter compares the importance of our baptism to Noah's ark, in which “eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism does also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God).” 1 Peter 3:20, 21. This text shows that it is not the mere washing or dipping of the body in water that saves us, but our obedience to God's divine command. Baptism is a symbol, a representation, of the inward work that has taken place in the believer's heart. It is like a marriage ceremony: a public confession of the union that takes place between Jesus and the believer.
The baptismal command is to be obeyed the same as all the other commands of Christ. “He that said, I know him, and keeps not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But who keeps his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.” 1 John 2:4, 5.
The Apostle Paul wrote that we are “baptized into Christ.” (Galatians 3:27.) As we are baptized into Christ, we are baptized into His body, the church. This is our public entry into that holy relationship. And we must remember also that Jesus said, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” John 3:5.
Through the mighty preaching of the Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost, thousands were brought under conviction of sin. The Word of God as preached that day led to repentance. They began to see their lives as God saw them, and they cried out, “What shall we do?” Acts 2:37. “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Verse 38.
This was a great day for the work of God in old Jerusalem. Three thousand persons were baptized in the pools of the city that day. Notice the sequence here: the preaching of the Word; conviction (“they were pricked in their heart,” Acts 2:37); repentance (“repent, and be baptized,” verse thirty eight); then baptism; and the gift of the Holy Ghost.
This was the story of the advancing gospel wherever it went. As the early church grew, the believers preached the Word. Although oftentimes driven out by persecution, they “went every where, preaching the word.” Acts 8A. But the preaching-the teaching, the instruction-and the conviction always preceded baptism and were always followed by it. Philip the evangelist went to Samaria, “preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God”; and the people there, hearing the gospel, were convicted of their sins. And “when they believed ... they were baptized, both men and women.” Verse 12. They did not wait, they did not argue, they did not hold back. They acted upon their belief.
After this successful service for God in Samaria, Philip was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert region between Jerusalem and Gaza. As he was traveling on the highway, he was invited to ride in the chariot of an important official of the Ethiopian government, who was returning to his own country after worshiping in the temple at Jerusalem. Philip noticed that this man, a eunuch, was reading the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah. The reader asked, 'Who does the prophet speak of, some other man or of himself?” Then, beginning at that scripture, Philip preached unto him Jesus. “And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what does hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believes with all your heart, thou may. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.” Acts 8:36-39.
Notice, this man read the Scripture. He asked questions about the Scripture. Philip, preached Jesus to him from the Scriptures of the Old Testament prophecies. Conviction came. The man asked for baptism. Philip demanded from him a profession of faith, which he received. “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God' Verse 37. The chariot was stopped. They both went down into the water. The baptism took place. They both came up out of the water. (Verses 38, 39.) All this was performed under the direction of the Holy Spirit.
Not only in these examples but also in others which we shall notice, baptism was preceded by preaching, by the teaching of the gospel, by belief in Jesus Christ, by repentance and conversion. Baptism, then, is for those who make decisions for themselves, who believe and obey. Penitent believers are subjects for baptism. One might be baptized a thousand times, but without faith and repentance it would be only a mockery. One might take a silver dollar and dip it in water. It would be immersed, but not Scripturally baptized. Why? Because it cannot believe and repent. It does not believe and repent because it cannot. Therefore, it cannot be Scripturally baptized.
In the church of a little town in Illinois there was to be a public debate on the subject of baptism. A large crowd gathered. The minister who was to deny the need of Bible baptism appeared. For some reason, however, the one who was to defend it was kept away. So one of the church elders was approached and told that he would have to uphold baptism from the Bible. The old gentleman said that he had never made a public speech in his life and was unable to do so. Finally he was almost pushed upon the platform and told that he was to make the first speech. Slowly he got out his spectacles, opened his Bible to Acts 2:38, 39, read it slowly, and sat down.
Then the man who was opposed to Bible baptism arose. For nearly an hour he used all his oratorical ability to convince the people that the Bible did not mean exactly what it said. Finally his time was up, and he sat down. Then the old elder got up again, slowly put his spectacles on, again located Acts 2:38, 39, smoothed out the page, brought it nearer to the light, looked at the text carefully, and said, “Well, brethren, it's still there.”
It is still there. The teaching of Jesus and the apostles on baptism is still there, still in the Holy Book, still there for us to obey, still there to bring joy and blessing to the obedient.
Now let us notice four things that baptism does not do. First, baptism itself does not change the heart of man; it's a symbol of the change that has taken place. A man might be baptized without faith, without repentance, without a new heart. He might be immersed, but he would simply come up a wet sinner instead of a dry one, still without faith, without repentance, without a new heart. Baptism cannot make a new man, cannot change him, cannot regenerate him. It is the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit that changes the heart in conversion. One must be born of the Spirit as well as born of water.
In the second place, baptism does not make a person feel better. It doesn't change his feelings. Some people are disappointed because they do not feel different after baptism. Salvation is not a matter of feeling, but of obedience.
Third, baptism does not remove temptations. The devil is not through with a person when he is baptized. But Jesus is the helper of every believer. He says, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Hebrews 13:5. No temptation shall come without a way of escape. This is the promise of Scripture. (1 Corinthians 10: 13.)
Fourth, baptism does not guarantee salvation. It is not a magical rite. It is not the end but the beginning of Christian fellowship and church work. True baptism is a symbol that cancels the past and brings one into the family of God. Then, to please the Father, one must live as a child of God ought to live.
Baptism may be performed at any time of the day or night. In the sixteenth chapter of Acts is recorded the story of the conversion of the jailer of Philippi. He heard the proclamation of the Word by the apostles who were prisoners in his own jail, conviction came to his heart, and he cried out, “What must I do to be saved?” Verse 30. The answer was, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved, and thy house. And they spoke unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.” Verses 31, 32.
It is clear that not only the jailer but also all his household were able to hear, to understand, the Word of God as preached to them. And what was the result of this preaching? “And he [the jailer] took them [Paul and Silas] the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.” Verses 33, 34. The jailer and all his family were able to hear the Word of God intelligently; they all believed it; and as a result of their hearing and believing, they were baptized.
Christian faith is personal and individual. No faith by proxy or substitution has any part in the gospel; such is completely alien to it. It is the truth of God, used by the Holy Spirit in the proclamation of the gospel, that effects regeneration. The preaching of the apostles brought conviction and faith in the hearts of those who heard it. In a number of New Testament passages, baptism is clearly associated with conversion and usually with the beginnings of the Christian life. (Acts 2:38; Romans 6:3; Colossians 2:12; 1 Peter 3:21.)
The spiritual significance of baptism is supremely important. When Rabbi Saul was converted and became Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles, this command from God's servant came to him: “And now why tarries thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” Acts 22:16. These words might be said to any believer who has not yet been baptized. Why do you tarry? Why do you wait? Call on the Lord in repentance. Call upon Him in faith, and the Holy Spirit will guide you, lead you, convict you, comfort you. In your obedience you will find your sins washed away, and the righteousness of Christ will be yours. It is the blood of Jesus which washes away sin, for we read in Revelation 1: 5, “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.”
Baptism represents union with Christ. Jesus said: “Go you therefore.. . [and make disciples of all nations, margin], baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” Matthew 28:19. 1n the name of” is the equivalent of “by the authority of.” In the name of the king is by the authority of the king. In the name of the government is by the authority of the government. To be baptized “in the name” of Christ is one thing; to be baptized into His name is another. 1n His name” is by His authority, and this authority is given in Matthew 28:19 and other statements of Jesus. To be baptized into His name is the object for which the act is performed, to represent a union with Christ. “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Galatians 3:27.
The ordinance of baptism represents Jesus' death and resurrection. “Know you not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?” Romans 6:3. So baptism commemorates His death, burial, and resurrection. It is a public testimony that the one baptized has been crucified with Christ, buried with Christ, raised with Christ to walk a new life with Christ. That is why baptism is by immersion, to represent burial and resurrection. “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” Verses 4, 5.
When one knows what baptism represents, there is never any doubt as to what baptism is. The one who has been Biblically baptized never has any doubts about the manner of his baptism. He has been symbolically buried with Christ, “planted together in the likeness of his death.” He has been raised up from the dead, symbolically, in the likeness of Christ's resurrection. This becomes more and more clear when we, as Christians, enter into the new life which it is our privilege to live with Christ. “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.” Verse 8.
It is only the mighty creative power of God that regenerates, that gives new life to His children. No human effort, no human labors, no human resolutions, can do it. It is possible only to those who are born again, not by the will of man but “by the word of God, which lives and abides for ever” (1 Peter 1:23), for we are “buried with him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.” Colossians 2:12. It is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead which enables us to live a resurrection life here on earth. And it is this same mighty power which will raise us from the grave if we fall asleep in Jesus before His Second Coming.
Baptism, therefore, represents these three things: (1) our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus for us; (2) our own death to sin and our resurrection to a new life, here and now; and (3) our hope in Christ for the future. If we die here in this world, we shall be raised again at His Second Coming, and “so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:17.
Spring was coming over the beautiful hills of southern Quebec. The melting snow caused swollen streams to rush toward the St. Lawrence River. I was called to make a long journey to baptize an aged man who could not wait longer for the sacred rite. As I studied the Word of God and prayed with him the evening before the baptism, he told me this story:
“Years and years ago, right where you stand this evening, my bride and I stood as we were married. Within a few months, on this same spot, her coffin rested, and the minister spoke words of comfort from the Bible.
“She was a beautiful girl. I had looked forward to a long life of happiness with her. But there was one difference between us: She was an earnest Christian and I was not. I was a worldling through and through and would http://www.ThreeAngels.com.aunot give my heart to God. She pleaded with me, prayed with me, and prayed for me, but I became more and more hardened and obdurate. In my unbelief and sin I broke her heart. She prayed for me until the last, and when she died, I was inconsolable. I sold this house, which I had built, and wandered over the earth, not only in this country but in other lands, seeking forgetfulness and peace. But I could not find that peace because I would not give my heart to Christ.
“Finally as an old, broken man, I came back to this part of the country, for I couldn't keep away from the scene of my great joy and great sorrow. I saw a light in this very house which I had built on the hill. I came to the door, a perfect stranger. Others in the neighborhood had refused to receive me into their homes, but the kind friends who lived here took me in and nursed me back to health. By the example of their wonderful Christian lives and through the power of prayer, I was converted and gave my heart to Christ.
“After more than half a century of wandering I had returned to where I was married, to where I kissed my wife good-by for the last time. Oh, why didn't I accept the Savior then! Why didn't I love Him! Why didn't I heed her plea to give my heart to God! I am so thankful that I have come to Him at last. Someday I shall see her again, whom 'I have loved long since, and lost awhile!'“
This man was highly educated, could quote the classic poets, and had mastered English literature in a way that was astounding to me. His life had been a long record of hardship and dramatic episodes. The next day as we gathered by the side of a roaring torrent for his baptism, many people from far and near gathered to witness the service. They had heard about this man and knew something of his background. He was ill and could barely walk, but when someone suggested assisting him into the water, he said, “No. I have walked in the paths of sin all my life, and I wish to walk alone with God into this water.” As he came up out of the water, believers on the bank began to sing the beautiful song:
“O now I see the crimson wave, The fountain deep and wide; Jesus, my Lord, mighty to save, Points to His wounded side.
I rise to walk in heaven's own light, Above the world and sin;
With heart made pure and garments white, And Christ enthroned within.”
-Mrs. Phoebe Palmer.
Just then a beautiful young lady standing at the water's edge, one who had long before given her heart to Christ, but who had been restrained by her father from being baptized, turned to him and said: 'Father, I can wait for you no longer. I must obey God.” She walked out into the water just as she was, and was baptized. The Holy Spirit brooded over that audience with mighty power. A great solemnity seemed to rest upon everyone present. A revival broke out, and many who had been held back for years stepped forward, made a public confession of their faith, and were there and then baptized into Jesus Christ.
On returning to the house after baptism, the aged man took a locket from his neck and handed it to me. I opened it, and there was the picture of a beautiful young woman. “That's my wife, the one I have loved so long,” he said. “Now I'll see her again.” And so he will, in the land where dreams come true at last.
“And now why tarries thou? arise, and be baptized.” Acts 22:16.
“Our Savior bowed beneath the wave, And meekly sought a watery grave; Come, see the sacred path He trodA path well pleasing to our God.
“His voice we hear, His footsteps trace, And hither come to seek His face, To do His will, to feel His love, And join our songs with those above. -Adoniram Judson.
BIBLE SUMMARY
What was Christ's command regarding baptism?
“Go, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” Matthew 28:19.
Who are to be baptized?
“He that believes and is baptized shall be saved.” Mark 16:16.
Are there various baptisms according to Scripture? “One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” Ephesians 4:5.
What is baptism?
The apostle says precisely that we are “buried with him [Christ] in baptism.” Colossians 2:12.
Note: Baptism is a gospel ordinance commemorating the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. It is a public testimony that the one baptized has been crucified with Christ, buried with Him, and raised with Him to live a new life.
Where did Jesus go for His baptism?
“Then comes Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.” “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water.” Matthew 3:13, 16.
By what means are our sins washed away?
“Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.” Revelation 1:5.
What happens in connection with Christian baptism?
“And now why tarries thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” Acts 22:16.
Into what experience are believers baptized?
“Know you not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?” Romans 6:3.
How is such a baptism described?
“Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:4.
What did the Apostle Peter say concerning the Roman officer and other Gentiles who believed?
“Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well o-.; we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.” Acts 10:47, 48.
After believers have been united with Christ in the likeness of His death and resurrection, what are they to do?
“If you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God.” Colossians 3:1.
IN THE Metropolitan Museum in New York City there is a monument to Edgar Allan Poe, on which these words are inscribed:
He was great in genius; Unhappy in life; Wretched in death; But in fame he is immortal.”
But there is a better sort of immortality than that of fame which men may achieve by their own genius. It is not an immortality which men may build for themselves through good deeds or evil, but it is that immortality which is made available through the purpose and grace of God. It was given us in Jesus Christ before the world began but “is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” 2 Timothy 1: 10.
How did our Savior bring immortality to light? By His words, His deeds, and His resurrection. To many of the thinkers of Christ's day, death was the end of everything. It was final. The grave was a dead end. The epitaphs found in many ancient cemeteries reveal that those who were bereaved had no hope of ever again meeting the ones they had loved.
But Jesus, who was with the Father in the creation of man, and of whom it is written, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him” (Genesis 1:27), knows more about the nature of man than any philosopher, ancient or modern. He knows more about life and death than all the thinkers of all the ages, and He said plainly that death is a sleep.
When He came to the home where a little maiden had died and all the house was in an uproar of weeping and mourning, He said, “Weep not; she is not dead, but sleeps.” Luke 8:52. But they laughed at Him, “knowing that she was dead. And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise. And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat.” Verses 53-55.
In the eleventh chapter of St. John's Gospel we read of the death of Lazarus, who was the friend of Jesus. Knowing of his death, Jesus said to His disciples, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.” His disciples, thinking of course of natural sleep, said, 1f he sleep, he shall do well.” But Jesus was speaking of his death. “Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.” Verses 11-14.
What a change Jesus made in man's attitude toward death! For everyone who believes in Jesus, death has been forever changed. It is no longer the end of everything, the finish, the terrible and adamant finality. It is merely a sleep, a rest, a little nap, as it were, on the road to the New Jerusalem. “To the believer, death is but a small matter. Christ speaks of it as if it were of little moment. 'If a man keep My saying, he shall never see death,' 'he shall never taste of death.' To the Christian,
death is but a sleep, a moment of silence and darkness. The life is hid with Christ in God, and 'when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory.' John 8:51, 52; Colossians 3:4.”
Our Savior's message on this subject was not negative. It was positive. He brought “life and immortality to light through the gospel.” (2 Timothy 1:10.) He brought the blessed hope. It is true, men do die; but Jesus declared that they shall live again. He came to bring to men the blessed hope. In fact He Himself is eternal life revealed. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.
Of Christian believers who had died, Paul wrote, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13. Christians may sorrow, but not hopelessly. They have hope. They know that the sleepers will awake. In sound sleep one is entirely lost to consciousness. Time is unmeasured. Mental activity is suspended for the time being. So it will seem to those who sleep in Christ. They close their eyes in this world and open them in the glorious morning of Christ's return, the morning of the resurrection. Daniel declared, “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.” Daniel 12:2.
Many may have come to see Lazarus after he had been raised from the dead, hoping to hear some wonderful story as to the things he had seen in the other world, but if so they were disappointed. Jesus had awakened him out of sleep.
Of the condition of those in the sleep of death, it is written, “The living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing.” Ecclesiastes 9:5. 1n that very day his thoughts perish.” Psalm 146A. Even the holy men of old did not ascend to heaven at death. They are waiting for the resurrection day. We read in Acts 2:34: “For David is not ascended into the heavens.” Then the fact that his sepulcher was still there in Jerusalem unopened was offered as proof that he had not yet gone to heaven. (Acts 2:29.) If a man die, shall he live again?” questioned Job. “All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.” job 14:14. This mortal shall put on immortality, and this corruptible shall put on incorruption. (1 Corinthians 15:53.) “Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” Verse 54. Yes, victory, as the Apostle Paul put it. Everything depends upon the resurrection of the dead.
Man is not merely a spirit, but a threefold being composed of spirit, soul, and body. It was in the beginning, at his creation, that God breathed into man's newly created body the breath of life, and he became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7.) The time will come when those who have fallen asleep in death will awake to life immortal. “Thy dead men shall live,” declared the prophet, “together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, you that dwell in dust: for ... the earth shall cast out the dead.” Isaiah 26:19. That will be the day of glorious satisfaction. “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness,” David prophesied; “I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.” Psalm 17:15.
If there were to be no resurrection of the dead, there would be no eternal life with Christ. If there were no resurrection from the dead, death would be the end of everything. “For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised ..... Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” 1 Corinthians 15:16, 18.
When will the resurrection of the righteous dead take place? “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16. It is at the second coming of Christ that all the dead in Christ rise glorified “to meet the Lord in the air: and,” says the Scripture, “so shall we ever be with the Lord.” Verse 17.
It was of this glorious experience which is to come to all God's sleeping saints at the second coming of Christ that the Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 1:23, where speaking of himself he said, “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better.” “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain!' Verse 21. There is one thing certain, whether he lived or died, Christ was to be magnified in his body. (Verse 20.) The gain, the blessing, was not to himself, but to the cause of Christ. But the Apostle Paul was himself inclined to the side of life. Why? Because, he says, “To abide in the flesh is more needful for you.” Verse 24. The good he could do for the Christian cause inclined him to desire to stay and work rather than to depart and to be with Christ.
We might ask, How would it be better for the apostle, as far as he was concerned, to depart rather than to live on, since he would not go to be with Christ until the resurrection? The answer is, of course, that no knowledge of lapsing time comes to those who are asleep in Christ, unconscious in death. Though a thousand or two thousand years should elapse before Paul's resurrection, it would seem to him as but the twinkling of an eye. As Dr. Priestly put it: “The apostle, considering his own situation, would naturally connect the end of this life with the commencement of another and better, as he would have no perception of any interval between them.”
In 2 Corinthians 5:1-8 Paul brings three conditions of the children of God to view: First: The state of this present life clothed with our earthly house. (2 Corinthians 5A.) “This tabernacle,” it is called in verse four. Second: A negative state, called “unclothed” (verse four) or “naked” (verse three) that is, the condition of death. Third: Another positive condition, when mortality is “swallowed up of life” (verse four), when we are “clothed upon with our house which is from heaven” (verse two).
Then Paul says that he waited for and desired this third condition, for in this (our present condition) “we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven.” Verse 2. But there is something which he does not desire-”not for that we would be unclothed,” he says in verse four. What he desired was the resurrection, with the immortal life which succeeds it. That is clear from a parallel passage in Romans 8:23: “And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit [that is), the redemption of our body.” But the apostle himself said that that will take place at the second coming of our Lord: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16. See also Philippians 3:20, 21 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-54. The latter reference says that “we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall he brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” And we must remember it is then, and not until then.
To be “naked” or to be “unclothed” represents the condition in death. This is something not to be desired, the apostle says. But to be “clothed upon with our house which is from heaven” (2 Corinthians 5:2) is to be immortalized at the Second Coming of Christ.
But someone asks, How can it be said that “we have” this house which is from heaven-in what sense is that true? We read in 1 John 5: 11 these words: “This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auin his Son.” Therefore, “he that hath the Son hath life.” Verse 12. This immortal life we have in promise by faith. And this promised life is equivalent to “our house which is from heaven.” We possess this, we have it, in the same manner.
This house which we have from heaven is said to be eternal in the heavens” in the sense that it is God's fixed and unalterable purpose to give it to us. All this promise is fulfilled to us through Christ. In this passage in 2 Corinthians 5:6 the apostle refers to our present life here and now as “at home in the body.” In the phrase 11 to be present with the Lord” (verse eight), he refers to the third condition: after this mortal puts on immortality at the Second Coming of our Lord. These two conditions are not necessarily immediately connected. Some will be living when Christ comes. To them the change from this life into that future life will be instantaneous; others will pass through the condition of death, with no knowledge of lapsed time.
Not only the words of Jesus but the deeds of Jesus prove that the dead shall live. In the eleventh chapter of John we read of our Savior's visit to Bethany, after having heard of the death of Lazarus. He met Martha' one of Lazarus's two sisters, who said, 1f thou had been here, my brother had not died.” Jesus replied, “Thy brother shall rise again.” “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day,” said Martha. Then Jesus replied: I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Believe thou this?” Martha responded, “Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.”
Then we read of our Savior's being led to the place where His friend was buried. There, with the weeping sisters and friends, “Jesus wept.” He is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities” and sorrows, says the apostle. (Hebrews 4:15.) Though He was the Son of God, Jesus took our human nature. He can sympathize with us and be moved by our human sorrow. No wonder those who stood by the tomb of Lazarus said softly, “Behold how he loved him!”
Next the stone was rolled away. Our Savior had human hands do what human hands could do. Now we hear His voice in prayer: Father, I thank thee that thou has heard me. And I knew that thou hears me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou has sent me. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.” There was a stir in the silent tomb, and he who had been dead four days stood in the door of the sepulcher. He could not move by any physical energy of his own, for he was bound tightly by the grave clothes. “Loose him, and let him go,” said Jesus. Again the human must co-operate with the divine. Men are to work for men. Lazarus was freed and stood before the company.
This miracle was the crowning evidence of our Savior's deity, the proof that He had power over death as well as over life and nature itself.
So by His deeds our Savior proved His power over death. The dead shall live. Jesus is the life-giver. He is the Son of God. He is divine. “In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived.” “He that hath the Son bath life.” 1 John 5:12. “The divinity of Christ is the believer's assurance of eternal life.” There at the tomb of Lazarus, our Savior demonstrated His right, His authority, and His power to give eternal life to all believers. “As in Adam. all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” 1 Corinthians 15:22.
In a moment of great peril and fear, when he needed to lay hold on some unseen power for help, Martin Luther was seen tracing on a table with his finger the Latin words, Vivit! Vivit! (He lives! He lives! ) Every day hundreds of thousands of people pour through the gate of death, but Jesus lives. He lives forever! And because He lives, we shall live also. (John 14:19.)
It was Jesus who met a funeral procession coming out of the little town of Nain. A widowed mother was following the body of her only son to burial. “And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.” Luke 7:13-15. Can we not imagine the mother and the son talking together alone that night?
“What happened, Mother?”
“Well, you were very, very sick. I called the physicians, but they could not help you. Kind friends came in to assist, but you were soon lost to consciousness. I could only weep and pray. And then you died. Our kind neighbors helped in every way they could. Then the funeral procession started. My heart was broken! I was left alone in the world with no one to love and no one to care for me! Then we saw those young men just ahead, and one of them was Jesus. He stopped the procession. He touched the coffin and said, 'Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.'“
“Oh, Mother, I heard that!”
Yes, he heard that; and so will all “the dead ... hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.” John 5:25.
A traveler with his family was motoring through eastern Texas a number of years ago, before the roads were improved. The sun was hot, the sand was deep, and the driver realized that he had lost the road. Several hours of fruitless searching passed. Finally they stopped at an isolated farmhouse and asked how they might get back onto the good road.
This is what the man of the house said: “Go down to the end of the lane, turn left, and you will come to the cemetery. You will pass right through the cemetery because it is on both sides of the road. When you have passed through it, turn to the right, and in a short distance you will come to a highway as smooth as pavement can make it. Then your troubles will be over.”
And so it will be for the sleeping saints of God. There are many troubles in life, many dusty and rocky roads to travel. This pathway of human affliction passes through the cemetery-but right through it, thank God! And then our troubles are over. Then the children of God will see the face of Him “whom having not seen.... [they] love.” 1 Peter 1:8. The trials of the road will seem as nothing when we get to the end of the way.
Our Lord Jesus claimed the authority to raise the dead. He said, “As the Father raises up the dead, and quickens them; even so the Son quickens whom he will.” John 5:21. The word quicken is simply an old English word meaning “bring to life.” Jesus has the authority from His Father to bring to life whom He will. The life of His people is safely hidden in His hand. Jesus says, “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish.” John 10:28. We have every reason to believe His Word is true. He not only taught that death is a sleep, and that His children will be awakened out of sleep, He also demonstrated His power by raising the dead. And, last of all, He Himself died upon the cross willingly, voluntarily, for the sins of the world; for He came “to give his life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28.
He arose from the dead triumphantly. He said, I have power to lay it [His life] down, and I have power to take it again.” John 10: 18. No one. could take His life from Him without His being willing. He gave His life for the sin of the world.
Our Savior distinctly predicted His own death and resurrection. “Therefore does my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” John 10: 17, 18. This statement of our Savior is plain and clear. He had power to lay down His life, and He had power to take it again. We certainly can trust Him if He has such power. Our life is safe in Him.
Time after time He clearly foretold that after His death He would rise the third day. Listen to this: “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.” Matthew 20:18, 19. We find almost the same words in Mark 8:31 and Luke 9:22. In John 2:19-21 our Savior spoke a parable concerning the destruction of the temple and rebuilding it in three days. “But he spoke of the temple of his body.”
Did Christ rise from the dead literally, bodily, personally? Read the divine records in the Four Gospels. The angel at the open tomb “answered and said unto the women, Fear not you: for I know that you seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goes before you into Galilee; there shall you see him: 10, I have told you.” Matthew 28:5-7.
In Mark 16 we read this wonderful story in almost the same words. And again in Luke 24 it is written that when the women came to the sepulcher early in the morning of the first day of the week, they found the stone rolled away.
The record states, “They entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: and as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek you the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spoke unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered his words.” Verses 3-8.
In the twentieth chapter of John are more details describing the experiences of Mary Magdalene and the apostles Peter and John as they were convinced of the resurrection of our Lord.
It is generally believed that the New Testament records ten different occasions on which Jesus appeared to His followers, in addition to His appearances to the Apostle Paul. They are as follows:
The fact of our Savior's resurrection is historical; its meaning is, of course, theological and the basis of our hope. Remember His words: “Because I live, you shall live also.” John 14:19. Let us believe them. He did rise from the dead, and He does live.
To the surprised, even frightened, disciples in the upper room that night, He said, “Handle me, and see; for a spirit [or ghost] hath not flesh and bones, as you see me have.” Luke 24:39. He spoke to them; they saw Him; He actually ate before them. (Verses 42, 43.)
In his book A Scientific Man and the Bible, Dr. Howard A. Kelly, thirty years a professor in the Medical Department of Johns Hopkins University, declares his faith in the resurrection of Christ. As clear evidences he mentions that the resurrection was utterly unexpected by the disciples, that their astonishment was great when they saw Him and were convinced that He was raised from the dead and actually lived again (Luke 24:4), and that those disciples who saw our Lord and came with Him after His resurrection constantly certified it. These evidences are found also in the Book of Acts.
We must notice also the evidence of Christ's power while He was on earth, before His death. Time after time it was evidenced in healing and in the resurrection of others. Then we have the mighty transformation which was wrought in His disciples once they were convinced that the Savior had risen from the dead. They were transformed into fearless martyrs for Christ. As witness also are the facts of His eating and drinking with the disciples after rising from the dead, and the wonderful results flowing from His resurrection life down through the ages. That a mighty force was unleashed in the world is evident in the existence of the Christian church itself, the mighty progress of Christian missions in all the earth, the long list of martyrs, and the fact that the unbelieving world for centuries has been conducting a continuous but futile effort to stop it. Despite their attempts they have discovered no substitute for it. Dr. William Lyon Phelps of Yale University declared that the historical evidence for the resurrection is stronger than any miracle anywhere narrated.
By His words, by His deeds, and by His own resurrection, our Savior brings us eternal hope. He explicitly declares, “The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” John 5:28, 29. And this idea is echoed by the Apostle Paul, who said, “There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.” Acts 24:15.
Jesus declared that the time of recompense will be at the resurrection, for He said to the Pharisee who had invited Him to dinner, “Thou shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.” Luke 14:14. And listen to His promise: “And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which sees the Son, and believes on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” “Who eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” “He that eats of this bread shall live for ever.” John 6:39, 40, 44, 54, 58.
What more do we need than this? What promise can equal this? What words can bring us comfort like these? No wonder the Apostle Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou has the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.” John 6:68, 69.
There is a wonderful life beyond for all our beloved dead who sleep in Christ. Our Savior said, In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:2, 3.
Yes, there is a life beyond. We know it because Jesus declared it both by His words and by His own resurrection. He has opened the door and given us just a glimpse. 'We know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2. As the Apostle Paul declares, “We look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.” Philippians 3:20, 21. There will be no more death for God's people then in that resurrection life, for Jesus said, “Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.” Luke 20:36. That is what Jesus said about those who die in faith: “They shall live again.” And when they do, that will be heaven at last. “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath cars to hear, let him hear.” Matthew 13:43.
Some years ago a man found a Spanish coin in Florida. It bore the date 1796 and the Latin words Plus Ultra. There was a time when the legend of the coins of Spain bore one more word-Ne Plus Ultra. Why was it changed? In those early days Spain controlled both sides of the Straits of Gibraltar; and the two promontories, one on the African shore and the other on the European shore, were called the Pillars of Hercules. Her coins were stamped with a representation of these two great outposts of the Western World, the last-known habitable part of the earth toward the west at that time. On the scroll over the Pillars of Hercules appeared the words, Ne Plus Ultra-”No More Beyond.” But, when Columbus sailed into the western horizon and discovered the New World, everything was changed. Spain became a mighty empire with lands beyond the sea the mines of Peru and Mexico, and the sun-drenched hills of California. Then the legend on her coins was changed to Plus Ultra-'Wore Beyond.”
Before Christ came to this world despair had written over the graves of men, “No More Beyond.” But He came and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. From Joseph's new tomb where He was buried and from which He rose again, the light of life shone forth, and on the memorial of every child of God Faith writes, “More Beyond.” The old world of hopelessness and despair and night is behind us, and the new world of faith and immortality stretches beyond the sleep of death.
BIBLE SUMMARY
Why is death called sleep in Holy Scripture?
Because there is no thinking, no doing, no consciousness, not even any remembrance of God. “His sons come to honor, and he knows it not; and they are brought low, but he perceives it not of them.” job 14:21. “His breath goes forth, he returns to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Psalm 146:4. “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing. . . . Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6. “For in death there is no remembrance of thee.” Psalm 6:5.
Where do the dead wait the morning of the resurrection?
“If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.” Job 17:13. “Whatsoever thy hand finds to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goes.” Ecclesiastes 9: 10.
What is the resurrection hope?
I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction.” Hosea 13:14.
“For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” 1 Corinthians 15:21, 22.
Did some in Christ's day deny the reality of the resurrection?
“Then came to him certain of the Sadducees, which deny that there is any resurrection.” Luke 20:27.
Did Jesus prove the resurrection from the Old Testament Scriptures?
“Now that the dead are raised,” He said, “even Moses showed at the bush, when he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living for all live unto him.” Luke 20:37, 38. Our Savior's argument here is that, in view of the fact that there is to be a resurrection, all are alive. This is true because, in the plan of God, the resurrection is just as certain as if it had already taken place. It is in this sense, of course, that the Apostle Paul speaks of God as the One “who quickens the dead, and calls those things which be not as though they were.” Romans 4:17.
How many will be raised from the dead?
“Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth.” John 5:28, 29. It is the voice of Christ that calls forth the sleeping dead.
That there are two distinct resurrections-the first, of the righteous; the second, of the unjust a thousand years later-is made clear from various Scripture texts. See Acts 24:15; Revelation 20:1,5. (This will be explained further in the chapter on the millennium.)
Who possesses immortality?
“The blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only bath immortality.” 1 Timothy 6:15, 16. Only God possesses original life, or immortality, in Himself. All others must receive it from Him.
Does the Bible indicate that men now have immortality or does it indicate that we are to seek for it?
“To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life.” Romans 2:7.
Where is our eternal life?
“And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” 1 John 5: 11. Eternal life is the gift of God in Christ. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” John 10:27, 28.
What power did the Father give unto His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ?
“As thou has given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou has given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent.” John 17:2, 3.
THE POET COWPER, in realization of the great friendship which he enjoyed with Heskith, wrote to his friend: “You must know that I should not love you half so much did I not know that you would be my friend for all eternity. There is not room for friendship to unfold itself in such a little nook of life as this.” Yes, it is love which makes the hereafter desirable.
Dr. W. R. Matthews, dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, broadcast four talks on immortality and received 1,900 letters from his radio listeners. Commenting on them, he said, “If there is any lesson to be learned from the letters I have had, it is that love is the main source of a desire for life beyond death.”
Of His own disciples Jesus said, “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you.” John 15:9. And “having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.” John 13: 1. To these disciples, these followers, these first Christians, our Savior said: “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:2, 3.
In this passage our Savior contrasts the here and now with the hereafter, the era of time with eternity. The here reaches to His second coming-”I will come again”; the hereafter, from that great event onward-1 will ... receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” Where is this hereafter? 1n my Father's house.” And it is absolutely certain. `If it were not so I would have told you,” He declares. `I go to prepare a place for you.” It is real. It is a place. It comes after this life, after Christ's second coming, after the resurrection. It is the hereafter.
In this life we find sickness, pain, death, separation; but Jesus plainly, clearly declared that there is a hereafter, that there is to be a life beyond. He said, “I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12.
An inscription of the crypt of Allegheny Observatory, University of Pittsburgh, reads: “We have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.” Likewise if we have seen Jesus, the Light of the world, the Bright and Morning Star, we need never be fearful of the night.
According to the words of Jesus, there is life only in Him. In other words there are conditions to eternal life. The words of John 3:16 are these: “That whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Everlasting life is a gift of God to believers. I am the way, the truth, and the life,” said Jesus. (John 14:6.) It is those who follow Him who shall live eternally. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” John 10:27, 28. Eternal life is the gift of God in Christ to all those who follow the Savior.
The conditions of receiving life eternal are made clear in these plain, positive statements of our Lord. “Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you,” we read in John 6: 5 3. A little farther on in this same chapter it is made clear that Jesus refers to those who feed upon His Word and accept His teachings.
We may ask the question, In whom is this life eternal? And we find our answer in 1 John 5: 11: “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” Therefore, it is clear that those who have the Son of God have life, as the next verse declares: “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” And the words of Jesus are in harmony with this: `He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:24. No wonder the Apostle Paul declared, “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory.” Colossians 3:4. Without Christ there is no life. In Him is eternal life. This eternal life believers have now by faith.
At the second coming of Christ in glory, when the dead are raised, all those who sleep in Christ will be immortalized. Some will be alive here on earth when that glorious event takes place, and such will be changed instantly at the resurrection of the dead. “We shall not all sleep,” declared the Apostle Paul, “but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall he raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-53.
Jesus taught the resurrection of the dead. When the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection, came to Him with what they thought was an ironclad argument against the resurrection, our Savior said: “Now that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he called the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.” Luke 20:37, 38. This is to say that in view of the fact that there is to be a resurrection of all men, all live unto God. As far as His purpose is concerned, all are alive. The Apostle Paul uses this same sort of language when he speaks of God as the One who http://www.ThreeAngels.com.au“calls those things which be not as though they were.” (Romans 4:17.)
All, both good and evil, will live again in due time, for Jesus said, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” John 5:28, 29. Here our Savior specifically mentions two resurrections: one to life, the other to damnation. This resurrection to life He calls the “resurrection of the just.” (Luke 14:14.)
The apostle Paul quotes the thought of our Savior when he 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 first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.” 1 Corinthians 15:22, 23. Beginning at 1 Thessalonians 4:16, he declares that “the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” This is the first resurrection. Then, in the Book of Revelation, our Savior again declares that “the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” Revelation 20:5.
So we have two resurrections: one at the second coming of Christ, the resurrection of the righteous, the resurrection of the just, the resurrection to life; and the second resurrection, the resurrection to judgment, to damnation, the resurrection of “the rest of the dead” (the wicked) one thousand years later. Thus it is clear from the words of Christ Himself that all will live again.
To the reverent believer, death is of no great moment. Jesus called it merely a sleep. “Our friend Lazarus sleeps; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.” John 11: 11. And that is just what He did; he who had been dead lived again. Before the iron fact of death Jesus could say: I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” John 11:25, 26.
In the record of Mark 10:30 we find the words of our Savior referring to him who labors for his Master: “He shall receive an hundred fold now in this time, . . . with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.” Here again we find contrasted “this time,” and ',the world to come”; the here and the hereafter. Both are places of reward for the servant of God. “He shall receive an hundred fold now ... with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.” It is wonderful to be a Christian, always receiving from Christ's hand that which is best for us.
The hereafter for God's children comes in connection with the harvest. And, as Jesus said in Matthew 13:39, 41, 43: “The harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.” “The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity.” “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”
The harvest takes place at the time of Christ's return in glory to receive His people to Himself. This means a resurrection for those who have fallen asleep in death, as we discover in John 5:28: “Marvel not at this [said our Lord): for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice.” To whom is He referring? To Himself, the “Son of man,” as we read in verse twenty-seven.
What next? “And [the dead] shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” Verse 29.
Resurrection-what a word that is! The end of death and dying. Dwight L. Moody tells of a man once conversing with a Brahman priest. He asked, “Could you say, 'I am the resurrection and the life'?”
“Yes,” replied the priest, “I could say that.”
“But could you make anyone believe it?” asked the man.
Jesus proved what He said. He not only proclaimed the resurrection of the dead and promised eternal life to His followers but He actually demonstrated the resurrection. “He rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” 1 Corinthians 15:4.
When we wander through a cemetery and look at the tombstones, or go into an ancient church and examine the monuments, we see one heading on almost all of them-”Here lies.” Then follows a name and the date of death. There may he added some praise of the good qualities of the deceased. But how different is the epitaph at the tomb of Jesus! His epitaph is not written in gold or carved in stone or molded in bronze. It is not the work of sorrowing friends. His epitaph is spoken by the mouth of an angel and is the exact reverse of what is put on most tombs. It is not the words, “Here lies,” but, “He is not here.”
Christ appeared alive to His disciples after His resurrection. There are at least ten records of such appearances in the New Testament. They saw Him; they talked with Him; they touched Him. He ate with them; He was real; He was alive; He was tangible. They knew Him; they followed Him; they loved Him. He had been dead, but now He lived and is alive forevermore.
Never forget this: Christianity is the religion of the open tomb, as Roy L. Smith put it; and the greatest fact about Joseph's tomb, where Jesus was buried, is that it wasn't a tomb at all-it was merely a room for a transient. http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auJesus stopped there a couple of nights on His way back to glory. Our Savior not only taught the hereafter, He proved the hereafter. He taught His followers to pray about the hereafter. “Pray in this way,” said He: “Our Father, which art in heaven [There it is! We are here. He is in heaven.), Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:9, 10.
Heaven is where God is, where God's will is done. Heaven is not only the hereafter-in the sense of the kingdom of glory, which is to be revealed at the second coming of Christ. It is also a glorious here-beyond-beyond the command of our senses; the very center of the universe, the center of God's government and kingdom, our home eternal, where Christ is.
In His last great prayer, recorded in the seventeenth chapter of John, we find these words of Jesus: 'Father, I will that they also, whom thou has given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou has given me: for thou loved me before the foundation of the world ..... And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee.” Verses 24, 11.
A little newsboy was struck down by a truck on a London street and rushed to the hospital. The boy had no living relatives anywhere. His special friend was an atheist who was sour on the world, on mankind, on life itself. He denied its great realities. One day when he came to see his little friend in the hospital, he recognized the signs of death and tried to encourage him. “You will soon be out selling papers again,” he said.
“Oh, no, Sir. Not that. I won't be here long. I'll not live long. But after the resurrection the first One I'll see will be Jesus.”
Then-1 don't know how he could do it, but I suppose the poor man's yearning, darkened heart was breaking-he said, “But suppose you get there, and Jesus isn't there?”
“0h,” cried the little sufferer, “you don't understand; because where Jesus is, that's heaven.”
And true enough it is. Where Jesus is, that's heaven; for He Himself said, “Where I am, there you may be also.” just trust Jesus; He is our only hope, our gloriously sufficient hope. In the very shadow of the cross He said to the men who were about to see Him die, “I will see you again.” John 16:22. He was certain of it. He knew He would rise again.
Those who have seen the facsimile of the memorable order issued by Field Marshal Haig in the darkest days of World War 1 know that there is something unusual about it. Those were dark days. The long trains were coming back from the front. The broken armies of the Allies were being pushed farther and farther back. Those who were there will remember the thrill that passed through the British Expeditionary Forces when General Haig's critical order was read. It was famous for its words: “Every position will be held to the last man. There must be no retirement. With our backs to the wall, and believing in the justice of our cause, each one of us must fight on to the end. The safety of our homes and the freedom of mankind alike depends upon the conduct of each one of us in this critical moment. But be of good cheer. The British Empire must win in the end.”
It is interesting to note that in the printed copy the final line of cheer was missing. The facsimile copy contains the words, “Be of good cheer. The British Empire must win in the end”; but the field marshal had struck them out, running his pen through them twice. They did not appear in the proclamation. Why? Perhaps the general did not wish to boast. Or maybe he was not sure. Who could be in those perilous hours?
In the proclamation of our Lord Jesus there are no words crossed out. Knowing all and seeing all and enduring all, He knew that the victory was His. “Be of good cheer,” He cried. “I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. “1 am the resurrection, and the life.” John 11:25. With His resurrection we have everything. So let us go forward toward that life which has no end.
At the close of this chapter we are back again at the empty tomb, back again with the wonder of the resurrection in our hearts. Christ is risen; He is alive now. We seem to hear His words clear and distinct through the still predawn air: “Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.” Luke 20:36. “Because I live, you shall live also.” John 14:19.
It was early in the morning of that spring day when the first disciples found the stone rolled away from the entrance to the empty tomb of Christ and were startled by the angel's voice saying, “Why seek you the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen.” “Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” Luke 24:5, 6; Matthew 28:6. From that moment the good news began to spread over the world, and it has been spreading ever since. What a morning that was in the dewy coolness of the garden! And the joy of its immortal hope has never died to this hour.
AM TIRED of this preaching about hell and the hereafter,” a young man said recently. “I'm living now and I'm going to have a good time in the present. The hereafter isn't here yet.”
A companion replied, “No, only the first part of it is here; but I shouldn't wonder if the here had a good deal to do with shaping the after.” And we believe that it does, for Jesus distinctly said, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 10:32, 33.
In describing his visit to West Point, Dr. Robert E. Spear says that at the close of the evening service which he conducted in the old chapel, he passed under the rear gallery as he walked out with one of the students. The young man asked Dr. Spear to look at a certain shield on the wall there, saying that to him it was the most striking thing at the academy. Set in the wall were marble shields on each of which the name of a revolutionary general was chiseled, but on this particular shield there was a blank where the name should have been. In form and design it was just like the others. But on it were inscribed only the words “Major General” and the date of his birth.
“What does that mean?” Dr. Spear asked the cadet. “That is the shield of Benedict Arnold,” the cadet replied. “There is a shield here for every Revolutionary general, and there is a shield for him too; but his country would not cut his name and the date of his death on it. He denied his country, and his country has denied him.”
Is it a serious thing to deny Jesus and to be denied by Him? It must be, for He said, “The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10: 10. If we deny Jesus, we deny life. He says, “But you believe not, because you are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” Verses 2628. What a wonderful promise that is! It is certain that those who do not have eternal life, those to whom Jesus has not given eternal life, shall perish.
Jesus spoke clearly on this subject, and we should engrave His words forever on our memories. Listen to what He said about how we are to receive everlasting life, and also what He said about those who do not accept it on God's terms. We read in John 3:36: “He that believes on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.” Notice, the wrath of God abides on the one who has made his final decision to reject Jesus. It stays there.
There is an old Scottish tale concerning a bridegroom who was murdered by a friend on the festal eve. The cup that his friend gave him was mingled with poison. Death was in the castle, so the murderer took the fleetest horse and fled into the forest. All night long he plunged his spurs into the flanks of the racing steed, endeavoring to put as great distance as possible between himself and the scene of his crime. But just as dawn was breaking, he emerged from the forest, the horse spotted with foam, and looked up horrified to see that he was right in front of the castle. He had ridden hard, but he had ridden round and round. He thought he was fleeing from his crime, but he was only returning to it.
We cannot get away from our sin unless God takes it from us. We cannot walk, run, or fly fast enough to escape it. Unless it is forgiven and covered with the atoning blood of Christ, it will go to the grave with us and arise to face us before the great white throne of God's judgment. We can never out race it, but we can give it up and in God's mercy find not only a plan of redemption but redemption itself.
A minister should never speak on the subject of hell without tears in his voice, or at least in his heart. Horatius Bonar and Robert MacCheyne, having one of their frequent, intimate talks, were speaking of their ministry for Christ. MacCheyne asked Bonar what his last Sabbath subject had been. The reply was, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” Psalm 9:17. On hearing this solemn text, MacCheyne asked, “Were you able to preach it with tenderness?” That is the way Jesus preached-with tenderness, with a melting heart, with secret tears. It has been said of MacCheyne that his severities were terrific because he was so tender.
Did Jesus mention hell by name? He did. Here are His words, as found in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” How can anyone believe in the Lord Jesus Christ-in His truthfulness, in His deity, in the knowledge of Him who spoke only those things which His Father gave Him-and yet deny that Jesus believed in a future judgment of hell?
Whatever hell is, wherever it is, and whenever it is, notice that Jesus says it will destroy both soul and body. This agrees perfectly with the words of the great Apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians 1:9, where he speaks of the wicked as being “punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.” This shows that everlasting punishment is everlasting destruction; and it is complete, soul and body, as we http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auread also in Ezekiel 18:4: “The soul that sins, it shall die.” Concerning the wicked, the psalmist says, “They shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.” Psalm 37:20. In Revelation 14:11 the wicked in the lake of fire are referred to thus: “The smoke of their torment ascended up for ever and ever.” The destruction of hell will not be under man's control. With all his marvelous inventions and astounding discoveries he will not be able to control it.
The time is coming, Jesus says, when there will be a great separation in the human race. “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world”; but “unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matthew 25:34, 41. And these last, He says, “shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” Verse 46. The punishment of the wicked is just as eternal as the life of the righteous. Both rewards are equal in duration. The reward of the righteous is life. The eternal punishment of the wicked is destruction.
The mere fact that the fire is called “everlasting” does not mean that those cast into it will suffer agonies throughout eternity. The texts which we have already quoted show that the everlasting punishment is destruction of soul and body. The fire is called “eternal” because it effects an eternal punishment, an eternal destruction. We find that this is true by comparing this scripture with 2 Peter 2:6: “And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly.” In the seventh verse of Jude it is written that these cities suffered “the vengeance of eternal fire.” It was eternal, everlasting fire which destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha, but of course we know that that fire is not burning today. Those cities have disappeared in a complete destruction, which was the effect of everlasting fire upon them. So also will it be with the wicked who are cast into hell-fire to experience everlasting punishment or destruction from the presence of the Lord.
Matthew 3:12 states that Christ's “fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” This is clearly a picture of the old-fashioned harvest in which the grain which was trampled out by oxen or pounded with a flail was thrown into the air. The wind separated the chaff from the wheat. Then the wheat was gathered into the garner, but the chaff was raked together and burned. So we have the picture here of the great division at the end of time. The chaff is burned with unquenchable fire. This does not mean that the fire will never go out, but that no one can quench it or put it out until its work is done. With that accomplished, it will go out. When all -the “chaff” is burned, the fire will cease.
A good comment on the phrase “unquenchable fire” is found in Jeremiah 17:27. Here the Lord warned the people of Israel that if they did not cease sinning, He would bring destruction upon the city of Jerusalem. He uses these words: “Then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.” This unquenchable fire actually came to the gates of Jerusalem, as we read in 2 Chronicles 36:19, 21: “And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.” “To fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths.” This shows that unquenchable fire will cease to burn when its work is done. So will this everlasting, unquenchable fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Even the devil himself will be destroyed. For this purpose Jesus came to this world. ( 1 John 3:8; Hebrews 2:14.)
It is important to remember that anyone who gets into hell is a usurper, for the fire is “prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:41.) If any of us get into it, it is our own fault-not in any sense God's. Those who reject Jesus and accept the leadership of the great apostate will be destroyed with him, but how unnecessary that is! God has done all that He can do to save every human being from destruction. He gave His Son to die a vicarious atoning death on the Cross of Calvary to save men from eternal destruction.
During World War 11the city of Aachen, Germany, was surrounded by American forces. Its commander had orders from Hitler to stand and die in the city's defense, but the American commander gave the city an opportunity to surrender before destruction. Lieut. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges sent an ultimatum to the commander and to the mayor of this city of 165,000 inhabitants. Thousands of leaflets also were dropped on the city, appealing to the troops and the people to surrender and thus prevent useless bloodshed. “Aachen is encircled,” read the leaflets. “Our troops have surrounded your city. The German High Command cannot relieve you. People of Aachen, the time has come for honorable surrender. We Americans do not wage war on innocent civilians, but if your leaders insist upon further sacrifice, there is no course but to destroy your city. There is no time to lose. On our airfields bombers are waiting for final orders to take off. Our artillery surrounding your city is ready to fire. People of Aachen, act quickly! Tomorrow may be too late. There is only one choice: immediate surrender or complete destruction.” But the city did not surrender, and great destruction ensued. How like those who reject the Savior today! Forewarning is given them, full opportunity for redemption, earnest appeals from the Savior Himself that they turn from evil and live.
Did Jesus say when the destruction of the wicked would take place? His own answer is in the affirmative http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auand is found in the parable of the tares and the wheat: “Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest 1 will say to the reapers, Gather you together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” Matthew 13:30.
When is the harvest? We find the answer again in the words of Jesus Himself in verses thirty-eight to forty two: “The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
The chaff, then, is burned up at the end of the world, at the second coming of Christ. We read His words in Matthew 16:27: “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” The reward comes when He appears the second time, at what is called the end of the world, or the harvest. It is only then that a man could be rewarded according to his works, for the effects of a human life go on and on to the end of time. An infidel's influence for evil extends far beyond his lifetime. The evil words, arguments, denials, and blasphemies of which he is guilty go on and on, slaying other souls generation after generation. It is only when the full harvest is completed that the universe can see the magnitude of a man's sins. It is then that he will be rewarded according to his works-when his works are completed.
Last of all, we shall notice what Jesus said about hell in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. (Luke 16:19-3l.) In this story the rich man dies and goes to hell. He can look across and see Lazarus, a poor beggar who also has died, already in Abraham's bosom. The rich man pleads with Abraham to send Lazarus with a little water on the tip of his finger to cool his tongue; for, he says, he is “tormented in this flame.” Abraham tells him that it is impossible to go back and forth across the impassable gulf. Then the rich man pleads for Lazarus to be sent to warn his five brothers not to come to this place. Abraham. replies, “They have Moses and the prophets”-in other words, the Scriptures known at that time. But the rich man insists that if someone should go from the dead, they would repent. Then Abraham replies, 'If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” Verse 31.
There are several reasons why this parable cannot be a picture of the literal condition of men in hell and in heaven. In the first place, heaven and hell would be so close together that people could talk back and forth, and the righteous could watch the wicked burning and see their friends in untold and unspeakable agonies. What kind of heaven would that be if a mother could behold her son in such a place? Or a wife behold her husband? Or a husband behold his wife?
In the second place, we certainly would not identify heaven with Abraham's bosom, for one man could not hold all the redeemed as a mother holds her child. So this parable cannot possibly be taken literally. It was given to teach certain lessons, among them that we settle good here and bad later, or bad here and good later; that this life isn't the end of the story there is a judgment beyond. Today, in this life, is our hour of decision. This is the day of destiny, our time of salvation. If we hear not Moses and the prophets, if we will not listen to the Holy Scriptures, we would not be convinced though one rose from the dead to tell us what the hereafter will he like. Jesus has revealed to us all the information that we need. We know that He is the Son of God, that “he that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1 John 5:12), “but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36). “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” John 1:4. Have we accepted that light? Is it shining in our hearts, or have we closed the windows of our souls and shut out our only hope for eternal life? Of some who rejected or neglected Him in His day, Jesus said, “You will not come to me, that you might have life.” John 5:40.
Sometimes it is objected that it is not fair that a man should have to go to hell because of Adam's sin, or even because of his own sin, for all are sinners and can't help it. But the answer is plain and clear on this point: You will never go to hell because of Adam's sin or because you yourself sinned and didn't know you were sinning. We read in James 4:17, “Therefore to him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin.”
If any of us go to hell, it will be because we have refused the remedy provided for Adam's sin and for ours. Why should we be concerned about something that has already been provided for and taken care of? If we are lost, if we go to hell, we shall go over the broken body of the Lord Jesus Christ, who died to keep us from going into that destruction.
“Come, you sinners, poor and needy,
Weak and wounded, sick and sore; Jesus ready stands to save you, Full of pity, love and power.
“Let not conscience make you linger, http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auNor of fitness fondly dream; All the fitness He requires Is to feel our need of Him.”
-Joseph Hart.
BIBLE SUMMARY
Where does the fire of hell come from?
It comes from heaven. (Revelation 20:9, 10.)
Are the wicked being punished in hell-fire now?
No, they are being reserved for that destruction. “The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.” 2 Peter 2:9.
Men do not go to their perdition now, but at the day of judgment. “But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” 2 Peter 3:7.
The wicked experience hell-fire after the second resurrection. Those who are dead will be brought out of the grave and judged. In Job 21:30 the prophet asks, “Do you not know ... that the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.” After the thousand years are past, they will be visited in judgment and punished. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.” Isaiah 24:21.
The fallen angels are reserved unto the same judgment. “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” Jude 6.
Does forever always mean endless duration?
No, it must be understood in connection with its context. In Jonah 2:5, 6 we read this testimony: “The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.... The earth with her bars was about me for ever.” But in Jonah 1: 17 we read, “And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” He was there until God's purpose for him was completed.
In Exodus 21 we read of the Hebrew servant, who, if he enjoyed the service of his master, was to permit his car to be bored through with an awl against the door post, and “he shall serve him for ever.” Verse 6. We know that this simply meant to the end of his life.
In Isaiah 34 we read about the land of Idumea lying waste: “None shall pass through it for ever and ever.” Verse 10. Yet in verse seventeen we read of God's promise to give it to His children after His judgments have been inflicted.
What are the wages of sin?
“For the wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23.
What will befall those who do not repent?
“Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.” Luke 13:3.
Will any of the wicked be left?
“For, behold, the day comes, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” Malachi 4: 1. This is the end of the wicked. “They shall be as though they had not been.” Obadiah 16. “As the whirlwind passes, so is the wicked no more.” Proverbs 10:25. There will be no place for the wicked then. “For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shall diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.” Psalm 37:10.
Now a note on the word hell:
Hell in the New Testament is translated from three Greek words:
Hades, ten times. Matthew 11: 23; 16:18; Luke 10: 15; 16:23; Acts 2:27, 3 1; Revelation 1: 18; 6:8; 20:13, 14. (Hades is also “grave” once. 1 Corinthians 15:55.)
Geenna (Gehenna), twelve times. Matthew 5:22,29, 30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5; James 3:6.
Tartaroo, one time (the only occurrence in the Bible). 2 Peter 2:4.
Hades simply represents the lower world, the place of the dead, the grave, and is equivalent to sheol in the Old Testament. It is used in Acts 2:27, 31 to translate from Psalm 16: 10. Tartaroo, describing the fall of Satan's rebel angels, is a verb meaning “to cast down to Tartarus.” It is a figure of speech, alluding to the Tartarus of Greek mythology. It must refer to the darkness that surrounds this universe, as the evil angels are not permitted to go back to heaven.
The word Gehenna comes from the Valley of Hinnom, a place outside Jerusalem for burning refuse, dead animals, and the bodies of criminals. Any such bodies not completely burned were devoured by worms. So Gehenna was a symbol of utter destruction and is used as a name for the lake of fire which will destroy the wicked, both soul and body, at the judgment day.
What will be the result of the fires of the last day?
“The heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.” “The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” 2 Peter 3:12, 10. And this day, when the heavens and the earth are on fire, is “the day ofjudgment and perdition of ungodly men.” Verse 7.
Where will the righteous and the wicked be recompensed?
“Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.” Proverbs 11: 3 1. After the second resurrection takes place at the end of the millennium, the wicked will come up to the New Jerusalem. Revelation 20:9.
Then what happens?
“And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.” Revelation 20:9. This is the end of sin, of sinners, and of death itself. (Verse 14.)
To what will the wicked be reduced?
“And you shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet.” Malachi 4:3. This final destruction of the wicked is called “the second death.” Revelation 20:14.
And after this day of the burning world, what will appear?
“We, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness!' 2 Peter 3:13.
LONG AGO, in the early days of the settlement of the western part of the United States, a traveler came to the edge of the mighty Mississippi River in the depth of winter. Never before had he seen the Father of Waters, either in winter or in summer. He was alone in a lonely land. Night was coming on, and wild animals, and wilder men made it dangerous for him to stay where he was. He must cross the river to safety on the other side, where there was a settlement.
He looked out across the surface of the great river, sheeted with ice. Being unaccustomed to the wilderness, he had no idea of its thickness. He hesitated a long time, then cautiously and with infinite care, crept out on his hands and knees, spreading his weight as much as possible. Every little while he heard a crackling sound in the ice, and sometimes a roar, as if it were ripping from shore to shore. The poor man trembled with every sound, expecting the ice to break through at any moment and plunge him into the icy waters below.
After he had crawled slowly almost halfway over the broad river, he was surprised to hear singing somewhere behind him. He could not believe his ears. Then he heard the hoof beats of horses trotting across the ice. He looked up and saw a man singing as he drove a team of four horses with their load of logs across upon the ice. The ice, which this poor traveler feared would not hold his weight, was holding this great load of logs as well as the horses pulling it.
With great relief and somewhat ashamed of himself, he got up and ran the rest of the way across the river.
So it is with many of us who step out tremblingly on the promises of God. Others stronger in faith go singing through life with the joy of the Lord in their hearts, fearing nothing, because they implicitly, fully, and completely believe the Word of God. As the Scripture says, “Who so puts his trust in the Lord shall be safe.” Proverbs 29:25.
Jesus continually appealed to the promises of God in His Holy Word. He said, “The scripture cannot be broken.” John 10:35. He also said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4. He spoke of those who build upon His own promises as building upon the solid rock. The winds might blow and the floods descend, but that house would not he moved, for, said He, it was founded upon a rock. (Matthew 7:24-27.) Jesus said that He built His church upon a rock, and He Himself, the living Word, is that Rock. (Matthew 16:18.)
Now let us consider God's preview of nations and the stone (or rock) kingdom in the second chapter of Daniel. This prophecy was written over five centuries before Christ was born, at a time when Jerusalem was overthrown by the Babylonians and many of the leading men were carried into captivity, among them Daniel.
This young man was a true servant of God and gifted with the Spirit of prophecy. Through him God revealed the future to the reigning monarch of the day, Nebuchadnezzar, ruler over most of the then-known world. To him, appropriately, the King of heaven revealed the secrets of the future in a vision.
Nebuchadnezzar was greatly disturbed by this dream, although he could neither remember nor understand it. All his officials were helpless in this matter. No one could bring the vision back to the king's mind or interpret it for him. This opened the way, by Divine interposition, for Daniel, one of God's captive children from Jerusalem, to come into the scene in the affairs of men. In answer to prayer God's vision was interpreted by God's man, Daniel. Read the whole story in the second chapter of Daniel.
We shall begin now with verse twenty-eight. After the complete failure of the wise men and philosophers of Babylon to bring back the dream to the king's memory and to interpret it, the captive Daniel, still in training for official work in the court, was brought in before the king. His direct declaration was, “There is a God in heaven that reveals secrets, and makes known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days.” Daniel 2:28. God's prophet could boldly say this because, in answer to earnest prayer by himself and others, the vision and its meaning had been revealed to him. Daniel, a captive in the courts of royalty, had been faithful to God in the midst of corruption and idolatry; and now he was called before the world's greatest monarch to explain a vision depicting four great world powers, beginning with Babylon itself.
The vision which had been given to the king was simple. It portrayed a great metal man with head of gold, breast and arms of silver, sides of brass, legs of iron, and feet a mixture of iron and clay. Last of all, the king saw a stone, cut out of the mountain without any human effort, smite the image on its feet and grind it to powder. Then the stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. (Daniel 2:35.) This last part of the vision was really a prophecy of the coming worldwide kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of the Stone.
Let us go back again now to the preview of history. “Thou, O king, saw, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.” Verse 31. This dream was immediately brought back to the king's mind by divine power, and he recognized it as the one that had http://www.ThreeAngels.com.audisturbed him so greatly. The king had been thinking about the future, planning for his kingdom. He was a mighty ruler, and his nation was the greatest on earth. Babylon, its capital, was practically his own creation, since he had renewed and rebuilt it. While he was considering the future of his kingdom-as all good rulers should do--God gave him this dream, which greatly disturbed his spirit until its meaning was explained.
The vision which the king had, and which was revealed and interpreted by the prophet Daniel, referred to the future. In it God declared to “king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days.” (Daniel 2:2S.) So we may expect, in the interpretation of this vision to the king, a message from God that reaches down to our own time. Indeed the history of the entire world from that time to the setting up of God's eternal kingdom is represented by the various parts of this strange image of prophecy.
After speaking respectfully to the king of his great work as ruler of Babylon, the prophet says plainly, “Thou, O king, art this head of gold.” Daniel 2:37. That is, as the king representing the kingdom of Babylon, you are the head of gold. Or, in other words, Babylon is the head of gold. The king of metals represents the first world empire of the prophecy. No other metal could be more appropriate, for Babylon was literally a golden city in a golden age. In fact it was known all over the world of that time as the Golden City, “the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency.” (Isaiah 13:19.) Nebuchadnezzar must have felt gratified that his kingdom was represented by gold.
But the prophet continued speaking, “And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.” Verse 39. Nebuchadnezzar's dream of having an endless kingdom was shattered. It was not in God's plan.
Did the golden kingdom go down? Does history tell us that God spoke the truth? Yes. Babylon went down, and another kingdom arose-Medo-Persia, represented by the breast and arms of silver of the great metal man of the vision. Babylon fell in 539 BC., and Medo-Persia ruled over Babylon's former territory and greatly increased the area by world conquests.
Not long ago I visited the ruins of ancient Babylon. Bouncing in and out of deep ruts and raising tremendous clouds of dust, our motorcar had forced its way about fifty miles southwest of Baghdad. Suddenly ahead of us, across the road at right angles, loomed what looked like a precipitous hill. As we drew nearer, it seemed to stretch away in a straight line to the cast and west. The road passed through a notch cut in this great embankment. What was it? You can imagine my astonishment and delight when the driver assured me that I was looking at the wall of ancient Babylon. Since childhood I had longed to see the ruins of old Babylon, mentioned again and again in the Holy Scriptures, especially in this second chapter of Daniel. In fact we might almost call the Holy Bible The Tale of Two Cities, the story of Babylon and Jerusalem in their literal and spiritual conflicts down through the ages.
Soon our car pulled to a stop, and with our Arab guide and a well-known archaeologist, I spent several wonderful hours walking over the ruins of this mighty city. Here was the great hall built by Nebuchadnezzar. Here were the gates leading down to the Euphrates. Here was the ancient river bed, clearly visible. We could walk where ships once floated. The river itself has moved a number of miles west. One can now walk in the dry bed of what was once the great river that flowed through the heart of the city.
The archaeologist in our company with his maps, explanations, and diagrams-made everything most interesting and convincing. He made it clear that the Scripture prophecy had been fulfilled, for this ancient city of Babylon, mentioned by Isaiah in the thirteenth chapter of his prophecy, is not inhabited. It is just as Isaiah said it would be: “Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.” Isaiah 13:19-22.
This prophecy indicates that the beautiful city would never again be inhabited, but would lie waste. The wild beasts of the desert would dwell there. This has all come true. We could see it with our own eyes. How wonderfully has the Word of God been fulfilled! Babylon, the mightiest city of the world at that time, the capital of the nation that persecuted God's people Israel and took them captive, has gone down in oblivion. If we were offered a reward of a million dollars, we could not find one Babylonian today. The world's first great empire mentioned in Bible prophecy is remembered only by historians and archaeologists.
God's prophetic word through Daniel has been fulfilled. People do not live inside the area which was the city in Isaiah's time. The Arabian does not pitch his tent there; the ruins lie in solitude except for the presence of jackals, owls, and other creatures of the wilderness. Babylon has become like Sodom and Gomorrah, desolate and uninhabited, a wilderness of brick and stone-mostly brick, since all stone had to be brought many hundreds of miles down the river. Here are thou sands of bricks, each stamped with the name and titles of Nebuchadnezzar, the great builder.
http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auAs I stood looking over this prophetic desolation, all predicted in the Word of God, I seemed suddenly transported back, back through the centuries, to that day so long ago when God's prophet Daniel-a representative of defeated, captive Israel-stood before the mighty Nebuchadnezzar. Even at that time, when they hung their harps upon the willows along the waterways of Babylon and tried through tears to sing the songs of Zion (Psalm 137:2), their land lay in desolation far to the west. But through the strange dream and vision sent to him from God, Nebuchadnezzar had his attention drawn to the Creator; and, through his influence and decrees, a knowledge of the true God was spread over the world. What the wisdom and chicanery of the so called wise men of that age could not do, God's prophet did by divine inspiration. Through God's prophet the future was revealed.
The great yellow walls of Babylon, miles in circumference; the beautiful temples; the great tower, or ziggurat; the glorious gates covered with beautiful blue-colored tiles; the white temples; the famous hanging gardens, of which Herodotus speaks-all have sunk into the desert sands. Remember the words of the prophet, “And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee.” Daniel 2:39. Nebuchadnezzar's empire was not to last forever, not even for a thousand years. Less than a century later Babylon went down in a night of blood, of which we read in the fifth chapter of Daniel.
That night, Belshazzar, who was king of Babylon at the time, was holding a drunken carousal with a thousand guests. Although the city was surrounded by enemies, he felt secure behind his mighty walls and defenses. Suddenly a bloodless hand from a sleeve of darkness wrote his fate upon the palace wall: “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN .... God bath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it .... Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.... Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.” Daniel 5:25-28. Thus the second world empire arose, represented by the silver breast and arms of the image.
But this was not the end of the story. Medo-Persia, the tyrannical power that ruled over 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia in the days of the lovely Queen Esther, was not to last forever. This nation-mentioned in the Bible in connection with the story of the rebuilding of the temple and the return of the Jewish exiles to the Holy Land, as recorded in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah-was to finish its course and be overthrown by a third nation. After Medo-Persia, the third kingdom of brass was to rise and “bear rule over all the earth.” (Daniel 2:39.) This refers to the rule of Grecia under Alexander the Great and his successors. just as silver was used for personal adornment by the Persian warriors, so brass was characteristic of the Greek soldiers. They used it not only for their body armor but also for shields, swords, battle-axes, and tips for their spears. Homer speaks of the brass-clad Greeks. This, of course, was not brass as we know it, but rather bronze, which is called by this name in the Bible.
Alexander, with his trained Greek phalanxes, overthrew the Medo-Persian army at the Battle of Arbela in 331 BC. By his rapid campaigns, his military victories, and civilizing influence, Alexander shot like a meteor over the earth. He went on conquering, pushing into India even to the Khyber Pass, where he won a great battle on the Indus River. But his men would go no farther. Having been away from home for years, they refused to penetrate the unknown lands to the Pacific Ocean and forced the great conqueror to turn back toward the west. Reaching the ruins of Babylon, he stopped and tried to rebuild it. His men did a great deal of work clearing out the debris in preparation for new buildings. There Alexander the Great, who seven years before, at twenty-five years of age had conquered the known world, died in a drunken debauch aggravated by a fever. Soon afterward his mighty empire dissolved into fragments and was destroyed by the Roman legions in the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC.
Then the iron monarchy of Rome ruled the world and continued her power for nearly six hundred years. In passing, we must not forget to note the preparation for the birth of Christ and for the spread of Christianity brought about by Alexander's invasions. The Greek language and the influence of Hellenic civilization and culture were spread over the earth by the conquerors, lasting long after Alexander and his successors were gone. This did more, perhaps, to prepare the world for the coming of Christ and His gospel than any other single event except the rise of Rome itself, the fourth world empire.
Roman roads, postal system, government by law, and world peace also prepared the way for the ministers of Christ to go forth in the early days of the Christian faith. Not only was Jesus, the Prince of peace, born in this time of world peace under Roman rule but He was also crucified by Roman authority, as we read in Luke 2: 1: “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should he taxed.” We know what happened then. Down from Nazareth came Mary with Joseph; and there, in the humble place where animals of the stall were kept, was brought forth the Babe who is someday to rule all nations “with a rod of iron.” (Revelation 2:27.) Despite His holy life, His miracles, His teaching, He was seized by the Jewish authorities and turned over to Pilate, the Roman governor, who authorized His crucifixion as a criminal-although he acknowledged His innocence.
The empire of the Caesars reached from the Rhine and the Danube on the north to the burning sands of the Sahara on the south. It was the world's greatest empire, bound together by its excellent system of roads and famous for its laws and justice. It was over these roads that the first apostles traveled, carrying the gospel of God's eternal http://www.ThreeAngels.com.aukingdom to earth's remotest bounds. But Rome was not to last forever.
The prophet Daniel continued his interpretation of the king's dream, speaking of days far in the future. The mighty empire of the iron legs was itself to be divided. “And whereas thou saw the feet and toes [of the metal image], part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided.” Daniel 2:41. And so it was divided. The Roman Empire was broken into fragments by the barbarian invasions of the fourth and fifth centuries. These barbarians were the well-known Alamanni, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Anglo-Saxons, etc.-ten of them-the progenitors of the nations of modern Europe. So today we find France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, England-nations which at one time were parts of the Roman Empire-some of them strong, some of them weak.
Thus the prophecy was fulfilled in history. “And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.” Verse 42. The prophecy made it clear that in spite of efforts to unite the nations, union would not be accomplished. In verse forty-three we read the words of the prophet: “They shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another.” And history says, “How true, how true!”
Charlemagne, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, tried to restore the original, to weld its fragments together. His empire was an effort in that direction, an empire which Voltaire, the witty infidel, said was neither holy nor Roman nor an empire.
Charles V tried it, without success, and wound up his life in a monastery trying to make a number of clocks run together.
Louis XIV of France tried it and deluged Europe in blood.
Napoleon the Great tried it, but his glory vanished at Waterloo. When someone protested to Napoleon that Providence would not permit him to rule the world, he is reported to have said, 7rovidence is on the side with the heaviest artillery.” He had the heaviest artillery, but God's warm June rains came, and the heaviest artillery could not move. His fine cavalry fell in a sunken road. Blucher came to help Wellington-we all know the story of Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo. As Victor Hugo said, “God was bored with him.” The real trouble was that the Little Corporal was smashing his fists against God's prophecy-”They shall not cleave one to another, ... the kingdom shall be divided.” Verses 43, 41.
Then Kaiser Wilhelm 11 is said to have had a vision of a restored empire over all western Europe. Hitler followed, his new Reich to last for “a thousand years.”
By marriage and intermarriage efforts have been made to strengthen and cement together the shattered empire of Rome. These attempts have always failed. At one time, in an effort to bring world peace, there was so much of this intermarriage among the ruling families of Europe that Queen Victoria was called the “Grandmother of Europe.” Before World War 1 practically all the kings and rulers of Europe were related, yet family ties failed to prevent the outbreak of that terrible conflict.
Since that time, statesmen have endeavored to curb the menace of aggressive nationalism by international leagues, alliances, and treaties. The League of Nations was an attempt in this direction. Now the United Nations is a more ambitious scheme to keep the world together. Will it succeed? Time will tell. But we know that the prophecy of God's Word will be fulfilled.
We must remember that this remarkable prophetic dream of Daniel 2 is part of the Holy Scriptures. In briefest form, but with great clearness, it outlines the successive world empires from the time of Nebuchadnezzar, down to the setting up of Christ's everlasting kingdom. You ask, Are you sure of that last statement? Yes, because of verse forty-four, the words of the prophet as he continued speaking to the king: “And in the days of these kings [or kingdoms; that is, the broken fragments of mighty Rome, now called the nations of western Europe) shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: . . . but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.”
This is the kingdom of the stone. In the vision this stone was cut out of a mountain without hands-that is, without human intervention. It was of divine origin. The stone smote the mighty metal image of prophecy on the feet. Then were the gold, the silver, the brass, the iron, and the clay ground to powder; and the wind carried them away as chaff from the threshing floor. “And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” Verse 35. The coming kingdom will be established by divine intervention.
We read in Lamentations 4:6 that when Sodom, the wicked city of the past, went down before the onslaught of heaven, “no hands stayed on her.” And in 2 Corinthians 5: 1 we read the words of the apostle: “If our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” The inference is clear: “without hands” means “by divine intervention.”
Other Old Testament prophets use this term, “the stone,” to refer to the coming Messiah. In Genesis 49:24 He is called “the stone of Israel.” In Isaiah 28:16 He is called the foundation stone; in Isaiah 8:14 He is called “a stone of stumbling.” In fact when here on earth, Jesus, in referring to Himself, said, “The stone which the builders http://www.ThreeAngels.com.aurejected, the same is become the head of the corner.” Luke 20:17. The disciples were assured that the stone represented Christ, for we read in Acts 4:11, 12, “This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Jesus was rejected by His own people. He who was the foundation stone of God's kingdom was unrecognized. This stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner, and there is salvation in none other.
In Nebuchadnezzar's dream the falling of this stone upon the feet of the image shows that it is identical with the second advent of the Messiah in power and glory, in other words, the second coming of Christ. This fits in exactly with the words of Jesus and of the apostles. We read first Matthew 25:31: 'When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory.” The Apostle Paul, speaking of this same great event, says: “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; preach the word.” 2 Timothy 4:1, 2.
At the time of Christ's second coming the present kingdoms of this world will indeed become His. As the revelator puts it, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” Revelation 11: 15. The broken fragments of the Roman Empire will not then he welded together into a modern caricature of ancient Rome, but will become a part of the glorious, eternal kingdom of Christ, to which there will be no frontiers the kingdom of the Stone. Gold, silver, bronze, iron, clay-then the stone, the stone that grinds all. I like to call it the “Diamond Kingdom” because none of the other kingdoms can stand before it. “Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” Daniel 2:35.
Not only does the stone fill the whole earth but, as we read in verse forty-four, this kingdom “shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” This means that the people of the coming kingdom of Christ will be immortal. One generation will not go down before another. There will be no change of kings and dynasties; it will be the kingdom of eternity, the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of the Stone which the builders rejected, and which has become the head.
We might ask the question, What will be the extent of this kingdom of Christ? The answer is in Daniel 2:35: “The stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” Notice, it fills the whole earth. Someone asks, Is this really likely to happen? Let us read verse forty-five, in which the prophet continues: “The dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.”
What a mighty confirmation of the Holy Scriptures is this simple but wonderful prophecy previewing the nations, of modern Europe! Babylon appears and goes down. Medo-Persia appears and fades into the mists of the past, leaving only records in its ruins and on the Behistun Rock, where her great kings recorded their names and deeds. The glory that was Greece comes upon the world's stage, then passes, leaving the marbled ruins of the Parthenon and the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle. Then Rome seizes the scepter of world power and tramples over the prostrate nations. She builds the great city of Rome, sometimes called the Eternal City, only to prove that she is not eternal. The mighty fabric breaks up into various fragments of varying sizes, the nations of modem Europe. These nations, through their leaders, attempt to get together, to live in peace. They fail in both, thus fulfilling the prophecy to the letter.
Then just around the corner of tomorrow the King comes, the One who in divine prophecy is called “The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6.) And of His kingdom there shall be no end, no frontiers. It will be worldwide, glorious, eternal.
The real subject of this prophetic preview of nations is Jesus Christ Himself, “the stone which the builders rejected.” History is His story. I believe it was George Bernard Shaw who, at the close of World War 1, wrote: “The only man who came out of the war with an enhanced reputation for common sense was Jesus Christ.” Frank Crane said that “Jesus was the only teacher tall enough to see over the fences that divide the human race into compartments.” Why was this? Because He was the Son of God, the fulfiller of prophecy. Not only so, but He is the Redeemer of mankind.
Our attitude toward Him means everything. As we read this great prophecy made five hundred years before Jesus was born, we come face to face with the heart searching question, “What think you of Christ?” Matthew 22:42. Here is what Jesus Himself said, as we find it recorded in Luke 20:18: “Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall he broken; but on whom so ever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.” Are you willing to fall upon that stone, the foundation of the church of the living God? Are you willing to be broken upon Jesus Christ? His kingdom at last will rule all and rule forever. We must know Him now in order to meet Him in peace then. Remember, He, the King of the ages, wants to be the King of your heart.
As a small boy was viewing Holman Hunt's famous painting “The Light of the World,” he asked his father, “Daddy, why don't they let Jesus in?”
The father answered, I don't know.”
A moment later the little fellow said, “I know why they don't let Him in. They live in the basement and can't hear Him knock.”
Friends, if we are living in the basement of life, let us move up. Let us open the door of our heart to Jesus Christ. It is He of whom all the prophets speak. “For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12. Make Him your Savior today-yes, make Him your Savior now! Then you can pray: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6: 10.
IT IS WELL or us to remember that God reveals the future in Holy Scripture. He reveals it in the prophecies of the Bible. In Isaiah 46:9, 10 we read: “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.” Fulfilled prophecy is a proof of the true and living God and of the inspiration of His Holy Word. God foresees the future and proves it by revealing coming events in divine prophecy. Since the prophets wrote through “the Spirit of Christ which was in them” ( 1 Peter 1: 11 ), history is really the fulfillment of the word of Christ Himself.
We turn now to the seventh chapter of the Book of Daniel and consider some of the chief points in this great prophecy. The second chapter of Daniel gives us a history of the world pictured under the symbol of a great metal image, but in the seventh chapter the symbol of ravenous beasts is used. In the second chapter the political outline of the rise and fall of earthly kingdoms preceding the setting up of Christ's everlasting kingdom is given. In the seventh chapter earthly powers are viewed in the light of heaven. The last beast, representing a power which would persecute the saints of God, was so unusual physically that no name could fitly describe it. Let us remember also that this prophecy was given nearly six hundred years before Christ, or about 2,500 years ago; that it outlines the history of the world, and that today we can read of its fulfillment in our history books.
In the second chapter of Daniel the vision of the future was given to the reigning monarch of the first great world empire mentioned in the prophecy. In the seventh chapter the vision was given, not to the monarch or a Gentile, but to the prophet of God himself. Daniel said: “I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.” Daniel 7:2-4.
These four winds from the four points of the compass must represent political activity, confusion, and war. Wind is used as a symbol of warfare and strife by the prophet Jeremiah. “And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come. For I will cause Elam. to be dismayed before their enemies.... and I will send the sword after them.” Jeremiah 49:36, 37.
These beasts of prophecy arise as a result of war and conquest. The great sea must represent the masses and multitudes of the nations of the world, the great sea of humanity in all ages, as we read in Revelation 17:15: “The waters which thou saw .. . are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” So, as a result of strife among the peoples of earth these great beasts arise. But what do they represent?
In Daniel 7:23 we read: “The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth.” Therefore, the third beast was the third kingdom, the second beast the second kingdom, and the first beast the first kingdom. It is not merely our interpretation that these four beasts represent the four world kingdoms or empires; it is a divine explanation. The prophet Daniel did not understand the vision and asked for an explanation, which was given to him, as we read in Daniel 7:17: “These great beasts, which are four, are four kings [or kingdoms), which shall arise out of the earth.” As Daniel was looking at this prophecy, he was encouraged with the next words: “But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.” Verse 18. This was the kingdom Jesus promised His disciples.
These four beasts must represent the same four world powers, beginning with Babylon, as did the four parts of the image in the second chapter. just as gold is properly called the chief of metals, so the lion is the chief or king of beasts. Notice, the lion had eagle's wings. The eagle is the king of the air, having great speed and strength. The eagle-winged lion, representing Babylon, carried on his conquering invasions of the nations about him. It is interesting to note that the winged lion is found in Babylonian objects of art. The prophet spoke of the kings of Assyria and Babylon as lions: “Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.” Jeremiah 50:17. Nebuchadnezzar's power reached from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf and from Asia Minor to Egypt.
But notice, a change comes. Daniel says: “I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.” Daniel 7:4.
King Richard I of England, because of his courage and boldness, was nicknamed the “Lion-Hearted.” But here in the prophecy the courage and lion like nature of the first beast change, and he is no longer lionhearted but man hearted. Babylon becomes weak and enfeebled through wealth and luxury. Its wings of speed are gone, and it is ready to go down before the attacks of the Medes and Persians.
Now we take one step forward in history-verse five: “And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auand it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.” This represents the second world kingdom, Medo-Persia, which overthrew Babylon in 539 BC. As silver is inferior to gold, so in some respects the bear is inferior to the lion. However it represents the cruel, strong character typical of the Medes. (Isaiah 13:17,18.) We are not told what the symbolic raising of this beast up on one side means, but since the bear represents the dual kingdom of the Medes and Persians, with the Persians becoming dominant, just as in the Austro-Hungarian Empire the Austrian section became predominant, the symbol may rightly he interpreted as representing this peculiar nature of the second power. The interpretation of the three ribs in the mouth of this beast is not declared in the Scripture, but many commentators have considered them as symbolic of the three principal nations overthrown in securing its hegemony Lydia, Babylon, and Egypt. See Isaiah 41:6. But Medo-Persia ran its course and came to its end at the great Battle of Arbela in 331 BC.
In the sixth verse we read that the third beast was “like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.” The leopard is noted for its swiftness and fierceness. In this symbolic picture four wings were added to the leopard, well typifying the extreme speed of the invasions of Alexander the Great, with his Greek or Macedonian armies traveling from European Greece across Asia Minor, the Holy Land, Egypt, and the great Persian Empire into the very confines of India. He had conquered the world's greatest empires when he was only 25 years of age. In 323 BC. Alexander made his capital at Babylon, a city which still preserves some remnants of the ancient glory of Nebuchadnezzar's day. There he died, and after a few years of quarreling and confusion among his leading generals, four of them-Cassander, Lysimachus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy divided the empire among themselves. This fourfold dominion followed the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC., when these four leading generals defeated the last attempt to hold the empire of Alexander together. Ptolemy took Egypt, Palestine, and part of Syria; Cassander had Macedonia and Greece; Lysimachus had Thrace and a large part of Asia Minor; Seleucus had the bulk of what had been the Persian Empire.
The prophecy moves on rapidly to the fourth world kingdom. “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.” Daniel 7:7, 8. This represents the Roman Empire, with its final ten divisions. This beast is described but not named. Its great iron teeth speak of its destructiveness and cruelty.
The prophet's attention was especially fixed on this beast: “Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet.” Verse 19. Daniel was particularly interested in the beast's horns: “And of the ten horns, that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” Verses 20-22.
History shows clearly that the world power succeeding Alexander's empire and its divisions was Rome, the great empire that stretched from the Atlantic to the confines of Asia. Here in 168 BC., at the Battle of Pydna, the last real opposition of Alexander's descendants was broken. Rome began to annex various nations of the old Greek Empire, including the Holy Land. Wherever Rome did not completely destroy or subjugate a people, it often used them as slaves or sold them into servitude. In this respect it surpassed the other kingdoms, that had heretofore ruled the world.
But Rome itself was finally broken up by the invasions of barbarian tribes from the north, the chief among them being the Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Suevi, Alamanni, Anglo-Saxons, Heruli, Lombards, Burgundians. This disruption of the great empire took place between the years AD. 351 and AD. 476, approximately.
But the prophet saw another little horn rise up after the ten, but among them; and it was different. Although small at first, it grew to be very great; in fact, “more stout than his fellows.” In rising to power it uprooted three of the first ten horns, and it spoke great words against the Most High, as we read in verses twenty-four and twenty-five: “And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings [or kingdoms] that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.”
It is quite clear that the next power which arose in Europe after the division of Rome into the ten tribes or http://www.ThreeAngels.com.aukingdoms, which finally developed into the modern nations of Europe, was a religious power. In other words, it was the Papacy. After the imperial Roman power had been broken up and vanished from the city of Rome, the bishop of Rome, now called the pope, largely took over the leadership of the people. Times of confusion and darkness gave more and more authority to the church leader and made it possible for him to assume power. The only obstacles to the progress of the Papacy to real ruler ship and actual kingly power were three of these horn powers: the Heruli, the Ostrogoths, and the Vandals. They were Arian, that is, they were different in religion from the rest of the broken empire, which was Roman Catholic.
The Heruli were the first to rule over the city of Rome. They were German troops who had mutinied; in 476 they deposed the boy emperor Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of the West. Odoacer, their leader, made himself king in Rome. He was tolerant of the Catholics, but nevertheless was hated by the people of Italy. Through the influence of Emperor Zeno in Constantinople, the Ostrogodis invaded Italy and destroyed the Heruli. Thus the first of these horns was uprooted.
Theodoric, the Ostrogoth king, was tolerant to the various religions, including die Roman Catholic Church. But it was not long before the new emperor of the East, Justinian, with the concurrence of church authorities, sent his armies under Belisarius to destroy both the Vandals and the Ostrogoths. The Vandals, in the meantime, had settled in North Africa. Belisarius overthrew the Vandals in 534 and then marched against the Ostrogoths in Rome and broke their military power in 538. Thus the three horns were uprooted by the influence of the Papacy, and the way was cleared for its full development.
Emperor Justinian had issued a decree in 533 declaring the bishop of Rome to be “the head of all the holy churches” and “head of all the holy priests of God” and the true and effectual corrector of heretics. This imperial edict could not, of course, become effective until 538, when the last of the opposing Arian horns was uprooted. So the supremacy of the Papacy began in 538, when this decree really went into effect. Then the Papacy acquired territorial rule and dominance.
The prophecy declared that her power would continue for “a time and times and the dividing of time.” Daniel 7:25. Some translations put it “one time, two times, and half a time,” or three times and a half. In Revelation 12:14 the same period is called “a time, and times, and half a time.” In Revelation 12:6 it is referred to as “a thousand two hundred and threescore days,” and in Revelation 11: 2, 3 as “a thousand two hundred and threescore days,” or “forty and two months.” It is clear that these forty and two months equal 1260 days (thirty days to a month), and that a “time” represents twelve months, or 360 days. So we may call the period of 360 days (each day standing for a year, as we read in Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6) a prophetic year. A prophetic year means 360 prophetic days, and a prophetic day stands for one of our regular or solar years. The certainty of this year-day principle is demonstrated by the exact fulfillment of the great prophecy of the seventy weeks. A period of three and a half literal years would be absurd as far as the fulfillment of the prophecy is concerned, so these must be symbolic, prophetic years.
To be exact, the 1260 years during which the little horn power was to have supremacy began in 538 and ended in 1798. In that very year the revolutionary armies of France, led by General Berthier, captured the city of Rome and took Pope Pius VI as a prisoner to France, where he died in exile. The whole papal government was dissolved, and the Papacy itself was abolished. “The Eternal City had no longer prince or pontiff; its bishop was a dying captive in foreign lands; and the decree was .. . announced that no successor would be allowed in his place.” But we all know that the Papacy was revived and is a powerful influence in the world today. This also fulfills prophecy, as we shall see from the Book of Revelation.
Now, as was prophesied of the little-horn power, the Papacy spoke “great words against the most High,” or God. In an encyclopedic work written by a Roman Catholic divine of the eighteenth century we read: “The Pope is of so great dignity and so exalted that he is not a mere man, but as it were, God and the vicar of God. ... The Pope is crowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven and of earth and of the lower regions. .. . The Pope is as it were God on earth.... The Pope is of so great authority and power that he can modify, explain, or interpret even divine laws.”
On June 20, 1894, Pope Leo XIII, in one of his encyclical letters, wrote, “We hold on this earth the place of God Almighty.”
Did the Papacy “wear out the saints of the most High”? Even papal authorities acknowledge that the Roman Church has persecuted. The Church claims that it is a legitimate exercise of her power, which she says was granted to her by Christ. From The Catholic Encyclopedia we read: 1n the Bull 'Ad exstirpanda' (1252) Innocent IV says: 'When those adjudged guilty of heresy have been given up to the civil power by the bishop or his representative, or the Inquisition, the podest or chief magistrate of the city shall take them at once, and shall, within five days at the most, execute the laws made against them.'. . . Nor could any doubt remain as to what civil regulations were meant, for the passages which ordered the burning of impenitent heretics were inserted in the papal decretals from the imperial constitutions 'Commissis nobis' and 'Inconsutibilem tunicarn.' The aforesaid Bull 'Ad exstirpanda' remained http://www.ThreeAngels.com.authenceforth a fundamental document of the Inquisition, renewed or re-enforced by several popes, Alexander IV ( 1254-61), Clement IV (1265-68), Nicholas IV (128892), Boniface VIII (1294-1303), and others.” The civil authorities were enjoined by the popes under pain of excommunication to execute legal sentences by burning at the stake those called heretics by the papal authorities.
In Thatcher's Source Book for Mediaeval History, page 2 10, we find these words of Pope Innocent 111 to his bishops regarding those called heretics-in other words, those who did not agree with all the teachings of the papal church: “Therefore by this present apostolical writing we give you a strict command that, by whatever means you can, you destroy all these heresies and expel from your diocese all who are polluted with them. You shall exercise the rigor of the ecclesiastical power against them and all those who have made themselves suspected by associating with them. They may not appeal from your judgments, and if necessary, you may cause the princes and people to suppress them with the sword.”
Even modern Roman Catholic writers justify this religious persecution and intolerance. An American spokesman of the Catholic Church says: “The church has persecuted. Only a tyro in church history will deny that.... One hundred and fifty years after Constantine the Donatists were persecuted, and sometimes put to death.... Protestants were persecuted in France and Spain with the whole approval of the church authorities. We have always defended the persecution of the Huguenots, and the Spanish Inquisition. Wherever and whenever there is honest Catholicity, there will be a clear distinction drawn between truth and error, and Catholicity and all forms of heresy. When she thinks it good to use physical force, she will use it.... But will the Catholic Church give bond that she will not persecute at all? Will she guarantee absolute freedom and equality of all churches and all faiths? The Catholic Church gives no bonds for her good behavior.”-The Western Watchman, December 24, 1908.
The Papacy attempted to change God's times and laws, something she could only think to do but not actually accomplish. We know that the only time mentioned in the Ten Commandment law of God is the holy seventh-day Sabbath, made by Christ in the beginning and kept by Him, and which today is being proclaimed everywhere in the world as a memorial of the creative and re-creative power of God in Christ. The apostate papal church admits that it is responsible for the introduction of Sunday worship. In the authoritative Catechism of the Council of Trent it is written: “But the Church of God [meaning here, of course, the apostate church) has in her wisdom ordained that the celebration of the Sabbath day should be transferred to the 'Lord's day. - This catechism was published by order of Pope Pius V and is authoritative for Roman Catholic doctrine. The change from the true Sabbath to Sunday was a gradual one. It is mentioned by various of the early church writers, or fathers, and is officially acknowledged by the Catholic Church.
One of the early reformers in the days of Martin Luther spoke of this attempted change of the Sabbath by the Papacy. In an old volume in the British Museum Library, published in 1545, the following is attributed to Melanchthon, Luther's fellow reformer. We quote it here with the old English spelling: “He changes the times and laws that any of the six work days commanded of God will make them unholy and idle days when he wished, or of their own holy days abolished make work days again, or when they changed you Saturday into Sunday. . . . They have changed God's laws and turned them into their own traditions to be kept above God's precepts.”-Exposition of Daniel the Prophet, Gathered out of Philipp Melanchthon, Joban Ecolampadius, Etc., by George Joyce, 1545, p. 119.
Before the second Jewish revolt, led by Bar Cocheba from AD. 132 to 135, Judaism was recognized as a legal religion in the Roman Empire. After that, in order to avoid persecution as Jews, the Christians sought in every way to distinguish themselves from the Jews. Within the next two or three hundred years, Christian writers mention the, observance of the Sabbath as “Judaizing.” Also, we must remember that there are no historical references to Christians' observing Sunday as a sacred day before the time of this Jewish revolt. Therefore, it must have been immediately afterward that some Christians began to attach Sabbath sacredness to the first day of the week. For centuries some Christians observed both days. Tertullian, one of the church fathers in the third century, mentions that Christ did not do away with the Sabbath. Later on, the Apostolic Constitutions (chapter 2, page 36) urged Christians to “keep the Sabbath and the Lord's day festival.”
Eusebius, the church father who wrote in the days of Constantine and later, says in his Commentary on Psalm 92: “All things whatsoever it was duty to do on the Sabbath, these we have transferred to the Lord's day, as more appropriately belonging to it, because it has a precedence and is first in rank, and more honorable than the Jewish Sabbath.” This shows that he and other church leaders claimed responsibility for the change.
The first official action by the Catholic Church to put Sunday above the Sabbath was taken at the Council of Laodicea in the fourth century. Canon 29 of this council reads: “Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday [Sabbath), but shall work on that day; but the Lord's day they shall especially honor, and, as being Christians, shall, if possible, do no work on that day. If, however, they are found Judaizing, they shall be shut out from Christ.”
It is interesting to note that the same council made provision for Sabbath worship, but designated the day as http://www.ThreeAngels.com.aua work day. This is the first ecclesiastical law demanding the observance of Sunday. Those who kept the true seventh-day Sabbath were accused of Judaizing. The, records of those days show that the churches in Alexandria, Egypt, and Rome were the ones most responsible for promoting Sunday observance. About 440 the church historian Socrates wrote: “Although almost all churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries on the Sabbath every week, yet the Christians of Alexandria and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, have ceased to do this.” These church fathers sometimes speak of Sunday as the Lord's day, but Jesus plainly said, “The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28), making the Sabbath, and not Sunday, the Lord's day. Notice:
In regard to doctrines and practices not clearly taught in Holy Scripture, it is well for us to remember the words of Jesus to theologians of His day who had introduced into the worship of God things which were not taught in the Scripture. He said, 'Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? ... In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” Matthew 15:3, 9.
In an officially approved catechism of the Roman Catholic Church we read the following:
“Question: Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept [that is, festivals which it is the duty of Christians to observe]?
“Answer: Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her; she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no scriptural authority.”
But right in the midst of this great prophecy of apostasy in the Christian church and intolerance exercised even by Christians against Christians and others, we find one of the most majestic scenes in all the Holy Scriptures: I beheld till the thrones were cast down [or placed, as some ancient authorities have it], and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.” Daniel 7:9, 10.
What a scene this is! Busy as you are with the affairs of today planning something for tonight, business tomorrow, with radio, television, and the newspaper wedged in between-have you ever stopped to think of this scene when the judgment will he set and the books opened? Someday we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Someday all men will be judged according to their works. And how thankful we can be that we will have a just judge and righteous judgment.
Daniel Webster, as secretary of state under President Fillmore, was once having dinner with a group of twenty others at the Astor House in New York City. He seemed to be unusually restless and aloof from the course of conversation; in fact, he sank into a sort of reverie. In order to draw him out, one of the men asked him a rather unusual question. “Mr. Webster,” he said, “will you tell us what was the most important thought that ever occupied your mind?”
Mr. Webster passed his hand over his forehead, and in a very low tone said to the man next to him: 1s there anyone here who does not know me?”
“No,” he was told, “we are all your friends. You can be perfectly free.”
Then this great man said in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, “The most important thought that ever occupied my mind is my personal responsibility to http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auGod.”
He talked on that subject for twenty minutes or more, then arose from the table and left the room.
Surely this mighty theme should occupy our minds. We should remember that the judgment is set and the books are open, and that every man will be judged by those things which are written in the books. (Revelation 20:12.)
It is evident from the setting of the judgment scene in this prophecy that it takes place in heaven before the return of Christ to this earth. It is immediately afterward that Christ receives His kingdom, as we read in Daniel 7:13, 14: “1 saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”
Christ's power, not the power of apostasy, is to be final. His kingdom will be set up, not the kingdom of fallible man. Of the little-horn power it is said: “The judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.” Daniel 7:26.
Notice that the prophecy here in the seventh chapter of Daniel ends the same as that of the second chapter, with the one great truth that the Son of man, or Christ Jesus the Lord, is to rule the entire world. But He will not rule it alone; He is to share it with His people. Let us read verse eighteen: “But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.” Those who were persecuted and condemned to death by the pagan powers of the early centuries; those multitudes who later were persecuted and suffered even unto blood, striving against sin, for the truth they held dear, in the so-called Dark Ages; and those saints of God who were put to death by other Christians, misguided in their intolerance against those they considered heretics-all are known to Jesus. He has not forgotten them. They may have died in lonely dungeons, but Christ remembers them. He hears their cries and it is all written in His book. The judgment will sit and the just judge will open the record.
The kingdom that Jesus promised to His disciples, the kingdom that Christians pray about when they say, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6: 10), is the kingdom that Christ is to share with His own people. The saints of the Most High will take the kingdom. `And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” Daniel 7:27. It is to be a kingdom over everything and everybody forever.
Now the great question is, Who are the saints? Who are those who share with Christ the coming kingdom of the world? In answer we suggest seven marks of identification:
First, the saints are those in Christ: 'Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1: 1. In this scripture the apostles speak to all the saints in Christ Jesus.
In the second place, the saints are those who love the Lord: “O love the Lord, all you his saints: for the Lord preserves the faithful, and plentifully rewards the proud doer.” Psalm 31:23.
Third, the saints are a praying people. In Revelation 5:8 we read of the prayers of the saints going up, before God.
Fourth, the saints are willing to sacrifice: “Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” Psalm 50:5.
Fifth, the saints are willing to suffer persecution. Daniel 7:25 speaks of the power of the little-horn ecclesiastical monarchy which “shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High.” Also, it is written in Revelation 16:6: “For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou has given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.” Yes, the saints are willing to suffer for God and His Word.
Sixth, the saints are those who keep the faith of Jesus: “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12.
Seventh, the saints keep the commandments of God, as we notice in this same text. http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auAnd now we might press the question closer, right to our own hearts, in fact. Do we-do you, do I-fit into this picture? Can we qualify as being among God's saints, God's children? Do we love Him? Are we willing to suffer for Him, to sacrifice for Him? Do we live a life of prayer? Do we keep the faith of Jesus? Do we cling to the commandments of God? Are we in Christ? These questions come directly to us with all the force of this great prophecy. Remember, it is only the saints who will take part in the coming kingdom of Christ.
The four world empires are in the past-Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. The 1260 years of papal supremacy are in the past. The judgment is sitting and the books are opened. What an hour of eternal destiny is this! None Of us can stand before the judgment bar of God alone. We must have Jesus Christ as our Advocate. We must be clothed in His righteousness, redeemed by His blood, so that by faith we are in Him, and God will look upon us as He looks upon our Savior. Then in His righteousness we shall be altogether pure and righteous, but only in Him.
In great areas of the Christian world today sin is almost a forgotten word, and a saint is often ridiculed. However, it was the plan of God that Christ should enter this world and transform sinners into saints.
A small boy was asked by his teacher to define the word saint. “What is a saint?” she asked.
The child stood in consternation for a while, and then a smile came over his face. “Oh, I know,” he said. “A saint is a person that the light comes through.”
You see, he had been to church and seen the great stained glass windows depicting the saints of the Bible. He had seen the morning light stream through those figures wrought in the beautiful colored glass. In reply to his questions, his mother had told him that those were the saints of God, memorialized for all time.
Yes, the boy told a greater truth than he knew. A saint is a person the light shines through-God's light, “The light. . . of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6. According to the words of the great apostle in 1 Corinthians 1:2, we are “called to be saints.” The coming King is our Lord and Savior; the coming kingdom is to be ours if we are His. His atoning sacrifice is ours. He died that we might live.
A number of years ago the beautiful Spring Palace in Fort Worth was on fire. A woman was trapped in an upper story and all hope of escape seemed to be cut off. Firemen flung their ladders against the wall, but again and again they were driven back by the terrible flames. They tried to spread nets to catch the woman, but the heat kept her from getting close enough.
Then a stranger in the crowd wrapped his coat around his head, dashed up the burning stairway, covered the woman's head with his coat, carried her in his arms down the burning steps, and laid her on the ground. She was uninjured, but in a few moments the man fell dead. Today a beautiful fountain stands in an open square near the Texas-Pacific Railway station in honor of AI Hayne, who gave his life for another.
Christ Jesus died for all men, to save us from eternal death; and He is our advocate in the judgment. Will you not yield to Him your heart's true allegiance? Soon He will come in the clouds of heaven to the Ancient of days, and the kingdom will be given to Him. Then He will come in glory to take His people unto Himself.
0NE OF radio's famous characters, Eddie Cantor, at the end of a broadcast once stepped out before the audience and told of an experience that had come to him. He said he was walking down Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood when a sudden windstorm arose, and he and many others ran for cover. There were a number of stores nearby, but for some reason he ran across the street and took refuge in an archway. He had been there for some time before he realized that it was part of a church. This set him to thinking. “Each of us, sooner or later, needs a refuge of one kind or another,” he said. I know of no better place to go for it than to a church.”
Christ's church is a refuge, a never-failing refuge. When He founded it, He said that it would be here to the end of time. “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18. Under the symbol of seven churches (Revelation 1-3) He describes the history of Christianity from the time of His ascension from the Mount of Olives to His return in the clouds of heaven. That these seven churches do indeed represent the story of the church through the ages down to the end of time is clear. From old days Christian students have recognized this fact. Vitringa of Holland, in his commentary published in 1705, said: “Under this emblematical representation of the seven churches of Asia, the Holy Spirit has delineated seven different states of the Christian church which would appear in succession, extending to the coming of our Lord.” And Joseph Mead, one of the earliest English commentators on the Book of Revelation, said the same thing.
The list of these prophetic churches and the periods represented by them is as follows:
We might entitle this message from Revelation, “Christ and the Seven Great Churches.” The name Revelation indicates that it contains things revealed by Jesus Christ. In fact the first words tell us that it is “the Revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Revelation 1:l.) Happily the things that are revealed belong to God's people. We read in Deuteronomy 29:29: “Those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever.”
The purpose of Revelation is declared in the first verse: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass.” So the messages in the Book of Revelation are especially for the children of God, the true believers.
Chapter one introduces the one tremendous event toward which the whole book is pointing. Verse seven declares, “Behold, he comes with clouds; and every eye shall see him.” This same message is found also in the last part of the last chapter of this last book of the Bible. Revelation not only opens and closes with the subject of Christ's second coming, but at least eight great lines of prophecy found in it reach down to the tremendous event which means so much to God's church and to the world.
Before discussing the seven churches of prophecy, let me give you a little encouragement. Here it is in Revelation 1: 3: “Blessed is he that reads, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” Isn't that an unusual statement? A blessing is pronounced upon those who read this book or hear it read, and especially upon those who keep the things written therein.
The prophetic story opens with a vision of the Lord Jesus in glory, walking in the midst of seven golden candlesticks, or lamp stands. (Revelation 1: 12, 13.) These seven golden lamps represent the seven churches. (Verse 20.)
We begin the study of the seven churches with the word that came from the angel to the Apostle John: “What thou sees, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches.” Revelation 1: 11. Then he names the seven churches: Ephesus, Srnyma, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. These were all names of actual cities in what is now known as Asia Minor. This was the field of labor of the Apostle Paul and the others who followed immediately after the apostles. The messages addressed to the seven churches and the blessings pronounced upon them apply, as we have noted before, to the seven periods, or spiritual states, of the church from the first advent of Jesus to His second coming. As we consider the prophecy, this truth shall become increasingly clear. The good qualities of these church periods are pointed out, also their defects. The admonitions and warnings given are suitable http://www.ThreeAngels.com.aufor each. Likewise blessings especially appropriate to the time are pronounced. Now we turn to the second chapter of Revelation and notice these churches in order:
1.Ephesus
Tthe apostolic age (A.D. 31-100). The word Ephesus is said to mean “desirable,” a fitting name for this first church period. Remembering that this is Christ's message to the apostolic church, which continued approximately until the time of the death of the last apostle, John, in the year 100, we read:
“Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou can not bear them which are evil: and thou has tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and has found them liars: and has borne, and has patience, and for my name's sake has labored, and has not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou has left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. But this thou has, that thou hates the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate. He that hath an car, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcomes will I give to cat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God' Revelation 2:1-7.
Let us note that every one of these messages has blessing not only for the church of that time but also for Christian people in all ages. Ephesus appropriately symbolizes the condition of the church in its first state of purity in the days of the holy apostles of Christ. The church received His doctrine and held it and enjoyed the benefits and blessings of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
But the divine messenger declares that he has something against even this first period of Christian service, because he says in verse four: “Thou has left thy first love.” How easy this is for any of us! And we should take warning from this message. We come into the Christian faith warm and enthusiastic, but after a while it becomes commonplace, and we lose our first love. As in so many marriages, the initial ardor cools. The marriage partners see the imperfections of each other and are not willing to overlook them. Then trouble begins to brew. So it was in the life of this apostolic church.
“Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works.” Verse 5. Look back to the time of your first love. From that first love came those first works-works of repentance, obedience, earnest Christian service, of suffering for the Master. If these first works of Christian living are restored in our lives, we shall find the first love returning. The first love is the love of God and a desire to make His truth known to others; the first works are the fruits of this love.
We may ask, “How can I know that I love God? I believe I love Him, but I want to know for sure. - In an engine room it is impossible to look into the great boiler and see how much water it contains, but running up beside it is seen a tiny glass tube which serves as a gauge. As the water stands in the huge boiler, so it stands in the little tube. When it is half full, the boiler is half full; when the tube is empty, the boiler is empty. How can we know that we love God? Look at the gauge. Our love for our brother, our friend, our neighbor, is the gauge of our love for God. Do we love men? We can answer that. We can read what is registered in the “tube,” and by that we can know our relation to God. Let us remember that there is not one love with which we love men and another with which we love God. Love is one; and as it stands toward man as a visible gauge, so it stands toward God.
The church in the days of the apostles was an active church. Those early pioneers of faith went everywhere preaching the Word, until the whole civilized world of that day had heard the gospel. However, the Apostle Paul had warned the elders of the church of Ephesus that there would come a falling away from the early faith, and that errors would desolate the church. “Of your own selves [he said] shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” Acts 20:30. The New Testament records the names of some of those who fell away, such as Demas, who “loved this present world” (2 Timothy 4: 10); or Demetrius, a silversmith, who did much evil to the believers (Acts 19:23-29); or Simon the sorcerer, who, for love of gain, attempted to buy the power of God (Acts 8:9).
Those who fall away from Christ are to “repent, and do the first works.” We are not saved by works, “for by grace are you saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8), but obedience is the sign of conversion and true spiritual life.
Notice now the promise that is made to the faithful in the church of Ephesus: “To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” Revelation 2:7. This first promise of God to the churches reminds us that the Eden lost by Adam, transplanted to heaven untouched by the curse, is to be restored to Adam's race through Jesus Christ; and access again to the tree of life will be given to all the children of God. “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Revelation 22:14.
The period of pagan persecution (100323). The word Smyrna means “myrrh,” the seeds of which were used for the sweet incense. As Jesus walks among the golden lamps, He comes to Smyrna, bringing His message to it: “Unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shall suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried; and you shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” Revelation 2:8-10.
This was a time of pagan persecution under the Roman Empire. Many of God's children suffered martyrdom in the second, third, and early fourth centuries. To these persecuted Christians the message came: “Fear none of those things which thou shall suffer.” The most severe persecutions by pagan Rome began under Diocletian and continued from 303 to 313, exactly ten years, or ten prophetic days; for in prophecy a day stands for a year. In those days it was often worth a man's life to be a Christian. Under Diocletian medals were struck with these words: “The Christians are no more.”
Many heart-stirring stories have been written about the martyrs of this period. There is the story of Blandina, a slave girl only fifteen years old, whose stand for the faith was a surprise to the church. “While we were all trembling,” they wrote, “and her earthly mistress, who was herself one of the contending martyrs, was apprehensive lest through the weakness of the flesh she should not be able to make a bold confession,” this girl not only endured torture herself, but cheered many others as they bore their witness to Christ by martyrdom. I am a Christian!” she confessed again and again. “No wickedness is carried on by us.” She was put to every torture in an effort to make her implicate her Christian mistress. She was kept in a dark dungeon and brought into the amphitheater every day and forced to see the agonies of her friends as they were roasted in an iron chair or torn to pieces by lions. She seemed to have superhuman endurance, for although they racked her from morning to night, her tormentors were obliged to give over in order to rest themselves. Nothing could vanquish her patience. Her only answer was, “I am a Christian. No wickedness was done by us.”
They took her to the circus, fastened her on a cross within reach of the wild beasts in order to frighten her fellow confessors. A lion was let loose upon her. She looked into its mouth and smiled like a queen, and the monster did not touch her. Only a hundred years before, the first slave girl had been converted to Christ by the Apostle Paul at Philippi. Now this noble sister of hers cast holy defiance at the mighty empire and looked it in the face unflinchingly. Her fearless testimony to her faith strengthened others and proved herself stronger than the persecuting power of Rome.
She was taken down from the cross, returned to her dungeon, and finally brought back for execution. She was a rare victim for the savage populace and they gloated on her. But she flinched not. She was first scourged and then scorched in an iron chair, and at last cast before a furious bull that tossed her savagely. But even then the sharp blade of the executioner's sword was needed to take her last lingering throb of life. Her body was then burned to ashes and cast into the Rhone River.
The storm of persecution swept on, but at last, as Myers's General History says: “By a decree issued at Milan 313 AD., the year after the battle at the Milvian Bridge, Constantine placed Christianity on an equal footing with the other religions of the empire.” The ,blood of the martyrs proved to be the seed of the church. The faith of Christ could not be stamped out by even the most cruel persecution.
Notice the wonderful promise to this church which suffered imprisonment and death at the instigation of the devil: “He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death.” Revelation 2: 11. As we study the twentieth chapter of this Book of Revelation, we shall find that both the wicked and the righteous will be raised from the first death, the resurrection of the wicked being a thousand years after the first resurrection. The first resurrection, the resurrection of the righteous, takes place at the second coming of Christ. The wicked are brought forth a thousand years later in the second resurrection, the resurrection of damnation, and destroyed in the lake of fire. “This is the second death” (Revelation 20:14), in which God's true children will have no part. And now Jesus speaks to the third church:
3. Pergamos
The period of worldly power and spiritual weakness (323-538). The word Pergamos means “height,” or “elevation.” The city of Pergamos itself was built on a lofty hill. It represents the period of Christian history following the conversion of Emperor Constantine to Christianity and the setting up of the full union of church and state. The church which formerly was persecuted and, like her Savior, had no place to lay her head, gradually grew into a mighty power that could command untold wealth and the armies of imperial Rome. At this time, as Philip Schaff, http://www.ThreeAngels.com.authe great church historian says, she received into her bosom vast deposits of foreign material from the world and from heathenism.
Gradually many heathen rites and ceremonies were introduced into the church, and some of them are still evident in certain circles of organized Christianity. But there were many faithful believers in those days. As the heavenly watcher declared:
“To the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things said he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; I know thy works, and where thou dwells, even where Satan's scat is: and thou holds fast my name, and has not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against thee, because thou has there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So has thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate. Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.” Revelation 2:12-16.
From this period onward it is the people of the “falling away,” or apostasy, who stand before the world as the great Christian church. But God always has had a smaller body of true believers of whom He says, - Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:32. “The sharp sword with two edges” must be the Word of Holy Scripture, which, as we read in Ephesians 6:17, is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
It is never God's plan to force the conscience. Religious liberty is a Christian principle. Jesus said, “If any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” John 12:47. If the church had always followed this principle, we would have a different story in this prophecy of Revelation and the history explaining it.
The “doctrine of Balaam” spoken of can he understood better by reading Numbers 22 to 25 and 31:13-16. Balaam had been a prophet of God, but he became an apostate and was hired by a heathen king to curse God's people. However, God turned the curse into a blessing. Later on Balaam, attempted to ruin Israel by advising the heathen to persuade the people of God to practice the abominations of pagan worship, which many did and were destroyed.
Paganism, which had been unsuccessful in destroying the church, now allied itself with Christianity, and many false doctrines and practices became Christian custom. During this period of church history pagan superstitions poured into the church like a flood. Cardinal Newman, a famous Roman Catholic, said: `Confiding then in the power of Christianity to resist the infection of evil, and to transmute the very instruments and appendages of demon worship to an evangelical use.... the rulers of the church from early times were prepared, should the occasion arise, to adopt, or imitate, or sanction the existing rites and customs of the populace, as well as the philosophy of the educated class.”
Among the pagan festivals which were introduced into the Christian religion during this period was Sunday, the first day of the week, established as a holy day in place of the seventh-day Sabbath of the Bible.
The Christian church today has absorbed too much of the spirit of the age. It is sick with unbelief and philosophical neutralism in the things of God. One reason why there is so little persecution of Christians today is that the church is so much like the world. It is the spirit of compromise, of doubt, of human speculation, of denial of Scriptural authority, which has poisoned Christian faith.
Some time ago the Associated Press reported the strange illness of Clare Boothe Luce, United States ambassador to Italy. Physicians discovered that it was caused by arsenic absorbed from the decorations of the apartment in which she lived in Rome. Newspaper reports said that this arsenic sifted down as tiny particles of dust during the first twenty months that she lived there. Present in the air she breathed and the food she ate, it poisoned her. When her apartment was repainted, the symptoms subsided.
In like manner the church has been poisoned. Tainting its creeds, shaping its liturgies, corrupting its standards, the miasma of paganism has been wafted above the altars of Christendom to be absorbed by generation after generation. The Savior's special warning to the church of Pergamos is: “Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against ... [you] with the sword of my mouth.” Revelation 2:16.
It is strange that so often men are not ashamed of their sins, but they are ashamed to repent. Real repentance is, as Shakespeare said, “the heart's sorrow, and a clean life ensuing.” Real repentance is sorrow for sin, not merely sorrow for being caught, but a determination to change and live right. Repentance is not mere words; it is deeds; it is a revolution of the inner man; it is bringing forth fruit. So few men repent because so few are willing to make a radical change in their living.
But there were many faithful believers in those days, as the heavenly watcher declared: “I know thy works, http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auand where thou dwells, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holds fast my name, and has not denied my faith.” Verse 13. This is a wonderful testimony to the true servants of God of any age. Remember, the Lord knows where we live; He knows our works; He knows whether or not we hold fast His name, whether or not we deny the faith. Let us pray that we may not deny Him either by our lives or by our words.
The Savior's promise to this church of Pergamos is: “To him that overcomes will I give to cat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knows saying he that receives it.” Revelation 2:17. Not only does He promise spiritual food but also the stone of hospitality and the new name which represents the overcomer's new character and his experience with Christ. A new name comes with a new life when one is born again, and that name is “Overcomer” in whatever language it may be.
The time of papal supremacy (538 to the end of the days of persecution). The meaning of Thyatira is “sacrifice of contrition.” This is a period in church history when apostasy almost destroyed simple faith, and outward works and penances took its place. Men seemed to forget that salvation cannot he bought or earned, but that it is a gift of God and comes by grace, and grace alone.
The Papacy reached its great authority in 538, when the decree of Justinian went into full effect with destruction of the last of the Arian powers, and for 1260 years that time was to continue, even to 1798. But the days of persecution were to be shortened. As Jesus said, “Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.” Matthew 24:21, 22.
The coming of the Reformation in the sixteenth century helped to break the power of the Papacy. The discovery of America as a place of refuge, together with other events, shortened the persecution of those days. The prophecy of Daniel had foretold the rise of religious power to great supremacy as the Roman Empire was divided. This power was represented by a little horn which came up among ten others. It overthrew three of them and was to continue for a long period. “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” Daniel 7:25. This power is the papal power, and the “time and times and the dividing of time” are 1260 years, as is shown in chapter 25.
Christ's message to this period of apostasy is the longest of all the messages to the seven churches. We shall not quote it all. He describes himself as One who has “eyes like unto a flame of fire.” He knew their charity, service, faith, patience, and works. In this period of persecution and darkness when Christian persecuted Christian, there were many who were faithful to God. Some found refuge in the valleys of the Alps, in the deep forests, and in the deserts of the earth. Many were persecuted and slain, others burned at the stake in public places, sometimes before thousands of people.
“Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee,” says the heavenly watcher, “because thou suffers that woman Jezebel, which calls herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants.” Verse 20. In studying the story of Jezebel in the Old Testament, we find that she was the wife of Ahab, king of Israel. Being the daughter of pagan idolatry, she introduced heathen superstitions into Israel and led her husband into sin. And so in the Dark Ages of papal supremacy the apostate church had authority even over the state, introducing human traditions and persecutions by the authority of the civil sword.
To the true believers in that dark hour of the world's history, the message of the Savior was, “Hold fast till I come.” Verse 25. The 1260 years reached to 1798, the beginning of the time of the end, when the signs pointing to the second coming of Christ began to be fulfilled rapidly. To the persecuted ones, the promise came: “He that overcomes, and keeps my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations.” Verse 26.
5. Sardis
The period from the ending of the persecutions to the advent awakening in the early nineteenth century. Sardis means “prince or song of joy,” or “that which remains.” We might call this the Reformation church, the church surviving after the Dark Ages had passed. “That which remains” is precious to God.
Jesus says to this church, “I know thy works, that thou has a name that thou lives, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou has received and heard, and hold fast, and repent.” Revelation 3:1-3. This message would be good for any Christian.
God raised up men to proclaim again the original foundation truths of Christian faith. “That which remains” was the gospel truth, which shone more brightly after the dark night had almost extinguished it. It signifies those http://www.ThreeAngels.com.augreat truths of salvation through faith proclaimed by such mighty reformers as John Calvin, Martin Luther, John Knox. But many of the reformed churches lost their first glow and drifted into formality. Reformation should be continuous. New light should be accepted as fast as it comes.
Jesus is said here to be the One who “hath the seven Spirits of God' (Verse l.) Seven is the number of completeness, fullness. As the end draws near, and the world is to be enlightened with the gospel and warned of Christ's coming, Christians need the fullness of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. “Strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die.” Times of revival did come to the Sardis church. We think of John Wesley and his associates, of George Whitefield, the evangelist: those mighty men who spread the evangelical revival around the world. It was a time of increase of knowledge, when men began to “run to and fro.” (Daniel 12:4.)
The promise to the overcomers in Sardis is that they will be clothed in white raiment, and that their names will not be blotted out of the book of life. Instead, says Jesus, I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.” Verse 5. If we confess Christ to be our Savior here, He will confess us to be His disciples before His Father in heaven.
When Lord Nelson was asked by his friend Hardy to put on a cloak to hide the stars on his breast, which made him a mark for the French sharpshooters who were scattered through the rigging of the man-of-war not far away, he said, “No! In honor I got them; in honor I will wear them; in honor I will die with them, if need be.” It was the sun glittering on those stars that made Nelson a target for the enemy. Likewise we are not to fling about us the cloak of compromise. Though our confession of faith will make us a target for the enemy at times, it is an honor and a glory to every believer. Put on Christ,” says the Apostle Paul. (Galatians 3:27.) And our confession of Christ is our uniform, our badge of honor, our hope in time and in eternity.
The period of the great advent awakening (from the early nineteenth century to the opening of the judgment hour). Philadelphia means “brotherly love.” In this church message we notice the nearness of the advent, as brought to view in Revelation 3: 11: “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou has, that no man take thy crown.” Following the great evangelical revival under Sardis came the great awakening to the truth of the second coming of Christ. In the days of William Miller, one of the foremost preachers of his time, the whole world was aroused on this subject. Books on prophecy were printed. Hundreds of clergymen of various denominations preached with power the return of Christ, and finally in North America the great organized advent movement gave the awakening cry. The expectation of the coming of Christ drew their hearts together. Truly, the period may well be called the church of brotherly love. How much this brotherly love is needed today in the last hours of time in which we live!
The story comes down to us from ancient times of two brothers who lived on farms side by side. One brother had a wife and a happy family of children. The other lived alone, having never married. At the time of the wheat harvest the brother who was alone awakened from his sleep one night and thought about his good crop. He said to himself, I do not need it all. I will arise and go and carry some of my sheaves over to my brother's field, and he will just think that the good God has greatly blessed him.” So he got up and went forth to gather the sheaves of grain to carry over to his brother's field.
The other brother had awakened at the same time and thought about his lonely brother with no wife or children to comfort him. He said to himself, “I will go out into my field, get some of my sheaves and take them over to his field, and he will think that the good God in heaven has blessed him with an abundant harvest.” So these two brothers, their hearts full of love and their arms full of sheaves, started for each other's field. They met on the border and there realized as never before how much they loved each other. Tradition tells us that on this very spot the great temple was later built in honor of tile God of peace and love by Solomon, whose name itself means “peace.”
Philadelphia, this period of brotherly love, leads up to tile final church period. The great advent movement ended in a mighty disappointment, for Christ had been expected to come in 1844, at the end of the 2300 days of prophecy, as we learn in chapter 30. However, restudy of the prophetic periods of Daniel and Revelation showed that the error was not in the time, but in the event. It became clear that Christ was not to come to this earth in 1844, but to begin His great work of mediatorial ministry in the heavenly temple, His work of cleansing the heavenly sanctuary, the final work of judgment before His second coming. (See chapter 30.)
7. Laodicea
The last church period (from the opening of the judgment hour in 1844 to the coming of Christ). Laodicea means “a judging work,” or “a judgment of the people.” From 1844 onward the gospel message is, “The hour of his judgment is come.” Revelation 14:7. The Laodicean message is a mighty call from heaven for a genuine preparation of heart to meet the judgment:
“These things said the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou were cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because thou say, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and know not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou may be rich; and white raiment, that thou may be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that thou may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches.” Revelation 3:14-22.
There is much luke warmness among Christians today. This is one of the most dangerous conditions ever to threaten the spiritual life of God's people. When one is cold, he is uncomfortable, but when he is lukewarm, he feels all right. God does not want us cold or lukewarm; He wants us hot in His service. And notice, He says, “Because thou says, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; ... I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou may be rich; and white raiment, that thou may be clothed.” The gold, no doubt, is the gold of faith, and the white raiment represents the righteousness of Christ. These may be had “without money and without price.” (Isaiah 55:1)
One encouraging part of this message to Laodicea, the last church in the last time, is this: “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” Christ loves the believers in Laodicea and calls upon them to be zealous, to repent, to turn back to Him. We may have many beautiful church buildings; we may have large budgets; but we need the divine riches-faith, hope, and love. We are living in a time of great profession, but of little possession; of great progress, but of little prayer. We need the white raiment of Christ's righteousness, which is ours for the asking.
The rebuke of the church of Laodicea is for our benefit and blessing. We are chastened that we might be God's own children. He calls upon us to be zealous and repent. This is a final warning message before our Savior's return.
There is great encouragement for us, too, in the prophecy, for in the next words we read, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me!' Verse 20. Jesus stands at the door in Laodicea. He knocks for entrance.
In Holman Hunt's famous painting “The Light of the World,” Jesus stands outside the door in the darkness of the night with a lantern in His hand. The latch is on the inside of the door. The artist, in explaining his work, said that the door represents man, who, when Christ knocks, must open it himself.
After gazing thoughtfully at the great painting for a time, a child turned to his mother and asked, “Did He ever get in?” That is the question that comes to you and to me today: Did Christ ever get in? Is He in our hearts? Have we opened the door to Him? He will never come in unless we do open the door to Him, unless we invite Him in. That is our precious privilege.
Jesus says, 1f any man hear my voice. . . .” But hearing alone is not enough, as the rest of the verse shows. We may hear Him. We may go to gospel meetings. We may read good books. We may even pray and sing. We may listen to religious radiobroadcasts and telecasts of Christian faith. We may be touched and moved. We may weep with all conviction. But we must do something about it. We must do something more than just hear. “If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him.” That's it-we must open the door. Then He will come in to us and have precious communion with us. That's the experience that these hearts of ours need, and the joy we all may have.
“Just now, your doubtings give o'er; . Just now, reject Him no more; Just now, throw open the door; Let Jesus come into your heart.”
-Mrs. C. H. Morris.
There are many other lessons in these prophetic messages to the seven churches which I shall not mention here. Read them for yourself. Read each church message, each church prophecy. For a verse-by-verse exposition of the messages to the seven churches, we recommend the following books:
The Prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation, by Uriah Smith. Published by the Southern Publishing Association, http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auNashville, Tennessee.
Beacon Lights of Prophecy, by William A. Spicer. Published by the Review and Herald Publishing Association, Takoma Park, Washington, D.C.
Bible Readings for the Home, compiled by a large number of Bible scholars. Published by the Review and Herald Publishing Association, Takoma Park, Washington. D.C.
ON ONE of Fenelon's prayers, which is certainly frank, are these words: “O my God, if I ever ventured to complain of you, the only thing I should find fault with would be that you do not give your church enough of these men [referring to the need for spiritual leaders]. Where, O my God, are the burning and shining lamps, placed in your house to warn and enlighten your children? How scanty the number of them! Where may they be found?”
Certainly the cry of any age has been for light, for men to hold aloft the torch of truth. As men have compromised with error, the lamps of truth have burned dimly; embers have replaced the flame. But always there has been light from Jesus, the light of the world. And as men in darkness have reached for Him, they have been caught up to shine as the stars of the firmament in the hand of Jesus. This picture is beautifully conveyed by the imagery of Revelation 1, where true ministers of God are symbolized as stars in the hands of Jesus, and the church is likened to candlesticks, or lamps.
The origin of darkness itself is described in Revelation 12. The curtain of the ages is drawn aside, and on the stage called history appears the father of lies, the author of darkness. He who rebelled against God is unmasked. In the Revelation of Jesus Christ he appears in his true role: the archenemy of Jesus and His church. John graphically introduces the actors involved in the struggle between light and darkness as follows:
'There appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: and she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns, upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.” Verses 1-5.
The figure of a pure woman is used in Scripture to symbolize the pure church, and a corrupt woman to symbolize the apostate church. See Ezekiel 23:2-4; Revelation 17:3-6. A pure woman is certainly an appropriate symbol for the church of Christ. The prophet Jeremiah said, I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman.” Jeremiah 6:2. Her beauty represents the glory of the church; her pure life, its purity or what the Scripture speaks of as “the righteousness of saints.” (Revelation 19:8.)
It was the Apostle Paul who said to the early Christians, “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:2. The marriage relationship is used in Scripture to represent the union between believers and Christ. “The husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the body.” Ephesians 5:23. The body represents the church, Christ being the head. (1 Corinthians 12:27.)
Notice that this woman of prophecy is clothed with the sun and has the moon under her feet. The sun fitly represents the glory of the gospel dispensation. And, just as the moon shines with the reflected light of the sun, so the whole Old Testament system of types and shadows-the sanctuary service, the sacrifices-pointed forward to the cross. The church inherited all this. She is crowned with a crown of twelve stars, suggesting the twelve apostles. We think also of the twelve patriarchs and the twelve tribes of Israel of Old Testament times.
Who was the “man child” brought forth to the church, the one who is to rule all nations with a rod of iron, and who was caught up to God and to His throne? Who could it he but Christ? Do we not read in Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his heel”?
Whom does the dragon represent primarily? From whence did he come? “There was war in heaven ..... And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Revelation 12:7, 9. The church has been the object of Satan's wrath from the beginning. Satan personally opposed the Lord Jesus during His life on earth and, through earthly powers, worked against Him and His church.
What great world power was waiting to devour and to destroy Jesus when He was horn? “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.” Luke 2: 10. He was emperor of pagan Rome, the empire which stretched over almost the entire western civilized world at that time. Who attempted to kill the baby Jesus? The soldiers of Herod, a satellite king ruling under the authority of Rome. A Roman official turned Him over to the mob for crucifixion, and Roman soldiers had charge of that shameful ordeal on dark Golgotha. It was by decree of the Roman governor that His tomb was sealed with the official seal. Thus it is evident that Satan was working through the pagan Roman Empire.
In the prophecy of the seventh chapter of Daniel, the fourth beast, representing Rome, has ten horns, just as http://www.ThreeAngels.com.authe dragon in this prophecy of Revelation 12 has ten horns. The horns represent the ten divisions of the Roman Empire, which finally became the nations of modern Europe. The dragon was often pictured on military ensigns. According to the Roman Prudentius, the soldiers of Constantine, who professed Christianity, substituted the symbol of the cross for the symbol of the dragon. He said, “Instead of the dragon-flags which they carried, moved about with the wind, they bring forward the illustrious wood that subdued the dragon. So Satan is the primary power symbolized by the dragon, and Rome is the secondary, or earthly, power the dragon symbolizes.
When the authorities of church and state led Jesus to His death, the powers of evil must have rejoiced in what seemed to be their victory. As they closed in upon Him, Jesus said, “This is your hour, and the power of darkness.” Luke 22:53. “And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.” Luke 23:33. In their attempt to identify Jesus with sinners, even with the worst of criminals, they crucified Him between two of them. Satan's controversy with Christ seemed to gain him the victory, for Jesus was placed in a tomb scaled with the official Roman seal. But the Scripture declares that “it was not possible that he should be hold of it.” Acts 2:24. Death could not subdue the Son of God.
UP from the grave He arose, With a mighty triumph o'er His foes.” -Robert Lowry.
Soon afterward He “was caught up unto God, and to his throne.” He ascended into heaven and there “sits at the right hand of the Father,” as the Apostles' Creed puts it. His ascension is described in Acts 1:9.
Revelation 12:7-9 seems to picture the initial conflict in heaven, inserted here to emphasize the reason for Satan's attack upon Jesus. They had met before in heavenly places, for our Savior was not merely the Son of man, born in Bethlehem; He was the Son of God from eternal ages, from before the world was created.
It was on the cross that our Savior really won the victory over Satan. He said, “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And 1, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” John 12:31, 32. In Revelation 12:10-12 is described the rejoicing in heaven over our Savior's wonderful triumph in the great controversy with Satan: “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he hath but a short time.”
Satan had failed in his attempt to destroy the infant Jesus. He had failed in his attempt to hold Him in the tomb after He had been crucified. The glorious ascension of Jesus was a public proclamation of Satan's inevitable defeat. No longer able to persecute Jesus, Satan tuned his wrath upon the church, not only through the opposition of Jewish authorities but through still greater persecutions by Roman paganism, enforced by the imperial authorities of Rome. During this time hundreds-yes, thousands-scaled their faith with their blood.
Persecution has been the lot of God's children from the beginning. The club of Cain was crimsoned with the blood of Abel. The crimson path of suffering winds over the lonely mountains of the ages. There were ten special persecutions in the first hundred years of the church, during which hundreds of thousands of Christians were destroyed. The enemies of Christianity thought they had crushed out the new religion. But Jesus had said of His church, “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18.
But the apostle had spoken of grievous wolves entering into the fold (Acts 20:29) and of “a great fight of afflictions” (Hebrews 10:32). Persecution came in a new form. The Roman Empire was transformed into an ecclesiastical empire which had the same persecuting spirit as the old empire of the pagans. Like the waters of a great flood, persecution again covered the earth. Here it is pictured in the prophecy:
“The woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there thousand two hundred and threescore days [1260 prophetic days or literal years].” “And when the dragon saw that he was cast into the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time [ 12 60 years), from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.” Revelation 12:6, 13-16.
In the mountains of Europe many believers were sheltered during the Dark Ages. Here they kept the lamp of truth burning. The message of God went out over the earth, carried by those faithful witnesses. It was my http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auprivilege to visit the Waldensian valleys of the Alps, where for so many centuries the light of the Word of God was kept burning. I saw the silent and secluded valleys so often invaded by papal armies. Happily God did not permit the light to be extinguished. It was not to beautify the earth that these great mountains had been upheaved. They were to be a refuge for God's people in times of persecution. Many generations of believers praised God for the bulwarks of the mountains, in whose secret recesses the everlasting gospel was preserved. Their thanksgiving has been preserved in an old song called “Hymn of the Vaudois [Waldensian) Mountaineers”:
“For the strength of the hills we bless, Thee, Our God, our fathers' God!
Thou has made Thy children mighty,
By the touch of the mountain sod.
Thou has fixed our ark of refuge Where the spoiler's feet ne'er trod;
For the strength of the hills we bless Thee,
Our God, our fathers' God!
'We are watchers of a beacon Whose light must never die; We are guardians of an altar Midst the silence of the sky;
Thy rocks yield founts of courage,
Struck forth as by Thy rod;
For the strength of the hills we bless Thee,
Our God, our fathers' God! “
The believers in the remote mountain valleys of southern France in those dark days were known as the “Church in the Desert.” While the Reformation was sweeping northern Europe, the light of the Word was nearly shut out of France. Then there came a time when there was more or less toleration. But another terrible persecution began in 1685 with the famous Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. This edict had before granted some toleration and rights of public worship. So again the dark night closed down, just before the dawn of liberty and the modern age. These poor people were literally driven into the wilderness, and one of their persecutors said: “They call themselves the Church in the Desert, why not take them at their word and make their country a desert?” And so they did, as nearly as they could. Troops were stationed in the homes of the people, and one can only imagine the terrible things that took place. Parents and children were separated, and thousands died. Horrified by one massacre in the Piedmont region, John Milton wrote:
“Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold; Who kept thy truth so pure of old,
When all our fathers worshipped stocks and stones.”
A historian writes: “The peasantry continued to brave all risks of exile, the galleys, the rack, and the gibbet -and persevered in their assemblies, until the very ferocity of their persecutors became wearied. The people would not be converted either by the dragoons or the priests who were stationed amongst them. In the dead of the night they would sally forth to their meetings in the hills.”-Samuel Smiles, T19e Huguenots in France, p. 88.
But “the earth helped the woman.... and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.” Verse 16. The Reformation spread. Many lands were opened to the gospel and to refugees who fled their homelands, being persecuted for conscience' sake. Catholic Spain's crusade to crush Protestant Britain by her fleet was brought to naught by the English and the Dutch captains and especially by a great storm which destroyed the so-called 1nvincible Armada.” Vengeance did come. Historian Wylie says:
“Even the Spaniards themselves confessed that the divine hand was upon them; that One looked forth at times from the storm cloud that pursued them, and troubled them.... The deliverance was a common one to the Protestant kingdoms. All shared in it with England, and each in turn took up this song of triumph....
“England began the song, as was meet, for around her isle had the Armada been led, a spectacle of doom; http://www.ThreeAngels.com.aubut soon, from beyond the German ocean, from the foot of the Alps, from the shores of Scotland, other voices were heard swelling the anthem, and saying, 'Sing you to the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea. The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. Thou did blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.' “-History of Protestantism, book 23, chap. 19. King Philip 11 of Spain said that he had sent his Armada to fight with men, not to combat the winds. But God sent His wind and discomfited them. America, too, became a place of refuge for the oppressed. The French Revolution broke out; the powers of ecclesiastical persecution were broken. The pope was carried into captivity in 1798, ending the 1260 years of persecuting supremacy.
Through the faithful followers of Christ in the Dark Ages the Protestant Reformation is connected by a chain of living witnesses with the first disciples of our Savior. Though paganism and Papacy have tried time after time to break this living chain, it has withstood all efforts. Empires have crumbled, nations have risen and fallen; but the chain of Scriptural testimony has continued from the days of Jesus to our time. The strength of its links is not in men, but in God.
There is still persecution to be endured in this world by the children of God, and it will be so until the end. The apostle clearly says that “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” 2 Timothy 3:12. Today reports come from land after land telling of renewed persecution. But this must not discourage us; for as of old, the suffering yes, even the blood of the church-is the seed which brings a greater harvest. Indeed the renewed persecution is but a confirmation of the closing words of the prophecy: “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Verse 17. A remnant is the last, so this must be the last part of the church, the church on earth just before the second coming of Christ. It is described here as being a commandment-keeping church which could not be said of it if all the commandments, including the fourth, were not being observed. Therefore it is a Sabbath keeping church. This last part of the church also has the testimony of Jesus Christ, which is said in Revelation 19: 10 to be the spirit of prophecy.
Notice, the remnant church shows the same characteristics and presents the same glorious truths to the world as did the church in the beginning. Long ages of persecution have not darkened or destroyed the light. No wonder Satan's animosity is directed against it! No wonder he tries to destroy it as everywhere it bears its witness against him and for the Lord Jesus!
While Jesus was on earth, and for several centuries afterward, Satan used pagan Rome as his instrument to persecute the early church. When the power of Rome was broken, he continued his warfare against the church by raising up another organization-Christian in name, ecclesiastical and monarchial in form-which had jurisdiction over the nations. Through the influence of this great church-state power, the Papacy, he carried on his opposition to the church. But organized international persecution was finally brought to an end, and a time of freedom ensued around the world.
Today the persecuting spirit is rising again over the earth. The dragon is still wroth with the woman and is going to make war with the remnant “which keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” (Revelation 14:12.) Those who follow Christ today shall have to win the victory as did the earlier martyrs. Against them was hurled every invention of cruelty and torture that wicked men and demons could produce. But theirs was the victory, for “they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” Revelation 12: 11.
So must it he again. So shall it be again. As the stars of the firmament will shine the saints of God, holding aloft the torch of truth till all men, in its light, behold the glory of God.
IT IS extremely important for us who live in the last days to understand the Biblical teachings concerning the seal of God and the mark of the beast. Let us consider the seal of God first, as mentioned in Revelation 7:1-3:
“And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.”
What is a seal and to what does it witness? A seal is used to witness to the validity of an enactment, or law, which a person or power may promulgate. In this sense it is used frequently in Scripture. In 1 Kings 21:8 we read that Jezebel “wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal “thus giving them the authority of King Ahab. In Esther 3:12: “In the name of King Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king's ring.” Chapter eight records: “The writing which is written in the king's name, and scaled with the king's ring, may no man reverse.” Verse 8. The words seal, sign, and mark are used synonymously in Scripture. Thus in Romans 4: 11 we read that Abraham “received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had.”
From these verses it can be seen that a seal is always used in connection with some law, or enactment, that demands obedience, or upon documents that are to be made legal or subject to the provisions of law. The idea of law is inseparable from a seal. To be authentic, every law must have a seal-a stamp of authority, of legality.
Included in a seal as commonly affixed to a law are the name and position of the one in authority and the territory over which he rules. Thus a law of the United States to be in effect must be signed by the president. The seal of that law includes the name (George Washington), the office (President), and the territory over which he rules (the United States). Within the law of God, therefore, we would expect to find somewhere those elements of a seal, and those elements would constitute a seal. The message of Revelation 7:1-3, then, is to seal the law among the disciples of God. Indeed the prophet Isaiah uses this very expression, emphasizing the inseparable nature of a seal and law: “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.” Isaiah 8:16. This referred to a work of reviving in the minds of the disciples some of the claims of the law which had been overlooked, or perverted from their true meaning. Thus sealing the law meant to restore to it its seal, which had been taken from it. It is a similar restoration which is involved in the message of Revelation 7:1-3, as will be seen.
God's law, the Ten Commandments, has a seal which, according to the prophecy, must be brought before the people. This would indicate that it involves a commandment which has been neglected or forgotten. When this necessity is recognized by God's people, when they accept the obligations of the neglected commandment, they are spoken of as having received the seal of the living God. And, as we remember, the neglected portion must have in it the elements of a seal, something which shows God's authority as Creator, His signature.
We shall outline briefly the Ten Commandments as recorded in Exodus 20: (1) “Thou shall have no other gods before me.” (2) “Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image.... I the Lord thy God am a jealous God.” (3) “Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” We skip the fourth commandment for the time being, and go on: (5) “Honor thy father and thy mother.” (6) “Thou shall not kill.” (7) “Thou shall not commit adultery.” (8) “Thou shall not steal.” (9) “Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor. “ ( 10 ) “Thou shall not covet.”
In some of these nine commandments the name of God is mentioned, but not in all. Let us now go back and read the fourth commandment, found in the very heart of God's law: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God [there is His name): ... for in six days the Lord [His name again] made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Here we have His name, Lord (Jehovah), His office (Creator), and His territory (heaven and earth). In this we see the seal of the living God, the Creator of all things!
In what sense is our God different from all other gods? He is the creator; He made everything. This is His mark of authority. God always mentions His creative power as the reason why He is the living God, the true God. The prevailing materialistic philosophy of our day denies this creative power to God. The evolutionary hypothesis has driven Him so far back in time and so far out of His universe that most people have either forgotten about Him entirely or have never thought of Him as the living God, the Creator. This is the new heathenism. But more and more, the marvelous revelations that are daily coming to light as to the miraculous constitution of the universe are bringing men face to face with the first statement of Genesis: 1n the beginning God.” In the fourth commandment is http://www.ThreeAngels.com.authe seal, or sign, of His creatorship.
Now, what is the mark, or seal, that is in contrast to the seal of God? We read Revelation 13:16-18: “And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”
In verses one and two the prophet sees the beast referred to, a composite beast, rising “out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns.... and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.” The body of the beast was “like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.” Its leopard characteristics must point to the ancient heathen philosophy of Greece; its bear characteristics to the dictatorial, legalistic nature of the Medes and Persians, whose law changed not; its lion mouth to its Babylonian pagan nature. Its seven heads and ten horns, as on the dragon beast of Revelation 12, have already been explained.
This beast comes up out of the sea. We know that in prophecy water symbolizes nations, multitudes, tongues, and people. (Revelation 17:1,15.) Therefore, this power rises among the nations. The dragon, as we have seen previously, represents primarily Satan; secondarily, an instrument of earthly power, namely pagan Rome. The Caesars of Rome ruled as vicegerents of Satan and persecuted the people of God. Since the dragon (pagan Rome) gives this beast his power, his seat, and great authority, it must represent the power which succeeds pagan Rome, with its headquarters in the city of Rome. It must, therefore, be the Papacy, the only power which fits the picture.
We note in the prophecy that this beast is accused of blasphemy. The Bible gives two definitions of blasphemy. When Jesus said to a certain man, “Thy sins are forgiven thee,” the Pharisees said, 'Who is this which speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” Luke 5:20, 21. For a mere man to claim to forgive sins was considered blasphemy. Again in John 10:33 we find the Jews saying to Jesus, “For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makes thyself God.” In this particular case Jesus had taken to Himself divine authority. So we have here the two Biblical definitions of blasphemy: a mere man making himself God, and a mere man claiming the power to forgive sins. The pope of Rome claims to be the Vicar of Christ, Jesus Christ on earth, claims the power to forgive sins, and also takes names which apply only to God.
In the Roman Catholic book entitled Catholic Belief, written by Joseph Faa di Bruno, the pontiff is defined as the “Vicar of Christ.” “Peter,” says the Council of Trent, in the creed of Pope Pius IV, which is official doctrine, is 'Prince of the Apostles, and Vicar of Jesus Christ.” It is this Vicarship,” by virtue of apostolic succession, which the pope claims. The word vicar means “in the place of' or “representing.” That the papal power claims to forgive sins is well known.
As we continue to identify the beast of Revelation 13, notice also that, according to the prophecy, this power is to continue in its supreme authority forty-two months. Then it is represented as being wounded to death and going into captivity. What great power ruled 1260 years (thirty days to a month, twelve months to a year, prophetic time), from AD. 538 to 1798? In a previous chapter we learned that this was indeed the Papacy. In 538 the Papacy received its full power from the Edict of Justinian (conferred on the pope five years before but ineffective because of the opposition of the Ostrogoths). In 1798 General Berthier of the French Republic came and took Pope Pius VI prisoner.
Here is a question we have asked from coast to coast and in various countries of the world: What power came up after pagan Rome had gone down, built itself up in the city of Rome, was a religious power, claimed the authority to forgive sins, took the very titles of Deity, and ruled for 1260 years? What power except the Papacy ever did all that? Of course, the answer is, None.
But there is one more identification-a number. 1t is the number of a man.” One of the leading titles of the pope is Vicar of the Son of God. In Latin it is Vicarius Filii Dei. Adding the numeral letters in this title, we have the following:
V 5
1 1
C 100
A (No value)
R (No value)
1 1
U (V) 5
S (No value)
F (No value) 1 | 1 |
L | 50 |
I | 1 |
I | 1 |
D | 500 |
E (No value) |
|
I | 1 |
666
This total, 666, is the Scriptural number of the beast of Revelation 13. This, of course, follows the ancient custom of a person's having not only a name but a number. In the Douay (Catholic) Bible this note is found on Revelation 13: 18: “Six hundred sixty-six. The numeral letters of his name shall make up this number.” The numerical value of other names might work out as 666, but that does not prove those persons to be the beast. Remember, this number is not the only identifying mark of the beast. This power was a religious power, followed the pagan Roman Empire, had its seat in the city of Rome, and held supremacy for 1260 years.
Having identified the beast, we ask the question, What does he claim as the mark of his authority? Some years ago a man by the name of Martin Luther began the Reformation. He himself was a Roman Catholic monk, but he called the world back to the Bible and away from the traditions which had accumulated during the ages, and which had built up the great papal power. Feeling that the very existence of the Papacy was threatened, the Bishop of Rome called a council in the city of Trent on December 14, 1545.
This great council, known as the Council of Trent, had to decide what kind of campaign should be used in warring against the rising power of the reformers, who claimed that the Bible was the supreme authority in the Church, Instead of accepting the Scriptures as supreme authority, as thousands of Christians hoped they would do, the council delegates finally declared tradition to be more sure than the Bible, basing their decision upon the Church's claim to have changed the Sabbath from the seventh day of the week to the first day.
“Finally, at the last opening on the eighteenth of January, 1563, their last scruple was set aside; the archbishop of Rheggio made a speech in which he openly declared that tradition stood above Scripture. The authority of the church could therefore not be bound to the authority of the Scriptures, because the church had changed Sabbath into Sunday, not by the command of Christ, but by its own authority. With this, to be sure, the last illusion was destroyed, and it was declared that tradition does not signify antiquity, but continual inspiration.”-Dr. J. H. Holtzman, Canon and Tradition, p. 263.
In the Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IV, page 153, Article, “Commandments of God,” we read: “Ten precepts. . . embodying the revealed expression of the Creator's will in relation to man's whole duty to God and to his fellow creatures. . . . Christ resumed these Commandments in the double precept of charity-love of God and of the neighbor; He proclaimed them as binding under the New Law in Matthew 19 and in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5) .... The Church, on the other hand, after changing the day of rest from the Jewish Sabbath, or seventh day of the week, to the first, made the Third Commandment refer to Sunday as the day to be kept holy as the Lord's Day.”
According to an Associated Press dispatch from Vatican City, September 8, 1947, the pope declared that the battle in religious and moral fields hinged on five points: “Religious culture, the sanctifying of Sunday, the saving of the Christian family, social justice, and loyalty and truthfulness in dealings.” (Italics ours.)
Quoting from A Doctrinal Catechism, by Stephen Keenan, page 174, we read:
“Q.-Have you any other way of proving that the Church [the Roman Catholic Church) has power to institute festivals of precept?
“A.-Had she not such power, she could not. . . have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scripture! authority.”
It is evident that the papal power exhibits the purported change of the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day as the evidence or mark of her authority in the world as a supreme religious body. From the office of the late Cardinal Gibbons, through Chancellor C. F. Thomas, came this statement: “Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act... and the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical power.”
We may not now see how all the things predicted in the prophecy especially the last verses of Revelation 13-will come to pass; but it is clearly indicated that there will be a boycott against those who do not have the “mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads.” Verse 16. The right hand, no doubt, symbolizes those who receive Sunday observance as merely a matter of custom; the forehead symbolizes those who accept it as a religious institution.
It was T. G. Wallace, canon of St. James (Westminster Church), London, Canada, who wrote in The Religious Digest, November, 1942: `We say we shall observe one day a week as a day of rest and we agree on the first day of the week; then someone says, 'no, we shall observe the seventh day'; ... we can't do both as a community-it is a matter of convenience for the largest number, a matter of being able to act in common.”
Is it just a matter of convenience, or is it a matter of divine command? God has commanded us to keep the Sabbath day, the seventh day, but men turn from God's laws as a matter of convenience and accept an institution claimed by the Papacy as the very sign, evidence, or mark of its authority. And, in order to bring conformity, it will actually seek legal sanctions to compel all to agree on the first day of the week. But with God things are different. Every act of worship must spring freely from the heart, or He does not accept it; and it must be in harmony with His revealed will, if that is known to the worshiper.
Turning to the fourteenth chapter of Revelation, we find God's last warning message to the world given under the symbol of three angels flying in mid heaven. The first angel announces the judgment hour, which began in 1844, and calls men back to the worship of the Creator, who made heaven and earth. This message uses almost the exact words of the fourth commandment.
The second angel follows, announcing the fall of Babylon, which represents the spiritual fall of Christendom. In the eighteenth chapter of Revelation the final part of this message is brought to view: the call for God's people to come out of Babylonian confusion that they partake not of the plagues which will come upon Babylon.
Then we come to the third angel's message, which, when united with the other two, makes a mighty threefold worldwide message: “If any man worship the beast and his image [that part of Christendom paying homage to the beast], and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation. And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascends up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receives the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:9-12.
This message goes to the world just preceding the Second Coming of Christ. This is brought to view in verse fourteen. The cup of God's wrath unmixed, which is threatened here against those who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark, is described in the first verse of the fifteenth chapter as “the seven last plagues,” in which is “filled up the wrath of God.” These plagues are described in detail in the sixteenth chapter. They fall one after another until the seventh, which ushers in the final great earthquake and cosmic events connected with the Second Coming of Christ. The sixth plague (Revelation 16:12-16) describes the battle of Armageddon, in which all the nations of the world are involved, and which will be going on when the Lord comes.
So we see that this warning against the worship of the beast and his image and the announcements of the fall of Babylon and of the judgment hour are parts of a great worldwide prophetic message that prepares men for the second coming of Christ and the heavenly kingdom.
Someone says, “Why give such great importance to a mere day? Saturday is just a day; Sunday is just a day.” True enough, they are just days; but it is what the day stands for that counts. Remember, the fourth commandment reveals the true God. It is God's answer to unscriptural, evolutionistic doctrines in the last days, as well as to heathenism in early times.
We have come to the age, to the time, to the day, when God's Sabbath message should be revived and is being revived. In Ezekiel 20:12, 20 the Sabbath is spoken of as a sign between God and His people. It is also a sign of Christ's creative power, for He was with the Father in creation. “All things were made by him.” John 1: 3.
This sign has been torn from God's law and another sign, or mark, put there by papal authority. How does she dare do it? But the real question is, How do we dare follow her in it? We are equally to blame when we have the light of truth on the subject and continue to follow the example and command of the Papacy rather than the command of God in Christ.
Jesus asked the theologians of His day, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?” Matthew 15:3. The Papacy wants the first day kept its a mark of her authority. Some say, “I see it, but does it really make any difference which day we keep?” If I should bring into your home a piece of red muslin, throw it on the floor, and stamp upon it, you would not think much about it. You would only wonder, perhaps, what was wrong with me. And if I should bring in a piece of white muslin and another of blue and do the same thing, you http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auwould not he upset. But if I should take those same pieces and sew them together, sprinkle forty-eight stars in the blue, and arrange thirteen stripes of red and white, and then stamp upon it, every loyal citizen of our land would rise up in protest, because the flag of the United States represents the government and the hope of 170 million people. True enough, it is only colored cloth; but it is what it stands for that counts. And that is true of every national flag to those who honor and treasure its meaning and symbol.
Though the Sabbath is just a day, it is also the seal and sign of God's creative power. He has set His seal on this day; but the Papacy has changed it insofar as the practice of millions is concerned, and in its place has put its own mark upon another day. There is no warning anywhere in Scripture as terrible as that which we read in the fourteenth chapter of Revelation against the worship of the beast and the reception of its mark in the forehead (as a religious institution) or in the hand (simply as custom, or in order to get work). Then we have the warning of the seven last plagues. If we concur in what the ecclesiastical power of tradition has done, we are responsible for the act and are as guilty as its perpetrators.
Someone may say, “Oh, I see it clearly! But if I kept the Sabbath, I would have trouble with my wife, my father, my mother, the company for which I work.” Jesus said, 1f any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Matthew 16:24. He is the greatest friend you ever had. He loves you. He gave His life for you on Calvary's Cross. Can you not see Him there, His head pierced with the crown of thorns, His hands pierced with nails? Do you not hear Him cry, “My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46. Can't you hear His cry, “I thirst”? John 19:28. And, at last, “It is finished” (John 19:30); Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46). In view of all this, do you say, “Yes, Lord, I do love Thee, and I accept Thy sacrifice for me. But I cannot serve Thee fully-the price is too high, the sacrifice, too great. Thou has done all for me, but I am not willing to do all for Thee”? Will that be our response, or will we say, “Whatever comes, whatever trials or persecutions may face me, I will follow my Savior, the Sabbath keeping Lord, in His directed path of the last days”?
But as a last objection, someone says, “Do you mean to tell me that all the saints of God who have not observed the seventh-day Sabbath during nearly two thousand years of Christian history have received the mark of the beast?” Emphatically, No! Those in past ages are held responsible only for the light they had. “To him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin.” James 4:17.
It is clear that the fulfillment of this prophecy takes place in the last days, just before the coming of Christ. The powers of earth will make war against the commandment-keeping people of God and by decree will compel all “both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save lie that had the mark.” Revelation 13:16, 17. There will be a boycott against those who will not receive it. It should be clear from a casual reading of these chapters in the Book of Revelation that the mark of the beast is something forced upon mankind: “He causes all ... to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads.” Revelation 13:16. It is not an outward mark or number stamped on the person, but something received inside. One can refuse to receive it. This would be impossible if it were put on by physical force, because any one person could easily be overcome and forced to receive it if mere physical effort could do it.
On the other hand, the great message of the everlasting gospel with emphasis on the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus is to be proclaimed to all the world; and it will bring out a people of whom it is said, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12.
It has been well stated: “With the issue thus clearly brought before him, whoever shall trample upon God's law to obey a human enactment receives the mark of the beast; he accepts the sign of allegiance to the power which he chooses to obey instead of God' Those who refuse God's seal and receive man's mark are subject to the seven last plagues (Revelation 16:2), showing that these people live at the very end of time. “But not one is made to suffer the wrath of God until the truth has been brought home to his mind and conscience, and has been rejected. There are many who have never had an opportunity to hear the special truths for this time. The obligation of the fourth commandment has never been set before them in its true light. He who reads every heart and tries every motive will leave none who desire a knowledge of the truth, to be deceived as to the issues of the controversy. . . . Everyone is to have sufficient light to make his decision intelligently.... While one class, by accepting the sign of submission to earthly powers, receive the mark of the beast, the other, choosing the token of allegiance to divine authority, receive the seal of God.” - Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 605.
What is Heaven's call to us now? Listen: “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that you he not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” Revelation 18:4, 5. God calls for His people to come out of Babylon. Will we respond to that call? Will we move forward in the light? There are many reasons why we should obey God, but we must be willing to obey Him when we cannot see the reasons or understand them fully.
Some years ago a university student was listening to someone read the first chapter of Genesis. He noticed http://www.ThreeAngels.com.authe words of God: “Let there be light: and there was light.” Verse. 3. Emphasis was placed on the word let. “Let God do this, and let God do that.” The reader impressed upon his listeners that our great need is to let God have His way in our lives.
The young man went home with those words ringing in his ears. He could not forget them. He carved them in letters of wood and hung them upon the wall of his dormitory room where he could see them. There he read them over and over: “Let God, let God.” But how could he let God?
Finally, in desperation, one day as he went out of his room, he said, “I cannot let God!” And he banged the door as lie went out. When he returned to his room, he noticed that the D had fallen from the word God. Now the legend read, “Let G&' At once he saw his real difficulty-he would not let go. He was clinging to certain things, desiring still to have his own way. He was not willing to “let go” and “let God'
Is that our trouble? Will we not, just now, let the Savior have His blessed way with us unto salvation? The great controversy between Christ and Satan is soon to be ended. On which side shall we be? On which side are we now? If we will give ourselves fully and unreservedly into the hands of Christ, we shall be divinely led in the way of righteousness, through faith; and at last, by His grace, find our place with all the people of God in the heavenly land.
Some years ago the newspapers published the dramatic experience of an aviation cadet who was suddenly struck blind while on a practice flight. In his panic he radioed to his control officer: “I am blind. I cannot see. What shall I do?”
The officer radioed back, “Follow my instructions implicitly.” He kept the blinded cadet circling until the landing field was entirely cleared, and an ambulance had arrived. Then he sent these orders by radio: “Begin to lose altitude ... lose more. Now bank sharply to the left ... more, more. Now flatten out; you are coming onto the field. Let down ... slowly, slowly. Land.” And the cadet brought the plane in safely to a perfect landing. By following orders implicitly, he saved his own life and probably the lives of others. The lesson for us is clear.
The prophets and apostles of old, faced with the great issue of obedience or disobedience to God, provide a glorious example. It is written of Moses that he chose rather “to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” (Hebrews 11:25.) We must never forget Elijah's pointed question to Israel ;is they faced the worship of Baal on one side and the worship of Jehovah on the other.. “How long halt you between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: hut if Baal, then follow him.” 1 Kings 18:21. The Apostle Paul says, “Know you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to ' obey, his servants you are to whom you obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” Rofflans”~-~6:16. And the Apostle Peter, before the council, declared, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:29.
The holy Apostle John, who wrote the Book of Revelation tinder the guidance of the Lord Jesus Christ, declared of those who meet the issue and come off victorious in the last great conflict between God's people and apostasy: '.Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12. But most important of all are the words of Jesus Himself: “I have kept my Father's commandments.” John 15:10. I do always those things that please him.” John 8:29. I have given you an example.” John 13:15. Let us follow His example.
“The Compact - In the Name of God, Amen.
“We whose names are underwritten, the loyal Subjects of our dread sovereign Lord King James, by the grace of God of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, &c.
“Having under-taken for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian Faith, and honor of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the Northern parts of Virginia, doe by these presents solemnly & mutually in the presence of God and one of another, covenant, and combine our selves together into a Civil body politike, for our better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by verme hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, acts, constitutions, Offices from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony: unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.
1n witness whereof we have here-under subscribed our names. Cape Cod, 11 of November in the year of the reign of our sovereign Lord King James, of England, France and Ireland 18, and of Scotland 54. Anno Domini 1620.”
Such was the famous Compact, drawn up in a solemn meeting in the cabin of the little ship Mayflower just off the coast of America and signed by forty-one men.
This was the beginning of America's greatness as a haven for the oppressed of every land and especially as the home of religious liberty. Of this Compact, John Quincy Adams said, `This is perhaps the only instance in human history of that positive, original, social Compact, which speculative philosophers have imagined as the only legitimate source of government.”
Why did the Pilgrim Fathers embark on their winter voyage across a stormy ocean to seek shelter in a far off wilderness land?
“The breaking waves dashed high On a stern and rock-bound coast, And the woods against a stormy sky Their giant branches tossed;
“And the heavy night hung dark The hills and waters o'er,
When a band of exiles moored their bark
On a wild New England shore.
'What sought they thus afar? Bright jewels of the mine?
The wealth of seas? the spoils of war?-
They sought a faith's pure shrine!
“Aye, call it holy ground,
The soil where first they trod;
They have left unstained what there they found--
Freedom to worship God! “
-Felicia Hemans.
The continent of America has been here for millenniums, but the great republic of America has grown up in only a few short years compared with the history of other nations. Whether North America was first discovered by the Chinese Hui Sien in 499 and named by him Fusang; or whether by Leif Ericson about 1000; or by whomever and whenever it was first seen, by Asiatics or Europeans, America's growth to influence and power has been one of the wonders of the world. Not only has it displayed the greatest concentration of human well-being and scientific advance that the world has ever known, but it has demonstrated what can be (lone by the union of many races and ideas. America has proclaimed as a basic policy the separation of church and state, and universal human liberty under law, guaranteed by a written constitution. In spite of internal and external influence toward division, it has http://www.ThreeAngels.com.aumaintained in fact the principle of its motto, E pluribus unum (one out of many) “as one Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
On the great seal of the United States appear these words, “Novus Ordo Seclorum” (a. new order of the ages); and on the reverse side, God is recognized as the foundation of our national destiny in the words, “Anuit Coeptis”; that is, He (God) has smiled on our undertakings. English bishop George Berkeley wrote:
'Westward the course of empire takes its way; The first four acts already past, The fifth shall close the drama with the day Time's noblest offspring is the last.”
For centuries-yes, for millenniums-America was unknown. World history swirled around what we now call the Middle East. Then the Dark Ages came on. Finally the Reformation spread its light over Europe, and a mighty struggle for Bible truth began. Then, just at the moment of greatest need to the church of God, a new world was opened where His truth might flourish and where men might worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience. It certainly was in the providence of God that no colonies were established in North America until after the Reformation began. Then the door was opened and the Pilgrims, Puritans, and others had a place of refuge. The Quakers came to “Penn's Woods,” or Pennsylvania. Freedom-loving Baptists, Moravians, Methodists-many of Europe's refugees -came from the blood-soaked soil of the old world to this new land where they founded “a church without a bishop, and a state without a king,” as someone has aptly said.
As we learned in chapter 25, God uses beasts to represent nations in symbolic prophecy. (Daniel 7:17, 23.) A beast is not necessarily an arbitrary symbol of a nation in prophecy, because for centuries the nations themselves have used animals or birds to represent their governments. We all know that the lion is a symbol of Great Britain, the bear the symbol of Russia, the eagle the symbol of the United States, the dragon the symbol of China. In chapter 28 we learned that the seven headed and ten-horned beast described in the first part of the thirteenth chapter of Revelation symbolizes the religio-political system which dominated religious and political affairs in Europe for 1260 years (from AD. 538 to AD. 1798). Although the prophecy speaks of the period as forty-two months (Revelation 13:5 ) and also as “a thousand two hundred and threescore days” (Revelation 12:6), the time is actually 1260 years; for the days themselves, like the beasts, are symbolic, each day standing for a literal year. See Isaiah 34:8, Ezekiel 4:4-6, and Numbers 14:34 as examples of the use of days symbolizing literal years.
Revelation 13:3 states that this “beast” received a “deadly wound.” This wounding began in the days of Martin Luther, when he nailed his ninety-five theses to the door of the castle church at Wittenberg. It finally became truly deadly in 1798 when General Berthier, acting tinder the orders of the French Directory, entered the city of Rome at the head of a large French army and took Pope Pius VI as a prisoner to France, where lie died the following year. General Berthier declared a republic in Rome and the Papacy officially abolished.
But now the scene in the prophecy changes: “He that leads into captivity shall go into captivity: he that kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. ... And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. And he exercises all the power of the first beast before him, and causes the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.” Revelation 13:10-12.
The first beast in this chapter comes up out of the sea, the sea representing “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” Revelation 17:15. He comes up among the nations. But the two-homed beast comes up 11 out of the earth,” not out of the sea. In other words, it arises from previously unoccupied territory. The word here translated “coming up” is from a Greek word which means literally “silently growing,” as a plant. So on the North American Continent, separated from strife among the nations, the new nation grew silently into an empire stretching from sea to sea.
What nation was coming up just as the Papacy was going down in 1798?-coming up from previously unoccupied territory, a separate, independent nation, not connected with the dragon or beast power? The only nation which was rising into power at that time and in that particular way was the United States of America.
The dragon of Revelation 12 had seven heads and ten horns, and crowns were on the heads. We find that the first beast of Revelation 13 also has seven heads and ten horns and ten crowns on its horns. The crowns stand for the royalty and despotism of kings. But here is a nation that has no crown because it has no king. The sovereignty is divided among all its citizens, so that every man is a king. Here is no despotic tyranny to crush free enterprise, no one church in control to shackle the souls of men. Here amid its lofty mountains, its fertile plains, and its wide, flowing rivers were to develop institutions of religious and political freedom.
And why the two horns like a lamb? They must refer to the apparent harmlessness and youthfulness of this nation. Horns often symbolize power in the Scripture. (Psalm 148:14; 75:10; Zechariah 1:21.) The two great principles of religious and civil freedom, upon which the American government was founded, were the basis of its http://www.ThreeAngels.com.austrength. These two horns are “horns like a lamb.” In this same Book of Revelation (5:6, 8) the lamb is used as a symbol of Jesus Christ. So these two principles must be lamb like, principles, Christian principles-and so they are.
In Article I of the Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, we read: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Here in a few words are the principles of a republican form of government and of Protestantism in religion.
From the Declaration of Independence, we quote these words: “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Twenty-two years before the English colonies in America declared their independence of the motherland, John Wesley, in his Explanatory Notes Upon the New wrote of the two-horned beast power: “He is not yet come: though he cannot be far off. For he is to appear at the End of the forty two Months of the first Beast. This was written in 1754. Forty four years were to pass before the great prophetic period of forty-two months should expire. John Wesley and other students of Bible prophecy were looking for a new power to arise and fulfill the prediction of Christ's Word.
At that time there was little prospect of a new nation in America. The Thirteen Colonies which had been founded on the Atlantic coast of North America were loyal to the British crown. It was not long, however, before the picture changed. The trouble began when England attempted to levy taxes on the American colonies to pay off the national debt, which, at the time of the Peace of Paris at the end of the Seven Years' War, had grown to about seven hundred million dollars, a colossal sum for those days. Although the Thirteen Colonies rebelled against the mother country originally over tax disagreements, the final separation was due largely to the character of George 111 himself, King of England from 1760 to 1820.
Just before the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt, God told Moses to inform Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt: “I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shall be cut off from the earth. And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to show in thee my power.” Exodus 9:15, 16. This does not mean that God had given Pharaoh existence for that purpose, but that His providence would overrule events, and that this rebellious tyrant of Egypt should be upon the throne at the time when God would deliver the Hebrews. This is a true philosophy of history. We see, therefore, how God overruled events so that George Ill indirectly accomplished the very thing that the Ruler of the universe had designed, namely, the birth of a new nation.
George 111 was the third king of the Hanoverian line of German royalty who came to the English throne. Of the first two Georges it could have been said that they did not govern; they merely reigned. But George 111 was different. The historian Hazen says: “His mother, a German princess, attached to all the despotic notions of her native land, had frequently said to him, 'George, be a king.' He resolved to rule, not by parliamentary authority, but in the good old monarchial way.” The same historian tells us that it took him a number of years before he was able to pervert the cabinet system of government and crush out the authority of Parliament by both bribery and influence, until finally he absolutely controlled the ministry and the two chambers of Parliament.
It may be said that the American Revolution really saved parliamentary government for the world. George 111 came to the throne in 1760, and by 1770 Lord North was the leading member of his government, which lasted until 1782. The king and his officers then initiated a policy which led directly and inevitably to civil war, for the American Revolution was really a civil war within the British Empire. It was a revolt against the old monarchial system of civil government and a demand for a true parliamentary government. The American victory was, after all, England's salvation; for had George 111 triumphed, not only would colonial liberties have disappeared, but the right of parliament to bc dominant in the state would have vanished. This is the view of competent historians. The American Revolution saved the parliamentary system for England by rendering the king unpopular and unsuccessful.
It was to defend their democratic rights as English men that the signets of the Declaration of Independence put their names to that immortal document in 1776. Those who visit Independence Hall in Philadelphia, called the birthplace of liberty, can imagine the delegates in solemn session on that hot July day, debating behind closed doors a destiny which was greater than any of them could possibly realize. There is a story, which may be a legend but illustrates the truth, of a small boy waiting at the door to carry the word up into the belfry where his grandfather stood ready to ring the bell on the signing of the great document.
“They will never sign it! They will never sign it!” the old man kept muttering. But we all know that they did sign it, and the little boy ran up the stairs shouting, “Ring, Grandpa! Ring for liberty!”
The words of Scripture that were cast on that bell when it was first made in England many years before http://www.ThreeAngels.com.aucertainly seemed prophetic: “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” Leviticus 25:10.
Yes, they signed the Declaration of Independence, and when Charles Carroll of Maryland signed it, someone standing by said facetiously: `You are safe enough. There are so many Carrolls in Maryland that no one will ever know which one did the signing. Should England win this war, you will he the only one of us who will escape the noose.”
But Carroll was not a man to be ashamed of his principles, so he went back to the desk and added to his signature “of Carrollton,” which happened to be the town in which he lived. Then someone remarked, “Now we must all hang together, or we will all hang separately.” Five more long, trying years of war followed, until that October night in 1781 when the watchman on his rounds in Philadelphia, calling the hours-”One o'clock and the night is clear”-an hour later cried out, “Two o'clock and the night is clear-and Cornwallis is taken!” No wonder the colonists went wild with joy when they heard the glad news, “Cornwallis is taken.” The war was over.
On February 27, 1782, the House of Commons in London resolved on a motion by General Conway that “the House would consider as enemies to his Majesty and the country all those who should advise or attempt the further prosecution of offensive war on the continent of North America.” Five years later, on September 17, 1787, the Constitution of the United States was signed, and the nation was truly launched on its career. It was then that Benjamin Franklin made his famous observation: I have been sitting here through all these months, and I have noticed on the back of the Speaker's chair [General Washington was chairman) the symbol of a sun, casting forth its rays. I have wondered whether it represented a rising or a setting sun; but I am convinced, since we signed this, that it is a rising sun.” And truly, it proved so to be.
As Christ's Revelation prophecy so long ago declared, this nation was truly coming up as the Papacy was going down. At the time of the ratification of the Constitution, the new nation, with its thirteen states, had approximately one million square miles of territory and three million population. Today its territory covers approximately four million square miles, with a population of about 170 million. In wealth and power it is among the greatest nations on earth. Some say it is the greatest. Surely the prophecy that it would come up out of the earth is fulfilled. As long as it maintains those great principles of civil and religious liberty upon which it was founded, it will be the object of God's blessing and a benediction to the whole world.
Visiting Mount Vernon, one may see George Washington's Bible on a chair beside the bed in which he died. Leaders of America today should open that book more. It contains the secret of human greatness, as well as the prophecy of all earthly empires, including America. George Washington, the first president and real founder of America, under God, understood and upheld the principles of religious freedom.
When the Seventh-Day Baptists from Pennsylvania complained to him that they were being persecuted under some of the old blue laws handed down from Colonial days, he said: “ I could have entertained the slightest apprehension that the Constitution framed by the convention where I had the honor to preside might possibly endanger the religious rights of any ecclesiastical society, certainly I would never have placed my signature to it; and if I could now conceive that the general government might ever be so administered as to render the liberty of conscience insecure, I beg you will be persuaded that no one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny and every species of religious persecution. For, you doubtless remember, I have often expressed my sentiments that any man, conducting himself as a good citizen and being accountable to God alone for his religious opinions, ought to be protected in worshiping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience.”
It is the purpose of the Constitution of the United States to protect the minority as well as the majority in all their rights. Their liberty was won by blood and tears and prayer, and that is the only way it will be maintained.
The Constitution was founded on the same principles as those found in the Charter of the Colony of Rhode Island. That colony had been founded by Roger Williams, who knew what it meant to suffer for his religious convictions. He declared that the state must protect and not force the consciences of its, citizens; that it must protect the minority as well as the majority. Roger Williams founded a civil state where Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jew, or atheist might find welcome, and where there was perfect freedom in religious beliefs without hindrance from state power. In later years men wrote these principles into the Constitution of the United States.
The historian George Bancroft said of those who gave birth to these great declarations of civil and religious liberty: “Vindicating the right of individuality even in religion and in religion above all, the new nation dared to set the example of accepting in its relations to God the principle first divinely ordained in Judea.”
When James Madison, who had much to do with the framing of the Constitution, was a little boy, he used to play around the jail near his old Virginia home. Baptist preachers were thrown into this jail because they would not conform to the prevailing religious laws of the community, and he sometimes heard them preach from the barred windows. It made a deep impression upon him, and he decided that when he became a man, he would always work http://www.ThreeAngels.com.aufor liberty; and so he did. We today must be sure that those same principles of liberty are in our hearts. We must live by them and proclaim them, for “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
The prophecy of the two-horned beast in Revelation 13, verse eleven and onward, declares that this power will not only be based upon the beneficent principles of religious freedom and in its youthful days proclaim them, but that it will speak as a dragon and “make an image to the beast”-in other words, a union of church and state, for that is what the first beast was in reality. How does any nation speak? By its laws, of course. How did pagan Rome speak? By its laws against Christians, resulting in terrible persecutions.
There is a large building still standing in Rome, called the Pantheon, or temple of all gods. All the gods officially recognized by Rome, including the statue of Caesar himself, were set up in this place. Everyone was expected to worship these official gods in the official way, and those who would not worship them were considered as traitors to the state. Jesus said: “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.” Matthew 22:21. Divine worship does not belong to Caesar. No man, or set of men, has any right to come between the soul and God.
The union of church and state, whether in pagan or Christian times, has always resulted in the persecution of the religious minority. Pagan Rome thought Christ was dangerous to the state, so it put Him to death. The Papacy condemned heretics for being dangerous to their civil power and turned them over for execution. Thousands of them were done to death by state authority at the instance and request of the church.
In a picture in the Vatican, St. Dominic is represented as commanding a military figure on horseback, representing the state, to put heretics to the sword. St. Dominic organized his followers into an inquisition, before which heretics were condemned. just as he represented the church in requesting state authorities to execute heretics, so some sort of union of church and state will take place in the latter days, and religious influence will again be brought to bear on the state. An attempt will be made to force religious uniformity by the state acting with its police power. In Revelation 13:12-14 we read: “He exercises ... power ... and causes the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he does great wonders, so that he makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceives them.” How was this union of church and state represented by the beast power formed?
First: A great falling away from Biblical truths. “After my departing,” said the Apostle Paul, “shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.” Acts 20:29. True enough, this came to pass.
Second: The theory of a theocracy, the state using its power to enforce religious doctrines and practices. Every time church pews have been empty and the people seemed to be drifting away from righteousness, attempts have been made to use police power to bring them back. It may even have seemed to some that the defense of the nation depends upon that. Officials became apparently religious. Attempts were made to close the theaters and places of pleasure, and even to curtail labor and business, on church holidays; the idea being that if the people cannot go to places of entertainment on Sunday, they will go to church. Sunday laws are an example of this.
Third: An official government decree deciding which was the true church. This took place in the history of the rise of the Roman Catholic power. First of all, the Roman government decided that the property taken away from the Christians during the days of persecution should be returned, not to Christians indiscriminately, but to the Catholic Church of the Christians, forbidding all other Christians, as heretics, even to hold meetings, public or private.
Fourth: The enforcement of Sunday as the day of rest. This was done in AD. 321 by the first Sunday law enacted by Constantine the Great. “The earliest recognition of the observance of Sunday as a legal duty is a constitution of Constantine in 321 AD., enacting that all courts of justice, inhabitants of towns and workshops, were to be at rest on Sunday [venerabili die solis), with an exception in favor of those engaged in agricultural labor.”
This first Sunday law, which does not mention the name of Christ but calls Sunday by its old pagan name, 1~ the venerable day of the sun,” may be found in translation in Philip Schaffis History of the Christian Church (Volume 3, page 380). It reads as follows: “On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain sowing or for vine-planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost. (Given the 7th day of March, Crispus and Constantine being consuls each of them for the second time.)' - Codex Justinianus, 1. iii, Tit. 12, 3.
Notice, not only does Constantine use the pagan name for the first day of the week, but he shows how http://www.ThreeAngels.com.aumuch he was influenced by astrology by permitting the people in the country to carry on their planting and sowing on Sunday because certain moments were considered to be more auspicious than others for those operations, which was the main tenet of astrology.
Fifth: The complete union of the Roman Catholic Church and the state, resulting in the persecutions of the Dark Ages.
Are there not organizations in existence now prepared to unite church and state in America? As we see attempts made to legislate on subjects prohibited by the Constitution, or which in any way violate the principles of religious or civil freedom, we should recognize them as the beginning of the dragon's work, which will result in the persecution of the minority. A nation speaks with its laws and military might.
God used pagan Rome as an instrument to prepare the way for the first coming of Christ. In the same way the United States is being used by Heaven to prepare the way for the second coming of Christ in glory. Rome spread her influence over the world, and by making one language known through the civilized earth, covering the world with the best highways that it had known up to that time, an efficient postal system, and worldwide government and business organization, prepared the way for a quick transmission of the gospel everywhere. So in these latter days we see again transportation speeded up in a hitherto unheard-of manner, communications and all sorts of scientific marvels suddenly blossoming forth, especially in the United States, with other nations following her lead.
Let us remember that the first beast, and the dragon power before her, exercised political and religious power over the world. The two-horned beast is to follow their steps and exercise great influence in religious and political affairs. But in the United States any attempt to legislate on religious and political affairs can be made only if the principles of religious liberty which are written into the Constitution should be abandoned.
It is an unheard-of thing for any nation to cause the earth to worship another nation. We know that Nebuchadnezzar tried to make all men worship him. (Daniel 3:5, 6.) And Darius, the king of Persia, decreed that no one should pray to any god or man except himself for thirty days. (Daniel 6:7.) But here in the prophecy we have a mighty nation causing its subjects to worship another power. What is that power? It is the beast which was wounded and whose deadly wound was healed. Some act which it has performed will he exalted in such a way as to demand reverence. The thing which this power has exalted above all else as the evidence of its authority in religious things is the observance of Sunday as the day of rest, which it declares is based entirely upon its own tradition.
From the Catholic World of March, 1894, we read:
“The church [die Roman Catholic Church) took the pagan philosophy and made it the buckler of faith against the heathen. She took the pagan Sunday and made it the Christian Sunday.”
Just as the keeping of the true Sabbath is a sign of worship of the living God (Exodus 20:8-11), so the keeping of Sunday, when one understands its full implications, is the sign of recognition of the authority of the first beast, or the Papacy. “The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic) Church.” Monsignor Segur, in Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today, p. 213.
Therefore, we may expect oppressive religious laws regarding Sunday and other papal teachings to be popularized and even have the force of civil law in spite of the prohibition of the Constitution of the United States.
According to the prophecy, the example of this country will have great influence on “them that dwell on the earth.” The exact detail of how these things will take place was not revealed to the prophet, but the events will come, and come quickly. The First Amendment to the Constitution must either be abolished or ignored. America is the last frontier of liberty. God's people have journeyed down the centuries and died under the flags of many nations, but they have had a double loyalty-to God first, and to their country second.
It is sad to think that again religious liberty must be in jeopardy, but this is one of the signs that we are near the very end of the story. Soon the King will come to deliver His people everywhere. The God who cared for His own in the fiery furnace and in the den of lions will be a refuge to His people in the last days. The United States has been a refuge for the oppressed in times of persecution. It is their last homeland this side of the Eden to come. Someday it too will pass away and Christ's eternal kingdom will cover the earth. It is when God's kingdom is about to be set up that these final acts of oppression will take place and will make God's people more eager than ever to enter their true homeland of eternal freedom and peace.
BIBLE SUMMARY
What did Christ say about equality?
“One is your Master, even Christ; and all you are brethren.” Matthew 23:8. “God that made the world and all things therein,. . . hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth.” Acts 17:24, 26.
Has God given us the power of choice?
1f any man hear my voice, and open the door...
Revelation 3:20. “Therefore choose.” Deuteronomy 30:19.
What comes from right choice?
“I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: that thou may love the Lord thy God, and that thou may obey his voice, and that thou may cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days.” Deuteronomy 30:19, 20. See also John 1: 12; Revelation 22:17.
Who alone did Jesus say can make us free?
“If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” John 8:36.
What sustains this true freedom?
“If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31, 32.
How did the psalmist say he had liberty?
1 will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.” Psalm 119:45. Jesus does not promise us freedom from pain and toil, not even from persecution and death; but He does promise us a liberty which is freedom from sin and condemnation.
How does Jesus say we are to obtain this true life of freedom?
“God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.
Did the apostles themselves claim to have authority over the faith of God's children?
“Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith you stand.” 2 Corinthians 1:24.
Did Jesus come to this earth to force men to follow the way of life?
1f any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” John 12:47.
When and by what did Jesus say one's rejection of His Word will be judged?
“He that rejects me, and receives not my words, hath one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” John 12:48. See also verse 49.
What did Jesus say about our civil and religious duties?
“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” Mark 12:17.
What did Jesus say about those who wished to destroy others who would not receive Him?
“He turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.” Luke 9:55, 56. See also verses 51-54.
What is the apostolic command regarding the duty of Christians toward civil authorities?
“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.” “Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.” Romans 13:1
To whom alone did Jesus say our worship is due?
'Thou shall worship the Lord thy God, and him only shall thou serve.” Matthew 4: 10.
Did Jesus say that His religion was to be promoted, defended, or enforced by earthly weapons?
“Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now is my kingdom not from hence.” John 18:36.
When the holy apostles were forbidden to preach the gospel which Christ had commanded them to preach, what did they say to the ecclesiastical and civil authorities of that time?
“Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge you.” Acts 4: 19. “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:29.
Every true Christian will be a law-abiding and faithful citizen in the state or government where he lives. He will give an example of sobriety, loyalty, and obedience; but where human authorities endeavor to counter a strict and definite command of God, the Christian must obey God rather than man.
IN THE CITY of Indianapolis a man was giving a picture lecture. With his stereopticon he threw one picture after another upon the screen. For some reason the people were dissatisfied with his pictures, and there was evident impatience in the audience, even catcalls here and there. The lecturer flashed a picture of George Washington on the screen, then a view of the Catskill Mountains and the Hudson River, the country of Rip van Winkle. There were boos and hisses. After this outburst, there was a picture of Alexander Hamilton. Again they hissed. Then followed Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, but the tension continued.
Then the picture of Jesus Christ wearing the crown of thorns came on the screen. A great hush fell over the audience. It seemed that one could almost hear his heart beat. Everyone sat perfectly still. Then from the gallery came a woman's voice clear as a bell: “Jesus, keep me near the cross!” The tension was broken. Jesus had stilled the tempest, and there was a great calm.
Truly there is power in a glimpse of Jesus. In this chapter we shall see Jesus in the temple service. As the psalmist said, “To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.” Psalm 63:2. The early patriarchs-Abel, Noah, Abraham, and others-offered sacrifices to God. Later at His command Moses built a sanctuary, a movable temple, which the Israelites carried about in their wanderings. Still later, Solomon, at the command of God, built the permanent Temple at Jerusalem on the same general plan. All the specifications were revealed by God, and the instruction came from heaven, as we read in the Book of Exodus, chapters 25 to 30. God said, “Let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.” Exodus 25:8. In this temple were carried on the sacrifices and other ceremonies appointed by God to foreshadow the salvation which would come through Christ.
Israel's temple of sacrifice and prayer was built with two rooms, or apartments: the holy place and the most holy place, separated by a beautiful veil, or heavy curtain. (Exodus 26:33.) In the first, or holy, place were three articles of furniture: the golden candlestick with seven lamps (Exodus 25:37) on the south side; the golden table of show bread on the north; and, just before the veil, between the lamp stand and the table, the golden altar, where incense (symbolic of the prayers of God's people) was offered morning and evening. In this apartment the service was carried on daily.
The second, or most holy, place, behind the veil, contained only the golden ark, in which the stone tables of the Ten Commandments were placed. Over the ark, between two golden angels, or cherubim, was the mercy seat, where the glorious presence of God appeared. “There I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims.” Exodus 25:22.
Around the sanctuary itself was an open court. Just before the entrance to the holy place stood the layer in which the priests washed. And just beyond it was the great altar of sacrifice, where the lambs and other sacrificial animals were offered day by day.
The furniture of the sanctuary was arranged in the form of a cross, as will be seen if the relationship of the articles of furniture is considered. The whole service was a symbol, a prophecy, and a promise of the cross. Every lamb slain for sacrifice represented Jesus Christ, “the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29.) In God's plan and promise Jesus was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Revelation 13:8.) It was not possible for the blood of animals to take away sins (Hebrews 10:4), but it pointed forward to Jesus dying as an atoning sacrifice upon the cross. He Himself said, “I lay down my life.... I lay it down of myself.” John 10: 17, 18. He gave His life freely for us.
Thus through patriarchal days and on up through the days of the sanctuary and the temple, the gospel was proclaimed in figure to instill faith in the Redeemer to come. Salvation before the cross, as well as after it, is through the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:8)
“Not all the outward forms on earth,
Nor rites that God has given,
Nor will of man, nor blood, nor birth, Can raise a soul to heaven.” Isaac Watts.
Let us turn now to the services of the sanctuary. On the great altar of sacrifice in the court morning and evening sacrifices were offered for all the people. Other offerings were also brought by individuals for their specific sins. When this latter was done, some of the blood was placed upon the horns of the altar, in type transferring the sin to the sanctuary. Then on a certain day of each year a special service known as the “cleansing of the sanctuary” took place. On this day of sanctuary cleansing, or Day of Atonement, as it is called in Leviticus 23:27, atonement was http://www.ThreeAngels.com.aumade for the sanctuary and all the people. (Leviticus 16:16-30.) In a sense it was a day of judgment, and all the people were called upon to repent of their sins and come under the atoning blood. (Leviticus 23:28, 29.)
On that day the high priest went alone within the veil to the most holy place and sprinkled the blood of a special sacrifice on the mercy seat, over the broken law. Then the priest went out of the most holy place and in his official capacity went through the form of placing the sins for which atonement had been made on the head of the scapegoat, which then carried them away into the wilderness. This ceremony took place once every year, of the tenth day of the seventh month. Among Jews of today this Day of Atonement, called Yom Kippur, is looked upon as a day of judgment.
Many forget that this earthly temple was a figure of heavenly things. The ancient priests in the temple were those who served “unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he wits about to make the tabernacle: for, See, said he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.” Hebrews 8:5. In vision the Apostle John saw the golden candlesticks, the altar of incense, and the ark of God's testament in the temple of heaven. (Revelation 1: 12, 13; 4:5; 8:3, 4; ll: 18, l9.)
Jesus is our High Priest in the heavenly temple; for we read in Hebrews 9:24, “Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” The ministry of the ancient priests of Israel was an excellent figure of things to come. It drew the people's attention to God and to the salvation that was theirs in Christ. They looked forward to Christ through the ordinances of that earthly temple; we look back to Christ through the ordinances of the Lord's house, or church. Those ancient priests served “unto the example and shadow of heavenly things” (Hebrews 8:5); Jesus is in heaven now and serves with the reality. He is our High Priest, our Mediator, our Friend at heaven's court. “Now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry.” Hebrews 8:6.
This is one phase of the life of Jesus that millions forget. Many Christians recognize Him as the world's Creator (John I:1-3), the world's Example (Matthew 16:24), the world's Teacher (Matthew 7:28, 29), the world's Master (John 13:13), the world's Savior (Luke 19: 10), the world's Lord (Romans 10: 12 ), the world's King (Revelation 11:15), the world's Light (John 8:12), the world's Life (John 14:6), the world's Love (John 3:16); but how few think of Him as the world's Mediator, the world's Priest. Yet Jesus said, “No man comes unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6. Through His incarnation and His atonement upon the cross He becomes our Representative, our Priest. Before the Father He can plead, “My blood, My blood!”
J. Wilbur Chapman tells of a young man who was an intimate friend and boyhood companion of Robert Lincoln, the son of Abraham Lincoln. This young man entered the Civil War as a private. Speaking about him to a friend one day, Robert Lincoln said, “Tell him to write to me, and I will intercede with father and get him a better rank.”
In telling about this, the young soldier said, “I never took advantage of that offer, but it was a great comfort to me. Often after a weary march, when I would be utterly exhausted, I would throw myself on the ground and say, 'Well, if it becomes absolutely unbearable, I can write to Bob Lincoln and get help. And I would rather have his intercession than a member of the cabinet, because he is the president's son.' “
Every true Christian knows this great truth: “We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 John 2: 1. We come to God not in the name of it cabinet minister, king, president, or great philosopher; we come to Him in the name of His Son.
As all the services of the earthly temple were a type of heavenly things, we may ask, What is the reality in heaven to which the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary pointed? It must be the final work of Christ in the plan of salvation. Of course there is no sin in heaven, but there are records there, for men are to be judged according to “those things which were written in the books.” Revelation 20:12. The earthly temple was cleansed with the blood of animals, but, the Scripture says, “the heavenly things ... with better sacrifices than these” (Hebrews), even the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Son of God-not that His blood is sprinkled there literally, but that He is accepted as God's sacrificial Lamb.
In the prophecy of Daniel 8:14 we read, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” That these days are actually years is clear from the explanation given by an angel in the ninth chapter of Daniel, in which we read that seventy weeks were cut off upon the Jewish people, and that these days include the coming of the Messiah and His work for men. These seventy weeks evidently were cut off from a longer period, the 2300 days; for when an angel came to explain the vision of the 2300 days, which Daniel had received in the eighth chapter, he immediately began by saying that seventy weeks are cut off. Cut off from what? The 2300 days, of course. The seventy weeks of prophetic days are weeks of literal years, each day standing for a year. (Numbers 14:34.) So also were the 2300 prophetic days literal years.
Having discovered that the seventy weeks began in 457 BC., the seventh year of King Artaxerxes, when the decree went forth to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem, we know also when the 2300 days began. Seventy weeks, or http://www.ThreeAngels.com.au490 years of the 2300, brings Us to AD. 34, as we have already learned. Subtracting 490 years from 2300 leaves 1810. Counting 1810 years from AD. 34, we come to 1844. And the prophecy declares, “Then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Daniel 8:14.
We know that the ancient temple at Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in AD. 70. Jesus had predicted its destruction. (Matthew 24:1, 2; 27:50, 5 l.) After our Savior's ascension He entered not “into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” Hebrews 9:24. Thus it is evident, from this prophecy of Daniel 8:14, that in 1844 the time came to cleanse the heavenly sanctuary. In other words, the time when the antitypical judgment must begin in heaven between God and men.
This must be the time of judgment pictured in Daniel 7:9, 10, when “the judgment was set, and the books were opened,” for God's judgment will be from books. In Revelation 20:11, 12 we read: “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” This judgment might be called the great grand jury of the universe, in which all the candidates for eternal life are considered one by one. Those who are to be raised in the first resurrection will be cleared before the view of the entire universe. The blood of Christ has blotted out their sins, and they stand accepted in the Beloved. Then the final decree is issued: “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Revelation 22:11, 12.
The judgment was still future in Jesus' day. He said, “It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city,” referring to a city which had heard His preaching. Matthew 10: 15. The judgment was still future in Paul's day. He preached of “righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come.” (Acts 24:25.) He himself said that God “hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world.” (Acts 17:3 l.) It is clear from the Scriptures that all cases must be settled in God's judgment before Christ comes, because His reward is with Him, “to give every man according as his work shall be.” (Revelation 22:12.)
In ancient Israel the Day of Atonement was ushered in by the blowing of ram's horns, and a public announcement was made that the solemn time was at hand. It was a day when the minds of the people were turned to God's holy temple and the sacred work going on there for each one.
So in the latter days God will have a message going to all the world announcing the judgment hour. This message is found in Revelation 14:6, 7: “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and tile fountains of waters.”
This is a wonderful message indeed; it is the gospel message. It is the everlasting gospel, the gospel that was preached by types and ceremonies to the patriarchs and, through the temple services, to Israel of old. It was proclaimed by Christ and His apostles and the true preachers of the gospel from that day to this. It was the glorious news that there is hope for sinners, blessed hope, eternal hope, through the atoning sacrifice made by Jesus Christ upon the Cross of Calvary. Everyone who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior and Redeemer has everlasting life and “shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” (John 5:24.) The “everlasting gospel' is not something new., it is God's original gospel, God's true gospel, the only gospel, as the Apostle Paul declared, preached in a new setting, with new power, and preached to all the world.
When George Whitefield was preaching in England and stirring the whole country with the thunders of his mighty voice, a certain member of the nobility said to a friend, “This man Whitefield is a great man. I believe he will be the founder of a new religion.”
“A new religion!“ said the friend. “He is not preaching a new gospel.” “Well, if it isn't new, what is it?”
“I'll tell you what it is. It's the old original gospel preached with new fire, with new power, by a man who really believes it and means what he says.”
And so the “everlasting gospel” is the old Jerusalem gospel preached to all the world with the power of the Holy Spirit. It is preached again in the last days in connection with the solemn announcement that the hour of God's http://www.ThreeAngels.com.aujudgment is come.
The word angel means “messenger.” In the Book of Revelation, a book which deals with symbols, the angel of Revelation 14:6, 7 must represent a worldwide message preached by the servants of God on earth. God does not send angels to preach His gospel from house to house and from church to church, on radio, television, or by the public press; He sends men to Preach it. This message is represented here as being given by an angel flying in mid heaven because it is of worldwide significance and goes to all the world-yes, even “to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.”
The message goes with “a loud voice,” too. It is something that must be known. It is too important to be whispered. It is to be proclaimed to earth's remotest bounds. The message is: 'Tear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come”-not has come or might come or may come or will come, but is come.
The great prophecy of Daniel 8:14, the prophecy of the 2300 days and the cleansing of the sanctuary, deals with the longest prophetic time period in the entire Scriptures. This time period reaches to 1844, the last date of prophetic time given in the Bible. When that year came, a great religious movement based upon this prophecy swept over America and Europe. It was carried on by Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians, and many others. Those who saw that the prophecy definitely ended in 1844 believed that the cleansing of the sanctuary was the cleansing of this earth by fire at the second coming of Christ, and therefore they announced the coming of Christ at that time. Of course His advent did not take place then, for the prophecy was not speaking of that event. After their great disappointment at Christ's not coming in 1844, some of these people saw the light: It was the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, the great antitypical day of atonement or judgment, and not Christ's second coming, to which the prophecy pointed. Then followed a mighty evangelistic call for people everywhere-all nations, kindreds, tongues, and races give heed to the gospel and prepare for the coming of Christ.
When does this judgment-hour message go to the world? The answer is, just before the second coming of Christ. Are we sure of this? Yes, indeed. Following this message of the first angel, a second angel declares that “Babylon is fallen,” and a third angel warns against worshiping the beast and his image and receiving his mark. (Revelation 14:8, 9.) Here we have a threefold message going to all mankind and going quickly.
What will be the effect of this message? First, it will draw the attention of the people to the great standard of the judgment-God's holy law, the Ten Commandments-for the Apostle James declares that Christians must live as those who will “be judged by the law of liberty.” (James 2:12.) Those who accept this message and live according to it are pictured in Revelation 14:12: “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Where are they? Wherever this message goes. They will be found everywhere.
This message also prepares men for the harvest of the world: “And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” Revelation 14:15. The harvest of the earth takes place at the end of time, as we read in Matthew 13:39: “The harvest is the end of the world.” So the effect of this united threefold message will prepare the world for the harvest and will prepare the harvest itself. Notice Revelation 14:14: “1 looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.” The sickle, of course, is a symbol of the harvest. This is a wonderful picture of Christ coming as King of kings to reap the harvest of the earth.
Thus the truths preached under these three angels are to reach their great climax in the second coming of our Lord and the world's harvest. It is clear, then, that these messages must go to the world in one generation. That generation will be the one just before the close of human probation, for the same people who hear the first message must hear the second and the third.
No religious movement sent of God ever came to the world unannounced and unheralded. We think of the work of Noah before the Flood, of John the Baptist before the first advent of our Savior. So we may expect that before the opening of the judgment announced by the first angel, God will have men in all parts of the world calling attention to the importance of the time.
In the tenth chapter of Revelation such a message is described: “And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: and he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, and cried with a loud voice.” What was the burden of his message? Verses five and six describe it. The main point is that “there should be time no longer.”
Now notice that the book in the hand of the angel is said to be open. There is only one scaled book in all the Bible, and that was scaled only until a certain time and for a certain period. Do you know what book that is? Turn to the twelfth chapter of Daniel and read the fourth verse: “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” There it is-a sealed book.
It is the great prophecy of Daniel that was to be sealed until the time of the end; then at the time of the end it was to be unsealed. The Book of Daniel is short, but it deals with long time prophecies: the 2300 days, the 70 weeks, the 1260 days, the 1335 days, the 1290 days, and other time periods. And here in Revelation 10, in connection with the announcement that time should be no longer, we have a picture of the unsealing of the Book of Daniel. The angel had in his hand a little book; it was open. Daniel is a little book; it was sealed until the time of the end, when it was to he opened.
Now, what does the Book of Daniel say about the judgment? We read the wonderful description of it found in the seventh chapter, verses nine and ten: “I beheld till the thrones were cast down [or placed), and the Ancient of days did sit.... Thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.”
This is a picture of something that happens in heaven, not on earth. The judgment is from books. The myriads of angels stand about the throne bearing their testimony to the records which they themselves have made. The angel told the prophet Daniel just when this work of judgment would begin. Turning to Daniel 8:14, we read,
“Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” We have already seen that this period ended in 1844, which marked the beginning of the antitypical day of judgment, the final Day of Atonement.
So Christ, our High Priest in the heavenly temple spoken of in the Book of Hebrews and the Book of Revelation, is now representing us before God in His final work for sinners. It can truly be said, “The hour of his judgment is come.” Revelation 14:7. The grand jury of the universe is in session before the throne of God. We are to send our sins on beforehand to judgment, that we may be accepted in the Beloved.
Thousands of Christian people of practically all denominations were aroused with the preaching of the fulfillment of this great prophetic time period in 1844. They were mistaken, of course, on one point, for they thought the 2300 years ended with the second coming of Christ. This caused them to be greatly disappointed, is where the disciples at Christ's first advent, when they expected Him to become a mighty earthly King and deliver them from the tyranny of the Roman Empire. We must remember that Christianity itself was horn in a disappointment, the result of a predicament which a mistaken interpretation of the Old Testament prophecies had brought to the early believers.
But out of the disappointment of those people who expected Christ to come in 1844, there has arisen another world movement in preparation for the second coming of Christ. The Scriptures plainly declare that no man knows the day or hour of His coming, but that we are to watch and be ready, and to preach the everlasting gospel announcing the judgment hour. The disappointment of 1844 is brought to view in Revelation 10: 10, where we read that the little book was offered to the prophet by the angel: “And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.”
What does the prophet mean by eating the book? In Ezekiel 3:1 we have this statement: “He said unto me, Son of man. . . . cat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.” To eat or fill oneself with what the roll contained, or with what was written in the book, would be to take in or understand its contents. So the holy Apostle John, representing the Lord's messengers by whom this important message was to be given, ate or devoured the book, which in this case was the Book of Daniel with its prophecies about the judgment hour, the cleansing of the sanctuary.
The message of the book was pleasant to contemplate. Those who were looking for the fulfillment of the prophecy were happy to think that the Lord would come, and that they would be forever with Him. No wonder they rejoiced! It was a sweet message as they studied it and, figuratively, ate it. But you will notice that the book became bitter afterwards. This represented the disappointment when the time passed and the Savior did not appear. Think of the ridicule they had to endure, the heart-searching, disappointment, and desolation.
But their work was not done. They still had a worldwide message to bear just as the disciples of Christ at His first advent were disappointed and said, “We trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel”
(Luke 24:21), so these early Adventists of various denominations were disappointed and discouraged. But, even as Christ's followers took new courage to go forward and to do the great worldwide work which still needed to be done after the resurrection morning, so the faithful believers in Christ's second advent, after their great disappointment in the middle of the nineteenth century, took new courage and set themselves to the task of carrying that message to earth's remotest bounds. The prophecy must be fulfilled. Here is their work, as revealed in Revelation 10:11: “And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” That is just what is being done now. This is a message which must go everywhere: “The hour of his judgment is come.” Revelation 14:7.
The prophecies are being fulfilled; the evidences all about us show that we are living in the latter times. The coming of our Lord cannot be far in the future. We must prepare now for that great event. Guided by the Holy Spirit, we must search our lives and seek to serve God acceptably. Are we ready for His judgment? If our names should come in review today, would the Savior be able to plead His blood for us? Would we be accepted in Him? Are we the children of God through faith in Christ? Have we been justified “by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”? (Romans 3:24.) Are we depending on our own works or upon the finished work of Christ upon the cross?
These are important questions, and we ought to he able to answer all of them in the fear of God. Remember this: 'We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 5: 10. This is not may, but must. Shall we appear in the ragged garments of our own deeds or in the holy and perfect robe of Christ's righteousness? Do not these words ring in your heart?-”The hour of his judgment is come.” Some people never think of the judgment. To them it seems impossible that such a thing should be. They are like a man who goes to a fine hotel and orders the best that the house affords-a luxurious room, breakfast, lunch, dinner. He denies himself nothing. He stops there for some time and enjoys the best of service and all the luxuries of the season. After a while his bill is forthcoming. It takes him by surprise. “Why, I never thought of that!” he says.
“What?” says the clerk. “You never thought of that? Do you mean to tell me that you came to this hotel and never thought of settling your bill here at the desk?”
Many people live after this fashion. They cat, they drink, they live on the fat of the land, they spend their days in enjoying the good things that God has given them without one thought of the hereafter, without regard to the judge of all the earth.
Yet God “hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he had raised him from the dead.” Acts 17:31. He has committed all judgment to the Son. Are you prepared to meet Him in the judgment? Do you believe in that Man, the Son of man, the Lord Jesus Christ, with all your heart? Is He your Savior, your Advocate before the throne of God, your Representative at the judgment? Without Him we are condemned, but in Him we are safe.
WHEN the time comes that men cease to repent, or refuse to repent, or repent falsely, the end of the world as we know it will be at hand. When men finally and irretrievably reject the mercies of God, they will begin to harvest the results of their sins. The prophet says: “Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.” Isaiah 3:11.
We know that the gospel promises forgiveness of sin, the power of God in our lives here and now, and a home beyond with everlasting life in the presence of Christ Himself. But what about those who reject this offer? The time will certainly come when the gospel message will have finished its work in the world. We distinctly read in Revelation 10:7 that such is to be the case--”The mystery of God should be finished.” The mystery of God is the gospel.
But when it is finished, what then? In Isaiah 55:6, 7 we read the call of God: “Seek you the Lord while he may be found, call you upon him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts.” The implication is that the time will come when God will not be near, when He may not be found; that the time will come when there will be no more probation for the sinner. This is positively stated in Revelation 22:10-12: “And he said unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. He that is unjust, let him he unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still, and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”
So, just before the Savior comes, there will be a time -a day, and hour-when this flat goes forth to humanity: “That which is, is. There is no change now. Let men remain in the same condition. Probation is past. The line has been drawn over which none can pass. There is now a great abyss over which no man can reach.”
The great message that God is giving to men now is to prepare for that time. That message, given by three angels, is found in Revelation 14:6-12. The first angel's message announces the hour of God's judgment and calls people to worship the living God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. This message shows Christ as our great High Priest doing His final work of mediation for man in the heavenly sanctuary. The names of the elect will soon have been made up and written “in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Revelation 13:8.
The second angel announces the fall of great Babylon. We are certainly living in Babylonian confusion today, so far as religious things are concerned, with voices calling from every side. There seems to he no theory, idea, or doctrine too anti-Christian, too wild, too strange, too un-Biblical to be declared, believed in, and promoted by someone. The word Babylon, which has come to mean “confusion,” certainly applies to the religious world today. No wonder the message of God is sent forth, “Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues.” Revelation 18:1. The delusive, confusing doctrines of Babylon will eventually be followed by the plagues of Babylon.
The third angel warns against the beast and his image, against receiving his mark in the right hand or in the forehead, and also declares the patient endurance of the saints who “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12. This all immediately precedes the second coming of Christ, as we see in verses thirteen and fourteen. This great threefold message is sweeping around the world today.
There is not only a warning against the mark of the beast, which as we learned in chapter 28 is a mark of allegiance to an earthly power in contradistinction to God's sign and seal, but also an announcement of God's unmixed wrath upon those who finally receive the mark of the beast.
All through the ages God's judgments have been mixed with mercy, but when His gospel is finally rejected and repudiated, when men willingly and knowingly accept human authority in the place of God's authority, there will be a change in His attitude toward men. His mercy will be withdrawn. “For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.” Isaiah 2 8: 2 1. When the Holy Spirit is grieved away and men have finally committed a sin unpardonable, because un-repented of, there will he judgment without mercy. In the fifteenth chapter of the Book of Revelation we read of the seven last plagues which begin to he poured out when human probation is closed and the day of mercy is past. “And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.” Notice especially verse eight: “And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.”
The work of Jesus as our representative before the throne of God in the heavenly sanctuary is intercession for men; but it will then be ended. So you see that His ministry in the heavenly sanctuary is closed when these http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auplagues are being poured out. Men are no longer repenting; therefore they are no longer forgiven. The mediation of Jesus for them has ceased.
Once before the human race passed its probation and destruction came upon them, out of which destruction a few were saved. We read of it in the seventh chapter of Genesis. It is the experience of Noah and his family at the time of the Flood. After he and his had entered the ark, what happened to the door through which they entered? The Scripture says, “The Lord shut him in.” Verse 16. Noah did not close the door, his sons did not close it, it was not blown shut by the wind; God closed it. God, and God alone, knows when the last man in the outer circle hears the call of grace. He, and He alone, knows when a human soul repudiates forever the offer of salvation. That is why God, and not man, closed the door of the ark. But when He closed it, the probation of the antediluvian world was ended. And Jesus says: “As the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matthew 24:37. Just as certainly as the ark was a place of safety, and the only place of safety, for those people in the time of Noah, so God has provided an ark of safety for His children in the last days of this earth's history, a place of refuge in the day of His wrath.
God closed the door of the ark when all those who willingly and of their own volition had entered. There were plenty of signs of the coming Flood-first, the preaching of Noah for over a hundred years; then the building of the ark; and at last the animals' going in two by two. Then God closed the door. Those who were within were safe from the Flood which destroyed the earth. The door of the ark was closed seven days before the rain came, and no doubt many laughed at the foolishness of Noah and said that he had locked himself in there. But God Himself had closed the door of the ark so that no one could blame Noah. He had not closed the door, and he could not open it. The closing of that door by God not only shut Noah and his family in to safety and salvation from the Flood, but it shut the others out to their destruction.
Reader, if you are out of God's ark of safety, don't blame God's people. Blame yourself. The door is open now, but it will not always be so. It may be closed by your death. It may be closed by the probation of the whole world coming to an end. God will close salvation's door when He sees that men will no longer enter because of love for Him. Man's probation will soon close, according to Bible prophecy. The fast fulfilling signs of the times all about us tell us that this is so Then seven great plagues will cover the earth, after which a flood-not of water but of fire-will purify this world of ours from all sin and sinners.
Many of the experiences of the children of Israel have lessons for us today. Before they left Egypt, ten plagues fell upon the land-the first three on all the inhabitants of Egypt, the last seven on the Egyptians alone. “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” 1 Corinthians 10: 11.
Remember, there were ten plagues sent upon Egypt. After three had fallen, or when the first of the last seven plagues began to fall, God said to pharaoh, king of Egypt, “I will put a division between my people and thy people.” Exodus 8:23. That word division means “redemption,” as we read in the margin. Those who were delivered from the seven last plagues of Egypt were spoken of at that time as redeemed. They were scaled for deliverance, as the Israel of God. They were to be delivered from the land of Egypt. When God put that division, or mark of redemption, on His people, the plagues did not fall on them, but only on the Egyptians. And we are told that all these things are written for our admonition, for our learning, for our study.
In the last days the seven last plagues will fall upon unrepentant man. These plagues will fall after probation has closed, and when they are completed, God's children will be taken from this world at the second coming of Christ. These seven last plagues have not yet begun. God's message of mercy, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of prophecies which indicate His second coming, are still to be proclaimed to all the world. Our own generation has experienced a great plague of sickness called influenza, which carried off between twelve and twenty million people-possibly as many as the great plague of the Black Death of the Middle Ages. Things like this have turned the attention of thousands toward God. When these great afflictions come to the world, people will take up the Holy Scriptures and read them. They will get out the good books which they have purchased in years past and study them. They will listen to the preaching of God's message, and multitudes will give their hearts to Christ.
But one of these days God will say: 1t is enough. 'He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still.--(Revelation 22:11.) Then the seven last plagues will commence to fall. When they do come, God will put a division between the followers of the beast and the followers of the Lamb, a division between modern spiritual Egypt and modern spiritual Israel. His people will be labeled and marked for the New, Jerusalem. They will be sealed for eternal life. Then many will run here and there to find the truth. They will seek to find a message from the Scripture, but will not be able to find it, as we read in Amos 8:11, 12: I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of tile Lord: and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and http://www.ThreeAngels.com.aufro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.”
What a day that will be-what a terrible famine when men will be hungry for the Word of God and will not be able to find it! People will stand in long lines to get into the churches. They will take the fastest planes and go from place to place to hear this man, to hear that man, to find the Word of God which they had long ago heard, neglected, or rejected. But they will not find what their souls long for. There will be no message for them. “The harvest is past, the summer is ended and ... [they] are not saved.” Jeremiah 8:20.
This time will steal as a thief upon millions. They will not realize what has happened. It will be as it was in ancient Jerusalem, when its probation as the city of God had ended after Stephen was put to death and the apostles turned to the Gentiles. Those men who had disobeyed God went on with their forms of religious worship. Business went on the same as usual. Social events seemed as gay as ever. The smoke of the altars ascended toward heaven, but it meant nothing. The time had passed. The Jewish nation had rejected the truth in the person of the Savior, and there was no further hope of redemption or change. Let us understand that this applied to the city and to the nation, not to individuals. In AD. 70 Jerusalem was destroyed and the nation driven to the four corners of the earth.
Now we come to the seven last plagues. We shall not deal long with them. They are so terrible that we need only to read them. Only God knows their extent. Surely they will not fall everywhere at the same time, or life would be extinguished. As we consider these plagues, let us remember that men bring them on themselves. Several times during the recital of the plagues it is announced that men blasphemed God and repented not to give Him glory. (Revelation 16:9, 11, 2 l.)
In the sixteenth chapter of Revelation these plagues are listed, from one to seven. “And the first [angel] went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a ... grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast.” Verse 2. “Beast worshipers” are the object of the first plague. Just how this will be manifested, we are not told; but notice especially that this “grievous sore” comes upon those who have the mark of the beast. Am I going to receive the mark of the beast? Are you? It is upon those who have this mark that the first plague will fall.
This mark is not a literal mark-it is a spiritual thing, a way of worship, an attitude of the heart toward God. Nobody could resist the mark if it were something branded on, as it were, from the outside and put there by force. But this is something that man can resist and refuse to accept. God sends people to perdition for adopting this mark, but He first warns against it. When the seven last plagues begin to fall and those terrible sores appear, the person who has the mark of the beast will have an outward mark, namely, the affliction brought by the plague. Then all men will know who has the mark of the beast and who has not.
“And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man.” Verse 3. Not long ago a report came in that along the coast of Florida there was a strip of water, forty miles wide and three hundred miles long, which became red like blood. Millions of fish swimming in that strange water died. It has been explained as due to micro-organisms in the water, which at certain times in their life cycle, bring on this blood-red condition of the sea. However
it may he brought about, the Scripture speaks of something which will be evident on such a wide scale that it will indeed he a plague.
“And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.” Verse 4. According to Scripture, this happened once before, in the land of Egypt. It was an actual occurrence and brought nationwide sickness and trouble upon that land. But here is something on a far greater scale. Did Pharaoh repent at the time of the Egyptian plague? No, he hardened his heart. So will it be in the end of time when water, the symbol of purity and life, becomes a horror to many.
“And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and was, and shall be, because thou has judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou has given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.” Verses 5-7. This shows that the lost will already have been singled out when the plagues fall. “And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.” Verse 8. We are told that the great deserts of the earth are enlarging at the average rate of a mile a year on all sides, some much faster. Dust bowls have been created in various parts of the earth, and great droughts are becoming commonplace. On a hot summer day the sun really scorches, but this is something more than that. We read that “power was given unto ... [the sun) to scorch men with fire,” yet the victims of this great heat “blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.” Verse 9.
“And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness.” Verse 10. In ancient Egypt also there was a plague of darkness, a darkness that could even be felt. (Exodus 10:21.) It was so intense that it seemed palpable. So the beast's kingdom will be full of an oppressive darkness, while men are still suffering from the first plague.
“And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, http://www.ThreeAngels.com.authat the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.” Verse 12. In this plague three unclean spirits, “the spirits of devils, working miracles,. . . go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” Verse 14. This is the great battle of Armageddon. “And ... [they) gathered them together into a place called. . . Armageddon.” Verse 16. This sixth plague is the only “sign” plague of the seven. It is the only one for which we can see preparation in the world today. In this Scripture passage we can see that the nations are stirred, not to conversion, but to conflict. In this final conflict, the beast, the dragon, and the false prophet-the three divisions of world opposition to God -take their part. (Verse 13).
“And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air [notice, this plague is as universal as the air and covers the entire earth); and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.” Verse 17. We remember the words of Jesus on the cross, 1t is finished.” John 19:30. He had finished the atoning sacrifice for our redemption. But here we come to another “it is finished; it is done'’-the end of this world, preparatory to the beginning of the new.
“And there were voices, and thunders, and lightning; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.” Verse 18. It is then that “the cities of the nations” fall, and the whole earth trembles. It will certainly be well for God's people to be out of the cities in those days.
“And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent [fifty-seven pounds]: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.” Verse 2 1. This must be the time spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, when “the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it.” Isaiah 28:17, 18.
But what about God's people who will still be on earth during the time of these plagues? “What will happen to us?” some believer may ask. God will take care of His children. Here is His promise in the wonderful ninety-first Psalm, which we all should know by heart: “He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.” Verses 1-3. The first plague, as we have seen, is a noisome and offensive pestilence, but God will deliver His people from it.
In this psalm we find the tender illustration of the mother bird protecting her little ones: “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shall thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shall not be afraid for the terror by night [the awful darkness mentioned in Revelation 16:10); nor for the arrow that flies by day; nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness; nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday [the burning sun of Revelation 16:8, 9). A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with your eyes shall thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou has made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” Psalm 91:4-11.
Here is a promise worth believing, worth having in the clays to come. And it comes from the lips of God. If you want to be saved and delivered from the seven last plagues, you will have to be one of God's children, those whom the angels watch over and keep in all God's ways.
The Lord has promised to protect those who are sealed for heaven. 1n the time of trouble he shall hide me.” Psalm 27:5. And He says: “I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him.” Psalm 91:15.
God delivered the Israelites from Egyptian bondage when the seven last plagues had been poured out upon that devoted land, and He will deliver His people at the time of the end. God delivered Noah and his family after He had closed the door of the ark, and He brought them forth from the devastating Flood. So, too, He will protect His people in this time of awful trial. But let us not forget that, just as the Egyptian plagues were real, so shall the seven last plagues be real. The plagues of Egypt were literal events which took place in history, and real people were delivered from them.
Those who escape the seven last plagues are the servants of Christ, the ones who have “gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name.” Revelation 15:1 And they will “sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.” Verses 3, 4. They are people who preach law and gospel, for they sing a song of Moses and a song of the Lamb. They “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12. Of them it is written: “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Revelation 7:14. They are redeemed through the blood of Calvary. They trust not in their own works, http://www.ThreeAngels.com.aubut in the work of Christ for them. He is their Redeemer, their Intercessor, their glorious King of kings.
If we live until the second coming of Christ, we must have a preparation to go through the time of trouble which is before us. If we do not live until that time, we need to make preparation to meet our Savior in the morning of the resurrection. So, in view of these things, we need to heed the words of Scripture, “Prepare to meet thy God.” Amos 4:12. And how shall we prepare? The answer is-
By faith: “For he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.... Without faith it is impossible to please him.” Hebrews 11:6.
By repentance: “Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.” Luke 13:3. “Repent, and be baptized every one of you.” Acts 2:38.
By obedience: Jesus said: “Not every one that said unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 7:21. “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Revelation 22:14.
By working with Christ: “Go you therefore, and teach all nations. . . . and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” Matthew 28:19, 20.
Now, is the time; today is the day to make a decision. “Seek you the Lord while he may be found, call you upon him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:6, 7. This is God's warning appeal, for the time will come when He will not be found, when He will not be near.
Long, long ago, in the earliest days of sea navigation, the extreme southern point of Africa was called the Cape of Storms. Many vessels were lost there, trying to round the Cape. But later, when navigation became safer and the voyage to the East Indies was often made successfully, the name was changed to the Cape of Good Hope. Sailors found that by rounding this Cape of Storms they were in a calmer, quieter, warmer sea, the peaceful Indian Ocean.
The unbeliever, looking out on the world today, and on to the immediate future, can see only a Cape of Storms and trouble, for prophecy indicates that such it will be. But to the one whose trust is in God, who has taken the Lord Jesus Christ as his pilot, it is not a Cape of Storms, but the Cape of Good Hope. To those who are in Christ Jesus, the future is indeed filled with hope -”the blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13) and the promised eternal inheritance in the earth made new.
IN THE prophecy of the millennium, our Savior rolls back the future for a thousand years and gives lets us look at the times which are to be. The word millennium is from two Latin words-mille, meaning.. a thousand”; and annus, meaning “year.” So millennium simply means “a thousand years.” In the minds of many this period has come to mean a time of peace, prosperity, and plenty on this earth. The word itself, however, carries no such connotation. The Bible, of course, reveals the millennium to be a time when the saints will reign with Christ. (Revelation 20:4.) It is probably this fact which has led many to look upon it as a thousand years of peace and of preaching the gospel. Sometimes those who speak of the reign of Christ suggest that the world will continue to get better, the during will grow in strength, and the spiritual kingdom of Christ will continue to spread over the earth until, finally a11 men will surrender to its blessings. This popular idea found its place in the verse of Alfred Lord Tennyson when he spoke of the continuing rise in man's Spirituality:
- Till the war-drum throbbed no longer,
And the battle-flags were furled In the Parliament of man,
The Federation of the world.”
But actually what will the millennial reign of Christ be like? Let us open the Book of Revelation, the book that is peculiarly Christ's, and read the twentieth chapter. The word millennium is not found here, but the period of one thousand years is mentioned: “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having ... a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.” Verses 1, 2.
Here we have a period of one thousand years between two great pillars of fact: the binding and the loosing of Satan. Reading verse three, we find that Satan is to be bound in the bottomless pit: “And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.”
The word here rendered “bottomless pit” is the Greek word abussos, the same term used in Genesis 1:2 in the Greek, or Septuagint, translation. It is equivalent to the Hebrew word rendered “deep” in our English versions. The literal translation would be “abyss,” a term applied to the earth in its desolate, waste, chaotic, dark, uninhabited condition in the beginning. To this condition it will be brought again and remain during the thousand years. This will be the dreary prison of Satan and his fallen angels. Here, amid broken-down cities, the rack and ruin of all the pomp and power of this world, and surrounded by the wicked slain at our Savior's second coming, Satan will have opportunity to reflect upon the results of his rebellion against God. His kingdom of spiritual darkness results in actual darkness and destruction.
Where will the righteous be during the millennium? We find tile key to this in Revelation 20:4: “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”
At the beginning of the millennium the vast majority of God's people will have to be resurrected, of course. They had been dead; now they live, and for a thousand years are with Christ. This is the “first” resurrection.
When does the first resurrection take place? We have learned in a previous chapter that the resurrection of the righteous dead takes place at the second coming of Christ. “Marvel not at this,” Jesus said, “for the hour is corning, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” John 5:28, 29. Here the resurrection of the good is put first, the resurrection of damnation second.
The exact time of the first resurrection is brought to view in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” Every child of God, from the first generation down to the last, sleeping the sleep of death, will be awakened by the voice of Christ; and all true believers who are alive on earth at Christ's second coming will be changed “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:52. This leaves not one child of God upon this earth during the millennium. They are all taken; they http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auare all with Christ. “And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” Revelation 20:4. See also verse 6. Wherever Christ is, there they are.
From John 14:2, 3, we discover where Christ is. He is in His 'Father's house.” He has gone there “to prepare a place for you. And ... I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” He takes His people to be with Him in heaven.
In vision the holy Apostle John actually saw these redeemed throngs in heaven: “And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: and they sung as it were a new song before the throne,. . . and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.” Revelation 14:2, 3. “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.” Revelation 7:9. See also Revelation 15:2, 3.
So it is clear that the saints are taken to heaven. They are with Jesus there. The Apostle Peter desired to accompany Christ to those heavenly mansions, but Jesus answered, “Thou cannot not follow me now; but thou shall follow me afterwards.” John 13:36.
What will be the effect of the second coming of Christ upon the wicked and upon the earth itself? Remember that in the days of Noah the Flood came and swept away all the wicked. Only Noah and those with him in the ark were saved. Later on, “the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus,” said Jesus, “shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” Luke 17:29, 30.
It is evident that when Christ comes the second time. the living wicked will be destroyed. The Apostle Paul emphasizes this in 1 Thessalonians 5:3: 'When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction comes upon them.” When Christ comes, the righteous will be delivered and the wicked suddenly destroyed, as in the days of Noah and Lot.
But to make it more emphatic, we rum to another scripture-2 Thessalonians 1:7-10: “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints.” Words much like these are found also in 2 Thessalonians 2:8: `And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.”
When Christ appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus, one glimpse of His glory blinded the persecutor and he fell prostrate on the ground. Also, we read in Scripture that the glory of God the Father cannot be looked upon by sinful man. His glory is a consuming fire to unbelievers. (Hebrews 12:29.) To Moses He said, “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.” Exodus 33:20. The glory of the angels who will be with Christ when He returns is a mighty glory also. In Matthew 28:3, 4, we read that when the angel of the Lord descended to the tomb of Christ, “his countenance was like lightning.... and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.” In Matthew 25:31 we are told that when Christ returns, all the holy angels will be with Him. And the Scripture speaks of their numbers as being in the hundreds of millions-”ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.” (Revelation 5:11.) Think of the glory of that wonderful day! The heavens will be all aglow with radiant forms.
Now we turn to Luke 9:26, where Jesus said, “Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.” Jesus comes in a mighty, threefold glory that is beyond our comprehension. No wonder the wicked are unable to look upon Him and live. They will be smitten down as if by an atomic flash. The heat and power of that “explosion” will be terrific. In 2 Peter 3: 10 we find a word picture which sounds much like the blaze of atomic fission and fusion which modern writers have tried to describe: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”
There it is: the great noise, the explosion, the heat, the atom flash of destruction, the instantaneous melting of the elements. This is not some tremendous cosmic catastrophe triggered by man; it is the work of God. And notice, it affects only those who are unable to endure the light of His glory.
How many of the righteous will be left on the earth for Satan to tempt during the millennium? None. They will all have gone to glory; they will be with Christ. How many wicked will be alive here for Satan to lead astray in the confusion of world events? Not one, for they all will have been smitten down at *the presence of Christ. There will be no one for Satan to tempt, no one for him to lead astray. Thus he is bound with chains of darkness until the http://www.ThreeAngels.com.augreat judgment day. The circumstances which surround him have completely tied his hands.
We often hear people say, “My hands are tied; I can do nothing.” And yet there are no cords, no chains, on their hands, no steel or brass manacles on them. We know what they mean. Conditions, situations, events, have bound them. So it is with Satan. The picture in Revelation 20:2, 3 makes this plain-especially where it says that Satan was bound “that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled.” Deceiving the nations has been his work; tempting the righteous has been his work. Now, for a thousand years, there is no one to tempt or deceive. He stays bound until the thousand years shall be fulfilled. What will be the condition of this earth during the thousand years? “Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty, and makes it waste, and turns it upside down.” Isaiah 24:1. “The cities thereof were broken down.” Jeremiah 4:26. It is at the second coming of Christ that the proud cities of earth are smitten down: 11 at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger,” the verse continues. This is no secret presence; it is a glorious epiphany, a tremendous event before which even the proudest monuments of man cannot stand. In Jeremiah 4:23, 25, we read these words: I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.” I beheld, and, lo, there was no man.” The earth is empty of human life; no man is here. The cities are broken down at the presence of the Lord. No wonder the earth-in this desolate, uninhabited, chaotic condition-is called the “abyss” or “bottomless pit.” The words “without form and void,” applied to the earth in the beginning, are applied to it here. Thus Satan is bound right here on earth, not with steel chains, but with chains of darkness, according to 2 Peter 2:4: “God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.” This is all in harmony with the first three verses of Revelation 20, which describe the binding of Satan.
At the end of this time something will set him free, for we read in Revelation 20:7: “When the thousand years are expired, Satan shall he loosed.” How is he loosed? Well, if all God's people are taken from this earth at Christ's second coming, the ones left must be the ungodly, those destroyed by the “brightness of his coming. 11 (2 Thessalonians 2:8.) What about them? Will they arise? Are wicked men to have a resurrection? Yes, indeed. “The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” Revelation 20:5. That means they will live again, then. Will they ever see the redeemed and the Holy City? Some people say that death is an eternal separation, that we will never see the wicked any more, that the righteous and the wicked will never behold one another. But what says the Scripture?
The Bible makes it clear that the second coming of Christ, with the resurrection of the righteous dead and the destruction of the wicked living, marks the beginning of the millennium. One thousand years later, after the judgment which has been going on in the heavenly places-where the saints have been reigning with Christ in judgment-the city of God descends to this earth, and the wicked are raised. This is the second resurrection, the resurrection to damnation.
Yes, the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, descends “from God out of heaven.” (Revelation 21:2.) Christ and His saints accompany it. “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all.” Jude 14, 15. Then the second resurrection takes place, and the hosts of the lost live again. Thus Satan is loosed and goes forth to deceive the wicked. He convinces them that they may still gain control of the world. “[He] shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth.... the number of whom is as the sand of the sea” Revelation 20:8 And what do they do? At Satan's instigation they make a final attempt to overthrow the kingdom of God. “They went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city [the New Jerusalem].” Verse 9.
Here the whole human race meet for the first and last time-all of God's people inside the city, the wicked without. Through the transparent walls of the New Jerusalem the redeemed can see the immense host of the lost outside. Those outside see the saints of God redeemed, glorified. They see the tree of life, the river of life, Jesus high upon His throne. They see all that they have lost.
Here is the final judgment scene, the sheep on the right and the goats on the left. Here before the whole universe of man assembled, before the holy angels, and before the throne of God, the righteousness and justice of God are acknowledged. God takes the universe with Him in His judgment, and every living being admits that God is just. The Apostle Paul by inspiration wrote, “For we shall all stand before the judgment scat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, said the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” Romans 14:10-12. During this time God reveals the motives behind His acts. The redeemed review His judgments and understand why He did what He did. Through all eternity they will know that it is not God's fault that anyone was lost. All God's people concur in His judgment of sin, saying with the angels, “Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and was, and shall be, because thou has judged thus.” Revelation 16:5. Those who stand redeemed before the throne of God “sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.” Revelation 15:3.
Surely this must be the time of which Jesus spoke, when many of the lost will come to Him and say, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will ... [he] profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.” Matthew 7:22, 23. Then they will cry: “Let us in! It cannot be that we are lost! This cannot be! Lord, Lord, open unto us!” But the answer is, “I know you not.
This must not be true of us. We must not have this experience. We must not have Christ say to us in that day, “Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matthew 25:41.
The final scene in the drama of the ages is described in these simple words: “And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them [the wicked].” Revelation 20:9. This is the “day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” (2 Peter 3:7.) This is the end of the wicked. This is God's great antiseptic that prepares the world for its re-creation. This is the cleansing, purifying fire that fits the earth to be the home of the redeemed. “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:15. Those are not human words; they are God's words. They are not my words; they are God's words. The great controversy is ended; sin and sinners are no more. God will have a clean universe. (Revelation 21:5)
“But,” someone says, “how can all that happen and the redeemed not be filled with sorrow?” We read in Revelation 21:4: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” There may be tears there, but God will wipe them away. We shall understand then as He understands; we shall see as He sees. We shall look down the stretch of the ages and behold that all His ways are right. We shall see the love of Calvary, the love of God in Christ Jesus; and the ages of eternity as they roll will bring us vaster and more wonderful visions of God and of Christ.
You who read this, remember that this wonderful day, the kingdom to come, and the home of the redeemed are just before us. We are to be with Christ forever in the heavenly places, in the earth made new, the eternal home of God's redeemed. The last vestige of sin, pain, disease, and death will be eradicated; the last spot of sin's infection on this universe will be removed. Then this earth, shining, beautiful, renewed-for Jesus says, “Behold, I make all things new”-will join her silver sisters of unfallen worlds in praise and service to God for an eternity to come. Then will this text be fulfilled: “Then comes the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign.” 1 Corinthians 15:24, 25. Isn't that wonderful? “For he must reign.” Christ will reign. “Then comes the end,” the end of conflict, the end of sorrow, the end of pain, the end of heartbreak -the end, the great fulfillment. Then comes the end when He shall reign; for He must reign.
The millennium is not here yet. The great world of eternity, which goes on and on from one tremendous chapter to another, has not yet begun. But someday it will begin. And in that kingdom you and I may have a part.
Here is the question for us today, in this hour: Does Christ reign in your heart now? Does He reign in mine? Perhaps some who read this may be wandering far away from the Father's house. If so, friend, come back; come home and have a part in this kingdom that is to be.
Not long ago a father in Watford, England, was greatly troubled about his son, who had left home, gone wrong, and was now sick and despondent. The boy wanted to write to his father, but was afraid to ask whether there was any hope of his returning home. At last he did write, but he carried the letter in his pocket for some time before mailing it. On receiving the letter, the father did not wait a moment, but sent his son a telegram containing just one word, “Home,” and signed “Father.” The gospel of Jesus is God's telegram to this old world. It is all summed up in one word, “Home,” and signed “Father.” Won't you come home?
And now let us recapitulate:
This thousand years which Christ unfolds to our gaze, this thousand years in which the saints of God are with Him reigning on thrones of judgment, follows the close of the gospel age and precedes the setting up of the everlasting kingdom of God's glory on earth.
It comprehends the larger part of what the Scriptures speak of as “the day of the Lord.”
The millennium is bounded on each end by a resurrection. Its beginning is marked by the close of probation, the pouring out of the seven last plagues, the second coming of Christ, the resurrection of the righteous dead, the translation of the living righteous to heaven, and the binding of Satan. Its close is marked by the descent of the New Jerusalem, of Christ and the saints from heaven, the resurrection of the wicked dead, the loosing of Satan, and the final destruction of the wicked. During this great millennium the earth lies desolate; Satan and his angels are confined here.
The saints, with Christ in heaven, sit in judgment on the wicked, preparatory to their final punishment. At the close of the millennium the wicked are raised to meet their judgment, and thus Satan is loosed for a little season. Satan and the host of the wicked encompass the camp of the saints and the Holy City. Finally the great curtain of fire comes “down from God out of heaven and devours them.” This is the end not only of what we might call the atomic age but also of the age of sin, the age of rebellion. The earth is renewed. Cleansed with the same fire that destroys the wicked, it becomes the eternal home of God's people. Out of the burning ruins of the old earth there spring forth, before the admiring view of the millions of the redeemed, a new heaven and a new earth, the everlasting inheritance of God's people.
YEARS and years ago a man in England's old Bedford jail had a dream. He dreamed about that wonderful city called the New Jerusalem. He saw some men enter the gate. Then-well, let him tell the story in his own words:
“Now, just as the gates were opened to let in the men, I looked in after them, and behold, the City shone like the sun; the streets also were paved with gold; and in them walked many men, with crowns on their heads, palms in their hands, and golden harps, to sing praises withal.
“There were also of them that had wings, and they answered one another without intermission, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord! And after that they shut up the gates: which when I had seen, I wished myself among them.”
This man, of course, was John Bunyan. He was imprisoned for his faith and for many years had to live in a jail. There he had this immortal dream, which we now call The Pilgrim's Progress. Yes, when they shut up the gates, lie wished himself among them. And no wonder. He wished to see heaven upon earth. That is the subject of this chapter, “Days of Heaven Upon the Earth”-the earth made new, heaven come down to earth, the saints' inheritance, where God's people spend eternity. We may give it many names, but the one general name of “heaven” might cover it all.
As we learned previously, when Jesus comes back to this earth, He takes His people to be with Him in heaven. We read this in the fourteenth chapter of John. There also we read of the places He has prepared for them. And, turning to the Book of Revelation, we read of the glorious city, the New Jerusalem, which is now in heaven.
After the saints have been with Christ in the heavenly places for one thousand years, the glorious city will descend to this earth and will become the capital of the earth made new. The golden dream of the ages will come true: at last there will again be days of heaven upon the earth. That is what this world needs now. There is too much fear, too much controversy, too much strife, too much doubting, too much war, too much pain, too much death. Through the long ages since sin entered the world, we have had anything but days of heaven. Yet, God's plans are always finally fulfilled. The time will come when, according to God's original plan, there will again he such days here on the earth renewed.
What was the Lord's purpose in creating the earth? We find the answer in Isaiah 45:18: “For thus said the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited.” And it will he inhabited, inhabited forevermore. We should never worry about the earth's coming to an end as a planet. It is true that God will deal with sin here. But the same fires which destroy the wicked in the “lake of fire,” as Jesus calls it, will also purify the earth and prepare it for its eternal destiny.
Jesus Himself said: “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5. They do not inherit it now, but they will someday-the earth made new. Some people are pessimistic about the future of this earth, but not Jesus. No Christian needs to be worried about the ultimate future of this earth. It is far brighter than optimists have ever imagined though it is true that the prophecies of Holy Scripture foretell times of trouble and war before the second advent of Jesus. But the ultimate future of this earth is simply wonderful! It will be a privilege to be alive then, for “the best is yet to be, the last ... for which the first was made.”
However, some people do not share this optimism. Not long ago a man of learning predicted that the earth would at last plunge into the sun and burn up. Another declared that the earth would dry up; he described the last man crawling to the last water hole for his last drink. Another described the earth in a head-on collision with some runaway star. Still others speak of the earth's exploding from its internal pressure. And not long ago an article appeared in which a scientific prognosticator declared that the earth will end as a frozen waste with ten-mile-high glaciers covering it. However, he gives us about seven thousand years to get ready for it, and declares that it will be getting really serious in a million times a million years. Just what can be done about that, he leaves us to guess.
After all, the only valid information we can secure about the future of this earth must come from the One who made it. The Creator alone knows why He made the earth, and He alone has real knowledge of the future destiny of this planet. In His inspired Scripture it is said that He “formed it to be inhabited.” (Isaiah 45:18) Jesus is the creator, for by Him all things were made. (John 1:3.) We can be sure from the Holy Scriptures-inspired by the Spirit of Christ or actually spoken by Christ-that His people will inherit the earth. So, the earth as a planet will not come to an end. It will not burn up, dry up, crack up, blow up, or freeze up in any way that will cause it to come to an end.
According to the teaching of God's Word, after a glorious renewal the earth will go right on as the most wonderful place in the whole universe in which to live. Ecclesiastes 1:4 states that “the earth abides forever.” So http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auwhy should we not be optimistic about the future of this earth? The Lord's promise concerning the earth still stands. God gave the earth to mankind. Of this we read in Psalm 115:16: “The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.” And when God gives a thing, He really gives it.
Dominion was given to men over the earth. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over ... all the earth.” Genesis 1:26. Further, God made man to have dominion over the works of his hands. (Psalm 8:6.) Through Adam's failure, however, man lost his dominion to the great usurper, “for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.” 2 Peter 2:19.
Three times Christ speaks of Satan as the “prince of this world.” (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11.) Satan tempted Christ to acknowledge his authority when he showed Him all the kingdoms of the earth, saying, “All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall he your.” Luke 4:6, 7. But Christ resisted the temptation, and through His infinite sacrifice redeemed not only the souls of men, but also the dominion lost by Adam. In fact Christ is called “the last Adam.” 1 Corinthians 15:45. He came “to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19: 10), as well as those who were lost. The prophet Micah, foreseeing all this and the final victory of Christ, said, “And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion.” Micah 4:8.
When man lost his first dominion, the earth brought forth thorns and thistles (Genesis 3:18). When Christ, the Son of man, the last Adam, paid the price of redemption upon the cross, He wore a crown of thorns, showing that His death was not only to save men but also to deliver the earth itself from the dark curse of sin. Our Savior's sacrifice upon the cross, was complete. It covered all our sin and loss.
The Apostle Paul spoke of the fact that “the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.” Romans 8:22. All created things in this earth are waiting for the glorious day when God's children shall be immortalized and redeemed physically and spiritually. By God's grace His believers are justified here. They grow in grace and are sanctified. But when Jesus comes, they will be glorified; and eventually the whole earth will be brought back to its Edenic state.
Those who read the Gospels carefully know that Jesus spoke plainly of the restoration of redeemed man's dominion over the earth. “Blessed are the meek,” He said in His Sermon on the Mount, “for they shall inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5. This, Jesus called the “regeneration.” (Matthew 19:27-29.) The earth itself will be regenerated, or re-created-created again. This is in perfect harmony with the words of Jesus in Revelation 21:5: “Behold, I make all things new.” The prophet Isaiah foretells that God will create a new heaven and a new earth. (Isaiah 65:17.)
In Luke 1:32, 33 we read a prophecy of the coming kingdom of glory: “The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall he no end.” All that was lost in Adam is restored in Christ, the last Adam. (1 Corinthians 15:45.) When the gates of the first Paradise closed behind the first man, the dream of Paradise restored was in his heart. God encouraged this hope by definite promises. That is one reason why humanity has never lost hope entirely. The dream will not die out. Down through past centuries, even to our day, that blessed hope has never died. God's finger of promise in the Holy Scriptures keeps pointing to the wonderful future. Memories of Eden's glory seem to rise continually in the mind of man, and he looks forward to a land where dreams come true.
Just over a century ago astronomers observed irregularities in the movement of the planet Uranus, at that time the farthest planet known in our solar system. Acting upon the suggestion of Francois Arago, the French astronomer Leverrier calculated that there must be an other planet outside the orbit of Uranus. On the basis of his calculations as to where the unknown planet might be, a German astronomer named Galle said to those who searched the skies, “Look at that spot!” They looked and, sure enough, there it was! The constant pulling of that unseen planet revealed its existence to the careful thinkers and observers of those days. The strange motions of Uranus said, “There is another planet farther out; there is a world beyond!” And so the tugging at the souls of men has been saying through the ages, “There is a world beyond. There is something more coming.
If we could find an electronic telescope that would look back through time as well as out through space, we would see this earth of ours as it came from the hand of God. In that yesterday of creation, we would see things we would never forget. Fortunately God's own chronicle of creation gives us a few glimpses of those days. In Genesis 1:31 we read, “And God saw every thing that lie had made, and, behold, it was very good.” Notice, not only good, but very good. When the world started out in the beginning, it was just as God wanted it to be. Man could enjoy it. But things have changed greatly since then, because “by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Romans 5:12. But in the beginning everything was good. Let us mention some of the good things:
1. A new world. From the Creator's hand it came to be the home of man, as we read in Genesis 1 and 2. Said the psalmist, “Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spoke, and it http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auwas done; he commanded, and it stood fast.” Psalm 33:8, 9. According to the Bible statement, the earth did not just happen to come into existence by a fortuitous concurrence of atoms or the explosion of a passing star. It was created by a loving God to be inhabited by happy people. Even in its present condition, it gives proof of the wisdom and power of God. Not only was the earth new, but man also was new in that wonderful yesterday of time. Thus we have a new earth and
Since, according to the first chapter of Hebrews, the Son was associated with the Father in the creation of the world, the Sabbath, being the weekly reminder of that great creative work, is actually a memorial to the power of Christ. At the end of His labor of creation, the Lord, as an example to man, rested, and was refreshed.” (Exodus 31:1M And so this day, Christ's Sabbath, Christ's rest, brings blessing to His people. As William Mason sang:
“Again the day returns of holy rest,
Which, when He made the world, Jehovah blest; When, like His own, He bade our labors cease, And all be piety, and all be peace.”
The last thing we shall mention about that golden yesterday of our race is that man enjoyed
5. Open communion with the Lord. God talked to Adam. See Genesis 2:16. The divine Teacher instructed His children without the darkening veil between.
God talked with Adam when the world was new His words were loving and His words were true. When flowers were sweetest and the day was cool, They walked on together by Gihon's pool.
'Tis beyond our knowing, beyond our ken,
That the Lord of the angels talked with men.
But there in the first garden long ago,
The Teacher and student walked to and fro'
It was a day of beauty, an hour of grace,
When the Lord God and man spoke face to face.
Before all sinning and before all strife,
God talked with Adam by the Tree of Life.
So far, we have been talking about the world's yesterday, but what about today, the world we are living in? In what respects does it differ from that wonderful world of yesterday?
How different all this is from that good yesterday that we have read about! But are the conditions in our world today to continue through endless ages as they are now? Are sin and death and trouble to break the hearts and lives of men forever? Here is the answer in the words of Acts 3:19-21: “Repent you therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, Which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” This is God's promise. The world's good yesterday will be restored on some glorious tomorrow. Jesus came to this earth to accomplish that. (Luke 19: 10.) Through Him the first dominion will be restored to a redeemed race. The prophetic words of Daniel 7:27 declare that the “kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” The kingdom lost by King Adam, the first man, will be restored by King Jesus, the Son of man. The righteous dead will rise; heaven will be theirs; the millennium will pass; the wicked dead will meet their judgment. Then the people of God, the children of Adam born again through faith in the last Adam, will enter Eden restored. Then again there will be
1. A new earth, as we read in 2 Peter 3:13: “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness.” There was a new earth in the beginning, and there will be an earth made new in God's tomorrow. What a wonderful world it will be, with every stain and mark and scar of sin's long reign wiped out forever! There will be no prisons there, for every sin and wrong will be blotted out and forgotten. (Isaiah 44:22). There will be no hospitals in the earth made new, for “the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.” Isaiah 33:24. There will be no cemeteries or mausoleums, for no one will ever die. “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.” Revelation 21:4,5.
“O sweet and blessed country, The home of God's elect! O sweet and blessed country, That eager hearts expect! “ Bernard of Cluny.
The Apostle Paul, who refers to the coming of Christ more than fifty times, makes it clear that the physical world, too, will be changed: “To this day [he says], we know, the entire creation sighs and throbs with pain; “the hope being that creation as well as man would one day be freed from its thraldom to decay and gain the glorious freedom http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auof God's children.” Romans 8:22, 21 (Moffatt).
Yes, the wonderful nature that we love so well-the mountains, the sea, the forest, the flowers-beautiful and soothing to man as it is despite the ravages of decay, is to be restored to its Edenic beauty. God's tomorrow will bring not only an earth made new but also
The glorious New Jerusalem will be the capital of the earth made new, and all will have mansions there. But homes are to be built and plans are to be carried out by God's people over the face of the beautiful new earth. There are great days ahead!
4. Then, too, the holy Sabbath, the memorial of Christ's creative power, which blessed men in lost Eden, will be restored in the Eden of tomorrow. “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.” Isaiah 66:22, 23.
In the beginning man had open communion with God. Then sin, like a dark cloud, intervened. But
5. When the great tomorrow comes, sin will be gone forever; the redeemed will see God face to face. Again men will have open communion with Him. “And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall he in it; and his servants shall serve him: and they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall he no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God gives them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.” Revelation 22:3-5. “And God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” Revelation 21:3. As it was in the beginning, so shall it be again at the ending: a new earth, a new race, labor for pleasure, the memorial Sabbath, communion with God.
There is much, very much, written in Holy Scripture about this holy land to come. It would take page after page to describe it all. But let us look into God's Word for some description of the Holy City, the capital of that earth made new. In Revelation 21:2A we learn that the city in the skies, the New Jerusalem, will sometime descend to this earth: “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
Notice, this city is called not only the “New Jerusalem- but also the “tabernacle of God.” This earth, once bedewed with the bloody sweat of Jesus in the dark garden of Gethsemane, will enjoy so much of God's presence that it is said He will dwell among men.
The New Jerusalem is also called “the bride, the Lamb's wife,” in Revelation 21:9. We read on: “And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; and had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.” “And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” Verses 10-12, 14.
In Galatians 4:26 the Apostle Paul calls this city in the sky, “Jerusalem which is above ... the mother of us http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auall.” The church, then, is not the city. In the twenty fourth verse of Revelation 2 1, we are told that “the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it [the city].” These nations of earth who are saved constitute the church, or people, of God and are distinct from the city, in the light of which they walk. This all goes to show that the city in the sky is a real city, someday to come to this earth.
Old Jerusalem was the old-covenant city; the New Jerusalem is the new-covenant city. They are contrasted in Isaiah 54, where the closing promise is given in almost the exact words of Revelation 2 1: “O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.” Isaiah 54:11-13.
SO, under the figure of a woman-a wife whose children were to be multiplied in the New Jerusalem above -the City of God is contrasted with the earthly Jerusalem in Palestine; and of this city, the Lord calls Himself the Husband: “Thy Maker is your husband.” Isaiah 54:5.
Now notice something important: This new city is a Christian city, for in its twelve foundations are the names of the twelve apostles of Christ. Do you know those names? Is it not strange that not one Christian in a hundred-or even a thousand-can give the names of the twelve apostles without looking them up?
But there is something else important here, too: The names of the twelve tribes of Israel are on the twelve gates of the city, showing that all the saved, from this dispensation as well as from the other, are reckoned as belonging to one of the twelve tribes. In other scriptures Christians are called “Israel,” or even referred to as the “twelve tribes.” See Romans 2:28, 29; Galatians 3:29; Ephesians 2:12, 13.
Now what about the city's size? Is it big enough? Will it accommodate the millions of the saved? Let us read Revelation 21:15-18: “And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. And the city lies four square, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal I that is, they are “in proportion”]. And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of tile angel. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.” Twelve thousand furlongs eight furlongs to a mile -is 1,500 miles. If this measurement is the entire circumference of the city, as some suggest, the New Jerusalem would be 375 miles on each side, about the size of the State of Montana, which contains 145,878 square miles. If we understand the 12,000 furlongs to be the length of one side of the city only, then the walls would surround 2,250,000 square miles. From either standpoint, there is room for all the people who have ever lived upon the earth from the days of Adam to the present. Room enough for all the saved, for the angelic hosts, and for those happy inhabitants of unfallen worlds who shall visit the city.
The twelve foundations of this sky city are precious stones, arranged much like the spectrum. Upon these rest the walls of jasper, transparent to allow the different-colored rays of light to pass through.
The twelve mighty gates of pearl must be wholly for beauty, for they are never shut. Like God's grace and mercy, they open toward all points of the compass. But no one will ever pass through a gate of the city who has not passed through the narrow gate of repentance. Only the obedient, through Christ's abundant grace, will enter there. Truly, we can say with the Apostle John: “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Revelation 22:14.
We are given only a glimpse of the glory of the New Jerusalem; we shall have to wait to see it in all its beauty. There is, however, a partial picture in the Holy Bible: “The city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defiles, neither whatsoever works abomination, or makes a lie: hut they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.” Revelation 21:23-27.
There is no night in that city. Just think of the time we spend in sleep! A man who is seventy-five years old has spent at least twenty-five years in bed. But in the city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God-(Hebrews 11:10), the redeemed will always feel the “freshness of the morning,” as someone has beautifully put it.
The tree of life is there by the river of life. “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” Revelation 22:1,2.
From the throne of God the river of life flows through the city. What is more majestic than the flow of a mighty river I shall never forget the thrill that came to me when, as a boy, I first saw the Mississippi; and again when, in young manhood, I looked at the sweeping current of the St. Lawrence; and later when I watched the mighty http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auColumbia rolling toward the setting sun. Just think what an hour that will he when you first see this mighty river sweeping on to the horizon!-the river of life, “wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.” (Isaiah 33:21)
'Fresh from the throne of glory, Bright in its crystal gleam, Bursts out the living Fountain, Swells on the living Stream.
“River of God, I greet thee, Now not afar, but near; My soul to thy still waters Hastes in its thirsting here. -Horatius Bonar,
Three hundred years ago Shah Jahan, the “Great Mogul” of India, used to sit with Munitaz Mahall, his beloved wife, in a lovely garden at Agra and tell her of his love. He promised to build her a palace of such beauty that men and women would come from the ends of the earth to gaze upon it. And he kept his word. Twenty thousand men worked for nearly twenty years to build it. A fabulous fortune was spent in its construction. A dream in marble, the famous Taj Mahal is “a thing of beauty and a joy forever.” But before it was completed, the beautiful Murntaz descended for the eighth time into the valley of motherhood, and this time death claimed her. As the sorrowing husband and lover sat beside her body, he cried, “O my beautiful Munitaz, you shall have your palace, but now it must be your tomb.” Today the two lovers sleep side by side under the moonlight of three hundred years.
Though beautiful, how inferior the Taj Mahal to the eternal memorial prepared by Jesus, who loves us with an everlasting love.” (Jeremiah 31:3) Through the streets of His city rushes no tide of business, no black-robed hearse creeps slowly with its burden to the tomb. It is a city without griefs or graves, without marriages or mournings; a city which rejoices in having Jesus for its King, saints for its citizens, angels for its guards; a city whose walls are salvation, whose gates are praise. And think of all the people who will be there from all ages! Men will come from earthly wanderings to celestial homes, from dens and prisons here to joys and mansions there, out through iron doors and in through pearly gates. I lands that have known the clank of chains will strike instruments of heavenly melody and wake harp notes of enduring joy. Brows once grimed with smoke and burning will glow smooth and fair and loyal beneath crowns that never fade. Gazing on the least of all the assembled company, we shall say, “Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
What it city! What a world! What a hope! As it is said of the wonders of redeeming grace, so also may it be said of the wonders of redemption's reward: “Eye hath not seen, nor car heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9.
This world of tomorrow will be a world of eternal youth. From earliest ages hope has burned in human hearts for some region where men would live forever. Back in the days when knighthood was in flower, Sir John Mandeville discovered a wonderful spring of which he wrote: “1, John Mandeville, saw this well and thereof drank twice, and evermore since that time I feel better and better.” Some men called this well the Fountain of Youth. But the gallant Sir John has passed away. He did not live forever.
For real light on the future, the wonderful future, we must open the great Book of God and read more and more of that “divine event, to which the whole creation moves.” But remember this: This new world of tomorrow comes not by the power of man, not by the intrigues of world diplomacy. It comes solely and entirely by divine intervention. It will be under the blessed rule of the King of kings and Lord of lords, the resurrected Carpenter of Nazareth, with an appointed cabinet of twelve immortal men. You will find the prophecy in Isaiah 9:6 and Matthew 24:31. It is the Spirit of prophecy's reply to a universal longing of human hearts.
Prophets and kings will meet with gospel workers, all of them victorious after the conflict of the ages. The great controversy between good and evil will be ended. This is the hope of the world and the desire of ages, which shall usher in our Paradise home. As we study our day in the light of prophecy, we see that God speaks to modern men; and we get a vision of past, present, and future which lends new light to our times and their meaning. The drama of the ages is about to be concluded; the curtain is about to be dropped on man's tragedy and is about to go up again on the wonder world of tomorrow.
But how can we today be sure of a place in the earth made new? How can we look at the trials and losses and heartaches and separations of today and still have hope? How can we really know that we shall have a place in that land of heart's desire? How can we know this? Well, in just one way-by trusting in Jesus, who 1oved us, and washed http://www.ThreeAngels.com.auus from our sins in his own blood.” (Revelation 1:5.) We must believe on Him (Romans 10:10); we must repent of our sins (Luke 24:47); we must confess our faith before men (Romans 10:9); we must obey Him and all the requirements of His Word, according to the light we have (James 4:17; Luke 12:47, 48).
To be in that tomorrow land with those whom we have loved and lost; to meet the redeemed of all ages; to enjoy the companionship of holy angels; but above and beyond all this, to see our Savior, the One altogether lovely, the fairest among ten thousand-what joy it will be!
Only one thing will remain in that earth made new to remind us of the cruel work that sin has wrought in the world-just one thing-and that will be the marks of the crucifixion, the print of the nails in His hands.
“When my lifework is ended, and I cross the swelling tide, When 'this mortal puts on immortality';
I shall know my Redeemer when I reach the other side, And His smile will be the first to welcome me.”
-Fanny J. Crosby.
It was with this beautiful thought in mind that Harry Anderson painted his great picture of Christ with the three children gathered about Him. One, pointing to His hand, asks, “What happened to Your hand?” Under this picture, not long ago, I saw the following poem by Eunice Phelps:
What are those scars, dear Jesus? What happened to Your hand? I love You so, I want to know. Help me to understand.'
Those scars you see, My children, They nailed Me to the tree.
It was then those scars were made for you, I died to set you free.-
When the days of heaven upon earth are come, every overcomer will have the blessed privilege of seeing Jesus and being with Him. “And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.” Revelation 22:4.
Do you love Him? Do you belong to Christ? Will you not accept the Lord Jesus and His gospel and promises today? Will you not obey Him and go all the way to fulfill His Word? Then you may look forward by faith in Him to days of heaven upon the earth. “The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Revelation 22:17.