THE HERALD
of Christ's Kingdom
VOL. VII. February 1, 1924 No. 3
Table of Contents
SYMPATHY AND LOVE IN THE BODY OF
CHRIST
THE SIN OF UNBELIEF
DANIEL THE BELOVED OF JEHOVAH
THE TRIUMPHS OF FAITH
"HE CARETH FOR YOU"
THE CHURCH THE LIGHT OF THE
WORLD
VOL. VII. February 1, 1924 No. 4
Table of Contents
THE OUTLOOK FOR REUNION
DANIEL THE BELOVED OF JEHOVAH
GOD TEACHES IMPORTANCE OF THE
HOLY LIFE
CHRIST AND THE OLD TESTAMENT
CONFESSION OF SIN, FORGIVENESS,
VICTORY
HOW SOME ARE MINISTERING
VOL. VII. February 1, 1924 No. 3
SO OUGHT YE TO LOVE
ONE AN OTHER
"And whether one member suffer, all the members
suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the
Body of Christ, and members in particular." -- 1 Cor. 12:26,27.
SYMPATHY,
brotherly love, forbearance, helpfulness, are amongst the outstanding qualities to be
observed amongst Christians who are consistently living in accordance with their
profession. This is as a result of what may be regarded from some standpoints, the
peculiar teaching and instruction which they have received from their Master, and as a
result of the spirit which He has imparted to them. Most surely did the Master endeavor to
impress upon the minds of His followers that they as His brethren, were to be decidedly
different from that which they were as natural men, saying, "Except ye be converted
and become as a little child, ye shall in no wise enter the Kingdom of Heaven."
Finding His disciples upon one occasion unsympathetic toward one another and selfishly
contending amongst themselves as to which was to be greatest in the Kingdom, the Master
gently rebuked them saying, "the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them;
and they that exercised authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be
so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as
he that doth serve." -- Luke 22:25, 26.
THE BODY UNITED BY
BOND OF SYMPATHY
Various
pictures are employed in the Scriptures to set forth the blessed and harmonious
relationship that was to exist amongst followers of Christ. But none is more beautiful and
impressive than that employed by St. Paul in the language at the head of this article. We
could not imagine any more complete bond of perfectness, of sympathy, of love, than that
suggested in the figure of the human body. All the members are in the closest and most
sympathetic touch with one another and all are marvelously united by a system of nerves;
by which feeling, sensation is instantly communicated to every part of the body. Hence if
one member suffers all suffer.
St.
Paul is undoubtedly having in mind the Body of Christ in its present state -- the
suffering, sacrificial Christ; for in the glorified state none of the members will ever
suffer again. Indeed, it is while we are journeying together in this wilderness state that
we need the instruction and comfort of the Apostle's admonition. The great Head of this
mystical Body originally gave a perfect demonstration of what that. spirit, the Holy
Spirit, that was to flow through the members of His Body, really was and of how it
operated. In Him it was a spirit of kindness, of sympathy, of forbearance, and
longsuffering. He looked upon the multitude and had compassion; He wept with those who
wept. Truly as the Apostle suggests, "We have not an High Priest which cannot be
touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are,
. . . who can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way; for He
Himself also is compassed with infirmity."
How
helpful is the thought that the spirit of this blessed One permeates all the members of
His body, and that as we mingle together, in proportion as that spirit is possessed, there
is the sympathetic interest, there is longsuffering, there is charity, and the disposition
to help and encourage; to cover one another's defects and failings. And this is in full
line with the Apostle's language again, "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil
the law of Christ." The law of Christ we have seen to be the law of love: and love
says, "Bear ye one another's burdens." There are times in the experience of
almost every one when the surges of trouble roll high, and the timid, shrinking soul is
almost overwhelmed by them. And then how soothing is the sympathy and counsel of a
fellow-member of the By of Christ! Worldly -minded friends may sympathize, but their
counsel is almost sure to be wrong. Hence the necessity of fellowship in the Body of
Christ, and of disfellowship with the world.
"HAVE WE TRIALS
AND TEMPTATIONS!"
It is
not always necessary to tell one's sorrows and perplexities to another, and to have their
sympathy and aid; in most cases they are better untold, except to the Lord. But Love's
quick discernment is always watchful and ready with the word in season, the cordial
friendliness, and the helpful hand iŁ need be, to help bear the burden.
There
are various kinds of burdens to be borne: there are burdens of bereavement, of financial
embarrassment, of business and family cares, of physical and mental suffering, of sudden
disasters and great perplexities and anxieties; and there are burdens also of conscious
sins. In all these, if we are diligently seeking to fulfil the law of Christ, we may he
able to cheer and strengthen fellow-members of the Body of Christ with sympathy and
counsel, and such aid. as may be, most needful and timely.
But
the Apostle calls particular attention to this last kind of burdens -- burdens of sins --
and counsels the exercise of this disposition specially in cases of acknowledged sin. We
are all to remember our own liability to sin, and therefore to be patient and considerate
with others when they are overtaken in a fault. Such patient, forbearing love is one of
the most beautiful adornments of the Christian character.
In
the Body of Christ, the various members have their various inherited weaknesses, against
which they must wage a lifelong warfare; and these weaknesses are sometimes of such a
nature as to interfere to some extent with the rights and comforts of others as well as of
themselves. And just here the Apostle offers a word of counsel, saying, , "We, then,
that are strong ought to .bear the infirmities of the to weak, and not to please
ourselves." (Rom. 15: 1, 2.) This does not imply that we should not expostulate with
such a one and endeavor to help him get rid of his infirmity. This we should do, in the
spirit of meekness and kindness, while we patiently endure the trial of our patience, not
seeking to please ourselves, but rather to help a weaker brother or sister. "Let
every one of us please his neighbor [brother] for his good, to edification" -- that is, not by simply
ignoring his fault as though you considered it all right, but, while kindly urging him to
strive against it, still humbly and patiently submitting to the discomfort it brings to
you.
SINS OF EVIL-SPEAKING
AND BUSYBODYING
The
one- who is animated by the Master's Spirit will not be disposed nor desire to find flaws
in his brother; or if the weakness of his brother is plainly manifest, he will not try to
help him by resorting .to back-biting, or slandering his brother; neither will he resort
to evil surmising nor to whispering evil of him in any way. And yet we are reminded , of
how many there are who indulge in evil speaking and slander. This is often done in such a
manner as riot only to deceive the hearer but also to deceive the speaker as respects his
real intention in' speaking of others discreditably, unkindly. What a wonderful world this
would be if all the unkind words and thoughts were avoided. Surely every Christian should
see to it that so far as possible every word which proceeds from his mouth shall be such
as will minister grace to the hearers -- such words as will do only good and be edifying.
Neither
will those who have the Master's spirit think they can be helpful by becoming
"busybodies in other men's matters", and by attempting to regulate the affairs
of fellow-members. Hence the Apostle warns the brethren that they guard against this
wrongful course and that they "learn to mind their own business." Experience
indicates that busybodying has frequently been a source of difficulty in the Church. As in
families the wrong feeling often obtains which impels some of the members to want to know
all about the affairs of every other member; so in the Church there has also been a
tendency to meddle, to inquire about, to interfere in the matters of others, to busybody,
and in some instances there seems to be a disposition to hunt up everything connected with
each other and to sit in judgment upon one another.
The
difficulty is evidently a lack of love. "Love worketh no ill to his neighbor."
It rejoices not to find flaws; it seeks not for them. It surmises no evil -- rather it
surmises good. Let each of the Lord's people judge himself in this matter and see to what
`extent he has been a busybody in the affairs of others. Let each decide in his own case
that .the fault, in proportion as he has it, is a lack of the spirit of love, and let each
in that proportion go to the Lord prayerfully,
earnestly seeking to be built up in the quality of love.
THE TRUE BODY KNIT
TOGETHER IN LOVE
If
this spirit of the Lord prevails in sufficient measure, the Apostle further shows (1 Cor.
12:24-26) that there need me no schism in the Body; because the members all have a mutual
care for another -- a care which seeks to encourage and strengthen all that is good and to
discourage all that is unbecoming, and a love which thrown its mantle over the deformity
and endeavors to conceal a fault, rather than to expose the weaker brother to the reproach
of others. Thus in the true Body of Christ, which is knit together in love, if one member
suffer, all the members suffer with him, in proportion as they are more or less directly
'associated with him; or, if one member be honored, all the members rejoice with him, and
to some degree share the honor; just as when in an earthly family one member rises to
honorable distinction, all the members partake of the honor and the joy.
For
such self-sacrificing love how necessary is the spirit of humility and gentleness and
patience and faith! How forceful are the Master's words, "Except ye be converted
[from the spirit of the world to the spirit of Christ] and become as little children [in
meekness and teachableness], ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven."Matt.
18:1-6.
And
here He adds a caution which all would do well to heed saying, "But whosoever shall
ensnare one of the least of these who believe in Me, it would be better for him that a
millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were sunk in the depth of the sea."
With what carefulness, then, should we regard one another.
Dearly
beloved, bear ye one another's burdens; and so fulfil the law of Christ -- the law of
love; and so bind up the Body of Christ that there be no schism in the Body, but that it
be more and more knit together in love. Let this blessed law of Christ rule more fully in
all who have taken, by consecration, the name of Christ: and. let its hallowed influence
shine out upon the world, showing them how it brings peace and harmony and happiness-how
it makes more tender and devoted wives, more
noble and good and kind husbands, more loyal and loving children, more kind and good
neighbors; and how it pours oil upon all the troubled waters of a present experience and
prepares the heart for the enjoyment of all the fruits of righteousness.
__________
Love is the filling from one's own
Another's cup.
Love is a daily laying down
And taking up;
A choosing of the stony path
Through each new day
That other feet may tread with ease
A smoother way.
Love is not blind, but looks abroad
Through other eyes;
And asks not "Must I give?" but
"May I sacrifice?"
Love hides its grief, that other hearts
And lips may sing;
And burdened, walks, that other lives
May buoyant wing.
Brother, hast thou a love like this
Within thy soul?
'Twill change thy name to saint when thou
Dost reach thy goal.
ISRAEL'S FAILURE AT
KADESH
"Jehovah is
with us: fear them not." -- Num. 13:17-14:45.
THE
sin of unbelief is amongst the sins that stand out most prominently in the history of the
ancient Hebrews. Their record is one continued story of failure .to live and act
consistent with their calling-their profession of being God's people. Their unbelief, lack
of faith is clearly manifest in their many apostasies -- idolatries and murmurings against
Jehovah's providence and His administration of the affairs of the nation.
Thus
the Apostle Paul in the New Testament states that "With many of them God was not well
pleased," and the Apostle calls upon the Christian Church to take a lesson from
Israel's failure. His message to the Church (1 Cor. 10:11, 12) implies that God will not
be well pleased with any in spiritual Israel who manifest unbelief; that as many of the
typical people were overthrown in the wilderness, so the proper inference is that many
professing to be spiritual Israel will be overthrown in the wilderness and fail to reach
the antitypical Canaan. For "these things were our figures, examples -- to the intent
that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted." They were object
lessons in wrong doing and God's treatment of the wrong doer was intended to instruct us
in respect to what would happen to us if we, blessed with the antitypical favors should
misuse them and desire or lust after the former things, the sinful things which we left
when we quitted the world (typified by Egypt) to follow Christ (typified by Moses).
The
journey of about 160 miles "through the terrible wilderness" toward Canaan
consumed about three months, due probably to the 'largeness of the camp, for modern
travelers have covered the distance in but few days. Finally they reached Kadesh-Barnea,
on the border of the promised land, with the hills of the latter in full view. It was here
that Moses smote the rock, contrary to the Divine command, and today the place has
abundant springs of water and is a regular oasis. In harmony with, the Divine arrangement
it was proposed that they go up immediately to possess the land, but caution and fear
suggested that first spies be sent out, that they might have a better knowledge of the
real value of the land God had given them and also a better knowledge of the difficulties
to be encountered in taking possession of it. With them, as with Christians today, the
opportunity was afforded of doubting the beneficence of the Divine arrangement, doubting
the wisdom and love of God, and conjecturing the impossibility of taking possession of the
land and even the probability that they should find it far less attractive than the Lord
at the mouth of Moses had reported.
SPIES WERE SENT TO
INVESTIGATE
The
request of the people that the land be spied and reported on before its conquest was begun
was acceded to by Moses. Twelve spies were selected, representing the twelve tribes --
prominent men in whose judgment the, people might have confidence. Apparently these went
forth in two companies : one 'under Joshua made a tour of the entire country from the
southern part to Jericho at the north, some 300 miles. The other band 'under Caleb made a
shorter journey, going only so far as the valley of Eschol near Hebron. Caleb was
accordingly the first to report (Numbers 13:30; 14:24), while Joshua's report came in
later (Numbers .14:6, 7). The spies were commissioned to gather information respecting the
fruitfulness of the land and the desirability of the country and the character of its
inhabitants, and whether they dwelt permanently in walled cities, or in movable camps like
the Arabs. Two reports were returned, and in most particulars they were very much alike,
telling that the land was good and fruitful and desirable, but that it would be difficult
to conquer; that the inhabitants dwelt in high-walled cities, which were well nigh
impregnable, and that some of the people were of great stature. Although there were but
few of these giants, their fame was evidently far reaching, and the spies declared. with
exaggeration that in their presence they felt like grasshoppers. The majority advised
against any attempt to take possession of the land, and discouraged the people, leading
them to believe that it would be an utterly hopeless task for them to undertake to drive
out the Canaanites, the Amalekites, the Amorites, the Hittites and the Jebusites, who had
thorough possession. The minority report by Caleb and Joshua differed little from the
other, except that they expressed full confidence that Israel under Divine guidance and by
Divine aid would be fully able to conquer all the difficulties of the situation.
We
cannot wonder that the people were greatly disheartened from the very beginning: they were
not a warlike, but a pastoral people. Indeed with the exception of the battle which
Abraham waged for the recovery of Lot. and his family, arid the battle a year before in
the wilderness with the Amalekites, the Israelites had no experience in war and quite
evidently were unprepared for such a contest as lay before them if they entered Canaan and
attempted to take possession. We must admit, therefore, that the report of the ten spies
that the Israelites were not capable of taking possession was in many respects a wise and
just one, and the people apparently were justified in accepting it. The thing lacking was
faith. They should have believed God, and have followed explicitly His leading; they
should have said, Greater is He who is on our part than. all they that be against us, and
while we are under His direction we are able to do all things through His strengthening
power. However, it should not surprise us that this people under all the circumstances
were unable to exercise such a faith in' God. Rather we might say that antitypical Israel
alone might be expected to have such a triumphant faith -- nor do we find that very many
spiritual Israelites today possess faith to such a degree. Indeed, we should not forget
that the failure of natural Israel and the Divine dealings with them in consequence were
more in the sense of typical illustrations for spiritual Israel than as real condemnations
on natural Israel. We cannot think that God expected much more of those people than was
manifested in their course. Of spiritual Israel, however, much may reasonably be expected.
THE MAJORITY IN THEM
WRONG
How
did the people, receive the two reports? Almost unanimously they decided that they had
been misled, that their best course was to; return to Egypt and proffer their services
again to the Egyptian taskmasters. They decided that their coming- out of Egypt was a
mistake, that the journey through the wilderness was wasted time, and that they now in a
hopeless position, a people without a country. They proposed to select a leader to lead
them back to Egypt, and threatened Caleb and f Joshua with stoning for trying to
perpetuate the misleading of Moses, which they seemed to have been willing to forgive as
error of judgment. At this juncture, however, the Lord intervened, and from the bright
display of His presence over the tabernacle there went forth a judgment against some of
the leaders, especially the ten spies who gave the faithless report and stirred up people
to resent the Divine leading which they had previously followed. The lesson was a severe
one -- a plague amongst people evidencing Divine disfavor, and they were turned again to
wander in the wilderness for the remainder. of forty a year for each day consumed in the
spying of the land. Divine decree was that all the men of Israel over twenty years age
were to perish in the wilderness during those forty years national disfavor -- that not
one of them was ever to enter promised land except the two who gave the good report, Caleb
and Joshua.
The
commotion amongst the people incident to this report must have been great. Moses himself
endorsed the report of Caleb and Joshua, and urged the people to obedience to God, as we
read:
"Then
I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them Jehovah, your God, who goeth before
you, He will fight for you, according to all that He did for you in Egypt before your
eyes; and in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that Jehovah thy God bare thee, as a
man .doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place. Yet in
this thing ye did not believe Jehovah thy God, who went before thee in the way, to seek
you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night to show you in what way you should
go, and in the cloud by day." -- Deut 1:29-33.
But
the people in bitterness of disappointment cried out, "Would to God that we had died
in the land of Egypt, or would to God that we had died in the wilderness. Wherefore hath
the Lord brought us, into this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children
should be a prey. Were it not better for us to return to Egypt?"
Then
Joshua and Caleb exhorted the congregation, saying, "The land which we passed through
to spy it out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delight in us, then will He bring
us into this land and give it unto us; a land which floweth with milk and honey, only
rebel not against the Lord nor fear ye the people of the land."
SPIRITUAL ISRAEL'S
SIMILAR TESTS
Applying
the lesson to spiritual Israel we find many correspon-dencies: First, we have leaders of
the people, corresponding to the spies, on whose report much will surely depend, as to the
courage of the people in going forward with the Divine arrangement. Some of these
ministers so magnify the difficulties of the way that the people are discouraged and go
not on, while others giving a truthful report encourage their brethren with assurances
that the Lord's grace is sufficient for all who are His. Perhaps indeed it would not be
amiss to suppose that the twelve spies represent the whole number of the Lord's people who
in the present life enter into covenant relationship to the Lord and experience a measure
of His rest. All agree that the rest of faith is a glorious one, that its fruitage is
grand, and samples are presented to the people. A small minority, however, give a proper
report of the possibility of Christian living -- the possibility of being overcomers of
the world, of fighting a good fight in the name and strength of the Lord, the possibility
of entering into all the glorious things which God hath provided for them that love Him.
The majority, the Great Company, hold back, fail to appropriate the promises, fail to
trust the Lord, and their influence is proportionately an evil one upon others with whom
they have influence. Thus at the present time few by faith enter into the blessings and
privileges that belong to the spiritual Israelite, and these few are the only, ones who
will enter into the heavenly Canaan to take actual possession by and by: the others fail
of the blessing and joy of faith in the present time, and will fail of the highest
blessing in the future, whatever portion they may obtain under the Lord's grace.
Mr.
Spurgeon told a story of a man who was invited to come into his orchard to eat some of his
fruit. He declined because he said he had picked up some apples from the roadside that
fell from those trees, and they were poor and bitter. The owner replied that those trees
were there on purpose, so that the boys would not be attracted into the orchard to steal,
but assured him that in the orchard proper to which he invited him were delicious apples.
As those apple trees on the outside gave not a proper sample or representation of the
orchard, so many Christians give to the world a very unsatisfactory sample of the
blessings of the Lord and the fruits of the Spirit, and in some respects bear false
witness and hinder the outflow of the blessings of the Lord toward mankind in general
during this Age. Thank God that the time is coming when under the leadership of the Joshua and Caleb class the whole people --
all who will accept the Lord and have confidence in Him -- may be brought into the
antitypical Canaan and assisted to take possession of all the rich. favors which God has
promised to them that love and obey Him.
"Unbelief
never gets beyond the difficulties, the cities, the walls, the giants. It is always
preferring them, dwelling on them, pitting them against its own resources. Faith, on the
other hand, though it never minimizes the difficulties, looks them steadily in the face,
turns from them and looks into the face of God, and counts on Him. This is what the people
failed to do, and for this they lost Canaan." --F. B. Meyer.
"Oh, how many a glorious record
Had the guardian angel kept!
Had I done instead of doubted,
Had I warred instead of wept!"
"I CAN DO ALL
THINGS THROUGH CHRIST
WHO STRENGTHENETH ME"
There
are two important lessons for Spiritual Israelites to learn: First, their own inefficiency
-- their own inability to meet the trials, . difficulties, the hindrances in their way. As
the Apostle says, cannot do the things that we would. But our extremity is God's
opportunity, and His encouraging words are, "My grace is sufficient for thee; My
strength is made perfect in your weakness." Lord could have armed and equipped the
hosts of Israel in some miraculous manner, making them invulnerable to the attacks of
their enemies and giving them courage for their ordeal; but this was not His plan. He
wished to develop in them the necessary faith, trust, obedience, for, "without faith
it is impossible to please God." Thus in natural Israel was illustrated the Divine
proceeding in spiritual Israel. God could miraculously give us powers of mind and of body
which would make us superior to every outward circumstance, but instead of so doing He
merely justifies us by faith, and tells us to reckon ourselves as complete, perfect,
because of the imputation of our Redeemer's merit. From this standpoint of faith all the
battles of spiritual Israel are won or lost. "According to thy faith be it unto
thee." Those, therefore, who can and will exercise full faith, full confidence in all
of the Divine promises may go from victory to victory, from blessing to blessing, from joy
to joy, from one attainment to another, and have a glorious victory in the end over the
world, the flesh, and the Adversary, through the imputed merit and continued assistance of
Him who loved us and bought us with His precious blood.
To
this class the giants of opposition and despair lose their power, even as did Goliath
before the slingstone of David. The pebble from the brook -- the message from the Divine
Word -- vanquishes the enemy's power to those who have the sling of faith. To these the
fortresses of sin are not so strong as to be invulnerable, unassailable ; entrenched
depravity is recognized as being subject to Divine power, and when attacked in the name
and strength of the Lord and encompassed repeatedly with prayer, finally its strong walls
fall down as did those of Jericho. So may depraved appetites and sinful desires be
thoroughly conquered so far as our hearts are concerned, though the traces thereof may
continue to some extent in our mortal flesh -- reminders not only of the weaknesses of the
fallen nature, but also of the triumphs of the New Mind under the leadership of Jesus.
As
these victories of faith progress, the fruits of the victory become ours. The grapes of
Eschol, the figs, and all the plenty of the land flowing with milk and honey but feebly
picture the riches of grace and fruitage ,of the Spirit which accrue to those who in the
name of the Lord gain the victories of faith over the world, the flesh, and the Adversary.
Of these fruits and graces the Apostle speaks, naming meekness, gentleness, patience,
longsuffering, brotherly kindness, love. And the assurance of the Word is that if we do
these things, if we maintain this good fight of faith as New Creatures, we not only. shall
enjoy the spiritual refreshment, but eventually "an entrance shall be administered
unto us abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
-- 1 Pet. 1:11.
SERIES XV
THE VISION OF THE
LITTLE HORN
"While 1 was reflecting about the horses, 1 observed
another little horn rise amongst them, but three of the former horns were pulled up before
it." -- Dan. 7:8, Fenton's Translation.
In
explaining this part of the vision to the Prophet, the angel said: "Another will
arise after them [that is, after the ten kingdoms have all come to view], and it will
differ 'from these kingdoms, and will depose three kings," etc. -- Ver. 24
There
is probably no portion of sacred prophecy that has so much engaged the attention of
expositors from the time it was given, as this one; and there is no other prophecy
concerning which there has been such universal agreement as to what power is referred to.
It will be understood of course, that we do not refer to Roman Catholic writers in this
statement; nor to those protestant Futurist writers who have adopted Rome's
interpretations. It was not until the beginning of the Gospel Age that this prophecy began
to be understood.
In
our endeavor to identify from history the power referred to by the "little horn"
of this prophecy, it will be essential to keep in mind the conclusions we arrived at in
our last article concerning what constituted the kingdoms referred to by the "ten
horns." Our reason for this is that it was not until after these ten kingdoms had all made their
appearance on the territory of the Roman Empire in the West that the power symbolized by
this "little horn" should be looked for as coming up amongst them: It was while
the Prophet was reflecting on the significance of the "ten," that the
"little horn," was seen rising among them. This implies that when he first saw
the beast with its ten horns, it had no such little horn, but that it sprang up, seemingly
a considerable time after he first saw the beast
with its ten horns. This seems to intimate that its fulfillment would occur at a period in
the history of the Roman power after its division.
The
little horn's springing up on the head of the beast implies that it was a further
development of the history oŁ the Roman Empire. Its history belongs to the territory of
the Roman Empire in the West, that is, the influence of the little horn power would be
exerted or . felt in, the West, and not in the East. It is impossible tot emphasize this
too strongly, for the reason that it is at this point in the prophecy, as we have already
shown, that the Historical interpretation of what constitutes the Antichrist, begins to
meet its fulfillment. It will be recalled that in our consultation of history, we
discovered that these kingdoms symbolized by the ten horns were all existing on the
territory of the Roman Empire in the West, at the time the last emperor that ruled in the
city of Rome was dethroned. This event tools place in 476 A. D.
FULFILLED IN THE
ROMAN APOSTASY
Considering
carefully the particular features mentioned by the Prophet at the head of this article,
together with all the others mentioned by him, and also the explanation of the little horn
and its actions by the revealing angel, it would seem that even the slightest acquaintance
with the history and claims of the Papal power should make manifest that the prediction
has met its fulfillment, in each and every particular, in this great hierarchy. Indeed it
would be utterly impossible for any one who is acquainted with the long eventful history
and doings of this great religious system to select symbols more apt and descriptive of
its doings. The prophetic vision contains several very peculiar and striking features that
make it impossible to believe otherwise than that they were divinely chosen in order that
the true Christian may not mistake the identity of the great evil, religious system that
more than any other has perverted and distorted the truth and become the most bitter enemy
and persecutor of the true Church. It has built up a counterfeit oŁ the true Church, and
ac Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses -- by imitation, so it has withstood Christ.
The
Scriptures contain several distinct prophecies concerning this power, each viewing it from
a different standpoint, and what is lacking in the description in the one is found in the
others. Other prophecies than this of Daniel are found in 2 Thess. 2, and in several chapters in the book of
Revelation. Careful attention to these shows that they all very clearly locate the seat of
government of this little horn power in the city of 'Rome.
In a
vision seen by St. John over six centuries subsequent to the time Daniel saw this vision,
the ecclesiastical influence exerted over the ten kingdoms is described. The vision is
that of a harlot woman having on her forehead a name written, "Babylon the Great, the
Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the earth." The woman is represented as riding
on a scarlet colored beast, having ten horns. In explaining the vision, the revealing
angel said to St. John, "The woman which thou sawest is that great city that reigneth
over the kings [kingdoms], of the earth." (Rev. 17:18.) This could not pos-sibly
refer to any other city than that of Rome. Furthermore, it was the very general
understanding from St. Paul's clay on until the fall of the Roman emperors in the West
(476 A. D.), that the "Man of Sin" mentioned by the Apostle in 2 Thess. 2, has
reference to the same power of evil as does that of the little horn of Daniel; although
having a more special reference to it as an ecclesiastical, a religious power. And as
bearing on the time and place it would come, it was also very generally
understood that the one great hindrance to the revelation of the "Man of Sin,"
was that of the emperors' occupying the throne of the Caesars at Rome.
NAMED "THE
MYSTERY OF INIQUITY"
It is
also very clearly stated in all these predictions, that this evil power, represented in
Daniel by the little horn, would be small in its beginnings, that it would gradually
develop, and that it would become even stronger in influence and power than the other ten
kingdoms. Indeed the Apostle Paul states that the "mystery of iniquity," an
expression describing the incipient beginnings of this evil system, had already begun to
work in his day. This "mystery of iniquity" has reference evidently to the
beginning and development of a desire, an unholy ambition. for self-exaltation or lordship
in the Church. Likewise the little horn when first seen was small in comparison with the
ten amongst which it came up. Later on the Prophet describes it as having become
"more stout than its fellows,"
In
the Revelation visions this evil system is represented at first as gradually assuming a
power or control over the ten horns or kingdoms; or, stated in another way, the ten horns
or kingdoms are represented as gradually giving a voluntary support to the beast in its
ten-horned state. In one vision of the Revelation it is represented as being a controlling
"head" of the "beast" in its same ten-horned state. In another it is
represented as riding on the beast, as if controlling it with bit and bridle. All of which
things are very meaningful.
The
gradual rise to influence and power of the
Papacy has been noted by all historians, whether Roman Catholic, Protestant, or Secular.
There have been, as is distinctly portrayed in the vision, several stages in connection
with its rise and complete development. The first stage covered the period in which the
Bishop of Rome was seeking to become head over all other bishops -- indeed to become the
universal sovereign, the supreme ecclesiastical head of the professed Christian church.
These ambitious, self-exalting endeavors of the Roman Bishop, covering the period
beginning in the fourth and ending with the close of the fifth century, culminated in his
being recognized by the emperor, Justinian, as the Supreme Bishop, or head of the churches
of the world. The edict of Justinian, and the letter to the Bishop of Rome; in which he
acknowledged him to be the Supreme head of the Church, were made public in A. D. 533.
"This occurred under John II, reckoned as the fifty-fifth Bishop of Rome."
USURPED THE POWER
BELONGING TO GOD
While
same have questioned whether Justinian intended to confer such an honor on the Roman
Bishop or not, it is certain that it was about this time he became very generally
recognized as the Supreme Bishop and head of the Church. This decree of Justinian while
not conferring upon him territorial possessions and jurisdiction, did cause the Roman
Bishop to become more generally recognized as the ruler in, the Church in all matters
involving con science before God; and as will readily be seen authorized him with higher
power over individuals in the professed Church, when he chose to exercise- it, than the
secular rulers had. Indeed it was in the assuming of such power that he became a usurper
of the power that belongs to God alone. His claim to be the regulator of the consciences
of men, is an example of this. Cardinal Manning, a worthy representative and vassal of the
Pope, a little more than a half century ago, puts the following words into the mouth of
the Pope: "I claim to be the Supreme judge, and director of the consciences of
men." It is to this kind of power, that is, spiritual power, that the chronological
feature of this prophecy -- "And they [the saints] shall be given into his hand until
a time, times, and a half," seems to have its application.
The
second stage in connection with the development of this little horn of Papacy covers the
period during which the Roman Bishop aspired and sought to secure temporal power; that is
to obtain possession of a territory absolutely his own, and in which he might be able to
exercise undisputed authority over all the people residing in such territory. It seems
very apparent that it was in connection with the attainment of this ambition that the
Roman Bishop or Pope became in the full sense a temporal monarch -- a "horn" on
the beast. At this time he would be recognized by the other ten sovereigns as their
"fellow." (Later on, as we shall see, "his look became more stout than his
fellows.") Furthermore, it seems equally apparent that at this time also all three of
the former horns would be, in the language of the vision, lucked up by the roots; in other
words, that at this time the Pope would come into possession of the territory formerly
possessed by the three horns, or kingdoms. These possessions would. of course, include the
city of Rome.
A REMARKABLE
DESCRIPTION
We
are indebted to Mr. Guinness for the following extract from a Roman Catholic, whose name
he does not give, which could prophecy of the little horn's attainment of temporal power
"The rise of the temporal power of the Popes, presents to the mind one of the most
extraordinary phenomena which the annals of the human race offer to our wonder and
admiration. By singular combination of concurring circumstances, a new power and a new
dominion, grew up, silently but steadily, on the ruins of that Roman Empire which had
extended its sway, or made itself respected by nearly all the nations, peoples, and races
that lived in the period of its strength and glory; and that new power of lowly origin,
struck a deeper root, and soon exercised a wider authority than the empire whose gigantic
ruins it saw shivered into fragments, and moldering into dust. In Rome itself, the power
of the successor of Peter grew side by side with and under the protecting shadow of the
emperor; and such was the increasing influence of the Popes, that the majesty of the
Supreme Pontiff was likely ere long to dim the splendor of the purple. The removal by
Constantine of the seat of empire from the West to the East, from the historic banks of
the Tiber, to the beautiful shores of the Bosphorus, laid the first foundation of a
sovereignty, which in reality commences from that momentous change. Practically, almost
from that day, Rome which had witnessed the birth, the youth, the splendor, and the decay,
of the mighty race by whom her name had been carried with her eagles to the remotest
regions of the then known world, was gradually abandoned by the inheritors of her renown;
and its peoples, deserted by the emperors, and an easy prey to the barbarians. whom they
had no longer courage to resist, beheld in the bishop of Rome, their guardian, their
protector, their father. Year by year the temporal authority of the Popes, grew into shape
and hardened into strength; without violence, without bloodshed, without fraud, by the
force overwhelming circumstances, fashioned as if invisibly by the hand of God."
The
above is as a learned Roman Catholic views it. Macauly, the historian, viewing it from
another standpoint thus describes it:
"It
is impossible to deny that the polity of the Church of Rome is the very masterpiece of human wisdom. In truth but
such polity could against such assaults have borne up such doctrines The experience of
twelve hundred eventful years, the ingenuity and patient care of forty generations of
statesmen, have improved that polity to such perfection, that among the contrivances which have been devised for
deceiving and oppressing mankind occupies the highest place, The stronger our
conviction that reason and Scripture were decidedly on the side of Protestantism, the
greater is the reluctant admiration with which we regard that system of tactics; against which reason and
Scripture were employed in vain."
A$ GIBBON THE
HISTORIAN VIEWED IT
Gibbon,
the unbelieving historian, gives a description of the events which were associated with
the rise of Papal influence and powers
"About
the close of the sixth century Rome had reached the lowest period of her depression. By
the removal of the seat of empire [to Constantinople], and the successive loss of the
provinces, the sources of public and private opulence were exhausted; the lofty tree under
whose shade the nations of the earth had reposed was deprived of its leaves and branches,
and the sapless trunk was left to wither on the ground . . . . Like Thebes or Babylon or
Carthage, the name of Rome might have been erased from the earth, if the city had not been
animated by a vital principle which again restored her to honor and dominion. Under the
sacerdotal monarchy of St. Peter, the nations of the earth began to resume the practice of
seeking on the banks of the Tiber, their kings, their laws, and the oracles of their
fate."
DATE OF RECEIVING
TEMPORAL POWER
Our
object at present is to discover when the Bishop of Rome actually became a temporal
monarch. In doing this we must appeal to the secular historian. We discover that there is
a very general agreement as to the exact time in history when this took place. We quote:
"On
the overthrow of the Western Empire the Bishop of Rome, as the first personage in what had
been the capital of. the world, was naturally invested with great influence, and looked up
to, not only in religious matters, but even [as an adviser] in political affairs. Indeed,
in the universal wreck, it was the Church alone that kept up the organization of society.
The very Barbarians who overthrew the Roman Empire were themselves brought under the sway
of the Church; for barbarians though they were, the Teutons had a deep vein of earnestness
in their character. Again, the state of affairs in Italy had much to do with giving the
Roman bishops great influence. When, under Justinian, the Ostrogoths were overthrown
[about 552 A. D.] and Italy came under the dominion of the Eastern Empire, the
representatives of the Byzantine [Eastern] Emperor did'not live at Rome but at Ravenna.
[He is commonly called the Exarchate of Ravenna.] This caused the power of the bishops of
Rome to grow greater and greater. The Roman bishop or pontiff,*was called Pater, or Papa,
father (whence English Pope**) and he had a, vast moral influence though as yet no
temporal power. How temporal power was first acquired will now be told.
___________
* "The name 'pontiff' is derived
from the Pontifex Maximus, the chief officer of the old pagan religion of Rome."
** "Till the time of Pope Gregory
VII, the title of Pope was given to all bishops alike; he however, in 1076 A. D., decreed
that thenceforth it should be applied only to the Roman 'papa,' or pontiff, prefixing at
the same time, the epithet sanctus, whence the modern style, 'His Holiness, the
Pope."
______________
"The
Lombards, who in the eighth century had fully established their kingdom in Northern Italy,
took every opportunity to enlarge their territory, at the expense of the Eastern Empire
[that is, the territory still held by the Eastern emperors in Italy]. They made themselves
master of Ravenna, Rome, etc, [See International Encyclopedia, under Lombards.] But this was not a change that was at
all agreeable, either to the popes or to the Roman people; hence the aid of Pepin, father
of Charlemagne, was asked. Pepin came and saved Rome, and won from the Lombards the
territory of the Exarchate of Ravenna. He then' took a 'step that led to mighty results:
he bestowed this territory on the popes, and this was the beginning o f the temporal power of the Catholic
Church. When Charlemagne had overthrown the Lombard kingdom, and was crowned king of
Italy, and afterwards Emperor of the West [by the Pope] (A. D: 800), he confirmed the grant which his father had
made to the popes." --Swinton, Outlines of
the World's History.
The
Historian Gibbon thus describes this important event: ,
"The
ancient patrimony of the Roman Church, consisting of houses and farms, was transformed by
the bounty of these kings, [Pepin and Charlemagne] into the temporal dominion of cities and provinces; and the
donation of the Exarchate to the Pope, was the first fruits of the victories of Pepin . .
. . The splendid donation was granted in supreme and absolute dominion, and the world beheld for the first time, a Christian Bishop invested with the prerogatives of
a temporal prince, the choice of magistrates, the exercise of justice, the imposition of
taxes, the wealth of the palace of Ravenna."
Mr.
Barnes says on this point: "We have here properly the beginning of the temporal dominion, or the first
acknowledged exercise of that power in acts of temporal sovereignty, in giving laws,
asserting dominion, swaying a temporal empire, and wearing a temporal crown. All the acts
before had been of a spiritual character, and all the deference to the Bishop of Rome had
keen of a spiritual nature. Henceforth, however, he was acknowledged as a temporal prince,
and took his place, as such, among the crowned heads of Europe,"
THE THREE HORNS
PLUCKED UP
Having
settled the matter as to the time in history when the bishop of Rome attained temporal
power,, we believe it is clear that it was at this time that Papacy became in the fullest sense a "horn" of the Roman
beast. It was at this time that the Roman bishop began is be looked upon as a
"fellow" king with the other kings. It was later on, that "his look was
more stout than his fellows."
The
next thing in the order of this vision of the "little horn," will be to consider
the significance of the three horns being "plucked up" -- to be removed in order
to make room for the little horn to have a place on the beast's head; also to discover
what powers or governments are referred to by the "three horns." This will be
required in order to establish the interpretation that applies the "little horn"
to the Papal kingdom.
It
is, of course, well known to students of prophecy, that there have been various views held
respecting what three governments or powers are referred to. We believe that it will be
admitted by all students of prophecy that only that application which meets all the
requirements of the various features of the vision can be the correct one. It is quite
certain that the powers or governments symbolized by the three horns that were rooted up
by the "little horn" should not be looked for until after the fall of the last of the Roman emperors
that administered the affairs of the empire in the West. It was the fall of this
government in the West that fulfilled the prediction of St. Paul, "He who now letteth [hinderetl] will let [hinder] till he
be taken out of the way." It would be only then, that is, when the empire in the West
ceased, that it would be possible for that wicked one to be revealed.
One
writer makes the Roman Empire in the West to be a horn on the fourth or Roman beast; and
he makes the fall of the empire in the West to fulfil the prediction of the plucking up
the first horn by the roots. The facts of the
matter are that this great event of history ended not the career of a horn but of a beast
in its empire state. It is a mistake to
suppose that the Roman Empire had been divided into two empires before this time. All that
had occurred up to 476 A. D. was simply that the affairs of the one empire was being administered in two places --
in the East and in the West. The territory of the empire in the West constituted, as all
Historical interpreters believe, the body of the beast of Dan. 7; it was not therefore a
horn.
REQUIREMENTS TO BE
LOOKED FOR
An
important requirement that will need to be kept in mind-a requirement which the prophecy
seems clearly to teach, is that the power symbolized by the little horn would acquire by
its rooting up the three, the territorial dominion that the three possessed; in other
words it would secure temporal power by
uprooting the others. Temporal power is invariably understood as possessing territory with
authority to rule in civil affairs, such as making laws, imposing taxes, indeed everything
supposed to be required in the administration of a civil government over the people in the
territory possessed. Would not this require that the people in the territories ruled over
by the three horns (kingdoms, governments) that were plucked up, come under the control of
the little horn or Papacy? Mr. Barnes, Sir Isaac Newton, Bishop Newton and some others so
interpret this feature of the vision. Mr. Barnes says "This power ['little horn']
absorbed into itself three of these sovereignties -- annihilating them as independent
powers, and combining them into one most peculiar dominion, properly represented by
'plucking up."'
This
requirement, if we are correct in our interpretation of the transaction, would also
exclude the kingdom of the Heruli, under Odoacer, from being one of the three horns;
because when Odoacer's government in Italy was overthrown, the Roman bishop did not come
into possession of the territory and people of the fallen government of Odoacer. The Roman
bishop did not have given to him at this time the authority of a civil ruler to tax the
people. or administer laws, etc.
And
for the same reason, the Ostrogothic kingdom, which overthrew the kingdom of Odoacer of
the Heruli (496 A. D.), could not be one of these horns. The Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy
was destroyed in the year 552 A. D. Its end was accomplished by Narses, the imperial
general of the Eastern Empire. "The Ostrogoths broken and dispersed by their
calamities, henceforward disappear from history as a distinct nation, their throne in
Italy being filled by the Exarch of Ravenna." (International
Encyclopedia, under Goths.) "Narses was
the first who bore the title of Exarch; and the
district over which he ruled was called the exarchate.
The seat of the exarchs was Ravenna, the different towns and territories belonging to
them being governed by subordinate rulers, styled duces or dukes." -- International Encyclo-pedia, under Exarchs.
Neither
did the kingdom of the Lombards fulfil this particular feature of the vision. However, in
connection with the overthrow of the Lombards in the eighth century, by Pepin and
Charlemagne, events occurred that meet in this, as well as every other particular, the
requirements of the vision. The overthrow of the Lombard kingdom in Italy, at the
instigation of the Roman bishop, caused the Pope to come into possession of territory in
Italy, including the city of Rome which was formerly possessed by three governments.
It
will be fair to say, however, that if the particular feature of the vision -- the
"plucking up by the roots" of the three horns (kingdoms) by the little horn
(kingdom) does not require for its fulfillment, the little horn coming into possession of
the territories of the three horns (kingdoms), then the Herulian, Ostrogothic, and the
Lombard kingdoms, meet the requirements of the vision, and we would not need to look
elsewhere. The further consideration of this matter will be reserved for a separate
article.
JOSHUA AND THE
CONQUEST OF CANAAN
"Not one thing hath failed of all the good things which
Jehovah your God sake concerning you" -- Josh. 23:14; 1:19; 23:7-3.
IF
for our warning and edification we have before us a record of examples of unbelief and
disobedience, we have on the other hand illustrious examples of trust and obedience. Such
heroes of faith had to do with the final conducting of Israel from the wilderness into the
land of Canaan.
Four
hundred and seventy years had elapsed from the time God gave Canaan to Abraham, by
promise, before his descendants actually crossed Jordan and began to inherit the land. The
promise had been long oŁ fulfillment, and doubtless had severely taxed the faith of the
people to whom it belonged; yet even in this respect the delay was a blessing to them, as
serving to stimulate and develop faith. Nor are we to forget that the original promise has
not yet been fulfilled; because the land was promised, not only to Abraham's seed, but
also to himself, and the noble patriarch still rests and waits in the sleep of death for
the accomplishment of the Divine promise, which will be fulfilled on a far larger scale
when the people of God shall have passed the antitypical Jordan into the antitypical
Canaan-the Millennial Kingdom condition. We are not left in doubt upon this matter. We
have the Apostle's words in Heb. 11:13, 39, 40, that
Abraham and other faithful servants of the Lord still wait for the fulfillment of the
promise made to them, until first the still higher, spiritual, heavenly promises, made to
the Gospel Church, the Christ, shall have been accomplished, "God having provided
some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." Stephen
assures us along this same line, saying that Abraham received not so much oŁ the land as
to set his foot upon, and his argument, based upon this fact. is Abraham's resurrection in
the future, and the fulfillment to him personally of his share in the Divine promise. --
Acts 7:25.
If in
all this there was a lesson of patient waiting on the Lord and confident trust in His
promise, to Abraham and his natural seed, there is a still larger and fuller lesson in it
to Spiritual Israel, the spiritual Seed, along the same lines of faithful, patient waiting
on the Lord for the fulfillment of the exceeding great and precious things He has promised
us.
HUMANITY LEARNING
LESSONS OF EXPERIENCE
Some
have been inclined to question the justice of God's giving to Israel the land of Canaan,
already inhabited by others -the justice of not only permitting but commanding them to
destroy the inhabitants of that land, and to take possession of it as their own. This
transaction is held up as an illustration of the "land-grabbing" disposition of
the natural man, which seems to increase century by century, notwithstanding the increase
of civilization and the general appreciation of justice. We are not of those who would
defend the course of nations of modern times along these lines. As Christians, guided by
our Master's example and instruction, we should seek to do good unto all men as we have
opportunity, and to leave them in peaceable possession of their homes, property and
liberties. We are to recognize a difference, however, between the Divine law of love,
placed upon and accepted by the Lord's consecrated people, and the law of selfishness,
under which the mass of mankind -- including the vast majority of nominal Christendom --
still operates, and will con-tinue to operate until the new dispensation and its new laws
shall be ushered in by Divine power. Nevertheless, seeing that the Church is separate from
the world, in the Lord's plan and in His dealings, we can look with comparative equanimity
upon the overriding of justice and equity by the kingdoms of this world, and may realize
that in many instances the Lord may take advantage of their natural disposition toward
warfare and conquest and empire-building, and may allow the wrath of man thus to work out
certain features that will be ultimately favorable to the accomplishment of the Divine
purposes.
Not
being able to see behind the vail all the gracious purposes of our Heavenly Father, and
not being wise enough to know how thcy can best be carried out, the Lord's people occupy
largely the position of spectators in respect to the course of this world -- its politics,
conquests, etc. Were we to take a hand in the world's affairs on either side of such
questions we might; for aught we know, be working contrary to the Divine will and program.
While, therefore, we seek to be separate from the world and its affairs, and to give our
thought and attention, sympathy and interest, to the affairs of the Heavenly Kingdom,. and
while our voices, if ever raised at all on such questions, should be raised on behalf of
justice, mercy, and peace, nevertheless. we can view with great composure whatever changes
may take place in the world, knowing that our Heavenly Father has all power to overrule
these matters differently if He chooses.
We
say to ourselves, "All the good purposes which He hath purposed in Himself shall be
accomplished"; and He knoweth how to accomplish these in the manner that will be most
to His praise and most for the good of His cause, as it shall ultimately be developed; and
we remember the Master's words, "Ye are not of this world, even as I am not of this
world. I have chosen you out of the world, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and
that your fruit should remain" -- fruit unto eternal life. Our work is the work of
Him that sent us; we are ambassadors for God; and our present work is the calling,
upbuilding, instructing and general preparation of the Church to be the Bride, the Lamb's
Wife, and our mission is to co-operate in her call and to make ready. Later on will come
our share in the ruling and judging of the world, as kings and priests of the Divine
order, in the Divine time, and backed by the Divine power to success and the blessing of
all the families of the earth.
THE MOST HIGH RULETH
IN THE KINGDOM OF MEN
"The
earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof." He, therefore, had the right to give
Canaan to the descendants of Abraham without giving a reason why to any creature. He had a
right to give it when and how and to whom He pleased. He does, however, condescend to
inform us that in blotting out these many little nations of Palestine, descendants of
Noah's grandson, Canaan, He did so not along arbitrary lines, but along lines of .justice.
These Canaanites (also known as Hittites, and by various other tribal names, Hivites,
Perizzites, Girgashites, Jebusites, and Amorites) were not ignorant savages, but quite
civilized peoples who, after the manner of the Sodomites, had gone into great excesses of
licentious idolatry. In Abraham's time God foresaw where their course would lead them, but
He delayed to bring the promised seed of Abraham into their land for a time, because, as
we read, "the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet come to the full." -- Gen.
15:16.
These
natives of Canaan that were destroyed by the Israelites, all have a share in the Divine
Plan of redemption. They will not come forth as saints to the resurrection of life, the
First Resurrection; but as members of the world in general, redeemed by the precious blood
of Christ, they will come forth to the judgment-resurrection; that is, to the gradual
raising up that will be instituted during the Millennial Age, a raising up of all who will
be obedient to the judgments, the disciplines, the corrections in righteousness, which
will be then brought to bear upon the whole world of mankind by the great judge, our Lord
Jesus, and by the Royal Priesthood, the Church, His assistant judges, whom the Apostle
says, "Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world?" -- 1 Cor. 6:2, 3.
In
view of this, then, we can readily see that no injustice was done to the Canaanites by the
Lord's decree, and that so far as they were concerned they suffered no more than, if as much as if some pestilence or famine or other
common disaster had come upon them. They suffered the death-penalty, as all the human
family suffer it, and our confident hope respecting them and all mankind, is built upon
the fact that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to redeem all from
the curse or sentence of death which came upon all through father Adam's disobedience;
and, that He who redeemed the world is shortly to bless all the families of the earth with
a gracious opportunity to come back into harmony with God, back to human perfection. And
when 'we realize that, the call of the Church in the present time is fox association in
this work, it gives a meaning to the trials and difficulties which constitute part of our
instructions in that .great work; and it also gives the Royal Priesthood a hope toward God
which overbalances all the trials of the present time.
JOSHUA THE COURAGEOUS
Under
the leadership of the brave Joshua, Israel crossed the Red Sea from the wilderness and
took possession of the land of promise. Joshua had been Moses' "minister" or
servant, not in a menial sense, but in that higher sense in which we speak of
"ministers of the Lord," ministers of state, prime-ministers, etc.
All
the events with which Joshua was associated seem to indicate that he was a man of large
faith and large courage; moreover, we remember that notwithstanding his high position as
Moses' chosen minister, he seems to have been entirely void of that ambition which led- to
the overthrow of Korah, Dathan, and , Abiram and many of the princes of Israel, and which
previously had affected Miriam and Aaron. Although he is not mentioned as being so meek as
Moses, we may from all these considerations judge that the one whom the Lord chose for
Moses' successor was indeed a meek man, and that his courage, exemplified in every feature
of his history, was the result of his faith in the Lord and not the result of
self-confidence. The lesson to be drawn from this by spiritual Israel is the one mentioned
by our Lord, namely "Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted." (Luke 14:11.) In
this Joshua teas a type of our Lord Jesus, who, in turn, is the pattern which must be
followed by all those who would be finally acceptable in the Lord. The Apostle's argument
along this line, to all the spiritual Israelites, is, "Humble yourselves therefore
under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time." -- 1 Pet. 5:6.
Israel
unquestioningly accepted the Lord's choice of a leader. As a people they were evidently
learning something by their experience in the wilderness training school. At the beginning
of their so-journ they were scarcely willing to recognize even Moses; but now they had
come along so far as to be able to see that the Lord was their real Leader, and that even
though Moses had died without bringing them into the promised land, God who had made the
promise of Canaan to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and themselves, was abundantly able to
accomplish His promise, and hence they were willing to accept whatever leadership the Lord
should indicate. Spiritual Israelites, too, are to learn the same lesson; human leaders
are important in their way -- in so far as they are the Divine choice -- in so far as we
can see fulfilled in them the Lord's promised guidance of His people. But we are never to
think of human leaders as, indispensable; for God is able to raise up at any time such
leadership as may best serve His purpose, to the intent that His people may learn that He
is their real Leader, that with Him as their Guide they will surely have success, and that
without. Him all earthly leadership would be in vain.
Three
times in chapter 1 is Joshua encouraged by the Lord, "Be strong and of a good
courage," "Be thou strong and very courageous," etc. (Ver. 6, 7, 9.) None
other than a man of great courage and faith could have led Israel through the many
conflicts incidental to the conquering of the land and the dividing of Canaan amongst the
twelve tribes. While the subduing of the enemies in Canaan went on for many years, yet the
evidence appears quite strong that what was called the apportioning or dividing of the
land was accomplished in about six years; a careful examination and comparison of the
account contained in Joshua 11:23 to 14:I0,we believe will corroborate this conclusion.
Just how long Joshua lived after the division of the land the records do not clearly
state. In Joshua 23 we read: "And it came to pass a long time after that the Lord had
given rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua waxed old and
stricken in age." At this time he was 110 years old. -- Ver. 29.
REVIEWING THE LORD'S
GOODNESS
Realizing
that his course was about run, Joshua called a general assembly of the Israelites,
presumably the heads of every tribe and family, and reviewed before them the Lord's
mercies from the time of the call of Abraham. It was now probably about twenty-five years
since Joshua had succeeded Moses as the leader and law-giver, the judge of the nation. In
leaving the people Joshua sought to impress upon them not only the blessings and favors
that they had received of the Lord, but also the obligations which they had assumed in
becoming His people prospectively; heirs of the Abrahamic cove-nant, and blessers of all
the nations of the earth. He shows how Abraham's forefathers had been idolaters "on
the other side of the flood." that is, on the other side of the great river Euphrates
; and that God's favor had been markedly with Abraham and his posterity up to the time of
which he spoke. In order to impress upon their minds what they might expect of the Lord in
the future, he calls pointedly to their attention His dealings with them in, the past, the
lessons in Egypt, the deliverances, the crossing of the Red Sea, the experiences of the
wilderness, their crossing of Jordan into the land of promise, their conquest of the land
against the various inhabitants. He would have them remember that these victories were not
of their own strength or ability or wisdom, but that the Lord was on their side; calling
attention also to one of the great battles in which their enemies were discomfitted by
great swarms of hornets, and then he comes to the exhortation which constitutes this
lesson.
It is
profitable, too, that the spiritual Israelite frequently take such a review of God's
providences. He may look back not only to God's manifestations of favor and power during
the Jewish Age to natural Israel, but he may see also Divine favor of another time granted
to spiritual Israel during this Gospel Age. Noting the differences of dispensations, he
can see that during this Gospel Age those who reverently obey the Lord and seek to walk in
His ways are blessed in spiritual things; He opens the eyes of their understanding, feeds
their hearts, grants thetas refreshment of the water of life, and light of the knowledge
of the goodness of God which shines in the face of Jesus Christ our Lord, and makes known
to His faithful the lengths and breadths and depths and heights of Divine love, wisdom,
and power. They now realize a protection from the world, the flesh and the Adversary, arid
the peace of God which passeth all understanding rules in their hearts, even though the
same Divine providence may permit them to have various trials and difficulties,
persecutions and disappointments and reverses; physical, financial, and social. The
spiritual Israelite's evidence of Divine favor on his behalf is in the healing of his soul
from the sickness of sin, and, in the invigoration of the new life, and in the victories
over the weaknesses of the flesh and the opposition of the Adversary -- these are potent
arguments with the spiritual Israelite respecting the goodness and faithfulness of our
God, as the temporal victories recited by Joshua were evidences of them to the natural
Israelite.
As
Moses before he died had called upon Israel to renew their covenant with the Lord, so
Joshua desired at the close, of his days, to make an appeal to his brethren on behalf of,
faithfulness to the Lord, that would long be remembered by them. He recognized the fact
that God seeketh such to worship Him as worship Him in spirit and in truth -- not of fear,
riot of compulsion but of a willing mind, and his argument accordingly was along this line
-- Brethren, let us make a firm resolve that in view of God's goodness to us we will ever
be faithful to Him; let us fear Him in the sense of reverencing His commands, in the sense
of fearing to displease one who has been so gracious to us; let us remember, too, that
notwithstanding His graciousness, He is dealing with us along the line of principle, and
that if we depart from the principles He approves, His blessing and favor will depart from
us. Let us put away, therefore, the gods which your fathers served, and serve Jehovah
only. It may have been that there was still a lurking of idolatry amongst the people, or
it may have been that Joshua was merely guarding them against the idolatrous tendencies
which more or less assail all mankind -- a tendency to forget more or less the invisible
God and to set upon earthly objects -- idols -- the affections and reverence which
properly belong to Him, Joshua would incite the people to a good resolution.
"Casting all
your care upon Him; for He careth for you."
-- 1 Pet. 5:7.
"What can it mean? Is it aught to Him
That the nights are long and the days are dim?
Can He be touched by the griefs I bear,
Which sadden the heart and whiten the hair?
Around His throne are eternal calms,
And strong, glad music of happy psalms,
And bliss unruffled by, any strife
How can He care for my poor life?
"And yet I want Him to care for me,
While I live in this world where the sorrows be;
When the lights die down on the path I take;
When strength is feeble, and friends forsake;
When love and music, that once did bless,
Have left me to silence and loneliness;
And life-song changes to sobbing prayers
Then my heart cries out for a God who cares.
"When shadows hang o'er me the whole day long,
And my spirit is bowed with, shame and wrong;
When I am not good, and the deeper shade
Of conscious sin makes my heart afraid;
And the busy world has too much to do
To stay in its course to help me through,
And I long for a Savior -- can it be
That the God of the universe cares for me?
"Oh wonderful story of deathless love!
Each child is dear to that heart above:
He fights for me when I cannot fight;
He comforts me in the gloom of night;
He lifts the burden, for He is strong;
He stills the sigh, and awakens the song;
The sorrow that bowed me down He bears,
And loves and pardons, because He cares.
"Let all who are sad take heart again.
W e are not alone in our hours of pain;
Our Father stoops from His throne above
To soothe and quiet us with His love.
He leaves us not when the storm is high,
And we have safety, for He is nigh.
Can that be trouble which He doth share?
Oh, rest in peace, for the Lord does care!"
THE CHRISTIAN'S DAILY
LIVING.
VERY
figure employed in the Scriptures to describe a Christian, teaches that it is impossible
for him to live unto himself. If one is a true Christian, it will soon become known, his
influence will be felt by others with whom he associates daily. Furthermore, these same
figures teach that a Christian will at least be desirous that others will become followers
of the one Master whom he is serving and seeking to please. No man can possibly be a
Christian and enjoy a monopoly of its blessedness for himself. He will of necessity be
more or less aggressive.
Some
seem to have received the impression that proselytism to a sect is a sin. It is doubtless
true that proselytism to a sect is obnoxious, and it is therefore displeasing to God; but
proselyting to the truths of the Gospel is the work to which the Christian is divinely
called. For illustration, take the figure employed by the Savior in the words, "Ye
are the salt of the earth." What is the nature of salt? Is it not to improve or give
a beneficial savor to the substance with which it is mixed, or as in one of its uses, to
preserve that substance from corruption? As one has said: "An idea involved in salt
is sometimes transmissive of virtue; and if you, therefore, are the salt of the world,
your part of the world will be touched by the savor of what you are, and so be benefited
and blessed." The figure of "salt" is used to show the silent, hidden,
savory influence or preservative qualities that goes out from the Christian's life,
affecting to a greater or less extent others. That which produces this savory influence
may not always be known, and for this reason, if for no other, testimony for Christ and
confession of Him will always be required and given.
Again
take another figure used by the Savior of man to describe the Christian: "Ye are the light of the world." A Christian figuratively
speaking is a lamp lighted by the blessed truths of the Gospel. Is not a lamp lighted to
diffuse light! If a man becomes a Christian, the light of truth which has made him one
will shine out to those around him. "For God who said, 'Light shall shine out of
darkness' has shone within my heart to illuminate men with the knowledge of God's glory in
the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Con 4:6, Moffatt.)
If a lamp does not diffuse light it is because it is not lighted. If a man professes
to be a Christian and none of the effects are seen which Gospel truth when received
produces, that man is not a Christian.
THE TRUE CHURCH NOT
SECTARIAN
The
expression, "Ye are the light of the world," shows how truly catholic (liberal)
true Christians are or should be. The Church of Rome boasts emphatically that it is
catholic (universal), but the fact of the matter is, it is the most sectarian of all, for
the reason that it does not recognize any as being true Christians outside of its own
communion. For any body of Christians to believe this, marks it as sectarian. The true
Christian believes that there are Christians almost everywhere, and when he meets them and
recognizes that they are possessed of the same spirit, does not fail to give them his
fellow-ship. The church that is really catholic believes and acts in like manner. It would
seem that since the introduction of worldly men into the company of Christians, there have
continued to be some true Christians in every sectarian organization. While the Lord does
not approve of sectarianism, He has permitted and overruled it for the testing of His true
peoples loyalty to the great Head of the Church.
The
Christian is in the world, although not of it. The Savior expected these to remain in the
world. In His prayer He says, "I pray not. that thou shouldst take them out of the
world, but that Thou shouldst keep them from the evil." (John 17:15.) The average
Christian's world, however, is very small. It is in this little world that his silent,
hidden influence, like the salt, will be felt and exert a savory, preservative influence.
However, the One who produces this influence
will be confessed, otherwise the salt will have lost its savor, and is "fit only to
be thrown outside and trodden under the feet of men."
THE CHRISTIAN'S
INFLUENCE
The
Christian's world may be in the workshop, the warehouse, the bank, the counting house, or
wherever he finds himself in God's providence. It is in these places that the Lord designs
His Christian profession to count. His home, however, is often the place where he needs to
watch specially his influence. An English writer has said: "Some who are very
benevolent abroad, seem to have so expended their stores upon all mankind that they have
not one flash of sunshine for their own firesides. Some who are the greatest advocates in
parliament for liberty to all, are the greatest tyrants in their own homes." The
Christian needs to keep ever before his mind that wherever and whenever he mingles with
his fellowmen, his words, his conduct and even his manners are having an influence for
good or bad on the cause of Christ. For this reason he should cultivate the spirit of
watchfulness and prayerfulness. It is in the little world in which we move six days in a
week from morning to evening that our influence as Christians is felt. True Christianity
does not lay aside its beautiful robe on Sunday night lest it should get soiled or become
wrinkled by the rough wear and tear of the week day. The true Christian recognizes that it
is his personal duty to do well the work that is assigned him, in the "little
world" in which God in His providence has placed him, and not to think that to, do
better it is necessary that his "little world" be enlarged. Our duty as bearers
of the heavenly light is to let it shine in the sphere we find ourselves; and when we have
done this well, if the Master who in His providence placed us there, sees it best that we
have a wider sphere, will say, "Come up higher."
The
Savior's words, "Ye are the light of the world" carry in themselves the thought,
that in whatever situation we find ourselves we are there for the purpose of diffusing an
influence that will recommend the truths of our holy religion. We are to seek, to know and
'do what we think Christ would do or what would please Him in all the details of our
business. We are to have Christ rule our conduct in family, social and business relations.
Watchful, prayerful Christians, in their dealings with the world and with one another, in
all matters pertaining to church, business, and trade relations, etc., are being brought
every day to face the question, "What doth the Lord require of me?" In many
things the answer is not found in the Scriptures definitely stated, and must be answered
by applying the golden rule, the law of Christ, the law of sacrificial love in our
dealings with one another. The least that is required of us is contained in the words of
the Prophet, "He has shown you, frail man what is right and what does the Lord seek
from you? To administer justice aright, love mercy, walk humbly with God." Micah 6:8, Fenton's Translation.) In whatever measure these
principles are regarded or disregarded, force and tone are exerted either for good or bad.
THE PURPOSE OF OUR
CALLING
This
is one great reason why we are divinely called to be Christians. It is indeed true that we
are here to grow in grace and knowledge, to develop a character which will fit us for some
place in that heavenly Kingdom which is to bless the world. However, it is in coming in
contact with the spirit which animates the world in these various relationships of life,
that we are given opportunities to exercise these principles of justness, fairness,
honesty, forbearance, longsuffering, and sacrificial love. It may seem unnecessary to
remark, but experience and observation teach that we are often forgetful, and instead of
letting Christ control us, we act under the influence of the natural, the worldly spirit.
We shall pass through this world but once, and as we think of those who have finished
their journey here below, we learn, in the language of the poet, that
"Lives of good men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime
And departing leave behind us
Footprints in the sands of time."
There
are those who profess to be followers of our Lord and Savior, who have obtained the
impression that the more sanctity they possess, the more they should keep by themselves,
and avoid the society of the world altogether. There can be no question that there are
scenes and places, many, in this world that we are to shun, avoid, and pass by. The most
of these are well known; some few are not so well known. These latter may only be
discovered as we grow more spiritual, so that our consciences may be exercised to discern
those things drat ,do or do not exert an influence for our spiritual good, development and
influence. The very fact that there are in this world professed Christians -- monks and
nuns, who shun altogether the world, and live in monasteries and convents, away from the
world altogether, shows that there is a tendency, a temptation, at least, to go to
extremes in that direction, as well as in the other. One has truthfully said that the monk
and the suicide belong to the same category, for one runs from society to escape its perils and the other runs from society in order
to escape its burdens; both fly from duty, the
one to escape danger, the other to escape suffering, and yet neither succeed.
We
should ever remember that our calling requires that we remain in the world, but not of it.
Those who go into convents, if they aye of
those who be lights of the world, by so doing hide their light under a bushel, instead- of
letting it shine out in a world that is, sadly in need of it. Those who have received the
true light; and their lives have been changed by it, are the very ones that the world has
the greatest need of. If all the righteous and good, that are living in the world should
leave it, the world would soon go to utter ruin and corruption.
SOME NOBLE
UNBELIEVERS
We
are not of those who believe that the world is hopelessly bad. There are some men and
women in this world, who for some cause are not Christians, but who exert a powerful
influence, not for Christianity, but nevertheless for good. Indeed, there are those whose
convictions of right and wrong, of justice and fairness, are of such a high standard that
they put to shame many Christians in their exhibition of these qualities. This is
accounted for in the fact that those who become Christians are from all classes, and
possess naturally, both good and evil characteristics. It is frequently the case that
Christians are lacking in their understanding of these principles, or fail to know in some
situations how to apply them. All are in the school; all therefore are learners. In other
cases, a failure to walk in the Spirit causes this lack in applying these righteous
principles. In such cases this defection, this disobedience must be acknowledged,
confessed by all true Christians. If this is not done it will sooner or later place them
outside the pale of true Christianity.
It
should be remembered by all true Christians, members of the household of faith, that in
order to the accomplishment of His purpose, in order to obtain the class He is choosing,
God calls many, but of the many called, but few are finally chosen. It would be very
pleasing to us as Christians, if the world could see these things and make allowance
accordingly, but they do not, and because they do not, reproach comes many times upon the
cause, and this is one of the things that all, guilty or not guilty, have to bear.
"Ye are living epistles known and read of all men," said the great Apostle of
Christianity. We cannot help exerting an influence, either for good or, bad. One has thus
illustrated this:
"There
is in the human body, voluntary action and involuntary action. When I move my hand, or my
tongue, or my legs, that is voluntary; I can stop, or I can go on; but my heart and my
lungs go on in spite of me; they are involuntary movements; so in the human character
there are two influences; there is the voluntary influence, as when I go out and speak to
a person in order to convince him, or appeal. to a person to make him better; I am then
exercising a . designed and voluntary influence upon that individual; but there is an
involuntary influence in my character, my conduct, my temper, when I think no man sees
me,. though many may be seeing me; all these without my volition, and in spite of my
volition, are shaping in character, and giving tone and temper, and it may be lasting
colors to the souls of mankind. In other. words, it is impossible to be in the world and
not in some shape to influence the world. What we say may not proceed from, real
conviction, but what we are is always before the world, the symbol or sign of what grace
has made us, or what sin has left us. No child walks along the street without learning
lessons. Every sign board teaches,' every random exclamation teaches,, every fugitive look
on the human countenance teaches. The fact is, we are constantly underteaching to the
latest moment of our lives; and what we come in contact with is moulding and shaping our
character, it may be forever.
THE ELOQUENT LIFE
"It
is very difficult to persuade men that it is so, because they have the idea that there is
only power, where there is noise, bustle, or excitement. But it is really not so. All the
forces in nature that are the most powerful, are the most quiet. We speak of the rolling
thunder, as powerful; but gravitation, which makes no noise, has no speech, utters not a
syllable, yet keeps orbs, in their orbits, and the whole system in its harmony, binding
every atom in one orb, to the great central source of all attraction, is ten thousand
times ten thousand more powerful. We say the red lightning is very powerful; so it is;
when it rends the gnarled oak into splinters, or splits the solid battlements into
fragments; but it is not half so powerful as that gentle light, that comes so softly from
the skies that we do not feel it, that travels at an inconceivable speed, strikes and yet
is not felt, but exercises an influence so powerful, that the sea is kept back by it, that
the earth is closed with verdure through its influence, and all nature beautified and
blessed by its ceaseless action. The things that are most noisy are not the most
powerful;' things that make no noise and make no pretension, may be really the most
powerful. An eloquent speech will never have the effect of an eloquent life. The most
conclusive logic that a preacher uses in the pulpit will never exercise the effect that
the piety, the consistent piety of character will exercise over the world. And in many
congregations, the preacher who may have few to hear him, and where, if we heard him, we
should say that lie has not the power of expressing clearly and intelligibly the great
thoughts that he feels, may be comparatively dumb and ineffective in the pulpit, but in
his walks amid his flock, his beautiful and holy character may be spreading an influence
around him that will tell more upon the destinies of souls, than if lie had wielded all
the thunders of Demosthenes, or pleaded with the persuasive eloquence that flowed from the
lips of Cicero."
It is
true that our blessed Lord and Master spake as never man spake, so that all the common
people heard Him gladly and all men were moved by the gracious words that proceeded out of
His mouth. However, it was undoubtedly the silent dignity and yet lowliness and humility,
the holiness of heaven, seen in His every look and action, that left the deepest
impression, and made the most converts. One may be employed in a factory, or standing
behind a counter, and be all the time exerting an influence for Christ, and still think he
is doing no good there. The quiet way in which you serve, the gentle way in which you
reply, the simple unpretending and, therefore, appropriate remark that you make -- all are
telling for Christ. It is necessary, however, to have ever in mind that we are placed in
these circumstances in the Divine providence, there to let our light shine.
CHRISTIANITY, A THING
OF THE. DAILY LIFE
In
the discovery of photography, we have learned that rays coming from an object, paint, as
it were, that object on the sensitive surface which they touch. It is equally true that
character that is a result from communion with God and Christ, changes the very
countenance, and causes that very countenance to paint itself on the characters of those
it touches. What we are thinking about affects our countenance; it may cause a flash of
the eye, or express itself on-our lips which do not utter a word, and yet it is read by
the onlooker, and exerts an influence for good or bad. The employer's looks speak louder
sometimes than words, and produces an effect that cannot be effaced. The little child
looks up into your face, and reads the meaning of your thoughts before you give utterance
to them. It watches the expression on your countenance, and by so doing knows how you feel
toward it -- whether you have sympathy for children; indeed, learns what your tastes are,
what your temper is, long before you give audible expression to these. What a lesson for
fathers and mothers may be learned in this. Parents often look things and even say things
that they think their little children do not- understand; and as a close observer in such
matters has expressed it, "when they think the child has detected what they did not
mean the child to know, often in a very bungling way, as indeed all attempts at deception
must be, they try to do away with the mischief they have done, by suddenly turning a
corner in the conversation, and branching on another subject. Do you think the child did
not see that? He saw as clearly as you; and that act of yours has left upon the child a
conviction of crookedness, that may live on his memory, and fill up his character
throughout the rest of his pilgrimage on earth. To children we cannot be too direct and
straight forward; we cannot be too child-like in our intercourse with them, yet we must
not be childish."
Our
every day, every hour silent conduct is more effective than our conduct when we are among
the Lord's people. There has always been a tendency in two opposite extremes when
describing what the Christian ought to be. One is, to look for absolute perfection; the
other is to lower the standard, by excusing the defects and sins of the followers of
Christ. Let us avoid both. We cannot place before our vision a standard too high. However,
we should not give too much emphasis to our inability to always live up to it. The world
cannot understand the lofty heights of that standard; however they have a standard which
they look upon as reasonable to expect of a Christian. Let us be careful we do not fall
below the world's standard.
A
Christian will be seen to be a Christian by those who observe his conduct day by day; and
they will see it more and more clearly, as they become influenced, as they surely will, by
the motives and law which regulate his conduct. And while absolute perfection is not
looked for, even by the world, it will be clearly seen that he is seeking it; and in the
seeking of this, there are certain traits of character which will very soon be seen as
characterizing the life. What these are, we find frequently summed up in the words of Holy
Writ. While we cannot be perfect and faultless, it is required of us that we be
"blameless and harmless the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked
and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of
life." The Apostle tells those who are so doing, that it will be to him a cause for
rejoicing in the day of Christ, that he did not "run in vain, neither labored in
vain." - Phil. 2:15, 16.
A
Christian is one whose eye is single to God's glory. If your "eye is single your
whole body will be full of light," and the influences that proceed from you cannot
but have a sanctifying effect upon those you meet and associate with daily. How
responsible a matter is daily life; particularly the daily life of the Christian!
VOL. VII. February 1, 1924 No. 4
THE
question of "English reunion with Rome" again comes prominently before the
public in the letter by the Archbishop of Canterbury addressed to the "archbishops
and metropolitans of the Anglican communion."
It
will be recalled that the Lambeth Conference of considerably more than three years ago
dealt largely with the subject of church reunion and at that time issued a statement to
all the "communions" of the world to consider with them the vital question of
union "in a new and great endeavor to recover and to manifest to the world the unity
of the Body of Christ for which He prayed." While the agitation in the direction of
reunion has gone on more or less in all the great bodies of Christendom since that time,
yet it is manifest that little has been achieved in the way of getting closer together.
The
letter from the Archbishop of Canterbury reviews efforts and results up to date; certain
conferences have been held between high dignitaries both of the Anglican and the Roman
Catholic Churches. Referring to the matter in a general review the Literary Digest observes that
"Canterbury
and Rome have been meeting unofficially in Malines to explore the possibilities of
reunion, but it appears that no result more tangible than a mutual spirit, of charity and
good-will has been achieved. Besides doctrinal difficulties to be overcome, it is regarded
as doubtful that the High Church, or Catholic, party in the Anglican Church is strong
enough to carry any considerable number of the Established Church over to Rome. Turning in
the opposite direction are the Low Church party, which is more akin in form and spirit to
the Non-Conformist churches, and the Modern Church party, whose theological views are
totally at variance with the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. In addition, the
Anglican Church has been making overtures to the Non-Conformist churches, so that it is,
as it were, centered between two magnets. Still, it is interesting that reunion with Rome
has even been broached, and we are told that it is no small thing that the theologians of
the churches oŁ England and Rome have been able to meet and talk frankly of the
fundamental questions which separate them. News oŁ the meetings came in the comment on
them in the Christmas letter of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Admitting that the cause of
reunion has made small headway since the step was advocated by the Lambeth Conference of
1920, the Archbishop writes that if the Church is to fulfil its function of bringing about
peace in a distracted world, 'its efforts will be infinitely weakened so long as it is
obliged to go forward in scattered detachments and not in one body.' The letter has caused
a considerable stir in England, and we have some echoes of it over here, where the
Protestant Episcopal Church, offspring of the Anglican Church, is too much occupied with
dissensions within its own ranks to be contemplating union with Rome or any other church.
"The
conferences were carried on in the palace oŁ Cardinal Mercier at Malines between the
Belgian prelate on the one hand, and among others, Bishop Charles Gore, Lord Halifax, a
layman who has devoted a great part of a long life to the cause of reunion, and Dr. Kidd,
warden of Keble College, Oxford, on the other. Comment in the English papers is moderate,
though tinged with pessimism regarding the outlook for reunion. It is significant, we are
told, that no English Roman Catholic attended the Malines conferences, and it is from an
English Roman Catholic dignitary that the deepest note of pessimism sounds. He refused to
have, ha name disclosed, but as he is quoted, he construes Archbishop Davidson's letter as
an 'honest declaration of no surrender,' and adds: 'It certainly means, if it means
anything at all, the futility of troubling further about the Malines conferences. The
Vatican watches and waits in silence, but regarding what it will say at the end, there is
no doubt at all. A reunion is too great and too sacred a cause to be brought about by mere
non-representative table-talk, however well meant and amiable.'
"Opinion
as voiced by a representative of the Church Association, the extreme Evangelical wing of
the Established Church, is hardly less skeptical. Thus Captain Barron, secretary of the
Association, is quoted in press reports
"'No
reunion is possible between these churches until doctrinal differences have been settled.
We do not allow that even the Archbishop of Canterbury has any right to commit the Church
of England to any `negotiations with the Church of Rome. The Archbishop's letter has
created a certain amount of alarm in the minds of many Evangelical Church people,
especially in view of the fact that the Prayer .Book revision is before the National
Assembly, and they regard such action as part of a scheme to absorb the Church of England
in the Church of Rome.'
"Another
side to the question is disclosed in the attitude of the Free, or Non-Conformist,
Churches, with which the Established Church is seeking reunion, too, and which are at the
opposite pole in doctrine and discipline from the Roman Communion. Thus the Rev. F. O.
Nightingale, Secretary of the Free Church Council, is quoted on the Malines conference:
"'I
think, from our side, it will produce a kind of temporary deadlock. What kind of Church is
that with which we are asked to become united? Rome will not give up its claims; the
Archbishop of Canterbury declares that the Anglican Church can not surrender its position;
the Free Churches have given their reply concerning the ministerial status of the Free
Church ministry; that is the deadlock.'
"Some
of the newspapers are also disposed to look askance at the conferences. Although the
antagonism of the past has been blunted, comments the London Times, the 'present claims of Rome as formu-lated
by some of its readers do not serve to allay ancient fears.' The London Star and The
Daily Express view the matter of reunion as a mirage, while The Daily Telegraph says that 'any progress toward
a reunion must be slow and infinitely hard, for it means holding out one hand to the
English Non-Conformists and the other to the Church of Rome.' But The Westminster Gazette believes that there is
'an immense field in which the churches might co-operate with one another for a better
world,' and that 'if once the habit of common action were formed, if once the churches
would abandon the timidity that they, too, often have shown when faced by big, practical
matters, the prospects of reunion would be brought far nearer than they are today.'
"Some
echo of the conferences and their result is heard on this side of the Atlantic. 'None of
the movements has progressed far enough to warrant unqualified predictions of success for
the near future,' says The Jersey Journal, 'but,
on the other hand, none, even the least promising, can be classified as yet as hopeless.'
As this paper sees it,
"'It
may be that this generation, as a result of either the Modernist movement or the movement
for church unification, or both, may see changes in the Christian Church that will rank in
significance with, and be as wide-spread in effect as the Reformation, the Non-Conformist
movement, and the other great upheavals of church history.'
"As
a matter of fact, comments the Baltimore Evening
Sun, a large party of churchmen in England feel that there has never been more than a
political separation of the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church, and even
Henry VIII, after his break with Rome, 'still clung' to orthodoxy and preserved for his
church the apostolic succession that had characterized its parent. But elements have
arisen to maintain and widen the rift, and, after referring to the organized barriers
which have sprung up, the Baltimore paper proceeds
"'There
are other obstacles that now appear to be insurmountable. There are such matters as
transubstantiation, celibacy of the clergy, and the confessional, which in former times
have torn the church asunder. What effect the announcement will have on the Episcopal
Church in this country is concern for interesting speculation. But it would appear that
the strength of the Modernists here is a complete barrier. And in England the only change
for the success of the plan rests in the possibility that the Modernists have not the same
influence which they possess in this country."'
NO REAL REUNION TO BE
EXPECTED.
Surely
the outlook for a reunion of the English Church with is well known the boast of the Roman
Communion for centuries has been that it is unchangeable, and its position centuries been
repeatedly stated to be that there is only one condition on which it would consider
reunion and that would be by a complete and unconditional surrender to and a recognition
of the supreme authority of the Roman Church.
It
will be recalled that in his Encyclical addressed "To The Princes and Peoples of the
Earth," in 1894, Pope Leo said, "Let us hold out to you our hand affectionately
and invite you to the unity which never failed the Catholic Church, and which never can
fail. Long has our common mother called you to her breast; long have all the Catholics of
the universe awaited you, with the anxiety of brotherly love . . . . Our heart, more even
than our voice, calls to you, dear brethren, who for three centuries past have been at
issue with us in the Christian faith."
Again,
in his Encyclical to the Roman Church in America, in 1895, Pope Leo said, "Our
thoughts now turn to those who dissent from us in matters, of Christian faith . . . . How
solicitous we are of their salvation; with what ardor of soul we wish that they should be
at length restored to the embrace of the Church, the common mother of all! . . . . Surely
we ought not to leave them to their fancies, but with mildness and charity draw them over,
using every means of persuasion to induce them to examine closely every part of the
Catholic doctrine and to free themselves from preconceived notions."
And
in his "Apostolic Letter to the English People" (1895), he gives utterance to
the following prayer, "O Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our most gentle Queen
and Mother, look down in mercy upon England. . . . O sorrowful Mother, intercede for our
separated brethren, that with us in the one true fold they may be united to the Supreme
Shepherd, the Vicar of thy Son" -- that is, himself, the Pope.
How
decidedly discouraging must be the outlook from .the standpoint of those who, ignoring the
Divine Program respecting the Church and the world, are pursuing the course of natural wisdom and are hoping for the world's
redemption through the uniting of all the contending and warring factions of Christendom.
While
some prophecies indicate that there may be a still closer drawing together in sympathetic
co-operation on the part of Protestants and Catholics as a final effort to preserver the
present order of things, we know,. of no sacred prophecy to indicate that there will ever
be any real or substantial reunion of these powers.
The Interchurch World
Movement A Failure
How
true it is that failure is written upon all human effort
to accomplish the regeneration and uplift of the world. The latest example of human
weakness in this direction is to be observed in the complete collapse and failure of the
Interchurch World Movement. Here again the review given in the public press is interesting
"The
last rites of the Interchurch World Movement have been performed in the New York Supreme
Court by the appointment of a receivership on the directors' petition for voluntary
dissolution of what was a gigantic undertaking born of the co-operative spirit induced by
the world and the hope that the churches could find a common ground for action. With a
program necessitating the raising of a billion dollars, of which $336,777,572 was to have
been raised during 1920, the Movement was hailed in the beginning as a great and worthy
effort in itself, if not as the precursor of a form of union that would embrace more than
physical operations. But it entered the field of industrial and economic controversy and
alienated from it those who were best able to contribute to its financial support, and
also lost the sympathy of certain denominations because they feared it would assume an
overlordship which would absorb and destroy denominational activities. The money which had
been flowing in stopped. Three years ago, we read on turning back to our issue of August
7, 1920, the Movement collapsed, with only $176,000,000 of the vast amount it sought
written on its books.
"Some
who think the Movement was a misdirected effort, view the final rites with unruffled
composure. The Springfield Union says that in
turning its attention to the steel industry, the Movement entered where it had no proper
business, and so 'soon lost the confidence of the public.' 'Well dead,' remarks the
Manchester Union above the bier. Appealing as
was the great undertaking in some of its aspects, it was doomed to failure from the
outset. It was built up on the impulse for co-operation generated by the war. But,
continues this Manchester paper in its analysis of the causes which led to the collapse:
"'What
comparatively few saw was that once the war objectives were attained there would be what
some call a moral slump, and what we prefer to describe as a relief of emotional tension.
The Interchurch people seem to have failed utterly to foresee this let-up. Fascinated by
the spectacular successes of the war drives, enamored of the notion that all things could
be done by organized effort and scientific publicity, obsessed with the notion that some
transforming, humanizing work was being done by the war itself, they appropriated the
whole mechanism of war-work organization and plunged ahead in a scheme that could not
possibly come to anything successful unless pretty much all that has kept religious bodies
apart for centuries had been superseded by brotherliness, unless the supporting public
could be kept keyed up to its war-time pitch of emotional intensity, and unless billions
of dollars should continue to pour into the treasury. It was a great, high minded
proposition, but its proponents left about all the vital factors out of their calculation.
The war over, it was left high and dry. The churches, like the nations, settled into
accustomed ways of thinking and acting. They were no more disposed to become united for
social work than before. Emotional tension was relieved and could not be restored.
Organization and publicity a full hundred per cent. efficient could not squeeze out of the
public anything like the sums given gladly for war purposes. In short, the war spirit
could not be picked up and put into the uplift. As for us, we never supposed it. could,
for all a certain wistful desire that it might.'"
Giving
heed to the words of inspiration we learn that the deep entrenchment of sin and of the
many enemies of righteousness in the earth at the present time, is such that nothing short
of the Mighty Power of the Kingdom of God shall be able to accomplish the unseating and
overthrow of the forces of evil in every form, and the establishment of righteousness in
the earth. However, the Lord is permitting men to experiment and to try every conceivable
device for their redemption so that when His due time shall come they will be the better
prepared to accept the Divine remedy, the Kingdom of God and the reign of righteousness.
The Prophet tells us that at that time "many nations shall come, and say, Come, and
let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He
will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths." -- Micah 4:2.
"Predicts
Another War "
"Shaw
Desmond, lecturer and writer, declared yesterday that Europe is manufacturing airplanes
and poison gas for the next war,/ which he predicted would come within fifteen years. To
this gloomy outlook he added his opinion that Mussolini was the most dangerous factor in
Continental Europe. The Italian Premier, he said, was engaged in trying to carve out a new
Holy Roman Empire.
"The
lecturer made known these views yesterday when he arrived on the Royal Mail liner Orduna from Hamburg. He will be on tour two months.
Mr. Desmond advised America to keep out of Europe `at all costs.'" -New York Times.
SERIES XVI
THE VISION OF THE
LITTLE HORN (Continued)
"Then 1 would know the truth . . . . of the other which
came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that
spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows." -- Daniel 7:19,
20.
IN
the preceding article of this series, we endeavored to establish from the historians that
the Bishop of Rome did not come into possession of temporal power -- become a temporal
monarch, until the eighth century. It seems in place here to note that there was at one
time a disposition on the part of the popes to claim an earlier date for this transaction.
They once sought to prove that Constantine the Great at the time he removed his capital
from Rome to Constantinople, donated temporal possessions to the pope. However, it has
been proved conclusively that the purported deed and decretals recording this were
forgeries and that the temporal authority of the Pope. really, dates back no farther than
the eighth century.
Referring
to this, Mr. Gibbon, the historian, says: "Before the end of the eighth century; some
apostolic scribe, perhaps the notorious Isadore, composed the decretals, and the donations
of Constantine, the two magic pillars of the spiritual and temporal monarchy of the
popes." The donations claimed in these fictitious letters and deed, are thus defined
by Gibbon: "According to the legend, the first of the Christian emperors
[Constantine] was healed of leprosy, and purified in the waters of baptism by St.
Silvester, the Roman bishop; and, never was physician more gloriously recompensed [if this
were true]. His royal proselyte [Constantine] withdrew from the seat and patrimony of St.
Peter; declared his resolution founding a capital in the East [Constantinople]; and
resigned to the popes the free and perpetual sovereignty of Rome, Italy, and the provinces
of the West." Concerning this purported transaction, Mr. Gibbon says: "In the
revival of letters and liberty, this fictitious deed was transpierced by the pen of
Laurentius Valla, the pen of an eloquent critic and a Roman patriot. His contemporaries of
the ffteenth century were astonished at his sacrilegious boldness; yet such is the silent
and irresistible progress of reason, that before the end of the next age, the fable was rejected by the contempt of historians
and poets, and the tacit or modest censure of the advocates of the Roman Church."
LOCATING FULFILLMENT
IN HISTORY
There
has been a disposition on the part of certain Protestant writers on prophecy to claim (but
not to prove) that the Roman bishops possessed temporal power in the early part of the sixth century. However, we do not know of a single
historian that records this; all agreeing that it was not until the eighth century, as we
have shown, that the Roman bishops attained temporal possessions and authority.
In
locating and identifying the "three horns" that were plucked up by the
"lade horn," it is fair to say that if the angel's explanation of this
transaction does not require that the territories and peoples ruled over by these three
horn powers, came into the possession of and were ruled over by the Roman bishops, then
the Odoacean kingdom of the Heruli, which fell 493 A. D., the Ostrogothic kingdom, which
fell 552 A. D., and the Lombard kingdom, which fell 773 A. D., meet all the requirements
of that feature of the vision-the "plucking up of the three horns by the roots."
On the other hand, if the rooting up or removal of the three horns or governments contains
the thought that the peoples and territories ruled over by the three horns or governments,
come under the control of the bishop of Rome, then it will not be until the eighth century
that we should look for the fulfillment of this feature of the vision -- the
"plucking up by the roots."
Mr.
Albert Barnes says that, "if there were three
of these powers [the ten kingdoms] planted in regions that became subject to the Papal
power, and that disappeared or were absorbed in that one dominion constituting the
peculiarity of the Papal dominion, or which entered into the Roman Papal state, considered
as a sovereignty by itself among the nations of the earth, this is all that is required .
. . . The material fact to be made out in order
to show that this description of the 'little horn' is applicable to Papacy is that at the commencement of what was properly the Papacy --
that is, as I suppose, the union of the
spiritual and temporal powers, or the assumption of
temporal authority by him, who was bishop of Rome, and who had been before regarded as a
mere spiritual or ecclesiastical ruler, there was a triple jurisdiction assumed or
conceded, a three-fold domination; or a union under himself of what had been three
sovereignties, that now disappeared as independent administrations, and whose distinct
governments were now merged in the one single
sovereignty of the Pope."
TO MAKE WAY FOR THE
LITTLE HORN
The
conclusions of this writer in regard to the requirements necessary to fulfil the vision of
the three horns or powers being plucked up or removed to make way for the little horn
power, seem to us perfectly reasonable and satisfactory. And every one of these
requirements were fulfilled to the very letter in connection with the events associated
with the commencement of the temporal power of the popes in the eighth century. The first
authority we cite is Archibald Bower in his voluminous work The History of The Popes: According to this writer
the temporal dominions granted by Pepin to the pope, or which the pops possessed in
consequence of the interventions of the kings of France, Pepin and Charlemagne, were the
following
"I
The Exarchate of Ravenna, which comprised,
according to Sigonius, the following cities: Ravenna, Bologna, Imola, Farenzi, Forlimpoli,
Forli, Cescena, Bobbio, Ferrara, Commachio, Adria, Cervia, and Secchia.
"2
The Pentapolis, comprehending Rimini, Pisaro,
Conca, Fano, Sinigalia, Ancono, Osimo, Umana, Jesi, Fossombrone, Monteferetro, Urbino,
Cagli, Luceoli, and Eugubio. `
"3 The city and dukedom of Rome, containing
several cities of note, Perugia among- the rest, that had withdrawn themselves from ail
subjection to the emperor, had submitted to St. Peter ever since the time of Pope Gregory
IL"
This
historian says further: "The pope had by Charlemagne been put in possession, as has
been related above, of the Exarchate, the Pentapolis, and the dukedom of Spoleto
[embracing dukedom of Rome]." And again in a foot note on the same page: "The
pope possessed the Exarchate, the Pentapolis, and the dukedom of Spoleto, with the city
and dukedom of Rome."
Gibbon
gives precisely the same facts as Bower. When speaking the donations conferred on the pope
by Pepin and Charlemagne, making reference to the relations between these kings and the
pope, Gibbon says: "The mutual obligations of the popes and the Carlovingian family
[Pepin, Charlemagne, etc.] form the important of ancient and modern, of civil and
ecclesiastical history." Proceeding next to specify the gifts, which Pepin and
Charlemagne bestowed on the popes, in return for favors received by them, he "The
gratitude of the Carlovingians was adequate to these obligations, and their names are
consecrated as the saviors and benefactors of the Roman Church. Her ancient patrimony of
farms homes was transferred by their bounty into the
temporal dominion of cities and provinces, and the donation of the Exarchate was the first fruits of the conquests
of Pepin. Astolphus [king of the Lombards] with a sigh relinquished his prey; the keys
the hostages of the principal cities were delivered to the French ambassador; and in his
master's name, he presented them before the tomb of
St. Peter. The ample measure of the Exarchate might comprise all the provinces of
Italy which had obeyed the emperor or his vicegerent; but its strict and proper limits
were included in the territories of Ravenna, Bologna, and Ferrara. Its inseparable dependency was the Pentapolis,
which stretched along the Adriatic . from Rimini to Ancona, and advanced into the midland
of the Apennine. . . .In the dissolution of the Lombard kingdom, the inhabitants of
Spoleto sought a refuge from the storm, shaved their heads after the Roman fashion
declared themselves the servants and subjects of St. Peter, and completed by this voluntary surrender, the present
circle of the Ecclesiastical State:'
PAPACY APPEARS
AMONGST
TEMPORAL SOVEREIGNTIES OF EUROPE
The
following matters are apparent from these quotations from Gibbon: First, that these events
marked the beginning of the temporal dominion of the Roman bishops. Second, that in these
donations of Pepin and Charlemagne to the popes, there ,were three temporal sovereignties that ceased their
independence, and united under the pope, which in the language of Gibbon were:
1. The Exarchate;
2. The Pentapolis; and
3. The duchy of Spoleto, which included the city and dukedom of Rome.
These
three in the words above quoted "constituted
the present circle of the Ecclesiastical State." Mr. Gibbon goes on to say that
this terri-tory was afterwards "greatly enlarged." There seems to be no doubt
that it was at this time, and in this manner, that the Papacy first made its appearance
among the temporal sovereignties of Europe. Mr. Mede, Sir Isaac Newton, and Bishop Newton,
all, agree with the main facts of this application of the prophecy. They differ only in
making the kingdom of the Lombards to be one of the three horns plucked up. Mr. Barnes
makes reference to this matter as follows
"I
do not find, indeed, that the kingdom of the Lombards
was, as is commonly stated, among the number of sovereignties that became subject to
the authority of the popes, but I do find that there were three distinct temporal
sovereignties that lost their independent existence, and that they were united under the
one temporal authority -- constituting by the union of the spiritual and temporal power
that one peculiar kingdom. In Lombardy the power remained in the possession of the kings
of the Lombards themselves until that kingdom was subdued by the arms of Pepin and
Charlemagne, and then it became subject to the crown of France, though for a time under
the nominal reign of its own kings. [See Gibbon, Vol. 4, pp. 271, 275, 276]."
It is
true that in the two centuries following this the popes lost and regained several times
some of these territories, yet as the years passed,, they continued to add to them, until
the territories were constructed into what became known as the Ten Papal States. Bower in
his History of the Popes relates that Lewis, a
successor of Charlemagne, in 817 A. D., not only confirmed the donations of his father and
grandfather, but added to them. The Emperor Lewis assured the Pope "of his inviolable
attachment to the Apostolic See, and declared himself unalterably determined to maintain,
if necessary, with the whole strength of his kingdom, the prince of the Apostles and his
successors, in the quiet possession of all his father and grandfather had, by their
.religion and piety, been prompted to give him."
The
following from the International Encyclopedia is interesting
and instructive on this, matter:
"In
726 Pepin le Bref compelled the Lombard king to hand over Ravenna, Rimini, Pisaro, Fano,
Cescena, Urbino, Forli, Commachio, and I5 other towns to the pope who now assumed the
state of a temporal sovereign. In the eleventh
century the Normans greatly aided to increase the Papal temporal authority, and in 1053
the duchy of Benevento was annexed. In 1102 the Countess Matilda of Tuscany left to the
pope her fiefs of Parma, Mantua, Madena, and Tuscany, but these were immediately seized by
the German emperor, and of this magnificent bequest only a few estates came into the
pope's hands. Between this period and the end of the thirteenth century the popes
succeeded, often by unscrupulous means, in obtaining from many of the free towns of Italy
an acknowledgment of the superiority of the Roman See over them; and in 1278 the Emperor
Rudolf I confirmed the popes in the acquisitions thus obtained, defined authoritatively
the boundaries 0f the Papal States, and acknowledged the popes' exclusive authority over
them, by absolving their inhabitants from their oath of allegiance to the empire."
WHY SOME MAKE EARLIER
APPLICATION
That
which makes this application of this particular feature of the prophecy most significant
and worthy of acceptance is that these historians who recorded the fact of the absorbing-
of these, three dominions by Papacy, and making this event the beginning of, the temporal
power of the popes, had in their minds not the slightest thought that it fulfilled this or
any prophecy. They were simply referring to these events as facts occurring in the regular
course of history. Indeed, all historians agree that these events occurred exactly as
related by those above quoted. The cause of applying the fulfillment of the "plucking
up" of these three horns to an earlier date than 539 A. D. by Adventist interpreters,
seems to be that of supposing that the "time, times and a half," 1260 years,
must be understood as beginning when the last of the three horns was plucked up. The
prophecy, however, does not require this. The 126o years have reference to the period of
the Roman bishops' spiritual authority over the saints. "They shall be given into his
hand for a time, times and a half," the prophecy reads. It is our thought that this
began in 539 A. D. This feature of the prophecy will be considered in its due order.
A
third stage in the development of Papal power and influence which fulfils the requirements
of the prophecy of the "little horn" power, covers the period which culminated
in its attainment of authority over the ten kings (kingdoms) who occupied the territory of
the old Roman Empire. That this is required is implied in the words of the Prophet that
the "little horn's" look assumed an appearance "more stout than his fellows," that is, his fellowkings. In the
book of Revelation this feature is described with emphatic definiteness. There it is
stated that these ten horns "have one mind and shall give their power and strength to
the beast." (Rev. 17:13.) Up to the eighth century, when the popes became temporal
sovereigns, they were restrained by both kings, bishops, and councils, from the exercise
of despotic power even in the Church. Mosheim
says, "Adrian I [the Pope] in a council of bishops assembled at Rome, conferred upon
Charlemagne, and his successors, the right of election to the See of Rome; and though
neither Charlemagne, nor his son Lewis, were willing to exercise this power in all its
extent, by naming and creating the pontiff upon every vacancy, yet they reserved the right
of approving and confirming the person who was elected to that high dignity by the priests
and the people; nor was the consecration of the elected pontiff of the least validity,
unless performed in the presence of the emperor's ambassadors . . . . It is true, that the
Latin emperors did not assume to themselves the administration of the Church, or the
cognizance and decision of controversies chat were purely of a religious nature., They
acknowledged, on the contrary, that these matters belonged to the tribunal of the Roman
pontiff and to the ecclesiastical councils. But this
jurisdiction of the pontiff was confined within narrow limits; he could decide nothing by
his sole authority, but was obliged to convene a
council when any religious differences were to be terminated by an authoritative judgment
. . . . Thus was the spiritual authority of Rome wisely bounded by the civil power; but
its ambitious pontiffs fretted under the imperial curb, and eager to break loose their
bonds, left no means unemployed for that purpose. Nay, they formed projects, which seemed
less the effects of ambition than of frenzy; for they claimed a supreme dominion, not only
over the Church, but also over kings themselves, and pretended to reduce the whole
universe under their ghostly jurisdiction. However extravagant these pretensions were,
they were followed by the most vigorous efforts; and the wars and tumults that arose in
the following [ninth] century, contributed much to render these efforts successful."
SACERDOTAL MONARCHY
CROWNED
AND UNCROWNED KINGS OF EUROPE
The
first important event that occurred which gave opportunity to the Roman pontiff to begin
the exercise of this ambition, was that of a war that broke out after the death of Lewis
II. Mosheim thus describes this event
"After
the death of Lewis II, a fierce and dreadful war broke out between the posterity of
Charlemagne, among which there were several competitors for the empire. This furnished the
Italian princes and the Roman pontiff; John VIII [about 872 A. D.], with a favorable
opportunity of assuming to themselves the right of nominating to the imperial throne, and
of excluding from all part in this election the nations who had formerly the right of
suffrage; and if the opportunity was favorable, it was seized with avidity, and improved
with the utmost dexterity and zeal. Their favor and interest was earnestly solicited by
Charles the Bald, whose entreaties were rendered effectual by rich presents, prodigious
sums of money, and most pompous promises, in consequence of which he was proclaimed, in A.
D. 876, by the Pontiff John VIII, and by the Italian princes assembled at Pavia, king of
Italy and emperor of the Romans. Carloman and Charles the Gross, who succeeded him in the
kingdom of Italy, and in the Roman Empire, were also elected by the Roman pontiff and the
Italian princes. After the reigns of these princes, the empire was torn in pieces; the
most deplorable tumults and commotions arose in Italy, France, and Germany, which were
governed, or rather subdued and usurped by various chiefs, and in this confused scene of
things, the highest bidder was, by the succor of the greedy pontiffs, generally raised to
the government of Italy and to the imperial throne. Thus the power and influence of the
pontiffs in civil affairs arose in a short time to an enormous height through the favor
and protection of the princes, in whose cause they had employed the influence which
superstition had given them over the minds of the people."
Thus
the pontiff labored with indefatigable zeal to cause the kings, emperors, and princes of
the world to submit to his jurisdiction, and to .render their dominions tributary to the
See of Rome. As an illustration of the power at this time assumed by the Roman pontiff,
history records that the emperors Rodolphus and Otho, of Germany, not only received their
crowns as a Papal grant, on the Pope's deposition of previous emperors, but they resigned,
at his bidding, the crowns so received. "Peter II of Arragon, and John, king of
England, and other monarchs also, gave up their independence that they might receive back
their realms as vassals of the Pope." Gibbon thus describes this state of affairs:
"Under the sacerdotal monarchy of St. Peter, the nations began to resume the practice
of seeking on the banks of the Tiber, their kings, their laws, and the oracles of their
fate."
In
the twelfth century, Mosheim says "that the power of erecting new kingdoms, which had
been claimed by the pontiffs from Gregory VII [1073 A. D.] was not only assumed, but also
exercised by [Pope] Alexander III [1159 A. D.] in a remarkable manner; for in the year
1179 he conferred the title of king, with the ensigns of royalty, upon Alphonso I, duke of
Portugal, who under the pontificate of Lucius II had rendered his province tributary to
the Roman See." It was in this same year "that in order to put an end to the
confusion and dissensions which so often accompanied the election of the Roman pontiffs,
the right of election should not only be vested in the cardinals alone, but also that the
person in whose favor two -thirds of the college of cardinals voted, should be considered
as the lawful and duly elected pontiff." It was in
this same year that "a spiritual war was declared against heretics." The
condition of the affairs of the popes in the opening years of the sixteenth century are
thus described by the same historian: "About the commencement of this century the
Roman pontiffs lived in the utmost tranquility; nor had they, as things appeared to be
situated, the least reason to apprehend any opposition to their pretensions, or rebellion
against their authority."
We
have thus far traced the gradual rise of the Roman bishop's influence and power in the
Church and the world up to the time of its highest exaltation, and have found that this
succession of ecclesiastical rulers have filled all the particular requirements thus far
specified of the "little horn."
THE PERIOD OF THE
JUDGES
"I will heal their backsliding, I will love them
freely."--Hosea 14:4; Judges 2:16-18; 7:2-8.
GOD'S
displeasure with sin is no more pointedly illustrated than in the history of Israel and
their warfare with the Canaanites. Time and again they were reminded that they were a
chosen people and specially separated from all other peoples of the earth. Explicit
instructions had been given that they should not only not mix with the nations of Canaan
but that the Canaanites were to be driven out of the land or destroyed.
The
lesson for God's people at this time that has been drawn by many commentators, seems well
founded. In the picture the Canaanite and his citadels, etc., represent sin, its
enticements, its blandishments, its strong entrenchment in the weaknesses of the flesh. No
compromise or truce with sin is to be made on the part the new creature; it is to be a war
of extermination; and this was the signification of the type. It helps us to understand
the matter much better, too, when we know that those Canaanites who were destroyed were
not sentenced to a torture chamber to suffer forever, but simply went down into the great
prison-house of death, just the same as their fathers had done before them, only in a
different form of death. It mattered nothing whether these died of pestilence or by the
sword; the time will come, anyway, when they shall . all be brought forth from the
prison-house of death by the great Redeemer, the antitypical Seed of Abraham, to have an
opportunity of coming to a full knowledge of the truth that they may be saved; and that
everlastingly, if they will, upon condition of their obedience and heart -conformity with
the Divine will.
HE GAVE THEM JUDGES
ABOUT 450 YEARS
Israel's
history from the time of the division of Canaan amongst the tribes until the anointing of
Saul to be their king, a period of, 450 years,
is called the period of the judges -- Joshua being the first judge and Samuel the last.
The
length of this period, has been called m question by expositors for centuries. Various
attempts have been made to determine its length by computing the epochs of the judges
mentioned in the record. But it is sooner or later discovered that these periods "are
disconnected, broken, lapped, and tangled so much that we could arrive at no definite
conclusion from them and should be obliged to conclude as others have done, that nothing
positive could be known on the subject, were it not that the New Testament supplies the
deficiency. St. Paul states that after God divided their land to them by lot, `He gave
unto them judges about [during] the space of 450 years,
until Samuel the Prophet. Afterward they desired a king, and God gave unto them Saul.' --
Acts 13:19, 20."
There
are some who do not accept this application of 450 Years,
but contend that some translations of the Apostle's words read as follows: "He
distributed their land to them by inheritance about 450 years. After that He gave unto them judges until
Samuel the Prophet" and this is understood to mean that the 450 years should commence at the birth of Isaac and
reach to the division of the land.
Neither
this translation nor this application of the 450 years
seems reasonable to us nor in harmony with the facts. It would be contrary to the facts to
say that the Lord was distributing their land to them by inheritance 450 years prior to the division of the land; this
distribution of the land did not commence till they entered it. Again when St. Paul makes
reference to the 450 years, he is discussing
nothing that has any relation to the birth of Isaac, and we see no reason for supposing
that he had the birth of Isaac in mind.
If we
carefully examine the context, it will be seen that the Apostle is reviewing Israel's
history since leaving Egypt -- and "about the time of forty years suffered lie them
manners in the wilderness. And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan,
He divided their land to them by lot." (Ver. 18,
19.) We have shown covered about six years. Then the Apostle goes on to recount
another period in addition to those just mentioned; that period is that of the judges
which he states was 450 years.
CORROBORATIVE
TESTIMONY
Mr.
Barnes has submitted some interesting remarks on this point which, though not exactly in
line with all of our conclusions, are very largely corroborative.* Speaking of the phrase
in Acts I3 :20, he says:
________
*For a more exhaustive examination of the
length of the period of the judges we refer the reader to our discussion of the matter
which appeared in the Herald of April I, 1922.
_____________
"Doddridge
renders it, 'After these transactions, [which lasted] four hundred and fifty years, He
gave them a series of judges,' etc., reckoning from the birth of Isaac, and supposing that
Paul meant to refer to this whole time. But to this there are serious objections. (1,) It
is a forced and constrained interpretation, and one manifestly made to meet a difficulty.
(2.) There is no propriety in commencing this period at the birth of Isaac. 'That vas in
no manner remarkable, so far as Paul's narrative was concerned; and Paul had not even
referred to it. This same solution is offered also by Calovius, Mill and Lud. De Dieu.
Luther and Beza think it should be read three hundred, instead of four hundred. But this
is a mere conjecture, without any authority from manuscript. Vitringa, and some others,
suppose that the text has been corrupted by some transcriber, who has inserted this
without authority. But there is no evidence of this; and the manuscript and ancient
versions are uniform. None of these explanations are satisfactory. In the solution of the
difficulty we may remark, (1.) That nothing is more perplexing than the chronology of
ancient facts. The difficulty is found in all writings; in profane as well as sacred.
Mistakes are so easily made in transcribing numbers, where letters are used instead of
writing the words at length, that we are not to wonder at such errors. (2.) Paul would
naturally use the chronology which was in current, common use among the Jews. It was not
his business to settle such points; but he would speak of them as they were usually spoken
of, and refer to them as others did. (3.) There is reason to believe that that which is
here mentioned, was the common chronology of his time. It accords remarkably with that
which is used by Josephus. (4.) This chronology has the authority, also, of many eminent
names. See Lightfoot, and Boyle's Lectures, chap. 20. In what way this computation of
Josephus and the Jews originated, it is not necessary here to inquire. It is a sufficient
solution of the difficulty, that Paul spoke in their usual manner, without departing from
his regular object by settling a point of chronology."
DIVINE OVERSIGHT IN
NATURAL AND SPIRITUAL ISRAEL
The
judges which God raised up were evidently not elected to their position, but raised to it
providentially. But as these judges had no power or authority, collected no revenues and
held no office which they could entail upon others, it follows that any power or influence
they possessed was a personal one, and to give it weight or force implied a proper
acknowledgment of them as divinely appointed or raised up. This arrangement led, the
people continually to look to God for their helpers and leaders rather than to engage in
an ordinary claptrap of politics in which personal ambitions and spoils would dominate and
control. God did the nominating, and the people in proportion as they would come into
harmony with Him took cognizance of His choice (and practically endorsed it or voted for
it) by their acceptance of the judge. There may have been a more methodical procedure in
some instances, as is intimated in our lesson (chap. 2:7), where the elders of Israel who
had witnessed God's miraculous interposition on their behalf and who outlived Joshua seem
to have constituted the judges in the different tribes.
This
arrangement by which God gave Israel its judges is in considerable harmony with His
dealings with spiritual Israel during this Gospel Age -- raising up for them from time to
time special counselors, deliverers, ministers. Similarly spiritual Israelites are not to
caucus and wire-pull and decide for themselves who shall be their spiritual leaders; but
are to regard the Lord as the great Chef Captain, and to look to Him to guide them in
judgment, as in every congregation they look out from amongst themselves fit men for the
services needed; God's Law is to keep them separate from the schemes and warfares and
entanglements of the world; they are to be His peculiar people, and His pledge to them is
that all things shall work together for their good so long as they abide faithful to Him.
They, therefore, need no armies armed with carnal weapons, although they are all soldiers
of the cross, pledged to fight against sin, especially -each within himself, and to lay
down their lives for each other-"the brethren."
If
the Book of judges be read as a fully complete history of Israel for those four and
one-half centuries, it would be a discouraging picture, and to some extent give the
inference that they were continually in sin and idolatry, and suffering punishment
therefor. But this would be an unfair view to take. On the contrary, the record passes by
the happy period of Israel's prosperity, and specially points out their deflections from
obedience to God and punishments for such transgressions and the deliverances from their
troubles through the judges or deliverers whom Gad raised up for them. That this was in
many respects a favorable time for the Israelites is implied in the Lord's promise,
"I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counselors as at the
beginning." -- Isa. 1:26.
PICTURES OF THE
CHRISTIAN'S WARFARE
Incidentally
the story of Ruth and of the parents of Samuel (1 Sam. 1) give us little glimpses of the
other side of the matter-of the many of the people, the happiness and -contentment
enjoyed. In our own day if we judge of the affairs of the world wholly by the daily
history and details in the newspapers, we might get the impression that crimes, strikes,
accidents, and imprisonments constituted the whole life in our own land; the great mass of
the people attending to the ordinary affairs of life are scarcely mentioned. In accordance
with this are the following lines from Whittler in which he rejoices in this land of
liberty and blessing, notwithstanding the unfavorable reports thereof which go out to the
world daily through the press
"Whate'er of folly, shame, or crime
Within thy mighty bounds transpires,
With speed defying space or time
Comes to us on the accusing wires;
"While all thy wealth of noble deeds,
Thy homes oŁ peace, thy votes unsold,
Thy love that pleads for human needs,
The wrongs redressed, but half is told!"
DELIVERANCES IN
SPIRITUAL ISRAEL TOO
The
Israelites had been instructed by the Lord to utterly exterminate the people of the land,
which extermination we saw in a previous lesson prefigured our conquests as spiritual
Israelites over the desires of the fallen nature. Israel, however, settled down to enjoy
the Land of Promise without fully exterminating the condemned ones; and the false religion
of the latter, later on contaminated the Israelites through friendship and fellowship; and
thus these whom God had condemned gradually alienated the hearts of many from their full,
proper loyalty to the Lord; seducing many of them into a lascivious idolatry. So with the
spiritual Israelites who do not wage a valiant battle against the natural desires of their
own fallen flesh -- they find shortly that the flesh prospers at the expense of the
spiritual life and that truces with the flesh mean that their love for the Lord is
gradually cooled until some form of idolatry creeps in -- the love of money, or of praise
of men, or of self, etc., dividing with the Lord the love and reverence of their hearts.
We
are not to suppose that all the Israelites fell away into idolatry; we are rather to
understand that a considerable number of them became alienated for a time, repeatedly,
from the love and worship of the Lord, and thus repeatedly brought upon them the Lord's
disfavor. Verse 16 supports this thought, suggesting to our minds that our lesson is a
condensed statement of the whole period of the judges -- over four hundred years. Applying
this to spiritual Israel we are not to expect that the Lord's displeasure with His people
would, delay until they had fully and completely gone into idolatry to self or wealth or
fame; but rather that when some the affections of the heart begin to go out to other
things, the Lord's chastisements would be sent to reprove and rebuke and correct, while
still there is in our hearts something oŁ obedience and love toward Him; before the
world, the flesh, and the Adversary should have time to capture us completely.
These
records of Divine chastisements, and Israel's subsequent repentance, and the Lord's
deliverances, were all proofs of the Divine love and care for that consecrated people. So
far as we have information Divine power vas not exercised thus upon the other
unconsecrated nations, for their reproof and correction, etc. They were left as strangers,
foreigners, aliens from God and from His premises. So now the Lord's corrections in
righteousness, His chastisements, etc., are evidences of special protection and care, and
relationship to the "house of sons." It is because of our acceptance in Christ
and our consecration to the Lord, that He in turn, has accepted us as sons and gives us
the experiences, trials, and difficulties needful to our testing and
character-development; and it is to the intent that we may realize the treachery and the
seductive influences of our own fallen natures, represented by the Amalekites and
Canaanites, and that we may utterly destroy these, and thus come eventually into the
condition mentioned by the Apostle when he declares that the consecrated should bring
every thought into captivity to the will of God in Christ. -- 2 Cor. 10:5.
When
fleshly Israel learned one lesson after another, and as fast as each was learned sent a
cry of loyalty up to God, His power was exercised on their behalf and their deliverance
was effected So with the spiritual Israelite when he recognizes the true situation and
with thorough repentance turns unto the Lord and cries for deliverance from his own
weaknesses and imperfections according to the flesh; his prayer is heard and his
deliverance is provided for with the assurance that the Lord's grace is sufficient. The
condition of the spiritual Israelite is represented in the Psalmist's words, "They
cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He saveth them out of their distresses." Such
a cry to the Lord, however, implies that the sins and weaknesses of the flesh were
contrary to the transgressor's will; it implies that in some manner he was seduced or
entangled by the world, the flesh, or the Adversary and that his heart is still loyal to
the Lord and to the truth. All such who cry unto the Lord in sincerity and faith shall be
heard, shall be delivered; His grace is sufficient for us.
GIDEON A DELIVERER IN
ISRAEL
Gideon
was one of the judges of Israel raised up by the Lord He delivered his people from the
Midianites who had invaded Palestine and taken possession of its most fertile part,
pillaging the country of its produce. Under God's special covenant with Israel we know
that He would have protected them front these invaders had they remained faithful to Him.
We are not surprised, therefore, that the narrative shows that the Israelites at this time
had succumbed to the idolatrous influences of the Canaanites who still dwelt in the land.
Gideon's father was one of the chief men of his tribe and district, and upon his
plantation he had erected a statue to Baal in the midst of a consecrated grove, on a
hilltop Notwithstanding this established idolatry in the home, Gideon appears to have had
considerable knowledge of the true God and of the deliverances effected by Him for His
people in the past, and when conversing with his angel visitor he shows not only his
knowledge of the Lord's dealings in the past, but his surprise that He had ceased to care
for His people. It did not seem even to occur to him that the Lord's disfavor, as
manifested in the successes of the Midianites against Israel, was on account of Israel's
disloyalty to the Lord in idolatry, etc. It is probable that this same sentiment pervaded
the nation in general and that, in some sense of the word, they respected Jehovah at the
same time they worshiped Baal also.
God's
favors to spiritual Israel and His protection are along spiritual lines against spiritual
enemies and spiritual difficulties; and yet, how few spiritual Israelites when they get
into spiritual difficulties, realize that it must, in some sense of the word, be traceable
to the Lord's providences! How few of them properly look to see to what extent their
spiritual adversities, weaknesses, coldness, alienation from the Lord, etc., are due to
the permission of some kind of idolatry in their hearts! Not an idolatry, probably, that
entirely ignores the Lord; but one which, while thinking favorably of His spiritual
blessings and victories of the past, simply wonders at His disfavor of the present, and
fails to recognize that it is impossible to serve at the same time both God and Mammon;
that God's favor and close communion and protection can not be expected while we permit in
our hearts a rival reverence for wealth or fame or human institutions and creeds, or self
or family, to any degree or extent.
AGAIN GOD CALLS FOR A
LITTLE FLOCK
Evidently
the Lord saw that the Israelites were at this time ripe for a change -- that under the
adversities inflicted through their enemies they were humbled to such an extent that they
would be ready to see where was their fault, and to turn from idolatry again to the Lord.
But the Lord wished an agent for His service, and instead of using a supernatural one --
an angel -- He chose, as usual, to use a man. And He chose, as usual, to use a suitable
man, fit for the purpose. Gideon would seem to have been a man of middle age, for he had a
son at this time of probably fifteen years of age; he was well born, as is implied by the
record that he was fine of form and feature.
The
selection of Gideon's little flock reminds us of the selection of the Lord's spiritual
people. Of these there is first a call to faith in the Lord, resulting in justification
and acceptance; secondly, there is a call to consecration, in full view of the
requirements, in full view of the enemy, and our Captain requests all of the justified
ones who come to him to sit down first and count the cost, whether or not they are willing
to sacrifice their all under His leadership. The large majority, when they come to see the
cost, to realize the battle that must be waged between the followers of the Lord and the
forces of the world, the flesh and the Devil, are rather inclined to say, We prefer not to
engage in battle, we are timid, we are fearful, we have not sufficient confidence either
in Gideon or Gideon's God. It is in accord with the Lord's will that such should be
considered separate from God's army, though they may have subsequently an opportunity for
joining in the battle against evil.
Thus
many others than the little flock may be associated in the work of overthrow, though that
of the little flock will be a special work as specially chosen instruments of the Lord.
Now is the time for response to the call of our Captain; now is the time for standing the
tests and being full of faith and confidence in the Lord, that He is able to give us the
victory. Now is the time for standing the test of truth, accepting it as from the Lord and
lifting our hearts in gratitude. Now is the time for understanding the will of the
Captain, following His example, and imitating Him. and laying down our lives for the
brethren, and as sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God and our reasonable service. Now is
the time for the proclamation and for publicly declaring our confidence in Him' who called
us, who gave us the light, and who has privileged us to be His little flock; and very
shortly will come the time for the fleeing of the enemy. Let us be faithful to our tests
and opportunities, and thus be accounted worthy of a share in the service and the glory
that shall follow.
"And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He
expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself."-- Luke
24:27.
CHRIST
and the Old Testament are bound together by a link that cannot be broken. Men have from
time to time attempted to, break that link, but have never been able; nor will they ever
be able to break it. Those who are so egotistical as to think they have done so, find
themselves without a Christ There exists an essential and vital connection between the
Logos, the Word of God, who in the fulness of time was made flesh and dwelt among us, and
that written Word which testifies of Him, of His person, of His work, of His sufferings,
and of His glory. The nature, object, and end of the Old Testament can never be understood
unless viewed in relation to the Son of God, the Christ (Messiah) of Israel, the Savior of
mankind; for He is the Alpha and Omega, the center and kernel of its many diversified
records. These records so diversified continue to live amongst us. .The latest one of all
is over twenty-three centuries old, but is not antiquated. Some of them have been in
existence over three thousand years; and while venerable on account of age, they are yet
powerful, possessing a never-failing youth and vigor. A noted writer says:
"The
echo of David's voice is still heard in the chambers of meditation and prayer; the counsel
of Solomon's wisdom and experience is still aiding the wanderer in the complicated paths
of life; young Timothy is still taught from his very childhood out of these hallowed
pages; the Apostle Paul, according to the wisdom given unto him, is still unfolding to us
the whole counsel of God; whilst the beloved disciple, in fulfillment of the Lord's
prediction, still tarries with us, and lifts us up, as on eagles' wings, to adore the
Eternal Son and to wait for His return."
NOT TO BE UNDERSTOOD
AS OTHER MEN
The
Christ of the Scriptures is still looked upon even by the world as a living person. One of
the striking peculiarities of our day is that the attention of the most reverent and
thoughtful minds is centered upon this person. His teachings and His example are held
to-be absolutely perfect, and as such, constitute a standard for men, both rulers and
ruled, to test their conduct. He is the "center of the world's history, the center of
the life of the Church, the center of all questions which agitate the consciences and
hearts of men, as He is the center of the Divine counsels." There is today a deeper
consciousness among men than ever before that "never man spake like this man";
and that the influence He has exerted in the world is far, far beyond that of any one who
has ever lived; and that that influence is not only wonderful but mysterious and unique.
The
strange misconceptions and grievously erroneous ideas that men hold concerning Him are not
matters that should cause' surprise or astonishment. The supporters of the great church
systems are trying to understand Jesus from the standpoint of the creeds that were
formulated centuries after His appearance among men. Natural, unregenerate men are trying
to understand Him as they understand other noted men of history. This is utterly
impossible. He was man, and yet different from every other man. His person, His life, His
character, His teachings can never be explained by ordinary rules. He stands entirely
apart from other men. The records of His earthly life, while very clearly describing a
human being, contain utterances made by Him which plainly show that His birth at Bethlehem
was not the beginning of His history -- that in some manner and form He existed as a
person with the infinite God, before His being made flesh. Furthermore, His life on earth
is riot even intelligible except as it is viewed from the standpoint of Israelitish Old Testament history. It is only from the Jewish
history that we learn what is meant by His being the son of Abraham and the son of David.
We can learn what the words "Son of Man" mean, what the words, Messiah anointed,
of whom Moses and all the Prophets spake, mean, only from the Old Testament records. One
has truly said: "All attempts to understand Jesus Christ separate from the Old
Testament, are most unphilo-sophical, and can tend to no satisfactory result. He is not
the Christ of history, but of special history
-the Divine history of Israel. He is the Light of the world, He is the Desire of all
nations, He is the center and Life of humanity; but He is all this because He is the Son
of David, the Son of Abraham;' for salvation is of the Jews. The Gospel narrative is like
a high table land, but we cannot be spared the ascent from Genesis to Malachi," in
order to reach its heights.
A MAN DIFFERENT FROM
ALL MEN
The
perfection and beauty of Christ's character, the wonderful simplicity and depth of His
teachings, His deep insight into human nature, His faultless conception of the character
of God, His intimate communion with Him, have attracted the attention of all who have read
with unbiased minds the Gospel narrative. It is utterly impossible, indeed unreasonable
for men to try, as some do try, to flatter themselves that Jesus Christ is "the
efflorescence of humanity, that history has produced Him, and that nature is glorified in
Him . . . . Jesus is above all, because He is from above. He came in the fullness of time,
and belonged to Israel; the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob is the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ. When Jesus quotes the Scripture, this does not merely prove to us
that He regarded them as authority and truth, but it reveals to us the organic, vital, and
necessary connection between the Christ and the nation; and if there are any who are not
able clearly to understand the meaning of His life and the secret of His mission, to whom
His death appears as a mysterious problem, and who walk in doubt and gloom even now that
the Church testifies of Him continually, that He lives above for us, that He lives on
earth in us -- in no other way can they b8 brought into the clear and full light than as
the disciples on their way to Emmaus. Beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, the risen
Jesus expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
"It
appears like reasoning in a circle when we say we receive the Bible because of Christ, and
we receive Christ through the Bible. But the difficulty disappears when we view Jesus
Christ in connection with the nation of Israel, and of God's dealings towards them, as
recorded in the [Old Testaments Scripture; and then we see that there is a nation
different from all nations -- the Jews -- chosen by God that He may reveal Himself to and
through them; there is a Man different from all
men, the Son of God, Messiah of Israel and Head of the Church; and there is a Book different from all other books, the record of
God's dealing with Israel, culminating in the manifestation of the Redeemer, whose goings
forth are from of old, even from ever-lasting. The difficulty disappears when we remember,
secondly, that the same Spirit of God convinces us of the supremacy of Christ and of the
supremacy of the Scripture.
"And,
accordingly, we find that as the hearts of men are attracted by Jesus Christ as the only
Prophet, Priest, and King, their minds are filled with reverence and love for the
Scripture. The Reformation is based upon two principles -- Christ only, Christ above all;
and the Scriptures only, the Bible above all human authority. Luther found peace for his
troubled conscience in Jesus as the Righteousness of God. And because Jesus had become all
in all to him, he laid such stress on the Bible, where he had found Jesus. It was Jesus
who riveted his heart, and it was Jesus on whose account, and in whom he felt, as he
expressed it, wedded to the Bible.
"For
higher than the Bible is -- not reason, not the Church,
not the Christian consciousness, but -- the Holy Ghost [Spirit], who reveals Christ in
the written Word, so that it becomes to us, what it is, the Word of God, the voice of the
Beloved." -- Adolph Saphir, Christ And The
Scriptures.
FILLED WITH TREASURES
OF THE WRITTEN WORD
No
person who reads the Gospel narrative can possibly fail to see that Jesus is constantly
referring to the writings of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms. There is scarcely :a
period recorded in Old Testament history that is not referred, to by Him. He refers to the
creation of man as it is there recorded, the institution of the marriage relation, the
death of Abel, the days of Noah, the destruction of Sodom, the history of Abraham, the
appearance of God to Moses in the burning bush. He mentions the fall of manna in the
wilderness, the brazen serpent that was lifted up, the wanderings of David, the wisdom and
glory of Solomon, the ministry of Elijah and Elisha, the sign of Jonah, and the martyrdom
of Zechariah. These occurrences embrace the entire period of Jewish history. And it is to
be noted also that not only do we find these direct references made by Jesus to the events of Jewish history, but the allusions to
these Scriptures are almost innumerable. So numerous are these that it is utterly
impos-sible for any careful reader of the Gospel narrative to avoid the conclusion that
our Lord was familiar with these Scriptures from a child. Furthermore, it cannot but be
believed that Jesus' mind, His memory, His imagination, indeed, His whole inner man was
filled with the treasures of the written Word. It was these Old Testament records that
caused Him from a little child to "grow and increase in wisdom and in favor with God
and men." Again it needs to be observed that Christ when reasoning with the Jewish
teachers and rulers of His day, invariably held up these Scriptures as an authority, an
infallible standard against which there was no appeal. These Scriptures constituted the
basis and theme of all His teaching. The doctrines which He taught, the works which He
performed had for their object the fulfillment of that which was written in the Scripture.
At
the beginning of His ministry, we learn that "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. And there was delivered unto Him the book of the Prophet Isaiah. And
when He had opened the book, He found the place where it is written, The Spirit of the
Lord God is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He hath
tent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering
of sight to . the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable
year of the Lord. And He closed the book, and He gave it again to the minister, and sat
down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on Him. And he
began to say unto them, This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." -- Luke
4:16-21.
Can
anything be plainer than that He believed that He Himself, was the one who fulfilled this
prediction of the Scriptures.
THE STONE WHICH THE
BUILDERS REJECTED
He
frequently replies to questions addressed to Him, "How readest thou?" "What
is written in the law?" To the Sadducees we have Him saying on one occasion,,
"Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God." To the messengers
of John the Baptist, to prove to them He was the Messiah that was to come, He calls
attention to the works He was doing, in the words of Isaiah. He frequently stated that
Moses wrote' of Him. He emphasized on one occasion that the Scripture was the
all-sufficient message of God, leaving His hearers without excuse. "If they hear not
Moses and the Prophets, neither will they hear one risen from the dead." In defending
the children who on one occasion sang praises to Him, He quoted words from the eighth
Psalm: "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou has ordained praise." He
proved His dignity as Jehovah's messenger, by quoting the words of David: "The Lord
[Jehovah] said unto My Lord [Adonai]." He quoted the expression from the Psalm,
"Ye are gods," to show that He whom the Father had sealed, was high above those
to whom the Word of God came -- the Prophets; and in the same connection He defends His
argument by calling to the attention of His hearers that "the Scripture cannot be
broken." Near the close of His ministry when speaking of His own rejection by the
Jews, and the judgment that was then upon them, He quoted from the 118th Psalm the words,
"Did ye never read in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same
is become the head of the corner." In proving to the Sadducees the resurrection of
the dead He quoted an expression which Jehovah used and which is recorded in Exodus,
"I am the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob."
Besides
these direct references to Moses and the Prophets, we have numerous and to some extent
concealed allusions to Scripture thoughts and teaching by Christ in His many discourses.
His sermon on the Mount is replete with indirect references to the law as given by Moses.
His conversations with His disciples, His discourses in the Gospels, His parables, etc.,
show that all His thoughts and expressions were molded and fashioned by the Scriptures
that were given from time to time to the Lord's chosen people. Indeed the Old Testament
Scriptures were the text book of His schooling, their significance and, meaning being
disclosed to Him by the Spirit of the Lord God which came upon Him. Up to the very close
of His life on earth the Savior was constantly quoting the Scriptures. Standing in the
Jewish council after His arrest, when urged by the High Priest, "I adjure Thee by the
living God, that Thou tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of God," He replied
by a quotation from Scripture, "Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you,
hereafter shall ye gee the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in
the clouds of heaven." (Matt. 26:64.) As we keep in mind that Christ was continually
referring to and quoting the Scriptures before friend and foe, Pharisee and Sadducee,
disciples and people, in the temple, in the wilderness, before Herod, before Pilate,
before the Jewish council, and even on the Cross, how is it possible to tear asunder that
which God hath joined together!
"THAT THE
SCRIPTURES MIGHT BE FULFILLED"
In
connection with His private instruction to His disciples, it cannot but be observed that
in His efforts to awaken and strengthen their faith in Him and in God, He invariably did
so by referring to the Old Testament Scriptures. On one occasion when asked by the
disciples why He spoke to the multitudes 'in parables, He replied by quoting Isa. 6:9; and
in speaking of the blessed privileges they were enjoying in listening to His own
teachings; He referred to the Prophets and righteous men of old who desired to see the
things which they saw and to hear the things which they heard. On the Mount of Olivet,
when His disciples came to Him privately inquiring about the destruction of the temple and
His Second Presence and the end of the Age, He refers them particularly to a prophecy of
Daniel. He evidently refers in this same reply to the Prophet Joel, and likens the days of
His presence to the days of Noah before the flood. When He spoke to His disciples about
His sufferings and rejection, He tried to impress upon their minds that all these things
were written in the Prophets. The disciples could not understand the mystery of the Cross,
and they were unable or probably unwilling to believe in the humiliation, suffering, and
death that was to come to Him. In order to prepare them for this, He called their
attention to the Scriptures: "Then He took unto Him the Twelve, and said unto them,
Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that
are written by the Prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished." In
the words addressed to His disciples, "With desire, I have desired to eat this
passover with you before I suffer," He emphasizes not only the historical truth of
the incident in Exodus, but also its typical and prophetic import. When speaking of His
betrayal, He said, "The Son of man goeth as it
is written of Him," evidently referring to Psalm 41:9. He spoke of the prophecy
of Isa. 53:12, "He was numbered with the transgressors," as meeting its
fulfillment in Him. (Luke 22:37.) When they came to arrest Him He said, "Are ye come
out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take Me?" and immediately added,
"All this, was done, that the Scriptures of the Prophets might be fulfilled."
When Peter drew his sword to defend his Master, how remarkably significant are the
Savior's words, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall
presently give Me more than twelve legions of angels?" and then He adds, "But
how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled?" (Matt. 26 :51-56.) As one has said:
"Scripture must needs be the perfect and immutable revelation of the inmost counsel
and will of the Lord, to which Jesus, as the righteous servant of Jehovah, implicitly and
heartily submits."
He
foresees through an understanding of the Scripture prophecy: "I will smite the
Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad," that all His
disciples would forsake Him. When He appeared to His disciples after His resurrection and
they failed to recognize Him, it would have been easy for Him to dissipate their doubts,
and comfort them in their sorrow, by saying the word, "Behold it is I!" but
instead He called their attention to the Prophets in order to accomplish this, and for all
time establish their faith. Any person who believed in Moses and the Prophets could have
said to them what He did, "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the
Prophets have spoken." He then began to call their attention to Moses and the
Prophets, and showed them that "thus it is written and thus it behooved Christ to
suffer and to rise the third day." The followers of Jesus who since then have heeded
these instructions, are relieved of doubt and anxiety, and like those disciples of old,
have felt their hearts burn within them with holy reverence and godly fear as the Holy
Spirit has opened these Scriptures to their understanding.
THE SCRIPTURES HIS
COMFORT
IN THE DARK HOURS OF LIFE
One
of the most significant things as bearing on the inseparable connection between Jesus
Christ and the Scriptures is that all His words show that these same Scriptures were His
chief delight, the central object of His meditation, indeed His daily food. He was a
perfect illustration and example of the words of Scripture, "Out of the abundance of
the heart the mouth speaketh." We learn that the Lord by His birth, miraculous as we
know it was, became in every way like unto us, yet without sin, He "was made of a
woman, made under the law." It was doubtless true that the Scriptures were read and
taught Him by Mary; and in her song of praise to Jehovah she shows that she possessed a
deep spiritual insight into the Scriptures. There never lived one on earth before or
since, who when hearing the Word of God, immediately took in its meaning as did our Lord.
When He began His ministry by preaching, His words, His acts, His methods, and His manner
of speech exhibit a heart in which the Word of God was hidden, and prove most clearly that
His whole spiritual life was the product of His education ire the Scriptures. When He was
alone in the wilderness, tempted by the prince of this world, what was it that lighted His
pathway? What weapon did He use in the conflict with His foe? His answer to each
temptation was, "It is written." It was in this way and this alone that He
vanquished. His foe.
When
lifted up on the cross, in the agony of His sufferings we find that the Scriptures were
still in His mind. We are given an insight into the mystery of His agony, and into what
was required of Him in meeting the penalty of human guilt, in the use He made of the words
of the twenty-second Psalm: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" The
Savior knew now that all things that were written of Him were meeting their fulfillment.
As one has said:
"He
knew, and wished His Church to know, that between
the Scriptures and His own heart in agony, there is a profound and inseparable
connection." His words, "It is finished," refer 'also to the
twenty-second Psalm, "God hath done" (ver. 31), that is, as stated in the
language of St. Paul, God "hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we
might be made the righteousness of God in Him."
After His resurrection He continued to unfold the
Scriptures to His disciples. And finally, sixty years after His ascension, in His special
messages to the seven Churches, He refers to the Scriptures: He speaks of the true life in
the paradise of God; of an incident in Israel's experience in the wilderness; of the manna
that was hidden in the Ark; and of the "key of David." Thus we learn that during
His life on earth, during the forty days after His resurrection, and even after His
ascension to Heaven, He remembered the Scriptures, and quoted them. And in His Heavenly
state, at the Father's right hand, He looks forward to the grand consummation of the great
Plan of God, which is revealed in the Scriptures of truth.
THE REVIVAL UNDER
SAMUEL
"Direct your
hearts unto Jehovah, aid serve Him only."--
1 Sam. 7:3, 5-I3.
IT
has been truly said that the education of a child should begin a hundred years before it
is born. , Wholesome parental influences are potent agencies in the formation of
character. Samuel was the son of godly parents, a child desired and requested of the Lord,
the request being accompanied with a solemn covenant that, should it be granted, he should
from earliest infancy be dedicated to the Lord. Thus he came into the world richly endowed
with an inheritance which only godly parents can bestow -- with a mind tending toward God
and righteousness.
As
soon as it was possible to do so, Hannah took her son to the temple and there left him to
be trained and used in the Lord's service under the care of the high priest, Eli, who was
a devoted servant of the Lord. That Samuel was prompt, obedient, teachable, and easily led
in the right way, because his heart was right and well-disposed, is manifest from his
readiness to obey the supposed calls of Eli.
Eli's
mild disposition and gentle manners and his righteous life and teaching were all that were
necessary in the way of human training and restraint to keep this well-disposed child in
the way of righteous-ness from infancy up to manly vigor. Under his influence the child
grew and waxed strong in a noble and righteous character, and was active and diligent in
the service of the Lord. But it was not so with Eli's own family. His own sons were
wayward, disobedient, unthankful, unholy, and profligate. Eli sought to correct their
waywardness by the same mild measures that were natural to him, but when these measures
failed he did not further restrain them by the severer measures so necessary in their
case; and so they continued to bring disgrace upon their father and upon the cause of God
which he as high-priest represented.
This
negligence was culpable, and it displeased the Lord. Hence the warning message to him
through the child Samuel, as recorded in verses 11-13.
THE IMPORTANCE OF
STRONG CHARACTER
It
was hard for Eli to realize the displeasure of the Lord, the waywardness of his sons, and
his own unfaithfulness and culpable negligence; but he received the reproof with becoming
meekness and humility, saying: "It is the Lord: let Him do what seemeth Him
good."
One
lesson to be drawn is respecting God's view of parental responsibility in training up
children in the knowledge and reverence of the Lord. We here emphasize the fact that duty
always begins at home, however far it may reach
beyond it. It is the mistake of some, to be less zealous in preaching and exemplifying the
Gospel in their own families, than among those outside of them. Charity (love, care,
benevolence) should begin at home, and should continue there. That field, more than any
other, should be prayerfully and patiently worked, even though it be slower than others to
yield fruit.
HEARKENING TO THE
VOICE OF GOD
Another
good lesson is found in Samuel's answer to the Lord: "Speak, Lord; for Thy servant
heareth." Too often the uninstructed or wrongly instructed "servant" wants
to do all the talking, and to have the Lord hear him and perform his will. How few of
God's children are quick to learn the lessons that God has a message to communicate to
them through His Word by which their thoughts, words, and deeds are to be directed.
Let
us never forget that the Bible is God's Word to us. And while prompt to acknowledge the
channels and agencies honored by the Lord in bringing to our attention the things of His
Word new and old, let us never forget that the Word itself is the final arbiter, and that
if any teaching fails to harmonize with that Word it is because there is no light in it.
(Isa. 8:20.) Then, as the Apostle says, we are to be not only hearers, but also doers, of the Lord's Word. (James 1:22.) And
"He that hath My Word let him speak My Word faithfully" ( Jer. 23:28) -- not
uncertainly, doubtfully, but "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of
God." -- 1 Pet. 4:11
Samuel
the Prophet might serve Eli the Priest, but he could not become his successor, because not
of the priestly family. It is probable therefore that as he reached maturity he found
other service; but there is a blank in the record of twenty years at least. The
intimation, however, is that he: was faithful to God and to the interests of His people,
and that the people trusted him as a servant of God. We maybe sure, therefore, that he was
not idle, but engaged in some good work. Quite possibly he engaged himself in instructing
the people respecting their wrong conditions, the permission of idolatry amongst them,
their neglect of God, etc.
Samuel is introduced to us as the leader of the
hour, when the people had become thoroughly aroused to a sense of their unholiness, their
need of God, and their need of mutual help if they would come back into relationship with
God. Having brought the people to this proper condition of mind, the Prophet Samuel
appointed a general meeting at a small mountain called Mizpeh; that is, Watch Tower. They
came in considerable numbers and with hearts bowed down with grief in recognition that
they were sinners, and that therefore they had been foreigners -- out of Divine favor.
They came seeking God, and He was found of them.
A GREAT REFORMATION
EFFECTED
The
Prophet Samuel put the matter before the people in plain, distinct terms, saying, "If
ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and
Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve Him only; and
He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." Samuel was warranted in
telling the people that they would be delivered from the power of the Philistines; because
this was God's standing agreement with them by the Covenant He entered into with them,
namely that if they would obey His Laws and be loyal to Him, He would be their God and
they would be His people, and He would guide their interests to their highest welfare,
both as a nation and as individuals; but if they would not obey His statutes and be loyal
to Him, then He would deliver them into the hands of their enemies and punish them Seven
Times. God was keeping His part of the Covenant; it was Israel that had failed, and Samuel
was properly bringing the matter to their attention and urging repentance.
"Then
the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served Jehovah only."
Baalim was the plural name for Baal. The word Baal signifies overseer, caretaker. The
Israelites had been distinctly forewarned not to make any kind of idols, and to keep
themselves separate from all idols to such an extent that they might not even make an
image of their own God, Jehovah. He would not have -any symbols before His people, but
have them worship Him in spirit and in truth. But all around them were the Canaanites,
whom they had not had faith and obedience to drive out of the land. These Canaanites had
the Baal idols in all their, towns, and some had them in their homes and trusted in them
as protective genii.
Ashtaroth,
is the plural for Ashtareth, a female deity -- the same known to the Babylonians as Ishtar
and to the Greeks as Astarte. She was the goddess of fertility and the sexual relations;
and connected with her worship were many licentious services supposed to promote fertility
-- the propagation of the human species. If Samuel's work of twenty years reached this
harvest where the whole people of Israel decided to put away their Ashtaroth of gods and
to worship and serve Jehovah only, he certainly accomplished much. We may be sure also
that some human Agency was connected with so great an outward manifestation. Such
reformations do not come by chance, nor are they miraculous.
Samuel
prayed for the people of Israel; "and they drew water and poured it out before the
Lord, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the Lord." The
confession of sin was not only creditable to the people as a manifestation of their
honesty and sincerity, but it was appropriate that they should do this when asking the God
whom they had offended to receive them back again into covenant relationship with.
Himself. The poet has said that confession is good for the soul, and surely all have
proved it so. It served to commit them. The humility which was necessary to the making of
such confession ,would be profitable in respect to their character-building.
The
water poured out may be viewed from various angles. One suggestion is that it represented
the Truth which they could not gainsay, could not take back, even as water spilled upon
the ground cannot be recovered. Another suggestion is that as the water was drawn from the
depth of the earth, so their confession came from the depths of their hearts. Another is
that it represented their vows of faithfulness to the Lord, which would be as irrevocable
as water poured out.
Continued in next
issue
Dear
Brethren
1
Kings 20:11 - "Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that
putteth it off."
I
received my two copies of Volume I on Revelation and have read so far 500 pages. I think
it does not fully express it to state that I am more than pleased and happy to get hold of
this wonderful explanation of these Scriptures and to have the help and comfort derived
therefrom. I perhaps would have finished reading it before this had not our little
Ecclesia ordered several hundred leaflets of "Why does God permit evil?" and I
have been dividing my time reading twenty pages a day in the book and putting out twenty
or more a day of the leaflets. I think I distributed the leaflets judiciously in the
following way:
I
happened to think, or providentially thought of my former avoca-tion selling cemetery work
for a good many years. I went to the Probate judge's offices in the County Seat and took
the Admini-strators' and Executors' Docket to look up prospective buyers for my line, and
secured the addresses, of those appointed Administrators or Executors, who are mostly
relatives or friends of the deceased. The last Docket of this kind here contained 400
pages. I did not get this many names, as there are some with no addresses; and then there
are some Banking and Trust Companies who have been made Executors. I have just finished
mailing between three and four hundred of the leaflets above mentioned with a one cent
stamp on each in unsealed envelopes.
Wishing
others may receive the benefit and comfort that I have already received in reading the
book and in doing the other little service for the Master, I remain
Your brother in the Lord,
F.L.A.--Ohio
1924 Index |