THE HERALD
of Christ's Kingdom

VOL. LIX. January/February 1976 No. 1
Table of Contents

Another Year

"Are There Few That Be Saved?"

Going Home

The Vision is yet for an Appointed Time

"Let Us Go Forth"

The Question Box

Entered Into Rest

The Year Ahead

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be add unto you." - Matthew 6:33

LESSONS OF unspeakable and eternal worth have been learned in past years, not because we were such good pupils but because we had the "Good Teacher." Many under-tutors have cooperated, and the curriculum has been separated into many heads, but there has been one underlying purpose in all the instruction--that five might share His righteousness and His Kingdom. In point of time the righteousness must come first, but as regards value, each is of worth so lofty as to make comparison folly. We enter a new year, under the guidance of this same Teacher, confident that it can be our best. But what are the requirements? How can we best accomplish this? A diligent heeding of our Master's faithful admonition in this text, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness," is necessary if we are to make this the best year of our Christian experience, and we should -make no mistake as to what it means to "seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness."

In the Beatitudes Jesus has told us that the Christian's blessedness does not consist in nor depend upon the abundance of earthly things, though in moderation they are as necessary to him as to the Gentile world. In one simple paragraph, the context of our text (ver. 9-32), Jesus covers the entire difficult question as to the Christian's duty regarding these necessities.*

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* See Scripture Studies, Vol. VI, Chapter XI-V, especially pages F572, F573.

"Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of," therefore avoid the pitfalls of greed an C. anxiety that lie close at hand-just outside the narrow path. Wealth beyond the dreams of the most avaricious of misers is within the grasp of one who lays up treasure in heaven; but, as Jesus points out sin verse nineteen, this prospect is for those who do not lay up treasure on earth. For the Oriental this included raiment, precious stones and metals, which moth and rust might, attack. Each can easily test for himself where his treasure is, for "there will his heart be also." Except by the grace of God neither rich nor poor are safe on either score; for the richest can be overanxious, and the poorest greedy of gain.

It is foolish to set one's heart on perishable earthly treasure, however desirable it may be for present use. It is pernicious to fix one's gaze on earth's trifles, thus darkening the vision of the more distant but eternal things. "How great is that darkness!" It is fatal to do so, for "no man can serve two masters." Two things so far removed from each other cannot at the same time hold one's attention. "Without faith it is impossible to please God," and there is no, faith when self instead of God is trusted to decide what things are needful or to provide them. Trusting His grace does not imply slothfulness or negligence. It is ours to sow, relying on God to give the increase. Our common expression, "freedom from care," tells of the slavery of anxiety, and hints at the peace that may reign in the heart whose treasure is all in heaven with our loving Father as its guardian. "Therefore," He says to us, "Be not anxious for yourlife, what ye shall eat, or-what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body what ye shall put on."

LESSONS FROM NATURE

The tenderness of the Master's tone as He utters the gentle reproof of this passage is indicated by the illustrations He uses, the delicate wild lily of the Nazarene hillsides and the defenseless fowl of the air. Dr. Thomson, in "The Land and the Book," describes the Huleh lily which he (believes to be the one our Lord referred to. "This Huleh lily is very large, and the three inner petals meet above, and form a gorgeous canopy, such as art never approached, as d; king never sat under, even in his utmost glory. And when I met this incomparable flower, in all its loveliness, among the oak woods around the northern base of Tabor and on the hills of Nazareth, where our Lord spent His youth, I felt assured that it was this to which He referred.... Nothing can be in higher contrast than the luxuriant, velvety softness of this lily, and the crabbed, tangled hedge of thorns about it." Could any illustration more aptly have described the "all glorious" Bride amid her present surroundings? and of the thousands of instances when, unknown to us, the hand that nurtures the wild flowers has protected us from life's thorns? His eye is quick to note the roots of evil, and, while we wonder that He should have permitted us to The placed where we are, knows that a little to this side the thorns would have choked out all growth, but that over there in .that attractive, clear spot we would soon have been the food of some roving animal. If the year ahead should have more of thorns, let us remember that He can regulate their growth as readily as He can clothe the lily, and that therefore "no trial will overtake us greater than we are able [in His strength] to bear."

The lily's dangers are the withering south wind and the scythe of the mower. We might use them as pictures of the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches. At first touch of the desolating breath of the south wind, an agreeable warming is felt, but the end comes quickly and the loveliest of lilies is left faded, parched, and dead. The other picture speaks of the futility of sacrificing spiritual hopes to fire the oven that bakes our bread.

The whole passage in which these illustrations are found is a lesson on prayer. Jesus has just instructed His disciples to look to their heavenly Father for even their daily bread, without doubt meaning both the physical and the spiritual. He had just assured them that our Father knows the things we need, so there is no excuse for an anxious brow as we pray this petition, worrying for fear the loaves will be neither large enough nor good enough. He does indicate that "the morrow," representative of the Father's overruling providence, "shall provide for the things of itself." (John J. Owen's Commentary so translates this clause.)

The promise of our Year's Text is-not an encouragement to sloth, for "He that provideth not for his own is worse than an unbeliever." The word "provide," to look into the future, according to its etymology, is a literal translation of the Greek word Paul uses in this text, 1 Tim. 5:8. This means taking thought for the future, but not anxious thought. The larger responsibility which Weymouth's translation and foot-note place on the Christian seems to be correct: "If a man makes no provision for those dependent on him [literally "his own," including his own slaves. So Cyprian required Christian masters to tend their sick slaves in time of pestilence], and especially for his own family, he has disowned the faith and is behaving worse than an unbeliever. There is no hint of anxious thought here; but of careful estimating as to how much ground must be plowed and properly fertilized that there may be an ample supply of nourishing food for all, careful selecting of seed that the food may be of the best, a judicious estimating as to the proper amount to store for coming needs not tearing down old barns and building new that: our neighbors may envy--and the grinding, the heating and watching of the oven; all these fall to our lot. When the bread, brown and tempting, comes to the table, we give Him thanks that He, not our effort, has answered the petition, "Give us this day our daily bread." How prone, nevertheless, is the flesh rather to think of its hours of planning and of the calluses on its hands.

"Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value than they?" "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God doth so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first His Kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

PUTTING FIRST THINGS FIRST

There are the same primary and secondary meanings in the English word "first," and the Greek word which it represents. With this in mind our Master's instruction is to begin the day with the Kingdom and make it the principal thing throughout the day. If the day starts with the world and the flesh, and they are uppermost throughout the day, the life can but be fleshly. The fact that in our day there are more things to attract our attention, and more things supposedly necessary to life than ever before, is offset by tests that more clearly than ever before reveal our true state. Present conditions make very apparent whether the Kingdom of heaven is being made ours, for it is not only righteousness, but also "peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." (Rom. 14:17.) Righteousness -is as elusive, and there is as much danger today as at any time in the past that we will seek our righteousness instead of His righteousness and be very content with ourselves, so that that point is as difficult to guard now as when our Lord spoke these words. But 'how do our "peace and joy stand the test of "His day"?

We who have prayed with the spirit and the understanding that the Kingdom might come, find going on all about us a work of destruction, preparatory to its full establishment-a work that we have been telling others about, of tearing down the old that the new may be put in its place. Is peace still garrisoning our hearts now that the day of darkness has engulfed our loved ones? Have we proved that the Kingdom of heaven is not just righteousness, but also peace and joy in the Holy Spirit"? -- not the world's peace born of conceit, nor their short-lived joy, but the peace and joy of which "there shall be no end." That is a Kingdom it will be impossible to keep "shut up in our bones," when once we truly know its peace and joy reigning in our hearts--even though every one of our loved ones is threatened or already reached by the bloody hands of war. We must not forget the promise that our Bridegroom's coming is to be over the clouds (see the Greek of Matt. 24:30, 45) that mark His presence, in the sense of being over them. for direction and control. Clouds over our own dwelling can mean no harm, but eternal good, if He is over them.

This lesson tells us that in all our endeavors we should remember our entire dependence upon God-that our life is to be one of cooperation with God. We must therefore ask His direction before we undertake to decide what we are to do or not to do. Realizing our insufficiency we should ever be in a state of mind that would seek with meekness and simplicity to know our heavenly Father's will. We should have no choice of our own that is at variance with His. The choice should be left with Him. This is the one condition on which we can cooperate with God. There must be a willing submission to divine guidance without the least resistance or bias of mind -- in the attitude of sincere waiting upon God that we may learn not only what He would have us do, but the time and manner of doing it. The language of our hearts must ever be, "My soul, wait thou only upon God." This is very important. God is pleased to be present with and cooperate with such a soul.

HE IN US AND WE IN HIM

It is a partnership where we must realize that not only the capital, but all the personal operative power is from one Source. Man works, it is true; but man's work without God's working as the basis of it is of no avail. Man's strength is in God. Hence there must be no undue anxiety, no excited eagerness, "no methods and plans of action originated and prosecuted on worldly principles; which necessarily imply some distrust of the skill and resources of the great Being who has thus condescended to work by means of human instrumentality. We must move when God moves; stop when He stops; act when He acts. Any assumption on our part of superior wisdom or strength any disposition to move in anticipation of His movement, or in any way to forestall the divine intimations would be getting not only out of the position of dependence and nothingness, but out of line of cooperation. This means meekness and simplicity of heart, entire self-renunciation.

The highest honor and the highest power of man is, having put away all hindrances, to wait upon God in simple faith. Man never acts to higher and nobler purpose than when, in the realization of his own insufficiency, he places himself in full submission and lets God work in him. In this attitude he is as the "lily of the field," which receives the morning dew, the summer shower, and the daily sunshine, appropriates each to itself, and without self-effort becomes beautifully "arrayed" as "even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed." This does not mean inactivity or idleness, but, he .is like the scholar who is impressed with a sense of his own inferiority and ignorance, and is willing to sit patiently and humbly at the feet of his distinguished teacher that he may grow in knowledge. His mind is receptive, but not inert. He is in the attitude of listening, but not idle. We are to consider every moment as consecrated to God, and moment by moment to cooperate with Him, in all events of whatever character -- thus "seeking first the Kingdom of God." We have consecrated ourselves to God for all time, and each separate duty and experience gives us the opportunity to re-dedicate ourselves. The present moment, therefore, is in a special sense the important moment-the moment which we cannot safely pass without having the divine blessing upon it. How thankful we should be to be permitted thus to enter into partnership with God and to become co-workers with Him. How the thought of our life being united with the life and activity of God elevates and sanctifies every moment, every experience, every duty!

Let us diligently, first and primarily, seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and it will then be possible to "take joyfully the spoiling of the most loved of our good things; and this, whatever its experiences otherwise, will be a joyful new year. Let us pray for one and all of the Lord's people that we may have that kind of a Happy New Year!

- P. E. Thomson.

Another Year

Another year is dawning!
Dear Master, let it be,
In working or in waiting,
Another year with Thee.

Another year in leaning,
Upon Thy loving breast,
Of ever-deepening trustfulness,
Of quiet, happy rest.

Another year of mercies,
Of faithfulness and grace;
Another year of gladness,
In the shining of Thy face.,

Another year of progress,
Another year of praise;
Another year of proving
Thy presence "all the days."

Another year of service,
Of witness of Thy love;
Another year of training
For holier works above.

Another year is dawning!
Dear Master, let it be
On earth, or else in heaven,
Another year for Thee!

- Frances Ridley Havergal.

"Are There Few That Be Saved?"

SINCE the Apostles "fell asleep" a number of Christian scholars, particularly those living during the 18th and 19th centuries, testified to their belief in a hope which extended beyond the grave --that probation for eternal life does not end for all mankind when this present earthly life ends. While such scholars, in other respects, were not fully aware of the truths in the Divine Plan which have been unfolded in the clearer light of our day they, nevertheless, did see and preached this hope.

Albert O. Hudson, editor of the Bible Study Monthly, well and favorably known to our readers, addresses himself to this subject in his new book Future Probation in Christian Belief. With his permission, we present below the first of a series of seven articles excerpted from that book. -Editorial Committee.

"I have eight thousand souls in my parish whom I want to get to heaven. It seems to me at the present time only about two percent will for certain arrive there!"

So wrote a Bristol vicar, despondently, in his parish magazine some years ago. One can sympathize with his solicitude for the salvation of those unheeding parishioners. But -- is this the right view of the matter? Is it true that the mass of unbelieving mankind is headed straight for Hell, or whatever the equivalent which modern times have substituted for the old time fire and brimstone, and only a relatively few pious folk manage to escape to Heaven, as it were by the skin of their teeth? Are we to conclude that Divine wisdom and power is unequal to any more than this scanty fruitage of all that God has said and done since the dawn of history? Is this hopeless creed really what Christianity is all about?

In this skeptical age questions like these demand answers. Of those who do stop to think about the matter at all, a great many just will not accept that if there really is a supreme Deity who created all things, he could possibly be so petty and vengeful as our forefathers believed. If we truly do owe life and being and all that we are and have to an all-wise and all-powerful Creator, such will argue, he must have brought us into existence for a purpose; we must have been created primarily for life and not for death. This is sound argument; there is such purpose, a purpose that will be achieved! So far from only two percent getting past the "pearly gates," it is much more likely by the time the Divine Plan for mankind is fully effected that considerably less than two percent will have failed to respond to the appeal of Christ, in such failure proving themselves unworthy of continuing life. We may be sure of that.

The idea that only a relative few will win Divine approval and eternal life, and the greater part of mankind, at the close of a usually unsatisfactory and generally unhappy earthly experience, be cast off for ever, has grown up and become a feature of Christian belief through the centuries, but it was no part of the message of Christ. He came to seek and to save that which was lost, to draw all men to himself, not to condemn the world but to save it (Luke 19:10; John 12:32; John 3:16, 17). One might reasonably expect, surely, that the return upon such an outlay of Divine love and power is going to be a lot more than two percent. The traditional Christian view is well-founded when it lays stress upon the necessity of faith in Christ and loyalty to God as the essential prerequisites for eternal life, but it is unnecessarily pessimistic in its estimate of the effectiveness of God's methods in dealing with the consequences of sin.

It is likely that the present generation is able more readily to accept that man was created and intended for a definite purpose and place in the Divine scheme of things than were those of earlier centuries. People of medieval times thought of the future life mainly in terms of standing around the Heavenly Throne playing harps and blowing trumpets to all eternity -- occupations which must surely pall after a while! Our modern wider knowledge of the visible universe, and our deeper conception of the infinite Intelligence and Power that is God, logically leads to the realization that this present earthly life is but a stage -- the first stage, a very important stage -- in a continuing experience which will progress through constantly expanding spheres of development and achievement in eternity. Whether that destiny involves a future and everlasting life on this material planet, or upon another like it, or in a sphere of life based upon fundamentally different environmental conditions from the one we know, and involving a form of life which may be quite incomprehensible to us in our present state, does not affect that cardinal principle. The Apostle Paul declared that there do exist such different worlds and spheres of life when in the fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians he spoke of a celestial world and a terrestrial world, celestial beings contrasting with human, a world whose life forms have little or perhaps nothing in common with the atomic structure to which terrestrial creatures owe their organisms and environment. And our Lord is authority for the fact that there is no sin in that other, celestial world, only goodness, harmony, and order. He told us, too, to pray for the day when the same happy state shall subsist upon this earth (Matt. 6:10). St. Paul tells us, further, that in the "fullness of time" God will unite in Christ all things in heaven and earth (Eph. 1:10). That not only implies the eradication of sin, and of irrecoverable sinners, from Divine creation, but also points to the fundamental truth that only "in Christ," by belief in him and acceptance of him and devotion to him, can any of God's created sentient beings, whether terrestrial or celestial, receive and enjoy continuing, "eternal" life. We are told plainly that Christ is to "fill all things," "far above all heavens" (Eph. 4:10), that in his Name will every knee bow, upon earth as well as in heaven (Phil. 2:9). Such tremendous words must certainly denote a stupendous Divine purpose within which the human race is assigned a definite place; the conclusion is irresistible that, despite the ignorance and lack of comprehension which is inevitable under the conditions of this present embryo life, that purpose will be accomplished.

Such high destiny demands prior training -- a time of instruction and probation followed by final judgment as to fitness or unfitness, worthiness or unworthiness. That judgment cannot be passed on any man until he first has had full and abundant opportunity to learn of the Divine design, to appreciate its implications, to accept it for himself and by means of the transforming power of God to divest himself of all that is antagonistic to that purpose and so attain the moral stature which enables him to take his rightful place in Divine creation. Not until every man, woman, and child of every generation back to the beginning has enjoyed such an opportunity and made his or her eternal decision for good or evil, for Christ or against him, will the great Day of judgment come to an end and the human race enter its perpetual inheritance. And be it noted that the Last Judgment of Scripture is not confined to a moment, the moment in which sentence is passed; it covers a period, a period which includes the process of investigating and of distinguishing between right and wrong and of separating the two. Furthermore the purport and intent of the Day of judgment is not for the condemnation and destruction of sinners without opportunity for conversion; it is for the reclamation and reconciliation of as many as can by any means be reclaimed and reconciled and it is only when this endeavor has failed in any particular case that the final condemnatory sentence is passed. Hence the Day of judgment is depicted in Scripture, not as a time of unrelieved terror and gloom and despair, but one of joy and happiness and hope. The Psalmist in Psalm 96 depicts the Lord coming at this judgment as at a time of universal rejoicing. "Let the heavens rejoice, and the earth be glad ... the fields be joyful ... before the Lord, for he cometh to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth." It is not always realized that the Day of Judgment is in some of its aspects a very joyous occasion, notwithstanding that it is also a time when, to use the language of Isaiah, justice shall be laid to the line and righteousness to the plummet, the Divine law of retribution will operate and every man "receive the things done in his body." None will escape the implication of the principle so clearly enunciated by St. Paul: "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Gal. 6:7). Yet parallel with this somber but very necessary theme of disciplinary retribution there also runs the brighter one of conversion and restoration, for one very definite factor in the Day of judgment is the presence of Christ with his Church for the express purpose of saving those of the unregenerate who can be saved. The whole Biblical presentation of the reign of Christ and the Church over the world prior to the culmination of all things in eternity has no meaning--and no conceivable purpose -- unless that reign is for the conversion of the nations; the Bible is positive that in fact this is so. If the Millennial reign of Christ and the Day of judgment are regarded as running in parallel, so to speak, over the same period of time, as being to a great extent synonymous terms, then a number of apparently contradictory Scriptural themes and statements are harmonized and a foundation laid for an understanding of the Divine purpose which will satisfy every instinct both of justice and love. It will go far to explaining the apparent enigma of the Divine permission of evil and provide a convincing answer to the question why, two thousand years after Christ appeared as the Light of the world, to seek and to save that which was lost, the greater part of mankind have not yet seen the Light, and the lost, although sought, consistently and persistently, not only by the Lord himself in person, but by his followers in every generation and land, are still not saved.

Be it remembered moreover that no man has life in himself and no man can save himself by his own efforts. The New Testament lays down as an immutable law that there is salvation only in the Name of Christ, that no man can be saved except through the channel of acceptance of Christ and his life given on man's behalf, and unquestioning loyalty and allegiance to him in eternity. Christ is the medium through whom Divine life comes to man, and there is no other way.

This, then, is the task; to discern the Divine purpose for mankind in the light of all that is known about the Creator, his attributes and his works, under the guidance of his revelation in the Scriptures. There must be added, to some small degree, the words and writings of outstanding Christians of the past and present who have had laid on their hearts this concern for the triumph of good over evil, and the reconciliation of such proportion of men to God, and their triumphant entry into eternal life, that it can with conviction be claimed that our Lord Jesus Christ has truly and gloriously become "All in All"!

Going Home

"So shall we ever be with the Lord." - 1 Thess. 4:17.

THE word home has been included among the finest words in our language. Indeed, someone once said that the three very sweetest words are God, Mother, and Home. Well, that was one man's idea. There are other exceedingly precious words, such as Jesus, Salvation, Faith, Hope, Mercy, Love. But we are willing to admit the value of Home. When Madam Albani as an encore sang "Home, Sweet Home" in London, England, it was said that there were few dry eyes in the audience. The great word home strikes a chord deep down in the human heart.

How the Christian thinks of home on the great sea of human life, when the foam-crested waves mount up toward heaven and a thousand perils seem about to spring upon him! And why should he not think of his heavenly home? Many have thought of it and have thereby felt an inspiration that has assisted them in making good. Jesus thought of it, and we are told that he "for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame." Just how much he remembered of that former joy we are not told, but that he kept his eye on the goal before him there can be no question. And, furthermore, he held out the prospect of future bliss to his disciples, saying, "In my Father's house are many mansions:... I go to prepare a place for you. And . . . I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:2, 3). How many weary pilgrims on life's rugged road have been cheered and encouraged by the music that has entered into their hearts from this mighty promise made by the Son of God.

We are not home yet. Here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come. And "we know that if the house of this earthly tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." We should be getting ready for this heavenly home. We have been placed here to gain the necessary character development. The chief purpose of what we call the truth is to enable us to become acquainted with the Mighty One of the universe, and to establish connections between him and ourselves. Every point of truth gained, therefore, should lift us to a higher level, making us more Godlike.

And just what is the character of God? According to the Bible it is love, and divine love has been said to be broader than the measure of man's mind, and the heart of God to be wonderfully kind. Well, we have been trying to gauge and measure his love. A great many persons in socalled Christendom have set forth written or unwritten creeds, most of them having pretty high fences around them, and in these creedal enclosures they have placed (as they suppose) the love and the wisdom of God

But some of us feel that the love of God cannot be thus circumscribed. God may be giving his favor to some who cannot see all points of doctrine exactly as we see them, or who express their belief in different terms. They cannot say "Shibboleth," and so they do the best they can and say, "Sibboleth." The question then is, should we condemn them for doing this and judge them as being virtually out of the truth? (Judges 12:6).

And another question is, should doctrines be to us stumbling stones or stepping stones? There is nothing that can make a person so narrow-minded and intolerant as religion if received in a sectarian way. Just think of the millions of persons who have been slain in the name of Christ. The knowledge of this fact should make us all very humble before the Lord, lest we be found in the company of persecutors of the saints. Of course, we would not want to be found in such company, but Satan is very artful, and if he can get us to judge others, doubtless he feels very much pleased with his success.

OUR HOME QUALITIES

The fact is that we should be developing home qualities if we expect to reach our heavenly home. We should be learning to live with all those who love the Lord, in peace, in charity, and in goodwill. There will be no judging among us in heaven. Then why should there be judging among us here on earth? Why judge any man when we cannot read his heart? God judges according to motives. How many little points in the Bible has God left undetermined and therefore debatable simply for the purpose of testing our love. Do we deserve a lot of credit for loving those who agree with us in everything? Surely not; for such "yes" people are but the shadows of ourselves. Is it not a fact that some go about looking for their own mental reflection in all whom they meet? Such persons might just as well look in a mirror. It is often persons who do not see things just as we do who are the most helpful to us, for they are more broadening to our minds.

Now then, do we want to be narrow or broad? The world has two general classes conservatives and liberals. One finds them everywhere, even among Bible students. But did not Jesus say that the way is narrow? Yes, but in what sense? In the sense that it bars out the world, the flesh, and the devil, but not in the sense that it bars out other Christians who are living up to the best they know and are seeking any enlightenment that God may have for them.

How many of us will reach our heavenly home? All the Christlike ones will be there. How little Jesus had to say along the technical lines of doctrine, but he had much to say about faith in himself, and about love, for he interpreted the entire Decalogue in terms of love.

THE VALUE OF DOCTRINE

But doctrine is valuable -- just in so far as it makes us Christlike. It has no value in itself as an abstract entity. Does it warm up our hearts with a strong and ardent appreciation of the Master? Does it cause us to manifest greater kindness toward the brethren? If so, it is accomplishing its divine purpose. If on the other hand it is making us narrow, conservative, select, and selfish, then it has failed of its purpose, for we have not been using it in the right way. "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Rom. 8:9). And why? Because he lacks the home spirit, the spirit of love for other members of God's chosen family.

God has set the members in the Body as it bath pleased him, not as it bath pleased us. Oh yes, it is a fact that some of them do not appeal to us. If we had the selection of them perhaps they would not be in the Body at all. Being out of harmony with our own mental tendencies, these brethren jar against us. But God did not want a lot of people just alike, or those who would see things exactly alike. But does not the Word say that God's people will see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion? Yes, and they will do just that when this prophecy is fulfilled. And even that does not mean that they will see all things exactly alike, but they will see all the main things alike. And the wise virgins will make the types of the Old Testament conform to the teaching of the New, and not try to twist the New Testament to make it fit the Old Testament types.

There will be some wonderful surprises in connection with our going home. Probably some will be there whom we considered heterodox and not fit to preach the Gospel while on earth. So we did not vote for them as elders or teachers, although they possessed ability to teach and preach, and their lives were unimpeachable from the standpoint of rectitude. But on some purely technical point of the Scriptures they did not coincide with our views, so we ruled them out. But the question arises that, if we acted in the aforesaid manner, shall we be there ourselves? It would seem not. This business of being a Christian is a serious matter. We do not dare to repudiate our responsibility to the other members of the Body.

There are times in our experience, perchance, when we fancy ourselves on the verge of the broad ocean of eternity. Ere long the tide will come in and pick up our frail barque and carry us far away. But the stars will be there to guide us, and one glorious orb will outshine them all, and that will be the bright and morning Star. And oft we find ourselves thinking of the ones whom we expect to meet in our heavenly home -- the great Father and his Son Jesus, and a glittering throng of tried and faithful ones. Oh, loyalty, faith, and love will have achieved their crowning victory in that blessed morning when the portals of heaven open to receive us and we "answer to his call."

When we go Home,
Shall the broad sea lie all at rest,
Or shall the breakers roar
With riot of the deep,
Scorning the voice of sleep;
And thus 'mid billowy sound
Shall we go Home?

It matters not.
That going Home will be the same.
The virgins will be there.
God's loved, the true, the tried,
Bound for the other side,
In robes of light divine,
Shall meet us in the air.
When we go Home,

I think the ocean's mighty roar
Shall melt away in peace
To lullaby of foam;
And heaven's gold shall glow
In the vast vault, and so,
Born in eternity,
We shall go Home.

- Walter Sargeant

The Vision is yet for an Appointed Time

"But at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it;
because it will surely come, it will not tarry." - Habakkuk 2:3.

Little is known of the prophet Habakkuk; his parentage, birthplace, and era are unrecorded. It is considered probable, however, that he prophesied around 625 B.C. The prophecy takes the form of a dialogue with Jehovah and parts of it are unsurpassed in the whole compass of Hebrew poetry--there being nothing nobler in Isaiah, nor more daring in Ezekiel, nor more gorgeous in the closing sections of Job.

HABAKKUK'S FIRST PROBLEM: WHY DOES GOD PERMIT EVIL?

The prophecy, in addition to its portrayals of the future, deals with the problems created by faith and with the Divine answers to the questions which express those problems. The opening words, "O Lord, how long shall I cry and thou wilt not hear?" reveal the first problem and one which has confronted the faithful in all ages. Habakkuk lived when the outlook on circumstances seemed to contrdict his faith in the righteous government of God. The times were characterized by violence, iniquity, perverseness, spoiling, strife, contention. All the ways of justice were paralyzed. God was apparently doing nothing and in spite of the troubled cry of his servant remained silent.

Let it also be observed that the further value of this book is that it reveals a man who in the presence of a problem stated it to God rather than made it an occasion for unbelief. The problem was created by his faith and his faith acted in declaring it to God. By such action he made it possible for God, in communion with him, to give him an explanation. That was a great gain although the first answer did not satisfy Habakkuk. Indeed, it created a new situation more bewildering and inexplicable than the first.

The Divine declaration was that God was not idle, inactive. He was raising up and employing the Chaldeans, the avowed and bitter enemies of his people, to carry out his purposes. This was what was more bewildering to the prophet than that God should be inactive and silent. Although the invading host would "proceed of themselves" (Hab. 1:7), they were in fact to be God's agency for chastisement. They would, however, not escape Divine judgment because in the process they would "load themselves with guilt [as do all men] whose own power is their god" (Hab. 1:11, Amplified Bible).

Today iniquity abounds and is increasing on every hand, recalling what Jesus said that "because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold." The children of God today are, however, assured that God is working; that "He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth" (Dan. 4:35); and can confidently say with the Psalmist as they expectantly look forward to the day when the Messiah shall have come in glory and power: "There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise" (Psa. 36:12).

HABAKKUK'S SECOND PROBLEM:

SINCE THE CHALDEANS ARE MORE WICKED THAN WE ARE,
WHY USE SUCH AN AGENCY TO CHASTISE AND PUNISH US?

As we have seen, the Divine reply did not satisfy the Prophet Habakkuk and he was almost filled with consternation. He lamented over the prospect of desolation at the hand of the cruel invader and tried to assure himself that as God is the Eternal

One and lives, so his people will surely not be completely obliterated, and furthermore that after all God would only use the Chaldeans as a means of judgment and correction. On the other hand, Habakkuk felt that by his "rousing up the Chaldeans" to be the instrument of judgment, God's majesty would be impugned. "Why are you silent when the wicked one destroys him who is more righteous than he [the Chaldean oppressor] is?" (Hab. 1:13, Amplified Bible).

GOD'S SOLUTION TO BOTH PROBLEMS

It was then that the Prophet said, "I will watch; I will wait; I will see what God will say to me and what will be the solution of the perplexities I am deploring regarding which he will make me a mouthpiece to others" (Hab. 2:1). His watching and waiting were rewarded. "The Lord answered me," he declared. "Write the vision, and make it plain upon tablets, that he may run that readeth it"; or as other versions have this last clause: "that one may swiftly read it"; and "run his eye quickly through it"; and "read it at a glance" (Hab. 2:2). Continuing the Divine answer, the Prophet went on to record: "For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie." The sense in the Hebrew here is that the vision "pants for the day of its completion" or "longs to fulfill its destiny" and although it should seem to tarry, wait earnestly for it; because it will surely come, it will not be behindhand on its appointed day (Hab. 2:3, Amplified Bible).

The vision comprehends all of the remaining verses in chapter 2 (Hab. 2:4-20). First of all, it shows that the invader is puffed up with pride, manifesting an attitude of hollow self-exaltation -- a state of mind which God abhors and resists. While the vision does not say precisely what the end of this self-exalting one shall be, the implication is clear that his end is death. In strong contrast the words that follow assert that the just by his faith shall live. The humble fidelity of faith -- in a word, faithfulness -- is that which commends anyone to God and the end for that one is life. To us Christian believers it means a sincere trust in the credibility of salvation and a life of faithfulness consistent with and resulting from that trust. It is by immovable and unwavering confidence in God that final salvation is assured to the believer.

THE VISION HAS A MESSIANIC APPLICATION

Now the central gem of the vision and prophecy consists of the words: "The just by his faith [faithfulness] shall live." This is quoted three times by New Testament writers and that which particularly interests us in this study is Hebrews 10:37-39. The writer to the Hebrews quotes from the LXX version of Habakkuk which reads "Though he should tarry, wait for him; for he will surely come, he will not tarry." Without doubt the vision of Habakkuk is here given a Messianic application. In this our day, waiting for the manifestation of our Lord, the Messiah, it is only the faith -- righteous who shall live. We look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change the body of our humiliation that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body (Phil. 3:20, 21).

THOUGH ITS FULFILLMENT SEEM TO TARRY,
WAIT EARNESTLY FOR IT

In verse 37 of Hebrews 10 (Heb. 10:37) "a little while" is literally "a very, very little while" and this was written over 1,900 years ago. The Messiah is still awaited. True, the day is at hand and our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. But there is still tarrying by the expected One and those who by their faithfulness are living and shall live are doing so by waiting and watching with patient endurance.

Now in 2 Peter 3:8-10, it is shown that whereas time is the condition of man's thought and action, it is not so with God. One day with him is as a thousand years and he is not to be considered slow concerning the fulfillment of his promises as men think of slowness. Delay is merely a human conception and cannot be applied to the operation of God's purposes. Meanwhile, as Peter shows in this context, God is long-suffering, that is, he defers and restrains his anger. "But," adds the Apostle, "the day of the Lord will come." This day of settlement and of judgment is fixed in the Divine arrangement just as Habakkuk's vision was for an appointed time.

WHEN THE SON OF MAN COMETH
SHALL HE FIND "THE" FAITH ON THE EARTH?

WHAT FAITH?

On one occasion our Lord spake a parable regarding an importunate widow and an unjust judge (Luke 18:1-8). He used the parable to illustrate our need of persistency in prayer (Luke 18:1). It was the persistence of the widow that forced the judge "to avenge her" but his motive for so doing was no higher than that he thought she might in extremity injure him physically, unless he acted on her behalf. From this story our Lord deduced this: "Will not God avenge his own elect, who cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?" (Luke 18:7). Our Lord is not comparing the reason for the action of the judge with what God will do. Rather, the two are in direct contrast. The position has been expressed thus "If a bad judge for a bad reason will avenge a woman who is a dangerous nuisance, how much more for a good reason will God listen to and avenge his own?" The words "though he bear long with them" do not mean that God is long-suffering (the meaning of "bear long") with his people but with their opponents against whom they pray to be avenged. The translation, with its explanatory parenthesis (by Wuest), bears out this thought exactly: "And God shall he not most assuredly accomplish the vindication of his chosen-out ones who are crying aloud to him day and night, exacting justice in their behalf even though he is long-suffering in their case (that of the enemies of his chosen-out ones)." Rotherham aptly adds a note here: "Slow to smite his foes, God seems also slow to save his friends."

The avenging in Luke 18:8 is said to be done "speedily." The thought appears to be "with suddenness" -- short and swift when God steps in at the time appointed.

The final question of the parable teaches the positive by the assertion of the negative. It means "the faith" (in the Greek, it is emphatic) will be all but lacking. This does not signify that there will be no profession of Christianity, no piety, complete unbelief. Here again the translation and parenthesis (by Wuest) of the latter part of verse 8 is illuminating: "Yet, the Son of Man having come, will he find the aforementioned kind of faith on the earth (a faith which keeps on pleading in prayer, such as that exemplified by the persistence of the widow with regard to the judge)?"

In harmony with this, we quote from another in a commentary on this parable: "It means that the faith in demand, the faith he wishes to inspire, faith in God's providence, will have all but died out in the hearts even of the godly, even of the elect. So long will the judge delay his coming, that it will come to this.... It is often the case that God's action as a deliverer is delayed until his people have ceased to hope for deliverance. So it was with Israel in Egypt; so it was with her again in Babylon.... This method of Divine action-long delay followed by a sudden crisis--so frankly recognized by Christ, is one to which we find it hard to reconcile ourselves.... Delay is not incompatible with grace. It is simply the result of love taking counsel with wisdom, so that the very end aimed at may not be frustrated by too great haste to attain it.... We must be prepared for receiving and appreciating the benefit God means to bestow on us and delay is an important element in the discipline necessary for that purpose."

OUR POSITION TODAY

Our position today resembles closely that of Habakkuk centuries ago. The law is paralyzed. Iniquity and evil prosper everywhere. The testimony of God's saints is set at naught and the question is, who of us shall endure to the end? Habakkuk was told that the fate of the proud invader was sealed. He was assured that only those who maintained faithfulness and integrity towards God would live. So it is today.

The Lord Jesus is about to manifest himself to vindicate his people and to gather them to himself; to bring to naught every evil institution and to pour upon the nations his fierce anger and thereafter to turn to the people a pure language that they may all call upon the name of the Lord to serve him with one consent (Zeph. 3:8, 9). This echoes a brief word in the vision which Habakkuk received. In Zeph. 2:13-14, the latter sees the invader laboring only for the fire and the Chaldeans wearying themselves for nothing. His mind is then carried forward further still. He sees another (the 5th) universal empire, under Christ, taking the stage: "For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." All these wondrous things are for the time appointed. They will surely come. Although they seem to tarry, wait for them and for him who shall introduce them. It is for us to be sure that, like the five prudent virgins, we have oil in our vessels as well as in our lamps (Matt. 25:4). We shall require the reserve of oil. It was this that enabled the prudent to keep their lamps alight until the bridegroom came. We know not the day nor the hour. Therefore, watch! But the day and hour are appointed and are known to God. What assurance this gives!

"Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul" (Heb. 10:35-39).

- Fred H. Guard, Eng.

"Let Us Go Forth"

Hebrews 13:13

Silent, like men in solemn haste,
Girded wayfarers of the waste,
We pass out at the world's wide gate,
Turning our back on all its state;
We press along the narrow road
That leads to life, to bliss, to God.

We cannot and we would not stay;
We dread the snares that throng the way;
We fling aside the weight and sin,
Resolved the victory to win;
We know the peril, but our eyes
Rest on the splendor of the prize.

What though with weariness oppressed?
'Tis but a little and we rest.
This throbbing heart and burning brain
Will soon be calm and cool again:
Night is far spent and morn is near --
Morn of the cloudless and the clear.

No idling now, no slothful sleep,
From Christian toil our pow'rs to keep;
No shrinking from the desperate fight,
No thought of yielding or of flight;
No love of present gain or ease,
No seeking man or self to please.

No sorrow for the loss of fame,
No dread of scandal on our name;
No terror for the world's sharp scorn,
No wish that taunting to return;
No hatred can to hatred move
The soul that's filled with pitying love.

No sigh for laughter left behind,
Or pleasures scattered to the wind;
No looking back on Sodom's plains,
No listening still to Babel's strains;
No tears for Egypt's song and smile,
No thirsting for its flowing Nile.

'Tis but a little and we come
To our reward, our crown, our home!
Another year, or more, or less,
And we have crossed the wilderness;
Finished the toil, the rest begun,
The battle fought, the triumph won!

We grudge not, then, the toil, the way;
Its ending is the endless day!
We shrink not from these tempests keen,
With little of the calm between;
We welcome each descending sun;
Ere morn our joy may be begun!

- Horatius Bonar

The Question Box

Isaiah, chapters 40-66

Question:

The last twenty-seven chapters of the Book of Isaiah have their historical setting at the close of the Captivity and the Return from Exile. Please harmonize this with Isaiah 1:1, which states that Isaiah's vision was seen by him "in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah," the last of whom died about one hundred and fifty years before.

Answer:

According to the scholars, the Book of Isaiah consists of sixty-six chapters, which fall into two very distinct collections of prophetic discourses (chapters 1-35 and chapters 40-66), which are separated by a stretch of narrative or history (chapters 36-39).

Each of these two distinct collections of oracles are themselves the combination of earlier collections, some of which are entitled Isaiah's, while others make no claim to be from his hand.

Quite evidently the prophecies are not arranged chronologically. An example of this may be seen in the fact that Isaiah's own commission to be a prophet, which certainly took place prior to the commencement of his ministry, is not recorded until chapter six.

The facts outlined above, no scholar disputes. However, since the scene of the last twenty-seven chapters seems to be wholly laid in a time when the Return from the Captivity was close at hand, and Cyrus, the great deliverer, actually present, many modern scholars have been led to suppose that these chapters were written by an unknown writer (a second Isaiah), who lived a century and a half later.

Others, of no less scholarship, however, have given their reasons for holding to the traditional view that all sixty-six chapters were written by one and the same man, Isaiah, the son of Amoz (Isa. 1:1). Among a number of considerations urged, they point out, with good reason we think, that the first thirty-five chapters would be incomplete without the last twenty seven. For example, the words which tell how "the redeemed of the Lord shall walk there, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy"-words which appear in chapter 35 (Isa. 35:8-10), are but the prelude-a most natural prelude-which leads on to the yet more glorious proclamation with which the last twenty-seven chapters open: "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.... Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for your God." - Isaiah 40:1-3.

Those scholars holding to this traditional view, regard the last twentyseven chapters as prophecy, in the restricted sense of prediction; or rather in the sense of a combination of the essential element of prophecy, namely, forth-telling, with the special or occasional element, namely, prediction, a foretelling of things to come.

This leads to a related question, namely, "What was the function of an old Testament prophet?" Richard G. Moulton, in "The Modern Reader's Bible" has written very helpfully on this subject. Moreover, there is an instructive paragraph in Scripture Studies, Vol. VI, page 246, which is right to the point here. I quote:

"The word 'prophet' is not generally used today in the broad sense in which it was used in olden times, but is rather understood to signify a seer, or fore-teller. The word prophet, however, strictly signifies a public speaker--an orator. A seer of visions or a recipient of revelations might also be a prophet, in the same sense of a declarer of same; but the two thoughts are distinctly separate. In the case of Moses and Aaron, Moses was the greater, being the divine representative, and the Lord said to him, 'See, I have made thee a god [mighty one or superior] unto Pharaoh; and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet' -- spokesman, mouthpiece (Exod. 7:1).... Several of the Apostles were seers in the sense that they were granted a knowledge of things to come; ... they were nearly all prophets too, that is public orators-especially Peter and Paul."

The meaning of the word does not change even when applied to our Lord. Moses had spoken of the Prophet which should arise, like unto himself (Deut. 18:15, 18; Acts 3:22); while, when our Lord came, the people said of him: "This is of a truth that Prophet that should come into the world" (John 6:14). In the exercise of his office as prophet, our Lord represented -- was truly in the stead of, the spokesman, mouthpiece, or Word of God. As Brother Russell points out in today's Manna (This is written September 25) even now our Lord "gives us, as our Prophet or Teacher, wisdom by his Gospel."

"Jesus, our Shepherd, Savior, Friend,
Our Prophet, Priest, and King,
Our hearts in gratitude ascend;
Accept the praise we bring."

It is in this same sense of forthtelling, expounding, instructing (rather than foretelling) that the word applies to the great Prophet of the Age to come. Of that Prophet our glorified Lord Jesus is to be the Head, the glorified Church, the Body-members. For ourselves, we may give thanks that the privilege is still ours of making our calling and election sure to membership in this company; for the world of mankind as a whole, we may rejoice at their prospect (all unbeknown to them, but nevertheless sure) of being granted an opportunity for deliverance from present sin and death conditions to everlasting life in the Millennial Canaan to which this great Prophet shall lead them.

"Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God.
He whose word cannot be broken
Formed thee for His own abode.

On the Rock of Ages founded,
Naught can shake thy sure repose;
With Salvation's walls surrounded,
Thou shalt triumph o'er thy foes.

-P. L Read

Entered Into Rest

Hulda E. Ackerland, Tacoma, Wash.
Sophie Borowski, Addison, Ill.
Carl A. Hallberg, Minneapolis, Minn.
Henry Kynion, Jackson, Mo.
Frieda F. Lange, Wauwatosa, Wis.
Michael Lucek, Chicago, Ill.
Lillian Mansfield, Chicago, Ill.
Nellie Matusz, Pleasantville, NJ.
Gustin P. Ostrander, Tonawanda, N.Y.
Andrew Panczyk, Harvey, Ill.
Ida M. Snipes, Galveston, Tex.
Norman Woodworth, Rutherford, NJ.

1976 Index