VOL.
LX. November/December 1977 No. 1
Watchman, What Hour of the Night? Greetings for the New Year"The grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ be with you all." - 2 Thess. 3:18. AS
WE enter upon another year could we do so with better words than these, or
words of greater promise? As the old year passes and the new is ushered in, we
greet each other with good wishes. Could we do so more fittingly than in the
words of our text? The fashion of this world is rapidly passing away. As we
face the future and realize life's uncertainties, whether we be young or old,
if we take our life thoughtfully, and in a Christian spirit, especially if we
have consecrated ourselves to do the Father's will by walking in the footsteps
of Jesus to the best of our ability, we feel our need of a higher wisdom, a
more pure and enduring energy than our own, to guide our steps, to mould our
character, to shape our lot for us; and so we look up to God and ask, both for
ourselves and for the whole dear family of God, his benediction for the year
which lies ahead of us, his grace upon all our days and on all our ways--grace
sufficient for every time of need, teaching us how to make all things
contribute to our highest welfare, thus securing alike from the bleak north
winds of adversity as from the warm south winds of prosperity real and lasting
benefits. - 1 Cor. 7:31; Hebrews 4:16; Romans 8:28; Song of Solomon
4:16. "The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you." Do not these words meet your sense of need, your
craving for good, your hope of a benediction which will make your
new year bright with the luster of a joyous, holy living? To St. Paul they
conveyed and implied so much, they were so bright with hope, that, as another
has observed,* "they became his standing good wish for those whom he
loved." They appear at the close of nearly all the letters he wrote, in
one place reading, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you";
in another, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit";
and here, in our text, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you
all." ------------------------ *For
much of the material used in this article, we gratefully acknowledge our
indebtedness to Samuel Cox, an expositor of days gone by. It
is entirely possible, however, that the very frequency with which we meet these
words, has served to dull their force and clearness. As another has expressed,
"People, in reading the Bible, are often not conscious of the extreme
listlessness with which they pass along the familiar and oft repeated words of
Scripture, without the impression of their meaning being at all present with
the thoughts, -- and how, during the mechanical currency of the verses through
their lips, the thinking power is asleep for whole passages together." Perhaps
this is true in regard to our text. We may never have asked what the words meant
originally, and still mean, what the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ was and is,
and in what senses that grace may be with us, and be the crown and benediction
of our whole life. It will be worth our while therefore, if we meditate on the
text long enough to note that the phrase "grace of Christ" would convey at least
three ideas to the members of the early Church, and should convey the same ideas
to us; and that if the grace of Christ is to "be with us" or "with our spirit"
we must in all these senses reproduce it, and make it our own THE GRACEFULNESS OR CHARM OF CHRISTThe
first thought which this phrase would suggest to St. Paul's readers, especially
to his Grecian readers -- and most of them were Greeks -- would be the gracefulness,
the charm, of Christ. They would understand the Apostle to refer to that
exquisite sensibility to beauty, the beauty of nature and of man, by which
Christ was distinguished; that love of all that is fair and pure and good
which gave a beauty, a winning charm, an attractiveness, to his person, his
character, his manner and bearing, and to his words, which no heart not wholly
dead to beauty and goodness was able to resist. Both the Puritan conception and
the Monastic, or ascetic, conception of Christ have gone far to hide this
thought from us -- so far that it has been argued from such texts as "His
face was more marred than that of any man" that they do greatly err who
attribute any comeliness to the Man of Sorrows. It is difficult, however, to
believe that One born of a pure virgin and begotten of the Holy Spirit, the
spirit of goodness and beauty, could be other than the most pure, beautiful,
and attractive of men. Who can believe that the one perfect man, he whose
majestic bearing was such as to elicit from Pilate the exclamation,
"Behold the Man!" was destitute of any outward and visible sign of
his inward perfection? A lovely spirit does, indeed, transfigure even the
plainest features and lend them a charm beyond that of a simply formal beauty;
but a lovely spirit in a lovely form is a still more potent force. And hence
the great painters who have invested the face and figure of our Lord with all
the perfections of manly beauty, and who have added a pathetic charm to that
beauty by depicting the perfect face as worn and wasted with thought, with
compassion, with all the toil and burden of his great work of love, have reason
on their side, and give us, we may be sure, a far truer conception of him than
either the Puritan or the Monk. For
the whole story of his life shows both that he was exquisitely sensitive to
beauty in every form, and that he had the still rarer power of reproducing that
beauty in his words and ways. The whole world of nature lives again in his
discourses and parables, to prove how keen he was to note the loveliness of the
world around him; while these same parables and discourses are so perfect, both
in substance and in expression, as to prove that he could reproduce this beauty
in still more exquisite and enduring forms. And what a keen eye for beauty of
character, for a latent unsuspected goodness, must he have possessed, who saw
in doubting Nathanael, an Israelite indeed; in fickle and impetuous Peter, a
steadfast rock; in timid and halting Nicodemus, and even in the wanton of
Samaria, fitting recipients for the deepest truths of his Kingdom; in Mary's
waste of ointment, an insight which transcended that of the Apostles; and in
the self-humiliation of the woman who was a sinner, a love capable of
transforming her into a saint! He who spoke the most beautiful words that have
fallen from human lips; he who clothed perfect thoughts in forms so perfect
that the noblest spirits of every subsequent age have held them to be "sweeter
than honey" and more precious than "much fine gold," and yet in
forms so simple that the common people have always heard them gladly; he who
was at home with all classes, learned and ignorant, rich and poor, powerful or
enslaved, who saw good even in the worst, and found something to pity, something
to love in even the forlornest outcast; he to whom little children ran for a
caress, round whom wronged women and outcast men gathered as to a friend --
was there no beauty, no charm, in him? Was there not rather a charm which no
open and susceptible heart could withstand? This
beauty, this charm, this gracefulness, is to be with us, is to be ours, if
"the grace of Christ" is to be with us. That is to say, the wish, the
benediction of our text summons us to cultivate the love of all that is fair,
all that is good-all that is fair in nature, all that is good in men; and to
reproduce it, so far as we may, in our words, in our manner, in our lives. We
are not to be content with being sourly or austerely good, but to aim at being
winningly and attractively good. The beautiful mind, the beautiful manner, of
Christ, the charm of his character, his speech, his dealings and intercourse
with men, be with us all -- this is part of what our new year's wish implies. THE GRACIOUSNESS, THE GENIAL FRIENDLINESS, OF CHRISTBut
graceful manners soon break down under the strain of change, familiarity, or
time, unless they spring from and express a gracious heart. And hence we must
be reminded of the second meaning latent in our text. For, if "the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ" would suggest gracefulness to a Greek, to a Jew
it would suggest graciousness, a willing, friendly, genial spirit; not
righteousness simply, but a genial righteousness; not beneficence simply, but a
friendly beneficence. There
are men who are weighted all their lives by an unwilling, a reluctant, an
unsympathetic temperament. They do not easily consent to what is proposed to
them; their first impulse is to say no rather than yes. Not
courtesy alone is difficult to them, but thoughtfulness for others, consideration
for their wishes, a lenient judgment of their faults, a kindly interest in that
which interests them. Their instinct is to differ rather than to
concur, to wrangle rather than to assent, to criticize and condemn rather than
to work with their neighbors and yield to their influence. And hence, strive as
they will -- and few but themselves know how hard and bitter the strife
sometimes is -- they lack the friendly tone, the genial manner, which commands
confidence and love, and even when they do good are apt to do it awkwardly and
in a way which hurts or offends even those whom they help. They do not give themselves
with their gifts. But
we find no trace of this stiff, reluctant, self-contained disposition in Jesus
Christ. Little though he had to give as the world counts gifts, the world has
never seen a benefactor to be compared with him. Not only did he give himself
for us all, but he gave himself with all his gifts, gave all he had, or
all they could take, to every man or woman who approached him. There was
nothing he could do which he was not prepared to do for any who asked his help.
So gracious was he, so steadfastly did his will stand at the yielding or giving
point, that virtue went out of him without any conscious exercise of will,
whenever the hand of faith or need was laid upon him. And how interested he was
in all who spoke with him, however ignorant or faulty they might be! How
deeply he looked into their hearts; how he drew them on, and drew them out,
till they had told him their inmost secret, till they had relieved their bosoms
of the perilous stuff hidden there; and then how wisely and delicately he
adapted his words and gifts to their needs; as, for example, when he talked with
the woman of Samaria by the well! How ready he was to love them, or any trace
of good in them, till they rose "to match the promise in his eyes";
as, for instance, in the faith of the Syrophenician woman! How much good he
saw in them which the world could not see, and of which they themselves had
lost sight; as, for example, in Zaccheus, that true son (if Abraham, whom the
Pharisees mistook for a child of the devil, and in the woman who bathed his
feet with her tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head! How quick he was
to detect any moment of weakness in those who had a little faith in him but
held it with a feeble grasp, and how prompt to strengthen them against any
sudden pressure of unbelief; as, for example, when he said to the faltering
ruler of the synagogue, "Only believe; all things are possible to him that
believeth"! But
space does not permit, -- we should have to go through the whole story of his
life,-even to allude to the innumerable proofs of his graciousness, of his
willing and friendly heart; the graciousness which enabled him to give so much,
though of outward good he had so little to give, and which made his every gift
a charm, an elevating and abiding power, to those who received it, or who
listened to the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And yet, with
all this graciousness, there was no softness, no weakness, no insincerity,
such as is often found associated with a kindly temperament; there was nothing
inconsiderate, or indiscriminate, in his boundless charity; no yielding at a
single point at which it would have been wrong to yield; no want of
faithfulness, or even of severity where severity was needed. He was sincere as
he was sympathetic, rare as that combination is. He who said to a sinful woman,
"Neither do I condemn thee," said also, "From henceforth sin no
more." And he who cured a sinful man of the paralysis induced by vice,
also warned him, "Sin no more, lest a worst thing come upon thee." May
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all in this sense also. May his
graciousness, his kindly consideration for others, his genial, warm manner, his
friendly tone, be ours. THE FAVOR, THE REDEEMING LOVE OF CHRISTBut
perhaps one who has read thus far is saying to himself, "Well, if the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ means gracefulness and graciousness, then I am
afraid it is impossible for me. For I am neither very graceful nor very
gracious; and while I am learning to appreciate better all that is lovely and
fair, both in nature and in men, to reproduce such loveliness in my own
thoughts and words and deeds is another matter, and as for being gracious, that
does not come at all easily to me." Ah!
beloved reader, if the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ meant only his
gracefulness or his graciousness, we would all be in great discouragement. But
the word has another, a third, meaning, one with which we have long been
familiar. The Apostle reminds us of this meaning in 2 Corinthians 8:9: "Ye
know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your
sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might become rich." Yes,
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ means also his favor, his active, redeeming,
and renewing love, freely. bestowed upon us, and because of this we may entertain
high hopes of having his grace, in the other two meanings of the word,
fulfilled in us also. In
the New Testament, as every student of that blessed volume must know, the grace
of Christ is constantly used in this third sense, far more commonly in this
sense than in any other. Its most frequent use denotes a divine and loving
energy or quality which not only forgives, but also cleanses us from, our
iniquity; which not only pardons, but redeems us from, our faults and sins; an
energy which attends us through our whole career to guard us against temptation
or make us strong enough to resist temptation; as able to change, elevate, and
purify our whole character and disposition, and to recreate us in its own likeness. And
who dare say that, with this giving, and forgiving energy, this redeeming and
renewing grace, ever at work upon and in him, he cannot become pure, friendly,
and gracious in heart, and, therefore, simple, courteous, and even graceful in
manner and in speech? Who dare despair of himself, or give up self-culture as
hopeless, if the strong Son of God is ever waiting to come to his help, ever
seeking to bestow his gracefulness, his graciousness, to exert his forgiving
and redeeming power upon us, to recast our mind, our character, our
disposition, our temperament, on the larger, fairer, lines of his own? "The
grace of our Lord Jesus, Christ be with us all"; the grace which redeems,
renews, recreates the inward man of the heart, and so clothes even the outward
man of behavior with a new and friendlier charm. Amen -- so let it be. - P. L Read "We Shall Be Like Him"
- S. M. Hodgdon Ye Are the Light of the World"A city set on a hill
cannot be hid. " - Matthew 5:14 IN
MATTHEW 5:14 the symbols of light and salt are used connectedly: "Ye are
the light of the world; ye are the salt of the earth"; as light to show
the contrast to moral darkness; as salt to hold back the spread of moral
pollution. The action of salt is hidden and pervasive; that of light being
open and manifest. When
Jesus added, "Let your light so shine before men," he had more in
mind than bearing witness to the divine plans and purposes. Surely the
disciples were commissioned to do that; but disciples are not to be bearers of
the gospel message by tongue and pen only; they are to be interpreters of that
gospel by a life. By word of mouth and by printed page many conflicting
doctrines have been promulgated which only confuse, and in effect, becloud the
true doctrine of Christ; but not so with a life openly seen as reflecting the
beatitude teachings. By
setting the virtues of the beatitudes in contrast to their opposite
characteristics, the blessedness of which Jesus speaks, may be seen 1)
Poor in spirit; humility; self-emptiness; versus haughtiness;
self-assertiveness; arrogance. 2)
Mourning; deeply affected by the ravages of sin in self and others; versus
coldness; heartlessness; unmoved. 3)
Meekness; gentleness; teachableness; versus pride; argumentativeness;
opinionated. 4)
Hungering and thirsting after righteousness; a discontent with everything not
godly; versus unjust dealings; unfair practices; wicked deeds; licentiousness. 5)
Merciful; compassionate; sympathetic with the distress of others; versus
hardness; cruelty; sadism; unmoved by the distress of others. 6)
Pure in heart; without duplicity; of unsullied principles; genuineness; versus
hypocrisy; deceit; double dealing; a masked personality. 7)
Peacemakers; intercessors between opposing parties that they may see things in
the light of divine truth; versus sowers of discord, strife, sedition;
agitators; fomentors; inciters to riot; war makers. 8)
Persecuted for righteousness' sake; for the decision to violate neither
conscience nor the understood will of God; versus suffering the consequences
of unrighteous and unlawful deeds; "as a murderer, or a thief, or as an
evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters." - 1 Peter 4:15. Thus the exhortation of Jesus to his disciples, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works" - that they may see these eternal principles, the beatitudes, in operation, and not merely hear them as declamations. Disciples are to be more than doctrinaires. ISRAEL'S FAILUREIsrael
at Sinai had entered into a covenant relationship with their God to do whatever
they were commanded. In Deuteronomy 4:58, we have Moses' exhortation:
"Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments . . . keep therefore and
do them; for this is your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the nations
which shall hear all these statutes, and say, surely this great nation is a
wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great who bath God
so nigh unto them Israel,
the covenanted nation, was entrusted with a revelation from God in terms of commandments,
statutes, and judgments, by the keeping of which they were to be the manifestation
of godliness, an object lesson to all nations with whom they were to come into
contact. Instead, they rested in the mere possession of those laws, at best
only halfheartedly observing them. They were confidant that they were indeed a
special people unto Jehovah, inasmuch as only with them had Jehovah entered
into covenant relationship. All other people were gentiles, non-covenant
people (Eph. 2:11, 12). By their high claim to be the chosen people of God, the
depository of his laws, their failure to observe those laws constituted them
blasphemers among the unenlightened gentiles. So writes Paul in Romans 2:4.
They compromised their being witnesses to the holiness and righteousness of
God by their conduct unbecoming such profession. "Now
all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our
admonition . . ." - 1 Cor. 10:1-10. LIGHT HIDDEN OR SHININGLight
under a bushel is a light that may be hidden and eventually snuffed out by
being held in subordination to expedience, such as fear of ridicule; or for
the sake of a measure of peace in family relationship; or in business or
workday association. A city set on a hill is a life elevated above its surroundings,
"known and read of all men." We might illustrate this by the contrast
between the situations of Jerusalem, set on a hill, and Las Cruces, New Mexico,
which is in a valley. Approaching Las Cruces from the west there is a sign,
"Las Cruces 12 miles." Visibility was twenty-five to fifty miles, but
the city of ten thousand inhabitants was not in view. Farther on, yet another
sign, "Las Cruces 5 miles." Still no city in sight. But eventually,
descending by degrees into a valley, there lay Las Cruces. How different
Jerusalem, "a city on a hill"; "beautiful for situation." A
city that cannot be hidden. And thus it is with a life elevated above its
surroundings: it cannot be hidden. THE TRUE LIGHTThe
ministry of Jesus, both by his words and his deeds, was but an expression of his
inner life of holiness and light (John 1:4-14). "In him was life, and the
life was the light of men." As John further writes, "The law was
given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." The law defined
life in terms of commandments, but no one had ever seen such a life manifested.
Thus it is written of Jesus that "he brought life and incorruptibility to
light ... " (2 Tim. 1:10). This is in harmony with what was prophesied in
Isaiah 9:2, "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great
light." Consider
the claim of Jesus as recorded in John 8:12: "I am the light of the world
... he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of
life." The possession of the Christ life is light. Life is experience, continuity.
A West Point graduate may have learned the theory of war in all its phases, but
he knows nothing of the reality until, having left the halls of learning, he is
confronted in combat with a sworn enemy who is already an experienced
antagonist. Then, and only then, comes the test as to how deeply ingrained has
been his learning; how has it affected the quality of his being as a military
man. So with the professing disciple: he may have much of the light of truth
without its being seen as a directing force in his everyday contacts with this
hostile world, as well as with other foes -- the flesh nature and the hosts of
spiritual wickedness. More than the light of truth, he must have the light of
life. Life (cause) is light (effect). As another has written: "Light can
guide the natural man, but cannot give life. The disciple is light, not because
of what he knows, but by his possession of eternal life he reflects the glory
of God, as did Jesus." The purpose of the receiving of the light of life
is that it should "shine before men that they may see your good works and
glorify your Father which is in heaven." - Matthew 5:16. A NEW CREATIONAccording
to our natural birth we are "dead in trespasses and sins" and are
prone to "the works of the flesh." How then can we be light? How is
it that we can be delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the
kingdom of light (Col. 1:12, 13)? When Nicodemus came to Jesus saying, "We
know that you are a teacher sent from God," he was indirectly asking
Jesus to explain to him the secret of his ministry. Rather than responding to
the implied request, Jesus said to him, "Except a man be born again he
cannot see the kingdom of God." A new begettal is the answer. Why should
this be so? Because "the natural man receives not the things of the spirit
of God: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned"
(1 Cor. 2:14). "Whosoever believeth may have everlasting life" (John
3:15). In other words, Jesus is Lord of a new life, and what Jesus is outlining
in the beatitudes is the evidence of this new life. It is the living in the
newness of life that constitutes us light. As
we have received our first life from our natural fathers, so the new life is
received from our heavenly Father. This is as real and actual as the first
begettal. "If any man be in Christ he is a new creation" (2 Cor.
5:17). To this agree the testimonies of other Apostles: "Being begotten
again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, by the word of God, which
lives and abides forever" (1 Pet. 1:23); "Of his own will begat he us
with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his
creatures." - James 1:18. When
Jesus speaks of life he has more in mind than what the world calls life. To him
the term means that in which there is no seed of decay; and which for this
reason is eternal. This life cannot be other than a rebuke to that which is dependent
on thrills, excitement, material possessions, and satisfaction of worldly
pride. It is in contrast to debasing tendencies arid practices; a rebuke to
the ungodly by the whole of life-its attitudes, its hopes its conformity to the
revealed will of God. As Peter writes, "Live honorable lives among the
gentiles, in order that, although they speak against you as evildoers, from
your good deeds they may witness your character and may glorify God ..." -
1 Peter 2:12. TAKE HEEDIt
is by taking heed to what we hear, to what understanding is given to us by the
holy spirit, that we become light. "We do well to take heed to the sure
word of prophecy as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day
dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts" (2 Pet. 1: 19). The day star
arising in the heart is when the Christ life begins to be in control of our
being, our whole being. Paul's exhortation is, "You were once darkness,
but now are you light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. For the fruit of
light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth, --proving what is acceptable
to the Lord" (Eph. 5:8-10). "Proving" has the thought of
putting to the test; proving not by argument but by demonstration. A SPECTACLE TO MEN AND TO ANGELS"We
are made a spectacle to men and to angels." So says Paul. Whether we are
aware of it or not, and whether those who regard us are aware of their doing so
or not, it is true that we who profess Christ are constantly under the critical
gaze of others. Live honest devoted lives for years, but make one misstep and
we come under the scorn and condemnation of those we never thought were critically observing us
-- but they were. In this world of sinful and degrading tendencies, how great
is the need for true Christian witness by life and conduct. The professing
church, for the most part, has lost its sense of discipleship. The prophetic
word concerning Israel was fulfilled; but it is still true that "darkness
covers the earth, and gross darkness the people." May the truth shine out
from us, individually and collectively, that we may continue to be "the
light of the world" until it comes to pass what is written of Israel:
"Arise and shine, for thy light is come, for the glory of the Lord is
risen upon thee." - Isaiah 60:1. In
Philippians 2:13-16 we read: "For it is God who worketh in you both the
willing and the working of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings,
that you may be harmless and simple, irreproachable children of God in the
midst of a crooked and perverse generation; among whom you shine as light in
the world, holding forth the word of life ... " It is the living
exhibition of godliness that makes one a luminary. The holding forth the word
of life includes the presenting of it in obedience, the day by day living in
the will of God -- the mystery, "Christ in you, the hope of glory"
(Col. 2:25-27). As Christ is manifested in us, and only as Christ is seen in
us, are we light. - F.
A. Essler The Yielded Life
The Messianic KingdomSINCE the Apostles "fell
asleep" a number of Christian scholars, particularly those living during
the eighteenth and nineteenth 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 seventh of a
series of seven articles excerpted from that book. "Thy
Kingdom come; thy will
be done in
earth, as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:10). That heart-felt expression of an
age-old hope was first spoken by Jesus when He laid down the principles of
devotional and supplicatory prayer for all time. Every generation since then
has reiterated this plea for the coming of the Divine Kingdom upon earth when
evil will be eliminated from the hearts of men, and all, to use the language of
the old prophets, will know God, from the least to the greatest. That a time is
to come in history when the kingdoms of. this world give place to the kingdom
of God, and the nations of earth walk and live their lives in the light of that
kingdom (Rev. 11:15; Rev. 21:24), is implicit in New Testament theology and
in the Christian faith. Those early Christians, and their fellows of
generations following, faithful to their calling in the hope of attaining the
spiritual conditions of the celestial world to "be with Christ,"
understood clearly that by virtue of their experience and training they were to
be leaders and teachers of all men in this new Age, to bring men to ultimate
reconciliation with God. So they interpreted our Lord's assurances and the
visions of the Revelator concerning the reign of the saints as depicting such
a season of service and labor in the proclamation of the Gospel and
encouragement to conversion and reformation. That
this is to be the privilege and duty of the Church during that momentous period
has been stressed repeatedly by reflective thinkers. Said Dr. Cox, in "Salvator
Mundi" "When the Gospel is preached again, it may be that Christ
will not be the preacher, or not the only preacher.... If we are of those who
have been chosen and redeemed, it may be that we shall be the happy
messengers of God's love and mercy to those who are still being purged from
their sins ... thus entering at once into the eternal passion of God and into
the redeeming work of Christ; being afflicted, like the Father, in all the sins
and afflictions of the unrighteous ... if by any means we may save some. It
may be through our ministry that the purpose of God will be accomplished, that
all Israel will be saved and the fullness of the Gentiles be brought in. God
grant that it may be so; for that surely would be an infinitely diviner service
and reward than to sit, clothed in white raiment, striking harps of
gold." Another
well-known and well loved minister, Dr. F. B. Meyer, (1847-1929) once wrote
"We are to be priests and kings. There are vast spaces in the universe
that may have to be evangelized or ruled or influenced for righteousness. It
may be that important spheres of ministry are needing those to fill them who
have learned the secret of victory over materialism on the one hand, and over
the power of Satan on the other.... Therefore earth may be the school, the
training ground, the testing place for the servants and soldiers of the
hereafter. This thought need not be in conflict with the ideals of rest and
worship which we are wont to associate with the future life. Eternity will
give opportunities for all. But, if it became him of whom and through whom are
all things to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through the suffering
of temptation, it stands to reason that his comrades and soldiers must pass
through the same, that they may become more than conquerors, and having
overcome, may sit with him on his Throne, as he overcame and is set down with
his Father on His Throne." The
Messianic Age is known also as the Millennium, a word meaning a thousand years,
from its use in the Book of Revelation. Although the Day of Judgment, the
Millennium is also in a very real sense part of the Day of Grace. Opportunity
for repentance and conversion is not ended, nor indeed could be while any
human soul lacks full enlightenment on the issues of right and wrong or
knowledge of Christ and the life that can come only through him, or is capable
of benefiting by the lessons and experiences of past life, or by the evangel of
Christ which will then be so vigorously and powerfully proclaimed. It might
almost be said that there is a vital association between the two terms, that
Grace and judgment go ahead together. From Pentecost to the end of the Millennium,
there has been and will be opportunity to repent and convert and be accepted
into God's family. From Pentecost to the end of the Millennium, judgment has
been and will be in operation, every deliberately and knowingly good or evil
deed shaping and forming the character in the direction either of the good or
the bad, in so doing rendering attainment of the Divine ideal a little easier
or a little more difficult in the future. The man who returns from the dead at
the commencement of the Millennium after a woefully misspent life will find
that he has a lot of leeway to make up; even although repentance and conversion
and acceptance of Christ as Lord will win him the condition of reconciliation
with God; he still has to attain Godlikeness in his character and that can
only be reached by development. The revealing angel, talking of that day to the
prophet Daniel (Dan. 12:2) spoke of some who awake to enduring life and others
to shame and enduring contempt. The Millennium therefore is a time of mixed
dark and light, but nevertheless a time in which the darkness is being
progressively swallowed up by the light, so that, to quote Zechariah, "at
evening time it shall be light." At the end of this great Day of Grace and
Judgment the dark shadow of evil will have flown, never to return. The
contemporary view of the Millennial reign of Christ, in those quarters in which
his premillennial Advent is accepted and expected, all too often falls short by
picturing it as an extension of the present world order even though under
Divine sovereignty. Thus, it is thought, life and death will go on much as now
except that the normal human lifespan will be considerably increased; evil
and the practice of evil will be progressively eliminated and generation will
follow generation, each born into a world which is becoming steadily more
godlike until at the end will come the Day of judgment when the dead will be
raised and all earthly affairs wound up. But there is much more to the
Millennium than this. In the first place, and as a matter of basic principle,
this coming Age of righteousness is not an extension of the present world
order at all; it is a completely new start. Peter terms it a "heavens and
earth wherein dwelleth righteousness" (2 Pet. 3:13) in contrast to the "present
evil world" which is to pass away. The existing world order, with all its
powers, authorities, standards, and practices which support and further the
domination of evil over mankind, is to be brought to an end and a new and
Divinely-sustained system take its place under which the reconciling work of
Christ and his Church will proceed. Because it is the final and most momentous
phase of the Day of Grace, in the which the issue as to worthiness or otherwise
of eternal life for every individual is to be decided, the resurrection of the
dead takes place, not at the end, but during the opening stages, of the period,
so that all men of all generations back to the beginning may have a full and
free opportunity to learn fully of the grace of God in Christ and make their
eternal decision. Thus what might be termed "Adamic death," the death
that normally comes upon all men born in Adam (Rom. 5:12-19), will end with the
inception of that Age and men will live in a time of new life, which is the
literal implication of Jesus' reference in Matthew 19:28 to "the
regeneration" when He assumes rulership of the world. Men will not die as
they die today; if they are already Christ's, or if they at that time do yield
themselves unreservedly to him, they go on into everlasting life and the
destiny God has appointed for them. If they have become so wedded to evil that there is no capacity left to
repent and they are impervious to the appeal of the Saviour then here remains
nothing but the loss of the life that is in them, for there can be no continuing
life without God. So Jesus said on one memorable occasion "the hour is
coming in the which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice and shall
come forth, they that have done admirable things to a resurrection of life and
they that have done worthless things to a resurrection of judgment" (John
5:28, 29). This is where the Divine law of retribution comes into full effect;
"whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Gal. 6:7). Every
man awakens to a resurrection "according to his works" - a phrase
which occurs seven or eight times in the Scriptures in this connection. There
will be abundant opportunity and every encouragement for repentance and
conversion and cleansing from the effects of the past, but even so every man is
awakened with the character and disposition which was his when he died, and the
vicious, the immoral, the depraved, will find themselves saddled with a task of
reformation and rehabilitation if they would attain to life which will be no
less a "resurrection of judgment" for the fact that they will not be
finally condemned without first having the opportunity of reformation. A
profound thinker long ago laid down the maxim "God shall bring every work
into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be
evil" (Eccl. 12:14). Many have deluded themselves into thinking that they
have escaped the force of that law but in the coming Age they will find it is
not so; the deeds of the past accuse them and from the effects of those deeds
they must find release. The way back may be painful and arduous, the more so
since their oft-times secret sins and unpublished wrongful actions will be open
to the day. That is why the revealing angel, speaking to Daniel of this same
time and this same thing, used an almost identical phrase to that of Jesus;
"many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to
enduring life, and some to shame and enduring contempt" (Dan. 12:2). It
was in this same connection that Jesus spoke of the relative positions before
God of the unbelieving people of his own day and the men of Sodom and Gomorrah
and Nineveh of ancient times who were destroyed because of their depravity. If
the mighty works which He performed in the towns of Galilee had been done in
Sodom and Gomorrah and Tyre and Sidon, they "would have repented" and
would "have remained to this day," He told them. Therefore, He went
on, it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah, for Tyre and Sidon, in
the day of judgment, than for them (Matt. 11:20-24; Mark 6:11; Luke 10:12-14).
In Jesus' view the abhorred inhabitants of the Cities of the Plain were not so
culpable as the unbelieving Jews to whom He came; in the Millennial judgment
they will not find the going so hard as will those Jews. Depraved as they
were-a depravity largely the fruit of ignorance--their characters were not so
resolutely set against righteousness as the later unbelievers, and they will
therefore find it that much easier to respond to the appeal of the Gospel when it
is presented to them. Jesus said they would have repented had his message been
preached to them-a remark which leads inevitably to the question; if the
sinners of Sodom and Gomorrah would have repented had the Gospel been preached
to them, why was it not so preached? The only answer consistent with any real
belief in both the love and justice of God is that the Gospel is to be preached
to them before opportunity is ended. The fact that it comes after the
catastrophic happening which ended their first earthly life is irrelevant.
They will return, and under the beneficent and righteous rule of Christ will
hear the message they had not heard and face up to the issue which in those
far-off days had not even been placed before them. There is, therefore, a First
and a Second Resurrection. The First Resurrection is that of the Church (Rev.
20.4-6) who are raised to life in the celestial world and association with
their Lord in his coming work for mankind. We have therefore to postulate the
members of the resurrected Church administering the affairs of the kingdom
upon earth whilst their own home is in the heavenly sphere. The Second
Resurrection is that of the remainder of mankind, restored to life upon earth
in newly-created human bodies, taking up the thread of existence where it had
been dropped in death, and responding, or not, as the case may be, to the
opportunity for life which will then be extended. It has to be accepted that
the majority of these resurrected ones will have never heard of Christ in the
former life, or at any rate only have received a grossly distorted conception
of his Person and message and of the purposes of God. Hence the inception of
the Millennium and the, probably, progressive, appearance upon earth of
generation after' generation from the past, will involve a colossal work of
evangelism such as the world has never before seen. With the ending of the
Messianic Age comes the end of the Day of Grace. Every possible aid to the
enlightenment of all men in the basic principles of truth and goodness will
have been given. Christ will have been preached and no one will be able to
claim ignorance. The lives of men will be passed in an environment that is
completely conducive to right doing. None can plead the force of unfavorable
circumstances as justification for failure to accept the Savior. The offer of
life will be extended with every possible encouragement to accept. God will in
very truth bend down from Heaven to save all who can possibly be saved. In the
inspired imagery of the Book of Revelation "the dwelling-place of God is
with men, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God
himself will be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their
eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither
shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away." -
Rev. 21:3, 4. Of
the many pen-pictures of that coming Age which have been drawn perhaps none is
so appealing and eloquent as a passage in C. T. Russell's "Divine Plan
of the Ages ": "It
is this portion that God has elected to give to the human race. And what a
glorious portion! Close your eyes for a moment to the scenes of misery and woe,
degradation and sorrow, that yet prevail on account of sin, and picture before
your mental vision the glory of the perfect earth. Not a stain of sin mars the
harmony and peace of a perfect society; not a bitter thought, not an unkind
look or word; love, welling up from every heart, meets a kindred response in every
other heart, and benevolence marks every act. There sickness shall be no more;
not an ache nor a pain, nor any evidence of decay -- not even the fear of such
things. Think of all the pictures of comparative health and beauty of human
form and feature that you have ever seen, and know that perfect humanity will
be of still surpassing loveliness. The inward purity and mental and moral
perfection will stamp and glorify every radiant countenance. Such will earth's
society be, and weeping bereaved ones will have their tears all wiped away,
when thus they realize the resurrection work complete. "And this is the change in human society only. We call to mind also that the earth, which was 'made to be inhabited' by such a race of beings, is to be a fit and pleasing abode for them. Paradise shall be restored. The earth shall no more bring forth thorns and briers, and require the sweat of man's face to yield his bread, but 'the earth shall yield her increase.' 'The desert shall blossom as the rose.' Nature with all its pleasing variety will call to man from every direction to seek and know the glory and power and love of God; and mind and heart will rejoice in him." Watchman, What Hour of the Night?
"The prophets . . .
searching what time or what manner of time IT
WAS the duty of the watchman in an ancient city to call the hours. The question
heard by Isaiah suggests that the watchman had been silent. Perhaps the city
was in fear of an enemy -- of an attack at dawn. The night was dark -- the
stars, by which the time might be told, were hidden in the clouds. A citizen,
roused from sleep by he knows not what, calls to the watchman in the street or
on the wall, literally: "Watchman, what from off the night?" "Watchman, how far gone
is the night?" - Rotherham. The
Scriptures picture the symbolic earth, the social order, as being in darkness,
and most of mankind lying in a heavy sleep (Isa. 60:2; Isa. 29:9-12; et al.).
But some individuals have been wakeful; and from the prophets and servants of
God, as well as from Seir and other godless sources, has often come the ancient
question: "What
time is it?" Thus
the Psalmist, David, asked: "O Jehovah, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked
triumph?" Again he inquires, saying: "Our own signs have we not seen
-- there is no longer a prophet -- neither is there one with us who knoweth how
long! How long, O God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy revile
thy name perpetually?" In the prophecy of Daniel the repeated inquiry is
found concerning the symbolic time-measures given him: "How long shall be the vision?"
"What shall be the issue of these things?" The disciples asked of the
Lord: "When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign ... ?"
And after the resurrection: "Dost thou at this time restore the Kingdom
to Israel?" The
demons also, having a deep personal interest in the matter, demanded of Jesus:
"Art thou come hither to torment [restrain] us before the time?" (Psa. 94:3; Psa. 74:9, 10;
Isa. 21:11; Dan. 8:13; Dan. 12:8; Matt. 24:3; Acts 1:6; Matt. 8:29). The
interest today, among the wakeful, is no less intense. The "Worldly Wisemen"
are anxiously seeking to penetrate the future; and many modern Bible students
are searching the Scriptures, as did the holy men of old, to discover if it may
be, "What time or what manner of time" the prophecies signify. The Herald is constantly receiving, from
earnest and zealous brethren, manuscripts, charts, pamphlets, and books on
various features of "the chronology." These usually
"correct" one or two alleged mistakes of past writers and often
contain helpful suggestions, but as these correspondents are not in
collaboration, their conclusions are not in harmony. Not only so, but related Scriptures
are often overlooked or ignored, which would modify or contradict their
findings. The
Bible chronology, as it has been constructed by many generations of investigators
throughout the Gospel Age, is not readily corrected in detail; if it is to be
changed, it must be revised with full regard for interrelated prophetic time
periods, and with familiarity with the vast and invaluable researches of previous chronologers. From time to time the Herald has sought to aid in clarifying the subject by a
restatement of some of its underlying principles and requirements, and a
review of the conclusions and unanswered questions left to us by the ablest of
modern investigators in this field, and thus help those continuing prophetic
research to harmonize their findings. It
is evident that the question before us is essentially identical with the one
that St. Peter declares was in the minds of the prophets themselves-yes, even in
the minds of angels (1 Pet. 1:10-12; Dan. 8:13), viz., What time-periods, or
what manner (kind) of time-periods, does the Spirit signify, in the prophecies
of Scripture which obviously indicate a fixed and definite period of suffering
for God's people, of both the Old and the New Dispensations, to be followed by
an equally definite period of exaltation and glory in the "Age to come
wherein dwelleth righteousness"? St.
Peter says it was revealed to the Prophets that they were not to understand
the meaning of these prophecies, but that this understanding was reserved for
"us"; and he exhorts us to "gird up the loins of your mind, and be sober,
and [with the aid of these prophecies] hope completely [fully] for the grace
that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ..." (1
Pet. 1:12, 13). Accordingly we honor those brethren who are giving thought and
time, labor and their means, in the endeavor to solve the ancient mystery. Those
to whom the Apostle refers as
"us" are the ones to whom he addresses his Epistle: ". . . the
elect . . . according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in
sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ" (verses 1-3). We therefore ask, Have all these been fully
aware of the time-significance of the prophecies; of the dates of the
beginnings and endings of the periods; of "what time and what manner of
time" was meant? The answer of course is No, all have not been so aware;
it would therefore appear that some other feature of the prophecies was
intended for all
the Church
-- the "us" class. It
may well be argued that, though veritably of this class, we may never know the
exact lengths or dates of the prophetic periods; but we may know of a surety
that these prophecies have their fulfillment in Christ, and if we are joined to
him we may with equal assurance make application of their promises of
blessings to ourselves: for "If we suffer [with him] we shall also reign
with him"; and "when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then
shall we also appear with him in glory" (2 Tim. 2:12; Col. 3:4). Certainly
it is far more important for us to know that we may participate in the
prophesied blessings than to know just when those blessings are to come. It
is apparent that partial knowledge and even misunderstanding of the time
prophecies has been stimulating to Christian living in all periods of the Age.
Because the meaning of these prophecies has been hidden and obscure, yet their
promises so attractive and their terms so urgent, each zealous investigator has
been prompted to apply them to his own times. Constant expectation of impending
dissolution of the present evil order has contributed in an important measure
to holy living by the believer in every stage of the Church, as Peter seems to
imply further along in this very passage: "Wherefore ... set your hope
completely on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of
Jesus Christ .. . like as he is holy . . . be ye yourselves also holy."
And the Apostle makes his thought still more clear in his second Epistle:
"Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of
persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness, looking for and
earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God ...?" (1 Pet. 1:13-16;
2 Pet. 3: 11-13). However,
the earnest Bible student can never be satisfied with an incomplete or
inaccurate understanding of Scripture. He cannot admit that the Bible statements
of time-periods should be considered impossible of complete interpretation
and understanding. He refuses to relinquish hope of an ultimate solution; hence
he never ceases his efforts to solve the puzzles connected with these timefeatures, and is ever on the lookout for hints from any source that may prove
helpful in his quest. Figures
are exact; "seventy sevens" are 490, not 491, or 489; "seven
times" (if we understand the numerical system correctly) are 2520 years,
not 2520 plus 40, or some other figure. The time periods of prophecy must have
a definite ending, marked by some definite event, or their significance and
authority are greatly weakened. The fact that previous interpreters obviously
have erred in their conclusions should not have a deterrent or discouraging
effect, but rather a stimulating influence, on the "searchers" and
"examiners" of the Scriptures. There is the gold of further truth yet
to be discovered, if we are willing to "search for it as for hid
treasure." Through the Prophet Habbakuk the assurance is given: "The
vision is yet for the appointed time . though it tarry, wait for it; because
it will surely come, it will not delay" beyond the "appointed
time" (Prov. 2:1-5; Hab. 2:3). Daniel,
who asked for an understanding of the time prophecies given him, was told:
"Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are shut up and sealed till the time of
the end ... none of the wicked shall understand, but they that are wise shall
understand" (Dan. 12:9, 10). This expression, "time of the
end," clearly indicates a period of time. The Prophet employs
quite another word to indicate a point of time. The latter is found in
Dan. 2:8, 9, 16 (see A.R.V. and Rotherham); Dan. 4:36; Dan. 7:22. Similarly,
Daniel distinguishes between a terminating period and a complete end, although
the Authorized Version does not, translating both original words as
"end." A final end is indicated in Dan. 1:5, 15, 18; Dan. 4:29, 34;
and Dan. 9:24 (a still different word). Daniel
was told that "the vision belongeth to the time of the end" (Dan.
8:17, A.R.V.). Strong defines the word "vision" as "a view, the
act of seeing." Again, the Prophet was told to "seal the book to the
time of the end." Before that time, "some of them that are
wise" -- Rotherham's footnote says "the instructors," and refers
to Dan. 8:33, "they who make the people wise" -- "shall fall, to
refine them, and to purify and to make them white, even to the time of the end;
because it is yet for the time appointed." The American Revised Version
also has footnotes giving the meaning of "instructors" to "the
wise of chapters 11 and 12. Perhaps this (Dan. 11:35, quoted above) has
particular reference to the many sincere but premature and erroneous
interpretations of "the vision" by "the teachers of the
people." It is encouraging to believe that even our honest errors may
"refine, purify and make us white," by humbling and warning us (Dan.
11:33, 35). "The
words are shut up and sealed till the time of the end. . . . None of the wicked
shall understand; but they that are wise shall understand" (Dan. 12:9,
10). Whether this promise means that during the end-period the "wise"
shall come to a complete understanding of all of the time-prophecies, or to the
particular one or ones given through Daniel, or merely that the
"wise" shall know in a general way that it is the time of the end,
and that the prophecies are being, or are about to be, fulfilled, is for each sincere and honest examiner of
the sacred records to conclude for himself. The writer holds the former view.
He believes that it would be more to the glory of God and the vindication of
his Word for some, at least, of his "little ones" to arrive at
"an exact knowledge of the truth" in this respect as in others,
during the due time -- the time-period of the end. Such an understanding would
demonstrate not only God's foreknowledge, but his ability to forestall events
in such a way as that, hidden until the "time-lock" is released, even
poor human intelligence, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, may share the
foreknowledge in all its exactness. "The path of the righteous is as the
light of dawn, going on and brightening, unto meridian day" (Prov. 4:18,
Rotherham). As
Bible students we therefore may say: "We know the solution of the mystery
is there, hidden in his Word. We do not yet fully understand, but we shall
understand in God's due time, or when we have worked hard enough on the problem
to merit its unfolding to us. We will not be discouraged either by past
mistakes and disappointments, or by the difficulties that lie before us. We
will remember the intense interest and labors to understand on the part of the
angels, of the prophets, and of our brethren of the Church who have preceded
us; and calling to mind the promises of ultimate understanding given through
Daniel, Habakkuk, and others of the Prophets and the Apostles, we will follow
on in full expectation of eventually coming to "know even as we are
known."
- H. E. Hollister Immanuel's Land
- Mrs. A. R. Cousin Entered Into Rest
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