THE HERALD
of Christ's Kingdom

VOL. LXVI. May/June 1983 No. 3
Table of Contents

"The Singers"

A Pilgrim's Reverie

My Song

The Greatest Of These Is Love

"Nothingness"

Avenues of Time

A Pledge Of Divine Inspiration

Entered Into Rest

When Michael Shall Stand Up

"And at that period, Mikal, the Great Prince, who defends the children of your people, will stand up, and a period of distress will come, such as has not come from the existence of the nation to that period, but in that period your people shall escape-all who are written in the Book of Record." - Dan. 12:1 (Fenton).

THE Lord Jesus Christ is evidently the one here designated Michael. The stupendous works to be accomplished by this personage, as shown in the context, confirms this application. The expression regarding Him that He shall "stand up," also strongly confirms this interpretation. To 'stand up," as will be seen from previous uses of this expression in the Book of Daniel, signifies to assume authority or power as a ruler or king. Ten times is this expression, "stand up," employed by Daniel:

In Dan. 8:22, we read that "four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation." This has reference to the four kingdoms into which Alexander's empire was divided after his death. In Dan. 8:23, it is said that "a king of fierce countenance shall stand up." Again we read in Dan. 8:25 of a certain king that should "stand up against the Prince of princes." In Dan. 11:2, it is mentioned that "there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia." In Dan. 11:3 we read: "a mighty king shall stand up." In Dan. 11:4, it is said of another king that "when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken." In Dan. 11:7, the expression is employed the same: ' But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate." Again in Dan. 11:20, "Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes." In Dan. 11:21, we read, "In his estate shall stand up a vile person." And in Dan. 12:1, the text under consideration, "And at that time shall Michael stand up."

In every one of these instances the meaning of the words is to assume kingly authority or. power. Up to this last one, human rulers or kings are referred to. At last, a mighty ruler from the Heavenly Court stands up. He is called "The Great Prince," "Michael." In another place He is called "the Archangel Michael"; and again, "the Angel of Jehovah." The assumption of kingly authority and power by this mighty One is in connection with a great time of trouble, a period of great distress of nations -- such a severe trouble and distress as never occurred before. From this distress and trouble Daniel's people and nation are to be delivered; or as rendered by Fenton, Daniel's "people escape"; and this deliverance is accomplished by the standing up of Michael. Furthermore, all this is to occur in connection with the resurrection from the dead.

Who, we ask, but our Lord Jesus Christ has power to assume such a rulership? Who but He can bring to pass such stupendous events? Who but the great "Angel of Jehovah" can be referred to by this mighty angel Michael? We cannot conceive of any other than He.

The revealing angel informs the Prophet that 'at that time shall Michael stand up"; or, as the translation of Fenton reads, "at that period Mikal will stand up." This expression seems clearly to teach that at some particular point of time, during the period in which the events described in the previous verses are transpiring, Jesus Christ shall "stand up, ' or assume authority, and together with many other exhibitions of His Divine power, deliver Daniel's long oppressed people.

The expression "at that time," or "in that period," should not be separated from the statements of Dan. 11:44-45 of the preceding chapter, which close with the words, "he shall come to his end, and none shall help him." If, as some have taught, the one referred to in these words is Napoleon, then it would be most reasonable to expect that whoever may be referred to as Michael would surely assume control of human affairs-at least of those affairs that relate to Daniel's people -- at some point of time during Napoleon's career. As no such event occurred "at that time," or "in that period," it seems clear that Napoleon is not the one described in these verses. Furthermore, those who apply the verses to the French nation under Napoleon, meet with the insurmountable difficulty that the French nation did not "come to its end" at that time.

It is quite evident that the events described in these verses await fulfillment in the closing scenes of the time of trouble. Other events of stupendous importance that will occur in connection with these closing scenes are described in other prophetic Scriptures; and these Scriptures teach that the trouble and distress in Palestine in connection with the fulfillment of these predictions will involve all nations. In Jeremiah 25:31 this same period is referred to in the words, "The Lord hath a controversy with the nations." In Isaiah 34:8, which also refers to the same time and events, we learn the nature of this "controversy": "It is the day of the Lord's vengeance and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion." The result of this conflict or controversy over Zion is mentioned by several of the Prophets. We quote one of these:

"And these are the words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah ... Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be save out of it. For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: but they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. . . . For I am with Nee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished." - Jer. 30:4-11.

For long centuries Jerusalem which frequently in prophecy stands for the Holy Land of Palestine, has been a bone of contention on the part of the nations of the earth. The Prophet Zechariah refers to this in the words of Jehovah, "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness; and I will open Mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants O Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God. In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem....

"In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem."

The words that follow portray the repentance of the nation and their conversion to Christ in the midst of their extreme trouble:

"And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him." - Zech. 12:2-10.

It will be necessary at this point to have in mind the New Testament teaching concerning the manner of Christ's Advent and the order of events in connection with His manifestation to the different classes of human beings. Contrary to the general view it seems clear that His Coming or Advent will not be manifest to the physical sight. He will make known the fact to His presence first to the living watchers of the Church. His manifestation to Israel, the nations, and the world, will be after the Church class have passed beyond the veil and are with their Lord. This will be in the closing scenes of the great time of trouble which, as the Scriptures show, will be in Palestine. The Scripture under consideration, as also those just cited, meet their fulfillment in connection with Israel's deliverance; and at that same time the presence of Christ will be made known to all mankind. This is referred to in the words of the Prophet Ezekiel (Eze. 38:23) in a prediction in which he describes Israel's deliverance in their time of trouble: "Thus will I magnify Myself and sanctify Myself in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am Jehovah." The same event is referred to by St. Paul, only he gives the additional information that at this time spiritual Israel, the Church, will have been glorified and will be manifested with Christ to the world, as we read:

"When Christ, who is our life, shall appear [be manifested], then shall ye also appear [be manifested] with Him in glory" (Col. 3:4). The Old Testament prophecies plainly show the synchronism of the saints' resurrection, Israel's restoration and conversion, Antichrist's destruction, as also the destruction of all the other enemies of truth and righteousness. All these events will immediately precede the "times of restitution of all things spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets." In other words, these events are clearly taught to cover an indefinite, but comparatively brief period, just prior to the times of restitution. The successive order of these events, however, is revealed only in the New Testament, and particularly in the last book, The Revelation of Jesus Christ.

The "time of trouble," or, as Fenton translates this expression, "a period of distress," seems in this place to have reference to the closing troublous times, as they relate to the Jewish people in Palestine. This aspect of the great trouble that closes the Gospel Age is called in Jeremiah 30:7, "the time of Jacob's trouble," out of which he shall be saved. This does not conflict with the thought that the whole world at this time will be in the throes of distress and anguish; but the Jewish aspect of the trouble alone is referred to in the above statement in Jeremiah and in the Daniel passage; and even this one aspect is only briefly described here. Others of the Prophets describe these terrible scenes quite fully. See Joel 3; Amos 9:8-15; Zeph. 3:8-20; Zech. 12:7-14; Zech. 14. The great and important events that this period of distress will bring to pass may be summed up as follows: Israel's deliverance and exaltation as a nation, the destruction of other nations, Israel's conversion to the Messiah, and the revelation to the world that Christ has assumed the sceptre of earth's dominion.

Some limit the expression, "thy people," to Daniel's own nation; and this interpretation seems to be corroborated by the other uses of the expression in the Book of Daniel. There can be no question that Daniel understood his own nation and people to be referred to. The prayer of Daniel recorded in Chapter 9 (Dan. 9), was for his people and land. The answer of the angel Gabriel, "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city," certainly must be understood in this way. The words of the angel, "Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter daps" (Dan. 10:14), seem to apply- in this way. It is worthy to be observed in this connection that the Fenton translation very strongly favors this application. The words, "Mikal, the Great Prince, who defends the children of your people," sustain this. The statement, "a period of distress will come, such as has not come from the existence of the nation [Daniel's nation]," still further confirms this application. And again, the words, "but in that period your people shall escape," when compared with the words in Jer. 30:7, "but he shall be saved out of it," also support this interpretation.

The expression, "every one that shall be found written in the book," limits this particular deliverance or salvation to believing Israelites or Jews-those continuing to hold the faith of a coming Messiah and the Divine authenticity of the Old Testament. It is in connection with "Jacob's trouble" in Palestine, as we have just seen, that the conversion of many of them to Christ as their Messiah will take place.

It will be noticed that only one "book" is mentioned in this statement. This book seems clearly to be the one referred to by Moses and by David. (See Exod. 32:32, 33; Psa. 69:28.) This cannot be what is called the Lamb's book of life, referred to in the Revelation. The Lamb's book of life records the names of the overcomers of spiritual Israel. The one in the passage under consideration seems to refer to the one that records the overcomers of fleshly Israel.

We would here remind the reader again that this prediction in Daniel, as also the others we have quoted, describes events and scenes that occur subsequent to the deliverance of the Church of Christ. Theirs is the first or chief resurrection, which embraces only the joint heirs with Christ. Israel's deliverance or salvation is accomplished by Christ at a time when all the faithful overcomers of the Gospel Age are with Him in glory. This order of events seems clearly' portrayed in the New Testament. St Paul refers to it as a mystery or secret. He says, "For I would not, brethren [of the Church class], that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in [that is, until the full number of the elect Church class is completed]."

The Apostle next speaks of the salvation of the nation of Israel in the words, "And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer [Christ, Head and Body, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is My covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the Gospel, they are enemies for your sakes [that you may partake of the choicest, the spiritual part of the promise]: but as touching the election [by which they were chosen to receive special earthly favors from God, promised to their father Abraham and his natural seed], they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are not things to be repented of.

"For as ye [Gentile Christians] in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief [their unbelief was that which made it necessary to invite Gentiles to the chief favor, in order that the predestined number to complete Christ's Body might be secured]: even so have these also now not believed [in the chief favor], that through your mercy they also may [when their blindness is removed] obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy [when the "election" is complete] upon all." - Rom. 11:25-32.

The same Apostle, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, enlarges further on this subject, describing the deliverance from death of all the Old Testament overcomers, locating this event as being after the completion, deliverance, and change of the elect Church of this Gospel Age; and he implies that the deliverance of the Old Testament saints will be accomplished by Christ and His glorified Church. Referring to this, he says, "And these all [the Old Testament saints]; having obtained a good report through faith, receive not [the fulfillment of] the promise [of deliverance]: God having [foreseen and] provided some better thing for us, that they without [apart from] us should not be made perfect." - Heb. 11:39, 40.

After finishing his portrayal of the special deliverance that is to come to Daniel's people, the revealing angel makes a statement which in a general way seems to comprehend the whole period of Michael's reign-the Millennial times: "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." As one has said, "Michael (which signifies 'Who as God,' or one representing God) is the name here applied to our great Redeemer, who is indeed the great Prince ordained of God to stand forth and deliver Daniel's people, God's people -- all who love God in truth and sincerity -- Israelites indeed. (Rom. 9:6, 25, 26; Gal. 6:16). He will deliver them from sin, ignorance, pain, and death, and from all the persecutions and besetments of Satan's blinded servants, which have in the past almost overwhelmed them. All found written in the Lamb's book of life will be delivered forever, from all enemies; those written as worthy during the Jewish and Patriarchal Ages, as well as these written in the Gospel Age, and those who will be written during the Millennial Age."

The angel next gives the comforting and encouraging assurance that "they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever." (Dan. 12:3.) Two classes seem to be mentioned in this comforting prediction-those called of God to be teachers, and those likewise called of God, who demonstrated their faithfulness and zeal in converting many to live righteous, holy lives.

"Then shall they who in the times of tribulation have led many to a knowledge of salvation receive the glorious reward of their faithfulness." The second clause of this verse "refers back to Dan. 11:33-35, and is here, as there, not limited to the teachers, but denotes the intelligent who, by instructing their contemporaries by means of word and deed, have awakened them to steadfastness and fidelity to their confession in the times of tribulation and have strengthened their faith, and some of whom have sealed their testimony with their blood. These shall shine in eternal life with heavenly splendor. The splendor of the vault of heaven (Exod 24:10) is a figure of the glory which Christ designates as a light like the sun ('The righteous shall shine forth as the sun,' Matt. 13:43, referring to the passage before us)....

"The salvation of the people, which the end shall bring in, consists accordingly in the consummation of the people of God by the resurrection of the dead and the judgment dividing the pious from the godless."

The dissertation of C. T. Russell on the coming Kingdom seems most appropriate in this connection:

"When fully set up, the Kingdom of God will be of two parts, a spiritual or heavenly phase and an earthly or human phase. The spiritual will always be invisible to men, as those composing it will be of the Divine, spiritual nature, which no man bath seen nor can see (1 Tim 6:16; John 1:18); yet its presence and power will be mightily manifested, chiefly through its human representatives, who will constitute the earthly phase of the Kingdom of God.

"Those who will constitute the spiritual phase of the kingdom are the overcoming saints of the Gospel Age -- the Christ, Head and Body -- glorified. Their resurrection and exaltation to power precedes that of all others, because trough this class all others are to be blessed. (Heb. 11:39, 40.) Theirs is the first resurrection. (Rev. 20:5.) The great work before this glorious anointed company -- the Christ -- necessitates their exaltation to the Divine nature: no other than Divine power could accomplish it. Theirs is a work pertaining not only to this world, but to all things in heaven and in earth-among spiritual as well as among human beings. - Matt. 28:18; Col. 1:20, Eph. 1:10, Phil. 2:10, 1 Cor. 6:3.

"The work of the earthly phase of the Kingdom of God will be confined to this world and to humanity. And those so highly honored as to have a share in it will be the most exalted and honored of God among men. These are the class whose judgment day was previous to the Gospel Age. Having been tried and found faithful, in the awakening they will not be brought forth to judgment again, but will at once receive the reward of their faithfulness -- an instantaneous resurrection to perfection as men. (Others than these and the spiritual class will be gradually raised to perfection during that Millennial Age.) Thus this class will be ready at once for the great work before it as the human agents of the Christ in restoring and blessing the remainder of mankind. As the spiritual nature is necessary to the accomplishment of the work of Christ, so perfect human nature is appropriate for the future accomplishment of the work to be done among men. These will minister among and be seen of men, while the glory of their perfection will be a constant example and an incentive to other men to strive to attain the same perfection. And that these Ancient Worthies will be in the human phase of the Kingdom and seen of mankind is fury attested by Jesus' words to the unbelieving Jews who were rejecting Him. He said, 'Ye shall see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the Kingdom of God.' It should be noticed also, that the Master does not mention that He or the Apostles will be visible with Abraham. As a matter of fact, men will see and mingle with the earthly phase of the Kingdom, but not with the spiritual; and some will, no doubt, be sorely vexed to find that they rejected so great an honor."

Still another statement is of interest and importance here: "Though all God's people (all who, when brought to a knowledge of Him, love and obey Him) will be delivered, yet the degrees of honor to be granted to some-the overcomers-are carefully noted; also the fact that some of the great ones of the past-Alexander, Nero, Napoleon, the Caesars, the popes, etc. -whose talents, misused, crushed while they dazzled the world, will be seen in their true characters, and be ashamed and dishonored during that Millennial Age."

- R. E. Streeter

"The Singers"

"While the road seemed far and the night seemed long,
I heard the notes of a glorious song,
Harpers that stood on the mount apart
Sang the lay that cheered my heart,
For they harped of a love that ne'er shall cease,
And a morn that shall fill the earth with peace.

"While the way seemed rough and the night seemed drear,
I heard the strains that sounded clear.
Over the hills they came in joy,
Mellowed by love that has no alloy.
And I saw the harpers and heard the song,
Which flowed in music that cheered me long.

"O wonderful harpers, O gracious lay,
Wafted as from the gates of day;
O harp with strings of a mighty plan,
Telling the time when the Lord shall ban
Night and sorrow and pain and grief,
And send to the suffering race relief.

"While the road was rough o'er the desert ways,
The music came like a psalm of praise,
Leaping in rivulets of light,
Sending cheer to the somber night,
Soft, melodious, voicing love,
From the earth below to the sky above.

"And my heart responded and sang in tune,
As the song-birds sing in the month of June."

A Pilgrim's Reverie

"So he bringeth them unto their desired haven." - Psalm 107:30.

WHAT would life be without its bridges and its fords, its resting spots where we recline beneath the blossoming boughs and beside the still waters of quietness? What would it be without its royal summits where we gather to our hearts visions of the Home Land that lies beyond the tiresome journey, its halls of friendship where hand grips hand with the earnestness of true love, and heart becomes knit to heart in confidence and trust? And last, but not least, how important its starting places, where having taken a retrospective glance along the years and braced our hearts with new determination, we once more turn our feet toward the road, buoyed up with an optimism which whispers to us that bigger, better, nobler days lie ahead of us, and that some day we shall reach the Palace of Blessedness, the place of life's consummation, which lies beyond the arduous country of endeavor. How often the mind travels back -- away back -- to air castles built in sunny childhood and buoyant youth, for "The thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts." Old scenes and memories, how they throng upon us and will not be lightly thrust aside. And through the varying way how well we know that a great hand has been guiding our steps, leading us into the light of an unfading and wondrous hope.

"So long Thy power hath blessed me, sure it still
Will lead me on
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone."

Ah, yes, for there shall be no night there, and the end shall pay us a thousand fold for all the toil and struggle of the way. Thus we cogitate, and in these meditations which, effulgent in silvery light, brighten the night like stars, we find the quiescence and the joy of faith, affording comfort through every day and keeping alive that hope which is as an "anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil." What a forepicture of the Ages of Glory when the cold blasts of selfishness and pride shall be shut out from human hearts, and the purest goodwill and love shall glow and fill the world with the light of God.

And as the years have passed, the advance of time has meant much to some of us. We are richer in experience because of the days and ours God has spread before us. We think our love has a farther range, a fuller sweep, a stronger and truer grip." Our sympathies have broadened, our faith has deepened, our hope bears iridescent hues of a brighter glow. Our craving for righteousness is more intense. We have moved farther up the stream of truth; we are less from its source than we were years ago. Nor have we forgotten to ask, What is truth? If formerly we held up a gem and said, "This is truth," we have learned to qualify the statement. No more we affirm, "The gem that I hold is all the truth, but the gem that you hold is not truth." Rather we now say, "My gem has truth." So the tree has water, but is not water, and the earth has gold but is not gold, and the diamond has beauty, but is not beauty. Even so my pearl has truth, but truth has not stopped with my pearl. There are other pearls, rare and wondrous pearls. Some day we'll know more about them, for now "we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away."

And so we have no desire to be severe with the other finders of gems, for the ocean of truth is great, and God is not severe with us. He is glad we have our gem, because when we gaze upon its liquid-like fairness, we catch glimpses of his face, and he smiles upon us from out the gem and we are glad because of the smile.

And as we think of these things, our hearts warm more to the journey before us, more to our fellow-travelers, more to the possibility of complete victory, more to the goal. Love has taken his royal seat. We see him crowned. He is there to stay, yea, to subdue all things unto himself. His accents are very gentle as he speaks to us, and his countenance is lit with "the light that never was on sea or land." He stretches out his arms and blessing drops from his hands upon the world of men.

Welcome, love. Your kingship of our minds is monarchy exalted and sublime. Ever wield your scepter o'er us. In every moment of the day we need you, we need your power, hour peace, your assuagement of life's woes.

- W. Sargeant

My Song

So long have I dreamed of the beautiful goal,
That a touch of its sunshine has lit up my soul;
Its chords are all thrilling, with music divine,
And its song is forever, "Dear Jesus is mine!"

The bird, when the tempest is raging with power,
Flies in haste to her snug little nest in the bower;
Thus safe 'neath his wing I can sweetly recline,
And sing on forever, "Dear Jesus is mine!"

When beautiful Eden awakes from the fires,
And the conflict of ages of sorrow expires,
In the great restitution, and glory divine,
I'll still sing in Paradise, "Jesus is mine!"

The Greatest Of These Is Love

"And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love" - 1 Cor. 13:13.

IN THE Epistle to the Corinthians -- 1 Cor. 13 -- we have what may be properly termed a portrait or picture of heavenly love in action; in other words, a portrait of its conduct towards others. These words of Paul may be said to be an analysis of love. As we consider this wonderful analysis of the God given character of love, it will be noticed that the Apostle describes it in its passive, its active, and its negative qualities, or aspects. By the passive quality of love is meant that quality that enables one to receive injury or suffering without resistance -- to passively submit to wrong or injury done, or supposed to have been done to us, and also to patiently submit to the trials, the adversities of life. Three passive characteristics are mentioned:

1. "Love suffers long." (1 Cor. 13:4.)

2. "Love beareth all things." (1 Cor. 13:7.)

3. "Love endureth all things." (1 Cor. 13:7.)

It will be noticed that these passive qualities are the first and last elements mentioned by Paul. Love is first represented by the inspired Apostle as stepping on to the stage of life's suffering --indeed, "suffering long"; the last view that we have of her in this picture as she passes off the stage, is "bearing all things, enduring all things." One has thus most eloquently described this passive quality of heavenly love as it is exhibited in its relation to the various difficulties, trials, and besetments that are inevitably encountered in this present life" -- Heavenly love is introduced to us with meek and bowed head, suffering long; and as she leaves our view, she is still drooping under yet heavier burdens, while her face wears the holy light of unconquerable patience, 'enduring all things.' Between these two features, suffering long, and enduring all things, lie all the other lineaments in the face of Love."

The long-suffering shows its capacity for continual forbearance, or patience under provocation. The "bearing all things," seems to have reference to suffering wrong without exhibiting resentment, or without interfering-to bear patiently neglect or indignities. The "enduring all things" seems to have reference to the trials that come in the providence of God-trials that come in connection with serving the Master and His cause. There are, however, two ways of bearing or enduring trial. One is the Stoic's way, which is to "grin and bear it;" the other is the Christian's way, the way of love, to sing and bear it.

One writer has thus expressed it -- "One is to be ever conscious of how much we are enduring; the other is to be so lifted above it that we almost forget that we are enduring anything, and are so occupied with others that we forget the pressure (of suffering) in the love. That devoted wife who ministers to her suffering husband, night after night, is so full of concern for him, that it never occurs to her that she is losing her rest and risking her life; and it is only afterwards, when the sacrifice has been completely made, that she awakes to realize how much she has endured. So He endured the cross, despising the shame, in the joy of love, leaving us an example that we should follow in His steps."

There are two kinds of trials and tribulations that come to the Christian. One kind includes those that come in the common course of life-the trials that are common to all men. To such the Apostle makes reference when referring to their beneficial effect upon Christians: "No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous, but afterwards it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby." Another kind of trial is that which comes because of faithfulness in the service of the Master. Of such were those of Paul and Silas. We read of them that, "When they (the magistrates] had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely, who having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God." (Acts 16:23-25.) There is nothing that can give greater joy to the true Christian than to know that he is suffering for his Master.

LOVE IN OPERATION

The Apostle next mentions the active qualities of this heavenly love. We find that there are four.

1. "Love is kind." (1 Cor. 13:4.)

2. "Love rejoiceth in the truth." (1 Cor. 13:6.)

3. "Love believeth all things." (1 Cor. 13:7.)

4. "Love hopeth all things." (1 Cor. 13:7.)

Referring to the first, the Apostle says, "Love is kind." The word kind is from the word kin. As used here, it means that one who possesses this heavenly love will treat another as a dear relative, a member of the same family. In one sense it may be said that Love takes all into the family circle of God, and treats them as being closely related to her in that all are objects of God's love -- "For God so loved the world."

Kindness is defined as a disposition to do good to others, a disposition to make them happy by granting their requests, supplying heir wants, or assisting them in stress. It expresses tenderness or goodness of nature, benevolence. "Its manner is gracious, its tone affectionate, its expression gentle, its whole bearing is cordial, it is full of considerate and thoughtful service."

The Apostle tells us next that, "Love rejoiceth in the truth," that is, rejoiceth when the truth is honored, or when it prospers, no matter what agency may be employed in its furtherance. It can rejoice in the work of Christ being done by others as well as that being done by itself, and by whatever means the cause of Christ is being promoted, it can say with Paul -- "'Therein do I rejoice, yea and I will rejoice." Its interest reaches beyond its own parish and its own little circle. It is in full sympathy with every movement that can promote the cause of righteousness in the world. It longs and prays for the spread of the truth until every creature shall know of God and His great salvation.

"Love believeth all things," is the next active quality of love. This does not mean that love believes everything it hears, but rather that it believes when things seem all contrary to love. It puts the best construction possible upon a brother's conduct. It says, I cannot see the heart; perhaps the new nature has been overcome for a time. Love is always eager to believe the best possible of another. It believes that God is love, even when His severe providences would, to the natural mind, seem to indicate the contrary. It says, "He doeth all things well; sometime we'll understand." Those who have come to a knowledge of God's Plan are enabled to understand the mystery of permitted evil of human suffering and can see that all things will ultimately show that God is love.

"Love hopeth all things." This may mean that when faith fails, or when one is compelled to believe the worst about another and naturally would turn away from him, hope comes to the rescue, and says, "It is not as it should be, but I trust, I hope it will be yet." Love hopes to the end. Those who experience this love from another -- "the love that will not let me go" -- desire in turn themselves to bestow it upon those who are weak and erring.

THE NEGATIVE SIDE OF LOVE

It is very helpful in our endeavors to develop this love Divine, to note how much of this God-like character of love is displayed in what we are not, and what we do not. The first and paramount requirement of discipleship is that of self-denial. Self-denial is sometimes described as simply saying "no" to oneself. "If any man will be my disciple let him deny self," etc. Self-denial has sometimes been described as a great "not" laid across the pathway of the human nature. Considering the Apostle's analysis of this negative side of heavenly love, we find eight characteristics, or "nots," mentioned. Let us consider them in their order.

The first we notice is, that "Love envies not." (1 Cor. 13:4.) This has been well called, the innocency or guilelessness of love. Envy is defined as pain, uneasiness, mortification, or discontent at superior excellence, reputation, or happiness enjoyed by another. It is accompanied often with a wish to depreciate the person, and with pleasure in seeing the person depressed or humiliated. Envy results from pride, ambition, or earthly love mortified that another has obtained what we have a strong desire to possess. Love is not jealous or unhappy at another's success or achievements, even though that success be along a line that rivals it. Love is glad even to step down and to let another take the place of honor or preference, and itself to vanish out of sight. Love can rejoice in the good of others as heartily as in its own, and it can "thank God for the graces, the services, and the recompense of others as freely as for its own."

The second negative quality of love, is described in the words -- "Love vaunteth not itself." (1 Cor. 13:4.) This has been well called the modesty of love. Vaunting oneself means vainly boasting, ostentatiously setting forth what one is or has. It is the offspring of conceit. It may be described as a desire to display, a desire to court the good opinion of others. It does not refer to pride, but something lower than pride -- vanity. The vain person has often a very low opinion of himself, and for this very reason desires others to have a higher opinion of his worth than he deserves. He desires to make use of all resources available in creating a reputation beyond his real worth. The desire for display is contrary to the law of love. Anything we do with the consciousness of being noticed, with a desire for the praise of men, is a very low form of selfishness.

Another negative quality mentioned b the Apostle is- 'love is not puffed up. " (1 Cor. 14:4.) This is well name the humility of love. Love is not puffed up with pride, or swollen with the conceit of its own goodness, importance, attractiveness, or achievements. Love has learned not to think of itself more highly than it ought to think. Love looks upon itself as a mere instrument, as a fragile earthen vessel that God may take up and use or that He may lay aside at His will. It has learned to estimate itself as nothing.

LOVE'S UNSELFISHNESS

The next negative quality of love is well denominated the manners or behavior of love, and is expressed in the words of the Apostle -- "Love behaveth not itself unseemly. " Love is always good mannered. Love does not act rudely, discourteously. Love does not willingly offend, hurt, or wound anther's feelings. Love is gentle and considerate in her manner. One has said-"It is wonderful how the spiritual qualities will transform the exterior life of even very ignorant and uncultivated people, and how their very manners will change and become lovely and attractive from the power of the heavenly principle within." Another way of defining this expression would be-Love does not behave itself indecently, unbecomingly. It is even modest in its expressions of its spiritual enjoyments.

The words, "Love seeketh not her own, " may well be termed the aim or central purpose of love. Love never terminates on itself. Human nature is naturally disposed to look first from the standpoint of self and ask, How will this affect me, or mine? Love inverts the order and thinks first, How will this please Him? How will this help others? To whatever extent our purpose or aim in life is to gratify ourselves, rather than that of bringing glory to God or of being of benefit to others, to that extent it is deficient in this heavenly love. One who makes it a rule of life to seek the good of others as the Master did, will find that he has discovered the way to possess true happiness, without seeking it, and to at last attain the Heavenly Kingdom. "God will pour in and fill the vacuum, as love pours out and produces it."

Another negative quality of heavenly Love is described in the words - "Love it not provoked." This has been rightly called the temper of love. Love is always good tempered. (The word "easily" is not found in the original manuscript). Love is never provoked, and never fails in anything. Had Christ even once failed in manifesting any of the characteristics of love; had He lost Himself and become sinfully angry; had He been incited to rage; the world would have no Savior, no Deliverer. Never for one moment in the contest against sin and evil, or in His contact with the most wicked people, did He ever display sinful anger or wrath. In the shame and spitting before the Jewish council, in the smiting by the officers of the high priest, in the terrible anguish and insults of the cross, He did not in one single instance lose His perfect self-control and gentleness; and, as one has truly said -- "If Christ be in us, His love will not be provoked even as of old."

LOVE'S FORGIVING POWER

Still another negative quality of this Love that comes from Heaven is described in the words -- "Love thinketh no evil." This is variously rendered as -- "Love does not surmise evil," "Love imputeth no evil," "Love keepeth no account of evil." In harmony with the last rendering, this is named the memory of love. Concerning certain things love has a poor memory; rather it has the ability to forget as well as to forgive. It has no malignant recollections. It does not forgive and cover over the fault of another today, while carefully keeping it in reserve to use tomorrow if something should provoke a reference to it. It drops the past, it forgets the fault and act as if it had not been. One has thus commented on the expression, "Love keepeth no account of evil" -- "It lays up no grudges for future avenging, no memories to be poured out at the next opportunity in bitter words: but for its own sake, as well as for the others, it loves to forget wrong or injury done to it. It refuses to dwell upon it, it keeps no record of offences, it does not get sullen, and stay until it has had its revenge by a gloomy moroseness, which has made everybody wretched long enough to inflict a reasonable punishment, and then choose to be sweet again. No; but it quickly forgets the fault, smiles through the springing tears, supplants the cloud with the rainbow, gives, like the crushed geranium leaves, sweetness in return for bruising, and still loves on unchanged. It has no account book, no judgment seat; its only business is mercy, gentleness, and pleasing. It is called to bless and curse not, to do good and not evil all its days; to cheer and comfort, sweeten and lift up; but never to depress, to pain, to judge, to harm. Even the poor sinner and the erring one are the special objects of its tenderness, and it loves to bless them that persecute, and pour coals of fire upon the head of him that wrongs it."

LOVE'S MINISTRIES TO THE ERRING

The last characteristic of this negative side of Heavenly love is that- "It rejoiceth not in iniquity. " We do not need to be told that those who possess this Heavenly love are haters of the principle of iniquity. Sin, iniquity, is abhorrent to such. We do not think that this was in the Apostle's mind when he wrote these words. A characteristic may be referred to here by him that is quite common on the part of the world, a characteristic which Christians are susceptible to if they are not watchful and prayerful, and if they are not partakers of a large measure of the spirit of Christ, this Heavenly love. His words seem to have reference to one who has been injured, and then the one who has caused the injury has himself suffered retribution, possibly through experiencing the same injury. How strong is the temptation to rejoice and say -- "I am glad; he is getting what he deserves because of his treatment of me." This is not the course of love; no -- "Love rejoiceth not in iniquity." Love is always desirous of returning good for evil.

Another way of interpreting this expression is that-"There is a temptation to feel flattered when we find another doing wrong, especially if it is one who has been longer in the Christian life than we, and from whom we might expect better things. It seems to give a sort of covering to our faults, or at least, a faint excuse; or if not, there is a certain sort of Pharisaical triumph that makes us feel that we have got the better of them, and are perhaps a little nearer God. Let us be ashamed of such a spirit, and like our Master, let us weep when others fall, even if we have stood. Good Daniel took upon him the faults and sins of his people, and confessed them as his own, and won the recompense of being called the 'man that was greatly beloved.' Let us have that love that will blush with shame for our brother's fault, and for our sister's false step; that will be so linked with the whole Body of Christ that if one member suffer, we shall suffer; if one member sin, we shall feel disgraced and defiled and shall find all the strength of our heart flowing out in intercession and restoring love. The most delicate and sacred of love's ministries is to the erring, and only one who has a very loving heart can deal with the sins of others. Harshness never helps them, censoriousness never heals them, a spirit of judging never uplifts them, but ye which are spiritual restore the one that is overtaken in a fault, in the spirit of meekness. Alexander's painter drew his portrait covering the scar on his brow with the shadow of his hand. And so Love ever hides the faults of others by its own sweet disguises, and thus creates the good which it desires in them.

These eight negative attributes of love constitute a very large measure of the Christian character. How impressive is the thought that the chief thing we have to do in order to exemplify the Christian profession, is not to do. How often is the case true of us if we would honor our Lord and Master and imitate Him, we can best do so by simply keeping still, "holding back the word unspoken, the thought uncherished, the look unexpressed, the deed undone, and maintain a quiet and silent negative, under the pressure of temptation." Of a certain occasion it is written of our Lord-"He answered them not a word."

FOLLOW AFTER LOVE

The Apostle concludes his wonderful, Divinely inspired portrait of love in the words of exhortation, "Follow after Love," (1 Cor. 14:1.) The word "follow" would be better rendered "pursue." The meaning is, to make the exhibition of this heavenly Love the one great object of our lives. Just as the great inspiring and controlling attribute of God's character is that of love, as we who understand God's wonderful Plan for His creatures know, so let the inspiring and controlling attribute of our characters in our dealing with our fellow-men be that of love. This heavenly love is not earthly in its origin. Indeed, the picture presented in this wonderful description is really that of our Lord Jesus Christ, and it is impossible of duplication by imperfect creatures. The only way to obtain this love even measurably is by coming into an actual union with Christ Jesus. It begins to be realized by receiving His spirit, the holy spirit.

In the reception of this holy spirit of Heavenly love, there come real definite experiences. These experiences may be described as a conscious realization of God's favor, a love for Him, a love for Christ, a love for His people, and a love for the erring and sinful world. All of these are entirely new experiences - "Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new." However, both Scripture and experience teach that this holy spirit of love is retained only by a continued maintenance of an actual union with Christ. This union is maintained in the same way that it is entered into -by faith. This faith is exhibited in a submission of the will to Christ, as also in a dependence upon Him each moment to help us in the exercise of this love in all the relationships of life. In other words, we are first given a real foretaste of this Heavenly love, a real inner experience of what it is, without, at that time, having any special testing of it.

Next will come the opportunities to exercise this heavenly Love. In the common everyday affairs of life these opportunities come. It is under these ordinary circumstances and conditions that this new love, this new life, begins to be tested. It is however, to be tested to the uttermost. On this account we must not think it strange when, in the Divine providence, we are led into most trying and difficult places in which our own natural love will utterly fail, and we learn the difference between the natural love and the supernatural -the heavenly love. We thus discover our own natural imperfections, our utter weakness, and in this way we learn to trust in Christ to help in our time of need. We will be brought into places where we will be wronged, ill-treated, unjustly dealt with, or unappreciated, in order that we ay learn to love as God, as Christ loves. It is under such conditions that we will be tempted to say-"It is not required of me to love those who despitefully use me and persecute me and say all manner of evil against me falsely." And yet we are compelled to admit that this is the way that God and Christ love. This was one of the ways that Christ, our Master, proved that He possessed this love. We may say-"Who is sufficient for these things? Who is equal to such a love?" The answer must be, No one is sufficient of himself. It is here that we must learn the other lesson, the lesson that Paul said he had learned, which is that our sufficiency is of God, and that such sufficiency is secured by an actual, vital union with Christ by faith and obedience.

O weary Heart, who knows how near the end may be to all your testing. Be brave, be true, be purified through your sufferings and temptations, and so gain the lessons which God is teaching here through your trials, for which some day you will praise Him through the eternal ages.

- Peoples Paper, Australia

"Nothingness"

"Oh to be nothing! We sigh it, we sing it,
'Tis often our longing, our heartfelt desire,
Lord teach us the meaning, and oh, make us ready
For testing and pruning, for dross and for fire.

"Oh to be nothing! 'Tis easy to say it,
We know not the pride which is in us, the sin,
Till God in His mercy reveals what is hidden,
And touches our sensitive spirit within.

"Oh to be nothing! 'Twill cost us an effort
To humble ourselves in the dust at His feet,
To let go vainglory, our own reputation,
And give all the praise unto God as is meet.

"Oh to be nothing! To follow His footsteps,
Who 'emptied Himself for our sakes on the cross,
Who came down from heaven, relinquished its glory
And bore all the shame, and the pain, and the loss.

"Oh to be nothing! for then God can use us,
The things which 'are not' to bring down those which are,
'Tis weak ones, and poor ones, whom He can empower
To fight for His Kingdom in Heaven's holy war.

"'Tis blest to be 'nothing'! 'Tis blest to be foolish,
Let Christ be our wisdom, His beauty enthrall
That self may be hidden, and Jesus exalted,
We only 'poor sinners,' and nothing at all."

Avenues of Time

'Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things, about which God spoke by the mouth of His
holy prophets from ancient time." - Acts 3:20, 21 (N.A.S.B.)

THE most striking and spectacular, besides the most important, type of Bible prophecy is that which has its object and focus at the end of the Age, the time when God brings what St. Paul calls "this present evil world" to a close and replaces it by the Heaven-directed administration of the Messianic Kingdom, the period characterized by the presence of Christ as World-King during His Second Advent. St. Peter is on record as declaring, in his first evangelical address at Pentecost, that every one of the old Hebrew prophets since the Age began had said something about that time; a painstaking reading of the Scriptures will quickly confirm the truth of his words. Every prophet has said something, either in brief or in considerable detail, about the manner in which the kingdoms of this world will eventually become the Kingdom of our Lord. Proof of the genuineness of any prediction can lie only in its manifest fulfillment, so that much of this type of prophecy still awaits vindication, but many of the intervening factors have now passed into history and to this extent given the stamp of authority to such prophecies.

Daniel, the statesman of the Babylonian Exile in the sixth century B.C., is responsible for recording the most striking of these "eschatological" (relating to the last things) predictions, and no better examples for the present purpose can be found. He records foreviews of events that were to occur in the political affairs of the world at various times throughout the two and a half millenniums that have elapsed between his day and ours, starting with contemporary happenings of only a few years beyond his own death and extending into a time which to us is still future. The correspondence of that which was thus recorded with events that undeniably have happened is so exact that the Book of Daniel has become a battle-ground between believers in the influence of the supernatural and those who deny the existence of the supernatural.

Daniel started on the basis of a prediction sixty years earlier by the prophet Jeremiah to the effect that after seventy years' captivity in Babylon the Jewish people would be restored to their own land. Nearly two centuries previously Isaiah had given the name of the conqueror-Cyrus-who would order that restoration. Before Daniel died he witnessed the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus and the fulfillment of the prophecy bp his restoring the nation to its land and ordering the rebuilding of the Temple. But in the meantime Daniel had received and recorded revelations imparted to him by a celestial visitant, the messenger of the most High, announcing himself to Daniel under a proper name, Gabriel. This coming of a heavenly messenger to Daniel is one instance of the lifting of the curtain which divides us from the spiritual world, even though it affords but a shadow image of that world. We are permitted to glimpse just a little of those activities that are going on "beyond the veil." "At the beginning thy supplications the commandment went forth," says Gabriel to Daniel, "and I am come to show thee. " There is an indication here of activity and organization in the world of the spirit which shows it to be a very real world. Here is an individual, a citizen of that world, deputed to carry out a commission involving his transfer temporarily to our world and his manifestation to us in a form perceptible to human senses, that the message may be given.

That message comprised three distinct and separate foreviews of things to come. One was plainly stated to extend from Daniel's own day to the coming of Messiah for the purpose of suffering and death -- the time we call the First Advent. The other two covered a much longer span of time; between them they extend beyond the ending of this present world-Age and into the Messianic Kingdom. The exactitude of the first prophecy is a matter of wonder to all who read, but no longer a question of dispute. Taking as a starting point an event which was not to occur for some eighty years after the death of Daniel -- the Decree of Artaxerxes king of Persia authorizing the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem-the coming of the Messiah was to be sixty-nine "sevens." This was a cryptic way of indicating four hundred and eighty-three years. Precisely that number of years from the Decree, viz., in A.D. 29, Jesus of Nazareth began His ministry. The Messiah had come! Gabriel predicted that associated with that Messianic appearance would be events the details of which must have shaken Daniel and his fellow patriots to the core. Foreign powers would destroy Jerusalem and its Temple again, bring to an end the old ritual of sacrifice and worship, and desolate the land. The pages of Josephus give sufficient testimony to the terrible manner in which that prediction was fulfilled within forty years of the coming of Christ, in the Jewish War against Vespasian and Titus, resulting in the depopulation of Judea and the Dispersion of Israel amongst all nations.

Although the same definiteness of time-scale is not associated with the "end-of-the-Age" predictions of Daniel, it is true to say that Gabriel gave him a relatively clear and detailed picture of events that were to happen over a period of something like twenty-five hundred years. That much is evident even if we do not fully understand the fulfillment of all that he told Daniel. The question of immediate interest to us is this: how could these detailed happenings be known so long before they occurred? The account in Daniel 11 is no general statement of the ultimate purpose of God, no set of terms that cover in a general way the main drift of world events into the Kingdom; the detailed and precise nature of the narrative implies that Gabriel could see, or had seen, a clear panorama or chart of world history as yet not enacted, and was able to speak to Daniel with the precision of absolute knowledge.

It is here that we are brought face to face with one of the most intriguing statements in the whole of the Scriptures; one that seems to have received less than its due share of notice from scholars and commentators. "I will shew thee, " saps Gabriel, "that which is noted in the scripture of truth"(i.e., in the "true writings." this being the literal meaning of the expression). It takes a moment or two to realize that these "true writings" which Gabriel proposed to reveal to Daniel, and did reveal in what we now have as the 11th and 12th chapters of the latter's prophecy, are not recorded in any "true writings" which now exist upon earth! These two chapters with their detailed account of world history from Daniel's time to the consummation of the Kingdom, stand unique in literature. There is nothing like them in the Bible or anywhere else. Whatever may be the nature of those "true writings" from which the angel Gabriel drew his authority to speak, they are not of this world or this order of things!

Then what can they be? Are there indeed books in Heaven? Did the angel bring with him a celestial scroll, from which as he unrolled he could read to the prophet concerning things to come? Is there a literal "Book of Life" reposing in some kind of heavenly library, containing all the records which are to be made known when the Last Day shall come? Will the angels turn over literal pages to find the judgments recorded, when all men stand before the great Throne, and "the judgment was set, and the books were opened?"

We do not think so. What we do know is that there must be counterparts to these things in the heavenly realm, that just as the records of men upon earth, preserved in book form, exist as aids to memory, so in that spiritual realm there must be "records of memory" waiting to be called upon when the time of decision and judgment comes. But not only of memory; for the angel spoke of things yet to come as being already recorded in the "true writings." What then can these "true writings" be but the eternal purpose of God, known unto Him from the foundation of the world, made known by Him, to angels or to men, as He sees fit? The expression "true writings" in such a connection gives a terrible finality to the things to which reference is made. There can be no escape from the fulfillment predicted. There can be no possibility of turning the current of events so that the details of prophecy given by the angel do not come to pass after all. These things shall be; they are so written, and the only explanation of that irrevocable finality consistent with God's gift of free will to man is that God, having set in motion the forces which are leading men to their destined end, sees into the future and perceives what is coming, much as a railway train driver from his cab looks forward along the track and perceives the trees and rivers and towns advancing toward him, whilst the passengers, limited to their sideways vision, can have no conception at all of what they will be seeing five minutes hence.

We naturally ask ourselves what determines the nature and sequence of those coming events. Were they arbitrarily devised and ordained by God in the dim long ago before as yet any of them began, before man ad been created or the earth brought into being? Or can we conceive of God, in the immensity of His power and wisdom, being able to take a comprehensive view of the world as it now is, all its creatures with all the thoughts and intents of all their minds, discerning in His infinite knowledge just how every one of those creatures will react to each of the influences that will be brought to bear upon him during life. Does He thus perceive the end from the beginning, not because He has arbitrarily willed the minutiae and detail of that end, but because He can foresee what is going to be the effect of every thought and word and action of every man at this particular moment, and then the further effects of those effects, and so on into infinity, so that from the state of the world and the men in it at this present time, He can, as it were, calculate the precise outcome at the "end of the world"?

The daily press, and other sources of general knowledge, have made most people familiar with the development and use of mechanical computers. These modern marvels of electronic engineering are by no means so "intelligent" or "able to think," nor will they ever be, as the popular press would have us believe. They are at best extremely complex calculating machines. But a computer can solve in a few seconds abstruse mathematical problems which either would take a professional mathematician years to calculate or by normal methods would not be capable of calculation at all. A computer cannot do this of itself; it can only render an answer to a question when the necessary data relating to the question is fed into it. All that it does is to calculate the effect arising from a large number of causes, and to do this with lightning rapidity. And if a man-made machine can do that, is it not obvious that the Divine Mind can in a similar but infinitely greater fashion take in all the possible influences bearing upon men, all the facts and figures which go to make up man's world and the minds of all men, as they are now, and from that foresee what is going to be the outcome? Man's power of choice, his exercise of free-will, is not fettered or limited in any way by the fact that God can foresee how he will exercise that power.

Let Isaiah, who knew the majesty and power of God more intimately, perhaps, than any other of the prophets, give his testimony as to what he perceived of this aspect of God's character.

'I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, AND FROM ANCIENT TIMES THE THINGS THAT ARE NOT YET DONE." - Isa. 46:10.

'Bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth and shew us what shall happen. Let them .chew the former things (things before us-coming things) what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know THAT YE ARE GODS. Yea, do,

good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed and behold it together" [i.e., perceive that man can tell the end from the beginning] Isa. 41:21-23. The point so noticeable when pondering over these Scriptures is that the certainty of the prophecy is due, not so much to God's exercise of foreordination, but to God's knowledge of things to come. It is as though He sees what is not yet apparent to men, and tells them what He sees. Moreover, it would seem as if this power to foresee future happenings is one that can be shared by others in the spiritual realm. "Shew us things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that YE are Gods!" -- elohim, the term used to denote the celestial powers. It is evident, though, that this clear perception of the future is not normally possessed by the angelic host, for we are told that the mysteries of coming things are matters "which the angels DESIRE to look into." (1 Pet. 1:12.) Gabriel certainly had knowledge of coming things when he spoke to Daniel; so did the angels who appeared to Ezekiel and Zechariah. Above all, our Lord, manifested to John on the island of Patmos, declared that He was about to show him "things which must shortly come to pass." (Rev. 1:1.) One wonders if our Lord at that time had a clearer knowledge of the events and time of His own Second Advent that He possessed sixty years earlier when, in the days of His flesh, He said, "Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, NEITHER THE SON, but the Father." (Mark 13:32.) It may then be literally true that God does "see" down the "stream of time" and, without deliberately ordaining or commanding specific events and happenings, does perceive what those happenings are going to be.

If this be indeed the case, we may rest assured that men like Daniel and Ezekiel are the very ones to whom the visions of remote futurity would be given; men whose hearts were earnestly set on the fulfillment of all God's gracious plans, men whose minds were closely attuned to God in their endeavor to see what He could see, and to hear what He would say to them. Hence, Paul, caught up into the "third heaven" (2 Cor. 12:2) was able to hear and see things which could never be repeated or imparted in their detail to his fellows, because so different from anything with which we are familiar upon earth.

This brings us to the greatest difficulty in the imparting of this type of prophecy. The conditions of far distant days differ so widely from those of today that a great many statements and allusions must of necessity be quite unintelligible unless re-expressed in terms familiar by reason of everyday use. Suppose an angel from heaven had appeared, for instance, to Sir Francis Drake in A.D. 1588 to tell him of the great war of 1939-45. It would be supremely difficult for the Elizabethan Admiral to understand the angel's description of naval warfare with its dive-bombers, submarines, and super-dreadnoughts. The angel would have to recast his description along the lines of wooden sailing-ships, bows and arrows, primitive ball-firing cannon, and cutlasses. His reference to American participation would leave Sir Francis puzzled, for North America, although vaguely known to Europeans, had not then been colonized, and its only inhabitants were Red Indians. Holland and Belgium would have to be referred to by their mediaeval name of Flanders, and Russia as Muscovy. The whole story would need recasting in the atmosphere and within the limits of knowledge of the sixteenth century. And the angel would be hard put to it to convince the skeptical sailor that men would be flying in winged ships five miles above the earth and, so doing, converse easily with their fellows on the ground a hundred miles away.

So when the angel spoke to Daniel, and Jesus spoke to His disciples on the Mount of Olives, their language had to be accommodated to the knowledge of the times. Gabriel spoke of kings, warring one with another down to the end of the Age. In the reality those "kings" may be local powers, petty kingships; they may represent empires, presided over by mighty military conquerors; they may depict whole races of mankind exercising a period of world supremacy and then declining and giving place in turn to others. But to Daniel they were kings. The angel spoke of Michael standing up; we know that he referred to Christ, who is to take control at the time of the resurrection, in the dawn of the Millennial Age. But Daniel knew nothing of Christ; like other Jews of the day, he looked on "Michael the archangel" as the traditional spiritual prince and champion of his people, and hence quite naturally Gabriel used the name of the archangel to represent that One whose name, Jesus, Daniel had never heard.

So Jesus, viewing the events of today from two thousand years ago, could not describe those things to His disciples without enshrining them in words and terms familiar to His hearers. Men do not live on housetops today, neither do women grind at corn-mills except perhaps in isolated country districts. But He could not have said, "Let not the factory worker return to his bench, not the train-driver to his engine shed," for such words would convey nothing to the disciples. We must interpret the words Jesus did use in the realization of this fact.

Each individual example of prophecy, therefore, has to be considered and interpreted on its own merits, the sanctified judgment of the student being brought to bear upon its nature, whether literal or symbolic, in everyday plain language or in metaphor or poetry. Was it intended only for the people of the generation to which it was first spoken, or was its meaning veiled that it might reveal its message in a much later day? Does its range cover the few short years only of its own epoch, or does it extend forward into far futurity, thus affording guidance for the Christian of the generation in which the prophecy is to have its fulfillment?

To what extent does it illuminate the eternal purpose of God and the ceaseless operation of the Divine Mind working in history and the world of men? It is only when we can ask these questions and set their answers in proper relation that we shall be able correctly to interpret the prophecies, "comparing spiritual things with spiritual. "

When all that we can say has been said, it remains that we know very little of the power behind prophecy. If the foregoing has helped to demonstrate that prophecy is in fact based upon a sure knowledge of the future, that God reveals it to those whose minds and hearts are attuned to Him, and that the revelation of such knowledge is of value in the development of Christian character and the preservation of Christian faith, then it has served its purpose. It will be necessary for many minds to be exercised and many pens to be busy if the "sure word of prophecy" is to be expounded in all its fulness of light for our day, for such things can never be the peculiar privilege of one man. The subject is too vast to be comprehended from one viewpoint. But whilst remembering this, we need also to remember that in prophecy, as in perhaps no other Scriptural subject, it is necessary that old understandings be continuously amplified and enlarged, and ofttimes drastically revise, as we progress along that upward pathway that "shineth more and more unto the perfect day. "

- A. 0. Hudson

A Pledge Of Divine Inspiration

"So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." - Isaiah 55:11.

THE Infinite Intelligence which 1 created our finite intelligence has, by an intellectual proof of the most conclusive kind, commended to us His revelation of Himself and His purposes. He has given to these last days the supreme miracle of fulfilled prophecy.

We may not say, Had we seen the miracles of Christ, had we been convinced by ocular demonstration of His supernatural wisdom and power, we would have believed. Fulfillments of predictions are every whit as conclusive evidence of supernatural wisdom and power. They are miracles in the realm of mind, and higher than any miracles in the realm of matter. They are also, by their very nature, the proper miracles of the closing days of dispensations. The lapse of time is essential to them. The predictions of Christ and of Paul were no miracles to those that heard them, but they are the mightiest proofs possible of their Divine inspiration to the generations of the twentieth century.

Men crave in these days some demonstration from the unseen world. Here is abundance of such evidence! Here is clear proof of an unseen and almighty intelligence presiding over human history, and showing us that He does so by describing beforehand the whole course of its events. What need we any further proof? The order of the visible world is evidence of the invisible to him who reads history in the light of prophecy! He beholds the hand of God in human experience, and watches the development of the Divine plan in the progress of the world. He knows, moreover, what events to expect, for he discerns his own chronological position in the stream of time; and as nine-tenths of the program have already been fulfilled, he doubts not that the remaining tenth will be in its predicted and fast-approaching season.

And further, it is clear that if by so many infallible proofs we are convinced that the Bible as a whole is from God, no difficulties as to the mode of its inspiration, no scientific or critical objections, should be suffered to interfere with our hearty and thankful reception of its revelation. If God has spoken, man is responsible to hear, to believe, and to obey.

And lastly, may we say, that to study the Christian evidences is merely to examine the foundations of the house. It is well at times to do this. But it is better to enter and abide in the house! It is infinitely better to avail one's self of its shelter from the stormy blast, to enjoy its rich and spacious accommodation, to dwell in safety and peace under its blessed roof, and to gaze on the widespread prospect from its windows. There are evidences of the truth and Divine origin of the Christian faith, blessed be God! -- evidences enough to satisfy any candid inquirer. But, oh, that faith itself-the faith or revelation thus evidenced! But, what thought can measure its unspeakable preciousness! What tongue can utter, what pen can write, its glorious soul-satisfying, world-transforming nature and effects! Darker than midnight is the problem of existence apart from it, - blank as the grave our prospects, whether as individuals or as a race. Man without a revelation from his Maker, like a rudderless and dismasted vessel, driven by mighty winds over raging billows toward a rock-bound coast, drifts helplessly, hopelessly towards destruction. Redeemed man, enlightened by the beamings of the Sun of righteousness, steers steadily and peacefully into the desired haven. The pilot is at the helm, home is in sight, and though the voyage has been dark and dangerous, it is all but over, and its blessed end and eternal issue is the kingdom of righteousness and glory, prepared and promised "from the foundations of the world."

-H. Gratton Guinness

Entered Into Rest

Fred Boekelheide, Redfield, S.D
Tracy S. Bundy, Kingston, N.Y.
Kathryn W. Carter, Rocky Mount, N.C.
Mary Dinwoodie, Belford, NJ.
Norma Funk, Thorp, Wis.
Mary Belle Higbee, Dayton, Ohio
Robert Hollinger, Kelowna, B.C.
Hilda C. Johnson, Mpls., Minn.
June W. Johnson, Los Angeles, Cal.
Stephen Lanowick, Paradise, Cal.
Hilda Meines, Lowell, Mich.
Laura E. Roudabush, Los Gatos, Cal.
Albert A. Schmidt, Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Ste11a Tabaczynski, Niles, Mich.
M. H. Tutt, England
Theresa Visvader, Milwaukee, Wis.

1983 Index