Earlier text: BETHANY[The following beautiful lesson is from “Bozatyky's Golden Treasury,” written 152 years ago.] WHEN Cyrus took the king of Armenia, and his son Tigranes, and their wives and children, prisoners, and, upon their humble submission, beyond all hope, gave them their liberty and their lives, in their return home, as they were all commending Cyrus, some for his personage, some for his power, some for his clemency, Tigranes asked his wife:— “What thinkest thou of Cyrus? Is he not a comely and a proper man, of majestic presence?” “Truly,” said she, “I know not what manner of man he is; I never looked upon him.” “Why,” said he, “where were thine eyes all the while? upon whom didst thou look?” “I fixed mine eyes,” said she, “all the while upon him [meaning her husband] who in mine hearing offered to Cyrus to lay down his life for my ransom.” Thus if any question the devout soul, once indeed captivated by the world, but now enamored by Christ, her heavenly Bridegroom, whether she is not charmed with the riches, pleasure, and gaieties of the world, her answer is that her eyes and her heart are now fixed on a nobler object, even on Him who not only made an offer like Tigranes, to die in her stead, but actually laid down His life to ransom her; and, as her dear Bridegroom is now in heaven, her looks are after Him, and she can esteem nothing on earth in comparison of Him. HYPNOTISM AND “PSYCHIC HEALING.”
THIS great world and its inhabitants are sick unto death, and healing is eagerly sought in every quarter, from every promised source. Because of the much sickness and the anxious and highly proper desire for healing, patent-medicine proprietors and venders wax rich, and a multitude of “healers” have sprung up, many of whom feed fat upon a longing and oftentimes credulous public. Marvelous cures are reported and credited to “Christian Science,” “Hypnotism,” “Magnetic Healing,” “Psychic Healing,” “Faith Healing,” etc. Hypnotism is practised by many regularly-licensed physicians. Yet, notwithstanding claims and results, there are many, not a few of whom are sufferers, who question these methods, and fear the principles and influences which, apparently, are inherent in them. We write especially to help this class, as well as the still larger number who have given but little thought to the matter. One of the interested ones, after speaking of the claims of psychic healers, thus voices the anxieties of many. “What I wish you to do is to tell me if it is a fact that a perfect stranger from any distance, without ever having seen or spoken to another person, can affect, or, as is claimed, use psychic healing on, that other person, who may be ill? And if so, can these hypnotic, mesmeric, or psychic doctors (by whatever name they choose to call themselves) affect a person always afterward, no matter where that person may happen to be; that is, of course, should the person who treats the patient so choose?” These questions mean much. They can not, with profit and clearness, be answered dogmatically. Other things should be considered, and in this consideration, necessarily brief, we ask the attention of our readers. 1. God is infinite in every attribute of good. He is good in the exercise of all wisdom, power, and authority. He has all wisdom to direct, all power to execute, all love to control. 2. He is the “fountain of life.” All life comes from Him, the center, pulsing out to all parts of His created universe. Every creature lives by His life. “In Him we live, and move, and have our being.” That life flows normally, as life and blessing and health, in harmony with God’s holy law. That, being in perfect harmony with God, in absolute submission to His law, can not die. 3. Infinite Love could not keep the conscious, unnumbered blessings of life to Himself; He must share with others. He therefore created conscious, intelligent beings, upon whom He conferred the power of absolute choice, that their union with Him might be voluntary, their obedience to His requirements the service of love. Only so can there be continuance of life and health and blessing. If these have been lost, only so can they be restored. How many such beings there are, into how many classes divided, we know not. The Bible presents before us two, sufficient for our knowledge in this fallen state. 4. The first of these in priority of time and scale of being are the shining hosts of the messengers of God, known by the general term “angels.” But “angel” simply means “messenger.” The Word speaks of them as “ministering spirits,” as “ministers of His, that do His pleasure.” At their head, the highest of all created beings, in whose creation was sealed up the sum, who was “full of wisdom and perfect in beauty,” was the “covering cherub,” named “Lucifer,” “the son of the morning.” (See Eze. 28:12–19; Isa. 14:12–14.) The other class of beings are those who were created to dwell upon this earth, for whom the earth was created. Isa. 45:18; Ps. 115:16; Matt. 5:5. 5. It was the privilege of Lucifer to retain his glorious beauty and wisdom and light by choosing God’s ways. It was his privilege to perpetuate the life, the light, the wisdom, which God placed in him and continually poured upon him, from the ministry of others7 in the service, and to the glory, of God, to himself, and what would seem to unbelief, his own benefit. Only by free choice can character—eternal, unswervingly loyal, loving, and lovable—be formed. And God must take the risk of sin in giving the right of choice. But He did it under such conditions that no soul at the last can charge God with injustice or partiality. 6. Lucifer, “the son of the morning,” not satisfied with the abundant gifts and blessings bestowed of God, sought even the place of God Himself. He proposed: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit upon the mount of the congregation, in the uttermost parts of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds [of angels]; I will be like the Most High.” Isa. 14:13, 14, R.V. Into this rebellion he drew a third part of the host of heaven, imbued with the same selfish, unholy ambition of dethroning God. But good perverted becomes evil, and so the covering cherub became Satan, the adversary, the devil (diabolus); the “son of the morning” became “the prince of darkness,” “the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience;” his wisdom became craft and guile; his object became destruction instead of salvation, and the host of shining spirits who followed him in his rebellion became the angels of the devil, his messengers of evil, the demons, “the spiritual hosts of darkness.” These were cast out of the presence of God. (See Rev. 12:4, 9; Eph. 2:2; 6:11, 12, and many other passages.) 7. When man was created, the prince of darkness came to this earth, seduced our first parents, and thus brought sin and “death into the world, and all our woe.” Man chose the evil, turned from the good ways of God, perverted all His blessings, and chose the way of sin, and has reaped, and is reaping, the resultant curses. 8. The rest, the greater part, of the angels remained loyal to God. They chose by faith the way of God, believing that the everlasting ages to come would demonstrate the truthfulness and eternal goodness of God. 9. Not alone in the visible realms of this world, therefore, has waged the fierce conflict between good and evil, between righteousness and sin, between the hosts of light and the hosts of darkness, between life and death. Ranged under their two leaders are the two hosts of spirits. On the one hand is Michael (“who is like God”), the Son of God, with all the angels of light, and on the other hand is Satan, with his demon spirits (in our version rendered “devils,” plural), the angels of darkness. And since man was created, the great controversy has gone on in this world. 10. Joyfully, loyally, the hosts of God’s messengers go forth “to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.” Heb. 1:14. Not one soul will be saved in which Christ shall rejoice alone. He gives His angels (and human children also) a portion of the work. They share in the labor, the anxiety, the conflict; they will share in the joy of the harvest home. Read the entire Bible and mark God’s providential dealings with man. How frequently are mentioned the presence of His angels! They, by His power, save from disaster, comfort the sorrowing and despairing, strengthen the weak, overcome the hosts of evil, heal the sick, raise the dead, and give to God all the glory. Every thoughtful person, of large and varied experience, has seen in his own observation where, apart from all human effort or influence, life-saving suggestions have been given, conscience aroused, danger averted, and life saved. Sometimes warnings have come as tho an audible voice had uttered them. It was God speaking thru His ministering angels. Even as they ministered to the divine Son of man from His fasting in the desert to His agony in Gethsemane, so will they minister to every child of God who desires their ministry and instruction. 11. Satan’s host of ministering angels are abroad in the earth, ministering darkness and sin and death to every soul whom they can reach. If they seem to minister light, it is like the ignis fatuus, that treacherous “will-o’-the-wisp,” which leads to trouble and death in fathomless morasses and quagmires. “Satan fashioneth himself into an angel of light;” “his ministers also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness.” 2 Cor. 11:14, 15, R.V. He will work in the last days “with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish.” 2 Thess. 2:9, 10. His ministers “shall show great signs and wonders; so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.” Matt. 24:24, R.V. Satan is the great deceiver. The deceivableness of unrighteousness is making unrighteousness to appear as righteousness. The working of lying wonders is the doing of false, wondrous things which appear true. He will do seeming good that he may do more effectual evil. He afflicts the body and the mind, as he did when Christ was upon the earth, and induces people to charge the sickness to God. He withdraws the afflicting spirit thru one of his agencies; the person seems to be healed, and man or Satan’s agency gets the glory. And because of these workings, even of miracles (Rev. 16:13, 14), in “the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils [demons].” 1 Tim. 4:1. And these spread abroad the fame of the false, human-exalting, spirit-exalting miracles; and their victims are many among those who receive not the love of the truth that they may be saved. 2 Thess. 2:10. 12. Thus we have presented before us in the Word of God, as in a panorama, what is now actually true, the great invisible army of darkness fighting for the souls of men and the discrediting of God. There are “miracles” wrought on both sides. There are wonders false and true. The true is ever the same in principle; the false assumes every guise but that of the absolute and altogether true. How may we decide between them? We can not learn the multitude of Satan’s wiles; his perversions are ever changing. We must learn the straight way of God. Principles of God’s Working.
13. First of all, then, (a) God always ministers His life in harmony with His holy law in Christ Jesus. Whatever power or influence is antagonistic to the law of God’s government, honored and magnified by His Son in His life and death, we may know is not of God. a. God’s servants and agencies always give the glory to Him. The one failure of “Moses, the man of God,” to do this, deprived him of having a part in the earthly Canaan. When John, the beloved apostle, fell at the feet of the glorious angel who had shown such wonderful revelations of God, the angel forbade him, declaring that he was but one of John’s fellow-servants, even as he, the angel, had been a fellow-servant of the prophets; and he enjoined John to “worship God.” Rev. 22:8, 9. When they sought to worship Peter, he commanded, “Stand up; I myself also am a man.” Acts 10:26; 14:8–10; 14:15. And Jesus Himself declared that He could do nothing of Himself, but that the Father did the works. John 5:19; 14:10. Everywhere, at all times, whether angels or men, God’s true servants have given the glory to Him. This is divine unselfishness. b. They took no price for their work. Miracle-working and healing were gifts of the Spirit of God, and the gift of God can not be purchased with money. Acts 8:20. All God’s blessings are the free gifts of His matchless grace. d. The servants of God, among whom we may number Jesus our Lord, never advertised their power to work miracles or to heal. They healed not according to their will or desire, but according to the faith of the needy, and as the Spirit indicated; for the Spirit works, and true faith is according to the will of God. Jesus could “do no mighty work” in one place because of the people’s unbelief. And Paul, from whose body handkerchiefs healed the sick, and who raised the dead, had to write of a beloved fellow-laborer, “Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.” All of which is very clear, in the light of the Gospel, that the gifts of the Spirit are divided, and exercised, not as man, the servant, will, but as the Spirit will. 1 Cor. 12:4–11. e. God respects the freedom of all. He leaves the sinner free to sin. He may restrain him from bringing evil upon others, but He leaves him free to sin on and on to the end. When He frees that sinner from his sins, He still leaves him free to continue in righteousness or return to sin. Whom the Son and the truth make free is free indeed. John 8:32, 36. It is God’s desire that no soul in all His realm shall be in slavery or bondage to any others, or other, save God, the Infinite One. Not so with Satan. Whomsoever he binds with sin, can by no power of his own break those bands. Satan would make men submit to the creature, to evil angels and to men. Hence all the bondage in the world. The conclusion, then, from all the foregoing facts and principles, is evident, that all agencies, systems, methods of healing, which demand the yielding of the soul, the absolute submission of the God-given will, or the subjection of the faculties to the creature, are not of God, but all of the evil one. All these, “Spiritualism,” “Christian Science,” “Hypnotism,” “Psychic Healing,” etc., demand submission or subjectiveness or passiveness of the will and mind to the one who heals. This may not be literally asked, but it is not the less necessary, and is obtained in some way. But man is not the healer. All the marvelous cures, all the healing that is done by these “doctors” at a distance, is wrought thru the power of the fallen angels, who come as ministers of good, even professing to be spirits of those who are dead. When the will is once brought under their power, when it has been made passive to Satan’s influence, it is weakened, and is much more susceptible to future yielding. Only God can deliver from the snare, and outside of His power the same demon and the same human agent, oftentimes others, find the one of weakened will an easy victim to subsequent attempts, even tho at a distance. The connection between the two is made by the demon. In the light of all these considerations, our correspondent and others may decide. Will they yield absolutely to God, to do His will and be free, forever free, or will they yield to the subtle delusions of Satan? Sooner or later all the world will be ranged under one banner or the other. Satan’s workings are becoming so marvelous and convincing to those who are separate from God, that those who receive merely the theory of the truth will be deceived by them. We must know not only the truth, but must receive the love of it. And then, when God’s healing power is known in the soul, He can trust us with healing power in the body. “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” The Sunday lesson in this week's paper for March 10 brings before us as pre-eminent two persons. All the events of the lesson revolve around them. The former appears as an accused culprit; the latter sits as judge: the former condemned at the highest court of the nation, His own nation; the latter, as the head of the highest court of that nation, pronounces the former guilty. If it were but the event of a day, if it were but an incident in the nation's life, it would not be worth our while to consider it seriously; but these events are of world-wide and ages-long import; for in the name, the character, the mission, the end of each there are vitally important lessons for the student. The name of Jesus signifies Saviour. “Thou shalt call His name Jesus,” said the angel; “for He shall save His people from their sins.” Matt. 1:21. “Jesus” is the Greek of the Hebrew “Joshua,” meaning, “Jehovah his help.” For it was because He was helped in all His need with all the fulness of Jehovah that He is able to save and succor others. The character of Jesus is implied in His name. He could not be the Saviour of His people if imperfect in character. He could not be a sinner and save from sin. Neither could He be a Saviour unless He had met sin where the sinner must meet it, in all the weakness of fallen humanity. He must feel the need of divine power as man feels it. He must sense the weakness of the flesh as man senses it. He must be so distinctly identified with man that He could know, “I can of Mine own self do nothing.” John 5:30. And so the Spirit declares: “Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that [wherein] He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.” Heb. 2:17, 18. As He is able to help in all things, to save even “to the uttermost” all that come to God thru Him, so He was tempted in all things. He saves from all things wherein He was tempted; He saves from all sin; He was therefore tempted in all things. And His character is the glorious eternal victory thru faith in God over all possible temptations, over sin in every conceivable form. In all His temptations to sin, He “did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.” He won in the conflict the glorious eternal name, “JEHOVAH TSIDKENU,” “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Jer. 23:6. His mission was wholly an unselfish one, undertaken solely for others' good. The only being in heaven entitled to share the glory of the Father or to inherit His throne, “He did not affect to appear in divine majesty,” “did not meditate a usurpation to be like God,” “did not think it a matter to be earnestly desired,” “did not earnestly affect,” “did not think of eagerly retaining,” “did not eagerly grasp,” “did not regard as an object of solicitous desire,” “thought it not a thing to be seized,” “counted it not a thing to be grasped to be like God,” but “divested Himself,” “emptied Himself,” “made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Phil. 2:5-8, various translations. “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, tho He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye thru His poverty might be rich.” 2 Cor. 8:9. He came to seek and to save that which was lost; came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance; came to save even the chief of sinners, because He loved them. For “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” And this also was the love of Christ, for did He not say, “I and My Father are one”? The above are but glimpses of the divine mission on which He came. How wholly unselfish it was! Not once did He attempt to save Himself, not once did He place as supreme His own desires. A lost world to save was ever before Him; the Father's will was ever His pleasure. His name reveals Him as the mighty Saviour of men. His character is that of perfect righteousness, goodness, love. His mission was wholly unselfish, to save even His enemies, Judas and Caiaphas among them. The name “Caiaphas” signifies, according to some authorities, “depression,” according to others, “oppressor.” It is fitting in either case. It marks the depression of despair in a nation that was once crowned with the glory of God, in the face of a privilege which might have lifted that people to a higher glory than was ever known. He was the oppressor of the innocent One. Never before any judge stood one so absolutely guiltless. He was guiltless of crime, of sin, of folly, of selfishness. He was the personification of righteousness, and wisdom, and love; yet Caiaphas, the oppressor, hunted Him to His death, even to the employment of false witnesses. The character of Caiaphas was in harmony with his name of oppressor. In his church relations he was a haughty Sadducee, professing to believe only the books of Moses, and knowing and believing but little of that portion of Scripture. The office was not now filled by divine appointment, nor did the incumbent hold his position for life, as formerly; but the high-priesthood was a gift of the Roman governor, bestowed at his will. It was a political office, which Annas, by his wealth and shrewdness, had long held in his family, and the coarse, shrewd, bold, crafty Caiaphas, his son-in-law, held it, according to Schaff, eighteen years. It was owing to the corrupt Sadducean régime that the temple worship had become so corrupted by unholy traffic, and it is said that the priests profited by its desecration. It had been designed as a house of prayer for all people; it had become a den of thieves and robbers among its professed friends. And there is no doubt that the words and work of Jesus in cleansing the temple and denouncing the unholy traffic had increased the growing hatred of the proud Sadducean priest. The mission of Caiaphas was self-aggrandizement, self-honor, self-gain. It was wholly selfish. And his very hatred of Jesus was because he feared that he would lose his influence thru the growing popularity of the lowly, unambitious Nazarene. John 11:47, 48. Yet even this man God used to predict the death of our Lord; but he prophesied all unconscious to himself of what it meant. The character of the unholy instrument, used by the Spirit, is manifest in the, “It is expedient” that one man shall die; but it must be the other man, not self. Jesus saw the great need of the world, and gave Himself. The name of Caiaphas was typical of the depression of the Jewish nation, or the disposition of the man. His character was ambitious, imperious, coarse, political, and ignoble. Policy instead of principle, expediency instead of righteousness, was dominant in his life. His mission was wholly selfish. And the result of all was the greatest crime in the history of the world. Caiaphas was a type of other persecutors who would never have been mentioned if it had not been for the fame and character of those they persecuted. Caiaphas thought to destroy the man Jesus; but he destroyed himself and his nation. Jesus would not compromise His character or degrade His mission, and died; but thru His death came everlasting destruction of sin and Satan; but death could not hold Him, and thru His resurrection came everlasting power and life to all who will receive them. Caiaphas was so anxious to hold his place that he would do it at whatever consequence even by the sacrifice of the innocent. Jesus, in supreme confidence in God, knew that right would triumph, and committed Himself and His cause to God. Which character, which mission, which end shall we choose? THERE is a Christian priesthood ministering before the throne of grace, in the sanctuary on high. The everlasting High Priest there is Jesus Christ. Of Him and His ministration the Epistle to the Hebrews has given us much instruction. See especially Heb. 3: 1; 4: 14, 15; 5: 5–9; 7: 17–28; 8: 1–6; 9: 11–24, et al. Of His assistants in twenty-four courses John speaks in Rev. 4: 4, 10; 5: 6–8. But it is not of these we write. There is a Christian priesthood on earth. But it is not God’s design that it should be confined to a certain few, fenced in by sacerdotal rites and ceremonies. The great sinful, sick world is in need, and it always has been in need; and God wants many to be ministers of His grace and mercy. This was His design of old. Altho the priesthood was vested in the tribe of Levi and the house of Aaron, it was not God’s design that they only should minister of Him and His to the world. Far from this. They were to be special ministers to His own children. They were a part of the divine order and system, to prevent confusion. Apart from the sacrifices offered, it was the business of the priest to teach the people the way of the Lord. “For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.” Mal. 2: 7. Knowledge of God should so fill his heart as to be always upon his lips, ready to be uttered in season to the soul that was weary. That he might rightly teach, he was to be truly temperate. “And the Lord spake unto Aaron, saying, Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee; . . . that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; and that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses.” Lev. 10: 8–11. Their example was to8 teach as well as their words; for instruction without example is of little worth. The priest who speaks the Word of truth with his lips and lives a lie in his life, is himself a false witness of God. Receiving true instruction, the people were held responsible for its performance. Deut. 17: 9; 24: 8. Now, all this instruction to priests is applicable in a much broader sense. It is God’s design that His whole people should be priests. “Now, therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then shall ye be a peculiar treasure unto Me from among all people; for all the earth is Mine; and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” Ex. 19: 5, 6. And if in past ages God’s people had so obeyed Him, this would have been the effect: “Keep therefore and do them [the statutes, the commandments]; for this is your wisdom and your 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 hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon Him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?” Deut. 4: 6–8. Israel would have dwelt in safety, and the Gospel would have gone to all the world. But Israel of old did not appreciate their great responsibility and privilege. Neither has Israel, the Christian church; for God thru Christ has called every regenerate soul to a divine priesthood. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises [excellences, virtues] of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” I Peter 2: 9. “And hath made us kings and priests unto God.” Rev. 1: 6. The Christian is by faith to have an indwelling Saviour; he is to live by the life of Christ. Eph. 3: 17; Gal. 2: 20. He is to minister that life to others, in instruction, in a blameless example, in pure words, in noble deeds. He is to be a witness of the power of God. God bestows the gift of His Spirit for that very purpose. “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth; that God in all things may be glorified thru Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” I Peter 4: 10, 11. THE DAY OF THE LORD.
By T.
The thirteenth chapter of Isaiah presents “the burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.” The old Babylonish kingdom was the great mother of evils. Her sun-worship and other idolatrous practices made her iniquities such that the Bible continually uses her as a symbol of the evils of succeeding ages. In the book of Revelation the apostasies of the church, clear to the end of time, are presented under the term “Babylon.” So when we find Babylon mentioned in the Bible we will not get the full truth, as the Lord presents it to us, unless we take into account the use that the Word of God makes of the name. It may seem to the superficial thinker that the prophet is describing things that took place in the time of the old Babylonish kingdom, when in reality the thought should be directed to things that are to take place at the close of time. This thirteenth chapter of Isaiah begins with “the burden of Babylon,” but in the sixth verse we read, “Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.” So it should be evident to us that there is a connection between the conditions in old Babylon, and the time that immediately precedes the “day of the Lord.” To assist in seeing this more clearly, read the whole of the chapter in connection. You will then see that the complete and everlasting overthrow of Babylon is placed before the mind. And from other scriptures we learn that this overthrow was caused by the incorrigible wickedness and arrogance of that nation. At the time of the “day of the Lord” the world will again be going almost wholly to evil, hence the overthrow of Babylon is set forth as a type of the everlasting overthrow of the whole world because of its evils. This accounts clearly for the frequent mention of Babylon in connection with things that so manifestly apply to the closing hours of time. With these thoughts before us let us read what is said in this chapter about “the day of the Lord.” It is as follows:— “Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt; and they shall be afraid; pangs and sorrow shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth; they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for this evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of His fierce anger.” Verses 6–13. Carefully consider some of the expressions in this remarkable prophetic scripture. When the “day of the Lord” is at hand, there is to be a howling among the people. “As a destruction from the Almighty” shall it come. “All hands” shall “be faint,” and “every man’s heart shall melt.” The fear that possesses them shall be such that “pangs and sorrow shall take hold of them,” so that “they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth.” As they look at one another they shall be “amazed,” because “their faces shall be as flames.” These words of the Lord certainly present, in most vivid language, the conditions among men when the “day of the Lord” is at hand. These statements should be pondered carefully, for they narrate facts that will exist in the days that are just before us. To enable us to escape these awful conditions the Lord is calling us to His shelter, that is not only secure, but ample for every one that will allow himself to be persuaded to enter into it. Think of the condition of the world at the present time. Men as a general thing are considerate of anything else rather than the “day of the Lord.” They do not consider that the Lord will have much to do with the affairs of this world, and so crime and wickedness are freely indulged in. Hilarious and absorbing amusements are the order of the day. He who can convince the people that he can provide them with the most “fun” is the one who draws the crowd. Upon the ears of this giddy throng the warnings of the “day of the Lord” fall as an idle fancy of a fanatical dreamer. But “the great and the terrible day of the Lord” is steadily coming on, and finally, after all its warnings have been despised, it bursts with all of its intense realities upon the deluded throng. Is it any wonder that such indescribable anguish and suffering will take hold of the people at that time? In the face of trumpet-toned warnings they have pursued the pleasures of sin. They have mocked at every entreaty that the Father of infinite love could send them, and now they are left to their terrible fate. And terrible indeed will be that condition! No one in that time can say that they have not been told of these on-coming dangers. The Word of God most forcibly and explicitly foretells the current events that are a sure evidence that the “day of the Lord” is approaching, and we may see these things and be prepared if we will. Hence the remorse of that time will be the bitter sorrow of realizing that the truth of the Almighty and His shelter so beneficently prepared have been stubbornly repelled until hope is gone and eternal despair is the dreadful fruit. But not only does the prophet depict these things that will be stirring the souls of men so intensely in that day, but he also tells of the upheavals in the earth itself. The anger of the Lord will “lay the land desolate,” and further the Lord says, “I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place.” The great frequency of earthquakes and terrible storms in recent years is the beginning of the fulfilment of this prophecy. What will it be when the heavens are being shaken, and the earth removed out of her place? Are you prepared for these events that are coming? Note, as is stated in verse 11, that the Lord is required to do this punishing because of the wickedness of mankind. Men may parade their sins today, and boast of them, as so many are doing, but the time is not far distant when every one of these sins will be a burning remorse, to eat the very soul. These are not the expressions of fancy, but they are the words of the eternal truth of the living God. To be honest to yourself you must admit that there is a strange and solemn conviction that steals over you, in spite of yourself, as you read these warnings from the Lord. That conviction that is thus coming to you is the effort of the Spirit of God, acting with the presentation of His Word, to lead you away from the sin and folly of this time into the shelter that the Omnipotent One has prepared. How grand is the thought that right in connection with the stirring prophecy that presents these thrilling themes, and that tells of the destruction that will be visited by the Lord because of sin, there is also the wonderful promise that “I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir”! Verse 12. The mammon god of this present generation is seeking to turn the minds of all to the value of gold. Man, made in the image of his Maker, is ground beneath the wheels of selfish, greedy commerce and traffic in the furious scramble for wealth. But our heavenly Father, thru every human instrument that will permit it, will make it manifest to all the universe that a man is more to be esteemed than the most precious of the finest gold. How thrilling is the thought to be living amid such scenes! How inspiring it is to know that the God of heaven and earth is calling men to act with9 Him to-day in the great events that are described in this wonderful prophecy! The Lord is doing all that infinite power can do to save men from the terrible calamities that are surely and rapidly coming on the world because of the sins of this time; and in that great work of saving men He is calling loudly for human volunteers. How can you find it in your heart to refuse such a call? It is the grandest opportunity of the ages. Great business interests, or the most ideal dreams of worldly pleasures, or the kingliest honors that earth can bestow, are as insignificant nothingness in comparison to it. Do not make a mistake in these times that are so freighted with eternal possibilities and opportunities. Take the Word of God as your sure guide, and thus know that you stand with the right. T. A correspondent sends us a brief report from a country paper of a sermon upon Matt. 13:31, 32: “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field,” etc. The preacher is reported to have said: “There are those who assert that the world is growing darker each succeeding year, and that we are hastening toward a final catastrophe. But the Scriptures do not teach this; neither do the signs of the times proclaim it. The mustard seed planted 1,900 years ago by our Lord has not reached the limit of its growth. It is to continue to grow, and become a tree, so that in every clime and nation the birds of the air shall come and lodge in it. When that day shall come, it shall be indicative of the putting down of sin and the reign of righteousness. . . . As the oriental birds seek the branches of the mustard tree, so shall all the nations of the earth find shelter in Christ.” The Lord taught no such doctrine. In Matthew 13 are two other parables which Jesus interpreted, namely, the parable of the sower, and the parable of the tares, but in neither of these did He even hint that wickedness would grow less. See also the parable of “the net,” the church. Read also Christ’s words in Matt. 24:11–13, 37, 38, and Paul’s picture of the last days, in 2 Tim. 3:1–5, 13. The beast who dominates the nations will be a persecutor even to the end. Daniel 7; Rev. 13:14; 15:1–3. It might be well to read the parable of this growing mustard seed in connection with Rev. 18:2. Compared with the greater light, the world is worse than ever before, and in God’s judgment, He weighs in the balance the sinning against light. The Ease of Self-Deception
NOTHING is more easy than to deceive one's self, as our affections are subtle persuaders.—Demosthenes.