Messages to Past Generations — What Is the Word to the People To-Day?
By B. M. HEALD
It is worthy of notice that God's special messages of warning sent to the human family in the past have invariably accomplished their mission in the same generation in which they were given.
Whenever “the eyes of the Lord” “run to and fro through the whole earth” in the form of a world-wide work, the men that lay the foundation of such a work see the finishing of it. Zech. 4: 9, 10.
SPECIAL MESSAGES IN PARTICULAR GENERATIONS
Noah's day was characterized by great wickedness. God's Spirit mightily strove with those people. It was designed that that generation should be fully warned by the preaching of Noah. That generation was to see the Flood. That generation was to see the saving of the righteous and the destruction of the wicked.
Abraham's generation was ominous. “Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous,” therefore that generation was to be warned. Abraham was to see the separation of the righteous and the burning of the wicked; for when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham. Gen. 19: 29.
Again, the Exodus movement was accomplished in the same generation in which it was started. “So Moses finished the work.” Ex. 40: 33.
The building of Solomon's temple was a great work. Jehovah said of it, “Mine eyes and Mine heart shall be there perpetually.” But the significant feature of this great achievement was that “Solomon built the house, and finished it.” 1 Kings 6: 14.
John's message fulfilled its mission, and he beheld the Lamb of God.
When the scribes and the Pharisees sought for a sign from Jesus, He answered them by saying, “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas.” That special generation had a definite message, and a definite sign.
God's one-generation messages or movements characterized all the history from Noah's time to the cross.
THE PRESENT GENERATION
Having found it to be God's plan of action in the past, always to warn the inhabitants of the earth of an impending doom or crisis, can we not expect this plan to be carried out in our day?
As it was true that “there hath not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised by the hand of Moses” (1 Kings 8: 56), need we fear lest any of His good promises concerning this generation fail? God is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever; and as He has dealt with men in the past, so will He deal with us to-day. What more could He have done for those generations of the past? What more could He do for the present generation?
STARTLING SIGNS
Thousands of men and women concede to-day that never before since creation were there such significant and ominous times; never such a religious awakening, and world-wide concern about what the next great event will be.
It is true that the struggle between capital and labor, the spiritual decline in the church, increase of knowledge, signs in the heavens, war and war preparation, immorality, crime, and bloodshed, have characterized this generation from its birth.
WORLD WARNED
After enumerating a long list of signs to precede His second coming, that would characterize this generation, Jesus said, “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” Matt. 24: 34.
The greatest changes in the history of human events have taken place in the present generation.
This generation shall see “the mystery of God” finished in the earth. Rev. 10: 7. Christ, in speaking of “the mystery of God,” or “the gospel of the kingdom,” said, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” One of the greatest evidences we have, that this will be fulfilled in this generation, is the fact that as never before has the gospel of the kingdom gone forth “to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” Rev. 14: 6, 7.
God is dealing with this generation as He has dealt with all special generations of the past.
ARE WE RIGHT WITH GOD?
If you hear the Holy Spirit pleading with you, harden not your heart, as others have done. God is doing a quick work in the earth. “He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.” Rom. 9: 28. His Spirit will not always strive with men. Why not surrender now, and be found among the blood-washed throng, saved in this generation?
Accusations Against the Brethren
By C. L. Taylor
“MICHAEL the Archangel, when contending with the devil, . . . durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.” Christ, the Prince of glory, would not bring accusation against the devil, the prince of darkness.
It has been well stated, therefore, for the benefit of accusers of the brethren, that until the time is reached that we are better than the Lord Jesus, and our enemy is worse than the devil, there is no room for accusations to be made. C. L. TAYLOR.
The Willing Mind
By William Covert
To will to do God's will, puts one in a proper attitude to do that which is commanded. When my faculties become the faculties of the divine will, I can train under God for a home in the land of light.
The members of my personal being have no separate plans of their own to follow, but all are operated by the Lord's will blended into my being. And when one is as wholly submitted to the will of God as the members of his personal being are controlled by his personal will, he can yield unquestioning obedience to God.
To do the things that are known to be advised by God, makes one know he is God's obedient child. Unquestioning obedience to the known will of God makes a confident and satisfied life.
There is such a thing as minding the Spirit, and this minding has life and peace in possession for the one who follows in this way. But if the flesh is followed, the following leads the traveler into death.
It was the following of the Spirit that kept Christ, and that raised Him from the dead. There is no bondage in such following, but there is attentive listening and willing obedience in it.
This is the yielded, willing way in which the children of God walk. In this way, God is ever present, and His word is made the lesson book. Keeping close to Him in the way, one cannot be lost. Walking at close range, he hears what God says, and sees what He does. Indeed, there is in this yielded will such close union with the Lord that obedience to Him is instinctive. The one having adopted Him as his all in all, finds that ideal union of which it is written, “In Him we live, and move, and have our being.”
WILLIAM COVERT.
Forgiven and Covered
By I. F. C.
A COMFORTING thought it is to the repentant sinner that though his “sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” If he confesses and forsakes his sins, they are really forgiven; and not only that, but they are also covered. “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” Ps. 32: 1. I. F. C.
The Great Crisis of the World
By A. R. Bell
*A Message Proclaimed to Every Nation and Tongue on the Earth
Decisions of Eternal Moment—A Strong Prophecy of the Bible Announces the Judgment Hour*
By A. R. BELL
This fifth article of A. R. Bell’s series on the book of Revelation enters upon the study of the thrilling messages announced in the fourteenth chapter of that interesting prophecy.
His first article was a study of the history of the church during the dark and trying hours of the Middle Ages, as outlined in the twelfth chapter of Revelation. His last three articles have been studies in the thirteenth chapter of Revelation, giving the predictions of the prophet concerning the papal power, the “deadly wound” it was to receive, and how this deadly wound would be “healed,” the influences of the Protestant image entering strongly into the work of restoring the papal hierarchy.
His article this week and the two articles that follow will present the great warning against the apostasy of the beast and his image. These thrilling prophecies should be carefully studied, and men should think earnestly as the conditions of this time are held up before the searchlight of the prophetic page. EDITOR.
FINISHING the vision of Revelation 13, which vision brings us down to verse 5 of chapter 14, another revelation is brought to the apostle John’s attention, beginning with Rev. 14: 6.
The scene presented before the seer of Patmos is the story of a great work to be done in the earth. A messenger is seen with a message to be given “to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” The solemn announcement of a Judgment begun, is the burden of the message.
The apostle Paul reasoned of a “Judgment to come”; this message proclaims that the hour of God’s Judgment “is come.”
THE GREATEST CRISIS
The greatest crisis in individual experience faces men when this message is preached. We are all Judgment bound. Every soul of us has a case pending at the bar of God. From the decisions of that court there is no appeal. When that tribunal is ended, the destiny of every soul is sealed. On the one hand, it will mean a living faith, becoming a glorious reality in the kingdom of God when Jesus comes; on the other hand, it will mean “the wrath of God . . . poured out without mixture.” How important it is that we understand the vision, and relate ourselves intelligently to it!
ATTRACTS ATTENTION OF THE WHOLE WORLD
The angel “flying,” and crying “with a loud voice,” symbolizes a world-wide movement. The everlasting gospel is to be preached “unto them that dwell on the earth.” Verse 6. When men cry with a loud voice, they attract attention. So this message will attract the attention of the whole world.
The “everlasting gospel” is to be preached. This is solely man’s work. Heavenly beings may coöperate with men, but to men alone is it given to preach.
The burden of the message under consideration is, “The hour of His Judgment is come.” And in view of that great crisis, we are called upon to “worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Verse 7.
GOD AS CREATOR PROCLAIMED
Right when the Judgment of God is upon men, their minds are directed to God, the Creator of all things. It would seem, from the prophecy, that at that time, the world’s attention is called to another than God, and for the express purpose of worship. Hence in this message of the Judgment, and in view of the Judgment, we are admonished to “worship Him,” the Creator of the heavens and the earth.
In our study of Revelation 13, we have dealt with the papacy as a last-day power, a subject of the prophecy, who will turn the worship and service of men away from God, and direct it to himself; and in 2 Thess. 2: 1-4, the apostle Paul pictures this very power as “that man of sin, . . . the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”
The Judgment message, in the providence of God, will save us from every deception, and from this great apostasy which is today leading even Protestantism captive, and it will clothe us with characters meet for the Judgment, and for the kingdom of God.
THE PROPHECY AND THE EVENT MEET IN FULFILLMENT
It is a definite message for a definite time. When, in the purpose and providence of God, that message is given, it will be in fulfillment of this prophecy, and the time of the Judgment will be declared. And when the clock of God shall strike the hour, not only will a prophecy be fulfilled, but a movement will have begun that will not be finished until Jesus comes to reap “the harvest of the earth.” Rev. 14: 14-16.
In connection with this prophecy concerning a definite work and a definite time, the mind turns to the vision of Daniel, as recorded in Daniel 8. In this vision, the empires of earth are brought in review before him. Medo-Persia passes, and Grecia stands. Grecia in turn passes to make way for Rome. And Rome is seen in both its phases, in a supreme effort to crush the church of Jesus Christ, and to destroy the truth.
“HOW LONG SHALL BE THE VISION?”
Daniel sickens at the sight (verse 27), and the question of his heart, “How long shall be the vision, . . . to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot?” is voiced by one of the holy ones seen standing by in the vision; and the one to whom the question is put, turns to Daniel in reply, and the prophet records: “And he said unto me, ‘Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.’” Verses 13, 14.
In the interpretation of that vision by the angel Gabriel, the time of it is given “from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem.” Dan. 9: 25. We learn, from the book of Ezra, that the decrees of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes constituted “the commandment of the God of Israel.” Ezra 6: 14. The last decree, which made the “commandment” full and complete, was given B. C. 457. Counting from this, the 2,300 days, or years, would bring us to A. D. 1844. According to the prophecy of Dan. 8: 14, this date marks the cleansing of the sanctuary.
In the book of Leviticus, where is given the story of the sanctuary, or tabernacle, the tenth day of the seventh month is brought to view as the time, in the yearly round of service, when the high priest went in before God to cleanse the sanctuary. See Leviticus 16. This work was the putting away of sin — the sin that during the year had been confessed by a penitent people, and had been forgiven them, and had been deposited in figure by the sprinkling of blood upon the altar in the holy place. This work was Israel’s day of Judgment, the day of the blotting out of sin. That tenth day of the seventh month is still observed by all orthodox Jews as the most792solemn day in their experience, and is known as the annual fast of Yom Kippur.
A clipping from one of the leading Philadelphia daily papers gives the following:
“FAST OF YOM KIPPUR
WILL BEGIN TO-NIGHT
“IS THE MOST SACRED DAY IN THE WHOLE JEWISH CALENDAR
“Yom Kippur, or the day of atonement, the most sacred day in the Jewish calendar, will be ushered in to-night. With the setting of the sun to-day, a twenty-four-hour fast will begin. Not a morsel of food nor a drop of water will touch the lips of any orthodox Jew until to-morrow night, when a long blast of the shophar, or ram’s horn, will announce the fast at an end.”
“Pious Jews will spend all day to-morrow in the synagogues, and the ultra pietists spend even the entire night in prayer.”
“Yom Kippur is the Judgment day, when the fate of every man is sealed for the ensuing year, on the strength of his past record.”
Now the priesthood and service and tabernacle of the Levitical dispensation were a type of the priesthood and service of Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, and of “the true tabernacle” in heaven, where He ministers in behalf of penitent men and women.
“MINISTER OF THE TRUE TABERNACLE”
All this is shown us in the book of Hebrews. In chapter 8, Jesus is seen “an High Priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a Minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” Verses 1, 2. In chapter 9, we are told that the earthly tabernacle, with its services, including the day of atonement, “was a figure.” Verses 1-12. And in chapter 8, verses 3-5, we are told that the tabernacle, with its priesthood and service, was in “all things according to the pattern showed to thee [Moses] in the mount.”
Then just as surely as the earthly sanctuary was made after the pattern of the heavenly, and just as it was in all its service and priesthood a type of the true tabernacle and priesthood and service, just so surely may we understand the work of the “true,” or antitype, by the work of the “figure,” or type.
The 2,300-day prophecy brings us to the year A. D. 1844, at which time, we are told, a work is to be done—the work of the day of atonement, the cleansing of the sanctuary. When we come to the tenth day of the seventh month, Jewish time, that year, we reach the time to which the prophecy points. The tenth day of the seventh month, Jewish time, in A. D. 1844, was October 22. That date reached, the antitype of the type is reached, and the antitypical day of atonement begins the work of the cleansing of the sanctuary.
THE SANCTUARY OF THE PROPHECY
There is no sanctuary in the earth, but we have seen that there is one—the true—in heaven. In that sanctuary, Jesus Christ is our great High Priest.
In the earthly sanctuary, the yearly round of service ended with the day of atonement. And as the earthly sanctuary and its service were given to point us to and teach us of the heavenly sanctuary, therefore we conclude that when the end of the 2,300 days was reached, the time of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary was reached also. And as that day and work in the type were the day and work of the Judgment, so also are they the day and work of the Judgment in the antitype. And that day and work of the Judgment of heaven was reached when type met antitype, October 22, 1844.
It is a remarkable coincidence that in 1844, the very message of Rev. 14: 6, 7, “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His Judgment is come,” was proclaimed with great power, God Himself verifying the fulfillment of the prophecy of Dan. 8: 14 by the proclamation of the message of Rev. 14: 6, 7.
That message is still preached. Almost every people of earth has been reached with it. It is attracting the attention of the whole world. Soon, very soon, will the work be finished, and the message closed.
The law of Jehovah, God’s great rule of right, is the test of character at His Judgment bar. See Rom. 2: 12-16; James 2: 12. Through the preaching of the Judgment message, the mold of heaven is transforming men and women of earth. And the product of its finished work—a people prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ—is set forth in the words: “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14: 12, 16.
For My Sake or Thine
By Charles L. Taylor
By CHARLES L. TAYLOR
Dost thou love only those who are loving to you?
Dost thou fellowship only the saint, who is true?
Dost thou give but to those who can give in return?
Dost thou teach but the few who are willing to learn,
For thy sake?
Dost thou carry thy light where light already shines?
Dost thou go with thy solace where no one repines?
Dost thou pray for thine own who are walking in love?
Dost thou enter the field where ’tis pleasure to rove,
For thy sake?
I would teach thee to love those who hate and who sin,
I would cause thee to mingle with publicans mean,
I would have thee bestow upon those who have naught,
I would lead thee to teach those who hate to be taught,
For My sake.
I would send thee with light to the dark and unsaved,
I would make thee to comfort where comfort is craved,
I would give thee a spirit to pray for all men,
I would prompt thee to sacrifice pleasure for pain,
For My sake.
ATONEMENT FOR SIN
By S. Parker Smith
The Goat for the Sin Offering, and the Scapegoat—The Scapegoat Symbolized Satan—Has No Part in the Atonement for Sin
By PROF. S. PARKER SMITH
IN Isa. 53: 6, we read, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” The prophet is here speaking of Christ.
In Lev. 16: 21, we read that the priest was to confess the sins of Israel over the scapegoat, thus putting them on his head. This goat was a type of Satan. Both Christ and Satan, then, at some time and in some way bear upon themselves the sins of the children of Israel.
Let us consider what is accomplished in each case, and why each transaction is necessary.
THE GOAT FOR THE SIN OFFERING
In Leviticus 16, another goat is mentioned, a type of the great “sin offering, that is for the people,” or Christ. Lev. 16: 15. By its blood, the patterns of things in the heavens were cleansed from sin. Lev. 16: 15-20 and Heb. 9: 23. The atonement for the sanctuary and for the iniquities of the children of Israel was accomplished typically by the blood of this goat, and this only. See Lev. 16: 20. This offering was not supplemented by that of the live goat in order to complete the cleansing of the sanctuary, or to cleanse the people from all their sins before the Lord, for this work was finished before the live goat was brought. Verses 20 and 30.
As cleansing from spiritual defilement is only by blood (Heb. 9: 22), all the cleansing of the sanctuary and of the people on the typical day of atonement was therefore through the slain goat, and not through the live one, which was not slain on the day of atonement.
THE SCAPEGOAT
SATAN HAS NO PART IN IT
The apostle Paul, in Hebrews 9, speaking of the antitype of these things, shows clearly the same truth. The heavenly things are purged from sin by the blood of Christ. He came “to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Paul gives us not the least hint that the death of Satan must supplement the death of Christ, to complete the cleansing of the sanctuary.
As in Leviticus 16 it was by one offering, in type, that the sanctuary was reconciled and the people were cleansed from sin, so in Heb. 9: 22-26 and 10: 14, we see that in the antitype, one offering, even the infinite sacrifice of Christ, cleanses the sanctuary, and perfects “forever them that are sanctified.”
CHRIST, AND CHRIST ALONE
Many other passages of Scripture tell us the purpose and results of Christ’s bearing our sins. Peter says Christ bore our sins “that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness.” 1 Peter 2: 24. Paul says Christ “redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.” Gal. 3: 13. He became sin for us, “that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Cor. 5: 21. He bore our sins on the tree, that He might be the propitiation for our sins, and secure their remission. Rom. 3: 25 and 1 John 2: 2. Thus Christ’s work in dying for sin was to satisfy the claims of the law, which demanded the life of the sinner. Rom. 6: 23.
CHRIST FINISHES THE WORK HIMSELF
Now of all these things, it is evident, from the scriptures examined above, that Christ is both the Author and the Finisher. No other sacrifice or atonement is needed to aid or supplement His. Whatever is accomplished for His people in the way of remission and the final disposition and destruction of their sins, is by virtue of His sacrifice and atonement, and that only.
The sins of God’s people are to be blotted out just prior to the coming of Christ. Acts 3: 19, 20. Then they will be forever destroyed. It is then that God will cast all our sins behind His back, remove them as far from us as the east is from the west, and remember them no more. It is then “the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none.” Jer. 50: 20.
SATAN HAS NO PART IN IT
It is plain that the atonement with Satan has no reference to satisfying the claims of the law upon mankind or any portion of them. The putting of Israel’s sins upon his head is no part of the work of sanctifying the people, and making them clean from all their sins.
SATAN ATONES IN THE LAKE OF FIRE
What, then, is the purpose of the atonement with the antitypical scapegoat, Satan?—It is the atonement in the lake of fire, and its result will be to exact the wages of sin793to the last farthing, and cleanse the universe of its presence. Satan, as the originator and instigator of sin, is guilty of every sin ever committed. The blotting out of these sins as pertaining to Israel, does not affect them as pertaining to Satan. God remembers them no more in connection with Israel, but does remember them against Satan. The sanctuary is cleansed by the blotting-out of Israel’s sins; the universe, by the blotting-out of Satan and all his followers.
Satan will suffer, or atone, for his transgressions of the law of God. These are the only sins he could atone for. Only one Being in all the universe was found who could, by His death, atone for others’ sins. But Satan will be the object of divine wrath for his warfare against the church. God kept His people “as the apple of His eye.” Deut. 32: 10. And again it is said, “He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His eye.” Zech. 2: 8. In Luke 18: 7, Jesus asks the question, “Shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him?” and the answer is, “I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.”
Satan is the author of all the backslidings and apostacies of Israel. He tries to lure them on where the divine wrath will fall upon them. But in the seventh psalm, we read that into the pit which he digs for Israel, he himself falls. The punishment he has sought to bring upon them by leading them into sin, will fall upon his own head. In the cup that he has filled, God will fill to him double. See Rev. 18: 6.
But this suffering of Satan’s is not in any sense to make atonement for Israel’s guilt, or to take the place of Israel’s suffering for their own sins. Here is where we are in danger of making a serious mistake, and many make it. They conclude that if Satan suffers for Israel’s sins, it must be an atonement for their guilt, in their stead, and that hence the atoning sacrifice of Christ is not a complete satisfaction for the sins of the saved, and does not fully and finally dispose of those sins. But it is not necessary thus to deny the atonement, and cast discredit upon the work of Christ.
SATAN SUFFERS BUT NOT FOR ISRAEL
Satan truly will suffer for Israel’s sins, but not in Israel’s place, or as Israel’s substitute. The penalty of the law for the sins of God’s people will be met by Satan, not in their stead, but because they are his own sins as well, and he must pay the final penalty. Satan’s punishment is not for or in place of or instead of the punishment of God’s people for their sins. This punishment was suffered by Christ on Calvary. Christ alone is our Substitute. His death is the only substitute for the sinner’s death, to every one who will claim it by faith, till the close of probation.
Satan’s punishment is for his own sins, and the vengeance of God in behalf of His church, His own elect, that cry day and night to Him. No punishment of Satan’s ever can take the place of that which is due sinful man. Though he may suffer an equivalent amount, or even more, it is misleading and untrue to say that he will suffer the punishment which the righteous escape. That would be to make him satisfy the claims of the law for them, to make him their substitute.
Every mortal who ever escapes the due reward of his deeds, will do so because Christ on Calvary’s cross suffered that punishment in his stead. “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.”
JESUS HIMSELF RETURNS
By J. W. Rich
He Lived a Personal Life, and Returns the Personal Christ—No Vague Shadow—All the World Will Know It
By J. W. RICH
The testimony of the Scriptures regarding the second coming of Jesus is plain and positive. The prophets of all the ages have borne testimony to that fact. Two angels, at the ascension of the Master, told the disciples that He was coming again; and Jesus Himself used these imperishable words: “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14: 3.
WHAT TO EXPECT
What will be the nature of His coming? And what really occurs when He does come? What sort of happening are we to expect? Do the Scriptures speak definitely on the subject? On so important a mission as that for which Jesus comes the second time, we may confidently believe that some message would be left for our consolation.
We remember that Jesus said, “I will come again.” Once has He been here on this earth of ours; and it is the same One who was here that said He was coming again. Remember, too, that it is the same Jesus who came to earth as a helpless babe in Bethlehem’s manger.
SOME EVENTS OF HIS LIFE
To help us to appreciate this great truth, we will trace some of His life, and lead up to the time when these words were uttered. A child among children, He grew up as children grow, and became a man. He worked at a carpenter’s bench, and did as thorough work as ever carpenter did. He came to John the Baptist one day, and asked to be baptized. He went into the water, and there the Father publicly acknowledged Him as His Son, and sent the Holy Spirit in approval. He went out into the wilderness after His baptism, and there suffered the pangs of hunger, as any other man would. He was a real man among men.
He walked among men, and preached to the throngs that surrounded Him. He lifted His hands in blessing over the suffering and needy. His garments became dusty with His travels over the hot, dusty roads of Palestine. Thousands recognized in Him the expected Messiah. The blind received His sympathizing touch, and were made to see. The lame heard His voice, and were made to walk. The leper made the appeal, “Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean,” and his wish was granted. Anxious mothers brought their children to Him, whom He received in blessing.
We follow Him to Sychar, and hear Him ask for a drink of water. He was thirsty. A soul was touched with the need of salvation, and the people of the city were led to accept Him as their Redeemer.
GIVES UP HIS LIFE FOR THE WORLD
His life was sought by the wicked rabble, but His work continued. He reached Gethsemane, and suffered the agony of the doomed. He was betrayed and forsaken by His own disciples, condemned to death by an earthly court, carried His cross up Calvary, had nails driven through His hands and feet, and gave up His life between two thieves.
He died for the sins of the human race. He died for you and me. He loved so much that He gave. The tomb enveloped His precious form, but could not retain its grasp upon Him. He came forth a victor over sin and death. He met with and talked to His disciples, and was recognized and examined by them, and acknowledged as their Lord.
HE ASCENDED IN THE CLOUDS
Forty days passed while He finished His work on earth; and then, with the disciples, He made His way to the Mount of Olives. He gave His last words of encouragement; and while they beheld in wonderment and amazement, He slowly ascended from among them, and clouds hid Him from their gaze. What a spectacle! Their hopes of years were blasted. What was there then for encouragement?
In this as in all other troubles, the best was provided. Two angels appeared, and this is what they said: “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.” Acts 1: 11.
THIS SAME JESUS WILL COME
What words do they hear! “This same Jesus . . . shall so come.” And He had said, “I will come again.” There could be no mistake. They heard His voice. They saw Him depart. He went up personally. He will come personally. They could bear witness to this, for they had both seen and heard Him, and the angels said that He would come back just as He went away.
Yes, it is “this same Jesus” who will come again; and we have the story of how He will return—just as He went away. There is no need that we be deceived. He went away the same personal Jesus that He was while He walked and talked with men here on the earth. He was the same personal Jesus that dined with Zacchaeus, that raised Lazarus to life, that healed the ear which Peter severed in his rashness. He was the same personal Jesus that said, “Thy faith hath made thee whole,” that walked upon the waters of Galilee, and that said, “Thy sins be forgiven thee.”
The One who is soon to return as a surprise to the wicked portion of the inhabitants of earth, is the same personal Jesus of whom Job spoke when he said: “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: . . . whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.” Job 19: 25, 27.
ALL THE WORLD WILL KNOW IT
His coming will not be that of an invisible phantom, neither will it be concluded under some mystical cloak of obscurity. “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matt. 24: 27. “Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, . . . and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him.” Rev. 1: 7.
No one need fear not being able to know when He comes. His glory will fill the heavens and the earth, and everything on earth will be acquainted with His eventful visitation.
What should interest us now more than anything else is the reception we shall tender “this same Jesus” when He comes back personally to gather His people to Himself.
He would say to us: “I will come again, in the manner that I left My disciples. Personally I left them. Personally I will return.” Shall we not all pray, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus”?
Professing Religion Without Being Religious
“THERE are a multitude of people who, professing religion, have never yet commenced to be religious.”
Missionary Peacemaking
By W. H. B.
OUR missionary on Atchin, New Hebrides, had an opportunity this spring to act as arbitrator in a war between villages on the island. The causes of the war were characteristic of the state of darkness which the gospel has come to this island to dispel.
One of the villages had boasted the possession of a rain-making medicine man. There was a long dry spell on the island; and though this medicine man had died, the inhabitants of the other two villages had decided that it must be caused by some one in that village who had inherited his power, so they started in to wipe it out.
Most of the people, however, were induced to come to the mission to talk it over; and there they were told of the God of Elijah, who, having made all things, alone had power to control nature. “Their talk was quite excited and dramatic at the first, but finally they were all sitting down with each other and shaking hands, and then they were friends again. They said, ‘Evu koatsin’—finished forever—and went back to their homes joyful.” W. H. B.
