God-Spell

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Visions of the future

 

Daniel was a student of the prophets, and read in the writings of Jeremiah that a fixed time had been appointed for the desolations of Jerusalem. Intensely interested in the fact that the period was about to expire, he prayed that the desolations of the city might cease. In answer to his prayer the angel Gabriel was sent with a revelation concerning the Messiah. He was told that from the issue of a decree to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, seventy weeks were appointed and that near the end of that time the Anointed One, the Prince, should be cut off and should have nothing. It was a strange prediction and Daniel could not understand it. It all seemed wrong. The Messiah should be the stone cut out of the mountains without hands, who was to receive dominion, glory, and a kingdom that should stand for ever; how then could he be cut off? Books such as the one he had been studying spoke of somewhat similar things. They told of One who should be despised and rejected, who should be bruised for our iniquities, and who yet would divide the spoil with the strong, and in whose hand the pleasure of the Lord should prosper.⁶⁰  More light was necessary, and that light came when the Light of the World appeared as the Messiah, who was cut off.
 

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⁶⁰ Isaiah 53.

[Resource Manager]

The story of Esther

 

Daniel was not the only Jew who remained in Babylon or Persia and rose to a position of power there. There was one Mordecai, a descendant of Kish, the father of Saul. He dwelt in Shushan in the days of Ahasuerus, or Xerxes. In the third year of that king’s reign a great assembly of notables was held. In the course of the festivities that took place, the king sent for Vashti, the Queen, that the princes might behold her beauty. Vashti refused to come, and was removed from her position as queen. Then a decree was issued commanding all the fair young virgins of the country to go to Shushan, that it might be seen which of them was worthy to occupy the position hitherto held by Vashti. Among those who went was Hadassah, a cousin of Mordecai. She was exceedingly beautiful, and was made Queen. About the same time Mordecai dis­covered a conspiracy to murder the king. He made it known to Esther (the new name given to Hadassah), who informed the king, and the conspirators were put to death.

 

At this point troubles began for Mordecai. The Grand Vizier of the country was Haman, and though all the people bowed before him, Mordecai would not do so. Haman was greatly annoyed and deter­mined on a great revenge. He scorned to lay hands on Mordecai alone, he determined to get rid of all the Jews. He placed a garbled account of the position of the Jews before the king and obtained permis­sion to issue a decree for their destruction.

 

It was a bitter prospect, and Mordecai sent to Esther and urged her to plead the cause of her people. “Who knoweth,” he said, “whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this.” Esther put on her royal robes and approached the king. It was a dangerous thing to do; it meant death unless the king held out his sceptre towards her. That happened, and Esther invited Ahasuerus and Haman to a banquet. At the banquet she sought another favourable sign, and invited the two to a banquet of wine on the following day. The intervening night was one of fate. The king could not sleep, and called for the chronicles of the king­dom to be read before him. The section read in­cluded an account of the conspiracy that Mordecai had discovered. “What has been done for him?” asked the king. “Nothing,” was the reply. The king enquired who was in the court, and was told that Haman had just come in. He had come to request the king’s permission to hang Mordecai on a great gallows which he had erected. When he came in he was met with the question, “What shall be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour?” Thinking the king must intend to honour him he said, “Let royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and on the head of which a crown royal is set; and let the apparel and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes ... and proclaim before the man, ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour’.” “Go and do so,” said the king, “to Mordecai the Jew.” It was a bitter disappointment, but Haman had to obey.

 

At the banquet of wine Esther put forward her request. She besought the king to save her and her people from the man who would destroy them. “Who is he that durst do such a thing?” asked the king. “The enemy and adversary is that wicked Haman,” replied Esther, pointing to the Vizier. The attendants, sensing the king’s wrath, seized Haman, and told the king of the gallows that he had caused to be made for Mordecai. “Hang him there­on,” said the king, and he was led off to execution.

 

But the decree had been issued for the exter­mination of the Jews and it could not be rescinded. Esther approached the king again, and a further decree was issued giving the Jews permission to stand for their lives and put to death any who lifted a sword against them. They were thus saved from destruction, for few were ready to attack those whom the king favoured, and those who did perished. Mordecai was raised to the position pre­viously occupied by Haman. They were remarkable events, and are commemorated to this day by the Jews in the annual feast of Purim.

[Resource Manager]

CHAPTER XX

THE RESTORATION

 

THE position held by Darius was the result of the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus. He was king of the whole of the realms subject to him; Darius reigned for him over Babylon. In the first year of his reign Cyrus issued a decree permitting the Jews living in the provinces of Persia to return to their country and rebuild the temple of the Lord. This action was in accord with the general policy of Cyrus. In response to the decree many of the exiles, led by Zerubbabel, a member of the royal house, returned to Jerusalem to undertake the rebuilding of the temple. There was plenty of enthusiasm at first; the altar was repaired and some of the old sacrifices were reinstituted. Then apathy overtook the workers and little more was done.

 

The cessation of the work was partly due to the opposition of “the people of the land,” the rem­nant of the Israelites mingled with the Gentile peoples who had been placed there by the Assyrians. They offered to assist the Jews, and when their offer was rejected they did all they could to hinder the work. The Jews were discouraged and their zeal waned; so they built houses for themselves and discontinued the building of the temple.

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Rebuilding encouraged

 

They were aroused from their apathy by the words of two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah. Haggai commenced to prophesy two months before Zechariah. His voice was a trumpet call to work. “Consider your ways,” he said. He told the people that their troubles were due to their neglect of the house of God. When they responded to his call the tone of his proclamation altered; promise took the place of rebuke. Some of his promises were very far-reaching. Though the temple looked very poor to those who remembered the glories of former days, he said, speaking in the name of the Lord of hosts, “Yet now be strong ... yet once, it is a little while, ... and I will shake all nations, and the desirable things of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory.” Like the earlier prophets he took the view that saw in the fulfilment of the promises something connected with the covenants made with Abraham and David.

 

Zechariah added his voice in encouragement. In a series of visions he described the earth as sitting still and at rest. He spoke of a time when the Lord should inherit Judah, his portion in the holy land, and choose Jerusalem again. Looking into the future he saw how one whose name should be the Branch should build the temple of the Lord, and reign as king and priest. “In that day saith the Lord of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour, under the vine and under the fig tree.” He foresaw Jerusalem a city of truth, a holy mountain. In a later prophecy he spoke of a king who should speak peace to the nations, and whose dominion should be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. In a final vision he declared that the Lord should be king over all the earth, when the governing principle in the city of Jerusalem should be holiness to the Lord.

 

Urged by the words of the prophets the work of rebuilding the temple was carried to a conclu­sion, notwithstanding the opposition of the peoples of the land, and a great dedication ceremony was held, after which things again quietened down.

 

Many years afterwards a fresh company of Jews led by Ezra reached Palestine. Ezra was not a builder but a scribe, an enthusiast for the law of the Lord. His main object was to explain and expound the Law, and to see that it was carried out. The services of the temple were arranged on the lines provided in the Law. He found that marriages had taken place between the returned Jews and the mixed population of Canaan, a thing prohibited in the Law. Ezra moved the people to reform, and induced them to enter into a covenant under which they agreed to put away their alien wives.

 

Later, Nehemiah was appointed governor. He had been cupbearer in the court of the Persian king, and was troubled by the reports that had reached him concerning the condition of Jerusalem; he desired to do something for the city of his fathers. Armed with the necessary authority from the king he came to Jerusalem and took up the duties of governor.

[Resource Manager]

Nehemiah, the governor

 

He examined the walls of the city by night and found they were all broken down. He set to work to rebuild them. He was an organizer as well as an of action. He gathered around him people of all classes, including rulers, goldsmiths and women, and in fifty-two days the work was finished in spite of all manner of difficulties and opposition. The old animosity of the people of the land continued, but though they tried every possible expedient they could not stop the progress of the work. It was a great day when the new and repaired walls were dedicated.

 

Nehemiah then gave attention to the organization of the country and the court, and, in conjunction with Ezra, carried through a religious reformation. Then he returned to Persia, after having been governor for twelve years. In his absence the old evils revived, and he obtained leave to visit the country again. Foreign marriages had once more taken place; the priesthood had been defiled, and another religious reformation was needed; with characteristic vigour Nehemiah took charge of affairs and carried through a religious and a social reformation.

The improvement did not last long; the removal of Nehemiah resulted in all the old evils reviving, and things became as bad as ever. Against the prevailing tendency Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets, raised his voice. Mercenary motives prevailed in connection with the temple services; every one required his price. The priest­hood was degenerate and the people were corrupt. Marriage laws were flagrantly disregarded. Malachi protested against such things and warned the people of the consequences. He declared “the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in ... But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth?” he asked.

 

In his teaching Malachi gave expression to a truth that runs through, and explains, the whole of the Story. “I am the Lord, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” Many years afterwards an Apostle expressed the same truth in other words when he said, “The gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” Israel’s part in the great plan that forms one of the main themes of the Story cannot be changed. They are beloved for the fathers’ sake, and the purpose will be carried out for God’s holy name’s sake.

 

Like other prophets of the closing days of the old dispensation, Malachi foresaw the universal extension of the knowledge of God. After rebuking Israel he said, “For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same My name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense is offered unto My name, and a pure offering; for My name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts.” In the certainty of prophecy he spoke of the future as already present.

 

In this spirit the Old Testament section of the Story closes with a great promise and a warning. “Unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings ... Remember ye the law of Moses ... Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.”
 

 

[Resource Manager]

CHAPTER XXI

 

JESUS OF NAZARETH

 

THE prophet Amos foretold a time when there should be a famine of hearing the words of the law of the Lord. That time came at the end of the ministry of Malachi. For over four hundred years no prophet arose in Israel like those who had been their teachers for so long. There were prophets of a kind, and there were patriots and priests who struggled hard to keep the nation right, but there were none who have a part in this Story, until once more the voice of a prophet was heard in the land.

 

Strange circumstances attended his birth. His parents were advanced in years and had had no child. His father was a priest, and was ministering in the temple when an angel appeared to him with the message that he should have a son who would appear before Israel in the spirit and power of Elijah, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. In this reference to Elijah the end of the Old Testament is linked with the beginning of the New.⁶¹ The child who was born in accordance with this promise was John the Baptist.

 

The Messenger

 

Some months afterwards an angel appeared to a virgin of Nazareth named Mary with a still more surprising message. He said, “Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bear a son ... He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” In explanation of how this wonder might be brought about, the angel also said “The holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee therefore also that which is to be born of thee shall be called holy, the Son of God.” Not only therefore was the voice of prophecy to be revived, but the great promises of the past were being remem­bered; David’s son who was to possess the throne over Israel was about to be born.

 

Mary was espoused to Joseph, a carpenter of Nazareth. When he found that his affianced bride was about to have a child he was greatly troubled. He knew he was not the child’s father, yet, being of a kindly disposition, he did not want any scandal to attach to Mary. As he thought of the matter he had a vision of an angel who said, “Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” He was also told that the whole matter was a fulfilment of the prophecy that a virgin should bring forth a son who should be called Immanuel, which means, God with us. Both he and Mary were told to name the child “Jesus,” for he was to save his people from their sins.

 

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⁶¹ See Malachi 4:5.

 

[Resource Manager]

The birth of Jesus

 

In due time the child was born, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, the only begotten of the Father, yet made of a woman and therefore a partaker of the nature of his mother.⁶² Although known as Jesus of Nazareth he was born in Bethlehem, whither his mother, and his supposed father, had gone on account of a command of the Roman Emperor that a census should be taken. On the night of his birth as some shepherds of Bethlehem watched their flocks by night they were visited by an angel who brought the message, “Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people; for there is born to you this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” Sud­denly the messenger was surrounded by a multitude of angels, singing,

 

“Glory to God in the highest,

And on earth peace among men

In whom He is well pleased.”

 

The child narrowly escaped destruction. Wise men from the East sought Herod, the king of the country, saying, “Where is he that is born king of the Jews?” Herod ascertained that according to the old prophecies, the Messiah, the king of the Jews, was to be born in Bethlehem. He directed the Wise men there, asking them to return to him and let him know where the young child was. They found the babe, and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, but they did not return to Herod as they were warned by God to return another way. Foiled in his attempt to ascer­tain where the child was, Herod gave instructions for all the children under two years of age in the city of Bethlehem to be killed, but the child was saved through another vision in which Joseph was told to take him and his mother to Egypt. There they remained until Herod was dead.

 

Thirty years passed by during which the only thing recorded of Jesus is a visit he paid with his mother and father to Jerusalem and the temple. There at. the age of twelve he was found listening to the doctors of the law and asking them questions. To his mother’s anxious expostulations he replied, “Wist ye not that I must be in my father’s house?”

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⁶² See John 3:16; Gal. 4:4; Heb. 2:14.

[Resource Manager]

Jesus’ baptism

 

At the end of the thirty years Israel heard again the voice of prophecy. It was John, who came with a message for the people, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” It was a great message and it portended great things. It created a stir among the people, for multitudes went out to hear what John had to say. He introduced the initiatory rite of baptism, that is immersion in water, for any­thing short of that is not baptism at all. Great numbers of people flocked to him and were bap­tized. The main theme of his teaching was that a greater One than he was coming. Meanwhile he said the axe was laid at the root of the tree of Israel, and that unless the nation brought forth fruits meet for repentance the axe would be used to cut the tree down. Such a message insistently delivered, aroused the attention of the people, and the civil and religious leaders of the nation sent a deputation to know who he really was, Was he Elijah who was to come? or was he the prophet? or was he the Christ? His answer was instructive. “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ye ready the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah.”

 

It may have seemed a strange application of Isaiah’s prophecy, but it was very apt. Isaiah had foretold that such a proclamation should be made, and had associated it with the statement, “The voice of one saying, Cry. And one said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field; the grass withereth, the flower fadeth, ... but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”⁶³ It was a reminder that there was something stable in a perishing world though few really grasped the fact, either then or now.

 

One day as John was preaching, Jesus of Nazareth came to him to be baptized. John would have dissuaded him, his baptism was for the remission of sins, and he knew enough of his kinsman to feel sure that he had no sins. But Jesus insisted, “Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” No greater emphasis could be given; it “became” Jesus to fulfil all righteousness by submitting to baptism, and no follower of his can refuse to do the same. Immediately afterwards the Holy Spirit, in the shape of a dove, descended and alighted on Jesus, and a Voice was heard saying, “This is My beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.” To this John added his testimony, “Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.” Under such auspices Jesus of Nazareth entered upon his public career.

 

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⁶³ Isaiah 40:1-8.

 

[Resource Manager]

His work

 

John’s testimony secured for Jesus his first two disciples, Andrew, and John the son of Zebedee who were immediately joined by their brothers Peter and James, and, shortly afterwards, by Philip of Bethsaida. As the days passed, and the influ­ence of Jesus grew, the little band increased until a special choice was made of twelve who were to be apostles and witnesses of the things that he did and said. To write of these things would require a volume of itself; all that can be told here is the barest outline of the story.

 

Among his deeds reference must be made to the miracles he wrought. These were not mere prodigies, aimed at producing a feeling of wonderment; they were beneficent acts, performed for the good of those who were the subjects of them. The sick were healed, the blind received their sight, the dumb were given speech, the hungry were fed, lepers were cleansed, demoniacs restored to their right mind, and the dead were raised up. Such works coincided with the claims that Jesus made, and his works can only be properly appreciated when they are placed alongside the things he said. He was to take away the sin of the world; what better proof could there be than that he should remove the effects of sin?

 

... And teaching

 

As a teacher he was unique. The rabbis of his time were prolix, and depended on the sayings of their predecessors. Jesus was often terse and his teaching original. It went straight to the mark, and reached the heart, so that men and women became his ardent friends or his bitter enemies. He spoke “with authority.” “Ye have heard it said by them of old time” thus and so, “but I say unto you” this or that. He preached a new morality. Men were to be judged not by what they did, but by what they thought or desired. A man who looked at a woman with lust in his heart had committed adultery already in intent. The “Thou shalt nots” of the Law gave place to such positive injunctions as “Love your enemies,” “Pray for those that persecute you,” “Resist not evil,” “Ye therefore shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”⁶⁴

 

His word pictures are the most delightful examples of such teaching that can be found anywhere. They were based on the most common of everyday things, yet they took on a profound meaning. The familiar sight of a sower sowing his seed was made to teach great lessons. Tares growing in a wheatfield taught others. Such things as the fisherman’s net, the merchant’s trading, a woman leavening her meal or searching for a lost piece of silver, the shepherd on the mountains, the householder on a journey, virgins attending a wedding feast, all were made to point a moral. Nothing seemed to be too trivial to be made the basis of spiritual lessons, which to-day, after nineteen hundred years, are, in all lands, as fresh as when they were first uttered. Even the political events of the period were used to give point to him and his mission. Herod the Great and Archelaus had both journeyed to Rome to receive the kingdom over Israel. So Jesus spoke of a nobleman who went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and return. No one could miss the point. He preached the Kingdom of God, and he must go to God in the far country of heaven, to receive the credentials of his kingdom and then return.

 

In his teaching he laid the old Story under tribute. He referred to Adam and Eve and the first marriage, to the Flood, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to the destruction of Sodom, to Moses, David Isaiah and Daniel. He knew all about them, and his comments gave importance to many things that might otherwise have seemed quite unim­portant. He seemed to gather up the spirit of the past, and to focus its meaning in himself. “Your father, Abraham, rejoiced to see my day, he saw it and was glad.”

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⁶⁴ See, e.g. the Sermon on the Mount, Matt. chaps. 5, 6 and 7.

[Resource Manager]

Temptations

 

So three strenuous years passed by, preaching, teaching, travelling, and healing, above all, showing men how to prepare for the future when they would have to give account of the actions of the present. There were many sad incidents in his life.   A profligate Herod had been induced to murder John the Baptist, and Jesus withdrew himself to a desert place apart to mourn. As the last days approached he was deserted by his followers until he turned to the Twelve and said, “And will ye also go away?” It is one of the most pathetic questions in all the world’s literature; it reveals a depth of meaning and of suffering that can scarcely be realised.

 

On the other hand there were sometimes periods of great exaltation. One of these occurred towards the end of his life when, probably on Mount Hermon, the incident generally referred to as the transfigura­tion took place. Accompanied by his three most intimate disciples, Peter, James, and John, Jesus had ascended the mountain to pray. As he was engaged in prayer his countenance seemed to alter; it became radiant, and his raiment was white and dazzling. Then Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with him.  It was a strange conversation for such a brilliant scene, they talked of his coming death in Jerusalem! Suddenly they were engulfed in a great cloud, and the voice of God was heard saying, “This is My Son, My chosen one; hear him.” Then they were alone again; the vision was over, but the experience must have been a tre­mendous source of strength in the dark days that soon followed.

 

It was in Jerusalem, the place of the throne that had been promised him, the centre of the worship of his Father, that he found his most bitter enemies. It seemed as if he could do nothing to please its inhabitants. They set traps to catch him in his speech, only to be staggered at his answers, and to marvel at the way in which he turned the tables on them. At last they could stand it no longer. The priests and rulers took counsel, and it only waited for a traitor in the inmost circle of his friends to betray him into their hands.

 

By that time all the hopes that had been enter­tained by his followers had been crushed. He had said, “Fear not little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.” He had even promised them that they should sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.⁶⁵ Now he was always talking of his approaching death. True, he said that he should rise again, but in their depressed state that saying made no impression upon them; the shadow of the cross was too dark.

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⁶⁵ See Luke 12:32; Matt. 5:5; 19:28.

[Resource Manager]

The last supper

 

His last meeting with the Twelve took place in an upper room in Jerusalem where they met to celebrate the Passover. There he spoke to them as he had never spoken before. “Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in me. ... If I go I will come again.” He promised them the gift of the Holy Spirit, and spoke one of the most beautiful of all parables, that of the True Vine. “I am the true vine and my Father is the husbandman.” “I am the vine, ye are the branches.” He depicted the ideal unity of their association together. Then he prayed for them that they might be one, “I in them, and Thou (Father) in me, that they may be perfected into one.”⁶⁶

 

While they were assembled in the upper room, Jesus took bread and when he had given thanks gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you; this do in remembrance of me.” After that he took a cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, even that which is poured out for you.” Throughout the ages the memory of that meal, and of the things represented by the bread and the wine, have been commemorated wherever true believers in Jesus have been found. On the first day of each week such people meet to remember Jesus in his final act of self-sacrifice, though at the same time they remember that he is now “the Lord in Spirit,” who brought life and immortality to light in his own experiences. After the supper Jesus and the eleven left Jerusalem for the garden of Gethsemane.

 

Before they left, Judas, one of the twelve, had gone to the chief priests. Meanwhile Jesus had withdrawn himself even from his disciples to seek his Father in prayer.   There in Gethsemane he prayed, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” So great was the agony of this last struggle that his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground. While he was praying his disciples slept, worn out by the emotions of the last few days. Suddenly the garden was invaded by a mob bearing lanterns, torches and weapons, led by Judas, who, by a pre-arranged signal, be­trayed his Master by a kiss!

 

At first it looked as if the attempt would fail. The armed men fell backwards, awed by the pres­ence of the one they sought to take. They soon recovered themselves and laid hold on Jesus, when one of the disciples, Peter, drew a sword and cut off the ear of a servant of the high priest. Jesus put forth his hand and healed him, saying to Peter, “Put up thy sword into the sheath, for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword,” which expresses a truth of eternal application that all his followers must respect.

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⁶⁶ John, chaps. 13 to 17

 

[Resource Manager]

His trial

 

Now everything was rushed. The Passover was approaching and the priests wanted to get rid of Jesus before the routine of the feast made it impos­sible for them to do anything further. So they rushed him from Annas to Caiaphas, and from Caiaphas to Pilate, where trials took place which were a mockery of all legal forms. Before the Jewish courts Jesus was asked, “Art thou the Christ?” “Art thou the son of God?” to which he replied “Ye say that I am.” It was sufficient to enable the judges to justify their condemnation. They termed it blasphemy and pronounced him to be worthy of death. While this was taking place the mental sufferings of the prisoner were deepened by a three-fold denial of one of his closest friends Peter.

 

Then a new trial was rushed through. The Jewish court had no power to inflict a death sentence; the Roman Procurator, Pontius Pilate, must declare him guilty and pass the sentence. A charge of blasphemy would have failed before Pilate, so a new one was preferred, a charge that Jesus claimed to be the king of the Jews. It was true, yet it was false. As the Messiah of Israel Jesus necessarily claimed to be the king of the Jews. Yet when, shortly before, the multitude had desired to take him by force and make him king, he refused to submit to such a thing. In reply to Pilate’s question, “Art thou a king then?” He replied, “My kingdom is not of this world (or order), if my kingdom were of this world then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews, but now is my kingdom not from hence.” When Pilate pressed the question, “Art thou a king then?” he replied, “Thou sayest that I am a king (the Hebrew form of affirmation). To this end have I been born, and to this end am I come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.” Pilate could not understand it. He recognised that envy was at the bottom of the accusation, the prisoner before him was not one of whom Rome need be afraid, and he was ready to release Jesus. He tried to save him by suggesting that he should be released as an act of clemency, but the Jews cried out that he should rather release Barabbas, a robber. Then the priests played their final card. “If thou let this man go thou art not Caesar’s friend; every one that maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.” It was their last argument and Pilate dared not face it; he was afraid, and against his convictions gave the order for Jesus to be crucified.

[Resource Manager]

Crucifixion

 

Matters were still rushed, the death must take place before the feast, so Jesus was hurried away to Calvary and there, between two thieves, was crucified. Pilate provided the wording for the cross. “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews.” It was too pointed for the chief priests, and they urged Pilate to modify it. “What I have written I have written,” was his reply, and there the words remained which connected Jesus with the kingship of the Jews, David’s son, the Messiah despised and rejected of men, apparently forsaken by God, deserted by his friends, denied by one of his closest followers, yet the Lamb of God who was to take away the sin of the world. A great darkness fell on the land, and with a last cry, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” Jesus died—”died for our sins according to the Scriptures.”

 

Now the chief priests were very careful. They knew that Jesus had said that he would rise again on the third day, so they sought for permission to have the tomb sealed and watched. Pilate appears to have been very curt with them, “You have a watch,” he said, “make it as sure as ye can.” The tomb was sealed, and a watch set while the disciples of Jesus, helpless and dis-spirited, were scattered. It seemed as if all the promise connected with Jesus was over.

[Resource Manager]

Resurrection

 

On the morning of the third day, however, when some women who had been his followers, went with- spices for his body, they found the tomb open and empty. They saw a vision of angels who gave them the startling information that he was alive. They hurried to the disciples with the news, and Peter and John ran to the sepulchre, and also found it empty. Mary Magdalene, one of the women, spoke to one whom she thought to be the gardener, but a word from him, “Mary,” showed her that it was the Master, risen from the dead. Afterwards he appeared to all the disciples, as well as to individuals among them, and proved to them, “by many infallible proofs” that God had raised him from the dead. He was “raised again for our justification.”

 

For forty days he remained, meeting them from time to time, that they might be fully assured of his resurrection.   Then he gave them their great charge, “Go ye into all the world, preach the gospel to the whole creation, he that believeth and is baptised shall be saved, but he that dis-believeth shall be condemned.”  It was his last command, and it has never been rescinded; belief of the gospel and baptism are unchanging essentials for all who would be saved, to which must be added the idea expressed in another account of the commission, “teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you.” No one who reads, and thinks over the Story, can avoid the conclusion that this last command of Jesus must be obeyed. Having given this commission Jesus ascended to heaven, there to be a merciful and faithful high priest, an advocate with the Father for his people.

 

As he ascended from them the disciples became aware that two angelic beings were standing by them. They brought a message, a message that has been the central feature of all Christian teach­ing ever since. “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? This Jesus, which was received up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven.” No words could be used which would more simply, or more explicitly, convey the idea that Jesus of Nazareth must come back to the earth to fulfil all the things predicted of him, to raise the dead, to act as a judge, because the Father has com­mitted all judgment to the Son, to possess the Land of Promise as the Seed of Abraham, and to sit as a king upon the throne of David in accord­ance with the covenant concerning the sure mercies of David.

 

This is an exceedingly brief account of the most important chapter in the whole of the God-Spell, or Story. But from this chapter it will be seen that Jesus was 1, The Seed of the woman; 2, The Seed of Abraham; 3, The Prophet like unto Moses; 4, The Antitype of the lambs slain under the Mosaic Law; 5, David’s greater Son; 6, Immanuel (God with us), for “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself”; 7, The Branch of the Lord; 8, The Lord our Righteousness. Thus all the Old Testament lines of promise and prophecy converge in him who was the Word made flesh.

[Resource Manager]

CHAPTER XXII

 

THE APOSTLES

 

WHEN the apostles returned to Jerusalem after the ascension of their Master, they remained there with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brethren, who had at last been convinced of the truth of their brother’s claims to be the Messiah.   Before his resurrection they had not believed in him.  Altogether the believers in the city numbered a hundred and twenty. The first task that faced them was to appoint an apostle in the place of Judas, who had hanged himself. The choice was made by means of the lot, and Matthias was appointed.

 

Pentecost

 

They waited in the city until the day of Pentecost. On that day, as they were gathered together, a sudden rushing sound was heard, and tongues as of flame were seen resting on each of them. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak “with other tongues.” News of what had occurred reached the people outside, and crowds came to­gether to see the strange phenomenon. Some said the apostles were drunk, but Peter, acting as their spokesman, pointed out that this was a most improbable suggestion, and showed that it was only on the lines of what their prophets had fore­told. Then he boldly preached Christ to them; and charged them with having crucified one who had been approved of God as evidenced by the wonders and signs that God did by him. God had raised him from the dead, he declared, an event which David had foretold because he had known that God would raise up the Christ to sit upon his (David’s) throne. So effectually did Peter speak that his hearers cried out, “Brethren, what shall we do?”  Peter’s reply was noteworthy. “Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of sins.” Three thousand obeyed. The Christian Church had commenced its public career.

 

For a time nothing could stay its progress. Miracles added to the impression made by the apostles’ words. A lame man was healed at the gate of the temple, and again Peter spoke to the crowds that gathered. He charged them with denying the Holy and Righteous One, with killing the Prince of Life, whom God had raised and glorified. He told them that God would send Jesus Christ, who was in heaven waiting for the times of restoration of which God had spoken through all the prophets. As a result two thousand more were added to the Church.

 

To stop this progress the rulers put the apostles in prison. When they brought them before the Council Peter referred to Jesus as the “Stone which the builders rejected,” and the “only Name under heaven wherein we must be saved.” The rulers could do nothing. The healed man stood before them, and near by was the empty tomb in which Jesus had been placed! So they let them go, “for all men glorified God for that which was done.”

 

The progress that had been made caused the high priest and the Sadducees to put the apostles in prison again, but in the night an angel opened the prison doors, and in the morning the apostles were in the Temple proclaiming “the words of this life.” They were re-arrested and brought before the council, only to tell them once more that God had raised Jesus from the dead. The council could do nothing but charge them not to speak in the name of Jesus. It was a useless charge, for, as they replied, “they could not but speak the things they had seen and heard.”

[Resource Manager]

Stephen and Philip

 

The growth of the Church made it necessary for arrangements to be made for the organisation of the business side of its affairs. Seven men were appointed for this purpose, one of whom was Stephen. He was a man of great ability, and en­gaged in dispute with various parties of the Jews. As they could not silence him by argument they brought false charges against him. He made his defence before the council, showing how they had only repeated the actions of their fathers who had rejected Joseph and Moses, both of whom had become the saviours of their people. So effective was his argument that they “gnashed upon him with their teeth,” cast him out of the city, and stoned him. It was a travesty of justice, just as the trial of Jesus had been. The first Christian martyr was a victim of hate. Stephen died with a prayer on his lips for the forgiveness of his mur­derers. Standing by, and minding the clothes of those who stoned Stephen, was a young man named Saul.

 

Gradually the area covered by the labours of the Christians extended. Persecution drove them throughout the country, and wherever they went they preached of Jesus. Samaria was the scene of activities, and there the two-fold aspect of the God-Spell is indicated by the expression “the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ,” on belief of which many of the Samaritans were baptised.

 

Philip, who had preached to the Samaritans also taught the truth to a eunuch, a man in the service of Candace, the Queen of Ethiopia. He was returning from Jerusalem and was reading from a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. The scroll was open at the fifty-third chapter. Philip joined him, and, taking the words of the scroll as his text, “preached unto him Jesus.” No more suitable chapter could be imagined for such a purpose. It speaks of One who was not desired, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, despised and rejected of men, but one on whom God had laid the iniquity of us all. It told of One who was smitten for the transgressions of his people, and who, though they made his grave with the wicked, was with the rich in his death. By his knowledge this one was to justify many, and bear their iniquities, though ultimately he should divide the spoil with the strong and be an intercessor for the transgressors.

[Resource Manager]

Light to the Gentiles

 

A much greater extension of the area of gospel proclamation was opened up by a vision which Peter had in Joppa. He was hungry, and dreamed he saw a great sheet let down from heaven con­taining all kinds of unclean animals and creeping things. A voice told him to kill and eat, but he demurred, for he had “never eaten anything that was common and unclean.” Then the voice spoke again, “What God hath cleansed that make not thou common.” This occurred three times, and then some men who had come from Caesarea asked for him. They had been sent by Cornelius, a cen­turion of the Roman army, with a request that Peter would go to Caesarea because Cornelius also had had a vision. Realising that God must have a work for him to do, Peter went, and in the most Roman city of Palestine, he preached to a Roman soldier the things concerning Jesus Christ. It is worth while calling attention to one saying of Cornelius. He told Peter he had seen a vision and had been told to send for him “who shall speak unto thee words whereby thou shalt be saved.” It is clear from this that a belief of certain things is essential for salvation, the things which concern the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. Peter declared these to Cornelius and his friends and then, to the astonishment of the Jews who were with Peter, the Holy Spirit fell upon these Gentiles and they were baptized. Thus the door of faith was opened to all peoples, and the way was prepared for the greatest development of all.

[Resource Manager]

The conversion of Saul

 

That development was connected with Saul, who had looked after the clothes of the men who stoned Stephen. He was an enthusiastic advocate of the traditions of the Jews, and a persecutor of the Christians. He obtained letters from the chief priests authorising him to go to Damascus to arrest Christians and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished. On the way he was suddenly struck to the earth by a light brighter than that of the mid-day sun, and heard a voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?”

 

“Who art thou, Lord?” he said.

 

“I am Jesus whom thou persecutest,” was the reply.

 

The brilliancy of the light had deprived Saul of sight, and he had to be led into the city of Damascus. Three days later he was visited by a Christian of the city who called him “Brother Saul,” laid his hands upon him so that he recovered his sight, and then said, “Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins.”

 

The main interest of the Story now centres in Saul, or Paul as he was afterwards called. At a meeting of the Church at Antioch the Holy Spirit said, “Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” Soon after­wards the two men set out accompanied by John Mark, to inaugurate the greatest movement in the Christian Church. These three Jews were going into new lands to make known the Story. Try to realise their task. They were going to proclaim that Jesus of Nazareth, who had been rejected by his own nation, and crucified as a common malefactor by the Roman governor of Judea, had been raised from the dead, and was alive for ever­more, not as a mere shade, but as a living, substantial person; that this Jesus was the one and only Saviour of Jews and Gentiles, and that in due time he would come back to earth, raise the dead, collect all the living who are amenable to his judgment, and sit as the judge of the quick and the dead. Equally surprising was the other aspect of their teaching. This Jesus would overthrow all the existing dominions of the earth, whether ruled by Caesar or by others, and occupy the throne of universal dominion, sharing that exalted position with those who identified themselves with him in the way he had appointed, i.e. belief of the Story, repentance, baptism in water, and a faithful obedience to his commands; com­mands which involve the crucifixion of the flesh and the rejection of the world. Could any proclam­ation seem more fantastic or more hopeless? Yet it succeeded, and wherever they went they found those who listened, believed and obeyed. Only two things can account for their success, the message was true, and they spoke “in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.”⁶⁷

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⁶⁷ 1 Cor. 2:4.

[Resource Manager]

Paul’s missionary journeys

 

On that first journey Barnabas and Paul went to Cyprus and Asia Minor proclaiming the truth to peoples of various cities. John Mark left them and returned home. An excellent illustration of Paul’s manner of teaching is found in an address he gave to the Jews in Antioch in Pisidia. It abounds with such expressions as “God chose our fathers and exalted the people,” “He led them forth,” He “destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan” and “gave Israel their land.” “He gave them judges,” “God gave them Saul” and “removed him.” He “raised up David to be their king.” It is typical of Bible history which is not a mere record of events, but the account of a Divine purpose working in the affairs of men, leading to a definite end which centres in Christ, for God, “brought unto Israel a Saviour Jesus” and “God raised him from the dead.”  It was in this way that Paul proclaimed the gospel, or God’s Story.

 

Paul’s second journey, accompanied by Silas, took him through Syria and Cilicia to Asia Minor, where, at Lystra, he chose Timothy to be a younger member of the party, as John Mark had been on the first journey. Guided by the Holy Spirit they reached Troas, where Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia, saying, “Come over into Macedonia and help us.” So the gospel reached Europe, for Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and Corinth, received the word of God. Churches were established in various parts and another chapter in the Story was opened.

 

The third journey took him through Asia Minor “establishing all the disciples.” He went to Ephesos, where he stayed a long time, then to Corinth and the country of Greece, after which he returned to Jeru­salem by way of Troas and Miletus, where he met the elders of the Ephesian church to whom he gave a remarkable address, ending with a significant com­mendation, “I commend you to God and the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and give you the inheritance among all them that are sanctified.”

 

When he reached Jerusalem and was in the Temple he was attacked by the Jews, and was only rescued by a company of Roman soldiers who were quartered in the Castle of Antonia, adjoining the Temple. He was brought before the High Priest, but a conspiracy being formed against him, he was sent to Caesarea to the Roman governor Felix. Before him Paul reasoned of righteousness, temper­ance and judgment to come, and so powerful were his arguments that the Roman trembled. Paul remained in Caesarea until Felix was removed and Festus was appointed governor. Then he placed himself beyond the power of the Jews by appealing to Caesar’s judgment seat. Before he could be sent to Rome, Agrippa, the king of Judaea, visited Festus and Paul was brought before him. Finally he was sent to Rome. The record of his journey there is one of the most graphic pieces of descriptive writing in the whole of the Story; it must be read in full to be appreciated; no summary can do it justice.⁶⁸ Finally he reached Rome, and there the Story ends. “And Paul abode two whole years in his own hired dwelling, and received all that went in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, none forbidding him.”

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⁶⁸ Acts 1:27.

 

[Resource Manager]

CHAPTER XXIII

THE LETTERS OF THE APOSTLES

 

ALTHOUGH the God-Spell ends with Paul in Rome there are two appendices to which a brief allusion must be made—the epistles and the Apocalypse.

 

Paul and the other Apostles were not only preachers, some of them were also writers. There are thirteen epistles of Paul, two of Peter, three of John, and one each of James and Jude, together with an anonymous one addressed to the Hebrews. Most of these were written because of circumstances that prevailed in the churches or that affected the individuals to which they were addressed.  They furnish interesting lights on the history of the early church, and are full of wise counsel.

 

Early letters

 

The earliest of the Epistles of Paul were the two to the Thessalonians. They are marked by the simplicity that characterised the early years of Christianity. One idea stands out in each of them; the believers were waiting for the return of Christ: they were to be the Apostle’s “crown of glorying before our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming.” He prayed for them that they might be unblamable “at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Their hope for their friends who had died was that they should be raised from the dead when “the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout ... and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” They knew of the times and seasons which were to indicate the time of the coming of the Lord. Their persecutions were to be recompensed when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven, though that event would not take place until there had been a falling away (an apostacy) from the truth.”

 

Next in order, probably, was the Epistle to the Galatians. It was written to oppose the efforts of some who were trying to introduce Judaism into the Church. It emphasises the fact that there is only one gospel, anything else is not really a gospel. That gospel had been preached to Abraham when God promised him that in his seed, the Christ, all the families of the earth should be blessed. The import­ance of it in a personal sense is seen in the fact that the inheritance connected with the promise was not that of the law, but that “as many of you as have been baptized into Christ did put on Christ ... and if ye be Christ’s then are ye Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.”

[Resource Manager]

Questions and answers

 

The two Epistles to the Corinthians were written in response to letters from them asking for guidance, and as a result of reports of evil practices among them, yet they contain much that is of universal application, not the least important being the necessity of unity in the Church. The command of a weekly memorial meeting is emphasised. Paul had “received of the Lord” particulars in relation to the breaking of bread and the drinking of wine. In the midst of these instructions there occurs one of the outstanding chapters in the New Testa­ment, the Hymn of Love, the greatest thing in the world, for now “abideth faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love.”

 

A remarkable chapter sets out the place of resur­rection in the Christian faith. If there be no resurrec­tion of the dead, that is, of the dead body, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished; only when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, shall the saying come to pass, “death is swallowed up in victory.” The second epistle sets forth the place of judgment in the scheme, “for we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things in the body, according to that he hath done, whether good or bad.”

[Resource Manager]

Important teachings

 

The Epistle to the Romans was written before Paul had been to Rome. It is more like a theological treatise than an ordinary letter and is an excellent exposition of the doctrines of the early Church. It sets forth the majesty of the God as evidenced in creation, the necessity of judgment “in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men, according to my gospel, by Jesus Christ.”  An allusion to the Abrahamic promises leads to the subject of faith, evidenced by Abraham himself in his implicit belief in the promise of God, and then to an important section which deals with the problems of sin and evil and their removal. Sin and death came by one man, Adam, and as a result, death reigned. In like manner righteousness and life come through the obedience of Christ, that, “as sin reigned in death, even so might grace reign through righteousness, unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Such a result may accrue to those who have been baptized into the death of Christ, and who have realised the result in their later life—dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God in Jesus Christ.

 

There follows an elaborate argument on the whole subject. Sin is viewed not only as an act but as a principle, a law of sin in the members of the individual, causing Paul to say, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of death?” only to respond “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” It is noticeable that in the course of the whole argument Paul does not make the slightest allusion to the common idea of a devil, or a hell of consciousness and suffering. “The wages of sin is death, and the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.”

 

A later section of the epistle deals with Israel’s part in the plan. They were beloved for the fathers’ sake but had been cast off for their sins. Under the figure of an olive tree Paul shows that Israel were as branches broken off because of unbelief so that Gentiles might, contrary to nature, be grafted into the olive tree and thus share in the promises made to Abraham. The final section of the epistle is taken up with rules for daily conduct and a doxology of great power. 

 

Paul’s stay in Rome is marked by a group of Epistles, those to the Ephesians, the Philippians, and the Colossians, and a personal one to Philemon. They contain evidence of a gradual falling away from the simplicity of the faith. Philosophy and vain deceit, the traditions of men, the “rudiments of the world,” had corrupted the early simplicity of the Truth as it is in Jesus, and these epistles are directed against such tendencies.  Yet the old simplicity is there. The covenants of promise are still referred to; believers are regarded as fellow citizens with the saints of the past, fellow heirs of the old promises. A seven-fold unity is enjoined, One body (the Church, the body of Christ), one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. The same salvation is proclaimed, the coming of “the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory.” The way to this end is also the same, burial with Christ by baptism that they might be raised by him through faith. Their life was hid with Christ in God, only to be received when Christ “who is our life” is manifested at his second coming.

 

The last group consists of letters to Timothy and Titus. They are more intimate in character, but they lay down principles for the guidance of the church and those who serve the church. They speak of the great degeneracy that was to mark the last times, when men should be “lovers of self,” “lovers of money” and “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” As the Apostle reached the end of his career and recognised that his death was at hand, he wrote, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith, henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give to me at that day,” “according to the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus.”

[Resource Manager]

Old and New Covenants

 

The anonymous Epistle to the Hebrews is a remarkable exposition of the “betterness” of the religion of Christ when compared with that of the Mosaic dispensation. Jesus is more excellent than either angels, Moses, Aaron, or Joshua. Yet the truth in him had its foundations in the past, and all that had gone before had been a preparation for him. “Better” is a keynote to the epistle: better promises, better sacrifices, a better hope, for Jesus had entered into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption, an end that exceeds all the promises of the law, and is only possible because Jesus had died as the sacrificial victim whereby the Abrahamic covenant had been confirmed. His death and resurrection indicated how the principle is to be understood that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. An outstanding chapter defines faith, “the assurance of things hoped for, the proving of things not seen,” and proceeds to illustrate that faith by many examples recorded in the Story. In every case it was a faith that worked by love, and it rested on the old promises, confirmed by the death and resurrection of Jesus, showed that while “here we have no continuing city” we look for “the city which is to come,” in contrast to the idea of one to go to. An important section of this epistle emphasises the fact that Jesus was of the same nature as all human beings, that “He might bring to naught him that had the power of death, that is the devil.” As the “sting of death is sin,” this saying identifies the devil with the sin nature, or sin power in us, which is to be brought to naught through Christ.

[Resource Manager]

Keeping the faith

 

The Epistle of James was evidently written by the person spoken of as “James, the Lord’s brother.” It is very practical, and is mainly concerned with the actions and the duties of the believer. It extols the virtue of patience and exhorts its readers to “be patient until the coming of the Lord.”

 

Two Epistles of Peter follow. They are wonderful indications of what a change can be wrought in any one by an association with Jesus; they are as unlike the sayings of the Peter of the early days as they could possibly be. He speaks of Jesus as “the chief corner stone, elect, precious,” and refers to the sufferings of the Christ and the glories that shall follow, adding to this the idea that in some way the Christian has to make up that which was lacking of those sufferings—a wonderful and suggestive thought. The old lessons of the past are reiterated. “All flesh is as grass,” but “the Word of the Lord abideth for ever.” The great hope of the new dispensation is emphasised, and attention fixed upon the time when the Chief Shepherd shall be manifested. Peter gives a word of warning. “Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” There were enemies around seeking for some way of stopping the progress of Christianity; the pagan authorities as the embodiment of the sin-power of the time. Peter had been put in prison by the Jewish authorities in Judaea, and the “sojourners of the Dispersion” were likely to have similar experiences in Asia Minor. There is no need to imagine the Devil of a past theology roaring like a lion in his search for the souls of believers.

 

A second letter used the great judgments of the past to illustrate judgments to come, and the dangers of false teachers or prophets. In it Peter spoke of a new heaven and a new earth wherein righteousness shall dwell, once more linking the New Testament with the Old in its hopes and expectations, for it is in the Old that the details of the new heavens and the new earth must be sought⁶⁹ Peter ends his second epistle with an exhortation to “grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,” and the ascription to him of glory both now and for ever.

 

John’s three Epistles are marked by the things that characterised the man. The great Christian virtue is love, and its duties and obligations are spoken of and emphasised. The simple truths of the Christian religion are insisted on. The place of Christ as the propitiation for sins, the fact that he came in the flesh, i.e., the flesh of men and not in some other kind of flesh; his coming again to cause his followers to be as he is now; spirit and not mere flesh and blood. They need life, and eternal life is only to be found in him. He adds his testimony to that of Paul in relation to the simple things of the religion of Christ.

 

The list of the Epistles is completed by that of Jude, a short letter in which he shows the necessity of contending earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints, and building ourselves up on that most holy faith.

 

These are only a few thoughts on the letters of the New Testament. They would require volumes for their proper treatment yet they form a part of the great Story and must have at least a passing allusion in this review.

 

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⁶⁹ See 65:17; 66:23; 51:16.

 

[Resource Manager]

CHAPTER XXIV

 

THE APOCALYPSE

 

THE Story finishes with a book which is unique in character; it is almost wholly concerned with what was, at the time of writing, in the future. It is described as “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him to show unto his servants the things which must shortly come to pass.” These things were not indicated by plain predictions but by a series of signs which represented something different from themselves. All that can be done is to summarise the sections, and show how the past finds its consummation in this book—The Apocalypse.

 

Seven churches

 

It was addressed to seven typical churches in Asia. This was not the Asia of geography, but the Roman province of that name, situated in the west of Asia Minor. The book contains, first of all, seven letters addressed to these churches.  All have certain expressions in common, and these expressions apply equally to the churches of to-day. They are, “I know thy works,” “He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches,” and “To him that overcometh will I give” thus and so. These expressions may be regarded as the key-notes of the letters which describe the spiritual state of the various churches, and may be considered as typical of the condition of the churches of all times.

 

The chief actor in the book is shown in a vision that John, the writer of the book, saw. There was a seven-sealed scroll in which was inscribed in a series of hieroglyphs the future history of the church and the world. John greatly desired to see the contents of the scroll, but so long as the seals remained unbroken he could not do so. So intense was his desire to see what was written that he wept much until one appeared who was able to open the seals. That one is described as “the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David” and his appearance was as “a Lamb standing as it had been slain.” Thus in the last book of the Story the Old and New Testaments merge in the symbols that are used. Shiloh, of the blessing of Judah, who was both the root and the offspring of David, is seen to be the slain, but risen, Lamb, and the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He is the operator throughout the whole of the book, in which, in symbol, he is seen controlling the affairs of the world and of the Church, to the great rejoicing of certain symbolic creatures who are described in the book.

 

As the Lamb proceeded to open the seals a series of incidents took place which show the history of the church and the world in the period that witnessed the conquests of the Cross and the fall of paganism. The sixth seal completes that process and shows the “wrath of the Lamb” on those who had persecuted the Church.