“With the
merciful Thou wilt show Thyself merciful; with an upright man Thou wilt show
Thyself upright … and with the froward Thou wilt show Thyself froward” (Psa.
18:25,26). This is one of the verses that came to mind in the wake of the
recent terrorist attacks upon the World Trade Center towers and elsewhere in
America. It tells us that God at times reflects back to us—both as individuals
and as a nation—our attitudes and behavior. Haven’t we all experienced it? If
we drive courteously or are helpful to other people, we find other drivers
being courteous to us and other people being helpful to us. If we cheat other
people, we find other people cheating us.

God’s
reflecting mirror is also seen in Psa. 109:17; Isa. 33:1; Matt. 5:7; Rev.
13:10; and 16:6.

We surely do
not condone the violent and murderous actions of the terrorists; the leaders
must be found and brought to justice. However, I cannot help but wonder if God
has permitted this violence against America in order to reflect back to us the
violence we Americans have been legally and approvingly inflicting upon our
fellow Americans in recent decades. Physical violence has been brought upon
millions of unborn babies; this is legal and widely accepted. Emotional
violence has been brought upon millions of children and teenagers when Dads and
Moms decide they do not love their life partners anymore, are not willing to
make the personal sacrifices stated in their wedding vows, and divorce one
another; this is legal and widely accepted. Moral violence is being brought
unremittingly by the entertainment industry upon citizens young and old; our
nation’s moral values are twisted to the point where we “call evil good, and
good evil” (Isa. 5:20); this too is legal and widely accepted and defended.

Very
appropriately, there was national mourning for the thousands who died when the
twin towers were destroyed. But don’t we kind of shrug our shoulders when we
read of the victims of 17,000 murders, 16,000 drunk driving fatalities, 90,000
rapes, and over a million other violent crimes committed in America each year?
An estimated 20 percent of adult Americans were victims of sexual abuse as
children. Well over a million American women annually are beaten—severely
enough to receive police and medical attention—by their husbands, ex-husbands,
or lovers, and some 3,000 die as a result. (Physical abuse of husbands by wives
is less common, but still substantial.) Sadly, this is not at all a phenomenon
confined to non-Christians and alcoholics. A study has shown that physical
battering of wives occurs in about four percent of Christian families. Does our
outrage toward the perpetrators of these acts of violence approach that which
we have toward the terrorists who have attacked America?

Let us bring it
even closer to home to us who are God’s children:Every time we lose our temper
(Jas. 1:19; Eph. 4:31), make a false accusation against our brother (Exod.
20:16), spread an evil—even if true—report about another person (Rom. 1:29;
Jas. 5:20; 1 Pet. 4:8), fight with our siblings over an inheritance (Luke
12:13-15), or call a person a bad name (Matt. 5:22), we are acting violently
against our fellow men. The Lord Jesus equated some of these behaviors to
murder when He said, “You have heard that it was said by them of old time, You
shall not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment;
but I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause
[most often the case] shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall
say to his brother, Raca [or worthless], shall be in danger of the council; but
whosoever shall say, You fool [or moron], shall be in danger of hell fire”
(Matt. 5:21,22).

Yes indeed, the
leaders of the terrorists must be found and brought to justice. But at the same
time, may we all—both as individuals and as a nation—do some serious
soul-searching about our own little acts of violence and attacks upon America.

“Search me, O
God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any
wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psa. 139:23,24).

In presenting
the truth as to the second coming of our Lord Jesus it is imperative that we
follow the clear lines of Holy Scripture. The New Testament is full of this
subject from Matthew to Revelation. But we must distinguish, and not confound,
the closing part of our Christian age and that of the next or Jewish
age—the last week of Daniel’s prophecy (Dan. 9:20-27), the last half being the
time of the great tribulation. The present dispensation is called the “Day of Grace.”
Daniel’s last week will be characterized as the “Day of Trouble” (Jer.
30:7). The millennium that follows is a thousand year period called the “Day of
the Lord” (1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Pet. 3:10). The eternal state that follows the
millennium is styled the “Day of God” and also the “Day of Eternity” (2 Pet.
3:12,18 JND).   In Daniel, as also in Rev. 6-19, dates are given, but none of
those dates refer to our Christian age. To observe the characteristic features
of our age as given in the Epistles, and the characteristic features of
Daniel’s last week as given in the prophecies, is most important; they should
not be confounded.

Some of the
features that apply to the close of the Christian age have for long been
manifest:the moral and spiritual darkness thickens day by day; but nowhere in
the New Testament have we the least hint as to how long these characteristic
marks may continue. We are now [this was written in the year 1916] about 1900
years on in our Christian age. The spirit of lawlessness had already begun in
the apostle’s day. How much more now (1 Tim. 4:1-3; 2 Tim. 3:1-13; 1 John
2:18-19).

The world is
now confronted with an appalling war [World War I]. We should not underestimate
the gigantic struggle now going on among the nations. But even this is not the
worst. Darker days are yet in the future. Wars, energized by more than human
agencies, will follow our age; they take place after the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ for His own (1 Thess. 4:13-18). Armageddon, as presented in Rev.
16, will take place at the close of Daniel’s last week—the close of the Day of
Trouble. To have our mind calm and stayed by the Word of God is the great thing
for us.

Predictions
concerning the present war are very harmful. We have seen and heard such
predictions during the last half century, and the enemy has used them to
confuse many and to discredit the truth. Let us all be warned and use great
caution concerning events as they are now taking place.

Within our own
lifetime we can remember the great war that was waged between Russia and Turkey
(two nations that come within the scope of the prophetic Word), and some
thought that the end was at hand. But that conflict passed, peace was restored,
and the Lord did not then come.

Since then
there have been conflicts between Greece and Turkey, Italy and Turkey, and the
Balkan States and Turkey, but each time peace was restored and the end of the
age has not come.

Now we are in
the second year of a war that surpasses all that Europe or the world has ever
yet known or witnessed. What a call for prayer to the whole Church of God! What
earnestness this dread conflict should awaken in the hearts of all the redeemed
people! It is clear that the present world is yet an evil world. As thousands
day by day are violently thrown into eternity, oh for hearts to be stirred and
energized by the Spirit to walk before God and serve the Lord with increased
devotion!

Yet, amid this
dread conflict, let us beware of premature predictions concerning the second
coming of our Lord Jesus on that account. We cannot say that this is the last
link in the chain of great events to bring in our Lord’s second coming. This may
be the last, but, as we have said, times and dates do not form part of the
Christian dispensation. It is very important to note that in all the New
Testament no war is mentioned after the one predicted by the Lord concerning
the Romans’ destruction of Jerusalem (Luke 21:20-24) until we come to Rev. 6
when the same empire, revived, will once more come to the front. Wars
and rumors of wars will then fill the air until the final struggle—the
battle of Armageddon.

The apostle
Paul’s entire ministry, in which are fully made known the characteristic
features of our age as well as the marks of its close, passes over this entire
subject and never once mentions these struggles or wars among the nations.
Throughout the history of Christianity there have been many wars, but the
entire New Testament passes them all over and gives them no prophetic notice
whatever. This silence of Scripture ought to cause special inquiry and produce
moderation as to predictions at the present time.

We must turn
away from all these conditions—national, political, and ecclesiastical. As we
view the second coming of our Lord Jesus we stand upon a safer foundation—the
unerring Word of God and the promises left us by the Lord Jesus. Do we believe
His coming is near? If so, what is our basis for such a belief? From John 14 to
Rev. 3, the Lord’s return is ever presented to the Church as its hope. From the
infant days of the Church the second coming of Christ was ever before them.
Wars gave them no evidence of the near approach of Christ’s coming. It was the
promises given by Christ and by the apostles that formed the basis of that
hope. When the Thessalonians “turned to God from idols to serve the living and
true God, and [waited] for His Son from heaven (1 Thess. 1:9,10), no great
political event was occurring; yet the Church has never since been so stirred
by, and joyfully looking for, that blessed hope. They were waiting for the
fulfillment of His promise, “I will come again” (John 14:3). Their hearts were
encouraged in this hope by the pen of the apostle, “For yet a little while, and
He that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Heb. 10:37). The sure Word
of God, we repeat, was the firm basis upon which they looked for Christ’s
return.

Is it not a
mark of the Church’s deep declension that events such as this horrible world
war are required to stir us to look for the Lord’s second coming? Does it not
prove that we are not hanging upon that special promise left us before
He went away, and that we are not making that blessed hope our meat and drink
continually?

Let us afresh
gird our loins, trim our lamps, and be “like unto men who wait for their Lord”
(Luke 12:35,36).

(From Help
and Food, Vol. 34.)

We will be
blessed, I believe, by considering Christ as “The Carpenter.” His work is so
far superior to all other carpenters in greatness, quality, and quantity that
this title, “THE Carpenter,” is indeed His alone. Each thing He has made brings
glory to Him and shows us something of His wisdom, power, and knowledge.

The question,
“Is not this the Carpenter?” was asked out of astonishment upon hearing His
teaching and seeing His miracles (Mark 6:1-6). They thought He was out of His
place to be teaching instead of being at the carpenter bench. But was He not
building through His teaching? His words, if believed, cause the person to be
made into a new creature. Was He not building by doing miracles? This was
repair work, which a carpenter does at times, in healing the sick and raising
the dead, as exhibited in the previous chapter, Mark 5.

We may well be
astonished and be in awe as we think of this Carpenter who came into this world
His hands had made. They ask in Mark 6, “What wisdom is this which is given
unto Him, that even such mighty works are wrought by His hands?” Those
wonderful hands did their greatest work when they were nailed to the cross of
Calvary. And there He did the work He came into this world to do—to save
sinners. For all eternity we will marvel and praise Him for that work. He
defeated the world, sin, and Satan and satisfied a holy God about our sins.
From that cross He cried, “It is finished.” Nothing can be added to that work
and any who try to do something to save themselves are saying that His work was
not good enough. How serious such a charge is to Him who “has done all things
well!” God was satisfied with His work and raised Him from the dead and seated
Him at His own right hand in heaven. If God is satisfied, we should be too.

We read that
those who asked the question that day, “Is not this the Carpenter?” were
“offended at Him.” They would not own Him to be more than a mere man. But He is
THE Carpenter, the Creator. For “all things were made by Him, and without Him
was not anything made that was made” (John 1:3). In creating, He did what no
mere human can do—He made from nothing. It is by faith we understand this,
“that the things that are seen were not made of things that do appear” (Heb.
11:3).

His first act
of creation was angels, it appears, for we are told they shouted for joy at the
creation of the world (Job 38:7). Then in Genesis 1 we have three creative
acts:the creation of matter in verse 1, the creation of the soul in verse 20,
and the creation of the spirit of man in verse 27. It is man’s spirit that
makes him in the image of God, for “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24). Man is made
of all three—body, soul, and spirit. Man’s soul is different from an animal’s
for it is never dying:“For God breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life
and he became a living soul” (Gen. 2:7).

Isaiah 45:18
tells us that God created the earth not in vain but to be inhabited. But we
find in verse 2 of our Bibles, after the original creation of verse 1, that the
earth became “without form and void.” So the Carpenter went to work and in six
days remade the earth for the good of man. This remaking is a beautiful picture
of what He does in saving a precious soul from perishing. The Spirit of God
moves and gives light to the soul. Then fruit is brought forth in the life.

Another thing
God made was woman out of a rib in Adam’s side. A deep sleep had to fall on him
for her to be made. So Christ died so that His bride and wife—the Church—could be
made. The Lord Himself declared, “I will build My Church” upon the solid rock
foundation of His own name—“the Christ” (Matt. 16:16-18). To do this He “gave
Himself for it” (Eph. 5:25). Each soul who believes on Him is added to His
Church (Acts 2:47). It is called His “body,” for it displays His every
attribute and is controlled by Him who is the Head of the Church (Eph. 1:22).
It is called “the house of God” for His order and care are manifest there. And
it is called His temple, for praise issues forth from it. Think of the
thousands upon thousands who have been saved since the day of Pentecost, when
the Church was formed, who are part of the Church. Each one also, in Himself,
is a special creation to do good works (Eph. 2:10). And each one is specially designed
with gifts to function as a part of the Church for the good of all. Some day
soon all will be displayed to be “admired” as we show Christ to the world (2
Thess. 1:10).

View
the vast building, see it rise;

The
work how great! The plan how wise!

O
wondrous fabric! Power unknown!

That
rears it on the “Living Stone.”

Very soon the
last stone will be put into that building. Then He will call us home to that
place He has gone to prepare for us. At the cross He began the preparations for
that place and now from the glory He continues to prepare that place for us
(John 14:1-3). He also is now teaching those who are saved through His Word in
the power of the Spirit of God and thus preparing us for those many mansions of
the Father’s house. When He takes us there, the Carpenter will again work. For
He will change our physical bodies to be like Christ’s own resurrected and
glorified body (Phil. 3:21). That body walked through closed doors and ascended
into heaven, and so will we in our bodies fit for glory.

Dear reader,
are you made fit for glory or are you yet perishing in your sins? God made you
in His image so that you could be in His presence. But like Adam, you have
sinned and only through Christ can you be part of that new creation through
faith in His work on the cross. We urge you to avail yourself of that work by
trusting yourself to Him.

Do not be like
those who “were offended at Him.” This is the result of not believing on Him
and not owning Him to be the Lord of all. He owns all He has made by right.
Only man and the fallen angels will not give Him that place as Lord. How
foolish, for some day soon every knee will bow to Him (Phil. 2:10). Is it any
wonder that the Lord Himself “marveled because of their unbelief” (Mark 6:6)?
His creative works alone will make men without excuse (Rom. 1:20). Why spurn
such love offered to you in your need? Bow your knee now and the Carpenter will
make you a “new creature” (2 Cor. 5:17). Also, you will have “a house …
eternal in the heavens” (2 Cor. 5:1); there you forever will adore “The
Carpenter” and His wonderful works.

(From Scripture
Almanac, 1988.)

In Job 33:14-17
we are told, “For God speaks once, yea twice, yet man perceives it not. In a
dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, in slumberings
upon the bed. Then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction, that
He may withdraw man from his purpose [or work], and hide pride from man.” This
is how God often speaks to men where they have not open Bibles to give them the
clear revelation of His will. He has many ways of reaching those who seem bent
upon their own destruction. The fourth chapter of Daniel is a remarkable
example of God’s matchless grace, and illustrates most preciously the words
just quoted.

God had spoken the
first time to Nebuchadnezzar in giving him the dream of the great image of
the times of the Gentiles (Dan. 2). But the heart of the king was willful, and
he continued to go on with his own purpose, in his pride and folly. God spoke
to Nebuchadnezzar the second time by the marvelous vision of the Son of
God in the midst of the fiery furnace, keeping His faithful witnesses from all
danger and harm (Dan. 3). But again the proud king kept on his way, with
insubmissive heart and unsubdued will. Now God speaks the third time,
and this in a most humiliating manner, to the confusion of this great
world-ruler before his princes.

In the passage
in Job, Elihu goes on to show that when dreams and visions do not avail, God
sometimes allows disease to grip the body till the poor sinner is broken in
spirit and crushed in heart, ready at last to cry, “I have sinned, and
perverted that which was right, and it profited me not!” (Job 33:27). Then “He
will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the
light” (verse 28).

So in Daniel 4,
written by Nebuchadnezzar himself, and preserved and incorporated into the
volume of inspiration by Daniel, we have the interesting account of the means
God used to bring this haughty king to the end of himself, and lead him to
abase himself before the Majesty in the heavens. In other words, this is
Nebuchadnezzar’s conversion, and seems clearly to show that a work of grace
took place in his soul before he laid down the scepter entrusted to his hand by
Jehovah.

There is a
typical meaning too, no doubt. In Nebuchadnezzar we see a picture of all
Gentile power and its departure from God, its degradation and bestial
character, and its final subjugation to God in the time of the end, when Christ
shall return in glory and all nations shall bow before Him, owning His
righteous rule.

Nebuchadnezzar
was the embodiment of authority given from heaven:“The powers that be are
ordained of God” (Rom. 13:1). But the king’s madness depicts the turning away
of the nations from God and the corruption of governments to serve human ends.
Has not this been characteristic of the great ones of this world? Instead of
kings standing for God and acting as His representatives to maintain justice
and judgment in the earth, do we not find pride, self-will, covetousness, and
self-seeking generally controlling them? All this is pictured by the debasement
of Nebuchadnezzar when his heart was changed to the heart of a beast, and he
was driven forth to eat grass like the oxen of the fields.

But the day
draws near when God will assert Himself, and all Gentile dominion shall come to
an end. Then the long-promised King will shine forth in His glorious majesty,
and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor unto the new
Jerusalem, the heavenly throne-city of the coming kingdom. Then will the
nations look up as redeemed men, and not down as the beasts that perish.

Even in this
present age history teaches us the value of a national recognition of God’s
moral government. We have heard of the heathen chieftain who came from his
distant domain to visit Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. One day he asked
her if she would tell him the secret of England’s progress and greatness. For
answer, it is said, the queen presented him with a Bible, saying, “This book
will tell you.” Who can doubt that according to the measure in which that Book
of books has been believed and loved by any people, God has honored them; and
you will find that every nation that has welcomed and protected the gospel has
been cared for and blessed in a special way. On the other hand, let there be a
national rejection of His Word, as in the case of the French nation, who were
among the first favored by Him in Reformation times, but drove out the truth He
gave them, and you will find disaster following disaster.

But let us now
turn directly to our chapter for a concrete example of all this. It begins
with:“Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that
dwell in all the earth” (Dan. 4:1). This comes home to my heart in a most
marked way. I realize that I am reading the personal testimony of one who was
in some respects the greatest monarch this world has ever known; I am
privileged to have his own account of how he—a proud, self-willed man—was
brought to repentance and to the saving knowledge of the God of all grace!

What a miracle
this is! In fact, every conversion is a miracle—every soul that is saved knows
that it is to be dealt with in supernatural power. It is God alone who changes
men about like this. He picks up a vile, wretched sinner and makes him a holy,
happy saint. He works in the drunkard’s soul and changes him to a sober, useful
member of society. He breaks down the proud and stubborn, and they become meek
and lowly, easy to be entreated. Are not these things miracles? Indeed they
are, and they are being enacted all around us; yet men sneer and say that the
miraculous never happens in this law-controlled, workaday world of ours! Oh
that men might have their eyes opened to see and their ears to hear
what God in His grace is doing on the basis of the one offering for sin of His
blessed Son upon the cross!

“I thought it
good,” Nebuchadnezzar goes on, “to show the signs and wonders that the high God
has wrought toward me. How great are His signs! and how mighty are His wonders!
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to
generation” (Dan. 4:2,3). What a splendid confession this is, and how different
from his previous acknowledgments in chapters 2 and 3! Ah, his conscience has
been reached now, and he knows God for himself, and delights to tell of His
signs and wonders wrought toward him! He owns Him now not as a
god, but as the one true and living God whose kingdom rules over all, and shall
continue forevermore. This is not the millennial kingdom of Christ of which he
speaks, but God’s moral government of the universe, which nothing ever alters
for a moment.

And now I would
like to be very personal, and press some questions home upon each listener.
Have you ever been brought into direct contact with Him, so that you can speak
confidently of what He has done for your soul? Have you been humbled by getting
a sight of yourself as a lost, undone sinner before Him? Have you owned
yourself unclean and undone, in dire need of sovereign mercy? And do you know
what it is to have fled for refuge to the very God against whom you have sinned
so grievously, and to have found in His Son our Lord Jesus Christ a hiding
place from the judgment your sins deserved?

Before God
awakened Nebuchadnezzar, he had been “at rest in [his] house, and flourishing
in [his] palace” (verse 4). There is a deceitful rest and peace that lulls many
a soul into a false security. To be untroubled is no evidence of safety. Be
sure that your peace is founded on the blood of Christ shed upon the cross.

Nebuchadnezzar
tells us how he was aroused from that false security in which he had dwelt so
long. “I saw a dream,” he says, “that made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my
bed and the visions of my head troubled me” (verse 5). God saw that he needed
to be troubled—he needed to be awakened from his sleep of death. It was grace
that thus exercised him. And in some way every soul that is saved has to pass
through this period of soul-anxiety and concern. Nebuchadnezzar turned, as
before, to the wrong source for help in his time of difficulty. He called in
his magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers, to whom he narrated his
dream, but to no avail. At last Daniel came in, and to him the king turned
expectantly and related his dream (verses 6-18).

The meaning was
evidently clear to Daniel from the first, but we are told that he was
astonished for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. Nebuchadnezzar must
have discerned the anxiety and sorrow in the face of his minister, for he spoke
in a way to give him confidence to proceed with the interpretation. It is a
blessed thing for any soul to get to the place where he can say, “Give me God’s
word, and let me know it is His word, and I will receive it, no matter
how it cuts and interferes with my most cherished thoughts.”

“My lord,
Daniel answered, “the dream be to those who hate you, and the interpretation
thereof to your enemies. He then proceeded to explain the dream. Nebuchadnezzar
had been set by God in a special place of prominence in the earth as the head
of all peoples and dominions. But he was to be humbled to the very lowest
depths (verses 19-27).

All happened
exactly as Daniel had said, for Nebuchadnezzar, still not humbled, though he
had listened so respectfully to the words of the prophet, walked one day, a
year later, in the palace of his kingdom overlooking the city. As he walked he
said to himself, “Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of
the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?” (verses
28-30). Thus did Nebuchadnezzar forget how he was indebted to the most high God
for the position he occupied and the riches and the glory of it, and took all
the credit to himself. While the word was in his mouth the decree was spoken,
and he was informed by a voice from heaven that the time had come when the
dream should be fulfilled. The same hour he lost his reason and became a
pitiable spectacle, unfit to associate with his fellows. He was driven from men
into the open fields where he became like the beasts that perish (verses
31-33).

After seven
years Nebuchadnezzar lifted up his eyes; his reason returned to him; he saw
that God had been dealing with him; his lesson was learned; he blessed the most
high God; he turned to Him in repentance; he owned Him as his God; and then he
wrote out this account of his conversion, that others might, with him, be
humbled before the only true God and bless Him for His mercy.

Thus will it be
with the spared nations after the judgments that are to take place in the time
of the end. Nebuchadnezzar aptly typifies all Gentile power, as we have already
noticed. It has been haughty, insolent, and heaven-defying. Forgetting God, the
true source of authority and power, it has become like the beasts of the earth.
You know something of its course since it crucified the Lord of glory. The
nations have been mad—as utterly bereft of all true reason as was the demented
king of Babylon. But the day is nearing when God, in His grace, is going to end
all this and deliver a groaning world from the evils of selfish despotism and
national jealousies. Christ’s personal return from heaven will conclude the
long period of Gentile misrule. Creation groans for the hour when the one true
King will be manifested, when our Lord Jesus Christ “in His times will show who
is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords” (1
Tim. 6:15).

“The blessed
Potentate” means a truly happy ruler! The world has never seen a happy
potentate in the past. Shakespeare’s line has passed into a proverb:“Uneasy
lies the head that wears a crown.” But in the days of our Lord Jesus Christ,
when He takes the rod of power and reigns in righteousness, the world, for the
first time, will see a happy Potentate. Who can measure the happiness of
the Son of God when He descends to take the kingdom for which He has waited so
long; when He has His own beloved bride with Himself to share His glory! Then
“He shall see of the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied” (Isa. 53:11).

“That happy
Potentate” excludes all sorrow and disappointment. “That only Potentate”
excludes every other rule. Upon His head will be many crowns. Every other crown
will be cast at His feet, and He will reign as King of kings and Lord of lords.
Happy for those, in that day, who have humbled themselves in this, and who,
like Nebuchadnezzar, have owned the righteousness of His dealings with them;
who have confessed their sins before Him; and who will be able to exclaim with
joy, when He descends in majesty, “This is our God:we have waited for Him”
(Isa. 25:9).

Have you bowed
in contrition at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, and trusted Him as your own
Saviour, and owned Him as your rightful Lord? If you have, you can look up and
say with happy confidence, “Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20).

(From Lectures
on Daniel the Prophet, Loizeaux, Neptune, NJ; used by permission.)

I recently
received a letter from a brother saying that some co-workers of his had
relatives in lower Manhattan at the time of the September 11 horrors. He
writes, “All escaped, so fortunately my friends do not have to deal directly
with personal tragedy. I’m not sure that most people (myself included) are
equipped to help others deal with something of this severity. What do you
think?” This brother raises a good question. How well are we equipped
for such a task. It might be a good idea for each Christian assembly to
schedule a series of meetings to discuss what the Bible teaches us about
counseling people who have lost loved ones or are experiencing other kinds of
severe trials.

       General Principles

Based on my own
rather limited experience, five important principles of counseling emerge:“Let
every man be swift to hear, slow to speak” (Jas. 1:19); “pray without ceasing”
(1 Thess. 5:17); “comfort the faint-hearted” (1 Thess. 5:14 JND); “Jesus wept”
(John 11:35); and “all Scripture … is profitable … that the man of God may
be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:16,17). Let us
be careful not to jump in quickly with lots of verses like Romans 8:28 (as I
have had a tendency to do), but simply listen to, pray with, console, and weep
with the grieving or hurting person. As we listen, we may find out more
specifically what is troubling the person. Maybe the major grief is due to an
aching heart that is terribly lonely since the death of a loved one. Maybe there
are guilt-feelings or real guilt due to unconfessed sins against the loved one
who has died. Maybe there is excruciating physical pain. Maybe there is anger
toward God or medical personnel or family members. Maybe there are fears of
different sorts. Instead of giving a blanket prescription, “Well, brother, just
read your Bible and take your troubles to the Lord in prayer,” let us pray for
the spiritual wisdom to help the person by gently suggesting specific Scripture
verses and passages for specific concerns.

Counseling Those Who Are
Unsaved

If the
counselee is unsaved (or we are not sure of his/her state of soul), we must
still be willing to listen, pray, console, and weep. In addition, I believe it
is important to ask questions that will reveal the person’s relationship with
the Lord. In my personal experience as a volunteer at the Baltimore City
Detention Center for the past 16 years, many inmates have come to me with
overwhelming burdens and have poured out their grieving, troubled, hopeless,
and despairing hearts to me:Maybe a close family member just died (often a
grandmother who was particularly loving and caring or a brother who was shot to
death), or his wife has filed for divorce, or his entire family will have
nothing to do with him, or all of his family live far away and he has no
friends or relatives locally, or he has been evicted from his apartment and all
of his belongings will be put out by the street, or he has lost his job because
of his incarceration, or he tests HIV-positive, or he has been falsely and
wrongfully charged with murder, etc. Sometimes I can do a little bit to help
with these immediate problems, but many times I am utterly unable to help them
with these things. But, thank God, I can help with the greatest, deepest
need of that man. So I bring the discussion around to his relationship with the
Lord and go through a presentation of the gospel with him. Almost invariably,
these men go away thanking me for giving them hope and telling me that they
feel like the burden has lifted. How many of them have truly become saved I
cannot say, but they have been pointed in the right direction and can begin to
see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Counseling Those Who Are
Saved

A Christian
woman, grieving over the untimely loss of a loved one, asked, “What did I
do that the Lord should take away my loved one?” The Scriptures have much to
say in answer to questions like this. Here are 15 reasons given in the Bible in
answer to the question, “Why does God allow His people to suffer?”

 1. That we
might be partakers of Christ’s sufferings. “Beloved, think it not strange
concerning the fiery trial which is to try you … but rejoice, inasmuch as you
are partakers of Christ’s sufferings” (1 Pet. 4:12,13; also Rom. 8:17; Col.
1:24; 2 Tim. 2:12; 1 Pet. 2:21).

 2. That we
might be purified and partakers of God’s holiness. “For [our fathers] for a
few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but [God] for our profit, that
we might be partakers of His holiness” (Heb. 12:10; also Job 42:6; Psa.
119:67,71; 1 Pet. 5:10).

 3. That we
might learn more of God’s grace and goodness and manifest the works and
goodness of God. “His disciples asked Him saying, Master, who sinned, this
man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither has this
man sinned nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest
in him” (John 9:2,3; also Psa. 107; Rom. 8:28).

 4. That we
might glorify God. “If you be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are
you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you; on their part He is
evil spoken of but on your part He is glorified (1 Pet. 4:14,16; also Psa.
50:15; John 11:4; 17:5).

 5. That we
might demonstrate the superiority of the power and grace of God to the power of
Satan. Satan said, “Touch all that [Job] has, and he will curse Thee to Thy
face.” Job said, “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the
name of the LORD” (Job 1:11,21; 2:5,10; also Mark 5:1-15; Rev. 2:10).

 6. That we
might learn patience. “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into
diverse temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith works
patience” (Jas. 1:3; Rom. 5:3).

 7. That we
might realize our own weakness and learn to depend more upon the Lord’s
strength. “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart
from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for you:for my strength
is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my
infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take
pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in
distresses for Christ’s sake:for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Cor.
12:8-10; also 1:9).

 8. That we
might be drawn closer to one another as children of God and members of the body
of Christ. “Peter therefore was kept in prison; but prayer was made without
ceasing of the church unto God for him” (Acts 12:5,12; also 2 Cor. 1:9).

 9. That we
might be able better to comfort, encourage, and empathize with others in their
suffering. “Blessed be God … who comforts us in all our tribulation, that
we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, by the comfort
wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God” (2 Cor. 1:3-7).

10. That we
might be a testimony to the unsaved. “And at midnight Paul and Silas
prayed, and sang praises unto God:and the prisoners heard them…. And the
keeper of the prison … fell down before Paul and Silas … and said, Sirs,
what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:25-31).

11. That we
might be weaned from this present world and provoked to yearn for the next
world. “For we who are in this tabernacle [that is, our physical body] do
groan, being burdened; not for that we would be unclothed [that is, our soul
and spirit with the Lord and our body in the grave], but clothed upon [that is,
with our resurrection body at the coming of Christ]”(2 Cor. 5:4; also 4:17; Phil.
1:23).

12. That we
might smite the consciences of evildoers by returning good for evil. “If
your enemy hungers, feed him; if he thirsts, give him drink:for in so doing
you shall heap coals of fire on his head” (Rom. 12:19-21; also 2 Ki. 6:21-23;
Matt. 5:44; 1 Pet. 3:6).

13. That we
might be awakened to our sin or judged for our lack of repentance and
persistence in sinning. “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you,
and many sleep”(1 Cor. 11:30).

14. That we
might have impressed upon us the seriousness of sin, even after we have
confessed it to the Lord. “And the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife
bore unto David, and it was very sick” (2 Sam. 12:7-15).

15. That we
might receive the natural and just consequences of our sinful behavior. “Be
not deceived, God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also
reap” (Gal. 6:7).

Christians who
are experiencing serious trials and tribulations often needed to be told about
these various reasons for pain and suffering. It needs to be emphasized that
only three of the reasons in this list of 15 pertain directly to the person’s
own sinful behavior.

“In the
multitude of counselors there is safety” (Prov. 11:14; 15:22; 24:6). May the
Lord give us all the wisdom through His Word to become better counselors.

              * * *

My life is but
a weaving,

Between my Lord
and me;

I cannot choose
the colors,

He worketh
steadily.

Ofttimes He
weaveth sorrow,

And I in
foolish pride,

Forget He sees
the upper,

And I, the
underside.

Not till the
loom is silent,

And the
shuttles cease to fly,

Will He unroll
the canvas,

And explain the
reason why.

The dark
threads are as needful

In the Weaver’s
skillful hand

As the threads
of gold and

silver,

In the pattern
He has planned.

              * * *

The potter has
the power,

The knowledge,
and the skill,

To fashion
every vessel

According to
his will.

The pattern and
the purpose

Of every vessel
planned,

Its usefulness
and beauty

Are in the
potter’s hand.

The clay makes
no decision

Has no will of
its own,

But yielded to
the potter,

His pattern is
made known.

And thus the
Master Potter

Our service has
outlined;

He asks us to
be yielded

Unto His will
and mind.

His purpose to
acknowledge,

To listen to
His voice,

To let Him plan
our pathway,

According to
His choice.

A vessel marred
and broken,

We may not
understand,

But all can be
committed

Unto the
Potter’s hand.

Our Father’s
way is perfect,

His thought
toward us is love;

He’s fashioning
and molding

For life with
Him above.

To trust the
Heavenly Potter

And let Him
mold the clay,

Brings joy, and
peace, and

blessing

And happiness
alway.

In this article
I would like first to link Psalms 22, 23, and 24 together and show the
connection that they have with each other, and then present some more detailed
thoughts on the first and last of these Psalms.

In the New
Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ is spoken of as “the Good Shepherd” (John
10:11), “the Great Shepherd” (Heb. 13:20), and “the Chief Shepherd” (1 Pet.
5:4). Also, in Hebrews 9, three lines of truth—past, present, and future—
relating to Him in these aspects are unfolded. In verse 26, we read:“Once in
the end of the [age] has He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
Himself”; this corresponds to Psalm 22, the past work of Christ “the Good
Shepherd” who gave His life for the sheep. In verse 24, Christ is presented as
having “entered … into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of
God for us”; this is the truth of Psalm 23, the present work of Christ
“the Great Shepherd of the sheep.” In verse 28, we read:“Unto those who
look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto
salvation”; this is Psalm 24, the future work of Christ “the Chief
Shepherd” who will yet come in glory.

We also may see
in these three Psalms The Cross, The Crook, and The Crown,
setting forth the symbols of the past, present, and future work
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Shepherd of the sheep and lambs of His flock. The
Cross shows His love unfolded in His sufferings to make propitiation for
our sins (Psalm 22). The Crook suggests His grace that flows out in the
loving, faithful care and ministry He carries on now (Psalm 23). The Crown
symbolizes the glory that He will yet reveal in His kingdom on earth (Psalm
24).

       Psalm 22, The Cross

This Psalm is
divided into two sections. The first, verses 1-21, depicts the sufferings unto
death that Christ endured as the Sin-bearer. He suffered alone in an
agony of soul that the human mind can never fathom. The second section, verses
22-31, tells of His associating others with Him in His resurrection in the
victory He won by His death.

The most casual
reader will immediately identify this Psalm as being one of the several
referred to as Messianic; that is, it projects the Messiah of Israel in His
sufferings and coming glory. The very first words, “My God, My God, why hast
Thou forsaken Me?” were uttered by our Lord Jesus on the cross 1,000 years
after they were written by the Spirit of God through David. How marvelous to
see prophecy so accurately fulfilled as “holy men of God spoke as they were
moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21)!

     Section I (Verses 1-21)

The Holy
Sufferer cries out, “Why?” as His God turns His back upon Him. In the daytime
and in the night seasons the words of His roaring are constantly uttered, but
there is no response—no help coming to Him (verses 1,2). He then answers His
own question as to why this is. He says, “But Thou art holy, O Thou who
inhabits the praises of Israel” (verse 3). The holiness of His God would not
permit Him to look upon sin, even upon His beloved Son who on the cross was
made sin, or a sin offering, to be consumed by the righteous judgment of God.
The answer to the Sufferer’s “Why?” in respect to ourselves is simply, “He was
forsaken that we might be accepted.” What grace is thus displayed to sinners in
perfect accord with divine righteousness in the work of this unique Sufferer!

He continues in
verses 4 and 5 to speak of the fact that the fathers in Israel in times past
cried unto God and were delivered; they trusted and were not confounded.
However, as for Himself, He says, “I am a worm and no man; a reproach of men
and despised of the people” (verse 6). The depth of humiliation into which He
entered is indicated here. The worm referred to is the cochineal, that insect
which was used to make the scarlet dye for the garments of the high priest and
for the curtains of the tabernacle. How graphically it depicts the sufferings
of Christ! As the worm was crushed and the dye extracted, so Christ was crushed
beneath the rod of God’s judgment against sin, and the blood which He shed is
that which has provided the beautiful garment of salvation to make the sinner
fit for God’s presence.

Another
prophecy concerning Calvary is seen in verse 8:“He trusted on the LORD that He
would deliver Him; let Him deliver Him, seeing He delighted in Him.” The elders
and scribes reviled Him in this way on the cross, saying, “He trusted in God;
let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him; for He said, I am the Son of God”
(Matt. 27:43). However, the Holy Sufferer seeks refuge in the fact that from
the time of His birth He was the object of His Father’s care, and God was His
hope when He was upon His mother’s breasts. “Thou art My God from My mother’s
belly,” He says. “Be not far from Me; for trouble is near; for there is none to
help,” He pleads (verses 10,11). Surely such trust would not be unrewarded, but
before He is answered, His work of suffering for sin must be completed.

He then turns
to speak of those who beset Him round and gaped upon Him with their mouths open
like a roaring lion (verses 12,13). This no doubt symbolized the same high
priest, scribes, and elders who gloated over their innocent Victim and
repeatedly, hatefully cried out for Pilate to “crucify Him!”

Then, too, the
physical sufferings of the cross are further indicated in verses 13-17. Hanging
upon the cross, His bones were out of joint, His heart was melted, His strength
was dried up, His tongue stuck to His jaws for lack of water. All His bones could
be counted as they were gruesomely projected (a similar prophetic picture is
found in Isa. 52:14).

His suffering
at the hands of the “dogs”—the term used for the Gentiles—is spoken of in verse
16. It is said of them, “They pierced My hands and My feet.” This is a
remarkable prophecy concerning the manner of His death. Totally unknown to the
Jews, who punished by stoning to death, was death by crucifixion, practiced by
the Romans, and here prophesied by the Psalmist. But the Romans at the time of
this writing were not even thought of at all as an existing people, much less
as a powerful empire. What a testimony this is to the inspiration and
infallibility of the Old Testament Scriptures!

Verse 15 shows
that it was God who brought the Holy Victim “into the dust of death.”
According to God’s eternal counsel His beloved Son should suffer for sins. He
was truly the “Lamb without blemish and without spot … foreordained before
the foundation of the world” for this purpose (1 Pet. 1:19,20).

Another
Scripture fulfilled at Calvary is verse 18:“They part My garments among them,
and cast lots upon My vesture.” John, in referring to this, tells us, “These
things therefore the solders did” (John 19:24).

In verses 19-21
the Holy Sufferer appeals to the power of Jehovah to be delivered from the
power of the dog, the Gentile power, that had Him bound, scourged, and nailed
to the Cross. He also cries for deliverance from the lion’s mouth—from Satan’s
vicious devouring. And then, being confident that He was heard “because of His
piety” (Heb. 5:7 JND), He says, “Thou has heard Me from the horns of the
unicorn.” The unicorn was actually the aurochs, a wild horned beast upon whose
horns the criminal was often impaled to be carried about until death claimed
the victim. Thus He thought of His plight. But He was heard from the
horns of the aurochs! Though death was to be His portion, yet He was saved out
of it, and the next section of the Psalm reveals the results of His atoning
death. He was raised from among the dead and is no longer alone. The time of
His suffering is forever past, and He now identifies others with Him in His
triumph.

    Section II (Verses 22-31)

The Holy
Sufferer is now the Triumphant Redeemer. In resurrection He declares the Name of
His God to His brethren. To Mary, in John 20:17, He says, “I ascend unto My
Father and your Father; and to My God and your God.” Taking His place in the
midst of the congregation, He Himself begins the praise—He leads the singing!
Verse 22 is cited in Hebrews 2 where the perfection of the Captain of Salvation
through suffering is declared. He was made a little lower than the angels in
order to suffer and taste death for every man. It was just like Him and His
love to do so. But now we see Him crowned with glory and honor, the Head of a
new creation, bringing many sons to glory to be eternally identified with Him!
What marvelous truth is unfolded in Heb. 2:9-12 and prophesied here in Psalm
22!

The Psalmist,
by the Holy Spirit, now turns to Israel:“You who fear the LORD, praise him;
all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all you the seed of
Israel. For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted
[One]; neither has He hid His face from Him; but when He cried unto him, He
heard” (verses 23,24). This tells of the acceptance of the death of the
afflicted One, and of the raising of Him from among the dead in triumph. This
is the foundation upon which Israel in a future day will be brought to
repentance and faith, to praise Him as their Messiah King.

This all points
to the time when not only Israel will be converted, but “all the ends of the
world shall remember and turn unto the LORD; and all the kindreds of the
nations shall worship before Thee. For the kingdom is the LORD’s:and He
is the Governor among the nations” (verses 27,28). Thus the 22nd Psalm
is linked with the 24th, which is a projection of the future Crown of Glory.
Meanwhile, however, “a seed shall serve Him; it shall be accounted to the Lord
for a generation” (verse 30). This seed shall come and bear witness of His
righteousness to a future generation—“unto a people that shall be born, that He
has done this” (verse 31). Actually, the message that shall be declared to Jew
and Gentile alike will proclaim, “He has finished the work!” How fitting that
this appears at the end of this Psalm, thus reminding us of His loud voice of
triumph on Calvary, after He had suffered for sins at the hand of a Holy
God—“It is finished.” The glory of the coming kingdom is truly based upon this
finished work, and will be the theme of praise of both the heavenly and earthly
saints. The earthly remnant of Israel and the multitude of Gentile nations
saved through the tribulation will enter His glorious kingdom praising the Lamb
whose blood had made their robes white for their eternal acceptance and
blessing.

       Psalm 24, The Crown

Recalling that
Psalm 23 presents Christ as “the Great Shepherd” of the sheep in His
present work symbolized by The Crook, we pass on to consider Psalm 24.
Here He is seen as “the Chief Shepherd” wearing The Crown of
glory in the day of His kingdom.

His power and
glory as Creator are first declared:“The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness
thereof; the world, and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the
seas, and established it upon the floods” (verses 1,2). And who is it that
shall dwell with Him? “He who has clean hands and a pure heart” (verse 4). They
are those who have been cleansed from their sins and manifest their standing by
a practical state of purity and righteousness. These shall receive the blessing
from the LORD” as His gifts of grace, receiving a righteousness from God that
will enable them to live and stand with the King during His millennial reign.

Both the
remnant of Israel and the various tribes of the Gentiles are included in verse
6. Israel will turn and seek Him and He will be found of them as their
long-awaited Messiah. The Gentiles also will find Him through the testimony of
Israel. “O Jacob,” suggests the grace to Jacob which now makes him “Israel”—a
prince with God.” The Gentiles will realize that their blessings have come to
them through “Jacob” now restored and blessed by Jehovah. The grace that met
unfaithful, deceitful Jacob will meet the need of the Gentiles who turn in
repentance to Him. Revelation 7 gives both the 144,000 of the 12 tribes of
Israel and the multitude of the Gentile nations saved through the tribulation,
converted and brought to Christ to form His kingdom when “the King of Glory
shall come in!”

“Who is this
King of Glory?” He is “the LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle”
(verse 8). He is the same One the Apostle John writes of in Rev. 19:11, the
“Faithful and True,” the One who “in righteousness … does judge and make
war.” The Chief Shepherd, coming in glory, will bear the rod of judgment. He
will be victorious over the nations that have opposed Him. The writer of the
2nd Psalm graphically depicts it thus as the presumptuous kings of the earth
set themselves against Him:“He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the LORD
shall have them in derision…. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou
shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” When He comes, He will
destroy the western powers and cast the political ruler—the “beast”—and the
antichrist alive into the lake of fire. He will also break the king of the
north and his armies—Israel’s inveterate enemy, the dragon, whom God will use
as His rod against Jerusalem and apostate Israel (see Isa. 10:5-12, 14:24,25;
30:31-33). Finally, He will destroy Russia who will come against Israel when
she is established in her land in peace (Ezek. 38,39). In all this Jehovah will
be acclaimed as the Mighty Deliverer of His people. He truly is “The LORD of
hosts.” This is “the King of Glory”!

Hence, as the
three Psalms bring Him before us, He was the Holy Sufferer, the Good
Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep on The Cross (Psalm 22); He is
the Great Shepherd of the sheep now caring for us with His Crook (Psalm
23); and He will be the Chief Shepherd wearing The Crown when He
comes to judge His enemies and set up His kingdom of power and glory (Psalm
24).

(From Words
of Truth, Vol. 24.)

The September
11 terrorist attacks on America continue to weigh heavily on the minds of most
Americans. How wonderful it is for those who have been saved by the blood of
Christ that we can face tragic events like these with the knowledge that our
eternal future is secure in our Father’s hands (John 10:29)!

Many people are
asking questions such as “Where was God in all of this?” “Why did He allow it
to happen?” “Can any good come out of all this?” While wrestling with such
questions, my thinking has taken me down several different roads. All of the
articles in this issue relate to our attempts to learn God’s lessons for us
from the terrorist attacks.

1. Perhaps God
has allowed the attacks on America to reflect back to us our own attitudes and
behavior. These ideas are explored in “Reflections from the Towers.”

2. A parallel
might be drawn between Osama bin Laden, the presumed mastermind behind the
terrorist attacks, and the ancient Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. Three times
the LORD referred to Nebuchadnezzar as “My servant” (Jer. 25:4-9; 27:4-7;
43:8-13).  The LORD used this godless, God-hating (Dan. 3:14-20) monarch to
bring the nation of Israel to its knees (2 Ki. 24,25; 2 Chron. 36).  When that
work was complete, God brought Nebuchadnezzar himself to his knees (Dan. 4:32).
Is it possible that bin Laden, who has no love for the God of Christians, has
been raised up by God to be His “servant” to scourge a nation that is
increasingly turning away from their God and His Son Jesus Christ? If this is
so, then we surely can count upon the Lord Himself to bring bin Laden down …
but not until He has first brought America to its knees. Two articles help us
to learn more about King Nebuchadnezzar.

3. The lesson
Jesus gave to the people concerning the collapse of a tower in Siloam may apply
as well to the collapse of the towers in New York City. The enclosed gospel
tract, “The Twin Towers,” examines this connection.

4. A Christian
woman recently asked my wife and me how the events of September 11 tied in with
biblical prophecies concerning the end times. Her particular reason for asking
this question was to find out whether she should quit her job and spend the
rest of her days until the Lord’s coming ministering the gospel to the unsaved.
Isn’t that neat? Would that we all had such a love for souls! Actually,
Scripture does not give us any specific events—wars or otherwise—that help us
to predict when the rapture (that is, the Lord’s coming for His people) will
occur. The article, “The Second Coming of Christ,” discusses this point. Any
decision as to giving up our regular employment in order to devote our lives to
the gospel should be made, not with respect to events around us, but with the
firm conviction that it is the Lord who is calling us to do so.
Meanwhile, all believers are called upon to “do the work of an evangelist” (2
Tim. 4:5); there is much that we can do during our coffee breaks, lunch hours,
evenings, weekends, and retirement years for the Lord. Let us redeem the time (Eph.
5:16).

5. If we were
called upon to give counsel to the families of the victims, what would we say?
“Counseling the Grieving and Hurting” makes a few suggestions.

6. The recent
events serve as a poignant reminder of the brevity of life and the suddenness
of death. The following hymn expresses it well:

Life at best is very brief,

Like the falling of a leaf,

Life the binding of a sheaf,

Be in time.

Fleeting days are telling fast

That the die will soon be cast,

And the fatal line be passed,

Be in time.

Time is gliding swiftly by,

Death and judgment draweth nigh,

To the arms of Jesus fly,

Be in time.

Oh, I pray you count the cost,

Ere the fatal line be crossed,

And your soul in hell be lost,

Be in time.

May the Lord
help each of us as we talk to others about these tragic events and what they
may mean.  May we be given wisdom from above to provide answers from the Bible
to peoples’ questions.

Awhile in the
earthen vessel

The treasures of
glory gleam;

In heaven the
fount eternal,

In the desert
the living stream.

And looking on
Christ in glory,

That glory so
still, so fair,

There passes a
change upon me,

Till I am as He
who is there.

Then no more in
the earthen vessel

The treasure of
God shall be,

But in full and
unclouded beauty,

O Lord, wilt
Thou shine through me.

Afar through
the golden vessel

Will the glory
of God shine bright;

There shall be
no need for the sunshine,

For the Lamb
shall be the light.

Undimmed in
that wondrous vessel,

That light of
surpassing love

Shall illumine
the earth in its gladness,

And shall fill
the heavens above.

All, all in His
new creation,

The glory of God
shall see;

And the lamp
for that light eternal

The Lamb for the
Bride shall be.

A golden lamp
in the heavens,

That all may see
and adore

The Lamb who
was slain and who liveth,

Who liveth for
evermore.

“Abide in Me,
and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the
vine, no more can you, except you abide in Me. I am the Vine, you are the
branches; He who abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit,
for without Me you can do nothing…. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in
you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:4-7).

The beloved
apostle John, who heard these farewell words from the lips of the Lord, also
spoke of them in his Epistle:“He who says he abides in Him ought himself also
so to walk, even as He walked…. Little children, abide in Him, that, when He
shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His
coming…. Whosoever abides in Him sins not” (1 John 2:6,28; 3:6).

What are we to
understand by the Lord’s words, “Abide in Me”? (1) They imply a walk in such
nearness to Christ that the soul delights in all His loveliness and moral
excellencies, and thus finds in Him its object and perfect pattern. (2) They
suppose a heart in communion with Christ, that delights to confide in Him and
learn of Him. (3) Above all, they imply a life lived under the influence of His
presence and realized by faith.

If a Christlike
man of God visited our home, would not his presence have a restraining
influence upon everyone in the home? We should probably be a little more
careful than usual of our words and ways. If this would be the effect of the
presence of a man of like passions with ourselves, what would be the effect of
the realized presence of Christ Himself? To walk in the consciousness that He
listens to our words, sees our every act, and reads our thoughts, is to walk
under the blessed influence of His presence and thus abide in Him.

The Scriptures
that exhort us to abide in Christ tell us also of the blessedness we shall
enjoy if we do abide in Him.

     By Abiding in Christ We

     Shall Bring Forth Fruit

The fruit in
this passage is not service or the exercise of gift, however important these
may be in their place. Rather, it is the expression of something of the
loveliness of Christ—the reproduction of His own character— in our lives (see
Gal. 5:22,23, “the fruit of the Spirit”). Any little setting forth of the
graces of Christ goes up as fruit to the Father, and goes out as testimony to
the world. We shall never exhibit the character of Christ by simply trying to
be like Christ. If, however, we seek His company and come under His influence
by abiding in Him, we shall be changed into His image from glory to glory (2
Cor. 3:18).

    By Abiding in Christ Our

    Prayers Will Be Answered

If we are under
the blessed influence of His presence, with His words abiding in our hearts,
our thoughts will be formed by His thoughts and our prayers will be in accord
with His mind. Thus praying, we will have answers to our prayers.

     By Abiding in Christ We

     Will Walk As He Walked

How did Christ
walk? Of Him we read, “Christ pleased not Himself” (Rom. 15:3). And the Lord
could say, “I do always those things that please Him [that is, the Father]”
(John 8:29). This is the perfect pattern for the believer’s walk, just as the
apostle Paul exhorts believers to “walk in love, as Christ also has loved us”
(Eph. 5:2). The outstanding marks of the Lord’s path were the entire absence of
self-will in doing the Father’s will, and the serving of others in love. For
us, it is possible to tread such a path only as we abide in Christ.

We may know the
doctrines of Christianity; we may rightly hold the great essential truths of
our faith. But, as another has said, “No amount of knowledge, however correct,
no amount of intelligence, however exact, will ever put upon your soul the
impress of the mind of the Lord Jesus Christ.” If we are to wear the impress of
Christ, we must be in His company and walk with Him. Every man is formed by the
company that he keeps:the character of the one in whose company we walk is the
character we shall reflect. We must abide in Christ and thus walk with
Christ if we are to be like Christ and walk as He walked.

     By Abiding in Christ We

      Shall Not Be Ashamed

Often our walk,
ways, speech, and manners may be acceptable according to human standards. But
if we were to judge ourselves, our words, and our ways in the light of the
coming glory of the appearing of Christ, would we not find much that we would
have to condemn, and confess with shame as far short of the standard of glory?
Only as we abide in Christ, walking in self-judgment, will we be preserved from
all that would cause shame in the day of glory.

      By Abiding in Christ

          We Do Not Sin

“Sin is
lawlessness” (1 John 3:4 JND), that is, the essence of sin is doing one’s own
will without reference to God or man. The world around is increasingly marked
by lawlessness—everyone doing what is right in his own eyes. How are we to
escape the evil principle of lawlessness and self-will? Only by abiding in
Christ, for “whosoever abides in Him sins not” (1 John 3:6). Only as we are
held under the influence of the One who could say, “I came … not to do Mine
own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38) shall we escape the
self-will that is the very essence of sin.

These, then,
are the blessed results of abiding in Christ.

A carpenter is
a builder, a constructor. It is a most useful and honorable calling. Our
blessed Lord worked with His hands at this calling, and has thus honored all
true labor. His countrymen, who saw no beauty in Him that they should desire
Him, used it as a term of reproach:“Is not this the Carpenter, the son of
Mary…? And they were offended at Him” (Mark 6:3). But our blessed Lord was
not only a carpenter at Nazareth; He had built the world—the whole vast
universe was the work of His hands. Through His atoning sacrifice upon the
cross, He has laid the foundation—“the Christ, the Son of the living God”
(Matt. 16:16)—for His Church. This is a holy temple for the abode of God
through the Spirit, and destined to be that for all eternity in the city to
which the Church gives its name—“the Bride, the Lamb’s wife” (Rev. 21:9), “the
city that has foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God” (Heb. 11:10). Thus
in all His works, our God with His Son shows us the divine dignity of the labor
of the Carpenter.

In Zechariah,
the prophet is shown a number of visions and symbolic scenes to impress upon
him both the condition of the remnant who had returned to the Lord and the
remedy to meet that condition. In the vision of the four carpenters this is
brought out in a striking way. “I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold four
horns” (Zech. 1:18). These horns are the Gentile powers—from the four corners
of the earth—who have scattered the people of God, and are still threatening
them. “And the Lord showed me four carpenters” (1:20). These are the remedy,
those who are to overcome and drive away the threatening powers of evil.

Notice that it
says, “I … saw … four horns.” It requires little discernment to see
evil and threatening danger. It is easy to see—and to be occupied with—the four
horns. We can all criticize and dwell upon the dangers, the failures of the
saints. But the Lord is the one who shows us the remedy. “The Lord
showed me four carpenters.” What is the power by which the inroads, the
oppression of the enemy is to be met? How shall we combat those four terrible
horns?

Naturally we
would say, by other horns; we must meet force by force, we must smite with the
sword. But what do we see in the midst of the carnage of the enemy’s power?
Carpenters, builders-up of that which is good, strengthening the things that
remain. This is how the Spirit of God puts it before us in the Epistle of Jude.
Evil, false profession, pride, and iniquity were coming in like a flood; all
seemed to be in ruin:“But you, beloved, building up yourselves on
your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the
love of God” (Jude 20,21). They, and we, are called to carpenter work, to the
quiet, steady, persistent construction of that which cannot be moved.

The application
is simple, individually and collectively. We are not to be deterred from going
forward with constructive work. Do temptations, difficulties, or failures
confront us? Let us be found quietly going on with God’s Word, feeding upon it,
storing our minds with it, learning more and more of its blessed fullness. Let
us seek to feed and to shepherd the sheep, to seek to help the need among the
saints. How great the need of pastors, of builders, among the saints. May the
Lord stir us up to these things, that we may see His work prosper, even in most
difficult times.

(From Words
of Truth, Vol. 5.)

In Parts I-III
of this series we considered Scriptural evidence for the deity of Christ, some
ancient and modern heresies concerning the deity of Christ, and some specific
Scriptures used to support heretical teachings concerning the deity of Christ.
We now move on to consider the Scriptural evidence for

     The Humanity of Christ.

 In all of the
following ways the Lord Jesus showed He was human:

1. He was
conceived in Mary’s womb:“And the angel said unto her … you shall conceive
in your womb and bring forth a son” (Luke 1:31).

2. He was born
in the usual manner for humans:“Mary [was] great with child. And so it was,
that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be
delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped Him in
swaddling clothes” (Luke 2:5-7). It would be appropriate here to introduce the
theological term, “Incarnation,” which refers to the eternal Son of God taking
on a human form and nature.

3. He was
circumcised:“And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the
child, His name was called Jesus” (Luke 2:21).

4. He grew
physically:“And the child grew … and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature”
(Luke 2:40,52).

5. He advanced
in age:“And when He was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem” (Luke 2:42).
“Then said the Jews unto Him, Thou art not yet 50 years old, and hast Thou seen
Abraham?” (John 8:57).

6. He got
hungry and thirsty:“And when He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, He was
afterward hungry” (Matt. 4:2; 21:18). “After this, Jesus … said, I thirst”
(John 19:28).

7. He ate and
drank:“They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and of a honeycomb. And He took
it and did eat before them” (Luke 24:43). “When Jesus therefore had received
the vinegar, He said, It is finished” (John 19:30).

8. He got tired
and slept:“Jesus therefore, being wearied with His journey, sat thus on the
well” (John 4:6). “And He was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a
pillow” (Mark 4:38).

9. He
experienced and expressed human emotions such as (a) affection and sympathy:
“Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold how He loved him!” (John 11:35,36); (b)
compassion:“When He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion on them
because they fainted and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd”
(Matt. 9:36); (c) feeling troubled and in mental agony:“And being in an agony
He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood
falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44; John 12:27); and (d) desiring the
company of others:“And He comes unto the disciples and finds them asleep, and
says unto Peter, What, could you not watch with Me one hour?” (Matt. 26:40).

10. He died and
was buried:“Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the
ghost” (Matt. 27:50; Mark 14:37; Luke 23:46; John 19:30,33). “And when Joseph
had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his
own new tomb … and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulcher”
(Matt. 27:59,60; Mark 15:46,47; Luke 23:53; John 19:38-42).

 To be sure,
there were miraculous elements in all of this. For example, (1) He was
conceived by the Holy Spirit, not by a man (Luke 1:35); (2) He was born of a
virgin (Matt. 1:23); (3) He rose above His physical needs (John 4:31-34); and
(4) He laid down His life by His own power and will (John 10:18). But this
doesn’t take away from His being fully human. Rather it means that He was more
than human—He was God as well.

In addition to
all of this, we have the clear, distinct statement of Scripture that the Lord
Jesus Christ was, and is, Man:“There is one Mediator between God and men, the
Man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5).

Human, yet
without sin. “We have not a high priest who cannot be touched with the
feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet
without sin [or sin apart]” (Heb. 4:15). Jesus was, and is, fully
God and fully man. He is human in every way that you and I are, but with one
exception:He is without sin. The New Testament abounds with testimonies to the
sinlessness of the Man Christ Jesus:He “did no sin, neither was guile found in
His mouth” (1 Pet. 2:22). He challenged the skeptics, “Which of you convinces
[or convicts] Me of sin?” (John 8:46). He passed the severe temptations of
Satan during 40 days of fasting in the wilderness, as well as the agony in the
Garden of Gethsemane, without sinning by asserting His own will or by
disobeying the Word of God (Matt. 4:1-10; 26:39). Others, including Pilate and
the thief on the cross, could not find fault in Him (Luke 23:41; John 18:38).

But could
Jesus have sinned? Practically every student of the Word of God would agree
that the Lord Jesus Christ did not sin during His life here on earth. But a
debate has been going on for centuries as to whether the Lord Jesus could
have sinned. Some teach that just as the first Adam had the capability of
sinning, so the Last Adam, Jesus Christ, in order to be fully Man, had this
same capability.

What does the
Bible say about this? First, not only does it say that Christ “did no sin” (1
Pet. 2:22), but that He “knew no sin” (2 Cor. 5:21) and “in Him is no sin” (1
John 3:5).

Second, in
several places Christ is called “holy” (Luke 1:35; 4:34; Acts 2:27; 3:14; 4:27;
Heb. 7:26). Holiness supposes the knowledge of good and evil and total
separation from the evil (2 Tim. 2:21). Adam is never referred to as “holy.”

Third, Christ
was and is fully God as well as fully Man. If it were possible for Him to sin,
then it would also be possible for God to sin.

Fourth, some
argue that Christ’s temptation in the wilderness by Satan had no meaning if
Christ was incapable of yielding to that temptation. But that is not a valid
argument. If one tests a bright metal to see if it is gold and it turns out to
be pure gold, was it foolish to do the test in the first place? Just so,
Christ’s temptation by Satan only helped to prove His sinless perfection.

Fifth, in 1
John 3:9 we read, “Whosoever is born of God … cannot sin, because he
is born of God.” If the believer possesses a new, Christ-like nature that
“cannot sin,” then surely Christ Himself, whose nature we possess, could not
sin.

Sixth, we are
taught in the Scriptures that heaven is a holy place (Isa. 6:3; Rev. 4:8), that
all of the results of sin—death, sorrow, crying, and pain—will be a thing of
the past (Rev. 21:4), that nothing sinful or unholy can enter therein (Rev.
21:8,27; 22:15), and that believers in Christ look forward to being “conformed
to the image of [God’s] Son” (Rom. 8:29; 1 John 3:2). So when we are caught up
to heaven, our old, sinful nature will be taken away and all we will have left
is our new, Christ-like nature. At the same time, we will still be human
beings. So the argument that for Christ to be fully human He had to be capable
of sinning like Adam, does not carry any weight. Or else, if Christ Himself and
our new, Christ-like nature will forever be capable of sinning, how can we even
look forward to heaven?

Christ the
Son of Man. This is the title by which Jesus most often referred to
Himself. For example, “Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” (Matt.
16:13). Every man, wom­an, and child born into this world is a son (or
daughter) of man. But none of us would dare refer to ourselves as ”the
son of man.” The Old Testament tells us of one called “the Son of Man” who is
coming to set up an everlasting kingdom over the earth (Dan. 7:13,14). When
Jesus rightfully applied this title to Himself, the Jewish leaders resented it
(see Matt. 26:64). It is an expression of His being fully Man, but in a totally
unique way, that is, being also fully God at the same time.

The doctrine
of the kenosis. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but
made Himself of no reputation [or emptied Himself], and took upon Him the form
of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion
as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross” (Phil. 2:5-8).

“Kenosis” is a
theological term that refers to the self-emptying of the Son of God in coming
down to earth to be “made in the likeness of men.” It comes from the Greek word
kenos meaning “empty.” The Jews in Christ’s day (like many people today)
objected to the idea of a man making himself God:“The Jews answered Him,
saying, For a good work we stone Thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that
Thou, being a man, makest Thyself God” (John 10:33). But they had it all
backward! The Man Christ Jesus wasn’t elevating Himself to be God. Rather, the
eternal Son of God humbled Himself to become a man! He existed from all eternity
“in the form of God” (Phil. 2:5), that is, He was truly, fully God. No created
being could exist in the form of God. Lucifer attempted to elevate himself:“I
will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God … I
will be like the Most High” (Isa. 14:12-14). In so doing he was cast down from
his position of probably the highest, or one of the highest, of all the angels
(see Ezek. 28:12-17). Eve ate the fruit so that she might be elevated to be “as
God [JND], knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:5), and we know the far-reaching
consequences of that act of pride. But the eternal Son of God was in the full
enjoyment of this by right. “He thought it not robbery to be equal with God,”
that is, He thought equality with God was not a thing to be held on to at all
costs. He chose voluntarily to leave “the glory which [He] had with [the
Father] before the world was” (John 17:5) to take a place of subjection and
lowliness, and then rejection, reproach, pain, suffering, and the most awful
kind of death imaginable!

Yes, He emptied
Himself—but of what? Not of His deity, surely, nor of His divine attributes; He
could never stop being God. He was ever and always the Son of God and thus
co-equal with God. Of what, then, did He empty Himself? He emptied Himself of
His divine prerogatives, His rights and privileges, we might say, of exercising
His divine attributes such as omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. As a
Man on earth, He often manifested His divine power in the miracles that He
wrought, and His divine omniscience in knowing people’s  thoughts (John
2:24,25; 16:30; 21:17). However, He only drew upon His divine powers when given
permission to do so by the Father. This is why we find the Lord Jesus so often
praying to the Father (Luke 3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:18; 11:1; 22:32,41,44). When
tempted by the devil to make the stones bread, while He had the divine power to
do so, He did not have the permission of His Father to do so (Matt. 4:4). When
speaking of “the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory” He
intimated that He was dependent upon the Father for knowing all of the
details:“But of that day and that hour knows no man, not the angels which are
in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father” (Mark 13:32).

In summary,
Christ never gave up His personal equality with God, but He gave up His positional
equality with the Father by coming down from that scene of glory and honor. The
hymn writers express it in these ways:“Came from Godhead’s fullest glory down
to Calvary’s depth of woe” (Robert Robinson) and “O what wondrous love and
mercy! Thou didst lay Thy glory by, and for us didst come from heaven as the
Lamb of God to die” (J.G. Deck).

It is often
failure to understand the doctrine of the kenosis that leads people to question
the deity of Christ. They point to verses that speak of His submission to the
Father as evidence that He is lower than the Father. (See also the final
section of Part III of this series concerning the verse, “My Father is greater
than I.”)

The doctrine of
the kenosis is not merely a statement of theology. It is given to Christians as
a challenge:“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil.
2:5). The hymn-writer expresses it so pointedly:“When we survey the wondrous
cross on which the Lord of glory died, our richest gain we count but loss, and
pour contempt on all our pride” (Isaac Watts).

Why did the
Son of God become a Man? At the risk of being a bit repetitive, here are a
few of the reasons:

1. He came to reveal
God to man and help man to communicate with God (1 Tim. 2:5).

2. He came to
provide a sacrifice for man’s sin by dying on the cross (Matt. 1:21; Heb.
9:26). (He could not have represented us on the cross if He had not been fully
human.)

3. As a Man He
experienced trials and troubles so that He might be able fully to understand
us, sympathize with us, and help us (Heb. 2:17,18; 4:15,16).

4. He came to
be an example for those who believe in Him and follow Him (John 13:15; Phil. 2:5;
1 Pet. 2:21).

What is the
difference between a theophany and the Incarnation? A theophany (meaning,
“appearance of God”) is a manifestation of God in visible and bodily form
before the Incarnation. Sometimes the theophany is spoken of as “the LORD” (Gen.
18:1-15), sometimes as “the angel of the LORD” (Judg. 13:3-23), and sometimes
as “a man” (Gen. 32:24-30). These theophanies are usually considered to be the
Second Person of the Trinity, God the Son in visible form. The difference
between a theophany and the Incarnation is that a theophany had the appearance
of a man but was not truly human, whereas in the Incarnation, the Son of God
became truly human while remaining truly God.

The theophany
was abrupt and temporary. God appeared to different people at different times
for specific purposes. When the purpose was accomplished, the theophany
disappeared until the next time. There was no organic link between the
appearances.

In contrast,
the Incarnation began with a conception (not an ordinary conception, to be
sure) in the body of a human mother. Christ was born a human infant in the
normal process of childbirth. (There is no Scriptural basis for the medieval
idea that Christ was born in some miraculous way so that Mary’s physical
virginity remained intact and she experienced no pain.) Christ had a real
genealogy with real people in it. Had He abruptly appeared as a full-grown man
in the manner of the theophanies, His true humanity could have been questioned
along with His ability to be the Mediator between God and man and the High
Priest who was tried in all ways as His people were. Only as a true descendant
of Adam, Abraham, and David could He be the Last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45), the seed
of Abraham through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed (Gen.
22:18; Gal. 3:16), and the Son of David who would occupy the throne of David
forever (Matt. 21:9; 22:42; Rev. 22:16).

In the next
issue, Lord willing, we shall consider some of the heresies, past and present,
relating to the humanity of Christ.

How lost was my condition,

Till Jesus made me whole!

There is but one Physician

Can cure a sin-sick soul!

Next door to death He found me,

And snatched me from the grave;

To tell to all around me

His wondrous power to save.

The worst of all diseases

Is light compared with sin;

On every part it seizes,

But rages most within:

‘Tis palsy, dropsy, fear,

And madness—all combined;

And none but a believer,

The least relief can find.

From men great skill professing

I thought a cure to gain;

But this proved more distressing,

And added to my pain:

Some said that nothing ailed me,

Some gave me up for lost;

Their every refuge failed me,

And all my hopes were crossed.

At length this great Physician—

How matchless is His grace!—

Accepted my petition,

And undertook my case:

First gave me sight to view Him,

For sin my sight had sealed;

Then bid me look unto Him;

I looked, and I was healed.

A dying, risen Jesus,

Seen by the eye of faith,

At once from anguish frees us,

And saves the soul from death:

Come then to this Physician,

His help He’ll freely give,

He makes no hard condition,

‘Tis only—look and live.

(From Olney
Hymns, 1811.)

“And David
longed and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of
Bethlehem” (1 Chron. 11:17). Such was the breathing of David’s heart—a
breathing that met with a speedy and hearty response from three members of his
devoted and heroic band. “And the three broke through the host of the
Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem … and brought it to
David.” There was no command issued. No one in particular was singled out and
commissioned to go. There was the simple utterance of the desire, and this it
was which afforded the opportunity for genuine affection and true devotedness.

Mark the
response of David in this most touching scene:“But David would not drink of
it, but poured it out to the LORD. And said … Shall I drink the blood of
these men who have put their lives in jeopardy?” It was a sacrifice too costly
for any save Jehovah Himself, and hence David would not permit the sweet odor
of it to be interrupted in its ascent to the throne of God.

How little did
those three mighty men imagine that their act of loving devotedness should be
recorded on the eternal page of inspiration, there to be read by untold
millions! They never thought of this. Their hearts were set on David, and they
counted not their lives dear unto them so that they might gratify him or
refresh his spirit. Had they acted to get a name or place for themselves, it
would have robbed their act of all its charms and consigned it to its merited
contempt and oblivion. But no; they loved David. This was the spring of their
activity, and they proved that he was more precious to their hearts than life
itself. They forgot all in the one absorbing object of serving David, and the
odor of their sacrifice ascended to the throne of God while the record of their
deed shines on the page of inspiration, and shall continue to shine so long as
that page endures.

Oh! how we long
for something like this in reference to the true David in this day of His
rejection. We do greatly covet a more intense and self-sacrificing devotedness
as the fruit of the constraining love of Christ. It is not, by any means, a
question of working for rewards, for a crown, or for a place, though we fully
believe in the doctrine of rewards. No! the very moment we make rewards our
object, we are below the mark. We believe that service rendered with the eye
upon the reward would be defective. But then we believe also that every jot or
tittle of true service will be rewarded in the day of Christ’s glory, and that
each servant will get his place in the record, and his niche in the kingdom
according to the measure of His personal devotedness down here. This we hold to
be a great practical truth and we press it as such upon the attention of the
Christian reader. We must confess we long to see the standard of devotedness
greatly raised among us, and this can only be effected by having our hearts
more entirely consecrated to Christ and His cause. O Lord, revive Thy work!

(From Short
Papers, Vol. 2, Copyright 1975 by Believers Bookshelf, Sunbury,
Pennsylvania; used by permission.)

“The LORD has
sent unto you all His servants the prophets … but you have not hearkened, nor
inclined your ear to hear. They said, Turn again now every one from his evil
way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD has
given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever; and go not after other
gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke Me not to anger with the
works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt. Yet you have not hearkened unto
me, says the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, Because you have not
heard my words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,
says the LORD, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will
bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against
all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them…. Moreover I
will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of
the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and
the light of the candle. And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an
astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon 70 years. And
it shall come to pass, when 70 years are accomplished, that I will punish the
king of Babylon and that nation, says the LORD, for their iniquity” (Jer.
25:4-12).

The prophet
addresses himself to the people of Judah and Jerusalem, not to the rulers as
such. For 23 years he had exercised his office among them, declaring the word
of the LORD. Since the 13th year of Josiah, when the reforms were going on, to
the present, when idolatry prevailed everywhere, he had spoken unto them,
“rising early and speaking,” but they would not hearken. Other servants and
prophets had preceded him, but to them likewise they had turned a deaf ear. The
messages of all had been in a great measure alike. They said, “Turn again now
every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings … and I will do
you no hurt.” But there had been no response nor sign of repentance that He
might not be provoked to anger.

Because the
people had refused to hearken, the northern army led by Nebuchadnezzar, whom
the LORD calls “My servant,” should be brought against them and the nations
round about them who had seduced them into their idolatrous practices. All joy
and gladness, as well as all that told of a people pursuing the ordinary
avocations of life, should cease, and the whole land should become a
desolation. It was not to be forever, however, but “these nations shall serve
the king of Babylon 70 years.”

This period is
a most significant one. When the children of Israel were about to enter the
promised land, the LORD told them that every seventh year was to be a sabbath
in which the ground was to lie fallow. Here is the commandment:“Speak unto the
children of Israel and say unto them, When you come into the land which I give
you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD. Six years you shall sow
your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in the
fruit thereof. But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the
land, a sabbath for the LORD:you shall neither sow your field, nor prune your
vineyard. That which grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap,
neither gather the grapes of your vine undressed:for it is a year of rest unto
the land. And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for you, and for
your servant, and for your maid, and for your hired servant, and for your
stranger that sojourns with you, and for your cattle, and for the beast that
are in your land, shall all the increase thereof be meat” (Lev. 25:2-7).

A promise of
assured prosperity, if observed, was also given, for we read, “And if you shall
say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather
in our increase, then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year,
and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. And you shall sow the eighth
year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in
you shall eat of the old store” (Lev. 25:20-22). Thus there would be no
lack, but an abundant supply, if they kept the year of rest and gave the land
its sabbath, in this way acknowledging their divine ownership and themselves
Jehovah’s servants.

Not only did He
promise blessing if His Word was obeyed, but through Moses He solemnly warned
them of judgment if they failed to give ear to His commandments. If they walked
contrary to Him, He would walk contrary to them; and He declared, “I will
scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you:and your
land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. Then shall the land enjoy her
sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, and you be in your enemies’ land …
because it did not rest in your sabbaths when you dwelt upon it (Lev.
26:33-35). And in verse 43 of the same chapter He says, “The land also shall be
left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lies desolate without
them; and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity because …
they despised My judgments, and because their soul abhorred My statutes.”

Selfish Judah,
doubtless, reasoned that time would be gained and wealth more rapidly
accumulated if the year of rest were allowed to pass unobserved. They had to
learn the truth of the words, “Those who honor Me I will honor, and those who
despise Me shall be lightly esteemed” (1 Sam. 2:30). So it has been with many
self-seeking children of God ever since. Time spent in waiting upon Him has
been esteemed as time lost. Many are too busy to give Him His portion.
Business, pleasure, everything that begins and ends with self, in short, must
come first, leaving little or no time for Him. But He invariably balances things
at last. Many a saint has spent long, weary months and years on a bed of
languishing, for the simple reason that the things of God were crowded out and
neglected in days of health and vigor. Yet, blessed be His name, as in the case
of His earthly people, the days of captivity have been made to become days of
great fruitfulness. It was in their subjection to the Babylonian yoke that
Judah learned to abhor idols. Never has the nation offended on that ground
since. The seasons of the Lord’s chastening are not lost time. Afterward they
yield “the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who are exercised thereby”
(Heb. 12:11).

The discipline
over and the lost sabbatical years made up, the nation of Judah was to be
permitted to return to their land “When 70 years are accomplished, I will
punish the king of Babylon and that nation, says the LORD, for their iniquity”
(Jer. 25:12). The overthrow of Babylon would be the signal that Israel’s
redemption had drawn nigh. Daniel, it will be remembered, was a student of the
writings of the former prophets, and it is recorded that he “understood by
books the number of the years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the
prophet, that He would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem”
(Dan. 9:2). He had God’s sure word, and he knew that he could rely on it.
Jeremiah but spoke the words that, by the inspiration of the Almighty, had been
given him.

It is
noticeable that Babylon, having been permitted to destroy Jerusalem, and having
been the instrument of Jehovah’s discipline, should in her turn be utterly
destroyed for her manifold abominations. “Judgment must begin at the house of
God” (1 Pet. 4:17). However, the nations will not escape. Jer. 25:15-26 gives a
list in detail of the various peoples to whose lips the wine cup of Jehovah’s
fury must be pressed. “If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the
ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1 Pet. 4:18). How the nations were made to
drink and to fall before the might of Jehovah has been for long ages a matter
of authentic history.

(From Notes
on Jeremiah, Loizeaux, Neptune, NJ; used by permission.)

“You have
forgotten the exhortation that speaks unto you as unto children, My son,
despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked of
him:for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He
receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons….
Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh who corrected us, and we gave them
reverence:shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of
spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own
pleasure; but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.
Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous:
nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them
which are exercised thereby” (Heb. 12:5-11).

In view of the
tendencies of our nature, how needful it is to keep it in check. Thus we are
told in this passage in Hebrews that if you are a child you must expect
chastening. “He who spares his rod hates his son; but he who loves him chastens
him betimes [or promptly]” (Prov. 13:24). In love God is pledged to chasten us.
His rod we are to receive as a part of the proof of that love which gave His
own precious Son for us.

It is interesting
to notice the character of these chastisements. They are persecution, scorn,
hatred, the reproach of man. You say, if God would only lay me on a bed of
sickness, I could stand it. If it were God who had done these things I could
tolerate it; but it is just the wretched malice of man. I cannot see Him in it.
Well, faith sees God in it. Whom did the Lord Jesus see in all that He
passed through—which was not, I need hardly say, for His discipline, for He
needed neither correction nor prevention? If He could say of the bitterest part
of the cup, “The cup which My Father has given Me to drink, shall I not drink
it?” He could say it of everything else. These things which we bear, no matter
how much they seem to come from malignity, envy, or hatred, we know they also
come from a Father’s heart who permits them for our blessing.

Look at Job,
for instance:Satan was let loose upon him. He took away his property and his
family. He afflicted him with grievous sickness. And then the wife of his bosom
unconsciously lends herself as an emissary of Satan. She says, “Curse God and
die.” See his noble answer:“Shall we receive good at the hands of God, and
shall we not receive evil?” He does not attribute his trial to Satan. In fact,
we do not even read that Job knew it was Satan who was acting in it all.
Whatever the chastening might be, it was the chastening of God. Oh for faith to
look past the poor tools that Satan may use—whether it be the world or the
flesh in fellow Christians—to look past all second causes into the Father’s
loving heart.

Now that is not
an easy thing to do, for, as he says further, “No chastening for the present
seems to be joyous, but grievous.” Do you know what we all have a desire for?
It is a kind of chastening that does not hurt—that might be a pleasure to go
through. But that would be no chastening. It must be grievous in order to be a
chastening.

Then he reminds
us of the effect of this. We have had earthly parents who corrected us
according to their pleasure. A father smote us with the rod, rebuked us with
his lips, cut off some pleasure, or did something that showed his desire to
deliver us from evil; and the effect of it was that we gave him respect and
reverence. But now he says, Shall we not much rather, if our Father sends
affliction, bow to Him? It is not for a few days with Him, but forever. Earthly
parents have done the best they could for our temporal profit, but He has done
so that we might be partakers of His holiness.

Notice that
expression, “partakers of His holiness.” There are given unto us “exceeding
great and precious promises,” whereby we might be “partakers of the divine
nature” (2 Pet. 1:4)—brought to the place where we can drink from the
fountain-source of holiness, the divine nature itself. God chastens us in order
that we may partake of His nature, that we may drink that in, as it were, and
have the fruits of holiness in our outward life as the result. After the
chastening come the peaceable fruits of righteousness to those who are exercised
thereby.

You will notice
here that there are three ways in which we can be affected by chastening. We
can despise the chastening of the Lord—we may think it a trifle and throw it
off. We have been speaking about reproach and scorn. A man may say, “I don’t
care for people’s opinion—that is nothing to me”; he may brave it out in his
own strength. He is despising the chastening of the Lord. It cannot be a severe
chastening that does not bring us to God.

Then, on the
other hand, there are those who “faint” when they are rebuked of Him. They are
overwhelmed and the hands hang down; they are discouraged.

These are the
two extremes—neither of which is faith. But now we have, “To those who are
exercised thereby.” We are to be exercised by what we pass through, not to
despise it, not to faint under it. We are to learn the lessons that God would
teach us, to go to Him for comfort, help, and guidance, to lay hold upon His
grace and mercy.

(From Lectures
on Hebrews.)