Substance of an Address by A. E. B.

"And it came to pass, in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord" (i Kings 6:i).

There can be no mistake in the understanding of this statement, can there, beloved friends? .There is nothing ambiguous in it, as if it feared contradiction, is there ? But it has been contradicted-by bishop Colenso. He says he discovered that from Egypt to Solomon there are 573 years.

I believe we shall find blessing in looking into the matter.

In the thirteenth of Acts, eighteenth verse we read:"And about the time of forty years suffered He their manners in the wilderness." This gives us 4 years

Twentieth verse, "And after that He gave them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years." 450 "

Verse 21, "And afterward they desired a king:and God gave them Saul, the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years." 40 "

"And when He had removed him, He raised up unto them David to be their king." 40 "

Now turn to our chapter in the book of Kings-"The fourth year of Solomon's reign," gives us 3 years

Making a total of 573"

Is it not good that a man who does not believe the Bible should give us something ? Perhaps we would not have looked it up if the bishop had not disputed it. But Scripture is right, and the bishop wrong spite of appearances. Let us, my young brethren, take the shoes from off our feet and worship as we turn to Him who has inspired every iota of His word.

There are 573 years from the inspired record itself and yet we have seen in that same inspired record that there are 480 years. Where are we going to get light about the ninety-three years of difference? Go back to Judg. 3:7, 8, "And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forget the Lord their God, and served Baalim and the groves. Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia:and the children of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years." Put down these 8 years

Vers. 12-14, "And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord; and He gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel and possessed the city of the palm-trees. So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years." Note down . … 18 "

Chap. 4:1-3, "And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, when Ehud was dead; and the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord:for he had 900 chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel." Note down ………… 20 years

Chap. 6:i, "And the children of Israel did evil, in the sight of the Lord:and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years." Note down ……. 7 "

Chap. 13:i, "And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years." Note down 40

Now sum up there are the these five captivities and-
there are the 93

Job says:"Doth He not see all my ways and count all my steps?" God goes over the whole history -573 years. The first eight years they were away from Him, and He will not count that. Next there are eighteen years of being away from the Lord; He says, Drop those out. The next twenty years under Jabin – drop those. Again seven years in captivity to Midian, the Lord drops them out ; then forty years they fall under the power of the Philistines, and God drops them out. He could not-He would not count the time when His people were out of their right place. Ninety-three years altogether His people were away from Him, and God counts them out and says, "Four hundred and eighty years." What a solemn lesson for us all, my brethren.

I was wondering what was going to be accomplished in our souls as the result of our coming together these few days; and I thought that among us, as Christians, I would like to see a deeper, a truer, a fuller work of the Spirit produced in us through the meeting, to the glory of God. I wonder if, in our meetings, some of God's people are not right with Him-if any of them are walking at a distance from Him and not in their right place. Let me tell you, dear brethren, at the judgment seat of Christ our time is all going to be counted. Abraham came out of Mesopotamia, and when they got away, as we have seen in the book of Judges, that is the place where they are carried back – carried back to the very place from which He brought them. We used to have card-parties in our parlors, but earnest evangelists came who gave us better things, and we gave them all up. If we should get the card-parties back there again, will that be to our reward? No, it is all lost for eternity. When we, as Christians get away from our God and under the power of any form of vice or evil, or wrong, mixed up with any worldly association whatever, walking in any wrong company, the Lord whose eyes are holy, who sees us through and through, says I cannot count that time, and that will all be deducted from your account of time before the judgment-seat of Christ.

A brother said to me once, " I see now, as I have never seen it before that the judgment-seat of Christ is going to be pay-day for believers. I had been absent from my work two weeks," he said, "and on the monthly pay-day I went down to get my wages; they handed me the slip, and there were just two weeks of time. There was not a word said about the two weeks I was away from my right place. I see now at the judgment-seat of Christ it is pay-day for the believer." Everyday, yes, every hour, yes, every moment that is spent out of communion with the Lord, He is going to deduct it from your time and you will get no reward for it.

And now dear brethren, receiving the truth is a sacred trust. We are responsible to commit that truth to others. Notice the difference between the little butterfly and the honey-bee. The butterfly will start out in the morning and go out in the garden, light on one flower after another, and then return. If you could talk with the butterfly and ask, Where have you been? it would say, "I have seen many things; heard many things, but brought nothing back. And sad to say, that is the way sometimes with people. They say, " I have read forty-five chapters this week." Well, what have you got from those forty-five chapters ? They cannot take and write down one thought that the Holy Ghost has given them. Now go to the little honey-bee, and ask, Where have you been? " Oh, just to one or two spots; I went to a flower and I went right down to the heart of the flower, and took a lot of honey there; then I brought it back, and here it is." I have thought as to this verse we have considered in the sixth chapter of Kings:Oh, that God would make us like that little honey-bee, to drink the precious honey we can find there.