The Iniquity of Us All - On Jesus.

Isa_53:6  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

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'We are still studying the name of Christ, which is "God with us." And as stated before, He could not be God with us without becoming ourselves, because it is not Himself that is manifest in the world. We do not see Jesus in this world, as He was in heaven; He did not come into this world as He was in heaven, nor was that personality manifested in the world which was in heaven before He came. He emptied Himself and became ourselves. Then putting His trust in God, God dwelt with Him. And He being ourselves and God being with Him, He is "God with us." That is His name.

 

If He had come into the world as He was in heaven, being God, manifesting Himself as He was there and God being with Him, His name would not have been "God with us," for He would not then have been ourselves. But He emptied Himself. He Himself was not manifested in the world.

 

Mat_11:27  .. no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

 

For it is written: "No man knoweth the Son but the Father"--not simply no man, but no one. No one knoweth the Son but the Father. "Neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him."

 

It is not written, No man knoweth the Son but the Father and he to whom the Father will reveal Him. No. No man knoweth the Son at all, but the Father.  And the Father does not reveal the Son in the world, but the Son reveals the Father. Christ is not the revelation of Himself. He is the revelation of the Father to the world and in the world and to men.

 

Therefore, He says, "No man knoweth the Father but the Son and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal the Father." So it is the Father that is revealed in the world and revealed to us and revealed in us in Christ. This is the one thing that we are studying all the time. This is the center around which everything else circles. And Christ having taken our human nature in all things in the flesh and so having become ourselves, when we read of Him and the Father's dealings with Him, we are reading of ourselves and of the Father's dealings with us.

 

What God did to Him was to us; what God did for Him was for us.

 

And therefore, again it is written: "He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Cor. 5:21.

 

In all points it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, and He is our brother in the nearest blood relationship. We are now to study another phase of this great subject: First in the Psalms--Christ in the Psalms--that we may see how entirely the Psalms mean Christ and that the one whose experience is recorded there is Christ.

 

It is impossible to touch the whole 150 Psalms in detail in one lesson or in a dozen lessons; yet in a sense we can touch the whole 150 by so touching a few as to show the one great secret of the whole number and that secret is Christ.

 

We shall take some of the Psalms of which God Himself has made the application to Christ so that there can be no possible doubt that that Psalm refers to Christ. Then when we read these Psalms, we know that we are reading of Jesus Christ and of God's dealings with Him--He too being ourselves all the time, weak as we are,  sinful as are we in the flesh, made to be sinners just as we are, all our guilt and our sins being laid upon Him and He feeling the guilt and the condemnation of it in all things as ourselves.

 

Take the fortieth Psalm, which refers to Christ at His coming into the world. Turn to the fortieth Psalm and the tenth of Hebrews both at once.

 

Beginning with Psalm 40:6: "Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened." The margin reads, "Mine ears hast thou digged."

 

The secret of the reference there is to that passage in the twenty-first chapter of Exodus, 1-6, where if a man be a Hebrew servant, he shall serve his master a certain number of years and the year of release he shall go out free. But if he say: "I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go out free," then the master shall bring him to the doorpost and bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his servant forever. That hole bored through his ear with an awl was an outward sign that that man's ears were always opened to the word of the master, ready to obey.

 

Now as Christ came into the world as man, He said to the Father: "Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire;  mine ears hast thou opened." Mine ears are opened to thy word, ready for thy commands; I will not go out; I love my Master and my children. I will not go out. I am thy servant forever.

 

"Burnt offering and sin offering has thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God."

 

Now see Heb. 10:5-9:

Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me; in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, O God.

 

Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.

 

There is the Lord's application of the fortieth Psalm to Christ, and He said this when He came into the world. Let us read on, then, in the fortieth Psalm:

I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea thy law is within my heart. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation. Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Lord: let thy loving kindness and thy truth continually preserve me. For innumerable evils have compassed me about [Who? Christ.]; mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head:  therefore my heart faileth me.

 

Who? Christ. Where did He get iniquity? Oh, "the Lord hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all."

 

Were they not more than the hairs of His head? And when He would look at Himself and consider Himself, where would He appear in His own sight? Oh, "my heart faileth me," because of the enormity of the guilt and the condemnation of the sin--our sins that were laid upon Him.

 

But in His divine faith and trust in the Father, He continues:

Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me: O Lord, make haste to help me. Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil. Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha. [Didn't they say that to Him on the cross?] Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee; let such as love thy salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified.

Who said so? He who was conscious of iniquities in such number that they were more than the hairs of His head. He who was so bowed down and so burdened with these--He was praising and rejoicing in the Lord!

 

But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and deliverer; make no tarrying O my God.

 

Now turn to the first verse of the fortieth Psalm:

I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

 

Who? Christ, and He was ourselves. Shall we, then, say the word: "I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto me and heard my cry?" Assuredly. What, laden with sin as I am? sinner as I am? sinful flesh as I have? How do I know that He hears my cry? Ah, He has demonstrated it for a whole lifetime in my nearest of kin.  He has demonstrated it in my flesh that He inclines--leans over--to listen to my cry. O, there are times, you know,  when our sins seem to be so mountain high. We are so discouraged by them. And Satan is right there ready to say, "Yes, you ought to be discouraged by them. There is no use of your praying to the Lord; He will not have anything to do with such as you are. You are too bad." And we begin to think that the Lord will not hear our prayers at all. Away with such thoughts! Not only will He hear but He is listening to hear. Remember the statement in Malachi, "The Lord hearkened and heard." To hearken is to listen, then the Lord is listening to hear the prayers of people laden with sin.

 

But there are times in our discouragement when the waters go over our souls, when we can hardly muster up the courage of faith to speak our prayers aloud. O, at such times as that, if they are too faint in our faith to reach him as He listens, then He leans over and listens; He inclines His ear and hears. That is the Lord. That is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lover and Saviour of sinners. Then if He should lead you and me through the deep waters and they go over our souls as they did over His, O, we can wait patiently for the Lord. He will incline unto us. He will lean over and hear our cry!

 

He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it and fear and shall trust in the Lord. [Who said so? Jesus.] Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust and respecteth not the proud nor such as turn aside to lies.

 

Now turn to the twenty-second Psalm. There is so much in that that is familiar to everybody, that all know where it applies. First verse:

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? [Who said so? Jesus on the cross.] Why art thou so far from helping me and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime but thou hearest not: and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee [He came in the line of the fathers.] They trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee and were not confounded. But I am a worm and no man; a reproach of man and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head,  saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him, let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

You know that is the record of his crucifixion; this is the crucifixion Psalm.

 

But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly. Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. Many bulls have compassed me; strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.  They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them; and cast lots upon my vesture  [Here is his experience on the cross.] But be not thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me.  Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling [Margin, "my only one." Septuagint, "my only begotten."] from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. Ye that fear the Lord,  praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him: but when he cried unto him, he heard.

 

Who says so? Who says that from the cry of the afflicted one, from the sinner who is burdened and laden with sin, more than the hairs of his head? Who says that God the Father will not turn away from such a one? Christ says so. And he knows it. Who says that the Father will not hide His face from such as I, and such as you?  Christ says so, and He has demonstrated it; for is He not now alive and in glory at the right hand of God? And in that it is demonstrated before the universe that God will not hide His face from the man whose iniquities are gone over His head and are more than the hairs of His head. Then be of good cheer; be of good courage. He is our salvation; he has wrought it out. He has demonstrated to all men that God is Saviour of sinner.

 

My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation; I will pay my vows before them that fear him.

 

Will you? Now note: Who was He when He was saying this? He was ourselves. Then who shall it be that is saying it still? Will it not count now for us in Him, as well as it did eighteen hundred years ago for us in Him? It counted for us then in Him because He was ourselves, and now in Him is it not the same thing? Now the last two verses of the twenty-second Psalm:

 

A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

 

The twenty-third Psalm comes next after the twenty-second. "The Lord is my shepherd." Whose? Christ's. The twenty-second is the crucifixion hymn, the crucifixion Psalm. Where is the twenty-third, then? Let us see:

 

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness.

Who? Me, a sinner? one laden with sins? Will He lead me in the paths of righteousness? Yes. How do you know? He did it once. In Christ He led me in the paths of righteousness once, for His name's sake, a whole lifetime. Therefore I know that in Christ He will lead me, a sinful man, again and ever in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. That is faith.

 

Taking these words as we have heard in Brother Prescott's lesson this evening, as being themselves the salvation of God which comes to us, they themselves will work in us the salvation of God itself. That is where Christ got it. When He put Himself where we are, where did He get salvation? He did not save Himself. That was the taunt, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save....Let Him now come down from the cross and we will believe on Him." He could have done it. But if He had saved Himself, it would have ruined us. We would have been lost if He had saved Himself. O, but He saves us! Then what saved Him? This word of salvation saved Him when He was ourselves, and it saves us when we are in Him. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake--me, me! And this in order that every one on the earth can say in him, "He leadeth me."

 

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death."

 

Where was He in the twenty-second Psalm? On the cross, facing death. The twenty-third Psalm comes right in there, in proper order, you see, as He steps into the dark valley. "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." Who? Christ and in Him ourselves, and we know it because God did it once for us in Him. And in Him it is done still for us.

 

"Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." Who? Me. Thank the Lord!  How do I know? Because they did follow me once in Him. Goodness and mercy did follow me from birth unto the grave once in this world in Him, and as long as I am in Him, they follow me still. "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." How do I know? Ah,  because that in Him it has been done once for me. It has been demonstrated before the universe that it is so, and I take it and am glad.

 

Then the twenty-fourth Psalm comes right on after the twenty-third. The twenty-second is the crucifixion psalm;  the twenty-third takes Him through the valley of the shadow of death; and the twenty-fourth is the ascension psalm.

 

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.  Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

 

He did it once for me in Him; in Him it is done still for me; and in Him I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

 

This is all only illustrative of the truth as to Christ in the Psalms.

 

Look at the sixty-ninth Psalm and we shall see this further. Indeed, where can we look in the Psalms without seeing it? That is the question. Where in the Psalms can we look and not see it? I will read a verse or two in the sixty-ninth Psalm, though, that you may see that this is exactly applicable there.

 

Fourth verse: "They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head." The scripture was fulfilled, "They hate me without a cause," you remember. Seventh verse: "For thy sake I have borne reproach;  shame hath covered my face. I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children.  For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up." "And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up." "The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me." Paul writes in Romans 15:3 "For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me."

 

Now Psalm 69:20, 21:

Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none: and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

 

Then that Psalm applies to Christ.

 

Look at the first verse: "Save me, O, God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in the deep mire, where there is no standing; I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God." Then follows, "They that hate me without a cause." etc.  Then the fifth verse: "O God, thou knowest my foolishness and my sins are not hid from thee." Whose sins?  Christ's--the righteous one, who knew no sin, made to bear sin for us! Our sins were upon Him; the guilt and the condemnation of these were not hid from God.

 

O, it was a terrible thing, that He should undo Himself and become ourselves in all things in order that we might be saved--running the risk, the fearful risk, of losing all--risking all to save all. But what were we of ourselves?  From head to foot nothing but a body of sin. Yet He risked all to save us, it is true. But we were nothing. True,  but in His love and in His pity He did it. Thank the Lord that He had the royal courage to do it. And He won it.  And we are saved in Him.

 

We read here His confession of sin. This was He as ourselves and in our place, confessing our sins and we needed that also. He was baptized in our behalf, because no baptism on our part could be perfect so as to be accepted in righteousness. "It must be perfect to be accepted." No man's confession of sin can, in itself, ever be so perfect as to be accepted of God in righteousness, because man is imperfect. But "it must be perfect to be accepted." Where then, shall perfection of confession be found? Ah! In Him my confession of sin is perfect; for He made the confession. How many times when persons have made confession as thoroughly as they know how, Satan gets the advantage of them by the suggestion: You have not properly confessed your sin. You have not confessed hard enough to get forgiveness. O, of course you have confessed, but you have not done it hard enough. God cannot forgive you on such a confession as that. Hold the word of God up before Him and tell Him:  There is One who is perfect; He bore my sins and He has made the confession, and when He shows me the sin, I confess it according to my power and ability and as God reveals it to me and in Him and by virtue of His confession, mine is accepted in righteousness. His confession is perfect in every respect and God accepts mine in Him.

 

Then in Him we have exemption from Satan's discouragement as to whether we have confessed our sins hard enough, sought them out faithfully enough or repented enough. In Christ we have repentance; in Him we have confession; in Him we have perfection, and in Him we are complete. O, He is the Saviour!

 

Weak as we; sinful as we--simply ourselves--He went through this world and never sinned. He was sinful as we,  weak as we, helpless as we, helpless as the man is who is without God, yet by His trust in God, God so visited Him, so abode with Him, so strengthened Him, that, instead of sin ever being manifested, the righteousness of God was always manifested.

 

But who was He? He was ourselves.

 

Then God has demonstrated once in the world and to the universe that He will so come to me and you and so live with us as we are in the world today and will cause His grace and His power to so abide with us that, in spite of all our sinfulness, in spite of all our weaknesses, the righteousness and the holy influence of God will be manifested to men instead of ourselves and our sinfulness.

 

The mystery of God is not God manifest in sinless flesh. There is mystery about God being manifest in sinless flesh; that is natural enough. Is not God Himself sinless? Is there then any room for wonder that God could manifest Himself through or in sinless flesh? Is there any mystery as to God's manifesting His power and His righteous glory through Gabriel or through the bright seraphim or the cherubim? No. That is natural enough. But the wonder is that God can do that through and in sinful flesh. That is the mystery of God. God manifest in sinful flesh.

 

In Jesus Christ as He was in sinful flesh, God has demonstrated before the universe that He can so take possession of sinful flesh as to manifest His own presence, His power, and His glory, instead of sin manifesting itself. And all that the Son asks of any man in order to accomplish this in Him is that the man will let the Lord have Him as the Lord Jesus did.

 

Jesus said, "I will put my trust in Him." And in that trust Christ brought to every one the divine faith by which we can put our trust in Him. And when we do so separate from the world and put our sole trust in Him, then God will so take us and so use us that our sinful selves shall not appear to influence or affect anybody, but God will manifest His righteous self, His glory, before men, in spite of all ourselves and our sinfulness. That is the truth.  And that is the mystery of God, "Christ in you, the hope of glory." God manifest in sinful flesh.

 

Upon this point, also, Satan discourages many. To the believing sinner Satan says: You are too sinful to count yourself a Christian. God cannot have anything to do with you. Look at yourself. You know you are good for nothing. Satan has discouraged us thousands of times with that kind of argument.

 

But God has wrought out an argument that puts this plea of Satan all to shame, for Jesus came and became ourselves--sinful as we are, laden with the sins of the world--far more sins than there are upon me. And in Him,  laden with ten thousand times more sins than ever were upon me, God has demonstrated that with one so sinful as that, He will come and live a whole lifetime and manifest Himself and His righteousness in spite of all the sinfulness and in spite of the devil. God laid help upon One who is mighty, and that help reaches us. Thank the Lord.

 

Brethren, that does me good. For I know that if ever anything good is to be manifested in this world where I am,  it must come from some source besides myself. That is settled. But, O! the blessedness of it is, God has demonstrated that He will manifest His righteous self instead of my sinful self when I let Him have me. I cannot manifest righteousness of myself; I cannot manifest His righteousness in myself. No. I let Him have me,  absolutely, overwhelmingly. Then He attends to that. He has demonstrated it so. He has demonstrated a whole lifetime what God is when He is joined with me in sinful flesh. He can do it again as certainly as He

can have me.

 

Will you let Him have you? O, does it call for too full a surrender? No. It is becoming. How full a surrender did He make? He surrendered all Himself. Christ gave up Himself, emptied Himself. The French translation is, "He annihilated Himself." He undid Himself and sank Himself in us in order that God, instead of ourselves and His righteousness, instead of our sinfulness, might be manifested in us in our sinful flesh. Then let us respond and sink ourselves in Him, that God may still be manifest in sinful flesh.

 

Now using that statement that is sometimes used in a jocular way about the man--I use it reverently, and it is a good illustration; it is a right illustration--who said: "I and my wife are one, and I am the one." Christ and the man are one, and the question always is, Which shall be the one? Christ has allied Himself with every man on the earth, but multitudes say, "Yes, that is all right enough, but I am the one." Many arrogantly refuse all, exclaiming:  "I am the one; I am enough." but the Christian, the believer, yielding to Jesus Christ, says, "Yes, thank the Lord!  He and I are one and He is the one."

 

Christ has allied Himself with every human being, on His own part; and if every human being in the world tonight should drop everything and say, "Yes, that is a fact; He and I are one, and He is the one," every soul would be saved tonight, and Christ would appear in every soul tomorrow.

 

Now brethren there is another thing that comes in here in our own practical experience. Christ has allied Himself to every human being. Then when He said, "Inasmuch as ye have done it [or not done it] unto one of the least of these my brethren; ye have done it [or not done it] unto me," how widespread is that truth? Suppose one comes to my door as a tramp; suppose He be ill dressed and perhaps has not had a good chance to wash Himself as clean as He ought to be. Who is allied to Him? Jesus. Who has invested His all in that man? The Lord Jesus.  Then as I treat that man, who is affected? The Lord Jesus, to be sure.

 

Shall I treat that man according to the estimate of Christ's investment or according to my opinions, as the world looks upon the man? That is the question.

 

Suppose here is a man that does not believe in Jesus--a worldly man, a drinking man, a swearing man--and he comes to me in some way--he may come to my door for something to eat or I may meet him as he is walking by the way. Suppose that out of respect to Christ I treat that man as Christ's purchase, as the one in whom Christ has invested all, and suppose that man never believes in Jesus at all and dies an infidel and perishes in perdition,  how does Christ look upon that which I did toward the man? In the judgment, if I shall stand on the right hand,  will He say anything about that which I did? O, He will say, "I was a hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: naked and ye clothed me: I was sick and ye visited me." Why, Lord, I know nothing about that. When did I ever see you hungry and fed you? or sick and helped you? or naked and clothed you? I know nothing about this. Oh, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

 

But suppose a man comes and says, "I am hungry; I would like something to eat." And I respond: "What are you drifting around the country for like this--an able-bodied man, as you are? Why don't you go to work?"  "Well, I can't find work." "O well, I get plenty of work; I can find work; I have not got out of work yet. I think work is not exactly what you want. I don't have anything for such folks as you are." I do not give him anything,  and he goes off.

 

In that day we shall all stand before the throne and I find myself standing on the left hand and I say: "Why,  Lord, Lord, I believe on you; don't you know, I believed the truth? I believed in the Third Angel's Message;  indeed, I was a preacher and preached in the Tabernacle in Battle Creek. I did much for the cause. In thy name I did many wonderful things." But the answer is "I was a hungered and you gave me no meat: I was thirsty and ye gave me no drink: naked and ye clothed me not: sick and in prison and ye visited me not." I wonderingly inquire,  "When did I ever see you hungry or in need or sick? I thought you were in heaven, glorified with all your trials past, and I wanted to get up here to see you. I did not suppose you were on earth where I could ever see you hungry or sick." He replies: "I came to your door one morning and asked for something to eat, after having been almost shelterless through the night": I answer, "You? No. I never saw you there." Well, He might point to such and such a time when a man did come to my door in just such a condition as that. But I say. "O, do you mean that man? surely that was not you." He answers finally; "Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these,  ye did it not to me. Depart from me. I never knew you."

 

Whether a man gives Christ the credit for what He has invested in Him or not, as a believer in Jesus I must give to Christ the credit for what He has invested in that man. It is not a question whether that man gives Him credit for what He has invested in Him. It is a question whether those professing to believe in His name will give Him credit. That is where the great lack comes in the profession of Christianity too many times, as well as in those who deny Him and make no pretension to His name. It is not astonishing that a man who does not believe in Christ at all should give Christ no credit for His investment in Him, but here am I, a professor of Jesus. It is astonishing that I should not give Christ the credit for the investment that He has made in that man.

In the fifty-eighth of Isaiah the Lord describes the fast that He has chosen. It is, "That thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh." Who is our own flesh? Jesus Christ is. And Jesus Christ, as He has allied Himself to that man,  is my flesh. See "that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh." This is the fast that the Lord has chosen: Feed the hungry, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plea for the widow and spread abroad the good of His name and the charity of His goodness everywhere. He has allied Himself to human flesh, and in doing it to these,  we are doing it to Him. That is Christianity. 

 

1895 G.C. Sermon #15   by A.T. Jones

 

The Great Day of His Wrath.

John watched as Jesus opened the sixth seal and saw in this vision- a great earthquake taking place- just imagine what that was like to watch. We've seen footage on cameras of various real life happenings as earthquakes take place where a store camera catches shelves toppling over. We've seen movies depicting the absolute wreckage of earthquakes in big cities. What may John have seen? I'm not sure but whatever it was, John knew it was a great earthquake- the damage had to be terrific for it to be considered great. Next John witnessed the sun as it became black, and the moon appearing as blood, while the stars in heaven fell to the earth in a cascade just as figs falling from a tree in a mighty wind. We can visualize this, can't we? John was given the vision of all this going on- a powerful earthquake, the sun, moon, and stars all being altered in magnificent telling ways. Then John saw the heavens depart as a scroll- can you picture this? We don't use scrolls any longer, but we've all seen them being used in movies and such. A scroll rolled together- the heaven closed like a scroll? Just try to picture that. When the heavens closed EVERY mountain and EVERY island was MOVED out of their places! The chaos, the awful, extreme horrific chaos with people running and hiding wanting mountains to FALL on them and hide them from the WRATH of the LAMB.  The wrath of the LAMB.  The same Lamb who was opening the seals- the LAMB OF GOD- JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD and SAVIOR.  What kind of wrath from the Savior was to come? The wrath against ALL EVIL. None who are Christ's, none who belong to the LORD, none who are saved by the Redeemer will be fleeing or wanting to hide they will welcome with a joyous heart the coming of the LORD. Only those who do NOT belong to the LORD will be running in terror, hiding and wanting to be crushed by rocks rather than face the LORD of purity, of innocence, of all things holy. John saw this vision of a great multitude of people running and hiding from the LORD. How awful to see such a thing, to know that the future held such an awful sight as a depiction of so many people NOT belonging to the LORD.

 

Rev 6:12  And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 

Rev 6:13  And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 

Rev 6:14  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 

Rev 6:15  And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 

Rev 6:16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 

Rev 6:17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? 

 

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Let's see what Uriah Smith has to say about these verses-

'VERSE 12. And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 13. And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond man, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16. And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17. For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

 

Such are the solemn and sublime scenes that transpire under the sixth seal. And a thought well calculated to awaken in every heart an intense interest in divine things, is the consideration that we are now living amid the momentous events of this seal, as will presently be proved.

Between the fifth and sixth seals there seems to be a sudden

p 444 -- and entire change in the language, from the highly figurative to the strictly literal. Whatever may be the cause of this change, the change itself cannot well be denied. By no principle of interpretation can the language of the preceding seals be made to be literal, nor can the language of this any more easily be made to be figurative. We must therefore accept the change, even though we should be unable to explain it. There is a great fact, however, to which we would here call attention. It was in the period covered by this seal that the prophetic portions of God's word were to be unsealed, and many run to and fro, or "give their sedulous attention to the understanding of these things," and thereby knowledge on this part of God's word was to be greatly increased. And we suggest that it may be for this reason that the change in the language here occurs, and that the events of this seal, transpiring at a time when these things were to be fully understood, are couched in no figures, but are laid before us in plain and unmistakable language.

The Great Earthquake. - The first event under this seal, perhaps the one which marks its opening, is a great earthquake. As the most probable fulfilment of this prediction, we refer to the great earthquake of Nov. 1, 1755, known as the earthquake of Lisbon. Of this earthquake, Sears, in his Wonders of the World, pp. 50, 58, 381, says: - "The great earthquake of Nov. 1, 1755, extended over a tract of at least 4,000,000 square miles. Its effects were even extended to the waters in many places, where the shocks were not perceptible. It pervaded the greater portion of Europe, Africa, and America; but its extreme violence was exercised on the southwestern part of the former. In Africa, this earthquake was felt almost as severely as it had been in Europe. A great part of Algiers was destroyed. Many houses were thrown down at Fez and Mequinez, and multitudes were buried beneath the ruins. Similar effects were realized at Morocco. Its effects were likewise left at Tangier, at Tetuan, at Funchal in the Island of Madeira. It is probable that all Africa was shaken. At the north, it extended to Norway and Sweden. Germany, Holland, France, Great Britain, and. Ireland were

p 445 -- all more or less agitated by the same great commotion of the elements. Lisbon (Portugal), previous to the earthquake in 1755, contained 150,000 inhabitants. Mr. Barretti says that 90,000 persons 'were lost on that fatal day.'"

On page 200 of the same work, we again read: "The terror of the people was beyond description. Nobody wept; it was beyond tears. They ran hither and thither, delirious with horror and astonishment, beating their faces and breasts, crying, 'Misericordia;the world's at an end!' Mothers forgot their children, and ran about loaded with crucifixed images. Unfortunately, many ran to the churches for protection; but in vain was the sacrament exposed; in vain did the poor creatures embrace the altars; images, priests, and people were buried in one common ruin."

The Encyclopedia Americana states that this earthquake extended also to Greenland, and of its effects upon the city of Lisbon further says: "The city then contained about 150,000 inhabitants. The shock was instantly followed by the fall of every church and convent, almost all the large public buildings, and more than one fourth of the houses. In about two hours after the shock, fires broke out in different quarters, and raged with such violence for the space of nearly three days that the city was completely desolated. The earthquake happened on a holy day, when the churches and convents were full of people, very few of whom escaped."

Sir Charles Lyell gives the following graphic description of this remarkable phenomenon: "In no part of the volcanic region of southern Europe has so tremendous an earthquake occurred in modern times as that which began on the 1st of November, 1755, at Lisbon. A sound of thunder was heard underground, and immediately afterward a violent shock threw down the greater part of that city. In the course of about six minutes, sixty thousand persons perished. The sea first retired, and laid the bar dry; it then rolled in, rising fifty feet above its ordinary level. The mountains of Arrabida, Estrella, Julio, Marvan, and Cintra, being some of the largest in Portugal, were impetuously shaken, as it were from their very foundations; and some of them

p 446 --

(Illustration not included)

p 447 -- opened at their summits, which were split and rent in a wonderful manner, huge masses of them being thrown down into the adjacent valleys. Flames are related to have issued from these mountains, which are supposed to have been electric; they are also said to have smoked; but vast clouds of dust may have given rise to this appearance.

"The most extraordinary circumstance which occurred at Lisbon during the catastrophe, was the subsidence of the new quay, built entirely of marble, at an immense expense. A great concourse of people had collected there for safety, as a spot where they might be beyond the reach of falling ruins; but suddenly the quay sunk down with all the people on it, and not one of the dead bodies ever floated to the surface. A great number of boats and small vessels anchored near it, all full of people, were swallowed up as in a whirlpool. No fragments of these wrecks ever rose again to the surface, and the water in the place where the quay had stood is stated, in many accounts, to be unfathomable; but Whitehurst says he ascertained it to be one hundred fathoms.

"In this case we must either suppose that a certain tract sunk down into a subterranean hollow, which would cause a 'fault' in the strata to the depth of six hundred feet, or we may infer, as some have done, from the entire disappearance of the substances engulfed, that a chasm opened and closed again. Yet in adopting this latter hypothesis, we must suppose that the upper part of the chasm, to the depth of one hundred fathoms, remained open after the shock. According to the observations made at Lisbon in 1837 by Mr. Sharpe, the destroying effects of this earthquake were confined to the tertiary strata, and were most violent on the blue clay, on which the lower part of the city is constructed. Not a building, he says, on the secondary limestone or the basalt was injured.

"The great area over which this Lisbon earthquake extended is very remarkable. The movement was most violent in Spain, Portugal, and the north of Africa; but nearly the whole of Europe, and even the West Indies, felt the shock on the same day. A seaport called St. Ubes, about twenty miles south of Lisbon, was engulfed. At Algiers and Fez in Africa,

p 448 -- the agitation of the earth was equally violent, and at the distance of eight leagues from Morocco, a village, with the inhabitants to the number of about eight or ten thousand persons, together with all their cattle, was swallowed up. Soon after, the earth closed again over them.

"The shock was felt at sea, on the deck of a ship to tho west of Lisbon, and produced very much the same sensation as on dry land. Off St. Lucas, the captain of the ship 'Nancy' felt his vessel shaken so violently that he thought she had struck the ground, but, on heaving the lead, found a great depth of water. Captain Clark, from Denia, in latitude 36'' 24' N., between nine and ten in the morning, had his ship shaken and strained as if she had struck upon a rock. Another ship, forty leagues west of St. Vincent, experienced so violent a concussion that the men were thrown a foot and a half perpendicularly up from the deck. In Antigua and Barbadoes, as also in Norway, Sweden, Germany, Holland, Corsica, Switzerland, and Italy, tremors and slight oscillations of the ground were felt.

"The agitation of lakes, rivers, and springs in Great Britain was remarkable. At Loch Lomond, in Scotland, for example, the water, without the least apparent cause, rose against its banks, and then subsided below its usual level. The greatest perpendicular height of this swell was two feet four inches. It is said that the movement of this earthquake was undulatory, and that it traveled at the rate of twenty miles a minute. A great wave swept over the coast of Spain, and is said to have been sixty feet high at Cadiz. At Tangier, in Africa, it rose and fell eighteen times on the coast; at Funchal, in Maderia, it rose full fifteen feet perpendicular above high-water mark, although the tide, which ebbs and flows there seven feet, was then at half ebb. Besides entering the city and committing great havoc, it overflowed other seaports in the island. At Kinsale, in Ireland, a body of water rushed into the harbor, whirled round several vessels, and poured into the marketplace.

"It was before stated that the sea first retired at Lisbon; and this retreat of the ocean from the shore at the commencement

p 449 -- of an earthquake, and its subsequent return in a violent wave, is a common occurrence. In order to account for the phenomenon, Mitchell imagines a subsidence at the bottom of the sea from the giving way of the roof of some cavity, in consequence of a vacuum produced by the condensation of steam. Such condensation, he observes, might be the first effect of the introduction of a large body of water into fissures and cavities already filled with steam, before there had been sufficient time for the heat of the incandescent lava to turn so large a supply of water into steam, which, being soon accomplished, causes a greater explosion." - Library of Choice Literature, Vol. VII, pp. 162, 163.

If the reader will look on his atlas at the countries above mentioned, he will see how large a portion of the earth's surface was agitated by this awful convulsion. Other earthquakes may have been as severe in particular localities, but no other one of which we have any record, combining so great an extent with such a degree of severity, has ever been felt on this earth. It certainly supplies all the conditions necessary to constitute it a fitting event to mark the opening of the seal.

The Darkening of the Sun. - Following the earthquake, it is announced that "the sun became black as sackcloth of hair." This portion of the prediction has also been fulfilled. Into a detailed account of the wonderful darkening of the sun, May 19,1780, we need not here enter. Most persons of general reading, it is presumed, have seen some account of it. The following detached declarations from different authorities will give an idea of its nature: - "The dark day of Northern America was one of those wonderful phenomena of nature which will always be read of with interest, but which philosophy is at a loss to explain." - Hershel.

"In the month of May,1780, there was a terrific dark day in New England, when 'all faces seemed to gather blackness,' and the people were filled with fear. There was great distress in the village where Edward Lee lived, 'men's hearts failing them for fear' that the Judgment-day was at hand; and the neighbors all flocked around the holy man," who

p 450 -- "spent the gloomy hours in earnest prayer for the distressed multitude." - Tract No. 379, American Tract Society; Life of Edward Lee.

"Candles were lighted in many houses. Birds were silent and disappeared. Fowls retired to roost. It was the general opinion that the day of Judgment was at hand." - President Dwight, in Connecticut Historical Collections.

"The darkness was such as to occasion farmers to leave their work in the field, and retire to their dwellings. Lights became necessary to the transaction of business within doors. The darkness continued through the day." - Gage's History of Rowley, Mass.

"The cocks crew as at daybreak, and everything bore the appearance and gloom of night. The alarm produced by this unusual aspect of the heavens was very great." - Portsmouth Journal, May 20,1843.

"It was midnight darkness at noonday.... Thousands of people who could not account for it from natural causes, were greatly terrified; and indeed, it cast a universal gloom on the earth. The frogs and night-hawks began their notes." - Dr. Adams.

"Similar days have occasionally been known, though inferior in the degree or extent of their darkness. The causes of these phenomena are unknown. They certainly were not the result of eclipses." - Sears's Guide to Knowledge.

"Almost, if not altogether alone, as the most mysterious and yet unexplained phenomenon of its kind in nature's diversified range of events, during the last century, stands the dark day of May 19th,1780, - a most unaccountable darkening of the whole visible heavens and atmosphere in New England, - which brought intense alarm and distress to multitudes of minds, as well as dismay to the brute creation, the fowls fleeing, bewildered, to their roosts, and the birds to their nests, and the cattle returning to their stalls. Indeed, thousands of the good people of that day became fully convinced that the end of all things terrestrial had come.... The extent of this darkness was also very remarkable. It was observed at the most easterly regions of New England; westward to the

p 451 -- farthest parts of Connecticut, and at Albany; to the southward, it was observed all along the seacoast; and to the north, as far as the American settlements extended. It probably far exceeded these boundaries, but the exact limits were never positively known." - Our First Century, by R. M. Devens, pp. 89, 90.

The poet Whittier thus speaks of this event: -

"'Twas on a May-day of the far old year

Seventeen hundred eighty, that there fell

Over the bloom and sweet life of the spring,

Over the fresh earth and the heaven of noon,

A horror of great darkness, like the night

In day of which the Norland sagas tell -

The Twilight of the Gods. The low-hung sky

Was black with ominous clouds, save where its rim

Was fringed with a dull glow, like that which climbs

The crater's sides from the red hell below.

Birds ceased to sing, and all the barnyard fowls

Roosted; the cattle at the pasture bars

Lowed, and looked homeward; bats on leathern wings

Flitted abroad; the sounds of labor died;

Men prayed, and women wept; all ears grew sharp

To hear the doom-blast of the trumpet shatter

The black sky, that the dreadful face of Christ

Might look from the rent clouds, not as he looked

A loving guest at Bethany, but stern

As justice and inexorable law."

The Moon Became as Blood. - The darkness of the following night, May 19, 1780, was as unnatural as that of the day had been.

"The darkness of the following evening was probably as gross as has ever been observed since the Almighty fiat gave birth to light. I could not help conceiving at the time that if every luminous body in the universe had been shrouded in impenetrable darkness, or struck out of existence, the darkness could not have been more complete. A sheet of white paper held within a few inches of the eyes, was equally invisible with the blackest velvet." - Mr. Tenney, of Exeter, N. H.

Dr. Adams, already quoted, wrote concerning the night following the dark day: - "Almost every one who happened to be out in the evening got lost in going home. The darkness was as uncommon in

p 452 --

(Meteoric Shower, or Falling Stars, of Nov. 13, 1833)

p 453 -- the night as it was in the day, as the moon had fulled the day before."

This statement respecting the phase of the moon proves the impossibility of an eclipse of the sun at that time.

And whenever on this memorable night the moon did appear, as at certain times it did, it had, according to this prophecy, the appearance of blood.

And the Stars of Heaven Fell. - The voice of history still is, Fulfilled! Being a much later event than the darkening of the sun, there are multitudes in whose memories it is as fresh as if it were but yesterday. We refer to the great meteoric shower of Nov. 13, 1833. On this point a few extracts will suffice. "At the cry, 'Look out of the window,' I sprang from a deep sleep, and with wonder saw the east lighted up with the dawn and meteors.... I called to my wife to behold; and while robing, she exclaimed, 'See how the stars fall! ' I replied, 'That is the wonder;' and we felt in our hearts that it was a sign of the last days. For truly 'the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.' Rev. 6:13. This langnage of the prophet has always been received as metaphorical. Yesterday it was literally fulfilled. The ancients understood by aster in Greek, and stella in Latin, the smaller lights of heaven. The refinement of modern astronomy has made distinctions between stars of heaven and meteors of heaven. Therefore the idea of the prophet, as it is expressed in the original Greek, was literally fulfilled in the phenomenon of yesterday, so as no man before yesterday had conceived to be possible that it should be fulfilled. The immense size and distance of the planets and fixed stars forbid the idea of their falling unto the earth. Larger bodies cannot fall in myriads unto a smaller body; and most of the planets and all the fixed stars are many times larger than our earth; but these fell toward the earth. And how did they fall? Neither myself nor one of the family heard any report; and were I to hunt through nature for a simile, I could not find one so apt, to illustrate the appearance of the heavens, as that which St. John uses

p 454 -- in the prophecy before quoted: 'The stars of heaven fell unto the earth.' They were not sheets, or flakes, or drops of fire; but they were what the world understands by falling stars; and one speaking to his fellow, in the midst of the scene, would say, 'See how the stars fall!' And he who heard would not s to correct the astronomy of the speaker, any more than be would reply, 'The sun does not move,' to one who should tell him, 'The sun is rising.' The stars fell 'even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.' Here is the exactness of the prophet. The falling stars did not come as if from several trees shaken, but from one. Those which appeared in the east fell toward the east; those which appeared in the north fell toward the north; those which appeared in the west fell toward the west; and those which appeared in the south (for I went out of my residence into the park), fell toward the south. And they fell not as ripe fruit falls; far from it; but they flew, they were cast, like the unripe, which at first refuses to leave the branch, and when, under a violent pressure, it does break its hold, it flies swiftly, straight off, descending; and in the multitude falling, some cross the track of others, as they are thrown with more or less force, but each one falls on its own side of the tree." - New York Journal of Commerce, Nov. 14,1833.

"Extensive and magnificent showers of shooting stars have been known to occur at various places in modern times; but the most universal and wonderful which has ever been recorded, is that of the 13th of November, 1833, the whole firmament, over all the United States, being then, for hours, in fiery commotion. No celestial phenomenon has ever occurred in this country since its first settlement, which was viewed with such intense admiration by one class in the community, or with so much dread and alarm by another.... During the three hours of its continuance, the day of judgment was believed to be only waiting for sunrise." - Our First Century, p. 329.

"Arago computes that not less than two hundred and forty thousand meteors were at the same time visible above the horizon

p 455 -- of Boston." And of the display at Niagara it is said that "no spectacle so terribly grand and sublime was ever before beheld by man as that of the firmament descending in fiery torrents over the dark and roaring cataract." - Id, ib.

And the Heaven Departed as a Scroll. - In this event minds are turned to the future. From looking at the past, and beholding the word of God fulfilled, we are now called to look at events in the future, which are no less sure to come. Here is our position, unmistakably defined. We stand between the 13th and 14th verses of this chapter. We wait for the heavens to depart as a scroll when it is rolled together. And these are times of unparalleled solemnity and importance; for we know not how near we may be to the fulfilment of these things.

This departing of the heavens is included in what the evangelists call, in the same series of events, the shaking of the powers of the heavens. Other scriptures give us further particulars concerning this prediction. From Heb. 12:25-27; Joel 3:16; Jer. 25:30-33; Rev. 16:17, we learn that it is the voice of God, as he speaks in terrible majesty from his throne in heaven, that causes this fearful commotion in earth and sky. Once the Lord spoke, when with an audible voice he declared to his creatures the precepts of his eternal law, and the earth shook. He is to speak again, and not only the earth will shake, but the heavens also. Then will the earth "reel to and fro like a drunkard;" it will be "dissolved" and "utterly broken down" (Isaiah 24); mountains will move from their firm bases; islands will suddenly change their location in the midst of the sea; from the level plain will arise the precipitous mountain; rocks will thrust up their ragged forms from earth's broken surface; and while the voice of God is reverberating through the earth, the direst confusion will reign over the face of nature.

To show that this is no mere conception of the imagination, the reader is requested to mark the exact phraseology which some of the prophets have used in reference to this time. Isaiah (24:19, 20) says: "The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.

p 456 -- The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again." Jeremiah (4:23-27) in thrilling language describes the scene as follows: "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills move lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.... For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate." (See also the scriptures referred to above.)

Then will the world's dream of carnal security be effectually broken. Kings, who, intoxicated with their own earthly authority, have never dreamed of a higher power than themselves, now realize that there is One who reigns King of kings; and the great men behold the vanity of all earthly pomp, for there is a greatness above that of earth; and the rich men throw their silver and gold to the moles and bats, for it cannot save them in that day; and the chief captains forget their little brief authority, and the mighty men their might; and every bondman who is in the still worse bondage of sin, and every freeman, - all classes of the wicked, from the highest to the lowest, - join in the general wail of consternation and despair. They who never prayed to Him whose arm could bring salvation, now raise an agonizing prayer to rocks and mountains to bury them forever from the sight of Him whose presence brings to them destruction. Fain would they now avoid reaping what they have sown by a life of lust and sin. Fain would they now shun the fearful treasure of wrath which they have been heaping up for themselves against this day. Fain would they bury themselves and their catalogue of crimes in everlasting darkness. And so they fly to the rocks, caves, caverns, and fissures, which the broken surface of the earth now presents before them. But it is too late. They cannot conceal their guilt, nor escape the long-delayed vengeance.

p 457 --

"It will be in vain to call,

Rocks and mountains on us fall;

For His hand will find out all,

In that day."

The day which they thought never would come, has at last taken them as in a snare; and the involuntary language of their anguished hearts is, "The great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?" Before it is called out by the fearful scenes of this time, we pray you, reader, give your most serious and candid attention to this subject.

Many now affect to despise the institution of prayer; but at one time or another all men will pray. Those who will not now pray to God in penitence, will then pray to the rocks and mountains in despair; and this will be the largest prayer-meeting ever held. As you read these lines, think whether you would like to have a part therein: -

Ah! better far

To cease the unequal war,

While pardon, hope, and peace may yet be found;

Nor longer rush upon the embossed shield

Of the Almighty, but repentant yield,

And all your weapons of rebellion ground.

Better pray now in love, than pray ere long in fear.

Call ye upon him, while he waits to hear;

So in the coming end,

When down the parted sky

The angelic hosts attend

The Lord of heaven, most high,

Before whose face the solid earth is rent,

You may behold him a friend omnipotent,

And safely rest beneath his sheltering wings,

Amid the ruin of all earthly things.'

First Adam, Second Adam.

(A.T. Jones)

    You will remember the point that was made in one of Brother Prescott's lessons, when he called attention to the book of Ruth [Read Bulletin, p. 189].

Who was the redeemer in the book of Ruth? The nearest of kin. Boaz could not come in as redeemer until it was found that the one who was nearer than he could not perform the office of redeemer. The redeemer must be not only one who was near of kin, but he must be the nearest among those who were near, and therefore Boaz could not step into the place of redeemer until, by another's stepping out of the place, he became really the nearest.  Now that is the precise point that is made in the second chapter of Hebrews.

In Ruth, you remember Naomi's husband had died, the inheritance had fallen into the hands of others, and when she came back from Moab, it had to be redeemed. No one but the nearest of kin could do it. This is the story also in the second of Hebrews. Here is the man Adam, who had an inheritance--the earth--and he lost it and he himself was brought into bondage.

In the gospel in Leviticus it is preached that if one had lost his inheritance,  himself and his inheritance could be redeemed, but only the nearest of kin could redeem. Lev. 25:25, 26, 47-49.  Upon earth here is a man, Adam, who lost his inheritance and himself, and you and I were in it all, and we need a redeemer. But only he who is nearest in blood relationship can perform the office of redeemer. Jesus Christ is nearer than a brother, nearer than anyone. He is a brother, but he is nearest among the brethren, nearest of kin,  actually. Not only one with us but He is one of us and one with us by being one of us.

And the one lesson that we are studying still and the leading thought is how entirely Jesus is ourselves. 

We found in the preceding lesson that He is altogether ourselves. In all points of temptation, wherever we are tempted, He was ourselves right there; in all the points in which it is possible for me to be tempted, He, as I,  stood right there, against all the knowledge and ingenuity of Satan to tempt me, Jesus, myself, stood right there and met it. 

Against all the power of Satan put forth in the temptation upon me, Jesus stood as myself and overcame. So also with you and so with the other man, and thus comprehending the whole human race, He stands in every point wherever anyone of the human race can be tempted as in Himself or from Himself.

In all this, He is ourselves and in Him we are complete against the power of temptation. In Him we are overcomers, because He, as we, overcame. "Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

And in noticing the other evening how he became one of us, we found that it was by birth from the flesh. He is "the seed of David according to the flesh." He took not the nature of angels but the nature of the seed of Abraham, and His genealogy goes to Adam.

 

Now every man is tempted, you know, "when he is drawn away of His own lust and enticed." James 1:14. That is the definition of "temptation." There is not a single drawing toward sin, there is not a single tendency to sin, in you and me that was not in Adam when he stepped out of the garden. 

All the iniquity and all the sin that have come into the world came from that, and came from him as he was there. It did not all appear in him; it did not all manifest itself in him in open action, but it has manifested itself in open action in those who have come from him.

Thus all the tendencies to sin that have appeared or that are in me came to me from Adam, and all that are in you came from Adam, and all that are in the other man came from Adam. So all the tendencies to sin that are in the human race came from Adam. But Jesus Christ felt in these temptations; He was tempted upon all these points in the flesh which he derived from David, from Abraham, and from Adam. 

In his genealogy are a number of characters set forth as they were lived in the men, and they were not righteous. Manasseh is there, who did worse than any other king ever in Judah and caused Judah to do worse than the heathen. Solomon is there with the description of his character in the Bible just as it is. David is there. Rahab is there. Judah is there. Jacob is there. All are there just as they were. Now Jesus came according to the flesh at the end of that line of mankind.  And there is such a thing as heredity. You and I have traits of character or cut of feature that have come to us from away back--perhaps not from our own father, perhaps not from a grandfather, but from a great-grandfather away back in the years. And this is referred to in the law of God: "Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments."

That "like produces like" is a good law, a righteous law. 

It is a law of God, and though the law be transgressed, it still does the same. 

Transgression of the law does not change the law, whether it be moral or physical. 

The law works when it is transgressed, through the evil that is incurred, just as it would have worked in righteousness always if no evil had ever been incurred. If man had remained righteous always, as God made him, his descent would have been in the right line. When the law was transgressed, the descent followed on the wrong line, and the law worked in the crooked way, by its being perverted.

It is a good law which says that everything shall have a tendency to go toward the center of the earth. We could not get along in the world without that law. It is that which holds us upon the earth and enables us to walk and move about upon it. And yet if there be a break between us and the earth, if our feet slip out from under us or if we be on a high station, a pinnacle, and it breaks and the straight connection with the earth is broken between us and it, why, the law works and it brings us down with a terrible jolt, you know. Well, the same law that enables us to live and move and walk around upon the earth as comfortably as we do, which works so beneficially while we act in harmony with it, that law continues to work when we get out of harmony with it and it works as directly as before--but it hurts.

Now that is simply an illustration of this law of human nature. If man had remained where God put him and as He put him, the law would have worked directly and easily; since man has got out of harmony with it, it still works directly, but it hurts. 

Now that law of heredity reached from Adam to the flesh of Jesus Christ as certainly as it reaches from Adam to the flesh of any of the rest of us, for He was one of us. In Him there were things that reached Him from Adam; in Him there were things that reached Him from David, from Manasseh, from the genealogy away back from the beginning until His birth.

Thus in the flesh of Jesus Christ--not in Himself, but in His flesh--our flesh which He took in the human nature--there were just the same tendencies to sin that are in you and me. And when He was tempted, it was the "drawing away of these desires that were in the flesh." These tendencies to sin that were in His flesh drew upon Him and sought to entice Him, to consent to the wrong. But by the love of God and by His trust in God, he received the power and the strength and the grace to say, "No," to all of it and put it all under foot. And thus being in the likeness of sinful flesh He condemned sin in the flesh.

All the tendencies to sin that are in me were in Him, and not one of them was ever allowed to appear in Him. All the tendencies to sin that are in you were in Him, and not one of them was ever allowed to appear--every one was put under foot and kept there.

All the tendencies to sin that are in the other man were in Him, and not one of them was ever allowed to appear. That is simply saying that all the tendencies to sin that are in human flesh were in His human flesh, and not one of them was ever allowed to appear; He conquered them all. 

And in Him we all have victory over them all.

Many of these tendencies to sin that are in us have appeared in action, and have become sins committed, have become sins in the open. 

There is a difference between a tendency to sin and the open appearing of that sin in the actions. 

There are tendencies to sin in us that have not yet appeared, but multitudes have appeared. Now all the tendencies that have not appeared, He conquered. What of the sins that have actually appeared? "The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:6) "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree." 1 Peter 2:24. 

Thus it is plain that all the tendencies to sin that are in us and have not appeared and all the sins which have appeared were laid upon Him. 

It is terrible. It is true. But, O, joy! In that terrible truth lies the completeness of our salvation.

Note another view: Those sins which we have committed, we ourselves felt the guilt of them and were conscious of condemnation because of them. These were all imputed to Him. They were all laid upon Him. 

Now a question:  Did He feel the guilt of the sins that were imputed to Him? Was He conscious of the condemnation of the sins--our sins-- that were laid upon Him? He never was conscious of sins that He committed, for He did not commit any. That is true. But our sins were laid upon Him and we were guilty. Did He realize the guilt of these sins? Was He conscious of condemnation because of these sins?

We will look at that in such a way that every soul in the house shall say, "Yes." I will say that another way: We will look at it in such a way that every soul in the house will either say "Yes" or may say "Yes" if he will, because there may be some in the house who have not had the experience that I will bring for the illustration, but many have it, and then they can say, "Yes." All others who have had the experience will say "Yes" at once.

God imputes righteousness, the righteousness of Christ, unto the believing sinner. Here is a man who has never known anything in his life but sin, never anything but the guilt of sin, never anything but the condemnation of sin. That man believes on Jesus Christ, and God imputes to that man the righteousness of Christ. Then that man who never committed a particle of righteousness in his life is conscious of righteousness. Something has entered his life that was never there before. He is conscious of it, and he is conscious of the joy of it and the freedom of it.

Now God imputed our sins to Jesus Christ as certainly as He imputes His righteousness to us. But when he imputes righteousness to us who are nothing but sinners, we realize it and are conscious of it and conscious of the joy of it. Therefore, when He imputed our sins to Jesus, He was conscious of the guilt of them and the condemnation of them, just as certainly as the believing sinner is conscious of the righteousness of Christ and the peace and joy of it that is imputed to him--that is, that is laid upon him.

In all this also, Jesus was precisely ourselves. Or in all points He was truly made like unto us. In all points of temptation He was ourselves. He was one of us in the flesh; He was ourselves, and thus He was ourselves in temptation. And in points in guilt and condemnation He was precisely ourselves, because it was our sins, our guilt and our condemnation that were laid upon Him.

Now another thing upon what we have said: "our sins"--how many of them? All were laid upon Him, and He carried the guilt and the condemnation of them all, and also answered for them, paid for them, atoned for them.  Then in Him we are free from every sin that we have ever committed. That is the truth. Let us be glad of it and praise God with everlasting joy.

He took all the sins which we have committed; He answered for them and took them away from us forever and all the tendencies to sin which have not appeared in actual sins--these he put forever under foot. Thus He sweeps the whole board and we are free and complete in Him.

O, He is a complete Saviour. He is a Saviour from sins committed and the Conqueror of the tendencies to commit sins. 

In Him we have the victory. We are no more responsible for these tendencies being in us that we are responsible for the sun shining, but every man on earth is responsible for these things appearing in open action in Him, because Jesus Christ has made provision against their ever appearing in open action.

Before we learned of Christ, many of them had appeared in open action. The Lord hath laid upon Him all these and He has taken them away. Since we learned of Christ, these tendencies which have not appeared He condemned as sin in the flesh. And shall He who believes in Jesus allow that which Christ condemned in the flesh to rule over Him in the flesh? This is the victory that belongs to the believer in Jesus.

It is true that, although a man may have all this in Jesus, He cannot profit by it without himself being a believer in Jesus. Take the man who does not believe in Jesus at all tonight. has not Christ made all the provision for him that He has for Elijah, who is in heaven tonight? And if this man wants to have Christ for his Saviour, if he wants provision made for all his sins and salvation from all of them, does Christ have to do anything now in order to provide for this man's sins or to save him from them? No. That is all done. He made all that provision for every man when He was in the flesh and every man who believes in Him receives this without there being any need of any part of it being done over again. He "made one sacrifice for sins forever." And having by Himself purged us from our sins, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Thus it is all in Him and every believer in Him possesses it all in Him and in Him is complete. It is in Him and that is the blessedness of it. "In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the godhead bodily." And God gives His eternal Spirit and us eternal life--eternity in which to live--in order that that eternal Spirit may reveal to us and make known to us the eternal depths of the salvation that we have in Him whose goings forth have been from the days of eternity.

Now let us look at it in another way. Turn to Romans 5:12:

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.

Now, leaving out the verses in parenthesis for the moment and reading them afterward, read the eighteenth verse:

Therefore, as by the offense of one [that man that sinned] judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one [that Man that did not sin] the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience [that man that sinned] many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one [that Man that did not sin] shall many be made righteous.

Now read the parenthesis:

For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

Adam, then, was the figure of Him that was to come. That one to come is Christ. Adam was the figure of Him.  Wherein was Adam the figure of Him? In his righteousness? No. For he did not keep it. In his sin? No. For Christ did not sin. Wherein, then, was Adam the figure of Christ? In this: That all that were in the world were included in Adam, and all that are in the world are included in Christ. In other words: Adam in his sin reached all the world; Jesus Christ, the second Adam, in His righteousness touches all humanity. That is where Adam is the figure of Him that was to come. So read on:

But not as the offense, so also is the free gift: for if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

There are two men, then, whom we are studying: 

That one man by whom sin entered; that one man by whom righteousness entered.

And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. For if by one man's offense death reigned by one [that is, by the first Adam]; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ [the second Adam].

Read another text in connection with this before we touch the particular study of it. 1 Cor. 15:45--49:

So it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly."

The first Adam touched all of us; what he did included all of us. If he had remained true to God, that would have included all of us. And when he fell away from God, that included us and took us also. Whatever he should have done embraced us, and what he did made us what we are.

Now here is another Adam. Does He touch as many as the first Adam did? That is the question. 

That is what we are studying now. Does the second Adam touch as many as did the first Adam?

And the answer is that it is certainly true that what the second Adam did embraces all that were embraced in what the first Adam did. What he should have done, what he could have done, would embrace all.

Suppose Christ had yielded to temptation and had sinned. Would that have meant anything to us? It would have meant everything to us. The first Adam's sin meant all this to us; sin on the part of the second Adam would have meant all this to us. The first Adam's righteousness would have meant all to us and the second Adam's righteousness means all to as many as believe. That is correct in a certain sense, but not in the sense in which we are studying it now. We are now studying from the side of the Adams. We will look at it from our side presently.

The question is, Does the second Adam's righteousness embrace as many as does the first Adam's sin? 

Look closely. Without our consent at all, without our having anything to do with it, we were all included in the first Adam; we were there. All the human race were in the first Adam. What that first Adam--what that first man, did meant us; it involved us. That which the first Adam did brought us into sin, and the end of sin is death, and that touches every one of us and involves every one of us.

Jesus Christ, the second man, took our sinful nature. He touched us "in all points." He became we and died the death. And so in Him and by that every man that has ever lived upon the earth and was involved in the first Adam is involve in this and will live again. There will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust. Every soul shall live again by the second Adam from the death that came by the first Adam.

"Well," says one, "we are involved in other sins besides that one." Not without our choice. When God said, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed," He set every man free to choose which master he would serve, and since that, every man that has sinned in this world has done it because he chose to. "If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not."--not them who had no chance to believe; the god of this world blinds no man until he has shut his eyes of faith. When he shuts his eyes of faith, then Satan will see that they are kept shut as long as possible. I read the text again: "If our gospel,"--the everlasting gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ which is Christ in you the hope of glory, from the days of the first Adam's sin until now--"if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost." It is hid to them "in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds." And why did he blind the minds? Because they "believe not."

Abraham, a heathen, born a heathen, as all the rest of us are, and raised a heathen, grew up in a family of heathens, worshiping idols and the heavenly hosts. He turned from it all unto God and opened his eyes of faith and used them, and Satan never had a chance to blind his eyes. And Abraham, a heathen, thus turning from among heathens unto God and finding God in Jesus Christ in the fullness of hope--that is one reason why God has set him before all the world. He is an example of what every heathen on this earth may find. He is a God-set-forth example of how every heathen is without excuse if he does not find God in Jesus Christ, by the everlasting gospel. Abraham is set before all nations in witness of the fact that every heathen is responsible in his own way if he does not find what Abraham found.

Therefore, just as far as the first Adam reaches man, so far the second Adam reaches man. 

The first Adam brought man under the condemnation of sin, even unto death; the second Adam's righteousness undoes that and makes every man live again. As soon as Adam sinned, God gave him a second chance and set him free to choose which master he would have. Since that time every man is free to choose which way he will go; therefore he is responsible for his own individual sins. 

And when Jesus Christ has set us all free from the sin and the death which came upon us from the first Adam, that freedom is for every man, and every man can have it for the choosing.

The Lord will not compel any one to take it. He compels no one to sin and He compels no one to be righteous.  Everyone sins upon his own choice. The Scriptures demonstrate it. And every one can be made perfectly righteous at his choice. And the Scriptures demonstrate this. No man will die the second death who has not chosen sin rather than righteousness, death rather than life. In Jesus Christ there is furnished in completeness all that man needs or ever can have in righteousness, and all there is for any man to do is to choose Christ and then it is his.

So then as the first Adam was We, the second Adam is We. In all points He is as weak as are we. Read two texts:  He says of us, "Without me ye can do nothing." Of Himself He says: "Of mine own self I can do nothing."

These two texts are all we want now. They tell the whole story. To be without Christ is to be without God, and there the man can do nothing. He is utterly helpless of himself and in himself. That is where the man is who is without God. Jesus Christ says: "Of mine own self I can do nothing." Then that shows that the Lord Jesus put Himself in this world, in the flesh, in His human nature, precisely where the man is in this world who is without God. He put Himself precisely where lost man is. He left out His divine self and became we. And there, helpless as we are without God, He ran the risk of getting back to where God is and bringing us with him. It was a fearful risk, but, glory to God, He won. The thing was accomplished, and in Him we are saved.

When He stood where we are, He said, "I will put my trust in Him" and that trust was never disappointed. 

In response to that trust the Father dwelt in Him and with Him and kept Him from sinning. 

Who was He? We. And thus the Lord Jesus has brought to every man in this world divine faith. That is the faith of the Lord Jesus. That is saving faith. Faith is not something that comes from ourselves with which we believe upon Him, but it is that something with which He believed--the faith which He exercised, which He brings to us, and which becomes ours and works in us--the gift of God. That is what the word means, "Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." They keep the faith of Jesus because it is that divine faith which Jesus exercised Himself.

He being we brought to us that divine faith which saves the soul--that divine faith by which we can say with Him, "I will put my trust in Him." 

And in so putting our trust in Him, that trust today will never be disappointed anymore than it was then. God responded then to the trust and dwelt with Him. God will respond today to that trust in us and will dwell with us.

God dwelt with Him and He was ourselves. Therefore His name is Emmanuel, God with us. Not God with Him.  

God was with Him before the world was; He could have remained there and not come here at all and still God could have remained with Him and His name could have been God with Him. He could have come into this world as He was in heaven and His name could still have been God with Him. But that never could have been God with us. But what we needed was God with us. God with Him does not help us, unless He is we. But that is the blessedness of it. He who was one of God became one of us; He who was God became we, in order that God with Him should be God with us. O, that is His name! That is His name! Rejoice in that name forevermore--God with us!

1895 G.C. Sermon #14

Vengeance Is Mine, I Will Repay, Saith the Lord.

Rom_12:19  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

 

 

Rev 6:9  And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held

 

John saw Jesus open the fifth seal and this time there was no beast to tell John to come and look. John immediately could see something without having to be told. There the astounding sight John saw were people, dead people, people who had died for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. The people were dead in an obvious fashion. Unlike the horses and riders in the previously opened seals, this symbolic sight, this vision given to John by Jesus was quite different. No horse, no rider taking that horse forward. These most obvious by sight dead people had died for the word God. How did John know that's how they died? He knew because God allowed him to discern that the times shown before where great persecution was represented that these were the result of that extended persecution. So great were the numbers of those martyred they needed to be portrayed as the greatest of the persecutions was halted, slowed under a new era.

 

Rev 6:10  And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 

 

These obviously dead martyrs, just like Abel's blood (Gen 4:10  … the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.) Were allowed a voice in this vision. They wanted their death's avenged. How long they wanted to know, how long would it be until what happened to them would be avenged, those who caused such unimaginable death in the name of Christianity, would be held accountable.

 

Rev 6:11  And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. 

 

Remember this-

 

Rev 3:4  Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. 

Rev 3:5  He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment;

 

Walking in white, clothed in white raiment.

 

Rev 4:4  And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. 

 

Clothed in white raiment.

 

White robes are white raiment- the fact is being clothed in the white raiment is being clothed in the righteousness of Christ. The redeemed alone will be clothed in this white raiment no longer having to wear the filthy rags of their own righteousness.

 

Isa_64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

 

Those who die martyrs will be clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

 

Rev 6:11  And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. 

 

After being given the robes, after John being assured that those dying under great persecution would not have died in vain, he hears the truth that they would not yet be with Christ. They would still sleep death's sleep. They are not given immortality just yet because there would be more, many more killed for their faith right until the time Christ allows no more of those who are His to be martyred. There will be a certain number of Christ's followers who will be living when Christ returns, but so many more will be dead. All of these will be raised at the last trump we are told, when Christ announces His return to redeem all who are His- dead (sleeping, resting) and living.

 

1Co_15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

 

*******
I'm going to insert here an excerpt from Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith on this seal- it's very lengthy and informative.

 

VERSE 9. And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held: 10. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, 0 Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 11. And white

p 439 -- robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

The events set forth as transpiring under the fifth seal are the crying of the martyrs for vengeance, and the giving to them of white robes. The questions that at once suggest themselves for solution are, Does this seal cover a period of time? and if so, what period? Where is the altar under which these souls were seen? What are these souls, and what is their condition? What is meant by their cry for vengeance? What is meant by white robes being given to them? When do they rest for a little season? and what is signified by their brethren being killed as they were? To all these questions we believe a satisfactory answer can be returned.

1. The Fifth Seal Covers a Period of Time. - It seems consistent that this seal, like all the others, should cover a period of time; and the date of its application cannot be mistaken, if the preceding seals have been rightly located. Following the period of the papal persecution, the time covered by this seal would commence when the Reformation began to undermine the antichristian papal fabric, and restrain the persecuting power of the Romish Church.

2. The Altar. - This cannot denote any altar in heaven, as it is evidently the place where these victims had been slain, - the altar of sacrifice. On this point, Dr. A. Clarke says: "A symbolical vision was exhibited, in which he saw an altar. And under it the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God - martyred for their attachment to Christianity - are represented as being newly slain as victims to idolatry and superstition. The altar is upon earth, not in heaven." A confirmation of this view is found in the fact that John is beholding scenes upon the earth. The souls are represented under the altar, just as victims slain upon it would pour out their blood beneath it, and fall by its side.

3. The Souls under the Altar. - This representation is popularly regarded as a strong proof of the doctrine of the disembodied and conscious state of the dead. Here, it is

p 440 -- claimed, are souls seen by John in a disembodied state; and they were conscious, and had knowledge of passing events; for they cried for vengeance on their persecutors. This view of the passages is inadmissible, for several reasons: (1) The popular view places these souls in heaven; but the altar of sacrifice on which they were slain, and beneath which they were seen, cannot be there. The only altar we read of in heaven is the altar of incense; but it would not be correct to represent victims just slain as under the altar of incense, as that altar was never devoted to such a use. (2) It would be repugnant to all our ideas of the heavenly state, to represent souls in heaven shut up under an altar. (3) Can we suppose that the idea of vengeance would reign so supreme in the minds of souls in heaven as to render them, despite the joy and glory of that ineffable state, dissatisfied and uneasy till vengeance was inflicted upon their enemies? Would they not rather rejoice that persecution raised its hand against them, and thus hastened them into the presence of their Redeemer, at whose right hand there is fulness of joy, and pleasuires forevermore? But, further, the popular view which puts these souls in heaven, puts the wicked at the same time in the lake of fire, writhing in unutterable torment, and in full view of the heavenly host. This, it is claimed, is proved by the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, as recorded in Luke 16. Now the souls brought to view under the fifth seal were those who had been slain under the preceding seal, scores of years, and most of them centuries, before. Beyond any question, their persecutors had all passed off the stage of action, and, according to the view under consideration, were suffering all the torments of hell right before their eyes.

Yet, as if not satisfied with this, they cry to God as though he were delaying vengeance on their murderers. What greater vengeance could they want? Or, if their persecutors were still on the earth, they must know that they would, in a few years at most, join the vast multitude daily pouring through the gate of death into the world of woe. Their amiability is put in no better light even by this supposition. One thing, at least, is evident: The popular theory concerning the condition of the

p 441 -- dead, righteous and wicked, cannot be correct; or the interpretation usually given to this passage is not correct; for they devour each other.

But it is urged that these souls must be conscious; for they cry to God. This argument would be of weight, were there no such figure of speech as personification. But while there is, it will be proper, on certain conditions, to attribute life, action, and intelligence to inanimate objects. Thus the blood of Abel is said to have cried to God from the ground. Gen. 4: 9, 10. The stone cried out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber answered it. Hab. 2:11. The hire of the laborers kept back by fraud cried, and the cry entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. James 5:4. So the souls mentioned in our text could cry, and not thereby be proved to be conscious.

The incongruity of the popular view on this verse is so apparent that Albert Barnes makes the following concession: "We are not to suppose that this literally occurred, and that John actually saw the souls of the martyrs beneath the altar, for the whole representation is symbolical; nor are we to suppose that the injured and the wronged in heaven actually pray for vengeance on those who wronged them, or that the redeemed in heaven will continue to pray with reference to things on earth; but it may be fairly inferred from this that there will be as real a remembrance of the wrongs of the persecuted, the injured, and the oppressed, as if such a prayer were offered there; and that the oppressor has as much to dread from the divine vengeance as if those whom he has injured should cry in heaven to the God who hears prayer, and who takes vengeance." - Notes on Revelation 6.

On such passages as this, the reader is misled by the popular definition of the word soul. From that definition, he is led to suppose that this text speaks of an immaterial, invisible, immortal essence in man, which soars into its coveted freedom on the death of its hindrance and clog, the mortal body. No instance of the occurrence of the word in the original Hebrew or Greek will sustain such a definition. It oftenest means life, and is not infrequently rendered person. It applies to the dead as well as to the living, as may be seen by reference

p 442 -- to Gen. 2:7, where the word living, need not have been expressed were life an inseparable attribute of the soul; and to Num. 19:13, where the Hebrew Concordance reads "dead soul." Moreover, these souls pray that their blood may be avenged, - an article which the immaterial soul, as popularly understood, is not supposed to possess. The word souls may be regarded as here meaning simply the martyrs, those who had been slain, the words souls of them being a periphrasis for the whole person. They were represented to John as having been slain upon the altar of papal sacrifice, on this earth, and lying dead beneath it. They certainly were not alive when John saw them under the fifth seal; for he again brings to view the same company, in almost the same language, and assures us that the first time they live after their martyrdom, is at the resurrection of the just. Rev. 20:4-6. Lying there, victims of papal bloodthirstiness and oppression, they cried to God for vengeance in the same manner that Abel's blood cried to him from the ground. Gen. 4:10.

4. The White Robes. - These were given as a partial answer to their cry, "How long, 0 Lord, ... dost thou not judge and avenge our blood?" How was it? - They had gone down to the grave in the most ignominious manner. Their lives had been misrepresented, their reputations tarnished, their names defamed, their motives maligned, and their graves covered with shame and reproach, as containing the dishonored dust of the most vile and despicable of characters. Thus the Church of Rome, which then molded the sentiment of the principal nations of the earth, spared no pains to make her victims an abhorring unto all flesh.

But the Reformation began its work. It began to be seen that the church was the corrupt and disreputable party, and those against whom it vented its rage were the good, the pure, and the true. The work went on among the most enlightened nations, the reputation of the church going down, and that of the martyrs coming up, until the corruptions of the papal abominations were fully exposed, and that huge system of iniquity stood forth before the world in all its naked deformity, while the martyrs were vindicated from all the aspersions under

p 443 -- which that antichristian church had sought to bury them. Then it was seen that they had suffered, not for being vile and criminal, but "for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held." Then their praises were sung, their virtues admired, their fortitude applauded, their names honored, and their memories cherished. White robes were thus given unto every one of them.

5. The Little Season. - The cruel work of Romanism did not altogether cease, even after the work of the Reformation had become wide-spread and well established. Not a few terrible outbursts of Romish hate and persecution were yet to be felt by the church. Multitudes more were to be punished as heretics, and to join the great army of martyrs. The full vindication of their cause was to be delayed a little season. And during this time, Rome added hundreds of thousands to the vast throng of whose blood she had already become guilty. (See Buck's Theological Dictionary, art. Persecution.) But the spirit of persecution was finally restrained; the cause of the martyrs was vindicated; and the "little season" of the fifth seal came to a close.