Christ Abideth Forever

Christ Abideth Forever

 

By Al Stoner

 

“We have heard out of the Law that Christ abideth for ever.”

 

“The people answered Him (Jesus), We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest Thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?” (Jn. 12:34; see vv. 32-33). “These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide Himself from them” (v. 36).

 

The ones who were speaking to Jesus here were finding fault with what He had just previously declared unto them. Thus it is written that He departed and hid Himself from them. It seems however that the Lord Jesus must have derived comfort from these words, and that the old serpent overplayed his hand in provoking these men to taunt and oppose Him in this manner.

 

Within forty eight to seventy two hours of this time the Savior of men would be hanging on a cross, being made sin for us (II Cor. 5:21), and thus being forsaken by His Father (Ps. 22:1; Mt. 27:46; Mk. 15:34; cf. Isa. 53:3-4). How it must have comforted the Lord Jesus to be reminded that “Christ abideth for ever.” The truth of Christ’s eternality was affirmed over and again in Moses and the Prophets to such an extent that even His adversaries were conversant with it.

 

Our purpose here shall be to declare some of the many places in Moses and the Prophets where it is affirmed that God’s anointed One shall abide for ever, and then at the end to ask a very thought-provoking question. But first, let us consider some of the Scriptures where this reality is declared.

 

The Words of Nathan the Prophet. “He shall build an house for My Name, and I will stablish the throne of His kingdom for ever” (II Sam. 7:13).

 

These are the words of the Lord, which He spoke through Nathan the Prophet to David the king. Perhaps, in very limited sense, these words could apply to Solomon, but in much greater measure, they are speaking of Christ, who “was made of the seed of David according to the flesh” and  was “declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead”  (Rom. 1:3-4; cf. II Tim. 2:8; Acts 13:22-23).

 

The Witness of Psalm 72. “In His days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth” (Ps. 72:7-8). “His Name shall endure for ever: His Name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in Him: all nations shall call Him blessed” (Ps. 72:17).

 

How these words must have comforted the Lord Jesus in the days of His flesh, as He squarely confronted mortality, and ultimately “swallowed up” “the last enemy” (I Cor. 15:26) by His own sufferings and death!

 

“His Name shall endure for ever.” The Lord Jesus Christ was “in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:14). He was tempted by the cares associated with mortality, and of His life being taken away from Him (cf. Ps. 102:23-24; Heb. 1:10-12).

 

He was not at all impervious to such cares and temptations. As the Cross loomed ever before Him, He was not able to desensitize Himself against the sorrow, the grief, and the awful pangs of torment that would soon be His portion. But He had promises such as, “His Name shall endure forever.”

 

His Seed and His Throne are Forever. “His seed shall endure for ever, and His throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven” (Ps. 89:36-37). The promise of “forever” being associated with both His seed and His throne were also, no doubt, a great comfort to the Savior “in the days of His flesh” (Heb. 8:15). The prospect of considerations such as this enabled Him to willingly endure Golgotha’s dreadfully bitter cup (cf. Mt. 26:38-44). “And there appeared an angel unto Him from Heaven, strengthening Him” (Lk. 22:43).

 

This angel was dispatched from Heaven by God the Father, it appears, to bring to Christ’s remembrance promises, written aforetime of Him, which would buoy Him up when the powers of darkness (cf. Lk. 22:53) would pour out their unimaginable worst upon Him.

 

The Promise of an Eternal Priesthood. “The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek” (Ps. 110:4).

 

The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many. But prior to His baptism in suffering (cf. Lk. 12:50) the Lord acutely perceived the enstraitenment and encumberment of His own flesh. He was only able to benefit those who were in relatively close proximity to Him bodily. He could only heal one person or group of persons at a time, teach and preach one sermon to one audience at a time, and forgive one person at a time. And He was no stranger to the every day depletions of strength, expressing themselves in hunger and tiredness.

 

A Priest Forever. The promise of Christ being a Priest forever, being enabled of God “to save those to the uttermost who come unto God by Him” (Heb. 7:25), held forth the prospect of Him being able to minister to men without the restrictions of weariness, time, and space. We read the promise in Psalm 110:4 and are comforted by it knowing that Christ has been made a Priest forever, a High Priest such as we desperately need. But the Lord Jesus, prior to His crucifixion, considered this same promise, knowing that it was speaking of Him, and therefore was comforted, that He would soon be embarking upon an eternal ministry.

 

In View of These Things. These are but a few of the many promises regarding Christ abiding forever (see also Isa. 9:6-7; Ezek. 37:25; Dan. 2:44; 7:14; 9:25-26; Mic. 4:7). In view of these things, let us make a very crucial observation. The Lord Jesus was thoroughly acquainted with all of these promises pertaining specifically to Himself. Could He not then, especially as the time of His being offered up drew near, simply steel Himself against the suffering that would soon be His portion, having the promise that Christ would abide forever? Could He not, as it were, “bite the bullet” and, as it were, steel Himself through the suffering knowing that it would all be over within two or three days at the most. (Remember this confrontation with the people occurred just prior to the Lord’s “last supper” with his disciples recorded in John 13 through 17. And that memorable occasion immediately preceded His betrayal by Judas Iscariot and His arrest, which shortly would lead to His crucifixion). Could the Lord Jesus have avoided the agony in Gethsemane’s garden, knowing that very soon it would all be over?

 

The answer to all of these questions is a resounding NO! How then would the Scripture be fulfilled, which declare that “Christ must suffer many things” (Mt. 26:54; Mk. 8:31; 9:12; Lk. 9:22; 24:25-26). When the iniquities of us all were laid upon the spotless Lamb of God this was something that the Savior was unable to simply harden Himself against. The Lord Jesus Christ is holy, and pure, and blameless, and though He was tempted in all points to sin, yet He did no sin, and He knew no sin. But now, alas, He would become identified with sin. “Him who knew no sin (Christ Jesus) He (God the Father) made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (II Cor. 5:21, ASV). At the Cross the sins of the whole world were laid upon the Savior.

 

Also, the thought of being forsaken by His Father horrified the Son of God, and was revolting to every fiber of His being (cf. Ps. 22:1-17), if we may so speak. Ungodly men may, alas, become accustomed to living away from the Presence of God, but not the Son. He was smitten of God, and afflicted because of our sin being laid upon Him. But either Jesus had to be forsaken, or we must be, resulting in our being cast forever away from the Presence of Him, whose Presence alone is associated with fulness of joy and pleasures forevermore (cf. Ps. 16:11). The justice of God unyieldingly demanded one or the other. Consequently, the Lord Jesus agreed, in times eternal, to His being abandoned by the Father on the Cross so that many redeemed sons and daughters might be brought forever back into the Presence of the Holy One.

 

Thus, in conclusion, despite the many promises which declared that Christ shall abide forever, yet it was necessary that, at the time appointed, He would give Himself to the suffering, which He alone could bear up under. And, in addition, the matter of Himself “being made sin” (II Cor. 5:21) and that of being forsaken by His Father were things that demanded of the Son of God every single ounce of attentive energy and earnest sobriety that He had, in order for Him to endure them, and also to fully satisfy the righteous demands of the Holy One. ─Editor

An Index for Self-Examination

"Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate" (Rom. 12:16). In this exhortation to the saints, occurs an index of the manner of God's kingdom, which is precisely opposite to that of this world. Without God, men must look to other men for help and advancement in status. 

Hence, they seek the favor of those able to aid them in realization of their ambitions. This situation accounts for the conniving and chicanery that characterize much of earthly life. But this is not the way of things in the kingdom of God. God Himself is sufficient for His subjects. He is both able and has promised to provide them with all they need, and to withhold no good thing from them, as they walk uprightly before Him. 

Hence, they are freed from the necessity of catering to men for advantage, and are at liberty to impartially serve mankind—without any regard whatever to their preferred state in the flesh, or lack of it. Their single-hearted desire is to serve and please the God of their salvation and abounding competence. It is He, not man, who underwrites their well-being and destiny.

Our Role in our Relation to God

Our Role in our Relation to God

To a very great extent, we determine our own relationship to God. "Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you." is the divine formula for close fellowship with Him (Jas. 4:8). "If a man love Me, he will keep My words," declared Jesus: "and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (Jn. 14:23). "The reason John was 'that disciple whom Jesus loved' (Jn. 21:7) was because Jesus was the Christ whom John loved more than anyone or anything else." The more we heed God's Word, the more He will speak to our hearts. The more we seek "the beauty of the Lord" (Ps. 27:4), the more we shall behold it. The more patiently we wait upon God, the more we shall renew our strength (Isa. 40:31). The more implicitly we trust Him, the greater will be the revelation of Himself to us. The more we do His will, the more He will open our understanding of "the hidden wisdom" which was "ordained before the world unto our glory" (I Cor. 2:7).

The Word Proclaims its Excellence

The knowledge of God has all of the qualities of genuine savor, as that knowledge is obtained and retained by men. That is the sense of the Apostle's characterization of it as savory. "Such knowledge has a very practical aim. It is life, not a mere science; an experience, not speculation. It leads a man to own God and to serve Him. It fills the mind with brightness, and the life with fruitfulness. Theology is sometunes called 'the queen of the sciences'. But this heart-knowledge of God is more--it is 'life eternal' (Jn. 17:3)." "The experience of God's people  attests its excellence (Phil. 3:8). The Word proclaims its excellence (Jer. 9:24)."

A Letter to Sinful Flesh

Dear Sinful Flesh,

I am writing this letter to inform you that I have filed for divorce.  We cannot live together in harmony any more.  I always knew that you didn’t have the best of friends and your heart wasn’t towards anything good, but I figured that, since I had to live with you, I should make some allowance for you; This, however, has changed.  I have met Another, even Him, who was made in the likeness of sinful flesh [that is, akin to, but quite unlike, yourself], who put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, and is now risen from the dead, being seated at the right hand of God, henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool.

This Man, Christ Jesus, has told me things that I have never heard before. He has revealed things to me that I cannot, and shall not, deny.  I had thought that all men were the same, but to my delight, I have found this Man to be perfect in every way.  He always encourages me to love God and is always quick to edify me.  I am looking forward to the  wedding, when I, His bride, shall be forever joined together with Him.

I know that the divorce will not be finalized for some time, so, until then I have been advised by my Counselor, to deny you any and all access into my life.  With His divine assistance, I have purposed to crucify, kill, and destroy your evil and wicked lust.  Even as I have determined to do this I feel a wave of resolve that strengthens my new man, which is renewed in knowledge, after the image of Him who created him.  Flesh, I will soon be free from your defiling influence forever.  Until then, I have been told that you have an aversion to high altitudes.  The thin air of this heavenly environment causes you to lose consciousness for hours at a time.  I have decided to move to the highest mountain that I can find.

Soon, someone will be showing up at your door with the final papers. You do not need to sign them.  Just know, Flesh, that parting is not sweet sorrow. I will not miss you; I do not even like you.  It is in the light of my new home that I can finally find the strength to express my true feeling for you. I hate you. You are everything that I have come to loathe.  Until the papers arrive, I suggest that you keep still and quiet, or I will be forced to read more from that Book that you hate so much.  I promised my new man that I would come up higher, so you probably won’t be able to join us. Even so, I like it that way.  I always make more progress when you are not awake.

Good bye, or should I say, until then . . .

Your former slave, Brother Robert Cobb

Day of Judgment, Day of Wonders!

By John Newton
Day of Judgment! Day of wonders!
Hark! the trumpet’s awful sound,
Louder than a thousand thunders,
Shakes the vast creation round!
How the summons will the sinner’s heart confound!


See the Judge, our nature wearing,
Clothed in majesty divine!
You who long for His appearing
Then shall say, This God is mine!
Gracious Savior, own me in that day for Thine!


At His call the dead awaken,
Rise to life from earth and sea;
All the powers of nature shaken
By His look, prepares to flee.
Careless sinner, what will then become of thee?


Horrors, past imagination,
Will surprise your trembling heart,
When you hear your condemnation,
Hence, accursed wretch, depart!
Thou, with Satan and his angels, have thy part!


Satan, who now tries to please you,
Lest you timely warning take,
When that word is past, will seize you,
Plunge you in the burning lake:
Think, poor sinner, thy eternal all’s at stake.


But to those who have confessèd,
Loved and served the Lord below,
He will say, Come near, ye blessèd,
See the kingdom I bestow;
You forever shall My love and glory know.


Under sorrows and reproaches,
May this thought your courage raise!
Swiftly God’s great day approaches,
Sighs shall then be changed to praise.
We shall triumph when the world is in a blaze.

The Need for the Authoritative Messenger

The Need for the Authoritative Messenger 

"And they were astonished at His doctrine: for He taught them as One that had authority, and not as the scribes" (Mk. 1:21-22). 'Let me say that if ever the truth is told in our modern synagogues—those steeple-houses that men speak of as churches—the people who hear will be astonished. They will either accept the message as wonderful and life-giving or else they will brand the messenger as an heretic, a false prophet, or a nut, and cast him out. What Jesus taught He taught with authority, and authority in teaching is something the people are not accustomed to. "What a watered-down gospel the poor people have been compelled to hear decade after tiresome decade, and century after weary century! The wicked thought now prevalent in the minds of preachers is to give the people what they want. They do not give them what they need, as shepherds should do, but they 'prophesy falsely, and the people 'love to have it so' (Jer. 5:31)."

“And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that Prophet (Jesus Christ), shall be destroyed from among the people” (Acts 3:23; cf. Deut. 18:19).

“Though He (Christ)  were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered; And being made perfect, He became the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him; called of God an High Priest after the order of Melchisedec” (Heb. 5:8-10).

I Have Appointed Thee Each Day for a Year

By Al Stoner

 

"Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it the city, even Jerusalem:  And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.  Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.  Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.  For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year" (Ezek. 4:1-6). 

In this meeting our purpose shall not be to delve into the historical involvements of this prophecy, but rather to extract from the prophecy a principle of God's working with His covenanted people: a principle that appears other places in Scripture, and therefore, we refer to it as a principle.  However, in the words of Job, we must add here, "Lo, these are parts of His ways: but how little a portion is heard of Him?" (Job 26:14). 

In Numbers 14, Daniel 9, and our text here in Ezekiel the eternal God's use of the day for a year principle, or formula, appears to be for the purpose of condescending to men who are dwellers in time, bringing them face to face with a controversy that they Most High has with them.

In the case of Ezekiel, and particularly those of Israel living in his day, God employed the day for a year formula to demonstrate His great displeasure with those who were called by His Name, but who had taken the Name of t he LORD in vain.

"For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made" (Isa. 57:15-16).

The eternal God, the High and Lofty One, who inhabits eternity, dwells in the high and holy place with him that is lowly, and of a contrite spirit.

The Day for a Year Formula is a Divine formula whereby the eternal God reasons and reckons with men whose "days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle" (Job 7:6).

The Numbers 14 Text.  "But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise" (Num. 14:32-34).

In Numbers 14 we have an example of the "day for each year" formula, where men are made to consider the severity of God because of their rejection of the knowledge of Him who had made them for His own purpose and good pleasure.

I commend to you the wholesome consideration of the severity of God.  It is always a good and healthy sign when those professing faith in Christ have a receive the Word of God with all readiness of mind, simply because it is the Word of God, and where men are ready to receive it, not because a certain man said it, but because God said it.

The Reclaiming of the Sabbath Years.  "Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand. And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon. And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years" (II Chron. 36:20-21).

 

"And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it. And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths. As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it" (Lev. 26:32-35).

 

"And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them. If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me; And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land. The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes" (Lev. 26:39-43).

 

There were seventy sabbath years that were not kept by Israel, (which would have extended over a period of 490 years).  As a demonstration of His righteous judgments, God took those seventy sabbath years back unto Himself, so that the land enjoyed her sabbaths, while Israel was taken captive to Babylon for seventy years.

 

Daniel Chapter 9:24-27.  Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.  Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.  And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.  And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

 

Seventy weeks, or seventy heptads, or seventy groups of seven. Seventy times seven equals 490 days, or 490 years (a day for a year)."

["Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven" (Mt. 18:21-22).]

 

Seventy weeks are determined:

To finish the transgression, the violation of an express commandment of God.

To make an end of sins, violations of the will of God through error or mistake.

To make reconciliation for iniquity, that which is simply not right, or that which is unrighteous in its essential nature.  Presumption, self-exaltation are also involved here.

All three of these are also summed up in Scripture under the heading of sin.

Sin is the transgression of the Law.

All unrighteousness is sin.

Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. 

In all of these it can be seen that, with regard to God's regard to offenses brought against Him, sin is of a very complex nature.  

To  bring in everlasting righteousness, new creatureship in Christ is a first fruits down payment of that which is coming to believing men in the new heavens and the new earth, wherein dwelleth (only) righteousness. 

To seal up the vision and the prophecy: The vision and prophecy have been sealed upon by the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ in these last days.  God has nothing more to say to men that what He has said through Christ, His Apostles, and Prophets.   

To anoint the Most Holy: To consecrate the Lord Jesus Christ as High Priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.  The Lord Jesus Christ is a High Priest of good things to come.   

A High Priest of Good Things to Come.  Christ's High Priestly ministry will be as essential for men to relate to God there in the glorified state, as He is needed here.  The Lamb shall feed them, and lead them unto living fountains of waters. 

The Most Holy One, and the Most Holy Place. To consecrate the Person and the place where He ministers. Christ is "A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man" (Heb. 8:2).

 

The going forth of the commandment

to build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince

 

The commandment to restore and build Jerusalem. Zerubbabel (536 BC), Nehemiah (444 BC), and Ezra (457 BC) all headed a return from Babylon for the rebuilding of Jerusalem.   

 

Messiah shall be cut off,

but not for Himself.  Christ was cut off out of the land of the living; He was cut off as the last Adam, and He came back from the dead as the Second Man.  He was cut off with no earthly seed, but He shall see His seed, a multitude which no man can number. 

Desolations are determined. 

 

He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week. 

 

He shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease.  Christ's substantive work of putting away sin has completely overshadowed the shadows of heavenly things which were in the Law.

 

That determined shall be poured out upon the desolate.

 

In this determinate counsel of God there are things that were determined for the believing and unbelieving, for the righteous and the wicked, for those who serve God and for those who serve Him not.  

Time Expressions in the Revelation.  In the Revelation it seems that the purpose for the various time expressions were to hide their significance from some, and to reveal it to others. The expressions 1,260 days, the forty and two months, three days and an half, and time, times, and half a time all have reference to the same time duration. No doubt, there is a historical significance to this duration of time, but I would like us to consider them from a perspective that ministers to faith in every generation. 

 

"And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth" (Rev. 11:3).

 

"And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days" (Rev. 12:6).

 

"And he (the fourth beast) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time" (Dan. 7:25).

 

"And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished" (Dan. 12:7).

 

"And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent" (Rev. 12:14).

 

"But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months" (Rev. 11:2).

 

"And there was given unto him (a beast) a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months" (Rev. 13:5).

 

"And when they (the two witnesses) shall have finished their testimony" (Rev. 11:7).

 

"And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves" (Rev. 11:9).

 

" And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them" (Rev. 11:11).

The Moral Necessity of the Universal Assize

The Moral Necessity of the Universal Assize

"It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment," saith the Scripture (Heb. 9:27). Again, God "hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead" (Acts 17: 31). These and many other Scriptures stress the fact of the coming judgment for all people. Of a truth, "we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" (II Cor. 5:10; cf. Dan. 7:9-10; Matt. 25:31-32; Rev. 20:11-13).

Aside from Scripture's incontrovertible declarations of the universal assize to come, there is another witness of it, which is of great weight. It is that of the moral necessity of the great judgment day, in which all people, "both small and great" shall appear before "the Judge of all the earth" for the final disposition of their cases (Gen. 18:25; Rev. 20:12). Since God is God and it is fundamentally a moral universe in which people live and have lived, logic shuts us up to the conclusion that ultimately God will call everyone before Him to account for the time they spent and the things they did in the flesh. So many things are never justly adjudicated in this life that the prevalence of any semblance of righteous authority and order demands that in the future there be a final determination and decree setting things thoroughly straight and meting out retribution and rewards.

Even on the level of earthly government, though greatly perverted in these days of general laxity and judicial corruption, this principle obtains. "In all human governments there must be an assize held. Government cannot be conducted without its days of session and trial." Obviously, this necessity is greatly intensified in the case of God's rule of the universe. "Inasmuch as sin and evil are in the world, it can fairly be anticipated that there will be a time of judgment. God will go on circuit, and will call the prisoners before Him, and the guilty shall receive their condemnation. Judge for yourself; is this present state the conclusion of all things? If so, what evidence would you adduce of the divine justice, in view of the facts in the case. The best of men are often in this world the poorest and most afflicted. The worst of men acquire wealth, practice oppression, and receive homage from the crowd.

"Who are they that ride in the high places of the earth? Are they not those, great transgressors, who 'wade through slaughter to a throne and shut the gates of mercy on mankind?' Where are the servants of God? They are in obscurity and suffering full often. Do they not sit like Job among the ashes, subjects of little pity, objects of much upbraiding? And where are the enemies of God? Do not many of them wear purple and fine linen and fare sumptuously every day? If there be no hereafter, then the "rich man" has the best of it (Lu. 16:19-30); and the selfish man who fears not God is, after all, the wisest of men, and more to be commended than his fellows.

"But it cannot be so. Our common sense revolts against the thought. There must be another state in which these anomalies will all be rectified. 'If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable', says the Apostle (I Cor. 15:19). The best of men were driven to the worst of straits in those persecuting times for being God's servants. How say ye, then, Finis coronat opus', the end crowns the work? That cannot be the final issue of life, or justice itself were frustrated. There must be a restitution for those who suffer unjustly; there must be punishment for the wicked and the oppressor."

The Fruit of Trust in God’s Love, Part 2

Trust Yields Divine Fellowship and Confidence

 

The Fruit of Trust in God’s Love

Part 2 (Conclusion)

By Fred O. Blakely

“And we know and have believed the love which God hath in us. God is love; and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him. Herein is love made perfect with us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, even so are we in this world. There is no fear in love: but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath punishment; and he that feareth is not made perfect in love” (I Jn. 4:16-18, ASV).

The Boldness before God. The ultimate outcome of such reliance upon, and fellowship with, God in the era of grace has its setting in the world to come, says the Apostle. “Herein is love made perfect with us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, even so are we in this world. There is no fear in love: but perfect love casteth out fear.” The firstfruits of this reliant boldness before God is experienced by the believer while yet in the flesh. Through faith and trust in the record which God has given of Himself and His Son, he comes “boldly unto the throne of grace,” entering without fear “into the holiest by the blood of Jesus” (Heb. 4:14-16; 10:19-22). At the great judgment seat of Christ, before which “we must all appear” (II Cor. 5:10), he will but continue in “this grace” wherein he now stands, relying wholly upon His acceptance with God “in the Beloved” (Rom. 5:5-11; Eph. 1:6).

The unspeakable glory of this deliverance from fear of “judgment to come” needs to be emphasized, that we may the more appreciate the greatness of our salvation in Christ (Acts 24:25).  “What countless fears agitate the hearts of those who are not in sympathy with God! Some men are dreading poverty; others, painful and lingering illness; others, death; others, judgment; others, God Himself. Such fears agitate and distress souls; they have torment. Perfect love will expel each and all these tormentors. It clothes our life and its experiences in new aspects, by enabling us to regard them in a different spirit. This love is of God; it proceeds from and returns to Him. It cannot dread Him and His appointments in relation to us. In this way it banishes from the heart the dread of death and of the judgment. Since God is what He is—‘Love’ (v. 16) and ‘Light’ (ch. 1:5)—we can do no other than trust Him. Hence, even now we look forward with confidence to the day of judgment. Perfect love not only expels servile fear, but inspires victorious trust in God.” “The confidence which we shall have ‘in that day,’ and which we have even now by anticipation of it, is the perfection of our love grounded on the consideration which follows, ‘Because as He is, even so are we in this world.’”

The final fruitage of our abiding in the divine love, like the “good wine” which the Lord made at the wedding feast (Jn. 2:10), is the best. “It will give us peace and satisfaction of spirit in the day when it will be most needed, or when it will be the greatest pleasure and blessing imaginable. There must be a day of universal judgment. Happy (are) they who shall have holy fiducial boldness before the Judge at that day, who shall be able to lift up their heads and look Him in the face, knowing He is their Friend and Advocate!

Happy (are) they who have holy boldness and assurance in the prospect of that day, who look and wait for it, and for the Judge’s appearance! So do, and so may do, the lovers of God. Their love to God assures them of God’s love to them (I Jn. 4:19), and consequently of the friendship of the Son of God. As God is good and loving, and faithful to His promises, so we can easily be persuaded of His love, and the happy fruits of His love, when we can say, Thou that knowest all things knowest that we love Thee (Jn. 21:17). ‘And hope maketh not ashamed.’ Our hope, conceived by the consideration of God’s love, will not disappoint us, ‘because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us.’”

“The fear which is inconsistent with perfect love is the fear of the slave dreading the lash, or the culprit dreading the verdict. But if the love of God is within us, sweetly subduing us with its tenderness, and if through that love sin is pardoned and destroyed, why, there is not lash to dread, there is not adverse verdict to fear (Jn. 5:24, ASV); for in such a case, to see the Judge upon the throne will be to look upon the face of an infinite Vindicator and Friend, in whose love we have lived here, and the enjoyment of whose love is the highest heaven for ever! And so far as the judgment will bear on others, the man of love will be more than content with the decisions of the Son of God and Son of man, and will desire nothing more than that the entire race should be dealt with by Christ as He sees fit. Evidently, if this be not our state of mind, there must be a deficiency in love in exactly the same degree as there is any restless fear.”

Our expectancy of boldness in the day of judgment is also rooted in our present conformity to Christ, John declares. “Because as He is, even so are we in this world” (v. 17). In what sense is this to be taken? Primarily, of course, we are judicially reckoned by God to be so, in that we are joined to Christ—one Spirit with Him, “members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones” (I Cor. 6:17; Eph. 5:30). In addition, we are experientially identified with our Lord.  We have God as our Father, as does He, “for which cause He is not ashamed” to recognize us as brethren (Heb. 2:11-13). We are also “separate from sinners” and the world, and “alive unto God, as He is (Rom. 6:11; Heb. 7:26). We have been raised up, as was Christ, and been made to “sit with Him in the heavenly places” (Eph. 2:6).

Hence, as He was “received up into glory” (I Tim. 3:16), so have we also been (Eph. 1:6; Heb. 10:19-22).  In our reconciliation to the objectives of the Father in the Son, and the work which He is executing through Him, we are also Christ-like. “We are looking forward to the day of judgment as the consummation of our hope, and the Redeemer is working in the world with a view to that day as the consummation of His mediatorial reign (I Cor. 15:24-28; Heb. 10:12-13). ‘This world’ (I Jn. 4:17; cf. Gal. 1:4), as distinguished from ‘the world,’ emphasizes the idea of transitoriness. Just so, Christ, in His redeeming work, and we in our believing hope, are working with the same goal in view— ‘the day of judgment.’ This world is but a passing phase of things. This is the day in which our Lord Jesus is carrying on His saving work in the world, and His educating process in the church; and all with a view to ‘the great day.’ Believers, too, are only in the preliminary period of their training, and hence they, too, believe and hope and love with a view to ‘that day.’ As their Lord is, so are they in this passing world, looking to and preparing for what lies above and beyond it.” Hence such passages of Scripture as these: Mt. 25; Mk. 13:35-37; Lk. 12:35-40; 21:34-36; Rom. 14:9-12; I Cor. 4:5; II Cor. 5:10; Phil. 1:6, 10; Col. 1:28-29; I Th. 5:23; II Tim. 1:12.

Conclusion. Since the fruit of trustfully abiding in God’s love is so precious, the work of the believer clearly is cut out for him. It is, as the Savior requested, to “continue in My love” (Jn. 15:9-10).  Or, as expressed by Jude, to “keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Jude 21). Or, by Paul to Timothy, “That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Spirit which dwelleth in us” (II Tim. 1:14).

As the embattled saint wages the warfare of abiding in God and permitting God to abide in him, the assurances of Scripture encourage and sustain his heart. “The anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you,” wrote John earlier in his first epistle, “and ye need not that any man teach you; but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is true, and is no lie, and as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him” (I Jn. 2:27). In his second letter, the Apostle voiced like assurance. The “elect lady,” to whom it is addressed, he loved “for the truth’s sake,” he said.

Which truth, he continued, “abideth in us, and shall be with us for ever” (II Jn. 1-2).  With full confidence in God, let us therefore determine to heed the apostolic exhortation: “And now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming” (I Jn. 2:28). So shall we claim the beatitude of our Lord, proclaimed from Heaven: “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame” (Rev. 16:15).