THE great truths of our salvation were long veiled by the darkness of unbelief and superstition. Thanks to the courageous champions of the Reformation, and to their struggles too often sanguinary, justification by faith, redemption by the blood of Christ, are now, as it were, anew acquired for the Church of God.
The salvation which is in Jesus Christ is assuredly the precious foundation of peace, and that which each Christian must hold firmly, if he would be nourished and refreshed by the word of God.
The Holy Spirit, in the simple and inimitable language of Scripture, presents to our hearts the boundless love which God has testified to us, in giving us His beloved Son. All the pious efforts, all the meditations of Christians who have sought into this divine good will towards men, will never rise up so as to exhaust the treasures of grace, of which the angels themselves search in vain to discover the bottom.
But has the victory of the second Adam no other result than the ransom and deliverance of Christians? and does not the Spirit, animating the Church, urge it to search even the deep things of God? Ought we, dear brethren, to content ourselves with the precious milk of the Word, and to reject the food which it offers to those who seek to become full-grown men? Does the wisdom of God in mystery, which, hidden before the ages, was ordained beforehand unto our glory,—does it require of us to be confined to Christ crucified?
The death of the Savior, as well as all the facts of His life, is opposed to human wisdom: such is to it the folly which is to be preached to the unconverted, philosophers or illiterate, to carnal men and to the little children in Christ. But the fruits of the incarnation of Jesus, the results of the obedience even unto death, the glories which were to follow it, are for those who seek the mind of Christ. Those precious fruits will be desired and gathered by all the faithful who wish to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, and to increase in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all might according to the power of His glory with every kind of patience and long-suffering with joyfulness; giving thanks unto the Father which hath made them meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, and who hath delivered them from the power of darkness and 'lath translated them into the kingdom of the Son of His love. (Col. 1.)
It is those promises also which we present to you, beloved brethren, desiring, with the help of God, to draw your attention to the importance of the study of prophecy, which unrolls them to our view.
And first—we say so with a profound conviction—the life of Christ in us, His Holy Spirit in us, our conformity to I his death and resurrection, all the blessings of which we are actually partakers by faith in the sacrifice of the Lamb, are yet imperfectly, 'feebly, insufficiently preached, ill understood, little appreciated by a. large number of Christians.
Yes, it is with grief and humiliation we confess it: the Gospel 'of the cross is still obscured by the weakness of the Church, by its disunion, by the false humility, by the indolence of the majority of Christians. The birth, the life, the death, the resurrection, the ascension, the glorification, and session of Jesus at the right hand 'of the Father—there are so many positive facts, there is Christian history;—the office of Jesus as intercessor with God, there is the leaf we need to turn every day. Do we read it assiduously.? Is it really our cordial and our refreshment? No, brethren; for this reading would infallibly conduct us to the study of unfulfilled prophecy, of which we are about to discourse some moments.
Prophecy is one in this sense, that it has Christ as its center, its object, and its end. But, because of the succession of times, we must divide it into prophecy fulfilled, and prophecy unfulfilled. Fulfilled prophecy presents us with the destinies of the human species until our days; the election of the Jewish people with a view to glorifying God on earth, and their obduracy; the advent of a Savior, His life, His death, His glorification; the temporary rejection of the Jewish people, the introduction of the dispensation of grace and of the Church.
All the Old Testament announces these things: the New Testament bears testimony to their fulfillment. Unfulfilled prophecy recounts the future consequences of the death of Jesus Christ; it refers to the world, to creation, to the Jews, and to the Church.
It presents us with the future destinies of the world; that is to say, a series of judgments, which will serve to purify the entire creation, to deliver it from the yoke of vanity and corruption, and to prepare it thus for the return and reign of Jesus, by whom and for whom all things were made.
These destinies consist then in the judgment of this world and of its children, always rebels and enemies against God, in order to bring about the reign of the King of kings, of the Lord Jesus Christ.
For the Jews, as God's people and in the measure of earthly promises, it announces a future portion of blessings temporal and spiritual. The Messiah will come, for the Eternal has promised it; and would to God that the Church which is to return with Him expected it as faithfully as do the Jews!
Relatively to the Church, the effects of the life of Jesus, of His obedience in humility, of His death, of His resurrection, are progressively developed. Each of the redeemed has already received in himself on this earth the precious life of his Savior. The resurrection from the dead, and the gathering of all the members of the body of Christ to their Head; the manifestation to the eyes of the world of the Church in the glory of its Bridegroom, and its return with Him, are no more than the threshold of the magnificent promises which are ensured to the saints.
Thence the history of Jesus becomes that of the Church: the glory of His reign, the complete victory of the King of kings over all His enemies, even over death—the fusion, definite and infinite, of Jesus with His Father, and our Father, and all the glories which are to follow from it; such is what we read in unfulfilled prophecy relatively to the future lot of the redeemed.
The Church is redeemed—is a fulfilled fact.
The Church is gathered—is a present fact.
But it will rise by the power of the life of Christ in order to be glorified, manifested with its Bridegroom; to judge, to reign, and to walk from glory to glory with Him. Such is unfulfilled prophecy; such is the glorious hope of the promise which we ought to know and lay hold of by faith.
If we have succeeded in this very rapid outline, we shall have demonstrated: That unfulfilled prophecy reveals to us the future consequences of fulfilled prophecy: That these future consequences concern the world, the Jewish people, and the Church.
From that which goes before we draw the following conclusions: The study of prophecy is inevitable for the Christian who reads the Bible in simplicity of heart.
This study is a duty to Christian men.
It is their privilege;
And a source of blessing.
The study of prophecy is inevitable for every Christian who reads the Bible.
If it is true that there are fulfilled prophecies, and that they are contained in the Bible, it is clearly impossible for him who reads it not to meet with and study them. But if there is a portion of prophecy which is not fulfilled (which no Christian doubts—we hope so at least), and we suppose a believer whose intention would be to neglect this part of the 'Word, we say that he ought necessarily to be occupied with these subjects.
No one, surely, will deny that the prophetic books contain the prophecies in an especial way. Now these books form by themselves the greatest part in the Old Testament.
The Psalms are prophetic, and almost entirely prophetic: they show us Christ identified with the Jewish people in all the past and in all the future of this people.
Job itself contains prophetic passages.
Christ is in all the other books, either in types or in express prophecies.
The Old Testament introduces already Jesus in the third chapter of Genesis, and we find Jesus again in Malachi. Jesus is presented in Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms, as about to come in humiliation, as well as a second time in glory, as King of the Jews, and King of the nations.
From the first page to the last, the New Testament shows us the accomplishment of the Messianic prophecies, and the future development of the counsel of God.
It is the business then for the Christian, who does not wish to occupy himself with unfulfilled prophecy, to pick and choose between the events which are and those which are not accomplished. Now we say that that very thing is to study prophecy, although involuntarily and in a bad spirit. Such a labor will sufficiently prove that it is impossible for the Christian to read either the Old or the New Testament, without being occupied with prophecy. If then this necessity is imposed even on the children of God whose heart is not suitably disposed, how much more pressing will it not be for believers whose heart is single and upright! Prophecy is everywhere to be found in the Bible. It is needful therefore to know how to distinguish that which is past from that which is future, unless we renounce this reading, or do it without understanding its real and profound sense.
The knowledge of revealed things will preserve us from many erroneous applications of passages which refer to future events; as, for example, from taking Sion and Jerusalem for the Church, Israel and Judah for Christians, from often looking at grace through Jewish ideas; from perhaps taking prayers wholly Jewish against the enemies of Israel, for Christian prayers, and from often finding ourselves by this very means in great perplexity.
The study of prophecy is thus inevitable for every Christian who desires to be taught of God, and to know the whole counsel of God. And how shall we suppose a single one who of deliberate purpose would not desire it?
We have said moreover that the study of prophecy was a duty. Every disciple of the Lord knows that he ought to draw near His divine Word, only with the respectful love of a child adopted by grace; and certainly, if there were any part of the Scriptures which should be studied with more humility and respect than others, such dispositions should be surely applied to the revelation of future things.
But here, as in all things, our rule is general and invariable: to do all to the glory of God, for the love of His kingdom and of our brethren in Jesus. Such is the precept that we should always have before our eyes, if we would be faithful disciples; such is that which, by the grace of our Master, will keep us from every research of our own, and from all carnal and rash speculation.
Were it true, as we often hear affirmed, that knowledge destroys, that it disperses, that it divides, that, provided one is saved, it is all that is needful, that one should not dig into the Bible like a mine, that the study of revealed things is a secondary affair, of inferior importance, perhaps even hurtful and dangerous? These allegations cannot be better combated and refuted than by the Word itself; but we have an explanation to give our brethren before we employ this powerful medium.
We avow that it is not granted to all and to each in the same measure to search and to study prophecy, and that the grace of our God has diversely distributed gifts and functions among the members of His Church. But we believe also that those to whom God has so given ought to pay attention to it, in order that they might thereby furnish their share to the edification and growth of the body of Christ; and that those to whom this nourishment is presented ought on their side to be profited by it, imitating the believers of Berea, who, more noble than those of Thessalonica, searched the Scriptures day and night whether those things were so.
They are bound so much the more, as the fundamental doctrines gain in power of sanctification, in clearness, in extent, in solidity, in depth, when they are studied in a complete manner and in the light of prophecy.
Humility consists in receiving all and in taking all from the hand of God, blessing Him; nay more, in asking Him, and in seeking day by day to obtain something more of His thoughts. It is pride and indolence to refuse a part of God's grace. It is sin to turn aside and condemn other brethren who desire to know Jesus as the glorious Bridegroom of the Church, and the immortal destinies of this Church.
With people of the world, with nominal Christians, and perhaps, alas! with many Christians otherwise godly, this pretended humility proceeds, certainly in part, from the fear of being enlightened; for nothing is more calculated to sever us from the world than the perspective of the thick darkness and terrible judgments which are going to fall upon it, and which prophecy unrolls before our eyes, when, in its sublime scenes, it announces to us the day of the Lord. Christians are responsible for the use they have made of this depository of God's oracles which have been entrusted to them.
Nothing in the Word authorizes them in rejecting certain portions of the Bible, to study and receive those only of which they in their weakness perceive the immediate application.
A want of faith in the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in us can only keep us in this state of indifference; but the results of such a distrust in the goodness of God are necessarily fatal, for Scripture teaches us that meat is the nourishment which brings the babes in Christ to the stature of grown men. It is therefore by means of this solid nourishment, or of the knowledge of the admirable purposes of God, that we shall arrive at the position which is commended to us (1 Thess. 1:1010And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:10)), serving the living and true God, and waiting for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus which delivered us from the wrath to come.
A host of arguments present themselves to us to prove that the-study of prophecy is a duty. Simple good sense itself says to the least advanced children of God, that all which has been written has been so with a view to being read and meditated; that God says nothing but what ought to be precious to us—He who declares to men that they shall give account of every vain and idle word.
Reason, logic would surely furnish us with some arms, but we prefer to cite a small number of passages, nevertheless apprising our readers beforehand that we have not selected perhaps the most powerful and the most conclusive, for the purpose of stirring up Christians to fulfill this duty.
Here is that which the Lord predicted to the Jews and that which will happen to those who, failing in love for the truth, shall take the Antichrist for the Messiah, before the second coming of the Lord:
Yes, it is assuredly in order that we should consult them that the oracles of God are become our inheritance after having been confided to the Jews; () we will not range ourselves among those who think that Scripture speaks in vain, () since we know that it is all wholly inspired of God, "and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." ()
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." ()
Quench not the Spirit, despise not prophesying, () for the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freed!' given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; appropriating spiritual things to spiritual men. ()
Avoid, dear brethren, being placed in the number of the mockers of the last days, that say, Where is the promise of His coming? "Let us be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior: knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts." ()
Let us give serious heed to the title of the last prophetic book, which has been left us by the express order of the Lord Jesus Himself to him who was His beloved disciple. This book is entitled The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God has given him to show unto His servants the things which must shortly come to pass. () How many rebellious servants are there not, on this point at least, who will not see, will not even look at these things! how many wiles and cunning shifts do not our indolence, our pride and our want of faith, invent to escape from this light! And if it is true that this precious book is the most obscure, and the most difficult to understand, ought that to hinder the disciple of Jesus from studying a portion of the Scriptures wherein Himself is revealed? Is there not in us the Spirit who is the earnest of the promise to teach us all things? ()
And this duty of studying prophecy is so much the more pressing for the children of God, as the end of the times, or of the indignation of God against His people Israel, approaches. Now, this end of the times will bring in the fulfillment of great things predicted in all Scripture. And if Daniel had to shut up the words and to seal the book even to the time of the end, the days are come when many shall traverse this book and their knowledge shall be increased. () But now are we nearer salvation than when we believed; much more are we nearer than the Jewish prophets were.
In the time of those latter, Isaiah could say (30:11): "The vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot, for it is sealed." See moreover Isa. 6:99And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. (Isaiah 6:9).
For us it is the moment to seek into the ways of God, and not to act as the people who sat down to eat and drink and then rose up to play; for all those things happened unto them for types; and they were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the ages are met. () And it is for us, brethren, that the Lord Jesus has said, Seal not the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. ()
Eighteen hundred years are run out since the time when the faithful believed firmly that all things were about to be made new, () and since the Now Testament was written. Is this a reason for us, who are arrived at the last times, to put aside this expectation, to neglect our duty, which is to be in a position to receive the Lord when He shall return? Ought we then to settle down upon the labors of our predecessors, to desire to know from the Bible only that which they could find there? Such is not our opinion, dear brethren. If, on one side, the children of God are called and authorized to search the Word with the Spirit of Jesus and with a respectful wisdom; on the other side, we know that the opening of this Word enlightens and gives understanding to the simple. ()
If it is true that there is nothing new under the sun, it is equally true that the Bible is a sufficient treasure for all ages, even to the end of time. The Lord our God has enclosed in it all that is necessary for the growth of His people; and His Spirit, who is in the Church and in each of its members, distributes to the saints the nourishment suited to their need. In one sense then there is nothing new in the Bible; but, in another sense, every Christian, become a disciple for the kingdom of heaven, can draw out of this precious treasure things new and things old. () Let us not permit ourselves therefore to be arrested by the enemy, who tells us to search in the Bible for nothing but that which our predecessors discovered there; for all the teaching of the New and Old Testaments is a treasure given to the Church, to the end that it may draw from it, according to its exigencies, directions for knowing the counsel of God, and warnings salutary to its progress in holiness.
Would to God that all the Lord's people were prophets! () for the Lord our God has put the Spirit of Jesus in us; but want of faith is one of the greatest obstacles to the action and effectual working of this precious Comforter.
May we receive instruction from the misfortunes which happened to the people chosen from the nations! may their example be a powerful warning that may serve to deliver us from all this false prudence, from the indolence, from the pride which hinder us from receiving and studying all the word! It is the sole means of not deserving the following words to be applied to us as a bloody reproach from the Lord: "Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken." "Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord." () "Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken." ()
The study of prophecy is more than a duty, in the absolute sense of this word; it is for us a precious privilege. The Church, when gathered to Jesus, will receive all things which have been promised it; such is its inheritance, of which the Holy Spirit serves as the earnest. (Eph. 1:1414Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:14).)
This inheritance, this possession, purchased for the Church joint-heir with Jesus Christ, is the world, which is still in the power of Satan. The coming of the King with His saints will deliver this purchase of Jesus for the praise of His glory. But the reign with Jesus over the regenerated world is only, as we have already seen, the introduction of the glories which are to follow that.
The grace and mercy of God are not confined to the redemption and salvation of our souls, however immense those blessings may be in our eyes. Prophecy is the inventory of the treasures of the grace of God by Jesus. Prophecy is the key which opens to us these treasures while we are waiting, that we may enter into the possession of these exceeding riches of our great God. This precious key has been for a long time rusty, but the Spirit urges the Church to withdraw it from oblivion, to restore it to a fit state for use, and this impulsion is of itself a prophetic sign of the nearness of the times.
Shall we neglect these gifts and warnings of God? Shall we, children of light, be less wise than are the children of the age for their own profit?
What man of the world, what one among us is there, who, receiving a magnificent palace as his inheritance, would not hasten to have its gates opened, and would neglect to visit even its littlest recesses? Shall it be otherwise, brethren, as regards our glorious hope? And if the voice of the Bridegroom invites His beloved to make use of the key of the Palace of the Marriage-supper, shall she refuse to obey this voice?
A vague foreboding takes possession even of the world. Prophecy is in the air which encircles us; but Satan knows how to turn aside the attention of his own from this voice which disturbs them. For us, this call of the Holy Spirit is perhaps the presage to us of new trials; but we see, even in these presages, a powerful reason to seek the counsels of God, such as He has revealed them to us. It is good and wholesome, now more than ever, that the sheep of the Lord should know from what quarter they are to draw. Abraham, who lived in faith and in hope, did not pass through the fire, but he abode under the immediate protection of the Lord. Lot had chosen Sodom, because he was not so intimately conversant with the thoughts of God. May this example teach us not to despise prophecy, and to enjoy the privileges of the Christian! the most precious of which privileges, during this life, certainly is to have the knowledge of the purposes of our Father.
But to enjoy them always more, let us keep, like Abraham, far off from the plain and the cities of the Canaanites. The Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do? () Thus, the more the Church resumes its position of stranger here below, and of a Nazarite to the Lord, the more it keeps itself separated from the world; the more also the Lord will reveal to it His purpose, the more prophecy will be cleared up to it.
All the holy men, who have lived by faith, keeping the promises choicely, have been preserved from evil and protected in the hour of trial; the Church ought then to imitate these models, in order to be also in a position to escape that which is about to come upon all the habitable earth.
Prophecy serves it as a guide to go toward the Lord, just as in times gone by Enoch, Elijah, Noah, Rahab, and all the saints, have done.
It is for that that Jesus does not call us servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth; but he has called us friends, because He has made known to us all things that He had heard of His Father. () He prayed for us, and not for the world, because God has given us to Him. () And He has sent us, and given the
Spirit of truth to guide us into all the truth.... and to show us things to come.
() And we have the prophetic word more steadfast, whereunto we do well to take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day-star arise; knowing this first in our hearts, that no prophecy of Scripture is of private solution, ()
(d'une explication particulière), for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. ()
The revelation of future things presents us with the edifice of the grace of God in its totality; it displays to the eyes of the believer the crowning of this immortal monument, of which the cross of Jesus is the precious foundation. Titers are the things which eye hath not seen, which ear hath not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man; the things which God hath prepared for them who love Him, and which He hath revealed to us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. () Secret things are for the Lord our God; but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever. () And we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord, () who has made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure. () Our privilege is therefore evident, if we understand the position in which we are set by the oracles of God which have been entrusted to us. It is certainly this knowledge which makes us raise our heads on high, and look, not at the perishable things here below, but at the invisible things which are eternal. We live thus by the Spirit, and pursuant to the Spirit of Christ, seeking our citizenship which is in heaven; for all things which have been written aforetime were written for our instruction, that we, through patience and consolation of the Scriptures, might have hope. ()
The hope, the consolation, the strengthening of the Ephesians, were the object of the solicitude of Paul, when he prays for them, That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ.... may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of your calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, &c. () It is to the elect Church that it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, and to him that hath will be given yet more; and happy are our eyes because they see, and our ears because they hear! ()
“And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: that ye be not slothful, but followers of thorn who through faith and patience inherit the promises." ()
We repeat it still: he that studies the promises so extended and so varied, which are contained in the Bible for our consolation, studies the most important portion of unfulfilled prophecy relative to the Church; for we are become the heirs of the seed of Abraham by faith. () This study makes us walk with assurance and humility toward an end which the grace of God alone has proposed, and which it alone can make us attain. It is in prophecy that the child of God learns to know the difference which exists between his position, his calling, his walk here below, and those of the children of the world.
Our citizenship is in heaven, from whence also we look for our Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our body of humiliation, that it may be fashioned like unto the body of His glory. ()
But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer; and, above all things, have fervent charity among yourselves... As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God.
It is thus that faith in Jesus Christ, and love to all the saints, are nourished and renewed by the contemplation of the common hope which is reserved for no in the future; and that, if we participate in the sufferings of Christ, we ought still to rejoice, that when His glory shall be revealed we may be glad also with exceeding joy. ()
(See Rom. 8:15-1815For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 18For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (Romans 8:15‑18); Heb. 10:22-26, 37-3922Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. 26For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, (Hebrews 10:22‑26)
37For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. 38Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 39But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. (Hebrews 10:37‑39). See moreover, as to the future of the world and of its children, compared with that of the children of God, when the Lord shall come to take in hand His kingdom and His inheritance, 2 Peter 3:3, 7, 11, 13, 143Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, (2 Peter 3:3)
7But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:7)
11Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, (2 Peter 3:11)
13Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 14Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. (2 Peter 3:13‑14).)
It is not without doubt, in certain isolated passages only, relative to the knowledge of prophecy, that we find motives of sanctification, of separation from a corrupted world, judged and condemned, but it is in all the Scripture that the idea of 1 John 2:1717And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. (1 John 2:17) is found developed, " the world passeth away and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever;" and this world is going soon, for it is the last hour, and woe to those who shall have walked according to the spirit of the world, and not according to the Spirit of Jesus! Sanctification, or the setting apart for God, spirituality, detachment from worldly lusts, joy, hope, consolation, establishment—these are the results of the privilege granted to Christians of searching the Word of God. It is there that the world to come (Hob. 2:5) is presented to us as the sole world where Christ will reign, and where we will reign with Him.
His divine power hath given us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us by His glory and virtue, whereby are given to us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, () giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and. to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity. () Certainly there is, dear brethren, an apostle who does not accuse the knowledge of the promises of destroying and dispersing. Knowledge puffs up, it is true, when it walks without love, when it has not the glory of God and the love of the saints for end and object; it is then an idle or barren knowledge; nay, carnal and contrary to that of which it is here the question, and which we recommend to our brethren. But if the things of which we have just spoken are in us, we will not remain idle or barren in the knowledge of the Lord, that we may make our calling and election sure, and not fall; for so an entrance shall be richly ministered unto us into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Now, this knowledge of Him who has called us not only by His grace, but by His glory, was of such price in the eyes of Peter that he neglected nothing to strengthen his brethren in it, though they possessed it already. And he has done it so, that after his departure we might remember his exhortations upon this subject. What, then, shall I separate from my brother, because he knows prophecy better than myself, or because he knows it less, or yet because he considers several points in a manner opposed to mine, or different from mine? Wherefore the Holy Ghost, wherefore serves the love of the truth, if we cannot employ them for the growth of each other in knowledge and in charity—if through fear of the abuses that man introduces everywhere, we can receive from the Scripture only what our predecessors could see, and believed they saw there? What the knowledge and confession of the truth can do, and what in effect they do, is to bring about an entire separation, according to the Word, between the children of God and the world, between the Church and nominal Christians.
For us, we think that the possible abuses of so precious a privilege ought not to hinder us from becoming acquainted with our treasure, from giving our heart to it, and from drawing from the prophetic word things new and old, according to the will of the Giver of every excellent grace and of every perfect gift.
The study of prophecy is not only inevitable, not only enjoined upon the believer; it is not only a privilege, but moreover a source: of blessing.
It is very remarkable that the Revelation—this book, in general, so neglected by Christians—contains in it alone two very special blessings for those who read it and keep its sayings. One of these blessings is at the head of the book, Rev. 1:33Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. (Revelation 1:3): "Blessed is he that readeth, and they who hear the words of the prophecy, and who keep those things which are written therein; for the time is at hand." Then in chapter 22:7; "Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book."
Besides, the eighteenth verse of the last chapter announces terrible curses to him who will add to it or will take from it any thing.
Shall we then despise—we, God's children—things which the Lord Himself has surrounded with so much care and so many promises?
Hasten we rather to seek into them with prayer, with love, with respect; sustain ourselves mutually with charity and a fraternal co-operation in the search after the will of God. He that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. The Lord, who has given prophecy, and who gives the Holy Ghost to His children, will bless those researches, to which He urges us Himself. And the Lord has already done so: many obscure points are now cleared up. Let us bless God for it.
For ourselves, brethren, we also fear abuses, carnal speculations; we believe that many rash calculations have discredited prophecy, or rather its study among Christians.() We deplore these things, but we love to advance in the knowledge of the testimony of Jesus. (Rev. 19:1010And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. (Revelation 19:10).) We possess this testimony; the book is not sealed; He tells us Himself that it is the spirit of prophecy which is the testimony of Jesus.
We are very far from having quoted all the declarations of Scripture on the subject; but we are persuaded that for those who love the truth and who have not taken a side against this study, the foregoing is sufficient at least to make them reflect, and perhaps, by the grace of God, to convince them.
The question which we have just put before the conscience of our brethren would not even exist without the action of Satan among the believers. The prince of darkness profits by all our wicked inclinations, by all our infirmities, to hide the truth and the light from the children of God—to hinder them from giving themselves up to a study which must necessarily withdraw them from the world. On the other side, it is certain also that the appeals to an unconverted world must even be rendered clear by the powerful light of prophecy. The short sketch which we were bound to present upon the aim of these divine revelations will justify this opinion, which we have not the facility of developing here.
However, let us consider, on one side, the darkness, the despair, the great anguish of the nations at the return of the Lord, the total annihilation of all that which is dear to the heart of the natural man; but until that the dominion of the prince of darkness extending itself progressively over this world, which is already condemned and judged; then the complete slavery of that which will not have laid hold of Christ our hope, of all that which will have rejected His testimony; finally, the second and eternal death for the end of the life of the children of the age. Is there not in that a something to detach the soul from the world, far more and far otherwise than a preaching of the law unto which we are no more subjected?
And on the other side, our now life, hidden now with Christ in God, manifested in glory when Christ shall appear; our blessed resurrection; our manifestation and our eternal glory in peace and in light; the absence of all judgment, of all condemnation, and of all tribulation for eternity: are there not there promises calculated to arouse the soul and to attract it to Christ?
Notwithstanding, we do not at all pretend that the preaching of the Gospel, with a view to conversion, should be an exposition of prophetic truths. So far are we from it, that we think these truths should not, and cannot, even serve usefully in the discussion or the controversy of Christians on one side, and of the unconverted on the other. We think that it is true of all prophecy that it serves as a sign, not to unbelievers, but to believers. () But we believe that he who desires to preach all the grace, and to proclaim the whole counsel of God, and on the other hand to make known all the power and perversity of Satan, must know prophecy; and that without this light he may be blessed, it is true, because of the indulgence of God, but that nevertheless he takes away from the Gospel a very considerable portion of its strength and its clearness.
Finally, when God Himself is pleased to call and awaken a dead man, His Spirit knows how to act by means of prophecy; and we are going to cite an example of it which may be useful in disposing us to render glory to God, and to Him alone.
A child of the world, possessing all that the world can give of happiness, so much so that it would have been impossible for him to desire anything without being unreasonable in his own eyes, was drawn by the mercy of God the Savior and Almighty into a position which withdrew him from the din of the world, not in a manner painful for him, but according to his yet carnal tastes.
Living at an epoch when all the doctrines of social leveling might occasion him fear for his private circumstances, he was urged by this very fear to study prophecy.
The hostility of the natural heart soon engaged this poor blinded one to essay the proof to the world and to himself, that all that was nothing but pure inventions of men, nothing but so-called pious frauds.
The evidence of inspiration in fulfilled prophecy had the effect of annihilating those proud pretensions. The existence of the marvelous things which it proclaimed, and which continue to follow their course throughout ages, in the eyes of a blinded world, subdued his reason without as yet touching his heart.
Nevertheless, the grace of God acted. He was compelled to acknowledge that Jesus, the Christ, was come; that he was dead and risen; that he was the Savior promised by the prophets; that the Jews, after having rejected him, continued dispersed among the nations, a living testimony to the divinity and the authenticity of the word of God.
At last the future glory of Jesus Christ appeared to him in the revelation which he studied still with a carnal heart. The poor unbeliever was enlightened by this glory; his eyes, like those of Saul, were opened to the light of grace.
Resembling the paralytic, this brother was placed by the Word in the center of the grace and glory of Jesus. Looking then around him, he saw Jesus everywhere. Jesus says to him, Arise and walk; go, thy sins are forgiven then; thou wert my enemy, but I loved thee.
This soul, thus conquered and convinced, wept and could love. It saw the end for which Jesus had laid hold of it and set it apart. Counting upon this powerful hand, it forgot the things which were behind it, in order to attain the end which is so clearly offered it in prophecy, namely, the better resurrection, the prize of its heavenly calling in Jesus Christ.
Christians! this ungodly one is now one of your brethren. He will bless, during the rest of his life, that One who has given him to love you in Christ. He weeps with you over the feebleness and the disunion of the sheep of Jesus.
Yes, the day will come when the prophecy will be realized with which the angels and the multitude of the heavenly host saluted the first advent of Christ; the day will come which the birth of a Savior in humility proclaimed to us. Then the reign of Jesus over the earth, the reign of the Prince of peace, will be a verity.
Then, brethren, the world will rejoice in the realization of the prophetic songs: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace! among men good will! Rejoice in the Lord always: I say again, Rejoice; for the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And the Bridegroom hath said, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!—Le Témoignage