I have read this chapter, not as professing to explain it in detail, but because it gives a summary of that which will happen at the close of this dispensation, at least the heavenly sources of these events, and the woes of the earth. My object this evening is to take up, in their order, the prophetic events which have been occupying us, as far as God shall give me ability.
But beforehand, dear friends, it will not be amiss to return to a few of the thoughts which were given out at the very beginning of these lectures. In treating of these subjects, let us be reminded of their great end—a double one. One end is that of detaching us from the world (though indeed the effect of every part of the word, when the Spirit of God is applying it): prophecy is peculiarly so adapted; its tendency must be to “deliver us from this present evil age.” The other end is to make us intelligent of the character of God, and of His ways towards us. These are two precious and wholesome fruits, which spring from the acquirement of the knowledge of prophecy.
Many are the objections made to its study; it is thus that Satan always acts against the truth. I do not mean objections against such or such a view, but against the study of prophecy itself. And Satan works in this way as to the entire word of God. To one he says, Follow morality, and do not meddle with dogmas; because he knows that dogmas will free a man from his power, by the revelation of Jesus, and of the truth in his heart. To another he suggests the neglecting of prophecy, because in it is found the judgment of this world, of which he is prince. But to allow weight to such objections, is it not to find fault with God, Who has given prophecy to us, and Who has oven attached a particular blessing to the reading of the part reputed to be most difficult!
Prophecy throws a great light upon the dispensations of God; and, in this sense, it does much as regards the freedom of our souls towards Him. For what hinders it more than the error, so often committed, of confounding the law and the gospel, the past economies or dispensations with the existing one?
If, in our internal fighting, we find ourselves in the presence of the law, it is impossible to find peace; and more if we insist on the difference which exists between the position of the saints of old and that of the saints during the actual dispensation, this again troubles the minds of many. Now the study of prophecy clears up such points, and at the same time enlightens the faithful as to their walk and conversation; for, whilst it always maintains free salvation by the death of Jesus, prophecy enables us to understand the entire difference between the standing of the saints now and formerly, and lights up with all the counsels of God the road along which His own people have been conducted, whether before or after the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Again, dear friends, as we have before said, it is always the hope which is presented to us which acts upon our hearts and affections. There are thus always enjoyments in prospect which stamp their actual character upon our souls: that which occupies the heart of man as hope makes the rule of his conduct. Of what vast importance is it not, then, to have our souls filled with hope according to God? Persons say it is the idle curiosity of prying into hidden things; but if it were true that we ought not to look into prophecy, the conclusion is inevitable, that our thoughts are not to go beyond the present. The way of knowing what God's intentions are for the future is certainly the study of that prophecy which He has given to us. Prophecy records things to come; it is the scriptural mirror, wherein future events are seen. If we refuse the study of what God has revealed as to come, we are necessarily left to our own ideas upon it.
The famous passage of the Apostle Paul has been quoted to some here (1 Cor. 2:22For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:2)): “I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” It is constantly used as an objection against the study of what is found revealed in the word. This arises from two causes. The one is due to that prolific source of error, namely, the citation of a passage without examining the context; the other, alas! arises from a greater or less want of uprightness—from a desire (unrecognized, it may be, in our own deceitful hearts) of standing still in the ways of the Lord, by making as little acquaintance with them as may be. It is not true that we are to limit ourselves to the knowledge of Jesus Christ crucified. We must also know Jesus Christ glorified, Jesus Christ at the right hand of God; we must know Him as High Priest, and as Advocate with the Father. We ought to know Jesus Christ as much as possible, and not be content with saying, “Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” So to say is to take the letter of the word and abuse it. The apostle, seeing the tendency that there was in the church at Corinth to follow rather the learning and philosophy of man than Christ (a thing not to be wondered at in a city renowned for science), points out, in leading their souls back to Christ, how foreign his entry among them was from earthly wisdom. He “was with them in weakness and in fear;...his speech and his preaching were not with enticing words of man's wisdom;” “he determined not to know anything among them but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” —Jesus Christ, and even Him as the most despised one among men. He is not speaking of the value of the blood, but of the condition of Jesus Himself, in order to bring down by the cross all their vain glory, and found their faith upon the word of God, and not on human wisdom. But in the same chapter he says that, from the moment he comes into the midst of true Christians, his conduct changes; he speaks “wisdom among them that are perfect.” He would have nothing to do with human wisdom; but as soon as he finds himself among the perfect [full grown], he says, “We speak wisdom among them that are perfect.” Desiring to confine ourselves to Jesus crucified, in the way it is urged, is, I repeat, to confine ourselves to as little as possible of Christianity. In Heb. 6 the apostle says that he is unwilling to do what they would make him say in this place; he altogether condemns that which is urged upon us. “Leaving the principles of the doctrine [the word of the beginning] of Christ,” says he, “let us go on unto perfection!'
After those observations on the study of prophecy in general, I proceed to recall, in a few words, how God has revealed Himself by it.
Revelation 12 presents to us the great object of prophecy, and of all the word of God, that is, the combat which takes place between the second Man and Satan. It is from this center of truth that all the light which is found in scripture radiates.
This great combat may take place either for the earthly things (they being the object), and then it is in the Jews; or for the church (that being the object), and then it is, in the heavenly places.
It is on this account that the subject of prophecy divides itself into two parts, the hopes of the church, and those of the Jews; though the former be scarcely, properly speaking, prophecy, which concerns the earth and God's government of it.
But before coming to this great crisis, namely, the combat between Satan and the Last Adam, it was Necessary that the history of the first Adam should be developed. This has been done. And in order that the church, that is, Christians, may be in a position to occupy themselves with the things of God, it was needful, first of all, that they should be in happy certainty as to their own position before Him. At His first coming, Christ accomplished all the work which the wisdom of the Father, in the eternal counsels of God, had confided to Him; this effected the peace of the believer. The Lord Jesus came, in order that the certainty of salvation, by the knowledge of the grace of God, should be introduced into the world, that is, into the hearts of the faithful. After having accomplished salvation, He communicates it to His followers in giving them life. His Holy Spirit, which is the seal of this salvation in the heart, reveals to them things to come, as to the children of the family, and heirs of the family estate. During the period which separates the first coming of the Lord from the second, the church is gathered by the action of the Holy Spirit to have part in the glory of Christ at His return.
These, in a few words, are the two great subjects which I have been opening; namely, that Christ, having done all that is needful, for the salvation of the saints—having saved all those who believe, the Holy Ghost now acts in the world to communicate to the church the knowledge of this salvation. He does not come to propose the hope that God will be good, but a fact—the fact, once more, that Jesus has already accomplished the salvation of all those who believe; and when the Holy Spirit communicates this knowledge to a soul, it knows that it is saved. Being then put in relationship with God as His children, we are His heirs, “heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.” All that concerns the glory of Christ belongs to ma and the Holy Spirit is given to us, in the first place, to make us understand that we are children of God. He is a Spirit of adoption, but more, a Spirit of light, who teaches the children of God what their inheritance is. As they are one with Christ, all the truth of His glory is revealed to them, and the supremacy which He has over all things, God having also constituted Him Heir of all things, and us co-heirs.
After Christ has fulfilled all that was necessary, the church, until the second coming of its Saviour, is taken from out of all nations, and united to Him. It has, whilst here below, the knowledge of the salvation which He has accomplished, and of the coming glory, the Holy Spirit (in those who believe) being the seal of salvation accomplished, and the earnest of the future glory.
These truths throw a great light upon the entire history of man. But let us ever remember that the great object of the Bible is the conflict between Christ the Last Adam, and Satan.
In what condition did Christ find the first Adam? In a condition into the lowest depths of which He was obliged to enter, as responsible head of all creation. He found man in a state of ruin—entirely lost. It was needful that this should be unfolded before the coming of Christ; for God did not introduce His Son into the world as Savior until all that was necessary to show (and how much was needed to show!) that man was in himself incapable of anything good was brought out. The whole state of man, before and after the deluge, under the law and under the prophets, only served as a clearer attestation that man was lost. He had failed throughout, under every possible circumstance, until, God having sent His Son, the servants said, “This is the Heir; let us kill Him.” The measure of sin was then at its height; but the grace of God did also much more abound, and gave us the inheritance—us poor sinners! the inheritance with Christ in the heavenly glory, of which we possess the earnest, having Christ in spirit here below.
But (to enter a little more into the succession of dispensations, and also into that which concerns the character of God in this respect) the first thing which we would remark is the deluge, because until then there had not been, so to speak, government in the world. The prophecy, which existed before the deluge, was to the effect that Christ was to come. The teachings of God were ever to this end. “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints.”
Let us pass on.
In Noah's time there was government of the earth, and God coming in judgment and committing the right of the sword to man.
After this comes the call of Abraham. Mark: the principle of government is not put forward by the word, but the principle of promise, and the call to be in relationship with God of that one person who becomes the root of all the promises of God—Abraham, the father of the faithful. God calls him, makes him quit his country, his family, bidding him go into a country which He would show him. God reveals Himself to him as the God of promise, which separates a people to Himself by a promise which He gives them. It is at this epoch that God revealed Himself under the name of God Almighty.
After that, among the descendants of Abraham, by this same principle of election, God takes the children of Jacob to be His people here below, the object of all His earthly care, and out of whose midst Christ was to come according to the flesh. It is in this people of Israel that God displays all His characteristics as Jehovah; it is not only as a God of promise, but as the God who unites the two principles of government and calling, which two had been each successively brought out in Noah and in Abraham. Israel was the called and separated people—separated indeed only to earthly blessings, and to enjoy the promise; but, at the same time, to be subject to the exercise of the government of God according to the law.
We say then, that in Noah was marked the principle of government of the earth, and in Abraham that of calling and election. And so Jehovah will accomplish all that He has said as God of promise, “Who was, and is, and is to come;” and He will govern all the earth, according to the righteousness of His law—the righteousness revealed in Israel.
We have shown that God (Exodus 19:4-94Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. 5Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 6And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. 7And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him. 8And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord. 9And the Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the Lord. (Exodus 19:4‑9)) made the accomplishment of the promises, in those times, to depend upon the faithfulness of man, and that He took occasion to prove him, and to represent in detail, as in a picture, all the characteristics under which He acted towards him. It was this which He was doing under priests, prophets, and kings. And it is to be particularly observed, that the bearing of prophecy, in the unfolding of this succession of relationships of God with Israel, and with man, is not alone the manifestation of the fall of man, but also, and chiefly, of the glory of God.
When Israel had transgressed in every possible way and circumstance, even in the family of David which was the last human resource of the nation—at the moment that family failed in Ahaz, prophecy commences in all its details. It had these two features: one, the manifestation of the glory, of Christ, in order fully to show that the people had failed under the law; the other, the manifestation of the coming glory of Christ, to be the support of the faith of those who were desiring to keep the law, but who saw that everything was out of course.
It is too late to take an interest in the prophecies when they are fulfilled. Those, to whom at the actual time the prophets addressed themselves, were the people from whom submission was expected. The word of God should have touched their conscience. It ought to be so with us. In the midst of all this, however, were predictions which announced that the Messiah was to come, and to suffer for ends most of all important.
Prophecy applies itself properly to the earth; its object is not heaven. It was about things that were to happen on the earth; and the not seeing this has misled the church. We have thought that we ourselves had within us the accomplishment of these earthly blessings, whereas we are called to enjoy heavenly blessings. The privilege of the church is to have its portion in the heavenly places; and later on blessings will be shed forth upon the earthly people. The church is something altogether apart—a kind of heavenly economy, during the rejection of the earthly people, who are put aside on account of their sins, and driven out among the nations, out of the midst of which nations God chooses a people for the enjoyment of heavenly glory with Jesus Himself. The Lord, having been rejected by the Jewish people, is become wholly a heavenly person. This is the doctrine which we peculiarly find in the writings of the apostle Paul. It is no longer the Messiah of the Jews, but a Christ exalted and glorified; and it is for want of taking hold of this exhilarating truth, that the church has become so weak.
Having thus briefly retraced the history of the different dispensations, it remains for us now to see the church glorified, but without the Lord Jesus having abandoned any of His rights upon the earth. He was the Heir. He was to shed His blood, which was to ransom the inheritance. As Boaz said (whose name signifies, In him is strength), “What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth, the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance” (Ruth 4:55Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. (Ruth 4:5)). So it was necessary that Christ should buy the church, co-heir by grace (as Boaz, type of Christ, bought the inheritance by taking to wife Ruth) to whom the inheritance had devolved in the decrees of Jehovah.
Christ then, and the church, have title to the inheritance, that is, to all that Christ Himself has created as God. But what is the state of the church actually? Does it as a fact inherit these things? Not any; because until we are in the glory we can have nothing, and possess nothing, except only “the Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession.” Until that time Satan is the prince of this world, the god of this world; he accuses even the children of God in the heavenly places, which, however, he occupies only by usurpation (the way being made to him by the passions of men, and the power which he exercises over the creature, fallen and at a distance from God, although definitively the providence of God uses all to the accomplishment of His counsels).
And now, dear friends, having contemplated the rights of Christ and of the church, let us consider how Christ will make them good. The consideration of this will lead us into the discovery, in their order, of the accomplishment of events at the close. Perhaps, however, having arrived thus far, it would be better (as I have only been speaking of Jews) to turn for a moment to the Gentiles.
The nearest of kin after the flesh by the law refused. to take the inheritance along with Ruth. Christ risen, acting in grace, alone can or will re-establish Israel in the land, when brought to own that they need mercy like a Gentile.
(To be continued.)