The C.S. Tracts: Volume 6

Charles Stanley

3. The Great Tribulation, Or, The Time of the End

4. The Riband of Blue and the Lace of Blue

"God So Loved" (John 3:16.)

JOH 3:16

The substance of a discourse first preached on Lord's day, March 29th, 1835; and again, after fifty years, on March 29th, 1885.

We will read from John 3:14: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Before we notice the wondrous revelation of God in these verses, it may be necessary, for some, to refer to a fatal mistake made by many in applying the doctrine of the new birth, as stated to Nicodemus, as though Christ meant, or taught, the new birth by water baptism. We must notice that the Lord was not speaking to a Christian about the church or Christianity, but to a ruler of the Jews; and He was speaking to him about the kingdom of God—that kingdom which God will assuredly set up on earth. And we must not confound the terrestrial glory of that kingdom with the celestial glory of the church. No doubt there are even important principles in common. Whether for the kingdom or the church, fallen man must be born again; but to suppose that the new birth is a priestly act of man, in the ordinance of baptism, is the most fatal heresy. It destroys the efficacy of the Word, and faith. If a man can make a child or adult a member of Christ by water, there is no need for either faith or the Word of God.

But the Lord does not say one word about baptism in His discourse to Nicodemus. He evidently speaks of that which Nicodemus ought to have understood. Now turn, and see if this was not the case. In Ezekiel 36:22-37 we have a very complete account of what God will do when He gathers His people, Israel, again, and sets up His kingdom-that of which Jesus spoke. And when He has brought them to their own land, He says, “THEN will I sprinkle clean water upon you... and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them.” Water was the well-known emblem of purification. Thus will Israel be born again in that day, by the operation of the Spirit of God, no doubt applying the Word, as in our case.

It is important to notice also the entire change as to the law, when God shall thus set up the millennial kingdom. Under the law God commanded, required everything. In the kingdom of God He produces everything by the new nature and the Spirit. Even repentance is produced after they are born again in the land, “Then shall ye remember your own evil ways and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities, and for your abominations” (Ezek. 36:31).

The law could not produce in man that which an absolutely holy God requires; but God will produce it in His people: “and cause you to walk in My statutes.” This is very blessed. Well, there is not one word of christian baptism either here, or in the Lord's words to Nicodemus.

Let us now look at these verses, John 3:14-16. We would call attention especially to three things in these precious words of Jesus:—

First, The atonement has the first place: “even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;”

Secondly, Why was this, the death of Jesus on the cross? The answer is, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son;”

Thirdly, What was the purpose of God in Christ being so lifted up—so given? “That whosoever [or, every one] that believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

We must never fail to notice, that in the gospel the atonement has the first place. To exclude this, and preach what is called the. Fatherhood of God, is the delusion of Satan. “So must the Son of Man be lifted up.” As Jesus said, on the way to Emmaus, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?” And again, to the disciples gathered in the upper room, “Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day.” And after this manner the apostles preached the gospel: “Opening and alleging, that Christ MUST NEEDS have suffered, and risen again from the dead” (Acts 17:3). “For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3). “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God” (1 Pet. 3:18). “Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification” (Rom. 4:25).

Jesus assures us this must be: “Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” The work of Christ on the cross is the only true foundation for the glad tidings of God; and His resurrection from the dead is God's assurance to us of sins forgiven, and justification from all things. “Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by him, ALL that believe are justified from all things” (Acts 13:38).

But now, in the second place, WHY WAS THIS? Why did the eternal Son, by whom all things were made, and by whom all things subsist—why was He nailed to the cross? Why did He thus groan from beneath the load of our sins? Why must He thus die, the propitiation for our sins? Oh, wondrous answer! let heaven and earth hear it. FOR GOD SO LOVED!

Let sinners hear it. The cause was the unfathomable, eternal love of God. For God so loved. Do not suppose that God loved us because Jesus died for us—that He then began to love us. Did He love Israel in Egypt because the blood was shed, and sprinkled on the doorposts? No, the blood was sprinkled as the token of His love. His purpose was to spare them. They were sinners, and thus the lamb must be killed, and the blood must be sprinkled, to shelter them from righteous judgment. Oh, wondrous grace! Christ lifted up on the cross was the manifestation of God's eternal love to us.

You may say, How can this be? I am sure I never deserved such love as this, neither before, nor since, I have tried to be a Christian. How can God love me, since I hate myself, and only deserve to be cast out of His sight, or into hell? All this is really true, whether we know and own it, or not.

But mark the contrast between the love of God and man's love. Man loves that, or those, whom he thinks deserving of his love. Not so God. For whilst nothing can show more distinctly God's abhorrence of sin than the cross of Christ, yet it is even there that the love of God to the sinner shone out in all its glory. “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:6, 8).

And all this, when it had been fully proved that there were none that met, or could meet, by law, the righteous requirements of a holy God. All were guilty as to acts. All were also dead in sins, children of wrath. “But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins,” and so forth. (Eph. 2:4). “God so loved.” If sin had not come in, and Jesus had not been lifted up, the love of God could never have been known, and would never have been manifested. The telescope may reveal the great works of God, and the microscope the no less wonderful minute things of God; but no glass can be formed of sufficient power to manifest the love of God.

No, “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.” Here alone is the revelation of what God is to us, and what His love is to us. It is fully manifested. The sending of His Son manifests what He is: God is love. Surely we ought to love God. Man under law was required to love God. But looking within, or at himself, he could never say, I have found it, here is love. Has it not been fully proved that man, with every privilege of the law, only hated God? God was manifest in the flesh as Son of Man. Did man love Him? He hated, only hated Him, and sought miserable satisfaction in killing Him, the Prince of life. No, it is not, if we love God, then God will love us. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Do you not see, dear readers, it is not our love to God, but God's love to us, when we deserved nothing but eternal wrath? Owning this honestly, that you only deserve wrath; can you say, “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love”? Oh, do you so enjoy this love? Is it perfected in you? That is, do you so know and believe the love that God hath to you, that that love casteth out all fear? If we know that there is nothing but infinite, perfect love in God to us, how can we be afraid of Him? Nay, “because, as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” If you are afraid of God, you are thinking of your own love, and that is not perfect. If you are thinking of His love, how can you be afraid? for He has brought you to be as Christ is, even in this world. As Jesus said, “I ascend to My Father, and your Father; and to My God, and your God.” Oh, blessed position!—”As He is, so are we in this world.”

Do we not love God then? Oh, yes; but let us remember it is love produced. “We love Him, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:6-19). We thus see that we cannot possibly be under law, and grace. If we are on the ground of love to God as a requirement, we entirely set aside the gospel of the glad tidings by which love is produced. We will now pass on to the third thing we find in these precious words of Jesus. May the Lord open our understandings to understand the riches of His grace.

The third thing we notice then in these verses, is this. What was the purpose of God in Christ being so lifted up—so given?

“That whosoever [or every one] that believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” We have seen that the propitiatory death of Christ must have the first—the foundation place in the Gospel of God. “Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” The cause of this, was, “God so loved.” We now come to the purpose of God in all this. Surely this is a deep and wondrous theme. God has His own eternal purpose respecting us poor sinners. It was no afterthought when sin had come in, and surely no subsequent thought when Christ had died or we had believed. No, the greatest gift ever given in the countless ages of eternity, the gift of His only begotten Son, was according to purpose. “That whosoever believeth in Him.” Mark, this purpose was not limited now to Israel, as a nation. No, “whosoever believeth in Him.” This is a message for you, to you, because to every one that believeth. The only limit or distinction is faith, “That believeth in Him.”

Now the question is this, Do you believe in Him? Many would not deny there is such a person as Jesus, the Son of God. The demons were compelled to own that. We do not ask, Do you believe there is such a person as Jesus, once on the cross, now at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens? but we ask, Do you believe in Him? Is He the object of your faith, and of your trust? The Waldenses fully admitted the existence of the church; but they would suffer martyrdom, in its most cruel form, rather than say they believed in the church, as an object of faith and trust. Is Jesus the object of your faith? Have you received Him as your Saviour, in whom you trust for present and eternal salvation? This faith is not the belief of demons, but it is the gift of God. We beg of you to answer the question in the presence of God. Have you this faith IN Jesus? Can you abandon every hope in yourself, and rest in Him alone for eternal salvation? Do you say, I do believe in Jesus; but oh! my sins, and especially some of them, they so trouble me? It is all well to abhor ourselves; but did not Jesus die for all the believer's sins? Was He not lifted up on the cross for that very thing? Have we not seen that the atoning work is done? Can those sins be charged on Him now? Then, can they be charged on you who now believe in Him as your complete and eternal salvation?

God's eternal purpose then was that every one that believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. If this purpose embraced every one that believeth in Him, and you believe in Him, then it surely means you-it embraces you. God is love, and what did He purpose concerning you? That, through the lifting up of the Son of Man, you should not perish, but have eternal life. You may not yet know how good this news is, and how many there are that treat it as the greatest error. God grant you may believe it with an understanding heart.

What then is eternal life? Sometimes we understand what a thing is, by looking at what it is not, or in contrast. What then is temporal or mortal life? It is life that may cease to be. That is the life of all living creatures; as to the life even of man's body, it may cease. It may be for a day, or a month, or a year, and then cease to be. Now many would admit that God had so loved as to give a life, not eternal, but temporal—a life that may be lost or cease to be—may be for a time, and then cease to be. Now eternal life is the opposite of all this; it is life that cannot cease; it is not the life of a creature, it is the life of the self-existent Son of God. Not temporal, but the self-existent, eternal life. And has God so loved, that, through the lifting up of the Son on the cross, we, every one that believeth in Him, should have the eternal life that cannot, that will not, cease to be—the life of the self-existent, eternal Son? This amazing fact is revealed by Jesus.

In Scripture, eternal life is spoken of in two ways. The one as to the believer's future state as Matthew 25:46. “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.” See also Romans 2:7. It is also, as we shall see, spoken of as already the portion of the believer. These words of Jesus “should not perish but have eternal life,” do not necessarily imply present possession.

We will look at other passages which leave no uncertainty as to this. Even in this same chapter, “He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; and he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36). Here are two things equally certain as to present position. The believer hath eternal life as a present thing, and on the unbeliever the wrath of God abides.

As to the believer the Lord makes it most certain. He says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, HATH eternal life, and shall not come into judgment, [it should be,] but is passed from death unto life.” Have your ears been opened to hear the words of Jesus? Have you been brought, through grace, to believe God who sent His Son? Then the Lord Jesus assures you that you have eternal life; that you shall not come into judgment; that you have passed from death unto life. Why should you doubt Him? He further says, “And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day:” only there must be faith in His death, as well as in Him as the bread come down from heaven in His incarnation. “Whoso eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life.” Nothing can show more ignorance of His Word, or spirit and truth, than to pervert these words of Jesus as though He spake of the bread and wine in the Lord's supper. It is receiving the fact of His death, the shedding of His blood, for our salvation. Whoso does this hath eternal life.

And mark, Jesus does not speak of life that may be lost, or that might be taken from you, or that could possibly cease to be: no, it would not in any such case be eternal life. It is as imperishable as Himself, as it is Himself, and it, cannot be lost or taken away. He says, and to faith that is enough, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all, and no man [or one] is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand” (John 10:27-29).

Satan and unbelief would say, do not be so sure that God so loved you as to give His Son to be lifted up for you, that you might have such certainty as this. Has He said, that you shall never perish; that, as a believer, you not only have eternal life, but none can pluck you out of the Father's hand? “Oh!” Satan says, ever serpent-like, “He knows that if you should sin, you will lose all and pluck yourself from His hands, then where will your eternal life be?” What a liar the old serpent is! But we have the sure Word of God, and has He not made full provision should the true follower of Christ in a moment of temptation fail or sin? Was not that sin borne by Jesus on the tree? What saith the Scripture?” And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He is the propitiation for our sins,” and so forth. (1 John 2:1-2). Yes, “God so loved.” Sad indeed it is that so many will not believe that God so loved they prefer to cling to the dark reasonings of unbelief.

Is it then a light matter to disbelieve God as to this? “He that believeth not God hath made Him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son. And this is the record, that God HATH given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” Yes, God so loved. Is it dreadful heresy to believe what God so plainly tells us—His very record? And mark, eternal life is in His Son. Can the Son cease to be? can the life He is, then, cease to be? He is the eternal Son. It is not something apart from Himself that we may lose; “He that hath the Son hath life; he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life.”

Do you ask, Is it the will of God that I may really know that I have this blessed portion in the Son, even eternal life? “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life” (1 John 5:10-13). Oh, how clear the record of God; but beware how you despise it or reason it away.

This is the gospel God was pleased to give to a poor country boy to preach fifty years ago, and this is the same gospel God gave him to preach last night, and gives him now to lay before the reader. That gospel he received not from man. For weary months he was struggling under law, seeking to meet the requirements of the law, and ever failing. God the Giver, and God the Producer of all He requires was, as yet, utterly unknown to him. He was returning to his home in a village near Laughton, weary and sorrowful even to despair. He was alone with God in the lane: he fell to the ground in the middle of the road and groaned, “Oh Lord, I can do no more, I can go no farther,” and he felt in his soul he was lost. It was there the Holy Spirit revealed to him the true blessed fact that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” And oh, from that day, what mercy, depths of mercy! what failures and chastenings! But the writer has ever proved the truth of the words of Jesus-none, no one, has been able to pluck him out of His hands. Be there few or many days before we see the face of Him for whom we wait, may we never cease to proclaim the same glad tidings-that the moment a soul is, through grace, brought to truly believe God, he has eternal life, eternal salvation, is forever perfected by the one sacrifice of Christ, and stands in the full unclouded favor of God in the Beloved. “For we are complete in Him.” May God, to whom all praise is due-God who so loved, bless these few words to all who read them. C. S.

The First Resurrection

It is a mistake to suppose that the great truth of the first resurrection, or the resurrection from among the dead, rests on the interpretation of some difficult passage in the Book of Revelation. So far from this being the case, we shall find it to be the uniform teaching of the New Testament. Neither is it possible to find a single text to uphold the grave error of a general resurrection and judgment. And whilst the first resurrection is the full accomplishment of our salvation: a general judgment practically denies our redemption. The Scriptures declare there is none righteous, no, not one; all have sinned: it therefore follows that if we have to come into judgment for our sins we must all be condemned. As it is written, “Enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no flesh living be justified.” Is it not evident if we have to look forward to judgment, there must be everlasting wrath before us? thus salvation is impossible. This is a very solemn question for our souls. If you, and all the world, will rise together, and it is appointed unto you after death the judgment, tell me, how can you be saved? Is there a single promise of pardon at the judgment? Not one. Our subject then affects the very foundation truth of the gospel: yes, if the common error of a general resurrection, and judgment be true, there is no gospel: for none can be saved, all are guilty, and if judged, must be cast into the lake of fire. Is it not then a fearful thing to spend a whole life teaching such dreadful errors? How many do so, and refuse to hear the Word of God! If you profess to bow to Scripture, we ask your solemn attention to the following.

The Sadducees, or Rationalists of that day, brought a supposed difficulty to the Lord. A woman had had seven husbands: whose wife then would she be in the resurrection? Jesus answered, “But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: Neither can they die any more: for they are equal to the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection” (Luke 20:35-36). Is not this a resurrection of great privilege? Will all be raised together equal to the angels, the children of God? How can there be a general resurrection, when Jesus speaks of those who shall be accounted worthy of the resurrection from the dead, or from among the dead? Rest not until you are assured that this is your privilege.

We will now notice how the Lord Jesus teaches there will be two distinct resurrections. The one of life, the other of judgment; and the blessed certainty that those who have eternal life shall not come into the judgment. He says that all judgment is committed to Him. That all men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father: and further, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment; but is passed from death unto life.” Do you notice that if you hear the words of Jesus, and believe God that sent Him, then even now, you have everlasting life. Surely you have not to wait until the judgment, to know if you shall have it. You both have everlasting life, and Jesus says you shall not come into judgment. The thing is settled now: you have passed from death unto life. Jesus, the very One who shall execute judgment, says these three things to every believer: you have everlasting life, you shall not come into judgment: you are passed from death unto life. Then He says, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation (or judgment)” (John 5:21-29). The word hour is used by John to denote a period, as, “The hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit” and so forth. (John 4:23; 5:25). Plainly “hour” here means the whole of this gospel period of more than eighteen hundred years. So there is a period coming in which there shall be two very distinct resurrections, of those who have everlasting life, the resurrection of life; those who have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment. Assuredly one of these must be yours and mine.

Now read John 6:37-40. Here a great privilege is made known for all whom the Father giveth to Christ. “And this is the Father's will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.” And to show the value of this special resurrection the Father's will, that Christ should raise them up, is repeated twice. Is it not evident that if there were a general resurrection there would be no meaning in these words? We shall further find that this first resurrection is at the coming of the Lord, to fetch His saints: and this accounts for the fact, that the resurrection of all given to Christ is so much on His, and on the Father's heart. What tenderness of infinite love in those words as He went to the cross to bear our sins: “In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:1-2). Oh the heart of Jesus! oh the Father's will! what rest! what joy this gives.

As the Jews held the doctrine of a general resurrection, at least of themselves, this blessed truth we are examining was very offensive to them, as preached by the apostles. “Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead [or which is from among the dead]. “And they laid hands on them,” and so forth. (Acts 4:1-3). Do you not see here, the truth of a resurrection from among the dead is the very opposite of the Jewish doctrine of a general resurrection?

Not only is it the joy of Christ to do the Father's will in thus raising us from among the dead, but also this must take place because of the Spirit that dwelleth in us. “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” “But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by [or because of] His Spirit that dwelleth in you” (Rom. 8:11). What a fact is this, we are predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son. Was He raised from among the dead? then we must be also, we must be like Him in all things. We are waiting for this the full effect of redemption. “Waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” If the Spirit of Christ dwells in you, then you must be raised from the dead that He may dwell in you forever. If a Christian, this must be your destiny.

The resurrection of all that are in Christ, at His coming, is as certain as that all in Adam have died. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” But our question is when will those in Christ be raised? “Every man in his own order; Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming. Then cometh the end,” and so forth. (1 Cor. 15:22-24) Nothing could be more certain then, than that the resurrection of those that are Christ's will be at His coming. Then cometh the end: we shall see in another scripture when the rest of the dead are judged at the end. But carefully note, that is not the resurrection spoken of here, to the end of this chapter. It is the first resurrection; those that are Christ's. Will the resurrection of the wicked be in power—a spiritual body—in glory. Is it true of them, “And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly”? Is not this the exclusive resurrection of those who are Christ's? The resurrection unto life from among the dead, the redemption of their bodies? When they see Christ they are like Him, they forever bear the image of the heavenly. What a blessed event is their resurrection from among the dead! Equally blessed for “we who are alive and remain.” “Behold I show you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,” and so forth. The apostle could not have had, a thought of a general resurrection at the end of the world: when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption: for he says then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory,” and so forth. If we turn to the prophet Isaiah 25:8, we find the Spirit is there describing not the end of the world, but the beginning of the millennium or kingdom of Christ on earth. Do not forget this; that 1 Corinthians 15 will not take place at the end of the world: but at the coming of Christ to take His saints, more than a thousand years before the judgment of the rest of the dead. For further proof of this further on.

This was no mere doctrine with the Apostle Paul. It was the prize at the end of his journey. For this he longed; he says, “ If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of [or from among] the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect” (Phil. 3:11). Yes, when this body shall be raised in glory, when we bear the image of the heavenly, then, not until then, shall we be perfected. For this we wait, “we look for the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour; who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body,” and so forth. If there were a general resurrection, why should the apostle so earnestly long to arrive at the resurrection from the dead? Does not this imply that the saints will be raised first? Nay, had not this very fact been revealed by the Lord to His servant:” For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:16-17) Thus the error of a general resurrection is in direct opposition to all Scripture. There is not a thought of any being raised when the Lord comes, except the dead in Christ: or, as we have seen, they that are Christ's at His coming. And this coming is clearly for His saints: for when He comes in judgment they come with Him.

We will now look at what God has been pleased to give us, as His final revelation, on this subject. We shall here see what will take place at the beginning of the thousand years reign of Christ. Evidently this cannot possibly be a spiritual millennium as is so erroneously taught—a time when the great mass of the world will be converted by the gospel, and form the church. The church, as the bride of Christ, has been completed before this; in Revelation 19 the multitudes of heaven had said, “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready.” And more, the marriage of the Lamb having taken place, the saints come with the Lord under the symbol of the armies which were in heaven. The then imperial head of the Roman empire, is judged, with the confederate kings of the earth. The terrible reign of terror, under the dragon, has been brought to a close. Yea Satan, the dragon, the old serpent, the devil, is cast into the bottomless pit for a thousand years The saints who have come with Christ, are now no longer in conflict, but “I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, nor his image, and so forth.... and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” Thus we see after the church is completed, and comes with Christ and sits on thrones joint-heirs with Christ, to judge the nations, and to inherit all things: then the remnant also who have been faithful to Christ, during the great tribulation and slain: all these also are raised to partake of the blessedness of the first resurrection “Blessed, and holy, is he that hath part in the first resurrection.” This completes the first resurrection. Now as to the rest of the dead, the wicked, we are distinctly told, they lived not again until the thousand years were finished. Then after the thousand years, “the dead small and great stand before God” to be judged. The dead were judged. “And they were judged every man according to their works.” And as is evident, every man that shall be judged must be forever condemned.

Thus a thousand years separate the resurrection unto life, and the resurrection unto judgment.

We have thus gone over the teaching of Scripture as to the first resurrection. And we ask where is there a thought of either a general resurrection, or that the Christian should be brought into judgment for his sins?

There are two scriptures carelessly relied on. Some one may ask, does not the gathering the sheep and the goats, imply a general resurrection? (Matt. 25). But if we read that scripture carefully, we cannot find a word, or a thought, of any resurrection there. It is the judgment of the living nations, and they are dealt with according as they have treated the Jews, now owned as His brethren. At this judgment the Son of Man is seen coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory: and all the tribes of the earth mourn (Matt. 24:31). “When the Son of Man shall come in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations,” and so forth (Matt. 25:31). Read from Matthew 25:31 to end of the chapter. You observe this is the judgment of the quick at His coming: but not a word about the resurrection, of the judgment of the dead. Now let us compare this with the description of the last judgment after the thousand years, millennial rest, and blessing. “And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead small and great stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works” (Rev. 20:11-12) Thus at the morning of this millennial day, two things take place. The first resurrection is complete: and the judgment of the living nations takes place. The rest of the dead live not again until the evening of that thousand years: and then they are judged according to their works. “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” At the one judgment the Son of Man is seen coming with the clouds of heaven: at the other judgment, He does not come at all, but the heavens and the earth fled away. Thus we have both the judgment of the quick and the dead: the one at His appearing, the other at His kingdom. “Who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing, and His kingdom.”

The other scripture, so often misquoted to uphold the great traditional error of a general resurrection and judgment, is this. You often hear these words as though they were scripture. It is appointed unto all men once to die, but after death the judgment. If this were so, who then could be saved? No living man could have peace with God, if the question had yet to be settled at the future judgment after death. Do you not see that this error strikes at the very foundation of the gospel? How can there be present enjoyed peace with God, if we and all men have to be judged for our sins? How can we possibly be now made meet for the inheritance of the saints: if the question has to be settled yet, after death? How can we be said to be justified from all things; if we have yet to be judged? This serious error of a general resurrection and judgment, has thrown all Christendom into confusion. Both things cannot be true: the gospel of the grace of God, and the future judgment of all. Take a case: a criminal proved guilty, receives the glad tidings of her Majesty's free pardon, and that the crime shall never be laid to his charge again. Another official declares that he must go to judgment before the judge for his crime. Can both be true? The one is in flat contradiction to the other. So is the doctrine and all who preach it, of a general judgment, in flat contradiction of the gospel. Strange as this may appear to those who follow tradition, and pay little regard to scripture, yet it is true that no one who holds the error of a general judgment, either knows, or ever preaches, the gospel of God in its simplicity and fullness. Let us be candid, and come to close quarters. Do you hold that error, and thus you expect to die, and after death the judgment? “Error?” you say, “It is strange to me if that is not the truth: I shall be greatly mistaken if there is not such a scripture as that it is appointed unto all men once to die, and after death the judgment.”

We will see as to that shortly. But first, what is the effect of the doctrine on your own soul? Is it not that you hope it will be all right at last? You are not quite sure you are good enough yet to die, and go to judgment? Sometimes, as you forget this fatal error, you feel a little brighter, and then dreadful doubts, and uncertainty; if a preacher, you may be trying to keep up a fair appearance before others. But the blessedness of sins forgiven to be remembered no more: perfected forever by the one offering of Christ: justified from all things: peace with God. All these you cannot enjoy if you have yet to be judged: for this very simple reason, that all have sinned, all are guilty, and therefore if all have to be judged, then all in righteousness must be condemned.

Now let us read that scripture, “And as it is appointed unto men [not all men] once to die, but after this the judgment; so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time, without sin unto salvation” (Heb. 9:27-28). Does not this prove the very opposite of a general judgment? Just as it is the common lot of men to die, and after death the judgment: so Christ has borne the sins of many: therefore there can be no question of sin to them when He appears. Read the whole context, the very subject is the perfect and eternal redemption believers have through the one sacrifice of Christ. All of which falls to the ground if we have yet to be judged for our sins. It will not do to say it is the doctrine of our creeds, prayer books, and hymn books; is it found in Scripture? That is the question, unless we are prepared to give up the Word of God and trust in tradition, however false. As another has said, think of the childish absurdity of this tradition. Paul and thousands more have been with the Lord eighteen hundred years: have they still to be judged for their sins? The Lord Jesus assures the believer that he shall not come into judgment. (John 5:24). And there is not and cannot be a single text to show that he will be judged in the proper sense of judgment for sins. That he will stand before, or be manifested before the beemah, or judgment-seat of Christ, and there be recompensed or rewarded according to his works, is a most blessed truth. And also that this will take place at the first resurrection is also plain. “And thou shalt be blessed.... for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:14). Sins are put away by His precious blood. Salvation is wholly of God. We shall be rewarded according to our works. What grace to find anything to reward!

This is the clear doctrine of Scripture. Two Christians may both build on Christ, the only foundation —one is rewarded for his works; all the works of the other be burned up, yet he himself saved so as by fire. Read 1 Corinthians 3, “If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward: if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”

It is blessed to know also that we shall not be rewarded according to man's judgment, but the Lord's. “Therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord come.” On this very account we are not to judge or despise one another. “But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at naught thy brother? for we shall all stand before the [beemah] judgment-seat of Christ” (Rom. 14:10). There is another striking scripture on this subject, and mark, it is in connection with the believer's certainty as to his being with the Lord. “For WE KNOW that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God,” and so forth. “We have the earnest of the Spirit. We are always confident.... it is God who hath wrought us for this selfsame thing,” and so forth., no portion breathes more divine certainty. Yet he says, “Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him. For we must all appear [or be manifested] before the [beemah] 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” (2 Cor. 5:10).

Thus whilst we have the utmost certainty that if we die, it is to be absent from the body, present with the Lord; and also that this is not all, but we shall be clothed upon with our glorified body of power, incorruptible, in the image of the heavenly, like Christ: yet this should not make us careless, but diligent that we may be accepted of Him. That is, our works approved, not burnt up, and thus be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. To confound this with being judged before the great white throne, is like not seeing the difference between giving rewards at the break up of school, and the boys having to be brought up as criminals at the Town Hall.

The apostle says, “But we are made manifest unto God.” Yes we ARE made manifest unto God. Already we have taken our places as guilty, without a hope in ourselves. We are pardoned, justified, sanctified. Our sins have been judged and borne by our holy Substitute. Now pass on, first, our manifestation before that blessed One who has loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. Surely angels may wonder at the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Now if all from our birth, to that moment when we are manifested in His glory, be brought out before the assembled myriads, yet will it not show the grace to “Such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified.” Yes, every saint will be to the praise of His glory. All this is unspeakably glorious to us, and think of being rewarded, recompensed, in that scene of glory, at the resurrection of the just!

How terrible the contrast in that scene, when the dead are judged! Every thought, motive, and act, all written in the books: every secret sin unconfessed, unforgiven—all, all, brought out into light. Vain the hope of pardon then. The day of mercy is past. The future, God has said it, is the lake of fire.

If a single believer could come into that judgment, then Christ would have died in vain. Oh rest my soul on the words of Jesus. “Shall not come into judgment” (John 5:24). The sad error of a general resurrection, then, has taken away all the untold joy, and brightness of the first resurrection; yea, has robbed the Christian of the blessed hope altogether. So that many do not even know that there is a first resurrection. Is it possible that that for which the apostle so longed, and for which the church waited in the patience of Christ, has been lost and forgotten It is too true.

Had we space we should find, that the promise of God to Abraham could not be fulfilled, if there were no first resurrection. “And I will give unto thee the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession” (See Gen. 13:14-15; 17:8) Stephen tells us Abraham was a stranger, had no inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on. It is plain if Abraham were not raised from among the dead until the heavens and the earth flee away, and he had to stand before the great white throne, then God would have broken His word to Abraham, which is impossible. By faith, they sojourned, and looked “that they might obtain a better resurrection” (Heb. 9). No; they shall be raised from among the dead, whether it be Israel for earthly, or the church for the heavenly glory. “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, and they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” This must be the reader's portion, or the lake of fire. May the Lord deliver you from the fatal delusion of putting off your salvation to the judgment of the dead.

The Great Tribulation, Or, The Time of the End

The end of this age. How much God has spoken about this, and how little attention man has paid to what God has said. As it would be impossible to understand the distance, and relation of different places on a map, without a correct scale, by which to measure those distances: so it is also impossible to understand the relation that one prophecy bears to another, unless we understand the scale of time which God was pleased to give to His servant Daniel. The Lord Jesus points to this when He says “whoso readeth let him understand” (Matt. 24:15)

It is important to notice that this discourse of the Lord Jesus was His own private explanation to His disciples. He explained the parable of the wheat and tares, privately to them in the house. So it would seem having discoursed in the temple on these matters as recited in Luke 21. Now having left it for the last time, and only three days from His own death: these explanations are given in answer to His disciples questions.

There is one sentence so badly translated that it quite hinders the simplicity of the discourse being understood. They say “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the age?” At the time when our translation was made the whole truth of the Lord's coming, and the end of the age had been so lost: and the strange notion that the coming of the Lord meant the end of the world, so the translators put their own notion, not the translation of the sentence.

Surely it becomes us to examine with solemnity, that which occupied the heart of the Lord Jesus so near His death. We will now examine the scale of prophetic time.

Read Daniel 9:24-27. There is God's scale of time. Just as on a map it may be one inch to the mile: so here, it is one day to the year. “Seventy weeks are determined upon Thy people, and upon Thy holy city,” and so forth. During those seventy weeks, or 490 years, all these great events were to take place. The great work of reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, indeed their whole history up to the anointing of the most Holy. The scale of time is divided into seven weeks, sixty-two weeks, and one week. “And after the threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, and shall have nothing,” marginal reading. We will leave the last week, or seven years, for a moment. There can be no mistake about the sixty-nine thus marked on the scale, and actually fulfilled. There was the starting point “the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem.” Which took place in the twentieth of Artaxerxes, and the sixty-nine weeks ended at the cross of Christ, when the Lord Jesus, having made reconciliation for iniquity, God raised Him from the dead in everlasting righteousness. But also equally true, though received up to glory, yet as Messiah He was actually rejected, cut off and had nothing.

Now as sixty-nine of the weeks of years have been so distinctly fulfilled, a day for a year, may we not expect the only one remaining week, or seven years, to be fulfilled in like manner? Why do we say one remaining week? You will find there is an indefinite period betwixt the end of the threescore and two weeks, and the last, the one week. “The people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.” This agrees strictly with the teaching of the Lord Jesus in Luke 21. An indefinite period of desolations is foretold. Jerusalem should be compassed with armies and destroyed. “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” Then follows the tribulation, distress of nations and the coming of the Son of Man, in the clouds with power and great glory. It is clear then, we are in that indefinite period which precedes the last week. The Romans were the people of that coming prince; as we all know they destroyed the city, aid the sanctuary: and from that day the determined desolations have continued. It is impossible to deny this.

And what has God been doing during this unmeasured period? Taking out from Jews and Gentiles the predestined Church.

That church as we learn, not here in the Old Testament, but in the New, will be taken up to be with the Lord before the tribulation of which we are about to speak.

We will now look at the last week or seven years of the prophetic scale. “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 so forth.” He, the coming prince of the people who destroyed the city, he shall confirm the covenant with the many. All this supposes when this time of the end arrives, that the city and Temple are rebuilt; and Jewish sacrifices restored, and certainly this is so from many other scriptures. “And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate” (Dan. 11:31). And mark this wicked one is a Jew (Dan. 5:36-38). This wicked one comes in his own name, and the many Jews restored to Jerusalem, receive him, and his action marks the last week on the scale: and still more distinctly the last half of that week—the three years and a half, the time of the end. Then the wicked one confirms a covenant with the Jews for seven years, then but not until then Jewish time will be reckoned again. The wicked flatterer goes on smoothly for half the week, or three years and a half: then the sure sign of the great tribulation is given, he causeth the sacrifice and oblation to cease, and sets up the idol of abomination in the holy place. Daniel 12 describes this time of the end. “And at that time......there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time Thy people (the Jews) shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”

“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, even to the time of the end.” Thus we see these words will be sealed to the Jews unto the time of the end. This is repeated, read Daniel 12:9, 13, and mark the setting up of the abomination is the sure beacon, yea, marks the very day from which the Jews who believe God may continue every days from that event, to their delivers and final blessing. “And from the time that sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.” This is thirty days over the last half week: and still fuller blessing a little further on. “Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.”

Now, as we have said, it is impossible to measure the distances on a map, unless those places are drawn to a correct scale, and also it is necessary that you understand that scale: just so is it impossible to understand correctly the prophetic periods, unless those prophecies are given on a correct uniform scale. There is no other scale of time given except this, and hence the importance of rightly understanding it. The scale then is this, seventy weeks, on the scale of a day to the year. Sixty-nine have been certainly fulfilled. One only remains. Marked by a covenant for seven years with the Jews; the last half of the seven years, to be marked by the setting up of the idol in the holy place. It must be carefully noted, that if the scale is correct, and uniform, the dates of the period of the end or tribulation, three years and a half, 1260 days, or forty two months must be understood of the same scale; that is, each of these numbers will represent the last three and a half days, (or years as a day is for a year), on the scale. Many writers have made a strange mistake as to these last days of the one week. Not only a day for a year on the scale, the last week seven years, but they have also reckoned each of those literal days of the three years and half as meaning a year also. And also another mistake, they have applied the last three years and half of the Jewish tribulation, as though it described the events of this interval of unmeasured time betwixt the sixty-ninth, and seventieth week.

We trust the reader will understand this: as the Lord Jesus points this sign out to the Jews particularly. “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains” and so forth (Matt. 24:15).

How correctly the scale measures every prophetic scripture. Take this chapter, Matthew 24. In Matthew 24:2, Jesus speaks of the destruction of the temple or sanctuary. This we have seen marks the end of the sixty-ninth week; Matthew 24:4-14 describes the unmeasured interval of desolations and wars. Then the Lord takes up the distinct mark of the middle of the last week, or seven years. The Jews who believe are then to flee, and so forth ... .. “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” Daniel had given the days with a few added to the last three years and a half. The Lord shows as to the dreadful tribulation, those (not years but) days shall be shortened. And as these are the last days before the setting up of the kingdom, the Lord tells us that immediately after the tribulation of those (not years but) days: the Son of Man cometh in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Now the Spirit of God is much occupied with those days, the last half of the last week, in the book of Revelation. It will be seen in Revelation 10 that the unmeasured period comes to a close. The mighty angel does not swear “that there shall be no more time:” this cannot be correct, as time did go on, and will for more than a thousand years. It is well known this should be, that time shall no longer be delayed. The Church has been taken to heaven. The unmeasured period has closed. Prophetic time, even the time of the end, now runs on. There is the temple again. It is measured. But the court which is without the Gentiles trample under foot, forty and two months: or three years and a half. So the witnesses also prophesy the same length of time. (Rev. 11:2-3). God has been pleased to give us many wonderful details, about this very time of the end, in Revelation 12 and 13. Israel is brought before us, in the symbol of the woman that brought forth the man child. The man child has been caught up to God, as foretold by Micah 5:2. “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” Thus JESUS born in Bethlehem, rejected, cut off and having nothing on earth, has been caught up to God: and the heavens must retain Him until the times of restitution (Acts 3:21). And though man, He is the eternal God: and He is to be ruler in Israel. Here, as the man child He is revealed as the mystic Christ; the unmeasured interval completed. “And she brought forth a man child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up to God and His throne.”

Now the Church is associated with Christ in this, as it is written in Revelation 2:26. “And he that overcometh, and keepeth My works unto the end; to him will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron,” and so forth. And when Christ comes to exercise this judgment the Church comes with Him. (Rev. 19:14-15). So that the full ascension of the man child is complete, when the Church, His body, is caught up to be with Him where He is: and to come with Him when He comes.

All this that we may understand where we are on the prophetic scale. This, and all that follows shows we shall have now passed the unmeasured interval, and have arrived at the very point marked as the beacon by the Lord: the beginning of the last half week, or three years and a half of the great tribulation. Did He not tell them to flee that very day, not even returning into the house for their clothes? (Matt. 24:16,18). So we read here, “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.” Just again the last three and half years. The saints having been caught up to the Lord (as revealed in 1 Thess. 4), you may now read of the great war in heaven that will take place: and their great joy in heaven: and how they overcame the accuser. Then Satan the devil, the dragon, is cast down to the earth, and his angels. If there is great joy in heaven: there will be great woe on earth. This is the sure prospect of the dwellers on earth when the devil is come down unto you.

All this takes place, and a great deal more, during these last three years and a half of the prophetic scale. You will notice when the dragon is cast to the earth, he cannot persecute the Church, she is rejoicing in heaven. He therefore brings his whole power to persecute the woman that brought forth the man child. That is the regathered Jews. She has an astonishingly rapid flight. “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 (year) and times (two years) and half a time, from the face of the serpent.” The same three years and half the time of the end. Then you may read of the fearful wrath of the devil during those days against those Jews, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. The prophecy of Daniel is to be sealed unto his people unto this time of the end. You may test this if you please: go to a Rabbi and ask him the meaning of Daniel 9 or 12. You will find, to him it is a sealed book. Not so when the time of the end arrives. It will then be unsealed. God can use this very little paper for this purpose if He please. When the remnant see the idol of abomination set up in their holy place, they will flee as here described.

Now if we turn to Revelation 13 we shall read how these fearful judgments affect not only the Jews, but all that dwell upon the earth. We shall find however it is still the last three years and a half of the scale. Before we do this, we will notice one most serious mistake that many have made. It is something like this. Suppose a surveyor of a new line of railway, say 490 miles in length, draws a plan of the line on a scale of one inch to the mile. The last three and a half miles is a very difficult piece, and will require a vast amount of specifications. He gives them the plan of 486.5 miles. This part is to be completed first. He then gives the most elaborate survey of the last three and a half miles. It is on the same scale an inch to a mile: and therefore only three and a half inches on the scale and means three and a half miles. But as the work is so difficult he may describe it by the yard, or even by the inch. The clerk of the works makes this mistake: he supposes instead of the distance being only the three miles and a half which completes the line, that every inch in the three miles and a half means a mile. This would stretch the three miles and half far far beyond the length of the whole line. More indeed than seventy thousand miles; whilst the whole length of the line is only 490 miles.

Strange as it may seem, this is just the mistake often made. The whole length of the prophetic time is seventy weeks, or 490 years, the unmeasured period before the last week not being counted. Now the last half week, or three years and a half, of this prophetic time is so tremendous in its character, that it is described in times, in months, in days: each of these making the correct scale three years and a half. Now writers have, and do mistake these days, as if they meant years, and thus calling them 1260 years! Not noticing that this is far longer than the whole-scale of time 490 years. These 490 years close with the anointing the most Holy. And as we have seen immediately after the tribulation of those days, He shall be seen coming with power and great glory. All sorts of fancies have been invented for the fulfillment of these 1260 years. I well remember American Adventists, alarming great numbers, by proving that Christ would come in, I think it was 1843. I will tell you how they did this, or how Satan did this by them in order, after it was past, to drive the excited people to infidelity. A certain year was fixed on for the coming of Christ. They then counted backward and fixed on some event in history as a starting point. In their lectures they started in this way from 6 or 7 different points, and always of course arrived at the same year. Let us turn to the Word, and we shall find that there has nothing happened yet in this interval, at all like what will take place during those three years and a half.

A beast is seen to rise out of the sea: and this beast answers to the old Roman Empire. (Rev. 13:1-2) That beast or imperial form of empire has been destroyed—wounded with the sword. But all the world is to wonder at this beast suddenly reappearing again. And all the world worships the dragon which gave power unto the beast. This has not taken place yet: it will be so during the last three and a half years. “And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.” The exact last measure on the scale again. He can only blaspheme the Church gone to heaven, forever with the Lord. But dreadful will be the condition of the poor Jews, for this short period of the end, on earth. “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given unto him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations; and all that dwell upon earth shall worship Him,” and so forth.

And now the wicked one is revealed, the other beast coming up out of the earth. What power of iniquity he will have, he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven. He uses one fearful power for evil, in compelling all men small and great, rich and poor, to receive the mark of the beast. Certainly this has not been fulfilled yet: Satan is trying it as a cruel power, for evil at this moment, and it is a new thing in the earth, and bears the name of a living man, one of its cruel victims. It is called Boycotting.

“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” Oh how terrible the state of the Roman Empire when this shall be its universal condition at the time of the end. Talk of 1260 years, if those days first named to Daniel were not shortened, no flesh could be saved.

What a trinity of evil! The dragon, the imperial head, and the wicked one, the man of sin—and this terrible engine of evil, of which we hear of its sad prelude even now. But all compelled to worship the dragon, and the beast or be put to death. What a reign of terror! And who can say how soon the Church may be taken, and it may begin?

It may be asked, how can these things be since the Roman Imperial Empire has been broken to pieces, by savage armies: and does not actually exist? This was answered before its destruction. The angel explained this to John in John 17. The beast or imperial head “was, and is not, and yet shall be.” What a surprise this will be to Europe—that terrible Empire suddenly appearing again. And Satan giving his power to the imperial head. It is perfectly childish to say this has been: either in the days of Napoleon, or at any other time. For not only is there the beast, the head: but there are to be also ten horns or “kings which have received no kingdom as yet: but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.” No ten kings have done what these will do, for they will “give their power and strength unto the beast.” This is entirely new: and will take place not now but at the time of the end.

It may be asked what then will become of the false professing church, when the true saints have been taken to be with the Lord, during this awful time of the end, the last three and a half years? She seems for a moment to swell to greater grandeur and iniquity than ever, as the great whore. She even sits on the blasphemous beast: and he carrieth her. This is only for a very short time: for he and the ten kings utterly destroy her. “And the ten horns which thou sawest and (not upon) the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.” Her utter destruction is then described in Revelation 18. Such then will be the reign of awful terror, the tribulation such as never was, and never shall be again: and then immediately the Son of Man shall come, and every eye shall see Him: and all tribes of the earth shall mourn. Then shall take place the judgment of the quick: and the setting up of His kingdom on earth.

How strangely the Scriptures have been misunderstood on these subjects. Take this one. “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” This has frequently been referred to as meaning Christianity. The least attention would have shown that those kings had not received their kingdoms when John wrote the Revelation: and as we have seen have not done so yet.

No, it is at the end of the last three years and a half, in the very days of these kings, that God sets up His earthly kingdom. This may be further seen, when the terrible character of the fourth or Roman Empire is seen as foretold in Daniel 7:13. “I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven ... ..and there was given Him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all people nations and languages, should serve Him, His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Then shall commence that glorious kingdom and reign of Christ on earth. Israel the center of that kingdom and Jerusalem the holy metropolis of the whole world. We hope to look at those scriptures which speak of that millennial reign in another paper. God could not have given more clear and distinct warning: and the very world seems conscious that some terrible judgment is at hand. Oh, reader, are you ready to go in before the door is shut, are you ready to meet the Lord? To-morrow may be forever too late. The unmeasured period of grace may close this day. Tomorrow may be strong delusion, to believe a lie and to be damned. How Satan can deceive his poor dupes. May God enable you at this moment to flee from the wrath to come. What an end to human pride, and boasting, and progress! God's Word will be found true. All these things shall surely come to pass. Men may cry peace and safety: but the sadden destruction shall come. No longer despise the Word of God: No longer listen to the lies of men. O God awake men from their fatal sleep. Jesus says, “Surely I come quickly.” And hearken to these, His words. He says, “I am Alpha, and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely” (Rev. 21:6). C. S.

The Riband of Blue and the Lace of Blue

NUM 15

EXO 28

In these two scriptures we have a remarkable contrast. The one, the riband of blue, is a symbol or sign of man fully tested under the most favorable circumstances: what man is to God. In the other, the lace of blue: what Christ is to man.

Let us remember both were of God. Man has been tested. Christ is our great High Priest.

In turning, then, first, to the riband of blue, let us remark that the institution of the riband of blue was of God. “And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments, throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders A RIBAND OF BLUE: and it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them ... .That ye may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy unto your God. I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. I am the Lord your God.”

Thus the institution of the riband of blue was of God, and is very beautiful. It was not worn in Egypt whilst they were slaves to Pharaoh, but after God had brought them out by redemption. A riband of blue, worn by a slave of Pharaoh, or a slave of Satan, would be a contradiction, as blue is the heavenly color, that which is of God.

Who, then, were to wear the riband of blue? The nation of Israel, and the stranger that came to dwell with them, to sojourn in the land. It was the outward visible sign of that one nation whom God had brought from Egypt, and to whom He had made known His laws and commandments. As circumcision was a mark before the eye of God, so the riband of blue was to be a constant sign of remembrance before their own eyes. “That ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them.” “And be holy unto your God.” It certainly was very striking: the blue on the fringe of their garments, almost touching the earth as they walked, with its heavenly color, ever proclaiming the holy claims of God, He requiring men to walk in heavenly purity and holiness before Him.

The context of the institution of the riband of blue will show that it was not a sign that Israel did thus walk in heavenly purity, but rather what a holy God must require. He must have a perfect obedience to all His commandments, if man is to stand on that ground before Him.

The context is indeed remarkable. In Numbers 14 we find Israel murmuring, in rebellion so fearfully, that had God dealt with them in judgment, they would have been destroyed. Then we have the intercession of Moses. The Lord hears and pardons. Still there is continued rebellion and sin. Then grace shines out in Numbers 15, and also government. They had pledged themselves to do all the commandments of the Lord, in Exodus 19. Thus the riband of blue was a badge of the pledge they had taken to do ALL the commandments of Jehovah.

The immediate context of this deeply interesting institution is still more remarkable. A man was found gathering sticks on the sabbath-day. If he had kept the law in every other point, yet he was guilty. “And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall surely be put to death.” The sabbath-day being a type of the rest of soul God gives through redemption, nothing could possibly be allowed on man's part to pollute that rest. God said to Israel, “And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence, through a mighty hand, and by a stretched-out arm: THEREFORE the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath-day” (Deut. 5:15).

Does not God still speak in this shadow? Peace with God and rest of soul is only to be found through the redemption we have in Christ Jesus. Hence, nothing can be allowed of our works to touch or pollute the perfect Sabbath of rest we have in Christ.

This will be seen in another scripture. Never was the observance of the Sabbath more strictly enforced than when Moses was just about to receive the people's contributions for the tabernacle. “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the Lord: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations on the sabbath-day” (Ex. 35:2-3).

Does not God say to us in this, The first thing I desire is, that you may have perfect repose in my presence: then I am ready to receive your smallest works and offerings? And does not this explain why God could have no pleasure in those sacrifices which did not purge the conscience, or bring man into the holy presence of God? (See Heb. 10:1-10). Nay, was not this God's eternal purpose to bring the sinner, perfectly purged from sins, into His holy presence in the perfect and eternal sabbath of rest? We can well see, then, why no work of man could be allowed to mar this rest.

The man had not kindled the fire, but he had presumptuously gathered the sticks. And mark, that if a man is on the principle of law, of which the riband of blue was the outward sign, he is under the curse; for the least infraction of that law brings a curse. The gatherer of sticks, though he had not kindled the fire, must die. We shall find this fully confirmed in the New Testament.

We will now inquire what was the first thing that took place after the touching and beautiful institution of the riband of blue. The very first thing we find in the host of the riband of blue, is the sin and rebellion of Korah and his company.

How sad this is: instead of looking at the riband of blue, and keeping all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, to be holy unto the Lord, the very leaders, the ministers of the sanctuary, are chief in this fearful rebellion. This was the first act of the army of the riband of blue. Surely it demands our attention, and especially as we know this is one of the great sins of Christendom—the way of Core, or Korah. (Jude 11).

The sin was this: it was the ministers of God seeking also to usurp the priesthood. There was only one high priest in Israel, type of our only one great High Priest, passed into the heavens. Rebellion against Aaron was sin against the Lord. And what was the righteous judgment of the Lord on these wicked men? The earth was made to open its mouth, and swallow them up. They went down alive into the pit. Fire also came out from the Lord, and destroyed the two hundred and fifty princes, famous in the congregation, men of renown. And if it was so fearful to sin against Aaron, is it a light matter, O ye so-called priests, famous in the congregation, to sin now against Christ, by usurping the functions of priesthood? We earnestly entreat you to repent before the terrible judgment, now so near at hand, overtakes you.

There is but one great High Priest, who has passed into the heavens; what, then, will be the judgment on those who usurp His place as priests on earth?

Thus, at the institution of the riband of blue, man was placed on the principle he had accepted, to remember and do all the commandments of the Lord; but the gathering of sticks on the Sabbath, and the sin of Korah and his company, prove, that the least presumptuous breach of that law must be punished with death.

Then, further, what was the history of those marked out from the rest of the world by this badge of blue? Can we find one person, from Moses to Christ, that kept his pledge—that kept the holy principles of the riband of blue? No, not one; for “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” What a happy people would Israel have been, had they kept the holy walk of the riband of blue! But, alas! judges, priests, kings, people, all are proved, in God's Word, guilty before Him! Not one kept the pledge of the riband of blue!

It was to this very nation, who wore the riband of blue on the fringe of their garments, that God sent His Son. Did He find the riband of blue a true sign, that they remembered and did all the commandments of the Lord? Did He find them a holy people to Jehovah?

Hear what Jesus says: “All their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments.” Yes, the eye of the Son of God saw that riband of blue on the fringe of their garments, as a mark of hypocrisy and self-righteousness.

The two great commandments are—Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Now the Eternal God was made flesh, and dwelt among the company of the riband of blue. Did they love Him? He who created the universe was revealed in love, He had become their neighbor. Did the wearers of that heavenly-colored riband love Him? They hated Him without a cause. They spat in His face. They demand that He should be crucified. And as He was offered up in divine love a sacrifice for sins, as He breathed those most tender words, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” they gnashed their teeth with rage and hatred of Him, though every one of them may have worn the riband of blue. They were pledged by that riband to remember all the commands of that very Jehovah-Jesus, whom, with wicked hands, they crucified, and hanged on a tree.

We do solemnly ask the reader, Has not many been fully tested on the principle of law, of which the riband of blue was the outward sign? Man thus pledged himself to keep the law, but only to break it. Could the wearers of the blue have possibly been more guilty than they were in murdering the Holy One of God?

No doubt, as we shall see, God's purpose of infinite grace shone out in all this. The effect of the blue riband principle and institution was simply this: sin abounded. Sin, man's nature, abounded in open transgression. “Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Rom. 5:20) There can be no doubt, then, of the utter break-down of the principle of the riband of blue.

Man was pledged to keep the law, but all were guilty. The question, then, now is this—Would there be good or harm in combining the principle of the riband of blue with Christ? Would it be pleasing to God for a Christian to wear the riband of blue, and pledge himself to keep all the commandments of the Lord? As a principle, is it still in force, or is it abolished? What does the Spirit say as to all this in the inspired Word?

We will look for a moment at the fairest specimen of man under law that ever wore the riband of blue. Saul of Tarsus, surely, was that man. He says, speaking of the righteousness of the law, of which the blue riband was the sign, “touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless.” He was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, a chief wearer of the riband of blue. If any man could have been justified on that principle, certainly Saul was the man. Now hear him speak, after Christ in glory had appeared to him. He says, “But what things”—yes, blue riband, and all it represented—“were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus My Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness which is of the law.” He had sought to stand before God wearing the blue riband, o to speak; that is, in the righteousness of law, of which it was the outward sign; but now he counted all this as dung, compared with being found in Christ. Yes, Christ was everything to him now, and the blue riband nothing.

If you had seen him once, how different!—not wearing a little bit of riband, but with his broad fringe, and on it the riband of blue. Thus he went along the road to Damascus, with all good conscience, a blameless man, doing the will of God, as he thought. But what did that light from heaven reveal to him? A few words from Jesus, the Son of God, and the proud Pharisee was the convicted enemy of Christ. Yes, the wearer of the riband of blue was the greatest enemy of Christ on earth. The very first commandment of the Lord which that riband reminded him he should keep, was to love the Lord with all his heart. But he found, to his horror, that he was a hater and persecutor of that very Lord. Ah, well might he from that day count all that the riband represented to be loss and dung, for the excellency of Christ.

Beloved reader, have you ever, like Saul, discovered the deep hatred of the heart against Christ? And yet in that MAN IN THE GLORY what grace and love! The blue riband persecutor was chosen to be the messenger of Christ, the apostle of the Gentiles. Ever after, to Paul the apostle, the difference between the gospel and that of which the blue riband was the outward sign, was as wide as the poles are apart. Do we hear some reader saying, How can this be? Was not the blue riband instituted by God? Was it not to remind the people under law that they were to do all the commandments of the Lord? And is not the law just, and holy, and good? Would it not be a great blessing to keep all the commandments of the Lord, to be sober, righteous, and holy? Most assuredly this would be the case, if such a person could be found. But not only did this, the most blameless wearer of the riband of blue, find himself to be the chief of sinners, the greatest enemy of Christ, but let us now hear what the Spirit of God says, by him, as to the whole human race.

First, he shows that those nations, the Gentiles, who, of course, were not under the law, as he shows, and therefore did not wear its sign, the riband of blue—all these were utterly sunk in the deepest lawlessness and depravity (Rom. 1). Then he speaks of the one nation of the blue riband—Israel—who had received the law, but had not kept it, and proves from their own scriptures that they were as guilty as the Gentiles. Read his words, nay, the words of God (Rom. 3). Thus, after fifteen hundred years' trial of the riband of blue, all are proved guilty. This closed the trial of man in the flesh, and proved that, on that principle, “by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

Apply all this to your own case. Suppose you say, I am a Jew, and I will wear the blue riband, the sign of it, that I may remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them. Now, if you are a guilty sinner—and can you say you are not?—what good in this case would there be in wearing the riband of blue?

No, we must not look for righteousness and justification on a totally new and different principle, “even the righteousness of God, which is by Jesus Christ”? It is thus Christ, or the blue riband. The accomplished righteousness of God, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, or man working out a righteousness of his own by remembering all the commandments of the Lord, to do them.

It may now be asked, But what harm would there be in adopting both Christ and the principles signified in the institution of the riband of blue? Believe in Christ, and then wear the riband, as a pledge to keep all the commandments of the Lord—of course, praying to Him to help us to keep that pledge? Well, to the natural man, this looks very fair. But have we not an inspired epistle on this very subject? Did the Spirit of God not know that this would be the greatest danger that ever could assail the church of God? And on no subject is the Apostle Paul so earnest and vehement.

If the reader would understand the danger of the Christian going back, or combining the principles of the riband of blue, though once instituted by God, with the gospel, let him most carefully study the Epistle to the Galatians. He will find that the very thing symbolized by the riband of blue, that is, righteousness by works of law, is the very leaven that the Judaizing teachers wished to introduce, in order to neutralize the grace of Christ. Now mark, deliverance from sins, according to the will of God, is through our Lord Jesus Christ, “who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God our Father” (Gal. 1:4). This is all of grace, free favor. Well might the apostle marvel that they were so soon, and so easily, turned from the grace of Christ unto another gospel, “which was not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.” If any man or angel did this, he was to be accursed.

He had not received his gospel from man, or by man, but from the Lord. False brethren had come in, seeking to bring them again into bondage. Nay, in this very matter he had had to withstand Peter to his face, because he was to be blamed. The gospel was endangered. Then the argument of the apostle is very striking; he says, “We who are Jews by nature”—the very people who wore the blue riband—”and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” Thus the very wearers of the riband of blue had given up works of law for justification, that they might be justified by faith of Christ. Surely this exposed the folly of those who would persuade those justified by Christ to mix with Christ the principles of the riband of blue. Nay, the apostle says, if I do so I make myself a transgressor. He says, “I am crucified with Christ.” Now a crucified person needs no blue riband as a sign that he is keeping the law. The old man who wore the blue riband no longer lives. It is now Christ: “but Christ liveth in me.” The life he now lives is not on the old principle at all, but entirely new. “I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” This is not on the principle of the old man, the old I keeping the law. How can it be, if “I am crucified”? A dead man needs no riband of blue. To wear it again would be to frustrate the grace of God. I do not do that, Paul says.

But if I am saved by Christ, may I not adopt the blue, and so seek righteousness before God by keeping the commandments? “If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” The foolish Galatians were forgetting that the law (or riband of blue) had not been set before them, but “Jesus Christ evidently set forth crucified among on.” Yes, it was by what He had done that they had received the Spirit of God. Think of their bodies being the temples of the Holy Spirit, and then so foolish as to seek perfection by works of law for that old man of the riband which had been crucified with Christ. We can only point out a few facts now.

Abraham lived long before the law, and the institution of the riband of blue. He believed God, and it was counted to him for justification, or righteousness.

As many as are of the works of the law, the sign of which was the riband of blue, are under the curse (see Gal. 3:10), “for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” Christ redeemed those who had been under the law (Gal. 3:13).

The promise to Abraham was confirmed in the Seed, which is Christ, four hundred and thirty years before the law, or the blue riband. The Scripture hath concluded all under sin (Gal. 3:22). We are now saved, not by the law, but by redemption. “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (Gal. 4:5-6).

To return back to the beggarly elements was enough to make the apostle doubt whether they had ever been truly converted. (Gal. 4:9-11).

Circumcision was one of the commandments under the institution of the riband of blue. “Behold I, Paul, say unto you, that if ye [the Galatians] be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing ... .. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.” Thus man has been tried, and found guilty, and, according to the institution of the riband of blue, he cannot be saved. “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2) The whole Epistle to the Galatians is on this subject, as it was there especially that the false teachers sought to introduce the institution of the riband of blue, that is, righteousness by the law, and man in legal bondage to keep it. Let us examine the blessed contrast of the priesthood of Christ and THE LACE OF BLUE.

We have seen man fully tested under law, as symbolized by the riband of blue, and found him only guilty. We have also seen that to go back to the institution of the riband of blue is to give up grace, and to make the death of Christ of none effect.

We now desire to consider the priesthood of Christ and the lace of blue. “And they shall bind the breastplate by rings thereof unto the rings of the ephod with A LACE OF BLUE, that it may be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod. And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually. And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart when he goeth in before the Lord: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart continually. And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue.”

Here, in this chapter, all points to Christ, the great High Priest passed into the heavens. The riband of blue showed what we ought to have been to God, and were not; the lace of blue, What Christ is to us, having first glorified God on the cross.

Whatever excellencies and glories of Christ we see shadowed in the dress of the high priest, let us not forget that gold, the emblem of divine righteousness, has the first place. “Gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine-twined linen.” He is all this for us. What Jesus was in the flesh was typified in the materials of the veil—as the royal Sufferer, as the Messiah, as the One in whom the Father delighted; all was perfect. But He was not a priest on earth; He must first suffer; the fine gold must pass through the fire. As our Substitute, He must bear the judgment due to us once, and then pass into heaven, our great High Priest. “Who, being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, WHEN HE HAD BY HIMSELF purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

There is another fact of all—importance to Christians expressed in two words—”WE HAVE.” “We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.” We have not to come and pray that He would be our Priest. Whatever tender sympathy, whatever security-all, all we see in our great High Priest—is ours, whether we know it, or not (Heb. 3:1; 4:14-16; 8:1; 10:21).

It is, however, important not only to look at and learn the precious lessons set before us in the dress of the high priest; but also to seek to understand the contrasts between Aaron and Christ.

There were two places on which the names of the children of Israel were set in gold—on the shoulder, and on the heart (Ex. 28:12, 29). “Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial.” Thus we see all Israel represented before the Lord on the two shoulders of the high priest. Is not this a striking picture of every child of God placed in security and strength, like the sheep that He laid on His shoulder?

The priesthood of Christ is not to meet us when we sin, but rather to preserve us from sinning, our names being ever on His shoulders, and He having an abiding, unchangeable priesthood. “Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost [evermore] that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.” What a contrast this is to putting ourselves under law, or taking the pledge, to save ourselves from sin!

But not only were all Israel written, nay, engraved, on the shoulders of Aaron, we must pass on to the lace of blue and the breastplate of judgment. The names of all Israel must also be engraved like the engraving of a signet, and placed on precious stones in that breastplate of judgment on the heart of Aaron. Why did the Lord give such minute instructions as to the materials and the security of the breastplate? What a place gold has in all this! It is like the glad tidings of the revelation of the righteousness of God. What chains of gold and rings of gold! “And they shall bind the breastplate by the rings thereof unto the ephod with a lace of blue.” Blessed security! fastened on the heart of the high priest with a heavenly tie the heavenly color, blue. Thus, whilst the riband of blue reminded Israel of the heavenly, holy claims of God on them—claims which they never met—the lace of blue points to those who are given by the Father, and ever accepted in the Son. And how secure the fastenings: “that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod.”

What a sight! Look at our great High Priest. Who are they engraved on His tender heart? Let us hear Him tell. He says, “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me, I will in nowise cast out. And this is the Father's will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.”

Do you not see the lace of blue in all this? All is of the Father's will. Perhaps you say, How am I to know that the Father hath given me to Christ? Have you come to Him, or are you trusting in your own resolutions? He says, further, “And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life,” and so forth. Have you by faith seen the Son of God, and believed on Him? Then rest assured you are bound on His heart with the lace of blue. It is the Father's heavenly hand. Again, He says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of My hand. My Father which gave them Me is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand” (John 6:10). Thus have we the answer—ALL that the Father has given to Christ are placed in abiding security on His heart. Rings and chains of gold, and lace of blue—all, all are of God. Now read Romans 8:29-39. What a chain of pure gold! What rings of everlasting love! Predestinated, called, justified, glorified. Who shall condemn? “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Yes, all is the lace of blue; all is of God-from eternity to eternal glory. Engraved like the engraving of a signet—bound with a lace of blue in everlasting security, that they be not loosed.

It may, indeed, be asked, How can such lost sinners as we be placed on the heart of Christ, never to be separated from His love? On what ground can this be in righteousness? For an answer to this question, we ask your careful attention to these words: “And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of JUDGMENT upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually” (Ex. 28:29). Still more: “And thou shalt put in the breastplate of JUDGMENT the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart when he goeth in before the Lord: And Aaron shall bear the JUDGMENT of the children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually.”

Here, then, is the ground of our security on the heart of Christ. He who bears our names on His heart has first borne the judgment due to us; yea, bore that judgment according to Urim and Thummim. He has met the claims of the light and perfection of God. Other foundation for my soul than this would I have none. Before He sat down in the radiance of the glory of God, He purged our sins. He bore our sins in His own body on the tree. He was delivered for our iniquities. He made atonement for sins. Christ died for the sins of many. “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many.” Yea, if we turn to the epistle, on this subject, we shall find this pressed more than anything else. The infinite value of that one sacrifice, when He offered Himself as the ground of the immutable security and perfection, as to the conscience, of those sanctified unto God by that one offering.

To return, then, to our chapter, and type of our great High Priest, two things are evidently set forth in that breastplate, bound by the lace of blue. Christ, the Substitute, bearing our judgment, and Christ, our Representative, in whom we are immutably accepted.

In the principle of the riband of blue we see man tested, and proved utterly guilty, under judgment. In the principle of divine righteousness and grace, set forth in the lace of blue, we see the Substitute taking our place, bearing our judgment, both as to sins and sin, so that we can say, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth?” Now mark the order: “It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Rom. 8:34). We say, how beautiful the order: first, He died on the cross; He bare our judgment; God has raised Him from among the dead for our justification. So that God is our Justifier! Then, next, He is even at the right hand of God. There we see Him our High Priest: He maketh intercession for us. So that all is removed that unfitted us, and we are accepted in the Beloved. We now see Him who was our Substitute, bearing the full judgment of God due to us, now our Representative, bearing our names upon His heart in the full light and perfection of God. Bound by a lace of blue, to be unloosed no more—engraved there, to be never effaced. The robe of the ephod ALL of blue. Yes, all this of God. If the riband of blue shows what, we ought to have been, and failed; the lace of blue, and the robe ALL of blue, reveals what God has made Christ to be to us. And He never fails.

We can only, in this short paper, dwell on one thing more. “And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engraving of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. And thou shalt put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the miter, upon the forefront of the miter it shall be. And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.”

Who is worthy, we ask—who in His own Person is worthy to wear the blue lace before the eye of God? It is that glorious, peerless Man who sits on the right hand of the Majesty on high. He whom God has made to be righteousness unto us—He who has established the throne of God in righteousness, yet perfect grace to us. Oh, Holy, Holy, Holy One, Thou alone art HOLINESS TO THE LORD, Thou alone art worthy to wear the lace of blue. We bow and adore Thee, and cast the riband of blue at Thy feet. Thou hast borne the iniquity of the things of Thy people, and now they are accepted in Thee before the Lord.

What a wondrous picture! all the redeemed people of God accepted, and presented in the holiest, immutably on the heart of Christ, bound there by the lace of blue.

In considering the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, as set before us in the Epistle to the Hebrews, let us bear in mind the remarkable place that gold had in the dress of the high priest. The names of Israel were set in gold on the shoulder, and fastened by rings of gold and the lace of blue to the heart of Aaron. That lace of blue, as we have seen, by its heavenly color, speaks to us, and says, all is of God. We are given and fastened to the heart of our great High Priest by the loving hand of God.

This epistle is in perfect harmony with these typical thoughts. It is God speaking to His people, not now by His prophets, as in the past, but God speaking in the Son. The glory of His Person introduces and crowns His finished work. The appointed Heir of all things, He, the eternal, self-existent Son, by whom the universe was made. He did not become, but, “who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, WHEN He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

Could any mere man, or creature, be the self-existent brightness of the glory of God? Could any mere creature be the upholder of all things? He is truly God! “Unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.” And yet as truly perfect man. “Thou halt loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows.” Thus is the Person of our great High Priest set before us. But mark, before He became our High Priest how completely His atoning work was finished; and, as we learn elsewhere, divine righteousness was accomplished! It was “when He had purged our sins.” He “sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” This was in direct contrast with Aaron, or the high priest in Israel. He never had finished his work. He never could offer a sacrifice that purged our sins. He never, therefore, sat down. Scarcely need we say that the law, as symbolized by the riband of blue, knew nothing of this. Man did not keep all the commandments of the Lord, and the law could never purge our sins, but only curse the transgressor. But the lace of blue points to a Priest who has first of all purged our sins by His own blood. “By his own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” Having, then, by that one sacrifice opened the way for us into the holiest, even into heaven itself, and having obtained eternal redemption for us, it is evident we need no other sacrifice. Can anything be superior to eternal redemption? Can anything be additional to that which forever perfects? Oh, the blasphemy of the man that can pretend to be superior to Christ! —to pretend to offer sacrifices for the living and the dead. We ask you, reader, Have you eternal redemption through the blood of Christ? Then what other sacrifice can you need?

It is most important to be quite clear about this, that the one sacrifice of Christ is the ground of His Priesthood. “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many.” God had no pleasure in those sacrifices which could never take away sins. (Heb. 10:1-9). It was the blessed will of God that our sins should be so put away, that He in righteousness should remember them as against us no more.

The Lord Jesus came to do that will. He has done it, and the Holy Spirit now bears witness that God will remember our sins no more. This brings us back to the all-important fact that all this was accomplished before He sat down. “But this man, AFTER He had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down on the right hand of God.” Mark, He settled the whole question of the believer's sins before He sat down; in this sense, that they never could, or would, be imputed to believers. The Priesthood of Christ begins there.

But then, is not this the very opposite of all human ideas of priesthood? Of course it is. You see that poor woman, or rich one either. She is going, to her priest. What is she going to him for? About her sins. She wants him to intercede for her with God maybe to offer a sacrifice for her sins. She will pay him to do this. She knows nothing of eternal redemption, nothing of a purged conscience. Her sins, her sins, these drive her to the priest. Or she may have seen the dreadful wickedness of a man pretending to be a priest, and to have power, either to offer sacrifices for sins, or to forgive them. And she may try to come to Christ, that He may do something, as the only Priest, to relieve her. Centuries of false teaching as to priesthood have almost obliterated the truth, that the believer is forever perfected (Heb. 10:14). In ignorance of that fact, a person then looks to Christ to be his Priest when he has sinned, and to intercede with God for him; or to let him have a fresh application or sprinkling of blood; or do something to relieve the conscience as to sins. All this is entirely erroneous, and utterly contrary to the fact that all is done, and the worshipper once purged needs nothing more to perfect that one sacrifice by which he is immutably perfected as to the conscience.

Search through this epistle on the priesthood of Christ, and you will be struck with this—it is not priesthood before God if we sin. Should that be the case, He meets us as Advocate with the Father, not as Priest with God. (See 1 John 2.) But even then it is on the ground that He is our righteousness, having made propitiation for our sins. And mark as to that also, it is not if we repent and come to Him, that then, perhaps, He may be our Advocate, if we repent enough, and so merit His intercession. No, He is our Advocate. We have such an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. It is wholly of the Father—the lace of blue. We repent, utterly judge ourselves, because we have such an Advocate.

Peter sinned deeply, did he not? Had he to repent before Jesus prayed for him? Before Peter repented, yes, before he sinned, Jesus said, I HAVE prayed for thee. Yes, whether it be as Advocate with the Father, or as our great High Priest before the face of God, all is of God; it is the heavenly blue, the lace of blue. The Priesthood of Christ, then, is to “succor them that are tempted,” “to help in time of need.”

Let us now by faith look up, and see Jesus, our great High Priest, before the face of God for us. Let us dwell on the tenderness and glory set forth in the dress of the high priest. The gold is there. The righteousness of God is now accomplished. He is our subsisting righteousness. The purple is there. As the altar was to be covered with purple, so was He, the royal Sufferer. Yes, the body prepared was once covered with purple. Scarlet was there: David's royal Son, now in heavenly glory. Fine-twined linen was there; the ever-righteous One.

Now look a little closer, if only a little child whose sins are forgiven; see your name engraved, and placed on His shoulder, set fast there in righteousness complete. Nay, look again, and never cease to look. Your name engraved, set upon His heart, in the light and perfection of the glory of God. Oh, that lace of blue! It is God the Father that has tied you fast with the heavenly lace of blue—no more to be separated, no more to be loosed. It is the heart of Him who has borne the judgment due to you; it is the heart of infinite, unchanging love. Oh, look at the Person of your great High Priest, blessed, only holy One, the plate of pure-gold righteousness before the face of God—holiness to Jehovah. Yes, and—blessed words!—we have such a High Priest. Consider our High Priest.

If it be the riband of blue, in our efforts and pledges to keep all the commandments, we have failed, and shall fail to keep them. But it is the lace of blue: Christ, our great High Priest, will never fail to keep us safe to the end. Did He not pass by the angels, and take hold on our nature, that He might be a faithful and merciful High Priest? that He might first make reconciliation for our sins, and also, having suffered being tempted, He might succor us when tempted? We have not to do one thing that He may become our Priest; no, “we have a great High Priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God.” Sometimes we are so tempted, so tried, by the world, and still more by false brethren, that we wonder what will come next. He who watches over and cares for us never so wonders. “All things are naked and open unto His eyes.” All is known to Him. He has trod every step of the way. As man He learned His lesson perfectly. So that, being in that sense made perfect, He became the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him. Nothing, present or future, can ever loose us from that breastplate of light and perfection. Nothing can ever unloose those rings of gold and chains of love. Nothing can untie what God has tied, that lace of blue. God gave Him this blessed Priesthood, and God gave us to Him.

Not a temptation can come, not a single need or trial, but He sees it all beforehand; and He is well able to help in time of need. Yes, He is all we need before the face of God, having borne our judgment once. Having once purged our sins, He is all we need in passing through this wilderness to succor and sustain. And we have such an High Priest whose priesthood is unchangeable. “Wherefore He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Thus the riband of blue is a symbol of that which saves never. The lace of blue shows us fastened to Him who saves to the uttermost, even forever.

Have you seen the dignity of our great High Priest, the Son of God? Then, also, have you seen the wondrous dignity of those placed, through the riches of His grace, on the very heart of this great High Priest? Think of these words: “For such an high priest BECAME US, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.” How we have forgotten our heavenly calling! What has God purposed us to be? Or what the height of His eternal purpose, for such an High Priest to become us? Yes, through infinite grace, we too are to be holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and finally with Him, for whom we wait, made higher than the heavens (Eph. 1). Who but our great High Priest could thus save us to the end?

How much still remains to be unfolded of the priesthood of Christ in this epistle! However, this is the sum: “We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the-Majesty in the heavens;” and therefore we need no other. Such a High Priest excludes all others. If we believe His one sacrifice has put, away all our sins from the sight of God, then such a sacrifice excludes all others. In like manner such a High Priest excludes all need of another.

The priesthood of Israel made nothing perfect with its oft-repeated sacrifices and its annual day of atonement. These sacrifices could never take away sins. Man was still shut out of the holiest. The institution of the riband of blue made nothing perfect, for no one kept all the commandments of the Lord, to do them. All were guilty. What a contrast in Christ, our great High Priest! By His own blood He has entered in, having obtained eternal redemption for us. The veil is now rent from top to bottom. He ever bears our names upon His heart. He ever liveth to make intercession for us. He ever appears in the presence of God for us. He is ever set down in perfect repose. “For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.” Now, if we believe this testimony of the Holy Spirit, we repeat, what need have we of the hosts of pretending, usurping priests?

If God thus spake by Moses, when men sought to usurp the priesthood of Aaron: “Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men,” what is the wickedness of those now in His sight who dare to usurp the priesthood of Christ, and deny the eternal efficacy of His one sacrifice, by offering false sacrifices of their own? May God, by the Holy Spirit, keep our hearts true to Christ, and deliver His people from every form of deception in these last days.

C. S.

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The C.S. Tracts: Volume 6

Table of Contents

"God So Loved" (John 3:16.)

The First Resurrection

The Great Tribulation, Or, The Time of the End

The Riband of Blue and the Lace of Blue