GEORGE WASHINGTON’S AMAZING PRAYERS
from way of life literature
It is challenge to read the following excerpt from one of George Washington’s prayers, but it is also sad. It is sad because it reminds us that America’s true greatness is long past. It has a glorious and unique heritage. No other Gentile nation that I know of has had such a godly leader in its infancy.
This prayer, which was written in Washington’s own handwriting in his prayer journal, is from William Johnson’s George Washington, the Christian, 1919: “O eternal and everlasting God, I presume to present myself this morning before thy Divine majesty, beseeching thee to accept of my humble and hearty thanks, that it hath pleased thy great goodness to keep and preserve me the night past from all the dangers poor mortals are subject to, and has given me sweet and pleasant sleep, whereby I find my body refreshed and comforted for performing the duties of this day, in which I beseech thee to defend me from all perils of body and soul. Direct my thoughts, words and work, wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the Lamb, and purge my heart by thy Holy Spirit, from the dross of my natural corruption, that I may with more freedom of mind and liberty of will serve thee, the everlasting God, in righteousness and holiness this day, and all the days of my life. Increase my faith in the sweet promises of the gospel; give me repentance from dead works; pardon my wanderings, and direct my thoughts unto thyself, the God of my salvation; teach me how to live in thy fear, labor in thy service, and ever to run in the ways of thy commandments; make me always watchful over my heart, that neither the terrors of conscience, the loathing of holy duties, the love of sin, nor an unwillingness to depart this life, may cast me into a spiritual slumber, but daily frame me more and more into the likeness of thy son Jesus Christ, that living in thy fear, and dying in thy favor, I may in thy appointed time attain the resurrection of the just unto eternal life. Bless my family, friends and kindred; unite us all in praising and glorifying thee in all our works begun, continued, and ended, when we shall come to make our last account before thee, blessed Saviour...”
Monday, 28 April 2008
Give Attendance To Reading
Their Kingdom Come - Inside The Secret World Of Opus Dei by Robert Hutchison
The advertising blurb for this book reads " The book the Catholic church won't want you to read ! " .
No greater recommendation be given .
Their Kingdom Come - Inside The Secret World Of Opus Dei by Robert Hutchison
The advertising blurb for this book reads " The book the Catholic church won't want you to read ! " .
No greater recommendation be given .
Saturday, 26 April 2008
From The Worldwide Web
1.Thousands queue to see corpse of Padre Pio
2. Pope John XXIII believed Padre Pio was a fraud
3.The other side of miraculous monk Padre Pio - Eamon McCann ...
4.Christian photographers fined for refusing same-sex ceremony
5. Obama promises 'gays' 'strongest possible bill'
6.'EXPELLED' - No Intelligence AllowedWhat happens to scientists who question Darwinian evolution
7.Please send your protest to BBC NI over the use oflicence fee money to tell the 600 million year theoretical 'history' of the island of Ireland
8.‘HOPE 2008’ and their ‘ecumenical-friendly’ Basis of Faith
9.‘Hope 2008’ – not “that blessed hope” of Titus 2:13
10.'Celebration of Hope' and HOPE 2008:Is there/ was there an 'official association'?
11.'Sowing and Sleeping'Reflecting on Franklin Graham's 'Celebration of Hope'
12.Irish Church Leaders To Visit Holy Land
( Finlay is from the "evangelical " wing of the PCI !!! )
1.Thousands queue to see corpse of Padre Pio
2. Pope John XXIII believed Padre Pio was a fraud
3.The other side of miraculous monk Padre Pio - Eamon McCann ...
4.Christian photographers fined for refusing same-sex ceremony
5. Obama promises 'gays' 'strongest possible bill'
6.'EXPELLED' - No Intelligence AllowedWhat happens to scientists who question Darwinian evolution
7.Please send your protest to BBC NI over the use oflicence fee money to tell the 600 million year theoretical 'history' of the island of Ireland
8.‘HOPE 2008’ and their ‘ecumenical-friendly’ Basis of Faith
9.‘Hope 2008’ – not “that blessed hope” of Titus 2:13
10.'Celebration of Hope' and HOPE 2008:Is there/ was there an 'official association'?
11.'Sowing and Sleeping'Reflecting on Franklin Graham's 'Celebration of Hope'
12.Irish Church Leaders To Visit Holy Land
( Finlay is from the "evangelical " wing of the PCI !!! )
Friday, 25 April 2008
New International Version: What today's Christian needs to know about the NIV (2)
Modern Receptors
A great difficulty in the NIV translators' theory is the view of the importance of the receptor or receptor language over that of the original languages. The result is that the need of the reader takes precedence over the fidelity to the text. Sentence structure and word usage must be such that the reader will have no trouble understanding the author's intent, regardless of the author's actual words. Thus, in a translation aimed at a people in the Caribbean, Isaiah 1.18 would not be "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow," but rather "as white as a dove's feathers" or of something else in the reader's experience that is white. (Happily for us, the NIV translators assumed English readers would have seen snow; but, since the translators believe that "there is a sense in which the work of translation is never wholly finished",7 one wonders what will happen in the twenty-first century.)
With this in mind, the NIV translators have gone on to say that "a present-day translation is not enhanced by forms that in the time of the King James Version were used in every day speech, whether referring to God or man".8 Thus they have done away with the use of 'thou' and 'thee', whether in narration or in prayer in the Scriptures. They would say that to use these terms only when referring to Deity serves no legitimate purpose. But it must be understood that the AV had no more purpose linguistically in using 'thou' and 'thee' than the NIV translators would have today. As can be seen in the works of Shakespeare, the terms were not in strict common usage during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The AV translators, however, used these terms to express something that nearly every major language except current English expresses: the singular of 'you'. In Biblical Hebrew and Greek, there is a differentiation between 'you' (singular) and 'you' (plural). To distinguish the two in English, the AV translators employed 'thou' and 'thee' for 'you' (singular), 'ye' and 'you' for 'you' (plural). In this way the reader of Scripture understands that "the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are" (1 Corinthians 3.17), and thus is able to avoid the individualism so rampant in the Church today -- an individualism perpetuated by the NIV's lack of differentiation between singular and plural forms of 'you' in its rendition of 1 Corinthians 3.17b, "and you are that temple".
To be fair, it must be noted that in some passages the NIV attempts to indicate the differences between the singular and plural pronouns, but this is normally done by inserting words not found in the original texts (as in Luke 22.32, "I have prayed for you, Simon," and 1 Corinthians 3.16, "you yourselves") but without indicating that the words were added; or by adding footnotes (e.g., Isaiah 7.14).
The result of this modern dynamic view of translation is a Bible that reads like a newspaper, complete with short, chopped sentences. The idea behind this is that the modern reader of English is incapable of retaining more than a half-dozen words at a time; thus the paragraph-long sentence of Ephesians 1.3-14 is broken down into eight simpler sentences in the NIV and is even broken at verse 11 into separate paragraphs. The problem is, however, that this cannot be done without changing the normal interpretation of the passage as held by many evangelicals (as is seen in the break between verses 3 and 4 in the NIV: are we holy and without blame before Him in love, or are we predestined in love?).
One advantage of having Scripture in a classical form is that the reader obtains a feeling of 'foreignness' when reading Scripture. The Bible is not only the Word of God to man, but is also a history of the people of God. Here we learn of the culture of the Jews, their way of living, the entire basis for the faith revealed in Christ. We learn also of our earliest brothers in the faith, of their struggles and trials and joys. But we also learn that, despite this 'foreignness', we are the same as they; man since the fall has not changed, his heart is still desperately wicked, his salvation still not of works. There is also the benefit of memorisation; it is much easier to memorise something with an unusual or unique wording (as in poetry) than it is to memorise a paragraph from a newspaper. The NIV is more readable than, say, the AV or the American Standard Version of 1901, but many find it much less easily memorised and less easily 'hidden in the heart' as God would have it to be.
One further disadvantage of easy readability is speed of readability. The NIV is so easy to read that it is often read as one might read a newspaper: quickly and with little comprehension. An advantage of greater difficulty in reading is that one is more apt to read slowly and pick up nuances and meanings hidden from the rapid reader. (This is one of the great advantages of learning to read the Scriptures in the original languages.) Skimming the newspaper may be acceptable, but skimming the Scriptures rather than in-depth reading and study is inappropriate.
One further word needs to be said regarding the receptors of God's Word. As was stated earlier, "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him". No matter how a passage is worded, how closely or loosely translated, the unsaved man will never understand it unless the Spirit of God opens his eyes to its truth. In this respect, the Word of God is most definitely given to His people. Through it God gives instruction on how to live in a right relationship with Him. It is His Word to us, and must be treated, not merely as a glorious piece of literature, but as the very Word of God. The most important aspect of translation, therefore, is not the audience but the Author. It is with this in mind that we will consider individual translation problems in the NIV.
Textual Problems in the NIV
The Word of God was originally penned in three languages: Hebrew and a small amount of Aramaic in the Old Testament, and Koine Greek in the New. This not being an article on textual criticism, a full discussion of the problems associated with modern textual theory will not be undertaken here. (Please see the Society's online article What today's Christian needs to know about the Greek New Testament.) Instead, the problems of the NIV will be presented with the presupposition that the Hebrew Masoretic Text of the Old Testament and the Greek Textus Receptus of the New are the most reliable texts of Scripture, and reference is made to other publications of the Trinitarian Bible Society, such as A Textual Key to the New Testament and The Lord Gave the Word: A Study in the History of the Biblical Text.
Modern Receptors
A great difficulty in the NIV translators' theory is the view of the importance of the receptor or receptor language over that of the original languages. The result is that the need of the reader takes precedence over the fidelity to the text. Sentence structure and word usage must be such that the reader will have no trouble understanding the author's intent, regardless of the author's actual words. Thus, in a translation aimed at a people in the Caribbean, Isaiah 1.18 would not be "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow," but rather "as white as a dove's feathers" or of something else in the reader's experience that is white. (Happily for us, the NIV translators assumed English readers would have seen snow; but, since the translators believe that "there is a sense in which the work of translation is never wholly finished",7 one wonders what will happen in the twenty-first century.)
With this in mind, the NIV translators have gone on to say that "a present-day translation is not enhanced by forms that in the time of the King James Version were used in every day speech, whether referring to God or man".8 Thus they have done away with the use of 'thou' and 'thee', whether in narration or in prayer in the Scriptures. They would say that to use these terms only when referring to Deity serves no legitimate purpose. But it must be understood that the AV had no more purpose linguistically in using 'thou' and 'thee' than the NIV translators would have today. As can be seen in the works of Shakespeare, the terms were not in strict common usage during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The AV translators, however, used these terms to express something that nearly every major language except current English expresses: the singular of 'you'. In Biblical Hebrew and Greek, there is a differentiation between 'you' (singular) and 'you' (plural). To distinguish the two in English, the AV translators employed 'thou' and 'thee' for 'you' (singular), 'ye' and 'you' for 'you' (plural). In this way the reader of Scripture understands that "the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are" (1 Corinthians 3.17), and thus is able to avoid the individualism so rampant in the Church today -- an individualism perpetuated by the NIV's lack of differentiation between singular and plural forms of 'you' in its rendition of 1 Corinthians 3.17b, "and you are that temple".
To be fair, it must be noted that in some passages the NIV attempts to indicate the differences between the singular and plural pronouns, but this is normally done by inserting words not found in the original texts (as in Luke 22.32, "I have prayed for you, Simon," and 1 Corinthians 3.16, "you yourselves") but without indicating that the words were added; or by adding footnotes (e.g., Isaiah 7.14).
The result of this modern dynamic view of translation is a Bible that reads like a newspaper, complete with short, chopped sentences. The idea behind this is that the modern reader of English is incapable of retaining more than a half-dozen words at a time; thus the paragraph-long sentence of Ephesians 1.3-14 is broken down into eight simpler sentences in the NIV and is even broken at verse 11 into separate paragraphs. The problem is, however, that this cannot be done without changing the normal interpretation of the passage as held by many evangelicals (as is seen in the break between verses 3 and 4 in the NIV: are we holy and without blame before Him in love, or are we predestined in love?).
One advantage of having Scripture in a classical form is that the reader obtains a feeling of 'foreignness' when reading Scripture. The Bible is not only the Word of God to man, but is also a history of the people of God. Here we learn of the culture of the Jews, their way of living, the entire basis for the faith revealed in Christ. We learn also of our earliest brothers in the faith, of their struggles and trials and joys. But we also learn that, despite this 'foreignness', we are the same as they; man since the fall has not changed, his heart is still desperately wicked, his salvation still not of works. There is also the benefit of memorisation; it is much easier to memorise something with an unusual or unique wording (as in poetry) than it is to memorise a paragraph from a newspaper. The NIV is more readable than, say, the AV or the American Standard Version of 1901, but many find it much less easily memorised and less easily 'hidden in the heart' as God would have it to be.
One further disadvantage of easy readability is speed of readability. The NIV is so easy to read that it is often read as one might read a newspaper: quickly and with little comprehension. An advantage of greater difficulty in reading is that one is more apt to read slowly and pick up nuances and meanings hidden from the rapid reader. (This is one of the great advantages of learning to read the Scriptures in the original languages.) Skimming the newspaper may be acceptable, but skimming the Scriptures rather than in-depth reading and study is inappropriate.
One further word needs to be said regarding the receptors of God's Word. As was stated earlier, "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him". No matter how a passage is worded, how closely or loosely translated, the unsaved man will never understand it unless the Spirit of God opens his eyes to its truth. In this respect, the Word of God is most definitely given to His people. Through it God gives instruction on how to live in a right relationship with Him. It is His Word to us, and must be treated, not merely as a glorious piece of literature, but as the very Word of God. The most important aspect of translation, therefore, is not the audience but the Author. It is with this in mind that we will consider individual translation problems in the NIV.
Textual Problems in the NIV
The Word of God was originally penned in three languages: Hebrew and a small amount of Aramaic in the Old Testament, and Koine Greek in the New. This not being an article on textual criticism, a full discussion of the problems associated with modern textual theory will not be undertaken here. (Please see the Society's online article What today's Christian needs to know about the Greek New Testament.) Instead, the problems of the NIV will be presented with the presupposition that the Hebrew Masoretic Text of the Old Testament and the Greek Textus Receptus of the New are the most reliable texts of Scripture, and reference is made to other publications of the Trinitarian Bible Society, such as A Textual Key to the New Testament and The Lord Gave the Word: A Study in the History of the Biblical Text.
The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul by Phillip Doddridge (12)
CHAPTER XI.
A SOLEMN ADDRESS TO THOSE WHO WILL NOT BE PERSUADED TO FALL IN WITH THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL.
1. I would humbly hope that the preceding chapters will be the means of awakening some stupid and insensible sinners, the means of convincing them of their need of Gospel-salvation, and of engaging some cordially to accept it. Yet I cannot flatter myself so far as to hope this should be the case with regard to all into whose hands this book shall come. “What am I, alas! better than my fathers,” (1 Kings 19:4) or better than my brethren, who have in all ages been repeating their complaint, with regard to multitudes, that they “have stretched out their hand all day long to a disobedient and gainsaying people!” (Rom. 10:21) Many such may perhaps be found in the number of my readers; many, on whom neither considerations of terror nor of love wilt make any deep and lasting impression; many, who, as our Lord learned by experience to express it, “when we pipe to them, will not dance; and when we mourn unto them; will not lament.” (Matt. 11:17) I can say no more to persuade them; if they make light of what I have already said. Here, therefore, we must part: in this chapter I must take my leave of them; and O that I could do it in such a manner as to fix, at parting, some conviction upon their hearts, that though I seem to leave them for a little while, and send them back to review again the former chapters, as those in which alone they have any present concern, they might soon, as it were, overtake me again, and find a suitableness in the remaining part of this treatise, which at present they cannot possibly find. Unhappy creatures. I quit you as a physician quits a patient whom he loves, and is just about to give over as incurable: he returns again and again and re-examines the several symptoms, to observe whether there be not some one of them wore favorable than the rest, which may encourage a renewed application.
2. So would I once more return to you. You do not find in yourself any disposition to embrace the Gospel, to apply yourself to Christ, to give yourself up to thee service of God, and to make religion the business of your life. But if I cannot prevail upon you to do this, let me engage you, at least, to answer me, or rather to answer your own conscience, “Why you will not do it?” is it owing to any secret disbelief of the great principles of religion? If it be, the case is different from what I have yet considered, and the cure must be different. This is not a place to combat with the scruples of infidelity. Nevertheless, I would desire you seriously to inquire “How far those scruples extend?” Do they affect any particular doctrine of the Gospel on which my argument hath turned; or do they affect the whole Christian revelation? Or do they reach yet farther, and extend themselves to natural religion, as well as revealed; so that it should be a doubt with you, whether there be any God, and providence, and future state, or not? As these cases are all different, so it will be of great importance to distinguish the one from the other; that you may know on what principles to build as certain, in the examination of those concerning which you are yet in doubt. But, whatever these doubts are, I would farther ask you, “How long have they continued, and what method have you taken to get them resolved?” Do you imagine, that, in matters of such moment, it will be an allowable case for you to trifle on, neglecting to inquire into the evidence of these things, and then plead your not being satisfied in that evidence, as an excuse for not acting according to them? Must not the principles of common sense assure you, that, if these things be true, as when you talk of doubting about them, you acknowledge it at least possible they may be, they are of infinitely greater importance than any of the affairs of life, whether of business or pleasure, for the sake of which you neglect them? Why then do you continue indolent and unconcerned, from week to week, and from month to month, which probably conscience tells you is the case?
3. Do you ask, “What method you should take to be resolved?” It is no hard question. Open your eyes: set yourself to think: let conscience speak, and verily do I believe, that, if it be not seared in an uncommon degree, you will find shrewd forebodings of the certainty both of natural and revealed religion, and of the absolute necessity of repentance, faith, and holiness, to a life of future felicity. If you area person of any learning, you cannot but know by what writers, and in what treatises, these great truths are defended. And if you are not, you may find, in almost every town and neighborhood, persons capable of informing you in thee main evidences of Christianity, and of answering such scruples against it as unlearned minds may have met with. Set yourself, then, in the name of God, immediately to consider the matter. If you study at all, bend your studies close this way, and trifle not with mathematics, or poetry or history, or law, or physic, which are all comparatively light as a feather, while you neglect this. Study the argument as for your life; for much more than life depends on it. See how far you are satisfied, and why that satisfaction reaches no farther. Compare evidences on both sides. And, above all, consider the design and tendency of the New Testament. See to what it will lead you, and all them that cordially obey it, and then say whether it be not good. And consider how naturally its truth is connected with its goodness. Trace the character and sentiments of its authors, whose living image, if I may be allowed the expression, is still preserved in their writings; and then ask your heart, can you think this was a forgery, an impious, cruel forgery? for such it mast have been, if it were a forgery at all: a scheme to mock God, and to ruin men, even the best of men, such as reverenced Conscience, and would abide all extremities for what they apprehended to be truth. Put the question to your own heart, Can I in my conscience believe it to be such an imposture? Can I look up to an omniscient God, and say, “O Lord, thou knowest that it is in reverence to thee, and in love to truth and virtue, that I reject this book, and the method to happiness here laid down.”
4. But there are difficulties in the way. And what then? Have those difficulties never been cleared? Go to the living advocates for Christianity, to those of whose abilities, candor and piety you have the best opinion, if your prejudices will give you leave to have a good opinion of any such; tell them your difficulties; hear their solutions; weigh them seriously, as those who know they must answer it to God; and while doubts continue, follow the truth as far as it will lead you, and take heed that you do not a “imprison it in unrighteousness.” (Rom. 11:8) Nothing appears more inconsistent and absurd than for a man solemnly to pretend dissatisfaction in the evidences of the Gospel, as a reason why he cannot in conscience be a thorough Christian; when at the same time he violates the most apparent dictates of reason and conscience, and lives in vices condemned even by the heathen. O sirs! Christ has judged concerning such, and judged most righteously and most wisely: “They do evil, and therefore they hate the light; neither come they to the light, lest their deeds should be made manifest, and be reproved.” (John 3:20) But there is a light that will make manifest and reprove their works, to which they will be compelled to come, and the painful scrutiny of which they shall be forced to abide.
5. In the mean time, if you are determined to inquire no farther into the matter now, give me leave, at least, from a sincere concern that you may not heap upon your head more aggravated ruin, to entreat you that you would be cautious how you expose yourself to yet greater danger. by what you must yourself own to be unnecessary; I mean attempts to prevent others from believing the truth of the Gospel. Leave them; for God's sake, and for your own, in possession of those pleasures and those hopes which nothing but Christianity can give them; and act not as if you were solicitous to add to the guilt of an infidel the tenfold damnation which they, who have been the perverters and destroyers of the souls of others, must expect to meet, if that Gospel, which they have so adventurously opposed, shall prove. as it certainly will, a serious, and to them a dreadful truth.
6. If I cannot prevail here, (but the pride of displaying a superiority of understanding should bear on such a reader, even in opposition to his own favorite maxims of the innocence of error and the equality of all religions consistent with social virtue, to do his utmost to trample down the Gospel with contempt) I would, however, dismiss him with one proposal which I think the importance of the affair may fully justify. If you have done with your examination into Christianity, and determine to live and conduct yourself as it were assuredly false, sit down, then, and make a memorandum of that determination.
7. I will turn myself from the deist or the sceptic, and direct my address to the nominal Christian; if he may upon any terms be called a Christian, who feels not, after all I have pleaded a disposition to subject himself to the government and the grace of that Savior whose name he hears: O sinner, thou art turning away from my Lord, in whose cause I speak; but let me earnestly entreat thee seriously to consider why thou art turning away; and “to whom thou wilt go,” from him whom thou acknowledgst “to have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:63) You call yourself a Christian and yet will not by any means be persuaded to seek salvation in good earnest from and through Jesus Christ, whom you call your Master and Lord. How do you for a moment excuse this negligence to your own conscience? If I had urged you on any controverted point it might have altered the case. If I had labored hard to make you the disciple of any particular party of Christians, your delay might have been more reasonable; nay, perhaps your refusing to acquiesce might have been an act of apprehended duty to our common Master. But is it matter of controversy among Christians, whether there be a great, holy, and righteous God; and whether such a Being, whom we agree to own, should be reverenced and loved, or neglected and dishonored? Is it matter of controversy whether a sinner should deeply and seriously repent of his sins, or whether be should go on in them? Is it a disputed point amongst us, whether Jesus became incarnate, and died upon the cross for the redemption of sinners, or not? And if it be not, can it be disputed by them who believe him to be the Son of God and the Savior of men, whether a sinner should seek to him, or neglect hint; or whether one who professes to be a Christian should depart from iniquity, or give himself up to the practice or it? Are the precepts of our great Master written so obscurely in his word, that there should be room seriously to question whether he require a devout, holy, humble, spiritual, watchful, self-denying life, or whether he allow the contrary? Has Christ, after all big pretensions of bringing life and immortality to light, left it more uncertain than he found it, whether there be any future state of happiness and misery, or for whom these states are respectively intended? Is it a matter of controversy whether God will, or will not, “bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil?” (Eccl. 12:14) or whether, at the conclusion of that judgment, “the wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment, and the righteous into life eternal?” (Matt. 25:46) You will not I am sure, for very shame, pretend any doubt about these things, and yet call yourself a Christian. Why then will you not be persuaded to lay them to heart, and to act as duty and interest so evidently require? O sinner, the cause is too obvious, a cause indeed quite unworthy of being called a reason. It is because thou art blinded and besotted with thy vanities and thy lusts. It is because thou hast some perishing trifle, which charms thy imagination and thy senses, so that it is dearer to thee than God and Christ, than thy own soul and its salvation. It is, in a word, because thou art still under the influence of that carnal mind, which, whatever pious forms it may sometimes admit and pretend, “is enmity against God, and is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” (Rom. 8:7) And therefore thou art in the very case of those wretches, concerning whom our Lord said in the days of his flesh, “Ye will not come unto me, that ye might have life,” (John 5:40) and therefore “ye shall die in your sins.” (John 8:24)
8. In this case I see not what it can signify, to renew those expostulations and addresses which I have made in the former chapters. As our blessed Redeemer says of those who reject his Gospel, “Ye have both seen and hated both me and my Father,” (John 15:24) so may I truly say with regard to you, I have endeavored to show you, in the plainest and the clearest words, both Christ and the Father; I have urged the obligations you are under to both; I have laid before you your guilt and your condemnation; I have pointed out the only remedy; I have pointed out the rock on which I have built my own eternal hopes, and the way in which alone I expect salvation. I have recommended those things to you, which, if God gives me an opportunity, I will, with my dying breath, earnestly and affectionately recommend to my own children, and to all the dearest friends that I have upon earth, who may then be near me, esteeming it the highest token or my friendship, the surest proof of my love to them. And if, believing the Gospel to be true, you resolve to reject it, I have nothing farther to say, but that you must abide the consequence. Yet as Moses, when he went out from the presence of Pharaoh for the last time, finding his heart yet more hardened by all the judgments and deliverances with which he had formerly been exercised, denounced upon him “God's passing through the land in terror to smite the firstborn with death, and warned him of that great and lamentable cry, which the sword of the destroying angel should raise throughout all his realm;” (Exod. 11:4-6) so will I, sinner, now when I am quitting thee, speak to thee yet again, “whether thou wilt hear, or whether thou wilt forbear,” (Ezek. 2:7) and denounce that much more terrible judgment; which the sword of divine vengeance, already whetted and drawn, and “bathed, as it were, in heaven,” (Isai. 34:5) is preparing against thee; which shall end in a much more doleful cry, though thou wert greater and more obstinate than that haughty monarch. Yes, sinner, that I may, with the apostle Paul, when turning to others who are more likely to hear me, “shake my raiment, and say, I am pure from your blood,” (Acts 18:6) I will once more tell you what the end of these things will be. And, O that I could speak to purpose! O that I could thunder in thine ear such a peal of terror as might awaken thee, and be too loud to be drowned in all the noise of carnal mirth, or to be deadened by those dangerous opiates with which thou art contriving to stupify thy conscience!
9. Seek what amusements and entertainments thou wilt, O sinner! I tell thee, if thou wert equal in dignity, and power, and magnificence, to the “great monarch of Babylon, thy pomp shalt be brought down to the grave, and all the sound of thy viols; the worm shall be spread under thee, and the worm shall cover thee;” (Isai. 14:11) yes, sinner, “the end of these things is death!” (Rom. 6:21) death in its most terrible sense to thee, if this continue thy governing temper. Thou canst not avoid it; and, if it be possible for any thing that I can say to prevent, thou shalt not forget it. Your “strength is not the strength of stones, nor is your flesh of brass.” (Job 6:12) You are accessible to disease, as well as others; and if some sudden accident do not prevent it, we shall soon see how heroically you will behave yourself on a dying bed, and in the near views of eternity. You, that now despise Christ, and trifle with his Gospel, we shall see you droop and languish; shall see all your relish for your carnal recreations and your vain companions lost. And if perhaps one and another of them bolt in upon you, and is brutish and desperate enough to attempt to entertain a dying man with a gay story, or a profane jest, we shall see how you will relish it. We shall see what comfort you will have in reflecting on what is past, or what hope in looking forward to what is to come. Perhaps, trembling and astonished, you will then be inquiring; in a wild kind of consternation, “what you shall do to be saved:” calling for the ministers of Christ, whom you now despise for the earnestness with which they would labor to save your soul! and it maybe falling into a delirium, or dying convulsions, before they can come. Or perhaps we may see you flattering yourself, through a long, lingering illness, that you shall still recover, and putting off any serious reflection and conversation, for fear it should overset your spirits. And the cruel kindness of friends and physicians, as if they were in league with Satan to make the destruction of your soul as sure as possible, may perhaps abet this fatal deceit.
10. And if any of these probable cases happen, that is, in short, unless a miracle of grace snatch you “as a brand out of the burning,” when the flames have, as it were, already taken hold of you; all these gloomy circumstances, which pass in the chambers of illness and on the bed of death, are but the forerunners of infinitely more dreadful things. Oh! who can describe them? Who can imagine them? When surviving friends are tenderly mourning over the breathless corpse, and taking a fond farewell of it before it is laid to consume away in the dark and silent grave, into what hands, O sinner! will thy soul be fallen? What scenes will open upon thy separate spirit, even before thy deserted flesh be cold, or thy sightless eyes are closed? It shall then know what it is to return to God, to be rejected by him as having rejected his Gospel and his Son, and despised the only treaty of reconciliation; and that so amazingly condescending and gracious! Thou shalt know what it is to be disowned by Christ, whom thou hast refused to entertain; and what it is, as the certain and immediate consequence of that, to be left in the hands of the malignant spirits of hell. There will be no more friendship then: none to comfort, none to alleviate thy agony and distress; but, on the contrary, all around thee laboring to aggravate and increase them. Thou shalt pass away the intermediate years of the separate state in dreadful expectation, and bitter outcries of horror and remorse. And then thou shalt hear the trumpet of the archangel, in whatever cavern of that gloomy world thou art lodged. Its sound shall penetrate thy prison, where, doleful and horrible as it is, thou shalt nevertheless wish that thou mightest still be allowed to hide thy guilty head, rather than show it before the face of that awful Judge; before whom “heaven and earth are fleeing away.” (Rev. 20:11) But thou must come forth, and be reunited to a body now formed for ever to endure agonies, which in this mortal state would have dissolved it in a moment. You would not be persuaded to come to Christ before: you would stupidly neglect him, in spite of reason, in spite of conscience, in spite of all the tender solicitations of the Gospel, and the repeated admonitions of its most faithful ministers. But now, sinner, you shall have an interview; with him; if that may be called an interview, in which you will not dare to lift up your head to view the face of your tremendous and inexorable Judge. There, at least, how distant soever the time of our life and the place of our abode may have been, there shall we see how courageously your heart will endure, and how “strong your hands will be when the lord doth this.” (Ezek. 22:14) There shall I see thee, O reader! whoever thou art that goest on in thine impenitency, among thousands and ten thousands of despairing wretches, trembling and confounded. There shall I hear thy cries among the rest, rending the very heavens in vain. The Judge will rise from his throne with majestic composure, and leave thee to be hurried down to those everlasting burnings, to which his righteous vengeance hath doomed thee, because thou wouldst not be saved from them. Hell shall shut its mouth upon thee for ever, and the sad echo of thy groans and outcries shall be lost, amidst the hallelujahs of heaven, to all that find mercy of the Lord in that day.
11. This will most assuredly be the end of these things; and thou, as a nominal Christian, professest to know, and to believe it. It moves my heart at least, if it moves not thine. I firmly believe, that every one, who himself obtains salvation and glory will bear so much of his Savior's image in wisdom and goodness, in zeal for God, and a steady regard to the happiness of the whole creation, that he will behold this sad scene with calm approbation, and without any painful commotion of mind. But as yet I am flesh and blood; and therefore my bowels are troubled, and mine eyes often overflow with grief to think that wretched sinners will have no more compassion upon their own souls; to think that in spite of all admonition, they will obstinately run upon final, everlasting destruction. It would signify nothing here to add a prayer or a meditation for your use. Poor creature, you will not meditate! you will not pray! Yet as I have often poured out my heart in prayer over a dying friend, when the force of his distemper has rendered him incapable of joining with me, so I will now apply myself to God for you, O unhappy creature! And if you disdain so much as to read what my compassion dictates, yet I hope, they who have felt the power of the Gospel on their own souls, as they cannot but pity such as you, will join with me in such cordial, though broken petitions as these:
CHAPTER XI.
A SOLEMN ADDRESS TO THOSE WHO WILL NOT BE PERSUADED TO FALL IN WITH THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL.
1. I would humbly hope that the preceding chapters will be the means of awakening some stupid and insensible sinners, the means of convincing them of their need of Gospel-salvation, and of engaging some cordially to accept it. Yet I cannot flatter myself so far as to hope this should be the case with regard to all into whose hands this book shall come. “What am I, alas! better than my fathers,” (1 Kings 19:4) or better than my brethren, who have in all ages been repeating their complaint, with regard to multitudes, that they “have stretched out their hand all day long to a disobedient and gainsaying people!” (Rom. 10:21) Many such may perhaps be found in the number of my readers; many, on whom neither considerations of terror nor of love wilt make any deep and lasting impression; many, who, as our Lord learned by experience to express it, “when we pipe to them, will not dance; and when we mourn unto them; will not lament.” (Matt. 11:17) I can say no more to persuade them; if they make light of what I have already said. Here, therefore, we must part: in this chapter I must take my leave of them; and O that I could do it in such a manner as to fix, at parting, some conviction upon their hearts, that though I seem to leave them for a little while, and send them back to review again the former chapters, as those in which alone they have any present concern, they might soon, as it were, overtake me again, and find a suitableness in the remaining part of this treatise, which at present they cannot possibly find. Unhappy creatures. I quit you as a physician quits a patient whom he loves, and is just about to give over as incurable: he returns again and again and re-examines the several symptoms, to observe whether there be not some one of them wore favorable than the rest, which may encourage a renewed application.
2. So would I once more return to you. You do not find in yourself any disposition to embrace the Gospel, to apply yourself to Christ, to give yourself up to thee service of God, and to make religion the business of your life. But if I cannot prevail upon you to do this, let me engage you, at least, to answer me, or rather to answer your own conscience, “Why you will not do it?” is it owing to any secret disbelief of the great principles of religion? If it be, the case is different from what I have yet considered, and the cure must be different. This is not a place to combat with the scruples of infidelity. Nevertheless, I would desire you seriously to inquire “How far those scruples extend?” Do they affect any particular doctrine of the Gospel on which my argument hath turned; or do they affect the whole Christian revelation? Or do they reach yet farther, and extend themselves to natural religion, as well as revealed; so that it should be a doubt with you, whether there be any God, and providence, and future state, or not? As these cases are all different, so it will be of great importance to distinguish the one from the other; that you may know on what principles to build as certain, in the examination of those concerning which you are yet in doubt. But, whatever these doubts are, I would farther ask you, “How long have they continued, and what method have you taken to get them resolved?” Do you imagine, that, in matters of such moment, it will be an allowable case for you to trifle on, neglecting to inquire into the evidence of these things, and then plead your not being satisfied in that evidence, as an excuse for not acting according to them? Must not the principles of common sense assure you, that, if these things be true, as when you talk of doubting about them, you acknowledge it at least possible they may be, they are of infinitely greater importance than any of the affairs of life, whether of business or pleasure, for the sake of which you neglect them? Why then do you continue indolent and unconcerned, from week to week, and from month to month, which probably conscience tells you is the case?
3. Do you ask, “What method you should take to be resolved?” It is no hard question. Open your eyes: set yourself to think: let conscience speak, and verily do I believe, that, if it be not seared in an uncommon degree, you will find shrewd forebodings of the certainty both of natural and revealed religion, and of the absolute necessity of repentance, faith, and holiness, to a life of future felicity. If you area person of any learning, you cannot but know by what writers, and in what treatises, these great truths are defended. And if you are not, you may find, in almost every town and neighborhood, persons capable of informing you in thee main evidences of Christianity, and of answering such scruples against it as unlearned minds may have met with. Set yourself, then, in the name of God, immediately to consider the matter. If you study at all, bend your studies close this way, and trifle not with mathematics, or poetry or history, or law, or physic, which are all comparatively light as a feather, while you neglect this. Study the argument as for your life; for much more than life depends on it. See how far you are satisfied, and why that satisfaction reaches no farther. Compare evidences on both sides. And, above all, consider the design and tendency of the New Testament. See to what it will lead you, and all them that cordially obey it, and then say whether it be not good. And consider how naturally its truth is connected with its goodness. Trace the character and sentiments of its authors, whose living image, if I may be allowed the expression, is still preserved in their writings; and then ask your heart, can you think this was a forgery, an impious, cruel forgery? for such it mast have been, if it were a forgery at all: a scheme to mock God, and to ruin men, even the best of men, such as reverenced Conscience, and would abide all extremities for what they apprehended to be truth. Put the question to your own heart, Can I in my conscience believe it to be such an imposture? Can I look up to an omniscient God, and say, “O Lord, thou knowest that it is in reverence to thee, and in love to truth and virtue, that I reject this book, and the method to happiness here laid down.”
4. But there are difficulties in the way. And what then? Have those difficulties never been cleared? Go to the living advocates for Christianity, to those of whose abilities, candor and piety you have the best opinion, if your prejudices will give you leave to have a good opinion of any such; tell them your difficulties; hear their solutions; weigh them seriously, as those who know they must answer it to God; and while doubts continue, follow the truth as far as it will lead you, and take heed that you do not a “imprison it in unrighteousness.” (Rom. 11:8) Nothing appears more inconsistent and absurd than for a man solemnly to pretend dissatisfaction in the evidences of the Gospel, as a reason why he cannot in conscience be a thorough Christian; when at the same time he violates the most apparent dictates of reason and conscience, and lives in vices condemned even by the heathen. O sirs! Christ has judged concerning such, and judged most righteously and most wisely: “They do evil, and therefore they hate the light; neither come they to the light, lest their deeds should be made manifest, and be reproved.” (John 3:20) But there is a light that will make manifest and reprove their works, to which they will be compelled to come, and the painful scrutiny of which they shall be forced to abide.
5. In the mean time, if you are determined to inquire no farther into the matter now, give me leave, at least, from a sincere concern that you may not heap upon your head more aggravated ruin, to entreat you that you would be cautious how you expose yourself to yet greater danger. by what you must yourself own to be unnecessary; I mean attempts to prevent others from believing the truth of the Gospel. Leave them; for God's sake, and for your own, in possession of those pleasures and those hopes which nothing but Christianity can give them; and act not as if you were solicitous to add to the guilt of an infidel the tenfold damnation which they, who have been the perverters and destroyers of the souls of others, must expect to meet, if that Gospel, which they have so adventurously opposed, shall prove. as it certainly will, a serious, and to them a dreadful truth.
6. If I cannot prevail here, (but the pride of displaying a superiority of understanding should bear on such a reader, even in opposition to his own favorite maxims of the innocence of error and the equality of all religions consistent with social virtue, to do his utmost to trample down the Gospel with contempt) I would, however, dismiss him with one proposal which I think the importance of the affair may fully justify. If you have done with your examination into Christianity, and determine to live and conduct yourself as it were assuredly false, sit down, then, and make a memorandum of that determination.
7. I will turn myself from the deist or the sceptic, and direct my address to the nominal Christian; if he may upon any terms be called a Christian, who feels not, after all I have pleaded a disposition to subject himself to the government and the grace of that Savior whose name he hears: O sinner, thou art turning away from my Lord, in whose cause I speak; but let me earnestly entreat thee seriously to consider why thou art turning away; and “to whom thou wilt go,” from him whom thou acknowledgst “to have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:63) You call yourself a Christian and yet will not by any means be persuaded to seek salvation in good earnest from and through Jesus Christ, whom you call your Master and Lord. How do you for a moment excuse this negligence to your own conscience? If I had urged you on any controverted point it might have altered the case. If I had labored hard to make you the disciple of any particular party of Christians, your delay might have been more reasonable; nay, perhaps your refusing to acquiesce might have been an act of apprehended duty to our common Master. But is it matter of controversy among Christians, whether there be a great, holy, and righteous God; and whether such a Being, whom we agree to own, should be reverenced and loved, or neglected and dishonored? Is it matter of controversy whether a sinner should deeply and seriously repent of his sins, or whether be should go on in them? Is it a disputed point amongst us, whether Jesus became incarnate, and died upon the cross for the redemption of sinners, or not? And if it be not, can it be disputed by them who believe him to be the Son of God and the Savior of men, whether a sinner should seek to him, or neglect hint; or whether one who professes to be a Christian should depart from iniquity, or give himself up to the practice or it? Are the precepts of our great Master written so obscurely in his word, that there should be room seriously to question whether he require a devout, holy, humble, spiritual, watchful, self-denying life, or whether he allow the contrary? Has Christ, after all big pretensions of bringing life and immortality to light, left it more uncertain than he found it, whether there be any future state of happiness and misery, or for whom these states are respectively intended? Is it a matter of controversy whether God will, or will not, “bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil?” (Eccl. 12:14) or whether, at the conclusion of that judgment, “the wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment, and the righteous into life eternal?” (Matt. 25:46) You will not I am sure, for very shame, pretend any doubt about these things, and yet call yourself a Christian. Why then will you not be persuaded to lay them to heart, and to act as duty and interest so evidently require? O sinner, the cause is too obvious, a cause indeed quite unworthy of being called a reason. It is because thou art blinded and besotted with thy vanities and thy lusts. It is because thou hast some perishing trifle, which charms thy imagination and thy senses, so that it is dearer to thee than God and Christ, than thy own soul and its salvation. It is, in a word, because thou art still under the influence of that carnal mind, which, whatever pious forms it may sometimes admit and pretend, “is enmity against God, and is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” (Rom. 8:7) And therefore thou art in the very case of those wretches, concerning whom our Lord said in the days of his flesh, “Ye will not come unto me, that ye might have life,” (John 5:40) and therefore “ye shall die in your sins.” (John 8:24)
8. In this case I see not what it can signify, to renew those expostulations and addresses which I have made in the former chapters. As our blessed Redeemer says of those who reject his Gospel, “Ye have both seen and hated both me and my Father,” (John 15:24) so may I truly say with regard to you, I have endeavored to show you, in the plainest and the clearest words, both Christ and the Father; I have urged the obligations you are under to both; I have laid before you your guilt and your condemnation; I have pointed out the only remedy; I have pointed out the rock on which I have built my own eternal hopes, and the way in which alone I expect salvation. I have recommended those things to you, which, if God gives me an opportunity, I will, with my dying breath, earnestly and affectionately recommend to my own children, and to all the dearest friends that I have upon earth, who may then be near me, esteeming it the highest token or my friendship, the surest proof of my love to them. And if, believing the Gospel to be true, you resolve to reject it, I have nothing farther to say, but that you must abide the consequence. Yet as Moses, when he went out from the presence of Pharaoh for the last time, finding his heart yet more hardened by all the judgments and deliverances with which he had formerly been exercised, denounced upon him “God's passing through the land in terror to smite the firstborn with death, and warned him of that great and lamentable cry, which the sword of the destroying angel should raise throughout all his realm;” (Exod. 11:4-6) so will I, sinner, now when I am quitting thee, speak to thee yet again, “whether thou wilt hear, or whether thou wilt forbear,” (Ezek. 2:7) and denounce that much more terrible judgment; which the sword of divine vengeance, already whetted and drawn, and “bathed, as it were, in heaven,” (Isai. 34:5) is preparing against thee; which shall end in a much more doleful cry, though thou wert greater and more obstinate than that haughty monarch. Yes, sinner, that I may, with the apostle Paul, when turning to others who are more likely to hear me, “shake my raiment, and say, I am pure from your blood,” (Acts 18:6) I will once more tell you what the end of these things will be. And, O that I could speak to purpose! O that I could thunder in thine ear such a peal of terror as might awaken thee, and be too loud to be drowned in all the noise of carnal mirth, or to be deadened by those dangerous opiates with which thou art contriving to stupify thy conscience!
9. Seek what amusements and entertainments thou wilt, O sinner! I tell thee, if thou wert equal in dignity, and power, and magnificence, to the “great monarch of Babylon, thy pomp shalt be brought down to the grave, and all the sound of thy viols; the worm shall be spread under thee, and the worm shall cover thee;” (Isai. 14:11) yes, sinner, “the end of these things is death!” (Rom. 6:21) death in its most terrible sense to thee, if this continue thy governing temper. Thou canst not avoid it; and, if it be possible for any thing that I can say to prevent, thou shalt not forget it. Your “strength is not the strength of stones, nor is your flesh of brass.” (Job 6:12) You are accessible to disease, as well as others; and if some sudden accident do not prevent it, we shall soon see how heroically you will behave yourself on a dying bed, and in the near views of eternity. You, that now despise Christ, and trifle with his Gospel, we shall see you droop and languish; shall see all your relish for your carnal recreations and your vain companions lost. And if perhaps one and another of them bolt in upon you, and is brutish and desperate enough to attempt to entertain a dying man with a gay story, or a profane jest, we shall see how you will relish it. We shall see what comfort you will have in reflecting on what is past, or what hope in looking forward to what is to come. Perhaps, trembling and astonished, you will then be inquiring; in a wild kind of consternation, “what you shall do to be saved:” calling for the ministers of Christ, whom you now despise for the earnestness with which they would labor to save your soul! and it maybe falling into a delirium, or dying convulsions, before they can come. Or perhaps we may see you flattering yourself, through a long, lingering illness, that you shall still recover, and putting off any serious reflection and conversation, for fear it should overset your spirits. And the cruel kindness of friends and physicians, as if they were in league with Satan to make the destruction of your soul as sure as possible, may perhaps abet this fatal deceit.
10. And if any of these probable cases happen, that is, in short, unless a miracle of grace snatch you “as a brand out of the burning,” when the flames have, as it were, already taken hold of you; all these gloomy circumstances, which pass in the chambers of illness and on the bed of death, are but the forerunners of infinitely more dreadful things. Oh! who can describe them? Who can imagine them? When surviving friends are tenderly mourning over the breathless corpse, and taking a fond farewell of it before it is laid to consume away in the dark and silent grave, into what hands, O sinner! will thy soul be fallen? What scenes will open upon thy separate spirit, even before thy deserted flesh be cold, or thy sightless eyes are closed? It shall then know what it is to return to God, to be rejected by him as having rejected his Gospel and his Son, and despised the only treaty of reconciliation; and that so amazingly condescending and gracious! Thou shalt know what it is to be disowned by Christ, whom thou hast refused to entertain; and what it is, as the certain and immediate consequence of that, to be left in the hands of the malignant spirits of hell. There will be no more friendship then: none to comfort, none to alleviate thy agony and distress; but, on the contrary, all around thee laboring to aggravate and increase them. Thou shalt pass away the intermediate years of the separate state in dreadful expectation, and bitter outcries of horror and remorse. And then thou shalt hear the trumpet of the archangel, in whatever cavern of that gloomy world thou art lodged. Its sound shall penetrate thy prison, where, doleful and horrible as it is, thou shalt nevertheless wish that thou mightest still be allowed to hide thy guilty head, rather than show it before the face of that awful Judge; before whom “heaven and earth are fleeing away.” (Rev. 20:11) But thou must come forth, and be reunited to a body now formed for ever to endure agonies, which in this mortal state would have dissolved it in a moment. You would not be persuaded to come to Christ before: you would stupidly neglect him, in spite of reason, in spite of conscience, in spite of all the tender solicitations of the Gospel, and the repeated admonitions of its most faithful ministers. But now, sinner, you shall have an interview; with him; if that may be called an interview, in which you will not dare to lift up your head to view the face of your tremendous and inexorable Judge. There, at least, how distant soever the time of our life and the place of our abode may have been, there shall we see how courageously your heart will endure, and how “strong your hands will be when the lord doth this.” (Ezek. 22:14) There shall I see thee, O reader! whoever thou art that goest on in thine impenitency, among thousands and ten thousands of despairing wretches, trembling and confounded. There shall I hear thy cries among the rest, rending the very heavens in vain. The Judge will rise from his throne with majestic composure, and leave thee to be hurried down to those everlasting burnings, to which his righteous vengeance hath doomed thee, because thou wouldst not be saved from them. Hell shall shut its mouth upon thee for ever, and the sad echo of thy groans and outcries shall be lost, amidst the hallelujahs of heaven, to all that find mercy of the Lord in that day.
11. This will most assuredly be the end of these things; and thou, as a nominal Christian, professest to know, and to believe it. It moves my heart at least, if it moves not thine. I firmly believe, that every one, who himself obtains salvation and glory will bear so much of his Savior's image in wisdom and goodness, in zeal for God, and a steady regard to the happiness of the whole creation, that he will behold this sad scene with calm approbation, and without any painful commotion of mind. But as yet I am flesh and blood; and therefore my bowels are troubled, and mine eyes often overflow with grief to think that wretched sinners will have no more compassion upon their own souls; to think that in spite of all admonition, they will obstinately run upon final, everlasting destruction. It would signify nothing here to add a prayer or a meditation for your use. Poor creature, you will not meditate! you will not pray! Yet as I have often poured out my heart in prayer over a dying friend, when the force of his distemper has rendered him incapable of joining with me, so I will now apply myself to God for you, O unhappy creature! And if you disdain so much as to read what my compassion dictates, yet I hope, they who have felt the power of the Gospel on their own souls, as they cannot but pity such as you, will join with me in such cordial, though broken petitions as these:
The Development of Antichrist by Andrew Bonar (12)
Chapter 3 His Characteristics and Duration Part One
It may help to illustrate still more than has yet been done the characteristics of Antichrist, to contrast them with what is said of Christ:
CHRIST: Comes from above (John 3:3 1)ANTICHRIST: Comes from below (Rev. 11:7)
CHRIST: Comes in His Father’s Name (John 5:43)ANTICHRIST: Comes in his own name (John 5:43)
CHRIST: Humbled Himself, and became obedient (Phil. 2:8)ANTICHRIST: Exalts himself above all (2 Thess. 2:4)
CHRIST: Was despised and rejected, and we esteemed Him not (Isa. 53:3)ANTICHRIST: All the world wonder after the Beast, saying, Who is like unto him? (Rev. 13:3-4)
CHRIST: Comes to do His Father’s will (John 6:38)ANTICHRIST: Does according to his own will (Dan. 11:36)
CHRIST: Glorifies God on earth (John 17:4)ANTICHRIST: Blasphemes the Name of God (Rev. 13:6)
CHRIST: The Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep (John 10:14-15)ANTICHRIST: The evil shepherd or idol shepherd who shall tear the flesh (Zech. 11:16-17)
CHRIST: God highly exalts Him and gives Him a Name above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow (Phil. 2:9-10)ANTICHRIST: Exalteth himself above the heights of the clouds, yet is brought down to hell (Isa. 14:14-15)
CHRIST: Shall be seen coming in the clouds with power and great glory (Matthew 24:30)ANTICHRIST: They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee . . . saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake the kingdoms? Isaiah 14:16)
CHRIST: Shall reign for ever and ever (Rev. 11:15)ANTICHRIST: They take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it unto the end (Dan. 7:26)
CHRIST: The Heir of all things (Heb. 1:2)ANTICHRIST: The son of perdition (2 Thess. 2:3)
(For a further treatment of this theme, see Mr. G H Fromow’s "Christ and Antichrist # Contrasted"—Ed.).Such is Christ, and such, when he comes, will be the Antichrist also. Already the Spirit of the one is as markedly in the world as is the Spirit of the other. Let no professing Christian forget this, and that unless the Spirit of Christ be in him, he is none of His. To them who are alive and remain, the wide difference will be still more distinctly marked and apparent ere long.But the darker the night the nearer will be the promised deliverance, when they who are Christ’s shall rejoice with all creation in "the manifestation of the sons of God" (Rom. 8:19), and they who are of their father the devil (John 8:44), share in the destruction of the Antichrist whom he shall send, and whose spirit they are showing even now in contrast to that of Christ, Who is still the despised and rejected.
Chapter 3 His Characteristics and Duration Part One
It may help to illustrate still more than has yet been done the characteristics of Antichrist, to contrast them with what is said of Christ:
CHRIST: Comes from above (John 3:3 1)ANTICHRIST: Comes from below (Rev. 11:7)
CHRIST: Comes in His Father’s Name (John 5:43)ANTICHRIST: Comes in his own name (John 5:43)
CHRIST: Humbled Himself, and became obedient (Phil. 2:8)ANTICHRIST: Exalts himself above all (2 Thess. 2:4)
CHRIST: Was despised and rejected, and we esteemed Him not (Isa. 53:3)ANTICHRIST: All the world wonder after the Beast, saying, Who is like unto him? (Rev. 13:3-4)
CHRIST: Comes to do His Father’s will (John 6:38)ANTICHRIST: Does according to his own will (Dan. 11:36)
CHRIST: Glorifies God on earth (John 17:4)ANTICHRIST: Blasphemes the Name of God (Rev. 13:6)
CHRIST: The Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep (John 10:14-15)ANTICHRIST: The evil shepherd or idol shepherd who shall tear the flesh (Zech. 11:16-17)
CHRIST: God highly exalts Him and gives Him a Name above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow (Phil. 2:9-10)ANTICHRIST: Exalteth himself above the heights of the clouds, yet is brought down to hell (Isa. 14:14-15)
CHRIST: Shall be seen coming in the clouds with power and great glory (Matthew 24:30)ANTICHRIST: They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee . . . saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake the kingdoms? Isaiah 14:16)
CHRIST: Shall reign for ever and ever (Rev. 11:15)ANTICHRIST: They take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it unto the end (Dan. 7:26)
CHRIST: The Heir of all things (Heb. 1:2)ANTICHRIST: The son of perdition (2 Thess. 2:3)
(For a further treatment of this theme, see Mr. G H Fromow’s "Christ and Antichrist # Contrasted"—Ed.).Such is Christ, and such, when he comes, will be the Antichrist also. Already the Spirit of the one is as markedly in the world as is the Spirit of the other. Let no professing Christian forget this, and that unless the Spirit of Christ be in him, he is none of His. To them who are alive and remain, the wide difference will be still more distinctly marked and apparent ere long.But the darker the night the nearer will be the promised deliverance, when they who are Christ’s shall rejoice with all creation in "the manifestation of the sons of God" (Rom. 8:19), and they who are of their father the devil (John 8:44), share in the destruction of the Antichrist whom he shall send, and whose spirit they are showing even now in contrast to that of Christ, Who is still the despised and rejected.
Thursday, 17 April 2008
Christ Altogether Lovely by John Flavel (2)
"Yes, He is altogether lovely." Song of Songs 5:16
Hence note, DOCTRINE: That Jesus Christ is the loveliest person souls can set their eyes upon: "Thou art fairer than the children of men." Psalm 14:2.
He is "Altogether Lovely" Here it is said of Jesus Christ, which cannot be said of any mere creature, that he is "altogether lovely." In opening this point I shall, 1. Examine the importance of this phrase "altogether lovely." 2. Show you in what respect Christ is so.
What is Meant by "Altogether Lovely" Let us consider this excellent expression, and particularly reflect on what is contained in it, and you shall find this expression "altogether lovely." First, It excludes all unloveliness and disagreeableness from Jesus Christ. As a theologian long ago said, "There is nothing in him which is not loveable." The excellencies of Jesus Christ are perfectly exclusive of all their opposites; there is nothing of a contrary property or quality found in him to contaminate or devaluate his excellency. And in this respect Christ infinitely transcends the most excellent and loveliest of created things. Whatsoever loveliness is found in them, it is not without a bad aftertaste. The fairest pictures must have their shadows: The rarest and most brilliant gems must have dark backgrounds to set off their beauty; the best creature is but a bitter sweet at best: If there is something pleasing, there is also something sour. if a person has every ability, both innate and acquired, to delight us, yet there is also some natural corruption intermixed with it to put us off. But it is not so in our altogether lovely Christ, his excellencies are pure and unmixed. He is a sea of sweetness without one drop of gall.
Secondly, "Altogether lovely," i.e. There is nothing unlovely found in him, so all that is in him is wholly lovely. As every ray of God is precious, so every thing that is in Christ is precious: Who can weigh Christ in a pair of balances, and tell you what his worth is? "His price is above rubies, and all that thou canst desire is not to be compared with him," Prov. 8:11. Thirdly "Altogether lovely," i.e. He embraces all things that are lovely: he seals up the sum of all loveliness. Things that shine as single stars with a particular glory, all meet in Christ as a glorious constellation. Col. 1:19, "It pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell." Cast your eyes among all created beings, survey the universe: you will observe strength in one, beauty in a second, faithfulness in a third, wisdom in a fourth; but you shall find none excelling in them all as Christ does. Bread has one quality, water another, raiment another, medicine another; but none has them all in itself as Christ does. He is bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, a garment to the naked, healing to the wounded; and whatever a soul can desire is found in him, 1 Cor. 1:30. Fourthly, "Altogether lovely," i.e. Nothing is lovely in opposition to him, or in separation from him. If he truly is altogether lovely, then whatsoever is opposite to him, or separate from him can have no loveliness in it. Take away Christ, and where is the loveliness of any enjoyment? The best creature-comfort apart from Christ is but a broken cistern. It cannot hold one drop of true comfort, Psalm 73:26. It is with the creature--the sweetest and loveliest creature--as with a beautiful image in the mirror: turn away the face and where is the image? Riches, honours, and comfortable relations are sweet when the face of Christ smiles upon us through them; but without him, what empty trifles are they all? Fifthly, "Altogether lovely," i.e. Transcending all created excellencies in beauty and loveliness. If you compare Christ and other things, no matter how lovely, no matter how excellent and desirable, Christ carries away all loveliness from them. "He is (as the apostle says) before all things," Col. 1:17. Not only before all things in time, nature, and order; but before all things in dignity, glory, and true excellence. In all things he must have the pre-eminence. Let us but compare Christ's excellence with the creature's in a few particulars, and how manifest will the transcendent loveliness of Jesus Christ appear! For,
1. All other loveliness is derived and secondary; but the loveliness of Christ is original and primary. Angels and men, the world and all the desirable things in it, receive what excellence they crave from him. They are streams from the fountain. The farther any thing departs from its fountain and original, the less excellency there is in it.
2. The loveliness and excellency of all other things, is only relative, consisting in its reference to Christ, and subservience to his glory. But Christ is lovely, considered absolutely in himself. He is desirable for himself; other things are desirable because of him.
3. The beauty and loveliness of all other things are fading and perishing; but the loveliness of Christ is fresh for all eternity. The sweetness of the best created thing is a fading flower; if not before, yet certainly at death it must fade away. Job 4:21. "Doth not their excellency, which is in them, go away?" Yes, yes, whether they are the natural excellencies of the body, acquired endowments of the mind, lovely features, graceful qualities, or anything else we find attractive; all these like pleasant flowers are withered, faded, and destroyed by death. "But Christ is still the same, yesterday, today, and for ever," Heb. 13:8.
4. The beauty and holiness of creatures are ensnaring and dangerous. A man may make an idol out of them, and indulge himself beyond the bounds of moderation with them, but there is no danger of excess in the love of Christ. The soul is then in the healthiest frame and temper when it is most overwhelmed by love to Christ, Song of Songs 5:8.
5. The loveliness of every creature is of a confining and obstructing nature. Our esteem of it diminishes the closer we approach to it, or the longer we enjoy it. Creatures, like pictures, are fairest at a certain distance, but it is not so with Christ; the nearer the soul approaches him, and the longer it lives in the enjoyment of him, still the sweeter and more desirable he becomes.
6. All other loveliness cannot satisfy the soul of man. There is not scope enough in any one created thing, or in all the natural universe of created things for the soul of man to reach out and expand; but the soul still feels itself confined and narrowed within those limits. This comes to pass from the inadequacy and unsuitableness of the creature to the nobler and more excellent soul of man. The soul is like a ship in a narrow river which does not have room to turn. It is always running aground and foundering in the shallows. But Jesus Christ is in every way sufficient to the vast desires of the soul; in him it has sea-room enough. In him the soul may spread all its sails with no fear of touching bottom. And thus you see what is the importance of this phrase, "Altogether lovely."
"Yes, He is altogether lovely." Song of Songs 5:16
Hence note, DOCTRINE: That Jesus Christ is the loveliest person souls can set their eyes upon: "Thou art fairer than the children of men." Psalm 14:2.
He is "Altogether Lovely" Here it is said of Jesus Christ, which cannot be said of any mere creature, that he is "altogether lovely." In opening this point I shall, 1. Examine the importance of this phrase "altogether lovely." 2. Show you in what respect Christ is so.
What is Meant by "Altogether Lovely" Let us consider this excellent expression, and particularly reflect on what is contained in it, and you shall find this expression "altogether lovely." First, It excludes all unloveliness and disagreeableness from Jesus Christ. As a theologian long ago said, "There is nothing in him which is not loveable." The excellencies of Jesus Christ are perfectly exclusive of all their opposites; there is nothing of a contrary property or quality found in him to contaminate or devaluate his excellency. And in this respect Christ infinitely transcends the most excellent and loveliest of created things. Whatsoever loveliness is found in them, it is not without a bad aftertaste. The fairest pictures must have their shadows: The rarest and most brilliant gems must have dark backgrounds to set off their beauty; the best creature is but a bitter sweet at best: If there is something pleasing, there is also something sour. if a person has every ability, both innate and acquired, to delight us, yet there is also some natural corruption intermixed with it to put us off. But it is not so in our altogether lovely Christ, his excellencies are pure and unmixed. He is a sea of sweetness without one drop of gall.
Secondly, "Altogether lovely," i.e. There is nothing unlovely found in him, so all that is in him is wholly lovely. As every ray of God is precious, so every thing that is in Christ is precious: Who can weigh Christ in a pair of balances, and tell you what his worth is? "His price is above rubies, and all that thou canst desire is not to be compared with him," Prov. 8:11. Thirdly "Altogether lovely," i.e. He embraces all things that are lovely: he seals up the sum of all loveliness. Things that shine as single stars with a particular glory, all meet in Christ as a glorious constellation. Col. 1:19, "It pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell." Cast your eyes among all created beings, survey the universe: you will observe strength in one, beauty in a second, faithfulness in a third, wisdom in a fourth; but you shall find none excelling in them all as Christ does. Bread has one quality, water another, raiment another, medicine another; but none has them all in itself as Christ does. He is bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, a garment to the naked, healing to the wounded; and whatever a soul can desire is found in him, 1 Cor. 1:30. Fourthly, "Altogether lovely," i.e. Nothing is lovely in opposition to him, or in separation from him. If he truly is altogether lovely, then whatsoever is opposite to him, or separate from him can have no loveliness in it. Take away Christ, and where is the loveliness of any enjoyment? The best creature-comfort apart from Christ is but a broken cistern. It cannot hold one drop of true comfort, Psalm 73:26. It is with the creature--the sweetest and loveliest creature--as with a beautiful image in the mirror: turn away the face and where is the image? Riches, honours, and comfortable relations are sweet when the face of Christ smiles upon us through them; but without him, what empty trifles are they all? Fifthly, "Altogether lovely," i.e. Transcending all created excellencies in beauty and loveliness. If you compare Christ and other things, no matter how lovely, no matter how excellent and desirable, Christ carries away all loveliness from them. "He is (as the apostle says) before all things," Col. 1:17. Not only before all things in time, nature, and order; but before all things in dignity, glory, and true excellence. In all things he must have the pre-eminence. Let us but compare Christ's excellence with the creature's in a few particulars, and how manifest will the transcendent loveliness of Jesus Christ appear! For,
1. All other loveliness is derived and secondary; but the loveliness of Christ is original and primary. Angels and men, the world and all the desirable things in it, receive what excellence they crave from him. They are streams from the fountain. The farther any thing departs from its fountain and original, the less excellency there is in it.
2. The loveliness and excellency of all other things, is only relative, consisting in its reference to Christ, and subservience to his glory. But Christ is lovely, considered absolutely in himself. He is desirable for himself; other things are desirable because of him.
3. The beauty and loveliness of all other things are fading and perishing; but the loveliness of Christ is fresh for all eternity. The sweetness of the best created thing is a fading flower; if not before, yet certainly at death it must fade away. Job 4:21. "Doth not their excellency, which is in them, go away?" Yes, yes, whether they are the natural excellencies of the body, acquired endowments of the mind, lovely features, graceful qualities, or anything else we find attractive; all these like pleasant flowers are withered, faded, and destroyed by death. "But Christ is still the same, yesterday, today, and for ever," Heb. 13:8.
4. The beauty and holiness of creatures are ensnaring and dangerous. A man may make an idol out of them, and indulge himself beyond the bounds of moderation with them, but there is no danger of excess in the love of Christ. The soul is then in the healthiest frame and temper when it is most overwhelmed by love to Christ, Song of Songs 5:8.
5. The loveliness of every creature is of a confining and obstructing nature. Our esteem of it diminishes the closer we approach to it, or the longer we enjoy it. Creatures, like pictures, are fairest at a certain distance, but it is not so with Christ; the nearer the soul approaches him, and the longer it lives in the enjoyment of him, still the sweeter and more desirable he becomes.
6. All other loveliness cannot satisfy the soul of man. There is not scope enough in any one created thing, or in all the natural universe of created things for the soul of man to reach out and expand; but the soul still feels itself confined and narrowed within those limits. This comes to pass from the inadequacy and unsuitableness of the creature to the nobler and more excellent soul of man. The soul is like a ship in a narrow river which does not have room to turn. It is always running aground and foundering in the shallows. But Jesus Christ is in every way sufficient to the vast desires of the soul; in him it has sea-room enough. In him the soul may spread all its sails with no fear of touching bottom. And thus you see what is the importance of this phrase, "Altogether lovely."
Wednesday, 16 April 2008
Revival on the Isle of Lewis By Rev. Duncan Campbell (2)
One evening an old woman 84 years of age and blind had a vision. Now, don’t ask me to explain this vision because I cannot. But strange things happen when God begins to move. And this dear old lady in the vision saw the church of her fathers crowded with young people, crowded with young people. And she saw a strange minister in the pulpit. And she was so impressed by this revelation—because a revelation it was—she sent for the minister and told her story.
The parish minister was a God fearing man, a man that longed to see God working. Oh, he had tried ever so many things to get the youth of the parish interested, but not one single teenager attended the church. That was the situation.
Well, what did this dear old lady to say to him? I’ll tell you she said. “I am sure, Mr. McKay that you are longing to see God working. What about calling your office bearers together and suggest to them that you spend two nights a week waiting upon God. You have tried missions. You have tried special evangelists. Mr. McKay, have you triedGod?” Oh, I tell you. This was a wonderful old woman.
The dear old lady said, “Well, if you do that my sister and I will get on our knees at 10 o’clock on Tuesday, 10 o’clock on Friday and we will wait on our knees until four o’clock in the morning.” I tell you this puts us to shame.
So they went to prayer and I want to mention that they had but one promise from God and that promise they plead. “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground.” That is God’s promise.
And in their prayers, according to the minister, they would say again and again, “God, you are a covenant keeping God and you must be true to your covenant engagements.” And the praying and the meetings continued for several nights until one night a very remarkable thing happened. There kneeling amongst straw in the barn, in the barn of a farm house when suddenly one young man rose and read part of Psalm 24.
Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy
place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up
his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing
from the LORD
And he shut his Bible. And then looking down at the minister and at the other men who were kneeling there he said this. Rather crude words, not so crude in Gaelic, but this is what he said. “Brethren, it seems to me just so much humbug to be praying as we are praying, to be waiting as we are waiting, if we ourselves are not rightly related to God.” Oh, my dear brethren, let’s take that to heart. He began to pray. “God, are my hands clean? Is my heart pure?” And that dear man got no farther. He fell on his knees and then on his face among the straw and within a matter of minutes three of the elders fell into a trance.
Now, please don’t come to me at the end of this meeting and ask me what I really mean by men falling into a trance. I cannot answer that question. All that I know is this that when that happened in the barn...now it happened in the Jonathan Edwards revival. Remember that. Not peculiar by any means to Lewis. It happened in America. It happened in the ’59 revival in Wales. Not the 1900 revival, but the ’59 revival. But this I can say. The moment that that happened in the barn a power was let lose in Barvas that shook the whole of Lewis. I say shook Lewis.
God stepped down. The Holy Spirit began to move among the people. And the minister writing about what happened on the following morning said this, “You met God on
So he meekly obeyed and said, “Yes, I will call the session together and I will suggest that we meet on Tuesday night and Friday night and we will spend the whole night in prayer.” I tell you, dear people, here were men that meant business.
One evening an old woman 84 years of age and blind had a vision. Now, don’t ask me to explain this vision because I cannot. But strange things happen when God begins to move. And this dear old lady in the vision saw the church of her fathers crowded with young people, crowded with young people. And she saw a strange minister in the pulpit. And she was so impressed by this revelation—because a revelation it was—she sent for the minister and told her story.
The parish minister was a God fearing man, a man that longed to see God working. Oh, he had tried ever so many things to get the youth of the parish interested, but not one single teenager attended the church. That was the situation.
Well, what did this dear old lady to say to him? I’ll tell you she said. “I am sure, Mr. McKay that you are longing to see God working. What about calling your office bearers together and suggest to them that you spend two nights a week waiting upon God. You have tried missions. You have tried special evangelists. Mr. McKay, have you triedGod?” Oh, I tell you. This was a wonderful old woman.
The dear old lady said, “Well, if you do that my sister and I will get on our knees at 10 o’clock on Tuesday, 10 o’clock on Friday and we will wait on our knees until four o’clock in the morning.” I tell you this puts us to shame.
So they went to prayer and I want to mention that they had but one promise from God and that promise they plead. “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground.” That is God’s promise.
And in their prayers, according to the minister, they would say again and again, “God, you are a covenant keeping God and you must be true to your covenant engagements.” And the praying and the meetings continued for several nights until one night a very remarkable thing happened. There kneeling amongst straw in the barn, in the barn of a farm house when suddenly one young man rose and read part of Psalm 24.
Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy
place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up
his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing
from the LORD
And he shut his Bible. And then looking down at the minister and at the other men who were kneeling there he said this. Rather crude words, not so crude in Gaelic, but this is what he said. “Brethren, it seems to me just so much humbug to be praying as we are praying, to be waiting as we are waiting, if we ourselves are not rightly related to God.” Oh, my dear brethren, let’s take that to heart. He began to pray. “God, are my hands clean? Is my heart pure?” And that dear man got no farther. He fell on his knees and then on his face among the straw and within a matter of minutes three of the elders fell into a trance.
Now, please don’t come to me at the end of this meeting and ask me what I really mean by men falling into a trance. I cannot answer that question. All that I know is this that when that happened in the barn...now it happened in the Jonathan Edwards revival. Remember that. Not peculiar by any means to Lewis. It happened in America. It happened in the ’59 revival in Wales. Not the 1900 revival, but the ’59 revival. But this I can say. The moment that that happened in the barn a power was let lose in Barvas that shook the whole of Lewis. I say shook Lewis.
God stepped down. The Holy Spirit began to move among the people. And the minister writing about what happened on the following morning said this, “You met God on
So he meekly obeyed and said, “Yes, I will call the session together and I will suggest that we meet on Tuesday night and Friday night and we will spend the whole night in prayer.” I tell you, dear people, here were men that meant business.
New International Version: What today's Christian needs to know about the NIV (1)
In the mid-1950s, Howard Long set out to witness to a business associate, only to have that associate break into laughter. The laughter came as the man read "the gospel for himself -- directly from the pages of the Bible".1 It made Howard angry, not that the man laughed at the Scriptures, but that Howard couldn't give him "a Bible in [his] own language".2
Howard's children, too, had trouble understanding a Bible written in something other than everyday language. "'We've translated the Bible into a couple thousand tongues,' Howard said to his pastor. 'Someday we're going to translate it into English'."3 Little did he know that his frustration would give birth to one of the most popular translations in the English language.
The New International Version was, in the words of James Powell, President of the International Bible Society, "'really God's project ... His fingerprints are all over it, from the original dream to the final production'."4 Apparently many people agree. The International Bible Society, in league with several publishers in North America and the United Kingdom, has packaged the NIV in every style and binding imaginable, and for every group of people under the English-speaking sun. There are expensive, luxurious leather editions and cheap paperback editions, versions for children and versions for college students, whole Bibles and individual verses, Bibles with 'Holy Bible' stamped in gold on the cover and Bibles that are only discovered to be Scripture when read by those familiar with the NIV. In its relatively short lifetime the NIV has become the basis of commentaries, interlinears, systematic theologies, and concordances. Colleges and seminaries distribute it to their students and require it in the classroom. Churches of many denominations and doctrinal persuasions use it in pew and pulpit. Bookshops claim that it is outselling the Authorised (King James) Version and everything else that claims to be Scripture.
Many versions of Holy Scripture claim to be literal translations (e.g., the AV, the Revised Standard Version, the New American Standard Bible); others claim excellent readability (the paraphrases such as the Living Bible and Phillips New Testament), but the NIV claims both literalness and readability. The latter is definitely not in dispute; the NIV is written in a modern English that anyone -- rich or poor, young or old, saved or unsaved -- with a child's education can understand. The NIV is legitimately compared to a newspaper for comprehensibility. But with regard to the former, the literalness of translation, the NIV has come under increasing scrutiny, and in many ways has been found wanting.
It should first be noted that, had Howard Long interpreted his colleague's laughter in more biblical terms, the NIV might never have come to be. As the Apostle Paul reminds us, "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him" (1 Corinthians 2.14). Unless the Holy Spirit is working in a man's life, that man has no reason to react positively to the Word of God because of what it is -- God's Word. Those in spiritual darkness will hide anywhere from the light, even in laughter.
This, however, may not have been the case with Howard's children. They could very well have been born again. Just as it is the parents' responsibility and honour to bring their children to an understanding of salvation through Christ alone, so it is their responsibility and honour to help their children understand the rest of Scripture. That can be done no matter what translation the parents use. A child can learn to read with understanding the most difficult language, usually more easily than an adult can, as has been proven over and over in past centuries with dead languages such as Latin and Koine Greek. While it is true that the NIV requires less adult supervision and guidance when being read, it may also deprive the parent of opportunities of spiritual interaction, opportunities that may never come again.
Philosophy of Translation
The problems with the NIV, however, are more basic and far-reaching than this. The problems begin at its very core -- the philosophy of translation held by its translators.
The NIV translators began with a very noble goal. Their wish was to produce "an accurate translation" with a high degree of clarity and literary quality, one that meets standards of modern English but at the same time preserves "some measure of continuity with the long tradition of translating the Scriptures into English".5 To fulfil this desire entails, first, the belief that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the very Word of God, inspired by God and inerrant even down to the individual words. On the basis of this belief, the words of Scripture are translated as literally as possible, with the goal being to reproduce in English what is written in the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek of the original texts. The resultant translation should differ from the original texts and other literal translations only in idiomatic expressions, word order, and alternative definitions of words; the operating principle of this formal equivalence translation is "as literal as possible, as free as necessary". This philosophy of translation has been the standard of most translators throughout the centuries (discounting, of course, those who have paraphrased the Scriptures); the major differences between conservative translations of the past century have been in the Greek text used and the cultural or theological biases incorporated into the translations.
In recent years, however, there has arisen a group of scholars who no longer believe in the importance, and often the inerrancy and inspiration, of the individual words of Scripture. These men believe instead that it is the thoughts or the truth behind the words that is important. (In the inerrancy controversy, this theory "explains" such supposed problems as the diversity between Scripture and science. It is not what Genesis 1 says that is important, but the "truth" behind what it says.) This view is called the dynamic view of Scripture; transferred into the realm of translation, this is referred to as dynamic equivalence. The aim in dynamic equivalence translation is not word-for-word accuracy, but thought-for-thought equivalence. Although the NIV translators would avoid using the term dynamic equivalence in reference to their work, their aim was for "more than a word-for-word translation;" their goal, instead, was for "fidelity to the thought of the biblical writers". They sought by "frequent modifications in sentence structure and constant regard for the contextual meanings of words" to produce a translation that would speak to people in that people's own culture.6
The basic idea of the dynamic equivalence theory is to ask the question, "How do we think Paul would have written his New Testament letters had he written them in English?" Or, "How do we think a first-century reader would have understood the writings of Paul?" The dynamic equivalence translators want to produce the same response and reaction in twentieth-century readers. Thus, to them the thoughts, phrases, or truths expressed in man's writings are more important than the actual words. Their desire is to give modern man what Paul and his colleagues would have written if they were writing today.
How can a man's thoughts be known apart from his words? Further, if his words do not express his thoughts, especially in Scripture, how can truth be known at all? Where can man find truth if not in the very words of God to man? How can man know what Paul's thoughts were apart from what he wrote? How can man know how the first-century readers responded, apart from what has been written about their responses? The attempt to answer these questions through dynamic equivalence can produce all sorts of heretical extremes. Happily, the NIV translators held to the basically conservative end of the dynamic spectrum. However, it is distressing that, despite signing statements that they believe in the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture, they decided to use a theory of translation that in essence denies not only the inerrancy of Scripture, but also the need for Scripture to be inerrant.
In the mid-1950s, Howard Long set out to witness to a business associate, only to have that associate break into laughter. The laughter came as the man read "the gospel for himself -- directly from the pages of the Bible".1 It made Howard angry, not that the man laughed at the Scriptures, but that Howard couldn't give him "a Bible in [his] own language".2
Howard's children, too, had trouble understanding a Bible written in something other than everyday language. "'We've translated the Bible into a couple thousand tongues,' Howard said to his pastor. 'Someday we're going to translate it into English'."3 Little did he know that his frustration would give birth to one of the most popular translations in the English language.
The New International Version was, in the words of James Powell, President of the International Bible Society, "'really God's project ... His fingerprints are all over it, from the original dream to the final production'."4 Apparently many people agree. The International Bible Society, in league with several publishers in North America and the United Kingdom, has packaged the NIV in every style and binding imaginable, and for every group of people under the English-speaking sun. There are expensive, luxurious leather editions and cheap paperback editions, versions for children and versions for college students, whole Bibles and individual verses, Bibles with 'Holy Bible' stamped in gold on the cover and Bibles that are only discovered to be Scripture when read by those familiar with the NIV. In its relatively short lifetime the NIV has become the basis of commentaries, interlinears, systematic theologies, and concordances. Colleges and seminaries distribute it to their students and require it in the classroom. Churches of many denominations and doctrinal persuasions use it in pew and pulpit. Bookshops claim that it is outselling the Authorised (King James) Version and everything else that claims to be Scripture.
Many versions of Holy Scripture claim to be literal translations (e.g., the AV, the Revised Standard Version, the New American Standard Bible); others claim excellent readability (the paraphrases such as the Living Bible and Phillips New Testament), but the NIV claims both literalness and readability. The latter is definitely not in dispute; the NIV is written in a modern English that anyone -- rich or poor, young or old, saved or unsaved -- with a child's education can understand. The NIV is legitimately compared to a newspaper for comprehensibility. But with regard to the former, the literalness of translation, the NIV has come under increasing scrutiny, and in many ways has been found wanting.
It should first be noted that, had Howard Long interpreted his colleague's laughter in more biblical terms, the NIV might never have come to be. As the Apostle Paul reminds us, "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him" (1 Corinthians 2.14). Unless the Holy Spirit is working in a man's life, that man has no reason to react positively to the Word of God because of what it is -- God's Word. Those in spiritual darkness will hide anywhere from the light, even in laughter.
This, however, may not have been the case with Howard's children. They could very well have been born again. Just as it is the parents' responsibility and honour to bring their children to an understanding of salvation through Christ alone, so it is their responsibility and honour to help their children understand the rest of Scripture. That can be done no matter what translation the parents use. A child can learn to read with understanding the most difficult language, usually more easily than an adult can, as has been proven over and over in past centuries with dead languages such as Latin and Koine Greek. While it is true that the NIV requires less adult supervision and guidance when being read, it may also deprive the parent of opportunities of spiritual interaction, opportunities that may never come again.
Philosophy of Translation
The problems with the NIV, however, are more basic and far-reaching than this. The problems begin at its very core -- the philosophy of translation held by its translators.
The NIV translators began with a very noble goal. Their wish was to produce "an accurate translation" with a high degree of clarity and literary quality, one that meets standards of modern English but at the same time preserves "some measure of continuity with the long tradition of translating the Scriptures into English".5 To fulfil this desire entails, first, the belief that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the very Word of God, inspired by God and inerrant even down to the individual words. On the basis of this belief, the words of Scripture are translated as literally as possible, with the goal being to reproduce in English what is written in the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek of the original texts. The resultant translation should differ from the original texts and other literal translations only in idiomatic expressions, word order, and alternative definitions of words; the operating principle of this formal equivalence translation is "as literal as possible, as free as necessary". This philosophy of translation has been the standard of most translators throughout the centuries (discounting, of course, those who have paraphrased the Scriptures); the major differences between conservative translations of the past century have been in the Greek text used and the cultural or theological biases incorporated into the translations.
In recent years, however, there has arisen a group of scholars who no longer believe in the importance, and often the inerrancy and inspiration, of the individual words of Scripture. These men believe instead that it is the thoughts or the truth behind the words that is important. (In the inerrancy controversy, this theory "explains" such supposed problems as the diversity between Scripture and science. It is not what Genesis 1 says that is important, but the "truth" behind what it says.) This view is called the dynamic view of Scripture; transferred into the realm of translation, this is referred to as dynamic equivalence. The aim in dynamic equivalence translation is not word-for-word accuracy, but thought-for-thought equivalence. Although the NIV translators would avoid using the term dynamic equivalence in reference to their work, their aim was for "more than a word-for-word translation;" their goal, instead, was for "fidelity to the thought of the biblical writers". They sought by "frequent modifications in sentence structure and constant regard for the contextual meanings of words" to produce a translation that would speak to people in that people's own culture.6
The basic idea of the dynamic equivalence theory is to ask the question, "How do we think Paul would have written his New Testament letters had he written them in English?" Or, "How do we think a first-century reader would have understood the writings of Paul?" The dynamic equivalence translators want to produce the same response and reaction in twentieth-century readers. Thus, to them the thoughts, phrases, or truths expressed in man's writings are more important than the actual words. Their desire is to give modern man what Paul and his colleagues would have written if they were writing today.
How can a man's thoughts be known apart from his words? Further, if his words do not express his thoughts, especially in Scripture, how can truth be known at all? Where can man find truth if not in the very words of God to man? How can man know what Paul's thoughts were apart from what he wrote? How can man know how the first-century readers responded, apart from what has been written about their responses? The attempt to answer these questions through dynamic equivalence can produce all sorts of heretical extremes. Happily, the NIV translators held to the basically conservative end of the dynamic spectrum. However, it is distressing that, despite signing statements that they believe in the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture, they decided to use a theory of translation that in essence denies not only the inerrancy of Scripture, but also the need for Scripture to be inerrant.
The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul by Phillip Doddridge (11)
CHAPTER X.
THE SINNER SERIOUSLY URGED AND ENTREATED TO ACCEPT OF SALVATION IN THIS WAY.
1. Thus far have I often known convictions and impressions to arise, (if I might judge by the strongest appearances) which after all have worn off again. Some unhappy circumstance of external temptation, ever joined by the inward reluctance of an unsanctified heart to this holy and humbling scheme of redemption, has been the ruin of multitudes. And, “through the deceitfulness of sin, they have been hardened,” (Heb. 3:25) till they seem to have been “utterly destroyed, and that without remedy.” (Prov. 29:1) And therefore, O thou immortal creature who art now reading these lines, I beseech thee, that, while affairs are in this critical situation, while there are these balancings of mind between accepting and rejecting that glorious Gospel, which, in the integrity of my heart, I have now been laying before you, you would once more give me an attentive audience while I plead, in God's behalf shall I say? or rather in your own; while, “as an ambassador for Christ, and as though God did beseech you by me, I pray you in Christ's stead that you would be reconciled to God,” (2 Cor. 5:20) and would not, after these awakenings and these inquiries, by a madness which it will surely be the doleful business of a miserable eternity to lament, reject this compassionate counsel of God towards you.
2. One would indeed imagine there should be no need of importunity here. One would conclude, that as soon as perishing sinners are told that an offended God is ready to be reconciled, that he offers them a full pardon for all their aggravated sins, yea, that he is willing to adopt them into his family now, that he may at length admit them to his heavenly presence; all should, with the utmost readiness and pleasure, embrace so kind a message, and fall at his feet in speechless transports of astonishment. gratitude, and joy. But, alas! we find it much otherwise. We see multitudes quite unmoved, and the impressions which are made on many more are feeble and transient. Lest it should be thus with you, O reader! let me urge the message with which I have the honor to be charged; let me entreat you to be reconciled to God, and to accept of pardon and salvation in the way in which it is so freely offered to you.
3. I entreat you, “by the majesty of that God in whose name I come,” whose voice fills all heaven with reverence and obedience. He speaks not in vain to legions of angels; but if there could be any contention among those blessed spirits, it would be, who should be first to execute his commands. Oh! let him not speak in vain to a wretched mortal I entreat you, “by the terrors of his wrath,” who could speak to you in thunder; who could, by one single act of his will, cut off this precarious life of yours, and send you down to hell. I beseech you by his mercies, by his tender mercies, by the bowels of his compassion, which still yearn over you as those of a parent over “a dear son,” over a tender child, whom, notwithstanding his former ungrateful rebellion, “he earnestly remembers still.” (Jer. 31:20) I beseech and entreat you, “by all this paternal goodness,” that you do not, as it were, compel him to lose the character of the gentle Parent in that of the righteous Judge; so that, as he threatens with regard to those whom he had just called his sons and his daughters, “a fire shall be kindled in his anger, which shall burn unto the lowest hell.” (Deut. 32:19,22)
4. I beseech you further, “by the name and love of your dying Savior.” I beseech you by all the condescension of his incarnation, by that poverty to which he voluntarily submitted, “that you might be enriched” with eternal treasures; (2 Cor. 8:9) by all the gracious invitations which he gave, which still sound in his word, and still coming, as it were, warm from his heart, are “sweeter than honey, or the honey-comb.” (Psa. 19:10) I beseech you by all his glorious works of power and of wonder, which were also works of love. I beseech you by the memory of the most benevolent person and the most generous friend. I beseech you by the memory of what he suffered, as well as of what he said and did; by the agony which he endured in the garden when his body was covered “with a dew of blood.” (Luke 22:44) I beseech you by all that tender distress which he felt when his dearest friends “forsook hint and fled,” (Matt. 26:56) and his blood-thirsty enemies dragged him away like the meanest of slaves, and like the vilest of criminals. I beseech you by the blows and bruises, by the stripes and lashes which this injured Sovereign endured while in their rebellious hands; by the shame of spitting, from which he hid not that kind and venerable countenance. (Isa. 50:6) I beseech you by the purple robe, the scepter of reed, and the crown of thorns which this King of Glory wore that he might set us among the princes of heaven. (Psa. 113:8) I beseech you by the heavy burden of “the cross,” under which he panted, and toiled, and fainted in the painful way “to Golgotha,” (John 19:17) that he might free us from the burden of our sins. I beseech you by the remembrance of those rude nails that tore the veins and arteries, the nerves and tendons of his sacred hands and feet; and by that invincible, that triumphant goodness, which, while the iron pierced his flesh, engaged him to cry out, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) I beseech you by that unutterable anguish which he bore when lifted up upon the cross, and extended there, as on a rack, for six painful hours, that you open your heart to those attractive influences which have “drawn to him thousands and ten thousands.” (John 12:32) I beseech you by all that insult and derision which the “Lord of Glory bore there;” (Matt. 27:29-44) by that parching thirst which could hardly obtain the relief of “vinegar,” (John 19:28,29) by that doleful cry so astonishing in the mouth of the only begotten of the Father, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46) I beseech you by that grace that subdued and pardoned “a dying malefactor;” (Luke 23:42,43) by that compassion for sinners, by that compassion for you, which wrought in his heart, long as its vital motion continued, and which ended not when “he bowed his head, saying, It is finished, and gave up the ghost.” (John 19:30) I beseech you by the triumphs of that resurrection by which he was “declared to be the Son of God with power;” by the spirit of holiness which wrought to accomplish it, (Rom. 1:4) by that gracious tenderness which attempered all those triumphs, when he said to her out of whom he had cast seven devils, concerning his disciples who had treated him so basely, “Go, tell my brethren, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, unto my God and your God.” (John 20:17) I beseech you by that condescension with which he said to Thomas, when his unbelief had made such an unreasonable demand, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold mine hands, and reach hither thine hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing.” (John 20:27) I beseech you by that generous and faithful care of his people which he carried up with him to the regions of glory, and which engaged him to send down “his Spirit,” in that rich profusion of miraculous gifts, to spread the progress of his saving word. (Acts 2:33) I beseech you by that voice of sympathy and power with which he said to Saul, while injuring his church, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” (Acts 9:4) by that generous goodness which spared that prostrate enemy when he lay trembling at his feet, and raised him to so high a dignity as to be “not inferior to the very chiefest apostles.” (2 Cor. 12:11) I beseech you by the memory of all that Christ hath already done; by the expectation of all he will farther do for his people. I beseech you, at once, by the scepter of his grace, and by that sword of his justice with which all his incorrigible “enemies” shall be “slain before him,” (Luke 19:20) that you do not trifle away these precious moments while his Spirit is this breathing upon you; that you do not lose an opportunity which may never return, and on the improvement of which your eternity depends.
5. I beseech you “by all the bowels of compassion which you owe to the faithful ministers of Christ,” who are studying and laboring, preaching and praying, wearing out their time, exhausting their strength, and very probably shortening their lives, for the salvation of your soul, and of souls like yours. I beseech you by the affection with which all that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity long to see you brought back to him. I beseech you by the friendship of the living, and by the memory of the dead, by the ruin of those who have trifled away their days and perished in their sins, and by the happiness of those who have embraced the Gospel, and are saved by it. I beseech you by the great expectation of that important “day, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven;” (2 Thess. 1:7) by “the terrors of a dissolving world;” (2 Pet. 3:10) by the “sound of the archangel's trumpet,” (1 Thess. 4:16) and of that infinitely more awful sentence, “Come, ye blessed,” and “Depart, ye cursed,” with which that grand solemnity shall close. (Matt. 25:34,41)
6. I beseech you, finally, by your own precious and immortal soul; by the sure prospect of a dying bed, or of a sudden surprise into the invisible state and as you would feel one spark of comfort in your departing spirit, when your flesh and your heart are failing. I beseech you, by your own personal appearance before the tribunal of Christ, (for a personal appearance it must be, even to them who now sit on thrones of their own;) by all the transports of the blessed, and by all the agonies of the damned, then one or the other of which must be your everlasting portion. I affectionately entreat and beseech you, in the strength of all these united considerations, as you will answer it to me who may in that day be summoned to testify against you, and, which is unspeakably more, as you will answer it to your conscience, as you will answer it to the eternal Judge that you dismiss not these thoughts, these meditations, and these cares, till your have brought matters to a happy issue; till you have made resolute choice of Christ, and his appointed way of salvation; and till you have solemnly devoted yourself to God in the, bonds of an everlasting covenant.
7. And thus I leave the matter before you, and before the Lord. I have told you my errand; I have discharged embassy. Stronger arguments I cannot use; more endearing and mores awful considerations I cannot suggest. Choose, therefore, whether you will go out, as it were clothed in sackcloth, to cast yourself at the feet of him who now sends you these equitable and gracious terms of peace and pardon; or whether you will hold it out till he appears sword in hand to reckon with you for your treasons and your crimes, and for this neglected embassy among the rest of them. Fain would I hope the best; nor can I believe that this labor of love shall be so entirely unsuccessful, that not one soul shall be brought to the foot of Christ in cordial submission and humble faith. “Take with you,” therefore, “words, and turn unto the Lord;” (Hos. 14:2) and O that those which follow might, in effect at least, be the genuine language of every one that reads them.
CHAPTER X.
THE SINNER SERIOUSLY URGED AND ENTREATED TO ACCEPT OF SALVATION IN THIS WAY.
1. Thus far have I often known convictions and impressions to arise, (if I might judge by the strongest appearances) which after all have worn off again. Some unhappy circumstance of external temptation, ever joined by the inward reluctance of an unsanctified heart to this holy and humbling scheme of redemption, has been the ruin of multitudes. And, “through the deceitfulness of sin, they have been hardened,” (Heb. 3:25) till they seem to have been “utterly destroyed, and that without remedy.” (Prov. 29:1) And therefore, O thou immortal creature who art now reading these lines, I beseech thee, that, while affairs are in this critical situation, while there are these balancings of mind between accepting and rejecting that glorious Gospel, which, in the integrity of my heart, I have now been laying before you, you would once more give me an attentive audience while I plead, in God's behalf shall I say? or rather in your own; while, “as an ambassador for Christ, and as though God did beseech you by me, I pray you in Christ's stead that you would be reconciled to God,” (2 Cor. 5:20) and would not, after these awakenings and these inquiries, by a madness which it will surely be the doleful business of a miserable eternity to lament, reject this compassionate counsel of God towards you.
2. One would indeed imagine there should be no need of importunity here. One would conclude, that as soon as perishing sinners are told that an offended God is ready to be reconciled, that he offers them a full pardon for all their aggravated sins, yea, that he is willing to adopt them into his family now, that he may at length admit them to his heavenly presence; all should, with the utmost readiness and pleasure, embrace so kind a message, and fall at his feet in speechless transports of astonishment. gratitude, and joy. But, alas! we find it much otherwise. We see multitudes quite unmoved, and the impressions which are made on many more are feeble and transient. Lest it should be thus with you, O reader! let me urge the message with which I have the honor to be charged; let me entreat you to be reconciled to God, and to accept of pardon and salvation in the way in which it is so freely offered to you.
3. I entreat you, “by the majesty of that God in whose name I come,” whose voice fills all heaven with reverence and obedience. He speaks not in vain to legions of angels; but if there could be any contention among those blessed spirits, it would be, who should be first to execute his commands. Oh! let him not speak in vain to a wretched mortal I entreat you, “by the terrors of his wrath,” who could speak to you in thunder; who could, by one single act of his will, cut off this precarious life of yours, and send you down to hell. I beseech you by his mercies, by his tender mercies, by the bowels of his compassion, which still yearn over you as those of a parent over “a dear son,” over a tender child, whom, notwithstanding his former ungrateful rebellion, “he earnestly remembers still.” (Jer. 31:20) I beseech and entreat you, “by all this paternal goodness,” that you do not, as it were, compel him to lose the character of the gentle Parent in that of the righteous Judge; so that, as he threatens with regard to those whom he had just called his sons and his daughters, “a fire shall be kindled in his anger, which shall burn unto the lowest hell.” (Deut. 32:19,22)
4. I beseech you further, “by the name and love of your dying Savior.” I beseech you by all the condescension of his incarnation, by that poverty to which he voluntarily submitted, “that you might be enriched” with eternal treasures; (2 Cor. 8:9) by all the gracious invitations which he gave, which still sound in his word, and still coming, as it were, warm from his heart, are “sweeter than honey, or the honey-comb.” (Psa. 19:10) I beseech you by all his glorious works of power and of wonder, which were also works of love. I beseech you by the memory of the most benevolent person and the most generous friend. I beseech you by the memory of what he suffered, as well as of what he said and did; by the agony which he endured in the garden when his body was covered “with a dew of blood.” (Luke 22:44) I beseech you by all that tender distress which he felt when his dearest friends “forsook hint and fled,” (Matt. 26:56) and his blood-thirsty enemies dragged him away like the meanest of slaves, and like the vilest of criminals. I beseech you by the blows and bruises, by the stripes and lashes which this injured Sovereign endured while in their rebellious hands; by the shame of spitting, from which he hid not that kind and venerable countenance. (Isa. 50:6) I beseech you by the purple robe, the scepter of reed, and the crown of thorns which this King of Glory wore that he might set us among the princes of heaven. (Psa. 113:8) I beseech you by the heavy burden of “the cross,” under which he panted, and toiled, and fainted in the painful way “to Golgotha,” (John 19:17) that he might free us from the burden of our sins. I beseech you by the remembrance of those rude nails that tore the veins and arteries, the nerves and tendons of his sacred hands and feet; and by that invincible, that triumphant goodness, which, while the iron pierced his flesh, engaged him to cry out, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) I beseech you by that unutterable anguish which he bore when lifted up upon the cross, and extended there, as on a rack, for six painful hours, that you open your heart to those attractive influences which have “drawn to him thousands and ten thousands.” (John 12:32) I beseech you by all that insult and derision which the “Lord of Glory bore there;” (Matt. 27:29-44) by that parching thirst which could hardly obtain the relief of “vinegar,” (John 19:28,29) by that doleful cry so astonishing in the mouth of the only begotten of the Father, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46) I beseech you by that grace that subdued and pardoned “a dying malefactor;” (Luke 23:42,43) by that compassion for sinners, by that compassion for you, which wrought in his heart, long as its vital motion continued, and which ended not when “he bowed his head, saying, It is finished, and gave up the ghost.” (John 19:30) I beseech you by the triumphs of that resurrection by which he was “declared to be the Son of God with power;” by the spirit of holiness which wrought to accomplish it, (Rom. 1:4) by that gracious tenderness which attempered all those triumphs, when he said to her out of whom he had cast seven devils, concerning his disciples who had treated him so basely, “Go, tell my brethren, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, unto my God and your God.” (John 20:17) I beseech you by that condescension with which he said to Thomas, when his unbelief had made such an unreasonable demand, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold mine hands, and reach hither thine hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing.” (John 20:27) I beseech you by that generous and faithful care of his people which he carried up with him to the regions of glory, and which engaged him to send down “his Spirit,” in that rich profusion of miraculous gifts, to spread the progress of his saving word. (Acts 2:33) I beseech you by that voice of sympathy and power with which he said to Saul, while injuring his church, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” (Acts 9:4) by that generous goodness which spared that prostrate enemy when he lay trembling at his feet, and raised him to so high a dignity as to be “not inferior to the very chiefest apostles.” (2 Cor. 12:11) I beseech you by the memory of all that Christ hath already done; by the expectation of all he will farther do for his people. I beseech you, at once, by the scepter of his grace, and by that sword of his justice with which all his incorrigible “enemies” shall be “slain before him,” (Luke 19:20) that you do not trifle away these precious moments while his Spirit is this breathing upon you; that you do not lose an opportunity which may never return, and on the improvement of which your eternity depends.
5. I beseech you “by all the bowels of compassion which you owe to the faithful ministers of Christ,” who are studying and laboring, preaching and praying, wearing out their time, exhausting their strength, and very probably shortening their lives, for the salvation of your soul, and of souls like yours. I beseech you by the affection with which all that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity long to see you brought back to him. I beseech you by the friendship of the living, and by the memory of the dead, by the ruin of those who have trifled away their days and perished in their sins, and by the happiness of those who have embraced the Gospel, and are saved by it. I beseech you by the great expectation of that important “day, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven;” (2 Thess. 1:7) by “the terrors of a dissolving world;” (2 Pet. 3:10) by the “sound of the archangel's trumpet,” (1 Thess. 4:16) and of that infinitely more awful sentence, “Come, ye blessed,” and “Depart, ye cursed,” with which that grand solemnity shall close. (Matt. 25:34,41)
6. I beseech you, finally, by your own precious and immortal soul; by the sure prospect of a dying bed, or of a sudden surprise into the invisible state and as you would feel one spark of comfort in your departing spirit, when your flesh and your heart are failing. I beseech you, by your own personal appearance before the tribunal of Christ, (for a personal appearance it must be, even to them who now sit on thrones of their own;) by all the transports of the blessed, and by all the agonies of the damned, then one or the other of which must be your everlasting portion. I affectionately entreat and beseech you, in the strength of all these united considerations, as you will answer it to me who may in that day be summoned to testify against you, and, which is unspeakably more, as you will answer it to your conscience, as you will answer it to the eternal Judge that you dismiss not these thoughts, these meditations, and these cares, till your have brought matters to a happy issue; till you have made resolute choice of Christ, and his appointed way of salvation; and till you have solemnly devoted yourself to God in the, bonds of an everlasting covenant.
7. And thus I leave the matter before you, and before the Lord. I have told you my errand; I have discharged embassy. Stronger arguments I cannot use; more endearing and mores awful considerations I cannot suggest. Choose, therefore, whether you will go out, as it were clothed in sackcloth, to cast yourself at the feet of him who now sends you these equitable and gracious terms of peace and pardon; or whether you will hold it out till he appears sword in hand to reckon with you for your treasons and your crimes, and for this neglected embassy among the rest of them. Fain would I hope the best; nor can I believe that this labor of love shall be so entirely unsuccessful, that not one soul shall be brought to the foot of Christ in cordial submission and humble faith. “Take with you,” therefore, “words, and turn unto the Lord;” (Hos. 14:2) and O that those which follow might, in effect at least, be the genuine language of every one that reads them.
Tuesday, 15 April 2008
Like Father Like Son
Here is Franklin Graham's Tribute To The Late Pope . It was published in USA Today , a leading American newspaper .
A model of moral strength
By Franklin Graham
The world, and not just the Catholic world, has lost a leader and a servant like few it has ever seen. Pope John Paul II modeled faith, courage and forgiveness — three qualities I will always associate with this pope.
As a man of remarkable faith, the pope demonstrated that, regardless of one's power or status, we all answer to an Almighty God. It was to this God, not the Vatican or the Catholic Church, that this pope looked for strength, wisdom and guidance during often-perilous times in our world.
I believe his moral strength came out of his early childhood experience in Nazi-occupied Europe and later from having to live and work under the oppression of godless communism. On the 50th anniversary of his ordination, he wrote, "Any day I could have been picked up on the street, at the factory or at the stone quarry and sent to a concentration camp. Sometimes I ask myself: 'So many people at my age were losing their lives, why not me?' "
In his 1996 book, Gift and Mystery, he wrote of the importance of humility, acknowledging in the words of the apostle Paul that God "has called us with a holy calling, not in virtue of our works but in virtue of his own purpose and the grace which he gave us."
Coupled with his moral strength was the remarkable courage of Pope John Paul II. For decades, he stood firmly on a moral foundation that was unshakable. He was a clear voice for the voiceless and the defenseless on a host of human-rights issues. And, regardless of opposition, he consistently and passionately urged Catholics and Protestants alike to support a culture of life, whether for the born or unborn, young or elderly.
The passing of this pope is a vivid reminder that our days are numbered, and they are numbered by our Creator. Job of the Old Testament says, "Remember that my life is but a breath," and whether old or young, that is certainly true in comparison with eternity.
We saw a poignant picture this past week in the passing of Terri Schiavo and Pope John Paul II. Schiavo was just 41 and powerless to speak in defense of her precious life. The pope, about twice her age at 84, was one of the world's most powerful and influential men. Yet, at the end, he, too, was voiceless. Everything was done to keep him alive; even so, modern medicine and science could not extend his life beyond the days God gave him.
What counts, then, as the pope told the world's priests last year, "is our personal commitment to Christ." As a Protestant evangelist, I could not agree more. As Jesus himself said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me."
Franklin Graham is president and CEO of Samaritan's Purse, an international relief organization. He is also president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
Here is Franklin Graham's Tribute To The Late Pope . It was published in USA Today , a leading American newspaper .
A model of moral strength
By Franklin Graham
The world, and not just the Catholic world, has lost a leader and a servant like few it has ever seen. Pope John Paul II modeled faith, courage and forgiveness — three qualities I will always associate with this pope.
As a man of remarkable faith, the pope demonstrated that, regardless of one's power or status, we all answer to an Almighty God. It was to this God, not the Vatican or the Catholic Church, that this pope looked for strength, wisdom and guidance during often-perilous times in our world.
I believe his moral strength came out of his early childhood experience in Nazi-occupied Europe and later from having to live and work under the oppression of godless communism. On the 50th anniversary of his ordination, he wrote, "Any day I could have been picked up on the street, at the factory or at the stone quarry and sent to a concentration camp. Sometimes I ask myself: 'So many people at my age were losing their lives, why not me?' "
In his 1996 book, Gift and Mystery, he wrote of the importance of humility, acknowledging in the words of the apostle Paul that God "has called us with a holy calling, not in virtue of our works but in virtue of his own purpose and the grace which he gave us."
Coupled with his moral strength was the remarkable courage of Pope John Paul II. For decades, he stood firmly on a moral foundation that was unshakable. He was a clear voice for the voiceless and the defenseless on a host of human-rights issues. And, regardless of opposition, he consistently and passionately urged Catholics and Protestants alike to support a culture of life, whether for the born or unborn, young or elderly.
The passing of this pope is a vivid reminder that our days are numbered, and they are numbered by our Creator. Job of the Old Testament says, "Remember that my life is but a breath," and whether old or young, that is certainly true in comparison with eternity.
We saw a poignant picture this past week in the passing of Terri Schiavo and Pope John Paul II. Schiavo was just 41 and powerless to speak in defense of her precious life. The pope, about twice her age at 84, was one of the world's most powerful and influential men. Yet, at the end, he, too, was voiceless. Everything was done to keep him alive; even so, modern medicine and science could not extend his life beyond the days God gave him.
What counts, then, as the pope told the world's priests last year, "is our personal commitment to Christ." As a Protestant evangelist, I could not agree more. As Jesus himself said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me."
Franklin Graham is president and CEO of Samaritan's Purse, an international relief organization. He is also president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
Monday, 14 April 2008
"All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head."Psalm 22:7
by CH Spurgeon
Mockery was a great ingredient in our Lord's woe. Judas mocked Him in the garden; the chief priests and scribes laughed Him to scorn; Herod set Him at nought; the servants and the soldiers jeered at Him, and brutally insulted Him; Pilate and his guards ridiculed His royalty; and on the tree all sorts of horrid jests and hideous taunts were hurled at Him. Ridicule is always hard to bear, but when we are in intense pain it is so heartless, so cruel, that it cuts us to the quick. Imagine the Saviour crucified, racked with anguish far beyond all mortal guess, and then picture that motley multitude, all wagging their heads or thrusting out the lip in bitterest contempt of one poor suffering victim! Surely there must have been something more in the crucified One than they could see, or else such a great and mingled crowd would not unanimously have honoured Him with such contempt. Was it not evil confessing, in the very moment of its greatest apparent triumph, that after all it could do no more than mock at that victorious goodness which was then reigning on the cross? O Jesus, "despised and rejected of men," how couldst Thou die for men who treated Thee so ill? Herein is love amazing, love divine, yea, love beyond degree. We, too, have despised Thee in the days of our unregeneracy, and even since our new birth we have set the world on high in our hearts, and yet Thou bleedest to heal our wounds, and diest to give us life. O that we could set Thee on a glorious high throne in all men's hearts! We would ring out Thy praises over land and sea till men should as universally adore as once they did unanimously reject.
Thy creatures wrong Thee, O Thou sovereign Good! Thou art not loved, because not understood: This grieves me most, that vain pursuits beguile Ungrateful men, regardless of Thy smile.
by CH Spurgeon
Mockery was a great ingredient in our Lord's woe. Judas mocked Him in the garden; the chief priests and scribes laughed Him to scorn; Herod set Him at nought; the servants and the soldiers jeered at Him, and brutally insulted Him; Pilate and his guards ridiculed His royalty; and on the tree all sorts of horrid jests and hideous taunts were hurled at Him. Ridicule is always hard to bear, but when we are in intense pain it is so heartless, so cruel, that it cuts us to the quick. Imagine the Saviour crucified, racked with anguish far beyond all mortal guess, and then picture that motley multitude, all wagging their heads or thrusting out the lip in bitterest contempt of one poor suffering victim! Surely there must have been something more in the crucified One than they could see, or else such a great and mingled crowd would not unanimously have honoured Him with such contempt. Was it not evil confessing, in the very moment of its greatest apparent triumph, that after all it could do no more than mock at that victorious goodness which was then reigning on the cross? O Jesus, "despised and rejected of men," how couldst Thou die for men who treated Thee so ill? Herein is love amazing, love divine, yea, love beyond degree. We, too, have despised Thee in the days of our unregeneracy, and even since our new birth we have set the world on high in our hearts, and yet Thou bleedest to heal our wounds, and diest to give us life. O that we could set Thee on a glorious high throne in all men's hearts! We would ring out Thy praises over land and sea till men should as universally adore as once they did unanimously reject.
Thy creatures wrong Thee, O Thou sovereign Good! Thou art not loved, because not understood: This grieves me most, that vain pursuits beguile Ungrateful men, regardless of Thy smile.
Preach The Word
1.Biblical Separation and Schism - What is the difference? - David Silversides
2.The Arminian Controversy - Ferrell Griswold
3.The Sin of Achan 4 - Ivan Foster
4. The Sin of Achan 6 - Ivan Foster
5. The Sin of Achan 7 - Ivan Foster
6. Was C. S. Lewis an Evangelical? - David Silversides
1.Biblical Separation and Schism - What is the difference? - David Silversides
2.The Arminian Controversy - Ferrell Griswold
3.The Sin of Achan 4 - Ivan Foster
4. The Sin of Achan 6 - Ivan Foster
5. The Sin of Achan 7 - Ivan Foster
6. Was C. S. Lewis an Evangelical? - David Silversides
Friday, 11 April 2008
Give Attendance To Reading
Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick
This is the story of the famous Mayflower pilgrims who settled in the United States . The book debunks some of the myths that surround this landmark event in American history and gives a balanced and easily read assessment of the Pilgrim landings .
While there is little by way of spiritual benefit in this book for those who have an interest in history this is a good read .
Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick
This is the story of the famous Mayflower pilgrims who settled in the United States . The book debunks some of the myths that surround this landmark event in American history and gives a balanced and easily read assessment of the Pilgrim landings .
While there is little by way of spiritual benefit in this book for those who have an interest in history this is a good read .
The Development of Antichrist by Andrew Bonar (11)
Chapter 3 His Characteristics and Duration Part Two
With regard to the duration of the reign of the Antichrist, we have seen that in his connection with Jewish history, a hebdomad or seven years is wanting to complete the seventy weeks of Daniel’s prophecy, and that during all that "week" he acts a prominent part. There is no Scripture to lead us to think he is seen for any considerable period before it, and certainly he is not seen after it, for the anointing of the Most Holy and the bringing in everlasting righteousness (Dan. 9:24) closes all, as "the transgression" itself is finished by the destruction of that wicked or lawless one at Christ’s coming (2 Thess. 2:8).There is much mischief in trying to be wise above what is written, for Scripture is not given to gratify an idle curiosity, but for our instruction and correction in righteousness, "that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim. 3:16-17). This surely implies that he is also to be thoroughly furnished against all evil ones, which again, we believe to be the reason why so much is said by both prophet and apostle of the character of the unrighteousness in the last times, as well as of the Antichrist himself under whom the consummation of it is to be. For then, through what is permitted to Satan, it will be "with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness" (2 Thess. 2:9-10), to deceive, were it possible, "the very elect," unless thoroughly furnished by warning against it.To show that the notion of a personal Antichrist, with a limited duration, is at least not a novel idea, it will serve to look here a little into what "the fathers" thought and wrote on the subject. In doing so, however, let it not be imagined that there is any intention of conceding to them and their opinions the place of authority which a large party in this country are trying to obtain for them now. The attempt being made is, in fact, a revival of what was witnessed in the reign of James and more openly in that of his son, when the first fervors of Luther’s reformation were subsiding, and when Andrews and Laud sought, by magnifying them as links in the apostolic succession, to exalt thereby ecclesiastical power in opposition to the Puritans. But the deference thus shown to an imaginary perfection and unity in the early ages gave a great advantage to Rome, and then as now, many were the secessions to it from among the high church party.It seems to be overlooked that the testimony of these same fathers extends over twelve centuries, including among them the darkest ages of popery, and that, from the very outset, there is not only the greatest discrepancy of opinion on nearly every important point, but also the most flagrant error. In fact, the "catena" is one of false instead of consistent Scripture doctrine, and what is remarkable the nearer the apostolic times, the more grievous appears to have been the perversion.With the exception of the existence of God in a Trinity of Persons, and the belief that the Roman empire would end in ten kingdoms and Antichrist to be destroyed by the Lord’s coming, there is scarcely a truth which is not overlaid or distorted. The danger has ever been from within the professing church rather than from without, and of this the apostle, accordingly, is seen warning God’s people in his day of what they were to expect when he himself was withdrawn from them. "Know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away (many) disciples after them" (Acts 20:29-30).To quote here from the fathers therefore is for the alone purpose of showing that the truth of a personal Antichrist at least was, amidst all their differences, nearly unanimously maintained by them all. They further considered that he would come out of the Roman empire, when towards the close, it should have become divided into ten kingdoms, three of which are to be subdued by him, and all to continue supporting him to the last.Hippolytus, one of them (died c236) expressly says (in "de Antichristo") that "the ten states, meaning the ten toes of Daniel’s image, which will at length appear will be democracies," which is in accordance seemingly with the increasingly "clay-iron" character of the present day. (For an account of the testimony of Hippolytus, see Mr. B W Newton s "Babylon and Egypt, Appendix A"— Ed).Another of them, Irenaeus (c130-c202), considers that "when they are reigning, and beginning to settle and aggrandize themselves, suddenly one will come and claim the kingdom and terrify them as foretold." In the same treatise the same old writer says, "the adversary will sit in a temple built at Jerusalem, endeavoring to show himself to be Christ." And again, "It will be he who will resuscitate the kingdom of the Jews."The Jews themselves, it is sufficiently known, are prepared to receive one who will do so, having rejected our Lord and theirs, Whose life as well as death had disappointed those among them who at that time "trusted it had been He Which should have redeemed Israel" (Luke 24:21). The veil being upon their eyes, they are to this day expecting a deliverer of their own race* according to promise, whilst nevertheless rejecting still the idea of His being also the Son of God, as they say "Israel’s God is One God." The mystery of Christ in the flesh, despised then, is now altogether "hid from their eyes," which they are opening wider and wider as the time draws near, to descry him who, coming in his own name, will be received by them (John 5:43). *(It is strange how general the belief was in ancient days, that in some way or other he is to be especially connected with the tribe of Dan. This may have proceeded from such as the following considerations: The sceptre was not to depart from Judah (Gen. 49:10), and yet we read "Dan shall judge his people;" with what sort of judgment may be inferred at least from the description given to him, as "a serpent by the way . . . that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward;" and that too followed by an aspiration of the patriarch as if he foresaw trouble coming, "I have waited for Thy salvation, O LORD" (Gen. 49:16-18). The same with Moses: (Deut. 33:22) "Dan is a lion’s whelp: he shall leap from Bashan" (a word used in Scripture to denote pride and opposition). "Strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round" (Ps. 22:12). "Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan" (Amos 4:]). In Jeremiah 4, where "the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way" (verse 7) with his chariots as a whirlwind, and horses swifter than eagles (verse 13), to give out their voice against the cities of Judah (verse 16) because she hath been rebellious against Me (verse 17), it is a voice from Dan that declareth it (verse 15). In Jeremiah 8:16, "the snorting of his horses was heard from Dan," with the whole land trembling with the sound of his strong ones. Whilst in Revelation 7, where the tribes of Israel are sealed before the judgments are let loose on Antichrist and his followers, that of Dan is omitted, and the name of a half tribe substituted for it. In Amos 8:14 too, a curse is recorded against them that say "thy God, O Dan, liveth", and like them who receive the mark of the beast, "they shall fall, and never rise up again").Irenaeus says ("Against Heresies, Book 5.30") that "the reign of Antichrist will be for three years and a half (the last half of the hebdomad), when he shall be destroyed by the Lord from heaven, and the kingdom of the Just One be established."Many extracts of a like nature might be given, but it seems unnecessary here to extend quotations or name the names of the many others who express themselves similarly, with some important differences of opinion. (For a fuller account of the testimony of the fathers to a personal Antichrist, see Mr. B W Newton’s "Prospects of the Ten Kingdoms, 2nd Edition, Appendix A"— Ed.).What has been quoted is chiefly to show that the idea of a personal Antichrist with a short supremacy at the close of this dispensation is no novelty, and that on the contrary it was in fact the universal early belief, men then taking Scripture words to mean what they really said. With some shades of difference, then, the general belief in early days was that Antichrist, as has been shown, would suddenly show himself at the very end of the Roman empire, which once was dominant, but now, in our days, is in a manner dormant. That he will knit it into one again by his skill and enterprise, engrafting Judaism upon the worship he sets up;—that he will then acquire the title of King of the Roman Empire, from the ten kings giving him their kingdom (Rev. 17:17)—that kingdom, be it recollected, being the last of four monarchies shown in the image of Daniel when "the Stone" falls, and he along with all its parts passes away as rapidly as he arose.Thus Nebuchadnezzar, as the head or first king, received a pure monarchy from God (Dan. 2:37-38). Antichrist arising out from among the toes and also manifestly the last king, receives his power which is clay-iron or democratic ("mingled with the seed of men") apparently from the people or the kings over them, but in reality from the devil, as the "sure Word of prophecy" distinctly tells and makes us see (Rev. 13:4). Such is the contrast and such
Chapter 3 His Characteristics and Duration Part Two
With regard to the duration of the reign of the Antichrist, we have seen that in his connection with Jewish history, a hebdomad or seven years is wanting to complete the seventy weeks of Daniel’s prophecy, and that during all that "week" he acts a prominent part. There is no Scripture to lead us to think he is seen for any considerable period before it, and certainly he is not seen after it, for the anointing of the Most Holy and the bringing in everlasting righteousness (Dan. 9:24) closes all, as "the transgression" itself is finished by the destruction of that wicked or lawless one at Christ’s coming (2 Thess. 2:8).There is much mischief in trying to be wise above what is written, for Scripture is not given to gratify an idle curiosity, but for our instruction and correction in righteousness, "that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim. 3:16-17). This surely implies that he is also to be thoroughly furnished against all evil ones, which again, we believe to be the reason why so much is said by both prophet and apostle of the character of the unrighteousness in the last times, as well as of the Antichrist himself under whom the consummation of it is to be. For then, through what is permitted to Satan, it will be "with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness" (2 Thess. 2:9-10), to deceive, were it possible, "the very elect," unless thoroughly furnished by warning against it.To show that the notion of a personal Antichrist, with a limited duration, is at least not a novel idea, it will serve to look here a little into what "the fathers" thought and wrote on the subject. In doing so, however, let it not be imagined that there is any intention of conceding to them and their opinions the place of authority which a large party in this country are trying to obtain for them now. The attempt being made is, in fact, a revival of what was witnessed in the reign of James and more openly in that of his son, when the first fervors of Luther’s reformation were subsiding, and when Andrews and Laud sought, by magnifying them as links in the apostolic succession, to exalt thereby ecclesiastical power in opposition to the Puritans. But the deference thus shown to an imaginary perfection and unity in the early ages gave a great advantage to Rome, and then as now, many were the secessions to it from among the high church party.It seems to be overlooked that the testimony of these same fathers extends over twelve centuries, including among them the darkest ages of popery, and that, from the very outset, there is not only the greatest discrepancy of opinion on nearly every important point, but also the most flagrant error. In fact, the "catena" is one of false instead of consistent Scripture doctrine, and what is remarkable the nearer the apostolic times, the more grievous appears to have been the perversion.With the exception of the existence of God in a Trinity of Persons, and the belief that the Roman empire would end in ten kingdoms and Antichrist to be destroyed by the Lord’s coming, there is scarcely a truth which is not overlaid or distorted. The danger has ever been from within the professing church rather than from without, and of this the apostle, accordingly, is seen warning God’s people in his day of what they were to expect when he himself was withdrawn from them. "Know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away (many) disciples after them" (Acts 20:29-30).To quote here from the fathers therefore is for the alone purpose of showing that the truth of a personal Antichrist at least was, amidst all their differences, nearly unanimously maintained by them all. They further considered that he would come out of the Roman empire, when towards the close, it should have become divided into ten kingdoms, three of which are to be subdued by him, and all to continue supporting him to the last.Hippolytus, one of them (died c236) expressly says (in "de Antichristo") that "the ten states, meaning the ten toes of Daniel’s image, which will at length appear will be democracies," which is in accordance seemingly with the increasingly "clay-iron" character of the present day. (For an account of the testimony of Hippolytus, see Mr. B W Newton s "Babylon and Egypt, Appendix A"— Ed).Another of them, Irenaeus (c130-c202), considers that "when they are reigning, and beginning to settle and aggrandize themselves, suddenly one will come and claim the kingdom and terrify them as foretold." In the same treatise the same old writer says, "the adversary will sit in a temple built at Jerusalem, endeavoring to show himself to be Christ." And again, "It will be he who will resuscitate the kingdom of the Jews."The Jews themselves, it is sufficiently known, are prepared to receive one who will do so, having rejected our Lord and theirs, Whose life as well as death had disappointed those among them who at that time "trusted it had been He Which should have redeemed Israel" (Luke 24:21). The veil being upon their eyes, they are to this day expecting a deliverer of their own race* according to promise, whilst nevertheless rejecting still the idea of His being also the Son of God, as they say "Israel’s God is One God." The mystery of Christ in the flesh, despised then, is now altogether "hid from their eyes," which they are opening wider and wider as the time draws near, to descry him who, coming in his own name, will be received by them (John 5:43). *(It is strange how general the belief was in ancient days, that in some way or other he is to be especially connected with the tribe of Dan. This may have proceeded from such as the following considerations: The sceptre was not to depart from Judah (Gen. 49:10), and yet we read "Dan shall judge his people;" with what sort of judgment may be inferred at least from the description given to him, as "a serpent by the way . . . that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward;" and that too followed by an aspiration of the patriarch as if he foresaw trouble coming, "I have waited for Thy salvation, O LORD" (Gen. 49:16-18). The same with Moses: (Deut. 33:22) "Dan is a lion’s whelp: he shall leap from Bashan" (a word used in Scripture to denote pride and opposition). "Strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round" (Ps. 22:12). "Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan" (Amos 4:]). In Jeremiah 4, where "the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way" (verse 7) with his chariots as a whirlwind, and horses swifter than eagles (verse 13), to give out their voice against the cities of Judah (verse 16) because she hath been rebellious against Me (verse 17), it is a voice from Dan that declareth it (verse 15). In Jeremiah 8:16, "the snorting of his horses was heard from Dan," with the whole land trembling with the sound of his strong ones. Whilst in Revelation 7, where the tribes of Israel are sealed before the judgments are let loose on Antichrist and his followers, that of Dan is omitted, and the name of a half tribe substituted for it. In Amos 8:14 too, a curse is recorded against them that say "thy God, O Dan, liveth", and like them who receive the mark of the beast, "they shall fall, and never rise up again").Irenaeus says ("Against Heresies, Book 5.30") that "the reign of Antichrist will be for three years and a half (the last half of the hebdomad), when he shall be destroyed by the Lord from heaven, and the kingdom of the Just One be established."Many extracts of a like nature might be given, but it seems unnecessary here to extend quotations or name the names of the many others who express themselves similarly, with some important differences of opinion. (For a fuller account of the testimony of the fathers to a personal Antichrist, see Mr. B W Newton’s "Prospects of the Ten Kingdoms, 2nd Edition, Appendix A"— Ed.).What has been quoted is chiefly to show that the idea of a personal Antichrist with a short supremacy at the close of this dispensation is no novelty, and that on the contrary it was in fact the universal early belief, men then taking Scripture words to mean what they really said. With some shades of difference, then, the general belief in early days was that Antichrist, as has been shown, would suddenly show himself at the very end of the Roman empire, which once was dominant, but now, in our days, is in a manner dormant. That he will knit it into one again by his skill and enterprise, engrafting Judaism upon the worship he sets up;—that he will then acquire the title of King of the Roman Empire, from the ten kings giving him their kingdom (Rev. 17:17)—that kingdom, be it recollected, being the last of four monarchies shown in the image of Daniel when "the Stone" falls, and he along with all its parts passes away as rapidly as he arose.Thus Nebuchadnezzar, as the head or first king, received a pure monarchy from God (Dan. 2:37-38). Antichrist arising out from among the toes and also manifestly the last king, receives his power which is clay-iron or democratic ("mingled with the seed of men") apparently from the people or the kings over them, but in reality from the devil, as the "sure Word of prophecy" distinctly tells and makes us see (Rev. 13:4). Such is the contrast and such