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T H E K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
“Ye See tke Day Approaching” By D r. F . B. Meyer in “P rophetic News and Israel’s W atchman”
struggles up tow ard the sunshine, so the hum an soul reaches out its lame hands and gropes tow ard th e E ternal, W ith full knowledge of th is instinctive craving, the wily enemy of souls has in all ages devised and enforced a spe cious religious system in which th e hum an priest, human authority, human rites and ceremonies, have been substi tu ted for Divine realities. Men have spent money for th a t which was not bread, and labour for th a t which satisfied not. This system culm inated in the Roman Pontiffs ana Babylon the Great. F o r many hundreds of years, and to th is day, the self-called successors of St. P eter have sa t in th e temple of God as God. Each of them , a t his inaugu ra tion, has taken his seat in God’s Church, upon God’s A ltar; and so sitting, has been adored of his fellows, who have fallen down before him and kissed his feet. In 1870 the crowning act of th is impious deification took "place in th e Vatican, when it was declared th a t ther oc cupant of the Papal chair is, in all his decisions w ith re gard to faith and morals, infallible. A rrangem ents, we are told, had been made to reflect a glory around th e person of the Pope, by méans of m irrors a t noon, whilst th e decree was being promulgated. But the. sun did not shine th a t day. The sky was darkened w ith tempest, and th e voices of the Council were lost in th e rolling of the thunder. Not only in th a t Church, bu t in other Churches, th ere has been, .and is, th e same tendency to forsake the early sim plicity and pu rity of th e Church, and to sub stitu te human conceptions and practices. These have veiled and almost hidden the beautiful face of her Lord. Division's, rival ries, sectarianism , and strife have covered the soil w ith th e ir noxious growth. Man-made systems of doctrine and polity have taken th e place ,of apostolic teachings and in stitutions. All th is is as wood, hay, stubble, which must be b u rn t up; and already th e re are symptoms th a t a purer, sim pler faith and practice are being created . Christendom is on the eve of judgm ent, no t unlike th a t which befell the Hebrew religion a t the fall of Jerusalem . We must not look for a reversion of th e past, bu t th e bring ing to view of deeper though ts of Christ and tru th . W hat ever is capable of being shaken will depart, bu t th a t which cannot be moved will be revealed. As the knowledge of God emerged from the Jew ish to th e Christian stage, so will it emerge from th e beggarly elements— as th e apostle calls them— into higher, nobler, and more sp iritual forms. III.—WORLDWIDE EVANGELIZATION IS ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT SIGN OF THE APPROACH OF THAT DAY., Our Lord laid it down th a t th e Gospel must be preached as a w itness unto all nations before the end would come. He never tau g h t us to expect world conversion, bu t th a t every land should be trodden by the beautiful feet of the messengers of peace, and th a t the Evangel should be de clared in every speech. W riting to the Colossians, St, P aul speaks of th e hope of the Gospel as having been preached unto every creature which is under heaven; and surely we are on th e eve of beipg able to say th a t men have now the chance of hearing in th e ir own tongue the wonderful works of God. The m issionary enterprises of th e Church, th e tran slation of the Scriptures into innumerable tongues, the various efforts which seek the direct salvation of men, th é seriousness of (Continued on Page 124)
EHOLD”— it is one of th e la st words of Old Tes tam en t prophecy— “th e day of the Lord cometh! It shall be one day, which is known unto the Lord; and it shall be in th a t day . . . .” «But”— it is one of the la st words of th e New Tes tam en t— “th e day of th e Lord will come as a th ief.” “ Of th a t day and hour knoweth no man,” said the Lord, whose day it is. We cannot fix th e exact hour when the sun will rise above th e rim of th e darkly-heaving ocean of hum an affairs, h u t we can watch the gathering ligh t on the horizon. To the w atcher for the dawn among th e high mountains, th e first symptom is th e rosy touch of th é dawn on the ligh t cirrus clouds or th e white vestured peaks; th en th e sky becomes drenched in purplé, and th e suc cessive summ its slowly kindle downwards. The heaven will often become as a canopy of scarlet be fore th e Bridegroom Himself appears, rejoicing as a strong man to run his daily race. So th ere are successive phases which bear w itness to His approach, who com eth.w ith the clouds of morning glory. L et us notice some of the signs th a t indicate the near approach of th a t Day. I. —THE EXTRAORDINARY EVENTS THAT ARE • CEN TERING ON PALESTINE. The fig-tree is th e acknowledged emblem of Israel. When our Lord, w ith an unwonted sternness in H is voice, said of th e barren fig-tree, beneath whose w ealth of foliage He searched in vain for fru it: “Let no fru it grow on thee henceforward for the re st of the age,” He foretold th e re jection of th e chosen race for th a t period, i. e., the whole lispensation which followed on the rejection of th e Messiah. But He foretold th a t one day her branch would become ten der and would pu t fo rth leaves, and then th e summer would be nigh. And are th ere not signs th a t th e buds are begin ning 'to swell on the long-dried-up branches of th e Hebrew stock? The la st century w itnessed an extraordinary revolution in th e civil statu s of th e Jews. The bands were loosed from th e neck of th e daugh ter of Zion. H er children have risen to become th e bankers, statesmen, scholars, authors, and musicians of the world. Their numbers are increasing w ith th e ir w ealth and influence. To a very large extent they are able to control the money m arket, and therefo re the fortunes and destinies of th e world. Their a ttitu d e toward Christ is also manifestly softening. But to those who look for His appearing, th e evolution of the w ar is of the most sta rtlin g character. No studen t of Scripture can deny th a t th e whole trend of its teaching points to the re-establishm ent of God’s people in the land of th e ir fathers. It was given them by th e most solemn covenant, fo r ever. The repeated pledges of Jehovah to His friend, th e glowing predictions of th e prophets as they dip th eir brushes in the richest colors “th a t n atu ra l beauty or inspired im agination can supply, th e clear w itness of th e New Testament— all necessitate and demand th e ultim ate resto ration of the chosen people to th eir land. And hefore our eyes the way is being prepared. II. — THE WANING POWER OF ECCLESIASTICISM. Man is made for God, said th e g reat Augustine, and can not be a t rest ap art from Him. As a p lan t rooted in a courtyard, th e high walls of which exclude th e sun, still
The World Cry is for Bible Workers. (Page 77)
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