Special Features of This Age.
MAURO f a t h e rs in the prophets, at the end of these days He has spoken unto us in His S o n ." This, of necessity, is the last word of grace, and completes the revelation of God to guilty and disobedient man. Now that He has manifested the riches of His grace in the g i ft of His Son, and in the message of peace and par- doning love which He has brought to the children of disobedience [ " f o r the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus C h r i s t" John 1: 17)], there is a long pause, during which God is silent, permitting man to have his say and to multiply his words. This interruption of God's open deal- ing with the world and of the uttering of His voice, He explained in 2 Pet. 3:9. I ts purpose is to give to all men an opportunity of accepting the oifer of remission of sins and eternal life through Jesus Christ, the risen Son of God. It is not an indication of slack- ness, on the p a rt of the Lord, to fulfill His promise of coming again, though it has given occasion to many to say so. In the chapter referred to, the Apostle Peter gives the solemn warn- ing (verse 3), " t h a t there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking a f t er their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for since the f a t h e rs fell asleep all things con- tinue as they were f r om the beginning of the creation.'' And then he ex- plains this long delay, saying (verse 9), " T h e Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slack- ness; but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to r e p e n t a n c e ." But God will speak again. The Lord will break this long silence and will cause His glorious voice to be heard. But when He speaks again it will be, not in grace, but in judgment. " B e- hold it is written before Me; I will not keep s i l e n c e" (Isa. 14:6). "Wh o se voice then shook the earth; but now He hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also h e a v e n" (Heb. 12:26). " F o r the powers of the heavens shall be s h a k e n" (Matt. 24:29). " T h o se wicked powers in the heavenly places which are under the direction of the prince of the powers of the air, and with whom the Christian has his warfare, these
By PHILIP 1. It is the age of the absent and rejected Christ. What gives the age its special character is not merely that Christ is personally absent; but that His absence is the consequence of vio- lent and murderous rejection by those whose lead the age has followed, and with whose purpose it has been in full accord and sympathy and who hence are appropriately called " t h e princes (i. e., rulers or leaders) of this a g e " ' (1 Cor. 2:8)'. 2. It is tne age of the presence on earth of the Holy Spirit, whose age- work we have already considered. 3. It is the age of the forming of the church—the body of Christ, and the building of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and proph- ets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, and against which the gates of hades shall not prevail. This building of God is the church in its inner character, and is distinct f r om the visible, external church, which the moon typifies, and in which, since human responsibility enters, there is failure. 4. It is the " d a y of s a l v a t i o n ," the dispensation of the grace of God, in which remission of sins and eternal life are preached among all nations in the name of the crucified Son of God, whom the Father has raised from among the dead, and seated at His own right hand. 5. I t is the " a g e of the wo r l d ," the age in which " t h e w o r l d" in the fullness of the development of its aims and of its organization, comes into prominence, and occupies the earth. 6. It is the age whereof Satan is t. a god; that is, the spiritual guide, to whom homage is paid—the age in which he prosecutes, to the full limit, his business of " b l i n d i ng the minds of the unbelieving.'' 7. It is the age ensuing upon the completion of God's revelation to man; and, consequently, as it has been aptly called, the age of the " s i l e n ce of Go d ." Rotherham gives the literal transla- tion of Heb. 1:1 as follows: ' ' Whereas, in many parts and in many ways of old, God spake unto the
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