P erhaps the most important aspect of prophecy is in the study of specific signs given to us in the Word of God, the Bible. Believers through the centuries, ever since the church began, have concerned themselves over an earnest and honest consideration of the truths given in Scripture. In the fif teenth chapter of Acts we find the record of the first council in Jerusalem. There had been a dispute among some of the disciples and believers as to whether Gentiles had first to become Jews before they could be Christians. When the issue had been settled in that such was not necessary, James, the chairman of the meeting, outlined what well may be God’s prophetic program for the age in which we are living. We read in Acts 15:13-15, “Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written.” This indicates the great and primary mission of the church. Our sacred responsibility is not to com promise with the world in order to impose our truth upon it. Our min istry is to give a living witness to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, James points out that it is not a mere novel idea but is a confirmation of the Old Testament truth. When the church loses its mission and becomes involved in other things, moral tragedy and spiritual declension occur. In the sixteenth verse of this same chapter, a
second group in whom God is inter ested is described. “After this I will return, and will build again the tab ernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins there of, and I will set it up.” God promises to deal definitely with Israel. It is interesting that the' word “tabernacle” is used rather than “tem ple.” Temple indicates a permanent structure while “tabernacle” speaks of that which is merely temporary. So, two things have come to our notice in the program of God for this present age. Through the church God is taking out a people for His name and God is to restore Israel, though they be scat tered throughout every nation of the world, in a coming day. A third group, however, is also brought to view in the same chapter. The next verse reads, “That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.” This is God’s pre-an- nounced history which men are still to write. In verse 18, “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world,” indicates that this is not a new thought on God’s part. He prom ises to fulfill that which He has before determined. How this ought to make our hearts rejoice in the certainty of God’s holy Word! E ditor ’ s N ote : Messages 10-12 in this series “This Present Age” by Dr. Ralph L. Keiper w ill be given over the Biola Hour during December and w ill appear in the next issue of the BROADCASTER. 16
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