Studies in the Gospel Message
The subject of the Sabbath-school lesson for September 6 is, The Revealed Secret. God gave a dream to Nebuchadnezzar. God gave the interpretation of the dream to Daniel. The purpose of all this was to preach the gospel of the kingdom in Babylon, and that in such a way as to make an impression upon that idolatrous nation. Neither Nebuchadnezzar nor his subjects believed in the inspired writings which made up the law and the prophets and the psalms. It would be of no use to read to them from the sacred rolls, even if the captives had brought them from Jerusalem. The truth of the gospel must be revealed as a fact, and not merely talked about. The living epistle and the living sermon are required in Babylon. The gospel is simply Christ revealed. The gospel is not an argument about the existence of God, but it proves his existence by the actual revelation of his presence. It is not a mere speculative philosophy, made up of bold claims and shrewd guesses, but it is an actual experience in seeing and dealing with the invisible. To preach such a gospel is to establish the fact of a real fellowship, a real union, between God and man, and to make known the truth that “the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” The kingdom of Jerusalem stood before the world as the professed representative in the earth of the kingdom of heaven. The God of heaven had made known special truths and committed special gifts to the people of his choice. It was his design that they should share these truths and gifts with all the people of the world, revealing divine principles in clear rays of light which should lighten even the dark parts of the earth. Instead of meeting his purpose in this respect his people turned from the invisible to the visible, became like the nations around them, and lost the light of his presence from their hearts. Then the Lord used “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant,” as an instrument with which to humble the pride of Jerusalem, and to bring his people to feel their own weakness and their need of him. At the same time the Lord will reveal to Nebuchadnezzar, and to all the world through him, that no kingdom of the earth has any power in itself to stand, but that “power belongeth unto God.” The facts of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream are briefly stated by Daniel in his interpretation of it. The God of heaven is the source of all might and dominion. “The God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.” Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom will come to an end. After his kingdom there will be a second, and a third, and a fourth, and each in its turn will pass away. But the kingdom which succeeds these four will be of a different kind. While the others are overthrown one after the other, this one “shall never be destroyed.” It is an eternal kingdom. “It shall stand forever.” When the king had heard the interpretation, he said to Daniel, “Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.” There is no expression of surprise or disappointment because Daniel foretells the downfall of his own kingdom, but there has been made to him such a revelation of the eternal principle of the fifth kingdom in the experience of Daniel himself that the whole thought of the king is centered upon this principle. It is the God of heaven whose servant Daniel is. He is the one, according to Daniel’s own statement, who reveals secrets, and yet Daniel is the mouthpiece through whom the secret things are spoken. The conclusion is irresistible. There is a real union between the God of heaven and the man on the earth. The heavenly Revealer and the one through whom the revelation was made have fellowship one with the other. Daniel’s God dwells with flesh. A testimony has been borne to the reality of “the mystery of godliness” which convinces the heathen king, and the record of it ought to convince all the doubters of this time. Although Daniel did not put into words the central truth of Christianity, God’s gift of his Son to the human family, yet in himself he revealed the fact of this mystery, this union of divinity with humanity. And thus he made known the mystery of the kingdom of God, and why it was that this kingdom, composed of the same class of beings as were found in the other kingdoms, should yet “stand forever.” This is the revelation of the secret of the eternal life manifested in the flesh, which will culminate in the gift of immortality. And the gospel which Daniel thus proclaimed in Babylon has been clearly expressed for our benefit. Let us read it. “For the life was manifested, and we5have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us; that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” And the glorious outcome of this mystery of fellowship with the eternal God is thus stated: “Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” And thus shall the fifth kingdom “stand forever.”