Our Great High Priest,

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 5, 1896

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 44.

Our Great High Priest,

THE CONTROVERSY OF THE AGES. NO. 5.

Our Great High Priest.

IN our last we considered the "Son of God," the One with the Father before the world was, the Son of God in the beginning in his very nature and essence. We learned a little of how his Sonship was disputed, how the Son of God emptied himself of divine majesty, and demonstrated his right to all that God had given him by his life in a flesh of sin. His work and sacrifice manifested and demonstrated the infinite and eternal love of God to the world, and his resurrection "determined him to be the Son of God," the victor over sin and death. He ascended to the Father, and the portals of the Eternal City opened to him as the King of Glory. The power of his resurrection and his ascension was the power of his righteousness. The glory that he manifested was the forthshining of the righteousness and love within. Possessing this power, clothed in this glory, the Man child of the prophets sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Father,

Our Great High Priest,

the Head over all things to the church, the Head of every man (see Rev. 12:5, 10; Eph. 1:20-23; Heb. 4:14; 8:1; 1 Cor. 11:3),—the all in all to every believing child of God. It is thus that the prophet speaks of the victory of Christ and the time of the beginning of his priesthood:—

"And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Wo to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." (Rev. 12:10-12.)

How We Overcome.

Verse 10 was considered in our last. But as there intimated, the Son of God did not win his victory for himself. He overcame in the flesh of Jesus of Nazareth, that he might overcome in the flesh of every soul who would yield to him. And through faith his mighty power was manifest in them. "They overcame him [Satan] by the blood [the life] of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony."

Faith connects the child of God with infinite power. The trolly of the electric car connects with the live wire overhead; it brings the power flowing in that overhead channel down to the receptive car, and makes the car a thing of power and motion. From the great Fountain of Life flow ever the great streams of life to all the universe of God. Faith reaches up and forms the open channel by which that life may flow into the person of the believer in its own normal way, and thus makes him a living man. The blood represents the life (Lev. 17:11); the blood of the Lamb represents the life of Jesus Christ, which he has given in himself, in his word, and in all his works for every soul. Faith appropriates the life and lives.

But to receive of Christ's life is not alone sufficient for overcoming, for perfecting of character. It is not the law of God's life to ever receive and never give. That were but selfish.

"That man may last, but never lives, Who much receives, but nothing gives; Whom none can love, whom none can thank, Creation's blot, creation's blank."

God's law of overcoming comprehends giving as well as receiving. Abram was blessed that he might be a blessing. (Gen. 12:2.) The sun shines, the trees grow, the flowers bloom, the rain falls, the brook gurgles its way through grassy meads, not for themselves, but for blessings to others. God revealed his Son in Paul that Paul might preach him among the heathen. (Gal. 1:16.) And so God has chosen all his people that they "should show forth the virtues of Him who" called them "out of darkness into his marvelous light." (1 Peter 2:9.) Therefore they overcame, not only by the blood of the Lamb, but "by the word of their testimony." The same truth is thus stated by another: "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness [faith appropriates the power of Christ's righteous life]; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation [the believer permits that life to work out in him the virtues of Jesus Christ]." (Rom. 10:10.) There are no dead Christians. A lighted lamp in an airtight receptacle soon burns dim and low, and dies; and he who would selfishly shut the love and grace and blessing of God up in his own selfish heart would so pervert God's life that it would become death. The healing medicine would become a virulent poison. The normal life of the Christian is shining, living, confessing, blessing. "Freely ye have received, freely give."

"But he who marks from day to day, In generous acts, his radiant way, Treads the same path his Saviour trod— The path to glory and to God."

The Spirit in all Christian life is the ## Spirit of Love, as expressed in the latter part of the verse, the whole of which we quote once more from the Revised Version: "And they overcame him [Satan] because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony, and they loved not their life even unto death." Bought and nourished by the life of the Lamb, receiving it ever fresh, because ever giving, by simply witnessing the word given them, they value their own life as naught compared with his life. His life is love. The love of God is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit, which is given to the child of faith; and as Christ gave his life in love for them, so all who are truly his give their lives in word and deed, yea, even to death if he but call them, for the love they bear to him and other purchase of his blood. The life of the Christian is love, and God's love is life.

Rejoicing and Wo.

Everlasting rejoicing in heaven; wo for a little time upon the earth! Rejoicing among the angels that Michael their Prince was triumphant, that Lucifer's character was unmasked, that they were saved from his deceiving power, that God's character was vindicated by the power of everlasting righteousness, and that sin and the accuser were forever debarred from heaven!

Wo to the inhabitants of the earth for yet a little while! Previous to our Lord's victory, Satan planned, plotted, longed, hoped, to destroy him as he had the first Adam, and to destroy the race. His great power and subtle craft was bent to that end. While he tempted and warred against God's people, his mightiest efforts were to destroy the Man in whom rested the hope of the world. In this he failed. Wherein he dealt proudly, even in death itself, the Lord was above him. He conquered Satan in his own realm. Conquered by Christ, Satan turns his baffled and hellish rage against those who believe in Christ. He will use every power and device of which he is capable to prevent souls from believing, and to destroy the faith and influence of those who do believe. He will deceive, misinterpret, falsify, pervert, persecute. O inhabitants of earth, the devil has come down unto you! He knows that the Christ of God is beyond his power; he will prevent you from obtaining that birthright which Christ has purchased for you. He feels that as Christ conquered, so may the word be fulfilled that he himself shall be destroyed (Eze. 28:18, 19); but before that time he will, so far as in him lies, during the last days of his existence, during the short time that remains, destroy as many of Christ's followers as his diabolical ingenuity and Satanic power make possible. He may even hope that he will still tempt Christ to depart from the principle, Right is Might. True, Christ did not in all his temptations and cruelty against himself; but Christ loves his people even more than he loved himself. Is it not possible that he can tempt him to strike before the time at the injustice and oppression and cruelty and wrong of Satan's agents? But Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, to-day, and all days to come; so while Satan may bring his "manifold temptations" (1 Peter 1:6), God gives his "manifold wisdom" (Eph. 3:10), and "manifold grace" (1 Peter 4:10) to meet the "manifold temptations."

Persecutions Manifold.

The wo to the people of God in the earth comes by persecution.

"And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the Man child." (R. V.)

These persecutions began immediately after the resurrection of Christ. It was but a little while and the devoted deacon Stephen sealed his testimony with his blood. (Acts 7:54-60.) Persecution extended to the whole church, led by the zealous, energetic, but misguided Saul. (Acts 8:1-4.) But while the persecution scattered the people of God, and forced them, mayhap, from comfortable homes and pleasant surroundings, it also scattered the truth of God. Within the space of a dozen years one of the chief of the apostles—James—gave his life as a witness to Christ. (Acts 12:1, 2.) As the truth spread, and its power was manifest, Satan stirred up the devotees of the false gods of Pagan Rome, and cruel persecution followed. It was given to the children of God to choose between the good and the evil—the persecution with God's approval, or

relief from it with the approval of man. With the persecution from the Jews, it was to renounce Christ for dead traditions. With the idolaters it was Jehovah or Jove, Jesus or Apollo, Christ or Diana. It needed oftentimes but a word, the sprinkling of a few grains of incense, a bowing of the head, a refraining from doing a Christian act, to save one from cruelest persecution; but the child of God could not conscientiously submit to do an act, or conscientiously refrain from doing one act, which might seem to deny Christ.

By Nero, who accused the Christians of setting fire to Rome, they died, according to Tacitus, "in torments, and their torments were embittered by insult and derision. Some were nailed on crosses; others sewn in the skins of wild beasts, and exposed to the fury of dogs; others again, smeared over with combustible materials, were used as torches to illuminate the darkness of the night." Under Trojan and his governor, Pliny, others were put to death. And in fact, persecution continued, to a greater or less extent, under Pagan Rome. The worst of the persecutors among the emperors were Nero, Marcus Aurelius, Decius, Valerian, and Diocletian, the worst of all. Many under his reign were burned alive, in some cases whole congregations perished in their churches, and "droves of them," says Haydn, "were bound together with ropes and driven into the sea."

Why Persecuted.

The cause of all these persecutions—of every persecution by law—was a union of religion with the state, or a legalized religion. It was as enemies to the Roman state, whose duty it was to uphold the honor of the gods, that Christians were persecuted. Pagan Rome did not call it persecution, but the simple execution of Roman laws, demanded by the oath of office and the honor of the state. Behind it all, even as he had been behind the death of Christ, was Satan, the old dragon, and Pagan Rome was but one of his heads through which he uttered his persecuting decrees.

Wickeder Persecutions.

But worse persecutions were to follow. Paganism had become old. The gods had multiplied till they had become a burden, and unbelief was fostered by the multiplication. Gods were so common as to be of no account. The devotees of such a religion did not put enough of zeal and perverted conscience into their persecutions to suit his Satanic majesty, the mover behind the scenes. He would pervert Christianity, connect it to the state, and operate through that. This he did, and the twelve hundred and sixty years of papal persecution followed, beginning in 538 and continuing to 1798. This time is referred to in verses 6 and 14 of Revelation 12, as "a thousand two hundred and three score days," and "a time, and times, and half a time." This is the record:—

"And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place ['place prepared of God,' v. 6], where she is nourished for a time, and times, and a half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood." (Verses 14, 15.)

As this will be more fully considered in comments on the next chapter, but little space will be given it here. In the figure of eagles' wings is symbolized the power of God to protect his people, evident reference being made to Ex. 19:4 and Isa. 63:9. The wilderness doubtless refers to the mountain fortresses and deserted places of the earth, in which God preserved many of his people and his truth from utter extinction. The flood of water from the mouth of the serpent is a fitting symbol of the corruptions of the truth of God, and the persecutions waged against those who cherished that truth, during that dark period. "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him." (Isa. 59:19.) This was done by the Reformation of the sixteenth century, and the persecution was stayed by the opening of new and unexplored regions of the earth, as in America, and the abolition of persecuting laws, as in England, Germany, and Austria. The prophecy declares respecting this:—

"And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth."

It is a notable fact that the ceasing of persecution was coincident with the decree of toleration in Austria by Maria Theresa, and with the Declaration of Independence in America—1776. The New World became the asylum for the faithful and oppressed, who preferred to brave the perils of the unknown wilderness and the cruelty of hostile savages to the religious tyranny and bondage of the Old World.

But this is not all of the persecution the church has to suffer. As the end nears, and the Gospel message goes forth to the world, calling the attention of men to the falsehood of traditions and the rubbish of error, and holding up the light of the truth of God to prepare men for Christ's coming, it stirs again the wrath of Satan. And thus we read:—

"And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." (Rev. 12:17.)

The remnant of anything is the last of that thing. The remnant of the seed of the woman is composed of the last of her seed, the last church on the earth. That church has two prominent characteristics: It keeps the commandments of God, and thus honors him; and it has the testimony of Jesus (the spirit of prophecy, Rev. 19:10), and is thereby warned of Satan's devices. The last church will be a persecuted church, but in it is wrought the righteousness of God, and righteousness is life everlasting.