BY the presence and the messages of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the Jews were encouraged to take up again the work of building the temple of God and the wall of Jerusalem. Faith once more found her place in the hearts of the people; the land and people were blessed with prosperity and good cheer; and the work was begun and carried on with a spirit and an alacrity that meant success certainly and speedily. Yet it was not all peace.
News of this soon reached the Samaritans, and of course set them all astir again. However, among the changes that had come in the imperial government by the death of the false Smerdis and the accession of Darius, was the change of the governor and other officials of Samaria. Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the secretary had been displaced by Tatnai as governor and Shethar-Boznai as secretary. These men, of themselves, were fair-minded men; but there was about them the same officious Samaritan party as "companions." These urged on Tatnai and Shethar-Boznai to go up to Jerusalem, and again call a halt upon the work there. They did so, but, being fair-minded men, they did it in a perfectly fair way.
They asked, "Who hath commanded you to build this house, and to make up this wall?" and, "What are the names of the men that make this building?" The Jews told them that the temple had been built there many years before by a great king; that it had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar; and that Cyrus had issued a decree for the rebuilding of it, and had sent back from Babylon the gold and silver vessels that belonged in the house. Yet the Samaritans tried to have them stop the work; but they would not stop. Besides, "the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, that they could not cause them to cease, till the matter came to Darius." Ezra 5:5.
Since they could not stop the work, the Samaritans had Tatnai and Shethar-boznai write to Darius. They did so, but not as did Rehum and Shimshai in their deceptive mixture of truth and falsehood; they stated the case with fairness, exactly as the Jews had stated it to them. They wrote as follows:—
"Unto Darius the king, all peace. Be it known unto the king, that we went into the province of Judea, to the house of the great God, which is builded with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls, and this work goeth fast on, and prospereth in their hands. Then asked we those elders, and said unto them thus, Who commanded you to build this house, and to make up these walls? We asked their names also, to certify thee, that we might write the names of the men that were the chief of them. And thus they returned us answer, saying:—
"We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house that was builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded and set up. But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon. But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon the same king Cyrus made a decree to build this house of God. And the vessels also of gold and silver of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that was in Jerusalem, and brought them into the temple of Babylon, those did Cyrus the king take out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered unto one whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor; and said unto him, Take these vessels, go, carry them into the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be builded in his place. Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foundation of the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and since that time even until now hath it been in building, and yet it is not finished.
"Now therefore, if it seem good to the king, let there be search made in the king's treasure-house, which is there at Babylon, whether it be so, that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem, and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter."
When this letter reached Darius, he went about the matter in the thoroughly business-like way that characterized his whole reign and administration; he "made a decree" that search should be made for the records mentioned. First "search was made in the house of the books, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon." It was not found there, nor anywhere in Babylon. The search was continued in the other capitals; "and there was found at Ecbatana, in the palace that is in the province of the Medes, a roll, and therein was a record thus written:—
"In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be builded, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits; with three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber; and let the expenses be given out of the king's house; and also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought unto Babylon, be restored and brought again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem, every one to his place, and place them in the house of God."
This being found, Darius wrote to Tatnai and Shethar-boznai and the Samaritans as follows:—
"Now therefore, Tatnai, governor beyond the river, Shethar-boznai, and your companions the Apharsachites, which are beyond the river, be ye far from thence: let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders, of the Jews build this house of God in his place.
"Moreover I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of these Jews for the building of this house of God; that of the king's goods, even of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith expenses be given unto these men, that they be not hindered. And that which they have need of, both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs, for the burnt-offerings of the God of heaven, wheat salt, wine and oil, according to the appointment of the priests which are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail; that they may offer sacrifices of sweet savors unto the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons.
"Also I have made a decree, that whosoever shall alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be hanged thereon; and let his house be made a dunghill for this. And the God that hath caused His name to dwell there destroy all kings and people, that shall put to their hand to alter and to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem.
"I Darius have made a decree; let it be done with speed." Ezra 6:1-12.
That settled the question forever. Therefore Tatnai, and Shethar-boznai, and their companions, "according to that which Darius the king had sent, so they did speedily. And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus and Darius. . . . And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar [the twelfth month], which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king"—517 B.C. Ezra 6:13-15.
And as soon as the house was finished, it was dedicated; and the children of Israel "kept the dedication of this house of God with joy," and offered sacrifices "according to the number of the tribes of Israel." And "they kept the Passover upon the fourteenth day of the first month;" "and kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy; for the Lord had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel." Ezra 6:16-22.
The temple and worship of God was restored. Against all opposition the cause of God had triumphed so far. However, the battle was not yet over; the wall was not yet built; and this was yet to be built "even in troublous times."
RESTORATION from BABYLON BY ALONZO TREVIER JONES
THE ASTRONOMER AND THE ATHEIST.
By Dr. Horton
THERE is a charming story told of an old astronomer called Athenasius Kirchner, who had a friend professing to be an atheist, and he determined to convince his atheistic friend of his mistake. Accordingly he constructed, with great care, an orrery, or image of the planets moving round the sun, and he placed the ingenious toy in the observatory when his friend was calling. Directly his friend entered, his attention was directed to the orrery. He came and examined it with great delight, and then he said to the astronomer, "This is beautifully made; who made it?" Kirchner answered, "No one made it." "What do you mean?" said the man. "O," said Kirchner, "it came by chance." "But," said the man, "you are trifling with me. Tell me who made it. It is impossible that it should come by chance." "Is it impossible?" said Kirchner; "I thought you told me that the planetary system, of which this is but a very imperfect and trivial copy, came by chance. Why not the copy?" And that searching question has come home to every human mind, and the man who thinks he is an atheist is only an atheist because he does not think; he can not steadily inquire into the origin of an ordered world without the great discovery that there is a God behind the world.—Dr. Horton.
Receiving Answers to Prayer
"What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Mark 11:24. But the Lord does not wish us to believe what is not so. He does not tell us to believe that we have a thing when we do not have it; for that would be to believe a lie. Therefore He means that when we pray, we receive the things that we ask for while we are asking. "He that asketh, receiveth." But of course we must ask in faith, that is, according to God's will and Word. The man who does not ask in faith, need not expect to receive anything; but whoever asks for the things that God has promised to give us, should know that he gets them in the asking.—Present Truth, London.
"EVERY THOUGHT."
How to Win in the Greatest Conflict.
ONE of the great discouragements which meet the Christian is the ability, the power, to control his thoughts. They are ever turning aside to by-and-forbidden things. Incidents of the old life of sin will intrude themselves with startling vividness, arousing all the old emotions experienced at that time. A word, a thought, a person, a picture, or an act, recalls things seemingly and gladly forgotten, and they stand out anew with all their old-time wicked insinuations and associations. If dwelt upon, if parleyed with, the mortal flesh responds, and sin is committed in thought, if not in deed, and the soul is ready to sink in discouragement. There is longing for perfect victory, but the experience often marks perfect defeat.
How obtain the pure mind? These souls know that the Bible says, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." The Revised Version puts it, "Have this mind in you;" but how to have it is the question. If we could seize these marauders as physical things, we would cast them forth, and so close the doors of the mind that they could not gain entrance; but this we can not do. If these deadly foes were men, we could war against them; but they are not. They are thoughts, suggestions, temptations, dreams, sometimes so vague, so shadowy, so subtle, as to be indefinable, so interwoven with our being and experience as to seem to come to us of our volition or choice. How banish them from heart and mind?
Surely the Lord has not asked of us impossibilities. He does not tantalize His children by setting before them impossibilities. He does not lead them to hope for blessed attainments in character which can never be reached. All that He requires is possible through Him. In Christ all things are possible. Here are some scriptures which may help some poor souls:—
"For tho we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh (for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds); casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." 2 Cor. 10:3-5, R.V.
"Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Matt. 11:29.
"The meek will He guide in judgment; and the meek will He teach His way." Ps. 25:9.
"Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, . . . having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; withal taking up the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God; with all prayer and supplication praying at all seasons in the Spirit, and watching thereunto in all perseverance and supplication for all the saints." Eph. 6:11-18, R.V.
"Thy word have I laid up in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee." Ps. 119:11, R.V.
Any one of these is sufficient, if faithfully studied, to show the way; but we give several, that what may not help one may help the other. Read them all, over and over again. Believe them to be, as they are, living and mighty to build you up. Note the one thought in them all of the Word of God, either stated or implied. You desire the mind that was in Christ?—Well, that was the mind of God; and God has expressed His mind unto us in His written Word and His works. But His works have been greatly marred, and we can read them aright only as we read them through His written Word. Let us study the scriptures above.
1. The first—2 Cor. 10:3-5—clearly shows that the evil strongholds, the imaginations, and the thoughts, are opposed to the knowledge of God. They are all used of Satan to keep us from that knowledge, which to us is eternal life. John 17:3. What is the lesson then?—We must oppose all these by the power of the knowledge of God. Where is this knowledge revealed?—In His Word. Guard every avenue of the heart by sentinels of His Word.
2. Learn of Christ. He came to this earth, the Son of God, the Son of man, to meet what we must meet, to live as He desires us to live. When Satan came with all his hellish, crafty, insinuating, subtle temptations, how did our Lord meet him, and meet him victoriously?—By the use of the Word. In every case His calm reply was, "It is written." Matt. 4:1-10. The meek will be taught of God; only the meek can be.
3. There is but one weapon to be wielded by the Christian warrior, the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. The breastplate, the shield, the helmet, are for protection. The girdle binds his panoply about him in a glorious band of strength and beauty. The greaves of peace express the purpose of his goings. The only weapon for offense and defense is the sword of the Spirit. The field is the mind, the heart, the soul, the flesh of him who is fighting life's battle. The foes are the wicked thoughts, principles, passions, and impulses, pressed home by the evil one. We may not prevent the enemy using them; we may not prevent his temptations; but we may slay them from within, and guard the citadel lest they enter. We must likewise pray, earnestly, faithfully, constantly. Mark, also, that our warfare is not against our brethren. Our duty is to pray for them, and that earnestly. "The Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends." Job 42:10.
4. Lay up God's Word in the heart. Fill the heart with the expressions of God's mind. The basket that is full of chips will hold no apples. The basket filled with apples will hold no chips. The measure filled with wheat has no room for chaff. The heart filled with the thoughts of God, with the Word of the living God, has no room for the foolish, vain, corrupting thoughts of sin. "Concerning the works of men," says the psalmist, "by the word of Thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer." Ps. 17:4.
So Jesus lived among men. "His language was, 'I delight to do Thy will, O My God. Yea, Thy law is within My heart.'" The clamors of sin, the discord, the strife, the siren voice of temptation, were heard on every side; but He was as tho He heard them not. The seductive temptations of the flesh, the flaunting wiles of the enchantress, were all about Him; but He was as tho He saw them not. Well did the Lord through the prophet say, "Who is blind, but My Servant? or deaf, as My Messenger that I send? who is blind as He that is at peace with Me, and blind as the Lord's Servant? Thou seest many things, but Thou observest not; His ears are open, but He heareth not." Isa. 42:19, 20. And yet toward God His eyes and ears were ever attent. He declares: "The Lord God hath given Me the tongue of them that are taught, that I should know how to sustain with words him that is weary; He wakeneth morning by morning, He wakeneth Mine ear to hear as they that are taught. The Lord God hath opened My ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away backward." Isa. 50:4, 5, R.V.
Trust Him. Follow Christ Jesus. Fill the mind, the heart, the flesh, with the Word of God, and let the life be a life of earnest prayer, keeping ever open the channel of almighty life, and love, and power. So shall you win the greatest of all conflicts.
WHY NOT BELIEVE IT?
By Editor
In that able paper the Christian Advocate of New York, edited by Dr. J. M. Buckley, is a leading editorial entitled, "Meditations for Easter." Among other good things is the following:—
The resurrection is the corner-stone of our faith; upon it the superstructure rests. If it is removed or weakened, the entire structure falls into ruins. But the fact of Christ's resurrection is well authenticated through the appearance of Jesus to Peter, to the twelve, to more than 500 brethren, to James, to all the apostles, and to Paul the apostle to the Gentiles, whose evidence is of the most positive and valuable character. It was Paul who declared with a conviction that had its foundation in knowledge, "If the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised; and if Jesus Christ be not raised, your faith is vain." The resurrection of Jesus . . . helps to answer the question propounded by Job, "If a man die, shall he live again?" It is true that there are many other foundations upon which our hope of immortality is based; but if Jesus had not risen from the dead, if
He had not won that sublime victory over the grave, the fond hopes which Christians cherish concerning the future life would not seem to be as firmly grounded as they are. It strengthens every suggestion of immortality which the soul possesses to know that He who "tasted death for every man," and who said, "I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in Me, tho he were dead, yet shall he live," and, "Because I live, ye shall live also," has "risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept." For, as Paul so unequivocally put it, "If there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen;" but "He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus."
Now why not believe this? Paul also said that if there be no resurrection, "then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." See 1 Cor. 15:12-18. But if man had an immortal soul, a self-conscious personal entity, which is, after all, the real man, which survives death and lives on in a more mentally active state than when in the flesh, then the resurrection is needless; it is not the corner-stone of our faith. But it is not needless. It is the only answer to the question, "If a man die, shall he live again?" Any other suggestion of immortality which the soul possesses is a hypnotic suggestion of Satan, having no support in the Bible. If Jesus had not risen from the dead, not only "the fond hopes which Christians cherish concerning the future life would not seem to be as firmly grounded as they are," but there would be no Biblical grounds at all, and hence no true ground of hope in a hereafter. If Paul's sublime words mean anything, they mean that there is absolutely no hope of a future life save through the resurrection.
THE SADDEST OF ALL SHIPWRECKS.
FROM day to day we meet men and women whose hopes have fallen in upon one another like the walls of a ruined house. The bright eyes of faith and courage, the windows of the soul, no longer glitter in their casements, and only dissolution and hopeless despair stare at the passer-by—stare into your face, as you try to translate the history of the wreck from the rude pencillings of the wreckers left upon the ruins.
Every ruin has its history, be it a ruined mansion or a ruined life; and the history of the wrecked life is written in the soul. We have seen the wrecks of splendid ships lying upon the rocky shore or burying themselves in the quicksands of a treacherous beach, while others, no better made or manned, go sailing by in the full glory of the maker's purpose. And we have seen souls—souls so precious in the sight of Heaven that the Son of God could die to save them—as truly wrecks as the hulks that lie stranded on the beach; and just as helpless they lie and just as useless, bedding themselves in the shifting, drifting sands of doubt and unbelief and despair, sinking slowly and surely into the earth and becoming of it; while at the same time others no better by nature or favoring circumstances, are voyaging straight on to the harbor of the great Master-Builder's purpose.
There are storms on every sea; there are shoals or rocks or quicksands on every shore. The depths of the sea are peopled with the ghosts of ships which could not ride the waves when the staggering blows of the hurricane came down upon the sea; while upon the shoals or among the rocks, or deep down in the springy depths of the quicksands, the wreck of many a noble bark lies buried for all time.
And so it is with man. Buoyant with hope, he has sped on the wings of a favoring gale toward some cherished goal, sped on until some storm of opposition has shattered his timbers, and he has been beaten down into the sea of hopeless discouragement. No longer able to ride upon the waves, he has become the plaything of the aimless tides, and the seaweed of lost hope clasps its pulseless fingers over his grave, and weaves the cold filigree of its slimy fringes into shrouds for such as these. Trusting in their own strength, they met a stronger power; and went down; and the waters that might have been the path of their progress closed over them forever. The hopes that lie coffined in the mighty deep are as many as the waves that beat their bare white arms against the cold gray cliffs; and the souls that have gone down in the sea of disappointed hope are as many as the cries that go up to the gods of wealth to-day from the sea of unrequited toil.
There is no purpose of our Maker that can not be fulfilled in us to-day. We have only to let Him take the helm, and He will steer our bark out of7every storm that rages round us. "Without Me," said He, "ye can do nothing." But men to-day are saying in their hearts and by their acts, "I can do all things through self that strengthens me;" and when the storm comes down, the source of their power is shaken and shattered, storm-tossed, engulfed; and with that gone, their all is gone. Like the ships upon the sea, their only protection is in themselves, and the storm is stronger than the ship.
There is a better source of strength and protection than self, a source which no storm can shake, no power of earth destroy, and it is open to every voyager upon the sea of life. "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness." Isa. 41:10.
There is no necessity for the wrecks that strew the sea of life. There has been ample provision made for the safe voyage of every soul that has set out upon the sea. God can not save the soul that flees from His power and His protection, and binds its hope to the flimsy fabric of its own strength and its own protection. Such a soul must go down; for the powers that wrestle for its ruin are greater than the powers to which it looks for succor.
There is a chart and compass for every voyager, and a light to dispel every fog, and shine through the darkest night that shuts its curtains down upon the sea. But in the confidence of self, men have chosen to trust to the rush-light of their own reason, have set their course straight into the fog-bank of doubt, and crashed upon the rocks of eternal ruin. These are the saddest wrecks that strew the earth to-day, and they outnumber a hundred to one the wrecks that stud the bottom of the sea.
The shipwrecks of the sea are sad events. When we look at a majestic ship speeding toward a distant port with full sail set, we are filled with admiration. When we look upon the bleaching bones of a rock-riven wreck, or think of those that lie in the ooze of the ocean bed, we are filled with sorrow. But how much more admirable than the great ship, how much grander, is the sight when we look upon a human life, with all the power of God behind it or at its command, speeding toward the port of divine purpose, in company with or conveying a fleet of other lives in which humanity is surrendered to divinity, and every great purpose of the eternal Pilot is being wrought out in a wealth of noble character. And how much more sorrowful than the wreck of the ship, how much more terrible, is that life, loaded with a perfect wealth of possibilities, that lies mangled upon the rocks of unbelief or lies loaded with the seaweed of miscarried purpose on the floor of life's sea, all because unbelief was at the helm and self upon the bridge, and God and His great purpose were shut out of the mind and heart.
The saddest of all shipwrecks are the shipwrecks of life. God has a purpose concerning every soul. He will work out that purpose in every soul that will yield to His control, and the grandeur of the fulness of that purpose no human being has yet comprehended, nor can the human mind conceive it, for the half has not been told. The wrecked ship lies in its cold bed at the bottom of the sea; but the life-wreck, like a floating derelict, moves about among us hopeless, purposeless, aimless, drifting with the ebb and flow of the restless tide of doubt, a menace to other voyagers, and a sad, sad monument to the folly of unbelief.
There is hope for the voyager on life's sea, but that hope is not in self. God must be the pilot; God the protector; God the helper and refuge in every stress of trial; the comforter in every sorrow; the power that wafts the vessel onward and homeward; and His Word the light to dispel every cloud of gloom and every fog that would enshroud the ship. He will do all that for you; His Word will be all that to you: Take Him, then, for all that He has promised to be, and let His purpose be wrought out in your life, and your destiny be wrought out in His hand. There can be no sad wreck in such a life; but the light of God's blessing will shine out through the windows of the soul, and His glorious purpose concerning man will be worked out before the world in you.
"DOCTRINES OF DEVILS."
SATAN is prolific of doctrines. Of course they are false doctrines, perversions of truth, yet of such a nature that men are easily led to accept them as truth. The adversary of God has had intimate dealings with mankind from the very beginning, was able to overcome the very first man in his Eden home. This was because the man chose to be overcome, and let go his hold on the One who was able to keep him from falling. Jude 24.
The adversary's connection with man from that day to this, and his experience in overcoming individuals, has given him a still wider insight as to how the various classes of mind may be influenced, and how he may forestall or annul the instruction of the Holy Spirit, and keep men of different dispositions from receiving it; or, failing in this, to instil a false conception of the Spirit's teaching. His first success with the doctrine, "Thou shalt not surely die," in direct conflict with God's decree that for disobedience man should "surely die," encouraged the perpetuation of that false doctrine. It would be impossible to measure the awful results of the many and varied deceptions growing out of the immortal-soul theory, through which our first parents were overthrown, and through which their posterity in all ages have been decoyed from the truth.
From this long experience in deceiving men, it is no wonder that there should be special warnings against his devices in the last days, and that he should be able to make them appear plausible even to earnest, well-meaning men. The Lord knew what He was talking about when He gave the warning, "There shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before." Matt. 24:24, 25. In furtherance of this warning, we have its complement through the apostle Paul: "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils." 1 Tim. 4:1.
These persons who depart from the faith do not do so intentionally. They are deceived by perverted truth. They may think that they are proof against deception. They may assume that they are of the "very elect," whom it is impossible to deceive. But the assumption does not make it so. Every false doctrine is a deception of the enemy; every doctrinal tradition of man, if it have no other basis than tradition, is a doctrine of devils. To the Jews, who, altho custodians of the truth, were teaching the traditions of men, Jesus said, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do." John 8:44.
One of the "doctrines of devils" that has been very pleasing to a class of human beings is, that there is no personal devil; that the influence which we call Satanic is only an evil principle that exists in the world, and that God is responsible for it. But this doesn't catch everybody. There are some who believe the Word of God on that point; that the devil is an actual being who once held high position in heaven; that through selfish ambition he fell, and was cast out of heaven, and will eventually be destroyed, with all his followers.
For those who persist in believing that Satan is a real being, and a very active one at that, and that Jesus Christ is the only Saviour from "the wiles of the devil," other deceptions must be devised. So they are told that Christ was only a man; of course He was a good man, but He had no pre-existence and no resurrection. We are told that the idea of His coming down from heaven was a hallucination of His own, and that the theory of His resurrection is a delusion of His disciples. But neither does this doctrine deceive everybody. Some people will believe that Christ was the Son of God, the Word that was "in the beginning with God," and that "became flesh and dwelt among us." They will believe that "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures; and that He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve; after that He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once." Some people, when confronted with such a volume of evidence, are constrained to believe; and, further, to believe the word of those who saw Him go up into heaven, and also His own promise that He would come again in like manner to take His people to Himself.
Necessarily, then, there must be further deception, if the adversary would succeed (as he seems determined to do) in deceiving all. What next? These people will believe that their adversary is a real creature, and that their Saviour is a real person; what next can be done to deceive at least some of them? Is the artful enemy at a loss for further deceptive doctrine?—Not at all; he stands ready with the suggestion that God Himself is not a being. If he can make this go, it will be more sweeping than all the rest combined. For if God be not a tangible being, what of His "begotten Son"? We are told that Christ is all there is of God; then who managed the universe when Christ was dead? Who spoke from heaven at His baptism, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased?" Who, again, spoke from the cloud, on the mount of transfiguration, and said, "This is My beloved Son, hear Him?" To whom was Jesus praying, when He said, "O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was"? Was He praying to Himself in heaven, when He Himself was yet on earth? We note that He "lifted up His eyes to heaven," when He uttered that prayer. If Christ is the only personality of God, at whose right hand did He sit down when He ascended to heaven? Mark 16:19. If Christ is the only personality of God, who gives Him His "dominion, and glory, and a kingdom," and before whom does He come to receive these things? Dan. 7:13, 14. Again, what does He mean when He makes the promise, "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne?" Rev. 3:21. If the throne and its occupant be real and personal in the one case, they surely must be in the other.
None but a personal being can exercise any mental or emotional faculty; yet "God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.
It is true that Christ is the only personality of God that sinful man has seen, or can see and live. But Jesus said to the people, "Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God." He did not say, "They shall see Me." Sinful man could not have looked upon Christ, had He not veiled Himself in human flesh. But "he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of all them that diligently seek Him." True we must seek Him through Christ, who is the "Mediator between God and men." The denial of the personality of God is virtually the denial of His existence in any but a mythical sense. But in very truth He is the reality of all realities, for He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. G.
Animals Know Christian Character
By Rowland Hill
I HAVE no confidence in the religion of any man whose animals do not know him to be a Christian. —Rowland Hill.
Question Corner
By Editor
From time to time we will reply under this head, if deemed advisable, to such candid inquiries as may be sent us. Correspondents wishing a reply to their questions must give their full name and address, not for publication unless they wish, but as an evidence of good faith on their part, and to give us opportunity to reply by letter if deemed best. It is always well to inclose stamp. Let the questions be short and pointed, and such as may be answered in limited space. The questions will be numbered continuously.
1226.—"Eve's Apple Tree."
By Editor
A correspondent inquires if there is a fruit tree on the island of Ceylon known by the above name, poison in nature, "each fruit, having the appearance of having had a piece bitten out of it." We do not know. There may be such a fruit as described by the Youth's Companion. But its connection with Eve is purely mythical, a Mohammedan tradition.
1227.—Cestius, Titus, and Destruction of Jerusalem.
By Editor
How long after the raising of the siege of Jerusalem by Cestius, and the flight of the Christians, was it till the coming of Titus and the destruction of Jerusalem? L. E. W.
The attack of Cestius Gallus was, Josephus tells us, in the twelfth year of Nero, or A.D. 66. Titus, afterward the Emperor Vespasian, was then in Greece. He immediately repaired to Palestine to subdue the Jews, but the siege of Jerusalem was not actually begun till the spring of A.D. 70. But the city was really invested and threatened for some time previous. The intervening time was between three and four years.
