Promise to the Fathers

THE passage last quoted, Eph. 1:13, 14, cannot be explained on the supposition that the earth is not to be renewed, and is not to become the inheritance of the saints of God. There can be no difference between the inheritance and the possession in this text. The token or earnest extends to the fulfillment of the promise; after that the sign or assurance can have no more significance. But the apostle says the seal of the Spirit, "is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession." The inheritance of the saints, as well as the saints themselves, is waiting for redemption.

Note the similarity of expression in regard to the saints and to their possession. "Ye are not your own.. For ye are bought with a price." 1 Cor. 6:19, 20. "Feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." Acts 20:28. "Denying the Lord that bought them." 2 Peter 2:1. The purchase price has already been paid for us. It is the precious blood of Christ. But our redemption is future; for that we yet "groan within ourselves." Rom. 8:23. We shall not be glorified till "Christ who is our life shall appear." Col. 3:4.

And thus also our inheritance: it is a "purchased possession." Jesus bore the curse of the earth as well as that of man. The Lord said it should bring forth thorns, because of the sin of man. And when Jesus was "made a curse for us" on the tree, he wore a crown of thorns the curse of the earth. And the words of the apostle are no more emphatic in favor of the purchase of the earth than of its redemption. No "possession" of man, either present or prospective, needs redemption, except the earth. And that is still "groaning" under the curse. Pain and death, thorns and thistles, are evidences of Satan's triumph. But it shall not continue forever.

When the earth was created, it "was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep." Gen. 1:2. When first called into existence, it was a chaotic mass, in confusion and darkness. When the old world—"the world that then was"—was destroyed by water, it was turned again to a desolate waste. And among the changes which it is yet to undergo, it will once more be returned to that desolate condition, preparatory to its entire renewal and restitution. David prophesied of this in the following words:—

"Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." Ps. 46:8-10.

Thus, and thus only, will wars be made to cease upon the earth; the Lord will destroy the weapons of war in the day of destruction and desolation.

Isaiah foretold these things, as follows:—

"Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. . . . The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word." Isa. 24:1, 3.

Jeremiah gives a vivid description of the condition into which the earth is to be brought:—

"I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment. . . . .I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger. For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end." Jer. 4:19-27.

Though the "destruction" is complete, so far as the works of man and the beauty and formation of the earth are concerned, yet, says the Lord "will I not make a full end." As the material was all reserved for future use when the old world perished by water, so will it be in the destruction which is now future. The Lord did not create the earth in vain. He who says: "I am God; my counsel shall stand," will have his designs ultimately accomplished, whatever may, for a time, interpose.

Ezekiel had a view of the same condition of the earth, though briefly stated in his prophecy:—

"The fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man's sword shall be against his brother. And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone." Eze. 38:20-22.

Other quotations might be given from the Old Testament, but we pass to the New, wherein this overwhelming ruin is located. When the Saviour spoke of his second coming he said:—

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Mat 24:29-31

Here it will be noticed that the Saviour locates the shaking of "the powers of the heavens," just before his coming. This is the ushering in of that "great day of the Lord," of which the prophet says:—

"That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness," Zep 1:15

The apostle Paul speaks also of this shaking of the heavens, and says it will be produced by the voice of God when he speaks from Heaven. After describing the terror of the day when God spoke his holy law from mount Sinai, he says:—

"See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven." Heb 12:25-26

This testimony informs us that the shaking of heaven and earth will be caused by the voice of God speaking from Heaven, and, also, that this will take place but once. Therefore, wherever we find these, or either of these events spoken of in the Scriptures, we know it is the same that was foretold by the Saviour in Matt. 24, and to occur in immediate connection with his second coming. That the same event is spoken of in Rev. 16 is very evident:—

"And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found." Rev 16:17-20

By reading the preceding verses, it will be seen that "the great day of God Almighty" is then near, and—that the Lord Jesus announces his speedy coming. The seventh angel is the last, and this plague finishes the wrath of God upon the last generation of the sinful race. God's voice is heard from Heaven; the heavens and the earth are shaken; since men were upon earth so great a convulsion of nature had never taken place; the whole face and surface of the earth is changed into wasteness and desolation; "every island fled away, and the mountains were not found."

This day of battle, and its effect upon the hearts of the men of this world who have not secured an interest in the blood of the Life-giver, is described briefly in another scripture thus:—

"And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" Rev 6:14-17

The terrors of that day are awful to contemplate. Not only that "the earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage," Isa. 24:20, that the convulsion shall be so great that the isles of the ocean shall sink, the mountains be cast down, and the pleasant valleys filled with the wreck of matter; though these would appall the stoutest heart, and overwhelm the bravest with fear; but it is that the day of "the wrath of the Lamb" is come; the terrible thought that, in this hour of the world's great calamity, there is no refuge—no hope. Few are so hardened but that they are ready to call upon God in the hour of great peril and bitter anguish. Though men revile the name of Christ, there is left in their hearts a consciousness of his availing mercy, which reveals itself in time of danger. But oh! the agony of the soul when the conviction is forced upon the rich, the proud, the great, the admired of the world, that there is no Saviour! that he who has so long plead the sacrifice of his life in their behalf, who has so long beseeched them to turn and live, has "put on the garment of vengeance," and will no longer listen to their cry.

"Where will the sinner hide in that day?

It will be in vain to call,

Ye mountains, on us fall,

For his hand will find out all,

In that day."

How forcibly the question is presented to the rich, the great of the world:—

"And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?" Isa. 10:3.

Oh! that we could fully realize that that day of wrath is near to come.