WHAT THE LORD HATH SPOKEN. #2

“Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them.

Thus, saith the Lord God; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate.” – (Eze 35). “I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses. “ I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.” – (Am 4). “For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. And the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.” – (Am 9). “The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord had his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. “ The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. “ The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.” – (Na 1). “Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One! we shall not die. O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.” – (Hab 1). “The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.” – (Hab 2). “For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings.” – (Mal 4). Just as the Lord thus declared that it should come to pass, both as to the wicked, and they that fear his name, so it was, and so it shall be.

 

Coming to the New Testament, the holy Son of God said, “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. “ And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” – Matt. xxiv. Paul also foretold what should be, saying, “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” – (Ac 20). He again prophesied, to the brethren and said, “That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.” – (1Th 3). “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; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” – (1Ti 4). “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” – (2Ti 4). Peter likewise prophesied, saying, “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.” – (2Pe 2). “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” – (2Pe 3). “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ,” said, “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. “But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.”

 

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him,” will worthily conclude these very solemn and wonderful prophetic revelations from God. Of the two witnesses, the angel said, ‘And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.” (xi.) Of the beast John says, “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written, in the book of life of the Lamb slain, from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear.” (xiii.) “Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.” (xvi.) Concerning the judgment of God against Babylon, John heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.” (xviii.) “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up ou the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the Faints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” (xx.) The beloved John was then shown “a new heaven and a new earth,” and he “saw the holy city, new Jerusalem. “ And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.” (xxi.) “And they shall reign for ever and ever. And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.” (xxii.)

 

“What shall we I then say to these things?” For all the prophetic words and sayings, truly;” given in this article, are alike faithful and true, the righteous judgments of God, no less than his gracious blessings, all of which were spoken with a divine positiveness, as the revealed word of God, showing that all those great and marvelous things “must” and “shall “come to pass, because God, “who cannot lie,” hath spoken all those words. For if one word of all the revelation which the Lord declared by his prophets could be defeated and fail, it would impeach all his testimony. But, blessed be his holy name, this can never be; for his word is as eternal as his holy throne, and all things which his word has spoken must take place. “The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Sorely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.” – (Isa 14:24).

 

Surely it cannot be thought by us that the prophetic words of the Lord were either distinct from or opposed to his thought and purpose, for this would involve a conflict between the thought of the Lord and his prophetic word, which he inspired his prophets to write. It is infallibly certain, therefore, that all the word of the Lord by his prophets is supported by his solemn oath, that it shall thus come to pass and stand, as he hath thought and purposed and revealed. And this establishes the certain fulfillment of all the things which holy men of old, who spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, have foretold in the Bible, as unfailingly as could the decree of the Almighty, who changes not. Every fair and candid mind will see and admit this. Let the dear reader search the prophetic Scriptures, and it will amaze and awe you to find that prophecy embraced all history, including the rise and fall of nations, their wars and awful calamities, famines and plagues, as the fearful visitations of God’s righteous judgments, and that the history of the Hebrew people, and the many surrounding wicked nations, which is largely a history of wars and calamities the most appalling – that history is prophecy fulfilled.

 

Now, therefore, the holy Lord God Almighty, who declared the end from the beginning, and from ancient limes the things which were not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure, who is in one mind, and none can turn him, certainly had a wise and holy purpose in the accomplishment of all those mighty events of peoples and nations, events both of judgment and mercy, which he called and moved the holy men of old to write, from his servant Moses to his Son Jesus. The infinite wisdom and omnipotent power and perfect holiness, and rich mercy of our majestic and ever-blessed God are proclaimed and made known thus to the children of men. Shall we say, “Even so, Lord God Almighty!”

 

Yours to serve,

 

D. BARTLEY.

 

Crawfordsville, Ind.