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and at the end of the chapter we see the Dragon makes war with the remnant of the
woman's seed which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus
Christ (Rev. 12: 17).
We have already referred to those who apostatize in the day of Tribulation who draw
back unto perdition, who "fall away" and crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh,
who are likened to the earth which produces thorns and briars, and is (1) "rejected", is
(2) "nigh unto" cursing, (3) whose end is to be "burned" (Heb. 6: 6-8). Now
"rejected" is the Greek word adokimos, derived from a word which means to test or to try
a metal. It is used by Peter for the "trial" of faith, and of the unashamed workman
"approved" by Paul. Adokimos is the word translated "castaway" in I Cor. 9: 27,
meaning "disqualified" so far as the "crown" is concerned. "Nigh" unto cursing is not
the same as being actually cursed, even as Bethany was "nigh" unto Jerusalem, but
actually two miles distant. When a field that is full of weeds is "burned" the weeds are
destroyed, but the field abides, and is the better for it.
Enough we believe has been brought before the reader to enable him to see that the
book of the Revelation deals with a particular class and calling, its terms of judgment
although awful, are limited by their contexts, and taken with the alternative of reigning
and overcoming, cannot be lifted out of these contexts and applied to the believer of the
present dispensation, or to the ungodly and unevangelized world of all ages. To be
"nigh" unto cursing, to be "hurt" of the second death, to have one's name "removed"
from the book of life, which apparently contains the names of all overcomers since the
death of Abel, to be "excluded" from the heavenly city, all pertain to the people of God
who find themselves in the dreadful three years and a half of the domination of the beast,
and which give us a picture of the Millennial reign, that must be retained. Let us rejoice
that there will be some who will endure that time of terror and who will consequently:
"Live and reign with Christ a thousand years."
No.8.
The Converging Lines of Prophetic Truth.
pp. 184 - 191
While it is true that a Prophet in the Scriptural record ministered to the immediate
needs of his own time, the outstanding character of his office was the God-given ability
to speak of things to come. Horne says of prophecy:
"It is a miracle of knowledge, a declaration, or description, or representation of
something future, beyond the power of human sagacity to foresee, discern or conjecture,
and it is the highest evidence that can be given of supernatural communion with the
Deity, and of the truth of revelation."
Bishop Hurd has written of Messianic prophecy: