 |  |
"And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; (the sphere of Satanic
dominion); and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne,
saying, it is done" (Rev. 16: 17).
Note the echo "It is done" of that cry of our Saviour "It is finished".
So we can begin to see how the events of John 19: cradle the most far reaching
results affecting the universe and not merely our own world. It is on this wonderful and
glorious foundation that God our heavenly Father has prepared the way for us to enter in
spirit the household of God, concerning which our charter declares:
"And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus: That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His
kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2: 6, 7).
What a God is ours Who has cast His Word in such an irrefutable form for the
believer, but a stumbling block to those who deliberately choose to turn away from the
truth in disobedience. Faith in anything comes by the persuasion of another. Why should
we not let God persuade us out of His Word to that faith in Christ that is the key to all the
unimaginable spiritual blessings that the Scriptures envisage for us.
No.20.
Chapter 20:
pp. 196 - 200
This penultimate chapter (20:) of John's Gospel records the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus, a supernatural event and one of more importance to the human race than any other
event in the past or the future. Solomon was a man greatly blessed by God not only with
wisdom but with possessions and power. Solomon had the time, inclination and
endowment of mental faculties surpassing anyone before his time or since to pronounce
on what man can do with this present life. Read Solomon's report in Ecclesiastes. We
quote three thought provoking verses:
"I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor
anything taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before Him"
(Ecclesiastes 3: 14).
"Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done
under the sun; because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea
further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it"
(Ecclesiastes 8: 17).
"For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have
they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten" (Eccles. 9: 5).
The last verse must echo the conclusions of those who believe not on the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus and the record God the Father gave to the apostles to herald to the
world.