1999 issue 2 - the policy for the future - counsel of chalcedon

8/12/2019 1999 Issue 2 - The Policy for the Future - Counsel of Chalcedon

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Coming to Jerusalem the

last time before the cruci

fixion, the first thing Christ

did was to

purge

the

Temple. Having expelled

the corruptionists, he

began to preach in the

cleansed House of God. He

had

five types of hearers

on that occasion:

The

priests and

ecclesi

astics heard him, disputed

his authority, and left him.

- The

Herodians and

holiticians

heard

him,

tried to catch him in

his words, and were

dumbfounded at his

wisdom.

- The

drew privately asked

him

the explanation of

what he

had said - the meaning of

the dark hint

he had

thrown out

about the de

struction of the Temple.

His answer makes the

most

difficult chapter

in

the gospels. The difficulty

springs out of the fact that

he ceased to

be

didactic

and became prophetic. His

eye

was

piercing the fu

ture,

and we

have not the

earth and it 's inhabitants.

The difficulty is to disen

tangle the two discourses : :

to follow the two prephetic

lines of thought - the one . .

respecting Jerusalejll, arid

the one respecting the

end.

of the world. The two"ideas

are soinvolved as to

elude dogmatism, and

almost . o discourage ,all

hope of

any

consistent

interpretation.

J.

'

h e P o l i c y fc

.

>r

th 1 L l . l l . l r e

I suggesfthat, iyou

take vv.

5,6,14-23,

28 ,

31 together you will

have the main part of

B.M.

Palmer

Sadducees and

free

thinkers heard him,

tried to outreason him,

MIIU,

U:

10- Till W,, I I I l l

I 1

IIZ'1

Ilf

the prediction respect

ing

Jerusalem

and the

Temple ~ the awful

things

which

were to

cOIl ,e

to pass within'

and were convicted of

ignorance. - The Scribes'

and moralists heard him,

confessed his knowledge,

and applauded his skill. -

Finally

the

common people

heard him

gladly,

veiled

their

hearts,

and

later

at

Pentecost confessed

him

by

the thousands.

As

he

concluded these

discourses and was going

down the Temple steps, his

diSciples said, "Just

look at

these massive stones

What

splendid buildings these

are They seem to be inde

structible and eternal "

Jesus retorted, "Great

and

imposing

as they are, not

one

stone

will be left upon

another "

The next day on

the

Mount of Olives, Peter, and

James and John and An-

: I ~

;

. , ~ ~ ~ : 1 _ \ \ \ 1 \ \ , , ~ , - ;;:

\_\ (1 \ .

insight

to

follow him. Oh,

there is not a greater differ

ence between the eye of a

bat and that of an eagle

than there is between the

piercing

power

of the mind

of Christ

and

that of

ordi

nary men

How

short

sighted we How farSighted

he Glimpses from the

standpoint of Christ change

the face of the universe.

How tawdry

are the

pomps

and the magnificence we

admire, how splendid the

lowly eternities we de

spise, when soon through

the telescopic eye of Christ

which sees the end from

the beginning

This thirteenth chapter

of Mark is Christ's vision

of

doom

- the

doom

of

Jerusalem and the Jewish

nation - the doom of the

the generation of

those standfng before him.

The balance of the proph

ecy seems to bear"more '

directly

upon

the world

and its inhabitants - that

final catastrophe which is

to involve the whole earth.

We

may

ask, "why was

he

so particular to explain

this coming disaster to his

disciples?" We must re

member

that

he

was a Jew

and they

were

Jews.

He

well

understood that in

their nUnds ali religion was

absolutely bound upon

that sacred building and

the

perpetuity

of Divine

ordinances depended upon

its continued existence.

He

foresaw what a shock it

would

be

to

their hearts

and faith, if this center of

divine revelation should

be destroyed,

i f

this

12

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THE COUNSEL

of Chalcedon - February

March,

1999


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Temple on earth should

cease to be. Its downfall

would make

them

pessi

mistic - fell that the cause

of God had collapsed on

the earth. His purpose was

to disengage his cause

from the ruin of the

Temple.

He

wished to

teach them that the Temple

and all its institutions

could

go down

without so

much as touching the faith

he came to preach - the

religion he c:ame to incul

cate. "He

and

his religion,

they and their witnesses,

must not

be

confused with

the dying institutions of an

exhausted creed. They

would live and work

when

the whole Jewish people

were

scattered as a rem

nant over the face of the

globe, and when

the

Turk

would rule over the

land

of

Jehovah, and a Moham

medan mosque would

occupy the place of the

Temple itself.

t was

of

supreme importance

that

these simple men should

understand from the

e g i n ~

ning that the

Founder

of

their faith

did

not count

upon

the continuance of

the Templei He regarded

with

perfect equanimity

the approaching catastro

phe which

would

sweep it

forever from the face of the

earth." The

perpetuity

of

the Christian religion ,

depends

upon no

building,

no city, no national organi

zation, and no particular

man

- however great and

apparently indispensable.

The sources of its inde

structibility are in heaven -

the power of its endurance

the throne of God. t will

survive the wreckage of

Jerusalem - outlive the

government on the banks

of the tawny TIber - be

superior

to all political

changes, and even come

unscathed through the

downfall of the very globe

on

which

we live. This is

the lesson - the imperish

ableness

and

independence

of the cause of Christ

To appreciate so much

of this prophecy as refers

to the destruction of Jerusa

lem

and

the dispersion of

the Jewish people, you

must read Josephus and

Tacitus. The anticipatory

language of Christ may

seem

an

exaggeration, the

unconscious extremes of a

pessimist whose course on

earth has been one of rejec

tion and is now about to

end in

cloud

and

suffering.

But these profane histori

ans describe the Siege

and

fall of Jerusalem - the

catastrophe of the year 70

which seemed literally to

shake the

very earth

-

in

language so horrible as to

make the prophetic utter

ances of Christ appear

mild. History proves

that

He

spoke the words of

soberness and literal fact

about the destruction of

that central city, Jerusalem.

His pretensions to pro-

phetical power were over

whelmingly vindicated.

But this is only one line

of the prophecy:

the other

was about the

destruction

of the world .

f

so much of

the prophecy as

respected

Jerusalem has been histori

cally proved, why are we

not

bound to

believe

that

the remainder will come to

pass

with

a similar exacti

tude?

He

forepictured

the

destruction

of Jerusalem,

and in due

time history

filled

out

the prophecy. I

say we are unwise and

foolish i f

we do not

count

upon

the

fulfillment of that

part of the same prophecy

which predicts

and

delin

eates

the

destruction of

the

earth

.

That

is

the

lesson

for

U i we are to

see

in

the

downfall of Jerusalem

the

downfall of the earth on

which

we

live -

the

col

lapse of the present sinful

order

not

the collapse of

the cause of Christ,

but

the

overthrow of

the

world

which, like Jerusalem,

rejects

him and

antago

nizes him.

The key note

of

this part

of the prediction is the text

-

the

gospel

must

first

be

published among all na-

tions .. . "

the

predictiOn

about Jerusalem will come

to pass before

the

genera

tion standing before,Jlim

shall

pass

away, but the

prediction

about

the end

of

the

earth

will

not

come to

pass until the gospel has

been published among all

nations. He refuses to

define the time of the

world's destruction more

definitely. He says

neither

February

/March,

1999 - THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon -

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he,

nor

anybody, except his

Father,

knows

the exact day

and hqur. He anticipates

and

forbids all attempts to

fix a future almanac, shoW

ing the date of the world's

downfall

We know the fact, that

our

'earth is doomed; we

know that the gospel must

first be

published among

all nations;

we know

that,

as it 'was with Jerusalem, so

will the end of the world

be attended

with

such

horrors as the imagination

never depicted; but the

day

and

the

hour knoweth no

man - only God.

"The

gospel

must

first

be

published among all

the

nations " - Oh, the temerity

of that statement is simply

fascinating "Go back

in

the

spirit

of realism to the

situation

on that day

when

he spoke

the

words, and

look at the position as it

would

strike the eye. There

is a little

group

of peasants

who

have come

with

all

their country

ways from

the

north of Galilee. Al

ready in the secret conclave

of his nation's rulers their

Leader

has

been con

demned to death. They are

in

the shadow

of the great

Temple of their ancestors,

they are the citizens of a

State

that

is great

in

their

eyes,

ut

a State

which

was

very small

in

the midst of

the great nations of the

earth, a State already dy

ing, reaching the very

limits

of

its existence.

And

with a simple confidence

which is indeed sublime he

tells them

that

the broken

words he

has

spoken on

the hillsides, the message

he has delivered to them,

shall circle the globe, and

they shall forge the first

links of the golden chain.

"Jerusalem is against

im

Rome is against im the

church is against him - the

world is against him the

shadows of the cross and

death are already falling on

him. Did ever enterprise

look more abjectly weak,

more pitifully hopeless,

more certainly doomed to

defeat and despair Yet :

with daring that

looked

like frenzy, he wrote "Vic

tory" across the brow of all

hostilities - lifted his head

till

i t

pierced beyond the

stars, and prophesied

success

In the light of what has

happened since then, how

easy for us to believe the

prophecy But,

in

the mea

gerness of

that

hour, how

could the little group that

stood around

him

keep

from falling away from

him Oh, let those, who

despair

in

the presence

of

all that is

diS OUraging

today, go back to that day,

and bathe their faith in the

heart of the first diSciples

Let those who can see only

failure

in

"the signs of the

times," put the telescope of

Christ to their eye

Why, even the world, as

distinguished from the

Church, is optimistic in its

forecast of

the

future. There

throbs

in

its heart the hope

of a brighter

day than

has

ever yet been calendered.

Looking backward, there is

a feeling

that

the best has

nqt yet been realized -

stages of progress not yet

reached - heights of attain

ment

not yet sealed - a

glory not yet achieved - a

felicity not yet experi

enced. The

world

bases its

belief in a future millen

nium upon the history of

the past, and upon the

consciousness of its own

resources; It feels self

sufficient for

the

future.

The same thrilling hope

beats

in

the

heart

of the

Church. Its literature is full

of radiant prophecies of a

golden day - a day in

which the cause of God

and

humanity shall triumph. To

portray that day, exhaus

tive draft is made

upon

poetry and metaphor.

Knowledge shall extend

from sea to sea - God's

people shall go forth

with

joy,

and be led

forth

with

singing - mountains shall

leap, and trees clap their

hands - the wolf and lamb

lie down together, the lion

eat straw like

an

ox - fir

trees instead of thorns -

myrtles instead of briars -

war shall cease - and the

earth be happy.

Under this rainbOw

the

church and the world clasp

hands; but they disagree as

to

the causes of the future

felicity. The world trusts

in

science to make further

discoveries - to

bring

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nature more

and

more to

the service of man; - in

sociology, by which it

hopes

for a complete ad

justment

of all the relations

between man

and man; -

in philosophy, which it

expects ultimately to give

the world

a complete and

satisfactory explanation of

all things: - the world is

relying

upon

naturalistic

forces to realize its dreams

of

the

future. But

over

against

all dreams of a

civilization,

perfected

through soil

and

cli

mate, through machiner-

ies, through political

constitutions, through

education and

art and

culture

only,

the church

stands a steadfast

wit-

ness

-

lifting up the

sublime antithesis of a

civilization to be gained

through character,

char-

acter regenerated

by the .

power

of god,

and

per-

fected through

grace

and

faith in Jesus

Christ. The spirit of true

progress is the Spirit of

Christ: the forces which

will issue in the millen

nium are spiritual, not

material - supernatural,

not natural.

All power to be service

able must be geared. t is

so

with

steam, wind, water,

and

electricity - these

forces must be harnessed

to be utilized. So must it be

with the Spirit's power -

that (orce which alone can

lift human life out of every

form of degradation, defor-

mity, and antagonism into

strength, beauty, and hap

piness. As the power of the

engine is distributed

throughout the great

shop

by a system of bands

and

pulleys, so must the regen

erating power of the Holy

Ghost be transmitted

throughout the world

and

made effective at every

point

in

society before

there can be a realization of

our millennial hopes. That

mechanical appliance -

that

system for the trans

mission of the energy of .

the Holy Ghost to this

world

- is the gospel - the

machinery of the church -

all agencies of benevolence

- these are but bands

and

pulleys for carrying the

power of the Holy Spirit to

the heart of the

world

.

The Bible is the book of

the future - the future of

earth as well as of heaven;

and the church of the Bible,

one

in

spirit

and

beautified

by grace, has the future

of

the earth, the future of

mankind, in its hands. The

Bible reveals,

and

the

church believes in, a glori

ous consummation for

humanity, and for the earth,

- a consummation

to

be

secured through the gos

pel. No other force

than

truth, and love, and the

Holy Ghost, are requisite

to the consummation;

no

other agent

than

the church

is needed to bring it to

pass. s the Church grows

inwardly in character,

and

is multiplied

outwardly

from continent

to

continent,

civilization will surely

follow, in

grander

and still

grander

forms, until

in

the

complete development of

the Church, humanity shall

reach

its

glorious matu-

rity.

There is a

future

for

Jerusalem,

though

so dis

mantled at

the

present;

and

there is a future for the

earth, though

it

is so sinful

and full of misery. The

power

of the future is the

Holy Spirit; that power can

be applied only

through

the gospeL This

ideal

cannot be realized until the

gospel

has

been

published

among all nations.

f you are truly philan-

thropic - if you are not

narrow

and self-centered

i f

you are broad

enough to

take the world into

your

heart

and

the earth into

your plans - i f you see

truly and feel deeply about

the future - i f you would

plant yourself into the

high

scheme of Christ, best

serve yourself and your

generation, become a factor

in bringing in

the

new

heavens and

the

new earth

i f you have foresight and

aspiration -

become

mis

sionary - spread the gospel

-

publish

it among all

nations. The golden day

cannot dawn till the gospel

is spread abroad.

Do that

-

it will go farther and be

better for the world than all

the charitable foundations,

and educational institu-

tions, and civic .buildings

FebruaryjMarch, 1999 - THE COUNSEL of

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which decorate the civiliza

tions of

the

hour. The one

prophetic

desideratum of

the day

is the universal

proclamation 'of the gospel

- 'then heaven will begin to

move,

the earth begin to

change, and

millennial

glory

will

pierce

the

east,

lift the fogs of night

in

arms

of

lambent flame, ,

bear

them

across the ze

nith,

and perfeG:t day will

be established.

0 world god, give me

wealth, the ancient Egyp

tian prayed. The prayer

was

answered, and gold

poured

into the

coffers of

the

kingdom

of the Nile.

But where is Egyptian

civilization

today

-

the

civilization that was

founded upon mqney? The

mummy

its type the pyra-

mid

its monument

0 world god, give me

knowledge ,

pleaded

the

ancient

Greek. His prayer

was

answered,

and

phi-

losophy, rhetoric, and

poetry

kneeled

at

the

feet

of

the

mistress of the Isles.

But

the civilization of the

Porch,

Lyceum, "and Acad

emy was

a failure: it is

entombed

in

books,

and

its

very language

in

which it

speaks

is

dead.

0 world

god, give

me

Power ,

the

ancient Roman

prayed. The

prayer was

answered.

The enshielded

legions of two Ceasars

carried the boundary lines

of the Roman Empire

around the

world. But the

Goths,

the

Vandals and the

Huns swept

the Civiliza

tion of Power into the

Mediterranean Sea.

0

God

of Abraham,

give me thyself," the an

cient Hebrew prayed. The

prayer was

answered. n

the fullness

of

time, Jeho

vah sent his

Son

to Jerusa

lem,

and

the sons of Abra

ham rejected him, and

refused to receive what

they

had prayed

"

or

Today

the civilization of Israel

wanders up and down

the

shore line of history, grop

ing for

something it has

lost, while

God

p

1999 issue 2 - the policy for the future - counsel of chalcedon

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