In order to gain a sound understanding of the word of God, the various books must be read as Mr. Locke says the Epistles ought to be read. He requires you to read through one epistle at a sitting, and observe its drift and aim. "If," says he, "the first reading gave some light, the second gave me more; and so I persisted on reading constantly the whole epistle over at once, till I came to have a general view of the writer's purpose, the chief branches of his discourse, the arguments he used, and the disposition of the whole. This, I confess, is not to be obtained by one or two hasty readings; it must be repeated again and again, with a close attention to the tenor of the discourse, and a perfect neglect of the divisions into chapters and verses." If this plan be adopted, and the books of the Bible be read with a humble, prayerful heart, a heart in unison with the authors that wrote, the true meaning of the word will be grasped.
And the clearer this true meaning becomes, the more it will appear that nothing short of continued communication with God can satisfy the heart. For it is the very purpose of the written word of God to lead men to seek this communication with God, to guide, in other words, the straying child to its loving father.
PROPHECIES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
Without entering into a more minute examination of the remaining epistles, we will proceed to consider some of the prophecies of the Gospel dispensation.
Prominent among these prophecies are those which predict the establishment of a new dispensation in the last days. Our Savior calls it "the regeneration," and says that in that dispensation "the Son of man shall sit on the throne of His glory," and the Twelve "shall sit upon twelve thrones" (Matt. xix, 28).
Peter says that Christ is to be in heaven until this new dispensation, "the times of the restitution of all things" comes (Acts iii, 21).
Jude quotes a prophecy delivered by Enoch about this dispensation: "Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his Saints to execute judgment upon all." (Jude 14, 15).
Paul (II Thess. ii.) is very clear and minute concerning the events that had to transpire between his own time and the dispensation of the last days. (1) A "falling away"—a general apostacy was to take place first, and (2) "that man of sin, the son of perdition, be revealed." It is further pointed out that the power of apostacy was already, at the time of the writing of Paul, secretly at work, only there was something that hindered this power from appearing openly. But as soon as this obstacle (the Roman imperial power) had been removed, the "man of sin," i.e., the embodiment of the spirit of apostacy, would boldly appear, and, this "man of sin" would hold his sway over the world until destroyed by the "brightness of the coming" of the Lord (v. 8). And this apostate power is further described as one opposing and exalting himself above every other authority, or "god," both on earth and in heaven. He is "lawless" and "sitteth in the temple," that is, he is a "Christian" not an infidel power; his coming is the work of Satan, and is accompanied by "powers, signs and lying wonders," deceiving all that would not believe the truth. Among the doctrines that should be advanced by this apostate power is noted particularly as a departure from the faith, "doctrines of devils," also a prohibition of marriage, which was a revival of heathenism (see I Timothy, iv, 1-5), all of which was fulfilled to the letter in the evolution from Christianism to Romanism. Nothing can be clearer, from these prophecies of Paul than this: Shortly after his own time, a period of apostacy would follow, during which all kinds of lies were to be promulgated in the name of God. But this period of apostacy would again be followed by a new dispensation of truth and light, the coming of the Son of God in glory.
John was the last of the apostles. He lived to see the spirit of apostacy still more developed than did Paul. In speaking of it he says that "many anti-Christs" had already come (I John ii, 18, 19; iv, 3). To him it was given to see, in his apocalyptic visions, the calamities that crushed the Roman empire, thus making way for the "man of sin," or the "little horn" of Daniel or the anti-Christ, namely the great church of the world with her pontifical "image" in Rome. He was permitted to see the subjugation and flight to the wilderness of the Church of Christ and the subsequent darkness that followed. But he also, like the former seers and prophets of the Lord, was permitted to behold in the future the first rays of the new dispensation, the millennial kingdom, to be established, never to be overthrown.
Let us pause for one moment and reflect. If the word of God is sure, this fact is surely established, that the reign of anti-Christ shall be followed by a new, glorious dispensation, the millennial reign of the Son of God. There is scarcely an event in the Scriptures more frequently predicted than this. All the previous dispensations of God are only preparations for this the last and most glorious of all, at the commencement of which the hosts of heaven join the Saints below in shouting, "Hosannah! Hosannah! Hosannah! The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever" (Rev. xi, 15).