Basic HTML Version
134
From Heaven With Love
The disciples, scattered by persecution, “went everywhere preaching
the word” (
Acts 8:4
); and shortly after, Saul the persecutor was
converted, and became Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles.
The time of Christ’s coming, His death, and the giving of the
gospel to the Gentiles were definitely pointed out. It was the privilege
of the Jews to understand these prophecies and to recognize their
fulfillment in the mission of Jesus. Referring to the prophecy given
to Daniel in regard to their time, Christ said, “Whoso readeth, let him
understand.”
Matthew 24:15
. After His resurrection He explained to
the disciples in “all the prophets” “the things concerning Himself.”
Luke 24:27
. The Saviour had spoken through the prophets and
“testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that
should follow.”
1 Peter 1:11
.
It was Gabriel, the angel next in rank to the Son of God, who
came with the divine message to Daniel. It was Gabriel whom Christ
sent to open the future to John; and a blessing is pronounced on those
who read and hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things
[149]
written therein. See
Revelation 1:3
. God’s blessing will attend the
reverent, prayerful study of the prophetic scriptures.
As the message of Christ’s first advent announced the kingdom
of His grace, so the message of His second advent announces the
kingdom of His glory. And the second message, like the first, is
based on the prophecies. The Saviour Himself has given signs of
His coming, and He says, “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time
your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and
cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” “Watch
ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to
escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before
the Son of man.”
Luke 21:34, 36
.
The Jews misinterpreted the Word of God and knew not the time
of their visitation. The years of the ministry of Christ and His apos-
tles they spent in plotting the destruction of the Lord’s messengers.
Earthly ambitions absorbed them. So today the kingdom of this
world absorbs men’s thoughts, and they take no note of the rapidly
fulfilling prophecies and the tokens of the swift-coming kingdom of
God. While we are not to know the hour of our Lord’s return, we
may know when it is near. “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others;
but let us watch and be sober.”
1 Thessalonians 5:6
.
[150]