among wolves; be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves; but beware of men, for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues, and ye shall be brought before governors, and kings, for my name's sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought, how or what ye shall speak, for it shall be given you that same hour what ye shall speak." And now note carefully what is here said next, "For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you."

The same principle was true of Jesus Christ. It was not he that taught the doctrines, and did the works, but it was the spirit of his Father that was sent down from heaven and dwelt in him, to whom all these things were attributable; and as the spirit of God was given him without measure, and as in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and, as being in the form of God, he thought it not robbery to be equal with God, so also all things which even the Father did by his spirit are equally attributable to the Father or to the Son, though primarily all things originate with the Father himself; so that the doctors of divinity in our day are just as far astray in the understanding of Christ's words, when he said so often, "I came down from heaven," as were the Jewish doctors of the law in Christ's day when they misunderstood Christ's words when he said, "Except ye eat my flesh, and drink my blood, ye have no life in you," saying in their ignorance, and blindness, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

Therefore the sectarian theory of the Trinity is nothing more than a human invention, growing out of a misunderstanding of Christ's words; for the Scriptures do not say, as they do in their cathechisms, that Jesus is the eternal Son of God; but on the contrary, he is the Son of God by his conception by the Holy Spirit, and birth of the Virgin Mary in weakness, and afterwards he was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. The pious old man of the flesh, in his blind zeal, cannot improve upon this doctrine, for there is one God the Father, of whom are all things, and we by him, and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things, and we by him; and the Son of God is a son, and sons are not as old as their fathers. And the power which has been given the Son and which will be greatly enlarged at his second coming with his Father, when his Father will make his foes his footstool for a thousand years,- after the Son's work is done, that power will be returned again to the Father himself, that God may be all in all.

John the Baptist also said, "The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand." Thus John recognizes the great truth contained in the oracle of God written in the eighth Psalm, namely, "Thou hast put all things under his feet," a doctrine which Paul has so fully explained in his letters. Again the forerunner of Christ said, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." This doctrine agrees with what the Apostle John said in his first Epistle (5: 12), "He that hath the Son, hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life." This is a complete refutation of the great error of our day, that even wicked men are immortal and never die. There is no eternal life out of Christ, and it is needless for

blind guides to tell us that life means happiness, and death means misery, when the Scriptures inform us that life means to be alive, and death means to be dead, and that the living know something, but the dead do not, as it is clearly written, "The living know that they shall die, but the dead know not anything." This Scripture is a positive denial of the sectarian heresy, that the dead know more than the living, and that they are cognizant of all that transpires in the world, and look down from heaven with great solicitude upon the friends they left behind.

John the Baptist was one of the witnesses that Jesus was the Christ, for it was necessary that Jesus should furnish proof to Israel that he was the Messiah, and John himself informs us that he that sent him to baptize with water, the same said to him, "Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he that baptizeth with the Holy Spirit, And I saw, and bear record that this is the Son of God."

Now concerning this witness of John, Jesus said, "If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. There is another that beareth witness of me and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. Ye sent unto John (referring to the persons that were sent by the Pharisees of Jerusalem, saying, "Who art thou," and so forth, and he bare witness unto the truth. "But," says Jesus, "I receive not testimony from man, but these things I say, that ye may be saved. He was a burning and a shining light, and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light; but I have a greater witness than that of John; for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me, and the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.'

In the above enumeration of the witnesses that Jesus was sent of God (as recorded in John 5: 30-47) we have the evidences and witnesses that Jesus. is the Christ, the Son of God. First, Jesus was a witness of himself. Second, The Father himself bore witness of him, with a voice from heaven, saying, "Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Third, John the Baptist witnessed that he was the Son of God. Fourth, The mighty works that he did bore witness of him. Fifth, The Scriptures testified of him. Five witnesses are here adduced to the Jews by Jesus himself, that he was the Christ which should come into the world as the only Saviour of men, so that his name is the only name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

The Angel Gabriel, who was sent of God to Zacharias to announce the birth of John, said of him that he should go before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. This saying no doubt signifies, to revive in the children the disposition of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for he continues, "And the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

Jesus said to his disciples, "There be some standing here which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power"; after he had been transfigured before them, and had come down from the mountain, his disciples said unto him, "Why say the Scribes that Elias must

first come? He answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things, and how it is written of the Son of man that he must suffer many things, and be set at naught. But I say unto you that Elias is indeed come already, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him" (Mark 9: 12-13).

Malachi the prophet had said, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord"; and, as Gabriel said of John, "He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse," Jesus said of John, "And if ye will receive it, this is Elias which was for to come."

When John had fulfilled his course, he was cast into prison by Herod, for John had reproved Herod for taking his brother Philip's wife, saying, It was unlawful for him to have her," and while in prison he heard of the mighty works that Jesus did, and it would appear as though he grew somewhat impatient, for if Jesus possessed such marvelous power, why could he not secure the release of John from prison? And so John sent two of his disciples to Jesus, and said unto him, "Art thou he that should come, or look we for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again these things which ye do hear and see; - the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached unto them, and blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me."

Herodias had a quarrel with John, and would have killed him, but she could not. She being another man's wife was angry at his rebuke. But Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee; and when the daughter of the said Herodias came in and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the King said unto the damsel, "Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom," and she being instructed of her mother Herodias asked the head of John the Baptist in a charger; and although Herod was exceeding sorry, yet his unlawful wife, like another Jezebel, had gotten the victory, and could now have her revenge on John, and so it is said, "For his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he sent and beheaded John in the prison, and his head was given to the dancing damsel in a charger, and she gave it to her mother."

Thus ignominiously did the forerunner of Christ, whose birth and mission was announced by Gabriel, one of the mighty Angels of God, die by the hand of the wicked. And his disciples came and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus. But when he heard the sad tidings, he made no exclamation upon the heinousness of the crime. He knew beforehand from the Scriptures how John's career would terminate, for he said, "They knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him," and he adds, "Likewise shall the Son of man suffer of them."

Therefore if men like John the Baptist, and Jesus the Son of God, were allowed to suffer death by the hand of the wicked, and under such shameful circumstances and distressing and painful conditions, is it not well said of the apostles, when they were beaten by the rulers of Israel and commanded

by them that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, that they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were accounted worthy to suffer shame for his name? And if the apostles and prophets, John and Jesus, suffered such things, why should those who hold and teach the same things look for any better treatment in the present time? This is the day of humiliation and suffering for the righteous, and triumph for the wicked. But the day of glory comes with the resurrection of the dead, when the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. And Paul hath well said, “Our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

THE MINISTRY OF CHRIST

It is written, "Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye therefore, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1: 14-15).

When the Lord removed Judah out of his land to Babylon, he said to them by the hand of Jeremiah (29: 10-11), " For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good work toward you in causing you to return to this place, for I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end."

The expected end that Judah was entitled to look for is the one promised in the prophecy of Jacob, where it is said, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come." e." The sceptre had departed from Ephraim, the ten tribes, long before Shiloh came, and as Shiloh had not come before Judah was carried captive to Babylon, therefore the Lord said that after seventy years had passed, he would bring them back again, to give them their expected end. That is, having been brought back from Babylon, they were now to remain in the land until after Shiloh, the Saviour of the world, should come and fulfil all that the Scriptures testified of him at his first coming. This great benefit the house of Judah enjoyed, which the ten tribes, the house of Israel did not. But these words of Jacob clearly indicate that after Shiloh came the sceptre would depart from Judah, even as it had departed from Israel long before, even before Judah was carried to Babylon.

Now Daniel, who was one of the captives in Babylon, testifies saying (9:1-3), "In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes." And while Daniel was earnestly praying, confessing his sin and the sins of his people, Gabriel was made to fly swiftly, and touched him about the time of the evening oblation, and Daniel says, "He informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. Seventy weeks are determined

upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know, therefore, and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the streets shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined."

This period of seventy weeks, or 490 days, each day representing a year, making 490 years, is divided into three periods of unequal lengths, but not without a definite purpose. The first and longest period of sixty-two weeks, or 434 days, or 434 years, extends from the going forth of the commandment by Cyrus to restore and build Jerusalem and the Temple, to the cutting off of Messiah on the cross. The second period of seven weeks, or forty-nine years, extends from the cross of Christ, to the destruction again of Jerusalem and the Temple, and the dispersion of Judah again to the four winds of heaven. The last week of the seventy, seven years, is detached from the rest and fits in down in the latter days, of which we shall have occasion to speak more fully in another place. 483 years is the line drawn upon Daniel's people the Jews, and the holy city Jerusalem, which extends from the decree of Cyrus to restore the Jews from Babylon to their own land again, and to rebuild the Temple and the city, down to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple again, and the dispersion of the Jewish nation by the hand of the Romans.

Many have been the efforts of commentators and interpreters of prophecy to reconcile the prophecy of the seventy weeks of Daniel with the Gentile computation of times, as set forth by ancient historians, but no Gentile periods can possibly stand against prophetic numbers, as they are too uncertain and faulty. The prophets and scribes of Israel threw them out, and would not even mention them. For instance, when Rehum the Chancellor, and Shimshai the Scribe, and their companions wrote to Artaxerxes, and when Tatnai the Governor, and Shethar-boznai, and their companions wrote to Darius the king, desiring instructions to stop the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and decrees and letter came back from the kings of Babylon, bearing Babylonish dates, the Jewish scribes extinguished those dates, in recording these decrees, and substituted the phrase, “And at such a time." Now we should show no more respect to ancient Gentile times than they did; and it is needless for timid commentators to attempt to try to find a point, or decree, to count the seventy weeks from, other than the decree that King Cyrus issued, as the point from which the seventy weeks are to be counted, in order to reconcile prophetic time with Gentile time; for the Lord said by the hand of Isaiah, of Cyrus, long before he raised him up as an instrument to fulfil his will, "He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built, and to the temple, Thy foundations shall be laid." This settles the matter beyond doubt or controversy, that the decree of Cyrus dates the beginning of the seventy weeks of Daniel.