THE COVENANT WITH DAVID

"Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Messiah to sit on his throne; he saw this before speaking of the resurrection of the Messiah." [Acts 2:30, 31]

The great plan of redemption has been gradually unfolded to man. Commencing in Genesis with a few comprehensive sentences it is progressively expanded, as to details, until it shines forth in the apostolic writings as the fully revealed "Gospel of the kingdomof God." Thus, the covenant with David gives a deeper insight into many things that had been mentioned before, especially into that clause of the Abrahamic covenant that speaks of the Messiah as a great conqueror that "shall possess the gate of his enemies." Of the prominence and importance of this covenant we have sufficient proof in the fact that it is made a part of the gospel as proclaimed by Peter in his great Pentecostal sermon.

I once met a person who had thought nothing was said of the KINGDOM in that sermon but confessed being mistaken after attention was called to what it says of David's throne. "The gospel of the kingdom" which Peter was commanded to preach is composed of those truths which the Bible reveals concerning that kingdom. How then could Peter or anyone else preach the gospel of the kingdom with those truths left out?” That would be as impossible as to possess the whole of any object without possessing the ingredients or parts of which it is composed; or to have a landscape with the land left out.

We have here but a short memorandum of the principal heads of Peter's discourse, for we are told that he used "many other words” which are not recorded. [Acts 2:40] The covenant with David however, being too important a point to be left out, was recorded as a portion of Scripture which

"is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." [2 Timothy 3:16]

The few but solemn words here recorded about that covenant open the door to all that the Bible says concerning the kingdom of God. Surely the seating of the Messiah on David's throne must be a matter of profound importance to us all, inasmuch as Yehovah - God has "sworn with an oath " that it shall be done. To find that oath turn to:

2 Samuel 7:12-16, as the marginal reference in my Bible invites me to do. There we find the solemn covenant in these words,

"When your days be fulfilled, and you shalt sleep with your fathers, I will set up your Seed after you which shall proceed out of your bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men: but my mercy shall not depart away from him as I took it away from Saul whom I put away before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever BEFORE YOU: your throne shall be established FOREVER."

Solomon means peaceable, but that prince in all his glory was but a faint type of the true Prince of peace to whom this covenant points. David in his "last words" referred to this covenant and gave a description of the mighty Ruler to whom it points; a ruler who had not then appeared in his family; for none but the Messiah can answer to these descriptions is he that rules over men must be just - the Messiah is 'the Just One,' [Acts 3:14], ruling in the fear of God - the Messiah is 'of quick understanding in the fear of Yehovah,” [Isaiah 11:3]. And he shall be as the light of the morning when the sun rises - the Messiah is 'the true light? 'the light of the world 'the sun of righteousness' [John 1:9; 8:12, 13; Malachi 4:2] even as a morning without clouds. Although my house be not so with God, yet He has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure: for this is all my SALVATION and all my desire." [2 Samuel 23:5] Thus he comforted himself "waiting for the kingdom of God." In another place he speaks of the covenant in almost the very words of Peter,

"Yehovah has sworn in truth unto David; He will not turn from it; of the fruit of your body will I set upon your throne." [Psalm 132:11]

Words from this covenant are applied to the Messiah in, Hebrews 1:5, as being too high even for angels; of course, then they are too high to be restricted to Solomon. As Matthew Henry says, "The establishing of his house, and his throne and his kingdom forever, and again and a third time forever, can be applied to no other than the Messiah and his kingdom." It does not say, " He will commit," but "If he commits iniquity," &c. Adam Clarke translates the clause, "Even in suffering for iniquity I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes due to the children of Adam;" and refers to Isaiah 53:4, 5. The "house" that He builds will be

"a spiritual house" [1 Peter 2:5],

infinitely superior to the temple made with hands, that Solomon built. House, both in ancient and modern usage frequently means a family, as,

"come you and all your house into the ark." [Genesis 7:1]

"We are His house if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end." Hebrews 3: 6]

The materials are now being selected and polished into shape by the power of the gospel of the kingdom of God, acting on the minds and hearts and lives of those who believe it. The building is not yet completed, for the Scripture does not say, "It has grown unto a holy temple," but the process is still going on as indicated by the present tense progressive; "GROWS UNTO A HOLY TEMPLE." [Ephesians 2:21; 4:16] It will not be completed until the Messiah comes. And indeed, prophecy indicates that he will then even cause a literal temple to be built for the millennial age. Ezekiel XL to XLIII.

That the Messiah is to possess and reign on the throne of David is a truth affirmed in Scripture too plainly to admit of any doubt. The Pentecostal sermon alone proves this; but in addition to that are such testimonies as the following:

"I have made a covenant with my chosen; I have sworn unto David, my servant, your seed will I establish forever, and build up your throne to all generations. . .. Once have I sworn by my holiness, that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me." [Psalm 89:3, 4, 34-36]

"Of this man's (David's) seed has God, according to His promise, raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus." [Acts 13:23]

"Yehovah God shall give unto him the throne of his father David." [Luke 1:32, 33]

"Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of Yehovah of Hosts will perform this." [Isaiah 9:7]

Now because David has

"not ascended into the heavens" [Acts 2:34],

we know that he has never reigned there; but it is an historical truth that he has reigned "in Jerusalem" and a prophetical truth that the Messiah will hereafter reign "in Jerusalem." You admit the historical part to mean the literal Jerusalem on earth; why not admit the prophetical part to mean the same? [1 Chronicles 24:27; Isaiah 24:23]

If the Czar of Russia were to say to the young Napoleon, "I will give unto you the throne of you father, Napoleon III, but come you up to St. Petersburg and sojourn in my palace until the time comes for the fulfillment of the promise"; people would clearly understand him as meaning that, some of these days, the young Napoleon would be PERSONALLY enthroned in Paris, and reign over the French nation and all its colonies. And does not the divine promise that the Messiah shall be seated on "the throne of his father David" as clearly imply that he must return and be personally enthroned in Jerusalem and reign over the Jewish nation, and over all nations and lands throughout the world? Thousands of people would believe the Czar, although they would have no stronger reason than the word of a fallible man for their belief. Now,

"If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater." [1 John 5:9]

The miraculous and literal birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem, following the prediction by Gabriel of his reign on David's throne, is a sufficient pledge of his literal and miraculous reign in Jerusalem. It is as easy for Yehovah to give a perfectly literal fulfillment to the one as to the other prophecy. When Herod in perplexity enquired of the chief priests and scribes where the Messiah should he born, they gave him a faithful answer:

'In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet' [Matthew 2:5]

Listen to a few more testimonies concerning Zion and Jerusalem.

"Out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Yehovah from Jerusalem." [Isaiah 2:3, 4]

"At that time, they shall call Jerusalem the THRONE of Yehovah; and ALL the nations shall be gathered unto it." [Jeremiah 3:17]

This does not refer to the Mosaic dispensation, for then only the Jewish nation was required to gather there for worship. Nor to the present dispensation, for not even christians are required to go thither now. It must therefore refer to the future or MILLENIAL dispensation, after the second Advent.

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4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5 And you shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, you shall flee, like as you fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and Yehovah my God shall come, and all the saints with you.

16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. 17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. [Zechariah 24:4, 5, 16, 17]

"And the name of the city from that day shall be YEHOVAH IS THERE." [Ezekiel 48:35]

"So shall you know that I am Yehovah your God dwelling in Zion my holy mountain; then shall Jerusalem be holy, there shall no strangers pass trough her anymore." [Joel 3:17]

The present overturned condition of the throne of David and city of Jerusalem was in literal fulfillment of prophecy, as also their future restoration will be. When Zedekiah, a "profane and wicked prince," reigned on that throne in Jerusalem Yehovah sent this word to him,

"I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him." [Ezekiel 21:27]

Accordingly, soon after that, the throne of David was overturned, about four hundred and twenty-eight years after Solomon began to reign. And so, the Scripture says,

"You have made his glory to cease and cast his throne down to the ground." [Psalm 89:44]

And as to the city and its people, the Saviour predicted before he suffered,

"They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles - strangers passing through her. [Joel 3:17]

“…until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." [Luke 21:24]

But it will not remain trodden down, for there shall be a "New Jerusalem …and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it" as truly as the throne of David was in the old Jerusalem. The heathen who saw the destruction of the old Jerusalem by the Romans perhaps thought they saw the last of that city, as when they burned the martyrs, they thought they saw the last of them. And no doubt many of its captive citizens, led away and sold in foreign lands, "wept when they remembered Zion." She had rejected her Lord - Yehovah, and the glory had departed. And haughty, corrupt Rome, seated on seven hills and insulting the skies with smoke from idol altars, appeared to have nearly the whole world under her sway. But it is Jerusalem not Rome, Nineveh, Washington, or London, that Yehovah has "graven on the palms of His hands." [Isaiah 49:16]

And John who had walked in the streets of the old city, and lived to know of her destruction, was comforted by a prophetic and rapturous view of the new Jerusalem, having the glory of God, and into which no Judas, nor Pilate, nor Herod, nor Caiaphas can enter, but only

"they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." [Revelation 21:2, 11, 27; 22]

Two great prophetic periods are limited by the word "until" and will end together. They are,

1st, The personal absence of the Messiah in heaven " UNTIL the times of restitution" or restoration.

2nd, The down-treading of Jerusalem "UNTIL the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." [Acts 15:16]

They will end when the Lord Jesus shall personally

"return and build again the tabernacle of David that is fallen down." "When Yehovah shall build up Zion, He shall appear in His glory." [Psalm 102:16]

The Messiah Jesus is now seated at the right hand of his Father, but while there speaks of another; his own; on which he will take his seat when he returns to the earth. We learn this from his two sayings,

"To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me on my throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father on His throne." [Revelation 3:21]

And

"When the son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory," or "his throne of glory," as the American Bible Union renders it; or "his glorious throne," - Campbell's edition. The fact that he comes to take his seat on it proves that his throne will be sure mercies on earth; for if it were in heaven his coming here would be leaving it instead of coming to it.

Those words of the covenant, "Your kingdom shall be established forever before you" are explained by the similar promise that

"Yehovah of hosts shall reign in mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously." [Isaiah 23:24]

In the Greek it is the same word, enopion, in both places, and means "in the presence of," it being so rendered in many places, as for instance,

"I am Gabriel that stand (enopion) in the presence of God." [Luke 1:19]

"Many other signs truly did Jesus (enopion) in the presence of his disciples." [John 20:30]

Hence the promise to David meant the privilege of being "ever with the Lord" in His "everlasting kingdom." [2 Peter 1:11]

And this justifies David's remarkable saying that the covenant was

"all of his salvation and all of his desire." [2 Samuel 23:5]

The eternal blessings involved in that promise are "the sure mercies of David." But these mercies are not for David exclusively, for the promise to all believers is

"I will give to you the sure mercies of David." [Acts 13:34]

The pronoun "you" (Greek, humin) is plural here, as usual in King James' version the singular being thee or thou, and means that all believers are joint-heirs with the Messiah of the royalty promised in this covenant, as they are of the inheritance promised in the Abrahamic covenant. The following are some of the testimonies concerning the future royal honours of the redeemed:

"To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne." [Revelation 3:21],

"If we suffer, we shall also reign with him." [2 Timothy 2:12]

"Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, come you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom." [Matthew 25:34]

"A King shall reign in righteousness and princes shall rule in judgment." [Isaiah 32]

"It is your Father's good pleasure to give to you the kingdom." [Luke 12:32]

"The kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High." [Daniel 7:27]

"They lived and reigned with the Messiah a thousand years." [Revelation 20:4]

"You were slain, and have redeemed to God by your blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and have made us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth." [Revelation 5:10]

It is not we did or do reign, but “we shall reign"; it is future. That future relationship which the Messiah will sustain to the called-out Assembly of God is represented under the beautiful similitude of a royal bridegroom and his bride, endowed by him with queenly honours, and seated with him on his throne,' [Psalm 14; Matthew 25:10; Revelation 29:7; 21:2, 9.]

But the Lord Jesus did not obtain the throne of David and reign in Jerusalem at his first coming. The leading persons then usurping authority in that city rejected him; as indicated by such expressions as, "We will not have this man to reign over us.

. .. This is the heir, come let us kill him. . .. We have no king but Caesar." [Matthew 21:38; Luke 29:14; John 29:15]

And so, after they had crucified him, he arose from among the dead and ascended into heaven, without obtaining possession either of the covenanted land, or of the covenanted throne . But he holds the title deeds to both, and his claims are just as good and fresh today as they ever were. The enmity and wrath of man cannot possibly defeat the immutable decrees of Him who makes the wrath of man praise Him, and restrains the remainder of wrath. The called-out Assembly of God is therefore not to lose faith in the promises. Her Lord has left her with the blessed and comforting assurance of his literal and personal return

"this same Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner" [Acts 1:11]

"The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God; and the dead in the Messiah shall rise." [1 Thessalonians 4:16]

We see then that he has never relinquished his claims but will certainly enforce them all at his return; for he himself has assured us that “when the son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory." [Matthew 25:31]

Then, with the land of Canaan as a nucleus and Jerusalem as a capital, His dominion shall by miraculous judgments break in pieces all other kingdoms and extend

"from sea even to sea; and from the river to the ends of the earth." [Daniel 2:35, 44; Zechariah 9:10]

For the king then seated on the "holy hill of Zion" shall have, not Canaan only, but

"the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession." [Psalm 2:6, 8]

The two "covenants of promise"; one with Abraham and the other with David; centre in the Messiah, the great heir. I have now explained those covenants to you and have shown that all disciples of the Lord Jesus have a direct and personal interest in both. But what was their condition before obtaining that interest? Let Paul answer,

"At that time, you were without the Messiah, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." [Ephesians 2:12]

There are two ways of being a stranger from a will or covenant:

1st, As to information concerning it. Such a person knows neither what benefits are offered in it, nor the terms on which they are offered. Persons of accountability (i.e., ability to give account) who are in this condition regarding the

"covenants of promise" are in danger of being "destroyed for lack of knowledge;" being "alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them." [Hosea 4:6; Ephesians 5:18.

But,

2nd, a man may be well acquainted with the reading of a will or covenant without having one particle of personal interest or share in it, on account of not having complied with its terms. His name not being in the document, he is, as far as personal interest is concerned, still an alien and stranger to it; and has no right to expect any benefit from it. And so, regarding the covenants of promise; you may understand and believe them and yet remain a stranger from them simply by refusing to comply with the specified terms or conditions on which one is made an heir. In other words, you may believe the glorious gospel of the kingdom; of which those covenants form the main outlines; and yet if you refuse to die to self and walk in obedience to the will of God and be baptized for the remission of sins, and to have your name enrolled in the Lamb's book of life. You will remain an alien and a stranger from the covenants, "having no hope."

You must admit the first and second propositions of the following plain syllogism, and admitting them to be true, you must admit the third as a necessary consequence

1: You cannot be saved if you refuse to believe that gospel which the Messiah and his apostles preached. 2: They preached the gospel of the kingdom. 3: Therefore, you cannot be saved if you refuse to believe the gospel of the kingdom and preach it.

Must we then believe that so many benevolent people and so many eloquent preachers will have to believe the gospel of the kingdom and be baptized for the remission of sins before they can be saved! Why not? We ought to be perfectly willing to believe anything that God's word says to us to do. I suppose that none of those preachers are more "eloquent," or more "mighty in the Scriptures," or more "fervent in the spirit," or more "diligently" devoted to their work than Apollos: and yet even he needed to have "expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly," by two humble believers of the gospel of the kingdom. [Acts 18:24, 26] I suppose that none of those benevolent people excel Cornelius. He was

"A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave many alms to the people, and prayed to God always. A just man, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews." And yet, notwithstanding all these excellencies, he "was warned from God," yes, "warned" to send for a preacher of the gospel of the kingdom, and to hear from him words whereby he might "be saved," and after hearing the gospel and upon receiving the holy spirit he was baptized. [Acts 10”1, 2, 22, 48; 11:14]

To the question, "What shall we do?" Peter replied,

"Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus the Messiah for the remission of sins." [Acts 2:38]

And here let me ask every candid person, If all the people now living on the earth, together with all who have lived since the day of Pentecost had been there in Peter's presence that day, can you suppose that he would have altered his answer in the slightest particular for the sake of mercies; or complying with their notions, partialities, or prejudices? Not in one jot or tittle would he have altered or compromised it, for it is the word which God commanded him to speak.

It is a gospel repentance; a "repentance – a complete change of direction that involves obeying God’s will unto life" which is here required. [Acts 11:18] Such a repentance does not stop with merely being sorry for sins committed: nor even with forming a resolution to forsake them; but is an actual

"ceasing to do evil and learning to do well." [Isaiah 1:16, 17]

Testimony on any subject must, of course, precede belief or faith in what is testified: that belief or faith must precede any f feeling in correspondence with the truths testified: and that feeling must precede action in conformity to it. Testimony, faith, feeling, action are therefore seen to be bound to gather by a natural and gracious necessity. And will not every Bible-student say that when a person HEARS the gospel of the kingdom, BELIEVES it, and FEELS and ACTS according to the truths which it contains and the duties which it enjoins, such a person has "become a new creation in the Messiah Jesus," and has undergone that change of heart and life which is an evidence of true conversion to doing God’s will?

And now will you walk in this pathway? Will you believe and feel and act as the gospel requires, and thus obtain an eternal inheritance in the kingdom at last? Unless you obtain that inheritance, you will not be saved. This is God's plan of saving people. Rest assured then that if saved, you will be saved in that kingdom which he will establish on earth at the second coming of the Messiah. God has proved His pardoning love in giving His only begotten son to die for you, to become a sin-offering sacrifice that you could be reconciled to his God Yehovah. No agonizing prayer and weeping is now needed to secure His mercy. The mourning and agony were endured by the holy Saviour in the lonely vale of Gethsemane, and on the bloody steep of Calvary.

“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." [Isaiah 53:4]

Have you faith in his tears, his prayers, and his intercession? if so come just as you are, with a heart filled with love to Jesus and faith in his word.

"Him that comes unto me I will in no wise cast out." [John 6:37]

When the prodigal son "came to himself" he said "I will arise and go to my father." These words came to himself; show that sin is a madness; the the sinner is out of his mind! beside himself! It seems to me that if any sinner could have one lucid interval, one sweet, calm, hour of returning reason his eyes would be opened; he would see his surroundings and would flee from sin with more mercies; or horror than from the deadliest plague or pestilence.

Let me say to all who are walking in the bright and rosy path of the morning of life, 'twill save you from a thousand snares to mind religion young.

"Remember now your Creator, in the days of thy youth." [Ecclesiastes 12]

Beware of that pernicious notion that you ought to "sow your wild oats;" it has been the destruction of thousands who have seen their error when it was too late; and so, with habits of evil fixed upon them like leopard spots that could not be changed, they have sunk down into the sinner's grave; lost, lost, lost. You may be sure that Samuel and Timothy sowed no wild oats, for the latter from a child, knew the holy scriptures; and "Samuel ministered before Yehovah, being a child, girded with a linen ephod." But the brightest and best instance of all was Jesus, who, in childhood as in later years, left an example for mankind. As early as twelve years of age he was found in the great Temple at Jerusalem saying, "Do you not understand that I must be about my Father's business?"

Parents, if you have sons and daughters who believe the gospel of the kingdom, speak to them about the importance of coming now and dedicating their young lives to God "in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten." You see their danger while they remain out of the ark of safety; does it not distress you to know that the children of your love are the children of God's wrath? Do not encourage them in worldliness under the notion that in due time they will forsake such things and be all the better for the experience. This would be doing evil that good may come: a principle positively condemned by Scripture. Would you not think a physician utterly insane who would take a patient only a little ailing, and send him off to a "Pest House" among fevers and epidemics, to contract all its contagions before administering any remedy? What if the fearful experiment be carried too far! and the patient die, instead of coming out of it all and enjoying better health than ever before! How broad and comprehensive, yet how tender and eloquent is that exhortation to Christian parents concerning their children,

"Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." [Ephesians 6:4]

It does not teach you to bring them up wrong, hoping they will soon go right; but to bring them up right, hoping they will never go wrong.

There is no excuse for any one to remain out of the ark of safety. The door of salvation is open to you, whether old or young, rich, or poor. What you must do may be told in a few words; believe the joyful tidings that the Messiah is coming soon to establish his glorious and blissful kingdom on earth, and that through the merits of his precious blood that purchased you, you may obtain endless life and happiness in that kingdom "at the resurrection of the just." This, expressed as it were in a nutshell, is "the gospel of the kingdom." Believe this gospel, this good news, then be baptized for the remission of sins, thenceforth continue "faithful unto death;" and you will surely be saved when the Redeemer comes. No "mourners' bench" in all this arrangement. That bench and the process carried on at it are contrary to the free grace of the gospel. Some have gone away from such a bench under the desponding impression that religion was not for them, and so their last condition became worse than the first. When the prodigal son said,

"I will arise and go to my father,"

did he have to fall down at the door, weeping, screaming, and getting some of the old neighbours to come and link their petitions with his, in order to get his father reconciled? No; but

"when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him, and said to his servants, bring forth the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found."

What a thrilling parable is this! full of meat for men, and milk for babes. Plain enough for a child to understand it, and yet profoundly describing the depths of God's mercy! The Messiah, the only sinless and perfect man who has every lived is the One Mediator between God and man, who has prepared the way for the sinner's return

"God was in the Messiah reconciling the world unto himself." [2 Corinthians 5:19]

No one then ought to imagine himself rejected, but all ought to gladly ACCEPT the freely offered gift of salvation, as on the day of Pentecost "they gladly received the word." Pardon is not only freely offered to but warmly urged upon even the vilest of sinners, for when Peter was preaching to those who "by wicked hands had crucified and slain the Saviour," he "testified and exhorted" with many words, saying,

"Save yourselves from this untoward generation." [Acts 2:23, 40]

The word here translated "exhort " (parakaleo) is a very strong one, and means, according to Greenfield's Lexicon, "To call upon, invite, exhort, admonish, persuade, beg, beseech, entreat, implore." It is used to describe the fervent entreaty of Jairus for his daughter and is there translated "besought." [Luke 8:41] It is a duty enjoined upon those who preach the gospel

"reprove, rebuke, exhort,” parakaleo. [2 Timothy 4:2]

And there is a sufficient cause for all this fervid exhortation; your eternal welfare depends on your accepting the offered salvation.

"How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?" [Hebrews 2:3]

Sinner, how can you find any enjoyment or have one peaceful hour so long as your name is not in the Book of Life? I wonder you are not startled from sleep at the midnight hour with those fearful words ringing in your ears:

“Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" [Revelation 20:15]

What a sweeping word is that whosoever! There are two great whosoever in the Bible; this, describing the coming doom of the wicked; and the other pointing to the only door of escape.

"God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." [John 3:16]

Will you now believe in him, so that in the resurrection you may obtain that life and all the blessings pertaining thereto?

Written in the 1800’s by Wiley Jones an elder in the called-out Assembly and edited by Bruce Lyon