a great relief to the people. But we stop. No pen can describe that hour. It must be seen before it can be pictured. In the midst of their pains and suffering, the people of God will see all this and welcome it as the sign of His coming. Verse 27: "And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud, with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh."

"When these things begin to come to pass," what then? Then the day of rejoicing, that sin is to reign no longer; that the devil's power and influence over men are to be curtailed, and that Christ our Best Friend is to come. We are then to "look up, and lift up our heads, for our redemption draweth nigh." As the Savior gave His disciples the destruction of Jerusalem as a type of the end of this dispensation; and as He warned them so that they knew when the "abomination of desolation" was set up in the land, and fled to Pella, so that not one Christian is supposed to have perished in the overthrow of that city; may we not expect that in that day all God's true people will have some place prepared as a retreat to save them from the terrors of that great tribulation? It is evidently a day of glad tidings to the people of God. It will be no time for our heads to be bowed down, but to be lifted up.

Query: Is not the great tribulation the sign of the coming of our Lord?

LECTURE VII

THE TWO WITNESSES IN PROPHECY

A BIBLE STUDY OF REVELATION II:1-13.

Difficulty of interpretation. Commentators in a muddle. (1) The ministry and co-laborers. (2) The Word of God. The two olive trees. The power of these witnesses to hurt their enemies and to shut heaven. The beast shall wage war on the witnesses. Witnesses slain. Dead in the streets 3 days. Their enemies rejoice. The seventh angel sounded. The last woe.

It is very remarkable how all the prophecies of the Bible harmonize one with the other. Detached, they seem to be unintelligible. But taken together, one explains the other. The passage which refers to the two witnesses is one that is very hard to interpret when considered by itself. But when we study it in connection with others we can see more clearly what are its bearings on the whole subject. It is a part of God's revelation giving information of great weight to the church in times when the witnesses prophesied in sackcloth. Still further, it throws a flood of light on many things which will occur in the "last days."

It is highly important to us that we should understand its meaning, and know its proper interpretation, for when the "one thousand two hundred and three score days" are expired, then shall all those remarkable things occur, which shall immediately precede the end of this dispensation. After these witnesses are received up into heaven the seventh angel will sound his trumpet, which is to finish the mystery of God with regard to the earth.

The prophecy with reference to the two witnesses has mystified the minds of theologians more, probably, than any other in the whole Bible. There have been more theories started with regard to them than any other within my knowledge. Nearly every writer has something different from all the rest.

All manner of persons and things have been brought forward and made to do duty in this field. Some have thought that the two witnesses were eminent bishops in pairs, who flourished in the past. Others have interpreted them to be sects of people who protested against the errors of Rome, as the Waldenses and Albigenses. Others hold that John the Baptist and our Lord Jesus Christ are the two witnesses. Others that they were John Huss and Jerome of Prague; others Luther and Calvin, etc., etc. Some claim that they are the New and Old Testaments; others the Jewish and Gentile churches in the world. In truth never was there a passage of Scripture bandied back and forth to do service along all lines as this one. The difficulty has been, they have not suffered one portion of Scripture to explain another. They have drawn upon their own imagination instead of going directly to the law and the testimony. The result has been, all these have fallen far short of the truth. The question meets us at once, what are these witnesses? Let us examine the Bible and see what is said about witIt is the source whence we must get our religious knowledge. Can we recall any passages that will give us the key to solve this difficulty? When the Son of God had given His disciples His last charge,

nesses.

He said unto them, Luke 24:48: "And ye are witnesses of these things." This is directly to our purpose. Language could not be more explicit than this. Not only so, but these are the words of Christ Himself. We need nothing stronger. Paul also, in 1 Corinthians 15:14, 15, says: "If Christ be not risen, then we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ." And Peter says, Acts 10:39: "And we are witnesses of all things which He did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem."

Acts 1:8, Jesus says: "And ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." Acts 3:15,in speaking of Christ, Peter says: "Whom God hath raised from the dead: whereof we are witnesses;" and 5:32 we have, "And we are His witnesses of these things." Other passages can be adduced, but this is sufficient on this point. Here are the Savior, Paul and Peter, declaring the same thing. Therefore we conclude that the Christian ministry with co-laborers in the Word, the body of His faithful preachers, who declare the truth to the people, form one of the witnesses of Christ.

We must adopt the same method to find out what constitutes the other witness. We must appeal to the Scriptures, and not to our imagination; for one "Thus saith the Lord" is worth more than the views of a thousand learned men. To get at this point let us begin at the beginning. When God gave the law to His people He said, Ex. 25:16: “And thou shalt put

into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee." The word "testimony" means a "witness, evidence, proof of some fact." Now in Psalms 19:7-11 the Word of God is described in these words: "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul, the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple, etc. And I may affirm that throughout the whole Bible, God's word is spoken of as a testimony. It bears witness of the truth. Paul says, 1 Corinthians 2:1: "I came declaring unto you the testimony of God." Here the word plainly means the Holy Scriptures. To Timothy Paul says, 2 Tim. 1:8: "Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord." This means the gospel of Christ. The Psalmist uses similar language in speaking of God's truth. "For I have kept Thy testimonies." "Thy testimonies are my delight." "I love Thy testimonies." And the Savior Himself is not silent on this point. In John 5:39 He says: "Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me." This is quite explicit and to the point. I will conclude with one more quotation from our Lord. In Matthew 24:14 He says: "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations." From all these proofs, we conclude that the "Word of God" is the second of these witnesses. It is directed to all men, to bear witness unto them of God's faithfulness to save, and of His great purposes. Therefore we think this solves the whole difficulty. The two witnesses, "My two witnesses," are all co