Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 96:383 (Jul 1939)
Article: The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ for the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse
Author: John Henry Bennetch

BSac 96:383 (Jul 39) p. 344

The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ for the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse

John Henry Bennetch

God has revealed himself as a God of grace. In successive ages he has been pleased to manifest grace in differing degrees. The Bible actually contrasts the two dispensations of Israel and the Church when grace becomes the consideration: “The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”1 In the discussion to follow, the relationship of marvelous grace that united the Head of the Church with the seven assemblies of the Apocalypse will be set forth.

A rigid definition of grace is hardly possible, so varied are the uses of the term in Scripture. When it is employed to reveal the goodness of God in the salvation of sinners, however, a twofold conception always dominates. Not only does it disclose the boundless kindness of God toward man whereby all that a Christian has or is, is centered exclusively in God and his Son, but also it reaches far beyond the sphere of human affairs, and indicates the supreme motive which actuated God in the creation, preservation and consummation of the universe.

No one who comes to the Apocalypse fresh from the study of any other portion of the New Testament can fail to recognize the distinctive atmosphere of the book. The great objects of the faith are just the same and the doctrines are the same, but they are seen in new lights. Not alone in the region of eschatology does the work take its own course. What views it presents of the person of Christ, the

BSac 96:383 (Jul 39) p. 345

Holy Spirit, redemption, and the Church, seem quite unique. Even the doctrine of God has no exact parallel in the rest of the New Testament. The Christ of the Apocalypse, to be sure, is the Christ of the Gospel record. But a change has passed over him which is beyond expression. All the weakness and limitation of his humanity has disappeared. Although still in appearance like a son of man, he is glorified. Consequently he is all in all to the members of the Church. His ascension has not separated him from the pilgrim band on earth. He is in their midst, regulating all the affairs of the Church; guarding, giving victory, threatening, punishing, encouraging, promising to return, never failing in love. Nowhere else in Scripture are the personal activities of Christ as a very present help to his Church so magnificently disclosed.

Chapters two and three of the Apocalypse contain seven distinct messages, each of them addressed to a church in the province of Asia. The present study will be confined to an investigation of these chapters. In them the glorified head of the Church sets forth the distinctive merits and f...