How much anger and prides; how much sloth and idleness; how much softness and effeminacy; how much luxury and self-indulgence; how much covetousness and ambition; how much thirst of praise; how much love of the world; how much fear of man is to be found!

"Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? Shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?" Yea, we know not how soon He may say to the sword, "Sword, go through this land!" He hath given us long space to repent. He warns and awakens us by thunder. His judgments are abroad in the earth; and we have all reason to expect the heaviest of all, even He "Should come quickly, and remove our candlestick out of its place, except we repent and do the first works;" unless we return to the principles of the Reformation, the truth and simplicity of the Gospel. Perhaps we are now resisting the last efforts of Divine grace to save us.

"0, God, ’in the midst of wrath, remember mercy!’ Be glorified in our reformation, not in our destruction! Let us bear the rod and Him that appointed it!" Now that Thy ‘Judgments are abroad in the earth,’ let the inhabitants of the world ‘learn righteousness!’"

My brethren, it is high time for us to awake out of sleep before the "great trumpet of the Lord be blown," and our land becomes a field of blood!

"Turn Thou us, 0 good Lord, and let Thine anger cease from us. O, Lord, look down from Heaven, behold and visit this vine; and cause us to know the ‘time of our visitation.’ ’Help us, 0 God of our Salvation, for the glory of Thy name! 0 deliver us, and be merciful to our sins for Thy name’s sake! And so we will not go back from Thee. O let us live, and we shall call upon Thy name. Turn us again, 0 Lord God of Hosts! Show the light of Thy countenance, and we shall be whole.’"--John Wesley.

From his sermon, "Awake, Thou that Sleepest!"

THESE TWO MEN--Pray for Michael Peoples and his wife, and his brother Gary Peoples.

These two men have answered the call of God to preach the Word. These men will be attending

Bob Jones University this September and will be subject to all that Hell can manufacture against them. In these days of

covetousness, compromise and doctrinal error, they especially need your prayers to stand alone and faithful. "Men, ’Put on the whole armor of God,’ and do all to stand."

PAST0R KEN HUTCHESON, the minister at the Providence Baptist Church here in this city, has been to us an angel of mercy. Our last edition of THE ANGELUS was partially printed on

his printing press when the motor on our machine turned over and died! THEN, after I erroneously reinstalled the "re-built motor which is like brand new," Brother Hutcheson came to install the motor properly, aid in the electric wiring, and make some other minor adjustments. Thank you for your kindness. You have saved us much expense.

Text: "Seek ye out of the book of the Lord and read...." --Isaiah 34:16.

It was Matthew Henry who once said, "Divine Revelation is necessary to True Religion." There are three ways in which God may reveal His will to man: first Direct Revelation, second, Special Revelation, and third, Written Revelation.

Direct Revelation was used in earliest times when He talked with Adam as they walked in the cool of the Garden. He also talked directly to Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph and others; and for centuries nothing was written down of God’s will to man. In these times, God talked with man "as a man speaketh to his friend."

Special Revelation involves such things as dreams, visions and such like and were used chiefly during those times before the Written Revelation was completed. Peter, James and John saw the Lord transfigured before their very eyes. Here on the mount, they saw the Lord Jesus glow with the glory that belongs to God alone. Yet, when relating this incident in his Second Epistle, (1:19), Peter declares, "We have also a more sure word of prophecy..."

With the closing of the canon of Scripture, Written Revelation has all but abolished Direct and Special Revelations. Very rarely are these used today and always must be laid beside our "measuring rod"...the canon of Scripture. Direct Revelation, so rare today, has

been used in time of extreme danger. And perhaps as equally rare, Special Revelation may be used today. But again, it is extremely important to remember that no revelation will conflict with the Written Revelation of Scripture unless it be of the Devil. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness...."--II Timothy 3:16.

Then in the course of about 1600 years, God employed approximately 40 different men to commit the counsel of God to writing.

Know this first: "that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."

--II Peter 1:20, 21. These amanuenses merely wrote what God Himself authored.

About 400 years before the birth of Christ, the Old Testament was completed. It was written in Hebrew except in possibly two cases where Aramaic, the language Christ spoke, was employed.

Now it was true the people of God could "Seek out the Book of the Lord and read" for the Old Testament Scriptures were finally complete and in the hands of the common people.

But suddenly, the horizon blackens, and the candle of Scripture we prize so highly is soon seen to flicker! The Written Revelation of God appears to be threatened with extinction! What must happen to True Religion if Divine Revelation embodied in these Scriptures should fall? Will society again be plunged into those times when "every man did that which was right in his own eyes?" And what is this apparent threat? Read it in your next edition of THE ANGELUS.