Select Demonstrations: Demonstration I: Of Faith
8And again Daniel also spoke concerning this stone which is Christ. For he said:— The stone was cut out from the mountain, not by hands, and it smote the image, and the whole earth was filled with it. This he showed beforehand with regard to Christ that the whole earth shall be filled with Him. For lo! by the faith of Christ are all the ends of the earth filled, as David said:— The sound of the Gospel of Christ has gone forth into all the earth. And again when He sent forth His apostles He spake thus to them:— Go forth, make disciples of all nations and they will believe on Me. And again the Prophet Zechariah also prophesied about that stone which is Christ. For he said:— I saw a chief stone of equality and of love. And why did he say “ chief ”? Surely because from the beginning He was with His Father. And again that he spoke of love, it was because when He came into the world, He said thus to His disciples:— This is My commandment, that ye love one another. And again He said:— I have called you My friends (lovers). And the blessed Apostle said thus:— God loved as in the love of His Son. Of a truth Christ loved us and gave Himself for us.
9And definitely did He show concerning this stone:— Lo! on this stone will I open seven eyes. And what then are the seven eyes that were opened on the stone? Clearly the Spirit of God that abode on Christ with seven operations, as Isaiah the Prophet said:— The Spirit of God shall rest and dwell upon Him, (a spirit) of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and of courage, of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. These were the seven eyes that were opened upon the Stone, and these are the seven eyes of the Lord which look upon all the earth.
10And also with reference to Christ was this (which follows) said. For he said that He was given as a light to all the Gentiles as the Prophet Isaiah said:— I have given Thee as a light to all the Gentiles, that Thou shouldest be My redemption to the ends of the earth. And furthermore David also said;— Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my paths. And also the word and discourse of the Lord is Christ, as is written in the beginning of the Gospel of our Saviour:— In the beginning was the Word. And with regard to the light there again he bore witness:— The light was shining in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. What then is this:— The light was shining in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not? Clearly Christ, Whose light shone in the midst of the people of the house of Israel, and the people of the house of Israel did not comprehend the light of Christ, in that they did not believe on Him, as it is written:— He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.
And also our Lord Jesus called them darkness, for He said to His disciples;— Whatsoever I say unto you in the darkness, that speak ye in the light, namely, let your light shine among the Gentiles; because they received the light of Christ, Who is the Light of the Gentiles. And He said again to His Apostles:— Ye are the light of the world. And again He said unto them;— Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. And again He showed with regard to Himself that He is the light, for He said to His disciples:— Walk while the light is with you, ere the darkness overtake you. And again He said to them:— Believe on the light that ye may be children of light. And again He said:— I am the light of the world. And again He said:— No man lighteth a lamp and putteth it under a bushel or under a bed, or putteth it in a hidden place, but putteth it upon the lamp-stand that every one may see the light of the lamp. And the shining lamp is Christ, as David said;— Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my paths.
11And furthermore the Prophet Hosea also said:— Light you a lamp and seek ye the Lord. And our Lord Jesus Christ said:— What woman is there who has ten drachmas and shall lose one of them, and will not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek her drachma that she lost? What then does this woman signify? Clearly the congregation of the house of Israel, to which the ten commandments were given. They lost the first commandment—that in which He warned them saying:— I am the Lord your God, Who brought you up from the land of Egypt. And when they had lost this first commandment, also the nine which are after it they could not keep, because on the first depend the nine. For it was an impossibility that while worshipping Baal, they should keep the nine commandments. For they lost the first commandment, like that woman who lost one drachma from the ten. So the Prophet cried unto them:— Light you a lamp and seek ye the Lord. And furthermore the Prophet Isaiah also said:— Seek ye the Lord and when ye shall have found Him, call upon Him; and when He is near let the sinner abandon his way and the wicked man his thought. For that lamp shone and they did not by it seek the Lord their God. And its light shone in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it. And the lamp was set up on the lamp-stand and those who were in the house did not see its light. And what then means this, that the lamp was set up on the lamp-stand? Clearly His being raised up upon the cross. And by this all the house was made dark over them. For when they crucified Him, the light was darkened from them, and shone amongst the Gentiles, because that from the time of the sixth hour (of the day) on which they crucified Him even unto the ninth hour there was darkness in all the land of Israel. And the sun set in midday and the land was darkened in the shining daytime, as is written in Zechariah the Prophet:— It shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, I will cause the sun to set in midday, and will make dark the land in the shining daytime.
12Now I must proceed to my former subject of faith, that on it are reared up all the good works of the building. And again, in what I said with regard to the building, it was in no strange fashion that I spoke, but the blessed Apostle wrote in the first Epistle to the Corinthians, saying;— I as a wise master-builder have laid the foundation, but every one buildeth on it. One builds silver and gold and goodly stones; another builds reed and straw and stubble. In the last day that building shall be tried by fire; for the gold and silver and goodly stones shall be preserved in the midst of the fire, because they are a firm building. But as for the straw and reed and stubble, the fire shall have power upon them and they shall be burned. And what is the gold and silver and goodly stones by which the building is raised up? Clearly the good deeds of faith, which shall be preserved in the midst of the fire; because Christ dwells in that secure building, and He is its preserver from the fire. And let us consider and understand (this) from the example that God has given us also in the former dispensation, because the promises of that dispensation will abide sure for us. Let us then understand from (the case of) those three righteous men who were cast into the midst of the fire and were not burned, namely, Hananiah, Azariah and Misael, over whom the fire had no power, because they built a secure building and rejected the commandment of Nebuchadnezzar the king and did not worship the image that he made. And as for those who transgressed the commandment of God, the fire at once prevailed over them and burned them, and they were burned without mercy. For the Sodomites were burned like straw and reed and stubble. Furthermore, Nadab and Abihu were burned, who transgressed the commandment of God. Again, two hundred and fifty men were burned, who were offering incense. Again, two princes and a hundred who were with them were burned, because they approached the mountain on which Elijah was sitting, who ascended in a chariot of fire to heaven. The calumniators also were burned because they dug a pit for righteous men. Accordingly, beloved, the righteous shall be tried by the fire, like gold and silver and goodly stones, and the wicked shall be burned in the fire like straw and reed and stubble, and the fire shall have power upon them and they shall be burned;
even as the Prophet Isaiah said:— By fire shall the Lord judge and by it shall He try all flesh. And again he said:— Ye shall go out and see the carcases of the men who offended against Me, whose worm shall not die, nor shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an astonishment to all flesh.