We praise God that you were willing thus to be made an ambassador of Christ, and willing to devote your life to the study of God's Word, to the gathering together of the fruits of the study of others in that Word, and then to bring together the results of this rich study in the edition of the English Bible which God is now distributing throughout the world, to the eternal blessing of multitudes.

Because of this ministry into which God called you, and because of your response, we not only love the Lord, but we also love you. God has given you a place in our hearts' love that it is difficult to describe and express. A great warmth of tenderness and affection springs up in our hearts as we think of you, and as we turn the pages of the Reference Bible, and as we remember you in prayer, asking God to more than make up to you and to us the losses of this temporary separation.

While looking eagerly, with you, for the coming again of our Lord, to receive us unto Himself, that where He is, there we may be also, at the same time we rejoice that, however near or far may be our Lord's coming, your ministry in His name in the opening up of the riches of His Word will go right on, uninterrupted and increasingly as we believe, until He come. We therefore pray God's special and increasing blessing upon all the results, past, present, and future, of your personal ministry; and we count confidently upon your prayers that God bless and use the testimony of this pres

ent Conference on the Return of Our Lord to the salvation of many, and to the consecration and purifying and empowering of still more.

Beloved, we pray that in all things thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that calleth you, who will also do it. Looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, we are, 'Affectionately your friends in Him,

The Philadelphia Bible Conference on the Return of Our Lord.

The Committee, being advised of Dr. Scofield's physical condition and having in mind their obligation to the Conference as well as the teaching structure of the program, at the last moment invited Dr. John M. MacInnis, of Syracuse, N. Y., to prepare two of the addresses assigned to Dr. Scofield. At considerable inconvenience to himself Dr. MacInnis very graciously consented to

serve us.

WHAT IS PROPHECY AND WHY
STUDY IT?

BY REV. JOHN M. MACINNIS, B.D., PH.D.

Pastor of South Presbyterian Church, Syracuse, N. Y.

I wish you might bear in mind that this subject was only given to me late last week, and that I was requested to stick to my text, as the program aims to be a constructive program, presenting a constructive idea of the truth connected with the Lord's second coming. We should also remember that the work aims to be of a teaching and constructive nature rather for inspirational pur

poses.

Having this in mind, we shall approach the subject, not so much from the point of view familiar to most of us who hold the premillennarian view of the coming of the Lord as from the point of view of the difficulties which present themselves to candid minds who are not yet able to see their way to accept this truth.

Jesus Christ is the greatest-incomparably the greatest of the prophets, and the supreme and final authority in all things pertaining to prophecy. The nearer we get to Him in our definition of prophecy, the richer, fuller, and more

comprehensive will our definition be. While our Lord was on earth, few men got as close to Him as Peter. He was one of the three who formed the inner circle. We know that they often talked about the prophets and prophecies. It is most reasonable to assume that Peter asked our Lord many questions regarding the prophecies of the Old Testament and how they came. It is reasonable to assume that Peter's definition of prophecy was influenced by these conversations with our Lord. He says that "men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit," or, literally, "being carried along by the Holy Spirit." This definition has in it three things worthy of our attention.

First: He says, "Men spake from God." These men were real men, with real relationships, ambitions, aspirations, and affections. They were men with real interests in the things with which they came in contact: men, for example, like Isaiah, who was one of the greatest of the Old Testament prophets. He was a husband, a father, a citizen, and a true patriot. He was a man of his own day, a citizen of the Jewish nation, loving it and deeply interested in the things that concerned it. He was in every way a true, strong, robust, clearheaded, enthusiastic patriot, and a warm friend of the king who played the greatest part in the great crisis in which Isaiah prophesied to the nation. It was that kind of a man that God laid hold on when He wanted to speak to the people. It is important in our study of prophecy to remember this fact. We must also remember

that these men, when they spoke from God, spoke primarily concerning the problems with which they were face to face at that time, and spoke in the language and forms of speech that the people could understand. It is important that we should emphasize this particular fact, because it is generally stated that those who accept the premillennarian point of view forget the human element in the prophecies of the Bible. If we do, it is very unfortunate, because it is only as we understand the circumstances under which these messages were given that we can fully appreciate the permanent value and universal message which they contain.

In the second place, Peter tells us that these real men, speaking to a real situation and facing real and immediate problems, spake "from God.' The idea is that they spake not only from God but for God. They did not speculate about God and God's universe primarily, but they spoke a message for God to the people. There is a fundamental difference between speaking from God and for God, and speculating about God and His universe. The one is giving men God's truth, the other is expressing one's opinion about God. That is the difference between the ordinary man and a real prophet. In a great crisis like the present world-crisis, it makes all the difference in the world as to whether a man speaks about the Presi'dent of the United States and his policies, or for the President, declaring his policies. The one is mere opinion-the other is a message of authority