VOLUME 1
PREFACE.
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It is with praise and
thanksgiving that we complete and send forth this first volume of Things to
Come.
Many have been the tokens of the Divine favour; and great has
been the encouragement which we have received from all parts of the world.
We thank all our kind friends and helpers, and pray that God may
own this volume, so far as its contents are in accordance with His Truth as
revealed in His holy Word, and use it for His own glory, giving all needful
grace and strength for the time to come.
THE EDITOR.
29, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON, E.C.
May 16th, 1895
VOLUME 2
PREFACE.
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By the
grace of God a second volume has been completed.
It has
been a year of grave difficulty, the enemy has done his utmost against our
journal, and this, perhaps, is one of the best proofs we could have as to its
power and usefulness. We have not been
without many tokens of our Lord’s presence, for power, faithfulness and
blessing; we rejoice also in the letters of gratitude from friends in all parts
of the world who praise God or our testimony.
We plead with them all to continue their support, so that, having
reached our present position, we may go forward, being used of God for
increased usefulness and blessing.
39.
WARWICK LANE, LONDON, E.C.
VOLUME 3
PREFACE.
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…
We
close our third Volume greatly encouraged by increasing testimony from all
parts of the world from those who believe in the truth and power of the Word of
God.
We are thankful for
the grace which has kept us, and given us an ever-increasing desire to glorify
Christ and abase Man.
As the
sings of His coming abound, our great aim is to “make ready a people prepared
for the Lord,” and to sound forth a faithful witness for Him while He is still
keeping silence.
Soon will He arise and send forth His command, “Gather My
saints together unto Me.” Till that
moment arrives, may He accept and own and bless our feeble services.
39. WARWICK LANE, LONDON, E.C.
May 17th, 1897.
PREFACE TO VOL.
IV.
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…
We thank God and take courage in closing our Fourth Volume
of Things to Come.
Letters from all parts of the world testify to the deep
thankfulness of many readers for its testimony: and for making the Word of God
more clear and precious to them.
This, and our joy in God at being thus preserved in the Old
Paths, and used by His to help others to tread in them, is our only but
sufficient reward.
No study brings such peace to the soul or happiness to the life as the study to show ourselves approved unto God (2 Tim. 2:15). This alone will make us workmen that need not be ashamed.
39. WARWICK LANE,
LONDON,
E.C.
PREFACE.
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It is with deep thankfulness to God that we have been
enabled to bring this fifth volume to its close.
Uninfluenced by the "praise of
man" on the one hand, or the "fear of man" on the other, we have
been kept on our way; and in the midst of many labours have had grace
sufficient for the day.
We commend this volume to our readers in the full consciousness of many infirmities and failures; asking God to graciously accept our services, and to over-rule all to His own glory.
May our readers have grace to unlearn as well as to learn;
and ask themselves with respect to all they know, whether it was learnt from
God or from man.
If the latter is the case, then we urge upon all the happy
duty of re-examination and re-consideration; and if it be God's Truth, to learn
it over again from God; and if it be of man, to reject it.
If Things to Come is any help in the performance of this
duty, to God be all the glory.
THE EDITOR
PREFACE.
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IN no previous year has God so
owned and blessed Things to Come. Letters from all parts of the
world bring us tokens of His presence and favour, and do more than encourage
us: they fill our hearts with joy and our lips with praise.
With His help we shall go forward without care either as to
the praise of man on the one hand, or the fear of man on the other hand,
studying only to show ourselves approved unto God as workmen that need not to
be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.-2 Timothy 2:15.
PREFACE.
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AGAIN we have to praise the Lord for His wonderful
goodness. He has given us an increased
measure of blessing during the past year, both in the large accession to the number
of our subscribers, and in the letters which so many of them write testifying
of the blessing and help which, through God, they owe to Things to Come. Our space is too precious for us to give
extracts from these letters, though it would rejoice the hearts of our readers,
as it does our own, to read the testimonies received from all parts of the
world.
May
Things to Come continue to form this bond of union and sympathy with the
scattered members of the One Body who seek to rightly divide the Word of
Truth. The injunction to thus divide
the Word is introduced by and thus connected with the precept “Study to show
thyself approved unto God.” As much as
to say – If you rightly divide the Word of Truth, men will not approve
of you, for it will upset so many of their traditions: but never mind about them. “Study to show thyself approved unto
God.” You will then have no need to “be
ashamed,” either before God or men.
May
the Lord make each of our readers such a “workman,” and enable each to engage
in the happy “study” of seeking His approval.
PREFACE.
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THIS Volume completes our eight year, and never was a
year so full of blessing as this.
Evidence comes to us from all parts of the world which shows how
wonderfully the Lord is using Things to Come to deliver many from
Spiritual bondage. We wish our space
permitted us to give extracts from some of the letters which our readers so
kindly send us. They are a great encouragement, and afford overwhelming proof that
our “labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
While most of our readers see that Religion is not Christianity, many,
thank God, are discovering that Christianity is not a religion at all. But there are many also who have come out
from the Christianized Paganism of Christendom, and yet fail to see that they
have settled down in a Christianized Judaism of their own. Subjection to ordinances, and obedience to
religious rites, had a divine place in Judaism while God was dealing with men in
the flesh. But in Christianity we are not
in the flesh. We died with Christ and
have been buried and raised with Christ.
Is not Christ enough? Are we not
complete in Him? May we all be able to
answer, Yes, from a blessed experience; and may God deign still to use and
bless Things to Come. to bring many souls into that liberty wherewith
Christ makes His people free.
PREFACE TO
VOL. IX.
ANOTHER year has passed, amid blessing and encouragement, for which we
praise “the God of all grace.” He has
supplied all our need, and been a very present help in the needful time of
trouble.
Letters from
all parts of the world assure us of the usefulness of Things to Come;
and testify as to many readers being delivered from human tradition and
religion; and of their being led more and more to feed upon the written Word,
and to be occupied with Christ, who is the “living Word.”
We have
learned the important lesson of 2 Tim. 2:24-26, which has to do with the
different vessels of “a great house.”
In dealing with these (Christians, not worldly opposers), we are told
“The servant of the Lord must not strive (i.e., contend); but be gentle
unto all [of them]; apt to teach, patient (Greek, bearing up under the evil
they would do, in injuring or hurting the feelings and breaking the hearts of
their fellow-servants).” In meekness
instructing them that oppose themselves; if God, peradventure, will give them
repentance to the acknowledgment (Greek, with a view to their fuller knowledge)
of the truth: and that they may recover themselves (Greek, wake up) out of the
Devil’s snare, who are taken captive (Greek, having been taken alive) by him,
at his will (Greek, with a view to their doing his will).” Satan has his object in thus using them; but
God has His own object; and that is that our patiently bearing up under it all,
and by not contending with them, they may wake up from the snare in which they
have been caught, and come into a fuller knowledge of the Truth.
May we,
as “the Lord’s servant,” desiring to obey this command, yet reap the blessing
for which we strive; and be used by Him to still instruct and teach by means of
Things to Come.- THE EDITOR.
25 CONNAUGHT
STREET,
LONDON, W.
(England). May 15th, 1903.
PREFACE TO
VOL. X.
IT is with deep thankfulness to God that we complete our Tenth Volume. Amid journeying oft, and the opposition of some, we have the constant abiding sense and overwhelming evidence of God’s blessing upon us and of his presence with us.
We are
seldom a day without letters from various and most distant parts of the world
testifying as to the increasing value of Things to Come.
We
profess only one desire, to put “God first,” to make Him everything and man
nothing. To exalt Him and abase
man. To honour His Word and glorify His
Christ is our unchanging motto. Our one
desire and determination is to “delight ourselves in the Lord” and in His word,
and leave Him to look after our honour and interests, and to defend us against
all enemies.
In
looking forward to another year we would say with David (Psalm 56:10,11):-
“ In God will I
praise His Word;
In the Lord will I praise His Word;
In God have I put my trust;
I will not be afraid what man can do unto
me. ”
THE EDITOR.
25 CONNAUGHT STREET, LONDON, W.
PREFACE TO
VOL. XI.
THROUGH God’s grace and strength we have completed another Volume, and
have been blessed with abundant evidences of the Lord’s presence, and with
tokens of His blessing.
From
all parts of the world we receive the most encouraging letters, showing how
opposition has been broken down; how prejudices have been removed; how
difficulties have been overcome; how strength has been received; and comfort
bestowed by the ministry of God’s Word.
When it
comes to a Spiritist abandoning the practices of years and burning the
Spiritist books (as in Ephesus, Acts 19:19); when we see a Musician giving up
his musical services for spiritual worship; when we hear of zealous sectarians
wasting no more time in making a “unity of the body,” but “endeavoring to keep
the unity of the Spirit;” and changing what was a source of strife and
contentions for that which is “the bond of peace”; when we find bitter
opponents becoming true friends, helping us to build the things they once sought
to destroy, we may well feel humbled in the dust at the favour and blessing of
our God, and have our hearts filled with praise and our lips with thanksgiving.
And,
further, when others, unsolicited, make translations of Reprints into French,
German, Spanish and Japanese, what can we do but rejoice with joy unspeakable.
We
could fill many a Number with nothing but letters of thanksgiving received from
those to whom Things to Come has proved a blessing; and from many who
tell of happy fellowship in its testimony; but we must not take up space with
these when it can be used for God.
Still, our readers will be glad to know of such facts.
When we
think of the wonderful way in which God is using Things to Come, we feel
that it ought really to be the one work of our life, instead of our Magazine
having to be edited in odd moments, in the early morning hours, between
unceasing duties, and on distant journeys.
But the
Lord knows all, and He knows that our one desire is to have His approval.
We have
ceased to be moved by the oppositions of Brethren, for we have seen so many of
them becoming our friends and helpers, that we look on all such opposers as
those who may soon be standing on our side and holding up our hands. We could tell of one Assembly which at first
“judged” and condemned Things to Come, but have since become such warm
supporters as to send on several occasions Ł 5, and once Ł
10, for the Editor’s personal use as “the Ox that treadeth out the corn” for
them.
We pray
for a rich blessing on all our readers, asking them to help us in making known
to others what they value themselves.
THE EDITOR.
25 CONNAUGHT STREET, LONDON, W. ENGLAND.
PREFACE TO
VOL. XII.
THE blessing we were able, by
God’s grace, to report in issuing Vol. XI. To our readers, has been fully
maintained during 1906.
Not only has it been maintained, but the
evidences of it from all parts of the world are such that we were never more
encouraged than we are at the present moment.
We feel we ought to let our readers know
that receipts from sales and advertisements are not sufficient to pay our
monthly bills; but our God has never left us; and has supplied all our
need. Thank-offerings for blessings
received through Things to Come have been enough to make good all
deficiencies. And He, who has supplied
our need in the past, can continue to do so in the time that lies before us.
In thus leading us, we have ears to hear
His voice saying:- “Put not your trust in man”; “Cease from man”; seek not “the
praise of man.” Be not influenced by
“the fear of man.” Let not thy work be
De-structive merely, but Constructive; not merely negative, but positive. Witnessing for God alone; standing fast by
His Word, and making known His Truth.
With these convictions we are entering
upon our New Volume, and have pleasure in calling attention to the prospectus
of the forthcoming articles on several important and interesting subjects.
We would urge all our readers to do
their utmost in making our Journal known as widely as they can among those who
are studying to show themselves “approved unto God.”
May writers and readers alike pursue
this great “study,” and God shall have all the glory and we all the blessing.
E. W. BULLINGER.
25 CONNAUGHT STREET,
LONDON, W. ENGLAND.
PREFACE TO
VOL. XIII.
DEAR FRIENDS,
IT is with pleasure and heartfelt praises to “the God of all grace” that
I am able to send out this, our Thirteenth Volume: for, on two occasions during
the past year there were fears lest the superstitions of some might be
justified, and that the thirteenth year would prove fatal to the
existence of Things to Come.
One
circumstance was my own serious break-down in health in the Spring; the other
was the death of one of our readers in the Autumn whose generous support, for
some years, made it unnecessary for me to bring the Financial needs of Things
to Come before our readers.
This
beloved friend (whom I never saw in the flesh) took the deepest possible
interest in our Magazine and read all the many encouraging letters which have
been received from our readers in all parts of the world, and which were sent
on from time to time. This friend knew
the joy of deliverance from the bondage of all “systems,” including the one
which boasts of being outside of them all; and whose bondage has broken more
hearts than any of them. So great was
the gratitude to God, and to Things to Come for the liberty and the
“bond of peace” which is the blessed experience of all who recognize only the
spiritual unity of the “one body,” that no offering was considered too great if
it helped to deliver others from the inevitable “divisions” and “strifes,” and
“contentions” which are gendered by the attempt to make a corporate unity.
The other
loss, that of health, has been graciously restored by God.
May He,
who has done such things for us, do still more, and add the needed gifts of
wisdom, and knowledge and patience that Things to Come may be still
carried on without looking for the “praise,” or heeding the “fear,” or begging
for the help of man.
I have
been so wonderfully led and guided in preparing the Editorials for next year,
and the writing came so easily that I “assuredly gathered” that, the God who
was thus preparing the seed for the soil, had prepared also the soil for the
seed, and would prepare the sower for both.
Having
done so great things for us we may all, indeed, be “glad” and feel assured that
the same God will give an abundant “increase” and continue to add His blessing
to our labours.
Yours, in His happy service,
E. W. BULLINGER.
“BREMGARTEN,”
NORTH END ROAD,
HAMPSTEAD, LONDON, N.W.
November 11th, 1907.
PREFACE TO
VOL. XIV.
DEAR FRIENDS,
OUR hearts have been drawn out, during the past year,
to greater faith in, and knowledge of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
We have
been occupied with the faith of those who have “heard” God; and our own faith
has been stimulated, and we have gone forward to receive what He reveals “from
faith to faith.”
We look
forward in the coming year to stretch out still more to “the things which are
before,” and to go on to seek out truths lost in the dark ages, and never
wholly recovered.
The
tether of tradition has kept us from reaching all that the Great Shepherd has
provided for us in “the green pastures” of the Word; and the unceasing cry of faithless
shepherds crying “Back” to this, “Back” to that, has prevented us from going
forward.
We have
been indeed “otherwise minded” than the great Apostle who bade us to be
followers together “of him” (Phil. 3:17); but our prayer is that God will
fulfill His promise to reveal even this, and many other precious things unto
us, that we may “walk by the same rule” and “mind the same thing.”
Let us
press toward the goal, even our calling on high, of God, in Christ Jesus.
We
thank God for an increase in the number of our readers; but more especially for
the increase in their spiritual growth, of which many have written to testify
from the remotest parts of the world.
The testimony of one is the testimony of all; “The Bible has become a new
book to me, but I find myself very much alone.”
Never
mind! Abraham was alone, when he
“believed and gave glory to God.” Caleb
and Joshua were nearly alone, when Israel believed not; Paul was alone when “no
man stood by” him; and his and our beloved Master was alone, when they “all
forsook Him and fled.”
Some of
David’s “mighty men” accomplished their mightiest deeds “when the en of Israel
were gone away,” and “when the people fled”; but this was the very time when
“the LORD wrought a great victory” (2
Sam. 23:9-12).
If we
are thus alone in the world, let us at least be united in our fellowship in the
truth of His Word, and in Him who is the Truth.
Yours, in that eternal bond,
E. W. BULLINGER.
“BREMGARTEN,”
GOLDER’S HILL,
HAMPSTEAD, LONDON, N.W.
November, 1908.
PREFACE.
DEAR FRIENDS,
WITH our December number we write a few words by way of Preface to our new volume, No. XV.
We do it with heartfelt thanks to God for His leading, preserving, and guiding grace.
He has led us on to a greater knowledge of Himself and His Word. Seldom have we made greater advances; or drawn more from the inexhaustible treasures of His Word.
It would be a sin for any of us to suppose that we know all; and have nothing more to learn. This would be to treat the Word of God like a human book; to act as though it could be exhausted by us; and that we had nothing more to learn.
“A good Scribe is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasures things new and old” (Matt. 13:52).
If we are to have nothing “new,” but always the “old,” then there is no need for Things to Come. But we need the old as well as the new, and the new as well as the old.
“The well is deep,” and blessed be God, “we have something to draw with,” even the Spirit of truth, Whose mission it is to show us “the things of Christ” and “things to come.”
We have thus been able to recover some things so old that they appear to be new; and we hope to go on with renewed strength and courage.
In October we had to take our friends into our Confidence, and though it was not without pain that we did so, we have been abundantly rewarded. We have been overwhelmed with letters of sympathy, from the highest and the lowliest at home and abroad.
The Lord has made our way quite clear for the future, and if our friends only fulfill their promises of help we shall go on our way without care.
Yours in His service,
E. W. BULLINGER.
“BREMGARTEN,”
GOLDER’S HILL, HAMPSTEAD,
LONDON, N.W.
November, 1909.
PREFACE.
DEAR FRIENDS,
THANKS to you, and the blessing of
God on your kind thoughts and gifts, all care as to finances has been removed
from our mind during the past year.
Our appeal in October, 1909, brought
forth so many letters from hitherto unknown friends that we were overwhelmed
with praise and thanksgivings.
We had no idea of the extent to which
God is using Things to Come for the instruction and blessing of his
people in the remotest parts of the earth until we made that appeal.
It was impossible to reply privately to
each correspondent, but we hereby tender our grateful thanks to them all
collectively, and put on record the fact that their letters of cheer and
comfort, fellowship and encouragement filled us with fresh strength for our
work.
If our friends will each kindly repeat
their gifts, great and small, during 1911, we shall not know one sleepless
night or anxious moment as to meeting all the liabilities connected with our
magazine.
We are exceedingly thankful to record a
decided increase in the number of our Subscribers. During the first eight months of this year (1910) there has been
a total increase of 358 copies, or close on 40 per month. This is decidedly encouraging, and a clear
proof that the papers inserted during that period have attracted a larger
circle of readers.
Instead of giving our own words and then quoting a text as a buttress to support them, we shall continue to use God’s Word as a fountain, out of which we shall draw for our own instruction, as well as for that of our readers.
Yours in Christ’s service,
E. W. BULLINGER.
“BREMGARTEN,”
GOLDER’S HILL, HAMPSTEAD,
LONDON, N.W.
November, 1910.
PREFACE.
DEAR FRIENDS,
ANOTHER
year has added its
abundance of testimonies to blessing received through the pages of Things to
Come. For this we thank the Giver
of all spiritual gifts.
Our readers have continues their kind
help which has enabled us to pay our way, and has kept us without any anxiety,
besides enabling us to send out a larger number of free copies.
Our publishers report that, taking an
average of fifteen months, they can report a substantial increase; and the last
quarter shows a slight upward tendency.
The number of subscribers, compared with
the preceding year is well maintained.
For this we thank God, and enter on
another year, blessed with bodily health, and with an increased desire to show
ourselves “approved unto God.”
With the continued support and prayers of our readers, we shall be preserved without care.
Yours in the Lord’s service,
E. W. BULLINGER.
“BREMGARTEN,”
GOLDER’S HILL, HAMPSTEAD,
LONDON (ENGLAND), N.W.
November 15th, 1911.
PREFACE.
DEAR FRIENDS,
THROUGH the grace and
goodness of God we have been enabled to complete our eighteenth volume of Things to Come.
We have had abundant showers of blessing in letters from many of our readers in all parts of the world; and we heartily thank them for their encouraging words.
It humbles us when we learn how God has
deigned to own and bless our efforts when all we have done is only through His
own gifts, material as well as spiritual.
We have been preserved in health and
strength, notwithstanding the many demands on our time and strength by other
work which press upon us, almost beyond measure.
We ask for your continued prayers and
help, so that we may be kept without care in our service for you and for God.
Yours in “that blessed hope,”
E. W. BULLINGER.
“BREMGARTEN,”
GOLDER’S HILL, HAMPSTEAD,
LONDON (ENGLAND), N.W.
November, 1912.
PREFACE.
DEAR FRIENDS,
IT is with sorrowful feelings
that we close the nineteenth volume of Things to Come.
The sad death of the revered Editor in June last brought to a close the work of nineteen years, during which he had been the means of opening up to so many the treasures of the Sacred Word.
For this faithful witness to the riches of
Divine Revelation, we give devout thanks to Almighty God. Since the pen fell from the hands of the
beloved Dr. Bullinger the work has been carried on mainly by means of the
materials which were already in his hands.
It is hoped that ere long it may be
possible to make an announcement as to a permanent editor.
Meantime, readers may be assured that there
will be no lowering of the flag, but the same testimony will continue to be
borne to the authority and inerrancy of the Divine Oracles, and the importance
of “rightly dividing the Word of Truth.”
Those who have contributed articles in the
past are warmly thanked, and assured that their continued interest will be
highly appreciated.
Grateful acknowledgement is also made of
the support hitherto given, on such a generous scale, to the Publishing Fund; and
with a continuance of the same, the work of the Lord will not languish in our
hands.
Yours in “that blessed hope,”
THE
ACTING EDITOR.
c/o
MISS ELIZABETH DODSON,
“BREMGARTEN,” GOLDER’S
HILL, HAMPSTEAD, N.W.
November, 1913.
PREFACE.
DEAR FRIENDS,
AT
the close of the first
year since the death of Dr. Bullinger, we look back upon days in which the Word
of Truth has been increasingly precious to those who, by Divine grace, have
been enabled to “divide” it aright.
We
rejoice to have had the privilege, in the course of the year, to publish
articles from the illuminating material left by the late Editor; and we are
very grateful that beloved brethren still with us have contributed articles
that have been highly appreciated by the readers of Things to Come.
We also acknowledge with gratitude the
support which has been given, and given so generously, to the Publishing
Fund. The Lord is standing by our
witness; and we are assured that He will continue to do so.
We
live in solemn times. If, on the one
hand, we seem compelled in some quarters to SEARCH (and in vain) for signs of
the Faith, on the other hand we cannot but see around us tokens of that
“distress of nations, the sea and the waves roaring,” which, in the Word of
Prophecy, belong to “the time of the end.”
May God keep us true to His Word and
occupied with the things of Christ!
“The night is far spent; the day is at hand.”
Yours in “that blessed hope,”
THE
EDITOR.
c/o
MISS ELIZABETH DODSON,
“BREMGARTEN,” GOLDER’S
HILL, HAMPSTEAD, N.W.
November, 1914.
PREFACE.
DEAR FRIENDS,
WITH
this volume Things
to Come concludes its testimony after a little over 21 years’ service, its
first number having appeared in July, 1894.
It is with sorrow that we take leave of our readers, but we believe it
is manifestly the Lord’s will.
Throughout these years hundreds of letters
have testified to the blessing brought by this little monthly witness, an
expression frequently used in them being, “The Bible has become a new
book.” No appeal has ever been made to
man’s authority, doctrines, or traditions.
Its motto has always been, “study to show thyself APPROVED UNTO GOD”
As many have expressed a wish to know some
particulars about the editorship during the last two years, it may suffice to
say that the undersigned, who was closely associated with the late beloved Dr.
Bullinger, conducted the magazine for three or four months after his death,
when one of considerable literary ability and experience, who wished to remain
anonymous, undertook the work. He,
however, was obliged to resign it in the spring of the present year, when the
former arrangement was resumed, a valuable colleague being found in one who
also was closely associated with the Doctor’s work, but who wishes his name be
withheld.
We would here repeat the thanks due to him
and other helpers and sympathizers which we have endeavoured to express on the
last page of the volume.
It only remains, in taking leave of our
readers, to “commend them to God and to the word of His grace.” That alone can build them up.
All man’s efforts have an end. Things human pass away. One abides.
“THEY SHALL
PERISH, BUT THOU
REMAINEST”
Yours in “that blessed hope,”
H. C. BOWKER.
“BREMGARTEN,” 17 NORTH END ROAD, HAMPSTEAD, N.W.
November, 1915.
© F. C.