A Manual of Doctrinal Truths

by Leon A. Bynoe

A   M A N U A L
OF
DOCTRINAL  TRUTHS

CONTAINING

THE  FUNDAMENTALS  OF  THE
SACRED  SCRIPTURES  FOR  ALL
BELIEVERS  IN  CHRIST  JESUS

 

PREPARED BY
LEON A. BYNOE
Editor of GRACE AND TRUTH MAGAZINE

 

BIBLE TRUTH PUBLISHING CO.
Printers and Publishers of Religious Literature
160 West 127 Street
NEW YORK 27, N.Y.
U.S.A.


1960

I

A   M A N U A L
OF
DOCTRINAL  TRUTHS

  

CONTAINING

THE  FUNDAMENTALS  OF  THE
SACRED  SCRIPTURES  FOR  ALL
BELIEVERS  IN  CHRIST  JESUS

Bible Class Groups, Sunday School Teachers, and all Christian Workers will find it a valuable aid in understanding difficult Bible themes.

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III



Contents According to Subject

CHAPTER  

     Preface
I        God The Father
II        Lord Jesus Christ
III        Holy Spirit - Holy Trinity
IV        The Bible
V        The First Man (Adam)
VI        The Second Man (Christ)
VII        Sin - Missing
VIII        Sin - Nullified
IX        Immortality of the Soul
X        Salvation
XI        Justification - Justify
XII        Evangel
XIII   Glorification
XIV   Conciliate - Reconciliation
XV   Ecclesia - The Church which is His Body
XVI   The Bride - The 144,000 - The Great Company
XVII   Resurrection
XVIII   The Judgments
CHAPTER  
XIX   The Millennial Kingdom
XX   World
XXI   Israel
XXII   The Gentiles
XXIII   Dispensation
XXIV   Eons
XXV   Baptism in Holy Spirit and Fire
XXVI   Baptism in Water
XXVII   The Unpardonable Sin
XXVIII   Death - State of the Dead
XXIX   Hell - Sheol - The Unseen
XXX   Hell-Fire - Gehenna
XXXI   Hell - Tartarus
XXXII   The Lake of Fire
XXXIII   Satan
XXXIV   The Destiny of Satan
XXXV   Everlasting Punishment
XXXVI   Ransom - Redeem
XXXVII   Predestination
XXXVIII   Redemption - Deliverance
XXXIX   Man's Free Will

Preface

     It has been the author's desire for a very long time to prepare such a Manual, containing "a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us."

     This Manual is the product of long association with the Sacred Scriptures; much light has been re-discovered from the use of many versions, especially the concordant Version. This Manual may appear to be in contradiction to the many doctrines that owe their allegiance to "traditions" taught by man, and the dogmas of sectarianism, but I have sought to cleave to the pure, unadulterated word of God, concordantly rendered and correctly partitioned, which is our greatest heritage and treasure.

     We are exhorted to, "Endeavor to present yourself to God, qualified, and unashamed worker, correctly cutting the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15, Concordant Version). This is attained only by diligent study; patient and sustained investigation, will lead to rare discoveries of truth. "Correctly cutting the Word of truth," is a metaphor, "a phrase literally denoting an idea in place of another, by way of suggesting a likeness or analogy between them.

     We must have the confidence and courage to cut a straight line for the truth, turning neither to the right nor the left. When we confuse the truth, we become ourselves confused and exposed to shame. For example, Hymeneus and Philetus did not deny the resurrection, like the Corinthians (1 Cor. 15:12), but they misplaced it (2 Tim. 2:17-18). They made it past, when it was future. So all truth has its appropriate place, out of which truth itself becomes the most insidious error, because it seems to have the support of Scripture.

     We must not transfer the truth of one eon (age) into another, we should leave the truth concerning Israel to them, and that for the Church which is His body, should not be mixed with Israel. In no other way can we understand God's plan and purpose.

     I firmly believe that there are many of God's people, who, if they really knew what the Scriptures set forth for this era of grace, and what the Lord requireth of them, they would be willing and anxious to accept the Word of God and move forward to higher heights and deeper depths in spiritual things, because, "the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day" (Proverb 4:18).

     I have examined the record with reverence and deep humility, seeking from God an understanding of His revelation. God's intention is never frustrated by man's s0-called will or by his perversity, but moves on relentlessly to the determined goal.

     "Let God be true, but every man a liar" (Rom. 3:4). I, therefore, am presenting this work in accord with Him Who is the head over all things to the ecclesia (the church) which is His body that the truth contained therein may be the means of uniting God's people in the unity of the spirit, that we may all speak the same thing and be of one mind.

     In the presentation of the truth contained herein, I have drawn largely from some profound Bible Scholars, who do not care to have their names mentioned, and I have had the benefit of the counsel and help, of my friend and colleague, Elder Arthur Benta.

     This work is recommended to the reader only to the extent that it is found to be entirely supported by the Scriptures.

Leon A. Bynoe         

CONTENTS

I
God - The Father

     GOD (Greek, Theos) English Placer, Hebrew Al, Plural Alueim. This is not a name, but one of the titles of the Deity.

     This Hebrew word therefore, is one of the titles which we give to that eternal, infinite, and incomprehensible Being, the Creator of all things, Fountain of all life, Who preserves and governs everything by His Almighty power and wisdom, and is the only object of our worship.

IEUE - PRONOUNCED "YEHWEH"

     This Hebrew word IEUE is the Name of Names. It is a verbal noun, It has all the tenses, past, present and future. Unlike English the Hebrew language has no auxiliaries to express its verbal meaning otherwise. The letter "I" in the Name denotes, the future, "will be," the "E U," the present (being), and the "E," the past "was." So then the Sacred Name means literally, will-being-was.

     The Hebrews had such a veneration for His holy Name, IEUE ( Jehovah) that they never pronounced it, but instead, made use of that of ADONAI, which signifies properly, My Lords, in the plural number. They also called Him more correctly AL, which signifies Strong, or Subjector, or Shaddai - One Who is self sufficient or suffices or JA, - God.

     Scripture references: - Matt. 1:23 "God (Theos) with us" - Acts 2:36 "that God (Theos ) makes him Lord as well as Christ, this Jesus Whom ye crucify" - 2 Cor. 1:3 "Blessed is the God (Theos) and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of pities, and God (Theos) of consolation." - 2 Cor. 8:1, 1 Cor. 10:31.

     GOD IS SPIRIT, He fills the universe. He is everywhere (John 4:24). God's throne is in heaven, (Isa. 66:1, Acts 7:49) that pre-eminent sanctuary of God and of Christ is presently unseen and imperceptible to man, yet described in God's Word as a sphere of unapproachable light (1 Tim. 6:16). From that unseen, luminous. glorious abode of God, His vibrant invisible spirit pervades every region of the universe. Thus no place or room, however distant can he unknown, inaccessible or unseen to God. To Him the night shineth as the day (Psa. 139-12).

CONTENTS

II
Lord Jesus Christ

     LORD (Greek Kurios) Sanctioner or "Master," One with authority over others in relation to service, it applied to the Father (Gen. 2:4), To the Son, (Col. 3:24), and to God's Spirit, (2 Thess. 3:5).

     JESUS (Hebrew IEUSHUA) meaning will-be-Saviour. Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua (Matt 1:20-21). Jesus Christ the title of His humiliation, Christ Jesus, the title of His exaltation.

     And there is no salvation in any other, for neither has any other name been given under heaven among men in which we must be saved (Acts. 4:12, Concordant Version).

     CHRIST: (Greek Christos) meaning Anointed Gal, 2:16 official title as God's anointed One, His Son (Matt. 16:16, John 20:31). The same is the Hebrew word Messiah (Psalm 45:7, Isa. 61:1). He is uniquely the Son of God. In His pre-human nature He was by assumption equal with the Father, and over all creation God blessed for the eons.

     In His previously exalted state and position, He emptied Himself and was made flesh. Becoming obedient to God the Father, even unto death, even the death of the Cross (Phil. 2:6-8), and by virtue of His sacrifice, He became our Saviour, Lord. and Christ. Assuming (supremely) the lesser offices as prophet, priest and King (Heb. 7:25), and Reconciler of the entire universe to God by the blood of His cross (Col. 1:20).

CONTENTS

III
Holy Spirit - Holy Trinity

What is the Holy Spirit?

     The usual answer given by the more so-called orthodox Christian Organizations is that "The Holy Spirit is one of the three persons of the 'Godhead' constituting what is commonly called the 'Holy Trinity.' The other members of the trinity are God the Father, and His son Jesus Christ our Lord."

     The above answer is an article of faith in most denominations, but it is not justified by Scriptural warranty. The Scripture does give us a more satisfying answer by distinguishing God and Christ and the Holy Spirit in John 4:23-24. Jesus said, "But coming is the hour and now is, when the true worshipers will be worshiping the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father also is seeking such to be worshiping Him. God is Spirit, and those who are worshiping Him must be worshiping in spirit and truth" (Concordant Version). See also John 8:28-29.

     In Leviticus 19:2, 1 Peter 1:15-16 the Scriptures tell us that God is "holy." According as He Who calls you is holy, you also become holy in all behaviour, because it is written that, "Holy shall you be for I am Holy." Not only is our Father God a Spirit, but He is holy - a Holy Spirit, and He would have His people to he holy also.

     Our Lord Jesus Christ had much to say about the Holy Spirit of God when He was here in flesh. See: - John 5:30, John 6:63, John 14:16-17, 26, John 15:26, John 16:13. Paul too, has much to say about the operation of the Spirit in Romans and in his other epistles (Romans 5:5, 8:1-2, 8:5-6, 8:9; 1 Cor. 2:4, 2:10-12, 6:19, 12:4, 12:11).

     There is no reference in Scripture concerning the doctrine of the trinity (1 Cor. 8:6) for God is One, the Father of all. Christ Jesus is the Son of God the "First born of every creature, in whom all is created and in Whom all has its cohesion" (Col. 1:16-17). Let us therefore lay aside vain traditional opinion and accept the clear word of holy Scripture. It should be quite clear to all, that God's Holy Spirit is not a person, but is the manifestation and presence of God's own Spirit, in the hearts and lives of those who are called in grace by Jesus Christ. In 2 Cor. 3:17 we read "The Lord is that Spirit (Holy Spirit). There are not two spirits - "There is one body, and one Spirit, etc." (Eph. 4:4).

"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shew it unto you" (John 16:13-14).

The above Scripture seems to suggest that the Holy Spirit is a person, in our English Bibles, but the word "he" is neuter in Greek. The Text should read, "When it the spirit [God's Spirit] of truth is come, etc."

"If you, then, being inherently wicked says the Master, are aware how to give good gifts to your children, how much rather will the Father out of heaven be giving Holy Spirit to those requesting Him?" (Luke 11:13, C. V.) Surely not a person is in view here.

CONTENTS

IV
The Bible

    The Sacred Scriptures is a library of sixty-six books, or more correctly of sixty-two books1, bound together for convenience. These books were written over a period of 1,685 years2 , from Moses to John, at Patmos.

     The tlmirty-nine or thirty-five books of the Old Testament so-called were written in Asia, some in Palestine and some in Babylonia. The New Testament books were written in Asia Minor, Greece, and in Italy, all in the Greek tongue.

     The Old Testament so-called is in three parts - history, poetry, and prophecy. It is concerned with the dealings of God with man. Old Testament history is contained in the first seventeen books, from Genesis to Esther. Its poetry is mostly contained in the five books after Esther, from Job to the Song of Solomon. Job is epic poetry, and with the other three may be called, Wisdom Books, or Gnomic poetry. The Psalms are liturgical.

     Prophecy, signifies preaching, as well as fore-telling. There are four such large books of prophecies, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. These men are called the Major Prophets, because of their extensive writings. There are twelve shortly written books, called (for a like reason) the Minor Prophets.

     The New Testament so-called like the Old is in three parts, history, letters or epistles, and prophecies. The historical books are, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the Acts. Matthew, Mark, and Luke taken together present a synopsis or general view of the life of Christ. John is an interpretive account, dealing mainly with the ministry of Jesus in Judea rather than in Galilee. The Acts is a narrative of the ministry first of Peter, then of Paul. It is an account of the beginning of the ecclesias of Christ. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, as inspired writers, gives us the history of Jesus, the Christ, in their own style, one supplementing the other in a remarkable way.

     Of the twenty-one letters contained in the Greek Scriptures, thirteen are of Paul. Hebrews, authorship is unknown. Five of them were written during his imprisonment in Rome. Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 2nd Timothy and Philemon. The general epistles include James, 1st and 2nd Peter, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, and Jude. The Revelation belongs to a kind of writing called apocalyptic, like the book of Daniel.

     Such hooks are addressed to the faithful in their distress, and for the protection of the writer they make use of symbols rather than plain statements, representing the oppressors under the form of strange beasts. Thus Daniel (it is supposed) was intended to encourage the Jews oppressed by the Greeks under Antiochus Epiphanes, and Revelation was intended to encourage the christians oppressed by the Romans under Nero, and his imperial successors.

     The Sacred Scriptures thus consisting of a collection of these various writings, is an inspired book. It is the Word of God; the supreme Communication in all history of the will and purpose of God. It is its own defense and commendation.

__________
     1 In the Original Hebrew Manuscripts, 1st and 2nd Samuel are one book, so also 1st and 2nd Kings, 1st and 2nd Chronicles and Ezra and Nehemiah are one book. This reduces the number of books to sixty-two.
     2 From Moses to John at Patmos, are as follows: The Wilderness Journey to the division of the land, forty-six years. The period of the judges, four hundred and fifty years; the Kings, five hundred and thirteen years. Captivity to Babylon, seventy years; thence to A.D. 1, five hundred thirty-six years; from thence to John at Patmos seventy years, making a total of 1,685 years.

CONTENTS

V
The  First Man (Adam)

     Adam is the name given to the first being who is said to be created in the image and likeness of God, and is made lord of all living things created on the earth and in the sea.

     Adam was the last living being to be created on the earth. Evidently everything was provided for him, and his earthly dominion was complete. For him a home was also provided called or known as the Garden of Eden. In it was planted fruit trees, particularly the tree of life and the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Of the latter tree, Adam was forbidden to eat of its fruit lest he die.

     Then following all this a help-mate, a wife, was given to Adam, and in course of time the serpent who was also in the Garden tempted the woman, and she being deceived partook of the forbidden fruit, and in turn gave to Adam, her husband who also (deliberately) ate of its fruit, and thus disobeyed his Maker and Father, God, and consequently brought sin into the world.

     It is this one act of sin that is passed on to all of Adam's posterity in which all share. Consequently, we have become a dying race. See Genesis chapters 2 and 3 and Romans 5:12.

CONTENTS

VI
The Second Man (Christ)

     The second man Who is Jesus, the Christ, became our Saviuur and Lord (1 Cor. 15:22,45-47).

     The inspired statement that "the first man, Adam, became a living soul" and the connected assertion that the last man Christ a vivifying Spirit," 1 Cor. 15:45-46, together with the added statement that as in Adam all are dying, thus also in Christ, shall all be vivified (1 Cor. 15:22), clearly indicate that the whole human race is represented in these two men, namely Adam and Christ. Their respective acts affects all mankind. The act of sin on the part of the first man, Adam, brought condemnation and death upon all without exception, without their having any part in the whole matter. Likewise the One act of obedience by Christ brought righteousness and life to all in a similar manner, Romans 5:18-19. This is salvation by grace essentially for all.

     Thus we read God wills all mankind to be saved, and to come into a realization of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4), and again "God Who is the Saviour of all mankind especially of those who believe" (1 Tim. 4:10).

     All those passages of Scriptures, that deal with judgments of the saved and the sinner, do not set at naught this fundamental basic truth, of the salvation and the eventual righteousness of all mankind, when the Word of God is rightly divided and correctly translated.

     The child of God needs, therefore, to be patient and trustful, needs also by prayer and petition to God to give himself wholly, earnestly, to the study of the Word by means of a good translation such as the Concordant Version and the proper exposition of the Word of God by faithful and devoted men. And we humbly recommend the Unsearchable Riches magazine, and our magazine, GRACE AND TRUTH, and our booklets and tracts, also other literature from authors of like faith and doctrine, which we are glad to recommend.

     We are calling the above Scriptural helps to your attention, because we know that it is essential, for you to be discriminating in your reading and studying, if you ever hope to arrive at the truth. For too many works of translation and exposition, we regret to say, are not at all helpful to a proper understanding of the Word of God.

CONTENTS

VII
Sin - Missing

     (a) Missing the Divine standard of righteousness
     (b) Coming short of God's righteous standard
     (c) Separation from God

     "Therefore, even as through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin death, and thus death passed through into all mankind, on which all sinned" (Romans 5:12, C. V.).

     Any thought, word, action, omission, or desire, contrary to the law of God. Missing of the glory of God.

     Original sin was the rebellion of the first man Adam against the Creator, which was a sin of race-wide proportion, which brought guilt and stain to all mankind. God is not the author of sin or of death, it is inconsistent with the divine holiness and purity to dispose the creature to sin. "As God cannot be tempted to evil, neither tempteth He any man" (James 1:1:3).

     Sin and death entered into the world through Adam and by his disobedience and his yielding to the temptation of Satan he made all his posterity guilty in the eyes of God.

     God is a master; Sin is also a master; though not a person, it has the power of a master. Sinners are servants or slaves of sin. These are the only two masters occupying the whole domain of moral action.

     The Apostle Paul said, "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, (slaves for obedi ence) his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness" (Rom. 6:16).

CONTENTS

VIII
Sin - Nullified

     Lo! the lamb of God which is taking away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). It is to be regretted, that sufficient weight and importance, is not given to this grand and glorious declaration of Scripture. It will take the whole period of the eons, for this inspired assertion, to be implemented, on the basis of the sacrifice of "the Lamb of God." Hence, we are so informed by the inspired writer of the epistle to the Hebrews as follows: - (Heb. 9:25-26) "Nor is it that He may he offering Himself often, even as the chief priest is entering into the holies of holies, yearly, by the blood of others, since then he must often be suffering from the disruption of the world, yet now once, has He been manifested through His sacrifice, for the repudiation of sin at the conclusion of the eons."

     The Great White Throne Judgment, for example, is part of the eonian times, hence the "lake of fire" and the "second death" which will take place during those times, and severe though those judgments will be, do not constitute the final state of those so judged, for Christ is still the Lamb of God which is taking away the sin of the world. Therefore, His blood will still avail, or be efficacious, for the nullification of sin unto the conclusion of the eons.

CONTENTS

IX
Immortality of the Soul

     The word of God teaches that all souls are mortal, not immortal. In Gen. 2:7 we read - "And forming is Ieue Alueim (the Lord God) the human of soil from the ground, and He is blowing in His nostrils the breath of the living, and becoming is the human a living soul," (Concordant Version).

     Thus every person is a living soul. No one has a soul. Each person is a soul. Each soul (person) is mortal. The word soul means, (1) a whole person or (2) the life of a person (Lev. chapter 5).

     Only one soul has immortality now, that is Christ Jesus our Lord (John 5:26).

     The false teaching of "Immortality of the soul" is the foundation of spiritism. We will put on immortality after we are raptured or resurrected (1 Cor. 15:51-55).

CONTENTS

X
Salvation

(Greek Soteria) Literally, Saving

     Salvation - not only includes the righteousness and deliverance from sin obtained through faith in Christ Jesus, but also deliverance from the present wicked eon, and from the present dying cosmos into the kingdom of God's dear Son for the glorious eons of the eons which are ahead for those who are loving Him.

     Peter said - "there is no salvation (sotêria) in any other One, for neither is there any other name under heaven among men, in which we must be saved" (Acts 4:8-12; 2 Tim. 2:10).

     Paul said - " Godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation" (2 Cor. 7:10). The evangel is God's power for salvation to everyone who is believing (Rom. 1:16) with the mouth confession is made to salvation" (Rom. 10:10).

     For salvation, we do not need works of merit and Law-keeping, since we are justified in God's sight through the finished work of Christ Jesus. We are complete in Him (Col. 2:10), and all we need is found in Him (1 Cor. 1:29-31). Christ settled the sin question to a finality, and for all time. Thus He makes it possible, for God to be the Justifier, of all who are of the faith of Jesus (Rom. 3:24-26).

     There is no other power in the universe which can turn men to God. All the modern substitutes, oratory, or emotional excitement, so-called divine healing, cannot save or make men right before God. The evangel ALONE, without any additions or apologies, is able to justify anyone who believes. This evangel imparts God's own righteousness to those who are called, for only such ones accept and believe the evangel.

CONTENTS

XI
Justification - Justify

     Justify (Greek dikaiõo) to make righteous or to constitute just. Justification is a free gift of God through Christ. And it is for all mankind, though only the called ones of all dispensations are recipients of it, beginning with Abel (Rom. 3:22-28, 5:18-19; Heb. 11:4, 39-40; Rom. 4:1-17, etc.). It will be extended to all in due time (Rom. 5:18-19).

     To be Justified is to be acquitted from the charge brought against us, and therefore absolved from the condemnation with which we were threatened. With regard to us the condemnation was deserved and the charge was true. "Being justified freely (gratuitously) by His grace" (Rom. 3:24). If it be done freely, it must be of grace, and if it be gracious, it must be free. Merit in a sinner is impossible. The publican prayed, "God be merciful to me a sinner" and went down to his house justified.

     "Justification" means pronounced righteous. Justification is the act of a judge. Justification is part of the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ. There could be no justification from sin without the death and resurrection of Christ. It is the result of Christ's obedience already performed, and to which we can add nothing that God justifies freely by His grace, all those who believe in Jesus. The law condemns. Grace justifies.

     Justification is largely developed in the Pauline Epistles; it means to be declared innocent, and thus we can find peace with God (Rom. 5:1-2). By it we are put beyond the reach of condemnation (Rom. 8:1-4, 5:16).

     It should not be confused with the word "pardon" which means forgiveness. This act of forgiveness, is the exercise of executive clemency, in remitting guilt or the penalty incurred. It is the prerogative of a Sovereign or a Governor, but in spite of "Pardon," the record of the crime and guilt stands recorded. Should the condition of the pardon be broken, it can be withdrawn, and the penalty enforced.

CONTENTS

XII
Evangel

(Greek eva(n)ggelion)
Literally "Well-message" or good news.

     Evangel (Greek eva(n)ggelion), literally "Well-message" or good news. Evangel is often translated "gospel." There are several evangels or gospels in the Greek Scriptures which bring us good news regarding God's plan for all mankind. The Scriptures also caution against mixed or misapplied gospels which may confuse the believers. See Gal. 1:6-9.

     The following enumeration of the evangels are here given, there may be others.

The evangel of Christ (Mark. 1:1).
The evangel of the Kingdom (Matt. 4:23; 9:35).
The evangel of God (Romans 1:1).
The evangel of the grace of God (Acts. 20:24).
The evangel of the glory of God (1 Tim. 1:11). -
The evangel of peace (conciliation - Rom. 5:1-3) (Eph. 6:15).
The secret evangel (Eph. 3:6 - For the members of the Body of Christ).
The eonian (everlasting) evangel (Rev. 14:6).

     There is a decided distinction between these evangels, from the above citations the student may make his own research.

CONTENTS

XIII
Glorification

     "Glory" (Greek, Doxa, Seem). A highly favorable opinion and that which impresses it on the senses of the mind" (Concordant Version).

     The word "doxa" is used with reference to God, the Father, (Romans 6:4; Eph. 1:17, 3:16; Luke 2:9; John 11:4 25); to Christ, (Matt. 19:28, 24:30; Luke 9:20; 2 Cor. 8:23; Phil. 3:21, etc.); to the saints, ("the glory about to be revealed for us," Romans 8:18; "Before the eons for our glory," 1 Cor. 2:7; "eonian burdens of glory," 2 Cor. 4:17; "transformed or changed from glory to glory," 2 Cor. 3:18; etc.; to others - the world kingdom, Matt. 4:8, Luke 4:6 - Solomon, Matt. 6:29 - Thy people, Luke 2:32 - Moses and Elijah, Luke 9:31.

CONTENTS

XIV
Conciliate - Reconciliation

     Conciliate - (Greek katallasso) down-change (2 Cor. 5:18-20; Romans 5:10). The noun (Katallagë) (Romans 5:11, 11:15; 2 Cor. 5:18,19) conciliation.

     To conciliate is an act on the part of one side only in an estrangement; Romans 5:10 is an example of its use.

     This Greek word, Katallasso, has not been distingiuslied by translators in general from its closely related or cognate word apokatallasso, meaning reconciliation, which is two-sided or mutual. Only in Paul's prison epistles is this word employed which states the fact, that the saints are reconciled to God and to one another through the cross (Eph. 2:15-18; Col. 1:20-21).

CONTENTS

XV
Ecclesia (Greek Ekklesia) out-called

The Church which is His body.

     "Ecclesia" - erroneously translated "church," which often has a non-scriptural connotation when referring to a denomination or building. Scripture references: - 1 Cor. 12:27-28; 2 Thess. 1:3-4; Col. 1:18-20; Eph. 5:23.

     "The Church which is his body" was never known to any man until it was revealed by the glorified Christ through the ministry of Paul and announced in his epistles only (Eph. 3:5). Nowhere else in all Scripture is there any mention of the body composed of "many members" (1 Cor. 12:12-14).

     No person becomes a member of the body by any virtue of his own, by any works of his own, nor even by any will of his own; only by the will of God (Rom. 9:16). All members of the body were foreknown to God before the foundation or disruption of the world (Eph. 1:4), and they were predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son. They are called of God, justified by faith in grace alone, and they will be glorified according to His purpose (Rom. 8:30).

     Paul was called outside the land, his sphere of service was among the nations. He was not seeking God, but was saved by a display of pure grace, hitherto unknown. It is to Paul that the secrets, or "mysteries" are disclosed for the nations. The secret of Christ was previously hidden but is now revealed. (Eph. 1:9, 3:4; Col. 1:26, 4:3); for only to Paul was revealed the secret economy, the present administration of grace (Eph. 3:9), an absolute secret hid in God, concerning the members of Christ's body, of which He, Christ, is the head. (Eph. 1:1-12).

     This Ecclesia did not come on the scene during the Ministry of John the Baptist; the earthly ministry of our Lord, during the advent of the out-pouring of Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2), but positively after the ascension of Christ and the call and conversion of Saul of Tarsus to whom was revealed the secret, concerning the evangel to the nations, of which he, Paul, became the dispenser or minister; the only true church which God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, recognize today.

CONTENTS

XVI
The Bride

     THE BRIDE - (John 3:29). John the Baptist is the last of the prophets. Hence he is not of those who constitute the Bride of the Lamb. Nor is the church of this administration of grace the Bride (Eph. 3:2). It is described as the "Body of Christ" (Romans 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:12-13; Eph. 1:23).

     Christ is the Bridegroom. The Baptized Israelites are the Bride. John the Baptist is the friend. The faithful in Israel will enjoy the earthly bliss of the New Jerusalem. The twelve tribes, and the twelve apostles of the Lambkin. The nations are a part of the Bride.

     THE 144,000 - (Rev. 7:4-5 and Rev. 14:1-5) may well he a part of the Bride of the Lamb. They are all male taken from the twelve tribes of Israel (Rev. 7:4-8). If they are of the Bride class they will be a part also of the "New Jerusalem" that marvelous City of God that will be on the New Earth and the New Heaven designed to bless all the families of the earth (Rev. 21:1-4).

     THE GREAT COMPANY - (Rev. 7:9-17) evidently will not be of the Bride class, but will be given a place subordinated to that of the Bride (Rev. 7:15). They would seem to be of the children of Israel that were scattered among all the nations, tribes and peoples and languages, a persecuted lot whom the Lord Jesus will rescue, and will be bringing them through the great tribulation at the end of this eon (Rev. 7:9-15).

CONTENTS

XVII
Resurrection

(Greek, anastasis, up-standing)

     This refers to resurrection of the body (John 11:25-26). Should be distinguished from rousing, Greek, egeirõ.

     ROUSING (Greek, egeirõ) of the soul. The awakening of the soul also the word rendered in the Concordant Version VIVIFY is a distinct word which means full life, life beyond the reach of death, immortality, incorruption, see John 5:21, 1 Cor. 15:23, 1 Tim. 6:13.

     The resurrection of the dead is the great expectation set before us in the evangel for all mankind. It is based upon the fact of our Lord Jesus having died for the sins of humanity, has been roused for their justification. Hence all who have gone into death will be resurrected in order to receive the benefits accruing from the sacrificial work of Jesus the Christ (1 Cor. 15:20-24; John 5:28-29).

     Some believers teach that those who die are alive in the spirit realm. If this were a fact that the dead are alive somewhere, then there is no need for them to be resurrected.

     Jesus said, "All that are in their graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth" (John 5:28). Paul said, "There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust" (Acts 24:15).

     There is not one general resurrection, but many in the Scriptures, to take place in order as follows:

     (a) - THE RAPTURE - The resurrection of the body members is not included with other resurrections. It does not displace any others, and it does not invalidate any timing which the Scriptures elsewhere testify about resurrections. The separate resurrection of the "body church" became part of a new revelation, inserted in the midst of Scripture, which were otherwise complete in themselves. It does not change what the Scriptures say about other resurrections. All who are called and saved from Paul's ministry of the nations (gentiles), to the coming of our Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:16-17; 1 Cor. 15:51-52) are included in this separate resurrection. They will be seated "in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:6), and through them "the manifold wisdom of God" will be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places (Eph. 3:10). What a glorious, heavenly destiny for the members of Christ's body!

     It is interesting for us to observe that the word "rapture" is not employed in the Scripture as such. It nevertheless, aptly describes the experience that the saints will have, when the Lord in descending in the air blows the trumpet to call both the living and the dead saints, and together they will he snatched away, at the same time, for a meeting of the Lord in the air, (outer space) (1 Thess. 4:13-18). This is said only of the members of the Body of Christ, whose destiny is in the celestials (Eph. 1:1-4).

     (b) - The First Resurrection - (Rev. 20:4-5). This resurrection takes place before the Millennial reign of Christ, just after the great Tribulation (Matt. 24:21-22). It is also called "the resurrection of life" (John 5:28,29; Dan. 12:2; Acts 7). Stephen and such others (Rev. 20:4, 6). They will reign with Christ for a thousand years. This is the Resurrection of the Just.

     (c) - The Resurrection of Judgment - (Rev. 20:11-15). This is the Resurrection of the Unjust. They who come forth to the resurrection of judgment will have no right to the tree of life, neither can they enter the holy city, the new Jerusalem, until they too "wash their robes" as others have done before. When all who die in Adam have been "made alive," - "vivified," given life beyond the reach of death - through Christ Jesus, all resurrections will be complete, including the resurrection of judgment. "Then comes the end or Consummation," at the completion of the ages or eonian times, when Christ delivers the kingdom to God the Father, having put down every rule and every authority and power (1 Cor. 15:24).

CONTENTS

XVIII
The Judgments

Heb. 9:27 Acts 17:31

     God's judgments, however severe, we are made to understand are corrective, salutary and remedial. This is set forth in Isaiah 26:9 to wit, "when Thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness." See Lamentations 3:33.

     Those afflictions and chastisements which God brings upon his children are for their trial and instruction (1 Peter 4:17). God's merciful moderation in chastising His people (Jer. 10:24). God's decrees and purpose concerning nations or persons (Romans 11:33).

     There is NOT one general judgment only, but thany judgments in Scripture. There were judgments in the past; there will be judgments in the future. There are judgments of nations and there are judgments of indivdiuals also. All are not judged at one and the same time. Not all judgments are final. All judgments contribute to the realization of God's ultimate universal goal "As one man's trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man's act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men" (Rom. 5:18). The future judgments are as follows -

     FIRST - Members of the Body of Christ are to appear before the judgment seat of Christ, "For all of us must be manifested in front of the dais of Christ" (2 Cor. 5:10, C. V.), not on the earth but in the heavens, after they have been caught away to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:17). That will be prior to the judgment of the world.

     SECOND - Judgment of the Household of God (1 Pet. 4:7,17; Rev. 16:1; Rev. 7).

     THIRD - Judgment of the Living Nations - (Matt. 25:31-32; Rev. 14:7,9,10).

     FOURTH - Judgment of the Former Dead - (Rev. 20:11-15) Those to be judged at the Great White Throne are all who come forth to the resurrection of judgment (John 5:29). They comprise all who have died as Unbelievers in every foregoing age, from those who die as sinners, during the thousand years period or Millennium back to Cain who killed Abel outside the Garden of Eden, including Sodom and Gomorrah, and all other nations before them. This judgment will include the former citizens of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum whose responsibility will be all the greater because of the mighty works which Jesus did in their midst (Matt. 11:20-24).

     FIFTH - The Lake of Fire - The Second Death (Rev. 21:8) The detention in the lake of fire may well continue a longer time for some than for others, but it will be completed for all during the ages, under the reign of Christ, before He delivers the Kingdom to God the Father, and God becomes All in all.

     These distinctions of judgment in respect to the various degrees of responsibility can then take into account such things as the age in which the individual has lived, and the enlightenment he was granted or of which he was deprived. For example - Persons in their tender years who met violent death at the hands of others, or even from natural causes, and did not hear of the glorious gospel of their salvation in its purity, all these will be graciously considered in that age or eon when they are resurrected, because the Judge of all the earth will judge in righteousness.

     He can make due and generous provision for the billions of heathens who have never heard of the name of Christ as the only name under heaven by which men may be saved.

     These distinctions of judgment make wise and loving provision also for the myriads of others who have died in infancy or in tender years of childhood before they could receive salvation by faith. The precious blood of Christ Jesus avails for them. Here is a clear case why God's judgments are not vindictive, but corrective, salutary, and remedial. The judge of all the earth will do right.

     It is reasonable, too, that many who have offended and are alienated from God by false and unscriptural teachings, dishonorable to His name, will hear the first pure gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ as they come before the Great White Throne. Many of such may well acknowledge Him then and receive Him as their Saviour and Lord. This should not be considered as is commonly and erroneously termed, "a second chance". This will be perhaps their first and only real call of the spirit of God, because Jesus said, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him" (John 6:44).

     Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, "cometh unto me" (John 6:44-45), but the time will come, when "at the name of Jesus" every knee will bow, "in heaven and on earth, and under the earth" and "every tongue will confess (acclaiming) that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:10-11, Rev. 5:13).

CONTENTS

XIX
Millennial Kingdom (1000 years) Rev. 20:

     The long awaited Millennial kingdom of Christ will come in the fourth eon, immediately after the Great Tribulation (Matt. 24:29-31), "and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (v30).

     The curse upon the earth (Gen. 3:17) will be removed; "the desert shall blossom as a rose" (Isa. 35:1); "there shall be showers of blessing" (Ezek. 34:26). The work of restitution of all things will ultimately usher in the Day of the Lord which last "for a thousand years."

     "A day with the Lord is a thousand years and a thousand years as one day" (2 Peter 3:8).

     "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth" (Matt. 6:10), will be fulfilled. Jerusalem has been God's choice to rule over the nations and over the whole earth, in the eons of the eons.

     The "Great Tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be" (hereafter) (Matt. 21:21-22) precedes the Millennial reign of Christ.

     The Chosen People (Israel) will be turning to the Lord being "grafted into their own olive tree" (Rom. 11:11-29). They will suffer persecution even to being "beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God" (Rev. 20:4), and they are resurrected with all the other "just" of all ages (except the members of Christ's Body), "and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years . . . This is the first (former) resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first (former) resurrection; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years" (on the earth) (Rev. 20:4:6).

     Whilst the saints or "just ones" will be raised, and reign with Christ as the Millennium begins on the earth, we the members of the body of Christ, will have already been caught up in the Celestials, to be forever with the Lord, before His earthly reign begins (1 Thess. 4:13-18; 1 Cor. 15:50-52).

     Christ's reign is not in operation now, this will demand His actual presence; it is not a job for the church to do now. Many sects of christians have a vague conception, of the kingly work of Christ, during and beyond the Millennial reign. His sacrificial work, the Cross, and His kingly work, the Throne, is separate in time (Rev. 11:15; 1 Cor. 15:25).

     Thus the kingdom of the heavens of which John the Baptist, our Lord and his apostles heralded up to the Pentecostal era, and those believing Jews and proselites to whom Peter first ministered during the transitional period, will have its complete fulfillment in the coming Millennial kingdom of Christ, including all of the saved of Israel in preceeding generations, and those who shall have come through the Great Tribulation and have rinsed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lambkin" (Rev. 7:14).

CONTENTS

XX
World - (Greek, Kosmos)

     An order or system, such as a world order, and thus it is sometimes confused with "eon," or age, which is also loosely translated "world." It is related to the word kosmeö, meaning to adorn or decorate. In Matt. 4:8, Satan showed Christ all the kingdoms of this kosmos, or world system, and offered these to Christ if He would worship him. Satan could do this because he is the god of this eon, or age, during which the present order prevails on earth. Scripture references: John 1:6-9, 8:12; Eph. 2:1-2; 2 Peter 2:4-5,9; "and the whole world (kosmos) lieth in the wicked one" (1 John 5:19).

CONTENTS

XXI
Israel

God's Chosen People Rom. 11
Exod. 6:7 - Num. 23:9 - De. 4:37 - 2 Sam. 7:23 - Psa. 135:1 - Psa. 45:4

     When God said to Abraham that "in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed," the children of Jacob, or Israel, were the ones God had in mind that would be the earthly seed to effect this blessing of all the families of the earth.

     Hence the selection of Israel is a part of the overall purpose of God. And every human being is inseparably bound up in that choice. For how otherwise will we (all) he blessed? It is not that Israel is blessed and all the rest of mankind are cursed, but that they are blessed and saved that all the others through them should be blessed and saved, in short, they are chosen that they may be used as instruments to bless all the families of the earth as promised to Abraham (Gen. 12:3,7).

     There is no question that the nation of Israel is placed in prominence in the Hebrew Scriptures, also in the Greek Scriptures (New Testament so-called). Israel has the monopoly of the blessings recorded in Romans 9:4-5. In flesh, Christ belongs exclusively to them, no other nation can lay claim to the Fathers, the Covenants, the Law, the Priestly worship and the Promises; they do not belong to the church, but to Israel according to the flesh.

     The proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom, beginning in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Sarnaria, spread to the limits of the land (Acts 1:8), and reached beyond to the Dispersion. Israel sought blessing through law keeping, but did not get it. Those chosen in grace alone found it (Rom. 9:30-33).

     The light of God is no longer with Israel but with the nations, but all the light is derived from the Scriptures which came through Israel. In Rom. 11, Jehovah is already gathering Israel back to their land with a view to grafting them into their own olive tree. When Israel again regains its proper place, all Israel shall be saved. Then the whole nation will know God, and they will become the light of the world, as they were always intended to be (Rom. 11:25-29).

     The church does not supplant Israel. The church is not spiritual Israel: The church is a new Creation in Christ Jesus. Let us always remember that Israel is still beloved, whatever its present attitude toward God. We may in some measure grasp God's goal, but the process by which He attains it is too complex for our feeble minds (Rom. 11:33-36).

CONTENTS

XXII
The Gentiles - (Nations)

     The gentiles are all those who are not of the tribes of Israel. This includes all the other offsprings of Abraham, that is Ishmael, Esau and the rest (Isa. 60:3; Matt. 10:5).

     To Israel the Lord saith, "I will also give thee for a light to the gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth" (Isa. 49:6). "The Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising" )Isa. 60:3,5,11). Simeon the just, filled with Holy Spirit said among other things, " . . . a light to lighten the Gentiles" (Luke 2:32). All the light that the Gentiles or nations will enjoy now, and in the future, is derived from the Jews.

CONTENTS

XXIII
Dispensation

     Dispensation, (Greek, Diakonia), work done for the welfare of others; that which is served out (Luke 10:40); apportionment of (1 Cor. 12:5); Paul assigned a dispensation (1 Tim. 1:12).

     A dispensation and an administration operate together. Administration is stewardship 1 Cor. 4:1, dispensation is to give out that of which you are made a steward.

CONTENTS

XXIV
The Eons - (Ages)

     Our Greek-English Lexicons usually define "OLAM" in the Hebrew, and "Aion" in the Greek, as an indefinite period of time . . . similar to an age.

     "Aion" (eon) . . . means a period of time between two great physical and moral cataclysms of the earth and its inhabitants. There are four such great physical and moral changes, three of which directly affect the history of the human race, on the earth, namely: (1) the Disruption, Gen. 1:2; (2) The Deluge, Gen. 6; (3) The Day of Wrath or Indignation, Romans 2:5; (4) and the judgment of fire that will usher in the new Heavens and the New Earth (Rev. 20 and 21).

     The eons are set within bounds in the past by the times before the Eons began ... and in the future by the Consummation (the end). Though these times deal with the longest periods in Scripture, nevertheless, there is always a beginning, and an ending.

     The "Eonian Times" are the times of evil. At the beginning of the "Eons" sin and evil are introduced, and will continue its course until the end of the "Eons," or consummation.

     This purely Greek word, spelled with English letters (Eon) , is used in the Scriptures to qualify life, salvation, glory, judgment, (or chastening), etc. (See Roman 6:23; Heb. 5:9, 6:2; and 2 Tim. 2:10, C.V.)

     Eon (noun) is a long period of time commonly mis-translated world, eternal, everlasting, forever, etc. There are five distinct eons indicated in Scripture. The Cross of Christ is the central event of the eons. The two best eons are yet future in prophetic Scripture. The first of these is the well-known "Millennium," or 1000 year reign of Christ on the earth. This will be followed by the "Eon of the Eons" ending at the consummation.

     Scripture references: - Gal. 1:3-5; Eph. 2:2, 3:8-11; 1 Tim. 1:17; Heb. 9:26.

     Eonian an adjective (Greek Aionios) pertaining to the eons. Scripture references: - John 17:1-3; Romans 5:17; Matt. 25:41-46; Romans16:25-27; 1 Tim. 1:15-16.

CONTENTS

XXV
Baptism in Holy Spirit and Fire

Matt. 3:11, Acts 2:1-4

     BAPTISM IN HOLY SPIRIT is in this administration the one baptism that is enduring, it is the inward spiritual cleansing, whereby the gifts and graces of the Spirit are really and actually bestowed ("He will be baptizing you in Holy Spirit," Matt. 3:11, C.V.)

     Baptism of the Holy Spirit is the real baptism, for it is the surest proof that one has passed from death unto life in Christ Jesus. As regards the ecclesia, the body of Christ, it unites us to Christ and to one another for we are made to imbibe one spirit (1 Cor. 12:13).

     There are three baptisms in Matt. 3:11, water, spirit, and fire. John used water only, and this rite continued all through our Lord's ministry on earth. But after His resurrection He told them, "John, indeed baptizes in water, yet you shall be baptized in Holy Spirit not many days hence" (Acts 1:5). From Pentecost onward, two baptisms obtained.

     During this administration of grace, there is only one baptism, all in Spirit. Water baptism is not essential to salvation in this era of grace (Eph. 4:5-6; Col. 2:12; 1 Cor. 1:14-17).

     At first, those who were baptized in water received the baptism of Holy Spirit also. In the case of Cornelius he received the Spirit before he was baptized in water (Acts 10:44-48). Now the one enduring baptism is Spirit, suited to those who are blessed with all spiritual blessings in the celestials (Eph. 1:4). "One Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Eph. 4:5). In one Spirit we all were baptized into one body (1 Cor. 12:13) - This baptism is for cleansing. Pentecostal baptism to Israel, was for power (Acts 1:8), to minister in Jerusalem, Samaria, and to the limit of the land (Palestine); beyond this they had no commission. Paul was called outside the land and commissioned for the regions beyond (Rom. 11:13).

     THE BAPTISM OF FIRE, is the burning of the chaff. Those whom Christ does not baptize in Holy Spirit, in grace, He will baptize in fire, in judgment, during that specified age, so that the judgment of fire does not determine their ultimate destiny after the ages have run their course. No believer is baptized with holy Spirit and fire as is commonly proclaimed by so-called Pentecostal groups. All true believers are baptized with Holy Spirit, and those like the Pharisees and Sadducees will experience a baptism of fire as they deserve. "He will be burning up the chaff with inextingushable fire." No true believer is classified as chaff, they are the "wheat class".

CONTENTS

XXVI
Baptism in Water

     Baptism as practiced in Paul's early ministry was a symbol of unity with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. It was a part of the ministration of God at that time. In 1 Cor. 10:1-4, the redemption of Israel out of Egypt, was typical of the spiritual deliverence which is ours in Christ. The saving of Noah and his family in the flood, is taken as a type of baptism (1 Pet. 3:20-21). In each of these cases the important fact is, that the people were not immersed, they were kept from being engulfed in the water. It is a symbol of burial.

     In 1 Cor. 1:14-17, it seems that Paul in his early ministry like our Lord (John 4:2), did not usually baptize with his own hands. As Stephanas was the first to believe in Corinth, there may have been no one else to baptize him. Crispus was the most prominent Jew in the City, hence the Apostle officiated personally when he was baptized. After this we do not read of his baptizing any one else. Paul does say; and it should be noted, these important words: "For Christ does not commission me to be baptizing, but to be bringing the evangel, not in wisdom of words, less the cross of Christ may be made void" (1 Cor. 1:17, C.V.).

     The Apostle Paul says again, "for as many as are baptized into Christ put on Christ" (Gal. 3:27). "As many as" shows that not all the Galatians had been baptized by water, but since faith came, all have the same high place of privilege.

     Water baptism as such, has its beginning with John the Baptizer (Mark 1:4-5). It was a baptism of repentance for the pardon of sins, and it was primarily for Israel only.

     The water baptism that was instituted after the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was especially for Israel, the nation who crucified the Lord Jesus (see Acts 2:37-38). John's baptism, therefore, ceased, as it is evident from the statement in Acts 19:1-6.

     Water baptism now no longer applies as a command. It serves no useful purpose as it did then, during the Kingdom proclamation, when Baptism with Repentance, were the two essentials for entrance into the Kingdom (1 Pet. 3:21 - A figure or representation). Even Cornelius received the Holy Spirit before he was baptized in water, which is also significant (Acts 10:44-48).

     This church, therefore, is not dogmatic in the performance of this rite, since the revelation of the secret of the evangel, of our spiritual position has been made known to us; our interest, our expectations, are no longer on earth, but in the celestial regions. One Spirit binds us together and unites us to Christ. "For in one Spirit we oil are baptized into one body ... and are all made to imbibe one Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:13), thus we are all vitally joined to the living organism, of which Christ Himself is Head.

CONTENTS

XXVII
The Unpardonable Sin

Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit
Matt. 12:31-32, Heb. 10:26-29 (C.V.)

"Every sin and blasphemy shall be pardoned men, yet the blashemy of the Spirit shall not be pardoned . . . it shall not be pardoned him, neither in this eon (age) nor in that which is impending." Matt. 12:31-32. (CV.)

"For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins," etc. Heb. 10:26-29 (K.J.V.)

     That "Unpardonable Sin" is a sin that God cannot and will never forgive, is the interpretation given by most christians. What a distorted picture! What a violent contradiction of the purpose and character of God! What a terrible stain on the divine Name! Looking again into the Word of God, what kind of teaching can it be, that lulls us poor fallen creatures to forgive - "not until seven times, hut seventy times seven" Matt. 18:22, then the great Teacher Himself is supposed to be barely forgiving even once? Can we be more forgiving than God? (Eph. 4:32; Matt. 5:48) He is, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth" (Exod. 34:6).

     Israel as a nation was set aside for a time as Paul declared to them in the book of Acts (13:46; 28:25-28). It was then that a hardening came upon part of Israel, all except those who received Paul's new gospel, the revelation of a secret which had been kept hidden "for ages and generations" (Col. 1:26). For Israel as a nation, this hardening of their hearts will prevail until the ministry which was instituted by Paul has been completed among the Gentiles (Rom. 11:25). Until then "the powers of the ages to come" have been suspended also. Those who had been led to repentance because they had witnessed such visible signs in their midst could not be renewed to repentance after the signs were no longer manifested to them. Their faith vanished when they saw no further evidence with the eye of flesh.

     Jesus had previously said that such should not be for given either in this eon (age) or in the eon (age) to come (Matt. 12:32), but they will be forgiven in the age following the Millennium, that is, in the New Heavens and the New Earth (Rev. 21:1-4). Too often is this Scripture (Matt. 12:32) misinterpreted as if Jesus had said that they will not be forgiven at any time, something he did not say. These apostate ones will remain among the unbelieving dead for the rest of this age and for the age to come. They do not come forth to judgment until after the thousand years. That judgment (The Great White Throne) will be severe for some, yet it is not vindictive, rather, a righteous judgment which eventuates in the salvation of the sinner. They will then be saved (John 12:32-33).

CONTENTS

XXVIII
Death - State of the Dead

     Its origin (Gen. 2:17) "in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (to die shall you be dying. C. V.) and in chapter 3:19 the penalty was enforced. "In the sweat of your face shall you eat your bread, till your return to the ground, for from it are you taken, for soil you are, and to soil are you returning." (C. V.) From the garden of Eden until now, all false cults and Eastern religions, Spiritism and mediums, are based on the false doctrine, that "The dead are alive." Also many so-called christian religionists teach that the righteous dead go directly to heaven at death, and the wicked dead go directly to a burning hell for all eternity, because they believe the dead are not dead but alive.

     The Scriptures say, "in Adam all are dying" (1 Cor. 15:23, C.V.).  "What living man shall not see death?" (Psa. 89:48). Paul says "the wages [penalty] of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). Death came in by sin, and is passed upon all men, for all have sinned (Romans 5:12).

     Death is therefore, an enemy and as such, the Scripture says, "The last enemy that shall be destroyed [abolished C.V.] is death" (1 Cor. 15:26). The dead do not exist as disembodied spirits or as immortal souls. Death is not a person although spoken of as such as a figure of speech. Death therefore is a complete dissolution of the soilish body. "The dead know not anything" (Eccl. 9:10, Acts 13:36). Asleep in the dust [soil] (Dan, 12:2; Job 17:13-16; Ilosea. 13:14).

CONTENTS

XXIX
Hell
(Greek, Hades - Hebrew, Sheol - the Unseen)

     This word most commonly signifies the grave, or the place or state of the dead (Gen. 37:35, 42:38; Psa. 16:10, Psa. 55:45; Jonah 2:2; Psa. 139:8).

     There is no "hell" as such in the Hebrew or Greek Scriptures. "Hell" is actually from an old Anglo-Saxon word meaning "unseen." For the "unseen" in the Hebrew, the word is "Sheol" and in the Greek, the word is, "Hades"; it is rendered "hell" thirty-two times and "grave" thirty-two times and "pit" three times in our common version, the so-called, Authorized Version.

     There is no fire in hell, in the places above mentioned in the Scriptures; many of God's believing saints desired to go there when their life was fully spent, such as Elijah, Job and others, so they could find rest (Job 3:2-22; 1 Kings 19:4). Even Jesus lay in the unseen (the grave) for three days (Psa. 16:10), both the good and the bad go to the grave (sheol), the unseen, at death.

CONTENTS

XXX
Hell-Fire
(Greek, Gehenna - the Valley of Hinnon)

Matt. 18:8-9 - Mark 9:43-48 - Luke 16:23

     The Greek word Gehenna (Hell or Hell-fire in K.J.V.) was the place just below the city of Jerusalem where the offal (refuse) was incinerated, it was also called the valley of Hinnon, where the bodies of criminals were cast after execution. "Into the Gehenna of fire" (hell-fire).

     Its fire and worms are literal, for the city refuse are burned there. No living beings are cast into this incinerator. It is the worms which do not die that feed on the carcases of executed criminals. The fire is kept burning at all times in the valley. This will be the place where bodies of executed malefactors will be east during the coming kingdom era.

CONTENTS

XXXI
Hell
(Greek, Tartarus)

2 Peter 2:4 - Jude 6

     The "gloomy caverns" of Tartarus, are distinct from Hades, the Unseen, from Gehenna, and from the Lake of Fire. They are the temporary dungeons of spirits. Jude says, "the messengers who kept not their own sovereignty, but leave their own habitation, He has kept in imperceptible bonds under gloom for the judgment of the great day" (verse 6, C. V.).

     It is unfortunate that this word, Tartarus, is translated "hell" in our Common Version in its only occurrence, 2 Peter 2:4.

CONTENTS

XXXII
The Lake of Fire - The Second Death

Rev. 20:14

     The Lake of Fire - the Second Death, is not a literal physical death like the death resulting in Adam's transgression; but is the CHASTENING JUDGMENTS pictured by the Lake of Fire burning with sulphur. It will be an instrument of judgment that will come into operation particularly at the period of the Great White Throne Judgment, though it would seem to be in existence about the time preceeding the thousand year reign of Christ (Rev. 19:20). Only in the Book of Revelation is it mentioned.

     "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether" (Psa. 19:9). The second death judgments are the judgments which will cause the inhabitants of the world to LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS when they are in the earth. They will burn out all evil and sin which belong to the flesh or carnal nature. The second death is not just a repetition of the "first" death, but it is that which compensates for all the deficiencies of the "first." Indeed the "first" death is destroyed by means of the "second" death. "And death and the unseen (hell) were cast into the lake of fire." This is the second death - the lake of fire" (Rev. 20:14). The fact that the "second" death is not a recurrence of the present death is quite evident also from comparing Rev. 21:4 and 21:8. Death and Hades together are cast into the lake of fire but death survives even Hades, "the unseen." All the unclean in the lake of fire are still in the power of death, but even they are visible to spiritual discernment and no one then remains any longer in "the unseen" (hell). Yet death is not destroyed until the last prisoner in the lake of fire has received Salvation in Christ at the consummation of the ages. Then, but not before, "Death is swallowed up in victory." Then, "O death, where is thy victory?" (1 Cor. 15:54-55).

     Until then all of the unclean in the lake of fire are yet dead in their sins but the Scriptures are emphatic that they will he made alive (vivified) when death no longer survives.

     As in Adam all are dying, thus also in Christ SHALL ALL BE MADE ALIVE. 1 Cor. 15:22.

CONTENTS

XXXIII
Satan

     SATAN (Hebrew, Adversary), also called the Dragon (Devil). This evil One is fully and clearly identified in Rev. 12:9 as follows: - "The great Dragon was cast out, the ancient Serpent called Adversary and Satan, who is deceiving the whole inhabited earth." The same is repeated in chapter 20:2 which relates to the time of the coming eon when he will be bound a thousand years.

     According to the inspired Word of God, the Scriptures, Satan is a created being. He too is created by God through Christ, for without Christ, Who is spoken of as the Word, "not even one thing came into being which has come into being" (John 1:3).

     The apostle John, in 1 John 3:8, speaks of Satan as having sinned from the beginning. Jesus said, "He was a rnan-killer (murderer) from the beginning" (John 8:44). The father of lies. It has been a perplexing problem to account for Satan without incriminating God Himself. It is usual to insist that he was created perfect, and at a later stage fell into sin. But this is no real relief. The impulse of sin, in that case, would then come from without instead of within, and it, in turn, demands an explanation. The Scriptures plainly teach that he was created a slanderer and a Satan. From his very beginning his work has been to oppose and destroy. The purpose for which the Son of God was manifested was to undo what the slanderer - Satan - had done. Thus it is that the Son of God will completely annul the acts of the Devil.

CONTENTS

XXXIV
The Destiny of Satan

     Our Lord Jesus foretold the destiny of the Adversary, because he knew the spiritual victory that the Cross would accomplish at the conclusion of the eons.

     In order to temporarily estrange humanity for their necessary schooling relative to "good and evil," God required a diabolically subtle, and clever deceiver to test humanity. Satan was thus permitted to enter Eden's Garden and cause Adam and Eve to eat of the "tree of knowledge of good and evil." He has been man's adversary, and will be until he is cast into the Lake of Fire and Divine burning, where he will remain for the eons of the eons (Rev. 20:10). That is a very long and tremendous period of correction. It is just however, because his offense far exceeds that of humanity; and the Judge of all the earth will do right.

     As to his destiny our Lord said, (Luke 4:5-12) "Go behind mc Satan, It is written, the Lord your God shall you be worshiping, and to Him only shall you be offerlog divine service." (Con. Ver.)

     "It is written" is the sword of the spirit, that destroys the insinuations of the Slanderer. On every point in which the first man failed God, the second Man, though tempted many times more severely, stood the test triumphantly. Had He not been the Son of God the trial would have been too great. Satan's doom is in the Lake of Fire (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:10). The Consummation is at the close of the ages (eonian times). The reign of Christ is necessary to cope with evil, when evil is banislied Christ's rule retires. When the universe has been purged of all other evil, then death itself becomes inoperative and yields up its victims out of the Lake of Fire - The second death. Satan and his messengers have been judged, and subdued. No more death; not till then is it true, that all are made alive in Christ.

     The universality of Christ's subjection of all under His feet is evident with but one exception - God Himself (1 Cor. 15:27-28). "Who is subjecting the universe to Him. Now whenever the universe may be subject to Him, then the Son Himself also shall be subject to Him Who subjects the universe to Him, that God may be All in all." God will be All in all when death is abolished, at the consummation. A complete reconciliation, so that the words of Jesus will be fulfilled, "The Lord your God shall you be worshiping, and to Him only shall you be offering divine service" (Luke :1:8, C. V.)

CONTENTS

XXXV
Everlasting Punishment

     The Hebrew word translated "everlasting," eternal," "forever" and "ever," is Olam, is translated "in old time," in Josh. 24:2. To use the English translation everlastingly or eternally would be absurd in this verse. "Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time" (or for an age) presents no problem; but, "Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood everlastingly" (or eternally) is preposterous.

     The word Olam occurs twice in Psalm 41:13 "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting and to everlasting." If everlasting means without beginning or ending, it means eternal. How can one add eternity to eternity? But if we translate correctly, "The Lord God of Israel from age to age" the mind can grasp the thought. The Greek equivalent in the New Testament is aiõn-Eon, frequently translated forever, and when it occurs twice (as it does 20 times) it is translated for ever and ever. But the mind cannot add for ever to for ever, except to say, one forever ends and another forever begins; but how simple and understanding it is, when rendered from age to age.

     In Heb. 1:8 we read, "Thy throne O God is for ever and ever," but this should read "for the age of the age," or "eon of the eon." In Matt. 25:46, "These shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." Dr. Young's Concordance to the Bible, translates the word punishment as meaning restraint, and Dr. Bullinger renders it, to curtail, to prune, to check, to chastise.

     The Concordant Version of the New Testament renders it chastening. We may therefore read, "These shall go away into age-lasting chastening, but the righteous into age-lasting life." Age-lasting life denotes, a life of service for those who are recipients, for they will be with Christ to reign with Him for the eons, but when the eons are over, and God becomes All in all, we should remember that God having given us immortality, our life goes on endlessly (1 Cor. 15:53-54).

CONTENTS

XXXVI
Ransom - Redeem

     "Ransom" (Greek, Lutroo), loosen. It is used nearly fifty times for each of two Hebrew words, gal (redeem) and Phde (ransom).

"Ransom" is used only in relation to the claims of Jehovah, especially as to the firstborn of man and beast (Exodus 13:13, 15. 34:20, Numbers 3:46-49), vows (Rev. 27:3; 1 Sam. 14:45) involving death. "Redeem" is used of human rights as property (Lev. 25:25, 54, 27:13, 33) and the avenger (Num. 5:8).

Ransom involves the Divine, redeem the human, the former is religious in scope, the latter social and seldom used in the later Scriptures. Christ redeemed Israel (Luke 24:21), the saints (Titus 2:14, C. V.).

Ransom is for all (1 Tim. 2:6). Only the saints of all dispensations are redeemed. The ransom work will be accomplished when all are ransomed from the power of the grave (Hosea 13:14). None will be lost. All will be set free or loosened as the word implies.

CONTENTS

XXXVII
Predestination

     Predestination - to designate beforehand (Rom. 8:29-30; Eph. 1:5-11; Acts 4:28). To determine before, to ordain.

     This is expressed differently, yet means the same thing when we are told that the saints were chosen in Christ, before the disruption of the world (Eph. 1:4), and in 2 Tim. 1:9, were saved, called of God, before times eonian, and adds, yet now is being manifested.

     Our destiny was fixed by God from the beginning, long before we could have any part in it. He first loved us, and has included us in His vast purpose, of which we form a vital part.

CONTENTS

XXXVIII
Redemption - Deliverance

     As redemption, redeemed (verb) and ransom have already been treated we need only add that redemption is seldom used in the Greek Scriptures (see Luke 1:68, 2:38; Heb. 9:12).

     The strengthened form of this Greek word "Lutron" which is "Apo-lutron" or "Apo-lutrosis" which means not merely "loosen," but (apo) from-loosen, that is, deliverance. Apo-lutron, then is, from-loose or deliverance. But unfortunately it is not distinguished from lutron which relates to redemption.

     Deliverance includes the full fruition of a ransom or redemption (See Roman 8:23; Heb. 11:36; Rom.3:24; 1 Cor. 1:30; Eph, 1:7; Col. 1:14).

CONTENTS

XXXIX
Man's Free Will

     It is claimed that every man has a free will. Many religionists says, "Man is a free moral agent." Whoever coined that phrase surely has little or no knowledge of the Word of God.

     We are told of those who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: whereas ye know not what will be on the morrow. For what is your life? it is even as a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanish away" (James 4:13-14).

     Man is free to will, purpose, choose, plan or decide to do anything he wishes, but God controls his actions. It is said that man is a creature of circumstances. The fact is, that God directs and controls the circumstances, be they good or evil.

     In Eph. 1:11 we are told that God "worketh all things after the Counsel of His own will." All things, not some things, things good or things evil. In Prov. 16:9 we read, "A man's heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps." In Rev. 17:12-18 we read, "ten (evil) kings . . . make war with the Lamb," of God . . . and "God hath put in their hearts to fulfil His will . . . until the words of God shall be fulfilled."

     When the Pharisees decided, or willed, to murder Jesus, we read in John 7:30, "they sought to take Him, hut no man laid hands on Him, because His hour was not yet come." Eventually God's appointed hour for this foul deed came, and the Jewish leaders and people accomplished their so-called will and purpose, to murder Jesus. After our Lord had been raised from the dead, and ascended to his Father, the inspired writer states, "of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, Whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together, to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done" (Acts 4:27).

     The fact that God frequently brings to pass the evil that men will do, in no way excuses men for willing to do evil things. To will or even to desire to do wrong (though the purpose may not be carried out into effect) is a serious thing. It is therefore, a serious responsibility to possess a free will, even though the actions of all men are under God's control.

     God will not deprive men in the next eon (age) of their freedom to will. He well knows how, in due time, to change their hearts from hearts of stone to hearts of flesh (Ezek. 11:19). God has no use for robots or automatons. He desires and will obtain the free will love and praise and gratitude of all His creatures in due time (1 Tim. 2:6).

     In the matter of salvation, the same principle is used as given here in Romans, it is God's sovereign will (not man's), as Paul says in Romans 9:11, "that the purpose of God, according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him that calleth. . . . So then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy." "For in grace are you saved through faith, and this is not out of you, it is God's oblation, not of works, lest anyone should be boasting" (Eph. 2:8-9, C. V.).

CONTENTS

XL
Women's Place in the Ministry

Hand-maids of Christ

     To truly understand the will and purpose of God our Father, with respect to the place of women in the church or ecclesia of Christ, the Sacred Scriptures which are our guide should be read in the light of the way of life among Eastern peoples, and not as is the custom among the peoples of the West.

     The religions of the East were powerless to regenerate the heart and to purify the life of anyone, and however excellent some of their teachings may appear to be in theory, they utterly failed in practice to carry out their ideals, and to give to women their proper place in society and in their religious life. True, there were goddesses and spirit mediums, but of these degenerate practices we are not concerned.

     Christianity on the other hand, which is of God, has effectively changed the lives of men and women, liberating, enobling and enriching them in their way of life tremendously. This liberation and enoblement are more marked among women than among men. Hence at the first, the apostle Paul had to deal with the question of women's place in the church wisely, so as to avoid contention and confusion, with the view of setting things in oider (1 Cor. 14:40).

     We may safely assume, that no record of the history of the church, tells half the story of the accomplishments of women among them. No greater voice on earth has championed the cause of the devoted, spiritually-minded women more than that of the great Apostle Paul. We way be sure that women played their part, in every great cause or crisis in the affairs of the church, throughout the centuries. Have you forgotten the women who ministered to our Lord Jesus? (See Luke 8:1-3; Mark 15:40-41; Matt. 27:55-56).

     Returning to Paul, the Apostle, no wonder he writes, saying "now I am commending to you Phoebe our sister being a servant (a deaconess) also of the ecclesia (or church) in Cenchrea, that you should be receiving her in the Lord worthily of the saints, and may stand by her in whatever she may be needing you, for she became a patroness of many as well as of myself" (C.V.).

     It is interesting too, to note the many women that are mentioned in this chapter (Romans 16) namely, Phoebe, Priscilla, Mary, Junia, Tryphena, Tryphosa, Persis, the mother of Rufus, Julia the sister of Nercus, Olymphas and all the saints with them (Rom. 16:12-14).

     Now all these women, be it noted, are commended by Paul, and are regarded by him as persons of worth, Divinely endowed with the spirit of grace and of love. Persons who rendered excellent service in the cause of God and Christ. Add to these noble women of the church, Paul mentions Lois and Eunice, Timothy's mother and grandmother, and there is Dorcas among the saints of the circumcision, the Kingdom believers, who made garments for the poor (Acts 9:39-41).

     Let us not therefore, assume that women are exempted from the sphere of service or of usefulness in the ecclesia. For, again says the Apostle Paul, "I am entreating Euodia and I am entreating Syntyche to be mutually disposed in the Lord. Yes, I am asking you also, genuine yoke-fellow, be aiding them, these women who compete together with me in the evangel" (Phil. 4-1-3). Our General Assembly therefore, recognizes the place, the gifts and graces of the spirit which the Lord has given to women in the ministry, in accord with the teaching committed to the Apostle Paul.

     In 1 Tim. 2:11-12 we read, "Let the women learn in silence with all subjection," and in 1 Cor. 14:34 we read the following, "Let your women keep silence in the churches."

     In the light of the Oriental and Israelitish conception of the place of women in general, these injunctions are understandable. But the evangel of Christ, especially of this administration of grace, grants to women a wider sphere of service here in the flesh. A place, of course, subordinated to the men. Yet in Spirit they have a standing of equality with the men. As it is written: "There is no Jew nor Greek, there is no slave nor yet free, there is no male and female, for you all are one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 4:28).

     While we are in the flesh, the sexes must be recognized and the instructions obeyed as regard women's place in the church. But in Spirit, positionally, there is absolutely no sexual, cultural, national, or religious difference or distinction.

CONTENTS

XLI
Love

(Greek, agapê, aqapão, verb)

     This word (agapê) is unfortunately rendered "Charity" in our Common Version. It means a love that finds its source in the subject, apart from any worthiness in its object (see also Matt. 5:44). Also, the desire to please and promote the welfare of its object (Roman 5:5, 8:35,39; John 13:35; Romans 14:15; John 15:9,10, etc.).

     Another Greek word translated love is Phileo. It means "fond affection." A responsive affection based on approval and regard. The same word for "friend" (Titus 3:15) as well as for "kiss" (Matt. 26:48, Mark 14:44, Luke 22:47), kiss of Judas.

CONTENTS

XLII
Pentecost

     Pentecost of the Scriptures is a Jewish feast day which occurs the fiftieth day after the Passover, another Jewish holy day (Acts 2:1, 20:16; 1 Cor. 16:8; Exodus 23:14).

     Pentecostalism as we see it.today began at the turn of the century. Its adherents claim to speak in unknown tongues (?) according to Acts 2:4 and this experience is to them the baptism of the Holy Ghost (as they term it) with a burning fire.

     The tongues or languages in Acts 2:4 could be understood by anyone familiar with that language. There was no need for an interpreter. The other tongues of 1 Cor. 14:2 were not spoken to men as the languages of Acts 2:4 were, "For he who is speaking in a language is not speaking to men, but to God for no one is hearing (understandeth), yet in spirit he is speaking secrets." He who is speaking in a language "is edifying himself" (1 Cor. 14:4).

     It is Israel who requires a sign (1 Cor. 14:22), so on this day, according to His promise, God was speaking through these Galilean Jews, a language with which they were not familiar, to unbelieving Jews, from every nation under heaven, who could understand their own language, of which three thousand of them were saved (Acts 2:41).

     Any Pentecostalist today, who claims the experience of the Galilean Jews, is laboring under a Satanic delusion. Israel as a nation have been set aside, "until the fulness of the gentiles be come in" (Rom. 11:25). God is not giving signs to Israel today, but began a work through Paul, "which in other ages was not made known, unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed, unto His holy Apostles and Prophets, by the spirit" (Eph. 1:5).

     The Corinthians were told, not to use their gift of (tongues) languages in the ecclesia, unless there was an interpreter present to tell what is said, and there were not to be more than two or three manifestations at a gathering, and that by course, and let one interpret. "But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silent in the church, and let him speak to himself, and to God" (I Cor. 14:28).

     We need no other tongues, such as the Corinthians had, for we have the comfort of the Scriptures which they did not have.

CONTENTS

XLIII
Universal Reconciliation

     In Colossians 1:20 (C. V.) we read, " . . . and through Him to reconcile the universe to Him (making peace through the blood of His cross), through Him, whether on earth or in the heavens."

     Reconciliation speaks of peace. It has to do primarily with the relation of the creature to the Creator. The enmity and estrangement which now exists between God and man, will be at an end when the work of reconciliation is complete.

     The Creation as it now stands is in a state of disunity, not only with its Creator but with itself as well. There is no real lasting peace anywhere, because the heart of the creature is out of harmony with that of its Creator, having being temporarily cut off from Him.

     At present the nations are "walking according to the vanity of their minds, their comprehension being darkened, etc." (Eph. 4:17-19, C. V.). The time is coming when the hostility will cease; this begins with His reign, "For He must reign, until He should be placing all His enemies under His feet" (1 Cor. 15:25). It will take much time, but all will be vivified, made alive beyond the power of death, reconciled to God, in happy union with Him, and God will be All in all His creatures.

     What a grand and glorious goal of the Universe! The climax of His purpose of the eons, which God makes in Christ Jesus our Lord.

CONTENTS

XLIV
Divine Healing

     We are often told that, "the healing of the body is in the atonement." Not only is this a fact, but the resurrection and vivification (life beyond the reach of death) of the body, are all provided for in the work of Christ on Calvary. In fact, all blessings, of every kind, is latent in the cross of Christ, yet all waits God's opportune and fitting time and place.

     In Isaiah 53:4, "Surely our illness has He borne, And our pains, He was burdened with them." This really refers to bodily infirmity for at His first advent, "He cast out spirits with a word, and all who are ill He cures" (Matt. 8:16).

     This power was given to the twelve Apostles, and to the seventy, and given again in connection with the creation commission, at the end of Marks' gospel. The Acts gives us many cases of healing, and Paul was not a wit behind the chief of apostles. He was blessed with extraordinary powers, so that even handkerchiefs from him, drew diseases from the sick (Acts 19:11, 12). As he progressed in his course his ministry underwent a change. He himself was burdened with infirmities. He delighted in infirmities, for whenever he was weak, then he was powerful (2 Cor. 12:10-11). The exalted nature of the revelations he received made this necessary. Timothy, his genuine child in the faith (1 Tim. 1:2) was also afflicted with frequent infirmities (1 Tim. 5:23). Why did he prescribe wine? Epaphroditus, was very nigh to death, yet Paul did not attempt to heal him, besides he left Trophinus at Miletum sick. So long as the Apostle was proclaiming Christ according to the flesh, he was not outdone by anyone in the gift of healing. But when the most glorious administration of the mystery began to dawn, which had hitherto been a secret, he himself suffered bodily infirmity, and his associates likewise. The reason was, that the transcendent spiritual blessings, was best exhibited into broken vessels, whose boast would he humbled by physical infirmities. Israel will be blessed with every physical blessing, and this will overflow to the nations that share her bliss. But we are blessed with every spiritual blessing, which often demands physical infirmity for its manifestation, yet, prayers should be made as the Apostle Paul said, "In every prayer and petition be praying on every occasion, in spirit and be vigilant for it, with all perseverance and petition concerning all saints" (Eph. 6:18).

     When a believer grasps the present truth of our calling, healing of the body will be seen in its true place. Let us examine these so-called divine healers. How many lepers have they cleansed? Jesus said, "to cleanse the lepers, raise the dead." Did you ever see any of these so-called healers take any part of the case-load from any hospital in the land? or go to yonder Funeral Home and restore the dead-one to life? Most of what you hear over the radio, of healing, and most of what is practiced by healing-systems, is a farce, and a poor imitation of the genuine, to deceive the gullible. There is no question that we can, and should pray for each other, that God may be merciful to us, as in the case of Epaphroditus (Phil. 2:27) in accord with His will, "lest I should be having sorrow on sorrow" Paul said; but we cannot recommend James 5:14-15 for the members of Christ's body, because the writer of the book clearly indicates, the class of people to whom it is written is "to the twelve tribes in the dispersion." The conflict between Paul's epistles and James is so pronounced, that it is needless to try to reconcile them, as long as we can see clearly, that the epistle of James is for a different people, and a distinct administration.

CONTENTS

XLV
Fasting

     Fasting was an established religious rite in Israel. In the atonement day celebration, an atonement for the sins of the nation of Israel, the people were commanded to afflict their souls (Lev. 16:29,31, 23:27,32). All other occasions for fasting as practiced by Israel seem to stem from this Divinely ordained rite.

     Our Lord fasted forty days (Luke 4:2), the Apostles fasted also (Matt. 6:16). The time came when the disciples did not fast (Matt. 9:14-18; Mark 2:20).

     After our Lord's ascension, the disciples fasted (Acts 10:30, 14:23, 37:33; 1 Cor. 7:5; 2 Cor. 6:5, 11:27).

     Fasting does not apply as a command today. It is no aid in our standing as justified ones before God (Luke 18:12-14). It is left to the individual believer, but not a rite of the church.

     However, in times of crisis, or in any emergency that may arise in our Christian walk, the Minister of an ecclesia may proclaim a season of prayer and fasting for all those who are willing to afflict their souls. At special seasons of self-denial it is very requisite to resort to prayer and fasting. Jesus said, "When thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret" (Matt. 6:17-18).

CONTENTS

XLVI
Washing of Feet as a Sacrament

     Feet washing was indeed a necessity in the early church. A mark of hospitality. Even our Lord washed His disciples' feet as an example of humility; Paul mentions it favorably (1 Tim. 5:10) as common custom, not indeed as a sacrament, but as a necessity owing to the wearing of sandals.

     It is not necessary today in our time and country.

CONTENTS

XLVII
Tithes and Offerings

     Tithes and offerings were instituted long before the giving of the law to Israel. It goes back to Cain and Abel. It was in evidence at the time of Noah after the flood (Gen. 8:20-21, 14:20, 28:22).

     But these rites were incorporated in the Mosaic institution, and became a vital part of it (Lev. Chapter one and chapter sixteen are noteworthy, Heb. 7:9-10); and individual offerings are the sacrifices of praise giving thanks to God with our lips (Heb. 13:15-16; Phil. 1:17-18; Rom. 12:1).

     In this administration of grace we are enjoined to offer our bodies (Romans 12:1) and that we are not our own. Rules for giving, "Let every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful (gleeful, C.V.) giver" (2 Cor. 9:7; Romans 12:8; 1 Cor. 16:2).

CONTENTS

XLVIII
Sabbath and the Law

     Sabbath and the Law of the Sabbath as such, is older than the law (Gen. 2:2-3). But it was incorporated into the law which was given to Israel. And to no other nation was the law given (Ex. 20:1-24). For to no other nation was the law covenant entered into (Ex. 19:1-8, 34:; Deut. 4 and 5).

     You can't have the law without the covenant. And, surely, God made no covenant with any other nation than Israel.

     "Yet now, apart from law, a righteousness of God has been manifested . . . yet a righteousness of God, through Jesus Christ's faith, for all and on all who are believing, for there is no distinction, for all sinned and are wanting of the glory of God" (Romans 3:21-23, C, V.).

CONTENTS

XLIX
Marriage

     Marriage, says the inspired writer of the book of Hebrews, is honorable (Heb. 13:4). Paul counsels the young widowed women to marry, bearing children (1 Tim. 5:14). And he warns those who forbid marriage as echoing the doctrines of demons (1 Tim. 4:3).

     In 1 Corinthians 7 the whole question is gone into. In it, too, the Apostle gives his opinion on certain matters, but not as an injunction from the Lord, he makes clear (see verse 6, 12, 25).

     "She that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband" (1 Cor. 7:34).

     "The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth." Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed.undefiled" (Heb. 13:4).

     "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing" (Eph. 5:22-24).

     "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it . . . So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself . . . For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh" (Eph. 5:25,28,31).

     "A prudent wife is from the Lord" (Prov. 19:14).

     "Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord" (Prov. 18:22).

     "Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity . . . for that is thy portion in this life" (Eccl. 9:9).

CONTENTS

L
Administration

     Administration, (Greek OIKONOMIA), is an orderly arrangement of affairs. An administration of grace (Eph. 3:2), as well as of a secret (Eph. 3:9). Usually associated with a dispensation, or giving. Paul entrusted with. (1 Cor. 9:17); complement of the eras (Eph. 1:10), of God (Col. 1:25, 1 Tim. 1:4, C. V.)

CONTENTS

LI
Election

     It is stated distinctly in Scripture that certain of the human race are "God's elect" and are what they are in character, privilege, and destiny in virtue of this sovereign, ordaining will of God. They were elected but not unto themselves, or for the sake of their own future, but rather for the sake of the work which their position of privilege would enable them to do for others of His creatures.

     "The elect of God" (Col. 3:12) chosen by Him, as an act of undeserved, unmerited mercy, to the knowledge of Himself and His glorious salvation, called out of darkness and translated into the kingdom of His dear son. This election is a condition of exalted privilege to which all rise who accept the message of God's mercy through Jesus Christ.

CONTENTS

LII
The Antichrist

     There are five occurrences of this word in the Scriptures. And all are to be found in the epistles of John. They are as follows: - 1 John 2:18,22, 4:3; 2 John 7. In 1 John 2:18 it occurs in its singular and plural forms.

     John tells us that this Antichrist is already present, and is at work in the world (1 John 4:3-4). That is the spirit of the Antichrist. And he tells us how we may recognize it (1 John 4:1-3; 2 John 7).

     John's statements concerning the Antichrist, might well be regarded as prophetic. John in vision, is looking down to the end of this wicked eon, the day of God's wrath, or of His indignation. Then the wicked one, will actually appear as a man (Dan. 7:23-26). He is the man of lawlessness, the one the Apostle Paul predicted will come, in the time of the end (2 Thess. 2:1-10).

CONTENTS

LIII
Evil

     Evil is the opposite of good. It should be distinguished from sin, in that, it has no moral tinge, for God created evil (Isa. 45:7). And He brought many evils on His people Israel, by way of correction and discipline.

     Job exclaimed: "Shall we receive good at the hand of the Lord, and shall we not receive evil?" (Job 2:10), and we have the Divine approval of this assertion of Job. In the very next clause of the same verse, it says: - "In all this did not Job sin with his lips." This shows that evil as well as good is of God, and is imposed, not merely as chastening judgments for wrongs committed, but also, as in the case of Job, solely as a means of testing one's character of trust, and on a reliance on God, despite what might happen. Trusting Him even where we cannot trace His hands, in our experiences (Heb. 12:7-12).

     We should note too, that in the Garden of Eden, it was God who planted all the trees, including the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:8-9). And when Adam sinned we have this profound declaration, namely, "Behold the man is become as one of us, to know good a evil" (Gen. 3:22). Here again, evil and good are linked together, and that it exists before the creation of man is also clear, and in the book of Lamentations, chapter 3, verses 31-38, we have a bold, forthright categorical statement, that cannot be seriously questioned. It says: - "Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? Out of the mouth of the Most High cometh there not evil and good?"

     In accounting for evil in the world, the popular method is to shift it upon the devil. If Satan introduced evil into the world contrary to the purpose and plan of God, then God made a mistake in creating him. God is well able to defend his own honor. God kills, and makes alive. He tries his creatures. Man needs trial and testing. Hence evil is used by God. We should not do evil, for we are not able to bring good out of it, as God can.

     From all of the above passages of Scripture, we learn that evil and good are not competing forces, emanating from rival gods, but it is clear that they are purely complementary. Evil in the hand of God is used to serve the end of goodness, on behalf of His creatures. God is master of these two forces, hence He controls them absolutely, in the interest of all. This is a very large subject, yet we should see and realize that this, too, is of God, and that it will eventually be abolished, when the forces of evil will be done away with, as set forth in the book of Revelation (See Chapter 20 and 21).

CONTENTS

LIV
God All in all

     God becoming All in All is the grand out-working of His eonian purpose (Eph. 3:11); not eternal purpose, a phrase which is essentially meaningless, because, a purpose must have an end if it is a purpose at all; but the purpose of the ages is meaningful, as the Revised Version shows.

     Our God and Father will eventually become everything to everyone. They will ultimately find their fullest enjoyment and satisfaction in God their Father. They will then have entered into that filial relationship with Him through the masterful work of Christ in bringing all God's creatures, celestial and terrestrial, into loving subjection to God and Christ, who, most blessedly, subjects Himself to God His Father that God may be ALL IN ALL (1 Cor. 15:20-28). How could this be true if the ninety and nine were saved and one remained lost? No! in this parable Jesus said, "likewise joy in heaven over one sinner" (Luke 15:7). God could not be All in all if one sinner is left unsaved at the consummation of the ages. All, not nearly all, not the church only, but all (mankind). "Draw all," to draw men to Himself is the work of Christ till the end of the eons, when through His reign He subjects all to God His Father by placing all His enemies under His feet, even the universe - then the Son Himself also shall be subject to Him (God), that God may be All in all (1 Cor. 15:24-28).

     During this administration of the evangel of God's grace, some souls come to a realization and enjoyment of their salvation, but in accord with His declared purpose, God will cause all His erring creatures to know and adore Him in the ages to come to the laud and praise of His glory (John 12:32; Heb. 9:25).

CONTENTS

LV
Holy Communion

     The "Holy Communion" or common-union or common participation is spoken of by the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 10:16-17 with special reference to partaking of the Lord's Supper." In this all believers in the Lord Jesus have a comnion share. Hence the bread and wine which our Lord instituted symbolize His body and blood given for us. Of this we partake (1 Cor. 11:23-32).

     This is the only ritual remaining in the church today, as a command, and ought not to be neglected, "as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lords death till He come" (1 Cor. 11:26).

CONTENTS

LVI
Fixing Dates for the Second Advent of the Lord

     We believe that it is unwise and unscriptural to teach that the Lord will come at some specified time, thereby setting a date for the Lord's return; and also that. it is unwise and unscriptural to give out from the platform or to testify in the assembly, or publish visions, or fixing dates as to the thne of the second coming of the Lord. Those denominations that have done so in the past, erred from the truth as it is in Christ Jesus.

     The Scriptures testify that the "Coming of the Lord draweth nigh." "But of the day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only" (Matt. 24:36). We are therefore commanded to watch, "Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come" (verse 42).

CONTENTS

LVII
The Affirmation of Faith

     I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth;

     And in Jesus Christ His Only Son, our Saviour and our Lord; Who was made Flesh, being conceived by Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hades (the unseen), and on the third day was roused from among the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

     I believe in the Holy Spirit: that proceedeth from the Father and the Son; the Church of Christ, which is his Body; the fellowship of saints; justification of those called in grace; the rapture of the members of Christ's Body, living and dead, to meet Him in the air; the resurrection of the just and the unjust; and universal reconciliation, the goal of the Universe, when God shall become All in all. Amen.

CONTENTS

LVIII
The Consummation

     "The consummation" relates to the end or conclusion of the (ages) eons (1 Cor. 10:11; Hebrews 9:26). It marks the period of the end of sin and death which, happily, began to be eliminated from among mankind during the last two eons during which Christ reigned (1 Cor. 15:25; Rev. 21:4-5). "Thereafter comes the Consummation, whenever He may be giving up the Kingdom to Cod and His Father . . . For He must be reigning until lie should be placing all enemies under His feet." We who believe God's Word are encouraged to look for a "Consummation" when God will be "All in all" (1 Cor. 15:24).

     At the Consummation there will be no more soilish bodies, for all creation will have bodies of enduring elements energized with Holy Spirit, because death will have been abolished, "in Christ shall All be made alive" (1 Cor. 15:22), even those who rejected Him shall be made alive in His power to give life, for "He is not a God of the dead but of the living" (Matt. 22:32). Death and corruption cannot remain before Him to dispoil His perfect creation. "As we wear the image of the soilish, we shall be wearing the image also of the celestial." (1 Cor. 15:39).

CONTENTS

LIX
List of Some of Our Publications

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