There are some very dark and strange things in the Bible – things which to many seem irreconcilable with the character of justice and love which we ascribe to our Heavenly Father. “God is love,” and “by the grace of God Christ tasted death for every man.” “He is the propitiation for our sins, and also for the sins of the whole world.” Why then did Christ say to his disciples: “Go not in the way of the Gentiles, and…
Ages have rolled around, yet the seed of Abraham, although a nation and partially possessing Canaan for a time, have never yet had those promises to Abraham FULFILLED. “I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee.” “And I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession.” But Paul shows us how that there was a deeper meaning than the surface promise couched in…
Because of the shortness of human life, we act quickly ourselves and expect others to act so, and we can scarcely avoid carrying the same thought with us when we go to the investigation of God’s Word. We read – “Yet a little while, and He that shall come, will come.” We think, as we look back at the many centuries which have elapsed since our Lord’s first advent, that it has not been a “little while.” No, to us it has been…
“A SPIRIT HATH NOT FLESH” But some, perhaps, may say, Did not Jesus contradict the thought that he was a spirit when he used the words, A spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me have? The two thoughts are quite in harmony: they were not seeing the spirit Jesus, they were merely seeing the flesh and bones which the spirit Jesus assumed (or manifested himself) for the purpose of conversing with them, just as the angels assumed…
MARY THE FIRST WITNESS The honor of being the first witness to whom our Lord manifested himself after his resurrection came to Mary Magdalene, who at one time was possessed by evil spirits, but who, being freed from their domination became a faithful and loyal follower of Jesus. This was not the Mary, sister of Lazarus and Martha, neither was it Mary the “sinner,” who washed our Lord’s feet with her tears in the Pharisee’s house. She is called Mary…
Golden Text: – “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept.” – 1 Cor. 15:20. “MANY INFALLIBLE PROOFS” Then comes in our Golden Text, in which the Apostle reassures us that it is no fable, that Christ arose from the dead, that it was not only necessary to our salvation, but that it is a fact well attested. He proceeds in his argument to show that thus by the resurrection of Christ…
John 20:11-23 Golden Text: – “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept.” – 1 Cor. 15:20. While the death of Christ was the greatest event in history, his resurrection from death readily holds second place. The death of Christ without his resurrection would have left our race just as helpless and hopeless as before. The word death signifies the absence of life just as truly when applied to our Redeemer as…
We continue with the common hindrances which prevent some of the Lord’s professed followers from obtaining a full assurance of faith. (2) Even amongst those who are REAL Christians (true Disciples of Christ), and WHO HAVE MADE A FULL COVENANT OF SACRIFICE unto the Lord, we find many who say, and more who think it without saying, – “O that I could feel sure that God’s goodness and mercy would continue with me all the days of my life, and that…
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psa 23:6 The apostle Paul speaks of the full assurance of hope and of full assurance of faith, as being the proper conditions for the Lord’s people. (Heb 6:11; 10:22) And this is the thought expressed by the Prophet, in our text – full confidence that he who has begun a good work in us…
DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT SALVATIONS Here note the difference between the blessing God designed for the elect church He is selecting during this gospel age and the one he purposes for the world of mankind. The church’s blessing is NOT “restitution,” and in harmony with this we can see no evidence of restitution anywhere about us. The restitution work waits for the restitution time, which begins with the establishment of the kingdom. Believers of this present time receive, indeed, a faith equivalent…