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PART I.
FOOD FOR THINKING CHRISTIANS.
----------
WHY EVIL
WAS
PERMITTED
AND
KINDRED TOPICS.
----------
"To make all see, what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the
beginning of the world hath been hid in God." "Wherein
he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto
us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath
purposed in himself:--that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he
might gather together in one, all things in Christ." - Eph.
1:8, and 3:4,5,9.
----------
SEPTEMBER.
(SPECIAL NUMBER.)
"ZION'S WATCH TOWER,"
PITTSBURGH, PA.
1881.
[page ii]
PREFACE.
THE design of this pamphlet is, first to supply to such Christians as
are alive and fully consecrated, and hungering and thirsting after a fuller
knowledge of "Our Father" and his plans, what we believe to be
"meat in due season;" leading such to perform all their consecration
vows: secondly, to awaken those who are asleep in Zion--showing those who are
not truth-hungry, what they are too much occupied with worldly plans to know,
viz., that they are starving for the "good word of God," though they
say-- We are "rich and increased in goods and have need of nothing."
"I love to tell the Story!
More wonderful it seems,
Than all the golden fancies
Of all our golden dreams:
I love to tell the Story!
It did so much for me;
And that is just the reason
I tell it now to thee."
It is our part, under heavenly direction, to thus scatter the food--the
seeds of thoughts; it is God's part to water and give the increase--in some
thirty, some sixty, and in some a hundred-fold to his praise. We leave the
results with him.
ZION'S WATCH TOWER.
[R-250 : page 1]
PART I.
----------
WHY EVIL WAS PERMITTED.
A DIALOGUE.
B.--GOOD evening, Brother A.: if you are at leisure I
would like to have some conversation with reference to the Bible.
A.--I am at leisure, my brother, and such a
conversation should be of interest and profit to both of us. Have you struck a
new vein of precious metal in the mine of truth?
B.--Well, no; I cannot say so. The fact is, I am
somewhat perplexed to know whether the Bible is really a mine of truth or not.
There are many beautiful truths taught in the Bible which commend themselves to
my judgment, and if I could only have my mind clear on some points, I would
gladly accept the whole. It seems, too, that there must be some way out of my
difficulties, if I could only find it, for surely the book is stamped with a
wisdom higher than human, and my difficulty may arise from a failure to
comprehend it more fully.
A.--Well, my brother, it gives me great pleasure to
meet with an honest inquirer after truth. You are anxious, then, to find the
connecting links in the great chain which binds the interests of humanity to
the throne of God. We believe that all Scripture is given by inspiration of
God, and that the Spirit will guide us in the understanding of it. If it should
please him to use me as his mouth-piece it will be a great privilege, and if I
can render any assistance it will afford me pleasure.
[R250 : page 2]
B.--Well, can you explain why evil was permitted? If
God is infinite in power, wisdom, and goodness, why did he permit his fair
creation to be so marred by sin? After creating our first parents perfect and
upright, why did he permit Satan to present the temptation, or why allow the
forbidden tree to have a place among the good? Could he not have prevented all
possibility of man's overthrow?
A.--I see just where your difficulty lies, and I think
I can make it very plain to you. It pleased God for the joy it gives him to
dispense his goodness, and to exercise the attributes of his glorious being, to
create various orders of intelligent beings. Some he has endowed with greater
capacity than others; but each he made perfectly adapted to his sphere. We are
acquainted with many forms of life in our world, but above all others stands
man, the masterpiece of God's workmanship, endowed with reason and intelligence
superior to all others, and given the dominion over all. He was made upright
and perfect; God pronounced him "very good"--a perfect man--
physically, mentally, and morally, yet unacquainted with evil and lacking
experience. Had evil never been placed before him he could not have resisted
it, and consequently there would have been no virtue nor merit in his
right-doing. I presume I need scarcely remark here that not the fruit of the
tree but the act of disobedience caused man's fall.
B.--But could not God have made man unchangeably
perfect?
A.--No; to have done so would have been to make
another God. Unchangeableness is an attribute only of an infallible, infinite
being--God. He who cannot err must, of necessity, be all-wise, all-powerful,
and consequently eternal.
B.--I had never thought of it so.
A.--If an intelligent being is to be made at all, he
must be made liable to change; and, as he was created pure, any change must be
from purity to sin. He could not even know the meaning of good unless he had
evil to contrast with it. He could not [R250 : page 3] be
reckoned as obedient to God unless a temptation to disobedience were presented,
and such an evil made possible.
B.--But could not God, with whom we are told "all
things are possible," have interfered in season to prevent the full
accomplishment of Satan's designs?
A.--You say "all things are possible" with
God. I trust you remember that it is all possible things that are possible with
him. "It is impossible for God to lie."--Heb.
6:18. "He cannot deny himself."--2 Tim. 2:13. He
cannot do wrong. He cannot choose any but the wisest and best plan for
introducing his creatures into life; and we should bear in mind that the fact
of God's not interfering with the introduction and development of sin is one of
the very strongest of reasons for believing that evil is necessary and designed
ultimately to work good.
C.--Brother A., may I interrupt you here to ask, why,
if it was proper and wise that Adam should have a trial under the most
favorable circumstances, as a perfect man, should not all his posterity have a
similarly favorable trial? We all know that we are born with both mental and
physical ailments and imperfections. Why did not God give us all as good a
chance as Adam?
A.--If you or I had been in Adam's place, we would
have done just as he did. Remember, he had known God only a little while. He
found himself alive--perhaps God told him he was his Creator, had a right to
command his obedience, and to threaten and inflict punishment for disobedience.
But what did Adam know about the matter? Here was another creature at his side
who contradicted God, telling him that he would not die from eating the fruit;
that God was jealous, because eating of this fruit would make him a God also.
Then the tempter exemplified his teaching by eating of it himself, and man saw
that he was the wisest of creatures. Can you wonder that they ate? No; as a
reasoning being he could scarcely have done otherwise.
C.--But he should have remembered the penalty--what a
terrible price he must pay for his disobedience--the wretchedness [R250 : page 4] and death which would follow. If I were
so placed, I think I should make more effort to withstand the tempter.
A.--Wait, Brother C.; you forget that Adam, up to this
time, was totally unacquainted with wretchedness and death. He could not know
what wretchedness meant; he never had been wretched. He did not know what dying
meant; and, if you or I had been there, controlled by an unbiased judgment, we
would have done just as Adam did. The reason you think you could withstand
better is, that you have had experience with evil, and have learned, in a
measure, what Adam up to that time had not learned in the smallest
degree,--viz., to know good from evil.
C.--O, I see. Then it is because we would have done
just as Adam did; that God is justified in counting us all sinners, that
"by one man's disobedience the many were made sinners," and "by
the offence of one, all were condemned" (Rom. 5:18,19),
and so "the wages of sin (death) passed upon all," and through or
"in Adam all die."
B.--Do I understand you to say that God does evil that
good may come?
A.--By no means. God did no evil, and he permitted it
only because it was necessary that his creatures should know good from evil;
that by being made acquainted with sin and its consequences --sickness, misery,
and death--they might learn "the exceeding sinfulness of sin," and
having tasted that the bitter "wages of sin is death," they might be
prepared to choose life and to understand the wisdom and love of God in
commanding obedience to his righteous laws.
B.--But did not God implant in his creature that very
thirst for knowledge which led him to an act of disobedience in order to
gratify it? Does it not seem, too, that he wanted him to become acquainted with
evil, and, if so, why should he attach a penalty to the sinful act, knowing
that a knowledge of evil could be obtained in no other way?
A.--We can see readily that a knowledge of evil could
be [R250 : page 5] obtained in no way except by its
introduction; and, remember, Adam could not have disobeyed if God had given no
commandment, and every command must have a penalty attached to give it force.
Therefore, I claim that God not only foresaw man's fall into sin but designed
it: it was a part of his plan. God permitted, nay, designed man's fall; and
why? Because, having the remedy provided for his release from its consequences,
he saw that the result would be to lead man to a knowledge, through experience,
which would enable him to see the bitterness and blackness of sin--"the
exceeding sinfulness of sin," and the matchless brilliancy of virtue in
contrast with it; thus teaching him the more to love and honor his Creator, who
is the fountain and source of all goodness, and to forever shun that which
brought so much woe and misery. So the final result is greater [R251 : page 5] love for God, and greater hatred of all
that is opposed to him. The best armament against temptation is knowledge.
C.--Your reasoning is clear, forcible, and, would seem
to me, plausible, were it not that this experience and knowledge came too late
to benefit the human family. Adam failed from want of knowledge and experience
to maintain uprightness of character --his posterity, though possessing that
knowledge and experience, fail to attain uprightness from lack of ability
occasioned by his sin.
B.--I can see no objection to your view, that evil was
permitted because necessary to man's development and designed for his ultimate
good, were it not as Brother C. suggests--mankind will never have an
opportunity to make use of the experience and knowledge thus obtained. But,
Brother A., what did you mean a few
minutes since when you said God had a remedy provided for man's release from
the effects of the fall before he fell?
A.--God foresaw that having given man freedom of
choice, he would, through lack of knowledge, accept evil when disguised as an
"angel of light;" and, also, that becoming acquainted with it, he
would still choose it, because that acquaintance would [R251
: page 6] so impair his moral nature that evil would become more agreeable
to him and more to be desired than good. Thus permitted to take his own course,
man brought upon himself misery and death, from which he could never recover
himself. Then the voice of infinite love is heard: "Behold the Lamb of God
that taketh away the sin of the world." This is Christ Jesus, and the
death of Christ for man's sin was a part of God's plan as much as man's fall.
He is "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." His death
for our sins was purposed by God before man fell; yes, before man was created.
B.--I begin to see a harmony and beauty connected with
the introduction of evil which I had not suspected. May we not reasonably say
that God could not have displayed those qualities of his nature so attractive
to us--mercy and pity--nor could his great love have been made so apparent had
not the occasion for their exercise been presented by man's necessities?
A.--I am glad that you have suggested this thought. It
is true, that though "the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy,"
yet neither of these would have been seen had there not been a sinner requiring
them; and while "God is love," and always has been the same, yet it
is true that "in this was manifested the love of God, and hereby perceive
we the love of God, because he (Christ) laid down his life for us." And do
you not see that in the arrangement of the whole plan the wisdom of God is
beautifully shown? Let me say further, that as we proceed, we shall find God's
justice made to shine because of the introduction of evil. God might have told
his creatures of these attributes, but never could have exhibited them had not
sin furnished an occasion for their exhibition.
B.--I am becoming anxious to see the outcome. You have
suggested that Christ is the remedy for man's recovery from the effects of the
fall, and that it was so arranged and purposed by God before creating the race,
but you have not shown how the recovery is effected.
A.--I am glad that you have not lost sight of the real
object [R251 : page 7] of our conversation. The answer
to this question will involve the consideration of two points:--First, What was
the penalty pronounced and inflicted? and, Second, What was the remedy, and how
applied? May I ask you to state in Scripture language what penalty God
pronounced on Adam's sin?
B.--I believe it reads, "In the day thou eatest
thereof, thou shalt surely die." But he did not die for nine hundred and
thirty years.
A.--You quote correctly. The marginal reading will
help you over the difficulty of his living nine hundred and thirty years. It is
a more literal rendering of the Hebrew text: "In the day thou eatest
thereof, dying thou shalt die,"--i.e., from the moment he should disobey
God, death would have dominion over him--would have a claim and right to him,
and would begin its work. It was only a question of time how soon it should lay
him low. Elements of disease infested all nature with which he came in contact,
since separated from Eden and its trees of life.
We all are in a dying condition, partially dead; mentally, morally, and
physically. From the moment of birth, and before it, we have been in the
clutches of death, and he never lets go until he has conquered. Man, by means
of medical aid, attempts resistance; but, at best, it is but a very brief
struggle. Adam, because physically perfect, could offer great resistance. Death
did not completely conquer him for nine hundred and thirty years, while the
race at the present time, through the accumulated ills handed down through
generations past, yields to his power on an average in about thirty-two years.
C.--We are, then, so to speak, overshadowed by death
from the cradle to the tomb, the shade increasing each moment until it is
blackness complete.
A.--Yes; you get the thought. As David expresses it in
the twenty-third Psalm: "I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death." The further we go down into this valley the darker it becomes,
until the last spark of life expires. [R251 : page 8]
B.--I understand you to believe that diseases of the
various kinds are but the mouths of death by which we are devoured, since we
were placed within his reach by Adam's sin?
A.--Yes; every pain and ache we feel is evidence not
that death will get hold of us, but that he now has us in his grasp. Adam and
all his race have been in death ever since he disobeyed.
C.--We frequently speak of death as the "Angel
God has sent," "the gate to endless joy," etc., and yet I
confess I could never regard it except as an enemy, and such it would really
seem to be.
A.--Nowhere in Scripture is it represented as our
friend, but always as an enemy of man, and consequently the enemy of God, who
loves man; and we are told that "for this purpose Christ was manifest,
that he might destroy death and him that hath the power of death,--that is, the
devil."
B.--If death is the penalty for sin, has not mankind
paid that penalty in full when dead? Might he not be released from death the
moment after dying, yet fully meet the demand of justice? A.--"The wages
of sin is death,"--not dying, but "death" --forever. As well say
that a man condemned to imprisonment for life, had received the full penalty in
the act of going into prison, as that man received his penalty in the act of
going into death. By disobedience man fell into the hands of Justice, and,
though God is merciful and loving, there can be no warfare between his
attributes. Mercy and love must be exercised in harmony with justice. "God
is just," and "will by no means clear the guilty." Man was
guilty, and must therefore be dealt with by justice. Justice cries, Your life
is forfeited, "dying thou shalt die." Man is cast into the great
prison-house of death, and Justice, while locking him in, says: "Thou
shalt by no means come out thence until thou hast paid the uttermost
farthing."
B.--Do I express the same idea by saying that man
forfeited his right to life by his disobedience, and, consequently, God, in [R251 : page 9] justice, recognizing and enforcing his
own law, could not permit him to live again unless he could meet the claims of
justice?
A.--The idea is the same. Man is the debtor, and
unless he can pay the debt he cannot come out of the prison-house of
death--cannot have life. He cannot pay this debt, and consequently cannot
release himself. But man's weakness and helplessness gives occasion for the
display of God's mercy and love in Christ Jesus, for "When there was no
eye to pity, and no arm to save," God devised a way by which he could be
both just and merciful; and so, "while we were yet without strength, in
due time Christ died for the ungodly."
C.--How for them? His death does not prevent men from
dying.
A.--It does not prevent their dying, but it does
prevent their continuance in the prison-house of death. He came to "open
the prison doors and set at liberty the captives." This he does, not by
opposing God's justice, but by recognizing it, and paying that which is due. He
has a right to set those prisoners free. In his own death--the just for the
unjust--he ransomed us, as it is written, "I will ransom (purchase) them
from the power of the grave;" "I will redeem them from death;"
"for ye were bought with a price, even the precious blood (life) of
Christ."
C.--I understand you to mean, that as Jesus came into
the world by a special creative act of God, he was free from the curse which
rested upon the balance of the race, therefore not liable to death. As the
second Adam he was tried, but came off conqueror. "He was obedient even
unto death;" but his right to life not having been forfeited, either
through Adam's sin or his own, death had no claim upon it. He, therefore, had
an unforfeited life to offer Justice as a ransom for the forfeited life of
mankind.
A.--Yes, as he himself said, "My flesh I will
give for the life of the world."--John 6:51. He must
have a right to continuance of life, else he could not give it. He did not
conquer nor overthrow Justice, but recognizing the justice of the law of God [R251 : page 10] in the forfeit of the sinner's life, he
purchased it back with his own, and thereby obtained the right to "destroy
death,"--the [R252 : page 10] enemy who for a
time is used as the servant of Justice.
B.--Then Justice accepted the life of Christ as a
substitute for the sinner's life. But it seems unjust to make the innocent
suffer for the guilty.
A.--It would be unjust to make or compel such
suffering, but "Christ gave himself for us." "He for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross." C.--But how could the life of
one purchase the life of many?
A.--By the rule of
SUBSTITUTION.
As Adam was substituted for the race in trial, and through his failure
"death passed upon all men," and all were counted sinners, even
before birth, so the obedience of death in Christ justified all men to a return
to life. Paul so expresses it in Rom. 5:18, [Em. Diaglott]:
"For as through the disobedience of ONE man, the many will be constituted
sinners, so also through the obedience of the ONE, the many will be constituted
(reckoned) righteous;" and, "as through one offense, sentence came on
all men to condemnation (condemning them to death), so also, through one
righteous act, sentence came on all men to justification of life,"
justifying their living again.
B.--Shall we understand, then, that the resurrection
of the dead is optional or compulsory on Justice?
A.--Christ having "tasted death for every
man," it is certainly compulsory on Justice to release the prisoners held
for sin. Christ's sacrifice having been accepted as "the propitiation
(settlement) of our sins, and not of ours (believers) only, but also for the
sins of the WHOLE WORLD," all must go free, because God is just to forgive
us our sins."--1 John 1:9.
B.--Does this imply universal, eternal salvation?
A.--No, it implies the saving or salvation of all men
from the Adamic death, but as many of them will be liable to the "second [R252 : page 11] death," on account of their own
sin, it cannot be eternal salvation. The second Adam will eventually restore to
the race all that it lost by the first Adam's sin.
C.--Was everlasting life one of the things possessed
by Adam before he sinned, and which he lost in death; and is it to be restored
to mankind through Christ's ransom?
A.--Yes; his continuance of life, if obedient, is
implied in the threatening of death if disobedient. Adam, when created perfect,
was possessed of a perfect body, and with perfect arrangements for the
continuance of the perfect life, in the trees (woods) of life, in the garden.
This kind of life would have lasted forever had he continued obedient, hence
was everlasting life, conditioned only on obedience. This was lost, and is to
be restored to all mankind,--viz., perfection of being, or life and perfect
provision for its everlasting continuance in harmony with God.
C.--Then this salvation cannot be what Paul refers to,
saying, "the gift of God is eternal life." A.--Natural (human)
life--everlasting--was originally a gift from God, but its restoration is not,
strictly speaking, a new gift; rather it is an old gift returned. Life once
possessed was lost, and is to be restored because purchased--paid for--by the
death of Christ. The restored race, brought back to where they were before the
fall, will have the advantage of knowing from actual experience the character
and results of sin, which plunged our race in ruin. Then, with the knowledge of
sin and its miserable results, gained during the present time, they may be
considered superior to all temptation and sin, and, therefore, not liable to
death. They will enjoy everlasting life in the same sense that Adam possessed
it before the fall, and that angels now possess it,--viz., the right and means
of continuing their life (by eating, etc., Psalm 78:25), as
long as they continue obedient to God's laws. This is not the same, however, as
Immortality--the new gift of God [see "The Narrow Way to Life."--page
134] which the Scriptures assert to be possessed by God our Father [R252 : page 12] and our Lord Jesus Christ only, and
promised to those of the Gospel church, who overcome and become his Bride. This
new gift was never known of before this Gospel age, "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. 3:5; see
also 1 Cor. 2:10, and 1 Pet. 1:12.) It
"is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who
hath abolished death (obtained the right to do so by giving "his life a
ransom for all"), and hath brought Life and Immortality to light through
the Gospel."--2 Tim. 1:10.
Yes, our Lord made both things possible, the restoration of Life to
mankind in general, and the attainment of the superlative degree of
life--Immortality--by those who overcome and become his bride. It is of this
great prize set before believers of this Gospel age that Paul speaks, saying:
"God having provided some better thing for us." (Theirs was good and
grand, but the bride's portion is better.)--Heb. 11:40.
The character and exclusive application of this promise of the divine,
incorruptible, immortal principle of life to the "little flock," the
"bride," is shown in the following and other Scriptures, --1 Tim. 6:16: God "only hath immortality:" a life
incorruptible, independent of any support, eternal (the word eternal merely
expresses duration, nothing more: God is both eternal and immortal.--1 Tim. 1:17.) In John 5:26,
Jesus gives his own definition of immortality, claiming that the Father gives
it to him. "As the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the
Son to have life in himself." He thus became a partaker of the divine
(Jehovah's) nature, a son of God--the "only begotten" on that highest
plane. And it is to partake of this same gift of God--"glory, honor, and
immortality"--that his Bride is called. According to his promise she is to
become "partaker of the divine nature," also--the same high plane of
sonship--"joint heir with Jesus." She is to have within her "a
well of water (life) springing up" (Jno. 4:14), while
the rest of mankind may come to the fountain to drink.--Rev.
7:17, and [R252 : page 13] 22:17. Paul says of the
overcoming church, "This mortal must put on immortality."--1 Cor. 15:53.
Thus we see that the new gift is
that held out for the bride-- immortality--divinity: while that which the world
will get will be the restoration of the former life. When the world is restored
to perfect human life, possessing the knowledge of good and evil, as perfect
obedience will be expected of them as was required of Adam.
C.--You
seem to think there are no conditions to salvation, while the Scriptures
mention them frequently.
A.--There
are conditions laid down for attaining the high calling to joint-heirship and
dominion with Jesus and immortality, but none for the recovery of the race from
the fall, except the righteousness and acceptableness of the substitute.
C.--If
ransomed, why do they remain in death, and others die, since Christ has paid
the price?
A.--But
the price is not yet fully paid. To have a clear understanding of God's plan,
we must recognize the distinction which he makes between the world in general
and the Church, or called-out ones of the present time. God loves the world,
and has made great and rich provisions, as we have seen, for their coming in
his due time, to a condition of perfection and happiness, but, in the meantime,
while they are getting their experience with evil, God calls out "a little
flock," to whom he makes "exceeding great and precious
promises," conditioned on their living separate from the balance of the
world--"overcoming the world,"--viz.: that they may become
"children of God," "partakers of the divine nature," the
"bride," and "joint heirs," with his only begotten Son,
Jesus Christ (anointed).
With her Lord, the wife becomes a
part of the Christ--the anointed "body." She now fills up the measure
of the afflictions of Christ, which are behind.--Col. 1:24.
With him, she bears the cross here and when every member of that body is made
"a living sacrifice," has crucified the fleshly human nature, then
the ATONEMENT sacrifice will be finished, and the bride, [R252
: page 14] being complete, will enter with her Lord into the glory which
follows, and share with him in the "joy that was set before him," and
which he set before her--of blessing all the families of the earth, thus
completing the AT-ONE-MENT between God and the redeemed race. And, "as in
the first Adam (and Eve--they being counted as one--Gen.
5:2) all die, so in Christ (Jesus and his bride made one--Eph.
2:15) shall all be made alive." 1 Cor. 15:22. Jesus,
the head, atoned for his body, his bride, and his righteousness is imputed to
her. Being thus justified, and considered holy in God's sight, she is permitted
to have fellowship with him in his sufferings that she may also share with him
in his glory. [See Tract No. 7, Work of Atonement-- Tabernacle Types.]
Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us (believers), that we should be called the children
of God, and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with JESUS
CHRIST, our Lord, if so be that we suffer with him."-- Rom.
8:17.
B.--It
is very clear to my mind, that a false idea of substitution has obtained among
Christian people, from a supposition that it represented God as a vindictive,
vengeful tyrant, angry because man had sinned; refusing to show mercy until
blood had been shed, and caring not whether it was the blood of the innocent or
the guilty, so long as it was blood. I doubt not many Christians have been led
to look upon substitution as a God-dishonoring doctrine, even though there are
many scriptures which are found difficult to otherwise make use of, as,
"He tasted death for every man;" "My flesh I will give for the
life of the world;" "Without the shedding of blood (life) there is no
remission [R253 : page 14] of sins;"
"Redemption through his blood;" "While we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us;" "We were reconciled to God by the death of his
son;" and many other texts to the same effect. It was not by his leaving
the glory which he had, nor by his keeping the law, nor by his being rejected
of the Jews, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, nor by his
resurrection, [R253 : page 15] nor by work he has
since accomplished, but, "by his DEATH that we are reconciled to
God."
I now see him as mankind's
substitute, suffering death, the penalty which the justice of God had inflicted
upon us. I can see "the exceeding sinfulness of sin" in God's sight,
the perfection of his justice, and his great wisdom in so arranging it all,
that man's extremity was made the occasion for the manifestation of "the
great love wherewith he loved us" when "he gave his only begotten
Son," and "laid upon him the iniquity of us all," as well as the
love of Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all
iniquity, (buy back to us all we had lost by iniquity). I feel to exclaim with
Paul, "O! the depth of the riches both of the knowledge and wisdom of
God."
C.--Do
you understand the Scriptures to teach that all mankind will reach and maintain
the perfection of life which Adam lost--which you called "everlasting
life?"
A.--It
would seem as though such love, when seen, would beget love and obedience; but
we are assured there is a second death, and while those who become subject to
it, will not compare in numbers with the saved, yet, there will be some, who
will not reach perfection, even at the end of the thousand years, who being
incorrigible will be cast into the lake of fire (the second death.)
God made provision before our
creation for the recovery from the first death, (the present Adamic death,)
but, if after experience with evil and a knowledge of good, they do not
appreciate good, they will die for their own sin (not Adam's). There is no
recovery from the second death--Christ will not die for them again. Justice and
love can do nothing more for them.
C.--Do
you not understand that some are condemned to the second death during the
Gospel Age?
A.--Yes,
in 1 Jno. 5:16, and in Heb. 6:4-6, we are
informed that some commit this sin now, but from the conditions mentioned, they
are evidently few. Only those who have been brought to a knowledge of God and
his good word and have [R253 : page 16] received the
Holy Ghost--in a word, Saints are the only ones who could commit it--those who
have already received all the benefits of ransom from sin, etc., and who know
it. If these, being washed, like the sow, willingly go back to the wallowing in
the mire of sin, they commit the sin unto death.
I do not mean simply backsliding,
but open apostasy and rejection of Jesus' work of ransom and purchase as
explained by the Apostle.
And now there is another thought I
would like you to notice: Jesus not only ransomed his bride from death, but as
her head becomes her leader, example, forerunner, and captain of her salvation
to the spiritual condition and divine nature. The death and resurrection of our
Lord are inseparably joined: the death was necessary as our ransom, to release
us from the condemnation of sin, and to justify us before God; the resurrection
was necessary that through our Lord's guidance, grace and strength bestowed
through the Spirit we might be able to walk in his footsteps as he hath set us
an example--"being made conformable to his death."
B.--I
see a force, then, in Paul's expression, Rom. 5:10:
"Reconciled by the death--saved by the life." His death justified us
to human life, but his example and aid enable us to "become partakers of
the divine nature" and life immortal.
C.--If
justice could not let mankind go free from death, how could Jesus be permitted
to live if he became man's substitute? Must not his life be forever forfeited?
A.--It
was forever forfeited--he never took the same life again. He was quickened
(made alive) to a higher life by the Father. He was "put to death in the
flesh, but quickened by the Spirit" to a higher plane, a spiritual body.
As we shall be, he, our leader, was "sown a natural body, raised a
spiritual body." Had he risen a fleshly being, with fleshly life, we could
not go free. It would have been taking back our "ransom"-- our
"price." As Paul says, "He took upon him the form of a servant
(flesh) for the suffering of death." He had no need of [R253 : page 17] it further; he left it. "He made
his soul (life) an offering for sin:" "My flesh I will give for the
life of the world."--Jno. 6:51. It was given forever.
"This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down
on the right hand of God." Heb. 10:12, having received
a higher life.
B.--This
change, then, accounts for his acting so strangely after his
resurrection--appearing in different forms--as the gardener to Mary, and
"afterwards in another form to two of them," etc. His appearing in
their midst, the doors being shut, and anon vanishing out of their sight. I
often thought it peculiar. But did not his fleshly body disappear from the
tomb?
A.--Yes;
"His flesh saw not corruption." What became of his flesh, I know not
any more than I know what became of the various bodies in which he appeared
after his resurrection, and of the various fleshly bodies in which angels
appeared at various times. "They saw not corruption;" but, remember,
it was not the atoms of matter which composed the body--(and which are
continually changing)--these atoms did not sin, and were not cursed nor
forfeited by the fall. It was the flesh life, and Christ's laying down his
flesh life, effects the ransom.
C.--Now,
another point: Are all our sins, actual as well as imputed, forgiven?
A.--While
all are justified from Adam's sin unconditionally, yet, where knowledge of
right is possessed, obedience is expected as far as they are able to obey.
Failure in this respect is the occasion for their being beaten with many or few
stripes in the age to come; while the "little flock" who now believe
into and are baptized into Christ, become members of his body, are by their
faith justified from all things (Acts 13:39), will not be
beaten with stripes in the world to come. True, they now receive
"chastisement whereof all are partakers," but not as a penalty; only
as the "rod and staff" of Christ, the Shepherd, to guide his sheep.
Thus the sins of the "Church of
the First-born" are passed [R253 : page 18] over,
(not imputed), and she is justified, not from death only, but "from all
things."
This is beautifully pictured in the
law by the Passover. Wherever in that night the lamb was eaten, and his blood
sprinkled, the first born was passed over--spared.--Ex. 12.
So, during this night--the Gospel age--Christ, our Passover (lamb) is
sacrificed, and we "keep the feast."--1 Cor. 5:8.
We feed on our Lamb with some of the "bitter herbs" of affliction to
sharpen our appetite. All such are passed over. This type shows the special
value of Christ's death to his body, "The Church of the First-born."
Thus, "God is the Saviour of all men, especially of those that
believe."--1 Tim. 4:10. C.--Does not the race get back,
in the second Adam, spiritual life? A.--Certainly not; Adam was not a spiritual
but a human being, consequently had human life and powers, which were
"very good." Believers of this Gospel age only are warranted by the
word of God in expecting a change from human to spiritual conditions--spiritual
bodies with spiritual powers "like unto the angels," and "like
unto Christ's glorious body." This spiritual condition will be ours
"in the resurrection." Those who hope to obtain this new nature are
influenced by those hopes and promises during the present life, and endeavor to
live in harmony with that new nature. These are said to be "begotten of
the Spirit through the word of truth that they should be (at
birth--resurrection) a kind of first fruits of his (God's) creatures." --Jas. 1:18; Rev. 14:4. Because of this
begetting we speak of them as already spiritual beings, though really such in
embryo only. Those of our race not begotten of these promises, etc., will never
be spiritual beings, but as we have seen will be restored to human perfection.
C.--I
have heard frequently your views of restitution, and saw some force and
considerable beauty in them, but I never before saw how absolutely certain
man's restoration to life is. I see now that the same justice of God, which
could in no case clear [R253 : page 19] the guilty,
could not permit man's release from death until the price of his ransom had
been paid. The very purity of this justice, as well as the love of God in
providing the ransom, assures us that the penalty or price being paid, every
man must ultimately be released from death. And, Brother A., from one of your
remarks I get a beautiful thought,--i.e., That the world's redemption from sin
and restoration from death, has been awaiting for 6000 years the coming and
work of THE CHRIST (head and body). For over 4000 years it awaited the coming
and sacrifice of the Head, and for nearly 2000 years it has also been awaiting
the completion and sacrifice of the body. When the body is complete, sacrificed
and united to the Head, then follows the glorious restoration of the fallen
race. Oh, how grand and glorious it seems! How like a God of infinite wisdom
and love.
B.--Yes,
yes; it lifts a load from my heart, as I think how God's word is its own
interpreter, and shows forth his great, loving plans for all our race. And yet,
we can scarcely realize its truth, though thus supported by his Word and
commended [R254 : page 19] of our judgment. I presume
it is because from infancy we have been bound by false ideas.
A.--And
how it seems to unfold itself now, just at the time most needed, as the offset
of the arguments of infidels; to give confidence and strength to God's
children, who are being forced out of, and separated from the worldly-minded
churches of today. I consider it a strong evidence that the Gospel age is
ending, and that, therefore, this message of "Restitution," not due
during the age, is put into our mouths now. Thus, God is gradually revealing
himself through his plans, and the more we know of him, the more we will love
and honor him.
C.--One
other thought I would like to suggest. Paul speaks of being made a spectacle to
angels. Can it be that angels are learning the dreadful effects of sin, from
seeing man's experience with it, and the love, mercy, justice, and power of
God, in rescuing man from it? The thought presented to my mind is, that this
terrible fall, with all its bitter consequences, together [R254
: page 20] with this glorious plan of the ages for the restoration of the
fallen race, and the introduction of the new creation, of which Jesus is the
head, is intended for the instruction and benefit of all God's intelligent
creatures, as well as for mankind.
A.--A
very good thought. We know that angels are intensely interested in watching the
unfolding of the plan. We read in 1 Peter 1:12, "Which
things the angels desired to look into," and again (Heb.
1:14), "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for
those who shall be heirs of salvation?" Probably they are learning for the
first time the immensity of God's love, and wisdom, and power--the exceeding
beauty of holiness, in contrast with sin, and the lesson of the necessity of
entire obedience and complete submission to the will of the one great Master
and Father of all, as was beautifully exemplified in his dear Son, our Lord
Jesus Christ.
C.--What
we have seen relative to evil in man--how and why it came--when and how it will
be eradicated, its usefulness, yea, necessity, as a protection against future
sin, etc., seems not only satisfactory, but a grand solution of a question
which has long perplexed me and many others of God's children. Now let me ask,
can we go further and learn God's plan relative to Satan, the tempter?
A.--Our
only source of information on the subject is the Bible, and its accounts, while
brief, are to the point, and furnish us all requisite information. Scriptures
refer to evil spirits as "legion," or a multitude under a head or
prince called Satan. They were at one time angels of God. 2
Peter (2:4) and Jude (6) speak of them as--"The angels who kept not their
first estate" (of purity and sinlessness) whom God "cast down to
Tartarus and delivered into chains of darkness."
It is a fundamental law of God's
universe, governing all his creatures, that "The soul (being) that
sinneth, it shall die"-- that, in a word, God would supply life to no
creature that would not live in harmony with his righteous laws: and though in
conformity to this universal law, all the rebel angels were from [R254 : page 21] the moment of rebellion doomed to die,
and must ultimately die, yet God, who we are told "makes the wrath of man
to praise him and the remainder (of man's wrath) he will restrain, has acted
upon the same principle with the rebel angels. He uses them as his agents in
the sense that they accomplish (probably unknowingly) a part of his plan, and
give mankind the knowledge of evil and its bitter results--sickness, pain, and
death of mind and body. And because of this work which they are designed to
accomplish, God, the Father, "who only hath immortality" (1 Tim. 6:16)--life in himself--the fountain of all life
continues for centuries to supply life to these, condemned to death.
I presume that the rebel angels
thought that they were immortal beings, and that while God could give life to
any creature, he could not take it away again, and probably with pride
engendered by this thought of their own hold on life and their supposed
inherent greatness, they may have meditated and attempted "a
usurpation" of God's authority.
B.--We
can see the folly of presuming that he who created and gave life, could not by
the same power remand any of those beings again to the same elements from which
he created them.
A.--Their
rebellion was followed not by death, but by an expulsion from God's presence
[to "Tartarus"--which probably signifies our earth]. This we can
imagine a source of trial to the sinless angels. If God had said sinners should
die, and these having sinned did not die, it would appear as though God had
been misrepresenting his power. He had power to cast them out of his presence,
but apparently lacked power to destroy them. Here was apparently a rival
government nearly as strong as God's, and any who loved evil might desert
Jehovah's hosts and join those of Satan.
When man was created and placed in
Eden, a marvel of perfection and beauty, but on a different plane of being from
any previous creation, and with one power possessed by none other --the power
to propagate his own species, can we wonder if [R254 :
page 22] Satan felt disposed to capture this wonderful creation for allies
and subjects? This he did attempt, and approached as a friend who was truly
interested in them, and desired their welfare, saying --Why not eat of the
"tree of knowledge of good and evil," and be very wise? They said
that God had charged them not to eat of it, and had cautioned them that if they
ate they would die--lose life and return to the dust from whence they were
taken. Ah, my dear friends, says Satan, be not deceived; God has told you an
untruth; let me assure you, that you will "not surely die;" you are
immortal beings and can no more die than God himself. Let me convince you that
God is deceiving you, because the Lord God doth know that you would become as
gods, knowing good and evil; therefore, he seeks to prevent your progress and
knowledge by this threat of death. Then Satan ate and died not, and this seemed
to corroborate his statements and to make God a liar. I doubt not that Satan
thought he told the truth when he said man had immortality and could not die.
His own experience had evidently been such as to lead him to suppose God could
not withdraw life when once given. And the fact that Adam, after sinning, was
shut out from fellowship and communion with God, but did not instantly die,
seemed but a corroboration of Satan's own previous experience.
It was not long, however, until
death made its appearance, and gave evidence that man was "mortal" (Job 4:17), proving the word of God true and Satan's statement
false. We can imagine the awe and terror of the rebel angels as they saw lifeless
Abel, and realized that their theories as to the endlessness of life were thus
proved false. As they began to see the power of God to destroy as well as to
create, they realized that the penalty against them as sinners (death) would
sometime be fulfilled. That they now realize that their end is destruction, is
evidenced by the words of the legion to Jesus--"We know thee....Art thou
come to destroy us?"--Luke 4:34.
Though now convinced of God's power,
they are still his enemies, and use their power to oppose God's plan, etc.; and
they [R254 : page 23] are permitted to exercise great
power, and seemingly to triumph over God's plans and people, but it is only for
a time, thank God, and their power is limited; so far can they go and no
further.
The untruth which deceived in Eden--"Thou shalt
not surely die"--has been the teaching of the devil through all
generations since. He has taught it to all heathen peoples, and among those who
are God's children--Christians--he has succeeded in getting many to believe him
instead of God. But since death has come, he offsets the logical conclusions by
saying that the real being is not dead; that merely the house has died, and
that the being himself you cannot see, that he is immortal--indestructible.
Upon this falsehood he has built up in the minds of Christian people the belief
in a place of endless torment for the supposed endless being, which doctrine is
a blasphemy on the character of Jehovah and a contradiction of his word, which
repeatedly declares that "the wages of sin is death" (not life in
torment), and "the soul (being) that sinneth, it shall die" (not live
in misery).
By these doctrines and teachings
Satan causes the statements of God's word to sound like mockery when it
declares--"God is love"--"God so loved the world," etc. But
while Satan may have supposed that he was opposing Jehovah by making the
pathway which leads by Faith to glory, rugged and steep and hard to climb, yet
we can see that God is still making use of evil to accomplish his plans; for
the "narrow way," and careful walk and great faith are essential
elements in the development of the little flock, to whom it is the Father's
good pleasure to give the kingdom"--"The Christ (anointed) of
God."
Every truth of God seems to be
opposed with a specious error, and every error of Satan's which we receive is a
hindrance to our reception of some truth of God; and likewise every word of
God's truth which we get a firm hold of, repels at once the error of the enemy.
Let us give the more earnest heed to the word of God "which is able to
make us wise unto [R254 : page 24] salvation"
(the great salvation promised to the overcomers-- the Bride).
Soon Satan's power must wane. When
in God's plan evil has served its designed purposes, the Lord will take to
himself his great power and reign (Rev. 11:17), and the rule
which Satan now bears over those who do his will, will be overthrown, and a new
age ushered in, the law and controlling power of which will be righteousness--a
great contrast, indeed, with "the [R255 : page 24] present
evil world" (age). This taking of control is described by Jesus in a
parable--Mark 3:27. And again, in Rev.
20:2, it is represented in a pen picture as a binding of Satan with a strong
chain of power for a thousand years. When bound he has not yet met his
doom--destruction--but will merely be restrained from deceiving the nations
until the end of the millennial age. Then all mankind having come to know good
and evil, and having been restored to perfection of being, should and could
resist all temptation, and if Satan were again to present temptation, they
should oppose it and him, else they are as guilty as he. And so we read, Satan
is again permitted to try the restored perfect human family, who now know by
experience what sin is, and what God's love is; and, strange as it may seem, a
number follow and join the rebellion of the angels-- yet we cannot doubt that
the number will be small in comparison with the numbers who shall live in
harmony with God.
The agency of evil being then ended,
all evil will be wiped out; and "every knee shall bow, and every tongue
confess (Jesus) to the glory of God the Father."--Phil.
2:11. As Paul declares (writing of Christ and his body-church): "The very
God of peace shall bruise Satan (crush the serpent's head-- destroy him) under
your feet shortly."--Rom. 16:20. Paul again declares
that the destruction of Satan and the evil which he has caused, was the object
of Jesus' coming into the world and dying--"That through death he might
destroy him that had the power of death,--that is, the devil."--Heb. 2:14.
John also adds his testimony that
"For this purpose the Son [R255 : page 25] of
God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil"--all
evil (1 Jno. 3:8).
C.--How
wonderful it seems! To think that God has for over six thousand years permitted
not only men, but angels, to misunderstand his great wisdom, power, and love
that in due time those attributes might shine with ten-fold brilliancy. This
furnishes us a key, too, to our Christian experience. How often, while
endeavoring to walk in Jesus' footsteps, and to overcome evil with good, we are
misunderstood and our purposes maligned. "The world knoweth us not because
it knew him not."-- 1 Jno. 3:1.
B.--I
want to say to you before leaving, that I am much rejoiced to see clearly as I
now do, why God permitted evil; that it was not, that he had elected ninety to
hell to each one chosen for glory, and introduced evil as a pretext to justify
their damnation: nor, on the other hand, was it because God could not help its
introduction, and lacked wisdom to foresee, and power to avert it; but that he
arranged for its introduction, and our recovery from it as the embodiment of
WISDOM, LOVE, and MERCY.
A.--What
a privilege is ours, dear friends, to be living during the fulfillment of the
"Seventh Trumpet," during which "the mystery of God shall be
finished."--Rev. 10:7. As the mystery and cloud of
error and evil begins to roll away, and we get a glimpse of our Father's loving
plans, how it rejoices and refreshes our hearts to see him as, indeed, a God of
Love. Let us lift up our hearts and rejoice, as we see that the glorious
Millennial day is dawning, and that soon--
"His truth shall break through
every cloud
That vails and darkens his designs."
In the light of the unfolding plan,
Cowper's lines seem almost an inspiration: [R255 : page
26]
"God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sovereign will.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his word in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain."
[page 26]
May we not with the angels sing "Glory to God in the highest, on
earth peace, good will toward men:"
"Tell the whole world these blessed tidings,
Speak of the time of rest that nears;
Tell the oppressed of ev'ry nation,
Jubilee lasts a thousand years.
What if the clouds do for a moment
Hide the blue sky where morn appears:
Soon the glad sun of promise given,
Rises to shine a thousand years.
A thousand years earth's coming
glory--
'Tis the glad day so long foretold:
'Tis the bright morn of Zion's
glory,
Prophets foresaw in times of old."
W.T. R-250 : page 1 – 1881r.
