1881 Watch Tower - A2Z.org
1881 Watch Tower - A2Z.org 1881 Watch Tower - A2Z.org
wrath is come." If converted, they would not be thus hostile,neither would God's wrath come upon them. On the contrary,God teaches in many Scriptures that a great time of trouble willcome upon the nations. "He cometh with clouds" --indicationsof storm--trouble. "Come, behold the desolations which the Lordhath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the endsof the earth." This is the way God tells us he will make wars tocease. The next clause informs us that then he will be exaltedamong the heathen and inR256 : page 32all the earth.--Psa. 46:10. This chastisement of nations will befor their good, and is necessary to them as is the chastisementwhich God now inflicts upon his children, and it will have agood effect, for we read, When the judgments of the Lord areabroad in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learnrighteousness.--Isa. 26:9. It is in this new dispensation that, withevil restrained--Satan bound--"the knowledge of the Lord shallfill the whole earth as the waters do the sea."--Isa. 11:9. Theconversion of the world, instead of being due now while thedevil is the prince of this world, will be, David says, "When thekingdom is the Lord's and he is the Governor among the nations;[then] all the ends of the world shall remember and turn to theLord, and all nations shall come and worship before him.--Psa.22:27,28.During the infancy of the human family--say from Adam toMoses--God treated his creatures like very young children. Sofar as we know, they had very little knowledge of their Creator'spower or character. They had scarcely any revelation, theexception being the few cases where God favored certainpersons, as Abraham, Lot, and others, communicating to themby angels, giving to Eve and to Abraham peculiar promises,which they could only vaguely comprehend.The next age was to the Jewish nation a schooling season,during which God taught them to respect his promises and laws.They were yet minors, under age, therefore were treated aschildren, but kept under the Law, their schoolmaster.--Gal. 3:24.While the Word of God was being written and committed to theJews for keeping, etc., the remainder of the world seems to havebeen left in the darkness of heathenism. They bowed down towood and stone, destitute of truth as they are to-day.In Scripture the period from Adam to the flood is called "theworld [age] that was."--2 Pet. 3:6. From the flood to the secondcoming of the Lord, "the world that now is," and "the presentevil world," vs. 7, and the next grand era is called "the world tocome."--Heb. 2:5.R256 : page 33"The present evil world," Gal. 1:4, contains three
SEPARATE AGES.The Patriarchal, lasting from the flood to the death of Jacob; theJewish Age, lasting from the death of Jacob to the death ofChrist, when he gave them up, wept over them, and said: "Yourhouse is left unto you desolate;" the Gospel Age, lasting fromthe resurrection of Christ, when he became "the first born fromthe dead, and the beginning of the new creation," until the fullcompany of "the Church of the First-born" is complete, at hiscoming. The time of the sounding of the seventh trumpet, theresurrection and reward of prophets, saints, etc.--Rev. 11:18.We know not how many ages may be in "the world to come;"but that there is more than one we are sure, for Paul speaks of"the ages to come."--Eph. 2:7. The first of these alone is dealtwith in Scripture--the Millennial age, during which we live andreign with Christ.--Rev. 20:4.Having this outline, let us look more particularly at God's doingsand sayings, and, first, it will astonish you, doubtless, until youreflect, when I say, that according to his word, God has notexhausted his resources for the world's salvation; that, in short,he is not now trying to save the world, nor has he been duringpast ages. What has he been doing? "Taking out a people--Church--for his name." Don't think this wonderful, as it is onlyputting in a striking form, what all Calvinists believe, amongwhom are Baptists, Presbyterians, and others,-- viz., That God isnow electing, or choosing his Church out of the world. Yes, andall our brethren who believe in free grace must admit, that if allhis purposes shall be accomplished, and "God's word shall notreturn unto him void;" if these Scriptures are true, God did notpurpose the conversion of the world during the past six thousandyears, else it would be accomplished. Neither did he send hisword to convert the world up to the present time, else it did notprosper in the thing wheretoR256 : page 34he sent it.--Isa. 55:11. These two views have been a dividingpoint in the churches for centuries,--viz.:ELECTION and FREE GRACE.We believe the Scripture to teach both, but that it requires theobservance of Heaven's first law--order, to rightly divide theword of truth on this subject.First, we will glance at Election. During the age precedingR257 : page 34the deluge, there is no Scriptural account of God's givingmankind any law, nor any but very little light of revelation. Onepromise shines out; the Seed of the Woman was to bruise theSerpent, and even this required future revelation in order to be
- Page 253 and 254: flower: so in the six branches that
- Page 255 and 256: "And he made the lampstand of pure
- Page 257 and 258: y human wisdom or knowledge, "not b
- Page 259 and 260: mercy endureth forever") but now du
- Page 261 and 262: and, like the paschal lamb, affecte
- Page 263 and 264: lifetime subject to bondage" --Let
- Page 265 and 266: and praying be the reason of the ke
- Page 267 and 268: "Well, are you redeemed?""Yes, I am
- Page 269 and 270: R247 : page 7WHAT WE EXPECT.The hop
- Page 271 and 272: heads, "standards" and "authorities
- Page 273 and 274: THE NEW VERSION.The revised version
- Page 275 and 276: the destruction of our globe, and t
- Page 277 and 278: occur in 1880 and 1881. But though
- Page 279 and 280: page iFOODFORTHINKING CHRISTIANS.--
- Page 281 and 282: among the good? Could he not have p
- Page 283 and 284: B.--But did not God implant in his
- Page 285 and 286: should disobey God, death would hav
- Page 287 and 288: in the forfeit of the sinner's life
- Page 289 and 290: The character and exclusive applica
- Page 291 and 292: nor by work he has since accomplish
- Page 293 and 294: C.--Now, another point: Are all our
- Page 295 and 296: Jesus is the head, is intended for
- Page 297 and 298: word of God true and Satan's statem
- Page 299 and 300: evil with good, we are misunderstoo
- Page 301 and 302: These evidently overlook the fact t
- Page 303: he were dealing by a rule of chance
- Page 307 and 308: complete, then the plan of God for
- Page 309 and 310: Again he says, Acts 4:12, "There is
- Page 311 and 312: Another is: "There is one God, and
- Page 313 and 314: accomplished.--Vs. 28 to 33. The pr
- Page 315 and 316: THEIR FORMER ESTATE,"--restitution.
- Page 317 and 318: ighteousness to such a degree that
- Page 319 and 320: for the same reasons. But when God'
- Page 321 and 322: now they die for their own willful
- Page 323 and 324: Millennial reign. The glory of the
- Page 325 and 326: illustrated by angels--spiritual bo
- Page 327 and 328: the disciples did not see Christ's
- Page 329 and 330: the glory that shall be revealed (1
- Page 331 and 332: PRESENCE OF CHRIST BEFORE THERAPTUR
- Page 333 and 334: The Greek word generally used in re
- Page 335 and 336: will, viz., in oppressing and oppos
- Page 337 and 338: Some other powers of angels can be
- Page 339 and 340: execute from God, (Job 1:12), is it
- Page 341 and 342: expressed his belief that many of t
- Page 343 and 344: God, that ye may be able to withsta
- Page 345 and 346: of the old nature and newness of li
- Page 347 and 348: period of the judges until Samuel,
- Page 349 and 350: When the new Prince takes control,
- Page 351 and 352: mountains, [place of power], and sh
- Page 353 and 354: 15:28), whose will then will be "in
wrath is come." If converted, they would not be thus hostile,neither would God's wrath come upon them. On the contrary,God teaches in many Scriptures that a great time of trouble willcome upon the nations. "He cometh with clouds" --indicationsof storm--trouble. "Come, behold the desolations which the Lordhath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the endsof the earth." This is the way God tells us he will make wars tocease. The next clause informs us that then he will be exaltedamong the heathen and inR256 : page 32all the earth.--Psa. 46:10. This chastisement of nations will befor their good, and is necessary to them as is the chastisementwhich God now inflicts upon his children, and it will have agood effect, for we read, When the judgments of the Lord areabroad in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learnrighteousness.--Isa. 26:9. It is in this new dispensation that, withevil restrained--Satan bound--"the knowledge of the Lord shallfill the whole earth as the waters do the sea."--Isa. 11:9. Theconversion of the world, instead of being due now while thedevil is the prince of this world, will be, David says, "When thekingdom is the Lord's and he is the Governor among the nations;[then] all the ends of the world shall remember and turn to theLord, and all nations shall come and worship before him.--Psa.22:27,28.During the infancy of the human family--say from Adam toMoses--God treated his creatures like very young children. Sofar as we know, they had very little knowledge of their Creator'spower or character. They had scarcely any revelation, theexception being the few cases where God favored certainpersons, as Abraham, Lot, and others, communicating to themby angels, giving to Eve and to Abraham peculiar promises,which they could only vaguely comprehend.The next age was to the Jewish nation a schooling season,during which God taught them to respect his promises and laws.They were yet minors, under age, therefore were treated aschildren, but kept under the Law, their schoolmaster.--Gal. 3:24.While the Word of God was being written and committed to theJews for keeping, etc., the remainder of the world seems to havebeen left in the darkness of heathenism. They bowed down towood and stone, destitute of truth as they are to-day.In Scripture the period from Adam to the flood is called "theworld [age] that was."--2 Pet. 3:6. From the flood to the secondcoming of the Lord, "the world that now is," and "the presentevil world," vs. 7, and the next grand era is called "the world tocome."--Heb. 2:5.R256 : page 33"The present evil world," Gal. 1:4, contains three
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