The tranquil atmosphere of their fool's paradise is undisturbed by the cries of suffering and of. And if it is so in the green tree, what shall be said of the dry one.
THE MYSTERY REMAINS
And his chains fell off his hands." "The iron gate" of the prison "opened for them of its own accord", and together they entered the street. This is only read from the story of the opening chapters of the Acts of the Apostles.
HAVE MIRACLES CEASED?
If the "supposed" miracle can therefore be brought within the sphere of the natural, it is thereby shown that it is not a real miracle. They will doubtless cease to excite wonder; but this is no test of the miraculous.
EVIDENTIAL VALUE OF MIRACLES
Such a statement would be entirely in keeping with the spirit of the only passage in the New Testament which is true. the word occurs in connection with the Christian life. In light of this truth, the force of the skeptic's argument is completely lost.
A NEW DISPENSATION
People talk about a divine history of the human race, but there is no such history. Bridging this chasm is God's purpose for which the Acts of the Apostles were given to the Church.
CHRISTIANITY DISTINGUISHED
He is not the Jew who is outwardly so, nor is he the circumcision outwardly in the flesh; But he that is inwardly is a Jew, and he is circumcised of the heart" (Romans 2:28). In the case of the Roman and Greek Churches, this distinction turns into a deep and gaping chasm.
ANOTHER GREAT TRUTH
And who will dare to admit that the atoning efficacy of the death of our Divine Lord, however accomplished, can be less than infinite. But notice the emphasis Scripture places on the manner of His death. the death of the Cross.” But here the prevailing misconceptions are so fixed that all the significance of the narrative is lost.
The speakers were Jews—the apostles of Him who was Himself "a servant of the circumcision." But what was the response of the people who sat "on the seat of Moses" - the leaders and accredited representatives of the nation.
ATTACKS REBUFFED
We conclude, therefore, as we study the records of the Pentecostal Jewish Church, that the distinctive truths of Christianity have not yet been revealed. The Bible is not infallible, but the Church is infallible, and on the authority of the Church our faith can find a secure foundation.3 But how do we know that the Church is to be trusted. That is, we trust the Bible on the authority of the Church, and we trust the Church on the authority of the Bible.
But in the sense that appeals more to us here in England, we owe it to the noble men who saved it for us in defiance of the Church. His life's work was to bring the Bible closer to even the humblest farmer.
CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE
Let man, from the cradle to the grave, be all that he ought to be, and do all that he ought to do; let him, as our author says, love God with all his heart and his neighbor as himself, walking "purely, humbly, and kindly while on earth," and such a one will "inherit eternal life." . But all such claims encourage morale and. To hide his confusion, the lawyer immediately proposed a further question: "And who is my neighbor?" thus seeking to escape to a side issue, as is the way with lawyers of any age. And" - let's note the words - "when he saw him, he felt sorry for him and went to him, bound up his wounds, put him on his beast, took him to an inn and took care of him;" and at the inn he settled the account and provided for his future.
Christ's great and simple creed” will make Pharisees of some people—and heaven is absolutely closed to such—while it would reduce mankind in general to the position of hopeless and desperate lawlessness. But the Holy Scripture testifies that "Christ died for the wicked," and that the person who believes in Him is justified.
MYSTERY NOW MANIFESTED
The rendering of the passage in our English versions is a compromise between translation and exegesis; and that the representation thus suggested is erroneous, is evident from its rendering the apostle's statement inconsistent with the verge of absurdity. If it is by the writings of the Hebrew prophets that the gospel is made known to all the nations, it was certainly not a mystery kept secret throughout all ages. The Mysteries of the New Testament are divine truths which until then had been "kept in silence"; truths which had not been revealed in the earlier scriptures, and which, until revealed, could not be known.
Others so squander the great truths of divine love for the world and the reconciliation of the world to God through Christ, that the sovereignty of God degenerates into mere favoritism, and the death of Christ is no more than a means by which the privileged few may bless to acquire. But the difficulties confronting the exposition of the fifth chapter of Romans concern this argument alone.
SATAN’S INFLUENCE
Will the objector consider the definition of sin to which this refers - one of the only definitions in the Bible. Science has poured scorn on the old belief that man is the center of the universe. The story of the temptation appears no less absurd if we read it in the false light of the Satan myth. 8.
The thought of the Seeker is no less revealed in some of our most popular books of piety. During His ministry on earth, the Lord's actions and words to the fallen and depraved led to His being branded as the friend of the dishonest and the immoral.
GRACE AND JUDGMENT
Reason told them it was wrong; and clinging to their own morals and religion, instead of believing in "the One who was sent," they crucified him. The word became flesh and dwelt among us.” The darkness has passed, the true light shines. Not always truly, nor openly; but generally and clearly enough to make it clear that this is the rule - the normal course of things.
Accomplishing cleansing for sins, He "sat at the right hand of the Majesty on high". (Hebrews 1:3) The official attitude of Christ, if such a phrase may be permitted, is one of rest. All the prophets testify to Him that everyone who believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins through His name." (Acts 10:43 (R.V.)) Nor is this a dogma of "Pauline teaching", but the teaching of one of the simplest parables of Christ, who soars and treads away from the highways and the slums, into the Kingdom of God, while the once invited guests - the moral and religious - are excluded. Luke 14:15-24) And the parable is explained by the doctrine that His was a Divine mission.
THE REIGN OF GRACE
The crowning mystery of God is Christ, for in Him “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:2, 3 (R.V.)) And those hidden treasures are yet to be unfolded. And those who have experienced it can say in the words of Holy Scripture, “We know that the Son of God has come and given us understanding, that we may know Him who is true.” (John 1:5:20) And when they tell the truth to others, they discover that it produces the same results that they themselves have proven. The fall of Israel was “the reconciliation of the world.” God took a new attitude towards people.
The period of the reign of grace is precisely the period of silence of God. And such will form a worthier estimate of the butcher here offered to the secrets of silent heaven.
APPENDICES
Certain of the Lord's precepts had reference to the special circumstances of this special dispensation. Another approach is needed to guide us in the right use of the teaching of the Gospels. In the parable of the weeds in the field, it is the devil who sows the weeds (Matthew 13:39).
And if "the elect" are deceived by the deception, it is mainly because they are blinded by this fallacy of the Satan myth. Those who read this passage in the light of the Satan myth completely miss its special teaching. To him, he declared, was "delivered". kingdoms of the world, with all their power and glory.
A detailed examination of the passages in the letters which refer to this subject would far exceed the limits of one note.
FOOTNOTES
7 (Acts 4:4) If "the number of the men was about five thousand," it is reasonably certain that the entire crowd was at least twice that number. A quarter of a century later they were still known as "the sect of the Nazarenes" (Acts 24:5). But Scripture warns us that "the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him" (1 Corinthians 2:14).
1 "The Scottish Catechism" it is commonly called, as if Westminster were a place north of the Tweed. To him our divine Lord is merely "the blessed founder" of the Christian religion—the Buddha of Christendom.