"Behold my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name; hear ye him."
And it came to pass as they understood, they cast their eyes up again towards heaven and behold, they saw a man descending out of heaven: and he was clothed in a white robe, and he came down and stood in the midst of them, and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them.
And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto them people, saying:
Behold, I am Jesus, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world;
And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.
And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words, the whole multitude fell to the earth, for they remembered that it had been prophesied among them that Christ should show himself unto them after his ascension into heaven." (Defense of the Faith and the Saints, pp. 382-3.)
8. Subject of Messiah Teaching in the Western Hemisphere:"Complaint is made that in his ministry among the Nephites Messiah merely repeated the ideas, and for that matter the words of his sermon on the mount; so wanting in originality, claim those who object to the Book of Mormon, were the authors of the book that they could not trust themselves to give Jesus the opportunity of preaching an original discourse to the inhabitants of this western part of the world. I ask these Christian objectors to consider this: Suppose the Book of Mormon were not in existence at all; suppose that we begin to reflect on the empires and nations which beyond all question did occupy this land of America in ancient times, and were civilized, intelligent people—God's children; suppose that it began to occur to some of our Christian friends that it would have been a grand idea if the Son of God had come and made proclamation of the Gospel to a people who were destined to be for so many centuries separated from the eastern hemisphere, where the gospel had been planted. Now, then, suppose these conditions, and suppose further that Jesus came here, what would be the nature of his mission? What should he first do? What truth do these Christian critics hold to be the most important truth to mankind? Would it not be the fact that Jesus is the Christ, the Redeemer of the world, the one who is to bring life and immortality to light through the Gospel? Would not that be the most important thing to have declared? I believe all Christians must necessarily say yes. Well, that is just what happened. The voice of God broke the stillness of this western world, and said to a company of people, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." Then Jesus stands forth and declares himself and his mission, the most important truth that the Christian mind, at least, can conceive. The Fifth Gospel starts with that sublime, important truth. Then alter that, what would be the next most important thing? Would it not be to teach man his moral duty? His relationship to God and to the Savior having been fixed by the first revelation, what next? Why, the ethics of the gospel of Christ, the moral law, which is to take the place of the old Mosaic law—confessedly inferior to the Gospel law, being but the "schoolmaster" to bring Israel to the Christ. Christian principles, then, for light living was what Messiah imparted to the Nephites after his relationship to them was settled. And so Messiah starts out with the same doctrine that he taught upon the mount There are not wanting respectable Christian authorities for the assertion that that discourse called the sermon on the mount was not a single discourse, but that into it was crowded from the recollection of the apostles all the great ethical truths that Jesus had taught from time to time, and that here they are grouped together and appear as one discourse. Moreover, the Savior declared to the Nephites while he was yet with them that these truths which he had been teaching them were the same that he had taught in Judea. "Behold," said he, in the course of his explanations, "ye have heard the things which I have taught before I ascended unto my Father." (Defense of the Faith and the Saints, pp. 384-5.)
[Note:To the Teacher:It is suggested that you make the appointment at this lesson for Lesson XXX—a discourse on "The Greatness and Influence of the Meridian Dispensation." One or more speakers may be appointed, and an effort should be made to give the subject a masterly treatment. It could also be made the occasion of a review of the eight lessons devoted to the theme, which may be conducted by questions after the speakers have concluded.
On such occasions as these a very fitting thing to do would be to invite brethren of other quorums, Elders and High Priests, as also the local authorities of the Ward or Stake to witness such exercises. Make it a special occasion and put those who are to treat the theme on their mettle and get the best out of them that it is possible for them to give.]
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL.
ANALYSIS.
REFERENCES.
I. Among the Jews—Pentecost—the Church at Jerusalem.
1. Among the Gentiles:
(a) Opening the Door of the Gospel to the Gentiles by Peter.
(b) Paul's Labors among the Gentiles.
Matt, xxviii:16-20; Mark xvi; 16: Acts i:1-9. Acts ii: ix, note 1 and 2.
Acts x, xi. Notes 3, 4 and 5. Also New Testament History, (Smith) pp. 426-29, 633-643.
Acts xxii-xxviii. Note 6.
II. The Apostolic Age.
Note 7 and 8; also Smith's New Testament History and Dictionaries heretofore quoted.
1. The Acts of the Apostles:The student should regard the whole book, "Acts of the Apostles," as the book of first importance in the history of the propagation of the Gospel in the Meridian Dispensation. It gives an account of the conflicts and conquests of the Gospel from the ascension of Messiah to the imprisonment of Paul in the city of Rome (33-63 A. D.), a period of sixty years. "It is the earliest manual of Church History, and the only one treating of the age of the apostles which has come down to us from the first century." (See note Seventy's Year Book, No. I, p. 85, notes 6, 7.) "True," as remarked by Dr. William Smith, "New Testament History," "the Book of Acts contains no full account of the acts of the apostles;" for "most of them are never mentioned even by name after the list given in the first chapter;" and the history of Paul which fills so large a space in the book is not brought down to his death." Still, it is the most important book of the Apostolic age treating of the Christian origins.
2. Characteristics of the Acts:"The Acts makes prominent the agency of the Holy Spirit. He is referred to by name fifty times, or more frequently than in all the four Gospels together. The promise of the Spirit was emphasized by Christ just before his ascension. (1:5, 8.) He descended in tongues of fire on the day of Pentecost (2:1-13). Early believers (4:31) and preachers, like Stephen (6:5) and Barnabas, were 'filled with the Holy Spirit,' and the Apostles were sent forth to their work (13:4), or the elders appointed by Him (20: 28). It is a book of beginnings. The Holy Spirit begins his new and promised activity; the Apostles inaugurate their labors; churches are founded in many cities. * * * * * * * The Acts is eminently a hopeful book. It is the book of Joshua among the books of the New Testament, fresh as with the life of Spring. Old terms acquire a new significance, like 'believer,' 'brother' (9:17), 'the Way' (19:9), etc. There is no cant. Christianity goes forth conquering and to conquer, and the world is the heritage of Christ. It dwells much upon the resurrection, and looks forward with expectancy to the Second Coming. It is animate with the spirit of joy. In this respect, the Acts is set in the same major key as the Gospel of Luke. Confident of the presence of the Master and conscious of the power of salvation, the Apostles even rejoice that they were counted worthy to suffer for him (5:41). The tidings which they preach, like those the angels brought, are 'good tidings' (13: 32). Paul and Silas sang in prison (16:25), and the acceptance of the Gospel is everywhere attended with great joy (8:39; 13:52; 15:3; 16: 34, etc.). It is a book of missionary activity. Intensity of purpose and effort pulsates through it. It has no morbid tone. Much stress is laid upon the efficacy of Christ's death, but only the deaths of Stephen and James are mentioned, and the deaths of Paul and Peter are entirely passed over. This silence * * * * indicates that it matters everything how a Christian lives; little how he dies. Christianity advances with a steady and rapid progress from Jerusalem to Antioch, Antioch to Corinth, and Corinth to Rome. There are references to the numbers of the believers (2:40; 4:4), and constant statements that they were increasing rapidly (2:47; 5:14; 6:7; 12:24; 16:5). Besides the more formal notices, there are incidental allusions to the churches in Samaria and Phoenicia (15:3), Syria and Cilicia (15:23), Troas (20:6, 7), Tyre and Ptolemais (21:1-7), and other cities. The book is the missionary's best companion on the frontier and in foreign lands. The Acts is animated with the universal aims of the Gospel. It has a Gentile ring. Palestine was only the birthplace of Christianity, not its exhaustive theatre. Peter catches this tone in his speech on the day of Pentecost (2:39), whose various tongues were themselves a type, and witnesses a figurative representation of it in the vision on the housetop of Joppa. Stephen's eye takes in this larger horizon, and Paul, who uttered the significant words in Antioch of Pisidia, 'Lo, we turn to the Gentiles' (13:46), looks out to Rome itself when he insists, 'I must also see Rome' (19:31; 20:22). The motto of the Acts is the command of the ascending Saviour, 'to the uttermost part of the earth' (1:8), and continues to be the motto of the Church. The Acts of the Apostles is not yet a closed book." (The Acts of the Apostles, by J. S. Howson and H. D. M. Spence, p. xix and xx. International Commentary, Introduction.)
3. The Gospel Taken to the Gentiles:The Apostles, being Jews themselves, appear to have shared the common prejudices of their race against the Gentiles; and treated them for a time as if they had no lot nor part in the gospel of Christ. It was not the design of the Lord, however, to thus restrict the application of the gospel. Jesus, himself, while he had said that he was "sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," had also said: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me;" and the commission of the risen Christ to the Apostles sent them to "all nations." (Matt. xxviii:19; Acts i:8.) Hence, when Cornelius of Caesarea, a devout man, one that feared God, though a Gentile, sought the Lord by prayer and good works, he found him; for an angel was sent to Cornelius, who told him his prayers and alms were accepted of God, and that he had come to direct him to send men to Joppa for Simon Peter, who would be able to tell him what he ought to do. The devout Gentile immediately started the messengers to find the Apostle. Meantime Peter himself was prepared by a vision to go with the gospel unto one whom both he and all his race regarded as unclean. In vision he thought he beheld a great net let down from heaven, filled with all manner of four-footed beasts, fowls of the air, and creeping things. And a voice said to him, "Rise, Peter, kill and eat." "Not so. Lord," was his reply, "for I have never eaten anything that was common or unclean." "What God hath cleansed," said the voice, "that call not thou common or unclean." This was done thrice, and as he was yet pondering what the vision could mean, the messengers of Cornelius were at the gate enquiring for him; and he was commanded by the Spirit to go with them, doubting nothing, for God had sent them. Peter was obedient to the inspired commandment, and went to the house of Cornelius, where he found many of the devout Gentile's friends and kinsmen gathered together in anticipation of his coming. Cornelius having informed the apostle how he came to send for him, Peter exclaimed: "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him." He then proceeded to preach the gospel to Cornelius and all present. As he did so the Holy Ghost fell upon them, to the astonishment of all the Jews who had accompanied Peter; for they heard them speak in new tongues and magnify God. Cornelius and his friends were baptized and thus the door of the gospel was opened to the Gentiles. (Outlines Ecclesiastical History, pp. 81, 2.)
4. Peter's Mission to the Gentiles:"This event was the crown and consummation of Peter's ministry. He, who had first preached the resurrection to the Jews, baptized the first converts, and confirmed the Samaritans, now, without the advice or co-operation of any of his colleagues, under direct communication from heaven, first threw down the barrier which separated proselytes of the gate from Israelites; first established principles which issued in the complete fusion of the Hebrew and Gentile elements in the Church. The narrative of this event, which stands alone in minute circumstantiality of incidents and accumulation of supernatural agency, is twice recorded by St. Luke. The chief points to be recorded are, first, the peculiar fitness of Cornelius, both as a representative of Roman force and nationality, and a devout and liberal worshiper, to be a recipient of such privileges; and, secondly, the state of the apostle's own mind. Whatever may have been his hopes or fears touching the heathen, the idea had certainly not yet crossed him that they could become Christians without first becoming Jews. As a loyal and believing Hebrew, he could not contemplate the removal of Gentile disqualifications without a distinct assurance that those enactments of the Law which concerned them were abrogated by a divine legislator. The vision could not, therefore, have been the product of a subjective impression; it was strictly objective, presented to his mind by an external influence. Yet the will of the Apostle was not controlled; it was simply enlightened. The intimation in the state of trance did not at once overcome his reluctance. It was not until his consciousness was fully restored and he had well considered the meaning of the vision, that he learned that the distinction of cleanness and uncleanness in outward things belonged to a temporary dispensation. It was no mere acquiescence in a positive command, but the development of a spirit full of generous impulses, which found utterance in the words spoken by Peter on that occasion, both in presence of Cornelius and afterward at Jerusalem." (Dr. Smith's New Testament History, pp. 428-9.)
5. Rapid Growth of the Work:The knowledge once established in the minds of the Apostles that God granted to the Gentiles repentance unto life, seemed to unshackle those who were to preach the gospel, and gave a broader meaning in their minds to their commission to "Go unto all the world and preach the gospel unto every creature." Evidently before this they did not comprehend it in its fullest sense. The Apostles appear to have remained in Jerusalem a number of years—twelve years, tradition says—presiding over the Church and directing the labors of those preaching the gospel. Churches, or, more correctly speaking, branches of the Church were built up in Antioch, Damascus and other cities of Syria. The work also spread into Asia Minor, Greece and Rome; and everywhere great success attended the preaching of the elders, until the gospel was firmly established in various parts of the Gentile world. So extensive was the preaching of the ambassadors of Christ in those early days of the Church that we have Paul saying (about thirty years after the ascension of Messiah) that it had been "preached to every creature under heaven." (Outlines Ecclesiastical History, p. 83.)
6. Personal Appearance and Character of Paul:"We have no very trustworthy source of information as to the personal appearance of St. Paul. Those which we have are referred to and quoted in Conybeare and Howson. (Vol. i, ch. vii. end.) They are the early pictures and mosaics described by Mrs. Jameson, and passages from Malalas, Nicephorus, and the apocryphal Acta Pauli et Theclae. They all agree in ascribing to the Apostle a short stature, a long face with high forehead, an aquiline nose, close and prominent eyebrows. Other characteristics mentioned are baldness, grey eyes, a clear complexion, and a winning expression. Of his temperament and character, St. Paul is himself the best painter. His speeches and letters convey to us, as we read them, the truest impressions of those qualities which helped to make him The Great Apostle. We perceive the warmth and ardor of his nature, his deeply affectionate disposition, the tenderness of his sense of honor, the courtesy and personal dignity of his bearing, his perfect fearlessness, his heroic endurance; we perceive the rare combination of subtlety, tenacity and versatility in his intellect; we perceive also a practical wisdom which we should have associated with a cooler temperament, and a tolerance which is seldom united with such impetuous convictions. And the principle which harmonized all these endowments and directed them to a practical end was, beyond dispute, a knowledge of Jesus Christ in the Divine Spirit. Personal allegiance to Christ as to a living Master, with a growing insight into the relation of Christ to each man and to the world, carried the Apostle forward on a straight course through every vicissitude of personal fortunes and amid the various habits of thought which he had to encounter. The conviction that he had been entrusted with a Gospel concerning a Lord and Deliverer of men was what sustained him and purified his love for his own people, while it created in him such a love for mankind that he only knew himself as a servant of others for Christ's sake." (Dr. Smith's New Testament History, p. 633.)
7. The Apostolic Age:"The Apostolic Age naturally falls into three periods: (1) The time when the labors of the Apostles were confined to Jerusalem; (2) the time during which their ministrations were performed in all of Palestine, and (3) the time when they "went into all the world" (the Roman Empire) in obedience to the Saviour's behest (Matt, xxviii:16-20; Mark 16:15). * * * * * * * There is scarcely a movement, religious or otherwise, in the history of the world which can be compared, in quickness of development, with the first thirty years of the spread of Christianity. Up to the year 33 A. D. the name of Christ had scarcely been heard outside of a region no greater than one of the larger counties of Utah; over all the civilized world beside, paganism and Judaism held undisputed sway. Yet, by the year 63 A. D., through the active zeal of our Lord's followers, His name and the doctrines He came to establish had spread over Syria, Asia Minor, Arabia, Greece, Italy, and, we doubt not, some regions farther west. The Christians, as the followers of Jesus were called in derision first in Antioch (Acts 11:26), were everywhere known, and everywhere spoken evil against. Opposed by the combined forces of the two widely accepted religions above mentioned, the Gospel of Christ had spread "to the ends of the earth," and had been accepted by Jews and pagans everywhere." (Y. M. M. I. Manual, 1898-9.)
8. State of the Church at Close of Apostolic Age:"A. the close of the first century, the Church was in a sadly demoralized condition. According to our best authorities, all the Apostles but John were dead, no attempt (for any great length of time, apparently) having been made to maintain the quorum. If so important a body was allowed to become extinct, there is no reasonable doubt that other quorums fell into decay and that the Church organization lost its original identity. With the disorganization of the quorums of Priesthood there was an opportunity for the predicted rise of false teachers, under whom occurred changes in the ordinances of the Gospel. These changes afterward increased materially, until, in connection with the loss of true and the usurpation of false authority, they produced a complete change both in the organization and the ordinances of the Church. Persecution and internal corruption and dissension had also done their work, until at the close of the century, when John wrote his Epistles and the Revelation, but few of the branches of the Church retained enough of their identity and faithfulness to be recognized by him. The deplorable condition of the Church can well be gathered from the warnings and threats given to the saints at Ephesus in the second chapter of Revelation. A full discussion of this subject will be found in Roberts' New Witnesses for God, chapters 2-7. From the evidences there presented, it cannot be doubted that at the close of the first century the high authority of the Church had fallen into decay, and the Apostolic Age was at an end."
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
CONFLICTING THEORIES.
ANALYSIS.
REFERENCES.
I. Questions Respecting the Meridian Dispensation and the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times Considered.
1. The Largeness and Glory of the Meridian Dispensation.
2. Identity of the Meridian Dispensation and the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times Considered.
(a) Joel's Prophecy of the Dispensation of the Last Days Considered.
The Authorities quoted in the notes are all the References the Editor and Compiler has to offer in this Lesson.
1. The Greatness of the Dispensation of the Meridian of Time:With the period between Moses and John the Baptist spanned, we come to the Dispensation of the Meridian of Time. This dispensation begins with the preaching of John the Baptist in the wilderness. It was made glorious by the personal ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God; by His suffering and death, for the redemption of mankind; by His glorious resurrection from the dead; by His subsequent ministry among His followers, and His final ascension into heaven to the throne of His Father; by the faithful ministry of His Apostles, by whom the good tidings of man's salvation were published to the world; by the establishment of the Church as an agency through which the Gospel was to be more widely proclaimed, and those who accepted the Gospel more thoroughly instructed in its doctrines, guarded from error, and finally perfected in the Christian life. An inspired volume of Scripture, the New Testament, was also brought into existence, from the teachings of the inspired Apostles, in which the great fundamental truths of the Gospel were embodied and cast in a form that would be enduring, and to which men could appeal through all the ages to come, as an authoritative statement, not only of what Jesus said and what He did, but also a statement of what doctrines are to be believed; what precepts to be practiced; what ordinances to be observed. By thus embodying the chief doctrines of Christ in a volume of Scripture that should live forever, and be published in all the languages of the world, provision was made for such a dissemination of the knowledge of God, that the world would never again be wholly without that knowledge; and though the Church might become corrupted, as it afterwards did; though men ambitious of distinction and power might usurp authority and establish churches in which they taught for doctrines the commandments of men, as they certainly did; still in this volume of Scripture men henceforth would have at hand a standard of truth by which to test the utterances of would-be teachers, while at the same time it would keep above the horizon of a world's knowledge the great truths of the Gospel—the existence and character of God; the manifestation of Him through the person and character of Jesus of Nazareth; the relationship existing between God and man; the fall of man, and the redemption provided for him in the atonement of Jesus Christ. All this was achieved in the Dispensation of the Meridian of Time; a mighty work accomplished by the Son of God and His associates; a work sealed not only by the blood of Jesus Christ, but by the blood also of many faithful witnesses, which shall make their testimony of force in the world.
2. The Identity of the Dispensation of the Meridian of Time and the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times Considered:Owing to the phraseology of certain passages of Scripture, making reference to the coming of Messiah in the flesh, and to the work of God in those days, the Dispensation of the Meridian of Time is mistaken for the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times. In Mark's Gospel, for instance, John the Baptist is represented as saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the Gospel."[A]The words in black type are usually understood to make reference to the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times. Again it is written: "But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law."[B]The words, "when the fullness of the time was come," are supposed to refer to the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times. Other passages of Scripture referring to the days of Messiah's personal ministry among men in the flesh, speak of them as the "last days." Paul, in the opening sentence of his letter to the Hebrews, does this: "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hathin these last daysspoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things."[C]; So St. John, in addressing the Saints in his day: "Little children, it is the lost time: and as ye have heard that anti-Christ shall come, even now are there many anti-Christs; whereby we know that it is the last time."[D]These, with two other special passages of Scripture, to be separately considered, constitute the authority upon which the Meridian Dispensation is confounded with the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times. And yet all these passages are susceptible of quite a different and more natural rendering. Without controversy it will be conceded that the Lord had an appointed time for His Son Jesus to come to earth in the flesh and perform the mission that had been assigned Him; to suffer; to die; to arise again from the dead. And when the fullness of this time was come, God indeed sent forth His Son into the world. As for those inspired writers who speak of the "last days," and the "last times"—they speak relatively; that is, with reference to former days and times; and, of course, the days and times in which they lived to them were the last days, and the last times; but they were not the last days of the earth's temporal existence; they were not the last days in any general sense at all, as there have been now some two thousand years of days since then. They were not the "last days" that are understood as immediately preceding the glorious coming of the Son of God.
[Footnote A: Mark i:15.]
[Footnote B: Gal. iv:4.]
[Footnote C: Heb. i:1, 2.]
[Footnote D: John ii:18.]
3. Joel's Great Prophecy of the Dispensation of the Last Days:Of the special passages before referred to, and which I said would receive separate consideration, the first is Peter's quotation from the Prophet Joel, concerning the outpouring of the Spirit of God upon "all flesh in the last days." This quotation from Joel is regarded as identifying the days in which the Apostle was speaking, as "the last days;" and the dispensation in which he was living as the Dispensation of the Last Days and of the Fullness of Times. The conditions existing when Peter was speaking, and the prophecy of Joel, however, admit of no such interpretation. The circumstances were as follows: The Holy Ghost in an extraordinary manner rested upon the Apostles and gave them the power of speaking in other languages than those they had learned. Some in the listening multitude attributed this singular manifestation to drunkenness, whereupon the Apostle Peter arose and refuted the slander, saying: "These are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel; and it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy; and I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke: the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: and it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."[A]"For," to finish the passage as it stands in Joel, but which is not in Peter's quotation, "for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call."[B]
[Footnote A: Acts ii:15, 21.]
[Footnote B: Joel ii:28-32.]
Because Peter, referring to the Spirit that was then resting upon the Twelve Apostles, said, "this is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel," etc., the very general opinion prevails that Joel's prophecy was then fulfilled; and hence the last days were come. This is an entire misapprehension of the purpose of Peter in making the quotation; as also of the quoted passage itself. Beyond all controversy, Peter meant only: This Spirit which you now see resting upon these Apostles of Jesus of Nazareth is that same Spirit which your Prophet Joel says will, in the last days, be poured out upon all flesh. Obviously he did not mean that this occasion of the Apostles receiving the Holy Ghost was a complete fulfillment of Joel's prediction. To insist upon such an exegesis would be to charge the chief of the Apostles with palpable ignorance of the meaning of Joel's prophecy. On the occasion in question the Holy Ghost was poured out upon the Twelve Apostles, who were given the power to speak in various tongues; Joel's prophecy for its complete fulfillment requires that the Spirit of the Lord, the Holy Ghost, shall be poured out upon all flesh; and undoubtedly refers to that time which shall come in the blessed millennium, when the enmity shall not only cease between man and man, but even between the beasts of the forests and of the fields; and between man and beast, as described by Isaiah in the following language:
"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp; and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrices' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."[A]
[Footnote A: Isaiah xi:6-9.]
Compare these conditions so vividly described with what Joel himself says of the period when the Spirit of the Lord shall be poured out upon all flesh, and it will at once be clear that the two Prophets are dealing with the same period, and not only dealing with the same period, but that the period itself is certainly far beyond in time the days of Peter; in fact, is still in the future; for the sum has not yet been turned into blackness; nor the moon into blood; nor have the stars withdrawn their shining. It is obvious that the events upon the day of Pentecost did not fulfill the terms of this prophecy, except in those particulars already pointed out. The mention in this prophecy, however, of those special signs which Jesus refers to as immediately preceding His own second and glorious coming, clearly demonstrates that Joel was speaking of the last days indeed, and not of a circumstance that occurred in connection with a period more properly designated as the Dispensation of the Meridian of Time. Immediately following his prediction of the outpouring of God's Spirit upon all flesh, Joel represents the Lord as saying: "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come." And later: "The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel."
Compare this with the Saviour's description of conditions in the earth that will precede His own second coming:
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."[A]
[Footnote A: Matt. xxiv:29-31.]
The same wonders in heaven and earth; the same changes in sun, and moon, and stars; the same promises of the gathering of God's people as are found in the prophecy of Joel. There can be no question, then, but that the prophecy of Joel refers to the same "last days" that Jesus here alludes to—the days of the coming of the Son of Man—and not to the days of Peter and the other Apostles in the meridian of time.
The sum of the matter then is, that Peter was not living in the "last days;" that the prophecy of Joel was not in its entirety fulfilled in the outpouring of God's Spirit upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost; that at no time subsequent to the days of the Apostles has there existed such conditions in the earth as amount to a complete fulfillment of Joel's prophecy; therefore in some time future from the days of the Apostles we may look forward to a universal outpouring of God's Holy Spirit upon all flesh, resulting in a universal peace and wide-spread knowledge of God, brought about, unquestionably, by a subsequent dispensation from that in which Peter wrought—the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times, in which God promises to "gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth; even in Him."[A]
[Footnote A: Eph. i:10.]
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
CONFLICTING THEORIES—(Continued.)
ANALYSIS.
REFERENCES.
I. Questions Respecting the Meridian Dispensation and the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times Considered.
The Authorities quoted in the notes are all the references the Editor and Compiler has to offer in this Lesson.
II. Daniel's Prophecy of the Rise of the Kingdom of God in the Last Days.
1. Daniel's Prophecy of the Rise of the Kingdom of God in the Last Days:The second special Scripture to which I have promised a separate consideration is the prophecy of Daniel relative to the succession of the great earth empires; and the final establishment of the Kingdom of God, which in "the last days" shall fill the whole earth and remain forever. By an error on the part of Christian writers, Daniel's prophecy concerning the Kingdom of God to be set up in "the last days" is supposed to have been fulfilled by the founding of "The spiritual kingdom of Christ" in the days of Messiah's earthly ministry; and therefore the conclusion is drawn that those days were "the last days," and the dispensation then ushered in, the final dispensation of the Gospel. It is my purpose here to refute that error.
The prophecy in question is familiar, and comes from Daniel's interpretation of the king of Babylon's dream of the great image, whose "brightness was excellent, whose form' was terrible." The head of the image was-of gold; his breast and arms were of silver; the body and thighs of brass; the legs of iron; and the feet and the toes part of iron and part of clay. The king in his dream also saw a little stone cut out of the mountain without hands, that smote the image upon the feet of mixed clay and iron, and broke it to pieces—until it became like the chaff of the summer thrashing floor, and the wind of heaven carried it away, that no place was found for it; but the little stone cut from the mountain without hands, which smote the image on the feet and ground it to dust, became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. This is the dream; and this the prophet's interpretation, addressed to the king of Babylon:
"Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven, hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall rise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands., and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure."[A]
[Footnote A: Dan. ii:37-45.]
As understood by the learned, Daniel's interpretation stands thus:
"(1) TheGolden Head—The Assyrio-Babylonish monarchy (the 6th and 5th century B. C.);
"(2) TheSilver Breast and Arms—The Medo-Persian empire (from 538 B. C. to about 330 B. C.);
"(3) TheBrazen Belly and Thighs—The Greco-Macedonian kingdom, especially after Alexander, those of Egypt and Syria (from about 330 B. C. to 160 B. C.);
"(4) TheLegs of Iron, the power of Rome, bestriding the east and west, but broken into a number of states, the ten toes, which retained some of its warlike strength (the iron), mingled with elements of weakness (the soft potters' clay), which rendered the whole imperial structure unstable.
"(5) TheStonecut without hands out of theLiving Rock, dashing down the image, becoming a great mountain, and filling all the earth—The Spiritual Kingdom of Christ."
The last phrase—"The Spiritual Kingdom of Christ"—meaning, of course, the "Christian churches" which have existed from the time of Christ, and that now exist, and which, taken together, form Christ's spiritual kingdom.
On the foregoing exegesis, which is the one commonly accepted by orthodox Christians, I make the following several observations:
First:The phrase with reference to the little Stone, "cut out of the Living Rock," is one introduced by Dr. Smith, from whose "Old Testament History"[A]the above analysis of Daniel's interpretation is taken. The language of the Bible is, "cut out of the mountain without hands." Why it is changed by the Doctor one may not conjecture, unless it is to lay the foundation of an argument not warranted by the text of Daniel's interpretation. It is enough here to note that the change in phraseology is wholly gratuitous and unwarranted.
[Footnote A: Edition of 1878, page 622.]
Second:The claim that the "little Stone cut from the mountain without hands," is the "Spiritual Kingdom of Christ"—if by that "spiritual kingdom" is meant not a real kingdom, actually existing, visible and tangible—is an assumption of the Doctor's. It is not the language of the Bible, nor is there any evidence in Scripture for believing that "the kingdom," represented by "the stone cut out of the mountain without hands," is any less amaterialkingdom than those which preceded it. The differences between this kingdom of God and the other kingdoms of the vision are not in the kingdom being "spiritual," but in these: (1) That the kingdom which God shall set up will never be destroyed; (2) never left to another people; (3) will break in pieces and consume all other kingdoms; (4) it shall fill the whole earth; (5) and stand forever. We are warranted in the belief, however, that it will be a tangible, bona fide government of God on earth, consisting of a king; subordinate officers; laws; subjects; and the whole earth for its territory—for its dominion. The coming forth of such a government, the founding of such a kingdom, is in harmony with all the hopes of all the saints, and the predictions of all the prophets who have touched upon the subject. It is the actual reign of Christ on earth with His Saints, in fulfillment of the hopes held out to them in every dispensation of the Gospel. It is to be the burden of the song of the redeemed out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, that Christ has made them unto their God kings and priests—"and we shall reign on the earth."[A]It is to be the chorus in heaven—"the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever."[B]And the elders in heaven shall say:
[Footnote A: Rev. v:10.]
[Footnote B: Rev. xi:15.]
"We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that Thou shouldst give reward unto Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear Thy name, small and great; and shouldst destroy them which destroy the earth."[A]
[Footnote A: Ibid. xi:17, 18.]
And still again:
"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first 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."[A]
[Footnote A: Ibid. xx:6.]
It should be observed respecting the last passage and the one preceding it, that "the reign on earth" of the kingdom of God is connected with the resurrection of the righteous saints; so that it will be in the "last days" indeed—not in the days of the Roman empire. And this reign of the saints on earth, this kingdom of God which they shall constitute, shall be a reign of righteousness, but a veritable kingdom nevertheless.
Third:The orthodox exegesis under consideration omits one important matter of fact, viz., that instead of four great dominant political powers symbolized in the image which Nebuchadnezzar saw, and which Daniel interpreted, there are five, viz.: (1) The Head of Gold—Babylonish kingdom; (2) the Chest and Arms of Silver—the Medo-Persian monarchy; (3) the Brazen Belly and Thighs—the Greco-Macedonian empire; (4) the Legs of Iron—Rome; (5) theFeet and Toesmixed ofiron and clay—the modern kingdoms and states of the world.
This failure to recognize the fifth political power represented by the feet and toes of Daniel's image leads to serious errors with respect to this prophecy. It has led the theologians to assign the setting up of God's kingdom spoken of in the prophecy to the wrong period of the world's history. They say the kingdom represented by the stone cut from the mountain without hands is "the spiritual kingdom of Christ;" and that the said kingdom was set up in the days of Messiah's earthly ministry in the meridian of time. This, however, cannot be correct; for the Church which Jesus established by His personal ministry and which, it is granted, is sometimes spoken of as the Kingdom of God, was founded in the days of the Roman empire, the fourth world power of Daniel's prophecy; and at a time, too, when imperial Rome was at the very zenith of her glory and power. Whereas the terms of Daniel's prophecy require that the kingdom which God shall establish, and which was represented by the stone cut from the mountain without hands, shall be set up in the days of the fifth political world power—in the days of the kingdoms represented by the pieces of iron and clay in the feet and toes of the image. The language of the prophecy on this point is: "And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom (i. e., the political power so represented, and that succeeds the fourth power or Roman empire) shall be divided; but there shall be in it the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, * * * * they (i. e., the kingdoms represented by the pieces of iron and clay) shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days ofthese kings(not in the days of the Roman empire)—in the days of these kingsshall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed."
Fourth:One of the peculiarities of the kingdom of God of Daniel's prophecy is, that when it is established among men it will not only never be destroyed, but "the kingdom shall not be left to other people." By which saying we can only conclude that when the kingdom of God shall be set up by the Lord in the last days, it will not be taken from the people to whom it shall come, and be given to, or left, to another people. But how stands it with the institution which arose from the preaching of the Gospel in the days of Messiah's earthly ministry, the church, sometimes called the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of heaven? Was it not "left to other people?" Messiah Himself said of the Jews, "Therefore say I unto you,the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof."[A]This passage comes, too, as a conclusion to the parable of the householder who let both his house and his vineyard to unworthy husbandmen, who successively beat, stoned, and slew the servants, and even the son and heir whom the master sent to collect his portion of the fruit of the vineyard. "When the Lord of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?" asked Jesus of His hearers. "He will miserably destroy these wicked men," they replied, "and will let out his vineyard to other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their season." They had pronounced judgment upon themselves. The parable presented the case of the Jews to whom Jesus was speaking, exactly, and Jesus quickly made the application of the judgment—"Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given unto a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." There can be no mistaking the meaning of the parable or its application; and some years later we have Paul saying to the contradicting and blaspheming Jews of Antioch in Pisidia: "It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you; but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourself unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.For so hath the Lord commanded us."[B]And so it came to pass that as Israel in those days rejected the Gospel of the kingdom which was first offered to them, so God also rejected them; and they have stood rejected to this day; smitten and trodden under foot of the Gentile races, a scoff, a hiss, and a byword in every land that they have inhabited; while the kingdom of God first offered to them was left to other people, to the Gentiles, who, for a season, brought forth the fruits thereof. But the fact that the kingdom then preached to the Jews was taken from them and given to another people, is proof positive that it was not the kingdom which was to fulfill the terms of Daniel's great prophecy.
[Footnote A: Matt. xxi:43.]
[Footnote B: Acts xiii:46, 47.]
Fifth:Another characteristic of the kingdom of God of Daniel's prophecy is, that it will never be destroyed, but will break in pieces and consume all other kingdoms, and stand for ever. This is not true of that institution brought into existence by the preaching of Messiah and the Apostles, sometimes called the kingdom of God, but more properly the Church of Christ. Saddening as the thought may seem, the Church founded by the labors of Jesus and His Apostles was destroyed from the earth; the Gospel was perverted; its ordinances were changed; its laws were transgressed; its covenant was, on the part of man, broken; and the world was left to flounder in the darkness of a long period of apostasy from God. For the reason, then, that the institution founded by the preaching of the Apostles was destroyed in the earth, as well as for the other reasons considered, the conclusion is forced upon the mind that the Church founded by Jesus and the Apostles was not the fulfillment of Daniel's great prophecy respecting the kingdom which God promised to set up in the last days: and hence we may look for another dispensation beyond the times of the Apostles, which will culminate in subduing the kingdoms of this world and making them the kingdoms of our God and His Christ, followed by that reign of righteousness and peace of which all the prophets have spoken.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE GREATNESS AND INFLUENCE OF THE MERIDIAN DISPENSATION.
(A Discourse.)
1. Suggestion to the Teacher:See foot note in Lesson XXII, Note 1.
2. Suggestion to the Speakers:Here is a great theme, and one little dwelt upon in the Church, because the ministry and members have been absorbed in the later dispensation with which they are immediately connected. It affords excellent opportunity for truth-grouping, and infinite variety in treatment. (See notes in Lesson XVI and XXII). Many features of this great dispensation are untouched by the foregoing lessons, because of an enforced brevity necessary from our plan of treatment. The speaker, as far as possible, should develop these omitted features, that more knowledge may be imparted to the classes than that given in the lessons. No speaker should be content merely to repeat the subject matter of the lessons when there is so much left untouched outside of them. The lesson affords a scope for large and deep thinking; for wide research and masterful expression. Do your very best upon the subject; it will be worthy of all the effort you bring to bear upon it.
3. Of Completing a Plan for a Discourse:The student should review what is said on the importance of a plan for a discourse in Lesson XXII. On the work of finishing a plan, Mr. Pittinger remarks: "When we have accumulated our materials, stricken out all that is unfitted or superfluous, and determined the general character of our discourse, the remainder of the work of finishing the plan must be left to individual taste and judgment. No rules can be given that will meet every case. We might direct to put first those statements or arguments which are most easily comprehended, and those which are necessary for understanding other portions of the discourse, and also whatever is least likely to be disputed. Something strong and impressive should be held well in reserve. It will not be according to the principles of that highest art which is the best mirror of nature if we exhaust interest in the opening and then close tamely. Beyond these obvious considerations little help can be given to the speaker in this part of his work. He must form his own ideal and then work up to it. We do not advise any one to borrow other men's outlines for the purpose of filling them up and then speaking from them as if the work was original. [That would be execrable!] This is a most profitless kind of plagiarism. Such sketches may be useful to the very young speaker, merely as indications of the kind of excellence in plans or sketches at which he should aim. And when he hears good discourses he may look beneath the burning words and criticise the merits of the framework upon which they rest. This may render him less satisfied with his own plans, but such dissatisfaction ever affords the best hope for future success. The true mode of improving your plans is to bestow a great deal of time and thought upon them, and to make no disposition of any part for which you cannot give a satisfactory reason. This direction relates only to the beginner. In time the formation of plans will become so natural that any variation from the most effective arrangement will be felt as keenly as a discord in music is felt by a master in that art. From such carefully constructed plans, firm, coherent, and logical discourses will result." (Extempore Speech, Pittinger, pp. 170, 171.)
Essential Elements of a Plan:"There are certain general characteristics that each plan should possess. It must fully indicate the nature of the proposed discourse and mark out each of its successive steps with accuracy. Any want of definiteness in the outline is a fatal defect. You must feel that you can rely absolutely on it for guidance to the end of your discourse, or be always in danger of embarassment and confusion. Each clause should express a distinct idea, and but one. This should be repeated in no other part of the discourse; otherwise we fall into wearisome repetitions, the great vice, as it is often claimed, of extempore speakers. A brief plan is better, other things being equal, than a long one. Often a single word will recall an idea as perfectly as many sentences, and it will burden the memory less. We do not expect the draft of a house to equal the house in size, but only to preserve a proportionate relation to it throughout. The plan cannot supply the thought, but, indicating what is in the mind, it shows how to bring it forth in regular succession. It is a pathway leading to a definite end, and, like all pathways, its crowning merits are directness and smoothness. Without these qualities it will perplex and hinder rather than aid. Each word in the plan should suggest an idea, and be so firmly bound to that idea that the two cannot become separated in any exigency of speech. You will find it sorely perplexing if, in the heat of discourse, some important note should lose the thought for which it previously stood and become an empty word. But with clear conceptions condensed into fitting words, this cannot easily happen. A familiar idea can be expressed very briefly, while a strange or new conception may require more expansion. But all thoughts advanced by the speaker ought to be familiar to himself as the result of long meditation and thorough mastery, no matter how strange or startling they are to his hearers. Most skeletons may be brought within the compass of a hundred words, and every part be clearly indicated to the mind that conceived it, though perhaps not to any other." (Extempore Speech, Pittinger, pp. 171-2-3.)
* * * * * *
Clearness in Speech:We turn again to the consideration of the quality of clearness in speech. In Lesson XXII the fault of ambiguity was dealt with to some extent, and here consideration of the same fault is renewed.
"Ambiguity from the Use of Too Many Pronouns:Ambiguity may be produced by a too free use of pronouns. A student who wishes to tell how Dr. Livesey, of Treasure Island fame, threatened the pirate, Billy Bones, writes:
"The Doctor told him he was a dirty old scamp, and that he was a doctor and a magistrate, so that if he ever caught him doing anything like that again, he would run him out of the district."
It lakes time to discover to which man the various pronouns refer. To remove the obscurity we shall have to make part of the passage a direct quotation:
Dr. Livesey told Bones that he was a dirty scamp, and warned him if he did anything like that again, he would be run out of the district. "For," said the Doctor, "I am not only a physician, but a magistrate, too."
Often when the report of a speech in the third person is ambiguous, we must resort to this device of direct quotation. Usually, however, the question is merely one of finding nouns to take the place of pronouns. By decreasing the number of pronouns, the confused sentence, "Walters and Foster didn't agree with them, but thought as we did, and so they were forced to give up their intention," becomes the clear one, "Walters and Foster didn't agree with their old-time adversaries, but agreed with us, and so the latter were forced to give up their intention." In getting rid of ambiguous pronouns it may be necessary to repeat a word. When clearness demands it, the best writers are never afraid to use a word twice. The repetition may, by serving as a sort of echo of the previous thought, even increase the coherence. So Mr. Bryce writes:
"Yet, after all, it (the influence of the Speaker of the House of Representatives) is power, power which in the hands of a capable and ambitious man becomes so far-reaching that it is no exaggeration to call him the second, if not the first political figure in the United States."—(Bryce: American Commonwealth.)
This device of repetition is used in transforming the incoherent sentence below into a coherent one.
Incoherent:This policy is not the best one; it is false, and we know it, and shun it accordingly, even if it is not to our interest.
Coherent:This policy is not the best policy; it is false, we know it to be false, and though shunning it is not to our interest, shun it we do. (Composition and Rhetoric for Schools. Herrick and Damon, p. 304-5.)
The Apostatic[A]Period.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
ELEMENTS OF APOSTACY IN THE CHURCH.
ANALYSIS.
REFERENCES.
I. Characters of the Early Christians.
The Student will find a Treatise upon the subject of Apostasy in the Writer's "Outlines of Ecclesiastical History" as also in his "New Witness for God," Vol. I, as well as in the notes that follow.
II. Controversy and dissentions among the Apostles and Elders.
III. Schisms--Defections--and Church wide Demoralization among the Saints.
[Footnote A: "Apostatic: Pertaining to an apostate or apostasy."—Dictionary.]
The Subject Proposed:It now becomes m. melancholy task to trace through the early Christian centuries the decline of the Christian religion. By this phrase I mean that a really unchristian religion was gradually substituted for the beautiful religion of Jesus Christ; that a universal apostasy from the Christian doctrine and the Christian Church took place. So tracing the decline of Christianity, I shall establish the truth of the first great message with which the modern prophet, Joseph Smith, came to the world; and shall also prove the fact that a necessity existed for the establishment of such a work as he claims, under God, to have founded, and which will bring us to the culmination of the ages—to the completion of all the dispensations of the gospel in the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times, in which will be "gathered together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and earth, even in him." (Eph. i:10.)
Character of the Early Christians:First of all, it should be remarked that the early Christians were not so far removed from the possession of the common weaknesses of humanity as to preclude the possibility of apostatizing from the Christian religion. Owing to our being so far removed from them in time, by which many of their defects are obscured, and the exaggerated celebration of their virtues, extravagant ideas of the sanctity of their lives and the holiness of their natures has very generally obtained; whereas a little inquiry into the character of the early saints will prove that they were very human, and men of like passions with ourselves.
Ambitious Controversies of the Apostles:The mother of Zebedee's children exhibited a rather ambitious spirit, and the two brethren themselves gave much offense to their fellow apostles by aspiring to sit the one on the right hand of Jesus and the other on His left when He should come into His Kingdom.[A]Even Peter, the chief Apostle, exhibited his full share of human weakness when he thrice denied his Lord in the presence of his enemies, through fear, and even confirmed that denial by cursing and swearing.[B]It was rather a heated controversy, too, that arose in the early Christian Church as to whether those who accepted the Christian faith were still bound to the observances of the law of Moses, and more especially to the rite of circumcision. Although there seems to have been an amicable and authoritative settlement of that question by the decision of what some learned writers have called the first general council of the Church, held by the Apostles and Elders at Jerusalem,[C]yet the old difficulty broke out again and again, not only between the Jewish saints and the Gentile converts, but even among the Apostles themselves, leading to serious accusations one against another, the straining of friendship between fellow-workmen in the ministry, through criminations and recriminations.
[Footnote A: Matt. xx:20-24.]
[Footnote B: Matt. xxvi:69-75.]
[Footnote C: Acts xv.]
After the settlement of this very question of circumcision by the council at Jerusalem, Peter went down to Antioch and at first mingled unreservedly with both Jew and Gentile converts without distinction, accepting both Jew and Gentile in perfect fellowship, departing entirely from the restraints placed on a Jew by the law of Moses, which rendered it unlawful for one who was a Jew to have such unrestricted fellowship with the Gentiles. But when certain ones came down from James, who resided in Jerusalem, then Peter, fearful of offending "them which were of the circumcision," suddenly withdrew his social fellowship from the Gentile converts. Other Jewish brethren did the same; Barnabas, the friend of Paul, being among the number. Whereupon Paul, as he himself testified, withstood Peter to the face, directly charging him before all the brethren with dissimulation, saying: "If thou being a Jew livest after the manner of Gentiles and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?"[A]Yet this same Paul, notwithstanding his loyalty to the Gentile converts on that occasion, his zeal for the decision which had been rendered by the council of the Church at Jerusalem, and notwithstanding his usually strong moral courage, subsequently showed by his conduct that he, too, was not beyond the weakness of "becoming all things to all men;" for a short time after the incident with Peter at Antioch, when in the province of Galatia, and he desired Timothy to be his companion in the ministry, Paul took him and circumcised him, because it was well known that while his mother was a Jewess, his father was a Greek, and all this for fear of the Jews.[B]
[Footnote A: Galatians ii.]
[Footnote B: Acts xvi:1-4.]
This question continued to be a cause of contention even after this sharp disputation at Antioch; for though the decision of the council at Jerusalem was against the contention of the Judaizing party, yet they continued to agitate the question whenever opportunity presented itself, and seemed especially to follow close upon the footsteps of Paul in his missionary journeys; and in Galatia, at least, succeeded in turning the saints of that province from the grace of Christ unto another gospel, perverting the Gospel of Christ.[A]This question continued to agitate the Church throughout the Apostolic Age, and was finally settled through overwhelming numbers of Gentiles being converted, and taking possession of the Church, rather than through any profound respect for the decision of the council at Jerusalem.
[Footnote A: Gal. i:6, 7.]
The withdrawal of John Mark from the ministry while accompanying Paul and Barnabas on their first mission in Asia Minor, and which withdrawal grew out of a faltering of his zeal or a misunderstanding with his companions, will be readily called to mind.[A]Subsequently, when Paul proposed to Barnabas that they go again and visit the brethren in every city where they had preached while on their first mission, a sharp contention arose between them about this same John Mark. Barnabas desired to take him again into the ministry, but Paul seriously objected; and so pronounced was the quarrel between them that these two friends and fellow yokemen in the ministry parted company, no more to be united. It is just possible, also, that in addition to this misunderstanding about John Mark, the severe reproof which Paul administered to Barnabas in the affair of dissimulation at Antioch had somewhat strained their friendship.
[Footnote A: Acts xiii:13.]
Schisms Among the Early Christians:Turning from these misunderstandings and criminations among the leading officers of the Church, let us inquire how it stood with the members. The Epistle of Paul to the church at Corinth discloses the fact that there were serious schisms among them; some boasting that they were of Paul, others that they were of Apollos, others of Cephas, and still others of Christ; which led Paul to ask sharply, "Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you?"[A]There were endless strifes as well as divisions among them, which caused Paul to denounce them as carnally minded.[B]Among them also was such fornication as was not named among the Gentiles, "that one should have his father's wife!" And this shameful sin had not humbled the church at Corinth, for Paul denounced them for being puffed up in the presence of such a crime, rather than having mourned over it.[C]They were in the habit of going to law one with another, and that before the world, in violation of the teachings of Jesus Christ.[D]They desecrated the ordinances of the Lord's Supper by their drunkenness, for which they were sharply reproved by the Apostle.[E]They ate and drank unworthily, "not discerning the Lord's body; for which cause many were sickly among them, and many slept" (that is, died). There were heresies also among them,[F]some denying the resurrection of the dead, while others possessed not the knowledge of God, which the Apostle declared was their shame.[G]It is true, this sharp letter of reproof made the Corinthian saints sorry, and sorry, too, after a godly fashion, in that it brought them to a partial repentance; but even in the second epistle, from which we learn of their partial repentance, the Apostle could still charge that there were many in the Church who had not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they had committed.[H]From this second letter, also, we learn that there were many in the church at large who corrupted the word of God;[I]that there were those, even in the ministry, who were "false prophets, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ."[J]
[Footnote A: I Cor. i:12, 13.]
[Footnote B: I Cor. iii:3, 4.]
[Footnote C: I Cor. v:1-3.]
[Footnote D: I Cor. vi:1-20; and Matt, xviii:15, 17.]
[Footnote E: I Cor. xi:2-22 and 29, 30.]
[Footnote F: I Cor. xi:19.]
[Footnote G: I Cor. xv:12-34.]
[Footnote H: II Cor. xi. 21.]
[Footnote I: II Cor. ii:17.]
[Footnote J: II Cor. xi:12-14.]
Of the churches throughout the province of Galatia it is scarcely necessary to say more than we have already said concerning the invasion of that province by Judaizing Christian ministers, who were turning away the saints from the grace of Christ back to the beggarly elements of the law of carnal commandments; a circumstance which led Paul to exclaim: "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that had called you unto the grace of Christ, unto another gospel; which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the Gospel of Christ."[A]
[Footnote A: Gal. i:6, 7.]
That there were two distinct parties in the Church at this time, between whom bitter contentions arose, is further evidenced by the letter of Paul to the Philippians. Some preached Christ even of envy and strife, and some of good will. "The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely," says Paul, "supposing to add affliction to my bonds; but the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the Gospel."[A]"Beware of dogs," said he again to the same people; "beware of evil workers; beware of the concision."[B]"Brethren, be followers of me," he admonishes them, "and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an example, for many walk of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is their shame, who mind earthly things."[C]To the Colossians, Paul found it necessary to say: "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. * * * * Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshiping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind."[D]
[Footnote A: Phil. i:15, 16.]
[Footnote B: Phil. iii:2.]
[Footnote C: Phil. iii:17, 19.]
[Footnote D: Col. ii:8, 18.]
Defections Among Paul's Converts: But it is in Paul's pastoral letters that we get a deeper insight into corruptions threatening the early church, and even beginning to lay the foundation for that subsequent apostasy which overwhelmed it. The Apostle sent Timothy to the saints at Ephesus to represent him, that he might charge some to teach no other doctrines than those which he had delivered to them: "Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions rather than godly edifying which is in faith," for some had turned aside from the commandment of charity, out of a pure heart, and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned, unto "vile jangling, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor whereof they affirm."[A]Others concerning faith had made shipwreck, of whom were Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom Paul had delivered unto Satan that they might learn not to blaspheme.[B]Others had "erred concerning the faith" and had "given heed to vain babblings, and opposition of science falsely so called."[C]In his second letter to Timothy, Paul informs him that all the saints in Asia had turned away from him, of whom were Phygellus and Hermogenes.[D]He admonishes Timothy again to shun "profane and vain babblings," "for," said he, "they will increase unto more ungodliness, and their word will eat as doth a canker; of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus, who, concerning the truth, have erred, saying that the resurrection is passed already, and overthrow the faith of some."[E]Demos, once a fellow-laborer with Paul, had forsaken him, "having loved this present world;"[F]and at Paul's first answer, that is, when arraigned before the court at Rome, no man stood with him, but all men forsook him; he prays that God will not lay this to their charge.[G]