THE GRAND PURPOSE

 

  1. Would Jesus have established his kingdom at his first advent if the Jews had received him?

In the absence of all testimony in regard to such an eventuality, it is impossible to say what would have been done. This is certain, that a testament, covenant, or will, is of no force while the testator lives. The right of Jesus and his brethren to the Holy Land and to the kingdom proper to it, rests upon the covenants made with Abraham and David. These covenants were ordained in the hands of a Mediator, who was to be the Eternal Spirit manifested in their seed, who was to be, also, Son of God. If the mediator of the new covenant had appeared and been received by the Jews, he would have had no right to attempt the establishment of the kingdom. It was absolutely necessary that he should die by violence of the Serpent-power:

  1. That sin might be condemned in sin’s flesh;
  2. That the sins of his brethren might be borne by him on the cross; and,
  3. That the covenants might come into force, &c.

If the Jews had received him, they would not have put him to death, how then, could the saying be fulfilled, “They shall look upon Me, whom they have pierced?” It should have read, in that case, “They shall look on Me, whom they received.” But if the Jews had received him the Romans would not, and had he then, in the days of his weakness (and he was crucified through weakness), aided by the Jews, attempted to establish the kingdom, the force of the Roman empire would have been brought against him, and would certainly have prevailed; for it had been before predicted in Daniel that “the Little Horn should make war upon the saints, and prevail against them.” Daniel and Isaiah would have been turned into false prophets, and God would have been filled with darkness. In short, the question may be said to propound an impossible supposition, impossible in view of the testimony.

  1. Why are the people of one age more favored than those of another, in hearing the Gospel and being saved?

Because one generation of flesh and blood happens to live contemporary with the times appointed in the original plan, while other generations do not. No injustice is done to the nations and generations that never heard the Gospel. Before they were born into the world they were nothing; after they died they went to nothing, so they became as though they had never been. They had no hopes, and now they have no regrets; why, then, need we burden ourselves with sorrowings for them that know nothing and care for nothing? “The dead know not anything.”

Men were not ushered into being for the purpose of being saved or lost. God-manifestation, not human salvation, was the grand purpose of the Eternal Spirit. The salvation of a multitude is incidental to the manifestation, but it was not the end proposed. The Eternal Spirit intended to enthrone himself on the earth, and, in so doing, to develop a Divine Family from among men, every one of whom shall be spirit because born of the Spirit, and that this family shall be large enough to fill the earth, when perfected, to the entire exclusion of flesh and blood. In elaborating this purpose, upon the principles revealed in the Bible, a far greater production of human kind occurs than is necessary. Hence vast multitudes are swept off by disease, war, and so forth, and the multitude left are of but little more use than to keep the world a going until the Divine Family shall become complete. God will take out from the human race as many for his name as his purpose requires. If he chose to make apostolic demonstrations every two hundred years, he could, doubtless, obtain a hundred fold more for the kingdom than upon the present system; but he does not so operate. It is fair, then, to conclude that his purpose does not demand so many, ‘ and that, therefore, he only employs mean adequate to what he desires.

True, “one generation needs the blessings of salvation as much as another,” but it is not God’s pleasure to respond to all their needs, for the plain reason that he does not. The more light the more responsibility; hence, there will be, no doubt, more raised to Aion judgment who have previously lived in the apostolic age than of those who live in this generation of ours. It is, therefore, a merciful dispensation to leave “the Veil of the Covering” over the intoxicated nations until the appointed time to teach them righteousness by the only means that can effect it—by the argument of Divine force, as introductory to the force of Divine argument. “When thy judgments, O Jehovah, are in the earth the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.”—Isaiah 26:9. This is the only remedy for our rebellious race.

God has given light enough and ample means enough for the taking out all needed for his name. The light is strong enough for an honest and good heart to see by, but it is not strong enough to bring men to obedience of a contrary description. Men who do not think and dare not reason or act, lest they should jeopardise their social position or be wounded in the vested interests, can never see the kingdom of God. The light is not strong enough for them, and their constant exclamation is, “I do not see it in that light,” “I cannot so understand it.” It is never convenient for them to see anything by which “the idols of the den” are made to follow the lead of Dagon :

The household gods must be preserved, Whatever else betide!

God does not “will all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth,” in the sense of compelling such a result. That he does not is clear, from the fact that very few of mankind in each generation arrive at that knowledge, and the salvation is scrupulously predicated upon the knowledge and obedience of the truth. The original words of Paul to Timothy do not sanction such a supposition. Speaking of God, he says, “who is willing that all men be saved and come to the exact knowledge of truth; for there is one God and one Mediator of God and men, Jesus, a man anointed, who gave himself a ransom for all; the testimony in its proper times.” 1 Tim. 2:4-6. The proof of God’s willingness is seen in his sending an invitation to all men, offering them the kingdom, power, and glory, of which the Gospel treats, with eternal life at the resurrection; and the extent of the salvation or amplitude of the “all” is also seen in accompanying the invitation in the history of its proclamation; so that when his willingness shall have found its full development, and the fruits shall be gathered in, they will sin, “Thou has purchased us for God with they blood OUT OF EVERY kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” Rev 5:9. He is willing that any man, Jew, Turk, Protestant, Pagan, or Papist should be saved on the terms he has appointed, for “he is no respecter of persons,” but will not force men to be saved, nor will he permit them to be saved if they will not believe his promises and do his commands.

In 2 Peter iii, 9, the word rendered “willing” is not the same as used by Paul above. Peter said, “Not desiring or wishing that any perish.” The “any” are related to the “toward,” in the sentence immediately before. He is willing that the incorrigible perish, but he does not desire or wish that any of the saints should perish. There were certain before Peter’s mind who had obeyed the truth, but “had forsaken the right way” (2:15), and who were about to fall into that furnace of fire that was shortly to devour Judah. It was the Lord’s longsuffering towards such errorists of the circumcision that caused the seeming delay with which the apostles were taunted. He did not wish any of them to perish, but that they might all come to a change of mind. In relation to the name of the Holy Spirit, let the reader turn to what we have already written upon it, in our article of this number, on the Mosaic and Nazarene Teaching Concerning God, which, for the present, will suffice.

John Thomas
Feb. 26,1858