Pastor David B. Curtis
Pastor David B. Curtis
The Lord's Prayer - It seems likely, also, that even in the case of the Lord's Prayer it is the spirit rather than the strict form and letter that is set before us for perpetual imitation. Indeed, the words of Jesus in John xvi. 23, 24 prove that the exact form was not intended to be of permanent obligation. "Verily, verity, I say unto you, if ye shall ask anything of the Father, He will give it you in My name. Hitherto ye asked nothing in My name. Ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be fulfilled." Moreover, by the dethronement and imprisonment. of Satan (Rev. xx. 2, 3), and the establishment of the Kingdom of God over the earth in 70 A.D., the early church received speedy answers to the seventh petition as given in the Revised Bible ("deliver us from the evil one "), and the second petition ("Thy Kingdom come "). Having regard to the spirit of the prayer, we may retain and still use both these petitions as given in the Authorised version, although the second has become to us practically identical with the third Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven and the seventh ("deliver us from evil ") differs little from the sixth (" lead us not into temptation").
Lawful variety in Church systems - A recognition also follows of the comparative insignificance of any particular form of Church organisation. Suppose the Church system that prevailed in New Testament days could be ascertained beyond all controversy-be it Independency, Episcopacy, or Presbyterianism. No evidence can be adduced to show that this one system was meant to be taken as a model for all time. The primitive Christians lived in an exceptional and parenthetical period of the world's history. The changed circumstances in which we live justify a departure from apostolic forms, but never from the apostolic spirit. A society of modern Christians may, therefore, rightly adopt any form of Church government and organisation that is not inherently wrong, and which appears to them suited to their needs in the present day.
The sudden break in early Church history. The fate of the apostles. Did Lazarus die a second time? - The fact that Christ's Second Advent took place in70 A.D. is the only adequate explanation of the sudden break which then occurred in the records of the Church. In the Acts of the Apostles the story ends abruptly, leaving us uncertain as to the fate of Paul and other prominent Christian workers. A mystery has hitherto surrounded the fate of most of the apostles, vague and untrustworthy legends as to the times and circumstances of their deaths having been all that was available. But relying on the plain, emphatic and continually -repeated statements of Jesus Christ, there is no longer any room for doubt on the subject. We may conclude, with certainty, that those of the apostles who survived until 70 A.D. . were then taken away from earth to heaven, with the exception of John, who was left behind for a time to be the apostle of the new era. Their Master true to His word (Matt. xxviii. 20) had been WITH THEM ALL THE DAYS as they preached and baptized ; and now at the CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE and in fulfilment of another promise (John xiv. 3) He visibly returned to fetch them home to heaven-to that place which He had meantime been preparing for them in the Father's house of many mansions.Thus He verified His solemn prediction that their missionary labours would be cut short by His own personal advent ("Verily I say unto you, ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel until the Son of man be come." Matt. x. 23).
It has often been a matter of surprise that during His earthly ministry Jesus should have raised from the dead at least three persons (the widow's son, the ruler's daughter, and Lazarus), only to allow them later on to sink back into Hades. But no such inference is necessary. All three of these may well have lived until the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and by being then "translated" from earth to heaven have entirely escaped the intermediate State.
Apostolic succession - The great fact that the Second Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ took place in 70 A.D. is a crowning proof of the shallowness of the theory that any particular class of men can rightly claim to be, in an exclusive sense, the successors of the apostles.
(1) THE WORK OF THE APOSTLES, UNIQUE: FULLY ACCOMPLISHED ' AND INCAPABLE OF REPETITION. THEIR QUALIFICATIONS AND CREDENTIALS ALSO UNIQUE -Like John the Baptist, the apostles were mainly sent out into the world to herald the immediate coming of the divine Kingdom, and therefore also of the divine King. "As ye go, preach, saying, The Kingdom of heaven is at hand " (Matt. x. 7). "Into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go out into the streets thereof and say, Even the dust from your city, which cleaveth to our feet, we do wipe off against you.
Howbeit know this, that the Kingdom of God is come nigh" (Luke x. 9-11). They had also to declare that faith and obedience were the indispensable qualifications for admission to the Kingdom. And they did not leave unfinished the task committed to them. They went forth and preached everywhere (Mark xvi. 20), and ere their ministry ceased, the glad tidings of the near approach of the Kingdom of God had been made known unto all the nations (Rom. xvi. 26), and proclaimed in all creation under heaven (Col. i. 23). The work to which they were called was thus of a unique character, accomplished by them once for all, and incapable of being repeated in exactly the same form in succeeding generations. Further the apostles (including Paul, Gal. i. 1, 12) derived their message directly from Jesus Himself. With the exception of Paul, they were qualified for their work by three years [1] of personal friendship with their Lord; and (including Paul, I Cor. ix. 1) by having seen Him alive after His resurrection. [2] They had also special supernatural gifts (Mark xvi. 17) and even the power of casting out demons and of raising the dead to life. [3] These special supernatural gifts ceased when their ministry ceased, at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. It is also noteworthy that our Lord's promise (Matt. xxviii. 20) to be in a special and exclusive sense 'with' His apostles extended only to the end of the Jewish age! [4] It is true that an analogy exists between the work of the apostles and that of Christian preachers of later ages. To all Christian preachers it has been given to proclaim the Saviour's name and to teach that repentance and faith are indispensable qualifications for admission to the Kingdom of heaven. Yet the ministry of the apostles like that of John the Baptist, is incapable of repetition in precisely its original form, the Kingdom of God having long ago been established in heaven over the earth. Moreover none of the alleged successors of the apostles can literally cast out evil spirits and raise the dead to life, as they did, or without, suffering injury take up serpents anddrink poison (Mark xvi. 17).
(2) Those Worthy To Succeed The Apostles Were Withdrawn From Earth To Heaven Along With Them. The claim of any priestly class to exclusively represent the apostles is also completely invalidated by the consideration that the Church of history is the successor and for the most part the spiritual representative of those primitive believers of the second rank who stand condemned from the very fact that, being found lacking in earnestness and watchfulness at-, the moment of Christ's Second Advent,they were left behind on earth at a time when their truly saintly and consecrated fellowChristians were taken away to heaven. Thus even if it were possible for the priestly pedigree to be traced back without, a break to the year 70, the most important links in the chain-the links needed to connect, it with the apostles themselves- would still be missing. In that year, on a day and at an hour previously unknown to any but God the Father (Matt. xxiv. 36),the apostles (with a single exception) and all those worthy to succeed the apostles were suddenly taken away from the earth. Hence the priestly pedigree is at best a chain hanging upon nothing, for no one asserts that episcopal succession has come simply through John.
(3) The Apostles Have Never Relinquished Their Position Pre-Eminence Over The Church. Jesus, with the utmost solemnity, invested His apostles with the very same authority over the church, as that which He Himself had received from the Father. "As the Father hath sent Me, EVEN SO SEND I YOU " (John xx. 21). " He that heareth you heareth Me, and he that rejecteth you rejecteth Me, and he that rejecteth Me rejecteth Him that sent Me " (Luke x. 16), Like the Son of man (Mark ii. 10) they had bestowed on them the right and the power to forgive Sins. [5] But the church in heaven and on earth is not two but only one, and Peter and his fellow-apostles have never ceased to exercise over it the authority committed to them by their Master. A will cannot be proved and the property inherited until the testator is dead. [6] Just as Christ needs no successor to His throne because He is still alive and still occupies it, so none can succeed the apostles in their position of pre-eminence over the church, for the simple reason that these men are at this moment alive in the unseen world, and still have this pre-eminence.
The visible unity of Christendom - Jesus Christ prayed for perfect union amongst His people, that union which is destined one day to bring about a world-wide recognition of His divine mission."Holy Father, keep them in Thy name which Thou hast given Me, that they may be one even as We are...... Neither for these only do I pray, but for them also which believe on Me through their word ; that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may- be in Us that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me" (John xvii. 11, 20, 21).
For at least three reasons the fact of the past Second Advent is calculated to promote the unity of Christendom. (1) Many sects and denominations are largely based on the belief that the Second Advent is still future. When it is recognised that this belief is a grave error and wholly irreconcilable with the plain teaching of the Lord Jesus, these sects must cease to exist. (2) The past Second Advent is fatal to the dogma of Apostolic succession which otherwise must for ever prove an insurmountable barrier to the union of the Churches. (3) The light which the great truth for which we contend throws on the New Testament, and the many passages of which it makes the meaning clear beyond reasonable doubt, will do much to minimise differences of opinion amongst Christian people. For example, there is no longer any room for the controversy between pro-millennarianism and post-millennarianism. The Millennium (or heavenly Kingdom of God) in the midst of which we are living was preceded by Christ's Second Advent, and will be followed by His Third Advent. We may therefore readily recognize the elements of truth which existed in what appeared to be conflicting opinions.
Other Consequences - Theology is the servant of Religion; a schoolmaster to lead us to Him who is Himself the Way, the Truth and the Life-or to bind us the more closely to Him. Like all other great truths, that of the past Second Advent has thus its God-appointed work to accomplish in the world, and will triumph at its God- appointed time and through God-appointed instruments. As will have been already seen from the results which flow from it, its mission will probably prove to be a wide and varied one. And in conclusion the following additional , consequences may be briefly mentioned as coming from it: (1) It vindicates THE VERACITY AND INERRANCY OF JESUS, by relieving His teaching from the suspicion of a serious error. (2) It adds vastly to THE INTELLIGIBILITY, and therefore also to THE CREDIBILITY, OF THE NEW TESTAMENT by removing intellectual difficulties which for long ages have hindered thousands of thoughtful men and women from clearly seeing the way to Christ and His salvation. (3) It severely TESTS (and thereby INCREASES) the FAITH of many Christians, by compelling them to choose between Scripture and tradition-between the teaching of Christ and His apostles and the teaching of the, Church, which on this question of the date of the Parousia, are utterly at variance.
[1] "Ye also bear witness because ye have been with Me from the beginning " (John xv. 27).
[2] "Of the men therefore which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and went out among us, beginning from the baptism of John unto the day that He was received up from us, of these must one become a witness with us of His resurrection " (Acts i. 21, 22).
[3] "Paul, speaking of his own ministry, says " Truly The Signs Of An Apostle were wrought among you in all patience, by signs and wonders and mighty works " (2 Cor. xii. 12).
[4] See Appendix B, page 192.
[5] "Receive ye the Holy Spirit. Whose soever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them. Whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained" (John xx. 22, 23).
[6] "For where a testament is, there must of necessity be the death of him that made it. For a testament is of force when there hath been death, for doth it ever avail while lie that made it liveth ? " (Heb. ix. 16, 17).