68. “C. D.,” London. Accept our hearty thanks for your interesting and cheering letter, and the accompanying lines.
59. “E. G.,” Barnet. “We most fully believe in the doctrine of the Lord’s coming to receive His saints to Himself, previous to His coming to judge the world; but we should not have thought of building upon such passages as you adduce. It is too weighty a subject to be dismissed with a few lines of correspondence; but we shall just refer you to the scriptures which form the basis of our hearty belief in this precious truth. 1 Cor. 15:51-58, 1 Thess. 4:13-18 contrasted with chapter 5:1-4. 2 Thess. 2:1, 2, where the apostle beseeches the saints “ by the coming,” not to be troubled as to “the day.” The former will be “our gathering together unto him;” the latter, His revelation in consuming judgment upon the wicked. Rev. 19 where we see Christ coming in judgment, accompanied by His saints. These latter must surely have previously gone to be with their Lord.
60. “P. E. J.,” Bury St. Edmunds. We have been deeply interested in your case, and we do most heartily bless the Lord for His goodness to you, and for the use He has so graciously made of our pages. As to your question respecting music and reading the newspapers, we should prefer casting you entirely upon divine guidance and teaching. We believe the practice of reading newspapers is most injurious to the soul; and the same remark holds good as to a vast mass of light and abominable literature now issuing from the press. It is most serious and sorrowful to mark the way in which our young people are being ensnared by these vile productions. They not only displace the word of God, but actually destroy all taste for useful and solid reading. It makes us weep to think of it; and we earnestly beseech christian parents, teachers, and guardians, to have a care in this matter. No doubt, caution is necessary not to draw the rein too tight; but we should feel unfeignedly thankful if those who have ability and means would bring out a series of works combining those two things, namely, harmless entertainment and solid information. As it is, you may take up many of the publications of the day, and find, on one page, a little bit of religion, and a little bit of morality; and, on another page some absurd love story, or a piece of nonsensical romance, calculated to falsify a child’s idea of human life and character. This is really a very serious matter and lies heavily on the heart.
61. “Helen,” London. You are reasoning on what you feel in yourself, instead of believing what God says about Christ. Tins is the true secret of your perplexity and un-happiness. “Abraham believed God.” May you be led to do the same, and then you will have settled peace. You are arguing against God, instead of believing Him.
62. “Η. Μ. B.,” Uxbridge. We thoroughly enter into your difficulty and sympathize with you. It would be to us a most serious question, were we engaged in printing or bookselling, as to what we printed or sold; but, dear friend, it is one of the many things as to which you must walk before God with a pure conscience. We certainly should not do anything that leaves a soil on the mind or a sting in the conscience; but no one can be a guide for another in such matters. The Lord is so good! He will guide and keep you.
63. “Ego.” We do not exactly enter into your objection to the lines to which you refer. We must not expect to find in a poet the cool accuracy of a theological professor; while, at the same time, we fully admit that a poet ought not to write bad doctrine.
64. “ R.,” Bradford. We believe Heb. 11:27 refers to Moses’ first departure from Egypt. We cannot see any discrepancy whatever between this passage and the history given in Exod. 2. You must remember that when, in the Old Testament, the Holy Ghost writes the history of a man, He gives you the man as he was, with all his weakness and all his mistakes and failure; but, on the other hand, when, in the New Testament, he comments on the history, He gives you the principle on which, in the main, the man acted. Thus we read of Abraham, in Rom. 4 that “He staggered not at the promise of God, through unbelief;” and yet, when we go back to his history, we find that he went down into Egypt — that he denied his wife — that he had recourse to Hagar, in order to reach the promised seed. Is this discrepancy? By no means. It only illustrates the faithfulness and grace of God — faithfulness that can only present man as he is — grace, that can overlook all his failures. You truly remark, beloved brother, that Heb. 11 is a history of faith, not a history of failure. May God bless you and those with you.
65. “E. N.,” Barford, near Warwick, (a) You are quite right, dear friend, in looking at these sublime and precious passages of scripture, Isa. 60 and 65 as millennial; but they shall have their fulfillment after the saints have been caught up to meet the Lord in the air. The first thing we have to look for is the appearing of the bright and morning star. (2 Pet. 1:19. Rev. 2:28.) This is the Church’s special hope. In Mal. 4:2, the pious remnant of Israel is cheered by the blessed hope of the rising of the Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings. There is a great difference, in every way, between the appearing of the morning star, and the shining forth, in mid-day splendor, of the Sun of Righteousness, (b) We do not see why we should not recognize our friends amid the glories of heaven. The disciples, on the mount, were able to distinguish Moses and Elias whom they had never seen in the flesh. The rich man, in Luke 16 is represented as knowing Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom. We fully believe that the saints will eternally retain their personal identity, though all shall be fully conformed to the image of our blessed Lord. Precious hope! May we cherish it!
66. “F. Ε. B.,” Dalkey. (a) If you will procure a copy of “Nine Years’ Answers to Correspondents,” you will find, page 3, of the second part, a full answer to your Question respecting Judas. You can get the book by sending twenty-four postage stamps to Mr. Morrish, 24, Warwick Lane, or to Mr. Broom, Paternoster Row, London, E.O. The second part can be had, separately, for twelve stamps. (b) You are right in your view of 1 Thess. 5:10. At least, so we now judge.
67. “W. M.,” Shrewsbury. It will assist you in your study of the parable of the tares, in Matt. 13 to bear in mind that our Lord is speaking, not of the Church, but of the kingdom of heaven. The tares are false professors who shall be bound up in bundles for judgment, at the close; while the wheat — the true and genuine people of God, shall be gathered into the heavenly garner. It is very important to see what you have, and what you have not, in Matt. 13 The rejection of the King has thrown the kingdom into mystery. His reception will be the kingdom in manifestation; but you must remember that the mystery of the Church forms no part of the ways of God on this earth. It is a distinct thing consequent upon Israel’s rejection of the Messiah. The period during which the Church is being formed is a parenthesis. You will never understand Matt. 13 nor indeed any of the prophetic scriptures either of the Old or New Testament, unless you bear this clearly in mind.
68. “T. S.,” Manchester. If you refer to our correspondence for September (No. 47) you will find an answer to your question.
69. “G. S. M.,” Southampton. Your lines have come to hand. They are sound and good.
70. “D. W. Derby. Scripture declares that our Lord Jesus Christ was tempted in all points, sin excepted. (Heb. 2:17, 18; 4:15.) This is quite sufficient for us. When scripture speaks, we bow; when man speaks, we judge. In neither case is it a question of reason.
71. “C. K,” Canada. We judge you have made a mistake in leaving the assembly because some of the members found fault with you. The discipline and surveillance of the assembly are very wholesome, though they may prove irksome to our proud and restless nature. We do not mean to say that the persons who found fault with you, were right, inasmuch as we do not know the facts of your case. But speaking generally, it is a bad sign to see a person grow restive under the exercise involved in walking in company with his brethren. You may rest assured it is far better to be rapped over the knuckles than to have our personal vanity fed by a flattering tongue. It may be that those who give the rap are wrong in their mode of doing it; and further, it may be that, as in the case you refer to, they need a rap themselves just as much as you do. Be this as it may, we are thoroughly persuaded that the fellowship of the assembly is a safe and wholesome thing, and woe be to them who seek, in pride or willfulness, to get rid of it! We should strongly recommend you to humble yourself and seek to be re-admitted into the bosom of the assembly. “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time.” 1 Pet. 5:6. Jas. 4:10.
72. “T. A. L.,” Bedous, Basse Pyrenees. We have recently referred to the book of Esther. As to the special point which you find puzzling, namely, the severity of the Jews towards their enemies, you must bear in mind that, in a dispensational point of view, it was as consistent for a Jew to act in stem righteousness, as it is for a Christian to act in pure grace. We desire to render hearty thanks to God for the blessing which you and others around you have received through the pages of “Things New and Old.” To God be all the praise!
73. “W. C” Bristol. 1 John 5:16, 17 refers to God’s governmental dealing on account of sin, which dealing might go even so far as the death of the body.
74. “S. O.,” Hobart Town, Tasmania. Your kind and interesting letter of June 25 is to hand. We cannot at all agree with Mr. Baxter’s view of the Man of Sin. We believe 2 Thessalonians ii. teaches us distinctly that the lawless one or Man of Sin will not be revealed until the saints have been caught up to meet the Lord. (Compare 1 Thess. 4:13-18 with 5:1-11.) We regret the oversight with regard to your letter of August, 1866. Pray excuse us.