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The UK Bible Students Website Christian Biblical Studies
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FOR HIS NAME’S SAKE
By Will Resume
All Scripture references
are to the King James Version, unless indicated otherwise.
For my name’s sake will I
defer mine anger, and for my praise will
I refrain for thee, that I
cut thee not off
(Isaiah 48: 9)
GUILT BY ASSOCIATION is a principle firmly established in Scripture. When Adam sinned, the entire human race was condemned as sinners. As a consequence, ageing, death and dying was passed on to everyone (Romans 5: 12, 14):
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression . . . .
So, everyone has
been tarred by the same brush. But this principle works not just in the
negative, but also to the benefit of others. In its positive application the
general principle may be stated thus: God loves those who love those who
love God.
We will call this, Grace By Association, whereby God promises to confer blessings on, or exercise mercy toward, one party as a result of intercession or advocacy from another.
Some examples:
The Promise
of the Rainbow
The flood of Noah’s day destroyed all human life except the eight persons aboard the Ark. When the waters had subsided and Noah and his family emerged into an altered world and a changed climate, God attached a promise to the appearance of the rainbow (Genesis 9: 11-17):
11 And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
15 And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
17 And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
Jehovah’s unconditional pledge that never would there be ‘any more a flood to destroy the earth’ is a guarantee made to the human race because of the virtue of Noah. And although this promise specifically addresses global flooding, it would also seem to rule out any earth-wide catastrophe capable of destroying the human race, such as fire, cosmic collision, disease, the results of climate change, or nuclear warfare. The promise would have little value if God had pledged, so to speak, ‘I won’t flood you again’, but under His breath added, ‘I’ve got something worse lined up’.
The Promise
to Abraham
Because of Abraham’s faith, Jehovah promised to ‘make of thee a great nation’, adding, ‘I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed’ (Genesis 12: 2, 3). God later buttressed this promise with an oath (Genesis 22: 15-18):
15 And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,
16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
The Promise
to the Jews
Ancient Israel were a truculent people, inclined on many occasions to flout God’s Law, in spite of their collective promise to obey it. Notwithstanding their disloyalty to God, He maintains His loyalty to them, pledged in various ways. Likening His affection for them as a mother’s for her child – incidentally hinting that of all earthly loves, maternal love is the highest – He says (Isaiah 49: 15):
Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
Compare this text with Jeremiah 31: 35-37, in which Jehovah pledges His faithfulness to Israel against the impossibility of fathoming the heavens. And the Apostle Paul, in his masterly treatise on Israel’s fall and rise, writes as follows (Romans 11: 1, 2, 26-29):
1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. . . .
26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father’s sakes.
29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
‘But for the
elect’s sake . . .’
In the Great Prophecy of Matthew Chapter 24, Jesus predicts a notable period of trouble which will come on the world some indeterminate length of time before He sets up His Kingdom (v. 21):
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.[Appendix]
The Elect are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5: 13). That is, their influence is beneficial to secular society as a whole. As long as its influence remains, the world may hope for God’s mercy.
The Sodom
Principle
In Genesis Chapter 18 we are told that the angel of the Lord predicted to Abraham the extermination of the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for their ungodliness. Knowing that his nephew, Lot, and his family, resided in Sodom, Abraham argued with the Lord’s messenger for a stay of execution. ‘Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?’ (v. 23). In the ensuing conversation, Abraham kept whittling down the required number until the angel agreed that the cities would not be destroyed even though only ten righteous persons were to be found there. They were not, and the cities were destroyed, Lot and his family being allowed to escape.
Returning now to Jesus’ Great Prophecy of Matthew Chapter 24, we read (v. 22):
And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
Unlike the outcome for Sodom, in this promise of Jesus we are told that Grace will intervene on behalf of the elect to reduce the widespread effects, intensity, or duration, of the Time of Trouble upon mankind. This intervention may be two-fold.
1. The ‘7,000’
In any age, society contains those who are the Lord’s own. This is the principle of the ‘7,000’, those who, as Elijah was told, ‘have not bowed to Baal’ (1 Kings 19: 18). Based on this type, and the Apostle Paul’s application of it in Romans 11: 1-5, we may conclude that Christianity will not be obliterated from the earth.
2. The ‘Very
Elect’
The Little Flock, ‘sons’ and joint-heirs of Christ, who live and reign with Him, will, in some way we cannot predict, ameliorate the trouble on the earth in that period. At some indeterminate point beyond that, Christ will set up His Kingdom for the blessing of all families of the earth, as promised to Abraham. Of course, mankind does not know it, yet (Romans 8: 19):
For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
The Great
Reversal
The condemnation for sin inherited from Adam is limited to the time of the Permission of Evil. Once its purpose has been fulfilled and Christ sets up His kingdom on earth, the principle of personal responsibility will operate (Jeremiah 31: 29-34):
29 In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.
30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.
31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Jesus, The
Saviour
The ultimate and most perfect expression of Grace By Association is the love of God expressed in the person of Christ. For the sake of His Beloved Son, and His ransom-sacrifice, God has pledged the remission of sins by faith – justification; and a full, fair opportunity for eternal life for all – redemption and restitution. If we had no other evidence of God’s goodwill and grace toward mankind this would be more than enough. The principle on which mankind was condemned in one man, is the same one which will see them rescued. There is an elegant, Divine logic to this.
Romans 5: 18,
19
18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
1 Timothy 2:
4-6
4 [God] will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
1 John 2: 12
. . . your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.
__________________
As to the ‘end of the world’, there are at least four reasons why predictions of it have failed:
1. Original interpretation of the prophecies is wrong
2. Insufficient data available
3. Overstatement (exaggeration) of the pertinent trends or problems
4. Under-estimate of time required for accomplishment of prophecies
This seems to confirm what Jesus said: ‘But of that day and hour knoweth no man, not, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only’ (Matthew 24: 36); and Acts 1: 6: 7: ‘When they [the disciples, ed.] therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.’
Among those Christians who lean toward dispensationalism, with an emphasis on chronology, a prominent opinion is that this ‘time of trouble’ occurs at the close of the Gospel age before or during the Second Advent, and that it is followed by the establishment of Christ’s Kingdom. If current events are a guide, it seems reasonable to conclude that we are now in this prophetic ‘time of trouble’, the duration of which is uncertain, but the outcome of which – according to several Scriptures – will probably be determined by the fate of Israel.
Those of the Preterism school tend to place the fulfilment of these events shortly after the invasion and sacking of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 by the Romans, some asserting that this was followed by the second coming of Jesus.
The prominent American Bible teacher, Harold Camping, President and General Manager of Family Radio, created a stir when he renounced his belief in the doctrine of eternal torment; declared the Church Age had ended and the Great Tribulation began in 1988; and that the churches in general have been rejected by God. Now, using his own system of Bible chronology, he predicts the rapture of the ‘true believers’ on May 21, 2011, and the ‘end of earth’s existence’ on October 21, 2011.
Source (home page): <http://www.familyradio.com/>
Copyright April 2010
ukbiblestudents.co.uk
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