We continue with the subject of,
The Millennium and the End of Sin
The Resurrection of Condemnation
We continue once again with our look at the Millennium and the Judgement to come, and the article we were reviewing in our last post.
"Are There Few That Be Saved?"
We are told plainly that Christ is to "fill all things," "far above all heavens" (Eph. 4:10), that in his Name will every knee bow, upon earth as well as in heaven (Phil. 2:9). Such tremendous words must certainly denote a stupendous Divine purpose within which the human race is assigned a definite place; the conclusion is irresistible that, despite the ignorance and lack of comprehension which is inevitable under the conditions of this present embryo life, that purpose will be accomplished.
Such high destiny demands prior training -- a time of instruction and probation followed by final judgment as to fitness or unfitness, worthiness or unworthiness.
That judgment cannot be passed on any man until he first has had full and abundant opportunity to learn of the Divine design, to appreciate its implications, to accept it for himself and by means of the transforming power of God to divest himself of all that is antagonistic to that purpose and so attain the moral stature which enables him to take his rightful place in Divine creation.
NOT UNTIL every man, woman, and child of every generation back to the beginning has enjoyed such an opportunity and made his or her eternal decision for good or evil, for Christ or against him, will the great Day of judgment come to an end and the human race enter its perpetual inheritance.
And be it noted that the Last Judgment (“krima” Strong’s # 2917) of Scripture is not confined to a moment, the moment in which sentence is passed; it covers a period, a period (of judgement, a “krisis” period Strong’s # 2920), which includes the process of investigating and of distinguishing between right and wrong and of separating the two.
Furthermore, the purport and intent of the Day of judgment is NOT for the condemnation and destruction of sinners without opportunity for conversion; it is for the reclamation and reconciliation of as many as can by any means be reclaimed and reconciled and it is only when this endeavor has failed in any particular case that the final condemnatory sentence is passed.
Hence the Day of judgment is depicted in Scripture, not as a time of unrelieved terror and gloom and despair, but one of joy and happiness and hope. The Psalmist in Psalm 96 depicts the Lord coming at this judgment as at a time of universal rejoicing. "Let the heavens rejoice, and the earth be glad ... the fields be joyful ... before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth." It is not always realized that the Day of Judgment is in some of its aspects a very joyous occasion, notwithstanding that it is also a time when, to use the language of Isaiah, justice shall be laid to the line and righteousness to the plummet, the Divine law of retribution will operate and every man "receive the things done in his body." None will escape the implication of the principle so clearly enunciated by St. Paul: "Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap" (Gal. 6:7).
Yet parallel with this somber but very necessary theme of disciplinary retribution there also runs the brighter one of conversion and restoration, for one very definite factor in the Day of judgment is the presence of Christ with his Church for the express purpose of saving those of the unregenerate who can be saved.
The whole Biblical presentation of the reign of Christ and the Church over the world prior to the culmination of all things in eternity has no meaning-and no conceivable purpose -- unless that reign is for the conversion of the nations; the Bible is positive that in fact this is so. If the Millennial reign of Christ and the Day of judgment are regarded as running in parallel, so to speak, over the same period of time, as being to a great extent synonymous terms, then a number of apparently contradictory Scriptural themes and statements are harmonized and a foundation laid for an understanding of the Divine purpose which will satisfy every instinct both of justice and love. It will go far to explaining the apparent enigma of the Divine permission of evil and provide a convincing answer to the question why, two thousand years after Christ appeared as the Light of the world, to seek and to save that which was lost, the greater part of mankind have not yet seen the Light, and the lost, although sought, consistently and persistently, not only by the Lord himself in person, but by his followers in every generation and land, are still not saved.
Be it remembered moreover that no man has life in himself and no man can save himself by his own efforts. The New Testament lays down as an immutable law that there is salvation only in the Name of Christ, that no man can be saved except through the channel of acceptance of Christ and his life given on man's behalf, and unquestioning loyalty and allegiance to him in eternity. Christ is the medium through whom life comes to man, and there is no other way.
This, then, is the task; to discern the Divine purpose for mankind in the light of all that is known about the Creator, his attributes and his works, under the guidance of his revelation in the Scriptures. There must be added, to some small degree, the words and writings of outstanding Christians of the past and present who have had laid on their hearts this concern for the triumph of good over evil, and the reconciliation of such proportion of men to God, and their triumphant entry into eternal life, that it can with conviction be claimed that our Lord Jesus Christ has truly and gloriously become "All in All"!
Thus concludes this study showing some of the differences in interpretation between Bible Students and Seventh Day Adventist.
We believe that in this study we have shown using the basic 28 fundamental beliefs of Seventh Day Adventist that there are very few if any commonalities between Bible Student beliefs and that of Adventist. They have their own unique way interpreting the scriptures, as does the rest of the professing church. However as has been shown through this study we (Bible Students) do not share the majority of these views.
We will not be going into the differences in the interpretation of Revelation here between Bible Students and Seventh Day Adventist as we are presently in an on-going process of a study of Revelation. The study which we have been presenting contains views generally accepted by most Bible Students, although there may be some minor differences here and there. Keep in mind a great percentage of Revelation has yet to have been fulfilled and until a prophecy has been fulfilled it is impossible to interpret it perfectly, thus even amongst Bible Students there are various views on some issues. This is our liberty in Christ.
As for the views of Seventh Day Adventist on Revelation, their views appear to coincide with much of that held by orthodoxy (a far too literal view), and thus should already be familiar to those who have study Revelation to any degree.
The Millennium and the End of Sin
The Resurrection of Condemnation
We continue once again with our look at the Millennium and the Judgement to come, and the article we were reviewing in our last post.
"Are There Few That Be Saved?"
We are told plainly that Christ is to "fill all things," "far above all heavens" (Eph. 4:10), that in his Name will every knee bow, upon earth as well as in heaven (Phil. 2:9). Such tremendous words must certainly denote a stupendous Divine purpose within which the human race is assigned a definite place; the conclusion is irresistible that, despite the ignorance and lack of comprehension which is inevitable under the conditions of this present embryo life, that purpose will be accomplished.
Such high destiny demands prior training -- a time of instruction and probation followed by final judgment as to fitness or unfitness, worthiness or unworthiness.
That judgment cannot be passed on any man until he first has had full and abundant opportunity to learn of the Divine design, to appreciate its implications, to accept it for himself and by means of the transforming power of God to divest himself of all that is antagonistic to that purpose and so attain the moral stature which enables him to take his rightful place in Divine creation.
NOT UNTIL every man, woman, and child of every generation back to the beginning has enjoyed such an opportunity and made his or her eternal decision for good or evil, for Christ or against him, will the great Day of judgment come to an end and the human race enter its perpetual inheritance.
And be it noted that the Last Judgment (“krima” Strong’s # 2917) of Scripture is not confined to a moment, the moment in which sentence is passed; it covers a period, a period (of judgement, a “krisis” period Strong’s # 2920), which includes the process of investigating and of distinguishing between right and wrong and of separating the two.
Furthermore, the purport and intent of the Day of judgment is NOT for the condemnation and destruction of sinners without opportunity for conversion; it is for the reclamation and reconciliation of as many as can by any means be reclaimed and reconciled and it is only when this endeavor has failed in any particular case that the final condemnatory sentence is passed.
Hence the Day of judgment is depicted in Scripture, not as a time of unrelieved terror and gloom and despair, but one of joy and happiness and hope. The Psalmist in Psalm 96 depicts the Lord coming at this judgment as at a time of universal rejoicing. "Let the heavens rejoice, and the earth be glad ... the fields be joyful ... before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth." It is not always realized that the Day of Judgment is in some of its aspects a very joyous occasion, notwithstanding that it is also a time when, to use the language of Isaiah, justice shall be laid to the line and righteousness to the plummet, the Divine law of retribution will operate and every man "receive the things done in his body." None will escape the implication of the principle so clearly enunciated by St. Paul: "Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap" (Gal. 6:7).
Yet parallel with this somber but very necessary theme of disciplinary retribution there also runs the brighter one of conversion and restoration, for one very definite factor in the Day of judgment is the presence of Christ with his Church for the express purpose of saving those of the unregenerate who can be saved.
The whole Biblical presentation of the reign of Christ and the Church over the world prior to the culmination of all things in eternity has no meaning-and no conceivable purpose -- unless that reign is for the conversion of the nations; the Bible is positive that in fact this is so. If the Millennial reign of Christ and the Day of judgment are regarded as running in parallel, so to speak, over the same period of time, as being to a great extent synonymous terms, then a number of apparently contradictory Scriptural themes and statements are harmonized and a foundation laid for an understanding of the Divine purpose which will satisfy every instinct both of justice and love. It will go far to explaining the apparent enigma of the Divine permission of evil and provide a convincing answer to the question why, two thousand years after Christ appeared as the Light of the world, to seek and to save that which was lost, the greater part of mankind have not yet seen the Light, and the lost, although sought, consistently and persistently, not only by the Lord himself in person, but by his followers in every generation and land, are still not saved.
Be it remembered moreover that no man has life in himself and no man can save himself by his own efforts. The New Testament lays down as an immutable law that there is salvation only in the Name of Christ, that no man can be saved except through the channel of acceptance of Christ and his life given on man's behalf, and unquestioning loyalty and allegiance to him in eternity. Christ is the medium through whom life comes to man, and there is no other way.
This, then, is the task; to discern the Divine purpose for mankind in the light of all that is known about the Creator, his attributes and his works, under the guidance of his revelation in the Scriptures. There must be added, to some small degree, the words and writings of outstanding Christians of the past and present who have had laid on their hearts this concern for the triumph of good over evil, and the reconciliation of such proportion of men to God, and their triumphant entry into eternal life, that it can with conviction be claimed that our Lord Jesus Christ has truly and gloriously become "All in All"!
Thus concludes this study showing some of the differences in interpretation between Bible Students and Seventh Day Adventist.
We believe that in this study we have shown using the basic 28 fundamental beliefs of Seventh Day Adventist that there are very few if any commonalities between Bible Student beliefs and that of Adventist. They have their own unique way interpreting the scriptures, as does the rest of the professing church. However as has been shown through this study we (Bible Students) do not share the majority of these views.
We will not be going into the differences in the interpretation of Revelation here between Bible Students and Seventh Day Adventist as we are presently in an on-going process of a study of Revelation. The study which we have been presenting contains views generally accepted by most Bible Students, although there may be some minor differences here and there. Keep in mind a great percentage of Revelation has yet to have been fulfilled and until a prophecy has been fulfilled it is impossible to interpret it perfectly, thus even amongst Bible Students there are various views on some issues. This is our liberty in Christ.
As for the views of Seventh Day Adventist on Revelation, their views appear to coincide with much of that held by orthodoxy (a far too literal view), and thus should already be familiar to those who have study Revelation to any degree.
