THE K I N G ' S BUS I NE S S be more spiritual than the rest in their denial of the permanency or reality of Christ’s flesh. So it is today. This Gnosticism is still with us, in various cults and with us even among the evangelical minis try. They maintain that Christ’s com ing is a spiritual coming. They point with scorn at those who look for Him in the flesh and boast themselves even as the Gnostics of old, as being more spiritual. This shall continue until the one comes who shall embody this teach ing in himself and shall deceive the world, the Anti-Christ. This is the crowning heresy of the church of all ages. For, carried to its logical conclusion it makes the Incar nation merely temporal. It makes the Resurrection foolish, for why resurrect a body that is only to be dissolved? The phantom theory is plausible if this is true. It further makes our resur rection foolish for if we are not to have a body with components of the old body, why a resurrection? The spirit has gone to be with God. It has in the Revelation that Satan’s rage is awaiting its return to the resurrection body. Not to confess “ Jesus Christ coming in the flesh” leaves us in a hope less confusion of foolishness, uncer tainty and unreasonable doctrines. DUMPING GROUND There are people who use their friends as dumping grounds, and unload on them any choice bits of scandal the* may chance to pick up, as though they were conferring a favor. As long as human nature is what it is, there will be plenty of such unloading to be done; but what noble mind wishes to be put to such ignoble uses, and to have made in any part of his spiritual' domain a scavenger heap?— Sel.
836 Let us look first of all at the other references nearly paralleling this. I. Jno. 4:1-3, Here he speaks of Christ’s first coming, “ has come in the flesh.” This is the Incarnation. Naturally Satan attacks this for this is the founda tion of Christ’s work in overthrowing his kingdom. It is the very heart of Christianity— if Christ were not truly in the flesh then we are still in our sins and Satan reigns. But let us think further. Does the Incarnation end at Bethlehem? Certainly not. Does it end at Calvary? No. For He said dur ing the resurrection days, “ a spirit hath not flesh and hone as ye see Me have.” He ate and drank with them. Did it end at the Ascension? No. For He says, “ He will drink the fruit of the vine anew with us in the kingdom." The permanence of Christ’s flesh is the assurance of our own bodily resurrec tion. Further, when Christ- came the first time He was victorious over Satan, when He comes the second time it will be to take over the kingdom. This is what Satan tries to combat. We read in the Revelation that Satan’s rage is so great because he knows his end is near; Christ is preparing to set up His kingdom. Satan tries to deceive the world that this will not be— this is the spirit of the Anti-Christ that he sends to talk to them. This is the "seducer” that- seduces the bride and shall finally be embodied in one man. That is why this is the crowning heresy. It is the denial of the permanency of the flesh of Christ. It is making it purely tem poral and economic. It is striking at the roots of Christianity and our blessed hope. This was showing its head in the Gnostics in John’s time. It is note worthy that all of these Gnostic heresies united in this denial of the flesh of Christ. Some denied that He ever came in the flesh. Some affirmed that 'His body was only for the period of earthly habitation. They claimed to
S E E
P A G E 8 2 8
Made with FlippingBook HTML5