Are Spirits of Loved Ones With Us? Is there any scriptural foundation for the belief often expressed that the spirits of our departed loved ones are around and about us? Some be lieve that “ a cloud of witnessed’ men tioned in Hebrews 12:1, so indicates. There is no clear Biblical warrant for the thought that the Christian dead are watching us. That they are here round about us, though un seen, is mere sentimentality or super stition. They are, as to spirit and soul “ with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5 :8 ); and He is in heaven (Acts 1:11; 7:56; Rev. 3:21). It is, however, implied that they are made aware of the con versions of those they love (Luke 15:- 10 ). The “ cloud of witnesses” of He brews 12 are not witnesses of us, but those just referred to in chapter 11, who have witnessed to Jesus. In the writer’s glowing words they have been, as it were, evolved; it is as if we were “ compassed” by them. The Serpent Before the Fall What was the character of the ser pent before the Fall? We get no idea from the appear ance of the serpent under the curse, of the appearance of the serpent before the curse. Ruskin points out that from the traces of beauty re maining—“ a serpent cannot make an ungraceful movement,” etc. Thus we may well believe its pristine loveli ness to have been marvelous. That a beast should speak is no marvel. Comparatively stupid animal life such as parrots and parakeets, learn to speak. It should be no wonder that the most subtle of all beasts should speak. Unfallen, the serpent was a fit instrument for Satan’s use. Second Corinthians 11:14 says— “ Sa tan himself is transformed [trans- formeth himself] into an angel of light.” Will the Saved Go Through the Tribulation? W ill any of the saved pass through the tribulation? ■ There will be many of the saved in the tribulation, and they will pass through it, but probably you have reference to the Church. None of the saved of this dispensation will be in the tribulation. It is unfortunately
true that many Christians live carnal and worldly lives, but we are saved by grace (unmerited favor),.through faith, and the first resurrection is not a reward for the faithful, but the time for the removal from the earth of all that are Christ’s. (See 1 Cor. 15:20-23; 1 Thess. 4:14.) The result of carnal and worldly living is stated in the third chapter of First Corin thians to be a loss of reward. This condition has existed throughout the entire church age, and if the tribu lation is to be a kind of purgatory for the unfaithful Christians at the very end of the age, the question very naturally arises, why should they be thus dealt with while all other unfaithful Christians have al ready gone to heaven and only await the resurrection of their bodies? This would be a discrimination against those who happen to be alive at the time of the Lord’s return. The great thing to hold in mind about all this is the absolute unity of the body of Christ. There are many undernour ished and undeveloped members of that body, but they are all members of the body, and they have part in the first resurrection because the Word says — “ afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming” (1 Cor. 15:- 23). The Three Brides of Genesis How do the three brides of Gene sis typify Chrisfs bride? They are typical analogies illus trating different aspects of the bride of Christ, the Church—Eve revealing the origin, as she was taken from the side of her husband, so the Church was bom, so to speak, from the side of Christ pierced by the spear; Rebekah shows the manner of betrothal and ■marriage—won by the Holy. Spirit, and also the Jewish character of the bride in part, while Asenath shows the time of the be trothal, and also the Gentile origin of the Church-bride. On the Marriage of Cousins / am engaged to my cousin. I have been told this is against the teaching of the Bible. Is this true? There is no Bible teaching upon the subject of the marriage of cous ins. Under the Levitical code mar
riages were forbidden within a cer tain degree of relationship, but even then the marriage of cousins was not forbidden (see Lev. 18:1-30). Under the new covenant the matter is not touched upon except in an indirect way in First Corinthians 5:1 where the church was rebuked for tolerat ing a situation where one of its mem bers had “his father’s wife,” evidently meaning his stepmother. The all-important marriage law of the New Testament is, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with un believers” (2 Cor. 6:14). Marriage for Christians should be “ only in the Lord” (1 Cor. 7:39). Of course the marriage of persons so closely related as to make such marriage incestuous is properly forbidden by civil law. . What Does Paul Mean? First Timothy 1:16 brings a ques tion that I am not able to fathom. What does Paul mean in speaking of himself as “a pattern?” I believe that Paul here means his own conversion is a pattern of the final conversion of the nation of Is rael. He was brought to Christ by a visible manifestation of His glory, and in the same manner will the na tion be brought to Him. At His sec ond advent to earth every eye shall see Him, and they shall look upon Him whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one moumeth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn (Zech. 12:10; John 19:36,37). The Word — Forty Of what significance in the Scrip tures is the word — forty? In several instances this word seems to indicate the fullness of testing. Moses spent forty years in the backside of the desert (cp. Acts 7:23 with Ex. 7:7). The children of Israel wandered for forty years in the wilderness. Jesus was in the wil derness for forty days and forty nights. How significant that each of these testings occurred in the wilder ness! Is it not so with our times of testing? Further notice that for forty centuries before Christ the world was under probation.
A P R I L 1954
33
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker