120
The Fundamentals immediately; four years lie between the Lord’s “presence” on earth and the resurrection of the saints; the one occurs in 1874, the other in 1878. (Vol. I l l , pp. 234-5; 302-306.) We read: “That in the spring of 1878 all the holy apostles and other ‘overcomers’ of the Gospel age who slept in Jesus were raised spirit beings, like unto their Lord and Master”. . . . “The Lord Jesus and the risen saints already here [are] engaged in the great harvest work.” . . . “Such is the present situation: the great Judge has come—not as at the first advent, in a body of humiliation, for sacrifice, but in the plenitude of His power as a spirit being”. “And while we conclude that their resurrection is now an accomplished fact, and hence that they as well as the Lord are now present in the earth, the fact that we do not see them is no obstacle to faith when we remember that, like their Lord, they are now spirit beings, and, like Him, invisible to men”. Since 1874 JesUs Christ has been dwelling on the earth ; since 1878 the risen saints have also been sojourning on the earth; and no mortal has the slightest inkling of it save C. T. Russell and his followers! All this is sufficiently astounding, but these notions stand not alone. Other marvellous things are encountered in the volumes we are reviewing. “The spring of 1878 marks the date when the nominal church systems were ‘spewed out’ (Rev. 3:16), and from that time (A. D. 1878) they are not the mouth-pieces of God, nor in any degree recognized by Him” . . . “We recognize A. D. 1881 as marking the close of special favor to Gentiles—the close of the ‘high-call- ing’, or invitation to the blessings peculiar to this age—to become joint-heirs with Christ and partakers of the Divine nature” (Vol. 235). I t requires courage or recklessness to make the above statements. For thirty-three years the evangelical churches have been without Divine recognition, “spewed out” of the Lord’s mouth! And yet during this same period the Gospel
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker