He it was who commanded that the burnt offering, the sin offering, and all the offerings should be made by sinful people, manifesting their faith in the coming Redeemer. The Lord Himself caused these shadows to pass away, filling them full. In Colossians 2:14-17 the Sabbath is given as one of the shadows of good “ things to come; but the body is of Christ.” I realize the Bible teaches that there are three persons in the Tri une Godhead. Am I to understand that the Trinity is a composite per sonality? I hope you can make this plain to me. The Bible clearly teaches the doc trine of the Trinity, but nowhere does it explain the Trinity. There are some things above reason, and the doctrine of the Trinity is one of them. I think the expression God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit is somewhat misleading, though many Christians use it in all reverence for the Triune God; But this would imply that there are three Gods; whereas there are not three Gods, but three persons in one God. A better expression would be: God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Of course, all this is beyond our comprehension. If man’s mind could comprehend the doctrine o f the Trin ity, Christ would doubtless have ex plained it to His disciples. He had the opportunity of doing so when Philip asked, “ Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us” (John 14:8). But Jesus did not explain how He could be one with the Father, and yet say that He was going to the Father. He threw Philip back on faith. And we accept this eternal truth on faith, because God has stated it definitely and oft-repeatedly in His Word.. After all, ours is a super natural (above the natural) belief. And that is where faith enters into the Christian religion. We may be lieve what we cannot explain; and we may apprehend what we cannot comprehend. The Bible doctrine of the Trinity is very clear. I have a Jewish friend who ac cepted the doctrine of the Trinity after a' study of the Hebrew word for God in Genesis 1:1. There we read, “ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” In the original Hebrew the word for God is Elohim, a uni-plural noun; the verb created is in the singular. Thus, even from the very first verse of the Bible, the Trinity is set forth as one God. T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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2. They were ignorant of the Scrip tures. They were so eager for Christ to set up His kingdom on earth that they overlooked the numerous proph ecies that pointed on to the cross, hoping rather for the immediate ful fillment o f the even more numerous promises of the reigning Messiah— all found in their Old Testament Scriptures. The New Testament, of course, was not then written. (Com pare Luke 24:25-27, 44, 45; 1 Peter 1 : 10 , 11 .) 3. Again, their personal love for the Lord made them shudder at the thought of His being crucified. However, at the close of His public ministry the disciples did seem to understand, in a measure, because in Matthew 24:1-3 we find them ask ing questions in regard to His return to the earth. When the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, their eyes were fully opened; and they preached sal vation through faith in Christ’s death and resurrection. Who will stand before “ the great white throne ? The wicked dead—all who have re jected the Lord Jesus Christ—will stand before the great white throne, where the books will be opened and it will be proved to them that their names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life.” (See Rev. 20:1-15.) There they will be judged, and pun ishment will be meted out to them, also “ according to their works.” In other words, there will be degrees of punishment in hell, according to the light and opportunity they have had. Did Christ not make the Sabbath Day? I have heard you say that He made all things. If so, why do you disannul what He has made? In the first place, I did not disannul the Sabbath, or any other Old Testa ment shadows which the Lord Him self has fulfilled and done away. He did make the Sabbath, just as He made the other shadows. He it was who commanded that the paschal lamb should be offered, a type of Christ, “ the Lamb o f God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
Dr. Louis T. Talbot
We often hear it said that babies are innocent. Were Adam and Eve in nocent? Adam and Eve were the only human beings who were ever innocent. We may say that babies are innocent, but it is not true. Babies are undeveloped. Adam and Eve were innocent; that is they had a will, but before the tempta tion, they had no opportunity to exer cise it, either one way or the other. God allowed the temptation, that they might exercise their will Godward, and thus become righteous. Had they done this, they would have been permitted to eat of the tree of life, and thus live forever beyond the possibility of sin. They failed in the test by exercising their will in the direction of unrighte ousness. God is the God of grace, as well as righteousness. The sinful state of man gave Him the opportunity of showing His grace through His match less plan of redemption. When were the disciples converted? Before or after Christ died? If be fore, why did they not understand when He told them that He was to be crucified? They were converted before Ghrist died, some through the preaching of John the Baptist when he said, “ Be hold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” . (John 1:29). Then, too, Christ told them to rejoice because their names were written in heaven (Luke 10:20). There are several reasons why they did not understand when He told them He was to be crucified: 1. The human mind is very dull and slow to grasp spiritual things, and the disciples were no exception. Page Six
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