THE KING’ S BUSINESS
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destiny o f the wicked found in the passages we have been studying. 2. The second passage that is appealed
whal it refers to. We are taught in Old Testament prophecy and also in the book o f Romans that in connection with the return o f our Lord Jesus there is to be a restoration o f all nature, of the whole physi cal universe from its fallen state. For example, in Rom. 8:19-21 we read, “For the. earnest expectation o f the creation waiteth for the revealing o f the sons o f God. For the creation was subjected to- vanity, n o t'o f its own will, but by reason o f him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage o f corruption into the liberty o f the glory o f the children o f God.” ' And in Isa. 55:13 we read, “Instead o f the thorn shall come up the fir-tfee; and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree: and' it shall be to Jehovah for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” And in Isa. 65:25 we are told, “ The w olf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the o x ; and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall: not hurt nor destroy in all my holy moun tain, saith Jehovah,” and in Isa. 32 :15, we are told that “until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness, become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field' be esteemed as a forest.” It is to- this restoration o f the physical universe here plainly predicted in Rom. 8:19-21 and these Old Testament prophecies that the “ restora.tion o f all things” spoken o f in Acts 3 :21 refers. There is not a hint, not the slightest suggestion o f a restoration o f impenitent sinners. 4. Still another passage that is urged is. Eph. 1 :9, 10, where we read, “Having made known unto us the mystery o f His will according to His good pleasure which he purposed in him unto a dispensation o f the fulness o f the times, do sum up all things in Christ, the- things ifi the heavens, and the . things upon the earth.” Here it is- ' urged that things in heaven and things in earth are to be summed up in Christ. This is true but it shotild be noticed that the Holy Spirit has specifically omitted here the phrase that is found in Phil. 2:10, the
to by those who deny the endlessness of future punishment is Phil. 2:9-11, “Where fore also God hath highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name; that in the name o f Jesus every knee should bow, o f things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should con fess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory o f God the Father.” Here it is said we are told that all those “under the earth” as well as in heaven and on earth should bow the knee in the name o f Jesus and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that this implies that they are saved. But it does not imply that they are saved. Every knee o f lost men and o f the devil and his angels too will be forced some day to bow in the name o f Jesus and every tongue forced to confess that He is Lord. If any ■one does that in the present life o f his own free choice, he will be saved, but otherwise he will do it by compulsion in the age to come and every one has his choice between doing it now willingly and gladly and being saved, or doing it by compulsion hereafter ■ -and being lost. There is absolutely noth ing in this passage to teach, universal sal vation or to militate . even inferentially against the plain statements we have been studying. 3. The third passage that is appealed to is Acts 3:19-21, “ Repent ye therefore, and turn.again, that your sins may be blotted out, that so there may come seasons of refreshing from 'the presence pf the Lord; and that He may send the Christ who hath been appointed for you, even Jesus: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restoration o f all things whereof God spake ' by the mouth o f his holy prophets thathave been from o f old.” Here we are told of a coming “restoration o f all things” and those who contend for the doctrine o f universal salvation hold that this means the restora tion to righteousness o f all persons. But that is not what if says, and that is not
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