Salvation Only Through TRUTH

"God shall send them strong delusion that they should
believe a lie: that they all might be damned
who believe not the Truth"—2 Th. 2:11-12

WE address only one class of people—those who are sincerely seeking for the Truth. We have no message for those who say—

"I want to believe that I have an immortal soul."

"I want to believe that all my dead friends are happy in heaven."

If anyone desires to cling to a belief regardless of its truth or falsity, we have no power or hope of persuading them differently. The Scriptures give no warrant for expecting to convince anyone who is not seeking truth.

On the contrary, we are ex­pressly told of some that because they received not the love of the truth, God sends them a strong delusion, that they should believe a lie (2 Thess. 2:10-11).

We speak, furthermore, to those who recognize the power of God, and desire to know His Will. To those who deny, or are not convinced of, the existence of an All-Wise, All-Powerful Creator, we can only urgently recommend a thoughtful reflec­tion on the words of David, Psalm 19, commencing—

"The heavens DECLARE THE GLORY OF GOD, and the firmament SHOWETH HIS HANDIWORK . . . "

And of Isaiah (40:26)—

"Lift up your eyes on high and behold Who hath created these things . . .

"He is strong in power; not one of them faileth."

And also of Paul—

"That which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God manifested it unto them.

"For the invisible things of Him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, EVEN HIS EVERLASTING POWER AND DIVINITY: that they may be WITHOUT EXCUSE" (Rom. 1:19 RV).

God undoubtedly feels that He has given ample evidence of His existence and power to con­vince the reflecting mind. We can add nothing to the strength of His reasoning, except to urge its serious consideration.

To those who are not con­vinced that the Bible as we have it is an inspired revela­tion from this Creator, the fol­lowing brief presentation is addressed.

Unquestionably it claims to be divinely inspired. It claims to reveal man's origin—to outline the significant events of the course of his history on the earth—to reveal his destiny in the ultimate purpose of God—and to lay down the rules of belief and conduct whereby he may obtain the blessings of an eternal existence.

These are very high claims. We believe they are supported by conclusive evidence.

The Bible presents a com­plete and consistent story. Its basic theme, the provision of a Savior and Redeemer by God to bring a troubled world to eventual, eternal righteousness and peace, is woven from end to end in full and unbroken harmony, in spite of the univers­ally-accepted fact that its writ­ings were recorded over a space of many centuries.

This theme is introduced with the promise in the Garden of Eden of a seed to bruise the serpent's head. It is elaborated in the promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is clearly manifested in the declarations of Job.

The whole Law of Moses was an intricate and elaborate foreshadowing of the coming Saviour. The promises to David add further details. The reign of Solomon is an evident typification of the final glory. All the prophets tune their song to this one consistent note.

Even the overthrow of the kingdom was accompanied by a definite declaration that it should be finally restored by the promised Messiah. The worldwide scattering of the Jews was likewise inseparably linked with a future regathering under the Messiah.

The prophet Daniel in Baby­lonian exile set a definite period for the coming of this Messiah and the duration of the king­doms of men.

The churches of today are at direct variance with this funda­mental, outstanding, consistent Scriptural teaching of the event­ual establishment of a divine kingdom on earth on the ruins of the present ones.

In due time the Messiah came, fulfilling to the letter 40 cen­turies of prophetic promise, and the divine principles he sum­marized in three brief years of ministry, though generally misunderstood, obscured and per­verted, have had more effect upon the moral conceptions of the world than the combined writings of all the rest of mankind.

The Kingdom he preached was a confirmation of the promises to Adam, Abraham and David. As foretold, he was despised and rejected, and the Jewish people, thus filling the cup of their iniquity, were consigned to the long and dreadful foreordained pilgrimage that is only now just beginning to draw to a close. And wherever they went, they jealously guarded the Scrip­tures that pronounced their own wickedness and dispersion and certified the truth of the Mes­siah they had rejected. Paul declares that divinely-inflicted—

      "Blindness . .  hath hap­pened to Israel" (Rom. 11:25).

For the followers of this Messiah was prophesied many centuries of persecution and oppression. The uprise of a tre­mendous system of despotism was foretold that would claim to sit on the very throne of God (2 Thess. 2:3-12)—that would make all nations drunk with the wine of corruption and deception (Rev. 17)—and that would for 1260 years drench the soil of Europe with the blood of religious and fanatical intolerance and oppression (Rev. 13:5-7; Dan. 7:21)—all in the name of mercy, peace and love, and which in spite of its self-evident and unconcealable his­tory of bigotry and cruelty would still continue to deceive the people of the earth (Rev. 18:23) right to the end.

All these things have been unmistakably fulfilled in the pages of history. As we study the plan and prophecy of Scrip­ture and trace their certain en­actment throughout the course of history, we are amazed that man can be so self-centered and unheeding as to ignore these vital and obvious truths.

What are we to think then of those who, nominally accept­ing the Bible, nullify its purpose and value by violating the sanc­tity of its contents; and destroy the divine unity of its message by arbitrarily rejecting those parts they do not choose to be­lieve?

This is the position of the Churches of Christendom today. That is a point we wish to stress strongly.

THE CHURCHES OF TODAY DO NOT ACCEPT THE BIBLE IN ITS ENTIRETY AS THE INSPIRED WORD OF GOD.

No one can deny that FACT, and that is the whole secret of their declension from the truth.

The creation of Adam and Eve, modern churchmen say, is a myth. The story of Noah is the remains of a legend. No sensible person, we are told, today believes the account of Jonah and the whale. The de­liverance of Israel from Egypt is folklore.

The five books of Moses, they say, were not written by Moses but are a compilation of tradi­tion collected in the time of the Kings or the captivity. The book of Daniel, instead of being the inspired word of prophecy com­mitted to Daniel, as it clearly claims to be, is just the well-meaning efforts of a pious im­postor writing many centuries later under an assumed name.

When David speaks of death as the end of all life and con­sciousness—when Daniel speaks of the resurrection of the body at the last day of Judgment—when Isaiah speaks of the final blessedness of all nations in the exaltation of Israel—when all the prophets join to foretell a glorious, literal, divinely di­rected reign of peace on the earth—they were all speaking, says the modern clergy, merely from the restricted and be­nighted viewpoint of the age of primitive ignorance in which they lived.

Such are the false, destructive, so-called friends of the Bible who teach the people today.

They destroy the spirit of divine inspiration that breathes throughout the Scriptures, and they obliterate the marvelous unity of design that is woven from end to end, and which is the strongest proof of its di­vinity.

The Scriptures claim the FULL inspiration of God throughout. "Thus saith the Lord" is the whole tenor of its message and this claim is re­peated TWO THOUSAND TIMES. It is either a colossal blasphemy or it is wholly inspired. It does not leave any room for a middle ground.

It is IMPOSSIBLE to recon­cile modern Christendom's de­structive viewpoint of the Bible with the teaching of Christ and the Apostles.

What of the books of Moses, regarded as tradition? Jesus said (Luke 16:31)—

"If ye believe not Moses and the prophets, neither would they believe THOUGH ONE ROSE FROM THE DEAD."

And again (John 5:47)—

"If ye believe not Moses' writings, HOW SHALL YE BELIEVE MY WORDS?"

This is important. Christ says it is impossible to believe HIM if MOSES is not believed. Any c1aim, therefore, of belief in Christ which does not involve belief in Moses' writings is valueless and false. If we do not believe Moses, WE DO NOT BELIEVE CHRIST. And—

"He that believeth not the SON SHALL NOT SEE LIFE" (John 3:36).

Would Christ sanction the modern presumptuous dissection of God's Word that accepts only what it chooses?

"O fools and slow of heart," he chided his own disciples (Luke 24:25), "to believe ALL that the prophets have spoken."

Were the Hebrew Scriptures written by men of primitive outlook groping in the darkness? Peter declares—

"Prophecy came NOT in old time by the WILL OF MAN, but holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Pet. 1:21).

Is the Old Testament merely a relic of a partially enlightened age? Peter calls it:

"A more sure word of prophecy whereunto ye do WELL TO TAKE HEED, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place" (2 Pet. 1:19).

And Paul told Timothy—

"The holy Scriptures are able to make thee wise unto sal­vation—all Scripture is given by inspiration of God" (2 Tim. 3:15-16).

Is there anything uncer­tain, misinformed or unreliable about the Scriptures that would lead us to question their author­ity or doubt their truth? Jesus said emphatically (John 10:35):

"The Scriptures "CANNOT BE BROKEN." "The Scrip­tures MUST BE FUL­FILLED," (Mark 14:49). "All things MUST BE FUL­FILLED which were written in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me" (Luke 24:44).

Does this leave any loop-hole for the belief that the Scriptures are in any way human and erring?

Could the gulf between the Apostolic view of the Word of God, and the view of the Churches today, be any more clearly shown? Without a sin­cere and wholehearted acceptance of the Word of God in its entirety, a "church" is nothing more than a sanctimonious or­ganization of freely speculating philosophers. It may be promi­nent and useful in charity, phi­lanthropy and social work, but it has nothing to offer of any eternal, spiritual value.

The primary duty of the Church, and that which makes it the Church, as defined by the Apostles, is to believe and prac­tice and preach the Word of God. It is the Gospel, says Paul (Rom. 1:16), that is the "power of God unto salvation."

Let us keep that in the forefront when we test the claims of any religious bodies, as we are commanded to do. (1 John 4:1; Matt. 24:4). Whatever else an organization may be or do—whatever ritual or creed it may practice—whatever its claims or professions or history—if it hasn't the Gospel, says Paul, IT HASN'T THE POWER OF SALVATION.

*     *     *

BRIEFLY, what the Bible de­mands is belief and obedience—

"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life" (John 3:36). "It pleased God to save them that believed" (1 Cor. 1:21).

Now this is very clear and quite generally accepted—but let us go further. What is it that must be believed? That is just as clear but, owing to the introduction of tradition and the neglect of the Word of God, it is far from being so generally accepted. BUT IT IS IMPORTANT. Jesus said—

"He that believeth not the Son shall not see life."

Not only "believeth on the Son" but "believeth the Son." Therefore if we do not believe what Christ has said, and if we believe things that are CON­TRARY to what he said, then we believe not the Son AND SHALL NOT SEE LIFE.

The primary message of Christ and the Apostles we find referred to as the GOSPEL. This is what we find them preaching throughout the New Testament record. This is what we find them requiring to be believed as a foundation for baptism and acceptance by God. The question then is. What is this Gospel?

There is a widespread belief that the Gospel consists solely of the fact that Christ died for sinners, and that to accept this, to repent of sin, and to henceforth live what is humanly considered a "good, righteous life," is all that is necessary for sal­vation.

THIS BELIEF HAS NO SCRIPTURAL FOUNDATION. This is the teaching of many churches, and many shades of doctrinal opinion are counte­nanced without scruple. We desire to point out that this is contrary and unfaithful to the commands of God—that this point of view is an extremely dangerous and incorrect one and that the Scriptures strongly condemn it.

We are convinced that certain simple truths must be known and understood, and that the belief of error on certain points excludes any hope of salvation—that the BELIEF OF ERROR ON BASIC TRUTHS EX­CLUDES ANY HOPE OF SAL­VATION. God will not condone belief that is contrary to what He has plainly declared.

*     *     *

NOW let us present our evi­dence. First of all, to emphasize the vital importance of the distinction between truth that saves and error that brings death, let us refer to Paul's letter to the Galatians. He is terribly troubled because they are not keeping the one true Gospel, pure and inviolable. He says (Gal. 1:6-11)—

"I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the Gospel of Christ.

"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

"As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have re­ceived, let him be accursed."

This leaves absolutely no doubt as to the vital importance of believing and teaching the one true Gospel.

But where is the church today that teaches the plain scriptural Gospel of the mortality of man, the unconsciousness of death, the Kingdom of Christ coming on earth, the covenant made to Abraham, the resurrection of the body at the last day, the necessity of true, enlightened, scriptural baptism?

Let us consider a few passages which show conclusively that life is inseparably bound up with truth, and that if we hope for life, we must know the truth. Jesus said (John 4:24)—

"They that worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth."

Again, he said (John 8:32)—

"Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

In this final prayer for his disciples he asks (John 17:17)—

"Sanctify them"—(make them holy and acceptable)—"through Thy Truth: Thy Word is Truth."

Paul styles himself, in writ­ing to Titus (1:1)—

"An apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and THE ACKNOWLEDGING OF THE TRUTH."

Read, too, the terrible divine condemnation on men who "change the TRUTH of God into a LIE," as recorded in the first chapter of Romans. And the first and greatest and most destructive lie ever told was the lie of the serpent in the Garden of Eden.

In DIRECT CONTRADIC­TION TO GOD it said, "Thou shalt not surely die"—the lie of the immortality of the soul that has deceived the world ever since. "Dust thou art, to dust returneth was not spoken of the soul" is the popular ortho­dox expression of the serpent's lie.

Paul admonishes the Hebrew brethren (Heb. 13.9)—

"Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines."

And in 2 John 9-10 we read—

"Whoso transgresseth and ABIDETH NOT IN THE DOCT­RINE of Christ hath not God.

"If there come any unto you and bring not THIS DOC­TRINE, receive him not into your house, neither bid him Godspeed."

In writing to his son-in-the-­faith Timothy, Paul solemnly emphasizes the vital importance of holding and preserving divine Truth (2 Tim. 2:15-18)—

"Study to shew thyself ap­proved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of Truth.

"But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.

"And their word will eat as doth a canker (marg; gan­grene); of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and OVERTHROW THE FAITH OF SOME."

Christendom teaches the same error—the resurrection is past—the dead are already raised to glory.

This contradicts the plain Scripture which says (1 Thess. 4:16)—

"The Lord SHALL descend from heaven"—and then—"the dead in Christ SHALL BE RAISED."

These false teachings, says Paul, eat like gangrene into the pure Gospel, and confuse the faith of many who would otherwise come to a saving knowledge of the Truth.

In 2 Tim. 3:13, he says—

"But evil men and seducers will wax WORSE and WORSE, deceiving and being deceived, but continue thou in the things that thou hast learned."

That is the point—Continue thou in the things that thou host learned—from the appoint­ed apostles and from the HOLY SCRIPTURES. He says further (2 Tim. 4:2-4)—

"Preach the Word; be in­stant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine."

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doct­rine; but after their own lusts shall they heap unto themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables"

Jesus warns (Matt. 10.17)—

"Be not deceived .. BEWARE OF MEN." "Many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive many" (Matt 24:11).

And David warns, "Put not your trust in man" (Psa. 146:3).

Paul warns the Colossians—

"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit . . . Let no man beguile you" (Col. 2:8, 18).

These testimonies make it clear that Christ and the apost­les foresaw a wholesale declension from the faith—false reli­gious teachers—not only de­ceiving but self-deceived.

Having been so clearly and repeatedly warned there can be little reason for anyone adhering to a false system just because it has a religious appear­ance. No matter how well-mean­ing it seems to be, if its teach­ing is contrary to the Scriptures, its position is presumption and it is self-condemned.

"Come ye out of her, My people," God warns of the Catholic system and all her harlot daughters (Rev. 18:4), "that ye receive not of her plagues."

The undependability of man is one of the keynotes of the Scriptures. Just because he has a vast and ancient ecclesiastical organization is no assurance that he is right or safe, but rather the REVERSE, because "Few there be" that find the true narrow way, we are told (Matt. 7:14). John says (1 John 4:1)—

"Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, because MANY false prophets are gone out into the world."

What is the method of try­ing them? God gives it through Isaiah (8:20)—

"To the Law and to the Testimony; if they speak not according to this Word, it is because THERE IS NO LIGHT IN THEM."

The people of Berea are warmly commended because they did not take Paul's teach­ing for granted, nor did they reject it without investigation, but, as we read in Acts 17:11—

"They received the Word with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily—SEARCHED THE SCRIPTURES DAILY—whether these things were so: THEREFORE many of them believed."

If this was necessary and commendable in the case of the Apostle Paul's teaching, which was confirmed by miracles and the power of the Spirit, how much MORE SO in relation to the countless teachers and churches of today!

The Apostle Paul, in 2 Thess. 2, speaks of a great false reli­gious system that was to arise from the midst of the true be­lievers and to be destroyed at the coming of Christ, and he issues a strong warning against deception.

Again TRUTH is the touchstone. Have they got the TRUTH? THAT IS THE POINT. Never mind about claims or choirs or cathedrals or fine-spoken sentiments. Never mind about fine buildings and mighty organizations DO THEY TEACH SCRIPTURAL TRUTH?

Paul says in v. 9 that these false teachers will come with "all power and signs and lying wonders;" deceiving, says Christ elsewhere (Matt. 24:24)—

"With great signs and wond­ers if possible the very elect."

Why are men deceived by re­ligious teachers? Paul answers:

"Because they received not the LOVE OF THE TRUTH, that they might be saved.

"And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who BELIEVE NOT THE TRUTH."

But, he continues (2 Th.2:13)—

"God hath from the begin­ning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and BELIEF OF THE TRUTH."

Is belief of the truth important? Surely we have seen that Paul makes it crystal clear that it is ALL-IMPORTANT. Is it not perfectly evident from these testimonies that a belief of the truth is absolutely essential, and that belief of error, or ignorance, alienates from the life of God (Eph. 4:18)?

Before leaving this chapter in Thessalonians, let us read the closing words of Paul's warning against error and false teach­ing, v. 15—

"Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or by our epistle."

Can we say, in direct con­tradiction to this, that it is not necessary to examine a church's doctrines—that a church can teach error and falsehood and still be an acceptable doorway to God's favour and eternal life? Christ said (Matt. 24:4-5)—

"Take heed that no man de­ceive you for many shall come in my Name."

Paul warns the early believers (Acts 20:30)—

"Of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them."

The Spirit of God through Isaiah says (Isaiah 29:13), as quoted by Christ in regard to ALL the highly-respected reli­gious leaders of his day (Mt. 15:7-9)—

"In VAIN do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."

The churches of today have substituted man-devised tradi­tions and beliefs for the true doctrines of God. Is it not self-evident, therefore, that their worship is vain? Let us not be diverted from that primary con­sideration—TRUTH. "Buy the truth and SELL IT NOT," Solomon exhorts (Prov. 23:23).

*     *     *

TRUTH and correctness of belief being so vitally important, what is it that must be understood and believed? What is this Gospel that was so widely preached and so jealously guarded by the Apostles?

We would like to bring out one salient feature of the Gospel. It is the one upon which ALL THE OTHERS REST. It is the one that we find men­tioned wherever we find the Gospel itself mentioned.

It is the mainspring of the Gospel—the one feature that gives it all its identifying characteristics and the one fea­ture that clearly proves that Christendom is far astray from the truth and is NOT PREACH­ING THE GOSPEL.

The first three occurrences of the word "Gospel" define it as the "Gospel of the Kingdom" (Matt. chaps. 4, 9 and 24)—the GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM. Tracing references to the Gospel further throughout the New Testament, it becomes abund­antly clear that the Kingdom is the basic theme of the Gospel, and the primary subject matter of all Christ's and the apostles' teaching. This Kingdom is di­rectly mentioned 138 times in the New Testament alone, and in terms that make its nature and location and time unmis­takable.

In the Acts we are told (1:3) that after his resurrection Christ was seen of the Apostles for 40 days, speaking of—

"The things PERTAINING TO THE KINGDOM OF GOD."

A little later the same writer declares (8:12)—

"But when they believed Philip preaching the things con­cerning the KINGDOM OF GOD, and the Name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women."

And right to the very end of the last chapter of this book we find the same preach­ing recorded (Acts 28:23,30).

What is the meaning of this continued and repeated empha­sis on the Kingdom as the mes­sage of the Gospel? Is it not obvious that the Gospel cannot be preached unless the Kingdom is preached—that they are inseparable?

THE GOSPEL CANNOT BE PREACHED UNLESS THE KINGDOM IS PREACHED.

What does that mean? It means that if the churches are not preaching the Kingdom, they are NOT PREACHING THE GOSPEL. They are preach­ing ANOTHER Gospel, and therefore they are, in the solemn judgment of Paul (Gal. 1:8-9) as we have read, "Accursed"

Now, ARE they preaching the Kingdom? We are sure that they are NOT. Let us appeal to the Scriptures. Let us see what this kingdom is. Paul says—

"The Gospel was preached to Abraham" (Gal. 3:8).

This is the furthest back that the Gospel is directly referred, so let us briefly trace what is foretold of this Kingdom of God from the time of Abraham forward.

The Gospel was preached to Abraham, says Paul, in that he was told that all the nations of the earth should be blessed through him and his seed. God, speaking to David, said (2 Sam. 7:16)—

"And thine house and thy Kingdom shall be established forever before thee: thy throne shall be established forever."

The theme of this covenant runs through all the subsequent history of Israel. On seven later occasions, in spite of the wicked­ness of the people, we read words similar to these (2 Kings 8:19)—

"Yet the Lord would not destroy Judah for David His servant's sake, as He had promised always to give him a light, and to his children."

Seven times God withheld the hand of destruction for David's sake, but finally the words of Moses came to be ful­filled on an ever-disobedient people. Moses had said, in his final message to the Israelites (Deut. 31:29 and 28:64)—

"I KNOW that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you . . .

"And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people from one end of the earth to the other."

But even this long and puni­tive dispersion is made the oc­casion of a promise that it would be re-established permanently and securely under a worthy ruler. Ezekiel, the prophet, of the period of Jerusalem's deso­lations said in the days of the last king (Eze. 21:26)—

"Remove the diadem and take off the crown.

"I will overturn, overturn, overturn it and it shall be no more UNTIL he come whose right it is, and I WILL GIVE IT HIM."

Coming to New Testament times, the theme is immediately taken up again right at the beginning, and continued throughout. The angel Gabriel, speaking to Mary of the son she was to bear, announces (Luke 1:32-33)—

"He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

"And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his KINGDOM THERE SHALL BE NO END."

We have seen that his life's mission was to preach this Kingdom. At his crucifixion, to Pilate he answered (John 18:37)—

"To this end was I born and for this came I into the world,"

And he identifies the Gospel of the Kingdom as the nucleus of Truth by adding—

"That I should bear witness unto the Truth. Everyone that is of the Truth heareth my voice."

Above his cross his crime was inscribed—

"Jesus of Nazareth, KING OF THE JEWS."

And the Apostles were ac­cused later on (Acts 17:7) of preaching—

"Another King, one Jesus."

What is this Kingdom? When and where will it be estab­lished? Who will be in it? The following passages will answer these questions decisively—

Dan. 2:44—"In the days of these kings (the latter day kings of the earth—see v. 28) shall the God of heaven SET UP A KINGDOM, which shall never be destroyed ..

"It shall break in pieces and consume all these king­doms and shall stand forever."

No language could be clearer than this.

Dan. 7:17, 18—"These great beasts are four kings which shall arise out of the earth.

"But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever and ever.

V. 26—"The judgment shall sit . . . and the kingdom and the dominion and the great­ness of the kingdom UNDER THE WHOLE HEAVEN shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and all dominions asked. ‘Art thou a king?’ and shall serve and obey Him. Here is the END of the matter."

Matt. 6:10—"Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done IN THE EARTH."

Matt. 25:31—"When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, THEN shall he sit upon the throne of his glory.

"THEN shall he say to them on his right hand; Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the KINGDOM prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

2 Tim. 4:1—"The Lord shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his Kingdom."

Could it possibly be sug­gested in the face of all this, as Christendom does, that the Kingdom is the church at the present time? Let the Scrip­tures answer—

1 Cor. 15:50-53—"Flesh and blood CANNOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD… we shall all be changed .. the dead shall be raised .. this corruptible must put on incorruption."

Matt. 13:40-43—"IN THE END OF THIS WORLD, the Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his Kingdom all things that offend ..

"THEN shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father."

Rev. 5:9—"Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood .  . and hast made us unto our God kings and priests; and WE SHALL REIGN UPON THE EARTH."

Mt. 5:3-5—"Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven—Blessed are the meek for they shall INHERIT THE EARTH."

Upon the foundation of this promised coming Kingdom all Scripture is built. With it, all Scripture is in harmony. If we claim to accept the Word of God let us accept it in its en­tirety—let us not regard the gracious revelation of the Creator with indifference or contempt, saying that knowledge of it is unnecessary or unim­portant.

And let us be careful not to harbor beliefs which nullify or contradict its teaching—let us not cling to beliefs that are only feelings and will not stand the searching light of TRUTH—let us be eager to follow the ex­hortation of the earnest, tireless servant of Christ, the apostle Paul. To Timothy he says—

"Give attendance to read­ing, to exhortation, to doctrine … Meditate upon these things: give thyself wholly to them ...

"Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine; continue in them; for in doing this thou shalt save both thyself and them that hear thee."

Can any doubt remain that belief, truth and doctrine are important?—that Christendom is both indifferent and incorrect about these things?—that the Scriptures give ample warning of declension from the faith by the majority and deception by many religious leaders?—that safety lies alone in personal, prayerful, persevering study and meditation upon the Word of God?

We believe these points have been conclusively proven from Scripture.

                                          —G.V.Growcott, The Berean Christadelphian, April, 1964