Foundation Truths of the Gospel

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 Baptism

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 Here's the Difference

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10 Ways to Read the Bible

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Printable Scale Model of Noah's Ark

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I have read somewhere that the Tribulation, a period of seven years, would be shortened by 220 days, which the writer confirmed by a reference to Daniel 8:13" TARGET="_blank">Daniel 8:13 and 14. Is this so?

I do not think there is the least justification for saying that the Great Tribulation is to last seven years. That is the length of time for which the Covenant is made between the Prince (or last Great Head of the Roman Empire Revived—otherwise known as the first Beast) and many of Israel, under the Antichrist, or second Beast (Daniel 9." TARGET="_blank">Daniel 9. and Revelation 13)," TARGET="_blank">Revelation 13), but it is only when the Covenant is broken in the midst of the week, and the daily sacrifice taken away, that the Great Tribulation and “the time of Jacob’s trouble” will occur (Jeremiah 30:7;" TARGET="_blank">Jeremiah 30:7; Matthew 24:21)." TARGET="_blank">Matthew 24:21). It is quite clear from the last passage that the days of the Great Tribulation will be shortened—”For the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened” (v. 22). But by how much, is another question. I have myself believed that this may be inferred from Daniel 8:13, 14." TARGET="_blank">Daniel 8:13, 14. The question in the former verse refers to the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation (or that maketh desolate), and the answer is, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days—then shall the sanctuary be cleansed” —that is, 220 days less than the full tribulation of 3 years, but that does not say that the period of seven years will be shortened, but that in some way the years of the Great Tribulation will be. How this will be effected we can safely leave in the hands of God, who alone is sufficient.

W.H.

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WHEN WILL OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS BE RAISED?
If we are right in taking the expression, “in Christ,” as a New Testament term, and therefore “the dead in Christ” (1 Thessalonians 4" TARGET="_blank">1 Thessalonians 4: ) as referring only to New Testament saints, when will the Old Testament saints be raised?

In 1 Corinthians 15:23" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 15:23 we have the general truth that Christ is “the first- fruits” of the Resurrection, “afterward, they that are Christ’s at His coming.” This expression seems to include here the whole completed Second Coming, when the first Resurrection will be finished.

This will have taken place in different stages and categories. Thus, supposing the Resurrection in 1Thessalonians 4" TARGET="_blank">1Thessalonians 4 is of the saints of this dispensation alone since Pentecost (to such only applying the expression—”dead in Christ), that will be the beginning of the first Resurrection, which will not reach its final stage until Revelation 20: 4," TARGET="_blank">Revelation 20: 4, where the Resurrection of more than one category of saints is indicated, of which we read in verse 5, “this is (i.e., completes), the first Resurrection.” This will no doubt include the Old Testament saints. To conceive of Old Testament saints however, being included in the first Resurrection, at the same time as the Church, is very difficult and indeed impossible. How could such be caught away to meet the Lord in the air along with the Church? In that case there would be two distinct companies, each in a distinct relationship with the Lord.

W.H.

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Man is composed of spirit, soul, and body. When he dies where does the spirit go?

The spirit and the soul must not be confused, nor yet divided. They together form the spiritual part of man. When a believer falls asleep he only does so as regards his body. The spiritual part of him, with which the personality is really connected, goes at once to be with Christ (see a 2 Corinthians 5: 8)." TARGET="_blank">2 Corinthians 5: 8). “Absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” This, of course, cannot refer to the resurrection state, as then no believer will be absent from the body. Paul describes dying as departing to be with Christ which is far better (Philippians 1:23)." TARGET="_blank">Philippians 1:23). It is a most serious denial of God’s truth to describe the condition of the believer who dies, as that of sleep, except as regards his body.

W.H.

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Are there three distinct Persons in the Godhead, to be distinguished from one another?
 
It is wise to be humble as we approach the high and holy subject of the Being of God.  Any mere discussion of Him, before whom the angels veil their faces, the Three in One and the One in Three, should be guided by Him. We must not try to define or explain or measure where the Word of God is silent; in fact our wisdom is to limit ourselves as far as possible to the words of Scripture. We "cannot by searching find out God" (Job 11:7)," TARGET="_blank">Job 11:7), except in so far as He is pleased to reveal Himself.

God has never condescended to prove His existence, nor yet explain His mode of Being; but He reveals Himself in His Works and Word; and even then we need God the Spirit to teach us. The great truth of the Old Testament is the Unity of the Godhead. “The Lord our God is one Lord” (Deuteronomy 6:4)," TARGET="_blank">Deuteronomy 6:4), and we believe this as strongly as any Jew or so-called Unitarian. But from the very first verse of Genesis we are made aware of a Plurality in that Unity. The word for “created” is in the singular, but “God” is a plural word— Elohim, though when this stands for strong ones or false gods, it takes a plural verb (e.g., see Exodus 32:4)." TARGET="_blank">Exodus 32:4). In verse 2 a Personal Being in the Godhead is differentiated: “the Spirit of God.” Then in verse 26 we read, “Let us make man in our image.” Later, in Exodus we become aware of another Person—the Angel of the Lord, to whom Divine honours are paid (chap. 23.20-22)—and yet He is distinct from Jehovah. In Matthew 3:1" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 3:1 the word “messenger” (“messenger of the covenant”) is in the Hebrew the same as “angel”. We are brought face to face with a Personal Wisdom possessed by Jehovah “before His works of old” (Proverbs 8: 22-31);" TARGET="_blank">Proverbs 8: 22-31); and in Proverbs 30:4" TARGET="_blank">Proverbs 30:4 we are asked, Who is the Creator and “what is His Son’s name?” Who then is this Angel of His presence— and Who this Spirit against whom Israel rebelled and Who was grieved with their ways? (see also Zechariah 12:10" TARGET="_blank">Zechariah 12:10 and Zechariah 13:7)." TARGET="_blank">Zechariah 13:7). Clearly even in the Old Testament there are in the Unity of the Godhead, three Personal Subsistencies.

In the New Testament this becomes clearer. In Matthew Jesus is identified with Immanuel—”God with us.” But “God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son” is equally true, so that the Giver and the Given One are both God. Again in John 1:1" TARGET="_blank">John 1:1 we read “The word was with (or in relation to—pros) God, and the Word was God” and in V. 14, “the Word became flesh.” To Him at His baptism the heavens were opened and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and heard a voice from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I sin well pleased” (Matthew 3:16-17)." TARGET="_blank">Matthew 3:16-17). Later, He “by the Eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God” (Hebrews 9:14)" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 9:14) and then after the Lord ascended, the Father sent the Spirit, in His and His own name, to testify of Christ.

All who believe are to be baptized into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost (Matthew 28.)," TARGET="_blank">Matthew 28.), and to such comes the message, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14)." TARGET="_blank">2 Corinthians 13:14). “For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:18)." TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 2:18). We do not confound the Persons nor do we divide the Substance. There is a distinction in the Divine Functions. The Father preordains—determines “the times and seasons,” and gives the Son; The Son creates, redeems, intercedes; The Spirit calls, gives life, indwells. But those three Divine Persons are coequal, coeternal, co-substantial in the Unity of the Godhead.
W.H.

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