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III.
The Way to Christ
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Chapter
30
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Present Truth
1. BY what are men sanctified?
"Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy
word is truth. John 17:17.
2. To what knowledge would God have all men come?
"Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto
the knowledge of the truth." 1 Tim. 2:4.
3. After receiving a knowledge
of the truth, what must one do in order to be
sanctified by it?
"God hath from the beginning chosen you to
salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and
belief of the truth." 2 Thess. 2:13.
4. And what besides a mere belief
in the truth is necessary?
"Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,
through sanctification of the Spirit, unto
obedience." 1 Peter 1:2.
5. What effect does obedience to
the truth have?
"Seeing ye have purified your souls in
obeying the truth through the Spirit." Verse 22.
6. How should the truth ever be
cherished?
"Buy the truth, and sell it not."
Prov. 23:23.
NOTE.-That is, buy the truth at whatever sacrifice
or cost, and sell it under no consideration.
7. Does the
Bible recognize what may be called "present truth"?
"Wherefore I will not be negligent to put
you always in remembrance of these things, though ye
know them, and be established in the present truth."
2 Peter 1:12.
NOTE.-Some truths are applicable in all ages, and
are therefore present truth for every
generation; others are of a special character, and
are applicable to only one generation. They are none
the less important, however, because of this; for
upon their acceptance or rejection depends the
salvation or loss of the people of that generation.
Of this kind was Noah's message of a coming flood.
To the generation to whom it was preached that
message was present truth; to later
generations it has been past truth, and not a
present, testing message. Similarly, had the first
advent message of John the Baptist, of the Messiah
at hand, been proclaimed in the generation either
before or after John's time, it would not have been
applicable - would not have been present truth.
The people of the generation before would not
have lived to see it fulfilled, and to those living
after, it would have been wrongly timed. Not so with
general truths, such as love, faith, hope,
repentance, obedience, justice, and mercy. These are
always in season, and of a saving nature at all
times. Present truths, however always include all
these, and hence are saving in character, and of
vital importance.
8. What was the special message for Noah's day?
"And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come
before Me; for the earth is filled with violence
through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with
the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood." Gen.
6:13,14.
9. How did Noah show his faith in this message?
"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not
seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the
saving of his house; by the which he condemned the
world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by
faith." Heb. 11:7.
10. How many were saved in the ark?
"The long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah,
while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is,
eight souls were saved by water." 1 Peter 3:20.
NOTE.-Doubtless many who were lost in the flood
held, in a nominal way, to faith in God; but the
test as to the genuineness of this came with Noah's
special message; and the difference between their
faith and his was made plain when they rejected the
saving truth for that time, - the warning message
concerning the coming flood.
11. What special message was given to Jonah for
Nineveh?
"So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the
word of the Lord. . . . And Jonah began to enter into
the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet
forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." Jonah
3:3,4.
12. What saved the people from
the predicted overthrow?
"So the people of Nineveh believed God,
and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from
the greatest of them even to the least of them. . . .
And God saw their works, that they turned from their
evil way; and God repented of the evil, that He had
said that He would do unto them; and He did it not."
Verses 5-10. See Jer. 18:7-10.
NOTE.-So likewise would God have spared the
antediluvian world had they received Noah's message,
and turned from their evil ways.
13. What was the special mission of John the Baptist?
"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The
same came for a witness, to bear witness of the
Light, that all men through Him might believe." John
1:6,7.
14. What answer did he return when asked concerning
his mission?
"He said, I am the voice of one crying in the
wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said
the prophet Esaias." Verse 23.
15. What did Christ say of those who rejected John's
message?
"But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel
of God against themselves, being not baptized
of him." Luke 7:30.
16. What did those do who were baptized of John?
"And all the people that heard Him, and the publicans,
justified God, being baptized with, the baptism
of John." Verse 29.
NOTE.-That is, they honored God by this act, which
showed their faith in His truth for that time.
17. Did God's chosen people receive Christ when He
came?
"He came unto His own, and His own received Him not."
John 1:11.
18. What reason did they give for
not receiving Him?
"We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this
fellow, we know not from whence He is." John 9:29.
NOTE.-That was the trouble; they had no faith in
anything new. They knew that God spoke by
Moses: it required little faith to believe that.
They felt perfectly safe in accepting him, for
everything had demonstrated that he was sent of God.
All could see that. But here was One whom, although
He had come in fulfillment of the prophecies of
Moses and the prophets as their long-looked-for
Messiah, they felt there was a risk in accepting,
because they did not understand the prophecies
relating to Him, and time had not worked out to
their satisfaction the truthfulness of His claims.
It required too much faith, as against their
desire to walk by sight, to accept Christ. It
also called for a change of views in some things,
and a reformation in life. So they rejected Him.
They believed in the flood, faith in which had saved
Noah; they believed in Elijah also, and professed
faith in all the prophets; but when it came to this
special truth for their time, they refused to accept
it. Thus it has been in all ages, and thus we may
expect it to continue to be to the end.
19. How did Christ say those who
rejected Him reasoned?
"Ye build the tombs of the prophets, and
garnish the sepulchers of the righteous, and say, If we
had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have
been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets."
Matt. 23:29,30.
NOTE.-While they condemned the action of their
fathers in slaying the prophets whom God had sent
with messages of reproof and warning applicable to
those times, they soon filled up the measure of the
iniquity of their fathers by putting to death the
Son of God. This showed that they would have done as
did their fathers had they lived in their day. Thus
we see that present truths are testing truths.
20. What was the result of the
Jews' not accepting Christ?
"And when He was come near, He beheld the
city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known,
even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which
belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from
thine eyes." Luke 19:41,42. "Behold, your house is
left unto you desolate." Matt. 23:38.
21. Is there to be a special
message for the last days?
"Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an
hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then
is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord
hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat
in due season?" Matt. 24:44,45.
NOTE.-In the last days a message will go forth which
will be "meat in due season" to the people. This
must be the warning concerning the Lord's soon
coming, and the preparation necessary to meet Him.
Because, such a message was not always preached, is
no evidence that it is not now to be proclaimed. In
his farewell address to the Pilgrim Fathers on their
departure from Holland for America, John Robinson
said: "The Lord knoweth whether I shall ever see
your faces more; but whether the Lord bath appointed
that or not, I charge you before God and His blessed
angels to follow me no farther than I have followed
Christ. If God should reveal anything to you by any
other instrument or His, be as ready to receive it
as you ever were to receive any truth by my
ministry; for I am very confident that the Lord hath
more truth and light yet to break forth out of His
Holy Word. For my part, I cannot sufficiently bewail
the condition of the Reformed churches, who are come
to a period in religion, and will go no farther than
the instruments of their reformation. The Lutherans
cannot be drawn to go any farther than what Luther
saw; and the Calvinists, you see, stick fast where
they were left by that great man of God, who yet saw
not all things. This is a misery much to be
lamented; for though they were burning and shining
lights in their time, yet they penetrated not into
the whole counsel of God, but were they now living,
would be as willing to embrace further light as that
which they first received."
22. What does Christ say of that servant who, when He
comes, is found giving "meat in due season"?
"Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he
cometh shall find so doing." Verse 46.
NOTES.-The coming of Christ in glory has been the
hope of the faithful in all ages.
-
Luther declared: "I persuade myself verily, that the
day of judgment will not be absent full three
hundred years. God will not, cannot, suffer this
wicked world much longer. The great day is drawing
near in which the kingdom of abominations shall be
overthrown."
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Melanchthon said: "This aged world is not far from
its end."
Calvin bade Christians "not to hesitate, ardently
desiring the day of Christ's coming as of all events
most auspicious;" and declared that "the whole human
family of the faithful will keep in view that day."
"We must hunger after Christ, we must seek,
contemplate," he adds, "till the dawning of that
great day, when our Lord will fully manifest the
glory of His kingdom."
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Said Knox, the Scotch Reformer: "Has not our Lord
Jesus carried up our flesh into heaven? and shall He
not return? We know that He shall return, and that
with expedition."
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Ridley and Latimer, who laid down their lives for
the truth, looked in faith for the Lord's coming.
Ridley wrote: "The world without doubt - this I do
believe, and therefore I say it - draws to an end."
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Said Baxter: "The thoughts of the coming of the Lord
are most sweet and joyful to me. It is the work of
faith and the character of His saints to love His
appearing, and to look for that blessed hope."
23. What will be the burden of the closing gospel
message?
"Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His
judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and
earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. . . .
Babylon is fallen, is fallen. . . . If any man worship
the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his
forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the
wine of the wrath of God." Rev. 14:7-10.
24. How are those described who
accept this message?
"Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that
keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."
Verse 12.
25. How earnestly is this work to be prosecuted?
"And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the
highways and hedges, and compel them to come in,
that my house may be filled." Luke 14:23.
NOTE.-
This work is now going on. In every part of the
world the sound of this closing gospel message is
being heard, and the people are being urged to
accept it, and to prepare for Christ's coming and
kingdom. See
readings in Chapters 56, 57, and 58 of this book.
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