The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1871-03-23
Revealed TheologN
The Coming Forty Years. War be-
tween the Jews and Hentiles.
Abraham to be "tLe Heir of the
World !"
The Naturalization Law of the
Kingdom Of God.
All Nations to be Blessed Sin
Abraham" and Gin Christ"

VI oOus |
All Nations to be Blessed Gin
Abraham" and Gin Christ"
[coNTINUED.l
The Scriptures assure us that there Is
only zone faith" Zone true Qnc,) and this
one faith must necessarily ave been held
by the patriarchs, prophets, and apostles.
1t requires nc faith for Il Gentle to believe
that Jesus was the Son of God, that he per-
formed miracles, rose from the dead, and
assembled to his father. We believe this
just as we believe that George Washing
ton commanded the continental armies.
and because it is ten times rs hard to dis
believe it.. The belief of historical facts
does not constitute Faith in the Scripture
acccptation of the term. Faith" says
Paul. sis the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence OF things not seem" The
same apostle styles Abraham 1.-THE father
of the faithful" and the history of the pa
triarch's life furnishes many beautiful
illustrations of Paul's definition of Faith.
When Abraham was an old man, having
been married many years, without being
blessed with children, the Lord God
brought him forth from his tent-door, Oh u
lovely evening, we suppose. and said:
"LOOk now toward heaven, and tell the
stars if thou be able to number them. And
he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
"And he believed in the Lord; and He
COUNTED IT TO HIM o RIGHTEOUSNESS"
Commenting upon this remarkable eX-
libitiOn OF faith, Paul says:
Being not weak in faith, Abraham con-
sidcred not his own body o dead, when
lie was about an hundred years old, neither
vet the deafness of Sarall's womb;
"IIc staggered not at the promise of
God through unbclief, but was strong in
faith. giving glory to God.
"4And being fully persuaded that what
he had promised he was able to perform"
There are other promises which were
made to Abraham. which are yet tC be full
filled, and which he doubtless relied upon
las fully AS he did upon the one just men,
toned. God told him that he would make
of him Il great nation, that lie would give
him the land of Canaan for an E%vERLAsT-
ING POSSESSION, (thus teaching the doe
trine OF the resurrection, by implication
5 that lie would make him the father OF
many nations, and that in him and in his
) Seed should all the nations of the earth be
blessed. These promises were made also
to Isaac and to Jacob. and Peter styles
) them "cAceeding great and precious prom
= iSes."
1t is worthy of remark that if we believe
> in something that God has not promised
then we will get nothing at all. Hence,
we see how important it is to know what
} God has promised. in order to know what
to believe. IN this connection, the apostle
Paul says
. Now to Abraham and his Seed were
/ the promises made. lie saith not, And to
, seeds, as Of MANY; but us of one, And to
thy Seed, which is Christ.
Q And if We be Christs, then are We Abra-
hams seed and HEIRS ACCORDING TO TIN
PROMISE"
! But heirs Of what? Docs the apostle
say that Abraham was promised a king
dom in the skies, or a golden harp, or some
other childish toy? No, sir. Well, what
= does he say? He says:
1.-The promise that he should be II uEIr
Z OF TIE WORLD, was not to Abraham. or tC
4 his Seed through the law, but through the
righteousness of faith"
so it was the nations of the earth. with
all their cities, villages, honors and wealth
I that were promised to Abraham and tC
, Christ. And this glorious heritage is
l promised to Us, upon condition that W.
AS additional evidence of this truth, Christ
himself dc .larcs, in the 18th chapter OF
Luke, concerning the reward Of the right
= eous, when lie shall return to establish
His kingdom, that to some He will give
, authority over ten cities, to others Ovcl
five, and to "every man according as his
work shall be-"
Let MS illustrate this. Look at England
:. Who inherits the Kingdom and Empire OF
Great Britain? Not the common people
, They are simply hcwers of wood and draw
Z crs of water. Well, who i%nlierits it? Why
the royal family. the nobility, the a%ristoc-
racy. They inherit it. and the people toll
Tor them. There could he no rulers. nc
o aristocracy. however, without the people
= SO will it be during the Millennium. The
" just, who are to be rercreated incOrrupt-
ible ana immortal, with bodies of :. flesh
and bones" without blood, like that which
Christ had after his rcsurrectiun,-will be
g the rulers, the nobility. the aristocracy,
:. They will fill ill the offices Throughout
. the world, and thus inherit the Kingdom
and Empire of Israel.
There IS another fact, OF which the aDOs-
tic Paul informs us, that is worthy of con.
sideration. He says:
"TIie Scripture. fOiresecing that God
would justify the heather through faith,
: preached before the gospel unto Abraham.
g saying. In THEE SHALL ALL NATIONS BE
BLESSED"
So 1t appears that the gospel was
preached to Abraham. The gospel, there
fore, is not a new thing. The meaning of
the term gospel is glad tidings. and the
glad tidinSs proclaimed to Abraham was
that, "lN THEE, AND IN THY SEED SHALL,
D ALL II NATIONS OF THE EARTH BIZ
y BLESSED But how is the world to be
blessed "in Abraham" and sin Christi?
Z Millions can come out of u man, but mil
T. lions cannot enter him; therefore, these
expressions, "ln Thee. and in thy Seed"
cannot be construed literally and mus. be
taken in a tigurative sense. Well, what is
/, their tignrative meaning? Let us see If
we can explain it. Paul, in his cpistle TO
the Ephesians, declares that before we be-
come Christ's disciples, we are ALIENS
FROM II COMMONWEALTH OF ISRAEL, and
, strangers to the covenants of promise, hay-
ing no hope, [nO tue one, and without
, God in the world" But after we become
His disciples, we "are no more strangers
and foreigners, but FELLOw-CITIZENs WITH
THE SAINTS, and of the household of God"
To understand this fully, 1t must be re-
membered that in all civilized countries
no one is permitted TO hold an office who
is not a citizen. All OF these countries
have naturalization laws, and f~oyejUners