p. 6 | THRU IGNORANCE by G.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 20, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 12.

“THRU IGNORANCE.”

By G.

IN contemplating the sad scenes of the crucifixion of Christ, as portrayed in the Sunday-school lesson in this paper, there is a proneness to condemn the men who did the cruel work, as well as those who were responsible for it. It would be well to remember, however, that fallible beings are in a precarious business when they assume the condemnation of others. “Thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest; for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.” It would be well to reflect a moment before acting a part that must surely bring us into the same condemnation. It is possible for them who “have tasted the good Word of God, and the powers of the world to come,” to “fall away,” just as the Jews did, and to “crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame.” Heb. 6:6.

Let us note the spirit of Christ on this memorable occasion. When the deluded instruments of the “power of darkness” were nailing Him to the cross, He did not forget that His mission to earth was not to condemn, but to save. John 12:47. Even in that trying moment His prayer was, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Lest this might be limited to the soldiers, whose acts were

perfunctory duty, we cite what Peter said, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, to those who crucified Jesus: “And now, brethren, I wot [know] that thru ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.” Acts 3:17. This is the way in which Christ bore with offenders; it is the way in which He bears with us; and “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” Rom. 8:9.

Now, instead of condemning the Jews, we are to learn from their experience and their failures. It is yet a fact that “whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning.” Rom. 15:4. How did they fail?—Thru unbelief. At Kadesh-Barnea they failed to enter into the promised land because of unbelief. Heb. 3:19; 4:6. And our danger lies in the same direction. Verses 4, 11. Unbelief of what?—Of the Word of God. They rejected Jesus, because He did not come in the manner in which they expected the Messiah to come. They overlooked the prophecies of His humiliation, and took notice only of those which spoke of His glorious appearing. They professed to believe in Moses; but Jesus testified to them, “Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me.” So that, as a matter of fact, they did not believe Moses. In the twenty-second psalm David portrays the humiliation and crucifixion of Christ very plainly: “All they that see Me laugh Me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that He would deliver Him; let Him deliver Him, seeing He delighted in Him.” Verses 7, 8. “They part My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture.” Verse 18. Now the Jews had great reverence for David, but in reality they did not believe the Word spoken thru David.

In Isaiah 53 the humiliation and sufferings of Christ are vividly portrayed: “He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.” Verses 2-5. The whole chapter is in the same strain. Now the Jews professed to believe in Isaiah as a prophet, but their attitude toward Jesus of Nazareth showed that they did not believe the prophecy of Isaiah.

Notwithstanding these plain utterances of the prophets by the Spirit of the Lord, the church, to whom He specially appeared and appealed, were ignorant of His person and mission. Why were they ignorant?—Because they chose to be so; they rejected the light—the evidence of the Scriptures. Jesus quotes Isaiah to show the Jews the reason of their ignorance: “In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias [Greek form of the name], which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive; for this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” Matt. 13:14, 15.

Such was the ignorance—the wilful ignorance—of the church concerning the first advent of Christ. Shall we learn the lesson, and avoid the like error concerning His second advent? The Jews made their mistake thru the traditions of men (Mark 7:6, 7; Gal. 1:14), and the apostle Paul gives us a solemn warning on this point in Col. 2:8: “Beware lest any man spoil you thru philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” The matter of Christ’s second advent is just as important as was the first. The blessing of that was lost to the professed church thru wilful ignorance of the plainest Scripture language, and the result was the crucifixion of Christ.

Now the Lord does not want us to be ignorant concerning His second coming, and if we should be it would be even more disastrous than the first mistake; for there will be no opportunity for repentance, as there was in the first instance. Therefore He has given us explicit instruction on the subject. In connection with warnings against false christs and false teachers, He says: “As the lightning cometh out of the East, and shineth even unto the West; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matt. 24:27. “And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Verse 31.

Then, lest this be misunderstood thru the traditions of men—as it evidently was and is by many—we are given an inspired explanation thru the apostle Paul: “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thess. 4:15-18.

Surely there is no excuse for ignorance in regard to the manner of His second coming; and if any are deceived by the false theories of men, it will be because they close their eyes and ears to the truth. Upon all such His coming will be unawares, and they will not be ready. Concerning those who are alive at that time, it is “unto them that look for Him” that He will “appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Heb. 9:28. Therefore those who are following the traditions of men instead of the plain Scripture teaching will not be looking for Him in the right way, and, like the Jews at His first coming, will be the victims of deception thru wilful ignorance. When too late they will find that, thru unbelief of the Word, they are spiritually crucifying the Lord afresh. G.