Correspondence: Questions on Melchizedek, Pentecost, and the Thieves
S. I. Carnahan: After a member has received a letter from a church, he is still a member of that church, and entitled to all the rights he had before, until he joins another church. Questions.—1. Is the bread and wine spoken of in Gen. 14:18 a type of the communion? 2. Is the Holy Ghost given to people now at conversion or any other time as it was on the day of Pentecost? Isaac H. Moser. Ans. 1. I have seen no evidence that it is. It was presented to Abram probably as simply a lunch to refresh him after his weary pursuit of the kings. 2. It is not a common occurrence. Jesus promised to send the Comforter, and to be with his people by his Holy Spirit, even to the end of the world; and another promise stands thus: “And it shall be in the last days, says God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.” Acts 2:17. There may yet be manifestations of the power of the Holy Spirit equal to those exhibited at Pentecost. M. C. Wilcox: It is quite probable that both the thieves did revile the Saviour, as Matthew and Mark both state; and while these writers do not mention the repentance of the thief at all, Luke omits to say that this man at first joined with the other in his language of derision. I think the pronoun he in John 19:17 represents Christ. Putting John’s account with the accounts of Matthew and Mark, we conclude that the cross was at first laid upon the Saviour; and as they “led him out to crucify him,” his strength failing, they compelled one Simon, who passed by, to bear it. You ask if Moses ever re-wrote the moral law. We have no knowledge of his having done it, only as he was preparing his manuscript for Exodus and Deuteronomy. C. W. S.