p. 7 | QUESTION CORNER by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 11, 1900

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 26, No. 15.

QUESTION CORNER

By Editor

[From time to time we will reply under this head, if deemed advisable, to such candid inquiries as may be sent us. Correspondents wishing a reply to their questions must give their full name and address, not for publication unless they wish, but as an evidence of good faith on their part, and to give us opportunity to reply by letter if deemed best. It is always well to inclose stamp. Let the questions be short and pointed, and such as may be answered in limited space. The questions will be numbered continuously.

1029. J. F. T. 1 Peter 3: 19, 20.—Begin with the last clause of verse 18. Taking all together we have these facts: (1) Jesus was raised from the dead by the Spirit of God—"quickened by the Spirit." (2) This is the "Eternal Spirit," by which Christ preached to those who were "shut up" in the prison house of sin. See Isa. 61: 1; Gal. 3: 23. "He is Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever." (3) The disobedient ones specially named were those who lived in the days of Noah. (4) It was then that Christ preached to them through Noah, a "preacher of righteousness" (2 Peter 2: 5), cooperating with the Spirit of Christ (Gen. 6: 3; 1 Peter 1: 11); and all this "when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a-preparing." Christ's Spirit strove then; Christ's preacher preached then, using the sword of the Spirit. Christ was in all. The saving of those through the flood, the bringing of them from one world to another, is figurative of baptism, the emblem of the resurrection, the passing from a world of sin to a world of righteousness, from a world of death to a world of life.

1030. 1 Cor. 5: 5.—This scripture applies to the church collectively, acting "in the name of our Lord Jesus" and "with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ." The word "fornication" means in the Bible unlawful intercourse between the sexes, adultery, fornication, incest.

Rev. J. R. Miller, we presume may be reached by addressing him at Philadelphia, Pa.

1031. J. M. W. Rom. 7: 1-3.—The scripture here referred to is not given as a law regulating marriage; it presents a generally understood human law as an illustration of spiritual things. The question of divorce is not brought in. If a woman was legally divorced from her husband for just cause, he is not then her husband. As long as he is her husband, she is bound to sin. She can not legally marry another; if she joins herself to another man, she is an adulteress. As long as the man is united with sin, he is bound by sin. He can not unite with Christ. Sin must be destroyed by the man dying to sin, leaving the sin in the grave, and the new man raised to union with Christ. See the whole matter set forth in Rom. 6: 1-11. He who is united to Christ can not be in union with the world.

1032. J. J. W. Matt. 25: 32.—The scripture has reference first to the separation in the judgment—the examination of cases and the passing of sentence; and (2) to the last great day, at the end of the thousand years, when all shall appear before God. See Revelation 20.

1033. J. J. W. Rev. 20: 6.—This verse refers to the resurrection of the righteous, which takes place when Christ comes. See 1 Thess. 4: 13-18; also 1 Cor. 15: 51-55; Acts 24: 15. The resurrection of the wicked occurs at the close of the thousand years. Isa. 24: 22; Rev. 20: 5.

1034. F. A. A. John 14: 12.—The scripture reads as follows: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father." Just as long as Jesus was in the world, the faith of His disciples centered in His physical person. Their faith was limited by the sight of partial unbelief. When He went away, He poured out His Spirit upon a church with enlarged faith; upon disciples who realized that God had all power to give even to the humblest man. Jesus would have wrought still greater works had not the unbelief of His people hindered. When that unbelief was put away, when the whole being was yielded to God, we have the result manifested in the work of Peter and Paul. Acts 5: 15; 19: 11, 12. And, yet the greatest miracle of all was the conversion of many souls.