Question Corner by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 25, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 46.

Question Corner

By Editor

"Enquire, and make search, and ask diligently."

[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 Correspondents wishing a reply to their questions must give their full name and address, not for publication unless they wish, but as an evidence of good faith on their part, and to give us opportunity to reply by letter if deemed best.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.]

No. 664. Saved So As by Fire. 1 Cor. 3:15.

PLEASE explain 1 Cor. 3:15: "If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."

The text shows that it is possible for one to do work which will not stand the test, yet himself be saved, yet so as by fire. He may convert men who will not endure. He may raise up churches which apostatize. He may preach false doctrine. For instance, there are honest men of faith to-day who are teaching that Sunday is the Christian Sabbath; their whole life and all their energies are put into that work. They are attempting to build that work upon the Rock Christ Jesus, and believe they are doing work for him. But, while sincere in heart, they are deficient in knowledge. Their work is not scriptural. In the fires of the last day it will be seen to be wood, hay, and stubble, because not of God; but as long as those who have thus wrought have not sinned against light, they will themselves be saved. See Matt. 5:19, 20. What the true child of God should long for is not alone to build on Christ, but to build on him gold, silver, and precious stones.

No. 665. Wisdom and Wisdom. 1 Cor. 1:21.

PLEASE explain 1 Cor. 1:21: "For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe."

There is wisdom and wisdom. The wisdom of the world is but the wisdom of fallen man, and is foolishness with God. In fact, by following its own wisdom the world lost the knowledge of God. The things of God they counted foolishness, because they knew not the wisdom or power of God's Word. So preaching, the proclaiming of that Word, was counted foolishness by the world. But by that very means which the world accounts foolishness, namely, the preaching of God's Word, or of Christ, will the Lord save those who believe. The true preaching of that Word is the preaching of the power of God, and the believer will receive and know it as such. See verses 23, 24; 1 Thess. 2:13.

No. 666. Things Temporal and Eternal.

"For the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Cor. 4:18. The spirit of man is not seen, is it therefore eternal? Please answer through your columns.

The text is not designed to give a distinctive characteristic of things temporal or eternal. It simply declares that the eternal things of God can not be seen by mortal sight; "for we walk by faith, not by sight." 1 Cor. 5:7. The fact that we can not see anything is no evidence that that thing is eternal. We can not see the thoughts of mortal men; but on the day they die their "thoughts perish." Ps. 146:4. There are worlds of living creatures around us, millions of which die every moment, which mortal eyes can not see. The fact that we can not see man's spirit is therefore no proof of its eternity. But what is man's spirit?—It is man's life, given him of God, and when he dies, that life returns to God, not as a separate being, not as a conscious entity; but in the way it came from God, as life. The eternal things are of more "enduring substance" than the temporal and earthly, and immortal eyes will feast upon their beauty and glory.

No. 667. Source of Light.

IN answer to question No. 653 asked in the SIGNS, "What was the light which God created before the sun and moon were made?" we say, could there have been any other light than from that Spirit of God, which is going to light up the new heaven and earth, where there will be no need of the sun or the moon?

God is the source of all light; the Holy Spirit is the light and power of God in operation. And yet to the physical world as well as to the spiritual God has agencies, light-bearers, which have received and do receive light from him that they may shine it forth to all. The great light-bearers of the earth are the sun and the moon. The light-bearers of the new heavens and the new earth will also be the sun and the moon. "Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound." Isa. 30:26. It is in the holy city, in the immediate presence of God, where no sun will be needed. "And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." Rev. 21:23; 22:5; Isa. 60:19. While the sun will shine with undimmed brightness, yet in the effulgence of the brightness of God's glory, radiating from his personal presence, sun and moon will be eclipsed, even as now the light of the moon is lost in the light of the sun. The sun and moon will shine, but in that glorious city of Mount Zion, "the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously." Isa. 24:23.