Book Review "Sorting Prophetic Material"

Vol. 14 New Series October, 1952 No. 5
BOOK REVIEW
"SORTING PROPHETIC MATERIAL" by Otis Q. SellersMuch of this booklet deserves most careful study. Some of it is really excellent. For example, on p. 20 we read:—
"To insist that there can be no kingdom unless theKing is on earth is to deny His ability to rule from the heavens."On the same page, regarding "God's present display of grace," we read:—
"It will come to an end by God reversing thatwhich marked its beginning. The salvation of God will return to His people Israel."It would have been more accurate to have written "reigning grace," and "saving-work" instead of "salvation." Otherwise I applaud these sayings and would add one of my own which is very pertinentto this study:—
"Until we reach an adequate understanding of Scripture history,particularly that of the period covered by the Greek Scriptures, itis impossible to understand Scripture prophecy."Here is where Mr. Sellers breaks down. On p. 17 he shows plainly that he has not yet learnt the truth about Acts 28:28, and then even declares:—
"In rightly dividing the word of truth, no more importantdistinction can be made than between grace and government."Has he forgotten how Paul explains that at present grace reigns? He adds in the face of Col. 1:13 that grace does not bring us under divine government as in the Acts period!
My readers are well aware that I have been stressing the importance of the Thessalonian epistles; so I trust that they will excuse me If, for the present, I confine myself to what Mr. Sellers says about 1. Thess. 4:13-18. He firmly denies that this is the next great event to take place; but that is not good enough. I want proof, not inaccurate reasoning, which is all he supplies. He will have to trace the word "parousia" a long way if he wants to find that it "is an event"! And anyhow, why try to mix this passage with Matthew 24 when Paul is so extremely careful to avoid any hint of judgment in his epistle? It is astonishing how many people seem unable to see that the second epistle was written to correct this very misapprehension of the first. We cannot escape the conclusion that Paul was cruelly deceiving the Thessalonians if the Great Tribulation is to precede the fulfilment of 1. Thess. 4:13-18.
The problem Dr. Scofield fails to solve is quite artificial. Where does Scripture tell us that 1. Thess 4:13-18 marks the beginning of the final week of Daniel's seventy, or indeed the beginning of anything else in terrestrial history? For all we are told either way, a period of years, decades or even centuries may intervene between the two events. If our calling-away marks the start of the final week, then the stage will have to be completely set for that week at the instant we go, so we have only to watch world-events to know when it is about to occur. Sir Robert Anderson made this point long ago ("The Coming Prince": Appendix 3); and I would like to record my opinion that his was a first-class mind and that he was a more profound thinker than any of his associates, not even excepting Dr. Bullinger. In the study of Prophecy we can begin only where he left off.
Mr. Sellers never seems to have asked himself just how the saving-work of God is going to return to His people Israel "when His present purpose is complete" (p. 21). If God's covenant purposes are ever to be resumed, as they must: the way must be cleared for them by the withdrawal of the Evangel of the uncircumcision, an evangel which implies the complete cessation of all covenant and is therefore completely incompatible with the Evangel of the circumcision. How can the circumcision have any validity so long as Galatians 5 and 6 and Col. 3:9-11 remain present truth? It does not make sense! I have long maintained that it is impossible for those two aspects of the Evangel to hold the stage simultaneously, that they never have and never will. I intend, if God permit, to enlarge on this matter shortly; for it is of primary importance.
R. B. Withers