PRIMER 
 OF 
 
 CHRISTIAN 
 DOCTRINE 
 
 alifornia 
 
 *ional 
 
 ility 
 
 MILTON S. TERRY
 
 7
 
 primer 0f (Elfriatiatt 
 
 In the Form of Questions 
 and Answers 
 
 FOR THE USE OF SUNDAY-SCHOOLS, EPWORTH LEAGUES, 
 
 CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR SOCIETIES, ADULT BIBLE 
 
 CLASSES, AND ALSO FOR A HELP TO 
 
 PRIVATE STUDY AND DEVOTION 
 
 BY 
 
 MILTON S. TERRY, D. D. 
 
 Professor of Christian Doctrine in Garrett Biblical Institute 
 
 CINCINNATI: JENNINGS AND GRAHAM 
 NEW YORK: EATON AND MAINS
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1906, 1 
 
 JENNINGS AND GRAF
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 1. This Primer of Doctrine is not intended for 
 young children, nor for primary classes in Sunday- 
 schools. 
 
 2. But it may prove very helpful in many young 
 people's meetings where the main inquiry is, as it 
 should be, after the essence of Christianity. 
 
 3. It may also be useful as a simple and compre- 
 hensive outline of Christian doctrine for any class 
 of readers and students. 
 
 4. Its aim is to point out the principal teachings 
 of Jesus Christ so as to embody in cathechetical 
 form the substance of the gospel 
 
 5. It does not therefore attempt to cover all the 
 doctrines of the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 6. The great fact is emphasized that Jesus Christ 
 has fulfilled the law and the prophets, and has in- 
 stituted a new and better covenant 
 
 7. Care has been taken to omit nothing of fun- 
 damental religious value in the Christian faith. 
 
 8. Care has also been taken to incorporate a 
 large number of the most precious texts of the Bible 
 in order to facilitate and encourage the habit of fix- 
 ing them in the memory. 
 
 3
 
 4 Preface. 
 
 9. It is thus possible that these questions and 
 answers may also prove to be a helpful handbook 
 of private devotion and study. The import of most 
 of the texts cited is so evident that they need no 
 other commentary or exposition than the medita- 
 tions, inquiries, and conversations which the present 
 arrangement is designed to suggest 
 
 10. Whatever may be its imperfection as a state- 
 ment of the essentials of the gospel of Jesus Christ, 
 this booklet may perhaps contribute in some meas- 
 ure to promote catechetical study, and prompt more 
 competent hands to prepare a better manual.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 I. INTRODUCTORY, - .. - 7 
 II. OUR HEAVENLY FATHER, - 13 
 
 III. OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, - - 18 
 
 IV. SALVATION IN CHRIST, - 28 
 V. THE MISSION AND THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRIT, 44 
 
 VI. THE KINGDOM AND THE COMING OF CHRIST, 51 
 
 VII. THE RESURRECTION AND THE JUDGMENT TO 
 
 COME, 73
 
 's QlmlL 
 
 I BELIEVE IN OUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN. WHOSE NAME 
 IS HALLOWED. WHO LOVES US. AND CIVES US OUR DAILY 
 BREAD, AND ALL GOOD THINGS. 
 
 I BELIEVE IN THE COMING AND KINGDOM OF OUR L.ORD 
 
 JESUS CHRIST. WHO GAVE HIS LIFE FOR us. FORGIVES us 
 
 OUR DEBTS AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS, AND TEACHES US 
 TO LOVE OUR GOD WITH ALL OUR HEART. AND OUR NEIGHBOR 
 AS OURSELF. 
 
 I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT. WHO HELPS US IN OUR 
 TRIALS, DELIVERS US FROM THE EVIL, LEADS US INTO ALL 
 TRUTH, AND WORKS IN US TO DO THE WILL OF GOD ON EARTH 
 AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
 
 of ffilprtaliati Bwtrut*. 
 
 3Firat. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 1. What Is tht Gospel? 
 
 It is the good news of salvation and eternal life 
 in Jesus Christ 
 
 2. What are the fundamental truths of the Gospel? 
 
 The doctrines of God, our Heavenly Father, of 
 Jesus Christ our Lord, of salvation and eternal life 
 in Christ, of the work of the Holy Spirit, the ting- 
 dom and coming of Christ, the resurrection and final 
 judgment of all men. 
 
 3. Where do we learn the facts and teachings of 
 
 Jesus Christ? 
 
 In the various books of the New Testament, but 
 more especially in the four Gospel* of Matthew, 
 Mark, Luke, and John. 
 
 4. How are these Gospels often distinguished? 
 
 The first three are called the Synoptic Gospelf, 
 because they are all conspicuously much alike in 
 their contents, and present in a brief general out- 
 line the main facts in the life and teachings of 
 Jesus; but the Gospel of John contains many other 
 7
 
 8 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 things which Jesus said and did, and it has a style 
 of thought and language peculiar to itself. 
 
 5. How do the three Synoptic Gospels differ from 
 
 each other? 
 
 Mark is the shortest and seems to be the oldest 
 of the three, and it has most in common with the 
 other two. Matthew contains nearly all that is 
 found in Mark, and also many other sayings of 
 Jesus, and seems to have been designed more espe- 
 cially for Jewish readers. Luke was written after 
 many had taken in hand to draw up a narrative of 
 the words and the works of Jesus, and it informs 
 us of many things not recorded in the other Gospels. 
 
 6. What are the contents, in the main, of all the 
 
 Gospels? 
 
 They are memoirs of the earliest traditions of 
 what the Lord Jesus said and did. 
 
 7. What is the oldest tradition of their authorship? 
 
 That which is found in the writings of two 
 ancient fathers of the Church: 
 
 (i.) Papias about A. D. 130 wrote that 
 "Matthew composed his history in the Hebrew dia- 
 lect, and every one translated it as he was able." 
 He also says that "Mark was the interpreter of 
 Peter and recorded whatever he wrote with great 
 accuracy, but not in the order in which it was said 
 and done by our Lord; for he neither heard nor fol- 
 lowed the Lord, but was in company with Peter, 
 who gave him such instruction as was necessary, 
 but not to give a history of our Lord's discourses." 
 
 (2.) Irenseus about A. D. 180 wrote: "Matthew
 
 Introductory. 9 
 
 produced his Gospel written among the Hebrews 
 in their own dialect, whilst Peter and Paul pro- 
 claimed the gospel and founded the Church at Rome. 
 After the departure of these, Mark, the disciple and 
 interpreter of Peter, also transmitted to us in writ- 
 ing what had been preached by Peter. And Luke, 
 the companion of Paul, committed to writing the 
 gospel preached by Paul. Afterwards John, the dis- 
 ciple of our Lord, the same that lay upon His bosom, 
 also published the Gospel, while he was yet in 
 Ephesus in Asia." 
 
 8. How do the other books of the New Testament 
 
 witness the gospel of Christ? 
 
 They are along with the Gospels the earliest and 
 most authoritative records of Christianity, and they 
 show what was believed and preached by the first 
 apostles and teachers of the Church. 
 
 9. What significance has the word "Testament," as 
 
 applied to the writings of the evangelists and 
 apostles? 
 
 It is used interchangeably with the word "cov- 
 enant," as may be seen in 2 Cor. 3 : 6 and 14, and 
 means also the acknowledged records of a covenant. 
 A covenant is the sacred pledge and promise of 
 manifold blessings to be given in fulfillment of cer- 
 tain conditions. The Scriptures of the Old Testa- 
 ment tell us how God entered into such covenant 
 relations with men, and the New Testament is a 
 like record of the covenant of grace and salvation 
 through Jesus Christ, who is called "the Mediator 
 of a new and better covenant." (Heb. 8 : 6; 9 : 15.)
 
 10 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 10. What use are we to make of the Scriptures of 
 
 the Old Testament, and how should we esteem 
 them? 
 
 They are the religious writings of poets, 
 prophets, psalmists, lawgivers, and wise men of 
 Israel, who were possessed and moved by the Spirit 
 of God; and they show us how God spoke in many 
 portions and in many ways to the Jewish people of 
 whom Christ came. Hence they are profitable for 
 teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for in- 
 struction in righteousness. (2 Tim. 3:16.) 
 
 11. What New Testament saying specially Indicates 
 
 the partial and progressive character of the 
 Old Testament, and the consummation of Its 
 revelations in Christ? 
 
 The beginning of the Epistle to the Hebrews, 
 which says: "God, having of old time spoken unto 
 the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and 
 in divers manners, hath at the end of these days 
 spoken unto us in His Son, whom He appointed 
 Heir of all things." 
 
 12. Have the moral and religious teachings of the 
 
 Old Testament as great a value for us as those 
 of the New Testament? 
 
 By no means; for Jesus Christ set aside many 
 sayings of the old time as unsuitable to men under 
 the gospel; He fulfilled the law and the prophets, 
 instituted a new and better covenant, and brought 
 to light a fuller and clearer revelation of God.
 
 Introductory. 11 
 
 13, How may we distinguish those teachings which 
 
 have permanent value from those which served 
 a temporary purpose? 
 
 By subjecting them to the comparison and test of 
 the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 
 
 14. What are the most conspicuous qualities of the 
 
 teaching of Jesus Christ? 
 
 (i.) He spoke with authority unknown to the 
 Jewish scribes, and His words carry irresistible con- 
 viction to the reason, the conscience, and the heart 
 of man. 
 
 (2.) His teaching was so simple that it charmed 
 the young and the old. The common people and the 
 multitude heard Him gladly, and His sayings lose 
 none of their power to this day. 
 
 (3.) He emphasized the great essential ele- 
 ments of religion, and magnified spiritual and heav- 
 enly things above all ordinances of outward form. 
 
 (4.) He gave even the moral elements in the old 
 commandments a deeper significance than they had 
 been thought to contain before. (Matt. 5:21-32.) 
 
 (5.) He condensed the entire Old Testament 
 revelation into one royal law of the love of God and 
 the love of man. (Matt. 22: 37-40.) 
 
 (6.) His gospel is a universal message of grace 
 and truth, adapted to all men, and not directed to 
 any one race or people only. 
 
 (7.) He has brought life, immortality, and the 
 kingdom of heaven to light as they were never
 
 12 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 known before, so that the least in His kingdom is 
 greater than the greatest prophet of the Old Testa- 
 ment (Matt. 11:11.) 
 
 (8.) The great practical aim of all His teach- 
 ing and ministry is the moral renovation of the 
 world. 
 
 (9.) His Divine-human personality, as the great 
 Revealer of our Father in heaven, imparts to all His 
 teaching a character of life and light which is cor- 
 respondingly transcendent. 
 
 (10.) His teaching, accordingly, possesses the 
 elements of permanence and finality which are found 
 in the words of no other prophet or sage, and which 
 show the adaptation of Christianity to be the one 
 universal religion of mankind.
 
 &r rtunt &r ruuft. 
 OUR HEAVENLY FATHER. 
 
 1. What does Jesus teach us about God? 
 
 He teaches us to call Him our Father who is in 
 the heavens. 
 
 2. Was not God known as the Heavenly Father before 
 
 the coming of Christ? 
 
 Not in the personal and endearing way in which 
 Christ reveals Him to us in His gospel of love. But 
 many intimations of this heavenly truth had been 
 expressed before: 
 
 (i.) The Greeks called Him Zeus, "Father of 
 gods and men," but they regarded Him as an off- 
 spring of older gods, and susceptible of base 
 passions. 
 
 (2.) The old Teutonic and Scandinavian peo- 
 ples called one of their deities "All-father," but his 
 worship was associated with many barbarous and 
 bloody rites. 
 
 (3.) Jehovah called Israel His "first born son," 
 and Ephraim His "dear son" and His "darling 
 child" (Ex. 4:22; Hos. ii :i; Jer. 21:9, 20); but 
 the relationship implied was national rather than 
 personal. 
 
 (4.) The same collective and national idea ap- 
 pears when, in Isa. 63:16; 64:8, 9, Israel ad- 
 dresses Jehovah as "our Father." 
 13
 
 14 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 (5. The words "my Father" in Jer. 3:4, are 
 the utterance of the nation conceived as the un- 
 faithful bride of Jehovah. 
 
 (6.) Some of the Psalms express tender relation 
 to God, but their statements are general, and lack 
 the suggestions of a personal intimacy with God as 
 a loving Father, such as Jesus taught. (Cf. Psa. 
 68:5; 103:13.) 
 
 (7.) The personal relationship expressed in 2 
 Sam. i : 14 ("I will be to him a Father"), is, like 
 Psa. 89 : 26, part of a Messianic promise pointing to 
 the future. 
 
 3. What may we learn from the Lord's Prayer about 
 
 our Heavenly Father? 
 
 (i.) We learn to hold the name "our Father" 
 sacred in our hearts. 
 
 (2.) We are impressed with the thought of His 
 coming kingdom. 
 
 (3.) We are lifted to the blessed ideal of heaven 
 on earth. 
 
 (4.) We are taught to think of God as a nourish- 
 ing Father, giving us our daily bread, and all need- 
 ful things. 
 
 (5.) We are taught that we may be forgiven 
 all our debts and trespasses as we forgive our debt- 
 ors and those who trespass against us. 
 
 (6.) We are assured that we may find help from 
 above in our trials, and deliverance from the evil. 
 
 4. What is said in Matt. 7: 9-11, concerning the tender 
 
 affection of our Heavenly Father? 
 "What man is there of you, who, if his son ask 
 him for a loaf, will give him a stone; or if he shall
 
 Our Heavenly Father. 15 
 
 ask for a fish, will give him a serpent? If ye, then, 
 being evil, know how to give good gifts to your 
 children, how much more shall your Father who is 
 in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?" 
 
 5. What other things did Jesus say about our Heav- 
 
 enly Father's goodness? 
 
 (i.) He loves His enemies, and "makes His sun 
 to rise on the evil and the good, and sends His rain 
 on the just and the unjust." (Matt. 5 : 45.) 
 
 (2.) His tender care observes every sparrow 
 that falls to the ground, and He numbers all the 
 hairs of our head. (Matt 10:29, 30.) 
 
 (3.) He feeds the birds, arrays the lilies of the 
 field in beauty, clothes the grass with its verdure; 
 but He feels a much greater interest in the needs of 
 His children. (Matt. 6:26-34.) 
 
 6. What does Jesus teach in Mark 10: 18 about the 
 
 goodness of God? 
 
 He says that God is the only one absolutely good 
 Being. In comparison with His perfect goodness 
 the best among men are relatively bad. 
 
 7. State other New Testament teaching about God. 
 
 (i.) He is holy, righteous, and altogether per- 
 fect, the glorious Lord of heaven and earth. 
 
 (2.) He sees all that we do in secret, and knows 
 the thoughts of our heart. 
 
 (3.) God is a Spirit, in every place, in all, 
 through all, over all, and in Him we live, and move, 
 and have our being.
 
 16 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 (4.) "God is love; and he that abideth in love 
 abideth in God, and God abideth in him." (i 
 John 4: 16.) 
 
 8. Wherein do we behold the greatest manifestation 
 
 of God's love for man? 
 
 In the fact that "God so loved the world that 
 He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever 
 believeth on Him should not perish, but have eter- 
 nal life." (John 3: 16.) 
 
 9. How does 1 John 4: 9, 10, 14, speak of this love of 
 
 the Father? 
 
 "Herein was the love of God manifested in us, 
 that God hath sent His Only Begotten Son into the 
 world that we might live through Him. Herein is 
 love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, 
 and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 
 . . . And we have beheld and bear witness that 
 the Father hath sent the Son to be the Savior of the 
 world." 
 
 10. What does Paul say on this subject of God's love? 
 
 (i.) "God commendeth His own love toward us, 
 in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for 
 us." (Rom. 5:8.) 
 
 (2.) "God was in Christ reconciling the world 
 unto Himself." (2 Cor. 5: 19.) 
 
 (3.) "It is God that said, Light shall shine out 
 of darkness, who shined in our hearts, to give the 
 light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the 
 face of Jesus Christ." (2 Cor. 4:6.)
 
 Our Heavenly Father. 17 
 
 11. Does the gospel of Christ declare the righteous- 
 
 ness and holiness of God as truly as His love? 
 
 Most assuredly, in the teaching both of Christ 
 and His apostles. 
 
 (i.) Jesus addressed Him as "holy Father" and 
 "righteous Father." 
 
 (2.) He pronounced most severe judgment of 
 condemnation on all unrighteousness. 
 
 (3.) Paul declares that "the wrath of God is 
 revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and 
 unrighteousness of men." 
 
 (4.) It is also written that willful sinning 
 against the light and knowledge of God exposes 
 one to fearful judgment. (Heb. 10:26, 27.) 
 
 (5.) The fact that the Son of man came "to 
 give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45), 
 and that "God, sending His own Son in the likeness 
 of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the 
 flesh" (Rom. 8:3), is a most wonderful testimony 
 for all the ages to come of the severity of God 
 toward sin and sinners, as well as of His unspeak- 
 able love and compassion. 
 
 12. How does all this manifestation of Christ reveal 
 
 the Father? 
 
 By showing forth the real nature of Divine wis- 
 dom, love, and power in a human life. When we 
 duly observe and appreciate all the heavenly qual- 
 ities of goodness, love, righteousness, holiness, truth, 
 and the abiding power of all these in the transcend- 
 ent personality of Jesus Christ, we behold the Father 
 also. (John 14:6-10.) 
 2
 
 Sntiim 
 OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 1. What did Jesus say about Himself? 
 
 (i.) "All things have been delivered unto Me 
 of My Father; and no one knoweth the Son save 
 the Father ; neither doth any know the Father, save 
 the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to 
 reveal Him." (Matt. 11:27.) 
 
 (2.) "Whosoever shall do the will of My Father 
 who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and 
 mother." (Matt. 12: 50.) 
 
 (3.) "He whom God hath sent speaketh the 
 words of God; for He giveth not the Spirit by 
 measure." (John 3 : 34.) 
 
 (4.) "I am come down from heaven, not to do 
 Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me." 
 (John 6: 38.) 
 
 (5.) "I am the Living Bread which came down 
 out of heaven; if any man eat of this Bread, he 
 shall live forever." (John 6: 51.) 
 
 (6.) "I am the Good Shepherd; the good shep- 
 herd layeth down his life for the sheep.'* (John 
 10: u.) 
 
 (7.) "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are 
 heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt. 
 11:28.) 
 
 18
 
 Our Lord Jesus Christ. 19 
 
 (8.) "I am the Resurrection and the Life; he 
 that believeth on Me, though he die, yet shall he 
 live; and whosoever liveth and believeth on Me 
 shall never die." (John 11:25, 26.) 
 
 (9.) "Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own 
 self, with the glory which I had with Thee before 
 the world was." (John 17:5.) 
 
 (10.) "Lo ! I am with you always, even unto the 
 end of the world." (Matt. 28:20.) 
 
 2. What witness did He receive at the time of His 
 
 baptism? 
 
 "He saw the heavens rent asunder, and the Spirit 
 as a dove descending upon Him, and a voice came 
 out of the heavens, Thou art My beloved Son; in 
 Thee I am well pleased." (Mark i : 10, u.) 
 
 3. What occurred to Him immediately after the 
 
 baptism? 
 
 The Spirit urged Him away into the wilderness, 
 and He was forty days subjected to severe tempta- 
 tions of Satan, but He triumphantly resisted, and re- 
 turned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. (Mark 
 i: 12, 13; Luke 4: 14.) 
 
 4. Whom did He call to be His immediate followers? 
 
 "He appointed twelve, whom also He named 
 apostles, that they might be with Him, and that He 
 might send them forth to preach." (Mark 3:14; 
 Luke 6: 13.) Their names were Simon Peter, An- 
 drew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, 
 Thomas, James of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas 
 of James, and Judas Iscariot
 
 20 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 5. What does Matthew 4: 23, say of Him and His 
 
 works? 
 
 "Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their 
 synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the king- 
 dom, and healing all manner of disease and all man- 
 ner of sickness among the people." 
 
 6. What message did Jesus send to John the Baptist 
 
 in proof that He was the Messiah who was to 
 come? 
 
 "Go and tell John the things ye hear and see; 
 the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, 
 the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the 
 dead are raised up, and the poor have the good 
 tidings preached to them. (Matt. 11:5; Cf. Isa. 
 35:5,6.) 
 
 7. What did the people think and say of Him? 
 
 (i.) They were astonished at His marvelous 
 works. 
 
 (2.) They were astonished at His teaching and 
 His authority. 
 
 (3.) The multitude heard Him gladly. (Mark 
 12:37.) 
 
 (4.) Nicodemus thought Him a teacher come 
 from God. (John 3:2.) 
 
 (5.) The officers sent to arrest Him said, "Never 
 man so spake." (John 7 : 46.) 
 
 (6.) Many worshiped Him as the Son of God, 
 and as "the King that cometh in the name of the 
 Lord," and He Himself said, amid the rejoicing 
 on His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, that if the 
 disciples should hold their peace, the stones would 
 cry out. (Luke 19 140.)
 
 Our Lord Jesus Christ. 21 
 
 8. Name some of the recorded facts of His life on 
 
 earth. 
 
 (i.) He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and 
 born of the Virgin Mary. 
 
 (2.) The Child grew and waxed strong, filled 
 with wisdom; and the grace of God was with Him. 
 . . . And Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature, 
 and in favor with God and men." (Luke 2 : 40, 52.) 
 
 (3.) When twelve years old he went with His 
 parents to Jerusalem, and amazed the Jewish teach- 
 ers and all who heard Him with the understanding 
 apparent in His questions and answers. (Luke 
 2:41-51.) 
 
 (4.) When He was about thirty years old He 
 began His public ministry, which extended over 
 only about three years and a half. 
 
 (5.) At last the chief priests, scribes, and elders 
 of the Jewish people, with the authority of Pilate, 
 the Roman governor, secured His crucifixion, death, 
 and burial. 
 
 (6.) The third day He rose from the dead, and 
 showed Himself alive by many convincing proofs, 
 appearing unto the apostles and others for a period 
 of forty days, after which He was parted from them 
 and ascended into heaven. 
 
 9. What peculiarities distinguish the miracles of 
 
 Jesus Christ? 
 
 His mighty works were commanding evidences 
 of His Divine mission and ministry, but in no in- 
 stance were they a showy display of His own 
 power, nor were they wrought for their own sake; 
 but they were monumental acts of love for man, in
 
 22 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 striking harmony with His character as the Savior 
 of the world. 
 
 10. How do the miracles of Jesus furnish us perma- 
 nent lessons of His abiding presence and super- 
 natural power? 
 
 They are types and symbols of those ''greater 
 works" of the Spirit, which Jesus assured His dis- 
 ciples they should do after His return to the Father ; 
 for 
 
 (i.) His beginning of miracles at Cana is a sug- 
 gestive symbol of the transforming and transfig- 
 uring work which the Son of man is continuously 
 doing for mankind. He is now making all things 
 new (Rev. 21 : 5), changing the hearts of men from 
 enmity to the love of God and of their brethren, 
 and exalting them into new creatures, "meet to be 
 partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light," 
 and to drink the heavenly wine of salvation "new in 
 the kingdom of God." (Mark 14:25.) 
 
 (2.) All His works of healing are symbolic of 
 His ability as the Great Physician to heal the sin- 
 sick souls of men. 
 
 (3.) His cleansing of the lepers assures us of 
 His abiding power on earth to cleanse the human 
 heart from all unrighteousness. 
 
 (4.) His casting out demons is a symbol of his 
 superior wisdom and might to deliver us from all 
 the powers of evil, and to strengthen us against all 
 temptations. 
 
 (5.) His giving sight to the blind is an assur- 
 ance of His power to open the eyes of our hearts to 
 a knowledge of heavenly things.
 
 Our Lord Jesus Christ. 23 
 
 (6.) His healing of the deaf and dumb shows 
 His perpetual power to enlarge our spiritual capa- 
 bilities to a keen sense of the grace of God. 
 
 (7.) His walking on the sea and His stilling the 
 tempest should assure us that He is never far away, 
 but ever present to rescue us from perils, and to 
 make the winds and the waves our servants. 
 
 (8.) His miraculous draughts of fishes and His 
 telling of the money in the mouth of the fish teach 
 the same lesson of His making whatsoever passeth 
 through the paths of the sea subserve the interests 
 of man. 
 
 (9.) Even His cursing the fruitless fig-tree is a 
 significant warning against all false pretenses and 
 hypocrisy. 
 
 (10.) His raising the dead and His own resur- 
 rection from the dead assure us that He is indeed 
 the Resurrection and the Life, and will surely de- 
 liver from the power of death all those who have 
 life in Him. 
 
 11. What did the apostles and prophets of the New 
 Testament think and teach about Jesus Christ? 
 
 '(i.) Peter in his preaching proclaimed Him as 
 "Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God by 
 mighty works and wonders and signs which God 
 did by Him, but crucified and slain by lawless men; 
 Him God raised up and exalted at His right hand, 
 and made both Lord and Christ." (Acts 2:22-34.) 
 He also called Him "the holy and righteous one," 
 and "the Prince of life." (Acts 3:14, 15.) He 
 declared that "He is Lord of all," and that "God 
 anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power :
 
 24 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 who went about doing good, and healing all who 
 were oppressed with the devil; for God was with 
 Him. . . . God raised Him up the third day, 
 and gave Him to be manifest, not to all the people, 
 but unto witnesses that were chosen before of God, 
 even to us, who ate and drank with Him after He 
 rose from the dead. And He charged us to preach 
 unto the people and to testify that this is He who 
 is ordained of God to be the Judge of the living and 
 the dead. (Acts 10:36-42.) 
 
 (2.) James calls Him "our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 the Lord of glory." (James 2:1.) 
 
 (3.) Jude calls Him "our only Master and Lord 
 Jesus Christ." (Jude 4.) 
 
 (4.) In Paul's writings we have a variety of tes- 
 timony : 
 
 1 In Romans I : 3-5, he calls Him "the Son of 
 God, who was born of the seed of David according 
 to the flesh, declared to be the Son of God with 
 power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the 
 resurrection from the dead; even Jesus Christ our 
 Lord, through whom we received grace and apostle- 
 ship, unto obedience of faith among all the nations 
 for His name's sake." 
 
 2 In the Corinthian Epistles he is called "the 
 power of God and the wisdom of God;" the last 
 Adam, a life-giving Spirit; "the Lord the Spirit; 
 the image of God." (i Cor. 1:24; 15:45; 2 Cor. 
 3:18; 4:4.) 
 
 3 In Eph. i : 19-23, he speaks of "that working 
 of the strength of His might which God wrought in 
 Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and 
 made Him to sit at His right hand in the heavenly
 
 Our Lord Jesus Christ. 25 
 
 places, far above all rule, and authority, and power, 
 and dominion, and every name that is named, not 
 only in this world, but also in that which is to come ; 
 and He put all things in subjection under His feet, 
 and gave Him to be head over all things to the 
 Church, which is His body, the fullness of Him 
 that filleth all in all." 
 
 4 In Philippians 2 :5~n, he says: "Have this 
 mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus: who, 
 existing in the form of God, counted not the being 
 on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but 
 emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, 
 being made in the likeness of men and being found 
 in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming 
 obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the 
 cross. Wherefore also God highly exalted Him, 
 and gave unto Him the name which is above every 
 name; that in the name of Jesus every knee should 
 bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and 
 things under the earth, and that every tongue should 
 confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the 
 Father." 
 
 5 In Col. i : 15-18, he says that the Son of the 
 Father's love "is the image of the invisible God, 
 the firstborn of all creation; for in Him were all 
 things created in the heavens and upon the earth, 
 things visible and things invisible, whether thrones 
 or dominions or principalities or powers; all things 
 have been created through Him and unto Him; and 
 He is before all things, and in Him all things con- 
 sist." In 2:9, he adds : "In Him dwelleth die 
 fullness of the Godhead bodily." 
 
 (5.) In the Gospel of John we read: "In die be-
 
 26 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 ginning was the Word, and the Word was with 
 God, and the Word was God. All things were made 
 through Him. ... In Him was life and the life 
 was the light of men. . . . And the Word be- 
 came flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His 
 glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, 
 full of grace and truth." 
 
 (6.) In the Epistle to the Hebrews we read: 
 "God hath spoken unto us in His Son, whom He ap- 
 pointed Heir of all things, through whom also He 
 made the ages, who, being the effulgence of His 
 glory, and the very image of His substance, and 
 upholding all things by the word of His power, 
 when He had made a purification of sins, sat down 
 on the right hand of the Majesty on high, having 
 become by so much better than the angels as He 
 hath inherited a more excellent name than they." 
 Also in 4: 15, it is said that He "hath been in all 
 points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." 
 And in 13 : 8, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday 
 and to-day, yea, and forever." 
 
 (7.) In the Revelation of John, Jesus Christ is 
 called "the faithful witness, the firstborn of the 
 dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth; the 
 first and the last, and the Living One, the begin- 
 ning of the creation of God." (1:5, 17, 18; 3: 14.) 
 He is "the Lion of the tribe of Judah" and also "the 
 Lamb that hath been slain to receive the power, and 
 riches, and wisdom, and might, and honor, and glory, 
 and blessing. (5:4, 12.) He bears also the names 
 of "the Word of God" and "King of kings and 
 Lord of lords." (19: 13, 16.) He is, along with the 
 Father Almighty, the sanctuary and the light of the 
 New Jerusalem. (21:22, 23.)
 
 Our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 
 
 12. What then should we think of Jesus Christ? 
 
 We should behold in Him the wisdom, love, and 
 power of God revealed in a fullness never before 
 or elsewhere seen, and think of Him as the incar- 
 nation of God Himself, the anointed Son of the 
 everlasting Father. We should, accordingly, wor- 
 ship Him as our Lord and Savior, even as we wor- 
 ship the Father.
 
 SALVATION IN CHRIST. 
 
 1. What does Matthew 1:21, say about the name 
 
 JESUS? 
 
 His name was called Jesus, "for it is He that 
 shall save His people from their sins." 
 
 2. What does the Apostle Peter say, in Acts 4: 12, 
 
 about the "name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth?" 
 "In none other is there salvation; for neither 
 is there any other name under heaven, that is given 
 among men, wherein we must be saved." 
 
 3. What does Jesus say, in Luke 19: 10, about the 
 
 great purpose of His coming into the world? 
 
 "The Son of man came to seek and to save that 
 which was lost." 
 
 4. How do the three parables of Luke 15 illustrate 
 
 and enhance this great purpose of Jesus? 
 
 By way of climax they intensify the thought of 
 "joy in the presence of the angels of God over one 
 sinner that repenteth." One sheep out of a hundred 
 is comparatively a little loss; one drachma out of 
 ten is proportionately greater; but a lost child, and 
 one out of two, is incalculably a greater loss, and 
 the joy of recovery is correspondingly blessed.
 
 Salvation in Christ. 29 
 
 5. What is written in 1 John 2: 1, 2, and 4: 14? 
 
 "If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the 
 Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He is the 
 propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but 
 also for the whole world. . . . And we have 
 beheld and bear witness that the Father hath sent 
 the Son to be the Savior of the world." 
 
 6. What sayings of Jesus show His estimate of the 
 
 value of the human soul? 
 
 (i.) His saying that men are of much more 
 value than the grass, the lilies, and the birds, im- 
 plying that the human race is the highest and noblest 
 part of the creation of God. (Matt. 6:26-30.) 
 
 (2.) His teaching that one human life is of 
 greater value than the whole world, and His ques- 
 tion, "What shall a man give in exchange for his 
 soul?" (Matt. 16:26.) 
 
 (3.) His saying that "the Son of man came not 
 to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give 
 his life a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45.) 
 
 (4.) His comparing Himself to the good shep- 
 herd, who giveth his life for the sheep. (John 
 10:15.) 
 
 (5.) His saying at the last supper with His dis- 
 ciples, when He gave them the cup, "This is My 
 blood of the covenant which is poured out for 
 many." (Mark 14:24.) 
 
 (6.) All those sayings which speak of men as 
 sons of the Heavenly Father, who so loves them as 
 to watch over them continually, cares for them, and 
 counts it a pleasure "to give them the kingdom." 
 
 (7.) The intercessory prayer for the disciples
 
 30 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 in John 17, and especially the statement that He 
 is "glorified in them." 
 
 7. What do other Scriptures teach concerning man? 
 
 (i.) Man was created in the image of God 
 (Gen. 1:27), and he exists in the image and glory 
 of God. (i Cor. 11:7.) 
 
 (2.) Mankind were made male and female, 
 monogamy is the Divine order, and hence the mar- 
 riage relation is sacred and inviolable. (Gen. i : 27; 
 Mark 10:2-11.) 
 
 (3.) God has given man dominion over all the 
 other creatures of the earth. (Gen. 1:28; Psa. 
 8:5-8-) 
 
 (4.) God ordains the times and the geographical 
 boundaries of the nations of men. (Acts 17:26; 
 Deut. 32:8.) 
 
 (5.) Man in his sinfulness and depravity is still 
 the object of the Heavenly Father's love, so that 
 God gave His Son to open unto him the way of 
 eternal life. (John 3: 16; Rom. 5:8.) 
 
 8. Why is it that man needs a Heavenly Savior? 
 
 Because of his sinfulness, his ignorance of God, 
 and his inability to deliver himself from the do- 
 minion of sin. 
 
 9. What is the teaching of Jesus concerning human 
 
 sinfulness? 
 
 (i.) Jesus recognized the deplorable condition 
 of sinful man, and spoke of the heart of man as the 
 seat and source of "evil thoughts, murders, adul- 
 teries, fornications, thefts, false witness and rail- 
 ings, which defile the man." (Matt. 15: 19.) 
 
 (2.) He also recognized different degrees of
 
 Salvation in Christ. 31 
 
 guilt, in proportion to the moral light one has. He 
 upbraided the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and 
 Capernaum, wherein most of His mighty works were 
 done, saying that "it shall be more tolerable for 
 Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for 
 you." (Matt. 11:22.) 
 
 (3.) His terrible denunciation of the "scribes, 
 Pharisees, and hypocrites" in Matt. 23: 13-38, call- 
 ing them "offspring of vipers," shows His intense 
 hostility to all manner of sin. 
 
 (4.) Still more impressive is what He said of 
 the "blasphemy against the Holy Spirit which has 
 never forgiveness, but involves the guilt of eter- 
 nal sin." (Mark 3:29.) 
 
 (5.) All this is intensified by what He said about 
 the destroying of soul and body in hell (Matt. 
 10:28), and the going away into eternal punish- 
 ment. (Matt. 25:46.) 
 
 10. Cite other New Testament witness to human sin- 
 
 fulness. 
 
 (i.) Paul declares that all have sinned, and fall 
 short of the glory of God. (Rom. 3 : 23.) 
 
 (2.) In i John 1:8, 10, it is written: "If we 
 say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and 
 the truth is not in us. ... If we say that we 
 have not sinned, we make Jesus a liar and His word 
 is not in us." 
 
 11. What, then, is the salvation which is in Jesus 
 
 Christ? 
 
 It is a Divine deliverance from the guilt and the 
 domination of sin, and a conscious blessed fellow- 
 ship with God.
 
 32 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 12. How does Paul speak, in 2 Cor. 5: 18, 19, of this 
 
 great salvation? 
 
 He calls it "the ministry of reconciliation," in 
 which man is to co-operate with God, and to be as- 
 sured that "God is in Christ reconciling the world 
 unto Himself." 
 
 13. Why should this great salvation be also called a 
 
 reconciliation? 
 
 Because it effects a blessed harmony between 
 man and God, and brings the once alienated sinner 
 into loving fellowship and communion with his 
 Heavenly Father. 
 
 14. How does Paul speak of the co-operation of the 
 
 Divine and the human in this work of salva- 
 tion? 
 
 He says to the Philippians: "Work out your 
 own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God 
 who worketh in you both to will and to work for His 
 good pleasure." (Phil. 2: 13.) 
 
 15. What are the several and successive steps in the 
 
 way of salvation? 
 
 (i.) Conviction of personal sinfulness by the 
 Spirit of God. 
 
 (2.) Repentance toward God and faith in our 
 Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 (3.) The fervent prayer of penitent confession. 
 
 (4.) The gracious gift of remission of sins. 
 
 (5.) Regeneration by the Holy Spirit. 
 
 (6.) Justification and peace with God. 
 
 [(7.) The assurance of faith and hope.
 
 Salvation in Christ. 33 
 
 (8.) Sanctification in the Holy Spirit and in the 
 truths of God. 
 
 (9.) Growth in all Christian graces. 
 
 (10.) Love which is the bond of perfectness. 
 (Col. 3: 14.) 
 
 16. What is conviction of sin? 
 
 The sense of guilt awakened in the soul by a 
 vivid perception of the deadly nature of sin. 
 
 17. How does Paul describe the operation of his own 
 
 personal conviction of sin? 
 
 "I am carnal, sold under sin. . . . For the 
 good which I would I do not; but the evil which I 
 would not, that I practice. ... I delight in the 
 law of God after the inward man; but I see a dif- 
 ferent law in my members, warring against the law 
 of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under 
 the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched 
 man that I am ! who shall deliver me out of the body 
 of this death?" (Rom. 7: 14-24.) 
 
 13. How may we define repentance? 
 
 Repentance involves the deep sense of guilt which 
 follows conviction of sin, but it includes in addition 
 the strong desire and purpose to turn away from all 
 ungodliness and to become so changed in heart 
 and life as to please God. And so it is written, 
 "Godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation." 
 (2. Cor. 7: 10.) 
 
 19. What was the first great call in the message of 
 
 Jesus? 
 
 "Repent ye and believe in the gospel." (Mark 
 1:15-) 
 3
 
 34 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 20. How did Peter, on the Day of Pentecost, speak of 
 
 repentance and remission of sins? 
 
 When the people cried, "What shall we do?" the 
 apostle answered, "Repent ye, and be baptized every 
 one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the re- 
 mission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift 
 of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2 : 38.) 
 
 21. What did Jesus teach concerning the conditions 
 
 of forgiveness? 
 
 "If ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heav- 
 enly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive 
 not men their trespasses, neither will your Father 
 forgive your trespasses." (Matt. 6: 14, 15.) 
 
 22. What does John teach concerning confession and 
 
 remission of sins? 
 
 "If we confess our sins, God is faithful and right- 
 eous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from 
 all unrighteousness." (i John 1:9.) 
 
 23. What does Paul teach concerning confession and 
 
 faith? 
 
 "If thou confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, 
 and believe in thy heart that God raised Him from 
 the dead, thou shalt be saved: for with the heart 
 man believeth unto righteousness, and with the 
 mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Rom. 
 10: 9, 10.) 
 
 24. How may we define such faith as this? 
 
 Such faith is a personal trust in God and in 
 Christ for the forgiveness of sins, for the gifts of 
 the Spirit, and for eternal life.
 
 Salvation in Christ. 35 
 
 25. What famous saying of Jesus to Nicodemus 
 
 teaches the necessity of a new birth through 
 the Holy Spirit? 
 
 "Except one be born from above [or anew, of 
 the Spirit], he can not see the kingdom of God." 
 (John 3: 3-8.) 
 
 26. How does Paul speak of this great spiritual 
 
 change? 
 
 As a new creation in the Lord: "If any man is 
 in Christ, he is a new creature [or creation] : the 
 old things are passed away; behold, they are be- 
 come new." (2 Cor. 5: 17; cf. Eph. 2: 10.) 
 
 27. How is this new life in the Spirit spoken of in the 
 
 writings of John? 
 
 It is called "eternal life," and is conceived as an 
 enduring or imperishable kind of life, and a present 
 possession of the believer as well as a future blessed 
 inheritance : 
 
 (i.) "He that believeth on the Son hath eternal 
 life." (John 3:36.) 
 
 (2.) "He that heareth My Word, and believeth 
 Him that sent Me, hath eternal life, and cometh not 
 into judgment, but hath passed out of death into 
 life." (John 5 : 24.) 
 
 (3.) "He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My 
 blood hath eternal life." (John 6:54.) 
 
 (4.) "This is life eternal, that they should know 
 Thee the only true God, and Him whom Thou didst 
 send, even Jesus Christ." (John 17: 3.) 
 
 (5.) "He that hath the Son hath the life." (i 
 John 5: 12; cf. Rom. 8:2.)
 
 36 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 28. What does Paul teach about justification by 
 
 faith? 
 
 "Being justified by faith, we have peace with 
 God through our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom 
 also we have had our access by faith into this grace 
 wherein we stand; and we rejoice in hope of the 
 glory of God." (Rom. 5 : i, 21.) 
 
 29. What blessed relationship is attained and real- 
 
 ized in this great spiritual change? 
 
 Its subjects are called "sons of God," "sons of 
 your Father who is in heaven," "sons of God 
 through faith in Jesus Christ," "sons of the king- 
 dom," "sons of light," and "beloved children." 
 
 30. What personal assurance is given us of this 
 
 Dlessed relationship? 
 
 "The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our 
 spirit, that we are children of God." (Rom. 8: 16.) 
 This is an immediate impression and conviction 
 wrought in the soul of each child of God by the 
 Holy Spirit. 
 
 31. What more on this subject does Paul write in the 
 
 same connection? 
 
 "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these 
 are sons of God. For ye received not the spirit of 
 bondage again to fear; but ye received the spirit of 
 adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." (Rom. 
 8:14, I5-) 
 
 32. What did Jesus say concerning the sanctification 
 
 of His disciples? 
 
 He prayed the Father to "sanctify them in the 
 truth," and then He added : "For their sakes I sane-
 
 Salvation in Christ. 37 
 
 tify Myself, that they themselves may be sanctified 
 in truth." (John 17: 19.) 
 
 33. What does Paul say about sanctification? 
 "God chose you from the beginning unto salva- 
 tion in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the 
 truth : whereunto He called you through our gos- 
 pel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ." (2 Thess. 2:13.) "The God of peace 
 Himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit 
 and soul and body be preserved entire, without 
 blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (i 
 Thess. 5:23.) 
 
 34. What Christian graces are produced by the work- 
 
 ing of the Spirit of God in our hearts? 
 "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long- 
 suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meek- 
 ness, self-control." (Gal. 5:22.) 
 
 35. What is the greatest of all spiritual gifts and 
 
 graces? 
 
 The greatest of all is love; for no gifts of tongues, 
 or prophecy, or knowledge, or faith, and no works 
 which we can do amount to anything apart from 
 love. Jesus taught that all the commandments of 
 God and all the messages of the prophets hang 
 upon the two commandments of love to God and 
 to man (Matt. 22:37-40); and, Paul, also writes: 
 "Now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the 
 greatest of these is love." (i Cor. 13: 13.) 
 
 36. How may we define the attainment of perfect 
 
 Christian love? 
 
 It is a profound conviction and assurance of our 
 Heavenly Father's great love for us wrought in the
 
 38 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 soul by the immediate operation of the Holy Spirit, 
 and accompanied with a hallowing experience of in- 
 ward purity and a continuous consecration of our- 
 selves wholly to the service of God. 
 
 37. What does James write about the discipline of 
 trial? 
 
 "Count it all joy when ye fall into manifold 
 trials, knowing that the proving of your faith work- 
 eth patience. And let patience have perfect work, 
 that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in noth- 
 ing." (James 1:2-4.) 
 
 88. What are we taught in Heb. 12: 3-13, concerning 
 the moral value of affliction? 
 
 Whom our Heavenly Father loves He chastens, 
 so that personal trials may prove tokens of Divine 
 affection, God thus caring for us and aiming to make 
 us partakers of His holiness. 
 
 39. What Is Paul's language on this subject in 2 
 
 Cor. 4: 17? 
 
 "Our light affliction, which is for the moment, 
 worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eter- 
 nal weight of glory ; while we look not at the things 
 which are seen, but at the things which are not seen : 
 for the things which are seen are temporal; but the 
 things which are not seen are eternal." 
 
 40. What are the established Means of Grace? 
 There are at least five which have always been 
 
 recognized by the followers of Christ, and which are 
 helpful to the cultivation of the Christian life: 
 (i.) The Church, or household of God, which
 
 Salvation in Christ. 39 
 
 "is built upon the foundation of the apostles and 
 prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the chief cor- 
 ner-stone; in whom each several building, fitly 
 framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the 
 Lord; in whom ye also are builded together for a 
 habitation of God in the Spirit." (Eph. 2: 20-22.) 
 
 (2.) The sacraments of baptism and the Lord's 
 Supper, which are signs and seals of the new cov- 
 enant of which Jesus is Mediator. 
 
 (3.) The public and private worship of God, by 
 means of which we cultivate personal piety and 
 openly acknowledge and glorify our Heavenly Fa- 
 ther. 
 
 (4.) The ministry of the gospel which is to be 
 preached to all peoples as the good news of salva- 
 tion in Jesus Christ. 
 
 (5.) Diligent activity in all kinds of Christian 
 work, and doing unto others whatsoever we would 
 that they should do unto us. 
 
 41. What are we to understand by prayer unto God? 
 
 It is the opening of the heart before our Heav- 
 enly Father in earnest confession of personal wants 
 and in humble entreaty for Divine favor. It may 
 combine thanksgiving for manifold mercies, hallow- 
 ing the name and the attributes of God, acknowledg- 
 ment of obligations, and supplication for all manner 
 of temporal and spiritual blessings. 
 
 42. What Is our Lord's most memorable saying about 
 
 secret prayer? 
 
 "When thou prayest, enter into thine inner cham- 
 ber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father
 
 40 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 who is in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret 
 shall recompense thee." (Matt. 6:6.) 
 
 43. What is written concerning the priesthood and 
 intercession of Christ? 
 
 (i.) Paul says that He "is at the right hand of 
 God, and maketh intercession for us." He also de- 
 clares that "the Spirit Himself also maketh inter- 
 cession for us with groanings that can not be ut- 
 tered," and He "maketh intercession for the saints 
 according to the will of God." (Rom. 8 : 26, 27, 34.) 
 
 (2.) It is also written that we have "a great 
 High Priest, who hath passed through the heavens, 
 Jesus, the Son of God; not a high priest that can 
 not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, 
 but one that hath been tempted in all points like as 
 we are, yet without sin. Such a high priest became 
 us, holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners, 
 and made higher than the heavens. . . . For 
 Christ entered not into a holy place made with 
 hands, but into heaven itself, now to appear before 
 the face of God for us. He abideth forever, and 
 hath His priesthood unchangeable. Wherefore also 
 He is able to save to the uttermost them that draw 
 near unto God through Him, seeing He ever liveth 
 to make intercession for them. . . . Christ hav- 
 ing come a high priest of the good things to come, 
 through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, 
 not made with hands, nor yet through the blood of 
 goats and calves, but through His own blood, entered 
 in once for all into the holy place, having obtained 
 eternal redemption." (Heb. 4: 14, 15; 7:24, 25, 26; 
 9:11, 12,24.)
 
 Salvation in Christ. 41 
 
 44. What specially do these Scriptures signify for us? 
 By means of figurative terms and symbolical al- 
 lusions to the ritual of a consecrated priesthood, 
 they show that Christ's great work of mediation is 
 an affecting revelation of our Heavenly Father's 
 love toward us. What Christ feels and does for us 
 is true of the Father also. And so in Christ we 
 behold the unfailing love Divine, which effects 
 through its own eternal power and wisdom the re- 
 demption of mankind. 
 
 45. Do the Scriptures teach that all men will be 
 
 finally saved? 
 
 They do not. When Jesus was asked the ques- 
 tion, "Are they few that are saved?" he replied, 
 "Strive to enter in by the narrow door: for many, 
 I say unto you, shall seek to enter in, and shall not 
 be able." (Luke xiii, 24.) Many seek entrance by 
 a false door, a wide gate, and a broad way, which 
 leads rather to destruction. (Cf. Matt. 7: 13.) 
 
 46. Cite other Scriptures bearing on this question. 
 
 (i.) In i Tim. 2:4, it is said that God, our 
 Savior, is willing and desirous that all men should 
 be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth ; and 
 in chapter 4: 10, we are told that the living God "is 
 the Savior of all men, specially of them that be- 
 lieve." 
 
 (2.) The same truth is expressed in 2 Pet. 3: 9, 
 where we are told that the Lord is longsuffering, 
 and does not wish that any should perish, but that all 
 should come to repentance. 
 
 (3-) Jesus also said, with great emphasis: "Ex-
 
 42 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 cept ye be converted, and become as little children, 
 ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven." (Matt 18:3.) 
 
 (4.) To the same effect speak all those Scrip- 
 tures which affirm that the salvation of God in 
 Christ can be realized only on the conditions of 
 repentance, faith in the Lord Jesus, and obedience 
 to the truth. 
 
 47. Who, then, must finally fail of the salvation of 
 
 Christ? 
 
 All those who willfully persist in their sins and 
 reject the great provisions and offer of salvation. 
 
 48. What are we to think of the individuals, peoples, 
 
 and nations which have never heard of the 
 Gospel of Christ? 
 
 '(i.) No man can be justly held to blame for 
 what he could not help. 
 
 (2.) God has not left Himself without witness 
 of His goodness among any of the nations. (Cf. 
 Acts 14: 1 6, 17.) 
 
 (3.) His everlasting power and Divinity are 
 manifested in the works of His creation, and His 
 wrath against all ungodliness of men is revealed 
 from heaven sufficiently to leave all men without ex- 
 cuse for their persistent sinning. (Cf. Rom. 
 1 : 18-20.) 
 
 '(4.) The human heart the wide world over 
 shows the operation of God's law therein, and the 
 conscience and the moral sense accuse or excuse 
 every man according to the light he has and the 
 respect he shows it. (Cf. Rom. 2: 14, 15.)
 
 Salvation in Christ. 43 
 
 (5.) The conditions of salvation are not a mere 
 matter of knowledge or comparative enlightenment, 
 but rather of faith and obedience to that measure of 
 the true light that lighteth every man. 
 
 (6.) "God is no respecter o'f persons, but in 
 every nation he that feareth Him and worketh right- 
 eousness, is acceptable to Him." (Acts 10:35.)
 
 Jffffilj. 
 
 THE MISSION AND THE MINISTRY OF THE 
 SPIRIT. 
 
 1. What special promise to His disciples appears 
 
 among the last sayings of Jesus? 
 
 "Behold, I send forth the promise of My Father 
 upon you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem 
 until ye be clothed with power from on high." 
 (Luke 24:49.) 
 
 2. How is this recorded in Acts 1: 4, 5? 
 
 "Being assembled together with them, He 
 charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to 
 wait for the promise of the Father. . . . Ye 
 shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days 
 hence." 
 
 3. What had Jesus previously said to them about His 
 
 going away and sending them the Spirit? 
 
 "I tell you the truth : it is expedient for you that 
 I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will 
 not come unto you; but if I go I will send Him unto 
 you." (John 16: 7, 8.) 
 
 4. What is meant by the word Comforter? 
 
 It means not only one who gives comfort, con- 
 solation, and peace, but also a helper, an advocate, 
 an intercessor.
 
 Mission and Ministry of the Spirit. 45 
 
 5. How does Jesus further describe the Comforter? 
 
 He calls Him "the Spirit of Truth, that proceed- 
 eth from the Father," "the Holy Spirit, whom the 
 Father will send in My name, and whom I will send 
 unto you from the Father." 
 
 6. What are the distinctive operations of the Holy 
 
 Spirit? 
 
 (i.) To convict the hearts of men with a deep 
 sense of the deadly nature of sin, the universal and 
 eternal worth of righteousness, and the certainty of 
 judgment to come upon every soul of man according 
 to his deeds. 
 
 (2.) To effect the regeneration of all who are 
 born from above. 
 
 (3.) To effect the sanctification of believers in 
 Christ. 
 
 (4.) To bear witness with our spirit that we are 
 children of God. 
 
 (5.) To make known unto us the things of God, 
 and to guide us into all the truth. 
 
 (6.) To clothe the human soul with power from 
 on high, and quicken all our spiritual gifts. 
 
 (7.) To help our infirmities, make intercession 
 for the saints, and abide with us continuously. 
 
 7. Why was it expedient for Jesus to depart from 
 
 the sight of men and go to the Father? 
 
 Because the spiritual and eternal things of God 
 can not be seen by mortal eyes, and the Spirit of 
 God could not be properly apprehended as a univer- 
 sal presence and power whilst Christ remained in 
 the flesh, confined to a particular country and place.
 
 46 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 8. What does Paul say about faith and sight, and 
 
 things temporal and things eternal? 
 
 "We walk by faith, not by sight. We look not 
 at the things which are seen, but at the things which 
 are not seen ; for the things which are seen are tem- 
 poral; but the things which are not seen are eter- 
 nal." (2 Cor. 4: 18; 5:7.) 
 
 9. How does Jesus speak of Himself and of the Com- 
 
 forter as unseen, but known? 
 
 He was Himself in His bodily presence a Com- 
 forter, Advocate, and Helper, but He declared that 
 the Father "shall give you another Comforter, that 
 He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of 
 truth, whom the world can not receive; for it be- 
 holdeth Him not, neither knoweth Him. Ye know 
 Him, for He abideth with you, and shall be in 
 you." (John 14: 17.) 
 
 10. When and how was the promised outpouring of 
 
 the Spirit first signally received? 
 On the Day of Pentecost, when the apostles and 
 many others "were all together in one place, and 
 suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the 
 rushing of a mighty wind, and they were all filled 
 with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other 
 tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." (Acts 
 2:1-4.) 
 
 11. How did Peter explain this new and wonderful 
 
 event? 
 
 He declared it to be the fulfillment of Joel's 
 prophecy that in the last days God would pour out 
 His Spirit upon all flesh, and men and women should
 
 Mission and Ministry of the Spirit. 47 
 
 prophesy. He also declared that the risen Jesus, 
 "being by the right hand of God exalted, and having 
 received of the Father the promise of the Holy 
 Spirit, hath poured forth this, which ye see and 
 hear." (Acts 2: 33.) 
 
 12. Why was this outpouring of the Spirit called "the 
 
 promise of the Father?" 
 
 Because it was the fulfillment of many a prom- 
 ise given by God through the ancient prophets (as 
 Joel 2:28, 29; Isa. 32:15; 44:3; Ezek. 36:27); 
 the heavenly gift also proceedeth from the Father, 
 and abides with us as a witness to "the blessing of 
 Abraham in Christ Jesus, that we might receive 
 the promise of the Spirit through faith." (Gal. 
 3: I4-) 
 
 13. How is this gift of the Spirit spoken of in 1 John 
 
 2: 20, 27? 
 
 "Ye have an anointing from the Holy One, and 
 ye know all things. . . . The anointing which 
 ye received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not 
 that any one teach you; but as His anointing teach- 
 eth you concerning all things and is true, and is no 
 lie, and even as it taught you, ye abide in Him." 
 
 14. What significance have the anointing and the 
 
 teaching in this last-cited passage? 
 
 The statement means that the Spirit is given as 
 a. special impartation of life and power from above, 
 consecrating the soul of the recipient to all holy 
 activities, and, as Jesus taught, guiding into all the 
 truth.
 
 48 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 15. What did Jesus say of the Spirit as a revealer of 
 
 the truth? 
 
 "He shall guide you into all the truth; He shall 
 declare unto you the things that are to come. He 
 shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and 
 shall declare it unto you." (John 16: 13-15.) 
 
 16. Is the ministry of the Holy Spirit as efficient now 
 
 as in the times of the apostles? 
 The Spirit is now as ever the supreme and im- 
 mediate guide of every true disciple of Jesus. Like 
 Jesus Christ Himself He abides yesterday, to-day, 
 and forever the same, and without His living pres- 
 ence and power we can neither know nor do the 
 truth. 
 
 17. How did Jesus comfort His disciples In view of 
 
 the persecutions that were sure to come? 
 
 He said: "When they deliver you up, be not 
 anxious how or what ye shall speak; for it shall be 
 given you in that hour what ye shall speak. For it 
 is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father 
 that speaketh in you." (Matt 10: 19, 20.) 
 
 18. Why was It necessary that the apostles should 
 
 not depart from Jerusalem until clothed with 
 the power from on high? 
 
 For the reason that without this sure witness of 
 the Spirit they would not be able to preach ef- 
 fectively the new gospel of the kingdom for a tes- 
 timony among the nations. It was necessary that 
 they first be made "partakers of the Holy Spirit, and 
 taste the good word of God, and the powers of the
 
 Mission and Ministry of the Spirit. 49 
 
 age to come." (Heb. 6:4, 5.) Thus only could they 
 preach what they knew by personal experience of 
 the same. 
 
 19. What are the relations of the Father, the Son, 
 
 and the Spirit? 
 
 In the mystic and mysterious interrelations of 
 Father, Son, and Spirit, we recognize an adorable 
 Unity. The Son is the only begotten of the Father 
 (John 1:14, 18; 3: 16) ; tKe Spirit proceeds from 
 the Father (John 15 : 27) ; the Son and the Spirit are 
 sent by the Father (John 3:34; 14:26), and the 
 Spirit is sent both by the Father and the Son (John 
 14:26; 15:26.) 
 
 20. What impressive formulas of worship in the New 
 
 Testament magnify these relations? 
 
 The command to baptize "into the name of the 
 Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" 
 (Matt. 28: 19), and the benediction in 2 Cor. 13: 14, 
 "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love 
 of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be 
 with you all." 
 
 21. What similar invocation Is found in the Revela- 
 
 tion of John (1:4, 5)? 
 
 "Grace and peace from '(i)~ Him wfio is an3 who 
 was and who is to come; and (2) from the seven 
 Spirits which are before the throne: and (3) from 
 Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the firstborn of 
 the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth.** 
 Here we observe a threefold or trinitarian form of 
 benediction. 
 
 4
 
 SO Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 22. What other New Testament texts conform to 
 
 these trinitarian suggestions? 
 
 (i.) In i Cor. 12:4, 5, we read of "the same 
 Spirit, the same Lord, and the same God." 
 
 (2.) In i Peter i : 2, we read of "the foreknowl- 
 edge of God the Father, sanctification of the Spirit, 
 and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." 
 
 23. How is Christ's relation to the Father made con- 
 
 spicuous at the beginning of all the Epistles of 
 Paul? 
 
 By associating the name of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ along with that of the Father as the adorable 
 source of all saving grace, mercy, and peace.
 
 9? rttott 
 THE KINGDOM AND THE COMING OF CHRIST. 
 
 1, With what announcement did both John and 
 begin their public ministry? 
 
 "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matt. 
 3:2; 4: 17.) 
 2 What was the preaching of the first apostles? 
 
 "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matt 
 10: 7; Luke 10: 9, n.) 
 
 3. What must the Jewish people at that time have 
 
 understood by such a proclamation? 
 That the reign of the Messiah, the Christ, of 
 whom the prophets had spoken, was about to be- 
 gin. 
 
 4. Cite some of the Old Testament Scriptures which 
 
 were believed to refer to the Messiah, and 
 which begat great expectation and longing for 
 His coming. 
 
 (i.) The promise to David that God would es- 
 tablish the throne of His kingdom forever. (2 Sam. 
 7: 12-16.) 
 
 (2.) "Jehovah said unto Me, Thou art My Son; 
 this day have I begotten Thee. Ask of Me and I 
 will give Thee the nations for Thine inheritance, 
 and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy pos- 
 session." (Psa. 2:7, 8.) 
 
 (3.) "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is 
 51
 
 52 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 given; and the government shall be upon His shoul- 
 der ; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Coun- 
 selor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of 
 Peace. Of the increase of His government and of 
 peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of 
 David, and upon his kingdom to establish it, and to 
 uphold it with justice and with righteousness from 
 henceforth and forever." (Isa. 9:6, 7.) 
 
 (4.) "In the latter days it shall come to pass 
 that the mountain of Jehovah's house shall be es- 
 tablished on the top of the mountains, and it shall 
 be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow 
 unto it And many nations shall go and say, Come 
 ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, and 
 to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach 
 us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths. For 
 out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of 
 Jehovah from Jerusalem; and He will judge be- 
 tween many peoples, and will decide concerning 
 strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their 
 swords into plowshares, and their spears into prun- 
 ing-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against 
 nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But 
 they shall sit every man under his vine and under 
 his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid." 
 (Micah 4: 1-4.) 
 
 (5.) "Behold, the man whose name is the 
 Branch ; and He shall grow up out of His place, and 
 He shall build the temple of Jehovah; and he shall 
 bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon His 
 throne; and He shall be a Priest upon His throne; 
 and the counsel of peace shall be upon them both." 
 (Zech. 6: 12, 13.)
 
 Kingdom and Coming of Christ. 53 
 
 (6.) "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, 
 there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto 
 a Son of man, and He came to the Ancient of days, 
 and they brought Him near before Him. And there 
 was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, 
 that all the peoples, nations, and languages should 
 serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, 
 which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that 
 which shall not be destroyed." (Dan. 7: 13, 14.) 
 
 5. What did Jesus teach concerning the nature of the 
 kingdom? 
 
 (i.) By calling it "the kingdom of heaven" He 
 clearly indicated its heavenly origin and its spir- 
 itual character. 
 
 (2.) He also said, "My kingdom is not of this 
 world." (John 18:36.) 
 
 (3.) In teaching to pray, "Thy kingdom come, 
 Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth," He in- 
 dicated that the doing of God's will on earth as in 
 heaven is to bring the kingdom of God into this 
 world. 
 
 (4.) Concerning one's entrance into the king- 
 dom, He said to Nicodemus, "Except a man be born 
 again, he can not enter into the kingdom of God." 
 
 (5.) When His disciples asked, "Who is greatest 
 in the kingdom of heaven ?" he set a little child in 
 the midst of them, and said, "Except ye turn and 
 become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 18: 3.) 
 
 (6.) Of rulership and authority in His kingdom, 
 the Lord said also to the disciples: "Whosoever 
 would become great among you shall be your min-
 
 54 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 ister, and whosoever would be first among you, shall 
 be bondservant of all." (Mark 10:43, 44-) 
 
 (7.) Touching inordinate love of money and the 
 world, He said, "Children, how hard is it for them 
 that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of 
 God!" (Mark 10:24.) 
 
 (8.) This kingdom is for the propagation of 
 Truth; for Jesus said to Pilate, "I am a King; to 
 this end have I been born, and to this end am I come 
 into the world, that I should bear witness unto the 
 truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth My 
 voice." (John 18:37.) 
 
 (9.) The kingdom of heaven is the special boon 
 of such as are "poor in spirit" (Matt 5:3.), "per- 
 secuted for righteousness' sake" (5: 10), and whose 
 righteousness shall "exceed that of the scribes and 
 Pharisees (5 :2o); it is for such also as do and 
 teach the commandments of God. (5 : 19.) 
 
 (10.) John the Baptist, though greater than all 
 the prophets that went before him, was less than 
 "he that is little in the kingdom of heaven." (Matt, 
 ii : n.) 
 
 6. What is the significance of this statement of Jesus 
 
 about John? 
 
 It emphasizes the fact that with all his superi- 
 ority as a prophet John did not become fully ac- 
 quainted with the gospel of the kingdom of Christ, 
 so as to know "the mysteries of the kingdom of 
 heaven." (Matt. 13: n.) 
 
 7 What are the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven? 
 The sacred truths, facts, and experiences of spir- 
 itual life in God which are known only to them who
 
 Kingdom and Coming of Christ. 55 
 
 by a living. faith accept the salvation of the Lord 
 Jesus after His complete manifestation in the flesh 
 and His glorification at the right hand of God. 
 
 8. What does Paul write about these heavenly 
 
 secrets? 
 
 "Things which eyes saw not, and ear heard not, 
 and which entered not into the heart of man, what- 
 soever things God prepared for them that love Him, 
 God hath revealed unto us through the Spirit" (i 
 Cor. 2:9, 10.) 
 
 9. What are the great laws of the kingdom of God? 
 
 The commandments of God, several examples of 
 which Jesus briefly mentions in Matt. 19: 18, 19; 
 Luke 18 : 20; but which appear in the Old Testament 
 as a Decalogue (see Ex. 20: 3-17, and Deut. 
 5:7-21) ; and they are in substance as follows: 
 
 First Table. 
 
 1 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 
 z Thou shalt not make for thyself any graven 
 image. 
 
 3 Thou shalt not take the name of God in vain. 
 
 4 Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. 
 
 5 Honor thy father and thy mother. 
 
 Second Table. 
 
 e Thou shalt not commit murder. 
 
 7 Thou shalt not commit adultery. 
 
 8 Thou shalt not steal. 
 
 9 Thou shalt not bear false witness. 
 
 10 Thou shalt not covet anything that is thy 
 neighbor's.
 
 56 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 10. Which of all the commandments did Jesus pro- 
 
 nounce first and greatest? 
 
 "The first is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God 
 is one, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with 
 all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy 
 mind, and with all thy strength. The second is this : 
 Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is 
 none other commandment greater than these. On 
 these two commandments the whole law hangeth, 
 and the prophets." (Mark 12:29-31; Matt. 22: 
 37-49-) 
 
 11. How did Jesus express the Golden Rule? 
 
 "All things whatsoever ye would that men should 
 do unto you, even so also do ye unto them ; for this 
 is the law and the prophets." (Matt 7: 12.) 
 
 12. How does Paul speak of this great command- 
 
 ment? 
 
 He says that "the whole law is fulfilled in one 
 word, even in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor 
 as thyself." (Gal. 5: 14.) 
 
 13. In what manner does the teaching of Jesus ful- 
 
 fill and exalt the great moral precepts of the 
 Decalogue? 
 
 (i.) It makes emphatic the fundamental truth 
 that love of God and love of man are essential to the 
 highest moral excellence. 
 
 (2.) It transfigures and fulfills the letter of the 
 Ten Commandments by showing that murder, adul- 
 tery, theft, and all other immorality are committed 
 when any one admits the desire or the purpose in 
 his heart (Cf. Matt 5:22, 28.)
 
 Kingdom and Coming of Christ. 57 
 
 (3.) It admonished the young man who pos- 
 sessed many goods that a perfect love of God and 
 of man would lead him to impart to the poor with 
 great liberality and affection. (Matt. 19 :2i; Mark 
 10 :2i; Luke 18 :22.) 
 
 (4.) It gives a new and deeper significance 
 to every ethical precept of the law and the prophets 
 by the enunciation of a positive principle rather 
 than a negative prohibition. 
 
 14. What further does Paul teach concerning the con- 
 
 trast between the law and the gospel? 
 
 (i.) He says that we are not under law, but 
 under grace, and "the Spirit of life in Christ makes 
 us free from the law of sin and of death." (Rom. 
 6: 14; 8: 2-4.) 
 
 (2.) Before the manifestation of Christ we were 
 like children kept in ward; but after we attain jus- 
 tification by faith in Jesus Christ we are no longer 
 under the tutorship of the Mosaic law, but sons of 
 God, and freemen in Christ. (Gal. 3 : 23-26.) 
 
 (3.) By means of an allegory of the two cove- 
 nants, he points out that we are children of the new 
 Jerusalem rather than of Mount Sinai, and the dis- 
 tinguishing feature of the new relationship is free- 
 dom from the bondage of the law. 
 
 15. How did Paul regard those Jewish Christians who 
 
 insisted on keeping the statutes of the Mosaic 
 law? 
 
 He speaks of them as severed from Christ, and 
 fallen away from grace (Gal. 5:4); as seeking per- 
 fection in the flesh rather than in the Spirit (3:3); 
 observing days, and months, and seasons, and years
 
 58 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 (4: 10), as if such outward formalities of Jewish 
 custom were essentials of religion. 
 
 16. What is the teaching of Heb. 7: 16-22, concern- 
 
 ing Jesus as the surety of a better covenant? 
 
 We are given to understand that in Jesus Christ 
 the entire Old Testament system, like the Levitical 
 priesthood, is changed from the letter of a carnal 
 commandment into the power of an indissoluble life. 
 
 17. How did Jesus illustrate the incompatibility of 
 
 bondage to the law and the freedom of the 
 gospel? 
 
 By pointing out the impropriety of wedding 
 guests fasting while the bridegroom is with them, 
 of putting new undressed cloth upon an old garment, 
 and of putting new wine into old wineskins. (Matt. 
 9:15-170 
 
 18. How do the parables of Jesus illustrate the na- 
 
 ture and the mysteries of the kingdom of 
 heaven? 
 
 (i.) The parable of the sower (Matt 13:3-9) 
 shows how the word of the kingdom that is, the 
 truth of God and of Christ may be received by dif- 
 ferent classes of hearers, and what various results 
 follow, according to the kind of soil (i. e., disposi- 
 tions, receptivity) in the human heart upon which 
 the good seed of the gospel falls. 
 
 (2.) The parable of the tares '(Matt. 13:24-30) 
 shows how the "sons of the kingdom and the sons of 
 the evil one" are permitted to grow together until 
 the consummation of their time, when there shall be
 
 Kingdom and Coming of Christ. 59 
 
 a separation, and "the righteous shall shine forth 
 as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." 
 
 (3.) The parable of the mustard-seed (Matt. 
 JS'S 1 , 32) shows how the kingdom increases vis- 
 ibly from small beginnings unto great strength and 
 attractiveness. 
 
 (4.) The parable of the leaven (Matt. 13:33) 
 shows how the kingdom of God has a corresponding 
 invisible increase and inworking in the individual, 
 and in the whole mass of humanity. 
 
 (5.) The parables of the treasure hidden in the 
 field, and of the merchant seeking goodly pearls 
 (Matt 13:44-46), show how different persons come 
 by different ways into possession of the spiritual 
 treasures of the kingdom. 
 
 (6.) The parable of the net (Matt. 13:47-50) 
 shows how the operations of the kingdom in this 
 world naturally gather in both good and bad, and 
 that there must be a final separation. 
 
 (7.) The parable of the seed growing secretly 
 (Mark 4:26-29), shows that all the mysteries and 
 unseen growths of the kingdom, and its times and 
 seasons, are arranged in accord with an order of the 
 world which God has ordained, but which it is not 
 always ours to know. 
 
 (8.) The parable of the laborers (Matt 20: 1-16) 
 shows how many may be distinguished as first or as 
 last that is, as superior or as inferior, in the king- 
 dom of God, by the spirit they display in their work, 
 and in their expectations of reward. Not those 
 who ask, "What shall I get?" but rather those who
 
 60 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 ask, "What shall I do?" are reckoned first in the 
 kingdom. 
 
 (9.) The parable of the unmerciful servant 
 (Matt. 18:21-35) shows what spirit of forgiveness 
 from the heart toward an offending brother is re- 
 quired in the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 (10.) The parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 
 10 : 29-37) answers the question, "Who is my neigh- 
 bor?" and shows us how we ought to love and treat 
 him in his time of need. 
 
 (n.) The parable of the two sons (Matt, 21 : 28- 
 32), was an admonition to the Jewish priests and 
 elders that publicans and harlots might enter the 
 kingdom of God before them. 
 
 (12.) The parables of the wicked husbandmen, 
 and of the marriage of the king's son (Matt. 21 : 33- 
 44; 22:1-14) were a like warning to the Jewish 
 people that "the kingdom of God should be taken 
 away from them and be given to a nation bringing 
 forth the fruits thereof." 
 
 (13.) The parable of the ten virgins (Matt 
 25: 1-13) illustrates the necessity of constant watch- 
 fulness and readiness for the coming of the Lord. 
 
 (14.) The parable of the talents (25: 14-30) ad- 
 monishes us that we are to do more than merely 
 watch and be ready; we must be diligently working 
 in our Lord's interests while He is away. 
 
 (15.) The parable of the judgment (25:31-46) 
 shows what eternal issues depend upon the works we 
 do or fail to do in behalf of our needy brethren, 
 whom we should recognize as brethren of Christ
 
 Kingdom and Coming of Christ. 61 
 
 19. How do these doctrines of the kingdom of heaven 
 
 have vital connection with all the social and 
 political relations of mankind? 
 
 They proclaim the principles, at once simple and 
 profound, which when fully observed can not fail 
 to produce universal peace and good will among 
 men. Human judgments may vary, and in differ- 
 ent times and places men err from the truth in 
 seeking its practical application; but the love of 
 God and of man, shed abroad in the heart by the 
 Holy Spirit, must sooner or later yield to every 
 demand of righteousness, substitute peaceful arbi- 
 tration for murderous warfare, and seek by every 
 possible method of practical utility and good feel- 
 ing to secure to all the nations and to every indi- 
 vidual the rights that are common to man. The 
 coming of the kingdom of heaven will be coincident 
 and coextensive with the doing of God's will on 
 earth as it is done in heaven. 
 
 20. What practical application of these principles of 
 
 love and righteousness does Paul make to our 
 domestic and social relations? 
 
 He admonishes husbands and wives to love one 
 another in purest affection and fidelity, parents and 
 children to know and honor their hallowed relation- 
 ship, masters and servants to care for each other's 
 rightful claims; and he calls upon all men to live 
 in peace, to abhor what is evil and cleave to what 
 is good, to bear one another's burdens and so fulfill 
 the law of Christ
 
 62 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 21 When we pray, Thy kingdom come, are we to 
 look for the personal coming of Christ as well 
 as the coming of His kingdom? 
 
 Most assuredly; for nothing in the Gospel rec- 
 ords is more certain than the repeated assertions 
 of Jesus Himself that He would come not only in 
 His kingdom, but also to receive His disciples unto 
 Himself that they all might be with Him and be- 
 hold Him in His heavenly glory. 
 
 22. What did Jesus say about the certainty and the 
 nearness of His coming? 
 
 He declared repeatedly and most emphatically 
 that He would come again in the near future and 
 before all the people of His own generation should 
 die; and He foretold that the end or crisis of that 
 age would be marked by the overthrow of the great 
 city and temple of Judajsm, that is, Jerusalem. 
 
 13. What is the recorded language of Jesus touching 
 the time of His coming? 
 
 (i.) The Son of man shall come in the glory of 
 His Father with His angels ; and then shall He ren- 
 der unto every man according to his deeds. Verily 
 I say unto you, there are some of them that stand 
 here who shall in no wise taste of death till they 
 see the Son of man coming in His kingdom." ( Matt. 
 16:27, 28.) 
 
 (2.) "Verily I say unto you, there are some of 
 them here that stand by, who shall in no wise taste 
 of death till they see the kingdom of God come with 
 power." (Mark 9:1.) 
 
 (3.) "I tell you of a truth, there are some of
 
 Kingdom and Coming of Christ. 63 
 
 them that stand here, who shall in no wise taste of 
 death, till they see the kingdom of God." (Luke 
 9:27.) 
 
 (4.) "Ye shall not have gone through the cities 
 of Israel till the Son of man be come." (Matt. 10: 
 
 23.) 
 
 (5.) "Verily I say unto you, this generation 
 shall not pass away till all these things be accom- 
 plished." (Matt 24 134; Mark 13 :3o; Luke 21 : 
 32.) 
 
 (6.) "Henceforth ye shall see the Son of man 
 sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on 
 the clouds of heaven." (Matt 26:64; Mark 14: 
 62; Luke 22:69.) 
 
 24. What did Jesus say about the particular day and 
 
 hour of His coming? 
 
 (i.) "Of that day and hour knoweth no one, 
 not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but 
 the Father only." (Matt. 24: 36; Mark 13: 32.) 
 
 (2.) "It is not for you to know the times or 
 seasons which the Father hath set within His own 
 authority." (Acts i : 7.) 
 
 (3.) "Watch therefore, for ye know not what 
 day your Lord cometh. . . . In an hour that ye 
 think not the Son of man cometh." (Matt 24:42- 
 440 
 
 25. What did Paul write about the need of constant 
 
 readiness? 
 
 "Concerning the times and seasons, brethren, ye 
 have no need that aught be written unto you. For 
 yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord 
 50 cometh as a thief in the night." (i Thess. 5 : i, 2.)
 
 64 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 26. What practical significance have these admoni- 
 
 tions for us now? 
 
 They should ever serve, by personal self-appli- 
 cation, to impress upon us the serious truth, which 
 no man can deny; namely, that on any day and at 
 any moment we may be summoned away from the 
 earth to meet the realities of the unseen and eternal 
 world. 
 
 27. What did Jesus say about the manner of His 
 
 coming? 
 
 r (i.) In the Scriptures just cited and in their 
 immediate context He spoke also of "coming on the 
 clouds of heaven, in His own glory, and in the glory 
 of His Father with the holy angels." 
 
 (2.) According to Matt. 24:29-31, He also said: 
 
 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days, 
 
 The sun shall be darkened and the moon shall 
 not give her light, 
 
 And the stars shall fall from heaven, 
 
 And the powers of the heavens shall be shaken ; 
 
 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of 
 man in heaven; 
 
 And then shall all the tribes of the land mourn; 
 
 And they shall see the Son of man coming on 
 the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 
 
 And He shall send forth His angels with a great 
 sound of a trumpet, 
 
 And they shall gather His elect from the four 
 winds, 
 
 From one end of heaven to the other." 
 
 '(3.) The parallel passage in Mark 13:24 reads,
 
 Kingdom and Coming of Christ. 65 
 
 "in those days, after that tribulation," instead of 
 "immediately after the tribulation of those days." 
 
 28. What great tribulation did Jesus here refer to? 
 
 The unparalleled suffering coincident with the 
 destruction of the temple and the siege of Jerusa- 
 lem, as the preceding context shows. 
 
 29. Did these predictions of the overthrow of Jerusa- 
 
 lem and the temple actually come to pass in 
 
 that generation? 
 
 Such is the unquestionable testimony of all his- 
 torical records relating to that time and country. 
 Flavius Josephus, himself a Jew and a personal wit- 
 ness of the awful siege, has left us an appalling ac- 
 count of the miseries of those who perished in that 
 war. 
 
 30. Was it customary for the prophets to describe 
 
 such terrible catastrophes as judgments of 
 God, and to employ highly poetical language in 
 their oracles? 
 
 It is certain that the spirit, style, and language 
 of the Old Testament prophets, when referring to 
 similar great civil and national calamities, was of 
 the same cast and character, as the four following 
 examples show: 
 
 (i.) Isa. 13:9, 10, thus speaks of the fall of 
 Babylon : 
 
 "Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, 
 Cruel with wrath and fierce anger, 
 To make the land a desolation, 
 And to destroy its sinners out of it. 
 For the stars of heaven shall not give their light, 
 5
 
 66 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 And the sun shall be darkened in its going forth, 
 And the moon shall not cause its light to shine." 
 (2.) Isa. 19: i, 2, thus speaks of a judgment 
 
 of God on Egypt: 
 
 "Behold Jehovah rideth upon a swift cloud, 
 
 And He cometh into Egypt, 
 
 And the idols of Egypt shall tremble at His 
 
 presence, 
 
 And the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst 
 
 of it" 
 
 (3.) Isa. 34:4, 5, thus speaks of the judgment 
 
 upon Edom: 
 
 "And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, 
 And the heavens shall be rolled together as a 
 
 scroll, 
 
 And all their hosts shall fall, 
 
 As the leaf falls from off the fig-tree. 
 
 For my sword hath drunk its fill in heaven, 
 
 Behold, it shall come down upon Edom, 
 
 And upon the people of my curse, to judgment." 
 
 (7.) Dan. 7: 13, 14, thus speaks of the coming 
 
 of the kingdom of the heavens: 
 
 "I was gazing in the visions of the night, 
 
 And behold, there came with the clouds of 
 
 heaven, 
 
 One like unto a son of man; 
 
 And He came even to the Ancient of days, 
 
 And they brought Him near before Him. 
 
 And there was given Him dominion, and glory, 
 
 and a kingdom, 
 
 That all the peoples, nations, and languages 
 
 should serve Him: 
 
 His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which 
 
 shall not pass away,
 
 Kingdom and Coming of Christ. 67 
 
 And His kingdom that which shall not be de- 
 stroyed." 
 
 31. What is meant by "the consummation of the age," 
 
 and "the end," in Matt. 24: 3, 14; Mark 13: 7; 
 Luke 21: 9? 
 
 The completion of the age or period of time 
 which preceded the times of the Messiah. The 
 Jewish people of that day called their own time 
 "this age," and the time which should follow the 
 coming of the Messiah "the age to come." 
 
 32. Why was it necessary before the end of that age 
 
 that "the gospel of the kingdom be first 
 preached in the whole world for a testimony 
 unto all the nations?" (Matt. 24: 14.) 
 
 Because the Gospel of the kingdom must needs 
 be first immovably established in the world and 
 among different peoples before "the first covenant, 
 its ordinances of divine service, and its sanctuary" 
 (Heb. 9:1) be abolished. The Father would not 
 take away the old system until he had fully pre- 
 pared the way for the ministry and the mediation 
 of a new and "better covenant, which had been en- 
 acted upon better promises." (Heb. 8:6.) In the 
 end, "He taketh away the first that He may estab- 
 lish the second." (Heb. 10:9.) 
 
 33. Was the gospel thus actually preached "in all the 
 
 world" before the overthrow of the Jewish 
 sanctuary and its service? 
 
 Such is the clear testimony of the New Testa- 
 ment, as the following Scriptures show: 
 
 (i.) Paul speaks of "the word of the truth of
 
 68 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 the Gospel, which is come unto you, even as it is 
 also in all the world bearing fruit and increasing, 
 as it doth in you also, since the day ye heard and 
 knew the grace of God in truth." (Col. 1:5, 6.) 
 
 (2.) Again he says: "Be not moved away from 
 the hope of the Gospel which ye heard, which was 
 preached in all creation under heaven, whereof I, 
 Paul, was made a minister." (Col. 1 : 23.) 
 
 (3.) The accusation against Paul before the 
 Roman governor alleged that he was "a pestilent 
 fellow, and a mover of insurrections among all the 
 Jews throughout the world." (Acts 24:5.) 
 
 (4.) Also in Thessalonica the charge of the Jews 
 against Paul and Silas was, "These that have turned 
 the world upside down are come hither also." (Acts 
 17:6.) 
 
 (5.) According to Acts 11:28, there was "a 
 great famine over all the world in the days of 
 Claudius," and according to Luke 2: 1, "there went 
 out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world 
 should be enrolled." These statements clearly show 
 in what sense we are to understand the words "all 
 the world" in the New Testament writings. 
 
 34. What did Paul and his associates find the chief 
 obstacle in the way of proclaiming a free gos- 
 pel among the nations? 
 
 The bondage of the Jews and the Jewish Chris- 
 tians to the letter of their law ; for 
 
 (i.) They taught and insisted that "except ye 
 be circumcised after the custom of Moses, ye can 
 not be saved." "It is needful to circumcise [the 
 Gentiles], and to charge them to keep the law of 
 Moses." (Acts 15: i. 5.)
 
 Kingdom and Coming of Christ. 69 
 
 (2.) According to Paul they were "in bondage 
 to weak and beggarly rudiments: ye observe days, 
 and months, and seasons, and years." (Gal. 4:9, 
 10.) "Behold, I, Paul, say unto you, that, if ye re- 
 ceive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing. 
 . . . Ye are severed from Christ, ye who would 
 be justified by the law; ye are fallen away from 
 grace." (Gal. 5:2-4.) 
 
 (3.) Their test in judging one's religious life 
 was "in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast 
 day, or a new moon, or a Sabbath day." (Col. 2 : 16.) 
 
 (4.) Hence Paul's contention with these Juda- 
 izers was that by insisting on the bond of Mosaic 
 ordinances, they "perverted the Gospel of Christ" 
 (Gal. 1:7); "for the kingdom of God is not eating 
 and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy 
 in the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 14: 17.) 
 
 35. What teaching of Jesus showed the incompati- 
 
 bility of Old Testament ordinances and New 
 Testament spiritual life? 
 
 '(i.) His saying that fasting is inconsistent with 
 the conscious presence of the bridegroom. 
 
 (2.) His showing the unfitness of "putting a 
 piece of undressed cloth upon an old garment" 
 
 (3.) Also the unfitness of putting new wine in 
 old wineskins. (Matt 9: 14-17.) 
 
 36. Do not our Lord's words concerning fasting, in 
 
 Matt. 6: 16, 17, imply that this Old Testament 
 practice should be continued under the gospel? 
 
 '(i.) No more so than do His words in Matt 5: 
 23, 24, imply that Old Testament altars and offer- 
 ings should be continued in the Gospel age to come.
 
 70 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 (2.) But fasting may be practiced as a personal 
 and private means of grace, if one feel so disposed. 
 Our Lord's words teach that, when it is practiced, 
 it should be a personal voluntary abstinence, done 
 in secret; not an obligation of law, of rule, or of 
 public observance. 
 
 (3.) Fasting, like circumcision, festivals, vows, 
 and other Old Testament customs, was practiced 
 among the Jewish Christians of the Apostolic times. 
 But none of these ancient usages are obligatory un- 
 der the Gospel, being in themselves only shadows of 
 better things to come, and observance of them as a 
 bounden duty only savors of the bondage of the let- 
 ter. (Cf. Col. 2:16.) 
 
 37. Why does the New Testament so generally as- 
 
 sume or imply that the kingdom of Christ was 
 a reality of the future rather than of the 
 present? 
 
 Because all the ministry of Jesus, His death, 
 resurrection, and ascension, the outpouring of the 
 Spirit, and the preaching of the apostles fell in 
 "the last days" of the old covenant, which was then 
 "waxing aged, and was nigh unto vanishing away." 
 (Heb. 8: 13.) So long as Judaism with its temple 
 stood, the kingdom of Christ with its new and bet- 
 ter covenant was delayed in its coming. 
 
 38. What special significance had the fall of the 
 
 Jewish sanctuary as the distinctive crisis and 
 end of the age? 
 
 It was a signal confirmation of the saying that 
 "the way into the holy place hath not yet been made 
 manifest, while the first tabernacle is yet standing."
 
 Kingdom and Coming of Christ. 71 
 
 (Heb. 9:8.) And so, in the symbolism of John's 
 Apocalypse, "the temple of God that is in heaven," 
 and its ark of the new covenant, are opened, and 
 "the kingdom of the world becomes our Lord's and 
 His Christ's" only after the fall of the wicked city 
 "where the Lord was crucified." (Rev. n : 8, 15, 19.) 
 
 39. But did not the saints of the apostolic age, 
 
 previous to the fall of the temple, "have bold- 
 ness to enter into the holy place?" 
 
 Certainly, as Heb. 10:19, implies, for all the 
 "saints in Christ," from the time of the first Pente- 
 cost, "were enlightened and tasted of the heavenly 
 gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 
 and tasted of the good word of God, and the powers 
 of the age to come." (Heb. 6:4, 5.) This was neces- 
 sary in order that "the Gospel of the kingdom might 
 be preached in the whole world for a testimony 
 unto all the nations" (Matt. 24: 14) before the end 
 of that age of the old dispensation. So before the 
 end of that age the spiritual forces of the age to 
 come were made manifest. 
 
 40. What significance attaches to our Lord's saying 
 
 to the Pharisees that "the kingdom of God 
 cometh not with observation," and "the king- 
 dom of God is in the midst of you?" (Cf. Luke 
 17: 21.) 
 
 He thus admonished them that His kingdom was 
 not of this world, and its coming is not to be a 
 spectacle for fleshly eyes. He informed them that 
 the kingdom might be in the midst of them, and 
 they at the same time be ignorant of its real nature, 
 its spirit, and its power. In like manner the king-
 
 72 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 dom of Christ has been coming during all the Chris- 
 tian centuries, growing and expanding like the mus- 
 tard seed, and the working of the leaven in the 
 meal; it is coming now, and will continue to come 
 until the entire world is subjected to the Lord 
 Jesus, for "He must reign till He hath put all His 
 enemies under His feet." (i Cor. 15:25.) 
 
 41. By what allegory does Paul contrast the two 
 
 covenants in Gal. 4: 21-31? 
 
 He makes Hagar, the handmaid, represent Mount 
 Sinai and answer "to the Jerusalem that now is; 
 for she is in bondage with her children. But the 
 free woman represents the Jerusalem that is above, 
 which is our mother." 
 
 42. May we understand this "Jerusalem which is 
 
 above" as identical in significance with "the 
 holy city" which John saw, "the new Jerusa- 
 lem, coming down out of heaven from God?" 
 Rev. 21 : 2.) 
 
 Undoubtedly; for the vision of that holy city is 
 but a symbol of the kingdom of God taking pos- 
 session of this world in God's own times, and mak- 
 ing all things new. 
 
 43. How does that apocalyptic vision answer to the 
 
 prayer taught us by our Lord? 
 
 It furnishes a fitting and glorious ideal to the 
 petition, "Thy kingdom come : Thy will be done, as 
 in heaven, so on earth." To which we may also 
 add, "Amen: come, Lord Jesus;" for the coming 
 and universal triumph of the kingdom of God and 
 of Christ will be the joy and peace of heaven on 
 earth.
 
 THE RESURRECTION AND THE JUDGMENT 
 TO COME. 
 
 1. What further did Jesus say about His coming 
 
 again? 
 
 "In My Father's house are many mansions; T 
 go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and 
 prepare a place for you, I come again, and will re- 
 ceive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye 
 may be also." (John 14:3.) 
 
 2. What is said in Acts 1: 10, 11, about His going into 
 
 heaven and coming from heaven? 
 
 "And while they were looking steadfastly into 
 heaven as He went, behold two men stood by them 
 in white apparel; who also said, Ye men of Galilee, 
 why stand ye looking into heaven? This Jesus, 
 who was received up from you into heaven, shall 
 so come even as ye beheld Him going into heaven." 
 
 3. How did Paul write concerning this to the Thes- 
 
 salonians? 
 
 "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 that are alive, that are left, shall 
 together with them be caught up in the clouds to 
 meet the Lord in the air: and so we shall ever be 
 with the Lord." (i Thess. 4: 16-17.) 
 73
 
 74 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 4. Should Scriptures of this character and style be 
 
 understood literally? 
 
 They should not; for our ideas of the invisible 
 world of spirits can be at best only imperfectly con- 
 veyed by human speech. Some things of the heav- 
 enly life, according to Paul, are unspeakable in 
 words, and some are not lawful for a man to utter. 
 (2 Cor. 12:4.) Prophets, seers, and apostles usu- 
 ally speak of heavenly realities by means of sym- 
 bols and figures of thought. The words of the 
 apostle are adapted to give an impressive picture 
 of the heavenly life, the reunion of saints, and their 
 eternal felicity in fellowship with the glorified Lord. 
 
 5. What is Paul's great argument for the resurrec- 
 
 tion in 1 Cor. 15? 
 
 (i.) He first of all affirms the fact of the resur- 
 rection of Christ, and of His appearance to many 
 at different times, and also of His appearance "to 
 above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the 
 greater part remain until now." (Verses i-n.) 
 
 (2.) He affirms next the fatal consequences of 
 denying the resurrection of the dead, and argues 
 that "if Christ hath not been raised, your faith is 
 vain, and they that are fallen asleep in Christ have 
 perished." (12-19.) 
 
 (3.) He then declares that the resurrection is 
 part of the divine order of the kingdom of Christ. 
 "As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be 
 made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the 
 firstfruits, then those that are Christ's at His com- 
 ing, then the end, when He shall deliver up the king- 
 dom to the Father. For he must reign till He hath
 
 Resurrection and Judgment to Come. 75 
 
 put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy 
 that shall be abolished is death." (20-28.) 
 
 (4.) Then he show* how this faith in resurrec- 
 tion strengthens our hope, sustains us in our trials, 
 and inspires one to a holy life. (29-34.) 
 
 (5.) Then to the question, "How are the dead 
 raised, and with what manner of body do they 
 come?" he replies (verses 35-49) : 
 
 1 In the life of seeds, the bare grain of wheat 
 that is sown is not the body that shall be, but God 
 gives to each new seed a body of its own. (36-38.) 
 
 2 Observe also the varieties of flesh, as of men, 
 beasts, birds, and fishes. (39.) 
 
 3 There are also celestial bodies and bodies ter- 
 restrial. (40.) 
 
 4 Observe, also, how sun, moon, and stars differ 
 ing glory. (41.) 
 
 5 So in the resurrection, the body that is sown in 
 corruption, in dishonor, and in weakness, in its 
 fleshly state, is raised in incorruption, and in glory, 
 and in power. (42, 43.) 
 
 6 If there is a psychical body, there is also a 
 spiritual body. (44.) 
 
 7 As related to the first Adam, we bear the 
 image of the earthly; in the last Adam, who is a 
 life-giving spirit, we shall bear the image of the 
 heavenly. (45-49-) 
 
 (6.) The conclusion is that flesh and blood can 
 not inherit the kingdom of God, and this mortal and 
 corruptible must put on incorruption. Then shall 
 death be swallowed up in victory. (50-57.)
 
 76 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 6. What one essential truth receives elaborate con- 
 
 firmation in this chapter? 
 
 The resurrection of the dead, and the realities 
 of the immortal life to come, are necessarily things 
 which belong to the unseen and eternal nature of 
 spirit. It is not, and in the nature of things can 
 not be now made manifest just what and how we 
 shall be in the resurrection, but divine assurance 
 is given of immortality, glory, and spiritual power, 
 blessed beyond our present ability to conceive. 
 
 7. What does this apostle further write on this sub- 
 
 ject in 2 Cor. 4: 16; 5, 10? 
 
 "Though our outward man is decaying, yet our 
 inward man is renewed day by day. For our light 
 affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us 
 more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of 
 glory; while we look not at the things which are 
 seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the 
 things which are seen are temporal; but the things 
 which are not seen are eternal. For we know that 
 if the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved, 
 we have a building from God, a house not made 
 with hands eternal in the heavens. . . . We are 
 willing rather to be absent from the body, and to 
 be at home with the Lord." 
 
 8. How did he write to the Philippians about his de- 
 
 parture to be with Christ? 
 
 "Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether 
 by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, 
 and to die is gain. . . . I am in a strait be-
 
 Resurrection and Judgment to Come. 77 
 
 twixt the two, having the desire to depart and to 
 be with Christ; for it is very far better." (Phil, i: 
 20-23.) 
 
 9. What is his testimony in 2 Tim. 4: 6-8? 
 
 "I am already being offered, and the time of my 
 departure is come. I have fought the good fight, I 
 have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 
 henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of 
 righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, 
 shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but 
 also to all them that have loved His appearing." 
 
 10. What do the words "that day" and "His appear- 
 
 ing" in this Scripture imply concerning Paul's 
 conception of the time of the Lord's appear- 
 ing? 
 
 They most naturally imply that the day of 
 Christ's appearing and awarding the crown of right- 
 eousness was, with this apostle, the same as the 
 time of His departure, when He completed His 
 good fight and finished His course. 
 
 11. What great central truths are emphasized in all 
 
 these later statements of the apostle? 
 
 (i.) Paul's going away to be with Christ, and 
 his obtaining his heavenly tabernacle, or clothing, 
 followed immediately after his departure from the 
 world. He did not expect to be found as a naked, 
 disembodied spirit; he gives no intimation of an 
 intermediate state of long repose and waiting be- 
 tween death and the resurrection; he expected to be
 
 78 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 at once clothed upon with his heavenly body and 
 have that which is mortal swallowed up of life. 
 
 (2.) This blessed and glorious hope belongs 
 also to all them that love and look for the appear- 
 ing of Christ. 
 
 (3.) The last day and the last hour are not 
 simultaneous with all the saints. Each one of all 
 those who love the Lord's appearing has, and must 
 have, his own individual "last day," and also his 
 own personal vision of the Lord in glory. 
 
 12. What did Jesus teach concerning the resurrection 
 of the dead? 
 
 (i.) He opposed the Sadducees, "who say there 
 is no resurrection," and He declared them to be in 
 error, "not knowing the Scriptures nor the power 
 of God." (Matt. 22:29 32.) 
 
 (2.) He taught that "in the resurrection they 
 neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are 
 as angels in heaven." 
 
 (3.) His words, according to Luke 21:36, are: 
 "Neither can they die any more; for they are equal 
 unto the angels; and they are sons of God, being 
 sons of the resurrection." 
 
 (4.) He also showed from what God said to 
 Moses at the bush that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob 
 were alive from the dead. 
 
 '(5.) In John's Gospel (5 : 24-29) he makes three 
 successive statements touching life and resurrection 
 so distinctive as to imply three resurrections, or 
 three kinds of resurrection:
 
 Resurrection and Judgment to Come. 79 
 
 1 "He that heareth My word, and believeth Him 
 that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into 
 judgment, but hath passed out of death into life." 
 
 2 "The hour cometh, and now is, when the dead 
 shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they 
 that hear shall live." 
 
 3 "Marvel not at this : for the hour cometh in 
 which all that are in the tombs shall hear His voice, 
 and shall come forth; they that have done good, 
 unto the resurrection of life; and they that have 
 done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment." 
 
 (6.) In John 6:40, He declares: "This is the 
 will of My Father that every one that beholdeth the 
 Son, and believeth on Him, should have eternal life; 
 and I will raise him up at the last day." 
 
 (7.) In John n : 25, 26, He says : "I am the resur- 
 rection and the life; he that believeth on Me, though 
 he die, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and 
 believeth on Me shall never die." 
 
 13. What great fundamental truths appear in these 
 sayings of Jesus? 
 
 (i.) The resurrection is the antithesis of death, 
 and the future blessedness and glory of it depend 
 on the Christian believer's loving fellowship with 
 God, for thus "he has eternal life abiding in him." 
 
 (2.) Christ's manner of teaching this resurrec- 
 tion and the life eternal shows a noteworthy differ- 
 ence from the fleshly conceptions on the subject 
 current among the Jewish people of His time. 
 
 (3.) The human spirit, having its "life hidden
 
 80 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 with Christ in God," is as indissoluble and imper- 
 ishable as God Himself. 
 
 14. What should be our answer to all questions con- 
 
 cerning the mode of the resurrection, and of 
 the heavenly life eternal? 
 
 That which is written in the First Epistle of 
 John (3:2): "It is not yet made manifest what we 
 shall be. We know that, if He shall be manifested, 
 we shall be like Him ; for we shall see Him even as 
 He is." 
 
 15. What did Jesus teach concerning the judgment 
 
 to come? 
 
 (i.) He spoke repeatedly of the day of judg- 
 ment, when men shall give account of their 
 thoughts, words, and deeds. (Matt. 10:15; 11:22; 
 12:36; Mark 6: n.) 
 
 (2.) He declared that the Father had given all 
 judgment unto the Son. (John 5:22, 27; Matt. 
 28:18.) 
 
 (3.) In Matt. 25:31-46, He has given a para- 
 bolic picture of judgment to take place "when the 
 Son of man shall come in His glory, and sit on the 
 throne of His glory." The issues of that judgment 
 are that one class "go away into eternal punish- 
 ment, but the righteous into eternal life." 
 
 16. What is Paul's doctrine of the judgment? 
 
 (i.) In Acts 17:31, he says that God "hath ap- 
 pointed a day in which He will judge the world in 
 righteousness by the man whom He hath ordained;
 
 Resurrection and Judgment to Come. 81 
 
 whereof He hath given assurance to all men, in that 
 He hath raised him from the dead." 
 
 (2.) In Rom. 2:16, he speaks of "the day 
 when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 (3.) In 2 Cor. 5:10, he says: "We must 
 all be made manifest before the judgment seat of 
 Christ; that each one may receive the things done 
 in the body, according to what He hath done, 
 whether it be good or bad." 
 
 17. What is written in Heb. 9: 27? 
 
 "It is appointed unto men once to 'die, and after 
 this cometh judgment." 
 
 18. Are we to suppose that all men are to be made 
 
 alive in Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 15: 22) at one and 
 the same last hour, and that the Lord's com- 
 ing and appearing, the resurrection of the 
 dead, and the judgment of eternal destiny, 
 must needs be simultaneous events, to occur 
 on one day? 
 
 Such a supposition is entirely unnecessary, is 
 beset with many difficulties, and is less in accord 
 with the Scriptures we have cited than the belief 
 that these great facts of time and eternity work 
 together in a continuous process, and must needs go 
 on, we know not how, until the Christ, who now 
 sits upon the throne of His glory, shall have abol- 
 ished all rule, and authority, and power, and have 
 put all His enemies under His feet 
 6
 
 82 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 19. What does Paul say of the time when Christ 
 shall have put all His enemies under His feet? 
 
 He says that "when all things shall have been 
 subjected unto Him, then shall the Son Himself 
 also be subjected to Him that did put all things 
 under Him, that God may be all in all." (i Cor. 
 
 20. Does this imply that the Son of God will evert 
 
 become less than He now is or ever has been? 
 
 No more so than that God Himself has been or 
 shall become other or less than He is or ever has 
 been. 
 
 21. What is the vision of the eternal heavenly glory, 
 
 as written in Rev. 22: 3-5? 
 
 It is there written: "There shall be no curse 
 any more. And the throne of God, and of the Lamb 
 shall be therein, and His servants shall serve Him ; 
 and they shall see His face, and His name shall 
 be in their foreheads. And there shall be night no 
 more; and they need no light of lamp, neither light 
 of sun; for the Lord God shall give them light; 
 and they shall reign for ever and ever." 
 
 22. What corresponding picture of this heavenly 
 
 glory is written in Rev. 7: 15-17? 
 
 It is there written that those who "come out of 
 great tribulation, and wash their robes and make 
 them white in the blood of the Lamb, are before the 
 throne of God; and they serve Him day and night
 
 Resurrection and Judgment to Come. 83 
 
 in His temple; and He that sitteth on the throne 
 shall spread His tabernacle over them. They shall 
 hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither 
 shall the sun strike on them, nor any heat; for the 
 Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall be 
 their shepherd, and shall guide them unto fountains 
 of waters of life; and God shall wipe away every 
 tear from their eyes." 
 
 23. What interpretation are we to put upon such lan- 
 
 guage and statements? 
 
 It is the language of a Biblical apocalypse in 
 which figures of speech and suggestive symbols are 
 employed to move the imagination and affect the 
 devout heart. The main thought which they are 
 designed to convey is that of heavenly eternal fel- 
 lowship with God. The saints in light shall see as 
 they are seen, and know as they are known (cf. I 
 Cor. 13: 12), and be forever free from all that can 
 harm them. 
 
 24. To what prayer of Jesus will this glory be the 
 
 ultimate answer? 
 
 "I pray . . . that they all may be one; even 
 as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that 
 they also may be in us. And the glory which Thou 
 hast given Me, I have given unto them ; that they 
 may be one, even as we are one; I in them, and 
 Thou in Me, that they may be perfected into one. 
 Father, I desire that they be with Me where I am, 
 that they may behold My glory which Thou hast 
 given Me; for Thou lovedst Me before the foun- 
 dation of the world." (John 17:21-24.)
 
 84 Primer of Christian Doctrine. 
 
 25. How may we construe the Lord's Prayer into a 
 comprehensive Confession of the Christian 
 Faith, adapted for universal use in the 
 Churches? 
 
 By giving to its three sets of petitions, a con- 
 fessional form of statement, after the following 
 manner : 
 
 THE LORD'S CREED. 
 
 I BELIEVE IN OUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN, WHOSE NAMB 
 IS HALLOWED, WHO LOVES US, AND GIVES US OUR DAILY BREAD, 
 AND ALL GOOD THINGS. 
 
 I BELIEVE IN THE COMING AND KINGDOM OF OUR I.ORD JESUS 
 
 CHRIST, WHO GAVE HIS LIFE FOR us, FORGIVES us OUR DEBTS AS 
 
 WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS, AND TEACHES US TO LOVE OUR GOD 
 WITH ALL OUR HEART, AND OUR NEIGHBOR AS OURSELP. 
 
 I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHO HELPS US IN OUR TRIALS, 
 DELIVERS US FROM THB EVIL, LEADS US INTO ALL TRUTH, AND 
 WORKS IN US TO DO THE WILL OF GOD ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 
 The Synoptic 7 o 
 
 Apostles, Names of 19 
 Assurance 30 
 
 Graces, Christian 37 
 
 BAPTISM ^9 
 
 HEATHEN, Salvation of 42, 43 
 Heavenly Glory 82 03 
 
 
 Holy Spirit 44 
 
 CHRIST. See Jesus Christ. 
 Church 38, 39 
 
 , Anointing of 47 
 , Efficient now 48 
 
 Comforter 44, 45, 46 
 Commandments 55, 56 
 Coming of Christ. 62-64,71,73 
 Confession 32, 34 
 Consummation of the Age.. 67 
 
 .Fruit of 37 
 , Operations of 45 
 , Revealing truth 48 
 , Witness of 36 
 
 IREX^EUS 8 
 
 Covenant, Old and New.. 9, 58 
 Creed, The Lord's 6, 84 
 
 DECALOGUE 55 
 
 JERUSALEM, the New 72 
 Jesus Christ 
 , Apostolic views of. . 23-26 
 
 
 
 END of the Age 67 
 
 
 Eternal Life . 35 
 
 , Coming 62-64 
 
 
 , Facts of His life 21 
 Glory of 26 
 
 Fasting 69, 70 
 Father in Heaven 13, 14 
 
 , Kingdom of 5 I- 69 
 Miracles.. .. 21-23 
 
 , Goodness of 15 
 
 , Name 28 
 
 . Seen in Jesus 17,41 
 Fruit of the Spirit 37 
 Fulfilling of Law 10 
 
 .Parables 58-60 
 , Popular opinion 20 
 , Priesthood 40, 41 
 
 Fundamental doctrines 7 
 
 , Qualities of His teach- 
 ing ii 
 
 GOD, Love of 15, 16 
 
 Resurection of 21 
 
 , Holiness of 15 
 , Righteousness of 15 
 , Providence of 15 
 Golden Rule 56 
 
 , Revealing God 17, 27, 41 
 , Sayings about Himself 18 
 , Virgin birth 21 
 , What we should think 
 of ... 27 
 
 , In all the world. . . 67, 68 
 Ministry of 39 
 
 , Worship of. 27 
 Jewish bondage of letter 68, 69 
 
 . Sociology of . . 61 
 
 Tohn Baptist... .. 54
 
 86 
 
 Index. 
 
 Judgment to come 80", 8 1 
 
 Regeneration 32, 35 
 
 
 KINGDOM of Christ 51-70 
 , Nature of 53, 54 
 , Mysteries of 54, 55 
 , Laws of 55, 56 
 
 LAW and Gospel . . 10, 57 
 
 Repentance 33 34 
 
 Resurrection 
 , Christ's teaching. . 78, 79 
 .Paul's teaching 74-70 
 Revelation progressive 10 
 
 SACRAMENTS 39 
 
 Lord's Prayer 
 , Doctrines of 14 
 
 Sadducees 78 
 
 Salvation 
 , Nature of 31, 32 
 , Conditions of 41 , 43 
 , Final failure of 41, 42 
 
 , Creed of 6, 84 
 .Supper 39 
 Love, the greatest thing 
 16 33 37 
 
 MAN, Nature of 30 
 
 Sanctification 33, 36, 37 
 Sinfulness of Man 30, 31 
 Sociology of the gospel 01 
 Soul Value of 29 
 
 , Sinfulness of 30, 31 
 Marriage relation 30, 61 
 Means of Grace 38 39 
 
 Spirit. See Holy Spirit. 
 Synoptic Gospels 7 
 
 TEACHING of Jesus n 
 
 Messiah, Prophecies of.. 51-53 
 Ministry of the Gospel 39 
 Miracles of Jesus 21-23 
 
 
 Mysteries of Kingdom. . 54, 55 
 NEW Birth 35 
 PAPIAS 8 
 
 Testament, Significance of 
 the word 9 
 Testaments, the Old and the 
 New 9, 10 
 
 Trial, Discipline of 38 
 Trinity 49, 50 
 
 Parables of Jesus 58-60 
 Paul on Resurrection 74-78 
 Pentecost, Day of 46 
 Prayer 39 
 
 Vows 70 
 
 WATCHFULNESS 63, 64 
 
 Priesthood of Christ 40, 4 1 
 Promise of the Father 47 
 Prophecy, Style of 65 
 Providence of God is 
 
 Witness of the Spirit 36, 45, 47 
 Work, Christian 39 
 \Vorshio of God... .. 39
 
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