, ,

futurt probation:
BEING
Amplified Notes of an Address given at' the National Hall,
High Street, Hornsey, on Sunday Evening, August lIth,
1901,
By HORACE A. RANDLE, M.D.
(Late JIiM'iolla1'Y to Ckina)
AND PUBI..ISHED BY REQUEST.
-:-
"8u shaH'1\1y word be tha.t gucth furth out of 1\1y muuth, it
sha.ll nut return unto 1\1e void, but it shall accomplish that which I
please, and it shall prosper the' thing whereto I sent it."-:-
Isaiah Iv, 2. '
IN the time of man's innocence, God communed with him. When
he sinned God put him out of Eden, out of the life condition, and He
put the curse (the blight of decay ending in death), upon him,
Adam had been on trial for obedience in Eden, but his probation
ceased with his sin, and he went out into the condemned--or death-
condition, dying to die, Thenceforward God did not commune with
man, save only with the just; as for example with Enoch and Noah,
of whom it is recorded that they walked with God (Gen. v., 22;, and
vi., 9). .Such were counted just or righteous, of course, only by
reason of their faith, and obedience.
There is no evidence of any gospel'having been preached to the
antediluvian world; the idea that Noah invited people into" the ark
is mere fancy; it was not Noah's province to invite anybody into
the ark, but it was God that invited Noah and his family into the
ark, and He did so simplyto preserve -the 'human race from complete
destruction (Gen. vii" 1). Noris there the least evidence that any
gospel was proclaimed to the next ten generations after the flood.
But in His own time, and way, God picked out one man, and let him
2 FUTURE PROBATION.
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partly into the secret of His gracious purposes toward the human
race. And to this man (Abraham) God preached the gospel before-
hand (that is: before it was due to be announced), saying: "In
thee shall all nations be blessed" (Gal. iii., 8). This gracious promise
is reiterated seven times in scripture. This then is, par excellenc
and in truth, the gospel, God's purpose to givc the whole family of
man a blessing in due time; which blessing will begin by a deliver-
ance from death, and end in the case of the willing and obedient, in
their complete deliverance from the power and presence of sin.
It does not appear that God told Abraham of the great ransom
which had first to be given, nor the character of the seed which had
first to be chosen, ere this promise could go into effect. And it is
highly probable that Abraham considered that the son promised
him should be the seed of which God spake, But no, for God told
Isaac, and afterward Jacob, also, that it should be IN HIS SEED that
all the families of the earth should be blessed (Gen. xxvi., 4, and
xxviii., 14); thus passing the promise on for future realization, to be
fulfilled in Christ; and not in Jesus Christ only, but in the great
mystical Christ of scripture (the Anointed of God), Jesus Christ, the
Head and the Church His body; for nothing less than that is the
great seed of Abraham, of which God spake to the patriarchs, con-
cerning the blessing He intends to give to all mankind (Gal. iii., 16
and 29).
To Moses, and to Israel God revealed much more. He savcd
Israel-the whole nation-by a typical salvation out of Egypt, and
separated them unto Himself, to make them His people. Though
not actually, they were typically, justified by the typical sacrifices
appointed by the law covenant.
Thus God dealt only with Israel. His word went forth to
them only. It is true that God made Israel His witness to the sur-
rounding nations, and the stranger who would sojourn with Israel,
and be circumcised, he also might enter the law covenant and
partake of its privileges and responsibilities (Ex. xii., 48). But with
that exception it is nevertheless true (however much men may
dislike the thought of it because they do not understand its reason),
that God left the rest of the world alone. He simply let them abide
in darkness, and in that condition go down to death. (See and ponder
Amos iii., 2, and Psalm xc.. 3).
But when Jesus, the Word of God made flesh, came into the
world and died for mankind-" for all," the dead, the living. and
the yet to live-paying the ransom price for the deliverance of the
race, God's word went forth to all and any, to Jews and Gentiles
alike. And in the golden age to come, when Christ is King in Zion.
when the great seed of Abraham is completed and glorified, then
shall God's word go forth to all the race, the living and the dead who
will be raised again to hear it. It was to this end that the Lord
FUTURE PROBATION. 3
both died, and lives again, " that He might be Lord both of the dead
and living" (Rom. xiv., 9).
I am aware that this thought is much resented by many
Christian people, who are not even willing to give it consideration;
and in this they show the same prejudice against advancing light as
did the Jews in their day. As with the change of the law dispensa-
tion to that of the gospel dispensation, when a larger manifestation
of God's grace was dcolared, namely that the message of God's love
and mercy should go out to Gentiles as well as to Jews, which
circumstance was greatly resented by Israel, God's nominal people
though they were; EVEN so NOW with the change of the gospel dispen-
sation to that of the Millennial age, which change is imminent, there
will come (as scripture abundantly shows to those who have the ears
to hear it), another enlarged manifestation of God's grace, which
will be a proclamation of liberty to all the captives in death, with a
message of love and mercy to all when they have been awakened
from the grave. This is now generally resisted and resented by
Christians, God's nominal people though they are. How else can all
the families of the earth be blessed? For what other reason is it, that
the prophet says: "Awake AND SH\G ye that dwell in the dust, for
the earth shall cast forth her dead 1" (Isaiah xxvi., 19). Is not that
also the reason why there is HOPE that there shall be a, resurrection
for the unjust as well as for the just? (Acts xxiv., 15). If there were
nothing but condemnation for the unjust, where would be the hope
for their resurrection? Does not Paul tell us there is to be a future
testimony to be borne to all for whom Christ died a ransom?
(1 Tim., ii., 6).
The very fact that the Lord Jesus came to redeem mankind.
more than 4,000 years after the entrance of sin into the world, should
be of itself a sufficient indication that the ransom Christ gave, could
have no personal application to the at least sixty generations (Israel
excepted), who had gone into death before Christ died, Indeed the
only possible application it can have had to them was, that they
were bought over by the Redeemer,and became His (not His disciples.
but His property), to which purchase. however, they could not have
been a party any more than they had been a party to their being
originally sold unto sin and death. We say" Israel excepted,"
because that people was brought into a typical relationship to tho
coming ransom, by the ordinances of the law covenant, which God
had imposed upon them. The personal application of the ransom
to all who had previously gone down to death, not having been
possible in their lifetime. and since it is only by Christ and His
atoning work, and obedience thereto, that sinners can be saved; the
testimony of their ransom must therefore be given to them in the
future, after their awakening from death, namely in the times of
restitution of all things spoken by the prophets since the world
4 FUTUR13 PROBATION.
began. Those times constitute the day of Christ, the Millennium,
the last day, the resurrection day, the great day of judgment (the
crisis or determining day) for the world.*
What then is the mission of God's word to mankind? It is a
call to obedience, first, last and always, for God will have all His
creatures obey Him; and His will shall yet be done on earth as it is
done in heaven. But the mission of God's word did not begin until
Abraham's day, then the Lord said unto Abram, "Get thee out of
thy country, and from thy kmdred, and from thy father's house; "
to go he knew not where (Gen. xii .. 1). It was no easy thing to do.
And later God appeared to him again, saying: "Walk before me,
and be thou perfect." "Walk before me" means, of course, "walk
my way," and that is a hard thing to do, even though an inclination
of heart to do so might pre-exist. To Israel, God said: "Keep My
commandments, obey My voice;" so now, eternal salvation is to an
them that obey the Lord, whilst destruction is for those who obey
not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Millennial age
also, when Christ shall be Judge of all the earth, when righteousness
shall rule, God's inflexible requirement of obedience will be made
clear to all men, dead and living (Acts iii., 22, 23).
In the past dispensation the message of God's word was: "Obey
the law," given only to those who were put under the law; in the
present dispensation the message is "Obey the gospel," given only
to those who come under the gospel, and in the age to come, the
message will be" Obey the King" (Christ then ruling over the
whole planet), given to all mankind from Adam down to the last
baby that shall ever be born. Two classes, however, will be exempt
from this application of the message to mankind in the Millennial
age. They are: (1) those who have been in previous ages gathered
out from among men as first-fruits unto God; and (2) those who
have in their lifetime received the knowledge of the truth, who have
had their full opportunity, and sinned wilfully after that (Heb. x.,
26, 27). Such having sinned the sin unto death, have like .Iudas.
gone to their place-Sheol, oblivion. for whom there is no more
message, nor resurrection.
God's word sent forth on a mission: "It SHALL accomplish. it
SHALL prosper." What mission has God's word been sent forth upon?
To convert the world? Oh no, for it shall prosper in the thing
* Some may urge Rev. xx.; n as an objection here. Let it be noted. however,
that no other scripture anywhere teaches this same thing, that it ts ant of harmony
with its own context. and with 1 Cor .. xv .. 2+-28. where Panl describes ChriRt'R
whole work finiahed by the end of His reig-n, after which there lR nothing but
haadinz over the king-dom to the Father. Moreover the words" Rut the rest of
the dead lived not again until the thousand years were ended" are not found in
the most ancient and most reliable M.S. known, viz., the Sinaitic, nor are they in
the Vatican M.S. No. 1160. \Ve are therefore justified in considering these words
an interpolation.-H.A.R.
FUTURE PROlJATION. 5
whereto it is sent. Either it has been sent to convert the world and
failed; or it has been sent to do something else, and is prospering.
Is the mission of God's word to reach all with a message of hope, and
love, and life in this age 7 No, or it has failed, for it has not done it.
If in this life the whole and only opportunity to be saved has been
given to all mankind, the message of the gospel has been a tre-
mendous failure, far exceeding anything else known to man. For
we may safely say that 95 per cent. of all the human race have never
heard the gospel clearly stated, and 75 per cent. have never heard
the name of Jesus. which is the only name given under heaven
whereby men must be saved. Even in this present generation
wherein gospel work and missionary enterprise are most active, can
it be truthfully said that even two per cent. of the world's population
have received the truth in the love of it, and who are actually
striving to walk in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus Christ 7
It is a common but thoughtless saying that" Man has failed to
carry out the commission Christ gave him, God has not failed;"
whereas the truth is God has had no such plan as is generally sup-
posed. Can we think for a moment that God would make the
eternal destiny of mankind dependent upon the unfaithfulness of
His people which He foreknew 7 There is much more in God's
purpose, and in God's ways than we have yet learned. Let us sit
still before the Lord and listen, and learn. The traditions of men
have again made the word of God of none effect. They have
blinded us to a right understanding of God's word.
What, then, has God's word been sent to do? Why, just what
it has done. All that it has not done, it has not been sent to do.
God so loved the world that He gave His Son, Who by His sacrifice
reconciled the world to God (2 Cor., v., 18, 19; Rom. v., 10. and
xi., 15). Though the Son of God-made man-gave Himself a ran-
som for all, yet most perish without knowledge, hope, or faith. Why 7
Has God's work failed 7 No. God is not at work yet. God has not
yet even attempted to save the world, but has simply been selecting
out from among men a firstfruits, onlly intended altogether to be a.
little flock, to whom, however, it will be the Father's good pleasure
to give the Kingdom (Luke xii., 32); that they, with Christ. may
reign over all the rest in the Millennial age, judging the world in
righteousness, and blessing mankind with a wise and righteous
administration. That will, indeed, constitute the golden age for
which the whole creation groaneth, and for which many who are
enlightened on the subject are looking with eager anticipation.
But now God is allowing Satan and sin to have a. very large
measure of control. This is the day of evil, and God permits it to
go on for an appointed and limited season, and for wise ends. The
time, however, is at hand when the devil shall be chained. evil
suppressed, and righteousness established in its place. Then when
6 FUTURE PROBATION.
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Christ shall take unto Himself His great power and reign, God's
truth shall fill the world even as the waters cover the surface of the
sea. That will be a day of salvation for all, as this is the day of
salvation for believers only. Then God's word will have free course
and be glorified.
As the rain and snow coming down from heaven have their
mission to water the earth, and make it bring forth, so shan God's
word be. If there be sunshine as well as rain, then the rain-soaked
earth can do its best to put forth its produce. Where the rain falls
(with sunshine), there is fruitage and harvest; but where the rain
falls not, the earth is parched and dry, there is no harvest, but
famine. So in this gospel age, it has pleased God to send the light
of His truth 'largely upon the Aryan race, not much upon the
Mongolian, or the Negro, the Red Indian, or the Malay; but in tho
Millennia'! age, not only will the rain (truth) come upon an the earth,
but the sun of righteousness will arise with healing in His wings, and
shine upon the truth-filled world of mankind, and those who then
fear Him shall receive the largest blessings of His love.
Once more, then, what has God's word been sent to do? To
gather the firstfrui ts only; and to be a witness to the world, in days
of old, through Israel, and in this dispensation through the Christian
church. God's word has been sent simply to gather the elect (a
selected few), others are passed by, they are simply left in their
original condemnation. No new condemnation is added to any.
except such as have received light; ha.ve seen, understood and tasted
the truth of God and its power, and then rejected it; but such are a
very small per centage indeed, even of the Aryan race.
To sum up then, God has, thus far, only done three things
toward the salvation of the race, and they are all preparatory to
still greater things in the age to come, which will then be the world's
g-reat crisis-time, or judgment day, when the great white throne of
Christ's righteous rule will be established over the whole earth.
The three things referred to are first, the gift of Christ the Son
of God made man, who gave Himself a ransom for all, whereby He
bought a.ll, therefore the whole race of mankind belongs to Him by
right of purchase; and as the whole race went down into condemna-
tion and death by reason of Adam's sin, so they are to be set free by
reason of Christ's atoning work for them, in either case without
their consent, and apart from their interference (1 Cor., xv., 21, 22).
The second work, though first in point of time, is the selection
of a household of servants, of whom Moses is chief, for which purpose
the whole house of Israel was put on probation. that from them (not
from the world), the selection might be made.
And the third work is the selection of a household of sons of
whom Christ is chief, for which purpose the whole household of
FUTURE PROBATiON.
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7
faith is put on probation, that from them (not from the world) the
selection might be made. This last is not quite finished.
As certain as there has been a ransom given for all, so certain it
is that there will be a restitution offered to all in God's due time;
and when the two households of servants and sons are completed,
they will be given the great privilege of being Christ's coadjutors,
in the work of uplifting and blessing the world, the whole race, in
the golden age immediately ahead.
Do not let us think of this as a second probation. It is future
probation for the world, and the only one the world will get. There
is only one man who will have a second probation, and that is Adam,
for he had the first probation all to himself, and he and the whole
future race were condemned together, and on account of his failure
in it. It was not until God lifted some out of the condition of con-
demnation into the condition of justification, that any probation
could be said to begin. The world has never been on probation,
neither in England, nor China, nor anywhere else, nor at any time
since Adam walked out of Eden. The world is dead. Can one
dead be said to be on triad ~ The world is condemned already. Can
one condemned be in any sense on probation ~ Not until the
original condemnation is lifted, can probation begin. God's gracious
purpose is to lift the condemnation from the entire race in the next
age, bringing it back to life again, and then give it a probation, a
trial, a judgment, which it has never yet had; nevertheless God has
allowed some to secure these probation privileges ahead of time; by
faith in Christ some are accounted to have died and to be raised to
newness of life already, which constitutes their probation (their
judgment or crisis), for it is only the new life that can go on
probation, the old Adamic life is forfeited already. God has called
some, i.e., the household of fa.ith (believers) to a probation in this
age, for the purpose of gathering from them a people for His name,
the election, the firstfruits.
Now we can understand why it is that God has let the vast
majority of mankind alone, to follow every wicked impulse of their
fallen nature. It is because He is going to deal with them to-
morrow, to' judge the world in righteousness, by that Man whom He
hath ordained for the purpose. The experience of mankind with sin
and its bitter fruits to-day, will he a strong factor leading to reform,
and willing submission to the King of Kings, when they shall see
the beneficent fruits of righteousness; and see it they must, for God
shall reveal His glory and all flesh shall see it together (Isaiah xl., 5).
And the glory of God is His character. All flesh shall see the
salvation of God (Luke iii., 6). That has not yet he en fulfilled. It
cannot fail of fulfilment, no matter how things look, God will carry
out everyone of His promises. But what is sown in this life will
be reaped in the next. May our heavenly Father graciouslly give us
8 FUTUREPROBATTON.
the hearing ear, making us obedient to His will here and now, that
by His grace we may be enabled to so run that we may obtain a
place in the heirshil? of the kingdom.
E'en through harsh noises of our day,
A low sweet prelude finds its way;
Through clouds of doubt and creeds of fear,
A light is breaking calm and clear.
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II The Plan of the 1\ges."
By PASTOR C. T. RUSSELL, of Allegheny, Pa.! U.S.A.
This is, we think, the grandest elucidation of God's word ever
written. It shows, beyond controversy, what God's gracious purpose
toward mankind is. While it is not "orthodox," it is profoundly
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traditions of men should read and ponder it, for it has proved to be
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