Churches of Christ -- Sermons; Sermons, American -- 20th century
The zeal and liberality of the Seventh Day Adventists are admirable.
They are spending a lot of money to teach what they evidently believe to
be the truth. The advertising for their current meeting is costing
thousands of dollars. Their winning several converts to a doctrine that
is not only false but also unpopular and inconvenient is evidence that
advertising is effective. But their zeal is without knowledge and their
converts have accepted error. The work they are doing at present
constitutes a public challenge to all preachers of the gospel. That
challenge shall not go unanswered. I make no personal criticism of their
speaker but I condemn his teaching because it is false.
II
Three Dispensations
The Bible reveals unto us three distinct dispensations or periods of
time. On the board I have a little diagram to represent those three
dispensations. (See p. 144.) The first lasted from Adam to Moses; the
second continued from Moses until the death of Christ on the cross; the
third began at the cross and will continue until our Lord comes again.
During the first period, the family was the unit of worship. In divers
manners and various portions God communicated with the heads of the
families, such as Adam, Noah, Abram, _et al_. These men were known as
patriarchs (Heb. 7:4; Acts 2:29; 7:8, 9) and accordingly this period is
known as the patriarchal dispensation. At Mt. Sinai God gave another law
to the Jewish nation which continued in force until Christ died on the
cross. This law was given through Moses and applied to the Jews only.
Hence the second period is known as the Mosaic dispensation. Throughout
this period the patriarchal regulations continued to apply to the
Gentile families and nations but the Jews were governed by the law given
at Sinai. There were two laws in force simultaneously but applying to
different peoples. God never had two different laws applying to the same
people at the same time.
During the third period, or Christian dispensation, we have, of course,
the will or the law of Christ. In Hebrews 1:1-2 we read, “God, who at
sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto the fathers
by the prophets, hath in these days spoken unto us by his son.” That
makes a distinct break at the cross. Before Christ came God spoke unto
our fathers by the prophets in dreams, visions, etc., but unto us he
hath spoken through his Son, Jesus Christ. In the New Testament we have
the will of Christ which went into effect when he died on the cross
(Heb. 9:15-17).
III
The Adventist Claim
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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