As an instance of this growing illumination, take the fact that in the
primitive ages there was no clear revelation of immortality. I have no
doubt that men of high spiritual calibre believed it; but the revelation
came to them more directly from the movement of the Spirit, than from
any intimation in the Word. Yea, when men had no Word at all, I believe
there were devout souls who had glimpses, more or less clear, of a
future world. But the mass of mankind, even the religious people of
mankind, had in most instances no such revelation.
Now if that is true, it becomes less surprising that the most devout
souls have had for so long no conception of Restoration. The analogy of
revelation shows beyond all doubt that Restoration may be true, though
for ages and ages men had no conception of it. Nay, they may have been
students of the Word through all those ages, and yet have been blind to
its higher revelations. That is no disparagement. There is a time for
everything; and there is a time for brighter divine light to break on
the minds and hearts of men.
Then it may be supposed that if further divine light were to be given,
God would have chosen more worthy mediums for communicating it. But as a
rule, it is not through the great and the learned that revelations
generally have come; but rather through the humble and comparatively
obscure. This is God's way. He may choose what media He will as well as
what time He will. We read that "God hath chosen the foolish things of
the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of
the world to confound the things that are mighty." And He did the same
thing long ago in giving a written revelation to the world. Some of the
writers were noble and learned, while others were illiterate and
obscure. So it is no disparagement to this larger view if it does not
come to us through what the world calls respectable channels.
Then it may be noted that truth was given to men as they could receive
it. To reveal the whole truth in an obscure age would dazzle more than
it would enlighten. God knows men's capacity for receiving truth; and He
adapts His communications accordingly. Jesus could say to His disciples,
"I have yet many things to say unto you; but you cannot bear them now."
And, by His Spirit He has been saying those "many things" ever since, as
men could receive them. It was a great thing for His disciples to have,
for instance, such a clear vision of immortality as they certainly had
when Christ ascended on high. That was enough along that line for the
time; but now there is breaking on our hearts the larger view of
Restoration.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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