=19.= A similar injunction against altering the message of Divine command was uttered by Moses, over fifteen centuries before the date of John's writing;[887] and with a similarly restricted application. Another alleged objection to modern revelation is offered in Paul's words to Timothy, regarding the holy scriptures "which are able to make thee wise unto salvation,"[888] and which are "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."[889] And the remarks of the apostle to the elders at Ephesus are quoted with the same intent; the passage reads: "Ye know ... how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house.... For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God."[890] It is argued that if the scriptures known to Timothy were all-sufficient to make him "wise unto salvation," and the man of God "perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works," the same scriptures are sufficient for all men to the end of time; and that if the doctrines preached to the Ephesian elders represented "all the counsel of God," no further counsel is to be expected. In reply, it is perhaps sufficient to say that the objectors to continued revelation who defend their unscriptural position by strained interpretation of such passages, if consistent, would be compelled to reject all revelation given through the apostles after the date of Paul's utterances, including even the Revelation of John. [887] Deut. iv, 2; xii, 32. [888] II Tim. iii, 15. [889] II Tim. iii, 16-17. [890] Acts xx, 18-27. =20.= Equally absurd is the assertion that Christ's dying exclamation, "It is finished," meant that revelation was at an end; for we find the same Jesus afterward revealing Himself, as the resurrected Lord, to His apostles, promising them further revelation,[891] and assuring them that He would be with them even unto the end.[892] And, moreover, were the words of the Crucified One susceptible of any such intent, the apostles who taught by revelation as long as they lived must be classed as impostors. [891] Luke xxiv, 49. [892] Matt. xxviii, 20; see also Mark xvi, 20.