01.05a. The Several Covenants (2)
SEC. 40. HOW CAN WE KNOW WHEN THE COVENANT OF CHRIST BEGAN?--This is a question of no little importance. Even those who agree as to the difference between that made with Israel at Mt. Sinai and that made by the Saviour, are not sure respecting the exact time when the one was removed and the other began. We have learned, in many ways, that this covenant. was not that which was made with Adam, or Noah, or Abraham, or the nation of Israel; but just when it did begin and just when all men ought to have yielded obedience to its requirements, is not so easily determined. We have a few facts, however, that may be of importance in determining this matter.
(1.) Christ lived and died a Jew: he walked in obedience to that law; he even went so far as to say:
"Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets; I came not to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven" (Mat 5:17-19).
It is impossible to think that Jesus at that time had an independent kingdom, or to suppose that He lived in any way indifferent to the demands of the Law that had been given by Moses. Whatever there was in that Law, He proposed to keep it--God was its Author, and men should observe it.
(2.) During His life, His kingdom, was spoken of as being present, at hand, as if it had not yet been established, but would be in the near future.--When John came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, he said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Mat 3:2). And when Jesus went forth into Galilee, he preached "the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:14-15).
Again, when the Saviour was about to begin the third tour throughout all Galilee, He called to Him His apostles, and appointed them to go into other places in this country, and said to them: "As ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Then again, just before His transfiguration, he said:
"Verily I say unto you, There be some of them that stand here, which shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom" (Mat 16:28).
Once more, when he was nearing Jerusalem, for the last time; He is at Jericho; is at the house of Zacchæus; and teaching them that the Son of man had come to seek and save that which was lost.
"And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was immediately to appear. He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country, to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return" (Luk 19:11-13). And when the parable is spoken, there remains no question in the mind of any reader that it relates to himself--that he was going into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return again, that He might reckon with His servants.
Hence he did not begin by establishing his kingdom; it was not established for him; it was not in existence at the time of His going up to Jerusalem to be put to death. And supposing that his disciples were even tolerably well informed, the kingdom was not yet established when He ascended into the heavens.
"They therefore, when they were come together, asked him, saying, Lord, dost thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6). The answer that follows shows that if the kingdom was then in being, the Saviour did not care to inform them on that point. Indeed, He indicates that it was yet future, and that they should be His agents in the presentation of His claims; but that the time had not yet arrived for the work to begin. They must tarry at Jerusalem for the heavenly enduement; and when that should be received, the work might begin.
(3.) The kingdom was presented by the-Saviour, as having so come that men could press into it.
"The law and the prophets were until John: from that time the gospel of the kingdom of God is preached, and every man entereth violently into it" (Luk 16:16).
There is a difficulty in the minds of many, in these statements. In a number of texts we are taught that, the kingdom of heaven was not established while the Saviour was on the earth; and now we come to an affirmation that men were pressing into it during even the lifetime of John. And as it would be absurd to maintain that men could enter that which had no existence, it is demanded that the kingdom be understood to have been in existence after the preaching of John the Baptist. This difficulty is rather apparent than real. The word kingdom in itself does not always have the same meaning. It implies: (1) a king; (2) laws; (3) subjects; (4) penalties for disobedience, and rewards for faithfulness; (5) a throne and power for the king. Any one of these may be put for the word itself, according to a figure yet to be considered. Also, like the word gospel, or good news, it may refer to the time of its coming or to a time when it shall assemble the world for judgment, or any time between these. But what is the meaning in this place? One thing must be conceded at the beginning of the investigation-the Scriptures must not be made to contradict. It will be impossible to make more or less of the texts that we have cited. This fact prepares us to understand the use of the word in question in an unusual sense. But what sense? This question will be best answered by determining after what plan John performed his work. Did he come to establish the kingdom or church of the Christ?
Gabriel tells Zacharias that John was to "Go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to walk in the wisdom of the just; to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him" (Luk 1:17). In Luk 1:76-77, of the same chapter, we have Zacharias saying, when the Lord had opened his mouth:
"Yea and thou, child, shaft be called the prophet of the Most High: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to make ready his ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto his people in the remission of their sins."
It is evident from all this that John did not come to set up a kingdom, but to introduce the King, and prepare a people for His reception. In harmony with this thought, he preached the approach of the kingdom; and that, in view of that fact, men ought to repent, to turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. Then, when the kingdom was preached in the days of John, it was preached not as having come, but coming--near at hand. Hence, when men pressed into it as if by violence, they pressed into that prepared condition which it was John’s work to direct.
While this is the evident meaning of the language, it makes complete harmony with every other statement on the subject.
(4.) While there was a gospel in the sense of good news respecting coming events, there could be no gospel in the complete sense till Christ had come and been put to death, and had risen from the dead (1Co 15:1-4). Whatever else there may be in the word gospel, the record of the death and the resurrection of the Saviour was certainly a part of it. We can not think of the kingdom or church of Christ as having come, and the gospel not yet preached in its fullness. And yet it would have been impossible for any man to have preached it before His resurrection. The apostles did not know that He was to rise from the dead. And if they had, they could not have preached that He had so risen till He had been redeemed from death. Hence we conclude that it would have been impossible for the church to have been instituted before the crucifixion of the Saviour.
(5.) The limits of Judaism were upon the disciples during the days of the Saviour.--In Mat 10:1-42 we have the Master sending out the twelve into the towns and villages of Galilee, but straitly charging them not to go into any road that would lead to the Gentiles, nor into any village of the Samaritans, but to go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But when he gave them the great commission, after He had risen from the dead, all restriction is removed. It no longer contains promises for the Jew which are not also to the Gentiles. Then they were to be witnesses to Him in Judea, in Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. Then they were to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature; they were to go and make disciples of all the nations. This could not be done while the bonds of Judaism were upon them. Hence the kingdom of Messiah could not have been in existence till the limitations of the Jews’ religion were taken out of the way.
(6.) The law and the priesthood were changed at the same time.--This we have already seen, and only refer to it here by way of remembrance (Heb 7:11-12; Heb 8:4). We have also seen that Christ was not a priest upon the earth; hence that the law was not changed till He came into that everlasting priesthood after the order of Melchizedek; and this He did not do till He ascended into the heavens, to make an atonement for the sins of the whole world.
(7.) The new law of the kingdom of the Christ should go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
"The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many peoples shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, 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 the Lord from Jerusalem" (Isa 2:1-3).
Mic 4:1-2, contains the substance of the foregoing. This precludes the possibility of the law of Christ going forth from Jordan. But it has been objected that this does not refer to anything that could have taken place in the days of the apostles, as it relates to the last or latter days. But the last days of what? If Isaiah was prophesying about the world, then it would refer to the latter times of its history or being. But he starts to tell what awaits Judah and Jerusalem in the latter times. Hence this prophecy relates to the latter times of that city and people; before the Jews should be finally dispersed, and their city destroyed, the law should go forth. Those changes came in the year 70 A. D., and hence the law went forth before that time.
(8.) The apostles had the keys of the kingdom (Mat 16:13-19), but they were not at liberty to use them till after the first Pentecost succeeding the resurrection of the Saviour.
"And he said unto them, These are my words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, how that all things must needs be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and the prophets, and the Psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their mind, that they might understand the Scriptures; and he said unto them, Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Ye are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send forth the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city, until ye be clothed with power from on high" (Luk 24:44-49). In the appeal of the Saviour to the "thus it is written," reference is made to the language of Isaiah and Micah, for these alone tell of this new law of salvation going forth from Jerusalem. Just after the Saviour had risen from the dead, the fulfillment of that prediction was near, but it must wait till the heavenly enduement should first come. Thus again we see the impossibility of this law of salvation going forth from any other place, or at any other time than that indicated in the interpretation of the prophecies given by the Saviour himself.
(9.) No covenant could be, in force till it was ratified by the death of the sacrifice appointed to that end.
"For where a testament is, there must of necessity be the death of him that made it. For a testament is of force where there hath been death; for doth it ever avail while he that made it liveth?" (Heb 9:16-17).
It would be impossible, then, for the new covenant, or testament, to be of force while Christ, who had been appointed as the covenant sacrifice, was living. A mistake is sometimes indulged here in maintaining that nothing can be regarded as a part of this testament except that which had already been given by the Saviour. This, of course, would render all the writings of the apostles worthless, and rule them out, as being no part of the New Testament. This is to push the meaning of the language entirely beyond its import. All that is bound in a covenant may not have been mentioned at the time of sealing it with the people. At the time that Moses took the book and sprinkled it with blood, and enjoined it unto the people, but little more than the ten commandments had been stated. The whole of the priesthood and the law of sacrifices had to come afterward. They covenanted not simply with items of law, but with Him who had made the law, and, therefore, bound themselves to all that necessarily adhered in this law. So with the covenant of Christ. He gave them the great principles of the New Institution. But at the time He left them there were lessons which they could not learn. He had these things to say to them, but they could not bear them then. Hence the Holy Spirit had to be given to these men to lead them into all truth, to teach them all things, to bring all things to their remembrance that He had taught them before, to receive the things that belonged to Him and deliver to them. But it would be idle to say that these things that came to the apostles after the ascension of the Saviour were no part of that Institution, or that they were not confirmed unto them when the Lord made the atonement for the sins of the people. The one article of the Christian’s creed being accepted, everything belonging to it is accepted with it. When men confess that they believe with all their heart that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, they have accepted everything of which He is the author. The order, then, of making a covenant, is to present the matter clearly before those who are to be parties to the contract, and then seal it with a proper sacrifice. So the great feature of the New Testament was clearly stated, and when sealed with the blood of the appropriate sacrifice, there is bound upon all who accept the Christ, all of which He is clearly the author. But Paul’s reasoning on the subject remains intact-that it could not have been of force till after the death of Him who made it.
(10.) Christ was the corner stone.--In Acts 4:11-12, Peter says:
"He is the atone which was set at nought of you the builders, which was made the head of the corner. And 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." In 1Co 3:11, Paul says:
"For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." And again in Eph 2:19-21, he says:
"So then ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone; in whom each several building, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom ye also are budded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit." In every figure in which the Church of Christ is contemplated as a building, Christ is regarded as the chief corner stone. It is not necessary to say that those who have constructed this figure did not have it in their minds that the building could be erected first and the corner-stone afterwards. It is received without the statement that they supposed the building was erected after the corner-stone was laid, and could not be built before that.
(11.) In all mentions of the kingdom, after the day of Pentecost, it is spoken of as if it were in existence.--A single exception is found in those passages in which the kingdom is spoken of in its triumphant state, in the period of the judgment and everlasting reward. In those the saints are waiting for the kingdom of God; not for its establishment upon the earth, but for the rewards for services rendered. A few of the affirmations of the inspired apostles upon this point will not be out of place. But before giving them, we wish to remind the reader of the statements that were made while the Saviour was living. Then everywhere it was said that the kingdom was at hand. If now it is said to have come, to be in existence, the impression will be unavoidable that it was established in the meantime.
"To the end that ye should walk worthily of God, who calleth you into his own kingdom and glory" (1Th 2:12).
"Giving thanks unto the Father, who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love" (Col 1:12).
There is found nothing in the connection in which these texts occur to lessen the full force that should ordinarily be given to the words that are used. Hence we feel in duty bound to receive them in their full import.
"Let not then your good be evil spoken of: for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Rom 14:16-17).
While Paul is not aiming to define the word in this text, be certainly does indicate that the kingdom with which they had to do was in existence. In Rev 1:5, John says that Christ was the ruler of the princes of this world, and in the ninth verse he says:
"I John, your brother and partaker with you in the tribulation and kingdom and patience which are in Jesus, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus."
Sometimes the Church of God, of Christ, is employed to express the same thought; for instance, in Mat 16:1-28, the words church and kingdom are used interchangeably--"On this rock I will build my church;" "unto thee do I deliver the keys of the kingdom." In the use of these terms He is expressing the same thought. No one denies that the Church of Christ came and was fully established on the Pentecost next after the ascension of the Saviour. Hence whatever was the law by which His people should be governed till His return to us again, was sent forth at that time. This was the law of the Lord that should go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. It is that divine law by which all the people of God shall live, and contains the terms upon which sinners may be accepted in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Before this time the Master said, "I will build my church;" after that time, they all speak of the church and the kingdom as being in existence.
(12.) The kingdom of Christ was set up on the day of Pentecost next succeeding His ascension.--This statement is the result of the investigation already given. And while on this we might rest the case, it is still in order to give it further consideration, for there are other Scriptures which will throw light on the subject. We wish now to examine the subject as if we were hunting the beginning of a section corner. We have certain field notes, and so many chains and links in one direction will give us a hidden stone which will serve as a witness. And a certain number of chains and links in another direction will give us a tree with a certain mark, which shall be another witness. So in this case, there are prophetic utterances and teachings of the Saviour which will serve as witnesses in the matter.
We have already heard from Jer 31:31-34, with Paul’s assurance that it referred to the New Covenant. (Heb 8:6-13). Hence it marks the time when the law ceased to be the power that controlled the people, and when they became free in Christ.
We have also heard from Isa 2:1-3, and Mic 4:1-2, and have been informed by them that the New Law should go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And upon these texts we have had the comment of the Saviour, in Luk 24:1-53. After his resurrection, these passages had not been fulfilled, but. would be in the near future, when repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Also, it is well to be reminded that the Saviour promised the fulfillment of all this when His apostles should be endued from on high. The enduement, too, is pointed out as the promise of the Father which they had heard. And now it is left for us to see what this promise of the Father was, and then find its fulfillment. In doing this we will, beyond all question, find the going forth of that new law spoken by the prophets and the Saviour himself.
"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit" (Joe 2:28-29). The Saviour announces the fulfillment of this prophecy in John 14:15-17, when he promises another comforter, who should abide with them forever. But in the following chapters (John 15:1-27, John 16:1-33), the promise is made still clearer, and the duty that will then follow:
"But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall bear witness of me: and ye also bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning."
Notice, that when the Spirit of truth should come and bear witness, the apostles should also bear witness. In chap. John 16:12-14, this promise is made still clearer:
"I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye can not bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what things soever he shall bear, these shall he speak and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come."
Before the apostles would be qualified for the testimony which they should bear concerning Jesus, they would need this heavenly Comforter and Director, that they might be freed from any weakness in the discharge of the duties that would then devolve upon them. The Master had been more than three years in giving them this new law, by which men should have the remission of their sins and be admitted into that grace in which they would be regarded as the sons of the Living God. Still there were truths that they did not understand while the Lord was with them, and they could not, for their views concerning the Messiah were so erroneous that their minds were blinded. But when the Master had suffered death and had risen again, they were in a better condition to learn. So the Spirit is sent to complete their education, and fully qualify them for their work as the ministers of the gospel of Christ, to give the law of the kingdom to all the nations.
According to Luke, in his gospel (Luk 24:47-48) and Acts 1:4, the Lord re-announced the commission just before leaving them for the heavens, but forbade them going out till they should receive the promise of the Father, that is-the heavenly Comforter, the Holy Spirit. When he should come to guide them into all truth, then should their work, as indicated in the great commission, begin at Jerusalem; they should then tell to the world the way of life through the Lord Jesus Christ, who is clothed with all authority in heaven and in earth. To find this beginning of the way of life in Christ, we have only to find when the Spirit came into the world according to all these promises. We have not long to wait for the fulfillment. Within ten days after the Saviour ascended, the Spirit came. And with His coming all that had been promised was fulfilled, in their enduement and the witness that was borne by the Spirit and by the apostles.
"And when the day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them tongues;parting asunder, like as of fire; and it sat upon each one of them. 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). This has all the appearance of the fulfillment of the prediction of the prophet Joel, and the promise of the Saviour. When Joel wrote, it was a long way off; but when the Saviour spoke, it was near. But Isaiah and Micah had also their minds fixed on the attendance at that time. They said that all nations should flow unto it; from which we understand that all nations should be represented at Jerusalem at that time. And so it is stated by the historian (Acts 2:5). "Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven."
We are ready to decide in our own minds that the time has come for the work to be done which had been entrusted to the hands of the apostles--to give to the world the new Law of the kingdom. But it is better for us to have the opinion of an inspired man on the subject.
"But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and spake forth unto them, saying, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and give ear unto my words. For these are not drunken, as ye suppose; seeing it is but the third hour of the day; but this is that which hath been spoken by the prophet Joel; "And it shall be in the last days, with God, "I will pour forth of my Spirit upon all flesh: "And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, "And your young men shall see visions, And your old men shall dream dreams "Yea and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days "Will I pour forth of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy" (Acts 2:14-18).
So, then, we have not been mistaken in the appearance of things. Inspired authority declares that this is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel. But this is not all-they understood now that the promise of the Father had come, and that at that time they were to declare all the words of this life in the name of the new King. And Peter therefore continues to announce that Christ has been raised from the dead, and made to be both the Lord and the anointed One. And when the people ask what they are to do, he tells them to submit to that same Jesus whom they had crucified, that they might be saved. This they did. After this, when Peter had been to the house of Cornelius and preached the gospel of the Christ to them, he was taken to account for it by the brethren who were at Jerusalem. He recounted the whole matter in order, telling them all things that had occurred in his call to that place and the work be did.
"And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, even as on us at the beginning" (Acts 11:15).
Now there are a number of things that it will be well for us to note:
1. This new covenant should be unlike the old one (Jer 31:1-40; Heb 8:1-13).
2. It should go forth from Jerusalem (Isa 2:1-22; Mic 4:1-13; Luk 24:1-53).
3. All nations should be represented there at that time (Isaiah, Micah, Luke, in Acts 2:5).
4. The Holy Spirit should be present at that time, and give them supernatural power (Joel, John, Luke, Acts).
5. The Holy Spirit and the apostles should bear witness at that time (John and The Acts).
6. The demonstration should be at the beginning of the gospel plan of saving men (Luk 24:44-49; Acts 2:4; Acts 11:15).
Surely this is enough. One who will not be able to see from this induction of facts that the kingdom of the Christ was set up on the day of Pentecost, is either unable or unwilling to see the plainest truth. But against this there is an objection; it is this: If this is so, then there was fifty days that the world was without any authorized law. If the law was taken out of the way and nailed to the cross of Christ, and yet His law did not go forth till the Pentecost, which was fifty days later, then there was no law during the interregnum. Yet all men believe that the law did end with the crucifixion of the Saviour; that from that time there was no more offering for sin or other service in the temple according to divine appointment. And the simple truth is, that all men were amenable to God according to the light which they had. Those who had been the disciples of Christ and knew His requirements, were under obligations to obey them; and those who did not have these advantages, were amenable to God for such light as they did possess. In any age of the world, when any man has done the best that be knows and could know, he has been free from iniquity in the sight of God. And it was then the same that it has ever been in that respect. From that time the world was not under law to Moses, nor according to Moses, but under law to Christ (1Co 9:21). It is not now the law that was given to the patriarchs, nor to the people of the Jews at Mt. Sinai; but we are to be the servants of God by accepting Christ and doing His will, as found in the New Testament. Every truth that will malice for our spiritual good is to he found in it. Every sin is there condemned; hence it is to us the perfect rule of life.
Some one again objects that the early Christians did not have the’ New Testament, and therefore were without the law necessary to perfect Christian character. But they had the apostles and direct inspiration, and this was all that they could have needed. The Lord’s will was the same then that it is now, and it was revealed to them then as they needed the knowledge.
SEC. 41. THE TRIAL AS TO THE TIME OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE KINGDOM.--We have already seen that any theory which is opposed by any known fact, can not be true. Hence we desire to have our theories tried by the facts that have been induced.
(1.) If the kingdom of the Christ was in existence, during the time of John the Baptist, then there were two Laws in force at the same time.--As it is impossible for God to be the author of such a state of things as that, it seems unreasonable to contend that John introduced it.
(2.) Those texts which place the establishment of the kingdom later than the time of John upon the earth, can not be true, if the church began during his life. It was after he was dead that the Saviour sent out men to preach that the kingdom was at hand.
(3.) The Jewish limits or restrictions that were upon the apostles would be incomprehensible upon the hypothesis that kingdom of the Messiah was then in existence. There could be no such limitation to the institution of which Christ was the author, for His was intended to go to the ends of the earth.
(4.) If Christ had been king while on earth, then he would have been priest as well for he became a priest after the order of Melchizedek, who was king and priest at the same time. And if he had been priest on the earth, he would certainly have been high priest, for no one can think of the Saviour taking an inferior rank. And if he had been high priest on the earth, then they would have had two high priests at the same time, and that, too, by divine authority. Paul says, "If he were on earth, he would not be a priest."
(5.) If John instituted, the kingdom by the baptism of Jesus then it was not set up at Jerusalem, according to the prophetic promise, and according to the clear teaching of the Saviour Himself.
(6.) If the kingdom had been established at a time prior to the resurrection of the Saviour, then it could not have been unlocked by the keys held by Peter, for neither he nor any other apostle was at liberty to use such authority till the coming of the heavenly enduement.
(7.) If the church came into being prior to the death of the Saviour, then it was built before the laying of the corner-stone. We have already seen that Christ was, and is, the chief corner-stone; and the idea of building the church before the laying of the corner-stone is preposterous.
(8.) If the Covenant of Christ was in force while the Saviour was yet alive then Paul’s illustration must pass for nothing. He thought that a covenant was of force after the death of him that made it, not before.
(9.) We have also seen that if the kingdom was established before the ascension of the Lord, then it was established without the apostles knowing it. If they had committed such a blunder as that, it is unaccountable that the Master did not correct them.
(10.) We have already seen, that, the gospel in its fullness was not and could not be preached till Christ had died and risen again from the dead. Hence, if the church was established before that time, it was in existence before the gospel was, or could be, preached.