Speaking for ten minutes, MR. ANDERSON said:-
Mr. Nisbet has given Christ a certain amount of authority, but he did not say how much he had left out, although he admitted that he had all authority in Heaven and earth, and was sitting at the right hand of the throne of God. According to Mr. Nisbet His power is not yet complete. I am at a loss to know what more power He can have, and why he is not as great now as He will be. According to Mr. Nisbet Christ has to reign 1,000 years on earth after he comes, and then deliver up the kingdom to the Father. He is coming in flaming fire to take vengeance on the wicked and punish them with everlasting destruction. He at the same time glorifies the saints. How can there be 1,000 years of a flesh and blood state after that? When he comes the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up. How can there be 1,000 years on this earth after that? Mr. Nisbet applied the parable of the wheat and the tares to the end of the Jewish kingdom, but it applies to the present day, when the wheat and the tares grow together. When Christ comes he will separate the wicked from the righteous. Mr. Nisbet's contention that the wheat and the tares refer to the end of the Jewish kingdom is absurd. In the parable He that sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. In the Jewish kingdom it was the word of Moses that gave a standing or otherwise. Did the righteous shine forth as the sun on and after the destruction of Jerusalem? If Mr. Nisbet is right, how could they shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of there Father when he says there was no kingdom after that for them to shine in? It will fit now and the future, it will fit nothing else. In Matthew 13:47, we read, "Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind; which, when it was full, they drew to the shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world, the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from the just, and shall cast them into the furnace; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." At the present time the righteous and the wicked live together, but in the next dispensation they will be separated. Take the thirty-first verse of the same chapter. "Another parable put he forth unto them saying, The Kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took, and sowed in his field: which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof." The kingdom here spoken of began slowly, but the next kingdom will come like a flash of lightning; it will come as the flood came upon Noah, and as the destruction came upon Sodom. Suppose now we take the thirty-third verse of the same chapter. "Another parable spake he unto them: The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." Christianity began a little thing. It is now a mighty influence on earth, and when the Lord comes again he comes to administer justice. Christ in the meantime, I hold, sits on His father's throne, and if He sits there He sits by permission, and has all authority in Heaven and on earth.
Speaking for ten minutes, Mr. NISBET said:-
My purpose tonight has been to set before you the simple truth as it is in Christ, and I now wish to direct your attention to different ages which, in my opinion, marked different manifestations of the kingdom. There was the Mosaic age, which was followed by the Apostolic age. When Jesus was asked for a sign as to when the end of the world would be, he was asked for a sign as to when the Jewish age was to end, for the word here rendered "world" means "age" (aion), and has no reference to the material earth. This age began under Moses with "a kingdom of priests and an holy nation." It was continued under judges, until the people asked for a king, and God gave them Saul, who was followed by David, who, we are told, sat upon the throne of the Kingdom of the Lord. The Kingdom of God was thus existent in the kingdom of Israel. God was their king. Thus David ruled for God, as did those who succeeded him upon the throne. While the people were obedient to God all went well with them, but when they departed from the right paths God withdrew his power, and their enemies overcame them. The kingdoms of Israel and Judah - for the kingdom was divided under Jeroboam and Rehoboam - continued with varying fortunes for many years. The kingdom of Israel ceased under Zedekiah, while the kingdom of Judah continued to exist, but latterly the Jews passed into a state of vassalage to Rome, and finally the commonwealth of Judah ceased at "the end of the world" - about A.D. 70 - when the temple was destroyed with the city, and multitudes of the Jews perished at the hands of the Romans. Thus "the Kingdom of God had been taken away from them" to be "given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." That kingdom was given to Jesus as king, and to the apostles as administrators of the power, and exercised by them according to the will of God. Thus Jesus could say, "If I by the finger of God cast out demons, then no doubt the Kingdom of God is come upon you." Thus also it could be said, in reference to the twelve, Matthew 11:11, "Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he." If Mr. Anderson says the kingdom never passed through any changes and did not exist before John the Baptist was put to death, he will have some difficulty in explaining these passages.
Ten minutes questions by Mr. Anderson:-
Q. - When do you suppose the laws of Moses ceased to be binding upon God's people?
A. - When the temple ceased to exist.
Q. - Are such laws binding now?
A. - No.
Q. - Suppose you had lived after Christ died and rose again, would the laws of Moses have been binding on you?
A. - No; the laws of Moses were never binding upon Gentiles.
Q. - Were the laws of Moses ever binding on the people of Christ?
A. - As long as the Jewish dispensation existed they were binding on the Jews.
Q. - You don't think that it was after Christ's death that the law of Moses ceased to be binding?
A. - No, I don't think the law of Moses ended then. It was absolutely necessary that there should be some kind of national law prior to the destruction of the Temple. Up to that period the law of Moses did God's work.
Q. - You don't admit that from the time of the Lord's resurrection the law of Moses was no longer binding?
A. - I answered that question already. As long as the Jewish dispensation existed they were binding upon the Jews.
Q. - Granted that we are serving Christ, did John the Baptist, living, as you say, in the Jewish dispensation, have any of the benefits of the Christian dispensation?
A. - I am afraid that question is too involved.
Q. - I was also afraid of that. We have blessings and privileges that John the Baptist had no opportunity of enjoying?
A. - I don't know that we have. I know that the apostles had.
Q. - Do you deny it?
A. - I simply don't admit it.
Q. - John the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ?
A. - Yes.
Q. - And as such of course lived before the coming of Christ?
A. - Yes.
Q. - Then we have blessings and privileges that John the Baptist had no opportunity of enjoying?
A. - I am not prepared to admit that.
Q. - Would the law of Moses have been binding had you lived after Christ's death?
A. - I don't know anything about that beyond that it was not binding upon believers.
Q. - You admit different aspects of the kingdom?
A. - I do.
Q. - And you said that this aspect of the kingdom came into existence when?
A. - I am not aware that I stated any particular time.
Q. - I am asking a question. Do you admit that this aspect of the kingdom came into existence when Christ was given all authority in Heaven and on earth, with power to grant the forgiveness of sins?
A. - The forgiveness of sins does not come into the question at all. It is apart from the subject of the kingdom altogether.
Q. - Did this aspect come into existence with John the Baptist?
A. - I said there were aspects of the kingdom, but I never said this was an aspect of the kingdom.
Ten minutes questions by Mr. Nisbet:-
Q. - Do you believe that to the end of the Jewish dispensation there existed different phases of the Kingdom of God?
A. - I accept that roughly.
Q. - Do you admit that one began when the other ended?
A. - Yes.
Q. - Do you think these were ages?
A. - In a general way they were.
Q. - Then do you believe that the flood was an age of the Kingdom of God?
A. - I don't think it is so stated.
Q. - Do you agree with me that the periods I have mentioned were ages of the Kingdom of God?
A. - I never called them ages.
Q. - You don't admit them to be?
A. - I never said they were.
Q. - Did I ever say that the Mosaic age did not include a manifestation of the Kingdom of God?
A. - Last night I understood you to say certain people were in the kingdom.
Q. - Do you understand me now to believe that during the Mosaic age there was a manifestation of the Kingdom of God?
A. - I understood you to say that the aspect presenting itself of the Kingdom of God among men was manifested otherwise than on earth.
Mr. Nisbet - Supposing you now turn your attention to Ephesians 2:5, you will there read the following, "Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved:) and hath raised us up together in heavenly places in Jesus Christ. That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. For by grace ye are saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."
Q. - Does "ye" include the apostles?
A. - It includes those regarding whom it is written.
Q. - Then it is not the apostles that are saved by grace?
A. - No.
Q. - And yet when I quote from Colossians 1:13, you admit what is there written does not exclude the apostles?
A. - You misunderstand me. I did not say the apostles were not saved.
Q. - As far as the passage is concerned, you did. Take the twelfth verse of the previous chapter of Ephesians, "That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ." Are you prepared to say that that does not exclusively apply to the apostles?
A. - I have no desire to do so..
Five minutes questions by Mr. Anderson.
Q. - Do you admit that David sat on the throne of God?
A. - You mean that God gave up reigning?
Q. - Do you admit that He sat as king?
A. - In so far as the earthly throne was concerned, yes.
Q. - Jesus is now on the right hand of the throne of God?
A. - Yes.
Q. - If sitting there previously made David a king, I don't see why Jesus should not be a king too?
A. - The time is not yet.
Q. - Then Christ has lost all authority and power?
A. - I never said he had lost all authority and power. His power is not manifested as in the apostolic age.
Q. - What reason was there why Christ was not made king when he took David's place at the right hand of the throne of God?
A. - I cannot give any reason unless that His kingdom has not yet come.
Q. - Do you believe that only God gives forgiveness of sins?
A. - Christ had the power vested in Him, but in the meantime He only acts as intercessor.
Q. - Seeing Christ is a prince, and sits on the throne of God, how is he not a king?
A. - Did I say He is not a king? He was born a king, but he does not yet sit on His father David's throne. I have said so repeatedly, and you would be saving a good deal of time if you would remember it. He is a king in the matter of power, but he has not come into His kingdom yet. He is as one who has "gone into a far country to receive a kingdom and to return." He will take possession when he returns.
Five minutes questions by Mr. Nisbet:-
Q. - Is the throne of David in Heaven?
A. - No.
Q. - Is Christ sitting upon the throne of his father David?
A. - He was placed there by God. Christ is sitting on the throne of God.
Q. - Is the throne of David in heaven?
A. - The throne of David is not now anywhere.
Q. - Then how is Christ sitting upon it?
A. - Simply in the way I explained.
Q. - That is anywhere. Is the throne of David in Heaven?
A. - The throne that David sat upon is not in Heaven.
Q. - You mean the material throne?
A. - I understood that that was what you meant by your question.
Q. - Do you believe that Jesus is sitting upon the throne of His father David?
A. - Yes, He is sitting upon His Father's throne.
My friend's whole contention is that Christ went right up to heaven, and His kingdom thereupon came into existence. He tries to find support to his case by stating that before Christ's time David sat on the throne for God. But there was no such kingdom at that time.
Q. - Do you believe that in the Kingdom of Heaven Christ is now seated upon the throne of David?
A. - Yes.
Q. - And do you believe that there will be any end to the kingdom?
A. - This kingdom will come to an end, but there is a kingdom coming that will have no end.