Thomas Williams

“ There is therefore no salvation out of Christ. There is no way into Christ but by believing the covenants of promise and being baptized, and when these are complied with we are Christ's. "And if ye be Christ's" says the apostle, "then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise." That is, heirs of this Israelitish commonwealth, these covenants of promise made to Abraham and to David. We thus see that Christ is the pith and pivot of it all, the heart, the life of the whole matter. ”

“ There is a grander and more noble work for the redeemed in the age to come than playing upon golden streets and reveling in idleness. There is a lost paradise to be regained, a thousand wrongs to be righted, a crooked world to be straightened, a lost world to be redeemed, the profaned name of Yahweh to be honored where it has been despised and rejected, a mocked and crucified King to be enthroned and glorified, and the sky is no place for these things to be done. ”

“ The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. ”

“ Not having been fulfilled at Christ's first coming, will they find their fulfillment at His second coming? Are we left to doubt or uncertainty in the case, or shall we find words of Inspiration that will assure us of the truth beyond the shadow of doubt? ”

“ If the invitation to come into covenant relationship with God, is to everyone that thirsteth, in which covenant are "the sure mercies of David," then the covenant and the gospel must be one and the same thing, because every invitation that is sent out to fallen man from God is for him to come to a belief and obedience of the gospel whereby he may obtain salvation. ”

“ In Deut. 28:49-50 Moses predicted the same scattering in the following words: "The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth: a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand: a nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young." ”

“ Let Him answer. "After this," that is, after visiting the Gentiles, "I will return and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down: and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up." The question is settled. There is no room for dispute. Ah! but says the one who spiritualizes God's words to suit popular creeds, you are too literal. You are looking for a literal kingdom with Christ as its personal ruler on the earth. Yes indeed we are. What else can we look for? When it was said of David's throne, "I will overturn, overturn, overturn it" was that literal? ”

“ Its realization was not expected by David in the time of Solomon. It was "for a great while to come." What does it involve? In the tenth verse it is said, "Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime." Here we have the place in which Israel is to be planted when the covenant is fully realized; hence we may safely conclude that the kingdom will have literal territory. ”

“ They are needed where social vice is corrupting and eating out the very life of society; where a false and deceptive religious system is trafficking for worldly gain in the bodies and souls of men and women who are ignorant of God's Word and are carried away under high pressure of excitement and animal magnetism by the cunning tricks of experts ”

“ They are a call to fallen man, inviting him to partake of the blessings of salvation. Salvation is what is offered here. And now the question is, Does this stand related in any way to the covenant made with David? The words are frequently quoted without any regard to that which is offered in them and to which they invite lost men and women. What does God say He will do with those who respond to this beneficent call, this invitation to salvation? ”

“ In this, as we shall see further along, the commonwealth will be enjoyed by the Israel of God, first according to the spirit, and secondly the nation of Israel restored to the land of their fathers3⁄4 the former, which constitute the one great body politic, of which Christ is the head, will be the rulers those who will have overcome, prevailed and become princes with God, kings of whom Christ is King ”