by John Thomas

“ These words were the gospel of the kingdom of God and his Christ. This necessity has never been abrogated. It is in full force to this day. Clergy and ministers do not believe it. Much of it they sneer at as "the millennial hypothesis." If they would attain to the kingdom of God, they must believe the doctrine concerning it. Martyrdom for opinion's sake is no substitute for "the obedience of faith." It is self-deception to say that God is with us to the end of the world, when we neither understand, nor believe and obey, the truth. ”

“ On the other hand, a man may believe that Jesus is the Son of God; that he was sent of God as a messenger to Israel; that there is remission of sins through the shedding of his blood; that he is the saviour; and that he rose from the dead -- if he believe these things, but be ignorant, and consequently faithless, of "the things of the kingdom," he cannot obtain glory, honour, incorruptibility and life in that kingdom. The condition of salvation is the belief of the whole gospel and obedience to it. ”

“ Now, reason and common sense teach, that if men are real successors to apostolicity, they will be like Peter and Paul in all their qualifications and attributes; but reason also teaches, that after the ascension of Jesus, no man can be qualified for the apostleship unless the Lord appear to him, as in the case of Paul. But the truth is, that this claim of apostolic succession is as groundless as the claim of the clergy of the apostasy to tithes on the ground of their succession to the rights of the Levitical priesthood. ”

“ The scriptures contain the keys. Popes, priests, clergy, and ministers may suppress, torture, and garble the truth, and throw hindrances in the way; but the man who discards their authority, and thinks for himself, may, by the enlightening efficacy of the living word, become "wise unto salvation by the faith which is in Jesus Christ." Let the people then help themselves, if they would that God should aid them.
From what has been advanced it is manifest that "the word of the kingdom" presents itself to us in the scriptures in a three-fold relation:
1. As the gospel preached to Abraham, etc. ”

“ Again, "By revelation God hath made known unto me, Paul, the mystery, which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto the holy apostles and prophets by the spirit; that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel. To me was given to make all men see what is the FELLOWSHIP of the mystery, which, from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things. ”

“ When we come to see what the keys of the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven are, we shall see at once that the very use of them for the first time operates upon Peter's own possession of them, as the telling of a secret to all the world does upon his power over it afterwards by whom it was told. ”

“ Abraham holds a conspicuous place in relation to the blessedness of the gospel. He is named by Paul six times in the third chapter of Galatians, which he concludes by saying, "If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise." Hence, men are required to be Christ's that they may be Abraham's seed. But why is it so important to be of the seed of Abraham? For the very obvious reason that, as the promise was made to Abraham, it is only by being constitutionally "in him" that any son of Adam can obtain a participation in what belongs to Abraham. ”

“ A man might believe all the promises and their doctrinal import, but if he did not believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the subject of them, he would make a very good believing Jew under the law, but he would not be a Christian under grace. This is the great turning point in the faith of an enlightened Jew, and Christian. Is Jesus of Nazareth the personage described in the law and the prophets; has he right and title to the throne of David, and to the dominion of the world? ”

“ After he rose from the dead, he commanded the apostles, Saying, "Go, preach the gospel to every creature: he that believes and is immersed shall be saved; and he that believes not shall be condemned"; and "Lo, I am with you always, until the end of the world." In view of these texts, can anyone be so mystified as not to see that salvation is predicated on believing the gospel of the kingdom, and being baptized into Jesus Christ? ”

“ The leaders of the people dare not permit such a course to be pursued; for the Bible is hostile to their systems, and sets forth things which, if believed, would empty their rostrums, disperse their flocks, and close their doors; and elaborate such a social revolution, that truth and righteousness would triumph in the midst of the earth; and the people be enlightened in the knowledge which comes from God. ”

“ But we would ask any reasonable man, unspoiled by human folly and absurdity, If a power be conferred on A, nineteen hundred years ago, is it therefore bestowed on B, living nineteen centuries after? The keys were promised to Peter, and not to successors of Peter, if it were possible for him to have them in such an office; which none but the most stupidly ignorant of the scriptures would venture to affirm. The custody of the keys by a successor of Peter is the most farcical assumption that ever poor crazy mortals were guilty of. ”

“ It cannot be said that the paidorhantists (from the Greek word for infants, and Greek for sprinklers, that is, infant sprinklers) make too little of water; one great offence against high heaven which they commit, is making infinitely too much of it. The efficacy the apostles put in the heart-purifying faith and conscience-cleansing name of Jesus, they place in a few drops of "holy" or common, water, and a physical regeneration of a hypothetic principle in the flesh! They require no faith, no repentance, no confession to qualify their subjects for the water and formula of the Name. ”

“ Wisdom will die with us!" Yet they are faithless of the words of Peter, for they do them not; and have changed the ordinance of God, and made it contemptible. A rhantized, but unbaptized, community is the vast majority of the professing world; and therefore "without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and Strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope (no true one) and without God in the world." Them that honour God, He will honour; but they who seek honour one of another, and desecrate His name, are fattening their hearts for the day of slaughter ”

“ He is not a wolf, nor a dog, rending and devouring the flock, and investing himself with its wool; but one who would be the servant of the least, that he may be exalted to an unfading crown of glory, when the good shepherd shall appear to give life to all his sheep for evermore. ”

“ It would be well for the reader to reflect on the character of Cornelius before the angel visited him. He was not a pagan Gentile, or a wicked sinner in danger of hell fire; but a proselyte of righteousness, or an outer-court worshipper. "He was a just and devout man, and one that feared God with all his house; gave much alms to the Jews, among whom he was of good report; and he prayed to God always." No better man, lay or clerical, can be produced from any modern sect than Cornelius. ”

“ In the former part of this work, I have shown that it has been the purpose of God from the foundation of the world to set up a kingdom and empire of nations which shall supersede all others previously existing upon the globe. ”

“ The etymology of the Greek word for aions does not express the duration of the time; its continuance is defined by the Mosaic law. The Hebrew Commonwealth under the Sinaitic constitution was not intended to continue always. The time of its existence was predetermined of God, but not revealed in the law, or the prophets, but "reserved in his own power" (Acts 1:7) . It is termed "aion" and its approaching termination, "the end of time", that is, of the Hebrew Commonwealth, under the Mosaic law. ”

“ But the state-clergies are not alone in their assumption of apostolicity; the Dissenters are condemnable on the same account. They claim to be ambassadors of Jesus Christ; and they permit none to "administer ordinances" who are not ordained by the imposition of hands. The ordained do not undertake to forgive sins after the manner of the apostles; but they apply to themselves scriptures which relate only to the apostles, by which they constitute themselves their successors. ”

“ This word was so notorious to all that sojourned in the land of Israel, that it was as familiar as any question could possibly be. It was known also to every one, how that Jesus was anointed, or christened, with the Holy Spirit at his immersion in the Jordan by John; and how he went about doing good and healing the infirmities of the people; and none knew better than Roman centurions, that he was slain and hanged on a tree. These were matters of household notoriety and belief. A far more comprehensive faith than that of the moderns ”

“ If a man be possessed of an estate, the members of his family alone have any right to it at his decease. Though all the world may be his friends, unless they are named in his will, they can have no part in the inheritance he may leave behind. ”

“ But with all their praying and preaching, and profession, neither they nor their successors love the Lord; for they do not obey Him: and He has made obedience the test of love, as it is written," Love is the fulfilling of the law." They corrupted, and perpetuate the perversions of the faith from age to age ”

“ Before a man can enter into the Kingdom of God, he must be unloosed from his sins in the present state; and liberated hereafter from the prison-house where the dead lie bound in chains of intense darkness. The unloosing from sins, Jesus committed to Peter ”

“ Knowledge is the key to remission, or release from sins, and to an entrance into the Kingdom of God. No one can enter this kingdom in his sins, and destitute of a character approved of God; and none could answer the question, "How can a man obtain the remission of sins ”

“ They are powerless for progress among these; and men of naturally strong minds are either indifferent to their ministrations, or have repudiated them altogether. They lack one thing, namely, the knowledge of "the truth as it is in Jesus." In default of this they occupy the minds of the people with foreign enterprises, benevolent institutions, public meetings, platform and pulpit oratory, fancy fairs, and all sorts of devices to raise the wind to keep the machine in motion. But all will not do. The people begin to flag. The masses take no interest in their preaching. ”

“ Caiaphas would have offered sacrifice for them upon the altar upon no such confession as this; for in confessing themselves sinners for killing Jesus, they would have charged the high priest as a principal in the crime. To what, or to whom, were they to look for a solution of "the mystery"? Who could unlock it, and open to them the door of liberty, and loose them from their sins?
Is not the reader prepared to answer, "The Holy Spirit alone could reveal to them of righteousness, because Jesus had gone to the Father"? (John 16:7,10) This is true ”

“ Had Peter, instead of using the keys, hid them till his death-hour, and then imparted them to a single person, this individual might truly be said to have "succeeded to the keys." But this he did not, dared not, do. He communicated them to such multitudes of Jews and Gentiles that they became the common property of the world ”

“ They filled the Roman empire with their doctrine, and made such an impression upon it that tumults were excited; and they were charged with treason against the state, because they proclaimed another king than Caesar (Acts 17:7,31) , who should rule the world in righteousness (Acts 17:7,31) as the sovereign Lord of all the earth. "They spake the word of God with boldness." "The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul" ”

“ These are men who are in advance of the systems by which they have been created "clergymen," and "ministers." Their position is an unhappy one. System has made them; and they conscientiously support and perpetuate the system, having been indoctrinated by their predecessors into the belief that the system is the religion of God! ”