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Yet, roughly 2,000 years ago, it was likely that people stayed indoors to avoid crossing paths with ghosts and witches, who were returning to Earth on the darkest night of the year.  

Why is halloween celebrated today? What is the histroy behind it?  Because today it is reported that , “Halloween is the country’s second largest commercial holiday, after Christmas, with consumers spending an estimated $5 billion in 2009, according to the NRF.”

The History Behind Halloween

Originating as a mix of ancient Celtic practices, Roman Catholic religious rituals and European folk tradition, Halloween has transformed over the years from a Pagan festivity into a secular holiday.

The Celts, who lived in modern day Ireland, Scotland and France, celebrated their new year Nov. 1, which marked the end of summer and the harvest as well as the beginning of winter in the Gaelic calendar.  

However, historians can only speculate about what took place on the night of Oct. 31.

History Professor Jeremy Adams had one speculation of what it was like.

“It was a special and strange time,” he said. “It was the night that the doors between the two worlds stayed open, and peoples’ bodies and souls could pass back and forth,” he said.

Trick-or-treating may have originated from a method to avoid lingering spirits, according to SMU Sociology Professor Adrian Tan.

“Since spirits would roam the Earth, many would leave treats outside by their doorway to deter spirits from coming in,” Tan said. “They would also dress their children as ‘demons,’ so that spirits would skip entering their homes thinking that there were other spirits already in their house.”

The night before the new year, Oct. 31, the Celts celebrated the festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).

Samhain, which means “summer ends,” was celebrated over several days, marking the end of the lighter half of the year and the beginning of the darker half.

Hence, the thematic colors of black, representing the night and darkness, and orange, representing the changing colors of the leaves, were born.

Some say that ancestors, in the form of ghosts and witches, would come back to Earth to sanction law cases that were unsettled.

“It was a big day of reckoning,” Adams said. “It’s always been spooky.”

Others believe that the Celts would wear animal skins and ghost masks while gathering around bonfires, making animal and crop sacrifices in honor of the fertility Gods.

The Celts were superstitious, believing that the spirits killed their crops and helped the Druids, Celtic priests, tell the future.

The Druids were more than just Celtic priests; according to Adams, they were also legal experts. Druids were among the few who walked from house to house settling legal cases on the night of Oct. 31.

Though Adams is unsure where the tradition of trick-or-treating originated, he believes it is possible the Druids and other legal experts might have collected treats from the houses they visited as a fee for their legal expertise.

Roman occupation, from 40 AD to 475 AD, as well as the spread of Christianity, influenced the Celtic traditions.

The modern tradition of bobbing for apples was most likely the result of the combination of Samhain and the Roman’s Pagan Festival of Feralia. During this festival, the Goddess of Pomona, whose symbol is the apple, was honored.

In the seventh century, the Roman Catholic Church, under the reign of Pope Boniface IV, declared Nov. 1 All Saint’s Day and Nov. 2 All Soul’s Day in order to incorporate Christianity into what was then a solely Pagan festival.

“[All Saint's Day] was the Christian reverence to the dead,” Adams said. “It competed with the Celtic holiday of the previous night.”

All Saints’ Day was commonly referred to as All-Hallowmas, making the Celtic celebration Samhain All-Hallows Eve, which eventually became Halloween.

Halloween disappeared during the Puritanical period of the 16th and 17th centuries, because “it was seen as the work of the devil,” Tan said.

However, in the second half of the 19th century, millions of immigrants, especially the Irish, fled to America, bringing with them their Halloween rituals.

According to some people, modern-day trick-or-treating stems from the Irish’s tradition of dressing up and going to different houses asking for food or money.  

Superstition also came to America with the Irish and Scottish belief that on Halloween, women could foresee their future husbands, according to Tan.

Scottish women would write “their suitor’s name on hazelnuts and would throw them into the fireplace. If the hazelnut burned without popping, the person whose name is on the hazelnut is the future husband,” Tan said.

However, in the late 19th century and early 20th century, the focus of Halloween turned from ghosts and witchcraft to festive parties, where dressed-up children and adults could gather to play games, such as bobbing for apples.

With this change, Halloween began to lose its religious and superstitious ties to the Celts.

By the 20th  century, Halloween was a secular holiday celebrated within communities and schools. Vandalism and crime became an issue in relation to Halloween and is still an issue today with theft and pumpkin smashing.

With the rise of consumerism in the 1930s, stores began selling mass-produced Halloween costumes. To read more of the origin of halloween from researched historians click here

But why is the devil so intent with getting the world caught  up in HALLOWEEN and the belief that the Spirits of the  Dead can communicate with the living ( for it is already  been shown that halloween is the second  most cele-brated holiday)?

Stay Tuned…To find the answer to the question..

Click here!

Some one left the following question on our question and anwer page:

Question: Will the former and latter rain happen before or after the Sunday Law and why?

 Answer: This is a two part question, and the focal point of the question has to do chiefly with the time. The question must necessarily and naturally be answered in two parts because the former and latter rain do not both happen at the same time. One happens first (former) and the other last or later (latter rain) hence the name former and latter (or later) rain.

The first question that would need to be considered is if there is a special and specific time for the rain either the former or latter rain.

Is there a time for the rain or do they happen randomly whenever it wants? Let us turn to the Bible to find the answer:

Jeremiah 5:24:  Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. 

Duet. 11:14: That I will give [you] the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.

From both of the above text it is clear that both the former and latter rain have a particular (season) or time for its work!

How can we determine the time? We can best understand the time by knowing something of the purpose for both the early and latter rain. How do I know that? Lets turn to the Bible where this point is brought to view:

Ecc. 3:1: “To every [thing there is] a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven”

This makes it clear from the Bible that if I am going to understand the time of the latter rain then I must first understand something about the purpose of the latter rain because there is a time to ever purpose under heaven.

That brings us to the heart of the study that will help us to understand the time of the rain (both- the former and latter rain) as to its relationship and timing in reference to its coming before or after the Sunday law.

That which will help us to understanding the time is by knowing its purpose. What is the purpose of the early rain? What is the purpose of the latter rain? What is the purpose of the Sunday law? All three of these questions must be considered in order to understand the time.

In our next study we shall look into the purposes of the early ,latter rain, and Sunday law?

Zechariah 10:1, Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; [so] the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field. 

If this study had given you something to think about leave a reply below

 (For a more detailed study of early and latter rain goto our end-time store and see our book “Preparing for the latter rain: The Final Pentecost”) or click here

There are many who are wandering about the place of sealing, the latter rain, and the loud cry and other important end-time events. Some have called our office inquiring of the place of these important events. Just recently someone told me that “more and more people were suggesting that a careful study of prophetic events would show that the Loud cry began on Sept. 11, 2001.” This position is coming from various sources and from different people on different sides of the country and continent.  They asked me “is it true, had I heard anything about it, have I studied it?”

We had the opportunity to study it together and in upcoming weeks I will share with you some of the things we studied because it is very important to know the truth for ourselves. Some have simply accepted a series of end-time events because it has been handed down to them. There are very few who have truly studied these things out for themselves!

  Some have placed the sealing, the latter rain and the loud cry in the past, some in the present, and others in the future, how can we be certain which interpretation is right or can we trust them all?

 It is certain that the great majority of those in the Remnant church (both preachers of present truth and believers of present truth—we will prove this from inspired references shortly) are uncertain, tossed about with every wind of doctrine. We are warned about this time and sad condition of many in our church by the solemn Testimony of Jesus for these last days. Notice the following quotations:

Many Don’t REALLY KNOW

 “I have been shown that many who profess to have a knowledge of present truth know not what they believe. They do not understand the evidences of their faith. They have no just appreciation of the work for the present time. When the time of trial shall come, there are men now preaching to others who will find, upon examining the positions they hold, that there are many things for which they can give no satisfactory reason. Until thus tested they knew not their great ignorance. And there are many in the church who take it for granted that they understand what they believe; but, until controversy arises, they do not know their own weakness. When separated from those of like faith and compelled to stand singly and alone to explain their belief, they will be surprised to see how confused are their ideas of what they had accepted as truth. Certain it is that there has been among us a departure from the living God and a turning to men, putting human in place of divine wisdom.  {5T 707.2} 

     “The days are fast approaching when there will be great perplexity and confusion. Satan, clothed in angel robes, will deceive, if possible, the very elect. There will be gods many and lords many. Every wind of doctrine will be blowing….”  {5T 80.1} 

  “More thought should be given to the things of God, and less to temporal matters. The world-loving professor, if he will exercise his mind in that direction, may become as familiar with the word of God as he now is with worldly business. “Search the Scriptures,” said Christ; “for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of Me.” The Christian is required to be diligent in searching the Scriptures, to read over and over again the truths of God’s word. Willful ignorance on this subject endangers the Christian life and character. It blinds the understanding and corrupts the noblest powers. It is this that brings confusion into our lives. Our people need to understand the oracles of God; they need to have a systematic knowledge of the principles of revealed truth, which will fit them for what is coming upon the earth and prevent them from being carried about by every wind of doctrine.  {5T 273.2} 

 Let’s Study : I Invite you to study with me

In the next few weeks we will post several articles that will help the sincere and earnest student of the Bible and its wonderful truths for these last days to be certain where these events (The Sealing, the Latter Rain, and the Loud Cry) are placed in God’s inspired prophetic calendar or chart of end-time events. So certain, that we will not “guess at anything”. GC 598.

Infact we are told in inspiration right on this point that:

 “It is not enough to have good intentions; it is not enough to do what a man thinks is right or what the minister tells him is right. His soul’s salvation is at stake, and he should search the Scriptures for himself. However strong may be his convictions, however confident he may be that the minister knows what is truth, this is not his foundation. He has a chart pointing out every waymark on the heavenward journey, and he ought not to guess at anything.” {GC 598.1} 

So please pray, study, and visit this section again soon for these upcoming studies. And let a friend know who may be interested in or seeking the truth about these vital subjects!

Get ready, GET ready, GET READY!

Studies Coming Soon

Look under current events and click on “Present Truth Studies”. Or Just  Click Here

The Purpose of the Sanctuary: 

 ”THAT I MAY DWELL AMONG THEM” 

When the Lord gave to Israel the original directions for the making of the sanctuary, that was to be a figure for the time then present, he said, “Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” Ex. 25:8. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 62.1}

That He might “dwell among them” was the object of the sanctuary. This purpose of the sanctuary is more fully stated in the following: “And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle [margin, "Israel"] shall be sanctified by my glory. And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest’s office. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I am the Lord their God.” Ex. 29:43-46; also Lev. 26:11.12. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 62.2}

This purpose was not that He should dwell among them simply and only by the tabernacle’s being set up in the midst of the camp of Israel. This is the great mistake that Israel made in the use of the tabernacle and so almost wholly lost the true purpose of the sanctuary. When the tabernacle was made and was set up in the midst of the camp of Israel, many of the children of Israel supposed that that was enough; they supposed that to be the way in which God would dwell in the midst of them. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 62.3}

It is true that by the Shekinah, God did dwell in the sanctuary. But even the sanctuary with its splendid furniture, standing in the midst of the camp–this was not all of the sanctuary. In addition to the splendid building and its furniture, there were the sacrifices and offerings of the people and the sacrifices and offerings on behalf of the people. There were the priests in their continual services and there was the high priest in his holy ministry. Without these the sanctuary was for Israel practically an empty thing, even though the Lord did dwell in it. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 63.1}

And what was the meaning and purpose of these things? Let us see: When any of the children of Israel had “done somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which should not be done,” and so was “guilty,” then “of his own voluntary will” he brought to the door of the tabernacle his sacrificial lamb. Before the lamb was offered in sacrifice the individual who had brought it laid his hands upon its head and confessed his sins and it was “accepted for him to make atonement for him.” Then he who had brought the lamb and confessed his sins slew it. Its blood was caught in a basin. Some of the blood was sprinkled round about upon the altar of burnt offering,” which was at the door of the tabernacle; some of it was put “upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation;” some of it was sprinkled “seven times before the Lord before the veil of the sanctuary;” and all the rest of it was poured out “at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.”

The lamb itself was burnt upon the altar of burnt offering. And of all this service, it is written in conclusion: “and the priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him.” The service was similar in case of the sin and confession of the whole congregation. Also there was a similar service, a continual service morning and evening, in behalf of the whole congregation. But whether the services were individual or general, the conclusion of it was always declared to be “The priest shall make an atonement for him [or them], and it shall be forgiven him.” See Leviticus chapters 1 to 5. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 63.2}

The course of service of the sanctuary was completed annually. And the day of the completion of the service, the tenth day of the seventh month, was especially “the day of atonement” or the cleansing of the sanctuary. On that day service was concluded in the Most Holy Place. That day was the “once every year” when “the High Priest alone” went into the “Holiest of all” or Most Holy Place. And of the high priest and his service that day it is written, “He shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation.” Lev. 16:2-34; Heb. 9:2-8. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 64.1}

Thus the services of the sanctuary, in the offering of the sacrifices and the ministering of the priests, and of the high priests alone, was for the making of atonement and for the forgiveness and sending away of the sins of the people. Because of the sin and guilt, because of their having “done somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which should not be done,” atonement must be made and forgiveness obtained. Atonement is literally at-one-ment. The sin and the guilt had separated them from God. By these services they were made at-one with God. Forgive is literally give-for. To forgive sin is to give for sin. Forgiveness of sin comes alone from God. What does God give, what has He given, for sin? He gave Christ, and Christ “gave himself for our sins.” Gal. 1:4; Eph. 2:12-16; Rom. 5:8-11. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 66.1}

Therefore when an individual or the whole congregation of Israel had sinned and desired forgiveness the whole problem and plan of forgiveness, of atonement, of salvation, was worked out before their faces. The sacrifice which was brought was in faith of the sacrifice which God had already made in giving His Son for sin. In this faith sinners were accepted of God, and Christ was received of them for their sin. Thus they were made at one with God, and thus God would dwell in the midst of them; that is, He would dwell in each heart and abide in each life to make that heart and life “holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners.” And the placing of the tabernacle in the midst of the camp of israel was an illustration, an object lesson and suggestion, of the truth that He would dwell in the midst of each individual. Eph. 3:16-19.  {1905 ATJ, CWCP 67.1}

Some of that nation in every age saw in the sanctuary this great saving truth. But as a body in all ages Israel missed this thought, and stopping only with the thought of His dwelling in the tabernacle in the midst of the camp, they came short of havingHis own personal presence dwelling in their individual lives. Accordingly their worship became only outward and formal, rather than inward and spiritual. Therefore, their own lives continued unreformed and unholy, and so those who came out of Egypt missed the great thing which God had for them and “fell in the wilderness.” Heb. 3:17-19.  {1905 ATJ, CWCP 67.2}

The same mistake was made by the people after they had passed into the land of Canaan. They put their dependence on the Lord only as He dwelt in the tabernacle and would not allow that the tabernacle and its ministry should be the means of His dwelling in themselves through faith. Consequently their lives only increased in wickedness. Therefore God allowed the tabernacle to be destroyed and the ark of God to be taken captive by the heathen (Jer. 7:12; 1 Sam 4:10-22) in order that the people might learn to see and find and worship God individually and so find Him to dwell with them individually. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 68.1}

After the absence of the tabernacle and its service from among Israel for about a hundred years, it was restored by David and was merged in the grand temple that was built by Solomon. But again its true purpose was gradually lost sight of. Formalism with its attending wickedness more and more increased until in Israel the Lord was compelled to cry out: “I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though ye offer Me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thyvials. But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.” Amos 5:21-24. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 68.2}

Also in Judah, by Isaiah, He was compelled to make a like plea: “Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When ye come to appear before Me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread My courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto Me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I can not away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hateth: they are a trouble unto Me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isa. 1:10-18. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 69.1}

Yet His pleas were not regarded. Israel was therefore carried captive and her land was left desolate because of their wickedness; and the like fate hung over Judah. And still this danger to Judah was

from the same great cause that the Lord had been striving always to teach the nation and which they had not yet learned: the holding of the temple and God’s presence in that temple as the great end, instead of holding that as only the means to the true end which was that by means of the temple and its ministry in accomplishing forgiveness and atonement, He who dwelt in the temple would dwell in themselves. And so again the Lord pleaded with His people by Jeremiah that He might save them from this mistake and have them see and receive the great truth of the real meaning and purpose of the temple and its service.  {1905 ATJ, CWCP 69.2}

Thus He said: “Behold, ye trust in lying words, that can not profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; and come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? Is this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the Lord. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 70.1}

“But go ye now unto My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of My people Israel. And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the Lord, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not; therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by My name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even thewhole seed of Ephraim. Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to Me: for I will not hear thee. . . . Oh that My head were waters, and Mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of My people! Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave My people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not Me. Jer. 7:8-16; 9:1, 3. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 70.2}

What were specifically the “lying words” in which these people trusted? Here they are: “Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these.” Jer. 7:4. Thus it is made perfectly plain that the people though going through the forms of worship and of the temple service, went through all this merely as forms, missing entirely the purpose of the temple and its services, which was solely that God might reform and make holy the lives of the people by His dwelling in them individually. And missing all this, the wickedness of their own hearts only more and more made itself manifest. For this reason all their sacrifices, worship, and prayers, were only mockery and noise, so long as their hearts and lives were unreformed and unholy. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 71.1}

Therefore the word “came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house,

and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these. For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor; if ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, forever and ever.” Jer. 7:1-7. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 71.2}

Instead of allowing God’s great purpose of the temple and its services to be met in themselves, the people utterly perverted that purpose. Instead of allowing the temple and its services which God in His mercy had planted among them, to teach them how that He in truth would dwell among them by dwelling in their hearts and making holy their lives, they excluded all this true purpose of the temple and its services and perverted it all to the utterly false purpose of sanctioning grossest wickedness and cloaking deepest, darkest unholiness. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 72.1}

For such a system there was no remedy but destruction. Accordingly the city was besieged and captured by the heathen. The temple, their “holy and beautiful house” was destroyed. And with the city and the temple a heap of burnt and blackened ruins, the people were carried captive to Babylon, where in their sorrow and the deep sense of their great loss they sought and found and worshiped the Lord in a way that so reformed their lives that if they had done it when the temple stood, it would have stood forever. Ps. 137:1-6. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 72.2}

God brought them back from Babylon a humbled and reformed people. His holy temple was rebuilt and its services were restored. The people again dwelt in their city and their land. But apostasy again ensued. The same course was again repeated until, when Jesus, the great center of the temple and its services came to His own, the same old condition of things again prevailed. Matt. 21:12, 13; 23:13-32. In their hearts they could persecute and pursue Him to the death and yet outwardly be so holy (?) that they could not cross the threshold of Pilate’s judgment hall “lest they should be defiled”! John 18:28. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 73.1}

And the Lord’s appeal to the people was still the same as of old–that they should find in their own personal lives the meaning of the temple and its services and so be saved from the fate which had overtaken their nation through all its history, because of this same great mistake which they were repeating. Accordingly, one day in the temple Jesus said to the multitude there present, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But He spake of the temple of His body.” John 2:19-21. When Jesus in the temple spoke thus to that people, referring to “the temple of His body” he was still endeavoring, as through all their history, to get them to perceive that the great purpose of the temple and its services always was that by means of the ministry and service there conducted, God would dwell and walk in themselves as He dwelt in the temple, making holy His dwelling-place in themselves, as His dwelling in the temple made that place holy so that their bodies should be truly temples of the living God, because of God’s dwelling in them and walking in them. 2 Cor. 6:16; 1 Cor. 3:16,17; Lev. 26:11, 12; 2 Sam. 7:6, 7.  {1905 ATJ, CWCP 73.2}

And still they would not see this truth. They would not be reformed. They would not have the purpose of the sanctuary met in themselves, that God should dwell in them. They rejected Him who came personally to show to them this true purpose and the true Way. Therefore again there was no remedy but destruction. Again their city was taken by the heathen. Again the temple, their “holy and beautiful house,” was burned with fire. Again they were taken captive and were forever scattered, to be only “wanderers among the nations.” Hosea 9:17. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 74.1}

Again let it be emphasized that the earthly sanctuary, the earthly temple, with its ministry and services, was as such only a figure of the true, which with its ministry and services was then in heaven. When the thought of the sanctuary was first presented to Moses for Israel it was stated by the Lord to him, “See . . . that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.” Heb. 8:5; Ex. 25:40; 25:30; 27:8. The sanctuary on the earth was therefore a figure of the true, in the sense of its being a pattern of the true. The ministry and services in the earthly were “figures of the true” in the sense of being “the patterns” of the true–”the patterns of things in the heavens.” Heb. 9:23, 24.  {1905 ATJ, CWCP 74.2}

The true sanctuary of which this was a figure, the original of which this was a pattern, was then in existence. But in the darkness and confusion of Egypt, Israel had lost the true idea of this, as they had also of many other things which were plain to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob; and by this object-lesson God would give to them the knowledge of the true. It was therefore not a figure in the sense of being a type of something to come that did not yet exist, but a figure in the sense of being an object-lesson and visible representation of that which then existed but was invisible, to train them up to such an experience in faith and true spirituality that they should see the invisible. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 75.1}

And by all this God was revealing to them and to all people forever that it is by the priesthood, ministry, and service of Christ in the true sanctuary or temple which is in heaven, that He dwells amongst men. He was revealing that in this faith of Jesus, forgiveness of sins and atonement is ministered to men so that God dwells in them and walks in them, He being their God and they His people, and thus they be separated from all the people that are upon the face of the earth–separated unto God as His own true sons and daughters to be built up unto perfection in the knowledge of God. Ex. 33:15, 16; 2 Cor. 6:16-18; 7:1. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 75.2}

“God has given me light…. What is it? He has said that the dead are to speak. How?–Their works shall follow them. We are to repeat the words of the pioneers in our work, who knew what it cost to search for the truth as for hidden treasure, and who labored to lay the foundation of our work. They moved forward step by step under the influence of the Spirit of God. One by one these pioneers are passing away. The word given me is, Let that which these men have written in the past be reproduced.”{CW 28.1}

The following  article is a reprint of an article written by A.T. Jones concerning the “nature of Christ”. This article will make clear whether your understanding of the nature of Christ is the faith of Rome or the Faith of Jesus!

“Made Of A Woman”

It is further written: “God sent forth His Son, made of a woman.” Gal. 4:4. He, being made of a woman in this world, in the nature of things He was made of the only kind of woman that this world knows.

 But why must He be made of a woman? why not of a man?–For the simple reason that to be made of a man would not bring Him close enough to mankind as mankind is, under sin. He was made of a woman in order that He might come, in the very uttermost, to where human nature is in its sinning.

In order to do this, He must be made of a woman, because the woman, not the man, was first and originally in the transgression. For “Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” 1 Tim. 2:14.

To have been made only of the descent of man would have been to come short of the full breadth of the field of sin, because the woman had sinned and sin was thus in the world before the man sinned.

Christ was thus made of a woman in order that He might meet the great world of sin at its very fountain head of entrance into this world. To have been made otherwise than of a woman would have been to come short of this and so would have been only to miss completely the redemption of men from sin.

It was “the Seed of the woman” that was to bruise the serpent’s head; and it was only as “the seed of the woman” and “made of a woman” that He could meet the serpent on his own ground, at the very point of the entrance of sin into this world.

It was the woman who, in this world, was originally in the transgression. It was the woman by whom sin originally entered. Therefore, in the redemption of the children of men from sin, He who would be the Redeemer must go back of the man to meet the sin that was in the world before the man sinned.

This is why He who came to redeem was “made of a woman.” By being made of a woman He could trace sin to the very fountain head of its original entry into the world by the woman. And thus, in finding sin in the world and uprooting it from the world from its original entrance into the world till the

last vestige of it shall be swept from the world, in the very nature of things He must partake of human nature as it is since sin entered. Otherwise, there was no kind of need whatever that He should be “made of a woman.” If He were not to come into closest contact with sin as it is in the world, as it is in human nature; if He were to be removed one single degree from it as it is in human nature, then He need not have been “made of a woman.”

But as He was made of a woman–not of a man; as He was made of the one by whom sin entered in its very origin into the world–and not made of the man, who entered into the sin after the sin had entered into the world; this demonstrates beyond all possibility of fair question that between Christ and sin in this world and between Christ and human nature as it is under sin in the world there is no kind of separation, even to the shadow of a single degree. He was made flesh; he was made to be sin. He was made flesh as flesh is and only as flesh is in this world and was made to be sin only as sin is.

And this must He do to redeem lost mankind. For Him to be separated a single degree or a shadow of a single degree in any sense from the nature of those whom He came to redeem would be only to miss everything.

Therefore, as He was made “under the law,” because they are under the law whom He would redeem, and as He was made a curse, because they are under the curse whom He would redeem, and as He was made sin, because they are sinners–”sold under sin”–whom He would redeem, precisely so He must be made flesh and “the same” flesh and blood, because they are flesh and blood whom He would redeem and must be made “of a woman,” because sin was in the world first by and in the woman. Consequently, it is true, without any sort of exception, that “in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren.” Heb. 2:17.

If He were not of the same flesh as are those whom He came to redeem, then there is no sort of use of His being made flesh at all.

 More than this: Since the only flesh that there is in this wide world which He came to redeem is just the poor, sinful, lost, human flesh that all mankind have; if this is not the flesh that he was made, then He never really came to the world which needs to be redeemed. For if he came in a human nature different from that which human nature in this world actually is, then, even though He were in the world, yet for any practical purposes in reaching man and helping him, he was as far from him as if He had never come, for, in that case, in His human nature He was just as far from man and just as much of another world as if He had never come into this world at all.

It is thoroughly understood that in His birth Christ did partake of the nature of Mary–the “woman” of whom He was “made.” But the carnal mind is not willing to allow that God in His perfection of holiness could endure to come to men where they are in their sinfulness. Therefore endeavor has been made to escape the consequences of this glorious truth, which is the emptying of self, by inventing a theory that the nature of the virgin Mary was different from the nature of the rest of mankind; that her flesh was not exactly such flesh as is that of all mankind. This invention sets up that by some special means Mary was made different from the rest of human beings, especially in order that Christ might be becomingly born of her.

This invention has culminated in what is known as the Roman Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Many Protestants, if not the vast majority of them as well as other non-Catholics, think that the Immaculate Conception refers to the conception of Jesus by the virgin Mary. But this is altogether a mistake. It refers not at all to the conception of Christ by Mary but to the conception of Mary herself by her mother.

The official and “infallible” doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, as solemnly defined as an article of faith, by Pope Pius IX, speaking ex cathedra on the 8th of December 1854 is as follows:

By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a special grace and privilege of Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, has been revealed by God, and therefore is to be firmly and steadfastly believed by all the faithful.

Wherefore, if any shall presume, which may God avert, to think in their heart otherwise then has been defined by us, let them know, and moreover understand, that they are condemned by their own judgment, that they have made shipwreck as regards the faith, and have fallen away from the unity of the Church.–Catholic Belief, page 214.

This conception is defined by Catholic writers thus:

The ancient writing, “De Nativitate Christi,” found in St. Cyprian’s works says: Because (Mary) being “very different from the rest of mankind, human nature, but not sin, communicated itself to her.” Theodore, patriarch of Jerusalem, said in the second council of Nice, that Mary “is truly the mother of God, and virgin before and after childbirth; and she was created in a condition more sublime and glorious than that of all natures, whether intellectual or corporeal.”–Id., pages 216, 217.

This plainly puts the nature of Mary entirely beyond any real likeness or relationship to mankind or human nature as it is. Having this clearly in mind, let us follow this invention in its next step. Thus it is, as given in the words of Cardinal Gibbons:

We affirm that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Word of God, who in His divine nature is, from all eternity, begotten of the Father, consubstantial with Him, was in the fulness of time again begotten, by being born of the virgin, thus taking to himself from her maternal womb a human nature of the same substance with hers. As far as the sublime mystery of the incarnation can be reflected in the natural order, the blessed Virgin, under the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost, by communicating to the Second Person of the adorable Trinity, as mothers do, a true human nature of the same substance with her own, is thereby really and truly His mother.–Faith of Our Fathers, pages 198, 199.

Now put these two things together. First, we have the nature of Mary defined as being not only “very different from the rest of mankind,” but “more sublime and glorious than all natures:” thus putting her infinitely beyond any real likeness or relationship to mankind as we really are.

Next, we have Jesus described as taking from her a human nature of the same substance as hers. From this theory it therefore follows as certainly as that two and two make four, that in His human nature the Lord Jesus is “very different” from the rest of mankind; indeed, His nature is not human nature at all.

Such is the Roman Catholic doctrine concerning the human nature of Christ. The Catholic doctrine of the human nature of Christ is simply that that nature is not human nature at all, but divine: “more sublime and glorious than all natures.” It is that in His human nature Christ was so far separated from mankind as to be utterly unlike that of mankind, that His was a nature in which He could have no sort of fellow-feeling with mankind.

But such is not the faith of Jesus. The faith of Jesus is that “as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same.”

The faith of Jesus is that God sent “His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.” The faith of Jesus is that “in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren. The faith of Jesus is that He “Himself took our infirmities” and was touched “with the feeling of our infirmities,” being tempted in all points like as we are. If He was not as we are, He could not possibly be tempted “like as we are.” But He was “in all points tempted like as we are.” Therefore He was “in all points” “like as we are.”

In the quotations of Catholic faith which in this chapter we have cited, we have presented the faith of Rome as to the human nature of Christ and of Mary. In the second chapter of Hebrews and kindred texts of Scripture there is presented–and in these studies we have endeavored to reproduce as there presented–the faith of Jesus as to the human nature of Christ.

The faith of Rome as to the human nature of Christ and Mary and of ourselves springs from that idea of the natural mind that God is too pure and too holy to dwell with us and in us in our sinful human nature; that sinful as we are, we are too far off for Him in His purity and holiness to come to us just as we are.

The true faith–the faith of Jesus–is that, far off from God as we are in our sinfulness, in our human nature which He took, He has come to us just where we are; that, infinitely pure and holy as He is, and sinful, degraded, and lost as we are, He in Christ by His Holy Spirit will willingly dwell with us and in us to save us, to purify us, and to make us holy.

The faith of Rome is that we must be pure and holy in order that God shall dwell with us at all.

The faith of Jesus is that God must dwell with us and in us in order that we shall be holy or pure at all.