19
A KEY TO HOLY SCRIPTURE
(1) It hinges upon Israel's repentance, as before in Matthew 3.
(2) It is connected with a time of
REfreshing
and
REstitution,
in other words, it includes the
REstoration
of the
kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6).
(3) It is vitally connected with the personal return of the Lord Jesus from heaven.
(4) The restitution is that which is the burden of all the prophets.
(5) It is the realization of the promise to Abraham concerning the blessing of the nations.
(6) It is for this reason that Israel were dealt with (both in the Lord's earthly ministry and in the first part of His
risen ministry) FIRST.
This hope of Israel the apostle kept before his converts as the realization of their share in blessing. The
expression which he employs in these six epistles is generally `the parousia'. The sign of the parousia is to be
revealed `immediately after the tribulation', and then shall the Son of man be seen coming in the clouds of heaven
with power and great glory (Matt. 24:30). It does not necessarily follow that because the `sign' of the parousia
follows the great tribulation, and the `brightness' of the parousia consumes the wicked one (2 Thess. 2:8), that the
parousia itself is limited to that period. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 seems to imply a meeting with the Lord in the air
before the final blow is struck against the Beast; but Matthew 24, 1 Corinthians 15:52, and 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17
all speak of the same period, and relate to the time of the last trump, and the Archangel who stands for Israel (Dan.
12; Rev. 12). The apostle joined himself with the church in this personal expectation. `WE which are alive and
remain'. When the same apostle pronounced the words of Isaiah 6:10 which dismissed Israel, he knew that the hope
of Israel was postponed with the nation.
The first four occurrences of the word parousia (coming) are Matthew 24:3,27,37,39. The word, as referring to
Christ, never occurs in Paul's epistles written after Acts 28.
We have seen the main features of the Acts epistles:
(1) The presence of abounding supernatural gifts. Not merely faith-healing, but miracles, which in the case of
the apostles extended to the raising of the dead.
(2) The first place is held by Israel in this period.
(3) The basis of the blessing is the covenant with and promise to Abraham.
(4) The hope is the personal return of the Lord to the earth, to restore all things according to the prophets, and to
make good the blessing of Abraham to the Gentiles, through the medium of a redeemed Israel. Romans 8:24
says, `We are saved by HOPE'; Galatians 5:5 speaks of `the HOPE of righteousness'; 1 Thessalonians 5:8
speaks of the `helmet of the HOPE of salvation'. This was the character of the time.
Use of Old Testament Scriptures in the epistles
One more characteristic is noteworthy, viz. the use of the Old Testament Scriptures in the epistles. The epistle
to the Romans is full of quotations. The apostle cannot get beyond the first verse without supporting his argument
from Scripture. He quotes Habakkuk in proof of justification by faith. In these early epistles it is evident that the
apostle did witness:
`... both to small and great, saying NONE OTHER THINGS than those which the prophets and Moses did say should
come: that Christ should suffer, and that He should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew
light unto the people, and to the Gentiles' (Acts 26:22,23).
Paul had gone to the full limit of the revelation given to him, he had `kept back nothing', he had `not shunned to
declare all the counsel of God' (Acts 20:20-27).
At the same time, the epistles written after Acts 28 contain a revelation that does not find its basis in Old
Testament prophecy, and goes beyond the limits of the epistles written during the Acts. Therefore, either Paul