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1 1 Sunday, February 24, 2013 Grace Life Schl f Thelgy Grace Histry Prject Lessn 94 Rightly Dividing H. A. Irnside: The Publicatin f Wrngly Dividing the Wrd f Truth Intrductin/Review Back in Lessns 82 and 83 we discussed the early dispensatinal witness f H. A. Irnside by cnsidering tw f his wrks: 1) The Mysteries f Gd (1908); and 2) Sailing With Paul (1913). This mrning we want t cnsider Irnside s 1935 publicatin, Wrngly Dividing the Wrd f Truth. On ur desk lies a third editin f Wrngly Dividing the Wrd f Truth that is dated April In the preface t this third editin, Irnside makes the fllwing statements: The fact that tw large editins f this bklet have already been sld and that anther is called fr gives me a sense f real satisfactin indicating, as I had believed, that there is great need fr the setting frth f the truth it cntains and that it is being used t deliver many frm a specius, sul-withering system f teaching that has been spreading... Testimnies have cme t me frm all sides f hpe and enlightenment received, fr which I am grateful t Gd... On the ther hand, my little bk has brught me a full share f abuse and invective. Persnal attacks have been f such character as t be beneath cntempt... My attentin has been called t a mst dishnest effrt t set me teaching f the past frty years in apparent ppsitin t what is herein set frth. I disavw any such change f attitude. The leaflet in questin qutes frm my bks n Clssians and Sailing With Paul, in which I sught t shw that the mystery f the ne bdy is never fund in any ther New Testament writer save Paul, the apstle t the Gentiles, and nwhere in the Old Testament. This I here re-affirm. Paul was distinctly the ne t whm this sacred secret was revealed. In apparent cntradictin t this, qutatins are given frm the present bklet t shw that I nw teach that the mystery f the blessing f Jew and Gentiles n cmmn grund is set frth by thers than Paul; as, fr instance Jhn in the 10 th chapter f his Gspel, when he gives us ur Lrd s teachings as t the unin f His Jewish sheep with ther sheep which are nt f this fld Gentile believers in ne flck under ne Shepherd. The same mystery is pened up in Peter s visin f the sheet let dwn frm heaven... I affirm still that Paul alne speaks f the mystery f the Bdy, but the mystery f the blessing f Jew and Gentiles n the cmmn grund f free grace was revealed t thers befre it was made knwn t Paul... I send frth this third editin praying that the Lrd will use it t deliver many mre frm the unscriptural and psitively harmful teaching f the ultra-dispensatinalists wh, under the guise f setting frth, high truth, are deliberately attempting t rb Christians f the greater part f their Bible. (Irnside, Preface) There is little dubt that the first editin f Wrngly Dividing the Wrd f Truth dates frm early On May 20, 1935, J. C. O Hair addressed a letter t H. A. Irnside that he titled, Wrngly Deriding Christian Brethren. The pening line reads, I have just finished reading yur new Pastr Bryan Rss

2 2 bk, Wrngly Dividing the Wrd f Truth, the reprint f yur Serving and Waiting articles, cncerning ultra-dispensatinalism. (O Hair, Wrngly) In Wrngly Dividing the Wrd f Truth, Irnside cmes ut strngly against what he called ultradispensatinalism and reverses curse frm sme f the statements we studied in The Mysteries f Gd (1908) and Sailing With Paul (1913). The purpse f this lessn is t ascertain what cmprised ultra-dispensatinalism in the mind f Irnside as well as cnsider hw he changed his dispensatinal thinking. Chapter One: What is Ultra-Dispensatinalism? Irnside begins the chapter with a general discussin f dispensatinalism, i.e., defining the wrd dispensatin and ffering examples and illustratins f its meaning. After presenting this intrductry material, Irnside then begins t define what he means by ultra-dispensatinalism. Others have swung t an ultra-dispensatinalism which is mst pernicius in its effect upn ne's wn sul and upn testimny fr Gd generally. Of these ultra-dispensatinal systems, ne in particular has cme int prminence f late years which, fr want f a better name, is generally called "Bullingerism," wing t the fact that it was first advcated sme years ag by Dr. E. W. Bullinger, a clergyman f the Church f England. These views have been widely spread thrugh the ntes f "The Cmpanin Bible," a wrk partly edited by Dr. Bullinger, thugh he died befre it was cmpleted. This Bible has many valuable features and has been a help in certain respects t Gd's servants wh have used it cnservatively, but it cntains interpretatins which are utterly subversive f the truth. Sme f Dr. Bullinger's psitins are glaringly ppsed t what is generally accepted as rthdx teaching as, fr instance, the sleep f the sul between death and resurrectin; and it is a mst significant fact that while he did nt apparently fully cmmit himself t any eschatlgical psitin as t the final state f the impenitent, mst f his fllwers in Great Britain have gne ff int annihilatin, and there is quite a sect in America wh began with his teaching wh nw are restratinists f the bradest type, teaching what they are pleased t call universal recnciliatin, which t their minds invlves the final salvatin nt nly f all men, but f Satan and all the fallen angels. These tw views, diverse as they are, are nevertheless the legitimate ffspring f the ultra-dispensatinal system t which we refer. (Irnside, 8-9) S in the mind f Irnside, ultra-dispensatinalism equates with Bullingerism r thse wh fllw the dctrinal tenants f Dr. E. W. Bullinger. Accrding t Irnside, there are six utstanding psitins taken by these teachers: First, inasmuch as ur Lrd Jesus was "a minister f the circumcisin t cnfirm the prmises made t the fathers," it is insisted that the fur Gspels are entirely Jewish and have n real message fr the Church, the Bdy f Christ. All might nt put it quite as bldly as this, but certainly their disciples g t the limit in repudiating the authrity f the Gspels. Pastr Bryan Rss

3 3 Secndly, it is maintained that the bk f Acts cvers a transitin perid between the dispensatin f the law and the dispensatin f the mystery; that is, that in the bk f Acts we d nt have the Church, the Bdy f Christ, but that the wrd "ekklesia" (church, r assembly), as used in that bk, refers t a different Church altgether t that f Paul's prisn epistles. This earlier Church is simply an aspect f the kingdm and is nt the same as the Bdy f Christ! Third, it is cntended that Paul did nt receive his special revelatin f the mystery f the Bdy until his imprisnment in Rme, and that his prisn epistles alne reveal this truth and are, strictly speaking, the nly prtin f the Hly Scriptures given t members f the Bdy. All f the ther epistles f Paul, save thse written during his imprisnment and the general epistles, are relegated t the earlier dispensatin f the bk f Acts, and have n permanent value fr us, but were fr the instructin f the s-called Jewish church f that time. Furth, the entire bk f Revelatin has t d with the cming age and has n reference t the Church tday. Even the letters t the seven churches in Asia, which are distinctly said t be "the things which are," are, accrding t this system, t be cnsidered as "the things which are nt," and will nt be until the Church, the Bdy f Christ, is remved frm this wrld. Then, it is cntended, these seven churches will appear n the earth as Jewish churches in the Great Tribulatin. Fifth, the Bdy f Christ is altgether a different cmpany, accrding t these teachers, frm the Bride f the Lamb, the latter being suppsed t be Jewish. Sixth, the Christian rdinances, having been given befre Paul is suppsed t have received his revelatin f the mystery in prisn, have n real cnnectin with the present ecnmy, and therefre, are relegated t the past, and may again have a place in the future Great Tribulatin. (Irnside, 9-10) In the mind f Irnside, ultra-dispensatinalism is equal t Bullingerism and is dangerus. Chapter ne is cncluded with an utline f what Irnside believes t destructive effects f ultradispensatinalism. Accrding t Irnside, the six dctrines listed abve are an abslutely Satanic perversin f the truth. (Irnside, 11) Besides these six pints, there are many ther unscriptural things which are advcated by varius disciples wh began with these views and have been rapidly thrwing verbard ther Scriptural teachings. Many Bullingerites bldly advcate the sleep f the sul between death and resurrectin, the annihilatin f the wicked, r, as we have seen, universal salvatin f all men and demns, the denial f the eternal Snship f the Lrd Jesus Christ, and, gravest f all, the persnality f the Hly Spirit. All f these evil dctrines find cngenial sil in Bullingerism. Once men take up with this system there is n telling hw far they will g, and what their final psitin will be in regard t the great Pastr Bryan Rss

4 4 fundamental truths f Christianity. It is because f this that ne needs t be n his guard, fr it is as true f systems as it is f teachers, "By their fruits ye shall knw them." Having had mst intimate acquaintance with Bullingerism as taught by many fr the last frty years, I have n hesitancy in saying that its fruits are evil. It has prduced a tremendus crp f heresies thrughut the length and breadth f this and ther lands, it has divided Christians and wrecked churches and assemblies withut number; it has lifted up its vtaries in intellectual and spiritual pride t an appalling extent, s that they lk with supreme cntempt upn Christians wh d nt accept their peculiar views; and in mst instances where it has been lng tlerated, it has abslutely thrttled Gspel effrts at hme and swn discrd n missinary fields abrad. S true are these things f this system that I have n hesitancy in saying it is an abslutely Satanic perversin f the truth. Instead f rightly dividing the Wrd, I shall seek t shw that these teachers wrngly divide the Wrd, and that their prpaganda is anything but cnducive t spirituality and enlightenment in divine things. (Irnside, 11) Chapter Tw: The Fur Gspels and Their Relatin t the Church All ultra-dispensatinalists are united in their view that the fur Gspels must be entirely regulated t a past dispensatin, accrding t Irnside. (12) Cnsequently, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Jhn are nt t be cnsidered in any sense as applying t the present age. In additin, Rmans 15:8 is used by ultra-dispensatinalists t substantiate this claim. In shrt, Irnside depicts ultra-dispensatinalists as advcating fr the rude severing f the Old Testament r Gspel revelatin frm that f the present age. (14) Matthew 13 is a dispensatinally significant passage fr Irnside in his defense against ultradispensatinalism. Accrding t Irnside, an altgether new ministry begins in Matthew 13 when Jesus begins t speak f the mysteries f the kingdm f heaven. In chapter thirteen, we have an altgether new ministry beginning. The Lrd fr the first time pens up the mysteries f the kingdm f Heaven, revealing things that had been kept secret frm the fundatin f the wrld, namely the strange and unlked-fr frm that the kingdm wuld take here n earth after Israel had rejected the King and He had returned t Heaven. This is set frth in the seven parables f that chapter, and gives us the curse f Christendm during all the present age. As a rule, the ultra-dispensatinalists wuld ignre all this and push these seven parables frward int the tribulatin era after the Church, the Bdy f Christ, has been taken ut f this scene. But this is t d vilence t the entire Gspel and t ignre utterly the histry f the past 1900 years, just as in Revelatin 2 and 3 we have an utline f the histry f the prfessing Church presented under the similitude f the seven letters, s in Matthew 13 we have the curse f Christendm in perfect harmny with the Church letters, prtrayed in such a way as t make clear the distinctin between the Church that man builds and that which is truly f Gd. (14-15) Pastr Bryan Rss

5 5 In Matthew 16, Irnside takes Christ s declaratin that He is ging t build His church as a reference t the church the bdy f Christ. In chapter sixteen f Matthew's Gspel, the Lrd declares fr the first time that He is ging t build a Church r assembly. This assembly is t be built upn the Rck, the cnfessin f the apstle Peter that Christ is the Sn f the living Gd. Hw utterly vain it is t try t separate this declaratin frm the statement in the Ephesian Epistle where we read: (qutes Eph. 2:19-22). Here in the preeminent prisn epistle f which s much is made by the Bullingerites, yu find that the Church then in existence is the Church ur Lrd spke f building when He was here in the days f His flesh... In Matthew 16 yu have the assembly as a whle, cmprising all believers during the present dispensatin. (15-16) Irnside believes that Israel was cmpletely set aside in Matthew 23:37-39 when Jesus said, Yur huse is left unt yu deslate. The dctr then prceeds t attack the ntin that Israel was given a secnd chance t repent during the Acts perid as well as the idea that the natin was nt aside until Acts 28. In the light f the wrds, "Yur huse is left unt yu deslate," hw amazing the presumptin that wuld lead any t declare, as practically all these extreme dispensatinalists d declare, that Israel is being given a secnd trial thrughut all the bk f Acts, and that their real setting aside des nt take place until Paul's meeting with the elders f the Jews after his imprisnment in Rme, as recrded in the last chapter f Acts. (16) The ultra-dispensatinal idea that the Great Cmmissin is nt the church s cmmissin als draws attentin frm Irnside. Referring t Matthew 28, Irnside states the fllwing: Peple wh have never investigated Bullingerism and its kindred systems will hardly believe me when I say that even the great cmmissin upn which the Church has acted fr 1900 years, and which is still ur authrity fr wrld-wide missins, is, accrding t these teachers, a cmmissin with which we have nthing whatever t d, that has n reference t the Church at all, and that the wrk there predicted will nt begin until taken up by the remnant f Israel in the days f the Great Tribulatin. Yet such is actually the teaching. In view f this, let us carefully read the clsing verses f the Gspel: (qutes Matt. 28:16-20). In rder t drive his pint hme, Irnside ffers the fllwing paraphrase f Matthew 28 t help explain t his reader hw a Bullingerite interprets that passage. "Then the eleven disciples went away int Galilee, int a muntain where Jesus had appinted them. And when they saw Him, they wrshipped Him: but sme dubted. And Jesus came and spake unt them, saying, All pwer is given unt Me in heaven and earth, Pastr Bryan Rss

6 6 and after tw entire dispensatins have rlled by, I cmmand that the remnant f Israel wh shall be living tw thusand r mre years later, shall g ut and teach the natins, baptizing them in the name f the Father and f the Sn, and f the Hly Ghst, teaching them in that day t bserve all things whatsever I have cmmanded yu, but frm which I abslve all believers between the present hur and that cming age, and l, I will be with that remnant until the clse f Daniel's seventieth week." (17-18) Irnside then cnnects Mark 16 s accunt f the Great Cmmisisin with Matthew s accunt. Ultra-dispensatinalists have made Mark 16 a battlegrund passage and miss the entire pint f the passage, accrding t Irnside.... they insist that the cmmissin given in verses fifteen and eighteen culd nly apply during the days f the bk f Acts, inasmuch as certain signs were t fllw them that believe. As the cmmissin in Matthew has been relegated by them t the Great Tribulatin after the Christian age has clsed, this ne is suppsed t have had its fulfillment befre the present mystery dispensatin began, and s has n real frce nw. They pint ut, what t them seems cnclusive, that in this cmmissin, as f curse that in Matthew, water baptism is evidently linked with a prfessin f faith in Christ. They are perfectly hydrphbic as t this. The very thught f water sets them faming with indignatin. There must n n accunt be any recgnitin f water baptism during the present age. It must be gtten rid f at all csts. S here where we read that ur Lrd said, "G ye int all the wrld and preach the gspel t every creature; he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth nt shall be damned" (Mark 16: 15, 16), which wuld seem t indicate wrld-wide evangelism, lking ut t the prclamatin f the glad glrius Gspel f Gd t lst men everywhere, this cmmissin must nevertheless be gtten rid f smehw. The way they d it is this: The Lrd declares that certain signs shall fllw when this Gspel is prclaimed. These signs evidently fllwed in the days f the Acts. They declare they have never fllwed since. Therefre, it is evident that water baptism is nly t g n s lng as the signs fllw. If the signs have ceased, then water baptism ceases. The signs are nt here nw, therefre n water baptism. Hw amazingly clear (!!), thugh, as we shall see in a mment, abslutely illgical. The signs accmpanied preaching the Gspel. Why cntinue t preach if such signs are nt nw manifest? (19-20) Finally, in rder t make his pint regarding the Great Cmmissin, Irnside misrepresented the clear cmmn sense meaning f the passage in Mark 16. Nw what f this cmmissin in Mark? Observe first f all that ur Lrd is nt declaring that the signs shall fllw believers in the Gspel which is t be prclaimed by the Lrd's messengers. The signs were t fllw thse f the apstles wh believed, and they did. There were sme f them wh did nt believe... Nw ur Lrd cmmissins the eleven, sends them frth t g t the ends f the earth preaching the Gspel t every creature. There is nthing limited here. It is nt a Jewish cmmissin. It has nthing t d with the restratin f the kingdm t Israel. It is a wrld-wide cmmissin t g t all Pastr Bryan Rss

7 7 the Gentiles, and t g frth preaching the Wrd. Respnsibility rests upn thse wh hear. They are t believe and be baptized. Thse wh d are recgnized amng the saved. On the ther hand, He des nt say, "He that is nt baptized shall be damned," because baptism was simply an utward cnfessin f their faith, but He des say, "He that believeth nt shall be damned." (20-21) Chapter Three: The Transitin Perid Is the Church f The Acts the Bdy f Christ? All ultra-dispensatinalists maintain that the bk f Acts cvers a transitinal perid between the age f the law and the present age during which the dispensatin f the mystery was revealed, accrding t Irnside. There is perhaps nthing abut which the ultra dispensatinalists are mre certain, accrding t their wn expressins, than that the bk f the Acts cvers a transitinal perid, cming in between the age f the law and the present age in which the dispensatin f the mystery has been revealed. They d nt always agree as t the name f this intervening perid. Sme call it the Kingdm Church; thers the Jewish Church; and there are thse wh prefer the term Pentecstal Dispensatin. The general teaching is abut as fllws: It is affirmed that the cming f the Hly Spirit n the day f Pentecst and His baptizing the ne hundred and twenty and thse wh afterwards believed, did nt have anything t d with the frmatin f the Church, the Bdy f Christ. On the cntrary, they insist that the Church thrughut all f the bk f Acts up t Paul's imprisnment was f an altgether lwer rder than that f the Epistle t the Ephesians. Assemblies in Judea, Samaria, and the varius Gentile cuntries, were simply grups f believers wh were waiting fr the manifestatin f the kingdm, and had nt yet cme int the full liberty f grace. The rdinances f the Lrd's Supper and f baptism were linked with these cmpanies and were t cntinue nly until Israel had definitely and finally refused the Gspel message, after which the full revelatin f the mystery is suppsed t have been given t the apstle Paul when he was imprisned at Rme. Frm that time n a new dispensatin began. Surely this is wrngly cnfunding the Wrd f Truth. Hw any ratinal and spiritually-minded persn culd ever cme t such a cnclusin after a careful reading f the bk f Acts, and with it the varius epistles addressed t the churches and peples mentined in that bk, is mre than sme f us can cmprehend. Let us see what the facts actually are. (23-24) Irnside cunters the Bullingerite viewpints expressed abve with the standard Acts 2 Ecclesilgy we have seen many times thrughut this class. He states in part: In the first place, it is perfectly plain that the Church, the Bdy f Christ, was frmed by the baptism f the Hly Spirit... Accrding t Gd, the new dispensatin, that in which we nw live, the dispensatin f the grace f Gd, therwise called the dispensatin f the mystery, began the mment the Spirit descended at Pentecst. That mment the ne Bdy came int existence, thugh at the beginning it was cmpsed entirely f believers taken ut frm the Jewish peple. But in the minds even f the disciples, there was a lng Pastr Bryan Rss

8 8 perid befre they all fully entered int the special wrk that Gd had begun t d. Many f them, in fact, prbably never did apprehend the true character f this dispensatin, as we shall see further n. (24-25) On pages twenty seven and twenty eight, Irnside presses the ultra-dispensatinalist t explain hw Paul s statement abut salvatin being sent t the gentiles in Acts 13:44 is any different frm his statement in Acts 28:28. I ask any thughtful reader: What difference is there between this accunt f Paul's dealing with the Jews, the prclamatin f grace ging ut t the Gentiles, and that fund in chapter 28 f this same bk? In the light f these tw passages, may we nt say that if Paul was given liberty, as we knw he was, t preach fr several years after his first imprisnment, he undubtedly still fllwed exactly the same methd f prclaiming the Gspel t the Jew first, and then t the Gentiles? It is passing strange that these ultradispensatinalists can verlk a passage like Acts 13, and then read s much int the similar prtin in chapter 28. Accrding t them, as we have pinted ut, the dispensatinal break ccurred at this latter time, after which Paul's ministry, they tell us, tk an entirely different frm. It was then that the dispensatin f the mystery was revealed t him, they say, which he embdied in his prisn epistles. He was n lnger a preacher f the kingdm, but nw a minister f the Bdy. The thery sunds very plausible until ne examines the text f Scripture itself. (28) In summatin, Irnside sees n justificatin fr the ntin that Israel was ever given a secnd chance t repent at any pint thrughut the bk f Acts. Fr Irnside, Israel was set aside in Matthew when the Lrd stated, Yur huse is left unt yu deslate. Wrks Cited Irnside, H.A. Wrngly Dividing the Wrd f Truth O Hair, J.C. Wrngly Deriding Christian Brethren Pastr Bryan Rss