1 Sunday, March 17, 2013 Grace Life Schl f Thelgy Grace Histry Prject Lessn 97 Bible Study Fr Bereans: August, 1935 thrugh December, 1935 Intrductin Back when we first began discussing J. C. O Hair in Lessns 85 and 86 we presented fur majr histrical challenges t understanding the thinking f this imprtant figure. N knwn chrnlgy. Few wrks are dated. Oral Traditin legendary infrmatin. Pssible tampering by thse wh have reprinted O Hair s wrks. Majr strides have been made in establishing the histrical develpment f O Hair s thinking since Lessns 85 and 86 were riginally taught. The fllwing three tactics have been utilized t bring clarity t this situatin. Used dated surces and dating clues in ther nn-dated writings t piece tgether a general chrnlgy. Used advertisements in the back f O Hair s dated bklets t fill in the general timeline. This has allwed us t piece tgether a general histry f O Hair s thught develpment. Lked at the writings f O Hair s critics t help establish what he was teaching and when he was teaching it. Using these methds we have been able t bring great clarity t the develpment f O Hair s thinking ver time. We have seen him migrate frm a traditinal Acts 2 psitin t what appears t be a hybrid Acts 28 psitin by early 1935. Beginning in August f 1935, O Hair began publishing a mnthly Bible study magazine titled Bible Study fr Bereans. The magazine was issued frm August, 1935 thrugh July, 1937. Fr the histrian, these magazines are a Gd-send because they allw us t see mnth by mnth ver a tw year perid hw O Hair s thinking changed. Furthermre, they are dated s there is n questin as t where O Hair std thelgically within any given mnth. Lastly, an analysis f the cntents f these dcuments reveals a time f great changes in O Hair s thinking. In general we have bserved the fllwing perids f prgressin in O Hair s thinking thrughut the years cvered by Bible Study fr Bereans that we will seek t prve ver the next cuple lessns. Twards Acts 28 (August, 1935 December, 1935) this perid is characterized by pr-acts 28 statements frm the pen f O Hair as he seems t be wading thrugh his ptins after having largely rejected the traditinal Acts 2 psitin. During this perid, O Hair appears t have nt read either Bullinger r Welch very extensively despite having cncluded that Acts 28:28 is very significant in the dispensatinal dealings f Gd. Pastr Bryan Rss
2 Anti-Acts 2 and Anti-Acts 28 Perid during this time perid O Hair and his cmpanins are clearly against the traditinal view f the church beginning at Pentecst. During this perid it becmes clear that O Hair and his cmpanins have read Welch and Bullinger and begin t frcefully reject sme f the majr tenants f Acts 28ism. Twards Mid-Acts having rejected much f what Welch and Bullinger have t say, during this perid O Hair begins the prcess f transitining away frm Acts 28ism twards the mid-acts psitin. Twards Acts 28 The ideas expressed by O Hair during this perid have much in cmmn with the views we bserved in Wrngly Deriding Christian Brethren (early 1935) in Lessn 96. Bible Study fr Bereans (August, 1935) In Test the Things That Differ, O Hair states the fllwing abut the significance f Acts 28:28. While Christ was n earth in the midst f Israel, and during the Acts perid, while Israel s temple in Jerusalem std, and that Natin remained in their land; while Gd s rder was t the Jew first, there was a prgram f signs, visins, miracles, angelic visitatins, healings, death judgments and religius ceremnies; but after Paul declared Gd s judgment upn Israel, in Acts 28:25 t 28, abut 63 A.D., there was a new rder, ushering in the signless age f grace. I Timthy 5:23; II Timthy 4:20; Philippians 2:2. Is Gd s prgram fr tday ne f grace mixed with signs and religin, r a signless age f pure grace and n religin? Test the things that differ. The Prgram f the Bk f Acts, Lessn 1 shws the same tensin we have already bserved in Unscriptural Cathedrals, and Much, Little, N Water. O Hair is still exhibiting tensin between Acts 2 and Acts 28 statements within the same cntext. In the light f this cnfessin f the Apstle Paul, n ne can prve Scripturally that the new mvement was nt the Church f Gd. Even thse wh insist that the Church f Gd existed befre the Day f Pentecst must acknwledge that that Church had a new beginning n the Day f Pentecst after the Hly Spirit came dwn frm heaven. Nw we ask this questin t prvke the student t prayerful, serius, thughtful study: granted that the Bible teaches clearly that there was a new beginning f the Church f Gd n the Day f Pentecst, with the pening f the Bk f Acts, can we nt state with Scriptural authrity that there was a new beginning f the Church f Gd with the clse f the Bk f Acts? In Fundamentalists Divided O Hair bemans the fact that Fundamentalists d nt recgnize a dispensatinal change with the end f the bk f Acts. Pastr Bryan Rss
3 The dispensatinalists declare that the dispensatin f the grace f Gd began n the day f Pentecst, several weeks after Christ; that the cmmissin f Mark 16:15 t 18 intrduced that dispensatin f the grace f Gd n the day f Pentecst, and which has cntinued t the present time and which dispensatin will clse with the rapture f the Bdy f Christ, in accrdance with I Thessalnians 4:13 t 18. The dispensatinalists are nt nly warm hearted but htheaded in their determinate ppsitin t the ultra-dispensatinal teaching that Gd caused the Apstle Paul, after the clse f the Acts perid, t prevent a revised Church prgram; after that perid nt nly t present Divine truth that supplemented the truth f the Acts perid, but sme new truth f that perid. Bible Study fr Bereans (September, 1935) Beware f False Prphets mentins Wrngly Dividing by Irnside and warns against man fllwing. There are prphets, really saved men wh make false accusatins against their Christian brethren, with whm they disagree as t the applicatin f II Timthy 2:15: rightly dividing the Wrd f truth. Being unable t answer their brethren with the Wrd f Gd, they resrt t exaggeratin and false charges as t their teaching. They try t intimidate Christians wh are untaught and unestablished and keep them frm beying Gd s Wrd as expressed in Ephesians 4:3 and Ephesians 3:9, by maligning and misrepresenting servants fr the Lrd wh wuld d the will f Gd and lead Christians int the deeper truth f Gd. They scare pr ignrant believers with the cry f Bullingerism. An example f this is the ungracius and unjust statements in the recent bklet f a Fundamental brther, called Wrngly Dividing the Wrd f Gd. In Church Creeds, O Hair clearly states that he believes there t be a difference between Paul s ministry befre and after the clse f the bk f Acts. We believe it is altgether essential t distinguish between things that differ. One specific example is t knw the difference between the call and ministry f the Twelve and Paul and t knw the difference between Paul s ministry befre and after the clse f the Acts perid. We believe that members f Christ s bdy shuld bey Ephesians 3:9 and Ephesians 4:3 t 6. Gleaning Frm the Bk f Acts cntains statements that are still very traditinal in nature i.e., Acts 2. Speaking f the salvatin f the Twelve Apstles, O Hair wrte: They were saved befre the new dispensatin was ushered in n the day f Pentecst. We have been saved since the clse f the bk f Acts, since the days r years f grace the Lrd extended t Israel after they had killed the Prince f Life and cmmitted the unpardnable sin by blaspheming and rejecting the Hly Spirit. Pastr Bryan Rss
4 Statements like this ne indicate that O Hair was in agreement with Sir Rbert Andersn abut the transitinal nature f the bk f Acts. We als bserved this in the previus lessn. In Lst and Recvered Truth O Hair makes a distinctin between the Pentecst Church f Acts 2 and 3 and the Bdy Church f Ephesians 1:19 t Ephesians 2:21. This distinctin between tw different churches, ne during the Acts perid and a different ne after the clse f the bk f Acts, is a hallmark view f Acts 28ism. Until students f the Wrd f Gd are willing t advance frm 33 AD t 63 AD with the deslatin f Israel, they cannt see the difference between the Pentecst Church f Acts 2 and 3 and Bdy Church f Ephesians 1:19 t Ephesians 2:21. S lng as they insist n the baptism f the Pentecst Church, instead f the ne baptism f the Bdy, they will nt see, r make thers t see the dispensatin f the mystery. Bible Study Fr Bereans (Octber, 1935) The first thing that is ntable abut this editin f the magazine is that O Hair intrduced his audience t the writings f ther authrs: Harry Bultema, Charles F. Baker, Vincent Bennett, T. Lenard Lewis, Otis Sellers, and T. W. Wellard. In Tlerance Withut Cmprmise O Hair argues that his Fundamentalist brethren have n answers t the fllwing questins. O Hair further annunced that these subjects were t be discussed at the Berean Bible Cnference t be held at Nrth Shre Church Octber 7-11, 1935. Thse f us wh are respnsible fr the messages which are printed in this Bible-study magazine state that ur Fundamentalist brethren, whm we recgnize as members f the One Bdy f the risen Christ t which we belng, cannt prve by the Wrd f Truth rightly divided: 1. That the Bdy f Christ began histrically n the day f Pentecst. 2. That the natin Israel was set aside by Gd with their rejectin f Christ befre r at the time He was crucified. 3. That the sign gifts f Mark 16:16 t 18 and I Crinthians 12:8 t 11 are fr members f the Bdy f Christ tday. 4. That the Dispensatin f the mystery (Ephesians 3:9) began n the day f Pentecst. 5. That there was n difference between the gspel f the circumcisin given t Peter and the gspel f uncircumcisin given t Paul. Galatians 2:7 t 9. 6. That there was n difference between Gd s prgram fr the Church in Paul s message after Acts 28:28 and befre that judgment was annunced. 7. That the One baptism f Ephesians 4:5 is water baptism. The Gspel, The Kingdm and the Church by Charles F. Baker makes clear distinctins between the Gspel f the Kingdm and the Gspel f the Grace f Gd. In additin, Pastr Baker makes the fllwing pr-acts 28 statements: Pastr Bryan Rss
5 THE CHURCH, WHICH IS HIS (CHRIST S) BODY (Ephesians 1:22 and 23) is specifically said t have been a mystery hidden frm the ages past and its truth first revealed t the Apstle Paul (Ephesians 3:1 t 9). This church is t be distinguished frm the cngregatin f Israel (Acts 7:38), and frm the church in existence when Christ was n earth (Matthew 18:17), and if it had its beginning at the time f the revelatin f the Mystery, it is t be distinguished frm the Church f Gd which existed during the Acts perid. Gd has nwhere definitely stated when the Bdy f Christ began, but we d knw that it was nt befre Pentecst, and that the full revelatin f truth cncerning the Bdy was nt made until Paul reached Rme as a prisner. The all imprtant thing t knw is that, as believers, we are members f His Bdy, made accepted in the Belved and cmplete in Him, and even nw seated with Him in heavenly places, that ur citizenship is in heaven, frm whence als we lk fr the Saviur, and that we are called upn t walk wrthy f this vcatin wherewith we are called, endeavuring t keep the unity f the Spirit in the bnd f peace. This can be accmplished nly as we recgnize ur great seven-fld unity: ne bdy, ne Spirit, ne hpe f ur calling, ne Lrd, ne faith, ne baptism, and ne Gd and Father f all. The Dispensatin f the Mystery by Vincent Bennett cntains the clearest Acts 28 statement in the Octber, 1935 issue. Fr the Dispensatin f the Mystery special Divine chice was made f the instrument fr the revelatin and this peculiar ministry was cmmitted t the Apstle Paul. But it was nt made knwn until the crisis was reached in Acts 28 by the setting aside f Israel... In this dispensatin hearings, tngues and ther sign-gifts have ceased. These passed away with the setting aside f the peple Israel (Acts 28:25 t 28) and cnnected with this distinct message, we are enjined t keep the sevenfld unity, Ephesians 4:4 t 6. There is ne Bdy and ne Spirit, even as ye are called in ne hpe f yur calling: One Lrd, ne faith, ne baptism; One Gd and Father f all, Wh is abve all and thrugh all and in yu all. It is a great blunder t have Israel set aside befre Acts 28:25 t 28 r t cnfuse the ne baptism f Ephesians 4:5 with Israel s water ceremny. Water culd never add a sinner t Christ. T. Lenard Lewis in his article titled The Clse f Acts als makes Acts 28 statements. The Bk f Acts very significantly clsed at this place and then in the Epistles written after the statement f Acts 28:28, we find Paul explaining the Mystery, hid frm ther ages, but nw made knwn: the Mystery amng the Gentiles Christ in yu the hpe f glry ; the mystery cncerning the believer s identificatin with the risen Christ seated in the heavenlies... When the times f the Gentiles were ushered in, after Isaiah s first usage f ur passage, gvernmental authrity was taken frm the Jew and given t the Gentile. When Paul finally quted it in Acts 28:26 and 27, spiritual authrity was taken frm the Jews and given t the Gentiles. Sn thereafter the judgment fell and Jerusalem and the temple were destryed and the Jews were scattered abrad in fulfillment f Luke 21:24; Matthew 23:37 t 39. We d seriusly blunder t teach that Israel was set aside Pastr Bryan Rss
6 with the death f Christ. Gd gave them years f grace in answer t the Lrd s prayer n the crss. Cmpare Luke 21:20 with Matthew 23:38 and Acts 28:25 t 28 and decide whether Israel s deslatin tk place in 33 A.D. r after 63 A.D. The Octber issue cntains partial qutatins frm D We Wrngly Divide the Wrd f Truth: An Open Letter t Harry A. Irnside by Otis Q. Sellers. O Hair qutes the fllwing sectins frm the Sellers letter in Bible Study fr Bereans: Did Israel Fall at the Crss, Cncerning the Actual Wrds f Christ, Cncerning Mark 16 and the Present Dispensatin, and Cncerning Miracles in Acts. Presently we have n ur desk a cmplete cpy f Brther Sellers letter t Irnside. An examinatin f the dcument reveals that it is very Acts 28ish in its thinking. Brther Sellers maintains the fllwing psitins: the dispensatinal bundary shuld be drawn in Acts 28, defends Bullinger s pstscript thery with respect t Rmans 16:25-27, and that the revelatin f the mystery cncerning the bdy f Christ was nt made knwn during the Acts perid. (Sellers, 16-26) O Hair again demnstrates agreement with Sir Rbert Andersn abut the transitinal nature f the bk f Acts in Gleanings Frm the Bk f Acts, Part 2. He als nce again demnstrates tensin in his thinking. This tensin shws in the cnclusin where O Hair raises many questins but ffers n answers. Cncerning the Bk f Acts, Sir Rbert Andersn, ne f Gd s mst gifted Bible teachers, declares, in his Silence f Gd : My cntentin is that the Acts as a whle is the recrd f a temprary and transitinal dispensatin in which blessing was again ffered t the Jew and again rejected. The right understanding f the Acts f the Apstles... a Bk which is primarily the recrd, nt as cmmnly suppsed, f the funding f the Christian Church, but f the apstasy f the favured natin.... The Law dispensatin was temprary and parenthetical. Galatians 3:19; Hebrews 8:11 t 13. S als is the Dispensatin f the Mystery. Ephesians 3:1 t 11; Ephesians 4:9 t 12; Clssians 1:24 t 28. There was an verlapping f the Law dispensatin int the Acts perid, during which perid even Paul was authrized t becme as ne under the Law t thse wh were under the Law, while Gd s rder was t the Jew first. I Crinthians 9:20; Acts 13:46. This ceased with the revelatin r the prclamatin f the Dispensatin f the Mystery... In clsing, let us suggest that we diligently search the Scriptures and carefully cnsider this questin lest we thughtlessly r hastily answer this questin; what new Divine mvement began n the day f Pentecst? Was it the birthday f the Church which is His Bdy? Was it the beginning f the dispensatin f the grace f Gd, mentined in Ephesians 3:1 and 2? Was it the beginning f the dispensatin f the mystery? Ephesians 3:9. Was it the beginning f a new Jewish r Israelitish church r the cntinuatin f the same church under a new cvenant? Just what began n the day f Pentecst? Pastr Bryan Rss
7 Bible Study fr Bereans (Nvember, 1935) In Gleanings Frm the Bk f Acts, Part 3 O Hair claims that there is n prf that the dispensatin f grace, r the bdy f Christ began n Pentecst.... that there was n message f grace and mercy being preached t Gentiles, and that in these chapters there is nt ne verse r sentence t intimate in any way that the Bdy f Christ, The dispensatin f the grace f Gd r the dispensatin f the mystery began with Pentecst... These few remarks abut Israel and their temple sme years after Peter s name had disappeared frm the Acts recrd shuld help us t better understand ur cnsideratin f the ministry f Peter and the Eleven t Israel, in chapters three t seven, and t appreciate the place f Israel befre Gd during these, and subsequent, chapters in the Bk f Acts, until the judgment f Acts 28:25 t 28. O Hair sets frth twelve prpsitins with respect t bdy truth in Sme Simple Thughts Cncerning Bdy Truth. Fr ur purpses we will nly cnsider a few f the mst imprtant statements. THIRD IN EPHESIANS 1:22 AND 23 WE READ OF THE CHURCH WHICH IS HIS BODY. IN COLOSSIANS 1:24 WE READ FOR HIS BODY S SAKE, WHICH IS THE CHURCH. THE EPISTLES TO THE EPHESIANS AND COLOSSIANS WERE WRITTEN AFTER THE CLOSE OF THE BOOK OF ACTS, WHEN PAUL WAS A PRISONER OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. Ephesians 3:1. NO OLD TESTAMENT PROPHET EVER FORETOLD ANYTHING CONCERNING THE BODY OF CHRIST. IT WAS PURPOSED IN CHRIST BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD... NINTH IN EPHESIANS AND COLOSSIANS WE LEARN THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT SPEAKS OF THE MYSTERY IN CONNECTION WITH THE BODY OF CHRIST. THE WORD MYSTERY MEANS SECRET. IT IS APPARENT THEN, THAT UP TO THE TIME THAT PAUL WROTE EPHESIANS AND COLOSSIANS, GOD HAD KEPT THE TRUTH CONCERNING THE BODY OF CHRIST A SECRET. IT WAS GOD S SECRET. The last article in the Nvember editin is titled Divided Unity and it als shws signs f Acts 28 thinking. There is ne Bdy. There are several churches in the Bible, but Gd has ne and nly ne Church fr tday. That Church is the Bdy f Christ. This Bdy is clearly described in Ephesians and Clssians; but nt in any ther Bk f the Bible. Christ had a little flck while He was n earth. Luke 12:32 and 33. That was a kingdm flck different frm the Bdy f Christ as t hpe and calling. They were nt preaching the Glrius Gspel f the Blessed Gd, which was cmmitted t Paul s trust. I Timthy 1:11. They knew nthing whatever f the Bdy f Ephesians and Clssians. They were instructed by their Messiah as t Israel s kingdm hpes and given the gspel f the kingdm. Pastr Bryan Rss
8 Bible Study Fr Bereans (December, 1935) Sme Questins and Scriptural Facts Fr Meditatin previews an article that was t appear in the January 1936 editin f the magazine by Charles F. Baker. In this article Pastr Baker was arguing: Hw culd the last days f Jel s prphecy be the beginning f the church? Read the message f ur brther Chas. F. Baker in ur January editin. He is ging t shw in that message the flly f teaching that Peter s last days Kingdm Message n the day f Pentecst was the first day f the Bdy f Christ. Hw culd Jel s last days mean the Bdy s first days? If we teach that the Kingdm f heaven, prclaimed in Matthew, Mark and Luke, has been pstpned until after the Bdy f Christ has been cmpleted and remved frm earth, then why nt teach that the last days prclaimed by Peter and the Eleven have been pstpned until after that Bdy has been cmpleted? If the Bdy f Christ was nt prphesied as having anything t d with Israel s last days, why have that Bdy begin histrically when the last days message was prclaimed? Vincent Bennett wrte a piece fr the December issue titled, Brief Studies in Ephesians in which it is very clear that the mystery cncerning the bdy f Christ was nt made knwn until Paul s Epistle t the Ephesians after the clse f the bk f Acts. Paul s later Epistles have a distinct message fr this age. In them is fund truth fr us cncerning the Church which is His Bdy, as distinct frm kingdm truth fr Israel. May Gd reveal t us what is the hpe f ur calling, character and destiny! T this end we are ging t study the Epistle t the Ephesians which was written by the Apstle Paul during his imprisnment at Rme, after the final rejectin f Israel and the judicial sentence in Acts 28:27 and 28 Fr the heart f this peple is waxed grss and their ears are dull f hearing, and their eyes have they clsed: lest they shuld see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and shuld be cnverted, and I shuld heal them. Be it knwn therefre unt yu, that the salvatin f Gd is sent unt the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. In The Lrd s Supper O Hair attempts t argue that the Lrd s Supper is fr the church despite having articulating many views that wuld seem t suggest therwise. Fr several reasns sme Christian brethren teach that the Lrd s Supper is nt fr the bservance f members f the Bdy f Christ in this present dispensatin when it is surely the Christ-given respnsibility f every believer t make all see what is the dispensatin f the mystery, in bedience t Ephesians 3:9. They say that the Lrd s Supper is nt mentined in any f Paul s Prisn Epistles, in which are set frth the hpe and calling f the Bdy f Christ; that the Lrd s Supper was a religius rdinance which had its rightful place in the Acts transitinal perid, while the Natin Israel was n trial; but that it ceased with signs and water baptism... The cntentin f these Christian brethren is, that the Lrd s Supper must be eliminated frm this perid f special Gentile Pastr Bryan Rss
9 favr by the same exegesis and dispensatinal principle that is emplyed fr the eliminatin f the sign gifts f I Crinthians 12:8 t 11, and the water baptism f the Acts dispensatin, frm Gd s prgram fr the Bdy f Ephesians and Clssians. They als teach that till He cme in I Crinthians 11:26 had n reference t the calling n high f the Bdy f Christ, but had reference t anther aspect f the Lrd s cming. S far as I knw, nly ne f these Bible teachers, wh has given up the Lrd s Supper fr the Bdy f Christ, teaches that the Church f Gd f the Secnd Chapter f Acts is identical with the Bdy f Christ in Ephesians and Clssians. They differentiate between the Pentecstal Church f Gd and the Church which is Christ s Bdy. But all claim that the Church f Ephesians and Clssians has n cnnectin with Israel s New Cvenant, but that the Lrd s Supper has, and therefre the Lrd s Supper shuld be eliminated with water baptism by the same applicatin f the principle set frth in II Timthy 2:15, rightly dividing the Wrd f truth. I am here submitting several bjectins t the arguments f these Christian brethren, althugh agreeing with them that during the transitinal Acts perid, when the believers had nt the several hundred written Scriptures telling f the death and cming again f Christ, the Lrd s Supper may have been mre needed as a reminder f the finished wrk f the Sn f Gd, than it is tday. O Hair, J.C. Bible Study fr Bereans. August, 1935. Wrks Cited O Hair, J.C. Bible Study fr Bereans. September, 1935. O Hair, J.C. Bible Study fr Bereans. Octber, 1935. O Hair, J.C. Bible Study fr Bereans. Nvember, 1935. O Hair, J.C. Bible Study fr Bereans. December, 1935. Pastr Bryan Rss