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These words of Dr. Bullinger's were published in 1911-12 in "Things to Come", and
in 1913 it will be remembered he fell asleep. Readers who know only the Doctor's
"Church Epistles" should note carefully his own correction of his earlier views.
In the same series, after having quoted I Thess. 4: 13-18, Dr. Bullinger writes:
"Paul was here confirming what the Lord had said in Matt. 24: `This great
trumpet' is the `trump of God' in I Thess. 4: and the gathering is the gathering of `them
that are alive and remain'. This is the work assigned to the angels."
We will not multiply quotations, but must give the following, because of its bearing
upon our own position.
"We can quite understand, and fully sympathize with those who, like ourselves,
have spoken or written on I Thess. 4: as being the great charter of our hope of the
Lord's coming. But we ought thankfully to relinquish it when we find we have a better
hope (our italics), which we can enjoy all the more because we need not reproach
ourselves with having robbed Israel of their hope, which is only postponed, and will yet
have a wondrous and literal fulfillment for them." (Foundations of Dispensational Truth,
Dr. E. W. Bullinger).
We trust that sufficient has been set before the reader to lead to the conviction that the
hope before the Church of the Acts was in entire harmony with what "the Prophets and
Moses did say should come".
#5.
The Gifts of the Spirit, and the Abrahamic Promise.
pp. 235 - 238
The present series of studies was suggested by a correspondent who, among other
things remarked, "Surely the Charismata cannot come under this heading". This is
certainly an important point, and if it can be shown that the endowment with supernatural
gifts, which was the peculiar privilege of the early Church, is unrelated to the testimony
of Moses and the Prophets, or goes beyond anything they have said, then it will be
necessary for us to reconsider our position.
We begin our investigation, where spiritual gifts first make their appearance, viz., in
Acts 2: The day of Pentecost having fully come, and the number of the twelve having
been completed, a most wonderful thing happened.
"They were all filled with the holy ghost, and began to speak with other tongues as the
Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2: 4).
The assembled multitude were "confounded" and "amazed . . . . . saying one to
another, What meaneth this?" Others mocked and said, "These men are full of new