[As filled with admiration (as we are) for the former editors of Welsh Tract Publications, we are amazed at how many deep and profound articles of Elder Trott were left out of the published compilation! We intend to rectify this deficiency in an upcoming eBook which will contain ALL the articles that we know of by Elder Samuel Trott. - ed]
Brother Beebe: I received the letter a short time since from a person in Indiana, who has been connected for several years with the old school Baptists, was formerly in the licking association Kentucky, and seems still favorably inclined to them, though he has been excluded for certain sentiments he holds; and I think justly. He appears to embrace in his belief, the two-seed view of a principle of wickedness; the freewill Baptist notion of the entire destruction of the wicked; and that of the non-resurrection of the bodies of the saints. He wishes my views, through the Signs, on the point, whether any part of God's creation will suffer endless pain. I have hesitated somewhat about whether to comply with his request, 1st. Because I doubt whether the readers of The Signs in general read any information on this point. 2nd. Because I have learned by past experience that when a child of grace is left, for a time, to be let off by the Wiles of Satan, into a notion calculated to overthrow his faith and bring confusion into the church, his mind is in a very similar situation to that of one who is being buffeted with doubts and despondency. This ladder will have a turn so as to put From him, every word of consolation you may give, and every evidence of his gracious state you may bring. So the other, his mind is persuaded that certain ideas of his, must be so, and the scriptures must be construed to suit his notion, and however certain worded texts may in opposition to his favorite notion, he will give a turn to it so as to ward off its testimony from his mind. The Holy Spirit alone can remove in either of these cases, the jaundiced influence from the mind, so that either may see things in their true colors. But still in the case of this person as in other cases, it may be right to hold forth the truth to his view as we know not when the Lord may please to remove the smoke from his vision. At any rate, we may bear our testimony against the error as an antidote against others being infested with it. And it may be, that if the Lord should guide me to a plain declaration of truth, in the case, he may bless the remarks to the reclaiming of his brethren from his error, and the saving of a soul from death, according to James 5.21. I hope therefore the readers of the signs will bear with my occupying a space therein, upon this subject, and other points connected with it.
I would in the 1st place, if I could come at it in Christian faithfulness and meekness, admonish this Mr. B. And others of the evil of indulging in curious speculations on religious subjects, or of trying to fix an import to certain expressions or passages of scripture different from what has been the general understanding of them by the saints. Mostly, I presume, there is some inducement influencing the mind to invent an explanation of certain scriptures from their obvious import. Some may be influenced by a desire to appear more discerning than others, and as leaders, to strike out a new track. Others may have other motives, As for instance, elder Parker informing his system, seems to me to have desired to find an apology for God in his passing by a part of the human family in his purpose according to election. This he finds by making them out not to be directly His creation in Adam's. Mr. B. Goes somewhat further in this apology. Elder Parker left the seat of the serpent to suffer everlasting punishment, but Mr. B. Would have them just die off, and like decaying vegetables dissolved into their component atoms, no longer exist as distinct organizations; whether of matter or spirit; and so of the bodies of the Saints. But when has God required, or needed, from poor weak man, any apology to be made for him, in reference to any part of his government? Or in particular for his having purpose to make manifest the Excellency of holiness, and the glory of his character, by contrasting with it, the evil and everlasting effects of sin, indulge whom he saw fit injustice to have their own course? If God had seen any such apology or explanation of his government over the wicked, proper, he would certainly have given it in his word. If he had intended it should be understood, that by the sentence passed upon the woman, he was making her instrumental in bringing forth a spurious progeny which he would not own nor treat as is creation in Adam; would he have simply said, “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception,” without giving one word of Intimation in that sentence, or in any other part of the scriptures, that one part of the human family was any less the product of his creating power, in making man, or the subjects of his moral government, than the other? For such idea is not declared in a single text in the Bible, so that the position laid down by our two seed brethren, is without a single text to back it, that would not more naturally bear a different construction from that which they give it.
I would entreat those brethren and Mr. B. Calmly to reflect on this subject, and seriously inquire with themselves whether it is a plausible idea, that if God had required of his people that they should believe such a notion as elder Parker, invented concerning the origin of sin and of the devil's seed, he would not have so declared it in his word. This being wise beyond what is plainly written in the scriptures, and arresting certain portions thereof to extort from them a seeming support of a favorite theory, never has been productive of any good to the children of God; but On the contrary, it has been productive of much confusion and division among the churches of Christ. Why not let the declarations of God's words stand as he hath delivered them, which such explanations of his word and government, as that word contains, and as he gives us in our experience, and leave what he has not clearly revealed, with him, under the assurance that he is god, infinite in wisdom, power, goodness, and truth; And therefore that every purpose and event of his government will result to the glory of his justice and the greatest possible good? Mr. B. Supposes that there is a great difference in God's creation of man mentioned in Genesis 1.27, “and the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” I understand him to suppose that in the first of these texts, the creation designed is that of what he calls the inner man, and to be the same with the creation of his people in Christ Jesus. But by just letting the scriptures explain themselves, we find by Genesis 5.1-2, that in the day that God created man in his likeness, and created them male and female, he called their name Adam, that is, earthly man, as the word Adam signifies.
In exact accordance with the disc, we find in the distinct formation of the female out of man, that she was formed of the earthly part of the atom; and he, therefore, says, “This is now” not spirit of my spirit, but “bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.” Genesis 2.23. Thus by letting the scriptures explain themselves Mr. B. supposing the distinction is given to the winds, and the distinction in the two accounts, Genesis 1.27, and 2.7, is simply this, that in the first God gives the information that man was created in the image of God, or as the apostle explains it, Romans 5.14, as the figure of him that was to come, and then thus creating him, he created them, male and female. In the other text, he gives an account of the manner and matter of man's formation. Elder Parker, and so Mr. B., instead of letting Adam stand as God placed him, as merely an image, or a figure of God, as he was to be manifested in Christ Jesus, makes him like Melchizedek, an actual representative of Christ, making his posterity be exactly Christ’s posterity; and of course, ought to make his bride be Christ’s bride or Eve to be the church; For it was as we have seen, in creating man as male and female, that God created him in his image. If we will allow the scriptures further to testify we shall find that Adam and his posterity are as distinct from Christ and his posterity, as the earth is from heaven, or flesh is from spirit, see First Corinthians 15.45-49; and John 3.6.
In reference to the idea, that God will save all that he created in Christ, and destroy all the rest; I will remark, that what was created in Christ could not be a subject of salvation. For his people in their spiritual life, in which alone they were created in him, were created in him before the foundation of the world, or in eternity, and before time began. Hence God has been their dwelling place in all generations, before the mountains were brought forth, or ever he formed the earth, or the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Psalm 110.1-2. And it is said, “he that dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty,” Psalm 111.1. How could that which was from everlasting be affected by the changes of time? Or that which existed in Christ as a head, apostatize in the atom a distinct head? Or how could sin affect that which dwelt in God, and under the shadow of the almighty?
Strange what inconsistencies men will run into, to get around something that appears incomprehensible in the ways of God! Upon the supposition that only what was created in Christ will be brought to glory, and with the above texts and considerations in view, I ask what becomes of the gospel doctrine of redemption by Christ, of his being made sin for his people, and being made a curse for them to deliver them from the curse of the law? (2nd Corinthians 5.21; Galatians 3.13,) that truth is; That if we will compare scripture with scripture and receive a testimony of scripture as thus given, we shall find that what was created in Christ as a head was the Newman which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness, or that spirit or life which the saints receive from Christ in that birth by which they are born, “not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (Ephesians 4.24; John 1.13.) Adam as a head became a living soul, is, a rational being, and therefore a proper subject of law; and he begat a son in his own likeness and after his own image, of course, a rational being.
In accordance with this, we find the unregenerate have souls that may be destroyed in hell, Matthew 10.28; 16.26. But still, Mr. B. Will probably say that the souls only of the elect were the subjects of Christ’s redemption; not that part which God formed of the dust of the ground. If such were the case, and Christ only represented the souls of his people in making atonement, how can it be consistently accounted for, that he, opened quote bore our sins in his own body on the tree?” First Peter 2.14. If he only represented the souls of his people, why should anything but his soul suffer? The extreme sufferings of his body which he bore on the cross were not necessary to his soul-bearing anguish and wrath, for before he was taken, he said in the garden, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful even to death,” Matthew 26.28; Luke 22.44. With those who are willing to receive the testimony of the Holy Ghost just as he has given it, there can be no doubt of Christ's having represented his people in his body as well as his soul; of course, he must have represented both their souls and bodies in his death; And if in his death, of course there is no escaping the conclusion that he does represent them in his resurrection; and then the fact is established that their bodies of flesh and bones must rise, for so did his, Luke 24.39. So Paul reasons upon this subject, making the doctrine of the resurrection of Christ, and of his people, stand or fall together, first Corinthians chapter 15.
As to the future state of those who die in their sins, whether they are to experience a speedy and entire dissolution, or to suffer an ever-enduring punishment, I would remark, that I cannot conceive why, if their punishment is not to be enduring their bodies being already dissolved into their native dust, should be raised and reanimated; For in that case it would be only to receive a second sentence of immediate dissolution. That their bodies are to be raised we must believe if we place reliance on the plain declarations of scripture. Christ has said “The hour is coming in the which all that there are in their graves shall hear his voice; And shall come forth, dated have done good into the resurrection of life; and dated have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation,” John 5.28-29. Nothing can be more expressly to the point than this, for we well know that nothing but our bodies of dust are deposited into graves, dare to return to dust, and that the dust remains in the grave; And the declaration is, all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth. If therefore these bodies of dust are not going to be raised again, there can be nothing but deception in the expression, all that are in the graves. But there is no deception in the words of truth, And the bodies which are deposited in the graves must come forth, or be raised; and in the case of the evil doers, this coming 4th, is not to the death or dissolution of damnation, as it would be if they came forth thus to be dissolved, but it is to direct opposite, to the resurrection of damnation. Their damnation therefore is not a damnation to a ceasing to exist, but to a revived, a renewed existence, as the resurrection implies.
Further, the importance of those old bodies is shown in that the dead are here personified or identified by that part of them which is deposited in the graves. So in the judgment which is to take place according to revelation 20.12-15, the sea, as well as death and hell, are to deliver up the dead which are in them, to be judged, and are to be cast into the lake of fire. Hence it is evident the bodies are to share with the souls of the wicked in their final judgment and punishment. As to the duration of this punishment, our Lord in reference to the goats places it on exactly the same footing with the life of the righteous, Matthew 25.46. In our translation, one is said to be everlasting punishment, the other, life eternal; but everlasting and eternal are synonymous words in our language, and in the original in both sentences, one and the same word is used, as also in verse 41 where they are commanded to depart unto everlasting fire. Hence the fire corresponds with their punishment, and their punishment is to same as that prepared for the devil and his angels; compare verse 46 with 41. And these goats are evidently designed to represent men as dwelling in this world. See the context. Those who admit that the life of the righteous, and that the punishment of the devil and his angels are to be always enduring must from the words used by our Lord admit that the punishment of these men represented by the goats is equally lasting.
The attempt has often been made, to show that the word rendered everlasting and eternal, does not always and absolutely mean unceasing duration because it is sometimes applied to time things. But the fact is that when applied to these things, it denotes an unceasing duration while time lasts, they can import when applied to events beyond time, anything less than a perpetual or unceasing duration while eternally lasts? The words used in the original, and in the translation, are the most expressive of any in the language of the idea of unceasing duration or of always living, as the etymology of the Greek word implies.
They are in each language, the same words which are used to express the extent of God's existence, and the durability of the happiness of the righteous. If therefore the expression used, leave uncertain the durability of the punishment of the impenitent, they leave an equal uncertainty upon all future existence, whether of God, of the saints, or of devils. On the other hand, if then applied to God's existence, or to the life of the righteous, the words everlasting and eternal clearly conveyed the idea of never-ending existence, then we have a plane and direct thus says the Lord, for the never-ending punishment of those who are cursed of the Lord. Again, our Lord in representing the punishment of those who are cast into hell, mark 9.43-49, describes it by the declaration that “the worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched.” Now we know that worms and fire both die when they cease to have anything to feed on; and where the wickedness or those cast into hell cease to exist, there would be no longer food for the worm or fire. But before Mr. B. Should say that the punishment here designed is to be inflicted on the evil principle which those men have derived from Satan, I have but to refer to Isaiah 66.24, to which evidently our Lord had reference in these declarations, to show that it is the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against God, which are the food for the worm which shall not die and the fire which shall not be quenched.
I would ask Mr. B. Whether he can feel a disposition to hold on to a speculation which would throw an ambiguity over the plainest declarations of scripture, such as the above; and an uncertainty over all future existence, even the very existence of God? I know that our natural feelings shrink from the idea of everlasting punishment, and also that we are unable to comprehend the goodness and wisdom of God in leaving any part of his creation thus to be the subjects of eternal punishment. But shall we presume or arraign God, or his ways or word, at the bar either of our reason or of our fleshly feelings? God has said, “Be still and know that I am God.” Let us then lay our reason and ourselves at his feet, and what we cannot comprehend of his ways or his word, leave with him to unfold at his pleasure, whether in time or in eternity.
Made a Lord by his grace constrained Mr. B period to go back to the church and acknowledge his error in having given way to idle speculations on the subject concerning which we are entirely dependent for all we know on God's revealing it to us. Hence says Paul, “if any man thinks he knows anything” (that is, of himself,) “he knows nothing yet as he ought to know,” 1st Corinthians 8.2. May we all be made to feel a Christian-like dependence on God and acquiescence in his declared will.
Yours,
S. Trott
Centerville, Fairfax County, Virginia, March 20, 1845
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This flashcard contains all of the known articles written by Elder Wilson Thompson from 1832 until he died in 1866. It also contains Simple Truths, His Autobiography in a PDF file, an audiobook, and his work Triumphs of Truth. Also, these works will be fully searchable and will fit on your smartphone. It will also be suitable for printing. The cost will be $25 for the flash drive containing all this information. We accept Zelle, CashApp, Venmo, or personal checks. For more information write to gsantamaria685@gmail.com.
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