The Divine Plan of the Ages
Chapter 16 Answers

1. Give a brief resume of what we have learned of the existence of a personal, intelligent Creator and of His revelation to man.

(page 343) We have seen that both the light of nature and that of revelation clearly demonstrate the fact that an intelligent, wise, almighty and righteous God is the Creator of all things; that all things animate and inanimate are subject to his control; and that the Bible is the revelation of his character and plans so far as he is pleased to disclose them to men.

2. What has been learned in general respecting the ages past and the age shortly to dawn upon the world?

(page 343) We have seen that his great plan is one that has required ages for its accomplishment thus far, and that yet another age will be required to complete it; and that during all the dark ages of the past, when God seemed to have almost forgotten his creatures, his plan for their future blessings has been silently but grandly working out, though during all those ages the mysteries of his plan have been wisely hidden from men.

3. What have we seen regarding the sending of God's Son to redeem the condemned race and of the two elect classes that have been selected during the past ages to constitute the two phases of the Kingdom of Heaven? What have we learned about the "Three Ways?"

(page 344) God sent his Son to redeem the world of mankind and God has been selecting two companies to receive the honors of his kingdom, the earthly and spiritual phases of the kingdom. We have learned the three ways are the Broad Way that leads to destruction, the Narrow Way that leads unto life and the Highway of Holiness which will be opened in the future.

4. What have we understood concerning the world's Day of Judgment?

(page 345) The Day of Judgment can't begin until Christ has come again. He shall judge them during that age by their works, opening to them the books of the Scriptures and filling the earth with the knowledge of the Lord.

5. What has been learned respecting the second advent and the glorious conditions of Messiah's reign?

(page 345) We have learned it will bring joy and gladness to all hearts; it is the day when the Church becomes the Bride, the Lamb's wife; it is the day when the Church will be endued with divine authority and power and will begin the great work for the world, the result of which will be the complete restitution of all things; and it will be a day when the great adversary is bound.

6. What effect should the knowledge of these things have upon the consecrated children of God? In what manner has the Lord fulfilled his promise that He will "give strength unto His people?"

(page 346) It should have a powerful influence upon the consecrated. They should lay aside every weight and hindrance and run patiently the race they have started. God has provided us strength sufficient in his Word. It is a strength derived from a knowledge of his character and plans and of the conditions upon which we may share in them.

7. What will it cost to obtain this knowledge with its consequent strength?

(page 346) To obtain this knowledge and this strength, one must give up all according to their covenant of consecration and to accept God's plan and way and time of doing his great work.

8. Is the giving of the necessary time and energy to this study all that will be required of the consecrated?

(page 347) No, the sincerity of the sacrifice of self will be tested in full to prove one either worthy or unworthy of membership in the little flock.

9. Are we willing thus to follow on, to know more and more of the divine character and plan? If so, what is the best method to be pursued?

(page 347) We must be willing to follow on and prove it, not by the conflicting traditions and creeds of men, but by the only correct and divinely authorized standard, God's own Word.

10. What is our opinion of the value of the Divine Plan of the Ages, as we understand it? Does it appeal to us as of human invention?

(page 348) The divine plan is complete and harmonious with itself in every part and is in perfect harmony with the character which the Scriptures ascribe to its great Author. It carries with it its own evidence of superhuman design, being beyond the power of human invention, and almost beyond the power of human comprehension.

11. What claim is made for this system of Biblical interpretation, which has never been sustained, or even attempted by any other system of theology?

(page 348) No other system of theology even claims, or has ever attempted, to harmonize in itself every statement of the Bible; yet nothing short of this is claimed for this system of Biblical interpretation.

12. While the Bible is thus opening up and disclosing wondrous things to the meek and lowly of heart, how has the light of the present affected the various creeds and traditions of men? What is, therefore, the responsibility of those whom the Lord in His providence has "called out of darkness into His marvelous light?

(page 349) It is affecting them in an opposite manner. They are being recognized even by their worshipers as imperfect and deformed, and hence they are being measurably ignored; and though still subscribed to, they are seldom elaborated, for very shame. We have a responsibility to dispense the truth to the other members of the family of God.