The Chart of God's Plan

352 Pages·2013·1.55 MB·English

EPIPHANY
STUDIES
IN THE
SCRIPTURES

"The Path of the Just is as the Shining Light,
That Shineth More and More
Unto the Perfect Day."

SERIES XVI

THE CHART OF
GOD'S PLAN

14,000 EDITION

"In order that now may be made known … the much
diversified Wisdom of God, according to a Plan of the
Ages, which he formed for the Anointed Jesus our Lord."
(Eph. 3:10, 11—Diaglott.)

PUBLISHED BY

LAYMEN'S HOME MISSIONARY MOVEMENT
1156 St. Matthew's Road
P.O. Box 67
Chester Springs, Pennsylvania 19425-0067

1953 and 1996
To the King of kings and Lord of Lords

IN THE INTEREST OF

ALL HIS CONSECRATED SERVANTS
THAT FEAR HIM, BOTH SMALL AND GREAT

-AND OF–

"ALL THAT IN EVERY PLACE CALL UPON THE LORD;"
"THE HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH,­

- AND OF-

THE GROANING CREATION, TRAVAILING AND WAITING
FOR
THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SONS OF GOD,

THIS WORK IS DEDICATED.

"To make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the
beginning of the world hath been hid in God," "Wherein He hath
abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having
made known unto us the mystery of His will, accord
ing to His good pleasure which He hath pur­
posed in Himself; that in the dispensation
of the fulness of the times He
might gather together in one
all things, under
Christ."
Eph. 3:4, 5, 9; 1: 8-10.

COPYRIGHTED 1953

By RAYMOND G. JOLLY
As Executive Trustee of the Laymen's Home Missionary Movement

REPRINTED 1996
ii
EDITOR'S PREFACE
IT IS with joy that we present this book to the Lord's dear
people, with the fervent prayer that He may use it to bring
rich blessings to all who read and study it. However, only
those who have made a careful and prayerful study of the
book entitled, The Divine Plan of the Ages, will be prepared
properly to understand and appreciate the presentations
herein contained. It is hoped, therefore, that the reader will
first study this famous "Bible Key," The Divine Plan of the
Ages (which we will gladly supply on request), before
undertaking a study of this book, which is supplementary to
the former, and which treats especially of various details
and additional features pertaining to the Chart of the Ages.

In view of the appropriateness of this work to the
message of Rev. 19:6-9, now due to be declared, we
believe that it is the Lord's will that it be provided in book
form as the next in the EPIPHANY STUDIES IN THE
SCRIPTURES series, despite the present high cost of book
publication, the Lord having graciously provided the
needed funds. We wish to acknowledge the able assistance
of our dear Bros. August Gohlke and Bernard Hedman, two
of Bro. Johnson's special helpers, who during his last
illness, and since, helped in preparing the material for
publication in book form. Most of the book's material
having first appeared in the Author's magazines some years
ago, the reader is asked to remember, especially in
connections that refer to the development of the Little
Flock, the time of trouble, the regathering of Israel, etc.,
that these things are set forth as viewed when written, even
though the flight of time has produced further unfoldings
along these lines since then. May God bless this book in its
Divinely-intended mission!

Your servant in the Lord,
RAYMOND G. JOLLY.

Philadelphia, PA.
September 22, 1953.

PUBLISHER'S PREFACE
IT IS our pleasure to reprint this masterful presentation of
God's Plan and present it to our readers. We should keep in
mind, however, that the material was written many years
ago, and should be viewed in this light.

1966 BERNARD W. HEDMAN for LHMM
iii
AUTHOR'S FOREWORD

AS A frontispiece of his book, The Divine Plan of the Ages,
our beloved Pastor had a wonderful chart which by the
Lord's grace he drew up as an exhibition and illustration of
God's Plan. We are happy to reproduce it in this volume. In
a debate with our Pastor in 1903, Dr. E. L. Eaton presented
a chart giving his idea of hades, i.e., that it had two
compartments-a Paradise of bliss for the righteous, and a
Hell or Tartarus of woe for the wicked. He remarked that
our Pastor had drawn up a marvelous chart illustrating his
view of God's Plan and that it was the work of a genius, but
added with reference to his own chart, that it too was a
work of genius, stating additionally that genius consisted of
98% perspiration and 2% inspiration. Our Pastor's reply,
pointing to Dr. Eaton's chart, was, "I agree with Dr. Eaton,
that his chart is 98% perspiration and 2% inspiration"! The
audience, catching the quick wit of our Pastor, fell into an
applause which lasted for five minutes, then subsided, and
then broke out anew for probably another five minutes; for
they saw how his ready wit had completely nonplussed Dr.
Eaton. Of our Pastor's chart we would say that it is 100%
inspiration, for every detail of it squares with the Bible, as
evidenced in his writings.

In the first chapter of this book we have outlined four
Discourses on the Chart. These talks will be a part of the
message of Rev. 19: 6, and should be prepared in Schools
of Prophets or otherwise by brethren able to speak to an
audience or who can be so trained. Our purpose is, not to
supplant our Pastor's works, especially Vol. 1, but rather to
supplement them and to corroborate many of his teachings
on God's great Plan. We pray that this book will be a
blessing to our readers, and help them to be a blessing to
others. And we pray our Heavenly Father to accept this
labor of love, intended to glorify Him, to vindicate His
character and truth, and to exalt our beloved Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ.

Your brother and servant,
PAUL S. L. JOHNSON.

Philadelphia, PA.
July 29, 1948.
iv
CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
THE CHART OF GOD'S PLAN—
ITS GENERALITIES

THE THREE WORLDS. THE THREE AGES OF THE SECOND WORLD.
THE AGES OF THE THIRD WORLD. THE PLANES OF BEING. ............... 7

CHAPTER II
THE BIBLE'S WORLDS AND AGES
(THEIR PARTICULARS)

THE THREE WORLDS. THE THREE ACES OF THE SECOND WORLD. 59

CHAPTER III
THE BIBLE'S WORLDS AND AGES
(THEIR PARTICULARS)
(Concluded)

THE THIRD WORLD. THE MILLENNIAL AGE. THE POST-MILLENNIAL
AGES. THE GLORY OF GOD AND THE CHRIST ETERNAL. ............... 133

CHAPTER IV
THE FIRST HELL OF THE BIBLE

ITS RELATION TO THE CHART OP THE AGES. TWO HELLS
MENTIONED IN THE SCRIPTURES. DERIVATION OF THE WORD.
THREE DEFINITIONS STATED AND APPLIED. TEN POSTULATES ON
THE FIRST HELL. THE SCRIPTURES EXAMINED. ............................... 205

CHAPTER V
THE RICH MAN IN HELL-WILL HE EVER
COME BACK?

THE LITERAL INTERPRETATION. TWELVE OBJECTIONS NOTED.
THE SYMBOLIC INTERPRETATION. THE RETURN OF THE RICH MAN
PROMISED. PROOFS THAT THE RICH MAN WILL RETURN. ............ 235
v
CHAPTER VI
THE SECOND HELL OF THE BIBLE

THE LAKE FIRE SYMBOLIC OF THE SECOND DEATH. SIX THINGS TO
BE CAST THEREIN. IT IS THE SOUL THAT IS DESTROYED. TEXTS
MENTIONING THE LAKE OF FIRE. THE TWELVE OCCURRENCES OF
THE WORD "GEHENNA" EXAMINED. THE PARABLE OF THE SHEEP
AND GOATS. SODOM AND GOMORRAH AS AN EXAMPLE OF
ETERNAL FIRE. SHEOL SOMETIMES REFERS TO SECOND HELL. .. 259

CHAPTER VII
THE HIDDEN MYSTERY

THE CHRIST, HEAD AND BODY. MISCONCEPTIONS OF OLD
TESTAMENT PEOPLE AND JESUS' DISCIPLES. FIRST REVEALED,
LATER MANIFESTED. MEANING OF THE WORD "CHRIST." OTHER
SCRIPTURE DESIGNATIONS FOR THE CHRIST. HOW HIDDEN IN
MYSTERY. AND FIGURES DURING PAST AGES THE FINISHING OF
THE MYSTERY ITS MANIFESTATION TO OTHERS THAN THE
SAINTS. ........................................................................................................ 299

CHAPTER VIII
SUMMARIES ON VARIOUS FEATURES
OF GOD'S PLAN

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF JESUS' ASCENSION. THE TWO SIN­
OFFERINGS. JESUS' WORK IN THE SATISFACTION OF JUSTICE. THE
CHURCH'S SHARE IN THE SATISFACTION OF JUSTICE. THE SARAH
FEATURES OF THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT. THE CHURCH
WALKING THE NARROW WAY. THE SUFFERINGS OF THE CHURCH.
THE GREAT COMPANY. THE FALL OF MAN. THE PERMISSION OF
EVIL. THE TWO SALVATIONS. ISRAEL'S RETURN. GLAD TIDINGS.
THE BIBLE HARMONIOUS WITH ITSELF. WHY SHOULD WE EXPECT
CHRIST TO REIGN OVER THE EARTH? DOES THE BIBLE HOLD OUT
HOPE FOR ANY OF THE UNSAVED DEAD? DOES THE BIBLE TEACH
A SECOND CHANCE? OUR LORD'S RETURN. THE MILLENNIUM. THE
RESURRECTION. RESTITUTION. THE JUDGMENT DAY FOR THE
WORLD. THE HIGHWAY OF HOLINESS. THE MEDIATOR OF THE
NEW COVENANT. THE NEW COVENANT OPERATIVE EXCLUSIVELY
AFTER THE GOSPEL AGE. THY KINGDOM COME. CONSECRATION. 313
vi
CHAPTER I
THE CHART OF GOD'S PLAN—
ITS GENERALITIES

THE THREE WORLDS. THE THREE AGES OF THE SECOND WORLD.
THE AGES OR THE THIRD WORLD. THE PLANES OF BEING.

THE Chart of the Ages was made a frontispiece to the first
volume of Studies in the Scriptures, and it is described in
Chapter 12 of said volume; but when, later on, it was
published separately, as a map mounted upon a spring
roller (2 feet, 6 in. x 5 feet), requests came in from every
quarter for such amplified explanations as would enable
friends of the Truth to give comprehensive talks from their
wall charts. It was to fill this requirement, and to enable
many to tell the good tidings of great joy connectedly and
systematically, that our Pastor published outlines for three
chart lectures in a booklet entitled, "Three Discourses on
The Divine Plan." In this chapter we republish these three,
to which we have added a fourth. Many other discourses
will profitably follow, and suggestions for some of them
will be found in Chapters 10, 11 and 12 of Studies, Vol. 1,
Chapter 5 of Vol. 2 and Chapter 8 of this book. After
interesting your audience by the discourses on the chart,
either sell or lend to them one or more of the Studies or
other literature and get them to reading, and follow this up
by assistance on points which may seem obscure. Next we
advise a weekly gathering of such, as a "Berean Circle for
Bible Study." Methods for conducting these very profitable
meetings are suggested in Z 1866; 1900; 4886; P '37, p.
143.
DISCOURSE I
Dear friends, we are met together as a company, all
interested, I trust, in God's great plan of salvation-The Plan
of the Ages. From the fact of your presence here I assume
that you are all believers in God, and that you accept the
Bible as His Word. We will consider now
7
8 The Chart of God's Plan.
such portions of that Word as outline the PLAN OF THE
AGES. Our talk on the plan of God will be illustrated by
this Chart. This Chart is merely designed as an aid to the
mind through the eye in grasping the subject.

We believe in the old theology of the Lord and the
apostles and prophets. We have no new thing to present to
you—no plan or theory of our own; and I do not want you
to receive anything that I say simply because I have said it,
but because I have shown it to you in the Word of the Lord.
Much that I have to say I trust you will recognize as old
and familiar truths, while some things will be recognized as
truths forgotten or overlooked or never noticed heretofore;
but I trust that you will all be ready to accept without
equivocation whatever I shall show from the Scriptures to
be the Word of the Lord, whatever has been "written for
our learning," as the Apostle suggests (Rom. 15: 4). It is in
order that we may be "thoroughly furnished" that we are
told to "search the Scriptures" (John 5: 39); and if we want
to be wise toward God, we want to come as learners and to
receive the instruction which God gives us in His Word,
which is "able to make us wise unto salvation," with the
"wisdom that cometh down from above" (2 Tim. 3: 15;
James 3: 17, 18). We want to put on the "whole armor of
God" (Eph. 6: 11).

(Point to Chart.) We will now consider some of the
features of God's plan as illustrated by this Chart. I want
you to dismiss from your minds for the present this lower
part of the Chart-all below this upper horizontal line.
(Point.) That part of it will be considered at future
meetings. Now we want to give our attention to these upper
arches and the small ones in them.

We do not approach the subject of the Divine plan from
a scientific standpoint. The boasted philosophies of this
world are often "falsely so-called," and tend more to
confuse the mind than to help it. The plan of God is not
abstruse, but plain and simple; and yet it is really a science;
it is knowledge from the highest source. The word
"science" simply means truth. And
Its Generalities. 9
therefore when our Lord said, "Thy Word is truth," it was
equivalent to saying, "Thy Word is the science." He also
prayed, "Sanctify them through thy truth"—through this
science. We therefore invite you to the study of this, the
true science—the Plan of the Ages revealed in the
Scriptures.

But some may object that they see nothing scientific in
the Bible. It is a common saying that "The Bible is an old
fiddle upon which any tune can be played"—a Methodist
tune, or a Baptist tune, or a Presbyterian tune, or any tune
the player may desire. I am sorry to have to say it, dear
friends, but it is nevertheless a fact that the Bible, the
greatest of all sciences, the testimony of the greatest of all
scientists, has suffered more at the hands of its friends than
at the hands of any other class of people. They forgot to
"search the Scriptures" and to "rightly divide the word of
truth," and went to creed-making, each according to his
own liking. From the standpoint of infidelity, it is true that
the Bible appears contradictory; but it is so only because of
the varied human misrepresentations, and not because it is
so in fact. By observing order (Heaven's first law) the
whole Word now opens up to God's people who are
hungering and thirsting for it; because God's time for
unsealing it has come. Having been thus blessed of God
through observing His order in the study of His Word, I
come to you as God's servant and yours, bringing you this
grace. Prove all things by God's Word, and hold fast that
which is good-that which you find to be in accord with the
Bible, and that only.

We call attention first to these three upper arches
(Pointing to Chart), leaving out these lower ones. These
represent dispensations. By dispensation we signify the
order or general character of these periods of time—God's
course in reference to mankind during a certain time. The
manner of His dealing in each of these dispensations is
attested by the facts of history. The first dispensation
(Point) extends from the creation of Adam to the flood; the
second dispensation