HARVEST GLEANINGS III

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St. Paul Enterprise, August 27, 1915

TO KNOW THE TRUE GOD IS TO LOVE HIM

Columbus, O, August 22 Pastor Russell is in our city today. We report his discourse on the text, "The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together." (Isa. 40:5) He spoke as follows:

This text implies that a time is coming when everybody will know about God's glory all flesh. This will include not only all who will then be living, but all who have ever lived. We rejoice that God has so grand a Program. We are given an intimation of this as we look into the past and observe that the glory of the Lord has not yet been revealed to the world. God gave some little intimations of His glory, His character, His design, to Abraham, telling him that by and by He purposed to bless the world through Abraham's Seed. But this was only a promise, not a revelation of God's glory; for only Abraham believed. Nevertheless he got a glimpse of that glory as he believed God's promises; so also did Isaac and Jacob. They saw faintly a great purpose of good on God's part, and a time coming when the curse of sin would somehow be rolled away and the true knowledge of God would reach all the human family. But still the glory of the Lord was not revealed.

This hope, though vague, continued with the Israelites, descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. After their deliverance from Egyptian bondage, at Mount Sinai God made a covenant with them that, if they would keep His Law, they might demonstrate their qualification to be the Seed of Abraham to bless the world. But they were unable to keep the Law. None of the fallen race of Adam are able. (Rom. 3:20) The hope of becoming the Spiritual Seed of Abraham faded from the minds of the Israelites. But to strengthen them the Lord promised He will make a still greater covenant than the Law Covenant. Jer. 31:31-34

Israel could not keep God's perfect Law. They failed because they were sinners, members of Adam's race, born in sin, misshapen in iniquity, in sin did their mothers conceive them, as the Bible explains. Finally God sent His Son, "born under the Law," put under the Law for the very purpose of demonstrating that what other Israelites could not do He could do. He kept the Law, thus manifesting that "He was holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners." Sinners were unable to keep God's Law, but Jesus kept it, and to Him was given the great privilege of being the promised Seed of Abraham.

QUALIFIED TO BE BLESSER OF THE WORLD

His keeping the law, however, did not make our Lord Jesus Abraham's Seed spiritual, but merely demonstrated His qualifications. Even though He was perfect, as a man He could not have done the work which God had purposed; for He could not have given life to the race under sentence of death. In order to give life to the dying world He must first lay down His own life as an equivalent price for the life of Adam, in whom the whole race fell; and He must also be a perfect Jew, to redeem those who were under the Law. He must take the step of sacrificing His human life-rights, that He might do the Father's will. This He did.

But even then Jesus was not the Seed of Abraham that should bless the world, except as we might regard Him, properly, as having been begotten to be this Seed. At the time of His baptism, He was begotten of the holy Spirit to a New Nature. It was here that He consecrated His human life-rights unto death. During the three and one-half years of His ministry He carried out His Covenant of Sacrifice. This work was not fully accomplished until at Calvary, when He cried, "It is finished!" and died. When on the third day God raised him from the dead, He was fully qualified to be the Blesser of the world as Abraham's Spiritual Seed no longer a man, but a spirit Being, privileged, with the price at His command, the value of His own human life-rights, to make application of it, in the Father's due time, as a Redemption-price for Adam and his race.

Since His resurrection, our Lord Jesus is the Spiritual Seed of Abraham. Speaking of Jesus' death and resurrection, the Apostle Paul says, "Wherefore (because He was obedient unto death) God hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name." (Philip. 2:8-11) This name is Christ, the anointed of God. Christ Jesus is anointed to be Head over the Church which is His Body, anointed to be the great High Priest after the Order of Melchisedec, anointed to be King of kings and Lord of lords when He shall come into His Kingdom.

TO THE JEW FIRST

The Bible tells us that God, who made this glorious arrangement for our Lord Jesus, provided also that a certain class should be gathered out of the world to be members of His Body, otherwise called "the Royal Priesthood," "the Bride, the Lamb's Wife," and His Joint-heir. The work of calling out this class has been going on for nearly nineteen hundred years. It was necessary that our Lord should begin this work of selecting the Church with the Jews. Acts 3:25, 26; 13:46; Rom. 1:16; ll:7-21

In a very few years the Lord apparently found 25,000 Jews who were thoroughly consecrated to Him- "Israelites indeed, in whom was no guile." These were ready to receive Him. To such He said, "Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God; but to them that are without, all these things are spoken in parables and dark sayings." As it was in the Master's day, that none of the unprepared ones, either Jews or Gentiles, could walk in Jesus' footsteps, and as the things revealed to the worthy ones were revealed to their eyes of understanding, so to us today the Master's words equally apply. The Lord's consecrated ones shall see, shall understand. It is not God's will that others shall know now. Their time to know will be that mentioned in our text. By and by the Message shall go forth to all.

We recall the various steps in the selection of the Church. First God selected the worthy ones from the Jews in Palestine, then from those scattered abroad. The Apostle says [HGL744] that everywhere the Jews were sought first, and only after they had had their opportunity was the Gospel Call sent to the Gentiles. God wished a very cosmopolitan class to reign with Christ for the blessing of all mankind. Jesus is the Head of all these. All must be true-hearted, all must come through the same low gate of Consecration, all must walk the same Narrow Way walk in the footsteps of their Forerunner. Whether Jews or Gentiles at the start, all are now New Creatures in Christ. Old hopes, aims and desires have passed away, and all things have become new. 2 Cor. 5:17

TRUTHS REVEALED IN DUE SEASON

We have briefly traced the history of the world. During all this time the glory of the Lord had not been revealed. It is true that our Lord Jesus knew about the glory of the Father. The Apostles also saw the glory of the Lord clearly before their minds. Not many, even in the early Church, could see it clearly. (Eph. 1:18-23) The Apostles, though fully in God's favor, were not privileged, however, to know certain things that we may now know. Certain truths are dispensational and cannot be understood until the due time has arrived. To illustrate: The Prophet Daniel sought to understand certain things that had been declared to him. But the angel replies, "Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are sealed till the Time of the End." Dan. 12:8-10

The Scriptures indicate that we entered the period of the Time of the End in the year 1799. Since then, the knowledge of the times and seasons has been forthcoming. The times and seasons have gradually been becoming better understood as the due time came for the wise in Heavenly things to understand. To this class it will be given to know everything that the Very Elect are to know, until the time when Christ shall receive the last of these unto Himself. We should rest ourselves in the Divine arrangement of things, and not seek to ferret out in advance that which the Lord has not yet made clear.

God is able to make clear in due time whatever He has decreed shall come to pass. If we are in the right attitude of heart, we shall have enough to keep the eyes of our understanding open so that we can appreciate the things which are freely given us of God. His true children are witnesses to the fact that He has been opening the eyes of our understanding more and more during these last days. Certain great blessings have come to God's people, particularly during the past forty years riches of grace and knowledge.

SATAN A LIAR AND MURDERER

The world in general has been laboring under a gross misconception of God, which had its start six thousand years ago in Eden. God had said to our first parents respecting the fruit of the forbidden tree, "In the day that thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die." But Satan, through the serpent, said, "This is not true. Ye shall not surely die." Thus he made God a liar, while he himself became a murderer; for he slew our race. (John 8:44) But God remained quiet. He did not smite Satan down, although He sentenced Adam and Eve to death and drove them out of Eden.

Practically the whole world has believed Satan's lie. Mankind believe that when they appear to die they really become more alive that what is called death is really a good thing for them. Practically everybody believes that God spoke falsely when He said, "Dying, thou shalt die." This has greatly dishonored the Heavenly Father. Throughout the entire six thousand years He has been misrepresented. Satan's lie became the foundation for other falsehoods and misrepresentations. It has continued and multiplied; and upon it have been built all sorts of wrong suggestions regarding God and His character.

This lie is today at the bottom of nearly all wrong doctrine. God has been misrepresented to be the One who originally planned all the terrible tortures which we are told are being inflicted in places called Hell and purgatory. That God had to put men somewhere is the theory. A dead person could remain in the tomb, unconscious; but if the supposedly dead person is alive, he must be put somewhere. "Only a handful fear God, and therefore the great mass," they say, "must have gone to a place of torture; being alive and unfit for Heaven, they must be in Hell or Purgatory."

Many say, "God would be glad to destroy man if He could, but He made man too well; and although He said that man would die, He cannot Kill the soul, which is immortal." Nearly everybody believes this nonsense about our Heavenly Father. They slander Him, making Him out to be the worst being that ever lived. One cannot picture any more wicked being than we have been told that our Heavenly Father is. We are given all sorts of descriptions, according to the measure of ignorance or willfulness of the one describing God the God of all grace and mercy. Why has He not smitten those who have thus blasphemed His Holy Name? But He has not. He has even allowed some of His children to do this in ignorance and blindness.

To some in his day the Apostle Paul expressed the fear that Satan would beguile many of the Church just as he had beguiled Mother Eve by false doctrine, misrepresenting the Almighty. (2 Cor. 11:3) It is very difficult for us to realize that we ever came into such a condition that we believed such lies; yet we must have done so. It is difficult for us to sympathize with others who are in that condition; but we were once just as blind ourselves. Ignorance is the great tool which the Adversary has used to blind the whole world. (Acts 3:17; 1 Cor. 2:8; 2 Cor. 4:4)

Satan is a rebel against Jehovah. He wishes that the glory of God should not shine into the hearts of mankind; for it has a sanctifying influence, causes us to will and to do God's good pleasure. Satan would hinder us, would keep us in the dark respecting God's real character.

GOD'S PURPOSES WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED

The idea of some evangelists that God is weeping and gnashing His teeth over the condition of our race is because they do not know that there is a God of all Wisdom and power, who has full control of the situation. He has a broad, deep Plan that will all work out properly. He is not giving it any anxious concern whatever; for He has laid the responsibility upon His Son Jesus, as the Bible sets forth.

In this great work of human uplift the Church will be associated with her Lord. For a thousand years it will progress. As the Bible declares, Messiah will bless all of [HGL745] Adam's race, restoring to them all that was redeemed for them at Calvary. It was a man that was lost. It was an earthly home in Eden that was lost. It was an earthly likeness of God that was lost. Jesus came to seek and to recover that which was lost; and

by the end of the Millennial Age the world will have been restored and will be ready to be received of the Father. 1 Cor. 15:24-28

Then, the Bible tells us, God will have another work for Christ to do. It will be for Him, as Jehovah's Agent, to test all mankind in their rich perfection at the end of the Millennial Age; and whoever is not in full heart sympathy with righteousness, whoever does not hate iniquity, will be destroyed from amongst the people. Everything unfavorable to mankind will be rooted out. He will destroy all who love unrighteousness and sin, both root and branch. (Mal. 4:1) St. Peter, speaking on this subject, says, "These, like natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, shall utterly perish." (2 Pet. 2:12) From this Second Death they will have no resurrection. "They shall be as though they had not been." Obad. 16

GOD'S GLORY SOON TO BE REVEALED

But the point which I especially wish to make is this: During all these six thousand years past, the glory of the Lord has not been revealed. All flesh have not seen His glory. The only ones who have seen it are God's spirit-begotten children. (Rom. 8:9) All that these have seen of His glory has been since they became God's children. Then the eyes of their understanding began to open; and if they have been faithful, their eyes are opening more and more to behold the glory of God the grandeur of His character, His loving kindness and His tender mercies. All the good qualities that Satan says our Father does not possess, He does possess; all the evil qualities that Satan says He has, He does not have.

During the Millennial Age, all flesh shall have opportunity to see God's glory. They will all come to see, to understand. "All the blind eyes shall be opened, and all the deaf ears unstopped." God's keeping quiet for so long, not defending Himself against His traducers, will ultimately redound to His greater honor. (Psa. 50:21) When the world really come to know that God is Love, they will have such a revulsion of feeling from all the wrong thoughts they have had in the past that it will cause them all the more to appreciate the riches of God's glorious character. As a dark background often sets forth more perfectly the harmonies of a beautiful picture, so the darkness and misrepresentation concerning Jehovah will ultimately redound to His praise. The world will all the more love and honor Him. This will be only the beginning of their adoration, which will increase as His glory and His goodness continue to unfold before their astonished eyes. To know our God is to love Him.

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