THE meeting opened with song by the girls, "Joy to the World, the Lord has Come." This time the song was sung in the Tamil language. This was followed with prayer by Brother Davey.
Brother Russell: I am glad to have this, another opportunity of addressing you and as I think of the fact that I may never see you again, I say to myself, what is the most important thing that I can say or suggest at this time? I will assume that you here have been hearing something lately about the Kingdom, that Jesus, who died for our sins, is shortly to set up His Kingdom to bless the world. I presume you have had brought to your attention the fact that this means great blessing to the whole world. I will assume that as you thus think of the coming blessing to the world your hearts are very grateful to the Lord. The person who receives a favor from another and is not thankful is not a good man or woman. When you think of the great gift that God has thus provided for mankind we ought to be very thankful to Him. Think of the fact that when we were yet sinners God redeemed us through the precious blood of Christ. Not that He redeemed us from eternal torment or purgatory, but He redeemed us from the real penalty of sin, death. This gives a glorious conception of our heavenly Father and also of our Lord Jesus Christ. We do not think of the Father as the Son, or of the Son of being the Father, but we see the grace of the Father manifested through the Son. We see that the Father did not die for us, but that the Son did, and we also see it was the Father's plan from the very beginning that the Son should redeem us. Our Redeemer, you remember, said, "My Father and I are one" – one in sympathy, one in plan, one in operation, and not one in person. That this is what Jesus meant is shown in His prayer on our behalf. He prayed the Father that we might all be one even as He and the Father are one. Evidently He did not mean that we are to become one person, but we are to be one in the sense of having one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and in harmony with God our Father. This is the oneness that we can appreciate, that we should be of one heart, and of one mind, as followers of Jesus and children of the Father. This is the sense, then, in which Jesus and the Father are one. Our Lord Jesus Christ tells us that He was one with the Father because He never had any other will than to do his Father's will. And this is the sense in which we are to be one. We are to have no will of our own, merely to do the will of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said He came not into the world to do His own will, but His Father's will, therefore, they are one. This was the Holy Spirit, the spirit to do the Father's will. And this is what He wants us to have, the same spirit that He had, the spirit, or mind, or will, to do the Father's will. This is the Holy Spirit. Whoever has this disposition has the spirit of Christ. "If any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of His." The spirit of Christ, you see, means the mind that Christ had. His spirit or mind or will was, "Thy will be done" – the Father's will. And that is the very class He is calling for now. And so the Scriptures say that we must all be baptized into the one Body. What one Body? This is a figure that the Bible uses, as if you have a council, that council is one body and it has a chairman for head. That is called the body of the council, and the chairman is the head of the council. This figure is drawn from the human body. Your head controls your whole body, and so this is a picture the Bible gives us of the Church. So the Apostle says, "God gave Jesus to be head over the Church, which is His body." And so, again, he says, "we are members in particular of the Body of Christ," which is the Church. Thus he illustrates the matter and says that one of us is like the hand, another like the foot, another like the [CR230] eye, and we find this account in the 12th chapter of 1 Cor. He says, that the eyes cannot say I have no need of the foot, nor the hand to the eye, I have no need of you. Now get this illustration before your minds; Christ is the head of the Church, which is His Body. Now, then, take the text we had, We are all baptized by one spirit into the one Body; so when you got the spirit of Christ it brought you into this Body of Christ, and if you did not get the spirit of Christ you never got into the Body of Christ. But why should we want to be in the Body of Christ at all? Because only the Body of Christ is to share in all the glory with Jesus the Head. So then do you not see how anxious we should be to get into the Body of Christ? This is the great prize, "the pearl of great price." We saw this afternoon that the Church is to be glorified; also that this Church, which is the Body of Christ, is not the Methodist Church, not the Presbyterian, not the Lutheran, not the Church of Rome, not the Church of England – none of these are the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is made up only of those who have been baptized into Christ. Do you not see how important it is to get baptized into Christ? Take the text of the Apostle again, "By one spirit we are all baptized into the one Body of Christ." This one Body, not being these earthly bodies, is the heavenly Body, the Church. There is only the one Church. It includes all the saintly ones; it does not include any except the saintly ones. So you see, then, it means a great deal to be baptized by the one spirit into the one Body of Christ. Now the question before you to ask yourself, and for me to ask myself, is, "Have I been baptized by this one spirit into the one Body, which is the Church of the living God? What is this one spirit? It is the spirit of God, and we are to be in submission to God, the spirit or disposition that Jesus had. He says, I came not to do Mine own will, but the will of My Father. Have you said this same thing, and have I said this same thing: I am doing not my own will but the will of my Father in Heaven? If we have, we have the same spirit that Jesus had. Otherwise we have not the spirit of Christ, "and he that hath not the spirit of Christ is none of His." That is the message of God through the Apostle. Now it is not merely enough that we have the spirit of Christ tonight, and say, I want God's will to be done at any cost. That is enough for tonight, but not enough for tomorrow. It must be the same tomorrow, "not my will but Thy will be done." God allows it to be a test of our character. He allows temptations to come to you and to me and to all His children, and the Bible explains the matter thus, "The Lord your God doth prove whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart, or no." It is very easy to sit here tonight and say, God has promised me a share in the Kingdom if I give my heart to Him. To do so tonight would be very easy, but God is not satisfied with that; He wants it to be positively your will. Therefore, all Christians are subjected to various trials and tests. But why does God not make it easy for us if He wants us to be His children? Because He wants fixed and positive characters in this glorious company. So the Bible says, blessed is the man that endureth trials, for when he is tried (when his trial is over) he shall receive the great reward. When we think of it but a moment, this glorified Church is to be made so very high, we see it is very reasonable that God should test us. See the trials the heavenly Father permitted to come upon our Lord Jesus Christ; He had opposition of every kind. The Apostle says, He endured great temptations and contradictions against Himself. He says that you and I should consider this in our Lord lest we should become weak and faint in our minds. The Apostle says, "Ye have not yet resisted unto blood." He means that we have not resisted to death, it has not yet cost us our lives to be faithful to the truth and righteousness, but our heavenly Father wants in that glorious Bride class a Bride for Christ, such as will be faithful even unto death. Therefore, He allows all kinds of trials and tests to prove us. It was so with our Lord Jesus Christ. You remember He had His trials; you remember His disciples went against Him, and all the nominally holy people of that time went against Him. They even said He had a devil and was bad. Finally they crucified Him under false charges. In submitting to all this He proved Himself faithful unto God, and God rewarded Him. So the Apostle says, after telling that He was faithful unto death, even the death of the cross, "Wherefore (on this account) God hath highly exalted Him and given Him a name that is above every name." Now if the Father wants to have some share this glory with Him and be His associates in the great Kingdom, should we not expect that He would test these also in the same manner? Therefore, the Apostle says, "Think it not strange concerning the fiery trials that will try you, as though some strange thing happened to you." I do not know but that you and I may have persecutions before we die. The question is whether we will be faithful in that trial or not. The Lord said that we would not likely be faithful if He did not help us. But the Apostle said that God is faithful and will not suffer us to be tempted above that which we are able to bear. In my own experience some people that I believe are Christian people persecute me a great deal, and so it may be that some Christian people may persecute you, just as professedly holy people persecuted Jesus and the Apostles. No matter where the persecution comes from, "Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life."
We see then, my dear friends, how valuable this great prize is. How much do you think it is worth to be a member of the Body of Christ in glory? How much are you willing to pay to be counted a member of the Body of Christ in glory? The Bible tells us exactly how much we will have to give up. It will cost you all that you have, whether that be much or whether it be little. I remind you that Saint Paul, who was well educated and wealthy and had many advantages, sacrificed them all. And what did he say? Did he think he had done very much? He said, I count all things [CR231] but as loss and dross that I may win Christ, and be found in Him. What did he mean by winning Christ and being found in Him? He means that he may win a place in that glorious Body which is Christ, in which Jesus is the Head and the true Church are members.
It will not be decided who will be members in that glorious Church until the resurrection time. We are accepted now as probationary members; just as the Methodist friends accept members into their church and afterwards make them full members, so God counts us as members of the Church. But the real membership in the Church will be beyond the veil, after the resurrection, the first resurrection. Only the faithful will be admitted to that Church.
Now then, my dear friends, the last message I would leave with you on this occasion is this: This elect company of the Church is very nearly completed, and if you have made a consecration of your all to the Lord, and He has accepted you, then, as the Apostle says, "Seek to make your calling and election sure." I cannot help you very much; I can exhort you and call the matter to your attention, but each one must make his own calling and his own election sure by conforming to his own covenant. The more God brings to our attention the wonderful plan, all His promises of the Bible which are for the elect to help us on the way, the more we appreciate the plan. So then, whether you get in or not, or whether I will get in or not, depends upon our having the spirit of Jesus. The words, "spirit of Jesus" mean so much too. To have the mind of Christ toward God the Father, to do the Father's will, the mind of Christ, to do good unto all men as we have opportunity, to be ready to lay down our lives for the brethren, means a great deal. We cannot get this mind of Christ suddenly, for the Bible says that we must grow in grace and grow in knowledge and grow in the fruits of the spirit. As you allow the mind of Christ to dwell in you richly you become more and more Christlike. The Apostle explains what he means by this – lay off all things such as anger, malice, envy, hatred, strife. But, he says, add meekness, gentleness, patience, long-suffering, brotherly kindness, love. If these things be in you and abound, they shall make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord; and an abundant entrance shall be ministered unto you into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Just one more point: Some one will say, we are not perfect as Jesus was; we have weaknesses and difficulties that He did not have. This is all true. Then how can we be perfect as He was? The Bible says that if we give our hearts fully to the Lord we have done in this respect what He did. The Bible says that if, then, we do the best we are able to do we shall be counted by the intentions of our mind. The Bible says that the value of Christ's death is imputed to cover our unintentional sins and shortcomings. So then, I exhort you to have the spirit of Christ and to allow it to abound in your hearts and lives. This is the very same thing that I am trying to do myself; and as many of us as are faithful for a little while will enter into the Kingdom and share it with the Master. But as many as are of the worldly mind, and ready to sell out for some earthly thing, will not be part of the Kingdom.
Now, goodbye, and God bless you all.
The simple sincerity of these natives impressed us very much. There is a thirst among them for knowledge; they are awakening from the condition where they have been made to feel that they are nothing, that they cannot rise higher and that it was never intended they should be anything other than what they are. Therefore, any kindness shown them is greatly appreciated.
There were about thirty of the native workers who are assisting Brother Davey in the work, and about 100 others present.
The remarks by the Committee and Brother Russell were, of course, through an interpreter, and were as follows:
GENERAL HALL: I am very glad to be with you all this evening and to say a few words with regard to the Bible from a soldier's standpoint. You perhaps know that the Lord selects people from all classes and walks of life and it makes very little difference in what capacity one is making his living when the Lord elects him to follow Him in the Truth. God is looking at the heart. In other words, He is requiring that everyone must be honest and straight-forward, and desire to do His will and to be the very best he can in that direction.
In the United States of America, where there are probably more people in the Truth than elsewhere, we find them from all walks of life. We have seen people in the Truth, Bible students, who are from all countries in the world. They may look very different, some white, yellow, black, but the Lord cares nothing about the color, and there is one thing we can recognize all the time, and that is their anxiety and desire to do the very best they can to serve the Lord and to do His will.
Before we came to the Travencore district we heard a great deal about you people. We heard that you would go a long way to hear about the Bible, and that you would do a great many things and make many sacrifices in order to follow out its teachings. After seeing all of you today we are satisfied that these reports are true, and in the next few days to come in which we will be with you we hope to see more of you and to give you all the encouragement that we can and to receive all the encouragement that you can give us. It is a great help and a great encouragement to us to see all of you loving the Bible and its teachings so much. I would be glad to talk with you longer, but I know some of these other gentlemen wish to talk to you, so on that account I will say goodnight, and God bless you.
BROTHER PYLES: Dear friends, I am a merchant. I will speak to you about the Kingdom from a merchant's standpoint. Ever since I was a little boy I prayed, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. But for many years I had little knowledge of what that Kingdom would be. But about fifteen years ago I read a book written by Pastor Russell, and although I had always been a Bible student, I never received God's plan until I read that book. Then I learned what a wonderful time it would be when His Kingdom would be established. I was more anxious than ever before that the Kingdom should be established and I have continued to pray, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is done in Heaven. Now tonight I want to congratulate you all because tonight you are one year nearer to the establishment of that Kingdom than you were a year ago, and I believe very soon that that great time of blessing will be here, and that all the families of the earth will be blessed. All the dead will come forth from their graves. Righteousness will cover the earth even as the water covers the great deep. Are you all anxious for that time to come? Answer, and tell me if you are? I am glad to know it. The General has told you how important it is to be honest. As a merchant I found it very necessary from the very start to be honest, and on that account I was successful, because if I had been a thief I would have had employees who would have cheated me. Now God is taking out people from the world who are honest people to deal honestly with the people in the next age, when He establishes His Kingdom. So you see how important it is to be honest. Now I would advise you all to read the tracts and books which you have explaining the Bible and also listen to our Brother Davey, and the other teachers who talk to you, and also advise you to search your Bibles, to find out if everything you hear is true. I think they will tell you the truth, but it is not safe to believe everybody, so I suggest that you prove everything by the Bible.
Now I say in conclusion that I hope you may grow in grace of God and in the still further knowledge of the Truth.
BROTHER MAXWELL: I am glad to be with you today and to note your zeal and enthusiasm.
I hope you may continue to love the Lord and to love the Lord's word and to endeavor to live according to its teachings, for then you will be sure to get into the Kingdom and God will make you a blessing to others. So I wish you goodnight.
BROTHER ROBISON: I also am glad to be with you tonight.
I remember the words of the Apostle, Partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession. I trust this may be your experience, to consider, to think upon and to think about our great High Priest. We may all be sure He can teach us the things which we wish to know. Also the Master's saying, he that will do His will (the Father's will) shall know the doctrine. I hope that you may pray as the Bible records one as praying, "That which I see not, teach Thou me." With this I bid you goodbye.
BROTHER KUEHN: I also am glad to be here with you today. Since December we have traveled over fifteen thousand miles, have been in Japan and China, and we have found some of the Lord's people in those places, and some are also feeling after God if haply they may find Him, and we have had some blessed experiences in meeting with those; but your expressions of peace and love touch me deeply today. I felt that this was the garden spot of our experience. I saw within your hearts the peace and love that has come into ours. I see it is the message of the angels that heralded the birth of our Saviour. "Peace on earth and good will to men," is in your hearts. May this peace and love grow and may it in some of you bring forth a desire to be of that class which will bless all the families of the earth. There is not much time left to be associated in that Bride of Christ, the Seed of Abraham, who shall bless all the families of the earth. That association up there our Master illustrates in the use of the "pearl of great price" that we should purchase. You can purchase that pearl if you will, whether you have an anna or a rupee, or a cocoanut farm, or whether you are cultivating rice. Whatever you have you can purchase with it that pearl of great price, and if successful in that you may continue your manifestations of peace and love to all the world.
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
BROTHER JONES: I am glad, dear friends, to be with you today. Being a doctor, I am interested in the sick and dying people. We find such all about us – in our own families, and amongst our neighbors. The question often comes to our minds, Why this condition? I want to say that the answer is found only in the Bible. It shows that this terrible condition was brought upon the world [CR233] as the result of the sin of disobedience on the part of our first parents.
Two of the brethren have told you tonight how necessary it is to have the element of honesty. I now wish to mention another element, that of LOVE. God is now looking for people who have both of these characteristics – HONESTY and LOVE. Such people will see that God is honest, and that He is loving. They will also see that His Son Jesus was also honest and loving, and such accepting Jesus as their Saviour, will gladly consecrate their all to God, and seek to have a place in His Kingdom.
Then God will open the way to help the poor world, the sick and the dying. He will give all such many experiences with the sick and dying, to make them sympathetic and loving, so that when His Kingdom is set up – of which you have heard tonight – they will be the doctors and nurses who will bless, and CURE them too, of all their sicknesses, mental, moral and physical and raise the dead – not only the people who may be living on the earth at that time, but all of the twenty thousand millions who have died.
I am sure you all love to do some good thing for other people, but what a joy it will be to actually and fully bless the entire world, by lifting them out of death and healing them completely.
In conclusion, I wish to say that, if you will faithfully follow the Lord Jesus, you will be given a part in this great work of blessing the whole world. Then there will be no more sighing, crying or dying. All tears will be wiped from off all faces – there shall be no more curse. Let us be faithful.
BROTHER RUSSELL: I am very glad to have this opportunity for a few minutes with those who have been more particularly identified with Brother Davey in the work in this vicinity. In a sense we might consider you as evangelists and deacons, and Brother Davey in the light of an elder in the Church here. You know the word elder, as used in the Bible, signifies an elder brother. It does not necessarily mean older in years, but older or more developed in spirituality, and so the word deacon signifies servant. Of course all elders are servants, too. As the Bible suggests, we are to serve one another, and so we read that our Lord Jesus served not Himself, but served us. We do well to always remember His word that as He was the Master, yet He became the servant, and we should also serve one another. We remember His words, "Let him that would be greatest amongst you become servant of all." Whoever would exalt himself shall be abased, but whoever would abase himself in service will be honored of the Lord. So now as I look at you and think of you as so many deacons or servants in His cause, I ask myself, What is the most important thing that these dear brethren could have suggested to their minds at this time? I believe the most important thing for me to suggest to you is humility. You may say to me, Brother [CR234] Russell, we have nothing to be proud of. I know it, none of us have anything to be proud of. We all ought to be very humble, especially when we remember that the Lord has made His special promises to the humble and especial threats to the proud. There is this, however, that becomes a temptation: When the Lord favors us by giving us so much knowledge of the Truth as He is now giving us, it becomes a great test to the humility of the heart. If any one has pride in his heart this knowledge will puff him up. He will be in danger of saying, Oh, I know so much; I know so much more than other people know. We are, indeed, very thankful for what we do know. We do, indeed, see that God has given us wonderful light upon the Bible. We do indeed, see that while some of the great and learned of the world are stumbling, we also see that some of the humble ones of the world are receiving great light; but the Bible says wisely, What have we that we have not received? If we receive it, it is not ours to boast of. It is not more for us to boast of than for the man who is receiving from us to boast of it. We would not see more clearly than many other Christian brethren except that it is God's due time and He has favored us with it. If we have received the Truth of the Lord it is for us to be very thankful for it and not to boast of it. It is for us to feel all the more humble. Do we not see more and more clearly every day that we could not have gotten the truth of ourselves. If then it is a gift of God, and if we properly appreciate the gift let us appreciate God highly in our hearts. And the thankful heart should always be the humble heart; and so the Apostle says, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time." You are to remember that the Truth at the present time is not given to us merely for ourselves, but to be dispensed to the other members of the household of faith, as so much of a talent or privilege which He has given to us. If we bury our talent in the earth we will get no reward from the Lord, but rather disapproval when He enters up the case. But if we exercise ourselves to the best of our ability in the use of the talent the Lord has given us, it will bring forth fruit – to some a certain measure of increase, and to others another measure of increase; some thirty, sixty, one hundred fold, but the Lord gave the same words of approval to all, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joys of thy Lord."
I hope that this will be the Lord's words to every one of us, "Well done, good and faithful servant." We are to keep these points before our minds if we would be faithful. We are servants of the flock, not lords of the flock; faithfully serving the flock, not serving ourselves, and not only faithful, but also good. The goodness refers to a condition of our hearts, the faithfulness of our service.
Before I close, my mind goes to the words of Saint Paul, as he met the elders of the Ephesian church, and to a certain extent the same words would properly enough apply to you, and the evangelists, and those who are telling about the general message. He said, you remember, and I will quote his words, "Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God, which He has purchased with His own blood." This would not all apply to deacons, because deacons are not overseers, and they, therefore, have not so large a responsibility; but there is, nevertheless, a responsibility and a great privilege. The right thought to have is that the whole work is God's work. God is calling the Church to be the Bride of Christ and to be associated with Jesus in the Kingdom. God could call the heathen or others by some supernatural power, and could whisper the message into their ears, or He could send it by angels, but it has pleased God to use a different means. It has pleased Him to use preaching, thus to gather the Bride class to Himself. So the Apostle said, we are co-laborers with God. It is God's work; it is He that is doing it. It will not fail even if we fail. If we fail it will be merely failing to use our privilege. In that event God would use some other agents or agencies in the work. What a great privilege, then, is ours, being co-laborers with God, and His servants in this work. Much of our faithfulness will doubtless depend upon our appreciation of our privileges. I urge, therefore, that you do as I do myself in this matter, namely; Realize that we are only God's servants, go to Him directly every day to ask His special guidance and direction in His special work, and similarly at the close of each day go to Him to make a report. If we have enjoyed blessings and privileges of service, thank Him for the opportunity. If we have failed to be faithful to the best extent, make apologies to the Lord and pledge ourselves to greater usefulness.
So then, dear friends, faithfully remember this word, "Take heed unto yourselves and to the flock of God." He who does not take heed to himself cannot be a proper servant of the Great Shepherd in dealing with the flock. Carry my blessing to those dear friends who did not get to these meetings, and whom we will not see on this visit. Tell them of my love for the Lord and my love for all who are seeking to be in harmony with Him, and all who are seeking to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. I hope you will report as much as formerly to Brother Davey and that you will give report so that we may know about the work here. [CR235]
In conclusion I ask the Lord's blessing upon Brother Davey and upon you all as you continue in His service. Amen.
WHEN this service was concluded it was about ten o'clock at night, and as we were somewhat weary from the long ride, about fifty-five miles, in the motor car, all the excitement of the "Triumphal Procession" and the meetings of the day, we sought our couches of rest. Some of these were on cots, Brother Pyles' was on a plank and the rest on the floor. We all had our bedding with us, it being necessary for travelers to carry some with them if they wish any, as it is seldom furnished throughout India, except in the best hotels in the large cities. Even the trains do not furnish any. Our outfit consisted of a canvas carry-all, in which we rolled up a pad, a blanket or two, a pillow, and as many sheets and pillow-slips as one wished to carry, which were not very many. We were all surprised that we could rest as well as we have been doing under these conditions, but it only shows what one can do when compelled to. As we were preparing for bed the natives still hung around and seemed loath to leave, and Brother Davey was obliged to go out and practically drive them away. Many, however, did not go far, but laid down on the ground in the Tabernacle or anywhere and slept until morning, and they were up bright and early watching for us.
Monday. Well, this is the next day after our wonderful experience of yesterday, which are now matters of history.
We have just had breakfast and are now ready with our bedding and other luggage to start for the motor car. As we are to have a different car today, still larger than the one used yesterday, and which cannot come out here on account of the low hanging branches of trees, we will be obliged to walk about a mile down the road between the tapioca fields and through several little villages before we reach the car. The accompanying pictures were snapped on the way.
The native workers who have been assisting Brother Davey and others there insisted on going with us to our car and carrying our luggage. The girls had fallen in love with Sister Wilson, so she was seated in Brother Davey's little pony cart and they surrounded the cart and kept as close to her as possible all the way down. As love begets love, so Sister Wilson's love for the girls, which she showed by many little kindnesses, drew from the girls their love in return, which was simple and true, and only goes to show that when the right people exercise the proper influence upon the girls and women of India, they will develop into noble women, just what God intended they should be.
Upon arrival at the place where our motor car was waiting, we found it surrounded with natives, some who came some distance to see us off, while many others were there through curiosity. Soon we were off for another long ride to
ON the way we passed through many more villages and between the various fields and through tropical verdure of all descriptions. At times we would see them grinding up cocoanuts, so as to procure the oil, which is quite a source of revenue for the natives. Again we would see them reaping their rice and other grain with hand sickles, the same as of old, and occasionally we would see some out gleaning after the reapers, which reminded us of Ruth and Naomi.
In due time we arrived at Nagercoil and just before we reached the bungalow where we were to have some dinner a small brass band met us, and the way those little fellows would blow their horns was a caution. They evidently thought that the more noise they could make the more we would appreciate their welcome.
That afternoon we went to the town proper to a college or school, which is under the auspices of some denomination, [CR236] the principal of which is an European, but the scholars are all natives, and a bright lot they were too. Arrangements had been made for Pastor Russell to lecture here, so they were looking for us, and soon their auditorium, which held several hundred, was packed to its utmost capacity, and others stood in the doorway, sat on the window sills and filled the porch, which ran around the building, and then many others could not get in. The service was as follows:
THE meeting opened with prayer by Mr. Parker, the principal of the college. He prayed for the Lord to meet with us that afternoon, that we might have given to our minds and souls to realize more what the true light is, and to some extent grasp eternity of life to our souls and lives and that our mission may be widened and that we prepare ourselves for greater work. He also prayed the Lord to bless him who was to speak that he might have a message for our hearts and minds; also to bless all the work done in the Lord's name, and for His glory. He then said:
I am to introduce Pastor Russell.
Pastor Russell: I want first of all to say that we appreciate very much the kind invitation of Reverend Parker to address you this afternoon, and I wish also to say that the Church with which he is connected is not responsible for anything that I may say, so we want to start out fairly. Brother Parker tells me that the most of his congregation are Christians, and I am pleased to know this, but I am also pleased when I have Brahmins and Buddhists in the congregation.
My thought, dear friends, is that there are some of God's people in every land and connected with every religion. When I say God's people, I mean honest people, for I cannot imagine any man as a good man who is not thoroughly honest; no man can be religious if he is not honest. Furthermore, I respect the religious convictions of all mankind. When I meet the Chinese and know what their general convictions are of religion, I say, these people are worshipping God, though, as the Apostle says, they do not understand God; they are feeling after God if haply they may find Him. So when I find people in India who differ from our views in respect to religion, I accord to every man or woman the right to their convictions in respect to their religion. I am glad that people worship, even if not up to my own standard. I would rather see them worshippers in some form rather than atheists or unbelievers.
Now, when we think of the fact that there are so many different religionists in the world, Brahmins, Confucianists, Mohammedans, as well as Christians, and various sects and parties in all these religions and amongst Christians too, when we think of this, it assures us that there is something radically wrong when there can be such discrepancy amongst people who are anxious to know the truth and to hear the truth.
I had an experience which helped me in my difficulties. I lost all my faith in the Lord Jesus, but I never lost my faith in the great Supreme Creator. I said, surely the very smallest form of life is greater than I could produce. I am not able to produce a flea or an ant. The one, therefore, who created that ant or flea must be a great deal greater than I am. And when I see the orderly arrangement of that little animal and the function of life operating in them, their eyes, etc., adapted to their conditions, I perceive the one who made them must be infinitely greater than I. Think of the eye of the beetle, and then of the fish – so different, so different from that of a fly, or of a human being. I said, who gave the fish an eye suitable to the water and that would not be injured under such conditions as mine would be? Some one far wiser than I. And when I contrasted those lower forms of life with men and I see man's towering over ants, and all animals, then I say, if man, with all his ability and skill, is not able to make a flea or an ant, who made man? That wonderful being, the most wonderful in the whole world, with power of mind, with power of intellect, power of morals?
No other creature in the world can duplicate it. Who made man? He must be a great God, a very great God. He must be a very wise God, a very just God, because He gave us the sense of justice and appreciation of right and wrong, which the lower animals do not have. He must have had them or He could not have given them to us. If He gave us a sense of justice and a measure of wisdom, did He not give us love? What would the world do without love? So, [CR237] I thank God that He has given man these qualities which enables him to see what he is. Yet with all this we realize that you and I are fallen and imperfect beings. If we could have a perfect man here now how grand it would be! We wonder and adore when we think of God.
Next my mind says, This God who gave me a sense of justice must have a great sense of justice also. This God who gave me an appreciation of love and goodness, and tenderness and gentleness, how could He ever give me these qualities if He did not possess these qualities Himself? So I said to myself, Here is my God, I will bow down and worship Him. I know not the Lord Jesus, but I still believe in this supreme Creator. I reasoned this way: That He who gave me these qualities must have them Himself, and I said, there is my God, the God that I will worship, and I will find out all I can learn respecting Him and the wonderful plan that He has, why He made me, etc. Having lost faith in my own Bible, I went to investigate the Bibles of what we term the heathen. So I searched amongst them only to find, my dear friends, after careful study, nothing to compare with the Bible, so back I came to the Bible. I said, if there be in the whole world anything that contains the revelation of this great God it must be the Bible. There is no other book that could compare with it; but I said, the Bible does not satisfy me. What was the matter? I became a Higher Critic, and in that view of higher criticism I began to think that I know a great deal more than the prophets knew, or Jesus and the Apostles. So that under the leadership of these professors I could think certain passages in Isaiah never were written by him, or that Daniel never lived, and that Moses did not write the first five books of the law, etc. So I threw away all these at the suggestion of my professors. I said, I cannot subscribe to those things. When I came back what did I find? I found that there were things in the Bible I did not know were there, and things that I thought were there were not there. Today I stand before you believing that the Bible is the only revelation of God. Now I am just as strong a believer in the Bible as I was previously a disbeliever. More so now, because I know why and I know what I believe. I have come to the place where I take not my own guess about it or anybody else's guess; I demand that they shall show me the Scriptures, etc. Is not that the way you would do with algebra or geometry? If someone told you something new, about the shape of the earth, or where Africa is, or India, you would say, I am going to prove or look up the matter, and you will have better satisfaction and contentment.
Now this is my position in respect to the Bible. I once took and preached what my creed said, that how God before He created the world was so wise that He knew everything He intended to do, and foreordained and predestinated everything from the beginning. Then I said, what a pity that only a mere handful would go to glory, only a few be saved, only those who had accepted Jesus and become followers in His footsteps! What about the remainder? God foreordained and predestinated that they should go to an eternity of torment. As soon as that got hold of my mind I said, could it possibly be that the God of all grace and the Father of mercy should have predestinated and foreordained from before our first parents were created that this would be the result – could this be possible? Nevertheless, I could never worship a God like that. Yet I preached it unthinkingly.
After thinking it all over I was very much ashamed of myself for misunderstanding my God and misrepresenting Him. I apologized to Him and told Him that I should have known better, even if I had no Bible at all. Here is a company before us; if any one in this company was making a practice of torturing poor rats in a cellar what would you think of him? You would not want to own him as a friend of yours. You would say, I will have decent associates or none. Shall we suppose that the great heavenly Father which art in Heaven is worse than the worst person here, or ever known? I said, I will never believe anything like that. And more than that, my friends, very few people any longer do believe it. All the different churches are dropping it out. What does it mean? The same as with me, when such become disgusted with all the creeds they say, away with the creeds and with the Bible, too, just as I did, because they thought that the Bible substantiated those things. That is the reason the most intelligent people of today are becoming infidels; they are not called that, however, but they say, We are not like Tom Payne or Robert Ingersoll. Oh, no! The difference is not that these men believe anything more than those of the past did; the difference is that these men were foul-mouthed in their infidelity, uttering [CR238] things in a foul manner, while our higher critics utter what they say in a kindly manner, etc.
I sympathize with these people, but I say, let us be honest with ourselves. If I ever become an unbeliever in the Bible I will say so plainly and not deceive other people. I know now what I believe and why I believe it. That is just what I want to say to you this afternoon, because if you are not yet come to the place where you have had your testings along the line of higher criticism, it is very sure to reach you, as it does everybody. Then if you do not have the foundation of a proper understanding of the Bible, your faith will go down and you will hardly know how it went. But if you do have the right view of the Bible you will have no difficulty whatever.
What is the solution of this matter? I think it is connected with the subject this afternoon, "Where are the dead?" I believe it lays at the foundation of all Christian faith, the foundation of all error, the foundation of all truth also. If we can get that idea rightly settled, I see no reason why Brahmins, Buddhists and Mohammedans cannot all join in together. I think that is just so. You will be surprised if I tell you that it has proven so. Some from all those have said, well, now I see the truth.
(Brother Russell then gave a discourse for about an hour on the subject, "Where are the Dead?" The general outline of his address is familiar to most of you, and we will not give it space here, but refer you to similar remarks delivered at Manila – Letter No. 3.)
WE then went to a third-class bungalow for the night, at which there were absolutely no accommodations, except some empty rooms with stone floors. During the evening, before we retired, quite a large crowd assembled in the large courtyard in front of the bungalow and Pastor Russell spoke to them at some length through an interpreter. This meeting was made specially lively by reason of some disturbers present, especially one women, whom others had urged to interrupt the meeting, etc. The crowd in general remained until the discourse was over, then gathered around us, took all the literature we had in their languages, which we brought from Brother Davey's, and then wrote their names in our books, asking for literature to be sent to them, which will be done.
We then made down our beds on the stone floors and secured quite a good night's rest. The next morning we were ready for breakfast, which we secured at the other bungalow, which was a first-class one, and were soon on our way in the motor car back to this place, which we reached about noon.
THE day was hot so we rested until the latter part of the afternoon, and then started on a new experience. Ox carts were provided for us, which are rather small affairs on two wheels, drawn by two bullocks, which travel at the rate of about two miles an hour. They told us there were springs on the carts, but they had to be seen rather than felt. Two people could squeeze into one of these carts, which we did, and off we started for a trip of about two miles. Then we got out of the carts and tramped over the hills and through the tapioca fields until finally we saw a mud house on the top of a hill in the distance, with two high flag poles in front on which were waving some banners. We were informed that that building was their first Tabernacle, where the work in this section of India first started. Soon we reached there and a service was started for the hundred and fifty or more natives assembled there and who had been waiting for us for some time. Many others would have been there but could not get away from their work. Brother Russell spoke to them at some length, then introduced the Committee one by one to the natives. I then took the accompanying picture of them, the Committee standing in the rear.
We then came back to our ox carts, held a council and decided that the party should split into three groups and go in different directions to visit other classes. This we did, Pastor Russell, General Hall, Brother Kuehn and Brother Davey going in one direction; Brother Maxwell and Brother Robison in another direction; and Brother Pyles and myself, with Brother Theopolis, our interpreter, in another direction. We all had about equal distances to go, some six miles. So we "bumped and bumps" until about nine o'clock, when we reached our destinations. I cannot speak for the others, but when our cart reached a certain point we were told to get out, which we were glad to do, and then we tramped through the fields in the dark. If there were snakes there we did not see them. After traveling for some time Brother Theopolis called loudly and then we heard a faint response in the distance, and after a bit could see a torch, and then some people, and soon several natives came up to us, whom Theopolis recognized as the friends we were trying to find. They led us through a path they had cut for us through the fields to another mud tabernacle. Just as we reached the door about a dozen other girls received us by singing some hymn in their native tongue. We then went inside and it was the privilege of each of us to give a brief discourse to the natives squatted about us. They seemed to appreciate very much our visit, and in fact tried to show their appreciation by presenting the only thing of value they had, namely, three eggs. Such kindness from them, giving us their all, even though it was only three eggs, touched us deeply, and I am sure we will never forget our visit with those people. I might say, that in all these native meetings the men sit or squat in one part of the room and the women in another part, and the latter have their heads completely covered, just the same as the custom in olden times, and is probably that to which the Apostle makes reference.
We then went back to our ox carts and started on our eight-mile return trip, arriving at "Bethel" about midnight. To our surprise, we found that we were the first to return. However, the others came shortly afterward, and their reports of the meetings they addressed were quite similar to ours. We were glad for the trip, but were also glad when it was over – our bones ached for days afterward.
Friday morning. Here we are, still alive after our ox-cart experience of last night, and while waiting to start on our journey I am writing this letter on Brother Davey's typewriter in his new study in the "Bethel." As I am writing I hear the girls singing, "God be with you till we meet again." They are in a building, or tent, close by, which is being used as a lace factory, and the girls are being taught to make lace by using pillows, in which they stick a lot of pins, I think in the form of a pattern, and then work the thread around the pins, etc. They do nice work, but their pay is very small. They are just beginning their day's work, which is always begun with devotional exercises. [CR239]
I will now close, with much love to all, and remain, as B4,
Dearly Beloved in the Lord: SINCE my last letter we have traveled over a great deal of territory, but I will mention only a few things.
I wrote my last letter from "Bethel," Russell-puram. After finishing that letter we started on another walk through the tapioca fields to the town where our motor car was waiting, again passing through the little villages by the way. Getting in our car we were soon off for
THIS we reached about noon and went at once to the Travelers Bungalow, where we stopped on our way out. This is a first-class bungalow, being provided with some comforts which were much appreciated by us all. We had a good lunch, and rested some time before the afternoon meeting, which had been arranged for, and at which Pastor Russell spoke on the subject of "The Destiny of Man." This was held in Victoria Hall, which was filled to its limits with natives having considerable education, and many being present of different religious beliefs, Brahmins, Buddhists and Hindus. At first some of these seemed to sneer at what was being said, but pretty soon the sneer on their faces turned to intense earnestness, for they were hearing something entirely different from what other white people have been telling them about the Christian religion. As a result, long before the evening meeting was due, the hall was packed again and they were impatiently waiting the arrival of Brother Russell. In the evening he discoursed on "The Present Day Unrest," and showed that it was prevalent over here in India, as well as back home in Europe and America, etc. He then pointed out the cause, sin, and also the only hope for any and all in every land – the Kingdom of Christ. He said:
We will treat our subject from the standpoint of a lecture, though, as a matter of fact, what we will have to say will be from the Scriptural standpoint. It would be almost useless for me to say to you that we are living in a great and wonderful day, the like of which the world has never seen, for this is generally recognized by all who have thought on the matter.
The Travencore District indeed has not as large an acquaintance with these present-day wonders as others have. I was pleased to see a motor car here connecting you with the rest of the world and the railroad and the steamship. I inquired for the telephone, but found it had not yet reached you. But these things are gradually spreading to every nook and corner of the whole world. These present-day inventions of various kinds are hardly realized to be present-day inventions by many of us because they are so common and we think they have been with us for centuries upon centuries. You may think of Europe and America having them a long time, but no, they are new to us. You will find from history that the steam railroad is only eighty years old. How strange! How wonderful! They reached America and Europe in advance of reaching India, but they are here. With the railroads and steamships came the telegraph, the telephone, and now wireless telegraph connecting people hundreds of miles apart, etc. If it had been told us in the past, such a person would have been called foolish. Well, wonders never cease. Some of the wise men tell us that we are on the verge of more wonderful things. Mr. Edison, who is identified with many of these inventions, while not a believer in the Bible, states that these are just the beginning of still more wonderful inventions. As a poor boy he gradually got a little common knowledge and God seemed to open the door to him and he began to grasp these things. Not because he was so great or wise, but because God's time had come. God lifted the curtain and light streamed in. There are two ways of viewing these things.
First, the higher critical or evolutionary way. Yet how [CR240] foolish that is when we consider that today we have no one equal to Shakespeare, David, Job and others.
Second, God's time has come. Whether we are Brahmins, Hindus or Christians, we must recognize that there is a great supreme being or ruler of all things, and that all God's purposes are good and are to be accomplished. None are bad purposes. He is a gracious God, and the Bible speaks of Him as "The Father of light and mercy, from whom cometh every good and perfect gift."
Brother Russell then told these people how he left the Bible, investigated the religions of heathenism, and how he finally came back to the Bible again. This he followed with a discourse on "Where are the Dead?" (Letter No. 3 – Manila.)
At the conclusion of the service many requested literature, and they kept several of us very busy for quite a while handing out slips of paper and pencils with which to make application for the literature. This will be sent to them either from the London or Brooklyn offices. We remained over night at the bungalow, getting a good night's rest and partaking of a good breakfast.
Our motor car soon drove up to the front of the bungalow and we were presently all seated and off for another forty-mile ride to Quilon, where we started from, and which is the terminus of that little branch of the railroad.
We took train from Quilon and rode only to the first town,
WE stopped here because of the fact that a great many native Syrian Christians had been holding a conference or convention there and there was an opportunity of getting into touch with them. It seems that in the early part of the Gospel Age some of the Apostles came over into the western part of India and sowed the seeds of truth, and these have been growing more or less all these years, and now there is a goodly number of earnest religious people in this section. Many of their people are very bright and intelligent.
At this place there were no first-class bungalows, so we had to go to a second-class place, where no meals were served. Otherwise it was pleasant. However, we took along with us some canned salmon, some bread, some packages of cakes, etc., and Brother Davey, who accompanied us to this point, also brought some coffee, etc., so altogether we managed to get up a fairly good supper and breakfast.
After supper arrangements were made for some more rapid transit ox-carts, in which we rode to another mud meetinghouse. As we drove up to it a native began to pound a large piece of brass, which was hung by a rope, and this brass would ring out so that it could be heard for miles, and was an excellent bell. Soon the crowds began to assemble, and then we had considerable singing. Several of them sang us a number of hymns in their language, and then we sang a number of hymns in English.
The meeting house was dimly lighted with one smoking lamp, in which was some of Rockefeller's oil. The lamp would gradually get dimmer and dimmer, and I would have to turn it up to get enough light to see to write my shorthand notes of what Brother Russell was saying. The building was crowded, others sat on the mud wall, which was about four feet high, while many others were outside on the grass.
Brother Davey acted as interpreter for a while, and then he was relieved by a native lawyer, who is a Christian. He was certainly a bright man, and were he to be in such cities as London, New York or Chicago, he would make his mark. He rendered splendid service as interpreter, and a profound impression was made upon all. After Brother Russell had talked about two hours and the meeting was practically dismissed, they wanted to hear more, so he said that having heard that the people who had been assembled in that town of late had been discussing a great deal on the question of Jesus and the Trinity, Brother Russell said he would tell them something about Jesus. This he did, and I give you herewith a report of both those services, as follows:
BROTHER RUSSELL: I am very glad to have paid a visit to the Travencore District, and that visit is very nearly ended, for I leave tomorrow for Madras. I am very pleased with many things that I have seen in your country, and I want to tell you of a particular thing that has impressed me: It is the fact that I have seen manifested a great deal of honesty. All people ought to be honest; if they would be honest in other matters they should especially be honest in religious matters. I believe God is especially pleased to bless those who are honest. I have been impressed with the thought that I have met people here who are just as sincere Christians as in Europe and America, and I am acquainted with a great many Christians, and especially with the very sincere kind.
My address, then, will be especially to Christians present, but I hope something I may say will be of interest and profit to those who have not made a full consecration to the Lord. I want to call your attention to the fact that we are living in a very wonderful day. No one of intelligence will dispute the fact that there never has been such a time as that in which we are living. Nearly everything that we are using in America and Europe are new things. New inventions that are coming up and new blessings that are coming to the race, labor-saving inventions and many things to bring more happiness and more peace to humanity, and many arrangements by which great knowledge and present intelligence is coming to people.
Now then, there are two ways of viewing this matter: Why is it that all these blessings have come to us just recently? You here in Travencore know of only a few of these things comparatively; they come to Europe and to America a little sooner than to you. The railroads and the telegraph are some of these. But they are all new to America and Europe too. One hundred years ago there were none of these things. They were not dreamed of. So some wise men are telling us that it is a process of evolution, but the Bible says no. The Bible says that all these blessings of our day are the beginning of still greater blessings that are yet to come. The Bible tells that for six thousand years we have been as a race under the Divine curse. The Bible says that the curse is to be removed, and as men have been under a curse for six thousand years, so they shall be under a blessing for a great period. When we speak of the curse of God we are not to think of God as swearing, for this word curse means "unfavorable condition." God created man perfect in His own image, as the Bible tells us, and he might have continued to live forever if he had continued obedient to God, and if he had continued obedient to God he would have had an Eden home, and all the blessings of the earth would have been his. But God placed him on trial, and he was disobedient to God and God as a penalty for sin forfeited his right to life, and that was the curse. God said to Adam, "Dying thou shalt surely die," and He put him out of the Garden of Eden that he might die, and we have all been dying as a race from that time until now. We all have aches and pains and sorrow and tears, and death. We have been obliged to labor with sweat of face against the conditions that prevail. All this is the curse, and God says that the time is coming when this curse of death will be removed. After the curse of death is removed, then mankind will have life. The Bible tells that they will all come up to perfection, or they will have an opportunity of coming up to perfection. That is to say, all who will obey the voice of God and be obedient in their hearts will be helped up out of their imperfection to perfection, helped out of sickness, sorrow and death, up to perfection and everlasting life, and the Bible calls that the removal of the curse, and it says, "There shall be no more curse." It explains that there will be no more sighing, no more crying, no more dying, but it tells that it will take a thousand years to remove this curse. God could remove it immediately, but He sees it is better to take a thousand years. During that thousand years the Bible says all the willing and obedient will be rising up little by little, and they will be getting stronger in mind and body and in every way. Man was created perfect in the image of God and by sin and under the curse he fell into imperfection and death. And as he gradually fell so God thinks best that he shall gradually rise. He will rise gradually so that he will the better appreciate all the steps of the advancement. He will be learning special lessons during all that time of rising. The rising up will be in proportion to his coming into harmony with God. Those who will quickly get into harmony with God will rise quickly. Those who have any sympathy with sin will be slower in getting up, and all those who refuse to make any progress at all will be destroyed. Now, the time was when we and all Christian people misunderstood this matter. We did not read our Bibles carefully enough. We got this wrong impression: We thought that God had cursed mankind by sending [CR242] him to eternal torment. Our Catholic friends said to purgatory. And thinking of God as having this attitude towards us we naturally could not love Him as much. How could we love some one who had damned us before we were born? But we see we made a great mistake in our reading and studying of the Bible. The curse belongs to the present – we are now under the curse. All our sorrow and pain and troubles are parts of this curse or penalty, and those who go down into death are still under the curse too, but not suffering any. God would not torture them, and no good man would torture a fellow man. No good man would torture a dumb brute. God could not think of torturing mankind. What the Bible tells is different from what we thought. We took our different Christian creeds, made in the dark ages, and thought that they properly represented the Bible, and that was a great mistake. The Bible, on the contrary, teaches that death is the punishment for sin. Mark, the Bible says that "The wages of sin is death." Nowhere does it say that the wages of sin is purgatory. The Bible says the wages of sin is death, "The soul that sinneth it shall die." Now if God had not taken compassion upon us and provided a Saviour, our death would have left us hopeless through all eternity. If God did not have mercy, a dead man would be just as much out of existence as a dead dog, but God had compassion upon mankind and He provided a Saviour – not a Saviour from eternal torment, not a Saviour from purgatory – but a Saviour from death. Death is the penalty, and Jesus rescues and redeems us from death. Now then, how could we be saved from death? The Bible answers, by resurrection. The Bible says that when we go down into death it will not be a real death, but as it were a sleep. The dead are unconscious, they know nothing at all, and that is what the Bible says, "The dead know not anything." Their sons come to honor and they know it not, they come to dishonor, but they perceive it not of them." Why? Because, "there is neither wisdom, nor knowledge, nor device, in sheol (the grave) whither thou goest." For six thousand years our whole race has been going down into the grave, to sheol, to death. Our hope is not that which many have, but it is the Bible hope. We are not to hope that the dead are not dead, we are not to believe that a dead man is more alive than before he died. We are to take the Bible view and believe that a dead man is dead and would never live again unless he had a resurrection. I do not know how many of you are Bible students. Since coming to your city I have been informed that a good many of you are Bible students. I have been informed that some of you know the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. I hope that I am talking to some of this kind, so that they will know the Scriptures when they hear them. I remind you of some of Saint Paul's words in the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians. He says, "If there be no resurrection of the dead, then those that are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." Paul says that all Christian preaching and all Christian faith is vain if there be no resurrection of the dead. The Apostle says that if there is no resurrection of the dead we might just as well eat and drink and die and have no thought for the future at all. Then he goes on to say that there is a resurrection of the dead. Christ has already risen from the dead. He has become the first fruits of them that sleep. What is the meaning of that expression, "Those that sleep?" The answer of the Bible is that all people who die sleep. That is to say, natural sleep illustrated the condition of mankind in death; when a man is soundly asleep he knows nothing; when a man is dead he knows nothing. When a man wakes up again from sleep he knows no more than he did before, and so the resurrection of the dead will be the awakening of the dead. So I remind you that the Apostle says he preached Jesus and the resurrection. Why should these two matters be joined together, Jesus and the resurrection? Because we have just said that unless Jesus had paid the penalty there could be no resurrection. Adam was condemned to death, and all of his race shared that condemnation, and then Christ took the place of Adam, and He died to redeem Adam. The redemption of Adam includes a redemption of all the race, because they came under the curse through Adam's sin.
I remind you of Paul's words on this subject, "As by a man came death (the curse, not as by man came eternal torment the curse), by a man also came the resurrection of the dead, for as in Adam all die so in Christ shall all be made alive." It does not say, as in Adam all went to eternal torment or to purgatory. Then the resurrection of the dead comes through Christ because He has redeemed the race [CR243] through His own death. Do we not all know that Christ died for our sins? Do we not know that He suffered the penalty for the sinner? Now what penalty did He suffer for you and for me? Did He suffer purgatory? No. Why not? Because purgatory was not the penalty. Did He suffer eternal torment? No, no! He is exalted to Heaven. Why did He not suffer eternal torment for us? Well, eternal torment was not the penalty. What was the penalty and what did He suffer? The penalty was death, and He suffered death for us. He paid the very penalty which God sent upon us and that is what God said, "I will redeem them from sheol (the grave)," and this will be accomplished for them in the resurrection.
Now then, we said this was connected with the signs of the times. How? This way: Messiah's Kingdom is to be the channel through which this blessing is to come to the world, just as Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth even as it is done in Heaven." God's will eventually is to be done as fully on earth as it is now done in Heaven. Does any one think that you and I will bring God's will to earth and have God's will done on earth as it is done in Heaven? Oh, no, we are not so foolish! Take the very best powers of earth and God's will is not done very well there. On the contrary, "darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the heathen (Gentiles)." Then how will this be brought about? The Bible says that the God of Heaven will set up a Kingdom. Messiah, He who redeemed the world, is to take His great power and reign. The first feature of His reign will be the binding of Satan. The Bible says that Satan shall be bound for a thousand years, and at that time instead of darkness from the prince of darkness will be light from the Prince of Light. The Bible says that He must reign until He shall put all enemies in subjection, until He shall have established righteousness throughout the earth; then, as a result, "Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess to the glory of God." How glad we are that that time is coming! How glad we are that God says He is going to do it, and that He is going to do it through Jesus! How glad we are that God has not left it in our hands! How imperfect we find ourselves and how impossible it would be for us to accomplish much!
That will be the penalty for those who will refuse to come into harmony with God when Messiah will reign? They will be counted wicked and God says, "All the wicked will He destroy." He will not preserve them in hell or purgatory, but destroy them. The Apostle explains, saying they will be punished with "everlasting punishment." Saint Peter says, "They shall perish like natural brute beasts." But let us not forget that the weak and ignorant are not wicked. Let us not forget we are all in this condition because sin came; and before any could be sentenced to destruction, the second death, he will have had a full opportunity for returning to harmony with God. Some of us get our knowledge and opportunity now, but the great masses of mankind will not get their knowledge and opportunity until the future, until Messiah's Kingdom shall bring the light of knowledge of God to fill the whole earth. That Kingdom is likened to the sun of righteousness – "The sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in His beams" and all the darkness of ignorance and superstition and sin shall be scattered before that glorious light. The Bible declares that the light of knowledge of the glory of God shall fill the whole earth as the waters cover the great deep. It will not be as now. This completeness of knowledge we do not have now. Even Christians have had so much darkness that we have had different creeds but, "In that day all shall know the Lord from the least to the greatest, and none will need to say to his neighbor, know thou the Lord, for all shall know Him from the least to the greatest." Well now, why do we think this glorious time is near at hand? Some people say it is six thousand years since Adam was created and sinned and is now two thousand years since Jesus came and died and redeemed the world, and if the Kingdom has been so long delayed, how have we any idea but that it will be delayed for thousands of years yet? There are two lines of similar reasoning showing that we should expect the Kingdom now: One is that God has arranged His matters upon the plane of seven; as, for instance, we have a week of seven days, six days of labor and sweat of face and the seventh of rest and comfort. This represents on a larger scale seven great days. These great days are all a thousand years each. Seven great thousand year days make a great week according to Bible chronology. Christ's Kingdom is the seventh day. Now we are in the beginning of the seventh day and the blessings of the Lord are beginning to come in. It is only a few years since we had a light like this (Brother Russell pointed to a dingy, smoking kerosene lamp, the only light we had in the building). We had nothing better than tallow candles a short time back. Now these are quite in the past. We have very little use for these in the civilized lands. We have gas and electricity. All these things at the present time, and everything coming forth now, all show that we are in the lapping of these two ages. So to speak, we are in the Saturday night, and the dawn of Sunday morning is right upon us. And the glorious day of the future is to be glorious because it is the day of Christ. I remind you that it is a Bible expression, "the day of Christ," for He must reign for a thousand years. Some one may say, Why did not God send these blessings sooner? Because God has a plan of His own. He is wise and we are ignorant. Some day we shall see why He permitted sin to reign for six thousand years, and then brought in the seventh day with His blessing.
But I remind you of another reason why God is not going to bring in the Kingdom until a certain time: When God made His plan that Jesus should have a Kingdom to bless the world, He had another part to that plan. Peter tells us that He would have a company associated with Jesus in that grand work, that little company would be associated with Jesus, or called, "The Church of the First Born." Another name for them is, "The Body of Christ," and another is, "The Bride of Christ." It is the Church of Christ in the sense that it is called out of the world, to be associated with Him. I remind you of His promise, He said, "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me on My throne, even as I overcame and am set down with My Father in His throne now. The Bible says He is now ascended up on high and is set down with the Father in His throne. Christ will have no throne of His own until the right time, and that will be when the Church is completed and ready to sit [CR244] with Him in His throne, and that will be at the beginning of the Millennial Age. And so all work of this Gospel age has been for the purpose of electing some saints for this work. God offered this great favor first to the Jews. He knew that enough of them would not be worthy to fill this company, but He took as many of them as were ready. The Jewish nation were spoken of in the Bible as the house of servants, but all of those who accepted Christ and became His disciples became members of the house of sons. Moses was faithful over his house, the house of servants, but Christ, the Son, is over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the profession of our faith unto the end. Now, hear how Saint John tells us, "He came unto His own and His own received Him not, but to as many as received Him to them gave He power (privilege) to become Sons of God. We do not know how many received Christ in this proper sense. We do not know how many were begotten of the Holy Spirit, and became members of the house of sons, members of the Body of Christ, members of the Church of the First Born, but we do know that there were not enough to fill God's elect provision, so by and by the message was extended to all the Gentiles, and that is the reason it has come to you and to me. We are all Gentiles and now are privileged to come into the house of sons of God, members of the Body of Christ, members of the Church of the First Born, and in this way God has been taking out a people to be the Bride of Christ. In this way He has been gathering the Bride of Christ from every nation, people, kindred, and tongue, and I am very glad is visiting your land to see what seems to me to be good evidence that there are some of the faith amongst you. Now the gathering of this saintly Church is only the beginning of God's plan. They will be associated with Jesus in the Kingdom, and the Kingdom is for the very purpose of blessing the non-elect world.
I hope that many of you will strive with myself to make our calling and election sure. If we are faithful we are to get the greatest reward imaginable. The blessing that is coming to the world that they will have if they will be faithful is a great blessing, it will be more than we ever dreamed of – human perfection in an earthly Eden. But Jesus calls this which He offers to the Church a great prize, a great treasure. He calls it a "pearl of great price." He says, that this privilege of becoming joint-heirs with Him in His Kingdom and sharers of His glory, honor and immortality is a pearl of great worth – a pearl that is worth all you have. We are exhorted to go and sell all we have and purchase that great pearl. Pay any price necessary in order to get into that glorious Kingdom. If it should cost you all your wealth, have it. If it should cost you all the comforts of life, obtain it. If it should cost you the loss of all friendship in the world, have it. The Lord is seeking for this class who so prize this offer that they will lay down their lives in order to obtain it. He tells us that we must expect it will cost us something. He says, "Through much tribulation shall ye enter the Kingdom." But to those who are faithful, it is sure. He says, "Fear not, little flock, it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom." But the Father will not give us the Kingdom until the right time – not until the last member of the "wise virgins" has gone into the marriage. Then the glorious blessing will begin. The sufferings of the Christ will be ended, because Christ's sufferings did not end eighteen hundred years ago. Jesus suffered eighteen hundred years ago; He is the head; He suffered and entered into His glory, but the Church, which is His Body, has been coming on since, and we must suffer with Him, and the last member must have his suffering before the whole Church will be glorified. If we suffer with Him we shall be glorified with Him. Now, mark! We do not get this glory except at one time; the Bible and Jesus say, Blessed and holy and all those who have part in the first resurrection; they shall be priests unto God and to Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years." (Rev. 20:6.)
I hope then, my dear friends, that some of us will be amongst that glorious company, the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, the Church of the First Born.
And now I fancy someone saying, Brother Russell, which is the Church of the First Born? I fancy someone saying, Brother Russell, are you here to teach us something about a new church. I fancy someone here saying, Brother Russell, we have too many churches. And now I answer, my dear friends, I am not here to start a new church. My views of the Bible teaching is that none of these churches are the [CR245] Church of the First Born; they have all come now to acknowledge that. Jesus never established any of these churches; neither the Lutherans, the Baptists, Congregational, Presbyterian or Roman Catholic is the Church which Christ established. And their names are written on earth. We read on the contrary, "the Church of the First Born whose names are written in Heaven." You ask me, Oh, Brother Russell, how shall we get our names written in Heaven? I will tell you. It is first by accepting Christ as your Saviour, by turning away from sin to the best of your ability, by living righteousness to the best of your ability, and making a full consecration of your whole life to God in His service, and then day by day seeking to know God's will and seeking to do it. You may say, Oh, may we know God's will? How may we know the Truth? The Bible tells us that we should be ready to give an answer to every one who asks us a reason for our hope. The Bible tells us that God gave us the Bible that the man of God might be thoroughly furnished, that we might all know whom we believe and what we believe.
And now, my dear friends, I hope you will all be Bible students. I hope you will all be Bereans. You remember what we read about the Bereans in the Acts of the Apostles. From God's standpoint they were nobler because they searched the Scriptures daily to see whether these things be true or not. Just so I would have you not receive what I may say or what any man may say just because it is said, but take it to the Word of God and see what the Word of God says in support or in opposition.
I WAS thinking of saying something to you about our great Saviour. I understand of late you have been having in this city considerable discussion along this line.
Who is Jesus? One of your prominent men called upon me and wanted to know what I thought upon that subject. I am very pleased to take that subject and treat it very briefly.
There are two theories about Jesus. And besides these two theories, there is a third, which is the Bible theory.
At the beginning of the Gospel Age eighteen hundred years ago there were a great many people, wise people too, saying, Oh, we do not believe that Jesus was in Heaven before He came to earth. They said, We are ready to admit that Jesus was a good man and spoke fine things, but not ready to admit that He was the Son of God. We are willing to admit that He was a great teacher, and that we do good to follow His teachings, but we deny that He ever came down from Heaven. Well, many of the Christians realize that that was a wrong position, and they said, certainly Jesus did come from Heaven, and then they got into discussion one with the other, and the Truth itself was lost sight of. That is generally the way when people get to fighting. The more people said that Jesus did not come from Heaven the more others said, Oh, we must prove that He did come from Heaven. Then they proceeded and said that He was not only the Son of God but that He was His own Father also, and then they had to go at the other features and made the doctrine of the trinity, and after they had elaborated it, even then they were unable to make it seem logical. And then when the people asked them about the various questions they said, we cannot answer, it is a mystery; and then they looked into the Bible and could not find anything in it about the trinity, so they had to make up something about the trinity.
About seven hundred years after Christ's death there was a part of the verse added in the epistle of John, 1 John 5:7. That is the only passage in the Bible that in any sense of the word says anything about the trinity. Now we know they put that in in the seventh century, because the old manuscripts of the New Testament do not contain these words. They found the passage where John said, there are three that bear witness, the water, the spirit and the blood, and these three agree in one testimony. Now they added to that. Some good priest, I suppose, thought God forgot to put something about the trinity, and he thought he would have to help Him. So he added in some words in the manuscript to make it read this way: "There are three that bear record in Heaven, the Father, the Spirit and the Son, and these three are one, and there are three that bear record on earth, the water, the spirit, and the blood, and these three agree in one."
You see, then, where he added to the Word of God. Now, when our common version of the English Bible was translated we did not know this; we did not have many of those ancient manuscripts in the Greek. But in the last sixty years we have found a whole lot of them. We now have about seven hundred ancient Greek manuscripts and some of them as old as the year 350, and these show us that these additions have been made. Not only so, but if you should read it with the additions you will see how foolish it is, and if we strike out that addition we see how beautiful and simple it is. Now, notice, for instance, it says with these alterations, that "there are three that are bearing witness in Heaven, the Father, the Spirit, and the Son." What are they bearing witness to? That this is the Son of God. How ridiculous, to say that the Father is going around in Heaven, and the Holy Spirit going around in Heaven, and the Son going around in Heaven, saying. This is the Son of God. Is not that ridiculous? Whenever people attempt to tamper with God's word they spoil it.
Another place that they added to the Word of God I will just point out to you. The last verse of Saint John's Gospel is added: John never wrote it at all. How do we know? Because it is not in any of those old manuscripts. Now see how foolish that last verse of John is. This is the way it reads: "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written." How ridiculous that is! Just think, to write so many books about Jesus that the world would not hold them. It is nonsense. See how many books you could put in this building. How many millions could be piled throughout this Travencore District. Look at all the rest of the world. To say that the world could not hold the books that would be written is ridiculous. But the fact that [CR246] these little things that are changed are ridiculous show all the more the beauty of the Bible as God gave it to us through Jesus.
Now come back to our proposition about Jesus: One part claimed that Jesus was only a man, sinful and imperfect. The other part claimed that He was more, that He was the Father, the Son, and everything. The one was on the one extreme and the other on the other extreme, and the Truth was in the middle between them and was lost sight of. Attention was not paid to what the Bible said. People were trying to prove their own ideas and trying to force the Bible to give their ideas. I have already called your attention to the fact that there is no statement about the trinity in the Bible and that that statement in 1 John 5:7 was added, spuriously. (The interpreter then read it in his native Bible.) You see it is not even in the Malalam language. So also in the revised version of the English translation it is omitted, because all scholars admit that it was a fraud. With that one stricken out there is not a statement in the whole Bible saying a word about the trinity. And our trinitarian friends are quite extreme and make a ridiculous theory. You will understand, then, that I am neither a trinitarian nor a unitarian, as these terms are generally used.
I will come to what the Bible says on the subject, but first want to show how unreasonable it would be to believe in the trinity. If we ask trinitarians what they mean by trinity, they give two different answers: (1) One set would say that it is three Gods, and yet they are one God, and they go on to say that each of these is equal to the other in power and glory. (2) Then the other trinitarians will say, No there are not three Gods, there is only one God, but He has three manifestations of Himself. Whichever way they take it they are in confusion, and if you just corner them a little they say: Oh, we will not discuss it; it is a mystery! We answer that they make a mystery of it. How could three things be one thing? Now see the confusion they get into; those who claim that there are three gods equal in power and glory hardly know what to say when they come to discuss the death of Jesus, and then they generally fall back and say, No, it is only just one God, but that He has three personages in Himself. Well then we say, when Jesus died, which God died? If there is only the one God, did that one God die, and was the world without a God for three days, and could a dead God raise himself from the dead on the third day? No, that, they say, is absurd. And then they generally say this: Oh, no, it was simply God in Christ, just the same as that light is in my hand (Brother Russell put his hands around the lamp). It is the light that represents God and my fingers represent Jesus in the flesh. They say from this standpoint that when Jesus died God simply got out of Him. Then we say, God did not die at all? They say, No, God did not die. Well then we say, what was it? Why, it represented God dying. Well, we ask, was it a fraud? Did Jesus pretend to die? Did God merely allow Himself to be put on the cross and pretend to die, but not die, but get out just at the proper time? Did He pretend that He was dead three days, and pretend that He arose from the dead when He had not been dead at all? And was He fraudulent all through His ministry? Did he pretend to pray to the Father when He was the Father Himself? Did He pretend that He had left the glory when really He was as glorious as ever? When on the cross he cried, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken Me?" Was He making a fraudulent statement? When He arose from the dead and said to Mary, "I have not yet ascended to my Father and to your Father and to my God and to your God," was He telling a falsehood? My dear friends, we got ourselves into a great deal of confusion because we did not pay enough attention to what the Bible said.
Now let us see what the Bible says: See how beautiful and simple the Bible teaching is on this subject. The Bible tells us that there is a Father, that there is a Son, that there is a Holy Spirit. The Bible gives great honor to the Father, great honor to the Son, and great importance to the Holy Spirit, but the Bible says not one word about these three being one God, equal in power and glory. The Bible says the Heavenly Father is above all.
Hear Saint Paul's words to us, "There is one God the Father, and one Lord Jesus Christ." One and one make two. Again the Apostle says, "The head of woman is the man, and the head of man is Christ, and the head of Christ is God." Hear what Jesus himself said, "My Father is greater than I." My Father is greater than all. "I came not to do mine own will, but to do the will of Him that sent [CR247] me." Do equals send each other? No. Our Lord's statement that the Father is greater is consistent with the Bible from first to last. Jesus said, "Of mine own self I can do nothing; as I have heard of the Father I speak, and my testimony is not mine but His that sent Me." Now see what the Bible says about Jesus: It tells us that the heavenly Father never had a beginning, "From everlasting to everlasting thou are God." But the Bible tells us that Jesus had a beginning. The Bible tells us that Jesus was the first one that the heavenly Father ever created. More than that, He was the last one that the Father ever created. In other words, the heavenly Father only created the one being, and then He used that one whom He had created as His honored agent in all the work of the creation – in the creation of Heaven, of earth, of angels, of man, everything. That is very different, you see, from what trinitarians think, and it is equally different from what Unitarians think. Unitarians deny that Jesus existed before He came into the world. They deny that He had a miraculous birth. They claim that He was an imperfect man, like the rest of us, but higher and better. So you see the Bible position is different from any human position. Come now to the first chapter of John's Gospel and let us read it together. We read it this way, giving you the little changes that have been in the Greek text: "In the beginning was the Logos"--the Word. This word Logos or Word, had a peculiar meaning. It was this: In olden times when kings would make a proclamation to the people, they did not appear personally, but sat behind a lattice screen, and an honest man stood outside of that lattice work, and spoke the words of the king to the people. The king spoke to him in a low tone and he spoke to the people in forceful language. He was called the Logos, or Word, of the king. That is to say, he was the messenger or mouthpiece of the king. He was the honored representative of the king. Now there is the picture that the Bible uses respecting Jesus and his relationship to the Father. In the beginning was the Logos, the Word. He was the first one or beginning of God's creation. And the Logos was with God." You will notice here the words the God and the words a god. This is the proper reading of the Greek. The article is used to indicate the heavenly Father as the great God in contrast with all lesser gods.
"By Him were all things made that were made, and without Him was not one thing made that was made; and the Logos was made flesh and dwelt amongst us, and we behold his glory as the glory of the only begotten of the Father." You get the thought, then, that our Lord Jesus from the very beginning was honored of the Father. He was God's first Son, the only direct Son, the only begotten. Now that agrees with what Saint Paul says. He says that Jesus was the beginning of the creation of God, the First Born of every creature.
Again we read Jesus' own words in Revelation. He there says that He is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega – using the first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet – the first and the last that God created. All other things were to come through Him. So the Apostle again says, "All things are of the Father...and all things are by the Son." Now this gives a very glorious and exalted position to our Lord Jesus. He was already higher than any of the angels before He became man, but when He became man He did not merely go about in a human body, did not merely pretend to become poor; He really became poor; He really left the higher nature and He really took the human nature. And so the Bible again says, "He was made flesh." The Bible does not say that He got in the flesh. The Bible does not say that He was incarnated. That is a wrong thought. We have been talking for centuries about the incarnation of Christ, but the Bible never says a word about the incarnation. The Bible tells us that He was made flesh, not that He got into flesh. In other words, when Jesus was amongst men He was a man. He was not an imperfect, sinful man, such as you and I are; He was a perfect man, just like the first man was, and so the Bible says, "He was holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners." (Hebrews 7:26.)
He did not receive His life from an earthly parentage. If He had received His life from an earthly parentage, then He also would have been a sinner, but His life came down from above. He took the lower nature and had the life in a lower nature. Now why did He do this? There were several reasons. The heavenly Father had made a plan by which it would be necessary to have a Redeemer and the redeemer must be a man. The bulls and goats of the law dispensation would never take away sin. Why not? Suppose He had slain all the bulls and goats in the world? Why would not that have redeemed man? Because it was not bulls and goats that sinned, therefore the slaughtering of them would never cancel the sins of men. Similarly it was not an angel that sinned, it was not an angel that was sentenced to death, therefore it did not require the death of an angel. It was not a God that had sinned. So that a God would have to die. It was a man that had sinned and a man that had been condemned; therefore, it must be a man that must die for sin. Nothing but the death of a perfect man would redeem Adam. And, therefore, the Logos humbled himself and became a perfect man, that He might redeem man. Now notice how the Scriptures declare this: "The man Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom for all." Why would Jesus be willing to do this? And why would the heavenly Father suggest and make such a plan that would make necessary the death of his Son? Because God had a great plan that He was working out that would bring a blessing to Jesus, and to all, and Jesus was quite willing to do the Father's will in this matter, and so we read: "Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now set down at the right hand of the majesty on high." What was this offer that the Father made to the Son that made the Son glad to do His Will? We answer, that the Son was so fully in harmony with the Father, and so confident that all the Father's plans were good, that He was ready to do anything the Father suggested. He might have looked at it and said, Father, I am your first born son, would you ask that I should leave this glory and go down to earth and die? Would you ask it of Me, and demand it? It would not have been just to have demanded that the Son must die, but the Bible says that the Father set before Him a great joy. The Bible says, that He had the joy set before Him of bringing many sons to glory and of doing the Father's will, besides which the Father promised the Son that at the end He would have still a higher glory and a higher nature. But you say, how could the Father give Him any more glory and honor than He already had? Was He not already above the angels in glory, the first begotten of the Father? Yes, but [CR248] the Father promised Him that if He would show His devotion in this manner, even unto death the death of the cross, that He would give Him a share in the divine nature. Saint Paul says again, Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame; wherefore also God has highly exalted Him, and has given Him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, both the things of Heaven and the things of earth. In other words, my dear friends, Jesus was made a partaker of the divine nature. When did the Father give Him this divine nature? The Bible explains this: when He was thirty years of age He came to John at Jordan and made a full consecration of his life and therefore received the Holy Spirit. That is called the begetting of the Holy Spirit. You see the connection between the word begetting and the word born. Your child is begotten and nine months afterward it is born, but in the interim of the time between the begetting and the birth there is the development, yet the life which he is begotten continues down to the end and constitutes the life of the born one. This is the illustration that God uses to show how He is doing this work. As soon as Jesus made his full consecration of his all the Father begot him to a new nature, the divine nature. And then during the three and a half years of Jesus' ministry He was fulfilling his commission of laying down his life unto death, and He finished it completely at Calvary when He cried, "It is finished" – I have finished the work Thou gavest me to do. He was dead for parts of three days, and on the first day of the week God raised Him from the dead by His own power. Did He raise Him up as a man? Oh, no. As a man He died for our sins. God raised Him from the dead perfect on the divine plane. His resurrection was his change, just as a similar process is going on with respect to the Church. We have been called of God to be joint heirs with Jesus Christ in all the wonderful things that the Father has given Him. But if we would ever share those things we must be faithful unto death as He was, "If we suffer with Him we shall reign with Him." When we make our consecration we receive the begetting of the Holy Spirit. With us also the flesh is to be sacrificed. But Saint Paul says, "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." (Romans 12:1.) If we are faithful unto death we will receive also with Him the crown of life. The promise to us is the same as to our Lord Jesus, of glory, honor and immortality. As the Lord Jesus was glorified in His resurrection, so the Church is to be glorified in her resurrection. Hear the Apostle Paul in the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians, describing the resurrection of the Church class, the saints. He says: "It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." Then he goes on to say we must all experience this change. In other words, our sacrifice of the earthly nature also must be completed and we as New Creatures must be perfected in the resurrection. Why? Because, "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God." So then, you see, my dear friends, that when God's plan shall work out to completion, the gathering of the Church will be to this condition. The Father will have immortality, and glory, and honor, the divine nature, as He has always had; the Son will have the same that He has had since His resurrection, and the Church will come to the same divine nature in the resurrection. Not that the Church will be equal with the Father, nor that the Church will be equal to her Lord and Redeemer. He will always be the Head over the Church, which is His Body. The head of the Church is Christ, and the head of Christ is God.
There is so much to be said on this subject it is hard to know where to stop. I have merely tried to give you a little outline of how great our Redeemer is. From the Bible standpoint we lay aside that thought of the worldly minds who say that Jesus was merely a man like other men. We lay aside that foolish idea of the dark ages, and take the word of God which, just as it reads, we find very beautiful. The Bible says that all men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father. But this word also shows that there are two. What way, then, was it true that John said, "My Father and I are one?" (John 10:30.) He meant that He and the Father were one in mind, and purpose, because He would not do any will of His own; He would do only the Father's will. They were in absolute oneness, therefore, and so He wishes all His disciples to be in harmony with each other. He wishes that we all should have a will to do the Father's will. Thus we would be one with the Father, and one with the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is what He says, Let me quote you: In His prayer the last night before He went to the Garden of Gethsemane, as recorded in John's Gospel, He prayed for the Church, "Not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me, for they are thine...that they may be all one as thou Father and I are one...that they may be one in us." This shows [CR249] the sense in which the Father and Son are one, and this is the same sense in which He wishes you and I to be one, and one with Him and with the Father – a oneness of spirit, a oneness of mind, a oneness of heart, a oneness of purpose.
There is one other Scripture which some might stumble over which I will mention and then I will close:
Jesus said to one of the disciples, "He that has seen Me hath seen the Father." What did He mean by that? He meant this: the Father cannot be seen by any man, for the Bible says that the Father dwelleth in light which no man can approach unto, which no man hath seen, nor can see. Now, if no man can see God because He dwells in such light, how could He manifest himself to man? He would have to reveal himself in some way. Now what would be the best way for God to reveal himself to man? Why, we remember that when Adam was created he was created in the image and likeness of God. In other words, the perfect man is the most like God of anything that could be shown to man, and since the Lord Jesus Christ was God manifest in the flesh, and since He was a perfect man, and a perfect representative of God, we see the force of His argument. There was no other perfect man to represent God in the whole world. Jesus had become the man Christ Jesus and was the perfect representative of the Father. Whoever saw Jesus therefore saw the Father in the most absolute sense in which it is possible for a man to see God.
Finally, my dear friends, those who become heirs of God, and joint heirs of Jesus Christ, and members of the Bride Class, will have this experience: We shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, in the resurrection change, that we may be like Him and see Him as He is and share His glory. I wish this great blessing for as many of you as desire to have it. This is the "pearl of great price," and we do well that we give up everything else that we might gain the joint heirship with our dear Redeemer.
Now I bid you all good-bye. I may never see you again, but hope to see you in the future. May the Lord's richest blessings be with all who are seeking to know and to do His will.
AFTER our night's rest and our picnic breakfast, we went down to the station, where we said good-bye to Brother Davey, to meet again we know not when, but with pleasant recollections of his untiring zeal and deep Christian earnestness. Our train soon came along which took us to a junction point where we said good-bye to Brothers Pieres, Tussaint and Chapman, who returned to Colombo. Going a little further we connected with the Express train to Madras. This was a journey of a day and two nights. En route our party had many pleasant seasons of fellowship, talking over matters in general pertaining to the truth, asking and answering questions. One evening in particular was very precious; we all assembled in one compartment, and had a testimony from one, followed by a prayer, then another testimony, another prayer, etc., and some songs. All these little seasons of fellowship, together with our roughing experiences together, brought us very close one with another.
IN Madras, the metropolis of Southern India, today is gathered the wealth and fashion of Anglo-Indian society belonging to this part of the Indian empire. The city covers a considerable area even for its population of 509,000, and contains besides the crowded native section known as Blacktown, and the fort region called Georgetown, many fine homes, surrounded by luxuriant gardens. Throughout the city are fine drives and boulevards, some of which are lined with huge banyan trees. These drives and the promenade on the seashore, known as the Marina, are the fashionable resorts on fine afternoons. Madras was one of the most important of the early settlements of the East India Company.
Upon arrival at Madras we found that Satan had preceded us; some of his representatives in Colombo had taken the pains to send word to the religious leaders here and especially to the secretary of the Y.M.C.A., which had been rented for a lecture Sunday morning. As usual the information sent was a misrepresentation, and the people in connection with the Y.M.C.A. became quite alarmed. However, the service took place, and, notwithstanding the opposition, the auditorium was crowded and many stood up. The following is a report of that morning meeting, which was listened to with deep interest, and at the close some questions were asked and answered.
I am accompanied by six others of the committee appointed by the International Bible Students' Association – I will introduce them to you. (Pastor Russell then introduced the various members of the committee to the audience.)
I was chosen as the chairman of the committee and we are on a tour of the world investigating and looking into the foreign mission work, and noting its success, with a view of giving some report to the International Bible Students' Association respecting what we have seen of the work, and respecting anything that might be said along missionary work.
The International Bible Students' Association wishes that I should have the opportunity of addressing Christian people all over the world, and therefore they made arrangements to have an advance agent go before and secure different places and make arrangements for meetings, and I find upon arrival here that arrangements have been made for this meeting. I might also say in this connection that the International Bible Students' Association is wholly undenominational; people from all denominations participate in Bible study.
We are living in a wonderful day, the like of which was never known before. With the coming of the electric light and the steamboat of our day we believe it is entirely in harmony with God's word that we find fresh light shining upon the Bible, and so we find it. We believe all Christians so consider it or should so consider it that God gives us greater light as we get nearer the perfect day.
The subject announced for this morning's address is, "The Parables of the Kingdom." I had nothing to do with the selection of the subject, but it is a good one. But it seems to me that if we have a clear idea of the Master's Kingdom it will help us all.
I might remind you that this was the customary way for Jesus to preach. "He opened his mouth in parables and in dark sayings," and "Without a parable spake He not unto the people." Everything that Jesus said was in parabolic form. He did not mean any literal thing. In speaking of the water of life, it was not literal. Everything He said was spoken in parables. Therefore a good part of the work of all Bible students is to study these parables, to see just what the Master was teaching. The Master took up one thing to illustrate His teachings. Thus also we should study to get the Lord's thoughts.
WHAT Kingdom is meant? We answer, the only Kingdom that Jesus preached or talked about. He never preached about the political kingdoms of the world. He never said whether the great British kingdom was better than the German kingdom, etc. He did not talk about the kingdoms of this world, but about the Kingdom of God, or of Heaven.
Where is the Kingdom of Heaven? He tells us that it has not yet come. When it shall come He will be the King and the Church that He is now gathering will be the queen, and sit with him on his throne. There will be a real Kingdom, and so He taught us to pray, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth even as it is done in Heaven." We could never hope, my dear friends, by any Kingdom that you or I could establish to bring the world to that condition where God's will would be done on earth as completely as it is done in Heaven. That would be a very foolish thought. All the missionary efforts could not do it. He taught us to pray for it that He would set it up at his second coming, and receive us to Himself and cause us to sit with Him on His throne. He calls His Church, you remember, "a Royal Priesthood." What does royal mean? It means to be a king, a priest, to be a teacher. So Jesus taught that when His Kingdom would be established He would be the great King, or Priest, unto the Church, and that they would be assistant Kings and Priests for blessing all the families of the earth. I am sure there is not a heart in the whole world that would not be glad to see all the world blessed. I am so glad I find in the Bible that the whole world will be blessed. We are all witnesses that, as Paul said, "The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain, waiting." Waiting for what? "Waiting for the manifestation of the Sons of God." Who are they? "Beloved, now are we the Sons of God, but it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but when He shall appear we shall be like Him (in the resurrection change), for we shall see Him as He is." Then the groaning of the world will cease, because the blessing of the Kingdom of Peace will fill the whole earth. That is the glorious time when Christian union will be in the world. Jesus prayed for the Church, that they might all be one, and we believe that the time is very near when all God's people will be able to see eye to eye. We have been seeing cross-eyed all this time unintentionally, but in due time we will all be able to see and teach the same thing, seeing the same Lord Jesus, and worship Him in spirit and in truth. Then the world will get its great blessing.
But now, you see that that Kingdom is future, that it will be established at its second coming. Therefore we are doing as Saint John says, waiting for the Kingdom from Heaven, and as he also said, "Come quickly" – I am not saying how quickly. The Bible is full of it; as Brother Moody said, the Bible has nothing that is so prominent as the blood of Christ for our redemption, and the second coming for our delivery.
Jesus was talking a great deal about the Kingdom. I will assume that you are all Bible students, that you have noticed these parables, and that they were all spoken about the Kingdom. Why so many? Because the subject can be viewed from different standpoints, just as it requires several illustrations to show you the different sides of this building. So these different parables are so many different pictures of the one thing, all relating to the Kingdom, and he calls them "The Parables of the Kingdom." I am not using the Bible, supposing that you are all familiar with the Bible. Now, for instance, the parable says, "wheat and tares"; you remember that. I will briefly outline it. Jesus said, a certain man sowed good seed in a field, and while he slept an enemy oversowed it with tare seed. I am told that it was the custom in Palestine for an enemy to do this. Jesus uses this as an illustration. He said He was the Son of Man who sowed the good seed of the Kingdom, and that Satan would come afterwards and scatter the seeds of error.
The seeds of truth were to bring forth a crop of the children of the Kingdom; they would be the ones to participate in the Kingdom. The object of Satan was to keep these from developing and becoming children of the Kingdom. So Satan has always been the adversary of the children of God, and is the great adversary, as the Bible sets forth. Then the servant came and said, Lord, did you not sow good seed? Whence, then, are the tares? Oh, He said, my enemy, Satan, had done this. The parable represents it as though the Master did not know, but God knew all the time, and Satan never did anything that our Lord did not know or [CR251] could not prevent. So the servant said, Wilt thou that we pull up the tares? Oh, no, the roots of the tares and wheat are so interlocked that you would spoil the whole matter – let both grow together until the harvest. When is the harvest? He said, "the harvest is the end of the age" (world). End of the world, is that what you mean, Brother Russell? No, it is the end of the age. The word "world" in the Greek is aion, meaning the end of the age. The Lord marked out that there would be a time to plant the good seed, then it would develop, and then the harvest time which would be the end of the age, and then would come another age. I remind you of the patriarchal age when God dealt with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Then it was all changed, and at the death of Jacob came a new age, and in it all of Jacob's children are called Israel, and they were God's special people for 1845 years, from the death of Jacob to the death of Christ. That was the Jewish age. Then came the harvest, or end of the Jewish age, and the new age, the Gospel age, began when the Gospel was thrown open to not only Jews but to Americans, Europeans, and all – to any, if he have a hearing ear. He has the privilege to respond, and he is represented by the parable of the wheat.
In the time of the harvest I will say to the reaper, separate the wheat from the tares. They have grown together during the whole time. Their separation is not to take place until the end of the age, then there will be an absolute separation, every grain of wheat from every grain of tare. I believe it and you do also, for it is His inspired Word. Then what will happen? Then the tares will be burned in fire. Who are they? They are some very nice people. Do you believe, Brother Russell, that they will be burned in fire? No, remember that it is a parable. You cannot burn symbolic tares in literal fire. So you see he symbolizes persons and represents them by the tares. The tare is a poisonous weed, and they look a great deal alike while growing. I believe it is called darnel, very common in Palestine, and may be here. It grows with the wheat, and they have to exercise a great deal of care in killing it lest they destroy the wheat. So in the illustration, people are darnels. Who are they? They are those who have not been begotten of the Holy Spirit, and therefore not children of the Kingdom, and therefore have no part or lot in the Kingdom arrangement, but they think they are the real thing. They are not the wicked and sinners, but very good, benevolent people, and of good character. The parable does not say that they are bad people, but that they are imitation wheat. What the Lord is looking for is the wheat class, begotten of the Holy Spirit – all others are tares.
Now this fire represented here is not to destroy them as individuals and will not burn up the people along with them. But that fiery time Saint Paul and Saint Peter mention when all of this tare class will be dissolved – they will not profess to be tares but will go off on Higher Criticism and Evolution, and say they do not believe the Bible, and the Church will be all the better off without them. The Lord will take care of all those who are sanctified in their hearts and begotten of the Holy Spirit, and nothing will be able to pluck them out of the Father's hands. What will happen to them? He says, Gather my wheat into my garner. What is the garner of the Gospel age? It is the change to the Heavenly condition. Now we are in the world of mankind, in general represented by the wheat, and the change will be when we are changed in a moment, when we are caught up with the Lord in the air and thus we will be with the Lord in the heavenly garner by the first resurrection. Now what will take place then? The righteous will shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of the Father. That will be a glorious period. We have had a night time all along, as the Psalmist says, "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." "Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a lantern to my pathway." You do not carry your lantern in the sunlight. It means that it must be dark now. So the Psalmist says, "Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a lantern to my pathway," and God's people have need to take heed to every step, because "darkness covereth the earth and gross darkness the Gentiles." Saint Peter gives us another word on that also; he says: "We (the Church) have a more sure word of prophecy, unto which we do well that we take heed, as unto a light which shineth in a dark place until (until what?) the day dawn." A dark place, and we need the lamp until the day dawn. When? When the sun rises. When? When the harvest has been accomplished, and the purposes of the Lord have been done. After the tares have been sown and are allowed to grow together, and in the harvest, the end of the age, after the fire has come upon the tare class, and the wheat has been brought into the garner, then will the righteous shine as the sun. Then will be broad daylight. This Kingdom which the Lord promised is not merely the Lord Jesus, who is the head over the Church which is His Body, but we are members in particular, and this is the Church, which is to shine forth as the sun. The whole Church means the anointed, Jesus the Head and the Church His Body. He received the Holy Spirit first; it came upon Jesus at Jordan, and then at Pentecost it came down upon the Apostles and the early Church; and all through this Gospel age it has been coming down upon the other members of the Body as the prophet David said in Psalms 133. So the Holy Spirit has been coming down over the Church all during this Gospel age. And the Apostle says, you have an unction from the Holy One and you all know it. Who has? Why all those who receive the Holy Spirit. This is the union whereby we are prepared by the Lord and received into his family and become heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ, if so be we suffer with Him, that we may be glorified with Him, and share in His Kingdom. That is the picture of the Kingdom all through this Gospel age, because Jesus explains that the good seed which He sowed in the field was the word of God. It was the good word of the Kingdom, the good message of the Kingdom. Jesus meant that God [CR252] having decided that He would have a Kingdom and that He should reign a thousand years to bless the world, has decided that Jesus should be the great King and He passed through His necessary experiences. God decided more – that He would have a Church, to be joint heirs in the Kingdom, and that is the work that has been carried on now in finding you and me, and all people who desire to be of the Kingdom. Which Church do you mean? I mean the Church of which the Bible speaks, and that includes all of God's saints, begotten of the Holy Spirit, whether in the Roman Catholic, the Church of England, Methodists, Presbyterians, or Baptists, wherever they are, "The Lord knoweth them that are His." There may be a great many tares around them in all the denominations, and wherever his people are, but whether they are in one of these denominations, or not in any of them, the Lord knoweth them that are His. His Church is composed of all those who are vitally united to the Lord, and we become so by faith and consecration, which makes us members in God's sight; and if faithful we shall be glorified as His Body. This message should be the great incentive, that God is going to have a Kingdom and that He has invited us to be His heirs, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, which fadeth not away, to be revealed at the end of the age. God has the whole matter ready and as soon as this time has come it will be revealed, and then we will see who have been the worthy ones. We know that Jesus was worthy, and has been received into glory and highly exalted, and now who are the Bride class and joint heirs? Will you be one? Will I be one? We do not know for sure. We may have a good confidence that, if we are walking faithfully to the best of our ability, we have the promise that He will cause all things to work together for our good, and we will be faithful if we faithfully stand the various tests, and then we will share all those glorious things. So we can have faith in this matter. That is what He wishes us to have.
THE Lord represented a man going about and finding a field having a treasure there. No matter how it got there, it may be a rich vein of gold, or a deposit of copper, or something very valuable. He sees the value and knows it; other people do not see it. Suppose that property was for sale; he would say, I see there is a very valuable piece of ground, and I will sell all I have and purchase that. That is the picture Jesus gave. It is like a great treasure and God is inviting a little flock, and if one hears of that he has, so to speak, his eyes fixed upon the treasure that God has provided, – the most wonderful thing in the world. What shall he give for it? Oh, give all that he has! Can he give half? No, God will not let him have it for half, not for three-quarters, or nine-tenths or ninety-nine one-hundredths. He cannot get it unless he gives all. He must give all to the Lord. He must give all his time, his will, and property, – that is the price. No man will get that great treasure of the Kingdom unless he agrees to those terms which are God's terms. You and I have not much to give; it takes most of our time for ourselves and families, and if we give all we have it will be very little, but it is the only price. Go and sell all you have.
THE Kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a merchant man buying pearls. They did not have merchant men like we have today to whom they could sell. But if they found a pearl they had to wait for some one to come along. Pearls were the jewels mostly in vogue in the days of the Lord, so He mentions them. Here is a large pure pearl which is very rare, and this merchant man is represented as finding this one of great value, and when he saw it he went and sold all, everything he had. What does he want to do this for? He does not tell. When he sold all that he had, he went and bought that pearl, and it took all he had. That is what the Lord's work illustrates. Jesus, not Brother Russell, said the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto this, and that the terms upon which it may be obtained are stated. How many want to get the Kingdom? It is one thing to be saved, and another thing to get the Kingdom. We are merely talking about the parables. Here is the offer before you and me. God intends to have an elect class, a Bride class, for his Son, all virgins, all pure in heart, not in the flesh. "Blessed are the pure in heart." Their intentions can be pure, their motives can be right, and God says that this is the class He is going to receive. They must not only be pure in heart, but be so anxious to co-operate in heart that when they find this great pearl they will sell all they have. What does that mean? Consecrate yourself, all you have. Let me illustrate it: Suppose I were in some kind of business, or a general, or a doctor, and suppose this had been my ambition. You know how much so many will lay down to get some such literal pearl of ambition, but here God has set before us a pearl of great price. When I try to imagine this I think something of King George, and think what would you give to take King George's place? Suppose you should get in to be associated with him as a son or a member of his family. How much would you give? Oh, you say, you could not tell how much, you would give everything. If you should do that, it is not a circumstance to what God is offering. To be an heir of God, and of King George, are different matters. To be associated with them are two different things. Sometimes King George's kingdom will end, so far as he is concerned, but the Kingdom of God's dear son, which He is offering, and which is a pearl of great price, is an everlasting Kingdom, glory, honor and immortality. See what Saint Peter thought it was worth. He said, "God has given us exceeding great and precious promises that by these we might become partakers of the divine nature. He says that the promises are great and precious; he had it rightly summed up. Ah, they are what? Glory, honor, immortality, joint-heirship with Jesus. God gives us those promises. Yes, what for? That by these promises dwelling in us, working in us, regulating, and sanctifying our lives, we might become partakers of what? The divine nature. Brother Russell, does Saint Peter say the divine nature? Oh, I thought it was the angelic nature. No, Jesus, you know was in his resurrection exalted very high, far above angels, etc., and every name, next to the Father Himself. What about the Church? We shall be like Him, and share his glory, and that means that we will be like Him, and far above the angels, if we are faithful, if we are amongst those who get this pearl of great price. I tell you, my friends, there is a reason for these parables.
THE word virgin means pure person. By the way, it says, at that time, not as though it refers to the whole Gospel age, but at a certain particular time. Some of the parable fit the entire age, such as the "Pearl of great price," and "Treasure hid in a field"; they apply to the whole eighteen hundred years and have been applying all the time.
But this parable says then. The Kingdom of Heaven shall be likened to ten virgins, down at the close of this age. Five were wise and five foolish. The Lord divided the matter into five to make the matter even. He does not say some, but five were wise and five were foolish, and by and by the announcement came. What announcement? The announcement came, Behold the Bridegroom! Why was that an important announcement? Have not God's people [CR253] been waiting for eighteen hundred years? Surely. Did He not say, If I go away I will come again and receive you unto myself? This parable tells the way He will come, and the way He will receive His Church. At this time the Church will all be wise virgins, and will be accepted of Him; they will be pure in heart, and the wise will be those living so nearly to the Lord that they will have their lamps trimmed, and the Holy Spirit, or oil, in their hearts. When the message comes in the end of the age this class will be able to look at once and then see clearly, and they will all be prepared to meet the Bridegroom; but the other class will not be so prepared.
I will take the parable as a whole. It says that the wise and foolish virgins all arose and trimmed their lamps. They were all good, all virtuous. And then that announcement that was made was premature. He did not appear. It was a little too soon. So they all slumbered and slept. If I were to tell you of my personal understanding, I would think it had some fullment in the harvest work in the year 1884 in a movement, which extended over a good part of the civilized world, when many people arose and thought the Lord had come. They heard the knock, arose, trimmed their lamps, and met with a disappointment, as the parable says. Since then some slept and dreamed very peculiar things. So that is the reason we have so many different denominations; but we have no desire to discuss their peculiarities, etc. According to the parable they have slept and dreamed. But the time has arrived when the Bridegroom comes, and the cry is heard, Behold the Bridegroom! – not cometh, but, Behold He is present, and has come. That is the announcement that will be given out at the second time. The first one that He was coming, and the second that He is here. Then all the virgins arose and trimmed their lamps, and the foolish ones found their lamps had gone out, but the wise ones had the oil in their lamps, and they saw and went in with the Bridegroom into the marriage. No one else will be of the Bride class, only those that were ready, not only living, but those who have died, and the marriage of the Lamb will take place, and no one else will ever get into the Bride class. What about the foolish virgins? Does not that mean they are pure? Yes. Well, they afterwards went and got the oil, the Holy Spirit, and then they came and said, Lord, Lord, open to us, we want to be of the Bride class; we did not know how important it was; Lord, let us in. No, the Bride class is complete, the door is shut, you cannot come in. Oh, they will have wailing and gnashing of teeth – sorrow and disappointment. Why were we not wiser, why did we not think more of this pearl of great price, and sell everything; and, as Saint Paul said, count all as loss and dross, that we might win a place in this company? So they will have their wailing and gnashing of teeth and sorrow. But this was not an eternal sorrow or regret; they were virgins, pure; they were hunting after earthly riches instead of this pearl of great price, and that is the reason they go into this condition and were not ready to receive the Bridegroom. But the Lord shows us that He will bring that great company through great tribulation, and they will wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb, and be before the throne. Oh, that is different! The Bride class will be on the throne, and this class before the throne. The Bride class on the throne will have crowns, they will be kings, but the foolish virgins were not up to the standard; they were pure, loyal, and stood the tests finally, but did not voluntarily go in the proper spirit; they shall be before the throne, and have palm branches. I am glad of that, glad that if they cannot have the crowns they will have the palm of victory.
Then again the little flock are called the Temple of God, and these others are called servants. They shall serve God in his Temple, but the Church will be the Temple. You see the difference all the way through. Then again the second class which are mentioned in the 46th Psalm where the Church is spoken of as the Bride, all glorious within. She shall be brought unto the King in fine needlework, painstaking character development. The robe is given to her from our Lord, our justification – we could not be acceptable with the Lord unless He would give us that white garment. It has all the stamping on it just as a lady who goes to some place and buys a piece of linen all stamped, but it needs the fine needlework. So when the Lord gave us our justification we found the stamping of the fruits of the spirit and graces of the spirit which we must work out. All the fine needlework is picturing the faith, perseverance, etc., of character development. So that is the picture – she, the Bride class, shall be brought unto the King, all clothed, perfect inside, the image of the Lord in spirit – no matter how imperfect in the flesh, we must all at heart be clothed within – raiment of fine needlework. The glorious robe must be beautifully embroidered. The foundation of all was the righteousness of Christ and the work under his guidance in the development. And the gold, what does that mean? It is a symbol of the divine nature. Everywhere in the Scriptures, in the Tabernacle services, etc., gold represents things divine. So, in the Bride's garments she shall be in raiment of gold as well as fine needlework; she shall be clothed in immortality. As the Apostle says, we shall be changed. Oh, that will be a wonderful time, dear brothers and sisters! That is the class that will have purchased "the pearl of great price"; they will be the ones who will have laid down their lives faithfully; they will hear the "Well done good and faithful servant." You did not do very much. What, not much? Yes, that is what He said. You have been faithful in a few things. You could not do very much, could you? None of us can. When we have done all, we have not done anything profitable. None could say, here is one, God needs him so much, how could God get along without him? He does not need us, but we need Him. After the Bride goes in then we read, the virgins her companions that followed her, they also shall be brought into the presence of the King. That means that this secondary company who will be brought ultimately into the presence of the King, not with a robe of glory, but they will be conquerors, and we will be glad to see them. They will be companions; she, the Church, will be associated with her Lord on the kingly plain, and they on a lower plain, which will be glorious, but not as high or wonderful as that to which the Lord has called us. If He has told us what the pearl is and the price, we do not want to keep back anything, but if we do we may not get anything, or get into that secondary place. Another parable –
JESUS spoke this parable because He was nigh unto Jerusalem and because the people thought the Kingdom of God would soon appear. This is a free translation. Note that He speaks this parable because He was nigh unto Jerusalem and because they thought the Kingdom of God would immediately appear. Jesus had said unto them, "Take up your cross and follow me." Peter said, We have left all to follow Thee, what is there in it for us? Then He answered and said, He that hath followed me, in the regeneration, shall sit upon the throne judging the twelve tribes of Israel. That was the promise the Apostles were thinking of, that was all before they had been anointed with the Holy Spirit, because Jesus had not yet paid the ransom price, and God could not recognize any until Jesus had died and had ascended upon high, there to appear in the presence of God – to appear for us, as our Advocate; just as if you had a case in court. You are not a lawyer, you would have to go and get a lawyer, and until he would appear for you, you could do nothing but wait, because you have no standing in the court. So with the whole world; nobody could have a hearing before God until Jesus had ascended up on high, there to appear for us, as our Advocate, but now we have an Advocate with the Father. Now then, He appeared for us and made satisfaction, and we appropriate the merit of his sacrifice on our behalf, that we might be made the righteousness of God through Him. The Apostles did not get any spirit begetting until Pentecost, until Jesus himself poured out his divine blessing. God gave it to Jesus (John 1:33), this, which He poured out upon them at Pentecost (Acts 2:33), and it came a witness to them. Well, the Apostles were expecting that the Kingdom of God would immediately appear, and so they were saying, I wonder which will be nearest to the Lord when He sits upon his throne? You remember the mother of James and John came to Him and said, Lord, grant that these my two sons may sit with you on your throne, the one on the right hand and the other on the left hand. They were expecting it at almost any day and they did not get the right idea that it would take the whole age to elect or select those that would be on the throne with Him, so Jesus spake this parable on this account, "Because they thought the Kingdom would immediately appear." He said, The Kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a nobleman who went into a far country to secure authority, to rule and exercise his commission. They understood that because it was the custom then. Herod had gone to a far country, to Rome, to be invested with authority over the Galileans, and they knew all about it. So when Jesus gave this parable they understood the parable. He wanted them to see that it would not immediately appear, but that it would take a good while to go and get the authority and to return. So this nobleman before going called his own servants, he did not call everybody, and delivered unto them the goods. There were two parables of this kind, the pounds and the talents. By and by he returned and reckoned with them. I have come back now, you have had these talents and pounds, what have you done? I want to have a report from all my servants. One said, Here is what you gave me; I have been trading with it and tried to use it for your service; it is the best I would do. Another one answered and reported, and another until all reported but one. One said, I gained two pounds, another said I gained five pounds, and another said I gained ten pounds. But one had concluded that he had so little that he would not trade with it but digged a hole and buried it, and that is the only one whom the Lord reproved. He was not dealing with the world. They relate to you and to me, and to all who become God's consecrated people. You have your opportunity here in Madras, and I have mine all over the world, or especially in London and New York. I am not responsible to you nor you to me, but we are all responsible to the Lord Jesus. At his second coming He is going to investigate what you have done that you may give an account. If you go and bury your talents in the earth, either in business, pleasure, or whatever way, He will say, Wicked and slothful servant, you had a talent and failed to use it. Why did you not use it? In all except this one case the Master said, Well done, good and faithful servant, you did the best you could. Then the one who had the five, as well as the one who had the two, received the words of approval, Well done good and faithful servant. How faithful? Oh, you have been faithful over a few things. These are only little things, not very valuable. I have a whole lot, and these do not amount to much, but I wanted to see how faithful you would be. He that is faithful in that which is least would be faithful also in much. I was trying you with the little opportunities I gave you for glorifying my name, and laying down your lives for the brethren, and showing forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. All that use their opportunities faithfully will enter into the joy of the Lord. What does that mean? Oh, my dear brother, that is the resurrection change, changed [CR255] in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. What will it be? The Apostle said, "It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body." This is Scripture. Enter into the joys of your Lord. What does that mean? It means, as He said to one – have thou dominion over two cities, to another over five cities, etc. It means that this class, this Church, is called to be the kings and rulers of the age to come, to bless the world in this great government that God intends to establish, that will be world wide, under the whole heavens, as the Scriptures say. This is the way of picturing it, showing that there will be differences, yet that they will all have relationship, Jesus the great King and we the under kings. How beautiful it all is! Oh, we hope, my dear friends, that we may make our calling and election sure. Another parable.
OUR Lord referred primarily to the Pharisees. There was a certain man who had a steward, and who was reported to him to be unjust, and he called that steward and said, Give a report, now, because I hear that you have not been doing perfectly my will, and your stewardship is about to come to an end. That steward said, Well, I am about to get out of my situation, and I will call my master's debtors and I will fix them. He called one and asked, How much do you owe my master? He said, so much. Very well, sit down and mark it down fifty per cent. I will discount that. Then he called another and asked the same question, and he said, so many measures of oil. Very well, cut that down also. He minimized the debts of the people. He had a right to do that under the arrangement then because the steward was given full control and could do anything that he wished. His master commended the unjust steward; he said, This is a very wise thing for that steward to do. He cut down those accounts for those people. Suppose that man had one hundred measures of wheat, and suppose he did not have the money, it was very wise to cut it down and not make it an entirely bad debt. So in America and Europe we have what are called bankruptcy laws, and in some cases accounts may be cut off entirely, so that a person may make a fresh start in life; otherwise such a person would be discouraged so that he would never get along. God also had an arrangement with the Jewish nation, that at the time of their Jubilee year all debts were canceled. Now the steward was not doing wrong in this particular, because he had a full right, and his master said, That is a pretty wise steward of mine. I told him he would have to lose his job, and he said, I will make these people my friends. Now Jesus said, you Pharisees have not been doing this. Instead of telling them how to keep the law, or part of it, you have been increasing the law, and binding on heavy burden. The Pharisees sat in Moses seat – instead of Moses. Instead of trying to help the people they tried to make the law so terrible that it discouraged the common people. The Pharisees pretended to keep it but they did not. Jesus said they were hypocrites; they kept it in some little things, but not in the spirit of the law. Jesus pointed out that the keeping of the law is not possible under present conditions. It is the measure of a perfect man's ability. But the Pharisees, instead of telling the people, You are a poor generation, you cannot keep the law, called them sinners. They should have been helping them – if you cannot keep all the law, do the best you can, they should have said. Try now to keep half. Jesus applied it to them as much as to say, You Pharisees are stewards, you should have cut this down and been helping the people, but instead you are binding heavy burdens upon them which you will not lift with your little finger, yet you have many advantages over the common people. The Pharisees carried some of these little things to such extreme that they said if a person were to pluck some grains of wheat on the Sabbath day and to rub them between their hands to get the shell off, they were threshing, and therefore claimed that the people were breaking the Sabbath day. Again they said that if a person were to kill a flea on the Sabbath that that would be hunting, therefore it would be breaking the Sabbath day. Jesus was pointing out that the end of the Jewish age was at hand and it would be better for them to help the people to see that God does not expect more of them than they were able. They should have said, We Pharisees do not keep the law either. None of us can keep the law. Do the best you can and we will hope that God will see that we are doing the best we can, that He will make some arrangement for our imperfection. If they had, then when Jesus came along to make a sacrifice to cover their imperfections, they would have been ready to receive Him. But the Pharisees acted hypocritically; they were so blinded that they were not able to see Jesus, and his teachings, and so it worked against them. So after giving this parable to the disciples He makes an application to them – so likewise, you wise disciples, make to yourselves friends with the Mammon of unrighteousness. Anything that is of an earthly character, if you have money, wealth, opportunities, etc., use all these things with which to do good, that you may advance your spiritual condition. We are not to hold fast to earthly riches, but when we surrender ourselves to the Lord we are to leave all our affairs in his hands.
THAT same evening a parlor meeting was held at the home of one of the members of the Madras class. There is a class there of about fifteen to twenty people and they invited in a number of their friends so that there were probably fifty people altogether present that night and they listened to a discourse by Pastor Russell and seemed to appreciate very much his visit, as well as the visit of the committee.
THIS is certainly a queer city, with its claimed large population, living in anything from a mud hut to a palace; and the people wearing anything from nothing to fine silks and jewels. There are very few sidewalks in the city, so if one wishes to walk he gets out in the street with the rest of the animals. All, men and women, go barefooted, except Europeans and Americans.
Yesterday we took a ride to some places of considerable [CR256] interest, and called at Little and Big Mounts of St. Thomas, the Apostle. Strong tradition has it that at about A.D. 52 the Apostle Thomas came to this part of the world and worked and preached until killed by the Brahmins. On these mounts are now Catholic Churches, which we visited. In them they have various old things which are claimed to have been connected with the Apostle. The accompanying pictures show something of these and some of the party going up the Big Mount, which is reached by a long winding stone stairway. It is very evident that some man by the name of Thomas, whether the Apostle or not, did visit this part of India and did a good work in sowing seeds of the Gospel. In one of the convents on the hill we had quite a discussion with the Mother Superior and a bright young Catholic woman. They were well versed in Catholicism, but knew little about the Bible. When Brother Russell asked them some questions about the Trinity and about Mary being the mother of God, the Mother Superior got a Bible and said she could find all about it there for us, but after looking considerably she had not found it by the time we left and is perhaps still looking for it.
Brother Robison left us here and will make a trip through India over different lines than we will travel on later.
This afternoon a number of friends from the Class of Bible Students here, numbering perhaps forty, called at the hotel and we had about two hours fellowship together. They appreciated very much this opportunity of meeting Brother Russell and talking with him personally.
The next night we held the Public Service in Victoria Hall, at which there was a large attendance. The topic was, "The Great Hereafter," and Brother Russell treated it a little differently than usual, on account of the mixed audience, which was composed of Christians, Brahmins, Buddhists and Mohammedans. He spoke for an hour and three-quarters, and treated the matter so logically from all standpoints that all the mixed audience could see the reasonableness of the True Gospel, and they could see that through and by it was the only reasonable means of bringing all these different religionists and others into harmony with Jehovah and one another. At the close of the service many handed in requests for literature treating further on the subject. We left here feeling that the Truth had been given a strong witness.
EN ROUTE for Calcutta to visit the above place, and to look into missionary activity there. A retired army officer kindly entertained us in his large bungalow. As to the results of the missionary activity there for the past many years, well – the people are a long ways from being converted, and the whites care little about the glad tidings of great joy which shall be, not only for the poor natives in and about Vizagapatam, but the whole world. This army officer, who is also a doctor, spent much time with us asking question after question, and remarked before we left, "I think that your visit here was providential for me, whether it accomplished anything for others or not." His interest and love for the Bible revived and he seemed to have found that which satisfies as nothing else can do. We were glad to have done him some good, even though we were disappointed in not finding greater results from the work of the missionaries during the years of the past.
As we were walking from the railway station to the gentleman's bungalow our hearts were made sad by the sight of three lepers standing at the side of the road, and within a few feet of us as we passed, with hands outstretched for some coins. I said, hands, but this is hardly true, for what they held out were what was left of the hands they once possessed. Now, many joints of their fingers had rotted off, and matter was then dripping from their finger stubs; the same was true of their feet. One poor fellow had over half of one foot rotted off. Another was almost completely covered with large, raw ulcers, on which the flies were feeding. One also had been so affected by this dreadful disease that his face was all caved in and the disease had invaded his throat so that he could make only some husky sounds. Surely they were a pitiful sight, with no one to care for them, and no hope that any could give them that their condition would ever be any different, either now or in the great future, but on the contrary, according to all the creeds, notwithstanding they have suffered so much in this life, they must all go to an eternity of torture. We were glad for the light of the glorious gospel of good tidings, of the soon coming Kingdom of Messiah, which will cure them of this disease and all that it symbolizes. In this section, unlike the Leper Colony at Colombo, previously described, [CR257] these poor lepers get no care from the government, but are allowed to go about on the streets. We saw others at some of the railway stations. How the infection is not spread and others become contaminated is a mystery. We took some snap-shots of two of them, but the pictures did not turn out very well, but we show one herewith, and perhaps you can notice the stubs of one poor fellow's fingers. After seeing them it made us wonder whenever we saw a fly light on us or any food, if it had been on one of those lepers, and hence we could not enjoy our meals as well as we might otherwise.
CALCUTTA, our next stop, is built on the Hoogli river, a mouth of the Ganges, about ninety miles from the sea, and is the seat of supreme government of the empire, the vice-regent of which serves as the representative of George V., Emperor of India. It is also the commercial center of the presidency of Bengal, and so famous for its handsome buildings, public and private, that it has been called the "city of palaces."
Sights will not fail the traveler. There are the public buildings and the zoological gardens to see, the fort and the native bazaars, an over-decorated Jain temple, a "burning ghat" for disposal of corpses, and famous Hindoo shrines. In the botanical gardens is the largest banyan tree in the world, stretching over an area of 300 feet in diameter, with hundreds of aerial roots forming trunks.
Our visit at Calcutta was a pleasant one, and besides holding services for both the natives and the white people, we also looked into matters in general and also had conferences with Brother and Sister Richardson, representatives of the society, who have been working for some time in the interior. We were very glad to see them and to learn of their experiences. We were sorry to part with them as they went back to their fields of labor.
Trusting these brief notes will give you some idea of our whereabouts and experiences, and with Christian love to all, I remain, as before,
Bombay, India, February 23, 1912.To the Ecclesia at Chicago, Ill., U.S.A.
Dearly Beloved in the Lord: – WE arrived here yesterday afternoon about five o'clock, and here again we found Satan had preceded us, his representatives having sent word ahead that we were coming and to look out for us. They did their supposed duty, but the Lord, true to His word, caused their wrath to praise Him, and their free advertising only assisted in filling the hall to overflowing.
On arrival I found a number of letters waiting me – from Brothers Read, Horth, Evans, Rechel, and, of course, from my family. While these letters are six weeks old when delivered to me, yet I am mighty glad to get them.
This is the first decent hotel we have been in for many a day. I think this is the best city in India.
My last letter was written from Calcutta, and since then we have seen many strange sights and had some peculiar experiences, as our party divided and thus different places were visited. I will not go into details, but will mention one or two places in particular. One was
THIS city, to more than half the population of the globe, is a very holy city, and to half of those it is the holiest of all cities. To the Hindus it is as the Mecca to the Moslem, or as Jerusalem to the mediaeval Christian, while to Buddhists it is sacred because it is the place to which their great founder journeyed as a holy spot fit for him to begin preaching his new doctrines more than 500 years B.C., but no one knows anything of its history before that time.
To give an idea as to how great is their superstition, I will mention that with its 2,000 temples and shrines, it has for thousands of years been the chief place of pilgrimage for the faithful from all parts of the country. For those wishing to see for themselves the worshipers of the faith of the Hindus at their holiest shrines, this city certainly affords the opportunity. We walked through many of the narrow, dirty streets of the city, and were made to think of a great multitude of harmless lunatics. We made our way to the River Ganges, which to the Hindus is very sacred; in fact, so much so, that if anyone can die with their feet touching that water, they are sure to go to the happy place. Our guide told us of one case where an old man was expected to die, so the rest of the family took him down to the river's bank to breathe his last, but for some reason he refused to die just then, so they stuffed his mouth and nose with mud and thus forced him to die at that river. It was in the forenoon when we reached the river, and here we took a boat to see the famous bathing-ghats, where thousands of pilgrims of both sexes and of all ages, from every part of India, immerse themselves in the water of the sacred river, while fat Brahmins officiate under great umbrellas. I took the accompanying photographs, which will give some idea. On the banks of the river fires are burning on which are laid the dead bodies, which they burn instead of burying them. The varied structures and the gay costumes of the bathers combine to make this one of the great sights of the world. Many temples, etc., are also near by, the Monkey Temple, the Gold Temple, etc. While we were there we heard a bell ringing, and upon inquiry were informed that it was to wake up their god, who was drunk. He must have had it pretty bad, because the bell would ring quite frequently. Benares is the special haunt of beggars of every description of disease, deformity, and dirt. All these sights and odors and superstitions made us heart-sick, and we were only too glad to make our exodus, and we could truly pray, Lord Jesus, come quickly. What a transformation it will be there when God's will shall be done on earth even as it will be done when Messiah sets up his kingdom!
Our next stop was at Lucknow, and we all said upon reaching there, "we are in luck-now." It is a beautiful place, with many things of historical nature attracted to it. Other places were Cawnpore, Agra, etc.
We were very glad indeed to reach Bombay. A welcome sight here was the face of our dear Brother Robert Hollister, who had come on from London to look after certain work for the Society in India and other countries. He sent his love to you all in Chicago, as he is known to many of you.
We have had some good meetings here, for both natives and whites. One educated and refined gentleman was so impressed with the message he heard that he came down to the boat to see us off and brought Pastor Russell a handsome wreath of flowers and a hand bouquet, as an expression of his appreciation of the things he had heard.
Well, as I do not think of anything more to write just at present, I will retire and send my next letter from Suez or Cairo.
With Christian love and greetings from all to all, I remain as B4,
Alexandria, Egypt, March 7, 1912. To the Ecclesia at Chicago, Ill., U.S.A.
Dearly Beloved in the Lord: – WELL, here we are in the land of the Pharaohs, the pyramids, and many things of interest to Bible students.
My last letter was from Bombay. From there we steamed for several days across the Arabian Sea, stopped a short time at Aden, at the beginning of the Red Sea (which, by the way, is very blue), then steamed up to Suez, making quite a long trip of it. As a Sunday was spent on the water, Brother Russell addressed a meeting at which about eighty of the passengers attended.
Eight o'clock here in the morning is about ten o'clock the night previous with you. We had a very quiet sea and the big ship moved along at the rate of about 335 miles a day. As we traveled along, nearing Suez, we could see the land on either side; to the left was Arabia, while to the right we lashed the Peninsula of Sinai, at the southern end of which is Mt. Sinai, where the Law Covenant was entered into, etc. A little farther on we passed near the place where the Seventy Palm Trees were, under which the Israelites rested, after crossing the Red Sea. Then farther on were the Twelve Wells of Moses, still known as such.
Upon leaving the ship and passing through the various experiences with custom officials and health officers, we took train up to Ishmalia, this journey being along the Suez Canal. Ishmalia is quite close to the place where the children of Israel must have crossed. From here we went direct to Cairo, reaching there about midnight.
THE next day matters of business occupied the attention of all until after lunch, then we boarded the trolley car for a trip to the pyramids. As we reached the outskirts of the city we could see the three pyramids in the distance, becoming more and more visible as we neared them. It caused a strange feeling to come over us as we realized that now we were actually seeing and would soon more closely examine that great Witness which has stood there so proudly these many centuries. From the end of the car line it is about half a mile to the pyramid; we walked it, but many of the travelers prefer to ride on a little donkey or on camels.
To our great pleasure we found Brother Morton Edgar there at the pyramid, he having come from Scotland a short time before to make further excavations, measurements, etc., preparatory to issuing the second volume of his work on the pyramid. We were very glad indeed to have him there, for we knew that he could tell us more about that Witness than any one living. The Arab guides know absolutely nothing of the teachings of the pyramid, and as Brother Edgar knows every foot of the inside and also had with him his chief helper, Judah, we did not require the services of any of the guides. This was quite a surprise to these Arabs, however, and they thought it very strange that we would go inside without them.
At a distance the great pyramid does not show off what a mighty structure it is, but as one gets alongside, he is soon convinced that it is the greatest building in the world.
The entrance is on the north side and about fifty feet up the sloping side. To reach this we found it necessary to climb over about fifty feet of rubbish. With no railing, fire escapes, or anything else to support one, even this height made some feel a little queer, and Brother Pyles remarked, "I would give a dollar if I had not started." However, [CR259] THE THREE LARGE PYRAMIDS... (Picture only) [CR260] helping hands were extended to him, and soon we were in front of the entrance. We stood around this for some time, Bro. Edgar in the meantime pointing out and explaining various things of interest. In his first volume on the Great Pyramid Passages he shows a number of excellent illustrations of just how this entrance looked.
We then went into the Descending Passage, passed under the Granite Plug, which stops up the lower end of the First Ascending Passage. We kept on down until we came to the Subterranean Chamber or Pit. On the way, however, we, of course, passed the lower end of the Well. This Subterranean Chamber is about 250 feet from the entrance, and the whole passage to it is very slippery, and would be difficult to travel over, were it not for holes that have been cut in the floor of the passage about every four feet. Of course it was dark in here, but we each carried a candle.
After examining this Pit, Brothers Wilson, Kuehn and I thought we would like to go to the end of the Blind Passage, which extends from the south wall of the pit; this is about fifty feet in length, and at its farther end would seem to represent the Second Death, or the end of the Millennium. It is a continuation, so to speak, of the Chamber or Pit, but is only a passage about two and a half feet square.
We then came back up the Descending Passage to the Forced Passage around the Plug, climbed it into the First Ascending Passage, representing the Jewish age. This is quite steep and slippery.
At the top we came to the beginning of the Grand Gallery, and at our right was the opening to the Well 200 feet above the lower opening, which we saw near the Subterranean Chamber.
Brother Edgar gave us a fine point about this with respect to the New Covenant. It was a fine thing to have him with us for two hours, giving us lessons on the pyramid while being right there on the spot.
The rest of the party had become exhausted, so only Brothers Wilson, Kuehn and I were making the trip with Brother Edgar – Judah, of course, accompanied us.
We then went through the long Horizontal Passage, which caused us to stoop a good deal, [CR261] to the Queen's Chamber. The first six-sevenths of that long passage represents the first 6,000 years of the world's groaning under the curse, and it made our backs and knees groan, so to speak. The last one-seventh is 21 inches deeper, representing the Millennial age, when the average man, or perfect man, can stand erect.
Then we came into the Queen's Chamber, made of very large limestones, the joints between which are very fine and decidedly different from what we see in the construction work of our government buildings in America or Great Britain. If you look at any of our buildings, there is no difficulty to find the cracks.
Then we went up the Grand Gallery, under the Granite Leaf, into the Ante-chamber, and then stooping considerably and passing through a small passage we entered the wonderful King's Chamber, built of very heavy, dark granite blocks. We, of course, saw the Coffer, hollowed out of a great solid block of granite. A remarkable thing about it is that the cubic inches of its sides, ends and bottom, which are about four inches thick, represent as many cubic inches as there are cubic inches of capacity in the Coffer itself. In other words, if this Coffer were cut into small squares and piled together, the pile would exactly equal the inside measurement of the Coffer. While in this King's Chamber we sang some of the song, "Come all ye saints to Pisgah's Mountain."
Our descent was more difficult than the ascent, and it was a long and slippery journey from the upper end down through the Grand Gallery and First Ascending Passage to the Descending Passage. We finally reached it, however, and then climbed up the Descending Passage and out the Entrance Passage, then down the side of the pyramid fifty feet to the ground.
The rest of the friends decided to go back to the hotel at Cairo, but I arranged to remain with Brother Edgar at the Mena Hotel, near the pyramid. I was quite able to take some nourishment after our climb, and so Brother Edgar and I ate a good dinner, and then started out to make an inspection of things by night, as the moon was just at its full and the stars were shining brightly. We walked around the Great Pyramid, nearly a mile, and also went over and took a view of the old Sphinx. While this is a large thing, it is nothing in comparison with the Pyramid. Many of the photographs of it are taken at close range with the Pyramid in the background, and thus it is made to appear to be as large as the Pyramid. There were a great many tourists there, and they seem to make a special point of coming out to the Sphinx at night. To reach it they must pass the Pyramid, but that has little attraction for them. I heard one lady who sat on a camel near where I was standing remark to a friend that the Virgin Mary sat on the Sphinx with the infant Jesus when on their flight into Egypt. That is one of the traditions of Catholics.
After a night's rest Brother Edgar and I soon dispatched breakfast and then went out and climbed a hill near the hotel, from which we had a fine view of the Delta of the Nile. This hill is quite close to the Pyramids, and is covered with small, smoothly polished stones, showing that once they had been in water. There are different theories as to how they got on top of those hills. Some think they were in the last ring of water around the earth, and that when it broke these stones were precipitated to the earth. One fact
[CR263]
is very evident, they are there. All the desert, in fact, is covered with them.
[CR262]
ASCENDING GREAT PYRAMID AT NORTHEAST CORNER. (Picture only)
There were some things I forgot to look for while in the Pyramid and some other things I wished to look at again, so Brother Edgar and I started over to the Pyramid again, but on looking down the road where the tram-car stops, we saw five dromedaries (one hump camels) coming up the road, and on their backs we saw Brothers Russell, Pyles, Maxwell, Kuehn and Wilson. They were on their way to visit other Pyramids and the old city of Memphis, of historic interest, fifteen miles away. They asked us to join them. As we wished to make other examinations inside the Pyramid, we said we would join them later.
We then re-entered the Pyramid, and Brother Edgar pointed out and explained many interesting points. We made another inspection of the Subterranean Chamber or Pit. He is having that completely excavated and the rubbish taken outside. The bottom of this has never been thoroughly explored, and he expects to find some interesting measurements in connection with it.
Coming from the Pit we reached the lower entrance of the Well, so decided to make the ascent. It is 200 feet long, quite irregular, and much like a crooked chimney, and presents about the same difficulties one would experience in trying to climb up the inside of such a chimney. If it was straight up, its vertical height would be about 165 feet. I would not have missed that climb for a good deal. Sometime when you are going up a high building, take a look up the elevator, or lift shaft, and imagine climbing up in it in the dark, except for a tallow candle in your hand, and nothing to hold on to except a small rope, and some rough niches in the sides, in which to stick the toes of your shoes, and at times being obliged to brace your feet on one side and your back on the other side.
We were glad to reach the Grotto, which is a natural grotto or cave in the solid rock – not cut out. Think of the Great Pyramid being built over this natural Grotto, and it being in just the right position so that it would harmonize with all the measurements of this Great Stone Witness. In this Grotto we rested a little and penned a word of greetings home, which was signed by Brother Edgar in Scotch, by Judah in Arabic, and by myself in United States writing.
We then ascended the rest of the distance, the last 25 feet of which is vertical and the most difficult to get up. This well illustrates the fact that the end or last part of the course for both the Church and the world will be the most difficult. We, of course, came out at the upper opening of the Well, near the junction of the First Ascending Passage with the Grand Gallery and the Horizontal Passage to the Queen's Chamber. Here I received further lessons from Brother Edgar.
It was also at this point where we were making some investigations the day before when some guides came along pulling a tourist through the Pyramid. One guide gets in [CR264] front, takes one hand of the tourist and another takes the other hand or pushes and up he goes, dodging his head now, then stooping low, then he comes into a larger opening, etc., past the Well, and finally out again, and knows no more about what the Pyramid teaches than does a rabbit. This well illustrates the point that "The world knows us not, even as it knew Him not." There we were right near the Well making our examinations, etc., but this traveler passed right by and I doubt if he even saw that there was a hole there. So it is with the world; they pass right by the International Bible Students and can see little to interest them in what we are examining. We, however, can see God's gracious Plan which is being worked out, and so that Great Stone Witness also contained, to us, a wonderful outline of that same Plan.
We then descended the Law Age Passage, being abruptly stopped by the Granite Plug, which is composed of three sections, the length of the three being about fifteen feet. We then climbed down around this to the Descending Passage, but just before reaching it we took a look into the Forced Passage made by Al Mamoun. Reaching the Descending Passage we took note of the fact that its floor directly under the base of the Granite Plug was not worn as much as the rest of the floor and found it to be a large piece of limestone, much harder than the rest of it. This seems to teach the firm footing the Jewish nation had at the time their Law Covenant was instituted. The Jews had a better standing, because the Law itself is perfect.
Going up the Descending Passage to within 25 or 30 feet of the entrance, we noted the finely ruled line on the side, which marks the date of the building of the Pyramid, by measuring back from near the upper opening of the Well down to the First Ascending and up the Descending Passages to this line.
We then went outside with the thought of going up the outside of the Pyramid, but as there is nothing to be gained by so doing, except a fine view of the country, and as it would have been a hard climb, we decided not to do so, but instead went and got some lunch.
In the meantime Judah had made arrangements for three "Ships of the desert," and off we started to try to catch up with the others of our party. It was an interesting trip across the desert, but I would prefer to ride in a Pullman car to riding on camels, and we all had enough of it before we reached the end of our journey. The camel on which one brother was riding started to run away. I will not say who he was, but he is well known to you all. Our party finally reached the ruins of Old Memphis, and we looked at a number of these. We saw the big statue of Rameses, part of him being missing, but that part still remaining was in an excellent state of preservation and demonstrated the great skill of those sculptors. It was around that vicinity that the Israelites used to make bricks without straw. Near here also, on the banks of the Nile, is where Moses was found in the rushes. A little further on we came to a railroad station, and we were glad to leave our camels and take the train back to Cairo, a happy lot, but sore and tired.
The next day we left for Alexandria. Brother Edgar and Brother Pfund remained over night in Cairo, so as to say good-bye to us, and this is where we left Brother Edgar on the station platform, waving to us as far as we could see him, until the train was out of sight. Brother Pfund went on with us to [CR265]
HERE we looked over a number of ruins. First, however, we waited on the street corner for a car, and then went to a hotel for dinner. After that started out to see the Pillar of Pompey, which is some twelve feet in diameter and about eighty feet in height, all made of one piece of granite. There it stands alone, and has been there for a long, long time. How these people living at that time could handle, carve and erect such a monument is beyond modern skill. We also visited the catacombs, and a little later are to take ship to Greece.
We are now about to leave Egypt and are very thankful for an opportunity to have visited it, especially the Pyramid. I now close this letter, with Christian love to all, and remain as B4,
London, England. To the Ecclesia at Chicago, Ill., U.S.A.
Dearly Beloved in the Lord: – UPON leaving Alexandria, Egypt, we steamed across the Mediterranean Sea, arriving at Pyreus, the seaport of Athens. We boarded a train for Athens, and were then really in Greece. Here, of course, everything is still different, money, cooking, language, etc., from what we have been experiencing for some months.
We were surprised to find Athens such a large city and so clean. The old city of Athens is in ruins, but the new city is quite modern, having good buildings, paved streets, etc. We, of course, visited the ruins of the old city, and among the interesting places we visited the Acropolis, on which are still the ruins of the Parthenon, Mar's Hill, etc.
THE Acropolis, the glory of Athens since the time of Pericles, was in early times a place of residence as well as a sanctuary.
The remains of a palace similar to those of Mycenae and Tirynce have been discovered.
During the time of Peisistralos it was reserved for the residence of the ruler of Athens and later dedicated solely to the gods.
It was captured and its buildings destroyed by the Persians, B.C. 480, after which the walls were rebuilt by Themistocles and Kimon, the drums and triglyphes from the burned temples being used in the work.
During Turkish times it was converted into a citadel surrounded by a wall with fortified towers, its temples used as dwelling houses and mosques.
We enter the Acropolis by the Beule Gates, so named from Mr. Beule, who discovered it in 1852, ascending them by marble steps to the
This splendid Doric gateway to the Acropolis is built entirely of Pentelic marble, the work being carried out during the years B.C. 437-432 by the Architect Mnesicles.
The building consists of a central colonnaded portico with five entrances, surrounded by pediments both east and west, and a wing on either side. The north wing was called Pinakotheka or Picture Gallery.
On a platform before the south wing stands the temple of Athena Nike.
Passing through the Propylaea the way ascends to the Parthenon. This temple, wholly of Pentelic marble, was built under Pericles, the entire work being completed in the years B.C. 447-438.
The peristyle consisted of 17 columns on the sides and 8 at each end.
The two pediments contained about 50 life size figures, there were 92 metapes, while around the cellar wall ran a frieze 524 feet in length, all of this work being of the utmost perfection and beauty. [CR266]
The building stood almost in its original perfection until 1687, when, having been converted into a powder magazine by the Turks, a bomb fired by Venetians, who were besieging the Acropolis, exploded within.
Many of the sculptures were saved by Lord Elgin, who carried them to England in 1801, and they are now in the British Museum.
THIS is sacred to all Bible students because of its association with the Apostle Paul. On the top of this hill or mass of rock is where St. Paul addressed the "men of Athens" when he was here in A.D. 54.
This is a small hill on the top of a high elevation overlooking the new city of Athens. We ascended the hill by means of stone steps cut in the natural rock. On the day of our visit there the wind was very strong, making it uncomfortable to remain long on that elevation. The hill is entirely barren of any vegetation, being merely a mass of rock. We viewed the surrounding country from various parts of the hill, and then picked out what to us seemed to be the very spot from which the Apostle Paul delivered his address to the people below.
We then held a short service on this memorable spot.
There was first a song, "All hail the power of Jesus' name," sung in the Greek tongue by several of the Greek brethren of the Athens Class, after which Brother Russell offered a short prayer. He then suggested we sing a few verses in English, which was done, all joining in singing the same grand hymn. Brother Russell then spoke briefly as follows:
Brethren, I congratulate you on the privilege we enjoy today, of standing on this very memorable spot, a spot that has associated with it very much indeed that is so very precious to us, and to all Christian people, and especially to those who are rejoicing in the Gospel of which Paul was not ashamed, the Gospel which has for its very foundation the fact that "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He rose the third day, according to the Scriptures," for our deliverance. This is the Gospel which will eventually cancel the sin of the whole world, bring to mankind the divine blessing, and the removal of the curse which came upon the world through sin. The further part of this foundation doctrine is that which the Apostle propounded and set forth in his great epistle to the Corinthians, namely, that the very foundation of all Christian hope is identified with the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead? "If there be no resurrection of the dead, our hope is in vain."
I am glad, as one of this little party, that we are here today and have the privilege of calling to mind these various things and which are encouraging our faith and love, and stimulating our devotion to the Lord and to the same Gospel – the same Gospel for which the Apostle preached and labored and died. The same Gospel, indeed, for which our Lord Jesus died, in order to proclaim the love of God, which passeth all understanding.
The service then closed with a word of prayer and the singing of "Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love."
DESCENDING the hill we entered our carriages and rode over to the other hill, where Demosthenes and other noted men of the past used to make political speeches.
Then we visited an old prison, where Socrates was confined and where he committed suicide by drinking hemlock poison.
Next we rode to another part of the city and went into
THE Stadion, the scene of the Panathenaean games, was built about B.C. 330, and at a later period renewed in pentelic marble.
During the middle ages most of the marble was carried away. In 1896-1904 it was rebuilt on the ancient lines, and again in Pentelic marble, at an expense of $3,000,000, by Mr. Averoff, whose statue is placed at the entrance. The Greek national games are held here and once in four years the international "Olympic games." The seating capacity is 50,000.