"Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong, for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consummation, even determined upon the whole earth." -Isa. 28:22.

The prophet has been speaking, we believe, respecting our day. He has been discussing in highly symbolical language conditions which we believe prevail at this present time. In the preceding verses, speaking of the present time and of the nominal Christian world, speaking also of the great trial and tests that are coming and which we believe have already commenced upon the nominal system called Christendom, the Lord through the prophet says: "From the time that it goeth forth (that is, from the time that this trouble, this snare of the Harvest age which the prophet has been speaking about in the previous verses) it shall take you; for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night, and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report."

Perhaps I should preface my remarks with a brief explanation of the Chart so far as we have examined it. We have seen that there are three great dispensations, or worlds; the first dispensation lasted from creation to the flood; the second dispensation (or the present evil world) will last from the flood until the end of this world and the beginning of the world to come-the new dispensation, the reign of righteousness. We have also seen that in this "present evil world" there are three ages, viz: the Patriarchal age, in which God's favor extended only to the fathers of Israel-Abraham first, then Isaac, then Jacob. And at Jacob's death, we find that His favors were with the children of Jacob, called the children of Israel, and that for 1845 years God dealt only with this nation, as it is written by the prophet Amos- "You only have I known of all the [HGL174] families of the earth." And so it was at the close of their age that the Lord Jesus came to His own. And when He preached, He preached to His own and none other; and when He sent forth His disciples, He instructed them not to go to any others, saying: "Go not unto the Gentiles and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not, for I am not sent Save to the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel." God's dealings were confined exclusively to that peculiar people up to that time.

And we saw also that God's favors toward Israel ceased at a certain particular time, at a certain particular day, mentioned not only by the prophet but by our Lord Jesus. You will remember that five days before His crucifixion, He rode into Jerusalem upon the ass, and weeping over the city He exclaimed: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that stonest the prophets and killest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thee as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not. And now I say unto you-Your house is left unto you desolate." There was no more favor to Israel from that day to this; but the Lord intimates a little further hope for them when He says: "Ye shall see me no more until that day," (pointing down to the Millennial day) that great day in which Israel is to be restored and the favor of God is to return to them again as delineated in the 11th of Romans, from the 25th to the 32nd verses. Blindness in part happened to natural Israel until "the fullness of the Gentiles be come in" and then all Israel shall be saved-saved from their blindness. As concerning the great promises made to the Church, they shall have passed by, they are gone, they can never return again (that is, when Israel's blindness shall have been taken away;) but eventually they shall be brought back and "shall obtain mercy through your (the Gospel Church's) mercy."

We have seen then, dear friends, that this age measures the period of time in which God is "gathering out of the Gentiles a people for His name." He took as many of the Jews as were ready and they became the nucleus for His Church; and during this Gospel age, God has been taking out of the Gentiles enough to make up the number which He predetermined would

constitute the Bride, the Lamb's wife, the body of Christ which is the Church. When this body is completed, there will not be another member admitted; and the body will be completed with the close of this Gospel age.

The Jewish age was 1845 years long from the death of Jacob to the death of Christ, and the Gospel age is exactly the same length of time from the death of Christ until the harvest. On last Lord's day, we found that those who constitute the Church have passed through two stages: first, one of faith, belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that faith in the Scriptures is said to be a justifying faith, and so we find those who thus believe in the Lord Jesus are reckoned as having reached the plane of justification or righteousness. Adam was born there, Abraham was reckoned there because of his faith, and so it is with us. We are counted as being there. We found also that this plane of righteousness or justification was the first step toward "bringing sons to glory." What glory? Why, the "glory, honor and immortality" that the Scriptures everywhere speak of, joint-heirship with God's dear Son in the kingdom of God, as the Apostle says. Now God is bringing these sons to glory, and the first step is from sin and condemnation to justification; and that step is taken without works. The only way to take that step is to renounce sin and to trust for the forgiveness of sin to Him who died on our behalf-thus we are justified by faith in His blood. This is the first step. The second step is the begetting to the new nature, "becoming members of the new creation," as the Apostle explains it. We have seen that this step is taken by a full consecration of ourselves to the Lord, as the Apostle says to the justified ones: "I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice." And as they present themselves, that is their part in the matter. And the Lord accepts them and they are counted as being begotten to the spiritual nature.

Those who have come to have faith in the blood of Christ are justified; and we are sorry to say that many of God's people stay right there. But that was not God's object in giving us the justification. It was given us in order that we might go on; otherwise He might just as well have blest us with the world in the next age. But He has given us knowledge in advance of the world; and when I say "us" dear friend, I mean all who are the Lord's people. We don't make any lines or fences, but recognize all who are the Lord's people in every place. Being justified by faith, they should not be content to remain there but should go on; and if they have this disposition, they will be asking our Heavenly Father: "Father, what wouldst thou have me to do?" And they would hear him saying, "Present your bodies a living sacrifice, that ultimately you shall be sharers in His glory and in the great work He has to do in the Millennial age."

We saw further, as we examined the subject, that only a few are on this plane of spirit begetting. A great many more are on the plane of justification and there they stay, instead of going on to the higher plane. And then of those who have been begotten to the new nature, we found there are two classes. There is a "little flock" of those who are faithful and a "great company" of those who are not properly faithful in fulfilling their covenant, not thoroughly consecrated to the Lord, not living up to their consecration. We pointed out that only those who are taking joyfully the experiences of life and who are rendering their lives willingly in obedience to the Lord with hearty, good will, these only are walking in the footsteps of the Master; and there are a great many who do not draw back and would not under any consideration, nevertheless they are not living up to the standard which the Lord has marked out for them, they are walking partly with the world and partly with the Lord. They have become "overcharged with the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches," and they are therefore losing the greatest blessing of the Lord in this life, and they have more trouble than those who live up faithfully to their covenant, because the Lord gives this class so many great favors, and the riches of His promises are so good to them that they "rejoice in tribulation," as the Lord and the Apostle over and over again say: "Rejoice in tribulation and in trial and in whatever may come upon you, since you realize that all these things are working out for you a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." But those who don't thus thoroughly fulfill their consecration but who hold back to some extent, they lose that peace of God in [HGL175] their hearts, failing to have it to the same extent as do the "little flock," and while perhaps this great company pass through no severer trials or difficulties than the "little flock," yet they feel them more because they do not have the peace and satisfaction in the same measure.

This great company, you will remember, we found mentioned in the 7th chapter of Rev. ; and he speaks here also of the "little flock" as consisting of 12,000 out of each of the twelve tribes. God began with typical Israel, dividing them into twelve tribes, and the promises were made to those who were the natural seed of Abraham. But when it came to the harvest time and the Lord's tests came upon them, only a comparatively small number were found fit for the kingdom. The great mass were blinded and turned aside, and those who were found worthy were only a little "tribe." And the Lord keeps up the suggestion of the twelve tribes, and those whom He is taking out during this Gospel age He speaks of as being counted into one of these tribes, and of course it makes no difference which tribe you are in. During this Gospel age, God is filling up these twelve tribes of Israelites because there were not enough of the natural Israelites to complete the predetermined number, and thus we become the seed of Abraham, though by nature we are not children of Abraham. The Apostle, in the 3d of Galatians, point out this matter very clearly, saying that Jesus is the seed of Abraham in the large sense and "if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs, according to the promise."

From God's standpoint, the only Church is the "little flock," (and they are His-His jewels, His special care) and the Great Company, those who "wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb" -these two classes compose the Church. Now this Great Company will not be counted worthy to be of the body of Christ because they have not a sufficiency of His spirit. They must come up through great tribulation and make their robes white. They will get palms of victory, but the others will get crowns of glory, honor and immortality. There is a great difference, and since God has invited us to it, we want to come into harmony with Him and to have what He wishes to give us; and having started in this way, having made a consecration of ourselves, having been accepted of Him and having been begotten of the Spirit, we wish to say, we do say: "Let us lay aside every weight and run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, that we may be counted worthy to be members of His body."

And then the other bodies (shown on the chart) the justified ones and those who have attached themselves to the nominal systems without even having been justified, these two bodies are not strictly the Church. They have never made a consecration to the Lord. Some of them have come to a justified condition however. And what are they? At the present time they constitute what the Scriptures call "the household of faith," very nice people, a great many of them, but not of the Church, for the Lord has said: "If any man would be my disciple, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." And He explained to them also, you will remember, that they should sit down and count the cost, not to be in haste and do something that they don't know anything about. Think about the matter, study it out, do what you do intelligently, do it unto God; and then having made the consecration, live it, no matter what may come, understanding from the very beginning that those who will walk with Jesus will not be a great number, but a comparatively small number, only a "little flock."

And we see that the last class, those who have attached themselves to the nominal churches, never having believed in Christ unto justification, but simply because they want to be in good society attaching themselves to the nominal church, these are not even of the "household of faith" and they have no part or lot in the matter whatever.

And our text for today shows how the whole matter is to end; and when we say "end," we are not speaking of the end of the world, nor about the destruction of the world. Nothing of the kind; but with the ending of this present evil dispensation, a new dispensation begins- "the dispensation of the fullness of times," or "the world to come," as Peter calls it. We are not looking for the destruction of the earth, but we believe the Scriptures when they say "the earth abideth forever." We will show you presently when we come to it what we understand by the "fire" that is to consume the earth. It is not a literal fire nor the physical earth, but a symbolic fire which is to destroy the present order of things; and upon the ashes of the present order of things, God will raise up a new dispensation.

But now as to the other side of the question. Some people will say: "Why, things have been going on as they are now ever since my father's time, and his father's day and his grandfather's day. Why won't it continue thus always?" Well, the prophet anticipated that somebody would be making just such a remark and so he says: "Doth the plowman plow all day to sow; doth he open and break the clods of his ground? When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches and scatter the cummin and cast in the principal wheat," etc. Does the plowman simply keep going up and down the field, over and over again? No, he sows some seed after he plows. And does he keep sowing seed forever? No, he waits for the harvest. And so this calls to mind our Lord's parable in the 13th of Matthew. It was the end of the Jewish age, the harvest time; and as there was a lapping of the ages (the Jewish age ending and the Gospel age beginning) so it is now also. We are in the harvest of the Gospel age and in the beginning of the Millennial age. And in the end of the Jewish age the Lord did a special work among the Jews. He had accepted them and had given them the law, and then for 1845 years He sent the prophets, one after another into the vineyard to look for the fruits, until in the end of the age the Husbandman said: "I will send my Son." That was in the end of that age; and the harvest was gathered and that age was brought to an end.

In this parable the Lord, speaking of the Gospel age and the work to be accomplished, said that the Son of Man was present in the world and sowed good seed (His teachings) and His Apostles sowed the good seed; and while they slept, the enemy came and sowed tares. After the disciples fell asleep, the adversary got a good chance and he took advantage of it, for we know that it was just about this time that what is known as the "dark ages" came in and the teachings of the whole Christian church were more or less corrupted. And then after a while came a brighter time, the [HGL176] reformation movement; and we praise God for the better and still brighter things that are coming to us now. But going back to the parable, we find that the wheat and tares grew together; and we find when they asked the question-Shall we pull up the tares? -that He answered them saying, "No, let both grow together until the harvest; the harvest is the end of the age."

Now we believe, dear friends, that we are in the harvest of this age, and we believe also that as the Jews passed through a great time of trial and testing, so in this Gospel age we are now in a time of trial and a great sifting is going on amongst those who profess to be the Lord's people. And ultimately only the wheat will stand and all the others will go down. The Lord spoke of the trials which would come in our day, you will remember, saying that they would "deceive if it were possible the very elect." In the case of the "very elect," God will provide them with grace and knowledge so that "the adversary toucheth them not" and he will not be able to overthrow them. As for all the others, we expect that they are all going to fall. What do you mean by "fall?" Well, in the end of this age, the whole Church will have been completed and received of the Lord; first, the apostles and all the faithful of the past who have gone down into death, they shall come forth together with all the faithful of our day; and this, the Apostle says, will be the first resurrection.

And when all these faithful ones have been received into the body, and the whole body shall have been glorified together with the Head, then we read that "He (the Christ) must reign until He shall have put all enemies under His feet." And the result of this reign will be to bring in a knowledge of the Lord which shall be world-wide and to give every man an opportunity to accept the blessings and favors of God which will then be extended. "Ah well," says one, "how do you know they will be any more ready to receive it then than they are now?" Well, I think they will be, because God promises that the Adversary, the one who has been opposing the truth and blinding the minds the world in this present time, "he shall be bound for a thousand years, that he may deceive the nations no more." And in this present time, those who will walk in the way of the Master find it to be a "narrow way" because of persecutions and trials and difficulties and God permits it to be a "narrow way" for the very reason that He may find the "little flock," and that by walking in this way they may be tested and polished and fitted and prepared for joint-heirship with their Lord in the kingdom.

During the Millennial day, when Christ is King over all the earth, righteousness will be the end of the law, and those who obey the law, instead of being persecuted, will be blest. "Why yes," says one, "I have often wondered why those who walk faithfully now are not protected from trials and difficulties." How was it with our Master? Did they not persecute Him and hate Him, even to the taking of His life; but as the Apostle says: "I wot that in ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers." And we believe that the Jews did crucify Christ in ignorance, for Peter says that if they had known Him to be the Lord of glory, they would not have taken His life. And so with all the members of the body of Christ-the same adverse influences press upon them, the persecutions (which are the work of the adversary) and trials and difficulties which are permitted to come upon us; and in the proportion that we seek to press along in the "narrow way," in that same proportion do we find that we have to fight a good fight.

And so you say that in the Millennial age there will be no narrow way? No, because there will be no adversary there to hedge up the way and make it narrow. And in that age, Israel as a nation will be lifted up and restored to God's favor. Well, says one, that seems as though God was partial to the Jews. God has made certain promises to some of the fathers of Israel and His favor to them will come about in a natural way-in this way, for instance: the Israelites have been looking for an earthly kingdom for lo, these many centuries. They have not been expecting to get to heaven. That they were expecting an earthly kingdom is shown by the words of the Apostles when they asked the Master if it was His intention to restore the kingdom at His first advent. And He replied that it was not for them to know (at that time) "the times and the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power;" but He did not say that the kingdom would never come or that they would never know anything of "the times and the seasons" but "It is not for you to know now" is the thought. When Israel finds the kingdom of God established, they will be in the proper condition of heart to receive that kingdom. Chief among them, and the first to receive God's blessings, will be the class spoken of in the 11th chapter of Hebrews, the Ancient Worthies, among whom are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Jeremiah and Isaiah. They cannot be of the Gospel church. Why not? Because they were not called to be of that church, just as He has not called millions of others. Does the Apostle not say that "all these died in faith?" Yes, but he says also that they died without receiving the things that were promised to them. And why did they not receive them? Because they couldn't receive them until first the Church was completed and glorified, as the Apostle says. Please notice also in this connection that not a heavenly promise was made until after Christ came. Abraham received an earthly promise- "All the land thou seest, to thee will I give it;" and all the promises made to the Jews were of an earthly kind. Note our Lord's words respecting John the Baptist, which prove conclusively that none of the Ancient Worthies shall have a share in the heavenly kingdom. "Verily I say unto you, there has not arisen a greater prophet than John the Baptist (quite a high testimony, wasn't it?) and yet I say unto you that the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." What does that mean? It means that John did not get into the kingdom. It means the kingdom belongs to the class which God has been selecting during this Gospel age, and it shows the consistency of God's arrangement, that Christ should be the forerunner, the captain and the leader of His people; and thus Abraham could not be in this heavenly kingdom because he was dead long before our Lord came. Nevertheless these Ancient Worthies, John the Baptist, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Jeremiah and Isaiah all had a promise and the Lord mentions it, saying: "Ye shall see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom." Will they see the Lord and the glorified church? No. Why not? Because "No man hath seen God at any time." Why not? Because God is a spirit being, "dwelling in light which no man can approach unto." If [HGL177] any man would see God, it would be to his injury. And our Lord Jesus is now the "express image of the Father's person, highly exalted, even to the Divine nature." And if this be true, dear friends, the world can no more see our Lord Jesus in His glorified condition than they could see the Father in His glory. And what about the church? "We shall be like Him." No man can see the church either. We don't know what we shall be, as the Scriptures declare: "It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." But we don't know what a spirit being is for we have never seen one. The thing which gives us the best idea of what a spirit being is like is the Apostle Paul's expression of what he saw when he was smitten down on his way to Damascus. He says it was "above the brightness of the sun at noon-day." And what did he see? I answer-he merely caught the faintest glimpse of the Lord, for He says so. And you remember that John the Revelator in giving an account of the Lord Jesus in glory says: "and I fell at his feet as a dead man."

While the world will not see Christ in His glory, they will not need to see Him any more than we now need to see the Father. We know the Father's power and His love and character and that is knowing Him in the best way we could know Him. Whoever sees a perfect man sees the best illustration of the Almighty God that it is possible for a man to see. Why? Because man, that is, a perfect man, was made in the likeness of God. The world in the next age will not see Christ any more than they see Satan now. He has been working during all this age nevertheless. And when Christ, as a spirit being, shall sit upon His throne in the next age, how grand will it be, What blessings will the world have? Let the Scriptures answer: "Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children." Who were counted the fathers? Answer-Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Instead of looking back to speak of them as the fathers, they shall be the children and He will be the life-giver. "He shall be called the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace." Abraham will receive life from Christ, the great Life-Giver. And so with all "the fathers" of Israel; and as perfect men, they shall be the very best representatives of Christ and the church that the natural man could possibly see, because every perfect man, being in the image of God, will be a representative of God's character; and thus they will see what God is and know Him. Just as our Lord said at the first advent: "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father;" not that the Father was in Him, but that the Father's character was perfectly represented in the Son and whosoever saw Him would have the best idea of the Father.

And who will be the instructors for the world? The "princes" will be there to instruct and to help them. Will they have full authority? No, the church will have supreme authority and they shall make the laws, operating through these Ancient Worthies as the human representatives. The Church is to be the heavenly Jerusalem and the others will be the earthly Jerusalem. From the spiritual capital will go the law and the general instructions; and the earthly capital will send forth the instructions received from the spiritual capital and fountain-head. And the result will be that all mankind will know Him. The Lord indicates that what He proposes to do is to give every member of the race a full opportunity for life. Is that too much? May they not have an opportunity to come to a knowledge of God? Yes, you say, but it must be in this present time. But do the Scriptures say so? The only Scripture that seems to come near it and the only one ever used to prove this theory is "As the tree falleth, so shall it be," but God's proposition is that they all went into death and there they are, neither getting any better nor any worse; and in due time, God shall call them forth, it will be with them just as it was with Lazarus. God did not say to him: "Lazarus, you were in heaven for a while, weren't you?" Or, "Lazarus, you were in purgatory or in hell with devils." Not a word of that kind. Well perhaps Lazarus was in heaven or in hell and God didn't know it. Do you think that was the case? Let us see what the Word says on the subject. "Marvel not, for the hour is coming in which all that are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of Man and come forth." Let us not add to the Word of God nor handle it deceitfully, but let us take it as God says it. And His statement of the matter is that the whole world has gone down into death and that in due time they shall come forth. And if we are in the right condition of heart, we will say- "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth;" and we will hear Him say- "Marvel not, for the hour is coming in which all that are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of Man and come forth." And I am simple enough to believe it. When He says these are all in their graves, I know they must be there; and when He says they shall come forth, I believe they will.

He says that one class, "those that have done good," will come forth to a resurrection of life. They shall be changed "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" -the church. And then another class that "have done good," -the Ancient Worthies-mentioned in the 11th of Hebrews as "having obtained a good report through faith." They have not yet received their promise, because the Church must first be glorified. And what does it mean when it says "those who have done good?" It means those who have been acceptable to God. Did the Ancient Worthies do good? Yes. Were they perfect? No. But they have "done good" and will come forth to a resurrection of life. And who have "done good" in this Gospel age? Will the hypocritical class, those who have attached themselves to the various nominal systems without having been justified, have God's approval? No. Have those who are justified "done good?" No, they have "received the grace of God that bringeth salvation," but they did not use it. They received it "in vain," as the Apostle says, because they did not go on and make a consecration. They are not of those who have "done good." Will they be in the resurrection of life? Oh no, surely not. Those who have "done good," having gone on and made a consecration and fulfilled it, these are the only ones to be approved for the resurrection of life.

Now then, think of what this means for nearly all your friends, and acquaintances and your family. Just think where it is going to put them. They have not been saints, have they? They have not made a consecration to the Lord. No. Well, what about them? It is not nearly so bad as our common version translation has it. It misrepresents the Lord's thought when it says: "They that have done evil, to a resurrection of damnation." The word here rendered [HGL178] "damnation" is in five other places of the same chapter rendered "judgment;" and it should be so rendered here. "They that have done evil to a resurrection by judgment." Quite a different thing, you see. And who have "done evil?" They that have not done good. Either you are in the one class or the other. Now as a matter of fact, the majority are those who have not "done good." Well, what about them? "They shall come forth." Thank God! Why thank God? How do you know but that it will be to injure them? Well I am sure that if God could do us no good, He certainly would do us no harm. "A good man doeth good works" and a good God will do good works. And what does a "resurrection by judgment" mean? Resurrection means to raise up. How? By faith? No. To raise them up actually. How actually? By the repair system. Do the Scriptures speak of that? Yes, see the words of the Apostle Peter in the 3rd of Acts, 19 and 21 where he speaks of the "times of restitution." What does that mean? Times of repair, bringing them back again to all that has been lost in Adam. Some Christians get the idea that the rocks and mountains are to be restored. Well, if God was careful to restore these, how much more creatures who are made in His own image?

The Lord said: "It shall come to pass in those days that I will make a new covenant," etc. But how? Will He break His law, or bend it in order to be merciful to sinners? No, God's law will maintain itself with rigidity. The Father will never look upon sin with any allowance; but He provides that during the Millennial age, Christ as King over all the earth, in that day shall dispense mercies and blessings and lift up the poor fallen race, just as we hear people say to day that society needs a great uplift. It does, it does, but it needs a greater uplift than you and I are able to give it. It needs the uplift that the glorified Christ can and will give it. That will be the uplifting time and a thousand years have been provided for it, and whosoever will hear His voice shall be blest. "For Moses (who was a type of Christ) verily said, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you like unto me. Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass (in that day) that the soul that will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from amongst the people." You and I know who this great prophet is-Christ the head, the Church His body. The head was raised up to glory 1800 years ago, and the church, His body, has been in process of selection all this time; but bye and bye the body shall be added to the head in glory and the whole body shall be raised up. And when this great antitypical Moses is in power "It shall come to pass that the soul that will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from amongst the people." They will have to hear or die the second death. The time is coming when there shall be no more crying, or sighing or dying. The Lord will create a new heaven and a new earth. Yes, the present world, or order of things, of which Satan is the head, is to pass away in a great time of trouble, at the close of which the new dispensation will be ushered in. And in this connection, we are to expect a great "falling away." It is called the "fall of Babylon." We find it recorded in the 18th chapter of Revelation. What does it say? It says: "Come out of her, my people." Come out of whom? Come out of Babylon. The whole nominal system is called Babylon because Babylon means confusion. You and I know that the whole Christian world is in confusion; but the prophet Isaiah says that it "will be a vexation only until He shall make you to understand doctrine," and when you understand the Lord's doctrine, you will see something of the plan of the ages and where the true church is, and the position of the justified and the hypocrites, "For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it, and the covers narrower than that he can wrap himself in it." As long as we are babes, we can lie upon the various beds, the Presbyterian, the Methodist, etc., and even after we have grown a little, we can still stay in these "beds." But when we come "to understand doctrine" and grow to be a "man," then the beds get too short and the covers (the creeds) become too narrow, and we find that if we want to get any rest, we will have to get out of the bed.

Let us lift up our heads and rejoice then, knowing that we are in the harvest time, and let us not feel- "Don't thrust in the sickle, Lord." Why not? Well, it will make a great tumult, Lord. Don't you want the harvest gathered? Yes, we do. Is it not necessary then before the grain can be gathered into the barn that it must first be cut and threshed? Yes. "Well why then have a dread? Haven't you confidence that I am able to bring you off conquerors and more, and that I will do better for you than I have said?" Yes. Very well, then, "come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues." Are there certain great plagues and troubles coming upon Babylon? Yes. Are there certain sins connected with it? Yes. One of the greatest sins today is blasphemy. I don't mean that they blaspheme intentionally, but whether intentional or otherwise, it is blasphemy nevertheless. In what way is God's name blasphemed? By saying things of the great God Almighty that they would not wish any one to say of them. To say that God, to all eternity, purposes to torture any of His creatures is to blaspheme His character and to speak regarding His perfection in a way that we would not wish to have anybody speak respecting our imperfection. So then as long as you are associated with those who teach eternal torture, you are blaspheming God. We do not want to misrepresent anybody, and most of all, we do not want to misrepresent the Lord. It is not honest for us to remain in that condition. The right thing to do is to "Come out." What are some of the plagues coming upon Babylon? Throughout the whole civilized world, the doctrine of the ransom is going down. People are ceasing to believe it. Well, says one, what would lead them to give it up? They are receiving another theory. They are claiming that man never fell at all, but that instead of falling, he has been growing better and that if God will only leave him alone, he will keep on evolving upward until he shall become a god. It is faith they are losing. Are we trusting in the precious blood of Christ? Let us remember the Lord's words in connection with the matter: "A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thy dwelling."